The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Week (2023-05-19)
Some serious 2019 progress! I believe I should have my match of the year list for 2019 up next week, and the top 25 wrestlers of 2019 are a few weeks off!
#11
Rush vs Tracy Williams
ROH Road To G1 Supercard
March 31, 2019
An opener full of two wrestlers trying to stiff each other. Rush has such an amazing presence and Williams does a decent job matching the intensity.
Rating: 7/10
#10
Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs Rie Tamada & Yumiko Hotta
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
A fun tag with lots of great spots. Double Inoue was especially tremendous and they hit a super cool finish where Takako did a chokeslam as Kyoko came off the top for extra force!
Rating: 7.25/10
#9
Buddy Murphy vs Roman Reigns
WWE SmackDown
August 13, 2019
I’m a sucker for a big star vs a “rookie” on TV and this delivered. Buddy was on fire and working really stiff, while Reigns gave him everything he could to make Buddy look legit, while still having Reigns go over. Perfect TV match.
Rating: 7.25/10
#8
Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera vs Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi
“International Ribbon Tag Team Championship”
Ice Ribbon New Ice Ribbon #1004 ~ Osaka Ribbon 2019
November 3, 2019
An exciting tag match with lots of cool stuff, a great pace, and nearfalls. Although a tad sloppy, it was a blast to watch!
Rating: 7.5/10
#7
A-Kid vs Jonathan Gresham
“Quarter-Finals”
PWG Battle of Los Angeles
September 22, 2019
This had tremendous technical wrestling mixed in with some amazing flying spots with an absolutely tremendous finish, however, the PWG’esque of it took it down a notch. There is just something about PWG that taints everything for my enjoyment. With that being said, still a great match.
Rating: 7.75/10
#6
Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita, & Mima Shimoda vs Kaoru Ito, Mariko Yoshida, & Reggie Bennett
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
I loved the early going of this as Bennett was a real force, but it was all about the showcase of LCO being back together. It really picked up as Hokuto bleed a huge gusher and there was a really good dive segment. Lots of excitement and a damn good match!
Rating: 8/10
#5
Daniel Makabe vs Jonathan Gresham
3-2-1 BATTLE! BattleMania 2019
April 19, 2019
Two all-time great technical wrestlers having a technical battle in front of a rowdy crowd is great wrestling. I loved both focused on a different body part, and I really loved when Makabe realized he was outmatched, he resorted to cheating. It leads to Gresham being a great underdog leading to a great finish!
Rating: 8/10
#4
Dynamite Kansai vs Mayumi Ozaki
“Dress Up Wild Fight”
JWP
July 9, 1995
This was a match of two minds for me. On the one hand it’s everything I want. They brawled into the balcony, and they destroyed the ring. They destroyed each other with parts of the broken ring! It was awesome. Heck, Kansai even taped a wrench to her leg to make her kicks more deadly.
However, it’s 36 minutes long and that really takes it down, because it led to down moments.
Rating: 8/10
#3
Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Zenjo Movement 1995
June 27, 1995
The prematch staredown was so awesome, they completely tuned everything else out and it started the story well as the bell rang, Kong went back to her corner to be immediately sneak attacked by Toyota. From there the match started off slow but was intense. Kong’s missile dropkick was really devastating. The last half of the match of going for finishers and dramatic kick outs was awesome.
Rating: 8.5/10
#2
El Barbaro Cavernario vs Mistico
“2/3 Falls”
CMLL Super Viernes
May 24, 2019
This match is kind of ridiculous, but I loved it. The first two falls are all Cavernario kicking ass, including a great segment on the floor where he used the guardrail and whipped Mistico with wires. The 2nd Fall ends with Cavernario ripping off Mistico’s mask to be DQ’ed, after Mistico finally made a comeback. The final fall was unreal. Mistico was flying all over the place with such speed and grace it was unbelievable. Cavernario held his own and did awesome stuff like grabbing Mistico’s legs and swinging his head-first into the guardrail. It was exciting and it wasn’t ruined by silly kick outs since most of the big stuff hit on the floor. The finish was dramatic and this is a match I think most of you will enjoy.
Rating: 8.5/10
“Match of the Week”
Jacob Fatu vs LA Park
“MLW World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match”
MLW Saturday Night SuperFight
November 2, 2019
A wild bloody violent LA Park brawl with an amazingly athletic Jacob Fatu. These two were out there for war and it was everything you could ever want plus it had fire! It does start a little slow, but soon enough Park is bleeding so bad everything from there is compelling and a real epic.
Rating: 8.75/10
Upcoming!
I’ll be back next week with whatever I’m watching. Remember to join the discord for Sunday at 4pm EST for this great Joshi Night lineup:
- Kyoko Inoue vs Sakie Hasegawa, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-23
- Manami Toyota vs Mima Shimoda, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-23
- Bad Nurse Nakamura vs Chigusa Nagayo, GAEA, 1995-07-29
- Sakie Hasegawa vs Tomoko Watanabe, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-31
- Manami Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada, AJW Japan Grand Prix, 1995-07-31
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Top Ten Matches of the Year for 2010
I’m about ready to drop my top 25 wrestlers of the year 2010, so in prep for that here is my top 10 matches of that year.
2010 is a bit of an odd year for me in terms of viewing wrestling. I was still low post Benoit and it was before I started my spreadsheet which tracks matches. As I started with 2010, the amount of matches on that spreadsheet was very low. Therefore most of the matches on this list are very fresh. One more note is I didn’t watch every single match that took place in 2010, just focused on the wrestlers I thought could be great and the hyped matches that had any shot with me.
Honourable Mentions
Here are five more matches that could easily had made it to the bottom of my list, but just were kept off:
- Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – “Streak vs Career”, WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28
- Colt Cabana & El Generico vs Kevin Steen & Steve Corino – “Chicago Street Fight”, ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2, April 24
- Kaori Yoneyama vs Tanny Mouse – NEO Summer Stampede, August 1
- Ayumi Kurihara vs Madison Eagles – SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11
- Claudio Castagnloi & Sara Del Rey vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush – Chikara Through Savage Progress Cuts The Jungle Law, September 19
Final Note
This list is based off of matches I have watched in the last few months and based off of my own personal biases. Take everything with all of the salt.
#10
Chris Hero vs Ikuto Hidaka
EVOLVE 2
March 13
This match is one I have always heard about, but never saw until recently. It was everything it was hyped to be, a great technical battle. I loved how Hero used his size to gain advantages, while Hidaka had to use his speed and smarts to get control. A very smart match.
#9
Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama vs Kana & Syuri
SMASH.10
November 22
Emi Sakura and Kaori Yoneyama at this time were one of the best tag teams ever, they just worked so well together. Their opponents were a team of bad asses. Kana, who is now Asuka in the WWE, and Syuri, who is now the top dog in Stardom. They brought their MMA killer instincts and kicks against the nonstop barrage of speed and bombs by Sakura and Yoneyama. A great exciting tag match.
#8
L.A. Park vs La Parka
“Name Rights Match”
AAA TripleMania XVIII
June 6
This is AAA’s version of Dude Love vs Steve Austin from Over The Edge ’98. Each La Parka has an authority in the corner to fulfill the story I don’t quite get. What I do understand is a bloody L.A. Park war and this was amazing here. The interference and story aspects seem to help the match out, including when Park destroys them.
#7
Command Bolshoi vs Nanae Takahashi
“JWP Openweight Title Match”
JWP Never Give Up!
June 13
This match is awesome and a well built main event match. That kept getting better and better as it went along with some outstanding nearfalls. I bit on many of them. I love seeing Bolshoi work the main event style for a change. The desperation on her trying to get the title was so great! Bolshoi really tried to strike her way to victory.
#6
Kana vs Meiko Satomura
Kana Pro, April 29
This is similar to the Hero and Hidaka match, but instead of based on submissions it’s based on strikes. A traditionally built match, but the expert level they do it turns this into a classic. It does leave you wanting more, which is great because they have a whole series of matches after this one.
#5
L.A. Park vs El Mesias
AAA Guerra de Titanes
December 5
This is one of the most brutal stadium brawls I have ever seen. This is doesn’t have the story parts from the other Park match on the list, so it’s a lot more serious and deadly. At one point Mesias attempts one of the most brutal topes ever. It’s bloody and brilliant.
#4
Chris Hero vs Big Van Walter
“Tournament Finals”
wXw 16 Carat Gold
March 7
Two heavyweights going toe to toe to win the tournament with a ruckus German crowd, what is not to love? After so many brutal strikes this match built to a great finish.
#3
Emi Sakura vs Meiko Satomura
Ice Ribbon Knights of Ice Ribbon
September 23
There is almost nothing written about this match online, but luckily I came across it in a YouTube search. It does start off slow with some early comedy, but soon Satomura scientifically picks Sakura apart with only a few hope spots built in. Until, Sakura makes an amazing comeback and throws everything she has at Meiko, until an amazing finish. A real sleeper of a great match.
#2
Akira Tozawa vs Chris Hero
“Tournament Quarter-Finals”
PWG The Battle of Los Angeles
September 5
I’m generally not a huge fan of the Dragon Gate style, nor the finishing spamming many kick outs type matches, but… this is one of the best versions of that match I have ever seen! Tozawa brought so much speed and amazing spots, while Hero kept up with him and grounded the whole affair. Almost the best match of the year.
#1
Emi Sakura vs Kaori Yoneyama
“JWP Openweight Title – Hair vs Hair Match”
JWP Revolution
September 19
The only match from 2010 that is making my top 100 greatest matches ever list.
This is everything I want from a big hair match in Mexcio, but done in Japan instead. After years of this great tag team, we get them at each other’s throats trying to destroy each other to win the title and keep their hair. The intensity early one was unreal. The finishing stretch was everything Hero vs Tozawa was, but only more so with better counters and higher emotions and stakes. An all time classic!
There you have it, my top 10 matches of 2010 at this very minute. Always subject to change as I find more.
What did you think of this list? Hit me up on twitter and let me know.
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Tune in next time for my top 25 wrestlers of 2010.
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