2014 Ongoing Match of Year List

7. Daniel Bryan v. HHH WWE Wrestlemania 4/6

PAS: I dislike Helmsley about as much as I dislike anyone in wrestling, but I have to give him a bunch of credit here. He was really nasty tearing at Bryan's arm, he was really deliberate, showing each part of the application of the hold, it is a really effective performative tactic in a big stage like a Dome. I also thought his cutoffs were really awesome, Bryan is great at working at pace and every time Helmsley would stop him it would be like a car speeding into a wall. I think a lot of that is how great Bryan bumps, he totally wipes himself out on the clothesline and goes really high on the spinebuster, but a big part was knowing the right time to bring the match back down. HHH isn't very flexible and that made the submission attempts by both guys guys a little awkward, but that is really my only quibble. Totally shocked Bryan didn't get eaten up here, I knew he was going to win, but I didn't think he would come out looking good.

ER: I'm sure most internet wrestling fans assumed going in that this would be a total HHH show, doing all those subtle obnoxious things like sandbagging Bryan on suplexes, taking forever to make planned pinfalls, and basically making this look like Bryan lucked his way into the main event. And if somebody told me  in 2013 that there would be a 25+ minute Helmsley singles match in the upcoming year that I would really really like then I'm sure I would have been doubtful, regardless of opponent. But man I really liked HHH in this. This was not some sort of Bryan miracle carry job. HHH wasn't trying to work his usual awful Flair cosplay epic, and he didn't do his regular silly stuff like setting up all his offense by starting with Irish whips. He used his usual range of offense, but it was actually functional within the confines of a great wrestling match. No goofy Flair tribute rolling knee drop out of the corner, instead he dropped a bunch of knees right into Bryan's temple. He bumped big on dropkicks, took a tornado DDT with Bryan leaping off the apron, tossed Bryan with a freaking Tiger suplex right onto Bryan's bum shoulder. There was no misplaced touring NWA champ stuff, usually copied with no regard for context, no banana peels, no screwiness, just an excellent long, well-worked match that holds up nicely upon rewatch. Great match.


2014 MASTER LIST 

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En Busca de un Idolo - Week 3

4/15

Cachorro v. Soberano Jr.- Spare Moment

Soberano Jr. is the best of the tourney also rans. He has a really good vertical leap which adds something to his leapfrogs and dives, I imagine he would have made a good Jr. College 2 guard. Cachorro is the other contender for wrestler of this tourney. He doesn't do anything mind blowing here, but he is great at adding little beats, and seasoning to his moves. Only thing that kept this from being higher is the brevity, this only goes about four minutes which is even short for this tourney.

Star Jr. v. Dragon Lee- Must See

These are the two craziest flyers in this tourney. Often flyer v. flyer dream matches don't live up to expectations (I remember being super disappointed by Red v. Jody Fleisch back in the ROH days), however this is pretty much what you want from two crazy lunatics given 8 minutes to kill themselves. Star Jr. wins the bump contest as he dives at Lee who straddling the top rope, Lee moves and Star Jr. does a flip dive splat on the floor, and as he stumbles up he gets cracked by Lee. I actually thought Lee had a couple of nifty mat moves at the beginning including breaking out of a Indian deathlock with a nice forearm. He also put on a cool submission after a top rope armdrag. I would lose my shit if this was on Nitro in 1998 which is my standard for these matches.

4/18

Cachorro v. Cavernario- Must See

Another absolute corker of a match. There are two of the three best guys in this tourney and this is the best match I have seen. We open up with a bunch solidly wrestled exchanges and then the hot death starts. Cavernario opens up with a great through the ringpost tope. A bit later he takes a fun Dick Murdoch back first bump after his legs get caught in the ropes, before getting smashed by Cachorro's bullet tope. Then we get almost as great a one two punch pair of spots as in the Hechicero match, as Cachorro tries another tope, gets bealed head first into the barrier and then eats the Superfly to the floor, which looks like it smushes him like a grilled cheese getting sat on by a fat kid. Another big in ring splash looks like it will finish him, but as Cavernario picks him up for more, Cachorro throws on a flash Fujiwara for the tap. About as good a 9 minute sprint as you are going to see. I have been down on young CMLL for a while, but with guys like Rush, Terrible and Rey Escorpion plus these guys in this tourney, my optimism is rising.

Dragon Lee v. Guerrero Negro Jr.-Must See

Speaking of bright futures, Dragon Lee is 18 years old and debuted in 2014, and is already pretty damn great. I really dug this match, it felt a little chippier then other matches in this tourney, both guys were throwing nasty shots at each other in between spots. Lee hit a great looking Ohtani boot in the corner for example. Lee also absolutely smashed Negro with a tope. There was one awkward moment where Negro went for a double stomp to the floor (after Lee takes a sick clothesline bump on the ring apron) and I can't tell if he hits it or misses it. Lee breaks out a nice Spider german and bridged german to win the match and the more I watch of him, the more he belongs in the top four

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