June 2021 marked some of the last shows WWE aired from the Thunderdome, or at least I hope so. Nothing really stood out as “the best” but there was plenty pretty good.
1. Fatal 5-Way Match – NXT Title: Karrion Kross [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne (TakeOver: In Your House 6/13/21)
Among many matches this month more about style than substance, I am reasonably sure this was the best: all these fun wrestlers and Karrion Kross went at it with a TakeOver-level motivation if not atmosphere, spots delivered with a reckless abandon but also flowing from one to the next as if they came from a well-oiled — maybe even automated — machine.
2. Hell in a Cell – SmackDown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Bayley (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21)
Four trips to the refurbished red Hell in a Cell this month, and three of them were pretty good. The best one was this, less a Cell match and more a battle of good vs. evil in front of a cage. Bayley is a psychopath and Belair’s comebacks ruled.
3. Hell in a Cell: Xavier Woods w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Bobby Lashley w/ MVP (RAW 6/21/21)
4. Hell in a Cell – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Rey Mysterio (SmackDown 6/18/21)
Lashley/Woods and Reigns/Mysterio were both hastily announced but wonderfully straightforward, with bad guys looking like killers and the little guys finding ways to make it credible before it was time to die. Woods took some tremendous bumps and in the era of crash pads and crazy bumps, Reigns powerbombing Rey from inside the ring into the Cell wall stood out as special.
5. Triple Threat NXT Women’s Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: Io Shirai & Zoey Stark vs. Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai (NXT 6/29/21)
The triple threat tag usually stinks but this absolutely ruled, all over the place action with incredible timing that kept the big spots coming, spots all delivered with an extra kick.
6. Winner Takes All – NXT North American Title & NXT Tag Team Title: Bronson Reed [c] & MSK [c] vs. Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza (TakeOver: In Your House 6/13/21)
The crowd-pleasing 6-man wasn’t around so much in the last year, but here it was: six fun wrestlers doing a fun bunch of wrestling, with MSK and Legado saving some of their most impressive work together for TakeOver.
7. Money in the Bank Qualifier: Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle (RAW 6/21/21)
Drew McIntyre the WWE Main Event guy isn’t the greatest, but Drew McIntyre the guy in random matches with Sheamus or Riddle always looks like the best in the world. These two lit each other up with strikes so nasty they set the chilly Thunderdome on fire.
8. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21)
Sometimes when you are bound to do this forever, you have a pay-per-view match with somersault sentons to the floor and half-nelson suplexes all designed to put over a guy named Commander Azeez’ new finisher. This was a fun bunch of their greatest hits with an extra nasty kick to the face for the finish.
9. Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA (NXT 6/22/21)
It’s a match very much in a vacuum, but it’s still Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA headlining WWE TV. One of those matches where a guy grabbed an arm and neither seemed to let go, two guys who clearly love working and beating the shit out of each other.
10. SmackDown Tag Team Title: Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio [c] vs. The Usos (SmackDown 6/4/21)
This hits every beat you’d expect a tag match to hit, but each one (heat, hot tag, finish) was played sublimely: Rey caught with a Samoan drop onto a table to setup the heat, Jey colliding with the corner post to setup the hot tag, and the apron senton by Rey followed by him getting bodied by a superkick to setup the finish. So good.
Honorable Mentions: NXT UK Women’s Title: Kay Lee Ray [c] vs. Meiko Satomura (NXT UK 6/10/21), Tornado Tag Team Match: Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT 6/15/21), Triple Threat Match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown (NXT UK 6/24/21), NXT Cruiserweight Title: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Carmelo Hayes (NXT 6/1/21), Carmelo Hayes vs. Adam Cole (NXT 6/22/21), Ilja Dragunov vs. Noam Dar (NXT UK 6/3/21)
Money in the Bank Qualifier: Big E vs. Apollo Crews (SmackDown 6/24/21), Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory vs. Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan (NXT 6/22/21), Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21), Nathan Frazer vs. Rohan Raja (NXT UK 6/17/21), Mixed Tag Match: Bianca Belair & Cesaro vs. Bayley & Seth Rollins (SmackDown 6/24/21), 22. NXT North American Title: Bronson Reed [c] vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott w/ Hit Row (NXT 6/29/21)
Last Chance Triple Threat Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle vs. AJ Styles w/ Omos (RAW 6/28/21, NXT Tag Team Title: MSK [c] vs. Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza w/ Santos Escobar (NXT 6/1/21), Ikeman Jiro vs. Tony Nese (205 Live 6/18/21), Zoey Stark & Zayda Ramier vs. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell (NXT 6/1/21), Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Randy Orton & Riddle (RAW 6/14/21), WWE Intercontinental Title: Apollo Crews [c] vs. Kevin Owens (SmackDown 6/4/21), Kevin Owens & Big E vs. Apollo Crews & Sami Zayn (SmackDown 6/11/21), NXT Cruiserweight Title: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Trey Baxter (NXT 6/15/21)
