Match of the Year

What makes a match worthy of this honor? Is it workrate, a concept used to determine quality by many other wrestling web sites, or is it the emotions that it stirs in the people watching the match? Most other web sites make it a point to trash Hulk Hogan matches for poor workrate yet they are among the most popular matches in wrestling history. I believe that wrestling is an art form that is designed to get people to want to pay money to see a match and then make you happy that you did or regret the fact that you didn’t.

Runner Up: Undertaker vs Kurt Angle at No Way Out
While it appears that every PPV featured a match with additional stipulations, this match proved that the most important prop is a championship belt. The Undertaker silenced many of his critics by having an incredible match without the need for any bizarre death-related gimmicks. This match was also the high point for what turned out to be a bizarre year for Kurt Angle. At various points in 2006, Kurt was a member of the RAW, SmackDown, ECW, and TNA roster.

Winner: Mick Foley, Edge, & Lita vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, & Beulah from ECW One Night Stand
For those that don’t know, I have a special place in my heart for ECW. By 1995, I was almost done watching wrestling. WCW had become an old-timers league designed to placate the egos of Hulk Hogan and his friends. How bad was it? In order for Hulk to lose a match and the title all of the following had to happen: his opponent had to lose a monster truck battle to the Hulkster, was thrown off the roof of the arena into the river, came back from the dead a few moments later, Hulk was disqualified because Jimmy Hart turned on him, Jimmy had put in the contract that Hulk could lose the title by DQ, and then a mummy came out and appeared to dry hump the Hulkster. The WWE was almost as bad and their King of the Ring ‘95 card was the low point in the history of the WWE. One night I was flipping around my TV and discovered ECW. I was hooked and my love of wrestling was renewed.

As far as this match goes, I believed I was in a time machine and it was 1995 all over again. Just like the original ECW, you were given an additional surprise and in this case it was the addition of Lita and Beulah into this match. The match featured the staples of an ECW gimmick match, the passion that ECW wrestlers were famous for, and a rabid crowd very similar to what the old ECW Arena fans were like.

_{Photo: (c) 2006 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Undertaker can be seen every Friday night on the CW Network show Friday Night SmackDown.}