Wrestling Forum banner

The 2012 MOTYC thread

340K views 3K replies 192 participants last post by  Alan4L 
#1 ·
#1,647 · (Edited)
Watched that match before Rah. One of the most purely fun and entertaining matches of the year, and each King vs Lawler interactions were outstanding. Precious was also superb working the comedy spots and getting the crowd riled up whenever he was in the ring, but I'd stop short of calling it a MOTYC. Its definitely something that should be watched by everyone, since its got comedy, some superb punches and bumping and a very good screwjob finish, but I don't think its got enough meat to it to properly call it a MOTYC. There's a followup Precious vs Brian Christopher Cage Match however which looks really fucking good.

You seen the King/Tucker 5/25 LMS match btw? I'd call that the best Memphis indy bout I've seen this year, tremendously worked with both guys plastering one another with stiff as hell punches and just using anything to hurt the other (e.g King using a boot and a lady's walking stick). Better than any WWE LMS match since probably Orton/HHH No Mercy, what with them focusing on establishing hatred rather than relying on an assortment of weapons and cute spots. Finish is also tremendous.
 
#1,648 ·
At this point I've pretty much decided Lucha isn't my thing for a while, until I try it again at some point in the future. Tried to watch one of the ***** Casas matches that got pimped earlier this year but just didn't find much in it that I enjoyed. Something about the style I just can't seem to get in to.

Managaed to get a hold of Threemendous III...

Kevin Steen vs Willie Mack - PWG World Championship
Yeah, this was great. Steen just owning Mack constantly with Mack trying to make comebacks but getting cut off. What's not to like there? Steen just goes after Mack any way he can really, and those whips to the turnbuckle were just nasty. Steen is just great in this. I really liked the Brian Cage run-in a lot, it got him over HUGE and also produced an amazing nearfall. The package piledriver was an even better nearfall and when Mack hit the moonsault I thought there was a new champ. Great match and I loved the finish too. ****

SSB vs Young Bucks vs Future Shock - PWG Tag Team Championships Ladder Match
Seabs basically said everything I would about this. CHAOS! Loved this so much, balls awesome but not just in a spotty way. No stupid ladder climbing, just an all out war with everyone apart from O'Reilly looking great. O'Reilly dropkicking the ladder into Uno and the fans from the apron was ridiculous though! INSANE dive from Nick Jackson off the ropes after he got pushed off the ladder! Shit that was nutty as fuck. There was other crazy spots but yeah, it wasn't overkill and I loved the all out brawling at the start before the ladders got involved. Really innovative stuff in this too. The Knox stuff made me flip my fucking lid like nothing else this year. Brilliant. Not quite as good as the Steen/Generico ladder match from last year, but still as awesome as a stripper with a machine gun. ****1/2
 
#1,649 ·
I maintain anyone who loves Jerry Lawler and Memphis brawls would adore the best Lucha brawls, since they're really an extension of that style only replaced with a 2/3 falls format. Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 for example is up there with the best Lawler brawl, and anyone who knows my feelings on Jerry Lawler should recognise that as no small praise.

The co-operation in the matwork can prove distracting for some, which is understandable. But to me again, I'd really struggle to see how Atlantis/Panther 1991, El Dandy vs ***** Casas 1992 and El Dandy vs Javier Llanes which are all matwork based wouldn't appeal to a lot of people on here who dig good matwork.

Damiancito El Guerrero vs Cicloncito Ramirez 1997 is also pretty much a Lucha/Juniors hybrid match worked at a ridiculous pace. Again anyone who digs peak New Japan/Michinoku Pro when it comes to junior matches would really love that match IMO, the pace is so frantic they don't fall into cutely swapping holds with little struggle (something that seems to be a frequent criticism of Lucha matwork) and there's some incredible spots which are built to and sold as difference makers. Its got all the things people adore in Junior matches, but the 2/3 falls format and Lucha style means they avoid some of the pitfalls that plague the junior style, e.g questionable selling, moving from matwork to rope running etc.

This isn't me trying to force anyone to watch Lucha btw, since I can understand why some matches really don't paint the style in a watchable way to a new watcher. I do believe however that those matches I listed really should do a better job at highlighting the best Lucha has to offer, rather than other matches which have some good moments but also have some of the problems that new watchers of Lucha struggle to overcome.
 
#1,650 ·
Random Rewatch:
Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin - ROH Showdown in the Sun Day 2


I really don't know why I was so high on this when I first watched this. It was probably the spots that lured me in on my first time but on a second watch I can really see how terrible this match was. There are admittedly some awesome looking spots like the top rope tiger suplex and the fisherman's buster to the floor but there really is nothing behind them and both guys brush themselves off and no-sell their way to next less-impressive spot.

Davey's flaws really can be seen here. Elgin is meant to be a fucking machine and he should be dominating Davey for a good portion of the start and middle of the match but he just keeps fucking reversing everything and it makes Elgin look like any other ROH midget. It's okay to reverse the odd move and hint at a comeback when you are doing a big man vs little man match but Davey really took the piss and killed any sense of structure that Elgin was building.

Don't get me wrong, Elgin wasn't exactly a star here and he's certainly no Mark Henry when it comes to establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with. While Davey's levels of no-selling Elgin's suplexes did really annoy me, Elgin kept resorting to that 'Fighting Sprint' comeback way too many times and it was almost comical. One of the best parts of the match was due to Elgin trying to do his little comeback but collapses due to the punishment his ankle has taken. It's the first sign of selling in this match and it was awesome... until Elgin decides to resort back to no-selling once again.

I'm going on way too much. It's funny how I sometimes struggle to come up with 4-5 lines why I love a match but when tearing this match a new asshole, it all comes naturally. In a nutshell, Richards/Elgin is unstructured mess of a match which spots I would enjoy on their own, but it's really not worth the effort to sit through this sorry excuse of a match.

Rating: ★¾
 
#1,651 · (Edited)
not a fan of elgin vs richards either.


just didn't find it convincing at all. there is actual art to no selling (so in a literal sense, you are still selling), which i didn't think the match did a good job of portraying. it had its moments like when elign would spit and make it seem like he was too mad to get hurt, but often times it was over done or just too wacky considering the moves that had just been done for there to be any real drama.





Young Bucks vs Super Smash Bros - Death to all but metal

Surprisingly, I had fun watching this match. The first 10 mins I was pretty much cringing at how corny the match started out. But eventually a lot of good light hearted wrestling starts leaking out. I enjoy the Chikara-esq comedy side more of PWG more. A lot of spots that were athletically impressive as well as well thought out, like a punchline. The commentary added to the match as well, giving it a very casual vibe. Still think the Young Bucks have terrible body language, and there was practically no heat to the match at all. But all and all, I enjoyed the majority of it, and really thought the ref spots were great. Best PWG match I've seen.

Young Bucks vs Super Smash Bros vs Future Shock - Threemendous III

Kind of the same as before, but more crazy spots. Like someone else mentioned, PWG has terrible camera work. The spots were more wild than the previous match I talked about, but I don't think they were as well thought out "plot" wise. I rate this a little bit below the Death to All But Metal tag match. The false finish was very convincing, but I thought the ref spot was better in the previous one in the case of less being more.
 
#1,653 ·
Just got done watching Bucks vs SSB vs FS. I really enjoyed it and I thought it was an awesome match but I didn't seem to enjoy it as much as others on here. There were some amazing spots that had me marking out (Nick Jackson landing on the rope after getting pushed off the ladder for example), however there were a couple things that bothered me.
I'm a big fan of spotfests and don't care much for psychology or anything like that, as mentioned before the camera work was pretty bad occasionally (mostly in the beginning, they picked up nearly all the other big spots after the first couple minutes). There were also some stupid things that I didn't like. One was when Nick Jackson was rotating the ladder on his neck and Matt started applauding him and walked into the ladder not once, but twice. That was imo stupid and just bothered me.

Overal it was a really fun match, especially the last 5 or so minutes when the ref got involved was alot of fun. I'd definitely recommend watching this match as the good things greatly outweigh the bad.
 
#1,658 ·
Comedy or not, I thought it was stupid. I haven't seen that many Young Bucks matches so sorry if I don't know all their antics.

They shoot with multiple camera's right? There was one point where there wasn't really anything happening on the screen yet you could hear the crowd go nuts over a spot, or the commentary talking about how Player Uno just Fall Away Slam'd a fan into someone else. But you were there live? Since you know they didn't miss anything of note?
 
#1,655 ·
AR Fox vs. Dave Crist- CZW World Jr. Hvt/CZW Wired TV Championship- Title Unification Ladder Match
CZW Down With The Sickness 2012: Crist vs. Fox


-Damn was this match insane, started off hot with multiple dive spots and stayed at a solid pace for a majority of the match. Lots of great back and forth and they kept the ladder in play. Despite all of the chaos, they managed to top it down the finishing stretch and the crowd bought into everything. Easily top 5 CZW MOTY if not top 3, Dave Crist and AR Fox get mad respect for their efforts.
 
#1,657 ·
I haven't seen the PWG ladder match yet but I was saw this one live and it was totaly insane what they did in the ring. I'm not sure if I would put it here because it was just a huge spotfest but they do deserve credit for taking the risks that they did. There are a few different times in the match where I was saying to myself, "They really can't be thinking if doing this." And then they went and did it. My biggest problem with this was really just how much time they spent setting up for the spots. I'll get over those things I didn't like about it because I was in shock most of the match. I mean when the match was over and Fox/Crist had left the ringside area a lot of the fans just stood there in shock. I mean we all knew the show was over but everyone just kind of stood there thinking, "What the fuck was that."

I really need to see that PWG ladder match now. I'm wondering if it was on the same levels of insanity as this one.
 
#1,660 · (Edited)
No Surrender 2012:
-Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe **3/4
-Bully Ray vs James Storm ***
-Knockouts Championship: Miss Tessmacher vs Tara *3/4
-Austin Aries Challenge **1/2
-X-Division Championship: Zema Ion vs Sonjay Dutt ***1/4
-Rob Van Dam vs Magnus **1/4
-World Tag Team Championship: Daniels & Kazarian vs AJ Styles & Kurt Angle ****
-Jeff Hardy vs Bully Ray **1/2
 
#1,669 ·
PWG Threemendous III - Young Bucks vs. Super Smash Bros vs. Future Shock

Finally got around to watching it. It was crazy to say the least. Some fantastic spots and the stuff with Knox is just pure gold. PWG built him vs The Bucks to perfection. Reminded me of the three team guerilla warfare and that's a good thing. ****1/2

Have to watch Steen/Mack yet and can't wait to see Cage/Edwards. Cage is 2012's breakout star , a great all rounder. Hopefully PWG put the belt on him soon.
 
#1,670 ·
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thinks the Ladder match was fucking marvelous. It has to be in PWG's top four if you ask me(Steen vs. Dragon, Generico vs. Steen ladder, Richards vs. Hero). I am saddened I'm the only one that adored Shiozaki vs. Morishima though.
 
#1,676 ·
I thought it was. The story wasn't more of Go tossing Shima around with some bitching counters but actually coming up with unique offense and the near falls or suspense are extremely well built(Morishima's comeback is pretty rad). Shima's selling could of been better but Go was just awesome in this minus two sloppy bits. Great facial expressions, great random selling, and all their ideas worked. Thousand times better than KENTA/Fuji if you ask me. My favorite part in the match :

Go getting mad speed from ducking all of Shima's lariats and instead of lariating Morishima(The 2009 finish to the Global League finals), he lariats the leg. That makes his submission seems like a done deal and incredibly believable considering a upper lariat might have won him the match but he opted to continue going for the leg. I haven't watched allot of Tanahashi matches recently, however his cloverleaf hasn't had me buying like Go's submission did. That says allot for a guy who isn't a consistent leg worker. Go also Marufujing out of Shima's Backdrop driver surprised the shit out of me and the Go Flasher nearfall was awesome. Simply because Morishima lost the lariat off gave the feeling that he was done.....that Shiozaki had finally climbed that hill. Great great storytelling.
 
#1,679 ·
The Finals of the KOT is my #2 MOTY behind HHH/Undertaker HIAC. One of the best indy matches that I've ever seen. I'll give more thoughts once the DVD has been out for a while so I don't spoil anything but I will say that the Finals were the best match of the weekend.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top