20 WWE matches that should be rated 5 stars (10-1)

Throughout its 30-plus year history, WWE has tirelessly tried to present epic narratives involving conflict between characters as its main storytelling device. While the most famous of these stories tend to be performed in a safer, simplistic in-ring style than the more physically-demanding indie and international promotions, the character work, rivalry building, psychology, and crowd reactions in a WWE classic match done right are superb.

These additional qualities are just as important as the in-ring 'work-rate' because they enhance and contextualize the physicality, giving meaning and depth to something that is otherwise nothing but a pre-determined athletic showcase.

While the Tokyo Dome has consistently outmatched Madison Square Garden in terms of wrestlers pushing their bodies to the absolute limit with innovative maneuvering, WWE's entertainment-driven focus has no rival in terms of using scripted personas and angles to draw in the mass consumer. Within its own respective limits, the company has produced more than several perfect matches, some of which have impacted the entire business or defined an era in time, and should be praised accordingly.

These are 20 WWE matches that should be rated 5 stars (10-1).

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#10 Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (Triangle Tag Team Title ladder match, Wrestle Mania 2000)

Edge & Christian, the Hardyz and Dudleyz at Wrestle Mania 2000

Building on the first ever Ladder Match at Wrestle Mania X between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon (which was rated 5 stars by the Wrestling Observer), The Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian took the match concept to a new level at the turn of the millennium.

The three teams feuding over the tag titles during the red hot Attitude Era, created six-man mayhem at WrestleMania 2000 when they took what Michaels and Ramon started and made it twice as compelling with more ladders and far more stunts.

Though not a technical masterpiece by any stretch, The Hardyz, Dudleyz and Edge and Christian put on the match of the night from a mid-card slot, even surpassing a Double Title Triangle Match (Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle) and a Fatal 4-Way main event (The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Mick Foley vs. Big Show). The sheer brutality made for the most must-watch Ladder Match ever, until about five months later at SummerSlam.

#9 Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (TLC, Summerslam 2000)

The carnage from Wrestle Mania 2000 continued at Summerslam

In a fantastic re-match from their WrestleMania 2000 Triangle Ladder Match, Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz took it a step further by christening a new match concept at that year's SummerSlam -- TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs).

With each team brandishing one of the three weapon types, there was to be even more carnage in the ring than there had been at 'Mania. Table bumps, steel chair shots, and dives from high ladders became not just match-ending climaxes, but tools used throughout the 18 minute chaotic performance.

Given the storyline build of three teams putting it all on the line to be the best, the innovative nature of the format and the increased level of jaw-dropping moments throughout the match, TLC absolutely deserves 5 stars.

#8 Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (TLC II, Wrestle Mania X-7, 2001)

Edge spears Jeff Hardy in a classic Wrestle Mania moment

Ending their incredible triangle tag team feud with a third and final match that took place exactly one year after the first, TLC II -- the sequel between The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian, failed to disappoint. All three teams once again put their lives on the line, figuratively and almost literally, for fan enjoyment at one of the greatest Wrestle Mania events ever.

With the rest of the match being littered with countless table slams and chairshots, Edge sealed the deal and created one of the greatest WWE moments ever when he shockingly speared a dangling Jeff Hardy from the top of ladder to the ring below.

The end of this trilogy of matches meant that WWE was in new territory in regards to creating shocking, insane moments. The sheer ground breaking nature of TLC I & II was a harbinger of the extreme action that was to come during the early-mid 2000s Ruthless Aggression era. It's arguable that it was even a blueprint.

#7 Team WWF vs. The Alliance (Winner Take All match, Survivor Series 2001)

The end of the 'invasion'

Although the 2001 invasion angle is usually panned by critics who wanted a dream match involving the top WCW talent of the Monday Night Wars (most of whom couldn't be acquired by WWE because they were signed directly to parent company Time Warner Media under expensive contracts), the tag team match that ended the angle was nonetheless a fantastic outing.

With traditional Survivor Series elimination rules in place, the Vince McMahon loyalists of Team WWF took on the combined efforts of WCW and ECW, known as The Alliance. Ten of the top stars of the late 90s and early 2000s went at it in one match, mixing exciting technical, high-flying and brawling action over nearly 45 minutes, making it one of the craziest and most compelling matches of the time period.

With 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock as the final competitors, the two stars called back to their Wrestle Mania X-7 match from months earlier where they surprisingly used each others finishers, and The Rock finally managed to pin Austin for the first time live on pay-per-view.

#6 The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan (Icon vs. Icon, Wrestle Mania X-8, 2002)

Icon vs. Icon

The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan at WrestleMania X-8 in Toronto's SkyDome deserves five stars for its textbook instruction on how to work a crowd, if nothing else.

Far from a technical masterpiece, WWE's epic Icon vs. Icon match still managed to draw loud crowd reactions from Canadian fans nostalgic over Hogan's main event with The Ultimate Warrior from twelve years earlier, in the same building.

Though Hogan was built as the clear heel, in the same villainous role he had been in since WCW in 1996, The Rock was overexposed and essentially getting stale, as opposed to Hogan who had been absent from the company for nearly a decade. Toronto fans unilaterally decided to ignore kayfabe out of respect for the legacy of Hulkamania and cheered Hogan with thunderous applause despite his use of a low blow.

The Rock and Hulk Hogan, sensing the mood of their audience, adapted to the crowd and essentially performed a double-turn mid-match, putting a stamp on what became a match of the ages.

#5 Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit (WWE Tag Team Titles, No Mercy 2002)

No Mercy!

In contendership for the best tag team match of the Ruthless Aggression era, Edge and Rey Mysterio's showdown against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit featured a mash up of smooth technical holds, lucha libre acrobatics and phenomenal tag team psychology.

Edge, defending Rey Mysterio against the the bullying of Angle, worked well with the pint-sized luchador, putting together a procession of unique tag team maneuvers that had been rarely, if ever seen in WWE. Benoit and Angle, for their parts, did well too, utilizing their signature submission holds and rolling German Suplexes in back to back attempts at putting away the scrappy underdogs.

While Edge and Mysterio showed unbelievable chemistry in their determination to win, it was to no avail. A reversed and then double reversed ankle lock from Kurt Angle forced Edge to tap out while Mysterio recovered from a moonsault on the outside.

#4 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (WWE Title match, Royal Rumble 2003)

Benoit and Angle

Going into the 2003 Royal Rumble pay-per-view as ex-tag team partners, the tension between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit was high. With Benoit never having held the WWE Championship up until that point, he seemed determined to upstage the one man that stood in his way.

Though the first half of the match seemed relatively ordinary, Angle and Benoit turned up the heat in the latter portion, hitting a series of suplexes and applied submission holds until the climactic finish.

When Benoit locked Angle in the Crippler Crossface finishing move for the last time, a determined Angle rolled through and reversed it into his own trademark ankle lock, reinforcing it with a kneebar that prevented Benoit from escaping. Thus the 'Canadian Crippler' was forced to tap out and concede the loss, but not without earning the respect of having put on an incredible performance.

#3 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs. Triple H (Three Stages of Hell, No Way Out 2001)

Austin & Helmsley condensed three matches into one

Stemming from a feud going back to SummerSlam 1999, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Triple H were ready to bathe each other in blood by early 2001. Austin, furious over being attacked by by Hunter during his entrance at the Royal Rumble, nonetheless won the 30-man battle royal and faced 'The Game' on the Road to WrestleMania, at the secondary pay-per-view No Way Out.

Eager to up the stakes involving the angle, Vince McMahon booked Helmsley and Austin's collision course as the first ever Three Stages of Hell match, where a normal matchup, a Street Fight and a Cage Match would all be placed into one, under 2/3 falls rules.

Austin, despite his reputation as a brawler, managed to snag the win in the pure wrestling match, but Triple H returned the favor, winning the Street Fight with a sledge hammer straight to the face, followed by a pedigree. Both Superstars bloodied up and fatigued, they teased multiple false finishes until finally nailing each other with a sledgehammer and a board covered in barbed wire, with Triple H landing on top of Austin and earning the 1-2-3 at the end of this amazing performance.

#2 The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (Wrestle Mania 25, 2009)

Two legends on the biggest stage

At the 25th sports entertainment extravaganza known as WrestleMania, 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels challenged The Undertaker for the chance to end 'Taker's undefeated streak at the annual pay-per-view. With so much history between the two veterans, going back over a decade, this match was bound to be an important landmark in the annals of WWE history.

And it absolutely was. Michaels and The Undertaker put on a 30-minute show-stealing performance rife with so many twists and turns that the crowd response was almost deafening.

Though Michaels was extremely resilient, kicking out of a Tombstone Piledriver and Last Ride powerbomb, The Undertaker was all the more tenacious. He withstood several Sweet Chin Music superkicks and finally brought the match to its inevitable conclusion by perfectly countering Michaels' attempt at a top rope moonsault for one final Tombstone.

#1 The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (Streak vs. Career Match, Wrestle Mania 26, 2010)

An epic encore

Building off not only their 13-year history, but the match of the year they put on at the previous WrestleMania, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels' returned to the ring for an epic encore, with the stakes higher than ever. If Michaels beat 'Taker, the legacy of the WrestleMania undefeated streak would come to an end. If 'Taker defeated Michaels, Mr. WrestleMania himself, Michaels' career would be over.

With all eyes in the WWE Universe on these two titans of pro-wrestling, 'The Heartbreak Kid' and 'The Dead Man' managed to pull off another amazing match - high leg drops on the apron, moonsaults through tables, and even a Tombstone Piledriver on the floor outside the ring, with loudly-cheering fans fans in the palm of both of their hands the entire time.

Just as it looked like Michaels had the band tuned up for Sweet Chin Music, a defiant Undertaker insisted on bringing Michaels to the pit of hell with a Tombstone, only for Michaels to shockingly kick out. After one last defiant slap to the face from Michaels, 'The Phenom' made Michaels' career rest in peace by planting him with the third Tombstone of the match, firmly protecting the streak at 18-0. In a word, this was legendary.