Ten Best Chris Jericho moments of the 2000s
(By PWTorch reader Adam)

(10) Jericho pie-faces Stephanie McMahon - Raw is War - August 6, 2001.

(9) Jericho breaks the Intercontinental Championship record - Unforgiven - September 12, 2004. Jericho's win over Christian at Unforgiven 2004 may not be one of the most well-remembered matches, but it was in this ladder match that Jericho broke the record for most Intercontinental Titles.

(8) Jericho wins the WCW Championship - No Mercy - October 21, 2001.

(7) Jericho low-blows Shawn Michaels after WrestleMania loss - WrestleMania XIX - March 30, 2003. This was an amazing precursor to what these two men would do five years later. The match itself was an instant classic and the aftermath of Jericho low-blowing HBK was one of my favorite Jericho images.

(6) Jericho saves us and returns - Raw - November 19, 2007.

(5) Jericho bloodies Ric Flair - Raw - March 23, 2009. This was the last great act of violence of the 14+ era of WWE programming. This attack is what made Jericho's tirade on the Legends credible going into WrestleMania 25.

(4) Jericho becomes WWF Champion...or does he? - Raw is War - April 17, 2000. This was the biggest catastrophe for any Jerichoholic watching at the time. I'll never forget the feeling when I saw the three count go down and the crowd erupted in shock. I always wished an audible was called and that title reign was kept in the books.

(3) Jericho & Benoit win the WWF Tag Team Championships - Raw is War - May 21, 2001. Jericho and Benoit were thrown together at the last minute after a year-long feud to defeat power-hungry super-heels Triple H and Stone Cold. This match was the classic tag team formula at its best.

(2) Jericho becomes first ever Undisputed Champion - Vengeance - December 9, 2001. This is important due to the history aspect. Jericho's matches with Rock and Austin weren't instant classics by any stretch, but the fact that Jericho won the first Undisputed Title was a historic event.

(1) Jericho smashes Shawn Michaels through the JeriTrion 6000 - Raw - June 9, 2008. And the best Jericho moment of the decade was what kicked his awesome feud with Shawn Michaels into overdrive. Jericho hosted the Highlight Reel in true babyface form only to do an instant 180 and attack Shawn Michaels to begin the "Eye for an Eye" storyline. Truly a great moment showing Jericho's complete range as a performer.

===

Ten Worst WWE Gimmicks of the 2000s
(By PWTorch reader Erik McNeal)

(10) Kofi Kingston’s smiling fake-Jamaican
(9) The Brian Kendrick’s wimpy faux-rockstar
(8) Chavo Guerrero as Vickie's gopher/servant
(7) John Cena’s unstoppable, never-lose persona
(6) R-Truth’s “Pretty Ricky”
(5) King Booker
(4) Stephanie McMahon's whiny rich girl
(3) Triple H in 2002-05 (racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and...Katie Vick)
(2a) Stone Cold as a psychopathic heel
(2b) Hornswoggle
(1) DX Army c. 2009
Honorable Mention: Chavo as Kerwin White, Mordecai, Paul Burchill as a Pirate, Vito as a cross-dresser, Kane hearing voices

===

Ten Best WWE Feuds of the 200s
(by PWTorch reader Andrew Fialkow)

(10) Paul London vs. Akio (Jimmy Wang) - Velocity special.

(9) Chris Jericho vs. Christian leading to WrestleMania 20.

(8) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle. Benoit taking on Angle was the more-promoted version of London vs. Akio. Submission matches, World Title matches, and pure wrestling classics was part of the feud that spanned 2001 until Angle's departure in 2006.

(7) Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H. Unfortunately, their excellent series of matches in 2003 and 2004 seemed to be long forgotten in 2009 as they played best buddies doing comedy on Raw every week.

(6) Mick Foley vs. Randy Orton. This feud had one purpose - make Randy Orton a superstar. It was Foley's best work in years and grabbed the attention of many wrestling fans leading to the fantastic hardcore match at Backlash 2004.

(5) Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle. The build-up to WrestleMania 21 was very exciting, but they relied heavily on comedy. After Mania, things became much more heated, leading to even better matches between the two at Vengeance, as well as an Iron Man Match on a three-hour Raw Homecoming show. This was the two best wrestlers in WWE at the time competing for glory and supremacy.

(4) Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero. The best way to sum up this feud is to sit down and watch their two-out-of-three falls match on Smackdown in September 2004.

(3) Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels. Part 1 leading up to WrestleMania 19 was amazing. What puts this feud so high on this list is part 2 from 2008. They had many great matches, as well as many great promos. Like his feud with Christian, Jericho took a small issue and turned it into something huge.

(2) Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boys vs. The Hardy Boys. The series of matches between these two teams defined the ladder match, defined great tag team action, and cemented the legacy of all six men involved. The plethora of great matches, especially at WrestleMania 17, pushes this so high up.

(1) Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle. Smackdown 2003 was the best wrestling show in decade. This feud is why. WrestleMania 19, Summerslam 2003, their Iron Man Match, and on and on and on. Lesnar and Angle set the standard of what a pro wrestling feud should be. When it all wrapped up in Japan a few years ago, that put the exclamation mark on the best wrestling feud of this decade.

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In the 1990s in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter, we used to run weekly Reader Top Ten Lists on any subject. Some were serious, some were irreverent, others were bitingly sarcastic. This week we are inviting PWTorch reader to submit Top Ten Lists related either to 2009 or the decade of the 2000s. They can be on anything, but here are a few random ideas to give you an idea of what these lists might be based on...

-Ten Most Underutilized Tag Teams of the 2000s
-Ten Most Unintentionally Funny People of the 2000s
-Ten Worst Vince McMahon Personality Traits of the 2000s
-Ten Best Things About Being a Pro Wrestling Fan in 2009
-Ten Best PPVs of the 2000s
-Ten Worst Haircuts of the 2000s
-Ten Worst Ring Outfits of the 2000s
-Ten Worst Indy Wrestling Names of the 2000s
-Ten Best Announcers of the 2000s
-Ten Best Facial Expressions from Lauren in 2009
-Ten Wrestlers I'd Least Like To Be Stuck on an Elevator With from the 2000s
-Ten Biggest Controversies of the 2000s
-Ten Biggest Out-Of-Ring Scandals of the 2000s
-Ten Biggest Egos on Display
-Ten Best DVD Releases of the 2000s

And so on... We will run Top Ten Lists throughout Christmas to New Years. You can email them to pwtorch@gmail.com. If you're willing, please format with numbers listed like this (10) and please begin at 10 and count down to 1. So your list would look like this...

(10) Jim Ross
(9) Michael Hayes
(8) Eric Bischoff
...
(1) Shane McMahon

[Torch art and photos (c) PWTorch.com]

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