2022'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 > 2022's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Shingo Takagi (C) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night 1 1/4

Shingo has been fantastic over the last year but Okada suffered during COVID. His slow return to form as his worshipers returned to fill seats culminated here with him seemingly back at close to full power and all the old magic of New Japan's great main events of the past seemed to be back too. Incredible match, it defied time just like Okada and Shingo defy the constraints of mortal man and moments like The Dragonmaker Pose made the crowd defy noise restrictions and gasp and bellow and cheer at what they were seeing. This was insanely great, holy gently caress.

Nth!!!

# ¿ Jan 4, 2022 12:52

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 02:13

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Kazuchika Okada (C) vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night 2 1/5

Regardless of anything else, Ospreay is one of the best wrestlers in the world and Okada is, of course, Okada. Incredible match, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measures. How either of these guys do the things they do is beyond me, but I'm sure as gently caress glad to watch them do it.

Nth.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2022 12:45

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Lamuella posted:

HM: Eddie Kingston vs Gabriel Kidd, New Japan Strong, January 8. A King's Road vs Strong Style epic, as performed by an angry kid from Nottingham and a dirtbag from Yonkers. Eddie has the emotion of the wild veteran, Kidd has the fire of a young Shibata protégé. The strikes and throws here are great, and a version of this match that had a story going into it would be in MOTYC territory.

Nth. Awesome match.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2022 23:38

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Kevino07 posted:

MOTYC: Michael Oku vs. Will Ospreay(c) for the RevPro Undisputed British Championship, RevPro High Stakes 2022.01.30

That was sensational. Ospreay is something special as an unlikeable bullying prick. Well worth seeking out

Nth. This match was ruled with some incredible storytelling.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2022 07:07

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

Chaotic garbage match, just crazy spot after crazy spot, appalling lack of match structure.... anyways.....

MOTYC: Sting, Darby Allin & The Hardys vs. Private Party & The Butcher & The Blade - AEW Dynamite 3/23

Nth! Absolutely bonkers in the best way.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 02:06

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: The Briscoes (C) vs. FTR for the ROH Tag Titles - ROH Supercard of Honor 4/1

Tag. Team. Wrestling.

Nth. Probably going to be match of the weekend.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2022 03:29

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: Bandido vs. Jonathan Gresham, ROH Supercard of Honor, 4/1

loving incredible.

Nth. What an incredible PPV

# ¿ Apr 2, 2022 03:50

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta, AEW Rampage, 4/8

WATCH THIS loving MATCH

NTH!!!!!!!

# ¿ Apr 9, 2022 04:31

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Pylons posted:

AEW Double or Nothing 5/29

HM: MJF vs. Wardlow
MOTYC: Death Triangle vs. House of Black
HM: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Darby Allin
MOTYC: Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb
MOTY: Anarchy in the Arena
MOTYC: Jurassic Express vs. Team Taz vs. Swerve in Our Glory
MOTYC: CM Punk vs. Hangman Adam Page

This is exactly what I wrote down as well.

# ¿ May 30, 2022 16:31

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Punch McLightning posted:

6/1 Dynamite

HM: Christian, Matt Hardy, Darby and Jurassic Express vs The Undisputed Elite and Hikuleo
HM: Britt & Jamie vs. Soho & Storm
MOTYC: Mox vs. Garcia

Nth this.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2022 03:55

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Rampage 6/3

I don't think they're physically capable of having a less than great match, and this was no exception. Phenomenal, and that ending was

Nth! Incredible.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2022 03:44

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

flatluigi posted:

MOTYC: KOR v MOX, Jun 08 AEW Dynamite

Nth!

# ¿ Jun 9, 2022 03:00

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

A Fancy Hat posted:

All of these from Forbidden Door.

HM: Hirooki Goto/YOSHI-HASHI vs. The Factory
MOTYC: Swerve in Our Glory vs. El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru
HM: Max Caster & The Gunn Club vs. LA Dojo Young Lions
MOTYC: Minoru Suzuki, Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino
MOTYC: Roppongi Vice vs. The Great O-Khan/Jeff Cobb vs. FTR
MOTYC: Clark Connors vs. Miro vs. Malakai Black vs. PAC
MOTYC: Dudes with Attitudes vs The Young Bucks & El Phantasmo
MOTYC: Thunder Rosa (c) vs Toni Storm
MOTYC: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Orange Cassidy
MOTYC: Zack Sabre Jr vs. THE BCC'S NEWEST MEMBER
HM: Jay White (c) vs. Adam Cole vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hangman Adam Page
MOTYC: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jon Moxley

The IWGP title match is so close to a MOTYC, the ending just felt very abrupt. Even if Cole took the Rainmaker I still think it might have felt like it came outta nowhere.

Nth. This is exactly how I had it.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2022 13:11

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

HM: The Royal Rampage - AEW Rampage 7/1

The format needs some tweaking but is already better than the Casino Battle Royale. This was a lot of fun, and had perhaps the most badass final elimination I can ever remember seeing.

Nth!

# ¿ Jul 2, 2022 03:35

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

SG Bamboo posted:

GLEAT Ver.3 ~ 1st Anniversary July 1st
MOTYC
El Lindaman (c) vs Tetsuya Izuchi - G-REX Title
- loving brutal, just two young guys beating each other to a pulp. Though I have this just under the Irie defence, this was still rad as hell and should have main evented the show

Nth. This is the first Gleat I've really watched. After seeing Lindaman in BOSTJ I wanted to check it out and this ruled. Definitely going to be watching all the shows now.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2022 21:38

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

forkboy84 posted:

If you've not seen it yet I highly recommend Lindaman vs Irie from May: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULqR4hZNKTg&t=9570s

He wrestled for NJPW on the 17th, GLEAT on the 18th, back to NJPW on the 19th.

That was insane....like, that just easily made my top 5 matches of the year. I need more of this and will definitely be catching every GLEAT show now.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2022 02:05

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Dango Bango posted:

MOTYC: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley, AEW Dynamite 7/13

I love Takeshita

Nth

# ¿ Jul 14, 2022 01:58

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: The Young Bucks (C) vs. Swerve in our Glory vs. Team Taz (Hobbs and Starks) for the AEW Tag Titles - AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest Night 1 - 7/13

I lost my goddamn mind like 7 times during this match. Incredible.

Holy loving NTH!

# ¿ Jul 14, 2022 03:08

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

flatluigi posted:

MOTY: Brody King v Darby Allin, AEW July 20 Dynamite

what a loving starmaker for brody

Nth

# ¿ Jul 21, 2022 01:39

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: FTR vs. Briscoes, ROH Death Before Dishonor, 7/23

NTH! Gonna be hard to beat.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2022 03:54

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Punch McLightning posted:

HMs from tonight's Dynamite

Jay Lethal vs. Orange Cassidy
Dr. Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. ThunderStorm
Acclaimed vs. Gunn Club
Chris Jericho vs. Wheeler Yuta

Nth.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2022 03:06

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: Tetsuya Naito vs. Will Ospreay, NJPW G1 Climax 32 Semi-Finals, 17/08

Worth the wait

Nth! Incredible stuff.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2022 16:22

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW G1 Climax Night 20 August 18th
MOTYC
Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay
- loving nothing touches main event New Japan, the last 10 minutes were absolutely insane

Nth. loving amazing stuff.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2022 20:25

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

SG Bamboo posted:

DDT Wrestle Peter Pan August 20th
MOTYC
Joey Janela (c) vs Shunma Katsumata - DDT Extreme Championship
- Oh Shunma you loving dumbass I love you

Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs Tetsuya Endo - KO-D Openweight Championship
- What a way to end the show, Endo pulled out everything to regain the title he never lost. Of course, Higuchi is the champ for a reason

HM
Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku and Ilusion vs Toi Kojima, Yuki Ishida and Takeshi Masada
- Rookie battle is rad, DDT dojo turns out some great performers

Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Umeda and Keisuke Okuda vs HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi and Hideki Okatani
- Goddamn this was so great after the Pheromones match, just six guys with intensity to spare taking pleasure in hurting each other. I would love to see Umeda and Okuda in DDT more, especially if they continue tangling with Eruption

Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi and Soma Takao vs Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi and Akito
- This is the kind of wrestling/politics integration other companies dream of, Kawamatsu was very sloppy in places but considering he's a full time member of parliament i'm willing to give him a pass

Jun Akiyama and Saki Akai vs Chris Brookes and ASUKA
- A simple story told perfectly, this is the first mixed tag match of Akiyama's 30 year career and he doesn't know how to treat Asuka at the start of the match, but then he gets over himself and starts to beat her like he would any other competitor

Masahiro Takanashi (c) vs Yuki Ueno - DDT Universal Championship
- A nice cooldown after the hardcore insanity, just a very well worked match between two talented guys, albeit with a pretty poor looking ending

It's such a shame Pheromones continue to exist and be popular because DDT is so drat good otherwise

Nth. This show was pretty drat good.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2022 20:35

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

forkboy84 posted:

HM
24th August
GLEAT G Prowrestling Ver.31
BULK Orchestra (Check Shimatani, Flamita & Quiet Storm) vs Soma Watanabe & STRONGHEARTS (Issei Onitsuka & Shigehiro Irie)

MOTYC
24th August
GLEAT G Prowrestling Ver.31
Kento Miyahara vs Tetsuya Izuchi

HM
24th August
GLEAT G Prowrestling Ver.31
GLEAT G-Infinity Tag Team Titles
BULK Orchestra (KAZMA SAKAMOTO & Ryuichi Kawakami) vs STRONGHEARTS (CIMA & T-Hawk)

MOTYC
24th August
GLEAT G Prowrestling Ver.31
GLEAT G-REX Title
El Lindaman vs DOUKI

Killer show, opener was cool, 3 way was great fun and then this run of the last 4 matches? Extremely dope.

Nth. Show was killer.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2022 23:58

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Tarnop posted:

Nth. 2.0 rule, Hook rules, Action Bronson looked surprisingly good running the ropes. Real fun match

Nth.

Action Bronson fast as gently caress boy.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2022 04:00

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

HM: MAO, ASUKA & Saki Akai vs. Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda - DDT Who's Gonna Top? - 9/25
HM: Yuki Ueno (C) vs. Cara Noir for the DDT Universal Title - DDT Who's Gonna Top? - 9/25
HM: Kazusada Higuchi (C) vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the KO-D Openweight Title - DDT Who's Gonna Top? - 9/25

The first match was great comedy in the best DDT style with a fantastic finish and postmatch involving ASUKA waiting for something. Last two matches were just excellent, Cara Noir really meshes perfectly with DDT and Ueno is great even if his next match is going to be Pheromones bullshit . Higuchi and Takeshita was just awesome.

Nth

# ¿ Sep 25, 2022 06:03

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Lamuella posted:

MOTYC: Kenoh vs Kaito Kiyomiya, Grand Ship 2022, Pro Wrestling Noah, 25/09

I mean, it's Kenoh and Kiyomiya, they're forever opponents. It started slow, built, and had a really superb ending. Worth it for the journey and the destination.

Nth

# ¿ Sep 26, 2022 02:33

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW Battle Autumn October 26th
MOTYC
Tomohiro Ishii vs Ren Narita
- Big Tom doesn't miss. Match ruled, shades of his breakout 2013 match against Narita's father. Ren brought the intensity as well, made the most of his first singles main event on home soil by fighting his heart out

NTH!

# ¿ Oct 27, 2022 03:35

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Minoru Suzuki vs. Clark Connors - NJPW Rumble on 44th Street 10/28

Just a really, really cool match with some absolutely sick punishment dished out on both sides. Connors is really, really stepping up to the plate.

Nth.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2022 04:21

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Lamuella posted:

Pro Wrestling NOAH Ariake Triumph - The Return - Pro Wrestling Love Forever Vol.3 (10/30/22)

HM: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka(c) vs Kongo (Hi69 & Tadasuke)
MOTYC: GHC Tag Team Titles: Satoshi Kojima & Takashi Sugiura vs Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kenoh)
HM: GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Keiji Mutoh, Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshiki Inamura
HM: GHC Heavyweight Title: Kaito Kiyomiya(c) vs Kazuyuki Fujita

Nth

# ¿ Oct 31, 2022 04:13

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Pylons posted:

AEW Full Gear/Zero Hour:

HM: Ricky Starks vs. Brian Cage
MOTYC: Eddie Kingston vs. Jun Akiyama
----
MOTYC: Jack Perry vs. Luchasaurus
MOTY: The Elite vs. Death Triangle
HM: Britt Baker vs. Saraya
HM: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Chris Jericho
HM: Wardlow vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Samoa Joe
HM: Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs. Darby Allin & Sting
MOTYC: Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm
MOTYC: Swerve in Our Glory vs. The Acclaimed
MOTYC: Jon Moxley vs. MJF

Yeah I'm with this right here.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2022 06:11

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

Lily Catts posted:

MOTYC: Daniel Garcia(c) vs Konosuke Takeshita for the PWG World Title, PWG Nineteen, 2022/07/03

Nth

Fad posted:

MOTYC: The Kings of the Black Throne (c) vs Aussie Open for the PWG World Tag Team Title, PWG Nineteen, 2022/07/03

And Nth

# ¿ Dec 11, 2022 21:58

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 02:13

gripebomb: Dec 13, 2006; I wanted to fight the world.

- Eddie Kingston

DarkstarIV posted:

MOTYC: Giulia vs Syuri, STARDOM Dream Queendom, 12/29/22

Great match where both ladies beat the devil out of each other. Wheels started falling off at the finish though, but not enough to detract from the match imo.

Nth. This poo poo ruled.

# ¿ Dec 30, 2022 09:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2022's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)