WWE Money In The Bank 2011: Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Kane vs. Sheamus vs. Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett
This isn't the craziest multi-man ladder match that WWE has put on over the years. What I mean by that is that there isn't a huge amount of those holy shit spots that could be put on video packages for years to come, but what I think this has most of those other multi-man ladder matches beat is the flow; right from the get go the thing just flows super well, and it continues to do so for the rest of its runtime. There's no dull moments whatsoever, it's just super fun action with everybody getting some proper time to shine -- one standout was Sin Cara's run on the offense; he looked very good with his flippy stuff, and then the way that said run ended by the hands of Sheamus was absolutely awesome in all of its glorious brutality. The finishing sequence with Bryan & Barrett also rules, and the result is a genuine feel-good moment. The post-match with Bryan getting overwhelmed by the crowds reaction to his victory is some heartwarming stuff as well. So it's a great match + the ending/result is fantastic, which makes it a really sweet deal all around. ****
WWE SummerSlam 2011: Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett
This is a very good & nice midcard match. Barrett isn't exactly a highlight reel when working on top, but his work is definitely very solid, and Bryan's crafty babyface performance is just all kinds of awesome. My favorite bits were him chopping Barrett down w/ them leg kicks in one his comebacks, and then him countering Wade's first Wasteland attempt w/ those repeated elbow strikes, getting the Guillotine in & then transitioning that into the LeBell Lock. That's some pretty great stuff there. Felt like the match got better as it went on too; like I said, this was a real strong midcard contest, in which both guys looked really good, and in Bryan's case, great. ***3/4
WWE SmackDown 08/19/11: Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio had just won the WWE Championship prior to this, and Bryan was of course holding that MITB briefcase, so it was a fun, pretty major, cross-brand meeting. They get a good amount of time & deliver a very good TV-match; Bryan works most of it from underneath, and to no one's surprise, is great at that. Del Rio is also well spirited in this, showing good swagger w/ his work -- I did appreciate him going for Bryan's arm early on with some focus, which ultimately paid off in the end with that Armbar finish of his. ***1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment