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| The end of an era, punctuated in an epic match Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Here's part two of the match list:
Ikuto Hidaka vs. Chris Hero
EVOLVE 2, March 13th
EVOLVE's real sports build didn't come through as much on its first card because of the match style and structure that was found on most of their tilts save one, the TJP/Munenori Sawa match. Thankfully, the tone of that match carried over louder and more clearly onto future EVOLVE cards, which was most notably seen in the main event to EVOLVE 2. Hero and Hidaka went hold for hold, chain wrestling their asses off, stiffing on their strikes, selling the struggle and most importantly, acting like their moves hurt each other. This was one of the most realistic pieces of wrestling I have ever seen, and it sucks that it was only filmed in front of a skeleton crowd thanks to the horrific weather that night.
John Cena vs. Batista (c)
WWE Championship Match, WrestleMania XXVI, March 28th
Both men aren't exactly what you'd call smark favorites when it comes to putting on a match, but honestly, I expected nothing less than greatness from this match. Yes, there were a few noticeable botches, but rather than expose the business, they were tucked neatly into the story of the match and actually made the whole thing seem more realistic. You know my feelings on Cena the wrestler, but Batista really upped his game bigtime after he turned heel. Cena always works well with guys he can't physically tower over, and Batista fits that bill perfectly. Excellent match, and one that would have been a worthy main event had the next match on this list not been placed there.
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Streak vs. Career Match, WrestleMania XXVI, March 28th
Yeah, I didn't think these two could top last year's match, but in a way, they did if only because no one expected a repeat performance. I still vacillate on which match I thought was better, but for whatever reason, I have a way more positive memory of this match in the context of what happened this year, while I remember last year, I was poo-pooing people claiming it as the best match ever. Weird. Anyway, Michaels gave the performance of his life, and that's saying something for a guy who made a career out of doing it up right in big matches. The finish of the match was especially effective, with Michaels kicking out of one tombstone and Taker needing a second, leaping one to finish the job. Great epitaph on HBK's career.
Daizee Haze vs. Misaki Ohata
SHIMMER Vol. 29, April 10th
This was a submissions bonanza, and as a guy who tried (and failed) to get a hash tag started for standing up for submission wrestling, that's a good way of making me notice a match. Both women worked each other seamlessly and really put on a clinic in terms of mat wrestling. The finish was a pretty sweet out-of-nowhere counter to a yakuza kick Haze tried to deliver. This one will be more remembered for what happened afterwards (Daizee's heel turn and laying out of Ohata and her student, Jamilia Craft), but what happened before that post-match stuff definitely deserves to be remembered as well.
Allison Danger vs. Portia Perez
Last Woman Standing Match, SHIMMER Vol. 30, April 10th
This was the best women's match I've seen all year, and it proves that the fairer sex can get damn nasty if they want to. This was such a guttural, gritty, hate-soaked affair, and both Danger and Perez played the role brilliantly. Perez did an effective job bringing out the animal side in Danger, at one point telling her that her daughter would be a failure in life. Just great stiffness and brutality in the match.
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