WWE: 10 best matches of 2016

3. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles – WWE TLC

The rivalry between Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles may have lasted a little longer than we expected and took some strange turns (we’re looking at you, Ellsworth), but it got us all the way to WWE TLC and I’m extremely happy that it did. I absolutely loved this match, despite what happened at the end. It was a real TLC match from start to finish with all of the brutality and big spots that we always want but sometimes don’t get.

For more than half an hour, Ambrose and Styles tortured each other with big spot after big spot after big spot and there wasn’t one second of that 30 minutes and 50 seconds when I wasn’t into this bout. As I said in my WWE TLC review, Ambrose was very good here, probably the best I’ve ever seen him in any match, but AJ Styles showed why he’s the best wrestler in the world. He took all that punishment from Ambrose without overselling and obviously got his own offense in as well. That Springboard 450 Splash to the outside where Ambrose was laid out on a table was freaking marvelous. Trust me, I could sit here and go through just about each and every spot with that same enthusiasm but I’m afraid I’d run out of adjectives.

And not only was the action great but the story told in the ring was great as well. There were a lot of shifts in momentum and it really was hard to tell who was going to come out on top in this one. And yes, we knew that James Ellsworth was going to show up at some point but that little swerve at the end didn’t affect what led up to it. I’m just happy that it wasn’t a goofy finish, which did concern me as he made his way down the ramp. But it was an actual interesting twist that gave us one last big spot to enjoy for the year.