I have lurked for a while and this is as good time as any for a first post on PWO. I've just watched Henry/Punk and reading through this thread was rather interesting.
It seems that there are two different ideas that are being proffered specifically in relation to Dylan.
1) That the evaluative standards of Dylan/wrestling fans have lowered (lower standards)
2) That the actual quality of pro wrestling has declined (lower match quality)
The first thing to note is that both statements are 'trend' statements, and therefore require a very large sample size for comparison and statistical significance. Dylan and one match doesn't get that required information (something SLL hinted at earlier).
Also, judging from Dylan's posts, #1 is pretty clearly inaccurate. His comments about 2012 being a weak year for WWE quality blows that idea apart completely, he also indicated that he sees almost nothing of value in current Japanese wrestling. Those aren't statements consistent with the ideas that Dylan has lowered his standards for valuing wrestling.
As a wider trend, I think standards for match appraisal are in fact higher now. We have access to a large number of matches from decades worth of pro wrestling. The days where I could watch any old match and be impressed are long gone, and I've been a fan of wrestling for a really really short time compared with many here. The availability of comparison material means that expectations go up.
Have the actual in-ring standards decreased? Yes, I think so. I'm primarily a fan of Japanese wrestling, and there aren't many people not named Alan who think that 2010-2012 is better than any years from 1989-1997 from a puroresu viewpoint. Consequently, a match that might be a MOTYC in 2012 might not be a MOTYC in 1993. I think that's a pretty simple and reasonable line to follow. "MOTY" is a relative statement; neither absolute nor threshold-based.
In terms of Henry/Punk, I'm not quite as high on it as Dylan, but it was a really solid match. On the forum where I spend the most time, the match has 12 votes in favour of it being a WWE MOTYC and zero votes against that proposition. I don't think it's unreasonable that someone would think of it as an early MOTYC (a relative statement) even if I don't. I might prefer the two SD matches Henry had with Bryan last year, but nothing Dylan writes seems to suggest to me that he's trying to establish the idea that Henry/Punk is a great match as a true fact that all reasonable persons must acknowledge.
