2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

«‹›191 »

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Purple Monkey posted:

Rampage 26/11

HM: Adam Cole & Bobby Fish vs Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta

HM: Eddie Kingston vs Daniel Garcia

Nth to both of these.

# ? Nov 29, 2021 14:30

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# ? May 17, 2024 01:07

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

Dimebags Brain posted:

Dragon Gate's The Gate of Evolution 2021, at Kobe Sambo Hall, 11/23

HM: Ben-K and Kagetora vs. YAMATO and Dragon Kid
HM: Shun Skywalker, Dragon Dia, and Jason Lee vs. Diamante, Dia Inferno, and KAI

2nd both of these. Dragon Kid rules, obviously

# ? Nov 29, 2021 15:44

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

forkboy84 posted:

HM
14th November
DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 Night 6
B Block
HARASHIMA vs Konosuke Takeshita

MOTYC
14th November
DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 Night 6
B Block
Kazusada Higuchi vs Yuji Okabayashi

Do android's dream of electric beef? If they did it'd be this. This is very electric beef.

Nth to both, very good to excellent. The venue lighting is nice enough that you could see the sweat flying out from the chops.

# ? Nov 29, 2021 17:47

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
23rd November
All Japan Real World Tag League Night 5: Zeus 15th Anniversary
NEXTREAM (Atsuki Aoyagi, Kento Miyahara, Rising HAYATO & Yuma Aoyagi) vs Purple Haze (Izanagi, Shigehiro Irie & Zeus) & Bodyguard

# ? Nov 30, 2021 01:00

coconono: Aug 11, 2004; KISS ME KRIS

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Katsuhiko Nakajima (C) vs. Kenoh (C) for the GHC Heavyweight & GHC National Titles - NOAH the Best 11/28

Two friends just brutally beating the poo poo out of each other in increasingly more horrifying ways in their bid to win the other's title and guarantee the main event spot at the big January 1st show at the Budokan Hall. loving incredible stuff, true to the show's name as demonstrating the very best of what NOAH has to offer. Watch this match.

nth. These two dudes did the murder. I put this on while getting ready for bed and it was so exciting I couldn't sleep. Absolute FIRE and MAYHEM. Iron hard abs.

# ? Nov 30, 2021 01:47

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

MOTYC
21st November
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors Night 4
El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi

Stupid phone tried to autocorrect MOTYC to WMOTYC & no.

# ? Nov 30, 2021 09:58

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

MOTYC
21st November
DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 Night 7
Block B
HARASHIMA vs Yuji Okabayashi

DDT Match of the year, maybe top 10 for me on the year. Starts fine, builds to bonkers.

# ? Nov 30, 2021 12:59

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
21st November
DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 Night 7
Block B
Kazusada Higuchi vs Konosuke Takeshita

MOTYC
21st November
DDT D-Ou Grand Prix 2021 Night 7
Block A
Tetsuya Endo vs Yuki Ueno

# ? Nov 30, 2021 13:51

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
23rd November
Sendai Girls Korakuen Hall
Jaja Uma 2021 1st Round
Kanon vs Riko Kaiju

MOTYC
23rd November
Sendai Girls Korakuen Hall
ASUKA & Saki Akai vs DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata

Tremendous stuff.

HM
23rd November
Sendai Girls Korakuen Hall
Sendai Girls Tag Team Titles
Andras Miyagi & Hibiki vs Team 200kg (Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu)

Real fun show that

# ? Nov 30, 2021 16:08

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
27th November
All Japan Real World Tag League Night 6
Block A
Jun Saito & Rei Saito vs Total Eclipse (Hokuto Omori & Jake Lee)

# ? Dec 1, 2021 02:09

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

SG Bamboo posted:

TJPW All Rise November 25th
MOTYC
Magical Sugar Rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki) (c) vs 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh) - Princess Tag Championships
- Yuka decided she wanted to kill the MegaChamp and her annoying friend. Miyu and Maki made her work for it

2nd

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Hikari Noa (C) vs. Miu Watanabe for the International Princess Title - TJPW All Rise 11/25

These two are friends. THEY'RE FRIENDS!

Everybody knows that Miu is strong, but holy poo poo she is strong.

2nd

# ? Dec 1, 2021 03:43

Seams: Feb 3, 2005; ROCK HARD

MOTYC: Ray Jaz vs Infinito, AEW Dark, 1/12

# ? Dec 1, 2021 09:58

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
27th November
Dragon Gate The Gate of Origin 2021
Masaaki Mochizuki vs Ryu Fuda

Of this class, Fuda is my guy. It's decided.

HM
27th November
Dragon Gate The Gate of Origin 2021
Masquerade (Dragon Dia, Jason Lee, Kota Minoura, La Estrella & Shun Skywalker) vs RED (Dia Inferno, Diamante, Eita, HYO & Kaito Ishida)

HM
27th November
Dragon Gate The Gate of Origin 2021
Open The Twin Gate Titles
Natural Vibes (KING Shimizu & Susumu Yokosuka) vs DoiYoshi Mk.II (Naruki Doi & Takashi Yoshida)

HM
27th November
Dragon Gate The Gate of Origin 2021
Open The Dream Gate Title
YAMATO vs Ben-K

Slightly odd, lacklustre show really. A lot of good stuff on it bit also just kind of...lacking that top gear.

# ? Dec 2, 2021 01:14

Punch McLightning: Sep 19, 2005; you know what that means; Grimey Drawer

HM: Alan Angels vs. Bryan Danielson, Dynamite 12/1
HM: CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty, Dynamite 12/1

I've hit 1000 matches rated this year! :toot:

# ? Dec 2, 2021 03:15

MassRafTer: May 26, 2001; BAEST MODE!!!

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

# ? Dec 2, 2021 03:31

Alaois: Feb 7, 2012

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 03:31

Kevino07: Oct 16, 2008

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

Agreed - hopefully we get a rematch down the road

# ? Dec 2, 2021 03:32

Testekill: Nov 1, 2012; I demand to be taken seriously

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

Yeah that was a good match, the TBS tournament has had some absolute bangers.

# ? Dec 2, 2021 03:39

YourHumbleMessiah: Oct 11, 2005

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:00

Alaois: Feb 7, 2012

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:00

Oil!: Nov 5, 2008; Der's e'rl in dem der hills!; Ham Wrangler

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

Nth, how can they keep doing this

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:01

flatluigi: Apr 23, 2008; here come the planes

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

what a fuckin match

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:01

Ivypls: Aug 24, 2019

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

nth lmao. jesus christ, cody

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:02

Jordan7hm: Feb 17, 2011; Lipstick Apathy

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:02

Kevino07: Oct 16, 2008

HM: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

Excellent match, ruined by a terrible finish

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:02

SatoshiMiwa: May 6, 2007

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

Agreed and get used to first ballot HOF'er Cody

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:03

Ringo Roadagain: Mar 27, 2010

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

Nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:03

karmicknight: Aug 21, 2011

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:03

Akileese: Feb 6, 2005

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

Punch McLightning posted:

HM: Alan Angels vs. Bryan Danielson, Dynamite 12/1
HM: CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty, Dynamite 12/1

I've hit 1000 matches rated this year!

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

NTH

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:03

Punch McLightning: Sep 19, 2005; you know what that means; Grimey Drawer

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:05

graph: Nov 22, 2006; aaag peanuts

Punch McLightning posted:

HM: CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty, Dynamite 12/1

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

yes indeed

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:06

Maxwell Lord: Dec 12, 2008; I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die.

I hope we both die.; Grimey Drawer

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

Nth with a special "Most Mid South House Show Match of the 21st Century" prize

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:07

Ivypls: Aug 24, 2019

Punch McLightning posted:

HM: Alan Angels vs. Bryan Danielson, Dynamite 12/1
HM: CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty, Dynamite 12/1

I've hit 1000 matches rated this year!

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

nth on these as well

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:08

Alaois: Feb 7, 2012

Punch McLightning posted:

HM: Alan Angels vs. Bryan Danielson, Dynamite 12/1
HM: CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty, Dynamite 12/1

I've hit 1000 matches rated this year!

nth both of these matches also

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:09

boxcarhobo: Jun 23, 2005

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Andrade el Idolo vs Cody Rhodes Altlanta Street Fight, Dynamite 12/1/21

The fuckin CODYVERSE

cody

cody

cody

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:12

forkboy84: Jun 13, 2012; Corgis love bread. And Puro

HM
28th November
All Japan Real World Tag League Night 7
Runaway SUPLEX (Shotaro Ashino & Suwama) vs Total Eclipse (Hokuto Omori & Jake Lee)

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:16

Thanlis: Mar 17, 2011

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

Nth.

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:27

Renaissance Spam: Jun 5, 2010; Can it wait a for a bit? I'm in the middle of some *gyrations*

MassRafTer posted:

HM: Ruby Soho vs Kris Statlander, AEW Dynamite 12/1.

The best Ruby has looked and the crowd was really into this. Really great execution in this one.

Nth

# ? Dec 2, 2021 04:47

I Before E: Jul 2, 2012

HM: Bryan/Angels
HM: Punk/Moriarty
HM: Gunns/Sting and Darby
HM: Ruby/Kris
MOTYC: Cody vs Andrade

All from 12/1 Dynamite

# ? Dec 2, 2021 05:01

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# ? May 17, 2024 01:07

sticklefifer: Nov 11, 2003; by VideoGames

Dragon Gate - Fantastic Gate @ Korakuen Hall - 12.01.21

HM:
Open the Brave Gate Championship
SB KENTo (c) vs Jacky 'Funky' Kamei

This was borderline MOTYC for me because I went in with my expectations set higher than average since I'm really high on both guys, but I think it left room for improvement and it was shorter than I thought it would be. I hope to see a longer rematch in the future, and this could've easily main evented a Korakuen show if not for the importance of the next match.

MOTYC:
M�scara Contra M�scara (loser of the fall unmasks)
Shun Skywalker & Dragon Dia vs Diamante & Dia Inferno

The match itself was great and a lot of fun, but it's the long-term build and emotional story that really took center stage, and they pulled off telling that story in the ring. The ending was a complete shock - to the point where the clap-only crowd couldn't stop themselves from reacting - and the aftermath was one of the most interesting character moments in DG in years. They've been building Shun/Diamante since this summer, and DD/Inferno for over a year, and nailing the payoff in a genuinely unexpected way is something I'm going to remember for a long time.

I don't think anyone expected Dragon Dia to be the one to unmask out of these four, but Inferno also unmasking because his gimmick has no reason to exist without Dragon Dia is cool as hell. Shun standing over to the side in absolute shame and refusing to stand with Masquerade after screwing over his friend was also some amazing character work, in a segment full of great character work. I genuinely don't know what happens next for any of these characters, and that's really rare for me in wrestling.

sticklefifer fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Dec 2, 2021

# ? Dec 2, 2021 08:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

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