12. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon - WrestleMania X
Time has not necessarily done this match justice. A big new chunk of the current viewing audience may not understand how important this match was and how influential it has been to the last fifteen or so years of wrestling history. Think of all the Ladder matches that we see today and about how there are even two PPVs named after two variations of the original. All of that began with WrestleMania X at Madison Square Garden, where two men ascended the ladder of immortality. The storyline was great. HBK never lost the Intercontinental title. Ramon had won the so-called vacant title. When Michaels returned, he naturally wanted to be known as the rightful champ. Ramon had a legitimate claim, too. So, they hung the belts high above the air and prepared to make history. Someone has to do it first in a huge setting and Michaels and Scott Hall will always hold that distinction. Unknowns and unpredictability carry a gimmick match the first time that you see it. Most of the WWE fans had not seen a Ladder match before, so Hall and HBK entered uncharted territory along with the rest of us. People have always said that HBK had a match with a ladder, but Michaels will readily admit that the best part about their ladder match was that they were telling an already personal story and that the ladder was just a nice prop to further it. A lot of Ladder matches nowadays get criticized for making the story about the ladder and less about the storytelling. So, in many ways, the original was the best pure Ladder match. Definitively, this was the match that took bumping to another level. The stuff they did looks fairly routine by todays standards, but back then it was very unusual to see guys putting themselves at risk to that degree. While future generations of stars were able to top this match with the crazy bumping going to a level never thought possible, HBK vs. Razor remains the top dog when it comes to storytelling and historical context. HBKs ladder match with Chris Jericho six years ago might have been a better match with a superior story told, but it will never be able to touch the original for what it came to mean for the wrestling business.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
