wrestling / Columns
Kevin’s Top 500 Matches Of The 2010s (#80 – 71)
Image Credit: WWE
80. NXT Championship: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Aleister Black – NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Aleister Black made his debut at TakeOver: Orlando and beat Andrade Almas. The crowd wasn’t very interested in it. Fast forward a year and Almas now reigned as a phenomenal NXT Champion, with Black hot on his heels. This match was masterfully done. Aleister had been unstoppable, so Almas and Zelina Vega came in with a plan. Whenever Black would get some momentum, she’d find a creative way to get involved. It’s a million times more entertaining than your traditional underhanded stuff. When she wasn’t doing her thing, Almas was showing that he could hang with Black in every facet. Aleister nearly won with Black Mass, only for Zelina to put Almas’ foot on the bottom rope. That set up an Almas double stomp to the outside, which was part of a wild series of back and forth offense from two of the best in the world. The Hammerlock DDT near fall was a thing of beauty. And when the finish actually arrived, it did so in PERFECT fashion. Almas’ title reign had seen Zelina play a major role and the same went for this match. Her attempted cross body was avoided by Black and Almas caught her. With Zelina in his arms, Almas had no defense for a Black Mass and we had a new champion after an outstanding 18:18. A legendary combination of storytelling and action. Almas deserves a standing ovation for his spectacular run as NXT Champion.
79. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Invasion Attack 2016
Will Ospreay’s first appearance in NJPW was a video of him announcing that he joined the CHAOS stable and challenging KUSHIDA for the Jr. Heavyweight Title. Not a bad way to make your in-ring debut with a company. Ospreay came into this match in the midst of a string of awesome performances in the first half of 2016, while KUSHIDA has been the MVP of the juniors for a long time now. It hasn’t even been close to be honest. Onto the match, KUSHIDA had a game plan and made it work. He viciously attacked the arm, starting by kicking it in the middle of an Ospreay handspring. It worked on two levels because it took away some of Ospreay’s offense while setting up the Hoverboard Lock. Ospreay tried to handspring again but couldn’t due to the limb damage. Because Ospreay is a freak of nature, he did a handspring off the ropes WITH NO HANDS! It was brilliantly bananas. Ospreay went for the Rainmaker but KUSHIDA countered into the Hoverboard Lock and with the arm damage so bad, Ospreay scrambled to the ropes. Sometimes Will’s selling isn’t good but when he wants to, like here, it can be masterful and it makes all the difference. After some incredible exchanges, KUSHIDA won with the Hoverboard Lock at 15:11. Ospreay gave it his all but couldn’t overcome the champion’s great strategy. This had it all. Hard strikes, high spots, intensity, a hot crowd, selling, storytelling and the list goes on and on.
78. WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Becky Lynch – WWE Royal Rumble 2019
The 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view truly was an all-time great. Part of the reason was the insanely hot start that the main card got off to. Asuka, one of the best women to ever hold championship gold in WWE, going one on one with Becky Lynch, who was the hottest thing in wrestling at the time. In a first-time ever clash. Probably due to being so hot at the time, Becky came in confident. She talked smack and acted like she had the match in hand. Asuka is no slouch and made her eat her words. This was hard hitting to the point where you believed Asuka might actually hit a German suplex off the apron. That tells you how legitimate this felt. Everything they did not only came off well but it seemed vicious. There was an intensity in this that was almost unmatched all year. Both women had scouted each other so well that they were able to apply each other’s submissions. The Asuka Lock wouldn’t get it done, so the champion turned it into a modified Cattle Mutilation, bringing me back to the ROH days of Daniel Bryan. This went 17:08 and was another shining example of how great the women of WWE are.
77. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
I know most people were excited for Omega/Okada at Wrestle Kingdom, but it was KUSHIDA/Hiromu and Naito/Tanahashi that I looked forward to the most. Three years after not getting the Tokyo Dome main event because of a Tanahashi Intercontinental Title match, Naito entered with that championship to face him. He was on a roll, while Tanahashi had lost several high profile matches in 2016, including shots at both the Heavyweight and IC Titles. Tanahashi brought out some heel tactics, like not giving clean breaks. He badly wanted the victory. They both targeted the leg. It’s kind of Tanahashi’s thing, while Naito used it to setup his knee bar. Each man sold the work well. They brought some cool spots, like Tanahashi hitting an apron slingblade. There was an awesome Destino near fall that I totally bit on. In the end, Naito survived High Fly Flow and hit two Destinos to retain in a fantastic 25:25. Naito got the big win on the big stage against the guy who bumped him from the main event three years earlier. To think, these two were just getting warmed up for 2017.
76. WWE Championship: AJ Styles [c] vs. John Cena – WWE Royal Rumble 2017
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.
75. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2016
Tetsuya Naito and Tomohiro Ishii are, in my opinion, the two best wrestlers in NJPW since Hiroshi Tanahashi is finally slowing down. They make magic together too. Other than the night Naito won the title about a month earlier, this was the most excited for an IWGP Heavyweight Title match I have probably ever been (I started following at Wrestle Kingdom 9). You had Naito’s first defense and Ishii’s first ever title shot. Naito brought LIDJ to ringside, while Ishii had his CHAOS buddies with him. I love how this played off their New Japan Cup match. Ishii’s hard hitting style wasn’t enough there, so he came into this with a plan to work Naito’s surgically repaired knee. Credit to Naito for selling the damage so well. There were times where he would just leave that leg limp like he couldn’t use it for anything. Seeing Ishii go for submission was such a great change of pace. They’ve had classics in the past, but this was a different match that showcased their versatility. EVIL got involved a few times until he and BUSHI were finally driven to the back by Okada and Gedo, leaving the final stretch of this match to be a one on one encounter. Those closing moments were the best. Coming into this, Ishii didn’t seem to have a chance at winning but they sucked you in and made you believe it would happen. He came close so many times, especially on an incredibly reverse brainbuster. Finally, after having it countered all match long, Naito hit Destino and retained at 30:33. Incredible sequences, heart pounding drama, a hot crowd and even the interference worked. Ishii may never get another shot that the title and if so, he made it count, putting on the kind of match that fits his character perfectly. This was the freshness I wanted from the title picture. It was the best IWGP Heavyweight Title match all year.
74. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW G1 Climax 27 8/11/17
At Wrestle Kingdom, Tetsuya Naito beat Hiroshi Tanahashi. At Dominion, Tanahashi evened the score. This was the tiebreaker for the year and the winner would claim the A Block in the tournament. Four years prior to the date, Naito beat Tanahashi in a disappointing final to win the G1 23. The fans were way behind Naito, who commentary noted as the most popular Japanese guy on the roster. Tanahashi played into it masterfully. He slapped Naito instead of giving clean breaks, he stopped to taunt, and he interrupted Naito’s signature tranquilo taunt. It was clear he was in Naito’s head. To combat it, Naito relentlessly went after Tanahashi’s injured arm. Tanahashi targeted the leg, which helped him beat Naito in June. They constantly had great counters for one another and played so well off their history. When Naito got placed in the Texas Cloverleaf, it looked like he would tap out just like he did at Dominion. Tanahashi sunk it in deeper than ever. However, Naito found the will to make it to the ropes and survive. Putting all the pressure he used took its toll on Tanahashi’s arm. Naito won their closing exchange and used several Destinos to win in 26:41. They had the best NJPW trilogy of 2017 and this was their best work together. The limb work was top notch, as was Tanahashi’s tremendous heel work. A stellar match in every single way. Naito had an all-time great year.
73. Money in the Bank: Alberto Del Rio vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Money in the Bank 2016
Not counting the 2015 edition, the Money in the Bank match has been a lock for a big year-end list like this. This year’s field was one of the best ever. Alberto Del Rio was the only guy that didn’t enter with momentum. Everyone else seemed to have a legitimate shot at winning. The spots came early and often as pretty much everyone brought their A game. Though there were a lot of spots, it never felt like they were moving from one spot to the next. The match had a very natural flow to it. The emphasis on some of the personal issues throughout the match added something unique to this. Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho were fresh off a feud while Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens continued their eternal rivalry. Jericho wanted revenge for Dean getting 69 thumbtacks stuck in his body and Zayn and Owens just hate each other. Some of the best spots saw Cesaro’s fun uppercut barrage, a cannonball barrage from Owens and Del Rio locking Cesaro in a cross armbreaker between ladder rungs. Cesaro swinging Jericho into a ladder was also great. Near the end, Zayn pretty much killed Owens with a Michinoku driver onto an open ladder. All six men battled on top of ladders, leading to a cool visual. Sami was close to winning but Owens pulled him away and powerbombed him onto a ladder. Dean stopped Owens from winning and pulled down the briefcase at 21:37. He would successfully cash in to end the night. This was the third best Money in the Bank match to me behind the original and the Smackdown one in 2013. Maybe the 2014 one has a case. Either way, this ruled.
72. NXT Women’s Championship Ironman Match: Bayley [c] vs. Sasha Banks – NXT TakeOver: Respect
Coming off their classic in Brooklyn, fans were eager for a rematch between Sasha Banks and Bayley. We got what we wanted and more because not only was it going to be the first ever women’s Ironman match, but the first time ever that two women got to main event a TakeOver special. Naturally going thirty minutes is one thing, but executing an Ironman match can be tricky. These matches have been hit or miss throughout history. They did well working with the time. Things started slowly, before building to bigger and better things. Sasha scored the first fall with an eye poke and rollup and then Bayley tied it with the Bayley to Belly. It was here that the match moved into a “phase two” of sorts. It got physical, with the steel steps coming into play and Sasha going full on heel. She talked trash to Bayley superfan, Izzy, in the front row. After throwing Bayley into the stage, another rather brutal spot, Sasha stole Izzy’s headband and got a countout fall, making the little girl cry. That is just fantastic heel work that isn’t seen often enough now. Bayley tied it with a rollup, and time began to trickle down. The fight went outside again for more big spots like a steel step assisted clothesline and Bayley to Belly on the floor. Finally, Bayley survived the Bank Statement and pulled out a submission we’d never seen her do before. It took stomping on Sasha’s head before the former champion quit with three seconds left. To give it an even bigger feel, the locker room emptied to give them a standing ovation. Sasha’s sendoff from NXT was well done and well deserved, ending with a great match and tears.
71. WWE Intercontinental Championship: The Miz [c] vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Extreme Rules 2016
An Intercontinental Title match featuring four of the WWE’s top performers in 2016? Yes, please. There were so many things to love about this. The Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn feud came right into play with a Helluva Kick after the opening bell. Cesaro then laid out Miz and gave us a renewal of the excellent Zayn/Cesaro rivalry from their NXT days. Besides the existing feuds being touched upon, each guy played their role perfectly. Owens was a total asshole, Zayn was the fiery babyface, Cesaro ran wild with his crowd pleasing offense and Miz played the cunning heel. Again, there were some great moments like a massive tower of doom spot to Cesaro German suplexing Zayn who was hitting Miz with an exploder. Owens did a cool cannonball barrage after Cesaro’s trademark uppercut train. These incredible sequences all featured some perfect timing from everyone involved. The fans totally bit on a Skull Crushing Finale near fall down the stretch. Miz tapped to Cesaro’s Sharpshooter but a Maryse distraction saved him. Not only did they expertly tease a Cesaro win, they had Miz nearly steal it several times. So much that it was to the point where you thought it wouldn’t happen. Just when Sami hit the Helluva Kick on Cesaro, Owens pulled him outside and they brawled, allowing Miz to sneak in and retain at 18:18. They nailed everything in this match. I love how they played with the emotions of the fans. The quality of IC Title matches dipped for the next two PPVs, but picked up for the rest of the year.
