10 Times The Independent Scene Met The WWE Machine

9. Cesaro Vs. Sheamus - Night Of Champions 2014

Cesaro Sheamus Night of Champions 2014
www.wwe.com

Okay, so this one is cheating somewhat. Sheamus isn't purely a product of the WWE Machine, as the Celtic Warrior had spent four years performing in his native Ireland before World Wrestling Entertainment came a-knocking. Even so, it is difficult to view the Human Jar of Mayonnaise through anything other than a WWE lens. If he was released, it wouldn't be a conquering hero returning to the independent scene after all.

If Cesaro got his papers that is almost certainly how he would be received. His former bosses at ROH and CHIKARA would take him back in an instant, as the rest of the world would cry about how poorly he was used in WWE. Cesaro worked his coffee-laden butt off to make it to the WWE, working the independent scene for 11 years beforehand.

The two Europeans have had a whole host of fantastic battles, but their match at Night of Champions in 2014 still sticks out to me as their best. It is something of an unheralded classic, a stiff-as-heck bout between two mean muggin' monsters who just wanted to beat seven shades out of each other.

It was the sort of match that simply never gets old.

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.