Throwback Match Reviews: Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mil Mascaras

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mil Mascaras (AJPW) 8/25/1977

This is a 2 out of 3 falls match. They went hard on the Lucha vs Puro clash in this match. The story of the first fall, and an overarching story of the entire match, was Mil wearing down Jumbo while Jumbo tries to get out of Mil’s holds. Some of the early holds were very boring. The idea of Mil transitioning from hold to hold when a hold is not working or Jumbo is about to escape is great in theory it failed in execution. The holds and transitions looked very cooperative and Mil did not do anything interesting while applying a hold. Jumbo was also not very good in the beginning. His selling was underwhelming as he sat in a hold looking more bored than me watching a Hideki Suzuki match. Even his escape and comeback spots lacked urgency. Towards the end of the fall this improved as the match began to look more like a struggle rather than a dance. Mil wins with a arm submission (I forget what it’s called and I’m too lazy to describe it, watch the match).

The second fall picks up where the first fall left off with Mil doing more submission holds. This was done better and had the crowd raging. It was a short fall and Jumbo won with a dropkick off the top rope. That comeback was the highlight of the match.

The third fall was just there to get to the finish. Nothing else really happened and Jumbo wins it via countout.

There really isn’t much to say about this match other than it was kind of bad and boring during the first 20 minutes. Mil worked multiple body parts and most of it didn’t matter to the overall story of the match. The match did get better after the first fall but wasn’t anything special. Mil did a reverse Romero Special that I actually popped for and that bumped this match a quarter star for.

Final Rating - **3/4

Throwback Match Reviews: Harley Race vs Terry Funk

Harley Race vs Terry Funk (NWA) 07/01/1977

The match is 2 out of 3 falls for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Terry Funk is amazing here. His offense is very impressive. He does everything with urgency. During his control period where he had Race in holds, he made it very interesting with the way he kept the holds. It was very brutal. Unfortunately the match slows down when Race takes over. Race wins the win with an abdominal stretch. The holds that Race applied didn’t all lead into the finish of this fall making it very hard to get through.

The second fall picks up the pace a little with Funk getting in some great offense. Race also steps it up a little here as well. This fall was more of what I was expecting from these two when I saw it was coming up. Funk wins this fall with an incredible piledriver. Funk’s urgency and intensity really stood out here. 

This third fall was filled with intensity and brutality that you’d expect from Terry Funk and Harley Race. Funk went after Race with great motivation and Race repeatedly had to escape Funk’s flurry of offense. Those exchanges showed Funk’s determination and dedication and really made him into a likeable babyface. The fans were going crazy for Funk. These exchanges also highlighted Race’s cleverness and his skill as a world champion. The spinning toe-hold sequence was a great continuation to those exchanges. Funk got Race on the mat and unrelentlessly applied the hold all while Race repeatedly punched him above his eye busting him wide open. The image of Funk with a bloodied face not letting up with the toe hold while Race battered his face is one that I will remember about this match for years to come. The referee stoppage was the right way to end the match here. Funk being disoriented and not being able to even see straight while still trying to fight as he ended up just swinging wildly both gave the victory to Race and made Funk look very strong. 

Overall this was a great match despite the painfully boring first fall. It felt like two different matches took place. This is another example of the 2 out of 3 falls structure being a detriment to the match. It was completely unnecessary and you could’ve told the story better without it. The second half of the match, which was the second and third falls, felt like the true fight one comes to expect out of these two. It was brutal and intense.

Final Rating - ****1/4

Throwback Match Reviews: Billy Robinson vs Jumbo Tsuruta

Billy Robinson vs Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW) 03/05/1977

This match is 2 out of 3 falls for the NWA National Title. The first fall is your basic first fall format that All Japan had been doing at this time. Robinson and Tsuruta had great back-and-forths battle sprinkled throughout the fall. The technical execution in this fall is what really stood out above all else. Not much happened in terms of story. All that was established was that both men were on equal footing. There were some slow spots when Robinson was in control that did not add anything to the overall match. Tsuruta won after a pretty exciting exchange with a bulldog. The crowd was hot for some of this especially when things started happening.

The second fall starts off real slow with Robinson demonstrating his technical abilities. This is what I hate about this style overall. A lot of it feels very showy and it doesn't look like they’re trying to win the match. Not surprisingly the match got hotter when they left the mat and started throwing suplexes and some good looking strikes. This fall was very boring but it was sound in terms of structure. Robinson wore Tsuruta down and was able to counter the bulldog that put him away in the first fall and win the second fall with a nasty looking backbreaker. 

The third fall was great. There was no time wasted and the pace was pretty good. The work that Robinson did on Tsuruta’s back ended up paying off. Robinson pinned Tsuruta with a pin that put all his weight on his back. It was a simple but brilliant finish. The closing stretch was very hot with some great suplexes from Tsuruta. Tsuruta lost his composure in this match which exemplified Robinson’s collected mind which was in turn reflected in the way he wrestled the match.

While boring at times the match had a great layout in the last two falls. One of the things that hurt this match for me is that the first fall felt inconsequential. It was only there to establish what we already know: that Tsuruta is a top level wrestler. This is one of those matches that didn’t need the 2 out of 3 falls formula. Had this been a regular one-fall match the flow would have been better. Technically this match was very good. Robinson is great at this style and it clashed nicely with Tsuruta’s style. Great match but at times it felt contrived.

Final Rating - ****

Most Outstanding Wrestler 2019

Most Outstanding Wrestler 2019

10) SANADA (NJPW)

SANADA had a quiet year in 2019 in terms of in-ring output. He isn’t what I typically look for in a wrestler but he did stand out. You can pretty much credit NJPW’s booking for that as they put him in a spot to perform at a high level and paired him with great talent. Normally a tag wrestler, his singles performances is what lands him on this list. He had 15 matches on my 4+ Star Matches list and one 4.75 star match, which made my top 10 overall. He excelled in his matches with Kazuchika Okada and in tournaments, where he had the majority of his singles matches.

9) Zack Sabre Jr (NJPW, RPW)

ZSJ is another one of these wrestlers that go under the radar. He is one of the most consistent wrestlers in the world and his style matches up with pretty much anybody’s style. He is the best technical wrestler in the world. The style he wrestles can be boring, but Zack makes it interesting. He had 18 matches on my 4+ Star Matches list but the reason he ranks a bit low is that none of them were match of the year contenders, which are 4.75 and 5 star rated matches for me. He did have a few 4.5 star matches, including KENTA’s best match since going to NJPW. 

8) Momo Watanabe (STARDOM)

Momo is easily the best woman wrestler on the planet and being on this list makes her one of the best overall wrestlers in the world. Her run with the Wonder of STARDOM champion in the first half of the year was an all-timer for that belt. She also mixed in great tag wrestling as well as great tournament work. She had 18 matches that I rated 4 stars or higher and one that I rated 4.75, which made my top 10 matches of the year. She’s the youngest wrestler on this list at 19 years old. She may end up being one of the greatest wrestlers of all time should she keep with this pace and barring any serious injury or early retirement like is custom in the world of Joshi.

7) Kazuchika Okada (NJPW)

Yet again we have another underrated and under the radar year for a professional wrestler’s in-ring year. What hurts Okada the most is that his title reign was a little underwhelming, especially considering his previous reign. It took up NJPW’s main event scene for the entire year and it made it a little boring. However, Okada still delivers when it matters, and his 17 4+ star matches support that. He excelled in the G1 and in the New Japan Cup and some of his title matches were overlooked, like the SANADA one in October and the Suzuki one in England. Okada had 4 matches that I rated 4.75 stars, which is the second most out of anyone. He had an entry in my top 10 matches of the year with his G1 bout against SANADA. Okada continues to deliver even when no one is paying attention.

6) Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW, RPW)

Coming off an incredible comeback in 2018 Tanahashi continued the momentum in 2019 with a great in-ring year. Being over 40 does not stop this machine from putting out banger after banger. He had 17 matches rated over 4 stars including one at 4.75 stars against Will Ospreay and one at 5 stars against Kenny Omega. Doing all of that despite his body being a broken down mess makes it all the more impressive. Genius is a word that I do not like to throw around often. People overuse it. There’s not many people I would call geniuses at what they do. Hiroshi Tanahashi is a genius. He knows exactly what to do with what he has in order to create the intended reaction. He probably will end up being my favorite wrestler of all time once I get to his 2000s NJPW work.

5) Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW)

Ishii is always on this list. It’s almost a given. He was one of those wrestlers this year that fell a little under the radar. You can always count on him to deliver. He is the guy who can get great matches out of pretty much everyone. He had 18 matches at 4 stars or higher this year including 3 matches at 4.75 stars, one with Jon Moxley in the G1, Shingo Takagi in the G1, and Kazuchika Okada in the New Japan Cup. The fact that Ishii pretty much had all his singles matches in tournaments goes to show how he is the most consistent wrestler on the planet. He was the MVP of the G1 Climax as his match quality averaged 4.42 stars per match. One of my favorite wrestlers of all time and he will never get the props he deserves.

4) Kento Miyahara (AJPW)

Miyahara had an incredible year filled with great matches. He is a guy that can get people over in his matches and still remain a babyface at the end. His Triple Crown title reigns is the best world title reign since Okada’s legendary reign. It was easily the best World title reigns this year. Miyahara had 18 matches at 4 stars or higher. 3 of those matches I gave 4.75 stars which included a Suwama match in March, a Zeus match in July and the Naoya Nomura match in September which made my top 10 matches of the year. He got Yoshitatsu’s best match of his career. He went through a main event scene that is basically like 4 guys and made it interesting. He had a lot of repeat matches this year and still managed to make them interesting and meaningful. Kento is one of the best in the world today.

3) Kota Ibushi (NJPW)

Ibushi’s first year after signing for life with New Japan was a great one. He really went all out this year. He had a great series of matches with Tetsuya Naito, which was one of the best feuds of the year. I rated 18 of his matches 4 stars or higher including 5 matches at 4.75 stars, the most of everyone this year. Those matches included two against Naito in April and June, one in July against Ospreay, one in August against Okada and another in August against Jay White, which was White’s best match ever. He is a unique talent. Injuries do not seem to slow him down. He is determined and will continue to put on masterful performances as long as his body lets him.

2) Shingo Takagi (NJPW)

After jaded fans claimed Shingo would never have an interesting match ever again after joining New Japan, he goes out there and puts together one of the greatest in-ring years in the history of professional wrestling. Shingo is one of these guys who can adapt to any style and work a match around an opponent’s style. He can work hard-hitting, fast paced, technical whatever the match calls for. He had 17 matches that I rated 4 stars or higher and while that’s lower than some other people behind him on this list 2 of those matches were 4.75 stars and 3 of them were 5 stars. I only gave a 5 star rating 6 times this year and Shingo was in half of them. His 4.75 star matches included one against Dragon Lee in the Best of the Super Juniors and one against Tomohiro Ishii in the G1 climax. His 5 star matches were against SHO in the Best of the Super Juniors opening night, Will Ospreay in the Best of the Super Juniors finals and against Tetsuya Naito in the G1 Climax. He had 3 entries in my top 10 matches of the year with one more coming just missing the mark at number 12. Shingo is also one of the most consistent wrestlers as he really only wrestled singles matches in tournaments. Shingo was one of my favorites in Dragon Gate when I first started watching. He had more of these years there but they always flew under the radar. I am so happy that a wider audience can finally see how great this man is.

1 ) Will Ospreay (NJPW, RPW, ROH, other indies)

Will Ospreay was undeniable this year. He is the most outstanding wrestler of 2019 by a landslide. This may be the best in-ring year of any wrestler in the history of professional wrestling. The term “workhorse” doesn’t even begin to describe him. He worked his ass off in 2019. He was in almost every tournament that NJPW has to offer: New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, G1 Climax, Super J Cup and the Super Jr Tag Tournament. He had great matches in other promotions as well. Ospreay was everywhere. Detractors of Will Ospreay blew him off as the most outstanding wrestler of the year because he had more opportunity than most wrestlers being that he was put in better spots. While true that he had more opportunities to shine, you can’t take away his accomplishments. This was his year. Ospreay had 33 matches at 4 stars or higher. 33 MATCHES. He almost doubled everyone else on this list. He had 3 matches at 4.75 stars, one being against Kota Ibushi, another against Kazuchika Okada and one against Hiroshi Tanahashi, all in the G1. He had the number 2 match of the year against Shingo Takagi in the Best of the Super Juniors finals that I gave 5 stars. It was a special year and I was happy to be there along for the ride. 

Cody vs MJF: The Worst Feud in Professional Wrestling

Cody vs MJF: The Worst Feud in Professional Wrestling

Before I explain why the Cody/MJF feud is actually bad I would like to acknowledge that the feud is working for their audience and it is getting real heat. The crowd is fully behind Cody and they want to see MJF get his. Beyond that I really do not care about this feud and I don’t care about the reactions it’s getting.

The Cody/MJF feud is possibly the most overrated feud in professional wrestling and is the worst feud going on at the moment. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been some good moments, but at the core it is a lazily done, tropey mess. The terrible MJF character, the lazy writing and the rushed relationship between MJF and Cody are the reasons why this feud is not good.

MJF is the most overrated wrestler in the world. He is almost at Baron Corbin levels. He gets praised for his “amazing heel work” by wrestling fans and pundits across the industry. His heel work consists of insultings fans and being a coward and that is pretty much it. It is a heel trope that has been done for decades in the wrestling business. MJF really isn’t reinventing the wheel when it comes to his heel work. People gravitate towards him because he is a throwback to the old days when heels got real heat. The thing is MJF’s heel work is pretty juvenile in nature and does not make me want to cheer for the other guy, rather it makes me want to see him off my television. He has go-away heat. 

MJF’s heel tactics would bother me if I was twelve years old. That is the major problem with his heel work. It is online troll, edgy pre-teen who just learned about sex and is trying to look cool, nonsense. He doesn’t pose a real threat to the babyface. Take for example KENTA, the best heel in the world. Yes he trolls and taunts the fans, but there is much more to the character that the fans hate on a deeper level. MJF is a one-dimensional caricature. He has no other personality traits, no other motivations other than to be an asshole.

KENTA poses a much larger threat to the fans than just being kind of an asshole. He is an outsider who challenges the fabric of New Japan Pro Wrestling. He does not want to do things the NJPW way. When he walked in the company he said he wanted to show the world KENTA’s pro wrestling. Coming from a failed run in WWE where he was told to walk and talk a certain way, it is understandable that he doesn’t want to conform to New Japan’s way. It is a real character motivation that validates his heelish actions. He’s not likeable, but we can understand why he is that way.

There is no reason why MJF is the way he is. He’s a heel because he needs to be a heel. His actions seem very fake. He doesn’t feel like a real person. It is the laziest way to write a character in any medium. A good heel makes you care about the babyface. They make you want to see the babyface overcome this obstacle that’s blocking them from their goals and accomplishments. Even in a blood feud, the babyface getting their revenge should be satisfying. I don’t see much satisfaction for Cody except for the initial pleasure of beating MJF. 

One of the universal criticisms of this feud is how rushed it has been. The majority of fans have either forgotten or simply haven’t cared that the feud is hastily done. It doesn’t change the fact that it is bad. The relationship between MJF and Cody wasn’t established properly for the turn to really mean anything. It was apparent from the beginning that MJF was going to turn on Cody. Nothing they did helped to convince me differently. It was WWE-esque where people are paired together for the sole purpose of splitting them up. They only had a friendship for about six months. Sure in those six months, Cody and MJF fought side by side but it wasn’t enough time to build a tight relationship. The fact is, they never had any real chemistry with each other and with the predictable and impending turn, we were left just waiting for them to fight rather than seeing a bond form and grow strong and then fall apart. 

MJF’s reasoning for turning is really stupid. Basically it was “I know the real Cody and the real Cody is a bad person.” It could have been the “I was living in your shadow” excuse or “You were steering me in the wrong direction” or even the classic “I don’t owe any of you an explanation” trope. Instead they chose the dumbest reason. We have no real evidence that Cody was a bad person to MJF. After the title match loss to Jericho, after MJF threw in the towel, Cody was visibly upset but understood MJF and forgave him anyway. MJF cut a promo stating that Cody just wanted to keep him under his thumb but there was never any evidence that Cody abused the mentor-mentee relationship they had. MJF’s turn made absolutely no sense. I went back and saw pretty much every angle leading up to this match. I asked around Twitter and in discords, I read articles trying to find any other sensible explanation to MJF’s actions. The other explanation that I found was that MJF is full of it and that he is lying about the things he said about Cody. That does cover a lot of the unfounded excuses that MJF made because he could just be lying. If that is true then MJF is the dumbest human being on the planet. He still had Cody’s trust! Cody FORGAVE him after he threw in the towel. He could have further used Cody to advance his career. There was no logical reason to turn on Cody. He did it just for the hell of it. Because he is the heel, and heels do heel things, MJF turned on Cody. 

The follow up to the turn has been fairly decent. They’re doing an old school, by-the-numbers blood feud build. It has been done many times before and they aren’t doing anything new or interesting with it. The fact that the reasoning behind the turn was so bad and the relationship between MJF and Cody was never as strong as the story suggests is why this feud just doesn’t work. 

Cody comes off looking very dumb in this feud. I said before that all of the fans, outside of cannon, knew that the turn was imminent because it was badly written. You can’t blame Cody’s character for that. That is the fault of the writers. What you can blame Cody for is for being so oblivious. People close to him told him repeatedly not to trust MJF. People who had encountered MJF in the past told him not to trust him and that he would betray him. At one point Cody even acknowledged others’ concern with MJF and said he can steer him in the right direction. Cody admitted he knew MJF was a bad person but that he can guide him. And then in an interview with Bleacher Report he says that he did not see it coming. Again, if this was a long and storied friendship and Cody didn’t want to believe that his really great friend would stab him in the back then that would be fine. But since that’s not the case, it makes Cody look really dumb.

My biggest takeaway from this feud is that it feels very fake. The feud doesn’t feel real because the conflict isn’t real. The conflict isn’t real because the relationship was rushed and the motivations were confusing and one of the wrestlers is a one dimensional caricature with no real personality and no real motivations. It feels forced. There wasn’t any natural progression in this feud. Cody cut some great promos that are wasted on such a terrible feud. AEW isn’t all bad. Ever since the break in late December they’ve recovered and put on other interesting feuds. Fake, dumb and rushed feuds like the MJF/Cody feud make me question how this is supposed to be the alternative to WWE when we are getting the same illogical and fake programs that you’d see on Mondays and Fridays. 

Feud of the Year 2019

Feud of the Year 2019

10) Zack Sabre Jr vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

ZSJ and Tanahashi had a great series of matches in 2019. They had a match in the New Japan Cup, MSG, G1, Royal Quest and Destruction. These matches revolve around ZSJ breaking Tanahashi’s torn-up body through his arsenal of submissions. This gives these matches a classic face/heel dynamic that tells a great story. The feud was a great indicator of where both these men placed in the rankings of NJPW in 2019.

9) Natsuko Tora vs Jungle Kyona

This feud started when Jungle Kyona lost a match in which she had to disband her group Jungle Assault Nation. The seeds for the feud were planted earlier when Natsuko and Jungle failed to win the Goddess of Stardom titles. Natsuko saw Jungle as a weak leader. The two fought in tag matches throughout the year and the heat was always there. They had a singles match against each other in the Cinderella tournament where Natsuko won. The feud is still ongoing.

8) Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito

Both of these guys can be described as sleazy individuals. That was one of the highlights of the feud. Seeing how nasty they can get with each other was truly entertaining. White beating Naito in the G1 and at Destruction added heat to the match they built up to at Wrestle Kingdom. The taunting by Jay White and the indifference shown by Naito created great charisma.

7) Kenou vs Kaito Kiyomiya

One of the highlights of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 2019 was this feud. They had two great championship matches. There is a big brother/little brother dynamic that really works between the two. Kenou brings out the best out of Kiyomiya, who can be a little stale in a lot of his matches. 

6) Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee

The search to find the right successor to Miyahara continued through this feud. Lee is a favorite to take that spot. That is how this feud was built. They had 3 singles matches in 2019. Two of them were great with one being very good. Lee won one of them to win the Royal Road Tournament and to later challenge Kento. There was excitement as well as good wrestling.

5) Kento Miyahara vs Naoya Nomura

Similar to the Miyahara/Lee rivalry this was also on the search to find Miyahara’s successor. This one was better because Nomura shows more promise than Lee thus making the feud and matches hotter. They had two matches including one that made my top 10 matches of the year. Miyahara’s heel tactics also added a lot of heat as people were wanting a Nomura victory.

4) Shingo Takagi vs SHO

This feud was great. Shingo bullying SHO throughout all their encounters in multi-tags and Jr Tag Title matches was the build of this feud. SHO had to show a different side of himself to match up to Shingo. The feud came to a head at the opening night of Best of the Super Juniors 26 where they had an amazing 5 star match. SHO kept surprising Shingo throughout the match and Shingo had to acknowledge SHO’s progression. I look forward to this feud continuing. 

3) Hazuki vs Arisa Hoshiki

You talk about hate-filled feuds and this is a prime example of one. They only had one singles match but it was so brutal and vitriolic that it actually made me question whether these two really hated each other. The feud was built through multi-woman tags throughout the spring of 2019 in STARDOM. This feud showed a nasty side of Hazuki that was quite scary. It also added more depth to Arisa’s bright and shiny character. It was great.

2) Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito

A feud built around respect for a title is sometimes not successful but they pulled it off. Ibushi hated Naito for the disrespect that he showed the Intercontinental championship. That title is cherished by Ibushi because of the high reverence that it was shown by his “gods” Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. Naito also by this point had fully accepted the IC title and only treated it badly for appearance. The hate for each other reflected in their matches. They had three single matches, two of which were MOTY contenders.

1) Jushin Thunder Liger vs Minoru Suzuki

Jushin Thunder Liger retires with an all time feud. It was a heated feud between two men who are on the wrong side of 50. Throughout the entire year Suzuki and Liger battered each other in multi-tags. There was taunting and brutality and Grade A shit-talking all year long. We even got the final appearance of Kishin Liger, who tried to impale Suzuki with a spike! The feud culminated with a great match at King of Pro Wrestling, proving that both guys can still go.

Show of the Year 2019

Show of the Year 2019

10) NXT TakeOver: New York (4/5/2019)

Wrestlemania weekend’s TakeOver this year was as fantastic as any other one. It’s New York. The crowd and atmosphere were hot. There was nothing on the show below 3.5 stars. The run time on these TakeOvers always help these shows because they go by quick. The main event between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano, while it was a bit overindulgent, still was pretty great as I gave it 4.25 stars. Walter vs Pete Dunne was the match of the night. I went 4.5 stars on it. War Raiders vs Ricochet and Aleister Black was also 4.25 stars. The other two matches I went 3.75 stars on both so the worst of this show was still pretty good.

Final Rating - 8.5/10

9) NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 1 (7/6/2016) 

I really don’t have any regrets in life besides not going to see this show live. Had I done that it’s likely this would have been number one on this list. Nevertheless it still made this list because it was still a great show. The undercard was solid and the Evil vs Bad Luck Fale was the worst match at 2 stars. The rest of the G1 block matches were all great. Lance Archer and Will Ospreay opened up the tournament with a great big guy - little guy match that I rated 4.25. SANADA vs Zack Sabre Jr and KENTA vs Kota Ibushi were both great 4 star G1 style matches with great action and solid storytelling. The main event was fantastic. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada was the best match NJPW could do for the American audience, and it delivered. This match was 4.5 stars for me. It’s not their best but for that audience it was. The atmosphere, even with the disappointing attendance, was on another level. Even though they basically just played their greatest hits, it’s still Tanahashi and Okada greatest hits. 

Final Rating - 8.5/10

8) AEW Double or Nothing (5/25/2019)

The first show for All Elite Wrestling was a raging success. It did great ppv buys, sold out the building and was critically praised. The preshow felt like one of the better preshows in any promotion. The main card delivered and there wasn’t one bad match at all. SoCal Uncensored versus Strong Hearts was a great opener that I gave 4 stars to. It’s what I wanted and hoped that AEW would do with those talented individuals in Strong Hearts. Jericho and Omega closed the show with a 4 star match as well. It was brutal in a good way. The Lucha Brothers vs The Young Bucks was your by-the-numbers Lucha Brothers vs Young Bucks match but it was still great. I gave it 4.25 stars. Cody vs Dustin Rhodes was also great and very emotional. I also gave it 4.25 stars. The two matches I just mentioned being back to back and the same rating makes my point that all matches are different even if they have the same rating. The tag match was more move-oriented and focused on the technical aspect of the match while the brother vs brother match was more story based. Each match could have been better if they had what the other match had. The atmosphere of this show was fantastic and it felt almost Wrestlemania-esque with all of the events happening around it.

Final Rating - 8.5/10

7) GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport (4/4/2019)

Bloodsport was a great kickoff to a great Wrestlemania weekend last year. The environment for this show is always great with the small building, the bloodthirsty fans and the unique format. Minoru Suzuki vs Josh Barnett was amazing. Two guys just beating the shit out of each other while no one wanted to stop. Everything worked about this match whether it was the referee bump or the 5 more minutes spot. I went 4.5 stars with this one. Killer Kross vs Davey Boy Smith Jr was a great big guy fight that I gave 4 stars to. Andy Williams vs Chris Dickinson was in the same boat as the aforementioned big guy fight. 4 stars from me as well. The Masashi Takeda vs Jonathan Gresham match was a technical wonder. Even though that style is not my favorite they made it work, especially with Takeda’s charisma. I gave that match 4.25 stars. Everything else on the show was pretty good with the only negative being the Frank Mir vs Dan Severn match but even that was enjoyable to a degree because of the novelty of seeing Frank Mir in a pro wrestling setting and Dan Severn still being awesome.

Final Rating - 8.5/10

6) DDT Ultimate Party 2019 (113/2019) 

DDT is great at doing big shows. They did a great job building this as such and delivered big. This had six matches at 4 stars or higher. Sanshiro Takagi vs Isami Kodaka was a great plastic cases match. Fuminori Abe vs Keisuke Ishii highlighted both of these guys strengths and made me seek them out more. Masahiro Takanashi vs Ryuichi Sekine had a lot of intrigue because of the BASARA implications. All those matches were 4 stars. Yuka Sakazaki vs Shoko Nakajima was TJP’s best match of the year. It played to their history and put on a fantastic match. I had it at 4.25 stars. Antonio Honda and Miyu Yamashita vs Riho and Kenny Omega was fun at first and then great in the second half. I also gave it 4.25 stars. The main event was incredible and built to a great finish. HARASHIMA was the right guy to go with that night. The fans wanted it and both wrestlers built around that. The hype for this show was high, most likely due to Kenny Omega’s involvement. I had friends who only watch WWE, AEW and occasionally New Japan ask me about this show. Everything else that wasn’t 4 stars was also pretty good. The worst match on this card was average (2.5 stars). 

Final Rating - 9/10

5) NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 17 (8/10/2019)

Just like all the shows towards the end of the G1 Climax, this one was filled with high stakes and drama. We had a solid undercard and SANADA managed to pull out a good match out of Bad Luck Fale which was the key to getting a great show up to the level of the 5th best show of the year. Lance Archer vs EVIL was a great big man match mixed with some cool spots. I gave that match 4 stars. Zack Sabre Jr vs KENTA was my favorite KENTA match post WWE, probably post Pro Wrestling NOAH. Will Ospreay vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi vs Kazuchika Okada were both great match of the year contenders that I had at 4.75 stars each. 

Final Rating - 9/10

4) Dragon Gate Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2019 (7/21/2019)

The atmosphere for this show was incredible. It reminded me of Wrestle Kingdom 9 because it had a lot of buzz outside the hardcore fanbase. The show definitely delivered to that level too. The undercard was very good, including a great 4.25 star match between Kzy and Shun Skywalker that was all action from start to finish. Flamita vs Susumu Yokosuka was also a great match that I gave 4 stars to. The Ultimo Dragon stuff was well done. I did not watch Toryumon or any DG in the mid-2000s so my emotional investment in this wasn’t as high as long-time fans but the emotions from the wrestlers told you all you needed to know if you were completely unaware of the history. I went 4 stars on that 6 man tag. The Twin Gate match was a fast-paced traditional DG style match. That match was 4.5 stars for me. Ben-K vs PAC was a great match that ended a great title reign. 

Final Rating - 9/10

3) NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals (6/5/2019)

This show was fantastic. Out of the eight matches on the card only one of them was below 3 stars. There were no bad matches. The top three matches on the card delivered huge. Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi was the best match of this series. They worked Tanahashi’s broken body into the whole match and White’s reversals were great. I gave the match 4.25 stars. We also saw the NJPW debut of Jon Moxley. This was built up nicely throughout the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. It paid off here with a brutal match that I gave 4.5 stars to. The tournament final was a perfect match. Best of the Super Juniors revolved around Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi. Each man dominated their blocks and the dynamic was set in those block matches. I went 5 stars with this match and this match finished at number 2 in my match of the year list.

Final Rating - 9/10

2) DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2019 (7/15/2019)

Like I mentioned before, DDT is just as good as NJPW at doing big shows. This was an amazing show with a great atmosphere. There were two really bad matches on the show and it’s why I put it at number 2 and not 1. Everything else was good to MOTY level. Akito vs ASUKA was a unique match that could have been very corny buy was pulled off to perfection I gave that match 4.25 stars. Daisuke Sasaki and Soma Takao vs Yasu Urano and HARASHIMA was one of the better tag team matches of the year. I also gave it 4.25 stars. The main event between Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo was a 5 star classic and a unique match due to its different dynamic between face and heel. The roles were reversed but they did it in a way where it still made sense within the story they were telling. The show, despite being like 6 hours long, flew by and was very enjoyable.

Final Rating - 9/10

1) NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 (1/4/2019)

Coming into this show there was a lot of hype due to the quality of the card and it definitely delivered. The show only had one bad match and it was also the only match that was under 3 stars. Everything else had a floor of 3 stars. There was a lot of intrigue as well due this being the Elite’s last NJPW show. The proper show kicked off with a 4.5 star match between Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay that was fast-paced and viscous and set the whole pace for the entire show. Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii was a great match that juxtaposed both of the wrestler’s styles and weaved it into the story seamlessly. I gave that 4 stars. Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada was a fantastic match with an abrupt and shocking finish. It was the best match between these two and I went 4.5 stars. Tetsuya Naito vs Chris Jericho was an amazing match and still proved that Jericho can still perform at a high level with the right opponent. I went 4.75 with that. The main event between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega was a 5 star classic that felt very old school NJPW. There was a lot of hatred in this match and that was obvious with the moves. 

Final Rating - 9/10