Kevin’s Top 130 Matches of 2017: #20-11 – Cena vs. Styles, Bate vs. Dunne, More

20. WWE Championship Elimination Chamber: John Cena [c] vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz – WWE Elimination Chamber 2/12/17

Here, we had the debut of the new look Elimination Chamber. The padded mats didn’t look great, but allowed for a lot more freedom. This was great as soon as Bray stopped to stare down and intimidate each person in a pod during his entrance. Two weeks after a classic at the Royal Rumble, John Cena and AJ Styles were back at it to start this match. I liked that this wasn’t just a match with big spots. Granted, there were plenty of those, but there were multiple stories told. Dean and AJ reignited their rivalry, Cena and AJ continued theirs, and Dean got a new one started with Baron Corbin when he rolled him up to eliminate him. Corbin attacked Dean after, setting up their Mania match, and allowing Miz to eliminate him. Miz went next and surprisingly, the WWE Champion himself, John Cena, was out next. That left things down to Styles and Wyatt in a fresh matchup. Allowing Bray and AJ to go at it for a stretch at the end was the best decision. After some great back and forth, Bray caught a Phenomenal Forearm into Sister Abigail to win his first WWE Title in 34:25. Unfortunately, the WWE Title picture peaked in interest for 2017 on this night. Still, this was fantastic and is neck and neck with the original as the best Chamber match ever. [****½]

19. Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW G1 Climax 7/21/17

It’s the match everyone expected to be the Cruiserweight Classic Finals. They both had excellent G1 openers, with Zack Sabre Jr. beating Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi losing to Tetsuya Naito in a phenomenal effort. They both went to their strengths early. Sabre took it to the mat, while Ibushi delivered stiff strikes and kicks. Sabre took much less damage than Kota on night one and it came into play. Each time Kota found an opening, all Sabre had to do was attack the neck and regain control. He caught a moonsault into a submission and though I’ve seen him do it before, it’s always cool. The fans popped for heel Sabre slamming Ibushi by the leg and going right into one of his trademark pins, purely because it was awesome. Near the end of the 15:51 runtime, they just battered one another. Sabre caught a Pele into an ankle lock, because he’s awesome like that. When he locked in a triangle choke, Ibushi powered out with a fantastic Last Ride to score the victory. Simply amazing. They did what works best for them and it blended into an excellent match that more than lived up to the hype. A top five G1 match this year. [****½]

18. NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain [c] vs. #DIY vs. The Revival – NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17

It was the best match of WrestleMania weekend. The Authors were arguably the best tag team in 2017, while #DIY and Revival were the best in the world before a split and injuries stopped that. This hit all the right notes from the opening bell to the finish at 23:39. #DIY and Revival put aside their rivalry to gang up on the large champions. When they finally did have to go at it, they had splendid callbacks to their incredible matches from 2016. Them working together was the best, though. The crowd reaction for them putting Rezar through a table was fantastic. The spot where Gargano and Dawson hit Meeting in the Middle, followed by Wilder and Ciampa doing the Shatter Machine was one of my favorites of the entire year. What kept this from ranking higher was the ending. DIY got eliminated and, while it gave us the fresh matchup of AOP/Revival, I think it would’ve worked better to have the babyface team against the dominant champs. Especially since they’re the ones who had a rivalry going. AOP bested Revival to retain in another high point for NXT’s stellar tag division. Since a better than expected match at the original TakeOver: Brooklyn, I’ve given every Tag Title match at TakeOver at least ***½. [****½]

17. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Dragon Lee – NJPW New Beginning in Osaka 2/11/17

While on excursion in CMLL, Hiromu Takahashi developed a rivalry with Dragon Lee that is among the best in wrestling. Their matches always have a ridiculous pace and this was no different. After a wild start, Hiromu proved to be a dastardly champion by going after Lee’s coveted mask. Lee responded with an insane rana off the apron and tope con hilo. Of course, everything they did was incredibly crisp, but also very violent. Hiromu hit a damn belly to belly off the top to the outside. Lee caught a leaping Hiromu with a powerbomb on the floor and Hiromu did one of his own onto the apron. I swear they were out to kill one another. Hiromu also delivered his absurd senton to the outside, because he’s a wild man. They moved into the big near falls, including one after Hiromu completely removed Lee’s mask and another on a Takahashi Destroyer that was among the best I’ve ever seen. Hiromu retained after hitting the Time Bomb at 18:23, in what was the best match I’ve seen between the two, which is some of the highest possible praise. [****½]

16. Super Strong Style 16 Finals: Travis Banks vs. Tyler Bate – PROGRESS Chapter 49: Super Strong Style 16 5/29/17

Super Strong Style 16 was in contention for the best tournament of the year. To get to the finals, Travis Banks had to beat Jimmy Havoc, Flamita and Zack Sabre Jr., while Tyler Bate went through Pastor William Eaver, Mark Haskins and Matt Riddle. The atmosphere here was incredible, with the crowd being very pro-Banks and anti-Bate. They went through a feeling out process, before things picked up, only to lead to two ref bumps. I was worried that would ruin the match. Instead, we got something fun that made sense with the characters. Bate’s buddies Pete Dunne and Trent Seven got involved, only to be evened out by the debuting #CCK, who are friends of Banks. With that out of the way, the rest of the 22:51 was left for them to go one on one and things got nuts there. Tons of great spots, near falls and we even got to see Terminator Travis as he just started forearming steel chairs that were thrown at him. Banks survived a Tyler Driver ’97, then countered one off the top for an avalanche Kiwi Krusher. Bate somehow kicked out, but was put in the Lion Clutch and tapped out. This was an emotional roller coaster that hit every note it needed to. It cemented Banks as the next top guy, continued the strong year for Bate and was loaded with action and drama. [****½]

15. NXT Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: The Authors of Pain [c] vs. #DIY – NXT TakeOver: Chicago 5/20/17

NXT’s tag team division was a highlight of 2016. They consistently put on stellar matches that almost always stole the show. That trend continued into 2017 and none were better than this classic Ladder Match. The stipulation is kind of overdone, but these four found innovative ways to make the match work. They blended in great spots to wow the crowd with excellent moments of storytelling. #DIY used their speed and the ladders to even the playing field against their larger opponents. Their stereo dives off the ladder onto AOP and other ladders was absolutely insane and I can’t believe they didn’t get hurt. Gargano got close to winning, only to be thwarted by Paul Ellering. Kudos to Paul for being willing to take the superkick he got hit with. There were also the great moments of Ciampa hitting a super German on Rezar onto a ladder and Gargano sacrificing himself to take a ladder shot so his partner didn’t. AOP cut off DIY being so close to the titles and used the Super Collider to take them out before retaining at 20:08. An incredible match that once again showed how good this division was. The Authors are arguably the best team in wrestling, while #DIY had a stellar final showing. Ciampa would turn on Gargano in one of the biggest emotional gut punches in years. [****½]

14. WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Finals: Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate – WWE UK Championship Tournament 1/15/17

Night two of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a marked improvement on the first. Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate were the MVPs, so them being in the finals was fitting. Dunne attacked Bate earlier in the night, injuring his shoulder and giving him a target. Bate refused to back down from Dunne, who was the focal point of the tournament. He went blow for blow with him as best he could. Bate was wise enough to avoid using the bad shoulder, even mostly using just one arm for a crazy lengthy airplane spin spot. Cesaro would be proud. Bate continued with big spots, including a one-armed powerbomb, fosbury flop, and 450 knee drop. Dunne hit the Bitter End for an excellent near fall. Bate survived an armbar and turned it into an awesome brainbuster. The Tyler Driver ’97 was hit to crown Tyler as the first UK Champion after 15:12. It was an outstanding first chapter to their rivalry that established Bate and Dunne as stars in the WWE and the perfect capper to the stories of both in the tournament. Dunne was the perfect villain, while Bate sold his arm well and drew lots of sympathy. Tremendous. [****½]

13. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. KUSHIDA – NJPW Dominion 6/11/17

At Wrestle Kingdom, these two had one of the better Jr. Heavyweight Title matches in a long time. At Sakura Genesis, KUSHIDA got his rematch and was promptly squashed in two minutes. He won the Best of the Super Juniors to get one more shot. It was the one Wrestle Kingdom rematch I was pumped for. Hiromu was in KUSHIDA’s head and his antics triggered KUSHIDA to be more aggressive and reckless. For example, he pulled a Sabu with a springboard move off a chair. Not your typical KUSHIDA. Everything they did looked like it had an extra bit of hatred behind it. The pace was insane and full of great spots. KUSHIDA took a particularly brutal bump on the apron sunset flip bomb. He nearly won with an avalanche Back to the Future, but was too hurt to cover. KUSHIDA won a strike battle and stomped on Hiromu’s head to a bunch of boos. The Hoverboard Lock made Hiromu tap and KUSHIDA was champion again at 19:12. Their best work together. I was sad Hiromu lost, but the story they told worked. KUSHIDA had to do things he usually doesn’t to beat his new rival. Hiromu broke him in every single way and KUSHIDA had to dig deep to put the pieces back together and overcome. [****½]

12. Aleister Black vs. The Velveteen Dream – NXT TakeOver: War Games 11/18/17

Where did this come from? Don’t get me wrong, I was fully into this feud and expected a very good match. What I didn’t expect, was a MOTY candidate. This was a fantastic look at how character work and storytelling are unbelievably important. The moves done in this match weren’t all must see, but these guys completely captivated me for 14:41. Aleister Black was consistently one step ahead of Velveteen Dream in the opening exchanges. It was when Black did his signature quebrada into a seated position that things turned around. Dream slid right into his face and mirrored him, with Black returning the favor. From there, it was two big personalities perfectly playing off each other. The near falls received absurd reactions and I fully bought into Dream winning more than once, despite going in fully expecting Black to remain undefeated. He eventually did, after hitting Black Mass. He got his win and then, after the match, finally said Velveteen Dream’s name, which is what Dream wanted from the start. This was a magnificent look at how to build a star in defeat. Both guys came out looking great and I loved everything about this. This didn’t need a ton of wacky indy spots or to go full throttle for 45 minutes. They used their personalities to give us one of the most compelling matches of the year. [****½]

11. WWE Championship: AJ Styles [c] vs. John Cena – WWE Royal Rumble 1/29/17

In 2016, AJ Styles went 2-0 against John Cena, including a clean win at SummerSlam (which ranked #5 on last year’s list). The atmosphere for this was incredible. In their previous matches, AJ spent the early portions outwrestling Cena with relative ease. The challenger adjusted his strategy and threw big bombs early, setting the tone for a match full of them. Styles Clash, Attitude Adjustment, Calf Cutter, STF, etc. You name it, they pulled it out. Usually, I dislike the trend of tons of finisher kickouts and such. However, I think it worked very well here. It felt like two guys emptying the tank and using everything in their respective arsenals to leave the Alamodome with the WWE Title. It didn’t rely on those spots to be great, it made sense within the story of their past matches. AJ survived the Avalanche Attitude Adjustment like he did at SummerSlam, while Cena kicked out of the Styles Clash. AJ went for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena caught him with an AA, held on and rolled through into another AA to capture his record-tying 16th World Title at 24:08. I loved this. Cena holding on to hit his finish again made perfect sense. Like when Okada did it to Tanahashi at WK10, it was someone putting the stamp on the win he desperately needed. AJ again showed why he’s the best in the world, while Cena continued to be the best big match worker I can recall seeing. Not quite as good as their SummerSlam classic, but better than their MITB outing. Big Match John delivers. [****½]