Superstar Sleeze

Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt - Royal Rumble 2014 Who is this Bray Wyatt and where the hell has he been? He was the King of the Explosive Cutoff in this match. He reminds me of Dr. Death in his ability to combine size with acceleration. You will see that in snippets in other matches, but it was in full effect here. In a lot of Wyatts matches, he does not have an opponent with as deep an offensive arsenal as Bryan so when he cuts off his opponent it is after each move, which makes it feel like he is trading moves and it becomes an exhibition. Bryan's depth affords the ability to have Bryan have longer spurts before a cutoff and Bryan's natural ability to exhibit a sense of overcoming the odds engages the viewer more. One of the best things about Daniel Bryan is the overwhelming crowd support he gets and that was evident early as the crowd was very hot for this. There were periods where they dipped out, but they were staunchly behind young Daniel Bryan throughout. We get that first taste of how Bray Wyatt will use Bryan's momentum against him with an explosive elbow cutoff, but Bryan keeps coming and takes Harper out with a suicide dive. The ref sends the Wyatt Family packing. Bryan hitting two badass cross bodies was just a great rabble rousing moment. Bryan gets on top and Wyatt chops him off the top rope. Bryan takes a nasty fall. I would have liked that to have been a transition instead Wyatt goes head over heels on the steps. Bryan doing leg work is something I like because it gives his offense direction. I know unless it is a Rusev match that most likely the leg work would not be a factor and that does not annoy me as much as Daniel Bryan no selling head injuries later on. Bray Wyatt gets an snap arm wrench onto the apron and then blasts Bryan's head with elbows as he is up against the post. I like my heels, violent and sadistic. Wyatt's back senton is awesome. I really liked the spot where Wyatt snapped Bryan into the middle rope. I had just seen that for the first time in Styles/Tanahashi and thought it was cool as all hell maybe they got it from here. The Wyatt chinlocks did seem to sap some energy from the crowd, but overall I think his attack on the head of Daniel Bryan was really spot on. I was disappointed a little bit that this did not seem to impact how Daniel Bryan would overcome the odds. I really think Bryan adjusting his game plan for a serious head injury would have made this a bonafide match of the year contender. Don't get me wrong, the finish stretch was very exciting, but felt like a departure from the rest of the match. The match becomes about Bryan gaining more and more offense. First it is some elbows off a missed Wyatt elbow, but that is cutoff by a sweeeeeeet cross body block.Then Bryan fights through nailing a tornado DDT off the apron and a missile dropkick. He is feeling it and goes into frantic running dropkicks, but on the third one Wyatt nearly decapitates him with a lariat. Wyatt is the heir of Stan Hansen. His swinging lariat is a thing of beauty. Wyatt going for Sister Abigail, but Bryan getting a roll-up nearfall is so WWE. Bryan goes for the Yes-Lock, but Wyatts bites him. At this point, I am just going to say it, Wyatt is the better wrestler in this match. He is just on point in every way as a heel, whereas Bryan is being arbitrary and capricious about his move selection. Then in a moment that actually shocked me and blew me away Wyatt caught Bryan on a suicide dive attempt and delivered Sister Abigail. He hit one more time in the ring to win the match. Great definitive finish, but also shows that at the time of the Rumble they really did think of Bryan as a B+ player as he had no protection in that loss. Wyatt looked better here than he has in his whole career. Great heel work mixed with excellent timing made for one helluva performance. Still I thought this lacked an interesting match hook. They could have gone body part with Wyatt's leg, or Bryan's head, but WWE does not care for that. Then it could have been can Bryan overcome the monster, Wyatt, but instead we were getting weak transitions like a roll-up or Bryan just starting up offense. The match was exciting, had some great spots and a great individual Bray Wyatt performance, but it was missing that overarching storyline to make it a match of the year contender. ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Tetsuya Naito - G-1 Climax 2014 Day 2 The champion comes in with a loss and looks to get things back on track against Naito, who seemed poised on the cusp of breaking out earlier in the night. In fact at the 2014 Dome Show, he was the challenger for Okada's IWGP Championship, but the fans selected the Tanahashi/Nakamura I-C match as the main event, which showed that in the fans' eyes Naito just was not quite there yet. From what I read, his career was on the verge of collapse until a series with the hard-hitting Ishii over the NEVER title resuscitated his career. I have seen about one or two Naito matches, but don't remember much. I will definitely remember this match as Styles and Naito put on a very dramatic, intense match on the second day of the 2014 G-1 Climax. AJ continues the chattiness of the Okada match and I am already hooked. Tie up in the ropes "Get him off me! Do your job!" You tell em, AJ! They go tit for tat early trading headlocks and Naito even hitting a Styles-like dropkick. AJ will not be shown up and unleashes a Jim Brunzell-beastly dropkick that reopens Naito's wound on the top of his head. AJ is just all over that wound. He pretty much does everything you want him to do short of gnawing on it. He elbows, knees, and claws at it. This is AJ at his most violent. I always thought he was good at taking the lickin' and keep on tickin' in the violent matches, but I loved seeing him dish it out here! Naito looks to create some offense, but on the apron AJ trips him and takes a header right onto the apron. Damn! Great cutoff! DId not milk it. Rather they milked a double clothesline for a teased double countout. That would not have been my choice. Just when you think Naito was going to take over with a superplex AJ drops through his legs and hotshots him head first into the turnbuckle. If they just had a little more time and had Naito really sell these cutoffs, this would be a strong MOTYC. AJ runs through his usual high impact spots: pele, brainbuster to set up the Styles Clash. Naito fights out of the Styles Clash and looks for a Super Frankensteiner. BLOCK! He has him in the Styles Clash, but he fights out. Naito dropkicks him as he comes off the top. German suplex by Naito and he fights through AJ's strike combination. Star Dust Press wins it! Can't believe I am going to say this, but I wanted this match to be longer. I know, I know I kept bitching and moaning about loooooooooooooooong NOAH matches, but if they had more time to flesh this out. This would have been awesome. Styles was violent and Naito was a great scrappy underdog. Let some of those cutoffs breathe and let Naito build towards a satisfying finish (a bit out of nowhere). This is match of the year. As it stands, it is very damn great ****1/4

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada - G-1 Climax Day 1 2014 I was super pumped to get started on some AJ Styles in New Japan and what better place to start then where he really opened people's eyes in the G-1 Climax. Coming into this match. AJ Styles was riding a two match win streak over Okada having defeated him for the title in early May. I have seen about three Okada matches in my life, two were back in 2012 when he broke out and then one a couple months ago when he was a young boy. I don't have a real feel for him. This match while great did not really lend me anymore insight than I had previously. He seems like he is an all-around capable wrestler who knows how to carry himself, which is critical. Okada's entrance is really cool with the robes and chains. American wrestling needs a colorful figure like that. He is definitely someone I will be exploring in the near future as I plan to catch up on New Japan. For someone (*cough*Meltzer*cough*) to say this is Styles' best match or best performance is pretty disrespectful to AJ, in my opinion. I have seen a lot of AJ and he has had plenty of matches that are a total level above this match. I am not trying to slight the match. The match was a great match, but it was opening day of the tournament match. It is going to whet your appetite not satisfy it. Plus with AJ's title not on the line and AJ being up 2-0 in his personal series against, Okada you knew it was time for Okada to get his win back so the same level of drama was not there. To make a comparison to American wrestling, I would say this would be a candidate for the Best RAW match of the year, that's level it was at. AJ yapping it up during the match was awesome. It is a new part of his arsenal (unless something changed late in his TNA run) and I loved it. He was trash talking Okada asking him if that's all he got when he was in a straitjacket surfboard or after he took control, mocking the Okada chants. The verbal beatdown added a lot to the heel heat section. The opening part of the match was well-worked armwrenches before they tease hitting their finishers. From there, Okada takes over with a big back body drop on Styles. Styles lunges at Okada with two fists to the throat. I love that as a heel transition. Like I said Styles heat segment was definitely taken up a notch by his trash talk. Styles brings back the jump over the railing on an Irish Whip. Okada follows up with a cross body. They tease the double countdown. Not much has changed since 2009, I see. Okada puts AJ in a wicked STF (Take notes, Cena) and Styles is very vocal about how much it hurts. AJ uses the suplex into the turnbuckles as a desperation transition as we have seen before. I like that spot utilized for that purpose. He follows up with a torture rack into a powerbomb, damn that was nice. AJ is thinking it is time to end this. First he crashes and burns on the springboard 450. Then he goes for the Styles Clash, but nothing doing. The ref gets bumped (oooooooo that's different from the 2000s). Okada hits a sweet top rope elbow drop, but there's no ref! Here comes Yuijro of the Bullet Club, but he gets taken out with a dropkick to the head. Okada goes for the Rainmaker, but reversed into a German and Pele. The Pele kick is the usual set up for the Styles Clash, but Okada reverses the Clash into a TOMBSTONE! RAINMAKER~! After succumbing to the Styles Clash twice, Okada had a counter this time with the Tombstone leading to his Rainmaker finish. The early part of the match was carried by AJ with his trash talk. The last part was very solid escalation. AJ took over with the suplex into the corner and began working towards putting Okada away. At each turn, he was just too premature and could not make the most of Yujiro's help. Okada had an answer for pretty much anything Styles threw at him and conquered him with the Rainmaker. It never reached that next level, but it built to a very satisfying conclusion. Can my boy, AJ, pick up the pieces and gain some momentum in night 2 against the up and coming Naito? ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Hiroshi Tanahashi G-1 Climax 2014 Consolation Prize The biggest star of the company facing the champion for the very first time in the 3rd place match of the G-1 Climax may seem like bad booking, but I think it is really, really good. AJ showed up and won the IWGP Champion and I believe some of that credit is shared among the Bullet Club. Thus AJ has never faced most of these guys. Sure, he is the champion and an experienced vet, but he is inexperienced against this competition. So it only makes sense he slipped up early against Naito. As we know from real sports, it is hard to beat the same twice or three times in the same season so it was bound that Okada would get his win back. He tied with Okada in the block, but Okada had the head to head tiebreaker. It also shows the clear divide between the top four stars (Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura, and Styles) and everyone else. There is a parity among those four, but they are in a level unto themselves. Now onto the match, which I think was laid out very well for what it was. People have said it was a bit off, clunky, awkward. I disagree with those negative words. Instead, I think they were showing this was their first match against each other and thus they were feeling each other out throughout the match. Their basic strategies were similar put myself in a position to hit my finish. It was a great first match in the series because they never give away too much, but they are both looking to win. The start was very even, which really helps Styles' credibility, who looks like a real New Japan star after the G-1 Climax. One weird element was that Tanahashi did a spot that is usually done to heels. The one where you lay out on the top turnbuckle get kicked and then land crotch-first onto the top rope and the babyface shakes it. It was just weird to see the reverse happen. Knowing 2007 Tanahashi as well I do, he must have been drooling to reverse a quebrada into a dragon sleeper and lo and behold he did! Tanahashi cuts off an AJ springboard by tripping him up and that was a nasty fall. My favorite AJ spot ensues, he jumps over the railing, thinks he is so smart and then eats a cross body. Never gets old! In the long standing debate of does Tanahashi's offense looks like it hurts? I think his elbows do, but yes his body punches are Kofi Kingston-light in this match. Styles obliterates Tanahashi with a spinwheel kick, but Tanahashi grabs a Sling Blade. When Tanahashi pulls down on the head like here, it is a great looking move. The struggle over the Dragon Suplex into a Human Capture Suplex was the best part of this match. AJ really put over how much he does NOT want to go over in this suplex, but his damn arms are trapped, which makes lifting his shoulder very difficult. Tanahashi hitting a Dragon Suplex out of Styles' strike combination was so awesome! AJ has cut off the High Fly Flow twice and the Styles Clash has been cut off once. Tanahashi struggles again on the Styles Clash so AJ hits a GANSO BOMB~! A word on that later. Styles goes for his own High Fly Flow, but eats knees and then Tanahashi hurries to hit his own, but the same fate awaits him. Styles goes for the Styles Clash for a third tim, but Tanahashi is able to get a reverse victory roll to win the match. Bullet Club attacks, Double J feigns the save and smashes a guitar over Tanahashi's head to join the Bullet Club. As a first match this is perfectly fine. They both had each other well-scouted and Tanahashi was finally able to turn a counter into victory, but it was not definitive. It earns him a title shot, no doubt, but it leaves intrigue open for the winner. Overall, it was just a lot of each wrestler's highspots used against each other without much creativity, It lends itself to that storyline that they were both tentative and working with what brought them to the dance rather than responding organically. Lastly, I wish the Ganso Bomb (it is a safer version than Kawada used as opponent's head does not hit the match) was used more like the Burning Hammer or Emerald Flowsion as AJ Styles' super duper finisher rather than the move that Tanahashi gets up and runs around from 30 seconds later. It is a cool match up and entertaining throughout. I think they set the championship rematch up well. ***1/2

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki - G-1 Climax Day 7 Minoru Suzuki is pissed. He is pissed that some arrogant, punk outsider just waltzed in here and is now the champion. This is not time to stick out tongue and play mind games. That shit is reserved for those who earned it. He is here to teach a lesson in respect. Minoru Suzuki walking tall is the best thing ever! I would say this is probably the greatest heel vs heel match ever, but I would hear the argument that Suzuki is just a babyface using violent heel tactics to kick some ass. AJ Styles proves he is here to stay. He can take a lickin' and keep in tickin'. He is going to earn his stripes. Even if that means losing the use of his right arm, he is going to earn the respect of Suzuki and the New Japan crowd. It is amazing that the two biggest heels in New Japan basically play babyfaces in this match because they believe in what they are doing. Minoru Suzuki is going to send this Johnny Come Lately a message and AJ Styles is here to make a statement he won't back down. It just depends on your own sensibilities who your root for and on this night the crowd was 100% behind Minoru Suzuki. Minoru Suzuki slaps the taste out of AJ's mouth early, but AJ scores a dropkick to retaliate. AJ uses his jump over the railing offensively by hitting a springboard forearm from the railing. I love Suzuki's angry selling. He is pissed that he is getting his ass kicked by Styles right now and there is nothing he can do. There is just a real sense of struggle to everything. Suzuki sees his opening and pounces. He trips up AJ on a springboard move and applies a hanging armbar and then kicks ever loving shit out of that arm. Suzuki is out to rip that arm off and beat him with it. I love him whipping AJ into the railing and then trying to pry the arm off while this Japanese girl just screams the entire in the background. AJ's verbal selling was so good in this. His yelps of agony really took this to another visceral level. AJ is able to roll through a couple arm drags to snap off a suplex into the turnbuckles to stop the bleeding. At this point one of Suzuki-Gun jumps AJ and here comes the Bullet Club. I like the heel gang vs heel gang warfare in the middle. AJ is so committed to selling his right arm, he hits all his strikes with his left hand and they look damn good! I love how quick and explosive this strike exchange was. There was no waiting out, goading people to hit each other. They just both desperately wanted to knock the other out and they ended up knocking each other out. Then the match goes from excellent to instant classic in one simple moment. AJ does the Bullet Club Gun signal and puts it to Minoru Suzuki's head. Suzuki did not like that. Not one bit and AJ you aren't going to like Minoru Suzuki when he is angry. Minoru Suzuki grabs that finger and tries to wrench it off of AJ's hand, who is screaming in pain. The ref is even trying to tell Suzuki to watch the fingers. Styles tries to come back with springboard forearm, but that is caught into an armbar and Suzuki is going to snap that finger off. AJ is trying to everything and Suzuki just has an answer for everything. It feels almost hopeless for AJ. Suzuki goes for the piledriver, but AJ blocks. AJ knows it is Styles Clash or bust. Suzuki counters into a heel hook and Suzuki sniffs out AJ's second counter and grabs a cross armbreaker. AJ is dead to rights. Oh shit! Oh Shit! OH SHIT! STYLES CLASH OUT OF THE CROSS-ARMBREAKER!!! The kid may just got it. Suzuki spits at him. You feel like they are about to enter into Mortal Kombat. AJ is totally relying on left handed slaps as his right arm is fucked. Suzuki punches him in the face and thinks he has him. PELE~! Suzuki is knocked loopy. Go AJ GO! AJ wastes no time, he fights through the pain, hoists Suzuki up and STYLES CLASH! AJ wins! AJ did not just win a G1 Climax match. He won the respect of the New Japan fans worldwide with that performance. Both wrestlers were wrestling on a out of this world level. Styles felt overwhelmed. His arm was toast and he could not get anything going. Suzuki was just ripshit the entire match and had every intention of beating AJ into submission. Then just like that a desperation Styles Clash while in a cross-armbreaker and AJ salvages his match. The selling from AJ was off the charts. His desperation in trying to survive was something most of wrestlers could never convey. The true anger of Minoru Suzuki is something you also do not see. This was not hatred. It was anger. It was amazing. Every move felt huge, consequential and urgent. It is a coin flip between Shield/Wyatts Elimination Chamber in this. It does not really matter because at the end of the day, wrestling fans win! ****3/4

HOG Heavyweight Champion Ricochet vs AJ Styles - HOG 12/19/14 Wow, an actually pretty decent indy commentary team! I thought they did a fabulous job putting over Ricochet while still mentioning his weaknesses. They stressed how important the championship is and that the goal of the match is to win, not to entertain. Really I think that is basic stuff, but so many commentators totally whiff on that. What really impressed me was their discussion of the Styles Clash. This was after Styles broke Yoshi Tatsu's neck. The commentators explained how critical the Styles Clash has been to his career and agreed he should use it, but were worried about the danger. It really increased the drama around the match and the Styles Clash. Ricochet had quite the 2014 and seems like he is poised to breakout this year in a big way. He won NJPW Best of the Super Juniors and Battle of Los Angeles tournaments. He was the inaugural Lucha Underground champion, a key mainstay in Dragon Gate (decorated titleholder), and of course House of Glory champion. I was excited to take a look at Ricochet. I came away thinking he felt really Dragon Gate-y. He is good at incorporating extra flips into his offense and likes modified slams. He is not very good at strikes and is sort of all over the place as a wrestler. AJ did not seem to intent on reigning him in until the end of the match. This was a pretty tame spotfest. The first portion of the match was the best with some good mat wrestling until the finish. Ricochet would gain the advantage do some gloating and AJ would retreat to the corner. Ricochet is established as a grandstanding hot dog that may let his attitude get in his way of winning. AJ shows his veteran experience. Ricochet calls his shot, a People's Moonsault and AJ rearranges his face with a kick. The next five minutes were pretty spotty. AJ's offense looked crisp at least. There was an AJ legsweep and Ricochet started to sell the knee. I was hoping they could salvage something then Ricochet did two backflips and a Pele kick. But wait! Ricichet's knee is really starting to bother him and he struggles to hit a Shooting Star Press. and crashes and burns. Styles drags him over and figure-4 around the post. AJ looks to hit the Styles Clash, but Ricochet flips out. AJ wraps up the leg and CALF-KILLER! Ricochet makes the ropes. AJ is tenacious with a spinning toehold into a wicked STF. Bell rings, but it due to the time limit expires. He agree to five more minutes, but then the Bruiser Brody Midget attacked the both of them. The beginning and the ending were pretty entertaining, but the body of the match was them just throwing shit out. AJ's offense especially elbows looked great. I really how he is into Styles Clash teases. They could have salvaged a good match with an appropriate ending to the knee work. It must be tough to book AJ because he is not going to job, but you want your top star to look good. It is kind of like the old NWA travelling champion philosophy. I think tag team main events that set up singles matches would be better. It is fine, but nothing that great.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs ROH World Tag Team Champion Kyle O' Reilly w/Bobby Fish - ROH 8/22/14 Everybody talks about the Hero ROH match from earlier in the year, but damn this is not that far behind it. AJ has been on point in ROH in terms of his selling and his timing his timing. Whether it was acting concussed or glassy eye for Hero's headshots or selling his arm so well for O'Reilly that ROH crowd was clamoring for the AJ comeback. I would say the biggest difference between this AJ and the AJ I knew was that he is definitely laying his strikes in a lot harder. I always thought Styles had one of the better working punches in TNA and is generally underrated in his striking. But here against O'Reilly, during the finish stretch, I was surprised how nasty his clolthesline and elbows looked. O'Reilly has a pretty bland look, but is a fun wrestler. When I went to ROH last year, reDragon (Fish & O'Reilly) had a really fun spotfest with the Young Bucks. O'Reilly wrestled this match much more straightfoward highlighting some "MMA" influences (read: he used kicks and a cross-armbreaker). I really liked O'Reilly focus on the arm and thought he came up with some innovative, but logical spots to attack the arm (hammerlock into a legsweep). The announcers let us know before the match begins that AJ is coming in with a weak left arm from the G-1 Climax tournament. O'Reilly read the scouting report and goes after the arm early so AJ dumps him to the outside with a bodyslam. It was a great response by AJ to immediately get O'Reilly off him. Fish becomes a distraction and O'Reilly becomes a pitbull on that arm. The way he was wrenching it, you thought he was going to take it home with him. AJ is so great at slowly escalating his selling. AJ gets a quick counter and wants to get this match over with quick and goes for the Styles Clash, but his arm is messed up. He bursts out of the corner with a double fist to maintain control. Styles is able to continue hit other moves like the Skywalker Knee while his arm heals. Then on the outside, Fish distracts him again and O'Reilly whips him down on the bad arm. That's twice now Fish has been able to set up O'Reilly. Now AJ is really starting to milk his arm for sympathy as O'Reilly unloads on it with kicks and wrenches it with holds. Styles is scrappy, but O'Reilly always goes back to the arm. I love that when O'Reilly goes for any overly complicated suplex, AJ reverses it and suplexes him into the corner. AJ is so great on fighting through the pain on this comeback and displaying how he can't capitalize due to his injured arm. He keeps going for his big bomb, the Styles Clash, but this leaves him open for counters like cross-armbreakers and triangle chokes. The teased Styles Clashes really build to a cool climax. When Styles looks like he is done for in a triangle choke and AJ basically hits a one-armed Styles Clash in a desperation move. It was such a badass spot and they really milk with the ref counting both men down and the fans chanting "AJ Styles". Damn, well done. They go into a strike exchange, which as far as strike exchanges go was not that bad and liked the finish being the Pele kick. Crowd was really behind AJ and the crowd interaction made this more tolerable than most strike exchanges. Styles strikes especially the discus clothesline looked great. O'Reilly with great struggle on Styles Clash so what does Styles do he just drops him on his head GANSO BOMB~! That was sick. It should have been the finish, but Styles drives it home with the Style Clash. It is the Styles Clash against the submissions of O'Reilly. O'Reilly has made it so the Styles Clash is damn near impossible to hit and set himself up for a submission victory. I love AJ's responses. He is injured and needs to get this match over with quickly. At every opportunity, he is going for his big bomb, arm be damned. With each tease of the Styles Clash, the tension mounts. O'Reilly looks like he is prime position when out of desperation hits the Styles Clash out of a triangle choke. O'Reilly was great at struggling through everything and really making AJ earn his comeback. It would have been easy for him to let the veteran, AJ overwhelm, but even after the match started to tip in AJ's favor he was still struggling up until the AJ's ganso bomb. I thought AJ's experience really came through here in how he sold and built his comeback. It went from a split crowd to a crowd that was 100% AJ by the end. Great, great work by AJ. ****1/4

AJ Styles vs Chris Hero - ROH 3/22/14 Hero try as he might just could not kick AJ's head off his shoulders in this indy dream match, which has never happened in ROH during the Indy Golden years. AJ was not yet IWGP Heavyweight champion. They were touting the reason both men were back in ROH to win the one championship that has eluded them, the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Hero is the hometown hero in Dayton and I really liked the "Chris Is Awesome" chant. Unlike any other Indy match, this really had a big fight feel. When only a handful of WWE matches could even say they generated that same feeling that a feather in the cap of their reputations and on how they worked this match. It really felt like a Clash of the Titans with Hero trying to take AJ's head off and AJ trying to survive long enough to hit one big bomb to escape the jaws of defeat. Coming out the nice chaining sequence, Hero gets his first big boot as he swats AJ out of the sky on a leapfrog attempt. AJ says two can play at the disturbing the typical running the rope sequences and gets up a bit early on his dropdown, which fucks Hero enough to hit a dropkick to send him out. They do a great job teasing dives on each other with Hero paying tribute Misawa's head and shoulder fake. AJ wins with a springboard forearm to the outside. Hero cuts AJ off with another big boot as he comes out of the air. Chris Hero is anti-aircraft artillery. AJ runs into the mother of all big boots to his head and does a great death drop sell. It is at this point, Hero knows exactly what his strategy is. Knock AJ the fuck out with knees, elbows and straight front kicks to the head. It was brutal, gnarly and violent. AJ is sick and tired of these kicks and tries to take out the knee with a dragon leg screw so Hero obliterates him with an elbow. But as Hero pours it on, AJ slowly starts to fade. First, he can get a bit of offense here and there and goes for Styles Clash, but then offensive spells get fewer and further between. AJ was just spot on checking to see if his teeth were there, glassy eyed selling, acting concussed. He starts running wholesale into big boots because he doesn't know what else to do. In a last ditch effort, AJ gets a suplex into the turnbuckles and he unloads his new strike combination, which Hero does well countering the Pele. Now it is Hero that is on jelly legs. Styles may have hit the head shot to get him back in it. Styles wastes no time and goes for the Styles Clash. Hero blocks and hits a wicked Akiyama-like elbow to the back of the head. ROARING BIG BOOT~! HOLY SHIT~! That was a great nearfall for Hero. Hero may have punched himself out and AJ has just enough in the tank to come flying back with lariats at Hero. Then he rolls through for the Calf Killer and Hero has nothing left to do but tap out. AJ survives. It was Hero's anti-aircraft strategy of kicks, elbows and knees to the head against Styles's survival tactics. This felt like an absolute major clash of forces. It was important match for AJ on the indy scene and going forward in New Japan that he could take a licking and keep on ticking. I know he could I watched TNA stuff very closely, but for a lot of people I think they looked at AJ and saw X-Division wrestler, which means pretty flips and choreographed, floor gymnastics bullshit. AJ can take a whupping and deliver one. I don't know how many people thought AJ had this in him before watching this match. I know I did because his matches with Abyss, Bully Ray, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels only showcase this side of AJ Styles. Hero was really good in this and he had a MOTYC last year against Regal. For some reason, I have never sought out more Hero. I enjoy Hero, but he lacks that spark that really gets me interested. Damn, he still impresses. It is not just offense, the key to the match is the pele kick because that is the move that levels the playing field. If he does not sell that well then Styles' victory would ring hollow and he would like a chump for basically choke. Thus it was in his best interest to sell in doing so he got himself, AJ and the match over. This was a standup, knockdown slobberknocker. Definitely in my Top 5 American Matches of the Year so far. ****1/2

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - WWE RAW 8/18/14 Falls Count Anywhere From my recollection, this was the best of the disappointing Ambrose vs Rollins feud. It should have been a slam dunk feud, but the WWE got in their own way and cooled this way down before the anticlimatic blowoff. I wanted to include something from the feud, but this is not a sympathy pick. Upon rewatch, I definitely think this holds up as one of the more better and more entertaining matches of 2014. It was not just a match filled with weapons and gimmicks. There was malice behind those shots from Rollins and hatred poured from Ambrose. Rollins turned his back on the Shield and screwed him out of the Money In The Bank contract and he was going to have to exact a modicum of revenge the only way it was afforded to him by beating the holy hell out of Rollins. Rollins' working punch was on fire early and I loved that sense of struggle to begin the match. The Rollins throat thrust to take over was killer. Rollins gets a little too cocky and Ambrose blows him away with a dropkick. Ambrose tags him back with a throat thrust. I love the tit for tat. Ambrose bodyslams Rollins and the chair together and chairdrop from the top rope. Ambrose is kicking ass, but in desperation Rollins sends Ambrose into the chair. We come back from commercial to see Rollins crossfacing Ambrose with a kendo stick, I love it. Rollins playfully taps Ambrose face with the kendo stick and that pelts him with shots. There is a tenedency in these matches to focus on the spots and forget to be a heel. Rollins did not give an all-star heel performance, but there were glimmers. it helps Ambrose was giving a great babyface performance fighting through pain and whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his out of control antics. The kendo stick catch and Ambrose hulk up only for Rollins to duck the lariat and hit a jumping high kick was perfect wrestling. They brought the crowd up and then cut them off. Really good shit. Maybe I have not been paying attention recently, but Rollins ought to bring back the roundhouse kick back. It is a great cutoff and he executes it so well. The double cross body block is killer and they really went all out on that collision. That's how you get a match over. I loved Rollins whacking Ambrose with a kendo stick to no avail to try to avoid being catapulted. They really kick it into high gear with Rollins powerbombing Ambrose through a pile of chairs and Ambrose superplexing Rollins through a table. Ambrose hits a wicked clothesline and Dirty Deeds (I am glad they changed that to a double arm DDT), but Kane interferes. Ambrose hits out of control suicide dive onto Kane and Rollins. He has Vegas rocking, BABY! Ambrose runs across the announce tables to SWARM Rollins and Kane. He is outgunned. Rollins hits a nasty curb stomp on the announce table and then one through the cinder blocks to send Ambrose to Hollywood. I thought the Curb Stomp on the table actually looked better than the gimmicked the cinder blocks. They overthink these things. The big negative is no doubt the selling. Being powerbombed on a pile of chairs and then superplexing someone through a table is a bit much. Ambrose did a relatively good job to fighting through pain unlike Rollins, whose selling was lacking. Also, I would have liked to see Rollins be more heelish. There were times when it was apparent, but that it became more about trading spots. What carries this is that you want to see Ambrose kick Rollins ass, but if Rollins is not reminding us he is a backstabbing chump then it takes a bit of wind out of the sails. The good definitely outweighs the bad. It was never a mindless brawl with you hit a move then I hit a move. Each move had weight and there was a great sense of urgency from both men in their movements. You definitely felt like both men hated each other and there was a reason for why they were inflicting so much pain. Rollins was trying to put Ambrose out so he can cash in Money in the Bank and Ambrose wanted to hurt Rollins for all he did. Both succeeded in beating the hell out of each other, but with a little help from his friend, Rollins got the upperhand. Definitely one of the better brawls of 2014. ****1/4

The Shield vs Evolution - WWE Extreme Rules 2014 I really do miss The Shield. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns were just so much better as a package deal. All three members of the Shield came out looking like a million bucks in this. Rollins used to have such a great working punch, what the hell happened. I loved the use of a Rollins dive early to perk up the crowd. Ambrose has just been on fire in these matches. He wrestles with such a great urgency that it is irresistible. I know others have talked up his face in peril work, but really shined here. You can feel the anguish, but he was always fighting through it, always looking for that opening. Reigns is just perfect in those short hot tag bursts. Evolution were perfectly capable in their roles and each took turns showing a vicious side, but none of them could sustain high level of urgency like the Wyatts. The match overall resembled more closely a standard WWE tag match than a normal Shield match. It was a little too neat at time. Bless Dean Ambrose, he did his best to keep people on their toes, but overall it felt more normal. It was the best possible normal WWE tag match, but we did not get to see that typical havoc offense that Shield usually employs. The high point before the big finish run was without a doubt the Dean Ambrose segment. From the get go, he burst into the ring and swarmed Orton. He was hitting anything that moves and was going to apply a figure-4. Reigns tried to take advantage of the chaos, but speared the ringsteps. A good example of how this was standard WWE was that Ambrose was forced to sell a weak submission breakup for a considerable length of time so not to upstage Reigns. Typically, Ambrose would keep it moving and wait for the big move to start selling, but because of a misstep in the layout he was forced into WWE box rather than doing the organic thing. Ambrose rocked the face in peril segment. I loved HHH's punch combinations in the corner and how Ambrose was throwing wild swings like Terry Funk. Ambrose staggering into a spinebuster was awesome. Back drop on the Pedigree and a DDT afford Ambrose to tag out. Again, transitions like that just lack creativity and I think Shield is better than that frankly. The finish stretch is very exciting. Reigns rocks the hot tag as he usually does. Once the chaos kicks in, The Shield is really in the element. I am talking Rollins flying into TV screen from out of nowhere only to crash and burn or Ambrose jumping across two announce tables to swarm HHH and Orton. They actually cover pretty well for Batista and Reigns needing to sell for considerable amount of time while they arena brawled. Reigns took an RKO and Pedigree while Batista took the Triple Powerbomb. I am not thrilled about guys lying around and then popping up magically once Rollins hits his big dive. They at least tried to cover for it. Reigns and Batista work a short, fun sequence with a great Superman Punch and then Reigns channels the Ultimate Warrior's Gods to hit his spear. The Spear and Superman Punch should be his big transition moves. The powerbomb should be his finisher. Straight up, I thought Evolution slowed Shield down a touch and limited them. I am not calling for a street fight or anything. Rather a return to that full court press and making everybody earn their offense. Also, I did not sense an overarching story. The transitions to the two face in peril segments did not really weave a story. One started by a HHH clothesline on Rollins and the other because someone broke up an Ambrose figure-4. The Shield really did not make any mistakes. Evolution did not really cheat. It is not like Evolution really leveraged their experience advantage. The Shield won because once the match broke down that where they are dangerous, but that was just the last quarter. Ambrose and Reigns gave stellar performances and Rollins was able to shine in his big spots. I would say Evolution's performance was too safe to take this to the next level. I would say this is the best possible version of WWE's sterile style, but they need to either add more hate or a story to take it to the next level. ****

YES! Someone else thinks this is excellent! I am not alone! This is overshadowed by the more famous Summerslam match, but this is a badass match. I still think they should taken the trilogy to the logical conclusion and let Cena win at Mania. Gave Roman one more year to heat up. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs John Cena WWE Night of Champions 2014 I have not seen this match on one single match of the year list yet, but currently this is my favorite to be my selection for WWE Match of the Year 2014. I imagine a lot of it has to do with the bad taste people have in their mouth in regards to the finish. I will try to defend the finish, but I understand why it is not for everyone. My initial slight quibble with the match is that John Cena did not discover something new to defeat Brock Lesnar. Then I realized how unwonted that would be. Cena defeats opponents not because of his MOVEZ~!, but because he has an unbreakable will. Even when it is stupid and dangerous, he is still going to march into the fire and not blink once. In this match, Cena did learn a couple things from the previous dreadful encounter. First, he could not afford to dig such a deep hole for himself early and just survive the onslaught. He needed to avoid being dropped on his head and he held onto the ropes with all his might. In mirror moment, he scored an early FU, but unlike the the early F5 at Summerslam this had little effect on Lesnar. I loved Lesnar's game plan early of using the Kimura to sap Cena's strength and control Cena. It was a perfect defense against Cena's fastbreak offense. Without the early F5, Lesnar never had the same dominant advantage. Instead, he used the Kimura to cut Cena off and keep Cena at bay. In doing so, he set Cena up for his big throw-based offense. We saw a variety of suplexes from Lesanr and a variety from which he could hit them from including as cutoffs to Cena. Like I said without the early F5, Cena was able to score some more headshots that rattled the Beast. I loved Cena's game plan, which was a mixture of survival, rope a dope and bomb throwing. That was the second thing Cena learned, once he survived, he needed headshots and kill blows. This was not the time for shoulderblocks and bullshit. He was going for hard uncharacteristic Cena elbows. That back elbow was fucking some Misawa-level shit. He just needed to survive long enough for them to take their toll. I loved Lesnar's reactions to Cena's spells of offense. He is content to play with his food, but he is scared, he does not fuck around. Cena rattles him with a wicked back elbow and goes for the FU, time to drop him on his head. Cena hits the FU and Lesnar right on it going for an F5, but Cena applies the STF. You can feel the desperation from the big bad bully and he goes back to the Kimura. Now control feels fleeting and the tension really is building. It is all because of how all Lesnar's reactions feel desperate and as a heel he is reacting to the babyface. That is perfect heel psychology. He is being forced to play catch up ball because Cena has finally rocked him. Even though Lesnar seems to regain control with the Kimura, it feels much more tenuous. The strength spot from Cena picking Brock up and ramming him in the turnbuckles is babyface wrestling at its finest. Cena will not be denied tonight. Cena quickly hits an FU, but has enough sense to know that is not enough so he locks in the STF to sap Brock's strength and energy. I love how before Brock gets to the ropes he is pulling him back and one time rips Brock from the ropes. It feels like a real struggle and fight. Cena also knows that STF like the Kimura is a setup to something bigger, the knockout blow: a fourth and fatal FU. Then Seth Rollins hits him with the Money In The Bank Briefcase. So before I defend the finish, let's wrap up the match proper. I thought this was really well-executed, high drama pro wrestling. It demonstrates how important that early F5 was. Cena was able to avoid thus Brock had to go into contain and attack mode. He was never able to hit the F5. He had his chances but he was caught playing with his food, he would go back to the contain (Kimura) and attack (suplexes). At the end of the day, he let Cena hang around too long and Cena made him pay with that wicked back elbow. After that back elbow, he had to play catch up ball. You give Cena an inch and he is going to take the mile. With renewed confidence, Cena was not going to denied on that and you can sense the desperation and fear in Lesnar. It was beautiful pro wrestling. if they ended it with the Cena victory, I would rate the match highly even if, I thought the booking was very myopic and stupid. In fact this is probably the layout I would have selected for the upcoming Royal Rumble match. What I envisioned does not discount the greatness of Cena's and Lesnar's performances in this match. Defending the finish, from Rollins's perspective if Cena wins outright, Cena will have gone through hell, but he will still be standing and will not be ripe for the pickings. Lesnar by all counts was down and out. So if Rollins could successfully knock Cena out with the briefcase then Rollins should be able to pin Lesnar easily to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champios. The two arguments I have heard why this was stupid was that Lesnar would just BROCK Rollins or Cena would attack Rollins (as happened). To the first, Lesnar was clearly portrayed as being out from the Fourth FU and the added curb stomp and how he was selling there was no way he would just steamroll Rollins. To the second point, well Rollins should have done a better job making sure Cena was knocked out. The plan was foolproof if he executed it properly, but in haste he did not finish the job on Cena so Cena was able to prevent him from cashing in out of anger (YOU FOOL!). I hold that booking was sound on the finish from a psychological point of view even if it was not what I would have chosen. The match never reached the transcendent levels of Brock/Cena Extreme Rules 2011 and with the overbooked finish, it has a tenuous claim to the match of the year at a ****1/2 rating.

John Cena vs Bray Wyatt - WWE Payback 2014 Last Man Standing I would say my favorite trend of 2014 was each PPV having an overbooked, entertaining clusterfuck on the show. It spices the show up and allows more intersection between different characters and ties the matches, angles and character motivations together better due to the booking to be very limited. Unlike the Attitude Era, these matches do not feel as overexposed and the wrestling surrounding the hijinx is better than in that era. That being said while I find these matches entertaining they fall more in the Summer Blockbuster category than Oscar-winning performances. A perfect example of this which is Cena vs Wyatt Last Man Standing, which has made multiple Top WWE Matches of 2014 list. To me this match begins and ends with Cena hurling those steel steps right into Wyatt's face. I mean he fucking nailed him. First time, I watched it, I was convinced that was the finish and when it was not, I knew they never could top it and the match would feel anticlimatic. Instead, Wyatt just hits Sister Abigail in the next spot. It is fun, but the spots and transitions are arbitrary and capricious. It is violent, but you do not feel the visceral hatred. The beginning of the match is a rushed version of their typical match. Cena feeds Wyatt a ton of great cutoff spots to show off his explosive transitions. They trade finishers and the Wyatts and Usos brawl for a bit. It all feels very perfunctory. This when that hatred would come in handy to really build interest instead they are resting on Cena's presence, which always ignites a thunderous reaction rather the story they are telling in the ring. Cena uses the chair and writes it off as it is legal so now Cena is not in a moral quandary. I was never buying all that anyways. This when the counters were flying and just hitting spots. The Usos and Wyatts have a really fun little street fight on the outside which ends up with everyone going through tables. They have one last holy shit bump which is Wyatt's cross body through the barricade, which was pretty cool. Cena then just walks over to the pyro area and FUs Wyatt's ass through a box and then tips over a heavy box to win. The steel steps should have been the finish. It is a fun Summer Blockbuster that I will forget tomorrow save for the steel steps. There was no real substance it was just instant gratification. I have no problem with that, but this is definitely overhyped in my opinion. On top of that, there was so much action movie violence rather than that gritty violence you would see in street fights of yore that really made this feel very much like exhibition. The best stuff to come out of a shitty feud, but not real worth going out of your way to see. ***1/2

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14 Take a pair of semi-over midcarders and tack on a couple nearfalls and you get "This is Awesome". I remember watching this match and thinking this was one of the most egregious examples of the overexposure of the "This Is Awesome" chant. My beef with "This Is Awesome" chant is that it tends to be the MOVEZ~! that are over rather than the individual wrestlers. If Ziggler was so over. how come Ziggler was not being cheered? A lot of it has to do with how the match was presented and laid out. What did Barrett do that was particularly heelish? Really the only reason Barrett was the heel was because he is the bigger of the two and he would cut off Ziggler. It was a very neutral performance from Barrett and I have noticed over very neutral performances from midcard heels especially Cesaro. It is funny that all these old time great wrestling minds can't put their finger on why these wrestlers can't make it to the next level. I would start right there. Obviously, booking is critical, but if you are talking about things a wrestler can control, it is stronger heel performances. It seems the heels are too concerned with being considered "great" wrestlers, which in the modern context means MOVEZ~! I wanted to review this match because it made one list of top WWE matches of the year I read and I wanted to look at a Ziggler match from before his late year push. I remember ZIggler utilizing the babyface mid-90s Savage formula of taking heat, hitting one counter move and then going home. Of course, Savage would win his match with the big elbow, but most times Ziggler would lose. I think the match would have benefited from that formula. It would afford the opportunity for Barrett to look like a violent bully and for Ziggler to build sympathy for his big dropkick comeback. Instead, it was just I hit a move, you hit a move. There was no sense of struggle or real desire to win. Hell, you can't even claim they had good escalation: The Zig Zag was used as a throwaway transition, which built to a commercial and within one spot, Barrett was up and hitting the Cactus Elbow. Plus Barrett's natural size was totally undermined by the match. Ziggler was countering at will Barrett's offense and it was not like he was using great speed. The selling was generally not good and even when it happened like Ziggler not being able to capitalize the selling felt false (more like frustration) and did not feel warranted based on the limited punishment he took. The finish was pretty awesome with Ziggler going for the Stinger Splash and Barrett hits him with a KO elbow. I think Barrett and Ziggler have great potential, but have their limitations. Barrett really is not a good bumper or seller, which he does not have to be, but it will limit him. Ziggler has the worst punches in the business today and his deadfish/pop-up selling is annoying at best. However, I think even with those limitations, they can construct great matches against other people using Barrett's brute and Ziggler's bumping ability. Tag team wrestling could have taught both these guys a lot. Alas, it is a shame. The match was designed to impress the crowd. You work the audience. Don't let the audience work you. Disposable, mindless match that is fun to watch with your brother on Saturday morning, but not worthwhile on rewatch.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd WWE Smackdown! 11/14/14 First thing's first, the new Smackdown ring announcer is realest. I may just start watching Smackdown for her. Hot damn. This match is a great spotfest and besides the Money In The Bank Ladder match, I can't think of a better one this year in WWE (reDragon vs Young Bucks, which I saw live was the best spotfest of the year and one of the best of all time). Spotfest is a loaded word after all wrestling matches are a collection of spots. It is your fireworks spectacle in lieu of a compelling story. I think there is very much a place for them on pro wrestling cards (no more than one a card). If you are going to have one, then commit to it. The reason I was so down on Barrett and Ziggler is they had a spotfest, but they were just hitting their stock moves on each other. These three came up with creative, fun, and eye-popping spots. Sometimes they got too smart for their own good like trying a more complicated Tower of Doom spot that looked like shit. However, fun stuff like Cesaro covering Ziggler while in the Sharpshooter or Kidd hitting a Blockbuster on Cesaro onto Ziggler's knees. I also have to say after watching all that 00s NOAH that Cesaro hitting a big boot to start a match and then an exploder is the most NOAH beginning to any WWE match ever. In fact, if NOAH ever had a junior heavyweight triple threat match, I would say it would look a lot like this only with more strike exchanges. I liked the opening part with quick pinfalls by each competitor really put over their desire to eliminate a wrestler and setup a one on one match for the title. They also managed not to fall into the triple threat trap of having one wrestler sell for long periods of time on the outside. They all just kept going at each other with vigor. I would say that is what would separate this match from a lot of other typical WWE matches is the urgency of the wrestlers. The finish stretch begins with a Kidd sharpshooter/Cesaro crossface combo on Ziggler. The storyline behind this was that Authority was setting Ziggler (then the only member of Team Cena) to lose his title because of the stacked odds. While Cesaro and Kidd never formally teamed up, these moments drove home that angle. In an idiotic moment, Kidd breaks the hold to attack Cesaro and gets the Giant Swing. Cesaro hotshotting Ziggler into a kick by Kid was sick. Kidd has some really good kicks in this match. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag, but Kidd being the gloryhound he is (remember the storyline with Nattie) he tosses Ziggler out so he can get the pinfall. I like the respect shown for the Zig Zag. Kidd had a really good string of offense on Ziggler and you really felt him press his advantage with nice kicks. He tries for the Sharpshooter, but it is reversed into a cradle and then ZIG ZAG! Ziggler survives with his championship reign intact. There was no great overarching story and the selling was nothing to write home about, but for a spotfest you could not ask for much more. There were a lot of fun spots that escalated to a satisfying conclusion. Plus Kidd got some time to shine, which is nice and showed some promise. Good shit. ***3/4

WWE Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper vs Dolph Ziggler WWE TLC 2014 Ladder Match Luke Harper may look like Bruiser Brody, but he wrestles like Stan Hansen and the world is a better place for it. He had a total disregard for Ziggler and his own welfare. Having watched wrestling for seventeen years now, it takes a lot to make me cringe, but repeatedly I was wincing in pain with each punishing blow. It was so violent and I even questioned if it was all worth it. I hope it will be because I thought this be HBK/Mankind match for Ziggler. Shawn Michaels needed the match with Foley to establish that he dish out the pain as well as he could take it. It is similar to how in the 80s pretty boy tag teams would be positioned in brutal fights with gnarly heels to show they were tougher than they look and earn credibility with the audience. To keep the Shawn Michaels thread going, matches like The Rockers versus Rose & Somers bloodbath in the AWA come to mind. If exploited properly, this can be that very match. It is so difficult in this day and age to be an asskicker and not come across as a cool babyface. Harper was able to tap into such an uncomfortable violence that he was booed heavily. Yes, eventually there was the obligatory "This Is Awesome" chant, but for the vast majority of the match the people cheered Ziggler and booed Harper. It helped a lot they were in Ziggler's hometown of Cleveland, but regardless, to see such an outpouring of emotion to cheer for one wrestler was so refreshing in this day of "appreciating the match" and other such hogwash. On the rewatch, with a closer attention to detail, I realized how much Harper really destroyed Ziggler for the opening half of the match. It is a testament to Ziggler that when I was watching with my family that I really never felt like he was totally out of it and that he was always struggling. Too often he can rely on deadfish/pop-up selling, but here, I thought more often than not he kept it a competitive style of selling. Harper established the perfect pace for this brutal masterpiece. It never plodded, but they never rushed to the next spot. He was going to let that ladder just fall on Ziggler's head and then climb the ladder to retain his title. Those ladder timber spots were vicious especially the one that clipped Ziggler in the head. The most violent spot of the match was without a doubt the Harper suicide dive onto the ladder where he basically piledrove himself into a ladder. How he did not break his arms and/or be concussed was beyond me. I could barely watch. The Ziggler pop up and scramble up the ladder was perfect, because up until that point he had basically no offense and now the monster has basically impaled himself it was time to take advantage. It was great drama as the Creature from the Black Lagoon rose again and stopped him. Not to be topped Ziggler took some hellacious bumps like on a powerbomb onto a Ladder (the ladder did not break) and then being catapulted into the middle rope with the ladder around his head (concussion city and getting busted open). Ziggler breaking free of the doctors to stop Harper from climbing the ladder was an awesome moment. This should not be lost in the shuffle, but the effort they put into this and how much they were willing to risk made the Intercontinental Championship feel like a big deal for the first time in forever. As I survey the damage, Ziggler is bleeding from the face and fingers while Harper is bleeding from all sort of odd places on his body. You really felt like whoever wins this demolition derby deserves it. Ziggler makes his grand comeback, but what's great is that it is not just one move. He has to keep beating Harper back, first it is a facebuster onto the ladder, then it is DDT off the ladder, then dropkicking the ladder into his face and finally the superkick off the ladder that wins ZIggler the match. The fact that it was Ziggler had to earn every single step by constantly hitting Harper with big shots really you made it feel like he could earn it. Ziggler proved he could withstand the punishment doled out by one of WWE's most sadistic monsters. Harper made him earn this every step of the way delivering one of the most malevolent performances of the year. Harper gave as good as he got as proved by that suicide dive. For Ziggler, we see if the WWE exploits this newfound credibility as a tough, die hard son of a bitch. The negatives are slight. but apparent: Ziggler's punches still look like shit and they did lose a bit of steam towards the end as the spots got a bit more contrived. In terms of a violent spectacle, where the pretty boy babyface not just survived the monster, this match deserves to be ranked among the best ladder matches of all time. ****1/2

WWE Champion CM Punk vs John Cena - WWE Night of Champions 2012 I chose Motley Crue/KISS over this on the same night in Boston and I dont regret that decision one bit. Paul Stanley is fucking hilarious live. That was definitely a Top 5 concert for me. Never have seen this match before, this is one of the last big time WWE matches I have never seen before. I am pretty sure it goes to draw and I am 100% positive Punk retains so we will see. I love the chemistry these two have together and I think this feud is better positioned to succeed with Punk as the heel. Punk turned heel at RAW 1000 to set up Punk vs Rock at Rumble. Punk is wearing Yankees Pinstripe trunks in Boston, fucking love it...*****. I love their NWA Championship style openings to their matches with the headlocks. The defined face vs heel lines help immediately. We see Cena win early opening tests of strength with a Fisherman Suplex. On the next exchange, Punk hits him with a hard back elbow that rocks Cena. That is a great subtle heel move. He did not wrestle his way out of trouble. He chose to the easy, dick way out of trouble. If you ever watch Bret, he always made use of the hard back elbow or something similar when he was playing the subtle heel. Cena is never one for a long shine. We go to heat. Punk is great at using elbows in this match. I loved his use of knees in matches prior, but the elbows look great here. There is a great dropteohold by Punk that he rolls seamlessly into a MutaLock and I love that Cena actually uses his strength to power out. That was an awesome sequence. Punk does the suicide dive so much better than Rollins and way better than Ambrose (who has the dirt worst) because the trick is you need to land over your opponent to make it look like you are going through him, the kids nowadays are stopping short and it comes off lame. Punk jaws with Cena's Dad, which they dont bring up on commentary which is weird. Cena hits a baseball slide and gets a modicum of revenge through sending Punk over the barricade into his family. The transition back to Punk is lame just a kick to the arm. I think it was supposed to be higher to the head. The match kicks into gear when Punk goes for the G2S and this lights a fire under Cena's ass. Here comes the Shouldertackles. Nice weight shift on the Protobomb. Punk has Cena scouted. Cena has Punk's complicated neckbreaker scouted. Cena hits a MACK TRUCK LARIAT on that counter. GODDAMN! Punk punts Cena on the Five Knuckle Shuffle attempt. suicide dive at one point that was fucking insane! Both Punk and Cena end up getting their trademarks in the neckbreaker and the Protobomb. But when he goes for the 5 Knuckle Shuffle Punk reverses into the Anaconda Vice by pulling him into it. This is awesome. Reminds me a lot of their badass 2013 RAW match. The countering and how Cena has to earn each part of his comeback is so good and has to bust out all sort of crazy spots like the Suicide Dive to keep Punk off balance is great. This goes into the STF and then a Crossface. This is a general weakness in WWE is these transitions into the next submission move are way too easy. Cena powers out and they do their usual yay/boo stroke exchange. I will say these two are probably the best at it because it comes off organic and like they are actually trying to win the exchange. Punk wins with a leg lariat and then his trademark knee in the corner. Short-Arm Clothesline...Macho Man Elbow...Theres some wrangling into a Cena STF...Punk hits a Flash G2S once he is in the ropes...I check the time they got a long way to go it looks like. Up until this point, the match was near immaculate and just great counterwrestling. Then it petered out. Punk hit some stomps and a lukewarm clothesline for a cover attempt. He slaps Cena this wakes him up. Now he hits the Protobomb and the 5 Knuckle Shuffle in short order (No You Cant See Me, he just hits it) and then an F-U for 2! So now they are one for one in kick outs with plenty of time left. Cena misses his top rope legdrop (I like he saves that for after the first F-U so he has something because Punk has nothing). Punk does a head kick and gets two. Punk whiffs on the moonsault, which I kind of like. He was trying something he never does and his accuracy is off. Makes other moonsaults mean more just think he should have done it earlier now they are trying to work to crescendo but they are petering out. Then it is another Go 2 Sleep kickout and Rock Bottom kickout. FU kickout. Then they do a German Suplex from the top where both shoulders are down. I was like...ahhhhhh...I was confused how they would do a time limit draw without a time limit so the finish was still a surprise to me. I really liked the beginning of the match with all the great counterwrestling and I think the match-up is better served with Punk as the heel. Each man going through finish sequence was great but then they filled more time and it was not all that great. Felt like a NOAH match just went 5 minutes too long. I hope RAW 2013 is just as good as I remember it because I think it is the body of this match with a better finish. Cena is 0-2-1 against Punk in big matches. ****1/4

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Interim WWE Champion John Cena - Summerslam 2011 Triple H as Special Guest Ref EDIT: For some reason, I have always liked this match more than most. Lets see how it holds up for Greatest WWE Match Ever Project. The finish presumably is why this match is not talked about more as an all-time great match. I remember people thinking I was crazy for thinking this match was not that far off of the Money In The Bank match. The Money In The Bank match had all the extracurriculars that lend itself to bolstering the match, but pound for pound it is closer than I think most people would say. That might just be me because I really like this style that has become the Cena signature formula with his extended comebacks. Also, I felt the actual work had a little more heat to it. Both men were more aggressive from the get go. Cena's chain wrestling this time had a real snap to it and I loved the single leg/back heel trip followed by "You cant wrestle". Dont ever change, douches. The barrage of one counts hammer home the eveness, how much both want to win and how much they don't want to leave it up to chance with an inexperienced ref in there. I love, love a match that spends the beginning establishing a stipulation by doing something unique like that. (EDIT: Good observation by 2014 me). Again, Punk is the first to have sustained offense working over the ribs really well with knees. At some point, Lawler declares it is impossible to wear down Cena. You can beat Cena, but you can't wear him down. Shut the fuck up, dude. Cena powers out of an abdominal stretch. As much as I liked the novelty of the MITB, this is right up Cena's alley. Punk puts him at an disadvantage and he works hard to crawl out. The flying high knee by Punk on the shoulderblock was glorious (EDIT: Yes, yes it was). Punk's bulldog countered into the Protobomb (EDIT: Punk hit a massive knee and tried for the bulldog but Cena struggled hard to block it and muscled with raw power into the Protobomb) and Cena countering Punk's kick (EDIT: Play off the MITB match) to apply STFU was so badass. The sequences were smart and organic and as good as if not better than most of the MITB. Watching it back, still shocked how little play this match gets. (EDIT: I agree. You can make the case this is the better in-ring match but this match does not have the same heat or big match feel). They depart from the Cena comeback story to have Punk hit a suicide dive that takes out both men, but once again reinforcing that HHH has declared one champion he corrals them both and sends them back in the ring. Great use of HHH. Cena busts out an explosive dropkick (Brunzell level power EDIT: Fucking awesome dropkick!) from his bag of tricks. Punk knows him too well, he needed something safe, but unexpected to take advantage. (EDIT: That badass dropkick earned Cena his 5-Knuckle Shuffle). They do the Flair/Steamboat bridge and get a WOAH from the crowd. Some things are truly timeless. Booker T's commentary is not one of them. (EDIT: I popped for my own sentence). (EDIT: Loved Cena's chest splash into the corner, great finish sequence) Punk's cutoffs using his knees are so fuckin awesome. (EDIT: The one Punk knee that blocked the Legdrop from the Top was badass and Punk earns his bulldog from the top rope) They do lose me for a second with Cena catching Punk off the top into STFU and then Cena hits FU only for two. (EDIT: I think what I didnt like is that the Cena popped up after the bulldog. I think Punk missing the move would have served them better and they do the Do-See-Do on the FU-G2S-FU that I am not fond of.) After Cena misses the legdrop, Punk hits G2S only for two, good symmetry. Punk busts out the Macho Man Elbow for the first time, but only for two, but sends crowd into a tizzy. I loved, loved the red hot finish with Cena hitting huge strikes only for Punk to catch him with step up knee and into G2S. HHH counts the three, but whats that Cena's foot is on the ropes. We all know the rest. (EDIT: The start of this match is much more aggressive by both men. Cena has some great counters like the single leg takedown and the gutwrench suplex. The pace is a bit quicker. Everything feels more urgent. The transition into the rib work could have been more emphatic, but I liked having a true heat segment in this match compared to the previous match. Cena's comeback where he comes up with unique ways to overcome Punk's cutoffs is genius. I like it how climaxes with the STF. The Punk suicide dive and HHH bringing them in was a great "leveling the playing field spot". That Cena dropkick leading to the 5 Knuckle Shuffle was awesome. Great Punk cutoffs. The symmetry down the stretch was awesome, really great finish exchanges. The Macho Man Elbow was huge at the time, really smart for Punk to co-opt Savage's finish. Also it shows that Punk needed a little something extra and something Cena would not expect. Cena's boxing was awesome and those Punk knee cutoffs were glorous. G2S with the foot on the ropes exposing HHH's inexperience was an interesting finish that could have went somewhere if the company was not so inept.) I feel this match is unfairly tarnished by the post-match shenanigans than content of the work. The match is much more similar to their rocking 2013 match, with Cena earning his extended comeback. They did lose their flow a little bit after the dropkick and before the first FU. (EDIT: Way too harsh. They did not lose their flow.) It became a little too back and forth. (EDIT: Way too harsh, they could have had better transitions but this was not My Turn, Your Turn) Cena throwing those big bombs at the end looking to win only for Punk to hit that knee was just too sweet. (EDIT: Great striking battle) It does not have the same feel as Money In The Bank to really push it over the top, but Cena and Punk really have amazing chemistry. It is sad they never did a street fight or a more violent brawl version of their match. (EDIT: I still really enjoy this match and implore others to check it out. I think it is below MITB because it just doesnt have the heat or big time feel of MITB, but the in-ring work is really strong). ****1/2

WWE Champion John Cena vs CM Punk - Money In The Bank 2011 For one month, wrestling was cool again. Much like WWE right before this time period, I had been going through the motions. Sure I watched every single week since Wrestlemania XIX, but I was in funk. Just like that CM Punk woke me and the WWE the fuck up and I have never really looked back having gone to two Wrestlemanias since then. It was because of the Punk angle that I started investing more time watching older footage and now even when the product gets depressing or mundane there is always Piper/Snuka, Islanders/Striker Force, Flair/Luger, All Japan and 8 million other things to be watched. So as I try to remember the 21st century haze that I lived through, I figure what better match to start with then the match that rekindled my love for pro wrestling. As much as I love WCW, it is like when WWF bought WCW they inherited all their stupidity when it came to booking: random burials, discontinuities, lack of clear direction, last minute booking, and bad finishes but without any of that panache that WCW brought to stupidity. There was usually something charming about WCW's idiocy whereas WWE is just mundane and depressing at times. Well for one night, they got everything right. I loved the dichotomy between the crowd and the announce team. The announce team openly cheering for Cena, Mr. WWE with Lawler openly questioning why the crowd would be loyal to Punk. Cole did an amazing job putting over how colossal this match is. By the time the opening bell rings, even three years removed from the match, this match feels like the biggest match since Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania X-7. The term "big match" feel gets thrown around but it is amazing how colossal the whole event feels. Cena is just so solemn. He is portraying so well from the get go how much pressure he is under and how big the match is. Not to be outdone, Punk's cool swagger reminds you the most dangerous man is the man who does not give one fuck. I do not think this match would work in front of any other 21st century crowd except this one. They were able to take advantage of the natural molten crowd heat deliver a slow-build championship match, which has never ever been the forte of the WWF, except for a smattering of them during Bret Hart's heyday. Both men are very cautious at the outset, which proves under his cool exterior CM Punk does care very deeply about this and his bravado may carry him so far. I like how the pepper in big bomb teases like a Punk roundhouse, Anaconda Vice (EDIT: didnt come off that great in my re-watch), FU early to keep everyone on their toes in between well-worked chain wrestling. It is not the best chain wrestling in the world, but it is better than what usually passes for chain wrestling in the WWE. I actually liked how back and forth it was because it really established them as equals. (EDIT: I liked how they worked in and out of headlock because it made the sequences breathe. I liked how in the first movement sequence that Punk won gave the crowd their victory. The second movement sequence gives the crowd a pop for Punk doing You Cant See Me and the double finish tease. Things feel more calculated and mechanical this watch, you can see Punk calling long sequences in the headlock.The crowd heat is still tremendous and spot selection is smart. Cena got more offense than I remembered at the beginning, Sting-style Bulldog, Big Clothesline and fisherman suplex, which I think is smart to establish Punk as the underdog and keep the crowd hot for Punk. I am kinda surprised action marks like Meltzer rated this so highly because there is a lot work in and out of holds.) The first transition is brilliant as Cena gets caught going for a home run early and pays via a Punk DDT (EDIT: Punk hit a back suplex out of a chinlock and there was no DDT, Cena gets dumped outside and then kneedrop happens. A stronger transition would have be much better) and then a knee drop from middle rope on to neck. Punk looks to hit a cross-body but it is a bit low and it looks like it could have jammed Cena's leg. Cena kicks out and immediately retreats to the apron to tend to his knee. Planned spot or not, it is brilliant work by Cena. (EDIT: Thought the same thing all these years later. It looks like really smart improv on Cena's part. The suplex by Cena from the ring to the floor is such a huge spot.) It is time I bring up my quibble of the match. I really liked the layout, but the execution was sometimes suspect (Punk not landing on his feet on the FU and seeming to be a bit off in general on spots) and the lack of struggle (transitions in & out of submissions) was very noticeable. There was token resistance by Punk before he was suplexed over the top rope all the way to the floor by Cena. The selling and bump by Punk were incredible and were the main focal points of the spot. However, all the details count and maybe it is because I have watched so much NOAH at this point, but you got to sell you don't want to go over the top rope too. Where was the struggle and tease to really build that spot to the next level. The match was almost too neat at some points is all. (EDIT: Yes that what I meant by mechanical is that it is too neat. I liked overarrching layout of Punk working from underneath, but I think it is inefficient. There are some superfluous spots. ) Even though struggle within a move was not always there. The struggle over the course the match is what drove this. Punk really had to earn his offense to keep Cena down. (EDIT: I do think this is the strong suit of the match is that Punk has to prove himself to Cena in contrast to the Summerslam 2013 D-Bry match where Bryan felt like Cena's equal from jump.) It really felt like you were watching a star being born because Punk was not backing down. He was never discouraged every time Cena had an answer (Edit: Like Cena using his raw power to counter the G2S with a gutwrench suplex) but Punk kept pressing. I love when Cena knows he is about to get a big heel reaction for something and he just plays it up as it's just Johnny being Johnny. Nothing is a better example of this then when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the crowd boos furiously only for Punk to kick him in the head and hit a suicide. What an ingenious crowd pleasing spot! Cena had answers, but Punk kept coming. Then Punk hitting those stiff, stiff knees to the jaw to Cena when he was leaning on the ropes were probably my favorite moment (EDIT: Great context as this was after Cena had gone for the FU). Neither Cena nor Punk is particularly stiff and that made those knees really stand out. (EDIT: Punk springboard clothesline was a great nearfall surprised I didnt mention it) Finally, finally Punk seems to have Cena on the ropes, but again Cena has an answer this in the form of the STFU (EDIT: Cena ducking the kick and picking the ankle was awesome). I loved Cole cheering for a Cena tap out victory added so much to the atmosphere (EDIT: There were 2 STFS actually and each one was awesome. This one was created by a finish switcherroo into an STF and then leads to Anaconda Vice, which I mentioned as poor submission struggle, which it was.) Cena hits the first FU, (Edit: which was a flash FU) but Punk kicks out, which triggers a big pop. I have to say it, but fuck, I hate the catch you midair powerbomb, it has never looked good (EDIT: Not only is that always a bad spot, it was particularly bad version of the spot). (EDIT: The back half of this match is far superior to the front half. I was surprised how almost pedestrian the front half was with the crowd, commentary and story bailing them out of a pretty much tepid start). The follow-up to second FU with a super FU had a pretty lame set-up. I take it back the best spot of the match is Punk finally hitting Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. His expression said it all. The championship may have eluded his grasp. Vinny Mac and Johnny Ace worried that Punk is edging closer to victory come out as an insurance policy. Given the storyline, you got to do the Montreal Screwjob tease while Punk is in the STFU, but Cena DECKS Johnny Ace. (EDIT: GREAT SPOT!) Cena says NOT THIS WAY! Punk says YES THIS WAY when he hits him with a Go 2 Sleep to win the title. Love the Del Rio tease and the blowing a kiss to Vince! (EDIT: What a great finish!) In retrospect, this match is the inverse of the 2013 RAW match (EDIT: Another match I need to rewatch). Punk had Cena's number and it was Cena's last hurdle before going to Wrestlemania to face Rock to exorcise his demons. In the 2013 match, Cena had to prove to Punk that he was on his level as Punk had an answer for each of his moves, but eventually Cena would "unlock" his moves and go on to finally vanquish CM Punk. In this match, Cena was the King and Punk needed to prove he was on the level of the champion. Punk with dogged determination withstood all of Cena's best shots and finally hit the Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. You get the fun chaos at the end and when the fracas ended it was Punk blowing a kiss to Vince hightailing it through his hometown crowd. I would need to watch the 2013 match again, but Im pretty sure I liked the work in that match more. However, this match just has so many extracurriculars to deny it the highest praise. (EDIT: Disagree, the front half is just not high enough quality to still call this *****) They worked a very novel match in front of a molten crowd with great commentary. (EDIT: I dont think it is that novel) It all culminated in a fantastic finish. (EDIT: Yep it did) I know I bitched about a couple things above, but this perfect confluence of match, opponents, crowd and finish overwhelm any minor complaints. (EDIT: I agree the wrestlers, story, crowd, and commentary bolster what would be otherwise just a great match into a classic, but this is not a ***** match like I thought. Both men were so stolid early on. I understood they were selling caution, but it felt very mechanical artificial. Once Punk kicked Cena in the head for five-knuckle shuffle the match kicked into high gear, but before that it felt bereft of emotion. The finish run was electric. Punk felt like he was letting it all hang out and Cena became his Everest. The extracurriculars with Vince and Johnny Ace were done perfectly. Still a classic, just not the greatest of all time) ****3/4

I agree with FXNJ I dont see how people like this more than Punk/Brock, yet it seems this match is greatly preferred. I liked the extracurricular story of the match of Daniel Bryan, career Indy guy beating The Man at Summerslam for The Title, but the actual match narrative was not as engrossing as Punk/Brock's take on David vs Goliath. WWE Champion John Cena vs Daniel Bryan - Summerslam 2013 Daniel Bryan heeled himself hard in my household when he came off as an angry, little nerd troll in the buildup. John Cena is in it for the fame so lame and such a boldface lie. Bryan's championing of wrestling comes off as so whiny. John Cena is a great champion and a damn hard worker. I know they were playing off internet stereotypes and it was the right call, but I became such a Cena fan after his great response that absolutely owns nerd troll Bryan's argument. Bryan would have turned himself heel with the audience in any other situation besides being against Cena. Summerslam 2013 was the last traditional PPV I ordered before the Network. I was excited for both this and Punk/Lesnar. I came away that night thinking Punk/Brock was the clear match of the night and was shocked Cena vs Bryan was preferred. I recently re-watched Punk vs Brock came away thinking it was even better than I remember. This match is exactly where I thought it would be in my mind. It is a great match because of everything around it not really because of the match itself. Whereas Punk vs Brock put together a killer narrative that crushed from beginning to end. This match was really driven by Bryan the career indy wrestler challenging the undisputed Man of WWE. Their respective rises parallel each other. Both won their first World Championships in 2005 and each became the face of their faction of wrestling fans. It was in 2005 that Bryan overcame Joe, Punk, AJ and Low-Ki to be the Man of the Indy scene. I would argue at the beginning of the indy scene Bryan was 5th place to those men in terms of popularity and kayfabe positioning. But with Joe & AJ firmly in TNA, Punk in WWE and Low-Ki's self-implosion, Bryan became the face of Indy wrestling therefore "good" wrestling. Whereas Cena through sheer force of will became the Man of WWE and therefore the ultimate villain of "good" wrestling fans. To be clear, Cena had many great matches in this time period. That outside story bolsters this match. The actual match is great dont get me wrong, but I dont feel this overwhelming sense of greatness. Cena has a huge wrap on his left arm, I thought it was staph, but it was something else and basically his elbow had become swollen as a baseball. Typical Cena style chain wrestling to start which chicken soup for the traditional wrestling fan's soul as it reminds me of NWA Championship style. I loved that Cena resisted the Mexican Surfboard and kicked Bryan off. I thought they should have come back to it. It is nice reminder that certain moves you really need to wear down your opponent and earn. Bryan had not earned this hold yet. They each tease their Finishers: YesLock and F-U, but neither can apply them. Cena shouldertackles Bryan off the apron hard into the announce table. Cena is whipped into the stairs but Cena does a suplex off the stairs to "You Still Suck" chants. Tough crowd. Early narrative seems to be Cena is favoring the elbow, but also trying to show it still works. Bryan is getting overpowered, but has a couple fancy counters. I thought the best part of the match was the short Cena control segment. Cena used that big ol meaty hands and just tees off on Bryan. Powerbomb gets two. Bryan was the Cinderella story. This was Cena's time to channel to Bret Hart and play the subtle heel. I dont think Cena controlled enough of this match. I think down the stretch there was too much sympathy for Cena. Nice hope spot/cutoff segment they ran with Bryan looking to land kicks and quicken the pace, but Cena was using power and evasion to maintain control. Underutilized story is that since Bryan relies on speed to land his blows that this is high-risk they shouldnt always land. Cena goes through his comeback sequence but gets distracted by the crowd. He eats a kick on the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. They do their submission teases and come back to it. Cena goes for the F-U, Bryan lands on his feet. Bryan gets a missile dropkick. This is where they lose me. There is plenty of action, but I dont feel like there is much connective tissue or logical progression. Bryan targets the arm for a little bit, we get Cena going for an STF and then Bryan does an STF. Then Bryan goes for a bunch of German Suplex bridge pin attempts. Cena goes for FU again, but he just took a bunch of Germans and Bryan wrangles him into the YESLock and then a Guillotine Choke. Flash F-U gets two and it is Cena's first sign of life in a while. At this point, I think Cena has been re-positioned as the babyface. He was taking the brunt of punishment, persevering and when doesnt get the pin there you feel for him. Cena is going for his top rope legdrop and Bryan is a tenacious pitbull just fighting uphill to gain control. Cool spot is the Spider Superplex and then Diving Headbutt. I really liked that as a nearfall. Cena powders wisely to catch a breath. Cena smashes him on the suicide dive and then hits that Legdrop onto the Head he does and this one looked WICKED! Only two. Super F-U, Bryan fights it off, I thought maybe they were going for a Styles Clash, but really they wanted to drop into a Boston Crab maybe or maybe a Powerbomb, anyways, it was almost a fucking Ganso Bomb with Bryan's head just inches from the mat. That could have been bad. STF vs YESLock both men make the ropes. Bryan who is the Energizer Bunny of Pro Wrestling comes flying with dropkicks on the 3rd one CENA HITS A MONSTER TRUCK LARIAT AND JBL CREAMS HIS PANTS! It was fucking great! They do another double-KO which was unnecessary Cena's lariat already levelled the playing field. Cena catches Bryan at one point and you feel like it is the End. Cena sells it so well because he talks some trash and it is a typical Cena finish. He hoists him up, but Bryan rolls into a cradle. Hits a wicked kick to the head and then the KENTA Running Knee for the win. Had he ever used that before in WWE? I dont remember it. I liked it. I will say this also the angle afterwards is an all-time great angle. They may have bungled the aftermath only to accidentally to right the course in time for Mania, but this angle with HHH/Orton/Bryan after Summerslam is up there with Funk/Flair from WrestleWar '89 as one of my all-time favorite angles. As a match, nothing felt consequential until Cena catches Bryan coming off the ropes and looks like he is going to hit the F-U to win by the way that was fourth to last spot and about a minute or two of match time left so that's not good. Up until that point, it was a lot of move trading. It was still exciting, but it was not a sticky match. I couldnt really remember the order the spots were in because the order didnt matter. The order should matter. You could take any of those spots I listed above and mix up the order and come away feeling the match is the same. In a truly classic match, you cant do that. So thats what holds this match back from all-time great status. Three things keep me high on this match: great action, Daniel Bryan's Cinderella win and the Authority (HHH & Orton) immediately ripping it away. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan - Extreme Rules 2012 Two Out Of Three Falls I really liked the dueling chants of "Daniel Bryan" vs "18 Seconds". Very creative by the babyface fans. This match comes on the heels of the infamous 18 second loss by Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania that launched the Yes Movement into the stratusphere. First Fall: Power vs Science in this match was the obvious story to tell. Sheamus has one of the deepest offensive arsenals in US history. He reminds me a lot of Greg Valentine in how stiff and snug he works, but he has a lot of Bret Hart in him with his diverse offensive onslaught and his great credible selling. Sheamus is definitely one of the best WWE wrestlers of this generation. I like Daniel Bryan in WWE more than ROH for the most part. I think he is more committed to the character and storylines and less focused on throwing as many bombs as possible though in WWE he does tend to blow off selling for his explosive comeback. As a KENTA homage act, he is pretty good in WWE. Since he is not a babyface in this match, we do not to worry about his KENTA tribute act. Sheamus established the power game early with shoulder tackles and side headlock takedown. BROGUE KICK~! Tease! I love it. Perfect play off the Mania match. Sheamus scores the first big move with a rolling Fireman's Carry and then applies the Cloverleaf, but Bryan makes the ropes. Bryan uses his speed to briefly get the advantage so Sheamus wisely powders to break his rhythm. This works as Sheamus catches Bryan and drives him hard into barricade. I didnt like that Bryan went back on offense so shortly after this. That felt like an emphatic spot that should have giving Sheamus definitive control. Sheamus heads to the top rope maybe for a Battering Ram, but we will never now as Bryan knocks him off the top rope. This leads Bryan's heat segment. Bryan is great as a heel here nothing fancy, lots of stomps and torturing the arm like he is Capn Redneck Dick Murdoch (though not as focused as Murdoch). Sheamus is great about peppering in hope spots. I loved his running knee. Sheamus overcommits a lot in this match and charged into the post. Bryan hit a wicked kick into the buckle into Sheamus' face. Bryan gets a nearfall off this. Sheamus blocks the top rope Frankensteiner. Battering Ram! Sheamus now with a nearfall! They tussle over finishers, Celtic Cross vs LeBell Lock. Again, Sheamus' passion gets the best of him as he rams into the ringpost. Now Bryan really goes to town on Sheamus' shoulder ramming it into the post and wrenching around the post multiple times. Bryan relentless rifles Sheamus' bad wing with stiff kicks even in the ropes and the ref is forced to call for the bell because Bryan has lost his mind. I thought Bryan really sold how crazed he was trying to break Sheamus' arm with these kicks so it made the DQ more palatable, but it is still not my favorite finish. Second Fall: Not surprisingly, this is a short fall. Bryan explodes out of his corner like a bat outta Hell with a dropkick the face. Wrestles him down to the ground with the LeBell Lock really tight after some struggle. Sheamus passes out. This is the same Ironman psychology of getting yourself DQ only to win the next fall. Tied 1-1. So far I thought this match was great but has not met my lofty expectations of a Match of the Year Contender. Third Fall: Excellent fall, a real rousing finish! Quicker than I expected, but this was high level stuff. Since Sheamus passed out at the end of the 2nd fall it was unclear if he was even going to be able to continue. They milked this really well and huge kudos to Bryan for really putting over how cocky he was and that he had it in the bag. Bryan comes flying in just like the 2nd fall only this time he eats a BROGUE KICK~! to the mush! AWESOME! 1-2-NO! Sheamus needed that home run shot! It was pure desperation but it is what he needed. Rocking Bryan's head is the only way to mount his comeback. Sheamus had some wicked body shots. Bryan had a wicked, wicked kick to the head for his last nearfall! I loved how Bryan missed both the diving headbutt and a dropkick in the corner before Sheamus could consolidate his advantage with Celtic Hammers. I am a big believer that missed moves should be how transition in control can be accomplished. I liked how it was two big missed moves and then a barrage of Celtic Hammers that won Sheamus the day. Makes it feel earned. Irish Curs Backbreaker and Brogue Kick ends the match in favor of the Celtic Warrior! Once the shoulder hit the post, this match clicked into a high gear. Bryan was the great crazed, cocky challenger that took his lucky break and milked it for all its worth, but he got caught with a big Brogue Kick at the beginning of the third fall which was a great way to start Sheamus on the comeback trail. I loved all the missed moves and the economy of Sheamu's fiery comeback. I thought the beginning of the match was great, but was not quite at the same level as the back half and so I didnt think this was MOTYC level, but still this is a feather in the cap of both men. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Big Show - Hell In A Cell 2012 I love Power Wrestling! This match is straight from Bill Watts playbook of two big uglies throwing hammocks and each other. Power wrestling is so refreshing in the WWE, which is so highspot-oriented. The year 2011 was a great year for Power Wrestling with the push of Mark Henry & the Hall of Pain and his matches against Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show. The Hall of Pain was a grand spectacle of anti-workrate. Sheamus vs Big Show representing the closing of the triangle. What if the other two best power brusiers in the WWE wrestled? I loved the story going into the match, so simple, so elegant, who is the toughest SOB and who has the best KO shot: Brogue Kick vs KO Punch. Good shit! The match itself is better than any of Mark Henry's output in 2011, which is say a lot because I love those aforementioned Mark Henry matches. This match is all about timing. The hope spots and cutoffs are so well-paced. The selling is executed to perfection. It is all about the gradualism and Sheamus never dies thus never undercutting his own comeback. Sheamus is the best brawler in WWE and usually has considerable size and power advantage. This is all negated by Big Show's mammoth size and Sheamus is a fish out of water. They do a great job establishing this. Big Show picking up Sheamus while Sheamus has a headlock clamped on Show was such a great visual. It made Sheamus look small, which is weird. I love how Sheamus tried to meet Big Show head on with a ton of body shots to no avail. He is a valiant champion and is going to back down from the challenge. It establishes Show as an Everest worthy of climbing. Show absorbs the blows. He registers them, but fights through them. Loved the short knee and all the big overhead chops. Eventually Sheamus goes for the knee, but Show wisely powders. This is another great aspect of the match is how well the outside the ring is used in King of the Mountain spots. Sheamus is knows he is at disadvantage and attacks Big Show when he is vulnerable when Show is trying to re-enter the ring. Sheamus makes some headway, but Show throws him hard to the outside. Again, the outside the ring become critical. Big Show becomes the Biggest Nick Bockwinkel constantly playing King of the Mountain. Sheamus has to take hard falls to the outside. Big Show gets to rest and has the high ground OR he go outside and throw Sheamus around. This is when the Bill Watts style comes in as Show ragdolls Sheamus into barricades and announce tables. Sheamus does such a great job of selling. You believe he is beaten up and worn down, but he is not out of it. Show wisely has not hit him in the head so Sheamus' hope spots are all credible. Sheamus tries his best to mount comeback but meets a big boot from Show or a bearhug. Show gets two big nearfalls in the form of a Vaderbomb and a chokeslam (he had to earn that Chokeslam it took three attempts). I liked how Sheamus' comeback proper really began from Show missing moves like an elbow drop and then slamming himself into the post on a charge. Then Sheamus repeatedly drove him back into the ringpost. Awesome! White Noise! Solid nearfall! So with all this out of the way, it is put up or shut up time! Thats when it becomes KO Punch vs Brogue Kick and I wont spoil it from there. Loved this match so much. Great power wrestling with awesome timing on the hope spots and cutoffs. Sheamus wrestled so well as an outgunned, game babyface showing great fire in the hope spots. Big Show was such a force of nature and excellent in his cutoff. Show also did a great job registering the hope spots but not bumping. I thought when he did bump they could have built it a bit more. I think they could have done a more interesting finish. I am not going to hold this against them but I think teasing each finish (Brogue Kick, KO Punch) would have been great. Anyways, this feels so different than so much of 2010s WWE and it is worked so tight. The pinnacle of the early 2010s bruising, power style wrestling in WWE. ****3/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler - Smackdown 6/18/12 The year 2012 was such a great in-ring year for Sheamus. It was the year I turned the corner on Sheamus and he became my favorite wrestler on WWE roster. He hits really fucking hard and has one of the deepest offensive arsenals in North American wrestling history. He reminds me a lot of Bret Hart because he has such an array of stock spots he can pull from and because he loves to grind his opponents. Both Sheamus and Bret Hart work great on top just grinding their opponents. Of course, Sheamus has a lot of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in him with all the stiff shots. So of course, the kid of Greg Valentine and Bret Hart would be my favorite wrestler. They really missed the boat with Sheamus presenting him as one of their hammy, Dad joke entertainers. He should have been in Denim & Leather and shades. Kicking ass and doing respect promos like Bret used to do with a little more aggression. It is a shame. Really fun TV main event and a reminder that Dolph Ziggler can be a part of great matches. They do a great establishing Sheamus' power advantage. He is just bowling Ziggler over and throwing him around at will. Ziggler is trying to use the dropkick as a hit n run strategy. I really liked how Ziggler established the high ground in the ring and as Sheamus was coming in he hit a dropkick. Smart move. However, he forsakes the high ground and jumps into Sheamus' arms who hurls him into the barricade. Really good psychology. I liked the use of Vickie Guerrero to distract Sheamus just long enough for Ziggler to hit a jumping fame-asser from the stairs. This gets over the heel psychology but also Ziggler adds some oomph by using the stairs so it shows that Ziggler needed the stairs to overcome the size advantage. I liked how suffocating Ziggle was on Sheamus. He was constantly peppering him with shots or using the sleeper. The Dropkick to the head on the apron was great. I like how Sheamus' comeback was earned. Lots of great stiff shots. The best spot of the match was when Ziggler tries to cut him off at the top rope and Sheamus just swats him out of the air with a thunderous forearm. It looked sick! Sheamus kicks his ass all over the ring. Ziggler tries to go after the leg and Sheamus just MANS UP AND KICKS HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF! Great finish! Efficient, strong psychology from both men and entertaining throughout. I could watch this style of pro wrestlng forever and never get tired of it. Loved this! ****

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Chris Jericho - Extreme Rules 2012 Street Fight Overshadowed because it is on the same card as instant classics John Cena vs Brock Lesnar & Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus. In fact, Extreme Rules 2012 is in the running for the greatest card WWE has ever put out. This is a great street fight. It is not as great as other two are, but few matches are. This match is still a killer match. Another thing that hurts this match is the build is kinda lame. Jericho is going after Punk's family for their substance abuse issue and that eventually Punk will succumb to his genetics. My issue with these angles is not that they are tasteless but rather I just dont buy them. It feels forced and artificial. Also, I dont think they are that interesting for a grand arc. I know the WWE well enough to know these angles dont lead anywhere. They are just a 3-4 week program to fill time before the street fight. In a good Soap Opera, this would have a consequence on Punk's next storyline and Jericho's next angle, but they wont and they didnt. Very rarely do I find things like this tasteless it is more that they bore me because the writing is so bad in the long-run. I really liked the first 2/3rds of the match. It felt like a throwback street fight where both men were out to hurt and maim each other. Especially Punk who is the pissed off, wrong babyface out for revenge. He should be the one bringing the fight to Jericho and that's exactly how it is. It is nothing but strikes and thats how it should be. Then he moves onto weapons perfect. He really kicks Jericho's ass. Jericho uses the ref as a human shield to poke Punk's eyes. GREAT HEEL MOVE! I dig it! Lots of Jericho's dropkicks and weapons shots. Again that makes sense given the personal nature of the feud. Punk's family is ringside in Chicago (crowd was wicked hot as expected). Jericho does the great heel move was exposing the metal barricade dropping Punk on it. Jaw-jacking with the sister, she does a great job hauling off and smacking him. He becomes incensed and lunges for her and Punk plays the protective brother perfectly and jumps him. He goes bezerk and in the moment of the match bodyslams him on the announce table board. Just a great visual. Jericho back drops out and then uses the Kendo stick to take back over. I thought around here they lost some of the energy they had built up. Jericho hit a chinlock. Even more egregiously Punk went for an inside cradle. No, no, no. Avenging babyface in a street fight should not be eeking out a victory or winning by technique. I thought they went for too many nearfalls. Punk stumbling into a Codebreaker or Jericho taking the Macho Man elbow only for them to a Codebreaker on a chair and the Macho Man Elbow to the table just undercut things. They could have missed the first iteration to make the second iterations mean more. The nearfalls felt forced too. Like they knew it was too early to go home but they were throwing out counters into nearfalls to fill time. There were moments where the fire was there. Like the fire extinguisher to Jericho, Macho Ebow through the table and Anaconda Vice. I liked how Jericho got out of the Vice with the Kendo Stick, but again the the follow up was not that great. It was Jericho incredulous that he couldnt win and just looking like a dude left holding his dick. Punk reversing the G2S into a catapult into the exposed turnbuckle into a G2S was a strong finish. There bit too much selling from Punk to really believe in such a rapid comeback, but the comeback was hot. The beginning of the match was really strong and wrestled how a street fight should be. The finish stretch was hit and miss, but more hit than miss. Overlooked because how stacked the card is and the poor build, but dont sleep on this match. ****

Samoa Joe vs "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson - PWG 4/17/04 It has always smacked me as peculiar that Joe and Danielson have never had an epic together or at least one that is considered canon. Each man has classics with Low-Ki and AJ Styles. Joe had his series with Punk and Danielson had a classic with London. I would say these two (maybe Punk also) are the most beloved wrestlers of the hardcore wrestling fans. I saw that there is an ROH Title Defense by Joe against Danielson at the peak of Joe's powers but I dont see it as widely praised, which surprises me. Before, I watch that match I decided to watch this match to get a feel for their chemistry. This match is a mid-tempo rocker that you just love to groove to. It is not your favorite song on the album nor is it the hit single. However, when you get tried of the obvious tracks, you come back to this one again and again just to groove. This one contrasts nicely with the frenetic workrate style we see in the early 2000s in matches amongst Low-Ki, AJ Styles and Danielson. Now those matches had a lot of struggle and urgency to them, but they are balls to the wall. This is a kickass match, but it is wrestled at a pace where everything breathes. It helps they go to a 30 minute draw so they don't rush anything. I love how lo-fi this is compared to the highspot-heavy style of the 2010s. This match is much grittier. The holds are earned and tighter. Hell there are holds! There is not a lot of running. The strikes are used to inflict pain and set up the next move. There are missed moves! Those missed moves have consequences. They have a little bit fun at the beginning of the match with the title of the show "The Musical" and play off West Side Story with some finger-snapping. The chain wrestling is great as I said everything is tight & earned with lots of struggle. Danielson hits the first big highspot and one of the few of the match a springboard somersault to the floor. One thread throughout the match is Danielson is constantly trying to suplex the bigger Samoa Joe to no avail. His first mistake was trying to bring Joe into the ring the hardway with a suplex but he didnt have the leverage and Joe threw him from the ring to the floor. Always a dangerous spot! You can really see Joe's Japanese influences in this match especially from New Japan those Tenryu-style punches, Otani's facewash and a great Hashimoto-style Legsweep to stop a Danielson hope spot. This extended Joe heat segment just has a great groove to it. It is not up-tempo, but it is engaging in the same way you like to watch Bret Hart grind someone down. Danielson eventually does get his suplex in the form of a superplex and this puts him on the comeback trail, but when he eats a foot on the diving headbutt the playing field is levelled. They really kicked ass on the outside. There is not much in the way of highspots. It is about just hitting your opponent as hard you can and trying to win the match and that style is always over. At the 25 minute call they say 5 minutes left and you know it is going to a draw, but thats fine. Joe puts Danielson through the ringer of some tight submissions but Danielson survives long enough for the time limit expire. The game Danielson wants 5 more minutes, but Ricky Reyes I believe punks him out and we just get the draw. Solid booking as Joe was on the run of a lifetime as the dominant Ace of Ring Of Honor, but this shows Danielson can hang. Another thing I want to shout out these two fill 30 minutes without a lot of their trademark spots or nearfalls and still are engaging. That's really impressive. Like I said this a mid-tempo rocker that really grooves. Dig it! ****