Cara/Cesaro and Reigns/Bryan

WWE Main Event 2015/2/10

Sin Cara vs. Cesaro

Pro-wrestling is best when kept simple and logical. Here we have the classic power vs. speed setup playing off the size difference between the competitors, and it’s all good stuff. Cesaro is still great despite being ridiculously underutilized and this was my first time watching Sin Cara II, props to WWE for sticking with the character after the Mistico abomination, because the current guy playing him looks more than capable. The best thing about the match was Cesaro’s growing frustration for not being able to bring the luchador down, also Sin Cara’s hope spots were well placed and executed, and the closing stretch was awesome. Cesaro’s armwork from the beginning led nowhere long term, but it wasn’t anything scary that would take away from this great match. Neat discovery that I loved.

****1/4

WWE Fastlane 2015

(2015/2/22)

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

Roman is still sporting the outdated Shield gear, ugh… Well, fuck me sideways, this was an amazing match. Reigns has sucked in every singles competition match I’ve seen from him, but somehow he was excellent here, this wasn’t even a total Daniel Bryan carryjob, Reigns held his own and did a helluva job, the match honestly felt like a redemption for him after weeks of turbulence and fans’ backlash. Bryan has his kicks and trickery, Reigns has the size advantage, power moves and hunger for success. Trust me when I say they played off all of it throughout the match. Some sequences and reversals were totally nifty. Selling was strong, particularly Reigns favoring his stomach after all the kicks he ate. Bryan kept his annoying (to me) YES! crap to a minimum and it certainly helped the match a lot. It was time for some serious business and Bryan sure as hell acted that way.

I can’t stress this enough, I enjoyed the match immensely. Going into it I expected a good main event at best and what I got is one of the best matches of the year and the best WWE effort in a long ass time, think Bryan/Punk from Over the Limit.

****3/4