WWE’s 25 Greatest Pay-Per-Views of All Time

credit: wwe.com

4. One Night Stand – 2005

For those wrestling fans that were either too young or have never had the chance to see it, ECW was unquestionably one of the most fun organizations to be a fan of in the history of wrestling.  In a time that the wrestling world was ruled by two major organizations who battled each other weekly for supremacy with two very similar products, ECW was an escape for the more avid wrestling fan who wanted to see what made wrestling so entertaining: the violence.  Sure, ECW was home to some amazingly talented superstars, who actually used that company as a springboard to stardom, but from 1994 until 2001, if you wanted down and dirty wrestling, ECW was your place to go and the cult following around it was like a society of its own.

So when the company was bought out by the WWE in 2001, it was a sad day for its fans, though not exactly a shocker.  The company had been running on fumes for a while and it seemed like just a matter of time.  Some of ECW’s top talent was picked up and became very successful in the WWE but so many fans still thirsted for the extreme days.  So when the WWE decided to recapture the old ECW magic and scheduled a PPV for the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, ECW’s old stomping grounds, the wrestling world took notice and it would become one of the most anticipated events ever.

The night of the show came and went it seemed like everybody got exactly what they wanted.  There were 3 outstanding matches.  Fellow Canadians and former tag partners Chris Jericho and Lance Storm kicked off the show with a terrific technical match.  Later on, Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka rekindled their old violent rivalry in what was the match of the night.  And old mainstays The Dudley Boyz, The Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer battled it in a tag match.

But this night was not just about the matches.  It was a night that celebrated what was once one of the most popular, yet underdog companies of all-time and the passion from its fans.  With only 2,500 in attendance that night, the place sounded like it could’ve been 10 times that.  The WWE did the same type of show a year later and although it was good, it didn’t rival what happened on this night.  In a throwback to what some would consider better times, the ECW legend managed to grow 3 years after it went out of business.  Breathtaking stuff.