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)

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Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

MOTYC: Gabriel Kidd vs Francesco Akira. RevPro High Stakes 29/01

These two beat the absolute poo poo out of each other and it was amazing. Akira did his job as an underdog babyface brilliantly and Kidd looked like a loving monster

Ziggy Tzardust fucked around with this message at 11:55 on Jan 30, 2022

# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 20:17

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 20:00

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

HMOTYC: Gabriel Kidd vs Francesco Akira. RevPro High Stakes 29/01

These two beat the absolute poo poo out of each other and it was amazing. Akira did his job as an underdog babyface brilliantly and Kidd looked like a loving monster

Bumping this up to MOTYC (post edited to reflect that)

MOTYC: Will Ospreay vs Michael Oku RevPro High Stakes 2022

Absolutely fantastic storytelling throughout the match, great selling, a white hot crowd and a standout performance from Oku makes up for the wrong finish

Ziggy Tzardust fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Jan 30, 2022

# ¿ Jan 30, 2022 11:58

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

Assuming this is from the same RevPro High Stakes show as your other nomination?

That's right. Edited

# ¿ Jan 30, 2022 14:47

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

MOTYC: Gabriel Kidd vs Francesco Akira. RevPro High Stakes 29/01

These two beat the absolute poo poo out of each other and it was amazing. Akira did his job as an underdog babyface brilliantly and Kidd looked like a loving monster

Come to think of it, a couple more from Revpro High Stakes 29/01

HM: Yota Tsuji vs Shota Umino

It's weird being able to say with a reasonable amount of certainty that you're watching a future Tokyo Dome main event. Both guys are super over, they obviously know each other really well and the action was really smooth and told their story well. I'm sure there's better matches to come from these two but it's a nice preview of the future of New Japan

MOTYC: Sunshine Machine vs Aussie Open for the RPW Tag Team Titles

I've never been as hot on Sunshine Machine as a lot of people in BritWres. Maybe I can't get over the fact that Chuck Mambo looks like he's going to sell me ketamine at a festival. However, this match showed me why they're so highly regarded. I won't go into specifics but it was a real standout performance from them.

High Stakes was really good and you should watch it on VOD when it's out

# ¿ Jan 30, 2022 18:17

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

High Stakes was really good and you should watch it on VOD when it's out

You can always tell when RevPro put out a good show because the VOD always gets uploads a lot quicker:

https://twitter.com/RevProUK/status/1488663821707321353

# ¿ Feb 2, 2022 03:48

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Edit: wrong thread

# ¿ Feb 10, 2022 03:05

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Shingo Takagi - NJPW New Japan Cup 3/21
Great match but not the result I ultimately wanted (even though I predicted it!)

MOTYC: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW New Japan Cup 3/21
Great match and not the result I expected but YESSSSS!!!!

Nth. The second was every bit as good as their York Hall match 2 years ago

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 09:57

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW New Japan Cup 3/26

Incredible match, the crowd just completely lost it at points and threw noise restrictions out the window to hoot and holler and it ruled. The typical great match these two always have but with a really nicely laid out storyline that has been building all tournament.

I'd nominate ZSJ/Shingo on the ending alone since that was all I saw, but I'll hold off till I get a chance to watch the whole thing. That ending though

Nth

Also: MOTYC: Zack Sabre Junior vs Shingo Takagi

# ¿ Mar 26, 2022 10:58

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito in the New Japan Cup Final - NJPW New Japan Cup 3/27

Magnificent ending to an incredible tournament.

Nth! This loving ruled!

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 08:48

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Punch McLightning posted:

Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show, 3/31
HM: Biff Busick vs. Minoru Suzuki
HM: Ace Austin, Black Taurus & Josh Alexander vs. Laredo Kid, Michael Oku & Rey Horus

Nth. Oku is one of the more low-key impressive performers of the last week and it�s great to see him getting done wider recognition

# ¿ Apr 4, 2022 14:26

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

WMOTYC: FinnJuice + Brody King vs TMDK + Tito

Literally went on three times longer than it should have done. Sloppy spots, the in between stuff looked like they were lost. Garbage

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 03:01

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW Best of the Super Jr Night 5 May 21st
MOTYC
Hiromu Takahashi vs Ace Austin
- Ace's best match so far this tournament, fantastic chemitry between these two

HM
Rysuke Taguchi vs Francesco Akira
- Big fan of Akira, and Taguchi is always great when he doesn't lean completely into slapstick

Taiji Ishimori vs Alex Zayne
- Alex Zayne has really impressed me this tour as someone who had never seen him before, and Ishimori brought the effort he should have on the main event of night 1

Nth on all three

# ¿ May 21, 2022 10:35

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

HM: BoSJ 5/24 Titan vs TJP.

This was nuts and was only the second match on the card. drat near killed each other

# ¿ May 24, 2022 11:07

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

HM: DOUKI vs. El Phantasmo - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 7 5/24

This was so loving fun!

2nd. Great stuff. Everyone on this show is trying to kill each other and it rules

# ¿ May 24, 2022 12:04

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

HM: DOUKI vs. TJP - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 9 - 5/26
They went hard from before the bell rang and kept it up the whole way through, just a high-paced, exciting match with some cool spots, transitions, and false finishes. The wrong guy won.

HM: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Alex Zayne - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 9 - 5/26
Zayne has been such a fun addition and it's been wonderful how the crowd has taken to him. His brand of humor seemed to mesh perfectly with Taguchi's, and the commentators getting carried away was a fun addition.

HM: El Lindaman vs. Wheeler Yuta - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 9 - 5/26
Yuta's improvement has continued but El Lindaman may be the standout junior of this tournament, at least wrestling wise, and he proved it again tonight.

HM: Hiromu Takahashi vs. SHO - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 9 - 5/26
Wonderful mix of comedy and brutal moves, with a ton of delightful trash-talk. Then let down by typical House of Torture bullshit

MOTYC: El Phantasmo vs. Robbie Eagles - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 9 - 5/26
What the fucccccck? these two are lunatics. Crowd just gave up on the rules and were making so much noise by the end, haha.

The BOSJ rules this year. Goddamn.

2nd to all these but especially to that last one. Match of the tournament so far. These two work so well together

# ¿ May 26, 2022 13:17

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles, NJPW Best of Super Juniors Night 11, 29/05

Two men united in their love of leg destruction

Nth. Not quite as good as the Phantasmo match but still excellent

# ¿ May 29, 2022 13:23

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

HM: Wheeler Yuta vs TJP: BOSJ Night 12 31/05

TJP continues to be annoyingly good and he was the perfect opponent for Yuta. This felt a lot like a jnr version of ZSJ vs SANADA. Lots of technical counters and Yuta finishing his story of gradually getting more violent as the tournament went on

El Desperado vs El Phantasmo 31/05

Good storytelling of ELP initially thinking about running the clock down but then gradually realizing he actually wants to beat Despe. Finish left a bit of a sour taste as I felt it kind of buried ELP but that's kind of subjective

Ziggy Tzardust fucked around with this message at 08:39 on Jun 1, 2022

# ¿ Jun 1, 2022 08:37

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

HM: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado, NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final, 03/06

Woulda been MOTYC if the right man won

Nth for the same resson

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 12:37

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Edit: not the gdt

# ¿ Jun 27, 2022 03:05

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: Taichi vs. Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW G1 Climax 32 Night 2, 17/07

The Taichi/Ishii combo is basically my platonic ideal wrestling match, they couldn't not have a MOTYC if they tried

Nth for the same reason. They�re so good together

# ¿ Jul 17, 2022 07:57

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Kevin with his Gino impression again

# ¿ Jul 17, 2022 07:59

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW G1 Climax Night 17 August 14th
MOTYC
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs KENTA
- Two broken down old men who just so happen to be two of the greatest wrestlers of the 21st century

HM
Tom Lawlor vs Jeff Cobb
- Tom tricky, Jeff strong

Nth to both

# ¿ Aug 14, 2022 09:46

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

HM: El Phantasmo vs Shingo Takagi - G1 16th August

Really fun match which became a real star making performance for Phantasmo

# ¿ Aug 16, 2022 10:39

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

HM: SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW G1 Climax 32, 16/08

Very fun totally irrelevant match

2nd

# ¿ Aug 16, 2022 11:28

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Joey Janela (C) vs. Shunma Katsumata for the DDT Extreme Championship - DDT Peter Pan 8/20

The perfect use of Joey in DDT combined with the perfect opponent in Shunma. Equal parts terrifying and hilarious, with Shunma's attempt to execute a master plan to force Joey to submit being the highlight of an extremely enjoyable match.

2nd

# ¿ Aug 20, 2022 08:21

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

HM: Luke Jacobs vs Francesco Akira RevPro anniversary 20/08

If you haven�t seen LukeJacobs the best way I can describe him is of WALTER was a cruiserweight. You had a big, powerful babyface against a smaller, more technical heel and it was fantastic

# ¿ Aug 20, 2022 18:50

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

RevPro 10th Anniversay Night 1 20/08:

HM: Will Ospreay vs Speedball Mike Bailey

Great match between two of the best but both feltlike they were holding something back for the next night. Which is understandable

HM: Luke Jacobs Vs Francesco Akira

MOTYC: Aussie Open vs Destination Everywhere:

The story of Conor Mills wrestling twice in one night and facing Aussie Open mirrors what happened at High Stakes last year where Oku did the same thing. Mills selling from his earlier match was great and what Oku lacks in smoothness, he makes up for in his babyface charisma. Plus, they're facing one of the best 5 teams in the world.

Night 2: 21/08

HM Luke Jacobs Vs Tony Deppen:

Jacobs was the MVP of the weekend. Think a smaller-scale WALTER who REALLY likes Bryan Danielson. And both his opponents were great foils in different ways

HM: Speedball Mike Bailey vs Leon Slater:

If Jacobs was the MVP, Slater was the breakout star of the weekend. Only his second match in the promotion (first was against soup boy as a last minute replacement), Slater is only 17 but has incredible athleticism, an instant connection with the crowd (all of York Hall was chanting for him by the end) and a natural explosiveness. Maybe Englands answer to Nick Wayne

MOTYC:

Will Ospreay vs Ricky Knight Jnr (RKJ)

Ospreay in RevPro is an entirely different animal to Ospreay anywhere else. This is Ricky's last chance at the title and we're starting to see Ospreay's schedule catch up with him. An incredible match which is up with Will's best this year. An outstanding finish as well

# ¿ Aug 22, 2022 10:28

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

RevPro 10th Anniversay Night 1 20/08:

HM: Will Ospreay vs Speedball Mike Bailey

Great match between two of the best but both feltlike they were holding something back for the next night. Which is understandable

HM: Luke Jacobs Vs Francesco Akira

MOTYC: Aussie Open vs Destination Everywhere:

The story of Conor Mills wrestling twice in one night and facing Aussie Open mirrors what happened at High Stakes last year where Oku did the same thing. Mills selling from his earlier match was great and what Oku lacks in smoothness, he makes up for in his babyface charisma. Plus, they're facing one of the best 5 teams in the world.

Night 2: 21/08

HM Luke Jacobs Vs Tony Deppen:

Jacobs was the MVP of the weekend. Think a smaller-scale WALTER who REALLY likes Bryan Danielson. And both his opponents were great foils in different ways

HM: Speedball Mike Bailey vs Leon Slater:

If Jacobs was the MVP, Slater was the breakout star of the weekend. Only his second match in the promotion (first was against soup boy as a last minute replacement), Slater is only 17 but has incredible athleticism, an instant connection with the crowd (all of York Hall was chanting for him by the end) and a natural explosiveness. Maybe Englands answer to Nick Wayne

MOTYC:

Will Ospreay vs Ricky Knight Jnr (RKJ)

Ospreay in RevPro is an entirely different animal to Ospreay anywhere else. This is Ricky's last chance at the title and we're starting to see Ospreay's schedule catch up with him. An incredible match which is up with Will's best this year. An outstanding finish as well

Both nights are now up on http://www.revproondemand.com

# ¿ Aug 24, 2022 12:18

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Dango Bango posted:

And apparently a total banger at RevPro too. Absolutely INSANE what he's doing right now.

And he's coming off a loving kidney infection

Please watch the RevPro match against RKJ. It�s really, REALLY good

# ¿ Aug 25, 2022 07:49

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC - The Elite vs. United Empire, AEW Dynamite, 8/31

Match owned

2nd. loving hell

# ¿ Sep 1, 2022 03:00

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

Every year for the last few years I've thought,"Welp, this is it, wrestling must have peaked, it can NOT get any better than this" and every year so far it just keeps being even more incredible. Think about what things are going to be like when Japan is back to full cheering crowds again

Paraphrasing Dave Meltzer talking about Ospreay vs RKJ: �the storytelling and athleticism were unreal. In many years in the past, this would have been match of the year. It wasn�t Ospreays best match this week�

# ¿ Sep 1, 2022 08:05

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Kevino07 posted:

WMOTYC: CM Punk vs Jon Moxley, All Out

Nothing to do with Moxley's performance, but I struggle to think of a single match that has damaged a company and their reputation as much as this.

I can think of several TNA ones that happened within 12 months of each other

# ¿ Sep 6, 2022 23:39

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

forkboy84 posted:

Nth this was brutal. Yujiro has such strong go away heat with me. Although I'd only say it's on par with the Fale matches with Cobb, Archer & Yano rather the clear worst. At least it's the worst non-Fale match though.

2nd this

I am so loving tired of this tournament. I already skip the undercard & this still feels like too much. At least the next night is meant to be good

There are some REAL good ones towards the end. ELP/Shingo alone is worth carrying on for

# ¿ Sep 19, 2022 16:22

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: FTR vs. Aussie Open, NJPW Royal Quest II, 01/10

Nth. Absolutely incredible in front of a hot crowd

# ¿ Oct 1, 2022 20:50

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito, NJPW Royal Quest II, 02/10

I told Zack to rip Naito's arm off and he said not yet darling, 5 stars

Also shout out to Ziggy for hooking me up with a real good seat

Nth! Royal Quest in general is worth watching in its entirety. It feels like an important house show in the best possible way

And you�re very welcome, Rarity. Was a pleasure having you along

# ¿ Oct 2, 2022 21:45

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

Nth. Absolutely incredible in front of a hot crowd

Going to signal boost this one now that it�s on NJPW World. It�s every bit as good as you think

# ¿ Oct 16, 2022 09:00

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

HM: Yota Tsuji vs Tomohiro Ishii. New Japan Royal Quest 02/10

Really hard hitting and shows just how far Tsuji has developed on his UK excursion. Shota could learn some things from him

# ¿ Oct 16, 2022 20:14

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Dango Bango posted:

MOTY: Darby Allin vs. Samoa Joe - AEW Dynamite, 12/7

_{_{(This is an actual MOTYC nomination)}}

2nd

# ¿ Dec 8, 2022 02:46

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: FTR (C) vs. The Briscoes in a Double Dog Collar Match for the ROH Tag Titles - ROH Final Battle 12/10

This was loving insane. THE loving REFEREE WAS BLEEDING!

Nth. I was going to be stubborn and keep insisting that Ospreay/Oku in February was my MOTY. I can�t say that in good faith anymore. That was incredible

# ¿ Dec 11, 2022 00:06

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 20:00

Ziggy Tzardust: Apr 7, 2006

GEORGE W BUSHI posted:

WMOTYC: Karl Anderson (c) vs Hikuleo for the NEVER Openweight Championship - NJPW WTL/SJTL Final (12/14

What did we do to deserve this

Nth. Real bad

# ¿ Dec 14, 2022 12:32

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)

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