Match of the Year Tracking Thread

[DieHard]

WWE Smackdown:
RVD vs Charistian vs Randy Orton - ***3/4

NJPW G1 Climax Night One:
Ishii vs Archer - ***3/4
Anderson vs Nakamura - ***3/4-****

NJPW G1 Climax Night Two (only watched this match so far):
Ishii vs Tanahashi - ****1/2. WATCH THIS MATCH RIGHT NOW. DO IT!

[ROHFan25]

WWE Smackdown:
RVD vs Charistian vs Randy Orton - ***3/4

NJPW G1 Climax Night One:
Ishii vs Archer - ***3/4
Anderson vs Nakamura - ***3/4-****

NJPW G1 Climax Night Two (only watched this match so far):
Ishii vs Tanahashi - ****1/2. WATCH THIS MATCH RIGHT NOW. DO IT!

Holy shit dude...you got me so hyped for Ishii/Tanahashi. I mean I know the match couldn't be bad since Ishii is the GOAT and Tanahashi is up there too...but ****1/2 on Night 2!??!?!?

I watched the first 7 matches so far. Really enjoyed Devitt/Archer, Shibata/Kojima and Naito/Ibushi. G1 has been awesome so far.

[DieHard]

WWE Smackdown:
RVD vs Charistian vs Randy Orton - ***3/4

NJPW G1 Climax Night One:
Ishii vs Archer - ***3/4
Anderson vs Nakamura - ***3/4-****

NJPW G1 Climax Night Two (only watched this match so far):
Ishii vs Tanahashi - ****1/2. WATCH THIS MATCH RIGHT NOW. DO IT!

Holy shit dude...you got me so hyped for Ishii/Tanahashi. I mean I know the match couldn't be bad since Ishii is the GOAT and Tanahashi is up there too...but ****1/2 on Night 2!??!?!?

I watched the first 7 matches so far. Really enjoyed Devitt/Archer, Shibata/Kojima and Naito/Ibushi. G1 has been awesome so far.

Yeah. This is crazy. They are going all-out in NIGHT ONE (which btw, was a great consistent show). This is going to be such an incredible tournament, maybe the best ever if they'll keep up with the high level.

[ROHFan25]

Dude absolutely. I thought Night 1 was really solid and I wasn't really big on anything on the card except Shibata/DBSJ and Nakamura/Anderson. The only match I didn't like from Night 1 was Tenzan/Benjamin...but thought everything else was in the **3/4 to ***1/2 range.

Night 2 is a whole different ball game.

Devitt/Archer ***1/2 Shibata/Kojima **** Ibushi/Naito ***1/2+

I just don't understand how people aren't into NJPW. It's literally wrestling perfection, especially during G1 Season.

[JSP]

A lot of people have a problem with the language barrier. I feel with the Bullet Club, it isn't as needed at the moment, but that's a lot of people's problem with puro in general I think. Some need a story to get into wrestling, and some don't. It just depends.

[ROHFan25]

I guess that is the problem, bothered me the first show I watched but I got over it. I don't think it's really that hard to follow the storylines if you're paying attention just depends when you start watching.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

I can understand how it's hard to get into it at first. Not only language, but it takes a while to get used to the slower pace and style. I found it easiest to get into by first watching American vs Japanese matchups. When TNA was part of Wrestle Kingdom and they aired those matches on Spike, I got hooked.

[donkitrk99]

****1/2
1. Elgin vs. Lethal
2. The Inner City Machine Guns vs. AR Fox & Samuray Del Sol
3. Elgin vs. ACH
4. The Unbreakable Fuckin' Steen Machines vs. The Inner City Machine Guns & AR Fox
5. Undertaker vs. CM Punk
6. Defy or Deny II
****1/4
7. Dojo Bros. vs. The Young Bucks (ASW9N2)
8. Shingo vs. Akira Tozawa
9. Adam Cole vs. Drake Younger
10. Sami Callihan vs. Kyle O'Reilly

[DXvsNWO1994]

Here a few matches from G1 that I think deserve to be on here:

G1 Climax: Night Two - Block A - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii: ****1/2
G1 Climax: Night Four - Block A - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata: ****3/4
G1 Climax: Night Four - Block B - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi: ****1/4

If you haven't already, you'd need to see these three matches, especially Ishii/Shibata.

[ROHFan25]

Agree with all those ratings. Might even bump Nakamura/Ibushi up to ****1/2 because of the Boma Ye spot near the end.

Shibata/Kojima from Night Two also deserves a mention. **** Incredible strike fest. LARIATO VS PK!

[DXvsNWO1994]

Here's my Top 11 thus far in 2013 (based on what I've seen):

1.) G1 Climax 23: Night 4 - Block A - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata: ****3/4
2.) WrestleMania 29 - CM Punk vs. Undertaker: ****1/2
3.) G1 Climax 23: Night 2 - Block A - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: ****1/2
4.) Supercard of Honor VII - Jay Lethal vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ****1/2
5.) Payback - Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk: ****1/2
6.) All-Star Weekend 9: Night One - The Inner City Machine Guns vs. AR Fox & Samuray del Sol: ****1/2
7.) Defy or Deny 2 - Defy or Deny Match - Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ****1/2
8.) Raw - CM Punk vs. John Cena: ****1/2
9.) All-Star Weekend 9: Night Two - The Unbreakable F'N Steen Machines vs. The Inner City Machine Guns & AR Fox: ****1/2
10.) Dragon's Reign - "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. ACH: ****1/2
11.) Border Wars 2013 - Eddie Edwards vs. Taiji Ishimori: ****1/2

[supersonic]

Not bothering to keep up with every fed to create a definitive list, just throwing some out there as a semi-guide.

WWE:
Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena - Raw 1/14 ****
Royal Rumble match - Royal Rumble ****1/2
CM Punk vs. The Rock - Royal Rumble ****
SmackDown Elimination Chamber - Elimination Chamber ****
The Shield vs. Sheamus, Ryback, & John Cena - Elimination Chamber ****
The Rock vs. CM Punk - Elimination Chamber ****
John Cena vs. CM Punk - Raw 2/25 ****1/2
Undertaker vs. CM Punk - WM29 ****1/4
Kofi Kingston vs. Antonio Cesaro - Main Event 5/1 ****
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho - Payback ****1/4
Rising Stars MITB Ladder Match - MITB ****
All Stars MITB Ladder Match - MITB ****
Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian - SmackDown! 8/9 ****
Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk - SummerSlam ****1/2
John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan - SummerSlam ****

Evolve:
Young Bucks vs. Super Smash Bros. - 4/5 ****

ROH:
reDRagon vs. American Wolves - SCOH7 ****
Kyle O'Reilly vs. Davey Richards - 4/6 TV taping [aired 5/4] ****1/4
Jay Lethal vs. ACH - Honor in the Heart of Texas ****
Jay Briscoe vs. Davey Richards - Honor in the Heart of Texas ****

[WrestlingMatters]

****1/2 John Cena vs. CM Punk (Raw 2/25)
****1/4 Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 8/18)
****1/4 John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan (SummerSlam 8/18)
**** Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk (Payback 6/16)
**** The Undertaker vs. CM Punk (WrestleMania 29 4/7)

[stay gold]

My favorite is Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi

The rest are in no real order
Danielson vs Cena
Brock vs Punk
Danielson vs Cesaro
Punk vs Cena
Ishii vs Shibata
Goto vs Shibata I
Karl Anderson vs Tanahashi
Devitt vs Tanahashi from the Anniversary show earlier this year
Tanahashi vs Ishii
Okada vs Tanahashi from Invasion Attack
Danielson vs Ryback from Smackdown a few months ago
Cesaro vs Kofi
RVD vs Jericho

[Ladrao12]

1. Elgin vs. Lethal SCOH7
2. Wolves vs. reDRagon SCHO7
3. O'Reilly vs. Richards 4/6 TV Taping
4. Cedric Alexander vs. Jay Lethal PWX It's all about Me
5. Younger vs. Callihan DDT4 2013
6. Younger vs. Callihan ASWN1
7. Young Bucks vs. Dojo Bros ASWN2
8. O'Reilly vs. Richards Is Your Body Ready
9. Cole vs. Callihan Is Your Body Ready
10. Tozawa vs. CIMA vs. Tomahawk TT vs. EITA- DGUSA 4th Anniversary
11. Gargano vs. Tozawa- DGUSA 4th Anniversary
12. Anderson vs. Elgin Manhattan Mayhem V

[donkitrk99]

****1/2
1. Michael Elgin vs. Jay Lethal
2. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk
3. The Inner City Machine Guns vs. AR Fox & Samuray Del Sol
4. Michael Elgin vs. ACH
5. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena
6. The Unbreakable Fuckin' Steen Machines vs. The Inner City Machine Guns & AR Fox
7. Undertaker vs. CM Punk
8. Defy or Deny II
****1/4
9. Dojo Bros. vs. The Young Bucks (ASW9N2)
10. Michael Elgin vs. Paul London

A little less Heyman, and Brock/Punk at least moves to no. 1 and probably into ****3/4... First ten minutes or so was in 5 star territory but, although the rest of the match was still great, it did lose a little momentum. Bryan/Cena had some tedious moments in the beginning, for my taste, or that too could have crept up even higher. The work rate in WWE lately is phenomenal - still lots of Entertainment Dreck, but if you have the internet to distract you from that stuff, or (better yet) PVR, then its great stuff.

[DieHard]

Mine (in order):

*****
Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk
Kota Ibushi vs Nakamura
Shibata vs Ishii

****3/4
Ishii vs Tanahashi
Cena vs Punk - Raw
Okada vs Tanahashi - April
Suwama vs Funaki

****1/2
Nakamura vs Sakuraba
Get Wild vs Burning - 3/17
Undertaker vs Punk, the 6 Man from ASE Night Two and Bryan vs Cena

[DXvsNWO1994]

Had a lot of fantastic matches recently. Going to have to narrow it down to 10 (again, based on what I've seen).

1.) G1 Climax 23: Night 4 - Block A - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata: ****3/4
2.) G1 Climax 23: Night 8 - Block A - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada: ****3/4
3.) WrestleMania 29 - CM Punk vs. Undertaker: ****1/2
4.) SummerSlam - No DQ Match - CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar: ****1/2
5.) SummerSlam - WWE Title - John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan: ****1/2
6.) G1 Climax 23: Night 2 - Block A - Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi: ****1/2
7.) Supercard of Honor VII - Jay Lethal vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ****1/2
8.) G1 Climax 23: Night 4 - Block B - Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: ****1/2
9.) Payback - Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk: ****1/2
10.) All-Star Weekend 9: Night One - The Inner City Machine Guns vs. AR Fox & Samuray del Sol: ****1/2

[stay gold]

Gotta add the Zayn/Cesaro 2/3 falls match to my list. Great stuff.

Also, for anyone that likes the old school brawling Puerto Rican style matches, Carlito vs Savio Vega is a lot of fun. Can't compete with a lot of the fast paced wrestling we've been getting this year, but quality stuff if you ever watched the classic WWC era of wrestling.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Shiozaki and Akiyama vs Get Wild from March is also in my list. Forgot about that one. In general, there are some pretty good AJPW matches from March that I gotta rewatch.

[Northwoods_Nightmare]

I see most people rating Lesnar/Punk higher than Bryan/Cena, but I personally like the latter better. That match was radical. I marked out when Cena hit that lariat out of the corner, and especially when Bryan won with a freakin running leg strike!

I'll have to check out Carlito vs Vega. We don't get nearly enough of that classic brawling style.