wrestling / Columns

Perry’s Top 12 Matches of November 2016

December 8, 2016 | Posted by Chad Perry
DIY NXT

Welcome to the first edition of Definitive Dozen, my new monthly column that I take a look back at the 12 matches from the previous month that you must check out. It has been about 6 months since my last monthly column, and we are gonna simplify things a lot from then. November was an amazing month for wrestling with two legitimate MOTYC taking place and a whole slew of other great ****-****1/2 matches. I was feeling pretty ready to write this column, but then the ROH Reach for the Sky shows became available and the top 12 saw a lot of shuffling. This honestly may have been the best month for quality wrestling of the year as their was one match (Shibata vs Hero) that was rated at ****1/4 that still missed being one of the 12 best matches of November!

For November I watched around 240+ matches from the following companies: AAW, Beyond, EVOLVE, Lucha Underground, NJPW, PWX, RevPro, SHINE, SMASH, TNA and WWE. AAW from 11/26 and PROGRESS from 11/27 would be the only two shows that I follow on a regular basis that I did not have a chance to watch before publishing this that I could see taking a crack at this list. I expect to watch both in the coming weeks and if anything is rated ****+ than you will see it in the link I provide at the bottom.

12. X16 Quarterfinal Match – John Skyler vs Zack Sabre Jr. (PWX X16 2016 Night 2 11/20) [****1/4]
PWX is a great indy promotion based in the Carolinas that recently signed on to broadcast some of their shows on FloSlam. The two night X16 tournament (that ran on a weekend that you will see A LOT of matches on this list from) was their premiere broadcast. I watched last years X16 tournament, it was enjoyable but this year I would call it the second best tournament in North America (behind BOLA). Skyler is a name that some may recommend from some WWE enhancement work, but is a heck of a talent that I fully realized deserves more of a look during this tournament. Skyler weighs in at 202 pounds and would be a great addition to the CWC 2017 with his technical style of wrestling, along with entertaining mic work.

11. X16 Seminfinal Match – Anthony Henry vs Zack Sabre Jr. (PWX X16 2016 Night 2 11/20) [****1/4]
A quiet month for the man that is in a tight race with Chris Hero for my “Wrestler of the Year” vote. Outside of this double shot of shows, that saw him wrestle three very good-great matches (his opening round match was against Davey Richards) there were not a lot of great ZSJ singles matches. Mainly falling on his match with Shibata being a let down. Anthony Henry is a hugely talented wrestler that has mainly wrestled in the southeast indy scene for the past 14 years, and that is kind of a shame. Henry has also competed in MMA and that shows in his in-ring style. Henry and Sabre worked very well as foes here as we saw some great combat, mixed with plenty of great submission moves.

10. Adam Cole & Young Bucks vs Briscoe Brothers & Kyle O’Reilly (ROH Reach for the Sky Day 1 11/18) [****1/4] If you are a fan of the wild PWG six man tags that we have grown accustomed to seeing with Mt. Rushmore 2.0, than you will love this match. This was an all out spring of a match that main evented the UK tour night 1 by combining the two headline matches for Final Battle. Days before the tour began it looked like O’Reilly was going to have to pull out due to an undisclosed medical issue that prevented Kyle from flying. Thankfully, that appeared to clear and we got to continue the (mild) build for the ROH World Title at Final Battle. The finish of the match is so bonkers (and somewhat convoluted) that I had to go back and re-watch it to fully understand what I saw. I won’t spoil it though as I highly recommend you check out the entire Reach for the Sky Tour. This is the first of seven tag team matches that appear on this month’s list and not the last time you will see either of the full time teams on the list.

9. World Tag Team League 2016 Block B Match – Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW World Tag League 2016 Day 6 11/25) [****1/4] The NJPW World Tag League is often the most down time of the year for NJPW, especially when it comes to viewers from North America. If you have been following along with the reviews here on 411 than you have probably noticed that even Mr. Csonka doesn’t stay up on them at a constant pace. I have been following most of the matches through the league, and for the most part there has been a lot of good wrestling, but every little that I give a strong recommendation for fans to check out. This has by far been the stand out contest through the first 12 days of tournament action though as we saw two different CHAOS factions go head-to-head. Earlier this year Ishii vs Okada was a five star match during the G1, and their interactions here were just as good as that faithful night in August. We now have less than a week to go in the tournament and my pre-tournament pick of Ishii & Goto is looking strong. I hope that this leads to them winning the belts at WrestleKingdom and then defending shortly after against War Machine.

8. Grave Consequences Match – Mil Muertes vs Prince Puma (Lucha Underground 11/9) [****1/4] Like most things in Lucha Season 3, they were not quite as good as when they were originally done. Fenix vs Mil from season 1 still stands as possibly my favorite LU match of all time. That being said this was still a fun encounter and the strongest match thus far of a lack luster season 3. This was a fun brawl between two of the best that the Lucha Underground roster has to offer and did not disappoint.

7. ROH Television Title – Will Ospreay (c) vs Marty Scurll (ROH Reach for the Sky Day 3 11/20) [****1/4] I have watched these two very closely for the last two years, both individually and against each other. I have witnessed them face of in RevPro, PROGRESS, wXw, WrestleCon, WWN SuperShow, PWG and now in ROH. These two have become two of the most well traveled men in pro wrestling today, and both absolutely deserve it. This is the fifth time I have seen the two face off in a one-on-one match, I would call it my least favorite of their singles encounters but it was still fantastic. The opening three minute sequence alone, which featured flips, attempted strikes and some of the highest levels of athleticism, finished off with both men hitting their signature poses was a thing of beauty. At the same time I couldn’t help but picture Vader watching the match, bashing his fingers against the keyboard in disgust. Ospreay won the TV title from Fish on night 1 of the tour in what was classified as an upset, but it was one that I had predicted. This was not something I would have predicted, Ospreay dropping the belt to his arch nemesis Scurll in his first title defense, only two days later. The fans were hugely into both men and the match was an absolute blast with high spots and a frantic story. Ospreay & Scurll as fresh faces in ROH is a great thing for the company, and I hope by this time next year to be writing about these two being main event players for the company.

6. Briscoe Brothers vs Young Bucks (ROH Reach for the Sky Day 3 11/20) [****1/4] I called the six man tag from night 1 a very PWG style six man tag, well this was a PWG style tag team match. Originally slated to be one Jackson vs one Briscoe, Mark & Jay were not happy with that though. Jay took the mic before the match began and challenged the Bucks to make Final Battle happen early tonight and make the match for the tag titles. The Bucks jumped the Briscoes right after the challenge was made and we had a helluva pier 6 brawl on our hands. I watched this match the day after their Final Battle encounter and would rank the two about the same, except this was a slightly sped up and shorter version of their Final Battle encounter. The York Hall crowd was straight up fire for everything on night 3, but especially this one. The fans were biting at every near fall and when the finish came they erupted. A spiked Jaydriller was hit and it appeared the Briscoes had won the tag belts back for the first time in four years to become eight time tag team champions. Nigel McGuinness came to the ring to say that no contract was signed to make the match for the belts, but the Briscoes would still have their shot in two weeks at Final Battle.

5. ROH Tag Team Title – Young Bucks (c) vs Marty Scurll & Will Ospreay (ROH Reach for the Sky Day 2 11/19) [****1/2] Ring of Honor fans received quite the introduction introduction to the UK lads, Marty Scurll & Will Ospreay during the companies Reach for the Sky Tour of the UK. This is the fourth and final match from the triple shot weekend to be featured on this list. The Bucks in 2016 had not been as much fun for me as the Bucks of previous years, and I am not sure I really blame them for it. One can only take so much of something they enjoy before it feels like old hat, and that is what I attributive my somewhat fatigue to be with the Bucks during the mid portion of the year. This weekend Matt & Nick really pulled it out though with their three matches all making this list and being involved in the match of the night every show.

4. Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr vs SANADA & Tetsuya Naito (RevPro/NJPW Global Wars UK 2016 Night 2 11/11) [****1/2] The second of “The Villain’s” great tag team matches for the month of November. In the UK, Sabre & Scurll make up the team called Leaders of the New School and here they faced Los Ingobernables. LIG are the newest of the “fun” heel factions going right now, especially when Naito is in the ring. On the other side Scurll was very over in the match, while his partner Zack Sabre Jr. seemed to not have as much support as he has in the past. Scurll is currently booked in RPW as a babyface who has a title shot, but has been waiting till his friend Zack Sabre Jr. no longer had the belt. On the other side of the coin Sabre has been showing signs of a heel turn, and lost the belt the previous night. The different stories that were told in this match made it very easy to watch and the work by all four men was exceptional. A truly great month for tag team wrestling.

3. Survivor Series Elimination Match – AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton & Shane McMahon vs Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins (WWE Survivor Series 11/20) [****1/2] The longest Survivor Series match in history took place in 2016 and it was one that told many stories. I was not a big fan of the build to this match, mainly from the Raw side. All we kept hearing about was Roman doesn’t like Owens and Jericho. Rollins doesn’t trust Roman. Braun is his own man. This led into their interesting five way match on the Raw before this one. However, once this match got going it really exceeded my expectations and told a series of fantastic stories. My only real complaint about the match was McMahon being involved. Yes, he looked great but putting a non-regular (and non-wrestler) alongside 9 other men who are working 300+ days a year is a tough spot. It allows Shane to take crazy spots such as Strowman through the table or the spear that I thought broke Roman’s neck, but it kind of takes away from the work the full time guys are doing. It is still yet to be seen if Undertaker takes vengeance on Ambrose for attacking Styles during the match, but at this point it seems unlikely. Strowman was kept strong with his elimination and the enjoyment I got from Braun tossing Ellsworth of the stage lasted the whole 48 hours that James stayed off TV. The Wyatt/Orton storyline has become my favorite thing going in WWE the last month or so, and having the two be the last men standing really helped add to that. This is the strongest WWE has booked the Wyatt Family since last year when they fed them to Kane & Undertaker at Survivor Series.

2. Chris Hero vs Tomohiro Ishii (RevPro/NJPW Global Wars UK 2016 Night 1 11/10) [****3/4] If you are a fan of strong style wrestling, and have not seen this match than I am going to need you to stop reading now and go watch this match. This is from my review posted on 11/28:
YES! Two of the wrestlers in contention for the “Wrestler of the Year” category facing off here. Ishii has had a slow second half of the year thanks to the NJPW booking, but whenever placed into a singles match he brings it. This is night 1 of an incredible 4 night stretch that Hero would wrestle Ishii, Shibata, Tracy Williams & Matt Riddle across two continents. WWE can claim “fantasy warfare becomes reality” all they want for Survivor Series, but this match fits the billing better than anything booked for Survivor Series. The crowd was crazy into the contest from the second Ishii’s music hit. Ishii hit some strikes to start and Hero responded with a huge strike that took Ishii down. Ishii tried a bunch of different ways early but could not take Hero off his feet. After a few minutes in the ring the brawl went to the entrance stage and the crowd didn’t lose a beat. Hero hit Ishii with the Gotch Piledriver, but Ishii hulked back up. Hero’s facials were amazing, Hero would try delivering a stiff boot but Ishii shook that off and knocked Hero down to the eruption of the crowd. Every near fall was so believable as these two men looked like they were trying to murder each other with headbutts and elbows. Hero finally hit Ishii with two more Gotch Piledrivers before he would get the pin. Post match Hero got on the mic and put over Ishii in a big way. The series is tied at 2-2.
If you like hard hitting, stiff brawls that we have come to expect from Ishii than you will love this encounter. Seriously, the crowd was on fire for every second of the contest from the entrances and the pace never slowed. A different match, but right on par with Ishii’s near five star against Okada at G1 this year. This was a 14 minute slug fest that told the story of two of wrestling’s toughest men trying to kill each other for the win. I am so thankful that WWE didn’t like Chris Hero’s body type when he was in NXT, because there is no way he would be putting on matches like this in WWE.

1. NXT Tag Team Title Two-out-of-Three-Falls Match – The Revival (c) vs D.I.Y. (NXT TakeOver: Toronto 11/19) [****3/4] In Star Wars fashion, the sequel to their summer classic from TakeOver: Brooklyn II actually surpassed the original. As we enter the final month of the year I think there is a lot that can be said for The Revival being the tag team of the year, not just in the WWE system, but all of wrestling. This match was the perfect example piece as they kept with their passphrase of “no flips, just fists.” Revival has evolved all year long into one bad ass tag team that enjoys just beating the tar out of the guys they face, and the crowd reacts in appropriate fashion with boos. Two-of-Three Falls matches in WWE often fail to live up to expectations as there are usually two falls that feel too close together. This match did not fall into the trap thankfully. The final fall of the match with Gargano’s selling of the leg built so much drama that it actually had me coming out of my seat. Gargano & Ciampa have been guys I have loved seeing on the indies for years now, but seeing them being involved in the best WWE branded tag team match of the last 12 years is really something special for a long time fan. I will be very interested to see if the feud continues to Dallas, or if we see The Revival pop up on Raw in the near future. They could be great candidates for a surprise call up to face The New Day and break their stranglehold on the Raw tag team division.

If these 12 matches are not enough for you, than please check out this spreadsheet that has another 20+ matches that get my recommendation from November for being **** or above.

Think I missed something? Overrated a match? Overlooked a match? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.