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)

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

Just realised I had forgot to post some nominations from the past few days.

MOTYC
9th January
Prominence Kurenai No Rinka
Deathmatch
[url=]Watch this here[/url]
Suzu Suzuki vs Toshiyuki Sakuda

Hming this
The big safety pin made me yell out loud and here's the link
https://youtu.be/tj2MiT2eBoA

# ¿ Jan 19, 2023 20:30

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 13:11

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

HM: Toshiyuki Sakuda vs Eric Ryan
ICW No Holds Barred volume 40
January 21

HM: Matt Tremont (c) vs Jaden Newman for the IWTV world championship
HM: Toshiyuki Sakuda vs Neil Diamond Cutter
H2O Hustle and Gold
January 22

# ¿ Jan 23, 2023 07:35

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

HM: 1 Called Manders vs Trish Adora
MOTYC: Wheeler Yuta vs Marcus Mathers
Beyond Wrestling Miight Snow, January 29

# ¿ Feb 2, 2023 00:13

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

]

MOTYC
2nd February
Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS Go Beyond The Limit 2023
No Canvas, Glassboard & Alpha Deathmatch
King of FREEDOM World Title
Drew Parker vs Violento Jack
Watch this here

There is something about the image of massive blood stains direct onto the wooden boards that is very striking.

Nth, both the match and how striking blood on boards is

# ¿ Feb 18, 2023 01:43

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

achillesforever6 posted:

HM Ziggy Haim vs Sawyer Wreck- Bulldozer's Barbwire Brutality Matt Tremont's Angels Of Death Tournament TDMT3 (H2OWrestling) 2/18

Nth

# ¿ Feb 20, 2023 21:21

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

HM: Ryan Clancy vs Zack Sabre Jr
HM: Miracle Generation vs Violence is Forever (c) - IWTV Independent Wrestling Tag Team Championship
Beyond Wrestling Perfection or Vanity
February 26

# ¿ Feb 27, 2023 04:07

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

Oil! posted:

HM: Joey Janela vs Veny - GCW Holy Smokes, 3/4/2023

Janela and Veny are great professional wrestlers.

Nth

Also

MOTY: Kasey Kirk vs Rina Yamashita (c)
GCW Ultraviolent Championship
HM: Drew Parker vs John Wayne Murdoch
GCW Holy Smokes
March 4

# ¿ Mar 7, 2023 07:13

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Matt Tremont vs Tank
ICWNHB Vol 43, March 11

# ¿ Mar 13, 2023 01:45

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

HM: Atticus Cogar vs Jacob Fatu
Circle 6 Momma Cogar's Delicate Flowers
March 30
Cogar/Fatu almost had the coolest spot in the history of wrestling

HM: Clint Margera vs Eric Ryan
Circle 6 SVN
March 31

MOTY: Lufisto vs Mickie Knuckles
ICW NHB vol. 44
March 31

HM: Hoodfoot vs Brandon Kirk
ICW NHB vol. 45
April 1

HM: Lowlife Louie Ramos vs Schwartzy
MOTY: Hoodfoot vs John Wayne Murdoch
MOTY: Dr Redacted vs Matt Tremont
RPW Street Trash
April 2

Faces of Death weekend ruled. All four nights, and especially RPW, proved you don't need Rob Black's tryhard bullshit to put on truly extreme deathmatch

# ¿ Apr 4, 2023 04:49

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
23rd March
Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS The Gekokujo 2023
Fluorescent Lighttubes Alpha Deathmatch
Abdullah Kobayashi & Drew Parker vs Jun Kasai & Masashi Takeda
Watch this here

It's Drew's final deathmatch! It's Abby Jr! It's the 2 best deathmatch wrestlers going! It's a bloodbath! A fitting end to Drew's deathmatch career, more a spotfest than a classic great deathmatch but still extremely visceral. I watched it while eating my breakfast, would recommend.

MOTYC
23rd March
Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS The Gekokujo 2023
Glass Board Alpha Deathmatch
King of FREEDOM World Title
Violento Jack(c) vs Tomoya Hirata
Watch this here

As a deathmatch fan this is just fantastic. Hirata has really blossomed the past couple of years (no doubt helped with teaming with Toru Sugiura), Jack is reliably one of the best deathmatch guys going & they go to war. I went ****� here. Obviously if you're bothered by deathmatch poo poo then don't watch it, but if you aren't then you should, it's great wrestling.

Nth these two and thank you forkboy for these posts, your deathmatch recs are very very appreciated

# ¿ Apr 25, 2023 00:07

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

WMOTYC
15th April
Big Japan Pro Wrestling New Standard Big 'B' Lotta Good Time Night 1
Weapon Bringing Deathmatch
Kankuro Hoshino & Yuko Miyamoto vs Mad Man Pondo & Necro Butcher

This is pretty much everything bad in deathmatch wrestling. I will not ever understand why BJW flew these guys over except "nostalgia" I guess. Feel like there'd be cheaper nostalgia pops & they wouldn't come out waving a Trump 2024 flag.

Nth. This is the worst match I've seen this year hands down. There's not a single positive thing to say about it. It's a huge bummer too since pondo can actually still almost kinda go and i appreciate them shouting out some of the h2o kids with the music. But this is god drat horrendous. I challenge Billy Corgan to beat this

# ¿ May 10, 2023 00:49

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

HM: Mio Momono vs Maria
HM: Queen of Indies tournament final Masha Slamovich vs Mio Momono
West Coast Pro Wrestling Queen of Indies
May 13

# ¿ May 14, 2023 06:20

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Bobby Beverly vs Matt Tremont
ICW NHB vol. 46
May 27

# ¿ May 29, 2023 20:42

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MassRafTer posted:

GCW Tournament of Survival 8:

HM
Ciclope vs Miedo Extremo vs Green Phantom
Rina Yamashita vs John Wayne Murdoch

Overall a pretty fun tournament but it didn't have the stand out first round matches some previous tournaments have due to the three ways.

Nth but also
HM: Tomoya Hirata vs Toru Sugiura vs Joey Janela
GCW Tournament of Survival, June 3

# ¿ Jun 5, 2023 17:12

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

SalTheBard posted:

MOTYC - Matt Tremont vs. Neil Diamond Cutter - H20 7 More years Night 2 - 700 Light Tube Death Match - 6/11/23

2nd

# ¿ Jun 13, 2023 04:11

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Eric Ryan vs Bobby Beverly
ICWNHB volume 47
June 16

HM: Tommy Vendetta vs Eric Ryan
MOTY: Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs John Wayne Murdoch
ICWNHB volume 48
June 17

# ¿ Jun 18, 2023 20:12

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Bobby Beverly vs Doctor Redacted
MOTY: Jaden Newman vs Danny Demanto
ICW No Holds Barred vol 49
July 1

# ¿ Jul 4, 2023 06:57

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Dyln McKay vs Austin Luke vs Marcus Mathers
H2O The Last Generation - June 24

MOTY: Dyln McKay vs Speedball Mike Bailey
HM: Effy vs Stan Stylez
HM: Tracy Williams vs Austin Luke
HM: Brandon Kirk vs MAO
HM: Marcus Mathers vs Zachary Wentz
Marcus Mathers' All I Want 2 - July 13

HM: Jaden Newman vs Eric Ryan
MOTY: Matt Tremont (c) vs Casanova Valentine, IWTV World Championship
ICW NHB vol 50 - July 28

MOTY: Matt Tremont (c) vs Austin Luke, IWTV World Championship
H2O Barbwire City Showdown - July 29

# ¿ Jul 31, 2023 05:26

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

WMOTY: Shlak vs Joel Bateman
RPW King of the Kill, August 12

I almost feel bad nominating this as wmoty. It's never boring, which is the actual worst thing a deathmatch can be, but it's a total train wreck featuring Shlak at his best/worst with the stupidest most botched finish I've seen in a minute.

https://m.vk.com/video-4499945_456251391 entrances start at 1:03:55 or it's on IWTV

Here's a teaser of the finish
https://twitter.com/IsThisWrestling/status/1690525473086869504

# ¿ Aug 16, 2023 01:16

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

Motyc: Danny Demanto vs Atticus Cogar
ICW NHB vol 52, September 23

Wrestling is real

# ¿ Sep 25, 2023 04:19

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Team FREEDOMS vs Team GCW, Art of War Games
GCW Fight Club night 1 - October 7

MOTY: Masashi Takeda vs Mance Warner
MOTY: Matt Tremont vs Jun Kasai
GCW Fight Club night 2 - October 8

# ¿ Oct 9, 2023 02:30

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
28th August
FREEDOMS Jun Kasai Produce Tokyo Deathmatch Carnival 2023 Vol.2
Fluorescent Lighttubes & Glass Board Alpha Deathmatch
Jun Kasai vs Masashi Takeda

Big time nth

Also
MOTY: Joey Janela vs Masashi Takeda
GCW The New Face of War, July 18

MOTY: John Wayne Murdoch vs Jun Kasai
GCW Planet Death, July 19

Is Jun Kasai the greatest wrestler of all time????

# ¿ Nov 6, 2023 00:34

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
11th October
FREEDOMS 14th Anniversary FREEDOMS vs GCW Great Clash
King of FREEDOM World Title
Glass Board, Lighttube & Alpha Deathmatch
Toru Sugiura(c) vs Daisuke Masaoka
Watch this here

Sugiura is right up there with Kasai & Takeda for the best of deathmatch wrestling today. When he's been champion KoF Title matches have been essential viewing and so it goes here. To paraphrase a reviewer on Cagematch, a very King's Road feel, but with glass everywhere and some gnarly headbutts for an extra bonus. Maybe the 2nd best deathmatch of the year, a proper bloodbath so obviously not going to be for everyone, but if you're deathmatch curious this is a good place to start.

Nth and I agree about it being a good place to start if maybe swerve vs hanger whet your violence whistle

MOTY: Masashi Takeda vs Akira
BJW September 17

# ¿ Nov 25, 2023 05:32

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

MOTY: Risa Sera vs Emersyn Jayne vs Masha Slamovich
MOTY: John Wayne Murdoch vs Jimmy Lloyd vs Jacob Fatu
MOTY: Miedo Extremo vs John Wayne Murdoch tournament final
GCW Nick Gage Invitational 8, December 30

I'd never seen her before but Emersyn Jayne made an instant fan of me and there was a spot in the glass ceiling 2.0 match that had me literally screaming and jumping up and down. Deathmatch wrestling is the best

MOTY: Daiju Wakamatsu vs John Wayne Murdoch
MOTY: Nick Gage vs Jun Kasai
GCW Aftermath, December 31

Kasai getting that match out of a busted down Gage really proving that he's the actual goat

# ¿ Jan 1, 2024 23:57

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 13:11

Big Dave: Nov 6, 2009; Friends don't shake hands, friends gotta hug!

It was great and I will say that as a fan of US deathmatch, I was not expecting a deathmatch guy to keep up with speedball the way Jack did. Between that match and the rumble, speedball had some gnarly shooting star double knees last night

# ¿ Jan 2, 2024 01:18

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)