10 Best WWE Matches Ever (According To The Internet)
9. Tyler Bate Vs. WALTER (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)
The main event of WWE's second NXT UK TakeOver did much to erase fans' memories of the terrible first one, but little was left to chance when longstanding rivals Tyler Bate and Walter were matched up against one another. The pair headlined a PROGRESS Wembley Arena show in 2018, and NXT UK aped that atmosphere even if their own glowed-up production earnestly enhanced the drama between the two throwbacks.
Heavy duty pro wrestling violence stacked like Bate himself was on the ring apron in one of the contest's most memorable spots, the battle called for no more (!) than the two to be the the most tunnel-visioned versions of themselves. The otherwise-valueless UK Championship suddenly became the richest prize in the game as two of the hardest lads to grace the canvas tried to kill each other for it.
Breaking Dave Meltzer's five-star scale to become one of the highest rated matches in his canon, this attritional war was perfectly pitched for its time. Bate chopped down the tree with work on Walter's leg, his chest, his back and his head. Walter simply chopped and chopped and chopped in response. Quantity and quality, the sheer willingness of Bate to eat sh*t in reality and kayfabe put over the Champion's unstoppable aura, particularly when he followed a series of dramatic near-falls with with a mind-melting one-count kickout.
The proverbial last act of a desperate man, it triggered a crushing lariat from the Austrian that finished the job and concluded perhaps the glossiest no-bullsh*t match in WWE history.