November quietly creeped into being one of WWE’s best in-ring months, with a ton of matches worth mentioning. The big show (Survivor Series) didn’t quite deliver, but there was a lot of sweet TV wrestling.
1. 2/3 Falls – NXT Tag Team Title: The Revival [c] vs. #DIY (NXT TakeOver Toronto 11/19/16)
Tag team rasslin, old school feel, complex wrestling sequences, hot crowd, great characters, great story, drama, championships, and a fairytale ending … outside of masks and maybe a fan taking a swing at a wrestler, what else do you really want out of professional wrestling?
2. Falls Count Anywhere – RAW Women’s Title: Charlotte [c] vs. Sasha Banks (RAW 11/28/16)
At different points is this match I was reminded of a prime Sabu ECW brawl, The Rock vs. Mankind, and the Magnum/Tully I Quit Match. This is what it looks like when stars wrestle. I thought this felt like an epic thing when they were just staggering on the outside beating the shit out of each other, and then Charlotte did a moonsault off the announce table and Sasha choked her out on a stair rail. What a god damn wrestling match.
3. WWE Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler [c] vs. The Miz w/ Maryse (SmackDown 11/15/16)
Cool counters, hot crowd, Dolph selling, Miz being a dipshit. Best feud in and out of the ring this year. I like that the top 3 this month were all different types of matches, and all awesome types too – tag teams, an epic war, and here a great classic good guy vs. bad guy wrestling match.
4. Tye Dillinger vs. Bobby Roode (NXT TakeOver Toronto 11/19/16)
This is the match every midcard wrestler wishes they could have. Two guys who are over, had a game crowd, and made the most of it. I hate being a loser and using the word poised to describe a wrestling match, but this would be that match.
5. NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Mickie James (NXT TakeOver Toronto 11/19/16)
The returning hero takes on the new queen. Great return for Mickie, with a big time feel. Impressive ways of keeping the crowd hot after the wild Revival/DIY match too.
6. No DQ Match – WWE Universal Title: Kevin Owens [c] vs. Seth Rollins (RAW 11/21/16)
Wild and crazy WWE hardcore wrestling match… a little silly, but tons of fun.
7. Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 2: Shane Thorne w/ Nick Miller vs. Roderick Strong w/ Austin Aries (11/2/16)
Very fun match and great example of having a potentially tough spot (Aries is injured so a fun tag got cancelled, and Strong and Thorne have done nothing in NXT) and getting a crowd to go nuts by the end of it. This thing just built and built and eventually got great. Strikes, near falls, and big ol’ backbreakers. Nice.
8. If Dean Wins, He Becomes #1 Contender for the WWE World Title: AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose (SmackDown 11/1/16)
Dean Ambrose has his misses, but here’s a reminder that there’s a good reason he’s a top guy. Their previous matches were mostly Styles, but this is all Dean-O and it’s a very fun bunch of offense from him, along with a hot ass finish. This started November off right.
9. SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Alexa Bliss (SmackDown 11/8/16)
Becky Lynch is one of the best wrestlers in the world. She hasn’t wrestled a long actual match in a while, so here’s your reminder of that. Just an ideal wrestling match – pretty chain wrestling, Becky’s selling, Bliss making faces and showing desperation. There’s a freaking Backlund deadlift spot here.
10. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering (NXT 11/9/16)
Very fun match with the NXT atmosphere, Gargano selling a beatdown, and a few amazing spots – Gargano gets launched by the Authors into Tommaso attempting a tope, and one of the Authors does a fallaway slam/Samoan drop combo on both guys in DIY that’s incredible. The build to and eventual execution of the German suplex by Ciampa is awesome too.
11. WWE Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) [c] w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 11/28/16)
I don’t think this went anywhere near 10 minutes but it was so much fun. Everyone is fired up and they just go balls out from the bell. A powerbomb/neckbreaker combo by Gallows and Anderson and the best-ever-looking Big E spear through the ropes on Anderson are highlights.
12. If Zayn Wins, IC Title Goes to RAW – WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ Maryse vs. Sami Zayn (Survivor Series 11/20/16)
A well-worked match that deserves credit but one I also didn’t completely get into. When you have Miz as your heel and Sami Zayn selling his leg like somebody just took a police baton to it though, it’s a recipe for quality stuff.
13. WWE World Title Shot vs. James Ellsworth’s Contact – Ladder Match: AJ Styles vs. James Ellsworth (SmackDown 11/22/16)
AJ Styles cemented himself to me as the greatest professional wrestler in the universe this year. And somehow I might be more impressed with his ability to work awesome comedy matches with James Ellsworth more than anything. A fun, silly gimmick match with two great characters playing their roles perfectly.
14. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick [c] vs. Rich Swann (205 Live 11/30/16)
I think this was the best main roster cruiserweight match outside of that first 4-way. Another skeptical crowd won over, and both guys’ finest main roster performance yet.
15. Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (Survivor Series 11/20/16)
More of an angle than a match, but hey – a bell rang. It’s under a minute and a half but this was a wild spectacle of a match and deserves credit for being just completely shocking and different.
16. SmackDown Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: American Alpha vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton) (SmackDown 11/29/16)
A fun match, with American Alpha finally getting a shot to show the main roster what American Alpha is capable of, and Randy and Bray being completely game for it. Lots of fun little spots like Jordan’s crossbody into the ropes, Gable’s Ricky Morton roll into nothing, Jordan just deadlifting Wyatt on his suplexes, and a cool finish.
17. If Roman Wins, He Gets a WWE Universal Title Shot at Roadblock: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 11/28/16)
Outside of the swat team halloween costume, I think Roman Reigns might look like more Pro Wrestling to an outsider than anybody. He always looks exhausted and not in a blown-up way but in a guy who’s in a damn fight, has his beautiful locks covering his face, and every strike and move is done with maximum effect because he’s both good and a big ass motherfucker. There wasn’t much to this match but it was still damn good with all the big moments milked for maximum effect.
18. WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ Maryse vs. Kalisto vs. The Miz w/ Maryse (SmackDown 11/22/16)
A great 5-minute match, with Kalisto flipping and flopping all around and epic heel Miz not able to keep up. Slingshot powerbomb into the Kalisto rana was awesome.
19. SmackDown Tag Team Title #1 Contender’s Tag Team Turmoil: The Hype Bros vs. The Ascension, The Hype Bros vs. Breezing, Breezing vs. American Alpha, American Alpha vs. The Vaudevillains, American Alpha vs. The Usos) (SmackDown 11/22/16)
A fun segment as a whole, with the American Alpha vs. Usos match that closed it a diet version of what could be an awesome American Alpha vs. Usos match.
20. Apollo Crews vs. Luke Harper (Main Event 11/15/16)
Two guys that don’t often get to shine given like 10 minutes to do so on the C-show. Crews matches right now are all about how guys work around the awesome spots – if they happen with nothing else interesting happening, they don’t click. Harper makes them click. Fun reactions, a couple sweet counters… good stuff.
21. RAW Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) [c] w/ Xavier Woods vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (RAW 11/21/16)
A really solid tag with some amazing spots around Cesaro being strong as hell and Kofi being athletic as hell. Sheamus is a real dick here too.
22. Elimination Match: Team RAW (Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho & Braun Strowman) vs. Team SmackDown (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt & Shane McMahon) w/ James Ellsworth (Survivor Series 11/20/16)
A very, very long match with maybe 8 minutes of good stuff. The good stuff is really really good, but it’s the other like 45 minutes that killed this for me.
23. Elimination Match: Team RAW (The New Day, Cesaro & Sheamus, Enzo & Big Cass, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and The Shining Stars) vs. Team SmackDown (Heath Slater & Rhyno, American Alpha, The Hype Bros, The Usos and Breezango) (Survivor Series 11/20/16)
Similar to the previous match, just not as long. A few really weird choices here, but Alpha looked great and the Usos and Cesaro/Sheamus close it up with a really fun few minutes.
24. Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho & Braun Strowman vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) (RAW 11/14/16)
Not a match you need to go out of your way to see but a couple cool match-ups (Rollins/Woods and Jericho/Kofi in particular) and Braun going on a total tear.
25. Fatal 5-Way Match: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 11/7/16)
Like a cat video wrestling match, nothing memorable or great but a fun distraction for the ten minutes I spent watching it. To a point it’s probably exactly what WWE is going for, but the nerd in me hopes for a little bit more. Lots of fun stuff here though with Braun again being a monster, Rollins and Reigns teasing a reunion, Owens being a shit, Jericho and Braun going through a table, and a fun finish.
Honorable Mentions: Jack Gallagher vs. Ariya Daivari (205 Live 11/30/16), Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 2: No Way Jose & Rich Swann vs. The Authors of Pain (NXT 11/2/16), Becky Lynch vs. Natalya (SmackDown 11/22/16), Dolph Ziggler & Kalisto vs. The Miz & Baron Corbin w/ Maryse (SmackDown 11/29/16), Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 11/21/16), Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Final: TM61 vs. The Authors of Pain (Paul Ellering in a Crash Cage) (TakeOver Toronto 11/19/16), WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contender Match: Sami Zayn vs. Rusev w/ Lana (RAW 11/7/16), Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic – Round 2: TJ Perkins & Kota Ibushi vs. SAnitY (Sawyer Fulton & Alexander Wolfe) w/ Eric Young and Nikki Cross (NXT 11/2/16), Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT 11/16/16), Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss (Main Event 11/22/16), Alicia Fox vs. Dana Brooke (Superstars 11/4/16), Jason Jordan vs. Viktor (Main Event 11/8/16), Kalisto vs. Oney Lorcan (SmackDown 11/15/16)
