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WWE.com has ranked their 25 greatest matches of the year, featuring two major Diva bouts on the list.
Charlotte and Natalya‘s match at NXT Takeover, which was ranked second on WWE.com’s half-year list, lands on the list at number 6.
On the NXT Women’s Title match, they wrote:
Was 2014 the year we stopped grading women’s matches on a curve? The ignorant responded to even the best Divas bouts with dismissive compliments like, “That was good — for girls.” Then Charlotte and Natalya put on a wrestling clinic at NXT TakeOver and now the whole dynamic has changed.
A lot has been written about their bout for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship since it happened in May, but what’s too often missed is how amazing both women looked after it was done. Natalya — a competitor who’s all too rarely given the opportunity to show what she’s capable of — was immaculate on the mat and gracious in defeat. And Charlotte? Who else besides Beethoven and Tiger Woods has been as gifted at something as quickly as the second-generation Diva? Two years into her career and she’s already been part of perhaps the best Divas match ever.
Still, the most telling part of the bout’s greatness may be in the fact that WWE Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Ric Flair were at ringside to add to the gravity of the contest. However, by the time the match hit its stride, you forgot they were even there.
Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon‘s match at SummerSlam also made the list, coming in at number 24. On that match, they wrote:
It all came down to this. Although John Cena defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar was SummerSlam’s anticipated main event, the WWE Universe was on the edge of its seat as Brie Bella — the bride of Daniel Bryan — squared off The Authority’s menacing matriarch, Stephanie McMahon.
Returning to action for the first time in more than a decade, The Billion Dollar Princess showed little signs of ring rust as she gleefully punished Brie in the early goings of the match, no doubt taking a few pages out of her husband Triple H’s playbook. Brie ultimately turned momentum in her favor, unleashing on Stephanie with a flurry of furious kicks as she vented her many frustrations against her longtime tormentor before trapping her foe in her husband’s “Yes!” Lock. Brie might have won her the match right there had Triple H not stormed the ring and knocked out the referee.
After a frustrated Brie incapacitated the intervening Cerebral Assassin, it seemed as though Stephanie would suffer a two-on-one beatdown from both Bella Twins. In a jaw-dropping betrayal, however, Nikki instead attacked Brie and left her sister vulnerable to Stephanie’s Pedigree. Honestly, who saw that coming?
You can see the full list on WWE.com.
Do you agree with these choices? What should have made the list?
