5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2013

#2 John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan – SummerSlam 2013

This match was nothing but a fantasy for many people for many years, and then it actually happened...

Daniel Bryan’s rise to WWE’s main-event scene had begun years ago, but he became entrenched in that environment after this classic WWE Championship battle.

This awesome encounter billed as ‘wrestler vs. entertainer’, proved to virtually everyone that John Cena could indeed wrestle like a true grappler when necessary (even though he had silence many doubters back in 2011).

He did his best to wrestle Bryan’s style, and did everything he could to make Bryan look like a true top star in WWE. That included showing some unusual technical grappling, which is usually non-existent for the ‘superhero’ persona Cena normally represents.

But this match was more than just great moves and fantastic near-falls. It had one of the hottest crowds in years, which erupted during Bryan’s biggest moments and when the match ended. They reacted like any NXT crowd does, and sold the action as a true spectacle. Even the commentary in this match was unusually high-quality.

For all the flack Michael Cole gets, he did a fantastic job selling the big moves and the drama of the action unfolding before him. It might not have been Jim Ross-level excitement, but he did his damnedest to make you care about the match taking place.