Ranking Every Raw Vs SmackDown WWE Survivor Series Match From Worst To Best

3. Brock Lesnar Vs AJ Styles (2017)

Bray Wyatt Dean Ambrose Chris Jericho
WWE

To a generation of fans, Bret Hart was the glue that held their world together as a fan of a declining WWE. The mid-1990s were starved of believability, but not when the bell rang for 'The Excellence Of Execution'. No matter the story, he'd tell it with painstakingly accurate heft, carefully employing his broad skillset to leave both himself and his opponent better off regardless of the result.

AJ Styles was a decade and a half into a refined career before signing with WWE, but as its Champion, he had Paul Heyman calling him the new 'Best There Is, Best There Was, and Best There Ever Will Be' after this.

The Pele kick to the back of Brock's head was a study in skilful desperation. The calf-killer near-tap and face-flattening escape was one of the best ever spots in a Brock Lesnar match before it was topped the following year (more on that later). Excellence of execution was certainly in supply, with Styles' immaculate selling of Lesnar's early assault finally making his auto-pilot effort seem worthy.

He couldn't slay the beast, and everybody knew it, but AJ refused to let anybody believe it until the F5 was fatally landed.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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