The Matches of the Mid Year

Ricochet’s name appears on this list many times

Believe (Bo-lieve?) it or not we’re already halfway through 2014 and 2015 is breathing down our necks. In an effort to keep my wrestling watching habit organized I’m going to break the year in half and post my Mid-Point Matches of the Year list. This is not an exhaustive list (and not complete list) of the matches that I’ve seen this year that are in the running for the coveted WIF MOTY Trophy. As a quick note this is a completely subjective list that is drawn from ONLY my viewing pleasure and only takes into account the companies that I’ve watched. If you know of an amazing match that took place in DREAMWAVE this year and it’s not on the list it’s not because I didn’t like the match, it’s because I never saw it. The one caveat that I’d put on this list is that most of it was created IN REAL TIME, which means that a match that I loved on January 4, 2014 may not necessarily belong on this list in June 2014, but at the time I liked it enough to put it on the list, it’s all snap judgments essentially. In places I’ll comment on the matches but mainly this is just a quick list – with dates and show names so you can check out the matches if you’ve got a chance. If I go back and watch events that pre-date July 1, 2014 they will be added into the year end list even though they weren’t on this list (that allows for the huge AIW and AAW backlog I have right now). A few caveats for this list, I don’t have any Beyond Wrestling matches on the list. I attend those shows live (primarily) and because of that my feelings on the matches get skewed. I did include a match from a Beyond Wrestling #SecretShow that I didn’t attend because it was awesome. Those matches may show up on my End of the Year list, but for now I’m leaving them off. I also have a ton of Japanese matches on this list and not a lot of American matches — I’m going through a phase right now where I’m watching a lot of stuff from Japan, that’s all there is too it. Also I haven’t decided if I’m going to include December 2013 matches on my End of the Year compilation because I haven’t watched PWG “All Star Weekend”  yet from December 2013 and I am sure there is stuff on there that deserves to be listed. Finally, as I look this list over I know I missed a ton of stuff that I loved this year — this has been a great year for wrestling and we’re only at the halfway point.

 

Without further ado, here’s the Wrestling is Fun, Halfway Home Match of the Mid-Year List:

 

Young Bucks v. Forever Hooligans v. Time Splitters v. Suzuki-gun (Wrestling Kingdom 8, 01.04.2014): As the opening match of the first significant show of 2014 this was a pretty remarkable way to kick off the year. You know what made this match great? The Time Splitters arriving in a DeLorean way before Archibald Peck started poking around in his own time travel automobile. The Bucks injected a ton of life into the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Division in New Japan and they were hitting on all cylinders in this match.

KENTA v. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH 1.5.2014): When 2014 began I was really looking forward to getting back into Pro Wrestling NOAH. KENTA was the GHC Heavyweight Champion and there was some reason to suspect that the company may be in line for a bit of an explosion. Then this match happened. I really liked this match at the time, Morishima and KENTA have great chemistry and honestly every match they have together could go on a list like this – but Morishima winning the belt here shocked me and this is really where the “KENTA to WWE” rumor mill started to churn.

Ivelisse v. Rain (Shine 16, 1.24.2014): This match may have been more story over substance but I was absorbed by that story and felt genuine excitement when Ivelisse got the win and became Shine Champion, which is an especially amazing feat when you consider that Shine 16 is the only Shine event that I’ve ever seen so I really had no reason to be so invested in the outcome.

Masato Yoshino v. Masaaki Mochizuki (Open the Dream Gate Title match, 1.16.2014)

ACH v. Matt Cage – AAW Heritage Title Match (AAW “Chaos Theory” 01.24.2014)

Jimmy Jacobs v. Shane Hollister (AAW “Chaos Theory” 01.24.2014): Clearly AAW’s Chaos Theory was a solid show, all three matches from that show that I list on here came in a row, which is the only reason Jacobs/Hollister even made the list. This match was different enough, and told a distinctive enough story that it separated from the ACH/Cage and Men of the Year/Monster Express matches that sandwiched it and that distinctive vibe that they were able to pull off was reason enough to give them this nod.

Men of the Year v. Monster Express (AAW “Chaos Theory” 01.24.14): Some of the matches on this list were just in the moment adds, this is a legitimate MOTY contender. Uhaa Nation and Michael Elgin building up to their confrontation was great, Ricochet and Ethan Page played their roles perfectly. This was an exceptionally good match that will absolutely be on the year end list.

Daniel Bryan v. Bray Wyatt (Royal Rumble 2014, 1.26.2014): Easily the highlight of the 2014 Royal Rumble and a legitimate star making turn for Wyatt. Unfortunately for Bray after this standout performance he wound up in the black hole of feuds with John Cena from which he may never return. When Bryan comes back maybe the WWE can just have him wrestle Bray Wyatt on Alt. WWE-2 for my personal enjoyment.

F.S.U. v. Swords of Essex (Progress Wrestling, Chapter 11, 1.26.2014)

Unbreakable F’n Machines v. Inner City Machine Guns (PWG DDT4 2014, 1.31.2014)

Drake Younger v. Michael Elgin (AIW “TGIF” 02.07.2014)

Lufisto v. Athena (WSU “Mutiny” 02.08.2014): Is it possible for a ring entrance to be enough to put a match over the top? Athena returning from the injury that sidelined her for much of 2013 to the “Reigns of Castamere” was awesome and this match deserves to be on this list. The crazy thing is that by all accounts, this isn’t even the best match that these two had with each other in 2014.

The Shield v. The Wyatt Family (WWE Elimination Chamber, 2.24.2014): The crowd was chanting “This is awesome” before anyone got into the ring, and that wasn’t hype. You could put all of the 6 man tag matches involving these teams (or maybe all of The Shield matches this year) on this list, but nothing stood out to be more than the meeting at Elimination Chamber that really solidified the Wyatt Family as a threat, until John Cena southern preacher voice’d them to death.

ACH v. Rich Swann (AAW “Path of Redemption” 02.28.2014)

Jimmy Havoc v. El Ligero v. Rampage Brown v. Marty Scrull (Progress Wrestling “Chapter 12” 03.30.2014): My favorite wrestling company in the world, and this has been their signature match of the year so far (I haven’t seen Chapter 13 yet). Jimmy Havoc’s run in Progress right now as champion has been better than anything that is happening anywhere else in the world, and I’d take that to the bank. This entire list could be matches from Progress shows with how strong they are but nothing really showcases exactly what they’re doing so right in Progress like Havoc – if you ask me right now who the best “heel” in professional wrestling is in 2014, I’d say Havoc without missing a beat.

Ryusuke Taguichi v. Prince Devitt (NJPW Attack Invasion 2014, 04.06.2014): Apollo 55 explodes! This was Prince Devitt’s farewell to the New Japan and it is without a doubt the only time I’ve ever enjoyed a Ryusuke Taguichi match.

Shinsuke Nakamura v. Hiroshi Tanahasni (NJPW Attack Invasion 2014, 04.06.2014)

Triple H v. Daniel Bryan (Wrestlemania XXX, 04.06.2014): I defy you to find a problem with this one. The crowd was electric, and there is enough history with Triple H for him to believably put himself over Bryan in this match so the entire thing happened with a lump in my throat.

Drake Younger v. Timothy Thatcher v. Papadon (CZW “Best of the Best 13” 04.12.2014)

AR Fox v. Mike Bailey v. Andrew Everett (CZW “Best of the Best 13” 04.12.2014): There were two amazing first round matches at the 2013 Best of the Best Tournament but this one was easily the top.  Everett and Fox are known commodities at this point but this match was a star making turn for Mike Bailey who has gone on to put on a MOTYC with Kevin Steen that I haven’t seen yet so it’s not on the list.

Juicy Product v. The Doom Patrol (Beyond Wrestling “4/13 Secret Show” 04.13.2014)

AJ Styles v. Johnny Gargano (2CW “Living on the Edge 9” 04.17.2014)

Juicy Product v. Rich Swann/Roderick Strong (FIP “Establish Dominance” 05.02.2014)

Flamita v. Jimmy Susumu (Dragon Gate “Dead or Alive 2014” 05.05.2014): I did not expect this match at all. It’s easy to be overwhelmed watching a Dragon Gate show, and believe me “Dead or Alive 2014” had a whole lot of stuff going on, but Flamita and Susumu absolutely stood out in one of the best matches on one of the best shows that I saw all year. Flamita in particular came out of this match in my opinion looking like a superstar in the making, and Susumu never disappoints in his role.

YAMATO v. Ricochet (Dragon Gate “Dead or Alive 2014” 05.05.2014) 

The Young Bucks  v. Time Splitters v. Forever Hooligans (ROH/NJPW “Global Wars” 05.10.2014)

The Young Bucks  v. reDRagon (ROH/NJPW “War of the Worlds” 05.17.2014): The best match of an amazing show. These are two of the top five tag teams in the world and they showed exactly why during this match, can’t say enough about it – the end specifically was amazing and I’ve watched it a handful of times since.

Prince Devitt v. Zack Sabre Jr. (Progress Wrestling “Chapter 13” 05.18.2014)

Kota Ibushi v. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW “Back to the Yokohama Arena” 05.25.2014)

Sami Zayn v. Tyler Breeze (NXT “Takeover” 05.29.2014): Heading into this match everyone was pretty comfortable that Zayn was amazing, but Breeze had yet to have that star making performance, done and done. The amazing thing about this match isn’t that it was so good – Zayn almost guarantees that a match will be above average, the amazing thing is that it wasn’t the best match of the show.

Charlotte v. Natalya (NXT “Takeover” 05.29.2014): It might not be the best women’s match of the year, but it was certainly the most high profile, and absolutely delivered above and beyond what was expected. Sara Del Rey has turned the NXT Women’s Division into the premier place for women wrestlers and these two absolutely KILLED IT in a very difficult spot (right after Zayn/Breeze) with two living legends ambling around outside the ring. Charlotte in particular took this opportunity and made a huge impression on the WWE Universe.

Ricochet v. KUSHIDA (NJPW “Best of the Super Jr.’s Final” 06.08.2014): Hey there’s a lot of good matches on this list — this is the best one.

Josh Alexander v. Kyle O’Reilly (SMASH Wrestling “Rival Schools” 06.08.2014): People like Brandon Stroud often talk about how Cesaro has the best “eff you mode” where he decides he’s going to win a match and then a flurry of offense follows — it’s true that Cesaro is great when it comes to flipping that switch but I’d argue that Kyle O’Reilly is better. Nobody makes me happier when he just ratchets everything up a notch and starts kicking people’s heads off. Josh Alexander is for his own part woefully under appreciated and someone needs to rent him an apartment in Detroit so we can see him on US independent shows every weekend.

Young Bucks v. Time Splitters (NJPW “Dominion” 6.21.2014): Here’s my actual review of this match: The last NJPW show was the finals of the Best of the Super Jr.’s and that show went off the air with a KUSHIDA match, a great KUSHIDA match (my personal MOTY right now). This show opened with a KUSHIDA match. This is not unimportant. KUSHIDA is obviously a guy that NJPW has a ton of faith in so opening the show with him making the first entrance after he closed the last show is important. When Dominion started the Young Bucks were in the midst of the longest gaijin IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title reign of all time (224 days). They had successfully defended the titles 5 times before Dominion, no team had that many successful defenses since Apollo 55 back in 2011. I bring these things up to note that the Time Splitters winning the belts is a big deal. These belts moreso than the others in New Japan always feel like a prop being passed around but that hasn’t been the case since the Bucks came to town. Other than Apollo 55 no Jr. tag team has had a 200+ day reign with the belts since Dick Togo and Taka Michinoku in 2007. I’m not exactly sure where you go from here with the Time Splitters — winning these belts, while a big deal, feels like a step backwards for KUSHIDA who seems like the most logical opponent for Kota Ibushi next and feels primed for a run with the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. I’m taking a wait and see approach with this one, plus it means that we get reDRagon/Time Splitters when the ROH forces come to Japan and that is going to be amazing.