2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Ricochet vs. Gulak

Drew Gulak vs. Ricochet WWE Main Event 1/4 (Aired 1/7/21)

PAS: Gulak keeps going to more and more obscure shows, yet continues to have great performances. This match had Gulak flashing back to his Ant days, serving as a heck of a base for all of Ricochet's fancy armdrags, before grounding him with a nasty side headlock. Gulak is so good at pacing a match, he knows exactly when to slow down and allow Ricochet to speed up. I liked how he keeps countering Ricochet's stuff with a nasty single leg crab.  Ricochet hits a crazy flip dive and a backflip german suplex (which wasn't completely clean unfortunately), but I didn't completely love the finish. Ricochet has a bunch of fancy shit and would have rather seen something bigger end it. Still always great to see Gulak get a chance to flex.

ER: Gulak and Ricochet have been on the same roster for several years now, and this is the first time they've had a match in WWE. Their couple indy matches all happened another lifetime ago, when Ricochet had hair and Gulak had real hair. They are such a natural fit, and because of Gulak's base upbringing we get to see Ricochet break out some of his coolest tricks (probably since he worked Cesaro a couple years ago). Ricochet has a couple of really cool upside down armdrags that Gulak does neat last second snares on, and they're better arm drags than the actual luchadors on the roster have been throwing lately. He hits an awesome rope flip swanton vaulting off the middle rope and flattening Gulak and he had some cool atypical form that, with Gulak's catches, had more of a World of Sport or French Catch vibe than American Junior. Gulak bounces him hard off the ropes on a bodyslam, and had some killer moments of catching Ricochet in a single leg when nobody was expecting it. Gulak grabbing a single leg off the meteora was really cool, and catching his kick back Pele kick into a half crab was even cooler. I actually liked the finish a lot, with Gulak getting more and more focused on catching Ricochet in a leg submission (and cranking in an awesome STF turned bow and arrow). When Ricochet gets out of the STF and Gulak goes low for the leg, Ricochet catches him with the recoil knee. I thought it was a great way to get a flash pin, Gulak's tunnel vision looking at the leg and missing the knee coming at his face. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST