2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

1. Undertaker v. Brock Lesnar WWE Hell in a Cell 10/25

PAS: I was pretty shocked at how much I loved this match. Lesnar is pretty incredible, but I haven't been a huge fan of Taker, not even his big epic matches, but this might be one of his career best matches, and it was after everyone figured he was completely shot. Real example of how much having rules to break matters, WWE has blood so rarely that the fact that both guys were gushing really added to the spectacle, as did the nasty chairshot to the head. I don't know if this match is as great in an atmosphere where that kind of stuff is common.

I love big spectacle main event wrestling, and this was a spectacle, it really reminded me of a high end Onita match, both guys have such huge charisma and this felt like a big deal, and simultaneously something teetering out of control. Brock tearing up the ring to expose the boards was just nuts, as was all the bumps on the exposed boards. I loved Brock hulking out of the gogoplata and pounding Taker with the kind of ground and pound which won Brock the UFC title. I can't believe that old dude took this kind of ass whooping. Finish was pretty great, that nutshot was a fist based vasectomy, and should finish a match.

ER: I had no idea what to expect from this. Undertaker kind of shares the same space in my brain as late career (non comedy match) Baba. You know he's super broken, yet he goes in a takes nasty punishment from the guy most capable of giving out the nastiest punishment in the fed. On paper the two don't seem like they should match up well, just because you wouldn't think Undertaker could take the kind of beating that Lesnar would no doubt be able to dish out. And then we start and Taker is flying into the cage, stumbling knees first into the floor and getting punched in the face and body by a guy whose fists look like the size of both my fists put together and some brutal knees to the stomach and ribs. Lesnar starts beating him with a chair and Lawler is really great at putting over the chairshots - when they miss and when they connect. One angle shows Taker clearly getting hit in the hands held way in front of his face, and Lawler puts over that it didn't connect with his head but made him unprepared for the next shot, which did. The chairshots all sounded completely disgusting, just a deep THUD. Lesnar bleeds great and I desperately wanted him to mangle the medic that came in to check his cut (this does get paid off a little later). Lesnar brings in the stairs which lead to more inhuman thuds, and a great thing about Lesnar is that his misses look as great as his hits: Taker rolls out of the way of an overhead stair smash, which Lesnar plants into the mat corner first, something that would have legit murdered Taker if he hadn't moved. Lesnar's GnP looked vicious and led to the beautiful moment where Lesnar, catching his breath after tiring himself beating down an old man, sees a rip in the ring mat. He tears at the mat and rips out the padding, exposing the boards under the ring. The board exposure was done so well, so organically, I'm not sure how they effortlessly positioned themselves next to the tear. It seems really easy to end up with Taker covering up the tear, or Lesnar getting knocked loopy early in the match and not being able to find where it's at, but it couldn't have worked better. There he was, sitting, and happened to look down to notice the tear. Lesnar ends up taking a couple bumps on the wood, and kudos to the director for the moment, filmed in profile, of Lesnar on his knees looking up at Taker, Taker slowly approaching him, before Lesnar attempts to uppercut his whole arm through Taker's intestine. Good god. It somehow made the same sound as Lesnar's earlier chairshots. Undertaker is a total lunatic for taking this kind of a beating. These two shouldn't have matched up well on paper, but damn did this work.


2015 MOTY MASTER LIST