Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Dylan's Mid-Year 100


Recommended Posts

Every couple of months I youtube Michael Tarver and I'm rarely let down. He's great. He's got a goofy but fun match with Trent Barretta from this year.

 

EDIT Dylan, when you C/P highlight that stuff and hit the little Eraser button. It's the second icon from the left on the top row.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tarver wrestles on a lot of Florida indies, namely NWA Florida Underground.  He has also popped in TCW lately (they have a show available on youtube, that I would recommend if you are looking for an indie show with good production values).  

 

On Regal, he was the easily the best guy in the match that I think is easily the best match of the year.  I have enjoyed him in the other flurries we have gotten, but that is the primary reason he is top ten.  

Also if you have DirecTV or Dish Network TCW airs every Friday night at 12am central time. This past show was from their Meridan MS taping last month.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea where I'd place Regal on a list like this. On the one hand, I loved him in the Ohno match and he has looked good in everything else. However, he's probably had little over 25 minutes aired ringtime this year, so it would be really hard for me to put him over guys who have had lots of good performances all year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Swagger over Kane because A. I think Kane is pretty middling as a rule.  He can be inoffensive but almost never adds to a match in my view.  And B. Swagger was really great in a couple of the Del Rio matches.  

 

Rob's comment on Regal is the sort of thinking I myself struggle with when making lists like this.  If anyone gives a shit I could try and explain my reasoning on things of that ilk in greater detail tomorrow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I'm admittedly far less connected to wrestling this year than ever but am always a dork for lists of this type.  Remind me or tell me who the following are/where they work.

 

18. Rampage Brown 

19. Robbie Dynamite 
23. KT Hammil 
39. Alan Extreme
49. Jeff Cobb 
55. Cyrus The Destroyer 
61. Namajague 
64. Astral
67. Califan 
78. Tank Norton 
81. Manabu Suruga 
93. Keith Hammil 
94. Andrew Alexander 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andrew I have seen no 2013 Scotty Mac, PM me or link me in here.

 

Answering Tim's question(s).

 

18. Rampage Brown 

19. Robbie Dynamite 

 

Both Brits who work ASW and others pots.  Pop up a lot on youtube.  Really good tag team together.  

 

23. KT Hammil 

 

East TN/North Georgia Indie guy.  Good in singles, spends most of his time teaming with his brother Keith as the Double Dragons in Empire 


39. Alan Extreme

 

IWRG


49. Jeff Cobb 

 

California/Nevada indie guy with a legit amateur background.  


55. Cyrus The Destroyer 

 

Good big man from East TN/North Ga indie scene, primarily DSCW and Empire


61. Namajague 

 

CMLL


64. Astral

 

CMLL mini.  Actually has a short fun match from the Bronx that just popped up on youtube the other day. 


67. Califan 

 

Monterrey primarily if I'm not mistaken 


78. Tank Norton 

 

East TN/North GA indies, primarily DSCW and Empire.  Big guy who was fairly well known several years back.


93. Keith Hammil 
94. Andrew Alexander 

 

More East TN/North GA indie guys, both almost exclusively in Empire.  Hammil is nicknamed Chunky Dragon and is the tag partner/brother of KT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Not going to update the list outright but here are few stock going up/stock going down picks.  

 

There are lots of guys who will drop because of injuries, being booked in shitty situations, not making tape for one reason or another, et (Sheamus, Timothy Thatcher, Necro Butcher, Villano IV, Briscoes are some examples), but that won't be the purpose of this update.

 

Stock Going Down

 

Kyle Matthews - I'm still about as big a fan of his as there is, especially because he is a modern indie guy who tries to work a mix of the expected super indie style with traditional southern wrestling basics, but he has not been impressive in the last couple of months.  A couple of really awkward heel performance (he really shouldn't be working heel anyhow), plus some other disappointing matches.  His big strength the last couple of years has been his consistency and without that I can't see him as a top twenty guy, let alone top ten.

 

Kazushi Sakuraba - The Dome match reminds one of my favorites of the year, but he was extremely underwhelming (to say the least) in the comeback match v. Nagata and while I liked some of his exchanges on the last night of the G1, he didn't look like a top tier worker at all in that match.  Will need at least one more homerun to stay in my upper third and I don't know if he has it in him.

 

Dean Allmark - He's probably been in as many good matches this year as anyone, but his formula is really tired and he is rarely (if ever) the best guy in his matches.  He's a good wrestler, but even when I was first compiling this it felt weird to put him in the upper quarter.  It's a relatively weak year outside of the top five or so, but he will need to have a breakout performance to hold place.  

 

Jeff Cobb - Really starting to feel like the Thatcher match was a carry job.  The guy has really dynamic highspots but looks lost at times in between them.  He's had other matches I've liked this year, but also matches where he's been really poor.  

 

Cyrus The Destroyer - Has only made tape one more time, a really awful performance in a clusterfuck WarGames match where he looked like he was annoyed even being there.  I'd like to think that was a rare night off, but that's the sort of match a guy like him should excel in.  Right now he feels more like a bottom ten guy, then a guy hovering around the top half.  

 

Stock Going Up

 

Brian Rivers - He's the indie guy who I have really "found" in the last month and a half that stands out.  All but one of the matches I've seen him in has been a tag with his partner Casey Cage, but he's been the best guy in every match by a safe margin and they have worked a wide variety of teams.  He's very Dick Murdochish in look, is an interesting/unorthodox mat worker, bumps well, and has a great understanding of psych.  He also throws a mean punch.  He wouldn't be high up the list at this point, but he'd make it for sure.

 

Rey Hechicero

Charles Lucero

 

I am lumping these guys together because the last few weeks they have earned their spot together.  Their most recent match is my new MOTY over Regal/Ohno and the matches in the weeks before that were top notch as well (the first was a trio).  Hechicero was already on the lower rungs of my list, but after this run I could see a real case to springboard both him and Lucero up around the top ten.

 

Shinsuke Nakamura - There are things I absolutely hate about Nakamura.  I've compared him to Randy Orton before and in many respects I think that is dead on, though I think his best is better than Orton's best.  And really his stock is going up because at his best he was able to have a great, top ten of the year level match with Ibushi of all people.  I've said elsewhere that Nakamura is like a .235 power hitter who strikes out a ton, but when he makes contact he's likely to smash one out of the park with the bases loaded.  You kind of have to take the bad with the good with Nakamura, but with two of the best matches of the year to his credit, to go along with several other really good ones, 65 seems awfully low.  He's likely gonna move up a good bit.

 

Tomohiro Ishii - The best guy in Japan this year, which in my view isn't saying all that much, but it also isn't something that should be laughed at.  He's a very flawed wrestler and there are things about the standard Ishii match that drives me nuts.  But he is stiff, has a flare for the dramatic, is surprisingly good at selling long term damage over the course of  match, and was the obvious star of the G1.  Who knows what will happen over the few months, but right now I'd peg him as no worse than a top twenty-five guy, and a guy who is perhaps on the periphery of top ten.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...