July 2017 was more about the stories, not the wrestling. Not a great in-ring month at all really. Lots of fun stuff but nothing really great. And many Indy Dream Matches not delivering either… Hero vs. KENTA, Devitt vs. Claudio, nor AJ vs. Owens cracked the top 25 for me.
1. Winner Faces Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (RAW 7/17/17)
Roman Reigns is in all the best TV matches this year – heated, physical brawls with great timing, big shots and the crowd going apeshit the whole time. He pairs off with Samoa Joe here, who is in the midst of an incredible late-stage run I’m not sure I saw coming. Talk about watching a man be fired up. Brutal beatdown by Joe, Reigns selling big, awesome spots like the massive Drive-By counter, and even cool little stuff like Joe seeing Roman was setting up the Superman punch and slyly escaping. Quality stuff.
2. Ambulance Match: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17)
No match this month made this jaded wrestling fan sit the fuck down and watch like this one. Bell-to-bell a compelling brawl – hot crowd, Braun hitting everything with gusto, Roman selling his ass off. Incredible sports entertainment.
3. WWE Universal Title: Brock Lesnar [c] vs. Samoa Joe (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17)
Maybe didn’t reach the heights of the awesome build, but this was 8-minutes of absolute intensity. Super fast shoot-style exchanges, Kokina clutch teases, German suplexes. Hashimoto vs. Ogawa in a WWE ring.
4. 2/3 Falls: Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak (205 Live 7/18/17)
A really great match that probably would’ve been #1 if 205 Live didn’t suck so hard. Massive bumps by Mustafa Ali, tons of great spots from both guys, and I liked how this really did feel like a contrasting styles type of match, from Ali’s big somersault plancha to Gulak grabbing a cravate and just throwing Ali into the turnbuckle.
5. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) w/ Big E (Battleground 7/23/17)
Tremendous tag team wrestling here, from the early classic good guys vs. bad guys tag stuff to another out-of-this-world Usos finish. Usos tags have quietly snuck up as one of the best things in wrestling.
6. WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ Maryse, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Heath Slater w/ Rhyno (RAW 7/3/17)
This is a match where the story makes things extra special. Heath Slater, kicking tire since 2010, has himself a RUN against The Miz, who is decked out in destination wedding clothing. It’s a blast. Heath is out-wrestling Miz, ripping off his shirt for chops, and Miz is selling his ass off and giving the kid some near falls like he’s 1986 Ric Flair. Tremendous television.
7. RAW Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Sasha Banks (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17)
This wasn’t some cute wrestling match it was a FIGHT. I liked it as both a worked hate-filled brawl or a real-life competition shoot fight. Alexa kicks ass, Sasha sells her ass off and makes everything look crazy violent, meanwhile both seem like they legit want to kill each other. That backbreaker, man. Wild stuff.
8. Oney Lorcan vs. Danny Burch (NXT 7/19/17)
Another high intensity Oney Lorcan TV classic, and it’s against Danny Burch who is his spirit animal. This match is two workers, five minutes – it’s got holds, strikes, slaps, intense faces. It’s got a fucking POWERBOMB. Life is short, All Hail Oney.
9. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Revival (RAW 7/17/17)
Not the epic match I hope these fellas have somewhere down the road, but way better than a throwaway TV match had any right to be. They got a lot of time and it had all the good formula tag stuff that these teams have mastered – Revival beating and cut-offs, Hardys selling and being all fired up. But it also had all the little extra that makes these guys great – Revival’s bumps, Matt’s selling, Jeff as corner-man.
10. Lince Dorado vs. Neville (205 Live 7/4/17)
Amazing Neville squash… he just methodically kicks Lince’s ass as he stares down the guy he’s feuding with (Tozawa) outside, like a new age British Kawada. Lince throws in a few neat moves before Neville powerbombs his ass and stretches him to death. Effective professional wrestling is the best professional wrestling.
11. 2-on-3 Handicap Match: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz & The Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) w/ Maryse (RAW 7/24/17)
A great sports entertainment match, where the story gave it such a hook that they really didn’t even have to put as much effort in it as they did. Seth & Dean were working like they were Ricky & Robert, Bo & Curtis were bumping all over the place, and Miz stooged around like the piece of shit that he is. Crowd was going nuts for most of it too.
12. Triple Threat Match: Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman (RAW 7/31/17)
Love a well-laid out WWE main event match. These are three big guys who all seem to have stumbled in to the primes of their careers at once, and they have themselves the big physical brawl you always hoped you could see. It kept moving, everything flowed smartly into the next thing, every throw and strike was larger and life. Roman felt like freakin’ AJ Styles a few times here, just flying and running around the big boys he was sharing a ring with. Perhaps a disappointment if a promoted match, but this happened at the start of the third hour of Monday Night RAW and was awesome TV.
13. I Quit Match: Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar w/ Alicia Fox (205 Live 7/11/17)
Crap feud, crap presentation, awesome match. Fascinating to watch, for all intents and purposes a completely awesome brutal epic I Quit Match in front of an audience that did not give one single shit. I mean these two just go AT IT and have a really solid, gritty match to deafening silence. It was like a lost Empty Arena Match. Amazing.
14. No DQ Match: Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson (RAW 7/24/17)
A blast of a silly gimmick match, such a blast that I forgot it was probably ending with Bray Wyatt interference. They kept this sucker moving, the crowd was buzzing, and Finn’s taped shoulder gave it all the story it ever needed. Finn isn’t a guy I associate good brawls with but this match made me think that maybe I should. Dug Finn’s the one-armed comeback too.
15. Winner Faces Alexa Bliss for RAW Women’s Title at SummerSlam: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley (RAW 7/24/17)
A fun variety hour of a pro wrestling match – chain wrestling, brawling, big strikes. Liked the upping of the ante with both pals getting more intense as the match went on. This isn’t Brooklyn but it’s good quality pro wrestling.
16. Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson (RAW 7/10/17)
Everything just clicked here, such a basic bullshit RAW TV match but these guys worked it perfect for each of there characters – bodyslam and shit talk by Samson, tight headlock by Finn, Samson beatdown, Let’s Go Balor chants, Samson wildly swinging at Balor as he elbowed at him, Balor selling the shoulder, Samson’s wild slop bump off the running dropkick, big Coup de Grace finish. So simple so awesome.
17. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Neville [c] vs. Akira Tozawa (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17)
Great performances vs. a great match, love these two but this was the good match you have when you’re going to have a rematch. It’s good solid work but ya want a little bit more. Each guy though did look phenomenal though. Tozawa is so good, so fast, and Neville is just the best in the world – leaning in to chops, punishing his opponents, selling huge, everything looking clean and crisp, all while he’s just the most methodical miserable prick of a wrestler.
18. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch (SmackDown 7/18/17)
It’s Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch trading holds, running ropes, trying to out-do each other. A sweet counter or two. Very good 5-minute professional wrestling.
19. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt (RAW 7/10/17)
Haven’t been huge on either guy for a while but this hit all the right notes – Bray hits hard, Seth bumps around, Bray pokes Seth’s eye and Seth lands on his head for a Sister Abigail. Very good!
20. WWE U.S. Title #1 Contender Independence Day Battle Royal (SmackDown 7/4/17)
Love a well-booked Battle Royal, especially a well-booked Independence Day Battle Royal. Colorful characters, eliminations that told a story, a fun final 3, all for America.
21. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 7/25/17)
Shinsuke Nakamura kicks the fuck out of Baron Corbin for 5 minutes. Fun stuff.
22. Winner Enters the U.S. Title #1 Contender Battle Royal: AJ Styles vs. Chad Gable (SmackDown 7/4/17)
A bunch of fun stuff packed into a little over 5 minutes, a very fun enhancement match. There’s an ankle lock counter of the Styles Clash that’s just wild.
23. Braun Strowman vs. Apollo Crews w/ Titus O’Neil (RAW 7/3/17)
A true testament to the WWE system, two guys we have all seen on TV look crazy green having themselves a RAW main event that totally works. Plus this has Apollo taking one of the most epic bumps in professional wrestling history.
24. Mustafa Ali vs. Neville (RAW 7/3/17)
Another awesome 2017 Neville squash, complete with Ali bumping his heart out.
25. Triple Threat Match – WWE U.S. Title: Kevin Owens [c] vs. Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (SmackDown 7/25/17)
A This is Awesome type of match, fun stuff that kept moving but at the same time nothing that really stood out. Liked it, just not gonna say you’ve got to watch it, even if it is #25 out of #25 on my Best Matches of July list.
Honorable Mentions: Kalisto vs. Scott Dawson (Main Event 7/5/17), Kalisto vs. Apollo Crews (Main Event 7/26/17), AJ Styles [c] vs. Kevin Owens (Battleground 7/23/17), Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17), Punjabi Prison Match – WWE Title: Jinder Mahal [c] vs. Randy Orton w/ The Singh Brothers (Battleground 7/23/17), 30-Minute Iron Man Match – RAW Tag Team Title: Cesaro & Sheamus [c] vs. The Hardy Boyz (Great Balls of Fire 7/9/17), Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riot (NXT 7/19/17), The Hardy Boyz vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (RAW 7/10/17)
Bobby Roode [c] vs. Roderick Strong (NXT 7/5/17), Kassius Ohno vs. Hideo Itami (NXT 7/26/17), Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax (RAW 7/10/17), Aleister Black vs. Bobby Fish (debut) (NXT 7/12/17), Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus w/ Cesaro (RAW 7/31/17), Finn Balor vs. Cesaro w/ Sheamus (RAW 7/3/17), John Cena & AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens & Rusev (SmackDown 7/11/17), Rich Swann vs. TJP (205 Live 7/4/17), Randy Orton vs. Aiden English (SmackDown 7/4/17)
