I saw your comment in the review of the Nitro about how the Flair/Pillman match, how it was as good as it could be for 5:24, which led me to wonder, what are the best under 5 minute matches ever?
First one, just for a pure mark out moment has to be Honky Tonk Man/Ultimate Warrior...
My favorite is still 1-2-3 Kid v. Owen Hart from King of the Ring 94. And yes, Warrior-Honky was classic, of course.
Brock and Big Show at Survivor Series 02 was awesome.
ReplyDeleteMike Von Erich vs. Brian Adias. Adias had recently turned on the Von Erich's and taken up with the evil Gary Hart. Before the match starts, Adias is in the ring with his back to Von Erich talking to Hart. Von Erich runs over, drop kicks him into Hart as the bell rings, rolls him up for the pin. 3 second match.
ReplyDeleteI thought Muta vs Doug Gilbert at Wrestle War 89 was really entertaining, and not just in a "Muta squashes some guy" way.
ReplyDeleteBull Dempsey def. Mojo Rawley
ReplyDeleteAlso Eddie Gilbert's last TV match with Jerry Lawler. Believe it or not Eddie wins via shenanigans and a cheap rollup.
I dunno if anyone knows what I'm talking about but I saw a Funaki vs. Mike Awesome match from Velocity (I think) and it was real good for a 5minute under match
ReplyDeleteSteiners/Varsity Club from GAB '89 was great.
ReplyDeleteThat freaking dropkick by Owen through the ropes at the beginning of the KOTR match is just epic.
ReplyDeleteOwen vs. Kid is probably the correct answer. There is an awesome Bockwinkel/Zbyszko match from Chicago that's up there, though. Bock is freshly face-turned and the crowd is nuts now that he's finally on their side, but he's wrestling just as nasty as ever, which is glorious. He kicks the absolute shit out of Larry Z for 5 minutes, but Zbyszko manages to crotch him on the top rope and escape with a fluke victory off one offensive move. The people who think Zbyszko was all about stalling have clearly never actually seen him.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Dragon vs. John Cena from Velocity is really good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI like Brock/Big Show from SS 2002 (Best F5 ever done bar none) and also Flyin' Brian vs. Norman the Lunatic from Clash VIII was a damn bitchin match (over *** for sure for a 4 min match).
ReplyDeleteI won't rewatch this in fear of it not being as good as I remember but I loved every second of Taz Vs Kurt Angle at the 2000 Rumble
ReplyDeleteWatch it again with confidence good sir, that match is the tits with great suplex variations from Taz and energetic Angle.
ReplyDeleteRude vs Sting for the US belt at whichever Clash.
ReplyDeleteYep, Kid had a hurt neck from the first match, so after that dropkick, followed by a top rope splash, I thought it was ovah.
ReplyDeleteRusev/Langston a few months ago was only, like, ninety seconds, but it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteRey/Evan Bourne and Miz/Morrison had a great high-energy tag match on a RAW a few years ago that might've been short enough to qualify. It couldn't have been more than five or six minutes.
ReplyDeleteCameron vs. Naomi from RAW
ReplyDeleteCOUNT IT!!
ReplyDeleteJoe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II
ReplyDeleteAlways loved Norman vs Flyin Brian. 3 mins I think? I forget which PPV it was.
ReplyDeleteINDEED!
ReplyDeleteWas Punk/Mysterio from WrestleMania shorter than five minutes? I remember it being really short but really good.
ReplyDeleteJust about. I think in 6 minutes but it should totally count
ReplyDeleteAngle vs. Orton vs. Mysterio is really amazing for a 6 minute match.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was 9 minutes?
ReplyDeleteI was a fan of this Drew McIntyre vs Trent Berreta match from 2011 that clocked in at about 2:30.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit long for this category but Austin / Shamrock I Quit from Raw in the fall of '98 was fun as hell for a short match.
ReplyDeleteStill leaning towards the first F5 to rikishi that Brock did as his best. Brock proved to be a monster but the first time he listed rikishi with ease it was special
ReplyDeleteYep. To me that match marked the first time I was completely reassured about them pushing Brock, given his performance in that match coupled with the MSG crowd reaction.
ReplyDeleteHow long was Raven vs. Goldberg? That couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 minutes. That was really well booked.
ReplyDeleteMankind vs. Gillberg, Survivor Series '98.
ReplyDeleteFelt like 6. Way to short, made it near forgettable.
ReplyDeleteEven the Cena/Orton/HHH match at WM24, even at 14 minutes felt rushed
Ooh, what about that NXT tag match on last week's "Raw"?
ReplyDeleteRoad Warriors vs. The Skyscrappers (Mean Mark/Mike Enos combo) -WrestleWar 90
ReplyDeleteA shitkicking, stiff, ugly, but fun under 5 minute match
I'm not a fan of the match itself, but Brock getting a legit F5 on Show, complete with a 180 degree revolution, is still one of the damnedest things I've seen in wrestling.
ReplyDeleteHow long was Showster vs Angle at Backlash 2000, cause that was fun as hell. Although it was a squash, Batista vs Simon Dean was also a great showcase for babyface Batista, and the ladies were definitely into Big Dave.
ReplyDeleteI know MMA don't count but I was watching some of the Ultimate Roy Nelson on Fight Pass on my phone and Nelson vs. Nogueira is one hell of a fun 4.5 minutes; partially because Nogueira fights with his hands down.
ReplyDeleteGotta agree on Owen vs Kid. If that goes ten minutes, it could be an all-time classic. But we needed to save time for Piper vs. Lawler.
ReplyDeleteWatch it, Taz beating the shit out of Angle to a NUCLEAR MSG pop is still quite the spectacle
ReplyDeleteSteve Austin vs Eric Bischoff at No Way Out before WM 19 in MTL was a great short match.
ReplyDeleteKurt Angle vs Eugene at Summerslam '05. Might be closer to six minutes, but given how insufferable the Eugene character had become by then (and it was always a bad idea IMHO), it was just glorious to see him get taken apart by Angle in full-on wrestling machine mode.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia sez 2:35. Even without Hulk Showgan, it was an OK match.
ReplyDeleteClash 17.
ReplyDeleteHELL YES. Taz must've invited all of Red Hook to the Garden, the roof went off that place when the flatline hit.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, the "mystery opponent" thing works. Ask a certain Mr. Calloway about that.
Eh, I always thought that match was proof positive that Eddie got all the talent in his family.
ReplyDeleteLex Luger & Buff Bagwell vs Sean O'Haire & Chuck Palumbo at Greed. 32 seconds of two guys smarks hated getting slaughtered.
ReplyDeleteOwen Hart might have been the king of the quickie. He had awesome matches with Ted DiBiase (SNME), 123 Kid (KOTR) and Diesel (Diesel VHS tape) that were all in the 5-minute range.
ReplyDeletePunisher Dice Morgan 21-1.
ReplyDeleteTwo dark horse choices for me: Taka Michinoku v. Christopher Daniels on Shotgun in late 1998. Daniels dives from the top rope into the guardrail at one point. Just non stop action; clocks in at about 4:30. and Raven v. Kaz Hayashi from Worldwide in the spring of 99 (when he was feuding with Hak and Bam Bam). Raven's Rules match but there were some insane bumps for a 5 minute TV match. Kaz somersault dives onto a prone Raven on the floor. Raven moves and Kaz just SPLATS all over the floor. Later, he hits Raven with THREE top rope sentons with a chair on top of Raven. Raven gets the pin with a last ditch Evenflow and sells like he barely got out of the ring alive. Great stuff.
ReplyDelete