2024 MOTYC List #2

 
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Daisuke Sekimoto, NOAH 2/15/2014

Terrific match. Very Fujiwaraish performance from Sakuraba doing lots of really great submission entries and counters on Sekimoto. Sekimoto is really effective as a simpleton powerhouse here, he makes a great foil for Saku as his style is basic enough to make Sakuraba look spectacular, but also because of his freakish strength you buy that Sekimoto could just squeeze Sakuraba to death if he simply gets his arms around him.  A few really smart spots here. Sakuraba dropping a nasty knee on Sekimotos face, as well as deciding to later work him over with knees to the body and low kicks was unexpected. Also, because Sakuraba is so frail whenever Sekimoto actually starts doing damage it looks like he's just killing him.


Kazushi Sakuraba & Ulka Sasaki vs Hikaru Sato & Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 5/4

I'm liking this old man shooter division. Sakuraba is 54 years old now, but he is still pretty amazing on the mat. Ulka is an ex UFC guy and he shows promise. I thought Shuhei Taniguchi was pretty great here as outmatched but still dangerous old guy and if he wrestles like this more often I'd like to see more of him. Initially Sakuraba was tooling him by reversing Taniguchis greco roman style with his own unorthodox submissions. Just when Taniguchi seemed to not get anywhere, he threw Saku with a big head and arm throw and locked in a Honda-esque choke hold. He then dropped Sasaki with a nasty STO and tried to smash his head with an out of nowhere soccer kick. Sasaki and Hikaru Sato also had an awesome mat exchange. Taniguchi getting heated with Sakuraba and going for suplexes and more out of nowhere headkicks was pretty great. Finish was sudden but also pretty spectacular.


Outsider Negishi vs Dekai Ichimotsu, Health Pro Wrestling 4/14

Great little match. Negishi is gray and old and kind of gangly and Ichimotsu is rocking the wrestling shoes black t-shirt and slicked back hair like a sleazy Osamu Kido. Almost all on the mat. After some cool opening grappling with both guys displaying cool indian deathlock entries, Negishi starts going for the leg. Negishi has a kind of frail old man vibe but he is fun yanking at Ichimotsus leg. Ichimotsu was pretty great selling the legwork and making comeback attempts by going after the arm. Highlights include some great work around a body slam, and Ichimotsus leg giving out when he attempted his finisher.

Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4/5/24

Thankfully Arena Mexico saved this match from being another boring dream match by booing Danielson and rallying behind Panther. Danielson was clever enough to lean into it and Panther was pretty damn awesome here. Opening grappling wasn't anything mindblowing but it's fun to see Danielson go at it with a genuine maestro. I actually thought they could have done a little more on the mat, tho Bryan going into scarecrow position and twisting Panthers head was cool. Panther then taking all this stiff offense and a big dive and suplex on the floor was pretty sick. Initially I liked Danielson selling his leg being damaged by Panthers Tapatia, but him just popping up to hit a dropkick pissed me off a little. Panther desperately avoiding the submission was great and so much better than the usual reversal fest. He also took another big bump off the top, why is this 63 year old man taking all the huge bumps in the match?? Danielson retaliating to the flubbed submission with head stomps was great and probably the best moment of the match. I'm not sure why Panther was the first one to get up after Danielsons 2nd dive and simply hit a dive on his own. The running knee in the ring was a bit lost on me. I get that Danielson was trying to lean into his arrogant outsider act by smiling and not following up, but it still took me out of it a bit before they followed with the cheap finish. Tho Panthers super fast armbar was awesome. Good to very good match with a very impressive performance by Panther overall.

Kazuhiro Tamura vs Akira Jo, HEAT UP 4/7

Very good big match I thought. Jo has roots tracing to IGF, but he has turned into a complete sleazeball now. He really has the vibe that he is a capable wrestler, as evidenced by him doing some grappling and throwing Tamura with a really nice belly to belly early on, but he would rather rake eyes and be a scumbag than continue on that path. The main reason I liked this was a) the selling throughout was very good, and b) they mixed in a lot of cool stuff to keep my attention. Highlights include Jos amazing Rikishi bump that was really well timed, as well as some choice counters that they mixed in. Tamuras armwork was really good throughout the match, lots of nasty kicks to Jos shoulder, and the selling was good. Both guys end up taking big bumps that are important in the scheme of the match. They also ended the match on just the right note with one of the nastiest finishes I've seen in a while. They lose some points because the early goings were noticably lacking fire and engagement from both guys when it comes to their body language, as well as Kazuhiro Tamuras tendency to do moves like a shitty NJPW main eventer instead of embracing his U-File origins. That said, I was positively surprised by this.

 

2024 MOTY Master List

2021 MOTY Project Update #6

 

6. Bryan Danielson vs. Dustin Rhodes, AEW 10/23

Pretty interesting match between a hybrid wrestler and an aging heavyweight star. Dustin is lower ranked, so Bryan was absorbing most of his moves and obviously the superior technician. It builds to a handful of excellent Dustin comebacks. Obviously the superplex felt like an epic moment, and when he hit that powerslam it felt like the whole match had built to that. Great cover after the reverse DDT as well. When Dustin hit the lariat, it felt like Jumbo on his last legs trying to shut down Misawa. Danielson was a bit go-go when he went back to offense, but Dustin kept edging out nearfalls so you knew Dustin was close to pulling off an upset. Really cool how they eschewed a traditional match structure and just had a really good match.

8. Josh Barnett vs. Tiger Ruas, Bloodsport 10/22

I thought this was well nomination worthy. Ruas was winning the match through elite level grappling and superior conditioning, so Barnett was left to rely on blasting him with suplexes and strikes. Mat section had a number of slick moments and was extremely well executed. Ruas was controlling and throwing strikes on the ground. Even after Barnett had hit a big suplex and hit some strikes from mount, he looked pretty spent. Ruas capeoeira kick was an amazing spot as not only was it cool looking but also extremely well timed. Barnett was just making his big comeback and then Ruas bounced back with THAT. It made Ruas look unstoppable. Finish worked as an out nowhere bomb being dropped. Barnett had been the biggest badass to walk the US indy scene so Ruas pretty much destroying him made for an exciting match. Great stuff and probably better than the recent Bryan/Suzuki match

10. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki, AEW 10/15 

This had a bit too many Your Turn/My Turn exchanges for my taste. I get Suzuki probably has to do these because he has to be pretty banged up at this point but too much of this felt like a glorified Nagata match. I also don't by Bryans character engaging in that macho stuff since he is supposed to be a smart technician. Outside of that this was very good. Opening PANCRASE grappling was cool, dug Bryans fast shoot for the single leg, and there were plenty more great transitions and counters throughout the rest of it. I was a bit annoyed with Bryan doing things like the face stomps and elbows mid-match since I see those as finishers, but what can you do. Submission work was great and I dug all the pins. 

 

2021 MOTY List 

2002 MOTY List Update #9

 

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS 6/9/2002)

  Our only BattlARTS main event of the year, but it's a good one. These two always have good matches, and this time they went for a full blown 19 minute main event. What was cool about this was that normally you had Usuda as the aggressive striker with Ishikawa working counters. Here Usuda was still aggressive but Ishikawa gave him back good, so Usuda was also using his defensive tools more, which is something he does very well, and you had a match basically built around who could turn the others aggression against himself first. Match has lots of good matwork and also some insanely stiff headbutts and kidney shots. I especially like anytime Usuda would get aggressive on the mat, normally you would go to the mat to seek safety from a striker, you aren't safe from Usuda though. It really is a crying shame Usuda was so underutilized on the indie scene, atleast Ishikawa got himself a spot on Michinoku Pro undercards that year. Usuda takes as good as he gives, taking some crazy crazy suplex bumps. There are some excellent submission teases and the finish was pretty epic with multiple face shattering kicks and Ishikawa just rattling Usuda with a big punch. The finish plays up the story of the match as it was all about who would get the deciding counter.

Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson (RoH  3/30/2002)

  Not as great as the JAPW match, but still insanely tightly worked, stiff pro wrestling that blows away all the current wannabe shooters (and everyone else too). They mostly struggle over holds while pounding the daylights out of eachother. Kis stiffness was just crazy as he would rough up Danielsons already bruised face with out of nowhere kicks. At one point he just grabbed Bryans head and went loose with Kawada kicks sending him to the outside. Most of this match was both guys fighting over holds or working eachother over with stiff kicks and chops. Ki blocking a Dragon Suplex only to be thrown with a back suplex was like something out of 80s NJPW. I also loved how Ki, after choking the air out of Danielsons lung would immediately follow up with double stomps to the stomach. Unfortunately Danielson made an easy comeback soon after that and the finishing stretch was not as great as the body of the match as they mostly stick to throwing big old bombs back and forth for like 10 minutes. Still, match felt like a classic in large parts. 

 Ikuto Hidaka & Super Boy & Curry Man vs. Tiger Mask IV & Kazuya Yuasa & Hideki Nishida (Michinoku Pro 3/10/2002)

Michinoku Pro could still deliver dope 6 man tag action in the 2000s. This a trademark high spot filled formula tag with everyone playing their roles. Curry Man is a pretty good use of Christopher Daniels as he doesn't pretend to be a master worker but just acts like a tool. His missed dive was pretty insane. Super Boy always looks so great in M-Pro (where the hell is his lucha material?) and this was no exception, he is so awesome as a massive fat guy crushing the tiny dudes with flippy moves, and working miscommunication spots. Hidaka was also a really good team captain, trying to unmask TMIV and attacking his bad arm, twisting up Yuasas leg and getting kicked in the face etc. Nishida as a Spike Dudley inspired guy working highspots with Super Boy was really fun too. This is the kind of match that is completely predictable but still puts a smile on your face.

Low Ki vs. Amazing Red (TNA 7/24/2002)

About as perfect a 7 minute opener as you can ask for. This was Reds TNA debut and they work a slightly more traditional style (if you can talk traditional when you have crazy moves dished out by the minute) with some arm drags and Ki beating him down good with his awesome neck headbutts etc. They pull out some of their spectacular kung fu sequences later for great effect. Amazing how these two always managed to mix up their stuff.

Antifaz/La Fiera/Safari vs. Averno/Mephisto/Zumbido (CMLL 1/11/2002)

This was given plenty of time. Cool 10 minute opening fall with Safari looking especially slick, nice rudo beatdown with plenty of elaborate double times and some more heated than usual exchanges between Safari and Mephisto, culminating in Safari hitting a sick dive that Mephisto failed to catch properly, which only increased the intensity. The main reason I'm adding this though was La Fieras awesome performance. I didn't know he was even still around by 2002, but he looked like he had aged just right here. Basically acting like Tenryu, working as "I've been doing this for 30 years and I'm hurting in place I didn't even know existed, but I'm still gonna kick the shit out of you". He hits all these graceful kicks and takes some big bumps. Finish was charming and the crowd went wild for it.

 2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

 

2002 MOTY List Update #6

Low Ki vs. Bryan Danielson (RoH  3/30/2002)

  Not as great as the JAPW match, but still insanely tightly worked, stiff pro wrestling that blows away all the current wannabe shooters (and everyone else too). They mostly struggle over holds while pounding the daylights out of eachother. Kis stiffness was just crazy as he would rough up Danielsons already bruised face with out of nowhere kicks. At one point he just grabbed Bryans head and went loose with Kawada kicks sending him to the outside. Most of this match was both guys fighting over holds or working eachother over with stiff kicks and chops. Ki blocking a Dragon Suplex only to be thrown with a back suplex was like something out of 80s NJPW. I also loved how Ki, after choking the air out of Danielsons lung would immediately follow up with double stomps to the stomach. Unfortunately Danielson made an easy comeback soon after that and the finishing stretch was not as great as the body of the match as they mostly stick to throwing big old bombs back and forth for like 10 minutes. Still, match felt like a classic in large parts. 

Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH 4/7/2002)

NOAH vs. NJ part two. Everyone is on fire! Liger is a no selling douche! Kikuchi is a mad old bugger who will take a chunk out of you without blinking! Clever nutshot spots! Mask ripping! Submissions are important! This match did a great job milking and amplifying the heat of the feud. Lean and strong pace with an emphasis on masks ripped open and nasty elbows from mount, this is the direction japanese wrestling should've kept going. Watch the backstage footage too! 

Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Scott Norton (NJPW 5/2/2002)

  This is one of those feel good matches you can just back and enjoy every second of it. Basically Hashimoto & Ogawa waltz in and just destroy everything in their path. STOs, nasty kicks and chops and various cool combination moves abound. Norton & Tenzan don‘t stand much of a chance but they try. You get a great little Norton performance as he sells all the nasty chops and kicks he takes to his shoulder in a big way. There is an art to selling in such a way that everyone can emphatize with you even when you‘re a giant muscled up dude like Norton and he had it down. Tenzan also doesn‘t suck! 

Antifaz/La Fiera/Safari vs. Averno/Mephisto/Zumbido (CMLL 1/11/2002)

his was given plenty of time. Cool 10 minute opening fall with Safari looking especially slick, nice rudo beatdown with plenty of elaborate double times and some more heated than usual exchanges between Safari and Mephisto, culminating in Safari hitting a sick dive that Mephisto failed to catch properly, which only increased the intensity. The main reason I'm adding this though was La Fieras awesome performance. I didn't know he was even still around by 2002, but he looked like he had aged just right here. Basically acting like Tenryu, working as "I've been doing this for 30 years and I'm hurting in place I didn't even know existed, but I'm still gonna kick the shit out of you". He hits all these graceful kicks and takes some big bumps. Finish was charming and the crowd went wild for it.

 2002 MOTY Project MASTER LIST

2002 MOTY List Update

 Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki (JAPW 6/7/2002)

Probably the greatest matwork in a US indy match ever. Both guys were incredibly vicious here: Danielson would crossface Low Ki really hard aswell as drop knees on the ground, not to mention just trying to pull Kis head off when working facelocks. Kis focus was basically to create openings using his knee strikes etc. Ki was pretty outmatched, but still came up with a few brilliant counters. While this was largely uncooperative, they came up with a few great holds such as Ki trying to split Danielsons legs. Bryans using the modified surfboard to set up the Cattle Mutilation is the greatest use of that move aswell. Then Ki is able to get out of that too. Ki picking up Danielson and ramming him into the buckles before collapsing was another great comeback. Danielson slapping Ki only to get clocked with a head kick was another all time moment. Danielson moving to the corner as seen as Ki kneed him was a smart use of ring positioning. Danielson crawling to the apron and just taking a bump to the floor when Ki hit him instead of doing some elaborate apron spot was a brief of fresh air compared to current day apron spot obsessed pro wrestling. The match lost a bit of it's greatness when they were fighting on the floor and I thought they could have done a better job with the finish. By all logic, the whole thing should have ended with the 2^nd Cattle Mutilation. I don't want to nitpick though, because this was a seriously great, inspiring match.

Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 2/24/2002)

Here's something I never thought I would see: a 40 minute long joshi match that I didn't hate. Initially I thought this was the match that Phil infamously picked apart, but apparently that one went 60 minutes. They seemed to have found a decent middle ground here. There were some problems and you could've shaved off 20 minutes and came out with an amazing match, but this is good in its own right. I'd say this was easily better than the 40 minute long garbage NJPW has been pumping out for years, and pretty much any Toyota sprint. You had the psycho violence of Maekawa kicking Nakanishi around the ring, including a crane kick that left Nakanishi spitting blood for the rest of the match, but also a surprisingly great understanding of the mechanics. For example, Nakanishi was initially avoiding the inevitable Boston Crab, which made Maekawa eventually being able to lock it in feel rewarding. It's a small detail but such things help keeping lengthy matches interesting and it shows they gave a shit about more than just hitting their big spots. Nakanishis gradual comeback from getting her back worked over was great as she was initially struggling to hit her spots. Here dives were smart. Nakanishi also showed a surprising amount of violence, aggressively elbowing Maekawa in the back of the head for example and hitting some nasty dropkicks and headbutts. Maekawa, of course, had a brilliant array of brutal kicks. I also loved her breaking out the green mist. All the control segments were well executed and there were few quite great hope spots/cut offs. There were a lot of nearfalls, but due to Nakanishis offense mostly being rollups I thought it never came into stupid overkill territory. Also, the Momoe Latch is a great spot and Maekawa had a few neat ways to counter it. Leg work was obviously filler, but well executed and didn't go long.

 Ian Rotten vs. Tarek the Great (IWA MS 10/4/2002) 

Two pasty tubby methheads in black shirts work a quasi shootstyle match in front of 30 people. While this was a little clumsy and slow in parts this was probably better than any cafeteria shootstyle I've seen from the current generation of US indy wannabe shooters. And in fact they should study this one as it had a lot of stuff that is missing from their attempts: stiff blows while trading holds to create an opening, holding tight to your holds and pin attempts, trying to prevent the other guy from moving etc. There was a neat moment where Ian would apply an STF and headbutt Tarek in the back of his head. Tarek is really hilarious as his entire idea of selling is pretty much „scream really loudly“ so anytime Ian would do as much as squeeze him he would scream like a japanese female wrestler. All in the same tone mind you. He was okay though and Ian looked very good twisting up his leg etc. The headbutts in this were insane especially the falling headbutts that left the lady in the striped pullover wincing. Memorable finish. This is what indy wrestling should be.

Low Ki vs. Amazing Red (PWF 11/10/2002)

Borderline great match well worth powering through the absolutely awful commentary. They worked a slightly more intricate version of their usual match here, adding some especially cool counters and cut offs to the mix. The main reason the work between these two guys ages well is that instead of building to thigh slapping flying knee strikes or Go 2 Sleep variations they add stiff kicks to the chest and nasty turnbuckle bumps to the mix. Note how violent something like Kis hair pulling toss felt not to mention the headbutts. Could've gone longer but I guess that's a good thing.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST