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)

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Cerebral Bore posted:

MOTYC: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 03.05

Ol' man Tana is still one of the best wrestlers in the world. I will begrudgingly admit that the detested Switchblade is also pretty drat good.

nth

# ¿ May 4, 2021 00:30

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 20:25

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

J-Ro posted:

Impact Wrestling: Under Siege (05.15.2021)
HM:
X Division title match:
Josh Alexander (c) vs El Phantasmo

2nd

# ¿ May 16, 2021 02:52

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

coconono posted:

MOTY
21 May
Paradigm Pro Wrestling: Terminal Combat
Reed Bentley vs John Wayne Murdoch

2nd

# ¿ May 22, 2021 02:21

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Deathlove posted:

MOTYC: Atticus Cogar v Alex Colon, Finals of Tournament of Survival 666

Absolutely the pinnacle of deathmatch wrestling in America, and could hang with the best in Japan.

nth, that kicked rear end and the finishing stretch was great

# ¿ Jun 5, 2021 23:47

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

MOTYC: Sanshiro Takagi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazusada Higuchi, Akito, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya vs. Kongoh (Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke, Haoh & Nioh) - CyberFight Festival (6/6)

The ultimate clash of wrestling philosophies. I hope EVIL and Dick Togo were taking notes from the ref distraction spot.

2nd

# ¿ Jun 6, 2021 08:27

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

MOTY: Chihiro Hashimoto, Mika Iwata, and X vs Rin Kadokura, Mio Momono, and X GAEAISM 6/13

# ¿ Jun 14, 2021 13:20

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

the funniest part of his fights are his opponents

# ¿ Jun 20, 2021 00:40

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Pylons posted:

I might rate the other matches on the show later, but for now:

NOAH Cage War June 26th

MOTYC: Masa Kitamiya vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

I felt like I was watching something I shouldn't be and it kinda ruled?

nth

Every good match has the part that makes you lean forward. The drone buzzing at all times gave this a constant anxiety and provided a contrast to the sounds of various strikes.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2021 05:37

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

SG Bamboo posted:

NOAH Muta the WORLD June 27th
MOTYC
Kenoh vs The Great Muta
- This was absolute insanity, more an experience than a match but well worth watching

HM
Yoshiki Inamura vs Kinya Okada
- A hard hitting exhibition match between the two rookie heavyweights. Obviously the company is high on Inamura because I mean just look at him, but i'm really looking forward to seeing where Okada is going to be in 5 years. That boy has the makings of a future star.

Muhammad Yone vs Shuhei Taniguchi vs Akitoshi Saito vs Masao Inoue
- Do you like old dudes clubbing each other black and blue? Then you'll enjoy the four members of Funky Express having an elimination match to decide the next KING OF FUNK goddammit I can't believe it wasn't Yone

2nd to all of these NOAH killed it this weekend

# ¿ Jun 27, 2021 17:51

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

coconono posted:

ICW No Holds Barred Pit Fighter X9 Jul 3 2021
HM Neil Diamond Cutter vs Atticus Cogar

pure loving violence. Heated violence. The kind of violence that your mother shields your eyes from.

nth this kicked rear end

# ¿ Jul 4, 2021 03:14

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

MOTYC: The Brahman Brothers vs. Gabai ji-chan & Kikutaro - FMWE Independence Day (7/4)

Pro wrestling peaked with the finish to this match.

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

WMOTYC: Nene ∞ D.a.i. vs. Miss Mongol vs. Drew Parker - FMWE Independence Day (7/4)

Maybe the worst match I've seen live. Poorly paced, long as hell and an absolute train wreck. Also apparently a bunch of people paid for weapons that they did not use in the match.

SG Bamboo posted:

FMW-E Independence Day July 4th
MOTYC
Atsushi Onita, Minoru Fujita and Ricky Fuji vs Abdullah Kobayashi, Onryo and Yuko Miyamoto
- Onita set out to show AEW how to really do explosions, I'd say he succeded. It looked like a goddamn warzone in there with all the smoke, surprised the fire department didn't show up to inverstigate. loving lunacy, well worth the 1000 yen

nth to all these. best $15 I've spent in a while

# ¿ Jul 4, 2021 07:06

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

MOTYC: Chihiro Hashimoto (c) vs. Mio Momono for the Sendai Girls World Championship - Sendai Girls Senjo Chronicle (7/11)

SG Bamboo posted:

SEAdLINNNG ~ Nanae Takahashi 25th Anniversary ☆ ARIGATOU ~ July 11th
MOTYC
Asuka (c) vs Ryo Mizunami

Nanae Takahashi vs Arisa Nakajima

nth

# ¿ Jul 14, 2021 22:22

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Senerio posted:

MOTYC: Lulupencil vs Chris Brookes 30 Minutes Ironmen Match ChocoPro 137 7/22(JST)

PENCIL
ARMY
PENCIL
ARMY

2nd

# ¿ Jul 22, 2021 02:51

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTY: Drew Parker vs Alex Colon GCW Homecoming Night 1 7/24/21

Incredible.

2nd that fuckin rocked

# ¿ Jul 25, 2021 02:44

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

NickRoweFillea posted:

MOTY: Alwayz Ready Matt Cardona v. Nick Gage, GCW Homecoming

nth. nuclear crowd.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2021 04:57

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

HM: Chris Jericho vs Nick Gage, AEW Dynamite July 28
They went way further than I was expecting but it was still Not Enough for me. I really liked seeing all the different crowd reactions and hearing JR have to call the match. The tubes needed more dust.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2021 03:37

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Thank you Nick Gage for accomplishing this feat for AEW. MDK

# ¿ Jul 29, 2021 22:00

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

forkboy84 posted:

Want 2 watch 2 guys batter each other? Boy oh boy have I the match for you!

MOTYC
2nd July
ZERO1 Fire Festival 2021 Night 1
Fire Festival A Block
Fuminori Abe vs Masato Tanaka

Old man Tanaka still great. I will post the Match link when I'm back at my PC

Holy poo poo, Nth. It's like they're actually trying to hurt each other and it rules.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2021 22:13

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
23rd July
Big Japan Pro Wrestling At Korakuen
Big Japan Deathmatch Heavyweight Title
Barbed Wire Casket & Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match
Takumi Tsukamoto vs Drew Parker

2nd.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2021 01:23

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

MOTY:
Shingo vs Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax Night 1
Tanahashi vs Okada - NJPW G1 Climax Night 2

# ¿ Sep 19, 2021 22:00

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

Don't think I need to add a MOTYC nod to Kenny vs Bryan but that was the best TV match I've seen in years and the best Bryan match and the best Kenny match I've seen in years too.

Here's some stuff from SEAdLINNNG yesterday

MOTYC: Las Fresas de Egoistas (Asuka & Makoto) (c) vs. Nanae Takahashi & Hiroyo Matsumoto for the Beyond the SEA Tag Team Championship - SEAdLINNNG Shinjuku FACE (9/22)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVByhV_moUg

The Beyond the SEA Tag Team Championship has been on a hot streak since Best Friends (not Chuck & Trent) won the belt last year, and is arguably the most important belt in the promotion (at least to the point where they feel comfortable sending the singles champion to AEW until the end of the year). This continued that streak and was one of the best matches of that streak. Hard hitting with some incredible near falls. Makoto is easily one of the most improved wrestlers in recent years (though it's kind of funny she's achieved that improvement by working with a wrestler ten years younger than her).

HM: Ryo Mizunami (c) vs. Yuu for the Beyond the SEA Singles Championship - SEAdLINNNG Shinjuku FACE (9/22)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjwnuKumIKQ

This wasn't as good as the tag team championship match, but was still very good if you like big meaty ~~men~~ women slapping meat. Ryo is so cool and even if the result was a foregone conclusion, Yuu held up her end of the match very well.

oh hell yeah. 2nd

# ¿ Sep 24, 2021 01:39

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Jun Akiyama & Yoshihiko vs. DisasterBox (HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata) - DDT Who's Gonna TOP? 9/26

Incredible athleticism on display here in an extremely entertaining match, made all the better by Uncle Jun being such an enthusiastic part of it all.

nth

# ¿ Sep 26, 2021 05:04

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

SG Bamboo posted:

DDT Who's Gonna TOP? September 26th
MOTYC
Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs Chris Brookes - KO-D Openweight Championship
- Edge of my seat, leaning forward. The entire goddamn time. Chris Brookes is an incredible wrestler, but Konosuke Takeshita is a phenomenon that comes around only one or twice a generation. Even if you don't care about either of these guys, WATCH THIS MATCH PLEASE

yeah! nth

# ¿ Sep 26, 2021 06:04

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

SG Bamboo posted:

NOAH N-1 Victory Night 6 October 3rd
MOTYC
Kenoh vs Kaito Kiyomiya - N-1 Semi Final
- I had high hopes for this match, and it definitely delivered. These two have no issue working stiff

Kenoh vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - N-1 Finals
- Holy gently caress these shots If you've ever seen a match from either of these guys you know they have no problem going hard

HM
Masakatsu Funaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - N-1 Semi Final
- I will never get tired of Masa Funaki slapping the everloving poo poo out of a kid. It looked like Katsu legit knocked him out near the end with a particularly gnarly strike which was real sweet

M's Alliance (Keiji Mutoh, Masato Tanaka and Masaaki Mochizuki) vs Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita and Kazushi Sakuraba)
- Whenever Mutoh wasn't in the ring this was great, just a bunch of old men beating each other silly

After a pretty meh tournament the final night really delivered, this was real good

2nd to all this. check this show out!

# ¿ Oct 3, 2021 05:52

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

SG Bamboo posted:

AJPW Champions Night 2 October 16th
MOTYC
Jake Lee (c) vs Kento Miyahara - Triple Crown Championship

yup. 2nd

# ¿ Oct 17, 2021 04:46

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

SG Bamboo posted:

NOAH the BEST November 28th
MOTYC
Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs Kenoh (c) - GHC Heavyweight and GHC National Championships
- This was worked slower than their N-1 match, but who gives a gently caress, this loving ruled. N-1 was a taste of violence, this was the full course. Goddamn brutal, these guys are friends and stablemates and they beat the utter poo poo out of each other

This is why I can't stay mad at NOAH. The show was decent outside of the Nosawa match but nothing special, then these two wage war on each other for our amusement. Watch this loving match, please.

yes, nth.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2021 10:17

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

MOTYC: Puma King, DMT Azul, Sam Adonis v.s Murder Clown, Dave the Clown, Chessman AAA TripleMania Regia 12/4

actually I thought this kicked rear end and people should watch it because it was fun as hell

# ¿ Dec 5, 2021 04:12

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Cerebral Bore posted:

MOTYC: Fuego del Sol vs HOOK AEW Rampage 10.12

HOOK IT STRAIGHT TO MY VEINS

HOOKth

# ¿ Dec 11, 2021 05:02

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Jerusalem posted:

HM: KENTA, Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Yoshiki Inamura - NOAH The New Year 1/1

This was so much fun. KENTA is such a dick and his utter disdain for Inamura's anger was just a delight to watch.

oh god, 2nd

it's stiff, and there's HATE. make sure you watch this match.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 11:19

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

J-Ro posted:

MOTYC: GHC National Title: Kenoh (c) Vs Kaito Kiyomiya - NOAH The New Year 1/1

gently caress yes. nth

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 11:53

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 20:25

Sticky Nate: Jan 9, 2012

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Katsuhiko Nakajima (C) vs. Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight Title - NOAH The New Year 1/1

God drat these two tried to kill each other, and the ending was

nth

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 12:32

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)