5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2013

#3 CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2013

When WWE usually books a No DQ match, that usually signals shenanigans and a bad match ending. This was not one of those cases; instead, it was one of the best matches of the year and one of the best matches of Brock Lesnar’s career.

Few people expected CM Punk to beat Lesnar, but Punk fought with the soul of a champion in this No DQ match. To even the field, Punk relied on his superior speed and love of weapons to counter Lesnar’s power and size advantage. Punk nearly had the match won several times by using submission holds that could’ve realistically made Lesnar tap out.

In a way, Punk acted as the perfect underdog in this 25-minute war with Lesnar in that he had such incredible odds to overcome. Not only did he have to face a monster in Lesnar, but he also had to fend off Lesnar’s annoying manager Paul Heyman, who kept interfering in the match. Heyman played his role perfectly here, getting involved at all the right moments and making the fans absolutely hate him, even though he’s generally loved for his promos and work with Lesnar.

Even in defeat, Punk looked like a star while Lesnar remained the nigh-indestructible juggernaut. Both of them came out looking better than before the match started, which is a very hard thing to do in wrestling.