wrestling / Columns
Pantoja’s Top 100 Matches of 2023 (#40 – 31)
Image Credit: NJPW
40. FTR vs. Jay White and Juice Robinson – AEW Collision 7/8/23
We were only about a month into the run of Collision before we got some true greatness. This was a Tag Team Title Eliminator, which is a fancy way of calling something a non-title match. A lot of the time, those don’t live up to what the potential is but this one far exceeded it. FTR is known as an all-time great team but Jay White and Juice Robinson aren’t a regular pairing. Despite that, they went out and performed like one, giving us a stellar showing for 28:11. Great technical wrestling, impressive use of psychology, and just a case of Bullet Club being jerks against the fiery champions. I loved the use of teasing the time limit draw here. Given the match type, I think a draw was possible but having the finish come about two minutes before hand really added to the drama and helped future iterations of these bouts. It was also great that a blind tag, the kind of thing FTR usually excels at, is what beat them. Juice snuck in and a DDT planted the champs to set up a rematch that was also tremendous. [****½]
39. El Desperado vs. Francesco Akira – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 5/21/23
Akira was basically eliminated here but Desperado needed to win to keep pace with the likes of YOH and Wato. The crowd was behind Akira early on and Desperado played into it by basically disrespecting him. He didn’t treat him as a true threat and even no sold his chops and strikes despite them being pretty hard. He wasn’t taking his opponent seriously. However, Akira refused to stay down and die, fighting back with everything. As this hit the 20 minute mark, I was surprised because it didn’t feel like it. Akira did a good job of selling the leg work. At times he still sprinted with bursts of energy which wasn’t great but he did things like one-legged bridges on pins. When Desperado applied the Stretch Muffler, he did so by lifting Akira and it looked extra painful. Akira still wouldn’t tap and reached the ropes. A concerned TJP threw in the towel for him but Akira grabbed it and tossed it aside to keep fighting. He could barely throw punches but still managed a rollup near fall. Alas, another Stretch Muffler ended it as Akira had to submit after 25:13. An incredible match that should help make Akira into a major player in the division. The fighting spirit he showed after being abused was fantastic. [****½]
38. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Natsupoi and Saori Anou [c] vs. Mei Seira and Suzu Suzuki – STARDOM 5STAR Special
Natsupoi can do no wrong and her partnership with Saori has been a great one and I really love the Suzu/Mei pairing. They came from out of nowhere to be a highlight in a promotion filled with them. The action here was fierce right from the opening bell with all four women just throwing their best at each other. Mei Seira was absolutely the star here. It felt like this was structured purely to make sure she came out shining and it worked. Her interactions with Natsupoi were great and then we got Saori vs. Suzu which was also fantastic. Saori took the heat for a while and though she was in trouble, she never backed down and traded strikes whenever she had an opening. One thing I really liked was how we never really got the expected hot tag. Things just kept going at a great pace to the point where everyone was involved and Saori, outside of being saved from a near fall or two, had to swing the momentum on her own. She scored the win with her flipping fisherman suplex in 13:43. One of the best tag matches of the year. Everyone got a chance to shine, tons of action and great exchanges, and it didn’t go too long. [****½]
37. Bryan Danielson vs. Rush – AEW Dynamite 2/8/23
Rush is one of the many people who are signed to AEW and kind of not doing anything. While that’s a discussion for another time, each of those people seems to have one or two matches per year where they showcase why they deserve more shine. For Rush, his greatest performance was against Bryan Danielson on this episode of Dynamite. Done during the build to Revolution where Bryan was having bangers on a weekly basis, This was Danielson at his babyface best, taking an absolute beating from Rush that made him look like a killer. Bryan had to fight from beneath and, like everything else in wrestling, he’s so good at that. Bryan took everything from a straightjacket piledriver to some vicious palm strikes but he was also game to trade headbutts (that man is a menace who shouldn’t be doing things like that). At 15:48, this also ended right as it peaked and didn’t go too long, ending at the right moment when Bryan delivered a second Busaiku Knee, capping one of the best TV matches of the year. [****½]
36. AEW Trios Championship: The Elite [c] vs. The House of Black – AEW Revolution
It’s kind of wild to think that The Elite were Trios Champions in 2023. That seems like forever ago. Pitting them against The House of Black was kind of perfect because it hadn’t really happened yet and they’re also a great trio. Unlike when the Elite faced Death Triangle, these challengers were a different animal, especially because of Brody King. He presented a new problem for them to try and overcome and for a lot of this match, Brody kind of dominated and he gave the challengers the edge. It meant that Kenny and the Bucks had to really bust out tandem offense to take him down because they couldn’t do it alone. That’s just a smart way to book this. I did like Kenny going for One Winged Angel on him because it’s the kind of thing a top guy like him would attempt. Hubris and all. I think they also did a good job of utilizing Julia Hart even if the spot to hit her was contrived and obvious. In the end, King planted Matt Jackson with Dante’s Inferno to give us new champions at the 17:53 mark, capping a stellar trios match. This was the division at its very best. [****½]
35. World of Stardom & Wonder of Stardom Championships: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Mina Shirakawa [c] – STARDOM Flashing Champions
About a month prior to this event, both Tam Nakano and Mina Shirakawa reached new career peaks by winning the Wonder of Stardom and World of Stardom Titles. So nobody expected to see the former stablemates compete in a main event for both titles so quickly. That gave this a special big fight feel. As is often the case, Mina went after the leg looking to set up her Figure Four. Even as the fight went outside and to the stage, she kept a focus on that target. I love the idea of Tam basically challenging her to step up. They traded vicious kicks inside and you got the sense that Tam was daring her to hit as hard as she was. This got more violent as it went on, including the two trading some stiff slaps on the top rope. There was an overwhelming sense of confidence from Mina to a fault. For example, she only scored near falls on big moves because she’d take a moment to cover and did lazy pins like she had this in the bag. Due to that, Tam kept kicking out and she refused to submit to the Figure Four. The sequence where they held onto each other as they traded forearms was great and one particular shot seemed to wake Tam up. She got going, hit the Screwdriver, and added Twilight Dream to become a double champion in 17:43. What a main event. It didn’t go too long, was great from an in-ring perspective, and told an emotional story from start to finish. [****½]
34. Andrade El Idolo vs. Bryan Danielson – AEW Collision 12/9/23
While I dug the idea of the Continental Classic, I don’t think it delivered as many great matches as many hoped for. Thankfully, Bryan Danielson and Andrade El Idolo were there to turn that idea on its head. They’d already had a great match two months prior but with crucial points on the line here, there was more at stake. This was very good from the opening but it was after the commercial break that this got taken to the next level. Andrade threw Bryan’s eye patch into the crowd and targeted the injury, even causing Bryan to bleed. The swelling of the eye added to the drama and intensity here as you really felt like Bryan was in danger and it made his comeback feel all the more special. Andrade survived Bryan’s numerous submission attempts before going into the closing stretch where he obliterated Bryan’s eye. Even Nigel McGuinness, who hates Bryan, suggested that they should call the match off because of how bad Bryan’s eye. They didn’t and Andrade finished off a battered man with his DDT in 18:23. Just brilliant stuff and one of the best TV matches of the year. [****½]
33. IWGP Women’s Championship: KAIRI [c] vs. Mercedes Moné – NJPW Battle in the Valley
The much hyped return of one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. A lot of what these two did during the meat of the match looked great though a few spots missed, particularly the double stomp in the corner as Mercedes fell a bit too soon. That spot did set up a segment of Mercedes being in legitimate trouble for a while only to turn it around with the apron Meteora. At one point I thought they flubbed another spot but KAIRI actually avoided Meteora and turned it into her Anchor submission which was cool. I loved Mercedes’ desperation hook of KAIRI’s leg to prevent the elbow. Then, she popped me by hitting a BAYLEY TO BELLY! With Bayley in attendance! When that wasn’t enough, Mercedes intentionally pulled the referee into harm’s way for a bump. That allowed them to fight to the stage and for KAIRI to hit a powerbomb through a table. Back inside, Mercedes blocked the elbow by getting her boots up and it looked great. KAIRI combated that by getting her knees up on the Frog Splash and put on her own version of the Bank Statement. Mercedes bit the hand to get free and delivered the Money Maker (successfully unlike in the Tokyo Dome) to win the title after 26:47. After nine months off, Mercedes barely missed a beat. I don’t think we needed the table spot/ref bump but outside of those things, this was tremendous. [****½]
32. Mayu Iwatani vs. Tam Nakano – STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 8/15/23
Two top stars and two top champions. Right off the bat, this felt like a big fight between two heavyweights. They jockeyed for control over everything. Even a simple snapmare early on had meaning and saw them trade the move in a way that was very engaging. Soon though, they were going for bigger moves like Mayu attempting a damn super rana to the outside. Tam blocked it and trapped her in a hanging half crab but it was still a wild thought to have. I loved the way Tam blocked Mayu’s signature Dragon Suplex so Mayu instead did a vicious looking submission that helped her land the move. Just little things like that really helped sell this as a chess match of sorts. It was so smartly worked and then you’d get something like Tam just DROPPING Mayu on her head and Mayu slowly getting up to respond with a German of her own. The close calls down the stretch were great as it felt like either woman could pull out the win with any of their near falls, yet they never went overboard with them. Even when we got finisher kickouts, it worked because it isn’t overdone for the most part here and these are two MAJOR stars who should be capable of surviving those things. Mayu kicked out of the Screwdriver and I was stunned. Tam pounced again but time expired as she hit Twilight Dream, giving us a draw at 15:00. Come on, you knew this would be spectacular and it was. Two of the best in the world having a stellar outing. [****½]
31. Continental Classic Gold League Finals: Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston – AEW New Year’s Smash
About a month prior, these two had a match that nearly made this list. It was very close. Desperate after putting his ROH and NJPW Strong Titles on the line and falling to 0-2, Kingston won out and earned himself another crack at Danielson and the finals. Danielson tried to frustrate Kingston early, knowing that he’s easily angered. Kingston brought the fire right to him but Danielson never wavered, knowing that he could be the smarter wrestler. He took control through the break but got too arrogant with the smack talk, opening the door for Kingston to deliver a big offensive move. Still, Danielson kept it up, stopping to spit at Eddie and call him a bum despite getting lit up with strikes and chops. He was a total heel and it worked masterfully in this match. Kingston never quit, even flipping off Bryan rather than giving in and he eventually rallied to win with a powerbomb after 23:20. A special match that once again reminded everyone why Bryan is the greatest to ever do it and why Kingston is on a special run these past few years. [****¼]
