With TLC and Roadblock: End of the Line not hardcore delivering, a lot of the TV matches being too short to make much of an impact, and a lot of time-killing leading into 2017, this was not WWE’s best in-ring month. And then the last week of December happened. God damn, pal – we’re going top 25 again.
1. NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Nia Jax (NXT 12/28/16)
May not be what everybody is looking for in their wrestling, but as a dork who watches way too much of this stuff I feel pro wrestling as a whole would be a lot better off if everything was treated as this was. Told a perfect story, with the fighting hometown champion outlasting the monster heel. Asuka as an underdog was amazing – big selling, wild bumping, and crazy strikes when she could get them in. Loved how Asuka just kept throwing herself at Jax and how Jax just kept lifting her out of holds and throwing her down. Jax’s exhausted missed punch towards the end was my personal highlight.
2. TLC Match – WWE World Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Dean Ambrose (TLC 12/4/16)
Give the best wrestler in the world a bunch of gimmicks and great things will happen. At the end of the day I’m kind of desensitized to TLC wackiness, but this was the most spectacular TLC in a long time. A nice combination of a hate-filled brawl and two athletic WWE guys having themselves a gimmick match. Still can’t get over how crazy the springboard 450 through the table was.
3. WWE U.S. Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Chris Jericho (RAW 12/5/16)
A great example of a classic WWE-style TV match, with tons of smooth counters and signature spots in front of an amped up crowd. They played the crowd like a fiddle, countering move after move with a signature spot and flipping momentum a hundred times. The finish based around the Walls of Jericho is SOOOO hot. Jericho in the ring can be hit-or-miss but man can he pull off an awesome 10-minute TV match.
4. Triple Threat Match – WWE World Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 12/27/16)
And here’s AJ Styles making his final contribution to 2016 – big bumps, big near falls, and Corbin treated like the beast he his. Nobody could have possibly bought AJ Styles not ending 2016 as champion and yet somehow the magic of SmackDown made it happen. Hits a second and third gear once AJ and Dolph do their hilariously awesome Thelma & Louise dive through the commentator’s table.
5. NXT Tag Team Title: #DIY [c] vs. Tajiri & Akira Tozawa (NXT 12/28/16)
So unique compared to everything else WWE does… a Japanese-style tag match on WWE TV!! Stiff strikes, big moves, awesome near falls… Tozawa is a madman here and Ciampa seemed fired up to get to play Strong Style.
6. Chairs Match: Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin (TLC 12/4/16)
These two just went HARD. Great use of the chairs gimmick and they were able to turn a pretty low-key feud into an awesome affair. Honorable Mention to their 5-minute SmackDown match, too.
7. Four Corners Elimination Match – SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Wyatt Family (Randy Orton & Luke Harper) w/ Bray Wyatt [c] vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. American Alpha vs. The Usos (SmackDown 12/27/16)
Might be a little biased on it since I was live for it, but this was a lot of fun… strong exchanges early, two sweet botch cover-ups by The Usos, Alpha bumping and suplexing and selling, and Orton being over as fuck and all fired up. Once it got down to Alpha vs. Wyatt’s it got really awesome, with a great unexpected finish too.
8. WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ Maryse vs. Dean Ambrose (SmackDown 12/6/16)
Another pitch perfect 10-minute WWE TV match. Not too long, but told a complete story and had a lot of fun packed into it. Solid chain wrestling, smooth counters, Miz being a dick, Ambrose selling his ass off. Ideal TV main event wrestling.
9. 30-Minute Iron Man Match – RAW Women’s Title: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Charlotte (Roadblock: End of the Line 12/18/16)
Kind of ridiculous to say a 30-minute Iron Man match took too long to get going, but it did. Lots of little highlights, with some excellent trading of holds, Sasha’s bumps and selling, and Charlotte’s facial expressions. The last few minutes for sudden death were awesome. Not their best, but still damn good.
10. RAW Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (Roadblock: End of the Line 12/18/16)
Fun 10-minute sprint, amazing Kofi/Cesaro sequences, great corner work by Xavier, and one of the most creative finishes in a long time… this is quality stuff.
11. SmackDown Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Becky Lynch (SmackDown 12/27/16)
Another Becky Lynch minimalist classic – no one in WWE can get a crowd popping for matwork or missile dropkick near falls like her. Alexa was kind of along for the ride but again impressed and looks better all the time – if you’re running with a new top heel star on SmackDown, she’s your girl. Becky’s arm-trap thing is nasty. The finish with La Luchadora is fun bullshit, not stupid bullshit too.
12. Ladder Match – WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ Maryse vs. Dolph Ziggler (TLC 12/4/16)
The final Miz/Ziggler match had a lot in common with the Charlotte/Sasha Iron Man match… the big blowoff already happened, so it’s a struggle to get that invested. At the end of the day a disappointment but still a fun match, with Ziggler selling big and Miz being a nasty sonofabitch. AJ/Dean had the wild ladder spots; this was more of a fight which I appreciated but also didn’t enjoy as much. Post-match Miz promo is epic too.
13. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 12/5/16)
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens 101 on RAW for 10 minutes. All the awesome stuff you expect – dives, suplexes, kick-outs – though not as awesome as you hope. As I wrote in the TV Week in Review, no two guys have a match that can simultaneously annoy wrestling veterans and cause wrestling fans to flip out as much as these two.
14. Rich Swann & TJ Perkins vs. Neville & Brian Kendrick (205 Live 12/20/16)
205 Live started to come around this month and this was my favorite of its’ matches… an excellent introduction to heel bruiserweight Neville, as he basically just aggressively beats the snot out of Swann and TJ.
15. Roman Reigns & Big Cass w/ Enzo Amore vs. Kevin Owens & Rusev w/ Lana (Tribute to the Troops 12/14/16)
A Vince McMahon Tag Team Spectacular! Reigns sells, Owens and Rusev are jerks, Cass gets a hot tag, and the good guys win… for AMERICA.
16. Triple Threat Match – RAW Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston [c] vs. Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho (RAW 12/12/16)
Fun in a RAW main event kind of way … fun exchanges early, hot finish. New Day freshened up the Reigns/Rollins and Owens/Jericho act in a big way, and Woods looked tremendous here going toe-to-toe with everybody.
17. Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins (205 Live 2/13/16)
Cool moves, cool knee work, cool selling, and after seeing so many dead cruiserweight matches on the main roster it was fun to see a crowd finally get into a finish. Almost as good as their awesome CWC match, just in a big-ass arena.
18. RAW Tag Team Title: Cesaro & Sheamus [c] vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) w/ Big E (RAW 12/26/16)
Fun double-teams by New Day, solid beatdown, and a pretty sweet sudden finish.
19. Rich Swann vs. Neville (205 Live 12/27/16)
If we’re gonna have the cruiserweights working Superstars Style, this is as good as it gets. They will have a big title match down the line with all the cool shit you know Swann and Neville can do, but for their first match and as a way to establish Neville as the top bad guy in the cruiserweight division this that accomplished what it needed to in a fun way. Plus it ended with a superplex. A SUPERPLEX!!
20. Oney Lorcan vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT 12/28/16)
Such a solid damn match… a low-key opening contest that got really awesome for the last couple minutes. Lots of little highlights too with Andrade upping the dickishness, Oney punching at his head to get out of a deadlift hold, and Almas straight hiptossing Oney’s ass into the turnbuckle.
21. Jack Gallagher vs. Drew Gulak (205 Live 2/13/16)
A 5-minute 205 Live special that put over both guys… Gallagher does all his cute shit (including rolling crucifixes!) and then Gulak just boots the fuck out of him. A total blast.
22. Cedric Alexander w/ Alicia Fox vs. Drew Gulak (205 Live 12/20/16)
Another 5-minute 205 Live special… gritty beatdown by Gulak, a suplex bump to the outside, and Cedric selling big and hitting his spots. Hilarious wild man promo by Gulak after the match too.
23. Apollo Crews, American Alpha & The Hype Bros vs. Curt Hawkins, The Vaudevillains & The Ascension (TLC 12/4/16)
A super fun 10-man tag with all kinds of colorful characters and highlights – Hawkins and Crews tore it up early, Ryder and Hawkins had a showdown, the crowd LOL’d at Mojo’s shtick, Aiden took a Flair bump, Alpha hit double teams, Gable took the heat and had folks in the crowd shrieking as he reached for the tag, and a neat “everybody dumps everybody to the outside” spot.
24. Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins (RAW 12/5/16)
After a ton of weak outings from the cruiserweights this was pretty refreshing. Crowd was into it, with their dab-off getting a massive reaction. Finish was fun with TJ struggling to get the kneebar locked in and Swann finally catching him with the spin kick.
25. Liv Morgan & Aliyah vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce (NXT 12/28/16)
Could’ve thrown some love to Kalisto and Corbin having themselves a perfect 5-minute match, or Alexa and La Lynchadora a fun angle, or Rollins and Braun some fun big guy/small guy exchanges… but this match gave me too much hope for the NXT women’s division to ignore. Liv is a fun babyface who seemed genuinely excited to be in Japan, and Billie Kay and Peyton Royce FINALLY show why they get talked up a lot.
Honorable Mentions: Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 12/6/16), Alexa Bliss vs. La Luchadora (Becky Lynch) (SmackDown 12/20/16), Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 12/26/16), Fatal 4-Way WWE World Title #1 Contender’s Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz vs. Luke Harper (SmackDown 2/13/16), Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper w/ Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton (SmackDown 12/20/16), Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair (RAW 12/19/16), Winner Faces AJ Styles for the WWE World Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 12/20/16), Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho (RAW 12/19/16), SmackDown Tag Team Title: Heath Slater & Rhyno [c] vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton) w/ Luke Harper (TLC 12/4/16), Triple Threat Match – RAW Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 12/12/16), Lince Dorado vs. Mustafa Ali (205 Live 2/13/16), Dolph Ziggler & American Alpha vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton & Luke Harper) (Tribute to the Troops 12/14/16), Steel Cage Match – NXT Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Samoa Joe (NXT 12/14/16)
