[2018-11-18-WWE-Survivor Series] Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar

[SmartMark15]

Daniel Bryan is the man and a motivated Brock Lesnar is one of the best in the world. Loved the atmosphere these two were able to create especially with Bryan actively taunting Brock to start, something we haven't really seen anyone do to Brock since his return. Then we went into the Suplex City horror show before kicking one of the greatest comebacks in wrestling all year. The low blow created a believably vulnerable Brock and Bryan's added aggression in his kicks made it even more believable that he just might sneak the win out. Bryan crossfacing Brock in the Yes Lock is one of my favorite spots all year. Yes, it more or less follows the same formula as the AJ match last year...but that match was awesome too. Easily my main roster WWE MOTY.

****3/4

[cactus]

A rare heel vs heel pairing that actually worked. Bryan teasing Lesnar was brilliant and Brock had me creasing when he planted Bryan after the first German. The prolonged beating of Bryan added fuel to the fire and seeing him finally get his comeback after knocking the referee down made for a cool moment. This is a rare match that made me feel like a kid, with every interaction feeling like it could result with the match ending. Lesnar's selling of the leg was sublime, him crumbling to the ground after attempting a F5 was a nice bit of wrestling psychology.  This was something special. Even with no build this blows everything on this show out of the water.

★★★★¼

[KawadaSmile]

Lesnar, when he's not facing Braun, is an excellen, excellent worker. This awesome match here encapsulates why he's amazing, and why he's actually one of the most selfish guys around. Willing to show ass to guys he's clearly above in terms of political power, and getting every chance to make a real threat like Braun look like shit.

 

At this point, we might just throw off the window the narrative that WWE isn't down with DB. Dude gets to showcase many different styles, many stories, and it always pays off. He might be one of the least formulaic wrestlers in the roster and that's just so good. He refused to go to Saudi Arabia and gets the WWE belt while heel-turning (and getting booed). And then he manages to have this great match against Lesnar while making him look vulnerable as we haven't seen in a while.

The visual of Lesnar getting progressively purple while in the crossface, as well as Bryan clubbing the shit out of him to lock him up again, is some top tier material. Plus, actual boot prints in Lesnar's face.

[Makai Club #1]

This fucking ruled. Everything from the entrance, Bryan's smug smile, his tremendous body language, his walk (if you can call it that), to the end. So much atmosphere, this was felt like a big match. THE GOAT vs The BEAST~! Now, this could've easily flopped badly but this delivered and then some. Bryan starting off all cockily, baiting Brock, teasing him before Brock clobbered him and unleashed a mauling. Bryan sold everything to perfection. The way he went all deadweight, his bumping, his facial expressions. All fab. Brock was great too, hitting those nasty german suplexes, playing upto the crowd, reviling in the boos and milking it for what it was worth. And when it looked to be a squash, Bryan made one of the greatest comebacks I've seen in a while, zeroing on the leg of Lesnar, still selling btw. Lesnar's bumping and selling were fantastic, he made Bryan look like an absolute killer. Phenomenal match by two of the greatest wrestlers for the past 20 years, maybe longer than that. One of the best match WWE has had in a while, certainly THE WWE MOTY for me. I can talk about this match all day. WHAT A MATCH. *****

[Cap]

This was absolutely top notch stuff. Brock sold his ass off for Dragon in a way that we haven't seen for some time.  The layout was great. The dynamic between the two was meaningful and added so much to the match itself.  This is just about on par with Styles/Brock from last year, even though it feels like Dragon/Brock left a little in the tank. Absolute top tier wrestling. ****1/2 (maybe 3/4 if I watch again).

[Boss Rock]

Well this was a hoot. Bryan can be just as good of a shit heel as he is a resilient babyface and this match was no exception. Loved how quickly they went from Bryan having fun and trying to poke the bear only for things to immediately turn serious after Brock nearly murders him with a German suplex. Brock having a great match is almost becoming a Survivor Series tradition. He looked like an absolute killer tossing Bryan around even if the whole heat segment went about 3 minutes longer than it needed to. But thankfully Bryan's comeback was hot fire and even though I knew there was no chance he had Brock beat with the first knee, he damn near made me bite. While Brock is no stranger to just sandbagging guys' momentum he made Bryan's offense look like a million bucks and did a great job selling the leg. As great as this was, it still frustrates me that Brock is literally only trying once every 5 matches a year. 

****1/4.

[Jmare007]

As good as a Brock formula match as you are gonna get in 2018. I still think the early portion of Lesnar in control is too damn long and dominant, to the point that no comeback is really believable unless you are willing to concede the fact that Lesnar's matches have "different rules" or something. Which is fine, but it kinda sucks too, if you take away 6 minutes of Brock suplexes and stalling and make this a 12 minute sprint of sorts, I think this would've been a classic. Psycho Bryan is gonna be amazing, he's already kicking heads in and had Staples going batshit crazy for the Yes Lock spot. Brock shows up too and bumped like a mad man to make DB look legit, it reminded me of Big Show and Henry in 2012 doing everything in their power to make every second of Bryan on offense look like he was an assassin.

[Stiva]

Is this the greatest near fall ever? Bryan (and it had to be all Bryan) subverts the contemporary expectations of Lesnar matches ending quickly and uses it to instantly take a crowd from 0-50. Lesnar's matches against Goldberg had shown that he could be caught quickly if he dropped his guard and Bryan hitting the low blow not only threatened that again but also played into his burgeoning heel turn. What follows is Daniel Bryan: Destroyer as he finally gets to unleash some ROH Wrestling Machine on the WWE, topped off with the most brutal stomps to the face he's ever laid in. He was driving his feet into Lesnar's face like he was in there with Necro Butcher and Lesnar correctly sells the eventual victory like he's just escaped with his life. Lesnar ran this kind of formula with Styles, Bryan and Balor and he's probably not got anyone else on the roster to run it with but it was amazingly fun while it lasted and Bryan worked around it, finding the near falls and offense to elevate it well above the other two. The only Lesnar match I'm really interested in from now on is an eventual match with Matt Riddle but I don't trust them to do anything worthwhile with that, if it even happens at all. For now, we'll have this incredible look into what a fully-fledged Lesnar/Bryan feud could have been in 2014.