WWE 100 Greatest Matches Review

Recently, I purchased a copy of WWE's latest book of the 100 Greatest Matches of all-time. The concept intrigued me from the moment that I saw the Cover. It also made me think about the Top 100 Matches Countdown that they did on WWE.com. The Countdown that they did on the Website was interesting yet insightful, with a combination of matches from WWE to NWA, WCW, WCCW, etc., with quotes from fans and writers. However, it did raise many eyebrows because of the fact that the ONLY Women's match on the Countdown was Charlotte vs. Natalya from an NXT event. So are they telling me that Trish Stratus and Lita did not have matches that were up to par? Whatever. I was expecting this Book to be very similar. However, there would be some surprises and rather not so surprising differences compared to the WWE website:

• All of the matches are only from WWE History: If you are looking for your fix of Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat, this book is not for you. Instead, go to the WWE Network. If you are not a subscriber, it is just for the great price of $9.99. (Mick Foley Cheap Pop). When they say Greatest Matches in "WWE History", that is EXACTLY what they mean. No Sting matches to be found. The furthest that this book goes back to is the match where Bruno Sammartino defeated "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers to win his first WWWF Title (5/17/1963). This book also has the match where Bruno lost the title to "Superstar" Billy Graham. The ONLY Dusty Rhodes match that you will ever find is his Texas Death Match with "Superstar" Billy Graham (10/24/1977). Clearly, Dusty's WWF/E Polka Dot years were nowhere near what he did down South in NWA. It looks like they needed to add Dusty in as a tribute to keep up with the theme. Other maches include Bob Backlund vs. Stan Hansen in a Steel Cage match for the then WWF Championship (4/6/1981). Stan's best work was in Japan, but they probably felt that he should be in considering his recent Hall of Fame Induction. For crying out loud, the book even includes Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson. How could you talk about WWE History without the man that wrote most of it's history? Hulk Hogan himself. The book even includes the match where he defeated Iron Sheik to win his first World Title in MSG. Other matches include his matches with the likes of Andre, Savage, Piper, and Warrior. Enough said.  
• The Addition of Chris Benoit: Even though he is a pariah and a blight to WWE History and will NEVER join the HOF, Chris Benoit surprisingly has a match in this book. It looks like WWE and the publishers did this to make the obsessed Benoit fans shut up. Benoit only has one match in this collection of great matches, and it is NOT his WrestleMania XX match (his shining moment). Instead, it is his Ladder Match with Chris Jericho at Royal Rumble 2001 for the Intercontinental Championship. As the book was put together, they were very strategic by not showing Benoit's face and only highlighting one match. If they included his crowning moment at WrestleMania XX, that would send a message that they are trying to Champion him in spite of what he did. The match itself is too tainted and WWE did not want to touch that with a 30-foot pole. 
• No Rankings: None of the matches in this Book are ranked. Doing a list about ANYTHING can be a difficult task, let alone a Top 100 List. That in itself is daunting and mentally exhausting. Instead, some matches receive awards that were voted by fans, superstars, etc (Greatest Match, Favorite Match, etc). Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 25 won the Award for being voted Greatest Match of All-Time by WWE.com. Savage vs Steamboat, and Shawn vs Razor (WM X) also won Awards. 
• More than one Women's Match: It was great to see that WWE gave more shine to Women's Matches. I would also go on as to say these matches were better than Nattie vs. Charlotte. The matches included Trish vs. Lita from Unforgiven 2006 (Trish's Retirement Match), Trish vs. Mickie James (WM 22), as well as Sasha Banks vs Bayley from NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. That NXT: Brooklyn match won the PWI Match of the Year. 
• Sketchy Match Selection: With the Great matches that are included, there are some that are missing that you would expect to be in there. For example, no Cena vs HBK from WM 23, or HBK vs Taker from WM 26. Instead, you have Paige vs Emma, Ziggler vs Bryan and USO's vs Wyatts to name a few. Not exactly the ideal matches when talking about the "Greatest" matches in history. I'm guessing that they don't want to overexpose certain wrestlers that have more than one great match, so they are probably trying to spread out the variety. 

Overall, this book is still a great addition to any wrestling fan's collection. Just remember to take whatever WWE makes with a grain of salt. Though politics make certain selections questionable, the overall package is a classic. 

I give this 4 out of 5. As far as a belt ranking, I give this 4 out of 5 Shawn Michaels WWF Championship Belts.