wrestling / Columns

Kevin’s Top 100 Matches Of 2021 (#90-81)

February 2, 2022 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
Finn Balor Adam Cole WWE NXT Image Credit: WWE

90. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – NJPW G1 Climax 31 10/3/21

Credit: NJPW

At this point, it’s almost a given that these two will end up on my year-end list. Not every one of their matches has been great but they’re all really good at the very least. All but one of their matches has received **** from me and the one that didn’t got ***¾. Here, Sabre Jr. entered the match undefeated and with wins over some top names. Meanwhile, Tomohiro Ishii had just two wins and was in the middle of the pack. Sabre Jr. was cocky throughout and targeted the padded elbow of Ishii. It basically led to him having a dead arm as even his chops weren’t as effective to the point where Sabre Jr. would laugh them off. Ishii was wise to Sabre Jr.’s tricks though, knowing that he wanted to goad him into submissions and finding ways to combat that. Even when Ishii snapped off stuff like German Suplexes but would still be hampered by his arm. For the first time in the tournament, Sabre Jr.’s hubris got the best of him as Ishii fought through the arm damage and won with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster in 18:40. The first loss for Sabre Jr. in a great outing. [****]

89. FTR vs. Santana and Ortiz – AEW Dynamite 9/1/21

Credit: AEW

Something that I love in wrestling is when you get a well-booked storyline involving two tag teams that doesn’t surround the titles. Give me a tag feud outside of the championships and I’m hooked, especially when they involve two great duos. FTR and Santana and Ortiz are arguably the two best teams in all of wrestling. Their first major meeting at Fight for the Fallen was a disappointment due to an injury but this rematch was just what I was hoping for. It felt like a big deal with FTR sporting Bobby Eaton-themed gear and Santana and Ortiz rocking face paint. After a hot start, FTR took over by targeting Ortiz’s arm as they isolated him. They nailed all of the little things throughout this that helps make them a special team. Santana did the house cleaning hot tag before his partner took the Brainbuster that ended things in their previous match. He got saved and it set up a frantic finishing stretch. Santana and Ortiz survived a bit more offense before winning after 13:33, giving us a great match. I was dying for one more major outing with these teams, especially given how underutilized Santana and Ortiz are. [****]

88. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 10/9/21

Credit: NJPW

The best night of this year’s disappointing G1 Climax was this one on October 9th. It started with a non-tournament match that ended up being one of the highlights. Due to the injury to Tetsuya Naito, Ishii was put up against Naito’s fellow LIJ teammate, Hiromu Takahashi. They met in an incredible match in the New Japan Cup last year, won by Hiromu and this was something of a tease of him possibly moving to the heavyweight world. Though outmatched from a size standpoint, Hiromu showed no fear as always. He went right after Ishii as if he had a death wish and hit him with everything he had. There were points where Ishii leveled him or just ran him over but Hiromu would find a way to combat it and get right back on. Ishii blocked a sunset flip off the apron which was huge since he actually has a shot at the finals and getting injured ahead of it would suck. Hiromu continued to fight like a heavyweight inside, lifting Ishii for offense, hanging tough with strikes, and popping up from big offense. Hiromu came close several times, including with Time Bomb and on an inside cradle but Ishii beat him with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster in 18:13. Man, I wish more of this G1 was like that. Two of the best in the world putting on a great bout. [****]

87. NEVER Openweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Jay White – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Night One

Credit: NJPW

When Jay White first returned from excursion and challenged Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom, their match was fine but disappointed. Since then though, White has gotten incredibly comfortable as a heel and it made them somewhat ideal opponents. Tanahashi can be the ultimate good guy and White is such a great villain that it just makes sense. Their best matches have come in the past but they had one more in 2021 over Tanahashi’s NEVER Openweight Championship. That title used to be famous for shorter, hard hitting matches but this is a different era, evidenced by this match lasting a whopping 39:01. I have been known to dismiss long matches that are that way for no reason. While I do believe this could’ve still worked (and likely have been better) at 25 minutes, they made this work. It was a long story of two guys wearing each other’s legs down, which made sense given that it’s a Tanahashi staple and that White has a submission named the TTO (Tanahashi Tap Out). Tanahashi had it won but a Gedo distraction kept White alive enough to score with the Blade Runner and win the only singles title in the company that had eluded him. We needed much more Jay White in 2021. [****]

86. NXT Championship: Finn Bálor [c] vs. Adam Cole – NXT 3/10/21

Credit: WWE

In 2019, Adam Cole’s NXT Title reign was put to the test by the return to the brand of Finn Bálor. They had a great match and again collided when it came time to crown a new champion following Karrion Kross’s injury. This was their third official meeting and acted as something of a tiebreaker for them. They talked a lot of trash before the bell and once things started, they reached a stalemate and proved how evenly matched they were. Cole made sure that a fair number of his attacks were aimed at Finn’s previously injured jaw, which added to the story here. They had a great back and forth match but I do think that it went a bit overboard late in terms of false finishes and close calls. You have to execute those perfectly to get a special match and this went to that well a bit too often. Finn survived the Panama Sunrise and Last Shot, while it took a distraction from Kyle O’Reilly, 1916 on the outside, and the Coup de Grace to finally put Cole down after 20:06. Despite some overkill late, this was a hell of a title match that felt like an important bout in the late stages of that era for NXT. [****]

85. IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome

Credit: NJPW

Kota Ibushi had a weird year. He started by reaching the top of the mountain but bringing in the IWGP World Title was met with a mixed response, he dropped the gold soon after, and then he got sick for a few months. Upon his return, he met his old rival and idol, Hiroshi Tanahashi. This was a big dome match for the United States Heavyweight Title and there’s no better dome wrestler than Tanahashi. There was high emotion immediately as Ibushi was in tears during introduction after returning from his illness. Tanahashi worked the leg, which he has been doing forever but always finds a way to make it interesting. That man is a master. Ibushi turned things around and started doing his signature stuff like the Golden Triangle Moonsault. The main thing down the stretch was that Tanahashi had the Kamigoye well scouted. He avoided it at every turn, frustrating his challenger. He constantly blocked the strike and even countered it into Sling Blade once, with Ibushi landing on his neck, as always. Tanahashi got a one count on that but followed up with High Fly Flow to win in a brisk 17:47. I’m all for New Japan main events ending in under 20 minutes! [****]

84. New Japan Cup Second Round: Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi – NJPW New Japan Cup 3/13/21

Credit: NJPW

When it comes to wrestling, sometimes it takes the simplest of things to please me. If I see Hirooki Goto and Shingo Takagi listed on a card, I’m going to want them to beat the stuffing out of each other and that’s enough to make me happy. During the New Japan Cup, they did just that and delivered in a major way. 21:51 might’ve been a bit long for something of this nature but they made it work. Right out of the gates, this felt like an important match that had stakes. Far too often do matches in New Japan feel like they’re just killing time in the early minutes so they can go long. However, here it felt like both were trying to win immediately and advance. That’s how things should feel more often. They stiffed one another and brought a level of violence that was otherwise unseen for most of the tournament. Although the outcome here was blatantly obvious, you believed that Goto might pull this out which is all you can really ask for. Ultimately, Shingo won with Last of the Dragon to advance in what was likely the last time I thought Goto was great in 2021. [****]

83. Lance Archer vs. Rey Fénix – AEW Dynamite 2/24/21

Credit: AEW

Ahead of AEW Revolution, there was a poorly named/conceived “Face of the Revolution” Ladder Match for a shot at the TNT Title. Regardless of how goofy the setup was, the bout itself mostly worked but even better than the big match filled with spots was this qualifier. It was a clash of styles on paper as the powerful Lance Archer did battle with the athletic Rey Fénix. Both guys were on the verge of something big in AEW at the time but hadn’t quite made it there yet. This helped as both guys put on a great showing. The layout was pretty basic as Archer tossed Fénix around with the greatest of ease and Fénix responded by diving all over the place like an absolute madman. It might not sound super exciting on its own but these guys made it work wonderfully for 17:32. Both dudes doing variations of rope walk offense made for a really cool moment, as did Fénix finally powering up with a Spanish Fly. Fénix did everything he possibly could but Archer just rallied off some big moves in the final stages, capped by the Blackout, to advance to the PPV. They got the chance to main event and made the most of it, which is why they’re two of AEW’s MVPs. [****]

82. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado [c] vs. Robbie Eagles – NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam

Credit: NJPW

Early on, I appreciated that the leg issues built up in the weeks prior mattered as Eagles went for a dive and his knee gave out but he still kept his confidence despite that. Eagles sold the hell out of his leg throughout and then applied his signature Ron Miller Special to turn the tables on Desperado. That leg work played into everything the two pulled off. Even basic kicks to those legs had more meaning because of the work done. The way Eagles countered the Stretch Muffler was one of my favorite spots of the year and was part of a series of great counters altogether. The end saw Desperado survive the Turbo Backpack but then Eagles hit the 450 splash on the leg and used the Ron Miller Special to give us a new champion at 19:56 mark. This division and New Japan in general needs more sub-20 minute matches. This was a great match built around fantastic leg work and selling. An unexpected title change but one I dig that also added to the emotional impact of the bout. [****]

81. Arcade Anarchy: Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian and Miro – AEW Dynamite 3/31/21

Credit: AEW

The early days of Miro’s run with AEW felt kind of lame. The pairing with Kip Sabian was decent but a rivalry over arcade games didn’t exactly feel like the major push fans were hoping for. However, even with the goofy concept behind the feud and this match, they managed to deliver in a big way. The idea was basically a tornado tag match with weapons and arcade machines surrounding the ring. A lot of the spots were pretty silly but that was all part of the fun. This is one of those matches where you just have a great time and not worry about workrate or who went over or things like that. When Penelope Ford got involved, we got the welcome return of Kris Statlander as she officially became one of the Best Friends. Trent also made his return, driven in by his mom Sue in her van, adding to the fun ridiculousness of it all. After Miro was put through a table, Sabian took a running powerslam through the stage, leading to the pin in 14:30. This was certainly not for everyone but I enjoyed the hell out of it. [****]