Daniel Bryan vs John Cena (WWE - 8/18/2013)

Seconded. Absolutely agree with Cap about this being better than Punk/Cena and this being one of the 3 best WWE matches ever. This felt more like it was in line with Classic NWA Title matches than any WWE match in a lonnng time. I love everything about this.

This is probably Bryan's best WWE match and one of Cena's best as well, and that's covering a hell of a lot of ground. Though I'm not 100% sure it was the best match on the card (Punk-Lesnar was awesome as well), it could sneak it's way on my ballot.

I agree with FXNJ I dont see how people like this more than Punk/Brock, yet it seems this match is greatly preferred. I liked the extracurricular story of the match of Daniel Bryan, career Indy guy beating The Man at Summerslam for The Title, but the actual match narrative was not as engrossing as Punk/Brock's take on David vs Goliath. My big complaint about this match is that the order of moves don’t matter. The best matches are the ones where each spot has consequences and leads into the next. In this match, you could mix up the order and I don’t feel like the match would change.



WWE Champion John Cena vs Daniel Bryan - Summerslam 2013

Daniel Bryan heeled himself hard in my household when he came off as an angry, little nerd troll in the buildup. John Cena is in it for the fame so lame and such a boldface lie. Bryan's championing of wrestling comes off as so whiny. John Cena is a great champion and a damn hard worker. I know they were playing off internet stereotypes and it was the right call, but I became such a Cena fan after his great response that absolutely owns nerd troll Bryan's argument. Bryan would have turned himself heel with the audience in any other situation besides being against Cena.

Summerslam 2013 was the last traditional PPV I ordered before the Network. I was excited for both this and Punk/Lesnar. I came away that night thinking Punk/Brock was the clear match of the night and was shocked Cena vs Bryan was preferred. I recently re-watched Punk vs Brock came away thinking it was even better than I remember. This match is exactly where I thought it would be in my mind. It is a great match because of everything around it not really because of the match itself. Whereas Punk vs Brock put together a killer narrative that crushed from beginning to end. This match was really driven by Bryan the career indy wrestler challenging the undisputed Man of WWE. Their respective rises parallel each other. Both won their first World Championships in 2005 and each became the face of their faction of wrestling fans. It was in 2005 that Bryan overcame Joe, Punk, AJ and Low-Ki to be the Man of the Indy scene. I would argue at the beginning of the indy scene Bryan was 5th place to those men in terms of popularity and kayfabe positioning. But with Joe & AJ firmly in TNA, Punk in WWE and Low-Ki's self-implosion, Bryan became the face of Indy wrestling therefore "good" wrestling. Whereas Cena through sheer force of will became the Man of WWE and therefore the ultimate villain of "good" wrestling fans. To be clear, Cena had many great matches in this time period. That outside story bolsters this match.

The actual match is great dont get me wrong, but I dont feel this overwhelming sense of greatness. Cena has a huge wrap on his left arm, I thought it was staph, but it was something else and basically his elbow had become swollen as a baseball. Typical Cena style chain wrestling to start which chicken soup for the traditional wrestling fan's soul as it reminds me of NWA Championship style. I loved that Cena resisted the Mexican Surfboard and kicked Bryan off. I thought they should have come back to it. It is nice reminder that certain moves you really need to wear down your opponent and earn. Bryan had not earned this hold yet. They each tease their Finishers: YesLock and F-U, but neither can apply them. Cena shouldertackles Bryan off the apron hard into the announce table. Cena is whipped into the stairs but Cena does a suplex off the stairs to "You Still Suck" chants. Tough crowd. Early narrative seems to be Cena is favoring the elbow, but also trying to show it still works. Bryan is getting overpowered, but has a couple fancy counters.

I thought the best part of the match was the short Cena control segment. Cena used that big ol meaty hands and just tees off on Bryan. Powerbomb gets two. Bryan was the Cinderella story. This was Cena's time to channel to Bret Hart and play the subtle heel. I dont think Cena controlled enough of this match. I think down the stretch there was too much sympathy for Cena. Nice hope spot/cutoff segment they ran with Bryan looking to land kicks and quicken the pace, but Cena was using power and evasion to maintain control. Underutilized story is that since Bryan relies on speed to land his blows that this is high-risk they shouldnt always land. Cena goes through his comeback sequence but gets distracted by the crowd. He eats a kick on the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. They do their submission teases and come back to it. Cena goes for the F-U, Bryan lands on his feet. Bryan gets a missile dropkick.

This is where they lose me. There is plenty of action, but I dont feel like there is much connective tissue or logical progression. Bryan targets the arm for a little bit, we get Cena going for an STF and then Bryan does an STF. Then Bryan goes for a bunch of German Suplex bridge pin attempts. Cena goes for FU again, but he just took a bunch of Germans and Bryan wrangles him into the YESLock and then a Guillotine Choke. Flash F-U gets two and it is Cena's first sign of life in a while. At this point, I think Cena has been re-positioned as the babyface. He was taking the brunt of punishment, persevering and when doesnt get the pin there you feel for him. Cena is going for his top rope legdrop and Bryan is a tenacious pitbull just fighting uphill to gain control. Cool spot is the Spider Superplex and then Diving Headbutt. I really liked that as a nearfall. Cena powders wisely to catch a breath. Cena smashes him on the suicide dive and then hits that Legdrop onto the Head he does and this one looked WICKED! Only two. Super F-U, Bryan fights it off, I thought maybe they were going for a Styles Clash, but really they wanted to drop into a Boston Crab maybe or maybe a Powerbomb, anyways, it was almost a fucking Ganso Bomb with Bryan's head just inches from the mat. That could have been bad. STF vs YESLock both men make the ropes. Bryan who is the Energizer Bunny of Pro Wrestling comes flying with dropkicks on the 3rd one CENA HITS A MONSTER TRUCK LARIAT AND JBL CREAMS HIS PANTS! It was fucking great! They do another double-KO which was unnecessary Cena's lariat already levelled the playing field. Cena catches Bryan at one point and you feel like it is the End. Cena sells it so well because he talks some trash and it is a typical Cena finish. He hoists him up, but Bryan rolls into a cradle. Hits a wicked kick to the head and then the KENTA Running Knee for the win. Had he ever used that before in WWE? I dont remember it. I liked it.

I will say this also the angle afterwards is an all-time great angle. They may have bungled the aftermath only to accidentally to right the course in time for Mania, but this angle with HHH/Orton/Bryan after Summerslam is up there with Funk/Flair from WrestleWar '89 as one of my all-time favorite angles.

As a match, nothing felt consequential until Cena catches Bryan coming off the ropes and looks like he is going to hit the F-U to win by the way that was fourth to last spot and about a minute or two of match time left so that's not good. Up until that point, it was a lot of move trading. It was still exciting, but it was not a sticky match. I couldnt really remember the order the spots were in because the order didnt matter. The order should matter. You could take any of those spots I listed above and mix up the order and come away feeling the match is the same. In a truly classic match, you cant do that. So thats what holds this match back from all-time great status. Three things keep me high on this match: great action, Daniel Bryan's Cinderella win and the Authority (HHH & Orton) immediately ripping it away. ****1/4