One of the most influential wrestling promotions of the 1990s, Extreme Championship Wrestling is most often remembered for popularizing the hardcore/deathmatch style of wrestling in North America and offering lots of infamous moments that were either violent or line-crossingly raunchy. But it’s easy to forget that, beyond ‘tude, ECW was host to a lot of legitimately great wrestling, serving as an alternative to the majors thanks to its embracing of indie wrestlers and introduction of Japanese and lucha libre styles.

RELATED: Every Year Of ECW, Ranked From Worst To Best

So what are the best ECW matches? Cagematch.net is often a great resources to see what the die-hard fans have rated highly, and taking a look at their assessment of ECW’s entire existence reveals top-notch performances by ECW icons, future stars, and international legends in the making.

10 Chris Jericho vs. Pitbull #2 vs. Shane Douglas vs. Too Cold Scorpio (Heat Wave 1996, 7/13/1996) - 8.48

Right in the middle of the show, Heat Wave ‘96 delivered a 40-minute, show-stealing four-way elimination match for the ECW World Television Championship, with a pre-WCW Chris Jericho defending the belt. After years of the WWE-style multi-man match, the bout’s rules feel a bit odd -- it’s two at a time, with the other two needing to tag in -- but it’s a great look at the diversity in styles that made ECW great, with high-flyers going up against hardcore brawlers.

9 Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome (ECW on TNN, 12/31/1999) - 8.61

Masato Tanaka and the late Mike Awesome had a legendary career-defining rivalry, clashing in multiple promotions over the years including Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, ECW, Major League Wrestling, Japan’s ZERO-ONE, and even WWE. Some would argue that this entire list could be populated with their various encounters, but this World Title match is a particular highlight. Tanaka dethroned Awesome as ECW World Champion in an absolute banger the week before, necessitating a rematch that brought the intensity in a surprisingly fast-paced brawl.

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8 Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam (Hardcore Heaven, 5/16/1999) - 8.61

Another great rivalry in ECW, innovative high flyers Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam wrestled countless times over the course of their time together in ECW. This No Time Limit match happened during RVD’s insane 700-day run as Television Champion, and easily stole the show on an otherwise underwhelming card.

RELATED: Rob Van Dam: 5 Best Title Reigns Of His Career (& 5 Worst)Both Van Dam and Lynn end up getting busted open in this match, which is not only bloody but features spots athletic and brutal, leading to an insane table spot. RVD retains in the end, but it really felt like it could have been Jerry Lynn’s night.

7 Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam (ECW Hardcore TV, 9/17/1999) - 8.62

Four months after that Hardcore Heaven match, fans got the last major TV Title match between Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam, in which an injured Lynn pulled out all stops in his quest to finally defeat his rival, and it’s just as dramatic as it sounds. The two had been feuding since 1997, with RVD winning pretty much every time, but yet another loss for the criminally underrated Lynn would not be the end of their rivalry. Jerry Lynn would finally get a win over RVD the following year (after Van Dam lost the TV Belt) and the two would rather appropriately have the final televised match in ECW on the 2001 pay-per-view Guilty As Charged.

6 Super Crazy vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri (ECW on TNN, 1/21/2000) - 8.63

WWE fans most likely know Yoshihiro Tajiri as the comedy guy with no first name and Super Crazy as one of the lawnmower-riding Mexicools, and thus may be shocked to find out that they ruled. Tajiri in particular was killing it from 1999 to 2000 in ECW, putting on a number of great matches with rival Super Crazy, including this Mexican Death Match on ECW’s weekly show. The bout lives up to the name and is acclaimed not only for its brutality but superb character work by Tajiri.

5 Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku & Terry Boy vs. Gran Hamada, Masato Yakushiji & The Great Sasuke (Barely Legal, 4/13/1997) - 8.75

It’s barely hyperbole to call this one of the most game changing matches to happen in North America. Basically a spotlight for the roster of Great Sasuke’s promotion Michinoku Pro, the bout features the Kaientai boys (referred to as bWo Japan here) taking on not only Sasuke but also the legendary Gran Hamada, who innovated the hybrid “lucharesu” style that the wrestlers show off here. It’s an insanely acrobatic, fast-paced, and ridiculously fun spotfest that quickly won over the ECW crowd, who likely weren’t entirely familiar with what was going on in Japan.

4 Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome (November To Remember, 11/7/1999) - 8.78

Given how the Tanaka/Awesome feud was hyped up earlier, there was obviously going to be another bout on this list. This was their third televised singles match in ECW, coming in the aftermath of Awesome beating Tanaka and Taz in a three-way dance for the ECW Championship at Anarchy Rulz.

RELATED: The 10 Most Important ECW Matches Ever, RankedMike Awesome and Masato Tanaka always went all-in on their matches, so they were always intense and ridiculously stiff. They also packed a lot of action into a short amount of time, as their encounters barely went over 10 minutes, with this one lasting 12-and-a-half and their longest being an absurd outlier at 17 minutes.

3 Psicosis vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (ECW Hardcore TV, 10/17/1995) - 8.80

It’s tempting to credit ECW for introducing Anglophone fans to lucha libre, but they definitely deserve credit for introducing the US wrestling scene to Psicosis and future megastar Rey Misterio Jr. (now known as Rey Mysterio). This was their second match together in ECW, a 2/3 falls match that features all the expected athleticism -- which was mindblowing at the time -- as well as the classic ECW hardcore weapon-based ultraviolence. Misterio in particular impresses here, showing just how gifted he was in his younger days.

2 Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (Big Ass Extreme Bash, 3/9/1996) - 8.85

It’s funny how ECW introduced WCW’s cruiserweight division for them, considering that the buzzworthy promotion had a bunch of the masked luchadores as well as Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit. This Juventud Guerrero/Rey Misterio Jr. match is also falls under the lucha style 2/3 falls stipulation, featuring the same sensibilities as athletic escalation leads to violent escalation. This one gets particularly crazy as it ends up reaching the parking lot. One hasn’t lived until they’ve seen a luchador get powerbombed onto a car.

1 The FBI vs. The Unholy Alliance (ECW on TNN, 9/8/2000) - 8.92

Fans surprised to see few of the canonical “ECW Originals” like Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, or even Raven may be just as shocked to see what Cagematch users consider the best ECW match ever: a tag title match that happened in the final months of the company’s existence. Which isn’t to discredit anyone involved, as this match features Guido Maritato (a.k.a. Little Guido or Nunzio) and Tony Mamaluke challenging tag champions Mikey Whipwreck and Yoshihiro Tajiri -- managed by The Sinister Minister -- in an 11-minute sprint that’s all killer and no filler. It’s yet another example of Tajiri proving to be the MVP of this era of ECW along with the underrated Whipreck and equally underrated The FBI as they put on a great match in front of a hot crowd.