Post by βππ£π ππ ππππ on Dec 19, 2022 11:59:11 GMT -5
Hey guys! This post was really made for all of YOU to talk about your favorite matches of the year but I'm going to share all of my favorites below.
I admit that I was not on top of WWE much at all this year. I attended Royal Rumble live and that was a real bummer to begin the year on such a low note. Everything after the opening match was decent to infamously bad (the men's Rumble match). But I am still a die hard wrestling fan and there were at least 10 matches that really stood out to me from WWE from the past year!
10. Seth Rollins VS Bobby Lashley VS Austin Theory -- Triple Threat match for the United States Championship -- Survivor Series 2022
I really just thought this match was a ton of fun considering its a sort of throw away match on a mostly forgettable PPV. I can't even count how many times these three have been in the ring together over the last year but any combination of these three, on paper, is pretty repetitive and and old. To our surprise, these three guys came out with a really fast pace and a lot of hot moves to get the crowd into the action. I also really loved the creative finish and its an old school ending that I haven't seen in quite awhile. I think putting the US belt on Theory at a time when the title in the main focus on RAW is a bit of an odd choice, especially when you have a champion as well-received as Seth Rollins, but I'm focusing more on the actual match and not the story surrounding it. It was a really nothing match that ended up being one that stuck out to me the most from the entire year!
9. Bianca Belair VS Becky Lynch -- RAW Women's Championship -- SummerSlam 2022
I was really excited to see these two on a grand stage again considering their legendary match they had a few months earlier at WrestleMania, and I was not disappointed. While I would say this is the weaker of the two big caliber matches that Belair and Lynch had this year, that is only overstating how good their WrestleMania match was. This match was another one full of action that kept the crowd into every moment. I loved that these two women had plenty of time to tell their story and really create a totally unique match from their bout in April. Its hard to believe that exactly a year before this, Sasha Vs Bianca was scrapped the day of the match at SummerSlam 2021 and Becky returned to squash Bianca in seconds. I think its fair to say that the dull moment at last year's SummerSlam was more than made up for by the incredible duo of PPV matches these two women had. I am totally in love with Bianca and she really has something special. Becky really has a ton of chemistry with Belair and Lynch really proved herself as a great wrestler after quite a bit of "stop and start" stories and matches. I feel like I could watch these two in the ring on every PPV and be fine with it.
8. Sami Zayn VS Johnny Knoxville -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
Another one of those matches that many people expected absolutely nothing from. I remember how popular Sami Zayn was getting at this time and many people felt that this entire program was really bogging him down and wasting yet another WrestleMania for such a cult favorite. Well, this match was did exactly the opposite. Zayn showed so much depth in his ability in the ring to make this match one of the most memorable of the year. The ridiculousness of this match was forgiven because of the incredible job Zayn did selling the silly gimmicks and making the most out of what most people would consider a death sentence. They could have put Johnny Knoxville in the ring with anyone else in the company in this spot and it would have never worked as well as it did here with Sami. This match is something that let Zayn's personality and ability shine so much so that he slowly crept into the position that he's in now. Bravo to everyone involved. I really can't believe I am putting this on the list, let alone ABOVE 2 OTHER MATCHES, but I thought it was something special and a match that really helped put Zayn into a top level in the company for the remainder of the year.
7. Roman Reigns VS Matt Riddle -- WWE Universal Championship (Smackdown 6/17/22)
The only match that I am including on my list from weekly TV. I went out of my way to make sure I saw this one. This was really when Matt Riddle was white hot as tag team champions with Randy Orton. Roman Reigns was not yet being questioned as a stale character and he still seemed somewhat beatable. These two had a PPV main event-caliber match on Smackdown. There were some incredible false finishes where the crowd really thought Riddle had Roman beat. The finishing sequence is one of the hottest I've seen on TV in a long time. This match was a ton of fun and a real treat for WWE to air on Smackdown for everyone to see.
6. Roman Reigns VS Seth Rollins -- WWE Universal Championship -- Royal Rumble 2022
This match was one that I was live for and the energy throughout the arena for Rollins was unbelievable. I really enjoyed the unique build up to this match and I think the interesting dynamic of full-fledged heel Rollins being forced to play the babyface was something I haven't seen done well in a long time in the WWE. These two worked hard to make this match seem like a sudden death type of bout where either guy could win at any time. I love that this match starts off in a fast tempo and really takes its time to slow down. We get a spectacular announce table bump that did a lot to add drama to the match. I know this match ends in DQ, which is odd considering this is the unbeatable version of Roman Reigns, but the finish kind of works for me in a sense that this was a really unique story these two told building to the match and within the match itself. It was a ton of fun to see these two back in the ring together in a great match.
5. Cody Rhodes VS Seth Rollins -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
What can I even say about this match? The hype, the rumors, the drama, the return, the spectacle -- these two could've gone out and rolled around amateur-style and it would still be somewhere on my list. All of the news cycle was so dominated by Cody for the first quarter of 2022 and it really ended with WrestleMania week -- heightened by the fact that Rollins was going to have a "mystery opponent" at WrestleMania just six days before the event. I really don't think they could have told this story better. They brought Cody back in a way that felt like they set up an archenemy in Rollins right away. The WrestleMania moment of Cody Rhodes' return to WWE already had everyone watching going mad, but then these two have a barn burner of a match in the ring to really cap this off as one of my favorite Mania matches ever, not just one of my favorites of the year.
4. Roman Reigns VS Brock Lesnar -- Last Man Standing match for the WWE Universal Championship -- SummerSlam 2022
Yet another match that a lot of fans groaned at. These two had an extremely forgettable match at WrestleMania just a few months before that was a really flat finish to an otherwise great weekend of wrestling. When I saw Brock return to set his sights on Roman and the title again, I was pretty blown away that WWE was once again going to the well with this match. All I could think was how overbooked and bloated this match was going to be because of the last man standing stipulation, but these two actually had my favorite match between them since WrestleMania 31. I loved how the match stayed outside of the ring for the most part. The tractor being driven to the ring seemed a bit silly right off the bat but ended up being a great prop piece to begin and end the match. Brock's dive off the tractor was one of the coolest things I've seen Brock do in quite some time. These guys really beat the piss out of each other and it just felt like these two were on a much different level than their WrestleMania main event. The ending was really well done, even if its a finish we have seen a few times in recent history with the big guy getting buried with whatever is around the ring to keep him down. The real stand out moment here was the unbelievable stunt of lifting the ring clean off the ground using the tractor. I love Roman's stumble and fall when the ring gets lifted up. This is one of those moments I'll put toe-to-toe with the first ever ring break in WWE way back in 2003. It was such a unique experience to see something so out of the ordinary but something that worked so well, all things considered. This was a really pleasant surprise considering myself and quite a lot of others expected this bout to fall flat.
3. Kevin Owens VS "Stone Cold" Steve Austin -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
I feel like I can keep this write up brief. You all feel the same way I did watching this. If you watched this match, you felt one of two ways -- (1) its going to be a 3 minute squash where Austin barely bumps and hits a stunner really quickly to win, or (2) Austin is going to embarrass himself and hurt his legacy much like HBK did just a few years ago. Well, neither one happened and this match was a fever dream. The opening KO Show segment was a great way to get heat for this match one last time before the bell actually rang. The skit got the crowd white hot to see how this was all going to play out and ended up being one hell of a promo for Kevin Owens. Austin looked incredible here and you can tell that he wasn't going to go out looking like a fool. Austin came to work and found the perfect opponent in Owens for a match of this caliber. I feel like the entire last 35 minutes or so of night 1 was a beautiful swan song for Austin. I will never forget watching this live and being so happy for both Owens and Steve. What a moment.
2. Becky Lynch VS Bianca Belair -- RAW Women's Championship -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
The match that I'd put up against any women's match that I've ever seen. These two looked like absolute superstars. I am totally in love with the performances by these two women here. The build to this match was awfully lackluster in my opinion and it left a lot to be desired. Up to this point, we hadn't seen much of Becky Vs Biance 1-on-1 and the fans didn't realize how much chemistry they really had. These two blew expectations out of the water and had perhaps the best women's match in WWE history. It makes it all the more impressive when you realize that Belair took a stiff boot to the face and basically wrestled the later half of the match with one eye. All around perfect match that I was in absolute awe of. This and my number 1 pick made it really hard to narrow down the list in order.
1. Gunther VS Sheamus -- Intercontinental Championship -- Clash at the Castle
I've long been a fan of Gunther and his style of matches. I feel like the appetite for his style of wrestling really grew with some his all-time classics that he had in his NXT: UK days. Walter Vs Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Ilja Dragunov have all introduced a very new style of wrestling to WWE fans and the hardcore audience have really eaten it up. That's why when WWE fans first saw this match booked, it felt like a must-see matchup. Sheamus looked about 10 years younger here and Gunther looked like the wrecking machine that he's been for years. This is one of the hardest hitting matches I've ever seen. Its incredible that these two were able to keep this pace up for as long as they did and it speaks volumes about these performers on the fact that they made the IC title look like the most important prize in wrestling in 2022. Add to this the really special atmosphere of being the first UK PPV in so many years, this is a match I will really never forget and one I could rewatch anytime.
I admit that I was not on top of WWE much at all this year. I attended Royal Rumble live and that was a real bummer to begin the year on such a low note. Everything after the opening match was decent to infamously bad (the men's Rumble match). But I am still a die hard wrestling fan and there were at least 10 matches that really stood out to me from WWE from the past year!
10. Seth Rollins VS Bobby Lashley VS Austin Theory -- Triple Threat match for the United States Championship -- Survivor Series 2022
I really just thought this match was a ton of fun considering its a sort of throw away match on a mostly forgettable PPV. I can't even count how many times these three have been in the ring together over the last year but any combination of these three, on paper, is pretty repetitive and and old. To our surprise, these three guys came out with a really fast pace and a lot of hot moves to get the crowd into the action. I also really loved the creative finish and its an old school ending that I haven't seen in quite awhile. I think putting the US belt on Theory at a time when the title in the main focus on RAW is a bit of an odd choice, especially when you have a champion as well-received as Seth Rollins, but I'm focusing more on the actual match and not the story surrounding it. It was a really nothing match that ended up being one that stuck out to me the most from the entire year!
9. Bianca Belair VS Becky Lynch -- RAW Women's Championship -- SummerSlam 2022
I was really excited to see these two on a grand stage again considering their legendary match they had a few months earlier at WrestleMania, and I was not disappointed. While I would say this is the weaker of the two big caliber matches that Belair and Lynch had this year, that is only overstating how good their WrestleMania match was. This match was another one full of action that kept the crowd into every moment. I loved that these two women had plenty of time to tell their story and really create a totally unique match from their bout in April. Its hard to believe that exactly a year before this, Sasha Vs Bianca was scrapped the day of the match at SummerSlam 2021 and Becky returned to squash Bianca in seconds. I think its fair to say that the dull moment at last year's SummerSlam was more than made up for by the incredible duo of PPV matches these two women had. I am totally in love with Bianca and she really has something special. Becky really has a ton of chemistry with Belair and Lynch really proved herself as a great wrestler after quite a bit of "stop and start" stories and matches. I feel like I could watch these two in the ring on every PPV and be fine with it.
8. Sami Zayn VS Johnny Knoxville -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
Another one of those matches that many people expected absolutely nothing from. I remember how popular Sami Zayn was getting at this time and many people felt that this entire program was really bogging him down and wasting yet another WrestleMania for such a cult favorite. Well, this match was did exactly the opposite. Zayn showed so much depth in his ability in the ring to make this match one of the most memorable of the year. The ridiculousness of this match was forgiven because of the incredible job Zayn did selling the silly gimmicks and making the most out of what most people would consider a death sentence. They could have put Johnny Knoxville in the ring with anyone else in the company in this spot and it would have never worked as well as it did here with Sami. This match is something that let Zayn's personality and ability shine so much so that he slowly crept into the position that he's in now. Bravo to everyone involved. I really can't believe I am putting this on the list, let alone ABOVE 2 OTHER MATCHES, but I thought it was something special and a match that really helped put Zayn into a top level in the company for the remainder of the year.
7. Roman Reigns VS Matt Riddle -- WWE Universal Championship (Smackdown 6/17/22)
The only match that I am including on my list from weekly TV. I went out of my way to make sure I saw this one. This was really when Matt Riddle was white hot as tag team champions with Randy Orton. Roman Reigns was not yet being questioned as a stale character and he still seemed somewhat beatable. These two had a PPV main event-caliber match on Smackdown. There were some incredible false finishes where the crowd really thought Riddle had Roman beat. The finishing sequence is one of the hottest I've seen on TV in a long time. This match was a ton of fun and a real treat for WWE to air on Smackdown for everyone to see.
6. Roman Reigns VS Seth Rollins -- WWE Universal Championship -- Royal Rumble 2022
This match was one that I was live for and the energy throughout the arena for Rollins was unbelievable. I really enjoyed the unique build up to this match and I think the interesting dynamic of full-fledged heel Rollins being forced to play the babyface was something I haven't seen done well in a long time in the WWE. These two worked hard to make this match seem like a sudden death type of bout where either guy could win at any time. I love that this match starts off in a fast tempo and really takes its time to slow down. We get a spectacular announce table bump that did a lot to add drama to the match. I know this match ends in DQ, which is odd considering this is the unbeatable version of Roman Reigns, but the finish kind of works for me in a sense that this was a really unique story these two told building to the match and within the match itself. It was a ton of fun to see these two back in the ring together in a great match.
5. Cody Rhodes VS Seth Rollins -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
What can I even say about this match? The hype, the rumors, the drama, the return, the spectacle -- these two could've gone out and rolled around amateur-style and it would still be somewhere on my list. All of the news cycle was so dominated by Cody for the first quarter of 2022 and it really ended with WrestleMania week -- heightened by the fact that Rollins was going to have a "mystery opponent" at WrestleMania just six days before the event. I really don't think they could have told this story better. They brought Cody back in a way that felt like they set up an archenemy in Rollins right away. The WrestleMania moment of Cody Rhodes' return to WWE already had everyone watching going mad, but then these two have a barn burner of a match in the ring to really cap this off as one of my favorite Mania matches ever, not just one of my favorites of the year.
4. Roman Reigns VS Brock Lesnar -- Last Man Standing match for the WWE Universal Championship -- SummerSlam 2022
Yet another match that a lot of fans groaned at. These two had an extremely forgettable match at WrestleMania just a few months before that was a really flat finish to an otherwise great weekend of wrestling. When I saw Brock return to set his sights on Roman and the title again, I was pretty blown away that WWE was once again going to the well with this match. All I could think was how overbooked and bloated this match was going to be because of the last man standing stipulation, but these two actually had my favorite match between them since WrestleMania 31. I loved how the match stayed outside of the ring for the most part. The tractor being driven to the ring seemed a bit silly right off the bat but ended up being a great prop piece to begin and end the match. Brock's dive off the tractor was one of the coolest things I've seen Brock do in quite some time. These guys really beat the piss out of each other and it just felt like these two were on a much different level than their WrestleMania main event. The ending was really well done, even if its a finish we have seen a few times in recent history with the big guy getting buried with whatever is around the ring to keep him down. The real stand out moment here was the unbelievable stunt of lifting the ring clean off the ground using the tractor. I love Roman's stumble and fall when the ring gets lifted up. This is one of those moments I'll put toe-to-toe with the first ever ring break in WWE way back in 2003. It was such a unique experience to see something so out of the ordinary but something that worked so well, all things considered. This was a really pleasant surprise considering myself and quite a lot of others expected this bout to fall flat.
3. Kevin Owens VS "Stone Cold" Steve Austin -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
I feel like I can keep this write up brief. You all feel the same way I did watching this. If you watched this match, you felt one of two ways -- (1) its going to be a 3 minute squash where Austin barely bumps and hits a stunner really quickly to win, or (2) Austin is going to embarrass himself and hurt his legacy much like HBK did just a few years ago. Well, neither one happened and this match was a fever dream. The opening KO Show segment was a great way to get heat for this match one last time before the bell actually rang. The skit got the crowd white hot to see how this was all going to play out and ended up being one hell of a promo for Kevin Owens. Austin looked incredible here and you can tell that he wasn't going to go out looking like a fool. Austin came to work and found the perfect opponent in Owens for a match of this caliber. I feel like the entire last 35 minutes or so of night 1 was a beautiful swan song for Austin. I will never forget watching this live and being so happy for both Owens and Steve. What a moment.
2. Becky Lynch VS Bianca Belair -- RAW Women's Championship -- WrestleMania 38 (Night 1)
The match that I'd put up against any women's match that I've ever seen. These two looked like absolute superstars. I am totally in love with the performances by these two women here. The build to this match was awfully lackluster in my opinion and it left a lot to be desired. Up to this point, we hadn't seen much of Becky Vs Biance 1-on-1 and the fans didn't realize how much chemistry they really had. These two blew expectations out of the water and had perhaps the best women's match in WWE history. It makes it all the more impressive when you realize that Belair took a stiff boot to the face and basically wrestled the later half of the match with one eye. All around perfect match that I was in absolute awe of. This and my number 1 pick made it really hard to narrow down the list in order.
1. Gunther VS Sheamus -- Intercontinental Championship -- Clash at the Castle
I've long been a fan of Gunther and his style of matches. I feel like the appetite for his style of wrestling really grew with some his all-time classics that he had in his NXT: UK days. Walter Vs Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Ilja Dragunov have all introduced a very new style of wrestling to WWE fans and the hardcore audience have really eaten it up. That's why when WWE fans first saw this match booked, it felt like a must-see matchup. Sheamus looked about 10 years younger here and Gunther looked like the wrecking machine that he's been for years. This is one of the hardest hitting matches I've ever seen. Its incredible that these two were able to keep this pace up for as long as they did and it speaks volumes about these performers on the fact that they made the IC title look like the most important prize in wrestling in 2022. Add to this the really special atmosphere of being the first UK PPV in so many years, this is a match I will really never forget and one I could rewatch anytime.
