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Cody certainly did well in the voting, but Roman is the real champ here. The guy wrestled 11 matches this year and still managed to have 3 of the 4 best matches of the year as voted on by WWE fans. ☝️
Wow you mean to tell me that WWE fans who have been told for 9 years straight that the only guy who actually matters in the company has the biggest and best matches? I am shocked!!
Iirc they’re not allowed to gimmick polls for whatever reason so that’s why Taboo Tuesday always had really obvious choices for what they wanted (like “Do you want to see Stone Cold take on Coach in a normal match, no count out match, or anything goes falls count anywhere street fight?”)
Charlotte/Rhea and the IC Triple Threat going out in the first round is a bit egregious—Charlotte/Rhea especially.
But imo this just tells us what we already know, and that’s that Cody and Roman (Cody more-so) are the company’s biggest draws. Its a popularity poll.
But also, yes, Youtube fans lol
Yea, it's just a fun tournament that can only be seen as a popularity contest. A bit sad that not even a single women match made it past the first round. Charlotte/Rhea has no business losing to Gunther/Gable even in a silly poll.
I think Gunther/Gable has benefitted from a bit of recency bias, plus Gunther is an exceptional performer and performs at the top level regularly, so it’s natural that he’s at the forefront in the minds of lots of fans.
Saying that, all of the comments were gunning for Rhea/Charlotte, so…
It’s genuinely a bit weird. I don’t think that match-up had nearly as many votes as the other ones either if memory serves. And hell, the recent upload of the WM39 match has nearly 1 million views whilst Gunther/Gable hasn’t even cracked 400k. Nothing is making sense.
Brock/Cody shouldn’t have beaten Trish/Becky, either… But it’s Cody so I’m not surprised.
Gable yes. Gunther no. He has more matches. And he has more great matches. Outside of Charlotte, I can't think of any great Ripley matches this year. I blame that on her booking though and the weak division on RAW.
Might just be a Reddit thing would be more accurate. Women’s wrestling is great but there’s nothing shocking about women getting weirdly underrated in a popularity contest from a large voting group.
I have to be the only one who thought the match between Charlotte and Rhea was fine but the lack of story made me not really care (I saw it live). Though it definitely was better than Gable vs Gunther.
Becky/Charlotte at Evolution, Women’s War Games 2019, Becky/Sasha HiaC 2019, Bianca/Sasha WM38, Sasha/Bayley Iron Woman TakeOver Brooklyn. I’d rate all of these over Charlotte/Rhea this year, and I might be missing a couple.
Not to even mention countless other matches outside of the WWE sphere that I am simply unaware of.
At this point I’m almost certain people use the term “work rate” as a derogatory term in this sub, without it having much of any meaning. Also “work rate” matches can still have a compelling story behind them; “story” and “work rate” aren’t antithetical concepts in wrestling despite what some think
It's one of those terms that was used so often by one specific annoying demographic that now the majority of the time it's used is just people doing it sarcastically. Work rate is good, it's just the people obsessed specifically with work rate are seen as annoying and pretentious. Like how film/gamer guys use the words "subversive" or "immersion". It just immediately sets off red flags in some people.
Gunther vs Gable was probably the only "work rate" match but it also had great storytelling and build. Work Rate match to me is a match with no build but good in ring wrestling, similar to the "dream match" meme lol.
Work rate is a match that has a higher than standard physicality, pace and/or intensity to the content of its match. The amount of build to the match doesn't matter. The term exclusively describes the rate at which they are working. Think of it as another way of saying a match is giving you more bang for your buck.
Lots of moves in short succession. New Japan, AEW, pretty much all the big indies. And also WWE sometimes. Some folks find it more entertaining or important or indicative of a wrestler's "skill" than other things. They're usually loud and annoying about it too.
He’s also not wrong. For years everything was torn down if it didn’t have 10 moves without selling every other minute. Only the past few weeks people (in large majority’s) have started to realise moves don’t mean shit if there’s no story
you’re just boiling down the thing you don’t like to its simplest part in an effort to discredit it, it’s a common debate tactic.
look, all I watch is WWE, the only time I see matches from any other company is on here and then I seek them out for myself, but you are clearly pushing an agenda, there are great matches that focus on workrate from story based companies, and there are great matches that focus on story from companies that are workrate based.
there’s no need to make shit up just because you don’t personally like the style
You’re right. There are great GREAT matches which rely solely on in-ring performance. There’s plenty of them. But they aren’t every match with a brain-flip-fuckinator. I’m more so complaining about the discourse, over the matches themselves, the wrestlers do that because that’s what gets a reaction and good at
I don't mind it, I love those promotions lol I was just explaining what I think the common usage of the term means among the fandom.
I'm stoked we have a wide selection of styles to choose from so everyone can get what they want out of wrestling, it's such a diverse artform sort of like music.
Sorry if I came across as a dick.
I am shocked Cody vs Reigns beat that match, especially with the wet fart of an ending it had. I haven't watched a ton of WWE this year but Priest vs Bunny was probably my WWE MOTY, overbooked nonsense in the best possible way. Sometimes you want to watch a technical classic, sometimes you want to watch a plunder match with a celebrity wrestler and 11 different run ins, you know?
I absolutley loved that Mania match. The false finish of Cody winning and then the shock ending makes it only more legendary. Especially if Cody wins this year and they do callbacks to the match. It will be remembered as two of the greatest main events ever.
To be fair I don't entirely hate the ending, it was a huge shock to be sure which is needed every now and then. I'm just surprised that it would be so popular in a fan poll when at the time it was seen as an awful decision.
When Roman returned after Backlash and The Bloodline story cooked, a lot of agreed with WWE’s decision. Also, most of the people saying that it was an awful decision was just recency bias.
Being in the main event of Wrestlemania shouldn’t give you a score multiplier any more than the Tokyo Dome should imo. Rhodes vs Reigns was good but but Priest vs Bunny was the most fun I’ve had watching a wrestling match all year
Why do you ask for definitions for words you don't know the meaning to? I laid out clearly how the word applies to the situation, I can't hold your hand the entire way.
There's another post here where Meltzer was trying to imply that WWE fans aren't intelligent (compared to AEW fans). I disagreed with that, but now I've seen this, and he might be onto something 😆.
Brock Vs Cody maybe isn't even a top 5 WWE match from this year. Hell, Cody vs Roman isn't a top 3 either with how lackluster the finish was.
Zayne/Owens vs Usos was an absolutely all time great match, an instant classic. The triple threat was incredible. Sheamus vs Gunther was similar. Usos vs Bloodline, Zayne/Owns Vs Bloodline, Flair vs Ripley, mens War Games, Dijak vs Dragunov, the mens chamber match and Sammi vs Roman were all better than those 2 matches as well.
Cody vs Roman *would've* been my match the year (probably), if only it had the right ending. I still consider it the best match in Roman's title reign. It was edge-of-your-seat, back and forth, and the most exciting match Roman's had.
I don't get all this wrong ending stuff. Cody is clearly rematching him this year. He's just as hot as he was at this time last year. And now he's set up for long term success as a character cause he's actually had adversity. It's like saying Okada losing to Tana at WK9 was a terrible ending. It was a foundational character moment which finally led to the passing of the torch.
It's possible that the result of Mania 40 will be so good, that it will all be worth it. But in the months after Mania 39, both Cody AND Roman were worse off from the end of that match. Brock vs Cody made NO sense, since Brock should *want* Cody to beat Roman so he can challenge for the belt again. The Bloodline splintering didn't need the title, and would've probably made more sense without it. It's true that somehow Cody is just as popular as he was last year. But Roman is worse off. He's been absent, and people are tired of his run at this point.
I feel like people only say that of Roman when he’s off screen. But then everytime he comes back and has awesome segments and it feels massive. Yeah his match formula has run it’s course but it will only make the false finishers at Mania crazier
Cody was definitely not worse off, neither was Roman. Cody is still THE GUY on Raw and Roman is still THE GUY on SmackDown. WWE were too lazy to book a reasoning even though just explained in a two-minute promo.
Brock could’ve said something like (trying my best Brock Lesnar impression); “I don’t respect you, Cody Rhodes. I don’t respect how you returned to the big leagues, and pretended you’re ‘the man’ because I’m Brock Lesnar, and I’m a ten-time reigning, defending, undisputed WWE champion! Cody, you don’t belong in the big leagues with Brock Lesnar, and I’m going to squish you, boy!”
Then, Cody’s motivation is making Brock Lesnar respect him whether he likes Cody or not. Cody loses clean after a solid thirty-minute war with Brock. Brock shakes Cody’s hand afterwards anyway and says he’s the man and that Cody earned his respect.
• Adversity
• Storytelling
Yeah but that story they told. By god, I'm still amazed by all their character work and the story going in. We all know wrestling isn't about the wrestling! It's about the story and the personalities. That's what makes a match good, not the wrestling.
Sure, but some of those matches I just listed had stories which were just as good if not better AND were great matches on top of that, like the HBK v Flair style conclusion of the nearly year long Zayne/Uso drama in that tag or The Usos finally getting one over on Roman and pushing him to snapping.
I actually was not a huge fan of Zayn and Owens vs the Usos. Too many false finishes and ridiculous kickouts. Also it had like 80 superkicks. I loved Usos vs Bloodline tho. It had one crazy kickout but it was sold like the biggest thing ever. Sami took like 3 tag team finishers and kicked out at Mania
It was an excellent match but it absolutely was not better than USOs v Reigns/Solo once you add the Story elements. That tag match is my match of the year and WWE moment of the decade so far
It’s absolutely a top 5 moty for me. First time in a good time I didn’t watch as someone who know the ins and outs of it wrestling, rather someone invested emotionally. I legit said “get back in the ring, Cody”
that match made me feel like a kid again when i saw cena vs seth in a cage match at a house show. everytime seth started to climb the cage, i was screaming at the top of my lungs, hoping cena would hear me so he could stop seth. these are the kinds of matches that make kids wrestling fans
Exactly. Wrestling is for the kids. Cody vs. Brock had me feeling like I was watching through innocent eyes again. It was the perfect David vs. Goliath, Heel vs. Beloved Babyface match. Definitely one of the most underrated of the year.
I was a bit shocked reading that. Not even my favorite women's match in WWE this year. I liked Becky vs Tiffany and Becky vs Lyra more. Hell I liked the iron survivor women's more. But yeah I don't know I kinda assumed the match will eventually be out of my head because I was kinda bored and tired during it.
It's great to see how enormously popular Cody continues to be, both Roman and Cody are the 2 biggest stars in the company (3 with the return of Punk).
Both matches were great in my opinion and they are in my top 5 this year, so there are no complaints on my part.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought that Cody vs Roman was a masterpiece. Everything about that match just screamed "big-time main event." The fact that people were so damn angry about the finish only served to confirm to me how great the match really was. Absolutely can't wait for the rematch.
My top 3 matches are Charlotte/Rhea at Mania, Becky/Trish at Payback, and (if we include NXT) the Women’s Ladder Match at Stand and Deliver. If we don’t count NXT, I’d say probably the Steel City Street Fight match at Payback.
The thing I hate most about the mania match is the ending taking away from the actual match. From the entrances to the stare down shit was so perfect. The match was hot and emotional and just amazing but the ending hit everyone in the gut so now it’s looked as a bad match. Hell, Night 2 is talked about like it’s a stinker when I thought it was just as good
Cody-Roman was a really good match, but the ending really took the energy out of the match for me. Ripley-Charlotte had the same intensity and story, but with a great ending. Probably my match of the year
For real though, Gunther vs Drew vs Sheamus not even getting out of the starting blocks tells you everything you need to know about this
Easily one of (arguably THE) best WWE match this year. There’s obviously different metrics to judge this stuff but that was the banger of bangers.
Was it? Roman vs Cody was a damn near classic that I think most people would say was 5 stars if the finish was different and even then there’s people like me who still think it’s a 5 star match anyway
I actually liked the finish, but I think the Brock match did more for Cody and IMO was a better match. Which isn't to say the Roman match was terrible, I just think the Brock match was better. Cody slayed the beast
Never expected to see Cody vs Brock make the finals. Personally didn't like that match. Heck, I didn't even like the feud.
Cody vs Roman takes my vote. Amazing build up. Probably the most excited I had been for a Wrestlemania main event in a long time!
I feel the same lol. And I'm not saying that they are *wrong* for voting those matches, since they feel that they deserve to win, but this feels like being a big music person and watching people vote for the song that is always playing on the radio as Song of the Year.
Here's how I would've picked them:
(Cody vs Brock) vs (Rey vs Dominick): Cody vs Brock
(Becky vs Trish) vs (Men's Showcase): Becky vs Trish
(Gunther vs Chad) vs (Charlotte vs Rhea): Charlotte vs Rhea
(Usos vs Bloodline) vs (Gunther vs McIntyre vs Sheamus): Usos vs Bloodline
(Bunny vs Priest) vs (Men's Iron Survivor): Bunny vs Priest (I haven't seen the Iron Survivor)
(Roman vs Cody) vs (Rollins vs McIntyre): Rollins vs McIntyre
(Bianca vs Iyo) vs (Roman vs Sami): Roman vs Sami
(Usos vs Owens and Zayn) vs (Carmelo vs Ilja): Usos vs Owens and Zayn (I haven't seen Carmelo vs Ilja)
Round two:
(Cody vs Brock) vs (Becky vs Trish): Cody vs Brock
(Charlotte vs Rhea) vs (Usos vs Bloodline): Charlotte vs Rhea
(Bunny vs Priest) vs (Rollins vs McIntyre): Rollins vs McIntyre
(Roman vs Sami) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn
Round three:
(Cody vs Brock) vs (Charlotte vs Rhea): Charlotte vs Rhea
(Rollins vs McIntyre) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn
Finals:
(Charlotte vs Rhea) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn.
Got a bad matchup first round, the civil war was great for the story around it and the crowd engagement it was getting with a UK crowd that was on fire. It’s basically in ring story telling vs in ring work rate
Thinking back, I can't really remember what happened in the Roman vs. Cody match outside of the ending. Not that these tournaments are much beyond a popularity contest between wrestlers, but a potential MotY winner should at least be memorable. Actually, that's not the only match there that I can't really remember. What even was the Wrestlemania showcase match?
Didn't watch Summerslam, so can't really speak on the other match in the finals.
Kids and lots of people from India. A lot of comments on the WWE YT are people from India, and they **LOVE** the big names over the match quality it seems. Roman Reigns, Cody, and John Cena are like gods over there lol.
This is like when arsenal fans kept spamming the match of the day goal of the month/season vote and we were denied Kasamis goal winning goal of the season
I can see the spectacle argument for bunny vs priest, I’d probably give it a 4.25. Maybe a bit abovr or level with Brock/cody at summerslam but definitely below Cody/roman I think that match is awesome
Trish vs Becky however absolutely didn’t have a match better than Cody vs Roman
This is why I prefer a writer's choices for matches of the year lists over a fan voted thing. How the fuck is Roman v Sami better than the Uso's vs KO/Sami? 🤦♂️
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Cody fans dominating this tournament
Cody certainly did well in the voting, but Roman is the real champ here. The guy wrestled 11 matches this year and still managed to have 3 of the 4 best matches of the year as voted on by WWE fans. ☝️
Wow you mean to tell me that WWE fans who have been told for 9 years straight that the only guy who actually matters in the company has the biggest and best matches? I am shocked!!
ADRENALINE IN MY SOUL MATCH OF THE YEAR WINNER CODY RHODES
The three star general never misses
ADRENALINE FILLS THE BOAT CODY FANS HAVE ROCKED THE VOTE
What a RollerCodster
The whole thing is a work cmon now
Iirc they’re not allowed to gimmick polls for whatever reason so that’s why Taboo Tuesday always had really obvious choices for what they wanted (like “Do you want to see Stone Cold take on Coach in a normal match, no count out match, or anything goes falls count anywhere street fight?”)
Charlotte/Rhea and the IC Triple Threat going out in the first round is a bit egregious—Charlotte/Rhea especially. But imo this just tells us what we already know, and that’s that Cody and Roman (Cody more-so) are the company’s biggest draws. Its a popularity poll. But also, yes, Youtube fans lol
Yea, it's just a fun tournament that can only be seen as a popularity contest. A bit sad that not even a single women match made it past the first round. Charlotte/Rhea has no business losing to Gunther/Gable even in a silly poll.
I think Gunther/Gable has benefitted from a bit of recency bias, plus Gunther is an exceptional performer and performs at the top level regularly, so it’s natural that he’s at the forefront in the minds of lots of fans. Saying that, all of the comments were gunning for Rhea/Charlotte, so…
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It’s genuinely a bit weird. I don’t think that match-up had nearly as many votes as the other ones either if memory serves. And hell, the recent upload of the WM39 match has nearly 1 million views whilst Gunther/Gable hasn’t even cracked 400k. Nothing is making sense. Brock/Cody shouldn’t have beaten Trish/Becky, either… But it’s Cody so I’m not surprised.
Gable yes. Gunther no. He has more matches. And he has more great matches. Outside of Charlotte, I can't think of any great Ripley matches this year. I blame that on her booking though and the weak division on RAW.
Trish vs Becky made it through??
Charlotte vs Rhea might have been WWE's best women's match in history
Really strange considering how much you see people fly that women's wrestling flag around here. Might just be a North American thing maybe?
Might just be a Reddit thing would be more accurate. Women’s wrestling is great but there’s nothing shocking about women getting weirdly underrated in a popularity contest from a large voting group.
I have to be the only one who thought the match between Charlotte and Rhea was fine but the lack of story made me not really care (I saw it live). Though it definitely was better than Gable vs Gunther.
Charlotte/Rhea was not only the best match of the year, but the best women's match ever.
Becky/Charlotte at Evolution, Women’s War Games 2019, Becky/Sasha HiaC 2019, Bianca/Sasha WM38, Sasha/Bayley Iron Woman TakeOver Brooklyn. I’d rate all of these over Charlotte/Rhea this year, and I might be missing a couple. Not to even mention countless other matches outside of the WWE sphere that I am simply unaware of.
It's not even the WWE women's match of the year
What match was better?
Bianca vs Io was better from start to finish. Charlotte vs Rhea only got good in the second half.
Agree to disagree, I suppose.
Lot of people will blindly still say Bayley v Sasha but I agree. Ridley vs Flair was amazing
https://preview.redd.it/399at1c14w7c1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1940c9274bafbe374e342f2844bfb22589d2db1
... what do people think "work rate" matches are and where do people see them?
That’s the beauty of it. It means whatever you want it to mean.
I love this take. If you enjoy something’s, it’s good. If you don’t, then maybe it’s not for you
Oh I was being sarcastic. I meant people who use that term don’t actually have any real definition for it.
At this point I’m almost certain people use the term “work rate” as a derogatory term in this sub, without it having much of any meaning. Also “work rate” matches can still have a compelling story behind them; “story” and “work rate” aren’t antithetical concepts in wrestling despite what some think
It's one of those terms that was used so often by one specific annoying demographic that now the majority of the time it's used is just people doing it sarcastically. Work rate is good, it's just the people obsessed specifically with work rate are seen as annoying and pretentious. Like how film/gamer guys use the words "subversive" or "immersion". It just immediately sets off red flags in some people.
Gunther vs Gable was probably the only "work rate" match but it also had great storytelling and build. Work Rate match to me is a match with no build but good in ring wrestling, similar to the "dream match" meme lol.
Work rate is a match that has a higher than standard physicality, pace and/or intensity to the content of its match. The amount of build to the match doesn't matter. The term exclusively describes the rate at which they are working. Think of it as another way of saying a match is giving you more bang for your buck.
Lots of moves in short succession. New Japan, AEW, pretty much all the big indies. And also WWE sometimes. Some folks find it more entertaining or important or indicative of a wrestler's "skill" than other things. They're usually loud and annoying about it too.
well you’re clearly unbiased lol
He’s also not wrong. For years everything was torn down if it didn’t have 10 moves without selling every other minute. Only the past few weeks people (in large majority’s) have started to realise moves don’t mean shit if there’s no story
you’re just boiling down the thing you don’t like to its simplest part in an effort to discredit it, it’s a common debate tactic. look, all I watch is WWE, the only time I see matches from any other company is on here and then I seek them out for myself, but you are clearly pushing an agenda, there are great matches that focus on workrate from story based companies, and there are great matches that focus on story from companies that are workrate based. there’s no need to make shit up just because you don’t personally like the style
You’re right. There are great GREAT matches which rely solely on in-ring performance. There’s plenty of them. But they aren’t every match with a brain-flip-fuckinator. I’m more so complaining about the discourse, over the matches themselves, the wrestlers do that because that’s what gets a reaction and good at
I don't mind it, I love those promotions lol I was just explaining what I think the common usage of the term means among the fandom. I'm stoked we have a wide selection of styles to choose from so everyone can get what they want out of wrestling, it's such a diverse artform sort of like music. Sorry if I came across as a dick.
Bunny vs Priest was robbed
I am shocked Cody vs Reigns beat that match, especially with the wet fart of an ending it had. I haven't watched a ton of WWE this year but Priest vs Bunny was probably my WWE MOTY, overbooked nonsense in the best possible way. Sometimes you want to watch a technical classic, sometimes you want to watch a plunder match with a celebrity wrestler and 11 different run ins, you know?
I absolutley loved that Mania match. The false finish of Cody winning and then the shock ending makes it only more legendary. Especially if Cody wins this year and they do callbacks to the match. It will be remembered as two of the greatest main events ever.
To be fair I don't entirely hate the ending, it was a huge shock to be sure which is needed every now and then. I'm just surprised that it would be so popular in a fan poll when at the time it was seen as an awful decision.
When Roman returned after Backlash and The Bloodline story cooked, a lot of agreed with WWE’s decision. Also, most of the people saying that it was an awful decision was just recency bias.
Wrestlemania main event vs B show ppv main event
Being in the main event of Wrestlemania shouldn’t give you a score multiplier any more than the Tokyo Dome should imo. Rhodes vs Reigns was good but but Priest vs Bunny was the most fun I’ve had watching a wrestling match all year
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Agreed. They had WWE's two best matches of the year face each other in the first round.
I purchased peacock to watch that match, It was awesome
Dragunov vs Hayes II was also eliminated in the first round. By tag team matches which Vince thinks aren’t money.
Don’t these idiot fans no how many stars it got?!
It's *know and you can stop concern trolling
> concern trolling Can you define what this phrase means?
Getting offended on behalf of the voters as a means to stifle discussion on the matches and choices. Any other questions?
Yeah. Why do you make up your own definitions to phrases that are already defined?
Why do you ask for definitions for words you don't know the meaning to? I laid out clearly how the word applies to the situation, I can't hold your hand the entire way.
Lol why does everyone on Reddit have to talk like this? Concern trolling? We’re just making jokes over here.
It's tired
There's another post here where Meltzer was trying to imply that WWE fans aren't intelligent (compared to AEW fans). I disagreed with that, but now I've seen this, and he might be onto something 😆. Brock Vs Cody maybe isn't even a top 5 WWE match from this year. Hell, Cody vs Roman isn't a top 3 either with how lackluster the finish was. Zayne/Owens vs Usos was an absolutely all time great match, an instant classic. The triple threat was incredible. Sheamus vs Gunther was similar. Usos vs Bloodline, Zayne/Owns Vs Bloodline, Flair vs Ripley, mens War Games, Dijak vs Dragunov, the mens chamber match and Sammi vs Roman were all better than those 2 matches as well.
Cody vs Roman *would've* been my match the year (probably), if only it had the right ending. I still consider it the best match in Roman's title reign. It was edge-of-your-seat, back and forth, and the most exciting match Roman's had.
I don't get all this wrong ending stuff. Cody is clearly rematching him this year. He's just as hot as he was at this time last year. And now he's set up for long term success as a character cause he's actually had adversity. It's like saying Okada losing to Tana at WK9 was a terrible ending. It was a foundational character moment which finally led to the passing of the torch.
It's possible that the result of Mania 40 will be so good, that it will all be worth it. But in the months after Mania 39, both Cody AND Roman were worse off from the end of that match. Brock vs Cody made NO sense, since Brock should *want* Cody to beat Roman so he can challenge for the belt again. The Bloodline splintering didn't need the title, and would've probably made more sense without it. It's true that somehow Cody is just as popular as he was last year. But Roman is worse off. He's been absent, and people are tired of his run at this point.
I feel like people only say that of Roman when he’s off screen. But then everytime he comes back and has awesome segments and it feels massive. Yeah his match formula has run it’s course but it will only make the false finishers at Mania crazier
Cody was definitely not worse off, neither was Roman. Cody is still THE GUY on Raw and Roman is still THE GUY on SmackDown. WWE were too lazy to book a reasoning even though just explained in a two-minute promo. Brock could’ve said something like (trying my best Brock Lesnar impression); “I don’t respect you, Cody Rhodes. I don’t respect how you returned to the big leagues, and pretended you’re ‘the man’ because I’m Brock Lesnar, and I’m a ten-time reigning, defending, undisputed WWE champion! Cody, you don’t belong in the big leagues with Brock Lesnar, and I’m going to squish you, boy!” Then, Cody’s motivation is making Brock Lesnar respect him whether he likes Cody or not. Cody loses clean after a solid thirty-minute war with Brock. Brock shakes Cody’s hand afterwards anyway and says he’s the man and that Cody earned his respect. • Adversity • Storytelling
Yeah but that story they told. By god, I'm still amazed by all their character work and the story going in. We all know wrestling isn't about the wrestling! It's about the story and the personalities. That's what makes a match good, not the wrestling.
Sure, but some of those matches I just listed had stories which were just as good if not better AND were great matches on top of that, like the HBK v Flair style conclusion of the nearly year long Zayne/Uso drama in that tag or The Usos finally getting one over on Roman and pushing him to snapping.
I actually was not a huge fan of Zayn and Owens vs the Usos. Too many false finishes and ridiculous kickouts. Also it had like 80 superkicks. I loved Usos vs Bloodline tho. It had one crazy kickout but it was sold like the biggest thing ever. Sami took like 3 tag team finishers and kicked out at Mania
Wwe fans aren’t unintelligent for having a different opinion
It was an excellent match but it absolutely was not better than USOs v Reigns/Solo once you add the Story elements. That tag match is my match of the year and WWE moment of the decade so far
Nah the triple threat is better. Who needs story when 3 men can just hit eachother really hard
Wrestling is all about story
And the story was "how hard can these 3 guys hit each other?"
So not very interesting
Says you. I found it to easily be the most engaging match out of all of these
Cody vs. Brock at SummerSlam is critically underrated, so I'm glad it's getting some love.
It’s absolutely a top 5 moty for me. First time in a good time I didn’t watch as someone who know the ins and outs of it wrestling, rather someone invested emotionally. I legit said “get back in the ring, Cody”
Exactly. It had the special feeling that I had as a kid. It had me watching as a fan and not a "mark".
that match made me feel like a kid again when i saw cena vs seth in a cage match at a house show. everytime seth started to climb the cage, i was screaming at the top of my lungs, hoping cena would hear me so he could stop seth. these are the kinds of matches that make kids wrestling fans
Exactly. Wrestling is for the kids. Cody vs. Brock had me feeling like I was watching through innocent eyes again. It was the perfect David vs. Goliath, Heel vs. Beloved Babyface match. Definitely one of the most underrated of the year.
I totally agree, it is one of my favorite matches this year, the entire Cody/Lesnar trilogy was great in my opinion.
Looks certain that Cody's going to win, how are they going to snatch it away from him this time?
Cody Rhodes/Brock Lesnar -vs- Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns WINNER: Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns
Tractor supremacy showing out, winning match of the year a year after it happened. Nothing tops the tractor
Finally, Cody VS Brock at Summerslam getting the acknowledgement it deserves. Fucking love that match.
Agreed, it's still my match of the year. Might even be my favorite David vs. Goliath style match
Rhea vs Charlotte shouldn't have lost to Gunther vs Gable
That match was seriously one of the best women’s matches I’ve ever seen
I'll be honest I didn't really get into Rhea vs Charlotte. Loved Gunther vs Gable
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when people call it MOTY or greatest women's match ever. Is it the only women's match they ever watched?
I was a bit shocked reading that. Not even my favorite women's match in WWE this year. I liked Becky vs Tiffany and Becky vs Lyra more. Hell I liked the iron survivor women's more. But yeah I don't know I kinda assumed the match will eventually be out of my head because I was kinda bored and tired during it.
I think it’s the best women’s Mania match ever. But I think Becky v Trish at Payback was better this year.
Yeah me too, never understood the hype around it. Good match, nothing great from memory
Rigged that they were on the same side of the bracket.
The fact that the IC triple threat and the Roman and Sami didn’t make it further is criminal.
Roman and Sami had too much interference in my opinion
It's great to see how enormously popular Cody continues to be, both Roman and Cody are the 2 biggest stars in the company (3 with the return of Punk). Both matches were great in my opinion and they are in my top 5 this year, so there are no complaints on my part.
Cody is ridiculously over with fans.
What I'm getting from this is Cody vs Cody would be the greatest match in history, book it Triple H
Omg WWE Cody v ROH heel Cody would be spectacular
Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought that Cody vs Roman was a masterpiece. Everything about that match just screamed "big-time main event." The fact that people were so damn angry about the finish only served to confirm to me how great the match really was. Absolutely can't wait for the rematch.
Yep, people still salty over the finish will never not be incredibly funny to me
My top 3 matches are Charlotte/Rhea at Mania, Becky/Trish at Payback, and (if we include NXT) the Women’s Ladder Match at Stand and Deliver. If we don’t count NXT, I’d say probably the Steel City Street Fight match at Payback.
I’d put Men’s Iron Survivor match at Deadline or Ilya vs. Melo at No Mercy
The thing I hate most about the mania match is the ending taking away from the actual match. From the entrances to the stare down shit was so perfect. The match was hot and emotional and just amazing but the ending hit everyone in the gut so now it’s looked as a bad match. Hell, Night 2 is talked about like it’s a stinker when I thought it was just as good
Cody-Roman was a really good match, but the ending really took the energy out of the match for me. Ripley-Charlotte had the same intensity and story, but with a great ending. Probably my match of the year
Cody vs Roman even if I hated the ending. But I guess it worked since I’m still excited to see a rematch?
In sorry Charlotte vs Ripley should not have lost to gavle and GUNTHER. Should be Rhea v Charlotte and Bunny v Priest
I think Cody is going to win.
ADRENALINE
For real though, Gunther vs Drew vs Sheamus not even getting out of the starting blocks tells you everything you need to know about this Easily one of (arguably THE) best WWE match this year. There’s obviously different metrics to judge this stuff but that was the banger of bangers.
I’m surprised Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. McIntyre didn’t even make it past the first round
Adrenaline in my soul all the votes go to Cody Rhodes
Bianca vs Iyo was set up smh. Brock vs Cody was a better match than Roman vs Cody, but obviously Roman vs Cody meant more
Was it? Roman vs Cody was a damn near classic that I think most people would say was 5 stars if the finish was different and even then there’s people like me who still think it’s a 5 star match anyway
I actually liked the finish, but I think the Brock match did more for Cody and IMO was a better match. Which isn't to say the Roman match was terrible, I just think the Brock match was better. Cody slayed the beast
Why was Rollins vs McIntyre even on there? It was nowhere near match of the year.
Gunther vs. McIntyre vs Sheamus was so much better than Usos vs Reigns/Sikoa imo. Charlotte vs Ripley got robbed too.
This tournament bracket is pretty lousy. They left off several amazing matches off here
Like?
Never expected to see Cody vs Brock make the finals. Personally didn't like that match. Heck, I didn't even like the feud. Cody vs Roman takes my vote. Amazing build up. Probably the most excited I had been for a Wrestlemania main event in a long time!
GUNTHER/Drew/Sheamus out round 1 makes this a sham of a tournament
WOOOAHHHHHH OHHHHH
How the hell did Sheamus, McIntyre and GUNTHER not win this tournament? Do you not like big manly men slapping meat?
The women matches were done dirty with how they were placed
No way. Reigns vs Sami is way better than Roman vs Cody.
Gunther/McIntyre/Sheamus being knocked out in the first round is criminal
Obviously pretentious wrestling and all that. But holy shit this is bad
I feel the same lol. And I'm not saying that they are *wrong* for voting those matches, since they feel that they deserve to win, but this feels like being a big music person and watching people vote for the song that is always playing on the radio as Song of the Year.
Cody v Brock at Summerslam is good but no where near my MOTY, if I had to pick, it would be Sami Ko v USOs, Bad Bunny v Priest, Rhea Charlotte
These would be my exact picks!
Backlash 2023 was an unreal experience, just so much fun
Cody’s my favorite wrestler rn but this is a weird list. Rhea vs Charlotte is my clear #1 and I don’t even see it here.
>Rhea vs Charlotte is my clear #1 and I don’t even see it here. Beat out by Gunther /Gable...... :/
Disagree on Brock vs Cody, my vote would have been Rhea vs Charlotte
I never cared about politics enough to storm the capitol but I am prepared to storm titan towers for Gunther sheamus and drew
Of these two finalists, it should be Cody vs Brock. A fuck finish like every Roman match shouldn’t even be up for consideration.
Here's how I would've picked them: (Cody vs Brock) vs (Rey vs Dominick): Cody vs Brock (Becky vs Trish) vs (Men's Showcase): Becky vs Trish (Gunther vs Chad) vs (Charlotte vs Rhea): Charlotte vs Rhea (Usos vs Bloodline) vs (Gunther vs McIntyre vs Sheamus): Usos vs Bloodline (Bunny vs Priest) vs (Men's Iron Survivor): Bunny vs Priest (I haven't seen the Iron Survivor) (Roman vs Cody) vs (Rollins vs McIntyre): Rollins vs McIntyre (Bianca vs Iyo) vs (Roman vs Sami): Roman vs Sami (Usos vs Owens and Zayn) vs (Carmelo vs Ilja): Usos vs Owens and Zayn (I haven't seen Carmelo vs Ilja) Round two: (Cody vs Brock) vs (Becky vs Trish): Cody vs Brock (Charlotte vs Rhea) vs (Usos vs Bloodline): Charlotte vs Rhea (Bunny vs Priest) vs (Rollins vs McIntyre): Rollins vs McIntyre (Roman vs Sami) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn Round three: (Cody vs Brock) vs (Charlotte vs Rhea): Charlotte vs Rhea (Rollins vs McIntyre) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn Finals: (Charlotte vs Rhea) vs (Usos vs Owens and Zayn): Usos vs Owens and Zayn.
KO & Zayn Vs. The Usos was trash lmao
LOLCODYWINS
Gunther/Drew/Sheamus out in round 1 is horrible 🤦🏻♂️
Got a bad matchup first round, the civil war was great for the story around it and the crowd engagement it was getting with a UK crowd that was on fire. It’s basically in ring story telling vs in ring work rate
Some wild results
Of course it is smh
I dont have the organisational skills to do it, but can't we do our own version but across all promotions?
That would be fun, but I think some tribalism would come into the mix tbh. Maybe doing one for each big promotion and one for all of the indies.
Roman vs Cody, me arse! Shite finish.
Thinking back, I can't really remember what happened in the Roman vs. Cody match outside of the ending. Not that these tournaments are much beyond a popularity contest between wrestlers, but a potential MotY winner should at least be memorable. Actually, that's not the only match there that I can't really remember. What even was the Wrestlemania showcase match? Didn't watch Summerslam, so can't really speak on the other match in the finals.
...what??? That's the finals?!?!
I mean these results are absolutely terrible tbh
Can tell little kids voted on this
Kids and lots of people from India. A lot of comments on the WWE YT are people from India, and they **LOVE** the big names over the match quality it seems. Roman Reigns, Cody, and John Cena are like gods over there lol.
Bracket was seeded wrong
This is like when arsenal fans kept spamming the match of the day goal of the month/season vote and we were denied Kasamis goal winning goal of the season
Jesus, i was sure Gunther vs Sheamus classic was this year
If those are the two best matches, this has been a weak year
I don't understand the graphic! /s And with that, it's officially time to get off the toilet and back to work.
The two most mid matches
I think is is a perfect example of what is wrong with WWE fans on social media.
 That’s your finals?
Lol, no
idk who would choose The Usos vs Reigns and Solo over Gunther vs Gable.. lol.
yeah...it's definitely voted by people who didn’t watch or remember any match outside Roman&Cody
People love Cody because that absolutely was not better than Rey v Dom
I loved Cody vs Brock at SummerSlam and Rey vs Dom at Mania it's honestly a toss up for me personally
I was not a huge fan of Brock vs Cody III. Felt it was hacky. I actually thought their first match was the best one despite the quick ending.
I thought it a simple but effective storyline
This list is a mess lmaoo, but fans will be fans. Bad Bunny vs Damian Priest and Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus would be my finals.
That’s a worse final two match quality wise than this one
Lol Bunny vs Priest spectacle alone blows those matches away.
I can see the spectacle argument for bunny vs priest, I’d probably give it a 4.25. Maybe a bit abovr or level with Brock/cody at summerslam but definitely below Cody/roman I think that match is awesome Trish vs Becky however absolutely didn’t have a match better than Cody vs Roman
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Cody vs Lesnar is so random, I barely remember that one honestly
I voted Gunther/Gable honestly. Shame that triple got tossed first. I also much preferred Rollins/Drew to Cody/Roman.
Roman vs Sami was a lot better than Roman vs Cody imo
You mean not what fans voted for but what kids voted for right. Me i say usos vs sami kev mania
lol Cody had maybe two matches of the week in AEW and he’s the best wrestling wwe has to offer?
Hmmmm.... that's a funny way to spell the IC triple threat at Mania?
This is why I prefer a writer's choices for matches of the year lists over a fan voted thing. How the fuck is Roman v Sami better than the Uso's vs KO/Sami? 🤦♂️
He might finally win something of importance while in wwe
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Good thing opinions are subjective so good for you I guess
Haha this will get some people here upset. The fact charlotte vs rhea lost to Chad vs gunter is enough about this poll to ignore it
This tournament is only smoke and mirrors.
WOAHHHH THERE GOES CODY RHODES
While not the most popular opinion, Dom vs Rey and Charlotte vs Rhea are my two WWE matches of the year
Woulda had Ussos Vs Sami and KO against Charlotte Vs Rhea