Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #9-1 – WALTER vs. Bate, Shingo vs. Ospreay, More

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s column will look back at 2019 and will share my top 64 matches of the year. In order for a match to make the list, it had to have taken place sometime in 2019, and rate on my list at least at ****½. I am trying to create a best of playlist here with the idea behind it being for the person who has watched no wrestling in 2019 and are looking for the best things they missed. One thing that I have realized over the past few years as I have constantly upped the quantity of wrestling that I have been watching from all over the world, is that since 2014 or so, things have constantly been getting better and better. In terms of in ring quality, we’re really in a golden age with some spectacular performers putting on bigger, better, and more amazing matches and it’s an absolute joy to cover. Remember, this is just one man’s opinion; I hope that you enjoy, and feel free to share your thoughts and or list. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.”

HOW WE GOT HERE
64. From WWE MITB 2019: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles [****½]:
63. From Impact Slammiversary 2019: Cage vs. Michael Elgin [****½]
62. From WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow 2019: Will Ospreay vs. Bandido [****½]
61. From NXT TV 10.02.19: Adam Cole vs. Matt Riddle [****½]
60. From NXT Takeover: XXV: Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano [****½]
59. From NJPW WrestleKingdom 13: Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito [****½]
58. From Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory 10.17.19: David Starr vs. Mercedes Martinez [****½]
57. From NJPW Power Struggle 2019: BUSHI vs. Will Ospreay [****½]:
56. From NJPW Power Struggle 2019: KENTA vs. Big Tom Ishii [****½]
55. From AAA Conquista Total Gira 6.09.19: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Laredo Kid [****½]
54. From NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson [****½]
53. From NJPW Dominion 2019: Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito [****½]
52. From NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne 2019: Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles [****½]
51. From NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku 4.26.19: Roppongi 3K vs. Shingo & BUSHI [****½]
50. From NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5.03.19: Dragon Lee vs. Taiji Ishimori [****½]
49. From NJPW BOSJ 26 (Night 13): Shingo vs. Taiji Ishimori [****½]
48. From AEW Double or Nothing 2019: The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Bros. [****½]
47. From NJPW BOSJ 26 (Night 8): Shingo vs. Dragon Lee [****½]
46. From NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5.04.19: Big Tom Ishii vs. EVIL [****½]
45. From AAA Heroes Inmortales 10.19.19: Fenix vs. Kenny Omega [****½]
44. From NJPW BOSJ (Night One): Sho vs. Shingo [****½]
43. From AJPW Champion Carnival (Night Seventeen): Naoya Nomura vs. Suwama [****½]
42. From NJPW WrestleKingdom 13: Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay [****½]
41. From The NJ Cup Finals: Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA [****½]
40. From NJPW Royal quest 2019: Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki [****½]:
39. From NJPW Sengoku Lord 2019: Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr [****½]
38. From AJPW Champion Carnival (Night Twelve): Yuji Okabayashi vs. Dylan James [****½]
37. From NXT Takeover New York: The War Raiders vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet [****½]
36. From Dragon Gate Final Gate 2019: Ben-K vs. Naruki Doi [****½]
35. From NXT Takeover New York: Pete Dunne vs. WALTER [****½]
34. From OTT Homecoming II : Jordan Devlin vs. David Starr [****½]
33. From The NJPW NJ Cup (Day 11): Kazuchika Okada vs. Big Tom Ishii [****½]
32. From From NJPW G1 29 (Night Three): Will Ospreay vs. SANADA [****½]
31. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Thirteen): EVIL vs. Will Ospreay [****½]
30. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Sixteen): Shingo vs. Big Tom Ishii [****½]
29. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Fourteen): Shingo vs. Tetsuya Naito [****½]
28. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Thirteen): Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi [****½]
27. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Seven): Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay [****½]
26. From NJPW G1 29 (Night One) in Dallas: Lance Archer vs. Will Ospreay [****½]
25. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Two): Adorable Hawaiian Buddha Jeff Cobb vs. Big Tom Ishii [****½]
24. From WrestleMania 35: Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston [****½]
23. From The 2019 NJPW Super J Cup: Will Ospreay vs. Sho [****½]

22. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Ten): Big Tom Ishii vs. Juice Robinson [****½]
21. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Six): Jon Moxley vs. Big Tom Ishii [****½]
20. From AEW Double or Nothing 2019: Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes [****½]
19. From AEW All Out 2019: Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks [****¾]
18. From NJPW WrestleKingdom 13: Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [****¾]
17. From NXT Takeover Phoenix: Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano [****¾]
16. From Dragon Gate Truth Gate: Pac vs. KZY [****¾]
15. From Whitewolf Wrestling Total Rumble 9: A-Kid vs. Will Ospreay [****¾]
14. From The 2019 NJPW Super J Cup: Will Ospreay vs. Amazing Red [****¾]
13. From NJPW BOSJ 26 (Night 8): Will Ospreay vs. Bandido [****¾]:
12. From OTT WrestleRama III: WALTER vs. David Starr [****¾]:
11. From OTT Scrappermania V: WALTER vs. Jordan Devlin [****¾]
10. From ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard: Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito [****¾]:

AND NOW THE ELITE OF THE ELITE FOR 2019

9. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Five): Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi [****¾]: HOLY SHIT, what a match, and it was even better than their excellent WrestleKingdom encounter. They did an excellent job through out the match of using the injuries that were reported on both men and kept them a common thread throughout, which played extremely well and added to the drama and got the crowd invested. They also included great throwbacks to the WrestleKingdom match before working into a scintillating closing stretch with some absolutely tremendous near falls that had me on the edge of my seat. These boys absolutely delivered.

8. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Seventeen): Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi [****¾]: I thought that they would more heavily teas the draw and go longer, but I am not complaining at all as this was absolutely amazing, with an out of this world closing stretch wit insane last second counters, near falls, and a rabid crowd. Ibushi picks up the win, taking the block and guaranteeing a future title shot by beating Okada. It was an amazing roller coaster of a ride that would have had me up pacing around the room if you know, I had two legs. It’s ok to laugh guys. A block closes out with two of the tournament’s best matches, and the expected, but great Ibushi win.

7. From NJPW Dominion 2019: Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee [****¾]: This was an amazing and insane match, with Ospreay coming off of the MOTY contender against Shingo and making the most of his BOSJ win by winning the championship here. Both guys were absolutely great here, and Lee may have lost, but looked great in doing so, putting in another top notch effort. A mix of tremendous pacing, ambitious athleticism, and just two guys working extremely well together allowed this to be a complete success, and finishes Ospreay’s BOSJ tournament run and sets up his first title match with Eagles, who beat him in the BOSJ. Ospreay’s case for most outstanding performer of 2019 continued to grow.

6. From NJPW G1 29 (Night Seventeen): Will Ospreay vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [****¾]: This is easily the biggest win of Ospreay’s NJPW career and the biggest overall. The match was absolutely excellent, with Tanahashi looking to out smart and out wrestle the younger and faster Ospreay, and while the ace was more than game, Ospreay was just too much for him and overcame following an amazing closing homestretch. The counter work was great, the gameplan by Tanahashi was extremely smart, but he just didn’t have enough to keep Ospreay down and now they play the “what’s next for Tanahashi” game following a disappointing, in terms of wins and losses, G1 run. There were a ton of high expectations here, but they absolutely delivered the goods. The strength of the match is that they told an excellent Tanahashi style story, with him trying to overcome the speed and athleticism of Will, but it never takes away from Will’s strengths; just spectacular stuff.

5. From NJPW NJ Cup (Day 3): Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi [*****]: Ibushi vs. Naito is a perfect example of two guys that always bring out the best in each other. Ibushi not only moved on, but also laid claim to an IC Title shot in the future (and he won it at the G1 Supercard). This was an absolutely amazing match, filled with fire, aggression, a molten crowd and two of the very best in the world delivering a match that could main event any show in the world. This is a must see MOTY contender.

4. From NXT Takeover New York: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole [*****]: While he didn’t get to beat Ciampa, Gargano finally completed his journey and won the title, overcoming the odds, the numbers and again, solidifying his place as Mr. Takeover. This crowd was amazing and added so much to the match, and while I tend not to like the run-ins and ref bumps, they saved it to the end, and most importantly, Gargano overcame it to complete the journey and fulfill his underdog story. I thought that this was an overall incredible match and a great culmination to Gargano’s journey and featured an absolutely tremendous effort from both men. It’s not always about the moves or the story so much, of course it helps, but when you have a crowd that hot and emotionally invested, it’s an absolute triumph.

THIS IS WHERE IT GOT TOUGH!

3. From NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff 2019: WALTER vs. Tyler Bate [*****]: They had a great angle coming into this match, and just kept it simple to play off of that. They did callbacks to the Bate injury angle, WALTER was the perfect bully bate an equally amazing resilient babyfaces. Bate with odes to Dunne & Seven, who WALTER brutalized and beat, were beautiful little touches that really added to the story and match as a whole. The work was absolutely top notch, the drama spectacular, and the crowd was amazing and added a ton to this. The closing stretch was scintillating, dramatic, and really out it over the top for me. This was everything I wanted and more as they delivered a certified MOTY contender.

2. 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 & disparate, 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.

1. From NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals: Will Ospreay vs. Shingo [*****]: This was a battle of two of the very best in the world delivering in the main event spot and maybe even surpassing the lofty expectations many had for this. This was an amazing match, and if Shingo had to lose, this was the way to do it as Ospreay had to empty his entire arsenal and then some just to keep up with him and survive long enough to have a chance to win. They obviously have huge plans with Ospreay and Shingo loses nothing after that amazing effort. The pacing was tremendous, the drama was great and the crowd added a ton to this match. It was a match that had such high expectations that it could have disappointed in some way, but these two said not today and just destroyed each other in a beautiful war that constantly got better the longer it went along. This was absolutely off the charts and a more than fitting end to what is the best BOSJ tournament I’ve ever covered.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU
I want to offer a special thank you to al that have followed my work in 2019. As many of you know, 2019 has been a very difficult one for me and my family due to my hospitalization, amputation, rehab, and eventual return home. I was in a really shitty place, but the welcome back I got from you guys and amazing support from Ashish and the whole 411 family as I had to transition to a new role meant the world to me. I really appreciate the support and for you guys allowing me to continue to do what I love for a living.

Thank You,

Larry Csonka, the one-legged man in an ass kicking contest, working at 50% trying to keep a leg up on the competition.

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

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.