2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Gonzalez vs. Shirai

5. Raquel Gonzalez vs. Io Shirai NXT TakeOver 4/7

ER: This was the complete opposite of what I thought it was going to be, worked totally different from what I was expecting, and I loved it. I thought this would be Gonzalez dominating, with Shirai coming back in not believable ways and pinning Raquel with a bad moonsault. Instead, it was somehow Shirai taking 90% of the match, which on paper sounds preposterous to me. But Raquel Gonzalez is getting really good, and it kind of snuck up on me. She is a really strong base, and not just in the kind of way that someone so much larger and taller than their opponents should be. She was so good at taking Shirai's offense and so great at setting all of it up, all of it building nicely to each stage of the match, that it felt like Shirai was organically keeping not just one step ahead of Gonzalez, but believably dominating her. They were really smart about how much offense Gonzalez took, having her block several ranas, avoid Shirai's rope feint kicks, and it was the only way this was going to work. Shirai just doing nothing but offense for 90% of the match would have come off brainless, but with Gonzalez fending off much of it, it just made Shirai come off as relentless. 

Dakota Kai's interference and immediate dismissal came at a good time, and I like how all it did was stop a Shirai moonsault, not turn the tide for Gonzalez. It was super impressive how they kept Shirai in control and Gonzalez staggering, but I really got into it. Gonzalez kicking out of the moonsault felt like a big deal, and the crossbody off the entrance ramp looked like a deranged Shirai throwing her body harder and harder into the monster that won't stay down. I thought it was great how suddenly Gonzalez took over, nailing Shirai with a great low cut clothesline that resulted in Shirai hitting one of her best moonsaults (this clothesline could not have flipped her over harder on her stomach). I'm really happy for Raquel's title win. There really wasn't anything left for Shirai to do as champ, and Gonzalez is someone intriguing to have on top against a bunch of interesting babyface contenders. I had this match in my head as something very different than what we got, and I'm glad, because I loved what we got here. 

PAS: You don't normally see David vs. Goliath matches where the David dominates the match (I guess the real Davi pretty much dominated the match against the real Goliath so it makes some sense). Shirai had held the belt so long, and Gonzalez is still a little green, so it makes sense. It almost felt like a super skilled point guard getting a big alone after a switch, Shirai had Gonzalez on a string the whole match, countering, spinning her around, even hitting her with a big moonsault to the ramp and dive off of the skull. I liked how sudden the finish came, Shirai got a bit over confident and paid dearly. The giant is still a giant, and the clothesline/powerbomb combo was devastating stuff. I like Gonzalez (as a wrestler, don't look at her Twitter) and I am interested to see what she does with the belt, a Mercedes match is pretty exciting.

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST