Readers
2nd Place:  Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle (Final Resolution)
3rd Place:   Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles vs. Daniels (Turning Point)


Staff
2nd Place: DeGeneration X vs. Legacy (Hell in a Cell)
3rd Place:   NONE

" This match is why I'm a wrestling fan.  That's all there is to it. "
- Kris Lennon
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" This was a no doubter. And by far one of the most epic matches in history. I  legitimately thought the Undertaker was going to lose this match. Ever near fall had me screaming at the TV, wondering how it could get any better. A creative, original match that tore the house down. "
- Adam Airforce
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" Let me put this out there - John Morrison and Evan Bourne put on a hell of a show stealing wrestling match just two weeks later on ECW that could have given HBK/Taker a run for it's money if we were looking at this from purely a match quality standpoint.  However, a good wrestling match is always bolstered by a great storyline leading into it, giving the fans an emotional investment into the match itself.  Had Bourne/Morrison had a 4 month build and taken place on Pay Per View, it may be the match everybody is talking about right now as the Match of the Year.  Unfortunately, it was an unadvertised match on ECW with no storyline going into it other than it was Morrison's last match on ECW after being drafted to SmackDown.  HBK and Undertaker, however, had an interaction at the Royal Rumble.  They had the element of The Streak.  They had HBK having to fight off Vladimir Kozlov and JBL to get the match.  And they stole the show on the grandest stage of them all, as HBK usually does "
- Joseph Kent
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" It couldn't be anything else. Not just the best match this year, the best match for many years. Two legends of wrestling leaving it all in the ring. If they'd both retired the next day on that performance, no-one would've questioned it. . "
- Mark Smallman
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" No need to explain, just watch it to see why and if you haven't yet, (what's wrong with you) see it. And if you have see it again. " - John Traylor

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Staff Comments:

" Honestly, was there any other match this year that aired to a major national audience that was just this awesome from two of the best there ever has been?  I mean, I don't even particularly remember the Joe/AJ/Daniels match, which while I remember it being great, I don't actually remember it itself right now, but I can still picture in my mind's eye most of the spots in this one.  And with my brain and memory, that is saying something and a massive testament to this match.  If it weren't for the scary moment that the cameraman (who was Sim Snuka) didn't quite catch Undertaker on the plancha over the top rope, and Taker landed head first.  But given that I recall going into this thinking "It'll be a great match, but since there's no chance of HBK winning, I think it'll miss something", to being totally sucked in and thinking on more than one occasion.  My Real Time coverage on the night is testament to that.  Just the best thing we'll see all year, and if they do go again in Phoenix, I'll be more than happy."  - Aaron Wood
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" 3 ^rd consecutive year, 3 ^rd Consecutive Shawn Michaels MOTY. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, Wrestlemania 25. Two of the biggest names in the history of the business at the biggest stage of them all putting on a wrestling 101 clinic. No match beats it and here is why. I ’ m sure there have been other quality matches around the world (ROH had a few, Dragon Gate as well) but no match brought the fan out of me like this one. While no one thinks Taker will ever lose at Mania, there was a point in the match where the fan in me actually thought Shawn was going to win. That is amazing.)"  - Matt Dawgs
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"As much as I loved KENTA vs. Davey Richards from ROH Supercard of Honor IV, and the TNA Turning Point main event, I love emotional matches. I love that big fight feel. And while the two previously mentioned matches had those qualities, you can’t beat a match with all the right variables at Wrestlemania. Especially when it’s two legends clashing for the first time one on one on pay-per-view in almost twelve years. Like last year’s winner, this match wasn’t technically superior than my other two favorite matches in 2009, but it just had that extra aura and magnitude that no other match this year had ." - James Bullock
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" There’s no point in voting for any match besides Undertaker/HBK from Mania 25, as it’s already been declared a landslide victory everywhere. I just sincerely wonder if it would be so unanimously considered MOTY if two guys who weren’t already legends had had the exact same match, and this is coming from someone who was there to see it live. I’d personally pick Kurt Angle/Desmond Wolfe in the “Three Degrees of Pain” match from “Final Resolution.” Concept, story, intensity, build, emotion, skill, everything a true wrestling fan could possibly want was there. I watched this match with three other people, and we were all emotionally drained by the end. Just because it happened in a TNA ring doesn’t automatically make it inferior. " - Jana Bulloch