18. Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XII)
This match has its detractors, those who believe the match is a boring exhibition of rest holds in order to fill the allotted one hour duration. It's a fair point, but Hart and Michaels' Iron Man match for the WWF Championship is also viewed as a triumph over format, with two magnificent athletes working masterfully within the framework of a challenging stipulation. Michaels' coronation into the hall of WWF Champions was finally actualized two minutes into a sudden death period, scoring the only fall after superkicking Hart twice. While some falls during the actual body of the match would have probably boosted sentiment toward the Iron Man clash, it's still a remarkable exhibition of old-school wrestling between two pros. Just bring lunch if you plan to sit through it.
17. Edge And Christian Vs. The Hardy Boyz (No Mercy 1999)
The winners of this tag team ladder match would win $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels. All of that pageantry was secondary to four twenty-somethings making their mark on the wrestling industry with a ladder stuntshow straight out of an indy-goers daydreams, except all of the spots were actually crisp and on point. While the four would work in concert with the Dudley Boyz over the next two years in raising the bar of mayhem set around furniture, the No Mercy ladder match forged a deep evolutionary footprint in the genre. All four men were instantly made from the frenetic performance, particularly the brothers Hardy, who were all but turned babyface after their fearless showing in victory.
Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.
