the continuing POLL 4/29-5/5/2023- WHAT WAS THE BEST FREE TV MATCH OF THE WEEK? The show really should go on.

[John E. Dynamite]

You think you have an idea about how somebody does something and think - Hey, I can *watch all the wrestling too*! By the time you're done there are birds chirping outside and there's no more beer in your fridge any more and your cat is worried about you and your brain is stuffed with so much new information that your eyes are bulging out like all the messy gunk at the back end of a fast food taco dangling over pristine white shorts.

I am probably not capable of doing what DEAN did every week. Maybe a committee can. But until then, here you go. Did I watch all of these? I watched most of these. And I watched all the weird ones. At first I was pleased that I got off my ass and put on the kind of good IMPACT match that I always mean to put on - this is GOOD. Then I was stoked to find a 20 minute classic indie midcard epic with Billie Starkz and somebody I'd never even seen the name of - this is GREAT. Then I watched over a dozen mini luchadors, maybe two or three of whom I'd ever heard of, bash each other's brains in while locked in a cage with their masks and hair on the line - this is EXACTLY WHY WE DO THIS STUFF.

Many thoughts to come in the following days. Mostly about which matched are good. I'm tired. Have at it.

EDIT: OH, and LINKS. These are the matches that are on less-obvious YouTube sources that WEREN'T posted in the Poll Prep thread.
 

Spoiler

Invasion Indy Multi Man Minis Match - 

Invasion Indy PIGS vs. CLOWNS

Derby City - Danny Limelight vs. Rocco Bellagio
https://youtu.be/5UxLuWUDarI?t=2044

AAA - Team Canada vs. Team Europe

Pro Wrestling EVE - Billie Starkz vs. Safire Reed

 

Create-A-Pro - Jack Tomlinson vs. Bryce Donovan

 

BEYOND - Marcus Mathers vs. Brad Hollister
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFyVj2QaQWw

 

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by John E. Dynamite

[Dolphman 3000]

Aussie Open match is bonkers if you haven't seen it yet

Also notable for one poor asshole in 2300 Arena desperately trying to start a FIGHT FOREVER chant, and the crowd begrudgingly drowning him out with "This is Awesome!"

[Eivion]

The LWO vs. Judgement Day matches from Raw and Smackdown have were so fun. Nakamura/Kross was way better than expected with hot PR crowd behind it. Was a good way for both guys to build back some cred even with the eventual loss going to someone. 

The Women's tag titles match and JD/Dragon were good and great ways to say goodbye to the wrestlers leaving NXT. Wish Dean got to see both. He would have dug them so much. Katana was even bloody by the end of her match.

Starks/Juice was fine but didn;t do much for me. Did however really enjoy the 4 Pillars tag, especially MJF & Sammy going old school tag heels.

Ended up skipping Fred/Archer after a while as it just kind of felt listless. Aussie Open vs. Ishii/Rush was so damn good, like nearly great. Ao are fantastic, but Ishii/Rush worked together so much better than you expect and had some neat shit while also just having their timing together down. 

Missed Rampage. Might check out Impact and Eve. Definitely need to check out ROH and some lucha before voting. If I were voting right now Aussie Open vs. Ishii/Rush would take it easily which isn't to say there wasn't other good shit in WWE and AEW, the Strong tag titles match was just that good.

 

Thank you so much for doing this. I kind of hoped you might but figured it would be be too much a task for any one person. 

[caley]

I barely watched anything this week but I'm excited/hopeful that you can keep this going!

[Leonidas]

Did Dean keep a note of all the past winners? Would be a neat time capsule to go back and look at them a few years or more from now.

[DreamBroken]

15 hours ago, Leonidas said:

Did Dean keep a note of all the past winners? Would be a neat time capsule to go back and look at them a few years or more from now.

Here is a full list of our TV Matches of the Weeks from the past year:

Spoiler

June 5 - June 11, 2022: Red Velvet vs. Kris Statlander (AEW Rampage, 10 votes)
June 11 - June 18, 2022: Dax Harwood vs. Will Ospreay (AEW Dynamite, 7 votes)
June 18 - June 24, 2022: Fenix vs. Andrade (AEW Rampage, 7 votes)
June 26 - July 1, 2022: Wheeler Yuta vs Tony Nese (AEW Dark) + Rampage Rumble (AEW Rampage) TIE (4 votes each)
July 1 - July 8, 2022: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW Rampage, 7 votes)
July 9 - July 15, 2022: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley (AEW Dynamite, 9 votes)
July 16 - July 23, 2022: Darby Allin vs. Brodie King (AEW Dynamite, 4 votes)
July 23 - July 30, 2022: Jon Moxley vs. Rush (AEW Dynamite, 7 votes)
July 30 - August 5, 2022: Toni Storm & Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter (AEW Dynamite, 5 votes)
August 6 - August 12, 2022: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Claudio Castagnoli (AEW Battle of the Belts III, 10 votes)
August 13 - August 19, 2022: Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia (2/3 Falls Match, AEW Dynamite, 12 votes)
August 20 - August 26, 2022: United Empire vs. Death Triangle (AEW Dynamite, 11 votes)
August 27 - September 2, 2022: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Masha Slamovich (IMPACT Wrestling, 4 votes)
September 3 - September 9, 2022: Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii (AEW Zero Hour, 10 votes)
September 10 - September 16, 2022: Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite, 12 votes)
September 17 - September 23, 2022: Jungle Boy vs. Fenix (AEW Rampage, 5 votes)
September 24 - September 30, 2022: Bandido vs. Chris Jericho (AEW Dynamite, 15 votes)
October 1 - October 7, 2022: Sheamus vs. Gunther (WWE Smackdown, 5 votes)
October 8 - October 14, 2022: Pac vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW Dynamite, 8 votes)
October 15 - October 21, 2022: Chris Jericho vs. Dalton Castle (AEW Dynamite, 10 votes)
October 22 - October 28, 2022: Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. FTR (AEW Dynamite, 7 votes)
October 29 - November 4, 2022: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Orange Cassidy (AEW Rampage, 8 votes)
November 5 - November 11, 2022: Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara (2/3 Falls Match, AEW Dynamite, 9 votes)
November 12 - November 18, 2022: AR Fox & Top Flight vs. Death Triangle (AEW Dynamite, 6 votes)
November 19 - November 25, 2022: Chris Jericho vs. Tomohiro Ishii (AEW Dynamite, 10 votes)
November 26 - December 2, 2022: Dax Harwood vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite, 10 votes)
December 3 - December 9, 2022: Josh Alexander vs. Speedball Mike Bailey (IMPACT Wrestling, 9 votes)
December 10 - December 16, 2022: Gunther vs. Ricochet (WWE Smackdown, 8 votes)
December 17 - December 23, 2022: Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida (AEW Dynamite, 16 votes)
December 24 - December 30, 2022: The Elite vs. Death Triangle + Top Flight vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli (AEW Dynamite) TIE (6 votes each)
December 31 - January 6, 2023: Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. The Acclaimed (AEW Dynamite) + Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. The Acclaimed (AEW Battle of the Belts) TIE (5 votes each)
January 7 - January 13, 2023: Athena vs. Marina Shafir (AEW Dark) + Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page (AEW Dynamite) + Konosuke Takeshita vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite) Triple TIE (5 votes each)
January 14 - January 20, 2023: Bandido vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite, 15 votes)
January 21 - January 27, 2023: Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura (AEW Rampage, 17 votes)
January 28 - February 3, 2023: Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin (AEW Dynamite, 9 votes)
February 4 - February 10, 2023: Bryan Danielson vs. Rush (AEW Dynamite, 18 votes)
February 11 - February 17, 2023: Sheamus & Drew McIntyre vs. Viking Raiders (WWE Smackdown) + Rush & Preston Vance vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli (AEW Dynamite) TIE (4 votes each)
February 18 - February 24, 2023: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta (AEW Dynamite, 12 votes)
February 25 - March 3, 2023: Emi Sakura vs. Riho (AEW Rampage, 5 votes)
March 4 - March 10, 2023: Athena vs. Willow Nightingale (Ring of Honor, 10 votes)
March 11 - March 17, 2023: Orange Cassidy vs. Jeff Jarrett (AEW Dynamite, 10 votes)
March 18 - March 24, 2023: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega (AEW Dynamite, 21 votes)
March 25 - March 31, 2023: Kenny Omega vs. Jeff Cobb (AEW Dynamite, 6 votes)
April 1 - April 7, 2023: Riho vs. Jamie Hayter (AEW Dynamite, 6 votes)
April 8 - April 12, 2023: Orange Cassidy vs. Buddy Matthews (AEW Dynamite, 8 votes)
April 15 - April 21, 2023: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz (WWE RAW, 5 votes)
April 22 - April 28, 2023: Orange Cassidy vs. Bandido (AEW Dynamite, 5 votes)

 

[HarryArchieGus]

I cast my vote for the darkhorse Claudio v Robbie Eagles. The ROH shows continue to feature a shit ton of excellent wrestling - this Claudio-Eagles match being a good example from this week. I love Claudio and how they've steered his presentation - specifically the Tchaikovsky and bad attitude. I also really liked Kommander v Angelico. If we were including the post match angle (maybe even without it), the Cole/Strong/OC/Bandido v JAS 8 Man tag from Dynamite might've actually been my favorite match this week. I really liked the Main Event Pillars tag as well. Starks v Juice I skimmed the slower portions of, and really liked it as a clipped bout. Mark Briscoe v Preston Vance feels like the most underrated match of the week. Briscoe led young Vance nicely and took some brutal (on brand) bumps. Or maybe it was that excellent 6 Man Tag between QTV v Lucha Bros/Vikingo? I haven't watched WWETV for a few weeks save for some highlights - I've lost interest. Now I'm reading old Green Dean reviews and listening to archived pod episodes while seeking out the discussed bouts. All that said, the Puerto Rico Smackdown (and PPV) seem like something I oughtta at least skim thru. I hear the crowd was what Dean would call Molten. I'm also curious of this Billie Starkz match that Johnny mentions in the opening. 

[AxB]

We have a SEVEN-WAY TIE for first place~!

[Marcel]

Went with the Dynamite 8-Man tag.  Really like how everyone worked together in it.  

(I'm going to start recording Impact again, really I am....)

[Boydy]

I went with the Hardyz & Co Vs Ethan Page etc as it was different and I didn't think there was many quality matches on the tv shows this week.

Backlash was amazing though.

 

[Eivion]

Starkz/Reed was pretty dang solid and a much better showcase of Starkz capabilities than what I have caught of her in ROH/AEW. Hopefully they give her more chances to work matches like this after she graduates and presumably joins AEW.

Bailey/Gresham was pretty darn neat. I dig both guys' styles and thought they meshed rather well. Considering this was the rubber match of a series I might have to go check their previous ones out at some point. 

Claudio/Eagles and Komander/Angelico were rather nice. Dug the former more with Eagles just trying to chop Claudio own constantly before Claudio eventually built up enough to power him Eagles down and put him away.

Minis cage match and Pigs vs. Clowns war from Invasion were fun brawls with such ridiculous characters. 

Both trios tags from CMLL were on the short side but still fun. The Cibernetico was another fine addition to other good-great ones CMLL has done so far this year.

Still going with the Aussie Open tag titles match, but the Cibernetico at least made me think twice about it. 

[John E. Dynamite]

These match selections were a hybrid of what I actually watched on TV (or in the case of AEW, watched live) + rudimentary cagematch scanning + skimming the WWE stuff (geetzus Puerto Rico was hot) + obvious YouTube channels + a neat little trick I taught myself. Navigating the Mas Lucha YouTube channel is as daunting as anything, but turns out doing the really obvious thing like watching the matches with the most views is a really great way to find the good stuff.

I absolutely HAD to vote for the 13-Man Minis Lucha en Jaula because it captured the spirit of the whole process, just going into the deepest depths to find the wildest, most obscure, most non-traditionally really really good you can. It ends like a lot of these matches do with two rudos vs. two technicos having a makeshift tag match until the two remaining friends find themselves tragically opposed, forced to take the mask or hair of their ally. It works EVERY TIME except this time it happened with little Mexican indie dudes in front of a hot, packed crowd.

The Billie Starkz joint had that "why are they going 20 minutes as the fourth match on an indie card" PWG energy, and I prefer that energy a lot more on YouTube than I do watching an entire show. Does Starkz get enough love for her athleticism? Cool to see someone as young as her call a match this long and succeed at it. Turns out DERBY CITY is actually really well-produced and watchable? If you miss AEW Dark and Peter Avalon making silly faces you're gonna want to check it out. It's a better throwback studio show than PowerrR based on my small sample observations. Marcus Mathers is a pretty talented kid and his match vs. BIG BACON has a smart finish you almost never see. Forgot the AAA match happened in March but they just uploaded it - if you think PCO rules, you can watch it and have your correct opinion reinforced. I will be checking out NXT and CMLL in the next few days.

Had a hard time finding anything from Japan, mainly just uploads of older matches - I guess GLEAT isn't on tour right now. But if anybody knows of a puroresu fed that does good free weekly stuff, share away. EDIT: went into the freaking 2023 Internet Match thread that's RIGHT THERE and I'm wincing my face off. Deepest apologies to Kento vs. Kojima and Jake Lee vs. Marufuji.

I will try to do this next week but there is no way I can maintain a Poll Prep thread. If you (yes, you) can, by all means have a go at it. And if that thread doesn't materialize, go ahead and rec stuff here? Or DM me? (OR POST IN THE FREAKING MATCH THREAD) I have no idea what the protocol is. I'm just pickin' up the pieces and watching people perform...

Edited May 8, 2023 by John E. Dynamite

[JLowe]

I voted for Briscoe-Vance, that felt like a miracle match. But I am going to have to search down more of these matches in the future in Dean’s memory. I have started watching NJPW again more now that I’m familiar with some of their guys thanks to AEW, but missed this week. I will definitely check out the Billie Starkz match.

[John E. Dynamite]

The main event of Viernes Espectacular is extra great, like a lot of CMLL ciberneticos have been recently. The goal of this one was to make Panterita Del Ring Jr. look like a bajillion pesos and they did just that. Is any company on Earth having a better generational shift than current CMLL?

[Curt McGirt]

I watched like no wrestling. Too upset, too much personal shit too. But hey if there are any particularly bloody matches feel free to post them in BLOODSUCKING FREAKS~! I'll pick it up next week, got Raw and NXT recorded and watching Dynamite tonight. 

[caley]

I did watch some Smackdown and NXT on the weekend, that along with last week's Dynamite fully qualifies me to vote, so JD McDonagh-Dragon Lee for me because it was pretty damn fun, downer ending aside.

Edited May 11, 2023 by caley

[John E. Dynamite]

Hardy Compound Deletion Dealie wins?!?! Wouldn't have won that bet, but god bless Big Stoke for putting in the work. 12 matches received votes. That is a beautiful thing. Thank you, everybody, for voting, and moreso for watching. LOOKIT ALL THE WRESTLING WE WATCHED, BIG GUY.

Edited May 13, 2023 by John E. Dynamite

[porksweats]

1 minute ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Hardy Compound Deletion Dealie wins?!?! Wouldn't have won that bet, but god bless Big Stoke for putting in the work. 12 matches received votes. That is a beautiful thing. Thank you, everybody, for voting, and moreso for watching. LOOKIT ALL THE WRESTLING WE WATCHED, BIG GUY.

I can attest my vote was for a DEAN~! posted match.

 

Pig Destroyer/Pig Destructor/Pig Pool/Pig Decapitador vs. Psycho Clown/Dave The Clown/Murder Clown/Panic Clown, now that's what I call pro wrestling and is also pork-adjacent. 

[John E. Dynamite]

4 minutes ago, porksweats said:

I can attest my vote was for a DEAN~! posted match.

 

Pig Destroyer/Pig Destructor/Pig Pool/Pig Decapitador vs. Psycho Clown/Dave The Clown/Murder Clown/Panic Clown, now that's what I call pro wrestling and is also pork-adjacent. 

I don't think DEAN rec'd that particular Puerquiza Extrema match anywhere (I am not trying to horn-toot in the slightest). Not in the POLL PREP threat, and in the Matches thread he rec'd an entirely different match (https://youtu.be/vZdJaNrcPBw) that, obviously, I entirely missed and need to watch in the very very near future.

I never had any doubts that I'd be perusing the man's recommendations for the rest of my natural life... a gift that just ain't gonna stop giving. We are so lucky this many decided to record his taste to history. Technically, Black Danger/ Leon Dorado/ Rey Halcon vs Fussion/ Noisy Boy/ Spider Fly was the last match DEAN ever recommended on the DVDVR. I was so swamped making the last poll that I didn't realize the significance and only skimmed the match and included it because the work was good and the crowd was hot. This is heavy stuff.

[porksweats]

5 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

I don't think DEAN rec'd that particular Puerquiza Extrema match anywhere (I am not trying to horn-toot in the slightest). Not in the POLL PREP threat, and in the Matches thread he rec'd an entirely different match (https://youtu.be/vZdJaNrcPBw) that, obviously, I entirely missed and need to watch in the very very near future.

I never had any doubts that I'd be perusing the man's recommendations for the rest of my natural life... a gift that just ain't gonna stop giving. We are so lucky this many decided to record his taste to history. Technically, Black Danger/ Leon Dorado/ Rey Halcon vs Fussion/ Noisy Boy/ Spider Fly was the last match DEAN ever recommended on the DVDVR. I was so swamped making the last poll that I didn't realize the significance and only skimmed the match and included it because the work was good and the crowd was hot. This is heavy stuff.

You are right, but he was in fact the one who recommended/introduced the Pigs into my viewing habits, recommending previous matches of them so I conflated the two!

[Eivion]

To be fair I'm pretty sure the Pigs/Clowns cage war would have made the poll had DEAN made it. Its too perfect a representation of pro wrestling sleaze and craziness to not mention.