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WWE Best Of The Year


Greggulator

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Wyatts vs. Rhodes Boys/Bryan -- Man, this match was so friggin' good. And it was really good in a very interesting way. What I loved about this match, especially, was that it felt special when Bray was in the ring. That's such an awesome way to use him. His minions do the dirty work and he comes in only at opportune times. And, when he does, he's vicious and brutal. Great stuff.

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Have to add the Regal/Cesaro match from NXT this week to this list. I can't do the match justice - see the long review posts from the NXT thread, but am loving that Regal, my all time favourite, has really made his NXT ring appearances count this year, with the earlier Ohno match also a real favourite, albeit fought completely differently as a striking based match iirc.

Again I want to repeat my pleading for a comprehensive WWE TV matches 2013 comp - I will pay!!!

I wonder if the last couple of shows will have good stuff on then? The last RAW of the year has traditionally been a showcase for a good match...

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I won't write 5,000 words on Regal/Cesaro but yes, this is on the list. Easily. It's so stylistically different from anything the WWE (or any promotion) has put on in years. Wrestling now is so dependent on rope running and big, visual bumping and flying. This has none of that. There are zero Irish Whip spots in this match. ZERO. There are only two occasions when someone even touches the ropes to set up a spot. Regal and Cesaro are in physical contact with each other for at least 75% of the match -- and that's probably a low figure. The match looks brutal and nasty as hell -- especially Regal's knee strike to the bicep and resulting arm work, but, when you think about it, is probably the safest possible match possible since there is so little big bumping.

I have an issue with the grande finale. Cesaro feels some sadness destroying Regal -- his mentor, in many ways -- when the whole feud was based on Cesaro's desire to humiliate the old master. It ended with Cesaro giving Regal a handshake of respect, which was out-of-character. I liked the ending of Regal/Ambrose more when Regal realized Dean was about to destroy him with his own move and apologized the young buck who was going after his throne. I won't begrudge anyone who absolutely loves this ending, though. I'll buy an argument that Regal won Cesaro's respect after Cesaro thought he was going to win in a walk.

I liked Sami/Cesaro as NXT MOTY a bit more. But that's just my stylistic preference -- a flying babyface versus a heel base in a 2 out of 3 falls match is essentially my favorite possible match structure, and there are so many mindblowing spots in that match. I won't argue with anyone who likes this more, though.

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Haven't had a chance to see this yet, but going by your description, it sounds like a spiritual descendant of the Benoit/Regal Pillman show match.

Was thinking exactly that, when they were doing all the stuff without using the ropes, was identical, except without the shoot headbutt/hard way sections...

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Was that trollery or did someone just attempt to claim that Benoit was somehow deficient in selling ability and psychology?

I know, right? And that match is basically Psychology 101.

I'm sure the Pillman 2000 match was literally used as the textbook example of ring psychology - it was mentioned as required viewing by Cornette to the OVW people from 2001 onwards IIRC...

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Benoit's matches not holding up has nothing to do with him being a piece of shit. When I rewatched Benoit/Regal a while back, it struck me as a respect-through-stiffness macho pissing contest. What about it was strong from a psychology standpoint? And don't say "Well, they had the crowd on their feet", because that would get you laughed off the board if you said it about Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels.

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I have been putting together a list of notable WWE TV matches through the year - see below (spoilered for size reasons)

 

I haven't gone into detail as to why I have put the matches on there - these are just matches I recall particularly enjoying when I originally watched them, and I thought it would be useful as a discussion point to have a full year of matches here given the new thread started after the board crashed in July.

 

Looking back, it seems like it is basically the Daniel Bryan and Shield and friends show. CM Punk isn't on there as much as I thought he would have been before putting the list together - maybe because his Axel/Ryback feuds weren't that great and his really good matches have mostly been on PPV  - maybe reinforcing the view of him as a big match performer - the tour de force vs Cena from earlier this year non-withstanding.

 

It also seems that there was a pretty big drop off in good matches in the run up to Wrestlemania - maybe due to all the part timers talking so much, and a big improvement in the number of excellent quality tag matches from October onwards with the return of Goldust and the re-establishment of the tag division.

 

We don't get Main Event over in the UK and I have not had a chance to watch Superstars, but please feel free to suggest matches from those shows if applicable.

 

 

RAW 07/01/13

Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena
Great Khali vs Antonio Cesaro
CM Punk vs Ryback - TLC

 

NXT 09/01/13
Big E Langston vs Seth Rollins

 

Smackdown 11/01/13
Big Show vs Alberto Del Rio - LMS

 

RAW 14/01/13
Wade Barrett vs Randy Orton
John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler - Cage

 

Smackdown 18/01/13
Antonio Cesaro vs Kofi Kingston

 

Smackdown 25/01/13
Wade Barrett vs Sheamus
Alberto Del Rio/Team Hell No vs Big Show/Rhodes Scholars - elimination

 

Smackdown 01/02/13
Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara vs Team Hell No

 

RAW 04/02/13
Ryback vs Antonio Cesaro
Rey Mysterio vs Daniel Bryan (Mark Henry return)
Chris Jericho vs CM Punk

 

Smackdown 08/02/13
Randy Orton vs Mark Henry

 

RAW 11/02/13
Mark Henry vs Great Khali
Daniel Bryan vs Chris Jericho

 

NXT 13/02/13
Adrian Neville/Oliver Grey vs Wyatts

 

RAW 18/02/13
Daniel Bryan vs Jack Swagger
Shield vs Randy Orton/Ryback/Chris Jericho

 

RAW 25/02/13
John Cena vs CM Punk

 

Smackdown 01/03/13
Antonio Cesaro vs Miz - 2/3 Falls

 

RAW 11/03/13
Daniel Bryan vs Dolph Ziggler

 

RAW 08/04/13
Miz vs Wade Barrett
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger/Zeb Coulter
Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler
Mark Henry vs John Cena

 

NXT 10/04/13
William Regal vs Kassius Ohno

 

Smackdown 12/04/13
Dolph Ziggler vs Chris Jericho

 

Smackdown 19/04/13
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger

 

RAW 22/04/13
Dolph Ziggler vs Chris Jericho
Team Hell No/Undertaker vs Shield

 

NXT 24/04/13
Antonio Cesaro vs Adrian Neville

 

Smackdown 26/04/13
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger - No DQ
William Regal vs Wade Barrett
Undertaker vs Dean Ambrose

 

RAW 29/04/13
Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes
John Cena/Team Hell No vs Shield

 

NXT 01/05/13
Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt

 

Smackdown 03/05/13
Daniel Bryan vs Ryback

 

RAW 06/05/13
Shield vs Kofi Kingston/Usos

 

Smackdown 10/05/13
Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose

 

RAW 13/05/13
Team Hell No/John Cena vs Shield - elimination

 

Smackdown 17/05/13
Shield vs Usos
Jericho vs Cesaro

 

RAW 20/05/13
Team Hell No/Kofi Kingston vs Shield

 

NXT 22/05/13
Sami Zayn vs Antonio Cesaro

 

Smackdown 24/05/13
Jack Swagger vs Daniel Bryan
Kofi Kingston vs Dean Ambrose
Randy Orton/Sheamus/Kofi Kingston vs Shield

 

RAW 27/05/13
Dean Ambrose vs Kofi Kingston
Team Hell No vs Shield

 

Smackdown 31/05/13
Seth Rollins vs Kane
Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan
Dean Ambrose vs Randy Orton

 

RAW 03/06/13
Shield vs Team Hell No/Randy Orton
Ryback vs Daniel Bryan

 

Smackdown 07/06/13
Shield vs Randy Orton/Daniel Bryan

 

RAW 10/06/13
Dean Ambrose vs Kane
Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns
Seth Rollins vs Daniel Bryan

 

NXT 12/06/13
Antonio Cesaro vs Sami Zayn

 

Smackdown 14/06/13
Sheamus vs Antonio Cesaro
Shield vs Team Hell No/Randy Orton (Shield first pinfall loss)

 

RAW 17/06/13
Antonio Cesaro vs William Regal
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan - No DQ

 

NXT 19/06/13
Adrian Neville/ Corey Graves/Kassius Ohno vs Wyatts

 

Smackdown 21/06/13
Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton

 

RAW 24/06/13
Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton

 

Smackdown 28/06/13
Sheamus vs Damien Sandow – Dublin Street Fight
Shield vs Christian/Usos

 

RAW 01/07/13
Shield vs Christian/Usos

 

Smackdown 05/07/13
Randy Orton vs Christian

 

RAW 08/07/13
Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan

 

NXT 10/07/13
Wyatts vs Adrian Neville/Corey Graves/William Regal

 

Smackdown 12/07/13
Daniel Bryan vs Christian
Jey Uso vs Seth Rollins

 

RAW 15/07/13
Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam

 

NXT 17/07/13
Adrian Neville/Corey Graves vs Wyatts

 

Smackdown 19/07/13
Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett

 

RAW 22/07/13
Daniel Bryan vs Jack Swagger/Antonio Cesaro/Ryback- gauntlet

 

NXT 24/07/13
Sheamus vs Luke Harper

 

RAW 29/07/13
Shield vs Usos/Mark Henry
Alberto Del Rio vs Christian

 

Smackdown 02/08/13
Randy Orton vs Christian vs Rob Van Dam

 

RAW 05/08/13
Randy Orton/John Cena/Daniel Bryan vs Shield

 

Smackdown 09/08/13

Randy Orton vs Rob Van Dam
Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett
Christian vs Alberto Del Rio

 

RAW 12/08/13
Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett

 

NXT 14/08/13
Shield vs Adrian Neville/Corey Graves/Xavier Woods

 

Smackdown 16/08/13
Shield vs Big Show/Mark Henry/Rob Van Dam
Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett - No DQ

 

NXT 21/08/13
Sami Zayn vs Antonio Cesaro - 2/3 Falls

 

Smackdown 23/08/13
Alberto Del Rio vs Christian
3MB vs Mark Henry/Big Show
Wade Barrett vs Daniel Bryan - Steel Cage

 

RAW 26/08/13
CM Punk vs Curtis Axel
Randy Orton vs Christian
Daniel Bryan vs Shield Gauntlet

 

RAW 02/09/13
Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton

 

NXT 04/09/13
Jack Swagger vs Sami Zayn

 

Smackdown 06/09/13
Rob Van Dam vs Alberto Del Rio
Real Americans vs Usos
Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins

 

RAW 09/09/13
Santino Marella vs Antonio Cesaro
Randy Orton vs Goldust
Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose

 

Smackdown 13/09/13
Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose
Dolph Ziggler/Usos vs Shield

 

RAW 16/09/13
Usos vs Real Americans vs Tons of Funk - Elimination
Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns

 

Smackdown 20/09/13
Shield vs Daniel Bryan and Usos

 

Smackdown 27/09/13
Shield vs Kofi Kingston/Dolph Ziggler/Rob Van Dam

 

RAW 30/09/13
Shield vs Usos/Dolph Ziggler

 

NXT 02/10/13
Luke Harper vs Kassius Ohno

 

RAW 07/10/13
Real Americans vs Santino Marella/Great Khali
Shield vs Brotherhood and Daniel Bryan

 

Smackdown 11/10/13
Shield vs Brotherhood

 

RAW 14/10/13
Brotherhood vs Shield – No DQ

 

NXT 16/10/13
Bo Dallas vs Sami Zayn

 

Smackdown 18/10/13
CM Punk vs Big E Langston
Real Americans vs Usos
Brotherhood and Daniel Bryan vs Shield

 

RAW 21/10/13
Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose
Shield vs Usos

 

Smackdown 25/10/13
Daniel Bryan/Brotherhood/Big E Langston vs Shield/Randy Orton

 

RAW 28/10/13
John Cena vs Damien Sandow
Usos/Big E Langston vs Shield
Real Americans vs Brotherhood

 

Smackdown 01/11/13
Shield vs Usos
John Cena/Brotherhood vs Damien Sandow/Real Americans

 

RAW 04/11/13
CM Punk vs Luke Harper
John Cena/Brotherhood vs Damien Sandow/Real Americans

 

NXT 06/11/13
Luke Harper vs Kassius Ohno

 

Smackdown 08/11/13
Daniel Bryan vs Luke Harper

 

RAW 11/11/13
CM Punk vs Real Americans
CM Punk/Bryan Danielson vs Shield

 

Smackdown 15/11/13
Wyatts vs Usos

 

RAW 18/11/13
Big E Langston vs Curtis Axel
Daniel Bryan/CM Punk/Brotherhood/Usos vs Shield/Wyatts

 

Smackdown 22/11/13
Real Americans vs Brothehood
Shield vs Usos/Rey Mysterio
Daniel Bryan vs Luke Harper

 

RAW 25/11/13
Shield vs Brotherhood/Rey Mysterio
Wyatts vs Daniel Bryan/CM Punk

 

NXT 27/11/13
Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn

 

Smackdown 29/11/13
Shield vs Brotherhood
Shield vs Brotherhood/CM Punk
Shield/Wyatt vs Brotherhood/Usos/Rey Mysterio/CM Punk

 

RAW 02/12/13
Eric Rowan vs Daniel Bryan
Big Show/Brotherhood vs Shield

 

Smackdown 06/12/13
Brotherhood vs Curtis Axel/Ryback
CM Punk vs Dean Ambrose
Rey Mysterio/Big Show vs Real Americans
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan

 

RAW 09/12/13
Daniel Bryan vs Fandango
Rey Mysterio/Big Show/Brotherhood vs Real Americans/Curtis Axel/Ryback
CM Punk vs Dean Ambrose
Wyatts vs Usos

 

Smackdown 13/12/13
Eric Rowan vs Daniel Bryan
Brotherhood vs Real Americans
Shield vs Usos

 

RAW 16/12/13
Rey Mysterio/Big Show vs Brotherhood
Mark Henry/Big E Langston vs Real Americans
CM Punk/Usos vs Shield
Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan

 

Smackdown 20/12/13
Brotherhood vs Wyatts
Shield vs John Cena/CM Punk

 

RAW 23/12/13
Wyatts vs Brotherhood/Daniel Bryan
CM Punk/John Cena/Bi g E Langston vs Shield

 

NXT 25/12/13

William Regal vs Antonio Cesaro

 

Smackdown 27/12/13
Wyatts vs Usos
Cody Rhodes vs Antonio Cesaro
Big E Langston vas Dean Ambrose
Mark Henry vs Roman Reigns
John Cena vs Seth Rollins


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Benoit's matches not holding up has nothing to do with him being a piece of shit. When I rewatched Benoit/Regal a while back, it struck me as a respect-through-stiffness macho pissing contest. What about it was strong from a psychology standpoint? And don't say "Well, they had the crowd on their feet", because that would get you laughed off the board if you said it about Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels.

 

Michaels is one of the greatest entertainers in wrestling history. People who don't love HBK epics are dead to me.

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Benoit's matches not holding up has nothing to do with him being a piece of shit. When I rewatched Benoit/Regal a while back, it struck me as a respect-through-stiffness macho pissing contest. What about it was strong from a psychology standpoint? And don't say "Well, they had the crowd on their feet", because that would get you laughed off the board if you said it about Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels.

 

Michaels is one of the greatest entertainers in wrestling history. People who don't love HBK epics are dead to me.

 

And, in keeping with the conversational tone set above, also (according some a certain percentage of his co-workers) a piece of shit.

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