POLL 3/18-3/24/2023- WHAT WAS THE BEST FREE TV MATCH OF THE WEEK? I gotta feeling.

[DEAN]

No RAMPAGE!  It'll be a double RAMPAGE next week!  WWE match was either JD McDonagh/Dragunov or Butch/GUNTHER.  The Lucha Libre match of the week was prolly the Fishman match in IWRG.  The Japanese match of the week was prolly Bushimon vs Okada/ Tanahashi.  All the GLEAT matches were good... OH JUST VOTE FOR OMEGA/VIKINGO. 

CUT LIST: Trey Miguel vs Kevin Knight- IMPACT!;  Oskar Leube/ Ryohei Oiwa vs Kosei Fujita/ Zack Sabre Jr- New Japan World; Tomoaki Honma/ YOSHI-HASHI vs Aaron Henare/ Kyle Fletcher- New Japan World; Piper Niven/ Chelsea Green vs Asuka/ Bianca Belair- RAW; Kiera Hogan vs Leila Grey- AEW Dark; Eddie Edwards vs Bhupinder Gujjar- IMPACT!; Ari Daivari/ Tony Nese vs John Silver/ Alex Reynolds- AEW Elevation;  Tomohiro Ishii/ Toru Yano/ Ryohei Oiwa vs Chase Owens/ El Phantasmo/ KENTA- New Japan World; AR Fox/ Metalik/ Blake Christian vs Ari Daivari/ Slim J/ Jeeves K; Brian Cage vs Tony Deppen; Ryohei Oiwa/ Shota Umino vs Kosei Fujita/ Zack Sabre Jr- New Japan World;  Skye Blue vs Tarryn From Accounting- AEW Elevation; Kevin Martenson vs B-Boy- CWFH; Guerrero Maya Jr vs Dark Panther- CMLL; 

[JLowe]

I see Gordlow was true to his word.

[The Natural]

Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo. A ***** match and it's my top three of 2023 MOTY.

[Eivion]

Raw had a bunch of nice matches with Ricochet/Gable probably being the standout. Was impressive seeing the two get the audience into their match so much given neither has a ton of momentum as singles acts right now. 

NXT was nice as well with Stratton/Indi overdelivering and the Bron/Hayes super team working quite well against a great team in Pretty Deadly. Still the standout had to be JD/Ilja with the hatred the two have for each other coming through.

Dynamite was the first time I can recall actually watching all of the matches. Everything was pretty decent or fun. The OC/Sting tag especially so. The Gunns impressed me much more here than they did against the Acclaimed with Top Flight being such natural rivals for them. The standout was of course Omega/Vikingo. That was a great showcase with Omega keeping things at a pace where everything big move Vikingo had could really stand out on its own. The little I have seen of Vikingo in AAA was impressive athleticism wise, but he usually left me cold save for moments with Laredo Kid and Black Taurus. Was nice to see him with someone who could center him more in Omega.

Cody/Kaiser was far better than expected even with expecting something solid, bu Gunther and Butch know each other so well that even something impromptu can turn into something pretty damn good whenever they are matched up. Gunther/Butch was the standout for Smackdown.

Finlay/Ishii was damn good stuff. Bishamon vs. Okada/Tanahashi was fucking great.  When the hell did Goto and Yoshihashi become such a good team? The their tag work was damn good and made them equals with the aces of NJPW pretty easily. Loved how close it came several time times with the crowd really buying into the nearfalls. 

So still need to catch some lucha and maybe GLEAT and ROH (will at least see Frost/Blue). With that said, its pretty much a certainty I'm voting for Bishamon vs. Okada/Tanahashi. That was so damn great and an easy top 5 for me this year. Omega/Vikingo was probably no. 2 or 3 for me this week. The match is legit good, but it feels like something that was always going to win because how few have bothered checking out a Vikingo match before now. Kind of wish this was another week where the obvious winner was removed. Nothing else here really has a chance though I seriously hope anyone who can checks out the Bishamon tag. 

[Boydy]

Kenny Omega Vs El Vikingo gets my vote. What a match we wont see often. Just two guys at the top of their game and a real showcase for El Vikingo.

WWE & AEW need to throw everything they can to try sign El Vikingo away from AAA.

 

[DEAN]

9 hours ago, Eivion said:

Finlay/Ishii was damn good stuff. Bishamon vs. Okada/Tanahashi was fucking great.  When the hell did Goto and Yoshihashi become such a good team? The their tag work was damn good and made them equals with the aces of NJPW pretty easily. Loved how close it came several time times with the crowd really buying into the nearfalls.

Yeah, I watched Ishii/Finlay and the Bishamon match came on and I was like, "Oh, I guess I'll watch this too."  And, MAN, does that match suck you in.  It was weird.  I loved Goto and YOSHI-HASHI just MANNING UP.

[DEAN]

AWESOME!  MLW is on the board!  That match was great.  Well.  Jacob Fatu is great.

[HarryArchieGus]

Leon Ruffin v Juice Robinson gets my vote for Darkhorse match of the week. Ruffin's face plant bump to the floor was incredible. I need to see those NJPW matches. Glad to hear Finlay's finally coming into his own. I wasn't a fan of the first Fatu-Hulk Hammerstone bout, but I'll certainly give 2 a try. Riccochet-Gable would have been a real candidate had it happened on a Wednesday Night in front of a crowd that actually likes the Wrestling part of the show. And in a company that might actually appreciate Chad Gable's exquisite skillset. All that said, Vikingo v Omega was a goddamn masterpiece. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by HarryArchieGus

[John E. Dynamite]

There needs to be a second category or something. "Best Free Match That Wasn't AEW or WWE". Cause I like voting for the IMPACT women's matches or the "I forgot how good this guy was" NJPW stuff or the rough and roguish IWRG brawls. But you get weeks like this and it's like, how do you even begin to compete?

[DEAN]

It appears to be an ass beating.

[HarryArchieGus]

Another lost post. 

Let me try again... Finlay-Ishii was underwhelming from the hype, but neat to see Finlay adding some character to his act. YoshiHashi/Goto-Okada/Tanahashi didn't feel particularly special. Tanahashi's Sling Blade continues to be one of the shittiest moves in wrestling. Hammerstone-Fatu 2 was fun. Are MLW matches all no DQ? Fatu was just suddenly wielding a chair to no referee admonishment. Hammerstone continues to improve his game. Such a tiny ring. Do I have this right - MLW is the 'Major League', but their show is the 'Underground'?

[Dolphman 3000]

19 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Do I have this right - MLW is the 'Major League', but their show is the 'Underground'?

MLW Underground TV was the name of their original TV show on Sunshine Network in 2003-2004

Then they teased a Lucha Underground revival as "Azteca Underground" before deciding to just make that a name of Cesar Duran's stable

Court probably trying to keep the trademark active for legal purposes

[Death From Above]

When Vikingo did that big flip through the table I actually started laughing, shook my head, and said "wrestling is fucking awesome" to myself.

[DEAN]

MAAAAAN, this is an ass beating.

[DEAN]

Hammerstone vs Jacob Fatu is currently in second!

[DEAN]

Savannah Evans vs Deonna Purrazzo!  IMPACT! IS ON THE BOARD!

[DEAN]

Okada/Tanahashi vs Goto/ YOSHI-HASHI moves into a TIE FOR SECOND!

[DEAN]

Vikingo vs Kenny Omega destroyed the competition.