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WWE hosted two shows this weekend. NXT TAKEOVER: War Games took place on Saturday night and set the bar for the main roster. Survivor Series never reached that level but there were a few great performances on that show.
It seems that every TAKEOVER tops the last. The matches and the performances get better and better. It has a completely different feel to a main roster show. The production looks the exact same but the wrestling and the crowd enthusiasm is on a whole other level. The fact that the show doesn't run for hours only adds to the enjoyment. The audience is left wanting more and eagerly awaiting the next episode of NXT and the next TAKEOVER show.
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Survivor Series was a very different show. There was seven matches on the main card, three of them really stood out. Those matches were Ronda vs Charlotte, Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan and Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali. The reason they stood out was because the wrestlers in those matches really wanted to impress.
I often think that some of the main roster are just there to go through the motions. Nakamura vs Rollins finished well, but the majority of the match, was slow and boring. There was a time where Nakamura was considered one of the best in the world but he has been phoning it in a lot this year. It seems like after his heel turn he has become disinterested. The level of talent he has been in the ring with this year is incredible but it's a real shame he hasn't produced an outstanding match.
Anyway here are my top 5 wrestlers from Survivor Series and NXT TAKEOVER: War Games.
#5 Buddy Murphy
It was great to see the Cruiserweights get a spot on a big show. For those of you who are unaware, 205 Live has been producing great matches for months now. This match was great. It was only 12 minutes long but Murphy and Ali were able to do so much in that time. They both look really comfortable on the ring, their movement looks slick.
The crowd started off quiet but really got into the match as it progressed. The Spanish Fly off the announce table really got the fans going and I think had the match gone 5 more minutes the fans would have gotten really loud.
Buddy Murphy stood out yet again. There is an opinion among fans of 205 Live that Buddy Murphy is the "Best Bout Machine" of the WWE. He always delivers in the ring. The cruiserweight title has come along way from being around the waist of Enzo Amore. I hope it continues to get a spot on main roster shows. Hopefully it gets more eyes on 205 Live because it always produces a good to great match every week.
#4 Johnny Gargano
Johnny Gargano has had quite the year. He started off the year with a five star match and became NXT's biggest babyface. This lead to his outstanding feud with Tommaso Champa and another five star match. He was recently revealed as the person who attacked Aleister Black which lead us to this match at TAKEOVER.
This match was incredible. Both guys were going a mile a minute. It was going so fast that I found it hard to take notes.The strikes were stiff and looked painful. Aleister Black was amazing, but I was really impressed by Gargano's character work. He plays an interesting heel character. He was high-fiving fans on the way to the ring despite being a heel.
It makes him seem deluded, almost like he thinks he has done nothing wrong. He seems to believe he did what was right. I really hope this leads to a reunion of DIY. A heel version of DIY would be fantastic, even just for one match. DIY vs Black and Velveteen Dream would steal the show.
#3 Undisputed Era
The War Games match was incredible. It's nice to see NXT have a match that they can call their own. Everybody in this match were great. Everybody added something to the match. However, my favorite part of the match was the Undisputed Era.
They really seemed like a team and not four individuals like Ricochet, Dunne and the War Raiders did. Everything about them is great, from their tag team combo moves to their antics and taunts. I laughed loudly when I saw the chairs with their logo on it!
My favorite spot of the match was when O'Reilly had Dunne in a submission and the other members of UE were fending off Ricochet and The War Raiders with chairs. Adam Cole comes across as the star of the team but I felt Rodrick Strong had a really strong showing. Fish and O'Reilly were fantastic as always.
I wonder where Undisputed Era and specifically Adam Cole go from here. The NXT Championship seems to be wrapped up and it looked like they were teasing something between Dunne and Ricochet. It should be very, very interesting.
#2 Charlotte
Charlotte gave Ronda Rousey her most psychical and competitive match yet. The match was fantastic. The clash of styles between the two made for an intriguing encounter. Charlotte played the "big man" role and used her size and power to dominate Ronda at times. Ronda used her weird hybrid Judo/MMA style to ground Charlotte and this provided some very good mat based wrestling, something rarely ever seen in women's wrestling in the WWE.
I believe that the majority of the women's roster uses the same style of wrestling, very punchy-kicky and the odd suplex. That's what can make the division seem stale at times. When you look at Kairi Sane, Io Shirai, and Shayna Baszler in NXT each of them has a unique style. A clash of styles can make a match great with little to no build, for example Brock vs Daniel Bryan was a huge clash of styles. I just think the women's division needs more variety.
I loved the match and the ending was perfect but also slightly confusing. It was obviously the ending they had planned for Becky and they just subbed in Charlotte. They have an interesting problem now, because Charlotte got a huge "Becky Lynch" reaction. Even though she was doing something "heel-ish", she was being cheered.
There were chants of "Thank you Charlotte!". It will be interesting to see if they have Charlotte go all out heel or continue to be a "tweener" like Becky. Ronda Rousey is really earning her stripes. She took one hell of a beating with the kendo stick.
#1 Daniel Bryan
This was my favorite match of the weekend. There were incredible matches on NXT but this topped them all in my opinion. The story this match told was nothing short of outstanding! Daniel Bryan comes out with a huge smirk on his face, teasing the YES! chants. This heel version of Daniel Bryan is fantastic. From the smirking to the way he carried himself, it was all great and made him look miles away from the Bryan we have seen the last couple of years.
This match was booked perfectly. When the bell rings Bryan sprints across the ring and dropkicks Brock's knee. He then proceeds to taunt Brock and run around the outside of the ring. Then the air got sucked out of the room. Brock hit Bryan with a clubbing blow to the head and dropped him on his head with a German Suplex.
Everybody sat in stunned silence as Brock continued to toss Bryan around like an animal playing with it's food. It felt too real and uncomfortable. Everybody knew about Bryan's neck issues and feared for his safety. That's what was truly incredible about this match, we feared for a man's safety in a "fake" fight. Brock was grabbing him by the head and picking him up like a child.
Then Daniel Bryan got the mother of all comebacks! He kicked Brock square in the crotch and dropped him with a running knee. It was just constant speed and striking. He STOMPED on Brock's head repeatedly. He looked like an unleashed animal, that's saying something when he is in the ring with a literal gorilla of a man. The crowd were going nuts! I genuinely thought Bryan was going to win at one stage.
Say what you want about Brock Lesnar but there is no denying that he adds something so unique to a match. When Brock is up for it and really respects the guy he is in the ring with he will give it his all. His facial expressions while in the Yes Lock were incredible. It looked like he was really going to tap out. It was a brilliant performance. You could make the case that he is tied 1st this week with Daniel Bryan as the best wrestler.
That's my list, do you agree with it? Comment your suggestions below.
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