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The 2011 MOTYC Thread

390K views 3K replies 200 participants last post by  McQueen 
#1 ·
#42 ·
RAW 01/03
The Miz vs. John Morrison ***1/2

Smackdown! 01/07
Edge vs. Kane ***
Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Dolph Ziggler ***1/4
Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio ***

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom V 01/04
Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki ***1/2
Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi ***1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Go Shiozaki ***1/2
Togi Makabe vs. Masato Tanaka ***1/4
Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ***3/4
 
#405 · (Edited)
EDIT: THIS IS REFERRING TO THE 9YA MATCH

Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels ***3/4

I’m going to review this in detail so people can understand why Eddie Edwards makes no sense. If you don’t like long posts, skip this.

Opening stuff was fine, Edwards using his chops to gain control worked ok. But then Eddie had control of the match…which means nothing happened of note, especially in progressing the story. When Daniels gets control he begins to work the neck, which is good because it forces Eddie to tell a story, no matter how badly he usually tries to avoid it. But of course, Eddie can’t even be bothered to throw an arm over his neck and sell the fucking thing. I almost turned off the match right here because of how infuriating it is that Edwards can’t tell a damn story, but I figure if everyone loves this so much, I’ll keep going. EE regains control with a hurricurana, because Eddie thinks that a hurricurana IS a comeback. Explosions are to Michael Bay as hurricaranas are to Eddie. Daniels sells his neck on this ONE MOVE more than Eddie sold in almost ten minutes of neck work. Eddie hits a huge but overall floppy and foot-heavy dive into the crowd and that gets him over with the crowd, I guess.

But wait……..holy crap…….after they get back in the ring…..Eddie is FINALLY holding his neck, and even releases a bridge early to do so. There is hope for him yet! Eddie gets nice little comeback before Daniels gets in more neckwork, and the match levels a bit. Eddie gets another fine comeback, and the timing is working pretty well. The Achilles lock reversal into the Koji clutch is awesome. Daniels rules. People actually popped for Eddie stealing Daniels’ submission even after Daniels did it seconds earlier……….did they NOT see that coming? Daniels’ rollup for the first fall is the perfect way to do it in that they enhance the idea that he is just always a step ahead of Eddie.

But I hate the follow up: after the pinfall, Eddie just gets up and lariats Daniels, and than they just lie around. I get the idea that Eddie needs to look aggressive now that he is down, but if they wanted that story, they should have just had Eddie unleash instead of just lariating away all the momentum of the first fall just to lie around. Blue thunder to the apron is awesome….and also solidifies that Eddie’s lariat made no sense at that point in the match. What exactly was the point of that? O….and now a countout tease: just because Eddie knows it will piss me off. How many times will ROH use this tired cliché?

Eddie’s reversal into the second fall was nice eye candy….but there was almost no lead into it and Daniels tapped way to quick on a limb that had barely been touched in the match. Again, I just don’t understand the timing here. Other than the lariat-of-no-logic, Eddie hadn’t shown any life since the first fall, making his reversal here more confusing than inspiring. You’re telling me they built up the whole ‘can Eddie beat Daniels’ storyline through almost THREE MATCHES and THAT’S how he finally does it? WHHHHHY?

Eddie goes for the hold that got him the fall, but Daniels is in survival mode. Edwards tops it off with a super hurricurana, because its Edwards and that’s what he does. The one minute warning goes up, and there would be a lot of drama from people wondering if Eddie can beat Daniels…..except we just saw him do it, so the drama has been greatly scaled back. Daniels tries some weird hip toss to the floor, but Eddie botches it and it looks ridiculous which leads to a dumb semi-countout falsey that everyone in the arena knew wouldn’t become anything, and that’s the match. Daniels is bleeding so everyone uses that as a cop-out so they don’t have to restart the match. I actually think I would have liked it more if the draw just stood like in the old ROH instead of them feeling like they have to explain it.

Ok…so I get the story, and most of the first fall made sense. The workover would have been great had Eddie decided to act like it was actually hurting him. Eddie’s first big comeback was his best moment of the match, and the first fall was perfect for the story, but Eddie immediately reverts to his old self, with no sense of storytelling, timing, or selling for any kind of story to be found. Daniels looked like his 2003-04 quality, but Edwards’ flaws are far too much. The match ending on a botched move that no one can really explain brings it down a lot and leaves us with a bad taste in our mouth.

I leave this match with the same question I had after the Edwars/Richards match and the Edwards/Suzuki match….why is everyone acting like Eddie is something special? I agree he has decent execution/moveset and he is amazing in tag matches where storyline is simpler, but the guy just doesn’t GET singles wrestling. Does anyone have any better explanations this time around, because besides jawbreaker, I’m not getting many compelling arguments.
 
#411 ·
Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels ***3/4

I’m going to review this in detail so people can understand why Eddie Edwards makes no sense. If you don’t like long posts, skip this.

Opening stuff was fine, Edwards using his chops to gain control worked ok. But then Eddie had control of the match…which means nothing happened of note, especially in progressing the story. When Daniels gets control he begins to work the neck, which is good because it forces Eddie to tell a story, no matter how badly he usually tries to avoid it. But of course, Eddie can’t even be bothered to throw an arm over his neck and sell the fucking thing. I almost turned off the match right here because of how infuriating it is that Edwards can’t tell a damn story, but I figure if everyone loves this so much, I’ll keep going. EE regains control with a hurricurana, because Eddie thinks that a hurricurana IS a comeback. Explosions are to Michael Bay as hurricaranas are to Eddie. Daniels sells his neck on this ONE MOVE more than Eddie sold in almost ten minutes of neck work. Eddie hits a huge but overall floppy and foot-heavy dive into the crowd and that gets him over with the crowd, I guess.

But wait……..holy crap…….after they get back in the ring…..Eddie is FINALLY holding his neck, and even releases a bridge early to do so. There is hope for him yet! Eddie gets nice little comeback before Daniels gets in more neckwork, and the match levels a bit. Eddie gets another fine comeback, and the timing is working pretty well. The Achilles lock reversal into the Koji clutch is awesome. Daniels rules. People actually popped for Eddie stealing Daniels’ submission even after Daniels did it seconds earlier……….did they NOT see that coming? Daniels’ rollup for the first fall is the perfect way to do it in that they enhance the idea that he is just always a step ahead of Eddie.

But I hate the follow up: after the pinfall, Eddie just gets up and lariats Daniels, and than they just lie around. I get the idea that Eddie needs to look aggressive now that he is down, but if they wanted that story, they should have just had Eddie unleash instead of just lariating away all the momentum of the first fall just to lie around. Blue thunder to the apron is awesome….and also solidifies that Eddie’s lariat made no sense at that point in the match. What exactly was the point of that? O….and now a countout tease: just because Eddie knows it will piss me off. How many times will ROH use this tired cliché?

Eddie’s reversal into the second fall was nice eye candy….but there was almost no lead into it and Daniels tapped way to quick on a limb that had barely been touched in the match. Again, I just don’t understand the timing here. Other than the lariat-of-no-logic, Eddie hadn’t shown any life since the first fall, making his reversal here more confusing than inspiring. You’re telling me they built up the whole ‘can Eddie beat Daniels’ storyline through almost THREE MATCHES and THAT’S how he finally does it? WHHHHHY?

Eddie goes for the hold that got him the fall, but Daniels is in survival mode. Edwards tops it off with a super hurricurana, because its Edwards and that’s what he does. The one minute warning goes up, and there would be a lot of drama from people wondering if Eddie can beat Daniels…..except we just saw him do it, so the drama has been greatly scaled back. Daniels tries some weird hip toss to the floor, but Eddie botches it and it looks ridiculous which leads to a dumb semi-countout falsey that everyone in the arena knew wouldn’t become anything, and that’s the match. Daniels is bleeding so everyone uses that as a cop-out so they don’t have to restart the match. I actually think I would have liked it more if the draw just stood like in the old ROH instead of them feeling like they have to explain it.

Ok…so I get the story, and most of the first fall made sense. The workover would have been great had Eddie decided to act like it was actually hurting him. Eddie’s first big comeback was his best moment of the match, and the first fall was perfect for the story, but Eddie immediately reverts to his old self, with no sense of storytelling, timing, or selling for any kind of story to be found. Daniels looked like his 2003-04 quality, but Edwards’ flaws are far too much. The match ending on a botched move that no one can really explain brings it down a lot and leaves us with a bad taste in our mouth.

I leave this match with the same question I had after the Edwars/Richards match and the Edwards/Suzuki match….why is everyone acting like Eddie is something special? I agree he has decent execution/moveset and he is amazing in tag matches where storyline is simpler, but the guy just doesn’t GET singles wrestling. Does anyone have any better explanations this time around, because besides jawbreaker, I’m not getting many compelling arguments.
You have proven before that there is no point arguing with you (after the Davey/Tyler DBD match last year) so whats the point, the arguments have been good and obviously most people thought the match was great, and you didn't. What's the point arguing if you clearly won't change your mind whatever the agument is, you didn't regard the match as highly as some and thats that.
 
#634 ·
WARNING: LONG POST

Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
***1/2

Over the past 4 years or so, I have fallen in love with enough Japanese Junior matches to understand how a spotfest can be done in order to protect the storytelling necessity in a match. Yes, we have all seen a match where spots replaced story, and while we may marvel at the athleticism and the ability to take a beating, eventually, we have to admit that a story needs to be in place for a match to have any kind of quality.

For the first half of this match, there wasn’t a story. I know others have said that the story was that Trips was the first man ‘bad’ enough to take a fight to the Undertaker, but I’m sorry: the match itself didn’t reflect that. From the get-go, we had slugging, and then we had spots, and then we had lying around. Triple H’s spear into the Cole Mine looked crappy and painless. He had almost no velocity, and had to push twice just to get the thing to break. Taker backdrops Trips off the announce table, and staggers around into the ring, where EVERYONE knew he was about to hit his dive. He’s done it enough times at Mania that it loses a lot of its allure. It was cool in the first place because you had never seen a man his size do it. Now, we have….for the past 5 years or so, and its lost its luster.

Any story that would have come into play is derailed by the random shifts in control. In the aforementioned Japanese Junior matches, they don’t just hit spots straight after one another: they usually need at least two counters to regain enough control to hit big moves. Taker match against Shawn at WM25 failed to do this, but at 26, they fixed it with a nice, subtle workover of Taker’s leg. This match fails worse than even the WM25 match did. Taker is spinebustered through the table, thrown in the ring, yet he is IMMEDIATELY able to hit Trips with a chokeslam. Trips takes two BIG chairshots, and then gets up and immediately manages to hit the first pedigree. I’m sorry, I don’t care how big of a star you are: That makes no sense.

There are also some real head-scratching parts in this section. Trips mounts the corner, and gets countered into the Last Ride, which he escapes. But then later in the match, he moutns the corner THE EXACT SAME WAY (first off:WHY?!?!) then gets countered THE EXACT SAME WAY, but for some reason, even though he has seen this EXACT sequence already, and even though he had the wherewithal to mount the corner, he somehow CANT escape this time? Why? I think they blew the spot the first time, and had to repeat it, as it’s the only way this makes sense.

Triple H hit the pedigree the first time, and no one cared. He hit it the second time, and since Undertaker hadn’t had a big comeback, it took all the suspense out of it. I didn’t buy the second, or third pedigree for a second, and I don’t really see how you could. It really shows not only how limited Trips’ moveset is, but also little he can actually do outside of hardcore rules.

All of this lends to the bigger problem: no one gains serious control for the first 15 or so minutes. If Taker had gained control, we might remember how powerful the streak really is. If Trips did, then it could build up what a bad ass he really is, and increase the idea that the streak might be broken. Instead, neither do so, and therefore, a story fails to be built.

The first semblance of any control segment is when HHH wails on Undertaker with 9 consecutive chairshots. This got my attention, and finally got me to care about Triple H’s character in the match. I honestly thought to myself: this is where they save the match. The Tombstone was a great spot, but even here…with NO real tease that the Undertaker was ever in any semblance of control in this match, I can’t say I ever took the Tombstone spot seriously. If it had honestly ended there, it would have looked like Taker NEVER stood a chance, considering how he was never in the drivers’ seat.

I get the segment with the sledgehammer at the end (even though it’s a recycled version of the HIAC match against Batista) But the Hell’s Gate was just WAY too ‘out of nowhere.’ Taker didn’t look strong in this match at all. He looked TOUGH, but not STRONG. The Hell’s Gate itself was very sloppy in execution, and Taker kinda had to re-lock it in. Even this, from a storyline standpoint, made little sense. You expect me to believe after that after that kind of beating, HHH just walks straight into it, and has no idea how to fight out of the hold, even though Taker is flubbing the execution. That kills a lot of this for me.

In summary, Triple H’s final control session and everything that happened AFTER the Gate was locked in was excellent. The rest was pretty mediocre. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m being too demanding in asking for a serious control session before a real, extended comeback in order to be enthralled by a match. Everyone go watch Ito vs. Kasai from a couple years ago, substitute the deathmatch for ‘hardcore’ spots, and you’ll see how you do a hardcore match and tell a story at the same time. A lesser example is actually HHH’s match against Shawn from Summerslam 02, for those who don’t wanna foray into deathmatch. As for this match, there’s just not enough actual story or substance for me to ignore the often-sloppy execution between the huge spots.
 
#1,108 · (Edited)
Davey Richards vs Eddie Edwards BITW 2011 . Really enjoyed it except for a few flaws . Davey gets destroyed by Eddie on the apron , get skilled by two vicious stomps (one through the table of course ) but yet 2 minutes later he acted like it never happened .He was running around the ring all of a sudden doing his usual thing .Also why did this match not end by a submission ? I get that they played on the fatigued story but what a waste of good storytelling , submission work and selling . The finish made my favourite parts of the match not matter at all .
Everything after the spot where Davey kicked the ring post went downhill for me . The match just seemed to go flat and kinda lost my attention . I could of just been tired . When Davey won I was like , huh that's it ? It just came out of nowhere or something .
I'd give it **** , maybe a bit more , I dunno. Not Eddie's best defence , nor Davey's best title match .
 
#1,110 · (Edited)
I get that they played on the fatigued story but what a waste of good storytelling , submission work and selling . The finish made my favourite parts of the match not matter at all .

Everything after the spot where Davey kicked the ring post went downhill for me . The match just seemed to go flat and kinda lost my attention . I could of just been tired . When Davey won I was like , huh that's it ? It just came out of nowhere or something .
I'd give it **** , maybe a bit more , I dunno. Not Eddie's best defence , nor Davey's best title match .
This right here.

I mean, the match was good. It had cool counters and spots as well as a good story (every match has a story btw, the thing is how the wrestlers tell it and execute it in the ring) but it had ZERO DRAMA. A big part of the buildup leading to the iPPV was that this match was Davey's last shot at the title and at no point in the match they made me feel that he was in danger of losing. And they kinda just went to the finish without any kind of momentum.
 
#1,371 ·
World-1 vs. Blood Warriors
Dragon Gate 3/4
Loser Revives Survival Elimination Match
****1/2

The amazing advantage these guys gain from wrestling so frequently during the year cannot be understated The little sub-stories, as Seabs pointed out, are the very best part of this match. A play by play would be redundant, so here are my highlights:

-Tanizaki is the star of the match. Period. When he was first pinned a mere 7 minutes in, I thought it was a bit abrupt…but I quickly realized how much Tanazaki is the runt of his team, and the flash pin works perfectly. As soon as he revives, he nails like one punch before his team tries to push him out of the way….then, when he tells his team ‘I got this,’ he is promptly rolled up and eliminated twice in 10 minutes, and before anyone else on his team has been pinned even once
- PAC and Ricochet have a really brilliant ‘gaijin rivalry’ that carries through the whole match. In this match, Ricochet always seems to take advantage of PAC’s over-aggression in the specific rivalry, tricking PAC into what ends up being a double elimination for Blood Warriros, and then low-blowing him before pinning him to recover from being two men DOWN.
-Ricochet is eliminated shortly after, reviving PAC and giving World-1 a 4-2 lead.. PAC’s hatred towards Ricochet gets the best of him for a third time, and he slides into the ring and promptly dives over onto his rival…..eliminating himself. While I like the aggression here, and the building feud between the two, this ends up being the big turning point in Blood Warriors’ favor, and World-1 never really recovers. I think this spot was a bit too silly to be the fulcrum of the match.
-Naruki Doi rules. That is all.
-After a big group beatdown, once again, Tanazaki tells his teammates he’s got it. By now, this gag is hilarious. Tanizaki comes so close to actually eliminating people, but succeeds only at scaring his team into thinking they are going to lose the numbers advantage due to his stupidity. Eventually, after Yoshino comes dangerously close to turning a 4-on-2 tide, Tanizaki finally gets his elimination, but only because he sacrificed himself to do it. Originally, I wondered why each team didn’t get a member back for this spot, but Seabs did some digging and explained to me that double eliminations get no revival here, which makes sense I suppose. If it’s a well-known rule, I have no complaints…it suits Tanizaki perfectly.
-Yokosuka stands as World-1’s last stalwart, having made the whole match without even needing to be revived. He also got his team’s first elimination, and is relatively solid throughout. But even he can’t overcome three to one odds, and is eventually overwhelmed.

Really good stuff, with excellent substories and, as always, fun flawless execution. Marks off for PAC’s brainless elimination, only because something so silly ended up being the turning point.
 
#1,377 ·
World-1 vs. Blood Warriors
Dragon Gate 3/4
Loser Revives Survival Elimination Match
****1/2
I personally rate it ***3/4. Sure, the storylines were great, of Tanisaki turning from a big fool to a hero, of CIMA being kept from returning. I liked the turning point of PAC eliminating himself in a rush of anger.

However I don't think the in-ring action was off the charts, and it wasn't very fast-paced (I don't like slow matches). I also never really felt that World-1 had a real chance of winning. Perhaps going 4-1 at some point in the match would have helped, and also World-1's 4-2 advantage doesn't really count because PAC immediately eliminated himself. I also didn't like that Dream Gate champion Yoshino only scored roll-up pins.

Both Kamikaze vs Blood Warriors Elimination/Revival matches were better than this one IMO, probably because of the pace...
 
#1,477 ·
Money in the Bank 2011
CM Punk vs. John Cena


This match will be talked about and opinions are going to vary majorly. If that match is looked at from an atmosphere and storyline view then it's ***** for me. Punk's entrance was amazing. The crowd were perfect for it and my favourite entrance of all time. The camera showing the signs that throwback to One Night Stand '06 were great and just helped create the atmosphere even more. Punk working with the crowd was brilliant, especially during Cena's entrance, clapping him. All of this thrown together with the storyline and not having any idea how the match would go down, hyped one of the most hyped matches in recent time even more.

The match itself is what stops this from being *****. A ***** rating IMO, is based mainly on what happens from bell to bell. The crowd and atmosphere can play a part but aren't the most important aspects in the match itself. This is just my opinion and while others may rate this aspects greater than me, it all comes down to opinion which is what makes star ratings interesting to discuss. I loved the opening few minutes with Cena trying to show that he could wrestle with Punk. It the match kept up this storytelling then my rating would have definitely been higher.

After these opening exchanges I thought the storytelling dropped off and the botches started to come. While none of these botches ruined the match, they did disrupt the flow and prevent it from being a perfect 'match'. While some parts were botched, others were done perfectly such as CM Punk's suicide dive. This was brilliant and one of the best ones I've seen done in a WWE ring.

To see a match go for over 30 minutes in the WWE is a rare thing nowadays but the match benefited from this. The match never seemed to get into a finishing sequence of moves, but was great. When Vince came out, having Cena come and prevent the screw job from taking place was well booked and then leading this into Cena losing the match was good. This made Punk's victory still look relatively clean, but kept the story going with Vince ending up being part of the reason the title would leave the company.

After the match saw Del Rio come out and I was just hoping that the moment wouldn't be ruined. Instead Punk kicks him square in the head and leaves just like he said he would. Brilliant!

A match that will definitely be watch again and again. To rate this match is hard because of the circumstances surrounding it. The wrestling itself is not near a ***** level yet the crowd and atmosphere is perfect. I can understand why someone would rate this *****, yet I wouldn't agree with them but as I stated above, it's an opinion. The match had me on the edge of my seat and makes you realize why you are a wrestling fan.


****
 
#1,478 ·
Do people really watch pro wrestling with a notepad or something and take a quarter of a STAR RATING off every time they see a "botch"? Really?

It's pro wrestling, it's supposed to be about emotion and how a match or storyline makes you feel, surely it's easier to get swept up in that if you aren't having to keep count of how many quarter stars you've taken off so far?
 
#1,584 ·
Just a few points I'd again like to point out.

People have mentioned the great build adding to the match. The great build made you buy/download the match/show. It makes you care about one guy or the other. IT DOESN'T MAKE THE MATCH TECHNICALLY BETTER. Have a look at Steen/Generico in ROH, Fantastic one year build. It wasn't given 5 stars by to many people because it didn't deserve it. Punk/Cena is in no way different.

Star Ratings are used when you watch a match and want to provide your opinion and critique of the match. I enjoyed the 6 Man Tag Opener on the 1st Chikara show of this year. My enjoymen levels were very high, that then doesn't mean i can give the match ***** becase i enjoyed it a lot. Its like the PWG Multi Man Tag back at BOLA a few years ago that i jokingly gave *****. Its in no way a ***** match but it was very enjoyable.

Then someone compared star ratings to going to a movie and doing the same. You do realise people get paid and make a living out of rating movies. Its taken a lot more seriously and there are various places where you can read peoples opinions online about various movies and the then rating they gave it so comparing wrestling ratings to watching a movie is in short. RIDICULOUS.

I usually avoid posting opinions during the crazy time that Nervosa stirs up in these threads but i couldn't help myself here. Also may i add that personal attacks of Nervosas opinion are in no way helping your point and make you like like a child. You may not like his opinion but the whole point of this thread is to argue opinions and provide your critique.
 
#1,791 ·
Cena vs Punk - Summerslam
Cena and Punk have amazing chemistry in the ring together, and anyone who still says that Cena can't wrestle after this match is a blind fucking tool. Cena's chain wrestling at the start was brilliant and he easily hung with Punk in that department. The slow pace is great and it really suits both guys. The match seemed all together more fluent than the mitb match, and this match really seemed important right from Trip's entrance. Punk is just a great wrestler and he proved it here with some innovative offence and him wearing down Cena by working on the mid section was nice. Cena's comebacks were great and that dropkick he did was unusual but it looked fucking awesome lol. Then we get to the amazing submission exchange and the great spot were Punk hits a sucide dive and both men are out of it, trips counts to 9 and just gets out of the ring and picks up both guys and throws them in the ring, awesome little touch there. then there is the epic strike exchange at the end were it looks like both guys are just doing whatever the fuck they can to hit their opponent, that running kick out of nowhere by Punk was awesome and Cena sold it like he got shot, not to mention Cena kicking out of the GTS which I don't recall anyone ever doing and Punk hitting the Savage elbow drop was an amazing moment. The crowd was HOT for this aswell and were with both wrestlers all the way through, even the great chain wrestling at the start which created an awesome atmosphere. The only thing I didn't like was the foot on the rope ending, which kind of took the crowd out of it, but it progressed the story so I'm not going to complain much about it. Great great match and I would say equal to the MITB match. ****1/2

But then we get the aftermath which IMO was bloody great! First of all there is tension between Cena and HHH after Trip's missed Cenas foot on the rope, then Punk celebrates and gets his hand raised by HHH and there looks to be some respect for HHH in the eyes of Punk for calling it down the middle. Then Trip's leaves uo the ramp and Kevin Nash comes from nowhere and destroys Punk with a clothesline and a Jackknife. WTF!!! Then Del Rio cashes in his MITB and wins the belt (which I don't like at all, but he is going to be a transitional champ so it's okay). Nash leaves through the crowd and Trip's comes back down and he was brilliant here, just a look of utter confusion and annoyance on his face. Is he with Nash? Did Steph get Nash without asking HHH? Will Punk blame HHH? Is Punk now 100% face? Needless to say i'm excited for RAW tonight! I can't belive some of the people over in the WWE section completely shitting on this, it's like they don't have any concept of building a great story, which is what this is. WWE is going in the right direction right now IMO, and HHH seems to be doing a good job so far, that along with the fact that Punk is now respected enough backstage to have some creative control and him saying in interviews that they want to bring change to the company is making me the most excited I have been about the company since about 2001.
 
#1,810 ·
I've been catching up on a lot of 2011 wrestling these past couple of days. I'm way behind a lot of people right now on my MOTY candidates (boot camp has put me behind on my wrestling), but I will catch up these next couple weeks. Let the reviewing commence.


Bad Intentions vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto (NJPW) ***3/4

I'm not a big fan of either Tanahashi & Goto. To me they are the HHH and John Cena of NJPW, and are both vastly overrated. That said this was a pretty decent old school kind of tag team match up. There weren't any big spots, but the crowd helped me get into this match. The crowd was really hot, and there were a couple of near falls towards the end of the match which helped raise my interest for this match. The first halve though is too slow and plodding for my taste. The action does pick up though, so if you can get past the slow start it's definitely worth a view.

Cole & O'Reilly vs. LDRS Of The New School (wXw) ****

Not the big MOTY candidate everybody is making it out to be, but definitely an excellent tag team spot fest to check out. This is the first time I have seen LDRS Of The New School wrestle, and they really did impress me with their tag skills. Both teams went out balls to the wall, and the match was non stop action. The Spike Tombstone Piledriver by the LDRS Of The New School was fucking sick!!! I really did enjoy this match, but I couldn't rate the contest any higher then ****. This match was a very fun tag team spot fest. Nothing more nothing less. But, like I said the match was really fun to watch so I definitely recommend everybody check this match out.

John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Summerslam) ****1/4

As a lot of people know I really did not enjoy Cena and Punk's MITB match last month. The wrestling felt off, the match was really sloppy, and I just thought the match is one of the most overrated matches in recent memory. The rematch to the critically acclaimed Money In The Bank match was an much better overall match in my eyes. This match was nowhere as sloppy, the wrestling was much cleaner, there were many great reversals, and the near falls had me on my feet. What I liked about this match the most is how different it is from their Money In The Bank match. Punk vs. Cena 1 is an much more emotionally charged contest with an excellent story to back it up, while Punk vs. Cena 2 serves as an much better overall wrestling match. Not to mention the post match shenanigans had me marking out like a school girl. Sooo the theme of the story is Punk vs. Cena 2 > Punk vs. Cena 1. The end.

Dick Togo vs. Kota Ibushi (DDT) ****1/2

Can somebody please tell me why people are not talking about this match? A very underrated excellent match which somebody on some other wrestling forums recommended to me. I was skeptical to check it out, because I have not seen anybody mention it on these forums, but I'm really glad I did take the time to watch this match. The match had some really great near falls, great high flying action, some great strong style, and was just an overall great wrestling match. I'm a big fan of both of these wrestlers (especially Dick Togo). These two wrestlers hit one another sooo freaking hard. There were numerous times throughout the match I was marking out and pressing the rewind button to mark out again and again. The biggest spot of the match for me was Kota Ibushi's STIFF flying dropkick to Dick Togo on the outside. Sadly Dick Togo has already wrestled his last match in Japan, and is currently on his retirement world tour. After watching this match I still think the guy could wrestle another 5 years, and put on awesome matches just like this one. Dick Togo leaving wrestling makes me a sad panda :(.

NO DQ- Randy Orton vs. Christian (WWE Summerslam) ****1/2

Holy fuck what a match. I could watch these two wrestle another 100 more matches, and never get tired of the matches these two are putting on. Every match these two wrestle feel's different and fresh. Both men served their roles really well in this match. You could feel how pissed off Orton was in this match, and he wrestled a very intense style. The facial expressions, and actions Orton was acting out was excellent. Christian on the other side of the spectrum was very cocky, and arrogant throughout this match (which serves well with his current character.). Numerous times throughout the match Christian had the upper hand, but his arrogance would end up being his downfall. For example, when Christian arrogantly tried to hit Orton with the RKO on the announce table just to get RKO'd by Orton was a perfect spot for this match. This match is another example that two wrestlers do not need blood, or an PG-13 rating to wrestle a very intense hard hitting match (The first being Undertaker vs. HHH at Wrestlemania 27). The crowd were really into this match, and I don't blame them. This is my second favorite WWE MOTY, and rated as number 3 on my MOTY candidates. And, while I'm thinking this match is the big blow off with Orton going over; I'm really hoping these two have one last match at WWE Hell In A Cell.


39) Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes (WWE Wrestlemania 27) ***3/4
38) Christopher Daniels vs. Claudio Castagnoli (ROH Only The Strong Survive) ***3/4
37) Randy Orton vs. Christian (WWE Smackdown) ***3/4
36) Bad Intentions vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Hirooki Goto (NJPW) ***3/4
35) Falls Count Anywhere-The Miz vs. John Morrison (WWE RAW) ***3/4
34) Cage Match- Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle (TNA Lockdown) ***3/4
33) Ladder Match- Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE Extreme Rules) ***3/4
32) The Briscoes Bros vs. WGTT **** (ROH 9th Anniversary Show)
31) Dolph Ziggler vs. Edge (WWE Royal Rumble) ****
30) Cage Match- John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz (WWE Extreme Rules) ****
29) Takashi Sugiura vs Giant Bernard (NOAH) ****
28) Kenta vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH) ****
27) LAST MAN STANDING- Randy Orton vs. CM Punk (WWE Extreme Rules) ****
26) Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Ikuto Hidaka (Zero-1) ****
25) Davey Richards vs. Low Ki (PWG KurtRussellReunion 2) ****
24) Daisuke sekimoto vs. El Generico (wXw) ****
23) LAST MAN STANDING- Bully Ray vs. AJ Styles (TNA Slammiversary) ****
22) John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE RAW) ****
21) Raw Elimination Chamber (WWE Elimanation Chamber) ****
20) Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels (ROH 9th Anniversary) ****
19) Kota Ibushi vs. Prince Devitt (NJPW 01/04/11) ****
18) Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards (ROH Only The Strong Survive) ****
17) John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Money In The Bank) ****
16) El Generico vs. Eddie Kingston (CHIKARA Chaos In The Sea of Lost Souls) ****
15) Cole & O'Reilly vs. LDRS Of The New School (WxW) ****
14) Kotaro Suzuki vs Ricky Marvin (NOAH) ****1/4
13) Sekimoto & Okabayashi vs Sanada & Soya (AJPW 02/06/11) ****1/4
12) Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico (PWG KurtRussellReunion 2) ****1/4
11) Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe (ROH Only The Strong Survive) ****1/4
10) Christian vs. Randy Orton (WWE Over The Edge) ****1/4
9) John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Summerslam) ****1/4
8) smackdown Money In The Bank (WWE Elimanation Chamber) ****1/4
7) Omega and Ibushi vs. Devitt and Taguchi (NJPW) ****1/4
6) Eddie Edwards vs. Kotaro Suzuki (NOAH) ****1/2
5) Smackdown Elimination Chamber (WWE Elimanation Chamber) ****1/2
4) Dick Togo vs. Kota Ibushi (DDT) ****1/2
3) NO DQ- Randy Orton vs. Christian (WWE Summerslam) ****1/2
2) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata (NJPW) ****1/2
1) NO DQ- Undertaker vs. HHH (WWE Wrestlemania 27) ****3/4
 
#1,864 · (Edited)
Hey sean, do you enjoy not using your brain when you watch wrestling? You do? Good for you...but those of us who leave our brains on can actually critique a match for what it is...for better or worse. I think you'll find that is sorta what the thread is for.

I enjoy something when it makes me think. I enjoy things that actually survive legitimate criticism instead of ignoring flaws.

BJW 7/25

Ito/Sasaki vs Hoshino/Kobayashi

***3/4

Damn fun match
Hey Dele,

I haven't followed BJW in a while, so I was wondering...I haven't heard much about Tadeka & kodaka since they dropped the belts. Are they still relevant? I really liked them.
 
#2,094 · (Edited)
NOAH - Go Shiozaki, Takashi Sugiura, & Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, KENTA, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This is like watching a blood vs. crips war except everyone throws down their weapons and says "We will not settle this like bitches......WE'LL SETTLE THIS LIKE MEN!" and proceeded to try to murder each other with their God given limbs. I dunno what Go says to Takayama in the beginning but I'm guessing it falls somewhere in the line of "HEY, Bitch" which makes Takayama spontaneously decide to pop out with the most vicious dropkick EVER. Shiozaki and Takayama then decide only one man will live to tell their story throughout the whole match. KENTA find himself getting whipped by Go and when Sugiura tags in, I don't know if KENTA suddenly remembered 2006 where Sugiura beat him for the title or Takashi suggested the Last Airbender movie to him but KENTA rages on him. The heat is so bad between these four that when Taniguchi & Kanemaru are wrestling, epic carnage just proceeds to happen all over the place and there is brawling everywhere. Kids are being eaten, puppies are being stomped, and Grandmas are being pushed over. Just utter madness. This ranks ridiculously high and breaks my top ten easily. Never found myself bored and the storytelling is easy to understand.

****1/2
 
#2,106 ·
I fucking loved this match, Takayama was amazing here. One of the best 6-man tags, like.... Since All Japan's 90's.
 
#2,159 ·
Go Shiozaki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH, 9/23/2011)

What a beautiful match this was. Takayama's performance was awe inspiring, he looked, moved and acted like some hybrid of Andre Teh Giant and Ric Flair. I'm telling you, his control sessions are beautiful, this guy is so entertaining to watch. Forearms, high kicks, knees and AAARGHHHHHH. He tried to destroy Shiozaki's right hand because of chops, and it worked. Go sold it very well, and I LOVED the fact that Go had to use his left hand for chops and lariats, especially at the end where he delivered couple of left-hand lariats only to hulk-up ala Kobashi and decapitate Takayama with his fucked up hand. Great story telling, selling and strategies by both of them. Shiozaki is such a great champion right now, and I'm looking forward to his next defense, which is against KENTA or Sugiura, they had some promos after the match. I didn't understand the word they were saying, but it sounded hilarious for the crowd. Oh, and that fucking crowd was the only bad thing about the match, they were too fucking silent.
Anyway, this is my #2 in Japan 2011, right behind Shiozaki/Akiyama.
****1/2
 
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#2,240 ·
So I watched that NVC vs Rockness match and I have to say it didn't click with me at all. It was good, but towards the end it was as if they didn't have a clue what to do and it got sloppy at points. The workover was great on Goodtime, but when he finaly got the tag it was weak as hell, the spot that led up to it wasn't very good and the crowd hardly reacted at all and it went downhill from there. Still it had some really good spots and sequences in there. ***1/2

I don't really dig the Rockness Mosters as a team to be honest, they seem really sloppy from what I have seen so far (about 3 matches).
 
#2,363 ·
forgot to make a post in here after the DG-UK shows.

I wanna wait for the DVD before I say this 100% but I think Shingo vs. Susumu III overtakes the BOSJ final as my MOTY and by virtue of that, my all time fave wrestling match. Definitely my favourite live match ahead of Danielson/McGuinness at Unified.

PAC/Shingo was fantastic as well. In the ****3/4 range.
 
#2,436 · (Edited)
SUWAMA vs Jun Akiyama - All Japan 23/10/11

Since this show ended I've been reading how those who saw it live compared this match to the good ol' days of 90's All Japan...I can't say they were wrong. It's one of those matches that 20 minutes in you are like "yeah, this is good but it's not THAT good" and when it's all over you are losing your fucking mind. My only complaint was the suplex exchange spot that has lost all meaning to me at this point (and Jun could have sold the back a little better towards the end but whatever), but overall this a GREAT heavyweight battle where you get the feeling that something special is happening. The crowd was good but once they realized Akiyama had a legit chance of winning they went batshit crazy in the final stretch. It didn't feel like NOAH's 30 minutes matches where most of the time the middle portion drags, goes nowhere and you are left with the feeling that the match should have been 7 minutes shorter. This one slowly build to an amazing final sequence and had a better flow than most heavyweight title mainevents.

****1/2-****3/4


ps: link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wjiZqsg6yo&feature=player_embedded
 
#2,458 ·
William Regal vs Dean Ambrose, FCW 06/11/11

Fucking awesome awesome match here that deserved its incredible pimping on a few other forums, Regal arguably puts in one of the performances of the year, busts out a ton of innovative and creative shit and is incredibly vicious even for Regal standards, Ambrose is the perfect foil for him with his incredible mannerisms, taunting and selling of the beating. I could see some people thinking this was too one-sided but when you follow the incidents that led to the match and Regal talking about unleashing his inner villain again, Ambrose taking as emphatic a beating as he does only to come back asking for more really put him over as this tough son of a bitch you have to respect whilst still having tremendous hate and unease towards with how demented and sick he comes across.

Match really felt like a page out of Finlay/Callihan and reminded us why Regal needs to go on a Finlay 2006 esque run on WWE TV beating the piss out of the younger guys and putting them over as only he can, Superstars this week will be essential viewing for all due to who Regal faces and I won't spoil it. Anyways Regal was just an evil motherfucker in this, him continually schooling Ambrose on the mat constantly and using it as the base for a lot of his offence was tremendous, the spot where he trapped Ambrose in an armbar before pulling and twisting his fingers is the sort of spot no-one else thinks to do that makes me adore workers like Regal, just incredible attention to detail and going the extra mile to get the most out of each burst of offence. The spot where he chokes Ambrose by holding his nose whilst he has him locked in a half sleeper/choke spot and Ambrose continually calls for him to give it all he's got everytime was probably only bettered by Regal's usage of the turnbuckle to target Dean's arm. The Genius TRAPS THE ARM THROUGH THE TURNBUCKLE in a spot I've never seen before, then unloads with a barrage of kicks and forearms to a defenceless Ambrose who's desperate kicking and fighting sold what was about to happen amazingly.

Have to say as well Ambrose's selling was flat out awesome, like he seems to have his detractors for not being your typical indy worker but his selling and ability to work the sort of match he did with Regal left me thinking he's in a class of his own compared to most indy workers, bar maybe 2 or 3 current guys. Everything from checking and clenching his jaw after a barrage of uppercuts, to the way he left his arm limp during the Regal stretch to selling it as he rolled out of a cover left me thinking I've missed out on one of the smartest workers in recent years. His desperation one armed comeback was amazing in his resiliency yet he still managed to capture something in his character that made Regal the man you still wanted to route for, really dug how he alternated between right armed offence, elbows and headbutts to try and keep Regal down whilst protecting the injured arm. The bump he took as well to weaken the limb was fucking bonkers as well and looked frankly disgusting, also have to mention for some reason his mini burst of offence on Regal's left arm at the start was really fucking good in how it came off totally erratic and chaotic and fitted his loose cannon persona tremendously: I was reminded of how the Joker can fight and always manages to fight like a madman and in the process looks unqiue and unco-ordinated but in a good way.

Regal stole the show and put in one of the better performances of the year, Ambrose himself played a strong part in making himself as good a heel in peril as I've seen in ages and still managed to get over the story of the match where Regal took the disrespectful newcomer to town. A lot of guys would have taken the beating Dean did and wouldn't have been able to still make you hate them, I guess that's a testament to how good Dean is at adding these mannerisms that make him impossible to root for. Surefire contender for TV MOTY in any company (right now its my #1 unless I've forgotten one) at the moment and honestly I'd call it something I'd consider worthy of including on a MOTYC list, especially for WWE. Literally couldn't have made it better and the more I watch it the more I think Regal/Ambrose are the only two who could have had such a unique match-up and made it work as well as they did.

****-****1/4
 
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