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Showing posts with label Year in Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Year in Review. Show all posts
December 23, 2021
December 29, 2020
December 18, 2018
Q Marshall Blogathon Classic 2018
It feels like it's been a pretty good year for wrestling.
I say that with an casual air, but now as I'm beginning to collect my thoughts on the subject, I'm realizing that it's been an amazing year. I'm thinking about my favorite matches, my favorite experiences, my favorite characters, and also just some shit that went down which seems significant. In previous year-end episodes, I've sorted these concerns into "best-of" categories, and who knows, maybe by the end of writing the post, I'll have started doing that, but here at the outset I'm planning on slapping together a freeform list of personal favorites and cultural notables.
That being said, the most pure silly fun I've had all year, wrestling or otherwise, was watching Wrestlemania in Eugene. With Poncho next to me, and Rusty live on our phones, we were cracking jokes the whole time, and I'm pretty sure I haven't yelled or laughed so much since. Moments that come to mind: when Nakamura knocked AJ in the nuts, I yelled "take that motherfucker" as loud as I could, over and over and over again, even as I watched the chicken particles in my teeth grossly spray at the screen with each repeated "eff" sound. Also, when DBD won his tag match or whatever it was, I spilled ass over teakettle backward yelling "Jag Thindh" which made Poncho laugh his ass off. The live commentary we did over the Rousey debut was a ppv highlight, and of course "Hello, Paige here" has been permanently etched into the membrane of our collective nightmare web. More than anything, I remember you guys cracking me up consistently throughout the show. I used to shrug off watching Mania socially, but now I look forward to always being in touch with you guys when it's on, even if it means getting the Network one month per year.
Years ago, I wrote a year-end review which opined that Zack Ryder's YouTube show would have a longer-lasting legacy than CM Punk's pipebomb. At this point, I wouldn't draw a direct line between 'Z True Hollywood Story' and 'Being the Elite', but neither would I draw a direct line between 'The Art of Wrestling' and a weekly podcast of a fat Alabaman moneylender prodding Tony Schiavonne into making self-deprecating dick jokes for the exact duration of a Monday Night Nitro. I guess my point is that when it's freshly recognized that someone is doing something groundbreaking, there's no way to tell what's going to come next. There's been a ton of buzz in that past 6 weeks or so about Cody and the Bucks starting their own promotion with funding from the dude who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is a football team (I had to look it up). Whether this "promotion" takes the shape of doing seasonal supershows/conventions, or seeking TV distribution, or establishing a touring brand, or some combination, who knows. Maybe it will all be ashes come February, but with the success of All In, and the proven marketability of its main players (reference: Hot Topic), it doesn't feel like too great a leap of faith to see these guys surpass yet another perceived ceiling of precedence.
There are two great wrestling moments which I'd like to etch in stone this year. Firstly, the reunion of the Golden Lovers. It happened in January, and I wouldn't say that it's really paid off, but there was/is such a deep well of potential, along with a rich history to appreciate. Omega's singles run got in the way (not a bad thing), and Ibushi also had a great singles story this year, setting him up to approach the upmost level of New Japan stardom. But when they reunited against adversity after a long and troubled schism, it was wildly exciting because not only did they represent a kind of progressively ambiguous duo, which makes them awesome goodguys to me, but they could also be counted on to provide innovative wrestling entertainment in the heavyweight tag division, which is probably the weakest link in the current-day wrestle-scape. With the rest of their year in focus, now seeing that they only had a handful of tag matches, and didn't even compete in the G1 Tag League, I'm disappointed that they didn't meet the potential I saw in them eleven months ago. At least together they didn't... individually they each had amazing years... but that moment in January when they hugged... it was perfect.
The second great wrestling moment, and this is somewhat less of a "moment", even though its announcement could be attributed to a specific time and place, but the moment was a long time coming, and then it took a long time to get to where that moment felt rightfully situated, and that is the return to the ring of my favorite wrestler of all-time, Daniel Bryan. He came back to a forgettable Mania tag match (I think Shane was involved, but I don't remember if they were on the same team or on opposite sides), followed by a prolonged feud with the since-canned Big Cass. Talk about a lame return. But with hindsight, it seems fine, because now he's heading into 2019 as the heel champion of Smackdown, his bad-guy temperament being all the more plausible with those preceding months of lackluster programs. DBD is back on top!
So, while Bryan vs Lesnar might be my favorite WWE match of 2018 (off the top of my head), the rest of my top ten matches are probably all New Japan (with maybe a sprinkle from NXT Takeovers). And this is indicative of my viewing habits throughout 2018. Continuing the trend of previous year-end posts, this year's will reflect a further narrowing scope, as now I've even stopped following PWG, I only tuned in for a few of the bigger ROH shows, haven't seen a lick of TNA or Lucha Underground, only select segments of Raw/Smackdown here and there, infrequent check-ins with NXT, and very few other items. But what I do still watch, I'm emotionally invested (as evidenced by my drawerful of crisply unworn New Japan graphic tees). Even so, I couldn't think of a singular match that would stand out as my favorite. The G1 was my favorite wrestling event, but that's like cheating because it's a freakin hundred matches, of course it's awesome. There were standout matches in that for sure, Ishii-Ibushi, Ishii-Omega, Okada-Tanahashi, Sabre-Sanada, and the list goes on. I suppose the easy answer for MOTY would be the 2/3 falls Omega-Okada from Dominion when Kenny won the title, but we had some great Okada defenses in the earlier months, including another classic against Tanahashi. Jericho and Suzuki continued to cement their legacies with some truly great performances. Gargano and Ciampa might've had the most heated rivalry with the best extended series of matches. I dunno, there isn't an individual match which stands out to me as being a major personal favorite the way Okada-Shibata did last year, but there was a ton of great material to enjoy... gun to my head I'd go with Omega-Okada. But Tanahashi-Ibushi from the G1 Finals is a major contender... I dunno I just love wrestling man! I'm just along for the ride man! I dunno I don't remember man! We cool man?
We so cool.
*picture unrelated
I say that with an casual air, but now as I'm beginning to collect my thoughts on the subject, I'm realizing that it's been an amazing year. I'm thinking about my favorite matches, my favorite experiences, my favorite characters, and also just some shit that went down which seems significant. In previous year-end episodes, I've sorted these concerns into "best-of" categories, and who knows, maybe by the end of writing the post, I'll have started doing that, but here at the outset I'm planning on slapping together a freeform list of personal favorites and cultural notables.
That being said, the most pure silly fun I've had all year, wrestling or otherwise, was watching Wrestlemania in Eugene. With Poncho next to me, and Rusty live on our phones, we were cracking jokes the whole time, and I'm pretty sure I haven't yelled or laughed so much since. Moments that come to mind: when Nakamura knocked AJ in the nuts, I yelled "take that motherfucker" as loud as I could, over and over and over again, even as I watched the chicken particles in my teeth grossly spray at the screen with each repeated "eff" sound. Also, when DBD won his tag match or whatever it was, I spilled ass over teakettle backward yelling "Jag Thindh" which made Poncho laugh his ass off. The live commentary we did over the Rousey debut was a ppv highlight, and of course "Hello, Paige here" has been permanently etched into the membrane of our collective nightmare web. More than anything, I remember you guys cracking me up consistently throughout the show. I used to shrug off watching Mania socially, but now I look forward to always being in touch with you guys when it's on, even if it means getting the Network one month per year.
Years ago, I wrote a year-end review which opined that Zack Ryder's YouTube show would have a longer-lasting legacy than CM Punk's pipebomb. At this point, I wouldn't draw a direct line between 'Z True Hollywood Story' and 'Being the Elite', but neither would I draw a direct line between 'The Art of Wrestling' and a weekly podcast of a fat Alabaman moneylender prodding Tony Schiavonne into making self-deprecating dick jokes for the exact duration of a Monday Night Nitro. I guess my point is that when it's freshly recognized that someone is doing something groundbreaking, there's no way to tell what's going to come next. There's been a ton of buzz in that past 6 weeks or so about Cody and the Bucks starting their own promotion with funding from the dude who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is a football team (I had to look it up). Whether this "promotion" takes the shape of doing seasonal supershows/conventions, or seeking TV distribution, or establishing a touring brand, or some combination, who knows. Maybe it will all be ashes come February, but with the success of All In, and the proven marketability of its main players (reference: Hot Topic), it doesn't feel like too great a leap of faith to see these guys surpass yet another perceived ceiling of precedence.
There are two great wrestling moments which I'd like to etch in stone this year. Firstly, the reunion of the Golden Lovers. It happened in January, and I wouldn't say that it's really paid off, but there was/is such a deep well of potential, along with a rich history to appreciate. Omega's singles run got in the way (not a bad thing), and Ibushi also had a great singles story this year, setting him up to approach the upmost level of New Japan stardom. But when they reunited against adversity after a long and troubled schism, it was wildly exciting because not only did they represent a kind of progressively ambiguous duo, which makes them awesome goodguys to me, but they could also be counted on to provide innovative wrestling entertainment in the heavyweight tag division, which is probably the weakest link in the current-day wrestle-scape. With the rest of their year in focus, now seeing that they only had a handful of tag matches, and didn't even compete in the G1 Tag League, I'm disappointed that they didn't meet the potential I saw in them eleven months ago. At least together they didn't... individually they each had amazing years... but that moment in January when they hugged... it was perfect.
The second great wrestling moment, and this is somewhat less of a "moment", even though its announcement could be attributed to a specific time and place, but the moment was a long time coming, and then it took a long time to get to where that moment felt rightfully situated, and that is the return to the ring of my favorite wrestler of all-time, Daniel Bryan. He came back to a forgettable Mania tag match (I think Shane was involved, but I don't remember if they were on the same team or on opposite sides), followed by a prolonged feud with the since-canned Big Cass. Talk about a lame return. But with hindsight, it seems fine, because now he's heading into 2019 as the heel champion of Smackdown, his bad-guy temperament being all the more plausible with those preceding months of lackluster programs. DBD is back on top!
So, while Bryan vs Lesnar might be my favorite WWE match of 2018 (off the top of my head), the rest of my top ten matches are probably all New Japan (with maybe a sprinkle from NXT Takeovers). And this is indicative of my viewing habits throughout 2018. Continuing the trend of previous year-end posts, this year's will reflect a further narrowing scope, as now I've even stopped following PWG, I only tuned in for a few of the bigger ROH shows, haven't seen a lick of TNA or Lucha Underground, only select segments of Raw/Smackdown here and there, infrequent check-ins with NXT, and very few other items. But what I do still watch, I'm emotionally invested (as evidenced by my drawerful of crisply unworn New Japan graphic tees). Even so, I couldn't think of a singular match that would stand out as my favorite. The G1 was my favorite wrestling event, but that's like cheating because it's a freakin hundred matches, of course it's awesome. There were standout matches in that for sure, Ishii-Ibushi, Ishii-Omega, Okada-Tanahashi, Sabre-Sanada, and the list goes on. I suppose the easy answer for MOTY would be the 2/3 falls Omega-Okada from Dominion when Kenny won the title, but we had some great Okada defenses in the earlier months, including another classic against Tanahashi. Jericho and Suzuki continued to cement their legacies with some truly great performances. Gargano and Ciampa might've had the most heated rivalry with the best extended series of matches. I dunno, there isn't an individual match which stands out to me as being a major personal favorite the way Okada-Shibata did last year, but there was a ton of great material to enjoy... gun to my head I'd go with Omega-Okada. But Tanahashi-Ibushi from the G1 Finals is a major contender... I dunno I just love wrestling man! I'm just along for the ride man! I dunno I don't remember man! We cool man?
We so cool.
*picture unrelated
January 16, 2018
2017, W(w)e Hard[L]y [K]New(jpw) Ye(hi, Fred)
Ummmm get it? I think my zeal for wordplay has been outpaced by my ineptitude at... wordplay.
So, it's two weeks into January, and every wrestling pundit on the net besides us posted their year-end thoughts at least a month ago. I think I wrote one in October once. But how mature, how self-possessed we must be to allow ourselves some breathing room to really savor and dwell on the entirety of the past 12 months, to really challenge ourselves to take in a broad scope of understanding, meditate on it, and then pick apart some nuance and delve into the finer details during this time of reflection. Or, maybe I've just been procrastinating writing this, which feels more obligatory than imperative.
That's not to say there hasn't been plenty to be excited about this year, it's just that most of it has already been lauded to the point of exhaustion, with the 5 stars, 6 stars, 7 stars, etcetera. Let this post serve not to beat a dead horse, but to serve posterity as being the shiniest beacon of pure, wholesome, horribly marky and beautifully jaded pro-wresting fan drivel in the blogosphere: Quarter Marshall's Annual Opinion-o-thon!
Match of the Year: Of course it's going to be an Okada match. His run with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (which predates 2017, and continues to present) is on everybody's short-list of 2017 highlights, and I'm toward the front of the mark parade, waving the Rainmaker flag right next to Gedo. Okada's my favorite wrestler working today, there's no doubt about it. I mean, I think there are some other performers who have Okada's storytelling ability (AJ, Tanahashi, and Asuka might top that list), but being top player in New Japan means you have the best spot to tell great in-ring stories, and Okada's been knocking it out of the park with what's regularly being called the best title run in wrestling history. The most talked-about of his matches (at least in the Western hemisphere) were the trilogy against Kenny Omega, an amazing series which will go down in history. Other title defenses this year included Minoru Suzuki, Bad Luck Fale, Evil , and Cody, bookended by 2016 and 2018 classics with Naito. (Also, let the record show there was a great defense against Naomichi Marufuji in late 2016.) My personal pick, a sentimental selection for favorite match of 2017, was his defense against Katsuyori Shibata. Likely his last match due to head injury sustained therein, Shibata's performance felt like the epitome of a swansong- a phrase referring to an ancient belief that a swan would let out a beautiful call before its death, after having been silent for most of its life. The match told a beautiful story, with the crowd playing an integral part, as they loudly shifted favorites as the energies of the wrestlers waxed and waned. By the final stretch, with Shibata embodying the fighting spirit, and Okada selling his ass off but seemingly unbeatable, the crowd was firmly in Shibata's corner, but after the three count, and Okada's arm was raised, they were still totally into it. It was just an epic story Shibata and Okada told in the ring, one of the only matches I've re-watched this year, and I think the only match I've watched three times. I believe that it would be my top match even if Shibata hadn't been retired by it, but I have to admit that aspect makes it a sentimental favorite on top of it already being being a pure storytelling/great pro-wrestling classic.
Wrestler of the Year: I don't really have one singled out. I've already extolled the storytelling prowess of Okada, and admitted he's my favorite wrestler. Kenny Omega is perseveringly innovative and has maybe the best offense I've ever seen. AJ Styles is the "Five Star Match with a Broomstick" candidate for worker of the year. I'm looking at Asuka, Samoa Joe, Neville, Suzuki, Naito, Tanahashi... some people are saying Reigns and Strowman, I've got three words for them: Wha. Te. Ver. There are great talents and performances all over, but it's impossible to compete with the storytelling platform of the New Japan main event. Gun to my head, it's Okada, but the case can be made for Omega, and Styles even being in the conversation says tons about his ability to rise above cable tv mediocrity.
WWE Matches of the Year: Since I'm biased against their (usually homogenized) match style, I would like to draw attention to some favorite 2017 matches of mine. Firstly, Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert from round one, day one of the Mae Young Classic. This is a great example of a match that you could show to a non-fan, where they'd probably "get it", with Abbey being the obvious underdog, but bringing the noise to the fight, showing tremendous in-ring work and emotion throughout. From the way she hopelessly sells Gabert's offense to the way she plants her feet when throwing forearms, Laith might have my vote for babyface performance of the year. I had goosebumps and Alice and I were kinda choked up by the finish, even the second time we watched it together. This set the bar high for the rest of the tournament, and for my money was best of the whole event, Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm notwithstanding. Other WWE standout matches: Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar. AJ Styles vs Brock Lesnar. Does that make it sound like Brock Lesnar is WWE wrestler of the year? No way. There's probably some NXT stuff which belongs on the short-list. Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream? Lars Sullivan vs Demitrius Bronson? The reality of my lovelife which surrounds me vs Nikki Cross?
I wish I had more to say about ROH. It isn't their fault they keep getting talent-raided by WWE, but the fact remains that my fandom has fallen off a lot this year. I still tune in for the big shows, and they're always enjoyable, but not enough to get me back into watching weekly, which is dumb of me because when I was a bigger fan, I preferred their tv to their ppvs. Maybe it just comes down to the amount of time I have to watch wrestling. It's not like I'm watching Raw or Smackdown, either.
I think Jim Cornette was involved with Impact in 2017. Now Don "the Jackyl" "Cyrus the Virus" "Mark-for-himself Jerkoff" Callous is in the mix. Billy Corgan bought NWA. Chris Jericho had a helluvarun, especially if the first week of 2018 is factored in. Some people died, probably. Really important people I can't recall at the moment, but whose presence will be felt across the industry for all time god bless them. WWE fired Emma those basterds. Austin Aries leaves WWE by choice and talks about what a great decision it was because his schedule's way easier and he makes more money. This becomes a really interesting topic of conversation, as the non-WWE path is perceived as a viable alternative, with the Young Bucks being flag-bearers of lucrative indie opportunities, with their (and other Bullet Club members') merch being top sellers at Hot Topics across our great nation of shitty malls. Daniel Bryan keeps talking about wanting to wrestle again.
In all, we've seen wrestling evolve and improve. New records were set, and we even had multiple contenders (per Meltzer) for best match of all time, which sounds like hyperbole, but I think is not outside the realm of reason. Looking at this year from 2007 would be insane. <3QM
So, it's two weeks into January, and every wrestling pundit on the net besides us posted their year-end thoughts at least a month ago. I think I wrote one in October once. But how mature, how self-possessed we must be to allow ourselves some breathing room to really savor and dwell on the entirety of the past 12 months, to really challenge ourselves to take in a broad scope of understanding, meditate on it, and then pick apart some nuance and delve into the finer details during this time of reflection. Or, maybe I've just been procrastinating writing this, which feels more obligatory than imperative.
That's not to say there hasn't been plenty to be excited about this year, it's just that most of it has already been lauded to the point of exhaustion, with the 5 stars, 6 stars, 7 stars, etcetera. Let this post serve not to beat a dead horse, but to serve posterity as being the shiniest beacon of pure, wholesome, horribly marky and beautifully jaded pro-wresting fan drivel in the blogosphere: Quarter Marshall's Annual Opinion-o-thon!
Match of the Year: Of course it's going to be an Okada match. His run with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (which predates 2017, and continues to present) is on everybody's short-list of 2017 highlights, and I'm toward the front of the mark parade, waving the Rainmaker flag right next to Gedo. Okada's my favorite wrestler working today, there's no doubt about it. I mean, I think there are some other performers who have Okada's storytelling ability (AJ, Tanahashi, and Asuka might top that list), but being top player in New Japan means you have the best spot to tell great in-ring stories, and Okada's been knocking it out of the park with what's regularly being called the best title run in wrestling history. The most talked-about of his matches (at least in the Western hemisphere) were the trilogy against Kenny Omega, an amazing series which will go down in history. Other title defenses this year included Minoru Suzuki, Bad Luck Fale, Evil , and Cody, bookended by 2016 and 2018 classics with Naito. (Also, let the record show there was a great defense against Naomichi Marufuji in late 2016.) My personal pick, a sentimental selection for favorite match of 2017, was his defense against Katsuyori Shibata. Likely his last match due to head injury sustained therein, Shibata's performance felt like the epitome of a swansong- a phrase referring to an ancient belief that a swan would let out a beautiful call before its death, after having been silent for most of its life. The match told a beautiful story, with the crowd playing an integral part, as they loudly shifted favorites as the energies of the wrestlers waxed and waned. By the final stretch, with Shibata embodying the fighting spirit, and Okada selling his ass off but seemingly unbeatable, the crowd was firmly in Shibata's corner, but after the three count, and Okada's arm was raised, they were still totally into it. It was just an epic story Shibata and Okada told in the ring, one of the only matches I've re-watched this year, and I think the only match I've watched three times. I believe that it would be my top match even if Shibata hadn't been retired by it, but I have to admit that aspect makes it a sentimental favorite on top of it already being being a pure storytelling/great pro-wrestling classic.
Wrestler of the Year: I don't really have one singled out. I've already extolled the storytelling prowess of Okada, and admitted he's my favorite wrestler. Kenny Omega is perseveringly innovative and has maybe the best offense I've ever seen. AJ Styles is the "Five Star Match with a Broomstick" candidate for worker of the year. I'm looking at Asuka, Samoa Joe, Neville, Suzuki, Naito, Tanahashi... some people are saying Reigns and Strowman, I've got three words for them: Wha. Te. Ver. There are great talents and performances all over, but it's impossible to compete with the storytelling platform of the New Japan main event. Gun to my head, it's Okada, but the case can be made for Omega, and Styles even being in the conversation says tons about his ability to rise above cable tv mediocrity.
WWE Matches of the Year: Since I'm biased against their (usually homogenized) match style, I would like to draw attention to some favorite 2017 matches of mine. Firstly, Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert from round one, day one of the Mae Young Classic. This is a great example of a match that you could show to a non-fan, where they'd probably "get it", with Abbey being the obvious underdog, but bringing the noise to the fight, showing tremendous in-ring work and emotion throughout. From the way she hopelessly sells Gabert's offense to the way she plants her feet when throwing forearms, Laith might have my vote for babyface performance of the year. I had goosebumps and Alice and I were kinda choked up by the finish, even the second time we watched it together. This set the bar high for the rest of the tournament, and for my money was best of the whole event, Kairi Sane vs Toni Storm notwithstanding. Other WWE standout matches: Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar. AJ Styles vs Brock Lesnar. Does that make it sound like Brock Lesnar is WWE wrestler of the year? No way. There's probably some NXT stuff which belongs on the short-list. Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream? Lars Sullivan vs Demitrius Bronson? The reality of my lovelife which surrounds me vs Nikki Cross?
I wish I had more to say about ROH. It isn't their fault they keep getting talent-raided by WWE, but the fact remains that my fandom has fallen off a lot this year. I still tune in for the big shows, and they're always enjoyable, but not enough to get me back into watching weekly, which is dumb of me because when I was a bigger fan, I preferred their tv to their ppvs. Maybe it just comes down to the amount of time I have to watch wrestling. It's not like I'm watching Raw or Smackdown, either.
I think Jim Cornette was involved with Impact in 2017. Now Don "the Jackyl" "Cyrus the Virus" "Mark-for-himself Jerkoff" Callous is in the mix. Billy Corgan bought NWA. Chris Jericho had a helluvarun, especially if the first week of 2018 is factored in. Some people died, probably. Really important people I can't recall at the moment, but whose presence will be felt across the industry for all time god bless them. WWE fired Emma those basterds. Austin Aries leaves WWE by choice and talks about what a great decision it was because his schedule's way easier and he makes more money. This becomes a really interesting topic of conversation, as the non-WWE path is perceived as a viable alternative, with the Young Bucks being flag-bearers of lucrative indie opportunities, with their (and other Bullet Club members') merch being top sellers at Hot Topics across our great nation of shitty malls. Daniel Bryan keeps talking about wanting to wrestle again.
In all, we've seen wrestling evolve and improve. New records were set, and we even had multiple contenders (per Meltzer) for best match of all time, which sounds like hyperbole, but I think is not outside the realm of reason. Looking at this year from 2007 would be insane. <3QM
December 16, 2016
December 20, 2015
2015: A Marshall Odyssey
Greetings all Revolutionists and Space Cadets,
I've been looking forward to writing this post since January 4 of this year, when NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 took place, and Poncho came over and we watched some sick wrestling, and wondered if the rest of the year would measure up. Now, looking back, I can say that it was indeed a stellar year all-around for wrestling (not to be confused with Sports Entertainment, for which 2015 was not such a banner stretch). I have a handful of my favorite matches of the year to share today, and so doing, hope to memorialize their entertainment value for every single person who follows and patronizes this fake blog. First though, a few non-match highlights:
Best Commentary: Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino easily bag this for the third year running. The only competition that got remotely close was the team of Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling III.
Character Feud of the Year: Another ROH coup, the rivalry between Dalton Castle and Silas Young has been so much fun, it's like smooth fair-trade dark chocolate is pouring out of the screen right into my eyeballs.
Crush of the Year: Karl Anderson's obsession with Maria Kanellis was equally as entertaining as Castle-Young, but the candle burned brighter and went out sooner. This would have also won for comedy segments of the year, both for the interludes Anderson would take mid-match to dance towards Maria, and for the interviews afterward when he'd say he came "this close" to kissing her.
Podcast of the Year: Tempting to also give this one to Anderson (and company) for their ridiculous and irreverent Talk N Shop (certainly the funniest wrestling podcast), but I have to give the award to Cheap Heat, because I can listen to it at work for an hour, and it saves me from having to watch 3 hours of Raw at home.
Best Turn: Tetsuya "The Stardust Genius" Naito was solid in the NJPW roster as a white-meat babyface. He'd had some career highs a couple years back, but had faded back to the midcard and seemed to have settled there pretty neatly. Slapping hands, kissing babies, and just wanting to put on the best match possible (win or lose) was the order of the day for the Naito of 2014. A year later, he's the leader of a growing stable of black-clad rule-shirkers, and is using his new character to draw incredible energy out of his matches. He's proved over and over that not only can his matches not be missed, but they must be watched without blinking, lest the viewer miss something dastardly and cool.
Best Event of the Year: G1 Climax 25. All 4 weeks of it, hard to beat that. Shoutout to the MVP of the tourney, Tomohiro Ishii. He wasn't the only one who had nothing but great matches in the 100-match series, but he was particularly impressive. He turned 40 a couple weeks ago.
Wrestling Website of the Year: Spare Change Wrestling Online. We are the dog's balls, the rat's twats, and the cat's pajamas. I'm not sure how complementary that really is, but who am I to argue with the census takers?
Top 5 matches of the year:
Before I list these off, I have to qualify my opinions by admitting I haven't seen the majority of wrestling which has happened on Earth for the past 12 months. That being said...
5. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Ricochet/ Roderick Strong, Black Cole Sun, 12/12/14, PWG
Technically, this match happened last year, but was released for general viewing this year, and it would be a shame to skip over it. These were really two matches, but I'm combining them because O'Reilly wrestled them back-to-back, and it's his performance that is really being highlighted here. The first match, a world title challenge earned by Ricochet, was a styles clash that proved each competitor to be a master of his own multifaceted game, and they took each other to their limit. When Roddy came out afterward and goaded O'Reilly into giving him a title match, it seemed impossible, but O'Reilly indulged a whole other high-octane match, working to a totally different style, but keeping the momentum of the narrative at full throttle. By the end of the night, he'd held the crowd in the palm of his hand for about an hour, through two completely different matches. I didn't make room for the category last year, but if I'd thought of it, Ricochet definitely would've won Wrestler of the Year, for having won the Super Junior and King of LA tournaments, as well as being the first gaijin Dragongate champ and making his tv debut on Lucha Underground. This match was the last feather in his cap of an incredible year. For Roddy, this is no exception in the force-of-nature run he's had across the indies, which probably brought him back up to his rightful place toward the top of the ROH card.
4. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT:Takeover Brooklyn, 8/22/15, WWE
One of the most fun things about being a wrestling fan is getting emotionally invested in your favorite characters, and allowing yourself to be manipulated by the machinations of the matches they have. I don't think I've ever had as many "happy wrestling tears" as I did when watching this amazing match unfold. This isn't on the list to give some kind of pity point to WWE/NXT, this was legitimately one of the best matches of the year, and it might be the most memorable when I'm thinking back 5 years from now.
3. Kazuchika Okada vs. AJ Styles, King of Pro-Wrestling, 10/11/15, NJPW
I watched this with the Poncho Man a few days after it happened. The audio cut out mid-way through the event, and we were bantering and snacking to make up for the silence, until the main event came on. It was the awesomest feeling, because we were so mesmerized, the silence only punctuated how cool the match was. Both of these guys were top-level standouts in the G1 Climax. Okada's been amazing for a few years, and has kept getting even better, it's awesome to see a legend in the making. AJ set the world on fire this year, continuing his hot streaks in New Japan and ROH, as well as memorable turns in Revolution Pro, Chikara, and lots of other, smaller promotions all over the place.
2. Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong, Death Before Dishonor XIII, 7/14/15, ROH
I think my favorite wrestling moment of the year, if I had to put my finger right on it, would be the moment I realized this match was going to go the whole hour. At about 40-45 minutes in, it was especially exciting because they'd shown no signs of playing for time. There are very few movies I enjoy as much as a super-good movie-length wrestling match, and this was like a Terminator 2-level bad-assery. Jay Lethal's had a stellar and decorated year, holding both the ROH TV title and their World Title for most of it. Now that I'm thinking more about it, the wrestling moment of the year was when Lethal won the World Title from Jay Briscoe. That was a jump up and jump around and shout event.
1. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi, Wrestle Kingdom 9, 1/4/15, NJPW
Right after it was over, Poncho and I agreed it would be hard to beat as match of the year. Since then, I've shown this match to wrestling virgins no less than 7 times, and each time I felt a smug satisfaction knowing what a treat they were in for. This match was so easy to read that every person I showed it to was completely transported, and became actively engaged in its plot, as though it were any kind of ballgame or film. It's a perfect example of storytelling within the match, which is so much more interesting, engaging, and artful than expositional dialogue.
I couldn't decide on a Promotion of the Year. I loved New Japan and ROH equally. AJ Styles is my Wrestler of the Year, given the quality, scope and prodigiousness of his year's work. I'm split between reDRagon and New Day for Tag Team of the Year. Kevin Owens wins TV Debut of the Year. Seth Rollins probably wins for something. How about Biggest Hole Left in Absence of the Year? CM Punk wins Best MMA Fighter of the Year. WWE wins Worst Use of Over Talent of the Year for taking Damien Sandow off TV. Vampiro wins Entrance of the Year, for his match with Pentagon Jr (another great match). Maybe I'll think of more later. What have you guys got?
I've been looking forward to writing this post since January 4 of this year, when NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 took place, and Poncho came over and we watched some sick wrestling, and wondered if the rest of the year would measure up. Now, looking back, I can say that it was indeed a stellar year all-around for wrestling (not to be confused with Sports Entertainment, for which 2015 was not such a banner stretch). I have a handful of my favorite matches of the year to share today, and so doing, hope to memorialize their entertainment value for every single person who follows and patronizes this fake blog. First though, a few non-match highlights:
Best Commentary: Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino easily bag this for the third year running. The only competition that got remotely close was the team of Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling III.
Character Feud of the Year: Another ROH coup, the rivalry between Dalton Castle and Silas Young has been so much fun, it's like smooth fair-trade dark chocolate is pouring out of the screen right into my eyeballs.
Crush of the Year: Karl Anderson's obsession with Maria Kanellis was equally as entertaining as Castle-Young, but the candle burned brighter and went out sooner. This would have also won for comedy segments of the year, both for the interludes Anderson would take mid-match to dance towards Maria, and for the interviews afterward when he'd say he came "this close" to kissing her.
Podcast of the Year: Tempting to also give this one to Anderson (and company) for their ridiculous and irreverent Talk N Shop (certainly the funniest wrestling podcast), but I have to give the award to Cheap Heat, because I can listen to it at work for an hour, and it saves me from having to watch 3 hours of Raw at home.
Best Turn: Tetsuya "The Stardust Genius" Naito was solid in the NJPW roster as a white-meat babyface. He'd had some career highs a couple years back, but had faded back to the midcard and seemed to have settled there pretty neatly. Slapping hands, kissing babies, and just wanting to put on the best match possible (win or lose) was the order of the day for the Naito of 2014. A year later, he's the leader of a growing stable of black-clad rule-shirkers, and is using his new character to draw incredible energy out of his matches. He's proved over and over that not only can his matches not be missed, but they must be watched without blinking, lest the viewer miss something dastardly and cool.
Best Event of the Year: G1 Climax 25. All 4 weeks of it, hard to beat that. Shoutout to the MVP of the tourney, Tomohiro Ishii. He wasn't the only one who had nothing but great matches in the 100-match series, but he was particularly impressive. He turned 40 a couple weeks ago.
Wrestling Website of the Year: Spare Change Wrestling Online. We are the dog's balls, the rat's twats, and the cat's pajamas. I'm not sure how complementary that really is, but who am I to argue with the census takers?
Top 5 matches of the year:
Before I list these off, I have to qualify my opinions by admitting I haven't seen the majority of wrestling which has happened on Earth for the past 12 months. That being said...
5. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Ricochet/ Roderick Strong, Black Cole Sun, 12/12/14, PWG
Technically, this match happened last year, but was released for general viewing this year, and it would be a shame to skip over it. These were really two matches, but I'm combining them because O'Reilly wrestled them back-to-back, and it's his performance that is really being highlighted here. The first match, a world title challenge earned by Ricochet, was a styles clash that proved each competitor to be a master of his own multifaceted game, and they took each other to their limit. When Roddy came out afterward and goaded O'Reilly into giving him a title match, it seemed impossible, but O'Reilly indulged a whole other high-octane match, working to a totally different style, but keeping the momentum of the narrative at full throttle. By the end of the night, he'd held the crowd in the palm of his hand for about an hour, through two completely different matches. I didn't make room for the category last year, but if I'd thought of it, Ricochet definitely would've won Wrestler of the Year, for having won the Super Junior and King of LA tournaments, as well as being the first gaijin Dragongate champ and making his tv debut on Lucha Underground. This match was the last feather in his cap of an incredible year. For Roddy, this is no exception in the force-of-nature run he's had across the indies, which probably brought him back up to his rightful place toward the top of the ROH card.
4. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT:Takeover Brooklyn, 8/22/15, WWE
One of the most fun things about being a wrestling fan is getting emotionally invested in your favorite characters, and allowing yourself to be manipulated by the machinations of the matches they have. I don't think I've ever had as many "happy wrestling tears" as I did when watching this amazing match unfold. This isn't on the list to give some kind of pity point to WWE/NXT, this was legitimately one of the best matches of the year, and it might be the most memorable when I'm thinking back 5 years from now.
3. Kazuchika Okada vs. AJ Styles, King of Pro-Wrestling, 10/11/15, NJPW
I watched this with the Poncho Man a few days after it happened. The audio cut out mid-way through the event, and we were bantering and snacking to make up for the silence, until the main event came on. It was the awesomest feeling, because we were so mesmerized, the silence only punctuated how cool the match was. Both of these guys were top-level standouts in the G1 Climax. Okada's been amazing for a few years, and has kept getting even better, it's awesome to see a legend in the making. AJ set the world on fire this year, continuing his hot streaks in New Japan and ROH, as well as memorable turns in Revolution Pro, Chikara, and lots of other, smaller promotions all over the place.
2. Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong, Death Before Dishonor XIII, 7/14/15, ROH
I think my favorite wrestling moment of the year, if I had to put my finger right on it, would be the moment I realized this match was going to go the whole hour. At about 40-45 minutes in, it was especially exciting because they'd shown no signs of playing for time. There are very few movies I enjoy as much as a super-good movie-length wrestling match, and this was like a Terminator 2-level bad-assery. Jay Lethal's had a stellar and decorated year, holding both the ROH TV title and their World Title for most of it. Now that I'm thinking more about it, the wrestling moment of the year was when Lethal won the World Title from Jay Briscoe. That was a jump up and jump around and shout event.
1. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi, Wrestle Kingdom 9, 1/4/15, NJPW
Right after it was over, Poncho and I agreed it would be hard to beat as match of the year. Since then, I've shown this match to wrestling virgins no less than 7 times, and each time I felt a smug satisfaction knowing what a treat they were in for. This match was so easy to read that every person I showed it to was completely transported, and became actively engaged in its plot, as though it were any kind of ballgame or film. It's a perfect example of storytelling within the match, which is so much more interesting, engaging, and artful than expositional dialogue.
I couldn't decide on a Promotion of the Year. I loved New Japan and ROH equally. AJ Styles is my Wrestler of the Year, given the quality, scope and prodigiousness of his year's work. I'm split between reDRagon and New Day for Tag Team of the Year. Kevin Owens wins TV Debut of the Year. Seth Rollins probably wins for something. How about Biggest Hole Left in Absence of the Year? CM Punk wins Best MMA Fighter of the Year. WWE wins Worst Use of Over Talent of the Year for taking Damien Sandow off TV. Vampiro wins Entrance of the Year, for his match with Pentagon Jr (another great match). Maybe I'll think of more later. What have you guys got?
December 16, 2014
2014: Our Year in Wrestling
Sure, we've got two weeks left, but with all of the major shows behind us, now's as good a time as any to do a recap thing. There are a few huge, obvious things to make note of, but I had more fun thinking back to some of the little things that I appreciated here and there. So, kick back, relax, grab a frosty mug of your favorite beverage and your personal electronic device, peruse this latest blog post, and let's all ask the question, "What on Earth just happened?"
WWE launches the WWE Network.
AJ Styles (released by TNA in December 2013) becomes (probably) the top free agent in the world, and wins the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first NJPW match. TNA loses it's contract with Spike, and signs on to a channel called Destination America.
NJPW's 24th G1 Climax is widely hailed as the best singles pro wrestling tournament of all time.
ROH has their first and second Pay-Per-Views (as opposed to Internet Pay-Per-View). With the downward spiral of TNA, they become the USA's second biggest wrestling company.
In my opinion, these are the big news items of the year. There's also the CM Punk walkout and subsequent trash-talking. There's Daniel Bryan's huge, but manufactured Wrestlemania "moment". There's Brock Lesnar winning the WWE title and only coming around once in a while to defend it against John Cena. These are things we might look back on fondly, with disappointment, or which we might just forget about altogether. Who knows. But here are some things I did like about 2014:
ROH
Character: Jay Lethal. I never thought I would see him as a bad guy. I never thought he could pull it off, he's just too likable, and I always liked that about him. But he's grown to be a great heel, and just as fun to watch as his babyface persona. The TV title (which he's held for most of the year) has been the heart and soul of ROH, and is way cooler than the World title, which has been surrounded by grumpy assholes since Adam Cole dropped it.
Match: Cedric Alexander vs Roderick Strong, submission match, Best in the World PPV. Not the biggest or flashiest ROH match of 2014, but one that I really liked. Perfect for what it was.
Shoutout: reDRagon. Possibly the tag team of the year. Next to Young Bucks and the Dust Brothers, which is great company. Also, Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino win my coveted Best Commentary Team Award for the second consecutive year.
TNA
Character: Low Ki. I fucking love Low Ki. He's so over-the-top in everything he does. His promos are wicked intense, and he's got the ringwork to back it up.
Match: You know what? I didn't actually watch a whole lot of TNA this year. Probably something with Austin Aries. Let's say Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe for the X-Division championship. I watched that on Impact one week. There were some good shows there toward the end.
Shoutout: Daniels & Kazarian. X-Men trunks are totally appropriate, cuz I think Christopher Daniels must be a mutant. Kaz was never my favorite on Impact, but I have really been appreciating his wrestling smoothness and range of ability after seeing him work ROH and PWG shows. They left TNA around April.
CHIKARA
Character: Jakob Hammermeier. Even if he spent most of the year under a cube, I really like Jakob's dedication to the side of evil, even after his terrific face-turn at Never Compromise. Other contenders (this is a heavily-contested field in Chikara) would include Ophidian, Jimmy Jacobs, and Sidney Bakabella.)
Match: Silver Ant vs Shynron, Moonraker. I just watched this the other day. I know there were other good ones, but I can't remember all the Chikara shows this year. They seemed to come out in spurts, so that I went months without seeing any, then binge on it for a week. Anyway, the Colony rules, and whatever match I picked would probably either be a Colony or Silver Ant match.
Shoutout: Deucalion. Not just anyone could've played the monster so convincingly. That dude was freaking people out. Nice monster voice.
PWG
Character: Hmmm. The crowd?
Match: Candice Lerae vs Adam Cole, Mystery Vortex II.
Shoutout: Excalibur. I think the rotating cast of wrestlers who join him can outshine how fun and great he is on commentary.
WWE
Character: Dust Brothers. Sorry Bray Wyatt, your promos are amazing, but your ringwork is weak. Stardust y Goldust est le package totale.
Match: Tough one, since I barely watched this year. Elimination Chamber match? Bryan at Mania? Why can't Cesaro and Fandango get 20 minutes on PPV so that I can answer this? Actually, I'm pretty sure my favorite WWE match this year was with Seth Rollins. Did he wrestle Daniel Bryan early in the year on Raw? Rollins has been killin' it.
NXT
Character: Sami Zayn. What character? The character that somehow makes me care about everything he does.
Match: Sami Zayn vs Adrian Neville, Takeover REvolution. The hype is still fresh offa this one, but I know I can stand by it. It was awesome.
NJPW
Character: Nakamura? Okada? Maybe a tie. These guys are so top-shelf it's ridiculous. I'll go with my dude Okada, the shiny-clothes-wearing unstoppable buck.
Match: Okada vs Nakamura, G1 Finals. The culmination of the best wrestling thing ever. Easily my Match Of The Year.
Shoutouts: Hiroshi Tanahashi and AJ Styles, who haven't had anything but great matches all year, either against each other, or whoever. More shoutouts to Gedo and Jado, who will surely win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Best Booking" award for the fourth consecutive year.
Well, that wasn't so bad. Remember when I used to write two to three times that much about one week's worth of wrestling? Maybe a hundred other things I should have added to this will occur to me later, like my favorite match from Superstars, and my favorite character from OVW (it's the Body Guy). Until then, this is Quarter Marshall wishing you a joyful and staph-free New Year.
WWE launches the WWE Network.
AJ Styles (released by TNA in December 2013) becomes (probably) the top free agent in the world, and wins the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his first NJPW match. TNA loses it's contract with Spike, and signs on to a channel called Destination America.
NJPW's 24th G1 Climax is widely hailed as the best singles pro wrestling tournament of all time.
ROH has their first and second Pay-Per-Views (as opposed to Internet Pay-Per-View). With the downward spiral of TNA, they become the USA's second biggest wrestling company.
In my opinion, these are the big news items of the year. There's also the CM Punk walkout and subsequent trash-talking. There's Daniel Bryan's huge, but manufactured Wrestlemania "moment". There's Brock Lesnar winning the WWE title and only coming around once in a while to defend it against John Cena. These are things we might look back on fondly, with disappointment, or which we might just forget about altogether. Who knows. But here are some things I did like about 2014:
ROH
Character: Jay Lethal. I never thought I would see him as a bad guy. I never thought he could pull it off, he's just too likable, and I always liked that about him. But he's grown to be a great heel, and just as fun to watch as his babyface persona. The TV title (which he's held for most of the year) has been the heart and soul of ROH, and is way cooler than the World title, which has been surrounded by grumpy assholes since Adam Cole dropped it.
Match: Cedric Alexander vs Roderick Strong, submission match, Best in the World PPV. Not the biggest or flashiest ROH match of 2014, but one that I really liked. Perfect for what it was.
Shoutout: reDRagon. Possibly the tag team of the year. Next to Young Bucks and the Dust Brothers, which is great company. Also, Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino win my coveted Best Commentary Team Award for the second consecutive year.
TNA
Character: Low Ki. I fucking love Low Ki. He's so over-the-top in everything he does. His promos are wicked intense, and he's got the ringwork to back it up.
Match: You know what? I didn't actually watch a whole lot of TNA this year. Probably something with Austin Aries. Let's say Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe for the X-Division championship. I watched that on Impact one week. There were some good shows there toward the end.
Shoutout: Daniels & Kazarian. X-Men trunks are totally appropriate, cuz I think Christopher Daniels must be a mutant. Kaz was never my favorite on Impact, but I have really been appreciating his wrestling smoothness and range of ability after seeing him work ROH and PWG shows. They left TNA around April.
CHIKARA
Character: Jakob Hammermeier. Even if he spent most of the year under a cube, I really like Jakob's dedication to the side of evil, even after his terrific face-turn at Never Compromise. Other contenders (this is a heavily-contested field in Chikara) would include Ophidian, Jimmy Jacobs, and Sidney Bakabella.)
Match: Silver Ant vs Shynron, Moonraker. I just watched this the other day. I know there were other good ones, but I can't remember all the Chikara shows this year. They seemed to come out in spurts, so that I went months without seeing any, then binge on it for a week. Anyway, the Colony rules, and whatever match I picked would probably either be a Colony or Silver Ant match.
Shoutout: Deucalion. Not just anyone could've played the monster so convincingly. That dude was freaking people out. Nice monster voice.
PWG
Character: Hmmm. The crowd?
Match: Candice Lerae vs Adam Cole, Mystery Vortex II.
Shoutout: Excalibur. I think the rotating cast of wrestlers who join him can outshine how fun and great he is on commentary.
WWE
Character: Dust Brothers. Sorry Bray Wyatt, your promos are amazing, but your ringwork is weak. Stardust y Goldust est le package totale.
Match: Tough one, since I barely watched this year. Elimination Chamber match? Bryan at Mania? Why can't Cesaro and Fandango get 20 minutes on PPV so that I can answer this? Actually, I'm pretty sure my favorite WWE match this year was with Seth Rollins. Did he wrestle Daniel Bryan early in the year on Raw? Rollins has been killin' it.
NXT
Character: Sami Zayn. What character? The character that somehow makes me care about everything he does.
Match: Sami Zayn vs Adrian Neville, Takeover REvolution. The hype is still fresh offa this one, but I know I can stand by it. It was awesome.
NJPW
Character: Nakamura? Okada? Maybe a tie. These guys are so top-shelf it's ridiculous. I'll go with my dude Okada, the shiny-clothes-wearing unstoppable buck.
Match: Okada vs Nakamura, G1 Finals. The culmination of the best wrestling thing ever. Easily my Match Of The Year.
Shoutouts: Hiroshi Tanahashi and AJ Styles, who haven't had anything but great matches all year, either against each other, or whoever. More shoutouts to Gedo and Jado, who will surely win the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Best Booking" award for the fourth consecutive year.
Well, that wasn't so bad. Remember when I used to write two to three times that much about one week's worth of wrestling? Maybe a hundred other things I should have added to this will occur to me later, like my favorite match from Superstars, and my favorite character from OVW (it's the Body Guy). Until then, this is Quarter Marshall wishing you a joyful and staph-free New Year.
January 05, 2014
Yet Another Year's End Best Of List
First, I'd like to completely retract all of my predictions from 6 weeks ago, because clearly none of them will even come close to fruition. How embarrassing.
I've been seeing lots of Best Of lists. Some of them are "as voted on by you- the people" and some are individual opinions. All of these lists have the same categories-- best wrestler, best female wrestler, best tag team, etc. I wanted to make a list to highlight some of the other stuff I'll remember best from 2013, peppered with random screenshots from throughout the year. So here we go.
BEST Face Turn= Cody Rhodes. His performance at Money in the Bank made him a face even before Sandow turned on him. His wrestling style has changed to better suit his new character, he's more athletic, does cool aerial moves, has awesome comebacks, etc. Cody's been an innovator for a while now, and having a fresh character to work with has shown that he can continue that trend. Goldust gets tons of praise, and rightfully so, but Cody's right up there with him.
BEST Heel Turn= Adam Cole. I didn't even think he could pull it off, being that he was such a solid babyface, but his bad guy persona is just as, if not more effective. The slow transition with all of the teasing along the way was a highlight of ROH booking.
BEST Double Turn= Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler had one of the coolest matches of the year when they successfully pulled off the double turn. Ziggler's good guy hasn't really gotten over, and Del Rio never got much heat, but for that one beautiful, shining moment, I totally gave a shit.
BEST Commentary Team= Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. Corino really makes this one. His color makes ROH twice as fun to watch. He regularly cracks me up, and it's been a REALLY long time since I could say that about a commentator. Plus, Kelly is a solid play-by-play guy with an upstanding everyman kind of persona, and he makes a great foil to Corino's witty slime.
BEST Moment On Television= Mark Henry's Retirement Speech. I still go back and watch this sometimes. Goosebumps. Close second would be when The Shield jumped Undertaker on the Raw after Mania, with Kane making the save.
I was trying to come up with a list of different kinds of matches, and my favorites from each type, but that was taking too long, but I'm pretty sure my favorite match of the year was Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton at Battleground.
So what's up fellas? We gonna do the Rumble again this year? Maybe meet in Portland again, maybe out here on the sunny Oregon coast, or maybe Eugene (if that's an option). Let's make a plan!
I've been seeing lots of Best Of lists. Some of them are "as voted on by you- the people" and some are individual opinions. All of these lists have the same categories-- best wrestler, best female wrestler, best tag team, etc. I wanted to make a list to highlight some of the other stuff I'll remember best from 2013, peppered with random screenshots from throughout the year. So here we go.
BEST Face Turn= Cody Rhodes. His performance at Money in the Bank made him a face even before Sandow turned on him. His wrestling style has changed to better suit his new character, he's more athletic, does cool aerial moves, has awesome comebacks, etc. Cody's been an innovator for a while now, and having a fresh character to work with has shown that he can continue that trend. Goldust gets tons of praise, and rightfully so, but Cody's right up there with him.
BEST Heel Turn= Adam Cole. I didn't even think he could pull it off, being that he was such a solid babyface, but his bad guy persona is just as, if not more effective. The slow transition with all of the teasing along the way was a highlight of ROH booking.
BEST Double Turn= Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler had one of the coolest matches of the year when they successfully pulled off the double turn. Ziggler's good guy hasn't really gotten over, and Del Rio never got much heat, but for that one beautiful, shining moment, I totally gave a shit.
BEST Commentary Team= Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. Corino really makes this one. His color makes ROH twice as fun to watch. He regularly cracks me up, and it's been a REALLY long time since I could say that about a commentator. Plus, Kelly is a solid play-by-play guy with an upstanding everyman kind of persona, and he makes a great foil to Corino's witty slime.
BEST Moment On Television= Mark Henry's Retirement Speech. I still go back and watch this sometimes. Goosebumps. Close second would be when The Shield jumped Undertaker on the Raw after Mania, with Kane making the save.
I was trying to come up with a list of different kinds of matches, and my favorites from each type, but that was taking too long, but I'm pretty sure my favorite match of the year was Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton at Battleground.
So what's up fellas? We gonna do the Rumble again this year? Maybe meet in Portland again, maybe out here on the sunny Oregon coast, or maybe Eugene (if that's an option). Let's make a plan!
December 25, 2012
Year End Musings
The Year End. Supposedly The End of The World Review.
Let’s see…In the real world Rusty is having a massive feud with his basement. Or in French….Les Sous Sol. (I don’t know any other languages…) That’s a pretty big feud. We all know who will prevail.
The Marshall is supposedly feuding with boxes in his big move. Is moving a mid-card heel or a jobber….can’t quite decide.
The Poncho Man has been completely off tv. He did go see Colt Cabana in Keizer, Oregon…and got paid to do it. Mr. Cabana was a gentleman, and it was incredible to see someone up close easily show how much better he is than everyone else, and I like DOA’s wrestlers. Poncho has also stayed completely up to date on WWE, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and is currently in the middle of watching ROH’s Final Battle. I’m not sure where everyone else is at….I have a hard time talking about wrestling without spoilers so please, PLEASE feel free to skip paragraphs. I will also not talk about specific events….I didn’t take notes so I have no idea when and where I watched all of these things. Anyway…enjoy.
The Shield. Jim Ross said on his website something about “Way to maximize your minutes.” The PPV match was incredible. All three of these guys just look incredible. It’s almost like Nexus was a trial run to figure out how to get it right this time. “The bump” was CRAZY! Flashed to an article on Grantland.com by The Masked Man talking about how Seth Rollins could be an amazing mix of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Basically what WWE wants Justin Gabriel to be…but he has one move and doesn’t seem legitimately tough at all. Every time I hear Ambrose I look up at the Brian Pillman action figure on my wall. Great Stuff guys!
The Death Of Sapphire. The best storyline I’ve seen in wrestling this year was undoubtedly Chikara’s story of The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger. I kind of got parts of this spoiled for me because I watch lots of Chuck Taylor videos (The Swamp Monster was very very sad). Mr. Touchdown is the most awful person. I can’t wait to hear what The Marshall has to say about Under The Hood (Chikara‘s Season Finale). I felt a little let down except for The Stranger. It seemed like the storylines weren’t coming to a conclusion like I thought they would.
The Antonio Cesaro Push. HELL YES!!! This has been one of my favorite things on WWE programming. He gave Ryback his two best matches he has ever had. Even with one of them being a count out. Cesaro really is a step above almost everyone else. He really does make whoever he’s facing look more legit and gets himself over at the same time.
Ziggles and Company. I do like the fact that we’re getting a weird motley crew of a stable. I do like the fact that they fixed the RyBLACK problem with making Big E a Batista style enforcer. I like AJ being a heel. I don’t like that this seemed so random. NXT is my second favorite WWE (well maybe tied with Main Event) and I’m confused that both Rollins and RyBLACK are faces on NXT. I know NXT is taped two months out, but this is like the main problem I have with editorial in Comic Books. We all work at the same company, probably in the same building, but we don’t discuss anything so it will make sense to readers. Does this mean Kassius Ohno will be a face when he gets called up. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper will probably end up being watered down Festus.
Cody Rhoades is now more dashing than ever. Nuff’ Said.
Cibernetico Rises. I actually watched this a few weeks ago. I really liked this. It got me sooooo pumped for Under The Hood. Gotta love Tim Donst. Then I realized I’m still not a Eddie Kingston mark. Cabana for Grand Champion! Loved that it was ROH vs. Chikara. Nice way to give the rub to 3.0 (slowly becoming one of my favorite teams because they seem so random) with them eliminating the Briscoes. Oh and Kevin Steen and the Young Bucks’ promo about this event was hilarious.
The Return Of Ric Flair. How about it? I hope I didn’t ruin anyone’s day by kinda spoiling this weeks ago here on the blog. I had no idea when this was happening, but Flair had recently said “I can’t wait to get back to work.” PLEASE make him a manager. Pretty please! This man needs wrestling and he needs to be used. I don’t even care who you put him with. Put him with Kofi and I’ll probably suddenly become a huge Kofi mark. Kofi can probably jump as high as Space Mountain.
Currently watching Bo Dallas attempt Sliced Bread #2 on The Big Show. HA!
Generico vs. Steen: Ladder War IV. Crazy brutal ladder match. Totally on par with the rest of their feud. Generico really is one of the best in the world. Ole!
Okay….I think I’m done. It’s now a few days later and Christmas Eve. I haven’t watched wrestling since Thursday. I’m currently waiting for the new Raw….even though it was filmed last week…so I’m sure nothing cool happened. Let’s figure out when we’re doing the marathon. Give Rusty a back rub so he isn’t so stressed out. Poncho Out.
Let’s see…In the real world Rusty is having a massive feud with his basement. Or in French….Les Sous Sol. (I don’t know any other languages…) That’s a pretty big feud. We all know who will prevail.
The Marshall is supposedly feuding with boxes in his big move. Is moving a mid-card heel or a jobber….can’t quite decide.
The Poncho Man has been completely off tv. He did go see Colt Cabana in Keizer, Oregon…and got paid to do it. Mr. Cabana was a gentleman, and it was incredible to see someone up close easily show how much better he is than everyone else, and I like DOA’s wrestlers. Poncho has also stayed completely up to date on WWE, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, and is currently in the middle of watching ROH’s Final Battle. I’m not sure where everyone else is at….I have a hard time talking about wrestling without spoilers so please, PLEASE feel free to skip paragraphs. I will also not talk about specific events….I didn’t take notes so I have no idea when and where I watched all of these things. Anyway…enjoy.
The Shield. Jim Ross said on his website something about “Way to maximize your minutes.” The PPV match was incredible. All three of these guys just look incredible. It’s almost like Nexus was a trial run to figure out how to get it right this time. “The bump” was CRAZY! Flashed to an article on Grantland.com by The Masked Man talking about how Seth Rollins could be an amazing mix of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Basically what WWE wants Justin Gabriel to be…but he has one move and doesn’t seem legitimately tough at all. Every time I hear Ambrose I look up at the Brian Pillman action figure on my wall. Great Stuff guys!
The Death Of Sapphire. The best storyline I’ve seen in wrestling this year was undoubtedly Chikara’s story of The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger. I kind of got parts of this spoiled for me because I watch lots of Chuck Taylor videos (The Swamp Monster was very very sad). Mr. Touchdown is the most awful person. I can’t wait to hear what The Marshall has to say about Under The Hood (Chikara‘s Season Finale). I felt a little let down except for The Stranger. It seemed like the storylines weren’t coming to a conclusion like I thought they would.
The Antonio Cesaro Push. HELL YES!!! This has been one of my favorite things on WWE programming. He gave Ryback his two best matches he has ever had. Even with one of them being a count out. Cesaro really is a step above almost everyone else. He really does make whoever he’s facing look more legit and gets himself over at the same time.
Ziggles and Company. I do like the fact that we’re getting a weird motley crew of a stable. I do like the fact that they fixed the RyBLACK problem with making Big E a Batista style enforcer. I like AJ being a heel. I don’t like that this seemed so random. NXT is my second favorite WWE (well maybe tied with Main Event) and I’m confused that both Rollins and RyBLACK are faces on NXT. I know NXT is taped two months out, but this is like the main problem I have with editorial in Comic Books. We all work at the same company, probably in the same building, but we don’t discuss anything so it will make sense to readers. Does this mean Kassius Ohno will be a face when he gets called up. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper will probably end up being watered down Festus.
Cody Rhoades is now more dashing than ever. Nuff’ Said.
Cibernetico Rises. I actually watched this a few weeks ago. I really liked this. It got me sooooo pumped for Under The Hood. Gotta love Tim Donst. Then I realized I’m still not a Eddie Kingston mark. Cabana for Grand Champion! Loved that it was ROH vs. Chikara. Nice way to give the rub to 3.0 (slowly becoming one of my favorite teams because they seem so random) with them eliminating the Briscoes. Oh and Kevin Steen and the Young Bucks’ promo about this event was hilarious.
The Return Of Ric Flair. How about it? I hope I didn’t ruin anyone’s day by kinda spoiling this weeks ago here on the blog. I had no idea when this was happening, but Flair had recently said “I can’t wait to get back to work.” PLEASE make him a manager. Pretty please! This man needs wrestling and he needs to be used. I don’t even care who you put him with. Put him with Kofi and I’ll probably suddenly become a huge Kofi mark. Kofi can probably jump as high as Space Mountain.
Currently watching Bo Dallas attempt Sliced Bread #2 on The Big Show. HA!
Generico vs. Steen: Ladder War IV. Crazy brutal ladder match. Totally on par with the rest of their feud. Generico really is one of the best in the world. Ole!
Okay….I think I’m done. It’s now a few days later and Christmas Eve. I haven’t watched wrestling since Thursday. I’m currently waiting for the new Raw….even though it was filmed last week…so I’m sure nothing cool happened. Let’s figure out when we’re doing the marathon. Give Rusty a back rub so he isn’t so stressed out. Poncho Out.
December 15, 2011
Marshall Says: WWE Year in Review: 2011
One of the main topics discussed among pro wrestling fans in 2010 was the eroding roster of main event talent in the WWE. With a large portion of big name stars leaving the company (Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Batista, and later Edge) and other A-Listers nearing in-ring retirement (Undertaker, HHH), the future of the main event scene in the WWE seemed threatened. The reigning question: who will take the place of these departing luminary personalities? With the invasion of the Nexus, and the championship reign of The Miz, it seemed like the whole title picture was being shaken up and redefined, with mid-carders and fresh faces alike being elevated very quickly to compete at the top tier. But what stuck? Despite his long reign, The Miz was never a dominating champion, and the Nexus dissolved relatively quickly. It seemed like as soon as Sheamus cemented his role as a viable up-and-comer in the main event scene, he was shot down with a long lasting losing streak. If 2010 was a year defined by it's confused main events, then 2011 was a year defined by a sense of returning stability to the championships, with thanks to the talent that stepped up to try and fill those open top spots.
Some of the guys to reinvent themselves have been around for a long time, as in the case of Christian and Mark Henry. Some have been in the WWE for a fewer number of years, but a while all the same, as in R Truth, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, and CM Punk. With less than three years logged in the WWE are Sheamus, Wade Barrett, and Daniel Bryan. Some of these guys have been excellent in lesser roles for as long as they've been around, and others have only just this year found their best character to date. All of them have substantially improved to the extent that the main event scene in the WWE doesn't seem too bleak any more.
Of course, the standout here is CM Punk, whose summer program with John Cena/ Vince McMahon was the hottest, most talked about series of events in pro wrestling in years, through which he became one of the most polarizing figures within the past decade. But beyond the mark-out value of CM Punk's success is the hope that his undeniable claim to be on the top of the industry could change the WWE's view on what should constitute a WWE champion. Now, this wasn't the first world championship Punk has won with the company, it was his fourth. It's also notable that his first reign as World Heavyweight champ was on the Raw brand. He isn't even the first WWE champ with deep indie roots, which is a distinction belonging to Rob Van Dam (2006). So what makes this time different? In my estimation, two things: context and money. Context because it was a recurring topic of his famous promos that the WWE almost exclusively pushes guys who've come up through their system, and have a bodybuilder's figure. His winning the title directly after pointing out these facts seemed to represent a consensual breaking of said habits. Reason two is money, which is what everything really comes down to in the end, and it's important in this scenario because CM Punk proved that he could move merch with the best of em. Sometimes it's hard to tell a genuine buzz from passing hype, but the staying power of Punk's popularity at the merchandise table sends an unmistakable message to the accounting department. Message reads: Paul Heyman was right.
Even though Punk rocked the wrestling world, and owns the top three mark-out moments of 2011, I think what may actually be this years most significant, lasting effects on pro wrestling originated from a much humbler and unlikelier source. With his popular weekly youtube show, Zack Ryder has changed the game forever. The saturation of Twitter in WWE programming, as well as two weekly streaming shows and WWE.com exclusive interviews were all going to happen anyway, so it's not so much that Ryder found success online as much as that he found success by himself. The opportunities youtube and Twitter afford to self-promoters are unprecedented, and Ryder has proved how effective they can be for generating both interest and revenue in pro wrestling. This goes back to the point I made earlier about genuine buzz versus passing hype, and the difference being defined by the bottom line. Zack Ryder is the first of a kind, and may one day be remembered as the grandfather of self-promoting Superstars.
These are the three things I feel define the past year for the WWE. The number of guys stepping up their game, the recognition of CM Punk's value (and the appropriate platform), and Zack Ryder reinventing the wheel of how to get over. Each of these elements have scads of further potential for the year to come, and beyond. If Kane's masked arrival this week is any portent, I'd say things are looking good that WWE programming may indeed soon be roundly appreciated by it's oft disgruntled fans as being "fun again."
Some of the guys to reinvent themselves have been around for a long time, as in the case of Christian and Mark Henry. Some have been in the WWE for a fewer number of years, but a while all the same, as in R Truth, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, and CM Punk. With less than three years logged in the WWE are Sheamus, Wade Barrett, and Daniel Bryan. Some of these guys have been excellent in lesser roles for as long as they've been around, and others have only just this year found their best character to date. All of them have substantially improved to the extent that the main event scene in the WWE doesn't seem too bleak any more.
Of course, the standout here is CM Punk, whose summer program with John Cena/ Vince McMahon was the hottest, most talked about series of events in pro wrestling in years, through which he became one of the most polarizing figures within the past decade. But beyond the mark-out value of CM Punk's success is the hope that his undeniable claim to be on the top of the industry could change the WWE's view on what should constitute a WWE champion. Now, this wasn't the first world championship Punk has won with the company, it was his fourth. It's also notable that his first reign as World Heavyweight champ was on the Raw brand. He isn't even the first WWE champ with deep indie roots, which is a distinction belonging to Rob Van Dam (2006). So what makes this time different? In my estimation, two things: context and money. Context because it was a recurring topic of his famous promos that the WWE almost exclusively pushes guys who've come up through their system, and have a bodybuilder's figure. His winning the title directly after pointing out these facts seemed to represent a consensual breaking of said habits. Reason two is money, which is what everything really comes down to in the end, and it's important in this scenario because CM Punk proved that he could move merch with the best of em. Sometimes it's hard to tell a genuine buzz from passing hype, but the staying power of Punk's popularity at the merchandise table sends an unmistakable message to the accounting department. Message reads: Paul Heyman was right.
Even though Punk rocked the wrestling world, and owns the top three mark-out moments of 2011, I think what may actually be this years most significant, lasting effects on pro wrestling originated from a much humbler and unlikelier source. With his popular weekly youtube show, Zack Ryder has changed the game forever. The saturation of Twitter in WWE programming, as well as two weekly streaming shows and WWE.com exclusive interviews were all going to happen anyway, so it's not so much that Ryder found success online as much as that he found success by himself. The opportunities youtube and Twitter afford to self-promoters are unprecedented, and Ryder has proved how effective they can be for generating both interest and revenue in pro wrestling. This goes back to the point I made earlier about genuine buzz versus passing hype, and the difference being defined by the bottom line. Zack Ryder is the first of a kind, and may one day be remembered as the grandfather of self-promoting Superstars.
These are the three things I feel define the past year for the WWE. The number of guys stepping up their game, the recognition of CM Punk's value (and the appropriate platform), and Zack Ryder reinventing the wheel of how to get over. Each of these elements have scads of further potential for the year to come, and beyond. If Kane's masked arrival this week is any portent, I'd say things are looking good that WWE programming may indeed soon be roundly appreciated by it's oft disgruntled fans as being "fun again."
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