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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your Match of the Year frontrunner thus far in 2015? Wrestler? Feud? The following is a case study of WWE’s product for the month of July 2015. WWE Battleground Review Match of the Month: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Battleground The competition continues to be strong for Match of the Month honors. High quality TV matches dotted the last four weeks, with Cena vs. Rollins: Broken Nose and Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Rusev stating clear cases on Raw alone. July kicked off with a frontrunner at Beast in the East, as Owens losing the NXT Championship in dramatic fashion to Finn Balor was tremendous. I was a huge fan of the storytelling in the Wyatt vs. Reigns match at Battleground, rating it equally to Balor vs. Owens for different reasons. Cena vs. Owens at Battleground was a third straight barn-burning classic that I thought superior to the second effort and on par with the first. What it all boiled down to for me, then, goes back to the Essay on Wrestling Style I posted last weekend. KO’s pair of candidates were wrestled in the same style – balls to the wall with sure emphasis on character but greater accenting of drama initiated through move set and near falls. Which one wins: the bout with Cena or the match with Balor? I’d go with the Cena match, leaving KO-Golden Boy III vs. Wyatt-Reigns. I never mentioned that my favorite wrestling style is the one made most famous by Shawn Michaels – the classic catch-as-catch-can. Well, neither of the top two candidates fit that bill, so it’s a wash for me. I loved both matches. In the end, I went with the same mindset that I did last month when it came down to Cena-Owens vs. Rollins-Ambrose and picked the one that I found most entertaining. That’s 3 straight for Cena vs. Owens. Previous MOTM winners: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at Royal Rumble (Jan), Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns at Fast Lane (Feb), Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (vs. Seth Rollins) at WrestleMania (Mar), Big Show vs. Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules (Apr), John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber (May), and John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank (Jun) A Brief Essay On Wrestling Style Wrestler of the Month: John Cena Last month, I mentioned how surprised I was that, through six months, I’d handed out all six WOTM awards to six different wrestlers. Well, the surprise continues, I suppose, as John Cena finally gets rewarded for his stellar year. Bearing in mind that this award is given for a combination of roster position, character work, and in-ring performance, July was a choice for me between Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, and Cena. Wyatt was more focused this month than in recent ones and the combination of his victory over Reigns, the quality of the match that led to it, and the purpose with which he delivered his feud-leading promos were what put him in such strong contention. Rollins was on form throughout the month, but his bout with Lesnar was a major disappointment. Cena could almost be given July as a cumulative achievement award. He’s been fantastic this year and was flying under the radar as my only legit Wrestler of the Year candidate without a Wrestler of the Month nod. With another great PPV match and yet another phenomenal TV bout (w/ Rollins on 7/27) that saw him gut through a nastily broken nose, it was time to give Cena the credit he’d been due. Previous WOTM winners: Brock Lesnar (Jan), Daniel Bryan (Feb), Seth Rollins (Mar), Sheamus (Apr), Dean Ambrose (May), and Kevin Owens (Jun) August/Summerslam Predictions Since the Battleground Review was posted, I’ve come around to the Taker vs. Lesnar rematch. They had a great set-up segment on the Raw after the July PPV, using a tried and true approach with that pull apart brawl involving much of the roster. I suspect Taker is motivated to remind everyone why there was such a thing that we called “The Streak Within The Streak.” He’s in better condition now than he was in 2014; he’s also the only person to be booked on Lesnar’s level in 2+ years. That match could be very hit or very miss. Don’t mistake their WM30 match as evidence to a lack of chemistry. They had tremendous chemistry in 2002. They’ll have to figure out how to click now given Brock’s current character, though. Some of my colleagues feel Brock’s going to win. I hope he does, but don’t see why’d they book this match if Taker weren’t going to win. I’m not yet sure how I feel about Lesnar’s first loss since WM29 coming against The Phenom. I’ll be very clear about how I feel about the other proposed headlining matches: I love Cena vs. Rollins and think it’ll do wonders for Seth to defeat the Golden Boy (if that’s the plan) and I love the new take on the Wyatts vs. Shield members and would be thrilled to see Sting join in on that party. The move to a four hour Summerslam is a good call. It can’t compete with WrestleMania’s history or global appeal, but it’s hard for it to even be in the same stratosphere nowadays without some sort of comparable advantages afforded to WM. Giving it more time to build a more epic-feeling show should help, allowing things like the Stardust angle with TV’s Green Arrow to play out, Cesaro vs. Owens to add more to the show than they might otherwise have, the Divas Revolution to continue, and perhaps even the Tag Team Championships an opportunity to shine on the 2nd biggest PPV of the year. Don’t forget about NXT Takeover: Brooklyn either. Considering it’s the night before Summerslam, its matches have the potential to start the competition a night early for the month’s finest performances. "The Doc Says" podcast can be found on iTunes or by clicking here for the latest episode
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