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Ahhh... glad you liked it!

GWE was... umm.... divisive. The powers that be - I think smartly - decided it should be a separate project so as to avoid potentially building on that in this space. Plus I think logistically this is going to require a a lot of threads and it is probably easier to just keep it separate since there are match threads here and the conversations might be somewhat different.

Big thanks to Jmare007 for throwing this match my way in the Secret Santo (i think that is the name we are going with) project. I really liked this. This sort of thing is my kind of wrestling, physicality, brutality, escalating intensity, strong story being told in the ring. I want to start by saying that modern japan (outside of pimped stuff from NJPW and very rare matches from AJPW is a blind spot. I haven't watched much Big Japan at all, so this review is sort of in a vacuum. I loved how they were just ready go from the get go. They come at each other like bulls and hit the ground running. They never slow down. Two massive dudes just laying into one another, wrenching in the head locks, throwing their bodies at each other. Needless to say all the strikes were stiff. Sekimoto's work on top is tremendous. His cut offs and reverses were excellent. Sasaki really does play the fired up underdog so well. He picks away at the monster. Its a simple, but really well executed story. There were some killer spots here. The spear being stopped dead into a guillotine choke was awesome. I like Sekimoto but I have only seen a hand full of matches here and there so I don't know if that is a thing he does, but it had me marking out on my couch. The headbutts and strikes at the end were brutal. Everything is hightened at the end. Great stuff. For what snowflakes are worth, I am pretty high on it. Since I am seeing this out of context of the promotion and the style within the promotion I am not too married to this judgement, but I feel pretty comfortable giving it ****1/2. I could see it being higher for me if I get the chance to dig in a bit here.

I can't really speak for everyone, but I would sort of take this approach: If you think it deserves consideration as a greatest GME candidate, even if you likely wont vote for it if you turned in a ballot now, sure! I don't think people should feel like they can or cannot nominate based on what they assume people will vote for. However, if you just think it is a match that people should see, I think there are probably other forums for that. The line is thin and fuzzy but it comes down to intent for me. To nominate we hope people will take a minute to talk about why it is nominated (though honestly I got pretty burnt while doing lots so mine got pretty surface level and redundant). If you think it should be in the conversation with greatest matches ever... go for it. I am sure I will have a few matches that are super long shots for anyone's list, but I may think they have qualities that deserve consideration.

Yeah, I got here sort of in the final 1/4th or so of the GWE and decided not to submit, so when the opportunity came to help get this off the ground I was pretty pumped to be involved. We have a pretty solid start on nominations going right now and am happy to see people pumped about this already.

This stood out in the context of NJPW (esp. wk) and i thought that would be its strength. I liked it a lot. The structure was smart and the narrative that drove the match was excellent. Jericho's work on top was excellent. Omega brought the athleticism. They both brought their strengths to the match in a way that complimented one another. Sure there was some excess that people on the twitter machine have been talking up, but again... what did you expect. The only thing that really bothered me was the inconsistency with the rope break stuff. Generally I try not to get too bogged down in those kinds of things, but it bugged me here. They could have used it to the strength of the match. Either way, good stuff here. ****1/4

I liked this is a good bit more than those above me. There were some small moments where the momentum slipped and certainly it felt like it might have gone longer than necessary.... but it was a NJPW main event so you can't expect much else. I did think that the action was excellent. I really enjoy Naito a lot and while we didn't get his best crossing up and misdirection work here, it did balance with Okada's big match style here. They have good chemistry and the selling particularly seemed to stand out here. While very different from the Omega match. It is sort of no par with that for me, maybe a touch below... neither is elite, but both matches were quite good for what they were and the context in which they exist.

Phoenix and Lita seem likely to me. Trish less so, but I wouldn't be shocked I am imagining quite a few women from the MYC. I'd be pretty pumped to see Toni Storm. I'd mark the fuck out for Bull Nakano, but that seems like a long shot.

I love me some Daisuke and I haven't seen this. I am looking forward to it. So I am going to go a little back to give you one of my favorite Joshi matches of all time: Shinobu Kandori vs Bull Nakano from 94 (Chain Match). Takes on this are often a mixed bag as its relatively well known. In turn, though I know you told me you haven't watched much joshi, if you have happened upon this one let me know and I'll fire another one your way. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1badp2 http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/15823-bull-nakano-vs-shinobu-kandori-llpw-071494-chain-match/

Man... I really like this pairing. This match was stiff and had some real urgency to it. Joe has had Reigns number and has really played up the notion that he might be in Reigns head. Whereas Reigns is clearly the superior athlete, more dynamic and quick and Joe's match (at least) in power, Joe is the vet. He plays opossum, he sucks Reigns in. He works the angles and reverses. People crap on Joe, but that dude makes it matter that people like Reigns and Brock beat him. He is so good at the little things. Reigns is Reigns. He is just good and has been on fire with these TV defenses of the belt. My only slight issue with this match is that they only dabbled in playing up the dq stip and only enough to sort of break some momentum. They didn't lean into it in a way that made it a creative and unique part of the match, but they worked with it just enough to detract from what they were doing (for me at least). Real good stuff here. ****

Yep... great stuff here. I don't have a lot to add to this. I loved the arm work Cesaro was doing. I loved the reverses and they way they moved through the match. I knew well and good Reigns was winning, but they had me. That is the sign of good storytelling. The homestretch was tremendous. I would agree that both men deserve a lot of credit for this and it was really a top Cesaro showing ****1/4

I think he wound up in my 30s, which actually feels kind of low now. For me, I don't actively dislike a lot of wrestling. I either like it or am sort of indifferent to it. I actively disliked portions of Reigns career and most of that wasn't his fault really. He was put it impossible positions, given dumb things to say, and more or less told to keep rolling a boulder up the hill. In a way that makes his ultimate success even more impressive, but it drug him down a bit for me. I am all in on him now and have been for some time (particularly as an in ring performer), but because there isn't a lot of wrestling I dislike, when I dislike something it wound up pulling a guy down. I like lists, but I also hate them when they are done because I am always thinking and tweaking. Ohhh well.

Midnight match - billed as the first (North American) match of the year. This isn't for everyone, for sure, but I sort of feel like if you can't enjoy this in some way you might be a joyless ogre. This sort of hardcore/weapons/deathmatch-esque stuff is not really my thing, but Starr and Janela went out there and had fun and wrestling is sometimes just fun, ya damn ogres. All kidding aside though, this really was just a bunch of fun to me and it is all about context. Its a midnight match on New Years day where the fans bring the weapons. This is exactly what you would expect, a lot of crazy, cringy spots, blood, and big mark-out moves. Both men got their asses beat. It was a lot of movement from big spot to big spot, but I actually thought they did well to bring their story the table here and - all things considered - not let it get TOO lost in the fray. Some of this isn't my cup of tea because I am not sure into deathmatch stuff and they pull from that genre a good bit here without going full in. The sticks in the head spot does nothing for me, for example. Its just something I see and I don't enjoy, so that part was a bit of a momentum breaker for me personally. Overall though I thought it was a lot of fun. It isn't really what I want to see all the time, but in this context I thought it worked well. These were two of my favorite wrestlers from last year and they are charging into 2018 with a ton of momentum. Should be really interesting to see what each of them does. EDIT: Would someone with powers be willing to move this to the appropriate section. I missed that Jan 2018 already had its own section and accidentally started this in the wrong section. Apologies for the inconvenience.

I had Bryan higher than Reigns (bc of course I did), but I full believe when the dust settles, Reigns will be a top 5 guy. For me it was a matter of no one having higher highs than Bryan (in my book) and Reigns having some herky-jerky parts of his career that really weren't his fault. I also wound up with Steamboat pretty high on the quality of his short-ish run. I think his moments and in ring factors were really high for having limited time in the company. I do wish I had drafted my list earlier (life!? what are you going to do?) because I did wind up leaving off 2-3 guys that probably would have made the back half of my list. It was a fun project. I wound up watching some old stuff and dug a little into some blind spots. Not enough really, but is it ever enough?

I am sort of biting on the Jericho/Omega match a bit. At first I wasn't THAT interested, but the more I think about it the more I think they could wind up doing something really unique within the modern NJPW context. Standing out in context is the name of the game to me right now, so color me interested. The main should be excellent, no doubt of it. I actually rewatched some of the NJPW I cherrypicked from last year as part of my year end review. It is a lot of fun, really great high end wrestling, but it doesn't grab me, connect to me, and get me invested, so my overall excitement level feels high, but isperhaps relatively low

I'm calling a safely booked Rumble night with surprises coming from overbooked matches and angles. Womens Rumble Winner: Asuka Mens Rumble Winner: Reigns Universal Title: Brock pins Kane World Title: Styles escapes because Zayn and Owens get in each others way and/or Shane interference. Setting Up for Mania (Some of this will be done at the rumble, some after) Brock vs Reigns (US Title vs Universal Title - Hogan/Warrior Style) Styles vs Nakamura Strowman vs HHH Asuka vs Bliss Taker vs Cena I am not really sure what they will do with Shane/Zayn/KO. My gut says they are planning some big multi-man match planned that will ultimately feel like a let down (something like Zayn/Owens vs Orton/Shane). I kind of hope they are setting up Zayn turning on Owens and blowing off the Shane thing at Roadblock or something, giving us Zayn vs Owens and Shane vs Angel.

Updated after wrapping up my 2017 matches of the year and all that. Figured I'd go ahead and update here, only a hand full of additions. I am sure with certain projects coming up this list is going to grow and change a good bit.

- get the portland and pr sets - get more into and at least somewhat catch up on modern joshi - finally dig into at least the high end stuff in shoot and wos - go to at least 20 shows - be better/more consistent about blogging - back up, expand, and better organize my digital library

See I am sort of the opposite, just based on my watching habits. I would much rather have the computer access bc i find myself watching in shorter pieces of time. sorting out both will be important for all the streaming services going forward. Yeah, it is really clear there is something. I'm assuming progress winds up on the network, even if it is a slow - somewhat trial run - transition. When they announced their big show for next year i immediately said their relationship with the E must be really strong. I can't see them jumping on something like that without a bit of a safety net behind them.

So I just reshuffled my subscriptions a bit. I was doing wXw now for the past few months, but mostly so I could go back and get at some hyped stuff that I hadn't seen yet. I got to most of that so I nixed it today. In turn, I finally subscribed to Powerbomb and Highspots. I probably should have done both a while ago. I sort of have Progress and WWE as my constants right now. Progress gives me enough between chapters, specials, and other promotions that I find it worth it. WWE is WWE... I'm going to keep it. I still imagine that eventually WWE will take in a hand full of indy promotions and in-turn up the price of their service. Ultimately, I think it will come down to maybe 5 conglomerates (we are starting to see this more and more) with the WWE Network getting in on that game. I'd like it to get down to 3-4 that would more or less give me everything I want. As it stands right now I am still going to be circulating some stuff. I would like to take some time to catch back up a bit on some of the high end NJPW stuff from the last year and to dig into Stardom (which I just haven't done because of time and money yet) in 2018.

I have, wwe, Progress, wxw, and powerbomb tv. I will probably nix either wxw or powerbomb for a bit after a month or so. I need to get back into rotating better. I JUST signed up for powerbomb yesterday so I haven't even dug in yet. Edit: I am going to nix wXw and sign up for highspots today. I have done most of the searching through the backlogs I wanted on wXw and highspots carries their big events.

I remain a big KO fan. My opinion on most of the fundamental stuff hasn't changed from my post about a year ago. He has been part of some of the most compelling, long term story lines in the WWE since coming to the main roster. Even when they don't seem to have anything for him he still stands out as a personality to me. The Shane stuff was good, the Vince segment was next level great to me, and reuniting with Zayn was brilliant. The fall out has been the most must-see thing on WWE tv since it happened too (imo). I basically put SD from Hulu on in the morning just for them. His ability to create moments and tell stories that work long term set him apart, especially in a WWE universe where they often just abandon things mid stream and cut and paste narratives together. As for his in-ring. I get it. I don't dislike him as much as most, but I dont think he benefits from the over-saturation of wwe tv. He is also best when he can be an ultra-violent, malice and mean motherfucker. That is why i think he has excelled in HIAC matches and other sort of blow off matches where the reigns are loosened. Those are just fewer and further between.

I have been a Sabre fan for a bit. I think he was one of the better Wrestlers last year and he is probably in my top 5-7 this year. He is an interesting case study every time this stuff comes up because i think I know lots of people really don't like him and don't get why anyone would. Conversely, I have trouble understanding why anyone would actively hate him because he is so self evidently good to me. I will say he CAN get a little too cute with the grappling for my taste sometimes and I have seen that less this year.

I am into the idea. I am going to keep an eye on this and think about it. My only concern is myself. I tend to get focused on something else from work or some other part of my and I check out of here for a bit. Additionally, I have another project I am involved with that may be somewhat time consuming. This - however - might help me stay a little more involved and help me expand my horizons a little bit, which I am really hoping to do a bit in 2018, without being super time consuming. good idea!

The Walter/Dragunov match is just outside the real MOTY thinking for me, but it is also one that I am going to try to rewatch in the next week or so as part of my final takeaway from the year. It stuck with me as it did for a lot of people and that is - in itself - a great quality in a match.