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2004's Match of the Year
The SLAM! Readers and SLAM! Wrestling staff make their year-end picks
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  Benoit and Guerrero hug at WMXX.
-- photo by Colin Vassallo 
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What was the best match of 2004? There was hardly a consensus between our writers and our readers, but they were mostly in the same ballpark.
What We Thought
Jason Clevett - HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit,
Wrestlemania XX. One of the best triple-threat matches ever, filled with tense moments,
emotion and the right ending. When Triple-H tapped and Benoit was crowned
champion, everything was right in the world (at least for one night). There have
been some very good matches this year but none of them had the emotion that
this stellar bout had.
Yves Leroux - HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit,
Wrestlemania XX. Although I am not a fan of three way matches, this one was a
keeper.
Bob Kapur - HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit, Wrestlemania
XX. One of the best-executed matches of the year, I was on the edge of my
seat from bell to bell.
Corey David Lacroix - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (NOAH) July 10,
Tokyo Dome. This was just magic. Both competitors had already achieved
immortality within the world of professional wrestling, and with this contest, they
were elevated to godhood. This was the most emotional and physically grueling
match I have seen in some time. A no-brainer for match of the year.
Jon Waldman - HHH vs. Chris Benoit, Iron Man, RAW. While the
'Mania match was excellent, I've always had a preference for the TV matches
because you don't expect as much out of them going in. This match, worked
extremely well, especially when so many thought it would pale in comparison to Brock
Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle in 2003. Both men proved themselves to be legends that
night.
What Our Readers Thought:
4. Match of the Year
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Graph |
Count |
Percent |
| Chris Benoit vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels (WMXX) |
 |
514 |
35.5 |
| Chris Benoit vs. HHH (Iron Man Raw) |
|
151 |
10.4 |
| Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (Backlash) |
|
133 |
9.2 |
| Six Sides of Steel: XXX vs. AMW (Turning Point) |
|
108 |
7.5 |
| Eddie Guererro vs. Kurt Angle (WMXX) |
|
89 |
6.2 |
| Chris Jericho vs. Christian (WMXX) |
|
78 |
5.4 |
| Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Hell in the Cell Badd Blood) |
|
48 |
3.3 |
| Royal Rumble Match 2004 |
|
43 |
3.0 |
| Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (No Way Out) |
|
38 |
2.6 |
| Team Canada vs. Team TNA (8-man tag with first Pyramid of Doom) |
|
30 |
2.1 |
| Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Jericho (Taboo Tuesday) |
|
29 |
2.0 |
| Eddie Guererro vs. Kurt Angle (Summerslam) |
|
24 |
1.7 |
| Ultimate X 2:Chris Sabin vs Chris Daniels vs Low Ki vs Michael Shane |
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17 |
1.2 |
| Ultimate X 3 - Michael Shane vs Frankie Kazarian vs AJ Styles (July 28) |
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16 |
1.1 |
| Abyss vs. AJ Styles (Tables match Feb. 25) |
|
8 |
0.6 |
| Styles vs Shane vs Kazarian vs Skipper vs Amazing Red vs Sabin (June 30) |
|
6 |
0.4 |
| Other |
|
68 |
4.7 |
| -- Blank -- |
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44 |
3.0 |
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