8 Great Wrestling Matches (That Weren't Supposed To Happen)

7. Chris Jericho Vs. Ricky Steamboat (Backlash 2009)

Stone Cold Triple H Survivor Series 2000
WWE

When Mickey Rourke's feet faded a whiter shade of pale ahead of a proposed WrestleMania XXV clash with Chris Jericho, WWE turned to an old hand - a very old hand - as a quick replacement for the flighty star of The Wrestler. In Rourke's place came the supposedly superannuated trio of Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat, as Y2J refocused his sights from leathery actors to leathery grapplers.

The most anyone expected from the legends vs. the iconoclast was a nostalgically diverting sideshow. What we got instead was The Dragon putting in a performance as though it were 1987 all over again (Piper and Superfly were as corpulently crap as could reasonably be expected). Indeed, so surprisingly spectacular was Steamboat's second-wind that astonished bookers handed him a singles match against Jericho at the following month's Backlash. Absolutely nobody - nobody - had that on the agenda for 2009.

 
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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.