Kevin’s Top 500 Matches Of The 2010s (#400 – 391)

400. Last Man Standing Match: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels – TNA Destination X 2012

For the third time on this list (not including tag matches), it’s a clash between AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. The two are synonymous with each other throughout TNA history and for good reason. It marked a notable change from what were used to from them. For instance, this wasn’t a traditional contest. Instead, it was more heated thanks to the Last Man Standing stipulation. The feud at this point was pretty hokey but that didn’t matter once the bell rang. Styles and Daniels were going to deliver each time out. This had their typical quality exchanges with the added bonus of some violence, though it never went over the top in that aspect. It also wasn’t overly long, clocking in at 17:42. The finish with the Styles Clash off the ramp and through a table was pretty fantastic as well.

399. PWG Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly – PWG Thirteen

Very often, Zack Sabre Jr.’s selling comes into question. That’s quite understandable. On this night though, he put up a strong effort in that aspect. Unfortunately for him, it was completely overshadowed by Kyle O’Reilly’s selling. Sabre attacked the taped-up shoulder of O’Reilly and he sold it like his arm was going to fall off. He writhed around in agony. He left it limp while striking. He was unable to lift Sabre for certain moves because of it. It was masterful. Sabre got more and more heelish throughout the match. Near the end of this 22:00 match, the crowd rose with deafening dueling chants. They had so many great counters and reversals, including Kyle catching a European uppercut into a backslide. The strikes and kicks from both men were brutal. Sabre eventually caught O’Reilly in a submission and at first, I was worried because it didn’t target Kyle’s bad shoulder. Kudos to Sabre for making sure to reach back and involve that shoulder in the hold to make O’Reilly submit.

398. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2016

A record eleven-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Jushin Thunder Liger looked to turn back the clock and reach the top of the mountain again at the age of 51. The pre-match video package showed an eight-year-old KUSHIDA doing a Liger Bomb to his pillow, which was an awesome touch. KUSHIDA was ace of the division but still had to prove himself one more time against the GOAT. The tag matches leading up to this were great too and saw an aggressive Liger work the knee, while KUSHIDA went after the arm. They wisely continued that here. Liger drove KUSHIDA’s knee into the ring post and then hit a goddamn Brainbuster on the concrete. KUSHIDA limped in to break the count. Once inside, these two continued to go to war in front of a red hot crowd that was more into this than any other juniors match I remember in 2016. Liger nailed a second Brainbuster near the of this 14:37 encounter, which the fans completely bought into. KUSHIDA managed to slap on the Hoverboard Lock and couldn’t force Liger to tap until he locked the knuckles for added leverage. A fantastic effort from both guys as KUSHIDA once again proved why there was nobody in his league in the juniors division, while Liger showed that he was the best wrestler on the planet over 50. Following the match, they bowed to each other in a show of respect.

397. Number One Contender’s Match: AJ Styles vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens – Raw 4/4/16

The Raw after WrestleMania has become a traditional huge event. In 2016, the crowd was one day removed from Roman Reigns winning the “big one” for the third time in just over four months. Reigns showed up and issued an open challenge of sorts. Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn all responded, prompting Shane McMahon to book a fatal four-way main event. Owens took out Zayn beforehand and, at the last minute, the returning Cesaro replaced him to a thunderous pop. Not only was this four of the best in the world competing, but it was four guys that the crowd would have loved to see dethrone Reigns. I honestly think that anyone could have won and the fans would have been happy. All four men were given ample opportunity to shine and each had their moments throughout. I appreciated that everyone had their finishers protected for the most part, as instead of guys kicking out of them, the pins were broken up. The best thing about this was the fact that you could buy anyone winning since the champion kind of played a tweener. Heel or face, everyone had a legitimate shot. After 16:47, Styles avenged his WrestleMania loss by hitting the Styles Clash on Jericho. It cemented the belief that the WWE had in AJ Styles and he rewarded them with top-notch performances all year long. A great main event in front of a hot crowd featuring awesome workers.

396. PROGRESS World and Tag Team Championships: British Strong Style [c] vs. Ringkampf – PROGRESS Complicated Simplicity

With all the titles on the line and PROGRESS being the British Strong Style show in 2017, the outcome to this wasn’t really in doubt. And yet, they made it work wonderfully. BBS were tremendous douches, which perfectly played against Ringkampf being aggressive. WALTER was especially brutal because he’s awesome. He single-handedly tore apart the opposition with chop after chop. We got a great trio of submission from Ringkampf, but it wasn’t enough. The finishing stretch was wild and featured the absurd spot where Bate deadlift German suplexed WALTER. Sadly, the finish was kind of lackluster, as Dunne used the PROGRESS Title to whack WALTER and allow Seven to score the pin at 28:01. One hell of a match, specifically for the interactions between WALTER and Dunne/Bate.

395. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji – NJPW G1 Climax 26 8/6/16

Naomichi Marufuji’s inclusion in the G1 Climax 26 was a welcome surprise. Matches like this were exactly why. You see, Marufuji was the ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH. Hiroshi Tanahashi is the ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was a serious case of worlds colliding. These are two veterans who have been at the top for so long for a reason. They put on an exquisite 19:06 match during one of the better G1 Climax tournaments of the decade. They started by feeling each other out before getting a handle on things and moving into the action everyone wanted from them. Marufuji hit a goddamn piledriver on the apron, which I never expected to see in a G1 match. Maybe in a more heated bout but this was a wild twist. These guys were smart enough to pull out other cool surprises like Tanahashi thinking he sent Marufuji into the guardrail, only for him to put on the brakes and attack unbeknownst to Tanahashi. The NJPW Ace survived Emerald Flowsion and vicious kicks to win with two High Fly Flows.

394. PROGRESS World Title: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Travis Banks – PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase The Sun

I was more excited for this match than anything on the WrestleMania or Wrestle Kingdom cards in 2017. No lie. Perennial jerk champion Pete Dunne against Travis Banks, winner of Super Strong Style 16. This was one of those matches where they didn’t do the flashiest moves and had a fair amount of run-ins, yet it all worked. Dunne did every little thing possible to draw their ire. When Trent Seven and Tyler Bate were taken backstage by #CCK, the fans erupted, realizing Dunne and Banks were alone. Banks survived a ton, even drawing the commentary line of, “Travis Banks just took all of the moves.” It even garnered, “You can’t beat him,” chants towards Dunne. Banks finally hit the Kiwi Krusher for a wild near fall, before applying the Lion’s Clutch to win the title in 24:07. The feel good moment of Banks winning the title and ending the reign of terror of British Strong Style was a perfect way to cap the company’s biggest show ever.

393. WWE World Championship: Triple H [c] vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Roadblock

With the Royal Rumble in the rearview mirror and WrestleMania’s main event scheduled to be Triple H vs. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose looked to throw a wrench into that plan. These were the final two guys in the Rumble a few months earlier and had some history from the Shield/Evolution days. The crowd was split early on in this 24:43 outing. Triple H was out to show that though he hadn’t made a title defense since 2009, he was still “The Game.” I was surprised to see this start with basic wrestling considering the brawling nature of the rivalry. Ambrose gained control, but Triple H turned it around. About halfway through, they managed to turn the split crowd into a pro-Dean one. Once Dean was able to wear down HHH, he applied a figure four to try and make the weakened champion submit. When that failed, he pleased the Canadian crowd with a sharpshooter, which also didn’t work. They gave us the best tease of a title change all year when Dean hit Dirty Deeds and got a three count, only for the referee to see that his foot was under the bottom rope. They spilled outside, where Dean mocked HHH’s DX taunt. Dean made a mistake by missing an elbow and going through the announce table. Dean beat the countout but lost to the Pedigree once inside. The whole match, especially the last few minutes, was a master class of how to work the crowd.

392. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/18/17

Jushin Thunder Liger declared that 2017 would be his final Best of the Super Juniors. The now 53-yeard old legend came in tied for the most tourney wins with 3. On this, the second night, he met the new ace of the division and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi. After a night one loss, Liger didn’t want to lose his final Korakuen BOTSJ match, so he came out firing and hit a brainbuster in the aisle in the opening minutes, leading to a countout tease. That set the tone for a wild sprint that was 8:05 of pure action. Liger threw everything in his arsenal at the champion. Unfortunately, it was never quite enough. The beauty of this lied in the pin at the end. After Hiromu hit Time Bomb, he got the three count, but you could see Liger kicking his feet and desperately trying to kick out. He wanted nothing more than to continue, he just didn’t have it in him to do so.

391. WWE Championship Ladder Match: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Money in the Bank 2015

A title reign built around shenanigans, false finishes and interference led us to this match. Seth Rollins would face his rival, Dean Ambrose, in a ladder match. These two were no strangers to each other, having met in a Lumberjack match, Hell in a Cell match and of course, a plain old singles match two weeks earlier. On that night, Ambrose seemed to win the WWE Title but we got the dusty finish. Dean stole the title, setting the stage for this match, where Seth demanded he do things alone. No Authority, no J&J Security, and no Kane. When the bell rang, we got to see a different side of WWE Champion Seth Rollins. For most of the 35:40 that this match took, Seth was an animal. He was a vicious heel in the same vein as early 2000s Triple H. He attacked Dean’s leg and just came off as a brutal and cunning heel, unlike the cowardly one he had portrayed during his run. This wasn’t your typical high spot ladder match, instead taking me back to the Rock/Triple H ladder match from SummerSlam 1998. It seemed like two guys using the ladder as a weapon because they hate each other. Seth hit some sick powerbombs on the guardrail and ladder outside near the finish. Both men pulled down the belt in the end, but Seth landed with control and retained. With a better, more definitive ending and more selling from Ambrose, this would have ranked higher, but it was one of their better encounters.