WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Night One Review

WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Night One
January 14th, 2017 | Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England

Triple H opened the show with a short promo to hype how special the night is. They setup and look of this venue is spectacular. Seriously, it’s one of the prettiest WWE shows ever.

Michael Cole welcomed the grapple fans and introduced Nigel McGuinness. Just seeing Nigel on WWE TV is mind blowing.

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Trent Seven def. HC Dyer in 5:26
Both guys got short video packages beforehand. Seven was super over and got “Mustache Mountain” chants. He was even referred to as a PROGRESS Tag Team Champion. This was even for the most part until Dyer connected on a stiff right hand. He said in his promo stuff that he liked punching people. Dyer busted out a nice blue thunder bomb for two and Nigel expertly noted how he didn’t put enough pressure on the shoulders during the pin. Dyer missed a D-Lo like frog splash and fell to Trent’s seven star (take that Dave) lariat. Fun opener. The crowd was way into Seven, Dyer got to show some of his skill in a short time and the right guy went over. **½

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Jordan Devlin def. Danny Burch in 8:54
Devlin was trained by Finn Balor and his look seems to be inspired by him as well. Burch has appeared on NXT a bunch and is better known as Martin Stone. Burch brought a more aggressive and vicious style, while Devlin had to play the resilient underdog and I think those styles worked well for this match. Devlin survived some big blows and a crossface that I thought was going to finish the match. The finish seemed to get messed up because Burch got hurt. Devlin delivered a big kick and Burch kicked out, but the back of his head was busted open. Outside of the finish, I rather enjoyed the dynamic here. Brute Burch and underdog Devlin worked well, including his flash pins. I think it would have worked better if the crowd was more into Devlin. **¼

Wisely, Devlin turns heel with a cheap shot kick on Burch after the match. Interesting call with Finn in the front row, but at least the negative crowd response works now.

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Sam Gradwell def. Saxon Huxley in 6:05
Gradwell got the hometown pop for being from Blackpool. I’ve never seen either guy before. Gradwell looks like a shaven Sheamus, while Saxon looks like a better-groomed Luke Harper. Neither man gained a clear advantage until Gradwell hit a double underhook suplex and Huxley had to take a breather. Lots of “Jesus” related chants for Huxley. Gradwell eventually won with a diving headbutt in a match that I didn’t care for. The only thing I enjoyed here was the crowd. They were fun. *½

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Pete Dunne def. Roy Johnson in 7:44
I love Pete Dunne. I just wanted to point that out. He slapped away the hand of Roy “The Most Wavy Guy” Johnson. Nigel pointed out that Dunne wears the color gear that he does as a homage to Daniel Bryan. Roy had the power advantage but Dunne was vicious. Johnson countered a choke into an impressive suplex. Dunne came back by stomping on Roy’s hand while it was on the steel steps. I love people using the environment as a weapon. Dunne continued to pick apart and stretch Roy. Dunne seemed to toy with him, allowing Roy back into it because the power kept being too much for Dunne. Dunne won after a rebound German and the Bitter End. Dunne was the clear star of the show thus far. Roy was just there. Dunne showed what he was capable of and it worked as a strong preview of what he can do in later rounds. **¾

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Wolfgang def. Tyson T-Bone in 6:07
Tyson said he isn’t here to wrestle, he’s here to fight. He got pre-match promo time. Before the bell, he headbutted Wolfgang like a dirty heel. This was the hoss fight I wanted it to be. They wailed on each other, while showing off some other skills in between. Wolfgang pulled out the Wasteland, following by an awesome looking moonsault for two. Dude is agile. T-Bone looked for the countout after sending Wolfgang into the ring post, which I liked. Someone has to be willing to try for the easy advance. Wolfgang blocked a superplex and nailed a sweet swanton bomb to advance. My favorite match thus far. I’m a sucker for a good hoss battle and that was fun. Wolfgang is an impressive big fella. ***

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Joseph Conners def. James Drake in 7:16
Two more guys that I am unfamiliar with. Michael Cole put over both guys harder than most so far. He also noted that Conners was left for dead in a nightclub once and lost half an ear. Yikes. The guys started off with some solid back and forth, but for the first time tonight, the crowd seemed to quiet down. Conners The things they did were good but not great and though both guys looked good, it never got into second hear in my eyes. Conners did one of the most impressive moves of the night with an elbow into a backbreaker before winning via Flatliner. Good work from both parties. ***

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Mark Andrews def. Dan Maloney in 5:42
Mark Andrews is probably the biggest name in the tournament. Maloney looks like a British Andrade Almas judging by his haircut. They played up the obvious size difference when Maloney blocked some arm drags. Nigel made a good point when Andrews tried to work a ground game. He is the only true flier in the tournament and should play to his strengths. He was in trouble in the early goings but turned things around when he began to fly. Makes sense. Some fans bought into a near fall when Maloney hit a big kick. Andrews countered a suplex into a stunner and advanced following a shooting star press. About what I expected. Similar to the Dunne match, this was a showcase for Andrews. I’m still not sold on Andrews but he did what he does well here and it worked. **¼

WWE UK Championship Tournament First Round: Tyler Bate def. Tucker in 10:36 
Surprised to see this going on last. Tyler Bate is just 19 years old, while Tucker looks like TNA’s Eli Drake. They wrestled to a stalemate early and then Bate used the “bop and bang” (names of his fists) stuff he said in his vignette. Brilliant. The crowd was way into this as they continued to battle for the upper hand. Tucker snapped off a rana and sprung into the ring with Paydirt. He went for a suicide dive but was met with a great uppercut. Bate had a suplex countered outside and Tucker then jumped off the steel steps with a rana. Bate retaliated with a lengthy airplane spin spot inside for a near fall. Tucker kicked the hell out of Bate, nearly knocking him out. After Bate got his knees up on a swanton, they exchanged shots until Tyler hit a rolling kick. He won with a Tyler Driver to cap the best match of the first round. Great action from start to finish and it felt different from the rest of the show. Something about it just clicked and both men came off looking like stars. ***¾

Nigel McGuinness and William Regal stood on the stage with the UK Title and brought out the eight men who advanced. They all hade face offs with their opponents for tomorrow. Dunne attacked Gradwell, causing Regal to get in his face and shout him down for his actions. If Regal laces up the boots for a match with Dunne at some point, sign me up please.

Overall: 6.5/10. This was about what I expected from the first round. A lot of these guys were lesser known and because of that, some matches were obvious. Dunne, Andrews, Seven and others were locks to advance, which took out the drama of some matches. The Gradwell/Huxley match bored me and I didn’t care much for Devlin until his heel stuff. However, the show succeeded in terms of production (lighting, setup, vignettes and commentary were all great), setting up the rest of the tournament and making us care about some of these guys.

SHINE 40 Review

SHINE 40 Review
January 13th, 2017 | The Orpheum in Ybor City, Florida

Typically, I wouldn’t be able to catch every WWN event. That is no longer the case with FloSlam.TV, which I signed up for earlier this week. I won’t be doing reviews for every FloSlam.TV show but when I have the time, I will, like this one. It’s my first SHINE show since 35, where Ivelisse won the title.

Speaking of Ivelisse, news broke shortly before the show started that she was not cleared to compete and had to vacate the title. When Lenny Leonard brought it up to start the show, her scheduled opponent, LuFisto, came out to claim the gold. She was interrupted by SHIMMER Champion Mercedes Martinez and then Allysin Kay, who both also wanted the title. A Triple Threat main event was scheduled to determine a new champion.

Su Yung def. Angel Rose, Jayme Jameson and Jessie Bell Smothers in 12:20
I’m pretty sure this was my first look at Rose and Smothers. Rose was the only one not intimidated by Yung and went right at her before they both dove outside to take out the other two women. From there, this followed standard multi-person match format. Each girl was given a chance to do her thing with lots of in and out action and no down time. Yung was clearly the heavy favorite and her character and look are certainly different. The fight made it over to the bar, where Yung hit a DDT on top of it. Rose pulled out an impressive moonsault to the outside, taking out Jameson. It came down to Yung and Rose, as it should have, and Yung put her away with a spinning Michinoku Driver. I thought this was a fun opener with lots of action. Yung was the clear star but Rose stood out and was very impressive.***

Malia Hosaka def. Brandi Lauren in 5:30
Lauren has a good look and this is my first time seeing her. Hosaka has been around forever, even working in WCW in the 90’s. I’ve seen her a fair amount in SHIMMER. I love how commentary said Hosaka was cranky and not angry. It’s a fitting adjective. Lauren pandered to the crowd early, which only made Malia crankier. Malia wore her down with the DREADED nerve hold. Lauren showed some fire in a comeback attempt, but fell to a submission. Decent enough match. Lauren is green but showed flashes of potential. Extra quarter star for Hosaka yelling throughout and being entertaining. *¾

Xandra Bale def. Aerial Monroe in 9:12
Again, it’s my first look at both women. The crowd seemed to like Monroe. Bale went after her hair early, which triggered Monroe to inform her that you “never touch a black girl’s hair.” Bale apologized but deliberately went after it again, cementing herself as the antagonist. This was a good back and forth match with Bale playing a good heel and Monroe impressing with resilient babyface offense. She survived some big offense and came close a few times. Bale would go on to win with a spinning fisherman’s suplex. I came away impressed by both women and the match quality ticked upward here. The ladies shook hands after the match. **½

Candy Cartwright def. Leva Bates in 9:29
Leva Bates came out in Assassin’s Creed related cosplay and her staged entrance was fun, with her beating up random fans. Candy looks like straight out of WWE’s “Divas” era. Leva doesn’t wow me with her ring work but she’s always fun and the cosplay gimmick is a smart way to make sure she gets a pop, even with unfamiliar audiences. Candy played the bitchy role, talking trash and showing a lot of attitude, while Leva fought from underneath. Leva was fine here for the most part but Candy looks awkward. There were several spots that came off looking very poor. Cartwright won in a bit of an upset with the Candy Crush (inverted neckbreaker of sorts). Too many moments that just looked fake to make this any good. *½

Rachel Ellering def. Chelsea Green in 10:41
They called this the “Lance Storm Special” since both girls came from his wrestling school. Ellering is the daughter of legendary manager Paul Ellering. Green was the arrogant heel but once Ellering got going, she got her ass handed to her. Ellering was throwing bombs and Green tried to give it back but Ellering was having none of that. She shook them off, dared her to bring more and fired back bigger blows. Green busted out the Orton rope hung DDT for two and threw a bit of a tantrum. Ellering avoided an Unprettier and scored with a TKO to win. Best match on the show so far. Their chemistry was spot on due to their history. Outside of one lame looking rollup, everything was crisp. I loved the contrast of the arrogant prissy Chelsea and the aggressive, hard hitting Rachel. I’m more impressed with Rachel each time I see her. ***¼

SHINE Tag Team Championship: Raquel and Santana (c) def. C4 (Amber O’Neal and Kennadi Brink) and Las Sicarias (Amanda Carolina Rodriguez and Thea Trinidad) in 8:32
I’m familiar with everyone in this except Brink. Thea was dressed like Harley Quinn (complete with bat and “pudding” choker) but didn’t go all-in with the hair. With just two women legal at once, C4 was content to sit back and watch ACR and Santana start. Like the multi-person match earlier, everyone got a bit of time to strut their stuff. There was an underlying story of Raquel trying to prove herself as not just someone riding Santana’s coattails. C4 was the more interesting of the challengers and a did great job with trash talk. Santana got the hot tag but it wasn’t until a Las Sicarias miscommunication where Thea kicked ACR that she picked up the win. Santana sent Thea outside and hit the shining star press to retain. Fun little match here with everyone getting a good opportunity and it advanced the stories for Raquel and C4 since ACR left with them. **¾

SHINE Championship: LuFisto def. Allysin Kay and Mercedes Martinez in 17:52
LuFisto, the leader of C4, was an early punching bag. Kay and Martinez took turns attacking her while badmouthing one another. Once they stopped working together, they all traded offense. Kay took LuFisto to the bar for a beating, but stopped to get a drink and to tell a young fan not to do the same. Martinez relaxed in the ring, waiting since she knew the match couldn’t end out there. All three women brought big offense and some hard strikes. Martinez got the first close near fall with a brainbuster. They worked a cool spot where LuFisto had Kay in a submission and Martinez put LuFisto in one at the same time. Kay got revenge at the bottom of a good old fashioned tower of doom spot. There were near falls on a fisherman buster, German suplex and even a burning hammer. Outside, Martinez suplexed LuFisto onto a row of steel chairs. Kay and Martinez both nearly won on several occasions down the stretch, before Kay got a rear naked choke in. Martinez pulled a Bret Hart circa Survivor Series 96 or WM8 and countered into a pin. She had Kay’s shoulders pinned but LuFisto crept over and covered her for a confusing win. That was on pace to easily be the best thing on the show but that finish hurt it for me. I’ve never been a fan of it, and it didn’t even seem like LuFisto had the pin for three. Also, if Martinez could be pinned by LuFisto, then here shoulders were down too and the pin on Kay shouldn’t have counted. Still, other than that the match was strong with some great drama built up near the end. ***½

Overall: 6/10. I enjoyed this show. There were some good things and some bad, but for the most part, it moved along briskly and was fun. I wasn’t a big fan of the Hosaka/Lauren match or Bates/Candy, though both had positives. Ellering/Green and the main event were the best things on the card, while I also liked the Tag Team Title match and the opening four way. I’ll be checking out SHINE 41 when the time comes.

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