Top 10 WWN Matches of the Decade

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Two matches that pained me to leave off the list. Honorable Mention #1. Honorable Mention #2.

 

10. Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page – 2/25/2017

This was so fucking good. They were so smart about how they worked the match. They had about nine minutes, and they managed to make every moment matter.

Darby started the match with a coffin drop to the floor on Ego and The Gatekeepers. Ego responded by toss Darby from the stage into a ringpost.

Ego thought it was all over he decided to handcuff Darby’s hands behind his back to really do some damage. All hope appeared to be lost, but Darby then made a wild NO HANDS comeback. This was one of the coolest comebacks you’ll ever see.

Ego needed an avalanche powerslam, an RKO, and a powerbomb to the still-handcuffed Darby to put him away. It was a classic case of both guys coming off well. Yes, Ego won “cleanly,” but look what it took to actually win “cleanly.”

This was just fucking fantastic and will likely be one of the best and most memorable matches of the year in all of wrestling. What the fuck. (****1/4)

 

9. Fred Yehi vs. Brian Cage – 2/11/2017

This was for Yehi’s FIP Championship.

THIS WAS GREAT!  Yehi took it right to the FAR larger gentleman before the bell even started. He wouldn’t have much of a chance otherwise. Cage didn’t panic though and just relied on his strength and size advantage to get (and then maintain) control.

Yehi couldn’t match Cage in either of those departments obviously. He had to get crafty in a manner that only Yehi can do. He went after the pressure points. He went after the limbs. It was grand.

Perhaps in a longform match, that strategy would have worked for Yehi entirely on its own. They working such a delightful and blistering pace though that Yehi’s tactics would not work in time.

Cage’s response to Yehi’s strategy was just to deliver as many death blows as possible. Yehi just was not doing enough damage to keep up. Cage would finish him long before this long con strategy of Yehi would pay off.

What could Yehi do? He simply took advantage if FIP’s unique rules. There are no rope breaks in FIP, and Yehi managed to use to apply a rope-assisted Koji Clutch. Cage had no refuge and was forced to submit.

This was one of the best matches of the year. (****1/4)

 

8. Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley – 9/26/2010

This was one of the final indie matches of Bryan Danielson’s career. In other news, Moxley was doing this awful gimmick where he was casually assaulting his nameless female valets while being in an implied abusive relationship (with many different women on different shows). This was sadly completely in line with the awful portrayal of the only female “characters” in the WWN universe at the time. Just terrible, exploitative stuff.

Anyway, this match was GREAT and genuinely one of the best singles matches that I have ever seen from Moxley. The key was Bryan establishing an urgent and intense tone right away. Bryan ran through the young boy for a good while. Moxley managed to cut him off while they brawled on the floor though and worked over Bryan’s left arm to get control of the match. Bryan eventually fought back, and they went back and forth until Bryan made him tap out to the LeBell Lock.

This was exciting, fun, and made Moxley look truly great for the first time in his WWN career. In some ways, this was the best way WWN used Bryan in his brief return to DGUSA and Evolve. (****1/4)

 

7. Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish – 7/23/2010

This was essentially Bryan Danielson, the greatest wrestler of his generation, at his peak as a performer. This was Bryan as a ruthless and precise killer. He was wasting no movement. He did not bother with any of the broad character work that defined prominent periods of his career. Instead, it was just Bryan being the violent weapon against which there was no escape.

While watching him work like this in a bubble was fantastically satisfying enough on its own, it was made even better by how well his work contributed to the story of Bobby Fish.

Fish’s story in #EvolveYearOne was questionable in theory and was an odd use of the one regular on the roster who basically captured the ideas of Evolve perfectly. But Fish embraced his role fully and the story led to fun matches so who fucking cares.

The story was simple and brilliant. Bryan was picking FIsh apart at the seams. Sure it was competitive for a while, but Bryan was never not in control. Eventually, he got firm control and was just destroying one of Fish’s legs.

Fish was being metaphorically cornered in this match. Much like how he was being cornered in Evolve overall.

Fish was 0-3 in Evolve coming into this match but looked great in every match. Fish looked down and out in this match, but he was looked competitive on his way to that point.

Despite suffering defeat after defeat in Evolve, Fish never backed down from a new and greater challenge. Despite falling desperately behind in this fight with the best wrestler in the world, Fish refused to back down.

Fish threw everything he had at Bryan for the rest of the match. He was tossing Bryan around and throwing strikes every which way. He even did a big dive that nearly took out a guardrail.

Much like Fish in Evolve though, looking great in matches did not actually get him anything when it was all said and done. Fish lost this match to send himself to 0-4 in Evolve.

This was great pro wrestling in a bubble. This was great long-term character work. This was great long-term storytelling. Seek out this match. (****1/4)

 

 

6. Chris Hero vs. Zach Sabre Jr. – 1/28/2017

This was Chris Hero’s final independent wrestling match (though we’ve said that before).

Saying goodbye to Chris Hero on the independent scene is not something you can do all that easily over the course of a year let alone during a single weekend. Evolve gave the ol’ College Try though and made a pretty decent go of it.

The first match against Keith Lee was marred by the ring breaking of course. However, that’s scarily appropriate for Chris Hero, seemed somewhat poetic for the end of anyone’s independent wrestling career, and actually improved the quality of their work together based on the available evidence.

The actual final match of Hero’s final indie weekend though here against Zack was spared from the mixed bag nature of the night before. Instead, it was just universally swell and captured everything that made Hero reach his artistic peak in 2016.

This match contained so many elements of great professional wrestling. Both guys were working as if they were trying to win all the time. (Yes, Zack finally working with some urgency again.)

There was a clear desire to actually BEAT each other. They did not mind hurting the opponent in order to win.

They also did not waste any time. They went 20+, but you would have no idea with out time flew.

Beyond that, they told the classic story that made so many of Hero’s 2016 singles matches instant classics: Hero is a big hoss bully who is going to dominate almost everyone across from him in the ring. They timed all of Zack’s comebacks perfectly to properly maximize the drama and excitement. (If you’re claiming you knew who was going to win this one based simply on how they worked the match, you’re absolutely lying.)

When you combine ALL of that with the nostalgia and pathos that came from knowing this might actually be Hero’s final independent wrestling matches, you have yourself one of the most satisfying wrestling matches in recent memory. Goodbye, Chris Hero. The independent wrestling scene will desperately miss you. Zack won via death submission. (****1/2)

 

5. Chris Hero vs. “Hot Sauce” – 10/11/2016

This match was fantastic. It started with a bang, as Hot Sauce jumped Hero from behind with a German. That set an urgent pace for the match and forced Hero to not really relax at any point in the match.

The match progressively and organically settled into the story of the bigger Hero battling the fiery Hot Sauce. This was performed as well as you would expect, and the crowd was absolutely rabid for it.

They also managed to allow Hot Sauce to win cleanly and decisively by submission in a way that felt earned. While Hero has been dominant for large portions of 2016, they told a story about he is still susceptible to smaller guys who can stay a step ahead of him and who are not afraid to punch him in the nose. This was brilliant. (****1/2)

 

4. Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher – 6/10/2016

This was for Thatcher’s Evolve Championship.

As someone who is fairly in the middle when it comes to Thatcher (he’s had some great matches and some real bores in the last couple of years), it has been entertaining to see factions form in regards to him. Some people seem to think he is one of (if not) the best in the world. Others find him to be horrible almost all the time. Both sides are wrong of course, and I am right (as always).

This seems like one of those matches that both sides could get into though (similar to how I felt about the Thatcher/Gargano match from last year). Thatcher did a lot of the stuff that he tends to do but organically blended it into a more crowd-pleasing kind of match.

Hero tried to get control early. Thatcher went after the leg. Hero avoided him doing too much damage though and then went to town on Thatcher. Thatcher then did something surprising: he changed up his strategy. Instead of going after the arm to set up the Fujiwara, he started throwing BOMBS at Hero. This weakened Hero enough to give my fellow Brit a chance to win.

They did some spots that played off their trademark offense before Thatcher managed to apply the Fujiwara to win the match. This was a beautifully worked, compelling from beginning to end, and continued one of the best in-ring rivalries going today. Check it out. (****1/2)

 

3. Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – 7/25/2015

This is one of the rare matches from the independent scene in the last few years that makes me think there can be still be greatness to be had with the “long, indie dream match” formula. They worked an extended match that combined compelling storytelling, a great pace, and fantastic action. A lot of matches have tried to do that formula in the past five years or so and artistically fell short (if not failed altogether). This one succeeded on all levels.

The story of the match was brilliant in theory and almost executed perfectly. Roddy was playing Zack’s game early on and tried to out-wrestle him. That predictably failed and frustrated Roddy. He refocused and began to use his considerable strength advantage to overwhelm Zack to get the advantage.

Roddy was in control for the majority of the match after that, but Zack wisely relied on his quickness advantage and the work on Roddy’s arms to keep the match competitive. These strategies eventually paid off for Zack who lasted long enough in the match to eventually make Roddy tap out to the Jim Breaks Armbar (more focused arm work from Zack would have really put this over the top).

The fact that this great story was executed while going at a ridiculous pace for close to thirty minutes in front of a responsive crowd makes it even more of a standout. I loved this match and encourage everyone to check it out. (****1/2)

 

2. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher – 2/25/2017

This was for Thatcher’s Evolve Championship.

This was absolutely fantastic and felt like a proper blowoff to one of the most polarizing and inconsistent world title reigns in recent memory.

In his nearly 600-day Evolve title reign, Thatcher proved time and time again that he could do solid b-defenses, the spectacle match, and the epic. He could work either role in a match in a compelling manner like working on top as he did in this one against Zack or work very underneath against “The WWN Icon.”

That is not to say that Thatcher was in any way a perfect performer. Far from it in fact. Thatcher really struggled to ever change up his game especially when he was thrown a curveball in the ring. If someone could not work his style well, he rarely adjusted what he did to account for that. That is a flaw of his that he needs to correct 100%.

At some point during his reign, you began to see (anecdotal evidence alert, of course) a lot more criticism of Thatcher’s work and Evolve’s decision to keep him as their champion sprout up. Eventually, it just became the narrative that Thatcher was not performing well in 2016 and was a poor choice to be the champion of Evolve.

While the pros and cons of Thatcher being a long term champion for Evolve are certainly worthy of discussion, the notion that Thatcher got worse (or was no good in the first place) was absurd.

Obviously, once a wrestler gets pushed to a high level on almost every show (as almost any champion would be), they become subjected to more intense scrutiny. That is of course fair in it of itself, but that does not necessarily mean the criticism itself is as well-thought out as it should be.

To get to the point, Thatcher was really good when he was put into a position to succeed. When he was put into a position to fail, as he was over and over again, he failed.

When Evolve insisted on doing two bullshit finishes with Matt Riddle, he failed. When he and Riddle were just allowed to do a match, he succeeded.

When the main long-term program that Thatcher got was with someone whom he had little chemistry with, he failed. (A program that somehow involved him not carrying around the belt for some ungodly reason.) When he got to do big matches with people he had great chemistry with, he succeeded.

When he was forced to do c-defenses with talent who were not over as challengers, he failed. When he got to do b-defenses with wrestlers who were actually over, he succeeded.

This was not all said to say that Thatcher had a great reign or that he is one of the best wrestlers in the world necessarily. It needs to be stated though that Thatcher succeeded quite a bit as champion and there were very clear reasons why he failed beyond his own stubbornness regarding working the wrong matches with the wrong wrestlers time and time again.

 

With all that out of the way, we have this match. The end of Timothy Thatcher’s Evolve Championship reign. Regardless of how you feel about The Thatch Man’s reign in general, it would be hard to claim that he did not at least go out with a bang.

Thatch and Zack had struggled in 2016 to not pick up the pace of their matches when the context clearly dictated that they needed to do so. They thankfully corrected that here.

Thatcher was actually the one to try to speed things up right away. That backfired, as Zack immediately fended him off and threatened to put Thatch away early.

Thatch managed to endure that initial onslaught and took control of the match. While the pace did slow down after the initial flurry, the intensity thankfully never let up.

The second half of the match was about Thatcher attempting to put Zack down while Zack was forced to desperately cling to life while he himself kept looking for an opening.

The drama down the stretch was off the charts. Thatcher had won so many matches where it seemed likely he would lose that you genuinely could see a scenario where he left here with the belt once again.

Zack seemingly tried every submission he knew, but Thatcher always managed to find an opening. What was Zack to do? Apply like twenty submissions simultaneously so that Thatcher had no choice but to verbally submit.

This was amazing and a clear MOTYC. Seek. It. Out. (****1/2)

 

1. Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay – 4/6/2018

This was a no rope breaks match for Riddle’s Evolve Championship.

About eighteen months before this battle, these two had a classic in Progress. It was not the kind of the match that would go on to have that “classic status” reputation for reasons that are beyond the scope of this article shit post match review. Instead, it’s worth mentioning because knowledge of that match became immediately important here.

In their first encounter, Matt Riddle displayed all the attributes that made him explode on the indies within months of debuting. He did not work like every other j-brone geek out there. He jumped Opreay during his entrance with a flying knee and then promptly dropped him on his head to kick off the match. That sequence encapsulated everything that made Matt Riddle one of the best wrestlers in the world in his very first year working.

Something happened to Riddle though in his second year. He became far more basic. He began to rely on cliche aspects of US indie wrestling that made him seem like everyone else instead the unique stallion that he could and should always be. All of a sudden he was doing or receiving multiple Canadian Destroyers in a match, doing back-to-back no-sell spots, and turning his matches into finisher fests. All in the same matches mind you. The ordinariness was alarming.

Enter the rematch between Ospreay and Riddle.

While their first match did not develop the reputation it deserved, both men let everyone know of its importance right away in the follow-up. Riddle decided to channel his old self and went for the flying knee to start the match just as he did in the original.

Ospreay was ready for it though.

He avoided the knee and then jumped Riddle with a flurry of offense. Before Riddle knew it*, Ospreay had wiped him out with a tope suicida and had him primed for a one-man Spanish Fly from the apron to the floor.

*In a moment that proved to be prophetic, Ospreay tried to drop Riddle on his head with a German like Riddle would do. Riddle was unaffected though and then hit Ospreay with a knee. Ospreay not relying on his stuff would be his downfall in this match.

Ospreay hesitated though. Less than a week earlier, he nearly decapitated himself delivering this variation of the Spanish Fly on a NJPW PPV. That uncharacteristic hesitation from Ospreay would be his undoing, as it gave Riddle enough time to recover and promptly drop Ospreay on his head with a German on the apron. It looked devastating.

With Ospreay receiving a brutal blow to his already very injured neck, it seemed like a Riddle victory became inevitable. The problem for Riddle was that he was not working like the total killer we all know he could be. He was in control, yes, but he was still moving a bit too methodically for no good reason. That lack of killer instinct on his part gave Ospreay enough room to fight back on occasion and make the match seem competitive.

The Riddle of 2017 may have grown complacent in this spot and began to go for more flashy moves and worry less about decimating his opponent. As the match went forward, Riddle grew progressively more and more violent and brutal. He was finally beginning to unleash his true full potential.

Instead of backing down though, Ospreay simply grew more and more desperate. He match Riddle’s brutal with an equal reaction of desperation. And that just fed Riddle more.

It all build to this horrifying sequence. Riddle had a choke on Ospreay. Ospreay decided to carry him on his back, but Riddle would not let go. Ospreay foolishly began to climb to the top rope in a moment of insane delusion. He nearly paid for it with his life, as Riddle reversed it into what could only be described as an avalanche crucifix bomb that seemed to be the end of Ospreay.

Both men’s true colors were revealed after that. Riddle never has been as violent and relentless in a pro wrestling match as he was in the ensuing moments. The moment Ospreay recovered, Riddle delivered a massive running knee to the back of Ospreay’s neck. He followed it up with a tombstone (to the neck) and more repeated strikes after ripping off Ospreay’s medical tape. The basic-ness in Riddle of 2017 was dead here.

Ospreay continued to keep fighting. In his desperation though, he lost his way and was no longer thinking rationally. In a series of dramatic but misguided moments, Ospreay busted out a triangle choke, a Rainmaker, and a Liger Bomb in an attempt to even things up. Instead of relying on his offense, Ospreay turned to those greater than him. And it became clear that the damage was not truly done.

Ospreay thought he had Riddle ready to finish. He opened himself as much as possible by calling for the springboard cutter. Riddle caught him and then immediately transitioned into the Bro-mission to force Ospreay to submit.

 

This match was about one man fully rediscovering the violence within himself and simultaneously about how irrationally desperate a person could get when pushed into a corner.

Matt Riddle genuinely has the potentially to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever. It was on full display here.

Will Ospreay, while far from a perfect performer, has delivered in many big spots over the years and plays several roles excellently.

These two almost secretly have the greatest modern in-ring rivalry going at this point. Both of their matches have featured all the classic elements and modern tweaks that come together to make great professional wrestling. It’s a beautiful combination of violence, in-ring storytelling, character development, extraordinary action, and emotion. Can’t wait to see where they go with Round III. (*****)

 

 

My list of 5-Star Matches