Rollup Wrestling’s Followers Choice Review

Roll Up Wrestling weekly reviews is a way for me to listen to my followers on Instagram and view a few matches that I may not have seen beforehand, and share my passionate opinion on it as critically as I can. On the first instalment of this, my followers have chosen 5 matches for me to review, and I have broken them down as well as I possibly can. I will give match ratings based off of performance, stand out moments, audience interest and predictability. If you would like to share or recommend a good, bad, or ugly match for me to watch, then make sure to stay tuned for when I next ask for matches, or be sure to leave me a direct message. Let’s get started!

Extreme Rules 2014
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan (C) vs. Kane
Image via WWE.com
Daniel Bryan’s match with Kane at Extreme
Rules 2014 would be the one and only title defence that Daniel Bryan would make before he was forced to relinquish them due to injuries, and it’s safe to say that he didn’t go out on a technical wrestling masterclass like you may have expected. The two battled in a pretty slow paced extreme rules match where we saw Daniel pull as much as you can out of an athlete like Kane. Although it had a number of significantly stereotypical extreme spots that kept a pretty worn out crowd on their toes, the match wouldn’t get interesting until they entered the backstage area, where we’d see some pretty risky spots that had rarely been seen before such as a flat screen TV being thrown in to a water container, and a fire extinguisher being thrown through a window(which admittedly made for a great visual). Bryan would eventually drive Kane back to the ring on a fork lift and then set himself up to hit the flying goat from the top of the fork lift, making for another beautiful visual. Daniel would then be put through the announce table after Kane recovered from such traumatising hits, only for the Big Red Machine to get put through a burning table that he himself had set up for Bryan to go through. An official ran in to the scene to extinguish the fire, probably far too much than needed, which made for a humorous scene, and was eventually finished off with Bryan’s signature flying knee to pick up the win. Although it had its fair share of interesting bits and some great visuals, I found it to be far too predictable and a generally slow affair.

RUW Rating: 5/10

Wrestlemania 25
The 25-Diva Battle Royal 
Image via WWE
Well what a mess this was. What stood out to me the most was that at the time was that the Divas division didn’t even have 25 members, and had to bring in names like Sunny, a ring valet who had never wrestled a match in her career, and thrown in to the bunch. It was clear that this was their way of trying to fit every women on the current roster in to the match while also adding some nostalgic names to keep some fan interest. But in the end, there was only ever one star in this match, and it was the suspicious cross-dressing Santina Marella, as he, or she, stood awkwardly in the corner of the ring while chaos surrounded the ring was admittedly very funny. Although this could be considered a metaphorical middle finger to all the women in the match, it made for a very unique Wrestlemania moment that we’ll never see again. At least I hope we won’t.

Roll up Rating: N/A

The Bash 2009
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho

The first thing I noticed from this match is that both guys have great chemistry with each other, and it was notable that they really enjoyed working with eachother. This was the rematch to their title match three weeks prior, where Mysterio’s mask was pulled off by Jericho in order for Jericho to distract Mysterio long enough to win with the roll up. Apart from being a a title rematch, there was also an additional stipulation whereby if Mysterio lost, he’d never be allowed to wear his mask again. As someone who enjoyed their original match, I thought this one was just a good as the first. It gave Mysterio the chance to try a few things that the audience in attendance may have never seen before, and it really helped drive this match to its climax. Jericho would act as the stiff armed tactician, while Mysterio would take advantage of his speed to break away from Jericho’s grasp. It was a surprisingly innovative match which proved that 2009 was arguably one of the best years in both men’s career’s. As Jericho would attempt to pull off Mysterio’s mask once again, Rey would be prepared and had a second mask under the first mask, which would prove to be enough distraction for Rey to hit the 619 and gain the pinfall victory. If you haven’t seen this match, I recommend that you do.

RUW Rating: 8.5/10

Bragging Rights 2010
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

I was going in to this match without having any knowledge of it ever happening, but I had high hopes nonetheless knowing that I am fond of both guys in-ring work. One thing that benefitted this match as the first few minutes passed was that the audience in attendance were really getting behind both men. As this match was fairly early in both guys’ career’s, it was great to see people getting behind the match rather than it falling to silence, or even worse, being considered the ‘toilet break’ match. It was easy to see that although this was probably one of their first match ups together, they had incomparable chemistry, due to the fact that they are both phenomenal athletes who were in waiting for their big break. Both men would exchange some stinging kicks in stereo with impressive agile movement, which allowed both men to get most of their arsenal in without the match losing its momentum at any point. The match worked in a pace that had fans on the edge of their seats, with a number of near falls and big hits that had you thinking that the match was at a close. As Dolph got the advantage, his trash talking would lead to him losing his concentration, which allowed Bryan to lock in the submission formally known as ‘The Labell Lock’ to pick up the submission win. For what it was, these two were a great way to open a fairly lacklustre pay-per-view. Although it may never stand out in the history of time, I found joy in seeing two guys work themselves to the limit to finally lead them both in to fairly successful careers with WWE.

RUW Rating: 7/10

Royal Rumble 2003
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Angle vs. Benoit is the type of match that you know is going to be nothing less than a wrestling-mat clinic. With both men arguably in their prime, I went in to viewing this match knowing that I had to keep my expectations high, and from the moment the bell rang, the match was flawless. Both men where able to produce a large quantity of venomous hits and cringe-worthy bumps, while also hitting some of the most perfectly executed suplexes that only a number of men in the world could perform. As the match paced on, you could see that it was like a game of chess, two masters of the game trying to out perform each other to a point where they had nothing left. Angle would move in to a beautiful counter where he would lynch on to Benoit’s ankle, and even with Benoit’s best efforts to escape the hold, it was too little too late before he was forced to tap. This is a match that you would expect only from such a great generation of wrestlers in a time where the bar was set so high and where wrestlers would surpass so many expectations. This match may fade in the annuals of history due to events that followed this, but it was always live on the WWE Network, where you should definitely check it out.

RUW Rating: 8.5/10