10 Best Wrestling Matches With The Worst Builds

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For a vegan, Bryan Danielson sure knows how to make chicken salad.

Transcript

00:00Pop quiz! What is more important, the match or the build? Answers below.

00:05In a dream world, you want to smash both, of course, but even if you do screw up the lead-in but succeed in the fight, usually the audience is more forgiving.

00:12There is so much wrestling on TV, you're always going to get some howlers too, and therefore I am Simon from WhatCulture.

00:18Please hit the subscribe button, and this is the 10 best wrestling matches with the worst builds.

00:24And yes, that's most definitely hyperbole.

00:26Number 10, Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series 2018.

00:30So first and foremost, how the flub is this so old? I felt like I watched it yesterday.

00:35Back then, though, WWE were obsessed with Raw vs. SmackDown when it came to the November pay-per-view.

00:40Just because. Yep, that was the sell here.

00:43And it got so out of control in 2017, because Brock decided he didn't want to wrestle Jinder Mahal, who at the time was the other world champion.

00:52We just switched the belt to AJ Styles. Talk about doing things the wrong way around.

00:56The reason we raised this, though, is because 12 months later, something smacked WWE right in the face.

01:01Both Lesnar and Styles were the champions again. Whoops.

01:04Realising they couldn't just do the same match twice, from nowhere, Daniel Bryan won the belt, which was also confusing,

01:10because now it meant we had a heel vs. heel contest.

01:13It's almost like this wasn't thought through.

01:15If it was anyone else, we'd be on the floor, but look at who was involved here.

01:19I assume Bryan put this together too, because the end result was absolutely brilliant.

01:24Brock murdered the guy to start because of their size difference, when Daniel hit Lesnar right in the balls to turn the tide.

01:31And because Brock doesn't mind getting thumped as hard as possible, Bryan did exactly that.

01:36And all of a sudden, it started to feel like he was going to do it.

01:39I mean, this really is masterful.

01:40The Near Falls are totally believable too, and while it turned Bryan into a good guy for the duration,

01:45who cares?

01:46If you've not seen this, you must change it today.

01:49Just don't bother with the nonsense beforehand.

01:51Number 9, Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay, all in 2023.

01:55Right, so the deal with this is simple.

01:57AEW wanted a major match for Will Ospreay in London, because Will Ospreay is English.

02:02Anyone working Chris Jericho for the first time ticks this box, because Jericho is a major star.

02:07So now, how do we get there?

02:10Well, we just sort of did it.

02:11Chris did admit he needed help after some big losses, so rekindled his friendship with Don Callis.

02:16Although just when it looked like they would become a new team, Callis was caught with a painting of Jericho having his head cut off.

02:23That's not even a joke.

02:24Why Don would do this before getting a proper answer, I do not know.

02:28Because if you didn't believe it was possible, you're just wasting your time.

02:31When the Ospreay then flew in from Japan to stand by Callis' side, which was also strange,

02:36because William was always going to be the babyface at Wembley Stadium, whereas Don was a mega heel.

02:42It ultimately doesn't matter because it's such a good match, and seeing Ospreay get arguably the biggest victory of his career

02:47will be something we all remember for a while.

02:50Number 8, MJF vs. Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy vs. Sammy Guerrera at Double or Nothing 2023.

02:56So I saw this match live, and yeah, it was one of the best four ways I've ever seen.

03:01They all smashed it.

03:02The build divide people to say the least, however, given it was all situated around the idea that these were the pillars of AEW.

03:08There was a debate as to whether the accolade had been earned, or simply done, because why not?

03:14Sammy and Jack Perry had the finger pointed at them for such things, which doubled when Guevara and Maxwell were friends for a while,

03:20even though it was clear they hated each other.

03:23Now, once again, I actually found this quite amusing, but hey, I'm an idiot.

03:27Clearly Tony Khan had just decided he wanted to see this, so however we get there is how we get there.

03:32We can't say he was wrong.

03:33They got to the pay-per-view and went 28 minutes, and it was just an absolute rollercoaster.

03:39Given that it feels like AEW wants to embrace a more match-focused approach, you can likely give it a pass in hindsight too.

03:45It was literally there, because it's something we can do.

03:47Number 7, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at Hell in a Cell 2019.

03:53I mean, listen to who is in it.

03:55This was just WWE pulling names out of a hat.

03:58It also summed up 2019, because I'm not sure anybody knew what the overall plan was, and I can't even really explain this.

04:05I think Bryan was angry with Erick Rowan for attacking Roman, even though they were friends, so Luke Harper returned because we needed a guy, and he made sense.

04:14Or something.

04:15It's so annoying too, as Harper rocked in this, but we still did nothing after the fact.

04:19Maybe they all knew this, because man, they got in there and smashed it.

04:23This was great.

04:23It's also done under Tornado rules, so you get instant chaos, and even though there's not much investment with Rowan and Harper at the start, I tell ya.

04:31By the end, they are slamming each other onto their opponents, and the fans are going proper nuts.

04:36You also get this excellent Roman spear through a table, and it's a joy that isn't talked about enough.

04:41Number 6, The Rock vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 17.

04:44So hold on a second.

04:45I too love everything about this match, including the build, but answer me this.

04:50Who was The Rock's manager prior to Mania X7?

04:54Exactly.

04:54Now I bet you replied The Rock didn't even have a manager, but that is not true.

04:59Instead, Vince McMahon had made Debra stand by the Great One's side, because she was Stone Cold Steve Austin's wife.

05:06Thankfully, when we got to that all-time sit-down interview, she was just removed from this role,

05:11because everybody realised Rocky and Austin just had to stare at each other, and lo and behold, it worked.

05:16We all know the deal on the night as well, because they created magic, the only real asterisk being the ill-judged heel turn at the end.

05:23But, meh, whatever.

05:2420 years ago, I'm gonna worry about it now.

05:27I do have to say they kick out of a lot of finishes, though.

05:30To be honest, this is where that trope kinda started.

05:34Whoops.

05:34Number 5, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38.

05:37This was all about what you knew.

05:40If you were not up on your backstage information, you watched Raw to see Seth Rollins lose it that he didn't have a WrestleMania match,

05:47yell at Vince McMahon about it, who told him why doesn't he act like an adult and just ask for one,

05:51which Rollins then celebrated like he was the new champion.

05:55It's bizarre.

05:56This was all done because Cody Rhodes had been signed, but WWE didn't want to give the game away.

06:01But the only reason this would make any sense is if you were already clued in.

06:06And sure, nerds like us were, but from a story perspective, it was totally baffling.

06:11Also why I love wrestling.

06:12We just do stuff.

06:13When the American Nightmare revealed himself to be Rollins' opponent too, Seth was super mad.

06:18And why?

06:19What did he care?

06:20He got what he wanted.

06:21He's wrestling on the show.

06:22You were able to forget about all that in 15 seconds because everything about this was so legendary.

06:28Two of the very best of this generation.

06:30Number 4, FTR vs. The Young Bucks of Full Gear 2020.

06:33I do think it's a bit unfair to say the story was poor,

06:35whereas Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood almost infiltrated the elite to knock Hangman Adam Page and Kenny Omega from their perch,

06:41while flipping off the Young Bucks in the process.

06:44What sort of irked some, however, is that to recreate the demand for this match that they had back in 2016,

06:49Matt and Nick Jackson sort of healed it up a bit.

06:51Though I suppose it's just not what they needed to do, but with this one, who gives a flub?

06:56This match is so good, the tell they tell within it is sublime.

07:00I mean, FTR lost because Cash decided that a 450 would be a good idea,

07:04even though the old school pairing had sworn to stick to their own principles.

07:08Also literally impossible for these two to have a bad match,

07:11and that should be the story of the next one.

07:13We are awesome, why don't you go and deal with it?

07:16Number 3, John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules 2012.

07:19The start of this ruled.

07:21Brock Lesnar returning to WWE in 2012 was enough,

07:24but when he got into a pull-apart brawl with Cena shortly after and split his lip,

07:28it garnered such a good reaction, it became Brock's calling card for ages.

07:33Lesnar then did that sit-down interview where he basically said he was going to kill John and make him piss himself.

07:38Brock was back, and he was the most legit dude ever.

07:41Because WWE loved sports and entertainment, they then felt Lesnar should be in more segments.

07:46So what did we do?

07:47A contract signing.

07:49What else?

07:49To ensure the fans knew Brock was the heel too,

07:52he told Johnny Laurinaitis that he had a bunch of demands,

07:55because listen now, I have a bunch of demands.

07:58You were meant to think the limelight had gone to his head,

08:00but unlike what had come before,

08:02nobody bought that nonsense.

08:04It's Brock Lesnar, we know the deal.

08:06It's why he was repaired with Paul Heyman after this,

08:08because the advocate was far better at such things.

08:11But go and watch this match.

08:12It is frightening at times, just because Lesnar ruined Cena for huge parts of it.

08:17They definitely forgot what wrestling is meant to be.

08:20The Man of Blood was almost unheard of in WWE at that time too,

08:23and it is amazing that either guy walked away mostly okay.

08:27An absolute war that underlined what Brock was going to do for the next decade.

08:31Totally wild.

08:32Number two, the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match.

08:35This is indeed the Money in the Bank fight where to sell it,

08:38we had all the entrants climb ladders and yell at each other on Raw.

08:42It is absolutely hilarious.

08:44Everybody has their allocated time to drop a line as well,

08:47so it's a contrived mess,

08:48to the point even Dean Ambrose is begging that they just fight.

08:52He was done hanging out in the sky, as you would be.

08:55It was just so strange because the idea of the preamble

08:57is to explain to the audience what they're going to see in a few weeks,

09:00whereas here, you would have thought the idea of the match was to have a big chat.

09:05This was not the same on the night itself,

09:06because Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens especially tried to kill themselves.

09:10Some of the damn bumps they took.

09:12It was just the wild tonal shift that made this so crazy.

09:16You would have thought this was a comedy scrap.

09:18Trust me, it is not at all.

09:20Number one, Trish Stratus versus Becky Lynch at Payback 2023.

09:23The short version was Trish felt like Becky Lynch

09:26didn't respect the fact she had paved the way.

09:28Problem was, throughout her career, Lynch had said how great Stratus was

09:31and that we all owed her a debt.

09:34I think the pair may have agreed that maybe WWE could have done better with this,

09:37because when they got to their blow-off match at Payback, my word.

09:40It was within the confines of a steel cage, which is even better,

09:43and they just lit this place up.

09:46There was also a CV ticket for Stratus,

09:47who had never done this stipulation before,

09:49and I tell you, it is a triumph.

09:51One of the better matches of 2023.

09:54And if you were going to come to me for advice,

09:56I would say, we should go and do it again.

09:59Know of any other great matches that had questionable builds?

10:01Make sure you let us know in the comments below

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10:05and why the hell not subscribe?

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10:11whatculture, WWE, and SimonMiller316.

10:13But make sure you go out and support professional wrestling today,

10:17and maybe it will support you.

10:18And do I know what that means?

10:20No?

10:21Did I say that I would?

10:22Probably.

10:23Huh?

10:23Goodbye.

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