WWE.com’s Top 25 matches of 2013

BY WWE.COM STAFF

December 20, 2013

#8 Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio - World Heavyweight Championship Match (WWE Payback)

WE SAID: As Dolph Ziggler will surely tell you, he kind of has everything going for him, and as of last summer he had the World Heavyweight Championship, to boot. But the first defense of his hard-won World Heavyweight Championship at WWE Payback still left the WWE Universe heartbroken for the show-stealing antihero they loved to hate.

The then-champion had fought hell and high water to claim the World Heavyweight Title belonging to Alberto Del Rio (who had recently been reborn as a folk hero to the people),and fate turned against him almost immediately when an extremely serious concussion promptly took Dolph out of the game. Ziggler’s return against Del Rio at WWE Payback seemed like it would cement his spot at the top until “Mexico’s Greatest Export” took the easy way out and teed off on The Showoff’s formerly concussed skull, kicking him repeatedly in an effort to not so much beat Dolph as humiliate him.

Ziggler refused to stop the match even with his girlfriend AJ Lee in tears at ringside, but the damage had already been done, and the ruthless Del Rio didn’t even have to ply his signature Cross Armbreaker to take back the gold. If the crushed look on Ziggler’s face wasn’t enough, the sentiment was shared by every single member of the WWE Universe. Yes, it’s hard to feel sorry for a guy like Ziggler when he’s a villain, but what happened wasn’t so much an instance of payback as the big reveal: The Showoff was always the people’s hero, and Del Rio the slithering snake with an eye for gold. Dolph didn’t just get taken for a ride; we felt like we’d all been duped along with him. – ANTHONY BENIGNO

THEY SAID: “Sometimes people go to the dark side or go to the good side because it’s planned out or that’s what’s ‘best for business,’ or it just happens on a whim. For someone like myself, who, as a career bad guy for eight years, was getting more cheers than some of the good guys because of the entertainment value I deliver, it organically happened. And to run with something organically and make it that much better is a gift that Del Rio has and also I have. [He is] so good at what he does … we have this thing where I don’t know him that well. We’re not friends, we never were. But when we get in that ring, you can see, not the hatred, butit’s this awesome chemistry we have as opponents, no matter the situation. I was crushed to lose the World Title; you can legitimately see it in my face that I am crushed I did not come out on top in that match. But it was an awesome experience and I don’t know that any two people in this business could have done it better.” – DOLPH ZIGGLER

http://www.wwe.com/inside/top-25-matches-of-the-year/page-19

WWE.com’s Top 25 matches of 2013

BY WWE.COM STAFF

December 20, 2013

#15 Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian - World Heavyweight Championship Match (SummerSlam 2013)

What happens when you combine Christian’s jaw-jacking punches, Alberto Del Rio’s ferocious kicks, a World Heavyweight Championship and a sold-out STAPLES Center in Hollywood? Well, as the WWE Universe found out at this year’s SummerSlam, one helluva match. For roughly 15 minutes, Captain Charisma and The Essence of Excellence savagely tried turning each other’s faces into hamburger meat, with dozens of stinging strikes echoing throughout the arena, and thanks to their almost uncomfortable display of brutality, an instant classic was born.

Far be it, however, for two of WWE’s premier technicians to rely on vicious strikes alone. There were elements of lucha libre and traditional mat wrestling. Most impressively, Del Rio scouted Christian to a tee: A Christian back elbow was turned it into a top-rope backstabber, and a late-game spear attempt was halted by a dropkick to the face. Christian did eventually hit the spear, but in doing so, further weakened his already injured shoulder, leaving him an easy target for the Cross Armbreaker. – JOHN CLAPP

http://www.wwe.com/inside/top-25-matches-of-the-year/page-12

WWE.com’s Top 25 matches of 2013

BY WWE.COM STAFF

December 20, 2013

2013 was a very good year for sports-entertainment. And not just in the sense of the spectacle, the pageantry, and the general ballyhoo that WWE brings. Bearing heroic displays of heart, Herculean feats of strength and Olympian conquests of World Championship gold, 2013 was a great 365 days for the actual art of wrestling itself - so much so that we thought it was only appropriate to pick the best bouts out of a year that was bursting with unforgettable action.

Here’s how we did it: A team of WWE.com editors narrowed the year down to our 25 favorites and determined the rankings by scoring the matches, adding up the totals and ordering them appropriately. The process was arduous and often contentious (John Cena vs. Mark Henry, the Broadway Brawl and the Elimination Chamber Match all barely missed the cut), but it was as honest and democratic as it gets. So, without further ado, here are the Top 25 Matches of 2013, as presented by “The Legend of Hercules.”

http://www.wwe.com/inside/top-25-matches-of-the-year/