These are my personal picks for the top 5 influential matches on the wrestling industry of all time:

5. Shane Douglas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio, NWA World Title Tournament Final, August 27th, 1994

Shane wins the title, throws it down, NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling dies, and Extreme Championship Wrestling is born, a little company so beloved and imitated that it was actually brought back 5 years after it went bankrupt.

4. Lex Luger, Randy Savage & Sting vs. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & A Mystery Partner, WCW Bash at the Beach 1996, July 7th, 1996

Here, you have the formation of the New World Order, and at the time, the most shocking heel turn of all time. This is the angle that nearly KILLED the WWF.

3. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Title, Survivor Series 1997, November 9th, 1997

And here's half of what saved it. At the time, you would think this match would be influential because of Bret Hart's defection, but through no to little fault of Bret's, WCW completely pissed him away. I still say if he could have just gotten over the whole "screwed" thing, he could have seen WWE actually let him go when he CLEARLY never really lost the title... even Hogan clearly laid down before he left.

What this is influential for is that this directly led to the infamous "Bret screwed Bret" interview which created the character of Mr. McMahon, which is still drawing money for WWE to this day. Which leads to...

2. Steve Austin vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts, King of the Ring Tournament Finals, King of the Ring 1996, June 23rd, 1996

The birth of Austin 3:16 and the start of the big ride for Stone Cold Steve Austin.

It wasn't supposed to be anything that made him big and popular. Austin was a heel, and they wanted to keep him that way despite the fans' cheering for him. So as a last ditch effort, they have him beat Jake Roberts, who (at the time) was professing to have found Christ, and have him say the quote as an insult to his religion. You can see Dok Hendrix (Michael Hayes) giving the interview and backing away in revulsion at the statement.

But it just made him more popular than ever, and there were just a ton of Austin 3:16 signs at the next show, so they just made the shirts and started printing their own money... especially Austin, who had the foresight to put a hefty share of merchandise rights into his contracts.

The NWO angle nealy killed the WWE. Austin/McMahon saved it. But it wouldn't be what it was in the first place without...

1. Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik for the WWF Title, January 23rd, 1984

The birth of Hulkamania.

This changed everything.

Hogan had just recently had a small part in Rocky III and Vince parlayed that minor celebrity, essentially stealing him from the AWA and starting this wave of Hulkamania. on the Ultimate Hulk Hogan Anthology, a lot of superstars talk about how being fans of Hogan was what got them to want to be wrestlers. John Cena in particular said THIS match was the first match he ever watched and it made him a fan, and helped him bond with his parents as they watched together.

Apparently though, Verne Gagne was less than happy with Hogan's desertion/theft. The Iron Sheik tells a story on both the Hogan Anthology and the Greatest Wrestling Superstars of the 80s DVD (in fact, it seems to be the same footage, except the 80s DVD is subtitled since Sheik has a heavy accent) that Gagne offered him $100,000 (a lot of money in 1984 terms) to break Hogan's leg during the match and come to the AWA with the WWF belt. Sheik refused on the basis that it would violate his religious beliefs, particularly because the elder Vince McMahon always treated him well.

That's my five. Comments?