[2015-02-22-WWE-Fastlane] Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns

[Loss]

Another great match on this show in a completely different way. While Cena-Rusev was more of a psychological match, this was more of a high-impact match. The crowd was so divided that they came across apathetic until Bryan caught Reigns with the liver kick, which was an awesome transition and really cool match choice. This is hurt in some ways by the wrong guy winning, but they did work the right match to give Reigns an earned victory to an extent, although I think they could have done more in that direction. I think about something like the Bret-Diesel match at the 1995 Royal Rumble where they teased a Bret heel turn going into the match and Bret also did heel stuff in the match like use a chair. Considering they had no plans to do anything with Bryan, they had nothing to lose by going that route here. Still, this was excellent, but I do think this was the second best match of the night, if only barely. ****

[supersonic]

Excellent main event that showed Reigns is quite capable of being carried to the best match of his career to date by best wrestler on the roster. Time will tell if Rollins will be able to pull this off too. Reigns really shined here with his physicality, and for those who wanna speculate that D-Bry isn't physically ready to work a dream match against Brock Lesnar, eat this fact: Reigns gave D-Bry the same overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the floor that Lesnar gave CM Punk at SummerSlam 2013.

 

This is nowhere near the work of art of that Lesnar vs. Punk classic I mentioned, but this definitely delivered. D-Bry kept pulling out his submission arsenal, digging more into it every time Reigns would power out with his superior size and strength. He then gave a preview of what will come when the day arrives that he faces Lesnar, busting out THREE tope suicidas, only to get caught and powerslammed by Reigns on the third one. They exchanged nearfalls on a spear and Busaiku knee, as well as Reigns reaching the ropes while in the Lebell Lock. Another one later had Reigns trying to pummel on D-Bry, but found himself in a Triangle Hold that was broken via a powerbomb.

 

A spear attempt was countered with a fantastic small package nearfall, a move that D-Bry had used to put down Kane in the past as well as many of his greatest opponents on the indies. With both exhausted, they emptied their gas tanks, ending with Reigns getting a spear on D-Bry during a Busaiku knee attempt for a great finish. Post-match, D-Bry congratulates him and says he better slay the Beast. This was obviously the wrong choice, but they got the most out of it. Reigns showed he was capable of having a great match, and D-Bry proved nobody on the WWE roster is more reliable in getting a pet project over. ****

[Jordan]

This got uploaded onto WWE's youtube page so I gave it a watch.

 

Pretty badass big man/little man match. Really picks up after the liver kick spot that ruled. Bryan filling his work in between the finisher/sub teases around primarily strikes and chopping down Reigns was great and the counter to this late being Reigns trying to demolish Bryan with forearms was awesome. The knee finally getting kicked out of had this "you know what's coming next" vibe to it but it still felt engaging to see how it would wrap up and I liked that the match didn't go into some over the top finishing run after that but stayed closer to a fight. Don't think this is as good as the Styles/Reigns Payback match but still feels like a 2015 MOTYC as I try to fill in the blanks for that year and Reigns was obviously the best Shield member and deserving of his spot at this point.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Terrific storytelling/psychology w/ Daniel Bryan being the better & smarter 'wrestler' of the two with his strategies throughout & Reigns answering with his brute strength & pure passion. Always been kind of an underappreciated classic, and I still stand by that. ****1/2

[Superstar Sleeze]

Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan - WWE Fastlane 2015

I forgot this was a Number One contenders match. I always hate these type of lopsided matches. Why should Roman put his Rumble win on the line against Bryan? Imagine if Bryan put his hair or beard on the line. The heat would have been so much higher. Of course you would have heeled Roman but also you kinda had to do this match after Rumble 2015 which I was at. I watched this live with my good buddy Nick and my gut back then was very good but not great and I thought the match was pretty overrated. Let’s see what I think ten years later. 
 

So when I watch these live I am usually with someone so I am not paying rapt attention. I freely admit I missed the story last time. I would put some of the onus on them as this is a very choppy, noisy match. I am inclined to like 1-3 major momentum shifts in a match with lengthy control segments. I think this match was specifically designed to avoid long control segments because of fear of heeling Roman. If there is so much action, you Cant achieve a steady state and the fans Cant grow restless and boo Roman. Now there are plenty of choppy matches I like there’s many different ways to skin a cat I am just pointing out the structure and why someone who is casually watching with his buddies might have missed the narrative. 
 

On this rewatch, I dug the narrative and the commentators really put it over. It was the technique and speed of Bryan against the power of Roman. Bryan does a side headlock Roman powers out and get his own. Bryan tries a surfboard. Power out. Bryan tries his finish sequence you know the one backflip off the turnbuckles and fly around. Nope Roman cuts it off. Bryan tries to knot up the knees and a leg lock. You guessed it power out. I’ll pause there. Great story but to borrow a phrase from Matt D I was missing the negative space work. Again I think they were so petrified of Roman getting booed, that he did no character work. He could have done dumb jock shit like Luger and Sting. Badass shit like Kobashi or Hashimoto. He just did nothing. I love a wrestler who changes strategies one of the major reasons Flair is my #2. Danielson never sold these strategies were not working. It was a very muted performance by both. 
 

The Liver Kick. I got pretty excited at this point. Something for us to sink our teeth into. We didn’t go with a traditional shine. We opted for an interesting narrative that was a bit dry but here we go. Roman sold this and the leg work pretty well. His selling was much better than character work on offense. Danielson picks up the pace with dropkicks in the corner. Then Roman Powerbombs him off the top as a counter to a Frakensteiner. Ugh. Heavy sigh. I try to stay in it. Calm myself down. Yes a little early for a hope spot of this magnitude but surely they will get back on the liver. Danielson counters a Roman top rope move. Suicide dives by Danielson. So much for the liver kick. 
 

Again it is a lot of noise down the stretch.  Not in a Late State All Japan or NOAH way. It is not a fireworks display. It’s a lot of counters. No one can really get momentum. The characters are NOT selling urgency or desperation. That’s what is missing!!! This is why we write these bad boys. I needed to work through that. That’s what is missing URGENCY AND DESPERATION!

They are NOT working fast from a tempo standpoint. This is a mid-tempo rocker. This is not like today where they wrestle like the motion smoothing is left on or we watching the stage blocking routine. It is not overtly cooperative. The spots are well-executed. They were working fast from a sense of not letting the crowd in. Not showing vulnerability. 
 

Roman sets up for the Spear. Danielson quashes that with a small package. Running Knee. 1-2-No! Good near fall they aren’t going overboard with bombs or near falls which I dig. Danielson does his Yes Kicks. ROMAN CATCHES THE FOOT GRABS BY THE THROAT AND DEATH STARES HIM!

Thats the moment. That’s what I am talking about. Roman didnt do that shit at all during the match. If he did that all match we are talking a totally different experience. But if you do that, you have to pause and let the crowd in and let them react. That’s scary what if they boo or do nothing. But you got to do it anyways even if it is scary or uncomfortable. We get the Yes Lock for one last Danielson near fall. Roman bludgeons Danielson which kind of undoes all the hard work of not trying to heel him. Danielson goes for the knee but eats a Spear!

They were in a tough spot,  babyface vs babyface and where the babyface they wanted to be the Ace was not over as a babyface. There’s countless examples of how to make this dynamic work such as Bret vs Diesel at Rumble 95. I think the easiest solution would have been Danielson to play the subtle heel. If he didn’t go that route, sell the desperation and exasperation of trying everything but this powerhouse keeps overwhelming you. For Roman let us in, brutha, give me some dumb jock shit or Terminator Destroyer shit. It is interesting narrative, but the character work leaves it is at very good but not great. *** 1/2