1. 2/3 Falls – WWE U.S. Title: Kalisto [c] vs. Alberto Del Rio (Fast Lane Kickoff 2/21/16)
There was a lot of good wrestling this month, but this was my favorite combo of both wrestling and character work. It was laid out well (and for WWE, uniquely), had big spots that mattered, and Rio finally delivered by being the piece of shit rudo everybody wish he’d be all the time. Kalisto held up his end as the masked superhero, and this ended up being the most fun I had watching straight wrestling this month. Here’s what I wrote in Quick Thoughts:
- Thought Alberto del Rio vs. Kalisto was clear MOTN. It didn’t have the most action of the evening but the character work was tremendous. Rio was in full rudo mode and Kalisto is really finding his place. This was as close as we’ve gotten to an Eddie/Rey type match since Jericho/Rey. Loved the DQ first fall finish. WWE needs more matches like this. I wish this Alberto del Rio showed up more often.
2. AJ Styles vs. The Miz (SmackDown 2/4/16)
All hail the criminally underrated Mike Mizanin. A decade from now Chris Jericho might be saying he got AJ Styles over in the WWE, and he sure did have some great matches with him, but it was The Miz who got the mass WWE audience on AJ’s side with a MizTV segment, and then this match, which was all the great stuff you’d expect from AJ Styles filtered through a really great WWE TV style match. My favorite of Styles’ outings on the main roster so far.
3. Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (SmackDown 2/11/16)
Of course, Jericho and AJ did pull off some good stuff. The RAW match was OK, the Fast Lane match was very good… but this SmackDown match I thought was really great. This was two guys who have been wrestling for years all over the world delivering the Dream Match that comes with that experience. Jericho looked the best he has in ages, and while the finish was blown, the ad-lib made it even better.
4. Zack Ryder vs. Heath Slater w/ Curtis Axel and Adam Rose (Main Event 2/9/16)
Where in God’s name did this match come from? After years of having soulless matches on Superstars and Main Event, Zack Ryder and Heath Slater were apparently told out to go out there and put on the best match they could – and WOW. Where have these two been?? Axel Rose on the outside added to the shenanigans, and Ryder played face-in-peril freakishly well. The last few minutes of this match are SO hot. This match was from some seventh dimension where Zack Ryder and Heath Slater were main eventing SummerSlam or something. If you haven’t, go watch this. Now.
5. Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina (Fast Lane 2/21/16)
I cannot remember the last time the ladies opened up a WWE pay-per-view, and man did they deliver with a hot opener. This was a standard WWE-style tag match, but executed really well with a crowd totally behind Becky and Banks. Naomi has been solid for a while, but she was awesome here as the Big Bad, and Tamina … Tamina… Tamina didn’t really mess anything up, I guess. Sasha’s run of offense at the end was tremendous.
6. Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (Fast Lane 2/21/16)
This was a great match with a few glaring issues, mostly around Jericho just not keeping up with the match he wanted to have. Still though …this was everything the SmackDown match was with a few rough spots, and that ain’t amazing but it’s still damn good.
7. Fatal 5-Way Match – WWE Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose [c] vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Stardust vs. Tyler Breeze (RAW 2/15/16)
This was just a bunch of crazy with an insanely hot last five minutes. Not the prettiest thing, but it was five midcarders busting their ass to get to the next level, and that’s always a fun time. Like some weird Four Corner Survival match on WWE television.
8. NXT Title #1 Contender Match: Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe (NXT 2/17/16)
These two have a bigger and better match in them, but for a first time outing it was damn good. I read some complaints about the first half being slow, but I dug it – these two have such a clear difference in size but it still felt like a wrestling match with some real struggles. Zayn had to work extra hard to take Joe down and found a bunch of nifty ways to do it. As I write this there’s a 2/3 Falls match between them coming up, and I can’t wait.
9. American Alpha and Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. Dash & Dawson and Blake & Murphy w/ Alexa Bliss (NXT 2/17/16)
Eight fired up young talents in an 8-man tag, presented by NXT – of course it’s good. The character work really makes these matches… Chad stretching people, Enzo, Cas and Jordan all fired up… The Revival breaking fools, Blake & Murphy being little shits. The last few minutes of this thing are NUTS.
10. Triple Threat #1 Contender Match: Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose (Fast Lane 2/21/16)
It was really good. It delivered as a main event. Brock looked great. But I didn’t love it. I’ll just put here what I wrote in Quick Thoughts:
- The main event was good with some great moments, but overall it didn’t get to any high level – and that’s ignoring the sour Reigns win. It had stuff I really liked… Lesnar in beast mode, Reigns and Ambrose going at it (these two are going to have some great matches down the road), the Ambrose slap to Lesnar and chairshot frenzy to Lesnar and Reigns. But it also had Ambrose being treated like a total chump – constantly getting his ass beat by Lesnar, which led to apathy if not outright boos when Ambrose and Reigns teamed up on Lesnar. Just weird presentation if they are indeed going with Ambrose/Brock, which is a match I’m all in on. They’ve got some work to do on Triple H/Reigns though.
Plenty of Honorable Mentions this month: Paige/Naomi (Main Event 2/23), Owens/Ziggler for the IC Title (Fast Lane 2/21), Owens/Ziggler (RAW 2/1), Styles/Miz (RAW 2/15), Kalisto/Rusev (RAW 2/1), Reigns/Ambrose vs. New Day (RAW 2/1), Usos/Prime Time Players vs. Stardust/Breeze/Ascension (Main Event 2/2), Balor/Crews (NXT 2/3), Kalisto/Owens (SmackDown 2/4), Ziggler/Owens (RAW 2/8), Neville/Ryder vs. Stardust/Breeze (Main Event 2/16), New Day vs. Social Outcasts (Main Event 2/16), Jericho/Miz (SmackDown 2/18), Show/Kane/Ryback vs. The Wyatt Family (Fast Lane 2/21), Neville/Lucha Dragons vs. New Day (RAW 2/22), Jericho/Styles vs. Social Outcasts (RAW 2/22), and Jericho/Styles/Henry vs. New Day (SmackDown 2/25)
