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

Top 135 Matches of 2016: #95-86

95. Gift of the Gods Championship: Fenix (c) vs. King Cuerno – Lucha Underground 1/27/16

Lucha Underground season two was a pretty fantastic string of wrestling television. Fittingly, it began with a bang. At Ultima Lucha, the season one finale, Fenix became the first ever Gift of the Gods Champion. The title gives the winner a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship. Mil Muertes, Fenix’s arch rival, was the champion and his manager, Catrina, was running the Temple. She forced Fenix to defend his title right off the bat. With Muertes watching from his throne atop the Temple like a final boss, these two put one hell of a performance. At 7:47, it is the shortest match on the list this year. Due to that, this thing pretty much moves at a frantic pace for the entire duration. Fenix and Cuerno busted out moves I’ve never seen before. Fenix hit an innovative diving double stomp and followed it with a springboard 450 splash. When Fenix was able to kick out of Cuerno’s Thrill of the Hunt, Cuerno had to dig deep into his bag of tricks. He hit a spinning tombstone variation that got him the win and gave us a surprising title change to kick off season two. Their rivalry continued for a Last Lucha Standing and ladder match. Both were damn good but neither reached this level. ****

94. Johnny Gargano vs. TJ Perkins – WWE Cruiserweight Classic 8/24/16

When the Cruiserweight Classic participants were announced, a lot of people felt like the guys signed to WWE contracts, like Rich Swann and Johnny Gargano, would go very far. This was the second round and after beating his tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa, Gargano found himself up against Evolve standout TJ Perkins. Not many people gave Perkins a chance to get past this round. The match started with both guys showing that they’re evenly matched. Though this was taped weeks in advance, commentary discussed Gargano injuring his knee at TakeOver: Brooklyn. They brilliantly worked it into the match and Gargano banged it on the ring bell table on a dive outside. It was done in a way that made sense to those of us watching after seeing TakeOver, while also being something the live fans could buy into. Just brilliant work from both guys throughout the entire 12:19. Gargano sold the hell out of the leg, falling when attempting the lawn dart, though he got it on the second attempt in brutal fashion. Perkins would kick out and go back to attacking the knee. He countered Gargano and finally got the knee bar locked in, which made Gargano tap. The crowd was surprised and Perkins moved on to the quarterfinals on his road to winning the entire thing. ****

93. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 7/28/16

Tomohiro Ishii basically made a career out of excellent G1 Climax matches. This was just another in a long line of those performances. Naomichi Marufuji represented Pro Wrestling NOAH in the G1 and proved to be one of the most consistent guys in the whole tournament. This was one of the stiffest and most brutal matches you’ll see all year long. Ishii is known for going to war but even he couldn’t take some of the chops that Marufuji dished out in this one. In 12:16, I cringed at so many chops. Ishii then started to like them and puffed his chest out for more! Marufuji had Ishii well scouted though, countering his stalling superplex and also getting a knee up when Ishii went for a headbutt, which is a counter I don’t remember ever seeing before. It all boiled down to Ishii’s headbutts against Marufuji’s superkicks and knee strikes. Ishii would win out and get the victory with a brainbuster. This is one of those matches that won’t be remembered by a ton of people but still proved to be an awesome encounter. A manly match from two manly men. ****

92. Chris Hero vs. Tracy Williams – Evolve 72 11/12/16

“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams is my pick for the most underrated wrestler on the independent scene. Chris Hero makes a strong case for not just the best wrestler on the indies, but is one of the best on the planet. After Hero beat Tracy’s Catch Point teammate Matt Riddle a few shows earlier, Tracy challenged him. This flew under the radar because it was on the same weekend of Hero and Riddle’s rematch. However, Tracy went out and a match that was on par with the Hero/Riddle series. For 12:33, they worked with the intensity that this match needed. Hero and Williams hit each other hard starting with Williams nailing a German suplex before the bell even rang. Both guys had big bursts of offense throughout. Hero just unloaded elbow after elbow followed by a senton at one point. He even hit the arm trap piledriver that has put away many people but Tracy got his shoulder up. Williams had to dig deep and fire up with a massive lariat but Hero kicked out at ONE! Tracy wasn’t deterred and nailed a second lariat that he turned into a crossface to make Hero tap. So not only did Williams upset Hero but he made him submit. That was huge for Williams and Hero lost nothing in the process. Awesome match. ****

91. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA – NJPW G1 Climax 7/18/16

Outside of his matches at Wrestle Kingdom and the New Beginning in Niigata, Hiroshi Tanahashi took it easy up to this point in the year. He battled injuries and wrestled a lot of multi-man tags. This was the G1 Climax though. This is where Tanahashi steps his game up every year. His first opponent was SANADA, a 28-year-old rising star from the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable. It isn’t a new story but it almost always works. The great babyface veteran against the up and coming heel youngster. Early on, Tanahashi was one step ahead of SANADA at every turn. Once they went outside though, SANADA targeted the recently injured arm of Tanahashi, which was smart. As always, Tanahashi sold this very well and did his own work to SANADA’s leg. I liked the layers of this match, including the story that both men were students of Keiji Muto. SANADA’s finisher, the dragon sleeper, is Tanahashi’s old finisher. SANADA would apply the dragon sleeper but Tanahashi, knowing it well, was able to survive. He fired up and went into his offense, but couldn’t put SANADA away. SANADA then countered High Fly Flow with an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE! Two moonsaults and another dragon sleeper made Tanahashi tap out at 19:28. Easily the biggest win and best singles match of SANADA’s career to that point. He tapped out the company’s ace to start the tournament and showed everyone why he is a future star. ****

90. SMASH Championship: Johnny Gargano (c) vs. Mark Haskins – PROGRESS 5000 to 1 6/26/16

SMASH Wrestling is a Canada based promotion. Their champions in the past have included names like Matt Cross and Alex Shelley. Entering this PROGRESS event, their champion was Johnny Gargano and he had an open challenge scheduled. Gargano got a great pop from the crowd upon his arrival but it was nothing compared to the ovation for Mark Haskins answering the challenge. The fans treated this like a mega match, which added to their interactions. It helped that it was Haskins’ return from injury. This started with great counter wrestling and two guys just looking to see who the better man was. As the match went on though, Gargano began to show more heel tendencies, even spitting in Haskins’ face, which Haskins answered back. It isn’t a side we see often from Gargano, but it worked well. Though Gargano is popular, the love for Haskins was massive here. They willed him to never say die and Gargano couldn’t believe his resiliency. Their battle of strikes transitioned into one of submissions, which saw an armbar from Haskins and the Gargano Escape by the champion. At the 18:53 mark, Haskins got the armbar to fully work, making Gargano submit. It was a huge win for Haskins, made even better by the fact that it was his biggest in PROGRESS from what I can tell. ****

89. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/16

A record eleven time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Jushin Thunder Liger looked to turn back the clock and reach the top of the mountain again at the age of 51. The pre-match video package showed an eight year old KUSHIDA doing a Liger Bomb to his pillow, which was an awesome touch. KUSHIDA is the current ace of the division, but still had to prove himself one more time against the GOAT. The tag matches leading up to this were great too and saw an aggressive Liger work the knee, while KUSHIDA went after the arm. They wisely continued that here. Liger drove KUSHIDA’s knee into the ring post and then hit a goddamn Brainbuster on the concrete. KUSHIDA limped in to break the count. Once inside, these two continued to go to war in front of a red hot crowd that was more into this than any other juniors match I remember in 2016. Liger nailed a second Brainbuster near the of this 14:37 encounter, which the fans completely bought into. KUSHIDA managed to slap on the Hoverboard Lock and couldn’t force Liger to tap until he locked the knuckles for added leverage. A fantastic effort from both guys as KUSHIDA once again proved why there is nobody in his league in the juniors division, while Liger showed that he’s the best wrestler on the planet over 50. Following the match, they bowed to each other in a show of respect. ****

88. Cedric Alexander vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – Evolve 67 8/20/16

Before and during the Cruiserweight Classic, Evolve ran a lot of CWC Spotlight matches. This was one of them. At this point, Cedric Alexander already had his star making performance against Kota Ibushi and was out of the tournament, while Zack Sabre Jr. remained very much alive. However, Sabre didn’t have a great tournament. In fact, Sabre seemed to be losing popularity, even getting booed in his home promotion of Rev Pro. In the feeling out process, Cedric did his best to stay with Sabre on the mat, while Sabre had to find a way to combat Cedric’s quickness. Alexander got the first sustained upper hand, but Sabre soon turned it around and proceeded to twist and bend Cedric in uncomfortable ways. Sabre talked trash and exuded a ton of arrogance while doing this, drawing boos from the Brooklyn crowd. Sabre ran with that, going more heel as the match went on. Alexander’s fiery comeback was great and his counter of a European uppercut into a backslide was great. He also showed off the best Michinoku Driver in the business. Despite his best efforts, Alexander had to give up to a sick octopus stretch variation at 15:43. Sabre was in top form as a dick heel and Alexander added another great performance to a really strong 2016. ****

87. WWE Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs. AJ Styles and Chris Jericho – WWE Raw 3/7/16

Whenever the WWE goes to Chicago, you can usually expect something memorable. This particular episode of Raw wasn’t, but this match certainly was. The Chris Jericho/AJ Styles rivalry was a strange one. They feuded in matches that were good but not great before teaming up. That led to a short program with New Day and this Tag Team Title match. The poorly named Y2AJ came out of the gate on fire and took out their opponents with stereo splashes to the outside. New Day worked the heat on Jericho in their highly entertaining way. AJ’s hot tag was great. Kofi sold the springboard moonsault reverse DDT better than anyone else in the WWE and the crowd ate it up. There were some tremendous false finishes including one where AJ took the Big Ending and one where Big E saved Kofi from AJ’s springboard 450 splash. Jericho caught Trouble in Paradise into the Walls of Jericho for yet another close call. Even when Big E tagged in, they didn’t go the obvious route of just having him break up the Walls. Jericho caught him but Big E blocked the Walls. In an awesome finish, Big E then countered the Codebreaker into the Big Ending to retain at 11:48. After the match, Jericho attacked Styles to break up their short-lived team and set up a final encounter at WrestleMania. Easily the best main roster tag team match in 2016. ****

86. Ricochet vs. TJ Perkins – Evolve 58 – 4/1/16

I never thought about these two together as a match I’d want to see but once it was announced for Evolve 58, it played a huge role in me ordering that event. This wasn’t the best match involving either guy this year, but it is one of my favorites. Something about this match just worked for me. Both men carry themselves with an aura of swagger and brought it on this night. Ricochet flies so gracefully that it comes off as way easy, while Perkins is the same way when it comes to his mat game. Despite those being their strengths, Ricochet holds his own on the mat at times here, while Perkins takes to the skies and it all comes off so smoothly. Ricochet had fun early by paying homage to the Rock and Steve Austin. Perkins took small offense and turned things a bit more serious. He attacked the leg of the high flyer, a strategy that almost always works well. Ricochet mostly did a good job selling it and it came into play for the finish. Ricochet landed on his feet on a 450 attempt that TJ avoided. His leg buckled, TJ hit a missile dropkick to it and then applied a knee bar to make Ricochet tap out at 14:32. WrestleMania weekend was full of excellent matches and I feel like this gets overlooked because of that, but it’s great. ****

NJPW New Year Dash Review

NJPW New Year Dash
January 5th, 2017 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

New Year Dash works as New Japan’s equivalent to the Raw after WrestleMania. It happens the night after their biggest show of the year and features some major angles. Just last year, Kenny Omega took over the Bullet Club from AJ Styles and proclaimed himself a heavyweight. One year later, he headlined the Tokyo Dome. Another fun part of this is that the show has a mystery card.

I’m trying this show with English commentary, which I usually avoid. Kevin Kelly makes me regret this decision almost instantly. I also muted the ring announcer when he ran down the card so it can be a complete surprise.

David Finlay, Kyle O’Reilly and Ricochet def. Henare, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask IV in 6:17
Ricochet wore a crown to the ring. All three men on the team dropped titles yesterday. Henare is the young lion, while everyone else competed in the BOTSJ last year. Liger took a bit of a beating from the opposite team, who worked some crisp group offense. Tiger Mask took things to a lull but I enjoyed Henare coming in. He slapped on the Boston crab and refused to break it even when Ricochet kicked at him. He, Liger and Tiger Mask all did submissions at the same time following that. Finlay and Ricochet came back and won after hitting Henare with a Finlay roll into a Shooting Star Press. Fine little opener that had some fun moments. I’ve grown to love the pairing of Finlay and Ricochet. Way better than Sydal and Ricochet. **½

After the match, Finlay ran into the stands to huge his mom and yes, Finlay was sitting next to her.

Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi def. Billy Gunn and YOSHITATSU in 6:39
No ladies for Takahashi here so I’m back to not giving a shit about him. Billy shouting “I’M A PIMP TOO” at Yujiro instantly made this better than all previous YOSHITATSU/BC matches. That isn’t hard though. YOSHITATSU took the heat, with Takahashi trying to avoid Gunn at all costs. At one point, Page grabbed Gunn’s junk because this was a strange match. Page used the Right of Passage to defeat TATSU. Kelly and Corino mocked TATSU for losing again, which is odd. He did get mad at CNJ for losing and he isn’t doing much better. This was inoffensive at least. *

Billy Gunn got into a stare down with one of the young lions. I’m sorry, but I’m honestly not sure who it was. He looked familiar though.

CHAOS (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi Vice and YOSHI-HASHI) def. The Bullet Club (ROH World Champion Adam Cole and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks) in 9:57
The Bucks and Cole were up to their usual antics. ROH referee Todd Sinclair officiated this. RPG Vice argued a bit since Trent shoved Rocky to stop him from diving, remembering how he crashed and burned at WK11. They made up quickly before the Bullet Club took over. Trent’s taped back was a target by Cole. He slapped on a camel clutch before the Bucks faked out the fans (they do this spot often) and kissed Cole on the cheek. The Meltzer Driver was cut off, so Cole nearly did it for Nick but also got stopped. Rocky got a hot tag and did his thing until running into superkicks. The final few minutes were typical fast paced stuff until YOSHI pulled Cole into a small package for the three. PUT THE ROH TITLE ON TACOS PLEASE! Fun despite my disdain for the Bucks. **¾

Adam Cole attacked and, with help from the Young Bucks, laid out YOSHI.

Cheeseburger, Hiro Saito, Scott Norton and TenKoji def. The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, BONE SOLDIER, The Guerillas of Destiny and Kenny Omega) in 9:59
TEAM 2000 SHIRTS! That was awesome. Omega got a great hand from the crowd for his performance in the Tokyo Dome. Corino said there’s a good chance Fale eats Cheeseburger here. I believe it. Norton started for his guys and Omega did the same. When Omega realized what he had done, he regretted it. Omega told Norton to think about the nWo and said the BC are just like that. He offered him a spot and Norton agreed before crushing Omega’s hand. Norton launched Cheeseburger into the BC, who caught the lightweight and threw him back in. They all had fun with Cheeseburger throughout this. Omega calling BONE SOLDIER by the nickname “BONER” throughout was excellent. A flurry of offense capped by a Kojima lariat ended BONER. Not the most technically sound match but a fun nostalgia trip that the crowd loved. They had a blast here and I enjoyed the hell out of it. ***

KUSHIDA and Michael Elgin def. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito in 13:42
Naito was still selling the leg from Wrestle Kingdom during his entrance. Bless him. After the event last night, Elgin got in Naito’s face, looking for revenge and the IC Title. Naito avoided altercation here, but Elgin still ended up hitting him with a baseball slide and then press slammed KUSHIDA onto their opponents. All four men worked at a fast pace. Kudos to Naito for taking these bumps after a grueling match the previous night. Elgin’s hot tag saw him move the ring with his power based offense. He and Naito went at it down the stretch, with Elgin looking like a rejuvenated beast since the injury. Naito kicked Elgin low and looked for Destino but DRAGON LEE ran in and German suplexed Naito. He then hit a sick dive on Takahashi. Elgin pinned Naito following Burning Hammer. Another fun match with some great interactions. They set up Lee coming back for his rival and the Jr. Heavyweight Title, while also setting up the third Elgin/Naito match. I don’t mind Naito taking the pin either since Lee interfered. ***¼

After the match, Lee posed with the Jr. Title, while Elgin did the same with the Intercontinental Title. KUSHIDA got in Lee’s face because he still wants the Jr. Title back.

Great Bash Heel, Juice Robinson, RPW British Heavyweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata and Yuji Nagata def. CHAOS (NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano and Will Ospreay) in 14:55
Yano came out with both Tag Titles and the WTL trophies. I’m not a fan of Ospreay cosplaying as Okada. Ospreay got in Shibata’s face, possibly setting up a future RPW Title match, even though Shibata has an upcoming defense against Matt Riddle. They started things off and Will made the mistake of kicking Shibata in the mouth. Corino said “Aww and I liked Will. This’ll be his last tour.” He managed to hang tough with Shibata though. There were other fun interactions throughout this, some great brawling and Yano being Yano. Juice got a tag near the end and did impressive work on Okada. The continued battle between Ospreay and Shibata was a highlight. Goto was left alone with Juice and it seemed like a foregone conclusion. They ran into each other with vicious lariats before Shibata hit Goto with the PK. Then, in a shocker, Juice hit THE JUICE IS LOOSE to pin the NEVER Champion! A cool surprise to cap another fun multi-man tag. ***

All hell broke loose next. You could screams from some fans. SUZUKI-GUN returned and stormed the ring. They beat up everyone on both teams. Roppongi Vice ran out to help but got their asses kicked too. Minoru Suzuki didn’t seem to get involved until Okada started fighting back. He choked him out and hit the Gotch style piledriver. Suzuki then challenged Okada and promised to rule this ring again. They want all the belts like they had in NOAH. 

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I love Minoru Suzuki and would love to see him beat the hell out of Okada. I also think the Killer Elite Squad would help a very weak tag division. On the other hand, I don’t care to see Desperado, TAKA or Taichi at all though. Also, the group got played out badly in NOAH and I wish LIDJ was the top heel group. They took an unfortunate backseat to the also tired Bullet Club at the end of 2016 and now this.

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi def. BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA (c) in 13:23
A terrible decision. Anyway, Nakanishi kicked things off for his team and weathered some attacks from the champions before overpowering them. Eventually, the heels took over after using some dastardly tactics and Taguchi took the heat. He was the obvious choice to do so since Manabu is a big boy and Tanahashi is Tanahashi. Nakanishi showed fire and had the crowd firmly behind him. He countered a SANADA dragon sleeper only to get put back in it until Tanahashi saved him. BUSHI found himself in trouble, taking a bunch of offense from the babyface team. Tanahashi and Taguchi dove onto SANADA and EVIL, leaving Nakanishi to hit the Hercules Cutter and win the titles. I get that it’s a thank you to Nakanishi before he retires but again, LIDJ get their legs cut out from under them. The group can never gain real momentum. These titles continue to get passed around more than Sunny in 1996. The match itself was fine with some cool moments. **½

Overall: 6/10. I rather enjoyed this even but not as much as last year. It accomplished what it set out to do. Lots of fun multi-man tags and setting up some big angles. They managed to set up potential matches between Takahashi/Lee, Lee/KUSHIDA, Elgin/Naito, Juice/Goto, Okada/Suzuki and Shibata/Ospreay to name a few. They also reintroduced Suzuki-Gun, brought in Dragon Lee, had a title change and a steady diet of fun matches. Plus, Team 2000 is must see.

Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
January 4th, 2017 | Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 26,192

It’s that time of the year again. New Japan’s biggest annual event. I stayed up to watch it last year, but a lackluster card allowed me to sleep in and check it out later in the day. The attendance came in at still under 30,000 but more than last year.

Michael Elgin won the New Japan Rumble at 25:13
Michael Elgin came out first, which was a surprise since he was expected to miss the show due to injury. I believe he was slated to face Cody originally. Billy Gunn was second, giving me a start to a New Japan show I never expected. For the second straight year, we got a Cheeseburger sighting to a pop. He threw out shitty BONE SOLDIER instantly and I loved it. Liger’s theme got the expected loud reaction. Nakanishi and Elgin had a fun standoff before everyone combined to eliminate Manabu. YOSHITATSU did his shitty Triple H cosplay, while Yuji Nagata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan were their awesome selves. In the greatest thing all night, SCOTT NORTON entered the rumble! He hit Taguchi with a powerbomb to get rid of him. Everyone remaining went after Elgin but he was all “I’M NOT AN UNDERCARD GUY OR LEGEND, GET WRECKED!” He kicked ass and it came down to him, Tenzan and Cheeseburger. After tossing Tenzan, Elgin had to deal with a fired up Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger had some hope spots but fell to the Elgin Bomb. Less entrants than I expected but still good fun. I enjoyed Elgin, Norton, Cheeseburger, Tenzan, , Gunn, Liger and Nagata. A good way to bring Elgin back earlier than planned. **¼

The opening video package ran down the card and was well done.

Tiger Mask W def. Tiger Mask Dark in 6:34
It’s Kota Ibushi vs. ACH. Remember when Kota co-headlined this event two years ago? They worked at the quick pace you’d expect with the first big spot being a Tiger Mask Dark dive outside. W came back with the double jump moonsault to the outside. Things slowed a bit inside before Dark picked up a near fall. W eventually won after a snap German, tiger suplex and then a big tiger bomb. Fun little undercard match that did what it had to. **½

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi Vice def. The Young Bucks (c) in 12:57
The Young Bucks came out with all their titles (ROH, NJPW, PWG and their own dumb Superkick titles). They talked about the Hardys during their entrance. This is one of the matches I had issues with on the card. We’ve seen it plenty of times. I wish the NOAH stuff didn’t fall through because ACH and Taiji Ishimori sound more interesting than both teams. The Bucks did the old school “heels walk out” gimmick but hit superkicks when RPG Vice tried to get them, leading to the countout tease. That’s one so far. They pulled out their trademark stuff, which was crisp since they’ve worked each other so often. Beretta nearly died when he missed a dive outside, leaving Rocky alone. He weathered the storm of Bucks offense and they got too cocky. When they went for More Bang for Your Buck, Rocky countered into a cradle for the win. Standard match between the teams but I liked the added story aspect of Rocky having to do things alone and redeem himself after the issues he caused between the team in the past few months. I also dug the out of nowhere finish. We need more of those to show matches can end at any time. ***¼

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA) def. David Finlay, Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima (c), The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi) and CHAOS (Jado, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI) in 16:06
Pimp Yujiro’s ladies tonight were on point. Good to see YOSHI get a spot on the card. He had a good 2016. I had no clue this was a gauntlet match until the bell rang with just BC and CHAOS in the ring. They brawled for a while before things calmed down. Ospreay got his shit in, including a sweet dive outside and middle rope corkscrew moonsault. Page hit an SSP off the apron to the outside while Yujiro pinned Jado to eliminate them. Outside of Will’s sprint, this first section was lackluster. Also, I’m stunned Gedo didn’t blow his load on a Ricochet/Ospreay spot in the Dome. LIDJ entered next, which made the BC advancing baffling. You’d think they’d keep the babyface team there. Both teams cheated a bit before SANADA made Yujiro tap to the dragon sleeper. The champs were the final team to join. This was a six-man pairing I was looking forward to because I like everyone involved. We got early dives from Finlay and Ricochet. It’s like Kojima is the dad letting his kids run wild. After a fast start, LIDJ worked the heat on Finlay. Ricochet’s hot tag saw him hit a brainbuster for two. Ricochet nearly died when EVIL launched him into an MX from BUSHI. It didn’t come off too crisp but was a great idea. Kojima got hit with the mist and lost following a powerbomb and STO. That segment between LIDJ and the champs was the best thing on the show so far. The first two sections involving the BC dragged this match down unfortunately. The right team won too since SANADA, BUSHI and EVIL all had awesome years. ***

Cody Rhodes def. Juice Robinson in 9:37
I’m a Cody fan. His post-WWE run has been filled with solid matches, but nothing great. I expected more of the same coming into this. We got a cool spot early where Cody tried a double jump dive outside but Juice caught him and nailed a belly to belly suplex. Juice looked pumped to be working the Dome. He did the Kevin Owens cannonball with Cody on the guardrail. Inside, Cody got in control and did some taunting. He stopped to talk smack to the English commentary team. Cody stopped Juice’s comeback by attacking the knee. Juice survived the American Nightmare submission and sold the leg well. He countered Cross Rhodes and got two on a lariat. His leg gave out on a powerbomb attempt before Cody hit the Cross Rhodes to win. Like I said, solid but unspectacular. Juice gets props for his selling and he came out motivated. Most of this fell flat though. Also, you wouldn’t know Cody was in the BC by this match. No gear or taunts or anything related to it. **½

ROH World Championship: Adam Cole def. Kyle O’Reilly (c) in 10:14
I’m not sure if doing back to back all gaijin matches is a good move. Especially when Cody is new to NJPW and Cole hasn’t been around enough to gain a real following. I’d have put Cody/Juice second and the NEVER gauntlet third. They’ve had great matches in the past but I was underwhelmed at Final Battle when Kyle won the title. They played into their animosity with some heated stuff early but the crowd didn’t care much for it. We got an exchange of strikes and kicks that felt hollow. Cole used a series of kicks and the Last Shot to become the first three time ROH Champion. Typical ROH. They waited far too long to pull the trigger on Kyle and now he isn’t re-signing, so they had to waste the long angle and put the title back on Cole. Match went ten minutes but felt closer to thirty. **

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano def. The Guerillas of Destiny (c) and Great Bash Heel in 12:24
I heard good things about GBH/GOD in the World Tag League Finals but never watched due to lack of caring. However, adding Ishii and Yano made me interested in this one. Yano got jumped early for stealing the Tag Titles and WTL trophy. Yano was a blast throughout this. He brought his brand of entertainment to this and made it fun. Each guy or team was given a decent amount of time to get their shit in. We got some Honma/Ishii interaction, which is always appreciated. The final stretch saw a frantic pace from everyone involved. In classic Yano fashion, he blind tagged in and then saved Ishii from a double suplex with stereo low blows on the champs. A rollup later and we had new champions. More fun than I expected thanks to Ishii being Ishii and Yano being Yano. ***

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi def. KUSHIDA (c) in 16:14
I wanted to see this match more than any other. It was fresh, exciting and featured two guys I enjoy. Takahashi went all Rey Mysterio with a “JUMPING OUT THE SKY” entrance. Takahashi attacked during KUSHIDA’s entrance but the champ fought him off. He followed with an insane dive that looked fantastic. KUSHIDA went after the arm but got leveled with a vicious sunset flip bomb onto the floor. The doctor had to check on him. Back inside, they traded crisp offense, including Takahashi countering the Hoverboard Lock and hitting some Germans. He went for a leaping rana that would pull KUSHIDA outside but they got caught on the ropes and botched it. He made up for it with the bonkers diving senton he’s known for. He hit the floor HARD. Takahashi countered a Pele into an awesome sunset flip bomb for two. KUSHIDA avoided another sunset flip to the outside with a backflip before catching a leaping Takahashi in an armbar. The spot was partially lifted from KUSHIDA/O’Reilly and worked here. KUSHIDA was aggressive and held it while the referee counted, knowing he could get away with it outside. KUSHIDA continued the focus on the arm with vicious kicks. Takahashi battled out of the Hoverboard Lock several times, including one on the top rope, which was countered into an inverted destroyer for two. He then hit a corner DVD and time bomb to capture the title. Easily the best thing on the show so far. Takahashi was the great, fresh opponent KUSHIDA needed and they delivered. This had the heat and crowd investment the last two Dome Jr. Title matches lacked. Great story of KUSHIDA having to get aggressive to overcome his challenger but Takahashi proving to be too much. ****¼

NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto def. Katsuyori Shibata (c) in 16:17
I’m almost certain this was planned to be Shibata against someone from NOAH (probably Nakajima or Go). Goto feels like a last minute replacement but their matches usually rule. Shibata had the best match at last year’s WK. This didn’t get off to the wild start that Ishii/Shibata did last year but I’m fine with that. Instead, we got a feeling out process between the two former partners who know each other so well. Shibata kicked his ass early and no sold Goto’s hardest kicks. For the final five or so minutes, they went to war in typical NEVER Title match fashion. Big offense, hard strikes and FIGHTING SPIRIT! Shibata survived Shouten Kai and you felt like Goto would choke again. He reached down and delivered a flurry of headbutts. After hitting the GTR, he captured the title. Damn good match but not quite great. Maybe it’s because Gedo made it impossible for me to care about Goto anymore. I couldn’t get into it the way I did with their past encounters. Plus, Goto could always win the second tier titles, it was the Heavyweight that continues to elude him. Still, great finishing stretch to a strong battle. ***¾

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi in 25:25
Tanahashi debuted his new theme, which is nowhere near as good as the old one. It does shout “GO ACE” in it, which is a dick move since Okada technically became the ace at WK10. Though Naito deserves to be the top guy, there’s something fitting about the guy who has defined NJPW over the past decade facing his disrespectful self. Naito came out in a maroon suit, looking cool as f***. Interestingly, no clean break was given by Tanahashi in the opening minutes. I love when Tanahashi does little heel things. The crowd ate up everything they did, which makes sense since they both get the best reactions on the roster. Both guys went after the leg. Tanahashi because it’s kind of his thing and Naito to set up the knee bar he’s utilized recently. Both guys sold the leg work very well. We got an awesome apron slingblade, which I don’t remember seeing before. He followed with High Fly Flow outside but wasted time mocking Naito’s signature taunt. Inside, Naito brought the big guns with some great offense. They each survived the knee bar and cloverleaf. In a great spot, Tanahashi missed High Fly Flow and Naito hit Destino. I would have had that be the finish. After some more exchanges and survival of High Fly Flow, Naito won by hitting Destino twice more. Amazing match. Tanahashi is a master at laying his matches out. Great wrestling, hot crowd, strong storytelling, well done limb work and fine selling. Not only does Naito get his big Dome win but he does it against a guy who bumped him out of his big spot three years ago. I wish this main evented so Naito could make up for WK8. ****½

I saw a laughable tweet that said Omega and Okada are the two best big match wrestlers in the world. Omega hasn’t had enough big matches to validate that statement and Tanahashi is still around, which he just reminded everyone.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Kenny Omega in 46:49
Omega got a Terminator style entrance that came off better than Triple H’s attempt at WM31. The first portion of this match did nothing for me. It felt like they just did stuff to kill time, rather than things that mattered. It wasn’t until a table got brought into play that the match got going. Omega busted out the Ibushi moonsault spot, which I dug. Kenny took a MASSIVE back body drop bump from in the ring to the outside that took some incredible precision. I’m amazed he’s okay. Omega came back with a sick super dragon suplex. Their final exchange was awesome, which is Okada’s specialty. The Rainmaker V Trigger spot ruled. Omega joined Naito and Tanahashi as the guys to kick out of the Rainmaker. It took several more but Okada finally retained. So many of them felt like overkill but I liked how Omega never got to hit his finisher, which will come into play whenever they rematch this. Like a lot of Okada led matches, the first portion didn’t really matter. I don’t mind a slow start as long as everything pays off and matters. Think Tana/AJ from the G1 25. Shave off that first 15-20 and you’ve got a MOTY candidate. With it though, it felt like they tried too hard for the long, epic match. I’ve seen people say this is the greatest match ever and some call it garbage, but I can’t fathom either being true. I know some will hate this rating. A poor first half followed by an insane second half. Shoutout to Omega specifically for one hell of a performance. ****

Overall: 8.5/10. Much better than last year’s Wrestle Kingdom, but still behind WK9 for me. The undercard mostly delivered this time around, with some solid matches. I didn’t care much for Cody/Juice or Cole/O’Reilly, but everything else clocked in with at least three stars. I even liked the Young Bucks match, which is a rarity. The final four matches are where this show hammers it home though. The Jr. Title match was my favorite in years, while Goto/Shibata delivered the kind of match I wanted. Omega/Okada had issues but still put on a great show. Tanahashi/Naito was my MOTN and a fantastic spectacle. The card lacked, but the show delivered in a big way.