The Top 50 WWE Matches of 2013 – #20 to #11

#20 The Shield vs Daniel Bryan, Kane & Randy Orton – Smackdown 6/14/13

At Payback, the unlikely team of Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton would be facing Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns for the tag team titles and Kane would be facing Dean Ambrose for the US title. At the time, both of these matches seemed like obvious Shield victories. And as a whole, The Shield were still undefeated as a unit…until this evening. With a bit of luck, determination and skill, the team of Bryan, Kane & Orton managed to take down The Shield in a moment that had the crowd going wild. And people say Smackdown never gets any big moments.

#19 Dean Ambrose vs Fandango vs Wade Barrett vs Jack Swagger vs Cesaro vs Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes – Money in the Bank

This match had some of the coolest and more unique spots, despite being the 13th MITB match to happen. The real MVP of this one was Cody Rhodes, who goes on an absolute rampage in the final five minutes before being blindsided by his former best friend, Damien Sandow on the ladder. Sandow managed to win the MITB and be the first person to cleanly lose their cash in. Other cool parts of this match feature Cesaro using Swagger as a ladder, interferences from Reigns, Rollins and The Usos and a sunset flip powerbomb by Fandango that makes Summer Rae go wild. Insanely fun match and my third favorite MITB match ever after WM 21 and WM 24.

#18 Daniel Bryan vs Seth Rollins – Raw 6/10/13

While Rollins has Reigns in his corner, Bryan has his unlikely tag partner of Randy Orton, watching his back. In the early going, Rollins seems to have an answer for everything Bryan has to offer. He uses his speed and agility to wear down D-Bry. Bryan does manage to lock in a devastating Mexican Surfboard Dragon Sleeper that practically tears Rollins in two. As the match goes on Bryan begins to build adrenaline and comes out full force. As Randy Orton neutralizes Reigns, Bryan manages to sneak a small package on Rollins to get the victory in an amazing match.

#17 Daniel Bryan & Kane vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns – Raw 5/27/13

Daniel Bryan & Kane lost their tag titles to The Shield at Extreme Rules and invoked their rematch clause. Bryan was going through an internal struggle, feeling that he was the weak link of the team. Much of this match is Bryan fighting to try and get to Kane, only to be constantly overpowered by Reigns and Rollins, who do everything they can to get into Bryan’s head. Ultimately Bryan makes the tag and begins showing his worth, having a surge of energy and flying around the ring. However Bryan fails to listen to Kane’s advice, of getting back into the corner for a tag and dives right into a spear from Reigns outside the ring. While Kane is distracted with that, Rollins hits his flying knee, retaining the titles for The Shield. Fantastic tag match that delivered way more than their PPV encounter did.

#16 The Shield vs Daniel Bryan, Kane & The Undertaker – Raw 4/22/13

Bryan & Kane had struggled to take down The Shield for months. So what better way to try and put them down for good than by calling in Kane’s brother, The Undertaker? Unfortunately Bryan and Kane were both attacked by The Shield bacsktage, softening them up before the match. The Shield still manages to work extremely well together, and even dominate Undertaker for a good portion this match. Undertaker becomes the first person to kick out of Reigns’ spear in this match. As a huge brawl breaks out outside the ring, Bryan misses a diving headbutt and allows Ambrose to roll him up for yet another Shield victory. This was one of the matches that led Bryan to believe that he was the weak link.

#15 Jack Swagger vs Sami Zayn – NXT 9/4/13

In the midst of the Cesaro/Zayn feud, the third member of the Real Americans, Jack Swagger, also got involved with Sami Zayn. After attacking him from behind the week before, Swagger and Zayn was announced as the main event of the 9/4/13 NXT episode. Sami looks to be in control in the early going of the match but once Swagger applies the first Patriot Lock, things go down him for him. Sami’s incredible selling, Jack Swagger’s great ring psychology and a very hot crowd do wonders for this match. Ultimately, NXT champion Bo Dallas comes down to ‘cheer’ Sami on. However Sami tries to tell him to leave, opening an opportunity for Swagger to lock back in the Patriot Lock, forcing Sami to tap. Not an incredibly long match but every moment of it is entertaining.

#14 Alberto Del Rio vs Christian – Summerslam

A match that we’ve seen a million times and with a fairly simple story of Christian being the face #1 contender and Del Rio being the slimy heel champion. However this match goes above and beyond and is 12-13 minutes of pure action. This match fell through the cracks during the Summerslam hype because of Lesnar vs Punk and Bryan vs Cena, and while it may only be the third best match on this PPV, it is still fantastic. Lots of great near falls and Christian believably looks like he has a shot at the gold on multiple occasions. Christian hits a spear on Del Rio, but while he is taking a moment to tend to his arm, Del Rio seizes the opportunity and grabs it, locking in the cross armbreaker and forcing Christian to tap in an amazing match.

#13 Cesaro vs Sami Zayn – NXT 8/21/13 (2/3 falls)

This match was made because in the prior months, Cesaro and Zayn had traded off wins. The ultmate battle of speed vs power. Sami Zayn dives out onto Cesaro before the match and hits the Helluva Kick right after the bell, giving him a roll up victory seconds after the match starts. Cesaro takes the second fall after forcing Zayn to tap out to a sleeper hold that nearly forced Zayn to pass out. Cesaro reverses a tornado DDT and lifts Sami above his head before hitting the Swiss Death in an incredible showing of strength. Cesaro finishes off the third fall with a Neutralizer following the Swiss Death. I’m not sure which match I love more between this and their match at Arrival, but they’re both incredible.

#12 Cesaro vs William Regal – NXT 12/25/13

This feud devloped because William Regal stood up to Cesaro when Cesaro was bullying Byron Saxton. Saxton does a great job calling this match with a bit of bias for Regal. Ultimately this is exactly what you’d expect, a mixtute of hard hitting strikes and great technical wrestling. Regal looks like he might have Cesaro beat until Cesaro unleashes a beautiful dropkick and follows it up with a brutal double stomp to the back of Regal’s head. As Cesaro picks up Regal, the look on his face says it all. He seems unsure and uneasy about ending Regal. For the first time, he seems to show signs of remorse. As Regal slowly tries to get up, Cesaro finally ends up hitting the Neutralizer to William, putting him away. As Regal is being carried off by the referees, Cesaro extends his hand and Regal shakes it. Any other year this would probably be a top five match but 2013 is just so stacked that this falls to #12.

#11 Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton – Raw 9/2/13

Cody Rhodes questions why Randy Orton is scared of Daniel Bryan. Triple H, uses his power to make Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes, with the stipulation that if Cody loses, he’s gone. The match starts off with the crowd moderately behind Cody, but by he last 5-10 minutes, the crowd is going nuts at the idea of Rhodes getting a win over the current champion and keeping his job. What really impresses me about this match is Cody’s facial expressions. There’s a certain look of desperation that he pulls off amazingly well and makes me think that this guy should be an underdog face. Cody hits a Disaster Kick that nearly gives him the victory as the crowd goes nuts. The crowd erupts in Cody Rhodes chants. The crowd loses it as Cody hits the Cross Rhodes and Orton just barely kicks out. Rhodes misses a Disaster Kick and tweaks his knee, which Orton immediately stomps. An RKO puts Cody away and silences the crowd in this incredible match. Cody’s promo as he leaves the building is one of the most emotional promos of the last decade. Incredible.