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

Looking forward to editing this again tomorrow.

*****
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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York

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

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
7. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
8. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
9. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
10. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
11. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
12. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
13. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
14. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
15. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
16. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
17. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals
18. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 3
19. War Raiders vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet - NXT Takeover: New York
20. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi - G1 Supercard
21. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
22. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
23. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
24. Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs Velveteen Dream, Ricochet & Aleister Black - Halftime Heat
25. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals

White and Okada blew it out of the water. And thank god, because that show needed a strong ending. ROH fucking blows and NJPW just needs to cut ties already. Wow they were bad.

Naito Ibushi was ok but not as good as they could have done. Still a decent match though. Glad Ibushi won. Naito vs Okada please.

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

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York

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

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
7. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
8. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
9. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
10. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
11. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
12. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
13. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
14. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
15. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
16. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
17. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
18. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
19. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals
20. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 3
21. War Raiders vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet - NXT Takeover: New York
22. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi - G1 Supercard
23. Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor - Royal Rumble
24. Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay - Wrestle Kingdom 13
25. Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair - NXT Takeover: Phoenix

Halftime heat and Tanahashi vs SANADA falls off my list thanks to WM35.

Really good show for WWE. Suffered from the length as usual but some real great moments. Can’t complain.

Kofi vs DB is my MotY easily now. Great story that will be hard to beat.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13
Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship - Wrestlemania 35

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York

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

As far as pure in-ring action goes, Bryan vs Kofi was "only" a ****1/2 match. But the atmosphere, the crowd, the story, the epic drama. Makes it an easy *****, and clear competition for Kenny vs Tanahashi as MOTY.

No other Wrestlemania matches came close.

Kofi vs Bryan had insane timing. Bryan called that match to perfection milking the fans for every bit of heat they had to so Kofi could shine brighter than he ever has before.  It is my favorite Bryan match I think, at par with Nigel at the least. 

Apr 9, 2019 23:03:23 GMT c said:

Kofi vs Bryan had insane timing. Bryan called that match to perfection milking the fans for every bit of heat they had to so Kofi could shine brighter than he ever has before.  It is my favorite Bryan match I think, at par with Nigel at the least. 

Bryan is a pro. I think Kofi, despite being red hot, is still sloppy. Potentially a big reason why it’s taken 11 years to get this far. Bryan did a fantastic job of almost making it part of the psychology, producing a good under dog story.

I really didn’t feel the match until Kofi grew some balls and actually started throwing fists and kicks and fought Bryan.

Just curious if any of you seen this weeks Impact match between Moose and Wentz. It for me was one of the more fun entertaining matches from a weekly tv show I've seen in awhile. Great fit for the story line Moose and the Rascalz has going.

Alright, so I finally finished WM and can now update my list with the matches from that and Fastlane. I didn't know there was another NXT PPV until now, so I will probably watch that next.

1. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch (Raw/Smackdown Women's Championships) - WrestleMania 35
2. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13

4. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber

5. HHH vs Batista - WrestleMania 35

6. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

7. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble

8. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali (WWE Championship) - Fastlane

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

10. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship) - WrestleMania 35

I removed the matches below 10 so the list doesn't get unreadable.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13
Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship - Wrestlemania 35

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Sengoku Lord in Nagoya
Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL - Wrestling Dontaku Night 2

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

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover XXV
7. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
8. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
10. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover XXV
11. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Double Or Nothing
12. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
13. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
14. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
15. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
16. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
17. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
18. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
19. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
20. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
21. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
22. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals
23. Dustin Rhodes vs. Cody Rhodes - AEW Double Or Nothing
24. Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito - New Japan Cup 2019 - Day 3
25. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi - G1 Supercard

Black/Ricochet vs War Raiders gets bumped because I want to keep Naito/Ibushi on my list for now. Enjoyed that match more for what it was.

Lesnar vs Balor, Ibushi vs Ospreay, Baszler vs BelAir all get pushed off the list in favour of two NXT XXV matches and two AEW DON matches.

My top match from both shows has Matt Riddle vs Roderick Strong at #6. That match was a barn burner and one of the hardest-hitting matches I've ever seen in NXT. Riddle looked like a million bucks and it's all thanks to Roderick Strong being an absolute beast in the ring. He's like Dean Malenko and Lance Storm had a baby and taught it how to flip. He's unreal, and when Matt Riddle takes over NXT he's got Strong to thank for it.

Love or hate his gimmick (I'm on the fence about it, personally), Matt Riddle is the real deal and is going to have an amazing career in NXT.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13
Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship - Wrestlemania 35

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Sengoku Lord in Nagoya
Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL - Wrestling Dontaku Night 2
Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley - IWGP United States Championship - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs SANADA - New Japan Cup Semifinal
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Tetsuya Naito - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - NJPW Dominion

May 5, 2019 19:16:14 GMT Lionheart said:

Alright, so I finally finished WM and can now update my list with the matches from that and Fastlane. I didn't know there was another NXT PPV until now, so I will probably watch that next.

1. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch (Raw/Smackdown Women's Championships) - WrestleMania 35
2. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
3. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13

4. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber

5. HHH vs Batista - WrestleMania 35

6. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

7. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble

8. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali (WWE Championship) - Fastlane

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

10. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship) - WrestleMania 35

I removed the matches below 10 so the list doesn't get unreadable.

I had to post this in a rush last month and planned to follow-up with some explanations later. Now is that time.

Fastlane

Fastlane didn't really have much but the WWE title match delivered and made it all worth it. I think that was both my first Kevin Owens and first Mustafa Ali match I've seen. Mustafa was impressive and I look forward to seeing more of him, but Kevin Owens is the one who stole the show there. I absolutely loved his style. He was very intense and very quick for a big guy and just kept the excitement and powerful looking moves coming nonstop. Something about the way he flows and transitions between moves was really cool.

WrestleMania

First of all, I want to point out that the Kurt Angle match was great. He showed a little rust but still brought it and put on a great match. I would prefer if he continued to be an active wrestler, but all good things must come to an end. Corbin has a boring gimmick but his wrestling skills are good and there was good chemistry there with Angle.

HHH Vs. Batista had me on the edge of my seat. I was never a big fan of Batista until his heel movie star gimmick started warming me up to him. This is the first match I've seen him in since he quit in 2010 and for some reason I am now a huge mark for him and I cannot explain why. I guess it is mostly nostalgia. I didn't realize he was great until he was gone. HHH always puts on high class bouts as well so this match just felt like it had a lot more superstar power in it than other matches. The weapon usage was great and it felt like a truly classic wrestling moment.

The Rousey/Flair/Lynch match was phenomenal. It stole my #1 slot away from a match with my all-time favorite Jericho. They just did everything right. Rousey was amazing to watch with the intensity she brought. It was like watching a caged tiger maul its captors in order to escape. She was just beating the shit out of people in a brutal and fast manner yet they somehow still made it seem completely realistic when she was brought down or taken out of the picture without lessening her powerful image at all. This is the first match I've seen Flair in and she is really something too. She is freakishly Amazon tall but makes perfect use of her height and flexibility to pull off moves by utilizing her body to its full potential more than I think I have seen any other wrestler do so. It was haunting. Lynch didn't impress me as much as the other two but she is definitely in the upper tier of performers with less showy yet solid skills.

NXT TakeOver: NY

War Raiders vs. Aleister Black / Ricochet

This is how tag team wrestling should be. Absolutely the best match on the show. Hell, better than any match at WrestleMania even. My #1 spot is stolen yet again.

Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle

This was a great match, but something kept it from really being a top ten worthy one for me. I'm not sure what it was. On some level, I kind of felt like the match was a parody rather than a real match. They kept using moves from famous wrestlers in an almost comic fashion sometimes. Maybe part of it was Riddle's worst-gimmick-ever "The Original Bro". Who knows? I still enjoyed watching it though and I think Velveteen's whole persona is really good.

Walter vs. Pete Dunne

Great match here too. Walter is very impressive. I liked him a lot. Wasn't good enough to crack my top ten though.

Gargano Vs. Cole

This match was a bit much. There was like a bazillion finisher kickouts and while I started out enjoying the match, by the end I just kind of felt annoyed. When Cole was about to get the cheap interference win, I had reached the peak of apathetic and just wanted it to end. Then there was the crazy twist that I've never seen done in this manner before and Gargano went into even more super extreme superman mode and his facial expression really sold it for me with how dead yet dedicated he looked. I then understood the initial ridiculousness was necessary to sell the further ridiculousness at the end that I thought was awesome and pretty rewarding.

Not as good as Omega vs. Tanahashi, but it would probably be #11 or something.

1. War Raiders (c) vs. Aleister Black / Ricochet (NXT Tag Team Championship) - NXT TakeOver: New York
2. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch (Raw/Smackdown Women's Championships) - WrestleMania 35
3. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
4. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber
6. HHH vs Batista - WrestleMania 35
7. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
8. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble
9. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali (WWE Championship) - Fastlane
10. Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13

Money in the Bank

The MITB matches were cool, more so the men's one though. I marked out hard when Lesnar came out. Even though it was ridiculous and made no sense, it was just really funny. Not much as far as amazing matches go here aside from Owens Vs. Kofi. I loved Kevin Owens yet again and Tanahashi vs. Omega finally bites the dust on my top ten because of it. Omega now has no representation on my list. Very sad.

1. War Raiders (c) vs. Aleister Black / Ricochet (NXT Tag Team Championship) - NXT TakeOver: New York
2. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch (Raw/Smackdown Women's Championships) - WrestleMania 35
3. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
4. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
5. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber
6. HHH vs Batista - WrestleMania 35
7. Ricochet (c) vs Johnny Gargano (NXT North American Championship) - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix

8. Kofi Kingston (c) vs Kevin Owens (WWE Championship) - Money In The Bank

9. Daniel Bryan (c) vs AJ Styles (WWE Championship) - Royal Rumble
10. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali (WWE Championship) - Fastlane

Double or Nothing

Well, this was better than I ever expected and it completely obliterated my previous top ten. What a fucking PPV. What a company. I am so excited to see the next one. Damn good.

1. Chris Jericho Vs. Kenny Omega - AEW Double Or Nothing

2. SoCal Uncensored Vs. Strong Hearts - AEW Double Or Nothing

3. War Raiders (c) vs. Aleister Black / Ricochet (NXT Tag Team Championship) - NXT TakeOver: New York

4. Cody Rhodes Vs. Dustin Rhodes - AEW Double Or Nothing

5. The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Lucha Brothers (AAA World Tag Team Championship) - AEW Double Or Nothing

6. Best Friends Vs. Angélico / Jack Evans - AEW Double Or Nothing

7. Ronda Rousey (c) vs Charlotte Flair (c) vs Becky Lynch (Raw/Smackdown Women's Championships) - WrestleMania 35
8. Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay (Never Openweight Championship) - Wrestle Kingdom 13
10. Daniel Bryan (c) vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles vs Jeff Hardy vs Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton (WWE Championship) - Elimination Chamber

My number one spot is switched twice more in one PPV even. I never expected a 6-man tag of all things to claim my number one slot, even if only for a little while. Omega sure didn't stay off my list for long either with a now-dominating #1 placement. I don't expect anything to beat that one the rest of the year. That match was perfection personified. There's only a meager 3 WWE matches on my list now. Daniel Bryan is barely hanging on at a #10 slot. What a game-changer AEW is already after a single PPV.

Super Showdown

Rollins vs. Corbin was actually showing some promise, but in the end was rather short and had a terrible ending so not even close to a top ten slot.

Balor vs. Andrade was awesome and well worth watching but a ten minute match can only be so good.

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler was even more awesome because of Dolph's intensity and I loved it, but the interference ending and again the match being so short brought it down.

Come to think of it, every match on the card was ~10 mins except the battle royal and Orton Vs. Triple H which is a pretty darn annoying time allocation for a four hour PPV. This was basically a good episode of RAW rather than a "WrestleMania level PPV" as they marketed it.

NXT TakeOver: XXV

Riddle vs. Strong - Started off really solid, better than any match at Super Showdown, then descended into a worthless show of moves rather than a wrestling match when they just tossed realism out the window and kicked out of a thousand finishers and most brutal moves I have ever seen in a row and then immediately recovered. As Emperor put it, it is basically like "video game wrestling". Which sounds like a good comparison until you realize that not even in the video games can wrestlers recover so quickly after that many big moves.

Tag Team Title Ladder Match - Some impressive athleticism and wow moments, but it pisses me off how little effort is given to things simply making fucking sense in these kinds of matchups. Is it just me that cares about this stuff? It's so annoying because it really could have been an amazing match but all realism is killed for me when they randomly decide to set up two ladders for NO REASON only for the other team to be able to climb the other ladder and fight them on the ladders. Fuck right off. Yeah, I know wrestling isn't real. I know fight scenes in movies I'm watching aren't real either. You still don't see them stopping in the middle of action scenes to set up things for the other team to use instead of accomplishing their goal. This blows my fucking mind. Do they really just not give any fuck? How could you not care about something like this when planning the match? Never mind the "one guy jumps on ten guys waiting there for no reason and takes all ten of them down" bullshit that happens in every multi-man match ever. At least mix it up and have one or two guys escape the jump. Jesus. And then the completely random and illogical recovery times that always happens in ladder matches where a guy takes a small move and then another guy takes a finisher and then the guy that took the finisher recovers a minute later while the guy that took a small move is out for like ten fucking minutes. Why not just plan a match to make sense? How fucking hard is that?

Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze - Fucking fantastic matchup. Loved it. Almost cracked the top ten but I really liked the elimination chamber match so it still just edged it out. I am now a huge Velveteen fan after seeing two matches of his and look forward to seeing more of his title defenses as he continues his reign.

Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai - Io isn't the most well-rounded wrestler but in the end she put on a damn entertaining matchup so I guess I can overlook that. Being fun to watch is what it's all about after all. I got pretty into this and the ending was very well executed with her being so close to the ropes but not able to make it. That kind of thing doesn't happen enough.

Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano - More video game wrestling. Gargano literally took seven superkicks in quick succession and then instantaneously recovered at one point, and this was long after the match already went far beyond reason anyway. Fuck that. I'm not even exaggerating. I counted all seven of them.

If you guy have not seen it check out Rich Swann vs Michael Elgin from the May 16th Impact. I know some will dismiss it because it Impact, but it should be in the match of the year conversation.

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover XXV
7. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
8. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
10. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover XXV
11. Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax Day 2
12. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Double Or Nothing
13. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
14. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
15. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
16. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
17. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
18. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
19. KENTA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 3
20. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
21. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
22. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
23. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
24. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals
25. Dustin Rhodes vs. Cody Rhodes - AEW Double Or Nothing

Both Ibushi vs Naito matches fall off my list thanks to the G1 Climax, but with any luck their G1 Finals bout will place in my top 5 when its all said and done. Not sure who I want to make the finals but I'm definitely leaning towards those two.

Also curious how many more G1 matches make my list. I'm going to be overly critical otherwise this tournament is going to dominate my top 25 when it's all over.

And I haven't watched Aleister Black vs Cesaro from last night yet but I heard it was an awesome match. Good chance that places somewhere if it lives up to the hype.

Damn - Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable from 205 Live last night was better than anything I've seen from the G1 so far (which admittedly isn't very much).

Jul 17, 2019 22:34:03 GMT PB said:

Damn - Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable from 205 Live last night was better than anything I've seen from the G1 so far (which admittedly isn't very much).

I haven't watched the full match but saw the highlight package slapped together on wreddit. Looks like they went fucking hard. You're probably right, although it's going to be hard to beat Cobb/Ishii or KENTA/Tanahashi.

...

Finally got around to watching another match everyone was raving about recently...


1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover XXV
7. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
8. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
10. Matt Riddle vs. Drew Gulak - EVOLVE 10th Anniversary Show
11. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover XXV
12. Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax Day 2
13. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Double Or Nothing
14. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
15. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
16. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
17. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
18. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
19. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
20. KENTA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 3
21. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
22. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
23. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble
24. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
25. Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals


What a fucking awesome match that was. As far as pure wrestling talent goes, Matt Riddle is quickly becoming my pick for best wrestler in 2019. He's having an insane year and it feels like nobody is talking about it.

Cody/Dustin from DON gets knocked off in favour. I thought extending this to 25 would make my job easier. Now I'm just looking through my list feeling like I need to re-rank some of these matches. Story gets big points so even though some of these matches aren't nearly as good in quality, they were just as fun (if not moreso) to watch. Kofi vs. Bryan @ WM 35 comes to mind. That match was nothing special, but I marked the fuck out and teared up when Kofi won. That's massive points in my books.

Man this is a fun year. It gets said every year but this year especially so.

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover XXV
7. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
8. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
10. Matt Riddle vs. Drew Gulak - EVOLVE 10th Anniversary Show
11. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover XXV
12. Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA - NJPW G1 Climax Day 9
13. Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax Day 2
14. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Double Or Nothing
15. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
16. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
17. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
18. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
19. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
20. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
21. KENTA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 3
22. Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW G1 Climax Day 10
23. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
24. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
25. Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble


Eliminated:
Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - Smackdown 2/12 Gauntlet Match
Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA - New Japan Cup Finals

This G1 is getting unreal, folks. If you're not watching, you're missing out.

1. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover: New York
2. Pete Dunne vs. WALTER - NXT Takeover: New York
3. Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - G1 Supercard
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
5. Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito - Wrestle Kingdom 13
6. Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong - NXT Takeover XXV
7. Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano - NXT Takeover: Phoenix
8. Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 13
9. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay - NJPW 47th Anniversary Show
10. Matt Riddle vs. Drew Gulak - EVOLVE 10th Anniversary Show
11. Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole - NXT Takeover XXV
12. Kazuchika Okada vs. KENTA - NJPW G1 Climax Day 9
13. Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax Day 2
14. The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros - AEW Double Or Nothing
15. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle - NXT Takeover: New York
16. Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston - Wrestlemania 35
17. Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Will Ospreay - G1 Climax Day 11
18. Andrade vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 1/15
19. Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch - Wrestlemania 35
20. Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble
21. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup Semi-Finals
22. KENTA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 3
23. Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW G1 Climax Day 10
24. Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin - NXT Takeover: Blackpool
25. Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey - NXT Takeover: Blackpool

Eliminated:
Asuka vs Becky Lynch - Royal Rumble

And just like that another G1 match hits my top 25. And the tournament is only half over.

Fuck.

Gargano vs. Cole, TakeOver Toronto.

Any one of the three falls could have been a Match of the Year candidate. But putting them all together, and you got something more than just a candidate.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13
Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship - Wrestlemania 35

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard
Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay - NJPW G1 Climax Day 7

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Sengoku Lord in Nagoya
Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL - Wrestling Dontaku Night 2
Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley - IWGP United States Championship - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Zack Sabre Jr. vs SANADA - NJPW G1 Climax Day 1
Tetsuya Naito vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 13
Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 18
Tetsuya Naito vs Jay White - NJPW G1 Climax Day 18

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs SANADA - New Japan Cup Semifinal
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Tetsuya Naito - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - NJPW Dominion
Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson - NJPW G1 Climax Day 13
KENTA vs Will Ospreay - NJPW G1 Climax Day 15
Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 16

Block A had the best match of the tournament in Okada vs Ospreay, but Block B stole the show in terms of high quality matches. Wouldn't have expected that at all.

I’m not going to put it on my top 25 because it’ll be fairly low and get knocked off as soon as I get around to watching the rest of the G1 matches, but you should all watch Roman Reigns vs Buddy Murphy from tonight’s Smackdown.

10 minutes of pure awesome. I fucking loved it. I wish the WWE would do shit like this more often. Very much worth the watch.

Someone on wreddit said it reminded them of Triple H vs Taka Michinoku from Raw all those years ago and that’s a great comparison. Totally the same vibe.

Give it a watch.

I watched Roman Reigns vs Buddy Murphy. It was a very good TV match, but I wouldn't describe it as 10 minutes of pure awesome. It started very well, and the last two minutes were great, but everything in the middle was pretty average.

My mind is still in NJPW world, so when I see Reigns kick out of a V-Trigger (Omega's signature), a Kamigoye (Ibushi's finisher) and a Vertical drop brainbuster (Ishii's finisher) then I think to myself "Roman Reigns would WRECK the G1" :lol:

I feel as though I wouldn't rate Okada vs Suzuki so highly if I hadn't watched it live, but I did watch it live, and it was amazing, so that's my rating.

*****
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 13
Daniel Bryan (c) vs Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship - Wrestlemania 35

****3/4
Jay White vs Will Ospreay - NJPW Anniversary Show
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - G1 Supercard
Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay - NJPW G1 Climax Day 7
Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - NJPW Royal Quest

****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
War Raiders (c) vs Alesteir Black and Ricochet - NXT Tag Team Championship - NXT TakeOver: New York
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - Sengoku Lord in Nagoya
Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL - Wrestling Dontaku Night 2
Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley - IWGP United States Championship - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final
Zack Sabre Jr. vs SANADA - NJPW G1 Climax Day 1
Tetsuya Naito vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 13
Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 18
Tetsuya Naito vs Jay White - NJPW G1 Climax Day 18
Kenny Omega vs PAC - AEW All Out

****1/4
Tomasso Ciampa (c) vs Alesteir Black - NXT US Championship - NXT TakeOver: Phoenix
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs SANADA - New Japan Cup Semifinal
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Tetsuya Naito - IWGP Intercontinental Championship - NJPW Dominion
Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson - NJPW G1 Climax Day 13
KENTA vs Will Ospreay - NJPW G1 Climax Day 15
Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi - NJPW G1 Climax Day 16