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2017 MOTY Yes/No Thread


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Nominating - UK Championship: Tyler Bate© Vs. Pete Dunne - NXT Takeover Chicago (5-20-2017)

 

Incredible match. Got a standing ovation twice during the match & after the match. I saw moves I've never seen before & said "holy shit" more than once during the match. Just fun pro-wrestling.

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NOMINATING: Dominic Garrini vs. Cain Justice (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 2/25).

 

A match completely unique for 2017 between two guys with ~2 years experience between them. Intense, entertaining, short, and just cool as hell.

 

YES to: D. Lee-Takahashi. The snake and the mongoose are simply meant to fight. It is the natural order, and they must also adapt, adding in new variations of now classic spots and just bringing a truly palpable sense of danger in the name of winning.

 

 

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YES to:

 

Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne - WWE 5/20

 

WOW. Crazy, crazy good match. Dunne brought the stiff strikes and the joint manipulation while Bate really came to shine as a pretty natural babyface. His power spots and comebacks came off really well. He pulled off probably the best deadlift into powerbomb counter to a triangle I've ever seen which followed probably one of the best worked triangles I've ever seen. Then you have the extremely great finishing stretch which was really a master class in stringing together false finishes. I bought into nearly every single one right up the perfect finishing point. Also, that airplane spin. Crazy. This is just under Okada-Shibata and just edges the AOP-Revival-DIY match. Currently my #2 MOTY.

 

*****

 

NOMINATING:

 

The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY - WWE 5/20

 

Yeah, I'm a sucker for a martyr spot, sorry. Not just any martyr spot either, one of the most brutal well sold ladder spots I've ever seen. Things really picked up in this match after Gargano superkicked Ellering. Speaking of Gargano, the guy is just a fantastic babyface. Excellent at bumping, selling, and garnering sympathy from the crowd. AoP continue to be great brutal monsters who generate legitimate heat from the crowd. Really good ladder match here.

 

****1/2

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NOMINATING:

 

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles - WWE 5/21

 

Slow start, yes, but boy does it pick up once Owens starts really targeting the knee. Then his offense starts carrying some actual weight to it. Great moments include him tossing Styles into the steps Foley-style, the cannonball to the knee, and THE BOTCHED FOREARM. YES. I LOVE MY CRUMPLE SELLING. I thought the finish was absolutely brilliant. Built up to perfectly and left the fans angry in a legitimately heelish way. Take away their victory AND their table spot. Genius.

 

****

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YES to:

 

Dominic Garrini vs. Cain Justice - CWF Mid-Atlantic 2/25

 

This was really great. I've seen some CWF Mid-Atlantic in the form of Trevor Lee matches so this was the last thing I expected from these guys. Just a great struggle and exchanges for holds, throws, and strikes. Whoever's doing road agent work for CWF Mid-Atlantic needs a medal because just as always, this was paced perfectly. Engaging transitions like the hand into the ringpost or the dive into the Triangle just make for absolutely great wrestling and the match ended just where it peaked. Really fantastic stuff.

 

****1/4

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YES to:

 

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Dragon Lee - NJPW 2/11

 

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO? There's like ten floor bumps in this match, three of them in the first three minutes or so. This is just escalating insanity that would be a gross indy spotfest if not for the feeling of actual struggle and competition between the two as well as some extended bouts of selling both in and out of the ring. Lee probably has the best tope suicida in the business, guy shoots out like a bullet. You can feel the force of it.

 

****1/2

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Nominating - UK Championship: Tyler Bate© Vs. Pete Dunne - NXT Takeover Chicago (5-20-2017)

 

Incredible match. Got a standing ovation twice during the match & after the match. I saw moves I've never seen before & said "holy shit" more than once during the match. Just fun pro-wrestling.

Curious as to which moves you've never seen before, as all of their moves except Dunne's pretty ridiculous finish were either famous puro moves, early 2000s indie moves, or shit the Destroyer would have done.

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NOMINATING:

 

Best Friends vs. Leaders of the New School - PWG 3/18

 

ZSJ was the star of the match. He was absolutely great at bringing the intensity to this match and he bumps like a maniac too. Thought this was really fun, being worked like a traditional American style tag team match with the cheating and the cut offs while the babyfaces tried to get their shit in. Trent played a great FIP and Chucky T made for a fun hot tag. Did drag a little at the start but it certainly picks up. Thought the finishing stretch with ZSJ and Trent was awesome.

****

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  • 2 weeks later...

YES to Suzuki vs Kamitani 5/25.

 

Not on the level of the Sekimoto and Okabayashi matches but this was still really entertaining to watch. It was a completely different type of match, as it should've been, with Kamitani doing everything in his power to avoid Hideki's superior ability taking over. Finish was sudden but it fit with what Suzuki's is going for with this title reign. He's having an outstanding year in Big Japan.

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Nominating Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyadera for the Triple Crown from 5/21.

 

An absolutely tremendous stretch run and a capper for a hell of a run for Big Shuji, who has emerged as 2017's most unlikely top hand you'll see. Kento took a hellacious beating and dished it right back, but Ishikawa was having none of it. Better if you see some of Shuji's Champions Carnival work beforehand.

 

Nominating Kento vs. Jake Lee from Day 1 of the Champions Carnival, 4/15.

 

Was there live for this and it was extremely good, with Jake Lee looking like a future world beater. Really pushed Jake giving his teammate a run for his money, and his near fall off the backdrop had me off my feet. Kento looked and performed like a true ace here.

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WWE

John Cena vs AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt vs Baron Corbin vs The Miz (Elimination Chamber 2/12)

I'll go YES here because of the stretch run, which is AJ Styles becoming the master of a match in his debut match. It was also about as clear a message you could possibly send that Bray Wyatt was The Man here, with him pinning both Cena and Styles to end it. The Miz/Cena interactions here were tremendous and paid off well for the showdown at WM.

John Cena vs AJ Styles (Royal Rumble 1/29) || 3 yes || 0 no ||

Easy YES and probably a Top 5 match this year. Just a bomb throwing extravaganza with a genius and decisive finish. Styles was absolutely incredible here, and Cena adds another notch to his big match belt.

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (Wrestlemania 4/2) || 3 yes || 0 no ||

Best sub-6 minute match ever. Easy YES. A total of four moves done in this match, all of them ruled.

Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman (Payback 4/30) || 4 yes || 0 no ||

Another easy YES and all the credit in the world to both guys for going so far out of their way to just destroy each other. Just an epic brawl that makes me want to see these guys match up for the rest of their careers.

WWE NXT

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode (Takeover 1/28) || 3 yes || 1 no ||

​Going YES here, but it's on the lower end of the spectrum. Liked the first match better, and while I do like how Roode crafts finishes, felt like there could have been more here. This is probably the match that made me think Nak was getting bored with NXT and that he knew his time getting called up to the main roster was nigh.

 

#DIY vs. The Revival vs. Authors of Pain (4/1) || 3 yes || 1 no ||

YES, and although I know people wished it was AOP vs. DIY at the end, giving the Revival one last shot to try and take down the new guys was a good booking move. Also loved them subtweeting the Young Bucks here with their attire. DIY and Revival working together out of mutual respect was great, and them doing each others finishers trying to get AOP out of the match was one of my favorite moments of the year.

 

Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (Takeover Chicago 5/20) || 2 yes || 0 no ||

YES. I'm pretty sure this is my MOTY right now because they took what you would think is an indy epic and added some incredible selling and pacing down the stretch. Every big move was a big deal here, and both men sold like their lives depended on it. The finish was fantastic, super simple and super believable in the grand scheme of things, and they better do the rubber match at Brooklyn.

The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY (Takeover Chicago 5/20) || 1 yes || 0 no ||

YES. AOP with their best performance here, and DIY died for our sins on that double splash. Johnny Wrestling was on another level here. Ciampa is incredibly underrated and gets to be more nuanced alongside Johnny, and got some good chances here to shine. Post-match was heart-wrenching and invigorating all at the same time. When it comes time for them to lock up, it's going to be nuts.

WWE UK

Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate (1/15) || 7 yes || 0 no ||

Easy YES where they used the tournament stip to their advantage and passed off Bate as on the level as Dunne, who was the de facto favorite. Really tremendous story here with the arm, although I do wish that Dunne worked it more into his finishing run. Bate's selling was tremendous, and it was truly a shocker that he won here.

Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews (1/15) || 4 yes || 2 no ||

​YES, and I think people are throwing NO's up on this because in hindsight it wasn't thought of as high as the final, but watching it live, I wondered if there was going to be another match anywhere close to this in the tourney. I'm not the biggest fan of the Stundog Millionaire normally, but it works with guys who use vertical suplex style moves and it countering the X-Plex was a legit pop for me. Good stuff.

US indy

Trevor Lee vs. Chip Day (CWF Mid-Atlantic 3/25) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

YES, and it's between this and Dunne/Bate II for MOTY for me so far. A sensational performance from Day, and I want to see Trevor Lee vs. virtually damn near anyone at this point. Stretch run was my favorite of the year until Dunne/Bate II.

NJPW

Katsuyori Shibata vs Hirooki Goto (1/4) || 6 yes || 2 no ||

A slight YES here because it was cool to see these guys square off and give Shibata another big stage. It was as stiff as you'd think it would be.


Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi ( 1/4) || 9 yes || 0 no ||

YES. Naito's best performance I've ever seen. He'll take it easy on occasion, but he shined here against Tanahashi, who wanted to show he could still go.


Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (1/4) || 10 yes || 3 no ||

YES, but not in a MOTY way. It was epic, it had some great moments to it, the but the logic never really hit with me, especially when Okada looked like he was really finally taking control. Omega's performance was electric, but they could have easily shaved 10 off this and it would have been better off. Also firmly in the Dragon Suplex Should Have Been Saved For A Finish camp.

Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee (2/11) || 3 yes || 0 no ||

YES. Good lord, guys. I mean, this might be the 6th or 7th best matchup from these guys, but they're so incredible together it's tough to not enjoy when they bring it on a big stage.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW Sakura Genesis 4/9/) || 6 yes || 0 no ||

NO. Don't care how epic you make the stretch run if that headbutt happens. Hard pass.

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Nominating Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyadera for the Triple Crown from 5/21.

 

An absolutely tremendous stretch run and a capper for a hell of a run for Big Shuji, who has emerged as 2017's most unlikely top hand you'll see. Kento took a hellacious beating and dished it right back, but Ishikawa was having none of it. Better if you see some of Shuji's Champions Carnival work beforehand.

 

 

 

If you're enjoying Shuji's 2017, its worth checking out his 2016. Much deeper thus far because he didn't miss any time with injuries and a wealth of great singles and tags across multiple promotions. He easily made my top 3 for Most Outstanding last year.

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NOMINATING

 

KUSHIDA vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (RevPro, 4/13): Just an excellently-worked technical title match. None of either's guys most prominent weaknesses showed up, and with two guys this talented, that just means really good wrestling. I like "really good wrestling".

 

YES to ParK-Rush. It had a "ParK in 2017" finish, sure, but why would you possibly care about that anymore? Two of the most charismatic wrestlers anywhere of the last twenty years just shutting down the building. Such a great match.

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NOMINATING (begrudgingly):

 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - NJPW 6/11

 

 

A great match marred by the frustrating bad habits of the two workers in it. It's so hard to watch this match because of all the points in where flashes of absolute brilliance shine through only to be bogged down by no-selling, overused finishers, and generally predictable booking. What I can say for this match is that its peaks far outshine the peaks of the 1/4 match. On this forum, I've made note of the "5-star moments" and this match is actually riddled with them. The problem is the rest of the match can't support the brilliance of those individual spots and moments.

5 star moments include: springboard basement dropkick (looked AMAZING), finally hitting the One Winged Angel, Omega's BC taunt pulled into a Rainmaker, and the Rainmaker-crumble-dodge.

But, as others have noted, too much is out of place here. The Cody drama killed the momentum (even though it signaled the start of the best 6 to 10 minutes of the match), the fairly brutal knee work that I really enjoyed went absolutely nowhere (The Most Beautiful Dropkick In No Selling Today!), and as soon as they announce that they're 50 minutes in, you know exactly where they're going and all tension disappears.

The last ten minutes or so of this match are deathly boring and predictable. The only highlight might just be Okada's desperate crawling towards Omega at the finish. I thought that showed a lot of intensity and urgency. Too bad it came after ten minutes of telegraphed finishers and needless dropkicks.

Great, but frustrating.

****1/4

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Okada/Omega was good, but not great, just like the WK match. For various reasons. The top reason being both were too fucking long and could have cut 20 minutes out (more in Dominion's case) and had the same story with a much better pace and less padding. I get the story, but I feel like it would have been better to have a double stoppage or something 20 minutes sooner. Or double in ring count out. When it was good it was really good, much like at WK. When it wasn't, it was boring as hell.

 

Once again, Naito/Tanahashi outdid them, and I'd probably say Kushida/Takahashi did as well, and I'm not a fan of Kushida at all.

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Nominating Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyadera for the Triple Crown from 5/21.

 

An absolutely tremendous stretch run and a capper for a hell of a run for Big Shuji, who has emerged as 2017's most unlikely top hand you'll see. Kento took a hellacious beating and dished it right back, but Ishikawa was having none of it. Better if you see some of Shuji's Champions Carnival work beforehand.

 

 

 

If you're enjoying Shuji's 2017, its worth checking out his 2016. Much deeper thus far because he didn't miss any time with injuries and a wealth of great singles and tags across multiple promotions. He easily made my top 3 for Most Outstanding last year.

 

 

Any particular matches you recommend?

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Nominating Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyadera for the Triple Crown from 5/21.

 

An absolutely tremendous stretch run and a capper for a hell of a run for Big Shuji, who has emerged as 2017's most unlikely top hand you'll see. Kento took a hellacious beating and dished it right back, but Ishikawa was having none of it. Better if you see some of Shuji's Champions Carnival work beforehand.

 

 

 

If you're enjoying Shuji's 2017, its worth checking out his 2016. Much deeper thus far because he didn't miss any time with injuries and a wealth of great singles and tags across multiple promotions. He easily made my top 3 for Most Outstanding last year.

 

 

Any particular matches you recommend?

 

 

Glad you asked! Here's a few picks to start with. Happy to provide more if you like what you're seeing. It was a really terrific year.

 

Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW 3/6/2016)

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW Strong Climb Finals 4/10/2016)

Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW 5/5/2016)

Yuji Okabayashi & Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daisuke Sekimoto & Ryota Hama (BJW 6/29/2016)

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Konosuke Takeshita (DDT 8/28/2016)

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kazusada Higuchi (DDT 9/25/2016)

Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato (BJW 10/31/2016)

Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato vs. Takayuki Ueki & Masaya Takahashi (Tables Match, BJW 12/30/2016)

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I'm gonna go YES on Omega/Okada II, as I liked it more than the Dome match because of the post towel antics. I didn't really get everything beforehand because i don't think Okada was really THAT dominant until he hit the elbow drop, but his near-term selling was brilliant here. I don't know if they were playing off him having matches with guys like Shibata and Fale beforehand and he had been hit with big blows so Omega was trying to do exactly that, but if what I inferred was true, he played Omega's big shots off big time. He was much better here than he was at the Dome, where it was such a great Omega performance he got overshadowed. Logic says Omega can take the belt in the third match, but I also think New York comes calling by 1/4.

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Nominating

 

Kento Miyahara vs Suwama - All Japan 6/11/!7

 

Kento just gets it man. Instead of having bloated matches he just works around a very simple story and then transitions to a dope finishing sequence were the drama escalates and any flaw the match has is reduced to a minimum because the length is short enough for them not to bother anyone. Another really fucking entertaining match from him that doesn't go past the 20 minute mark. Probably easiest wrestler to watch right now in Japan that will give you a fun match every time.

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