August and September were the first two months of the FLPW on Twitch, and in that time period the AI in WWE 2k16 made a broad range of matches, ranging from absolutely terrible to some outstanding gems. With the reboot of the FLPW just a week away, let's look back at the matches that really made us say "damn!"
5: Double J vs V-Nation
September 23rd, 2016 - Doubles Title Match
Although there might be better tag-team matches than this title match, none of them are much as a blast to watch back as this match. Double J, since ending the almost month-long doubles reign of the Beast Crew. The bulk of the match was pretty standard, but it's worth watching for the ending, where Jake Rapture and El Koogs busted out a brand new finisher that surprised everyone.
You can watch the match
here.
4: Sgt. Cooper vs Jacob Drummond vs Ken Nakano
August 30th, 2016 - #1 Contender's Match for the World's Bestest Championship
Before this match, previous triple threat matches were extremely lackluster. The AI would consistently try to pin a wrestler despite the third man standing in the ring ready to break it up, leading to incredibly boring matches that would not end. Although this match is guilty of that, this number one contender's match was anything but lackluster or boring.
At the beginning of the match, everyone and their mother picked Sergeant Cooper to win the match, seeing how he has a reputation for sneaky victories. However, as the match stretched on and weapons got introduced, it got more and more brutal. Nobody could guess who would win. At the end of the match, the ring was a virtual bloody hardware store.
You can watch the match
here.
3: Eddie Chumbo vs Tyler T-Man
August 8th, 2016 - The 1st FLPW Twitch Tournament Grand Final
August 8th was the first ever official FLPW Twitch stream, and all started off with a marathon 7-hour stream that concluded with the grand finals of the first FLPW tournament. The final match was between Hardcore Union member Eddie Chumbo and Beast Crew representative Tyler "Straight Savage" T-Man.
It is surprising how high this match ranks considering it was at a point when the characters weren't as refined as they are now. All the audience had to go on was their previous matches, but everyone wanted to see Chumbo's cheating ass get pinned, and T-Man looked unstoppable after defeating Jacob Drummond, Chris Furious, and Johnny Talladega to get to the grand finals. It was an excellent match that was a great climax to a full-day stream, and it's success boded well for the continuation of FLPW streams on Twitch.
You can watch the full match
here.
2: John Polak vs Johnny Talladega
September 27th, 2016 - For the International Canadian Championship of the World
For the longest time, the International Canadian Championship was dwarfed by the star power of the World's Bestest Championship and the amazing rivalries happening with the National American Championship. However, one rival would bring heat back to the maple leaf belt.
After Johnny Talladega won his rivalry against Jordan Wassink, John Polak became the number one contender after Jacob's successful quest to whip his tag-team partner back into form following some disappointing matches. With the threat of Jacob leaving his tag partner if he lost the match, John fought for more than just the Canadian Title. The match is filled with several false finishes and with such high stakes, the match kept me on the edge of my seat while I was commentating it.
You can watch it in full
here.
1: Maximilian Wolf vs Thomas Warren
September 19th, 2016 - For the National US Championship of America
You probably saw this one coming.
Thomas Warren's story of finally getting a singles belt in the FLPW was the best thing to come out of the Twitch streams. After multiple attempts of trying to get himself into the the US rankings led him to losses against Jake Rapture and Maximilian Wolf, It seemed that Thomas Warren was not going to get the American Title anytime soon.
However, after Maximilian defeated Trent "T The MC' McRae to move on to fight Thomas Warren in a number one contender's match, Salty Marcellus shocked everyone by dropping the National American Title to move on to bigger and better things in the World's division. This meant that the simple number one contender's match became a title match for the vacant championship. What followed was the best wrestling match I've ever seen any two AI in any wrestling game create.
It had everything: false finishes early on, outside brawls, and finisher reversals at points when any move could have put someone down for a three count. The ending could not have been more perfect, but I can't really gush about it because it will ruin it for people who have not seen it yet. The payoff is masterful.
I highly encourage anyone reading this who has not seen the match yet to check it out
here.
