2023'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 > 2023's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

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Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Will Ospreay (C) vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP US Heavyweight Title - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 1/4

Human beings should not be capable of what these two do in the ring.

Nth

# ¿ Jan 4, 2023 12:15

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 19:31

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Switchblade Jay White (C) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 1/4

They had a hell of a job having to follow Omega/Ospreay and it was tough going at first, but they're two of the best wrestlers in the world today and they just did what they do so magnificently, and allowed it to build and build till I was completely on the hook.

HM for me. Just couldn't fully get into it tbh.

# ¿ Jan 4, 2023 13:04

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Samoa Joe (C) vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Title - AEW Dynamite 1/4

Holy poo poo this was even better than their first match, aided by an absolutely electric crowd.

Hell yeah

# ¿ Jan 5, 2023 04:18

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Anyone got a time stamp for that main?

e: vvv thanks! This was super helpful to have.

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jan 7, 2023

# ¿ Jan 5, 2023 13:54

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Blackpool Combat Club (Mox & Danielson) vs. Top Flight - AEW Rampage 1/6

Elevated by a white-hot crowd, high action from BEFORE the bell rang till the end, absolutely incredible chemistry between all 4 men.

Nth.

MOTYC: The Acclaimed (c) vs. Lethal/Jarrett - AEW Battle of the Belts V 1/6

Obviously not going to top Ospreay/Omega. But this is going to be tough to beat as one of my favorites of the year. Everything great about pro wrestling in this match.

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jan 7, 2023

# ¿ Jan 7, 2023 05:20

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Rampage 1/6

HM: The Killer and the Pillar (Jamie Hayter & Dr. Britt Baker) vs. The Renegades (Charlette & Robyn Renegade)

AEW Battle of the Belts 1/6

HM: Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy (c)

Nth-ing these two. The psychology in the OC/Sabian match was so, so good.

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jan 7, 2023

# ¿ Jan 7, 2023 06:03

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

graph posted:

a loving fantastic night of live pro wrestling and i added the cs lol

Crap! I forgot to do this. I went back and edited mine.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2023 06:19

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Hangman Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley - AEW Dynamite 1/11

It's January 11th and "just" a Dynamite, there was no reason to go THIS hard.... but they sure as gently caress did!

HM for me

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC - Bryan Danielson vs. Konosuke Takeshita, AEW Dynamite, 1/11

Holy gently caress this match

NTH!! my MOTN

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Triangulo de la Muerte (C) vs. The Elite for the AEW Trios Titles in Best of 7 Match 7 (Escalara de la Muerte) - AEW Dynamite 1/11

Holy poo poo, I thought the "reduced" time might negatively effect this, but it was loving crazy good.

Hell. Yes. Still think it would have benefited from more time but holy poo poo I think I held my breath for 15 minutes.

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 04:11 on Jan 12, 2023

# ¿ Jan 12, 2023 04:04

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Bryan Danielson vs. Bandido - AEW Dynamite 1/18

Holy gently caress this was good. Just a random Dynamite, Danielson out there having PPV Main Event Quality matches. Bandido just hurking him around with his surprising strength. Hot crowd. Amazing match.

Incredible match.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2023 03:50

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 1/18

HM: Jay Lethal vs. Orange Cassidy (c)
HM: Darby Allin (c) vs. KUSHIDA

Nth-ing both of these. And especially agreeing with

graph posted:

oc/lethal was full of silly crap that really helped break the ice

# ¿ Jan 19, 2023 04:12

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 1/25
MOTYC: Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal

Absolutely beautiful :unsmith:

e: this is an Nth

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Jan 26, 2023

# ¿ Jan 26, 2023 04:07

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

MOTYC: Emi Sakura vs. Jamie Hayter (c) - AEW Rampage 1/27

This match made me yell "motherfucker" at my TV.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2023 05:01

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

WMOTYC: Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight (Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match) - WWE Royal Rumble 1/28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1chdsoU6hw&t=3s

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Jan 29, 2023

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 03:48

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

WMOTYC: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss - WWE Royal Rumble 1/28

Boring. Zero psychology or thought put into the match. Crowd was dead. Felt like it went forever.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 04:08

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

WMOTYC: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns (c) - WWE Royal Rumble 1/28

Boring as poo poo outside of one spot and a botch

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 06:07

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Adam Page - AEW Dynamite 2/1
HM: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Brian Cage - AEW Dynamite 2/1
HM: Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher - AEW Dynamite 2/1
MOTYC: Darby Allin (C) vs. Samoa Joe for the TNT Title - AEW Dynamite 2/1

Absolutely incredible Dynamite.

With you on all of these

# ¿ Feb 2, 2023 04:03

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: MJF vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW Dynamite 2/8

White-hot crowd, MJF playing his role to perfection, and Takeshita just being his incredible self. What a glorious start to Dynamite.

Edit:

MOTYC: Bryan Danielson vs. RUSH - AEW Dynamite 2/8

Blood and violence. Violence and blood. BLOOD AND VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE AND BLOOD! BLOOD AND VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE AND BLOOD! BLOOD AND VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE AND BLOOD!

Nth. Amazing matches.

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: The Elite (C) vs. AR Fox & Top Flight for the AEW Trios Titles - AEW Dynamite 2/8

Crazy stuff from all six men, their double and triple teams and combo-techs and the false finishes were just top notch. Only reason this isn't a MOTYC is because it had the misfortune to be on the same show as Danielson/RUSH and MJF/Takeshita.

Going MOTYC on Elite/AR Flight because I was holding my breath at the end at that finishing sequence was INSANE.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2023 04:02

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Orange Cassidy (C) vs. Wheeler Yuta for the AEW All Atlantic Championship - AEW Dynamite 2/22

They didn't have to go this hard. They did that for us.

Yeah seeing this live was NUTS. Workrate and psychology were unbelievable. And the counters :stare:

Nth.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2023 06:46

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Rampage 2/24

MOTYC: The Young Bucks vs. Aussie Open
HM: Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale
HM: Action Andretti vs. Sammy Guevara

Nth-ing these. Great Rampage!

# ¿ Feb 25, 2023 05:58

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Punch McLightning posted:

MOTYC: Face of the Revolution Ladder Match, Dynamite 3/1

Nth.

WMOTYC: (Not) Casino Tag Team Battle Royal, AEW Dynamite 3/1

This was a complete mess from both a booking and execution standpoint. Wrestlers got lost, commentary got lost, and the AEW does way too much interference in their battle royals.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2023 03:56

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Penguin Patrol posted:

AEW Revolution 3/05
HM: Lucha Bros & Mark Briscoe vs Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods & Ari Daivari) (pre-show)
HM: Ricky Starks vs Chris Jericho
MOTYC: Jungle Boy vs Christian Cage - Casket Match
MOTYC: The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) (c) vs House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) - AEW Trios Championships
MOTYC: Jon Moxley vs Hangman Adam Page - Texas Death
HM: The Gunns (c) vs The Acclaimed vs Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal vs Orange Cassidy & Danhausen - AEW Tag Team Championships
MOTYC: MJF (c) vs Bryan Danielson - AEW World Championship Iron Man Match

With you on all of these. And I feel like Danielson/MJF tops Omega/Ospreay as my MOTY

# ¿ Mar 6, 2023 05:53

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

graph posted:

HM: Adam Page, Evil Uno, and Stu Grayson vs. Blackpool Combat Club, AEW Dynamite, 3/15
HM: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett, AEW International Championship, AEW Dynamite, 3/15
HM: House of Black (c) vs. The Elite vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Daniel Garcia, AEW Trios Championship, AEW Dynamite, 3/15

All HMs for me but all a lot of fun to watch

# ¿ Mar 16, 2023 03:11

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

MOTYC: Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo - AEW Dynamite 3/22

Yeah this is now my #2 match of the year behind the Iron Man. I'm incredibly tempted to put it at #1 because I've never yelled at my TV and jumped out of my chair like that for a TV match like that before.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2023 03:04

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

I also want to throw out the following HMs for the matches being so. much. fun.

HM: Sting, Darby Allin, & OC vs. Butcher, Blade, and Kip Sabian - AEW Dynamite 3/22
HM: Stokely Hathaway vs. HOOK - AEW Dynamite 3/22

# ¿ Mar 23, 2023 03:17

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

graph posted:

ROH Supercard of Honor 3/31

MOTYC El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander
HM: Athena (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki - ROH World Women's Championship
MOTYC: Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe (c) - ROH TV Championship
HM: "Reach for the Sky" Ladder match - Top Flight (Dante Martin, Darius Martin) vs. The Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven), Lucha Bros (Penta & Rey Fenix), Los Faccion Ingobernables (RUSH & Dralistico) & Aussie Open (Mike Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
HM: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata - ROH Pure Championship
MOTYC: Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli (c) - ROH World Championship

My nominations from Supercard of Honor. What a fantastic show. Watched on replay and was still hootin' and hollerin' like crazy at the MOTYC nominations. And I'll admit, I teared up pretty good when Mark looked for the tag in the corner :unsmith:

# ¿ Apr 2, 2023 19:54

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

WMOTYC: Women's Tag Team Four Way - Wrestlemania 39 night 2 - 4/2

lol

# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 01:35

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

MOTYC: Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. GUNTHER (C) - WWE Wrestlemania Night 2 - 4/2

https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/status/1642695992808964100

Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Apr 3, 2023

# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 02:11

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

graph posted:

MOTYC: Snoop Dogg vs. The Miz, WrestleMania Night 2, 4/2

if this was improv it was an absolute all-timer

Nth lmao.

WMOTYC: BROOD Edge vs. DEMON Balor - WWE Wrestlemania 39 Night 2 - 4/2

Edge matches suck in the 2020s

# ¿ Apr 3, 2023 03:26

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

HM: Jamie Hayter (c) vs. Riho - AEW Dynamite 4/5

# ¿ Apr 6, 2023 03:48

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Rarity posted:

HM: Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin, AEW Dynamite, 12/04
HM: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Buddy Matthews, AEW Dynamite, 12/04

Nth.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2023 13:04

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

graph posted:

HM: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Bandido - AEW International Championship - AEW Dynamite - 4/26

Crapple! posted:

AEW Dynamite - 4/26

WMOTYC: Jade Cargill vs Taya Valkyrie

Nth to both of these. The latter mostly because of the finish.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2023 13:03

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

HM: Sammy Guevara & MJF vs. Jungle Boy & Darby Allin - AEW Dynamite 5/3

Great match, great booking, great timing and execution. Loved this.

# ¿ May 4, 2023 03:02

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky, WWE Backlash, 5/6

This loving slapped

Yeah I'll Nth this. Crowd was nuclear for this.

# ¿ May 7, 2023 01:27

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

DarkstarIV posted:

MOTYC: Bad Bunny vs Damien Priest, WWE Backlash, 5/6/23

An overbooked mess but in a fun way.

Nth. That was a ton of fun and I can't believe they went like 20+ minutes.

# ¿ May 7, 2023 03:05

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Purple Monkey posted:

AEW Dynamite 10/5

HM: Claudio Castagnoli vs Rey Fenix
HM: Orange Cassidy vs Daniel Garcia
MOTYC: Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley

Agreeing with these!

# ¿ May 12, 2023 03:46

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 5/17

HM: Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida vs. The Outcasts (Toni Storm & Ruby Soho)
MOTYC: Chris Jericho vs. Roderick Strong
HM: Jay White vs. Ricky Starks

Agree with these.

# ¿ May 19, 2023 04:22

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Rarity posted:

HM: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher, AEW Dynamite, 24/05
HM: Lucha Bros (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta, AEW Dynamite, 24/05

Nth.

# ¿ May 25, 2023 13:19

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Shaman Tank Spec posted:

MOTYC: Four Way for the AEW World Title - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
Just an incredible match. Had insane spots, had good storytelling, had a great finish.

MOTYC: Anarchy in the Arena - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
Pure pro wrestling chaos and stupidity. Love it.

WMOTYC: Adam Cole vs Chris Jericho in an Unsanctioned Match - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
This would have been a boring and bad normal wrestling match, but for a match where they hyped the violence it was incredibly tame on top of being boring and bad. Also a "no rules" match ending on a ref stoppage needs to have the losing guy absolutely brutalized, not a little bit bloody on the eyebrow. What a dud.

Nth-ing these for all the same reasons. Anarchy in the Arena was loving fun as hell in person. Especially with Claudio and Mox coming down my aisle :woop:

The Four Pillars Four-Way was a masterclass by MJF especially. His selling did so much to elevate the others. He was wearing Hogan colors but that was definitely more of a Flair performance.

Adding my own:
MOTYC: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Kris Statlander - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
This was incredible with the crowd going absolutely apeshit for Kris' return. I literally jumped up and down at this.

MOTYC: Blackjack Battle Royal - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
Beautiful way to start the show. And that finish was genius.

HM: Wardlow (c) vs. Christian Cage - AEW Double or Nothing 5/28
A ton of fun and that Swanton was incredible to see live

# ¿ May 30, 2023 02:08

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 5/31

HM: Bandido & The Lucha Bros (PENTA El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) vs. The Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta)
HM: Swerve Strickland vs. Trent Beretta vs. BIG BILL
HM: The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona & KAUN) vs. Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy
HM: Kris Statlander vs. Nyla Rose

Nth-ing these. Great Dynamite!

# ¿ Jun 1, 2023 13:07

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 19:31

Dango Bango: Jul 26, 2007

A Fancy Hat posted:

AEW Dynamite 6/14

MOTYC: Adam Cole vs MJF
HM: Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Sting, & Keith Lee vs. Mogul Affiliates (Swerve Strickland, Brian Cage, Toa Liona, & KAUN)
HM: The Elite (Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & "Hangman" Adam Page) vs. The Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta)

Nth-ing these with some changes

# ¿ Jun 15, 2023 03:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2023's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

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