GOTNW

Akiyama beating on a rookie is always fun and that's what we get here. Akiyama carried the match nicely, giving Lee enough shine and spotlight to make him look good (which Lee took advantage of with some pretty offence, his kicks looked very good) but viciously cutting him off before he could get lost in a control segment. Finishing stretch is really interesting in that it doesn't feature many big moves but a lot of them are believable nearfalls because of the difference in the pecking order. Bonus points for Akiyama busting out a vicious strike I don't remember him ever doing before.

I keep forgetting to do it but eventually I'm going to deconstruct that match in order to prove it's actually good as was Fujiwara's performance in it. Their tag from 1996 or whenever was way better though.

I enjoy KUSHIDA appropriating the Minoru Tanaka/Kendo Kashin "every move I do is Armbar" gimmick. I really, really don't care for Ospreay-I could do away with indy wrestlers in 2016 who have athletic ability and flips and not much other-but KUSHIDA does a very good job of constructing a match around him and grounding him so that Ospreay's weaknesses don't matter as much. KUSHIDA worked like a true junior ace here and the theme of him working as a base of high-fliers that tries to ground them could be a great formula.

It's hard to not love a match where you have Fujiwara teaming up with Cheeseburger. The Taguchi/Koshinaka double butt spots were the low point of the match but still you get Fujiwara slapping and stretching young boys so you can't go wrong with it.

Neat little maestros match, a couple of escapes were a little awkward but other than that this was a blast.

An amazing sprint, not sure I can think of a better lightning match. Very accessible and easy to get into even for non-lucha fans due to it being all action and the nature of the match gave the nearfalls even more urgency and credibility, especially if you're familiar with both guy's offence. The chain wrestling opening bit was short but really well done, loved Virus' flash submissions and they more than delivered on the highspots.

I'm fine with it for now since we have four months of catch up.

WingedEagle I'm counting matches you "nominated" that were already nominated as yes votes. Lucha Underground won't do unless it's taped in 2016 (mentioned in the first post) and I don't think the matches you nom'd are.

Hello there! You migh have encountered this concept on DVDVR, WKO, puroresu.tv if you remember that boar existing etc. So let's get into how this will work: -You nominate matches you think are really good. Then you vote yes or no depending how good you think the matches are. -How good do the matches need to be for you to nominate them or vote yes? Star ratings are irrelevant here, but I'll talk about them for a second anyway. Last year I had around 20 matches at four stars or higher. Maybe a few more, I'd have to think about it. Those are all matches I though were really great and could be argued for serious MOTYCs (and didn't even include a few consencus picks). But I had at least 50 matches at the tier below that I would go-this is really good everyone please check this out. That's what I want this to be. Not so much elitistic arguing about taste if this were more restricted to only that super upper echelon but more of a celebration of wrestling in 2016. So if you think a match would make your top 50 at the end of the year-vote yes or nominate it. If you're in doubt-vote yes. Much better to have over 50 matches at YES than less than that (actually I would be strongly opposed to that even, but of course it's understandable someone might not have that much time to watch everything, blah blah........you get it). -At the end of the year we could have people who participated submit ballots and then come up with a PWO 2016 top 10/20/30/whatever matches if that sounds appealing to folks. All dates must be of when matches were taped. I know this could/will be an issue for Lucha Underground (that's why it's TV dates on my local boards) but PWO is also about scrutiny and perfectionism we'll never achieve so. I'm sure we can get those taping dates? Doesn't seem that complicated. Someone ask cubsfan on twitter. And uhm. IDK. That's about it really. You can start nominating matches you liked from this year and voting on them. I'll change the categories as we go to adapt to the number of nominated matches. WWE main roster Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Royal Rumble, 1/24) || 3 yes || 5 no || = -2 Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Fastlane, 2/21) || 6 yes || 3 no || = 3 Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio (2/3 Falls, Fastlane 2/21/2016) || 4 yes || 2 no || = 2 AJ Styles & Chris Jericho vs Big E & Kofi Kingston (WWE Raw 3/7) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Triple H vs Dean Ambrose (WWE Roadblock, 3/12) || 4 yes || 4 no || = 0 Charlotte vs. Natalya (Roadblock 3/12/2016) || 2 yes || 1 no || = -1 Sasha Banks vs Charlotte vs Becky Lynch (WWE WrestleMania, 4/3) || 6 yes || 4 no || = 2 Cesaro vs. AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho (Raw 4/4/2016) || 1 yes || 4 no || =-3 Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens (WWE Payback, 5/1) || 6 yes || 2 no || = 4 Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles (WWE Payback, 5/1) || 8 yes || 1 no || = 7 AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs Roman Reigns & The Usos (WWE Raw 5/2) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Emma & Charlotte vs Becky Lynch & Natalya (WWE Smackdown 5/3) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Roman Reigns & The Usos (WWE Smackdown 5/3) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles (Extreme Rules 5/22) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Kota Ibushi vs Cedric Alexander (WWE CWC 7/14/) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (WWE 7/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (WWE Summerslam 8/21) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 WWE NXT Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn (NXT Take Over: Dallas, 4/1) || 10 yes || 2 no || = 8 Bayley vs Asuka (NXT Take Over: Dallas, 4/1) || 4 yes || 5 no || = --1 Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor (NXT Take Over: Dallas, 4/1) || 9 yes || 2 no || = 6 American Alpha vs. The Revival (NXT Takeover Dallas 4/1/2016) || 6 yes || 1 no || = 5 American Alpha vs The Revival (NXT Takeover: The End 6/8/) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 PWG Drew Gulak vs Timothy Thatcher (PWG Lemmy 1/2/2016) || 3 yes || 0 no || = 3 Akira Tozawa vs Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Lemmy 1/2/2016) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Marty Scurll v Kyle O'Reily (PWG ASW 12 Night 1 3/4/2016) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 ROH Adam Cole vs Kyle O'Reily fight without honor (ROH Super Card of Honor Night 2 4/2/2016) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Jay Lethal vs. Lio Rush (4/1/16, Supercard of Honor Night 1) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Christopher Daniels vs. Bobby Fish (4/1/16, Supercard of Honor Night 1) || 1 yes || 2 no || = -1 Roderick Strong vs. Moose (4/1/16, Supercard of Honor Night 1) || 1 yes || 2 no || = -1 Adam Cole vs. ACH (4/1/16, Supercard of Honor Night 1) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Evolve Chris Hero & Tommy End vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Sami Callihan (EVOLVE 53, 1/22) || 5 yes || 2 no || = 3 Zach Sabre, Jr./Sami Callihan vs. Drew Gulak/TJ Perkins (EVOLVE 54, 1/23) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Tracy Williams vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE 55, 1/24/16) || 2 yes || 2 no || = 0 Zack Sabre Jr vs. Johnny Gargano (EVOLVE 56, 3/19/16) || 2 yes || 1 no || = 1 Fred Yehi vs Drew Gulak (EVOLVE 56, 3/19) || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Chris Hero vs Tracy Williams (EVOLVE 56, 3/19) || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Drew Gulak (EVOLVE 57, 3/20/16) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Zack Sabre Jr. vs Will Ospreay (EVOLVE 58, 4/1) || 8 yes || 0 no || = 8 Matt Riddle vs Zack Sabre Jr. (EVOLVE 59, 4/2) || 5 yes || 1 no || = 4 Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams vs. Johnny Gargano and Drew Galloway (EVOLVE 59, 4/2/16) || 2 yes || 2 no || = 0 Fred Yehi vs. Chris Hero (EVOLVE 59, 4/2/16) || 1 yes || 3 no || = -2 Tracy Williams/Drew Gulak vs. TJP/Fred Yehi (EVOLVE 5/6/16) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (EVOLVE 5/6/16) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Other US Mike Bailey vs Sami Callihan (CZW Seventeen, 2/13) || 1 yes || 3 no || = -2 Lio Rush vs Joey Janela (CZW Seventeen, 2/13) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Fred Yehi vs Colby Corino (TWE, 2/13) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Trevor Lee vs Roy Wilkins: CWF Mid Atlantic 3/9 || 3 yes || 0 no || = 3 Nicole Savoy vs. Heidi Lovelace vs. Candice LeRae (SHIMMER 80 04/02) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Zack Sabre Jr. vs Chris Hero (WWN Mercury Rising, 4/2) || 5 yes || 0 no || = 5 Matt Riddle vs Tracy Williams (WWN Mercury Rising, 4/2) || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Kota Ibushi & TJP & Johnny Gargano vs Marty Scurll & Will Ospreay & Tommy End (WWN Mercury Rising, 4/2) || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Trevor Lee vs Andrew Everett (CWF Mid Atlantic 6/18) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Lucha Underground Prince Puma, Rey Mysterio Jr., & Dragon Azteca Jr. vs Cortez, Castro, & Joey Ryan vs Fenix, Jack Evans, & PJ Black vs Ivelisse & Son of Havoc (Lucha Underground, 1/10) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 CMLL Maximo vs Kamaitachi (CMLL, 1/1) || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Dragon Lee, Stuka Jr., Volador Jr. vs Gran Guerrero, Kamaitachi, Negro Casas (CMLL 2/19) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Silueta vs. Zeuxis (CMLL, 2/23) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi (CMLL 3/4/2016) || 4 yes || 0 no || = 4 Rush vs. Maximo (CMLL 3/18) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Rush, Pierroth & Rey Escorpion vs La Mascara, Shocker & El Terrible (CMLL 5/20) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Rush vs Volador Jr. (CMLL 6/27) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Barbaro Cavernario vs Volador Jr. (CMLL 9/30) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 AAA El Apache & Carta Brava Jr. vs. Luxdor & Venum (AAA – 02/19/2016) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Super Fly & Carta Brava Jr. vs. Luxdor & Venum (AAA 03/04/2016) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Other Mexico Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro (IWRG, 1/10) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro [intercontinental Trios Title] (IWRG, 1/17) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Volador Jr. vs. Caristico (Lucha Libre Elite 4/6/2016) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Negro Casas vs Rey Hechicero (Noches de Coliseo 4/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 LA Park & Super Parka & El Hijo del LA Park vs Rush & Pierroth & Toscano (Lucha Libre Elite, 4/27) || 2 yes || 1 no || = 1 Virus vs. Hechicero (Lucha Memes, 5/15) || 4 yes || 0 no || = 4 Rush vs LA Park (Lucha Libre Elite 7/14/) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Ultimo Guerrero vs Rey Escorpion (Elite 8/4) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Canis Lupus vs. Trauma I (IWRG 9/4) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 1/4/2016) || 6 yes || 3 no || = 3 Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 1/4/2016) || 4 yes || 5 no || = -1 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles Wrestle Kingdom 10 NJPW 1/4/16 || 4 yes || 1 no || = 3 Kushida vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 1/4/2016) || 1 yes || 4 no || = -3 Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi (NJPW, 1/24) || 6 yes || 1 no || = 5 Shinsuke Nakamura & Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto (NJPW Road to New Beginning 1/30/2016) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW New Beginning 2/14/2016) || 3 yes || 4 no || = -1 Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW 3/4/2016) || 2 yes || 2 no || = 0 Katsuyori Shibata vs. Satoshi Kojima (NJPW, 3/19) || 1 yes || 2 no || = -1 Will Ospreay vs. Kushida (NJPW Invasion Attack 4/10/2016) || 9 yes || 0 no || = 9 Kushida vs. Jushin Liger (NJPW 5/3/2016) || 6 yes || 2 no || = 4 KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW 6/19) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Katsuyori Shibata vs EVIL (NJPW 8/13) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Tetsuya Naito vs Kenny Omega (NJPW 8/13) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Big Japan Yuji Okabayashi vs Ryota Hama (BJW 1/24) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Shuji Ishikawa vs Hideki Suzuki (BJW 4/9) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Shuji Ishikawa vs Hideyoshi Kamitani ( BJW 4/10) || 5 yes || 0 no || = 5 Jun Akiyama & Daichi Hashimoto vs. Yuji Okabayashi & Yoshihisa Uto (BJW 4/29) | 2 yes || 2 no || = 0 Hideki Suzuki & Yoshihisa Uto vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW 5/30) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW 3/6) | 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Hideki Suzuki & Daichi Hashimoto vs Yasafumi Nakanoue & Yoshihisa Uto (BJW 6/29) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Yuji Okabayashi vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW, 7/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Nomura vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yoshihisa Uto (BJW 7/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Other Japan Masato Tanaka vs Hideki Suzuki (Zero-1 1/1) || 3 yes || 0 no || = 3 Jun Akiyama vs Jake Lee (AJPW 1/3) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Atsushi Aoki (AJPW 1/3) || 1 yes || 2 no || = -1 Isami Kodaka vs. Konosuke Takeshita (DDT 1/3/16) || 2 yes || 1 no || = 1 Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kota Umeda (DNA, 1/8) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Andy Wu vs. Hiroshi Yamato (WRESTLE-1, 1/10) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Ikuto Hidaka vs. Ryota Nakatsu (BASARA 01/21) || 2 yes || 1 no || = 1 Isami Kodaka vs Masa Takanashi (DDT, 1/31) || 2 yes || 2 no || = 0 Masaaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, Big R Shimizu, & Kzy vs. Akira Tozawa, Masato Yoshino, T-Hawk, & Shachihoko BOY vs. YAMATO, Shingo Takagi, Naruki Doi, & Kotoka: Dragon Gate 2/4 || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Mayu Iwatani vs. Evie (Stardom 2/21) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH, 2/24/16) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Hiro Tonai vs. Kyu Mogami (K-DOJO 2/25/16) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 HARASHIMA vs Shigehiro Irie (DDT 2/28) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Meiko Satomura vs. Syuri (Sendai Girls 3/11) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa (DDT 3/21/16) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 HARASHIMA vs Isami Kodaka (DDT 3/21) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Thunder Rock vs. Matsumoto & Kagetsu (Stardom 4/2) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Meiko Satomura vs. Aja Kong (Sendai Girls 4/8) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 HARASHIMA vs Kazusada Higuchi (DDT 4/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Tsukasa Fujimoto/Arisa Nakajima vs. Emi Sakura/Nanae Takahasi (Ice Ribbon - 5/4) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom 5/15) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Shuji Ishikawa vs. Shigehiro Irie (DDT, 6/26) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuko Miyamoto (DDT, 7/3) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW, 7/23) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Nanae Takahashi & Yoshiko (JWP 7/24) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Meiko Satomura vs. Yoshiko (Sendai Girls 7/30) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Ayako Hamada & Yuu Yamagata vs. Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami (WAVE 8/7) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 Katsuyori Shibata vs Go Shiozaki (NOAH 10/23) || 1 yes || 0 no || = 1 UK Indies Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 1/16/2016) || 5 yes || 0 no || = 5 Marty Scrull vs Will Ospreay (PROGRESS Chapter 25, 1/24) ||3 yes || 2 no || = 1 AJ Styles vs Zack Sabre Jr. (RPW High Stakes, 1/26) || 6 yes || 1 no || = 5 Jack Gallagher vs Timothy Thatcher (PROGRESS Chapter 26, 2/14) || 1 yes || 1 no || = 0 Puerto Rico Mike Mendoza & El Cuervo vs. La Revolución (WWC 03/06) || 2 yes || 0 no || = 2 Everything else Legend: Bold Text: matches with a score of 10 or better Red text: matches with a score of 5 or better Strike-through: matches with a negative score

I started up the threads for puro on DVDVR again more as an experiment and a way for myself to keep up with the indy stuff than anything. If Loss is willing to create a subforum for it I'd gladly organize and run the threads for everything.

I kind of love Braun Strowman's gimmick of barely selling and not taking any bumps, I'd tease guys like Ziggler so much if I were him. He doesn't do anything other than basic stuff but his basic stuff looks good, I loved him throwing Ambrose around, mauling him and running over him. Of course Ambrose gets into control by lowering the top rope while the heel runs at him; my least favourite transition and Strowman having to sell for his idiotic offence after the match looked stupid. Average; weird match to end the show with.

Next to J-B-I love puro and Otto Wanz-L and Michael Cole? I don't really see it.

There's a lot to be said about this. First stuff that came to mind: I watched the Lawler-Snowman stuff yesterday and wouldn't exactly describe those Memphis studio fans as being "racially progressive". I am shocked that it's the black guy that the other commentators on Raw always make fun of. WWE having quotas for ethnicities and apparently checking how much time every ethnicity gets in case someone accuses them of racism. Etc.

How many matches have these two had in the last few months? Another ok but completely forgettable match that took a backseat to the guest commentary. As much as I like the back stomp Natalya does some of her stuff looked pretty bad/sloppy here. Have to wonder what ever made anyone think she was this great worker outside of the Bret connection and that one tables match with her and Beth Phoenix vs. LayCool. I'm sure that made the Jimmy Redman 100 best matches ever list, it might be the best "divas" match ever. It's nice to see Charlotte at least try to act like a heel by using the ropes and begging off when Natalya went to Powerbomb her but she does seem more like she's playing a wrestler than a natural at it and the set up to the aforementioned Powerbomb was pretty contrived.

Remember when Hunico was a good C show worker? That has to be up there with Titus O'Neil and Wade Barrett being great for a few months as far as things no one is going to remember in five years go. He looked good here (cool armdrags and an asai moonsault), I'm sure him vs. Ryder would be fun. Match itself was nothing, a backseat to Owens' commentary to pop the reddit boys. And the match ends in a DQ because triple threats may have those when it fits their storyline. Ok.

So, ahem........let's talk about another two minute Raw match shall we? The idea of Jericho revenging all of his embarrassing defeats is pretty funny, lord knows how many JTGs they'd have to rehire for him to get all of his wins back. I'm totally behind his character at this point. He's my favourite comedy wrestler. Feuding with Ambrose is pretty much perfect for them both. As long as he's not up against someone who would otherwise have good matches I'm fine with him being around. Laughing at his shtick gives me much more joy than watching jobbers take most of the (supposed) squash matches against a promising black wrestler. He should win least outstanding and best gimmick as condescending dad in WON. This match also had chops. I feel like there's discussion to be had about wrestlers that are traditionally thought of as good/workrate specialists using those before everyone started doing so. Benoit, Jericho, Michaels......

Good match, they did some bigger spots and bumps but laid the match out nicely so their effect was maximized. The bumps AJ took on the barricade and on the missed Springboard Forearm were nuts and I liked how he tried to counter Owens' Headlock by grabbing his face. Generic screwy Raw finish with the face looking stupid but what can you do. ***

At this point Emma is basically a Sheamus if Sheamus lived up to his hype. She stretched Paige while stomping on her hair and just beat her up. I don't really care for Paige's shtick but she's not terrible or anything. The finish was though, but I expected nothing more considering what it was setting up. Decent match.

I did not expect a generic WWE faux big guy to bust out a rolling headlock I don't remember seeing ever before. Almost the entire match was just Kalisto's comeback, he wiped out both members of the Ascension by himself while doing a bunch of cool offence, makes you wonder why they don't book their main event guys like that. It's a talking bout I'm going to beat into the ground but Kalisto really is the heir to Rey not just because he's a masked hispanic guy but because he's an amazing TV worker with a bunch of awesome shtick he can easily build matches around. Fun for what it was.

Not much to comment on here, ok match, everything they did looked pretty good which is a huge improvement from what we were getting on Raw just a few months ago. Becky's Capture Suplex looks badass and I thought the Flair interference was handled well.

Ryder has turned into a pretty good worker, he deserved the IC title win at Mania for his bumping here alone. Between Styles' childish insult and Jericho hitting Ryder with JBL's cowboy hat this was pretty hilarious. Fun little match, a good showcase for Ryder and something that would have been an efficient way to enrich the Styles-Jericho feud if Jericho was still good.

WWE agents are doing a pretty bad job these days, they've verged into self conscious agenting equivalent to E-fed match writing where they're just planning the match out in a way that sounds best/most amusing to them without considering whether or not the workers are capable of pulling it off. This match is a great example of that, they toy with the idea of a big man /little man dynamic, a neck injury and Corbin costing himself the much due to his own cockiness but they try to accomplish too much and as a result accomplish nothing. **.

This didn't really feel like a pro wrestling match as much as an exhibition and a chance for these guys to blow through a bunch of cool spots. Every criticism ever thrown at lucha about it being too fake/cute/choreographed/ and lacking struggle could be correctly thrown at this match. They'd literally apply a hold and just let go of it after a couple of seconds for no reason. It did produce a lot of great GIFs though.

Good grief-Emma might be my favourite wrestler after this match. Some fun chain wrestling early on and then Emma just potatoes Natalya with an Elbow, drops her on the apron, Butterfly Suplexes her on the floor, kicks her in the head.....I mean what more can you want out of a pro wrestler? Natalya does one move and wins the match with it. Not sure this was *the best* match on Raw but it was definitely the most entertaining one for me.

I remember these two having a really good match on Smackdown just before Del Rio was fired. This one probably wasn't as good as that one but it was still very fun, Del Rio looked pretty motivated here, throwing lots of good looking kicks, busting out a cool double stomp off the apron and doing a great job of selling Reigns' headbutts. I love the way they modified the set up to Reigns' Apron Dropkick, I usually dislike the spot but here it looked both violent and natural. This was a good Raw for three star TV matches.