Csonka’s Top 18 Matches of December 2019: Cage vs. Elgin, Ben-K vs. Doi, More

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s column will look back on the month of December 2019 and the top 18 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. Thanks for reading! As always, consider this my play list of great matches, recommendations for the month. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

* 18From Impact No Surrender 2019: Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann [****]
* 17. From Beyond Wrestling 12.19.19: David Starr vs. Leyla Hirsch [****]
* 16. From NXT TV 12.11.19: Finn Balor vs. Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa [****]
* 15. From WWE TLC 2019: Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy [****]
* 14. From ROH Final Battle 2019: The Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham [****]
* 13. From ROH Final Battle 2019: Flamita & Bandido vs. Marty Scurll [****]
* 12. From ROH Final Battle 2019: Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee [****]
* 11. From Dragon Gate Final Gate 2019: Kaito Ishida vs. Jason Lee [****]
* 10. From AAA Guerra de Titanes 2019: Pentagon & Fenix vs. Australian Suicide & Rey Horus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo & Myzteziz [****]
* 9. From NXT TV 12.11.19: Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza [****]
* 8. From NJPW World Tag League 2019 Finals: Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. EVIL & SANADA [****]
* 7. From AEW Dynamite 12.04.19: Dustin Rhodes & The Young Bucks vs. Santana, Ortiz, & Sammy Guevara [****]
* 6. From NXT TV 12.18.19: Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor [****]
* 5. From NXT TV 12.18.19: Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler [****]
* 4. From NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome 12.21.19: Hiromu Takahashi & EVIL vs. Will Ospreay & Big Tom Ishii [****]
* 3. From AAA TripleMania Regia: Kenny Omega vs. Dragon Lee [****]

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2. From Impact Motown Showdown 2019: Michael Elgin vs. Cage [****¼]: This was an absolutely great, hard-hitting war that was almost on par with their Slammiverary effort and delivered as expected. This was PPV quality shit and it ruled, as these two have absolutely tremendous chemistry and properly played off of their first match, but didn’t just revisit it, they properly used it as a base and added to the already established story. They are 1-1 now, we NEED a third match, because these first two ruled.

1. From Dragon Gate Final Gate 2019: Ben-K vs. Naruki Doi [****½]: I don’t get to watch as much Dragon Gate as I’d like to, but was informed of a few matches from this show to check out and I am glad I did because this was an excellent match. The story was the young champion, Ben-K who had a hell of a year, doing everything he could to retain against the Dragon gate legend in Doi. Ben-K really came across as way more seasoned than you’d think at age 28, while the rumors of Nsaruki Doi’s demise at age 39 have been greatly exaggerated. It was a tremendous story of the young champion trying doing everything to prove himself and keep the championship against the legend that had a great dramatic feel to it. He failed after a great battle as Doi had to unload on his with slaps, kicks, Doi 555s and the muscular bomb to finally put him away. It ruled.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 78. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert break down and preview the huge two-day NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 spectacular, share our love of Jushin Liger, and book the Double Gold Dash. The show is approximately 98-minutes long.

* Intro
* NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (January 4th) Preview: 3:55
* NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (January 5th) Preview: 46:45

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* Google Play

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.