10 Most Unexpectedly Great WWE Matches-5

The 1-2-3 Kid had already made a name for himself by this point, after upsetting Razor Ramon on Raw the year before, and morphing into one of the most popular underdog workers on the WWF roster. He even had a really brief reign as a Tag Team Champion, along with Marty Jannetty, six months prior. Even with that said, he wasn’t on WWF Champion Bret Hart’s level. He wasn’t even close to it. That’s not an insult to The Kid. That’s simply pointing out the gap between where Kid was on the proverbial totem pole, and where Bret was. Going into the match, you figured it would last a few minutes, that Kid would get a flashy move or two in, but that Bret would get the easy victory. Well, 20 minutes and numerous near falls later, Kid had won fans over for his performance. Bret did, as well, because he made The Kid look like a million bucks. Not only were they near falls, but they were believable near falls, which is always the key. Fans watching legitimately believed that The 1-2-3 Kid could have become the new WWF Champion that night. There isn’t really a comparison to today’s WWE scene, but picture someone like Adam Rose or Tyson Kidd getting a match on Raw against the WWE Champion and taking the champ to their limit in a 20-minute classic where you actually thought the title could change hands. Kid’s career took off from there. He would go on to win a title with the WWF on eight more occasions, on top of two more title reigns in WCW, and he would be a key member of both Degeneration X and the nWo. You have to think that none of it would be possible without this match and his performance in it.