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Post by bossrock on Jan 18, 2018 10:47:39 GMT -5
John Cena vs. A.J. Styles (WWE Royal Rumble-1/29/2017)
I know this match gets some hate due to the multiple finisher kick-out format, but I’d argue this is still one of the best matches of 2017 and really one of the best matches in WWE history. It almost sort of combined the stories of the prior two matches into one: A.J. outwrestles Cena without much difficulty in the opening stretch (Money in the Bank match) and then Cena tries to go move for move, high impact offense for high impact offense with him (Summerslam match). For all of Cena’s bravado, he knew he needed to be the best John Cena possible to figure out the A.J. Styles puzzle. While a lot of his indy offense looks sloppy, he’s surprisingly much more precise with some of his bigger moves. It shows that he needed to improve and address the prior faults in his game in order to win. And while the number of AA’s may have been a bit excessive, I think Cena needing to hit two quick AA’s in succession made for a fitting ending. He knew how tough A.J. was and how he had been unable to finish him in the past, so it was almost a defiant “And STAY DOWN!” to finally end it.
Definitely on the list.
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Post by J. (aka El-P) on Jan 18, 2018 10:58:19 GMT -5
Ridiculous bombfest done in the rightest way possible in the WWE context. I hated their SummerSlam match but this took the concept of self-conscious epic back to basics : throw bombs, get up throw bomb again until it's done. And what matters here is the kind of bombs and the way they throw them. AJ Styles is fucking amazing at everything he does and Cena was much more fun here than in "storytelling-playing-my-role-right" bullshit against giant tools. He's not the best mechanic around but he's got a flair to himself and works better as a bomb thrower than at doing regular offense needed in more basic looking matches. MOTYC for 2017.
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Post by Kadaveri on Mar 15, 2019 20:27:45 GMT -5
As well as the blowoff to the rivalry with Styles, this match is like the culmination of John Cena's career. Ever since he became The Guy in WWE he's been criticised for his bad offense, his "unconventional" style as JR would put it. Triple H slammed him as 'uncoordinated' in the build to their title match 10 years previously, and it all has some basis in reality. He's sloppy and a clunky wrestler. But it's never really mattered. Cena's big calling card is his "Never Give Up" attitude and his lack of technical precision is just an obstacle for him to overcome. Through sheer heart and willpower he always seems to find a way to win. Dylan Hales sums this up very well in this clip here.Everything was going pretty wonderfully for Cena as the Ace of WWE, until AJ Styles arrives. Before their Money In The Bank 2016 match AJ does a promo on Cena saying if WWE had signed him 15 years ago there would never have been a John Cena, but "the powers that be" have protected Cena and kept him away. He's effectively saying the last decade of WWE has been a sham and Cena's a paper Ace. They have their 1st match, and it was AJ dominating Cena through technical skill. The whole match Cena could barely string 3 moves together before AJ cut him off. It took him absolutely ages to get a comeback together and even then it was on one leg as it'd been worked over so badly. The best bit is when Cena pulls off a five-knuckle shuffle on the one leg and it looks pitiful, he even has this dejected look on his face afterwards like he knows that was useless. He loses. The 2nd match at Summerslam isn't as good as a stand-alone, but what it is in the full story was Cena deploying his tried and tested "Never Give Up" strategy of just powering through every big move he gets hit with until he survives the war of attrition and hits the last big move to win That always won him the second match of a feud after losing the first. But this time it didn't work either, AJ was on another level to all his previous opponents. He's proven Cena was a false Ace all along. Or has he? On Talking Smack a few days before the Royal Rumble AJ assures viewers that Cena doesn't stand a chance against him because all Cena has is "John Cena, he's strong he's going that going for him, but there's a lot more to it than that" and says he can wrestle any style but Cena cannot. Then we get this match in front of 52,000 for the WWE Championship, and it's all an answer to that first encounter. Cena learns throughout the match that if he's going to beat AJ, strength and willpower isn't going to cut the mustard anymore (failed him twice already), he's going to have to finally outdo someone on technical execution, his historic weakness. His initial attempts at countering AJ's offence by just hammering with lariats doesn't get him very far as AJ still dominates the opening. In fact, every time Cena goes for one of his power routines it fails as AJ has a brilliant counter-offence up his sleeve. Cena's backbody drop into an AA attempt but AJ flying kicks him in the head. Later Cena goes for a protoslam only for AJ to turn it into a hurricanrana and takes back control. This isn't going well again, you see the cogs going in Cena's brain as he gives us these Hamlet facial expressions.
But then right from when Cena ducks a headkick from AJ and hoists him up into an electric chair slam, this is now ON. Cena is now going to put on the most clinical performance he's ever delivered, it's the only way to win. AJ has pushed and challenged him into becoming the best version of Cena ever. And he totally does it. Later in the match where he hits a Code Red totally perfectly is the moment that best sells this, didn't look like anything like the sloppy John Cena of old. And then Cena and AJ are both on the mat towards the end of the match exhausted, AJ goes for calf-killer but Cena has outwrestles him on the match, this happens multiple times, every trick AJ tries Cena manages to reverse it into something else we don't usually see from him, including Cena managing to slip on a figure four leg lock at one point! (If Cena wins he ties Ric Flair's record for 16 World Title wins). Still think all Cena's got is strength AJ? Cena finally dodges AJ's attempt at a flying forearm (how he lost last time) and beats AJ with a cool-looking rolling double AA he innovated for that match. And in winning he vindicates himself and his legacy, showing that he still would have been the Top Guy of WWE had AJ been there the whole time, it just would have been an even bigger challenge for him.
***** and one of my top matches of the decade.
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Post by elliott on Oct 12, 2023 14:26:39 GMT -5
Good match. Great Cena performance.
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