Pantoja’s Top 100 Matches of 2023 (#80-71)

80. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Lio Rush – NJPW New Japan Cup Finals

Image Credit: NJPW

As expected, the opening exchange here was breathtaking. These two both move at a ridiculous pace and they managed to make sure it all came off smoothly. The counters they had for each other were great, like Lio blocking the sunset flip bomb only to end up being hit with an apron powerbomb anyway. Hiromu had trouble keeping up with Lio at times so once he got hold of him, he made sure to leave an impact, doing things like a Death Valley Driver into the guardrail. Lio responded by using that speed again, firing off multiple tope suicidas and dives to overwhelm the champion. Lio found a way to hit Final Hour but then his Frog Splash saw Hiromu get the knees up. Lio kicked out of Time Bomb and they went at it for a bit longer with several close calls on both sides. Thankfully, they never hit the level of going overboard with that kind of stuff. Lio busted out YOH’s finish but again missed the Frog Splash. A few moves later and Hiromu retained with Time Bomb II after a tremendous 21:27. Just a fantastic match filled with great offense worked at a wild pace. I loved how Lio made a key mistake or two and it cost him. [****¼]

79. Continental Classic Gold League Finals: Jay White vs. Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland – AEW New Year’s Smash

Image Credit: AEW

Whatever your feelings on the Continental Classic are, pretty much everyone can agree that it delivered some great matches when it came to wrapping up the individual leagues. Three favorites to win it all, Swerve Strickland, Jay White, and Jon Moxley, met to see who would take the Gold League. Swerve beat Jay, Jay beat Jon, and Jon beat Swerve, so nobody had a clear advantage. They put on one hell of a 23:14 match that not only featured a ton of great action but allowed each man to bring their personality through. Jay was cunning and used a chair to gain the upper hand, Moxley was brutal and wanted to fight with almost no breaks, and Swerve was a killer with some charismatic flair thrown in for good measure. This also had the added benefit of some drama because it was really tough to peg down who would win. The finish saw Swerve get dumped outside before Moxley planted Jay White with the Death Rider to earn a spot in the finals, adding another big win to an AEW run filled with them. Just a fantastic match between three of the best on the planet. [****¼]

78. Artist of Stardom Championship: KAIRI, Natsupoi & Saori Anou [c] vs. Giulia, Mai Sakurai and Thekla – STARDOM Flashing Champions

Image Credit: STARDOM

The first third or so of this contest saw everyone get some time to shine with bursts of tandem/trios offense thrown in for good measure. The Natsupoi/Thekla exchange is where this really started to pick up, especially since it was followed by an extended KAIRI/Giulia battle. The shots they were throwing were BRUTAL and I’d love a singles match between them. There’s a spinning backfist that KAIRI gave Giulia that was one of the hardest strikes I’ve seen/heard all year. I also popped for Thekla leaping over someone running at her and Matrix dodging a clothesline right after. Thekla is hella underrated to me. The biggest thing holding this match back a bit was the crowd, who were unjustly quiet for a lot of these exchanges. These ladies were WORKING and they were rather subdued. The action remained great in the final few minutes until some miscommunication proved costly. Natsupoi accidentally superkicked Saori and Giulia rolled her up to win the titles in 18:23. A surprising title change as this company threw curveballs all year and I liked them. This ruled thanks to some intense, hard hitting action though I wish the crowd was better. [****¼]

77. Last Man Standing Match: Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov – NXT Battleground

Image Credit: WWE

During his entrance, Dijak told his family in the crowd that he didn’t want them to see this. That’s a good touch. We were like a minute in and this was already hard hitting and violent, with Dijak booting Dragunov in the face and suplexing him onto steel steps. The steps were used a lot, including on a wild DDT inside and Coast to Coast dropkick. Again, this was just within the first few minutes. They were just beating the fuck out of each other. From the beating in the corner with the kendo sticks to the straight up vicious strikes, this was a war. Dijak got a chair in the end while he was on the mat but Dragunov jumped off the steps and hit a forearm to the back of the head, sending Dijak’s face into the chair. That was enough to end this in 15:56. Easy pick for match of the night right now and that was everything I could’ve wanted from these two. Go watch it because words do not it justice. An absolute war. [****¼]

76. Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 33 7/26/23

Image Credit: NJPW

They split outings at Capital Collision last year (***¾) and AEW All Out (****½). This was also special because Korakuen means a lot to Eddie. After a somewhat awkward test of strength to start, this progressed in what you want from these two. A vicious chop battle and a violent affair. I dug Eddie trying to muster up the toughness to trade shots but that he couldn’t get up because Ishii rocked him with a kick to the back. He had to fight his way back into this and eventually won the second chop battle despite having a moment there where he looked around like “why won’t he go down?” That sequence set up the match hitting that next gear with great selling by both men, who just seemed totally worn down. The ending saw some LOUD chops and Eddie coming close to winning with some backfists before Ishii bested him with a Brainbuster in 16:12. A fantastic match that was one of best of the G1 so far. I do prefer the All Out match but this was great. [****¼]

75. WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther [c] vs. The Miz – WWE Raw 12/18/23

Image Credit: WWE

It seems like every year, The Miz gives us a performance that reminds me of how great he is and does well to shut up everyone who continues to doubt him. Despite his incredible matches with Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, and even Shane McMahon, people still act like he isn’t an all-timer. After a good first shot at Gunther at Survivor Series, he got one more crack on Raw and they way outdid themselves. The match followed a concept I’ve seen used in Gunther’s pre-WWE work, as he missed a chop outside and hit the ring post. That took away one of his best weapons and kept giving Miz openings. He’d survive submissions because Gunther couldn’t hold his grip or he’d get going because there wasn’t a quick chop to stop him. Though I didn’t believe Gunther would lose, I admit I bit on a near fall here and when Miz hit the avalanche Skull Crushing Finale, he had hope. He couldn’t cover in time though and Gunther rolled to safety outside. Soon after, he retained with a barrage of offense in a captivating 21:12 to add another successful defense to his historic reign. [****¼]

74. Hazuki vs. Suzu Suzuki – STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 9/23/23

Image Credit: STARDOM

At the end of a tournament like this, I want to see two people who have a chance to win it all go all out. Don’t just have a regular match. I want to feel the sense of desperation and want to feel that the two points mean the world to each of them. That’s just what I got here. Hazuki came out of the gates hot though Suzu was able to weather the storm and hit her sliding German suplex to turn the tide. Even more than the previous match, you got the sense that so much was on the line here. They were fighting for everything and this was truly a struggle between two hungry competitors. I didn’t even type anything out for the final five or so minutes because I was CAPTIVATED. They put on a show with great late drama and some fantastic action. Suzu ended up taking the win with a German Suplex after 11:35. One of the best matches of the tournament and it nicely set up Suzuki as a major contender going into the final night. Throw in the hot crowd and this was special. [****¼]

73. The Blackpool Combat Club, Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Eddie Kingston, Hangman Page, Tomohiro Ishii & The Young Bucks – AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Image Credit: AEW

On paper, this is a ridiculous match. Just an absurd combination of wrestlers and that’s exactly why it worked so well. There was something fresh with basically every exchange that happened. The Bucks brought the high spots, the BCC did some mat work, Hangman had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, Takeshita and Ishii brought the stiff shots, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There were also the intertwining stories with the biggest being Kingston’s hatred for Claudio and his friendship with Moxley. The moment where Moxley and Kingston came face to face got a standing ovation just a few minutes into this. Hangman’s hot tag was a HOT one and further proved that he’s one of the top babyfaces in all of wrestling right now. As this neared its 21:25 conclusion, we got my biggest gripe with the match as Eddie saved Moxley from a double superkick. I get what they were going for but it’s not some next level offensive move that Eddie needed to save Moxley from. He took worse moves earlier so that didn’t make much sense. I did like how Moxley didn’t return the favor, hitting Eddie with a cutter and eating a double superkick anyway. Ishii beat Yuta with the Brainbuster to close out a wild ride of a match. [****¼]

72. Hazuki vs. Natsupoi – STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix 9/16/23

Image Credit: STARDOM

From the start, they were out to deliver, going right after one another with hard strikes and stiff kicks. I don’t think anyone in wrestling bumps/sells better on kicks than Natsupoi. Hazuki WRECKED her with some boots on the ropes and Natsupoi responded shortly after with a great dropkick there. They traded strikes that were even until Hazuki went off and just LAID into the back of the head of a limp Natsupoi. That’s the kind of violence I want to see. Natsupoi then dropped Hazuki on her head with some vicious Germans. The close calls late were great from Hazuki’s submission to the flash pin attempts the crowd believed either woman could win at any moment. I do wish this was at Korakuen or somewhere with a bigger crowd because they would’ve been LOUD. This audience was still good but more would’ve helped. In the end, Natsupoi took too much damage and couldn’t counter a Brainbuster, losing in 12:29. You put someone with great looking offense against one of the world’s best sellers and it’s going to work. Hazuki and Natsupoi went all out in a match filled with action and yet another that I loved in an outstanding tournament. [****¼]

71. Bandido vs. Bryan Danielson – AEW Dynamite 1/18/23

Image Credit: AEW

AEW found a great, obvious formula in early 2023. Give Bryan Danielson a match and Dynamite will be better for it. I came in so excited for this. The opening exchange here was fantastic with Surfboard spots and even the “pew-pew” shooting at each other. Just watching Danielson bridge up and use his core strength is always so impressive. Bandido got the upper hand when he took to the skies, which was to be expected. They kept things up during the break and afterward, Bandido did his sick stalling vertical suplex. It is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Danielson got his knees up on an aerial move and applied a submission that nearly ended it but Bandido got to the bottom rope. The counter wrestling in the back half was tremendous and the crowd was totally hooked. Bandido came close several times from his 21 Plex to the avalanche fallaway slam but Danielson bested him with the Busaiku Knee after 17:53. [****¼]