Best WWE matches 2010-2014.

[The Natural]

I’ve been thinking about this recently as 2014 means we’re halfway through the decade. Here are my five best WWE matches in that time in order they happened.

 

Streak vs. Career match. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXVI.

I liked how The Undertaker injured his leg very early in the match which Michaels worked on and Undertaker sold brilliantly the whole match. The finishing sequence was great with both hitting and surviving finishers and Michaels was the first wrestler to counter Hell’s Gate. We also had the best Tombstone Piledriver Undertaker’s used in all his years, a jumping one to end the match and Michaels career. Memorable post match seeing the respect between the two as Undertaker helps Shawn up, shakes hands with him and hug. The Undertaker’s never done that under this gimmick until this match and Michaels walk back up the aisle.

 

WWE Championship. John Cena © vs. CM Punk, Money in the Bank 2011.

CM Punk vs. John Cena was excellent from beginning to end. The opening feeling out process and the respective targeting on body parts with Cena on Punk’s torso/Punk on Cena’s neck. The counters of each other’s main moves such as an attempted Go 2 Sleep, Cena catches the leg putting Punk in the STF which Punk then went on to counter into an Anaconda Vice and the near falls with Punk kicking out of two Attitude Adjustments. The perfect finish as Cena had Punk in the STF in the middle of the ring, Vince McMahon told the timekeeper to ring the bell which he didn’t so he sent John Laurnatius out to do it but was stopped by Cena who nailed him with a punch. Cena went back into the ring and walked into the match ending Go 2 Sleep. All this played before a hot crowd.

 

End of an Era, Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee. The Undertaker vs. Triple H, WrestleMania XXVIII.

I know this will be the most divisive match on my list. This match concluded the story starting with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV-XXVI, Triple H at WrestleMania XXVII and the build to this one. I enjoyed Triple H trying to manipulate Shawn into ending the match, Undertaker choking Michaels out with Hell’s Gate when he was about to, Shawn Michaels retaliating with Sweet Chin Music leading into the follow up Pedigree AKA the DX special which ‘Taker survived, Undertaker sitting up causing Triple H to fall down in shock. Near the end Triple H realized like Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXVI that both were going down calling for ‘Taker to finish them off which he duly did with the Tombstone Piledriver.   

 

WWE Championship. John Cena © vs. Daniel Bryan, SummerSlam 2013.

I woke up to watch this show live (1am-4am), it was worth it for the whole show and I’ve always thought this was the best match from it. A terrific wrestling match with Bryan escaping the STF turning it so smoothly into the Yes Lock and the callback to the match built as the wrestler (Bryan) vs. the entertainer (Cena) as Bryan told how in Japan you would slap one another to fire each other up but he couldn’t do it to Cena for that reason. Late in the match Cena slapped Bryan which Bryan after brief hesitation went on to do and they had an exchange of them which Bryan won. This match featured the debut of Bryan’s running knee, he fucking nailed Cena with it giving Bryan a clean as a sheet win and the WWE Championship. What a way to debut a finish, putting down John Cena.

 

Bray Wyatt/Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns, Elimination Chamber 2014.

The fans even chanted “This is awesome” before it started and it was. All of it but especially the closing ten minutes as Ambrose is taken out in the crowd by Wyatt and Wyatt orders Harper/Rowan to put Rollins through a table. I thought the match was over before it ended with Reigns alone after getting rushed by Rowan in the corner, a big boot by Harper only for Reigns to power out of Sister Abigail. Reigns makes a great comeback decking Rowan and Wyatt with Superman punches. Reigns was waiting to hit Wyatt with a Spear but Harper takes a Spear for the team which allows Wyatt to nail Reigns with a running back elbow and following it up with the match winning Sister Abigail.

 

Five honourable mentions by date I’ll put in spoiler tags for size as I’ve already done a lot of talking:

 

Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder match, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Kane vs. Wade Barrett vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Sin Cara, Money in the Bank 2011.

 

Extreme Rules match. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, Extreme Rules 2012.

 

World Heavyweight Championship, 2 out of 3 Falls match. Sheamus © vs. Daniel Bryan, Extreme Rules 2012.

 

Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro, RAW, 22nd July 2013.

 

No Disqualification match. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk, SummerSlam 2013.

[Spontaneous]

Were it not for the lame finish I would add Cena-Wyatt LMS to the list. Another crazy brawl in front of a Chicago crowd. It built and built but the ending and post-match garbage hurt everything that came before it.

[Ramsey]

I think this is a rock solid list. The only exception I'd take would be the "End of an Era" match as I didn't like the pacing. I don't see this as a fault in the match so much as it's my personal preferences. I'm also not a huge fan of HHH's ring work/"mystique" so that knocks it down a peg in my eyes. Over all though, it's bloody hard to argue with your picks.

[Brian Fowler]

For my money, John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, Extreme Rules 2012 and Undertaker vs. Triple H, Wrestlemania XXVII are the two best, and there is a HUGE gap between them and everything else.

[Chaos]

I have watched most of the big stuff from this decade, but I quit making lists for wrestling ages ago, so I am not sure what I would rank where.

 

I agree that the Shawn/Taker XXVI match is better than their XXV match.

 

Bryan and Cesaro is a great match, but can we honestly list it as an individual match? It is part of a gauntlet series and one of the more compelling hours of RAW all of last year.

[Ramsey]

 

 

I agree that the Shawn/Taker XXVI match is better than their XXV match.

 

 

That's interesting. I need to go back and watch it by itself. The last time I watched the XXVI match it was immediately after watching the XXV match and I didn't feel it held up. I know what I'll be doing after work today fo' sho'.

[Go2Sleep]

Cena/Lesnar is still way out in front for me when it comes to WWE MOTD.

 

I'd probably do Shield/Wyatts at #2

 

Then there's an assortment of Punk/Lesnar, Ziggler/ADR (Payback 13), Bryan/Bray, Punk/Cena (MITB 11) in some order.

 

The next tier would have Show/ADR (SD LMS), HHH/Sheamus (Ex. Rules 10), Bryan/Sheamus (2/3 falls) Taker/Michaels 2, Cena/Bryan, Bryan/Orton (Raw 2/3/14), Shield/Wyatts 2, Bryan/HHH, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting, but pretty much whatever rounds out my top 3-6 per year.

[Greggulator]

My number one is Shield/Wyatts I. That was an epic feud, a masterful story, and impeccably executed by six terrific workers. Everyone played their role perfectly. There have been crowds hot for certain matches before but there was never a crowd quite entranced like this one. Both teams are heels headed into this. But the build to the feud was so great ahead of time -- and simple -- that everyone knew it was going to be a war and it somehow exceeded expectations. It was a three-act masterpiece. In addition, it's just a major arrow towards what the future of the WWE could hold. These guys came up through their developmental systems and were the first truly awesome, finished products once they got serious about FCW and NXT.

The first Shawn/Undertaker is my number 2. I loved how that feud was built. I loved just both guys realizing during the match that only a gigantic bomb would win this thing down, since both guys are in the kayfabe list of greatest of all-time. It's a historically important match, too, because that's when the whole CAN THE STREAK BE BROKEN really became a focal point for the most important three months of the year the WWE has, from the Rumble to WM.

Lesnar/Cena was also a great, brutal war. It was out-of-control and really violent and a lot of fun. I like other matches more just because of personal preferences -- I like Lesnar and Cena a lot, but I'm more invested in other characters, and it's not their fault or anything. Just personal taste.

Punk/Cena in Chicago was a terrific match and historically important. Wrestling became cool for a few weeks after that angle and match unfolded before it petered out. But Punk beating Cena in his home city in a masterpiece was just unreal. That Punk/Cena Raw match -- piledrivers, hurucanranas, etc. -- was also something very special from one of the best rivalries over the past few years.

Bryan/Punk at SummerSlam was better, I think, because of the ending. Cena/Punk had the timekeeper thing, and that's fine because that was the launching point of the Punk vs. McMahon's thing and helped introduced John Laruanitis. But Bryan debuted his new finisher to put Cena away, and that's such an awesome way to end a match and dethrone the company's current GOAT candidate. It makes so much sense psychologically -- I'm going to break this out of nowhere, because he can't gameplan it. Cena's ganzo bomb was also nuts.

I would also throw the two Shield vs. Rhodes Brothers matches from last year on that list. They were terrific tag team wrestling matches, which is the best kind of wrestling. They also had really great stories. Dusty giving Ambrose the big elbow was one of the most satisfying payoffs in recent wrestling history. I liked the Raw title match a lot more because the WWE has never executed a multi-layered story like that match, ever. The Raven/Richards vs. Pitbulls ECW match is one of my favorites of all-time. That template has been tried a lot of times since but is almost always a disaster. But this was executed perfectly. The Rhodes Boys win the belts because The Big Show -- forced to punch his idol Dusty Rhodes, their father, due to his fiscal predicament -- finally got his revenge. And everyone was surrounded in YES! chants, because the overarching story was Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority. Just a perfect wrestling moment.

I'd also put Bryan/Bray on that list. I have to rewatch both matches but that might be my favorite Bryan singles match in his WWE run. I obviously love Bray to a ridiculous level. This was his breakout match and a sign that he's a legitimate world-class worker who also has a terrific character.

[Big Fresh]

Greggulator likes wrestling.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WrestleMania 25 was 2009.

[Bourdain]

Lesnar/Cena far and away. The brutality pace and violence of that match was unlike anything we saw prior to it or since, a rarefied performance in the modern WWE, and all the better for that reason. 

 

Trips/Taker was pretty darn good too, WWE's big fight style pitched perfectly.

[The Natural]

I think this is a rock solid list. The only exception I'd take would be the "End of an Era" match as I didn't like the pacing. I don't see this as a fault in the match so much as it's my personal preferences. I'm also not a huge fan of HHH's ring work/"mystique" so that knocks it down a peg in my eyes. Over all though, it's bloody hard to argue with your picks.

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply. Interesting to read your selections.

[Lee]

Shield six-mans were usually all really great to the point that a lot of them become kind of interchangeable, but one that stands out for being different is their first PPV match, the TLC match against Kane, Ryback and Daniel Bryan that only happened because John Cena got injured. Absolutely blew me away and highly recommended if you're into those kind of nutty, spot-based matches. Wasn't sure it would hold up but watched it a second time long after that fact and it was still great. I mean, it's Kane and Ryback in a really awesome match, if nothing else that's got to count for something.

[Big Fresh]

That match certainly was the right way to make a statement.

[brandonr4s]

Wasn't a fan of either HHH/Taker Mania match. Felt too much like Hunter was trying to top (copy) Shawn. They already perfected the "WWE Big Match" style two years in a row.

 

Shields/Wyatts, HBK/Taker XXV, Cena/Lesnar and Punk/Cena MITB in some sort of order.

 

I bet Cesaro will be in a couple of the matches on my list in the next few years.

[Brian Fowler]

Shield six-mans were usually all really great to the point that a lot of them become kind of interchangeable, but one that stands out for being different is their first PPV match, the TLC match against Kane, Ryback and Daniel Bryan that only happened because John Cena got injured. Absolutely blew me away and highly recommended if you're into those kind of nutty, spot-based matches. Wasn't sure it would hold up but watched it a second time long after that fact and it was still great. I mean, it's Kane and Ryback in a really awesome match, if nothing else that's got to count for something.

 

It was Punk that was injured, not Cena.  Was supposed to be Punk/Ryback in a TLC (which ended up happening on RAW a few weeks later, iirc.)  Cena had Ziggler's career best match (imo) on that same show.

 

But, yeah, tremendous match.  Probably 3rd or 4th best for The Shield for my money.

[Stevie Ray Von Erich]

I feel the need to mention the Cena/Mysterio title match from Raw on 7/25/11. I love this match. It's smart, the crowd is hot, and one of Mysterio's last great matches, I think. This has been such a great decade for wrestling in the WWE that it's easy to let a lot of the earlier stuff pass you by (especially considering how good the TLC match was right before it), but do yourselves a favor and rewatch this match.

 

I will always maintain that this match should have happened at Summer Slam that year and let the Punk stuff play out afterward, but I understand the need to strike when the iron is hot. I just can't help but think it would have been better that way than what we eventually got.

[The Natural]

I feel the need to mention the Cena/Mysterio title match from Raw on 7/25/11. I love this match. It's smart, the crowd is hot, and one of Mysterio's last great matches, I think. This has been such a great decade for wrestling in the WWE that it's easy to let a lot of the earlier stuff pass you by (especially considering how good the TLC match was right before it), but do yourselves a favor and rewatch this match.

 

I will always maintain that this match should have happened at Summer Slam that year and let the Punk stuff play out afterward, but I understand the need to strike when the iron is hot. I just can't help but think it would have been better that way than what we eventually got.

 

I agree with everything in your post. Well said.