Ongoing 2022 Matches Of The Year

 #12. Jon Moxley vs Biff Busick, GCW Bloodsport 8 31/3

Pretty much what you want from this. Those elbows looked nasty, and they stuck to the heirarchy well with Mox being all over Biff, but with enough battle that it was competitive. Some of Biff's chops are thunderous. This is 2022, year of the epic bladejob (about 90% of the matches on this list will be bloody by the look of it), and Biff leaked like a faucet again. His whole dome was slick with blood by the end. Obviously loads of fire and heat and that knee finish was a finish.

#2. The Briscoes vs FTR, ROH Supercard Of Honor

On first watch I thought this was as good as the famed Briscoes vs MCMG match from 15 years ago. They successfully had a long, epic, workrate heavy tag match in 2022 that didn't feel too cutesy or overboard despite it's length and ambition, which is a real achievement. That they spent the vast majority of the match throwing hands and working exciting strike exchanges made that possible. Very physical, hard-hitting match with a lot of beef, but also thought they paced it really well, letting the small moments breathe, and it had more structure than most matches of this length these days. FTR are unabashed '80s heel fanboys, and they have plenty of dubious tactics to gain the advantage, and once again the colour red added a lot to the middle of the match. Dax had some great hard punches right to Jay's open wound, and Mark is an awesome hot tag guy with energy to spare. All the big spots down the stretch felt organic and unpredictable, and the bombs dropped on the outside (especially that suplex) were nuts. Of course Dax vs Jay was the centre of the match, but both Mark and Cash are great in secondary roles, and Mark's surprise corkscrew senton to the floor was a genuine holy shit moment. Great match that is a big notch on both team's legacies. That the Briscoes are in their 3rd decade as a team and still having matches at this level really begs the question if they are the best of all time, and if this was their swansong in ROH then they couldn't have asked for a better exit.

#6. Ilja Dragunov vs Roderick Strong, NXT UK 7/4

NXT UK is such a blindspot these days I have to wonder how many are even watching it, which is a shame because Ilja's title run has been good so far. He has really developed into a near total package, and against a reliable guy like Roddy they delivered a banger. Both guys absolutely lace each other with chops, and I am a fan of Ilja busting out his swank judo throws. This was a match with not just stiffness, but some smarts too as they both target a body part on the other, with Roddy working Ilja's shoulder and Dragonov going for Roddy's knee. I was really surprised with how good of a job Dragunov did, he has always been a guy who is best when working from below, but he made a massive effort to sell the damage he was taking even he was on the offence. The Torpedo to the knee could have looked dumb but made sense with his strategy and I thought his work on the leg was great. I am always a fan of the stretch muffler in particular. Roddy was there and had a good showing, busting out his usual bombs, but this was Dragunov's match and he reminded us all we should still be keeping an eye on this brand for now.

#7. Jon Moxley vs Wheeler Yuta, Rampage 8/4

This was not a match without it's flaws, but they still pulled it off and achieved a star making showing for Wheeler. That table spot was goofy and the last finisher kicked out was excessive, but otherwise was a great payoff and a testament to pro wrestling story-telling done right. Wheeler has progressed from comedy unit geek who got crushed in a minute, to getting more and more in as he has progressed, to taking Moxley to deep waters and earning his respect. For his part, Yuta had the type of performance needed, bringing it to Mox from the bell with a great tope and brawling with him around the floor. Just like the Biff match, the blood and the hierarchy were key to making Yuta strong in defeat, and I did really love him paying Moxley back with both the Danielson stomps and the biting and back raking. To me, that did more than the blood in showing Yuta was operating at a different level, though the visual of him covered in blood screaming for Mox to tap while in the choke was also fantastic. Whether Wheeler is That Guy remains to be seen, but they have set the stage for him now.

Ongoing 2022 Matches Of The Year List

Akira Nogami, a career in 3 parts (cont.)

 AKIRA vs Yoshihashi, BOSJ 30/5/10

Yoshihashi is a guy who’s gained something of a following as his rise up the card coincided with New Japan’s expansion to Western audiences, but personally I’ve always seen him as mediocre. Here he is a black trunks rookie getting carried by our wiley veteran. One thing I have learned rewatching these matches is that AKIRA hates kneecaps. He must destroy them. Yoshihashi has some young lion gusto but AKIRA completely schools him on the ground, stretching him out and tying him in submissions. However he does survive long enough to find an opening and pay AKIRA back in kind with some leg attacks of his own with a sense of urgency. Yoshihashi winning was definitely an upset and a nice rub for the kid, and the finishing rub-crunching swanton would have made Jeff Hardy proud. Has Grown Man Yoshihashi had a singles match as good as this?

Yuki Ishikawa vs AKIRA, Kana Pro 17/6/12

Really interesting clash of hybrid styles. Both guys are obviously very technically skilled but there’s a difference between BatttlARTS and New Japan. This starts very much an Ishikawa match and slowly becomes more of an AKIRA match as it progresses, but it’s all quality. A lot of the way through is entirely on the ground, and there’s plenty of struggle for holds and counters. When AKIRA goes up to the top for a spot, Ishikawa cool-y rolls out the way and taunts him, only to get a dropkick to the face for his trouble. Great finishing sequences as AKIRA hits the belly flop splash but can’t finish due to the pain in his arm, Ishikawa ever the master of snatching a guy in hold tries to capitalise only for AKIRA to catch a counter-attack. This was just as much as that pairing looks on paper.

TAJIRI vs AKIRA, WNC 27/12/12

TAJIRI is another guy who had a late career resurgence in his veteran years by relying on grappling and ring smarts, so these two are a great fit together. There’s plenty of solid grappling and struggle, but it’s actually who takes charge of most of the match. He focuses on AKIRA’s arm and picks it apart with a bunch of interesting and varied attacks. The smart arm-work and TAJIRI’s kicks make for a great prolonged heat section, and AKIRA’s selling is top tier. He has to rely on enziguris and headbutts and ends up busting himself open in the process, which just further puts over the struggle and grit of the match. He has to get fired up deep in the match and switch his strategy up. Both guys were still agile and doing high spots, but considering they were in their 40s and not working at the pace of juniors in their prime, this is a great example of 2 vets having a really compelling match using their wrestling IQ and cleverness rather than their athleticism. TAJIRI was on a roll with his WNC promotion at this time and this match is a notch in both men’s belts.

Akira Nogami, a career in 3 parts (cont.)

 

AKIRA vs Kanemoto, 20/2/00

This one rocked. They go at it from the bell, and Kanemoto opens things up blasting AKIRA with a bunch of full pelt kicks and ripping off his jacket and mask. AKIRA must have really loved that jacket because he had a fire lit under him from the off, and these guys were trying to tear each other’s heads off. Scrappy match with both guys getting as many shots in as they can. I always dig Kanemoto putting the boots in while working the ankle lock, and I have to say I enjoy the way AKIRA does his to rope splash in all these matches. He isn’t a big guy but he looks like a kid belly flopping into the pool, just full weight on a guy. Towards the end AKIRA rips off Kanemoto’s knee pad and tries to dislocate his kneecap with a bunch of stomps, really spiteful shit. Kanemoto could have sold the damage better for his brief come back but fuck it he didn’t win, and this was only 10 minutes so it was go-go from the start. I have no idea who started this beef but fuck me did they both try and end it.

Tanaka vs AKIRA, 10/12/00

This version available is JIP after the first 3^rd so we don’t get the full match, but what we do get is awesome. AKIRA’s first Jr title shot in years and he is super motivated. We open up with a great tope into the crown and when in the ring he takes off all his wrist tape and other shit before going to town on Tanaka, like a mobster taking off all his jewellery before working a guy over. Already the 2^nd match in the post I’m revisiting there are clear themes running through these matches – a mix of aggression, targeted leg attacks, and clever technical spots. All things AKIRA brings to the party and Tanaka can hang with them all too. Finals minutes get very hot and I really dug the final scramble with both guys trying to catch the other in an arm or leg bar. No idea what we missed but as long as it wasn’t a stinker there’s a good chance this is one of the best IWGP Jr title matches of the 2000s.

AKIRA vs Tanaka, BOSJ 28/5/01

This was more of the same goodness, albeit not as big and dramatic as it’s a mid-tourney match rather than for a belt. This was much more deliberately paced, with AKIRA being happy to slow things down and stretch Tanaka out for a lot of the way. These two just meshed very well stylistically and we get some nice work on the mat with it feel like a game of chess. AKIRA going for a big dive to the floor only for Tanaka to snatch him into an armbar mid-flight was a pretty cool spot, and once again they finish with each other trying to grab tricky submissions on each other. I haven’t watched a New Japan Jrs match in quite some time, as a division it could really do with an AKIRA-like veteran for a new generation.

Kanemoto vs AKIRA, 23/3/03

Kanemoto for his part doesn't do much you wouldn't see him do anything you wouldn't see in any other Kanemoto match. But the story is AKIRA being all fired up for a big title match and putting on a strong Big Match effort to make this feel important. The first half is all good if nothing special, but the second half sees both guys target each other's legs and that's when we start getting some very cool stuff. They get some good drama out of an STF, and I love how when in the Ankle Lock AKIRA is basically climbing over the ref in desperation. AKIRA later escaping another Ankle Lock by pulling Kanemoto's pad down and BITING HIS KNEE is tremendous. Kanemoto goes for a moonsault, AKIRA gets his legs up and both guys take the damage. AKIRA slamming Kanemoto's knee into the mat repeatedly while in an Ankle Lock is also very cool and something I cannot believe I've never seen anyone else do. Finish has Kanemoto busting out some swank wishbone submission. Good shit, definitely Nogami’s career match!

Akira Nogami, a career in 3 parts

 

Akira Nogami (aka just AKIRA) is a guy with a bit of a strange career. He debuted for New Japan in the mid-'80s and floated in and out of prominence for the better part of 20 years, having odd spells of pushes and popularity before drifting into the background due to injuries or other reasons. He was a small heavyweight and a big junior, but only ever held the IWGP belt once in his career and seemed to have an obvious ceiling. He spent the majority of the '90s solidly in the shadows of giants like Liger, Ohtani and even Ultimo and Samurai. A technically gifted worker on the mat, with personality and ring-smarts, by the time the 2000s rolled around he was a respected veteran who saw a resurgence in popularity. It is unusual for someone to hit their peak 17 years into their career, but AKIRA was that guy. Here I will revisit some matches from 3 different periods of his career – the early '90s, his resurgence in the early '00s, and his later freelance years in the '10s.


Fujinami/Nogami vs Ishikawa/Kitahara, 14/12/92

Nice under the radar match that happened on the mid card of the show that also had the infamous Muta Scale match. The New Japan vs WAR feud was so, so great. I mean Nogani’s showing here a classic example of a guy who is technically proficient but (at the time) toothless, getting elevated by the inter-promotional hatred. He’s the lowest ranked guy and gets worked over during a FIP section, but everyone here is good. Ishikawa in particular is a heat machine, dude get booed every time he tags in. The WAR guys work well as a unit and are a constantly running interference to keep the NJ team on the back-foot. Lots of bad feelings and the final minutes get really hot as everything breaks down – Nogami is back in after getting worked over, Fujinami is a badass, and Ishikawa has the NERVE to use the Dragon Sleeper. The outcome was never really in doubt but this feud is always worth a revisit.

Hashimoto/Mutoh/Nogami vs Tenryu/Ishikawa/Hara, 5/2/93

God damn is Hashimoto vs Tenryu one of the all-time great wrestling feuds, even the pre-match showdown here between them is epic. Mutoh didn’t really dip his toe much into this war with WAR, and the crowd are clearly pumped for his involvement and he is super over and fired up. He is a not a guy you think of for throwing hands or hate-filled battles, but he brings enough energy and personality that he adds to the match. There is one section where all the New Japan guys gang up on Tenryu and it is glorious after how much of a shit weasel he was at the start. This is a thread to talk about Nogami, and even though he is clearly the loss post again he is still really fired up and brings it. Tenryu vs lower ranked guys is a constant, and Nogami had some fire in his belly. There is this great moment towards the end as Tenryu powerbombs Nogami and cockily covers him with one foot, only for Hashimoto to blast him in the chops with a roundhouse kick. Final minutes were a bit one sided, I guess there were only so many times Hash and Mutoh could prolong the inevitable, but it’s not long after the bell that Tenryu and Hash are going at it again. Is Hashmoto the most badass wrestler ever? I am pretty sure he is the most badass wrestler ever. Oh yeah this is a thread about someone else.

Best of Finlay in WCW

 

Belfast Bruiser vs Lord Steven Regal, Uncensored 1996

These 2 guys getting 15+ minutes on PPV to shellac each other for our viewing pleasure, what a treat. This was an absolute walloping from the bell, both guys going full gusto with the malice and violence. Everything move here was high impact, from the clotheslines that’s hit with an audible thud to the soccer punts to the spine. Regal was unleashing these short palm strikes to the face throughout that looked like they could have broken Finlay’s nose. This was a battle all the way, with both guys grinding each other down. Regal hits a perfectly timed low blow in a split-second window, then towards the end gets his just desserts as Finlay really unloads on him with straight punches, which bust Regal’s nose up with colour. We get a stinkbag finish with the Bluebirds interfering for the DQ, even dumber was that Regal was in control when they ran in. Still, this was one of the stiffest, hardest hitting matches to ever take place in a WCW ring and a low key MOTYC. Good gravy what an ass kicking.

Belfast Bruiser vs Lord Steven Regal, Nitro 29/4/96 (Parking Lot Brawl)

This absolutely delivers what it promises. The PPV encounter was much more of a pro wrestling match, and at 17 minutes it was mid-tempo. This was more akin to a scrap outside a pub between 2 local hardmen. At 6 minutes it’s over quickly, but boy is it violent. The blow to blow action was great and Regal in particular has awesome punches. The gimmick is a big appeal and they do a lot of great spots with the cars – Finlay putting his leg through a window, throwing a tire at Regal, strangling each other with a seat-belt. It’s a better action movie fight scene than They Live, and these guys are actually slamming each other on car bonnets. Cap it off with a sick piledriver on the roof of a truck to finish and this is up there with the best sub-10 minute TV matches you’ll see.

Fit Finlay vs Chris Benoit, Slamboree 1998

Another total stiff-fest. Benoit opens things up with a massive chop to start and it doesn’t let up from there. Both guys were in each others grills constantly, and Benoit was super over at this point so the crowd was pretty hot for it. A real walloping, in particular all of Benoits chops were blistering and Finlay’s clotheslines looked like he was running Benoit over with a hurling stick. I think I preferred the Regal PPV match, but objectively this may have been better as it was faster faced, better structured and had a better finish. We get Benoit eating a chairshot on a failed suicide dive, which is a disgusting spot on its own let alone how often he did it. Booker comes out to distract Benoit, leading to Finlay dropping him with a ridiculously violent dropkick to the back of the head that I could have bought as knocking him out. Thankfully that wasn’t the finish itself, we got a one more burst in the ring, making it more ‘Booker fucking with Benoit’ than ‘Booker costing him the match’, which is infinitely more satisfying.

Ongoing 2022 Matches Of The Year list

#1. Hangman Adam Page vs Bryan Danielson, AEW Dynamite 5/1
#2. The Briscoes vs FTR, ROH Supercard Of Honor
#3. Bryan Danielson vs Jon Moxley, AEW Revolution
#4. CM Punk vs MJF, AEW Revolution
#5. Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho, AEW Revolution

#6. Ilja Dragunov vs Roderick Strong, NXT UK 7/4
#7. Jon Moxley vs Wheeler Yuta, Rampage 8/4
#8. CM Punk/Jon Moxley vs FTR, AEW Dynamite 9/2
#9. CM Punk vs MJF, AEW Dynamite 2/2
#10. Biff Busick vs Slade, Beyond Wrestling Day 91 4/2

#11. Hangman Adam Page vs Lance Archer, AEW Dynamite 9/2
#12. Jon Moxley vs Biff Busick, GCW Bloodsport 8 31/3
#13. The Briscoes vs Alex Zayne/Blake Christian, GCW Die 4 This 1/1
#14. WALTER vs Nathan Frazer, WWE NXT UK 13/1
#15. Arik Royal vs Kevin Ku, ACTION The Movement Begins! 4/3

Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (Continued)

 Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Takaiwa & Makabe, 4/1/01

This was also very fun in the same way as the previous Makabe tag. Takaiwa is a step down from Liger as a partner, but him and Makabe clicked well and had some good teamwork together. This is all about the hierarchy of Makabe once again being the young lion taking it to the champs. Kanemoto & Tanaka are kinda just there for a lot of this, not having many big moments themselves but giving Makabe the room to have a big performance. I did like Kanemoto blasting him with a straight punch when he tried to interrupt an ankle lock though. Late in the match, there was a pretty hot strike exchange between Makabe and Kanemoto where Makabe got the better of it, going from pest to serious threat. Makabe has a lot of fire in his belly and he gets one last big hulk up attempt before getting put away, and this is a formula that just works.

Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Dr. Wagner Jr & Silver King, 3/2/01

Total showcase for the luchadores, which is really fun but there is a ceiling to how high an exhibition like this can go. The champs are total passengers here, though like the Makabe matches they provide a platform for their opponents to have a show-stealing performance. Wagner/SK have a bunch of fun highspots and teamwork, and Wagner is always a great personality to watch. They really translate well to the Japanese style, they hit hard, thrown bombs, were fired up and really eat the champs up for like 90% of the match. The only chances the champs had were catching them with flash subs and pin attempts. Couple big spots in particular like a huge top rope splash mountain on Kanemoto (dude got fucking launched) and a poison frankensteiner on SK (which he really could have sold better but whatever it was the setup for the finish). Really wish we got more of the luchadors in Japan, they really clicked in this setting and were a breath of fresh air in a scene which was fairly stale at the time.

Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Kondo & Hayashi, All Japan 3/1/13

A good decade or so after these guys were at their peak both in terms of ability and popularity, but they’re still an established team. This was an all-action go go go workrate tag, which isn’t the kind of match I get excited about these days, but to be fair they did that match well. There was enough fire and bad intentions to go along with the effort that I still enjoyed it, and Kanemoto was still a big star who felt important every time he was involved. There really wasn’t any let up in the pace, super fast moving, which at 20+ minutes can make everything feel like a blur, but they got good mileage out of the big nearfalls thanks to relying on saves and some tricky pin attempts that it didn’t stray into overkill at least. Probably still better than most modern matches of this flavour.

Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka

 

Kanemoto & Tanaka were one of the best juniors tag team in the history of New Japan's division. They were a key part of the early years of the titles in the late '90s and, along with Ohtani & Takaiwa and to a lesser extent Liger & Samurai, helped pave the way for a style which would take off in the 2000s. Here I revisit some of the best matches the duo had as a team. 

Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka, 11/10/99

I have to imagine this is the best juniors tag to ever take place at the Tokyo Dome, albeit quite an overlooked one. Four dudes with bad attitudes, fired up for a big event, and beating the crap out of each other. Every time I write about prime Ohtani, I feel compelling to gush over him, and he once again is larger than life both in the big moments (selling Tanaka’s kicks like he got his cage rattled) and the small ones (grinding his fist into Kanemoto’s face). Takaiwa is also a guy I appreciate more with age, he is a wrestling ball who crushes dudes with chest-destroying chops and massive lariats. Pretty hot home stretch with everyone hitting their big stuff and some big nearfalls, and I dug the finish with Kanemoto getting powerbombed into oblivion. New Japan’s MOTY for 1999.
 
Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka, 25/6/00

This was a total junior-weight war. Just a non-stop barrel of stiffness, intensity, hatred, beef, and more stiffness. These guys were just constantly bringing it and blasting each other. The Ohtani/Takaiwa team are a wonderful pair of shitbags with all their taunting and disrespect, and the moments they get their payback are fun. Takaiwa was in full wrecking ball mode and absolutely tearing through fuckers with his chops and lariats. Ohtani is fucking king-sized, everything from his facial reactions to things, to the punches to the face, the way he leads the end run, just a great reminder of how good he was as a Junior. End run is MEGA with Korakeun being RED HOT without it ever going too far, with some huge nearfalls and saves.

A great, hard-hitting, balls to the wall war. I'd say this is Tanaka's best match, maybe the best match Takaiwa's been in, and easily better than any Jr tag title match of the last 10 years, and you're bonkers if you think otherwise.

Kanemoto & Tanaka vs Liger & Makabe, 12/9/00

Cool story here as Liger is still LIGER, but Makabe is ranked way below everyone else involved, and Kanemoto/Tanaka are the far more cohesive unit. This one is all about young lion Makabe taking a whooping and showing heart and fire against the much more highly skilled, more experienced champs. Kanemoto and Tanaka are pretty awesome here, working as the heel side, cutting the ring in half, and getting some huge heat off of submission attempts. The second half is pretty much non-stop greatness, huge nearfalls, Makabe being a great underdog and busting out sick german sulexes and spears, and Liger running wild. Tanaka grabs a leglock on Liger on the outside to take him out leading to a truly great final stretch with Makabe going it alone against the champs and showing plenty of fire and heart and getting some huge nearfalls.

This and the before mentioned Ohtani/Takaiwa tag are 2 real hidden gems from this year. A great match, and despite this being during his young lion period I'd rate this as a better performance from Makabe than anything he showed as heavyweight (and I like a few of his big heavyweight matches). It's a shame he devolved into doing Bruiser Brody tribute brawls most of his career, because he looks like a great future prospect here, and the champs did an excellent job making him look like a star in defeat. I think this is the sort of match anyone could enjoy.

RIP Scott Hall

Scott Hall is a guy's impact on the wrestling world was left more by his personality and involvement in the nWo than what he did between the ropes, but he was no goof in the ring. A lot of his most well known and loved matches are widely established at this point - the ladder matches with Michaels, the Action Zone tag, the Rumble match with Bret, the Survivor Series tag with Flair, Savage and Perfect.

In tribute I decided to revisit a few lesser known matches from his prime years which I enjoyed a lot.

Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel, RAW 11/10/93

Hall’s first IC title win and man the crowd were red hot for him here. Both dudes just ooze charisma but Razor feels larger than life. To fair, Martel was really the workhorse of this match and I thought he was pretty great, probably his best singles match in the WWF too. He tried to clown Razor early on, and Razor slamming him about later was some amusing pay back. After the break we get Martel focusing on Razor’s lower back, with Razor doing a great sell of being whipped into the buckles over and over, a hard thing for a guy his size to put over without flying all over the place, and a pretty dramatic boston crab. This was a 10 minute-ish TV match so it doesn’t go too far into the nearfalls, but boy Martel got folded with that Razor’s Edge.

The Quebecers vs Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid, RAW 21/2/94

Could you think of 2 gimmicks on further ends of the cool spectrum than the Quebecers and Razor Ramon? Granted I am a sucker for how lame the Quebecers schtick was in hindsight. This is like 90% the babyfaces taking this all over the champs. Polo interferes early and takes a Razor’s Edge on the floor for his trouble. Again, the other 3 guys in this do the most of the heavy lifting, but Razor just reeks of star power and is by far the most over guy in the match. Him and Waltman had good chemistry together and Kid was just flying all over the place through his match. Waltman comes in with an injured knee which gets targeted a little but it never becomes that type of match. The Quebecers are a pretty un-fancy team but I always enjoy them using Pierre’s mass as a weapon and the future PCO taking the Edge was a pretty big bump for a guy nearly 300lb. We get a screwball finish to build to Razor vs Michaels at Wrestlemania but this was fun TV wrestling.

Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels, RAW 1/8/94

2 weeks before Razor challenges Nash for the IC belt at Summerslam he has a return match from Wrestlemania with Michaels, which was also HBK’s first match since that ladder match. This starts pretty hot and you can tell both guys are feeling really motivated, Michaels especially is racing all over the place like he just did a line before the match. These two without a ladder still make for a good match with Michaels being more athletic and Hall using his size and power. At one point Hall catapults Michaels over the top who flies into Nash, which was a very safe but cool and dangerous looking spot. Hall, the babyface, milking a bearhug was a choice move but the end of this was all pretty hot before the screwy finish. Mid '90s WWF isn’t a place for particularly creative or hard-hitting wrestling, but they do the formula well and get some hot nearfalls (in a 'this is a competitive match' way rather than 'trying to be epic' way). I’ve never been a lover of their Wrestlemania match but this was a worthy note in their rivalry.

Ongoing 2022 Matches Of The Year

 #11. Arik Royal vs Kevin Ku, ACTION The Movement Begins! 4/3

Royal and Ku have been two of the better under the radar guys of the recent IWTV period, and this was a Ku’s biggest singles match to date as he challenged for the ACTION title. Lots of hard shots dished out and tight grappling. Ku in particular was really fired up his big match and was laying it in with his kicks and lariats. Royal has a pretty strong ground game for a guy his size and tried to grind Ku down, and the big Kobe on the apron late in the match was a nice big match spot in front of the 300 odd fans who were there live. I though the false finish was a bit unnecessary, but boy Ku was really going for it at the end and cranking up the violence to lead to a really satisfying finish.

#4. Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho, AEW Revolution

Two heavyweight veterans beating the crud out of each other. I was a high voter on the AEW Jericho vs Omega match - Jericho punching guys in the nose is better than him trying to do his 2001 routine - and this was more of that type of match. Kingston is one of the all-time greats at selling 'small' body injuries and the stuff with his orbital bone added a lot. Kingston is the type of talent who elevates everyone he works with, and in fairness Jericho delivered one of his best showings in years. He was matching Eddie blow for blow on the stiffness and I was taken aback by some of the head drops he took on those suplexes. Jericho's chest got turned to blue steak, lots of malice, and another really satisfying finish with Jericho tapping clean.

#3. CM Punk vs MJF, AEW Revolution

This was a match with lofty ambitions and I think they pulled it off. Of course the entrances alone are worth a mention for how great they were. Like the TV match I thought this went a few steps too long and had one or two ideas too many, but they got the stuff that mattered right. It was violent, bloody, hate-filled, and cathartic. The Dog Collar gimmick was used well and the tacks bumps were all appropriately brutal. I don’t think the body part stuff added much though, and it felt a bit tacked on to try and get another half a star rating. Unlike the TV match I didn't feel like the Wardlow story undermined the MJF-Punk story, and the finish felt like MJF’s chickens coming home to roost. It wasn’t enough that he beat Punk in Chicago, or that he had Wardlow over a barrel, he had to poke and poke, and the bear bit back hard. Minor quibbles aside this was still 2 of the most charismatic workers in the world having a big violent grudge match and it gets a big thumbs up.

#2. Bryan Danielson vs Jon Moxley, AEW Revolution

This may have suffered a little for following both Punk vs MJF and Jericho vs Kingston, which were two other high end violent slobberknockers, but again I felt they achieved most of what they set out for. I gave this a second watch without PPV fatigue and thought it was pretty excellent. Considering the build to this was all about violence and they telegraphed the blood so heavily in all the promos, the spot that lead to the double juice was surprisingly tame. All that said, this banged. I dug the matches they had a decade ago, but Moxley especially is a different beast now. He’s developed his skill-set insurmountably, especially when it comes to grappling, and that aspect of this match was all pretty great. Both guys really laid in the stiffness, and it avoided the pratfalls of the NJ style of you-hit-me-I-hit-you matches by way of sheer personality of the two guys dishing it out. This wasn’t two guys rotely going through the motions, this was a show of heart and pride. All of Danielson’s targeting to Mox’s mid-section was great, really loved the fake out of the head-kick to set up a gut shot, and Mox’s selling was pretty great while trying to fight back. Mox’s bladejob was another top tier crimson mask and everything after the blood was superb - every time he found a counter there was a sense of urgency. We all know Danielson is the best worker in the world, but Mox was with him every step of the way here and had one of his career performances. Cap it all off with an excellent finish, and an even better post-match moment with Regal, and we have another strong MOTYC.

Ongoing Best Of 2022 Matches

 #4. Biff Busick vs Slade, Beyond Wrestling 'Day 91' 4/2

What a bloodbath. Slade looks like he belongs in prison and is akin to a horror movie villain, just constantly absorbing whatever gets thrown at him and piling bodies up. Both these dudes hit hard as fuck, and I liked how Biff worked from beneath for all of this. He was coming back from a long lay-off, against the new hotness, and got absolutely mauled. He bleeds a bunch, gets murdered with chairs and door, and for most of the way Slade looks unstoppable, almost to a comic extent. But when Biff blasts him with a chair out of nowhere and Slade did the gig, this kicked into another gear. I don’t know where Slade cut, but he obviously nicked something he shouldn’t have because he was jet-washing the whole place with plasma. I could have totally bought him passing out from the amount of blood he was spilling. He still dominated Biff, but it showed vulnerability, and Biff believably worked his way back in by trading hands. Finish was disgustingly violent as Biff had to murder this guy with a bunch of straight trash can blows to the dome. A triumphant return for Biff and Slade is a scary, scary man.

#2. CM Punk/Jon Moxley vs FTR, AEW Dynamite 9/2

A few cool threads going on here with the setup, being a rare unscheduled match and a classic two great singles guys vs great tag team match. Punk and Mox felt like an all-star team and clicked really well together. We know FTR can be great at old school cut the ring in half wrestling, we know they can be great at big spot-filled home stretches, but often they have a tendency to focus too much on the latter. This was very well structured with the body of the match all being really meaningful, with Punk getting his leg worked, the exciting brawling off the Mox hot tag, then the longer more focused heat section on him after he got put through the table. All that heat building paid off with a really satisfying final run with some big counters and a couple great false finishes that had real peril to them. The Doomsday Device will always, always rock and all the stuff with the stereo finishers was awesome. The only flub was the Tully spot, but god bless him for trying and wanting to take the GTS. I had a blast.

#5. Hangman Adam Page vs Lance Archer, AEW Dynamite 9/2 [Texas Deathmatch]

Hats off to Page, he is beginning to look like the guy AEW wants him to be. A couple lengthy title epics and now a quality garbage match to his reign. This was a slightly above average plunder brawl, elevated by a few things. Hangman has already accumulated enough scar tissue that he can bleed on command and he wore another top tier crimson mask, looked like someone threw a bucket of red paint on him. Page has always been a good athlete and he throws himself into the big bumps, and that Blackout onto the steps was a Darby-level insanity bump. The stuff with the top rope being removed was a clever twist to lead to the finish, which was also imaginative but looked a little silly. Having your big bloody death-match end with a ref being used as a pummel horse is a choice move.

Bobby Lashley Top 5

 

Bobby Lashley has gone from being a guy I haven't cared about for the majority of his career to one of the few highlights of current WWE. An amateur wrestler who also served in the military, when he first hit the scene he was a super green muscle-head freak athlete who Vince attached a rocket ship to, before his career took a really strange turn. Him not getting injured in 2007 may be one of the biggest 'What If' scenarios of the 2000s, but thankfully his return to WWE a decade later has seen him grow into the best run of his career. I've been a low voter on him for a long-time, but in tribute to him reaching his peak only to get done dirty by WWE, I've decided to revisit some of the highlights of his career.

#5. Bobby Lashley vs Finlay, Smackdown 12/5/06

Finlay was the master of working with green meatheads in WCW and helping them develop in the ring, and his series of matches with Lashley was a further use of this skillset. None of those matches had a lot of fireworks or big drama, but they were tightly worked, well put together affairs which helped acclimatise a very green guy to working the longer, more competitive matches need to progress to the upper card. This was the KOTR semi-finals and the longest match Lashley had worked to this point in his career by a considerable margin. Bobby has a great amateur background, and it was cool to see him shoot single legs and control a guy on the ground, something you don’t see a lot of in WWE, especially by big meaty guys. Once Finlay takes over, he really lays it in, all of his clotheslines and uppercuts connecting with a thud. Finlay controls the big guy by grinding him down methodically, and he does a lot of the 'little things' so well, like really digging his elbow into Lashley’s shoulder while in an armbar. We get a very WWE finish with Lashley hulking up from a chairshot and spearing Finlay out of his boots, a sign they really positioning him as a future Hogan-type.

#4. Drew Galloway vs Bobby Lashley, Slammiversary 2016 [Knock Out Or Tap Out]

Interesting to see how these two’s careers have mirrored each other, and what a weird place in time wrestling was here. Two big, athletic dudes beating on each other is a simple recipe for good pro wrestling, and while there wasn’t much else going on, both guys really worked hard to deliver on that. We get some more flashes of Lashley’s amateur wrestling skillset and Drew was lacing him with big chops and hard boots to the grill. A few highlight reel spots with the Air Raid Crash on the steel steps, the armbar lifted into the tombstone, and Drew’s big missed dive through the table, which is a really mad spot for a guy his size. I was really digging the last act as Drew bled, both guys got fired up and more aggressive, but the finish itself felt somewhat abrupt. It’s not often I say a recent match should have gone longer, but they were just reaching their crescendo and could have let it play for a couple more big beats before wrapping up. The crowd were notably deflated at the babyface getting KO’d clean, one last ditch comeback with Drew dying on his sword may have been more satisfying.

#3. Bobby Lashley vs Braun Strowman, Extreme Rules 2019 [Last Man Standing Match]

One of the regular WWE tropes of the last decade is the kaiju city destruction match, and this is a fun iteration of that trope. Two giant guys fighting all over the arena and tossing each other around. Both of them are athletic enough to take some good spills, and I enjoyed the highlight spots of Lashley getting suplexed into the wall and then getting hammer thrown into the Spanish announce area. I liked Braun, always thought he had some intangibles but was largely poorly used by WWE, and he adds a bit of depth to this by coming in with a rib injury and selling the damage throughout. Hardly poet laureate, but it gave the match something more than just the carnage moments. We get your standard WWE memes with the barricade spear and dude getting buried under announce table, and the finish itself was some hammy stuff with Braun powerslamming Bob into a black hole of crash mats before breaking through a not-so-subtlety placed wall of cardboard like an imitation kool aid man, but it wasn’t enough to sour me. For two guys with pretty clear limitations, this exceeded expectations – one of the best of both men’s runs.

#2. John Cena vs Bobby Lashley, The Great American Bash 2007

Real clash of the titans match feel, Lashley was basically being pushed as the new Cena, only even more stacked and muscular. He was clearly being groomed as the future, but Cena was still the present, and he busted his ass to make the future look bright. The opening sections of this are actually the strongest parts of the match and do a great job of establishing their roles and making Lashley look like a phenom. I am always a fan of a good Test Of Strength, and Cena really works his facial expressions to put Lashley over. Then Lashley starts using his superior amateur ability to take Cena down with double legs and swarm him in the mat. This is a really selfless Cena performance, he lets Lashley take like 90% of the match and dominate him. In fairness to Lashley, he also does a good job mixing up his offence with a nice variety of slams and suplexs. It did feel like they missed a few beats in the middle; one minute Lashley is solidly in control, the next Cena is hitting his finishers in desperation – it did work as Cena wanting to end the match ASAP though.

We get the big finish with Cena having to hit a Super FU to put Lashley down, and a post-match handshake to top it off. This was almost Jumbo vs Misawa with 2 WWE meatheads, and while it wasn’t one of Cena’s best matches of 2007, it was another notch on his belt for his banner year. It was also a big show of faith in Lashley, which makes it more hilarious he only had one more match on TV after this before being shelved for 6 months then released.

#1. Bobby Lashley vs King Booker, Smackdown 23/6/06

These guys wrestled on an almost weekly basis for like 3 months, and similar to the Finlay series the goal was to help Lashley develop in the ring, while also elevating Booker as a top heel act. Most of their matches were pretty blah (including their KOTR Finals on PPV) but this is a hidden gem. Booker was always far better as a face, but he clicked as a heel on this night. He was really laying into Lashley, lighting him up with chops and stiff kicks and clotheslines. Lashley comes in with a bum wheel and Book targets it throughout. Bobby has some really explosive power, and all his comebacks felt much more earned after enduring all the damage to the bad leg. We get a stink finish with Finlay and Regal interfering and Lashley standing tall with a steel chair, but who cares when it’s a mid-card match on TV to build to a bigger blow-off. Smackdown 2006 had a lot of painful booking but plenty of sneaky awesome matches on TV, and this is probably the best match from Lashley’s star-making rivalry.

Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground (continued)

 Mil Muertes vs Jerimiah Crane, 9/8/17 [No DQ Match]

Sami Callihan vs El Mesias is a match I never knew I watched until I heard it happened. Sami is best when working from beneath, and Muertes is also best when totally dominating a guy, so this totally played to both guys' strengths. A wild, violent brawl with Muertes in full Monster mode. Every time Sami would take too long, spitting on his hand or playing to the fans, Muertes would crush him. Lots of highlights - the start with Crane getting thrown through the door, Crane getting tossed over the announce table, Muertes' pounce cut-off. I dug how both times a table was set up, the guy who set it up instantly just got put through it. Delivers on the ass-kicking it promises, I had a blast watching this one.

Mil Muertes vs Fenix vs Jerimiah Crane, 27/6/18 [Grave Consequences Match]

This was good fun in the way both of Mil’s matches with these two guys was, but without reaching the heights of either. Really a match of two halves. Starts kinda standard triple threat with a lot of 3 way spots before spilling to the floor and becoming the plunder brawl we want. Mil vs Crane is still good stuff, though this whole section feels more focused on the prop bumps than having any beef or hatred. Granted, the spots all look good, especially Fenix’s big dives. Ivelisse comes out to bash Crane with hammer leading to his elimination, which was fine as an angle, and maybe the most violent thing all match. Have to appreciate Crane blading for it just to get eliminated and taken out 3 seconds later. Once it comes to Mil vs Fenix we get a lot more heat with Mil once again tearing Fenix’s mask up and leaving him bloody. I was into them trading blows and Muertes manhandling Fenix, really felt like he was an unstoppable monster by the end. Now I’m fantasy booking Vader in mid-90s ECW.

Mil Muertes vs The Mack, 31/10/18 [Deathmatch]

Fun blow-off match and also a good reminder of what Willie Mack brings to the table. This was two super heavyweights who can throw hands, hit some crazy high-spots and bump big, and you don’t need a lot more than that for a fun popcorn match. We get that plus some blood. Mack is a really emotive, charismatic guy and his bug-eyed reactions were on the right side of OTT wrestling acting. A guy his size hitting a Coast to Coast is also pretty mad, even if it was kind of treated as a throwaway spot in a match that moved from one moment to the next. I did dig the finish with Mil absorbing 2 Stunners and staying on his feet, leading to Mack braining him with a brick before hitting the third. Really decisive, satisfying win. The only part of this which struck me as goofy was them swinging an axe at each other, that is just too much for me even in a promotion filled with dinosaurs, undercover FBI agents and the Triad.

Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground

Lucha Underground was a real iconoclast in the wrestling landscape of the last 10 years. Similar to WSX, it was a TV show with some pro wrestling rather than a traditional pro wrestling company, and offered a studio 'sports entertainment' product WWE could only wish of re-creating in NXT. It helped elevate the careers of countless guys who were outside the WWE bubble but too big for the indies - Ricochet, Fantasma, Pentagon, Fenix, Shane Strickland to name a few. As a pro wrestling purest, there's always an asterisk watching their shows as you know they have multiple edits and re-shoots, rather than capturing the full lived match with warts and all. Still, when they put on a big gimmick match, it was always an event worth watching, and no one delivered in more of those matches than Mil Muertes.

Muertes AKA Ricky Bandaras AKA El Mesias has been around for over 20 years with an interesting career that features years as a top guy in Puerto Rico, a cup of coffee in TNA and a headline run in AAA amongst others. He's a guy I've always enjoyed wherever he's popped up - a Vader like big man who can brawl but with an impressive amount of agility too. The Mil Muertes character was one of the best acts in LU and his big gimmick matches were some of the highlights of the show. Here I will revisit the best of his run there.


Mil Muertes vs Fenix, 18/3/15 [Grave Consequences Match]

This was a fucking awesome pro wrestling match. Banderas once again delivers in a Big Match and Fenix holds up his end. It plays to their strengths - Fenix gets brutalised and bloodied, gets to hit big highspots for his comeback, Muertes beats the shit out of him and looks like a monster. Loved the brawling, all the big spots, and the tease above the crowd. There was a real sense of danger in places because Fenix is genuinely crazy enough to take a big spill. Perhaps what makes this stand out from the usual LU stuff is that the action between all the big spots was solid and it never felt like a stunt show. We get a real apuestas-style bloodbath with Mil ripping up Fenix’s mask and him bleeding a gusher. Great storyline finish to tie a knot on it, and I loved this. This was Lucha Underground’s absolute peak and probably the best match of this type that I’ve seen to boot.

Matanza vs Mil Muertes, 11/5/16 [Grave Consequences Match]

Dug the old monster vs new monster vibe off this. We’re so used to seeing Muertes be the destroyer, not the guy getting tossed around, but that’s how this goes down. We get plenty of Godzilla vs Mothra destruction of the ringside area and Cobb’s strength is really on show here as he throws Muertes around like he’s a cruiserweight. The big casket bumps all looked pretty great, though the Flatliner off the apron on to the caskets probably came too early and felt like it was brushed off way too quickly for what was the biggest spot in the match. Muertes donning a chainmail glove was pretty unique and lead to an awesome spot where he punched through the casket to escape, real schklocky moment but it was rad. The back end of this kind of lost some steam and there was a bit too much time trying to position the caskets for the spots, but I still dug this as an exposure to a different side of Muertes.

Mil Muertes vs King Cuerno, 13/7/16 [Deathmatch]

I am all for a Monster mauling a dirtbag heel and that’s what this was all about. Cuerno had been built up as one of the top guys in LU, which made it even more surprising just how one-sided this was. I am a low-voter on Fantasma – he’s a 20+ year vet who’s done hardly anything memorable but became quite popular over the last 5 years due to LU and AAA getting more western exposure - but he’s in the tier of guys like Pentagon who only have one or two tunes to play and nothing else to offer. He has a tremendous tope – great velocity and distance for a tall guy – and a couple other nice high spots, but he’s a middle of the road dude in a brawl. More interested in leg-slap enziguris than throwing fists (unlike Muertes, who unloads some great looking meat-hooks).

Still, this was 2 dudes braining each other with any inanimate object they could get their hands on, chairs, bar stools, mics, garbage cans, and it all looked ouchy. It lacked the blood and danger of the Fenix match, and there was a bit too much time spent setting all the various set pieces up, though it did pay off with an awesome ending with Mil power-bombing Cuerno through 3 separate tables one after the other. He just killed this guy, and then cracked him with a crowbar for good measure. Probably Cuerno/Fantasma/Escobar’s career best. I also loved Mil no-selling getting his head put through a glass window, before popping up behind Cuerno to pay him back, that was some real Jason Voorhees shit.

Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Riki Choshu and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Two of the most iconic, influential workers in the history of Japanese wrestling. Choshu was the innovator of the Scorpion Deathlock, blazed a trail for a faster pace of heavyweight wrestling, and was probably the first major 'outsider heel' in puro with his All Japan run. Fujiwara was one of the granddaddies of shoot-style, his influence traceable to every current indy fed who runs quasi-shoot stuff, and was also the original guy to come out to Flight Of The Valkyries. They were on opposites sides of the ring plenty throughout their careers, most notably during the late '80s when both guys were at the peak of their ability and popularity, and New Japan was in one of it’s golden eras. I had originally planned on just revisiting their match from 1987, but thought I might as well revisit a couple others too while I’m at it.

Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara, 9/6/87 

This was an ass-stomping and a half. Fujiwara doesn’t even wait for Choshu to get in the ring and he is all over him with brutal headbutts and punches to the face. Choshu is busted open early and proceeds to eat more of this beating before turning the tide with some stiff blows of his own. These guys were not fucking around and you feel the hatred. Both dudes have like 2 actual wrestling moves all match but use them as well as any minimalist worker, both desperately going for their respective finishes as soon as they get in deep water. The lariat countered into an armbar is such a beautifully simple counter, but it still rocks 35 years on. But we are mostly we are here for the violence, and when Fujiwara gets his comeuppance and starts bleeding, his face is pissing crimson. Choshu then kills him dead with a couple big lariats and the ref calls a KO, which is about as decisive as a stinky 80s finish gets. Fujiwara started this fight, but Choshu ended it. Compact, spiteful, double juice, violence, 2 larger than life superstars – this match rules.

 
Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara, 4/1/94

Hey it’s these guys at the Tokyo Dome. This started with much more of a feeling out process, with Choshu obviously having the power advantage and Fujiwara using his superior technique. It doesn’t take long for Fujiawara to start being his wonderful dickhead self and adding some spice to the match. Both guys are manly and absorb some big shots while refusing to back down, and we get another big armbar moment after Fujiwara baits Choshu in. Cruddy finish with Fujiwara kicking at out 3.1, but otherwise this was solid, if the least of the 3 matches here.
 
Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara, G1 Climax 6/8/94

This was a lot more ground-heavy than the previous 2 matches. It reminded me of those UFC bouts where a top tier wrestler keeps a guy with no mat ability down and just keeps on him to neutralise the stand-up. I much prefer the sections with these guys standing up and putting the boots to each other, but Fujiwara containing Choshu and beating him with his superior wrestling was clever. Him trying to bait Choshu in to the Scorpion so he could catch a leg was a crafty little moment. Fujiwara making Choshu tap was an upset, and the way they got there was pretty neat, though I wish there wish there was more ass-stomping to go with it. 

Ongoing Best Of 2022 Matches

#2. CM Punk vs MJF, AEW Dynamite 2/2

I am probably in the camp who thought this was more "very good" than "MOTYC", it seemed to reach a certain level and stay there, rather than boiling over and reaching a crescendo, but there was still a lot of content here I liked spread across the long 40 minutes. MJF once again delivered a really fun heel performance in his quarterly showing, from the obvious stuff like the cheating and running away through the crowd to the smaller stuff like his face-biting and see-sawing in the ropes off Punk’s punches.

The false finish was executed superbly, for once AEW refs looking competent and the crowd trying to rally Punk as he went down was a tremendous moment. All the limb-work stuff was solid and gave the match some focus though I’m not sure it justified the length. Punk’s bar since returning has been very high and this was a great performance built around his selling of the cumulative damage and fatigue. I dug how he folded on himself off that reverse rana, usually guys hit that move too cleanly and suddenly - it’s a high risk move and this one looked like it hurt Punk on it too. I can’t say I have missed the Pepsi Plunge, but it was neat to see it brought back as a big match moment.

I wasn’t too hot on the finish despite it being very well executed, felt like they chose furthering the Wardlow story at the expense of a cleverer finish, and we have seen the Diamond Ring bit done a thousand times now. Still, I thought this was a strong bit of business and a good effort from both men, and you could tell MJF was geeking out by the end.

The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds (continued)

Kerry Von Erich vs Terry Gordy, 7/5/84

Kerry’s first title defence 24 hours after winning the belt from Flair. This felt like one of those hot RAW main events the night after a big PPV. The outcome was never up for debate but the crowd were still really hot and they had a really fun match. When it comes to singles, Kerry was always a better guy being lead than the one taking the reigns, but he pushes the pace here and keeps things moving, even if there isn’t any many story beats or memorable moments. Both dudes hit hard and I did love Kerry using the claw when applying the abdominal stretch to Gordy. Good drama at the end with Kerry having to survive the Asiatic spike before using Gordy’s momentum against him for the win. Neither guy was a top tier singles guy but they weren’t slouches either.

The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds, 4/7/84 [Badstreet Match]

This was another major 4^th July meeting between these teams and won the WON MOTY for 1984. Absolute firestorm of a sub-10 minute brawl, much closer to a televised scrap outside a bar than a wrestling match. The Von Erichs were just seething with hatred, and this is a swirling whirlwind of fists, eye-gauging, blood, and guys trying to beat the shit out of each other. The leather boot was the weapon of choice, and guys were just cracking each over the craniums with them. This felt as authentic as any pro wrestling brawl as you’ll see. Stink-o finish with Killer Khan knocking Kerry out, but everything up until then was fucking rabid. Not sure where it stands as an all-timer but it’s up there with the best of this feud for sure.

The Von Erichs vs The Fabulous Freebirds, 3/9/84 [Elimination Rules, Steel Cage Match]

This was for the vacant 6-man trophy and worked with elimination rules, but Mike had a shoulder injury and couldn’t compete, so it’s worked as a 2-on-3 handicap match. That dynamic actually really added a lot here and instantly created some drama with the Von Erichs fighting an uphill battle. Plenty of beef, another hate-filled brawl with great punches and guys getting thrown into the cage face first. Buddy’s bleach blonde gets stained red and Kevin takes off Hayes’s leather boots and beats everyone over the head with them. Kerry gets eliminated first after a spike piledriver and the second act with Kevin fighting 3-on-1 is really awesome. He wildly swings the boot around, hitting anything in reach before going gown and the Birds start whipping him with a belt. Great elimination of Hayes as Kevin catches him with a sunset flip in a small window of opportunity, but the finish was really choice. Gordy nails Kevin with a piledriver, pulls him up at 2, Buddy goes up top of the cage for another big spike version but Mike topples him (leading to another great Buddy crotch bump) before diving in the cage himself and the Von Erichs get stereo pins out of nowhere for the win. I can see people poo-pooing that finish with Mike coming in to steal the win, but everything up until that was a barn-burner. Just a super violent, raging fight with a bunch of natural drama, and the 3-on-2 dynamic makes it memorable. Maybe my favourite match from this feud.

The Von Erichs vs Terry Gordy/Buddy Roberts, 12/2/88

The Freebirds returned to World Class in 1988 and the whole storyline with Hayes making amends with the Von Erichs and Gordy/Roberts turning on him (and Gordy later turning on Buddy) sounds really messy and was supposedly not well received. But for this short window they were able to recapture the magic of this feud, like two friends who were catching up after a long time apart. Another wild, heated, violent brawl with tons of hate. Even though this was Badstreet Rules, guys were still on the apron and the ref was trying to enforce some semblance of order. Kevin especially was fucking awesome here, just completely uncontrollable in his single-minded pursuit of beating the shit out of the Birds. Him and Gordy both take some big bumps on the concrete floor, Gordy wastes Kerry with some chairshots and both teams use the belt. They were a little quick to recover from some of the damage being dished out, especially Kerry, but it’s a 10 minute brawl so easy to overlook. Another trash finish with interference causing a DQ in a No DQ match, which was a real cruddy way to cap off such a wild match. Still there was some fizz left in the bottle for this rivalry.