The Ultimate NXT Draft: Picks 11-20

It has been three years since Jonah and I did an NXT Fantasy Draft to make our picks of who are going to be the next great superstars in the WWE. Then, about six months ago, we reviewed all of the picks to figure out what went right and what went wrong. We realized three things through this process. First off, very few wrestlers are in NXT from that original draft, and even the ones that are have changed dramatically over the last few years. Second, and more importantly for the strategy of this draft, is that we realized we cannot rely on WWE success to determine the strength of our selections as many of their creative decisions do not optimize their talent. So this draft is not predicting future success as much as it is drafting the wrestlers that we would want to build our organization around. Finally, we decided to be inclusive in this draft so not only will we have NXT and all of the wrestlers at the Performance Center, but we will include everyone over in NXT UK and even 205 Live since all of them are still working to progress in their career.

Today, we continue the series with the wrestlers who fell just beyond the top 10 picks.

11. Jonah selects Shayna Baszler

Jonah: She’s the NXT women’s champ and a very talented wrestler to boot. She’s not a great promo, but she’s not terrible either. She gets her point across through actions rather than words which works well for her. Baszler clearly made the transition from MMA to pro wrestling very smoothly, and she has good worked strikes as well as a strong technical wrestling ability. She’s a great heel, who generates lots of hate, but the good pro wrestling kind of hate. While Baszler was never anywhere near Ronda Rousey in terms of MMA, she may end up surpassing her in professional wrestling.

Joe: I would say that I’m actually a bigger fan of her promos than you seem to be. Her promos fit her wrestling style where she is a bully, and even though she can get mumbly in her promos, it totally fits that this is the bully that you can’t say anything to, because she will kick the crap out of you. She’s been the Women’s NXT Champion for quite a while, so it’s pretty easy to make the case that she should have been the first woman taken. Obviously, I am not making that case, but it’s not due to any flaw I see in Baszler, just the ceiling that I see in Belair.

12. Joe selects Io Shirai

Joe: There were only a small number of women that I really valued highly in the WWE system. There’s many more with potential to wow, but I wanted to get some guaranteed women that could carry my fantasy organization. I think it’s fairly safe to say that Io Shirai is the best women’s wrestler in NXT, and she might simply be the best women’s wrestler in the world. I’m not going to get into all of the arguments for other ladies in the WWE and around the world, but all you really need to know is Io Shirai OWNS. Now that she has unleashed her sadistic side by attacking Shayna Baszler after their Takeover match, I am really excited to see where things go for her. The sky is certainly the limit for this Genius.

Jonah: We need to get further down the list so I can actually shit talk some of your picks. I really wanted Shirai, she’s extremely talented. She does have the same issue Kushida does in having English as her second language, but that’s really her only downside. It’s actually an incredible compliment to NXT that I’m not sure if she’s the best women’s wrestler there, but she’s definitely one of the top ones. I see her challenging for the newly formed women’s trio belts with Kairi Sane and Asuka in 2022.

13. Joe selects Candice LeRae

Joe: This is me drafting with my heart instead of my brain. Now don’t get me wrong, Candice LeRae wasn’t going to fall much further than this, but even I have to admit that Pete Dunne was probably the way to go with this pick if I was picking logically. But Candice LeRae is responsible for me falling in love with independent wrestling.

Back in 2015, my brother and I went to our first WrestleMania. This was before Indys took over WrestleMania weekend, but I did find out about the WrestleCon Supershow. They announced some of the names that would be there, but there were also a lot of surprises. Most of the names meant nothing to me, because I was fully a WWE guy at the time. I was most interested in nostalgia, so needless to say, my mind was blown when Disco Inferno was in the opening match as I thought he was a big enough name to main event the card. The matches were fun, and I was seeing things that were definitely blowing my mind, but nothing compared to the tag match.

The World’s Cutest Tag Team, Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae, took on the World’s Dudest Tag Team, Caleb Konley and Zane Riley (in drag). I didn’t know matches like this happened. I didn’t know women could be competitive with men. I didn’t know women could suplex men by their testicles. Most of all, I didn’t know wrestling could be this fun. Candice was the star of the match as she absolutely laid it all on the line and just went balls (ovaries?) out. Pete Dunne is objectively great, but I’m good to stick with the blonde girl.

Jonah: Joey Ryan? Whatever happened to that blonde girl he used to hang out with? He really needs her watching his back. LeRae is great, the only downside is that she hasn’t really been able to show her full skill set in NXT yet. They need to show she’s a real threat and a real wrestler, but Mrs. Wrestling should have a bright future ahead of her.

14. Jonah selects Pete Dunne

Jonah: Pete Dunne is straight up awesome. I’m sure this will get a big reaction out of Joe, but he’s as good as WALTER in the ring, and he has that same presence where he just feels like a big deal when he shows up. People just love the guy. He’s also only 25 years old. I think he has a real shot at becoming the first British WWE World Champion.

Joe: I am not about to dispute that Pete Dunne is awesome. That dude straight up owns. He’s phenomenal in the ring, and if Candice LeRae didn’t mean way too much to me, I would have taken him earlier. I have no issue with you saying he’s as good as WALTER in the ring; in fact, he might be better, but saying he has the presence of WALTER? Come on, now. WALTER walks into a grocery store, and people stop scanning items; Pete Dunne walks into the grocery store, and people ask him if he needs help reaching the top shelf.

Jonah: Pete Dunne is one of the most over people in all of NXT, that’s presence. He’s a badass without being big, that’s presence.

15. Jonah selects Toni Storm

Jonah: I’m not sure if this pick was a bit of a shock or not, but Joe had taken some talented women and I needed to make sure I wasn’t left behind. Storm was specifically mentioned by Becky Lynch as someone she would like to face at Wrestlemania in the future. She was a quarter finalist in the first Mae Young Classic and won the second. She’s the current WWE UK Women’s Champion and is incredibly over. She is beautiful, talented in the ring and over at the ripe old age of 23. She’ll be one of the top women’s stars in the WWE for the next 10 to 15 years once she moves to the main roster. She’s from New Zealand, so there’s nothing keeping her in the UK. Put it down, in a few years she will be a very early pick in a WWE mock draft.

Joe: I definitely expected Toni Storm to go in this range. She’s good in the ring and still has a lot of potential for more. I saw her live in one match, and since her opponent was garbage, the match kind of left a bad taste in my mouth since I was expecting to be wowed. I think that’s more the struggle of being a woman on the independent scene than anything against her though. She’s quite good, but I felt better about some other women on the roster.

16.Joe selects Shane Strickland Isaiah Scott

Joe: When we first started this draft, his name was still Shane Strickland, but he has been fully taken over by the WWE machine to become Isaiah Scott. You can call him whatever you want, but the guy has been one of the top independent wrestlers out there for the last few years. Jonah already hinted at it in the Matt Riddle portion of this draft, but seeing “Swerve” take on “The King of Bros” at Defy in Seattle was without a doubt one of the best matches I have ever seen, and it may very well have that top spot in my personal rankings. Anyway, I have personally seen Strickland have many great matches, some against well known guys like Cage, and some against some surprising names like Fabian Aichner and Jimmy Havoc. He’s awesome in the ring, and he has a persona that translates very well to WWE. It’ll be interesting where he gets slotted in early on as he won a ton of titles on the independent scene, but it never seemed like he reached the peak “indy darling” status. My only immediate hope is that he gets to keep the “Swerve” nickname. He’s an immense talent, can have great matches with anyone and could be somebody who Jonah deeply regrets not taking in a year or two.

Jonah: This one hurt. Isaiah Scott, AKA Shane Strickland AKA Swerve AKA Killshot is awesome. He’s incredibly talented in the ring, I mean he’s the other half of my favorite match that I’ve seen in person. His persona is good, but to be honest, his promo skills need some work. I guess it isn’t a huge deal when you’re that good in the ring, but if his promo skills develop in NXT he’s an early pick in our next draft.

Joe: I think he has shown a good amount in promos, especially with some of his work in MLW. I also admire the guy for starting a podcast to just get himself talking more; it’s a really great way to build comfort and piece ideas together verbally.

17.Joe selects Kacy Catanzaro

Joe: This was the last woman’s wrestler that I rated very highly on my list, and it is still a ton of projection, but the agility and balance is so ridiculous compared to anyone I have seen in women’s wrestling that she could be a true game changer. She is very small as I’m pretty sure she’ll be looking up to Alexa Bliss, but the athleticism is so out of this world that her potential is out of this world. Also, right now, I have only seen her strength used to support her own body weight, but considering how strong you have to be to succeed in American Ninja Warrior, it wouldn’t shock me if she showed some freakish strength in her matches at some point. And since I had my four horsewomen (everything is some variation of the Four Horsemen when describing four people in professional wrestling), I took some time off and let Jonah take the next seven ladies in this draft.

Jonah: Athleticism is off the charts, really unbelievable stuff. I actually remember watching her on one of the only episodes of Ninja Warrior I’ve ever seen, she can do things that 99.9% of people can’t, just like her boyfriend Ricochet. What a fun mixed tag challenge team they would make. She’s cute and can clearly play the underdog, book her like a female Rey Mysterio and things will go well for her.

Joe: I don’t think she has a 20-year-old kid that can stand around the back with her for months for no reason, but I love the idea of Catanzaro vs. Samoa Joe.

Jonah: Talk about a new money gimmick for Ricochet.

18. Jonah selects Tyler Bate

Jonah: Bate is a guy who seems to have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle of WALTER and Pete Dunne, but man can he still wrestle like a boss. He’s another guy with that same natural charisma, he got over by touching his moustache. He’s also crazy strong, especially for his size, he can really play off that by deadlift suplexing guys much bigger than him and getting those Cesaro pops. I’ve been a big fan of youth so far and Bate is the youngest of them all at 22.

Joe: Yeah, I probably would have taken Tyler Bate with my next go-around, but Catanzaro was the last woman that I felt like I needed to get. Bate is incredible in the ring for his age, and although his only discernible personality trait is, “has mustache,” currently, I think he will develop more of a persona as time goes on.

19. Jonah selects Mia Yim

Jonah: Yim is a talented wrestler who has experience performing for a “national” company in TNA as their world champion. I think her character is interesting and unique as it’s very different than what is usually seen from Asian females in professional wrestling. Her uniqueness and her wrestling talent will eventually lead to at least an NXT Women’s Title run for her, and she’s 29 meaning she has plenty of time left to succeed on the main roster as well.

Joe: Jonah, you love the ages of people. I do like Mia Yim as I think she’s very good, but I haven’t been wowed by her. She had a very entertaining series of matches with Bianca Belair, but I’m certainly not ready to crown her a future NXT Champion, a belt that Becky Lynch never obtained.

Jonah: As a guy who can barely walk at my age, let me tell you that age does matter. I draft for the future.

20.Joe selects Tommaso Ciampa

Joe: Neck injuries are scary, but modern medical procedures have elevated the chances of a full recovery. In real life, I am hoping for a full recovery from Ciampa, who has been through a lot of tough things, and deserves a positive break. As for my fantasy organization, this pick makes sense at this point since I really don’t have any reason to believe Johnny Gargano is better than Ciampa, so I’m getting an extra top-5 pick at best, top-10 at worst. Ciampa is really great at telling a story in the ring, and yeah, I just hope he gets healthy in real life, because he’s always been a pleasure to watch.

Jonah: Ciampa fell too far, he’s awesome in the ring and very charismatic, but man has he been hurt a lot. It’s not just his recent neck injury, but his old knee injury that worries me as well. I love Ciampa and I hope he comes back healthy and stays healthy.

Previously in the NXT Draft:
Picks 1-10

The 39 Best Matches From WrestleMania 31 Weekend

I went to WrestleMania for the first time this year, and it exceeded every expectation that I could have possibly had for the experience. Sure, I could nitpick here and there, but overall, every single event that I went to was pretty awesome. Yes, Axxess was unorganized, but I met Hulk Hogan, and it gave me and Big E a chance to reminisce about picking up chicks at the Field House during our time at the University of Iowa. Meanwhile, I went to not one, not two, not three, but four wrestling events from Friday-Monday. Every night was something different with NXT on Friday, WrestleCon on Saturday, WrestleMania 31 on Sunday, and Raw (with a dark match and Superstars taping) on Monday. There is no perfect way to recap the weekend, but I saw a lot of incredible wrestling, and although the matches were very different, they provided a ton of great moments, and even the worst of the bunch were fine.

39. Prime Time Playas vs. Adam Rose and Heath Slater - Raw (Dark Match)
Things I learned during this match:
1. Heath Slater and Adam Rose are a tag team, I guess?
2. They do not sell bottles at the SAP Center.
3. They didn't open half of their concession stands despite having a sold out crowd in the arena. Whoever is running that arena did a piss poor job.
4. The Prime Time Players won, I think.

38. Fandango vs. Jack Swagger - Superstars
Fandango wrestled Jack Swagger. Fandango hit his finisher. He danced with Rosa Mendes before and after. This is a match that happened.

37. R-Truth vs. Luke Harper - Superstars
This is another match that happened, but it gets rated slightly higher because R-Truth seemed like a nice guy at Axxess.

36. Jason Jordan vs. Bull Dempsey - NXT
Jason Jordan was referred to as a jobber during the whole match. They apparently all forgot his great run as the tag team partner of Tye Dillinger. Who is Tye Dillinger? Aw, crap, nevermind. Anyway, Jordan showed some good power in throwing around Dempsey in some suplexes towards the end of the match. He surprisingly won, but it's not too surprising, since it is just Bull Dempsey.

35. Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno - NXT
A pretty blah match that Corbin won. Baron Corbin has great size for NXT so he can be dominant, but I don't see where he fits at the next level. Rhyno kind of had the same story in ECW where he can be impressive against small opponents, but then you see real big guys, and it loses some luster. Corbin won, but Rhyno hit him with the Gore afterwards, so everyone went home happy.

34. Stardust vs. Damien Mizdow - Raw
It was another fine match. There really isn't much to it, but Mizdow is way over, so he got the win, even though Cody Rhodes is awesome and should be in a much better position, because the dude had his wife hand out cookies as they left his photo in the Elimination Chamber at Axxess.

33. Rusev vs. Goldust - Raw
Rusev crushed Goldust. Rusev is pretty great, so even though it was a pretty blah squash match, it is still entertaining to see Rusev crush.

32. Havok vs. Tessa Blanchard - WrestleCon
Havok is not a lady to be trifled with, like seriously, she would absolutely crush me. Tessa is the daughter of an original Horseman, so that makes it an even matchup as far as I was concerned. It was a solid match which told the classic tale of giant using power versus speed and determination. The power dominated and eventually, the power won out, and Havok took out Tessa.

31. Cedric Alexander vs. Brian Kendrick - WrestleCon
This was a fine match, but nothing really grabbed me about it. It followed up a mixed tag match that we'll get to later that was one of the best matches I saw all weekend, so it was a tough act to follow.

30. Bayley and Alexa Bliss vs. Dana Brooke and Becky Lynch - NXT
Dana Brooke still flexes a lot, and Becky rocks harder than most people can imagine, but Alexa Bliss has glitter, and Bayley was in her hometown. I think Bliss is stepping up her game in the ring. She was still probably only the third best wrestler in there behind Bayley and Lynch, but it was good to see her start closing the gap. Overall, it was a fine, safe, women's match where the crowd really amped things up with their love for Bayley and freaked out when she hit the Bayley-to-belly suplex.

29. AJ Lee and Paige vs. The Bella Twins - WrestleMania
This was a necessary match. It wasn't going to tear the house down, but it wasn't meant to. It was meant to give people a chance to breathe. It was a totally fine women's match that was enhanced by being at WrestleMania.

28. Solomon Crowe vs. Calisto - NXT
This was a fine wrestling match, but I am not in on Solomon Crowe, so it kind of takes me out of his matches. I want to like him, and giving him a submission finish instead of that stupid splash is a step in the right direction, but I'm not buying Crowe yet. Calisto is great, and it was a good match, but it didn't really grab me.

27. Disco Inferno vs. Mr. TA - WrestleCon
This was the first match from WrestleCon, and I honestly couldn't believe that Disco Inferno was opening the show, because I thought they would save him as he was such a big name. This may be a sign that I love late-era WCW more than I should, but damn, Disco will always be a star in my opinion. Mr. TA was a Teaching Assistant, and he put up a good fight. There really wasn't too much special about this match, but Disco did win it with a Chart Buster, which Stone Cold stole and named a Stunner. The match wasn't anything special, but Disco danced afterwards, so he gets bumped up a few points for showmanship.

26. Man Scout, Jake Manning vs. Matt Striker - WrestleCon
So, on pure wrestling, this probably has to go last place, but somebody in the crowd told Striker to stick to commentary, and Striker stopped the match, got a mic, and went on a tirade that included telling the guy that he looked like Bill DeMott's abortion. After that, he kicked a man who was dressed up as a boy scout in the gut and hit him with The Pedigree. There may have only been about ten seconds of wrestling, but I was thoroughly entertained, so nice work, Matt Striker.

25. The Hardy Boys vs. RVD and Sabu - WrestleCon
This was a hardcore match, so there were lots of cheap weapons being used. This match ranks this high almost purely based on nostalgia and the venue. Like seeing The Big Show at Mania was nothing, but if Big Show had been at WrestleCon after some time away from WWE, I would have freaked out and automatically given it a top-5 ranking. I honestly never really cared about these guys out of early RVD being pretty cool, but seeing them here made it a lot more fun. Still, it was a hardcore match. It was disorganized, and eventually it ended.

24. Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania
This is a nostalgia pick as nothing really great happened in this match. For two guys that I am just not that into, their is still a mystique when it comes to The Undertaker. People are really happy Undertaker didn't get concussed, but that is a pretty low bar to clear for me to get pumped about another match for next year. Still, the spot where Bray Wyatt did the spider walk and then had Undertaker sit up was a good spot that gave me a good chuckle, and it's Taker at Mania, I don't think I'm allowed to put it below Disco Inferno.

23. Seth Rollins, Big Show, and Kane vs. Randy Orton, Ryback, and Roman Reigns - Raw
This match wasn't bad, but it was horribly disappointing. The first two hours of Raw were hot fire. The third hour was just waiting for something big to happen. This entire 6-man tag match was just waiting for some big debut or run-in, but it never came. Another thing that hurt it was the crowd doing the wave and chanting, "We are awesome," two of the douchiest things a crowd can do at a wrestling event. If WWE did have something cool planned, I wouldn't blame them if they just decided to wait a week and give it to a crowd that actually is there for the show instead of to be the show. As for the match, it was fine. Ryback getting The Big Show up for the Shell Shock was cool to see, but nobody outside of Ryback gave a shit about this match, and I really can't blame them.

22. AJ Lee, Paige, and Naomi vs. Brie and Nikki Bella and Natalya - Raw
This match was actually solid, but the crowd really took a turn for the worse during this match. They were pretty positive up until this point, but they turned on the Divas hard, as they called out the five ladies who are in relationship with wrestlers by insinuating that they perform oral sex on their significant others. If you are trying to make the point that wrestling fans are the lowest common denominator of human beings, this is a pretty good example. I'm blaming the chants for causing AJ's retirement, and I believe that CM Punk can travel through time, saw this happen, and retired a year earlier. But the ladies put on a solid match, but it wasn't NXT level good.

21. Murphy and Blake vs. The Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady - NXT
This was the big hope that maybe they would do a title change as Enzo and Big Cass are majorly over with the NXT crowd (and Carmella is majorly hated). The Vaudevillains are over as well, and nobody is really sure what is going on with Murphy and Blake. I have no idea what their gimmick is, but they are actually putting together the tag wrestling side of things. It was just a good tag match with some decent spots in there. Nothing special, but the crowd was way into it, so it added a lot of fun. Unfortunately, no title change.

20. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose - Raw
I'm in the minority where I'm not really into Dean Ambrose. He's fine, but I don't find him particularly compelling with this character. He was far more interesting as a member of The Shield as opposed to the lunatic/stupid person he is now. Still, they put on a really good match for two guys that I'm just fine with and have no strong opinions on. It had a lot of good action, and I will admit that I'm happy that Cena is going to just keep going up against surprise challengers.

19. Curtis Axel vs. Neville - Raw
I'm very excited for Axtreme Rules, but Neville dominated this match. He hit a bunch of high spots and delivered exactly what he should have. It was a quick squash, but hopefully it leads to Neville getting pushed into a higher tier of opponent where he can really shine in full matches.

18. Chris Hero, Drew Gulak, Brian Myers, Tommaso Ciampa, James Storm, and Abyss vs. Colt Cabana, Matt Sydal, Big Zeke, Tommy Dreamer, Bubba and D-Von Dudley - WrestleCon
This match was a lot of fun, but the big issue is that 10 guys standing on the apron made it really hard for half of the audience to see what was happening in a lot of the match. Still, putting this many former WWE guys in a single match brought a lot of nostalgia and fun. It wasn't meant to be the best wrestled match of the night, it was just meant to be fun, and at the end, everyone got their spots, and it was a very fun match. It might have moved up a couple spots if Big Zeke's sweatpants hadn't blocked a lot of it for me, but it was still enjoyable.

17. ACH vs. John Morrison - WrestleCon
I had heard of him but never seen ACH before, because I have zero Indy street cred. But I was way too excited to see the guy who used to be Johnny Nitro, although I was slightly disappointed that he was not accompanied by Eric Bischoff. This match had a lot of Lucha elements to it, and it made things really fun. Also, ACH was stealing Stone Cold's shtick, and Morrison was stealing HBK's. It was a good back and forth match where I wasn't sure what was going to happen until Morrison hit the Starship Pain and won the match.

16. Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal - WrestleMania
It's a 30-man battle royal. That is incredibly fun to watch. I will admit that with that many guys in there, it can be a little tough to follow the storylines, but WWE knows what they're doing and gave guys enough separation from the crowd of wrestlers to tell fans, "Hey, look over here" for anything developing. It was stupid for the most part, but any time you give me Cesaro feats of strength, I'm going to be a big fan, and I had no issue with The Big Show winning it this year.

15. Jack Evans vs. Aerostar vs. Andrew Everett - WrestleCon
I have to admit that I didn't know a single one of these guys before the match. I think they knew that, and they worked incredibly hard to put on a fun show. There was a lot of high flying and some nasty bumps during the match. They kept an incredibly high pace, and Aerostar won it with a top rope Canadian Destroyer, so yeah, safety was definitely not their number one concern.

14. Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville - NXT
This was a very good match, but I think I had too high of expectations for it. During Axxess, I thought they put on a better match (I'm not including Axxess matches, because there were a ton of them, and they rarely had my full attention). Still, it was a good match, and Balor came out as The Beast which was really cool. Those two guys can go, and they are probably both ready for the big show. Neville is now up there, and Balor is ready anytime they need some fresh blood.

13. The Ascension and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. New Day and Lucha Dragons - Raw
This match was about as awesome as the WrestleMania tag match. The Ascension being involved after they have already been castrated from having any impact hurts them quite a bit, but having Calisto around, especially working with Cesaro, is something that is very awesome. Sure, it's completely ridiculous that he did a backflip off of Cesaro's shoulders, but those are the type of moment that make wrestling awesome. In the end, it ranks below the Mania tag, because of Sin HuniCara being involved.

12. Triple H vs. Sting - WrestleMania
Yeah, the match was just fine. It was great considering the ages of the two guys involved, but it was a fine wrestling match. But seeing the nWo, especially Hogan, come strutting out and fighting DX was just a really fun moment. That's the beauty of wrestling; it's not always about what happens in the ring, as what happens around the match is just as important. Was it stupid? Of course, but that's what makes pro wrestling so enjoyable.

11. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. Usos vs. New Day vs. Los Matadores - WrestleMania
Cesaro is my favorite wrestler, so I will support anything he does. Also, Tyson Kidd and I shared an in-depth conversation about BK Chicken Fries at Axxess, so I'm pretty cool with him too. This was the first match of Mania, and it had a ton of energy and gave everybody a chance to shine. Clearly, Cesaro was depended on to shine brightest, but there were a lot of good spots, and it helped give the crowd energy for Mania, despite about half of the crowd still working their way through the gates/concessions to their actual seats. I'm very happy I got there early and didn't miss a second of this match. Before Mania, I said that I probably wouldn't yell much as I was already losing my voice. This match ended that plan, and I don't regret it a bit.

10. John Cena vs. Rusev - WrestleMania
Rusev entered on a tank in what will probably be my favorite entrance ever. Also, Rusev always has good matches and Cena puts it together when it matters. It was a fun match that may not have provided a magical moment, but it was super enjoyable throughout, and that's an important and underrated aspect of good wrestling.

9. Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan - Raw
I think this match may make it higher on a lot of people's lists, and I thought it told a great story, but I can still only get it to this number. This was much more of a fight than a wrestling match, and although that was highly entertaining; there is practically nothing better than these guys getting in there and wrestling. The crowd gave this match a standing ovation during the match for what they were doing, so yes, it was totally great, and you will never hear me complaining about headbutts as headbutts are awesome. This was a great match, but it was not the greatest match I saw this weekend.

8. Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze - NXT
This was the first match on the NXT card, and although the crowd was hot going into it, this took it to another level. Hideo Itami is somebody who is still putting it together on television, but that due is the hottest of fire in person. Tyler Breeze seems like just a goofy gimmick, but he puts on really good matches. He's not quite on the indy-darling level of Zayn, Owens, or Balor, but he's right below that. Like in all of Itami's matches, people wanted him to use the GTS, since he was using it before Punk but has yet to use it in the WWE. They teased it, but Breeze escaped. They went back and forth, and it led to Itami going into psycho strike mode which is super fun to watch in person. Then he put Breeze up for the GTS again, and the crowd rose to their feet, because they had never teased it twice. Sure enough, he hit it, and the crowd went ballistic. I'm still smiling about seeing him hit that GTS. It was a good match up until that point, but seeing the first GTS in person definitely bumped it up to greatness.

7. Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins - WrestleMania
Even without that insane RKO, it was a great match that had a lot of great spots and tons of excitement. Rollins is about as sure of a thing that the WWE has right now, and Orton will always put on great matches against great wrestlers. It was a great match, and we can never forget that this happened.

6. Roderick Strong, Kazarian, and Christopher Daniels vs. AR Fox, Ricochet, and Jushin Thunder Liger - WrestleCon
This match was truly the best of both worlds from WrestleCon. It had the nostalgia with guys like Liger and Christopher Daniels who have been around forever but are still very entertaining (And bonus for Daniels and Kazarian going full cosplay as the Legion of Doom). And it had the up and coming stars in AR Fox and Ricochet who can just do ridiculous things and put on an awesome show. I had heard great things about Ricochet and he delivered, but AR Fox did some things that made my jaw drop. It was just good, fast-paced wrestling where everybody got some spots, and there was rarely a chance to catch your breath. Probably the best wrestling match of WrestleCon, but not quite the most entertaining one.

5. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte - NXT
If you would have told me that I would have loved a women's match by far over every other match I saw on a card a year ago, I would have thought you were crazy, but the NXT Women's division has changed that, and Sasha and Charlotte put on an absolutely awesome match. It was high-paced, back and forth action that totally made sense and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire match. Also, it was a great decision to give Sasha the clean win, because she's The Boss, legitimately, her wrestling is next level, and if she won the Divas Title tomorrow and didn't lose it for two years, I guarantee it would be awesome.

4. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins - Raw
So the fact that this wasn't technically a match that ever started hurts it a little bit, but this was still totally awesome. Being there in person and being promised a World Title match got me pumped beyond belief. Pro wrestling is so wonderful in that you can get lost in the moment, despite knowing that it is scripted. Seth Rollins walking into the ring and going right up to Lesnar and raising the belt in his face made me believe that Lesnar was literally going to rip his head off and throw it into the crowd. And then Rollins bowing out of the match because his foot hurt from too many curb stomps. It was perfect. Then Lesnar goes on a rampage, and when Rollins does a backflip out of a German suplex and then kicks Lesnar in the face, he has that moment where he thinks that he can handle Lesnar, except he looks up and realizes that nothing hurts The Beast. It was all pitch-perfect. Rollins escapes, and then Lesnar destroys everything in sight, and he proves that he is probably the greatest pro wrestler alive, because everything is more important with him doing it.

3. Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Dean Ambrose vs. R-Truth vs. Luke Harper - WrestleMania
I think this match is getting overlooked because all ladder matches are great, but this match really was awesome. Everybody got their chance to shine in the match, and there were plenty of "Holy shit" moments. I didn't think there was any chance that Barrett would suplex Stardust off the ladder, but it sure happened. And, even though I was cheering for Ziggler, the ending was absolutely fantastic, because headbutts are the best.

2. Zane Riley and Caleb Konley "The World's Dudest Tag Team" vs. Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan "The World's Cutest Tag Team" - WrestleCon
What are usually the worst wrestling matches? Mixed tag matches. You can't get in a tag rhythm, and everything ends up stilted and boring. But OH MY GOD, this match. The World's Cutest Tag Team comes out to The Darkness's "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." And do you know why one team is known as the World's Dudest Tag Team? Because Zane Riley is just a dude, with a beard, dressing in women's wrestling gear. That means it wasn't just guys against guys and girls against girls; it was a goddamn free for all, and it was one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. Candice LeRae straight up GOES. Somebody called her female John Cena, and they weren't wrong, but she does more risky moves and nothing can stop her. At one point, she grabbed Konley by the balls to do a balls suplex off the top rope, but Riley came in and grabbed her like a bowling ball with his thumb up her butt and a finger in...well, you know, and then Joey Ryan came in and got the whole thing started by lifting up Riley and everyone went tumbling back for a huge superballsplex involving everyone. I thought the match was over at one point, and that was only the halfway point of the match, as they just kept doing high spots, and I was all in on this match. The World's Cutest Tag Team won, because Joey Ryan is awesome, and Candice is an unstoppable force, God, this match was so awesome.

1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, and eventually vs. Seth Rollins - WrestleMania
There were people who cried their eyes out about Roman Reigns got to main event WrestleMania. They did it, because he wasn't ready, yet they all wanted him to win the Royal Rumble the year before when it came down to him and Batista. Anyway, Brock Lesnar is the greatest thing in pro wrestling and him and Reigns told an awesome story that I was totally into. Lesnar just a dominant beast welcoming Reigns to suplex city, while Reigns is too stupid to stay down. Finally, Reigns gets a glimmer of hope and finally gets some offense on Lesnar for Seth Rollins music to hit and him to come sprinting down, putting in a great 40 time, to make the match a triple threat. Rollins curb stomps Lesnar, but it's not enough, and then he gets put up for an F-5, only for Reigns to save him with a spear. Rollins thanks Reigns with a curb stomp to him and gets the pin. The crowd went insane for Rollins, who yes, everyone realizes is a total heel, but also realizes that the guy has been the best thing on Raw for the last six months. Rollins, not Reigns, is the champion that we want to boo. Wrestling fans can boo him vigorously while still appreciating everything he does. It was an incredible moment.

I saw a ton of incredible wrestling during WrestleMania weekend, and honestly, if I saw a live card with the ten lowest ranked matches on this list, I still would have thought it was a pretty solid card. But in the end, there could only be one match at the top of this list, and that is the main event of WrestleMania. It's the pinnacle of the wrestling year, and it delivered beyond my wildest expectations. I waited 30 years to go to my first WrestleMania, I'm not going to wait that long before attending my second.