paul sosnowski Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Daniel Bryan defends the WWE Heavyweight title. Talk about it here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 I can't stress enough how much I love that the more the indy style takes over WWE's big matches, the more refreshing Bryan's take on his bouts gets. This time we get a long shine segment! when was the last time we saw that from a big title match?? Kofi was a little nervous so the execution was a little off at first, but it was a great way of making the bump to the commentary table feel like a game changer. Once that happens Bryan takes over and it's a fucking masterclass, this dude worked a fucking WAIST LOCK for minutes and made it work. In WWE. In 2019. Best in the cotdamn world stuff. Loved the the little things like Bryan punching Kofi in the ribs so he could lock the Lebell Lock properly. Kofi did his thing selling and showing great fire during his numerous comebacks, which were beatifully cut off by Bryan. Crowd was LIT for Kofi, they wanted a title change, they could feel it, and in the end, they got it. I had huge hopes for this match and it delivered in spades. What a match, what a moment. This is what Wrestlemania should always be about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Bryan is the best wrestler in the world. He paced the whole thing out and was just a ring general the whole way through. And they worked it like a traditional big time title match as opposed to an indy-style spotfest. There were times when this felt like a carry job, though Kofi did bring the fire when needed and the crowd were rightly into his big moment. I don't think he'll have a long reign but I'd like to see him hold it through a couple of PPVs at least. But I'm almost more excited to see who Bryan mixes it up with next because he's been incredible on this heel run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Watched this twice, once at a bar with a live crowd, and another time at home alone. The reaction to the match in the bar was raucous and wild as everyone was 100% behind Kofi. I thought coming home that the lack of atmosphere might diminish the match but it didn't. Bryan laid out a fucking masterpiece here. Starting with a strong shine, marred only by a blown double stomp spot. Quickly rectified with a brutal cut off with the dive into the announce table, allowing Bryan to go after the ribs with laser focus. His immediate running knees to the ribs, the kicks and diving knee off the ropes, the elbows while applying the Lebell Lock, all pristine offense on Bryan's part. This leads into one of the best finishing stretches in WrestleMania history. Bryan turning up the heel antics, making the climax of his assault the brutal head stomping he was known for on the indies. Then Kofi powering out of the LeBell Lock to just PUNCH BRYAN IN THE FACE. Kofi getting his revenge with head stomps of his own and following up with a Trouble In Paradise and you have the match of the year, a modern WrestleMania classic, one that I do believe will only get better with time. ***** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 I actually had to watch this two times back to back right away, because of how great it was. It's no secret that Daniel Bryan is my favorite wrestler & I truly think that he is the greatest to ever do it - I sure have seen A LOT of his matches, and I feel pretty confident in saying that this easily was one of his greatest performances, maybe even THE greatest. Man, I have loved the whole story they have been telling with Bryan's heel run & Kofi catching that lightning in bottle w/ his crowd reactions - I loved that "...and you should be (scared), because you know what comes next!" line from their contract signing, and the hype video played that line up perfectly. Another thing that stuck to me as the bell rang was the look on Bryan's face - he had a smug, cocky smile on his face, as the whole crowd chants for Kofi. It's the exact same situation that was going in the beginning of Bryan vs. HHH from WM30, but now with Bryan as the bad guy. Just a cool little touch I thought. The match starts & Kofi gets a very good shine to start it off - Bryan does some nice work on the mat & tries to punish him, but Kofi has all the momentum in the world so he is on fire. THEN he hits the announce table, ribs first as he tries to do a diving attack to Bryan on the outside. That's when Bryan's punishment segment starts, and it's just oh so wonderful; he is LASER FOCUSED on attacking that mid-section that Kofi just hurt w/ the dive - he goes to it with kicks, knees, holds, you name it. The whole Bryan control segment is just unbelievably amazing, and the little teases of a Kofi rally are awesome - loved the elbows he delivered w/ the crowd chanting YES with each one of them. Bryan cutting off those comeback attempts is of course awesome as well, and one of the highlights of the entire match was him countering Kofi's double stomp attempt into a Boston Crab. He put that hold in DEEP & Kofi sold his ass off in it. Continuing the fantastic mid-section psychology, I really loved that during the yay-boo striking exchange, Bryan won it by going after the stomach w/ a flurry of punches. A yet ANOTHER amazing mid-section psychology moment was him delivering some elbows to Kofi's ribs to keep the LeBell Lock locked in. So simple, but so terrific! Another thing that was outstanding about Bryan's performance was his facial expressions & playing of the crowd - that sarcastic YES chant as he was getting ready to hit the knee was amazing, and his facial expressions during the final LeBell Lock were astonishingly good; first he is cocky as shit, with a real bastard smile on his face, but then as Kofi refuses to die, it goes to desperation real quickly. It could've been really cheesy done by some other top wrestlers of top promotions (shout out to Gargano & Omega ), but Bryan is a master of facial selling, he knows exactly how much he should emote to sell the thing & he never goes too far with it to make it embarrassing - in my eyes anyways. Overall, what can I even say? This was a masterful display of professional wrestling by the greatest who has ever done it. I don't want to say it was a carryjob, as Kofi definitely brought the goods & his whole story + connection with the fans added a TON, but this really was Daniel Bryan's masterpiece through & through. Everything from his facial expressions, selling, perfect timing of the cutoffs, to his vicious attack on the mid-section -- EVERYTHING he did was just about perfect. One of the greatest single match performances ever anywhere by anyone. It's gonna be real hard to top it as the MOTY, but I don't want to say it's impossible, because you never know what the goddamn GOAT has planned in his back pocket. ***** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nivvad Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 This is the best WrestleMania match in like years. This was a brilliant back and forth with Bryan intricately countering Kofi at every turn which made for some great hot comebacks from Kofi. I'm glad this ended up also being the MOTN, ****1/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Best 'mania match since HHH vs Bryan. It plaid on Kofi's strengths and really let him shine like he should and needed to. They sucked me in, convinced me that I didn't know what would happen at the end, convinced me Bryan was going to win, and then gave me the satisfying finish we all wanted. It was absolutely masterful in the layout. The execution was great. I think it can be hard to get a ton of emotion out of a big space like that, but these two made it look easy. ****3/4 - This is my current MOTY, sitting pretty close to two other matches I quite fancy. My gut tells me when I rewatch this nothing will change and this will still be the top bout coming out of the big weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsfan1984 Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Bryan is entering greatest of all time territory he can get a great match out of anyone and that is not a shot at Kofi. I hope they end up having a trilogy with Bryan winning the title back eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenese Sarwieh Posted April 10, 2019 Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 What more can be said about this masterpiece that hasn't been said? Pro wrestling at it's finest and damn this was excellent. Kofi being the firey babyface that fans wanted to win and a transcendently great performance from Bryan puts this in my MOTYC list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted July 12, 2020 Report Share Posted July 12, 2020 I don't want to take away from Kofi's monumental victory, but this wouldn't of been half as good if Kofi was facing someone else. Bryan was a ring general here, intentionally slowing the pace down so that Kofi can't use his speed and athleticism to get the better of him. Bryan some how made a goddamn waist lock captivating in the year of 2019! Bryan might be universally loved by all fans, but I don't think a single person wanted Kofi to lose. This was Kofi's best singles performance. He was so over during this period and he uses all his big moves at just the right time. A gripping technical title fight with a feel good ending. Seeing Xavier Woods tear up over his best friend winning the title on the biggest show of the year choked me right up. ★★★★½ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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