Top Ten Thursday: Daniel Bryan WWE Matches

With the unfortunate recent news about Daniel Bryan's health and his possible retirement, I've been meaning to make this list, but have been pressed for time. The criteria is simple. I'm listing my top ten Daniel Bryan WWE matches. If I went into his Bryan Danielson stuff, this would be unbelievably hard. Instead, I'll focus on his WWE work, spanning 2010-2015. I'm not saying this is the definitive best or most important. Just my favorite. Some matches may be higher, but get a lower star rating from me just because I like them more. I'd live to give honorable mentions out to his match against Roman Reigns at Fast Lane and the WrestleMania Ladder match where he won the Intercontinental Championship.

10) Daniel Bryan runs the gauntlet; Raw 7/22/2013 - Hot off the heels of a fantastic run with Kane as Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan embarked on an interesting journey. He was out to prove that he wasn't the weak link in the unit. While that path eventually led him to the WWE Championship, one of the best stops on the road was this gauntlet match. First, Bryan bested Jack Swagger and he won by beating Ryback last. This doesn't make the list because of those guys. It does for the middle match, where Bryan faced Antonio Cesaro. Knowing their Ring of Honor history, I knew these two could put on a classic. They did just that, giving us one of the more memorable exchanges in recent Raw memory. Excellent stuff. **** (purely for the Cesaro/Bryan part)

9) Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton; Raw 6/24/13 - While I would grow tired of their matches by the end of 2013, this encounter between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton was phenomenal. As part of the whole "prove he's not the weak link" angle, Bryan tried to earn the respect of Orton. They would meet a few times, but this Street Fight was the blowoff for the time being. This is my favorite match they've had together. It was brutal, physical and most importantly, a major win for Bryan. Not only did he beat Orton, but he did so via submission. Making a face Orton submit is a big deal, and doing it via a Yes Lock with a kendo stick was pretty badass. ****

8) WWE United States Championship: The Miz (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Night of Champions 2010 - The first of many big wins in the WWE career of Daniel Bryan came on this night. Their backstory was well done as Miz was Bryan's pro during Season One of NXT. Miz treated Bryan like shit before Bryan got fired. He was brought back at SummerSlam, but got eliminated in that match due to Miz. It all led to this match, which is still my favorite in the entire career of the Miz. I loved most of what happened in this match. From Miz being a perfect heel, to the Nigel McGuiness lite clothesline from Miz and of course, to Bryan actually winning the title. This was the perfect ending to their rivalry. ***3/4

7) World Heavyweight Championship 2 Out of 3 Falls: Sheamus (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Extreme Rules 2012 - At WrestleMania 28, Daniel Bryan entered the event as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. His unsuccessful title defense against Sheamus lasted 18 seconds. It was disheartening though it changed his career forever. Before we realized that though, he got his rematch the following month in a 2 out of 3 falls match. This proved that if given time, Bryan and Sheamus could have an excellent match. Bryan gave up the first fall via disqualification before winning the second instantly via submission. He ultimately lost the entire thing, but this was a big showing that proved both guys could hang at the top of the card. ****1/4

6) TLC Match: Team Hell No and Ryback vs. the Shield; TLC 2012 - The Shield completely made the six man tag match their bitch during their run. At this point however, they hadn't even had an official match. Their first was against Team Hell No and Ryback in a TLC match and boy, was it great. While the bigger story is that it was the Shield's coming out party of sorts, I do have to commend Bryan for his efforts here. He bumped like crazy for the new guys and, while he wasn't the MVP of this contest, it's still one hell of a ride. There have been a lot of great TLC matches in history, but this is top five easily. ****1/4

5) WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; Over the Limit 2012 - A few years before this, it would have been an insane thought to say that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan would compete for the WWE Title on a Pay-Per-View. However, that exact thing happened on this May night. While they weren't given the main event spot (because John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis was SUCH an important match), it was hands down the best match on the card. This was just two of the better pure wrestlers putting on a wrestling match. Not much in the way of nonsense and just an absolutely match to watch. ****1/4

4) WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan; WrestleMania XXX - Even if we never see Daniel Bryan wrestle again, I, and every Bryan fan, will always have WrestleMania XXX. It's even been called "YestleMania". The show was based around him, made all the more impressive by the fact that the original plan was a midcard match between Bryan and Sheamus. Instead, the fans forced the WWE's hand and Bryan was thrust into the main event. What followed was an overbooked masterpiece. I say that because often, overbooking can be awful. Here, it was done perfectly, resulting in the greatest moment in the career of Daniel Bryan as he stood tall with the gold to close the biggest show of the year. ***3/4

3) Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H; WrestleMania XXX - I told you it might as well be called "YestleMania". Before Daniel Bryan got into the main event and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title, he had to go through Triple H in the opening contest. These two went out and had the best singles match on the main roster in all of 2014. Hell, if it wasn't for Bret/Owen at WrestleMania X, this would be the best WrestleMania opener ever. Bryan's performance at this show is the greatest in WrestleMania history. Not only did he win two matches, but he had two fantastic outings. Excellent stuff all around. ****1/2

2) Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler; Bragging Rights 2010 - In 2015, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan are widely considered two of the best workers in all of professional wrestling. However, in 2010, Bryan was still fresh to a WWE audience and Dolph was a dastardly heel. With both guys holding the midcard titles of Raw and Smackdown, they were put to face off at the Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View as a part of the brands battling. Bryan and Ziggler went out and stole the show. It is widely forgotten and overlooked but I absolutely loved everything about this. It's one of my favorite matches of all-time. ****1/4

1) WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan; SummerSlam 2013 - When it comes to big matches, there aren't many better than John Cena. When he goes up against one of my favorite, the atmosphere is insane. I remember being nervous and pumped for this in ways I can't describe. The only thing that rivals it is what I felt during Punk/Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. I wanted so badly for Bryan to win the WWE Title and beat THE MAN in the WWE. He did just that in a classic match and picked up the cleanest victory I can remember someone ever getting on Cena. It was an indescribable feeling that, while short lived, meant the world to me. ****1/4

Bash and Kevstaaa Wrestling Podcast: Vengeance 2003

Memorial Day Raw Review

After the yearly overly patriotic intro, we get our weekly Authority opening promo. Some things just never change huh? They run down Dean Ambrose and says he's no threat. Dean comes out, cracks some jokes and they tell him that he needs to sign the contract before his match is official. Roman Reigns came out to stand by his bro, leading Stephanie McMahon to do her best Teddy Long and book a tag team match playa. Ambrose and Reigns beat Kane and Seth Rollins when Dean pinned Seth. That's a dumb move. Dean already beat Seth a few weeks ago so there was no need for this. Just fucking pin Kane because he shouldn't be protected against your new top stars. The match was there but was nothing of note. Ambrose has until the end of the night to sign the contract. J&J Security give Ambrose shit backstage, so he attacks but ends up laying out a cameraman in the process.

Rusev comes out and he's Bulgarian again. See, he moved back home after splitting from Lana. He squashes R-Truth which was really dumb since Truth is going to be in the Elimination Chamber. Why make him look so bad? Rusev then called out Lana as we went to commercial. He came out before commercial, squashed Truth and is now technically entering his fourth segment. Lana comes out, Rusev acts like a 17 year emo boy and Lana nearly forgives him. Then, he wants her to say those three little words. His delivery on wanting her to say "I was wrong" instead of "I love you" was spot on. Lana gets pissed and they argue before she leaves. Dolph Ziggler appears atop the ramp to steal the show and Rusev's girlfriend as they kiss. Rusev delivered in this segment but it lasted too long.

Backstage, HHH goes into Dean Ambrose's locker room and has him arrested for assault. That damn soft cameraman. This is all so Dean can't sign the contract to make his title match official. In another Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber preview, Ryback beat King Barrett. Bad booking here again. Ryback shook off a rib injury to beat Barrett. Why should I care about Barrett if he just continues to lose? In the back, the Entourage cast meets Steph and Triple H. They make some Jeremy Piven SummerFest jokes and some Ronda Rousey/Steph jokes. Moving on, Stardust faces Neville. Neville is officially facing Bo Dallas at Elimination Chamber. I guess his two minute squash of Bo on Smackdown a while ago never happened. Stardust got into it with Stephen Amell at ringside. I'd love to see Amell get more involved. He's awesome as Arrow and is a big wrestling fan. Celebrity fans are the best guest stars because they actually have a great time. Neville wins, Dallas shows up and goes after his knee.

As if we haven't seen it enough lately, Sheamus took on Dolph Ziggler next. Sheamus works the knee, only for Dolph to not sell it and for them to forget about it. Lana came out to watch, so Rusev showed up to distract. His fourth segment by the way. The distraction let Sheamus win. Rusev then attacked Dolph. So, is the Chamber winner the best of the bunch of losers? Next, we get the midcard Champion that's actually booked well. John Cena comes out, puts over the crowd and his feud with Kevin Owens. Yea, it's the same weekly shit. This took far too long. The Entourage cast came out and brought out Zack Ryder for the Open Challenge. I'm fine with this as not every challenge has to be this major deal. The hometown fans loved seeing Ryder and the match was solid. Ryder even busted out the Killswitch and a 450 splash. Cena won, raised Ryder and the Entourage cast's hands and was then attacked by Owens. Owens again stomped on the US Title. Fine segment except for the overly long Cena promo to start.

Moving on to the WWE Divas, Tamina takes on Paige as Naomi and the Bellas are ringside. Guess how the booking goes here? If you guessed Paige, the woman getting the title shot this Sunday, won...then you would be completely wrong. Tamina won after help from Naomi for some ridiculous reason. Not a good match because Tamina isn't very good, but also terrible booking. For some reason, we get a 10 on 3 handicap match next. Poor New Day not only has to defend the titles against five teams this Sunday, but now they face everyone? At least this broke down into a brawl and nobody really took the loss. It was kept relatively short and built towards the Elimination Chamber match well. I just wish they were making the Chamber matches seem like a bigger deal.

Before our closing segment, we see some EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE that reveals Seth Rollins shoved the camerman into Dean Ambrose, causing Dean to strike him. The Authority show up to gloat about Dean being locked away and how Seth will now just get Elimination Chamber off. Roman Reigns runs out. He gets into a brawl with the Authority until the police wagon returns with Ambrose driving it. This is some Stone Cold shit right here. He and Reigns take everyone out and he signs the contract making the match official. So, this was a down Raw after three straight really solid episodes. It felt rather lazy. The booking was stupid in a lot of places and hurt the Intercontinental and Divas Title matches for this Sunday. I enjoy Rusev, but we had too much of him. I did enjoy the use of the Entourage cast. This is an example of how to correctly use guest hosts. They didn't do any lame segments, integrated themselves with the roster and didn't take away any time from the roster. As a go home show, this really didn't work. In no way am I more excited about Elimination Chamber than I was already. In fact, I may be less excited. Regardless, some of the show was enjoyable and some wasn't. I'd put this as a middle of the pack episode of Raw. 5/10.

Fave Five 5/18/15-5/24/15

1) Kevin Owens: Damn, it was incredibly hard to pick a top choice this week. There was so much going on but one man was at the center of it all. Kevin Owens. First, he appeared on Raw to seemingly answer the US Title Open Challenge. Instead, he traded barbs with the top guy in the business and laid him out before stepping on the US Title. Then, he possibly took out Hideo Itami in the parking lot before TakeOver. He headlined that show and nearly killed Sami Zayn before coming face to face with the debuting Samoa fucking Joe. I can't think of anyone who is a more wanted man than our NXT Champion. Whether he actually beats John Cena at Elimination Chamber is unknown, but for right now, he is the most important man in all of professional wrestling.

2) Sasha Banks: You have no idea how hard it was to not give Sasha Banks the top spot. Not only do I think that Sasha is the best all around female performer in the WWE, but she's one of the best wrestlers in the entire world period. Male or female. She went out with Becky Lynch and stole the show at TakeOver: Unstoppable. On a show where Samoa Joe debuted in the WWE, just as many people were talking about this match coming out of the event. I was tempted to lump Becky and Sasha together, but gave Sasha the advantage for retaining. She continues to deliver as the Women's Champion and I expect her to make this list a lot more in the coming year. If you read this consistently, you know my thoughts on the match.

3) Finn Balor: Lost in all of the hoopla of the women's match and Samoa Joe's debut is that Finn Balor won a very important match. While we didn't get the Triple Threat match we all wanted, Finn and Tyler Breeze had a singles match to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship. Both guys got special entrances, giving this a big fight feel. They had a really good to great match that was won by Finn. He became, I believe, the first person to kick out of the Beauty Shot. Finn is added to the list of people gunning for Kevin Owens. He wasn't the biggest story of the busy week, but his victory should not be overlooked and he deserves credit for the performance and victory.

4) Becky Lynch: Though I didn't group her with Sasha, Becky Lynch still earned a spot. I can't say enough good things about this match. It was, in my opinion, the best singles match in the entire WWE this calendar year. Both girls impressed greatly here, but this was Becky's coming out party. Those who knew her as Rebecca Knox knew that she could go, but to those that didn't, now you know. For a while, I said I would only accept Bayley as the girl to dethrone Sasha Banks but after watching Unstoppable, Becky Lynch is more than a great answer. She is the second best girl in NXT in my opinion, and she showed exactly why this past week. People need to really understand how big of a deal this match was, so I had to make sure and include both girls.

5) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: The Trios Champions continue to kill it. After an outstanding performance to win the titles against the Crew, they had to defend them against that same team in a Ladder match. They just went out and managed to have another awesome match. They played off the prior contest, with Angelico topping his cross body with a sick massive missile dropkick. That dude is insane. They retained the belt and continued to be one of the best things going in all of pro wrestling. I love seeing Ivelisse get a chance to be a big deal and she, along with Angelico and Son of Havoc, are proving they deserve it with each outing.

Sasha vs. Becky; A Wrestling Masterpiece

The NXT live specials have become THE place to watch brilliant women's wrestling. After Paige and Emma finished their rivalry on the first special, ArRival, Paige was then promoted to the main roster. That opened the door for a wave of hungry and talented new girls to take center stage. The first to step up was Charlotte. She defeated Natalya in what was considered, at the time, the best women's match in WWE in years. Charlotte and Bayley then nearly topped it three months later TakeOver: Fatal Four Way. The entire time these feuds were being built I kept waiting for one woman to get her chance. Sasha Banks. She finally did at TakeOver: R Evolution in December. She went out and had the best women's match in NXT history against Charlotte, nearly capturing the title. She would finally win the coveted belt at my favorite women's match in WWE history. You read that right. Not just NXT history, but WWE history. Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley and Becky Lynch stole the show at TakeOver: Rival and Sasha was given the title to run with. She became only third woman to hold the title and has gone on to do so much with it. Sasha and Charlotte have headlined two separate NXT live events from San Jose to Philadelphia. It has hit a point where Sasha is a bonafide NXT main event caliber performer. She is right up there with Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Finn Balor. That was unfathomable as of this time last year. Sasha now faced a new challenge though. Could she continue the trend of great women's matches at her first TakeOver title defense at Unstoppable?

Enter Becky Lynch. A long time ago, I first found her as Rebecca Knox in SHIMMER. She impressed me, but would suffer a career threatening injury and be forced out of action for years. The injury took place in 2006, leaving Becky out of action for nearly seven years before signing with the WWE in 2013. She came into NXT with an Irish stereotype gimmick where she danced to the ring. Realizing this was a bad move, her character changed in a few weeks before joining up with Sasha Banks. Their partnership never clicked, but it brought Becky into the spotlight. In my honest opinion, she stole the show at the TakeOver: Rival Fatal Four Way. It seemed that Becky was about to break through. She would win a number one contender's Triple Threat match, setting up a showdown with her former partner, Sasha Banks. The girls were given a contract signing segment, another clear sign that the Women's Title means the world in NXT, where Becky poured her soul. She talked about the path she had to take to get to where she is. Sasha and Becky would trade shots during the signing, with Becky locking Sasha in her sick looking armbar submission. The only question that really remained now, was whether or not Becky could live up to the high standard set by the women of NXT.

The time came for the match and you could instantly tell this was going to be special. Every detail was accounted for. Becky got the cool entrance, but was visibly jumpy and anxious for the biggest match of her career. Sasha was the complete opposite. She walked out extremely confident because this is where she belongs. The girls traded early near falls because, while their partnership is over, the battle was about the NXT Women's Title. Because of what these girls have done over the past year and a half, the title is one of the most prestigious in the entire world of professional wrestling. Since Becky adopted the armbar submission, she works the arm and it looks brutal. Sasha Banks, being the "Boss", isn't one to be outdone and decides that turnabout is fair play. She does arm work of her own, which looks even more vicious. Some of the offense looked straight of a Ring of Honor Bryan Danielson/Nigel McGuinness match, really showing me that Sara Amato had a ton to do with this outing. You know the offense looks good when it makes commentators cringe, especially when one of those men is Corey Graves, who was known for twisting his opponents in interesting ways.

Psychology is a huge part of any great match. These girls knew that and made sure to focus nearly every offensive attack on the arm. Even some of Becky's suplexes involved her holding the arm. Sasha hit her trademark double knees in the corner, but onto Becky's arm. The sheer genius of that is a lost art in a lot of matches in the present day. As Sasha goes for her suicide dive, you can see her arm hanging lower as she runs because it's not supposed to work due to the damage it has taken. Masterful selling. The only misstep in the entire match is when Becky struggles to catch Sasha on the suicide dive, but even that can be covered by the arm focus. Becky's arm wasn't strong enough to cleanly catch Sasha. The finish came as Becky was on the top, taking a risk that didn't pay off, as Sasha grabbed her arm and slammed her to the mat, before applying the Bank Statement. Becky had to tap out even though she didn't want to.

Not only did the girls sell like champs throughout the match, but they continued after. Sasha held her arm as she left the ring. She posed, but didn't take too much time knowing that this was Becky's moment. Sasha beat her and put her over in the biggest way. The crowd in Full Sail has its detractors, but they reacted perfectly to this. Not only did Becky get a standing ovation, but the crowd began to sing the beginning of her theme song. Everything about this match was a masterpiece. Triple H took pictures, hugging both girls as they're in tears, and he just looks like the proudest father. He has every right to look that way. Not only was this the best women's match in the entire history of the WWE, it was arguably the best match in the history of NXT. Seriously, it was that good to be at least in the conversation. Becky Lynch is now viewed on the level of the top girls in NXT, while Sasha Banks has proven to me that she's not only the best female in the WWE; she's one of the best absolute best wrestlers in the entire world, male or female. I'm not here to debate that or to debate NXT women vs. main roster women or anything like that. I'm here to appreciate how good this was and how good the division is in NXT. On a show with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch stole the show. On a night where everyone was buzzing about Samoa freaking Joe debuting in the WWE, just as many people were talking about this match. It deserves every piece of praise that it gets. It is one of the most important matches in WWE history actually, because it should open the eyes of a lot of viewers to just how phenomenal wrestling can be, regardless of gender.

Smackdown 5/21/15 Report

According to the Authority, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton have to go to the back of the line when it comes to World Title shots. Reigns opens the show by discussing his loss at Payback before announcing that he's entering Money in the Bank. I'm glad that they aren't waiting until after Elimination Chamber to build Money in the Bank. There isn't much time. Dean Ambrose shows up, saying that he heard the word Payback, took a wrong turn and ended up in the ring. They mention that it would be cool to face each other as Champion and MITB winner. Kane comes out, saying Reigns needs to prove that he deserves to be in MITB. He also books Bray Wyatt vs. Ambrose for tonight. Our opening contest is a Fatal Four Way tag team match. New Day and Prime Time Players are on commentary as the other four teams in the Elimination Chamber do battle. The Lucha Dragons are able to defeat Los Matadores, the Ascension and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in a really fun match. It gives me hope for the Elimination Chamber, though part of me worries it may be a bit of a clusterfuck. Also, the Lucha Dragons have some badass attire. New Day and PTP are great on commentary.

We are sent to a recap of the strange Dolph Ziggler, Lana, Rusev stuff from Raw. Dolph was interviewed backstage and said that he's used to beautiful women coming up to him and kissing him. He puts over being stuck in the Chamber with her ex-boyfriend, but turns his focus to his match tonight. He faces another man from the upcoming Chamber, King Barrett. As you would expect when it comes to these two, the match is relatively good, it's just something that we've seen a fair amount of times before. And we've really seen the result before as King Barrett eats a clean pinfall loss. The guy either gets injured while gaining momentum or gets booked like shit. Lana appears on the stage after the match to cheer on Dolph Ziggler.

After another recap, this one of Paige's return on Raw, we are actually joined by Paige. She enters and cuts a promo about returning. She caused some controversy by calling Tamina a man. It was a stupid jab and I blame the writers for it. It's just like when Roman Reigns or John Cena cut a promo and they say a dumb immature comment that ruins everything. Besides that, I didn't hate the promo, especially the mention that she's done more in a year than Naomi's entire dancing career. Of course, Naomi and Tamina interrupt. The problem is that Paige isn't great on the mic and Naomi and Tamina are absolutely dreadful at it. They end up jumping her, until Nikki Bella makes the save, only to end up standing tall alone with the Divas Title. Shortly after this, it is officially announced that it will be Nikki vs. Paige vs. Naomi for the Divas Title at Elimination Chamber. This promo is followed by a Bray Wyatt backstage promo. He is just kind of there right now, which is always how it goes after a feud for him. Moving on, we get Stardust vs. R-Truth for what has to be the 15th time in the past month. And, as always, it was Stardust who suffers the loss. I don't understand why it's not Stardust in the Chamber instead of R-Truth. Backstage, Renee Young interviews Ryback about the Chamber. It's kind of funny and he does try and share vegan recipes with Renee. We continue to fly through these segments as we are shown a recap of the Kevin Owens/John Cena confrontation on Raw. It looks as if the United States Title will not be on the line at Elimination Chamber.

The Meta Powers ame their return tonight to take on the Rock n Rose Connection. For those wondering, that is Adam Rose and Heath Slater. With the awful Rosa Mendes. Yea, she's the worst. Meta Powers win. Ho hum. Renee interviews Bo Dallas, who puts over what he did to Neville on Raw. Finally, we get to the main event. Bray and Dean had a really good match on Raw and this was solid too. Bray absolutely owns Dean, but tonight, Dean is able to beat him for only the second time ever I think. Of course it included shenanigans from J&J Security and Roman Reigns though. After his win, Dean has a staredown with Seth Rollins, who is atop the stage. Overall, a relatively solid episode of Smackdown. Three good matches featured tonight so I can't be upset about that. 6.5/10.

NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable Review

NXT and their live specials tend to deliver, so there's always high hopes for these. Hideo Itami was forced to miss the show thanks to a shoulder injury so the Number One Contender's match was changed to a singles bout. Finn Balor always gets a special entrance for these, but Tyler Breeze was allowed one also. It gave this a WrestleMania like feel. The match itself was the usual fun stuff that these two deliver. I appreciated Finn leaping from the new stage. We also got some cool near falls as Finn is one of the few people to kick out of the Beauty Shot. They got a little more than eleven minutes to deliver and they put on a good show. Finn was able to win with the double stomp. I enjoyed this and it was a good choice to open. ***1/2

For the first time on an NXT live special, we are treated to two Divas matches. And why not? These girls, sans Dana Brooke, have all earned it. Bayley and Charlotte teamed up against Brooke and Emma. This was a blast. It wasn't the best tag team match in history, but it was exactly what it should have been. Absolute fun. Bayley is always a joy to watch in the ring and she played the sympathetic face in peril to perfection. The hot tag to Charlotte was well done too, since she's been billed as pretty unstoppable in NXT lore. Even Dana Brooke didn't look too bad here. The fans enjoyed it and so did I, but I do know that the ladies of NXT can do better. They have set a very high bar. **1/2

Baron Corbin is someone that I happen to see potential in, but he's been working squashes. Not just squashes, but really quick squashes and for too long. Here, he faced off against the veteran Rhyno. Baron has been better against vets who know the business and Rhyno certainly fits that mold. However, Baron is at his very best against smaller guys as far as I've seen. This wasn't bad but maybe eight minutes was a bit much for them. Early on, they seemed to just be killing time. I think this should have had more of an ECW feel or something to make it different from the rest of the card and play off the Rhyno stuff. Baron continues to improve and hopefully we see more against vets from him. **

Unfortunately, the NXT Tag Team division has always left a little something to be desired compared to the rest of the brand. Blake and Murphy have potential as champions but they've had to flesh out more of a personality, which they've been doing lately. Enzo and Cass are incredibly over but lack in the ring. Enzo must have heard me mention this and came out on his game. He busted out some moves I didn't expect and looked far better than I've ever seen him in the ring. Cass looked better than usual too. I expected Carmella to turn on Enzo and Cass, but it was Alexa Bliss who came out to attack her and cost Enzo and Cass the match. She has aligned herself with the Tag Team Champions and turned heel. Not sure how that will work but I'm interested. The match itself was solid and better than expected. **3/4

I have expressed my love for Sasha Banks as a performer for a long time now. I like Becky Lynch too, but she hasn't gotten a chance to fully shine yet. This was her chance and both girls delivered like never before. I say it at every special, but I never know how these girls will best themselves the next time. After that sick Four Way earlier this year, these two bested it. The psychology was outstanding as both girls worked the arm in tremendous, but different ways. The selling was on point, the match was fluid and everything just completely clicked. Sasha won via the Bank Statement in a classic. Becky sold the arm work even after the match and the disappointment of losing while getting a standing ovation. Seriously, this was the best singles match in the WWE this year. Absolutely incredible. ****1/2

If you didn't see the show, you're probably confused at the picture to the left. The main event was indeed Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. It was told perfectly. Owens, the beast that he is, was overwhelmed by Sami coming out firing. Sami beat him up around the arena and in the crowd. This was perfect. However, it only takes a second for Owens to change that, and he does it with a popup powerbomb onto the apron. I love that the move is being sold as such a big deal. Officials checked on Zayn but Owens wouldn't stop. Not even William Regal could get him to stop. So some unfamiliar music hit and Samoa fucking Joe appeared. He is even called by that name and has a shirt supporting it. He gets into a staredown with Owens, but the NXT Champion leaves. Great match here that told the story it needed to. ***3/4.

As for the overall show, it wasn't quite on the level of the past two TakeOvers but that's not a bad thing. I gave those shows a 10/10 and 9/10. This one is slightly below, earning an 8.5/10. Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch is a must see if you're a wrestling fan, Samoa Joe's debut was well done, the opener is fun and the show moves briskly. NXT delivers yet again.

Fave Five 5/11/15-5/17/15

1) The New Day: As usual with Pay-Per-View weeks, this list is put up a few days late. With such a busy week, you may be surprised to see the New Day top the list. I can't understate how good New Day has been in recent weeks. For the second straight PPV, they stole the show. They won the Two out of Three Falls match to retain the gold, while still making sure Tyson Kidd and Cesaro looked great. They all play their roles perfectly and are entertaining as hell to watch. As much as I love Kidd and Cesaro, there is no better choice to carry the straps right now. Hell, even their post match interview with the champagne flutes filled with milk was gold. New Day is untouchable right now as an act.

2) Shinsuke Nakamura: During the big ROH/NJPW crossover, one man shined brightest. It was the former IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. The man only went out and swept his matches. First, he teamed with Okada to defeat the Briscoe Brothers, which is a big win by itself. Next, he topped Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal and Jushin Thunder Liger in a Four Corner Survival match. To cap things off, he went out and defeated ACH. Those are all big wins in general, but to do it in such a short span with no losses is impressive as hell. Since I've started getting into NJPW, nobody has impressed me more than Nakamura and that continued this week.

3) Seth Rollins: Along with the Tag Team Title match, the WWE Title match at Payback was the best thing about the show. Despite the copious amounts of interference, we saw a great match. Everybody did their part but Seth Rollins gets the nod here. I was tempted to cheat and put all three Shield members here for their Triple Powerbomb and the faceoff between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns but I decided against it. I will say that I got some early 2000's Triple H/Austin/Rock vibes from the three of them during the match. Seth even ended the match with a Pedigree. A great way to end a relatively good Pay-Per-View.

            4) The Young Bucks: I've mentioned before that I'm not the biggest Young Bucks fan. They are good though and always find a way on here because they're successful. Of all of the NJPW/ROH shows this week, the Bucks got what may have been the biggest victory when they beat the Addiction and the Kingdom. Not only did the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions beat the ROH Tag Team Champions, but they also went over the IWGP Tag Team Champions. As far as I've seen, the Jr.'s and heavyweight divisions are pretty separate in New Japan, so them agreeing to have the Jr. Champs go over the heavyweight Champions is kind of a big deal.

5) Neville: During the week, Neville managed to do some good things. First, he stole the show on Raw against John Cena in the best Open Challenge so far. Not only was the match great but Neville was actually booked to look like he'd capture the title. He hit the Red Arrow only for Rusev to run in and cause the disqualification. So even though it was by DQ, he did beat John Cena. Then, he went onto Payback and picked up another win, though it was via countout. Granted a DQ and countout win wouldn't normally put you on the list, but considering the way he looked in the first match and that the second win puts him in line for the IC Title Elimination Chamber, this was a good week for the "New Sensation".

Raw is Owens Review

Before the show, they hyped that Stephanie McMahon would be back, which she was. However, that means she's part of the Authority opening talking segment. They put themselves over before revealing the Intercontinental Title and saying that Daniel Bryan once again couldn't get it done. We'll crown a new champion in two weeks at Elimination Chamber. Sheamus comes out to put himself over as the guy who injured Bryan. Ryback interrupts because he doesn't like bullies. Both guys get put in the Chamber and are forced to wrestle right here. The match itself was fine as both guys kicked the shit out of each other. Sheamus won due to Ryback's taped up ribs. I didn't mind him losing because of that as it built sympathy, while keeping Sheamus looking good. Going backstage, the Authority celebrate Seth Rollins' win from the previous night. They all drink champagne, though if you recall the 2012 angle between CM Punk and Chris Jericho, you can't drink on the job while WWE Champion. Anyway, Dean Ambrose interrupts, only to get put in a match against a guy he seemingly can't beat...Bray Wyatt.

Renee Young came out to interview Neville. He talked about being the longest reigning NXT Champion, only for Bo Dallas to interrupt and attack his leg. This led into King Barrett vs. Neville. I know we get tons of rematches but this one makes sense due to the dusty PPV finish. The Bo attack focused on the leg, which played into Barrett winning. Bo was great on commentary, but I'm not sold on a Bo/Neville feud since Neville just squashed him on Smackdown recently. Next up, Rusev comes out to give us his reaction to losing to John Cena. He says he never said I Quit, so he should get a rematch. I'm just sitting here like...dear god no. Lana came out to say that she did what she did because she cares about him and explains that he said he quit in Bulgarian. This pisses off Rusev like crazy and he calls her all sorts of names before dismissing her. The road to Rusev becoming Marc Mero is unfortunately almost complete.

Now we get our Dean Ambrose/Bray Wyatt match which was similar to their feud last year. In other words, they showed pretty good chemistry but ultimately, Bray won. At least he only won because J&J Security got involved but I still tire of seeing Ambrose lose constantly. Fine stuff though. Our next segment is the first of three advertised title matches. New Day defends the Tag Team Titles against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro with Xavier Woods barred from ringside. Since this was a quick match, it didn't reach the level of their great PPV matches lately. It ends via disqualification due to New Day not letting up. This led to a brawl which also ended up involving the Lucha Dragons, Ascension, Los Matadores and the Prime Time Players. We get told that these six teams will compete for the belts in the Elimination Chamber which should be fun. I just wish we got Luke Harper and Erick Rowan instead of Los Matadores. Some good build here though and I'm glad the PTP are getting back to competing.

Every week, the United States Title Open Challenge has been fun. Here, after John Cena cuts his usual promo the challenge is seemingly answered by Kevin fucking Owens. He got on the mic, telling Cena that it was he who injured Sami Zayn so Cena shouldn't worry. Cena tried to give him "veteran advice" but Owens shut that shit down, saying he's been doing this longer than Cena. Fantastic. Cena wants him to accept the challenge, but Owens claims he already has a prize, the NXT Title. He declines the challenge, saying he'll fight Cena on his own terms. He then hit Cena with the popup Powerbomb and stepped on the US Title. This was masterfully done. Owens looked like a badass who wasn't intimidated by Cena, it built towards TakeOver and all just came off great. Best segment in weeks. Next, we get told that R-Truth, King Barrett and Rusev were added to the Chamber. Why Truth and not Neville or Stardust is beyond me. Speaking of Stardust, he gets squashed by Dolph Ziggler next. Dolph is then told he gets the final spot in the IC Title Chamber. Lana comes out for some odd reason...and kisses Dolph. Then she does it again. No reason why. Rusev is pissed and comes out to hit Dolph. He yells at Lana, only to get slapped. Dolph then hits him with the Zig Zag. His shirt doesn't lie...he really steals your girl. This came off as random and rushed. We just had a Lana/Rusev segment earlier in the show. I know that Rusev and Ziggler are both in the Chamber, but this could have waited until Smackdown or something.

In a throwback to the old days of Raw, our next match is a complete tag team squash. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper beat Fandango and Zack Ryder. Fine with me, but I still don't see why the former Wyatt Family couldn't be in the Chamber. Following that, Stephanie McMahon tells Brie Bella that she can't accompany her sister to the ring because of her mental state after what happened to Daniel Bryan. Nikki defended the Divas Title against Naomi, which ended via disqualification after Tamina got involved. They do the two on one beating until Paige returned. She saves Nikki, but remembers that Nikki was a total bitch to her, and lays her out too before holding up the title. She was the number one contender before she left. I know that a lot of people on the internet are upset because the Divas division tends to be focused on the Bellas and Paige but there's a reason for that. They're the most over Divas. It's the same reason why the top men are a focal point. Good to see Paige back and Naomi not as champion is great.

We find out that the Authority books Kevin Owens vs. John Cena for Elimination Chamber. Wow. Our Seth Rollins "Architect of a Dream" segment followed. It was basically just everyone putting him over, which is fine. Kane even plays a tribute video to him. They continue the running gag of Joey Mercury not talking as Dean Ambrose interrupts. He wants a rematch at Seth for beating him a few weeks ago, but wants a title shot. They decline but it leads to a brawl. Dean ends up taking Seth over to cinder blocks, busting out some rare continuity. He threatens to hit him with a chair into the cinder blocks if he doesn't get his match. Stephanie agrees before J&J and Kane get involved. The numbers game is too much and Seth plants Dean with a Pedigree. Good closing segment as Seth got to stand tall, but Dean was allowed to look good. Overall, don't look now but that's three straight really good episodes of Raw in a row. I'm all for this trend continuing. Every segment had a point, though one or two didn't make complete sense. Regardless, good stuff here. 8/10.

Payback Review

I'm pressed for time on this review, so I'm going to avoid the Kickoff Show mostly. The official show started with Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus. This was a really good opener that got better as time went on. In the end, a vicious headbutt by Dolph Ziggler busted him open bad. It was a situation where blood added to the match as once Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick, you could tell it was a need to end it and Dolph didn't come off looking bad at all. Dolph even got some revenge and made Sheamus kiss his ass during the match. My only gripe with the whole thing was that Sheamus forgot to sell some knee work throughout. Other than that, this was a really good opener. Sheamus wins in just over 12 minutes. ***1/4

The WWE Tag Team Titles were defended next in a Two out of Three Falls match. Within the first three minutes, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, in new gear, won the first fall. It was an incredibly crisp fall and they looked fantastic. It continued the theme that they are better, but can't get past New Day's shenanigans. New Day tied it up with their finisher before the official finish comes. Xavier Woods sneaks in and gets the pin before quickly escaping. The referee thought he was Kofi Kingston, because all black guys look alike to him. I'm sure that joke has been played out after the show already. I thought this was really good. The tag team division has found new life and these two teams are the main reason why. They have now stolen the show at two straight Pay-Per-Views, which they may do again at Elimination Chamber. ***3/4

No part of me actually cared about the Bray Wyatt/Ryback program heading into this match. They gave it a video package, which they did an amazing job with considering there hasn't been much material to work with. Their battle had me not paying attention as much as I probably should have, but from what I saw, this was better than I expected. It featured some relatively big spots and we even saw Ryback take to the top rope. He reportedly injured his ribs on a senton during the bout. Bray Wyatt continued his trend of winning feuds against upper mid-carders. He seriously dominates those guys but loses to the important top tier guys. Bray wins in about 11 minutes. Better than I thought it would be, but nothing special. **3/4

John Cena has been doing great work with the US Title, but the Rusev feud has lacked. After a really good match at Fast Lane, they had a decent one at WrestleMania and a dull affair at Extreme Rules. There was no need for this one and I Quit matches honestly tend to be boring. This one tried to throw as many spots into it to keep it interesting, but it came off as shit. Having Mike Chioda ask "Do you wanna quit?" every two minutes was incredibly annoying. It also seems like Cena thought to use old spots here including a pyro spot taken from his Ironman match with Orton and the top rope spot from his rivalry with Umaga. It was laughable at times. The best thing about the match was Rusev's facial expressions and Lana in general. Cena uses the STF with the top rope as Rusev shouts in Bulgarian. Lana enters the ring, saying he quit and that's all in 28 minutes. Even though they spent the entire match promoting how the guy in the match had to say the words. It also would have been better had Lana thrown the towel in. This all could have been handled better, but at least the Cena Open Challenges will be less predictable if this is (hopefully and rightfully) the end of this program. *1/4

The Divas went on next, in a Divas angle that I'm not a real fan of. I mean, Naomi as the heel that hasn't been given a chance is fine, but it's kind of just there. It all feels placeholder until Paige returns or Charlotte gets called up. This was a pretty standard Divas tag. Each girl got a chance to hit some key spots. Brie's attire was pretty cool and Nikki busted out a rather impressive enziguri like kick. She even kicked out of the Rear End, which I didn't expect. It still didn't help though as Naomi pinned her after about six minutes and should now earn another Divas Championship match. It was absolutely basic and was kind of just there. I wish it was better because the Bellas has improved vastly and Naomi's ring work as a heel has been better. *1/2

Before we get to the main event, King Barrett and Neville have their rubber match. Their match at Extreme Rules last month was good and the King of the Ring Finals was also really solid. Unfortunately, something was missing here. Neville started fast and wowed the crowd with his athleticism. Barrett fought back and took control, which was fine, but again, nothing out of this world. He would get knocked outside and allow himself to get counted out. I didn't really get the finish. It's not like it's a title match where he would retain in cheap fashion. It was lazy. He attacks after the match, but it backfires as Neville kicks his ass and hits the Red Arrow. I get that the fans needed to see the move, but Barrett's attack should have worked so he could save some face. A disappointment for sure. **1/2

Time for the main event, which got off to a cool start as Roman Reigns busted out a badass dive. Things slowed as it got held down by so much interference from Kane and J&J Security. However, things picked up and never stopped after we got our Shield reunion of sorts. People speculated and we got it. They beat down on Randy Orton and Triple Powerbombed him through the announce table. It was fantastic and the pop was insane. Seth Rolling tried to get them to do the Shield fist bump, but the faces wanted no part and took him out. Then, Dean Ambrose and Reigns realized they had to fight and the crowd was RED HOT. The three of them gave me a slight Rock/Austin/HHH feel from around 2000. Seth is able to put down Orton with a Pedigree, to tons of heat, around the 21 minute mark. Fantastic match that could have been an all-time classic had it not been for all of the interference. Honestly, a really good capper to the night. ****

First off, I'd like to point out that I went 7-1 in predictions. Damn the Ascension for going over the Meta Powers on the Kickoff Show. The show itself was good. I thought it started very strong, but slowed in the middle for Cena/Rusev, the Divas and Neville/Barrett. However, the Tag Titles, opener and WWE Title match were all great and this was overall, a good way to spend three hours. 6/10.