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Kevin’s Top 500 Matches Of The 2010s (#20-11)
Image Credit: WWE
20. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – WWE WrestleMania XXVI
Streak vs. Career. Shawn showed zero intimidation during Undertaker’s entrance and even did the throat cut signal to piss him off. That set the tone for what this match ended up being. Shawn had a game plan and he executed it to near perfection. For example, he worked the legs and did well with it. But Undertaker would wreck him with something like a Tombstone on the outside. How was he supposed to prepare for something Undertaker hasn’t done in years? I loved that Shawn could hit Sweet Chin Music from anywhere and how he had a counter ready for Hell’s Gates. The sequence of Shawn slipping out of the Last Ride announce table spot, hitting Sweet Chin Music, adding a moonsault, and hitting a second SCM inside for a near fall was spectacular. The fans were losing it. Shawn survived a Tombstone but Undertaker showed some mercy. He shouted for Shawn to stay down. As defiant as ever, Shawn did the throat slash gesture again and slapped him. Undertaker finally ended it with a goddamn jumping Tombstone after 23:59. They had a ton to live up to yet still succeeded. They told a fantastic story and gave us the kind of drama that only two of the greatest ever could pull off. Shawn was desperate to keep his career but he simply wasn’t good enough to get the job done. Undertaker had to put him down. A slight notch below the 2009 encounter.
19. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW Invasion Attack 2013
Tanahashi has beaten Okada twice in a row, making Okada’s win over him in their match seem like a fluke. Still, Okada was as confident as ever coming into this. Even when he badly messed up a move at one point, he shrugged it off because his confidence wasn’t waning. Tanahashi didn’t take him seriously, but the fans were mostly behind the challenger. The first big blow came when Okada connected on a DDT on the apron. Tanahashi avoided a Tombstone outside and began attacking the arm. He was relentless with it. It was as if he said, “Without your Rainmaker, you ain’t shit.” The reaction to Okada hitting the elbow, but only getting one arm up for the Rainmaker pose was brilliant. His arm just died. They battled for a while more, and after having one blocked, Okada nailed the Rainmaker. He was too hurt to cover, giving Tanahashi time to recover. Tanahashi survived Red Ink and went back after the arm. He went into his series of moves, seemingly on the verge of victory. Okada survived High Fly Flow and their final exchange saw some tremendous counters. Okada won out with the Rainmaker and won his second IWGP Heavyweight Title at 31:41. Wow. This would be the best match I’ve ever seen them have if it wasn’t for their October match later in the year. The storytelling and psychology were excellent. Tanahashi executed his game plan perfectly, even though he took Okada lightly early. And yet, through will and determination, Okada reached down deep and overcame his rival, evening their score at 2-2. A classic.
18. TLC Match: Team Hell No and Ryback vs. The Shield – WWE TLC 2012
An absolutely brilliant match. That is how you make your official debut and make an impact. First of all, the bout itself was incredible. They did some sick spots, the pace never slowed and the action was non-stop from beginning to end. The crowd was red hot for everything. Everybody played their part and contributed to the quality. Ryback was booked to look strong, Bryan and Kane were both great and the Shield played up that numbers advantage, working like such a well-oiled machine. Easily my WWE match of the year for 2012 and the perfect way to debut a dominant stable. The Shield had arrived, winning this in a tremendous 22:44.
17. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT TakeOver: Dallas
It was the highly anticipated WWE debut of one Shinsuke Nakamura. Some matches don’t need a storyline or build. Just put two of the best on the planet together and sit back. I must start with the atmosphere. The Dallas crowd was one of, if not the best NXT crowd I can recall. They were hot all night but on another level for this. They treated both men like megastars. The reaction for Nakamura still gives me goosebumps as does his entrance here in general. Even Sami couldn’t help but smile during it. The match itself was the perfect introduction for Nakamura. It allowed him to showcase the things that make him work to the audience at home, while the live crowd reacted perfectly to everything. Sami Zayn brought all he could but the physical toll that Nakamura’s various knee strikes took on him was just too much. He managed to bust out the spots he had to, like the blue thunder bomb and tope con hilo, while Nakamura got all his shit in. Though there was no animosity between them, this felt like a fight. It was the match that spawned the “fight forever” chant and though it has been used since, it fit here better than ever. Nakamura won at 20:06 with Kinshasa. This was the best debut match I can recall. Nakamura came off looking like a star, while Zayn went toe to toe with the strong striker and added so much to this match. It was Zayn’s final NXT appearance and he made it count. He put Nakamura over, ending one era of NXT and setting the stage for the next. Incredible.
16. Smackdown Tag Team Titles HIAC: The New Day [c] vs. The Usos – WWE Hell in a Cell 2017
After killer matches at Battleground and SummerSlam (as well as some very good ones on Smackdown and at Money in the Bank), it was time for the Usos and the New Day to end their fantastic rivalry. There was no more fitting place than within the confines of Hell in a Cell. A lot of Cell matches in recent memory don’t really fit the stipulation. They made sure this did. Weapons were brought into play right from the start. A few of them were silly (a cowbell and gong, for example), but most were used in violent fashion. They were creative, like when one of the Usos was trapped in a corner of the cell by a bunch of kendo sticks. There was a sense of hatred, like when Xavier Woods was handcuffed and whipped with those kendo sticks. Kofi Kingston watching helplessly outside of the Cell was very well done. Big E made a great rally, but got taken down by the numbers. Woods, still handcuffed, saved him, but set himself up for a beating. He took the loss to stereo splashes with a chair on his chest at 21:54. This was the best main roster match this year, the best tag match of the year, possibly the second best HIAC ever and it capped the second best trilogy of 2017.
15. G1 Climax Finals: Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW G1 Climax 27
The prior year, these guys met for the first time to determine the winner of the B Block. This year, Kenny Omega won the B Block, while Tetsuya Naito won the A Block, setting the stage for the rematch in the finals of the G1 Climax. Often, big NJPW matches go long for the sake of it and spend a lot of time on a slow build. Not here. Everything they did meant something. Naito remembered the failure against Omega last year, so he changed things up a bit. Instead of his normal fake dive and taunt, he faked the taunt and hit the dive. He even reached deep into his bag of tricks for the Stardust Press. He targeted Kenny’s neck in brutal ways, including a bunch of neckbreakers and a sickening piledriver on the edge of a table. Kenny sold it very well, even while on offense. They used so many slow motion replays and all the bumps were mind blowing. Naito taking a DDT onto the ring post was particularly nasty. Naito’s become the master of the last second kickout, doing it better than anyone else and making for some truly breathtaking near falls. The final stretch saw great counters, including Naito countering the One Winged Angel into Destino. That led to more exchanges before Naito added two more Destinos to win in 36:35. An incredible match worked at an absurd pace. The work made sense and was brutal at times. The crowd was red hot from the start. There were so many insane spots and the match had a sense of urgency that you want from something with stakes as high as this. If I had one issue, it was that some of it felt like overkill, though that’s nitpicking at this point.
14. WWE Championship: John Cena [c] vs. Daniel Bryan- WWE SummerSlam 2013
Triple H is the special referee. Cena had the big elbow pad due to his injury. It literally looked like he had a baseball in there. They traded mat work as Cena used his power for an upper hand. Despite this, he couldn’t break Bryan’s bridge, which led to a monkey flip. Bryan went for the Yes Lock and Cena had to scamper outside. After powering out of a surfboard attempt, it was Cena’s turn to try his finish. Bryan got free but was launched off the apron into the announce table. Cena took over and busted out a powerbomb. Nikki and Brie discussed that on Total Divas because Bryan’s balls were in Cena’s face. Seriously. As Bryan fought back, the crowd came unglued. He hit the running elbow and went into the yes kicks. Cena ducked the final one and it’s FIVE MOVES OF DOOM time. Bryan avoided the five knuckle shuffle at first but still got hit with it. He escaped the AA and nailed a missile dropkick for two. Bryan’s kicks are targeted at the elbow. He countered the STF into one of his own (correctly applied). Cena powered out but took some suplexes and got put in the Yes Lock. Again, Cena got free, but Bryan transitioned to another submission. He was relentless. Cena survived and hit the AA for two. They fought up top, where Bryan hit the rare release superplex. It’s brilliant because he avoided the bump by staying in tree of woe position. A diving headbutt got two and now, Cena must resort to drawing Bryan in for a forearm. The diving Fameasser looked the best it ever has for another near fall. They fought up top again and Cena caught a super rana. He nearly dropped Bryan on his head from the second rope before using a rear naked choke. From his wars with Samoa Joe, Bryan knows how to get free, turning it into the Yes Lock for a huge ovation. Cena reached the ropes, so Bryan went into a dropkick frenzy until Cena nearly decapitated him with a clothesline. They slugged it out before trading slaps. Bryan won out, backing Cena into the corner. Bryan counted another AA before trying a cross body. Cena caught him for the AA again, but had it countered into a small package for two. A kick to the head dropped Cena. Bryan chanted “YES” with the fans and debuted the awesome running knee to win the title in 26:52. Fantastic pro wrestling. Major props to Cena for that performance with his injury. They had a great, old school title match with no shenanigans. The near falls were built up so well and the crowd was into everything. Cena overpowered Bryan throughout, but the challenger had him so well scouted and finally delivered the one blow that was enough to cleanly beat the top guy in the business. One of the best matches in either man’s career, especially when you add in the emotion.
13. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017
People have called Kazuchika Okada’s 2017 the best year a wrestler has ever had. I disagree wholeheartedly, but admit it was great. Not only was this his best match in 2017, it was his best match since 2013. I didn’t see it live and heard it went 38:09, which worried me. Okada’s overly long matches don’t always work well (see New Beginning in Sapporo) and that’s not Shibata’s strength. And yet, they made it work perfectly. Shibata wasn’t having any of Okada’s shit. He wasn’t intimidated and was flat out better for most of the match. Okada’s sheer determination to not only retain, but to go out of his way to prove his superiority, made for a great story. He did the right amount of heel work, while nailing the character nuances. He tried beating Shibata at his own game, even if it meant getting wrecked by strikes. Shibata getting hit with a Rainmaker and staying on his feet was one of my favorite moments all year, as was him hitting his own modified Rainmaker by slapping the hell out of Okada. The champ eventually retained with the Rainmaker in what may go down as Shibata’s last match. Shibata busted himself open hard way with a headbutt. He then collapsed backstage and hasn’t wrestled since. If it was the end of his career, he went out on the highest of notes.
12. WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan [c] vs. Kofi Kingston – WWE WrestleMania 35
There wasn’t a more important match in all of wrestling in 2019. Kofi Kingston getting a one on one WWE Title match at WrestleMania was a massive deal. Even more when you consider how this whole thing was built. Right off the bat, their contrasting styles came into play. Kofi wanted to take to the air and work a quick pace while Daniel Bryan was more than happy to ground him. I loved the cut to the roster watching on a monitor backstage. This whole tale had the feel of something that everyone would be rooting for. Bryan was great here. He held serve throughout and everything he did looked smooth and was entertaining. For example, countering Kofi’s double stomp into a Boston Crab was phenomenal. This had some amazing late drama, like Kofi’s SOS near fall getting turned into the LeBelle Lock. The New Day took out Erick Rowan, leaving it as a one on one encounter. The final few minutes are as dramatic as it gets. Kingston hit Trouble in Paradise in 23:43 to make history and become the first African-American WWE Champion. The drama, emotion, action, and what it meant all made this a truly special match and moment. I’m happy to have witnessed this.
11. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9
I don’t give out the perfect five star rating often. I only did so twice in 2015 and just about 30 times in history times in history. On my first night of watching New Japan Pro Wrestling, I knew I had seen a five star match. Shinsuke Nakamura, one of the top guys in New Japan and the reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion, went up against the young upstart, Kota Ibushi in the co-main event. I mean, Ibushi is 33 so he’s not that young but he’s still a guy that hadn’t been given many major opportunities like this. This entire match is absolutely phenomenal. It goes for 20:12, but you wouldn’t think that. It flies by because you’re enjoying what you’re watching so well. There were other matches that I knew the build for and that added to things. In this match, I knew nothing about it coming in except that I had seen some Ibushi stuff from back in 2008. They captivated me and fully drew me in, even though I was watching with Japanese commentary. That is a testament to the ability of both men. Ibushi is brash, even stealing Nakamura’s moves at one point. Nakamura puts him in his place more than a few times, but is taken to his very limit. This has everything you could want. A great story, hard hitting action, close calls, incredibly athleticism at points, a big stage and more. It’s because of this match that I got into New Japan Pro Wrestling as much as I did. This is how you get someone over in a loss. Ibushi came out looking like a huge star on the biggest possible stage. It is one of the greatest matches I have ever seen.
