Kevin’s Top 10 Matches of September 2017 – Lucha Underground Battles WWE, PROGRESS, & More

I’m back with another ranking of the best matches last month. September was a down month in terms of high quality bouts. Not that it was bad, there just weren’t as many great matches as most other months. NJPW had their worst month, with three mediocre Destruction events. Meanwhile, WWE held No Mercy and the Mae Young Classic, Ultima Lucha Tres began, Dragon Gate saw the conclusion of a big tournament and PROGRESS held their biggest show ever. Unfortunately, with the recent Floslam/WWN issues, I was unable to see the Evolve shows in September.

Honorable Mentions

CIMA, Dragon Kid & Eita vs. El Lindaman, Shingo Takagi & T-Hawk vs. Kotoka, Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi – Scandal Gate 9/5/17

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship Sin City Street Fight: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day – Smackdown 9/12/17

Losing Unit Must Disband No Disqualifications Elimination Match: Jimmyz vs. VerserK – Dangerous Gate 9/18/17

10. IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW Destruction in Kobe 9/24/17

Their G1 match ruled (****¼) and was Sabre’s first ever G1 match. Tanahashi’s new hair should knock at least half a star off any match. A deliberately slow start to this one, as Tanahashi was tentative to fully lock up. He knew Sabre’s strength and that his arm had a giant bullseye on it. Tanahashi retaliated by going after the leg to set up the Texas Cloverleaf. His ability to use his veteran know to combat Sabre, frustrated the challenger. We got more of aggressive Sabre as he stomped on Tanahashi’s arm outside. Tanahashi survived a vicious octopus hold and hit High Fly Flow to the outside. He nailed one inside to a standing Sabre, but Minoru Suzuki ran out as TAKA distracted the referee. There was a ref bump, leading to Michael Elgin making the save and taking Suzuki to the back. During all this, Sabre got a good near fall on a PK. He got his knees up on another High Fly Flow attempt and moved into a submission. Tanahashi got free and nearly lost to the European clutch, which is probably the best pinning combo in wrestling right now. Tanahashi fought free with a bunch of neckbreakers and retained after finally hitting another High Fly Flow at 30:13. A high quality main event, but it fell short of their G1 outing. The lengthy mat stuff won’t be for everyone and the dueling limb work could be seen as too similar to the Jr. Title match, which is understandable. I didn’t see the point of the Minoru run-in. The SG shortcuts made sense in the Jr. Title match, but added nothing to this one. They told a fine story of Tanahashi being outmatched due to Sabre’s technical acumen and his bad arm, but he overcame the odds. [***¾]

9. Piper Niven vs. Toni Storm – WWE Mae Young Classic

To get here, Niven beat Santana Garrett (***½) and Serena Deeb (***¼), while Storm beat Ayesha Raymond (**½) and Lacey Evans (**¾). They were friendly from the start and their exchanges ruled. Storm bridged up from a test of strength, even with Niven on top of her. They did a double bridge spot and shook hands to a pop. Storm got too playful and Piper splashed her, taking control. Toni finally bought time after hitting a backstabber. Piper survived a hip attack and hit the Michinoku Driver for a good near fall. Niven looked for a Vader Bomb, but Storm got up and took her off the second rope with a huge German suplex. She followed with a diving leg drop for the win in 7:36. The best tournament matches so far. I loved the opening exchanges, as it was refreshing and never got too past playful that it felt out of place in a tournament like this. Great back and forth and I’m glad they didn’t overdo some of the same tropes from previous tourney matches. The German spot was one of the coolest so far. I may be the high man on this, but it was right up my alley. [***¾]

8. IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Juice Robinson

Juice scored a huge upset over Omega in the G1 in a great match (****). Omega is coming off knee surgery less than three weeks ago. He’s a wild man. Juice said he wanted to wrestle the title from Omega, deciding not to go after the bad leg. He would stop his offense to switch to avoid the leg. Omega used the leg at times, but favored it often. After nailing the Terminator tope, he couldn’t instantly capitalize because he stopped to check the leg. Things truly got going when Omega countered Pulp Friction and hit his first V-Trigger. Omega got V-Trigger happy (what’s new?), with Juice finding openings for a victory roll, which was how he won in the G1. Finally, Juice escaped the One Winged Angel and chop blocked Kenny. Juice looked to the crowd, feeling kind of bad for it, but knowing he had to do it. From there, Juice went to work on that knee, including various submissions. He busted out the ring post figure four, which I’ve always loved. Ever the babyface, even as he turned the tide, you could see the torment in Juice. Kenny finally got an opening and hit a sick suplex off the apron. Inside, Juice took a bunch of V-Triggers before catching one to start a rally. There was an awesome near fall after Juice hit a Kojima style lariat. An even better one came when Kenny kicked out of Pulp Friction, becoming the first person to do so. Juice wanted a super Pulp Friction, but Kenny slipped free and hit a super One Winged Angel to retain in 32:55. The best thing on the show, though I’m not sure if I liked it more than their G1 match. I don’t think it needed to go over thirty minutes, as they could’ve told a similar story in less time. Still, the story they told was very good, with Juice trying to be the good guy, but his desire to win the title taking over. He was so torn on going after the knee, which fit him perfectly. When his best shot didn’t work, he tried something new and Omega countered to best him. One thing the length accomplished was showing that Juice was tough and that Kenny wasn’t at 100%. [***¾]

7. Kairi Sane vs. Toni Storm – WWE Mae Young Classic

These two know each other from STARDOM. As usual, the speed vs. size dynamic came into play. Toni went after the arm, looking to take Sane’s signature elbow drop away from her. Sane managed a huge cross body to the outside and ate a face full of ramp. There was talk of her suffering a concussion during the tournament and I could totally see that being where it happened. Inside, Storm fought off a Boston crab and brought out the hip attack. Sane came back and looked for the elbow, but Storm cut her off and got two on a great bridging Muscle Buster. Storm applied an awesome looking armbar, with Sane selling the hell out of it. Storm delivered the leg drop that won her the previous match, but couldn’t make the cover. Kairi nailed a desperation back fist and went up top. She clutched her elbow in pain, but risked it anyway. The elbow connected and Sane advanced in 12:23. Great match. Storm had a lackluster first two rounds, but delivered the two best matches in her final two outings. They told a great story. Storm had a game plan and it worked, with Sane’s elbow being taken out. She sold it very well and survived a lot, before risking it all to make the finals. The crowd was completely invested, adding to this. [****]

6. PROGRESS World Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Travis Banks – PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase The Sun 9/10/17

I was more hype for this match than anything on the WrestleMania or Wrestle Kingdom cards. Dunne dropped the PROGRESS Title down the steps, only caring about the WWE UK Title. Banks came out firing, clotheslining Dunne before the bell and getting things started on his terms. BSS saved Dunne from an early submission, so Banks took them all out with dives. They all left and returned with sledgehammers, so referee Chris Roberts ejected Bate and Seven. From there, Dunne took over and wore down Banks. He did a masterful job of working the crowd and drawing more and more heat. The match relied on that and Banks’ comeback ability, which he excels at. Dunne hit an apron Pedigree and Banks responded with an apron Kiwi Krusher. Big offensive blows with everything on the line. Then came the overbooking, with Dunne tapping to the Lion’s Clutch but the referee being down. Bate and Seven returned, only to be taken out by #CCK. Banks survived a TON, including Bate and Seven’s finishers, a sledgehammer shot and pretty much anything else you could imagine. Finally, he took the sledgehammer and hit Dunne, followed by a Kiwi Krusher. Dunne kicked out, but Banks went right into the Lion’s Clutch, which made Dunne tap at 24:07. Was it overbooked? Yes. Did it make sense within the story they’ve been telling for months? Absolutely. Great storytelling and it worked as the culmination of a lengthy storyline. There were a few moments that went overboard, though. It was like the best kind of WWE Attitude Era main event. [****]

5. WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins [c] vs. Cesaro and Sheamus – WWE No Mercy 9/24/17

At SummerSlam, these teams had quite the banger. This told a different story, as the champions weren’t able to surprise Cesaro and Sheamus. The challengers bullied the champs in the best possible way. I love Sheamus and Cesaro as a hoss team. Cesaro took a sick shot to the face on the ring post, knocking teeth loose and busting his mouth open. He’s a tough dude who finished the match. Rollins got a hot tag and was awesome in that role. His offense is perfect for it. The match was doing very well and then we got the tease of the SummerSlam finish. Cesaro blocked Seth’s super rana, allowing Sheamus to plant Dean with White Noise. Cesaro then super Ricola Bombed Seth onto Dean, giving us one of the best near falls in recent memory. A miscommunication saw Sheamus kick Cesaro off the apron, before getting hit with the ripcord knee and Dirty Deeds, ending this in 15:55. This ruled and was about as good as the SummerSlam match, while managing to be different. Tons of action, a hot crowd, excellent callbacks and the added element of Cesaro’s injury. I’m all in on a TLC match at the next Raw PPV. [****]

4. PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: British Strong Style [c] vs. #CCK – PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase The Sun 9/10/17

The last time they met in a straight tag match, #CCK won the titles (***¾), but lost them back in a six man tag at the next show. The crowd was molten hot. The teams brawled around the ring, until #CCK used their aerial skills to gain an advantage. Everyone’s first attempt to grab the titles failed because the ladder was too small. The first wild spot saw Lykos take a dragon suplex onto the side of the ladder, which legitimately made my jaw drop. It looked brutal. Bate pulled out an impressive Undertaker like dive, which Lykos followed with a Shelton Benjamin style ladder run into a corkscrew dive. Bate has had some awesome feats of strength this year, but giving Lykos the big swing, while having Brookes in an airplane spin was near the top. He also paid tribute to Terry Funk with the ladder airplane spin, even accidentally hitting his partner. There were so many great spots, I’m barely scratching the surface. In the end, Bate wanted to hit a Tyler Driver ’97 off the ladder onto a bridged one. Brookes fought him off and back dropped him onto that ladder, before pulling down the titles at 17:27. A great match that featured the expected wild spots, but also had a sense of disdain between the two teams. They all did a wonderful job of finding ways to incorporate their signature spots in this kind of match, with it being sensible. A few ladder spots felt contrived, but either way, this ruled. [****]

3. Number One Contender’s Match: Big R Shimizu vs. Masaaki Mochizuki – Dragon Gate Scandal Gate 9/5/17

Masaaki Mochizuki is one of Dragon Gate’s best ever. Big R Shimizu was arguably their top performer in 2017. During their annual King of Gate tournament, Shimizu beat the champion, YAMATO in stunning fashion in under four minutes. On this night, they met for a shot at the company’s top title. This opened with Mochizuki taking out Shimizu with a springboard dropkick and the greatness didn’t stop for the 14:48 duration. Mochizuki knew that Shimizu’s Shot Put Slam was a devastating finisher, so he had a plan to attack the arm and take that move away. The arm work was great and sold even better by Shimizu. He had bursts of offense and withstood some of Mochizuki’s vicious array of kicks, but barely had use of his arm. There was a great moment when Mochizuki countered the Shot Put Slam, so Shimizu responded by hitting it with his other arm. He was unable to fully take control, opening the door for Mochizuki to continue his brutal offense. He eventually pulled back on Shimizu’s arm with a great looking submission to earn the shot at the Open the Dream Gate Championship. In contention for the best Dragon Gate match all year and certainly the company’s best singles match of 2017. [****¼]

2. Death Match: Jimmy Havoc vs. Mark Haskins – PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase The Sun 9/10/17

This got video package treatment. I could be wrong, but this might’ve been Havoc’s first time wearing white since returning. He brought an axe with him, which Haskins ducked and they went right into fighting. The first weapon to come into play was a stapler, with both men feeling the wrath. Though this is Havoc’s specialty match, Haskins was in control for a lot of it. He made a big mistake, though, taking too long to set up a spot and getting powerbombed through cinder blocks. With Havoc taking over, he used paper cuts and salt, because he does sick shit like that. Jimmy missed a shot with the axe and Vicky Haskins, Mark’s wife, came down. She stopped Mark from using a chair and gave him a barbed wire bat instead. He used it and applied an armbar with it, before nailing a series of DVDs, including one onto a barbed wire board. Somehow, that still wasn’t enough. Haskins poured out thumbtacks and there was an excellent spot where Havoc dropkicked him into the board, landing on the tacks and sacrificing himself. However, Haskins put the brakes on, making it all for naught. Havoc delivered two DVDs onto the tacks, but Haskins wouldn’t stay down. He survived a DVD through the barbed wire board and Acid Rainmaker onto the tacks, showing a ton of heart. Havoc finally hit an Acid Rainmaker with the barbed wire bat and placed it on Haskins’ throat for extra pin leverage to win in 23:08. That was absolute insanity. It’s not for everyone, but I thought it was awesome. They used weapons and had a brutal match, but also told a great story. Haskins was out to do it for his family (bringing a dinosaur toy and Vicky into play was great) and refused to give in. He got just as violent as Jimmy at times, yet was unable to beat the Death Match king at his own game. My main gripe was that the final blow with the bat looked weak as hell. [****½]

1. Hell of War: Dante Fox vs. Killshot – Ultima Lucha Tres 9/27/17

This was basically a Three Stages of Hell match. Fall one was held under First Blood rules. Ladders and chairs were brought into play in the opening minutes. Fox delivered an awesome looking ring post run up moonsault with Killshot laid on a ladder. Another great spot came when Killshot jumped back and kipped up to avoid Fox throwing a chair, but Fox knew it was coming and held the chair, hitting him after the kip up. Fox continually had Killshot well scouted and brought out violent offense. His leg drop from the crowd onto a Killshot who was sandwiched between two chairs was great. Things got taken to the next level, when a glass pane was set up across two chairs and they fought on the top turnbuckle. Fox back dropped him through it, leading to him winning the first fall at 10:20, as Killshot’s back was bleeding. I love that finish because it was different from the typical First Blood match finish. And to think, that was only the first fall.

Fall two was No DQ. With Killshot’s body covered in glass, everything hurt a bit more than usual. Fox continued the assault, hitting Lo Mein Pain onto an open chair and a 450 splash onto a ladder, but Killshot kept kicking out. Killshot started a rally and brought a barbed wire board into the ring. When Killshot went into a flurry that ended with his double stomp, Fox kicked out at one, bringing the crowd to their feet. Killshot then powerbombed Fox into the barbed wire board! Fox looked to be in a ton of pain. Killshot evened the score with the Storm Cradle onto glass at 16:32. These lads are insane and there’s still another goddamn fall.

The final fall was Medical Evac, which was basically an Ambulance Match. Soldiers brought out the military ambulance, while they brawled. Fox spiked Killshot with a sick looking apron DDT, but Killshot came back with a DVD off the top onto the stretcher. A legitimate piece of Fox’s skin was left on the stretcher. JESUS. Fox was strapped to the stretcher and got free, but still got hit with a huge double stomp that broke the stretcher. Because he loves violence, Dario had a strange structure of chairs and glass set up and brought to the aisle. They fought up to the band section, which was over that structure. Fox choked Killshot with a wire, but his need to stop and shout, “I’VE ALWAYS BEEN BETTER THAN YOU!” allowed Killshot to grab a glass bottle and whack him over the head. Fox took a HUGE fall off the stage and through that absurd structure. Killshot picked him up and put him in the ambulance to win at 25:13. My fucking word, that was the most violent match I think I’ve ever seen on television. It was pure insanity. It was a fitting end to a long storyline and rightfully personal and brutal. They set a crazy high bar for Ultima Lucha, having the best match of season three and my pick for the second best match in company history. It wasn’t just violent, as it was story driven too. Their history came into play and you felt like they were doing things out of hatred, not just for the sake of it. An incredible match. [****¾]