155. Roman Reigns (c) vs Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Championship, WrestleMania 39 Sunday)

WrestleMania 39 Saturday was a fantastic PLE. The onus was on WrestleMania 39 Sunday to be just as good…and, unfortunately, it couldn’t come close to the previous night’s quality. That’s not to say it wasn’t worth watching; three out of six bouts (I’m not including The Miz/Shane McMahon/Snoop Dogg debacle) were more than worth watching. The Triple Threat match for the Intercontinental Championship, the Raw Women’s Championship match, and the Undisputed WWE Championship match were all contenders for Match of the Night. But, of course, there can be only one…

154. The Usos (c) vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens (Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, WrestleMania 39 Saturday)

WrestleMania 39 Saturday (or Night 1) will probably end up as one of the WWE PLEs/events of the year. I only skipped two matches (on my tight schedule, every second counts!) and almost every match I watched entertained me. I may even check out the ones I skipped (the WrestleMania showcase bout and the six woman tag team bout). This made my Match of the Night choice rather difficult. I can rule out Theory/Cena, as that was merely a typical Cena TV match where Cena shouted out moves to Theory. But what about the other matches?

140. Roman Reigns (c) vs Sami Zayn (WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, WWE Elimination Chamber 2023)

Elimination Chamber 2023 has been and gone…and there were two clear candidates for Match of the Night. The first, the Elimination Chamber match for the US Championship, was one of the finest Chamber matches in recent years. The second, the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship match between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn, saw a year-long storyline come to a thrilling head (well, the story between Reigns and Zayn…but the feud between Zayn and the Bloodline is not over yet!). Soley because I’ve been wrapped up in the Zayn/Bloodline story, I’m going gp go with Reigns vs Zayn…

137. Men’s Royal Rumble 2023 (WWE Royal Rumble 2023)

The Royal Rumble 2023 has been and gone…and for me, there was only one clear front runner for Match of the Night. Of course, the aftermath of Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens was the highlight of the night, perhaps the highlight of WWE programming since Daniel Bryan’s ‘YES’ movement. But the two have had better matches, even two years ago at Royal Rumble 2021 (and at Rumble 2017!!!). The only contender can be the Men’s Royal Rumble!

130. Bret Hart (c) vs The British Bulldog (WWF Championship, WWF In Your House : Season’s Beatings)

Tis the Season to be jolly…well, I know Christmas 2022 has been and gone, but I’ve been busy, so only managed to watch one Christmas themed wrestling match! In 1995, WWE presented In Your House: Season’s Beatings. The only bout that prevented it from being instantly forgettable was Bret Jart vs The British Bulldog for the WWE Championship. We all know about their Summerslam 1992 classic, but this underrated bout is just as good.

128. Bertha Faye, Aja Kong, Tomoko Watanabe, and Lioness Asuka versus Alundra Blayze, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, and Chaparita Asari (4 on 4 Elimination Match, WWE Survivor Series 1995)

Before Stephanie McMahon revolutionised women’s wrestling (or at least that’s what WWE has programmed me to think), you’d rarely see substantial women’s traditional elimination matches at Survivor Series. Now, the women are given ample time to show they are just as good as, if not better, than the men. At Survivor Series 1995, the women were barely given ten minutes in their four on four elimination match. However, bolstered with talent from the (legitimately) revolutionary All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling, the women made the most out of their limited time.

123. John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (Last Man Standing Match, WWE Payback 2014)

I wanted to leave it unfinished…but the final match of the John Cena/Bray Wyatt 2014 feud kept calling me, in my dreams, in my waking life. A Last Man Standing match, this was the rubber match after Wyatt defeated Cena in a mediocre cage match (thanks to a Wyatt-possessed child (click here for my review!)). I remember watching this at the time, and while thinking it was a better match than their previous two efforts, it still wasn’t anything special. I thought the same this second time around.

119. John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (Cage Match, WWE Extreme Rules 2014)

After John Cena’s decisive victory over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania XXX (click here for my review), you’d presume that their rivalry would have been over. Well…it wasn’t. Wyatt proclaimed that Cena’s victory meant nothing (even though Cena overcame the odds and didn’t turn to the dark side, as Wyatt had hoped). Extreme Rules would be the PPV of their next meeting…and they would battle inside of a steel cage. Would it be any better than their mediocre ‘Mania outing? Absolutely not.

117. John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (WWE WrestleMania XXX)

Bray Wyatt has returned to the WWE! On last week’s Friday Night Smackdown, he made his first TV appearance with a heartfelt and emotional promo. In my last review, I looked back to Bray Wyatt”s incarnation as ‘The Fiend’ and his surreal, innovative and mesmerising ‘Firefly Funhouse’ match at WrestleMania 36 (click here for my review). That was born out of their WrestleMania 30 clash, a regular singles bout. I didn’t think much of it upon first watching it, and haven’t returned to it since. A re-watch proved that it wasn’t worth a re-watch…

116. John Cena vs The Fiend (Firefly Funhouse Match, WWE WrestleMania 36)

Now that Bray Wyatt is back in the WWE, there’s one thing I hope he doesn’t bring back with him: The Fiend. A great character, but awful in-ring competitor. Perhaps WWE didn’t know what to do with him, but the whole indestructible monster’ gimmick wore thin pretty quickly. But The Fiend did have one truly great bout to his name…and it wasn’t even much of a wrestling match. I give you the ‘Firefly Funhouse Match’ at WrestleMania 36.