Pro Wrestling Match of the Year: Daily DDT Staff Picks
Bruce Lee Haywood’s Pick
MOTY: Roman Reigns Vs Jey Uso, WWE Clash Of Champions
Determining Match of the Year is a very subjective undertaking, regardless of one’s attempts at being objective. Art is interpreted differently by everyone, after all. In choosing MOTY, it is important to ask exactly what it is you look for in a match.
If you’re about old-school, technical, no-nonsense wrestling, then you’d probably select something from the Ring of Honor Pure Championship Tournament or a Timothy Thatcher match. If you’re about having the two best meet each other, you might select Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. The Young Bucks from Revolution. If you’re all about high spots and fast action, maybe something like The Young Bucks vs. Top Flight or something from 205 Live (hi Dina!).
For me, I like a combo of macro and micro storytelling, above-average action, and really above all else, emotional investment. This is why my choice for Match of the Year is Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso I at Clash of Champions.
The macro storytelling leading up to the match was truly engaging. Reigns, after returning with Paul Heyman in tow, used his newfound persona as the “Tribal Chief” to impart upon his cousin, his family, that Uso needs Reigns, that Uso will never be Reigns. As a viewer, I wanted nothing more than for Uso to kick Reigns’ head off, an unlikely outcome indeed.
The micro storytelling during the match was superb. Every bit of fight from Uso, every taunt from Reigns, the finish: it all added up to one of the more gripping matches I can remember WWE having in some time. As we’ve seen in the months after, including their awesome Hell in a Cell match, their Clash of Champions match was just a taste of the greatness that has carried Smackdown.