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2021 WWE Matches of the Year.


The Natural

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I can do a top five and expand to the usual top ten Overall and TV categories as we get more matches.

1. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

2. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Rhea Ripley. WWE NXT, 6th January.

3. Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly. WWE NXT, 6th January.

4. Adam Pearce vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn vs. King Corbin. WWE Smackdown Live, 8th January.

5. Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee. WWE RAW, 4th January.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Post Royal Rumble update:

1. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

2. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

3. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

4. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 5th February.

5. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Rhea Ripley. WWE NXT, 6th January.

6. Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly. WWE NXT, 6th January.

7. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

8. Adam Pearce vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn vs. King Corbin. WWE Smackdown Live, 8th January.

9. Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee. WWE RAW, 4th January.

10. Sasha Banks vs. Carmella. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

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Post NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day update...

1. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

2. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

3. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

4. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

5. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 5th February.

6. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Rhea Ripley. WWE NXT, 6th January.

7. Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly. WWE NXT, 6th January.

8. MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

9. Johnny Gargano vs. KUSHIDA. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

10. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

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  • 1 month later...

Post Fastlane/NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver/WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1 update...

1. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa. WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver Night 1, 7th April.

2. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

3. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

4. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

5. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fastlane, 21st March.

6. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

7. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

8. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 5th February.

9. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

10. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Rhea Ripley. WWE NXT: New Year's Evil, 6th January.

Edited by The Natural
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Too lazy to rank matches, but Sasha/Bianca is MOTY for me at the moment. I don't think its Sasha's best match ever (thought it ranks high), but I do think its her best performance. I love Sasha, but much of the time she comes across self-serving performance wise. This was probably the most she has done to put over another talent while at the same time doing a fantastic job of still looking great herself. I think the story laid out with her being the super talented vet vs. the super-athlete "rookie" in Bianca really helped.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Snap reaction having watched Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan live an hour ago on Smackdown Live:

1. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 30th April.

2. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa. WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver Night 1, 7th April.

3. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

4. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

5. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

6. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fastlane, 21st March.

7. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

8. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

9. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 5th February.

10. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update:

1. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 30th April.

2. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa. WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver Night 1, 7th April.

3. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

4. Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro. WWE WrestleMania Backlash, 16th May.

5. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

6. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

7. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fastlane, 21st March.

8. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

9. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

10. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 5th February.

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  • 3 months later...

Update:

1. WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov. WWE TakeOver XXXVI, 22nd August. *****.

2. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 30th April.

3. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa. WWE NXT: Stand and Deliver Night 1, 7th April.

4. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 10th April.

5. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne. WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. 14th February.

6. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Smackdown Live, 15th January.

7. Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro. WWE WrestleMania Backlash, 16th May.

8. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. WWE Fastlane, 21st March.

9. Women's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

10. Men's Royal Rumble match. WWE Royal Rumble, 31st January.

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  • 4 months later...

WWE.com have released the annual Top 25 Matches of 2021:

Spoiler

25. Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre - Hell in a Cell Match (Hell in a Cell, 6/20/21)
24. RK-Bro vs. The Usos (Survivor Series, 11/21/21)
23. Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley - No Holds Barred Match (SaudiMania: The Crown Jewel, 10/21/21)
22. Roman Reigns vs. Edge (Money in the Bank, 7/18/21)
21. WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver Night 1, 4/7/21)
20. Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro (WrestleMania Backlash, 5/16/21)
19. Cora Jade, Raquel Gonzalez, Kay Lee Ray, & Io Shirai vs. Dakota Kai, Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, & Jacy Jayne - WarGames Match (NXT WarGames, 12/5/21)
18. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus - No Holds Barred Match (Fastlane, 3/21/21)
17. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins (WrestleMania 37 Night 1, 4/10/21)
16. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - Last Man Standing Match (Smackdown, 7/2/21)
15. Big E vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet vs. Riddle vs. Kevin Owens vs. John Morrison - Money in the Bank Match (Money in the Bank, 7/18/21)
14. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Rhea Ripley - Last Woman Standing Match (NXT New Year's Evil, 1/6/21)
13. Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne (NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day, 2/14/21)
12. Edge vs. Seth Rollins (SummerSlam, 8/21/21)
11. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Balor - Ladder Match (RAW, 10/25/21)
10. Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison (WrestleMania 37 Night 1, 4/10/21)
9. Big E vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns (RAW, 9/20/21)
8. Team Black & Gold vs. Team 2.0 - WarGames Match (NXT WarGames, 12/5/21)
7. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (Money in the Bank, 7/18/21)
6. Roman Reigns vs. John Cena (SummerSlam, 8/21/21)
5. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Survivor Series, 11/21/21)
4. Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER (NXT Takeover 36, 8/22/21)
3. Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan (WrestleMania 37 Night 2, 4/11/21)
2. Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks (WrestleMania 37 Night 1, 4/10/21)
1. Edge vs. Seth Rollins - Hell in a Cell Match (SaudiMania: The Crown Jewel, 10/21/21)

 

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I don't watch everything and none of the weekly TV, where I'm sure there were some great matches involving Bryan, Reigns, etc. but here are the ones I thought were really good-to-great:

1) Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns (Fastlane 2021) (noticeably absent from the WWE's list. I wonder why???)

2) Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns (WrestleMania Backlash)

3) Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (Hell in a Cell 2021)

4) Men's Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber 2021)

5) Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks (WrestleMania)

5) Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns (Extreme Rules 2021) (a controversial pick, I know, but if you ignore the finish, the rest of the match was great)

 

I have a bunch of other matches in that "almost great"/honorable mention category involving Becky, Belair, Bayley, Charlotte, and Roman (like the match against Big E from Survivor Series), but generally speaking, I think the WWE production (commentators, cameras, etc.) and booking has under-served the work of the performers. I know, I know, not a new criticism but, yeah, there was just something "off" with certain matches to me that I couldn't shake or that prevented me from caring about.

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Thanks for posting WWE's annual top 25 matches, @DreamBroken. If what I've seen, WALTER/Ciampa is way too low, Balor/Dunne was one of the most underrated matches this year. Shame Reigns/Cesaro was a one and done as we expected it to be. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns in Bryan's last WWE match should be there but we know why. Skipped the Saudi Blood Money show. Nice seeing Ripley/Gonzalez make the cut. Only one WWE match I gave ****** to, WALTER vs. Dragunov.

Edited by The Natural
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