The Natural Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) We enter a new month and so starts the second half of the year. What are your picks for Best of the Year so far? Mine: Wrestler of the Year: Bryan Danielson. Honourable mention to Jon Moxley and CM Punk. Match of the Year. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January. *****. Honourable mention to MJF vs. CM Punk. AEW Dynamite, 2nd February. ***** and Briscoes vs. #FTR from ROH Supercard of Honour, also *****. Tag Team of the Year: #FTR. Easy pick. Card of the Year: AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door. Great top to bottom show. AEW Revolution had three better matches in Punk/MJF (*****), Moxley/Danielson and Kingston/Jericho but the former was more consistent across the board. Promotion of the Year: AEW. Women's Wrestler of the Year: Edited July 1, 2022 by The Natural 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I watched a couple of Thunders even though I'm not nearly at that point in my Nitro watch, and we don't talk enough about how bad the post-Starrcade booking was. It compounded the fast three-count that wasn't a fast three-count. The Nitro rematch ran over, and it was also booked like shit because it a) gave Hogan a visual three-count even though he pulled the tights and seemingly (?) maybe (???) gave up to the Scorpion Deathlock right before this, and b) they vacated the WCW Heavyweight Championship almost immediately after Sting won it. I don't care how chubby and zooted up Sting was at the time; there is no excuse for that shit. Dishonorable mention goes to Bret Hart coming out to fight off the nWo, but being shunted into a feud with Ric Flair instead of helping Sting finish off the remnants of the nWo and getting a program with Hogan like I'd been waiting for since 1993, geez, we already saw Hart/Flair in 1992. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 8 hours ago, SirSmellingtonofCascadia said: Dishonorable mention goes to Bret Hart coming out to fight off the nWo, but being shunted into a feud with Ric Flair instead of helping Sting finish off the remnants of the nWo and getting a program with Hogan like I'd been waiting for since 1993, geez, we already saw Hart/Flair in 1992. I've done the same re-watch and it becomes insanely frustrating right in the stretch you're in. I've posted this a million times over the years, but the obvious booking would have been Sting vs Bret, Champion vs. "Champion," Scorpion Deathlock vs Sharpshooter, Bret out there with the Vader/Ron Simmons belt to avoid a McDevitt letter. Yes, Sting had the personal issues, but if he was going to hold the title from SuperBrawl to Spring Stampede anyway, then what difference does it make? Then, somehow, some way, they get a second bite at the apple later in Bill Goldberg -- and immediately fuck it up by having him do nothing all summer, while steamrolling ahead with all their Hogan plans. Summer ends with a wristlock on Jay Leno that lasts for 20 minutes while Goldberg plays second fiddle in a battle royale. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 9 hours ago, The Natural said: We enter a new month and so starts the second half of the year. What are your picks for Best of the Year so far? Mine: Wrestler of the Year: Bryan Danielson. Honourable mention to Jon Moxley and CM Punk. Match of the Year. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January. *****. Honourable mention to MJF vs. CM Punk. AEW Dynamite, 2nd February. ***** and Briscoes vs. #FTR from ROH Supercard of Honour, also *****. Tag Team of the Year: #FTR. Easy pick. Card of the Year: AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door. Great top to bottom show. AEW Revolution had three better matches in Punk/MJF (*****), Moxley/Danielson and Kingston/Jericho but the former was more consistent across the board. Promotion of the Year: AEW. Women's Wrestler of the Year: Obviously, I have some glaring blind spots as someone who doesn't watch joshi often or WWE ever, but for me, Jade Cargill is the woman of the year. I know it's only been 30-something matches, but she gets better every time she's out there, and the whole gimmick just clicks perfectly. They really need to get her on a red carpet or as a presenter for the MTV or BET awards or something like that - I think she's got tremendous mainstream potential 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin's Beard Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 9 hours ago, The Natural said: We enter a new month and so starts the second half of the year. What are your picks for Best of the Year so far? Mine: Wrestler of the Year: Bryan Danielson. Honourable mention to Jon Moxley and CM Punk. Match of the Year. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January. *****. Honourable mention to MJF vs. CM Punk. AEW Dynamite, 2nd February. ***** and Briscoes vs. #FTR from ROH Supercard of Honour, also *****. Tag Team of the Year: #FTR. Easy pick. Card of the Year: AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door. Great top to bottom show. AEW Revolution had three better matches in Punk/MJF (*****), Moxley/Danielson and Kingston/Jericho but the former was more consistent across the board. Promotion of the Year: AEW. Women's Wrestler of the Year: My list is entirely coloured by the fact that I watch too much puro & don't end having the time to watch much of anything else. I've still got the WXW 16 Carat Gold tournament sitting unwatched, fully intending to get around to it. That said Wrestler of the Year - Kento Miyahara. Other wrestlers have had higher highs, but Kento has just been so consistent, be it in big Triple Crown matches, his tagging (usually with Yuma Aoyagi but also with other NEXTREAM guys), his Champion Carnival run. He's got his formula & I get not everyone digs it but for me it's just bangers almost every time out. Honourable mention nods to El Lindaman over in GLEAT (but also the Best of the Super Juniors) & Yuma Aoyagi. Match of the Year - Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Go Shiozaki - Pro Wrestling NOAH The New Year 2022, 1/1. I've been waiting all year for something to come & topple this but nope, main event of the 2nd show I watched this year just stands above everything else. Just a gloriously stiff matched between 2 guys with a lot of recent history, who should be pushing NOAH into the future but NOSAWA & the rest of the Muta clique would rather focus on older guys. Tag Team of the Year: . It's FTR, I wanted to vote for Astronauts, a Big Japan tag team of Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura, but they just haven't been in the big matches really. Although the BJW tag title match with Okami is fantastic. Card of the Year: NOAH The New Year 2022. It has my favourite match of the year, a great Kenoh vs Kaito Kiyomiya match, KENTA back in NOAH teaming with Sugiura & Sakuraba against Inaba, Kitamiya & Inamura, GHC HW Tag Title match & a very good Kongo vs Stinger tag match. Nothing was bad, show flew by. Honourable mention nod to Clockwork Gake No Fuchi 2022 by Gake No Fuchi Joshi, it's a DDT/Ice Ribbon off-shoot run by Miyako Matsumoto & featured 3 out of 4 great matches, with a mix of hardcore wrestling & weird comedy nonsense. Show was built around Prominence (a group who broke off from Ice Ribbon to do deathmatches) against Gake No Fuchi Pro, which just means Miyacoco & her friends, so you had MAO, Sanshiro Takagi & Shunma Katsumata from DDT & Chris Brookes. My words cannot do this show justice but I watched it live instead of Wrestle Kingdom Night 1 & stand by that choice. If you've got a Wrestle Universe account I highly recommend it. Assuming you have a taste for weird comedy nonsense. Promotion of the Year: New Japan. Kind of. It's weird, they have put on a lot of stuff I've loved but I'm still a bit unenthusiastic about them. But they have 5 matches in my top 25, no one else can match that. There's been some real dogshit too, I will never ever forget the Chase Owens vs Jado NJ Cup match for example, & everything House of Torture related fills me with an existential dread, but they've got DOUKI, Hiromu, Despy, Shingo, ZSJ, Ishii, even when I'm a bit down on them the big stuff delivers. That said, All Japan have had a really good year too, GLEAT shows are always worth watching, FREEDOMS continue to be the absolute kings of the deathmatch. Good year. Women's Wrestler of the Year: Tsukasa Fujimoto. This will change by the end of the year because she's gone on hiatus for a while which should let other people catch up, especially ASUKA. She had a **** match with Arisa Nakajima in her last appearance in SEAdLINNNG before the hiatus where they just went to war & attempted to murder each other. She's had fantastic tag team matches with a variety of opponents, both with Arisa Nakajima as Best Friends, with Tsukushi Haruka as Dropkickers & reuniting with Hikaru Shida as Muscle Venus. ASUKA (aka Veny, not the WWE one) has had a higher volume of great matches, but nothing she's been involved with has touched Fujimoto vs Nakajima. So she's second & I'd say that Stardom's Syuri would be #3, her matches with Giulia & Risa Sera are both must watches. Rookie of the Year: Takuma Fujiwara debuted for Dragongate in November, has already had a ****¼ match for the Open The Brave Gate Title against Dragon Dia in March, & has also had great singles matches with Jacky Funky Kamei & Diamante. He's already gone off to Mexico on excursion as of last month. Wrestles at a level you just don't expect from a guy 8 months into his career. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, Kropotkin's Beard said: Women's Wrestler of the Year: Tsukasa Fujimoto. This will change by the end of the year because she's gone on hiatus for a while which should let other people catch up, especially ASUKA. She had a **** match with Arisa Nakajima in her last appearance in SEAdLINNNG before the hiatus where they just went to war & attempted to murder each other. She's had fantastic tag team matches with a variety of opponents, both with Arisa Nakajima as Best Friends, with Tsukushi Haruka as Dropkickers & reuniting with Hikaru Shida as Muscle Venus. ASUKA (aka Veny, not the WWE one) has had a higher volume of great matches, but nothing she's been involved with has touched Fujimoto vs Nakajima. So she's second & I'd say that Stardom's Syuri would be #3, her matches with Giulia & Risa Sera are both must watches. Rookie of the Year: Takuma Fujiwara debuted for Dragongate in November, has already had a ****¼ match for the Open The Brave Gate Title against Dragon Dia in March, & has also had great singles matches with Jacky Funky Kamei & Diamante. He's already gone off to Mexico on excursion as of last month. Wrestles at a level you just don't expect from a guy 8 months into his career. I definitely agree with your thoughts about Tsukka, and that ASUKA/VENY is going to catch up with her since Tsukka's on hiatus. If Tsukka comes back though, who even knows. I'd put a shout out for Kaho Matsushita for Rookie of the Year. She's gone from "promising rookie with a lot of potential, let's see where she's at in a year" to someone who I eagerly anticipate seeing every single show. Her progress has been fantastic, and she's had so many great matches you don't expect to see out of a joshi rookie. Not only that, but her team with Asahi as Year 1 Class 9 has become one of the best on the joshi scene. Someday I'll be given a Year 1 Class 9 vs. Makoto & ASUKA match. I can dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 My picks are colored by the fact that I watch only free TV and what is posted to YouTube. And a few matches I watch through sleazier means. Wrestler of the Year: Oh man, there is a LOT to choose from but I would have to go with Jon Moxley. Match of the Year: Oh man, there is a LOT to choose from. El Lindaman vs T-Hawk for the G-Rex championship is my Japan match of the year so far and the overall match of the year is FTR vs the Briscoes. Man, that was fucking great. Tag Team of the Year: Oh man, there is a LOT to FTR. Card of the Year: Forbidden Door. Super Card of Honor was a close second. Those are the two PPV's I actually paid for. Wrestlemania 38 was pretty fucking good too. (I paid for that by risky malware on my laptop!) But yeah, can't beat Forbidden Door. Promotion of the Year: AEW in a WALK. Best in Japan is GLEAT! Though I'd prolly go with All Japan if I ever get around to watching more of it on archive.org. Woman Wrestler of the Year: Suzu Suzuki is having a stellar year but I haven't seen enough of her matches. Saya Kamitani is prolly your winner. In the US, I'd go with Big Time Becks. On the indies, I'd edge KiLynn King over Masha Slamovich. Rookie of the Year: Remi Adetunji from the UK. He is going to be completely awesome after getting 100 matches in. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Well, GCW is going to have to answer some questions after a Hoodfoot/Slade match ended early due to a (*checks notes*)... hmm... ah yes... *stabbing spot gone wrong* The video is out there. Please don't post it. 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onelegbrynn Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 1 hour ago, DEAN said: Promotion of the Year: AEW in a WALK. Best in Japan is GLEAT! Though I'd prolly go with All Japan if I ever get around to watching more of it on archive.org. Wait… hold up. There’s All Japan on archive.org ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 4 minutes ago, onelegbrynn said: Wait… hold up. There’s All Japan on archive.org ??? Oh yeah. I discovered that looking for Yuma Aoyagi matches a few polls back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Wrestler of the Half-Year: Wheeler Yuta's been on a hell of a run. Lots of great matches, and in multiple styles. And he's got himself well over in the process. If someone had taken a few months off from watching, Yuta's sudden huge popularity would really confuse them. Match of the Half-Year: I really like Konosuke Takeshita vs Lee Moriarty from Prestige Wrestling. Tag Team of the Half-Year: The Miracle Generation, Kylon King and Dustin Waller. They're incredible. Show of the Half-Year: Forbidden Door, but that might be recency bias. Woman of the Half-Year: I'll say Willow Nightingale. Rookie of the Half-Year: Kidd Bandit is really, really good. And they turned pro in July 2021, so just finished up their rookie year. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 7 minutes ago, AxB said: Rookie of the Half-Year: Kidd Bandit is really, really good. And they turned pro in July 2021, so just finished up their rookie year. Kidd Bandit finally got a cagematch.net profile! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin's Beard Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 51 minutes ago, onelegbrynn said: Wait… hold up. There’s All Japan on archive.org ??? There is a quite surprising amount of wrestling on archive.org, & not just old stuff. Like this week's episode of AEW Dynamite. I've no idea when this trend start, or why nobody has noticed considering this isn't some moderately shady site in China or Russia but hey, it's there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Just now, Kropotkin's Beard said: There is a quite surprising amount of wrestling on archive.org, & not just old stuff. Like this week's episode of AEW Dynamite. I've no idea when this trend start, or why nobody has noticed considering this isn't some moderately shady site in China or Russia but hey, it's there. I noticed an unloadably giant file of Forbidden Door on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimLivingston Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I love that website for its ability for me to host roughly 160 recordings of the podcast my brothers and I did AND for professional wrestling. Incredible. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Watch Wrestling Online has stuff too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 3 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: Well, GCW is going to have to answer some questions after a Hoodfoot/Slade match ended early due to a (*checks notes*)... hmm... ah yes... *stabbing spot gone wrong* The video is out there. Please don't post it. I watched it - very gross and bad. I think the problem is less that it was a stabbing spot gone wrong, and more that it was an actual stabbing gone right. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said: I've done the same re-watch and it becomes insanely frustrating right in the stretch you're in. I've posted this a million times over the years, but the obvious booking would have been Sting vs Bret, Champion vs. "Champion," Scorpion Deathlock vs Sharpshooter, Bret out there with the Vader/Ron Simmons belt to avoid a McDevitt letter. Yes, Sting had the personal issues, but if he was going to hold the title from SuperBrawl to Spring Stampede anyway, then what difference does it make? Then, somehow, some way, they get a second bite at the apple later in Bill Goldberg -- and immediately fuck it up by having him do nothing all summer, while steamrolling ahead with all their Hogan plans. Summer ends with a wristlock on Jay Leno that lasts for 20 minutes while Goldberg plays second fiddle in a battle royale. The real issue is the nWo still being around. It needed to slowly fall apart after Hogan lost so that the company could re-focus on setting up dream feuds for Bret, which would be against Sting and Hogan, and giving focus to mega-pushes for a couple of fresh guys outside of the ME. Goldberg, obviously, but also Scott Steiner, who is headed toward a heel turn and team breakup in January '98, and Eddy Guerrero, who by that time was CLEARLY a viable main event talent with a proper push. Actually, it's wild that they have a core of fresh guys who either were long-timers who had gimmick changes or had come over from another company for the first time (Sting, Hitman, DDP) and guys who they can clearly push to that ME level (Goldberg, Guerrero, Misterio, Scott Steiner, Jericho) and they totally fucked it up. If you end up having to send Hogan, Nash, etc. home and just pay them to stay away and not fuck up the scene, you do it. God, it was 24 years ago and we've talked about it ad nauseam, but it still drives me up a wall. Edited July 1, 2022 by SirSmellingtonofCascadia 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoFistsJustFlips Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I genuinely think Bischoff's thought process at the time was, well god damn Hulk Hogan got hot in 1984 and they prospered until 90-91 with that formula. Heel Hogan got hot in 1996 we can prosper with that formula until 02-03 with it. It was a flawed thought process. But that's why he was never worried about elevating anyone. In his head the golden goose of Hogan was gonna be hot and drawing for a good 6-7 years. And that's why elevating and passing the torch were not concepts he spent any time thinking about or working towards. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I think it’s as simple as they sold a ton of shirts and they weren’t going to stop exploiting the golden goose until it dropped dead. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 44 minutes ago, (BP) said: I think it’s as simple as they sold a ton of shirts and they weren’t going to stop exploiting the golden goose until it dropped dead. Yep, to the point that they realized they could sell even more/keep it “fresh” with the Red-White split, and then having LWO. After the first few months NWO only existed as a brand to sell merch. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 5 minutes ago, AxB said: I had one. Hangman Tim bought me one for my birthday as he found some at some outlet store. I don't they ever official sold them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kang Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I miss the nWo and their 5600987 ripoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 12 minutes ago, AxB said: Wish we had the “wow” reaction here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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