Best matches so far in 2014.

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

Alright, I wanted to make this the previous week, but I was busy, so I am making it now. We have had 2 PPVs so far, along with many episodes of Raw and Smackdown. What matches have stood out to you so far?
Here is my list:

-The Shield vs the Wyatts @ Elimination Chamber. What can I say? I can't see how this won't be match of the year already, because I can't see how any other match can top this one. It had everything. The build-up was amazing, the entrances were amazing, the brawl before the start of the match, the stories in the ring, the spots that happened (especially THAT one from Rollins) and I could go on and on and on. I also think that these two teams were the victim of a WM scenario and time constraint. If I was booking that match, I could have easily made it to go on for 15 minutes more. How? Once Rollins has been laid out and Reigns is standing alone in the ring, after Ambrose was missing, have Reigns do whatever he is doing in the ring after the Superman punches. Then, at some point, the Wyatts regatherer and circle Reigns. As the close in on him, Ambrose appears out of nowhere to back up Reigns and after some time Rollins also gets up and rolls in the ring to have that 3 on 3 confrontation again. Just imagine the scene, after 20-25 minutes of brutal fighting, they face off again. They start brawling again while the arena is buzzing. The match turns into a legit tornado match and we get more spots. This is my idea of how it could have been better if given more time and not necessarily having to create that dissension between the Shield.

-Bray Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan. Oh, what a match. No stipulations, no titles on the line, basically a match with "no real meaning" if you know what I mean, yet it delivered way better than most championship matches will ever do. They come from an enjoyable storyline and the action in the ring was superb. Great story telling, great spots, but this is also another victim of time constraints and WM story build-up. Right when Bray hit the Sister Abigail on the outside and fans started chanting "this is awesome" is where they should capitalize and make something huge, instead of Bray just finishing the match.

-Elimination Chamber match. I really liked the dynamic of this match. The Chamber concept is really nice even after all these years. The outcome was pretty much obvious, but the match itself was pretty good. Cesaro and his uppercuts kept things interesting until the "bigger" names entered the match. Great spots, especially that frog splash from Christian, the Wyatt family interference and finally this whole thing with Daniel Bryan. Most people literally thought that he would win the match after kicking out of the RKO. For just that, it deserves to be up there in the best matches of this year.

Afterwards, we have Cesaro's matches against Orton and Cena. The kid is incredible and can deliver. Also, Cena vs Orton @ Royal Rumble was pretty good too, even thought we have seen this so many times. Those two guys were the victim of exactly that; people being uninterested in that feud and shitting all over their match, but in its essence, it was a good match.


Your thoughts?

 

[Thewweera]

I enjoyed The Wyatts vs The shield a lot. MOTY candidate for sure. All the reasons you listed apply as well.

John Cena vs Cesaro was phenomenal in my opinion. Cesaro looked strong in a Cena victory. Great match.

 

[Gibby]

I realise this is a WWE sub-forum but I'll include all the matches I have enjoyed. Most of the good-to-great matches will be covered pretty quickly, I should imagine. In no particular order.

- Cesaro v Sami Zayn, NXT Arrival.
Loved the nods to their previous matches, strongly written and well-booked. A good example of the loser getting a good rub.

- Cesaro v John Cena, WWE Raw
I've always been aware that Cesaro was meant to be good but I hadn't been too impressed with him (having not seen much ROH or his 2/3 falls match until recently). I thought this match on TV was absolutely PPV-worthy from both men, lots of back and forth and written from a situation where a Cesaro win was unlikely but not impossible. Would enjoy a feud between these two.

- The Wyatt Family v The Shield, WWE Elimination Chamber
Showing that it's not just Japan and Mexico who have the monopoly on quality six-man action, - and I don't think I can't deny the quality going in and coming out of the occasion - to get two relatively fresh heel factions to face each other in a must-see? That says something really positive about how they've handled these.

- Randy Orton v Daniel Bryan v Cesaro v Sheamus v Christian v John Cena, WWE Elimination Chamber
Generally-speaking the actual EC matches have left me quite cold but I thought this had a great mix of characters and I enjoyed there being no covers until the final pod had opened. It must be so easy to overbook these matches and I take my hat off that they didn't; everyone had a reason for going in and a direction heading out. No one got jobbed out either. Lots of good action and some fun spots.

- Tomohiro Ishii v Tetsuya Naito, NJPW The New Beginning Pt 2
Quality secondary title match between the guy they want to be the breakout star (Naito) and the guy who is going to be the breakout star (Ishii), really hot match with plenty of back and forth. My mouth was wide open in astonishment down the stretch.

- Hirooki Goto v Katsuyori Shibata, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8
Redefining 'stiff' and 'intense' in a worked context, these two legit friends went at it like a pair of bulls in a china matchbox, just rampaging damaging kicks off each other and smashing huge suplexes until the other one says uncle. Great ending too, one of the best presentations and culumnations of a feud I've seen in many a year.

 

[Eddie Menuek]

I don't think anything on WWE's main programming/pay-per-view is in the same bracket as Shield/Wyatts, Bryan/Wyatt or Cena/Cesaro. All three were brilliant matches and great advertisements for the future and present of WWE.

A few people have told me that Cesaro/Zayn was better than all of them, which just makes me question why I haven't found the time to watch Arrival yet.

 

[Gibby]

.A few people have told me that Cesaro/Zayn was better than all of them, which just makes me question why I haven't found the time to watch Arrival yet.

I don't want to overhype it and to be fair it's not the best match ever or anything, but it's one of those that makes you weirdly proud to be into the whole fake-fighting game, two guys with plenty of talent going at it, and a nice story for the whole thing to rest on top of. Get it watched.

 

[ASKane]

My top 3 so far

Shield v Wyatts 1 - Fast paced match with great wrestling and unpredictability right up to the penultimate move. Until Bray cut Reigns off with the cross body to set up Sister Abigail it was still unclear who was gonna win. No clear Shield dissension improved the match

Shield v Wyatts 2 - More great wrestling from these 6 great high flying by Rollins, Wyatts looked strong and Reigns going into Beast Mode was awesome. Having Rollins be the 1 to walk away was brilliant as well.

Reigns v Wyatt - Crowd may not have helped this match but the wrestling was good, both have great spot and the finish enhanced the storyline without damaging either guy

 

[JJV]

I can't remember some matches, but these matches should definitely be in the list of best matches so far.
1) Shield vs Wyatts at Elimination Chamber. A definite match of the year candidate; might even win it!
2) Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt. Unexpectedly great match (Bray Wyatt wasn't really that good in the ring before this match took place. Kane vs Wyatt and Kofi vs Wyatt weren't that great matches at all), great storyline and awesome crowd reaction made this match memorable!
3) The Elimination Chamber match. This match got a negative response only because Bryan didn't win. That's so unfair. It was a great match and a good finish.
4) Cesaro vs John Cena. Good match, albeit I would have preferred Cesaro picking up the victory here. He beat the champ on Smackdown, could have beaten Cena on Raw as well.
5) Roman Reigns vs CM Punk. Great match, great finish!

The Royal Rumble match was also amazing, till the point where all superstars entered. After that it was terrible!!
Other matches that could make it to the list for now is Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton vs Cesaro and the Shield vs Wyatts match on Raw

 

[Jack-Hammer]

In my eyes, all of these matches were in the 3.75 to 4.5 range.

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - This was the first match we'd seen from Bryan & Orton in 2014 and I thought it was a strong effort. I wasn't exactly sure how the match would end because we've seen Bryan screwed over by The Authority against Orton so many times. The crowd was hot, both guys worked really hard, Bryan sold the crap out of a left arm "injury" and they told a good story. It was also good to see Bryan score a 100% non controversial, clean win over Orton on live TV. ***3/4

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt at the Royal Rumble - A great match and a great effort from both guys. This was really the first time we'd gotten a chance to see what Wyatt can bring into a match with some major time given to it. I don't think a lot of people expected this match to be as good as it was. I was expecting a pretty solid effort, but I came away impressed to a far greater degree than I thought I would. ****

John Cena vs. Antonio Cesaro on Raw - This was a huge moment for Cesaro and really drove home just how much of a benefit to the roster he is. Even though he lost, Cesaro looked fantastic and gave Cena all he could handle. One thing that I especially liked is that they didn't go flat out Super Cena by having Cena absorb all of Cesaro's top moves. For instance, Cesaro didn't hit the Neutralizer only for Cena to kick out. Kicking out of each other's finishers is something that, in my eyes, needs to be done on special occasions, such as a really big ppv in which everyone "turns their game up a notch." I didn't really expect Cesaro to win but if he had, the surprise of such an ending would have bumped this match up to be MOTY in the minds of most people, in my opinion. ****1/2

John Cena vs. Randy Orton on Raw - While it's definitely true we've seen them go at it a lot, I thought their match on Raw, in which Orton was running the gauntlet of his Elimination Chamber opponents, was one of the best they've had, possibly ever. The fact that they have wrestled so many times in the past did drag the excitement down for me somewhat, but it was still a strong bout with a lot of great near falls, strong action and a hot crowd. ***3/4

Sami Zayn vs. Antonio Cesaro on NXT Arrival - Zayn & Cesaro have had some genuine classics in NXT, but this one is probably the best they've had yet. They just work so well together and this was a helluva match to kick NXT Arrival off with. I can understand if some weren't invested in the match if this was really the first time they'd been able to catch NXT. Considering Cesaro's spot on the main roster and how much that prominence has risen over the past month or so, having him go over while having Zayn give him all he could handle was the right way to go. ****

The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family - Both their matches at Elimination Chamber and on Raw last week were wild, physical, highly energetic matches in front of hot crowds and told great stories. The Wyatt Family went over in both matches, which was the right decision in my opinion because The Shield lost nothing. The Family scored big wins over a very dominant trio in ways that's progressing the storyline of The Shield's impending break up nicely. Elimination Chamber **** Raw ***3/4

 

[TheVolFan52]

It's a good thing that we already have more MOTY candidates in March then we had last year. Zayn and Cesaro, Shield vs Wyatts, Bryan vs Wyatt, and Cena and Cesaro all stand out to me. I believe the shield vs wyatts match was MOTY to me. I was emotionally invested, loved the build-up, and every guy enhanced their characters while putting on a wrestling clinic. I loved everything about that match. WWe's current in-ring product has been great. The future is bright.

 

[TheICChampion]

I enjoyed The Wyatts vs The shield a lot. MOTY candidate for sure.

As much as I agree with you, I'm afraid we're going to have more of the "same old, same old" this year, with most likely John Cena winning match and/or superstar of the year. The Shield vs The Wyatts let us know that the new generation is officially here. Unfortunately, Cena had to go and cut that promo about how the new guys had to go through him first. Gee, look how well that went for Cesaro. Great match, no doubt, but who won again? Hopefully this isn't a trend, but knowing Cena....

 

[ASKane]

As much as I agree with you, I'm afraid we're going to have more of the "same old, same old" this year, with most likely John Cena winning match and/or superstar of the year. The Shield vs The Wyatts let us know that the new generation is officially here. Unfortunately, Cena had to go and cut that promo about how the new guys had to go through him first. Gee, look how well that went for Cesaro. Great match, no doubt, but who won again? Hopefully this isn't a trend, but knowing Cena....

Hopefully this isn't a trend. Havent you been watching wrestling for the last 5 years. Cena wrestles an up and comer, Cena wins and then the guy is barely heard from again. Sandow is the obvious guy to pick to prove it, when he wrestled Cena most people(mainly Cena fans) talked about how Cena elevated him and helped his career and now he only wrestles on Superstars and Main Event. Ryback is another example, wrestles Cena in a title match, Cena kicks out of everything he has to offer and then wins and the guy barely gets on TV now.

A match against Cena is a career killer because he will kick out of all your moves at 2 then hit a really weak looking finisher and win and then within 6 months you will be begging management to get a match on Superstars because you have been screwed up so badly by Cena

 

[BigThunder]

We had a really good crop of matches last year, and this year looks to be no different, despite the loss of Punk. If the writers can get their act together (or, more probably, the backstage politics doesn't ruin everything) and book everything half as strong as Shield-Wyatts, this will be a terrific year.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

- Seth Rollins vs. John Cena [Smackdown]
- Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk [Monday Night RAW]
- Steel Cage Match: The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt [Monday Night RAW]
- Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt [Royal Rumble]
- Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: The Shield vs. John Cena, Daniel Bryan & Sheamus [Monday Night RAW]
- Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton [Monday Night RAW]
- United States Championship: Deam Ambrose vs. Mark Henry [Monday Night RAW]
- Randy Orton vs. John Cena [Monday Night RAW]
- The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan, Sheamus & Christian [Smackdown]
- Fatal Four Way Match to determine the #1 Contender for the I.C. Championship: Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry vs. Kofi Kingston [Smackdown]
- The Usos & The Brotherhood vs. The New Age Outlaws & Rybaxel [Smackdown]
- Cesaro vs. Randy Orton [Smackdown]
- Cesaro vs. John Cena [Monday Night RAW]
- The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family [Elimination Chamber]
- Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena vs. Cesaro vs. Christian vs. Sheamus [Elimination Chamber]
- Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt [Monday Night RAW]
- The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family II [Monday Night RAW]
- Daniel Bryan vs. Batista [Monday Night RAW]
- Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn [NXT ArRIVAL]
- NXT Womens Championship: Paige vs. Emma [NXT ArRIVAL]
- Ladder Match for the NXT Championship: Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville [NXT ArRIVAL]

There were also a few really solid 6-man tag team matches at the very beginnig of the year involving The Shield vs. Bryan, Punk & Big E or something like that but since I couldn't remember exactly who or who wasn't involved in the match & since one of the best parts of the matches were the Big E & Reigns stare downs that went absolutely nowhere, I decided to leave those off.

 

[#HELLNO]

Only 3 months into the New Year & already we have so many MOTY candidates, mine personally are;

Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro -NXT Arrival
This match had all of the makings to be match of the year & it has certainly 'almost' gained that moniker, I mean we had high spots, high suspense moments, hard hitting & fast paced action. These two men have busted their asses for so long & now finally are being recognized for what they can do.

The Wyatts vs. The Shield -Elimination Chamber
What can I say other than utterly, AWESOME!

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt -Royal Rumble
Before this match took place I had some doubts as to whether or not Bray Wyatt would be able to pull out all of the stops, well I was wrong & he did. Bray & Daniel both, are amazing talents & this match so lived up to the hype. Lets just hope we can see these two Main Event a WrestleMania one day.

Paige vs. Emma -NXT Arrival
I had to include at least one divas match & this is definitely one of the best that I have seen in such a long time (Trish vs. Lita era). These two women can sure as heck put on a good match & knowing that they are the future of the Divas Division along with AJ Lee, Summer Rae, Sasha Banks, among others, I can rest assure that the Divas are only getting better.

 

[RedRegan1005]

Alot of the Matches mentioned so far have deserved mentioning. But, my hands down pick is:

Bryan VS. Wyatt at the Royal Rumble 2014-About half way through that match i wa saying wow this is Awesome. By the end of the match my I was mopping up drool and scrapping my jaw off the floor. Okay so maybe that was a slight exaggeration. But in all honesty, following that match, I was in awe and didn't see a single match throughout the the night that topped it. It was a show stealer and a showcase of the men who rightfully should be the future if WWE. It also made me go from "I like Wyatt" to "He is hands down awesome and can go on the mic and in the ring!"