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When I looked at the top five matches of 2014, I noted that there were several outstanding matches that came close to making the ‘top five’ list. That trend continued for 2015, as there was an incredible collection of outstanding wrestling matches in 2015 that made compiling this ‘top five’ list almost impossible.
New Japan Pro Wrestling was, once again, the king of great matches, producing them throughout the year like a factory. That company continued this trend thanks to phenomenal wrestlers like A.J. Styles, Okada, Ishii, Kota Ibushi, Hirooki Goto, and others. But there was a new cadre of wrestlers that were also becoming household names in NJPW and on the independent circuit as well: Kenny Omega, KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay and the Young Bucks, just to name a few.
These wrestlers and many others had a lot of amazing matches throughout 2015, and I encourage readers of this series to search up those wrestlers by name, one by one, to see the kinds of great wrestling matches I’m talking about.
Then there’s WWE, which had a very interesting year. That company put on a lot of fun and enjoyable matches throughout the year, both on the main roster and in NXT. Wrestlers like Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, and even John Cena all put on terrific matches for WWE in 2015.
Unfortunately, we cannot include all of their great matches in this series; we can only showcase the five best, which are listed below.
#5 John Cena vs. Kevin Owens – Money In The Bank 2015
The spring and summer of 2015 were highlighted by John Cena wrestling different opponents and becoming ‘Big Match John’. And none of those big matches was bigger than this one.
Wrestling in front of one of the most thunderous WWE crowds of the year, Cena and Owens went to war against one another. Owens had the advantage at first, and even stole some of Cena’s signature moves, much to the crowd’s delight. Owens also hit a lot of big moves to showcase his versatility, including a senton bomb, a Fisherman Suplex from the top rope, and a teased Package Piledriver.
But Cena would not be denied, and showed how desperate he was to beat this rising star. He had to resort to unusual moves like an Electric Chair spun into a Powerbomb, an inverted vertical Suplex, a Yoshi Tonic, and a springboard Stunner. These two wrestlers hit so many big moves and had so many believable near-falls that their twenty-minute match felt almost double that length.
Once this amazing contest was over, Owens was fully cemented as a top star in WWE and proved to everyone that there was more to him than what first met the eye.
#4 Bayley vs. Sasha Banks – TakeOver: Brooklyn
This match has reached mythical status as the best women’s wrestling match in WWE history…until Revolution. It had the perfect build, the hottest atmosphere in NXT history, and had absolutely spectacular wrestling action from two of WWE’s best women’s wrestlers.
Sasha played the obnoxious heel perfectly, her cocky attitude and taunts really adding to the story being told. Bayley, meanwhile, had such awesome babyface fire that you couldn’t help but cheer for her, no matter what she did in the ring.
Character work aside, these two women showed something that hadn’t been seen in a WWE ring before to such a degree: the ring presence and psychology from both of these women was on another level altogether.
Sasha stomped on Bayley’s hand as Bayley reached for the ropes, and then pushed off the ropes to roll back to the middle of the ring to wrench in her submission finisher. If the match ended there, it would’ve been a perfect ending. But thankfully, it only went further from there.
Bayley pulled out all the stops, hitting big move after big move, including a poisoned (inverted) frankensteiner from the top rope, before hitting her finisher and winning. At that moment, you knew that a new era of women’s wrestling was nigh.
This absolutely epic wrestling match not only stole the show on that NXT TakeOver, but also beat anything on SummerSlam as well. This is the match that truly set the women’s revolution in motion.
#3 John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar – Royal Rumble 2015
As weird as this might sound, 2015 was a breakout year for John Cena. This is because 2015 was the year during which Cena proved once again that he could wrestle well, but that he could also do so consistently.
He played a major role in making this triple-threat match into a masterpiece, but luckily he had help from both a monster and a wrestling genius.
You had three different wrestling styles, all working together yet standing out at the same time. Cena played the role of strongman and company babyface very well, and hit some impressive moves that he didn’t usually use (such as an impressive powerbomb).
Rollins was the high-flyer and clever underhanded heel that tried to cheat and relied on his speed. He hit some impressive springboard and diving maneuvers, including the legendary Phoenix Splash from the top rope.
Finally, there was Brock Lesnar, who acted more like a monster than ever before. At one point, Brock actually double German Suplexed J&J Security concurrently, holding each of them in one arm as he threw them over his head. It was an epic move that really sold Lesnar as an indestructible monster.
These three men worked so well together that this match was a strong contender for best WWE match of the entire year. Luckily for us, all three of them would continue to have awesome matches throughout 2015, so it was a spectacular way for WWE to start the year.
#2 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – G1 Climax final
There is extensive history between these two men. They were tag team partners during NJPW’s darker years of the early 2000s, and both achieved great success over the years. But while Nakamura represented NJPW’s traditions and past as a ‘realistic’ shootfighting-inspired striker, Tanahashi was the high-flyer that represented the company’s future.
They had clashed many times over the years, and Nakamura was for a time seen as on a level beneath Tanahashi. So when these two men fought in NJPW’s prestigious G1 Climax, it was a match for the ages.
Nakamura and Tanahashi had off-the-charts chemistry with each other, wrestling like machines. Nakamura’s strikes were as devastating as ever, and at one point hit a Boma Ye/Kinshasa that looked so devastating it looked like it could’ve taken Tanahashi’s head off.
Despite all those vicious and realistic strikes, Tanahashi proved once again why he’s the ace. He used classic wrestling psychology to weaken Nakamura’s legs, including hitting several dragon screw leg whips throughout the match.
Furthermore, Tanahashi proved that he is some kind of wrestling Superman. Despite being almost 40 years old, Tanahashi was hitting dives and body splashes out of the ring like he had always done. He even hit a high fly flow from the top rope while Nakamura was balancing on the second ropes. The man is like a Japanese Kurt Angle, wrestling at such an incredible standard yet never seeming to suffer any adverse effects.
Before watching this match, I was convinced that both Tanahashi and Nakamura are two of the biggest stars in Japan. After it ended, I was convinced that Tanahashi is one of the toughest and best-conditioned wrestlers on the entire planet.
And if the crowd reaction was any indicator, thousands upon thousands of Japanese fans watching live agree with that statement.
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi – Wrestle Kingdom 9
This match did something that few matches have ever accomplished: it transcended time, space and language barriers, becoming a legendary match that exposed NJPW to a new audience. When this match took place, we were only four days into the 2015 calendar year. Yet the best match of that same year was already decided once this match ended.
This was the best match of Ibushi’s career and it cemented Shinsuke Nakamura as a legend in puroresu. Everything in this match screamed ‘outstanding’: Nakamura’s superstar entrance, Ibushi’s amazing athleticism, Nakamura’s strikes, and the incredible back-and-forth action between these two wrestlers.
But most importantly, this match had an atmosphere of realism about it. Nothing came across as scripted or phony; Nakamura and Ibushi wrestled so well that you forgot you were watching a wrestling match. The wrestling was so crisp and well-executed they looked like they were genuinely fighting and were trying desperately to win.
This is a match that can be watched again, and again, and again. it has so many layers of enjoyable elements to it that each time you watch you’ll see something new to like. You can show this match to a non-wrestling fan and they’ll likely be as excited watching it as you will be.
Words do not do it justice; go watch this incredible rollercoaster of a match. It will take your breath away.
