Maybe it's cause the match just ended, but Ricochet and Johnny Gargano from TakeOver, what a match from two of NXT's best.

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
7. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix

Throwing the 3 great matches from tonight’s Takeover on my list. The rest of the wrestling world has their work cut out for them to topple that title match I just watched. Absolutely incredible from Ciampa and Black.

Ricochet and Gargano was also great. Awesome pace, incredible spots, and Johnny’s story of going to the dark side was very well executed. Didn’t slow the match too much and I really liked it.

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
7. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
9. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
10. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
7. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
9. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
10. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
11. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
12. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble

Brock Lesnar VS Finn Balor - *****
Royal Rumble 2019

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13

****1/2
Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

What gave Gargano/Ricochet the edge over Ciampa/Black Emperor? I’m curious.

I loved both but preferred the main event. Ciampa and Black felt like such a title fight, and neither held back. Far more technical and story-driven, the throwbacks and stuff relating to Gargano didn’t feel out of place or slow the match.

I liked the story of Gargano trying to fight the dark side in his match, but with it being so spot heavy it took me out of the actual fight. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the spots and it was definitely supposed to be (Ricochet vs Gargano...of COURSE it’s going to be a spot fest), I just thought they tried to pack too much in, which is why I preferred the main event more.

Jan 29, 2019 5:13:39 GMT RT said:

What gave Gargano/Ricochet the edge over Ciampa/Black Emperor? I’m curious.

I wish I could give you an answer beyond "I enjoyed Gargano/Ricochet more", but I'm struggling. It may just be wrestling fatigue. Swap the order of those two matches and I might have felt differently. One thing I really liked about Gargano/Ricochet is that every high flying move felt justified. They didn't shoehorn a dive in just for the sake of it. The way they set those spots up was logical and flowed with the rest of the match, which is rare to see.

Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

Fantastic match. As Emperor pointed out, they certainly had a special talent of naturally flowing all of their moves and spots together. I also loved the psychological factor where Gargano didn't even seem very confident or in a reasonable state of mind, but still managed to compete. Put that together with Ricochet's natural showmanship that just made him seem like a legendary athlete and it was one Hell of an entertaining match. Oh, and it was really cool when they were both on the top rope and then Ricochet landed on his feet. I don't remember ever seeing a big spot ending with both people taking no damage, so that was unique. My only gripe was it seemed like Ricochet no-sold the superkicks a bit much but I am probably just being picky. As a side-note, I don't know what it is about Ricochet's head, but something made those DDT's look ten times more painful than when they happen to anyone else. It looked like his head just kept being massively bent into the ground.

However, I don't think their matchmaking power is quite on the level of Ibushi and Ospreay. I didn't see any of the fierceness and it didn't seem as monumental a match as those two made theirs.

Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

These guys certainly brought the fierceness and I was very impressed by some of Alesteir's moves despite his size. I was a little confused by them having identical gimmicks and beards. After the brutality of their strikes wore off, it just wasn't as good of a match as the last one. Part of it is probably because their gimmicks bored me to be honest, which I know shouldn't affect the quality of the match itself, but it did. Ricochet just seemed more epic and Gargano had a cool I AM A BADASS TECHNICAL WRESTLER Danielson-ish vibe going on, whereas these two were just brooding angry guys and that was it. There were less cool spots too. It also annoyed me that Black was still conscious after taking so many fairytale endings and sprung to life like nothing happened. That just made no sense and made the champion's finishing move look weak.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
2. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13

I think I'll be sticking to a top ten this year - can't see me keeping up like I did last year. So far it's:

1. Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano - NXT NA Championship - Takeover: Phoenix
2. Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho - IWGP Intercontinental Championship- Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kenny Omega - IWGP World Title - Wrestle Kingdom 13
4. Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor - Universal Championship - Royal Rumble
5. Tomasso Ciampa vs. Aleister Black - NXT Championship - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
6. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles - WWE Championship - Elimination Chamber
7. Asuka vs. Becky Lynch - Smackdown Women's Championship - Royal Rumble
8. Moustache Mountain vs. James Drake & Zack Gibson - NXTUK Tag Team Championship - Takeover: Blackpool
9. Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi - Never Openweight Championship- Wrestle Kingdom 13
10. Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks - Raw Women's Championship - Royal Rumble

Yeah I think the Elimination Chamber was an awesome match last night. I was very unhyped for it but they did a great job. Everyone had a time to shine, they told a great story and the final stretch was just wrestling at its best. Bryan is back at his best after a rusty year back and the crowd were so into Kofi it elevated the match to a whole other level. Great stuff. 

This seems like a good place to share my thought on some Royal Rumble matches.

Asuka vs Becky Lynch
The first two thirds of this match were good, but nothing spectacular. There was some good limb work but in general I didn't think the two ladies had the best chemistry. However the finishing stretch was incredibleand elevated the match from "just good" to borderline great. Surprised to see Becky tap out considering her gimmick and stature, but judging from what happened later in the night and then on Raw, it didn't hurt her once bit. ***3/4

Ronda Rousey vs Sasha Banks
Not really sure how to articulate my feelings on this match. I like the scrappy, unchoreographed, unstructured, shooty nature of Rousey's matches a lot, but against Sasha it didn't work so well. It came across as sloppy and disorganised in parts, as opposed to a fun chaotic match such as the Rousey vs Charlotte fight. Also the clash of gimmicks didn't work because both ladies have more or less the same character: super arrogant and egotistical. On the plus side, there were some moments of brilliance, most notably Rousey's counter of the Banks statement near the end, but that was counteracted by the fact that she got out of the Banks statement, hit that weird judo throw move, and won just like that, after suffering for so long. ***1/2

Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles
Maybe my expectations of these two are way too high, because they did nothing wrong and worked a good match, but I still didn't feel like I was getting my money's worth. The dead crowd didn't help matters (might have been an issue with the venue because the night as a whole was unusually quiet). The most excited I was for this match was when Erick Rowan came to the ring. That's how to do a logical interference. If you think about it in kayfabe, your standard wrestling interference involves impossible clairvoyance on the part of the interferer. He has to know the precise moment his ally is going to lose, and he also has to know that his ally is going to kick out of everything before that moment. In this case, Rowan just came out to the ring, and probably had no intention of interfering unless Bryan got in trouble. As it happened, Bryan did get in trouble and the ref was down. That was nice. I'm not going to assign a star rating because "on paper" it was a ****+ match, but I really wasn't feeling it at that moment in time.

Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar
Brilliant. I loved this match, and it was made almost entirely because of Lesnar's selling. I've long since claime that Lesnar is one of the best sellers in the business, and this may be his best selljob to date. Every moment he did put him in agony, but he had to keep suplexing Balor and delivering offense: how else wasn't he going to win? When Lesnar hit that first belly to belly and grabbed his ribs in agony, I instantly believed that Balor could do the unthinkable and beat Lesnar. That feeling never went away - from the point Lesnar got shoved in the table, both men had equal chances of victory. Unfortunately the finish dragged down the match a little, in a similar way to Ronda/Sasha from earlier. I certainly bought the Kimura being enough to make Balor tap, but it still felt a little too easy. It's like you could break both of Lesnar's legs, but the moment you pin him, he can just put you in a Kimura and win. Put a damper on what was otherwise Lesnar's best match in a long time. ****1/2

Anyone else find it strange how Lesnar's recent matches are always ending in a flash F5 or flash Kimura when he's on the brink of defeat? It seems to clash with how dominant he is otherwise.

As for the Rumble matches, I didn't watch both in full, but skimmed through them. The women's match sucked. The men's match was really fun. Loved the Nia Jax stuff at the end, and the final four was incredible. Really smart booking with both Strowman and Rollins being out of the ring but not eliminated. When Almas and Ziggler were in the ring, I was thinking "duh, Strowman comes in and wins". Braun did come back, but then Rollins entered and I was like "What the hell?!" Awesome conclusion.

And with that, the unthinkable happens. Finn Balor makes my MOTY list.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13

****1/2
Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor - WWE Universal Championship - Royal Rumble

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

So if you guy's haven't seen the halftime heat six man tag team match yet... check it out, as it was action packed as fuck, and for what it's worth, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Adjusting mine a bit after thinking on Royal Rumble/Takeover....and adding Halftime Heat.

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
7. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
9. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
10. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
11. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
12. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
13. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, Ricochet & Aleister Black - Halftime Heat

Halftime Heat match was fun but they just repeated a bunch of spots and not much else. I get it. They know they’re getting a bigger audience so they play what works and hope to attract a few more NXT viewers. Is what it is.

Why were there two title matches in this pre-show bullshit that wasn't even on the card? I realize the Rumble was long, but some of it was total bullshit that didn't need to be there anyway. And they literally pop up the "RUMBLE IS STARTING IN X" timer over the top of the matches. Talk about teaching your audience that your titles and superstars don't matter.

Rusev Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

I loved this match. These guys are so great. Every single move they performed had this fiery intensity to it and it was a thrill to watch. I'm not sure what was so exciting about them, but I was on the edge of my seat. They really had the basics down and everything was so sharp. Who the fuck wrote this girlfriend angle bullshit though? It is the most unoriginal and boring storyline incorporation of all time. I thought WWE was done with the "stupid girlfriend" angles, but I guess they are still confident in them. Why shouldn't they be when it generated absolute silence from the audience during this match despite both guys being charismatic as fuck? Anyway, poor ending aside, it still impressed me overall.

Kalisto Vs. Hideo Itami Vs. Akira Tozawa Vs. Buddy Murphy

Okay, I don't know what it is about these Kalisto and Akira guys...but they annoyed me to no end. They did nothing but stupid spots that looked completely unrealistic and although they were supposed to be big moves, they seemed to have zero impact and be worthless glancing blows because they sucked at making their moves look good. It felt like they weren't even trying to wrestle. They were just trying to hurry up and get to the next choreographed spot as fast as possible to get the most moves in. Talk about annoying. If this is what the CW division is all about, no wonder people are fed up with high-flying moves in general.

Anyway, what happened to KENTA? I know people have been saying he's been off in WWE, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. He did almost absolutely nothing throughout the whole match but stand there. He sold pretty well still, but I think he actually only hit someone with anything twice through the whole match. I can't believe that was the performance given by someone on the same level of Daniel Bryan who kicked ass in his match the same night.

Buddy Murphy really impressed me though and actually knew how to wrestle as well. His moves all looked cool/effective and he left a dominating impression while still getting knocked around a bunch.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
2. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
4. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble
5. Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Rusev (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship) - Royal Rumble

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
7. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
9. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
10. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
11. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
12. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
13. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
14. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, Ricochet & Aleister Black - Halftime Heat

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe

Pretty solid match-up overall. It's plain to see that Kofi has come a long way and is far improved from where he was at 5 years ago. That being said, the difference in ability between him and Daniel Bryan is still night and day. This was very apparent to me the entire first round of the match as Daniel Bryan put on a clinic with him that made for a damn entertaining start. Hell, I would have been fine just to watch them wrestle the full hour it was so good. The ending to that part was your typical face gets the jump on the heel outta nowhere WWE style thing which I don't enjoy all too much for endings but it was fine.

The Jeff Hardy segment was the lowest part by far. I love Hardy, but he was just going from one spot to the other hitting all the classic moves with nothing in-between and then got pinned by something that never should have came close to pinning him that early. They just planned that segment poorly, in my opinion. It made Hardy look bad to lose that quickly in unconvincing fashion and it was more like they just wanted to try and get some move pops then get him out of the way. A little more thought going into this part could have made the match a lot better.

I fucking love SAMOA JOE. This segment made up for the Hardy one in good time. He comes out of the gate dominating an exhausted Kofi. He plays to his slow Samoan move style fucking perfectly to make it seem totally realistic when Kofi gets chances, but still snaps out some powerful dropkicks and clotheslines quickly out of nowhere when warranted too to keep things exciting. He looked really strong, the pin came off as totally believable with the interesting position, and the ending was exactly what should have happened with Joe snapping like that and coming off the loss with a totally dominating feel with no credibility gone. Damn good.

AJ Styles comes out and adds a lot to the story of the match, which is great and just what was needed. He's a good guy and even fights off Joe but Kofi reacts understandably with his serious passion and forces him to get mad and fight. Great storytelling. Their short matchup itself was awesome and while I started to get bored in anticipation of the same old shit, they got creative and ended up impressing me anyway. Matter of fact, I would have completely bought it if Kofi got the win with that last rollup after the sequence of them that happened a bit past the middle of the fight. AJ just looked to be in a super awkward position and completely discombobulated.

The ending was perfect. Fucking classic Orton in the perfect place at the perfect time. I'd been annoyed with the overkill focus on the RKO lately, especially with him trying to hit it when they were totally paying attention and it made no sense, but this spot reminded me why I love The Viper so much. "BAH GAWD HE HIT IT OUTTA NOWHERE!"

The only thing I was confused by with that is I'm not sure why they didn't just have him do it to Kofi. It would have been a lot more powerful and generated a lot more heat if they simply had Kofi get the win over AJ and then have that happen to him after he had come all that way. The only issue with doing that is somehow making it seem like Kofi legitimately could beat AJ after all those earlier fights, but that rollup was so impressive as I mentioned earlier they could have just done it like that there without issue. Now that I type this out it seems even more logical and really would have been a lot more meaningful and made the emotions hit a lot harder if it happened to Kofi. Really a missed opportunity.

Anyway, the biggest thing with Kofi's wrestling that I'm not feeling is his trouble in paradise lately. It used to look awesome, but it looks like he is pulling the fuck out of it so it comes off as so weak it doesn't even look like it does any damage (or would have done any damage when it misses). Did it cause an injury at some point or something and make him have to do it that way? Weird. It would have added a lot if that move looked more threatening.

I heard people were really impressed with Kofi throughout this match and, sure, he did a great job and especially his selling was on point. But I definitely feel Samoa Joe and AJ and Daniel Bryan were much greater influences in carrying the match with their wrestling prowess throughout.

Also, really WWE? Commercials while the match is fucking going when we're not on commercial break? What absurdity. That pissed me off.

The last point I wanted to touch on was The New Day. Awful. They expect us to buy that Kofi is serious about the match after coming to the ring with a tray of pancakes and goofing off like a total moron? It made especially less since considering the opening to the AJ fight. And clearly from the performance they are trying to sell him as a legitimate threat. So why is he in this stupid stable!? It definitely took away from the feeling. Contradictory booking. You can't sell someone as a goof and serious at the same time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
2. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
4. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble
5. Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13

6. Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12

7. Rusev (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship) - Royal Rumble

The Elimination Chamber additions have finally rounded out ten solid slots for my list with a record-tying three matches from one event, the same number from WK13. WK13 still has the top two slots, so it didn't surpass it, but it is still a bit surprising it was this good. I didn't spoil anything so feel free to read this if you haven't watched it yet.

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe (Again)

I'm not going to write up an essay like I did for the last one, but this match was fucking awesome. Every man just absolutely killed it every second they were in the chamber. A bunch of great spots and crushing moves and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It is already currently ranked the 437th greatest match ever on CageMatch.net! So that verifies it was good!

The Miz & Shane McMahon vs. The Usos

I was impressed by Shane in their match at The Rumble but thought I noticed a lot of obvious flaws in his wrestling like he was lacking basic skills. That was not so here. I don't know if he was training nonstop and got a lot better or if they just masterfully hid his shortcomings this time, but the match was really fun and exciting. Everything just worked really well and it was a tense back and forth matchup that didn't hit any slow points.

The Boss 'N' Hug Connection vs. Carmella & Naomi vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. The IIconics vs. The Riott Squad

This was surprisingly a great match and the first women's match to make my list this year. While not as good as the other chamber match, there was a lot of great wrestling ability on display throughout with some nice spots and clever double pinning combinations. The ending in particular was a very unique ending for a match like this and it led to an emotional conclusion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
2. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber
4. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
5. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble
6. Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
7. The Miz & Shane McMahon (c) vs The Usos (Smackdown Tag Team Championship) - Elimination Chamber
8. Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12
9. Rusev (c) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship) - Royal Rumble
10. The Boss 'N' Hug Connection vs Carmella & Naomi vs Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs Nia Jax & Tamina vs The IIconics vs The Riott Squad (WWE Women's Tag Team Championship) - Elimination Chamber

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show

****1/2
Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor - WWE Universal Championship - Royal Rumble

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

Jay White continues to prove he is the man, with a hard fought victory over Will Ospreay. It's clear from this match (if it wasn't already) that NJPW is planning big things for Will Ospreay. Ospreay came far closer to beating the seemingly unbeatable Jay White than Tanahashi and Omega did on multiple attempts. Although, to be fair, Tanahashi does hold a victory over White. Excellent storytelling with Ospreay's ribs giving him a hard time throughout the match, and White barely hanging on with a combination of toughness and resourceful defensive wrestling. Some really hot sequences and near falls that had the crowd exploding, and a fantastic finish.

Mar 10, 2019 11:15:58 GMT Emperor said:

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show

Jay White continues to prove he is the man, with a hard fought victory over Will Ospreay. It's clear from this match (if it wasn't already) that NJPW is planning big things for Will Ospreay. Ospreay came far closer to beating the seemingly unbeatable Jay White than Tanahashi and Omega did on multiple attempts. Although, to be fair, Tanahashi does hold a victory over White. Excellent storytelling with Ospreay's ribs giving him a hard time throughout the match, and White barely hanging on with a combination of toughness and resourceful defensive wrestling. Some really hot sequences and near falls that had the crowd exploding, and a fantastic finish.

After seeing this post I watched a 5 minute music video of the match, and wow that was pretty awesome. Now granted somehting like that just takes all the awesome moments with no filler or downtime, but if it's anything to go on... that was an awesome match.

I mean, if you like the dumbed down gif version, maybe you should, you know, watch the whole match?

Do people do that anymore?

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
6. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
7. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
8. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
9. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
10. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
11. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 3
12. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
13. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
14. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
15. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, Ricochet & Aleister Black - Halftime Heat

Expect White vs Ospreay will get on here whenever I get around to watching that match. I skipped the anniversary show because I knew I’d be watching plenty of New Japan Cup in the coming weeks and need to pace myself.

Ibushi and Naito tried to murder one another, as is tradition. I didn’t catch this during the match, but I saw a comment that Ibushi won with the finishers he had to use over his career to defeat Nakamura, Okada (as Tiger Mask W) and Tanahashi, while also borrowing moves from Omega. Pretty cool.

***** The Shield VS Lashley/Corbin/McIntyre

The Blueprint of how you execute a 6 man tag.
On paper It sounds like a house show main and with a crowd that had been swerved so much that they popped hard for a simple babyfaces win ending is telling.

Mar 11, 2019 5:37:23 GMT System said:

***** The Shield VS Lashley/Corbin/McIntyre

The Blueprint of how you execute a 6 man tag.
On paper It sounds like a house show main and with a crowd that had been swerved so much that they popped hard for a simple babyfaces win ending is telling.

Had me thinking during the match, how much I missed the original Shield run. That, and you're right. Just a great match, and this is how PPV shows should be, chaotic, wild, a fight. Great match. 

Unpopular opinion : Baron Corbin is a hell of a lot better than people give him credit for.

Mar 11, 2019 9:06:40 GMT NATH45 said:

Mar 11, 2019 5:37:23 GMT System said:

***** The Shield VS Lashley/Corbin/McIntyre

The Blueprint of how you execute a 6 man tag.
On paper It sounds like a house show main and with a crowd that had been swerved so much that they popped hard for a simple babyfaces win ending is telling.

Had me thinking during the match, how much I missed the original Shield run. That, and you're right. Just a great match, and this is how PPV shows should be, chaotic, wild, a fight. Great match. 

Unpopular opinion : Baron Corbin is a hell of a lot better than people give him credit for.

Agreed about Corbin. Looks so much younger with no hair also.

I enjoyed his GM run just the constant rematches around it is what hurt it and he seemingly got the blame for the low ratings.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show

****1/2
Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor - WWE Universal Championship - Royal Rumble
Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi - New Japan Cup 2nd Round

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix


Colt Cabana vs Toru Yano gets ********** (10 stars). Wrestling on another dimension. No two wrestlers could create magic like they did.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show

****1/2
Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Finn Balor - WWE Universal Championship - Royal Rumble
Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi - New Japan Cup 2nd Round
Tomohiro Ishii vs Kazuchika Okada - New Japan Cup Semifinal

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs SANADA - New Japan Cup Semifinal

Had a weekend to myself and caught up on the NJPW matches I missed that I wanted to see, plus followed along with the NJ Cup of course.

1. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
2. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
6. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
7. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
8. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
9. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
10. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
11. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
12. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
13. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals
14. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 3
15. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
16. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
17. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
18. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, Ricochet & Aleister Black - Halftime Heat
19. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals

I skipped Ishii vs Taichi but looking at Emperor's review now I have to watch it.

Hoping that after Wrestlemania weekend I have a solid top 25 that is going to knock some of these matches off my list. I expect between Takeover, G1 Supercard & Wrestlemania we're going to have at least a few awesome matches.

Cole, Gargano, TakeOver. Enough said.

Apr 6, 2019 2:12:45 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Cole, Gargano, TakeOver. Enough said.

Yeah ummm..I’m looking at my top matches and...it was definitely better than all of them. That match was insanity. I loved every moment.

Also I’m pretty sure every match from Takeover but the women’s match is making my top 25. Nothing against the ladies it just wasn’t that great. Left a lot to be desired.

I think I need to update my list while it’s fresh in my memory and tomorrow’s MSG show and Wrestlemania don’t erase it.