WWE Survivor Series 2017: Star Ratings For All 7 Matches
2. Brock Lesnar Vs. AJ Styles
AJ Styles really is the best wrestler in WWE.
After carrying Jinder Mahal to a sensational, career-best match in Manchester, he pulled off another major coup last night: he wrestled an absolutely superb match with Suplex City Era Brock Lesnar. On paper, removed from the respective talents of the two men, this was a grotesque mismatch with a problematic psychology to it. In execution, the sensational storytelling elevated it to the forefront of the WWE Match Of The Year conversation. Even as Lesnar entered full Suplex City mode early, this felt special. Dangerous. Styles' bumps were angled with a heart-in-mouth terror. His selling was as excellent as his bumping; the man looked ravaged - conquered - out there.
His comeback sequence was the work of a master, and the underlining psychology lent it an arresting level of drama. Styles pitched it as if he had the thinnest red fraction left on his health bar. One major blow from the Beast was all it was going to take - so Styles massacred Lesnar from all angles with his beautiful aerial offence.
Lesnar's calf-crusher reversal, in which he bludgeoned the back of AJ's head on the canvas, was Gaspar Noé-level brutal - and the expected finish of Lesnar reversing the Phenomenal Forearm into an F5 was fitting.
We anticipated a classic, and we received one.
Star Rating: ****1/2