5 best WWE PPV matches from the city of Chicago

Over the course of these past few years, the city of Chicago, Illinois has developed a rather very interesting relationship with the Professional Wrestling industry. Often referred to as Chi-Town, the city of Chicago has been a host to several top wrestling promotions around the globe, including the biggest wrestling company in the world, the WWE.

It is almost every single year that WWE tends to host at least one annual pay-per-view event in Chicago, excluding a few weekly tapings of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. However, that being said, the WWE is once again set to host another big event in Chicago, Illinois this year and as a matter of fact, Vince McMahon’s promotion will make their return to the City of Chicago, later this month as part of the 2018 Money in the Bank ladder match.

Elsewhere, the city of Chicago will also be the host for this year’s UFC 225 event, as hometown hero CM Punk makes his return to the Octagon and in addition, Chicago will also be the home for the first edition of Cody Rhodes’ self-financed All In wrestling event.

Therefore, in overall, the year 2018 promises to be a major and historic year for Chi-Town and with that being said, here are 5 best WWE pay-per-view matches from the city of Chicago.

---

#5. AJ Lee vs Kaitlyn (WWE Divas Championship match)- Payback, 2013

Kaitlyn vs AJ Lee from 2013

This was the first ever WWE Payback event and there is definitely no doubt to the fact that the WWE did a pretty good job in building this entire match card, featuring some absolutely amazing singles and tag team matches.

The event featured the likes of John Cena, who defended his WWE Title in a back-and-forth Three Stages of Hell match against Ryback. On the undercard, we witnessed Dean Ambrose retain his WWE US Championship against Kane, whereas, his fellow Shield brethren Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defended their WWE Tag Team Titles against the dynamic duo of Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. Hometown hero CM Punk also had a very formidable outing against Chris Jericho, when the two collided in a solid one-on-one match.

However, one major thing that is to be noted is the fact that WWE’s Women’s Division was slowly and steadily starting to build itself and finally come into pieces and on a historic night like the first Payback PPV, then-WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn and AJ Lee produced a match for the ages that will be talked about forever in WWE history.

AJ and Kaitlyn had a solid 10-minute match at the Allstate Arena, but it is the intriguing storyline that turned this entire rivalry into a killer feud. Both Kaitlyn and AJ Lee initially started out as training partners, who went on to form a tag team and eventually had a falling out with each other, that subsequently led to this stellar back-and-forth match between the two ladies with AJ coming out on top after making her opponent submit to the Black Widow Submission and this also marked the beginning of the legendary Divas Title reign for AJ Lee.

#4. CM Punk vs Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight)- Extreme Rules, 2012

Punk goes for the elbow drop on Jericho

Earlier that year, CM Punk and Chris Jericho had a fairly decent match at WrestleMania 28, but it is their Chicago Street Fight from Extreme Rules, 2012, which remains as one of the best matches of this stellar rivalry. In the build-up to this feud, Chris Jericho took his heel mannerism to an absolutely vicious level when he publicly disclosed the ‘alcoholism’ issues of CM Punk’s father and even provoked the straight edge champ’s sister’s substance abuse.

The two men eventually went to war in a brutal Chicago Street Fight, in order to decide who truly deserved ‘The Best in the World’ moniker and at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view both guys turned up in classic street fight clothes, as both the champ and the challenger were seen sporting some pretty unusual jeans along with their regular wrestling boots.

Jericho and Punk put up a classic 25-minute warfare and had their fair share of major big bumps throughout the match, but by the end of the match, it was Punk who came out on top after connecting with a brutal flying elbow throughout the Spanish announce table, followed up by a brutal GTS.

#3. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules Match)- Extreme Rules, 2012

Brock Lesnar vs John Cena from Extreme Rules

Brock Lesnar’s return to the WWE in 2012 was definitely one of the biggest mark-out moments in WWE history and following his return to the company for the first time in almost a decade, Lesnar had only one solitary goal in his mind, which was to maul and destroy the biggest star of the company at that point of time in the form of John Cena.

For his first match back in the WWE, Lesnar went head-to-head against The Leader of The Cenation, who was coming off the biggest loss in his Pro Wrestling career against The Rock at WrestleMania 28. The build-up to this match was absolutely intense and we prior to their initial showdown at Extreme Rules, we also saw ‘The Beast Incarnate’ engage in a heated brawl with Cena, as the former bloodied the latter on Raw few weeks ago.

Lesnar and Cena’s showdown at Extreme Rules was simply brutal, as the former dominated the 16-time WWE World Champion right from the get-go and used his typical ground and pound style that saw Cena bleed early on in the match. Brock Lesnar dominated the contest through and through in the opening stages, in classic Lesnar fashion, however, Cena did manage to ignite a comeback into this match as he used his trademark Word Life chain from his Doctor Of Thuganomics days and took maximum advantage of it.

In the end, Cena scored a huge pinfall win over the returning Brock Lesnar, after hitting a devastating AA on the latter on the steel steps in the middle of the ring.

#2. Shield vs Evolution (No Holds Barred Elimination Match)- Payback, 2014

The Shield stands victorious

The storyline between The Shield and Evolution was very interesting, to say the least. The trio of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns were pretty much dominating the entire WWE scene and were at the top of their game almost four ago, whereas, nearly a decade ago, Evolution had a similar run in the WWE, when the four-man faction of Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair ran roughshod through the entire WWE roster.

Coming into this contest, The Shield was fresh off a huge win over Evolution from Extreme Rules, 2014 and this No Holds Barred Elimination Match was no different either. Despite Evolution getting the early offense into this match, Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns subsequently sparked a comeback into the match and proved that their opponents were no match for the dynamic trio of The Shield, who eventually picked up a huge win by eliminating all three representatives of Evolution, without suffering a single casualty.

This was pretty much the fitting end to The Shield’s initial journey on the main roster, as the next night on Raw, ‘The Architect’ Seth Rollins turned his back on the rest of the group and joined forces with The Authority.

#1. CM Punk vs John Cena (WWE Championship)- Money in the Bank, 2011

CM Punk after winning the WWE Title from John Cena

In June 2011, former WWE Champion CM Punk changed his Professional Wrestling career forever when he cut his infamous “Pipebomb” promo and became one of the hottest acts in the world of Professional Wrestling.

Following Punk’s vicious promo, he was subsequently launched into stardom and was given a massive push by the WWE, as ‘The Second-City Saint’ eventually found himself in a WWE Championship feud against John Cena, as the two men squared-off in a 5-star match at the 2011 Money in the Bank PPV.

As expected, Punk came into this contest as the hometown hero and received a massive ovation from the Chicago crowd and what followed next was a 30-minute classic between Cena and Punk, who ultimately went on to score the biggest win of his career by pinning the 16-time World Champion in John Cena and eventually left with the WWE Championship with the full support of his hometown of Chicago.