So much good professional wrestling from WWE in April, WHAT A MONTH. I am listing fifty matches because this might have been the most consistent wrestling month from WWE EVER. The peaks may be not as high but this was incredible. The matches mattered, stuff got heat, TakeOver, Mania, Payback… awww yeah.
1. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Payback 4/30/17)
April started off with Braun Strowman being eliminated early in the Andre Battle Royal and Roman Reigns main eventing WrestleMania and defeating The Undertaker. The next night, Braun challenged Brock Lesnar. Then, he tried to kill Roman and Roman disappeared. Then, he and Big Show broke the ring with a superplex. Then, he tried to kill Kalisto. And then Roman returned and had a match with Braun and it was awesome. Everything that April was building to paid off.
Stubborn-ass WWE has found another John Cena in Roman Reigns, a guy that does BIG MATCHES better than anybody and has the crowd buzzing most of the time whether they love or hate him. And Braun… man, Braun. A big freak of a guy with 2 years in the biz who is taking the ball he has been handed and has ran with it. What he lacks for in fundamental expertise he more than makes up for in charisma and nailing every big moment his match needs. A fun, big time main event wrestling match … stiff shots, big pops, and what might have been an all-time great sell job by Roman Reigns.
2. Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
This is here for sheer spectacle, for being all that is great and a little bit goofy about professional wrestling, for being a perfect WrestleMania opener, and for AJ Styles being the best in the world while working the boss’ son.
3. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
In which straight-up junior heavyweight professional wrestling appeared in WWE. A few other matches on this list might pop out as more of a spectacle or have less quiet moments, but this match was one of the most incredible impressive things I saw all month – not go-go-go, but go-go-stop go-go-stop and they had the crowd with them the whole time. Impressive, stadium-worthy movements and bumps by both guys. Doesn’t hurt it was in a daylight stadium, which I am a mark for.
4. Big Show vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 4/17/17)
GIANTS!!!! RAAAWWWWRRRR!!!! A match laid out for maximum fun… popped the crowd a few times, teased a superplex a few times, delivered a superplex, and the god damn ring broke. The ascension of Braun Strowman has been the most fun thing in wrestling all month and this match was a big part of it.
5. WWE Universal Title: Goldberg [c] vs. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
This was a freakin’ short action film – a straight-up battle right from the bell, old-ass Goldberg taking 10 suplexes, big near falls, crazy hot crowd. Brock Lesnar LEAPFROGGED OVER A SPEAR AND IT WAS INSANE.
6. Drew McIntyre vs. Oney Lorcan (NXT 4/12/17)
You don’t see a match like this in the WWE, ever. A 5-minute statement match from the returning McIntyre, a perfect return opponent in Oney who does not fuck around, no wasted movements and everything was stiff as shit and legit. The plancha catch on the outside and top rope belly-to-belly spots are all-timers. Awesome.
7. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries (Payback 4/30/17)
The second great Neville/Aries match this month… these are two indy fellas who got to WWE and got better. An impressive match, with everything looking all crisp and painful, and a couple of insane bumps – Aries bumping off the top turnbuckle dick-first, and Neville taking a dropkick from behind and flying over the top-rope. A ton of fun moments, Neville looking like a comic-book villain, Aries continuing to look incredible, and a screwy finish that completely worked.
8. Street Fight: Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 4/4/17)
The Mania match was a stinker but this ruled and was the match I was hoping they’d have there. This was WILD! It was like Hulk Hogan vs. Dr. D with more cocaine… bad guy beats good guy up, good guy comes back and gets RECEIPTS. Tons of craziness and crowd was hot for all of it. Dean going nuts on Corbin with belt shots is incredible, as is Corbin just hurling a god damn chair in Dean’s face.
9. Triple Threat Elimination Match – NXT Tag Team Title: The Authors of Pain [c] w/ Paul Ellering vs. #DIY vs. The Revival (NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17)
Basically a TLC without ladders or chairs… classic WWE car-crash type of match, though leave it to The Revival to make a lot of it feel weirdly legit. Lots of fun spots around AoP being big fellas. Just a big ol’ blast of a match, capped off by Nigel just going “My god I’m glad I retired.”
10. Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match – RAW Tag Team Title: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Enzo & Big Cass vs. The Hardy Boyz (return) (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
A classic crazy-ass ladder match at WrestleMania all seen with through the rose-tinted glasses of a mark who just went positively nuts over the fact that The Hardy Boyz returned. Oh YES. This is what the wrestling is all about.
11. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. American Alpha (SmackDown 4/11/17)
Match last month was better, but this was great. You’ve got two clean cut jocks in singlets up against these scuzzy fucks in t-shirts and cargo pants, just a wonderful dynamic. Alpha suplexes, Usos beatdown, big finish, and a lot of fun little moments peppered in.
12. RAW Tag Team Title: The Hardy Boyz [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (Payback 4/30/17)
A basic Hardy Boyz tag match, which as far as everyday WWE rasslin goes is about as good as it gets. It has what you expect – Jeff and Matt both bump like crazy people, the signature spots you know and love are hit – but it also has Cesaro and Sheamus dishing out a really fun beatdown and a finish that came together really well.
13. Unsanctioned Match: Seth Rollins vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
Good start, great finish, not a very engaging middle. For a match I liked, I still have more critiques than praise for it. A lot of stuff here could’ve been done better – more brawling, more selling that it’s mentor vs. student, something, anything other than Standard Big Triple H Match. Regardless, it was good stuff, even if I was bored for a couple stretches too.
14. WWE U.S. Title: Chris Jericho [c] vs. Kevin Owens (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
Good not great, a PPV-caliber match that never really got COOKIN’. A lot like Triple H/Rollins, really, but more compact and a lot more fun spots… the build to and payoff of the Lionsault, Owens’ cannonball countered with the Walls, the pop-up powerbomb to Codebreaker, the PINKY ROPE BREAK, and Jericho being ended by a nasty apron powerbomb.
15. Mustafa Ali vs. Neville (RAW 4/3/17)
Two fellas who are just crushing it this year… Ali hit a bunch of pretty spots and nasty bumps, Neville bumped like a madman and was a total asshole. Crowd was annoying throughout this flipping out over a beach ball, but was pretty fascinating to watch Ali and Neville just going all out in front of these dummies. Great douchebag finish by Neville too.
16. The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston vs. The Revival (debut) (RAW 4/3/17)
Perfect debut for The Revival – big post-Mania pop, and all the signature stuff needed to get over exactly who these fellas are. Distractions, quick tags, cut-offs, TEAMWORK. Awesome Shatter Machine at the finish too.
17. RAW Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Alexa Bliss (Payback 4/30/17)
Hometown crowd for Bayley + Alexa continuing to be one of the best around at using her character to make the match better. Character work, a couple big spots timed well, an awesome near fall – all ya really need at the end of the day. Highlights were a wild sunset flip bomb by Alexa, Bayley’s crazy-ass running knee, the Macho elbow near fall, and a finish that came together really really well.
18. If Jericho Wins, He Goes to SmackDown – WWE U.S. Title: Kevin Owens [c] vs. Chris Jericho (Payback 4/30/17)
Similar to Mania… good not great, a solid PPV match and something I enjoyed in the moment but also a match I felt was missing something. Maybe I should just be happy with what I get, Jericho’s almost 50 for godssakes.
19. Steel Cage Match: Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young w/ SAnitY (NXT 4/19/17)
Dillinger isn’t the best intense brawl guy, but as far as Perfect 10 Tye Dillinger winning a feud in a Steel Cage Match it was really good. Eye gouges, run-ins, blood – hit all the right notes as a feud blowoff…
20. Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match – RAW Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
Ideal 4-way stuff… the action flowed well, the big spots were timed right, the crowd was digging it, and they protected young Nia by treating her like a monster. Couple wild spots too, highlighted by Charlotte being a crazy person and hitting a perfect corkscrew dive to the outside.
21. Six-Pack Challenge WWE Title #1 Contender Match: Sami Zayn vs. Luke Harper vs. Mojo Rawley vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Erick Rowan vs. Jinder Mahal (SmackDown 4/18/17)
BONKERS. Absolute BONKERS. A random line-up of characters, lots of action, everybody got some love, and then – JINDER!!!
22. Tye Dillinger, No Roderick Strong, Ruby Riot & X (Kassius Ohno) vs. SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe & Nikki Cross) (NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17)
TakeOver openers are still just the best. This didn’t re-invent the wheel and it didn’t need to either… fun spots, high energy, moved fast, Kassius punched people, couple hot tags, Tye vs. Eric … all good stuff.
23. Triple Threat WWE U.S. Title #1 Contender’s Match: AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 4/11/17)
Classic WWE 3-way with pretty good ACTION~! before commercial and pretty awesome ACTION~! after it. Totally batty finish, very fun stuff.
24. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 4/18/17)
AJ being AJ, Corbin keeping up. Amazing AJ Styles bump in the corner here too.
25. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado vs. Drew Gulak & Tony Nese (Main Event (4/12/17)
WWE might inexplicably not have anything for Gran Metalik right now but their loss is my gain as this month he kind of single-handedly made sitting through a hundred Curtis Axel matches worth it. Finally, a couple legit hidden gems on Main Event – Drew and Metalik just tear it the fuck up here, some of the most mind-blowing wrestling I’ve seen in WWE in a while. Metalik & Lince make for a fun team and Drew & Nese take and react to it all like champs. Plus, Drew catches Metalik at one point and just powerbombs his ass into the barricade.
26. WWE Cruiserweight Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Match: Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. Mustafa Ali (205 Live 4/4/17)
WWE having themselves their version of an ROH Four Corner Survival, a match I dug while it lasted even if it kind of runs together with a lot of other similar matches. Non-stop fun stuff here though.
27. Seth Rollins & X (Finn Balor) (return) vs. Kevin Owens & Samoa Joe (RAW 4/3/17)
A good match between four former NXT champs in Orlando the night after WrestleMania… quality stuff. The good guys got a run, Joe and Owens went after Seth’s knee, Seth sold that knee, and Balor got a nice Returning Guy run at the end.
28. Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick (205 Live 4/4/17)
Their match at the end of March was something I thought was epic, and this was a strong follow-up, with Tozawa continuing to look like one of the best guys in the world. Great strikes, charisma, shit for the crowd to chant… awesome.
29. Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado vs. Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari (Main Event 4/19/17)
More Metalik being awesome, seeing him doing all his wild shit on WWE TV is a treat. Great spot here with Metalik trying to reverse somersault into something, Nese lifting him with a powerslam, and Metalik reversing with a tornado DDT, leading to a hot tag.
30. NXT Women’s Title: Asuka [c] vs. Ember Moon (NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17)
A match that did more for Ember Moon than nine months of an NXT TV run. Liked the story of Ember proving she can go with Asuka, and Asuka contineus to be the best wrestler in the world that nobody talks about because she wrestles like once a quarter. Everything she hits is so nasty and fun to watch and shit. BACKFISTS!!! Good solid wrestling match.
31. SmackDown Women’s Title: Naomi [c] vs. Alexa Bliss (SmackDown 4/4/17)
Alexa puts the heat on Naomi, works over her knee, acts like a bitch, and takes her finish. Honest to god, a more effective version of Triple H vs. Seth Rollins.
32. Rich Swann vs. Oney Lorcan (205 Live 4/4/17)
Oney Lorcan is one of my favorite people to watch wrestle. He just fucks people up. Here he fucked Swann up, and then Swanny got a run, and I enjoyed all of this.
33. RAW Tag Team Title: The Hardy Boyz [c] vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 4/3/17)
The Hardy Boyz doing their Greatest Hits on the RAW after WrestleMania. Hell yes.
34. Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. TJ Perkins (205 Live 4/11/17)
A really well-worked match that I just wasn’t wrapped up in for the full 15 minutes. Jack does a great job selling the leg here though.
35. WWE U.K. Title: Tyler Bate [c] vs. Jack Gallagher (NXT 4/26/17)
Always fun to see something DIFFERENT~! on WWE TV. Two Euro lads goin’ at it, just a bunch of fun stuff! Chain wrestling, counters, limbs being manipulated. Plus Pete Dunne’s in the crowd just snarling.
36. Matt Hardy w/ Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus w/ Cesaro (RAW 4/24/17)
Two fellas who are just a pleasure to watch. PROFESSIONALS. Everything’s sold a bit more, hit with just a bit more EXTRA. I missed Matt Hardy. Very very good TV wrestling match.
37. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 4/25/17)
A little cold, but it’s still AJ Styles wrestling a wrestling match and Corbin continues to be very good.
38. Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins (205 Live 4/18/17)
A fun match… great start, lost a little momentum with the typically deflated 205 Live crowd, and then at the very end it weirdly felt kind of epic.
39. No Holds Barred: The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
As the final match after like 8 hours of wrestling, it wasn’t great. But as a thing so unique to the world of professional wrestling, I enjoyed this for what it was. It was a special meta type of match, with the legendary Undertaker no longer able to go, an old man who at the end of the day truly is a mortal – he, as many before him, can fuck up spots too. I didn’t love it in the moment, but I respect that it exists.
40. RAW Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Enzo & Big Cass (RAW 4/3/17)
Moved quick, bunch of fun spots, and Cesaro & Sheamus just wreck Enzo for the finish.
41. Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe (RAW 4/17/17)
In his last run Jericho weirdly became the master of the RAW TV match – he keeps things moving while still telling a story, brings the crowd up and down, and peppers in signature spots. Perhaps this was the last good TV match of that run.
42. Enzo & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 4/17/17)
Relatively high-end Enzo & Big Cass TV match, with some sweet highlights outside of the usual beatdown and hot tag jazz. Incredible finish too, with Anderson just dropping Enzo’s LEGS on the top turnbuckle and pinning him for 3.
43. Bayley, Sasha Banks & Dana Brooke vs. Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax & Emma (return) (RAW 4/3/17)
RAW after Mania energy, Evil Emma being super over and all fired up, action that kept moving, Bayley taking heat, nice finish… best women’s TV match on RAW outside of the title matches in a long time.
44. John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17)
Basically a Miz squash of John Cena and then some John Cena signature moves, but still deserves mention for the spectacle of it all. Plus Miz is pretty great playing off the crowd cheering him beating Cena’s ass.
45. Jeff Hardy w/ Matt Hardy vs. Cesaro w/ Sheamus (RAW 4/17/17)
Just a fun as hell TV match, with Jeff already back to bumping like a freak and selling like a broken man.
46. Mustafa Ali vs. Brian Kendrick (205 Live 4/11/17)
Love watching Mustafa Ali do his thing… great selling of out-wrestling opponents, great selling taking a beating too. Pretty sweet spot here too with Kendrick just dragging Ali off the top into the Captain’s Hook.
47. Sami Zayn vs. Jinder Mahal (RAW 4/3/17)
Less than 5-minutes, but it’s got Jinder attacking before the bell, Zayn getting beat up to O-LE chants, and then coming back and getting his shit in for the win. Perfect.
46. Rich Swann vs. Johnny Ocean (205 Live 4/11/17)
A silly fun match, with one-half of 3.0 getting squashed on WWE TV and being awesome doing it. Johnny Ocean is a jobber who is loud, has charisma, and got chants against him – WHAT A WRESTLER.
47. Heavy Machinery vs. The Bollywood Boyz (NXT 4/5/17)
A real right place right time kind of situation, with the new big boys destroying the annoying dancing dudes. Nice finisher by the Heavies too.
48. #DIY vs. Dylan Miley & Michael Blais (NXT 4/12/17)
A match that ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING. #DIY puts the debuting Miley over big and then finish Miley’s generic-ass partner off.
49. Ruby Riot vs. Kimberly Frankele (NXT 4/12/17)
These two can WORK and looked great for the 5-minutes this lasted. HOLDS. CHOPS. Liked this a lot.
50. Aleister Black vs. Corey Hollis (NXT 4/12/17)
If you are going to have a match that is just a single kick, it better be a good kick. This was a good kick.
Honorable Mentions: Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak (Main Event 4/5/17), Enzo & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (Payback 4/30/17), Austin Aries & Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. Neville & TJ Perkins (RAW 4/24/17), Fatal 4-Way RAW Women’s Title #1 Contender’s Match: Sasha Banks vs. Mickie James vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax (RAW 4/17/17), The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. The Revival (RAW 4/10/17), Aleister Black vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17), Mustafa Ali vs. Ariya Daivari (205 Live 4/18/17)
Champion vs. Champion: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 4/10/17), WWE Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose [c] vs. Baron Corbin (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17), The Hardy Boyz and Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and The Shining Stars (RAW 4/10/17), Sami Zayn vs. The Miz w/ Maryse (RAW 4/10/17), Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado vs. Tony Nese & Drew Gulak (Main Event 4/26/17), Randy Orton & Luke Harper vs. Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan (SmackDown 4/4/17), Tye Dillinger (debut) vs. Curt Hawkins (SmackDown 4/4/17), No Disqualification Match: Randy Orton vs. Erick Rowan (SmackDown 4/25/17), Mustafa Ali vs. Tony Nese (205 Live 4/25/17), Neville vs. Gentleman Jack Gallagher (205 Live 4/25/17)
NXT Title: Bobby Roode [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT TakeOver: Orlando 4/1/17), WWE World Title: Bray Wyatt [c] vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17), Six-Pack Challenge – SmackDown Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Carmella w/ James Ellsworth (WrestleMania 4/2/17), Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (WrestleMania 33 4/2/17), Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs. TJ Perkins (RAW 4/17/17), Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Danny Burch (NXT 4/19/17), Oney Lorcan vs. El Vagabundo (“The Drifter” Elias Samson) (NXT 4/5/17), Mojo Rawley vs. Jinder Mahal (SmackDown 4/11/17), Finn Balor vs. Jinder Mahal (RAW 4/10/17)
