Top 100 Matches of 2009

`MalioK` 2010-01-21

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1. Davey Richards vs. Shingo Takagi 2009-09-06 DGUSA: Untouchable DOWNLOAD
I didn’t think it would be this good. When it was announced I figured Danielson would get a better match out of Doi and this would be a short sprint. When live reports said this was better, I figured it was live fan bias. When reviews came out saying it was the match of the year, I thought it couldn’t be in the league of Undertaker/Michaels. I have no problem if Undertaker/Michaels is your “match of the year,” as it was great in a way that isn’t really comparable to this. Where Undertaker and Michaels were established by decades of push and positioning, and used their position to tell a match about vulnerability, this was a match about invulnerability. That was a match about two titans in peril, constantly making you question who would lose and always trying to make you believe both could. This was a story of two guys who would not good down, stay down, submit or be knocked unconscious no matter what. It was apparent from the first minutes when Shingo wrenched a leg hold and Richards first did detailed work, trying to wiggle out of position or jar him, and when Shingo tightened it, Richards hammered at his back with all his strength. As it progressed, Shingo needed that leg weakened and Richards had to savagely tear into Shingo’s arm simply to maintain an advantage, finding wicked counters like the arm whip on the apron. Those key counters had some of the best timing of the decade, like Richards’s amazing Saito Suplex that he snapped off from a position of total vulnerability. It made just as much sense to abandon a limb attack as they searched for other ways to bring each other down, but returning to it, especially the way Richards did at the end, enriched things. As two Junior Heavyweights they were matched in size and could play toughness as much as they liked. Because neither flinched in doing anything but express how excruciating something was, and largely fell back on seeming stunned rather than pained, they came off like the biggest badass heavyweights in the world. By the same virtue of intense characterization they earned all their kickouts, which normally would have entered ridiculous territory. Not this match, not where the two were in fighting mode, refusing to show weakness and getting increasingly desperate. That’s why Richards’s crazy Tope Con Hilo worked better here than perhaps anywhere else: because it appeared so late and was so wild, it appeared was one of his last resources. Shingo was the same way, making the Super Original Falconry, a move everyone kicks out of in Dragon Gate, one of the most convincing nearfalls of the match with timing, placement in the match, and expressing nothing but effort and relentlessness. Halfway through I joked to my friend that they were trying to wrestle “the most badass match in history.” By the end, I wondered if they had.
2. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 2009-04-05 WWE: Wrestlemania 25 DOWNLOAD
Yeah, that match. It stole Wrestlemania and people were in awe with it for days, but since then critics have tried to rip it apart. There are a couple of noticeable botches, but the big one – Undertaker’s feet snagging the top rope on the dive – did not hurt the match at all. In fact the count-out attempt Michaels created is one of the highlights of the match, turning a potential real injury into part of the story. You can’t understate the other highlight: Undertaker’s expression on Michaels’s big kickout, a man famous for no-selling showing utter terror and exhaustion. And beneath the moments, they built a great story of exchanges. The match boasted so many great series of counters, like Undertaker sitting up when Michaels went for the Top Turnbuckle Elbow Drop, leading to the Chokeslam escape, Superkick dodge, Inverted Figure Four and Hell’s Gate submission holds. Even Undertaker lying on his side during the Crippler Crossface to knee at Michaels’s spine led to a series of novel uses of the hold. The Tombstone out of the “skin the cat” was a classic two decades in the waiting. This is the sort of match you can only do with years of establishing offense. Kicking out of Superkicks and Tombstones simply meant a lot more than any of the many finisher kick-outs in ROH matches. That’s because there was another element active here that was just as important as almost no one kicking out of a Superkick or Tombstone for twenty years: twenty years of these guys honing their craft to make the most of their stardom.
3. Shiozaki & KENTA vs. Sasaki & Nakajima 2009-06-22 NOAH: Southern Navigation DOWNLOAD
Who would have thought Go would be the workhorse in a tag match with KENTA? But there he was, from opening to finish, and KENTA got the longest rest period. Don't let "rest period" fool you, though - this match had almost no slow down. The few attempts at holds we'd typically call "rest holds" were interrupted seconds in, sometimes by Sasaki taking somebody's head off. They paced it out so everyone was rested enough to play their parts, even Sasaki, who used his wind expertly in segments against both men. He clearly aimed to give Go something special, from the opening minute where he staggered where he would normally bulldoze guys, to the big chop battle, to their dueling attempts to steal the victory near the end. And best of all, Go looked like he belonged as the workhorse, against Sasaki and his much faster junior partner. He was fast enough to counter Nakajima, but gave the Junior Heavyweight enough offense to keep him a threat, including a nearfall at the end of the match that validated anything as possible for the true ending. It's the first time I can remember KENTA vs. Nakajima being completely overshadowed, but their material mixed right in with all the other pairings, even though they were in top form with early mirror offense, the finisher counters near the middle, all the way up to the Dragon Suplex and Tiger Suplex exchange that made both men go down. You had the story of Go as both the weakest and strongest links, Kensuke Office as heavy aggressors, and KENTA being utterly fearless in defending his company. This is about as good as tag wrestling gets.
4. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels 2009-11-15 TNA: Turning Point DOWNLOAD
I wrote half the entry for Angle vs. Wolfe right after the match happened, so excited by an exceptional TNA match. I couldn’t do the same for this one. I was too blown away to take a single note during the match, and afterwards only had superlatives. It’s amazing that four years later, with Joe being heavier, Daniels being even older and Styles having put hundreds more harsh bumps on his body, they can still put on something good enough to challenge the quality of the original three-way dance. Most praise went to Styles, the most conventionally athletic of the trio, but all three deserve major credit. Daniels remained a total maestro, making his 1-on-2 offense look completely effortless where most wrestlers couldn’t even execute the combinations at all. Joe hustled in a way that was very rare for him in 2009, showing underhanded character early, then brutal opportunism as the match went on. Any critic who writes this off as a dumb spotfest is not paying proper attention. Simply watch how they worked the dives. The constantly tried to cut each other off, including the freaky and great moment where Styles caught Daniels’s legs mid-Arabian Press and allowed Joe to smack him silly. Like the famous original match (and to a lesser extent, the not quite as impressive rematches), this had the breakneck pace people associate with mindless matches, but had character and thought through the cut-offs. Like the great original, it was never bogged down in the three-way convention of “X and Y fight while Z is on the outside, then Z comes in to fight X while Y is down on the outside.” Every potential pairing got time to shine, but the third player could always come in and frequently did, keeping it a true triple threat.
5. Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards 2009-09-25 ROH: Final Countdown Tour Boston DOWNLOAD
This was the match Richards fans were waiting for all those times Danielson crossed his path in other places. With Danielson’s departure for WWE, there would be no rematches, no clash in DGUSA or Evolve. They had to do everything that night, and the result was the best match of ROH’s Final Countdown Tour. Richards’s crispness in delivery is a perfect compliment to Danielson’s minimalism-centered style, such that they would work arm and leg holds, Danielson’s stewardship ensuring they would be meaningful, while Richards ensured they looked amazing. Danielson is no slouch at execution so everything he did worked, while Richards is golden on the mat provided competent competition. Whenever they went up a notch, Richards exploded with intensity and energy, even running the ropes with more enthusiasm than usual. In addition to working harder than their usual world-class level, they built great moments into the match, some you’d imagine Danielson had wanted to do in ROH for years. At multiple points in Danielson’s career he has asked the ref to help pull his arm into position; this was the first time someone used that as a prime attack opportunity, with Richards Missile Dropkicking Danielson’s arm mid-hyperextension. It was an evil move and a great touch.
6. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero 2009-09-04 PWG: Guerres Sans Frontieres DOWNLOAD
What I said in the Danielson vs. Hero review from ROH stands: Hero no longer needs Danielson or a Danielson-level opponent to have a great match. But where that match was quality, matches like this one still require high-caliber wrestlers, and it’s quite possible nobody else could have had this with Hero but Danielson. Where the Final Countdown Tour bout was just as much about making Hero as it was saying farewell to Danielson, this was a hardcore farewell. The ending was unlike almost any submission Danielson has gotten, yet it worked like Wolfe’s innovation over KENTA. Unlike that match, this ending sat atop an amazing outing from performance and match structure. From the punches to the ear in the opening and the slightly more fluid than average technical exchanges (showing Hero has even improved the ground game he once lived for), to Hero losing confidence and going for things that had beaten Danielson in years past, to Danielson slapping the champion around and asking him if he really wanted to be the best in the world, this was great pro wrestling storytelling. They had reason to be jocular, and then to take it personally. Hero was a great jerk opponent, an apt striker and just as an apt a victim as he flailed or cried in various holds. Unlike the long Hero matches of years past, the longer this went the more drama it actually built, taking advantage of being Danielson’s last appearance in PWG. The dives to the outside and the false finishes could have happened in any match (and really, they all have), but they built into this story of Danielson being the beloved veteran against the guy who held the belt that would validate him one more time, and at the same time, against the guy who might not deserve to take his place (and ultimately, perhaps showing Hero might deserve it). By far and away the best match Danielson and Hero ever had against each other was appropriately their last.
7. Davey Richards vs. KENTA 2009-04-03 ROH: Supercard of Honor 4 DOWNLOAD
Richards had an unsung gem against KENTA a couple of years ago. How much better of an opponent he is for KENTA now speaks to his improvements. KENTA’s selling is always pretty shoddy, yet Richards filled that void with exaggerated facial expressions, clutching at himself and showing physical exhaustion in early periods, counterpointing his opponent’s onslaught. When KENTA eventually showed fatigue, Richards’s existing exhaustion complimented it and set a baseline for sympathy where normally you throw out the selling component of a KENTA match entirely. None of this is to pretend the match was about sympathetic selling. It was about brutal offense with two of the top kickers in the world blasting each other. Yet in all the series of fun offense, there was distinct intelligence. Richards used novel holds to weaken KENTA’s leg, and though KENTA wouldn’t fall apart over a weakened knee, it gave Richards something specific to attack when he wasn’t going for knockout blows. He returned multiple times to his Texas Cloverleaf hold, something he really hasn’t built well enough as a main event submission maneuver, and yet made into a dangerous tool that really could have put KENTA away. You know, that or all the kicks. The timing and reprisals of kick-and-throw offense was great at Fight of the Century in 2006, and it was certainly alive here, but Richards had considerably more showmanship, and they managed a couple of Kobashi-level moments, like that Falcon Arrow to the floor. This wasn’t just another KENTA visit to ROH. This was the best singles match of his career, even with the botched finish (which was pretty sharply edited for DVD).
8. RAW Elimination Chamber Match 2009-09-15 WWE: No Way Out DOWNLOAD
Okay, can we agree that Edge getting Kofi Kingston’s spot for injuring him was stupid? Good. Because that wasn’t in this match. It was poorly conceived but put one of WWE’s best performers into the main event. Mysterio and Jericho started it off with great action, including Mysterio’s phenomenal climb to the ceiling in mid-counter to hit a falling Hurricanrana. Then Kane came in and picked apart the smaller competitors like a methodical predator, establishing the dynamic way a Chamber match could work. Kane stayed in for just long enough to allow Knox to appear as a force, and enabled some great innovations like the Hurricanrana counter to his Chokeslam and Mysterio’s crazy Senton-ish dive from the top of the Chamber. Knox then came in as an even more brutal powerhouse, tossing guys around the cage and requiring even more clever attacks from Mysterio and Jericho, like Jericho catching him in the middle of his finisher with the Codebreaker, and responding with even more vicious offense, like entwining Mysterio’s leg in the chain. When Edge arrived he joined Mysterio and Jericho’s flow, mixing it up with bigger moves and nearer falls. That both Kane and Knox had gone down so quickly only made it scarier for Edge, who had been eliminated with similar brevity earlier in the night, turning his typical opportunism into something a little more fearful and appearance-conscious. We all expected Cena to enter as a house of fire, but his little wave as the door opened was classic, and in the moment, nobody saw the Codebreaker/619/Spear combo or his elimination coming. Eliminating the final man with three men left in the match was a brilliant stroke against expectations. Edge and Mysterio couldn’t match the intrigue of the Undertaker/HHH finals simply by virtue of the latter pair having so much more exposure and push, but they made up for it with more complex and speedy exchanges, preventing the crowd from calming down to rationally assume Edge would be the booker’s favorite. Edge set Mysterio up with several flashy counters, emphasizing the vibe that anything could happen.
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Takashi Sugiura 2009-07-20 NJPW: New Japan Soul DOWNLOAD
One thing to look forward to in 2010 is that Sugiura will be in more feature singles main events. In 2008 he had only one, against Morishima, where the two stepped up to prove they belonged – and NOAH bookers promptly ignored it in favor of poor gate (a purely silly issue – naturally guys who aren’t consistently pushed as top guys won’t draw as top guys). This year Sugiura’s big shot was against Tanahashi on enemy turf. The NJPW/NOAH feud worked primarily because the wrestlers who participated held nothing back and helped each other look special: the first tag made Go out to be a rookie beast, Goto let Sugiura go over twice, Sugiura made Okada shine (even though he almost killed him), and here at the end, Tanahashi wanted Sugiura to appear as formidable a challenger as he could have. He had to torque Sugiura’s leg with every Screw variation he had to make his opening, and found several of his top moves scouted. Sugiura out-paced him on the mat from the opening, and went after the arm and torso, leading to a moment of subtle greatness when Tanahashi turned the tide, rose, tried to clutch his ribs and couldn’t because his arm was too weak. Sugiura’s Suplexes were particularly brutal and further highlighted his freakish pug strength, and Tanahashi was there to fight them desperately, retaliate with his favorites, and ultimately fall on his head. Naturally when they emerged at the finisher-exchange series the two were on-mark, particularly with the Running Knees and Slingblades, moves they knew worked and hoped would grant victory as bigger moves kept getting reversed.
10. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kaz Hayashi 2009-02-06 AJPW at the Korakuen Hall DOWNLOAD
A story of calculated risks. Marufuji’s All Japan matches were slow, and many of Kaz’s 2009 matches were boring in their attempts at technique as he tested Heavyweight waters. The two came together to avoid both their problems, and it made sense: Marufuji was among the best Junior Heavyweight technicians, and given structure in a bigger match, Kaz’s explosiveness would stand out. They worked slow, logical holds, grabbing openings wherever they saw them, and as they felt increasingly comfortable, they went for very dangerous offense, like an Asai Moonsault or the Brainbuster on the apron. Those led right back into the scientific holds, neither wanting the other man to escape with a speed and resourcefulness they knew they had. Even mid-match, Marufuji looked for smaller setups to big corner charges or his Basement Stomp. And because they had a half an hour, the guys built on that, taking bigger risks, with Marufuji slowly reminding everyone that even with a relaxed style he was a top flyer, busting out his insane Flying Dropkick to the outside. Naturally they went into the Japanese ending stretch of finisher variations that makes any crowd buzz, but they put it together to throw casual and smart audiences off, teasing Super versions early, and Marufuji peppering the interim with kicks and slaps.
11. Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe 2009-11-15 TNA: Turning Point
If WWE officials didn't think they were losing something in Desmond Wolfe, this should have convinced them of their mistakes. He certainly didn’t wrestle like a man who failed a physical, and if his health really was that bad, wrestling fans can only hope he can perform like this without exacerbating matters. It wasn’t a match he could have had in ROH, either: this was a big-stage debut that was deliberately off of ROH’s pace, yet fit into TNA’s, especially thanks to the question of how long Angle could last if he was still hurt, and how long Wolfe could hang in there with a main eventer. They played it from the first ten minutes, including the Lariat that could have ended the match, but instead sent it into a massive question of how long this would go. For a story like that you’d expect an ending coming out of nowhere to hurt it, but the Side Triangle Choke made sense – Angle needed a brand new hold. Wolfe mouthed "What was that?" seconds after tapping, cementing that it was something Angle hadn't used before. It was the best possible weapon against a guy who scouted him so much in advance where Angle scout him. He went for a series of Ankle Lock attempts, which everyone always counters, and when he saw Wolfe taking the bait, he switched into an arm hold that put him in position for the choke. Something totally new, and something Wolfe probably should counter the next time, but he couldn't then. Wolfe wasn’t hurt after going such a distance against a TNA main eventer and after match plot threads like the arm work that led to his nasty London Dungeon hold, killer strikes and Tower of London.
12. Shelley & Sabin vs. Danielson & Strong 2009-05-22 PWG: DDT4
It’s good that the Guns can shine somewhere. In 2008, they were allowed to shine in ROH. In 2009, they got some shots in PWG. In their only match of the tournament they tried to make-up for so many other canceling, not running so much contrived double team offense, instead feeding Strong several moments to punk them out. It continuously broke down into two singles matches, giving it a wild atmosphere that differed from most big Guns matches. Danielson plugged himself in well, alternately as the ironic minimalist with kicks and his super Double Team Hip Toss, and trying to stay in step with Sabin up until the final counters, which led to the coolest application of his Triangle Choke that I’ve ever seen. They kept rocking, with so many false finishes that it could have gone either way, and such that the finals just couldn’t live up to it. Where the finals showed the Bucks as truly out-classed and lucky to win, this was about four guys on the same level using everything they had.
13. Kota Ibushi vs. Taiji Ishimori 2009-04-05 DDT: Judgment 2009
At the beginning I begged Ibushi not to sell his leg because that would only require him to forget it later. That’s the joke about Ibushi, right? While most vestiges of Ishimori’s legwork were shed in the final minutes, Ibushi remained remarkably consistent at showing weakness in the limb and fear of Ishimori’s mat acumen, creating a particularly sharp variation of the Moonsault fake-out by collapsing when he landed on his feet. And while I’ve seen Ishimori try to be a technician in many matches in the last two years, I’d never seen him be this good. He knew the angles at which to sit in holds, kept a great variety of leg submissions and was happy to change it up for his own flying, like one sickening Missile Dropkick to Ibushi’s leg trapped in the ropes. You wouldn’t expect this level of technical slickness from Ishimori, and certainly wouldn’t expect them to weave between methodical and exciting wrestling so well, but they put everything to work, creating some particularly fine counters, like Ibushi throwing up the knees under the Superstar Elbow. They structured the match for their big offense far better than anyone could have expected, creating likely their best singles match against anyone.
14. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy 2009-06-07 WWE: Extreme Rules
I remarked going into the show that it was a PPV of the best and worst matches. Even before we saw it, we knew this was one of the best. They are kings of the Ladder Match, and continued their innovation to the very end with Edge getting caught in-between the rungs. His frantic flailing as Hardy snatched the belt and looked down at him, defiant and victorious, was one of the best visuals of the wrestling year. Long before the end, though, they went brave and creative, falling through ladders in sick fashion, but also finding novel ways to use them, like dropping Edge chest-first through the supports of an upturned ladder. With touches like Hardy preparing a counter to the mid-air Spear, they had enough sense of history as well as timing to accomplish something much better than a mere garbage match.
15. Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura 2009-12-06 NOAH: Winter Navigation
A year ago, would you have thought Go and Sugiura would wrestle for NOAH’s top title? Of course Go became champion after the Misawa tragedy, but it was still a surprise to see the two at the top while Akiyama, Kobashi, Taue, Takayama and even Rikio stood beneath them. This was without a doubt the best of Go’s singles matches since the Misawa tragedy, and is arguably better than his 2008 classic against Austin Aries in ROH. In 2008, Aries did most of the work and Go got to play juggernaut. This time Go did all of his half of the work, feeding everything into Sugiura like a true main eventer. Even the big post-tragedy matches against Rikio, Nakajima and KENTA didn’t show this much star power, nor this much structure. Your average GHC Heavyweight Championship match has the hot opening exchange and then slows, but these guys crashed into each other roaring, went to the mat for a minute, then picked right back up for their brawl on the outside and a Kobashi-like drop for Go on the entrance ramp. As Go unloaded all his big offense, timed combos into Lariats and went into such surprisingly extended strike battles, he had the intensity he needed for his whole reign. It’s a shame he truly emerged just as it ended. Falling so quickly in Sugiura Side Sleeper and the way he sold the Gutwrench Suplex off the apron, heaving for breath and checking several times to see if his body was ready to sit up were the kinds of character cues that can make great matches. It certainly helped this one. Sugiura completely held up his end as a challenger, like against Morishima in 2008, showing off his freakish strength through striking and power that at once made him look amazing for standing up to a bigger opponent while never detracting from Go’s own ability. Aside from Morishima, there isn’t another young guy in NOAH who could eat a dozen spinning chops from Go like that and really earn the right to remain vertical.
16. Kaz Hayashi vs. Shuji Kondo 2009-08-30 AJPW: Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 8
I love watching Hayashi desperately try to escape Kondo’s power moves. The way he clutched the top rope whenever Kondo went for a big slam was great, and they built that into its own big exchange on the apron where the two teased half a dozen career-enders. Kondo was the consummate power guy with energy to spare, nothing like the guy who slogged through so many shorter matches in the tournament earlier in the month. Though they took lulls in-between the big offense, this didn’t suffer from the pacing issues of Kondo’s big bout with Marufuji last year, and they made better advantage of those lulls by having frequent counters to big move attempts that happened right after them. They also made sure to counter with equally devastating offense that necessitated another breather. By midmatch they struggled to rise against each other, not only showing desperation through facial expressions, but in the Headbutts and Forearm Strikes they threw when they couldn’t even get to their feet. They collected some of the biggest bombs they knew, like Kondo catching the Tope Con Hilo to drop Hayashi throat-first across the guardrail, or Hayashi turning a top rope move into a wickedly innovative DDT. Like the best big puro bouts, it built and built until one bomb was simply too much. It’s clear that when Hayashi steps away from the slower heavyweight style, he’s still amongst the best Cruiserweights going.
17. Castagnoli, Danielson & Taylor vs. Quackenbush, Rivera & Saint 2009-03-28 CHIKARA: King of Trios Night 2
I expect hate mail when I declare that the best match in Chikara history only featured two Chikara wrestlers. I’m sorry, Chikarmy, but Jonny Saint is better than Icarus. You had a match of seasoned wrestling all-stars with over a century of combined wrestling experience, and it showed in how they made more out of reactions to offense than any other match made out of actual offense. Danielson crumpling and getting indignant with Quackenbush for attacking his knee, Dave Taylor avoiding Jonny Saint, Rivera’s joy at coming up with counters and fake-outs, and Quackenbush clearly emoting how he figured out his opponents’ holds were all golden, not merely for their individual entertainment value, but how they elevated the guys they fought. In a three-night show with all manner of crazy strikes and flying moves, this was a stunning technical match, from the fun of guys testing themselves against the legendary Saint, to the drama of Danielson fearing for his leg.
18. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Keiji Mutoh 2009-01-04 NJPW: Wrestle Kingdom 3
Wrestle Kingdom has fast become the kick-off of the wrestling year. In 2008 New Japan started things off with a bang in Angle vs. Nagata. 2010’s Wrestle Kingdom line-up promises at least one must-see match. 2009’s Wrestle Kingdom was even more loaded than 2008, but Mutoh and Tanahashi stood the tallest. Mutoh’s slow mat wrestling has dragged a lot of main events down in the last two years, but Tanahashi knew how to respond with emotion, particularly fear of getting caught or staying caught under the veteran. Years of treating guys like Nakamura like the were killers on the mat paid off in his big match, along with years of growing into a prick who would steal from a vet’s offense. It reminded me of the better Misawa matches of 2007 and 2008, with a younger guy essentially having a good match around the other guy – hardly “wrestling a broom,” but perhaps occasionally wrestling a broom that the audience loved. A broom with a little life in it – which I guess makes Tanahashi the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Hence the massive reactions for a couple of Dragon Screws. Hence the easy setup for dueling Dropkicks to the knees. They made a match where Mutoh rose up over Tanahashi, when he should have simply stood over him from the beginning. Tanahashi’s ability to react and Mutoh’s willingness to give in as the match went on set up better and better exchanges. There hasn’t been a cooler setup for the Shining Wizard than Tanahashi’s missed Frog Splash in years. The middle was like a tribute by and against Mutoh for his trademark offense in a proper farewell from him at the end of his New Japan stint. But what emerged was something that refreshed Tanahashi.
19. KENTA vs. Kotaro Suzuki 2009-01-25 NOAH: First Navigation 2009
One thing lacking in most KENTA singles matches is the substance of his opponent. His 2008 Kensuke Office match against Nakajima displayed that, with neither able to bring anything different and having to do their normal stuff harder and faster. They couldn’t build something substantial. Normally it takes someone of Naomichi Marufuji or Bryan Danielson’s caliber to have a rock solid match with him.. That’s why, even after numerous quality tags against him, it was surprising to see Kotaro Suzuki do so well. In part it was because Suzuki broke the rules, cheating more blatantly and more often than even Minoru Suzuki would in this company. He had little tributes to influences, like the fake double ballshot out of Eddie Guerrero’s playbook, and borrowing high-end offense from notable people in KENTA’s past like the Super Shiranui (Marufuji) and 619 (Marvin). They used the emotional brawling, weapons, ref attacks underhanded shtick to fill out a much better first half than is normally found in a KENTA singles match, before flowing into great competitive wrestling. For his part, KENTA brought his best aggression, delivering all his stuff with the intensity of someone who belonged in a main event.
20. Austin Aries & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Tyler Black & KENTA 2009-04-04 ROH: Take No Prisoners
Firstly, I hate KENTA’s slingshot move where he bounds into the ring, lands, then casually brushes his opponent with his boot and poses. It hasn’t fit his intense overachiever offense for years and no one should lie there for it anymore. I bring this up because Aries is the only person in recent memory to take it well. You can use it to frame the whole match: he didn’t want to trade kicks, he didn’t want to get hit with big offense, he was a total prick to the visitor – everything in his performance made him deserve to get roughed up. Then when KENTA slung into the ring Aries looked over in relief only to get the minor kick in the face and reeled towards the camera with a great expression. Now was that move the whole match? No, but it’s an example of what went very right here. Nakajima has a great track record with KENTA and was a perfect match-up for Black, but Aries stepped aside from pure athleticism to give the match character. Many WWE matches tend to overshoot one element or the other, but the best indy tags tend to mix personality and performance. Here Aries did everything to avoid personal punishment, amusing the crowd as a goof, but was also hypocrite, eager to drop a safe Elbow Smash to Black when he was unaware on the floor. You wanted them to kick Aries’s head in, while you got the athletic aspect from his partner. This is something Aries is brilliant at, and here he made sure his antics broke up the match but never took too long, letting Black counter him and escape to get things rolling again. Black lent supporting offense, letting KENTA define most of their team’s attacks and plugging himself in when KENTA needed a rest or there was something fresh to do with Aries. All four clicked together in more complicated things, like the kick series that led to Aries thinking he had the match won, only to be caught in God’s Last Gift.
21. Shingo Takagi vs. El Generico 2009-09-04 PWG: Guerres Sans Frontieres
Notable for both Shingo and Generico getting one psychotic kickout that could have ended the match and made the crowd essentially wet themselves, and the two big false finishes weren’t connected in a series to feed off each other. Instead, both were built up independently, a brave experiment in wrestling for fickle crowds. It probably worked because Shingo and Generico are amazing and amazingly suited to each other, with Shingo being so formidable and Generico being such a punching bag with the unparalleled ability to come from behind against anyone. To his credit, Shingo gave Generico what he needed, bumping for a chop in the opening minute, getting wiped out on a dive and taking all sorts of moves that kept Generico as a threat. Generico was a lovable, somewhat goofy threat, one the crowd could support in a different way than they did Shingo’s precision and brute force. It also helped that Generico might have the best offensive pacing of anyone in America (the timing he gets on beginning and hitting mere boot attacks even contributes to drama) and Shingo was trained and refined in the pacing haven that is Dragon Gate, making them highly complimentary even with disparate offense every time the match picked up.
22. Six Man Tag Team Match 2009-07-10 Dragon Gate: Rainbow Gate 2009
All the time off really helped CIMA get back into top form, and in a long match like this where he could still tag out, he showed what a ringmaster he could be. He was integral to the big sprints and in cut-offs that played off of his Blood Generation history with Doi and Yoshino. He and Doi had an animosity that built their unification match on a later show, but never held back to the point of detracting from the tag, being particularly cool in their opening exchange and how they tried to trip each other up for the rest of the match. Ironically, though, Yoshino and CIMA had the best segments, moving so nimbly that Doi’s simpler material, while executed well, just couldn’t match up. For the rest, GAMMA played a smaller role with KAGETORA compensating and eating a lot of offense, Yoshino picked things up as the fastest wrestler alive. Both teams were capable of clicking, but the best moments were when they couldn’t keep it entirely together because some member of the opposition new an opening.
23. John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio 2009-09-04 WWE: SmackDown!
This match was helped by rumors that management was going to squash Mysterio. Even if you didn’t know the rumors, by placing this in the middle of the show they made it difficult to gauge how long it would go. Like the classic Cena vs. Michaels 2 from Raw in 2007, placement on the TV show made the time element part of the excitement. Morrison’s TV matches can go 5-10 or 20-30 minutes. The first commercial break was fine, but every time they approached one afterwards a finish of some kind was plausible. They teased their audience from the undercard, and certainly didn’t lie back and let time pass, filling up segments with novel offense that made this seem like a legitimate test of whether the younger, bigger Morrison could be better at Mysterio’s game. That’s a common enough story in wrestling (or in a Morrison 2009 match), but this stood out particularly because of the extra oomph they put into particular spots. When Morrison caught Mysterio and Baseball Slid him out of the ring, Mysterio got air and went ten feet. When Morrison countered a top rope move with a Dropkick, he got the fullest extension on a Dropkick counter I've ever seen, and square into the ribs. These are not things you want wrestlers doing all the time, but in high profile matches they make instances meaningful, where hitting Cena in the ribs with a cane eight times doesn't.
24. Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Danielson & Castagnoli 2009-09-12 CHIKARA: Hiding in Plain Sight
They’ve wrestled so many times, but these might have been Quackenbush and Danielson’s best exchanges. In Chikara Quackenbush is a superman, and though Danielson is a star on any indy, here he could genuinely react to his opponent like the man was his superior, at least in status. That Danielson wouldn’t go down for a Palm Strike, or could try to shrug it off, was momentous. Castagnoli wasn’t shown up, being just as crisp in holds and smart in attempts at pinning combinations or throwing guys off-guard. I don’t care how low the ring was: Castagnoli Powerbombing Quack into the ring was an amazing sight. Jigsaw played into Castagnoli and Danielson’s offensive strengths, playing his best peril role to date. They came up with brilliant ways to pick apart his leg and torture him, and he managed to be an expressive victim when he wasn’t able to fly in attack. Danielson pounding the heck out of him in the Inverted Indian Deathlock and Castagnoli’s Single Leg Giant Swing were particularly hairy moments. Even how Danielson wrenched on the STF was novel, and Jigsaw played the victim as expressively as an U.S. wrestler can from under a mask. That set Quack up as the righteous savior, his best role, for some phenomenal final moments.
25. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero 2009-09-18 ROH: Final Countdown Dayton
For years I didn’t care to watch Chris Hero. Sitting through his old and ridiculously long matches against CM Punk is the stuff of nightmares. Okay, not nightmares, but uncomfortable daydreams from which I’m happy to wake up. Over the years, Danielson was the one opponent who could always have a good match with Hero, whether he was on his loser streak in IWA:MS or playing Indy HHH in PWG. Where his mat wrestling was normally excruciating, Danielson could mat wrestle for both of them. Yet even in Danielson’s beloved ROH, they didn’t have truly great matches. The Hell Freezes Over title defense was one of the weakest title matches of Danielson’s year+ reign. There’s something wrong when Jimmy Wang Yang has a better title challenge than an indy superstar. You may look at this write-up and say, “Jeeze John, you just attacked Hero the whole time.” But I said all of that because this match is an example of how much Hero has improved. He wasn’t on Danielson’s level; they were on different levels. Hero’s pacing was better, his biggest strikes were just as (if not more) exciting than Danielson’s, and the way he cried out in protest or struggle in holds and pins showed so much of the character potential that he’s always had but never put together like he did in 2009. In 2007 this guy could backflip off the top rope, but in matches like these he shows why that athleticism makes him so formidable. This is a guy who is taller and stronger than his opponents, but also quite possibly faster and more agile than them, able to think on his feet, catch a guy like Danielson, and send him unconscious to the arena floor. Hero is now the athlete that deserves the fan following he had five years ago. He is far past the point where I would hope Danielson could have a good match around him. It was sad to see Danielson leave ROH, but at the same time, great to see Hero no longer need him. They expressed the same sentiment, too, with all the elbow exchanges, particularly Danielson trying to utilize Rolling Elbows, only to get caught and knocked out by them in the end. Those are Hero’s now.
26. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA 2009-02-11 Kensuke Office: Take the Dream Volume 7
At Volume 6 they were two kickers doing all their offense to look cool, and they did. At Volume 7 were two guys tearing into each other, whether it was how Nakajima’s head was squeezed in a Headlock, or how KENTA was booted on the apron. There was emotion behind their attacks in a singles match for once, usually reserved for tag matches where veteran partners like Kobashi or Sasaki psych them up. The liveliness and conviction that usually makes them shine in tag matches was finally present in a big singles match between them. This time they deserved the main event slot, going back to their kicker roots often enough, but doing it in different positions to keep things fresh, and mixing in more important offense, like the series of failed Suplexes that led to both men falling onto the arena floor. Like the popular Marufuji vs. KENTA hour draw in NOAH last year, they packed a lot in to their 40+ minutes and didn’t take nearly as many breaks as they could have. That helped as neither guy is that comfortable in slow periods, unable to really figure out how to do them. To their credit in the few slow periods, like an extended Bodyscissors by KENTA, they kept moving just enough to prevent the crowd from quieting, and kept themselves from losing the essential animosity. That last element is what separates this match from the much more praised one a month later.
27. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett 2009-01-11 TNA: Genesis
Their first match was good, but this is what it should have been. Jarrett destroyed himself with guts and gracelessness, fighting rather than relying on rusty technical savvy. When things panned out poorly he sold like a legend, crawling back to the ring and fighting to hang on a little longer. Blow by blow, it was amongst the richest grudge matches TNA has put on, with big falls and desperation. All the superfluous kickouts really added to the drama and the question of how it would end. They even teased the classic roll-up finishing things after everything else, but refused to stop at something so cheap. But that served only to psych out the audience, setting up Angle’s disappointing flash pin. Some people may pass on it for that, but like HHH vs. Hardy from No Mercy in 2008, that couldn’t ruin what a great body they’d built. From brawling to counters to the series of big offense, this was amongst the most emotional stories Jarrett has ever told in TNA. Funny, then, that it was only his second match in as many years.
28. The Great Muta vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 2009-03-14 AJPW: Pro Wrestle Love in Ryogoku Vol. 3
The death of the Great Muta. The original entry I wrote for this match is now far too grim after the passing of Mitsuharu Misawa, but “The death of the Great Muta” really is what this match is all about. The man destructs. He spits his mist for show and is immediately Dropkicked to the ground. When he recovers he tries to stalk as always, but Takayama is resilient. Muta uses weapons to no lasting advantage. His vintage offense doesn’t put the outsider away. Takayama even bleeds, but is rising to his feet before Muta comes to attack him again. Takayama outlasts the Figure Four, kicks the smaller veteran around, and uses his own chair on him to signal the beginning of that destruction. He rips off the mask, busts him open in turn, rips at the wound with his fingers, and though Muta rallies, Takayama blocks the Shining Wizard and the mist to cut him off. At the end Muta fell to the German Suplex and was so beaten he coughed up his own mist. It was pitiful. For all the pomp of hype videos, long entrances and the belt awarding ceremony, the match was short and told a heck of a story, one of Takayama as the powerful invader overwhelming crushing the venerable legend. Muta hasn’t looked as vulnerable or sympathetic in years. He does it well.
29. Undertaker vs. Punk vs. Mysterio vs. Batista 2009-10-25 WWE: Bragging Rights
Almost the foil of the Iron Man Match from the same night, this match stretched nothing out. They made the most of some spots, like Undertaker standing in quiet for a moment after leveling Mysterio with a Big Boot, or Punk grinning like a total bastard after hitting his Corner Knee. It was a match of pure opportunism, which meant everyone looking to cut each other off and quickly going for heavy bombs. Punk was a good catalyst, interrupting the most offense and picking on Mysterio at any given chance. Batista’s role was the most limited, getting framed for a few cut-offs (like a pair of murderous Lariats) and instances with Mysterio. The Batista/Mysterio angle might have gone too heavy too fast, but their story in the match was clever, with the big meathead figuring his little buddy would let him win and so even going to save him from the Last Ride Powerbomb, but Mysterio was only out for the title. That story and the opportunism of Punk gave enough plot to a fast-paced match. Undertaker, broken down and needing to be covered, still worked spots with each of his opponents, taking offense and trading potential match-enders to give everyone at least one cool moment.
30. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kotaro Suzuki 2009-10-15 NOAH: Autumn Navigation
Every year there are thousands of matches where two guys each work a limb, but the story is still very conducive to draws and not used very often in them. It helped that in that half hour they didn’t exclusively work Suzuki’s arm and Nakajima’s leg (respectively), with Suzuki branching into flying and big throws, and Nakajima happy to hit all his favorite strikes (and Suzuki bumping like a madman for them). But the limbs were at the core of the match, with Suzuki taking Nakajima apart to start, twist his knee, dropping it on the apron and tricking him into kicking the ring post. In another wrinkle, he also dodged every attempt at the Death Rattle, suggesting his game plan was all about Nakajima’s lower body. This is NOAH, so none of that stopped Nakajima from kicking, but it gave Suzuki an opening he could return to throughout the match. And what do you do if Suzuki's worked your leg for ten minutes and you need a limb to slow him down? Nakajima came up with the best possible answer: that disgusting knee drop across his arm. It framed just enough offense for Nakajima, between the kicks to the elbow and his favorite Armlock. Even on defense, Suzuki was the star of the match, selling like he was auditioning for Jim Crockett Promotions. They botched a few moves late in the game, but that was understandable based on their pace, and Suzuki made up for the flubbed Tombstone exchange with a surprise knee to Nakajima’s face. Suzuki had several little retaliations like that in the match, from the opening when he refused to let go of the Single Leglock to getting as much air as possible on Nakajima’s German Suplex. Because of their mutual injuries and exhaustion, reaching a time limit draw worked, and it was better because Suzuki absolutely had him at the end, making a rematch not just possible, but sought-after.
31. Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison 2009-04-14 WWE: ECW
What was this about? Was Morrison trying to prove they should have shipped him to Raw instead of Miz? An advertisement of their promise when only older challengers were pushed against champion Swagger and the stiff Russian had just been dropped on the brand? I don’t know, but this twenty-minute opener was the best ECW match since… well, since Swagger vs. Christian. Okay, ECW really was an oasis of great wrestling amidst WWE television for a while. But that’s not the point! The modified Torture Rack into the Headscissors! The knee of doom with Bourne in the ropes! Bourne’s kamikaze Cross Body to throw Morrison to the floor! All the non-finisher offense that somehow became believable false finishers! Wait, where are you going?
32. Masato Tanaka vs. Toshiaki Kawada 2009-10-24 ZERO1: Never Gonna Stop
They took a couple of minutes to get going, but once they started, they never thought about stopping. This is the kind of match the long feuds in WWE need: fifteen minutes of desperation, both guys accelerating as they realize they aren’t getting it done, one man more seasoned and formidable, but the other bringing tricks and throwing them out in a blitz. Kawada absolutely refusing to take Tanaka’s Top Rope Splash to the outside was great, made better when he kept trying to drive Tanaka through his own table. To extend the comparison to WWE, if HHH were in Kawada’s role he would have hammed it up or tried to seem too cool to take the move, where Kawada the curmudgeon made it work with a simultaneous excess and lack of class. They drove the crowd wild, such that I thought it ended on Kawada’s Powerbomb – I couldn’t hear if it was a three-count or not. Once Tanaka adjusted to having a physically superior opponent, he changed things up in clever ways too, like the Sliding D Chopblock to try and stop Kawada’s jumping kicks. They got snugger and fiercer until the very end, when it legitimately looked like Kawada and knocked out his opponent to win. Following an amazing performance at the Misawa tribute shows, this was a great way to re-ignite Kawada’s career.
33. CIMA & Yokosuka vs. The Young Bucks 2009-07-25 DGUSA: Enter the Dragon
The Young Bucks improved noticeably with every visit to Dragon Gate. It made sense, then, that their best match yet would be against Dragon Gate guys when the company came to their home soil. And it was their best performance. All the crazy choreographed offense was there, but they were more aware of pressing their opponents, not thinking through spots, but subtly commanding each other to keep going to the next one if this one failed. That’s the big leap a team like the Young Bucks needs to make: going from “indy face” wrestling where they’re consciously out of character, to making offensive waves the plan of their characters. Their opponents didn’t hurt. CIMA was motivated and could rest in-between tags, allowing him to hustle at full speed for nearly the whole match, busting out combos that complimented and challenged the younger team. In particular, his Double Stomp onto Nick Jackson on the guardrail was the best variation of that contrived tandem move to date. Susumu backed up CIMA well and did everything to makes the Bucks shine. It was bold for Dragon Gate to give gaijin (even if they were Americans in America) the big push as the top team for the first show. All four guys went out of their way to make it work.
34. KENTA vs. Chris Hero 2009-10-12 ROH on HDNet
The two big matches he had with Danielson showed it, but by virtue of appearing first, this became the greatest testament to Hero’s improvements in the last few years. Gone were the interminable and masturbatory mat wrestling segments, in favor of a few key holds from each man, most seeing the victim struggle for a counter or to reach the ropes, both men in movement to give conflict where the old Hero would just sit there. For much of his indy tenure his biggest flaw was timing, and here he put on a great match against a wrestler whose matches are based almost entirely around strikes and throws in a certain pace. The results of Hero’s improved timing were brilliant exchanges like the Turnbuckle Yakuza Kicks. I’ve read that particular exchange ripped apart, which is sad. The no-selling has purpose there. The entire exchange is about surprise: first that Hero can rebound so quickly, then that he retaliates with a Yakuza Kick of his own, and then that KENTA can still overcome him. This was not something that Hero or KENTA does in every match, and while KENTA is guiltier of that sort of thing, he’s seldom timed it so well or made it seem so special. And the way they came back so often made sense in the story of the match, with Hero deliberately trying to setup for big knockouts and avoiding the Go 2 Sleep, which virtue of his avoidance, he turned into an obvious knockout move for KENTA. Around the little bits of interference and Hero sandbagging to escape the Go 2 Sleep, they built Hero some beautiful false finishes, particularly the Neckbreaker into a Rolling Elbow that would have been an absolutely believable ending. I’ll agree with critics that the outside interference was unnecessary, but it didn’t hurt the story nearly as much as early reviews pretended. The Del Rey grabbed KENTA’s leg, she was swiftly dealt with, and Kingston ran in to keep Hero from cheating with the loaded elbow pad. Both provided distractions the match didn’t need, but neither had a serious effect on the actual match.
35. The Royal Rumble Match 2009-01-25 WWE: Royal Rumble
I was watching this with Randall Nichols ( http://mojo-wire-productions.blogspot.com/ ), and he commented that he’d never seen a Rumble like this. It had been a long time since we’d seen such a simple Rumble format, with the roster forming a giant clot of wrestlers in single digits and it lasting until the 30th man came down. That made it a much less complex edition than usual, though it was still just about the best battle royal you could find. They opened with some great athletic exchanges between Rey Jr., Carlito, Morrison and MVP, with special praise going to Morrison and Rey Jr.’s mirror near-eliminations. Later Morrison and JTG had a mad double skin-the-cat moment, playing off of the uncanny number of quality elimination teases that went all the way up until the end with Big Show narrowly avoiding the tumble. You had to use things like that in a match where so many people were stuck brawling in the ring and pushing each other at the ropes. You still had a few scintillating entrances, like Shelton Benjamin nailing everyone, RVD’s surprise and Undertaker’s early dominance. Without the typical monster entrance that cleared the ring, they framed Khali and Koslov for decent roles before letting the more competent guys run with it. They went lighter on the lighter-hearted moments, but you still had Dolph Ziggler introducing himself only to get eliminated, Santino setting the elimination record, and Jim Duggan mount an amazing entry and decking the Undertaker. While not as exciting the previous year’s and not having anything to match the shock of Cena’s return, this had nothing like the previous year’s screw-ups and a strongly plotted ending with the Legacy being disposed to grant Orton victory.
36. Six Man Tag Team Match 2009-04-15 Dragon Gate Infinity 128
I was hoping they'd name their stable "ALL CAPS" instead of "Warriors 5," but what can you do? With a motivated CIMA and healthy KAGETORA, even GAMMA couldn't drag this match down. He looked downright good for once, especially in his moment stealing CIMA's Guillotine Choke DDT as a fakeout into the Vertical Suplex. Otherwise you had CIMA hitting everything with great timing, Dragon Kid flying at top speed, and Shingo playing a fine centerpiece. The match simply built and built, and like the best puro tags, only got hotter as different pairings squared off or tagged in. At the end, Iwasa once again showed his mettle at the end, this time by trading finishers with KAGETORA, while the more established guys blitzed around them.
37. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega 2009-04-12 PWG: One Hundred
The last five minutes are as good as any singles sprint this year (even if it hasn’t been an amazing year for sprint wrestling). What’s amazing is that the extremely athletic wrestling they used came out of one of the best comedy performances of the year. Danielson’s dive and the trading finishers were all executed with the sense of gravity that comes from years of doing that sort of thing. Danielson should have that kind of confidence. But I’ve never seen humor like some of these things, such as Omega strapping pad after pad to his arm so that Danielson couldn’t work it over, until it was invincible. Grabbing the microphone to renegotiate the terms of the match, including three separate and different kinds of Tests of Strength, was simply mind-blowing. There was dancing. There was a Body Slide pin attempt out of a dance step. The two were so unflinchingly comfortable with completely embarrassing themselves in front of an audience, truly more comfortable at that than most of their peers are in the serious wrestling that dominates the market. Omega was the pure good, but Danielson was just upright enough, playing the implausible veteran (even though he’s in his twenties) who was at first happy with this youngster’s enthusiasm, and then felt the need to punish him for his deception. Omega coming up with Bugs Bunny-like reasons for Danielson to not “kicking your ****ing head in,” and his many failed attempts to jump the man, was a joy that is far too rare in an overserious industry.
38. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Manabu Nakanishi 2009-06-20 NJPW: Dominion
Leave it to Tanahashi to make old tactics seem worth watching. Dropkicks to the knee, the Figure Four, even smacking Nakanishi's knee into the post - stuff that is overused to the point of tedium in so many matches worked here. Tanahashi's charisma certainly helped, as did Nakanishi's mean facial expressions and brute size. Tanahashi came across as competent enough, and Nakanishi immovable enough, that you trusted the smaller man really did have to wrestle this way, and when it came time, Nakanishi was too much even for vintage anti-giant strategy. He was too strong to be picked apart, and so agile that he could Dropkick even after the assault. Tanahashi paid for it the rest of the match, getting the crap beaten out of him. Few men contort in the Torture Rack like he did. They took the brave course of giving Nakanishi most of the offense, but the nearfalls and slow beating actually worked. The end became a question of how much Tanahashi could do, and if anything would be effective against the giant who'd battered him for so much of the match. The comebacks didn't go too long, either, differing wildly from their first match, and making the title change all the more exciting.
39. Danielson, Strong & KENTA vs. Richards, Edwards & Hero 2009-09-19 ROH on HDNet
It's funny that Strong & Danielson made better teammates for KENTA than veteran tag stars Steen & Generico, but the match worked much better this time. In the first one only KENTA and Richards really shone, and largely only against each other. This time the faces were largely united by love of striking, with Danielson moonlighting as a weak link who could make his own explosive escape. Instead of lots of big saves, this match showcased lots of big interruptions, particularly from Hero and the Wolves cutting off any of their three opponents with something from the sides. Rather than breaking the flow, those interruptions made the match more heated as nobody let up once they caught the advantage, instead pounding on whoever they caught with novel offense. They balanced striking with throws and flying moves so that even when the Wolves dominated early on it was never dull, and rather than throwing a dozen strikes, made single blows so effective that a late-match Rolling Elbow from Hero was something we could understand him expecting to pin KENTA. KENTA played his normal killer kicker with several world-class flurries of offense, but never made them go too long. With no one hogging the ring they constructed an effortless story of two teams that, even if they weren't entirely cohesive, were made up of relentless wrestlers who would jump in if they could and were constantly aware of tagging out. That makes for excellent sprint storytelling, and these are six top wrestlers to do it.
40. Six Man Tag Team Match 2009-09-04 PWG: Guerres Sans Frontieres
“Never in your wildest dreams!” advertised PWG. Well my wildest dreams include being chased through haunted towns by allasauruses that are mad at me for card tricks from Christmas parties that they know full well didn’t happen, so of course good wrestling matches couldn’t happen in my wildest dreams. My wild dreams tend to be incoherent. Great matches tend to have some degree of integral coherence, like this one. One of its best features were how the singles and tag wrestlers complimented each other, like Shelley knowing how to help or setup all of CIMA’s big Dragon Gate offense (even grabbing a leg to hold the victim in place for the Venus Palm). They never had to stop and explicitly talk out working together. It was implied through teamwork that these guys knew each other and were working as oiled machines. In turn, the match could promptly accelerate to several series of crazy moves, all from their respective arsenals, with partners ready to back up the legal man to keep things in motion. If you haven’t see the match you can still assume based on the six guys involved that they were really good at that sort of sprinting, being so polished at it. Kendrick could have played more of a spoiler role than he did with his new grounded wrestling style, but once it became obvious that sprinting was the theme he played a superb victim, bumping and absorbing punishment like a madman, setting up scenarios where his partners seemed amazing in their few saves.
41. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio 2009-06-28 WWE: The Bash
Another bad-looking PPV, another night made worthwhile by Jericho and Mysterio. The Bash was bashed for its name and short build-up, but actually delivered some quality. This was the watermark. Jericho and Mysterio busted out their biggest counters, like the Super Powerbomb and Mysterio finally escaping Jericho’s Torture Rack variation. The ending was reminiscent of tricks Mysterio played on Eddie Guerrero in years past, but as a reference or as something new to WWE, it was brilliant, especially as a play off the end of their Extreme Rules match. Until then, they built with bigger and bigger bombs, varying things up more than in previous outings while remembering the essentials, like Mysterio’s tenacity in the Walls of Jericho and Jericho’s wariness of the 619. By this point, these two had pretty much cemented their nomination for Feud of the Year.
42. Richards & Edwards vs. KENTA & Strong 2009-06-26 ROH: Violent Tendencies
The American Wolves open their matches methodically, isolating opponents and usually picking apart a limb. That is logical, but makes for some dull starts. KENTA and Strong took the logical and entertaining route for this opening, not allowing themselves to be isolated, striking the heck out of Edwards and dominating either man when they could pin them down. While not the brawl of an opening live reports suggested, they began in the equivalent of second gear, with Strong in particular not letting up, stomping on Edwards in the corner when he could have just ground his boot into the man. Once again the best exchanges were between Richards and KENTA, particularly in their double-KO exchange, but Edwards made the most of his time on offense, like in framing his Backpack Chinbreaker better than usual. They played around in that second gear of intensity before going full speed at the end with Strong and KENTA playing some great saves and cut-offs picked up from hundreds of tag matches they’ve been in over the years. They put the Wolves to a better test than most opponents, and that allowed for a much better match.
43. Ultimate X Match 2009-03-22 TNA: Destination X
For years Jay Briscoe has been doing a Complete Shot into the second turnbuckle. He grabs the guy as he charges at him in the corner, and the motion is always stilted, and you have to wonder why people would even charge at him at this point, or at least why they wouldn’t figure out some kind of counter. In this match Alex Shelley took that move after stunning a man in the corner, preventing him from being able to counter, turned him around and hit it to put him out of competition. It made sense to include it in a combo and the other guy had no ability to counter it. That was emblematic of what this match did right. The match was at its best when guys were adding a little explicit logic to all the cool stuff they’d come up with, like the Guns framing their signature offense, using the Whisper in the Wind Dropkick to send Suicide out of the ring in the opening minute, or Shelley faking an Asai Moonsault to attract Lethal’s attention before Sabin dove through his legs with a Suicide Dive. Just the way they came to build a Tower of Doom, and that Suicide could use the structure to avoid getting thrown off the top of that Tower combo, made more sense than the average spot-driven match. That’s all you needed to add, because in the hands of Shelley, Sabin and Daniels (playing Suicide in that time period), you knew great gimmick match offense was on the way. Suicide coming off the post to knock three guys off the belt might have been the best ending to an Ultimate X yet.
44. Bryan Danielson vs. Bad Bones 2009-03-07 wXw: 16 Carat Tournament 2009 Night 2
Big Danielson re-matches always have references to previous iterations. The biggest influence here was Danielson simply recognizing Bones’s strengths. While he has a fondness for arm work, it fits better against this opponent than almost any, trying to take the knockout blows and big throws away from the German Psycho. And while ringpost shots are played out, having one as the result of a counter to a counter made it novel, and any problem was covered up when Danielson immediately pounced on the potential injury. Rather than a chicken heel, Danielson was petty, going for little openings against Bones, and when he had the advantage, snapping at the referee at any chance – the same prick character he used to assume in matches against A.J. Styles, when he felt he shouldn’t have to prove himself. It was a good move not to scale back technique or strikes, as throwing everything onto the champion only made Bad Bones seem tougher – Danielson had to use this concentrated onslaught to stay in control, and he had to be in control of a long match to ensure winning. For his part, Bones paced himself and stood ground like a real force, not Morishima, but someone you’d have to struggle with to keep down.
45. Davey Richards vs. Kevin Steen 2009-05-08 ROH: Never Say Die
Steen and Richards took a lot on their shoulders that night. Lost on the DVD audience, this Boston show was seemingly doomed after losing both Mike Quackenbush and Tyler Black, losing its main event title match and semi-main event triple threat. On a show that already lacked Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, ROH chose only to add Chris Hero, and put him in a title match against the largely unpopular babyface champion Jerry Lynn. Wrestlers had to make it up to the Boston fans, and management appeared to give wrestlers lenience in returning to the old style to do it. Hero vs. Lynn really ought to have been the match to deliver (and though that match is not on this list, it did deliver), but with such a polarized audience, it was good of Richards and Steen to deliver in this position, before intermission where they could wow the crowd without burning them out for the main event. Crowd brawling is old on the indies, but it made sense to drag each other everywhere so that everyone who paid to get in would be at least ten feet from the action, if only for a moment. At ringside they went nuts on each other, with Steen tossing Richards through a table moments into the match, and weapons coming into smart play. Richards wrapping a chain around his foot for the Kawada Style kicks was downright sinister. Steen set up the ladder, and later the double tables, so that they could loom over the match, to be teased and later stared at, knowing something huge was coming. That the spill was actually a false finish worked because Steen fell outside the ring and had to be dragged in to be covered, but also worked in that it brought the match to an insane level of heat. Even though Steen excels as a tag wrestler, he and Richards did better here at expressing the destructive hatred between their teams than any of their tags leading up to it.
46. Six Man Tag Team Match 2009-09-27 Dragon Gate Infinity 149
Yeah, this match actually happened. It looks weird, right? Weirder that Taku Iwasa retired after this. Not going out to Real Hazard or in some big title challenge. Nope. He lost to the Super Indy Squad. But what a match to go out, letting his neck take some scary abuse as he played the weak link one last time. Shingo and YAMATO didn’t let him hang out there, either, with YAMATO particularly stepping up his game, like he does when he’s got media attention for facing outsiders. He worked well with them, letting them take out his legs, and in turn got some cool moments, like catching Hidaka in the middle of that absurd rebound he likes to do and plowing him with a German Suplex. And Hidaka was motivated! It’s great see him when he cares, hustling around the ring like he might even be in the same age bracket as Fujita and Minoru. The overtime might have thrown some people off, but playing with the idea that the DG and indy guys would go to a draw and be just as good as each other only to go the other way provided a few more thrills and a good cap, both to the match and Iwasa’s career. We can only hope that he heals well.
47. Lynn vs. Danielson vs. Aries vs. Black 2009-06-06 ROH on HDNet
Everyone worked well, but Aries was the linchpin. He was a jerk from the outset and set up the essential schadenfreude from his comeuppance in the opening minute to having his dives thwarted to thinking he would win the title by a three-man count-out. With a good villain in the middle of the match, the three other athletes could just play to their strengths, with Lynn and Danielson being more technical and Black being the most explosive. It built and built until everyone had at least one moment of potential victory. And in terms of using an old school Piledriver as a finisher in ROH, it would be hard to get a cleverer setup or more believable delivery than Lynn catching Danielson in the float-over of the Cattle Mutilation.
48. KENTA & Ishimori vs. Danielson & Strong 2009-07-21 NOAH: Summer Navigation
I shouldn’t have loved Danielson’s little sideways glance before he jumped Ishimori as much as I did. It’s the little things in life you cherish, and attackers wielding flowers are instantly more amusing. From the pre-emptive strike the match hit a good pace, out of which any two guys could explode. Strong relished a little guy he could throw around, and I think he’s waited his whole life to reverse a Handspring into one of his Backbreakers. Naturally KENTA and Danielson were the stars, beating the heck out of each other and setting up the nifty reversals to the Fireman’s Carry. While KENTA couldn’t execute the final muscle-up into the Go 2 Sleep with Cena-like competence (or strength), it was still a well-built and impressive moment. Strong followed the entire match as a great clean-up guy, with flashier power moves and following up Danielson’s attack on the arm well. That left Ishimori to fill in a few flying moves, and you knew he was good for them.
49. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong 2009-07-31 PWG: Threemendous 2
Reminiscent of the great Strong/Romero PWG matches, Strong and Richards stayed in motion for nearly the entire match. If they were both down, at least one of them was trying rouse themselves, pounding the mat, reaching for ropes or some other little thing that spoke to keeping this match going. And in motion? Richards was nearly as fluid and even more brutal an opponent than Romero used to be for Strong. Richards’s combos were particularly brutal, particularly the one ending in a Basement Lariat for a nearfall. Rather than letting their chop/kick battles linger and soak up too much time, the two increased aggression and had fake-outs at the end to keep the match progressing forward. It was almost a Dragon Gate pace for a non-Dragon Gate style, the sort of match that can’t last to draw-lengths, nor should it, being far more exciting this way.
50. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Prince Devitt 2009-12-23 NJPW: Super J-Cup 5th Stage Finals: Land of Confusion
Easily the best match of the end of the year. You should have heard me swearing as this match progressed, knowing I’d have to cut something from my list to fit it in. To those wondering, Marufuji is back and he still rules. Maybe he lost a step, but his sense of timing could make a far slower wrestler seem amazing. The Springboard Dropkick just as Devitt slid into the ring at 19 is easily one of the moments of the year, so excruciatingly well-executed. Devitt was obviously out-classed, in and out of kayfabe, but his expressiveness in taking a beating helped the match, accentuated in the post-match slow-motion replays of him reeling after getting his head kicked in over and over. Where Devitt is an undeniable athlete, Marufuji is a genius of offense, fitting things in like counters to a Wristlock or rebounding off the outside ropes for a Clothesline out of nowhere. Most of his offense wasn’t new, but he made it novel by pulling it out in such dire times, either for himself, or when he had Devitt down. While it will be a shame to lose KENTA for most of 2010, it’s great to have Marufuji back and going inter-company again.
51. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious 2009-03-14 ROH: Insanity Unleashed
Bryan Danielson’s was the big ROH departure in 2009, but I will miss Jacobs. He had such a mind for starting hot but not burning himself or the crowd out, allowing him to build amazing hardcore matches. He did that here. Delirious’s energy was perfect to pop the opening with his Senton barrage, before Jacobs bailed and eventually went a cheap hardcore route to get the upperhand. Having scouted things like the Panic Attack knee was a subtle jab at having suspected he’d lose Delirious eventually. Before long they entered that ROH classic of trading potential match-winning waves of offense, but they varied their offense with weapons, huge strikes and knockout moves, keeping things fresh. Jacobs’s martyr-like selling and Delirious’s wildman antics brought additional life between the moves, and their showmanship was apparent in choosing when to make lulls and go for additional weapons, rather than the plodding IWA:MS style from which both emerged.
52. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Masato Tanaka 2009-08-15 NJPW: G1 Climax Day 7
Finally Tanahashi wrestled an opponent who was suited to the length of a main event. TAJIRI counted, but because of TV contracts, that match didn’t air until after the entire tournament ended. Giant Bernard (Prince Albert or A-Train in the U.S.) was fun, but they weren’t trying to put their mark on the tournament. Here, Tanahashi and Tanaka were trying. Tanahashi tried to go blow-for-blow more than usual, and to their credit, they made the Zero-1 champ look like the superior striker. Tanahashi had to resort to technical attacks on the leg, hoping to prevent Tanaka’s charging match-ender offense. While the leg gave Tanahashi openings, it was clear Tanaka’s lighter schedule in the tournament gave him more time to prepare for his opponent, with counters ready for offense like the Slingblade and scouting his Flipping Sentons. Appropriately, Tanahashi only began to turn it around in the end when he had a counter ready for the Sliding D, dodging it and going for the leg again, combining counter strategy and his limb attack. That subtle mirroring of strategy flowed into both avoiding the other’s Frogsplash with the same use of the knees, with a beautiful moment of irony when Tanaka hurt his leg doing it. Because the interference preceded the final stretch, it didn’t detract much, especially since these two are capital finishing stretch guys.
53. Shingo Takagi vs. Tyler Black 2009-03-07 wXw: 16 Carat Tournament 2009 Night 2
Shingo: Technician? I was expecting Black to get thrown around for twenty minutes, not Shingo to headbutt his hamstring and wrench a Stepover Toehold. But you know what? He was actually good at this, and it gave Black the oppressor opponent role he needs for well-timed explosive comebacks. When they did kick into high gear, they were as good as any two sprinters in the world. The exchange that ended in Black face-planting at top speed in a Complete Shot is one of my favorites of the year. Shingo was still a powerhouse and Black still had crazy athleticism, but they managed to bring more grounded story for the early chapters. I’d love to see what they could do in a high-profile re-match.
54. Kaz Hayashi vs. Super Crazy 2009-09-26 AJPW at the Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
Brilliant to have Super Crazy do the takedowns and mat work only to have Kaz use a Lucha Rana and the Arm Drag to get the advantage early on. This was an unusual blend of Lucha offense and Puro mentality, with Crazy pacing himself to keep the crowd buzzing while Kaz accentuated the smaller things. The way Kaz stretched out in the modified Gory Special, or just how high he flailed when getting lobbed over the guardrail and crashed into chairs, made everything seem more effective. That was part of the secret to making this fifteen-minute title defense feel as big as any of his thirty-minute defenses. Another part was that blend, with Mexican holds and flipping offense that alternated with hard strikes and the Japanese ideal of false finishes. By swapping between kinds of offense they got to the bigger stuff sooner and kept things unpredictable enough to reach what a lot of Japanese matches have to wait a long time to get into.. If only more matches could go this way.
55. Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush 2009-03-20 ROH: Steel City Clash
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Danielson and Quackenbush had a great match. It’s such a joy to see two guys who know so many holds and can flow between them so effortlessly. Very few technicians are comfortable enough to make the “free hand” taunt joke these two did, and almost none in the world are good enough to trade holds and momentum as sharply as these two. It is not only variety of holds and counters that make this match worth tracking down, though. The comfort level with their ability allowed things like Quackenbush selling an arm wringer with his entire body, making it look like his arm almost came out of the socket on a perfectly safe maneuver. Not as long or showstopping as their wXw bout last year, this was a shorter match that packed all the tricks and plenty of little touches to make them work.
56. Shingo & YAMATO vs. Nakajima & Mochizuki 2009-08-06 Dragon Gate Infinity 142
Nakajima and Mochizuki are similar kickers and they learned about each other in their multi-promotional feud, but I wasn’t prepared for them to completely mirror their offense like this. It was amusing to see Nakajima even borrow the running kick to a guy on the apron and set the tone for the team as a cohesive unit. Shingo & YAMATO had no such plan, which was surprising given you’d think they’d have worked more out together, but it worked given that they really were new as a team and had divergent approaches. YAMATO came in very reminiscent to the prick he was as a heel and creating a classic moment goading Mochizuki to kick him harder and harder until Nakajima knocked him out. Meanwhile, Shingo was the star, framing great exchanges with Nakajima, both setting up the kick-based offense and laying in with superior strength. God willing we’ll see a singles match out of these two some day, especially based on the actions at the draw where the two were so carried away that Nakajima had to literally knock Shingo out to stop the fight.
57. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles 2009-12-20 TNA: Final Resolution
Earlier in the night Taz boasted that Kurt Angle had “a load of moves” the audience had never seen before. While that was hyperbole, it might have been true for Daniels. He hustled in the Turning Point triple threat match, but one-on-one, he busted out every exotic move he knew, including the fun variation on a Superplex from the ropes instead of turnbuckles. Things like the Lying Crossface and Shining Wizard came across as equal parts novel and desperate as he tried to keep the more gifted athlete down. My highlight was toying with their expired friendship, Daniels begging off in the corner and catching the advantage but going for a hold instead of the standard cheapshot, so that even then Styles would hesitate to outright punch him later. Styles demanding Daniels fight like a man when he pulled the same stunt later was almost as sweet. Whatever made them decide to end with the Super Styles Clash instead of letting Styles win with the normal one, it further helped elevate Daniels, who used that match to validate that he belongs in TNA main events. Whether TNA lets him stick around that scene in 2010 is another question.
58. Steen & Generico vs. The Young Bucks 2009-06-12 ROH: Contention
The Young Bucks have really fun offense. This isn’t a surprise, but they still manage to pull shockers from nowhere, like Nick Jackson’s slick Moonsault through the ropes onto Steen when he had been focusing on Generico. What made this match stand out over the average Bucks tag were their opponents. Steen & Generico are an excellent dynamic team and every year they make the best out of somebody. Generico bumped and sold the Bucks’ crazy stuff like few on earth can, from flailing in fear of their ability after one reversed his patented Knucklelock Drag, to contorting his body on every part of a Neck/Backbreaker combo. And because Generico played Gilligan, Steen came in as the killer Skipper, a perfect bully to the smaller opponents who could stomp them to the ground in the middle of chain wrestling, find the right spot to Superkick them out of a combo, and generally play the power guy that lets smaller flyers experiment. Naturally, Steen & Generico are also competent sprinters, but they let the Bucks sore, building to a very plausible upset, especially when they turned the tables and made Steen the potential loser at the end. The Bucks lost no face in the end because, though the tide turned against them quickly, the veterans dumped several world-beating moves to make sure Matt would stay down, and Generico still had to jump on Nick to keep him from making the save.
59. Shelley & Sabin vs. The Young Bucks 2009-04-11 PWG: Ninety-Nine
Shelley & Sabin didn’t necessarily hold back and rely on boring tactics, but they were the lower key bullies in this match, hitting what they had to in order to keep up while seeing the Young Bucks for amazing comebacks. Rather than an absolute Armageddon of combos, the Guns built and match that made the Bucks shine as their successors, which was particularly gracious of them as TNA visitors. Even trying to help the Jacksons, there was no question that the Guns were more seasoned and slick, but they put their opponents at their own level, and did it with more than one big pinfall after going toe-to-toe. Their increasing desperation towards the end tied into their tactics, shocked at these upstarts. For their part, the Bucks were as crisp and creative as ever. All it takes is fine structure like this to make them shine, and soon they won’t need a great team to give it to them.
60. Richards & Edwards vs. The Young Bucks 2009-11-23 ROH on HDNet
The Bucks’ crazy offense made for great hopeful nearfalls near the end, timed to perfection as potential upsets. Their speed alone pulled the Wolves into a different sort of match, having to both be in the ring to watch each other’s backs and hit their own tandem offense. From there it became the tag equivalent of strong men against flyers, even if the Wolves were more strikers than power guys. Even before the Bucks could test them and were being beaten down, the little guys excelled, with Matt Jackson having two particularly painful-looking “kickbag” moments, and the Wolves setting them up for fakeouts into devastating strikes. It only got better from there.
61. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi 2009-09-06 DGUSA: Untouchable
Bryan Danielson has a unique achievement this year. He has at least one match on the Riren 100 from ROH, PWG, Chikara, NOAH, wXw, and now DGUSA. Nothing close has happened in the three years I’ve done this list, and I can’t think of another guy in my life who has done the same. And here Danielson visited DGUSA for just one night before leaving forever for WWE, and he left behind pretty handily the best singles match of Naruki Doi’s career. Where for the last year Doi has opened matches with useless and even detrimental mat holds, Danielson feverishly tore into the champion’s arm. Once they entered sprint territory Doi was totally at home, though his wasn’t a purely spotty performance, knowing how to flail with his body and go down like a ton of bricks to add importance to moments like Danielson’s big running chest kick. It came off as the big battle Doi has wanted all his Dragon Gate title defenses to be, only now he had the technical genius that could make it possible.
62. Six Man Tag Team Match 2009-07-19 Dragon Gate: KOBE Festival 2009
One mark of a great Dragon Gate tag is when it ends and I’m shocked to find half an hour went by. Like many top-level trios tags, they had good ideas for the beginning as well as the end, the best being Hulk playing mindgames with Tozawa over the “fireball” attack, leading to the more experienced main eventer picking on the opposing team’s weakest link. Tozawa still proved himself with some flashy offense, while Iwasa was a brighter star, with great innovations nearly every time he was on sustained offense (the Gory Bomb on the apron was particularly crazy). Yoshino and Kid served as the maestros, bringing gravitas and ensuring whenever things got fast-paced that they would be well-structured. Things naturally grew more complex until the reliably entertaining series of nearfalls, but setting PAC up for another big title pinfall was probably the wisest way to end it. PAC, like Iwasa, showed he absolutely belonged, with the two of them carrying as much athleticism as Yoshino and Kid. All that raw ability with a little structure from two vets provided a better over-all trios tag than many with more seasoned players in the company this year.
63. Davey Richards vs. Claudio Castagnoli 2009-09-18 ROH: Final Countdown Tour Dayton
It took a few viewings to grasp how great this match was. On the first viewing things like their early mat work, Richards’s dive fake out landing in perfect position to stare at Castagnoli, and the final reversal were all startlingly slick. These guys know what they’re doing and are amazing at it. But it was only when rewatching it that I could see how their slickness came together. Richards loves to attack the arm, but Castagnoli’s power and striking game rely on the arms, particularly in those effortless brute throws. Richards took them like no one else in ROH, making Castagnoli look like Hercules. Once Richards got some serious offense on the arm, Castagnoli kept it present, even selling the bicep after a Basement Chest Kick that would have grazed his arm. It helped that both had novel holds to make the slower portions more interesting, but even on my fourth viewing it was Castagnoli’s throws and Richards’s explosiveness that were the highlights. Like in his 2007 PPV match against Matt Sydal (now Evan Bourne in WWE), Castagnoli bumped like a madman, taking falls every bit as fluidly as his much shorter opponent, giving Richards even more credibility whenever he fought back. I’d never seen them go at it in singles, but now I hope they do it much more often.
64. Desmond Wolfe vs. El Generico 2009-01-31 ROH: Caged Collision
El Generico may be the perfect opponent for Wolfe, or at least he was before he departed on injury. As a masked wrestler Generico was forced to learn other means of expression, from gasping in pain to kicking his legs when in arm holds, doing all the activity to get over holds while Wolfe remained stoic or slow and sadistic. Using the old Ricky Steamboat philosophy of always fighting back, he built hope spots in what could have been a one-sided beating, and his flashier and catchier offense was the perfect counterpoint to Wolfe's. They made this match a little more dramatic by having Wolfe come out of the gate with big offense, showing how he’d come to fear Generico’s resilience, and instantly attacking the shoulder made the eventual submission more tolerable, where it defeated the theme of the unyielding underdog in some other Wolfe title defenses.
65. Jerry Lynn vs. Roderick Strong 2009-04-24 ROH: A Cut Above
They had a solid opening and moved along well, but it was the cut that made this match. Any doubts of Roderick Strong’s passion disappeared when he smashed into the guardrail and came up immediately with his face covered in blood. A wrestler whose facial expressions have been the weakest point of performance for years looked truly desperate under the crimson mask, and he staggered around to accentuate just how much the wound took from him. They stumbled into additional drama, too – why let the match continue if Strong wasn’t going to win? It turns out the answer is that Strong is a tough S.O.B., but until Lynn won they had something. Strong took every bump, including a terrifying Whirlwind DDT off the apron, teasing how hurt he was and trying to rip into Lynn with worse. The desperation enhanced everything he tried to do, like the teased Superplex to the outside and the Back Suplex onto the apron (which he went for immediately, failed, and only caught later to even things up). If the fanbase had been more open-minded to Lynn as champion, putting on this match and outdoing Black vs. Richards would have begun to turn them around. By virtue of ROH’s DVD model, at least they could see he’d had good matches, even if most came out after he lost the belt.
66. Chris Sabin vs. Tyler Black 2009-03-06 wXw: 16 Carat Gold Tournament 2009 Night 1
Question: what’s easier heat than Bryan Danielson playing Abdominal Stretches to a crowd that thinks he’s overrated? Answer: Chris Sabin being happy he works for TNA. I thought Austin Aries had killed anti-TNA humor of using The Stroke on indies, but no, Sabin made it great again. What separated him from most heel acts on this show and around the indies was a sense of time, never letting any one thing go on too long and become cloyingly stale. Nor did Sabin’s TNAntics get in the way of the athletic stuff, as he was quick to bring cool holds and pin attempts around them, and mostly it bottled Black up, building perfect comeback opportunities for him. Black excels at the underdog game, and with a superb sprint partner, exploded out of it in golden combos and big offense. And when they graduated to killer offense, Sabin was ready with well-paced counters, comeuppance and his own stuff. We knew they could work together from their tag encounters in PWG and ROH, but it was still good to see them go at it without tag partners around.
67. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio 2009-06-07 WWE: Extreme Rules
Picking up considerably more counters than the standard WWE match, the two guys raised the bar for how studied two WWE opponents can be. If Mysterio hesitated rebounding from the ropes, Jericho would move for the counter. But Mysterio threw himself into the match with such vigor that Jericho couldn’t just bully him or rely on scientific counters; see the moment where Jericho caught him with a Shoulderblock coming off the ropes, but Mysterio hit him with such speed that Jericho toppled as well. Once again Jericho was prepared for the 619, but once again they found novel ways to frame it, like the 619 to the back of his head, and Jericho’s desperation theft of the mask. And just like that, both guys were ready for any standard offense, and ready to change things up to make them work, like when Mysterio played opossum while Jericho went for the chair, then went all Sabu on him.
68. Dick Togo vs. Billy Ken Kid 2009-05-20 Osaka Pro: Osaka Pro 10th Anniversary Show
I was in a bad mood after the October Hell in a Cell PPV from WWE. What a waste of a gimmick match, with the non-cage bouts having cooler spots and better stories, and the final match featuring the cleverness of locking a guy outside the cage constantly so that the two teams almost never actually fought in what was supposed to be their blow-off. I decided to catch up on miscellaneous puro afterwards, and that included some Osaka Pro. This was the match that turned my mood around. Togo can be the man when he wants, and he was defining the match early on, grinding him with the Headlock and trying so much harder to escape Kid’s Headscissors, then giving the champion all the offense he wanted before going for patented Senton-based offense that he still does better than almost anyone. That Kid turned the match around by hitting his own version of a Senton (this one flipping over the ring post to the outside) was pure class. It was that sort of back-and-forth that WWE’s entire show had lacked in favor of going for single or double turns that led to dramatic endings. There was more struggle here than in WWE’s Cell matches. Naturally Japanese indies go differently, though, and once they hit the finishing series Togo went on fire with Pedigree attempts, a killer Powerbomb reversal, and totally earning his non-title victory without punking out Kid. I would not mind watching him as champion if he could put on twenty-minute defenses like this.
69. Bryan Danielson vs. Brian Kendrick 2009-08-28 PWG: The Speed of Sound
This was not the match everyone expected. You think of Spanky as funny, exuberant, or at least as a flyer. Here he played a slightly vicious and petty striker. The knees to Danielson’s arm and the kicks at his head were a big shock and defined the match. Throughout he was just as creative as Danielson, deliberately kicking away from where Danielson was setting him up and going for sporadic offense like a vulture. For a semi-main event it flew by, with Danielson repeatedly fighting back like he does so well and Kendrick experimenting in his role as an aggressor, something he almost never got to try in WWE. It worked down to a bizarre level where imperfections made the match more interesting. Take the series of roll-ups near the end. Ever since Jerry Lynn popularized these in the U.S., wrestlers have aimed for perfection in their execution. Here Kendrick popped up and struggled with his right arm to hook the free leg before sitting down, a decided imperfection. Even if it was the result of real fatigue, it added a hint of desperation to his petty character. It worked all the way to the end, with the returning jerk scoring a Schoolboy after a low blow. The ending was a low note even though it was sensible and held the match back from being a classic, but still demands praise for being a successful experiment for Kendrick.
70. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio 2009-05-17 WWE: Judgment Day
The series of teased 619 and Boston Crabs was easily one of the best sequences in WWE of the year. While the commentators told a story of Jericho scouting Mysterio, Mysterio was just as excited and prepared for his old opponent. They speed and stride that lamentably few Mysterio matches get to, while also elevating Mysterio as the aggressor. Like the Elimination Chamber match earlier in the year, Mysterio showed he can be much more than an underdog, going evenly with Jericho through preparedness and high risk offense.
71. Eight Man Tag Team Match 2009-05-24 CHIKARA: Anniversario Yang
If you’re confused by the second team, you should be. In story Cheech and Cloudy dressed like their partners to throw the enemy team off balance, though the orange and green outfits were different enough that it was never too confusing to the audience. They wrestled like a unified force, with the Frightmares as more excitable, but all four ready to take opportunities. Unlike FIST’s heel tactics, this Incoherence squad used traditional offense with fact pacing, like “Fake” Hallowicked’s killer Big Boot to Quackenbush on the apron, which allowed it to maintain its sprint style. As it was they had eight of the best sprinters in the company, and the last-minute addition of Quackenbush to the Technicos Team was a natural improvement. He took the right bumps and helped direct traffic like the veteran many Chikara guys still need, but got out of the way when Dorado or Helios was ready to shine. The result was perhaps the best Atomico sprint Chikara’s ever had. No one man dominated, instead blending into a series of exchanges between the flashy three Technicos and their veteran teacher, and the unified force Incoherence constantly watching each other’s backs. Dorado had one of his better nights, looking just as crisp as Helios, sealing up all-around shining performances going into the ending. There was no overkill, it didn’t go too long, and everybody was on.
72. Akiyama, Suzuki & Sugiura vs. Rikio, KENTA & Yone 2009-09-27 NOAH: Great Voyage 2009 in Tokyo
The Misawa tribute shows didn’t have to do anything as complicated or groundbreaking as this. Even internationally, people expected feel-good shows under the great green banner. Instead Akiyama and Suzuki walked down with obvious conflict, disliking each other and reaffirming years of tension between their characters that traces back to Misawa’s heyday. Suzuki’s reluctance to even tag in the NOAH vet, instead favoring Sugiura, was an interesting touch. On the opposite team, Yone was clearly hustling harder than usual even in the execution of moves – I can’t remember the last time he got that much distance on a Leg Drop. Rikio stepped up as the sole heavyweight force of his team, getting into Akiyama and Suzuki’s faces, which made it all the more surprising when it was Sugiura who dropped him. While the one Spear could have been a nice spot, by the second you knew something was up. So for all the aggression between the heavyweights and KENTA’s slick timing, Sugiura vs. Rikio emerged as the story of the match, with Sugiura being able to outmaneuver the big guy and throw the same kinds of offense, as well as his Ankle Lock. While Akiyama and Suzuki couldn’t co-exist to score an individual pinfall, they could isolate the juniors from the team, setting up a classic tag submission spot where the audience should expect a miraculous save. But it didn’t come. And when it didn’t? Sugiura got the second biggest victory of his NOAH career and a massive upset. The surprise of going against the miraculous save convention cemented Sugiura, who already performed like a total equal to the former GHC Heavyweight Champ. In a way, this helped remind people that Sugiura was viable for the belt he’d win later that year.
73. Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles 2009-10-15 TNA: iMPACT!
I wish TNA’s booking was as competent as the opening minute of this match. Excellent amateur/technical hybrid wrestling that lasted only as long as they had interesting holds to try, and then Angle immediately snapped into an Arm Wringer. Just as quickly, Styles ended Angle’s dominant period with a picture perfect Dropkick. You knew you were in good hands from thereon. Beyond a technically sound match, they seeded their strengths superbly, first defining Angle as the superior technician, then drawing that into a power game for his Suplexes. You can complain about Angle hitting the first successful dive, but his character was looking for it.. Especially by mid-match, he lived on big reversals, and when he paused to recover after earning those breathers, he’d always pose and try to convince himself that he was better. That first dive was the first instance of him trying to show Styles up. Even near the end when he caught Styles on the top rope with his classic counter throw, Angle had to pose as he went for the cover, trying to prove something. Styles has spent a lot of his career as the flying underdog, and between that experience and his precision, he was obviously perfect for it. The result was a match that the following PPV simply couldn’t top.
74. Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Gotoh 2009-02-15 NJPW: Circuit 2009 New Japanism
Gotoh’s best match since the Destruction 2007 main event against Tanahashi. Nagata made the match seem desperate immediately by showing weakness and the frequent trips to the outside, setting up more passionate exchanges when the two actually stuck together. He gave Gotoh enough counters and made him seem like more of a force than Giant Bernard ever did, even when he got the upperhand. That his first true dominant period came as a result of kicking Gotoh’s knee, and that the kick was a reference to a prior injury in one of their matches, only increased Gotoh’s profile even as he went down. Nagata was in top form for framing and timing his kicks, but Gotoh followed suit with his strikes, especially the Clotheslines, and his attempts at top turnbuckle offense. Where many big-time Japanese matches have that finishing stretch of unbelievable kickouts, they transitioned into it seamlessly, working better at all the things Tanahashi and Nakamura would try to do with twice the time higher on the card.
75. Christian vs. Jack Swagger 2009-02-24 WWE: ECW
Tommy Dreamer, Matt Hardy and Fit Finlay played up some of Swagger's natural power, but it was never utilized to this degree. Cage gave Swagger many places to toss him around or place added lift in otherwise technical situations, and Swagger seized other opportunities like a simple Vader-style batting Clothesline to add that power game. Cage followed it up by flying for him, both taking to the air in offense and reeling as a result of punishment. When he was on the mat, even outside of a hold, Cage would find a position and work it as though he was more hurt than normal, best exemplified when he rolled halfway out of the ring and dangled form the bottom rope leading to the last commercial break.
76. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Roderick Strong 2009-04-03 ROH: Supercard of Honor 4
In this period Strong had several ROH matches that were short, action-packed and unrelenting in pace. A lot of matches are praised by commentators as being unrelenting, but these two guys didn’t let up for more than ten seconds. They slumped and breathed heavily like there was a serious effort, but they kept getting up and racing for another strike or throw to stay in control and bring the other guy down. By the time they graduated to Strong’s big combo offense it was clear this could not go long and both guys were trying to knock the other out. Nakajima typically wrestles an exhibition style that’s above the ability of most top-flight guys, yet he couldn’t rest on his exhibitions and got visibly more concerned about his ability to keep Strong down, or keep him from countering. And the counters! They even thought to have quick escapes from the Stronghold and Ankle Lock when they easily could have sat in the holds to rest. They didn’t, and that’s a testament to why this wasn’t a truly unrelenting match. They never stopped working.
77. Edge vs. John Morrison 2009-06-19 WWE: SmackDown!
Morrison ruled post-Draft television. While the Benjamin, Jericho and Punk matches from that period are not on this list, if you look them up, you’ll be in good hands. This was simply the best of that stand-out series, following the classic formula of the upstart lasting longer and longer than you’d expect, both guys getting bigger offense until you questioned who would pull this one out. If WWE were a sounder storytelling ground, this match would made Morrison a star, despite him actually losing cleanly. Instead the two had to settle for stealing the show from an episode billed as having two main events, and this match being neither of them.
78. Sugiura & Aoki vs. Gotoh & Odaka 2009-05-05 NJPW: Divergence
I can't be the only one who was surprised by Odaka and Aoki. They were in there with Sugiura, a veteran bad ass, and Gotoh, the future of New Japan, and the kids were the MVP's. Where the established stars smoldered and took pot shots, these two went after each other like defending their companies mattered. And it wasn't hardcore brawling, but passion injected into takedowns and headlocks, moving with such aggression and character. By the time Aoki started spitting and showboating they'd established more tangible rivalry than some entire feuds in NOAH and New Japan. Gotoh and Sugiura were good generals, but they were in it to get the opposite veteran in more traditional roles. Odaka and Aoki sold the idea that each was the only opening they had to get a win for his company, and then Sugiura opened it up, selling nearfalls for Odaka that seemed impossible and suddenly meant he graduated from what he thought was possible, building a career-maker for the young lion. Shorter, less dangerous and a heck of a lot better than most NJPW main events this year - including the main of the show it was on (which had its own moments of greatness).
79. Richards & Edwards vs. Danielson & Black 2009-04-18 ROH: Double Feature 2
Like Morishima vs. Danielson 1 from 2007, this is the match ROH fans will write me angry e-mails about, chastising me for it not being near the top of the list. I’m not sorry to you fans. I’m sorry for myself because I was incredibly eager to see it. The live reports were phenomenal. The DVD is totally worth purchase, putting together the best matches from two nights of shows. Yet even though this is the best match from that weekend, it’s far from the best tag match of the year. The first twenty minutes, and arguably the first half hour, are plodding and clearly paced like four guys who are going to a draw. The Wolves bailing with their belts only to be dragged back to the ring was pro wrestling treacle. They used the same offense they always do without much clever variation or novel placement. Even Black crawling back into the ring at 19 echoed Take No Prisoners 2008, similar yet distinctly less inspired this time. The 45-minute duration accentuated the Wolves’ worst weakness: their penchant for masturbatory mat work that isn’t novel and doesn’t convince fans the victim will tap, and so merely fills time instead of building drama. It’s a trait that hurt a lot of their big matches in 2009. It did not cripple this match, as the match is not bad. They’re all quite good wrestlers and unsurprisingly it’s still a solid match even in the slow periods, but solid matches do not top this list. A lot of solid matches do not make the list at all – this is for great matches. It’s the final period that put this into great match territory. Edwards’s Top Rope Knee Drop onto Danielson in the Cattle Mutilation was inspired, attacking the previously weakened limb in the middle of such a dramatic moment. Black finally turned it up after that with high energy and his best spots, like the totally believable Buckle Bomb & Superkick combo.. They wrestled a slow match from there, a punctuated equilibrium of near-knockouts that finally earned the pace. It’s damn good. It’s simply not the best. I can’t in good conscience put this above the Wolves’ KENTA/Strong defense from Violent Tendencies, let alone the best tags in NOAH, PWG and Chikara.
80. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 2009-11-11 NJPW: Destruction 2009
When Nakamura cares, he is an excellent technical wrestler. Look at the opening minutes and see the small movements he makes in leglocks, trying to get slightly better position to tighten a hold. Ground game is Nakamura's underpraised great strength. Of course, Nakamura's new character is that he's scuzzy and lazy, further accentuating the slacker tendencies he's been criticized for in the past. And yet this is Nakamura at his most charismatic, his jerk who constantly wants his opponents to see him not sweating them, who rushes back inside the ring to make it appear he isn't shaken, and on the best occasions, who has to hustle to prove he is the great wrestler that he wants to be seen as. Tanahashi has none of that. Charisma is natural to him now, as it athleticism, such that just by suddenly sprinting to the ropes he lights up the crowd and seems like one of the best wrestlers in the world. The match erased any fears that Tanahashi came back too soon from injury, and reignited everything good about a Nakamura/Tanahashi feud. Tanahashi didn't oversell the injury that put him out and forced Nakamura to the mat, grabbing holds and sticking to them just as long, epitomized when they were at the ropes and rather than get the relief of release, Tanahashi cranked on his own Ankle Pick. The ending was inspired, with Tanahashi getting the crowd to a fever pitch, then missing that crucial Frog Splash and setting up a believable knockout combo for Nakamura that reinforced how dangerous his final Kneestrike is.
81. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black 2009-06-26 ROH: Violent Tendencies
It was strange to see Jacobs in such an unsophisticated gimmick match. At this point in his career Jacobs has been in so many big gimmick matches and made so many of them special that you’d think he would structure this one better. Yet even the ending was clearly choreographed, with Black knocking Jacobs out with a combo, setting up the table, setting him on it and going to the top of the cage. A big Jacobs match is usually smarter; you’d expect the table to be set up ahead of time, if not for some of the knockout exchange to lay Jacobs out on top of it. While this was far from a bad Cage Match, it was distinctly below Jacobs’s ability to tell a story with a gimmick. The best parts came from athletic exchanges like the Headscissors games appearing multiple times, culminating in the Super Hurricanrana attempt that Black reversed into a Buckle Bomb. The cage was an effective weapon largely in how they varied traditional offense with it, like Black spinning Jacobs into the fence. Its big moment was seeing both men fight and fall to the floor below, beginning to highlight the notion that Jacobs wasn’t the only hardcore guy here, and that Black might be just as determined, but more athletically gifted. They had their feud moments, like the explicitness of dueling spikes, or the subtlety of someone finally countering Jacobs’s Spear – and that counter being Black stealing his own End Times submission. Jacobs stealing the Basement Superkick in retaliation later was appropriately petty, but still the theft didn’t build to a crescendo. The match belongs somewhere on a top 100, but beneath the likes of Jacobs’s classic against Whitmer from 2007.
82. Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison 2009-07-31 WWE: SmackDown!
John Morrison’s hot streak rolled on. He and Hardy played off two things for two crowds: Morrison’s push and recent defeats over Punk for the kayfabe element, and the rumor that Hardy would quit soon for the “smart” crowd. Everything about the match, from Morrison getting the upper hand on the mat to getting more highspots to getting more offense after mid-match, built Morrison as this successor star. Even the kickout of the Swanton played off the potential of a championship change. Where Hardy was clearly battered and took things easier, Morrison bumped harder and flew to compensate for him, and Hardy turned up his expressiveness in that role. Also, damned if Morrison doesn’t have a great Running Kneestrike.
83. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black 2009-04-25 ROH on HDNet
Danielson vs. Black I, II and III all made the Riren 100 last year. Shockingly, Danielson vs. Black IV made it on this year. It certainly had the best opening of an ROH TV match, mixing Danielson’s appreciation of crowd support, their crisp technical wrestling and escapes from offense the two had established in previous TV main events. That carried over to a more methodical match than the previous three, but carried with sound character and some excellent new additions, like Black modifying the Aries head-kick setup for his own low kick, and Danielson preparing for the Pele with a submission. While the Turnbuckle Powerbomb was much more dramatic in their third match, it was a superb choice as the closer, allowing the two to collapse from damage and exhaustion before the TV time limit expired. Though their later HDNet matches were more popular (especially the one where Black finally upset the veteran), this was the one with the most spirit. Their later matches imitated this one, trying to tell a story that was really best told the first (or fourth) time.
84. Shingo & YAMATO vs. Mochizuki & Fuji 2009-11-23 Dragon Gate: The Gate of Destiny 2009
The questionable factor in this match was Don Fuji, but he came in clearly caring, hustling with Shingo and playing juvenile one-upsmanship with YAMATO. With Fuji in motion, Mochizuki could play with the no-nonsense opportunist and striker that worked out well in his tags with Nakajima. By far the best moments were those leading to the draw finish against Shingo, again echoing Mochizuki’s time tagging with Nakajima, this time with Mochizuki being almost as good as the Kensuke Office prodigy at intense offensive trades with the former body builder. While the final five minutes were the hottest, these guys ripped into each other throughout the match with the kind of sincerity and abandon that would revitalize WWE’s tag division, if only that company cared.
85. Hirooki Gotoh vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 2009-03-15 NJPW: New Japan Cup 2
Once again the finals of New Japan’s Cup tournament delivers on of their top matches of the year. Two punches have not been so cool in Japanese wrestling years as Gotoh jacking Nakamura, getting chastised by the ref, only for Nakamura to push the ref out of the way and deck Gotoh. From Nakamura trying to ground Gotoh in the beginning to Gotoh catching him in mid-flying armbar takedown to drop him on his head, these guys captured the intensity of the tournament while accenting their exhaustion, equally in their body language and in how they ebbed and flowed on offense.
86. Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Cheech & Cloudy 2009-02-21 CHIKARA: Motivation Means Opportunity
All the energy of the best Incoherence tags with the added fluidity of Quackensaw flying and mat work. Cheech & Cloudy worked as one, introducing their own phenomenal combos and keeping up with the pace necessary for the best kind of Quackenbush tag. And man, is it nice to see Jigsaw under a mask again. He’s one of the few people who is more expressive with his face covered, knowing how to make the most of holds and falls with the suggestions of a mask.
87. Shelley & Sabin vs. Devitt & Taguchi 2009-07-05 NJPW: Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul
The best of the Guns’ New Japan tour, where Shelley brought the most attitude and Sabin brought the most of his showmanship. Sure, there were pretty double team moves and things broke down into several slick sprints, but this stepped above the rest by a little more comfort in the TNA boys’ characters, and an emphasis on Prince Devitt. Taguchi is unreliable, and keeping him in the secondary role kept things smoother (though he still managed to almost kill both his opponents). It’s a shame they couldn’t keep this spirit together for their big re-match.
88. Christian vs. William Regal 2009-09-13 WWE: Breaking Point
Crowd reaction is not everything. Plenty of good matches have happened in front of crowds that didn’t know what was going on. The famous Malenko vs. Guerrero ECW match happened in front of a crowd that sat on its hands for more than two thirds of it. But winning over a crowd can be a sign of great wrestlers. The PPV audience clearly didn’t know about Christian and Regal’s ECW feud or their styles, yet the two drew them in by the middle of the match with explosive pacing, killer Suplexes and Christian’s flying. Christian is not a crisp flyer but made it work with timing, and Regal followed with just enough counters to give the audience room to cheer. They even drew in the “boo” vs. “yay” strike sequence briefly. And before winning the crowd over they were building a damn solid match from the first minute with little hesitations and facial expressions that registered much more serious consideration on the part of the wrestlers than was seen in any of the higher profile matches on this show. They built that up and into Regal’s ground attack, Christian finding agile escapes rather than pure power. Regal retaliated with brutal strikes and heavy Suplexes, coming at him from all angles for everything like the Regal Plex counter to pinning him by sitting on his shoulders when he just happened to be in that position. When Christian began flying a lot, it made sense. Even the ending was smart – a subtle reference to Summerslam where Christian had cleverly scouted how Regal took off his robe, this time scouting how he moved when coming in for the Knee Trembler.
89. Eight Man Tag Team Match 2009-07-25 DGUSA: Enter the Dragon
I guess since they were on pay per view it made sense that they’d put on their best possible performance, but it’s still funny that one of the best Chikara Atomicos matches happened outside of Chikara. Quackenbush is unparalleled, but Jigsaw was on his A-game with fast movements, Hallowicked hustled and Akuma was a superb bully. Where the Ants’ wacky offense usually slows things down to the point of hurting pacing, here their roles were structured well, leaving them simply amusing. Amasis’s occasional sloppiness also could have detracted, but instead he was totally hilarious, from the cocky dancing heel to the whipping boy of his team. They got everybody in and out to keep the crests and valleys of their sprint going and it only got hotter as it went on. Before the DGUSA PPV I joked that Chikara vs. Dragon Gate made little sense since Dragon Gate had such a better upper-tier roster; funny, then, that the Chikara guys put on a better match than almost anything on DGUSA’s debut show.
90. Jerry Lynn vs. Colt Cabana 2009-04-25 ROH: The Homecoming 2
This was actually a brilliant match. Ever since his recent run began in ROH, Lynn has showed his age. He’s in phenomenal condition for that age, but it’s still much older than most of his competition. In his first match against Danielson, Lynn got noticeably more sloppy as time progressed. Even in sprints, Lynn lags behind after ten minutes, clearly not able to keep up. Here, Lynn and Cabana actually worked that into the story. Cabana was goofing around but kept turning things into mat wrestling. The emphasis on Headlocks allowed him to keep the match in motion, forcing Lynn to adjust and wear himself out.. Lynn proudly played his own head games and tried to keep up, but within fifteen minutes it was apparent that Cabana had more wind and could keep this up longer than the veteran. And despite Lynn’s limitation, Cabana kept the offense safe and crisp, not sacrificing quality in the ways that have hurt a lot of Lynn’s other big matches. Like a lot of matches with that sort of story, Lynn tried to retaliate with big offense like the DDT on the apron, which would hopefully knock out or at least shake up Cabana. But that wasn’t enough, because Cabana also had the size and strength advantage, and was able to turn things back into his favor. What is normally an excuse to shovel out big offense became part of a neat story as Lynn shocked Cabana by refusing to tap to the Billy Goat’s Curse and kicking out of the Colt 45. He even tried the Pepsi Plunge, borrowing from CM Punk, but Lynn still kicked out – he could be exhausted and out-wrestled, but Lynn wouldn’t give. Lynn’s final rally could have been more climactic, but this was a damned good match.
91. Shingo Takagi vs. YAMATO 2009-01-23 Dragon Gate Infinity 118
When we hear about No Rope matches in America, we often expect the next words to be “Barbed Wire.” But here Shingo and YAMATO accentuated falls from the apron as the hazard, making it a much safer match than something with gimmicked ropes, and adding another realm of offense that rose naturally from their brawling and Shingo’s power. YAMATO’s big spill into the first three rows of chairs is one of my favorite visuals of the year. From crowd brawling to YAMATO’s constant hints at how difficult this was to Shingo’s big power comebacks, both showed how far they’ve come in the last two years. The rampant interference in big Dragon Gate matches hurts many of them, but was held back and framed well here.. The only major interference was Real Hazard striking Shingo as he was about to set up a Powerbomb off the apron, but everything leading up to that made the interference necessary. The whole series before that strike was exceptional, with YAMATO trying to roll a few feet away after the second Last Chancery knowing he couldn’t kick out, and then catching Shingo in a Triangle Choke but only using it as a breather, lying on his back as his legs did the work. And that the interlopers were neutralized a moment later, and that YAMATO won with a slick (and desperate) final Sleeper Hold counter moments later, sealed up a fine match.
92. Steen, Generico & Dempsey vs. Richards, Edwards & Hero 2009-03-13 ROH: Stylin’ and Profilin’
Can you make a great match be all about someone who isn’t ready to have a great match? This is evidence for the case. Make no mistake: Dempsey must improve far beyond this to last in quality wrestling.. But for this match his awkwardness only helped the sympathy case, and accentuate why he needed Steen & Generico in his corner. When he stood up for himself, even if it meant taking a worse beating, it worked much in the way it worked for Pelle Primeau at his breakout two years ago. Primeau improved, until his tragic injury. Dempsey should look to stay healthy, but follow in Primeau footsteps. But for the actual match, Richards hustled and Steen & Generico carried most of the workload. Hero handed Dempsey his two big moments, doing everything for him save grimacing and bleeding. And really, it wasn’t entirely about Big Bobby; Steen’s leg was a story, and if anybody shone, it was Richards or Hero. For one night, Dempsey lived in a tailor made role.
93. Ibushi & Omega vs. Dino & Yoshihiko 2009-05-04 DDT in Tokyo
What’s better than a wrestling blow-up doll dressed as the Great Muta? It getting destroyed only to come back later in the match as the Undertaker. Ibushi & Omega took it so seriously, from Ibushi’s long stare into its eyes during the handshake on. Dino has used the prop a few times but never with this level of amusement. For his part, Omega seemed to be trying to have the match of his life against the doll, including taking intricate bumps and reversals from it just to see if he could do them, and cribbing a full ludicrous combo from Street Fighter 2’s Zangief for a nearfall. From start to finish, this was easily one of the funniest matches of the year.
94. Ten Man Tag Team Match 2009-04-06 WWE: RAW
What made this stand above all the other random tag matches WWE throws on television? Steamboat’s participation was one obvious element, doing all the things that had been shocking the previous night at Wrestlemania, with all their luster and specialness here. Matt and Jeff Hardy had great interactions, like Matt falling down, seeing his brother tag in, and scooting back as fast as he could to tag out without ever losing eye contact. Mysterio, Edge and Jericho were able to pop in whenever necessary, adding even more impressive offense or picking the bones of someone weakened by what others set up. Punk and Kane used their reliable interactions to add filler in-between the hotter material. Even Big Show registering the pain from Steamboat’s chops was cool. And it all tied together with Edge and Jericho’s underhandedness not being enough, and two of the greatest flyers of two generations putting them down for the finish.
95. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin 2009-01-11 TNA: Genesis
The story may have been too subtle for some. But if you watch from early on you can see Shelley press Sabin instead of settling for Mexican Stand-Offs when he could have got them for a rest, and between that, the slap mid-match, and look on his face after the Somersault Legdrop on the ropes, Shelley was a distinctly darker player than his partner. He was frustrated and scheming from the outset. The barrage of finishers at the end may also have put some people off, but they were a fantastic array of potential endings, and they setup Shelley’s ploy very well. Sabin has come a long way as a singles wrestler in the last three years, and he carried his end of the bargain every bit as smoothly as Shelley at his very best. If anything these two were too good, able to do too much and execute it too well while not accentuating Shelley’s dark streak. But that wasn’t a flaw – it only hurt it for some audiences. As it was, it was the best X-Division Title match since Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles left for bigger things.
96. Kobashi & Takayama vs. Mutoj & Taue 2009-09-27 NOAH: Great Voyage 2009 in Tokyo
Akira Taue should not be wrestling at this stage in his life, but the Hurricanrana he took from Kobashi was amazing. Sometimes over-the-hill wrestlers whose execution is shot can make a splash with one or two well-planned spots. Terry Funk lengthened his career considerably by exploiting that idea. Here you got a better match because of it, and because the other three men involved had the gravitas to make big moves mean a lot even if they weren’t executed crisply. Mutoh in particular sone out there, with the NOAH crowd adoring him despite him being an outsider, and his exchanges with Kobashi teasing their famous offense so wisely. Even on the apron, Mutoh injected personality in his rally cries to Taue, acting like the ring general that more Japanese vets should. With Taue in the supporting offensive role and Takayama playing the jerk (a particularly neat moment where he fought with the outsider referee over how he was allowed to cover an opponent) plugged everything together into one of the more memorable NOAH tags of the year.
97. Danielson vs. Black vs. Polak vs. Andy 2009-03-08 wXw: 16 Carat Tournament 2009 Night 3
Four-ways where two bad guys and two good guys essentially act as tag teams are usually lame, but this worked on a zany level. Black and Andy had no particular personalities, so naturally they chased the heels; meanwhile Polak was the inexplicable little buddy to champion Danielson, something unnecessary and great. He posed and pointed to Danielson for approval and went for tags whenever asked, while the champ cheered him from the apron. I was sad to see him eliminated first. After that we got to watch Danielson abuse Black, and unsurprisingly he’s good at that. Andy made the hot entry and nearly eliminated Danielson, only to be distracted by a toilet paper shower from some heels and was himself eliminated. That returned us to Danielson abusing Black, Black mounted a familiar comeback and did everything he could, while Danielson relied on strikes and a Sleeperhold, keeping to his heel minimalism. Danielson made basic tactics, like getting his foot on the ropes to escape a surefire pinfall, work in a modern setting. I wish more people could. Black survived too many sleepers, though, and eventually Danielson had to use his Elbow Barrage and Triangle Choke to eliminate his final challenger.
98. Desmond Wolfe vs. KENTA 2009-03-21 ROH: Seventh Anniversary Show
They had two major options: pretend Wolfe wasn’t hurt and try to wrestle a match without letting on he had two serious arm injuries, or build a story around Wolfe’s limitations. I think they made the right choice, but it meant the recklessly stiff KENTA battering Wolfe’s injured biceps for the better part of twenty minutes. Wolfe gets points for having taken it. They built a good story out of Wolfe trying to inflict the same pain on KENTA, attacking his arms not to take offense away from him, but to give him the same disability.. One could imagine Wolfe’s increased arm work came in part from all the fears he had for what opponents would do to him (suggested again in the Lynn title defense). Using headbutts for his standard strike was inspired. Around the frame of arm work, they made a good match of KENTA’s standard offense, clever counters like the Go 2 Sleep out of Wolfe corner headstand, and Wolfe gradually doing anything he could think of, including a great version of the G2S himself. The London Dungeon variation at the end looked truly grueling.
99. Kota Ibushi vs. Koji Kanemoto 2009-05-30 NJPW: Circuit 2009 Best of the Super Juniors 16
So I guess Ibushi and Kanemoto decided to do everything you’d normally do in a thirty-minute match in just fifteen and see how that worked instead. How did it work? It created one of the best New Japan main events of the year, going at a breakneck pace that packed not just moves, but moments. The two trading count-out attempts, Kanemoto countering Ibushi’s double Moonsault attempt before going for his own, and even Ibushi simply being unable to escape the Ankle Lock at the end were all concise and earned in seconds. This was the antithesis of last year’s lauded Kondo vs. Marufuji in AJPW, going as quickly to tell stories as possible and being all the more impressive for it.
100. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy 2009-01-25 WWE: Royal Rumble
After all the attacks and sabotage by unknown parties, it made total sense for Hardy to go nuts on Chavo Guerrero Jr. like that. In fact, Hardy fought the whole match with that degree of angered abandon, not even flinching at the No Disqualification stipulation and immediately flying at Edge, and then going for a weapon, working out his frustration in his hectic style. It’s no surprise that the two work famously together, but they had some particularly shining moments, like Edge catching Hardy mid-seesaw in the corner and Spearing him across the ring. While not the biggest match of Hardy’s career, it was by far one of his best performances, using conviction to get across all of his decisions. And say what you like about the story of Matt Hardy’s turn, but his delivery was excellent.

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Fortaz 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

"mokamiems subscriber'iams" - nezinau, gal tu toks esi, bet jei ne, reiketu ta vieta, kur mokamas material'as tampa nemokamu itraukti prie linku musu nuorodose (rekrutu ruosimo forume)

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`MalioK` 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

Fortaz, 2010-01-22, 13:16, pasakė:

"mokamiems subscriber'iams" - nezinau, gal tu toks esi, bet jei ne, reiketu ta vieta, kur mokamas material'as tampa nemokamu itraukti prie linku musu nuorodose (rekrutu ruosimo forume)

Ne, ir neesu ir kazkokios stebuklingos vietos, deja, nera. Cia tiesiog i interneta nutekejes materialas ir tiek (CIA) ^_^

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Doppelganger 2010-01-22

Idomus listas ^_^

dekui MK

Ne į temą

Ar yra sancu surinkt top 10 macus i prasymus?

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Walleris 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

Impaler, 2010-01-22, 15:16, pasakė:

Ar yra sancu surinkt top 10 macus i prasymus?

Manau, kad laisvai. Aš iš top10 turiu pirmus 8 kompe dabar, be jokių rinkimų, tik 9 ir 10 reiktų kad kažkas atsisiųstų.

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Doppelganger 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

liuks Walleri! atmetus wwe ir tna matchus manau praleisciau turininga vakara prie tv ^_^

prie progos idek i pw media video foruma

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`MalioK` 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

Wаlleris, 2010-01-22, 17:01, pasakė:

Manau, kad laisvai. Aš iš top10 turiu pirmus 8 kompe dabar, be jokių rinkimų, tik 9 ir 10 reiktų kad kažkas atsisiųstų.

As tada imesiu likusius №9 ir №10 - bijojau, kad teks visus paciam mesti, o cia Walleris paeme kruvi ^_^

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Walleris 2010-01-22

Ar mesti ir WWE/TNA mačus? Ar tik indy?

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Primusas 2010-01-22

Wаlleris, 2010-01-22, 18:22, pasakė:

Ar mesti ir WWE/TNA mačus? Ar tik indy?

Ne į temą

Nezinau kaip kitiem, bet man tik Indy reik ^_^

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Nervas 2010-01-22

Ne į temą

Wаlleris, 2010-01-22, 18:22, pasakė:

Ar mesti ir WWE/TNA mačus? Ar tik indy?

Manau, kad įmesk visus. Nors WWE/TNA mačus ir matėme, bet gal atsiras žmonių kuriems reikės jų. Ar taip ar taip, jie tikrai nepakenks.

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Walleris 2010-01-22

1. Davey Richards vs. Shingo Takagi 2009-09-06 DGUSA: Untouchable
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

2. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 2009-04-05 WWE: Wrestlemania 25
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3. Shiozaki & KENTA vs. Sasaki & Nakajima 2009-06-22 NOAH: Southern Navigation
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

4. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels 2009-11-15 TNA: Turning Point
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

5. Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards 2009-09-25 ROH: Final Countdown Tour Boston
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6. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero 2009-09-04 PWG: Guerres Sans Frontieres
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

7. Davey Richards vs. KENTA 2009-04-03 ROH: Supercard of Honor IV
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

8. RAW Elimination Chamber Match 2009-09-15 WWE: No Way Out
ATSISIŲSTI ČIA

Šį pranešimą redagavo `MalioK`: 2010-01-28, 01:37

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