The Wrestling Bucket

Sami Callihan vs Daisuke Sekimoto, CZW Best Of The Best X

We have seen Sami in a variety of roles lately, and this was him working in a big vs small scenario, and he is pretty fucking great at it. Right at the start of the match Sami puts over the story of the match with a huge bump off a lariat. Sekimoto works well in his role, absorbing flurries and staying on his feet, and beating the shit out of Sami with some disgustingly heavy chops. Sami's out-of-nowhere Saito Suplex is quicly becoming one of my favourite trademark spots. I could have done without Sami kicking out the Deadlift German, just because Sekimoto is killing the move, but the finish was a really fucking great "slaying the giant" moment. This only went around 10 minutes, but still felt epic.

Sami Callihan vs Adam Cole, CZW Best Of The Best X

This wasn't as good as the Sekimoto match, but was still really good. I'm still far from sold on Adam Cole but he was fine here, as he was essentially plugged into what has become Sami's formula. Lots of intense, stiff brawling and both guys take some big bumps. I am not a condoner of man-on-woman violence, but Sami beating up Cole's valet was kind of awesome. Cole reaches an 8.5 on the Edge scale of absurd facial expressions, and his Stretch Muffler was weak, but the finishing run was really good otherwise and pretty dramatic.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Yuji Nagata, NJ 3/20

Thought this was pretty bad. First half was really boring and full of perfunctory stuff. Second half was mostly just mindless sequences of big moves with no flow or direction. The execution on a lot of stuff was also kind of awkward or weak, which made both guys look bad at points.

Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan, Smackdown 5/6

Another really good, stiff match. Such a good pairing this has become. Sheamus bumped hard for Danielson's dive, the slingshot shoulderblock into the LeBell Lock was a sick counter and the finish was fucking 10/10.

The Big Show vs Ezekial Jackson, Smackdown 5/6

Crazy match. Show taking big bumps and Zeke throwing him around like nothing was just nuts. Also dig how stiff Zeke works, and the Corre dudes all took some nasty bumps for Show on the outside.

Christian vs Randy Orton, Smackdown 5/6

This was good but not great, not least because of the outcome. Christian was great, selling his ass off and taking a huge spill on the outside early on. Orton was fine, though his mannerisms were once again kind of cringeworthy and forced. The finishing run was kind of just your-turn-my-turn, and the mid-air RKO finish has become really predictable.

Best Of 2011