Daniel Bryan v. Randy Orton (WWE Raw - 12/16/2013)

The other all-time classic match that took place on Monday Night Raw in Dallas during 2013.

It’s non-title but who cares? Bryan doesn’t get anything out of it. It’s more of a reaction to the “Championship Ascension Ceremony” the previous week than anything else. This was a night after the last PPV of the year and a week before the Holidays. It was just for shits and giggles, right?

Something weird happened between Wrestlemania 29-30 where WWE got almost everything right without even trying. Daniel Bryan was undeniable. It was amazing

It’s a perfect match. Bryan stated that Orton was one of his favorite guys to work with and pretty much every match that had together was great. This one had a little extra. The moves meant a little more , the selling was better, the pacing was perfect. They nailed it on the tv setting.

Garvin/Flair from December ‘85 is a bit of a comparison here. As these two get kinda stiff. I think this goes a bit further for me than that match, just on having a more personal attachment to it.

I have seen some state that the finish is cheap.

The finish is the BEST part of the goddamn match.

Randy Orton hits Bryan with a low-blow in front of the ref because he had enough. Randy Orton, the champion couldn’t figure out how to finally put Bryan away in this inconsequential, non-title tv match so he just wanted out. It shows that he doesn’t think he can beat Bryan clean but also that he doesn’t respect him. He just wants to get away from this guy.

This is my favorite Randy Orton match by a comfortable margin and just might be my favorite Bryan performance of his entire WWE run. Just about as perfect a match as I’ve ever seen.