Csonka’s Top 27 Matches of October 2019: Riddle vs. Cole, Omega vs. Fenix, 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 October 2019 and the top 27 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.”

* 27. From AEW Dynamite 10.30.19: The Lucha Bros vs. SCU [****]
* 26. From NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2019: Kazuckika Okada vs. SANADA [****]
* 25. From Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory 10.10.19: Timothy Thatcher vs. Eddie Kingston [****]
* 24. From ROH Glory by Honor 2019: Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley [****]
* 23. From NXT TV 10.02.19: Undisputed Era vs. Street Profits [****]
* 22. From NXT TV 10.09.19: WALTER vs. KUSHIDA [****]
* 21. From NJPW Road to Power Struggle 10.16.19: Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [****]
* 20. From Impact Bound for Glory: Ace Austin vs. Jake Crist vs. Ace Romero vs. Daga vs. Tessa Blanchard[****]
* 19. From ROH Honor United 2019: Bolton: Flamita vs. Mike Bailey [****]
* 18. From ROH Honor United 2019: London: Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Briscoe [****]
* 17. From Impact Bound for Glory: Cage vs. Sami Callihan[****]
* 16. From Impact Bound for Glory: Michael Elgin vs. Naomichi Marufuji [****]
* 15. From AEW Dark 10.15.19: Joey Janela vs. Kenny Omega [****]
* 14. From AEW Dynamite 10.23.19: The Lucha Bros vs. Private Party [****]
* 13. From AAA Heroes Inmortales 10.19.19: El Hijo del Vikingo won the Antonio Pena Copa [****]
* 12. From NJPW Super Junior Tag League (Day 7): Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. TJP & Clark Connors [****]
* 11. From AEW Dynamite 10.09.19: The Young Bucks vs. Private Party [****]
* 10. From NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2019: Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL[****]
* 9. from NJPW Road to Power Struggle 10.27.19: Roppongi 3K vs. Rocky Romero & Taguchi [****]
* 8. From NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2019: Jushin Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki [****]
* 7. From NXT TV 10.23.19: Roderick Strong vs. Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic [****]

6. From WWE Hell in a Cell 2019: Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks [****¼]: I really loved this. This match was a great, brutal and plunder filled opener that played off of the established feud well, and had a great pace and some innovative spots, that isn’t easy to pull off after 40 plus HIAC matches. I was a bit surprised that Lynch retained, but they delivered here.

5. From NJPW Road to Power Struggle 10.28.19: Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi [****¼]: This was really great and the match of the tournament so far for me. They all busted their asses, the Birds of Prey have developed into such a great team, Taguchi is a ton of fun and Romero delivered another inspired performance on his birthday, and I really hope that people appreciate how good the man continues to be. They kept up a great pace, the closing stretch bordered on amazing at times and they delivered some great drama there until Will finally scored with hidden blade and storm breaker (the first time in the tournament) to pick up the hard fought win and keep his team in the mix to win the tournament.

4. From NXT TV 10.02.19: Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle [****½]: This was an excellent, balls to the wall, Takeover caliber match from these two. They unloaded their entire arsenals on each other, there were great near falls/finishes, and the closing five-minute were absolutely outstanding. The crowd was amazing here and this was absolutely the right choice to kick off the show as Cole retains and continues his reign.

3. From Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory 10.17.19: David Starr vs. Mercedes Martinez [****½]: Intergender Wrestling can be extremely polarizing, there are the matches that turn people off (because it comes across as a man abusing a woman as the woman tries to prove “she can take a beating,”) the average where they just work an ok match but the woman never looks competitive, and then there are technical classics like Eagles vs. Quackenbush from CHIKRA, which I saw live. David Starr vs. Mercedes Martinez is an excellent wrestling match, providing a strong pace and layout, a mix of power work and technical work, Starr continuing to have a great 2019, and Martinez containing go prove why she’s gotten so much praise over the last decade plus. Beyond is one of those places that makes intergender work, it’s the right atmosphere, the competitors are given plenty of freedom and when you have two professionals as good as this, it’s almost magical. This is nor only a great example of intergender done the right way, but a flat out excellent professional wrestling match.

2. From AAA Heroes Inmortales 10.19.19: Fenix vs. Kenny Omega [****½]: This was for Fenix’s AAA Mega Championship, and was set up by a challenge that Omega issued at Triplemania XXVII in August, where Fenix, Pentagon, & Laredo Kid defeated Omega & The Young Bucks. They had an excellent match, similar in quality to their previous meeting for NEW. The took their past and used it well here, working at a great pace and bringing all of the goodness you’re used to from these men. Fenix is an absolutely dynamic highflier and was working at a main event level here, while big match Kenny was in the house. The closing stretch, including a bloody Fenix, was off the charts and put this over the top, with some spectacular counter work. The crowd was great for this and Omega won the championship with a powerbomb, piledriver and one winged angel for the murder death kill finishing sequence.

1. From OTT 5th Year Anniversary: Jordan Devlin vs. David Starr [*****]: Over the last two years or so, the story weaved between Devlin, Starr, & WALTER has been some of the best storytelling in wrestling, and delivered several MOTY caliber matches, and at OTT’s 5th anniversary, things came to a climax. The build and storytelling made for an absolutely amazing atmosphere, with a crowd that was completely invested in everything they did and due to that emotional investment. Helped take this match into rarified air. The match itself is quite exquisitely built throughout, with smart pacing, beautiful counter work and best of all, simply playing to your audience and giving them what they wanted when they needed it, taking them on an emotional roller coaster. They got dirty & desperate, we saw low blows, Starr some how kicked out of the package piledriver, leading to just an amazing closing stretch where Starr stunned Devlin with a Trapped Arm Bob Fossil and finally finished him with two Han Stansens to vanquish Devlin and take the championship. An amazing match in front of a completely invested crowd that created one of the best if not the best atmospheres I’ve seen all year. The win for Starr is the culmination of a journey and signals Devlin’s exit from OTT.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 63. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert break down week five of the Wednesday Night Wars between NXT & AEW, and preview MLW Superfight. The show is approximately 96-minutes long.

* Intro
* AEW Dynamite (10.30.19) Review: 2:45
* NXT (10.30.19) Review: 34:45
* The Comparison/Who Won Week Five: 54:45
* MLW Superfight PPV Preview: 1:02:45

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– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.