Sheamus vs Antonio Cesaro - WWE Main Event 05/06/2013
This was pretty great. I must say that Miz’s commentary was great - he did everything a commentator is supposed to do, explain the psychology of what they are doing, the backgrounds and history. A great striker vs grappler match, with a tremendous struggle for control. ****1/4
Daniel Bryan, Kane & Randy Orton vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) - WWE Smackdown 14/06/2013
This was amazing. All that build, all the protecting that the Shield had, climaxing in this match. Loved the finish of the match. Kane sidestepping Roman's signature spear into the barricade and choke-slamming Ambrose onto him, taking them out, leaving Rollins to be easy pickings. They learned their lessons and won as a result. The rest of the match was usually chaotic Shield match. ****
World Heavyweight Title Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio - WWE Payback ‘13 16/06/2013
I thought this was tremendous. It's rare that a double turn is done right and the crowd takes to it but they did it perfectly here. Ziggler basically a wounded animal with a serious head injury and Del Rio took advantage like a shark. I've always considered myself a Del Rio fan (despite him being a massive dick) and this is the reason why. His facial expressions were class. He went from the smiley face with a hint of excitement and slowly transitioned into a hate filled man willing to do everything. Being very aggressive early on, attacking the injured head of Ziggler. Ziggler scrambling to defend himself, doing anything he can but never being able to sustain a flurry of offence. The crowd already behind Ziggler, turning more and more against Del Rio as the match progresses. Ziggler was helpless throughout and could do nothing but endure the offence from Del Rio. Highly engaging throughout, it helps that it was only 13 minutes long but it didn't need to be any longer because this was was done almost perfectly. Awesome match. ****3/4
Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk - WWE Payback ‘13 16/06/2013
Punk made his return in-front of a hot crowd, which is good to see and he now has his Wolverine look. The first half of the match was pretty boring though, they even lost the hot crowd that they had. Punk looked tired and Jericho really isn’t a guy who can carry a big portion of the match on his own, and he is way past his prime here but just short of being old vet Jericho here. Everything felt slow and sluggish - very low impact w/ not much energy to it. The match picked up in the second half but it never felt earned, on both sides. It came across as flipping a switch to say “yeah, we need to start doing moves now”. However, the crowd get back into it, so credit to them. Punk’s spots get pretty good reactions, even if it looked, again, slow and pretty bad. His strikes mostly. There was one good nearfall that they got me with when Punk nailed Jericho with a GTS only to get a 2. Jericho looks really bad with his offence, everything seems so half-assed, like the Danielson-esc elbows he did on Punk. They looked so awkward and had little impact. The rest of the match is okay but not a hot ending worthy of a Punk match. In-fact, the entire match wasn’t fitting of the occasion. Instead Punk and Jericho continued to show anti-chemistry and had another below average match. **
Street Fight: Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - WWE Raw 24/06/2013
This had an awesome angle earlier on which saw them being double DQ and that lead to this match being made. This match continued that intensity in this match. Not wasting time with the weapon use with Orton smartly cutting off Bryan’s tope with a chair shot. Bryan made some cool comebacks whilst selling Orton’s beatdown well. There was an awesome set up to Bryan putting Orton through a table via a baseball slide into a powerbomb. The middle with Orton working over Bryan was good and it lead to a great moment where the crowd was going mental for the Orton calling for a spear. The finish ruled too with Bryan using the kendo stick for leverage in the Yes Lock. ***3/4
Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro - WWE Raw 22/07/2013
This is the second match of a gauntlet that Bryan had to go through, so Bryan is tired and hurt going into this match. Cesaro dominates Bryan early on with his brutal offence. The thing I love about Cesaro is his ability to make a standing headlock seem absolutely devastating. And they struggle for control out of it so well. The crowd being pretty dead for Cesaro’s heat section hurt the match a little but they popped up for Bryan’s awesome comeback which involved him being rolled up with a small package after an attempted pop-up uppercut. ***3/4
No Disqualification Match: Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) vs. CM Punk - WWE SummerSlam 2013 22/08/2013
Some great storytelling. Great selling by Punk after Lesnar targeted his back all match. The psychology was pretty great with Punk being the FIP, trying to beat brock using a mix of kicks and technical wrestling whereas Brock was just using is brute force. It made for an entertaining match. The ending stretch was awesome with Punk using Heyman to prevent taking the F-5, Punk countering the F-5 with a DDT and Punk locking on the anaconda vice onto Heyman. Really phenomenal match. ****3/4
WWE Heavyweight Title Match (Special Referee: Triple H): John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE SummerSlam 2013 22/08/2013
This started off like a typical big match, slow and the two being cautious. They had some lovely exchanges on the mat and have a nice knuckle lock struggle. Speaking of which; I always love the “You can’t wrestle” chant right before Cena goes all grapple fuck and proves he can. Then the fans chanting “you still suck”. Lol. Idiot fans being idiots as per usual. Then there was a great transition for Cena to take control with Cena throwing Bryan neck first into the ropes and then basically hits a shoulder block on Bryan, who is no on the apron, sending him flying hard into the announcers table. The momentum switches in the match were great at times. Bryan made a brief comeback, hit the Yes kicks which Cena reversed into a Five knuckle shuffle which then Bryan blocks with a kick to the head and then Cena cuts him off with a slam and then hits the Five knuckle shuffle in a minute lock fantastic sequence with momentum going back and forth - totally blew my mind. Bryan was excellent at the little things in this match. The way he brought the crowd alive by just milking in the crowd, the way he slowly pulled himself up after hitting a spider suplex to Cena off the top rope and then put his hands in the air. Playing to the crowd for maximum effect. There was a scary, yet great counter by Cena to a hurricanrana into an STF by just dropping off the ropes, almost dropping Bryan on his head. I almost thought that he was doing a styles clash for a second. Cena brings everything he has in this match, intensity and all. He even hits a stiff lariat to Bryan when Bryan tries to hit a knee in the corner. The best part of the match, for me, was when they started trading slaps which transition to the closing stretch so, so well. Then the finish with Bryan debuting the Busaiku Knee was a great way to end the match.
It says a ton when you completely forget the Special ref. One, that they didn’t need a clutch and instead got you into the match on your own. And two, HHH did a good job as ref. Two outstanding performances that kept you engaged from start to finish. Starting with some great grappling exchanges, eventually turning into a great battle of Bryan having to fight from beneath and come up with new ways to beat Cena and be champion. Tremendous match. *****
This was pretty great. I must say that Miz’s commentary was great - he did everything a commentator is supposed to do, explain the psychology of what they are doing, the backgrounds and history. A great striker vs grappler match, with a tremendous struggle for control. ****1/4
Daniel Bryan, Kane & Randy Orton vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) - WWE Smackdown 14/06/2013
This was amazing. All that build, all the protecting that the Shield had, climaxing in this match. Loved the finish of the match. Kane sidestepping Roman's signature spear into the barricade and choke-slamming Ambrose onto him, taking them out, leaving Rollins to be easy pickings. They learned their lessons and won as a result. The rest of the match was usually chaotic Shield match. ****
World Heavyweight Title Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio - WWE Payback ‘13 16/06/2013
I thought this was tremendous. It's rare that a double turn is done right and the crowd takes to it but they did it perfectly here. Ziggler basically a wounded animal with a serious head injury and Del Rio took advantage like a shark. I've always considered myself a Del Rio fan (despite him being a massive dick) and this is the reason why. His facial expressions were class. He went from the smiley face with a hint of excitement and slowly transitioned into a hate filled man willing to do everything. Being very aggressive early on, attacking the injured head of Ziggler. Ziggler scrambling to defend himself, doing anything he can but never being able to sustain a flurry of offence. The crowd already behind Ziggler, turning more and more against Del Rio as the match progresses. Ziggler was helpless throughout and could do nothing but endure the offence from Del Rio. Highly engaging throughout, it helps that it was only 13 minutes long but it didn't need to be any longer because this was was done almost perfectly. Awesome match. ****3/4
Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk - WWE Payback ‘13 16/06/2013
Punk made his return in-front of a hot crowd, which is good to see and he now has his Wolverine look. The first half of the match was pretty boring though, they even lost the hot crowd that they had. Punk looked tired and Jericho really isn’t a guy who can carry a big portion of the match on his own, and he is way past his prime here but just short of being old vet Jericho here. Everything felt slow and sluggish - very low impact w/ not much energy to it. The match picked up in the second half but it never felt earned, on both sides. It came across as flipping a switch to say “yeah, we need to start doing moves now”. However, the crowd get back into it, so credit to them. Punk’s spots get pretty good reactions, even if it looked, again, slow and pretty bad. His strikes mostly. There was one good nearfall that they got me with when Punk nailed Jericho with a GTS only to get a 2. Jericho looks really bad with his offence, everything seems so half-assed, like the Danielson-esc elbows he did on Punk. They looked so awkward and had little impact. The rest of the match is okay but not a hot ending worthy of a Punk match. In-fact, the entire match wasn’t fitting of the occasion. Instead Punk and Jericho continued to show anti-chemistry and had another below average match. **
Street Fight: Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton - WWE Raw 24/06/2013
This had an awesome angle earlier on which saw them being double DQ and that lead to this match being made. This match continued that intensity in this match. Not wasting time with the weapon use with Orton smartly cutting off Bryan’s tope with a chair shot. Bryan made some cool comebacks whilst selling Orton’s beatdown well. There was an awesome set up to Bryan putting Orton through a table via a baseball slide into a powerbomb. The middle with Orton working over Bryan was good and it lead to a great moment where the crowd was going mental for the Orton calling for a spear. The finish ruled too with Bryan using the kendo stick for leverage in the Yes Lock. ***3/4
Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro - WWE Raw 22/07/2013
This is the second match of a gauntlet that Bryan had to go through, so Bryan is tired and hurt going into this match. Cesaro dominates Bryan early on with his brutal offence. The thing I love about Cesaro is his ability to make a standing headlock seem absolutely devastating. And they struggle for control out of it so well. The crowd being pretty dead for Cesaro’s heat section hurt the match a little but they popped up for Bryan’s awesome comeback which involved him being rolled up with a small package after an attempted pop-up uppercut. ***3/4
No Disqualification Match: Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) vs. CM Punk - WWE SummerSlam 2013 22/08/2013
Some great storytelling. Great selling by Punk after Lesnar targeted his back all match. The psychology was pretty great with Punk being the FIP, trying to beat brock using a mix of kicks and technical wrestling whereas Brock was just using is brute force. It made for an entertaining match. The ending stretch was awesome with Punk using Heyman to prevent taking the F-5, Punk countering the F-5 with a DDT and Punk locking on the anaconda vice onto Heyman. Really phenomenal match. ****3/4
WWE Heavyweight Title Match (Special Referee: Triple H): John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE SummerSlam 2013 22/08/2013
This started off like a typical big match, slow and the two being cautious. They had some lovely exchanges on the mat and have a nice knuckle lock struggle. Speaking of which; I always love the “You can’t wrestle” chant right before Cena goes all grapple fuck and proves he can. Then the fans chanting “you still suck”. Lol. Idiot fans being idiots as per usual. Then there was a great transition for Cena to take control with Cena throwing Bryan neck first into the ropes and then basically hits a shoulder block on Bryan, who is no on the apron, sending him flying hard into the announcers table. The momentum switches in the match were great at times. Bryan made a brief comeback, hit the Yes kicks which Cena reversed into a Five knuckle shuffle which then Bryan blocks with a kick to the head and then Cena cuts him off with a slam and then hits the Five knuckle shuffle in a minute lock fantastic sequence with momentum going back and forth - totally blew my mind. Bryan was excellent at the little things in this match. The way he brought the crowd alive by just milking in the crowd, the way he slowly pulled himself up after hitting a spider suplex to Cena off the top rope and then put his hands in the air. Playing to the crowd for maximum effect. There was a scary, yet great counter by Cena to a hurricanrana into an STF by just dropping off the ropes, almost dropping Bryan on his head. I almost thought that he was doing a styles clash for a second. Cena brings everything he has in this match, intensity and all. He even hits a stiff lariat to Bryan when Bryan tries to hit a knee in the corner. The best part of the match, for me, was when they started trading slaps which transition to the closing stretch so, so well. Then the finish with Bryan debuting the Busaiku Knee was a great way to end the match.
It says a ton when you completely forget the Special ref. One, that they didn’t need a clutch and instead got you into the match on your own. And two, HHH did a good job as ref. Two outstanding performances that kept you engaged from start to finish. Starting with some great grappling exchanges, eventually turning into a great battle of Bryan having to fight from beneath and come up with new ways to beat Cena and be champion. Tremendous match. *****
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