Everyone seems to pick Match of the Year contenders. Unfortunately, I tend not to watch too much current stuff. I always dig these lists though...especially when going back to find stuff to watch/buy. They're a great resource.

So, last year when MOTYC talk was really ramping up, I made my own Best Of list to get in on the fun. So, instead of the best match performed this year, went through and figured out what was the best match I watched this year. Pretty simple right? It could be 70's tag match up against a joshi match from 2000 and a deathmatch from last week's BJW show. Its just the best match that I have watched between Jan. 1st and Dec. 31st. Best Match Watched, BMW.

I also had made a couple other lists with the usual stuff like best wrestler & best promotion but, also do a list for most surprising wrestler, promotion, match, angle etc. Since, I mainly watch footage from the past, I'm looking for those that stood out despite their booking place and past discussions (or lack thereof). Also, I like to tally the biggest viewing disappointments. We cannot have good without the bad, right?

Finally, I also do a list of the things I am looking forward to. These can be PPVs, DVDs, a promotion, a spotlight project etc.

Since its June, I wanted to do a half year summary post. It will sorta be a culmination of the past 6 months new viewing and posting here in the Puro + More blog. So let's go for it!

Best Match Watched Contenders (Jan 1st - May 31st)

-Inoki/Sakaguchi vs Thesz/Gotch (NJ 1973)

-Strong BJW vs SUWAMA/T. Soya (AJ 11/26/11)

-Onita/Tarzan Goto vs M. Kurisu/Dragon Master [Kendo Nagasaki] (FMW 04/01/90)

-Jun Kasai vs Takeki Iizuka (TAKA Prod. 01/28/18)

-Roderick Strong vs Kyle O'Reilly (ROH 02/21/15)

-Briscoe Bros. vs Mike Bennett/Matt Taven (ROH 02/21/15)

-Tomasso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano (NXT: New Orleans)

-Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey vs Triple H/Stephanie McMahon (WWE WrestleMania)

-Shinjiro Otani vs Masato Tanaka (Z-1 07/31/02)

-Masato Tanaka vs Yuji Nagata (NJ 03/19/11)

-Chris Hero vs Big Van Walter (wXw 2010 16 Carat Gold Final)

-Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Z-1 08/02/15)

-Shuji Ishikawa vs SHINGO (AJ 04/29/18)

Standout Wrestler: Daisuke Sekimoto, Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka

Surprise of the Year: Early FMW Onita, SHINGO, Marufuji, and the 2018 Champion Carnival, 2015 ROH, Yoshi Yatsu in 87-89 AJPW, WWE 205 Live, digging WWE Women's division

Favorite Project: FMW 89-92, Post ECW Tanaka, Hayabusa in AJPW

Disappointment of the Year: Munenori Sawa in wXw 2010 could have been better, Brock vs Roman at WM, Nakamura...Ballshot Expert

I'm Looking Forward To: Getting back on track with early 2010's AJ & AJPW Classics ('89-90), some Dragon Gate USA exploration, watching more DVDs and less YouTube

It's been a good 6 months so far!