Newcastle was both highly enjoyable and pretty ridiculous, and The Wrestler was fucking incredible. I haven’t done much else, but I also haven’t finished this because of work, laziness and general being a jerk. But here goes the start of the TOP 10!!

10. John Cena vs. Triple H
(Night of Champions, 29/06)
I really liked this when I first saw it but I haven’t seen it since, so maybe it should be higher/lower, I’m not sure, but I remember it being pretty great. I also remember it as having a real ‘big fight’ feel, and that they did the sensible thing of switching back and forth between who played the face and who played the heel, which guaranteed a hot crowd who were hooked from start to finish. Cena’s subtle heel work in going after HHH’s hurt leg was pretty awesome if I remember rightly, as was the finishing run of false finishers, reversals, teases and whatnot. After Cena kicks out of the Pedigree and HHH kicks out of the FU, we get an awesome finish of the Pedigree niftily reversed to STFU, fought and reversed to Crossface, powered out of into the FU position, escaped with elbows to the head, and finally a Pedigree to end it all. Hell yeah.

09. Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather
(WrestleMania 24, 30/03)
This was far better than it had any right to be and is clearly the best ‘celebrity’ match of all time. I liked this way more the second time round, when I began to appreciate just how good it was as a WrestleMania ‘spectacle’ match, especially considering Floyd Mayweather isn’t a wrestler and Big Show hadn’t been in action in over a year at this point. But against all the odds, it was brilliant and really felt like a big historic match. Show was obviously the glue that held it all together, and pretty great in his own right, but Money Mayweather is a better wrestling bad guy than 90% of wrestling bad guys. So many things he did were awesome: his ridiculous entrance complete with an entourage, money falling from the sky and a fur coat; hitting and moving, dancing around like a little jerk; even stopping the match to drink from a bejewelled chalice. This all meant that when Big Show finally got his hands on him and started to kick his ass, the crowd loved it. At the time, I was kind of mad that Floyd won, but that’s probably just because he was that good a heel, and he kind of had to. The finish was good anyway in that it didn’t hurt Show as it took low blows, chair shots and a knockout punch with brass knuckles to finally put the giant down.

08. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge vs. Triple H
(Armageddon, 14/12)
Perhaps I’m a bit biased with this one and I’m ranking it a bit too highly based on how genuinely happy I was about Jeff Hardy finally becoming the WWE Champion. On the other hand, perhaps not, as it was the best WWE Triple Threat match in a long time. It was action packed, dramatic, edge of the seat stuff, a good showing from all three men. There was plenty of stuff to like in this match; from Edge playing the desperate madman who in no way wanted to relinquish his title, to the constant teases and usage of the Pedigree, to Jeff just doing whatever it took, and looking like he had the match won several times, only to be taken out by the third man. The Whisper in the Wind to Edge sat on HHH’s shoulders was fucking great, and the announce table spot, in which Jeff escaped the Pedigree, HHH avoided the Twist of Fate, and then Edge appeared out of nowhere to come flying in and Spear Jeff from one table onto and through another was brilliant. And then, HHH hit the Pedigree on Edge, the referee counted to two, and suddenly Hardy hit the Swanton, got the pinfall and I had a heart attack of pure joy. What a moment. But yeah, even looking at it a bit more objectively, really fun main event with a great atmosphere.

07. TLC Match: The Undertaker vs. Edge
(One Night Stand, 01/06)
This match seemed to get a mixed reaction when it happened, but clearly I thought it was great. I’m usually a fan of this type of matches anyway, and this one had a clear story and purpose for happening, and genuine drama, excitement and surprises. Plenty of highlights in this one, including Edge getting chokeslammed on a ladder set up between the apron and the barrier, Taker disposing of Edge’s lackeys Hawkins and Ryderby just hurling them through tables, and Taker giving Edge an awesome Last Ride from halfway up the giant ladder through a stack of two tables. Hell yeah. But it was nothing compared to the end…given the stipulation, there was literally no way that I expected Undertaker to lose, so when he did, it was shocking, but not as much as the insane fall he took in doing so: from the top of the big ladder, crashing to the outside through no less than four tables. At his age, and at this point in his career, it is fucking mental that The Undertaker would be willing to take such a ridiculous bump.

06. Career Threatening Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair
(WrestleMania 24, 30/03)
I know a lot of wrestling fans have listed this match as their number one of 2008, but to me, it comes down to how attached to Ric Flair you were. I liked Flair and respect him as a legend, but I grew up on the WWF as opposed to WCW/NWA so I’ve never seen a lot of his best stuff, so don’t really have any emotional attachment to him. Having said that, this match was still really, really, goddamn good. Michaels lived up to his ‘showstopper’ reputation, and Flair had one last great match to go out on. There were a few dodgy bits where things didn’t seem to go to plan, but considering Ric Flair is older than God, it’s forgivable, especially in a match where the focus is really more on the spectacle and storytelling. Although, having said that, Shawn missing a moonsault and crashing ribs-first into the announce table was easily one of the highlights. The emotion in this one really was off the charts, the performances by both men were great, and the closing minute or so was pretty much perfect: Flair begging Shawn to put him out of his misery, Michaels being heartbroken at retiring his idol and the big “I’m sorry. I love you” line shouldn’t have worked so well in a fake sport built around men fighting, but it did, and it was glorious. HIGH DRAMA.

Incredibly lazy or not, I truly intend to finish this and then post the whole, proper countdown, before the end of this week, so that I can then write a review of the Royal Rumble, which I am fairly excited for. :)