10 Best Wrestling Matches In WWE April PPV History

2. Sheamus Vs. Daniel Bryan - Extreme Rules 2012

daniel bryan sheamus extreme rules
WWE.com

If you're looking to find the biggest difference in quality between WrestleMania match and subsequent rematch, this is absolutely light years ahead of all other possibilities. In fact, you really couldn't get further away from their Mania debacle. 

At WrestleMania XXVIII, Royal Rumble winner Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in just 18-seconds, leaving an entire crowd appalled and disappointed. In what could be conceived as an apology, the two went at it again at Extreme Rules in 2012 in a two-out-of-three falls match, and proceeded to knock the ball way out of the park. 

Despite coming out second best, this was the match that began the Daniel Bryan repair job following the Mania humiliation. He was the undoubted star of the match, shepherding Sheamus to what many considered the best WWE match of the year at that point. D-Bryan also got to kick out of the Brogue Kick, one of the most protected finishers in the company at the time.

The psychology is also on point for a 2/3 falls match, with Bryan losing the first fall by DQ only to easily pick up the second thanks to the damage done. It wasn't enough though, and a Brogue eventually puts and end to the bout.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.