2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Cesaro vs. Bryan

7. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan WWE Smackdown 1/15

ER: When you see Cesaro and Bryan are going to get 12 minutes to do their thing, this is the kind of match you go in expecting. They work their very good match and add in a couple of twists, familiar opponents who have been working opposite each other for 15 years and are still changing things. I wish we got even more matwork, but loved the tastes of it Bryan gave us, snug and grinding. Cesaro worked tight headlocks and attacks on the neck and used that to try to wear the rest of Bryan down, Bryan went after Cesaro's arm used that to try to wear the rest of Cesaro down. And these two are good at grinding each other down over the course of 12 minutes. Bryan holds a hammerlock painfully, Cesaro keeps fighting for the neck, and things open nicely when Cesaro breaks a hammerlock with a back elbow. He aims elbows and uppercuts and a running uppercut straight at Bryan's neck, and we get some sequences that don't look clean, but instead look intentionally rough. 

Bryan has a cool armbar takedown and really looked like he'd yank Cesaro's arm off, and he hits a monkey flip out of a knuckle lock that bounces Cesaro off the ropes and onto his head. I assume they had planned for Cesaro to go over or through the ropes, but I thought it was cool how it ended up. Cesaro either gets his head cut open from that, or bonks it on the back of the ring post while Bryan is kicking him, so we get the cool visual of the back of Cesaro's bald head bleeding while Bryan acts like a jerk and kicks out his arm. I thought Cesaro's selling was really strong, never performative, but actually looked like he was being appropriately slowed down on offense. Their fight over a crossface and Yes lock is really good, and I thought the finish of Bryan running in with the flying knee, only to get caught and thrown into an uppercut, then immediately plastered with the Neutralizer, all looked great. You saw Cesaro and Bryan were getting 12 minutes to do their thing, and this is the kind of thing you want.

PAS: We have been watching both of the guys for the better part of two decades, so you don't expect them to break out new things, but this match had a bunch of fun new twists. The monkey flip counter out of the knuckle lock into the ring ropes was super nasty, as was Cesaro using his freak strength to counter a superplex into a twisting one of his own. I hadn't seen either thing before and they were both awesome. I also loved Bryan ripping at the nose to get on the Yes lock. This match was basically face versus face and it was neat to see moments where both guys were showing what they were willing to do to win a match. Bryan was incredible all year at putting people over and still looking strong and this did feel like a big victory for Cesaro, well earned and hard fought. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST