2020 Ongoing MOTY List: Wolfe vs. Banks

29. Alexander Wolfe vs. Travis Banks NXT UK 1/18 (Aired 3/5/20)

ER: Alexander Wolfe is a real beast who is incredibly good at selling and perhaps even better at setting up his opponents' offense. This guy's entire WWE run was as the bottom tier man in two different stables, but goddamn is this guy good. Banks is at his best when he's pushing pace and not slowing things down with strike trading, and he starts this off hot by knocking Wolfe to the floor and then nailing him with a smothering bullet tope, then sticks his boot heels into Wolfe's back with a double stomp (and I dug how Banks went back to that double stomp later in the match). Any match that starts with Wolfe unable to remove his track jacket almost always means you're getting something good, and this is no different. When Wolfe takes over he's really unforgiving, getting Banks to the mat and really pounding on him and roughing him up with headlocks. 

Wolfe is super intense in control, but also great at giving Banks openings and appropriately selling Banks' offense. I don't love some of Banks' strikes, but Wolfe's selling always fits the strike. There is no stupid trading, and Wolfe doesn't automatically do a back bump for each hit. Instead, he staggers and stumbles and falls into place and I'm not sure who else in WWE is this good at filling time waiting to take offense. I've seen so many wrestlers slumped in the corner waiting for a dropkick, and seeing the way Wolfe sets up Banks' corner dropkick should be an eye opener to all of them. Wolfe is good at using Banks' regular offense to set up unique situations, and breaks out some unexpected counters. I loved him hacking at Bank's shins to block a penalty kick, then sweeping those legs to force a Banks faceplant. Wolfe always approaches offense honestly, never waiting for his opponent to do some of the positional work for him. If a guy isn't where he needs him to be, Wolfe will yank them into proper position. The twisting suplex off the apron to the floor looked really nasty, and the in-ring version getting only a two count was a nearfall I really bit on. Wolfe's sitout powerbomb is one of my favorite finishers in wrestling, as it's always so perfectly executed that it hardly seems real. His form, the force he uses, the way he shifts his body to control the pin and leverage, just a perfect understanding of one's offense. A dive into Wolfe's German work is probably long overdue at this point. 

2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

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