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Anyone who thinks the Bucks will ruin AAA should be forced to sit and watch the entire run of Vampiro's booking tribute to WCW Russo that was going on before Konnan came back to the company last year.

Definitely a case of your mileage may vary. It's not for everyone but it's great for some.

What I like best about the Allie signing is that she's got a good range of character. Shrill Vickie Guerrero type? Check, as a wrestler and a manager. Act like a doe eyed newbie despite being a 10 year vet? Check. Be a weird bunny demon? Yup, she pulled that off too.

I get this take, but I also disagree so vehemently it's hard to articulate. Like, if it makes somebody uncomfortable for personal reasons or they've been exposed to it being done really badly that's one thing, but I've seen so many brilliant intergender matches this decade it's hard for me to wrap my mind around someone being categorically against them.

Surely nothing Orton does in 2019 is gonna top his actual career best match with Foley 15 years ago?

My tastes can be a bit odd but I thought they had at least a few good matches in '96 and '97, mostly with the Steiners but I can also think of at least one Outsiders match I liked a lot, and maybe a couple others. Not a ringing endorsement, I realize, but I never hated watching them when I was going through WCW stuff, even if Stevie Ray did stink.

Love Bundy's first run in the WWF. The Hogan mauling before 'Mania 2, the big Andre beatdown, the Machines feud, the five count stuff, I love it all. Damn shame he was torpedoed after doing those commercials, would have loved to see him butt heads with the guys who came in between his two WWF runs.

I'll grudgingly admit Beefcake probably has more good matches in his playbook than Torrie, though if you remove his tags with Valentine it'd be a tough call.

As far as '92 WWF squashers go, I'm a fan of LOD, High Energy, Bossman, and towards the end of the year Razor and Backlund come in and are pretty good off the bat. Got a soft spot for the Beverlys and Berzerker too. Really hate the Nasties in that spot, it's all armpit stuff. Skinner, Papa Shango, and Repo Man leave quite a bit to be desired too.

A candidate I haven't seen mentioned could be Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy from 7/3/18. I am also an enormous fan of Zayn/Cesaro/Miz/Owens from 5/22/16 but I think I'm probably the high vote on that one.

I can't believe they didn't do Savage/Razor at that 'Mania. It's worth having Macho wrestle Repo Man on Raw but not a hot upcoming star at 'Mania??

I enjoy Rush a lot as a wrestler, though there could be some learning curve working the American style. But yeah, first and foremost is the guy has It Factor all over him and gives off big star potential, at least to me.

Honestly I didn't think even Benoit/Bret was that good, the work is good of course but you've got Malenko, Nash, Hall, and Goldberg all running in so it's kind of just this big schmozz. Just to name the biggest problems, the Harris Brothers are all over the show, there's a match built entirely around Torrie Wilson getting beaten up by men, Ed Ferrara does an unbelievably long Oklahoma bit, and you've got the all time low moment of Kimberly Page offering to blow David Flair so he doesn't murder her. Starrcade '99 is nearly as bad but at least you had that Benoit/Jarrett match to slightly redeem it.

My probably eclectic choices... WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr - I'd probably like it even more if there was an overt story, but seeing them clobber each other through PROGRESS, wXw, and EVOLVE has been a huge highlight for me this year. Thought they delivered incredibly each time, and Sabre's obnoxious efforts to prove he can take all WALTER can dish out has been weirdly compelling for me. Absolute Andy vs. Marius Al-Ani - Not sure how many wXw watchers are around here, but this feud really killed it through the first six months of the year. They cashed in really well on their former friendship and Andy reinvented himself impressively. They went through a lot of matches together but did a great job making them different giving them a real arc, instead of doing the same thing until it got tired. Also currently really enjoying Andy/Dragunov from wXw Pentagon Jr vs. Marty “The Moth” Martinez - I'm a sucker for good stories and I thought they did a great job with this, subtly building it from the first episode with Penta taking out Marty last in Aztec Warfare and putting him on the shelf, then building Marty up gradually not with matches but with a well defined character shift that made him more dangerous. The way he took the title was well done and I REALLY liked the references back to the Vampiro feud in season 1, including the teased fire spot. The blow off match delivered in a big way and I just loved what they did with it from start to finish. Queen’s Quest vs. Oedo Tai - This was the highlight of Stardom this year for me, especially in the earlier part of the year. Io Shirai and Kagetsu are always great together but they also put on a lot of multi-man matches that showcased both sides really well. The 5 on 5 gauntlet is probably my favorite Stardom match all year, and they've had some really good ones. Travis Huckabee vs. Solo Darling - Don't think CHIKARA is thought of too well here but I think this one really deserves some consideration. With Travis transitioning from a referee to a wrestler a couple years back in part to help Solo but being too shy to express his underlying feelings, instead becoming her friend and tag partner, I really came around from initially not liking either wrestler that much to being hugely invested in their tag team and relationship. When Travis broke up the team because they weren't successful enough, over Solo's desire to stay together, it seemed like the split would be amicable-ish, but then Solo started succeeding without him. The way they slowly built up Travis' insecurity was great for making their whole relationship look different in hindsight, as apparently Travis always quietly took it as a matter of course that he was the superior wrestler of the two. The moment of Travis' turn was exceptionally well done, and they've done a great job with Travis dodging Solo for the most part, with just enough going on to keep them hot. If they don't blow the final match at the season finale, this one will be up there for me. I'd also consider Rush/Park if CMLL hadn't blown the finish. It was still awesome though, so maybe even so.

I'll throw in Mayhem '99. It's the first fully Russo WCW PPV and it's absolutely horrid. Plus, if you toss it out, maybe that means Russo never got the book in WCW. The company probably would have died anyway, but it might not have died so horribly.

This is me with Mauro. The feeling of sincere excitement makes up for a lot of commentary faults with me. I get why some dislike him and I do think he's overrated in some circles, but I can't get on board with this "worst ever" stuff.

Eh, I don't mind the name. I read that the Jaguars owner is swimming in money, so if they get a lot of $$$ behind this idea it could be really game changing. Or it could easily peter out to nothing. I admit I'm curious though.

It's definitely WALTER for me as well. Nobody else is that close in my mind but I can dig people talking about Fenix, Penta, and Sabre. Want to mention Io Shirai and Meiko Satomura as well, who have done some tremendous work this year.

On 11/16/2018 at 8:28 PM, Tetsujin said: I'm surprised how much love Okada/Omega IV have on this website, to be honest. To me it was one of the worst big matches I've ever seen. Am I alone on that? And, just to be clear, I'm a huge fan of their 2017 trilogy.  I liked it so I couldn't say it was a really bad big match, but I wouldn't have it in my top 100 matches of the year personally. But I'm not really into the New Japan big match style so that wasn't unexpected for me.

I'm no good at judging what matches are "best" but the two matches I've enjoyed the most are WALTER/Thatcher from PROGRESS, for the sheer brutality and physicality, and WALTER/PCO from Spring Break 2, for the "holy shit I can't believe what I'm seeing" vibe.

I have so many thoughts... I’ve read some people were disappointed with Fenix/Azteca, but I think I liked it more than most. I’ve heard they intended for the finale to be 3 hours and had to edit this match down due to needing to fit it in 2 hours, but I think they still got where they needed to go and worked a lot of awesome stuff in there. Fenix DARK is awesome, and Azteca impressed too, that Victory Bomb (don't care if that's not the real name) off the top through the table looked spectacular. The Melissa stuff was a bit melodramatic in the timing, but I think it worked for me. Even though she knows Fenix may be lost, she can't bring herself to accept it. I wonder if Melissa might try to make some dark deal with some of the more powerful forces on the show to bring him back? Really feel like she's being driven to the point of desperation, and I'm loving it. Didn't mind the Shaul Guerrero stuff but I do think it took up a bit more time than it should have at such a big show. I love Famous B as much as the next person and it was a good segment, so it didn't bother me much, I just wish there was more time. Shaul actually did 3 Amigos better than most, but does she actually have any aspirations to wrestle still? She did a few FCW matches in 2011/12 but literally nothing since, and she's getting close to 30 now. That's awfully late to make a go of it in the ring, though definitely not impossible. Mack/Muertes was AWESOME, rolling out the coffins, trying to AX each other in the face, and that damn ice pick!! Both guys were awesome here but Mack once again especially proved his enormous star potential, and finally got the big win to cement that fact. I admit I was a little thrown because previous deathmatches have been LMS style (if I recall right?) but that didn't really impact my enjoyment at all. The energy of this was awesome. This show delivered in such a big way. Matanza looked AMAZING in his new gear, as others have said! I feel that people may underrate this one due to its unique story, but I absolutely loved it. I hardly noticed the sound effects (expect at the end) so that wasn't a factor for me, and I absolutely loved the creative psychology and the phenomenal use of the Temple. The people I was watching with were literally shouting for Johnny to bust through the door and take down Matanza after he got thrown through the roof, and when he kicked out of Wrath of the Gods, holy crap. So awesome. One weird thing, I just assumed that whoever lost a Sacrifice Match would be automatically raptured up to Aztec Heaven, but seemingly not. Felt like a bit of a copout at the time, if a Sacrifice match doesn't end in a Sacrifice then it's just a normal match, no? But of course, they had other plans for Matanza... Legitimately surprised Mundo gave the Gauntlet back willingly. I've struggled with Mundo's face turn in general this season. I think I can buy this more than the free Drago thing, since Mundo loves himself more than anything and must have been getting a sense that he was being overtaken by something else. Also, ALTERNATE THEORY!! Is it possible the gauntlet had ALREADY inhabited him, or at least left something inside him? Cage didn't seem quite the same even after the gauntlet was gone, and if whatever was in the gauntlet already left a seed in Mundo, then that could be why it let him give it up so easily. More on that in a moment... Penta/Marty was the match of the night and probably the best match of the season. Marty is such a gem, it's nuts that he doesn't have offers pouring in from every indy in existence. Penta had his best showing in quite a while too, chucking a chair into Marty's face at the start was a thing of beauty and it just escalated from there. Marty bleeding buckets was an incredible visual. I can't quite rate it as high as the first Cero Miedo match but that's one of my all time favorites, and it wasn't all THAT far off either. This one was a thing of beauty, and Marty should be a major player forever and a day. Vamp betraying Penta could be seen a mile away but that's ok, they clearly intended the audience to know more about Vamp than Penta did, since his mysterious master has been known about for a full season now. I had faith they would come back to this, and sure enough they did! The character's name is apparently Hexagon Dark, and he's played by an AAA wrestler named Australian Suicide. I'm all for it, his look was great and he's got the ring skills to pull his weight and more. Jake Strong... well, I'm still not really a fan of the guy, and probably never will be, and I really hope his title reign doesn't go on too long in season 5, but I'll give credit to LU to doing pretty much everything in their power to make me ok with it. Penta being devastated and STILL not giving up was a great touch, as others have mentioned. I just wish they had picked up someone different for this role, there's no shortage of guys who could have pulled it off. Brody King probably would have been my pick, a So Cal guy with enormous upside, but that's neither here nor there. They've got Jake and they're making the best of him, for now at least. Nice to know gods can jump bodies, just in case they do decide to switch tactics down the line! I really hope they scrap the MITB style GOTG cash ins though, they've basically done in on the last three GOTG exchanges and I think they were better off without it. And yeah, HOLY SHIT that final scene! As hoped, it was amazing. Cuerno, Aerostar, and Azteca meeting over the Gauntlet... should Aerostar have known better? Perhaps he knew what would happen anyway? Always tricky, is that guy. Bringing back Black Lotus to finish her arc was beautiful, and a testament to the quality of LU storytelling. She finally offs Matanza, and it's an ending to the character that I can accept (if it is the ending, of course!! ZOMBIE MATANZA PLEASE!!). Strong brutalizing Azteca was probably the best he's looked all season, the more they lean into this inhuman god thing the easier it is to accept him. His eternal deadpan makes more sense if he's a god devoid of human emotion! And that's called accentuating the positive! Possessed Taya... did not see that coming! Mundo vs. Taya is gonna be a heartbreaker but holy crap, what an amazing angle if Mundo has to try to rescue his wife's soul, or else destroy her to save her from a life of possession. Holy crap, there's so much potential there. Could be an extra layer if Mundo does have a god seed inside him from the gauntlet and has to decide if he wants to let it overtake him so he can join his wife in godhood. Even if he doesn't have the seed, I could see Mundo finding a way to join the evil god side if he can't win Taya back. Enormous potential right there! Here’s a question, do we think Dario intentionally sent Ricky to bring back a demon doll god? Early in season, 3, Dario received creepy pictures of doll island in Mexico (a real place, creepily enough) but seemed annoyed that the pictures showed up, and tried to first throw them in the garbage before they teleported back to his desk and he pushed them off on the first person he saw. Could be that he knew their god connection and didn't want to get involved directly, but my initial read was that he didn't know their significance. Could see it either way. And YES, the masters of evil! BIG talking point from this scene, Antonio clearly said "all the gods have taken human form". I HAVE to assume there are seven gods total, to eventually match up with the seven tribes, so who are the gods? Hexagon Dark, Jake Strong, and Wade Barrett (GREAT TO SEE HIM!!) are obvious, and now we know Taya for sure too (assuming she's one of them and not a rogue force). Matanza was another, and I assume whatever was in him will have to find another host. That's five, potentially. I don't think Vamp's a god, though obviously he's become an ally. I wonder how much Vamp actually knows though, and whether he may eventually turn on his masters. Is Agent Winter a god? I didn't think so initially but now I'm really not sure. Could Fenix have somehow got some god in him?? Is Killer Kross a secret god sent to fuck up the Rabbit Tribe and destroy the possibility for the tribes to unite?? Regardless, there may be more unknown gods out there... assuming my theory of seven gods is correct. There could be less, or even more! Really, REALLY hoping LU gets a proper ending, and the final match is a full show length Cibernetico style bout to decide the fate of this crazy Aztec Ragnarok they have going on. Seven tribes against seven gods... so much bloody potential there, my god! And the coup de grace, the resurrection of the true protagonist of Lucha Underground! Ok, time for my CRAZIEST THEORY YET! So we've thought for a while that "Antonio Cueto" may actually be Dario in disguise. This seems to have been disproved by this episode... OR HAS IT?? It never sat well with me that Antonio ordered the hit on his own son, and Dario just happened to call his dad when it happened. It could be true, but it never sat well with me. SO, what if after resurrecting Dario, Aerostar took him into the past? What if Dario in fact ordered the hit on himself, knowing Aerostar would resurrect him and that it would allow him to hide from the forces that wanted him dead by impersonating his dad right under their noses?? I know that's a bit convoluted but I feel like it's more Nolan that Shyamalan and could work as a beautiful reveal if executed right. Now I could be totally off base and Dario and Antonio really are both who they seem to be, but then as some have alluded to, you have the pretty big issue of how to put these two guys in the same place on a show that mostly happens in front of a live crowd. There are ways of working around that sure, but not really very good ones. On the other hand, would Dario do the things that Antonio did this season? Would he be willing to break Matanza from his human side? Would Aerostar put Dario back in charge, knowing everything that would happen in this season? I say MAYBE to both... Dario's love of his brother has proved cruel and inconsistent in the past, and with Aerostar seeing the consequences of fucking up the timeline he might know that he has no choice but to close up the loop. OR, he may know that Dario is important enough to resurrect even with the consequences of this season. What can Dario do? Is he the key to stopping the Aztec Apocalypse? He must be, right? But why... that's the question I NEED to know! It'll be so wrong if we don’t get season 5 now. Even if they made a judgment call ahead of time that it’ll be the last season, this story needs a proper finish!!

I've got a huge love for the hair vs. hair Spud/EC3 match from 2015.

For me it's 3 Count, Scott Steiner, and Stevie Ray being unintentionally hilarious on commentary.

I can't get on board with Abby bashing. At his worst there's still an element of "holy shit this guy is stabbing people with a fork", which is at the very least a spectacle of sorts.

I'm sort of glad XO/Ivelisse/Sammy didn't win, since they literally never teamed before and I like to think it takes at least a small amount of trios success to win the titles. But I'm just not into the current Reptile Tribe. Was rooting for the Rabbits here, since the presentation with Kross has been great so far and that'd be a good way to keep it going. Maybe next season. Ricky Mundo committed the worst crime possible in wrestling: not being cool. Therefore, he deserves endless punishment. I liked that Taya worked like she was legitimately pissed off but yeah, the match was decent at best. Killshot/Havoc felt like it needed a stipulation, I thought. I like Strickland regardless but his standout matches have been full of extra stuff, like his matches with Marty and Fox. This was good but felt like it could have been better. Probably would have been happier if he had been unmasked by someone he had more history with, like Fox or even Mack. Ah well, still good. Liked his post match speech and Striker's analysis. Final vignette made me a bit sad. Strickland must be angling for NXT, no other reason I can think of to leave the promotion that helped him get hot and has given him his 2 career best matches. Really interested in Fox saying he had a mission, hope we learn more about that. Also he was walking pretty well for a guy who had his ankle "broken" the week before! They saved all the best matches for part 2, so I'm really feeling excited for that. Lots of potential show stealers on that card.