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WWE Hell in a Cell 2016.

Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado and Sin Cara Vs Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari (kickoff match): This is okay. It's kind of a mid-range Nitro lucha match. Sin Cara seems a bit heavy for this division. I like Alexander and especially Gulak. But it's kind of a situation where no-one has a reason to care much about these guys, and they're not really allowed to do anything too crazy to steal the show like the Nitro guys were. Babyfaces go over.

Roman Reigns Vs Rusev: We start we the first of what is billed as a triple main event. It's for the US title and it's in the cell. This started off kinda slow, and I was thinking it was a bit of a let-down, but it warmed up nicely. I still think their straight match last time out was better, and don't think they really needed the cell here. I mean, they did use it a bit, but most of the best bits of the match were just the two of them throwing bombs at each other. Rusev locking on the Accolade with a chain was a great visual, and I would have been fine (delighted actually) with that being the finish. But of course, Reigns won the match, with a spear off the steel steps, which was cool in its own right. I'd be so down for these to have another big programme together. Imagine this but with Reigns as a heel and Rusev as a babyface. I can but dream.

Bayley Vs Dana Brooke: Women in a piss break spot unfortunately. I liked Bayley but she's wildly inconsistent. Dana really has no business being in a singles match on ppv. It is what it is.

Enzo and Big Cass Vs Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson: Man, say what you want about Enzo, and I'm no fan of his, but he sure does know how to have the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. And it isn't just catchphrases that the crowd can sing-along to either, as some people like to say. He cuts a long promo here tailored to his opponents and full of word play and creativity. And say what you will about Cass, and I'm no fan of his, but he didn't look out of place in this setting at all. His own promo here is decent stuff too, and unlike his singles run where he just looked like a skinnier Edge, he actually looked big and intimidating here. This is a pretty short, standard match, with the heels going over. Things being what they are, it's obvious why Enzo and Cass never got a run with the tag belts, or a bigger run in general, but if you didn't know any of that stuff, it sure does seem baffling.

Kevin Owens Vs Seth Rollins: Our second cell match of the night. This needed to be a cell match even less than the US title match. I think I've said it before about Rollins that just because you can do something, it doesn't mean that you should. There's a spot here that encapsulates that perfectly. Owens sets up two tables on the outside. In the ring, Rollins gets the advantage and is going for a powerbomb. Now, bear in mind that the story of the match is Rollins coming into the match with an injured back, a back that Owens had been working on all match. I would have been okay with Rollins digging deep and powerbombing Owens through those two tables. But what happened is Rollins got him up, lost it, so that he's now holding Owens in like a Styles Clash position, but holds on and like dead lifts KO back into the powerbomb position and puts him through the tables. It was a seriously freaky strength spot from Owens, but not something he should have been pulling off in the context of this match. He could have dropped him back down, sold the back some, and then tried the spot again, which actually would have been an effective way to get over the injury, and his 'fighting spirit'. But this was just too much. This match also featured the spot where they trade superkicks and other big strikes like they're nothing, which I know I've seen show up as a gif on the board before. It sucked. The crowd chanted 'this is awesome'. This match had some really good stuff in it- mostly Owens' heeling. But shit like that ruins it. Chris Jericho ended up getting into the cell, turning the match into essentially a handicap match, and allowing Owens to retain the belt. This feud is hopefully over.

TJ Perkins Vs The Brian Kendrick: So, Kendrick is like a mini Drew McIntyre or a maxi Peter Dinklage. This is kinda like the last match they had. Solid, but not what was needed to get this division over. If anyone wanted this division to get over. And really, though I've always liked him, Kendrick should not have got the strap. They should have stuck with TJP until they could really build up a challenger the fans would get behind. This match didn't need the goofy "I need you to let me win" shit either, nor the finish that made TJP look like a gullible idiot.

The New Day Vs Cesaro and Sheamus: I was super-hyped for this, but that was tempered when I realised this wasn't New Day Vs The Bar, this was New Day Vs bickering partners Cesaro and Sheamus. It was still good, but you just always think of the Bar being Bar, and it's disappointing when you get something else. New Day are starting to get turned on a bit by the crowd. Definitely not as over as they were. I think they were getting a bit fatigued by this title reign. Good on New Day for turning it back around and becoming even more over after this. It was E and Woods for the New Day, which is my favourite combo, and Cesaro and Sheamus picked up the win by DQ. Really it was just to continue the Cesaro/Sheamus storyline.

Sasha Banks Vs Charlotte: For those keeping score, both Banks and Charlotte got a 'star' entrance, Charlotte carried to the ring on a throne, and Banks coming out in a car. This is a really great match. Easily the best of the night. They do a much better job both incorporating the cell into the match, and making it seem like there's a reason they're in the cell in the first place. The major flaw is how long it takes to get the match started after the powerbomb through the table. I love the pre-match brawl and the table spot itself looked great, but then it seemed to take an age for Sasha to finally get into the cell to start the match. Once in there she gives a great fiery babyface performance, bumping around and making great comebacks, all while selling the back. The monkey flip from Charlotte that sends her into the cell is another great, crazy Sasha bump, and the spot where she delivers the double knees from the side of the cell is a great hope spot. Charlotte is very good here too, but this is the Sasha show. I know some people have a real problem with the finish, and I get that. I think we've become so accustomed to one, or several finishers, ending a match, that Charlotte pinning Sasha with her secondary finisher seemed very anti-climactic. Charlotte pinning Sasha at all was very anti-climactic actually. But what I like about the way the women are booked is that they're not afraid to buck convention, and I think this worked fine as a case of accumulated damage doing Sasha in. In the context of another time or another company it probably would have come off better. But it didn't really detract from what was a fantastic match for me.

Match of the night: I give the main event 4 1/4 stars. 3 1/4 for Reigns/Rusev and 3 stars for the tag title match.

Show rating: Quite an enjoyable show over, bookended by 2 very good matches. 3 stars. 

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WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2016.

Apollo Crews, American Alpha and The Hype Bros Vs Curt Hawkins, The Ascension and The Vaudevillains: It looks like Smackdown was hurting for lower-card heels at the time, because that is a total jobber team. This had some fun moments, but you'd generally expect more from a big 10-man tag like this. Not the worst way to start the show though.

Heath Slater and Rhyno Vs Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton: Interesting to see how they worked this match, seeing as Wyatt and Orton are main event guys, and the tag champs, Slater specifically, had always been treated as jobbers until they got themselves over and got this run. Well, it was pretty much just a competitive squash, with new champs crowned. The more fun stuff involved the relationship between Orton and Harper, with Harper sacrificing himself to help the family pick up the win. I liked this angle until it became one of the worst angles ever.

Nikki Bella Vs Carmella: No holds barred match to blow off this feud. Pretty decent action. Carmella impresses again as a trash-talking heel. In the end, Nikki empties a fire extinguisher on her and picks up the win. After the match, Carmella announces that it was Natalya who attacked Bella at Survivor Series. Da da DUH!

The Miz Vs Dolph Ziggler: Ladder match. Miz is the IC champ again by this point. Yeah, I wasn't really feeling this one. I just don't think they worked it very smartly, and I have to put the blame on Miz for that. He just wrestles too dominant. Too comfortable in his surroundings. This shouldn't be a Shawn/Razor-type ladder match. It should be Miz trying to survive by being sneaky and nasty. This is a problem with Miz pretty much his whole career actually, and why I can't get on board with him as a top-tier talent. The booking in general does Ziggler no favours here. The spot with him tapping out to the figure four makes him look really bad. And then Miz just wins anyway. A bad end to a good feud for me.

Baron Corbin Vs Kalisto: Chair match. Now this is a good gimmick match, worked perfectly, with Corbin dominating and Kalisto using his athleticism to forge opportunities for himself. This has to be the best chairs match I've seen, and once again Big Match Baron delivers on ppv.

Becky Lynch Vs Alexa Bliss: Tables match. Now this is dire. It's kinda embarrassing that Raw has a ppv main evented by a great Charlotte/Sasha match, and Smackdown has this. The decision to take the women's title off Becky this early into her run was a really bad one, let alone to put it on such a poor worker. In fact, putting these two in a tables match to begin with was a bad idea, since Alexa can't even lift the tables up. The worst sin they commit here is just being boring. This misses the mark all round. Becky deserved better.

AJ Styles Vs Dean Ambrose: TLC match. Apart from the James Ellsworth silliness at the finish, this is a really strong main event with lots of exciting action and big bumps. Ambrose performs well here, but this is really the Styles show, as it is his bumping and athleticism that really carries the match. The highlight of the match is undoubtedly the springboard 450 through the ladder on the outside. Just an insane spot. Then the finish took the shine off things a bit. Why did Ellsworth come out to distract Styles if he was only going to end up turning on Dean and costing him the match? It was a shame because Styles and Ambrose put on a great match before then.

Match of the night: I think overall I have to give the edge to the chairs match, as a more satisfying all-round match. I would have both that and the TLC match at 3 1/4 stars. 

Show rating: This is a very hit or miss show in terms of living up to expectations, but I would say that the only actively bad match is the women's title match. 3 stars. 

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Reigns vs. Styles at Payback 2016 and Extreme Rules 2016, not only two of the best matches that year but two of the best in either man's careers. THAT Phenomenal Forearm driving Styles and Reigns through the announcers table at Payback 2016 and Reigns drilling the shit outta Styles in mid air with the spear from the Phenomenal Forearm attempt in Extreme Rules 2016. I await the time when they get it on in a singles match again.

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6 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Reigns vs. Styles at Payback 2016 and Extreme Rules 2016, not only two of the best matches that year but two of the best in either man's careers. THAT Phenomenal Forearm driving Styles and Reigns through the announcers table at Payback 2016 and Reigns drilling the shit outta Styles in mid air with the spear from the Phenomenal Forearm attempt in Extreme Rules 2016. I await the time when they get it on in a singles match again.

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6 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Reigns vs. Styles at Payback 2016 and Extreme Rules 2016, not only two of the best matches that year but two of the best in either man's careers. THAT Phenomenal Forearm driving Styles and Reigns through the announcers table at Payback 2016 and Reigns drilling the shit outta Styles in mid air with the spear from the Phenomenal Forearm attempt in Extreme Rules 2016. I await the time when they get it on in a singles match again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

WWE Roadblock: End of the Line

Rusev Vs Big Cass (kickoff match): This is really weird. Weird that this match was even happening. This feud was a big step down for Rusev after the Reigns feud. Was Enzo injured at this point, or were they just trying out Cass as a singles more? Enzo and Cass get their long intro spiel, which actually turns out to be longer than the match, which is a quick countout win for Rusev. Probably the worst Rusev match I've ever seen actually.

Cesaro and Sheamus Vs The New Day: Kingston and E for the tag champs. Now, this is how you start a show right. Excellent fast-paced match with the New Day defending the tag belts shortly after breaking the record for the longest reign. And Cesaro and Sheamus are working properly as a team here, which is great. Man, they go balls to the wall here, and Cesaro puts in a heck of an offensive display. The highlight is Kofi small packaging him, Cesaro rolling through and standing up out of it, still holding onto Kofi in like a fisherman's suplex position, deadlifting him up into a vertical suplex, dropping him, catching him in like a powerbomb position, and hitting the Neutraliser. Seriously insane spot. And he follows that up with a corkscrew plancha to Big E on the floor. Great finish to this one to, with Sheamus and Cesaro doing a 'phantom tag', that is not actually making the tag, but with all eyes on Cesaro who they thought was the legal man, Sheamus hits a Brogue Kick on Kofi to win the match and the belts. A fitting end to the New Day's impressive reign. I loved the celebration from the new champs afterwards too.

Braun Strowman Vs Sami Zayn: I think this was a good idea for an angle, but that Zayn was miscast in this role. Like, why would Foley be trying so hard to protect him? The match itself is pretty well-worked though. You can see how much Braun has improved just in a short space of time since his Wyatt Family days. I don't think this ultimately did a lot for either guy, like I said.

Chris Jericho Vs Seth Rollins: Ugh, this is pretty dismal. I do appreciate at this point that Jericho is not trying to out-workrate Rollins, and is rather doing a lot of veteran stuff, and stalling. But still, it does not make for a good match at all. Owens tries to help Jericho but it backfires and allows Rollins to win.

Rich Swann Vs The Brian Kendrick Vs TJ Perkins: Not to beat a dead horse, but this cruiserweight division relaunch really was botched from the very beginning. Not a good match here, unfortunately. You do get the Neville return and beatdown after the match though, which is really cool and really well-received. Okay, the "Thank you Neville" chants probably weren't what they were going for, but any reaction for the cruiserweights is a plus at this point.

Sasha Banks Vs Charlotte Flair: 30-minute iron man for Sasha's women's championship. Hoo boy, this is not a good time for me to be watching this match. For anyone reading this in the future (which I guess is everyone, but you know what I mean), I'm watching this show right after Becky's "heel turn" on Charlotte. Time will tell how that turns out, but I do know I'm not in the mood for Charlotte winning another match that she should be losing. Man, watching this again pissed me off. The story was so obvious. Sasha finally ends Charlotte's ppv streak, winning the feud and moving on to something new. I mean, who has a fucking babyface tap out with 2 seconds left on the clock. And even after that, even after that, in the event of a tie, the champion retains, right? This is the second time I've seen one of my favourites screwed out of a title by an overtime ruling being sprung upon them. You'd think they'd fucking put something in the contract about that. That referee totally overstepped his boundaries. But mostly, fuck Charlotte and her stupid stranglehold on the women's belt. As for the match itself, it was predictably good, as these two always had good matches against one another. Funny how Charlotte never looked more the part than when in there with Banks. Banks put in another really good selling performance, which deserved to be rewarded with the victory and some fresh challengers to her belt. Oh well, we've still got that feud with Bayley to look forward to, right?

Kevin Owens Vs Roman Reigns: So, I'm not really an Owens fan, but I do appreciate that he at least tries to get heat in his matches. It's not terribly compelling seeing him stall and slap on chinlocks, but the effort is there. The story is Owens not being sure he can win without Jericho's help, and it turns out that he can't, as Jericho comes out and Codebreakers him to give him the DQ win. Rollins then comes out to help fend off Jericho, and both Jericho and Owens take powerbombs through announce tables. Owens sure has been booked like an incompetent goof during his title reign. Not a bad match, but they took a long time to get to a DQ finish.

Match of the night: It's certainly a two-horse race between the tag titles and the women's title. I think I'd have them both at 3 1/2 stars, but give the advantage to the tag title match based on the result being the right one, and not an affront to all wrestling fans.

Show rating: A steady show throughout, with two standout matches and other enjoyable stuff scattered in. Maybe not one you're going to remember, but not a waste of time either. 2 3/4 stars.

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So, it's fitting that that show is called End of the Line, because this is the end of the line for this project for me. I'd like to thank everyone who read along, and offered comments, corrections, compliments and insights. You really enhanced the experience for me. Maybe I'll come back to this in 10 years or something, picking up where I left off. For now I have a new project that I'll be starting soon.

Here's the final tally for those 3 star+ matches:

Chris Jericho: 43
John Cena: 38
Edge: 36
Rey Mysterio: 35
Christian: 30
The Undertaker: 29
CM Punk: 28
Triple H: 27
Kane: 27
Sheamus: 26
Dean Ambrose: 25
Roman Reigns: 25
Dolph Ziggler: 24
Randy Orton: 23
Matt Hardy: 22
Chris Benoit: 22
Cesaro: 22
Jeff Hardy: 21
Shawn Michaels: 20
The Big Show: 20
Seth Rollins: 20

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And for additional content, if you restrict it to 4 star+ matches, the list looks like this:

Bret Hart: 5
Steve Austin: 5
Triple H: 5
John Cena: 5
Mick Foley: 4
The Undertaker: 4
The Rock: 4
Edge: 4
Daniel Bryan: 4
Roman Reigns: 4
Christian: 3
Chris Jericho: 3
Brock Lesnar: 3
Rey Mysterio: 3
CM Punk: 3
Sheamus: 3

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Echoing the thanks to Yo-Yo's Roomie, this was a good read.

But I have to question the reference to the New Day's title reign as "impressive". I assume that was in reference to their ring work and not the booking? Because IMO their record-setting title reign was crap and made the tag team titles look like crap (but it wasn't New Day's fault).

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2 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Echoing the thanks to Yo-Yo's Roomie, this was a good read.

But I have to question the reference to the New Day's title reign as "impressive". I assume that was in reference to their ring work and not the booking? Because IMO their record-setting title reign was crap and made the tag team titles look like crap (but it wasn't New Day's fault).

I mean, it went on longer than it should have, for sure. But the crowd was always into them and what they were doing, the matches were heated and usually good. I think that in itself is pretty impressive. It's also important to know that I wasn't watching the weekly TV by this point, so the specifics of the booking are kind of lost on me.

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