The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 Major Shows of 2015 (So Far)

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 314 – Top 5 Major Shows of 2015.. So Far

What are the top 5 major shows of 2015 so far?

Eric Palmer
5. Ring of Honor: Best in the World – Honestly, this show makes me list based solely on the fact that I couldn’t stomach putting another WWE show on my list, and my viewing of ROH this year has been limited. Best in the World was an okay show, but the way it ended is why it makes my top five list so far this year. Jay Lethal is someone I’ve been watching since I first got into indy wrestling roughly ten years ago. His rise to the top was great to watch, and his emergence as the ROH World (and Television) Champion were great to see.

4. NJPW Invasion Attack ’15 – This was a pretty good show from NJPW. It wasn’t up to the quality that Wrestle Kingdom set forth, but I wasn’t expecting it to. We got a great main event from AJ Styles vs Kota Ibushi, a solid Jr Heavyweight Title defense by Kenny Omega against Mascara Dorada, and a surprisingly solid Bad Luck Fale match, where Kazuchika Okada was able to bring the best out of the big man. I suspect this to be knocked off my top five by the end of the summer, but for now, it deserves to be here.

3. WWE WrestleMania 31 – The top three spots on this list were fairly hard to choose. Outside of my top two picks, there haven’t been a ton of solid pay-per-views this year. WrestleMania gets my number three spot based on the enjoyment of the show itself and the awesome main event. The build up to the show was one of the worst I had ever seen, but luckily, WWE was able to deliver a fairly solid WrestleMania. It won’t make any top five shows of all time lists, but so far in 2015, there isn’t a whole lot that’s surpassed it.

2. NJPW Dominion ’15 – I had a tough time choosing between Dominion and Wrestle Kingdom 9. Dominion had a solid card from beginning to end, with great matches throughout. Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazushi Sakuraba stole the show for me, even though I’ve seen others says Kazuchika vs AJ Styles and one other say KUSHIDA vs Kenny Omega. This speaks very highly to the quality of the card. The only reason this isn’t in my number one spot, is thanks to two five star matches at Wrestle Kingdom 9, whereas with Dominion, the highest rated match for me falls just short of the mark.

1. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – This and Dominion can easily be switched and I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I gave the nod to WK9 simply because it had two matches I consider to be five star matches (Nakamura/Ibushi and Tanahashi/Okada) where as I wouldn’t go five stars on any of the matches from Dominion. Wrestle Kingdom 9 had a fantastic card, which included not only the two five star matches, but also had 3 others that I had at at least four stars. While Dominion was more solid throughout, Wrestle Kingdom, to me, was the better show based on the second half through the main event.

Larry Csonka
5b. ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (Night Two) – This was a great joint presentation, and quite honestly night one and two are pretty close to the point that they are 5a and 5b on my list. There is a bit of a debate about which his is better, it’s very close for me but at the end of the day they are both great. This show was highlighted Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Roderick Strong and the Kingdom vs. Bullet Club matches, both worth your time and the main matches on the show.

5a. ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (Night One) – This was another great joint presentation, as talents from both companies worked together so well. Strong vs. KUSHIDA, the tag team four-way, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada vs. The Briscoe and Adam Cole vs. AJ Styles were all good to excellent and, were the highlights of the show. Both shows were proof that when companies want to, they can work together and put on some great events.

4. NXT Takeover: Rival – The NXT specials continue to be the crown jewel of the WWE Network. Seriously, if you watch nothing else on the Network, you need to watch these specials, they are well worth your time. From the strong booking and the awesome talent, I have not been disappointed once. Balor, Neville, the ladies, Zayn and Owens all served notice on this show that they weren’t to be fucked with. Taking placed on February 11th, the show was of such high quality that it’s still third overall on my list. The top three matches (ladies 4-way, Balor vs. Neville and Owens vs. Zayn) were all excellent, and all over ****; this felt like a top heavy new Japan presentation with a trio like that.

3. Evolve 45 – This took place on Friday and was an amazing show. Against all odds (the injury bug and a complete reshuffle of the card) Evolve delivered their best show of the year and one of the very best shows of 2015. Gabe mentioned that they were going to “hot shot” some stuff, and they delivered on that. They had a really strong undercard, an awesome Hero vs. Lee match and another MOTY contender from ZSJ and Strong. The title change to Thatcher I think is a good move, he felt like a big star after the WM weekend shows, and giving him the shot to run with the title feels right. Plus re- matches with Hero and the usual suspects sounds really good, as they continually deliver.

2. NJPW WrestleKingdom 9 – Right out of the gate, NJPW set the bar extremely high with the WrestleKingdon 9 event. Simply put I feel that New Japan delivered big time with Wrestle Kingdom 9. There was nothing bad on this show, while the under card multi-man tags could have honestly been excluded, they did accomplish Honma getting a big win and the NOAH guys getting positive exposure as the new relationship started. As usual with a big New Japan card, while there was nothing bad on the undercard in my opinion, the final stretch of four matches delivered big time on their biggest stage and were easily worth the price on their own. Okada and Tanahashi are money each and every time, and Nakamura vs. Ibushi was equally as great delivering two of the year’s very best matches. The show is something that I consider a must see event.

1. NJPW Dominion 7.5 – For as much as I loved WrestleKingdon 9, between all of its bells and whistles and awesome wrestling it deserves all of the praise in the world. But I feel that the recent NJPW Dominion 7.5 event JUST nudges it out for the top spot. NJPW Dominion 7.5 was everything you ant in a major show, a great crowd, great atmosphere, four outstanding matches, two of them MOTY contenders, a lot of other quality performances and some title changes to make it newsworthy. This is another must see event from New Japan, and the four hours flies by because of the overall high quality.

Kevin Pantoja
5. ROH Best in the World – This was the first Ring of Honor Pay-Per-View I’ve seen live in years and it ended up being a very enjoyable experience. Early on in the show, I remember thinking that it was under whelming as nothing stood out on the undercard. However, in a year that has had a lot of great matches but not many great shows, the strong back end of this card is enough for it to crack the top five. Roderick Strong was his usual great self against Michael Elgin and Moose before we got a really fun six man tag pitting the Kingdom against the Bullet Club. The Tag Team Title match was also really good, but the show is topped by its best match. Jay Lethal dethroned Jay Briscoe by becoming the first man in over 800 days to pin him and become the ROH World Champion, adding to his Television Title reign. A good show with a weak undercard but excellent second half.

4. WrestleMania 31 – I’ve seen some people consider this one of the five best WrestleManias in history. I wouldn’t go that far as it probably doesn’t make my top ten Manias but it was still a show that over delivered. After a terrible build up, I expected a pretty bad show. This was similar to Best in the World as some of the show was great and some was lame. The battle royal, Cena/Rusev and Sting/HHH matches were all either flat out bad or highly disappointing. The Rock/Ronda Rousey segment went on for far too long and was dull. Outside of that though, there was a really fun Intercontinental Title Ladder match, exciting Tag Team Title match, interesting Undertaker/Wyatt match and a better than expected Orton/Rollins match. The main event, like Best in the World, was the best thing however, as Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Rollins all delivered. Seeing Seth Rollins leave the biggest show of the year with the WWE World Heavyweight Title was a special sight to see.

3. NXT TakeOver: Rival – I’m counting the TakeOver specials as major shows. In February, NXT was clicking on all cylinders. There weren’t a ton of injuries and at TakeOver: Rival, we were treated to the second best TakeOver in history. The show started with a really good match between Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze. That was followed by two under whelming matches but kicked into another gear after. The last three matches all clocked in at ****1/4 for me. Finn Balor defeated Adrian Neville to become the top contender for the NXT Title in an excellent match. Becky Lynch, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Charlotte then went out and had the best women’s match in WWE history up until that point (they would later be bested by a Sasha/Becky singles match at the next TakeOver). Sasha winning the title was one of the best moments of the year for me. The main event was a great showcase of storytelling as Kevin Owens won the NXT Title from his best friend Sami Zayn via ref stoppage. Almost everything about this show from the Balor match onward was perfectly executed.

2. NJPW Dominion – The most recent show on my list earns the number two spot. I recently signed up again for NJPW World because of A) the G1 Climax coming up and B) the high praise I heard about this show. There was maybe one or two matches on this show that I didn’t really like or love, and even those I didn’t think were bad. There were four matches on that this show that I would consider four or more stars. Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazushi Sakuraba was a hard hitting war that makes my top ten matches of the year. KUSHIDA vs. Kenny Omega has also gotten high praise deservedly so. Shinsuke Nakamura and Hirooki Goto had a really good Intercontinental match before we reached the main event. My favorite male wrestler in the world, AJ Styles, defended the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Kazuchika Okada. I’ve seen some people give it the full five stars and some give it less than four. For me, it was my second favorite match all year and an absolute blast. This show goes more than four hours but it is an easy watch and an absolute blast.

1. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the very first major show of the year and nothing has topped it yet. It was my first foray into the world of NJPW and I loved it. There was so much to like about this card. The Jr. Tag Team Title match was a really fun opener featuring one of my favorites in Alex Shelley, I got to see guys I hadn’t seen in a while like Jeff Jarrett, Shelton Benjamin and Naomichi Marufuji and then the card really kicked into the next gear. The main event between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada was masterful. There is a great match between AJ Styles and Tetsuya Naito but the one thing that stood out above all else was my only five star match of the year. Shinsuke Nakamura and Kota Ibushi had an absolute classic over the Intercontinental Title. Everything was perfect about this from the entrances to the match itself to the finish. This is an all-time great show. Not only was the in ring work stellar, but the storytelling was on point and this had the pageantry of a major WrestleMania like show.

Paul Leazar
5. WWE Money In The Bank – Despite a fairly under whelming undercard that features a sort of meh Money In The Bank ladder match, a completely throw away Intercontinental Title Match, a so-so Diva’s match between Nikki Bella & Paige, and a forgettable Tag Team Title switch, Kevin Owens & John Cena somehow top their match from the previous pay-per-view. These two went out there and just completely the live crowd and the rest of the world away with some of the best wrestling I’ve seen this year. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose might have had the best ladder match I’ve seen in years as well, and just absolutely killed each for the thirty minutes. This show isn’t close to show of the year, but it’s a damn good one in my book.

4. RoH Best In The World – I really, really enjoyed this show. Lethal getting his crowning moment at the top of the heap in Ring of Honor was one hell of special moment, a very solid triple threat match for #1 Contendership to the World Title, an incredible six man tag between The Kingdom and The Bullet, and an entertaining, if sometimes disappointing undercard to fill out the rest show probably should rank it lower, but that main event was just so special for me, that I felt like it deserved more praise then a 5th spot.

3. WrestleMania 31 – The Show of Shows delivered way more than I expected across the evening. A fun opening ladder match, Rollins and Orton coming out of nowhere to put on a stellar match, Rusev and Cena having a fairly entertaining US Title match, and a tremendous main event between Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns with the well deserved cash-in for Seth Rollins, plus the atmosphere that has surrounded WrestleMania always adding just that little bit extra. WrestleMania 31 certainly came through big this year despite some horrible, horrible build-up.

2. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – The WrestleMania for New Japan lobbed one up and knocked it out of the park. Both the IC Title match with Ibushi & Nakamura, and the IWGP Heavyweight Title match with Okada & Tanahashi are match of the year candidates. Styles and Naito delivered a fun, fast paced match, and Makabe and Ishii going to war for the NEVER Openweight Title. The rest of the card varied after that. Some matches delivered so much more than others (like Omega/Taguchi for example, which was the worst match on the show IMO), but this whole show had that pageantry that WrestleMania would carry just a few months later.

1. NJPW Dominion – All the pageantry in the world can’t make up for good wrestling though. This year’s installment of Dominion featured three bonafide match of the year candidates in KUSHIDA/Omega, Goto/Nakamura, and Styles/Okada (which features one of the best ending sequences to a match I’ve seen in a very long time). The rest of the show, unlike Wrestle Kingdom, was good to great as well. There wasn’t a bad thing on this show from top to bottom, and the show totally kicks into that next gear when you reach the mid-way point.

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:

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