Ibushi v Alexander has been my favourite match of August 2016 from WWE

(Technically a little early but I mainly just watch the Network and I can't see this changing.)

I just went and rewatched this match and it was brilliant the second time round as well. I think the things that made this work so well for me is that for one, it was a really dynamic match where there were lots of interesting moves from movesets I'm not familiar with, punctuated by some really stiff strikes that made you gasp in the best possible way. But also there was a very clear story to the match that was told purely from the wrestlers themselves - to be honest it was all from Cedric Alexander's facial expressions which I can't praise enough. He knew he was going up against a tough opponent so he pulled out his absolute best moves and work to stay toe-to-toe with Ibushi; and he managed this but it still wasn't enough. I don't like it when a wrestler oversells their shock to a last second kickout from their opponent but there was the perfect ramp from the first near fall of disappointment but while keeping composure and determination, through to complete incredulity that Ibushi kicked out at the last one; even with Ibushi's cred going into the match I still bought there being a chance that he might not kick out of that final near fall.

So yeah, I rank this as my favourite match of the month in WWE despite there being many other great ones during this time. This post is mainly to highlight this match rather than denigrating any others, but here's a few words on the other contenders in my eyes with suggestions of why I still like this one the best (though this is art, not a science of course):

• Gallagher v Aichner (CWC Round 1): Brilliant match that introduced Gallagher to us all. So much personality with Aichner bringing his moves to the party too. Gallagher v Tozawa was great too and I loved the comedy of that one. The intensity of Alexander/Ibushi elevates it for me.
• Ciampa v Gargano (CWC Round 1): Tbh this has even more intensity than this match and it's an absolute gem that I dearly love. If this had more time they could have done more, perhaps, but really it's perfect for what it is and the post-match was one of the most moving, realest, best acted scenes I've ever seen. I can't speak ill of this but the dynamism of Ibu/Alex probably got me more excited by it.
• Cena v Styles (Summerslam): The best match of SS and the story of Cena leaving his band in the ring is a big deal, but the match just felt a bit dry to me - possibly due to the familiar movesets. Even if it was theoretically well-worked I didn't feel any stakes that had me rooting for anyone during the match.
• Ciampa/Gargano v The Revival (NXT Takeover Brooklyn 2): I loved the whole of the Takeover as I can pretty much always guarantee I will. This match stood out from that night and might come the closest for being my match of the month. I'm not sure I can explain why it's not since it was a big stage with a great crowd and brilliantly worked. Something about Ibu/Alex was just so perfect for me - it might be that Alexander just got me to feel his underdog story more than Gargano/Ciampa during their match. But seriously, that was still excellent.

This was me wanting to shine a bit more light on this great match from what has honestly been a really good month for them. Where do other people rank Ibushi v Alexander amongst the other WWE matches?