Tag Archives: Goldust

2019 Match of the Year List

By Grimmas on | 2 Comments

I love 2019 in real time it was the year I fell in love with women’s indies and was watching everything. AEW debuted too.

So what were the matches of the year?

Honourable Mentions

  • El Barbaro Cavernario vs Titan, CMLL, February 22
  • Charlie Morgan vs Mercedes Martinez, Shimmer, March 30
  • Dasher Hatfield vs Mr. Touchdown, “Ladder Match”, Chikara, April 5
  • Chihiro Hashimoto vs Sareee, Sendai Girls, June 8
  • Arisa Nakajima vs Nanae Takahashi “Hair Match”, SEAdLINNNG, November 2
  • Jacob Fatu vs LA Park, “No DQ”, MLW, November 2
  • Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano vs Jungle Kyona & Konami, Stardom, November 24
  • Blue Demon, Jr. vs L.A. Park, IWRG, December 15
  • Kagetsu vs Mayu Iwatani, Stardom, December 24

The List

#10
Mercedes Martinez vs Jordynne Grace
“NCW Femme Fatales International Championship”
The Summit
August 10
Midtown Event Theatre

The best wrestling event I have ever experienced live was The Summit in Toronto. Multiple women’s promotions working together to put together the best show of SummerSlam weekend! The highlight of that show was this match. Martinez made Grace look like an absolute beast and they worked a very smart match that was very dramatic!

#9
Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks
“Hell in a Cell WWE Raw Women’s Championship”
WWE Hell in a Cell
October 6
Golden 1 Center

One of the smartest and most creative Hell in a Cell matches in WWE history. So many innovative spots and callbacks to previous stuff highlighted this intense battle between two all time greats. I was hooked from the beginning with the attack before the cage was fully lowered and I stayed on till the great finish.

#8
Joey Janela vs Kris Statlander
Beyond Uncharted Territory
June 12
Electric Haze

This was a real coming out party for Statlander and one of the greatest intergender matches of all time. A really wild vicious match with so many bombs thrown and the winner was in doubt all match. The spot threw the door I still remember freaking out about when I watched it live 4 years ago!

#7
Arisa Hoshiki vs Jungle Kyona
“Wonder of Stardom Championship”
Stardom X Stardom 2019
August 10
Korakuen Hall

Review here.

#6
Metalico vs Virus
“Loser Must Retire”
CMLL Juicio Final 2019
May 31
Arena Mexico

I always love big emotional matches and this one had that and an amazing crowd. I read this match described as “charmingly sloppy” and that is a lovely description. Each of these two shined and the drama of the nearfalls was beautiful to watch.

#5
Ashley Vox vs Kris Statlander
“Unsanctioned”
Limitless Snakebitten
January 11
Westbrook Armory

I love this match and it brings me back to the greatest ECW brawling main events. It was a great walk around the arena and hit each other with whatever they can, which included a giant wooden hook! This was violent and a really chaotic brawl in the midst of a great feud. The finishing sequence needs to be seen!

#4
Cody vs Dustin Rhodes
AEW Double or Nothing
May 29
MGM Grand Garden Arena

Just tremendous storytelling in a tremendous brawl. The history of these two brothers having this fight, where Cody was out to kill, and Dustin was out to survive. This felt like a violent version of Bret-Owen, so I was all in. This still might be my favourite AEW match ever.

#3
Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston
“WWE Championship”
WrestleMania 35
April 7
MetLife Stadium

Amazing babyface moment on such a great stage. The whole match is built around the underdog overcoming the odds to achieve a dream and I will always get behind that emotional story. One of the best WrestleMania matches of all time.

#2
Arisa Hoshiki vs Tam Nakano
“Wonder of Stardom Championship”
Stardom Shining Destiny 2019
June 16
Korakuen Hall

I am a sucker for great stories in wrestling and the best story in wrestling in 2019 was Tam Nakano and Arisa Hoshiki. The story telling in this match then lived up to the overall story, with each having great strategies and it all leading up to a brilliant conclusion. Everything was stiff and crisp and super emotional. A match of the year in most years, but this is a 2019 list…

#1
Mercedes Martinez vs Kylie Rae
“Phoenix of RISE Championship No Ropes Submission Match”
RISE 13: Legendary
March 29
Berwyn Eagles Club

Watching this live I thought it was great and it has only improved with time. Kylie is the perfect underdog likable babyface and there is nobody better in the veteran dominant role than Martinez. The ropes being removed added a level of danger to that match that I really loved. It starts off really great with Mercedes attacking Kylie while she’s covered in ribbons and only gets better from there. The legwork by Martinez was tremendous and Kylie sold it so well. The finishing run was so exciting! I need to mention that Allysin Kay and Veda Scott were tremendous on commentary as well. A real classic that doesn’t get enough love.

Upcoming!

The top 25 wrestlers of 2019 will be coming soon!

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Top 10 Matches of Year 2013

By Grimmas on | Leave a comment

Continuing the process of putting up match of the year lists, we are in the year 2013. The first year I started to keep track of matches on my google spreadsheet. In September I made the initial list that has ballooned out from there.

#10
CM Punk vs John Cena
WWE Raw
February 25

The classic “piledriver” match. I would say Punk is Cena’s best opponent and it’s the best WWE feud of the 2010’s. Another awesome match in that series, and sadly the last.

#9
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus
CMLL
October 6

Two of the best mat workers in the world working a classic lucha title match. Anytime Virus gets the time in these matches they are must watches.

#8
Hirooki Goto vs Katsuyori Shibata
NJPW Dominion
June 22

I feel wrong putting this match on the list, due to what happened to Shibata in 2017. However this is my 2013 list (outside of a small edit later on). These two destroy each other with stiff strikes. Hard to watch in hindsight.

#7
Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura
NJPW G1 Climax
August 4

Shocking to say both of these wrestlers have competed in the WWE. They just have perfect chemistry and work at an extreme pace. Watch out for the kicks!

#6
Cesaro vs William Regal
NXT
November 21

The final match in the great career of Regal as he tried to put the cocky young jerk in his place. Everything you could want in pro-wrestling.

#5
Cesaro vs Sami Zayn
“2 out of 3 Falls”
NXT
August 21

Before NXT was on the WWE Network (and before the WWE Network was a thing) NXT was purely a development territory. However these two didn’t need to develop and they put up an amazing match here.

#4
The Shield vs Cody Rhodes & Goldust
WWE Battleground
October 6

A really underrated match where the Rhodes family had to win to get their jobs back. With an emotional Dusty in their corner, the Rhodes brothers were the perfect babyface southern tag team.

WWE_SummerSlam_2013_poster

#3
Brock lesnar vs CM Punk
WWE SummerSlam
August 18

CM Punk worked as a spunky underdog babyface against the monster here and it really worked. Punk pulled out all the stops and used his brains to make this match competitive. In the end, Lesnar is still the unslayable monster, but the ending was actually put in doubt.

#2
Daniel Bryan vs John Cena
WWE SummerSlam
August 18

My former #1 match of 2013 is an all-time classic. Cena went out there to make Bryan the star, and this is them doing a WWE main event match. The person possible version of that style!

#1
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs LA Park
TxT
May 11

On the original list I made in 2013, this match was #2, but my love for it has grown over time. This match starts out with LA Park lighting a Wagner shirt on fire that is draped over a chair and while Wagner makes his entrance, Park is flipping him off. It gets better from there. Blood, chairs, beer bottles, this is everything a brawl could possibly be!

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