10 Worst WWE Matches Of 2021 (So Far)

5. Adam Cole Vs Kyle O'Reilly - NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2

Alexa Bliss The Fiend
WWE.com

Lots of people appeared - for all that Twitter's reach is surprisingly small for all those numbers flying around - to enjoy Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly's match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.

Lots of people need to watch the Great American Bash rematch between the pair and think about how much they really felt for the 40+ minute slog that threatened to kill any hope of the story even warranting the far superior second chapter. .

An over-indulgent, excessive encounter that forced the former Undisputed Era men to slot themselves into somebody else's match rather than have their own, this was a monument to an angle booked backwards. The technical thriller they'd go on to have was ignored for the sake of a weapons-heavy brawl driven by faux-intensity and a need to go as long as possible.

Give or take a few minutes, you could watch their sequel twice in the time it took to get through the original, and you'd have two fresh looks at a far more appealing contest. There's an energy about it that the first one is shambling around in the dark for and never finds, and it's a reminder than NXT may still know how to do this sh*t really, really well.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett