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Category Archives: Pro Wrestling

Pro Wrestling

The Best Professional Wrestling Matches of 2016

Mike Specian January 1, 2017 Leave a Comment 5536 Views

While 2016 may have been a down year in many respects, it was a banner year for excellent professional wrestling action. WWE continued its expansion on The WWE Network by launching the Cruiserweight Classic. The CWC hosted some of the best matches of the year, and introduced its audience to some of the most talented wrestlers in the world. It’s truly remarkable that performers like Rich Swann, Drew Gulak, Tony Neese, Cedric Alexander and many more were given a shot under the WWE auspices. The UK expansion suggests there is more of this to come.

WWE’s booking on the main roster was mediocre, but the in-ring product was as good as it’s ever been. And no one was better in that ring this year than AJ Styles. After debuting at the Royal Rumble and enduring a couple months as the “Redneck Rookie,” AJ laid claim to being the best wrestler in the world, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and defending it in a series of classic matches. Shane McMahon returned, and Daniel Bryan publically retired in one of the most heartfelt segments Raw has ever produced.

New Japan Pro Wrestling rebounded nicely after losing AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Gallows & Anderson in one fell swoop by elevating Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega into top positions. Naito’s capture of the IGWP Heavyweight Championship made him the first man not named Styles, Tanahashi, or Okada to hold the belt in years. Los Ingobernables de Japon grew incredibly popular, Kenny Omega was white hot, Will Ospreay burst onto the scene, and Katsuyori Shibata finally got a quality singles title run.

NXT was gutted after Wrestlemania, losing talents like Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Enzo & Big Cass, Apollo Crews, and Baron Corbin. Bayley and Finn Bálor would follow soon thereafter. Much of the year was spent in rebuilding mode, focusing on talents like Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe, both of whom won the NXT Championship on multiple occasions. Bobby Roode debuted with one of the all-time great entrances. The Revival, American Alpha, and DIY raised the bar regarding tag team action.

Ring of Honor and the other independents hummed along. The Young Bucks sat atop the indy ladder (no pun intended), but special props must go out to Jay Lethal and his historic run with the ROH World Championship. Adam Cole returned from injury, joined Bullet Club, and regained the ROH Championship before losing it at the end of the year to a deserving Kyle O’Reilly. Cody Rhodes began reinventing himself, and Matt Riddle earned my vote for Rookie of the Year.

Impact Wrestling was in disarray for much of the year. On multiple occasions Billy Corgan had to loan money to keep the promotion afloat, until he sued them for essentially lying to him about the state of the company. But from within this turmoil rose, like a phoenix, Broken Matt Hardy. His career resurrection came via some of the most inventive wrestling segments I’ve ever seen. Who would have thought at the beginning of 2016 that a drone, a dilapidated boat, a one-year old, and a gardener skilled at preparing the “battlefield for massacre” would be more over than a lot of stuff on Raw!

The following list contains the top 63 matches I watched in 2016, plus a number of honorable mentions. These selections are weighted towards WWE, NXT, and New Japan since those matches are just easier to watch. I couldn’t get myself overly interested in TNA, and time constraints kept me away from a lot of action on the independents.

Here’s a tally of the number of times a particular wrestler appears on this list:

13: AJ Styles

8: Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns

6: Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Sami Zayn

5: Charlotte, KUSHIDA, Michael Elgin, Tetsuya Naito, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Katsuyori Shibata, Will Ospreay, The Young Bucks

4: Tomohiro Ishii, Johnny Gargano, Kyle O’Reilly, The Miz, The Revival, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler

 

 

#63: The Young Bucks vs. Roopongi Vice vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. reDRagon (c) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships – Wrestle Kingdom 10 – The very first match of 2016 for me ends up on my list of one of this year’s best.  These four-way matches have often been criticized as flippy-dippy spot fests, which dampened my enthusiasm going in.  But if those were this division’s criticisms for a while, this match did much to evolve and mature the style.  The match did not start as a tornado, but as a genuine sequence of one-team-gets-an-advantage, then the next has their turn, etc.  And here’s the important point – they weren’t racing through them.  The speed was still there, but just at more sensible pace, one that gave moves just a bit more time to breathe.

Matt Sydal & Ricochet, each wrestling one of the biggest matches of their careers, shone like stars.  These two just have an innate confidence that breeds charisma.  They carry themselves like total professionals.  Ricochet did a handful of outrageously impressive athletic maneuvers that you didn’t think were humanly possible, as usual.  Cody Hall interfered in some big moments and influenced the flow of the match.  A coordinated 8-man suplex that grew steadily bigger until Romero couldn’t even find his position was super fun.  There was a short sequence where Romero got to look like the king.  Not quite enough reDRagon for my taste, but it doesn’t ruin what turned out to be a fun four-way junior tag match that actually made sense.

 

 

#62: Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT TakeOver: The End – The wonderfully energetic NXT TakeOver fans set the tone by singing Nakamura’s theme song at multiple stages of this match.  After some mat wrestling to start, Aries dominated.  He worked over Shinsuke’s knee, neck, and back for an extended period until Nakamura countered with a spinning enziguiri.  The King of Strong Style took over with some seriously hard strikes.  A lot of signature offense from both men was countered, which gave the match a fresh feel.  After Aries hit a Death Valley Driver on the apron, he seemed to have the match won.  With Nakamura about to be counted out, Aries decided to fire his kill shot by going for his high-velocity tope between the middle and bottom ropes.  The impact was decisive, but left us with the sense that the match could have gone either way.

 

 

#61: KUSHIDA vs. Kenny Omega (c) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 10 – Several months earlier, and after a prolonged build, KUSHIDA scored the biggest victory of his career when he defeated Kenny Omega for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.  In a surprising turn, Omega won back the title in their rematch leaving us wondering where exactly KUSHIDA’s career was headed.  Evidently, it was headed towards one of the best matches of the year – the rubber match at Wrestle Kingdom 10.

Kenny Omega’s freakish speed, strength and length make him one of the most legit and terrifying strikers in pro wrestling.  Much smaller in size, KUSHIDA wrestled with exquisite technique, figuring out ways to counter Omega at the right moments.  KUSHIDA had Taguchi at his side literally playing the role of Doc Brown, while Omega had the Young Bucks selling his role as the Terminator.  Omega did a masterful job of selling the arm, which led him to performing an impessive one-armed sitout powerbomb.  Great strikes, expert selling, and a completely invested crowd made this an excellent way to start off 2016.

 

 

#60: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Championship – New Beginning Osaka – After the sensatinal performance Shibata and Ishii put together at Wrestle Kingdom 10, we knew this rematch for the NEVER Championship was going to be a stiff, shoot-style affair.  Similar to Undertaker/Lesnar matches (though to a lesser degree), you could feel the mood shift to “shit just got serious” when the bell rung.  It was conveyed in the details, like the way each man covered up when backed into the ropes.  They reprised a motif of their first encounter – letting their opponent try to keep them down with their best shots.  We witnessed literally a solid minute of exchanging forearm shots that grew progressively harder.  They voluntarily traded suplexes.  When Ishii or Shibata returned to his feet, the other would glare as if insulted that they would even attempt to continue.  The crowd audibly rose each time they did.

The frequency with which each man held an advantage eventually lowered until Shibata looked like he was nearly out on his feet.  A reverse into a Nakamura-style armbar led to a great near-submission.  (I am convinced Ishii is one of the best sellers in all of pro wrestling.)  I loved the “holy shit” backhand that hit so hard it could have knocked a cruiserweight to Sendai.  After a battle with tons of “ooos” and “ahhhs” from the crowd, the audience conveyed their appreciation post-match with tons of cheers.  Great stuff!

 

 

#59: AJ Styles & Chris Jericho vs. The New Day (c) for the WWE Tag Team Championships – Raw March 7 – After a rather enjoyable feud between AJ and Y2J to start Styles’s WWE run, the two decided to form the tag team Y2AJ.  These two ring veterans with ample technical and aerial prowess seemed an unexpectedly appropriate fit.  In this match, they ran up against The New Day who, as Michael Cole was eager to put over, had been champions for almost 200 days – a fact that only seems to be mentioned immediately before a team loses their titles.  Styles and Jericho came to the ring wearing brand new Y2AJ T-shirts.  The table seemed set for a title change.

All five men did many of their signature moves, but usually in creative ways.  Trouble in Paradise was countered into the Walls of Jericho.  AJ’s flying forearm was done over the top rope to the floor.  There were about six really good near falls, and one submission spot where I was almost positive Kofi was going to tap to the Walls of Jericho.  Great camera work and excellent timing held everything together.  Big E gets the win by employing a brute strength counter to a Jericho flying maneuver, but the lasting image of this match will be Jericho turning on Styles, performing three Codebreakers and then stuffing the Y2AJ shirt right into AJ’s mouth.  I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that Jericho’s burning of the Y2AJ T-shirt on Smackdown while glaring through flames was a real nice touch.

 

 

#58: Broken Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy – TNA Impact July 12 – THE FINAL DELETION!!!  You have to give credit to Matt Hardy.  Over the course of a couple months, he completely reinvented himself into a deranged, “broken” version of himself.  Of course, he blames his brother Jeff, or should I say “Brother Nero.”  The climax of their feud was an insanely original battle on the Hardy Compound in North Carolina.  This match built for weeks and the payoff was literally fireworks.

We begin with a birthday party (seriously) for Matt’s one-year-old son King Maxell who, according to Matt, will eventually carry on the Hardy name once Brother Nero is deleted.  He instructed his gardener, Señor Benjamin, to “prepare the battlefield for massacre!”  I need that on a T-shirt.  Matt then sent an army of drones to attack Jeff in his own home.  Jeff fended them off with his guitar.  Jeff knew the attack came from Matt because Matt’s face appears in a hologram to inform him that the massacre will be tonight!  “Oh, hell no!” Jeff yells as he chased after Matt’s drone on his dirt bike.  With Jeff distracted, Matt performed the most villainous slow lawnmower ride ever as he diabolically mowed over Jeff’s intricately constructed lawn art.  Matt’s facial expressions on the lawnmower is one of the highlights of 2016.

Referee Craig Keener showed up in the middle of the night to find Matt badly playing a violin given to him by his good friend Antonio Stradivari.  Matt claimed to have foreseen the arrival of Craig Keener in a vision.  Jeff showed up and they started to have a match.  At one point, Jeff did a Swanton Bomb out of a tree onto a ladder.  They shot fireworks at one another.  Matt takes cover under a dilapidated boat named Skarsgård.  They fought into the water (the Lake of Rejuvenation) where Brother Nero disappeared and Willow rose from the lake!  Matt got the advantage, but after pinning Willow, his mask was removed to reveal that it was actually Señor Benjamin.  The switcheroo!  Finally, Jeff went for a Swanton off a dirt hill, but Matt lit the hill on fire, causing Jeff to thud to the earth below.  Matt finally deleted his brother, making Jeff Hardy obsolete.  This whole segment could easily be described as “wrestlecrap” or it can be taken as one of the most hilarious and original things to come out of pro wrestling in a while.  Credit to the Hardys, because I place this in the latter camp.

 

 

#57: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (c) for the Raw Women’s Championship – Raw October 3 – It was great to see this match main event Raw, as it deserved to. With Dana Brooke barred from ringside, Sasha Banks put her body as risk once again. Charlotte’s corkscrew moonsault to the floor was jump-out-of-your-seat awesome. Sasha’s reclaiming the championship was a great moment.

 

 

#56: AJ Styles vs. John Cena – Money in the Bank – The face-off on Raw that started this feud was greeted with dueling “AJ Styles” and “John Cena” chants that lasted the better part of three minutes.  The fervent fan support each had earned over the last decade plus imbued this contest with high energy.  During a contract signing six days previous, Cena compelled AJ to sign a contract that barred Gallows and Anderson from ringside.  AJ hesitated, but ultimately agreed to fight on his own.

AJ Styles dominated most of this match, cutting off Cena each time he started to establish momentum.  Styles seemed a step faster, dodging punches, parrying holds, and at one point almost literally running circles around him.  Sequences like the leapfrog into the Phenomenal Dropkick and the Cena’s flying shoulder blocks into the slam were cut off before completion, then resurrected later when openings presented themselves.  This lack of predictability helped keep the crowd buzzing.  AJ worked the Calf Crusher like a master, and Cena sold it by cancelling his running the ropes before hitting a pained Five Knuckle Shuffle.  As usual, AJ’s selling made Cena look like a million bucks when he was able to muster some offense.  People have criticized the ending, and I admit to not loving it, but least it provided an excuse for a rematch.  I got the feeling that both men held back a bit, so that the feud could be continued at SummerSlam.

 

 

#55: AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Payback – The first major title defense of WWE’s post-Wrestlemania “new era” featured the Phenomenal AJ Styles, fresh off a highly successful run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, versus the establishment champion Roman Reigns.  Over the previous several months the fans had turned against Roman Reigns largely due to the fact that they did not appreciate his being booked above wrestlers the fans thought were more deserving.  In their eyes, few were more deserving than the recent arrival, AJ Styles.

Styles did a magnificent job of bringing the most out of Roman here.  His selling and psychology made Roman looked like a badass monster, and the crowd was invested.  AJ executed a ton of great offense including a Phenomenal Forearm through a table.  When Roman was counted out, Shane McMahon restarted the match as a no-countout.  Roman got himself disqualified by unintentionally hitting Styles with a low blow.  Stephanie McMahon restarted the match as a no-disqualification.  Gallows and Anderson made their inevitable arrival and beat down on Reigns for just a few moments.  As they backed away, the Usos attacked them from behind leading to a melee.  AJ and Reigns both dove over the top rope onto the throng before eventually entering their closing sequence.  After a really fun match, the McMahons announced backstage that a rematch would happen in three weeks at Extreme Rules.  Based on this performance, that decision was made on merit.

 

 

#54: TJP, Johnny Gargano and Kota Ibushi vs. Marty Scurll, Tommy End and Will Ospreay – Evolve Mercury Rising – This was the best of the annual Wrestlemania weekend 6-way tag team matches that I’ve seen. The large crowd was hot and gave this match a ton of energy.  The men in the ring returned that energy by putting their bodies through a physical war.  With so many combinations of wrestlers, the action stayed fresh and the match went long while managing to gain steam throughout.  There were great bouts of coordinated tag team maneuvers, and innovative moves like Will Ospreay hitting a diamond cutter from the top rope as Scurll and End held their opponent higher than the top rope.  The match spilled into the crowd, where Ibushi and Ospreay literally fought onto the rafters before doing moonsaults off of them!  That’s right, moonsaults from the rafters.  Ibushi and Ospreay then had the opportunity to go mano a mano.  They traded stiff lightning-fast strikes before their partners returned for a great closing sequence. It’s surreal to think that four of the six would be involved with WWE by the end of the year, and the other two (Scurll and Ospreay) will probably get there eventually.

 

 

#53: Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho vs. Sheamus – Raw July 25 – This four-way match was set up to determine a new number one contender for the WWE Universal Championship. The winner of this four-way would face in the main event the winner of a four-way won earlier in the evening by Finn Bálor. Everyone looked good hear, included Zayn who felt like the glue that help it together. His precision timing and facial expressions really stood out. Reigns had his moments of dominance, Jericho was intelligent and seemingly always in the right place at the right time, while Sheamus had the opportunity to let loose with an array of power moves. It’s difficult to tell stories in four-way dances, and while this match didn’t transcend this limitation, it was a really fun ride with tons of near falls that built to a great pay off.

 

 

#52: The Revival (c) vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Chiampa – NXT TakeOver Brooklyn II – This match served as the set up to their rematch, which was not only my favorite tag team match of 2016, but one of my favorite tag team matches of all time. The finish with Gargano tapping out was heartbreaking, but necessary given what was to come.

 

 

#51: American Alpha vs. The Revival (c) for the NXT Tag Team Championships – TakeOver: Dallas – It is amazing that wrestlers like Chad Gable, Jason Jordan, Dash Wilder, and Scott Dawson who are so young to the business can put together a match so subtle and sophisticated.  The Revival has learned how to execute expertly timed, old-school heel tactics and misdirection, like when Dash climbed under the ring to pull Jordan off the apron and prevented the hot tag, or when he covered Dawson’s feet with a towel while he was in a pinning situation to add leverage.  For their part Gable and Jordan came out brimming with energy and excitement and it carried over to their work in the ring.  Stereo suplexes that Dash and Dawson tried (unsuccessfully) to counter by grabbing hands as they faced each other was a nice touch.  There were some great near falls, a reversal of roles where Gable saved Jordan, and a blind tag that gave The Revival a taste of their own medicine.  The tears in Jason Jordan’s eyes conveyed just how much this victory meant to him.  Watch a great way to kick off one of wrestling’s best shows of the year!

 

 

#50: Asuka vs. Bayley (c) for the NXT Women’s Championship – NXT TakeOver: Dallas – Asuka had run through all of the competition NXT’s Women’s Division had to offer and had earned an undefeated record.  Bayley had established herself as a champion worthy of the title – a performer who had put on arguably the best WWE’s Women’s match in history at TakeOver: Brooklyn.  In this contest Bayley pushed Asuka further than she had ever been pushed before, a situation that created great drama.  You got the feeling that Asuka had been fighting with children until this point and now there was a real challenger in front of her.  Asuka eventually wore Bayley down with strikes, dropkicks, and then finally the Asuka Lock, which Bayley fought bravely but eventually passed out to.  It was a great finish in that Bayley never gave up and just had to sit on the floor after the match listening to Asuka’s music and celebration as she tried to regain her strength.  In a post-match interview she claimed that felt as if she had let her fans down.  Given the quality of this contest, I would beg to differ.

 

 

#49: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – New Beginning Osaka – To develop his new persona, Goto came to the ring looking like 1990s Hakushi – white body and face paint detailed in black with what looked to be artfully drawn Japanese characters.  Okada, on the other hand, looked as confident – borderline arrogant – as I’ve ever seen him.  Goto did a good job of slowly establishing himself as the heel.  He didn’t abide by a clean break.  He beat up Okada viciously on the outside.  Ironically, the boos he generated were accompanied by growing cheers.  After working holds for a while, Goto hit a second rope Ushigoroshi followed by a Shouten Kai, but Okada was in the ropes.  Somehow Okada hit a quick Rainmaker Clothesline, but was too beaten down to make the cover.  That set off the last four minutes, which were excellent.  There were a ton of attempts to hit the Rainmaker Clothesline and Shouten Kai by Okada and Goto, respectively.  Some impacts hit, an equal number were countered or dodged in a display of talented chain wrestling.  The finish was decisive and left both men looking strong.

 

 

#48: Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee (c) for the CMLL World Lightweight Title – Fantastica Mania Night 2 – The lucha libre wrestling style is predicated on high flying maneuvers that routinely defy logic.  Strikes can seem like taps.  Big spots appear contrived.  Needless to say, this midcard match on a relatively unimportant show between two luchadors I had never heard of left me not expecting much.  Then Kamaitachi and Dragon Lee got to work and those expectations were totally blown away!

Perhaps because this was my first exposure to either of them, the sheer number of incredibly innovative, ridiculously athletic moves shocked me.  Kamaitachi performed rolling northern lights suplexes.  Dragon Lee did a Fosbury Flop that transitioned into a hurricanrana from the ring apron to the floor.  He followed with a back senton from the top turnbuckle to the floor.  Let me repeat that: Dragon Lee went to the top turnbuckle then threw himself towards the floor back first.  Sick.

The impacts of these moves gave the match a distinct flavor – part lucha, part Japanese strong style.  Kamaitachi told a story by working over Dragon Lee’s knee for the entire match, leading to a wonderful near-submission.  There were a number of sequences in which they were countering each other so quickly that you could barely catch your breath.  The last few minutes saw something close to ten dramatic near falls.  These men put their bodies on the line and created – almost out of nowhere – one of the best matches of the year.

 

 

#47: KUSHIDA (c) vs. BUSHI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – New Beginning Nagata – This was the blueprint for how to book a babyface overcoming all odds.  Dastardly heel antics, a double misting, the gradual transformation in the behaviors of the Young Lions at ringside.  I feel like KUSHIDA came out of this looking like a superhero.  BUSHI had a couple awesome near falls at the end of the match.

 

 

#46: Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, Sami Zayn, The Miz, Stardust, and Kevin Owens (c) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship – Wrestlemania 32 – This car crash was also, according to Zack Ryder, the biggest moment of his career. It’s nice to see a guy who works so hard get rewarded, even if he did wind up losing the title the next night on Raw!

 

 

#45: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Intercontinental Championship (Last Man Standing Match) – Royal Rumble – This rematch from TLC was Owens’s chance to regain the Intercontinental Championship.  He had stalked and tortured Ambrose for weeks, building up tension, anger and violence that would culminate at the Royal Rumble in this Last Man Standing match.

During his time in Ring of Honor, Kevin Steen excelled in hardcore matches.  This 21-minute classic proved he hadn’t lost his touch.  As required by a feud of this nature, there was no feeling out process.  Both men laid into each other with forearms and chops from the opening bell.  They battled with kendo sticks and chairs in all sorts of combinations.  The barricade was broken, Michael Cole was collided with, and both sets of ring steps were sent flying.  But the key element was the ferocity Owens and Ambrose brought to this fight.  Neither man would allow himself to give up, even after some incredibly high-impact moves.  The match will perhaps be best remembered for three big table spots, the last of which may go down as an iconic Owens moment.

 

 

#44: Gran Metalik vs. Zack Saber Jr. – CWC Semis – This was the best Metalik (who wrestled as Mascada Dorada in Mexico and Japan) match I’d ever seen. There was hot action bell-to-bell including a collection of lightning fast technical counters, stiff strikes, and even a head butt thrown in!

 

 

#43: AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in an Extreme Rules Match – Extreme Rules – WWE did a great job of building this rematch from Payback three weeks earlier.  Styles and Reigns remained laser-focused on one another, with the intensity between them ratcheting up a notch each successive week.  The Club of Gallows and Anderson and The Bloodline of the Usos clashed in support of their leaders, though AJ seemed reluctant to accept the assistance.  After AJ balked at attacking Reigns with a chair at the end of Raw, and Reigns hit him with one anyway, it was on!

To put it bluntly – AJ Styles took a royal beating in this match.  Roman’s offense was impressive and delivered with great force.  He turned a Razor’s Edge into a sitout powerbomb.  He gave AJ a high-rotation back body drop through the announce table.  He connected with a couple vicious spears.  AJ gave almost as good as he got with his usual array of high-octane offense including a Styles Clash onto a chair.  The 1interference from The Club and The Usos was limited to just a couple minutes of action, and seemed balanced for each side.  This was effective in maintaining the idea that neither man was a saint, and this was a battle fought in a gray area.  While the surprise return of Seth Rollins wasn’t technically part the match, it certainly capped the night off well.

 

 

#42: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (c) for the NEVER Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 10 – The NEVER Championship has come to represent the extremely hard-hitting Japanese strong style largely by virtue of the efforts of Ishii and Makabe in 2015.  Shibata not only kept pace with last year’s classics, but in my view, improved upon them.  The match featured some of the stiffest strikes you would see all year.  Initially, each man left himself open to prove he could take the other’s best shots.  There were countless wicked counterstrikes that demonstrated consummate toughness and kickouts at a count of one that would have leveled normal wrestlers.  Numerous instances of fighting spirit gave me goose bumps.  Now if only I could get the sound of clunking skulls out of my head.

 

 

#41: Steve Corino vs. BJ Whitmer in a Fight Without Honor – Best in the World – It’s hard for me to think of a feud in modern professional wrestling that has built for as long as this one has without a match to support it.  What started as Steve Corino consistently criticizing BJ Whitmer on commentary metamorphosized into one of the most bitter and angry feuds in recent memory.  BJ showing up at Corino’s house was one of those creepy steps that took an already hot feud to the next level.

This was absolutely brutal. And when I say that, I don’t mean like a hard-hitting TLC match, I mean like Axl versus Ian Rotten from the old ECW.  Within the first minute, Steve Corino lost a tooth.  There was blood, rubbing alcohol thrown into the blood, vicious shots to the head with chairs, and broken pieces of table. There was a sock filled with quarters.  There was a beer bottle smashed over Whitmer’s skull, followed by Corino’s cutting Whitmer open using the broken shard.  Both men’s wearing of white amplified the effect of the blood.  Near the end they brutalized each other with strong style strikes.  It seemed like Whitmer was finally going to get his comeuppance, when the lights turned off and Kevin Sullivan appeared. It made the finish seem a little flat and rushed, though it’s difficult to say such a thing given the physical toll that both men put themselves through.  Regardless, very few (if any) matches this year reached this level of hardcore-edness, and even if they did, it’s hard to imagine anyone will deserve the mantle more.

 

 

#40: Kota Ibushi vs. TJ Perkins – CWC Semis – This was the best TJ Perkins match I’ve ever seen. Everything Kota Ibushi did was outstanding. There were stiff kicks and some great near falls, like with TJP kicked out of the Golden Star Powerbomb.

 

 

#39: The Revival vs. American Alpha (c) for the NXT Tag Team Championships – NXT TakeOver: The End – This is going to seem like a weird comparison, but this rematch for the NXT Tag Team Championships reminded me of Bill Clinton’s speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.  Clinton’s remarks were truly masterful, a work of rhetorical genius.  His turns of phrase, argument structure, and employment of metaphor made the best case for President Obama’s reelection of the entire campaign.  I’ve watched it multiple times, and each time I do I discover a new trick, a new layer of quality.  It was flat out brilliant.

Like Clinton’s speech, this match rewards multiple viewings.  It was constructed in a way that only two teams with massive amounts of chemistry can manage.  The Revival were spectacular with their interference and expertly timed misdirection (is there a team that’s done it better?), many of which occurred faster than I could consciously process.  Gable was beaten down early, but in a way that never sacrificed the match’s momentum.  Jordan’s expected hot tag was followed by a peppering of clotheslines, dropkicks, and suplexes.  There were a number of really cool spots, including a Doomsday Device that was countered into a belly-to-belly suplex.  These teams displayed moves you rarely see, and counters to those rarities.  I won’t spoil all of the details, largely because I haven’t discovered them all yet!  Just watch it.

 

 

#38: Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA (c) for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship – Invasion Attack – The 22-year old Will Ospreay is a British sensation.  His innovative, lightning-fast aerial offense and technical prowess have put him in the class of wrestling’s elite high-flyers.  He so impressed Kazuchika Okada that Okada offered him a spot in his Chaos faction and lobbied New Japan to grant him this IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match against KUSHIDA.

As excellent as Ospreay is through the air, this match exemplified just how good an in-ring storyteller he is as well.  Both men started with an impressive chain of innovative counters to wet the crowd’s collective palette.  Then KUSHIDA went after Ospreay’s injured left arm, which completely changed the match.  Ospreay attempted a handstand springboard and collapsed upon discovering that it couldn’t bear his weight.  Like a shark smelling blood, KUSHIDA honed in on the arm, attempting to weaken it further before applying his signature Hoverboard Lock.  In response, Ospreay modified his offense on the fly (get it!?) to perform the same maneuvers without applying pressure to the arm.  His hands-free springboard off the ropes into an enziguiri was a thing of beauty.

KUSHIDA hit a spectacular Spanish Fly-like top rope flip into the Hoverboard Lock, something I’ve personally never seen before.  The match then transitioned into “fighting spirit” mode where both men exchanged stiff strikes.  The series of counters and near falls that followed near the end was technical wizardry, edge-of-your-seat action.  Irrespective of the finish, this was a star-making performance for Will Ospreay, and one of the better matches of 2016.

 

 

#37: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose (c) for the WWE Championship – Battleground – Given the talent level and history of the men involved, it was only a matter of time until the former members of The Shield faced each other for pro wrestling’s greatest prize.  Roman was months removed from his Wrestlemania christening as the next ace of the company.  Seth Rollins vacated the title due to a knee injury, reclaimed it in an earlier match against Reigns, and then lost it immediately to Dean Ambrose.  The cashing in of the Money in the Bank briefcase meant that all three men had been WWE Champion within a ten-minute span.  This three way seemed the natural progression of this story.

Yet of a couple of unexpected factors played into this match.  Roman Reigns had been suspended a little more than 30 days prior due to failing a drug test.  This set the usually hostile crowd even more against him.  It also set the possibility that he would immediately win back the title lower than it would have been otherwise.  In addition, this show was just six days removed from the brand split.  Ambrose and Rollins had been drafted to Smackdown Live and Raw, respectively.  With Raw being the flagship, it was entirely possible that Rollins would win here.

This was the classic example of a well laid out WWE main event.  There were no dead spots.  Everything flowed.  Each man was in the right spot at the right time, like a spot-on comedy set where the hits keep rolling.  Roman still looked every bit the monster, but was jointly powerbombed through the announce table.  As Ambrose walked away for just a moment, Seth nailed him in the back with a chair, a nice nod to the original dissolution of the group.  Rollins was all over the place, even flying into frame to break up a count as if he’d dropped from the rafters.  This was a strong match with a sensible finish – part being in the right place at the right time, and part getting the job done on your own.

 

 

#36: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Bálor – NXT 344 – Billed as a dream match, Nakamura and Bálor would battle for the first time in NXT.  It was highly suspected before the match that Bálor was on the verge of getting called up to the main roster.  This match thus stood as a top guy doing the job as he goes out of the company.  From that perspective, the result of the match was never in question.  And despite that, this match made me believe that Finn Bálor could actually pull the upset.

There were several reasons why.  Finn came to the ring, not as the demon, but as a man ready for a major fight.  There was something special about the way he carried himself.  It felt like he knew he was better than Nakamura.  Shinsuke’s entrance was great as usual, amplified by the singing of the building.  The same crowd was focused and invested throughout, furthering the big fight feel. Bálor went deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out a number of moves and submissions I’ve never seen before.  It made everything seem fresher, more unexpected.  Nakamura spent most of the match selling a brutal attack on his left knee.  These men did not hold back.  This was a strong style match and the kicks, chops and forearms connected solidly.  Bálor performing the Coup de Grâce as a counter to the Kinshasa let to one of the closest two-counts I’ve ever seen.  It made my heart jump.  I wish it aired without commercials, but regardless, this is well worth checking out.

 

 

#35: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (c) (with Dana Brooke) for the WWE Women’s Championship – Raw July 25 – Charlotte and Sasha Banks rose through NXT together.  Their talent and hard work elevated women’s wrestling not just in WWE, but globally.  Their three-way match with Becky Lynch stole the show at Wrestlemania.  It exemplified the potential of women’s wrestling now and into the future.  Since April, Charlotte had been chugging along as the newly christened WWE Women’s Champion while Sasha largely nursed an injury.  Now, on the first post-draft Raw, Sasha was going to get her chance to leave her mark on a new era.

They locked up hard to start.  Dana Brooke quickly interfered by grabbing Sasha’s leg.  After Sasha hit her double-knee Thesz Press from the apron to the floor, she tossed the Women’s Championship belt into Dana’s arms and played dead, a la her wrestling role model Eddie Guerrero.  The referee saw it and Dana was ejected.

Now a clear one-on-one match, the psychology of the match began to develop.  Sasha showed her swagger, catching a kick and yelling, “I don’t think so!”  They held nothing back.  Sasha dove through the ropes and nearly broke herself in half upon landing.  Charlotte hit a moonsault from the top rope to the floor.  When Natural Selection couldn’t put Sasha away, she locked in the Figure Four.  They traded hard shots, but Sasha managed to get to the ropes.  Sasha managed to lock in the Bank Statement, but when Charlotte escaped she declared, “You will never beat me.”  Sasha’s immediate response was to lock the move in again, ultimately tapping the champion out.  It was a beautiful crowning moment, with the crowd chanting, “You deserve it.”  In pure boss fashion, she used the mic to explain how great she is, as Charlotte backed up the ramp in anger and disbelief over what had just transpired.  She would ultimately get her rematch several weeks later at SummerSlam.

 

 

#34: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens (c) for the WWE Universal Championship – Hell in a Cell – After Seth took control early, Owens exploited Rollins’s injured back to completely dominate the next phase of the match. Eventually the two men exchanged a GREAT back and forth sequence to bring the alive. Rollins followed a suplex of Owens onto the apron with a pair of topes. Owens countered with a fire extinguisher shot to Rollins’s gut, then an “accidental” spraying of the referee. As the door opened to let the ref out, Jericho locked himself in, leading to a sea of Y2J chants.

After some back and forth, Rollins pedigreed Jericho, then powerbombed Owens through a pair of tables. Rollins huge frog splash seemed like the killing blow, but Jericho interfered with the referee, causing a furious Rollins to beat on him with a chair. Owens took advantage of the distraction with a pop-up powerbomb, but Rollins kicked out. The two-on-one advantage eventually overwhelmed Rollins, who suffered a decisive DDT on a chair, followed by a powerbomb through two more to retain the championship. This was a great match despite the weird crowd reaction that resulted from Rollin’s face turn coupled with Owens being a heel the fans love.

 

 

#33: Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin – G1 Climax Night 4 – This G1 main event at Korakuen Hall absolutely rocked!  Naito worked the knee, Elgin sold expertly, and it remained a focal point of the story for the entire match, eventually leading to the finish.  Despite the pain, Elgin would not surrender, countering all of Naito’s signature offense with his peerless display of power.  Big impacts were given time to breathe.  A collection of great counters heightened audience investment.  The way the pin was arrived at was smart and fluid.  It was a clear victory, but neither man really lost here.

 

 

#32: Tetsuya Naito vs. Katsuyori Shibata – G1 Climax Night 8 – Shibata entered with both his knee and shoulder heavily taped.  He also entered angry and not willing to take any nonsense from Naito.  This led to his propelling Naito at high velocity into the guardrails, sending him toppling into the crowd.  Naito responding by wrapping Shibata’s knee in the guardrail, then executing a dropkick from the apron into the guardrail.  Naito focused his offense on Shibata’s knee, mostly with a collection of excellent submissions.  Naito’s taunting allowed Shibata to gather his fighting spirit, and the battle equalized.  The end sequence was really snug and told a great story.  I’d pay to watch these two guys go at it any day of the week.

 

 

#31: Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – TLC – AJ Styles bumped like only he can, causing all of Ambrose’s offense look outstanding. The finish will likely be remembered for James Ellsworth’s pushing Ambrose off the top of the ladder into tables on the outside, allowing AJ to reclaim his championship. However, it should not diminish what was one of the better matches of 2016.

 

 

#30: John Cena vs. AJ Styles – SummerSlam – John Cena calls himself the “face that runs the place,” while AJ Styles just believes he’s the best in the world. This contest was an instant classic with a clean finish(!) that truly helped elevate Styles into the top position on Smackdown Live. Styles would use his massive victory during what would end up being SummerSlam’s best match to launch a WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign that would dominate the blue brand for the remainder of the year.

 

 

#29: Ricochet, Will Ospreay, & Matt Sydal vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks – PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 – Make no mistake; this was a spotfest, but they were REALLY good spots. This match was chock full of synchronized triple team maneuvers that only these guys can pull off. Flips and huge bumps were present, of course, but then there was Adam Cole kicking Ospreay’s head off as he was doing back flip.  Ospreay bit Adam in the dick. There was a Doomsday Device onto the floor.  Ricochet’s amazing dive to the floor, reverse Frankensteiner from the top, and high elevation 450 splashes were sights to behold. This match contained a slew of great, high impact combos, one huge move after another, just flowing into one another.  The finale was maybe the best I saw all year. As Nick Jackson sprung off the top rope for an Indytaker, Ospreay intercepted with his own springboard ace crusher, followed by a SHOOTING STAR MELTZER DRIVER. Oh, then they hit triple synchronized shooting star presses. Seriously, buy the Blu-Ray just for this match.

 

 

#28: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kazuchika Okada – G1 Climax Night 13 – This match started so hot, and with such high-impact moves that there were plausible near falls in the first thirty seconds!  These two members of CHAOS know each other exceptionally well.  This familiarity no doubt played a large part in the chemistry they displayed in the ring.  From the outset, they told the story that Ishii was every bit the match for Okada.  Once the crowd caught on to that, they were hooked.  As usual, Okada was very fluid, but Ishii matched his counters every step of the way.  Okada and Ishii kept trying for the Rainmaker Clothesline and brainbuster, respectively, but had to settle for other high impact moves that couldn’t quite finish up their opponent, but which lead to a collection of outstanding near falls.  The finish was genuinely satisfying.  I just sat in my chair muttering, “Man, that was really, really good.”

 

 

#27: Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. The Miz (c) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship – Extreme Rules – The dawn of the “New Era” of WWE saw the elevation of three of the best wrestlers in the world – Zayn, Owens, and Cesaro – into a more prominent position on the card.  The reintroduction of The Miz’s wife Maryse breathed new life into what was otherwise a very stale character.  These pieces came together at Extreme Rules and the result was a nearly 20-minute long classic Intercontinental Championship match.

Four-ways can degenerate into chaos, but these four men did a great job of balancing one-on-one action with all-out collective mayhem.  Cesaro looked like a machine, dishing out ample uppercuts and surviving a ton of punishment.  Sami Zayn had the opportunity to show off more of his wrestling chops pulling out the Blue Thunderbomb and a Code Red that brought the crowd to its feet.  Owens played the brutal antagonist, cutting off Sami every chance he could get and doling out his fair share of kicks, cannonballs, and suplexes.  Maryse injected herself at just the right moments to maintain Miz’s heat.  There were tons of near falls, with everyone hitting their finishers multiple times, only to have them broken up.  The entire crowd was on its feet and even resurrected the chant “fight forever.”  In the end, Sami Zayn’s enmity towards Kevin Owens proved the difference, and distracted him enough to lose the match.  The announcers immediately nominated this as a match-of-the-year candidate, and I’m inclined to agree.

 

 

#26: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega (c) for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match – Dominion – After Kenny Omega claimed the Intercontinental Championship vacated by the departing Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi was slated as the next challenger. An injury to Tanahashi made his partner, Michael Elgin, the natural replacement. Elgin and Omega would collide in the first ladder match in New Japan Pro Wrestling history. They could have taken things slowly, building a base and educating the audience to ladder matches slowly like Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon did at Wrestlemania 10. They could have. But they did not.

The early sections of the match were well paced, with each move allowed time to develop and breathe. And though they were working in front of a less educated Japanese audience, Omega and Elgin kept the moves original, even from an American standpoint. Before the match, Red Shoes found the Young Bucks hiding under the ring and ejected them, setting the tone for what Kenny Omega intended to do to win this match. There was a lot of interference, especially at the end. We saw a run ins from Adam Page, Takahashi, the Young Bucks, Captain New Japan, Yoshi Tatsu, Matt Sydal, and Ricochet.  It got chaotic.

But at the core was an intense, violent, painful looking affair between two of the best wrestlers in the world.  It went approximately 35 minutes and both men took a royal beating.   Michael Elgin executed some ridiculous power moves from high up on the ladder. Kenny Omega did the same in ways that utilized his unique combination of power and agility.  The end of the match was heavily booked, but it did succeed in creating a lot of drama for the final two minutes or so, and for that, despite the interference, it has to be given a lot of credit. You could’ve walked out of this match feeling that the interference diminished the victory, but I didn’t leave feeling that way.  It’s for this reason that I make new Japan’s first ladder match one of my favorites of the year.

 

 

#25: Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA (c) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Dominion – The first contest between Ospreay and KUSHIDA at Invasion Attack a few month’s prior was a star-making debut performance for Ospreay. In this rematch, Ospreay was coming off his victory at the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, giving New Japan a great way to pair the two of them back together quickly.

This match had pretty much everything you could love about wrestling. They started off fast with a series of counters. KUSHIDA worked over Ospreay’s left arm, while Will tried frantically to contort his body every which way to escape and relieve the pressure. The match also had its fair share of stiff, strong style strikes, which heightened the intensity. After Ospreay was able to distance himself a bit from KUSHIDA, they began a series of counter wrestling sequences, with each having an average of four moves countered before a great finishing impact.  Will pulled out all of his amazingly innovative offense, while KUSHIDA was smooth and on top of his game. The final sequence was a ton of fun, and the finish helped establish a star while the loser came out looking strong. This is the way all wrestling should be booked.

 

 

#24: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet – Best of the Super Jr.’s XXIII – Day 6 – The Taz Show had a gimmick this year in which listeners could call in and suggest all-time dream matches between cruiserweights.  The match that immediately came to mind for me was this one – Will Ospreay versus Ricochet.  These two men are arguably the best high-flyers in the world right now.  Their physical skills allow them to things literally no one else is capable of.  But in addition to their off-the-charts athleticism, both men have the capacity to wrestle a technical style, to execute stiff strikes, to tell a story in the ring, and most importantly, to connect with the crowd.

This was, in a word, dazzling.  The match itself is very difficult to recap because the moves they performed were so original that I don’t know what their names are!  There was a sequence right at the beginning of the match where both men were bouncing off the ropes trying to get an advantage with an extended sequence of strikes or holds, and every time there was a counter. It got faster and fiercer until both men did handsprings off of the opposite ropes, backflips and each landed with a signature pose facing each other in the middle of the ring.  They flew like superheroes.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

I would describe much of the match as surprising and sudden.  I watched it while eating lunch at work but still couldn’t help but yell “oh my god!!!” out loud at least six times.  Will Ospreay followed up a cartwheel corkscrew Fosbury Flop — which itself is a thing of absolute beauty — with an inverted hurricanrana from the apron.  It was so sick I literally strained a muscle in my neck responding to it.  Each counter seemed to build anticipation.  You could hear the crowd’s “oooos” and “ahhhh” growing in intensity as the match continued. This was a Japanese audience chanting, “This is awesome” and “holy shit.”  The conclusion of the match saw a stiff exchange of uppercuts, a phenomenal forearm by Ricochet, an attempt at the Rainmaker clothesline, Ricochet’s signature suplex/brainbuster combination, which was reversed, until Will executed a running Spanish Fly in the middle of the ring.  The finish of the match saw a jumping Ace Cutter from the second turnbuckle halfway across the ring. It was absolutely spectacular.  Afterwards the men shook hands, intensely, as the crowd chanted, “one more match.” Boy, do I hope we get it.

 

 

#23: Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA – Best of the Super Jr.’s XXIII – Day 1 – This was all sorts of awesome.  These two men met in the finals of last year’s Best of the Super Jr.’s tournament and delivered one of the best matches of the year.  Kyle O’Reilly entered Day 1’s main event looking to avenge that loss, and once again these two produced a classic.  There were two themes running through this match.  First, O’Reilly was looking to weaken KUSHIDA’s leg while KUSHIDA worked over O’Reilly’s arm.  As the match wore on, both were selling worsening injuries to those body parts.  Second, they were countering each other’s moves with a fluidity and grace rarely seen in a wrestling match.  The result was a barrage of submission attempts that gradually wore each man down.  When the fight broke to the outside, O’Reilly crushed KUSHIDA’s knee over a chair, sat him in it, and kicked him in the chest HARD.  When he tried to do a running knee from the apron, KUSHIDA executed an insane counter into an armbar.  After KUSHIDA’s Hoverboard Lock almost submitted O’Reilly, they fought to the top rope.  Kyle’s inverted exploder from the top rope was countered into a cross body for another great near fall.  O’Reilly then grabbed KUSHIDA’s arms and repeatedly, brutally stomped him in the face.  He then manipulated KUSHIDA into a reverse cross-armbreaker to tap him out.  After the match, O’Reilly announced that he would win this year’s tournament, and received a ton of cheers from the crown in response.  This marked a fantastic start to the tournament.

 

 

#22: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Katsuyori Shibata (c) for the NEVER Openweight Championship – King of Pro Wrestling – Kyle O’Reilly earned a victory over Shibata at Field on Honor in Brooklyn a couple months prior.  This MMA-style rematch for the NEVER Championship exceeded the original by a fair margin.  O’Reilly had bulked up, adding close to 20 pounds of muscle in his attempt to move up to the heavyweight division.  If this match is any indication, that transition will be a successful one.  They started with catch-as-catch-can mat wrestling, followed by a barrage of stiff strikes and submission attempts.  O’Reilly exploited every advantage he could, working knee bars, cross arm breakers, and rear chokes.  Shibata absorbed an absurd amount of punishment and endured the pain of an injured shoulder.  O’Reilly and Shibata showed a great deal of respect for each other after the match, helping elevate O’Reilly in the process.  Great stuff.

 

 

#21: Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte (c) for the WWE Women’s Championship – Wrestlemania 32 – Credit goes to the women for delivering the consensus best match at this year’s Wrestlemania. This match for the newly minted women’s championship (so long divas) imbued the contest with major importance, which gives it a nudge up. Sasha, Becky and Charlotte competed at a level that exceeded their best collective matches in NXT and set the stage for what would ultimately be a banner year in women’s wrestling.

 

 

#20: Chris Jericho vs. Cesaro vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dean Ambrose – Money in the Bank Ladder Match – The winner of this six-way (originally slated to be seven-way) ladder match would earn the infamous briefcase with a contract to face the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at a time an place of his choosing. After an excellent match that fired so fast as to be a challenge to faithfully recap, Dean Ambrose emerged victorious. Ambrose would go on to cash in the briefcase later in the evening against Seth Rollins, leading to a situation in which all three former members of The Shield held wrestling’s top championship within a five minute span. Not a bad night’s work for the Lunatic Fringe.

 

 

#19: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (c) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Dominion – This was the rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Naito had won at Invasion Attack. That match was an instant classic, partly by virtue of that crowd’s unadulterated embrace of Naito. At Dominion, however, the crowd offered heavy support for Okada. Los Ingobernables were ejected from ringside, leading to the true one-on-one contest Okada had been asking for.

This match followed the classic Okada script – smart wrestling at the start followed by some big moves, then a closing sequence better than almost anyone else on the planet can construct. During the contest, Okada proved himself the master of multi-move wrestling chains. The fluidity of them was like a dance that needs to be watched. The finish genuinely surprised me, but New Japan booking is usually well thought out. Both men would be well positioned in advance of Wrestle Kingdom 11.

 

 

#18: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship – Backlash – For whatever reason, Dean Ambrose’s reign as champion hadn’t really been clicking.  Possibly his personality doesn’t fit what the championship requires.  Or maybe the way he’d been booked over the past year and that fact that he won the championship using Money in the Bank had diminished the accomplishment.  In contrast, nothing had been off with AJ Styles.  Since his debut at the Royal Rumble eight months earlier, AJ had proven that he is arguably the best wrestler in the world.  His matches with Jericho and Reigns had been excellent.  His recent win over John Cena at SummerSlam was viewed as an instant classic.  Moreover, the character and swagger of AJ Styles had never been more spot-on. The table had been set for a title change.  The build-up was straightforward.  AJ thought he was the new “face that runs the place” and Ambrose disagreed. In the previous week Ambrose had antagonized Styles with a shot to the groin.

Despite AJ’s being a heel, the crowd was clearly behind him in this match to the point where the fans were booing Ambrose.  This was a hard-fought affair with high effort.  AJ toyed with Ambrose early, manipulating him into pinning combinations to send the message that he could win at any time.  Styles is a fantastic seller, and he absorbed a few brutal looking shots, including a headfirst catapult into the ring post.  They fought outside the ring, over the announce table, and briefly into the crowd.  Both men hit almost all of their signature offense.  Ambrose did his top turnbuckle elbow all the way to the floor.  The finish saw AJ return the favor as he low-blowed Ambrose behind the referee’s back and hit the Styles Clash for the victory.  AJ Styles had become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion in less than a year (let that sink in for a moment), and in a marked departure from most main events we’ve seen these days, he only needed one finisher to do it.

 

 

#17: John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles (c) for the WWE World Championship – No Mercy – For the first time that I can remember, the main event of the PPV kicked off the show (largely to avoid running into the second Trump/Clinton debate).  Smackdown had done a great job of building up the tension between these three.  AJ just thought he was the best, which annoyed Cena and pissed off Ambrose who lost his title to AJ after a low blow.  Cena and Ambrose exchanged some really great promos with Ambrose calling Cena a “part timer,” Cena responding that he flies all over the world representing WWE and saying that Ambrose isn’t good enough to even hang around him, followed by Ambrose’s indignation that Cena would deign to think he knows how hard he works, or that he’s better than him. Great action here.

 

 

#16: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (c) for the Raw Women’s Championship – Raw November 28 – Charlotte was back in “Flair Country,” her home town of Charlotte, North Carolina, and she was excited all evening for her post match victory celebration over her top rival, Sasha Banks. Charlotte’s retaining her title seemed to be the result following a double countout, but Raw GM Mick Foley wouldn’t have it. He ordered the match to be restarted in the main event as a no-disqualification, falls count anywhere match.

Charlotte and Sasha held nothing back, delivering one of the stiffest women’s matches you are likely to see. Notable spots include Charlotte executing a moonsault from the Raw announce table to the floor, and Charlotte sweeping Sasha’s legs out from underneath her on the apron sending her crashing into the floor and ring steps. They threw each other around ringside, into hard objects, and introduced to kendo stick that Sasha used to hit Charlotte in the stomach as a way to escape the Figure 8. They fought into the crowd and Sasha thrust Charlotte between a metal railing and applied the Bank Statement, giving Charlotte no option but to tap out. Ric Flair coming out to congratulate Sasha and Charlotte’s anguished cries were nice touches on a really fun match.

 

 

#15: Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz (c) for the Intercontinental Championship in a Title vs. Career Match – No Mercy – Dolph Ziggler had been positioned for the previous few months as the guy who couldn’t get the job done in big matches.  He was the first challenger to Dean Ambrose’s WWE Championship post-brand split and came up short at SummerSlam (in an underwhelming match).  He challenged the Miz twice for the Intercontinental Championship and lost due to outside interference.  In perhaps the strongest stretch of Miz’s career, he cut scathing promos on Ziggler, even bringing back members of the Spirit Squad to mock his WWE origins.  To prove that he still belonged, Dolph put his career on the line in exchange for one last shot at the Intercontinental Championship.

The Miz dominated most of this match.  He knew all of Dolph’s moves and had a counter for almost anything he threw at him.  The pace was brisk throughout, as it should have been given the stakes.  Miz continued to taunt Daniel Bryan by breaking out a number of the Smackdown GM’s former moves.  Eventually the Miz injured Dolph’s ankle and even ripped off his boot to amplify the pain.  On one leg Dolph fought out of submission attempts, finishing maneuvers, outside interference, an exposed turnbuckle, and even the return of Kenny and Mikey to earn a huge victory.  The Miz was devastated, and the crowd was elated.  The moments after the match when Ziggler embraced the crowd and absorbed their acclimation looked great.  Excellent storytelling here from start to finish. This might have been the best match of either man’s career.

 

 

#14: Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto – G1 Climax Finals – If you asked most people to predict which two wrestlers would be facing off in the finals of this year’s G1 Climax, you could have made big money on the long odds of Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto.  Yet despite it all, both men had a great tournament and deserved to be in this spot.  The crowd seemed largely behind Omega, particularly when Goto attempted to exploit the knee injury Omega suffered at the hands of Naito the previous night.  Goto’s attack was a great way to continue the story and sell the point that he would do what was necessary to win.

While the match couldn’t exceed the ridiculously high bar set by the A Block and B Block finals, this was still my third favorite match of the entire tournament.  As usual, Kenny Omega wrestled like he could never get tired, and Goto fought with a fierce fighting spirit.  After a lengthy back and forth, the finale saw Omega’s numerous attempts to hit the One Winged Angel.  When he finally hit it and got the three count, the building exploded, as Kenny Omega had become the very first foreign wrestler to ever win the G1 Climax tournament.  His victory speech given in both English and Japanese was a nice touch that showed how he is really one of the very best in the world today.

 

 

#13: Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander – CWC Round 2 – This was easily the best I’ve ever seen Cedric Alexander look, and I consider myself to be a very solid Cedric Alexander fan.  This match had everything – a delicious blend of mat wrestling, chains, counters, high-flying, strong-style, and fighting spirit. Cedric had cut over 20 pounds to be in the tournament, and he looked great as a result.  The fact that he sacrificed a Ring of Honor contract for this opportunity made him a sentimental favorite.

Once they got going, this was fast as hell and featured a number of long, gorgeous chains. Cedric dominated Ibushi for a lot of this match. Ibushi missed his triangle moonsault, so Cedric countered by racing back into the ring and diving on Ibushi with a high tope con hilo.  Ibushi responded later by modifying his moonsault by coming off the top rope! Cedric survived to hit a brutal brainbuster, but Ibushi kicked out at two. Instantly Cedric followed with a spin kick to the head for another two count. These two great near falls in such close succession sent the crowd into hysterics.

This performance made Cedric Alexander into a star. The chanting of the audience brought Cedric out for a curtain call. As the crowd chanted, “Please sign Cedric,” Triple H came out, shook Cedric’s hand, and gave the thumbs up. It was a special moment. To see an audience he’s not used to performing in front of to respond to him like that was, in his words, “a moment that will never be topped in my career…it was once in a lifetime…I’d go so far to say that behind the birth of my daughter it was the most important moment of my entire life.”

 

 

#12: Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega for the Main Event Contract at Wrestle Kingdom – King of Pro Wrestling – Goto established himself in more of a heel role by attacking Omega with the briefcase before the bell. The Young Bucks responded with stereo superkicks on Goto, followed by Omega double stomping Goto from the apron to the floor. Omega took control, then Goto exploited Omega’s injured ankle. There were some fluid counters until Omega’s beautiful Terminator dive took Goto out.

As Kenny nursed his ankle, the Young Bucks and YOSHI-HASHI engaged in shenanigans on the outside. Red Shoes threw all three of them out. After Goto’s top rope Code Red garnered a near fall, Omega attempted to springboard into the ring from the apron. Goto intercepted Omega and pushed him backwards into the air and through a table positioned adjacent to the railing, cutting Kenny in the process. What a wicked spot! In what may have been a mistake, Goto refused to let Red Shoes count Omega out, even though a victory would have sent Goto to the main event of Wrestle Kingdom.

Goto forced Omega back into the ring and hit the Ushigoroshi. Only a two count! The crowd started buzzing. Kenny fought desperately, but Goto connected with the Shouten-Kai. Another two count! Kenny’s quick roll-up almost got Goto, then a lightning-quick dragon suplex evened things out. On their knees, Omega and Goto traded shots as they fought back to their feet. Kenny connected with a brutal knee strike (he’s gotten so good at those), then a cross-legged neck breaker for yet another near fall. Kenny responded with one more brutal knee, then forced Goto into the One Winged Angel for the three count! What a match!

 

#11: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship – Death Before Dishonor – Going into this match, Jay Lethal had been a champion in Ring of Honor for about two years, both as Television Champion and then World Champion.  His popularity was arguably at its peak.  Then Adam Cole joined Bullet Club and started raising hell.  With the help of The Young Bucks, Cole shaved the champion’s head.  Nigel McGuiness responded by declaring that Adam Cole would never get another shot at the ROH World Championship.  Desperate for revenge, Lethal begged Nigel to make a match between him and Cole.  Nigel obliged.

Adam Cole came to the ring with the confidence of a star.  Before the match Lethal refused to take his eyes off of Cole.  As they faced off, Lethal touched Adam Cole’s hair, intimating his plan to cut it off.  Cole responded by pulling Lethal’s hair out of his trunks!  Lethal methodically stalked Cole, determined, but never letting his anger overtake him.  Lethal set up a table then hit a perfect cutter on the outside.  He set Cole up on the table, but missed Hail to the King, causing a large welt to appear on his back.  Cole got this huge grin on his face, but Lethal recovered and hit five topes to the outside, two more than usual.  The choice to go for a sixth was spurred by thoughts of revenge, but it did not pay off.  Cole dodged, sending Lethal flying into the ringside barricade.  He covered again, though, and they traded some really stiff blows.

Adam Cole nailed a low blow, then hit the Last Shot.  Lethal kicked out.  He then countered a guillotine choke brilliantly into the Lethal Combination.  Cole kicked of Lethal’s Hail to the King.  Now the crowd was fully invested.  What followed was a brilliant set of high impact maneuvers including a flurry of kicks, a top rope destroyer, Last Shots, a Lethal Injection, last-moment kick outs and great psychology.  When Adam looked down and out, he flipped Lethal the bird and slowly got back to his feet.  The resolution was decisive and led to a great moment (and run-in) to close out the show.  Lethal and Cole went for the better part of a half hour and totally stole the show, both from an in-ring and psychological point of view.

 

 

#10: Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks (c) for the Raw Women’s Championship in an Ironman Match – Roadblock – Following their five previous matchups, this contest had no rematch clause. Charlotte and Sasha would culminate one of the greatest feuds in recent memory in a 30-minute Ironman Match. This was excellent wire-to-wire. The first seven minutes were filled with excellent chain wrestling. The first fall didn’t occur until over halfway through, with Charlotte taking advantage with a top rope variation of Natural Selection.

Charlotte inflicted a decisive knee injury when she jumped on the back of Sasha’s knee while her leg was draped on the second rope.  Sasha would sell the injury masterfully for the rest of the match, including through some dramatic submission attempts. They put on a wrestling clinic, building the intensity gradually in such a way that the match felt like it was over in a flash. With two seconds left, Sasha was forced to tap to the Figure 8, tying the contest.

Since this was the finale of the feud, there had to be a winner, and the referee commenced sudden-death overtime. The period contained some limited back-and-forth wrestling, but Sasha’s knee was in too damaged a condition to survive a second Figure 8. As blood streamed down her face from a busted nose, Sasha tapped out allowing Charlotte to become the four-time women’s champion.

 

 

#9: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 10 – This was billed as a dream match – the first ever one-on-one contest between two of wrestling’s very best, and boy did it deliver!  Despite their lack of previous in-ring time together, AJ and Nakamura wrestled as if they knew everything the other was going to do.  Every sequence from the opening bell was entertaining.  Each man sold big impacts like they’d been shot with a cannon.  Nakamura tried working AJ’s back, while AJ went after Nakamura’s legs.  There was great mat wrestling, chain wrestling, submissions, high-flying strikes, psychology, and fantastic near falls.  Basically they beat the hell out of each other.  Oh, and Nakamura’s response to AJ’s Bullet Club finger-gun gesture was hilarious!  This stands as 24 minutes of the best wrestling you’ll see all year.  Did you expect anything less?

 

 

#8: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – Battleground – The feud that had been building since Steen and El Generico teamed/fought in Ring of Honor came to its conclusion (for now) at Battleground.  These men had been at odds since Kevin’s debut in NXT.  Owens attacked Sami moments after Sami won the NXT Championship, injuring him and stealing his championship.  Sami appeared at the Royal Rumble and eliminated Kevin Owens.  They cost each other the Intercontinental Championship on multiple occasions.  They realized that this feud was costing them their careers and needed to end.

Owens dominated early, cutting off each of Sami’s comeback attempts.  When the referee asked Sami if he wanted to submit to a headlock, Owens shouted, “Yes he does!” which was a great way to keep the action hot in the early going.  There was a scary moment when Sami tried for the Arabian Press, but missed, landing hard on his shoulder on the apron.  Sami has had shoulder issues (which Owens took credit for), so the miscue actually played well into the psychology of the match.

The match picked up steam.  Sami executed a sick brainbuster onto the apron, which took a heavy toll on his shoulder.  Both men, beaten, crawled back to the ring.  They exchanged a furious barrage of punches, fighting themselves to the point of exhaustion.  Sami’s attempt for the spinning DDT through the ropes was countered by a superkick, then an Owens Bullfrog Splash for a near fall.  A brilliant combination of chain wrestling counters incited the crown into a standing ovation.  Owens managed a pop-up powerbomb, but Sami got his foot onto the rope.  In a moment reminiscent of Undertaker vs. HBK from Wrestlemania 26, Owens asked Sami, “Why won’t you stay down?”  He slapped Sami, but got a big one in return.  Sami fired into suplexes then a Helluva Kick.  As Owens slumped towards the mat, Sami held him, considering his options for a moment, giving the audience a breath to consider everything that had led to that point.  Ultimately, Sami decided to stand him back up and deliver a second vicious Helluva Kick to win the match in strong fashion.  This was a can’t-miss joyride.

 

 

#7: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens vs. Big Cass for the WWE Universal Championship – Raw August 29 – One day after winning the newly minted WWE Universal Championship, Finn Bálor was forced to vacate the title due to a torn labrum. In response, Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon set up a set of four matches, the winners of which entered this four-way elimination match to determine a new Universal Champion. Roman garnered the most boos (and many cheers), Owens and Rollins had similar support, while Big Cass generated a lot of intrigue as the newcomer who promised to shock the world.

Action occurred inside and outside the ring, with each man having his chance to shine. Reigns and Cass faced off in the ring for the very first time, and Cass eventually hit a memorable running boot that drove both Roman and him over the top rope and to the floor. Cass was eventually double teamed, then eliminated by an Owens frog splash.

The pace picked up, featuring a lot of high-impact offense and a slew of near falls. With Roman on the verge of causing another elimination, Triple H appeared out of nowhere. The man who hadn’t been seen on the main roster since Wrestlemania kicked Roman in the gut, pedigreed him on the outside, and tossed him and a staggered Rollins back in the ring.  Seth crawled for the cover at Triple H’s instruction and got the pin, drawing a HUGE cheer from the crowd.  While Rollins recovered in the corner, Triple H threw Owens back in the ring, positioning him in the opposite corner.  As Rollins approached to attack, Triple H pedigreed him right in the middle of the ring.  The crowd went nuts for the double-cross, but more so for the realization that Kevin Owens was about to become the Universal Champion.  Owens stared at Triple H, frozen in disbelief, until he realized that he needed to make the cover.  He rushed over to Rollins and three seconds later became the second ever Universal Champion.  Fantastic story told.  New champion crowd.  Super unexpected moment.  Great, great match.

 

 

#6: Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito – G1 Climax Day 18 – The final match of Block B would be decisive.  The winner would advance to face Hirooki Goto in the Finals the following day.  Goto had won his block by virtue of a tie between Tanahashi and Okada in their main event.  The challenge Omega and Naito faced was that Tanahashi and Okada’s match may be remembered as one of the greatest G1 matches of all time.  Being able to approach that bar would take all of their talents.  And they pulled it off.

Kenny was demonstrably not impressive by Naito’s entrance.  Naito took it slow early, knowing that he could win the block with a tie.  Steve Corino on English commentary astutely observed that the strategy would put considerable strain on Natio’s cardiovascular system and compromise him in the following night’s finals.  Taking it slow would be quickly erased as an option, because Kenny Omega turned on the jets and would not let up.  The key to the match was Omega’s knee.  Naito attacked it early and often, leaving Kenny to hobble around for literally the entire match.  Superior job of selling the injury.  The small delays in Kenny’s offense would often be exploited by Naito, who always seemed to know exactly what to do in those limited timeframes.  Kenny would then bounce back ferociously and unexpectedly.  This seesaw theme repeated with new variations throughout the match.  The psychology through all of it was sound and compelling.

Kenny bodyslammed Naito kidney-first into the ring apron.  Then he powerbombed through a table beyond the guardrail.  Then he did a tope con hilo over the top rope into the crowd and onto Naito.  The pace never let up, largely due to Kenny’s relentless motor.  He absolutely crushed Naito with a series of knee strikes, some employed as counters.  There were tons of great near falls after this.  Naito’s super reverse Frankensteiner.  Kenny’s Strong Zero. As the time ticked below four minutes, Kenny desperately tried time and again for One Winged Angel.  Naito suckered Kenny in with a slam, but his diving head collided with Kenny’s jumping knee.  One Winged Angel was blocked, so Kenny turned it into a German suplex.  Finally the One Winged Angel hits and KENNY OMEGA WINS HIS BLOCK!!!  The shot of Naito being dragged from the ring while still grasping towards Omega in the ring was gorgeous.

What a war.  With the win, Omega became the first Canadian to advance to the finals of the G1 Climax.  For me, the result was genuinely shocking since I thought New Japan was using this tournament to set up a rubber match between Okada and Naito at Wrestle Kingdom.  But perhaps this was the way to tell the story of Naito being unable to win the biggest matches without the help of Los Ingobernables.  For Kenny Omega, this was the biggest match of his career, and the best I’ve ever seen him perform.  If played the right way, Kenny Omega took a big step up towards top star status.

 

 

#5: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – G1 Climax Day 17 – Going into the final day of Block A action, a number of scenarios were still in play.  Okada, Tanahashi, Goto, Marafuji, and Bad Luck Fale all still had chances to win the block.  Fale would be upset by Tama Tonga, while Marafuji would be eliminated by Goto.  Goto had lost to both Tanahashi and Okada earlier in the tournament and held no tiebreaker advantage.  His only chance of winning was if Okada and Tanahashi went to a 30-minute time limit draw.  Otherwise, the winner of this main event would be the winner of Block A.  After having put together numerous classic matches over the past few years, most recently at Wrestle Kingdom 10, this match had a lot to live up to.

And it delivered in a big way.  The crowd was vocal even before the opening bell.  After a series of chain wrestling sequences, Tanahashi ended a clean break with a slap to Okada’s face.  Enraged, Okada exploded into a quick succession of high impact maneuvers, struck the Rainmaker pose, then went for the Rainmaker Clothesline just three minutes in.  Tanahashi’s roll-up quickly swung momentum in the other direction and led to a standoff.  That was one hot firecracker to set off so early, but it educated the audience that in this match, anything was possible at any time.  After some innovative mat work, the action spilled to the outside.  Tanahashi hit the first of many dragon screw leg whips by twisting Okada’s leg across the top of the guardrail.  Tanahashi stayed on the offensive and connected with a huge High Fly Flow off the top turnbuckle to the floor.  When it looked as if Okada might get counted out, Tanahashi went to retrieve the champion, who surprised him with a piledriver onto the floor.

A series of flurries with surprise counters followed.  About 20 minutes in the crowd got the sense that any move now could be the last.  Tanahashi almost got a submission with a really deep, Liontamer-like Texas Cloverleaf.  He hit a reverse slingblade, a High Fly Flow onto Okada’s back, but hit Okada’s knees on the third attempt.  Okada seized the moment, set up Tanahashi for a piledriver, only to see it reversed.  Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow again but Okada connected with his signature dropkick.  The rest of this match was a thing of beauty for which no recap can do full justice.  The seesaw of momentum swung with high magnitude and frequency, driven largely by Okada’s repeated attempts to hit the Rainmaker Clothesline.  After an exchange, Okada refused to release his grip on an exhausted Tanahashi’s wrist, a nod to their encountered earlier in the year in the Wrestle Kingdom main event.  He pulled Tanahashi in and connected with a big Rainmaker-style clothesline.  He tried to finish him off with a second, but Tanahashi reversed into a full nelson suplex.  “ONE MINUTE LEFT,” they announced over the PA system!  Okada kicked out and hit a cradle piledriver.  Tanahashi kicked out, so Okada went to finish him with the Rainmaker Clothesline, “THIRTY SECONDS LEFT” but Tanahashi reversed into the sling blade again.  Is your head spinning yet?  Tanahashi flew to the top turnbuckle “TWENTY SECONDS” and connected with the High Fly Flow.  In a pivotal moment, Tanahashi decided “TEN SECONDS” he needed one more High Fly Flow to finish Okada off.  He flew back to the top while many members of the audience were begging him to cover Okada before he ran out of time.  Tanahashi hit the second High Fly Flow, and may very well have scored the pin, but time ran out at the referee’s count of two.  They tie, and while Goto may have won the block, we all came out as winners.  No two wrestlers in the world may have better synergy than these two.  It was so good I got goose bumps just writing this recap.

 

 

#4: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Invasion Attack – For almost four years Tetsuya Naito had stood on the doorstep of greatness.  His in-ring talent was undeniable, yet there was some aspect of his character that just didn’t click with the fans.  After winning the G1-Climax tournament, Naito was guaranteed a main event match for the IWGP Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 8.  The stars were aligned for the Stardust Genius to finally ascend to the top of New Japan Pro Wrestling.

But in an unexpected twist, a fan vote elevated the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Nakamura and Tanahashi to headline the show.  Naito not only lost his championship match to Okada, but he had also lost the fans.  He started getting booed, something he never forgot and apparently never forgave.  Many wondered whether Naito had peaked, a man with so much talent who would never be “the best.”

After competing on a couple Ring of Honor shows in the United States, Naito took a brief sojourn to Mexico where he began to embrace a part of his personality that just didn’t care anymore.  He would saunter to the ring slowly and apathetically.  He walked away from friends during tag team matches.  In a break from the respectful Japanese culture, Naito began attacking Young Lions, referees, timekeepers, and announcers.  He received frequent help from his new friends BUSHI and EVIL, ultimately constructing the stable Los Ingobernables de Japon.  He wasn’t a heel so much as a fed-up man who had lost his conscience.  And as measured by his merchandise sales, Naito was ironically becoming one of the most popular performers in Japan.

By virtue of winning the New Japan Cup the previous month, Naito had earned this rematch against Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.  This was to be no carbon copy of their match two years earlier.  This was a new Naito, one the fans were ready to accept at the top.  As such, the building buzzed with a big fight feel.  As the arrogant champion Okada came to the ring, it was clear that the crowd – one of the loudest I’ve ever heard at a New Japan show – was split 80/20 for Naito.

The match itself was excellent.  Okada was quick and smooth, frequently executing beautiful wrestling counters.  But Los Ingobernables would interfere, leading to effectively a three-on-one battle.  In a great moment, Okada threw all three men into the second row, then did a flying cross-body over the guard rail onto all three of them.

The latter stages of the match were brilliantly executed.  Okada came within a hair’s breadth of passing out to Naito’s Pluma Blanca (Koji Clutch).  The champion recovered with some devastating offense including ultra-stiff strikes, shotgun feet, and a coast-to-coast dropkick.  Okada’s arrogance was palpable until Red Shoes the referee went down.  Los Ingobernables stormed the ring and Okada fought them off, but not before BUSHI misted him in the eyes.  With everyone down, a new member of Los Ingobernables arrived – SANADA!  SANADA attacked Okada, and after several great counters Naito was able to finally hit Destino for the victory!

Naito’s win made him the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion not named Okada, Tanahashi, or AJ Styles since January 2011.  Tradition dictates a coronation ceremony, but Naito opted instead to kick the referee and throw the title down in the middle of the ring as if it was a piece of trash.  He would later claim, “I’m more important than this.  I’m the guy…It’s wrestling me that’s the bigger privilege.”  Tetsuya Naito just turned New Japan Pro Wrestling upside down.

 

 

#3: DIY vs. The Revival (c) for the NXT Tag Team Championships – TakeOver: Toronto – The duo of Tommaso Chiampa and Johnny Gargano were considered long shots to ever make it to WWE. While both are undeniably talented, they lack the size Vince McMahon usually desires out of his wrestlers. But when the longest reigning Dragon Gate USA champion in history and Ring of Honor’s former Psycho Killer appeared the 2015 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, it gave all fans of independent wrestling a defying-the-odds story that was easy to get behind.

Chiampa and Gargano did not win the tournament, but they did perform well enough to earn themselves NXT roster spots. While other teams like American Alpha and The Revival were establishing themselves, the team that would eventually become known as DIY paid their dues and built their resumes. When they finally earned a chance at the NXT Tag Team Championship at TakeOver: Brooklyn (see #52 on this list), we all hoped the upstarts could tear down the reigning “top guys” of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. The emotion for that match was organic, which made Gargano’s tapping out all the more heartbreaking.

In the months that followed, Gargano and Chiampa carried the loss like a weight around their necks, noting that the feeling of letting their fans down in Brooklyn was not easily forgotten. This match would be their final opportunity at the tag team titles, to be contested as a best two-out-of-three falls. And it happened to not just be the best tag team match of 2016, but one of the best tag team matches I’ve seen in my entire life.

This match was brilliantly constructed. Astute fans of their previous contest would have noticed many moments in which one team went to perform a move that worked in their previous contest, only to find it countered in this one. In this way their performance was simultaneously familiar and unexpected, the net effect leaving fans on the edge of their seats almost from the opening bell.

The first fall occurred when Gargano propelled himself through the top and middle ropes in an attempt to hit his signature spinning DDT. The Revival caught him and countered into a gorgeous, high-impact version of Shatter Machine. Gargano fought valiantly through a fantastic try-to-make-the-hot-tag sequence in which The Revival pulled every trick they could to distract the referee and inhibit Chiampa from making his way into the ring.

Chiampa would eventually make the hot tag, leading to several furious minutes of high-octane action. There was a slew of great wrestling and camerawork, with pin breakups flying in from off-screen just when you thought the match was going to be over. The final sequence, when Dash and Dawson were both locked in submission moves, each holding the other’s hands so that they couldn’t tap out was a thing of beauty, as was the flowing emotion that followed DIY’s victory. Mike Johnson of PWInsider referred to this as “a love letter to professional wrestling.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

 

 

#2: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 10 – Prior to this main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10, Tanahashi and Okada had wrestled a series of seven instant classics, each earning a record of 3-3-1. Tanahashi was recognized as the “ace” or top guy of New Japan, but the younger Okada clearly desired the mantle. While Okada had defeated Tanahashi before, he had never been able to defeat him on New Japan’s biggest stage – Wrestle Kingdom. Okada’s attempt in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 9 saw him quite memorably come up short. His manager Gedo helped him out of the arena, while Okada sobbed uncontrollably.

The quality of their previous encounters caused the crowd to buzz from before the opening bell. Both men engaged a feeling out process, and then quite gradually built the impacts and intensity for over 36 minutes. The encounter felt epic, and the final ten minutes or so featured a great number of twists and turns, where victory that seemed inevitable was ultimately yanked away with a single slingblade, piledriver, High Fly Flow, or Rainmaker Clothesline. When Okada and Tanahashi couldn’t finish each other off with their own finishers, they tried the other’s. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give is that the match felt “real,” a testament to both men’s ability to work body parts, sell injuries, and make every little thing that they do matter. It stands as close to wrestling perfection as you are likely to encounter.

 

 

#1: Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT TakeOver: Dallas – This.  Not since CM Punk faced John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011 have I felt a rush of joy and excitement (dare I say marking out) that was the debut of Shinsuke Nakamura in NXT.  The match was incredible, but it all began with Nakamura’s new WWE-style entrance which, put plainly, f’n rocked.  As good as New Japan is in terms of wrestling, they leave much to be desired in terms of pageantry.  Nakamura bleeds charisma and his new entrance played to that perfectly.  Watching him dance out in silhouette, strike a pose, then slink to the ground as the music slid lower in pitch and his name appeared in bold, red block letters behind him made me smile wider than I thought possible.  I was transfixed as the strobe lights made his procession feel like the arrival of Michael Jackson, then more so as he emerged into the light, finger guns blazing.  Every little detail from him was perfect.  In his first steps into the ring, he covered his face with his hand expressing some mixture of awe, respect, anticipation, and then quick as lighting turned back to the ropes and struck his signature pose.  With that one entrance it was clear to me that Nakamura was going to be a superstar in the United States.

But then we had a match, and boy what a match.  Sami Zayn is so incredibly good at what he does that despite the fact that this was their first meeting ever, they wrestled as if they had faced each other for years.  What was so great was that this was a Nakamura-style match.  They let him go out and be the King of Strong Style.  He executed beautiful kicks and knee strikes.  Both men had signature maneuvers countered until they eventually connected later on.  The crowd was into this every step of the way.  There were the expected “Nakamura” and “Sami Zayn” chants, but two of my favorites were “we want strong style” (after a series of Japanese-style exchange of forearms) and “fight forever,” which as far as I know is unprecedented.  Nakamura got a bloody nose and played it off like it couldn’t stop him.  Sami’s Blue Thunder Bomb was such a great near fall that the entire audience rose to applaud mid-match.

I cannot recommend this match strongly enough.  Nakamura took a step up onto a much bigger stage and just owned it.  Or maybe he just bought the whole building.  After Nakamura left, Sami was left in the ring to soak in the appreciation of a crowd that had seen him give years of his life to transform NXT from a small developmental brand to one of the best things in professional wrestling today.  He may have moved up to the main roster, but he left a legacy of great matches and moments for which he should be exceptionally proud.  Wrestling is at its best when it makes the audience feel something genuine, and this accomplished that on multiple levels.

 

 

Matches that Deserve Honorable Mention: Makabe & Honma vs. Gallows & Anderson (c) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Wrestle Kingdom 10), The 2016 Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble), Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles (Smackdown – February 11), Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (Fastlane), Samoa Joe vs. Finn Bálor (NXT TakeOver: Dallas), Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (Wrestlemania 32), Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Payback), Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshi Tatsu vs. The Elite (Invasion Attack), Jay Lethal vs. Donovan Dijak (War of the Worlds), Samoa Joe vs. Finn Bálor (NXT TakeOver: The End), Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns (Money in the Bank), Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Climax 26 – Day 1), Michael Elgin vs. Katsuyori Shibata (G1 Climax 26 – Day 6), Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reilly (ROH TV July), Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Chiampa (CWC – Round 1), Michael Elgin vs. Nakajima (G1 Climax 26 – Day 18),  The Young Bucks vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Super J Cup), Hangman Page vs. Jay Briscoe (Death Before Dishonor), Bayley vs. Asuka (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II), Akira Tozowa vs. Gran Metalik (CWC Quarterfinals), Tommy End and Chris Hero vs. Fenix and Pentagon Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2), Tomasso Chiampa, Pete Dunne, Sami Calihan, Brian Kendrick & Matt Riddle vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Cedric Alexander, Jeff Cobb, Chuck Taylor & Tommy End (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 3), The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler (Backlash), The Young Bucks vs. The Addiction vs. The Motor City Machine Guns – Ladder War VI (All Star Extravaganza VIII), Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown (Survivor Series), Bobby Roode vs. Tye Dillinger (NXT TakeOver: Toronto), The New Day vs. Sheamus and Cesaro (Roadblock), Baron Corbin, vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. AJ Styles (Smackdown – December 27)

Pro Wrestling

Ranking All 91 Matches in the G1 Climax 26 Tournament

Mike Specian September 2, 2016 Leave a Comment 10082 Views

Welcome to my second annual ranking of the best matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax tournament! The same caveats from last year apply, e.g. rankings are difficult, they’re just opinions, etc. Rather than repeat myself, I’d like to use this space to discuss this year’s themes.

Before the tournament, smart money was on Tetsuya Naito to win. He had just lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Okada and a rematch seemed immenent. He did go on to have, in my opinion, the best showing of anyone in the tournament despite not winning his block.

Naomichi Marafuji and Katsuhiko Nakajima from Pro Wrestling Noah were in the tournament, and both looked excellent. Marafuji’s chops are the stiffest in wrestling and left many bruised chests in their wake. Nakajima displayed great ring pyschology in his match with Yuji Nagata and toughness in his match with Michael Elgin. He really impressed.

In what was likely his final G1 Climax tournament, Hiroyoshi Tenzan put on some solid performances, particularly against Tomohiro Ishii. YOSHI-HASHI, SANADA, EVIL, and Tama Tonga made their G1 debuts and all came out looking better for it. I thought YOSHI-HASHI in particular took a big step forward.

The final two nights of the G1 were outstanding. Plenty of scenarios were still in play such that the winner of each block was very much up in the air. The final A and B block matches on nights 17 and 18 stand out as two of the best matches I’ve seen in my entire life. Kenny Omega won the G1 Climax 26 as a total darkhorse, and became the first gaijin to ever accomplish that feat.

And now the rankings. The number after each match indicates the night on which it took place. A block matches were on odd nights and B block matches on even nights. All of these matches can be viewed online at New Japan World:

 

Match-of-the-Year Candidates

  1. Okada vs. Tanahshi (17) – Going into the final day of Block A action, a number of scenarios were still in play. Okada, Tanahashi, Goto, Marafuji, and Bad Luck Fale all still had chances to win the block. Fale would be upset by Tama Tonga, while Marafuji would be eliminated by Goto. Goto had lost to both Tanahashi and Okada earlier in the tournament and held no tiebreaker advantage. His only chance of winning was if Okada and Tanahashi went to a 30-minute time limit draw. Otherwise, the winner of this main event would be the winner of Block A. After having put together numerous classic matches over the past few years, most recently at Wrestle Kingdom 10, this match had a lot to live up to.

    And it delivered in a big way. The crowd was vocal even before the opening bell. After a series of chain wrestling sequences, Tanahashi ended a clean break with a slap to Okada’s face. Enraged, Okada exploded into a quick succession of high impact maneuvers, struck the Rainmaker pose, then went for the Rainmaker Clothesline just three minutes in. Tanahashi’s roll-up quickly swung momentum in the other direction and led to a standoff. That was one hot firecracker to set off so early, but it educated the audience that in this match, anything was possible at any time. After some innovative mat work, the action spilled to the outside. Tanahashi hit the first of many dragonscrew leg whips by twisting Okada’s leg across the top of the guardrail. Tanahashi stayed on the offensive and connected with a huge High Fly Flow off the top turnbuckle to the floor. When it looked as if Okada might get counted out, Tanahashi went to retrieve the champion, who surprised him with a piledriver onto the floor.

    A series of flurries with surprise counters followed. About 20 minutes in the crowd got the sense that any move now could be the last. Tanahashi almost got a submission with a really deep, Liontamer-like Texas Cloverleaf. He hit a reverse slingblade, a High Fly Flow onto Okada’s back, but hit Okada’s knees on the third attempt. Okada seized the moment, set up Tanahashi for a piledriver, only to see it reversed. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow again but Okada connected with his signature dropkick. The rest of this match was a thing of beauty for which no recap can do full justice. The seesaw of momentum swung with high magnitude and frequency, driven largely by Okada’s repeated attempts to hit the Rainmaker Clothesline. After an exchange, Okada refused to release his grip on an exhausted Tanahashi’s wrist. He pulled Tanahashi in and connected with a big Rainmaker-style clothesline. He tried to finish him off with a second, but Tanahashi reversed into a full nelson suplex. “ONE MINUTE LEFT,” they announced over the PA system! Okada kicked out and hit a cradle piledriver. Tanahashi kicked out, so Okada went to finish him with the Rainmaker Clothesline, “THIRTY SECONDS LEFT” but Tanahashi reversed into the sling blade again. Is your head spinning yet? Tanahashi flew to the top turnbuckle “TWENTY SECONDS” and connected with the High Fly Flow. In a pivotal moment, Tanahashi decided “TEN SECONDS” he needed one more High Fly Flow to finish Okada off. He flew back to the top while many members of the audience were begging him to cover Okada before he ran out of time. Tanahashi hit the second High Fly Flow, and may very well have scored the pin, but time ran out at the referee’s count of two. They tie, and while Goto may have won the block, we all came out as winners. No two wrestlers in the world may have better synergy than these two. It was so good I got goosebumps just writing this recap.

  2. Kenny Omega vs. Naito (18) – The final match of Block B would be decisive. The winner would advance to face Hirooki Goto in the Finals the following day. Goto had won his block by virtue of a tie between Tanahashi and Okada in their main event. The challenge Omega and Naito faced was that Tanahashi and Okada’s match may be remembered as one of the greatest G1 matches of all time. Being able to approach that bar would take all of their talents. And they pulled it off.

    Kenny was demonstrably not impressive by Naito’s entrance. Naito took it slow early, knowing that he could win the block with a tie. Steve Corino on English commentary astutely observed that the strategy would put considerable strain on Naito’s cardiovascular system and compromise him in the following night’s finals. Taking it slow would be quickly erased as an option, because Kenny Omega turned on the jets and would not let up. The key to the match was Omega’s knee. Naito attacked it early and often, leaving Kenny to hobble around for literally the entire match – superior job of selling the injury. Naito, who always seemed to know exactly what to do in those limited timeframes, would often exploit the small delays in Kenny’s offense. Kenny would then bounce back ferociously and unexpectedly. This seesaw theme repeated with new variations throughout the match. The psychology through all of it was sound and compelling.

    Kenny body slammed Naito kidney-first into the ring apron. Then he powerbombed him through a table beyond the guardrail. Then he did a Tope Con Hilo over the top rope into the crowd and onto Naito. The pace never let up, largely due to Kenny’s relentless motor. He absolutely crushed Naito with a series of knee strikes, some employed as counters. There were tons of great near falls after this. Naito hit a super reverse frankensteiner. Kenny hit a cradle back-to-belly piledriver. As the time ticked below four minutes, Kenny desperately tried time and again for One Winged Angel. Naito sucked Kenny in with a slam, but his diving head collided with Kenny’s jumping knee. One Winged Angel was blocked, so Kenny turned it into a German suplex. Finally the One Winged Angel hit and KENNY OMEGA WINS HIS BLOCK!!! The shot of Naito being dragged from the ring while still grasping towards Omega in the ring was gorgeous.

    What a war. With the win, Omega became the first Canadian to advance to the finals of the G1 Climax. For me, the result was genuinely shocking since I thought New Japan was using this tournament to set up a rubber match between Okada and Naito at Wrestle Kingdom. But perhaps this was the way to tell the story of Naito being unable to win the biggest matches without the help of Los Ingobernables. For Kenny Omega, this was the biggest match of his career, and the best I’ve ever seen him perform. If played the right way, Kenny Omega took a big step up towards top star status.

  3. Kenny Omega vs. Goto (Finals) – If you asked most people to predict which two wrestlers would be facing off in the finals of this year’s G1 Climax, you could have made big money on the long odds of Kenny Omega vs. Hirooki Goto. Yet despite it all, both men had a great tournament and deserved to be in this spot. The crowd seemed largely behind Omega, particularly when Goto attempted to exploit the knee injury Omega suffered at the hands of Naito the previous night. Goto’s attack was a great way to continue the story and sell the point that he would do what was necessary to win.

    While the match couldn’t exceed the ridiculously high bar set by the A Block and B Block finals, this was still my third favorite match of the entire tournament. As usual, Kenny Omega wrestled like he could never get tired, and Goto fought with a fierce fighting spirit. After a lengthy back and forth, the finale saw Omega try numerous attempts to hit the One Winged Angel. When he finally hit it and got the three count, the building exploded, as Kenny Omega had become the very first foreign wrestler to ever win the G1 Climax tournament. His victory speech given in both English and Japanese was a nice touch that showed how he is really one of the very best in the world today.

  4. Ishii vs. Okada (13) – This match started so hot, and with such high-impact moves that there were plausible near falls in the first thirty seconds! These two members of CHAOS know each other exceptionally well. This familiarity no doubt played a large part in the chemistry they displayed in the ring. From the outset, they told the story that Ishii was every bit the match for Okada. Once the crowd caught on to that, they were hooked. As usual, Okada was very fluid, but Ishii matched his counters every step of the way. Okada and Ishii kept trying for the Rainmaker Clothesline and brainbuster, respectively, but had to settle for other high impact moves that couldn’t quite finish up their opponent, but which lead to a collection of outstanding near falls. The finish was genuinely satisfying. I just sat in my chair muttering, “Man, that was really, really good.”
  5. Shibata vs. Naito (8) – Shibata entered with both his knee and shoulder heavily taped. He also entered angry and not willing to take any nonsense from Naito. This led to his propelling Naito at high velocity into the guardrails, sending him toppling into the crowd. Naito responded by wrapping Shibata’s knee in the guardrail, then executing a dropkick from the apron into the guardrail. Naito focused his offense on Shibata’s knee, mostly with a collection of excellent submissions. Naito’s taunting allowed Shibata to gather his fighting spirit, and the battle equalized. The end sequence was really snug and told a great story. I’d pay to watch these two guys go at it any day of the week.
  6. Naito vs. Elgin (4) – This G1 main event at Korakuen Hall absolutely rocked! Naito worked the knee, Elgin sold expertly, and it remained a focal point of the story for the entire match, eventually leading to the finish. Despite the pain, Elgin would not surrender, countering all of Naito’s signature offense with his peerless display of power. Big impacts were given time to breathe. A collection of great counters heightened audience investment. The way the pin was arrived at was smart and fluid. It was a clear victory, but neither man really lost here.

Excellent

  1. Nakajima vs. Elgin (18)
  2. Okada vs. Goto (5)
  3. Marafuji vs. Okada (1)
  4. Goto vs. Marafuji (17)
  5. Elgin vs. Shibata (6)
  6. Tanahashi vs. Marafuji (13)
  7. SANADA vs. Tanahashi (1)
  8. Naito vs. YOSHI-HASHI (16)
  9. Naito vs. Nakajima (12)
  10. Naito vs. Honma (10)
  11. Tanahashi vs. Goto (9)
  12. Nakajima vs. Nagata (8)
  13. Elgin vs. Honma (16)
  14. Ishii vs Makabe (17)
  15. Tenzan vs. Ishii (1)
  16. Elgin vs. Kenny Omega (8)
  17. EVIL vs. Shibata (18)
  18. Naito vs. EVIL (14)

Pretty Good

  1. Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale (7)
  2. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Kenny Omega (2)
  3. YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL (8)
  4. Shibata vs. Nakajima (4)
  5. Tanahashi vs. Ishii (11)
  6. Kenny Omega vs. Nakajima (16)
  7. SANADA vs. Ishii (14)
  8. Tama Tonga vs. SANADA (13)
  9. Yano vs. Nagata (12)
  10. Makabe vs. Tanahashi (3)
  11. Bad Luck Fale vs. Okada (15)
  12. Okada vs. SANADA (3)
  13. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Nakajima (10)
  14. Kenny Omega vs. Yano (4)
  15. Goto vs. Makable (15)
  16. Nakajima vs. EVIL (6)
  17. Elgin vs. YOSHI-HASHI (12)
  18. Okada vs. Tenzan (9)
  19. Marafuji vs. Tama Tonga (15)
  20. EVIL vs. Honma (12)
  21. Kenny Omega vs. Honma (6)
  22. Goto vs. Tenzan (13)
  23. Shibata vs. Kenny Omega (12)
  24. Tanahashi vs. Tenzan (15)
  25. Goto vs. Tama Tonga (11)
  26. Kenny Omega vs. EVIL (10)
  27. Tama Tonga vs. Bad Luck Fale (17)
  28. Okada vs. Makabe (11)
  29. Marafuji vs. Makabe (9)
  30. Bad Luck Fale vs. Marafuji (3)
  31. SANADA vs. Goto (7)
  32. Shibata vs. Nagata (16)
  33. Elgin vs. Nagata (10)
  34. Kenny Omega vs. Nagata (14)
  35. Honma vs. YOSHI-HASHI (4)
  36. Nagata vs. Naito (2)
  37. Honma vs. Shibata (2)
  38. Tama Tonga vs. Tanahashi (5)
  39. Nakajima vs. Honma (14)
  40. Goto vs. Ishii (3)
  41. Shibata vs. YOSHI-HASHI (14)
  42. SANADA vs. Tenzan (17)
  43. Okada vs. Tama Tonga (7)
  44. Ishii vs. Marafuji (7)
  45. Marafuji vs. Tenzan (5)
  46. Nagata vs. YOSHI-HASHI (6)
  47. Naito vs. Yano (6)
  48. EVIL vs. Michael Elgin (2)
  49. Bad Luck Fale vs. Makabe (13)
  50. Honma vs. Nagata (18)
  51. Marafuji vs. SANADA (11)
  52. Yano vs. Elgin (14)
  53. Makabe vs. SANADA (5)
  54. Nagata vs. EVIL (4)
  55. Bad Luck Fale vs. SANADA (9)

Decent to “Just There”

  1. Makabe vs. Tama Tonga (1)
  2. Makabe vs. Tenzan (7)
  3. Nakajima vs. Yano (2)
  4. Goto vs. Bad Luck Fale (1)
  5. Yano vs. YOSHI-HASHI (18)
  6. Yano vs. Shibata (10)
  7. Tama Tonga vs. Ishii (9)
  8. EVIL vs. Yano (16)
  9. Yano vs. Honma (8)
  10. Ishii vs. Bad Luck Fale (5)
  11. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tenzan (11)
  12. Tenzan vs. Tama Tonga (3)

 

Pro Wrestling

The Best Professional Wrestling Matches of 2015

Mike Specian February 8, 2016 Leave a Comment 6070 Views

I am proud to present my list of the best professional wrestling matches of 2015!  Only matches that I have viewed personally are eligible for this list, which largely limits this consideration to WWE, NXT, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling (sorry TNA).  I’ve sorted these matches into silver, gold, and platinum tiers with the latter containing my personal ranking for the top nine matches of the year.  Of the 26 listed, the breakdown by company is:

New Japan Pro Wrestling – 13
WWE – 6
Ring of Honor – 4
NXT – 3

A handful of performers deserve special recognition for appearing on this list multiple times.  These include AJ Styles (5), Kota Ibushi (5), Hiroshi Tanahashi (5), John Cena (3), Shinsuke Nakamura (3), Kazuchika Okada (3), Seth Rollins (3), and Roderick Strong (3).

 

Silver Tier

Kazuchika Okada vs. Roderick Strong – Field of Honor – An excellent addition to the Roderick Strong Versus the World Tour.  Witnessing one of the very best American wrestlers grapple with the IWGP Heavyweight Champion was an absolute pleasure.

Jason Jordan and Chad Gable vs. Rhyno and Baron Corbin – NXT TakeOver: Respect – Jason Jordan and Chad Gable have done an amazing job of winning over the NXT crowd with little more than being excellent in the ring.  Gable is a chain wrestling prodigy, while Jordan is a hard-hitting amateur-style star in the making.  This was the biggest match these two had ever been in, and they delivered.  Corbin’s End of Days in this match was a thing a beauty.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata – G1 Climax Day 13 – This was a Shibata-style match, but Tanahashi hung with him the entire time, proving why he is one of the best in the world.  In one memorable sequence Tanahashi stopped Shibata’s signature hesitation dropkick with a kick to his shin.  When Shibata ran to the far rope to try it again, Tanahashi rose from the corner to counterstrike, but Shibata turned around quickly and delivered the European uppercut.  Spots like these made this match feel familiar and original all at once.  They traded submissions, then worked up to strikes.  The finish deflated me, but could not diminish the quality of a contest that was fun from start to finish.

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Neville for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Monday Night Raw June 3 – In my opinion this was Neville’s best match in WWE.  He executed a number flips and ranas the WWE audience had never seen before.  The unconscious Rollins’s foot on the rope following the Red Arrow was one of the closest two-counts EVER in a WWE Championship match.  Outstanding, athletic, heart-racing stuff.

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito – G1 Climax Day 11 – By this point, Naito had fully adopted the role of despicable heel, while Ibushi fought with heart and full crowd support.  There were some AWESOME high-impact maneuvers and counters in this one, like Naito’s top rope reverse hurricanrana that I thought took Ibushi’s head off, and Ibushi’s jumping over Naito’s sliding kick and landing straight on Naito’s chest.  This match actually made me yell out loud at multiple moments.  These two have such amazing chemistry together.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Kota Ibushi – G1 Climax Day 7 – This was probably the best third-match-from-the-top of any of the G1 Climax shows this year.  You knew with the talent of the men involved that this was going to be great, and it was.  If only they had given them more time.

Jay Lethal (c) vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH Championship – Death Before Dishonor – One of two matches on this list that I saw live this year, this 60-minute marathon had a polarizing effect on fans.  Some thought it went too long without a satisfying conclusion.  I’m in the other camp that marvels at the ability for two wrestlers to perform the very difficult feat of going the hour.  This is worth your time.

Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – SummerSlam/Night of Champions – I’m lumping these two matches together because I thought they were equally good.  I want to pay special attention to the SummerSlam match where Rollins just totally rocked it.  He adopted the new white gear, and since he was given a chance to work a long match, looked like a superstar.  Rollins brought out a lot of stuff we don’t normally see from him like the frog splash, roll-through Attitude Adjustment, and superplex into a falcon arrow.  The crowd’s energy was excellent as well.  Even the Jon Stewart finish couldn’t take away from two of 2015’s best.

 

Gold Tier

Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Tomoaki Honma for the NEVER Championship – Power Struggle – This was similar is style to their match at New Beginning Sendai, but better on all levels.  These men fought like warriors, connecting with more high impact clotheslines, slaps, elbows, and by-God headbuts than I could count.  After missing the first couple, Honma hit a suite of Kokeshis from every possible angle including a sick one off the top rope to the floor.  The last few minutes saw a slew of near falls following moves that looked like they could kill a normal person.  I thought it was over numerous times before Ishii finished Honma off with the brainbuster.  The crowd was super into it, and the sight of Honma being helped out in tears was perfect.  Excellent match!

HHH vs. Sting – Wrestlemania XXXI – I understand that this might be a unpopular choice for some because, let’s face it, the action in the ring was not the best you’re going to see.  However, the spectacle of seeing Sting wrestling in a WWE ring for the first time was definitely special.  What made the match for me though, was a first-time ever epic encounter between DX and the nWo.  I know they’re all really friends and were standing together at the Hall of Fame the night before, but it didn’t matter to me.  Plus, it’s Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania.  I apologize for being such a mark.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 9 – The story going into this match was that in order for Okada to become the “ace” or “face” of the company, he had to go through Tanahashi first.  This was outstanding from bell to bell.  Both men won their share of fan support before the end of the match brought them to a frenzy.  For the very first time, someone (Tanahashi) kicked out of the Rainmaker Clothesline!  This match provided great drama and a surprising finish – one that would ultimately pay off a year later – that make this a must-see.

Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Wrestle Kingdom 9 – Both of these men had an excellent year filled with classic matches, but in the eyes of many, including me, this is one of the best.  Dave Meltzer gave this match 5 stars and I’m not going to argue with his assessment.  The sight of Ibushi German suplexing Nakamura into the ring while standing the second rope still hangs with me.  If you are a wrestling fan and missed this match, do yourself a service and find it.  It is beyond excellent.

ROH All Stars (The Briscoes, Roderick Strong & War Machine) vs. Bullet Club (AJ Styles, The Young Buck, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) – War of the Worlds Night 1 – This was probably the best 10-man tag match I have ever seen.  The action was so fast, furious, and impactful that it was hard to even keep up with all of it.  Each wrestler was given an opportunity to look like a star and the finish took nothing away from anybody.  You might call this a demolition derby, and it might be more candy than steak, but my goodness was it delicious candy.  This was one of ROH’s best matches of 2015.

KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O’Reilly – New Japan Best of the Super Jr.’s Finals – These two fought like heroes for 32 minutes. Both men suffered arm injuries in the match which caused them to adapt their styles. There were plenty of high-impact moves, strikes, parries, counterstrikes, dodges, and chain wrestling.  The last five minutes were packed with edge-of-your-seat action and dramatic near falls.  The winner moved into a higher position, and the loser looks better in the loss than when he came in.  This is the way wrestling is supposed to be done.

Bayley (c) vs. Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Championship in a 30-minute Ironman Match – NXT TakeOver: Respect – Many people view Sasha Banks as one of – if not the – best female wrestlers in the world.  In this match, Bayley got to prove that she’s right on that same level.  Because it was held at Full Sail, it didn’t possess the epic aura of their classic in Brooklyn, but the more intimate atmosphere allowed for some great heel antics, like when Sasha stole Izzie’s headband to mock Bayley.  This is was the first time (in my memory) that women were given the opportunity to main event a major show, and they delivered.  The moment when the locker room came out to congratulate Sasha before she moved up to the main roster for good put a giant smile on my face.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (c) for the NXT Women’s Championship – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn – This was absolutely incredible, and arguably the best women’s match in WWE history.  Sasha entered in a giant black SUV flanked by bodyguards, making her look like a total boss.  Her disdain for Bayley’s dream to become champion coursed throughout this match.  The little mannerisms, glances, and details made this special, like when Sasha stomped on Bayley’s hand as she reached for the ropes to break the Bank Statement.  Bayley reversed Sasha into her own Bank Statement.  Sasha kicked out of the Bayley-to-Belly.  Bayley shocked the world with a top rope reverse hurricanrana.  The moment where the Four Horsewomen gathered together in the ring to celebrate was one of my favorite moments of the year.  I felt sorry for the main event.  They had no chance of surpassing this.

John Cena vs. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Royal Rumble – Three consumate professionals competed together and proved just how good they are.  Tight sequences, expertly-exucted manuevers, and impecable timing were everywhere here.  Seth Rollins’s elbow from the top rope through Lesnar on the table was ridiculous!  The Phoenix Splash spot was amazingly well-timed.  The counter of finishers at the end was simply excellent.  If only the rest of WWE’s 2015 was this good.

 

Platinum Tier

9) AJ Styles (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Dominion – This was the best match of what was arguably New Japan’s best show of the year.  The series of rapid counters and near falls was remarkable.  I will never forget the final flurry between these two that eventually ended the match.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything better than it.

8) Kevin Owens vs. John Cena – Money in the Bank/Elimination Chamber/Battleground – This was easily the best series of three matches between any two wrestlers this year.  Kevin Owens made a memorable Raw debut by going right after John Cena and telling him that he was going to beat him.  Then, in his first match on the main roster, Kevin Owens did just that.  His win sent shock waves through WWE, raising speculation that maybe there was an opportunity for a new top guy to emerge.  The results of the next two matches dampened that enthusiasm, but we shouldn’t let that distract us from the fact that Owens and Cena produced three absolute classics this year.

7) Kota Ibushi vs. AJ Styles – G1 Climax Day 5 – AJ Styles wrestled this match right around the time he turned 38 years of age.  What’s so remarkable is that I’m not sure he’s hit his peak yet.  He doesn’t seem to have lost any of his athleticism.  His mat wrestling has improved since his time in TNA and his character is more well-developed than ever.  In short, he looks like a superstar.  In this match, AJ had the opportunity to tangle with another one of the top – and underrated – stars in the world, Kota Ibushi.  Ibushi held his own to prove to AJ and all of New Japan that the future is indeed bright.

6) AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal (c) for the ROH Championship – Final Battle – AJ entered this match having had probably the best year of his professional career.  He was one of the few gaijin to ever hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and he put on classics while defending it.  His Bullet Club was one of the hottest acts in wrestling.  More importantly, wherever AJ Styles goes, he’s a megastar.  As mentioned on commentary, Jay Lethal must be included in the discussion for best year of any ROH wrestler ever.  He was the longest reigning TV Champion in history.  He won the World Championship simultaneously and successfully defended both on the same show.  He went an hour with Roderick Strong.  He made himself arguably into Ring of Honor’s top guy.

These factors made this match tremendously compelling.  We entered expecting each to be on top of their game, but both elevated theirs.  The first few minutes saw multiple bouts of superior chain wrestling – acts that were long, fluid and innovative.  Lethal went after the back, knowing that AJ had been rehabbing it for weeks.  Truth interjected himself in all the right moments.  A couple wicked spots near the end of the match – including one involving a table – and a finish that seamlessly incorporated Lethal’s storyline with Jerry Lynn made this my favorite ROH match of 2015.

5) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi – G1 Climax Day 1 – This was the main event of the show that kicked off the G1 Climax tournament, and New Japan picked a doozy.  I usually keep notes during matches, but this time I just got too lost in the action.  The only thing I wrote down afterwards was “wrestling perfection.”  Stop what you’re doing right now and go watch this.

4) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto (c) for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Destruction in Kobe – This was the product of two masters of their craft who know each other well.  Throughout the entire contest, we waited for each wrestler’s signature maneuvers, and so did they.  Every move was made new by the creative counters and counters to counters each man employed.  This match included working on body parts, hard hitting Japanese-style striking, fluid and innovative technical wrestling, and a slew of near falls.  The finish was so satisfying that I actually threw my hands up into the air and cheered after the three count.  God, was this good.

3) Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker – Hell in a Cell – JBL commented on how the mood of the entire arena changed when this match started, and he was right.  This had the feel of two men about to go to war.  It was one of the stiffest WWE matches you would see in 2015.  Brock and Taker both bled hardway, and it stood out so much since WWE rarely does blood anymore.  Lesnar employed wicked chair shots, went brarefisted, and executed quick-as-hell suplexes.  Taker took a BEATING, but managed a Hell’s Gate and enough strikes to stay in it.  Both men kicked out of each other’s finishers.  Lesnar’s seeing the tear in the canvas and deciding to tear the ring up was brilliant.  I can’t remember ever seeing the wood beneath the ring in WWE before.  The postmatch was perfect.  Brock is sold as unbeatable, Taker gets minutes of pure respect as if it’s his last match, and the Wyatts carry him away.  I have a busy mind, but I did not lose focus on this for one second.  In my opinion this was the best WWE match of 2015.

2) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles – G1 Climax Day 17 – This was an epic 23-minute contest in which the winner would win the A Block and advance to the G1 Climax Finals.  This was a back-and-forth affair in which both men stayed so evenly matched, you couldn’t wait to see who would ultimately seize the advantage.  Every move seemed to have a counter, and every impact that landed was intense.  This was one of those fights in which all the little things seemed to matter, where the fluidity makes it seem like the game is slowing down for the wrestlers, while we marvel at their heroics in real time.  AJ and Tanahashi eventually hit their own finishers and then the other’s!  The crowd built to a frenzy by the end of this wrestling classic.

1) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – G1 Climax Final – The G1 Climax is unquestionably the greatest annual tournament in wrestling, and the Finals has consistently delivered one of its best matches.  The winner of this one would advance to the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10 to face the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada.  Okada had regained the championship earlier in the year, but had yet to cement himself as the “ace” of the company.  If Tanahashi won, Okada would face the current ace, and the man he had never been able to defeat at Wrestle Kingdom.  If Nakamura won, Okada would face the leader of his own faction, CHAOS, in a match that could see Nakamura “pass the torch” to his younger stablemate.

With the future direction of New Japan Pro Wrestling on the line, the pressure was squarely on the shoulders of arguably the two greatest professional wrestlers in the world to deliver a match worthy of the set up.  Given the talent levels of Tanahashi and Nakamura, the fans were expecting something special.  We ended up getting a wrestling classic, and one that earns the distinction of being my favorite match of 2015.

Anticipation was palpable.  The fans buzzed like a Wimbledon crowd that wanted to explode into cheers, but which was constrained by respect and cultural convention.  Tanahashi set the early pace by working a headlock.  Once Nakamura escaped, they fell into “wrestling jazz,” a sort of improvisational grappling that ultimately led to a standoff.

Long matches of this kind always need a spark to propel them to the next level.  Here, that spark was disrespectful taunting.  Tanahashi tried for the vibration kick, then Nakamura lightly, mockingly, and repeatedly kicked a kneeling Tanahashi in the face.  Anger and intensity grew.  After Tanahashi hit a crazy High Fly Flow onto Nakamura from the top turnbuckle to the floor, the match shifted into high gear.

Tanahashi executed some wicked dragon screw leg whips and negotiated Nakamura into a Lion Tamer.  Nakamura escaped and hit a pair of Bomaye knees.  Tanahashi attempted to counter a third with a bridging reverse hurricanrana, but Nakamura hit it anyway, leading to a fabulous near fall.  The crowd was electric, as they knew the match could now end at any point.

As both men descended into exhaustion, their shots became stiffer, as if each thought he might only have one more left in the tank.  Tanahashi and Nakamura chain wrestled into their signature maneuvers.  The young lions at ringside displayed expressions of shock.  Finally, Tanahashi won a battle on the top turnbuckle and hit three High Fly Flows.  He covered Nakamura for the pin at the 32-minute mark, causing the crowd to erupt with approval.  I cannot recommend watching this highly enough.

 

Honorable Mentions: Cena vs. Cesaro (Raw June 29 and July 6),  AJ Styles vs. Shibata (G1 Climax Day 1), Ibushi vs. Naito (New Japan Cup semis), Honma vs. Ishii (NEVER Championship – New Beginning Sendai), Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly (ROH Final Battle), The New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Usos (Tag Team Championships – TLC), Cena vs. Sami Zayn (Raw May 4), Sakuraba vs. Shibata (Dominion), Finn Bálor vs. Adrian Neville (NXT Rival), AJ Styles & The Young Bucks vs. Adam Cole, Matt Taven & Michael Bennett (War of the Worlds Night 2), Jack Evans vs. Angelico (PWG Battle of Los Angeles – Night 2), Nakamura vs. Goto (IWGP Intercontinental Championship (Dominion)), The Young Bucks vs. reDragon (ROH 13th Anniversary)

Pro Wrestling

Ranking All 89 Matches in the G1 Climax 25

Mike Specian August 19, 2015 2 Comments 47515 Views

Over the last month, I watched every match in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual round-robin tournament, the G1 Climax. This was arguably the undertaking of an insane person. If this is indeed the case, my ranking of every match in the tournament that follows is of little consequence. But for those that have partaken or will partake in G1 Climax 25, I think this may be useful.

The 2015 tournament featured Block A and Block B, each with 10 wrestlers who all faced each other once. That’s nine matches per person, or 90 in total (actually 89 when you discount Shinsuke Nakamua’s injury-based forfeit over Michael Elgin). There were five matches per night, spread over 18 nights. The night a match occurred has been placed in parentheses.

As the tournament progressed, I tried my best to assess how each match ranked in comparison to all the others. This was quite challenging for a number of reasons. First, my frame of mind changed from day-to-day, and even from hour-to-hour. A match I enjoyed on Wednesday night, I might have found dull on a Saturday afternoon. Second, since most of these were watched late at night, I got sleepy during parts, which affected both my immediate perception and…Third, my memory. As I write this, for example, I have no idea what happened in the Kojima vs. Anderson match. The best I could do is recall the feeling I had while watching it. If that didn’t work, I tried to figure out how good the match was relative to Kojima’s other matches, or Anderson’s other matches. Fourth, as impartial as I tried to be, I have my favorites. I am a huge fan of Kota Ibushi and Michael Elgin, for example. On the other hand, NJPW could have axed Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Yujiro Takahashi and my life would have been a better place. These biases have unquestionably crept into this ranking.

Of course, even if I had been able to watch every match with no bias and perfect mental and spiritual clarity, these are still going to be my opinions. I will not argue that my rankings are “correct” and everyone else’s are “garbage”, or any other Internet trolling thing of the sort. If you have AJ Styles vs. Tenzan at #42 rather than #62, hell, you might very well be right. Again, Mike Specian = imperfect.

With those disclaimers out of the way, I have separated the G1 Climax 25 matches into four categories. The first eight matches I deem as “absolute must-see”. Each of these is a legitimate match-of-the-year contender. You should go out of your way to see them. The second category is “don’t miss”. These are all very good to great matches that don’t quite reach the elite level. The third category offers solid efforts that aren’t a waste of your time, but which for the most part were not particularly memorable. The final category is the bottom-of-the-barrel fare. While there is some decent stuff in there, we only have so many hours in the day so…prioritize, I guess.

 

Match-of-the-Year Candidates

  1. Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles (17)
  2. Tanahashi vs. Ibushi (1)
  3. Ibushi vs. AJ Styles (5)
  4. Tanahashi vs. Shibata (13)
  5. Ishii vs. Elgin (18)
  6. Naito vs. Ibushi (11)
  7. Shibata vs. Ibushi (7)
  8. Elgin vs. Goto (16)

Excellent

  1. Goto vs. Ishii (14)
  2. Nakamura vs. Goto (10)
  3. Goto vs. Okada (8)
  4. AJ Styles vs. Shibata (1)
  5. Nakamura vs. Okada (18)
  6. Anderson vs. Elgin (14)
  7. Naito vs. Tanahashi (5)
  8. Shibata vs. Naito (3)
  9. Okada vs. Ishii (12)
  10. Okada vs. Honma (4)
  11. Nakamura vs. Ishii (8)
  12. AJ Styles vs. Bad Luck Fale (15)
  13. Takahashi vs. Honma (18)
  14. Okada vs. Takahashi (14)
  15. Elgin vs. Honma (8)
  16. Ishii vs. Nagata (10)
  17. Naito vs. AJ Styles (7)

Pretty Good

  1. Honma vs. Ishii (16)
  2. Shibata vs. Makabe (5)
  3. Nagata vs. Kojima (14)
  4. Nakamura vs. Honma (14)
  5. Okada vs. Nagata (16)
  6. AJ Styles vs. Yano (3)
  7. Okada vs. Elgin (2)
  8. Anderson vs. Honma (12)
  9. Ishii vs. Anderson (5)
  10. Ibushi vs. Makabe (17)
  11. Okada vs. Anderson (10)
  12. Goto vs. Honma (6)
  13. Anderson vs. Nakamura (2)
  14. AJ Styles vs. Makabe (11)
  15. Nagata vs. Goto (18)
  16. Tenzan vs. Shibata (15)
  17. Yano vs. Shibata (11)
  18. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tanahashi (7)
  19. Kojima vs. Elgin (4)
  20. Anderson vs. Nagata (8)
  21. Tanahashi vs. Yano (9)
  22. Tanahashi vs. Makabe (15)
  23. Gallows vs. Naito (15)
  24. Yano vs Tenzan (5)
  25. Tanahashi vs. Tenzan (3)
  26. Nakamura vs. Nagata (4)
  27. Tenzan vs. Naito (17)
  28. Makabe vs. Gallows (13)
  29. Elgin vs. Nagata (12)
  30. Nakamura vs. Kojima (16)
  31. Okada vs. Kojima (6)
  32. Elgin vs. Takahashi (10)
  33. AJ Styles vs. Tenzan (13)
  34. Makabe vs Naito (9)
  35. AJ Styles vs. Gallows (9)
  36. Kojima vs. Anderson (18)
  37. Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale (1)
  38. Naito vs. Yano (13)
  39. Gallows vs. Yano (7)
  40. Ibushi vs. Tenzan (9)
  41. Takahashi vs. Kojima (8)
  42. Shibata vs. Bad Luck Fale (9)
  43. Nakamura vs. Takahashi (12)
  44. Bad Luck Fale vs. Gallows (5)

Decent to “Just There”

  1. Bad Luck Fale vs. Makabe (3)
  2. Makabe vs. Yano (1)
  3. Anderson vs. Goto (4)
  4. Nagata vs. Honma (2)
  5. Ibushi vs. Gallows (3)
  6. Takahashi vs. Nagata (6)
  7. Goto vs. Kojima (12)
  8. Gallows vs. Shibata (17)
  9. Yano vs. Ibushi (15)
  10. Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale (17)
  11. Tanahashi vs. Gallows (11)
  12. Bad Luck Fale vs. Ibushi (13)
  13. Makabe vs. Tenzan (7)
  14. Kojima vs. Honma (10)
  15. Anderson vs. Takahashi (16)
  16. Ishii vs. Takahashi (4)
  17. Ishii vs. Kojima (2)
  18. Goto vs. Takahashi (2)
  19. Tenzan vs. Gallows (1)
  20. Bad Luck Fale vs. Tenzan (11)
Pro Wrestling

Ring of Honor Results, Spoilers and Live Impressions from July 25 TV Taping in Baltimore

Mike Specian July 26, 2015 Leave a Comment 3732 Views

Ring of Honor taped four episodes of TV on Saturday, July 25, 2015 at the William J Myers Pavilion in Baltimore, MD. These tapings come hot off the heels of the Death Before Dishonor iPPV the night before. The crowd was into it. Attendence was about 70% that of the night before. Before the show, the Young Bucks, Moose, and Maria were available for autograph signings and photographs. Ring of Honor did not announce when they would be returning to Baltimore.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Jay Lethal retained the Television Championship against Hanson, but Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly are hot on his tail. The split between Adam Cole and The Kingdom seems official. Cole joined Kyle O’Reilly to reform Future Shock. They couldn’t grab the Tag Team Championsips from The Addiction, though, due to outside interference from Taven, Bennett and Maria. The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi Vice, but the Addiction jumped them afterwards. A big tag team war between the Young Bucks, reDRagon & Adam Cole vs. The Kingdom, the Addiction & Chris Sabin seems likely.

The Briscoes, ACH, War Machine, Moose, and Roderick Strong all picked up wins and gained momentum. Adam Page called out and laid out Jay Brisoce, signaling the start of a feud. Dalton Castle defeated Silas Young, but Silas wants another match where if he wins, he gets Dalton’s Boys. Caprice Coleman defeated Cedric Alexander after Moose interfered. Cheeseburger got revenge on Brutal Bob.

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Dark Match: Mandy Leon beat Deonna Purrazzo.

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EPISODE 1

Match 1: ACH vs. Watanabe – This was ACH’s fast sytle versus Watanabe’s strong style. They meshed well and the crowd was evenly split. ACH won with 450 splash in nine minutes. Solid opener.

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Match 2: The House of Truth (Donovan Dijak & J. Diesel) with Truth Martini vs. War Machine – Jay Lethal was on commentary. This was a hard hitting, War Machine-style match. Their power won out in the end. They threw Dijak out of the ring and hit Fallout on Diesel for the pin in six minutes. Lethal and Hanson yelled at each other after the match to set up their ROH TV Title match later in the evening.

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Match 3: Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer & Colby Corino) vs. G(?) Hughes – Page squashed him in one minute with the Vertebreaker. BJ Whitmer grabbed the microphone to a chorus of boos.

BJ WHITMER

What? You don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say? Well too bad, because I’m the one with the microphone! Adam, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, that right there. This aggressiveness, this mean streak is what’s taking you to the next level. You proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are the future of this company when you beat ACH at Death Before Dishonor. And now tonight he comes out and Ring of Honor gives him that ham and egger? Are you ready to make a statement? Are you ready to call out the man?

ADAM PAGE

Jay Briscoe, get out here, get in this ring and man up!

Jay Briscoe was nowhere to be found. BJ antagonized Corino at the announce desk, yelling at him to do his job. Corino stood and removed his jacket, but Nigel McGuinness intervened and forced Corino to the back.

CROWD

Let them fight! Let them fight!

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Match 4: The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) with Maria vs. reDRagon – Adam Cole was on commentary. This match featured fun, fluid action throughout, as you would expect from these two teams. When Kyle O’Reilly fell deep into the middle rope (like Ambrose does), Bennett struck him in the face from the floor. Taven climbed to the top turnbuckle and with Bennett hit Hail Mary on O’Reilly on the floor. With O’Reilly eliminated, they did the same to Bobby Fish in the ring to earn the pinfall in 14 minutes. Good match!

After the match, the Kingdom attempted another piledriver but Adam Cole stopped them. Michael Bennett asked Cole what he was doing. Kyle O’Reilly stumbles up besides Adam Cole. The men shake hands.

CROWD

Future Shock! Future Shock!

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EPISODE 2

Match 1: Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle – As Castle disrobed, Silas mumbled, “unbelievable”. Dalton immeidately attacked Silas with bad intent. Dalton got the pin in nine minutes with Fair Winds. Fun match!

SILAS

Dalton, I’m getting damn, damn tired of this.

CROWD

Shut up!

SILAS

There ain’t gonna be any shutting up, because I say what I want to say because I’m a real man. I don’t worry if I offend somebody or if they think I’m a bad person. Dalton Castle, I don’t like what you do with these boys. I don’t like your lifestyle that you lead with them. These boys need to learn to be men.

You ain’t good enough to beat me on your own. You ain’t never beat me on your own. So one more shot, and when I beat you, I get those boys.

CROWD

Ooooooo!

SILAS

Believe me I’m gonna beat you. When I beat you those boys are going to be mine and I’m going to teach them how to be real men.

CROWD

Silas wants boys!  Silas wants boys!

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Bobby Fish came out for ringside interview with Kevin Kelly. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.

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Match 2: Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Will Ferrara – Moose won in three minutes with the big spear.

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Match 3: Roppongi Vice vs. The Young Bucks – The Bucks won in 13 minutes with More Bang for Your Buck after hitting a bunch of superkicks. This was exactly what you would expect. It was a fun candy car crash with all the usual spots.

After the match, the Addiction with Chris Sabin jumped the Young Bucks from behind. They used atheltic tape to bind Matt Jackson to the top rope while they beat on Nick. They kicked Matt in the face and gut. The Addicition nailed the Indytaker on Nick as Nigel McGuinness looked on disappointed.

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Internet-Exclusive Future of Honor Match – Nuclear Kaasarole (Chase Brown & Peter Kaasa) vs. Punisher Martinez & QT Marshall – This match had a different commentary team. Kaasa is a powerful dude who looks like a smaller Scott Steiner. The man definitely has talent. He performed a fallaway slam/moonsault combination and pinned QT after a senton.

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EPISODE 3

Match 1: The Briscoes vs. The Bloodbound Warriors – Each team wrestled their own style. It was a fun Briscoes match, but nothing beyond that. The Briscoes got the pin in nine minutes after a Froggy Bow.

Adam Page came to the entrance ramp with The Decade.

PAGE

There he is, Jay Brisoce! Two weeks ago I stood in that ring and called you out and you were nowhere to be found.   I don’t know if you’re going deaf or if you’re just stupid. What’s that motto? Man up? Maybe that don’t mean nothing. Maybe you’re another liar.

JAY BRISCOE

Yo, hold up, young boy. Listen to me, no offense brother, but I don’t even know who the hell you are. Hey, hey, pretty boy, I’ll tell you this. If you’re looking for a fight you don’t have to look too far, brother. We can do this right now.

BJ WHITMER

No no no, Jay, you need to pump your brakes. This isn’t going to happen right here, not right now. But I have an idea. How about next week right here on TV we give you the opportunity to man up when you go one-on-one with Adam Page!

JAY BRISCOE

Oh, so that’s your name? Adam Page. Well next week you’re going to get your ass whoopped.

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Match 2: Donovan Dijak (with Truth Martini and J. Diesel) vs Roderick Strong – This match featured a lot of good, back-and-forth strikes. Roddy looked no worse for wear after his 60-minute match the night before. In eight minutes, after trading some fun near falls, Strong hit the double-knee gutbuster/Sick Kick combination for the pin.

Jay Lethal immediately jumped into the ring as Dijak and Diesel held Strong. Lethal trashtalked Roddy, but as he turned his back to go for the Lethal Injection, Roderick fought out. War Machine ran out to support Strong and they run off the House of Truth. Roderick yelled to Lethal, “You can’t beat me!”

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The generic ROH logo appeared on the big screen, which is usually indicitive of a jobber coming out. Instead, we got shocked!

Match 3: Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. The Addiction (“Almighty” Christopher Daniels & Kazarian) for the ROH Tag Team Championships – The crowd popped HUGE when Future Shock came out. The fans remembered! After some back and forth mat wrestling, Future Shock hit the first tag team combo manuevers, indicating that they are still a cohesive unit! Adam Cole began to do the “Adam Cole, bay bay!” pose, but Kyle stopped him so they could pose together and yell, “Future Shock!”

CROWD

Future Shock! Future Shock!

The Addiction worked over Adam Cole. Cole was denied the hot tag, had a small rally, but the Addiction maintained control. Eventually Cole locked Kazarian in the Figure 4. Kazarian reversed it, but O’Reilly jumped on Kazarian and applied the arm bar. Daniels jumped on O’Reilly with a crossface. Creative spot!

Kyle O’Reilly got the hot tag and locked Kazarian in the arm bar. When Daniels tried to break it up, O’Reilly locked him in the ankle lock! Future Shock hit Total Elimination. Kazarian kicked Adam Cole in the groin and suplexed him off the top.

O’Reilly interjected with an arm bar, which prompted The Kingdom to run down to the ring. Matt Taven kicked Kyle in the head, but in a dramatic move O’Reilly managed to get a quick roll-up on Daniels for a LONG count, but Taven was distracting referee Todd Sinclair. Kazarian broke up the pin attempt by kicking O’Reilly in the head. O’Reilly stumbled into the rope where Taven gave him another shot. Kazarian rolled O’Reilly up, grabbed the tights, but only a two count! This is getting really good.

Michael Bennett jumped onto the ring apron and excoriated Todd Sinclair for his slow count. Adam Cole walked over to Bennett and asked, “What are you doing!?” The Addication grabbed Cole and hit a suplex into a double-knee gutbuster for the three count in 13 minutes. Maria held O’Reilly’s leg impeding his ability to break up the pin. Really fun stuff! Well worth watching.

After the match, The Kingdom beat down Kyle O’Reilly which drew out Bobby Fish. Out came the Young Bucks! They went straight after The Addiction and the melee was on! The Bucks hit stereo superkicks and Topes. The Young Bucks and reDRagon cleared the ring. This looks to set up an 8- or 10-man tag with The Addiction, The Kingdom and/or Chris Sabin vs. reDRagon, the Young Bucks and/or Adam Cole.

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EPISODE 4

Match 1: Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer & Colby Corino) vs. Jay Briscoe – Jay Briscoe extended his hand to Adam Page.

PAGE

I’m Adam Page. I’m in the Decade and the Decade doesn’t shake hands.

Page slapped Briscoe in the face. Briscoe laughed and extended his hand again. Page slapped him again and we’re off! This match was wrestled with high intensity. After about a minute, Colby Corino grabbed BJ’s crutch and looked to hit Briscoe with it. Briscoe stalked Colby giving Page enough time to throw a chair in Jay’s face. The referee called for the bell after two minutes, giving the DQ victory to Briscoe.

The Decade filled the ring with chairs. Page gave Briscoe the Vertebreaker on the chairs. Mark Briscoe raced to the ring to drive the Decade off. Jay Briscoe recovered and took the microphone.

JAY BRISCOE

You must have a death wish, boy, because your ass is gonna die.

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Cedric Alexander came to the ring with Veda Scott. His opponent Caprice Coleman followed.

CEDRIC

           (to Caprice)
I am the only man in Ring of Honor to beat Moose…TWICE! Beating you does nothing for me, so we will make our exit. Have a good night. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

COLEMAN

I’m sorry. I apologize. Maybe I should be talking to the one with the most hair on their chest. Hey, Veda! You’re going a great job winning matches for him! You’re doing a great job.

Match 2: Cedric Alexander vs. Caprice Coleman – After a competitive sequence, Veda grabbed Coleman’s ankle. Veda tried to further distract Caprice, which drew out Stokely Hathaway. Stokely grabbed Veda to remove her from ringside, which drew the referee’s attention. On the other side of the ring, Cedric obtained a wrench. Moose ran down and pulled the wrench out of Cedric’s hand. This distracted Cedric just long enough for Coleman to hit a massive top rope leg drop to earn the pin at the eight minute mark. The crowd led a Moose chant.

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Match 3: Brutal Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger – Bob dominated with Cheeseburger getting in a few hope spots. Bob set up a table on the outside and went to sidewalk slam Cheeseburger throught it from the apron. Cheeseburger floated back into the ring, and struck Bob in the face, driving him through the table! Bob was unable to make the 20 count. Your winner in six minutes is Cheeseburger! Bob’s protestations of “No! No!” elicited a sea of Yes! chants from the crowd.

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Bobby Fish came to the commentator’s table for the main event.

Match 4: Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) vs. Hanson for the ROH TV Championship – The crowd chanted for both men. After Hanson absolutely pummelled Lethal, Lethal hit a springboard dropkick, sending Hanson to the outside. Lethal hit three Topes sending Hanson over the barricade and into the front row.

Lethal grabbed Hanson’s beard and jumped over the top rope with it. Lethal blocked Hanson’s bronco buster with a foot to the groin. Lethal hit the Macho Man elbow but Hanson kicked out at one. Jay Lethal went for the Lethal Injection, but Hanson sidestepped and went for his own Lethal Injection! It was a little awkward, but he hit the elbow (as opposed to the cutter), which lit up the crowd!

Hanson performed a top rop moonsault but Lethal got his knees up. Lethal went for another Lethal Injection, but Hanson avoided it. Hanson immediately went for a spin kick, but Lethal ducked, hit a massive superkick followed by two Lethal Injections. Your winner in 11 minutes is Jay Lethal. This was another really good match. Jay Lethal is on such a roll lately. Hanson totally held up his end of the match.

Kyle O’Reilly ran to the ring and Bobby Fish joined him on the apron. Lethal held up both titles.

BOBBY FISH

Your day is almost over.

JAY LETHAL

Your day will never come!

Roderick Strong hit the ring. Lethal and Truth bailed.

RODERICK

Count the days. I’m going to embarrass you, Jay.

BOBBY FISH

        (to Lethal)
You are not a finisher!

JAY LETHAL

I am the greatest!

Pro Wrestling

Ring of Honor Results, Spoilers and Live Impressions from March 8 TV Taping in Baltimore

Mike Specian March 8, 2015 Leave a Comment 7359 Views

Ring of Honor was live at the William J. Myers Pavilion in South Baltimore on Saturday night, March 7, 2015. The building was jam-packed, drawing a standing-room only crowd of nearly 1000. People were lined up down the street just to get in to see ROH film four episodes of TV. The production team set up the big video screen above the entranceway, which looked outstanding. The crowd was jacked and their enthusiasm did not flag throughout the night. I’m sure these episodes will come off great on TV. I have been to most of the ROH shows in Baltimore, and this likely stands as their biggest crowd yet.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Samoa Joe is back in a big way. He defeats Kyle O’Reilly and announces that he wants a shot at the ROH World Championship against Jay Briscoe at Supercard of Honor. Jay Briscoe retains his title against a challenge from Jimmy Jacobs. The IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles looked incredible in his victory over Mark Briscoe. BJ Whitmer is an awful human being as he makes Steve Corino’s son Colby into the Decade’s new young boy. In lieu of getting a Television Title match against Jay Lethal, Top Prospect winner Donovan Dijak opts to join the House of Truth. Dalton Castle looks impressive as an impromptu replacement, but Lethal remains champion. The Kingdom beat the Young Bucks. The Addiction beat ACH & Sydal. The Knights of the Rising Dawn begin interfering in matches. Elgin, Moose and War Machine (with the returning Raymond Rowe) pick up squash wins. Elgin is becoming even more of an ass. Roderick Strong beats Bobby Fish in a very enjoyable contest. Brutal Bob turns on Cheeseburger.

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Match 1: The Addiction vs. Matt Sydal & ACH – Sydal makes a hot tag in the middle of the match and goes to town on the Addiction, earning a “this is awesome” chant. ACH gets a “holy shit” chant for his Fosbury Flop. Sydal is pulled to the outside by one of the Knights of the Rising Dawn. Kazarian puts Sydal in the torture rack, and then flips him over onto Daniels’s knees for the pinfall. This was a really fun opening match.

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Jay Briscoe comes to the ring.

JAY BRISCOE

Baltimore, Maryland, you know, first thing’s first. I got to send out a big thank you to ODB for bringing this baby (Briscoe’s personal world championship belt) right here home. Thank you ODB, it’s greatly appreciated.

Now coming out the 13th Anniversary in Las Vegas, Nevada, a lot of people say I escaped by the skin of my teeth. People saying I got lucky. A lot of people saying I look vulnerable. You can call me lucky; you can call me vulnerable, but don’t forget to call me the champ.

And how the hell is anybody going to call me lucky? I mean seriously, it’s been over 2 years since I’ve been pinned in this ring. I have one of the biggest streaks of all time going right now, man. I’m trying to stay humble, I really try to stay humble man, but this roll that I’m on right now; I can’t help but feel I’m the baddest man in pro wrestling.

Samoa Joe comes out to a massive pop.

CROWD

Welcome back! Welcome back!

SAMOA JOE

Baddest man in pro wrestling…you know what? I’ll give you that. You are on a streak. And whoever says this man got lucky – you are out of your mind. I was the man a long time ago. But in my absense, two men manned up and showed the Ring of Honor fans what we’re all about. That was the Briscoes and namely, you. You went to Vegas against impossible odds with 4 guys in the ring at once and you came out victorious. You manned up and handled business.

And I’d be remiss to say when I look at you I see a little bit of myself, what it means to be a true champion. But if you’re going to call yourself the baddest man in pro wrestling, last time I checked you ain’t whipped my ass.

CROWD

Oooooooo!!!

SAMOA JOE

So I’ll tell you what. Supercard of Honor, let’s see if that claim is true. You versus me for the ROH World Championship.

CROWD

Yes! Yes! Yes! Joe’s gonna kill you! Joe’s gonna kill you!

Samoa Joe and Jay Briscoe leave the ring. Jimmy Jacobs comes to the ring.

CROWD

Jimmy Jacobs! Jimmy Jacobs!

JACOBS

Last I heard, you guys were chanting, “Joe’s gonna kill you, Joe’s gonna kill you” in anticipation for some match that two wrestlers just decided was gonna happen. Samoa Joe – a guy who was great, I mean, really great. He hasn’t been in this company for so long that the last guy he beat was Tyler Black. That’s how long it’s been. But he just asked Jay Briscoe for a Ring of Honor World Title shot and Jay’s like, “yes.” As if your mere presence grants you a World Title shot just blows my mind! Samoa Joe, you walked out of this company and that worked out so well for you.

CROWD

Ooooooo!!!

JACOBS

I mean that. That’s real. And I mean this: while you walked out on this company, I was here in good times and bad, holding the fort down making sure there was a spot for you to come back to. Yes! Damn right! So before, Jay Briscoe, you just give away a title shot, I’m taking a title shot because I’ve earned a title shot. Nigel McGuiness, before you give away a title shot at Supercard of Honor to Samoa Joe, I’m taking a Ring of Honor World Title shot. Jay Briscoe, Nigel McGuiness, I know you’re both men. I know you’re men, so you’ll accept this. There’s something changing in the air, right now. There’s a feeling in the air that’s changing for Jimmy Jacobs and something’s got to give. Something’s gotta give and that’s the Ring of Honor World Championship.

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Match 2 (TV Episode #1 Main Event): The Kingdom (Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) with Maria vs. the Young Bucks – The Bucks are super over. Maria grabs Matt Jackson’s leg from the outside leading to a beatdown. Finally Nick gets the hot tag and moonsaults to the outside. Taven dives over the top rope. As Young Bucks doubling-teaming begins, the crowd chants, “This is awesome.”

Another distraction from Maria allows Taven to hit a top rope swanton for a two count. Bucks come back with stereo superkicks, bucklebomb kick, swanton while opponent’s legs are hung over top rope. Crowd chants for the Young Bucks. Young Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver, but one of the Knights of the Rising Dawn pulls out referee Todd Sinclair. Bennett superkicks Matt Jackson in the back of the head and low blows Nick. Taven goes to the top rope and the Kingdom hits a Metlzer Driver of their own for the pin in 12 minutes. Entertaining match!

reDRagon emerge at the top of the entrance ramp to survey the ring.

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Match 3: Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Fish – They trade stretches and strikes, then fight to the floor. Bobby Fish dominates Roderick for most of the match, though. Fish’s top rope moonsault earns a “this is wrestling” chant. The tide turns in Roderick’s favor following a superplex and double knee gutbuster. They trade strong-style elbows. Roderick flies off the ropes and connects with the Sick Kick followed by Death by Roderick. Crowd chants, “That was awesome.”

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Top Prospect Tournament winner Donovan Dijak is in the ring. Truth Martini, J. Diesel and Jay Lethal come to the ring. Lethal is scheduled to defend his Television Championship against Dijak.

TRUTH

Donovan Dijak…today is the most important day of your entire life. There were eight men in the Top Prospect Tournament and you came out victorious. That says something about you. You are a star on the rise. But today you are across the ring from your Ring of Honor champion, Jay Lethal. Now in case you didn’t know, Ring of Honor is the greatest company in the entire world.

CROWD

ROH! ROH! ROH!

TRUTH

Jay Lethal is the greatest wrestler in Ring of Honor. Do the math, Dijak, because that means that Jay Lethal is the greatest wrestler in the entire world. I’m going to tell you straight up. If you wrestle Jay Lethal right now, you’re going to lose. Repeat: if you wrestle this man right now, you’re going to lose. This man has victories over Ric Flair, Kurt Angle, Sting and Alberto el Patrón.

Now me on the other hand, Dijak, numbers don’t lie. I am officially the greatest manager in Ring of Honor today. Everybody who stands by my side shoots straight to the top. There are three types of wrestlers in this world – good wrestlers, great wrestlers and special wrestlers. This is the most important day of your life. This is what I’m offering you.

 

Truth Martini extends his hand.

TRUTH

Shake my hand and join the House of Truth.

 

The majority of the crowd wants him to do it. Dijak considers for a long while, and then shakes Truth’s hand.

TRUTH

You chose wisely.

 

Dalton Castle’s music hits. He comes to the ring doing his super awesome entrance with his two “boys.”

DALTON CASTLE

Salutations! I’m Dalton Castle. I’ve come to wrestle and these are my boys. I was stretching out my hammies to release my tension. You won the Top Prospect Tournament Champion and you’re gonna give that up? You know I was in that particular tournament for one particular reason – I want what you got (references the Television Championship).

 

One of Dalton’s boys gets on his hand and knees. Dalton sits on him and leans on the second boy as they combine to form a makeshift human chase lounge. The crowd is really into Dalton Castle.

DALTON CASTLE

So what do you say? Why don’t you be a man like me and put it on the line. Defend that title against me right now.

CROWD

Yes! Yes! Yes!

 

The House of Truth goes to leave the ring.

DALTON CASTLE

Come on! Walk away! I’ll just have to go challenge Jay Briscoe. He’s a real champion…

 

Match 4: Jay Lethal defends the Ring of Honor Television Championship against Dalton Castle – Lethal is so angry that he pummels Dalton at the start. However, Dalton recovers and wrestles a really competitive match in which he got in his fair share of offense. He hits Fair Winds and a deadlift German suplex. With the referee distracted, Dijak pulls Castle out of the ring and connects with Feast Your Eyes. Castle stumbles into a Lethal Injection and is pinned in 6 minutes.

This segment was very effective. Dijak got over by being a monster and aligning himself with the HOT. Truth got over by making it happen. Lethal got over by winning. Dalton Castle got over just by being Dalton Castle. After the match, Castle got a standing ovation with streamers. The crowd chanted, “Please come back.”

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Match 5 (TV Episode #2 Main Event): Jay Briscoe defends his Ring of Honor World Championship against Jimmy Jacobs – The story here is that Jimmy Jacobs hit Jay Briscoe with pretty much everything he had, but it just wasn’t enough. Jacobs hit a stunner off the corner of the barricade, sliced bread, spear and a top rope sliced bread, but still couldn’t put Briscoe away. Jimmy doesn’t know what to do, sulks around ringside and stares into the ROH title belt. Jimmy hits a running cutter off the rope, another sliced bread and locks in a guillotine. Briscoe powers up, but Jimmy rolls him up for a near fall. He gets a backslide for another near fall. Then Jay just grabs him and crushes him with a Jay Driller to get the pin in 12 minutes. As they shake hands, the crowd rises for a standing ovation chanting, “that was awesome.”

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Match 6: Moose (with Veda Scott and Stokely Hathaway) vs. Caprice Coleman – Moose dominates until Caprice hits the heart punch. As Moose weakens, Caprice gets in some offense. Moose recovers enough to hit the standing top rope dropkick and spear for the win in 6 minutes.

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Match 7: The Decade (BJ Whitmer & Adam Page) vs. Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali – This was a one minute squash. Whitmer held Leon face-up on his shoulder while Page ran towards him to deliver a cutter while Whitmer flipped him over.

BJ WHITMER

Adam, we’ve been scouting the entire wrestling world looking for our next young boy, looking for your replacement. Do you think we’re going to find him amongst derelicts like these two? I gotta surprise for you. I have found our next young boy. I have found the perfect fit for the Decade, someone that’s more than capable, a second-generation kid. With our guidance he just might become a star here in Ring of Honor. Adam, he needs a big brother like you and he needs a father figure like me. Corino, I’m giving you the chance and the opportunity to be our next young boy!

 

Steve Corino stands up from the commentary position and glares at Whitmer.

BJ WHITMER

No no, not you Steve, your son Colby Corino!

 

Colby Corino comes to the ring as his father looks on in disbelief.

BJ WHITMER

Now I’m going to ask you – are you up for the challenge of being our next young boy?

 

Colby Corino hugs BJ Whitmer!

STEVE CORINO

             (enraged)
This has gone too far.

 

BJ WHITMER

You haven’t seen anything yet, Steve.

 

Colby holds ropes for Whitmer and Page as they leave the ring. Jimmy Jacobs comes to the ring and tries to play peacemaker. He accompanies Steve Corino backstage.

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Match 8: The House of Truth (J. Diesel & Donovan Dijak) vs. Brutal Burgers – The crowd is super into Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger wants Dijak and even gets a big DDT hope spot on him. Ultimately, Dijak kills him with a knee, throws him across the ring and finishes him off with Feast Your Eyes. Dijak scores the pin in 5 minutes.

After the match, Brutal Bob Evans embraces Cheeseburger, poses on the ropes, turns around and nails Cheeseburger with a huge shoulderblock.

 

CROWD

Asshole! Asshole!

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Match 9: Michael Elgin vs. Will Ferrara – Elgin uses his power and submission holds to stay in control pretty much the entire match. Elgin teases powerbombing Ferrara from the apron through a table to the outside, but returns him to the ring. He hits the bucklebomb, spinning powerbomb combo for the pin in 6 minutes.

Caprice Coleman checks on Ferrara. Elgin gives him a spinning powerbomb. He grabs Ferrara and powerbombs him again. Elgin gets some really good heel heat out of this.

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Match 10: War Machine vs. Anthony Greene & Cam Zagami – This was Raymond Rowe’s first match back with War Machine since returning from injury. He gets a “welcome back” chant. War Machine wins easily in 3 minutes with a top rope leg drop from Hanson.

 

CROWD

War Machine! War Machine!

MICHAEL ELGIN

             (returning to the ring)
I’m not done yet! At the 13th Anniversary, Nigel McGuiness said he was going to “punish me.” Well, the only thing I see fit to do is return the favor and punish Ring of Honor. Hanson, Rowe, you know, as a young kid my mom used to say something to me. It used to go, “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.” And you two are standing there as a team because of me. So how about you two fellas against me and I get the job done right now?

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Match 11: Michael Elgin vs. War Machine – War Machine, being a good team, has the advantage for the majority of this short match, as they should. Elgin gets himself disqualified after hitting Rowe in the back with a chair. Hanson and Rowe are restrained by referees and officials as Elgin walks to the back holding the chair over his head. The crowd chants for War Machine.

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Match 12: QT Marshall vs. ACH – QT looks good early, executing impressive power moves on the smaller ACH. In the end, though, this was just a nondescript enhancement match to put over ACH. He wins with the 450 splash in 5 minutes after Marshall misses one of his own.

BJ Whitmer returns to ringside with Adam Page and Colby Corino to address ACH.

 

BJ WHITMER

You think you’re hot stuff don’t you? You think because you come out here with acrobatics and do a couple of flips and these people pop for you, that makes you the man? Let me smarten you up to something. I’m going to shoot straight with you, Albert. Nobody in the back likes you. Nobody respects you. But you are getting opportunities and chances that you don’t deserve. You’re getting opportunities that belong to a guy like Adam Page. You are having matches with AJ Styles and Alberto el Patrón and you failed, Albert. Yet each and every failure you come out with this false sense of bravado, this false confidence. But you know, deep down that every time your mother looks you in the eyes she sees nothing but a failure.

 

Colby attacks ACH from behind allowing BJ to take over. Page hits the vertebreaker. Steve Corino is very upset. Colby opens a bottle of water and hands it to Adam Page. The crowd boos them.

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Match 13: (TV episode #3 main event) AJ Styles vs. Mark Briscoe – This match had a lot of fast, well-executed chain wrestling complemented with stiff strikes. They started off with periodic flurries of offense followed by working submissions. They fight on the floor and back into the ring. AJ outwrestles Briscoe and maneuvers him into the calf killer. Mark gains the advantage with redneck kung fu and a brainbuster. AJ responds with the Stylin’ DDT, but simultaneous clotheslines put both men down.

AJ hits the Pelé Kick on the apron, but Mark responds with the Cactus Jack elbow to the floor. He tries for the Froggy Bow but AJ gets his knees up. Like a flash of lightning, AJ is up with a brainbuster followed by the Styles Clash. He gets the pin in 16 minutes. For many in attendance, this was the best match on the show. Great stuff here. AJ Styles is mega-over.

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Match 14: (TV episode #4 main event) Kyle O’Reilly (with Bobby Fish) vs. Samoa Joe – The crowd chants, “welcome back.” The first thing I noticed is that Joe appears to be in better shape than we last saw him in in TNA. They shake hands and we’re off. The match starts with back-and-forth wrestling. The men exchange go-behinds, wristlocks, arm bars, kicks, ducks, rolls-up and more.

CROWD

This is wrestling!

 

Kyle jabs and Joe just slaps him right in the face. He sits Kyle in the corner and gives him two sets of Facewashes. Kyle wrenches Joe’s arm, so Joe clotheslines him to the floor. They exchange blows and take turns setting each other up for the running big boot near the guardrail.

CROWD

Olé, Olé, Olé!!!

 

The men fight on the floor, but I can’t see how from my vantage point. Kyle torques Joe’s arm around the bottom rope. As Joe favors the arm, Kyle kicks him in the chest, returns to a wristlock and goes for a suplex, but Joe stops him. Kyle tries again, Joe stops him again. Joe jabs, slaps and elbows, but Kyle recovers with a knee to the chest that gets a one count.

Joe is facedown on the mat and Kyle controls him with a hammerlock. He supplements the hold with strikes and knees. Kyle’s back roundhouse kick gets a one count and he returns to a keylock. Joe surges back. His front roundhouse kick forces Kyle forehead-first into the mat. Joe follows with a clothesline, reverse atomic drop, big kick off the rope and his signature senton. Two count. Joe’s snap suplex compels Fish into the ring, but Kyle kicks out. Joe has his eye on Fish now.

Kyle tries for the Thesz press, but Joe turns it into a powerbomb. When Kyle kicks out, Joe rolls it into an STF. Kyle gets to the ropes, so Joe sets him up for the muscle buster. Kyle counters into a guillotine choke. Fish yells at the referee to ring the bell. Joe powers out so Kyle viscously elbows him in the face and transitions into an armbar from the same position. Again Fish tells the referee to ring the bell. Joe gets to the ropes and rolls to the outside.

From the apron, Kyle does his diving dropkick to the floor, shooting Joe into the barricade. Back in the ring, Kyle gets a two count with a suplex and transitions into an armbar. Joe gets a rope break so Kyle kicks him instead. Joe gets a second wind. He hits Kyle with a slap, slap, slap, but Kyle ducks the backslap. Kyle hit a kick, chop, knee, kick. Joe jumps the back roundhouse kick, but Kyle knees Joe in the face. Kyle tries the Dean Ambrose clothesline after bouncing off the middle rope, but Joe doesn’t go down. He tries again but Joe kicks him in the shoulder. Both men are down.

CROWD

This is awesome! This is awesome!

 

Kyle and Joe charge and evade each other. Kyle runs at Joe in the corner, but Joe catches him with the STJoe. Joe is feeling it now. He destroys Kyle with knee strike after knee strike. He throws him into the corner and sets him up for the muscle buster. He connects and gets the pin in 17 minutes.

CROWD

That was awesome! That was awesome!

 

It looks like Samoa Joe lives! This was a great match and ranks close to Styles/Briscoe as the best thing on the show, in my opinion. The men shake hands as the crowd chants for Joe.

SAMOA JOE

It feels good to be back here at home. At the Anniversary Show I told you people that we started a movement. It’s a revolution. Tonight is an example of the new style of wrestling. (yelling) Tonight is an example and notice to the world that we are changing the game because we are Ring of Honor and goddammit we’re the best that there is!

 

Bobby Cruise announced that Ring of Honor returns to Baltimore on Saturday, July 25.

Pro Wrestling

Can Anyone Stop World Wrestling Entertainment?

Mike Specian December 22, 2014 Leave a Comment 6300 Views

I was asked the following question on Quora:

Will there ever be a company that can dethrone World Wrestling Entertainment as the worldwide leader in the wrestling industry?

It’s not impossible, but it is unlikely.

WWE possesses a number of institutional advantages that effectively preclude encroachment from competitors.  It is a publicly-traded, billion dollar company with a sizable amount of cash on hand.  It retains the ability to hire the best performers and staff.  Its revenue streams are relatively (for wrestling) diversified in that they profit from television rights fees, merchandise, movies, DVDs, books, magazines, its website, pay-per views and the WWE Network.  It would be difficult for any company starting from scratch to surpass that.

WWE is so entrenched as the “worldwide leader in sports entertainment” that when people think of pro wrestling, they think of WWE.  This is similar to people thinking of UFC when they think of MMA.  This is not a matter of WWE being a subset of pro wrestling – for many fans they are one in the same.  The last major competitor to WWE, WCW, went out of business in 2001.  For fans 18 and younger, this means WWE is pretty much the only wrestling company they’ve ever known.  Loyalty and familiarity will make it challenging for another company to usurp them.

Changing that mindset will take a tremendous amount of time, effort and money, all of which are unlikely to materialize.  As an example of this power, realize that WWE is able to leverage the infrastructure of cities to run their events.  If they need police escorts to get their buses from one place to another, they can get it.

WWE also possesses the most comprehensive pro wrestling video library in history.  In addition to its own conent, it also owns the footage from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and others.  This allows it to leverage and monetize the entire history of the business.  No company will ever be able to match that institutional advantage.

Some might argue that WCW almost unseated WWE and another company might be able to do so again.  However, the competition from WCW was unique and unlikely to be duplicated.  WCW started as part of the old territory system in which pro wrestling was mostly local to each region.  When Ted Turner’s WCW became the primary territory for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) it already had a huge, well-established fan base.  It entered as an equal to the then-WWF, which offered it a unique position that no other company will ever be able to hold again.

I would further contend that the only reason WCW even came close to unseating WWE was that it attracted “fad-fans” interested in the novelty of the New World Order (nWo), i.e. a group of WWE wrestlers invading WCW.  These fans spiked viewership numbers during the late 1990’s but have not returned since.

Even if a smaller promotion like Total Nonstop Action (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH), Evolve or Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) is able to grow its own fanbase, history has shown these will likely remain niche products designed for a very specific wrestling-centric (as opposed to a more general entertainment-centric) audience.  Top stars from those promotions will consistently migrate to WWE for greater money and international exposure.  Fans of these smaller companies tend to also be fans of WWE, so in a sense they cannot even be considered true competitors.

The only plausible scenario in which WWE disappears from prominence is a hostile takeover or a complete buy-out.  A company like Disney, for example, could decide that pro wrestling fits into its business model and offer WWE an offer too good to refuse, especially if WWE’s product begins to flounder significantly.  At this point WWE would be absorbed into a larger conglomerate whose new owner could do with it as it wishes.

However in the near term, I would rate the chance of Vince McMahon, who is WWE’s primary stockholder, agreeing to cede control of his life’s work to someone outside of his own family as next to nil.  For his family to do so also seems unlikely given how deeply entwined their lives are with their business.

Pro Wrestling

Do “Smart Marks” Help or Hurt the Wrestling Business?

Mike Specian April 17, 2014 Leave a Comment 4218 Views

This post was inspired by a question that was asked on Quora.

In some respects smart marks help the business and in others they hurt it. Their best quality is passion. They love wrestling and continuously invest their time and money to support it at all levels. They often comprise a majority of the audience at indy shows, so much so that many smaller promotions might not exist without them. These shows are critical to the business since they provide a stage upon which young wrestlers can hone their craft.

Smart marks can often be assumed as “a given.” Whether the business is hot or cold, they will always be there. On one hand, their constant baseline level of support prevents the floor from falling out of the pro wrestling business. On the other hand, this means they can be more easily taken advantage of since companies like WWE know they will buy whatever they put out.

However, there are some smart marks whose behavior can detract from the quality of a show. Some become a distraction

when they act as if they’re part of the event. For example, a handful with a vendetta against a performer can chant “boring” loud enough to ruin the experience for others.

They can also become jaded to the extent that nothing pleases them anymore. When the same fans attend a company’s shows over and over again, as with the TNA Impact Zone, their reactions die out because they’ve seen everything before. Once a company breaks free of them, as TNA did by leaving the Impact Zone, the shows can become more vibrant.

Other smart marks believe that good wrestling depends on how many spots wrestlers can work into a match. They think that if a wrester can’t perform a flipping powerbomb into a twisting springboard DDT 5 seconds into the match, he’s garbage. This mentality diminishes the impact of all moves and makes them mean less. (As a counterexample, see CM Punk’s piledriver on John Cena during their #1 Contender’s match for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29 on February 25, 2013’s episode of Raw.)

I once heard a story about two ROH wrestlers working a frenetic style during a show. When they came backstage they encountered George South who suggested that they slow down and make individual moves matter more. The wrestlers said they couldn’t do that because the fans would chew them up for it. In effect, the reactions of a small group of fans had directly influenced (arguably negatively) the styles of wrestlers in the nation’s third largest promotion.

So with smart marks you get a mixed bag. In a sense, they are a critical component of the audience that supports young wrestlers and is usually willing to part with their money to support wrestling. At their worst, they can think that what they like matters more than anything else and any wrestler who doesn’t meet their conception of greatness isn’t worth the time of day.

Pro Wrestling

ROH Bests SCUM in Steel Cage Warfare – The ROH Report

Mike Specian July 25, 2013 Leave a Comment 5087 Views

These are live spoilers and impressions from the fourth and final ROH TV taping filmed from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23.  This episode will air this weekend.

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WHAT TO WATCH:  The Steel Cage Warfare match was awesome.  Watch the whole thing.  The visual of the streamers draped over the top of the cage was very cool.

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Match 1: The American Wolves def. Mike Sydal & guy I don’t recognize (he’s white with blonde hair, wore similar ring gear as Sydal and had a similar physique) in 5:40.  This was a decent, competitive match.  The blonde guy looked good during his two flurries with Davey.

The story of the match was Sydal’s team’s use high-flying maneuvers like Sydal’s top turnbuckle moonsault to the floor, his tilt-a-whirl spinning whirlwind DDT on Edwards and both men’s matrix-style dodges and tandem offense (like double hip tosses and dropkicks) while the Wolves used power and speed – dropkicks, chops, etc.  After Sydal and Edwards traded elbows to the face, Davey came off the top with the double stomp for the pin.

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Usually ROH schedules the intermission between the 2nd and 3rd of the 4 TV tapings.  But since they needed lots of time to set up the cage for the main event, they didn’t give us our 20 minute break until midway through the fourth taping.  The audience was coming off hot show the night before at Best in the World, the weather was rather warm in Baltimore and we were on plastic chairs or unpadded bleachers the whole time.  Overall, it was tough to get through.  Thankfully, the main event was worth the inconvenience.

————————————————

Match 2: ROH (Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer & Kevin Steen) def. S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton & Rhino) in Steel Cage Warfare in 25 minutes – Per the stipulation, S.C.U.M. must disband.  This match had a War Games elimination format.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: S.C.U.M. played dirty by throwing salt in eyes, tying Elgin to the cage, having Matt Hardy and Steve Corino interfere and even using a fireball.  When Steve Corino introduced lighter fluid, Jacobs tried to stop him.  Kevin Steen took advantage and finished off Jacobs with the package piledriver to become the sole survivor.

[ Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer started the match. ]

Jacobs and Whitmer spent five minutes throwing each other into the cage.  Whitmer’s suplex roll into a fisherman suplex got a two count.

[ Rhett Titus entered. ]

Whitmer threw Titus around the cage for a while.

[ Michael Elgin entered. ]

Titus and Jacobs attempted to take out Elgin, but he was too strong.  Elgin delivered a double back suplex followed by his ridiculous Samoan drop/fallaway slam combination on both men.  (crowd chanted for Elgin)

[ Cliff Compton entered. ]

Compton tossed salt in Elgin’s eyes and tied Elgin to the cage Tommy Dreamer-style.  With Elgin incapacitated, Jacobs, Titus and Compton triple teamed Whitmer and hit a Young Bucks-style spike piledriver on him.

[ Whitmer was eliminated at 10:30 ]

[ Jay Lethal entered. ]

Lethal had a chair.  Titus got hit, Compton got a dropkick version of the Van Daminator and Jacobs got the Lethal Combination onto it.  Lethal took out a pair of clippers and freed Elgin.

[ Rhino entered. ]

Rhino immediately gored Elgin.  He tried to gore Lethal, but Lethal sidestepped and Rhino hit Titus instead.  Jay hit the Lethal Injection on Rhino.

[ Rhino was eliminated. ]

[ Kevin Steen entered.  The match was now 3-on-3. ]

Before Steen could enter the ring, Matt Hardy attacked him from behind and threw him into the barricade.  With the cage door open, the men starting slipping out and the match just broke down.  Jacobs slammed the cage door into Lethal’s head.  Steen attacked Hardy with a chair.  Elgin sideslammed Compton onto the exposed floor.  Jacobs and Titus slid a table into the ring and leaned it up in the corner.

Back in the ring, Titus attempted a powerbomb on Lethal, but Jay slipped out the other side.  He hit Titus with a superkick followed by a Lethal Injection.

[ Titus was eliminated at 19:00.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin, Lethal & Steen. ]

As Steen destroyed Hardy with a cane on the outside, Lethal got hit in the back with a chair and was speared through the table.  Compton pinned Lethal.

[ Lethal was eliminated at 20:30.  The match was now Jacobs & Compton vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Everyone got back in the ring.  Compton tried to escape over the top of the cage, but Elgin followed.  Elgin stood on the top turnbuckle, grabbed Compton off the cage and delivered a powerbomb into the middle of the ring.  SICK!  (crowd: this is awesome!)

[ Compton was eliminated at 22:15.  The match was now Jacobs vs Elgin & Steen. ]

Steve Corino entered the ring and THREW A FIREBALL IN ELGIN’S FACE!

[ Michael Elgin was eliminated.  The match was down to Jacobs vs Steen. ]

Steen tried to powerbomb Corino, but Matt Hardy hit him with the Twist of Fate.  With Jacobs out in the corner and Hardy stalking around, Corino reentered the ring with a briefcase.  He opened it to reveal LIGHTER FLUID which he started spraying on Steen.  (crowd: you sick fuck!)  Jacobs implored Corino to stop, but Corino back elbowed him.  As Corino tried to light the matches, Nigel McGuinness stormed the ring.  Nigel and Corino faced off and threw off their clothing to prepare for a fight.  Corino piefaced Nigel, but then Nigel clotheslined the hell out of him.  The crowd went nuts.

Hardy kicked Nigel in the gut, but Steen was there to hit Hardy with the package piledriver.  Nigel got up and threw Jacobs into Steen’s arms.  Steen nailed another package piledriver and pinned Jacobs for three.

[ Jimmy Jacobs was eliminated.  The match ended at the 25 minute mark. ]

Streamers filled the ring.  Nigel and Steen embraced.  Kevin Kelly celebrated like a madman at ringside.  Adam Cole came to the entrance ramp to observe.  He surveyed the scene, rubbed his hands together for a few moments and returned backstage.  Nigel continued to celebrate with fans at ringside.  Steen mockingly shook Hardy’s limp hand and exited the ring.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

NIGEL: It’s been a long time coming.  The era of S.C.U.M. is over!  Get these pieces of trash out of the ring.  Out!  Out!  Out!  (crowd: out out out)

Three officials drove Corino and Hardy out of the ring, through the crowd and straight out of the building.

(crowd: na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye)

Bobby Cruise announced that this was the most important event ROH history and reminded the live audience how they could watch ROH on local TV and encouraged us to visit rohwrestling.com.  What a Wonderful World played as the crowd filed out.

Pro Wrestling

Matt Hardy Challenges Jay Briscoe for the ROH Championship – The ROH Report

Mike Specian July 20, 2013 Leave a Comment 2754 Views

These are live spoilers and impressions from the third ROH TV taping from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on June 23. This taping will air this weekend.

————————————————

WHAT TO WATCH: There are only two matches on this show. You’ll want to check out the main event for the ROH title, but I didn’t find it exciting live. We in the crowd suspected correctly that ROH wouldn’t change the title to Hardy at a TV taping, there were so many Twist of Fates they stopped mattering, and Jay was on defense most of the time. Not terrible, but not nearly as good as the main event of Best in the World. The Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole match was average for both of them. If you like their stuff normally, check it out.

————————————————

Match 1: Roderick Strong def. Adam Cole by DQ in 12 minutes – Adam Cole (who completely ignored an expectant Steve Corino on the way in) was scheduled to face Wes Ferrara, but before the match Roderick came to the ring.

RODERICK: Excuse me for a second. Adam, I really just wanted to come out here and get this off my chest. At Best in the World, I think you made a decision that wasn’t as honorable as you say you are. Adam, you’re the type of guy who comes in the locker room, shakes everybody’s hand and tells everybody that you’re their friend. But at Best in the World you had an opportunity to do the right thing, and that you didn’t do. You would think I would be mad at you, Adam, but the more and more I watched, the more I got disappointed.

(Adam Cole, slightly exasperated, beckoned for the microphone)

COLE: Roderick, since I started here I have prided myself on fighting with honor. When me and you faced each other at Best in the World, I saw the opportunity. I’d been so obsessed with wins and losses that when the chance for me to beat one of the very best in Ring of Honor, whether it be by countout, came, I took it. Roderick, if I disrespected you in any way or disrespected this company by not being honorable, I apologize.

COLE: (to Wes Ferrara) As a matter of fact, listen, you deserved your opportunity here tonight. You’re a very hard worker and I’d be happy to have this match with you at some point, but it cannot happen right now. Because I think the people of Baltimore would like to see a Best in the World rematch! (crowd: yes!) You guys want to see Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong right now? Roderick, I’m going to prove to you tonight that Adam Cole does have honor.

After two quick flurries led to standoffs, Adam Cole controlled Roderick at a slow pace with suplexes and submissions. But after a couple minutes, Roderick hit a big standing dropkick and took over with speed, power and precision. He nailed some nasty chops, a muay thai knee, running bulldog, backbreaker and Olympic slam.

Cole slipped over the top and forced Roderick’s back into the ringside apron. Worse for wear, but recovering quickly, Cole locked on the Figure 4. They fought to the top turnbuckle where Roderick executed the superplex. He followed with a spinning elbow and gutbuster, but Cole kicked out his legs and applied the Figure 4 again. Roderick reversed into a small package and then a Stronghold when that didn’t work. Cole kicked Roderick off, sending him into the referee.

With the ref down, both men rained elbows on the other. Roderick quit that game with a jumping knee to the face followed by a flurry of shots to the head. But Adam had just enough to connect with his own superkick. Now everyone was down.

Steve Corino ran to the apron, encouraging Cole to get up. He threw a chain in his direction, but Roderick picked it up instead. Cole, thinking that Roderick intended to hit him with it, grabbed the chain and crushed Roddy in head. The referee saw the shot and DQ’ed Cole. Adam shouted once loudly at Corino and stormed out.

————————————————

Match 2: Jay Briscoe successfully defends the ROH World Championship against Matt Hardy (with Steve Corino) in 14 minutes – Papa Briscoe watched from the corner.

CORINO: Ladies and gentlemen. The following contest is your television main event. It is set for one

fall. (he grabbed the ROH cover of the microphone and threw it to the ground) Introducing first, the icon, the living legend, beauty that has stepped foot in the ring, a man that has had eras named after him, a man that has invented more pro wrestling style matches than you can even count, a man that can walk on water(!), a man that is stronger than death, ladies and gentlemen, you all remember when JFK was popped in the head, you remember when that 9/11 thing happened…tonight you’re going to remember where you were when this man becomes the next, and final, Ring of Honor Champion. From Cameron, North Carolina, he weighs in tonight at 235.976 pounds. I give to you, your savior, Maaaaaaatttttt, Maaaaattttttt, MAAAAAAAAATTTTT HARDY!!!!!

(crowd: man up!)

HARDY (to Jay): You can’t stop it.

The story of the match was Matt Hardy’s working over of Jay Briscoe’s wrapped, injured left shoulder and bicep. Hardy ran Jay into the ringpost and barricade multiple times, hit a single arm DDT, elbowed him repeatedly in the back of the neck, torqued his arm over the top rope and then hit a Side Effect followed shortly thereafter by a Twist of Fate. Jay kicked out at two. He got some hope spots by hitting a superkick and neckbreaker, but Corino’s interference led to a second Twist of Fate. But still a two count! The champ won’t go down that easy!

(crowd: man up!)

Jay Driver out of nowhere! But only a two count. Jay decided he didn’t like Hardy’s ankle, so he stomped it so bad Hardy took his boot off…and promptly clunked Jay over the head with it. He then hit not one, but TWO more Twists of Fate to get the 1-2-NO! Jay kicked out! After a second turnbuckle suplex, the men traded shots on their knees. Matt quick gut-kicked Jay and went for a FIFTH Twist of Fate, but Jay quickly reversed into a small package to get the three count.

Rhino immediately hit the ring and gored Jay into early retirement. This drew Mark Briscoe out, but Corino just handful-of-quarters’ed him to the back of the skull. Elgin, Lethal and Whitmer raced out, but S.C.U.M. wrist-tied them to the bottom rope. S.C.U.M. placed the ROH Title around Matt Hardy’s waist while Rhino bludgeoned Mark with a chair. Then they placed Jay’s injured arm and shoulder in the chair.

CORINO: Finish Jay Briscoe once and for all. Whitmer, Elgin, Lethal, everybody – I want you to watch.

Matt Hardy jumped from the turnbuckle onto chair which obliterated Jay’s elbow. Nigel was screaming to get him out of there.

CORINO: Steel Cage Warfare. ROH not only dies, but ROH will burn.

KELLY: (to Matt Hardy) You broke his shoulder!

The ROH officials cut Elgin, Whitmer and Lethal loose.

NIGEL: Get them!

Elgin and Whitmer tended to the fallen Briscoes as everyone else raced to the back.

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