Udah bukan rahasia lagi kalo gw a big fan of professional wrestling. Khususnya WWE. Ya ya ya, It is fake. It is staged. It is predetermined. But come on, apa sih yang gak udah diatur di dunia entertainment. Film aja udah dibikin skenarionya. Porn is staged. Concert is staged. Academy Award is staged, even dunia politik aja udah diatur(yep, i consider dunia politic as an entertainment). Malah sebenernya, profesi professional wrestler(or SUPERSTAR in WWE terms) is a very underrated di dunia entertainment. Kalo dalam film, elu ngelakuin kesalahan, director can easily says cut, dan kesalahan tadi bisa diulang. Kalo di dunia wrestling, elu bikin kesalahan, elu bakalan di boo ato penonton or perhaps malah bikin someone cedera parah. Yep, its LIVE. You can’t make a mistake in a WWE match.

Jadi, kriteria apa aja yang harus ada di dalem pertandingan terbaik versi gue? Pertama, In Ring Psychology. Para wrestler harus punya intensitas dan soul as a wrestler walopun semuanya uda diatur. Intinya harus believable. Misalnya, kalo in match your opponent terus2an ngincer kaki a wrestler, that wrestler have to acted that his feet is hurt, jangan tiba2 lupa when the big moment comes. Kedua, In Ring Work. Para wrestler harus punya skill wrestling yang minimal diatas rata2 dan work rate yang enak banget buat ditonton. Ketiga, storyline. Harus ada cerita diantara para wrestler. Kalo gak kan gak lucu, gak ada apa2 tiba2 langsung berantem di atas ring. Storyline itu juga termasuk dalam In Ring Psychology. It means, kalo elu heel(jahat) elu harus act like an ass. Kalo lu face(baik), ya you get it lah.

Anyway, semua matches di bawah ini its a WWE match. Gw gak masukin NJPW, TNA, AWA, or even WCW disini. So, sorry no Sting vs Flair, or Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles, although both of it is a very very very good match. Gak ada Royal Rumble juga disini. Because it is a different kind of attaction. Terus kenapa gw bisa sembarangan nentuin yang mana aja. Emangnya gw uda nonton semua match in WWE? Well, you can say that. I already watch around 80% WWE match since 1999. So, gw punya knowledge to to this list kan? So, Lets begin.

Honorable Mention, Eddie Guerrero vs Brock Lesnar No Way Out 2004, Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar Iron Man match, The Rock vs The Undertaker vs Kurt Angle Vengeance 2002, The Undertaker vs CM Punk Wrestlemania 29. 

14. Summerslam 2002, Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio

Salah satu match paling cepet dan exciting yang pernah ada. Salah satu match juga yang gw jadiin tontonan seandainya gw mau kasih nubie buat nonton WWE match. Olympic Gold Medallist vs One of the greatest luchador in the world. Emang sih, Mysterio di WWE tuh gak segila mysterio di ECW ato WCW, but still, it is a breath of fresh air in 2002. Finishing Rey saat itu, WEST COAST POP, it is so amazing dan dangerous sampe kayanya dilarang buat dipake lagi di WWE. Kurt Angle mah jangan ditanya. As one of the best pure wrestler in the world, he is the best in terms of in ring work and psychology. Kita bakal liat match dia banyak di list ini.

13. Raw July 2002, The Undertaker vs Jeff Hardy

Salah satu the best thing about WWE is always the story about underdog. Tentang wrestler kecil yang mencoba mengalahkan wrestler2 lain yang gede. The Undertaker ditaon 2002 itu Undertaker yang aneh. Kadang2 matchnya bisa bagus, kadang2 matchnya bisa dud. While Hardy in 2002 is Hardy tanpa pengaruh obat2an, explosive and wild. Salah satu ladder match paling bagus, if its not the best, dalem ceritain story yang selalu disukai di entertainment manapun. David vs Goliath.

12. Wrestlemania 17, The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin II

WWE production team should’ve made every trailer for every movie out there. They are the best in the world at what they do. Liat deh trailer Austin vs Rock II diatas. About the match, buat banyak para wrestling columnist, hardcore ICW, or whatever the hell they called that, this match probably is in the top of their list. Ini ialah pertandingan yang menutup ATTITUDE ERA. Era terbaik, tersukses, termainstream sepanjang masanya WWE. Dan dipuncak Era tersebut, ada Rock dan Austin. The WWE equivalent of Ali and Frazier. Schumacher and Hakkinen. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. Mattheus and Maradona. Songoku and Vegeta. The match itself bener2 cepet, brutal, dan gak ngebiarin penonton catching a breath. There’s always something after something after something. Terus kenapa gak ada di top of the list gw? Because it is a brawl, not a wrestling match buat gw. And the ending kinda ruins the atmosphere. But it is Crazy Epic Indeed…

11. King of the Ring 1998, Mick Foley vs The Undertaker

Craziest wrestling match di dunia ini, bar-none. Gak ada yang lebih life threatening daripada apa yang dilakuin Taker and Foley di dunia wrestling. This is the match that I always shows to someone who doubted the blood and pain in wrestling match is real…

10. Wrestlemania 19, Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho

Senior vs Junior. Jericho always want to be HBK di awal karir dia. But as time goes by, dia udah jadi the first undisputed champion in the history of wrestling. Orang pertama yang ngalahin The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin di dalam satu malam! Bayangin. And when HBK is back to wrestling in 2002, dia mulai jealous with all the attention that HBK gets from the fans, and as an assclown, apa lagi yang bisa Jericho buktiin selain taking out and ending out his favorite wrestler ever, his mentor, HBK. Ini contoh match yang storylinenya mempengaruhi in ring work and psychology. Jericho and HBK selalu berusaha top each other. Jericho is amazing in this match. Dia bener2 nunjukin kalo dirinya the best in the world at what he do walo at that time dia belom sering ngomongin itu. His creepy little sweet chin music, his scream and his antic after the match is ending? Jadi bumbu pelezat buat masakan yang aslinya udah enak banget.

09. Wrestlemania 19, The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin III

Mau tau sejak kapan gw jadi Fansnya the Rock? since 2003, disaat the Rock turns heel and becoming Hollywood Rock. Sumpah, gak ada era WWE yang lebih fun daripada era Rock jadi asshole pengecut tukang ngeledekin penonton yang bener2 very swaggg. Pertandingan terakhir antara Rock and Austin ini juga jadi pertandingan terakhirnya Austin di WWE. Gak ada dua wrestler yang punya chemistry lebih dalem daripada Rock and Austin. For me, Wrestlemania 19 is the real end of an era. Not Wrestlemania 20. not wrestlemania 29. Rock is very fun to watch in this match.

To be continued