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Best WWE Matches 2015


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C'mon now!

 

Rusev vs. Swagger from last year beats the piss out of the Cena WM match. It had a comprehensive story built around the ankle and Rusev sold that bitch to tears! He even sold it as he applied the Accolade! That was from August, so if you want this calendar year, I'd go with the Cesaro/Owens/Rusev match. He hasn't had many high profile singles matches outside of the Cena feud this year from what I've seen. Dolph is Dolph. :(

 

Brock vs. Undertaker was better than the Cena match from SummerSlam. While the Cena match was a great spectacle because it was so unexpected and so well executed, I'd rather watch the more competitive match with 'Taker, screwy finish and all. The Reigns match was also something I preferred even though I wasn't completely on board with the over-the-top "HE'S SO HARD" shit they were trying to run with Roman near the end. 

 

While fun for a shock in the "did we just see Cena do an early 2000s indy spotfest" kind of way initally, I really disliked what the Cena/Owens series devolved into. Just a bunch of moves with little rhyme or reason. The Zayn matches were both eons better than that shit because it was all story-driven.

 

I haven't seen the Cesaro matches, so I can't comment but how often does Cesaro get an opportunity to wrestle a 15-25 minute match that's on air? The SummerSlam match with Owens was pretty good, but they have a better match in them.

 

I know I should shut up until I watch the Seazarow matches, but I just feel like the Cena hype is really coming at the wrong time. 2013-14, sure. This year, he had 3 disappointing matches in a series of 4 with the then hottest act in the company (and said act looked not-so-hawt afterwards), the Zayn match was pretty good, a clusterfuck series with Owens (Owens was "just a guy" by the end of that one too), and another spotfest with a PR stunt of a finish. He's also given the most opportunities to shine and has failed to really elevate three big young heels in the past year and a half (Owens, Rusev, and Bray).

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Rusev vs. Cena is mostly great in how Rusev sells the whole thing. The first match is all abot Rusev slowly realizing how out of his depth he is and struggling to hang on until Lana can give him the opening he needs to put Cena away. His whole deal is being big and tough and mean but Cena has faced bigger, tougher, and meaner which forces him to be tenacious and smart on top of that for the first time. The second match builds on that by having Cena learn from the mistakes of the first and use offense Rusev isn't expecting to take the advantage and ultimately overcome.

For Brock and Rollins I was primarily talking about the Rumble triple threat which was bonkers and awesome.

The Owens/Zayn matches underwhelmed me as matches. I loved the booking but neither bout felt complete. The first Cena match worked as an inversion of the Rusev match. Cena being so used to being able to handle whatever gets put up against a guy who has him thoroughly scouted. That said, Owens also underestimates Cena a lot and nearly loses when he stops cutting off comebacks. In the end he's able to fight smart and hard and overcomes. I can't speak on the sequels though because I haven't seen them.

Granted, a LOT of this comes from how well his opponents use the mystique of Super Cena in 2015 to build around but I feel like having a super workable dynamic is still often a contributer for great years.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Obviously there's a ton from NXT tonight. But the main event was the best match.

The Ironman match is my favorite gimmick match. In a way, it's the most like real sports in wrestling. It really emphasizes each wrestler having a kayfabe gameplan, just like in actual sports. And, more importantly, it also emphasizes adjusting along the way, just like real sports.

This is great right from the start. The crowd is super into it (I will never know hy anyone hates an engaged crowd). They milk this for a little bit. There's a bit of a respect thing going on right away, which works its way into the match early.

Corey Graves (and the other announcers) are great throughout this. They talk up the importance of the first fall. Naturally, the women start the Ironman match with the standard trope -- trying to get an early pinfall via roll-ups. There's a lot of Malenko/Guerrero ECW type stuff in the start. The one thing I hate in Ironman matches is when the first pinfall comes too early. Ironman matches are usually something at the end of a heated feud. Two competitors just went at it for 30 minutes before a decision, and now they're getting a pinfall 60 seconds into a match?

But what I like, neither woman gets a pinfall using roll-ups. They start to hit moves. The first big move comes with Sasha hitting a dropkick on Bayley that sends the champ into the corner. Sasha stands over her. There's no trash talk. It's just Sasha staring. She respects her opponent.

The first major blow happens after Bayley hiptosses Sasha right onto her left neck shoulder. Sasha holds the neck while the moves pick up -- we have a failed Bank Statement and a failed Belly-to-Bayley. Sasha ends up in the corner and holds her neck. Bayley helps her foe up and they shake each other's hands while Sasha's getting up. And THE BOSS tosses Bayley to the ground and smirks.  Awesome. But this makes Bayley more aggressive. We knew Sasha would revert to form. And trusting Bayley knew it to some degree, too, knowing that once The Boss showed up, she was going to have to get at it.

Sasha gets a roll-up on Bayley but uses the ropes. She's caught and yells at the ref. Bayley charges Sasha but holds up before she hits the ref. The same thing happens to Sasha, who now hops up to the middle rope and blocks the ref's view. Bayley charges but Sasha hits her with an eye oke and rolls her up. Sasha is the new Eddie Guerrero. And the pin came about 10 minutes into the match. That's perfect.

Bayley ties it up pretty quickly after a few reversals and the like in the corner after Sasha tried to set Bayley up for her knee strike. Sasha ended up jumping into the Belly-to-Bayley. All tied up.

Now things get REALLY amped up. Bayley has already hit two sliding apron dropkicks. She goes for a third and Sasha sees it coming. She catches Bayley and straight-up tosses her to the steps. The lighbulb goes off and Sasha keeps on using the stairs to her advantage right in front of Izzy and Bayley's family. Sasha starts lipping off to Izzy right away and is getting massive heel heat. Now Sasha sees a huge advantage and throws Bayley into the LED board (which flickers) before strutting past Izzy and stealing her headband, wearing it in the ring. And then she tosses it in the face of a crying Izzy. That is SUCH awesome heeling. She mocked a child as her hero was losing a fall crawling in pain.

Sasha just continues the heat. She is taunting Bayley in the corner. Bayley goes to kick Sasha, like she did in a similar spot in their first match, but The Boss sees it coming. She then hooks Bayley in a Lion Tamer type move and stomps Bayley like the did in the Bank Statement in their last match. The match gets ties when Bayley rolls p the overconfident Sasha for a fall out of nowhere. Sasha does the great face only she can make -- where her whole Boss veneer gets stripped and we see her for the woman who lacks confidence until she puts up this front.

Bayley has control again and is now more fierce than she has been before -- even in their first match. This ends with them on the floor, with Bayley on the floor and going after Sasha's left hand and shoulder in the same exact manner Sasha did in their previous match. Such a great "turnabout is fairplay" moment. This ends up in great spots -- Bayley cracks her head on the steps. Sasha dives but is caught by Bayley (like in the Becky match) to a Belly-to-Bayley on the floor. But she can't get the pin.

After the two sell exhaustion for a bit, Sasha ends up on the top rope. They struggle for position until Bayley hits the top rope version. But they steal from the awesome near-fall from the Rollins/Neville classic a few months back, where Bayley accidentally puts Sasha's foot on the rope.

This sets up the awesome end stretch. Bayley goes for the Poison Rana like in the first match, but Sasha knows its coming and rolls through. She hits a B2B of her own for a near fall. Then she hooks the Bank Statement, but the announcers point out how she can't grip it enough. Bayley tries to go to the ropes, and Sasha kicks the ropes. She counters Bayley's counter that she used the last match but is gripping her wrist since she can't use her hand. Sasha then sets up for a proper Bank Statement, but Bayley counters this with an armbar we've never seen from her before, working Sasha's hurt fingers from before AND kicking Sasha in the face like Sasha did before. Sasha quits screaming right before the bell rings.

Man... I think this match might be better. It just builds on everything from the first match (which already built on a lot). Sasha did some of the all-time greatest heel work and turned the crowd against her even though she came in as sort of a babyface in the "I respect you" mode. The match had all sorts of counters from the previous encounter. And the end segment was great -- Bayley has gone to the well too many times and it nearly cost her. But then Bayley does the same to Sasha and wins by beating her more or less at the same game.

Just a wonderful match between two fantastic rivals. They're the Rey/Eddie and Flair/Steamboat and Punk/Cena of American Woman's Wrestling.



 

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People will probably disagree, but I think Jordan/Gable vs. Rhyno/Corbin is the best tag match I've seen from the company this year and I'm putting it in my top five. 

 

1. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)

2. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable)

3. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (NXT Takeover: Respect)

4. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, (Royal Rumble)

5. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable vs. Rhyno and Baron Corbin (NXT Takeover: Respect)

 

Honorable mentions include Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte (NXT TakeOver: Rival),

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (NXT Takeover: Rival), Reigns/Bryan (FastLane), Reigns/Lesnar/(Rollins) (WrestleMania), PTPs/The New Day (Battleground), Rusev/Cesaro/Owens (RAW), Charlotte/Sasha (NXT weekly), Owens/Cena (Elimination Chamber), Vaudevillains/Blake and Murphy (TakeOver: Brooklyn), Liger/Breeze (TakeOver: Brooklyn), and Owens/Neville (NXT Weekly TV), Kevin Owens vs. Finn Bálor (NXT Takeover: Brooklyn)

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Where do the women's matches rank in WWE MOTD? I know I'm forgetting some matches, but here is what I'm going through off the top of my list.

1) Wyatts/Shield, Elimination Chamber. The WWE went on an insanely great stretch of in-ring action based on six-man matches and the "WWE Dragon Gate" style. This was the peak of that storytelling with two all-time great faction just tearing the roof apart in a three-act masterpiece. This match didn't just have insane and well-executed spots (and there was some awesome crap), but it had some all-time great character work, too. Dean being a hothead to start the match. Bray leading his troops. Rollins acting as the general. Reigns' look of inevitability when he realizes its three-on-one. Harper kneeling before his master with an offering. Bray's look of trepidation and awe when Roman powers out of Sister Abigail. The Segunda Caida people called it the best heel vs. heel match ever.

2) Sasha/Bayley, Ironwoman. I know I'm probably going overboard right now since it's so fresh. But there's also a "bigger picture" thing with it, too. This was a woman's main event match given 30 minutes on what equates to a PPV. It's probably the best match ever in the form of a gimmick that has given a ton of great matches. They called back on their earlier masterpiece in so many effective ways. Sasha put on a heel clinic that made Bayley dig down into a darker part of her own soul. Women's sports is important and we should really care. And women's wrestling is important, too. They haven't been able to contribute to the artform in ages. And now they are, and they're doing it in ways that very few men can do. (Also, I'm going to lump in their first match in this, too, since it's sort of a sequel.)

3) Punk/Cena, MITB. The match that launched Punk into the stratosphere. The greatest "home court advantage" crowd in history. Amazing storytelling with a fantastic ending, with Punk blowing a kiss off he celebrates with his people.

4) Cena/Bryan, SummerSlam. The match that launched arguably the greatest one-man story arc in WWE history. An amazing match between two all-time greats in front of a hot crowd that ended with a reinvention of the company's new ruling heel caste. This set up roadblocks for The New Everyman in Bryan, the ultimate avatar for what the wrestling audience has become -- geeky fanboys more at home at a comic book convention than a Hooter's afterparty.

5) Rhodes Bros/Shield, Battleground -- Great old-school southern tag match that culminates a great redemption story with Dusty Rhodes at the center, giving the elbow to sleazebag Ambrose lurking on the sidelines. Perfect.

6) Good guys vs. The Authority, Survivor Series. Dolph Ziggler is the unlikeliest of heroes, a reformed heel who can never win the big one outlasts The Authority (with the help of the debuting Sting). Ziggler's had a few other matches close to this, like the double turn with ADR. I know he gets a lot of shit but he's really friggin' good at a lot of different times.

7) Cesaro vs. Regal, NXT -- The last match of Regal's career and possibly the last match we'll ever see that features no rope-running at all. A perfect send-off for an all-time great who as threaded the needle of so many different types of wrestling and one of Cesaro's best matches.

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Cena/Lesnar (Extreme Rules 2012) and the first Shield/Wyatts match are still the clear 1 and 2 for MOTD, but it warms my heart to know that a WWE women's match can be in that discussion. In fact, at the rate things are going, there will probably be several by 2019.

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4) Punk/Bryan, SummerSlam. The match that launched arguably the greatest one-man story arc in WWE history. An amazing match between two all-time greats in front of a hot crowd that ended with a reinvention of the company's new ruling heel caste. This set up roadblocks for The New Everyman in Bryan, the ultimate avatar for what the wrestling audience has become -- geeky fanboys more at home at a comic book convention than a Hooter's afterparty.

 

I think you mean Cena/Bryan.

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I posted this in the Respect thread, but does anyone else thing that Breeze/Crews might have been our sub 10 minute WWE MOTY or at least in that discussion.

 

I thought both guys brought it, especially Breeze. He shows a lot of fire and gave a tremendous performance.

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Honestly I thought Breeze/Crews was the weakest of the first 4 matches. Nice effort from Breeze, but Crews doesn't do much for me. My favorite part of the ironwoman match was Bayley getting out of the Bank Statement by twisting Sasha's injured hand.

 

I think it's pretty safe to say Sasha has 3 of the top 5 WWE matches this year. The Sasha vs Bayley feud has delivered the best story telling and emotion of the year.

 

As for MOTD I don't know that's a lot of ground to cover I get a headache just trying to compare all of the matches. I do think Sasha's top 3 matches this year would finish fairly high on my list if I had to make one. The NXT matches do have the advantage of having actual stakes involved, and good storylines behind them. All of the matches Greg mentioned above have those things, but it's something that doesn't happen often enough on the main roster.

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I posted this in the Respect thread, but does anyone else thing that Breeze/Crews might have been our sub 10 minute WWE MOTY or at least in that discussion.

 

I thought both guys brought it, especially Breeze. He shows a lot of fire and gave a tremendous performance.

 

That was a really great match. It's will end up as a true hidden gem. They told a really tight story about Crews's back hurting him and limiting what he can do physically. And it also showed what a smart wrestler Breeze is, except when he throws tantrums for not winning.

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Crews was bumping like a madman and actually selling the back work from Breeze as limiting his ability to pull off the athletic moves that typically turn the tide for him in most matches. I thought he was pretty fantastic. 

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Naturally (no pun intended!), Bayley vs. Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Respect will make my Overall and TV Match of the Year lists. I'm just trying to decide whether I preferred the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn match or this one at NXT TakeOver: Respect. How about all of you?

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Where do the women's matches rank in WWE MOTD? I know I'm forgetting some matches, but here is what I'm going through off the top of my list.

1) Wyatts/Shield, Elimination Chamber. The WWE went on an insanely great stretch of in-ring action based on six-man matches and the "WWE Dragon Gate" style. This was the peak of that storytelling with two all-time great faction just tearing the roof apart in a three-act masterpiece. This match didn't just have insane and well-executed spots (and there was some awesome crap), but it had some all-time great character work, too. Dean being a hothead to start the match. Bray leading his troops. Rollins acting as the general. Reigns' look of inevitability when he realizes its three-on-one. Harper kneeling before his master with an offering. Bray's look of trepidation and awe when Roman powers out of Sister Abigail. The Segunda Caida people called it the best heel vs. heel match ever.

2) Sasha/Bayley, Ironwoman. I know I'm probably going overboard right now since it's so fresh. But there's also a "bigger picture" thing with it, too. This was a woman's main event match given 30 minutes on what equates to a PPV. It's probably the best match ever in the form of a gimmick that has given a ton of great matches. They called back on their earlier masterpiece in so many effective ways. Sasha put on a heel clinic that made Bayley dig down into a darker part of her own soul. Women's sports is important and we should really care. And women's wrestling is important, too. They haven't been able to contribute to the artform in ages. And now they are, and they're doing it in ways that very few men can do. (Also, I'm going to lump in their first match in this, too, since it's sort of a sequel.)

3) Punk/Cena, MITB. The match that launched Punk into the stratosphere. The greatest "home court advantage" crowd in history. Amazing storytelling with a fantastic ending, with Punk blowing a kiss off he celebrates with his people.

4) Cena/Bryan, SummerSlam. The match that launched arguably the greatest one-man story arc in WWE history. An amazing match between two all-time greats in front of a hot crowd that ended with a reinvention of the company's new ruling heel caste. This set up roadblocks for The New Everyman in Bryan, the ultimate avatar for what the wrestling audience has become -- geeky fanboys more at home at a comic book convention than a Hooter's afterparty.

5) Rhodes Bros/Shield, Battleground -- Great old-school southern tag match that culminates a great redemption story with Dusty Rhodes at the center, giving the elbow to sleazebag Ambrose lurking on the sidelines. Perfect.

6) Good guys vs. The Authority, Survivor Series. Dolph Ziggler is the unlikeliest of heroes, a reformed heel who can never win the big one outlasts The Authority (with the help of the debuting Sting). Ziggler's had a few other matches close to this, like the double turn with ADR. I know he gets a lot of shit but he's really friggin' good at a lot of different times.

7) Cesaro vs. Regal, NXT -- The last match of Regal's career and possibly the last match we'll ever see that features no rope-running at all. A perfect send-off for an all-time great who as threaded the needle of so many different types of wrestling and one of Cesaro's best matches.

 

Great post.

 

Matches not mentioned:

 

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania XXVI.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H. WrestleMania XXVIII. I think you either really like or really don't this match.

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. Extreme Rules 2012.

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

Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk. SummerSlam 2013.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena. SummerSlam 2014.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Royal Rumble 2015.

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins. WrestleMania XXXI.

 

My top five WWE MOTD would probably go like this:

 

1. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena. SummerSlam 2013

2. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania XXVI.

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

4. CM Punk vs. John Cena. Money in the Bank 2011.

5. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. Extreme Rules 2012.

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Naturally (no pun intended!), Bayley vs. Sasha Banks at NXT TakeOver: Respect will make my Overall and TV Match of the Year lists. I'm just trying to decide whether I preferred the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn match or this one at NXT TakeOver: Respect. How about all of you?

 

Personally I thought the Brooklyn match was much better. I thought it flowed better, had more at stake, and a better atmosphere. They had some good ideas in the Ironman match but their execution was a few notches below the heights they reached in Brooklyn.

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I know MITB is more important for Historical purposes, but I think I may consider Punk/Cena at Night of Champions to be their best in-ring match.

Definitely. I thought it was just me and Matt on that train.

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I know MITB is more important for Historical purposes, but I think I may consider Punk/Cena at Night of Champions to be their best in-ring match.

Definitely. I thought it was just me and Matt on that train.

 

 

I thought so live, but I had a few beers at a bar by my apartment, and I've watched it once or twice since then, and it's a much smarter worked match. It was a more compelling match because you had Punk really heeling it up, and Heyman inexplicably showing up, and a finish that made complete sense in hindsight.

 

I actually probably would rank them:

 

1) Night of Champions - 2012

2) Money in the Bank - 2011

3) Summerslam - 2011

4) RAW 2013 - #1 Contender for Mania 29 (I was not a fan of this one at all. People got too hung up on OMG PILEDRIVER).

 

They had a few other RAW matches in that 2011 - 2012 period, but none of those I outright remember.

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I loved the basic meta-storyline that Punk was too smart and skilled for Cena to beat, but Cena was just too damn strong and tough for Punk to beat. The constant counters from Punk, avoiding Cena's big moves... The way Cena tried twice to hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle and Punk countered it both times, so finally Cena just hit a fucking fist drop with no set up...

Now I need to rewatch that match again.

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It was also the same week that Lawler had his heart attack, and the promo that both guys had with Bret Hart to close the show was top notch stuff that sold the show for me.

 

It almost made you forget about the very sad and real life thing that was experienced there in the arena.

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4) RAW 2013 - #1 Contender for Mania 29 (I was not a fan of this one at all. People got too hung up on OMG PILEDRIVER)

I'm not gonna argue the merits of the match, (other than to say you're wrong and probably a terrible person,) but I think it's interesting how historically significant the match ended up being.

Last match between the two, of course, but it was the last whiff Punk ever had of the main event. (I know he main evented some Raws and SmackDowns after, but CM Punk: top guy was done.)

I'd argue that more significant than the piledriver was Cena's (terrible) hurricanrana. In hindsight, it was a precursor to Cena's "bust out a bunch of new moves" trend.

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