THE LIST:

The Miz vs John Morrison, WWE 1/3 - 5 YES
Rey Mysterio vs Alberto Del Rio, WWE 1/7 - 6 YES
The Big Show vs Drew McIntyre vs Dolph Ziggler vs Cody Rhodes, WWE 1/7 - 6 YES
CM Punk vs. John Cena, WWE 1/17 - 9 YES
Raw Rumble, WWE 1/31 - 3 YES
Daniel Bryan vs. Miz, WWE 2/14 - 3 YES
Smackdown Elimination Chamber, WWE 2/21 - 5 YES
Jerry Lawler vs. Miz, WWE 2/21 - 6 YES
RAW Elimination Chamber, WWE 2/21 - 4 YES
Chris Masters vs. Drew McIntyre, WWE 5/12 - 4 YES
CM Punk vs. John Cena, WWE 7/17 - 7 YES
Rey Mysterio vs. John Cena 7/26 - 4 YES
Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton, WWE 9/18 - 4 YES
William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose, FCW 10/13 - 6 YES
Drew McIntyre vs John Morrison, WWE 10/31 - 3 YES
Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry (Cage Match) - Smackdown 11/29 - 5 YES


THE NOMINEES:

Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd/Ted Dibiase, WWE 1/6 - 1 YES, 5 NO
Miz/Alex Riley vs Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton, WWE 1/10 - 1 YES, 1 NO
Dolph Ziggler vs Edge, WWE 1/30 - 2 NO
CM Punk vs. John Cena, WWE 2/14 - 2 YES
John Cena vs. C.M. Punk, WWE 2/23
Chris Masters vs. Tyler Reks, WWE 3/10 - 2 YES
Rey Mysterio vs. Drew McIntyre, WWE 3/11 - 1 YES
CM Punk vs. John Cena, 3/13 - 1 YES
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus, WWE 3/14 - 2 YES
Chris Masters vs. Jack Swagger - Raw World Tour/Handheld (?)
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE 4/3
CM Punk vs. Randy Orton, WWE 4/3
William Regal vs. Evan Bourne, WWE in Bukarest 4/21 - 1 YES
Drew McIntyre vs. Chris Masters, WWE 4/22
Mark Henry vs. Rey Mysterio, WWE 4/29
Randy Orton/Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay, WWE 4/29
Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio, WWE 5/1 - 1 YES
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk, WWE 5/1
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE 5/1
The Miz vs. John Cena vs John Morrison, WWE 5/1
Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE 5/3 - 2 YES
Rey Mysterio vs. Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio, WWE 5/9
Christian vs. Randy Orton, WWE 5/6 - 2 NO
Randy Orton vs. Christian, WWE Over the Limit 5/22 - 2 YES
CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio, WWE 6/19 - 1 YES
Randy Orton vs Christian, WWE 6/19
CM Punk vs. Alberto De Rio vs. Rey Mysterio, WWE 6/20
Rey Mysterio/Alex Riley vs. Miz/Jack Swagger, WWE 6/27
CM Punk vs. John Cena, WWE 8/14 - 1 YES
Christian vs. Orton, WWE 8/14 - 2 YES
Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett, WWE 8/14
Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Del Rio, WWE 8/16
John Cena vs. CM Punk, WWE 8/22 - 1 YES
Daniel Bryan vs. Drew McIntyre, WWE 8/22 - 2 YES, 2 NO
Christian vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE 8/23 - 2 NO
Mark Henry vs. Sheamus, WWE 8/23 - 1 YES
CM Punk vs. Albert Del Rio, WWE 9/3 - 1 YES
Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton, WWE 10/2 - 1 YES
CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena, WWE 10/2
Damien Sandow vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Husky Harris, FCW 10/16
Michael McGillicutty/Drew McIntyre vs. Air Boom - Superstars 10/20/11 - 1 YES
Mark Henry vs. Big Show, WWE 10/23 - 1 YES
Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena, WWE 10/23
Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE 11/1 - 2 YES
Mark Henry vs. Big Show - WWF SD House Show - 11/3/11
William Regal vs. Daniel Bryan, Superstars 11/10
Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison, Survivor Series 11/20 - 1 YES
Drew McIntyre vs. Ted Dibiase, Superstars 11-24-11
Zack Ryder/Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger, Smackdown 11/25
CM Punk/John Cena/Big Show vs. Mark Henry/Miz/Alberto Del Rio, 12/13 Tribute To The Troops
Air Boom vs. The Colons, Superstars 12/15
CM Punk vs. Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio, 12/18

Nominate - The Miz vs John Morrison, WWE RAW 1/3 (Falls Count Anywhere)

Everything before the commercial break was pretty standard, though Miz jumping Morrison on the ramp and Morrison's stage dive were both cool, but everything post-break was pretty awesome. Morrison has slowly been becoming a good wrestler over the last month or so, and he took a couple crazy bumps, both on the steel barricade and with the missed Starship Pain through a table on the outside (which was a great "holy shit" spot). Still the best thing about this was the nearfalls and how good both guys came out looking. Miz gets a clean, decisive win and survived Morrison's finisher, and Morrison lost because of his high-risk style. The first awesome match of 2011.

Voting

The Miz vs John Morrison, WWE RAW 1/3 (Falls Count Anywhere) - YES

Over on PWO, there was some discussion about whether or not Miz was being booked too weak to be an effective champion. This match felt like it was aimed squarely at Loss, as it seems like Goal #1 here was to give Miz a big, dramatic win that would make it look like he could hold his own in a tough fight, and they totally pulled it off. I thought the pre-commercial part was actually really effective in that regard, as you had Morrison fending off Miz and Alex Riley at the same time, and laying such a beating on Riley that you bought him having to be stretchered out. Miz is cowering in fear against the ropes on the far side of the ring while Morrison shoots him this death glare as they go to commercial, and well, Morrison is not the guy you'd think they could build up as a dangerous asskicker, but they do, and now Miz has a mountain to climb for the rest of the match. Of course, when they come back, Miz is on offense, and they never bother to show a replay of the transition, which is maybe the one shitty thing in the whole match. Still, seeing a solo Miz taking it to a previously dominant Morrison - however that came to pass - definitely gave him some much needed tough guy main eventer cred. Really, both guys came out of this with tough guy main eventer cred, which I really wasn't expecting to happen going in. I mean, in between the handful of dives and foreign object spots, there was a fair amount of these guys doing toe-to-toe brawling. These are not guys I think of as guys who can throw hands (especially not Morrison), but they both threw some great looking shots here. As I was watching it, I thought Morrison kicking out of the pin attempt after the missed Starship Pain through the table to the floor was a bit much, but the fact that it directly set up Miz actually winning with his finisher made it work. This was a really strong way to start the year, and felt like something that may still be in my top 25 at the end of 2011.

The Miz vs. John Morrison (Falls Count Anywhere) - WWE 01.03.2011 (YES)

Not a heap of time wasted setting up spots. The climatic table spot was actually positioned during the break unless I blacked out for some reason. Cool bumps from Morrison, particularly on the stage. Both use the environment to create fresh takes on their offense. Miz portrayed frustration well, more like real frustration and less like wide-eyed, jaw-dropped exaggerated frustration. Riley was a fun stooging second and his exit was impressive. I liked how they had Morrison kick out of the table spot, but clearly being too destroyed to last much longer. Made him look strong in defeat whilst Miz looked good in victory. Only downer was that they never explained how Miz went from gulping at the sight of a fiery Morrison pre-break to sending said fiery Morrison through a fence post-break...

A year ago the prospect of looking forward to a WWE Championship re-match between Miz and Morrison seemed as likely as my winning the lottery three times in a row. That sentence becomes more telling when you realise that I don't actually ever partake in the lottery. I really need to see what these two got up to in the final quarter of 2010 already.

The Miz vs. John Morrison (Falls Count Anywhere) - WWE 3rd Jan 2011 (YES)

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Morrison has really picked it up in the last couple of months, and he was showing that during this match. His facial expressions were spot on, and his onlg term selling was also perfectly good. The moment where Riley is taken out is great, but the look on Miz's face upon realising this, interspliced with Morrison's "now I'm gonna kick your ass" facials, was just perfect, and if that had happened on an important PPV, would have been damn near iconic. Finish was good as well, ironically it was probably the best Starship Pain has looked. Nice that Morrison got to kick out, and so didn't look like a tool by beating himself.

The Miz vs John Morrison, WWE 1/3 - YES

The dive off the giant WWE logo was weak, so was most of the brawling before commercial break. Morrison running through his spots inside the ring before the break also didn't do much for me. Riley getting taken out was fun, although I could have done without Morrison's unintentionally hilarious "grr I'm tough" facial expression. Almost everything after the commercial break was really good. The brawling would have been merely solid if Morrison didn't bump (and sell the bumps) so well. I really liked Morrison crashing through the table as it not only looked painful, but also was obviously meaningful.

It's too early to YES this. Good match, but it would have struggled to make a top 40 for the WWE from 2010. First half of it I actually thought was pretty bad and I thought the jumping knee that took out Riley looked horrible. Seriously it looked like something that would not have been the least bit painful and Riley's slow motion bump off of it only compounded that. Everything after the commercial was really great as they did the bit with guardrail really well, the nearfalls were strong and didn't come across as "my turn, your turn" and the finish was actually excellent. Plus Miz facial expressions throughout were really incredible. Still I am not comfortable with a match that was half bad setting the bar for what goes on the "must watch" list for the rest of the year.

Nomination

Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd and Ted Dibiase 1/6

This is one of those matches that just makes WWE Superstars so fun. Bryan and Henry team for the first time and they are already better than most tag teams in wrestling today. I really liked the early mat work by Bryan and Tyson. Then you have Mark Henry get a hot tag and just dominate. Even Dibiase was good in the match getting destroyed by Henry. I thought this was way better than the Miz/Morrison match and deserves to be nominated.

Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd and Ted Dibiase 1/6 - NO

This was a perfect example of a really fun match, but I highly doubt this will be one of the best WWE matches of the year, so have to give it a NO. Danielson matwork was way too short, but I loved that under the legs reversal spot. Henry beatdown was pretty good, but nothing special. Henry reversing a front face lock by launching Tyson Kidd in the air was easily my favorite part of the match.

Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd and Ted Dibiase 1/6-NO

I am with Mike, I enjoyed this, but this is more "Best match of the Week" then "Best match of the Year" category. The Kidd and DiBiase team are pretty dull, and I ended up really wanting to see Henry and Bryan against better opponents.

The Miz vs John Morrison, WWE 1/3 - YES

I didn't hate the first half as much as some of the folks here, and the finish run was really good. Probably Miz's career match, and Morrison has been shockingly watchable the last month or so. The Starship Pain miss was totally nuts.

Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd/Ted DiBiase, WWE Superstars 1/6 - NO

This was alright. Henry wailing on DiBiase after getting slapped was fun and Bryan and Henry are a cool team that have chemistry together. Kidd is really OTT and corny, like if Davey Richards was in the WWE, and the heels' control section was dull, but Bryan's hot tag was great and full of enegry. Bryan was Bryan, and Henry was fun in his role but really the heels brought nothing and this was passable.

Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd and Ted Dibiase (6th Jan) - NO

Decent enough match, but "decent enough" doesn't equal "must watch" for me, and it was a little disappointing considering the people in it. I'm fine with it setting up Kidd/Bryan at some point, but nothing really stood out for me in this match at least. Bryan was good at getting the crowd going, and the finish looked good.

NO on the Superstars tag. Not sure it is even one of the fifty best Superstars matches since SS came back on the air. Good match and I especially was happy to see Henry get some time. But it was not a great match or even anything that bordered on being great.

Nominating

Rey Mysterio v. Alberto Del Rio SD 1/7/11

This was worked like a CMLL singles match with the heel scoring the opening fall off of a quick sub, babyface using speed roll up to win second fall, and then a fairly lengthy stretch run with the heel second costing the babyface the match. Rey's offense is always fun, but here it looked as good as I can remember it looking in a long time with a nice diving headbutt, wheelbarrow into spinning DDT, twisting springboard rana, et. Del Rio countering a flashy Rey barrage with a double knee armbreaker to his injured shoulder was cool too. Would have been nice for Del Rio to break out the Fuerza bump, or at least take the set up bump for the 619 right before the finish a little better. Other than that this was about as good a ten-twelve minutes 2/3 falls match can possibly be.

Rey Mysterio v. Alberto Del Rio SD 1/7/11-YES

I thought Del Rio did less in this, then he had in previous matches as he was basically all smirking. Some really great smirking though. That in ring tope Rey did was totally awesome looking as was the DDT. I really wish WWE did apuestas matches, because the finish perfectly set up a Royal Rumble mascara contra cabellera. They could even put up the ring announcers hair if they don't wan't to shave Del Rio.

Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - Smackdown 7/1/11 - YES

Wow, that headbutt Rey did was real nice. I liked the knee strikes to Del Rio a lot, shows that Rey isn't all about the flashy offense and knows when to turn up the aggression. Selling was spot on as usual. I was very surprised to see the springboard hurracanrana, I marked out inside just a little bit for that. I agree that Del Rio did less than normal, but what he did looked fine, including the lovely armbraker on the knees.

Finish was a little weak, I suppose I was expecting this to be the blow off, so I was surprised more than anything. I guess one last match at the Rumble, which would suit me fine.

Voting

Daniel Bryan/Mark Henry vs Tyson Kidd/Ted Dibiase, WWE 1/6 - YES

I guess I'm kind of a cheap date, and it's not hard to see why most would vote "no" for this. I didn't think DiBiase was all that bad here, but he wasn't blow away great, and Kidd was pretty unremarkable. That said, they didn't screw things up too badly, and Bryan and Henry just had this great oddball dynamic as a team that I'd have a hard time not recommending this to people. Opening Bryan matwork was short lived but oh so good. Get the sense that they could have done more with this, like this was a tease of what could be. The all-too-brief Henry FIP section, for example, where he gets downed and the heels are struggling to drag him into their corner. The Santino/Kozlov team has shown me that Kozlov is a deceptively effective FIP, so would definitely be interested to see Henry experiment with that role. And yeah, if Bryan/Henry became a regular team, I could see myself eventually forgetting about this match, but for now, I'll give it a little support.

Mysterio/del Rio - YES

Rey was great in this, busting out a bunch of stuff he hasn't done in awhile; or at least I haven't seen him do it in awhile. Bringing back the springboard hurricanrana and the wheelbarrow DDT was great. His diving headbut was a thing of beauty, and I loved how del Rio sold it, just sprawling his limbs out like a murder scene. My favorite part of the match was maybe Mysterio's La magistral crandle, the set up was unique and it looked really tightly locked in, like you would imagine a roll-up should be. I liked the cheap finish, it was totally deflating, but in the perfect way to build anticipation for a rematch.

Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio - WWE 01.07.2011 (YES)

I'm hoping there's another instalment on the way as the finish was a weak one to end a rivalry on. Mysterio's emotion post-match was really good though. I dug all the cool stuff Rey deployed throughout the match: the springboard 'rana, the DDT, the missile headbutt ... All really cool stuff that was complemented by some good selling and pacing to avoid a no-selling complaint. It's not like he sprinted through all of those in quick succession. I also really like the impact Del Rio gets when locking in the armbreaker. He hits the mat hard which makes the submission hold seem more deadly.

Voting

Rey Mysterio vs Alberto Del Rio, WWE 1/7 - YES

Not a whole lot of new insight to add to this match. Though Rodriguez has developed into a really impressive toady, the finish obviously doesn't work as a blowoff to the feud. Kinda hoping against hope that Del Rio takes the belt off of Edge in the Elimination Chamber and we get a Title vs. Mask match at Mania, but I won't hold my breath. But the body of the match was great, and the finish was well done even if it doesn't work in context.

Nominating

The Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE 1/7

I'm guessing this falls into the "more fun than great" category for a lot of people, but I actually thought this was the match of the night. King Kong vs. biplanes is a great match formula when you have the right guys working it. Show is a spectacular King Kong, and Drew, Dolph, and Cody made spectacular biplanes. Drew especially, as he takes a huge bump over the top rope to the floor and seems to spend the rest of of the match trying to best it, as Show keeps knocking him off the apron whenever he tries to get back in the ring, including an insane one late in the match when Show is on the outside and sweeps out Drew's leg, and Drew bumps onto the back of his neck on the apron. This is after Show manages to recover from being temporarily taken out by the heels when he got posted, allowing them to team up and ram him through the guardrail, which looked appropriately devastating. We also get a moment while Show is out of the picture where Drew tossed Cody from the top rope onto Show on the floor. The Showless part of the match is the least interesting, but the other three do hold their own. Wade Barrett's interference wasn't inspiring, but it didn't really detract from the match, and I kinda admire that Barrett has at least learned from Cena that he needs to feud with a giant in order to get his fireman's carry finisher over. The finish was really clever. Ziggler looked like the least guy in this match overall, but that's not a huge knock against him, and he did just get done carrying Kofi Kingston to a good match. You can only expect a guy to do so much in one night.

The problem with the YES/NO style of doing these is that early in the year when you are trying to establish a water mark "YESing" becomes really common, whereas later in the year when people have seen tons of stuff lots of things that would have been near consensus picks at the beginning of the year don't even get nominated. For that reason I'm holding off on the four way even though I pimped it in the general "what are you watching" thread and I think it MAY hold up. The storytelling was really good, it was a fun bump freaks showcase, and I actually liked the finish a lot especially in the context of the show. But it seems really early to rubber stamp a lot of these matches, especially a somewhat random four way match.

Nominating

Miz/Alex Riley v. Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton Monday Night Raw 1-10-11

I thought this was a super fun match. Lawlwer was great again as the FIP, and throwing great punches. A-Ri took a nice fucking beating yet again and is getting better and better every week as Miz's lackey and coming off as someone whos hanging off the coattails on an overachiever. Miz was great again as the super chicken shit who cowers from any threat available, and his facials were great, especially at the end of the match and the little staredown he had with Orton. and meh, I guess Orton was there too. Thought I really hate his short armed clotheslines.[B]

Voting NO:

Miz/Alex Riley v. Jerry Lawler/Randy Orton Monday Night Raw 1-10-11

Average match. There were probably at least 250 better WWE matches last year than this. Lawler did look good and I agree that Riley is pretty good at getting his ass kicked, but I don't think anything about this stood out other than the oddball structure at the end and the lukewarm response from the crowd.

yeah, looking back i should of just nominated Lawler possibly instead of the entire match.

The Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE 1/7- YES

Big Show throwing around guys who can bump well is always going to be entertaining. McIntyre's tantrums on the outside were tremendous. There was a real "Oh shit, these guys are screwed now" moment when Big Show regained consciousness. Nearfalls were great. By the end of the match, Big Show looked like a true giant. This might be the best 4-way of all time.

This was something that really stood out to me. For years, WWF/E did a shitty job of booking their giant as a giant. Even in recent years, where the booking of Show has been a lot better, he is still a guy who's booked as a super-heavyweight more than a "giant". And that's fine. Show is a great working super-heavyweight. But this was the first time since the Money Mayweather match where I was able to look at Show and see Andre, and that was pretty cool.

The Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes, WWE 1/7- YES

Mike pretty much beat me to the punch- I've mised this show since his fantastic Mayweather match. A true giant who knows how to work as such is a real delight to see, especially when you have maniacs like Drew and Ziggler in there killing themselves.

Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler - WWE 01.07.2011 (YES)

This was super fun. Big Show looked mighty, from keeping all three opponents quiet for so long to returning from the dead to eating all those finishers, on top of a Barrett assault, and still survivng. I really hope they maintain the aura established here. I'm probably doomed to be disappointed though. The three young heels all bumped superbly for the big guy. McIntyre was great with his comical frustration at not being able to enter the ring. There was some really satisfying spots too: Show whipping both Ziggler and Rhodes out of the ring at the same time; the three heels barrelling Show through the barricade; Rhodes being tossed onto Show ... I don't think calling this potentially the greatest four-way ever is hyperbole.

Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler - WWE 01.07.2011

I'm going to look like a consensus hopper here, but since I was technically the first person to pimp it I don't feel to absurd "me too"ing this after my previous comments. I'm YESing it because Mike's argument is pretty compelling - this is the best four way ever. I'm still not certain this is going to hold up as a top thirty WWE match at the end of the year - almost positive it wouldn't make my top forty and possibly not my top fifty from last year in the WWE - but it does have that four way niche and it was Show being Show.

Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler - WWE 01.07.2011-YES

Running out of things to say about this match, really fun stuff, one of the better Show matches in years and all the bumping rudos ruled. Drew's apron bump was nasty and I liked Cody's punches.

Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler - WWE 01.07.2011-YES

Just got around to watching this, I thought it was the most entertaining four way WWE has put on in years. Everybody has talked about all of the awesome things in the match, I just felt that it was perfectly booked and stood out from the usual your turn - my turn way they are usually laid out.

Nominating

CM Punk v. John Cena 1/17 RAW

Whatever you want to say about Cena, he is the master of these WWE clash of the titans style main events. He was really great in this one milking every little spot, selling his ass off, and building well to the big moments. Punk was equally great showing aggression, working some fresh stuff in, et. Really liked the counter of the GTS here, thought Punk's springboard clothesline looked good when it normally doesn't, loved the baseball slide knocking Cena to the floor, et. Anaconda Vice spot was really great as they teased a Cena deadlift spot and you almost bought Cena going out when he couldn't get him up. Cena took a fucking ugly head rattling bump on the floor, and they followed that up with an awesome spot with Punk getting caught on a pescada and posted. Follow up superplex tease was great with Cena powering out and hitting a fucking headbutt of all things to lead to his top rope rocker dropper thing which was really well presented and got a pretty epic nearfall. The finish with the new Nexus dude was a little flat but this was still a pretty great WWE style main even match.

CM Punk v. John Cena 1/17 RAW YES

beat me to it. loved the gts to stfu counter, and really dug aggressive cena at the beginning, overwhelming punk ad taking him by surprise. i think the massive sweat job by punk added to that match in a weird stamina sort of way. would love to see them getting an extended feud over several ppvs

CM Punk v. John Cena 1/17 RAW- YES

Man those body shots early by Cena were great, he should add the Mickey Ward liver punch to his finisher list. I always loved Cena's Backlund style strong man spots and the lift out of the headscissors was awesome. I also loved his selling of the Koji Clutch with the sputtering and coughing. Punk looked totally on his level, and I hope these guys get a PPV match.

Forgot about the greatness of Cena's body punching routine. Also forgot about the nastiness of Punk's head kick to set up the superplex teaser.

Cena vs Punk - YES. To add to what everyone else has already said about it, it felt like an epic match that coule have main-event PPV before the finish and the opening staredown was great. Both men seemed really motivated and put a tonne of force into every strike and every bump. Loved Cena's selling of the Koji Clutch, especially him falling on his ass after posting Punk because he was still out of it. I was amused they got a bigger nearfall off a move Cena has never won with then you'll likely see in any ROH main event.

John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE 01.17.2011 (YES)

I'd like to echo the praise for Cena's body punches and his selling throughout but especially after what Cole and Lawler were calling the 'Anaconda Vice'. An aspect in Cena's performances that has been bugging me since around 2009 is the lapse in fatigue selling he invests into the Five Knuckle Shuffle momentum shift. This isn't your typical 'superman' / 'five-moves-of-doom' criticism, as I had no problem with the sequence in 2007 and most of 2008 as Cena made it seem like he was still tired when doing it. Unless my memory is faulty and it's always been like it is. I need to re-watch that stuff ... Anyway, here it's good because there was more delay between points in the sequence. Cena actually wandered around a little more during the FKS taunt routine and appeared less engaged in it, as though he was a bit too tired to lean right into Punk's face with the hand wave thing. I was also pleased with the amount of time Punk spent on offense. His size / weight had me thinking Cena would be more dominant but they made him look really strong in competing and testing John Cena. This feud should be great if both wrestlers maintain the form they exhibited here.

CM Punk v. John Cena 1/17 RAW - Yes

I really loved this match. Most of the stuff I really admired has already been covered by you guys. That final bodyshot Cena hit at the end of his routine in the beginning was especially brutal. I loved the timing of the Anaconda Vice and the way Punk set it up. As was mentioned, Cena's selling during the hold and in the aftermath of said hold was fantastic. There was a nice simple rhythm and great energy to this match that I really enjoyed. I loved how epic the pescado spot felt and was amazed at how fantastic of a nearfall that top rope legdrop got. Great shit.

CM Punk v. John Cena 1/17 RAW - YES

I thought the body of the match was merely solid (execution wasn't the best, Cena's comeback is beyond stale etc), but this is an easy YES thanks to the crazy start and epic finishing stretch. Cena working Punk over with body shots before power whipping him into the turnbuckles was great and something I've rewatched a couple of times.

Yeah, the light headed selling was excellent.

Also that was some of the best top rope struggling/brawling I've seen in a while. Punk's high kick was pretty nasty and those headbutts were surprisingly vicious.