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The 2013 MOTYC Thread

371K views 3K replies 163 participants last post by  amhlilhaus 
#1 ·
#928 · (Edited)
Full review for Invasion Attack in the other thread, but here’s reviews for the top 5 matches

Makabe and Honma vs. Yujiro and Tanaka
***3/4

Ok, so coming into this match, I liked Tanaka, hated Makabe and was pretty ambivalent towards Honma and Yujiro. But Honma was freaking incredible here. They played to the strengths of both teams, having most of the action be between Honma and Tanaka, which is surprising since those two are just kinda extra’s for the Makabe/yujiro program. I know a lot of you like Makabe, but I just don’t see it. He was very dull, here. I mean, great lariats, for sure, but not much else. Yuijro has seriously shown NOTHING from what made him so watchable at times last year. But that’s being negative….let’s be positive here. Honma was a freaking house of fire in this. He took a beating well, he was captivating, and the crowd went nuts for this. Tanaka showed how much he has been missed in CHAOS tags. This was a surprisingly great midcard treat.

Yano vs. Suzuki
***3/4
Yeap, awesome. Misu is back to being Misu with incredible heel heat. The beginning of the match was priceless though, with Yano going straight out of the ring and assaulting Taichi before the match even started. Suzuki chases him off, and rolls back in the ring…..so Yano rolls back out and beats up Taichi again. Hilarious. Yano working as the ‘eddie-style’ babyface who cheats is awesome. I just love Yano’s work all year this year. If CHAOS splits into a heel half and a face half, I kinda hope yano has a cheating face push, because the little one he has had lately has been so fun.

I totally bought Yano’s roll-up at the end of the match as a legit nearfall, since that was the finish of their NJ cup match. Misu dominated this match, which makes sense, honestly. The whole story here was on Misu’s frustration that he could beat Okada but not toru Fucking Yano. He kinda needed to dominate the match to the end the mini-feud the right way. Even when being dominated, Yano was great.

Laughter7 vs. Goto and Nagata
***1/2

Goto is totally watchable in a midcard role. As soon as he gets pushed, or gets placed in singles matches, he starts sucking, but here, him and Shibata’s stuff was great. Man that submission sequence with Sakuraba and Nagata was freaking amazing. I really desire to see a Nagata in a title match soon, because I think he has another great singles match in his.

Obviously, I echo all previous thoughts that the injury really hurt what would have been a great match. I don’t think this was on its way to being a top MOTYC, but what was here was great nonetheless. Get well soon, Sakuraba, for sure.

Nakamura vs. Smith Jr.
****

All this time, I thought Archer was the true talent of the team. Turns out BOTH KES members are awesome. Smith was amazing here, and his power workover was just awesome. He came off as so dominant and so problematic for shinskay, as if Nakamura simply hadn’t wrestled this kind of power before. The other thing I was really impressed with was Jr’s ability to work the crowd, which helped them really pop during Nakamura reversals. Nakamura has become great at timing his false comebacks, and Smith using power to halt each and every one was great.

DBSJ’s lariat out of nowhere really popped the crowd big and was an amazing nearfall. I love the look on Smith’s face when Shinskay kicks out of the powerbomb. So what does he do….he pulls out a tiger suplex that I’ve never even seen him do before, and even THAT isn’t enough. Best spot for sure though was Nakamura’s crazy fucking spider climb in the ropes to hit the knee strike. After that the crowd was molten for Boma Ye time. No one in the world has the diverse and amazing strike repertoire that shinskay has. Amazing match and a career maker for DBSJ.


Okada vs. Tanahashi
****3/4

Best match these two have ever had, and made up for their incredibly disappointing match at Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi going straight into the arm work was a great way to start the match, but what I liked even more was Okada countering all of Tanahashi’s ‘early’ spots. This kept Tanahashi from getting into a rhythm, and also made it so his arm strategy eventually became the only moves that were working, which played great into the story. I kinda hated Okada’s dumb botch submission. Yes, he played it off like a boss, and his thumb’s up after was hilarious, but it was hard to forget how silly and unnecessary it was. For some reason, it doesn’t bother me as that kind of this usually does much but definitely keeps the match from being perfect, for me.

But yeah, the armwork was awesome, especially Okada’s selling. Honestly, this is how I like selling. Some people said it was overdone, and then disappeared, but I just don’t agree. I think it was present in everything he was doing. He sold it when he was winning and when he wasn’t. Even when he used it for moves, you never ever forgot how much pain he was in. If you are mad at Okada’s selling here, you have to hate Suzuki/Tanahashi from King of Pro Wrestling even more. Suzuki basically did the exact same thing in that match, selling the leg and then hitting a dropkick, selling again ,and then kicking off the leg. If you hate both, fine, I can see why selling needs to be all the way one way or the other for you. But for me I have no problem at all with how Okada did this, and I wish all wrestlers worldwide would sell this way, because to me this is what it should look like when a limb in injured.

The selling was at its best with the elbow pad switch before his big elbow. This spot is ALWAYS what leads into Okada’s first Rainmaker attempt. Okada insisting on using his right arm is his way of making sure its ready for his finisher. To me, it would have made even LESS sense for him to switch arms, even with the injury.

I kinda felt like the crowd seemed really quiet, even when the action picked up and Okada started getting nearfalls. Anyone else feel this way? Even When Okada hit the first rainmaker, the crowd didn’t seem to buy it as a nearfall. That said, the delay to the pin and the kickout was really awesome.

Shortly after, the crowd finally got into it. And you know what it was that did it? What stupid Submission move. I have never liked Red Mist, but when it got finally got locked in after the first rainmaker, and Tanahashi looked like he was passing out, the crowd started going nuts. Okada yelling at the ref to check Tanahashi and insisting that he was KO’d was immense. Okada, in general, has the best facials in the world besides Toru Yano.

Okada followed the awesome submission stuff with some back elbows in the corner. MF83 discussed back elbows in corner. I can see why he didn’t like it, but again, I see this as Okada knowing the end is near, and knowing he better make sure his arm is ok before he goes for the finish again. At this point, he knows he is risking the arm and being vulnerable for the rest of the match if the next rainmaker doesn’t end it, so he has to be sure its strong enough. To me, it seemed like Okada was testing the arm to get feeling back more than anything else.

After Tanahashi countered, he did some really incredible moves to the arm to re-assert control. The dragon arm screw in the ropes was particularly powerful. Then he went into his normal match finish formula, which has become so familiar that the crowd is into every element. That whole portion was really exciting and set the table perfect for the finish. The best thing is that they got the crowd to pop at their highest at the perfect moment. The final rainmaker punctuated the match perfectly.

In case anyone cares, here’s how I would rank the Okada/tanahashi matches:

1. Invasion Attack 2013
2. Dominion 2012
3. New beginning 2012
4. Wrestle Kingdom 2013

Overall, I would call this show of the year. The top 4 matches here are not as good as the top 4 matches at Wrestle Kingdom, but this show had a way better main event and undercard. Plus, this had more Yano. Plus, Ishii was actually on the maincard.

Anyway, yeah, show of the year.
 
#929 ·
Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin, AAW Heavyweight Championship - ****1/2 (AAW Point of No Return 2013)

I tend to rate things a little highly but this blew me away. They add and a little to each match of theirs, taking away only what doesn't work -- in this case, the continual no-selling and hulking up. There was a little "fighting spirit" shown by both in this match (think Elgin even did the kickout at 1), but it's about 5-8 minutes shorter than the first ROH match, and just as good. Really killer that it takes place in a small bingo hall with a raucous crowd, among the best I've ever been apart of.

Also recommended from the same show:
-Shane Hollister vs. Sami Callihan ****1/4
-Jimmy Jacobs vs. Silas Young ****
 
#954 · (Edited)
2CW - Living on the Edge VIII

Matt Hardy vs. Sami Callihan - ****
Oh yeah, this was damn good. Structured almost perfectly with Sami not going to let Hardy waltz into his house & get all his usual shit in, so he just beats the piss out of him and INSISTS on winning by countout, which in turn gives us some seriously close calls from both guys getting counted. Hardy plays a great underdog babyface & really doesn't get all that much offense in but makes it count when he does. Sami puts a couple really awesome touches on things throughout the match like spitting on his hand and watching it drip off when going for a chop & then completely removing Hardy's boot and stomping the shit out of his ankle late in the match. Matt's selling is on point throughout the entire match & the finish legitimately surprised me. Really, really great stuff.

-------------------------​

You can watch the match and this entire show for free on here: http://www.livesportsvideo.com/goli...013638&s=mp4&adds=&m=guestfree&listgca=Circle

There's also a really good main event in Kevin Steen vs. John Morrison, but the above match stole the show for sure.
 
#967 · (Edited)
Okada, Gedo, Nakamura, Ishii vs. Suzuki, benjamin, Taichi, TAKA
elimination match 4/21/2013
****1/4

This was a way awesomer version of the first elimination match earlier this year. Match had an incredible, fun, flowing story, using tiny victories for each side to turn the tide and create a great overarching story. Its hard to give detailed thoughts without spoilers, but I'll try.

-Shelton Benjamin gets a lot of shit on this board. I will be the first to say he deserves every bit of it. that said, he was AWESOME in this match. Not just good....he was great. He in every way fit in with the awesome workers he was surrounded with. He did this awesome takedown on Shinskay and then did his 'amateur spiral' over Shinsuke's back, but then stopped midway to pose for cameras. It sounds stupid but it totally worked and was hilarious. His strikes were crisp, the crowd dug all of his offense, and everything he did made sense. I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, he was seriously one of the best things in this match.

-One of the best things in this match is how both teams came up with creature quadruple team spots. CHAOS modified the Pick-Up-Ishii triple kick into an awesome new combo. Suzuki-gun used a great corner combo, which shelton punctuated perfectly.

-The Shelton/Shinskay interactions were awesome. They had some great spots that I almost wish they had saved for their singles match. I am now officially excited for their match.

-They waited a REALLY long time to eliminate someone, which was great, because it helped build the two big singles matches, and everyone felt like they got their stuff in. No one was forgettable.

-Ishii and suzuki have some AMAZING strike exchanges and some really intense shouting matches. It kinda feels like they are building to an eventual singles match between the two which will be AMAZING. I think Suzuki plays perfectly into Ishii's underdog strengths. Ishii's 'big moment' in this match is also probably my favorite part.

-Taichi and taka's shit is just awesome. I love Time Splitter but when its time for new Jr. Tag champions, it needs to be these two clowns.

-Taichi used a Gedo clutch in the match just to piss off Gedo, which was awesome

-Taichi SOMEHOW does his pants removal spot THROUGH his knee brace

-Are we understanding how fun Taichi is, here?

-allright Okada..............lets talk here. You are on top of the world right now. Almost everything you do in the ring turns to gold. You are my favorite wrestler in the world.

But Bro.....you should be embarrassed with how bad the setup for Red Mist is. Its just laughably sloppy and stupid now. I really think I've only seen you do it without messing up like, twice. And this.....this was hands down the worst execution of the move so far, and that says a lot. Just cross the guys leg and step forward: stop this backstep spin bullshit you keep trying. Its not working.

-Finishing stretch could be considered anticlimactic, and that with the red Mist brings this down, but man this match is just crazy amounts of fun. Its a nice, long, enjoyable match. Everyone needs to see this.
 
#978 ·
The Chaos vs. Suzuki-gun 8-man from Road to Dontaku did a great job of setting up the ppv title matches without giving too much away. Like Nervosa mentioned, Benjamin really upped his game here, and I loved Ishii's role as his team's enforcer, letting Suzuki know that Okada has some serious backup. Taka & Taichi were ace too - like a junior Yano & Iizuka. ***3/4
 
#984 ·
Yeah it's the set up that's ridiculous. If the move gets over as a finisher I'm absolutely fine with the move itself, he needs to just stop pissing around with that set up. It's super pretentious and I usually like Okada's flashy set ups and submissions because they fit his style and character. He uses about three submissions that look just as good and the set ups are far better too.
 
#986 ·
A little bit late, but here's my last views of PW this year:

NJPW Invasion Attack 07/04
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
Fantastic, first match that I gave 5* since Taker/HBK II in 2010.
*****


WWE Wrestlemania XXIX
CM Punk vs. The Undertaker
Awesome match, much better than the last two Taker's match in WM. Also, great year so far by Punk, btw.
****1/2
 
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#1,049 ·
PWG ASW:
Samuray Del Sol & AR Fox Vs The Inner-City Machine Guns - ****

ROH Border Wars 2013:
Eddie Edwards vs Taiji Ishimori - ****
Davey Richards vs Paul London - **** (I know I'm overrating this but this match was awesome, Davey was the heel so you know that he was great and London's fighting spirit totally had me hooked, can't wait to London's return)
 
#1,062 ·
Daniel Bryan vs Ryback Smackdown

Nice little match right here. Bryan was fantastic in this and carried Ryback to by far and away his best match. He made Ryback look like a complete monster. The deadlift powerbomb near the finish looked brutal. Thez press transition into the half crab looked fantastic too. Would of been a tad better if Ryback sold the leg more maybe, still a really good match none the less. ***1/2-****3/4 sounds about right.

I'll be finished exams tomorrow so ASW will be on the top of my to do list during the weekend. Hearing really mixed reviews. I know I'm gonna love Inner City Machine Guns vs Del Sol and Fox. Didn't know so many people hate Fox, I find him tolerable. Gonna watch Sami and Drake with an opened mind despite despising their previous matches. I can see my self enjoying a good old deatmatch in front of the Reseda crowd.
 
#1,105 ·
The fact Cena was able to get a pin(BY HIMSELF) on a trio that has remain unbeaten is bad enough. The fact of him having the team defeated by himself was horrible booking. The Shield should of won by shut out or at least had one guy get eliminated in a totally not dumb manner. Cena's selling after getting beat down in the corner was fucking terrible.
 
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#1,116 ·
The match in point form:
>Shield maintains easy control, isolating D.Bryan
>Bryan makes the desperation hot tag for Kane to clean house. First by throwing in the moves against Ambrose then taking cheap shots at the other two on the corner. Two members rush in before getting caught in a choke. Kane pushes both to the outside.
>Anger drives him to be DQ'd via attacking Shield with a table guard (or whatever the graphic section is)
>Raw returns from break with Cena down
>Cena selling well and unable to get the tag to Bryan despite a lucky suplex
>Rollins starts losing himself afer Cena refuses to go down for a pin (despite no finisher being involved)
>Announcers state that the Shield need to be careful and not lose focus or they may lose
>Cena gets tag while carrying Rollins (who has Cena in a sleeper)
>Cena collapses
>Bryan decimates Shield
>Two on one gets D-Bryan eliminated (Reigns is still down)
>Cena comes in tired/hesitant while making a strong attack to the Shield (who are getting overly cocky)
>The Shield attacks (one by one) Cena to get Rollins out of the AA
>Cena fends off the single attacks
>Eliminates Rollins
>Ref goes for the DQ because Reigns pushed him
>Ambrose gets locked into an STF because Ambrose got cocky
Shield attack Cena for the DQ loss

Yeah, there's nothing destructive to The Shield here. They've never been booked as strong singles wrestlers, and that's how Cena took advantage. Shield decimating Cena to end showed that. If anything, the ref DQ'ing Reigns will further their fight against injustice.

It's also funny Cena gets shat on for doing exactly what Kane/Bryan did earlier on in the match. But anyway.
 
#1,119 ·
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - NJPW 07.04.2013
My MOTY right now. Definitely a legit MOTYC but I hope it's not my MOTY come January. Not because it's not great but this would be a pretty low peak for 2013. Much better than Wrestle Kingdom but just below Dominion for me. Ideal length for these New Japan main events is 20-205 minutes. Once they go over that you end up with sequences that you could easily take out and achieve the same effect but with 5 minutes less. DDT off the guard rail and the count out tease for example, added nothing to the match and really came off as time extension. Now to sound positive about a match I'm actually positive about! Thought this was the best Tanahashi has looked in a long time. Arm work was even viscous and it was great to see Tanahashi not be a pansy for once and change his style up a bit. Okada's selling is great too. Some neat little touches too like switching the elbow pad to the injured arm. Really dug Tanahashi's dragon screw to the bad arm too given his use of that move on the leg in all his previous matches as a transition spot. I don't mind wrestlers using an injured body part as long as they sell the pain after. Okada did that perfectly here, emphasising his reliance on the arm but fighting through the pain of it because fuck it this is the fucking title and I'll put up with some pain to win the match. That ruled. Injured arm costing him the match when he wasn't able to capitalise on the Rainmaker was super neat. Couple of spots that sucked. Okada's goofy full nelson thing. The crowd literally ended up laughing at it. Never again. Hopefully Okada cuts the complex submission variations out from now on. Red Ink first time around looked awful. Second time around where they did the big fight for the ropes spot it looked good because you couldn't see the legs and they worked a great segment out of it. Thought this benefited much more from a more to the point finish than Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi going for the 2nd High Flow Flow and costing himself was a great way to get out of Okada having to kick out from the spot. Likewise with the Rainmaker spot I mentioned. New Japan finishes work best when they work around who can hit their finisher first and get a pin off it. Wrestle Kingdom fell away from that a bit and the middle never really had anything all that gripping in it unlike here.

****1/2
 
#1,163 ·
Cena vs. Ryback was terrible. I thought it was going at least good with Ryback dominating but holy shit the no selling and nonexistent storytelling on the ankle was absurd. My enjoyment of that match withered away extremely fast WHEN THEY FUCKING NO SOLD A BARRICADE SPOT. I was willing to go half way on the ankle selling because it's John "lol put over" Cena but holy fucking that match was dumb. No more Hurcanrana's John...you're not doing them right. Really bad match for both men.

Orton vs. Show was good and Triple H vs. Lesnar was really freaking good. Triple H was bumping like a fool for that guy but got to give credit to Lesnar. Funny how Lesnar can sell better than 95% of the pro wrestling universe.
 
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#1,172 ·
^:lol I was going to right now. Ignore the first watch report. This is the one worth reading and plugging in here:

WWE Extreme Rules - Steel Cage Match

Brock Lesnar vs Triple H ~ ****

~ THAT'S MY MANAGER. Yeah...the biggest change of them all for me on the second watch. This match. This match was WONDERFUL. Storytelling at its finest. On some much of this match. It's brilliant. From Brock's stellar selling of the knee, to Trips return to the Cerebral Assassin; all of it was on point. Best part about it was the total change in characters from both men. Past matches saw Trips the vulnerable man & Brock as the beast at SummerSlam. WrestleMania saw it be a dead heap - both were unleashed that night. Here at Extreme Rules the opposite happened. Brock suffered the knee injury thus making him the vulnerable man in the situation & Trips smelled the blood in the water and morphed into the beast. That's just absolutely fantastic work. Certainly this match was all lead along by Brock. No doubt about it. The character shift did show signs of giving Trips something fresher to do while against Brock. Can't forget about the awesome camouflage sledgehammer too. It's like Silver Surfer's weapon to bludgeon anyone he finds out in space. I adored Heyman's work in this too. From all aspects. As the concerned manager on the outside - to all the times he got in the mix to aid his client. He was fiesty, taking out officials and even suffering a pedigree for Brock. Little did Triple H know that Paul would have the last laugh. I have ZERO problems with Heyman hitting the low blow on Triple H before Brock got the advantage. Brock was wounded. There is no shame in this. It wasn't to "feed the ego" of Triple H. It was to not only have Brock Lesnar win this feud, but Paul Heyman too. Heyman gave Trips the biggest fuck you moment possible and that was by taking his arm and jamming it right into the groin of the COO. The dichotomy between Brock & Heyman has almost never reach a more pinnacle moment than this. It was defined here. Proof positive that they're both in it together. Brock is down; nearly out. Showing signs that he is mortal. Triple H about to finish off Lesnar like a lamb to the slaughter, only for his (Brock's) shining light in the form of his agent being the last push he needed in the right direction. Couple that with the original smoking gun - Triple H's own beloved sledgehammer - & Brock would end this once and for all. Proving he is truly the dominate force in WWE. Triple H tried. He fought well. Only his aid at WrestleMania to get one victory ended up being his ultimate downfall once he went to that well yet again. This was fabulous. Damn near saved the show.
 
#1,176 ·
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS AWFUL GOBSHITE?! Zero story, zero psychology, zero logic, zero decent spots (that end was pathetic), zero selling and zero fucks given. The only reason this was not the worst match in forever is because the card before it was so overwhelmingly and catastrophically atrocious.

I absolutely loathed King replying to the audience's Foley chants by stating that feeble tackle was worse than "some of the falls Foley has taken". Really? REALLY?!


FUCK.OFF.

I'll rewatch HHH/Lesnar tomorrow but I thought it was breath-taking (~ ★★★★ 1/4). Though that could fluctuate dramatically on a rewatch noting the rest of the turds could have made this look phenomenal OR King pissed me off so much I under-rated it.
 
#1,182 ·
WWE Monday Night RAW 5/20/13

The Shield vs Team Hell No & Kofi Kingston ~ ****1/2

Top three Shield match. A great front-runner for their best overall match from 2013. This was near perfection. You want to see a match worked unbelievably well; you watch this. Kofi was used justly as the original FIP. The known weaker link of the three faces and it was established ASAP. The moments following the control segments against him (Kofi) were kept minimal and worked smart. He interjected his aerial offense when it should have been added. The double topes was a great spot. Kane was kept in beast mode the entire time. He was a rare commodity in this match. Got in after the first commercial break and kept the offense on his side. He tags out and BOOM. Shield immediately take over, thus putting over the x factor that is Kane's involvement needed to help contain the babyface control. His hot tag in the final stretch was vintage & rad. Tearing all of The Shield up until the madness engulfed Kane yet again. Then there is Danielson. Holy crap, is there Danielson. What can you say about this man's talent? Sheer brilliance. The reaction he garners from both integral aspects to tag team wrestling: FIP & hot tag - are going on a whole different level. He's the most popular guy on this roster. I firmly believe this. Fans LOVE to cheer this guy on once he's on fire. Nobody can stop him when he's rolling. Then you take a look at the other side of the coin and his FIP work is tremendous. Bliss. The love he demands from the fans by his performances comes out in spades. You feel for Danielson. You want him to make the tag and stop the beating. You want to root him on to come from behind. The ability to play both IN THE SAME MATCH to the highest level is...well more adjectives to be added. You get so much depth & character work from him in 20 minutes than you do from most of the WWE roster in an entire year. Legit.

Where is there left to say about how The Shield work their matches? We know the formula and just about 100% of the time it works. Their ultra cohesive, no time wasted assault meshes perfectly for all three. Their blend is their charm. Along with the sense of chaos that always follows behind them. While I thought the commentary at Extreme Rules did more harm than good throughout the night - a big portion of this match that deserves praise is the job done by Cole, King, & JBL all describing what it is that makes The Shield the perfect force they've been since November. Attention to detail. Calling out all points to their personalities fusing into something greater. Different types of men forming a unit that begins to become one man at the end of the day. It's near orgasmic the appreciation that is taken here. Shield's control segments are so interesting too. It's a formula seen about ten times over yet it manages to remain fresh every single time. That's talent. That's something special. The pinpoint accuracy of Rollins, to the unusual psychological format of Ambrose, all finished off with the ultra surprise that is the rogue beast of Reigns. A trifecta of absolution. It's flawless at this rate. From a storytelling/wrestling & kayfabe standpoint. Rollins getting to bust out the buckle bomb spot on Danielson was one of the spots in the match I was left grinning from ear to ear on. As was Rollins nutty bumping all over the match. He stuck out more than usual for me here. Really tried to put all the offense against him very over the top. Love him for that.

This match was tremendous. You must see it. Think this is a lock for my WWE MOTY.
 
#1,183 ·
Agreed w/Cody - also need to mention the internal struggle with Danielson being made to believe he's the weak link so he had even
more to prove tonight. As Cody stated, this character turmoil showed brilliantly both on offense after a hot tag with Danielson defying the naysayers, and also as FIP when even he may have been doubting himself. Brilliant stuff.
 
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