Ranking the 2014 WWE Live Special Matches - Part Five: #50-41 And now we have broken into the top fifty matches of the year, the matches that remind me that while the product isnt always great, it is usually pretty darn good thanks to the talent that performs in WWE. Three Star Matches 50. The Usos vs. Goldust & Stardust Hell in a Cell It wasnt quite as good as the Night of Champions match where the Dust Brothers won the tag titles, but theres too much talent involved for this not to be a good match. 49. Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon SummerSlam Honestly, this didnt need the overbooking with the Nikki Bella turn, but this was one of the most surprisingly good matches of the year. Stephanie actually looked better in this match than she has in any match before, and I wouldnt mind seeing her get at Mania sometime. It felt like a big story, as Stephanie McMahon is a great character (arguably the best female performer in the business this year) and Brie was good as a sympathetic babyface. 48. The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar Wrestlemania XXX Age and a concussion kept Undertaker from performing at his best, but the match still had some solid spots and a good narrative. The real story of course was Brock Lesnar pinning The Undertaker after a third F-5 to end The Streak in the most shocking moment of the year. It was a moment that will never be forgotten, truly surreal. 47. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton SummerSlam Overall, I consider this to be a disappointment. I was hoping that Reigns would step up his game in his first huge singles match and that Orton would help cover from his mistakes and teach him how to main event. Well, if you consider chinlocking through the first ten minutes of a match before hitting some explosive nearfalls working a main event, I guess he succeeded. There were two excellent spots in this match: Orton countering a spear with a powerslam and the Superman Punch with an RKO (outta nowhere!). The rest was basic striking, finishers and restholds. Not a really great match. 46. The Usos vs. Goldust & Stardust Night of Champions The end to the Usos strong run as tag team champions, this match rather uniquely featured two teams of brothers, which isnt something we see that often anymore. While match of the match was basic brawling, there were several standout moments: Codys gorgeous counter to a Samoan Drop, Goldusts powerslam on the floor and Jeys vicious attack on Stardusts leg as a payoff on the angle leading to this match where Cody faked a knee injury, and the dives near the end. Another good opener in a string of them this year. 45. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Wrestlemania XXX Like all battle royals, this match was a bit of a mess early on, although if you watch it multiple times you can see a lot of fun spots. Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler looked great in their runs, Kofi Kingston pulled another spectacular stunt to avoid elimination and got a great flurry of offense afterward, and the match had a spectacular finish as Cesaro bodyslammed the Big Show over the top rope to win. This would unfortunately be the biggest win for Cesaro all year, but at least it was a spectacular moment. 44. Randy Orton vs. John Cena Royal Rumble Despite WWEs attempts to make this one of the biggest main events of the year, this match will only be remembered as the match where the WWE Universe revolted against the status quo and demanded that Daniel Bryan be in the main event... as well as anybody else besides these two. Cena and Orton had a decent match with some pretty great spots, even stealing each others finishers, but it was a lost cause. One of the most bizarre WWE Title Matches in the history of the company. 43. Paige vs. AJ SummerSlam The second Pay Per View match between these two was almost all highlights, as they did some truly memorable spots with a spectacular finish. The mind games were reminiscent of the 2006 feud between Trish Stratus and Mickie James and were certainly entertaining. Another worthy edition to a great SummerSlam show. 42. Big Show vs. Rusev Hell in a Cell Rusev continues to impress in big matches, and in this case in the unusual role of being largely outsized and finding a new strategy to win matches in clean fashion. I really do love how Rusev never actually cheats. Shows counter to the Accolade was quite impressive and this was Shows best performance in a quiet year for him. 41. Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville NXT ArRival This match was basically Neville having a good ladder match in the vicinity of Bo Dallas. Some of the spots were spectacular, but I just cant rate the match that highly when only one competitor did the high spots and took the brutal bumps. I will give credit to Bo for taking the Red Arrow while being laid across a ladder, as that had to suck. A great moment for NXT though as it gave us the best champion in WWE this year.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:05:16 +0000
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