2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

10. Dean Ambrose v. Seth Rollins WWE Raw 8/18

PAS: About as crazy an ECW weapons brawl as you are going to get in todays wrestling. Ambrose has established himself as a nut job and this kind of all around the ring brawl fits his character perfectly. Rollins was fine as a cocky bump machine, but this was Ambrose as a more athletic Necro Butcher. Lots of little great moments along with the big nutty moments, I loved Ambrose catching the kendo stick and shit talking, Rollins ducking the rebound lariat and cracking him with enzigiri, the total car crash double bodypress. I could have easily see the match ending with that running powerbomb on the chairs, or on the in ring dirty deeds, or on the curb stomp on the table, although I didn't think the match dragged on like some indy matches. Finish itself was pretty unique and looked totally crazy, I guess they are writing off Ambrose for a while and this was a hell of a way to take a break.

ER: This really had the feel of a wild Necro vs. Jimmy Jacobs match. If WWE allowed blood for this type of thing this match really could have been legendary. I really loved all the escalations of things here. I dug the failed first attempt at the rebound lariat as I actually wasn't even thinking about it anymore when he actually hit it later on, and Rollins takes one of the best flip bumps ever off it. Usually you can see a guy really preparing for his flip bump, and it can look like a guy just independently doing a standing shooting star press instead of a guy getting leveled. Well Rollins looked like he got leveled here. And then he took the Dirty Deeds on the side of his head. All the stuff on the floor was nuts. Not only did they never fall into the "lead guy around by the hair" chasm, but man did they do some violent stuff. The crazy across two tables dive by Ambrose, and then the sick curb stomp on the table. How could it get worse than that? Well, only by doing one of the most visually stunning finishes to a WWE match I've seen. Rollins curb stomping Ambrose' head through freaking cinder blocks, with the cinder blocks crumbling and Ambrose' head getting buried in them was too insane. It's like they were watching old Jun Kasai matches and wondering "how can we fit this into a TV match?" Ambrose lying there with his head sunk into the rubble will not be a visual I forget any time soon. Wild match.


2014 MASTER LIST