And Just Like That, Cesaro Sneaks Into a WOTY Picture!

WWE RAW 2015/6/29

WWE United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro vs. John Cena ©

This was way, way, WAAAY better than both Owens/Cena matches. Combined. This was an actual pro-graps contest instead of MovesMania. There was so much cool moments in this one, my favorites being Cesaro clobbering Jawnn after the latter made a no-sell happy-go-lucky comeback earlier in the match, and also Cesaro countering a crossface into a sharpshooter. Man, I love Cesaro, I think he’s easily the best male wrestler in WWE, he always brings magic in singles competition, especially in big matches like this one here. Props to Cena as well for letting Cesaro manhandle him like that. Cesaro was controlling the majority of the match and it felt big. Cena did his spots including Code Red (impressive) and springboard stunner (not so impressive), he didn’t hit Cesaro with any AA or shit like that, and it automatically made for a better match, better story, better flow. All the Cesaro suplexes were nifty, he’s just so freakishly strong and intense, naturally intense, there’s a great sense of legitimacy when you watch him wrestle. Like, hey, this guy is damn good at what he does! Get him a drink! I liked the ending with Steen getting involved and screwing Cesaro, it made for some good storytelling, needless to say I think a Cesaro/Steen/Jawnn 3-way could work very well.

****1/2

WWE Main Event 2015/6/23

Antonio Cesaro vs. Luke Harper

Helluva sprint! I’m such a sucker for these types of matches, sub-8 min rush hour smackfests where they tell an entire story without any need for an epic or stuff like that. Just – wrestling, hardboiled pro-scrapping, motherfucker! This was a brawl between two skilled dudes dumping each other around, ‘nuff said.

****

WWE Superstars 2015/6/22

Antonio Cesaro vs. Luke Harper

Another short but great gem from these two underrated, underappreciated and underutilized aces. This one happened a day before the Main Event one, and is pretty similar in structure and execution, another rough tussle full of great little details and tricks. These two are a perfect fit for each other, been that way since the mutual Chikara days.

****