Top 10 WWE Pay-Per-Views of the decade (Part-1)
With 2019 coming to an end, we say goodbye to the second decade of the 21st century. It has been a thoroughly eventful decade for WWE to say the least. From WWE forever changing the viewer's experience by introducing the WWE Network to the creation of NXT, these last 10 years have seen it all.
With huge milestones being achieved almost every year, WWE has produced some iconic and legendary moments this decade. CM Punk began the decade by becoming the most unlikely face of the company, a feat that Daniel Bryan repeated three years later. John Cena and The Rock shattered records with their back to back WrestleMania main events.
We saw the rise of Roman Reigns as the new face of the company and followed him on his journey that saw him beat Leukemia and make an incredible comeback. We also witnessed the Women's Revolution as Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey became the first women to main event WrestleMania.
Here we will be taking a look at the best PPVs WWE had to offer in these 10 years. WWE has produced 133 PPVs in this decade with the 2019 Tables Ladders and Chairs PPV yet to happen.
There have been several 'Network Specials' like The Beast in the East and Starrcade which have been ignored as they don't technically qualify as PPVs. Also, NXT TakeOver events haven't been considered since they are Network Specials as well and, to be honest, they would have taken up half the spots anyway.
Honorable Mentions
Before we kick off the main list, let's check out some PPV events which almost made it to No.10 on the list but didn't quite make the cut.
Payback 2013
Payback 2013 was an unexpectedly awesome show. A couple of months after WrestleMania, the event had a few solid matches. Ryback and John Cena tore each other apart in a '3-stages of hell match' in the main event. On the undercard, CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho in his first appearance since WrestleMania match in front of his Chicago home crowd, The Shield (Rollins and Reigns) defended their Tag titles against Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan and finally, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio pulled off an amazing double turn in the World Heavyweight Title match.
Great Balls of Fire
When WWE announced the Great Balls of Fire PPV, no one assumed that it would be one of the best shows of the year. Placed after Money in the Bank and two months before SummerSlam, it was quickly given a B-show status. But then WWE stacked the match card including a Brock Lesnar Title defense against Samoa Joe. The resulting PPV was a thoroughly entertaining one with Lesnr vs Joe and Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman being the main highlights of the evening.
Money in the Bank 2016
Money in the Bank is usually one of the most exciting shows of the year. The 2016 version proved it again by putting up an amazing show. AJ Styles and John Cena had their first-ever match in a WWE ring which was received well despite the dodgy finish. Dean Ambrose then won the MITB Ladder match with just one hour left on the show.
Finally, a returning Seth Rollins shocked everyone by beating Roman Reigns clean for the WWE Championship. But the night didn't end there as Dean Ambrose who had won the briefcase barely an hour ago cashed in his contract to end the night as WWE Champion.