WWE Best Pay-Per-View Matches 2009-10 review (DVD) ★★★★

Judgment Day – World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy ???
This was solid, but not one that I'd remember as a candidate for match of the year. I preferred Edge and Hardy's Ladder Match for the belt at Extreme Rules, but I suppose there would be a slight abundance of clashes involving ladders if that was included. It was interesting to see them go at it for a World Title one-on-one as main event-level competitors who both originally made a name for themselves as tag team wrestlers, making them two of the most successful to have ever made the transition, behind the likes of Shawn Michaels.

The Bash – Intercontinental Championship vs. Mask: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Rey Mysterio ????
With not only Y2J's gold on the line but Mysterio's iconic luchador mask as well, the stakes were high in their match at The Bash, and they both performed like they could each incur massive losses in addition to just an 'L' in between the 'W' and the 'D' on their records. This was a terrific contest with a stunning blend of unique offense and near falls, not to mention a fantastic ending that I never saw coming. These two had some great battles back in WCW, but this encounter, which had the crowd eating every second up, was truly their best ever. Extremely worthy of its place in this collection.

Night of Champions – United States Championship 6-Pack Challenge ??
In this one fall to a finish bout, Jack Swagger, Carlito, The Miz, Primo and MVP challenged for Kofi Kingston's United States Title in what I can only describe as a bit of a cluster-you-know-what. A Triple Threat match or a Fatal Four Way would have sufficed, but having six men going at it seemed like a bit of a car wreck. This is definitely the second worst part of the DVD, behind an abomination you'll read about further down. I feel as though this was just an attempt to get six faces on the pay-per-view, something the now god-awful TNA does far too often, and it hurt what could have been a great match if it had been limited it to say The Miz vs. Kingston vs. Swagger vs. MVP, for example, or single elimination rules to cut things down a little. An okay match with a couple of interesting spots, but I'm really tired of seeing the Tower of Doom come into play in every match involving three or more midcarders.

Night of Champions – WWE Championship Triple Threat Match ???
A rematch from WrestleMania 24, this Triple Threat free for all of Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H vs. John Cena for the richest prize in the game was far superior to their first outing, even though that was on the grandest stage of them all. Still, with a repeat match, you'd want it to top its predecessor, and this certainly did. Not only was it a hard fought win for Orton, who also won at WrestleMania, but it was refreshing in comparison to that first bout, with a lot of action that we didn't see before, making it not only a better spectacle overall, but a very different one.

SummerSlam – Intercontinental Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler ???
A very entertaining match, largely mat-based with high-flying spots aplenty. This was their second match for the title and exactly where I thought Ziggler would break out and take the Intercontinental Championship home, but no, he took the fall. I was disappointed with his loss and I'm a big fan of Ziggler and his Mr. Perfect-esque look, but nevertheless, I'm sure his time will come. I was also a little unhappy at the finish, as the match-ending counter Hurricanrana from the top was, albeit cool to see, a little weak in my eyes for Ziggler to be pinned cleanly as a result. Regardless, this was Mysterio at the top of his game and really showed that Ziggler can go in the ring.

Breaking Point – WWE Championship I Quit Match: Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena ???
This one received countless mixed reviews from fans around the world, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was different. We've had a few I Quit matches in the past that have bordered on greatness, while others have been relatively boring. As for this chapter in the long-winded Cena vs. Orton feud, it wasn't approaching greatness, but it definitely wasn't a bad or even just a “fairly decent” match. I guess perhaps some fans never knew what they were going for, but I totally understood it. They both told a good story in a grueling fight. I especially loved the part where Orton was essentially torturing a handcuffed Cena, even as going as far as to repeatedly nail him in the gut with a Singapore cane. That must really have hurt like hell, as if the resulting welts weren't evidence enough.

Hell in a Cell – Hell in a Cell: D-Generation X vs. Legacy ???
I never agreed with the idea to put one of the most barbaric matches on the face of the WWE three times on one single event, as it just diminishes the awe and spectacle of the structure being put to use. With the absence of blood since the E went from TV14 to PG, it seems as if these matches with “extreme” stipulations have been becoming less violent and more physically grueling in a way that the wrestlers end up in slugfests rather than bloodbaths. A good Hell in a Cell outing is a combination of both these elements, so we're never going to see that again while the WWE is rated PG. Being the third of the night, DX and Legacy did indeed tear the house down and offer something different from the two matches that came before it, like having Triple H locked outside the cell for a good portion of the carnage, and a brawl on the outside of the gargantuan cage before the match had even officially started. What could possibly have made this match reach a surprising four stars would have been a fight on the cell roof, something Triple H teased when he tried climbing up when HBK was on the receiving end of a Legacy beat-down in the steel-confined ring, but unfortunately it was just wishful thinking on my part and probably many others', too.

Bragging Rights – 7-on-7 Bragging Rights Match: Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown ???
Team SmackDown was headed by co-captains Chris Jericho and Kane, who lead Finlay, Matt Hardy, R-Truth and The Hart Dynasty against RAW's Cody Rhodes, The Big Show, Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston, captained by D-Generation X in this 14-man tag team match, where the first fall would decide brand supremacy. Now, don't get me wrong, this was a decent match, but 14 Superstars? And no elimination rules? Really? I understand that there was the need to differentiate the bout from what was then the upcoming Survivor Series, which obviously had a few traditional elimination tags, but 7-on-7 is a little much. I'm not even sure if every single competitor actually got involved as the legal man for their team. Like I said, it was a solid match, but I'd pass on it if personally given the opportunity to consider it as one of the best of the year. Too many of the Superstars were lost in the shuffle.

Survivor Series – Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match ???
John Morrison, Finlay, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy and Evan Bourne took on The Miz, Jack Swagger, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre in this Survivor Series tradition. Bursting with talent and chock-a-block with the rising stars of the industry, all those involved put on a pretty damn good show. This was definitely one of the better Survivor Series tags of the last few years, though I thought the rather dominating flavour of the ending could have been changed to more of a level playing field.

TLC – ECW Championship Ladder Match: Christian (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin ????
Yet again, on the same DVD, Christian is opening a pay-per-view event in a contest for the ECW Championship, months before NXT came along. This time his opponent was the exciting Shelton Benjamin, and that's a word that sums up this Ladder Match perfectly. Like Benjamin, this title bout was the gold standard of the night. Like I mentioned above, how do you open a major event? You make a statement. Did these guys make a statement? Hell yes they did. Thankfully they were given a lot of time and provided us with a plethora of high spots and sickening impacts as flesh and bone met the unforgiving steel of the ladders. Well, I say unforgiving, but the ladder in the final moments of the contest certainly gave way!

Royal Rumble – Women's Championship: Michelle McCool (c) vs. Mickie James ?
What in the hell is this doing on here? This DVD is a storied collection of the best matches from Backlash 2009 to this year's WrestleMania. Yes, this match took place at the 2010 Royal Rumble, but from the second it ended it got a worst match of the year vote from me. The match itself lasts literally five seconds, if that, and prior to it is a segment that should have been on RAW, not pay-per-view. I appreciate the desire to have a Divas encounter on the DVD, but you can only do that if they actually have a decent match! I refuse to say any more about this, I already covered its trashiness in my Royal Rumble review.

WrestleMania 26 – Streak vs. Career: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels ????
On March 28 of this year, the 26th annual WrestleMania was the stage for arguably the most hotly anticipated match in the history of the WWE's biggest event. The year prior, these two stole the show in a match that surpassed just about everybody's expectations, which were already incredibly high. Another statement up for discussion is whether or not the Deadman vs. HBK at WrestleMania 25 was the greatest match in WrestleMania history. As far as wrestling goes, it was a magnum opus and certainly one of the most exciting bouts I've ever bared witness to, so how in God's name could a rematch follow and not fall short? Well, in all honesty I wasn't expecting the “sequel” to be better, and it wasn't, but it was certainly the highlight of the mixed bag known as 'Mania 26, and still very much one for the ages. With Michaels' career at stake, I never could have predicted the outcome, but it was an excellent match that was completely different from what came before it in 2009. I'd say this caps off the set nicely, not only chronologically, but as the best of the best of.