wrestling / Columns
The Month That Was: Looking at The Best From January 2016
Welcome to the first edition of my monthly column that will look back each month at the best (and worst) that each month had to offer. Last year I watched around 3000 matches with 160+ full shows. I am not sure if I will touch that number this year as I am being more selective, but also broadening my horizons with more puro. Those numbers last year include EVERY WWE match aired on any of their shows. With the wide variety of wrestling I watch I thought this would be a good idea to get a lot of things out there as there are many shows and matches I watch that I do not write a full review for. I was originally holding this back until mid February as PWG Lemmy (from 1/5) was scheduled to be delivered on 2/15; however the date was delayed by two weeks and that is just too long to wait. Therefore I will have a quick revision for the top 10 to include PWG Lemmy (and likely a couple more shows) in the next edition. Along with that I was looking forward to the main event of PROGRESS 25 but after finally being released on 2/6 there were a lot of issues with the editing and it was pulled down, production started from scratch so that show is also missing.
First up we will look at the top 10 matches of month. I kept a running order for my top 10 for the month, but that covers a lot of time and sometimes you can forget just how good a match is and put another match above it. Along with that matches that are this great deserve a sexond viewing to see what the story does the second time around. Because of that I went back and watched nearly every match that I went (****+) on and ranked the best 10.
Here is a breakdown of matches and (full shows) I watched from each company. I do not count TV episodes as a full show.
AAW (9 matches) (1 show)
AWE (1 match)
Beyond Wrestling (10 matches) (1 show)
BJW (6 matches) (1 show)
CMLL/NJPW (43 matches) (6 shows)
CWF Mid-Atlantic (4 matches)
CZW/SMASH (8 matches) (1 show)
Dragon Gate (22 matches) (3 shows)
DREAMWAVE (10 matches) (1 show)
EVOVLE (21 matches) (3 shows)
Five Star Wrestling (2 matches)
ICW (5 matches) (1 show)
Lucha Underground (3 matches)
NJPW (25 matches) (3 shows)
NOAH (5 matches)
PWX (1 match)
ROH (26 matches) (1 show)
RPW (7 matches) (1 show)
SEAdLINNNG (1 match)
STARDOM (2 matches)
TNA (5 matches)
WWE/NXT (78 matches) (1 show)
WWA4 (1 match)
ZERO-1 (1 match)
TOTAL: 295 matches (24 shows)
To be watched at a later time: PROGRESS 25, PWG Lemmy, ROH Winter Warriors: Collinsville / Duluth
Top 10 Matches of January
NOTE: Most matches can be clicked on and you will be brought to a source to either watch or purchase the match.
10. Royal Rumble Match [WWE Royal Rumble 1/24] The Rumble match is always one that I look forward to, but in cases like last year it does not always deliver. Last year was the worst Rumble match in history and while this year was not the best it was still a HUGE step in the right direction, it is also very telling that I enjoyed it even more on a second viewing just about 2 weeks later. While it had been predicted by many sine the stipulation was announced that Triple H was going to walk out with the belt, this was a great case of predictable is not always bad. I typically enjoy legend participants but it made a lot of sense to not have them this year with the title on the line and really there were no major snubs from the field. The only real downside to the match to me was probably the time right before Reigns was taken out till Zayn entered as the ring just became kind of muddled. I got goosebumps on the entrance of Styles and Zayn and am very excited for their future. As a huge fan of Triple H I do not mind seeing him get this short title reign, but I hope the WWE soon realizes they need more stars. This would have been the perfect time for a Bray Wyatt title reign, but the Roman vs The World narrative will roll on through Mania. For my money this was the best Royal Rumble match since 2008. (****)
9. EVOLVE Tag Team Tournament Final: Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano vs Heroes. Eventually. Die. [EVOLVE 55 1/24] Heroes. Eventually. Die. which consists of Chris Hero and Tommy End owned the EVOLVE 53-55 weekend in Orlando with all three of their matches being ****+ efforts and being “match of the night”. Personally I was really pulling for them to get the win as they are closer to being a team based off previous storylines than the two golden children of the WWN universe. That is no slight at Gargano or Galloway, just that having them win the tag belts right off the bat was a little bland and predictable. One of the two men has held the DGUSA or EVOLVE title for much of the past four years so it would be refreshing to see them chasing the belts. The fact that the entire final match up was made up of two make shift teams was a bit of a let down in theory, but the action put forth by these four more than made up for that. The spot in the match that End and Hero get pissed with each other and proceed to throw strikes for 30 seconds before resuming the match was nicely done. I really would like to see Hero & End become a regular tag team as they killed it this weekend, plus their name is awesome. (****1/4)
8. RPW British Heavyweight #1 Contender: Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay [RPW High Stakes 1/16] The story of two wrestlers who know each other so well that they can reverse everything their opponent does is one of my favorite wrestling stories. It often leads to some great counter wrestling with fun reversals, and that is what we had here. I have really enjoyed getting to watch these two young British wrestlers grow over the last year or so and this felt like a nice culmination of all the work that they have been doing. The booking here was fantastic and these guys told this story to a tee with each hitting moves that the other would usually be doing. On my first viewing I felt the bout went on a little too long and while I could still see some making that statement, it really worked well as they just could not put the other away. This match has become this generations Styles/Daniels of 2005-2008 indies and I would be okay not seeing them wrestle each other for a little bit, but I know that will not be the case as they are scheduled to face off at the WrestleCon SuperCard and had a match in PROGRESS that I am waiting to see. Match bumped up 1/4 star on second viewing. (****1/2)
7. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi [Wrestle Kingdom 1/4]: Two guys that have an undeniable chemistry facing one more time, possibly the final time at a Wrestle Kingdom event. This is the equivalent of Rock vs Austin at WrestleMania XIX for me, except both guys are still arguably at their peaks. The cross body by Okada over the railing early on looked spectacular and was a good early high spot for the match. My sole issue with this match the first time around remained on this viewing, Tanahashi spends so much time and effort working over the leg of Okada for it to not matter at all. Okada did little to no selling on the leg, but even with that this match is still a fantastic match. The crowd was loud and hugely into the match and the big fight feel was very apparent. I understand the long, epic story they were trying to tell but trimming 5 minutes off this match could have made things even better in my eyes as towards the end things just started to feel repetitive and I was ready for it to be done. If this is in fact the official changing of the guards at the top and Okada will be the “go to star” for the next 5 or so years than it is a fantastic start to his era. The moment felt like a huge one, and rightly so. (****1/2)
6. Doi Darts Ten Man Tag Team Match: Akira Tozawa, Cyber Kong, Don Fujii, Stalker Ichikawa & YAMATO vs CIMA, Gamma, Jimmy Kanda, Masaaki Mochizuki & Shingo Takagi [Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate 2016 Day 4 1/13] As much as I enjoyed this match I can not help but wonder if that would be even more enhanced if I was more familiar with the stories and back stories of all the men. Dragon Gate is a promotion that I have never closely followed, I have been familiar with many of the main players over the years thanks to ROH and later Dragon Gate USA but never the home company itself. For those unaware the match is legitamley chosen by throwing darts at a board to make these teams. The match had an amazing flow and really never slowed down. The near falls by Stalker towards the end of the match on Shingo had me biting and wanting to see more. (****1/2)
5. WWE Intercontinental Title Last Man Standing Match: Dean Ambrose (c) vs Kevin Owens [WWE Royal Rumble 1/24] A Lot of people had this pegged as the match that could steal the show at the Rumble, and they were right. Two darlings of IWC world tore the house down here and brutalized each other with a barrage of weapons. These guys really made us feel over the last 2 months that they both really cared about having the Intercontinental Title, which is extremely refreshing and the way it should be. This was one of the best put together hardcore style matches on WWE television in a long time. The spots with the barricade, steel steps and elbow off the top rope were excellent. They did not fall into the trap that we often see of guys taking forever to set up a spot as they stayed aware of what they were doing and how long it was taking. While I would have LOVED to have seen the moonsault spot Owens was going for at the finish through the chairs, the flip through the table was a perfectly suitable ending. (****1/2)
4. STARDOM World of Stardom Title: Io Shirai (c) vs Kairi Hojo [STARDOM 5th Anniversary Show 1/17]: Sorry for the lack of a link on this one, but I do give a high recommendation on finding a way to see this. Women’s wrestling in main stream North America took a large step up in quality last year and it has certainly sparked me to want to find more great ladies wrestling. I had never seen, or even heard of either of these ladies before this match begun but my the end I was a fan of both and had been blown away. Shirai is incredibly athletic and I am really looking forward to seeing a lot more from her soon. There was a spot in the match with her doing a quadruple rolling German suplex that not only looked devastating but very cool to see. Shirai showed high flying skills, along with some great grappling in a few brutal looking submissions. The match went nearly 30 minutes and never once was I bored or not intrigued. The two ladies hugged after the match. This is your Women’s match of the month, and will certainly be in contention for that award in 11 months time. (****1/2)
3. EVOLVE Tag Title Tournament Quarterfinal: Heroes. Eventually. Die. vs Sami Callihan & Zack Sabre Jr. [EVOLVE 53 1/22] Timothy Thatcher was originally scheduled to be ZSJ’s partner but was sidelined with a staph infection. Callihan stepped up in a big way here as his replacement in his first match back with EVOLVE since leaving WWE. Tommy End is a guy that I feel I don’t get to see nearly enough, so it was a pleasure getting to watch him throughout this EVOLVE weekend. The chops, kicks and technical holds here are all so beautifully done. It truly says a lot about four competitors when two non-teams can come together like this and put on such a great match. The way that Sabre is able to pick a boy part and just work away at it with strikes and the realist looking submissions in the game is pure art. I told my buddy when this match happened Friday of Royal Rumble weekend that no other match in Florida would top it that weekend and I was right (however just barely as the last man standing match was right on par). This was your January North American Match of the Month, without a doubt. I would also go as far as to say it was one of the best tag team bouts that I have seen anywhere in a few years. (****1/2)
2. CMLL World Lightweight Title: Dragon Lee II (c) vs Kamaitachi [CMLL/NJPW Fantastica Mania 2016 Day 6 1/24] As someone who watches little to no wrestling out of Mexico this match was a real treat. The Fantastica Mania shows really opened my eyes to some talents that I had not seen before, these two being a big part of that group. The hurricarana early from inside the ring to the apron set the tone and let me know I was in for something special. Not only were the spots in the match amazing (like the top rope senton to the floor) but the selling by both guys matched it. This was not simply a spotfest with 2 guys showing every cool thing they can do, this was a fight that involved high risk assaults. The submission holds in the later portion of the match were just as well executed as the earlier high flying moves. I don’t know how often wrestling out of Mexico will pop up on my lists as I do not really know what means to go through to watch it, but I would love to see more of these 2! (****3/4)
1. IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs AJ Styles [NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 1/4] An absolute dream match right here, however 24 hours after this match was done more people were talking about the future of these two instead of the amazing performance they put on here. When this match happened a month ago I would have never imagined that one of these men would be on WWE TV a few weeks later, with the other on his way in short order. Sometimes the little things of a match can mean the most, AJ shooting the bullet at Nakamura, only to have him swallow it was one of those times and showed the charisma of Nakamura. AJ’s Calf Killer looked brutal with his application here and Nakamura’s reversal into the armbar looked just as nice. Styles hit every signature move he could on Nakamura but was not quite able to put him away, and the drama built with every near fall perfectly. In my original viewing I went with a 4.5 for this but the second viewing really exposed to me just how wrong I was. This match was as near perfection as one can get and honestly I can not pick out a single thing I would change about it. The show of respect after the match had me so intrigued as to where they were going with Styles, but really it was about where Styles was going. This match is the perfect example of why sometimes a second viewing is so important as this is the first match that I have given a full boat to in quite some time. (*****)
Honorable Mention (**** or above)
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title: reDRagon (c) vs Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs Roppongi Vice vs Young Bucks [NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 1/4] (****)
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega (c) vs KUSHIDA [NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 1/4] (****)
NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata [NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 1/4] (****)
Eight Man Tag: Genki Horiguchi HAGeeMee, Jimmy Kanda, Jimmy Susumu & Ryo Jimmy Saito vs Kotoka, Naruki Doi, Shingo Takagi & YAMATO [Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate 2016 Day 3 1/11] (****)
Intergender Match: Masato Tanaka vs Nanae Takahashi [SEAdLINNNG Let’s Make Miracle Year 1/11] (****)
EVOLVE Tag Title Tournament Semifinal: Heroes. Eventually. Die. vs Roppongi Vice [EVOLVE 54 1/23] (****)
Second Chance Tournament Semifinal: Catch Point vs Sami Callihan & Zack Sabre Jr. [EVOLVE 54 1/23] (****)
Style Battle Tournament Round Robin Final: Matthew Riddle vs Tracy Williams [EVOLVE 55 1/24] (****)
Gift of the Gods: Fenix (c) vs King Cuerno [Lucha Underground 1/27] (****)
NXT Title #1 Contender Triple Threat Match: Baron Corbin vs Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe [NXT 1/27] (****)
NOAH Great Voyage 2016 in Yokohama: GHC Heavyweight Title – Naomichi Marufuji (c) vs Takashi Sugiura (****)
Da Hit Squad vs Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa [Beyond The Dream Left Behind 1/31] (****)
Top 5 Shows of January
5. EVOLVE 54 (1/23) [8]
4. Dragon Gate Open the New Year Gate 2016 Day 4 (1/13) [8.5]
3. EVOLVE 55 (1/24) [8.5]
2. WWE Royal Rumble 2016 (1/24) [9]
1. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 (1/4) [9.5]
With 4 matches in the ****-****1/2 category and the number one ***** match there was little doubt that this was the best the month had to offer.
Promotion of the Month: EVOLVE
While NJPW had the best show this month and a great follow up the next day with New Year’s Dash, EVOLVE put on one of the most consistently great triple shot weekends I have seen in some time. EVOLVE 53 just missed the top 5 cut, meaning their 3 shows took up one half of the top 6 with 23 eligible shows. Each show had at least 1 match go ****+, with the later two shows having 2 matches with that accomplishment. When EVOLVE announced there would not only be a tournament to crown their first tag team champions, but also their annual style battle tournament running through the weekend I was a little skeptical. However, they were able to tell great stories with both tournaments throughout the weekend and both featured great finals matches. The weekend also did a fantastic job with the slow burn angle involving the redemption of Ethan Page. When Timothy Thatcher was ruled out for the weekend many fans were disappointed, but Gabe stepped up and signed Tommaso Ciampa for two of the shows to try to fill the gap. While neither of Ciampa’s matches (vs. Page at 54, vs. Caleb Konley at 55) were must see matches, it was still a great call to add one of the hottest current talents.
Wrestler of the Year Top 10 Standings
This will be an on-going tally throughout the year that will help me award a clear wrestler of the year by match quality. Here is a breakdown of the point system I will be using (1st 15 2nd 12 3rd 10, 4th-10th go down by one point each and everyone who had an HM gets 1 point). Just like the rest of the items above this could end up being tweaked slightly once PWG & PROGRESS release their January shows but for now this is what things look like.
1. AJ Styles (18)
2. Chris Hero (15)
3. Shinsuke Nakamura (15)
4 .Tommy End (15)
5. Dragon Lee II (12)
6. Kamaitachi (12)
7. Dean Ambrose (11)
8. Kevin Owens (11)
9. Sami Callihan (11)
10. Zack Sabre Jr. (11)
To see the whole list, or to keep up with the rest of the January edits check out the link below and click the tab titled “WOTY”.
Tag Team of the Month: Heroes. Eventually.Die. of Chris Hero & Tommy End
It is not very often I would consider this award for a makeshift tag team, but these two were involved in three of the absolute best tag team matches of January, all in one weekend. It is not yet known if Hero & End will continue to be a team and challenge Galloway & Gargano again down the road or if they will take their own paths again, but for January these guys were THE guys.
Worst Show of January:
DREAMWAVE Season Premiere 2016 (1/2) [3] (REVIEW)
Worst Match of January:
DJ Hyde vs. Scotty O’Shea – CZW Rules Match (SMASH vs. CZW) (DUD) (REVIEW)
Every Match & Show I Have Watched From 2016
Other January 2016 Reviews:
AAW The Chaos Theory 2016
ROH Winter Warriors Tour – Indianapolis
WWE Main Event & Superstars: The Best of January
If you think there is a match I missed, that I must see than I would love to hear about it.
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