In this strange post-WrestleMania era of catering to Internet favorites, this week had a lot of big time pairings (Owens/Cesaro, Jericho/Zayn for the first time, and this) that had pretty good matches.
None of these were in any position (or had any need) to be balls out great matches, but this was the standout. I might reflect on other matches better from this week: Kalisto vs. Heath Slater and Owens vs. Ziggler on Main Event were both really good and arguably told better stories, Enzo & Cassady’s in-ring main roster debut against The Ascension was strong, and I really dug AJ vs. Del Rio from SmackDown!
But god damn. These two are just too impressive for any other match this week to rank better.
Here are two babyfaces, one with only a month on the main roster and the other with just a few months on the roster in general, just willing the crowd into going absolutely nuts via their timing, athleticism, and Sami Zayn’s wildly great selling.
Zayn’s main roster run has been hit-or-miss for me, with occasional flashes of brilliance and other times questionable performances (see: the Jericho match, the Stardust matches), but here he’s great. And AJ is probably the best dude on the roster right now – there hasn’t been one thing below good yet.
This was pretty much their Greatest Hits – engaging chain wrestling, Zayn fighting from behind, Blue Thunder Bomb near fall, big time finish. A great example of two of the best guys going doing their thing. Super impressive TV match with real stakes. It doesn’t go anywhere near their best work, but it was still better than anything else this week.
