DEAN AMBROSE

vs. Triple H (Roadblock - March 2016)

vs. AJ Styles (TLC - Dec 2016 - TLC MATCH) *

vs. Miz (SDL - 01/24/17)

 

BRAUN STROWMAN

vs Big Show (RAW - 02/20/17)*

vs. Seth Rollins (RAW - 12/26/16)*

vs. James Ellsworth (RAW - 07/25/16)

 

* - video employs some sort of trademark detection

Classic play-in battle.

Ambrose rules. He's one of the most entertaining guys in years on the roster. He won The Battle of The Shield, had a bunch of fun stuff with AJ and Ellsworth and The Miz.

Strowman came on strong as of late. He went from being a joke to the best big man in ages REALLY quickly.

Going with Braun.

Dean's most fun stuff this year came with the Ellsworth angles.

The only reason we know Ellsworth is because of the amazing "two fists" promo he did before Braun wrecked him.

Ergo Braun.

Dean had a decent year post-draft feuding with AJ Styles and Miz but prior to the draft he was involved in some horrific shit. His WM match with Lesnar was horrible. But I blame Lesnar for a lot of that too. 

Braun has steadily improved. The squash matches aren't going to get a lot of play, some of it runs together but they were very entertaining. He's gotten over on the mic.  He's improved in the ring and done some truly awesome shit.  I think the match with Big Show solidifies this for me.  Braun has been more consistent.

Dean is such a weird candidate, as he had multiple really good matches, which is much more then we could say in years past, but he felt like the worse worker in every single one of them (Save the matches with Rollins, I suppose). The Styles series was really great stuff, he was a solid part of the Elimination Chamber (were everyone excelled, really) and Survivor Series matches, but I still just flat out kinda hate how he wrestles. I think that's mostly on the current WWE formula of wrestling, as it's not letting Dean be what Dean should be. But I've said that for 2 years now. 

Braun was one of the highlights of what was a pretty shitty run for Raw post draft. While they struggled figuring out Rollins face turn and making Owens a believable heel, Braun kinda got to form his identity and grow into it. His second half is just a bunch of real good times.

Truth told, i'd vote Corbin over either of these two without much thought, but I get why they are both here. I might end up voting Ambrose for this head to head, but Braun is certainly the one I'm expecting to win.

So what is the best Strowman match?  I'm not saying this to be anti-Strowman, I like Strowman.  Just wondering what people consider to be the best match he's had? One of the Zayn matches?  The Henry match?  The Big Show match?

I like Ambrose, but over the last year-ish he went from "This guy and the reactions he gets are something special and you wonder if he could be a big break-out star with the way to the crowd reacts to him" to "Oh yeah, this guy..."

I'm leaning Strowman, but willing to listen to arguments.

The Big Show match would probably the best one, if I had to call it.

He was a monster in the Survivor Series tag and he was great in the Rumble, those are performances people might forget, it's easy to be booked as a monster but it's difficult to give off and maintain that aura and he did a great job of displaying that in both matches listed. People treated him like THE guy they needed to be shitting themselves about and he portrays that role so well.

I don't think the Big Show match was as awesome as most on here did but I didn't think it was as bad as Alvarez was making it out. It showed how far he has to go in connecting the dots between moves and general execution but it also showed off his incredible athleticism and strength. I was freaking out during his brief match with Owens 3 weeks or so ago because it was such a perfect sub five minute match. And that's his wheelhouse right now and will be for a little bit longer.

Dean's matches with AJ, the triple threat at No Mercy, and some of the Miz feud make it a relatively easy choice. He's a good promo even if he feels like he's sometimes mailing in the scripted BS he's fed. If Braun were putting in the level of quality he's generated the past few months throughout the entire period in question it would be way tougher.

Braunnnnnn!!!!!!

 

Voted for Dean in the vote so will stick with him. A few lows with the Brock Lesnar and Chris Jericho matches. I blame Lesnar for the former as he hasn't had a great match since the Undertaker bouts in '15. Ambrose highest high was the feud with AJ Styles. Dean also won the WWE Championship which surprised me with Ambrose's booking compared to the former Shield teammates.

16 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

I don't think the Big Show match was as awesome as most on here did but I didn't think it was as bad as Alvarez was making it out. It showed how far he has to go in connecting the dots between moves and general execution but it also showed off his incredible athleticism and strength. I was freaking out during his brief match with Owens 3 weeks or so ago because it was such a perfect sub five minute match. And that's his wheelhouse right now and will be for a little bit longer.

Dean's matches with AJ, the triple threat at No Mercy, and some of the Miz feud make it a relatively easy choice. He's a good promo even if he feels like he's sometimes mailing in the scripted BS he's fed. If Braun were putting in the level of quality he's generated the past few months throughout the entire period in question it would be way tougher.

That's Alvarez for you ; )

I guess I'm happy that I didn't listen to any WO audio this week. I can't imagine not at least liking Braun/Show

He didn't hate it but he was quick to chill people's reaction to it thinking Braun was ready for main event matches from my listening of his rant. He pointed out Braun's flaws and said he got blown up, which I didn't really see though he missed Show at the end and didn't get him up easily the first time. He's pretty fair and level headed on Braun in that he admits he's got lots of potential and is impressive but has some major flaws. Alvarez is a bit too workrate-y for me sometimes but I don't think he's off base here.

Watched Braun/Show (as fucked as it was) and yeah, BRENT. Show should be given a merit badge for that match though. Ambrose I've watched intermittently before I got a different job that disallowed me to watch Raw and Smackdown but really... is that a question? 

This is a tough one for me.

Ambrose is far from perfect. He's yet to live up to his full potential, but you could say that of most performers. His work is a bit soft and he sometimes seems to be checking off boxes in his routine rather than acting like the wild brawler he's supposed to be. And yet he's very popular, a good promo, and dependable for a well-above-average main event performance on an almost nightly basis. Is he going to win this tourney? Not a chance. But I think his work with AJ, Triple H, Miz, Cena, and even Ziggler, Jericho, and the Shield should merit him a look here. 

Regarding the obvious worst bouts he's had this year, I'd say a) he and Brock were well on their way to something very good which was cut short because Brock's gonna Brock, and b) my understanding is the Asylum match was given extra time at the last minute because something else ran short or was cut altogether so they stretched their match by at least five minutes (probably more). So I don't hold either match against him, especially in light of his overall consistency.

Braun, on the other hand, is shiny and new and very exciting for a lot of us, myself included. He's been phenomenal in his role. And yet, you can look at his matches with Sami (a guy I consider to be possibly the best worker in the fed) and see that there are still questions to be answered. There's a lot of potential, but he's just getting started.

How should I measure the excitement generated by Braun's second half against Ambrose's consistency? I'm not sure. My heart say Braun, but I could still talk myself out of it. Knowing you guys, Braun stands a far better chance of being competitive in the tournament, so I'm tempted to vote for him on that basis alone. 

Strowman' best match was actually the Royal Rumble

I'm not a huge fan of Ambrose, but he's enjoyable in small doses.  He can be a decent promo and was in a number of pretty good matches.  Add to that that he stepped up his game after the draft and was in several top feuds on SDL and this one seems like a mismatch to me.  If he'd only stop using the damn rebound clothesline!   Though there were several spots on SDL where they did something creative with it.

Stroman is... big.  And was well-booked in the Rumble.  That's all I got.  I vote for Dean.

 

I was reminded of the Compound brawl when I was doing the New Day post

I will say that that was problem the first time they figured out how to book Braun properly

11 hours ago, Oyaji said:

I don't think the Big Show match was as awesome as most on here did but I didn't think it was as bad as Alvarez was making it out. It showed how far he has to go in connecting the dots between moves and general execution but it also showed off his incredible athleticism and strength. I was freaking out during his brief match with Owens 3 weeks or so ago because it was such a perfect sub five minute match. And that's his wheelhouse right now and will be for a little bit longer.

Dean's matches with AJ, the triple threat at No Mercy, and some of the Miz feud make it a relatively easy choice. He's a good promo even if he feels like he's sometimes mailing in the scripted BS he's fed. If Braun were putting in the level of quality he's generated the past few months throughout the entire period in question it would be way tougher.

I think you've talked me into an Ambrose vote here.

If you've ever renamed Braun Strowman to Bad Strong or Barrelhouse Scarecrow or any other phrasing, perhaps you owe a simple play in vote to Braun for he has brought such joy to the board.

If you vote for Dean, then you're saying you like those stupid looking rebound lariats.

I'd rather watch Braun destroy guys from Winger cover bands than anything Ambrose does these days.

Dug Braun's performances in the Rumble and SS. The match with Big Show was good, and I've enjoyed his squashes. Still can't pick Braun over Ambrose due to the feud with AJ/Ellsworth and the recent stuff with the Miz. If Braun had gotten a few more impressive singles I might have considered him. At this point its not really close though not terribly far.

My absolute favourite Braun moment this year was him destroying tiny masked lad Americo, then coldly ripping his mask off after the event laughing. Nothing Dean did entertained me as much this year.

I've been bored enough with Ambrose that even just based on 2016 I might have voted Braun, but with the Zayn and Big Show matches from Raw in 2017 I'm definitely voting Braun.

I was going for Ambrose in the vote originally, but the problem is this is the worst matchup for him.

If Ambrose had a 14-10 year with 250 strikeouts and a sub-3.00 ERA to make it clear "he had a weak year, but not totally his fault", Strowman would be the number 4 starter who had a 4.50 + ERA, but good luck led him to shockingly win 18 games, including one no-hitter. 

Yeah, next year Strowman's probably going to regress, and he wasn't good before this, but Strowman OWNED this year and ended up going from someone who was genuinely maligned to one of the best things about Raw and the hottest hand on the show. 

Worst matchup for Ambrose in round 1- just...please, give us one gloriously insane Ambrose post before Strowman destroys him.