As the last days of the strangest year of our lives comes to a close, I
figured I would take a look back at better times. In particular, times
when wrestling fans were able to come together and watch their favorite
wrestlers display their abilities in person. I'm not one for collecting
DVDs these days but this one certainly caught my eye and would be
perfect to sit back and watch to help look back at the days that we have
unfortunately took so for granted of.
Match 1: WWE WrestleMania 31 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins - Click HERE for the Original Review
This is a match I have super fond memories of as it was my first time watching a WrestleMania in person with my friends. The atmosphere was electric and absolutely perfect as the sun finally set for the night as the main event match was ready to take stage. My original rating for this match was a ****1/2 but upon watching it in full here in the final month of 2020... I see no reason why this isn't a full *****. Lesnar was at his absolute peak here by coming off huge wins against The Undertaker and John Cena while Roman Reigns is coming off a controversial Royal Rumble victory. This was an extremely physical match with Lesnar not holding back against Reigns throughout the match. Lesnar was in complete control until Reigns was able to bust open Lesnar by launching him into the ring post and absolute mayhem would ensue shortly after. Nearfall after nearfall that had the crowd roaring until Seth Rollins decided to make an appearance. Rollins would hit a Curb Stomp on Reigns and that would seal the deal. Nearly six years later and this match feels like it was just yesterday. Having Rollins cash in and win was the perfect call. It just felt like such a curveball and a tell tale sign how the WWE was pulling the entire fan base on strings. They made it out to look like Reigns was going to win the championship at WrestleMania and the event would mark the crowning achievement in his quest to become the face of the company... until Rollins comes out of nowhere to squash those aspirations. Michael Cole said it best, "The heist of the century." That may go down as one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: *****
Match 2: WWE Extreme Rules 2016 - WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Extreme Rules - Roman Reigns (c) vs. AJ Styles - Click HERE for the Original Review
Man... people forget how amazing the feud these two had in 2016 after Roman Reigns won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Granted, these two have great matches with just about anybody but this was just really on a different level here. They had to somehow step up from an already amazing match they had at the previous show and they completely blew away all expectations. Reigns was amazing in his role here as a "tweener" and at this point, I was really hoping for a heel turn because he just looked like he would embrace that role completely. From the start, this match was physical and competitive as they took the fight throughout the arena before finally coming back to the ring where Styles would eventually go through two announcers tables. Complete mayhem here with both men taking some nasty bumps and the roller coaster ride took another turn when Gallows and Anderson came to help Styles while The Usos came into the fray to help Reigns. Unfortunately for The Usos, they ended up getting the living daylights beaten out of them from some hard chair shots by Styles. Reigns was able to kick out of two Styles Clashes before getting hit with a Spear in the air after going for a Phenomenal Forearm. Reigns could barely land his body over Styles to secure the count, nice touch. Wow. Blown away by this match and blown away at all the hate the fans were giving to Reigns here. He was fantastic in his role and more than held his own against a legend like Styles. If the WWE didn't know, they damn well did know by now what they had with both men as they would lead the company as champions for years to come.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Rating: ****3/4
Match 3: WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 - WWE Raw Women's Championship - Hell in a Cell - Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
This is the very first time where two women will be facing off inside Hell in a Cell and fittingly, it serves as the main event for the event. The two get their glamorous entrances before Charlotte Flair brutally attacks Sasha Banks before the cage even lowers and then driving her through an announcers table. Banks gets pulled away in a stretcher and of course, we all know that she is going to come back but they still continue with the theatrics as the announcers announce that Charlotte will be declared the winner and new champion if Banks cannot continue. How exactly does that make sense? Regardless, Sasha is able to will her way back in the ring to officially start the match. Some solid action between the two but nothing that was completely out of the ordinary from the two. The table spots seemed forced and the final moments of the match saw Charlotte toss Sasha on top of a table a couple times that did not give an inch. Afterwards, Charlotte is able to hit her finisher to secure the win in front of Sasha's hometown. Good match that probably could have done without the corny and predictable opening sequence that saw Sasha will her way out of a stretcher to begin the match. The finish was a bit underwhelming and felt like the match was still getting going at that point. Either way, a historic main event match that will certainly go down in the books.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ***1/2
Match 4: WWE Summerslam 2017 - WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns - Click HERE for the Original Review
Summerslam became the marquee event for Brock Lesnar around this time in which he main evented a string of Summerslam events with all matches delivering well in their own right. This may have been his best one and easily one of the best fatal 4-way matches... EVER. The crowd was hot before it even started and the energy in the arena was screaming for a new champion to be crowned as heavy rumors were circulating that Brock Lesnar was ready to leave the WWE for a continued career within the UFC. For those who forgot, Braun Strowman was easily the most over babyface in the company at the time and this match proved it as he was tossing around the other three guys like sacks of potatoes while the crowd ate up every second of it. The sight of Strowman driving Lesnar through two tables and toppling his prone body with a third table was unreal. Nonstop action throughout the match with big spots continuing to pile up on each other as the four gigantic men in the ring were destroying each other. Lesnar was stretchered to the back before finally returning later in the match and giving Roman Reigns an F5 to seal the win and shock the entire crowd. Absolutely wild main event match that almost feels like a match the WWE doesn't really do anymore. It felt like watching something straight out of the Attitude Era within today's day and age. I'm not a fan of having someone get stretchered out of matches because doesn't that just mean he was technically knocked out and unable to continue the match? Regardless, it made for a cool (albeit predictable) return for Lesnar to the ring to get the pin over Reigns. Final note, nice touch to have Reigns eat the pin here. A pin over Strowman would somewhat kill his momentum and a pin over Joe would just seem too predictable. With Reigns, he doesn't lose anything here and it also adds another surprising factor to the ending of the match. Great stuff all around. Go back and watch this!
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****3/4
Match 5: WWE Survivor Series 2018 - Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar
The main event of Survivor Series in 2018 emanated from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, a show I fondly remember attending. Raw destroyed SmackDown in terms of winning for the night and it looked very clear early on that Brock Lesnar was not about to give SmackDown something good to go home with. Lesnar dominated the first half of the match convincingly and the crowd was somewhat starting to grow a bit restless, everyone was hoping and praying for a competitive match. Finally, things turned around for the match as a low blow behind the referee's back delivered by Daniel Bryan shifted the momentum of things. This is where the match really started to get good as Lesnar does a fantastic job of selling Bryan's onslaught and really giving us the belief that this match could be stolen away from him. Final moments of the match saw Lesnar fail to hit an F5 after his leg buckled on him that allowed Bryan to lock Lesnar in a Yes Lock. However, Lesnar's strength proved to be too much as one final F5 proved to be the game changer. Lesnar works so well with smaller guys and this was a perfect example of it. In 2021, nothing would please me more than to perhaps see a rematch between the two down the line.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****
Match 6: WWE WrestleMania 35 - WWE Raw Women's Championship & WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Becky Lynch - Click HERE for the Original Review
For the very first time, three women headline a WrestleMania card and it is easily the three biggest draws in the company. There was controversy with inserting Charlotte Flair in this spot but she more than earned that spot. Her entrance from the helicopter before the match alone was enough reason for her to be there. As for the match itself, it was certainly a little all over the place and they were in a tough spot as this was the longest WrestleMania ever and the crowd was so tired from what was already a wild night. Regardless, they did their best with what they could and Ronda Rousey really shined here as she was basically fighting off the two throughout the match. Unfortunately, the finish came very suddenly and looked pretty sloppy as Becky Lynch was able to reverse a Piper's Pit into a pin to secure the biggest win of her life. Very odd finish and they really missed a big opportunity to make either her or Charlotte tap to end the match. Either way, fantastic finish to the night as a new star is officially born.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE WrestleMania 36 - WWE Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
This is my first time watching this match since watching it live. I don't think I'll ever have it in me to go back and watch the event in its entirety again. This event was easily the most eerie events in pro wrestling history for obvious reasons and while it was an absolute shame that Drew McIntyre wasn't going to get his big match in front of a WrestleMania crowd, the aura in the air for this match felt different from the other ones on the card. It still had that "big fight feel" and the two gave us the best possible match they could do given the circumstances. From McIntyre kicking out of F5s to Brock Lesnar kicking out of a Claymore, I started to legitimately question if McIntyre was actually going to pull this one off at the time. However, McIntyre was able to turn the tides and land consecutive Claymores to seal the biggest win of his life. I still got goosebumps watching the ending of this match and feeling the emotion that McIntyre was giving off. He earned that spot and I can't wait for his bigger moments down the line in front of an actual audience.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Rating: ***
