Top 50 Matches - The 2014 Edition

Best Matches of 2014

We’re in to 2015 now so that means it’s time for my annual edition of the Best Matches of the Year. 2014 was a mixed bag for pro wrestling, something I’ll expand on more in my End of Year Awards article, but for all the average storylines that surrounded certain companies at certain times the match quality remained very high. There were many matches I absolutely loved that didn’t make the cut for the Top 50 which puts into perspective how good the Top 50 matches were. 

I may have watched more pro wrestling this year than any year before. Every episode of ROH, Impact Wrestling, NXT and most episodes of RAW were watched although my SmackDown viewership did heavily decline. I saw every ROH live event and iPPV too as well as every PWG show and every TNA and WWE PPV. The women also had a better year than they’ve had in a while with two women’s matches cracking the top fifty this year and two more coming very close.

The date range for this list was anything that aired between the 1^st January 2014 and the 31^st December 2014. So, for example, PWG’s Black Cole Sun which was taped in December 2014 but hasn’t been released on DVD yet will be considered for the 2015 list instead of this one. This is a change from previous years where either those shows would just not qualify for either list (which isn’t really fair) or like last year where I waited to release the list until I’d seen All Star Weekend X (taped on the 20^th December of 2013 but not released until sometime in early 2014) leading to me not posting my article until March which was rather redundant. With that said, on with the list:

1.       The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) – Elimination Chamber

2.       Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H - WrestleMania XXX

3.       Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton and Triple H) vs. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) - Extreme Rules

4.       Adam Cole vs. AJ Styles - All Star Extravaganza VI

5.       Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn, NXT Championship – NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution

6.       Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan – Royal Rumble

7.       Kevin Steen vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - War of the Worlds

8.       Friends of Low Moral Fibre (Chuck Taylor, Kenny Omega and Zack Sabre, Jr.) vs. The Mount Rushmore of Professional Wrestling (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks [Matt and Nick Jackson]) – Battle of Los Angeles: Night One

9.       Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd, NXT Championship – NXT Takeover: Fatal-4-Way

10.    The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly), ROH World Tag Team Championships - War of the Worlds

11.    AJ Styles vs. Kyle O’Reilly – Death Before Dishonor, Night One

12.    Team Authority (Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, Rusev and Seth Rollins) vs. Team Cena (Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan,  John Cena and Ryback), 5-on-5 Elimination Match – Survivor Series

13.    The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. The World's Cutest Tag Team (Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan), Guerrilla Warfare Match, PWG World Tag Team Championships – ELEVEN

14.    Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole, Fight Without Honor, ROH World Championship – Final Battle

15.    Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Seth Rollins, Contract Ladder Match - Money in the Bank

16.    The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) and Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) – Raising the Bar, Night One

17.    ACH and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) and Cedric Alexander – Final Battle

18.    The All-Stars (ACH, Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Champions (Jay Briscoe, Jay Lethal and reDRagon [Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly]), 4-on-4 Elimination Match – Champions vs. All Stars

19.    Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle, Steel Cage Match – Genesis Impact (23rd January)

20.    Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins, Falls Count Anywhere - RAW (18th August)

21.    Kevin Steen vs. Michael Elgin - Supercard of Honor VIII

22.    reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) vs. The Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and KUSHIDA), ROH World Tag Team Championships – Final Battle

23.    AJ Styles vs. Roderick Strong – ROH Wrestling (1st February)

24.    The Usos (Jey and Jimmy) vs. The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan and Luke Harper), Two out of Three Falls, WWE Tag Team Championships - Battleground

25.    Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn – NXT ArRIVAL

26.    AJ Styles vs. Chris Hero - Flyin' High

27.    The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) vs. The Hardy’s (Jeff and Matt) vs. Team 3D (Bully Ray and Devon, Tag Team Title Series Match #3, Ladder Match, TNA World Tag Team Championships – No Surrender Impact (September 17^th)

28.    ACH vs. Kenny Omega, Battle of Los Angeles: First Round Match – Battle of Los Angeles: Night Two

29.    Adam Cole vs. Cedric Alexander – ROH Wrestling (18^th October)

30.    Cedric Alexander, Johnny Gargano and Trevor Lee vs. The Mount Rushmore of Professional Wrestling (Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks [Matt and Nick Jackson]) - Sold Our Soul For Rock 'n' Roll

31.    Adam Cole vs. Jay Briscoe, ROH World Championship, Ladder War V - Supercard of Honor VIII

32.    Jay Lethal vs. ACH, ROH Television Championship – ROH Wrestling (23^rd October)

33.    The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) – RAW (3rd March)

34.    The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Hardy and Michael Bennett), No Disqualification - Best in the World

35.    The African-American Wolves (ACH and AR Fox) vs. The Inner City Machine Guns (Rich Swann and Ricochet), 1st Round Match – DDT4

36.    Adrenaline Rush (ACH and Tadarius Thomas) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly), Proving Ground Match – State of the Art

37.    Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly - Mystery Vortex II

38.    The Usos (Jey and Jimmy) vs. The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan and Luke Harper), WWE Tag Team Championships - Money in the Bank

39.    Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze - NXT Takeover

40.    Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre, Jr., Battle of Los Angeles: Quarter-Final – Battle of Los Angeles: Night Three

41.    Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa, ROH World Championship – Road to Best in the World: Night Two

42.    Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong, PWG World Championship – Untitled II

43.    Adam Cole vs. Roderick Strong – ELEVEN

44.    Adam Cole vs. Zack Sabre, Jr., Battle of Los Angeles: First Round Match – Battle of Los Angeles: Night Two

45.    Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks, NXT Women’s Championship – NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution

46.    AJ Styles vs. Hanson – ROH Wrestling (22^nd November)

47.    Gail Kim vs. Havok, Knockouts Championship – Impact Wrestling (5^th November)

48.    The Mount Rushmore of Professional Wrestling (Adam Cole and The Young Bucks [Matt and Nick Jackson]) vs. ACH, Brian Myers and Chris Sabin – Battle of Los Angeles: Night Three

49.    Brian Cage vs. Roderick Strong - Sold Our Soul For Rock 'n' Roll

50.    Gunner vs. James Storm, I Quit Match - Sacrifice