Wrestling shows have been filled with meaningless matches for decades. So often this filler follows a basic formula of heel vs baby face, with no storylines before or after and little character development.

I was trolling through YouTube yesterday, and stumbled across this gem from the mid-2000s:



It got me thinking: What other great meaningless TV matches are worth a rewatch purely for the enjoyment of pro rasslin’?

Outside of my nightly routine of praying for Brock/Goldberg IV, thinking of ways to get Akio/London over as the Tajiri/Super Crazy of SmackDown 04 has been one of my go-to thoughts when it comes to Pro Wrestling.

A couple of my go-tos.

Psichosis vs. Steven Regal Nitro December 1996 - quite possibly Psichosis best television performance on Nitro.

New Brood vs. Edge & Christian SmackDown October 7th 1999 - The rebound apron DDT off the apron! Awesome sprint.

And because I know nobody else watched it.

John Morrison vs. Matt Riddle from SmackDown recently. One of Morrison's best performances in a WWE ring, period. Better than anything he dished up against Punk, a better in-ring performance than the parkour match against The Miz.

Jul 19, 2020 18:22:49 GMT Big Pete said:

New Brood vs. Edge & Christian SmackDown October 7th 1999 - The rebound apron DDT off the apron! 

I love how that rebound apron DDT has stuck with both of us for all these years.

*Started writing a wordier post with explanations for these matches. Got distracted. Then lost it. Anyway, here are 8 tremendous throwaway television matches.

Underfaker vs. Tatanka: Superstars 7/9/94
Ric Flair vs. Alex Wright: WCW Worldwide 3/2/96
Eddie Guerrero vs. The Barbarian: WCW Nitro 6/24/96
Taka Michinoku vs. Christopher Daniels: Shotgun 9/19/98
Raven vs. Kaz Hayashi: WCW Worldwide 3/20/99
Acolytes vs. Mideon & Viscera: Jakked 11/6/99
John Morrison vs. Evan Bourne: WWECW 4/14/09
John Cena vs. Cesaro: Raw 2/17/14

EDIT: These kind of threads always tend to take me down the rabbit hole. Now I'm watching Sal Sincere hidden gems. Sal vs. Aldo from Superstars 9/1/96 still rules. Very crisp. Very good. They cram a lot into two and a half minutes.

Up Next: the Sal/Michaels Superstars "classic?"

Baker is that Bourne/Morrison the one where I think someone was on the ropes and they did a crossbody through the outside? Whatever reason I have a vague memory of that spot. WWECW was just great throwaway TV.

Jul 20, 2020 22:33:21 GMT @ness said:

Baker is that Bourne/Morrison the one where I think someone was on the ropes and they did a crossbody through the outside? Whatever reason I have a vague memory of that spot. WWECW was just great throwaway TV.

Yep. Just checked. Excellent memory. I didn't even recall that spot. 

You knew you were in for some pretty high flying with Morrison & Bourne. But what made that match memorable for me is how hard hitting it was. They were really laying in the shots. Being a fellow Morrison fan, Big Pete should check it out. 

Melina vs Alicia Fox

Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer had a Singapore Cane match on an episode of Raw in 2002.

It was very random and not a “good” match in the literal sense, but for some reason I really enjoyed it and still remember it after all this time.

Lance Storm vs The Rock is the one that always comes to mind when this topic is brought up.



Also this amazing Triple Threat from Smackdown's glory days.

Serious Answer now -

Rob Van Dam vs Triple H, World Heavyweight Championship, Raw, June 2003.

I don't know if a World Title match can be considered 'throwaway' but it didn't have a lot of build to it (that I remember), like how back in the day you'd have random world title matches. Anyway, the crowd was pretty hyped for it and seemed like everything was going RVD's way but it was your usual Evolution screwjob...until Bischoff arrived and made it a No DQ match on the spot giving RVD another chance, then RVD hits the Van Daminator on the floor so Bisch makes it Falls Count Anywhere when RVD can't get HHH in the ring. Eventually ends on the stage with a DDT from HHH. But I just enjoyed the randomness of it all, especially with Bisch doing a mini face turn for the night against HHH because he was trying to make his co-GM night better than Austin's.

Jul 24, 2020 12:50:22 GMT kingoftheworld said:

Serious Answer now -

Rob Van Dam vs Triple H, World Heavyweight Championship, Raw, June 2003.

I don't know if a World Title match can be considered 'throwaway' but it didn't have a lot of build to it (that I remember), like how back in the day you'd have random world title matches. Anyway, the crowd was pretty hyped for it and seemed like everything was going RVD's way but it was your usual Evolution screwjob...until Bischoff arrived and made it a No DQ match on the spot giving RVD another chance, then RVD hits the Van Daminator on the floor so Bisch makes it Falls Count Anywhere when RVD can't get HHH in the ring. Eventually ends on the stage with a DDT from HHH. But I just enjoyed the randomness of it all, especially with Bisch doing a mini face turn for the night against HHH because he was trying to make his co-GM night better than Austin's.

Feel like I remember this, and remember loving it. From May-ish 2002 through June 2003, RVD has random throwaway world title matches on RAW with Taker, HBK, and HHH that all could've/should've arguably been PPV bouts.

Jul 24, 2020 12:50:22 GMT kingoftheworld said:

Serious Answer now -

Rob Van Dam vs Triple H, World Heavyweight Championship, Raw, June 2003.

I don't know if a World Title match can be considered 'throwaway' but it didn't have a lot of build to it (that I remember), like how back in the day you'd have random world title matches. Anyway, the crowd was pretty hyped for it and seemed like everything was going RVD's way but it was your usual Evolution screwjob...until Bischoff arrived and made it a No DQ match on the spot giving RVD another chance, then RVD hits the Van Daminator on the floor so Bisch makes it Falls Count Anywhere when RVD can't get HHH in the ring. Eventually ends on the stage with a DDT from HHH. But I just enjoyed the randomness of it all, especially with Bisch doing a mini face turn for the night against HHH because he was trying to make his co-GM night better than Austin's.

I actually remember this match, it was a fun affair. I knew RVD wouldn't win but being such a mark for the guy and generally ignorant about booking at the time, I held out a sliver of hope that he might go over.

It's actually very well remembered now and I don't know if you'd consider it a throwaway per se, but Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy on Raw in 2002 is still my favorite WWE television match. Also, Cena's debut match against Angle on Smackdown was a fun contest. I still have that episode on VHS somewhere... weird seeing him in those dorky baby blue tights, but still better than him looking as if he's trying to be a hip 50-year old dressing like he's in his 20's these days. 

Jul 24, 2020 12:50:22 GMT kingoftheworld said:

Serious Answer now -

Rob Van Dam vs Triple H, World Heavyweight Championship, Raw, June 2003.

I don't know if a World Title match can be considered 'throwaway' but it didn't have a lot of build to it (that I remember), like how back in the day you'd have random world title matches. Anyway, the crowd was pretty hyped for it and seemed like everything was going RVD's way but it was your usual Evolution screwjob...until Bischoff arrived and made it a No DQ match on the spot giving RVD another chance, then RVD hits the Van Daminator on the floor so Bisch makes it Falls Count Anywhere when RVD can't get HHH in the ring. Eventually ends on the stage with a DDT from HHH. But I just enjoyed the randomness of it all, especially with Bisch doing a mini face turn for the night against HHH because he was trying to make his co-GM night better than Austin's.

Is this the match where the spike DDT happened? Your description made me think of it. No clue about the match itself, but that's a spot I'll always remember.