Csonka’s Top 8 Matches of December 2017 -Dunne & Bate Do It Again

WELCOME back, back to the column that makes lists and hopes that you enjoy them. This week’s column will look back and the month of December 2017 and the top 8 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 playlist 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.”

8. From ROH TV 12.20.17 – The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson) defeated Trent, Chuckie T, & Rocky Romero @ 20:56 via pin [****]: This was an absolutely great main event. They kept an amazing pace, the crowd was into it the entire time and it was just so much fun. Nick Jackson may have the best hot tag in the business right now; it completely changes the tone of a match and begins the build to taking things to the next level. Great work from everyone here, making a usually missable post PPV show worth your time.

7. From EVOLVE 97 – Matt Riddle defeated WALTER @ 10:00 via referee stoppage [****]: This was a great, back and forth, hard-hitting match with a consistent and deliberate pacing and style that separated it from everything on Evolve 96 & 97. It was unique; it kept the crowd and simply delivered. Riddle picks up two big wins on the weekend, working a new stipulation that freshens up the shows and really added to the weekend overall; there was no wasted motion and no busy work here, just two guys working a style that felt like a fight and that was focused on winning at all costs.

6. From ROH Final Battle 12.15.17 – Jay Lethal defeated Marty Scurll @ 15:55 via pin [****]: In a normal match, the shenanigans would have been overplayed, but the whole basis of the feud was Scurll wanting Lethal to be the old Lethal and revisit his old villainous ways. So here it broke down into who could out heel the other first, and Lethal ended up picking up the win as he stayed one step ahead of the villain. They took that story, added in great action and in the end, put together a great match, with a great story and the heavily invested crowd. Lethal will likely move on to challenge for the title; this was easily the best thing on the Final Battle PPV.

5. Champion Zack Sabre, Jr. defeated Jaka @ 18:13 via submission [****¼]: This was an absolutely great match, and a beautiful clash of styles, that they made work so very well. The story was that Jaka, the tough as nails brawler, came in with a dinged up knee, and Sabre was the pure technician, sticking to his game plan, simply breaking him down and staying focused on taking out the knee to nullify his power advantage. Jaka kept fighting, and the point where Dickinson arrived to fire his partner up to make one last push for the title played extremely well. The home stretch was really excellent, taking the entire match up a notch, but at the end of the day, Sabre ‘s focused and consistent attacks paid off, taking out the knee and finally submitting Jaka. Jaka has proven a great tag team guy for EVOLVE, but the series with Sabre has shown that he’s capable of so much more.

4. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated DJ Z @ 15:10 via pin [****¼]: This was an absolutely great match, with Sabre giving DJZ a lot, and also DJZ keeping up with Sabre’s grappling game throughout. The transition work here was almost as flawless as can be, they kept a great pace, kept the crowd interested and while Sabre picked up the win, DJZ looked absolutely great and made me want to see a rematch down the line. It amazes me that Impact has done so little with DJZ, he should be an asset for them, not sitting on the sidelines and putting on great matches for other companies.

3. Champion Keith Lee defeated WALTER @ 19:13 via pin [****¼]: This was a great hoss fight, with WALTER giving the champion all he wanted and more than he expected. This was a very different match for both, and most times they are the bigger and more dominant performer, but here they had to go power for power. Lee had to fight from the bottom, and did so well as the crowd believed in him, and more importantly believed that WALTER was a legit threat to him and the title. This had great work, great pacing and delivered a hard-hitting hoss fight, with Lee surviving and proving to be not only the deserving champion but THE big man in WWN Live. This certainly delivered in the main event spot, and both guys continue to have a great 2017.

2. From NXT TV 12.06.17 – NXT Title Contender’s Match: Johnny Gargano defeated Kassius Ohno @ 11:45 via submission [****¼]: This was a GREAT match, and despite the fact that both men weren’t setting the world on fire as far as wins go, they still had enough equity with the NXT fans to captivate them from bell to bell with a smartly paced and well-worked match. Ohno’s offense is so believable, and with the angle where Gargano was on the downslide and questioning himself, made for some great near falls. They created great drama, working a physical and hard-hitting match with a decisive finish that played very well with the live crowd and also transitioned well to TV. Rumors of Kassius Ohno’s demise are greatly exaggerated; he is still really good. Jonathan Wrestling is one of the best on the entire roster and is such an easy babyface to root for and become invested in. This would have been right at home on any Takeover show, and would have been the best match on a lot of WWE PPVs this year.

1. From NXT TV 12.20.17 – Champion Pete Dunne defeated Tyler Bate @ 22:55 via pin [****½]: Fucking hell that was excellent. We all know that these two have amazing chemistry, but doing it three times in the same year is usually really hard, but 2017 we have had some excellent trilogies (Okada vs. Omega, Naito vs. Tanahashi, Ishii vs. Omega) and we can add Bate vs. Dunne to that mix. This started slowly, and did a great job of slowly and consistently building throughout the match, while also paying tribute and properly playing off of their previous two matches like all trilogies should. They had an absolutely tremendous homestretch, as they just kept upping the intensity, the drama and hitting the climax at just the right time. Add a late addition to the year-end match listing with this bad boy. These guys kick ass.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”