Top 135 Matches of 2016: #45-36

45. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 7/18/16

Hiroyoshi Tenzan was disappointed when he wasn’t announced as part of the G1 Climax blocks. He is a former three-time winner and had competed in a record 19 straight G1’s. His friend and partner Satoshi Kojima ended up giving up his spot in the tournament to Tenzan, who was looking for one final magical run. This was the first match of the entire G1 Climax this year and it got things going on the right foot. Tomohiro Ishii matched up well with Tenzan and they had some great interactions in multi-man tags during the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Ishii didn’t seem to take the legend seriously at first, toying with him. That fired up Tenzan and things got heated to the point where the referee was tossed aside. They just dished out punishment on each other throughout the match, which lasted 14:08. There were several close calls as the match came to a close and while the things in the ring were indeed great, this got bumped to the next level by the stuff outside. The crowd was mental, badly wanting the Tenzan win, and Kojima nailed every facial expression as he supported his buddy. Tenzan won after using Koji’s lariat as a tribute to his friend and a moonsault. This felt way more important than a G1 opener. They badly mishandled the Tenzan’s last stand story as he would only win two matches the entire tournament. This was special though. ****¼

44. WWE World Heavyweight Championship Extreme Rules Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. AJ Styles – WWE Extreme Rules 5/22/16

Similar to John Cena, a lot of Roman Reigns matches feature a hot, vocal crowd. Especially when he’s going against someone that is as popular as AJ Styles. After their first title match got overbooked and ended like a wet fart, they were given another PPV main event, with an Extreme Rules stipulation. Since Payback, their rivalry had escalated and they worked this match to fit that story. They fought through the crowd, by the kickoff panel and AJ took a ridiculous back body drop through an announce table. AJ bumped like a madman, taking that spot, a sick powerbomb in the ring and being thrown into the barricade, apron and another table. Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and the Usos all got involved to help their respective buddies. Styles scored on the Styles Clash for a near fall that most fans really bought into. He hit a second on the chair and one of the Usos broke up the pin, making him the most hated guy in the building. My main gripe with this was that Reigns kind of superman shrugged a lot of the work done to him throughout the match to pick up the win at 22:12. This was better than I remembered. A great match and easily the best singles Reigns performance of the year. ****¼

43. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW G1 Climax 7/30/16

Not only was this a match with my two favorite NJPW wrestlers, they are also two of my ten favorite anywhere. They had a great match in last year’s G1 Climax, which is where I became a fan of both guys. Katsuyori Shibata was having none of Tetsuya Naito’s bullshit. He charged and kicked him in the face instantly before viciously throwing him into the guardrails outside. Once Naito turned things around, he targeted the bad shoulder and knee of Shibata. Disrespectful Naito made the mistake of spitting at Shibata and got his ass kicked for it. There was a rather lengthy submission spot in the middle that slowed things down a bit too much. It made sense but went for too long. I did love how it played into Naito’s newfound knee bar. Once that was over though, this got great. Stiff shot after stiff shot led to Naito coughing up blood after the final bell. Naito got the knee bar on and Shibata’s injury made his struggle more dramatic. Shibata fought free and slapped on the sleeper hold. He hit the penalty kick but knew how tough Naito was so he went back to the sleeper instead of trying for the pin. Naito passed out at 19:24 to end one of the best G1 Climax matches this year. Two of the very best just doing what they do best. ****¼

42. ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Lio Rush – ROH Supercard of Honor 4/1/16

It’s okay if you don’t know who Lio Rush is. A lot of people didn’t coming into this match. He won ROH’s Top Prospect Tournament and in ROH history, that is enough to earn a new star a shot at the ROH Television Championship. But, with Tomohiro Ishii holding that title in Japan, Rush was granted a shot at the ROH World Title in his first officially contracted match for the company. And a lot of the story of this match was Lio Rush but it is the single most impressive performance I saw from Jay Lethal during his title reign. He nailed every facial expression, reaction and bump to make sure Rush looked like a million bucks. Lethal didn’t take Rush seriously at all. He toyed with the youngster but Rush was confident. He stole Lethal’s signature taunt at one point and even slapped him at another. Rush showed no intimidation of Lethal, even though Jay had been champion for ten months to this point (not counting the 500+ day reign of the Television Title). The more confident the challenger got, the more vicious the champion was. Rush’s final few attempts at winning the title were perfectly done. He came close a ton and got to shine in the biggest match of his life. Of course, he fell just short after an awesome 19:36, but it was his performance that mattered. It reminded me of Tyler Black’s early attempts to win the ROH Title from Nigel McGuinness and we all know how great Black’s career turned out. I’m not saying Rush will ever reach Seth Rollins levels, but he has a bright future and this is proof. ****¼

41. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Payback 5/1/16

The rivalry between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is among my favorite in wrestling. When they were a tag team on the indies, I was a massive fan. I still love both guys as singles competitors and they just fit as rivals. Sami is the perfect underdog babyface and Owens is a great brutal bully of a villain. Their fights have an animosity to them that a lot of big feuds lack these days. We totally buy into them hating each other. This only goes for 14:39 but it never stops. They fight in and around the ring, with both guys playing to their strengths. Sami is just so good at taking a beating, so everything Owens did just came off as even more vicious than normal. For example, a simple front suplex onto the top rope looked awesome because of how Sami sold it. Sami’s rally was full of fire and the fans completely wanted him to win despite Owens being very popular. They built to some great near falls on a Sami blue thunder bomb and a frog splash from Owens. Sami had two great counters for the Popup Powerbomb but Owens had a counter of his own for Sami’s tornado DDT. They just continued to build to bigger and better things. Owens stopped the Helluva Kick with a superkick and won with the Popup Powerbomb. These two are so good together that they would compete in an even better match together a few months later. ****¼

40. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 8/3/16

In the past few G1 Climax tournaments, two of the most consistently great performers have been Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii. They met in a classic in 2013 and a really good match in 2014. This year’s G1 meeting finishes in between those two in my mind. Tanahashi began this year’s G1 Climax 0-3 before reeling off two straight to turn things around. Though he was on a streak, Ishii just kicked his ass from the opening bell. Tanahashi tried to battle headbutts with Ishii which was a clear mistake. Ishii pulled a page from Tanahashi’s book with dragon screws and leg work, so Tanahashi did it back. They traded blows for most of this 16:15 battle. Tanahashi was at a disadvantage there but found ways to counter the brainbuster and survive Ishii’s other big offensive attacks. Ishii came close several times until Tanahashi nailed two High Fly Flows to even his record at 3-3. This was one of the best matches of the entire G1 Climax. Tanahashi played the babyface fighting from behind and sometimes that just be the same old, same old, but here it felt top notch. When Tanahashi is on his game, there are very few better. ****¼

39. Trios Championship: Ivelisse and Son of Havoc (c) vs. The Crew and Joey Ryan vs. Dragon Azteca Jr., Rey Mysterio Jr. and Prince Puma vs. Fenix, Jack Evans and PJ Black – Lucha Underground 4/27/16

Shortly after Dario Cueto returned to the Temple, he set up a new Trios Tournament. The three teams that advanced to the finals would meet the champions on this night. One of the champions, Angelico, got injured which caused his partners to compete shorthanded. There were so many interesting dynamics in this one. From Angelico and Ivelisse as the underdog champions, to the Crew teaming with sleazy undercover cop Joey Ryan, to Fenix’s team not getting along and finally to the dream team of Azteca, Puma and Rey. So many moving parts and it all came together perfectly. One member of each team was legal at a time, giving it a different feel from a lot of big tag matches like this. It would be impossible to write up play-by-play on this. We did get to see Ivelisse hit a German suplex on sleazy Joey, which was cool. A miscommunication between the Crew and Joey allowed Ivelisse to eliminate them first. Evans, who called himself the “baddest bitch in the building” to mock Ivelisse, eliminated her and guaranteed there would be new champions. The final two teams going at it ruled. Azteca showed off how good he is and went toe to toe with Fenix. Evans got too cocky and it led to the downfall for them. Mysterio got the tag and ran wild, hitting the 619 to kick off a barrage of moves that won his team the titles at 23:15. Not only was this a fantastic match, but it actually started a bigger angle that set up a match between Mysterio and Puma at Ultima Lucha Dos. ****¼

38. Chris Hero vs. Tomohiro Ishii – RPW Global Wars UK 11/10/16

The joint NJPW/Rev Pro cards featured some interesting matches. None caught my eye more than this one between Chris Hero and Tomohiro Ishii. Not only are both men among the best in the entire world, but their styles just screamed a combination that would produce greatness. Chris Hero had a clear size advantage and mocked Tomohiro Ishii for it early. An angry Ishii hit him with a bunch of forearms but just one from Hero knocked Ishii on his ass. That was the story for most of the 13:37. Hero abused Ishii at times, but the “Stone Pitbull” never gave up. He got his second wind and some of Hero’s strikes had no effect on his hard head. They traded some brutal strikes, kicks and headbutts for a while. Ishii fired up after a piledriver and did so again when Hero nailed a second in the closing stretch. That final few minutes saw these two beat the holy hell out of each other by the way. After Ishii got up from the second piledriver, Hero hit a big elbow and then a Gotch style piledriver to score the victory. This had a lot of hype going into it but I think they lived up to it. It was just what I wanted. They had a war in front of a hot crowd and didn’t go too long. Hero took time to put over Ishii on the microphone after the match, which was a nice touch. ****¼

37. Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown – WWE Survivor Series 11/20/16

When a match goes 52:49, it can either feel like it took an hour or feel like it kind of flew by. The latter was the case for this match. AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon took on Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a huge traditional Survivor Series match. I’m a sucker for those kinds of matches and this one certainly delivered. It was handled so well, especially when you consider the sheer amount of stuff going on. Several angles and moments were weaved into one gigantic match. For the first fifteen or so minutes, there were no eliminations and everyone got some shine. The Styles/Ambrose rivalry was touched upon when they got into it and Dean was eliminated first. I disagreed with him going out first, but it worked out well. They made good use of Smackdown’s mascot, James Ellsworth, when he held Braun’s leg to get him counted out. Guys like Braun and Owens were protected by countout and DQ eliminations, while a guy like Styles got protected by going out only after a brief (and awesome) Shield reunion. We got the big spots we love from Shane including his elbow through the table and he took a spear that nearly killed him. Best of all, the Wyatts got to look strong. When everyone thought Seth and Roman would overcome the odds for Team Raw, Orton caught Seth in a top five RKO ever before sacrificing himself for Bray, allowing Bray to beat Reigns with Sister Abigail. ****¼

36. Lucha Underground Championship: Mil Muertes (c) vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Prince Puma – Lucha Underground 3/9/16

To start Lucha Underground’s incredible second season, Mil Muertes held the Lucha Underground Title. He seemed unstoppable and sent back all challenges. The two biggest threats to the title were Pentagon Jr. and Prince Puma, who were in the midst of a rivalry of their own as well as having their issues with Mil. It led to this awesome three-way match. Puma and Pentagon worked together early on but Muertes was too much of a beast for them. The champion even did a plancha, which we never see from him. Pentagon and Puma were not far behind with dives of their own. This match had so much going on, from the aforementioned aerial attacks to creative use of the environment to great brawling. Each guy played to their strength for the entire 11:56. Puma stole the show with a sick shooting star press off the guardrail. Near the end, they built to several near falls that the fans totally bit on. Pentagon went to break Puma’s arm but Mil speared him. He also speared Puma before using a double Flatliner to retain the title. Not only was this one of my favorite matches all year, it was the best triple threat match of 2016. A non-stop blast. ****¼

Top 135 Matches of 2016: #55-46

55. Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa – BJW Saikyo Tag League 10/31/16

I’ll admit, I don’t follow Big Japan all that much. In fact, this was the first show of theirs that I watched. One guy who I have seen and heard (a ton) about is Daisuke Sekimoto. He and Yuji Okabayashi combine to form the duo known as Strong BJ. This match opened the final show of the Saikyo Tag League tournament and was one of the best openers all year long. Sometimes, as a fan, I just want to see guys beat the shit out of each other. That’s what I got from these four. It started with Ishikawa and Okabayashi going full tilt at one another and once they tag, Sato and Sekimoto did the exact same thing. Sato nearly knocked Sekimoto out with a sick forearm. Sekimoto took most of the offense going forward and his hot tag to Okabayashi was awesome. There were powerslams, piledrivers, headbutts and everything I could want in a match like this. Yuji and Shuji traded popping up after offense and just wailing on each other. Great strong style stuff here. Strong BJ pulled out the win after a German suplex by Sekimoto at 13:46. This was exactly what it needed to be. Hard hitting and it didn’t go too long, leading to one of the best tag matches all year. You won’t find many matches manlier than this. ****¼

54. PWG Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly – PWG Thirteen 7/29/16

ery often, Zack Sabre Jr.’s selling comes into question. That’s quite understandable. On this night though, he put up a strong effort in that aspect. Unfortunately for him, it was completely overshadowed by Kyle O’Reilly’s selling. Sabre attacked the taped-up shoulder of O’Reilly and he sold it like his arm was going to fall off. He writhed around in agony. He left it limp while striking. He was unable to lift Sabre for certain moves because of it. It was masterful. Sabre got more and more heelish throughout the match, something he’s shown in several companies this year, and it added to the atmosphere. Near the end of this 22:00 match, the crowd rose with deafening dueling “O’Reilly/Sabre” chants. They had so many great counters and reversals, including Kyle catching a European uppercut into a backslide. The strikes and kicks from both men were brutal. Kyle has bulked up over time, adding to his and Sabre’s intensity and viciousness made his look fantastic. Sabre eventually caught O’Reilly in a submission and at first, I was worried because it didn’t target Kyle’s bad shoulder. Kudos to Sabre for making sure to reach back and involve that shoulder in the hold to make O’Reilly submit. ****¼

53. Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay – PROGRESS The Graps of Wrath 11/27/16

Two guys that stood out in 2016 were Matt Riddle and Will Ospreay. So when it was announced that they’d face off for the first time at PROGRESS Chapter 39, most people were rightfully excited. With no existing issues or rivalries, you might expect a standard match here. Riddle made sure it wasn’t by attacking Ospreay with a brutal knee during introductions. What followed was wall to wall action for 8:15. There’s something about Riddle that made me feel like he might win at any point, especially after watching him make Zack Sabre Jr. tap out in under ten minutes earlier in the year. Ospreay got his highlights in as well, flying all over the place when getting an opening. He didn’t shy away from a strike battle with Riddle either, holding his own but still being slightly overmatched there. Though this match is short (the second shortest on this list), there was so much going on that it would be hard to mention it all. A great series of counters made it seem like Ospreay might win, only to have his Oscutter caught into the Bromission. Ospreay tapped out, giving Riddle a victory in his debut in the UK. A spectacular sprint between two guys who are only going to become bigger stars in the next few years. That Matt Riddle guy is truly something special. There’s an aura about him that just screams megastar. ****¼

52. Six to Survive: Fenix vs. Ivelisse vs. Johnny Mundo vs. King Cuerno vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Taya – Lucha Underground 6/15/16

In an effort to see who would earn a shot at the Lucha Underground Title at Ultima Lucha Dos, two teams of six competed a week earlier. The winning team would then meet here, in a six-person elimination match that took up the entire episode. There were some intriguing storylines from the star, like Taya and Johnny Mundo’s relationship, Taya and Ivelisse’s feud and the past between Fenix and King Cuerno. All six participants went at it, but the first elimination came within five minutes. Mil Muertes returned to the Temple and took out his rival, Cuerno, allowing Mundo to eliminate him. The interactions between Ivelisse and Taya were the low point of this match unfortunately. Taya got rid of her just shy of eight minutes in. She would go next following a Package Piledriver, leaving it up to three of LU’s top guys in Fenix, Pentagon and Mundo. These three were good together, but it wasn’t until after Mundo got eliminated that the match got taken to the next level. Real life brothers Pentagon Jr. and Fenix put on a spectacle of a show to close out the match. Their chemistry as opponents (and teammates) is top notch and it showed here. I won’t go into too much detail about their work here but it was very fast paced and pretty incredible. I would honestly put that final stretch between them up against any other ten or so minute stretch in wrestling this year. Pentagon got the win to earn the title shot following a Mexican Destroyer into a Package Piledriver, capping a 35:27 war. ****¼

51. CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship: Trevor Lee (c) vs. Cedric Alexander – CWF Worldwide 5/18/16

Trevor Lee won the CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title in an unbelievable 105-minute match. Since then, Lee demanded that his title defenses have no time limit. Cedric Alexander was still a few months shy of wowing audiences against Kota Ibushi in the Cruiserweight Classic. On this particular night, Alexander wrestled to open the show and won the Ultra J Championship. He had a chance to win two titles in one evening. Both guys just came in with great game plans. Cedric stalled to try and get under Lee’s skin, so Lee did it back to him, which worked in his favor. They both went after the arm early and some of the stuff done just looked sick. The commentary team added a lot here, explaining that for the first time since winning the title, Lee didn’t have firm control. Alexander comes across as a guy that could potentially dethrone the champion. They do a ref bump but it isn’t for interference. It’s so Cedric can bust out the illegal piledriver that nearly gets him the win. However, the match goes on for a lot longer and they tell a great story along the way. Lee isn’t used to having to desperately fight for any opening. He hadn’t since the night he won the title. Alexander was ready for everything until he got put in the STF for a second time and had to submit at 55:05. It’s a remarkable performance from both men, especially Cedric for wrestling earlier in the night. Trevor Lee had the quite the year down in CWF Mid-Atlantic. ****¼

50. PROGRESS Championship: Pete Dunne (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – PROGRESS Intercepted Angel 12/11/16

At PROGRESS Chapter 39, Pete Dunne shocked many be winning the vacant PROGRESS Championship, adding to his Tag Team Title reign. Adding to the surprise, Dunne didn’t have a great won-loss record in singles matches. Here, at Chapter 40, he made his first defense. Zack Sabre Jr. has never held the PROGRESS Title but has been around since day one and is among the biggest names in British wrestling. They produced a lengthy (31:16) main event battle that got better as it progressed. Dunne’s second, Tyler Bate, got involved early and was ejected within minutes. That left Pete and his one singles win in PROGRESS history alone against Sabre. Knowing Sabre had the upper hand on the mat, Dunne took to heel tactics and aggression. The man known as the “Bruiserweight” brought it only for Sabre to be equally aggressive at times. Sabre would try going to the mat, but Dunne would bring it back to a fight. It was a struggle of two guys playing to their strengths. Sabre twisted him in uncomfortable ways, while Dunne responded with hard blows and busted out a double tombstone spot. He finally won with Drop Dead in a great match that was given a lot of time to develop a great story. ****¼

49. WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Battleground 7/24/16

The highly anticipated first ever triple threat match between the members of the Shield. A lot of people were disappointed that this was placed on a B Pay-Per-View like Battleground, but with the draft going down, it might have been the last chance for it. All the commissioners and general managers sat at ringside, while each show’s rosters watched from the back. Seth and Roman represented Raw, while it was up to Dean to bring the title to Smackdown. Right from the start of this 18:02 match, Seth was the target for turning on them two years earlier. The match itself is awesome, but the true greatness lied in the storytelling. Seeing Dean and Seth team up to powerbomb Reigns through the announce table was really cool. Seth calling back to the infamous heel turn by striking Reigns in the back with a chair was one of my favorite moments all year long. Towards the finish, they built to great drama and I fully bought into Seth pulling out the win and then Roman doing the same. Dean snuck in and drilled Reigns with Dirty Deeds to keep the title and surprise many, including myself, who didn’t think the WWE would have him win the battle of the Shield members. There were high expectations and I feel these three lived up to them. ****¼

48. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Mayu Iwatani – Stardom Gold 5/15/16

Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani are friends. Not just that, but they are partners and have teamed together for years. However, that didn’t stop these two from going nuts in this battle for the World of Stardom Title. From what I’ve seen, Iwatani is usually the happier smiley one, but she was all business here. They both struggled to gain an advantage in the first few minutes. Once it gets going though, everything moves at an incredibly quick pace. It isn’t just fast either, it gets violent. These two traded stiffer, harder kicks than most matches involving men who hate each other. I don’t think there’s a dull moment in the entire 21:54. There is a fair amount of reversing and dodging each other thanks to their history together but when they connect, it clearly hurts. Despite destroying each other, they show their respect for one another by allowing the other to get up and avoiding cheap shots. Shirai came close to losing several times, including on a few dragon suplexes, before winning with a moonsault. A great championship match that felt important and was the best Stardom outing I saw all year. ****¼

47. NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly – NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 10/10/16

After the Best of the Super Juniors, Kyle O’Reilly bulked up to become a heavyweight. At ROH’s Field of Honor event, O’Reilly defeated Katsuyori Shibata and got this shot about a month after Shibata beat his partner, Bobby Fish. There weren’t many matches in NJPW this year that excited me more than this one. Shibata and O’Reilly are two of my favorite wrestlers in the world. They started this by exchanging holds and trying to gain a grappling advantage on the other guy. All of it felt gritty and earned, like there was a true struggle going on. As the match progressed, they moved into strikes and bigger offense. Surprisingly, it was O’Reilly who connected on big strikes first. Shibata did his thing where he fired up and just wanted more kicks from Kyle. O’Reilly responded by no selling a boot shortly after and they just went to war for the rest of the 18:06. The final few minutes were classic NEVER Title match stuff. Brutal strikes, kickouts at one and dudes using FIGHTING SPIRIT to power up from suplexes. Kyle was on the verge of winning with the penalty kick but Shibata survived. From out of nowhere, Shibata leveled him with a sick slap. He used the sleeper and won when Kyle passed out. This was exactly what I wanted it to be. A war and the star making performance for Kyle in the heavyweight ranks. Kudos to Fish as Kyle’s corner man shouting “BITE THE HAND” whenever Shibata applied the sleeper. ****¼

46. Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA and Tetsuya Naito – RPW Global Wars UK 11/11/16

Los Ingobernables de Japon were my favorite thing about NJPW in 2016. Hell, they were the coolest thing in wrestling period. Seeing them team up is always fun but against Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr.? Yes, please. Sabre and Scurll are two of the biggest names on the British wrestling scene. Tetsuya Naito played mind games early, looking like he would compete but then tagging out. Not to be outdone, the “Villain” Marty Scurll did the same back to him. Sabre and Scurll, known as LRDS (of the new school), worked over SANADA with quick tags until Naito tripped up Sabre. Despite being known as the “Villain”, Scurll got the hot tag and showed babyface fire. It was a great change of pace. Everyone brought something to this match. The charisma of Naito, athleticism of SANADA, technical skills of Sabre and personality of Scurll. A great moment came when Naito taunted Scurll, so Scurll took his hand. Naito laughed this off until Scurll did his trademark finger snap, which hurt like hell. There were awesome false finishes like a brainbuster/PK combo from LDRS and a stereo submissions spot from them. It came down to Naito and Sabre. The latter didn’t want to lose for the second straight night (he dropped the top title a night earlier) but his best efforts weren’t enough to survive Destino at 18:43. A wild mix of styles and personalities, but it all came together harmoniously, giving us one of the best tag matches all year long. I probably have this higher than most but I loved it. ****¼

Top 135 Matches of 2016: #65-56

65. New Japan Cup Quarterfinals: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW New Japan Cup 3/4/16

It doesn’t get talked about enough, but there is magical chemistry between Tetsuya Naito and Tomohiro Ishii. The annual New Japan Cup tournament awards the winner a shot at any title that they want. Up until this point, the tournament was full of good matches, but was missing that one great one. It happened here in the main event of night two. Naito’s carefree attitude got under Ishii’s skin early on. Naito taunted him and dared him to hit harder, even though Ishii was already laying in the shots. Ishii just got frustrated as Naito disrespectfully slapped him in his giant head. One of the slaps sounded unexpectedly brutal too. They built some good drama down the stretch of this 16:21 encounter. The back half of this match is where things hit their stride and included some great exchanges. Ishii reversed Destino into Emerald Flowsion in one of the coolest moments of the match. Naito returned the favorite by countering the Brainbuster into Destino and advancing in a tournament that he would eventually go on to win. A great match between two guys that would go on to best this performance two months later. ****¼

64. WWE Intercontinental Championship Last Man Standing Match: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kevin Owens – WWE Royal Rumble 1/24/16

Usually, a stipulation like Last Man Standing is left for main event and top title rivalries, avoiding the midcard titles. Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens aren’t your typical intercontinental Championship contenders though. Both men are among the most over in the company and their feud over the title was pretty much the best thing in the late months of 2015 and early 2016. Their matches were good but had never quite reached great territory. I love when matches fit the story, so them coming out and just hammering away on one another at the bell was great. The violence just progressed over the 20:21 runtime, building and building to bigger spots. Owens cannonballing Dean through the guardrail and chair shot after chair shot from each guy only added to the brutality. Things got taken to the next level when two tables were set up outside just before Dean tossed a chair right into Owens’ face, two things we don’t see often anymore. Some of the things Owens got up from were nuts and I appreciated that because it is usually the babyface who keeps getting up. Little things like them screaming “I HATE YOU” at each other randomly was a nice touch. In the end, Owens went for a high risk move only to be tossed into a somersault through the two tables and lose. It was the best IC Title match in years, until it was bested later in the year. Also, these guys are the first IC Champions since Rock & Triple H to win their first major titles within the next year. ****¼

63. Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay – Evolve 59 4/2/16

Of the three matches I saw between these two in 2016, this was my favorite. Yes, even ahead of the more popular NJPW encounter. The other two took place during tournaments (Best of the Super Juniors and Battle of Los Angeles) and this was part of Evolve’s USA vs. Europe series of matches. A win for Ricochet would tie the series, but a loss would give Europe the win. Despite the stakes, they had some fun in the beginning. They posed with the other one’s entrance gear before the match and once it started, we got a battle to see who was more athletic. They played into that more in their second match. As the match progressed though, the fun stopped and things got more serious. Regardless of the tone during the match, the things they did were so fast paced but also so incredibly smooth. These two are freaks of nature. The closing stretch was insane, seeing an apron DVD, 450 splash, Spanish fly, Essex destroyer and more before Ricochet finally won at 18:31 with the Benadryller. Their best work together in a breathtaking main event. ****¼

62. Michael Elgin vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW G1 Climax 7/24/16

The B Block from NJPW’s G1 Climax strikes again. I told you it was an all-time great block. Both Michael Elgin and Tetsuya Naito suffered losses in their first G1 matches this year, so they were looking to rebound here. Elgin entered this main event as the IWGP Intercontinental Champion and the Lucha Libre Elite Champion. They both spent the previous year rejuvenating their careers. Naito was his usual relaxed self and avoided locking up with Elgin. Elgin got into his head a bit by stealing his signature taunt. Once things got going, Naito spent a good chunk of the 22:12 working the leg of his bigger opponent. It was one of the first instances of him utilizing a knee bar. There were plenty of great moments throughout this. From Naito’s attitude and disrespect to Elgin’s big offense like a corner DVD and his BIG MIKE FLOW (taken from his partner Hiroshi Tanahashi’s High Fly Flow) to an awesome spot where Elgin countered a super rana into a middle rope sitout powerbomb. Elgin sold the leg well, struggling to do most of his offense. They went into several counters down the stretch, including one where Naito reversed a deadlift suplex into Destino. Knowing the power that Elgin has and how Elgin fought through everything to not quit in this match, Naito added a second Destino for the win. You felt the desperation from both trying their hardest to not start the tournament 0-2. It was a great match with lots of twists and turns. ****¼

61. Number One Contender’s Two Out of Three Falls Match: Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe – NXT 3/9/16

A little over a month prior, Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe both made Baron Corbin submit in a number one contender’s match. Unsure about the true top contender, William Regal put Joe against Zayn two weeks before this and it still ended in a draw. This was their final battle to determine who would face Finn Balor at TakeOver: Dallas. With so much at stake, Joe and Zayn did what they do best and wrestled for an entire episode of NXT. Including commercials, it lasted 42:44. There was a relatively slow start, with neither guy wanting to make a mistake. Zayn held a slight advantage until Joe went to striking. Zayn sold Joe’s offense like he was on the verge of death. Despite that, it took Joe over twenty minutes to win the first fall because Sami just wouldn’t quit. I loved the touch of commentary saying there were more matches to come even though this was the entire show. About ten minutes after the first fall, Sami tied it by making Joe tap to the Koji Clutch. In the final fall they displayed their exhaustion. There was a great contrast of Sami not wanting a countout win, but Joe being more than willing to take it. Finally, after taking one hell of a beating, Sami fell to the Coquina Clutch. He didn’t even tap out though. The referee was forced to stop the match. Sami played the perfect resilient underdog (a role he is better than everyone at) to Joe’s monster. Sometimes long matches are pointless but everything here made sense and resulted in a great marathon battle. ****¼

60. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW G1 Climax 8/12/16

Tons of people were quick to give out the ***** rating for the Wrestle Kingdom 10 match between these two but I found it to EASILY be their worst match ever. It felt like Kazuchika Okada led that match which led to a lot of nothing early on and a hot finish. This rematch on the final A Block show of the G1 Climax saw a return to form with a match that felt like Hiroshi Tanahashi (the superior worker) was back to leading the way. They’ve met a ton since 2012 with every match (except WK10) getting at least **** from me. A win by either guy in this match would put them in the finals of the tournament. They did a great job of playing into the fact that even though Okada finally beat Tanahashi at WK, he is frustrated to keep playing second fiddle to the bigger star at times. Both guys came close to winning early by using their vast knowledge of one another. After the hot start, they moved into standard Okada/Tana stuff with Tana working the leg, Okada getting bursts of hope and the classic Tana High Fly Flow to the outside. Tana nearly won by countout but didn’t want it that way. He went to bring Okada in but Okada met him with a tombstone and Tana nearly got counted out. Both men came extremely close to winning down the stretch and again played into how well they know each other with counter after country. The finishing stretch was top notch and called back to the standout moment from WK10 of Okada keeping hold of Tana’s wrist while battling. Tanahashi would hit High Fly Flow but time expired at 30:00 while pinning Okada. Neither man would win A Block, as the draw gave Hirooki Goto the win. My major gripes with this were the time limit draw felt obvious after a while and Tanahashi, knowing time was expiring, went for his finisher twice in the end, wasting time. Everything else was a return to form for these two. ****¼

59. High Speed Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Evie – Stardom vs. The World 2/21/16

One promotion that I was able to find a few shows for was Stardom. The all women’s puro company has a YouTube subscription service that I joined for a while. Coming into this, I hadn’t seen much of Mayu Iwatani, but heard great things. Evie is someone that I’d seen around various indies and especially SHIMMER. The positive things that I heard about this match is actually what drove me to sign up for Stardom World. The name of the title they competed for was appropriate because this went at a fast, breakneck pace for the entire 12:40. The opening sequence was too fast to do a write up on even if I wanted to. Evie unleashed a flurry of hard kicks. Seriously, you wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but the girl can be brutal. The pace somehow got even faster as the match progressed. Iwatani retaliated with some badass kicks of her own, showing that neither woman was holding anything back. The Korakuen Hall crowd gets to see a lot of great matches throughout the year and this was one of the best, regardless of gender. Evie fought valiantly but fell to a dragon suplex. It felt like a star making performance for her, while Iwatani continued to show why she is one of the best on the planet. ****¼

58. Number One Contender’s Match: Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay – RPW High Stakes 1/16/16

The previous October, Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay came up just short in taking the RPW British Heavyweight Title from AJ Styles in a great three-way match. To start 2016, they competed to earn another shot at the championship. It was clear from the start that these two know each other incredibly well. They had counters for everything and moved at a quick pace while everything came off crisply. This was more than your typical number one contender’s match because these two have a longstanding rivalry. It gave this a good mix of trying to win and trying to hurt your opponent, but there a few playful moments early on that I don’t think fit into the overall story. Anyway, you could tell that they both want to be the top guy in Rev Pro and couldn’t stand the idea of the other one being in that spot. The counters they had were mind blowing. Scurll turning an Ospreay ring post DDT into a suplex on the apron and catching the Oscutter into his patented chicken wing were both highlights. When their usual stuff didn’t work, they resorted to doing their opponent’s moves. After nearly thirty minutes (28:38 to be exact), Scurll finally made Ospreay submit to the chicken wing. This wasn’t perfect but they worked hard, had a very clear heel vs. face dynamic and delivered a big-time match that felt important. ****¼

57. Prince Puma vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. – Ultima Lucha Dos 7/20/16

Ultima Lucha Dos didn’t quite live up to its incredible predecessor, but the main event proved to be one of the best matches in Lucha Underground history. A match so big that it headlined their biggest show of season two over the Lucha Underground Championship. From the very first episode, Prince Puma was THE MAN of Lucha Underground and became the first champion. Rey Mysterio Jr. showed up early in season two and is pretty much the godfather of lucha. The face of Lucha Underground against the face of lucha libre. Puma wanted to prove he could beat the best and Rey wanted to show he could still hang. Early on, Puma’s ramped up cockiness showed when he outworked Rey. Outmatched in the speed and quickness departments, Rey had to utilize his veteran instincts. That was the story throughout and it was wonderfully told. Rey reached into his bag of tricks at times, like on a super reverse rana that we haven’t seen from him in a long time. Puma had counters ready, knowing Rey’s offense so well because Rey is his idol. He even hit Rey with his own 619, followed by a springboard 450 splash for a near fall. He stopped to basically apologize to his hero before trying a 630 and it cost him as he crashed and burned. Rey bested him shortly after with a diving rana at 16:37. I originally didn’t like the decision, but it set up a great season three arc for Puma. These two told a beautiful story and the match was full of twists, turns and counters at the right time. Awesome stuff. ****¼

56. Money in the Bank: Alberto Del Rio vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Money in the Bank 6/19/16

Not counting the 2015 edition, the Money in the Bank match has been a lock for a big year-end list like this. This year’s field was one of the best ever. Alberto Del Rio was the only guy that didn’t enter with momentum. Everyone else seemed to have a legitimate shot at winning. The spots came early and often as pretty much everyone brought their A game. Though there were a lot of spots, it never felt like they were moving from one spot to the next. The match had a very natural flow to it. The emphasis on some of the personal issues throughout the match added something unique to this. Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho were fresh off a feud while Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens continued their eternal rivalry. Jericho wanted revenge for Dean getting 69 thumbtacks stuck in his body and Zayn and Owens just hate each other. Some of the best spots saw Cesaro’s fun uppercut barrage, a cannonball barrage from Owens and Del Rio locking Cesaro in a cross armbreaker between ladder rungs. Cesaro swinging Jericho into a ladder was also great. Near the end, Zayn pretty much killed Owens with a Michinoku driver onto an open ladder. All six men battled on top of ladders, leading to a cool visual. Sami was close to winning but Owens pulled him away and powerbombed him onto a ladder. Dean stopped Owens from winning and pulled down the briefcase at 21:37. He would successfully cash in to end the night. This was the third best Money in the Bank match to me behind the original and the Smackdown one in 2013. Maybe the 2014 one has a case. Either way, this ruled. ****¼

Top 135 Matches of 2016: #75-66

75. GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs. Masa Kitamiya – NOAH Winter Navigation 12/24/16

Following a stellar run in NJPW’s G1 Climax, Katsuhiko Nakajima would go on to capture the GHC Heavyweight Title in NOAH. These two are friends, so it was all about the title here. It began with simple exchanges. That quickly changed. Nakajima, the “Genius of the Kick”, delivered some brutal kicks to Masa Kitamiya’s back. You’d think he hated Kitamiya. In retaliation, Masa did what any smart competitor would. He targeted the leg to take away the champion’s biggest advantage. As things progressed, the match got more and more physical. Though they’re friends, they went to war. This was one of those matches where you knew the outcome going in. Nakajima had just won the title after overcoming Suzuki-Gun but they succeeded in making me believe Kitamiya might pull it off. He hung tough and gave his buddy a run for his money but it wasn’t to be. In the end, Nakajima delivered a knockout kick to the face that crumpled Kitamiya to the mat. The champion planted him with a brainbuster to retain at 26:28. This was my favorite GHC Heavyweight Title in a long time. It didn’t suffer from the typical NOAH main event issues (going overly long and having a ton of interference) and gave a glimmer of hope for the future of the company. ****¼

74. WWE Cruiserweight Classic Qualifying Match: Drew Gulak vs. Tracy Williams – Evolve 61 5/7/16

Again, I just love that the Catch Point guys can wrestle each other and still show respect afterwards. They’ve had several matches against one another and it has never become an issue within the unit. Right after TJ Perkins qualified against Fred Yehi, Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams competed for a spot in the Cruiserweight Classic. Not only stablemates, Gulak and Williams reigned as Evolve Tag Team Champions at the time of this match. Known for their mat wrestling, this began on the ground but Williams took to the air surprisingly early. It was as if he saw Perkins advance using that style and figured it was worth a shot. As things progressed and Tracy took more risks, Gulak seemed to get fired up by the split crowd and got more aggressive. He started to hit harder and survived Tracy’s crossface several times. He eventually got his dragon sleeper, complete with body scissors, to win at 17:54. Easily the best Gulak match I have ever seen. They played things evenly and highlighted their knowledge of each other as partners. Of course, things were all good with the team after this. ****¼

73. NXT Tag Team Championship: American Alpha (c) vs. The Revival – NXT TakeOver: The End 6/8/16

After winning the NXT Tag Team Titles at the previous TakeOver during WrestleMania weekend, American Alpha had their first televised defense in the Revival’s contracted rematch. The Revival just have this amazing chemistry with anybody put in front of them, but their work with American Alpha was some of their best. The pace of this was furious from bell to bell. American Alpha ran circles around the challengers at some points, so the Revival did what they do best and cut the ring in half. They played into their first match with similar spots but made sure to put a twist on them so it would be different. Chad Gable was a great face in peril, garnering sympathy and getting in great hope spots. Jason Jordan’s hot tag run was great as always. Since it was the first big defense for American Alpha, myself and a lot of others felt they would retain. As the match neared the conclusion at 15:51, the Revival got closer and closer. They went for a powerbomb/clothesline off the top spot but Gable caught Dawson with a massive belly to belly. The Revival cut off Grand Amplitude and hit the Shatter Machine to regain the titles in a surprising decision. I’m not done saying it on this list, but the Revival are the best tag team on the planet and they were just warming up here. AA did well and got drafted to the main roster about a month after this. ****¼

72. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Katsuyori Shibata, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata vs. Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya & Maybach Taniguchi – NJPW G1 Climax 8/14/16

I’ll admit that I didn’t watch the G1 Climax Finals show. I had little interest in what was being done. However, this match absolutely caught my eye. NOAH vs. NJPW. It also always warms my heart to see Katsuyori Shibata teaming with the New Japan Dads. The crowd was invested for the entire match, which went only 10:54, but was packed with action. They came unglued when Hiroyoshi Tenzan got tagged in, even though this was right after Gedo royally blew Tenzan’s last G1 storyline. On the flipside, Go Shiozaki got booed mercilessly and seemed to love it. His interactions with Shibata were awesome. The intensity level of this match was off the charts and that is never more clear than when Shibata and Nakajima go at it. Shibata delivers a headbutt that sounds absolutely disgusting and he immediately gets busted open the hard way because of it. Nakajima hit Nakanishi with a brainbuster to win but it didn’t stop there. Shibata went savage after the bell and attacked the NOAH guys, leading to an intense pull-apart brawl that had the fans going nuts. Four-star match but closer to five stars if we’re talking about angle work. A seemingly unimportant midcard tag turned into a big turning point for a NOAH/NJPW feud that was also fueled by NOAH guys beating key NJPW guys during the G1 Climax. Too bad nothing really came of the feud. ****¼

71. Weapons of Mass Destruction Match: Killshot vs. Marty Martinez – Lucha Underground 9/14/16

During the first two seasons of Lucha Underground, Killshot and Marty Martinez were two guys that had been underutilized. Killshot showed loads of potential in small doses, while Martinez absolutely nails his insane creeper character. Given a main event opportunity in season three, they more than delivered. Marty stole Killshot’s dog tags (important to him due to his time at war) and their feud led to this. A “Weapons of Mass Destruction” match is basically a military themed weapons match. Like any good brawl, this felt personal. Killshot attacked during Marty’s entrance and busted him open with a gun. They used their environment well, with most of the weapons coming into play and Marty taking ring announcer Melissa Santos (who he always creeps on) hostage. There was a death valley driver on a ladder, a superplex onto a crate and a powerbomb from the ring through two tables outside. Nothing was off limits. Marty’s sister, Mariposa, tried to interfere but got put through a table for her efforts. When Killshot’s double stomp failed to win things, he knew he had to up the ante. Killshot snatched his dog tags back from Marty as they fought atop a ladder. Standing atop it with Marty standing on a rung below, Killshot jumped off with a double stomp that sent Marty through a table to win an insane match at 22:21. Star making performances for two guys that deserved the chance. ****¼

70. Chris Hero vs. Matt Riddle – Evolve 71 10/16/16

Evolve tends to book matches that I look forward to. This was one of them. Matt Riddle has not been wrestling for long (barely over a year) but is already one of the most exciting people to watch. He isn’t on this list often but had several matches that came close to appearing against the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Roderick Strong and Cedric Alexander. This match main evented Evolve 71 as Chris Hero was looking for payback after losing to Riddle back at Evolve 57. Hero is known as a knockout artist, while Riddle has one of the best UFC knockouts I’ve ever seen. Seriously, look it up. Knowing that, I just wanted these two to just beat the hell out of each other and that’s exactly what I got. For the entire 17:33, they just went to war. Riddle got to kind of play the underdog babyface role, which he doesn’t do often but did well here. Meanwhile, Hero was the bully and he does that better than anyone else in wrestling. Hero’s offense, timing and everything just works so well. Riddle came close on several occasions, but Hero obliterated him with several elbows and piledrivers to win. Almost as soon as this ended, Evolve signed a rematch for the following month. ****¼

69. AJ Styles vs. John Cena – WWE Money in the Bank 6/19/16

The moment AJ Styles walked through the curtain at the Royal Rumble, dream match ideas started pouring in now that they were a possibility. For a lot of people, this was number one with a bullet. Styles and John Cena had electricity from the crowd the second they shared the ring and though Styles turned heel that night, things still felt like a huge deal once the bell rang on this night. For most of this 24:11 match, Styles was out to prove that he was better than WWE’s golden boy and he outwrestled him at several moments, pausing to make sure and brag. Styles was always one step ahead, even cutting off Cena’s “five moves of doom” multiple times, hammering home that he just might be better than Cena. The brilliance of Styles was clear though, because for all his early dominance, he still bumped like a madman to make Cena’s offense look great. Even when AJ messed up to give Cena an opening, he was still mostly in control. The match eventually became a back and forth battle and it was great. Unfortunately, we got a ref bump and Club interference, as a Magic Killer put Cena down and got AJ a tainted win. A shit finish to an otherwise excellent match that they would top two months later. ****¼

68. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA – NJPW Power Struggle 11/5/16

On a good, but mostly uninteresting Power Struggle card, Hiroshi Tanahashi and SANADA managed to best their great G1 Climax performance. In their first outing, SANADA went after Tanahashi’s injured shoulder. He had no target like that this time. Tanahashi was one step ahead of his younger foe, frustrating him. SANADA chose to combat Tanahashi’s veteran skill with his athleticism, diving outside and snapping off a rana on the ramp. SANADA would apply his patented dragon sleeper but Tanahashi survived. Both men would go on to miss top rope moves, with SANADA missing two moonsaults. On the second, he landed on his feet and tweaked it thanks to some dragon screws by Tanahashi earlier. The former seven time IWGP Heavyweight Champion wore him down more with a cloverleaf to help cut off the athleticism edge. Still, SANADA knew that he beat Tanahashi with a dragon sleeper a few months prior and kept going to it. Tanahashi managed to counter it a whopping five times in a row before a flurry of offense led to him winning with two High Fly Flows at 21:33. ****¼

67. Eita vs. Jimmy Susumu – Dragon Gate King of Gate 6/2/16

Wow. Towards the end of the year I took the time to watch more Dragon Gate thanks to the awesome Real Hero Archive. After watching him have a really good match with Jushin Thunder Liger in the Super J-Cup, I wanted to check out some more Eita. I was very pleased with what I saw. This was part of Dragon Gate’s annual King of Gate tournament. It was a battle of two guys picking a body part and working it. Jimmy Susumu relentlessly attacked Eita’s back with some brutal backbreakers that Eita sold extremely well. Eita targeted the arm for two reasons. One, Susumu’s finisher is a big lariat and two, Eita is known for an arm scissors submission. Everything they did in this match was just so incredibly smooth. That’s enough to consider it a damn good match but then you get the dramatic stuff as time went on. Eita got his submission on once but Susumu got to the ropes. The second time, he wrenched harder and Susumu desperately reached for the ropes with his feet. You think it’s over but he again survives. Finally, Eita was able to take the big lariat and roll into his submission. Susumu refused to quit until Eita pulled the legs into the hold and he had no choice, giving up at 17:37. ****¼

66. WWE World Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE Smackdown 12/27/16

Smackdown loaded up their final show of the year and provided one of the best WWE Title matches of 2016. Originally scheduled to be AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin got thrust into the match after battling Ziggler to a double countout a week earlier. While AJ/Ziggler would have been good again, Corbin brought an added dimension to this match that greatly helped it. One thing that absolutely had to be done here was to make Corbin look legitimate. Thankfully, Ziggler and Styles brought it and bumped like mad men for his offense. He was a monster at times and it took both opponents to stop him. Ziggler and AJ worked together on a diving elbow and leg drop that put Baron through the announce table. Baron returned but missed his cue to break up a pin. Luckily, AJ managed to kick out or it would have been a disaster. As this neared the conclusion, it got taken to the next level. The highlight of the match was a Zig Zag/End of Days combination. Dolph and Baron went at it until Corbin hit the End of Days. AJ took him out with the Phenomenal Forearm before pinning Dolph to retain at 21:15. They worked the right kind of match with the right guy getting pinned, the right guy winning and Baron looking like he belonged in the main event scene. ****¼

Top 135 Matches of 2016: #85-76

85. WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Dean Ambrose – WWE Roadblock 3/12/16

With the Royal Rumble in the rearview mirror and WrestleMania’s main event scheduled to be Triple H vs. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose looked to throw a wrench into that plan. These two were the final two guys in the Rumble a few months earlier and had some history from the Shield/Evolution days. The crowd was split early on in this 24:43 outing. Triple H was out to show that though he hadn’t made a title defense since 2009, he was still “The Game.” I was surprised to see this start with basic wrestling considering the brawling nature of the rivalry. Ambrose gained control, but Triple H turned it around. About halfway through, they managed to turn the split crowd into a pro-Dean one. Once Dean was able to wear down HHH, he applied a figure four to try and make the weakened champion submit. When that failed, he pleased the Canadian crowd with a sharpshooter, which also didn’t work. They gave us the best tease of a title change all year when Dean hit Dirty Deeds and got a three count, only for the referee to see that his foot was under the bottom rope. They spilled outside, where Dean mocked HHH’s DX taunt. Dean made a mistake by missing an elbow and going through the announce table. Dean beat the countout but lost to the Pedigree once inside. The whole match, especially the last few minutes, was a master class of how to work the crowd. ****

84. Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 6/7/16

With the loaded talent in the A Block of this tournament, Ryusuke Taguchi coming out as the winner of it blew my mind. I get not wanting to do another Will Ospreay/KUSHIDA match, but Kyle O’Reilly or BUSHI would have been far better choices here. Anyway, Will Ospreay, one of Gedo’s favorite new playthings, won out in the B Block and that set up this finals. Taguchi is a former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, partner of Finn Balor and winner of this tournament back in 2012. He’s mostly used for comedy at this point and I don’t like his act, so I couldn’t believe he put together something good enough to crack this list. While Taguchi kept the comedy to a minimum, he did get into Will’s head with his trademark ass taunt, only for Ospreay to steal it and do it back to him. Unlike a lot of other overly flippy guys, Ospreay knows how to sell limb damage (when he wants to), which he did here after Taguchi softened up his foot for an ankle lock. Ospreay would do little things, like only springboard off of his good leg or shake it out. For most of the 22:05 runtime, Taguchi came off as a legitimate wrestler instead of curtain jerking comedy act. There were some great close calls in the end, specifically on ankle lock spots by Taguchi and an imploding 450 by Ospreay, before Ospreay won with the Oscutter to become the first British BOTSJ winner. Easily the best work I’ve ever seen from Taguchi. ****

83. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. BUSHI – NJPW New Beginning in Niigata 2/14/16

BUSHI missed nearly a year with a neck injury but returned and joined Los Ingobernables de Japon. The prominence of the group allowed BUSHI to get major opportunities, with this being the first big one. He delivered. It helped that KUSHIDA was involved, since he has been, hands down, the class of the junior division for two years. A few minutes into this, BUSHI’s stablemates Tetsuya Naito and EVIL strolled down to ringside. They got involved when EVIL used a chair on BUSHI and Naito beat up the young lions, but none of their interference ever felt overdone. We got a great MX (Codebreaker) counter into a Hoverboard Lock but LIDJ distracted the official to keep things going. BUSHI spit the green mist at KUSHIDA and it led to some incredibly close near falls for the challenger, including one on a second rope MX that I bit on hard. Each time KUSHIDA looked to have momentum, LIDJ derailed him. Finally, perennial junior good guy Ryusuke Taguchi helped and, along with the young lions, held Naito and EVIL back while BUSHI tapped to the Hoverboard Lock at 16:32. Instead of being about moves, this was based around drama, which was a great change from most junior matches. BUSHI would eventually be the man to end KUSHIDA’s nine-month reign as champion at Destruction in Tokyo. ****

82. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW Invasion Attack 4/10/16

Kazuchika Okada was fresh off beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom to become the “ace” of NJPW. Tetsuya Naito was (and still is) the hottest act in Japan and won the New Japan Cup tournament to earn this title shot. At 28 years old, Okada entered as a three time IWGP Champion and had the world handed to him after a shit run with TNA. Naito, 33, had never held the title, ran into several setbacks and reinvented his character completely to get to the top. Though the heel, Naito was the heavy favorite. Tons of Los Ingobernables de Japon merchandise dominated the crowd. Following a fair start, Naito’s running buddy BUSHI tripped Okada and Naito took to beating up Okada’s second (and NJPW booker) Gedo. EVIL attacked Okada with a chair and Naito got in the driver’s seat. Okada would take out all three members with a cross body into the first few rows. In trouble, Naito was ready with a low blow to set up a Koji Clutch that nearly ended the match. Okada wouldn’t stay down and rallied. He called for the Rainmaker but Naito threw the referee in the way, opening the door for Los Ingobernables de Japon to jump in and attack Okada. Okada took care of them until a masked man showed up and laid him out. He revealed himself to be the returning SANADA, joining LIDJ. Okada still had fight but Naito countered the Rainmaker into Destino to win the title at 28:22. Naito disrespectfully threw the title in the air as the crowd went nuts. There were better worked matches this year, but not many that I was more invested in. The moment of Naito winning also helped put it above their rematch two months later. For the next 70 days, NJPW felt fresh. For one night, Gedo made the absolute right booking move. ****

81. WWE Intercontinental Championship vs. Career Match: The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler – WWE No Mercy 10/9/16

Dolph Ziggler came up short time after time following the brand split. It started against Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam and continued into the feud with the Miz. Miz had no reason to give Dolph another title shot but finally agreed when Dolph, out of desperation, put his career on the line. Their match at Backlash a month prior was a pleasant surprise. WWE chose to have Styles/Cena/Ambrose open this show and with that decision they should have put this match on last. It would have done wonders for the title and honestly, it felt like a main event program. The rumor of Dolph wanting to wrap up his career added to the drama as it could have gone either way. This started slower than their Backlash match as Miz worked a methodical pace. He garnered heat by mocking Daniel Bryan at every opportunity. Miz tried to win with his feet on the ropes and by pulling the tights but it was not to be. He also got help from Maryse, her spray can and the Spirit Squad. You felt the desperation in Dolph with each close call. He fought through it all and just as the Spirit Squad and Maryse were ejected, nailed a superkick to win the title at 19:41. The emotion was off the charts here and the fans ate all this up. I think the Backlash match was better from a pure moves standpoint (things came off cleaner there) but the emotion and story in this one put it over the top. ****

80. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Michael Elgin – NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku – 4/27/16

New Japan’s “Road to…” shows typically serve to hype a bigger upcoming even, like this one did for Wrestling Dontaku. However, with the cancellation of Wrestling Hinokuni due to an earthquake, some of the matches from that event were moved here, giving this show a big feel. Kenny Omega made his first defense of the Intercontinental Championship against Michael Elgin in the main event on this night. First off, I must note the setting. This apparently wasn’t a building NJPW ran often for televised (or streamed I guess) events. It had a darker, intimate feel and something about it just felt different than other shows in New Japan. Usually, I stray from Elgin matches that go over 20 minutes, since his wheel house is about 15 but this goes 23:04 and I dug it. Within the first few minutes, a ladder came into play, which ended up foreshadowing their Dominion match (even if it was originally supposed to be Tanahashi in that one). Throw in the use of a table and this had a hardcore element that is rarely seen in New Japan. I also appreciated how those things weren’t overdone, as the anticipation of the table spot was cool, with the payoff of Elgin powerbombing Omega through it feeling earned. Omega survived that and more before winning with an impressive One Winged Angel. No Bullet Club, no shenanigans. Their best match together and the first time that made me see something in Omega. ****

79. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Yuji Nagata – NJPW G1 Climax 7/30/16

Yuji Nagata is obviously a veteran in the business and is an ageless wonder as he nears 50. Katsuhiko Nakajima has future star written all over him and he was arguably the MVP in his first ever G1 Climax run. The NOAH star is a babyface but was actually at his best when playing up the cocky young heel role. He did that here, kicking Nagata during his entrance to get a jump on the legend. Nagata entered this match at 3-0 and a win here would not only give him his first loss, but it would vault Nakajima to the top of the standings, so there was a little extra on the line. Nagata brought the hard strikes throughout this 12:32 match, but Nakajima was more than willing to dish it right back out. The brash Nakajima even tried using Nagata’s own backdrop driver on him, but he only got a near fall with it. When Nagata got his armbar locked in, the crowd responded perfectly. The final exchange of chops and strikes from these two was among the best all year long. Nagata was so pissed that he even shoved the referee away during his assault. When it was all said and done, Nakajima used a penalty kick and Brainbuster to earn one of the biggest wins of his career. That Nakajima guy is really, really good. ****

78. Number One Contender’s Match: AJ Styles vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens – WWE Raw 4/4/16

The Raw after WrestleMania has become a traditional huge event. This year, the crowd was one day removed from Roman Reigns winning the big one for a third time in just over four months. Reigns showed up and issued an open challenge of sorts. Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn all responded, prompting Shane McMahon to book a fatal four-way main event. Owens took out Zayn beforehand and, at the last minute, the returning Cesaro replaced him to a thunderous pop. Not only was this four of the best in the world competing, but it was four guys that the crowd would have loved to see dethrone Reigns. I honestly think that anyone could have won and the fans would have been happy. All four men were given ample opportunity to shine and each had their moments throughout. I appreciated that everyone had their finishers protected for the most part, as instead of guys kicking out of them, the pins were broken up. The best thing about this was the fact that you could buy anyone winning since the champion kind of played a tweener. Heel or face, everyone had a legitimate shot. After 16:47, Styles avenged his WrestleMania loss by hitting the Styles Clash on Jericho. It cemented the belief that the WWE had in AJ Styles and he rewarded them with top notch performances all year long. A great main event in front of a hot crowd featuring awesome workers. ****

77. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins – WWE Cruiserweight Classic 9/14/16

When the Cruiserweight Classic participants were announced, I doubt anyone predicted this final. Most people expected the men they beat in the semi-finals, Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr., to be here. Instead, we got Gran Metalik and TJ Perkins. Both guys delivered great matches throughout the tournament and deserved to be here. Before the match, Triple H came out and introduced the Cruiserweight Title for the winner, upping the stakes of these finals. I loved that TJ was a different guy on this final event. There was no dabbing or anything like that. You could tell this was a serious match with important stakes. He wisely tried to ground Metalik but the Mexican star still got free for some of his signature stuff. He made sure to show that he could hang on the mat too, stretching Perkins a few times. The rest of this 17:48 match saw them trade some great moments. A highlight saw Metalik snap off a great rana off the apron and another came when Perkins caught a running shooting star press into the knee bar. TJ kept trying the knee bar, getting closer and close to winning. Metalik hit the Metalik Driver but the knee was too beat up to cover in time. He went for an avalanche version but TJ somehow countered into the knee bar to win the CWC. An excellent capper to a fun tournament. They wrestled an exciting, smart, back and forth match in front of a hot crowd and TJ’s win was an emotional one. ****¼

76. Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/27/16

It is the match that sparked a lot of conversation. It is the match that made Vader relevant again. It is the most controversial and divided match of the year. Ricochet and Will Ospreay are two of the most athletically gifted wrestlers in the entire world and you know what you’re going to get when they face off. Right off the bat, they flip and fly all over the place and come to a standoff that gets a huge ovation. A lot of people loathe this kind of thing. For some, it is the worst part about wrestling in this era and for others, it is the best. I’m not usually too big on it but I felt it made sense here. Yes, they were doing all sorts of flips but I took it as them trying to not just win a match, but prove who the more athletic guy was. Part of what Vader and the detractors of this match say is true. You don’t need the fancy acrobats to tell a great story. However, if you can add them in as part of the story, that’s fine with me. For 16:48, these two did breathtaking things. Some of them worked better than others (a particular 619 into a reverse rana spot by Ospreay came off odd), but seeing them even attempt some of these things was crazy. Ospreay went on to win with the Oscutter in a match that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly is worth a view to see where you stand on it. ****¼