2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

2. Daniel Bryan v. Randy Orton WWE Raw 2/3

ER: Man Bryan has been on an absolute tear so far this year. Heck now that I think about it RAW has been on a tear this year. Seems like there's been a must-see match every Monday in 2014. That may stop once they blow up their tag division (as it seems like they're doing that), but shoot throw Bryan in a 20+ minute main event and we'll call it good, RAW. It's easy to give immediate credit to Bryan for this match, just as it was easy to give it to him in the Wyatt match, and he deserves the credit. He pushed Wyatt to new heights and made his offense seem like some of the most violent stuff ever seen on PPV. And he helped out Orton's stuff here as well...but jeez was Orton a beast in this, especially the first half. Not only was he throwing massive Shoryuken uppercuts (Bryan gets to return the favor later), but he was doing all these little amazing things that I rarely see him do, like rake Bryan's face with his boot eyelets, stomp on Bryan's hands while he's lying prone, and my absolute favorite: ripping at Bryan's beard, and then pulling him BY THE BEARD into a nasty headbutt to the bridge of the nose. Where the hell does THIS Orton spend most of his time!? Because this is a guy I want to watch, a lot. This gets tons of time, with Bryan working over Orton's leg with all sorts of dragon screws, including wrapping Orton's leg around the ringpost and dropkicking it. Orton gets to work over Bryan's shoulder (nice throwback to Wyatt's work in the Rumble match) and does a bunch of cool stuff like stomping on the arm while standing on his hand, and just clubbing the thing around. Bryan kicks him a bunch and man it really is a trip hearing how stoked the crowd was for every piece of Bryan offense. Great match from both guys. Is Orton normally this good? Have I made a bad choice fast forwarding him the past couple years?

PAS: I think I liked this match so much because they really let Bryan go nuts, he probably took 70% of this and he is a guy who can really deliver a nasty beating. Orton seems like he sleepwalks through most of his stuff but he upped the viciousness here, although he would have been overwhelmed if he hadn't. I liked his finger manipulation in this, which I hadn't seen before. I did think his leg selling was a bit on and off which was my only complaint. I really think Bryan has been pushing the pace and stiffness in his singles matches lately and guys have had to step up. Didn't even mind the interference of Kane as it made Bryan's victory even more meaningful.


2014 MASTER LIST