2002 MOTY Project Update #18

 

74. Perry Saturn vs. Paul London, WWE 3/9/2002

Classic inexplicably great 6 minute TV squash. Saturn must‘ve liked London because he seriously gave him a lot of offense in this. He puts a big beating on London and throws him about the ring like a grappling dummy, as if he wanted to try some moves he normally can‘t do against your typical WWF guys. Highlights include a cool tomoe noge from the bottom, nasty back elbow, booting London in the face a bunch and a cool quarter nelson neckbreaker. It was the right mix of being an offensive machine without doing too much. London makes the most of his brief offensive runs including a nice dropsault, landing a spin kick in Saturns face and planting hard on a missed SSP. Kicking out of Saturns picture perfect elbow drop was a nice moment and seemed to give the feeling that an upset might really happen.

42. Goldust & Booker T vs. Christian & Chris Jericho, WWE 12/23/2002

Most of 2002 WWE looked like Smackdown vs. Raw, but they worked an old school structure here. Everyone here was really good, but obviously Goldust was the standout. From selling, to crowd control, do hitting great punches and excellent timing. The crowd psychology was excellent with the story being Goldust trying to prove himself as not being the weak link and they got nuclear heat. Goldust looked like a million bucks. Jericho and Christian were a really good ratty heel team too, and Booker Ts stuff looked great too. Extremely worthwhile and holds up unlike a lot of the more hyped Smackdown stuff.

2002 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