With 2016 coming to a close, we at SLTD Wrestling have not only decided to have our very own Awards 2016 (Vote Now – HERE) but we have gotten together to share some of our personal ‘Best of the Year’
Here we are sharing our NXT Match of the Year. That one match that has stood out above all else in 2016. Below our ours, but what is yours? let us know in the comments/Twitter/Facebook or by voting on the SLTD Wrestling Awards 2016.
@ALFarrand (Facebook Manager)
Last year, I found myself taking a liking to the new team of Jason Jordan & Chad Gable during the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. I followed the now named American Alpha through their NXT career, straight through their Tag Team Championship win in Dallas to their now middling booking on Smackdown Live. I was left with a bittersweet taste in my mouth once Gable & Jordan were drafted away from the yellow brand. Sweet because they were going to tear it up on the main roster (Ahem.) and bitter because I now had little interest in the once great NXT Tag Team Division. Then Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa began to define themselves as ‘THE’ tag team on NXT thanks to their unique individual styles meshing to create a unique tag team style. All was looking up for the now named DIY until they a bump in the road the size of then NXT Tag Team Champions and stalwarts of the division, The Revival. The ‘Top Guys’ were not willing to pass the torch easily, handing DIY an emotional loss in Brooklyn but it was the eventual 2 Out Of 3 Falls match at NXT Takeover: Toronto that finally saw Gargano & Ciampa win the Tag Team Championships. The match in Toronto reinvigorated (for about the billionth time in 2016) my love for professional wrestling. High stakes, high tension, high quality. A friend of mine, a non wrestling fan who is often forced to stay up for Wrestlemanias & Summerslams, watched Takeover: Toronto with me and said “That match was the best you’ve ever shown me” That’s high praise in my book.
@mrnebarry (Old Skool View)
I can sum this up as simple as The Revival vs DIY 2 out of 3 Falls.
@maruwe22 (What Would Matt Do?)
Any NXT TakeOver match delivers a Match of the Year contender and the winner for me was from Dallas. Sami Zayn can have a match with anyone and make them look strong (see what happened at Roadblock for more information) – putting him with someone as gifted as Nakamura means this match was more anticipated than the majority of the card at WrestleMania and was a better match than most of the matches at WrestleMania. If you’ve not watched this match, stop what you are doing, watch it, re-watch it again and then gather your friends, family and loved ones and watch it a third time. Then come back and read who my final award goes to.
@TownNation (The Fox Files)
2016 has been one of the, if not THE best year wrestling wise not just in WWE, but all around the world. In the WWE though we have had classic matchups such as Shinsuke Nakamura vs Samoa Joe, AJ Styles vs John Cena, DIY vs The Revival, but my match of the year has to go to when Shinsuke Nakamura made his debut in NXT against Sami Zayn! WHAT A MATCH! There were some brilliant spots in that match, and you know that a wrestling bout is incredible when it keeps you at the edge of your seat for the whole time the match lasted(which was around 15 minutes!) and that happened to me, so my match of the year, once again goes to Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn.
@TomRobinson5199 (Armbar Analysis)
To me, there’s one match that has stood out among the rest that really made me have a much greater appreciation of wrestling. Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut in WWE was eagerly anticipated, with critics questioning whether he would fit into the WWE universe. At NXT TakeOver: Dallas, he answered all of those questions. Nakamura and his opponent almost stole the ENTIRE WrestleMania weekend with their corker of a battle, being the perfect to introduce strong style to WWE.
@kieranthekiz (UKayfabe)
This was genuinely my favourite match of the year in NXT, and despite there being some great NXT Title matches involving Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Nakamura, I felt this one for sheer back and forth entertainment value had me on the edge of my seat. I see big things both all 4 men in this match, and WWE Tag Team Titles in their futures.
@JoshMorrell (Wrestling World)
This was a moment to remember for a long time as this was the debut match for Nakamura, straight from NJPW, he was presented perfectly, expect for the theme (I still prefer his NJPW theme), this was also Sami’s last match in NXT before wrestling at WrestleMania a couple of nights later, but they kicked the living crap out of each other with Nakamura winning!
@callumowen98 (Facebook Manager)
Much like the main roster, NXT has had it’s own great matches once again in 2016, whether it be the 45 minute 2 out of 3 falls between Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn, the dream matches between Shinsuke Nakamura vs Finn Balor and Nakamura vs Zayn. However I think the best match under the NXT banner this year, was from the most recent Takeover in Toronto, as #DIY took on The Revival in a 2 out 3 falls NXT Tag Team Championship match. As I’ve mentioned in many of my predictions and review articles for NXT Takeovers, I think The Revival are the best team in the WWE, they constantly deliver memorable matches. Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa have become fan favourites with the NXT crowd, and this match cemented them on par with The Revival, as both teams tore the house down, with a handful of near falls and genuinely 25 minutes of enthralling action.
@BigMatchSully (Monster Match Sully)
The Revival v. DIY, NXT Takeover Toronto: The 2 out of 3 Falls match for the NXT tag titles is one of the best tag matches in recent memory. Not only did both teams displayed amazing in-ring ability, as tag teams and individuals, but they also showed great wrestling psychology and sold beautifully. The match as a whole was booked fantastically, from the order and timing of the falls, to that gripping ending that had Wilder and Dawson literally begging one another not to tap-out.
SLTD Wrestling brings you all the greatest wrestling content. from blogs, to podcasts to exclusive Predictions and Fantasy Leagues.
Recent Comments