Finlay and Rey-Rey Spirits

WWE SmackDown 2016/01/12

WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio vs. Kalisto ©

NXT London (Cherry-Picked)

NXT London

 (2015/12/16)

Asuka vs. Emma

Really good match that would’ve been great without the ref bump and interference crap, oh man, it was completely unnecessary and off-putting. IMO. But let’s talk about positives, there was a lot of those. Both ladies were awesome, Asuka was balancing between the FIP and surly aggressor very well, and Emma was just getting better and better throughout the match, and she really got it going eventually. Asuka was something else once again, they told a compelling story about her grappling and striking craftiness and really – both competitors sold the dynamics properly. Good shit!

***3/4

HIAC 2015 (Cherry-Picked)

WWE Hell in a Cell 2015

 (2015/10/25)

WWE United States Championship: Alberto del Rio vs. John Cena ©

Fuck you Alberto, you’re a prick etc. etc… The match wasn’t much, tbf. In fact, it was quite bad. These two never had anything that would resemble good chemistry, therefore, I wasn’t even disappointed. Look, I’m not bashing the match just because Alberto jumped ship, I simply thing it was uneventful and with no energy whatsoever. Cena is bad opponent for Alberto, put him in there with Roman, Cesaro and Harper. :) At least Zeb Colter did well on the mic.

bad

SummerSlam (Cherry-Picked)

WWE SummerSlam 2015

 (2015/08/23)

WWE US & World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena (US)© vs. Seth Rollins (HW)©

Wow, Rollins’ white version of his attire looks like shit. I’d make a 70s movie reference, but can’t think of any at the moment, because it truly looks like – SHIT. His black version is not good either, but this one is just horrendous. This match was actually very good until the moment it wasn’t. Obviously Cena got AAed like in every other big match, obviously we got another finisher festival, obviously a referee bump happened and that fucking chode John Stewart interfered. Obviously. Zero fucks given. Eh, at least the figure four leglock sequence was neat.

**

Another Cesaro/Harper Smackfest

WWE Main Event 2015/07/07

Antonio Cesaro vs. Luke Harper

So, this was a blow-off encounter to their mini-feud they started recently, they stood 1-1 going into this one. They got more bell-to-bell time and thus worked a slightly different match, because the previous two meetings were fast paced brawls (which I loved) and this one didn’t skip any phases, as we actually got to see them building things. They still hit each other pretty hard, especially Harper, but it was spaced out to make it feel like a conclusion. I loved all the nifty counters and Harper’s hard hits. Another great match from these two, imagine them in a 15 minute pay-per-view clash.

****

Cesaro/Cena in a Rematch!

WWE RAW 2015/7/6

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

Fuck, what a match! 23 minutes aired and I hear the actual ring time was around 30 minutes, that’s just crazy when you think about it, Claudio Castagnoli main-eventing a Raw show in a 30 min match against the top dog that is Cena. I absolutely loved their match from the last week and they did even better job in this one, if nothing they did a clean finish this time. One thing was wonderful here, despite the match’s longevity there was a feeling the match could end at any time due to nature of pacing and how they kept shifting big moves, submissions and slower parts. I loved all the callbacks and counters, it showed they learned something from the previous encounter, I’m such a sucker for that kind of stuff. The match truly felt like an exhausting, grueling war, it was super physical and they fucking sold it so well, it was raw and real. This was hundred times better than both Owens/Cena matches combined, simply because Owens wasn’t as versatile and creative as Cesaro was in these two clashes. Cesaro knows there’s more to pro-scrapping than just big bombs and “my turn-your turn”. I hope Cena learned something from these two awesome matches and maybe he’ll make the upcoming Owens match more compelling this time.

****3/4

Bork in the East

WWE The Beast in the East

(2015/7/4)

Chris Jericho vs. Neville

First they change PAC’s name to Adrian Neville, and then just to – Neville, lmaooo… Poor fucking guy… Anyway, this was pretty damn good, Jericho put on his working boots and delivered in front of Japanese fans. Don’t get me wrong, Jericho/Mysterio this was not, but it was worked that way, Jericho looked so good at countering Neville’s high flying and other athletic moves. The match got a plenty of time and they took the most out of it.

P.S. Michael Cole mentioned FMW and Dragon Gate on commentary. WHAAAATT???

***3/4

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

Steen/Cena: Part Deux

WWE Money in the Bank 2015

(2015/6/14)

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena

This sucked hairy, smelly bunghole. Look, I fucking love good spotfests, but this was a terrible one, this was just a gigantic MovesMania that was also totally aimless, dry and just generally ridiculous. When two indie workers do a match like this, they get labeled as spot monkeys, but when Steen and Jawn do it, they get ****1/2 star ratings. This match was bollocks.

bad

Bayley. Sasha. Becky. Charlotte.

NXT Rival

(2015/2/11)

4-WAY for NXT Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte ©

For the life of me, I have no clue why the hell did I skip this match months ago. But nevermind now, I just watched it and it’s fucking fantastic, right up there with Becky/Sasha to the point where I cannot decide which one I prefer. Yes, this 4-way is THAT awesome. Tons of fun, this was just an ultra vivid 4-way loaded with captivating rhythm, strong pacing and incredibly smart layout. Obviously Sasha, Becky and Charlotte were just hitting it on all cylinders, but you already knew that, however the real surprise was Bayley, I’ve never seen her wrestle before and bah gawd – she was outstanding here, might even declare her the MVP. Beautiful match. And Sasha? Well, based on three big matches I’ve seen from her, she’s gotta be one of the best big match workers in the world, she’s just so damn fabulous.

****3/4

Steen Going Over Cena Clean Is Rather Cool, But the Praise Should End Right There

WWE Elimination Chamber 2015

(2015/5/31)

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena

Good match in general, but ultimately very disappointing considering all the praise. I guess many people think high of it because of “shock value” of Cena losing clean to a surly new aggressor, but that’s such a cliché at this point, as he already lost clean to Lesnar last year and to Danielson two years ago. So, it’s not that shocking. This match had a really good first half, borderline great matter fact, but then Cena kicked out of Steen’s finisher in the middle of the match… in Steen’s debut match, lmao. Obviously, it wouldn’t be your generic WWE/Cena big match style if an opponent doesn’t steel Cena’s AA finisher, and that’s the moment that completely threw me away from the match emotionally. The entire second half was nothing but big bombs and finishers, literally. Good match, but very disappointing considering all the hype, the early brawling portions saved it from mediocrity.

***1/4