WWE: Ranking The Top 20 Matches of 2017
By Tim Sherry
credit: wwe.com
16. Drew McIntyre vs Andrade Almas – NXT TakeOver: WarGames
One of the first awards that could come to mind from this battle between Andrade Almas and Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: WarGames would be “shocker of the year”. Going into this match, most (this writer included) assume that McIntyre had this one in the bag. The 32 year-old Scotsman had recently returned to the WWE and after just four months into his NXT run, “The Celtic Colossus” dethroned Bobby Roode for NXT gold. So when only his second title defense came around, he’d held the belt for just 91 days, a fairly short amount of time for an NXT title reign.
Also take into account that Almas, who’d been with the NXT for two years before getting this title shot, really only got hot when he turned heel and hired Zelina Vega to be his manager about three months earlier. He looked like he was going to be fodder for a new champion. Add in that Almas was giving up about six inches and 30 pounds to McIntyre and it had to be believed that “Cien” would have his hands full.
But when the match started at TakeOver, a different feel began to play out. The opening minutes were a bit stale but it worked as it built a slow burn which fed into the final five minutes that were about as intense as they come. From McIntyre’s running boot that sent “Cien” into a shooting star press bump, to Almas breathtaking moonsault to the outside, the duo made the NXT Championship proud. And the added surprise of Almas winning the strap only added to the match’s quality.
This may have been both men’s best night as members of the WWE. And although the ending, which saw McIntyre get legitimately injured, hurt things just a little bit, the sheer intensity of the match carried it to one of the years best.