10 Stiffest WWE Matches Of The PG Era
The P in PG sometimes stands for 'potato'.
Many wrestling fans lament the PG era in World Wrestling Entertainment, claiming that a form of performance art that focuses on combat needs to incorporate certain things in order to be engaging. For those whose fandom came about in the late 1990s, a time of excessive violence and almost constant bleeding, the WWE PG goes against a lot of what they expect from their professional wrestling.
If we allow realism to set in for a moment, the folly of this idea is clear to see. Whilst a certain amount of violence is necessary in such a world, lamenting a lack of chair shots to the head and a lack of crimson shows a lust for violence that may very well be a problem. Professional wrestlers are humans too, and the less concussions and blading the better.
Even so, the PG era has thrown up its fair share of aggression and violence. To work stiff is to use excessive legitimate force when in the ring, and the last decade has thrown up numerous matches where the viewer had to double-take to make sure it wasn't a genuine fight they were watching. Many wrestlers have a reputation for such force, where as others work much better when in such an environment.
Expect a lot of Brock Lesnar in this list...
10. Roman Reigns Vs. AJ Styles - Payback (May 2016)
You can expect to see plenty of Roman Reigns in this list.
After almost two whole years of working in Japan, AJ could be forgiven for forgetting that he isn't facing the likes of Minoru Suzuki and Katsuyori Shibata anymore. But there have been rumours that many wrestlers are unhappy with the apparent stiffness of Styles' work, highlighted after he knocked The Miz's tooth out earlier this year.
Roman Reigns isn't one such to complain however, and The Guy's best work often comes when paired with an opponent who will beat the tar out of him. Styles and Reigns went at it this past Sunday at WWE Payback, and by my count Styles hit Reigns with approximately 3481 forearms in the match, each one deeper and stiffer than the last.
The big spot of the match saw Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm to Reigns on the outside, sending Roman through the announce table. You need to hit a man with a certain amount of force for such things to happen, and each and every slow motion replay throughout the match showcased the reaction the human face makes to being blasted by an arm.