2020 Ongoing MOTY List: Coffey vs. Dragunov

15. Joe Coffey vs. Ilja Dragunov NXT UK 1/18 (Aired 2/19/20) 

ER: This has to be my favorite Joe Coffey singles match, and it's got to be because he has a punching bag like Dragunov to pummel. Coffey has a lot of thudding strikes and Dragunov is someone you can just thud and thud and thud. Coffey is a fast bumper too, so when he gets knocked around by Dragunov he really gets knocked around. I like how they tangle, like how they ground each other, and I always like how Ilja fights to his feet and how hard Coffey runs into him to put him back down. Coffey had a couple really big bumps during Ilja's initial onslaught, including a really fast painful tumble over the top off the apron to the floor. He crashes into Ilja with the Glasgow Send Off just as hard as he crashes on all of his misses, and I liked how the Send Off kept coming up throughout the match. Coffey's body shots and chops looked really hard, and Dragunov's body always reads damage really well. I liked how Coffey pivoted things to going after Dragunov's knee with a crazy avalanche style knee breaker, then tenaciously kept on the leg even while Ilja is kicking him in the face from his back. It all built to some really big stuff, some hard lariats, a big delayed German and a huge impact top rope senton from Ilja, and Coffey getting a big superplex when Dragunov gets slowed by his knee. Ilja is the guy who just keeps fighting through any beating, and Coffey started to desperately spam the Send Off, trying to take out Ilja's knee, but kept showing his hand and instead running straight into brutal knees or the ringpost. The finish looked really good, with Ilja flying into Coffey's face with the Torpedo Moscow headbutt just as Coffey was turning to throw his lariat, just a great escalating battle. 

PAS: Dragunov has gone from being a guy I thought was goofy, into one of my favorite wrestlers in the world to watch. I really need to revisit his WXW stuff to see if I would like that, too. I thought this was great. Coffey may be the best puncher in the WWE, and he really unloads with hard body shots and big hooks. I liked him trying to take the starch out of Ilja while Ilja was just throwing his body around back into him. The Russian suplex by Dragunov looked great, and that Gotch lift really should be a set up used more often in wrestling. I also loved how Dragunov used his speed and awareness to stay ahead of the game, as Coffey kept missing violently. He landed hard into the turnbuckles, into Ilja's knee, and finally his head. You have to love a guy willing to throw himself so recklessly into harms way.

2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

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