1. NXT Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: Johnny Gargano vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT 12/6/17)
Great chemistry, great dynamic, great example of “indy style” perfectly translated to WWE. This was just non-stop awesome – everything had a purpose, whether building to the next spot or telling the big bro/little bro story. They did a bunch of set-ups of spots, then delivered the spot a couple minutes later and had the crowd going wild. Every strike was delivered in full, every crazy spot executed perfectly. Ohno played the bully, Johnny the small fella who always has an answer. There were so many things here deserving place in the history books of cool wrestling spots too: The slingshot spear catch followed by an elbow of death, the tope tornado DDT, the absolutely insane diving elbow by Ohno to the back of Johnny’s head. Just awesome.
2. WWE Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Cesaro (RAW 12/11/17)
Fast-paced, physical, intense, great timing, told a story. Just a rollercoaster of a crazy fun pro wrestling match with ALLLL the good stuff – Cesaro arm work, Roman selling, big spots, big moments, impressive feats of strength, a god damn eye poke. And it’s all being done by two guys who might just be in their primes. Reigns’ selling was a damn masterpiece here – treating it as if his arm had more of a muscle tear than a broken bone, still fighting through the pain but always giving big reactions to remind you he’s in pain. And the crowd is with ALL OF IT, even straight-up OOOOOWWAAAAAAA’ing with Roman down the stretch. So many jaw-dropping move highlights too.
3. WWE Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Samoa Joe (RAW 12/25/17)
God bless the chemistry these two have – Reigns’ intensity and selling, Joe’s shit-talking and ass-kicking and glaring and sweating, a strong atmosphere with heat from start to finish. With a few more minutes and a proper finish this is a legitimate epic, as it was it was still awesome stuff. Loved the sequence where Reigns hit a sudden Superman punch for a near fall and gave an amazing reaction of disbelief, only to be followed by Joe countering a spear into a uranage for a near fall and his own amazing reaction of disbelief. The Kokina Clutch struggle was the good stuff too.
4. WWE Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Jason Jordan (RAW 12/4/17)
Quality wrestling right here, another notch in Roman Reigns’ amazing 2017 and a legitimate star-making match for Jason Jordan. There was just so much good stuff packed in here, both action and story-wise: Jordan suplexing Reigns around, Jordan constantly avoiding the Superman punch, Jordan’s hurt knee which played into the finish, Jordan’s insane neck strength on the rolling northern lights suplexes, Reigns selling his arm like he’s Black Tiger 2 in the Best of the Super Juniors. They brought the big near falls, the big selling, and of course there was the awesome spot where Reigns went for a Superman punch off the stairs and Jordan CAUGHT HIM. Reigns’ “OHHHH SHIT NOOO” sell was the cherry on top.
5. NXT Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: Roderick Strong vs. Lars Sullivan (NXT 12/20/17)
This is a wonderful sprint of a wrestling match with zero wasted moments. The intensity is non-stop – it’s two guys who just stay on each other – one because he’s a monster, the other because he has to. Lars was super aggressive while Roddy threw back some wild chops and elbows.T hought commentary did a good job hard-selling how simple mistakes shifted the momentum too. Towards the end Lars took a SUPERPLEX, kicked out at one, and Roddy did his best-ever acting. Great stuff that was really fun and most importantly just got to the point.
6. WWE U.K. Title: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Tyler Bate (NXT 12/20/17)
An awesome match but the clear lesser of their 2017 series. It had nowhere close to the heat, atmosphere, and just sheer amazement of the first two matches but these two are still SO good against each other, with soooo many sweet ideas performed well: the suplex off the stairs, the Tyler Driver triangle choke counter, Tyler’s deadlift out of the triangle choke and catapult of Dunne into the ropes, stomping each other to death, Bate’s Kofi rope thing and lariat spot on the OUTSIDE, Dunne teasing getting himself counted out and Bate doing the tope con hilo. All around that stuff there is strong matwork, Dunne being a sniveling shit, and FINGER work. A great match, just a little underwhelming in that they kind of tried to go for another classic and didn’t get anywhere close to the other two.
7. WWE Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Jinder Mahal w/ The Singh Brothers (Clash of Champions 12/17/17)
This is like AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar with Jinder Mahal as Brock Lesnar, and though it is not as good as that match it is still pretty great. AJ targets Jinder’s leg a bit (to set up the finish awwww what a guy), but Jinder is mostly on offense and AJ is AJ – just wrecking his gut on the top rope and toppling to the floor, going full tilt into the steel frame of the barricade, selling a gutbuster like death. It all builds well into the finish which rocked, with both guys looking all desperate to win.
8. NXT Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: Trent Seven vs. Killian Dain (NXT 12/6/17)
An example of having the exact match two guys needed to have; this is just two big fellas just going at it. Non-stop action, big strikes, good near falls… this thing was a blast.
9. Fatal 4-Way Match – SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) w/ Xavier Woods vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. Rusev & Aiden English (Clash of Champions 12/17/17)
This was a fun, if not a bit messy match that was more than anything about RUSEV DAY. The 4-way within a 4-way stip kind of put a confusing damper on everything, but there were a lot of awesome spots and the last 5 minutes were DRAMATIC. They brought the action from bell-to-bell, and once they started teasing a possible Rusev Day win and Chad Gable started flipping everybody out with German suplexes it got really special.
10. Fatal 4-Way NXT Title #1 Contender Match: Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan (NXT 12/27/17)
This is basically like the SummerSlam 4-Way Jr, with a lot of chaos while they actually told a story. Lars catching Black’s moonsault outside, Killian Dain’s tope, Lars launching Johnny off the stage, Dain’s flying splash through the commentary table = CHAOS!!! Plus, Johnny and Black tore it up, Lars and Dain had a monster showdown, and the finish gets one of the biggest HOLY SHIT pops of the year.
11. Winners Face The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Title – Triple Threat Match: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. Rusev & Aiden English (SmackDown 12/26/17)
This is just a bunch of stuff early, but eventually built into a heck of a finish: Gable’s double German suplex, HOT TAG RUSEV, a Chaos Theory by Gable on Rusev, the New Day corner uranage into a backstabber, Shelton catching Woods with a nasty knee to set up the Gable moonsault near fall, and Woods’ selling were all highlights. And the last few minutes were based all around the Rusev win tease, which is just fantastic. Everybody came out of this looking better too, which is always a plus.
12. RAW Tag Team Title: Cesaro & Sheamus [c] vs. Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan (RAW 12/25/17)
A really well laid out tag match that not only followed the reliable tag formula with a sweet beatdown and hot tag (I missed Jason Jordan’s hot tags), but also continued the Saga of Jason Jordan in a very fun way. Jordan at first not waiting for the hot tag and just spearing Sheamus was THE BEST.
13. Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus (RAW 12/11/17)
A very fun, ideal TV match – Rollins’ run early on, Sheamus’ big knee to take over, Sheamus going after the leg and Rolins mostly selling it, the Texas Cloverleaf near fall, and the POP for the sudden superplex… all the good stuff.
14. NXT Title #1 Contender Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole w/ Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish (NXT 12/13/17)
The best thing Cole has done in NXT so far, while Black continues to have an amazing back half of the year. Cole’s cockiness + Black kicking the shit out of him = magic. Black just grabbing Cole’s leg to block the superkick was awesome too, as was the Black Mass that finished it.
15. The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. Samoa Joe, Cesaro & Sheamus (Tribute to the Troops 12/14/17)
A 5-minute crowd-pleasing 6-man tag – high energy, fast-paced, troops popping for everything, quick heat segments, faces double teaming, heels bumping. Loved it. The Neutralizer setup on Reigns followed by the back body drop and Superman punch was awesome too.
16. RAW Tag Team Title: Cesaro & Sheamus [c] vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (RAW 12/4/17)
These guys have great tag chemistry, makes sense since all they’ve been doing since the summer is working each other. It may have not reached the epic heights of their other stuff, but everything worked – Seth sells and peppers stuff in, Dean-O is running all over the place for his hot tag, and The Bar RULES. Just good, solid, credible work – Sheamus kneeing fools in the face, Cesaro trapping Seth in a front facelock and army crawling back to his sections. The crowd was bumping for everything too, especially the chaotic finish.
17. Winner Wrestles in a #1 Contender’s Match for the Cruiserweight Title – Fatal 4-Way Match: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese (RAW 12/4/17)
The best of the three 4-way’s that determined Enzo’s next challenger… this had Cedric and Ali tearing it up, a cool dive train, Ali’s insane springboard Spanish fly, and DREW GULAK.
18. Triple Threat Match – WWE U.S. Title: Baron Corbin [c] vs. Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler (Clash of Champions 12/17/17)
This was a pretty good match between three guys I just cannot get into. Not really their fault – they brought the action, the spots, the near falls, got a tiny This is Awesome chant… it was just missing something, thanks to their runs on SmackDown for the last six months being turds. Finish was damn fun though.
19. Fabian Aichner vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas w/ Zelina Vega (NXT 12/13/17)
Another example if Aichner making the most of his minutes… cool flying, impressive power. He busted out an insane springboard plancha and springboard tornado DDT, as well as a straight-up POWERBOMB before the inevitable. Awesome 5-minute TV match.
20. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Jason Jordan vs. Samoa Joe, Cesaro & Sheamus (RAW 12/18/17)
A perfectly fine basic TV tag brought up by all the story choices they made: Jordan and Seth being targeted as they had already wrestled each other, Jordan vs. Joe build-up, Ambrose working the apron like a freak, and a big time build to Seth getting the hot tag.
21. Miracle on 34th Street Fight: Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa & Mustafa Ali vs. Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari (RAW 12/25/17)
A fun bullshit match that ended up the most interesting cruiserweight match in a while, as the the stupid elf costumes and candy cane spots added some actual character. Ali doing a somersault plancha over the Tozawa tope was AWESOME, too.
22. WWE U.S. Title Tournament – Round 1: Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin (SmackDown 12/26/17)
A very competent but lifeless match by these two. It got real good towards the end though, with Roode’s selling paying off and some sweet counters as if Corbin was auditioning for a G1 Climax or something.
23. AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens w/ Sami Zayn (SmackDown 12/26/17)
As with most of their matches, disappointing and no second gear, but it’s still AJ Styles doing his thing versus a relatively capable opponent. AJ’s dropkick, crazy bump outside, and back body drop, as well as Zayn being a turd on the outside were highlights.
24. Ember Moon vs. Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay (NXT 12/13/17)
A pretty good match highlighted by Peyton Royce coming into her own – she’s confident, has her moveset down, is really mean and into the character, reacts big to all the right stuff, and took a huge Eclipse bump. Get this gal on the main roster so they can destroy everything I like about her!
25. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. Colin Delaney & Joe Monroe (SmackDown 12/12/17)
The Bludgeon Brothers squash was Very Good for several reasons: first, COLIN DELANEY made his triumphant return as food for the Brothers. Second, Delaney’s partner’s girly scream as the Brothers hit their finish was incredible. Third, The Bludgeon Brothers are excellent at wrecking people. A fine 5 minutes of pro wrestling action.
Honorable Mentions: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak w/ Enzo Amore (205 Live 12/19/17), John Cena vs. Elias (RAW 12/25/17), Winner Faces Drew Gulak in a #1 Contender’s Match for the Cruiserweight Title – 2nd Chance Fatal 4-Way Match: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Ariya Daivari vs. Tony Nese (RAW 12/11/17), Winner Faces Samoa Joe: Seth Rollins vs. Jason Jordan (RAW 12/18/17), Gran Metalik vs. Brian Kendrick w/ Jack Gallagher (205 Live 12/5/17), Winner Faces Enzo Amore for the WWE Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak (RAW 12/18/17), The Revival (return) vs. Rhyno & Heath Slater (RAW 12/18/17), Kalisto vs. Tony Nese (Main Event 12/27/17)
Winner Faces Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble for the WWE Universal Title: Braun Strowman vs. Kane (RAW 12/11/17), Dean Ambrose vs. Samoa Joe (RAW 12/11/17), The Authors of Pain w/ Paul Ellering vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch (NXT 12/13/17), Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley (Clash of Champions 12/17/17), The Usos vs. Rusev & Aiden English (SmackDown 12/12/17), The Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable (SmackDown 12/19/17), NXT Women’s Title: Ember Moon [c] vs. Sonya Deville (NXT 12/27/17), Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews w/ Dana Brooke vs. The Revival (Main Event 12/27/17), Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick (Main Event 12/6/17)
