Review for BEST PPV MATCHES 2015

WWE Best PPV Matches of 2015 is usually the set that I recommend to most people who ask and don't want to purchase every PPV. This year is probably true and I will say that whoever created this set really understood which matches across the WWE PPVs were the best and this is certainly one that I would recommend if you haven't been purchasing all of the PPVs in 2015.

The 3-Disk set features 16 matches covering the entire WWE year (apart from TLC, which always makes me wonder why they don't wait just a month so as to at least include something from all of them). That being said there is at least one match from every major PPV WWE produced during the year and there are very few that I
would say are absent from this set.

Matches featured (with reviews from previous PPV reviews):

Royal Rumble:
WWE Championship Triple Threat
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins

The Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was fantastic. Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins and John Cena all had some impressive moments throughout. What was great was that it showed that Brock could be hurt and could be in a pinning situation. This is something that hasn't happened for a while and I do think that leading into Wrestlemania it is something that needed to happen. I really enjoyed the match and think that if it hadn't been for the Rumble, this would have been a great main event.

Fastlane:
Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns

Match of the night was clearly the main event of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns for the title shot at Wrestlemania. The only problem with this match is that Roman Reigns was facing Daniel Bryan. Bryan is quite clearly the most popular and yet WWE seem determined to give Reigns the chance that no one wants. The match itself is great, though I think if they wanted to make it better it should have been a two out of three falls or a iron-man-style match to really show how great they both are. As it is, the match ended as I expected and the reason why most people have been disappointed with the PPV is this ending.

If I am honest the match is pretty good and Reigns and Bryan show some great athleticism in the ring. Both prove why they should be in the main event at Wrestlemania and by the end you can at least say that the winner deserved the shot.

Wrestlemania 31:
US Championship Match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Rusev against John Cena for the US Championship was a little weak. Nothing was made out of the fact that this was Rusev's first defeat and the actual loss didn't seem to mean anything. It just stopped the monster push of an up and coming Heel in its tracks.

WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (and later Seth Rollins)

Finally, we have the main event which saw Roman Reigns take on Brock Lesnar for his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This match had the potential to be awesome and to some extent it was. BUT... They had to play their Money in the Bank card. True, it was not as predictable as most cash-ins, but all it did was throw away all that build and momentum that Reigns had been struggling to get over the past three months. The match itself was good, but that's just not good enough.

Extreme Rules:
WWE Tag Team Championship
Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day

The Tag Championship match between New Day and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro was fabulous. I really enjoyed what both teams did and though was only given less than ten minutes it makes me really wish they were given longer to show what they could do. Both have really shown how good tag team wrestling can be.

Payback:
WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way
Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose

The main event is a Fatal 4-Way WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. The added stipulation was that if Rollins lost Kane would be fired as Director of Operations. This match had some excellent moments, mostly to do with nostalgia throwbacks to The Shield, which was awesome. Really enjoyed the match and certainly worthy of being a main event.

Elimination Chamber:
WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber
The New Day vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The Prime Time Players vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores vs. The Ascension

For the first time, the tag titles were on the line in the Chamber pitting champions New Day against The Ascension, Lucha Dragons, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, Prime Time Players and Los Matadores. This was a fantastic match which really showed off all the teams. My only issue with this match is simply this: Partway through the crowd started chanting 'New Day Sucks', now I know that is what we fans do. We boo the heels, but it is quite clear that the fans did not like them and wanted them to lose, but then who am I to judge? The sight of Kalisto jumping off the top of the Chamber would have been moment of the night if they hadn't spoilt it and have El Torito do it moments later. A good showcase for the tag division though.

John Cena vs. Kevin Owens

NXT Champion Kevin Owens against US Champion John Cena was fantastic. Both men proved why they are on the roster. Cena proved that he will do his best to make someone else look good and Owens proved that he is ready for the big time. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the main roster by Wrestlemania. It was a great match, given the time it deserved.

Money in the Bank:
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus vs. Neville vs. Kane vs. Kofi KIngston

This year it really did feel that they were going for a fresh face with the competitors. Apart from Randy Orton, who is a multiple time main eventer and champion most of those in the match had only had brief title stints or never reached that level. Other people involved were Kane, Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus and Neville. The inclusion of Neville was surprising, but I'm glad that WWE have gotten behind this new WWE star who had made such a name for himself as Pac on the indy scene and also in NXT.

The match is what you would expect from the multi-man ladder match. It is thrills and spills and to be honest it was pretty exciting to see as everyone in the match had their moment and everyone looked at one point that they could win. I think what also made it great was that I would have been happy with any of them winning.

WWE Championship Ladder Match
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

Seth Rollins against Dean Ambrose in a Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight title was a fantastic way to end this PPV. Both put on a fantastic display reminiscent of the great ladder matches of the likes of Shawn Michaels or Edge. I could quite happily have watched this match again and am so glad that I did. This is the kind of match that brings me back, when I think I have watched some awful matches or awful segments, this is the kind of match that truly makes me happy to be a wrestling fan. UFC may get a shocker in 34 seconds, but at least we can be guaranteed at least a three hours of action.

Battleground:
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella vs. Sasha Banks

The big build throughout the PPV was the Triple Threat between the three new Divas Factions Team Bad, Team PCB and Team Bella. The whole event had cuts to the teams deciding who would be competing which ended up being Brie Bella, Charlotte and Sasha Banks. The match could have been perfect. The reason it isn't is simple: Brie is simply horrible in the ring. Charlotte (Ric Flair's daughter) and Sasha who was NXT Women's Champion at the time, are wonderful and when the match is just them it is some great examples of women's wrestling, but every now and again Brie had to come back into the ring and despite trying to do imitate husband Daniel Bryan's moves, it just doesn't work.

However, this was one of the best women's matches I have seen in a very long time and gives me hope that the 'Divas Revolution' is real and not just something WWE will forget about in a few weeks... like the tag team revitalisation which lasted all of a few PPVs.

US Championship
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens against John Cena for the US Championship could and should have been the match that made Owens the next big superstar. Instead, it was just a match. Yes he did look good against Cena, but this match should have had ONE finish and only ONE to make it seem like this feud with worthwhile. But not the one we were given. Shame.

Summerslam:
Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker

Brock Lesnar against The Undertaker was such a disappointment that I'm not even sure what I am meant to think about it. I feel it was just all hype and not payoff. The match itself felt like every other rematch after Wrestlemania with Taker and anything less than a win for Taker would have been utterly pointless. That being said, the ending to this match made no sense. I didn't want to see the match end that way. We all know how a Lesnar/Taker match should end and this is not it. Maybe after the loss of the streak, I wasn't going to satisfied no matter the ending, it just wasn't as satisfying as it should have been.

Night of Champions:
Divas Championship
Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte

Divas Championship between Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte was so disappointing. I have never been so bored by what should have been a great match. Yes you can argue the whole match made sense with Nikki focusing on Charlotte's injured leg, but it was so boring. This could and should have been amazing, but it wasn't. The ending should have been amazing, but instead it made no sense.

WWE Championship
Seth Rollins vs. Sting

WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Sting vs. Seth Rollins was a match that really surprised me. I give WWE credit, when I heard about this match I thought it was a bad idea. However, over the weeks they were able to make Sting look like a credible threat to the point I was interested. I do feel they should have split these matches up so that we could get some reaction from Rollins before he faced Sting. This match had a Money in the Bank cash-in feel to it, which is never a good thing. Both are pretty good in this match though oddly enough, I was more impressed by Sting than I was with Rollins and again it wasn't just a nostalgia kick. The ending was a bit of a mess, but still enjoyable to watch.

Hell in a Cell
Hell in a Cell Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker

Finally, we have Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker in one of the most overhyped matches of all time. Yes, the build was great with the whole "Go to Hell" tour with Lesnar having more presence during this time than he had the last year combined.
As for the match? Well, I've seen better. In fact, I have seen much better. Both are fine, in general, but it just feels like this match had no real direction. The violence you expect from a Hell in a Cell, especially from these two, was absent. One point Lesnar starts ripping up the paper-thin canvas of the ring. Now I understand the logic of this: Expose the wooden surface of the ring, but the very idea that it would cause more damage makes no sense. At least when you take off the turnbuckle you expose the spikes underneath? The match ends and to be honest I didn't care in the slightest. When the time comes to do Top Ten Hell in a Cell matches, this match will not be in it.

2015 was a strange year for WWE. It was a year that cemented Seth Rollins as a main eventer, that saw John Cena bring some credibility back to the US Championship. It saw the Divas attempt a revolution as well as an improvement in the Tag division too. We saw more of The Undertaker than we have for a number of years and the introduction of many of the future stars from NXT. This set shows off some of the best of the year and if you haven't bought all the PPVs of the year and you want to experience the best of WWE from the year then this is the set to buy.