Bryan/Uso, Mox/KENTA

WWE SmackDown 02/26/21
Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso
A yet another quality match between these two. Maybe even the best one they've had so far. The focus on Bryan's weakened knee coming from the PPV created a very compelling dynamic for the thing, and Uso more than delivered going after that bodypart; some of the big spots revolving around it were legitimately real nasty in the best ways possible. ***1/2

NJPW STRONG - The New Beginning USA 02/26/21
Jon Moxley vs. KENTA
This ruled. Had a completely different feel to it than any other New Japan match of recent years; the whole build, the blunt NJPW STRONG presentation -- it all fit the nature of this match & these two to a T. KENTA & Moxley had a real heated fight that felt like a constant scrap for the entire duration of it. The thuds of KENTA's kicks & forearms, Moxley's terrific selling, loved everything about this. The ending with KENTA telling Mox to fuck off before getting put down was simply perfect for this match as well. Really great stuff all the way through. ****

Elimination Chamber '21

WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER 2021

Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens vs. King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn
This was fantastic. Bryan & Cesaro started it off wonderfully, and the match really never let up as it continued; Corbin got to have a really nice run before getting eliminated first, KO was a very solid ball of energy the entire time he was involved, Zayn was great, Uso did his thing - he definitely was the least exciting man with his output, but the big focus wasn't on him anyways, so it's all good & it's not like he was bad, annoying or anything like that -- he just didn't have those standout moments that the other men in this did. The easy MVP's for me were Bryan, Cesaro & Zayn. Those 3 were simply fantastic, which isn't a surprise at all. This thing definitely goes into the upper echelon of Chamber matches after this initial viewing; non-stop great action from start to finish. ****

Elimination Chamber SD Preview 6-Man Tag

 

WWE SmackDown 02/19/21
Cesaro, Daniel Bryan & Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso, King Corbin & Sami Zayn
Well I thought this was pretty darn awesome. It had such a fun pace to it right from the get go + everybody delivered extremely well spirited & energized performances; Sami Zayn in particular was on fire all match long, with his exchanges against D-Bryan certainly being my favorite bits of the whole thing. ***1/2

Bryan vs Styles from the end of January

WWE SmackDown 01/29/21
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan
This eventually ended in a dq & turned into a multi-man tag when a lot of people got involved, but everything before that was really great. It isn't a surprise since it's AJ & Bryan going at it -- as always with the two, they simply make every bit of their wrestling look better than anybody else's. Everything is awesome, and it sure wouldn't be a Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles match without them going after specific bodyparts of one another; especially Bryan's targeting of AJ's arm was glorious. Because of the finish this definitely won't be remembered as one of their best matches or anything close to that, but it's still a yet another neat addition to their storied, fantastic rivalry. ***1/2

AEW THE FORBIDDEN DOOR TAG MATCH

 

AEW DYNAMITE 02/10/21

Jon Moxley & Lance Archer vs. Kenny Omega & KENTA
This was just so much fun. This kind of matches are always at their best when they got that organic chaotic feel to 'em, and I think this bout offered exactly that pretty excellently. No downtime whatsoever, as the action was hot right from the get go & remained that till the very end. Everybody looked great, with Archer in particular shining & coming off as a monster threat all the way through. ****

2021 MOTYC (****+) LIST

★★★★★

★★★★¾

★★★★½

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns (WWE 03/21)

Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW 12/15)

★★★★¼

Daniel Bryan vs. Edge vs. Roman Reigns (WWE 04/11)
Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (AEW 09/22)

★★★★
Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE 02/05)

Jon Moxley & Lance Archer vs. Kenny Omega & KENTA (AEW 02/10)

Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens vs. King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn (WWE 02/21)

Jon Moxley vs. KENTA (NJPW 02/26)

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns (WWE 04/30)

Darby Allin vs. Miro (AEW 05/12)

Cesaro vs. Roman Reigns (WWE 05/16)

Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW 05/30)

Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki (AEW 10/15)

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW 11/13)

The first TRULY GREAT match of 2021!

WWE SMACKDOWN 02/05/21

Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan
And with this, the first truly great match of 2021 has arrived. These two had an already awesome match a few weeks prior also on SmackDown, but this one was even better. Cesaro & Bryan get just a bit over 4-minutes, and goddang do they make the most out of every single second they're given; it's super intense & physical right from the get go with no feeling-out bullshit -- both guys are here to settle some business. It doesn't take long for Bryan to start working on Cesaro's arm, which is obviously superb in all of its focused viciousness, and Cesaro sells it beautifully. Bryan busted out a couple of really neat counters during his control period, namely the backslide one & especially him countering Cesaro's Uppercut-frenzy into an armbar, ultimately transitioning it into the LeBell Lock. Truly awesome stuff, and that continued when it came time for Cesaro to handle some business; the way the end started for D-Bry with Cesaro digging those knees deep into his back was magnificent, and the way Cesaro continued the attack w/ that big torture-rack-backbreaker-thing, followed by the SWING & then making it all pay off with that Sharpshooter finish? Absolutely fucking sick. Bless these two. What a wonderful match. ****