Csonka’s Top 10 Matches of July 2016

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s top 10 will look back and the month of July and the top 10 matches I have watched for the month. I always hear a lot of people saying that they can’t decide what to watch because they do not have enough time to follow everything, so maybe this will help those of you short on time find some stuff to check out. Have fun, and always, thanks for reading. Also, if you saw matches from companies I do not regularly catch; feel free to share them with the others. The more wrestling we share, the more fun we can have.

10. From WWE Battleground – Triple Threat WWE Title Match: Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns [****¼]: Rollins wanted to do the old Shield fist bump, but Reigns attacked and sent him to the floor. Reigns worked him over, tossed him back in and then sent him back to the floor. Ambrose scored with a schoolboy on Reigns for a near fall. They went back and froth, Rollins returned and they sent him back, and Reigns went for a pin on Ambrose. More back and forth, Ambrose went for a cross body but bounced off of Reigns. Rollins returned and laid the boots to Reigns, went for a high cross but was caught and Ambrose knocked them both to the mat, and Rollins went to the floor again. Early on the crowd was happy anytime someone worked over Reigns, and hated when he got anything in. Rollins finally sent Reigns to the floor, and finally got to get some offense in on Ambrose. Ambrose tried to fire up, but ate a flatliner to the corner. Reigns then returned and worked over Rollins on the floor. Ambrose flews off the top and hit Reigns, Rollins got out of the way and then followed with the knee strike. With Reigns down, Rollins sent Ambrose to the steps and then sent Reigns to the barricade. Reigns fought back, sending Rollins to the timekeeper’s area. Ambrose charged off of the announce tables and took out both men. Back in the ring, Ambrose hit a missile dropkick, went up top and hit his elbow drop for a near fall. Rollins flew in with the high fly flow onto Ambrose, which got him a near fall. Reigns managed to counter a pedigree from Rollins, and then laid into him with uppercuts. Ambrose was in control, Superman punch to Ambrose and then one to Rollins as he jumped into the ring. The spear was stopped, Reigns hit another Superman punch to Rollins but Ambrose leveled him with the lariat and all three were down. They fought to their feet and all traded punches, with Ambrose and Rollins then working together to beat down Reigns. They then looked for the Shield bomb on Reigns, but he escaped to the floor. Ambrose hit the suicide dive and them Rollins followed with the over the top dive. Ambrose and Rollins then took apart an announce table and went after Reigns. Shield bomb through the table on Reigns! Rollins then grabbed a chair and laid out Ambrose and then Reigns. It’s the history of the Shield in 30-seconds. Back in the ring, Rollins went for a buckle bomb but Ambrose countered with a RANA. They went up top, superplex by Rollins and then into the falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL!) which got a great near fall. Both men struggled to their feet, they worked some counters and battled up top. Reigns returned and he powerbombed Ambrose, and then hit the sitout powerbomb on Rollins for 2. Reigns then set for the Superman, countered by Ambrose, who got a backslide for 2. Reigns then cut off the jawbreaker lariat with the Superman punch, Rollins in and hit Reigns with the pedigree for a great near fall. Rollins was furious, went for another pedigree but Reigns powered out, Rollins then hit a buckle bomb but Reigns rebounded with the Superman punch and spear! Ambrose then snuck in and hit dirty deeds and pinned Reigns to retain. I was so pleased to have a clean and decisive finish here, when they trotted out the McMahons, Foley and Bryan I was really worried about a shenanigan filled finish. The first half felt really slow, not bad but I was losing interest in it. But then they kicked things up in the second half, worked in some great callback spots and near falls and delivered an overall excellent main event.

9. From Night 4 of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima [****¼]: This shit was fascinating in all the right ways. Shibata is working the taped shoulder gimmick (knowing him it’s probably about to fall off but he doesn’t care), which Nakajima made sue to focus on early as they went to the floor and he whipped him around and laid into him with kicks. But more than that, this was one of those matches where they decided to play anything you can do I can do better, which made for a fun and intensely worked battle. I do not watch a lot of Nakajima, but this in particular made him look great; the fact that he dared to steal Shibata spots and seemingly not giving a fuck just worked. But the thing that made it work was both the reactions from the crowd and Shibata. Shibata wanted nothing to do with this outsider stealing his shit, and would just abuse him and then do the move like, “this is how you do it bitch.” The home stretch was great, as Nakajima unloaded his arsenal of kicks on Shibata and looked as if he would put this away. Shibata then caught a kick out of nowhere, ate some forearms, but then slapped the shit out of Nakajima. The sleeper and particularly brutal PK ended it. This was excellent; Nakajima looked awesome as he was breaking down Shibata and lost nothing by losing this match. This was a ton of fun, and I love Shibata when he just goes murder death kill on someone.

8. From Night 4 of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin [****¼]: This was an excellent match to close out night four, with both guys on top of their game and working a long main event match that never felt long. Naito is such a fun character, he will slide around and do his wacky pose and act like nothing matters to him, and then moments later is doing some sublime leg work to break down the base of the bigger man, to try and stop the power game. And then, when he’s done with both of those things he just slapped the shit out of Elgin to make the big man angry. Elgin continues to thrive in NJ, his power stuff gets him over and he just looks like he really enjoys working there as opposed to his final two years or so in ROH. The man was born again in last year’s G1 and just continues to thrive here. The closing portion of the match is where they excel and deliver the next level shit. The crowd is into it big time, Naito escapes the Elgin bomb and hits the reverse RANA. They then work into the back and forth strikes, selling that they are tired, but that they refuse to allow the other man to get the advantage. Elgin destroyed Naito with a sick lariat, but Naito would fight back and go for destino, only for Elgin to power out. Naito rolls for the knee bar, Elgin just fucking Hercs him out of that, but Naito is still one step ahead and scored the win with destino. The match is so good, it never fells too long, everything feels like it matters and the homestretch is absolutely sensational.

7. From Beyond Wrestling: Flesh – Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jonathan Gresham [****¼]: Jonathan Gresham gets looks from everyone (CHIKARA, FIP, ROH, TNA, Evolve) but for some reason has not caught on. It’s a shame, because he’s put in some great work and would be an asset to any roster. Gresham won the first match in the best of three series. The first several minutes were filled with back and forth grappling and counter wrestling. It was clean and well done, the crowd was into it and it was mostly an even open, with ZSJ ending with the advantage and constantly frustrating Gresham. Gresham finally was able to use his speed, hitting a RANA and dropkicks after out countering ZSJ. They continued with the heavy grappling, which I can see people hating because of the lack of a lot of near falls and high spots, but they did a great job of counter wrestling here, keeping the crowd involved and making sure that they peaked at various times. The important thing is that this match will be completely different from every other match on the show. It’s more than the complete contrast in style that I appreciate; it’s the way that both guys work, the counters to the most basic of moves, or the way that they counter a leapfrog into a leg pick and possible submission. I appreciate these things. They went into a striking exchange down the stretch, with Gresham focusing his strikes onto the arm he had been working on during the second half of the match. They then slapped the shit out of each other and then went into a series of pinning combos. Gresham got a great near fall after hitting an enziguri, stunner and then a German suplex with a bridge, the crowd bit on that. Some of the near falls down the stretch were extremely well done, and a few counters and reversals that felt completely new. ZSJ hit the soccer kick, which I expected to be the finish, but Gresham somehow survived. But they then went into a series of submissions and counters into opining combos, which was very well done as both kept selling the arm. They then pulled themselves mid-ring and slapped the hell out of each other from their knees before working to their feet and delivering forearms and uppercuts. It started to feel too long and as if they got too cute down the final stretch. Gresham locked in a modified octopus hold and ZSJ had to tap. This was an overall excellent match, with both guys coming off well in this style of work. I think they needed to cut 3-5 minutes from this; the end felt like it went past the expiration date, and meant less and took away a bit for me; had they cut it off a bit early, it would have been truly great stuff, instead I felt it was just excellent. Gresham continues to show that he needs to get booked more places, and ZSJ is awesome.

Nakajima hits a PK into the brainbuster #NJPW #G126 pic.twitter.com/6dCet1HfEq

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) July 30, 2016

6. From Night 8 of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Yuji Nagata vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima [****¼]: Nakajima’s a dick, attacking Nagata before he can even get into the ring. Basically we started this match the same way we did the previous one, minus the fluff at the beginning. Nagata survived the dreaded countout tease, and proceeded to lay in kicks and then big brother Nakajima with a side choke for a bit. Nakajima was able to slow the attack of Nagata by attacking the knee, which did slow down the veteran, but did not stop him completely. If anything it just pissed him off, as they traded strikes; once again Nakajima went to the knee, which allowed him to tae back control and lay in a series of kicks. But just as he started to roll, Nagata scored with the arm bar. Sweet baby Jesus the strikes and slaps traded next were fucking brutal as Nagata took over with a series of knees in the corner, which the referee kept pulling him back off of. Nagata looked to have things in control, but Nakajima kicked the leg again and then laid in some sustained offense and work on it. Nakajima finally hit the PK and brainbuster to pick up the win and give Nagata his first loss of the tournament. Nagata was a warrior until the end, but the young punk Nakajima was able to use the knee work, which started subtly, to be the determining factor at slowing down Nagata enough for him to get the win. Excellent stuff, Nakajima was brutally awesome, and I am pretty sure that Yuji Nagata is my spirit animal.

5. From Night One of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA [****¼]: The early story saw Tanahashi outwrestle SANADA, constantly staying one step ahead of the youngster. SANADA would finally get something rolling as he caught Tanahashi as he tried to get back in the ring; they went to the floor, where SANADA sent him to the barricade and then targeted the previously injured arm. After the Gedo-mandated countout tease, SANADA took the heat and maintained his focus on the arm. Tanahashi put together a good comeback, hitting the senton off the ropes (but only posing with the one arm) and then attacking the knee of SANADA. Tanahashi is in full G1 mode, hitting the high fly flow to the floor. Tanahashi then started to destroy the knee with dragon screw leg whips while SANADA was trapped in the ropes. He then worked the cloverleaf, which I was not a fan of due to the previous arm work by SANADA. SANADA escaped and hit a desperation missile dropkick but couldn’t follow up, a she clutched his knee. They traded strikes, with SANADA attacking the arm of Tanahashi to slow him down. SANADA finally hit a cutter for a good near fall and then got the dragon sleeper and dropped to the mat with it. Tanahashi struggled and tried for the ropes and finally got them. SANADA missed the moonsault and tweaked his knee. Tanahashi then got the sling blade and then an arms trapped German for a near fall. he went for the high fly flow and jumped into the cutter for a SUPER close near fall. SANADA then followed with a moonsault for a near fall, hit another and then got the dragon sleeper once again center ring and Tanahashi tapped! That was a HUGE win for SANADA, who will benefit hugely from it, and it was clean as can be on top of that. This was excellent work from both guys, as SANADA stepped up big time and Tanahashi was in pure G1 form here. This works because not only did they establish SANADA’s finish as legit, but it also plays off of Tanahashi coming back from injury. This was excellent, and will go a long way in SANADA’s rise; it’s exactly the kind of match he needed to have here.

Puma fought valiantly, but @ReyMysterio proves he’s still the king of Lucha Libre! #LuchaUnderground #UltimaLuchaDos pic.twitter.com/KekmL7Z0bg

— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) July 21, 2016

4. From the Ultima Lucha Dos Finale – The Prince vs. El Rey: Prince Puma vs. Rey Mysterio Jr [****¼]: After the commercial break, they shook hands and we were off. They worked a nice back and forth to begin, with Rey keeping up but not being able to out do Puma. The crowd was great early, and it was obvious early that they were going for the basic story; Puma is the younger, stronger and faster wrestler, but Rey is the more expedited wrestler and “The King.” Rey had started to put some run together, but Puma took control and was using all of his advantages (younger, stronger and faster) to try and break Rey down. The battle went to the floor, where Rey managed a RANA, sending Puma into the apron. After Rey’s sliding Frosty the Snowman splash, they returned to the ring, where Rey kept control and scored a near fall. They worked into a pretty sensational series of counters, leading to Rey hitting the tornado DDT for a near fall. Puma finally was able to break out the strength, catching a RANA, transitioning into a northern lights suplex and then into the deadlift suplex for a great near fall. They battled up top, and Rey hit a reverse RANA off the top and scored a near fall. This is really strong so far, with both guys playing their roles very well. Rey looked for a head scissors, but Puma hit the lumbar check and blue thunder bomb for another near fall. Puma countered the 619, hit a kick and then he hit a 619! The 450 connected, but Rey survived! Puma hit the Bennadryller, which connected again for a near fall as Puma went for a cocky cover. Puma kept on the attack, went up top and looked down on Rey and then MISSED the 630 as Puma took too long. Rey ten hit the RANA into the pinning combo for a near fall, both men were down and the crowd was still hot for this. Rey was able to fight off Puma, but the 619 was caught and pulled Rey back in and went for a tombstone, but Rey countered and spiked Puma on his head. 619, springboard into the RANA and cradle, and Rey picks up the win. That was an excellent match, and one that I feel the show needed. I loved the layout, the pacing and the work as it felt similar to the KUSHIDA vs. Liger match from earlier this year; the old lion going on the hint one last time, but this time, the old lion won the day. I am not sure that was the best of ideas, but the main event delivered. Puma is great, but Rey more than held his own here. I am not sure how many more singles performances like this he has left in him, which made it pretty special.

Lariat and a huge Elgin Bomb from #BIGMIKE @MichaelElgin25! #NJPW #G126 pic.twitter.com/volriafUmP

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) July 30, 2016

3. From Night 8 of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega [****½]: I am begging someone to clean up that IC Title strap, it looks even worse with Elgin carrying the ELITE Title with him. Takahashi attacked Elgin as he made his entrance and then Omega a hit a dive a we started the third match almost the same exact way because Gedo is drunk. I mean, seriously, can we have a little creativity here? Once the Gedo mandated grab ass on the floor was done, they worked back in the ring for a few minutes, and then we got… more Gedo mandated grab ass on the floor. Omega attacked the shoulder of Elgin, which was taped up, and we got another countout tease. Omega focused on the shoulder, even ripping some of the tape off. Elgin finally connected with a German to the corner, which allowed him to make a comeback where he got to do his power spots. Omega spit in Elgin’s face, which was not appreciated, and rather disgusting. Elgin hit the buckle bomb, which led to the two hitting a series of rapid fire back and forth moves, into a double down. Omega would hit a pair of dragon suplexes and then a reverse RANA, which got a near fall. They would battle up top, Elgin repeatedly sent Omega to the mat before hitting an air raid crash off the ropes for a near fall. Omega fought back and hit the buckle bomb and Elgin bomb combo for a near fall. Elgin then stole the one winged angel, which got a GREAT near fall. EVERONE STEAL MOVEZ! Elgin would follow with the spinning Elgin bomb for the win. Outside of the beginning, this was excellent stuff and maybe my favorite Omega vs. Elgin match, largely for the lack of shenanigans. They started out playing a Reader’s Digest version of one of their previous matches, playing the hits and seemingly keeping it safe. But then they hit the next gear, and did what great feuds do, and that is to build off of the previous matches and spots and evolve that to something new and I felt they did that here. This was excellent, one of the best matches of the tournament so far.

2. From Night One of The NJPW G1 Climax Tournament – Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji [****½]: They did some nice counter work early, which led to teases of their respective finishes in the early moments of the match. Marufuji hit a double knee strike to the arm of Okada, sending him to the floor. He followed and then posted Okada, trying to take away the rainmaker with the attack on the arm. Marufuji then trapped the arm of Okada in the barricade and attempted to crush it, maintaining that focus on the arm. Marufuji continued to dominate when they returned to the ring, working the arm and keeping the champion on defense and beating him down with chops. Okada put a good comeback together, trying to shake off the pain in the arm, but Marufuji leveled him with a lariat. They went back to the floor, where Marufuji again attacked the arm. It’s a simple and well-executed gameplan from Marufuji. Gedo’s facials on the floor, selling the pain for his man, were also well done and added to the work as he was doing everything he could to motivate his man to fight back. Okada kept trying to fire back, but there was nothing on the strikes and he kept clutching his arm. Marufuji then kept chopping him down, and Okada’s chest was really beaten up. Marufuji’s work has been nearly flawless here, dissecting the champion; he hit the coast-to-coast dropkick, but Okada managed to counter sliced bread with the neck breaker. Okada managed the top rope elbow drop, but still was selling the arm. Marufuji then lit him up with kicks, but Okada again managed to counter the sliced bread. Marufuji fought out of the tombstone, but ran into the dropkick. Rainmaker gets countered, but Okada gets a German. The rainmaker is again countered with strikes to the arm, a series of kicks and then hit the modified emerald flowsion to pick up the win. They had a tough act to follow, but not only were they able to follow, they exceeded the previous match. This was a rather amazing match, with both men performing well, but Marufuji especially locked in and performing as if he had something to prove. Everything worked, the crowd was completely invested, and they went home at the right time to maximize everything they did. I loved everything about this match, and it sets up a fresh title match down the line if they so choose.

Oh no… #WWEBattleground pic.twitter.com/djL61y5Z5x

— DTAM (@DeathToAllMarks) July 25, 2016

1. From WWE Battleground – Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens [****¾]: Zayn charged Owens right away, but he bailed to the floor and they brawled. They took turns shooting each other to the barricade, Zayn got the advantage and took the battle back into the ring, and got a near fall off of a leg lariat. Owens crotched Zayn as he went for the lucha arm drag, and hit the cannonball for the near fall. Owens had some great rage here, demanding that Zayn look at him before he punished him with chops. The crowd was really into this, they did the OLE chant, which Owens mocked as he continued his assault on Zayn. Owens then worked the chinlock, yelling QUIT to Zayn and then telling the ref that Zayn wants to quit each time he asked. Zayn finally managed to escape and hit a stiff lariat and a Michinoku driver for a near fall. Owens bailed to the floor, pulled Zayn out with him and tried the apron bomb, which was countered. Zayn then went for a split legged moonsault but bounced straight up instead of out and landed BADLY on his shoulder on the apron. Back in the ring, Zayn still had control, went up top but Owens cut him off. They battled up top, Zayn with head butts sent him to the mat but then Zayn ran right into a superkick for a near fall. Owens then worked the crossface, Zayn fought and finally got the ropes. Owens continued to attack, hitting corner clotheslines but Zayn hit the XPLODER to the corner, but Owens dropped to the floor to avoid the helluva kick. They battled on the apron, with Zayn hitting an apron brainbuster! Zayn rolled back in as they did the countout tease on Owens, he rolled in and both men were down. The crowd reacted huge to the brainbuster spot, and then went wild as they went all crazy fists. Owens again tried to escape to the floor, Zayn followed and went for the through the ropes tornado DDT dive but ate a superkick. Owens then hit a cannonball, went up top and hit the frog splash, which got a great near fall. Zayn managed to counter the pop up powerbomb and scored with the tornado DDT. They then went wild down the stretch with counters, suplexes, and near falls; the crowd loved it. Zayn went for the helluva but ran into the pop up powerbomb, but he survived by getting his foot on the ropes! Owens was pissed and demanded that Zayn stay down and then slapped him repeatedly and said to stay down and don’t make me do this. Zayn then hit a series of suplexes and the helluva kick, and Owens fell into him. Zayn draped him in the corner and hit ANOTHER helluva kick for the definitive victory. This was simply amazing, with great emotion from both guys as far as the hate and desperation went. These two know how to work together, you expect good at the very least from these guys, but they have the ability to take their emotions (feud wise) and translate that to their work, which makes the audience care and react in kind. This was so good, the only negative is that they were NOT separated in the draft. This was the time to separate them so that they can come back at a later date and do it again. This is in the top tier in terms of the best matches for this year.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”