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Best WWE Matches 2015


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I'm surprised we haven't seen this thread pop up yet. 2015 certainly isn't off to the hot start that 2014 was, but there's been enough good stuff to start talking. Also, I loved having last year's thread to update my list regularly so as not to forget anything by the end of the year. Anyway, here's where I'm at so far.

 

1. Sasha vs. Bayley (Brooklyn)

2. Lesnar vs. Reigns (vs. Rollins) (Wrestlemania)

3. Sasha vs. Bayley (Respect)

4. Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins (Royal Rumble)

5. Bryan vs. Reigns (Fast Lane)

6. Owens vs. Zayn (Rival)

7. Sasha vs. Becky (Unstoppable)

8. Owens vs. Balor (NXT 3/25)

9. Owens vs. Cena (Elimination Chamber)

10. Rollins vs. Neville (Raw 8/3)

11. Sasha vs. Charlotte vs. Becky vs. Bayley (Rival)

12. Owens vs. Neville (NXT 2/18)

13. Rollins vs. Orton (Wrestlemania)

14. Joe vs. Ciampa (NXT 12/2)

15. Jordan/Gable vs. Gargano/Ciampa (NXT 10/28)

16. Ambrose vs. Big Show (Raw 7/27)

17. Finn/Joe vs. Dash/Dawson (Respect)

18. Bryan vs. Sheamus (SD 4/3)

19. Bryan vs. Rollins (Raw 2/2)

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My top five:

 

1. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. WWE Royal Rumble, 25th January.

2. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. NXT Take Over: Rival, 11th Feburary 2015.

3. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fast Lane, 22nd Feburary 2015.

4. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch. NXT Take Over: Rival, 11th Feburary 2015.

5. Rusev vs. John Cena. WWE Fast Lane, 22nd Feburary 2015.

 

Going to be difficult to remove Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins from the top spot.

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My top five:

 

1. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. WWE Royal Rumble, 25th January.

1. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. NXT Take Over: Rival, 11th Feburary 2015.

2. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fast Lane, 22nd Feburary 2015.

3. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch. NXT Take Over: Rival, 11th Feburary 2015.

4. Rusev vs. John Cena. WWE Fast Lane, 22nd Feburary 2015.

 

Going to be difficult to remove Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins from the top spot.

 

Not really! Really easy!

 

I don't really see any match topping that though. Maybe Rusev/Cena from Wrestlemania?

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5. Smackdown Tag Team Turmoil & Divas 4 Way Match from NXT Rival (tie)

4. Cena/Rollins/Lesnar Royal Rumble

3. Reigns/Bryan Fastlane

2. Cena/Rusev Fastlane

1. Zayn/Owens NXT Rival

 

The ending to Zayn/Owens is the first time I have been shocked at an ending to a match since Lesnar/Taker, and if it hadn't been for that match...I couldn't possibly tell you the last time I was that shocked by an ending..probably since before I became an internet wrestling fan.

 

As far as the tie goes...I really liked the Usos section of the TTT, and the divas match was excellent.

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I do find it interesting that we are through two months into the year and have not really had any stand out TV matches (as long as you don't count NXT). I think that's what has made RAW even harder to stomach lately because usually by now you've had 2-3 matches between RAW and Smackdown that are at least sneaking onto people's lists.

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The closest thing would probably be the Tag Team Turmoil which has a really good stretch vs the Usos and then a very solid story over all. It's been somewhat counterbalanced by the fact we've gotten some good house show matches to emerge. 

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I haven't watched Raw in months, but wasn't Bryan/Rollins heavily praised?

 

From the 2nd of February RAW? Just missed my top five along with Ambrose vs. Harper from the 16th February RAW and the Smackdown Tag Team Turmoil match.

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I haven't watched Raw in months, but wasn't Bryan/Rollins heavily praised?

 

I remember it being good, but I'll need to re-watch it when it comes up on the network to see where it ranks. I also need to re-watch Cena/Rusev. My first impression was that it was a solid, but standard, Cena match. The other four matches had a lot of creativity and/or intensity that goes beyond the typical WWE match. I didn't pick that up from Cena/Rusev.

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Not sure if my disagreement with you is that I saw more in the match than you, or just that "standard" good John Cena matches tend to make up half my top ten WWE matches of the year list every year.

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Got around to my re-watches.

 

I'm adding Bryan/Rollins, although I see it being toward the bottom of the list by year's end. The first half isn't super interesting, although I loved Rollins only doing a dive after J/J were gooning Bryan on the outside. The second half is really good, though. There's a couple good near fall sequences to play off the earlier neck work, but believe it or not, Roman Reigns is what really puts the finish over the top. First he comes out with spear of spears to take out Show, then he wipes out Mercury. Rollins backpedals, but leans through the ropes with the ref looking over his shoulder and is begging Roman to hit him for the DQ. Noble being the stooge that he is, tries to sneak attack Bryan with the case, which causes the ref to turn around unbeknownst to Rollins, then BAM superman punch. Totally underrated finish.

 

I'm still not sold on Cena/Rusev. I did pick up some extra depth from the first time around. Both guys did a great job acting convinced they were better, and being frustrated when their normal moves didn't put the other away. I dug that aspect of the story, but the striking is pretty bad at points, and the counter sequences are slow and unnatural. Also, the finish really took me out of it since Lana getting in the ring either undermined the story they were building, or made Rusev look weaker than he should have. The ref missing a ball-shot would've been fine, but Lana's slow and awkward interference didn't make a lot of sense to me. Definitely a match of ups and downs for me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We obviously have to add Lesnar/Reigns. It's a friggin' masterpiece the more I think about it.

The story that has gotten the most TV time the past fiscal year (from WrestleMania to WrestleMania) was Seth Rollins' arc. He engineered The Shield, who dominated the company. And right when they cemented their status by decimating Evolution, he revealed his true colors. He used his brothers to get to the top and became The Authority's new pet. He became the MITB champion and laid in wait to strike. He had to deal with the insane Ambrose first and won that feud (with some unexpected help from Bray Wyatt). In retrospect, I'm glad he did. A lot of people were upset at how that cage match ended. Ambrose is still the lunatic everyone loves. He still has his issue with Seth. But Rollins came out of that feud as a braggart scumbag full of himself with an undeserved victory -- that really was where he got to define his character. He couldn't do that with a loss. And since he has the MITB, he's going to cash in at some point in a total sleazebag way. That's just how the plot device works best.

Then he had to gain power within The Authority itself by earning their trust. They doubted him at first because of all the fires he started, but he earned their trust by holding his own against the top dogs. He nearly stole the title but was held off. And then they stood by and watched as he literally stomped out his biggest internal threat in Orton. He then showed he was just a shade behind Brock and Cena, which isn't a bad place at all. Then Orton came back for revenge by doing as was done -- conning the mastermind.

Overlapping this was the Brock and Roman story. Brock had the greatest kayfabe year of all-time. He ended The Streak, destroyed Cena and couldn't even be bothered to defend the title because he knew he was so dominant. Then there became the whole Roman story -- the powerhouse of The Shield that everyone (kayfabe and meta) doubted. Roman won the Rumble (a year after setting the elimination record) and then defeated last year's hero in Daniel Bryan in a classic. He had the spot but was still doubted. Could he shut up the doubters?

Brock showed why he's The Beast and beat the piss out of Roman. But Roman took it like a man -- laughing in Brock's face -- and stepped up huge late. Roman was always the king of the comeback -- he romped through that Survivor Series, destroyed fools in a bunch of other elimination matches, nearly held off The Wyatts in their classic, etc. And this was his latest as he finally put Brock on the ropes. It was an even match that told their stories in the stiffest thing in memory. Brock's still a real life monster. But Roman's shutting up his doubters who wanted to see him crushed.

Seth losing earlier that night only helps his story. Despite his plotting, he's not physically deserving of what he wants. But that's the point -- Seth's not far away from being in that slot, but he's not there yet, but the one advantage he has is his steel trap mastermind capabilities.

Seth's music cues up at the right time -- he let these monsters beat the shit out of each other and had time to heal from taking the greatest RKO of all-time earlier on. He knew what was coming but kept quiet until the time was right. And then the most important story of FY 2015 -- his ascent -- was finished.

That's one of the best run-ins of all-time. If you don't like run-ins, then you won't like it. But I love overlapping stories, and this was a great one.

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Its Reigns/Bryan at no. 1 for me with Lesnar/Cena/Rollins right behind it. After that I'm not sure.

 

So right now my top five are:

Reigns/Lesnar - Wrestlemania

Reigns/Bryan - Fastlane

Lesnar/Cena/Rollins - Royal Rumble

Cena/Rusev - Wrestlemania

Cena/Rusev - Fastlane

 

I honestly expect my last two to change a decent bit, but it going to be hard for anything to reach the levels that my top three did for me.

 

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