20) WALTER vs. Will Ospreay - OTT 10/13
There are a couple of issues I have with this match; I think they went quite overboard w/ the nearfalls by the end & the whole restart deal was very silly, BUT that just says how great the thing was otherwise since it's still this high on my favorites of the year list. Ospreay bumps like a madman & delivers hard hitting & highflying comebacks as WALTER gives him a classic WALTER-style mauling with some really awesome heelish touches added to it, given his relationship w/ the OTT crowd.
19) Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey - WWE 06/17
Everybody likes to throw shit at her, and while some of it is warranted, I do think that Nia low key rules tbh. She has always delivered in the monster role when she has gone against terrific babyfaces such as Bayley, Sasha & Asuka - and here, in her first match vs. Ronda, she delivered quite possibly her best monster performance yet. I wrote "she was on that Vader shit, so to say" the day after it happened, and I still like that line, so LET'S PUT IT HERE AS WELL W/ THE QUOTATION MARKS. And of course: Ronda F'N Rousey! In her first ever singles match she delivers a fabulous scrappy underdog performance w/ her bumping, selling & facial expressions. The Bear Hug spot is still one of the best things in all of wrestling in 2018 - it's such a simple, small thing, but Ronda actively trying to fight her way out of it while Nia squeezes the life outta her was amazing. Absolutely unreal that someone delivers a match this GREAT in their singles match debut. My personal women's wrestling MOTY.
18) Absolute Andy vs. Timothy Thatcher - wXw 03/11
This is a simple match that tells the tale of two characters wonderfully; the dynamic between Thatcher's stoic technician who's motto literally is "the mat is sacred" going against Absolute Andy's wily veteran who is willing to be the biggest scumbag cheater he can to get the W makes for one of my favorite bouts of the year.
17) Austin Aries vs. Moose - Impact Wrestling 07/22
A pretty damn unique main event world championship match; very rarely you see such a match in that spot w/ this kind of a sprint pace & energy from start to finish. Aries was excellent with his overall performance from his bumping, to his hard hitting chops, to his sneaky veteran tactics & Moose was, well, Moose. Solid with his power game. A great reminder of the talent that Aries is.
16) Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 08/04
There's some generic New Japan big match stuff in the middle, but overall the match had such a great dynamic & Ishii's underdog performance was so amazing that it can't be denied. Omega being a cocky prick to start things off was wonderful, and Ishii's response to that was absolutely priceless with him just playing with Omega's hair to show that he can play those games too. The damn crazy Cruficix counter too, what a great moment - A true standout spot in a wonderful bombfest war. The match also showed the improvement of Kevin Kelly to the maximum; dude went from being one of my least favorite commentators to quite possibly my favorite one - what a phenomenal call in "I'm telling you he's unbeatable, Omega is UNBEATABLE!"
15) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - NJPW 03/21
The first 2/3 of the match are mostly spent on the mat, and while Tana does do quite well & hangs with Zack, it's clear who has the advantage. Zack just gradually wears him down, limb by limb, until Tana becomes truly desperate in the finishing stretch & tries Zack's signature pin against him, in a move that sealed his inevitable destruction in the match. It's all just wonderful stuff from start to finish.
14) Hangman Page vs. Minoru Suzuki - NJPW 08/05
It was tough choosing between this & Tana/ZSJ as my NJPW MOTY, and while I might still change my mind, right now I am putting this one above the other. A wonderful underdog tale told perfectly w/ Hangman proving that his potential as a babyface gaijin is unlimited, and MiSu adding yet another killer performance to quite possibly his career year & delivering the best match of his for the year.
13) Absolute Andy vs. David Starr - wXw 03/10
The way they built this finals match for the 16 Carat was unbelievably great; you got the favorite, the ultimate babyface in David Starr looking to achieve his dream, and then on the other corner you got Absolute Andy, the man who cemented himself as the biggest cunt in wXw in his journey to the tourney finals. Andy delivers a hellacious beatdown throughout & Starr works that babyface magic of his, refusing to die easily. It's great as a standalone match, but it's a goddamn classic when seen in context of what was the journey of both guys in 16 Carat Gold 2018.
12) Andrade Almas vs. Johnny Gargano - WWE 01/27
Both guys deliver their career performances w/ Almas being vicious as hell w/ his offense, and John boy, while still showcasing some of that shitty indy offense of his, delivers a babyface performance to remember w/ his selling & comebacks. In some ways it resembles an indy epic, but without the worst tropes, and the tropes they go with, they actually make look GREAT. Magic in the air that night in Philly, I tell ya.
11) Drew Gulak vs. Jack Gallagher - WWE 05/10
Clocking in at just under 7 minutes, I think this is one of the coolest things to have ever happened inside a WWE ring. It's just lovely, intense grappling w/ a great sense of urgency all the way through w/ them selling big moments (leglock) big time, and then some amazing looking strikes in the finishing gear.
10) AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE 04/10
The first match between the two since 2006 & they continued right where they left off at w/ their first WWE classic in the books. Excellent back & forth grappling, fighting over control to start things off, and then ultimately Bryan gets the control by going after AJ's arm, and boy oh boy, was it a joy seeing the Greatest of All-Time do his thing, torture some limbs once again in his first singles match in 3 years. AJ's of course sells excellently, because he's AJ Styles, duh, and he eventually gets back into things w/ a Dragonscrew, and he goes to town on Bryan's leg. Then it's a classic dueling limb work battle till the Nakamura run-in finish. The shit finish aside (which I can't even be mad at because of the match quality), it was an absolute joy watching the two go at it again.
9) Jordan Devlin vs. WALTER - OTT 08/18
What puts this over the top as a classic is the whole Jordan Devlin character arc that the company had built. The Irish Ace hadn't been pinned for 22 months till he met WALTER in a tag match, and here w/ the whole crowd by his side, he was looking to avenge the only true pinfall defeat of his current run. It's too bad that the man he was facing was & is the ultimate monster boss of indy wrestling, and he sure delivers a beating to Devlin, all the while all of the crowd is booing the crap out of him. It's a terrific dynamic & WALTER's work on top is of course tremendous, and they timed all of Devlin's comebacks perfectly, not giving him too much, but also not making him look like a complete loser. He just ran into a man who is on that other level. The finish was absolutely perfect too - there's no fancy, shitty, generic finishing run w/ 10000 counters & dramatic nearfalls, it's just WALTER first choking Devlin out & then dumping him on his head, 123, new champ. Perfect ending for the story they told.
8) AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE 10/30
It's like their 04/10 match, but this time there's no interference endings & they get to tell their story fully. It's two masters of the graps doing the dueling limb work thang w/ excellent selling & excellent work on the offense by both. Exactly my kind of rasslin. Tells something about them when the whole crowd is going nuts from start to finish, and there's ZERO finisher nearfalls.
7) AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE 12/16
OOPS THEY DID IT AGAIN. This time Bryan is even more vicious than in their previous WWE meetings & he goes for the ribs - he works them over in ruthless fashion, and AJ more than returns the favor by brutalizing Bryan's leg. All of that once again w/ excellent selling throughout by both. And of course the knees to head during cravate & I HAVE TILL 5. My favorite of their WWE saga so far, but that could change any time they lock it up. Could watch them literally every week.
6) Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong vs. Trent Seven & Tyler Bate - WWE 06/21
Kyle & Roddy are like Minoru Suzuki, but Trent Seven is thankfully not Okada, as he actually sells the leg perfectly throughout! Fantastic drama revolving around that, and Bate delivers the mother of all hot tags in 2018 when Seven finally gets to make it. A legitimate contender for the best tag match to ever happen in the US soil.
5) Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER - wXw 05/05
This has strangely gone somewhat under the radar, but I think it's by far their best match against one another. Right from the get go Ilja says "fuck that, I am not doing that chopping shit tonight" & goes to work on BOTH of WALTER's hands (eventually targeting the right one more) - Ilja's fantastic on the attack, and WALTER sells greatly, and eventually answers back by giving Ilja's neck an absolutely BRUTAL beating throughout. It's up there w/ Danielson/Hero from 16 Carat '08 as a candidate for the best wXw match ever.
4) WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - PROGRESS 04/07
The story they tell in this one is something I could write so much about, and I have done that a few times, but now I'll just say it's my favorite match of theirs against each other by far, and that's something, because WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr. has been a pairing that has always produced greatness throughout years.
3) Darby Allin vs. WALTER - EVOLVE 06/23
This had a real throwback-to-the-good-ol-indy-days-of-2000s -feel to it. I remember being super bummed about their WM match being scrapped, but my goodness was it worth the wait. Darby delivers a masterpiece of a performance w/ his body language, bumping & fantastic laser-focused attack on that chopping hand of WALTER's. WALTER's character work is also terrific throughout, him just throwing Darby around & chopping the shit out of him of course rules, and he sells perfectly for the much smaller man.
2) Timothy Thatcher vs. WALTER - PROGRESS 01/28
A brutal masterpiece between the two members of the best tag team in wrestling right now. Great feeling out process to start things off; the mat work & the way they battled over the control felt so natural & looked pretty gritty, which I obviously loved. Quickly after it's the WALTER show; he just mauls the shit out of Thatcher - I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again: Thatcher is quite possibly the best FIP in the biz, so of course it was a joy watching him sell his ass off for the brutal beatdown he received. He eventually gets the control by doing the classic "chopper-chops-the-ringpost" -bit, and after that it's Thatcher on the attack, super focused targeting that chopping hand of WALTER's. WALTER sells great & Thatcher rules on the attack - loved how the dynamic flipped from WALTER being the absolute grizzly bear just MAULING Thatcher to then being hurt & fighting like it shows; the hunter became the hunted, so to say. The last third of the match is more 50/50, with them fighting with a great sense of urgency - the way it escalates to the eventual finish is amazing. Ringkampf lads delivering a true classic against each other. Bless. Die Matte ist Heilig.
1) Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE 11/18
Literally my biggest dream match of all-time, and something I thought we'd never see, even with Bryan returning to wrestling in the WWE. It somehow lived up to the crazy expectations I had for it, but then again, with it being Brock goddamn Lesnar vs. Daniel f'n Bryan, how could it not? It's just perfection from the entrances on, loved everything about it. Might be my favorite WWE match of all-time tbh. The clear MOTY in my eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment