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)

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

MOTYC: Amakusa (c) vs Junta Miyawaki, NOAH THE NEW YEAR 1/1

best way to highlight Junta's growth from his excursion

# ¿ Jan 7, 2023 11:54

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 21, 2024 18:16

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Jake Lee vs Yoshiki Inamura, NOAH New Sunrise 2023/01/08

Welcome to NOAH, Jake Lee

# ¿ Jan 21, 2023 08:29

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

MassRafTer posted:

CMLL 1/20
MOTYC: Rocky Romero vs Volador Jr

This was so loving good. I didn't expect this from the title match to set up the apuestas match but both guys killed themselves in this match and the crowd just built and built and built as they did progressively crazier stuff.

Hopefully CMLL leaves it up on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRh5JuWgLKc

Nth, ruled

# ¿ Jan 21, 2023 09:08

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

forkboy84 posted:

HM
22nd January
All Japan New Year Giant Series Night 5
Watch this here
PWF Junior Heavyweight Title
Atsuki Aoyagi(c) vs Kaz Hayashi

MOTYC
22nd January
All Japan New Year Giant Series Night 5
Watch this here
AJPW World Tag Team Titles
Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura(c) vs Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi

Nth to both

# ¿ Jan 24, 2023 10:57

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

SG Bamboo posted:

DDT Sweet Dreams! January 29th
MOTYC
Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs Yuji Hino - KO-D Openweight Title
- Just give me two beefy fuckers absolutely brutalising each other and i'll always be happy. Higuchi's chest was already chopped raw 5 minutes in but he kept fighting on against the immovable object, that's why he's my champ

nth, extremely my poo poo

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 07:03

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Z-Brats (Shun Skywalker, KAI, ISHIN) vs Gold Class (Ben-K, Kota Minoura, BxB Hulk) for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, Open the New Year Gate Night 9 @ Hyogo Kobe Sambo Hall

Fun match and Hulk brings a nice stiff edge into Gold Class's dynamic

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 09:06

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

forgot the date, yeah it was Jan. 22

# ¿ Jan 29, 2023 14:47

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Yeah everyone please check out that AJPW tag match. Being in a show with cheering allowed really made the difference.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2023 05:57

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

MOTYC: Kento Miyahara (c) vs Yuma Aoyagi for the Triple Crown Championship, 2023/02/04 AJPW Excite Series 2023 Night 1: Excite MANIAx

Sickest finishing stretch and 2.9 kickouts

EDIT:

HM: Atsuki Aoyagi (c) vs Kotaro Suzuki for the PWF World Junior Heavyweight Championship, 2023/02/04 (same show)

Really fun match with some good chemistry between the young champ and a wrestler he looked up to

Lily Catts fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Feb 6, 2023

# ¿ Feb 6, 2023 13:11

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Jacky "Funky" Kamei & Jason Lee vs Yuki Yoshioka & Madoka Kikuta, Rey de Parejas 2023 A Block, Dragongate Rey de Parejas Night 9

Very much a house show (there isn't even a hardcam!) but it's exactly what you expect from these guys, and more. Brilliant finish!

# ¿ Feb 26, 2023 04:50

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Jerusalem posted:

What was the date on this one?

2023/02/21 I forgot lol

# ¿ Feb 26, 2023 08:10

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Yuki Yoshioka, Madoka Kikuta, & Susumu Mochizuki vs YAMATO, Dragon Kid, & King Shimizu, Dragongate vs Singapore All Stars 2023 Night 2, Eurasian Community House, Singapore, 2023/03/12

The quintessential "just happy to be here" house show main event. A load of fun.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2023 19:03

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Bonk posted:

Dragongate - Dead or Alive, 5/5/23:

MOTYC: Open the Dream Gate Championship - Shun Skywalker� vs. Madoka Kikuta
-The history with Kikuta legit injuring his shoulder in the same match 2 years ago, losing a full year+, beating Shun's series of "quests", then coming back at the same event for this performance with Shun laser-focused on Kikuta's repaired shoulder was perfect storytelling both in-ring and out. The post-match naming of a new Big Six was also a huge moment.

Nth

gotta rewatch the rest of the card before making more nominations

# ¿ May 7, 2023 04:40

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
3rd May
New Japan Wrestling Dontaku 2023
NJPW World TV Title
Zack Sabre Jr(c) vs Jeff Cobb
Watch this here

I love this title. With a 15 minute time limit it is impossible for New Japan's worst side to come out, so the end result is just what the NEVER Openweight Title used to be; short, violent matches.

HM
3rd May
New Japan Wrestling Dontaku 2023
IWGP World Heavyweight Title
SANADA(c) vs Hiromu Takahashi
Watch this here

nth for SANADA/Hiromu, HM for ZSJ/Jeff Cobb

SANADA gave Hiromu a lot, which is pretty impressive for two guys who never really interacted back when they were in one unit.

# ¿ May 10, 2023 02:28

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

MOTYC
NJPW Best of Super Juniors 5/14
Robbie Eagles vs Francesco Akira

# ¿ May 14, 2023 16:28

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

ROH On Honor Club 2023/05/18
HM: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs AR Fox for the NJPW World TV Championship

Good clash of styles. The TV belt is perfect for ZSJ.

# ¿ May 20, 2023 16:55

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Dimebags Brain posted:

2nd
This is a good summation of my thoughts.

nth, but also adding this match from the same night:

HM: Jason Lee (c) vs ISHIN for the Open the Brave Gate Championship

# ¿ Jul 5, 2023 03:57

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Eita vs Kzy, Dragongate King of Gate 2023 Night 1, 2023/07/07 @ Korakuen Hall

Amazing sell on the Imperial Uno

# ¿ Jul 14, 2023 19:54

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

SG Bamboo posted:

NOAH One Night Dream July 15th
MOTYC
Kento Miyahara vs Katsuhiko Nakajima
- Action was fantastic as expected but the partisan crowd absolutely made this

2nded

# ¿ Jul 15, 2023 13:01

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Zack Sabre Jr. vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW G1 Climax Night 2, 2023/07/16

Zack is the perfect opponent for Old Man Tana

# ¿ Jul 18, 2023 05:29

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Kazuki Hirata(c) & Houki & Kokeshi & Chair & Yakitori & X (Other Exciting Ultimate Warriors) vs HARASHIMA in a Captain Fall & 2-Count Fall Handicap Death Match for the DDT Extreme Championship, DDT Summer Vacation 2023/07/30

This is peak pro-wrestling

# ¿ Aug 3, 2023 06:19

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Jerusalem posted:

gently caress it:

MOTYC: Kazuki Hirata (C) vs. Yukio Sakaguchi for the DDT Extreme Title - DDT Saki Akai 10th Anniversary Tour in Korakuen 8/13

Sakaguchi is a terrifying man, Hirata is a weirdo. Hirata set match conditions where any ropebreak or failed pin attempt lead to either a ghost or balloon - two things Sakaguchi is terrified of - being added to the match. This lead to some incredibly delightful scenes, including Sakaguchi second-guessing making pinfall attempts for fear of a kickout and a ghost showing up. This is about as far from Naito/Okada as you can get but it's a MOTYC nonetheless.

Nth. 5 stars.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2023 06:05

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa vs Yoshinari Ogawa & Zack Sabre Jr., NOAH N-1 Victory Final, 2023/09/03

Kaito Kiyomiya has a humiliation kink and it is glorious

# ¿ Sep 4, 2023 17:50

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

NJPW Destruction in Ryogoku October 9th
MOTYC
Hiroshi Tanahashi and CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada) (c) vs Josh Alexander and Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Titles
- Yeah this rocked. No notes.

HM
SANADA(c) vs EVIL - IWGP World Heavyweight Title
- People will hate on this but Red Shoes flipping off EVIL, Uemura countering Everything is EVIL with an enzuigiri and setting up a Shining Wizard, and the correct result earns it a nod from me.

David Finlay(c) vs Tama Tonga - NEVER Openweight Title
- Cool finish.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2023 00:51

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

SG Bamboo posted:

Kakuto Tanteidan ~ We are the Fighting Detectives ~ October 12th
MOTYC
Takuya Nomura vs Fuminori Abe
- Two best friends beat the absolute gently caress out of each other, to do any less would do the other a disservice

HM
Hikaru Sato and "brother" YASHHI vs Ikuto Hidaka and Thanomsak Toba
- A bunch of old dudes show they've still got the sauce

Check out the main event at least, it got livestreamed of Wrestle Universe and is the stiffest poo poo you're likely to see

Nth. I'll add the following matches from the same show:

HM
Yuki Ishikawa & Daisuke Sekimoto vs Daisuke Ikeda & Minoru Fujita
Hideki Suzuki vs Yu Iizuka

Honestly everyone should watch it. Shinjuku FACE is such a great venue and the hot crowd helped.

Lily Catts fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Oct 14, 2023

# ¿ Oct 13, 2023 18:56

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: YAMATO, Dragon Kid, & Punch Tominaga (c) vs Shun Skywalker, KAI, and HYO for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, Dragongate The Gate of Origin, Miyagi Sunfesta 2023/10/09

Bruh, Punch is over lmao

# ¿ Oct 23, 2023 11:58

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

HM: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) v. "Speedball" Mike Bailey for the NJPW World TV Championship, NJPW Strong Lonestar Shootout, 2023/11/10

The finishing sprint is a wonder to behold. Love the format.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2023 07:03

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

Dragongate
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
2023/12/05
HM: Ben-K & Kota Minoura vs Shuji Kondo & Kagetora
Fun undercard match. Ben-K is 84kg here, wtf

HM: Yuki Yoshioka & Dragon Dia vs Dragon Kid & Eita
Eita's motivated, hooray! Good teamwork with DK too.

HM: ISHIN (c) vs Hyo for the Open the Brave Gate Championship
drat, Hyo got a glowup after turning face. Great finish.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2023 13:58

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

SG Bamboo posted:

AJPW MANIAx December 31st
MOTYC
Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs Kento Miyahara - Triple Crown
- gently caress the hell yes. The crowd was far more behind Kento than their NOAH match which was more 50/50 which was great to hear. Dragged a little bit in the middle but once Nakajima started laying in the kicks to a seated Kento it reached the quality I was expecting from these two

Nth. Magnificent finish. Nakajima is an incredible troll. A better Inoki cosplayer than Okada imo

# ¿ Dec 31, 2023 11:38

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 21, 2024 18:16

Lily Catts: Oct 17, 2012; Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

2024/01/02
NOAH The New Year
HM:Daga (c) vs Eita for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship
This was superb. Almost on the cusp of MOTYC.

MOTYC: NOAH vs House of Torture
This is HoT done right imo. The heat is nuclear levels.

MOTYC: Kenoh (c) vs Manabu Soya for the GHC Heavyweight Championship
The real main event!! Come on now guys. No one should sleep on Soya

WMOTYC: Naomichi Marufuji vs Kota Ibushi
unfortunate injuries aside, this felt like it was going at x0.5 speed and was pointlessly drawn out

# ¿ Jan 3, 2024 00:19

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)