Disappointing matches you thought would be great

General
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On the heels of Dominion there are lots of times where a match under delivers. What I am looking for is a list of matches that disappointed.

As a rule I want to see matches that would be great. Obviously a match you thought would be 2 stars and goes -5 would not deliver, but you probably were not looking forward to it. (this is why nothing like Hogan vs Warrior 2 or HHH vs Steiner)

I am looking for matches you thought would be 4-5stars that did not deliver.

Here is a few on my list:

Shawn Michaels vs Mr. Perfect - Summerslam - a lot of old school wrestlers will list these two as the two top workers of the 80s/90s. You would have thought a singles match over the IC title would be amazing. However it was far from it for some reason - 11 minutes only and Shawn worked the back for most of it

Brock vs Ambrose -Wrestlemania - I legit thought this would be a violent mess and an easy 4 star match We heard on the podcast why it was not.

Jericho vs Okada - Dominion - a match that on paper seemed like a dream match was a clunky 25min way too long style clash that wasn’t close to good. Maybe Omega is that much better than Okada?

Brock vs Goldberg - WM XX - An obvious one. I am not sure if it would have been 4 stars but I was looking forward to it and it was so far below that.

Aj Vs Nakamura - WM - again a match I was so hyped for that wasn’t terrible, but wasnt anywhere close to great. I thought 6stars was not out of the question and it seems Nakamura is truly done having great matches.

HHH vs Orton - WM - again not a bad match but it couldn’t follow UT vs Shawn and was not nearly as violent as the feud would have dictated it should have been

Bret vs Shawn - WM 12 - a controversial one for sure as the match was good if not even a touch great. If you ask any 90s wrestling fan then the two best in ring workers are the list is arguably Shawn and Bret in some order. At their peak, you would think 60mins of them in the ring would be the greatest match ever. Think Okada vs Omega Dominion before that match happened. Instead it was slow and paced out and they saved themselves for a great final 20 mins, but the 40 mins before that really dragged it down. Given that both have had much better WM matches in their sleep (Bret vs Austin, Owen, Mr Perfect and Shawn vs Angle, UT, Razor, Cena, etc) its a shame this wasn’t a 7star classic

Your thoughts?

3 Likes
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3 matches instantly come to mind for me in recent time. All were really good, but just didnt live up to what I was hoping for…

  1. Ospreay vs Ibushi
  2. Omega vs Ibushi
  3. Omega vs ZSJ

Maybe I was just really over hyped and there was no way the matches were ever going to live up to what I was hoping, but I came away disappointed from all 3.

3

Styles vs. Nakamura at mania. I think Wai is still mad about this one.

Virtually every Diesel match in 95.

4 Likes
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You had high hopes for Diesel matches?
I think his matches in 95 with Bret (specifically Survivor Series 95) and Shawn, were great… But aside from that, I don’t remember 12 year old me being psyched for Diesel vs Mabel, Sid, Bulldog or other random heels lined up for him.

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Bret vs Shawn from Mania 12 is tremendously overrated. It’s two guys working against one another trying to look good rather than two guys working together to make a great match.

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One of the first matches I felt underwhelmed by was Hogan vs. Andre at WM3. I was young, and fell for the hype…

1 Like
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That’s interesting. I didn’t see Hogan/Andre until years later, and even today I think it’s better than it has any right to be given the wrestlers involved.

Maybe knowing the historical significance rather than following the build naturally increases the appeal?

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One I forgot was last years main event

I really thought it would be better but it was clunky, especially the finish.

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I gotta agree with todays Jericho and Okada match. Toss in Brock vs Joe as well. Was so pumped for both of those

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When I 1st watched the legendary Savage vs Steamboat match I was disappointed.
I’ve grown to appreciate it since. At the time I didn’t respect the near falls.

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As a young 11 year old mark, I thought the Invasion Inaugural Brawl 10 man tag main event was going to the biggest match ever. Even as a kid, I was disappointed by the match and the PPV.

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