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Hawke’s Top Ten WWE House Show Matches of 2016

December 31, 2016 | Posted by TJ Hawke
Samoa Joe NXT 81016 Image Credit: WWE

10. Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton – 9/24/2016

brock

This was a Suplex City Deathmatch (lol).

This was a predictable Brock house show match, but that formula is quite fun. The changeup here was that Randy used weapons against Brock for a bit before Brock overwhelmed him with Germans and eventually an F5 to put him away. Solid stuff and a step up from their Summerslam 2016 encounter. (***)

 

9. Brock Lesnar vs. Sheamus – 1/8/2016

Brock2

Other than the shorter length than usual, this was actually one of the most WWE-style matches that I have seen Brock work since his WWE comeback in 2012. Brock got some shine. Sheamus cut him off and then worked him over. Brock fought back. They traded finishers~! (Brock actually got busted open after three straight Brogue Kicks). Brock then overcame that and won cleanly with the F5. While this was clearly not the most interesting structure for a Brock match, it was solid in its own right and fun to watch. (***)

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8. Triple H & Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose – 4/23/2016

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This was a pretty straightforward house match. Owens and HHH worked over Sami for what felt like a millennium. Apparently, it only went on for about 10 minutes somehow though.

It was effective though for the crowd, as they got very invested in the match and were red hot for the babyface team comeback in the final minutes.

Overall, this ended up being a solid match. The matchup itself was obviously pretty novel which only helped it. HHH ate the pinfall after a Dirty Deeds from Ambrose. (***)

 

7. Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Sami Zayn – 3/11/2016

owens

This was for Kevin’s Intercontinental Championship.

Despite some clear cliche and trite triple threat moments, this was a pretty solid house match. It also has the novel factor with it being Sami vs. Kevin in a main event of a WWE Montreal show. They all worked pretty hard given that it was a house show, too. Mild recommendation to seek this one out! Owens won after he swantoned both men following a Dirty Deeds on Sami. (***)

 

6. Brock Lesnar vs. Luke Harper & Bray Wyatt – 3/11/2016

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This was a typical Brock showcase but with the added benefit of Luke Harper doing Luke Harper things in the match while Bray Wyatt did nothing on the floor. That is like a metaphor for how every Bray program should have gone. (***)

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5. Christopher Girard vs. Manny Andrade – 4/1/2016

biff (1)

This match goes to show how you can use a three minutes to your advantage instead of just settling for something less because of the lack of time. Biff and La Sombra* (yea, I said it!) went out there and delivered a hard-hitting, fast-paced match where it was totally believable that one of them lost in three minutes. After an awesome hip toss into the turnbuckle, La Sombra followed it up with a Meteora into the corner to finish Biff away. I will take quality over quantity every time. (***)

*Previous names used for clarification as to who they are and not to be a snark smart who has worked himself into a shoot.

 

4. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor – 6/4/2016

joefinn

This was for Joe’s NXT Championship.

These guys are clearly officially at the point where they can work a fun Smackdown match in their sleep. I actually mean that as a compliment, as this was genuinely more enjoyable the majority of the television work I’ve seen these two do in the past year. They displayed strong physical chemistry, got the crowd to care, and worked just hard enough so that they didn’t have to do anything stupid to keep things. There was nothing terribly interesting about it, but it worked. Joe won with a fruit roll-up and a handful of tights. (***)

 

3. Luke Harper vs. Sami Zayn – 10/7/2016

sami

As you could imagine, this was quite good. It was very much a WWE style match but with the additional element of Harper playing to the crowd more because it was a house show.

Harper got control relatively early and used his size/strength advantage to stay on top for a bit. The match threatened to drag during this portion, but they turned it on for Sami’s comeback. They timed Sami’s comeback spots very well, and the match got very dramatic and exciting as a result.

Harper seemed to get back in control, but his overconfidence was his undoing. Sami caught him playing to the crowd and killed him with the Helluva Kick to pick up the win. These two had the expected strong physical chemistry and dynamic to produce a fun match. (***1/2)

 

2. Viktor vs. Sin Cara – 7/31/2016

sincaraviktor

This was *shockingly* good. Have they done the loop together a million times? Have they had a Best of 1001 series on Superstars? What’s the deal?

The structure of the match was basic. Sin Cara got some shine. Viktor cut him off and then got the heat. Sin Cara made a comeback and eventually won. The key though was the timing was perfect at every key moment, and the execution of Sin Cara’s arsenal down the stretch was downright snazzy. Their physical chemistry was insane.

This was a simple match yet fun all the way through. Check it out. (***1/2)

 

1. Christopher Girard vs. Tommaso Ciampa – 4/21/2016

biffciampa

Sometimes the right matchup happens in front of the right crowd. Biff and Ciampa both have roots in the Boston area, and the Lowell, MA fans treated them like conquering heroes. You would think that these two would be two of the biggest stars in NXT based on how they were received here. Combine that with a hard-hitting, fast-paced match that goes 8-9 minutes, and you’re left a super satisfying match that is easy to watch all the way through. Hopefully this match gets released on some future Unreleased NXT Compilation one day or whatever. It was very fucking fun. Biff won with a sliding uppercut. (***1/2)

bifff

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WWE, TJ Hawke