The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 Matches 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 313 – Top 5 Matches of 2015… so far!

What are the top 5 matches of 2015 so far? (From January 1 to June 30)

Kevin Pantoja
5. Grave Consequences: Fenix vs. Mil Muertes ****1/2 – I actually have a top ten list already for my matches of the year, making this an easy top five to fill out. There are three Lucha Underground matches included (The Crew vs. Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc, as well as Puma vs. Mundo are on the list), but the top LU match is this one. Easily the best casket match I’ve ever seen, though I get that might not sound like high praise. It’s honestly a fantastic match. Muertes is fantastic as the brutal monster throughout, even ripping Fenix’s mask. I only recently was able to see this and loved pretty much everything about it.

4. Kevin Owens vs. John Cena at Elimination Chamber ****1/2 – These two have produced two great matches so far, but it’s their first one that makes the list here. No, it’s not just because Kevin Owens won this one either. I feel like they relied less on big near falls in this one and it was overall, a better match but you can’t really go wrong either way. My only real gripe with this, was John Cena calling spots incredibly loud in the early goings. Owens played his methodical style well and really picked apart Cena. His strategy worked well and after two popup powerbombs, Owens was able to become just the third heel to cleanly beat Cena since he became the man in the company. A star making performance from Owens here and he hasn’t looked back since.

3. NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Becky Lynch at TakeOver: Unstoppable ****1/2 – I’ve already written a full blown article about how fantastic this match was. I’ve had people tell me that I overrate it or that I’m dumb for thinking it was so good. However, I have now gone back and watched it three more times and I fail to see what I’m overrating. Everything clicked. The arm work was magnificent, Sasha playing the confident champion to Becky’s amped up challenger was great storytelling, the selling by both women was on point and everything in between worked. Hands down the best women’s match I’ve ever seen in the WWE, but also one of the best matches I’ve seen from anywhere all year long.

2. WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins at Royal Rumble ****3/4 – This will go down as one of the greatest triple threat matches in WWE history along with the ones at WrestleMania XX, Vengeange 2002 and so on. When Seth Rollins was added to the Brock Lesnar/John Cena title match it gave it a shot in the arm because nobody wanted to see just Cena/Brock yet again. Brock was his unstoppable self until he was put through a table, the guardrail and multiple AA’s. This left Seth and Cena to have a fantastic interaction before Brock got back involved following a faux stretcher job. Seth busted out the Phoenix Splash, Brock ate two briefcase shots before just hitting an F5 anyway because he’s a monster and retaining. Fantastic match all around.

1. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 9 ***** – In January, I watched my first full NJPW show and one match stood out above the rest. The Intercontinental Title match. From the entrances (especially Nakamura’s) to the end, everything was spot on. I love everything about this match and it doesn’t change regardless of the amount of views I’ve given it. Ibushi using Nakamura’s moves on him, only for Nakamura to hit him even harder with those moves was great. The whole thing had a big fight feel and Nakamura had to throw everything at him. Ibushi’s apron dead lift German suplex is still a highlight for me. It was the first stop in a big year for Ibushi so far, and another in what I’ve gone back to see as a long line of great performances from Nakamura. An absolute classic.

Eric Palmer
5. CLL International All Star Championship Ladder Match: Shynron(c) vs AR Fox: Beyond Wrestling ‘King of Arts’ – If you’re a fan of spotty ladder matches, which I am on occasion, you HAVE to see this match. The things Shynron can do are just incredible and he’s easily my favorite high flyer to watch on the indies right now. These guys put it all on the line in a 20+ minute war. This match is a must watch, in fact, if you don’t know the promotion, Beyond Wrestling is one to keep your eye on.

4. WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar(c) vs Seth Rollins vs John Cena: WWE Royal Rumble – This match exceeded basically every expectation I had for it and then some. These three guys were perfect in their roles and meshed together so well to create a story and a match that had wrestling fans on the edge of their seat. It’s an easy MOTY for WWE so far, and is a great watch for anyone.

3. NJPW World Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) vs Kazuchika Okada: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – Anytime you get these two locking up, you can expect great things. This match was no exception. I rate it slightly lower than the Nakamura/Ibushi match, but this is fantastic in its own right. Tanahashi and Okada are two of the best going in wrestling today and they looked like it here. This match is 30 minutes of great wrestling, and amazingly, isn’t close to the best match either has had. If you love wrestling, you should be following these guys.

2. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs Kota Ibushi: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – This is the match that a lot of people are calling MOTY so far, and I can understand why. These guys pulled out all the spots and meshed together so well it was just an incredible sight to see. There’s a few spots in there that I either have never seen done before, or were done so much better than ever before. This match is a MUST watch for any wrestling fan.

1. NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomoaki Honma vs Tomohiro Ishii: NJPW A New Beginning in Sendai – These guys just beat the holy hell out of each other, but every move meant something. Every move mattered to the next one. The story being told here is incredible, Honma is still hilarious at points, and this is one of the easiest 30 minute matches to watch you’ll ever see. There’s so much drama, so much brutality that it doesn’t matter I can’t understand the commentary. Far and away my Match of the Year so far, though admittedly I hope the G1 Climax will knock it down a few.

Arnold Furious
5. Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW Dream Power Series) ****1/2 : If there’s a match that defines the future of a wrestling company, anywhere in the world, in 2015 it’s Shiozaki vs. Miyahara in All Japan. It’s the match that will carry the promotion forward. It’s the only thing that’s making them worth watching. It’s the new Misawa-Kawada. Two guys alone at the top of their profession, both at a relatively young age. Every time they wrestle it’s a war. They’re also great tag team partners. Go Shiozaki has been placed in a position in All Japan now where he’s the guy. He’s going to have to carry the company forward because there are no other options and Miyahara has been trying, like hell, to prove otherwise. Their triple crown title match was amazing. Easily the best match AJPW has put on so far this year and every bit as good as anything I’ve seen in a WWE ring. Only with the kind of passion and atmosphere to take it over the top. Keeping in mind the attendance for that show was terrible and it makes it all the more astonishing how great the match was.

4. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (BJW Ikkitousen Death Match tournament) ****3/4 : Shuji Ishikawa has been billed by BJW as this massive unassailable mountain of a man. Completely indestructible. Too versatile to be felled and based around that premise had the kind of title defenses that Brock Lesnar would be having if WWE had a load of guys bubbling under with the same skill set as him. This culminated in Shuji vs. Sekimoto, an absolute war, which could have left the challenger paralyzed as Ishikawa seemed so desperate to hold on to the belt that nothing was off limits. Sekimoto’s against the odds victory was one of the feel good moments of the year so far. Big Japan has had a slew of these brutal heavy-hitting main events but Ishikawa vs. Sekimoto was a cut above the rest.

3. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9) *****: We didn’t have to wait long in the new year before NJPW decided to unleash a stack of MOTYC’s in the first week of January. Most people’s favorite is this match; the Nakamura-Ibushi IC title contest. A riveting duel between the most stylish wrestler in the world and his heir apparent. Kota might not have Nakamura’s fashion nor his bravado but he proved at Wrestle Kingdom that he was every bit as good as Shinsuke in the ring. Often stealing his spots and his presence as a way to get inside the champion’s head. Other people have done this, Kevin Owens springs to mind, but Kota did it so perfectly that you sense he could achieve anything he wanted to. The sky’s the limit. Oddly enough though, this wasn’t my favorite match on the card.

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9) *****: Now this was epic. Tanahashi and Okada have a storied rivalry dating back a few years where Okada came onto the scene and, after a few failed attempts, captured the IWGP title from Tanahashi. When Tana couldn’t win the belt back he gave up on the concept of beating Okada and went back to other business. While Okada established himself as the companies ace Tana was left to drift. When Tanahashi won the belt back and Okada won the G1 to establish himself as the top contender it all seemed like we’d gotten back to square one. Only this time around Tanahashi kicked out of the Rainmaker, which no one had ever done, and saw Okada off. It was an amazing contest, built over several years and culminating in a tearful Okada being led away while Tanahashi pointed out he was still the ace around here. Few matches can capture the emotion and wonder of professional wrestling like this one.

1. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW New Beginning in Sendai) *****: Now this was on another level completely. I marked out so hard watching Ishii vs. Honma that I’m not even sure I can put into words why it’s such a great match. I’ve watched Honma come up short so many times over the years that it seemed certain his presence in this match was just as a placeholder so Ishii could win the belt back and meet the guy who never lost it; Togi Makabe. But every Kokeshi, every near fall drew me further and further in. There’s a spot in the match where the referee collapses from Honma just failing to get the win. That’s how intense this match was. It was a match that left me exhausted. Even though Tanahashi and Okada told a wonderful story, Ishii and Honma were all about putting everything on the line. For a secondary title, if that, in the midcard of a PPV. It’s astonishing work and still resonates with me months later. It’ll take one hell of a match during G1 to remove this from my ‘best of’ list come years end.

Larry Csonka
5. From NJPW BOTSJ Finals – KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O’Reilly [****½] – This was insane, and exactly the kind of match I hoped for and expected from these two. They worked a basic and methodical start, to feel each other out and then moved into some arm work, to set up their finishers (arm bar from O’Reilly and hoverboard lock for KUSHIDA). This ended up like a seven layer cake of awesome, as they kept building and building, and landing big spots, and building and into near falls and building and it was just a tremendous piece of business as it never slowed, it never felt long, and I was buying into a lot of the near falls. They did some wild shit, hard strikes, sweet suplexes (REGAL PLEX~!), apron suplexes, O’Reilly catching KUSHIDA off a moonsault attempt to grab a triangle choke; it was beautiful. The work was excellent, the build was excellent, they had a great crowd and this was the perfect climax for the tournament. This is KUSHIDA’s breakout win, always one of the top junior tag guys and he had the great finals run last year, this was exactly what he needed to become the break out star many pegged him to be. This is was the exact kind of breakout performance he needed to have with the big win, and the guy more than deserves it. O’Reilly had a hell of a tournament, was the right guy to go to the finals and if he stays working with New Japan, could be a frontrunner for next years tournament. This is in the upper tier of the best matches of the year so far, make sure if you watch nothing else from this show that you watch this match.

4. From PWG Don’t Sweat The Technique – Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr [****¾] – As I have discussed before and need to say again, if you’re not watching Roderick Strong in 2015 you’re doing wrestling wrong. This falls just short of the ***** mark, but was insanely wonderful. Strong is a guy that is in his prime right now, and is working good to excellent matches with everyone in a lot of different companies. Strong worked the back, while Sabre Jr went for the arm work during the match. Strong has meshed everything he’s learned into a great package, while Sabre Jr works a “world of sport on crack” style that continues to impress each and every time out. Add into the excellent work the fact that Strong is a tremendous dick heel, and that Sabre Jr is a really good baby face and everything clicked here. I don’t always have the time to watch PWG, but this was recommended to me and I was extremely glad I took the time to watch this match.

As of now, these three matches are a tie for me…

T1. From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi [*****] – This match was all kinds of spectacular and is one of those matches that not only elevates Ibushi from the Junior ranks, but I felt that it was a true star making performance for him. We talk about that a lot in wrestling, guys with the hype, that will get the push and you wait for that one performance that lets you know that “he’s the guy” or “fuck off, he’s never gonna make it”. Ibushi brought the pain here in what I personally felt was his best performance I have ever seen. The entire match had that “big event/fight” feel to it, with Shinsuke Nakamura at the lead and proving why he is one of the very best wrestlers in the world today. Nakamura had to throw everything he had at Ibushi, and even had to survive Ibushi using Nakamura’s own moves against him. Nakamura winning continued his great run making the IWGP IC Title mean something special, the match made Ibushi look like a real deal and was the kind of special match you expect from the biggest show of the year for New Japan. This was a match that I initially gave ****¾ to, but after a few rewatches, I found myself loving it more and more each time. This was awesome.

T1. From NJPW New Beginning in Sendai – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma [*****] – Togi Makabe had been out with the bird flu or something, so since he couldn’t make this title defense, they vacated the title and made Ishii vs. Honma. I love Honma to death, but this booking is something I am not a fan of anywhere (the guy that constantly loses getting a title shot). Now that I said that, holy shit this was amazing. Yeah I know, “you bitched about the booking and are now going to praise the match”. Yes, yes I am. Yes, not a fan of booking the match due to Honma never winning, but as far as a wrestling match goes this was simply amazing. Once it was over I had to go back and watch it again just to verify what I watched and how great it was. The crowd was unreal for this match, as I have discussed before they LOVE Honma no matter what and simply want him to win because he’s their guy. They engaged in a brutal affair, with all of the stiff chops, lariats and head butts you can stomach and maybe a few more than that. It’s not a style that everyone loves, but the layout was excellent and the work from both was amazing. The near falls were so good because the crowd was biting on everything, and Honma hitting the Kokeshi on the floor was insane. I was simply locked into this match, I was biting on all of the near falls and this was beautiful display of violence.

T1. From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada [*****] – I have seen all of the Okada vs. Tanahashi matches, they have cemented themselves as one of the greatest rivalries in wrestling history already. It has been roughly 15-months since they last faced, and due to their history I had extremely high expectations for this match. They more than met my expectations, and again we have a very early MOTY candidate as I went for the full five stars. Okada came in very aggressive, leading to Tanahashi having to wrestling with more of a chip on his shoulder than usual. These guys let everything out of the bag, playing off of previous matches and finishes in the series of matches. If you had watched the other matches you got it, but even if you didn’t the action, pacing and overall drama was what pro wrestling is simply all about. People keep telling me that Hiroshi Tanahashi is slowing down and not delivering. He stepped back late last year, worked with Nakamura to help get the IC Title over, worked in the tag ranks and then was awesome in the G1 and is back to form. If Shawn Michaels is Mr. WrestleMania, Hiroshi Tanahashi is my Mr. Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi had to use everything to stop his greatest foe, and proved that he was still the man. Okada’s post match reaction was also what pro wrestling SHOULD be about. He was absolutely fucking crushed that he lost, holding his head in his hands and weeping because he failed on the biggest stage because the title meant everything to him.

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

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