2015 MOTY contenders

[Matt D]

Ok, I watched Spud vs EC3. I'm not familiar with any of this.

 

What I liked:

-The God Save the Queen bit was great, even with Matthews talking over it. It felt organic.

-The opening intensity though Spud's chops are way better than his punches. If they were both equal he could lean on the punches and I wouldn't care but the chops are way better. He has a lot of good flukey offense in general, I think. It fits his character.

-The blade-job in that it set up the forearm brace as a big deal and I thought EC3 did a great job in screaming to distract the fans and cover it: misdirection

-The cinematic nature of the last comeback. I'm not always big on that sort of storytelling but I thought it worked here. Tossing off the bow-tie, etc. I thought EC3's expressions were good throughout. I didn't love the Borash bit (it was fine but Borash isn't great at this) but I did love the endless headslams until he woke up.

 

What I didn't mind

-The interference as a transition. I thought it was face saving and you expect this shit out of TNA

 

What I didn't like:

-The execution of the interference. First you have Hebner not even wondering why Spud was in charge on the outside and then suddenly on his back in the ring on the inside now that Brodus is out? Come on. Then Anderson's Mic Check looked ridiculously bad. I was okay with it in theory.

-I thought Spud looked to the crowd a little bit too much. It got over the "Can you believe I'm doing this?" feel when he had he advantage, but it took away from the hate. Maybe it was a guy, in his home country, living his dream, but that story didn't jibe with the hatred. The two stories sort of clashed and the dissonance hurt the match.

-Both guys do tribute acts? EC3's stealing of his fallen foes' moves is kind of neat but then Spud was adrenaline-powered Eugene? It felt like overkill unless it was part of their friendship or something. The Stunner and even the You I was mostly okay with (only mostly ok with that one), but the rope shaking was a bit much.

- The match desperately needed 1 more big nearfall by Spud as he was making his comeback. Desperately. Even and especially a roll up.

 

-And then I don't even know what to think about EC3's facial expression as he was hitting his finish. He was already starting the post match "angle" before the match was over and I don't know if that's brilliant given that he was totally in charge after the Bob Orton forearm or unbelievable. If it wasn't TNA, I'd think it was brilliant and played into the cockiness of his character. As it is, I just think it was over-swerviness.

 

Weird things

-Tazz sounds like he's somewhere else, like in a video game with post-produced scripted lines

-The Black and White thing was weird as they went in and out of it.

-Again, Matthews talking over God Save the Queen. Way to waste a great moment.

 

It was a very good match. Without more context, I'm not sure I'd call it great.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

I'm going to put up the Young Bucks vs reDragron from the ROH 13 Anny show 3/1/15

 

This was I wrote abbout it the night of the show.

 

 

 

The Young Bucks vs. reDRagon

My match of the night. I thought the UFC gal was fine doing distraction spots, We start out with a ridiculous pace. Just so many hot moves. Young Bucks are positioned as babyfaces here. We even get a FIP. It wasn't super long but long enough to get the point over. Matt Jackson got caught in a hanging arm bar by O'Reilly. Jackson put that over big and sold it the rest of the way. Major props to him. We get this super hot finish with so much action.The FIP really allowed the action to take a breath and then kick it into high gear. 4 1/4*

 

Baszler really hurt this match for me. These teams are my two favorites and they have had several outstanding matches, but I'd put this on the lower end. By no means was it bad, but Baszler being there was just pointless and was a negative when she had to get involved because she was wooden and lacked any sort of feel for what she was supposed to be doing. Any Bucks/reDRagon match probably would start with a baseline 4* for me. I had this one at 3 1/4*.

[goodhelmet]

I just watched the Spud vs. ECIII match and loved it. I didn't like a few things like Spud's horrible punches but the atmosphere, the blood, the post-match was all good. As a spectacle, this was pretty great. I don't have it above the Rumble three way or the Nakamura match but it definitely deserves to be in the conversation.

[(BP)]

I enjoyed Spud/ECIII a lot. I've seen almost no TNA in the last 2 years, but I was sort of aware of what was going on and the pre- and post-match and work told a really great self-contained story. I'd imagine it would have been even better having seen the build. I'm not crazy about the finisher tribute stuff, but Spud was great, ECIII is a good heel, and the last 5 minutes or so were pretty enthralling. I'd put it above Nakamura/Ibushi for me because I never got caught up in the nearfalls there. I'm hesitating to put it above Cena/Rollins/Brock, but that might just be bias because I was there live for that one. It's definitely the first time this year where a match slipped past my defenses and I was really invested, which is pretty great since I've seen little of either guy and it was all based on the performances.

[stomperspc]

I also thought the Spud performance was the best individual performance I've seen all year.

 

I think he had a strong match and did a lot of things right. He hit a gusher which obviously added a ton. His selling was spot on. The pre-match and early match stuff was good, traditional fiery babyface stuff. His offense just didn't do much for me and I thought the tribute move stuff (while it fit into Spud's character) did not work as a comeback in a match like this one. It really doesn't matter to the match at the whole because good, legit heat is good, legit heat regardless, but I think if Spud wrestled that exact same match in front of a NY crowd, Orlando crowd, or almost any other non-England crowd that Spud and the match as a whole doesn't get nearly the reaction that it did. That's not a knock on the match because obviously they booked it in London for that reason. More of a commentary on Spud's personal performance. It was a very good performane, but I am not sure it is what drew all of the heat that the match got.

 

Anyway, I re-read my first post and it might not have sounded like it but I did like the match. On first view, it just did not bowl me over or strike me as a MOTYC. Like Matt said, very good but I didn't see it as great on first watch.

[Tim Cooke]

It's not a MOTYC candidate in the ****1/2+ definition (though what is in 2015?), but Rey/Mistico vs. Perro Jr./Pentagon Jr. from Rey de Reyes was a lot of fun. I recently rewatched the Rey vs. Eddy SD matches from March 2004 and June 2005. Both of those are absolutely fantastic. If they happened today, people would be throwing ***** at them like it was nothing but back in '04-'05, they were just TV matches, though the 6/23/05 match did get some MOTYC consideration.

 

Fast Forward 10 years later and Rey is performing moves like it is 1997 again. His team with Mistico makes makes a good Mexican RnR Express. Perro/Pentagon Jr. were a much lesser version of the MX, but that's not in insult to them. I didn't see much difference between this and the 12/15/97 Rey/Juve vs. Parka/Psicosis match from Nitro that Dave said was the modern day RnR vs. MX match (and that match is fantastic, especially for a Nitro length match during a time when the cruisers were in the midst of being booked horribly week in and week out). The Nitro match had bigger overall high spots but this had just as much action and more heat. This seems like a warm up for a few more big Rey matches before he hangs it up and if that is the case, they are off to a great start.

[Parties]

I actually like the production of the new TNA, if they can maintain the momentum of these England episodes. The whole show – despite its shoestring budget – looks more modern than WWE in some ways. RAW/SD's aesthetic is so stale that the last two weeks of TNA appeared avant-garde in comparison. Even their workers look more relevant, and I say in spite of whatever bizarre costumes the Knockouts are being put in. Galloway, EC3, Lashley, Roode, Spud, Robbie E, DJZ... these look like athletes living in the present day, while most WWE workers are a decade behind the times.

 

In particular I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Zema Ion. I would not have expected to enjoy a dubstep gimmick this much, but the dude's figured it out.

 

Carter/Spud was a hell of a match. Probably more memorable than the Rumble three-way, to be honest. EC3 is the loathsome rudo wrestling needs right now.

 

It proves that you can produce superior TV with inferior wrestlers. Their roster completely sucks compared to WWE's (hell, compared to NXT's), yet they seem to be making something more watchable.

[pol]

Daiki Inaba vs. Shinjiro Otani from the 03/13 WRESTLE-1/ZERO1 cross-promotional show.

 

Close to as good as what is essentially an extended squash can be, I think. Intensity in spades. I mark for working the hierarchy of guys into the match and it seems to be a dying art these days. My only complaint is that I would've liked Inaba to get in just a tiny bit more before the kill shot, and I can see some thinking his selling was way over the top, but all in all I really dug this. Inaba is so good for only having 2 years of experience.

[Dylan Waco]

I've been pimping that match on Twitter all week. Great, great match for what it is. Haven't seen Otani look that good in ages. I was mildly annoyed by the way he sort of no sold the crab hold he sat in at one point, but it fit the theme of the match, and virtually everything else in it was on point. I'd call it must see. I thought it was better than anything on the NJ Cup tour.

[shoe]

Daiki Inaba vs. Shinjiro Otani from the 03/13 WRESTLE-1/ZERO1 cross-promotional show

 

I really liked this match too. I'd say it was in the 4 1 /4* range. Inaba was a nice plucky babyface why Otani was the long standing veteran, Otani just beats on him throughout. Inaba would get some hope spots and nice timed comebacks. Of course Otani would cut him off. Eventually, he would start working over Inaba's shoulder which is taped up big. I loved the last 1/2 of this.With Otani just destroying the shoulder and Inaba is outstanding in his selling of it. It's not a match with a bunch of bells and whistles, but it tells a great story with great execution.

[shoe]

Samoa Joe vs ACH 3/13/15

 

I've mulled this one over for a bit. I've watched it a few times and think it's a low end MOTYC at 4 1/4* It has a similar feel to Otani/Inaba, but a lot of differences as well. ACH is the wrestler on the threshold of becoming a main eventer to Joe the ROH legend. At 1st Joe has disdain for ACH, and ACH wants to go toe to toe with Joe. He tries this valiantly but each time Joe is too much for him. Joe either out strikes ACH or uses his mass to stop ACH in his tracks.Joe goes to the mat and just stretches ACH for a bit, and just beats on him. For a flurry ACH is able to do some fun leg work on Joe. Though ACH's cockiness costs him when he goes to the top and misses a splash. We go outside and Samoa Joe charges ACH and in a call back to the leg work does a low level drop kick to the knee. ACH does a little taunting on the outside and Joe will have none of that and brutalizes ACH on the outside. The tide turns and ACH has a nice run of offense and it's more ACH based. Eventually though Joe is too much. We build to the finish and ACH has some nice counters to the Muscle Buster, and the rear naked choke. Though Joe really dishes it out to ACH. Eventually ACH falls to the Muscle Buster.

[BillThompson]

Catching up on 2015 stuff, and I'd highly recommend Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak from EVOLVE Wrestling: 38. Start of a great angle, wonderful in-match storytelling, and a really great mix of grappling and striking. I'd go about ****1/2 on it, my MOTY so far.

[concrete1992]

LEMME TELL YOU...I rated it ****1/4 and I'm right there with you as fare as it being PRETTY DARN GREAT! Wrote about it in my review for the show on PWPonderings.

[BillThompson]

LEMME TELL YOU...I rated it ****1/4 and I'm right there with you as fare as it being PRETTY DARN GREAT! Wrote about it in my review for the show on PWPonderings.

 

Every once in a while the twain shall meet

[goodhelmet]

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

- The build to this match was all wrong. This should have been the David vs. Goliath match. Roman was the guy people were chanting for in last year's Rumble as a plea not to give Batista the win. This year, he was in the Batista role... being booed for something they perceived he did not deserve. This was supposed to be his coming out party in his hometown and the fans fucked it up. When Brock Lesnar had an expiring contract, most people wanted to watch this match to see the fans reaction. When he signed his contract earlier in the week, it actually left the outcome in doubt and made the match more appealing in the process.

 

Everything about this match was near perfect. First, Reigns busts Brock open on his cheek in about 5 seconds. Brock carries him around, suplex and F5 in the first minute. Brock then takes over for punishment time. At first, it feels like the Cena Summerslam match, an entertaining squash but Reigns has some moments of hope... nasty back elbows to the bloody cheek, punches to the bloody cheek, and two clotheslines that fail to take Lesnar down. A third clothesline is ducked and the SUPLEX CITY BITCH beating continues. Lesnar is abusing him but since he has a big red spot on his cheek, Reigns focuses some forearms on the cut. Brock stops him but Reigns sees a small window that he is trying to exploit even if the effort is in vain. One of those forearms gives Brock a small cut on his lip. Now Brock tastes his own blood and starts kneeing Roman in the ribs and dishing out more suplexes. Brock's focus on the ribs and back deserves credit. This isn't just a random squash... this is a guy focusing on a body part with sadistic precision. The replays of those knee strikes are different from nearly every other replay where a guy comes off the top rope or does a dive to the floor. It's boxing knockout level replays and does more to show the brutality of wrestling than anything else. After getting knocked to the flooor, Brock takes too long for an attack and gets stopped by some Roman Reigns knees of his own. He follows this up with nasty knees and kicks to Brock's face and chest. Oh shit! Roman is making a comeback. Did Cena make a comeback ever in the Summerslam match? It doesn't feel like he ever had one hope spot. Roman looks to be gaining momentum but he kicks one too many times, Brock grabs his foot and murders him with a clothesline that leaves him lying helpless on the outside. Brock's mouth is a little more bloody and he starts kneeing Roman and gives him a standard suplex that throws him halfway across the ring. SupleXCity continues and an F5. It's over. Wait... no it isn't.

 

I want to address an issue some people had with this match... Roman smiling at the punishment he was taking. Cena didn't smile. He couldn't. He had no hope. Roman could smile because he had obtained little victories that Cena couldn't. He bloodied the big man. He stopped him once or twice. Brock takes off his gloves and starts smacking Roman down. They show replays of the slaps. I remember when that huge mitt of Brock's covered Frank MIr's face. It felt real and those slaps looked real. Roman's victory was absorbing the punishment that others couldn't. Roman takes a third F5. He kicks out and did what the Undertaker couldn't do in a horrible match last year. he survived three F5s... little victories... reason to smile. Outside, Brock intends to end this and ram Roman into the ringpost. With nearly no hope left, Roman counters and rams Brock into the ringpost busting him open and leaving him a bloody mess in the main event of Wrestlemania. A small glimmer of hope becomes a wide gaping hole of opportunity. Brock has had his bell rung and barely beats a ten count to get inside. Roman hits the superman punch to the bloody face of Lesnar but he won't go down. A second one sends Brock to his knee. A third attempt is blocked but Reigns elbows his way to freedom and headbutts the shit out of Brock's bloody head, something that Michael Cole points out and that I thought would never be focused on in another WWE main event ever by an announcer. A third Superman punch finally sends the Beast to the mat and it feels like a huge victory, not one of the tiny ones he had been accumulating throughout the match. I have to point out the crowd is going batshit. It is like a ruckus NBA game where the home team was up by 20 with 7 minutes to go but then the other team goes on a 18-0 run to make it a one possession game. The crowd was celebrating the demise of Reigns earlier and now they are a mix of booing the inevitable outcome in their minds and cheering for the Beast to end the McMahon experiment once and for all. A spear doesn't keep Brock down and Roman can't even go for a pin attempt because Brock is immediately trying to climb the ropes to get back up but a second one keeps him down for a nearfall. What was once an impossibility is now very real. Roman can win and the whole crowd believes he will. A third spear... wait... Brock counters with an F5. Seth Rollins music...

 

Money in the Bank Cash in. Smart move by Rollins to have two choices of who he can pin as we'll soon see. He knocks a dead to rights Roman out of the ring, curb stomps Brock once and sets up a final curb stomp to end Brock once and for all... but Brock counters!!! F5... but shit... Roman Reigns gives Brock another spear and saves Rollins. Curb stomp to Roman who gave his last amount of strength to the final spear. I know some people hate this ending but it was the best use of a Money in the Bank cash in to date. It saved a Brock Lesnar pinfall, the pin didn't hurt Reigns after surviving the war and the WWE didn't have Cena Version 2 as champion. Who knows where this horribly booked company will go from here? RAW didn't leave me optimistic. On rewatch, this was just as exciting, sadistic and intense (maybe more so) than the first time I watched it. Both guys were so smart in their strategy within the match and capitalized on little moments that turned the tide. Also, blood does matter and when used right can make a match even more special. I think this may be my favorite Mania match ever and have no problem going out on a limb here.... Five Stars.

[cm funk]

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

- The build to this match was all wrong. This should have been the David vs. Goliath match. Roman was the guy people were chanting for in last year's Rumble as a plea not to give Batista the win. This year, he was in the Batista role... being booed for something they perceived he did not deserve. This was supposed to be his coming out party in his hometown and the fans fucked it up. When Brock Lesnar had an expiring contract, most people wanted to watch this match to see the fans reaction. When he signed his contract earlier in the week, it actually left the outcome in doubt and made the match more appealing in the process.

 

Everything about this match was near perfect. First, Reigns busts Brock open on his cheek in about 5 seconds. Brock carries him around, suplex and F5 in the first minute. Brock then takes over for punishment time. At first, it feels like the Cena Summerslam match, an entertaining squash but Reigns has some moments of hope... nasty back elbows to the bloody cheek, punches to the bloody cheek, and two clotheslines that fail to take Lesnar down. A third clothesline is ducked and the SUPLEX CITY BITCH beating continues. Lesnar is abusing him but since he has a big red spot on his cheek, Reigns focuses some forearms on the cut. Brock stops him but Reigns sees a small window that he is trying to exploit even if the effort is in vain. One of those forearms gives Brock a small cut on his lip. Now Brock tastes his own blood and starts kneeing Roman in the ribs and dishing out more suplexes. Brock's focus on the ribs and back deserves credit. This isn't just a random squash... this is a guy focusing on a body part with sadistic precision. The replays of those knee strikes are different from nearly every other replay where a guy comes off the top rope or does a dive to the floor. It's boxing knockout level replays and does more to show the brutality of wrestling than anything else. After getting knocked to the flooor, Brock takes too long for an attack and gets stopped by some Roman Reigns knees of his own. He follows this up with nasty knees and kicks to Brock's face and chest. Oh shit! Roman is making a comeback. Did Cena make a comeback ever in the Summerslam match? It doesn't feel like he ever had one hope spot. Roman looks to be gaining momentum but he kicks one too many times, Brock grabs his foot and murders him with a clothesline that leaves him lying helpless on the outside. Brock's mouth is a little more bloody and he starts kneeing Roman and gives him a standard suplex that throws him halfway across the ring. SupleXCity continues and an F5. It's over. Wait... no it isn't.

 

I want to address an issue some people had with this match... Roman smiling at the punishment he was taking. Cena didn't smile. He couldn't. He had no hope. Roman could smile because he had obtained little victories that Cena couldn't. He bloodied the big man. He stopped him once or twice. Brock takes off his gloves and starts smacking Roman down. They show replays of the slaps. I remember when that huge mitt of Brock's covered Frank MIr's face. It felt real and those slaps looked real. Roman's victory was absorbing the punishment that others couldn't. Roman takes a third F5. He kicks out and did what the Undertaker couldn't do in a horrible match last year. he survived three F5s... little victories... reason to smile. Outside, Brock intends to end this and ram Roman into the ringpost. With nearly no hope left, Roman counters and rams Brock into the ringpost busting him open and leaving him a bloody mess in the main event of Wrestlemania. A small glimmer of hope becomes a wide gaping hole of opportunity. Brock has had his bell rung and barely beats a ten count to get inside. Roman hits the superman punch to the bloody face of Lesnar but he won't go down. A second one sends Brock to his knee. A third attempt is blocked but Reigns elbows his way to freedom and headbutts the shit out of Brock's bloody head, something that Michael Cole points out and that I thought would never be focused on in another WWE main event ever by an announcer. A third Superman punch finally sends the Beast to the mat and it feels like a huge victory, not one of the tiny ones he had been accumulating throughout the match. I have to point out the crowd is going batshit. It is like a ruckus NBA game where the home team was up by 20 with 7 minutes to go but then the other team goes on a 18-0 run to make it a one possession game. The crowd was celebrating the demise of Reigns earlier and now they are a mix of booing the inevitable outcome in their minds and cheering for the Beast to end the McMahon experiment once and for all. A spear doesn't keep Brock down and Roman can't even go for a pin attempt because Brock is immediately trying to climb the ropes to get back up but a second one keeps him down for a nearfall. What was once an impossibility is now very real. Roman can win and the whole crowd believes he will. A third spear... wait... Brock counters with an F5. Seth Rollins music...

 

Money in the Bank Cash in. Smart move by Rollins to have two choices of who he can pin as we'll soon see. He knocks a dead to rights Roman out of the ring, curb stomps Brock once and sets up a final curb stomp to end Brock once and for all... but Brock counters!!! F5... but shit... Roman Reigns gives Brock another spear and saves Rollins. Curb stomp to Roman who gave his last amount of strength to the final spear. I know some people hate this ending but it was the best use of a Money in the Bank cash in to date. It saved a Brock Lesnar pinfall, the pin didn't hurt Reigns after surviving the war and the WWE didn't have Cena Version 2 as champion. Who knows where this horribly booked company will go from here? RAW didn't leave me optimistic. On rewatch, this was just as exciting, sadistic and intense (maybe more so) than the first time I watched it. Both guys were so smart in their strategy within the match and capitalized on little moments that turned the tide. Also, blood does matter and when used right can make a match even more special. I think this may be my favorite Mania match ever and have no problem going out on a limb here.... Five Stars.

 

Good writeup

 

I don't do star ratings, but I loved the match too

[goodhelmet]

I don't do star ratings either.

[Steenalized]

Zero qualms about that being a five star match, I put it a shade lower (4 and 3/4) but can see it moving up to 5 and at that point who cares, I'm splitting hairs. Incredible match, so well laid out with Reign's comeback attempts and both guys sold great. Loved Brock bouncing around the ring and finally bumping on the third superman punch. I'd like to add kudos to Reigns for being one of the few guys who can make a spear look good.

[Grimmas]

Zero qualms about that being a five star match, I put it a shade lower (4 and 3/4) but can see it moving up to 5 and at that point who cares, I'm splitting hairs. Incredible match, so well laid out with Reign's comeback attempts and both guys sold great. Loved Brock bouncing around the ring and finally bumping on the third superman punch. I'd like to add kudos to Reigns for being one of the few guys who can make a spear look good.

I loved everything about the match until Rollins showed up. 4 1/2 from me, due to that.

 

The money in the bank gimmick is so played out and I think the finish of the show was a major cop out.

[concrete1992]

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

 

A match that is appallingly built to, to the point that the only option seems to be to keep the belt on the wrestler the WWE has just locked down but will only wrestle a few times a year. The thing is, I forgot one key element of wrestling and that is despite some of the rockiest stories it can attempt to tell, when wrestlers step in the ring they can transcend the story. Roman Reigns is a fine wrestler and when Brock Lesnar is put in position to do so, he is one of the best on the planet. I was expecting a good match. Though I also expected it to mean the end of any chance Roman Reigns has of being the top WWE guy that has seemed inevitable for a while now. Via one match, Reigns has gotten a new lease on life…or a new lease on the opportunity to be that top face.

The match is the greatest WrestleMania main event that I have ever seen. Both wrestlers brought a level of stiffness that I don’t see being matched until maybe the next time these two meet in the ring. Whereas the Cena matches are Cena matches that are awe inspiring because of the incredible beating he takes, Cena does not quite dish it out as well as he takes it. Reigns does not get a great deal of opportunities to bring the heat but when he does it is scorching hot. He throws his forearms with force that would make you fear for his opponent’s safety except that he is throwing him them against Brock Lesnar. Reigns also throws nasty kicks to Lesnar’s chest and delivers a knee that brings a tear to Wanderlei Silva’s eye.

The match as far as I’m concerned is a near masterpiece and I could see myself removing “near” from that description sooner than later. Lesnar is suplexing Reigns but when it is clear there is something in Reigns tank; he’s fighting it until he is on his back. The cut that Lesnar gets early on reminds you that this monster of a man is still a man. And almost as a reminder to who he is, he delivers the F5. Lesnar doesn’t go for the pin. It is too early for that. Now is solely the time for punishment. Reigns, a 250+ pounder, attempts to run through Lesnar with a series of clothesline but Lesnar not only takes it but wants more before putting him away with another German suplex.

The facial expressions in this match are off the charts. Reigns smiling amidst his decimation is fantastic. Clearly something that could come off extremely cheesy, is plugged into the match at various moments that perfectly fit. Lesnar’s facial expressions though are some all-time elite level stuff. You literally can not teach the intensity in his eyes. The slight smirk he has after the F5 kickout is just too perfect. A great warrior who has finally found someone who may test him. There is no doubt in his mind that he’ll win but he may have to work for it. The gloves literally come off. It is subtle. Not much in wrestling is yet they’ve laid the ground so perfectly that that does not really matter. Lesnar smacks the taste out of Reigns’ mouth but that goes to elicit a blood-soaked smile that almost can only exist from someone who is in great pain but does care. It feels pulled almost directly from Fight Club.

Reigns is destroyed for what feels like an uncomfortable amount of time and then he finds an ounce of strength on the outside to push Brock Lesnar headfirst into the steal post. What followed introduced an element to the match that took it from a great match to an all-time spectacle, and that is blood. Try as you might to say that the color red does add to the match, this match is distinct proof that in 2015 you are still incorrect. In real time there was a split second where Brock was standing there dazed with blood covering more and more of his face that I wasn’t sure if he was going to get back into the ring. A man can only but feel his mortality as sees the fluid that pumps through his heart. The small cut showed a chink in his position as invincible but the blood tripping from his head was the ultimate sign of vulnerability. In the ring, almost solely on adrenaline, Roman Reigns starts going to his Superman Punch. The way Reigns would hit the punch and keep himself standing on the ropes was perfect. The way Lesnar sold the punches was perfect. Lesnar not staying down after the punches or even the first Spear was perfect. It felt like it fit directly into a Rocky movie in the best way possible.

For this match you must mention the ending. For some it was a match killer or at least a match hinderer. I can not say the same. Felt that Seth Rollins’ involvement did not boost the match, an extremely difficult task, but was so in tune with his character as well as doing a great job of teasing his possible loss worked for me. Even Reigns stopping the F5 felt logical in the scheme of the match where a war has taken place and he has his blinders on.

An incredible spectacle. A masterful match. The perfect WrestleMania match in a way.

from https://matchoftheyear.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/brock-lesnar-vs-roman-reigns-vs-seth-rollins-from-wwe-wrestlemania-3292015/

[Steenalized]

As far as the ending goes, it didn't bother me at all (nor did it raise it, for what it's worth), but I did love that the moment Rollins got the belt he ran like hell. He knew better than to celebrate in that ring with Brock and Reigns right there. And the camera shot of him sprinting down to the ring with the briefcase was excellent.

 

EDIT: Grammar

[Matt D]

The most interesting aspect of that to me was that they had hit a point where I think the fans were actually more than okay with a Reigns win. if he had won that match, it would have felt satisfying. People would have cheered. People would have smiled. So it does feel on some level that they made the fans want something, or at least accept something, and then gave them something that they "needed" instead.

 

It's the sort of real heel heat generation that you don't often get in the modern product. In fact, I'd like to see Loss (who has spoken up strongly about the lack of heels being allowed to garner that heat, if I remember correctly) speak on that. He was so focused on the bait and switch element, the sort of out of character promotional element, that I haven't seen him say too much about the in character element.

[donsem43]

Dash Chisako & Sendai Sachiko vs. Nanae Takahashi & Kairi Hojo - Sendai Girls 3/11/15 - Two fun teams have a super fun match. The Jumonji Sisters have a bunch of slick double teams and aren't afraid to sell like crazy. Takahashi & Hojo have a nice vet/rookie dynamic with some fun double teams of their own. They also manage to not go too long on the finish.

[Wade Garrett]

I really enjoyed Lesnar/Reigns and I'd give it an A grade. However the Rollins run in kept it from an A+. I thought they should of had Lesnar incorporate a hold that woulda made Reigns pass out from the pain.

 

A cash-in finish at WrestleMania after the performance those two put on is some serious bull shit.

[shoe]

Dragon Lee v. Kamaitachi 3/20/15

 

Dragon Lee might be my favorite Lucha wrestler this year. This is a MOTYC. It's macara con mascara. The the first 2 caida's see both guys finish off their opponents with a high impact move as a finish. Now the meat of the match is the final caida. These guys busted out so many great highspots. These weren't high spots just look good or to get a that was awesome chant. The purpose of these high spots were to fuck up their opponent. We saw both guys do this . They left everything out on the mat. We got a some mat work. Not a lot, but the submissions meant a lot more as did the nearfalls since the masks were at stake. Their was one spot that was off on a dive, that kept it out as a slam dunk MOTYC. Still great shit that people should check out. 4 1/4*