Match Of The Year

[klunderbunker]

It's kind of the most important thing.

[Jack-Hammer]

I had to go with Walter vs. Tyler Bate. Fantastic match that had a different feel than so many others. I'm all for amazing athleticism, some over the top spots here and there, but this match made far more use of psychology and storytelling to get this match over. Bate is the scrappy young babyface against the bigger, stronger, more vicious Walter. Walter is in control, Bate withstands his barrage, mounts a comeback only to be shut down. They kept going back to this during the match and the wrestlers sold it so well that the fans would pop whenever Bate would hit a big move. For instance, they'd respond to Bate performing a suplex on Walter, showing off his strength and resilience despite the onslaught he's endured, as if it was Ricochet hitting the 630 off the top of a cage or something. The ending also seemed random, which played all the more into Bate being this tough babyface who wouldn't quit. He took everything from Walter, even his finisher and Walter, out of frustration and desperation puts everything he's got left into a big clothesline that finally ends the match. The ending of the story was Walter simply being too much and finally being able to exceed Bate's limit.

[Lee]

The match that had Sam lifted onto the shoulders of me and Tasty. Needless to say I'm voting Cole/Gargano. Odd to see Riddle v Dream on there, probably Dream's weakest match in a long time but was still a damn good match. Shows just how good he is, and what an entrance. War Raiders v Black/Ricochet was one of the best tag matches I'd seen in forever and especially came after a pre Takeover rant by me how Tag Matches are usually mostly the same then they pull out that.

Kofi/Bryan was amazing, people crying in the crowd. People at home who don't normally watch wrestling posting about how much it meant to them. That was something.

[Spidey]

Kofi and Bryan moved many of us to tears.

[Skairipa]

I was torn between Kofi/Bryan, Cole/Gargano and Cody/Dustin, all 3 were fantastic and all 3 had great storytelling which I'm a sucker for, but I went with Kofi/Bryan. That had the wrestling to go with the story telling and the crowd reactions were just insane.

[Echelon]

Kofi vs Bryan for both the historical significance and the entertainment value. Amazing watching Bryan go from beloved hero to hated villain too.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Seeing Xavier crying when they unveiled the title for Kofi at Mania after that emotional match almost got me.

[Storm Trooper]

Seeing Xavier crying when they unveiled the title for Kofi at Mania after that emotional match almost got me.

It got me. Grown man in tears over a professional wrestler winning a championship. Because it was amazing storytelling leading into the match, and the match told an even better story.

I was estatic when Johnny Gargano finally won the NXT championship. The match was awesome (with a shade of overcoming ridiculous odds), and the moment of him winning was the best thing I've seen at a wrestling event live.

It held that record for less than 24 hours. Then the next night Kofi won the title, and I didn't care about Johnny Gargano.

There was nothing that could ever come close to Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston, the culmination of Kofi Kingston's 11 year journey. Not in this age where we need instant gratification.