2024'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 > 2024's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 January 4th
MOTYC
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs El Desperado - IWGP Jr Title
Will Ospreay vs Jon Moxley vs David Finlay - Vacant IWGP Global Title
Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson
Sanada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito - IWGP World Title

HM
Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW World TV Title
Shingo Takagi (c) vs Tama Tonga - NEVER Openweight Title

Nth to these

# ¿ Jan 5, 2024 07:25

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 13:29

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
5th January
CMLL Super Viernes
Best 2 out of 3 Falls
Mascara Dorada vs Templario
Watch this here

Fantastic wrestling. First fall a bit sloppy but once they get going it gets going. Probably going to get a lot more attention than CMLL usually get because it got the ***** in the Observer (I think the first ever ***** for CMLL from Meltzer?), & while I'm not quite that high on it I do think it's a terrific showcase for Dorada & as good an excuse as any to catch some CMLL. Final fall is pretty terrific all told. You can see why the company are getting behind this dude like this. And you can see why people are high on CMLL as one of the best promotions in the world right now (if not the very best of 2023 according to many). And Templario deserves a nod too, terrific base here.

Nth to this

forkboy84 posted:

HM
12th January
CMLL Super Viernes
Soberano Jr vs Templario
Watch this here

Seconding this, I kind of liked it a bit more than an HM though not quite motyc either. For those of you who don't follow it but are CMLL-curious -every year Templario and Soberano have at least one masterpiece together. They were supposed to do it Jan 5th but Soberano hurt his back, so Dorada subbed for him and got that five star match. This particular match then is the make up date, and it�s mainly about getting Soberano over as the Rudo Superstar he was born to be, we�re still just a few months into that process so he's got to take it slow otherwise he'll get cheered again. Lets call this "sweatshirt Soberano", and half of what he does is taunt the audience for heat and tease showing his chest muscles to women and such. I love it, but if you�re unfamiliar with him you might wonder why he's not as focused on moves and such in some matches now. Anyone interested in seeing why he's a big deal first, go with his singles match vs altantis jr last month or especially the high holy church art masterpiece he and Templario did back in April. Then come back for this, you�ll be glad you did.

Also, should note that Templario is starting to look like a wrestling genius. Like Shingo, American Dragon, Blue panther level dude. There�s a ton of little stuff he does better than most anyone else I can think of.

A few more of this month's CMLL matches I've loved that I thought were in this level:

MOTYC
CMLL
Jan 12
- Brillante Jr., Max Star, Ne�n vs Capit�n Suicida, Fuego, Valiente Jr

State of the art Tercera, nonstop Arena Mexico Flow. This is what Cornette fans imagine AEW matches are like. Aside from the breaks between falls, this match never stops or even slows down.

MOTYC
CMLL
Jan 9
-Villano 3 Jr, Hijo del Villano 3 vs Blue Panther Jr and Dark Panther, tournament finals to determine number one contender for tag titles.

This match loving ruled. This is the second match both teams wrestled that evening, and the third for v3 jr and bpjr, and they still went HARD. The Sons of Villano 3 are becoming the most out of control rudos IN THE ENTIRE SPORT. like Randy Savage/Dr. D in memphis levels of unhinged utter dickhead mania. The promos they are doing right now are unique and convincing of absolute assholeness.

MOTYC
CMLL
Jan 02
-Averno, Tit�n, Volador Jr. vs Hechicero, M�scara Dorada, M�stico

This is Relevos Incre�bles, which I am inclined to love, but this ruled and is probably my favorite match so far of 2024. Titan seemed to really be hoping he was going to get someone from the audience to try to stab him, fortunately it didn't happen.

Jerusalem posted:

HM: El Desperado (C) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title - NJPW Road to the New Beginning 1/23

Desperado rules, even the House of Torture stuff didn't pull the match down too much, and there is so much history between Despy and Uncle Nobu to really add to the intensity of the match.

Nth to this.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2024 17:58

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Maxwell Lord posted:

MOTYC: Bryan Danielson vs Yuji Nagata, AEW Collision 1/27
Incredible

nth to this, my 2nd favorite Nagata match on US soil, his WCW match with Silver King being my fave.

CMLL
1/16
MOTYC
�ngel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr
This is for the tag belts, really good poo poo. The Villano's rudisimo is kind of backfiring as they're getting huge pops and chants. Part of it is the beloved legacy, but part of it's the energy and unique vibe in the ring.

CMLL
1/16
MOTYC
Capit�n Suicida, El Audaz, Max Star vs Los Indestructibles (Apocalipsis, Cholo & Disturbio)
Really good quality lucha here, the rudos are all outstanding bases vs 3 young guys who are doing really innovative stuff. Max Star and Audaz can have rough moments sometimes missing stuff, Star was totally on for this one but Audaz had a few issues. Suicida's amazing enough to balance it all out.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2024 18:19

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

forkboy84 posted:

MOTYC
19th January
CMLL Super Viernes
El Cavernario Barbaro vs Mascara Dorada
Watch this here

Nth to this, thought this was the first time since his surgery a few years ago that Cavernario felt like he's totally back at full strength. Also thought Dorada was a bit better here than in his great match with Templario few weeks ago... I had hoped since Cavernario stopped doing the most dangerous spot in the world every week that he'd perhaps developed a respect for inescapable truths such as... gravity and his own mortality. Then these crazy motherfuckers go and do a superplex from the second turnbuckle to the apron.

Three more I dug a lot from the same show:

MOTYC
CMLL
Jan 19
Futuro & Neon vs Magnus & Rugido
State of the art technicos doing state of the art things plus some great rudos too.

HM
CMLL
Jan 19
Felino Jr vs Valiente Jr - lightning match
I was a big Felino fan, love the mask/mythology and I think his son's pretty decent. Valiente though is really loving great. He does a couple of amazing dives but also some kings road worthy suplexes when needs be too.

HM
Cmll
jan 19
Raider & Templario vs Explosivo & Tit�n
Tournament match and only about five minutes long, but was a great tease for what would almost certainly be incredible if they had ten more minutes. Raider and Templario's matching gear was top shelf poo poo.

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Keith for the Continental Crown - AEW Collision 2/3

Great opener to Collision, with a fantastic post-match segment. Don't know how the show can live up to a start like thi-

MOTYC: Bryan Danielson vs. Hechicero - AEW Collision 2/3

Where has Hechicero been all my life?

nth to both of these.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2024 09:13

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW Road to the New Beginning February 5th
HM
Just 5 Guys (Taichi, DOUKI, TAKA Michinoku, Sanada and Yuya Uemura) vs LIJ (Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi) - Faction Warfare Gauntlet

Nth to this

CMLL
1/26
HM
Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr.
it's jumping on people's head season in arena mexico. Moonsault landed knee first on the side of Maya's head, trainers had to get in for both of them as Villano III jr hurt his knee in the process. Few weeks ago it was Brillante landing rear end first on Suicida's head after a flip.

CMLL
1/26
HM
Zandokan Jr vs Akuma, lightning match

# ¿ Feb 6, 2024 10:41

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Adam Page - AEW Dynamite 2/7
HM: Team CMLL (Hechicero, Mascara Dorada, & Volador Jr.) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Moxley, Danielson & Claudio) - AEW Dynamite 2/7
HM: Ricky Starks & Big Bill (C) vs. Sting & Darby Allin for the AEW Tag Title - AEW Dynamite 2/7

AEW is... good!

nth to these too

# ¿ Feb 8, 2024 16:12

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW The New Beginning February 11th
MOTYC
Zack Sabre Jr vs Bryan Danielson
- It's crazy, you watch Danielson and he's a master grappler but put him against ZSJ and you realise that Zack is on a complete other level, just ungody smooth transitions from the long mover

United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Francesco Akira, TJP, HENARE and Will Ospreay) vs War Dogs (Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney, David Finlay, Alex Coughlin and Clark Connors) - Steel Cage
- An fuckin insane spectacle, if you only tuned in for Zack and Bryan watch this poo poo as well. Drags quite a bit in the last ten minutes but the stuff before that was fantastic

HM
Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Far from their best match but no less emotional, it really hit me after the bell that a rivalry that has been going my entire time watching New Japan is over

Nth to these. Zack vs Bryan was a literally flawless match.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2024 13:35

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW Fantasticamania February 12th
HM
Stigma, El Desperado, Brilante Jr and Rysuke Taguchi vs. L.I.J (Tit�n, Tetsuya Naito, and Bushi) and Kamaitachi
- Good clean fun

Nth to this, the return of the great beastie Kamaitachi after almost 8 years in the wilderness.

and I'll also nominate

NJPW Fantasticamania February 12th
HM
Soberano jr, Rocky Romero and Hechicero vs Atlantis Jr, Volador Jr and Templario

This was my personal favorite on the show.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2024 12:39

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Sticky Nate posted:

MOTY: Mistico and Brillante Jr vs Mascara Dorada and Neon - CMLL 2/2

Thirded, this was absolutely amazing

# ¿ Feb 13, 2024 21:53

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania February 18th
MOTYC
Templario vs Soberano Jr
- Match so good it had me checking out how much a Templario mask would set me back, fantastic stuff

HM
Brillante Jr vs Tit�n
Volador Jr vs Rocky Romero

Best night of the tour

Nth, Templario vs Soberano was so good.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2024 17:50

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Dark Panther vs. OKUMURA - NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 2/19
HM: Atlantis Jr. vs. Hechicero - NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 2/19
HM: Mistico vs. �ltimo Guerrero - NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 2/19
HM: M�scara Dorada vs. Stuka Jr. - NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 2/19

drat good final night, my match of the night was probably Atlantis Jr. vs. Hechicero but every match was a blast, including the fun multimans.

seconding these. Hech vs Atlantis was really good, Dorada/Stuka was borderline motyc for me too.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2024 13:06

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Mayu Iwatani (C) vs. Mina Shirakawa for the IWGP Women's Title - NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2/23
Match of the night. The crowd basically had no idea who either of them were and by the end of the match they were fully into everything, and the ending was really, really good.

nth

# ¿ Feb 23, 2024 13:02

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo February 24th
MOTYC
Hiromu Takahashi vs DOUKI
- Sicko poo poo with crowd favourite Douki going up against the most popular junior in the world

Shingo Takagi vs Taichi
- Shingo and Taichi do the Shingo and Taichi match, but this time in front of Taichi's hometown crowd. It ruled

HM
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs SANADA - IWGP World Heabyweight Title
- Some great parts and the crowd were well behind Naito, something just felt really off about the last five minutes or so with a couple of incredibly deflating botches

Solid show, only down parts were the HoT match and being personally disappointed by the Hair vs Hair match

nth to these 3

Though I needed a palate cleanser after Gedo tried his best to ruin my weekend. Fortunately Panico knew exactly what I was looking for:

HM
CMLL
2/9
Mexico City School - Alom, Astro Boy Jr., Dragon de Fuego, Forneo, Hunter, Legendario
vs
Comarca Laguna School - Emperador Jr., Infarto , Misterio Blanco, Misterio Negro, Platino Kid , Viento Negro
One of two ciberneticos for the Torneo Escuelas semifinals. Winners were supposed to get CMLL contracts once upon a time, but they kind of pick whoever they end up liking after this. Last year produced some great results, so will be interesting to see where some of these guys end up.

HM
CMLL
2/13
Fuego, Capitan Suicida and Valiente Jr vs Enfermero Jr, Inquisidor and Dr. Karonte 1
Very good match. Valiente and Suicida are both amazing but are a bit lost in the shuffle right now because there's so many guys here who are more than amazing.

MOTYC
CMLL
2/11
Futoro, Neon, Hombre Bala Jr vs Villano 3 Jr, Hijo del Villano 3 and Zandokan jr
Neon and Futuro are among the best flyers in the world, truly state of the art poo poo and Hombe Bala's a lot better than people give him credit for. But this match for me was about the masterful Rudisimo on display from La Escuadra. When it comes to acting like raging loving dickheads, these guys don't cut corners.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2024 15:14

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

A Fancy Hat posted:

AEW Revolution 3/3/24

MOTYC: Eddie Kingston vs Bryan Danielson
MOTYC: Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita
MOTYC: Samoa Joe vs Hangman Page vs Swerve Strickland
MOTYC: Sting and Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks

I'll Nth these as well.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2024 15:02

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

HM
CMLL
2/23
relevos increibles: Mascara Dorada, Neon, Soberano Jr vs Angel de Oro, Brillante, Atlantis Jr
Was hoping for Dorada working rudo again, instead him and Soberano were a dysfunctional team ala Santo and Art Barr. Very good stuff tarnished by Soberano getting hurt, trying to tough through it and ended up having to be stretchered out.

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Shingo Takagi vs. Yuya Uemura - New Japan Cup 3/8
As expected, the match of the tournament so far. Shingo is criminally underrated (even if the entire world was singing his praises) and Yuya Uemura is exceptionally good.

I'll second this

SG Bamboo posted:

NJPW 52nd Anniversary March 6th
HM
United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP and Callum Newman) vs War Dogs (Gabe Kidd, Gedo and David Finlay)
Tetsuya Naito vs SHO

I'll second these too.

Sooper Gila fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Mar 8, 2024

# ¿ Mar 8, 2024 15:19

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Sticky Nate posted:

CMLL 3/1
HM: Barbaro Cavernario, Terrible, and Dragon Rojo Jr vs Averno, Mephisto, and Euforia
HM: Mistico, Atlantis Jr, and Mascara Dorada vs Soberano Jr, Templario, and Gran Guerrero

Mascaro Dorado is something else, man.

Nth to both of these, (think I'm seconding "Barbaro Cavernario, Terrible, and Dragon Rojo Jr vs Averno, Mephisto, and Euforia")

Barbaros vs Infernales was close to MOTYC for me, I was thinking during it how great Cavernario vs Averno mano y mano would be and then they teased the hair match afterwards, so here's hoping....

Sooper Gila fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Mar 13, 2024

# ¿ Mar 13, 2024 10:11

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Sticky Nate posted:

HM: Averno, Templario, and Titan vs Atlantis Jr., Hechicero and Volador Jr. - CMLL 3/15

seconding this.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2024 18:39

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

MassRafTer posted:

CMLL Dos Leyendas 3/29

HM: Magnus y Rugido vs Neon y Brillante Jr
HM: Esfinge vs Zandokan Jr.
MOTYC: Barbaro Cavernario vs Averno
HM: Lluvia, Stephanie Vaquer y Zeuxis vs La Catalina, Tessa Blanchard y Willow Nightingale
MOTYC: Soberano Jr. y Atlantis Jr. vs Rocky Romero y Mascara Dorada
MOTYC: Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley y Matt Sydal vs Blue Panther, M�stico, �ltimo Guerrero y Volador Jr.

Possibly the show of the year.

Nth to all of these.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2024 20:34

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 13:29

Sooper Gila: Apr 23, 2014; Love
Peace
and Harmony

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Stephanie Vaquer (C) vs. AZM for the NJPW Strong Openweight Women's Title - NJPW Windy City Riot 4/12
Really great showcase for both ladies, with a great aftermath that has me excited for what comes next.

MOTYC: Shota Umino vs. Scapegoat Jack Perry - NJPW Windy City Riot 4/12
The match was VERY well worked but this was elevated by the absolutely electric atmosphere in the Chicago crowd, and Perry (and Shota!) playing into that so effectively to make this more than the sum of its parts.

HM: Mustafa Ali vs. Hiromu Takahashi - NJPW Windy City Riot 4/12
This was a ton of fun (you HAVE to see Daryl Jr's new look) with things taking a step up in intensity for the last few minutes.

HM: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Nic Nemeth - NJPW Windy City Riot 4/12
The match was good and Nemeth did well, but Ishii is legitimately one of the best wrestlers in the world. Just incredible.

HM: Tetsuya Naito (C) vs. Jon Moxley for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title - NJPW Windy City Riot 4/12
I really, really, really liked this match. Others might not. I did!

finally got to see the show, nth to all these.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2024 19:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2024's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)