#1 Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn (NXT - Takeover Dallas):
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The match of the year for 2016. Even though Styles vs Cena occurred on the larger stage of Summerslam, nothing this year has or will beat this epic encounter that took place in April. Outclassing every match that followed and preceded it so far in 2016, Nakamura vs Zayn was special.
Not only were the crowd one of the hottest in years, chanting and cheering for both men fanatically, but the stiff and intense in-ring action was a testament to Nakamura’s Japanese wrestling origins. Many fans worried that Nakamura’s ‘strong style’ that he perfected in Japan wouldn’t be fully embraced in WWE. Boy, were they wrong.
Nakamura was stiff, hard-hitting and intense, and Zayn countered with a similar style, leading to a number of incredible sequences throughout the bout. Neither man was booed, so every wrestling sequence was followed by applause and cheers, and this sort of environment led to magic.
Yes, it may sound a little ridiculous to refer to wrestling as magic, but Nakamura vs Zayn was a beautiful work of art, and it deserves to be described as ‘wrestling magic’.
The fact that this was Nakamura’s WWE debut made it that much more memorable, and with a dream opponent in Zayn facing him, the Dallas crowd had every right to be as hot as they were.
Arguably the best part of the bout occurred when the two men traded vicious forearms back and forth for minutes, evoking a standing ovation from the already ecstatic audience. With Zayn on his way out of NXT and Nakamura just getting started, this was the ultimate passing of the torch, and it was spectacular.
With two of the best in-ring workers in the world facing off in a dream match that exceeded expectations, in front of one of the hottest crowds in recent WWE history, there is just nothing that can beat this match. A 5-star, legendary bout that will go down as the best WWE match of 2016.
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