10 Best PPV Opening Matches | Tables, Lists & Chairs (ft. Ace Trainer Liam)

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What's are your favourite PPV opening matches? Let us know in the comments!
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Written by: Pete Quinnell, Tempest & Ace Trainer Liam
Presented by: Pete Quinnell, Tempest & Ace Trainer Liam
Edited by: Adam Witney
Thumbnail by: Brandon Syres
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Welcome to the official WrestleTalk KZbin channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.

[@TJM_PlayByPlay]

Can we just take a moment to admire Liam’s Ludvig Kaiser impression? That was pretty spot on.

[@kellibradley]

Awesome!

[@AceTrainerLiam]

Happy to be part of such a happy list! Thanks again for having me! ❤

[@thesterlingstudies]

You have an amazing top 10 list in this one.

[@jaythespider]

so glad to see the love for this year's royal rumble. really felt so special watching that match. love gunther so much and to see him unwaveringly dominate the field was awesome

[@Chiefsfan0110]

We need to get an NXT list soon! If NXT would've been included here then the North American Ladder Match from New Orleans, and Strong vs Riddle at 25 would have maybe made some lists!

[@sumukhhegde6532]

Honourable Mention -WM 34 Finn v/s Seth v/s Miz

[@AnimeRevProductions]

Added in some oddball picks and non-WWE ones but here we go: 10: Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho AEW Revolution 2022 9: Will Ospreay vs Kota Ibushi NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 8: Ultimo Dragon vs Rey Mysterio Jr. WCW World War 3 1996 7: The Miz vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor Wrestlemania 34 6: The Usos vs The New Day Hell in a Cell 2017 5: NXT North American Championship Ladder Match NXT Takeover New Orleans 4: Bret Hart vs Owen Hart Wrestlemania X 3: WWE Championship Elimination Chamber No Way Out 2009 2,: Triple H vs Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania XXX 1: Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio Summerslam 2002 - Ryu

[@theAhrBee]

That Usos vs New Day hell in a cell elevated both of them so much. The first corner spot with the kendo stick broke my mind.

[@SirZapdos]

Two of my favourites: Battleground 2014 - The Usos vs Luke Harper and Erick Rowan Backlash 2018 - Seth Rollins vs The Miz The tag match between the Dudleyz and Edge and Christian at Royal Rumble 2001 is also pretty good.

[@kyleseridonio9807]

I cannot be the only one who would love to see Liam become a permanent member of the Wrestletalk team! Bring him on!!!

[@TBreakk]

I remember looking at wwe’s website to see the results for No Way Out 2009. My adolescent brain was so confused when Edge walked out with the other World title.

[@G_Rez]

I might have missed a few episodes but the leaderboard is a fantastic edition, it's what this format felt like it was missing when it began. Especially in these more positive lists where it ends up becoming a watch list recommendation from the group. So good

[@KingsNerdCave]

Angle vs Mysterio is my favorite opening match. It's one of the matches I'd show people who have never seen wrestling before since it's short but intense. Also SO HAPPY No Way Out 2009 made into someone's list. That's my favorite Elimination Chamber match and it has that great connection with the main event chamber with Edge's story.

[@lilsunny7399]

WWE Championship Elimination Chamber. No Way Out 2009 Jeff Hardy and Edge Start. Jeff rolls him up before #3 Vladmir Kozlov even enters. New champ guaranteed, In a match containing Triple H at his finest before people hated him, The Undertaker and Jeff Hardy. and also Kozlov was there. EDIT: Thank you Tempest!

[@uggyoumugg7249]

Tempest is slowly transforming into super calo and im here for it.

[@Scaramanga7]

Just need some glued-on sunglasses!

[@claudekaneiii2283]

My two favorite opening matches of all time are Bryan vs HHH at WM & Bryan vs Wyatt at RR 2014, can’t believe no one brought that one up. It’s easily Wyatt’s best match ever. Also I remember loving the opening MitB match from 2013 but I’d have to watch it again to see if it’s better than some of the others mentioned or fondly remembered, I think WM 31 IC Ladder match is probably my #3 though.

[@drexeldragon1723]

I was at MITB 2013 and I thought of that opener as well. It was fire 🔥

[@diabeticman2194]

MJF/Darby from Full Gear 2021 is my pick for best PPV opener, goodness me what a wrestling gem! Edit: I now realise this is a WWE PPV openers; in that case, Rollins/Edge at Crown Jewel 2021 is a go to for me

[@mohammedalsaad1966]

I would also add Kenny/Hangman from Full Gear 2020!

[@butcheex]

Legit one of my favorite AEW matches ever. Real graps at it's peak

[@SL-fb1ze]

Honestly mine is Keirh Lee vs Djakovic at TakeOver Portland, what an opening match.

[@dilbert719]

Bret vs. Owen. So, so perfect. Not only the best opener of all time, in my opinion, the best match of all time. It was a magnificent display of technical wrestling, both men played into their knowing each other since birth, Owen almost subconsciously selling the younger brother's innate insecurity that he'll never match up to the example his older brother has set, Bret not being willing to pull the trigger and take it to the next level for fear of hurting Owen, not physically but psychologically, then the perfect shock ending, with Owen getting one over on Bret, at the beginning of the same night that Bret climbed the mountain and became the champion, the knowledge that if those two matches had switched places, Owen would have been champion... everything about that match took Owen from just "Bret's kid brother" to a legitimate star in my eyes, and I still will never quite forgive them for not continuing to push him up the card to a title reign.

[@erikhuff7453]

You guys need to do "Best Storylines of all time"

[@SapinskiMath]

Here's the full Top 11 for this set. Once again, several one-voters made it, but Pete's entire top 7 were made up of all the ones that got repeat votes. 1) Mysterio vs. Angle SS '02 (22) 2) Bryan vs. HHH WM 30 (21) 3) Bret vs. Owen WM 10 (19) 4) 2023 Men's Royal Rumble (15) 4) New Day vs. Usos (SD) HIAC '17 (15) 6) Mysterio vs. Eddie WM 21 (9) 7) MITB WM 23 (8) 7) Shelton vs. Jericho (IC) Backlash '05 (8) 9) IC Ladder Match WM 31 (7) 9) WHC Elimination Chamber NWO '09 (7) 9) Eddie vs. Benoit (US) Vengeance '03 (7) I resolve once and for all to have my comments about these highly enjoyable videos very soon.

[@MisterHella]

I spaced out when he said, "When the usos get back together," and I thought of a cool lil angle. If Jimmy and Jay got back together, and build to that, and then right when the bloodline comes out to get at Jay, maybe he was left laying after a match and they came out to test Jimmy, but they already secretly made amends and this was their gameplan. Roman hands Jimmy a chair. Jimmy waits for Jay to get up to his feet, walks over to him, and hands him the chair. Stands side by side with Jay, and they turn and face Roman and Solo. Paul leaves the ring as Jimmy steps forward but Jay doesn't walk with him, instead he turns Jimmy around and hits Jimmy with the chair, and from Roman and Solo's perspective it looked like Jay hit Jimmy, right on the head, but Jimmy got his hand up, and after the angle they show that Jay never really made contact with his head, just his hand, so at first they just show it from Roman and Solo' perspective, but Jimmy sells it. And falls. Jay then goes over and kneels before Roman, offering him the chair, but looking down symbolically not acknowledging him. Roman takes the chair, and Jay steps aside, Roman goes to hit Jimmy with the chair, and Jay hits Roman with a low blow, Jimmy then grabs the Chair, Solo goes to Samoan Spike Jay, but he grabs his wrist blocking it, and Jimmy hits Roman in the waist and then across the back. And then helps Jay take care of Solo. And the Usos stand tall reunited. That all randomly just went through my head and I have no fuckin clue why, but I think that'd be a neat angle 😅

[@shahwalkhan5908]

Bring in Oli Davis

[@jaws848]

No

[@yazoo1973]

Being in my 50s I usually get annoyed by these younger wrestling fans,they are spot on here Bret v Owen Kurt v Rey HHH V Bryan

[@BaithNa]

More Liam please ❤

[@TheThird1977]

Hoping to see some love for Juvi vs. Blitzkrieg. EDIT - Seems it is WWE-only matches, despite that not being said in either the video title or Pete's introduction.

[@samhayden60]

Blitzkrieg is a forgotten name from WCW Cruiserweights and when I went back to watch all this stuff, he always really impressed me. Glad to see him mentioned, he didn't have a long career, but he had a lot of talent.

[@shawnbelcher7135]

It is said in the video at 21 mins Still weird to not say it st the start but it's probably just a slip up

[@joes579]

You guys should name your picks out loud for those of us who listen to your content while out and about 😅

[@DmitriyPoot]

That haircut is something else

[@sourman_be_jealous]

Honorable mention: Edge and Christian vs the Dudleys

[@LEGACY.2001]

Y’all should do best pre show matches

[@bayleyaustin2202]

I went to TLC 2014 with my dad and I remember afterwards, even my dad, who isn’t a wrestling fan AT ALL, was saying how damn good that IC title ladder match was!! It was a banger and one of my favorite ladder matches!

[@ErikRedin]

Was really excited for this video until I got two spots in and realized this must be a WWE only list. Weird not to put that in the title.

[@Alehud42]

Honourable mention to Becky vs Asuka at Royal Rumble 2019

[@riotd.r.8363]

Bret vs Owen Wrestlemania X will in my opinion always be the best PPV opening match.

[@bobmarshall8527]

Bret vs Owen clear number 1

[@demarcoadkins]

I always really enjoy watching these types of videos!

[@AzzyAkari]

Funny enough, KO vs. Dean Ambrose Rumble 16 got me into wrestling. Glad to see Tempest mention it on his list

[@theemeraldboars484]

The men's rumble had a cute moment where Chad and Xavier just wrestle in the corner, its just stuck with me.

[@crazybroncofan1990]

You can talk about chris benoit the wrestler and separate what he did at the end. Remember, he was a totally different person before all the CTE and Steroids rotted his brain.

[@RobertJW]

*you* can. Not everyone can. Especially his headbutts. I absolutely can't watch Benoit wrestling anymore.

[@CapLives]

I'm surprised this year's Rumble was on all their lists. It was very good. A lot of these I agree with. Personally, I would put The Usos vs. The Wyatts at Battleground 2014. I just love that match. Proof The Usos were awesome in facepaint.

[@TheStevieLavShow]

SO glad to see Y2J v Benjamin from Backlash. One of my favourite forgotten matches.

[@dbone3356]

Bret vs Owen will always be the best opening match to a PPV. But also, imagine either one of them vs Angle. Or even Danielson.

[@FunkoPopnLockn]

People always forget about the 2nd hell in a cell match probably because it was on raw, was a tag match, and wasn’t great.

[@ciannolan9714]

Becky vs Bianca from Summerslam 2022 is a fantastic opening match imo

[@christopherwiessner555]

4:15 I do that with the opener from Takeover. I love it. Haven’t finished the video. But I hope it’s here

[@kris102691]

“It’s my boy”. Keep Liam. he looks so happy doing these list with yall.

[@morganahart2575]

This inspired me to go back and watch the IC title match between harper and ziggler while I was sick in bed, and it's was as incredible as I remembered. It was interesting, and kind of depressing in retrospect to hear commentary say "these are two men that will carry us through the next decade," and saying that it was going to be Ziggler's breakout moment at the end of the match. What could, and should have been.

[@thesterlingstudies]

Kurt Angle is one of the best wrestlers to never be given a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

[@BigBullet-sk8vg]

The 10 best matches of 2023 pls

[@MarcoTalin12]

Liam gets my love for including Rey vs Eddie from WM21

[@nvc3334]

I’m a (little) bit older than these lads. But I absolutely loved the tag team elimination match at Survivor Series 1989.

[@HotshotShum]

I'm a huge Miz mark so I was surpised to not see either Miz/Rollins from Backlash or Miz/Rollins/Balor from WrestleMania

[@worldgoesround9]

Shawn Michaels not being on your best list is insane

[@Thechickensofdoom]

One the note of Pete's number 10 and the mention of one of the best debuts, I'd love to see y'all's TLC of the top 10 best debuts (across all companies)

[@GHAMVs]

Not reading what's on the boards yet again, gonna comment this until that's done as for anybody who doesn't look at the screen the entire time won't have an idea what you're talking about.

[@PowerPackers90]

Or you can you know watch the video.

[@mr_jbrown]

I’m driving

[@GHAMVs]

​@PowerPackers90 you'd be shcoked how few people actually look at the screen when consuming youtube content. I produce commercials for a living and the voice-over and the correct use of keywords are so important as so many people dont look at the screen when consuming content.

[@GHAMVs]

Just tryna give personal insight onto what might help the product. Could be fun background noise but sadly the fact I have work out out what their answers are is a shame. Do that, you could release it audio-only on podcast feeds and it'd work just as well. Thank you.

[@drexeldragon1723]

DX vs Legacy was in HIAC 7 years before Usos and New Day.

[@GarrettGamarra]

I’d love to see a TLC where you guys rank “10 best matches you’ve seen LIVE”

[@tjrocker94]

I was at HIAC 2017. That tag match was brutal and wonderful.

[@Twiztedgoalie]

So I take it no wcw ppvs were allowed. Because I feel ddp was in a lot of great openers.

[@Scaramanga7]

Hell, Rey Misterio, Jr. vs Psicosis, from Bash at the Beach 96.

[@fuckoff1099]

Thanks Pete

[@Swinchester83]

Usos vs New Day is this generations Hardys vs Edge and Christian. They’ve got more chemistry than a science fair

[@BengalBruin]

Agreed... Shelton should've been world champ

[@Vekoboy]

Suggestions: Best/Worst WrestleMania/SummerSlam Matches Best/Worst WrestleMania Main Events Favourite/Least favourite Male/Female Wrestlers

[@PepsiBoy3000]

The Cesaro match at Payback, the fatal fourway at Extreme Rules, and the two Ziggler matches at Backlash and No Mercy. Yeah, shit reign that.😒

[@davidyoung6649]

This was not a top 10 list. This was a WWE list.

[@shawnbelcher7135]

At 21 mins they d9 say wwe. They should've said it at the start but it's probably just an oversight

[@samhayden60]

I want to put it out there that Judgement Day 2000's opener was Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian Vs Rikishi and Too Cool. Whilst it may not be the best technical wrestling or greatest story or even hot rivalry, but it was exactly what an opening match on a PPV should be. It was fun, breezy and got the crowd happy and excited. I think this is something lost in recent years, every match doesn't have to be a main event style. A matches style should vary depending on it's place on the card.

[@andrewsd.r.7180]

14:06 coming here from 2024, he didn't jinx us

[@lebutzki]

It's cool to know that I was at 2 of Tempests top 10.

[@christopherlesiuk6172]

Indigo Disk just got released. Liam, any Pokemon fan already has more than enough content to watch.

[@c00pdaddy65]

Liam looks like saitama when he wore a wig

[@mozgang101]

Royal Rumble 2000 is still my favourite ppv of all time

[@alexandrenabais6053]

I honestly thought they would have Balor vs Seth vs Miz in their lists but ok...

[@irrsinnrainer]

Damn, that's a very good Top 3! Three absolutely amazing matches!

[@Flipty18]

no mentions of Seth vs. Miz (Backlash 2018) and Bobby vs. Drew (WM 37) :(

[@TheGamingWard]

Liam is a damn treasure

[@kingmichael5631]

I like the shield vs the new day at survivor series as a opening match

[@Npool36]

I love this video and having Ace trainer Liam

[@josephgrahamjr9292]

Thank you Ace Trainer Liam

[@samlittleton9980]

I perfer this on Wednesday I been waiting man!!!

[@tariqtelesford9045]

WrestleMania 19 with y2j and hbk why doesnt that get enough love. Y2J is my personal goat

[@BigSmokeJitsu]

They got Luke’s evil twin with hair sitting in for him.

[@therealslimshanky4393]

Reigns Vs Uso inside of HIAC 2020 is my personal pick

[@the.alphaartist]

Funny how this is called PPV opening matches and all I see is only WWE matches.

[@traviswilbur6565]

Zach Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler

[@jordandonald7508]

Sorry tempest, dx vs legacy was the first tag team hell in a cell

[@leonzaduncan2438]

People like to say the Miz was reign good, because it was good.

[@markula_4040]

Calling Bret, Kurt, and Bryan the best wrestlers (or at least technical wrestlers) of all time is interesting yet kind of sad because they've never faced each other but it was possible because their careers overlapped just a little. Bret and Kurt were both active during 1999-2000 while Kurt and Bryan were both active for quite a bit longer than that but never really in the same company (until Kurt's last run where a match with Bryan wouldn't live up to the hype our minds would create).

[@SJSpecial]

How has nobody mentioned the Seth vs Miz vs Finn WM34

[@justinarnold6661]

Good mornimg from america (its 5am for me

[@JG603YouTube]

Surprised no Finn/Seth/Miz from WM34 Has to be #11

[@jshawnjohnson5288]

Tempest: In Ring General 🤭 Me: Excellent man in the mask👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@deandrereyez2976]

Liam looks like he’s wearing a toupee

[@kryskendall555]

Please do Top 10. When Wrestler Staredowns and gets goosebumps AEW & wwe 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@sashogenchev9700]

I miss Tempe's

[@zakarijenkins341]

Yo guys what we think of strong vs riddle form NXT 25. It was hard hitting great crowd and had peak Maroe, Nigel, and ngl Percy Watson

[@cruption3]

Sorry guys, but where was Chris Jericho vs Eddie Kingston at Revolution 2022

[@RisingJericho]

Liam looks like a Photoshopped Luke

[@Redlineshadow29]

11:00 instead of saying "EL RING GENERAL" you can learn and say "EL GENERAL DEL RING" in spanish

[@KaneCarnageX]

Let's do Top 10 PPV NAMES. Not the big 4

[@czynx3196]

Top 10 debut matches....

[@Theotheralt2]

And chairs