Kevin’s Top 500 Matches Of The 2010s (#250 – 241)

250. NXT North American Championship: Velveteen Dream [c] vs. Matt Riddle – NXT TakeOver: New York

Velveteen Dream truly is a special wrestler. It doesn’t matter who he wrestles because he’s probably going to put on a show. Whether it’s a technician, showman, brawler, high flyer, or in this case, someone with an MMA background, Dream makes it work. He did it again here. This is not a slight on Matt Riddle and I don’t want people to think I’m saying he had no part in this. He’s very good. I just wanted to praise Dream. Anyway, this match had the disadvantage of following the best tag match of 2019 and still managed to nearly surpass it. Riddle dominated this at points. His style of combining submissions and strikes was too much for the champion. Dream did his best to hang tough but he was straight up outmatched. However, he played the role of the resilient champion. He refused to stay down and took everything Riddle threw at him while sprinkling in his own greatness. When Dream got going near the end, he had the Purple Rainmaker caught into the Bromission and it was spectacular. He fought it but got put in it again, only to roll over into a pin and luckily retain after 17:21. Riddle did his thing but made one mistake and Dream capitalized.

249. Trios Championship: Ivelisse & Son of Havoc [c] vs. The Crew & Joey Ryan vs. Fenix, Jack Evans & PJ Black vs. Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. – Lucha Underground 4/27/16

Shortly after Dario Cueto returned to the Temple, he set up a new Trios Tournament. The three teams that advanced to the finals would meet the champions on this night. One of the champions, Angelico, got injured which caused his partners to compete shorthanded. There were so many interesting dynamics in this one. From Angelico and Ivelisse as the underdog champions, to the Crew teaming with sleazy undercover cop Joey Ryan, to Fenix’s team not getting along and finally to the dream team of Azteca, Puma and Rey. So many moving parts and it all came together perfectly. One member of each team was legal at a time, giving it a different feel from a lot of big tag matches like this. It would be impossible to write up play-by-play on this. We did get to see Ivelisse hit a German suplex on sleazy Joey, which was cool. A miscommunication between the Crew and Joey allowed Ivelisse to eliminate them first. Evans, who called himself the “baddest bitch in the building” to mock Ivelisse, eliminated her and guaranteed there would be new champions. The final two teams going at it ruled. Azteca showed off how good he is and went toe to toe with Fenix. Evans got too cocky and it led to the downfall for them. Mysterio got the tag and ran wild, hitting the 619 to kick off a barrage of moves that won his team the titles at 23:15. Not only was this a fantastic match, but it actually started a bigger angle that set up a match between Mysterio and Puma at Ultima Lucha Dos.

248. War Games: AOP & Roderick Strong vs. SAnitY vs. The Undisputed Era – NXT TakeOver: War Games 2017

When this originally happened, I wasn’t in love with it. I thought it was a bit much and had some overkill moments. That being said, it has grown on me after multiple viewings. WWE debuted their take on War Games and went a unique route. Instead of two teams of four, they went with three teams of three. Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly bested the Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong, as well as the members of SAnitY. This was a huge brawl fitting of the gimmick and featured some major spots and tons of excitement. It took 36:32 and the entire time was filled with action. Plus, the whole thing was paced out incredibly well, making for one of the best War Games match involving men since WWE brought it around.

247. WWE Championship: Dean Ambrose [c] vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Battleground 2016

The highly anticipated first ever triple threat match between the members of the Shield. A lot of people were disappointed that this was placed on a B Pay-Per-View like Battleground, but with the draft going down, it might have been the last chance for it. All the commissioners and general managers sat at ringside, while each show’s rosters watched from the back. Seth and Roman represented Raw, while it was up to Dean to bring the title to Smackdown. Right from the start of this 18:02 match, Seth was the target for turning on them two years earlier. The match itself is awesome, but the true greatness lied in the storytelling. Seeing Dean and Seth team up to powerbomb Reigns through the announce table was really cool. Seth calling back to the infamous heel turn by striking Reigns in the back with a chair was one of my favorite moments all year long. Towards the finish, they built to great drama and I fully bought into Seth pulling out the win and then Roman doing the same. Dean snuck in and drilled Reigns with Dirty Deeds to keep the title and surprise many, including myself, who didn’t think the WWE would have him win the battle of the Shield members. There were high expectations and I feel these three lived up to them.

246. IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Juice Robinson [c] vs. Jon Moxley – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals

It was easily one of the most highly anticipated matches of 2019. After leaving WWE, Jon Moxley stunned many by being revealed as the man targeting Juice Robinson in New Japan. This was a surprise because many were unsure about how Moxley would adapt to the NJPW style, which isn’t exactly up his alley. If you wanted an idea for how this match went, look no further than right before the bell. Juice Robinson revealed that he had cut his signature locks, which the crowd gasped at. Moxley immediately flipped him the double bird as a response. As soon as the bell rang, they just went right at each other and the action never slowed. What made this work was that they didn’t try to force a square peg into a round hold. Moxley wasn’t forced to work an NJPW style match. Instead, they let him do his thing and Juice was a great partner for the ride. They brawled through the crowd, this had big bumps, and brought things like tables into play. I liked the little notes like Juice trying to win with the Boston Crab, which he learned in the Dojo and not while in WWE. It added layers to this encounter. Moxley won with the Death Rider after a tremendous 24:14.

245. British Strong Style vs. The Undisputed Era – WWE United Kingdom Tournament 6/25/18

To be honest, WWE could’ve just put these two stables in a match with no build and it would’ve been great. Instead, they chose to give it some actual hype. That was especially true for Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong, since Strong turned on Dunne earlier in the month. That rivalry played a role early, with Strong doing everything in his power to avoid Dunne. It was to no avail as Dunne kicked his ass several times. Trent Seven took the heat segment, but even that featured a lot of action. The best moment was probably Tyler Bate hitting an airplane spin and giant swing on two UE members at the same time. He’s an incredibly STRONG BOI. This only went 12:21, but had enough action to fill half an hour. It just never slowed down. Bate capped a tremendous match by pinning Kyle O’Reilly following a springboard clothesline/dragon suplex combo. This had a ton of nonstop action, furthered some existing storylines, and gave us some awesome exchanges between six of the best guys going today. Arguably the two best stables in wrestling coming together for one of the better six man tags you’ll find anywhere.

244. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Naomichi Marufuji- NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2016

On the first night of the 2016 G1 Climax, Pro Wrestling NOAH standout Naomichi Marufuji beat NJPW’s top champion, Kazuchika Okada. He didn’t just beat him though. Marufuji dominated him. That didn’t sit well with the champ, so Okada challenged Marufuji to this match. Ace of NOAH vs. Ace of NJPW. At the start of this 28:00 match, Okada tried to use his size advantage but Marufuji was too quick. They continued to tell the story of Marufuji having his number and always being one step ahead. I loved Marufuji just kicking and striking the shit out of Okada. Okada is often a smug son of a gun, so him getting his ass kicked is always great. Then, in one of the sickest spots all year, Marufuji delivered a piledriver ON THE APRON! Though Okada beat the countout, he looked dead. I even thought Marufuji pulled off the upset after hitting Shiranui. Okada busted out the Rainmaker but his attempt at a second was countered into a small package for another near fall. Okada went into a desperate flurry, even stealing Marufuji’s Emerald Flowsion, before winning with another Rainmaker. Just great pro wrestling here. Marufuji having guys from NOAH in his corner added to the importance of this match. When Okada is placed with a guy that’s better than him (Tanahashi, Ishii, Styles, Naito, Marufuji, etc.) he delivers top notch matches and this was no exception. It was the second best IWGP Heavyweight Title match of the year and a must-see performance from both.

243. WWE United States Championship: John Cena [c] vs. Cesaro – WWE Raw 7/6/15

The pinnacle of the John Cena US Open Challenge took place in Chicago on a fateful night in July. One week earlier, Cesaro answered the challenge but Kevin Owens interfered and cost him the match. This time around, Cesaro chased off Owens before the match began, leaving him and Cena to have a classic over the next 23:13. There was almost no slow down as these two just put on a great match. The match was fast and furious, with tons of counters, near falls and fantastic exchanges. Cena showed off some of his newer offense, even though some of it looks bad, particularly the springboard stunner. Cesaro kept going back to the crossface submission, which I liked since he found something that was working to wear down Cena and kept going to it. He threw out a Sharpshooter in honor of Tyson Kidd too. As usual with the US Open Challenge, one Attitude Adjustment wasn’t enough, but a second off the middle rope was finally enough to keep the Swiss Superman down. This kind of performance, in front of this kind of crowd, to close a Raw against Cena, was the perfect situation of really getting a guy over in a loss. Cesaro looked like a major player. Sadly, the booking team completely mishandled him after this. This will be remembered as a classic, but the lack of follow-up impacted the significance of it.

242. NEVER Openweight Championship: Yuji Nagata [c] vs. Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW Dominion 2016

Shortly after Katsuyori Shibata won the NEVER Openweight Title, he embarked on a war with the old guard of New Japan. In the previous three years, Shibata lost to legends Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the G1 Climax. In 2016, Shibata put Kojima down on a Road to Invasion Attack show before beating Tenzan at Invasion Attack. He disrespectfully kicked Nagata, setting up a title match at Wrestling Dontaku. Nagata shocked the world when he beat Shibata and took the title. This was Shibata’s rematch and the buildup saw the two just go to war. Yuji brought the rest of the New Japan Dads with him to the ring. Shibata went after the arm early and often, but once this got past the early mat stages, this kicked into next gear. The rest of the 14:56 runtime saw these two beat the hell out of each other. Nagata sold his arm like it was going to fall off and Shibata kept attacking it. Nagata survived the sleeper, while Shibata did the same for the armbar. The battle waged on until Shibata’s next sleeper. Nagata fought and fought but couldn’t break it. Shibata reclaimed the gold after a PK. Not only was the match fantastic, but afterwards, Shibata shook hands with the old guard in a sign that he earned their respect. Even the commentator was in tears. Great storytelling and emotion.

241. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre [c] vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins – WWE Hell in a Cell 2018

Last fall, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins put on bangers for the Raw Tag Team Titles against The Bar. With Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre as their new opponents, the hits just kept on coming. Dolph and Seth had a string of solid but unspectacular matches over the summer for the Intercontinental Title. Injecting Drew and Dean into their battles is just what they needed. Both teams played their roles perfectly and gave us an exciting match from bell to bell. The fans were completely engaged for the entire 22:57. The champions did all the classic tag tactics so well. They cut the ring off at every turn, isolating Seth. Dean’s hot tag was filled with fire and it was great to see him back in a high profile match after almost a year. The final third of this match is downright ridiculous. So many great exchanges and close calls by both sides. There were several moments where I legitimately believed the finish had come. When it arrived, it was awesome. Seth was in the middle of his superplex/falcon arrow combo, when Drew snuck in and hit him with the Claymore. Dolph draped his arm over Seth to retain the titles. This ruled.