2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Ambrose v. Owens Last Man Standing

1. Dean Ambrose v. Kevin Owens WWE Royal Rumble 1/24

ER: I haven't loved how these two have been matching up, but they finally got it right. This needed to be more of a war than their other matches, and LMS matches can tricky: You don't want to go to too big a spot too early, but you gotta have big spots to justify guys staying down for so long. Charles Robinson deserves some credit too for keeping the counts consistent. You establish a slow 10 count early and LMS matches just get dragged down with too much lying about. But most of the credit goes to Owens and Ambrose who went out and just had a super violent fight, right at the bell they pounced on each other and threw stiff phone booth fists and found a way to keep the violence constant for 20 minutes. Ambrose has been taking some deserved flak lately as his character is somewhat floundering, but the man can take a beating and that lead to some spectacular moments: Owens blasting him through the barricade with a cannonball, Steen catching a tope and driving Ambrose hard into the apron, a brutal fisherman's buster through a table, Ambrose flying through the ring steps; We had some really smartly laid out spots, like Owens unable to beat a 10 count, but rolling to the floor and landing on his feet. LOVED that spot. Also loved Owens setting up tables on the floor early in the match, and how those came out of nowhere to play into the finish. This was a real war with both guys dishing and both guys willing to take.

PAS: I liked the fight parts of this alot, Owens and Ambrose starting out with the hockey fight spot was really cool (of course Owens killed that spot dead by doing it with every guy entering the Rumble), and I loved Ambrose doing the Tenryu chop/punch with the chair wrapped around Owen's head. I also liked all the screaming at each other during the fight. Still I think bloodless Last Man Standing matches get a little too into construction mode, as this definitely had one table spot too many. Still loved the finish, and this was one of the better performances both men have had in a long while.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST