WrestleMania XL Review
I haven’t been this excited about a WrestleMania since 2004. Vince is gone, and they have an SA policy. Kevin Dunne is gone, too. The production is great, and the storylines heading into this one have been amazing. LFG!
WrestleMania XL: Saturday
April 6, 2024
Philadelphia, PA
Lincoln Financial Field
The new button was pretty cool.
After a nice intro video, Michael Cole gives us a weather update and wonders how the cold will affect the wrestlers. That’s a nice touch.
Hey, it’s the proper USA anthem, not the song Vince always wanted. Truly, this is a new era!
Speaking of a new era, Trips is here to tell us it’s a new era.
I will note here the production of WWE has gotten so fucking good. It’s great throughout, and it’s shocking how good it is since it was so shit even 6 months ago.
1. Rhea Ripley (c) vs Becky Lynch
“WWE Women’s World Championship”
Becky gets a cool entrance with her reading from her book, while Rhea gets a band to play her theme song!
Becky has had strep throat all week, so she’s the clear underdog. So much already feels different.
Becky tries to work the arm, but Rhea is just too damn strong, and she takes complete control for most of the early part of the match. When she goes to the top, Becky armbars her down to continue her strategy. Every time Becky gets the advantage with the arm, the power of Rhea is too much. That continues when Becky moves, and Rhea hits the post with the arm. Becky looks to win with the flying leg drop, but that gets countered into Rhea’s “Prison Trap,” but Becky rolls her up for a nice near fall. Both hit their finishers for more awesome nearfalls! A superplex by Becky turns into the Dis-Arm-Her after working the arm all match, but Rhea is too strong; she stands up, taking Becky to the outside with a move, and turns into an electric chair on the floor. Rhea hit a frog splash for a massive two! Becky tries the Manhandle Slam, but Rhea counters with a Riptide into the buckle and then a Riptide for the win! Great opener!
Rating: 8.75/10
Pretty Deadly takes the time to insult every team in the upcoming ladder match.
2. The Judgement Day (Finn Bálor & Damian Priest) (c) vs #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs The Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) vs The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Wood) vs Austin Theory & Grayson Waller vs New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate)
“Six-Pack Ladder Match for the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship”
The gimmick here is both sets of titles are hanging, and they are really pushing that the Championships will be split up here.
I have to admit I laughed at R-Truth getting the hot tag and then going through Cena’s move set and getting a “pin” in the ladder match. #DIY doing DX moves less fun, but R-Truth tells them to go for one belt while he goes for the other. However, Waller graps the SmackDown Tag Team Titles to win those. For his trouble, he gets power bombed through a ladder to the floor.
The Raw Tag Team Titles are still in play, so we continue. We get all the usual ladder match stuff you would expect until it looks like R-Truth has won. JD McDonagh runs out and makes the save for Judgement Day. When it looks like they will retain, New Day makes the save, by the way, dressed as Apolo Creed and Rocky from the first Rocky film. We get more teases, and eventually, R-Truth pulls down the belts for his first win at WrestleMania.
Rating: Some Fun Stuff and Ladders
Michael Cole brings up the weather again, I think he is really cold tonight.
3. Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs Santos Escobar & “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio
Andrade off the top rope with Rey on his shoulders to the floor was a wild dive! We settle down, and Mysterio works face in peril. Andrade gets a hot tag, and he looks so great throughout this match, but he doesn’t get the win. Rey hits 6-1-9 and Andrade hits a moonsault from the top to the floor, but Escobar’s group cheats to go back into control. All of the seconds start doing dives and brawling, leaving Escobar and Rey alone. Two large dudes in Mysterio masks attack, and Rey and Andrade win. LWO hugs the large dudes, and it’s Jason Kelcie and another football from the Eagles.
Rating: Good Match
4. Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso
The video hype package for this match is really great!
Lil’ Wayne raps Jey to the ring.
Because they are twins and longtime tag partners, it makes sense that this match was mostly mirroring and very even, but that doesn’t make it the most exciting match. Jey finally gets control, Jimmy begs for forgiveness, and everybody in the crowd knows he’s insecure. Sadly, Jey does not, and Jimmy takes advantage. However, a comeback by Jey and a big splash give him the win.
Rating: I’m Sure It Was Fine
5. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, & Kairi Sane) vs Bianca Belair, Naomi, & Jade Cargill
For a six-person tag on the undercard, this match had a great build, and the video package highlighted that well. The entrances from both teams were amazing, and everyone looked amazing!
The glee Damage CTRL has while they work over Naomi was joyous to watch. After Bianca gets tagged in, she really unleashes some of the best offense. She goes to tag Jade in for the first time but gets cut off, which gives Damage CTRL the chance to work over Bianca now. A Ricky Morton rolling tag brings in Cargill, who KILLS Damage CTRL. We have some fun back and forth until Cargill pins Kai with her finisher.
Rating: 7/10
Sami Zayn is with his wife and kid, and his kid thinks he can do it, but he doesn’t want his kid to see it. He has doubts after losing to Roman Reigns in Montreal last year. Later, on his way to the ring, Chad Gable appears and says he’s not going out with him, and he believes in him. He does the Rocky 2, you owe me a favour gimmick. Further on his way to the ring, Kevin Owens appears, hugs him, and says he can do it! Damn, he better do it now!
6. Gunther (c) vs Sami Zayn
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
This is an all-time classic. Sami fights really hard, but Gunther is the most dominant Intercontinental Champion ever. Sami gets in some nice hope spots, but every time, Gunther comes back on top. That is until Gunther hits two huge power bombs that don’t put Sami away. Some doubt comes on Gunther’s face. He is able to keep Sami down, and his confidence soars again, so he starts to taunt Sami’s wife at ringside. He hits a few top rope splashes without going for the pin. Sami tries to fire himself up as Gunther goes to the top again, and he does by hitting a Helluva Kick out of nowhere. He then climbs up and hits the Brainbustaaahhhhh! Yes, El Generico’s brainbuster onto the top turnbuckle. Two more Helluva Kicks and Sami ends Gunther’s 666-day reign as Champion in a beautiful moment!
Rating: 9.25/10
The two GMs, Nick Aldiss and Adam Pearce, are here to thank the viewers. They announced the attendance of 72,543 and told the fans to keep the noise for the main event.
7. “Main Event”
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns & The Rock) vs Cody Rhodes & Seth “Freakin'” Rollins
“If The Bloodline wins, then the Universal Championship Match on Sunday will be fought under ‘Bloodline Rules'”
A nice long recap video in case you missed anything in this great build. Watching that build and then seeing Cody Rhodes giving his weight belt to his father-in-law and hugging his mom is foreshadowing. The Rock came out with the People’s Championship given to him at the Hall of Fame show.
The Rock actually looks great, like a wrestler not a statue. Way better than his previous run.
The match is fascinating, though. There were about 10 minutes of boring before a fun all-over-arena Attitude brawl. The Rock, being on the TKO board, tells the referee to let it go. After, it turns into a southern tag with Rollins isolated as they work the knee. Roman bleeds, and Cody gets a hot tag, but the match continues. The Rock gives Cody’s mom the weightlift belt from the angle on Raw. There is brawling at ringside this time, and Cody Rock Bottoms Rock through a table while Roman spears Rollins through the barricade. At one point, Roman hit the spear on The Rock after Seth saved Cody. After all the madness, Cody has the win, but Rock uses the weightlifting belt to stop his pin on Roman. From there, The Rock pins him with the People’s elbow.
45 minutes?
With editing, this could have been a classic, but there was too much that was not classic.
Rating: 7/10
That means Sunday’s match between Cody and Roman will be “Bloodline Rules.” I like the carryover booking here. Which leads us to Sunday.
WrestleMania XL: Sunday
April 7, 2024
Philadelphia, PA
Lincoln Financial Field
This is a very sports intro. Michael Cole talks about matches and shows wrestlers entering the building earlier today. He also brings up the weather again. It’s less cold today!
The opening video was amazing! You have to be hyped from it!
A different American anthem plays; why do Americans have so many damn anthems?
Speaking of sucking, here comes Stephanie McMahon. I so wanted to be done with McMahon BS. She’s excited about the Paul Levesque era and just says how great he is and does the DX intro.
1. Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs Drew McIntyre
“WWE World Heavyweight Championship”
Drew McIntyre has a whole bagpipe band playing Roddy Piper’s theme before they play his song. Punk is on commentary and is already pissed! Michael Cole gives another weather update, haha. Seth Rollins has a whole band of wild, colourful costumes to play him out. This rules! He’s dressed in a very fabulous outfit. The whole band marches him to the ring!
Drew hits the Claymore right away for a nearfall immediately, and then he goes to work on the knee as Seth tries to go outside to recoup. This is perfect playing off last night. Seth is broken but gets in a curb stomp, but his hurt leg from last night means he doesn’t hit all of it, and it’s an easy kick out for Drew. The whole story is that Seth is broken, and Drew is easily in control, but Seth keeps fighting, hurting his knee, and having to gut through it. Drew wastes time and stares at Punk and goes for the GTS, but it gets countered into a rollup for a good nearfall. Another Claymore gets two as well. He gets very frustrated and tries to power bomb Seth through the announce table, but that’s countered. Seth stomps Drew on the table but hurts his knee again. Back inside, a Claymore came out of nowhere for another kickout. Drew is fucking losing it. One more Claymore, and that’s it. I don’t normally like Seth, but this match was good, and the story was easy to enjoy throughout.
Rating: 7/10
Drew won his first World Title in front of a crowd. After a moment with his wife, Drew stares down Punk again. He gets in his face and waves the title, mocking him, and then Punk attacks. He takes his brace off and then hits Drew with it.
That’s when Damian Priest arrives with the Money in the Bank briefcase, and he cashes in.
2. Drew McIntyre (c) vs Damian Priest
“WWE World Heavyweight Championship”
He hits his finish and wins the title immediately. Drew really brought that on himself. Great moment there!
Rating: WTF!
3. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs The Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, & Rezar)
“Philadelphia Street Fight”
Snoop Dogg is the guest commentator for this one. That rules. On the other hand, Bubba Ray Dudley is the guest referee. That sucks.
The weapon shots are vicious and stiff. Kross argues with Bubba, and then Lashley and The Profits go through Dudley spots. The table spots were nice, and they ended the match there pretty easily.
The real highlight was B-Fab and Scarlet getting involved and brawling with weapons. Later, B-Fab did a Russian legsweep through a table off the apron onto Scarlet! The other big highlight was Snoop Dogg having a great time.
Rating: It was a WWE Dudley-inspired street fight.
Logan Paul does pushups, and then a video package about last night’s main event plays.
Kayla Braxton asks Paul Heyman what “Bloodline Rules” means. No DQ. No Countdown. One fall. Whatever The Bloodline wants, really. He name-dropped Brandi Rhodes!
4. LA Knight vs AJ Styles
The video package reminds me of how over the former TNA dude is now. Since I don’t watch regularly, it surprises me every time.
We don’t wait; punches right away from both. From there, it’s pretty back-and-forth until Styles works the leg. Knight almost makes a comeback, but his attempt to slam AJ onto the bare floor fails as AJ counters, leading to a near countout. AJ’s springboard 450 is stopped by Knight’s knees. We get more punching, and then they counter each other’s finishers until Knight hits BFT for the win. The crowd loves it.
Rating: Solid
A video package plays going over the Hall of Fame ceremony, and they each get their moment in front of the crowd. Bull had her nunchucks, so it’s great.
We get many commercials, highlights of their charity events, and a nice little tribute to Bray Wyatt.
5. Logan Paul (c) vs Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens
“WWE United States Championship”
A video package for this match makes sense, but we have spent so much time doing video packages since the last match it’s wearing thin.
Logan Paul comes in on a truck promoting his drink and has a drink mascot with him. Sami appears as Kevin makes his way to the ring to return the favour from last night, saying it’s his turn now. After looking at the truck, he gets a golf cart to come out on. Randy Orton comes out without a vehicle, so Owens offers him a ride to the ring, and he gets on the back. It’s a fun moment.
Orton and Owens just take turns beating up Paul, to begin with. After taking him out, they realize only one of them can win, and they both try to double-cross each other. They decide it’s time to fight each other, which gives Paul an opening. We get a more typical triple-threat match, with each man hitting big moves. Paul is a really hateable heel, which adds a good dynamic. Brass Knuckles by him and get two only on Orton. Owens is taken out by the knucks, too. He goes for a final brass knuckles shot, and Orton hits an RKO instead. Orton then gets the knucks, hands them to the referee, and goes for his classic punk kick, but the Prime bottle saves him. The Prime Bottle is Paul’s buddy and so Orton kills him with an RKO on the table. Of course, that gives Owens and Paul time to recover. Owens Pop Up Power Bomb is turned into an RKO, and then Paul hits a frog splash on Owens for the win after disposing of Orton.
Rating: Almost Spreadsheetable
6. IYO SKY (c) vs Bayley
“WWE Women’s Championship”
This is another great video package. Bayley does an Egyptian goddess entrance being carried by cat men. She is living the dream, basically. She looks amazing. Shirai looks great, too, so let’s go!
This is very intense to start. On a tope by Bayley, she tweaks her leg, and then Shirai goes to work. You almost forget, since she was such an amazing heel, that Bayley is an all-time babyface! The selling of the leg by Bayley, whether on offense or being beaten on, was great! Shirai has such great offense. Moonsault by Io to a fully extended leg of Bayley, but that hurt Bayley, too. Amazing spot! Bayley does a tentative attempt at a flying elbow, but Shirai counters into a submission! She’s frantic and turns it into the STF in the middle, but Bayley pushes her off. Bayley-to-Belly gets a big nearfall. The selling of Bayley is so great! Shirai decks her and laughs, but Bayley decks her, which fires Bayley way up! Moonsault for a HUGE nearfall. Standing moonsault. Second rope Moonsault. But Bayley moves out of the proper one and goes for Rose Plant, but Io flips out of it. Bayley hits the elbow drop and the Rose Plant for the win. This fucking ruled!
Rating: 9.25/10
Snoop Dogg is out with the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders and mascot to announce 72,755 attendance.
One final weather update before the main event! Then, a long video package recaps everything.
7. Roman Reigns (c) vs Cody Rhodes
“WWE Undisputed Universal Championship Bloodline Rules”
Wish me luck with this recap.
Cody gets a Triple H entrance for the main event and Brandi Rhodes is there to take his mask for him and wish him luck. Good stuff! His family is at ringside. On the other hand, Roman has a whole orchestra to sing and play his song for him.
Cody takes out a table, but Roman puts it back. After some okay weapon shots and brawling, there is a brawl in the stands, and they get on one of the longest tables ever. Roman tries to suplex him off of it, but Cody reverses, and they head back toward the ring, where Roman takes complete control after a GIANT powerbomb. He has a long control segment until double lariats take both out. Cody makes a big comeback and hits the Disaster Kick, but that’s not enough. Roman counters the Cody Cutter with Cross Rhodes, but that gets two. He misses the Superman’s punch, and Cody punches and bionic elbows him away to a comeback. He sets up the table, but a low blow by Roman stops everything. Roman power bombs Cody through the table, and Superman punch gets a big nearfall. Cody counters the spear and hits a Cody Cutter for two. Roman tries Rock Bottom, counter, then Cody hits the spear. We are spamming each other’s finishers. Cross Rhodes hits, and a second attempt has Jimmy Uso break it up. Superman punch brings out Jey Uso, and he brawls with his twin. Jey spears him off the stage through a table. Roll up by Cody for two, spear by Roman for a massive kickout! They both tumble to the outside, and Cody spears Roman through the barricade. Back inside, Cody hits two Cross Rhodes, but Solo breaks up the third attempt. A two count after the Samoan spike. Solo tries to kill Cody and then holds him up as Roman spears him, and Solo spikes him at the same time. That’s another two. That brings out John Cena for the save. Attitude Adjustment by Cena as he puts Solo through a table. That brings out The Rock. It’s Cena vs The Rock now; everyone else is dead. Huge staredown and Cena gets to Rock Bottom. Rock brings out the Mama Rhodes belt, but the Shield music plays and Roman takes out Seth dressed in Shield gear before he does anything. Rock then destroys everyone with the weight lift belt, but the Undertaker’s music plays, and the music goes off. He’s behind The Rock and they have a staredown now. Choke Slam by Undertaker. Gong. Lights off. Undertaker is gone. Roman is up, and Cody is trying to get up. he grabs a chair and goes to kill Cody, but Seth is getting up, too. He nails Seth from behind, just like Seth did to him when The Shield broke up. He goes for a spear, but it’s countered. Cody hits Cross Rhodes and rolls that into three. He wins.
Rating: How do you rate that? 8/10 I guess?
Big props to Samantha Irvin, who is the best ring announcer ever, it seems. Her announcement of Cody winning was great. He gets the belt and cries, and out comes Brandi. After his moment, more come out and put him on their shoulders to celebrate. More and more folks, including his mom, enter.
A fitting end to WrestleMania XL.
“Damn it, I love professional wrestling!” Michael Cole
Cody gives us a little speech. Cody brings out Bruce Pritchard and Trips because it’s a new era.
Cody hugs everyone, even Michael Cole, who is crying. Cena ducking to stay off camera is funny, but the last image shows Cody alone in the ring with the belt, shaking Seth’s hand. Trips whispers something in his ear, and then the fireworks come. Cole is emotional, and Cody shakes everyone’s hand and hugs the cameramen and anyone he can find.
Finally a good WrestleMania and WWE may be good again.
Discord
How Can You Help?
AJ Styles vs CM Punk (IWA-MS 8th Anniversary Show, 10/23/2004)
It’s time for the “Fan Favourites” match this week, where I review a match via request from the fans.
Chad Campbell of Place to be Nation sent in this request via twitter (you can follow me) and it is for CM Punk vs AJ Styles from IWA-MS. Chad has recently started a series looking back at IWA-MS called “The Last Territory” that I suggest everybody check out. He will not get to this match for a long time, but we will compare notes then.
There is a few more factors that make this a great choice. One is the Greatest Wrestler Ever Project taking place at Pro Wrestling Only, as these are two guys who look to be making my top 100 list. The other factor is that AJ Styles just made his WWE debut on Sunday at the Royal Rumble, so it’s nice to check up on a younger version of him right now.
Let’s get this out of the way first, this match is really great. It’s a great mix of old school and new school to create a modern classic.
The Old School
This match starts with a collar and elbow lock up and moves into matwork. The first 1/3 of the match is spent with Punk attacking AJ’s arm with submissions. AJ gets some counters and it’s a well laid out slow build to set up the rest of the match. There is a lot of neat old school things while working the arm, like AJ whipping Punk into the corner while Punk holds on and viciously drags AJ to the mat.
Later on CM Punk misses a move and his neck is hurt. This means that each wrestler has a focus for their offence and an easy way to get counters. Through out the match both men go back to the other’s injury to survive the contest.
By the way, AJ Styles has an amazing dropkick. It’s Jim Brunzell level.
The New School
How does Punk injure his neck? A missed tope.
Of course a lot of the offense is not old school. Instead of lariats by AJ, we get discuss lariats. There is a plancha, a tope, plus all of CM Punk and AJ Style’s trademark offense.
There is no true heel or face in this match either and the crowd is split.
A Modern Classic
The first comeback by AJ is such a great sequence after numerous awesome hope spots. It starts with AJ being able to toss Punk to the floor. He goes for a plancha, but Punk moves. Punk goes for a tope, where he moves which injures his neck.
One of my favourite moments of the match is AJ going for his Asai Moonsault into a Reverse DDT that is countered by Punk grabbing the injured arm. Punk then tries a suplex, but he can’t do it with his injured neck.
We move on for some great nearfalls, before AJ is able to hit that Asai Moonsault into a Reverse DDT, but it was on the floor. That looked amazing. It lead to a very dramatic 19 count where Punk got into the ring at the last second.
The finishing sequence is really hot. AJ goes for the Styles Clash, but Punk gets into the corner. Since that didn’t work, AJ goes for a superplex. Punk tries to counter with a Pepsi Plunge, but the injured neck allows AJ to fight out. A Tornado DDT is thrown off and AJ hits two discus lariats for a huge nearfall. A Shining Wizard by Punk gets two, then Punk’s Anaconda Vice gets a dramatic tap out submission. AJ’s arm was too injured to survive.
Rating: **** 1/2
Thanks to Chad for this “Fan Favourite” request, because it was a real pleasure to watch. It also shows that you can have old school classics with new school twists.
Remember to check out next Thursday for another “Fan Favourite”. If you want a match of your choosing reviewed here, either comment below, post on Pro Wrestling Only or hit me up on twitter.
2015 Matches of the Year
For the second year in a row Voices of Wrestling has asked me to contribute to their annual Match of the Year article. Picking ten matches is very difficult, so here are a few that just missed the cut.
Honourable Mentions:
Bullet Club vs ROH All-Stars (ROH Global Wars, 5/15)
Timothy Thatcher vs Zack Sabre Jr. (EVOLVE 47, 8/15)
Low Ki vs Rey Mysterio Jr. (JAPW 19th Anniversary Show, 11/14)
Now onto the list, as submitted to Voices of Wrestling.
10) Jimmy Rave vs Anthony Henry
(Scenic City Invitational, 8/7)
The Scenic City Invitational was a real eye opener on southern indie wrestling for myself. Two amazing nights of a tournament filled with great matches and booking. Add amazing commentary and it being available on Vimeo for a very affordable price, I recommend everybody picks it up.
The highlight of the tournament was the main event of night one. You have the veteran of Jimmy Rave versus the youngster in Anthony Henry which is a favourite troupe of mine. These two delivered big time, even if Jimmy Rave was legit knocked out in the match. This was my first time seeing Henry and he impressed with this 1990’s Sean Waltman vibe. He really is a wrestler to watch going forward.
9) Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi
(CMLL, 8/30)
2015 was filled with a lot of great high speed high spot matches and this was the best of the bunch for me. Kamaitachi brought this huge array of vicious dropkicks, including one where he ran the entire ramp to gain speed. There was some great pay off spots from earlier in the contest as well as great drama. However, what really made this stand out was the hate between the two. They had other great matches as well, but this one stood out to me.
8) Pentagon Jr. vs Vampiro
(“Zero Fear”, Lucha Underground Ultima Lucha, 4/20)
Vampiro has never been very good and the thought of him stepping into a ring after years of retirement scared me. However what we got was the most insane and vicious match of the year. Pentagon Jr. was on a mission in this one to prove to his master that he was evil enough and to accomplish that he used light tubes, thumb tacks, tables and fire. I know this match was cut in half to air on television, but what we got was some of the most griping wrestling of the year. The post match angle doesn’t even bother me.
7) AJ Styles vs Jimmy Rave
(PSW, 5/8)
Two legends in the Southern indie area colliding for the first time in years. This was just a great mix of traditional wrestling with new school flare. About thirty minutes of two of the best wrestlers in 2015 putting on a clinic. Check it out on vimeo.
6) Atlantis vs Sombra
(“Mask vs Mask”, CMLL, 9/18)
The Atlantis mask match at the CMLL Anniversary Show has become the match I most anticipate each year. Although this is not on the level of the Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero match from the year before, it’s still filled with great drama. Atlantis’ mask has become the new Undertaker’s streak in wrestling.
5) Sasha Banks vs Bayley
(“Iron Man”, NXT Take Over: Respect, 10/7)
Finally after being the highlight of each NXT special, Sasha Banks got to main event and boy did she deliver. Amazing heel work by her with great story telling using the “Iron Man” rules to her advantage. The heel work on Bayley’s super fan was one of the top moments of the year.
4) Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
(WWE WrestleMania XXXI, 3/29)
One of the greatest main events in WrestleMania history. This was a brutal slug fest that was stiff as fuck. Brock took Roman and beat him senseless to such a degree that it got the crowd onto Roman’s side. The comeback was tremendous and Brock blades. If they had a real finish and not a Seth Rollins run in, this might had been the match of the year.
3) Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch
(NXT Take Over: Unstoppable, 5/20)
The match that took women’s wrestling in NXT from a really solid and good part of the undercard to the real highlight of the company for me. The two former partners pulled out a classic with some amazing story telling. Sasha Banks went right for Becky’s arm and destroyed it (which is what Becky usually does). Becky was a great babyface trying to fight through, but The Boss was too much and retained the title here.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi
(NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9, 1/4)
Nakamura and Ibushi went to war in this match with stomps, elbows, knees. A lot of these viciously to the back of the head. After this war we are treated to an amazing finishing stretch with Ibushi throwing out every trick he had to put down Nakamura, but you can’t put down Nakamura! A match so good it made my top 100 matches list.
1) Sasha Banks vs Bayley
(NXT Take Over: Brooklyn, 8/22)
If you listened to the Pro-Wrestling Super Show’s Top 100 Matches podcast you would know I had this match in the upper half of my list, so there is no surprise it is the top match of the year for me for 2015.
This match is just special and very few matches have that feel to it. The crowd was amazing from the entrances to the finish. The story they tell is perfect. I loved all the hand work by Sasha and Bayley’s selling of it. They way that comes back towards the end was tremendous as well. This also had some insane moves as well, including the Super Reverse Hurrancanara. This match was really an instant classic and clearly the best match of 2015.
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