MOTYs by year

[NintendoLogic]

New #1 for 2019.

[Boss Rock]

I still love to go back and look at these lists. Some really good recommendations.

[Boss Rock]

My 2019 pick as of right now. 

[NintendoLogic]

New top three picks for 2010, 2011, and 2019.

[Microstatistics]

Updated mine as well. Some big changes after GME but overall it's not too different. 

[Microstatistics]

Also I think 2018 might be the worst year in wrestling history, match quality wise. 2011 is not too far behind.

[WingedEagle]

5 hours ago, Microstatistics said:

Also I think 2018 might be the worst year in wrestling history, match quality wise. 2011 is not too far behind.

I actually thought 2018 was up there as one of the best years ever for pure in-ring.  

[Boss Rock]

Yeah I thought 2018 was pretty terrific too.

[Microstatistics]

I don't know, my #1 for 2018 would struggle to make the Top 30 of 1996 or 1997. NJPW fell off a cliff relative to 2017. Maybe I've been watching the wrong stuff. 

[NintendoLogic]

New #1 for 2008. I also revised my top three for 1984 and 2019.

[superkix]

Top two for 2019 so far. I feel like 2019 is even worse than 2018 in terms of quality. 

I still need to finish my 90's - 00's adventure, which feels impossible at this point but I'll keep chugging away. 

[NintendoLogic]

New post-G1 top three for 2019 as well as an updated top three for 2017 and 2018. In addition, I decided to select a MOTY for every year going back to 1970 but only do a top 3 from 1980 on.

[NintendoLogic]

Brand spanking new #1 for 2009. What do you know, another hidden gem Suzuki tag. Also updated my top three for 2010.

[Boss Rock]

New pick for 2019.

[NintendoLogic]

It's official. I have a new #1 for 2019.

[NintendoLogic]

I experienced some major reshuffling as a result of my rewatching project. To wit, I changed my top three for 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2013. I also made my first MOTY selection for 2020.

[NintendoLogic]

My first top three for 2020 with a new #1.

[Boss Rock]

Tentative pick for 2020.

[kas]

Going to go from 1989 because that's the first year I feel confident I've watched enough. Bold is MOTD.

Spoiler

1989:

1. Genichiro Tenryu vs Jumbo Tsuruta 06/05

2. Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat 04/02

3. Ric Flair vs Terry Funk 11/15

1990:

1. Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, and Akira Taue 10/19

2. Midnight Express vs Southern Boys 07/07

3. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa 06/08

1991:

1. Bull Nakano vs Akira Hokuto 01/04

2. Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Toshiaki Kawada vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, and Akira Taue 20/04

3. Jushin Liger vs Owen Hart 4/28

1992:

1. Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat 05/25

2. Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue 04/25

3. Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki and Dynamite Kansai 11/26

1993:

1 .Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 04/02

2. Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen 07/29

3. Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada vs Mayumi Ozaki and Dynamite Kansai 12/06

1994: 

1. Toshiaki Kawada vs Mitsuharu Misawa 06/03

2. Bret Hart vs Owen Hart 03/20

3. Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue 08/24

 

1995:

1. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue 06/09

2. Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue 05/07

3. Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai 03/17

1996:

1. Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada 12/06

2. Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda 05/05

3. Mankind vs Shawn Michaels 09/22

1997:

1. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin 03/23

2. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa 01/20

3. Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero 10/26

1998:

1. Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto 08/01

2. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa 10/31

3. Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada 06/12

1999:

1. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa 06/11

2. Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit 10/04

3. Christian and Edge vs Jeff and Matt Hardy 10/17

2000:

1. Atlantis Vs Villano III 03/17

2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama 02/27 

3. Cactus Jack vs Triple H 01/23

2001:

1. TLC 2 04/01

2. Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho vs Steve Austin and Triple H 05/21

3. Steve Austin vs The Rock 04/01

2002:

1. Shawn Michaels vs Triple H 08/25

2. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima 07/17

3. Kurt Angle vs The Rock vs The Undertaker 07/21

2003:

1. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa 03/01

2. Crazy MAX vs M2K vs Italian Connection vs Do Fixer 08/30

3. Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit 01/19

2004:

1. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama 07/10

2. Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama 04/25

3. Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto 02/22

2005:

1. AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe 09/11

2. AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe 12/11

3. KENTA vs Low-KI 12/17

2006:

1. Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness 08/12

2. Undertaker vs Kurt Angle 02/19

3. KENTA vs Naomichi Marufuji 10/29

2007:

1. Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries 12/29

2. Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness 06/09

3. Hirooki Goto vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 11/11

2008:

1. Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness 11/22

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Suwama 04/09

3. Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels 10/05

2009:

1. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker 04/05

2. Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero 09/04

3. Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio 06/28

2010:

1. Bryan Danielson vs SHINGO 07/24

2. Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels 03/28

3. Shingo Takagi vs BxB Hulk 07/11 

2011:

1. CM Punk vs John Cena 07/17

2. El Generico vs Daisuke Sekimoto 03/13 

3. Kevin Steen vs El Generico 10/22

2012:

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki 10/18

2. Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi 02/18

3. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 06/16

2013:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 04/07

2. Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomohiro Ishii 08/04 

3. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 10/14

2014:

1. AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki 08/01

2. Young Bucks vs Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan 07/26

3. Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii 11/08

2015:

1. Shingo Takagi vs Masaaki Mochizuki 11/01

2. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi 01/04

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura 08/16

2016:

1. Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito 08/13

2. Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 01/04

3. Kairi Hojo vs Io Shirai 01/17

2017:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega 06/11

2. Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata 04/09

3. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega 08/12

2018:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega 06/09

2. Masashi Takeda vs Isami Kodaka 06/20

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi 08/12

2019:

1. Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay 06/05

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega 01/04

3. Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston 04/07

 

2020:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi 01/04

2. Kazuchika Okada vs Tetsuya Naito 01/04

3. WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov 10/29

 

2021:

1. Momo Watanabe vs Syuri 09/25

2. WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov 08/22

3. Tam Nakano vs Giulia 03/03

 

[joeg]

I thought I'd give this a shot

 

2009- 

2010- Koji Kanemoto vs Hayato Jr. Fujita NJPW 5/30

2011 - John Cena vs CM Punk WWE 7/17

2012 - Minoru Suzuki vs Hiroshi Tanahashi NJPW 10/8

2013 - LA Park vs Dr. Wagner Jr. TXT 5/11

2014 - AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki NJPW 8/1

2015- Low Ki vs Rey Mysterio Jr. JAPW 11/14

2016 - Trauma I vs Canis Lupus IWRG 9/4

2017 - Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata NJPW 4/9

2018- Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa NXT 4/7

2019- Cody vs Dustin Rhodes AEW 5/25

[SmoothS]

It will take me quite a while to go back to the 80's and come up with my list, but for the year 2020, I will throw in 12 candidates so far:

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Night 2

2. Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Night 1

3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Night 1

4. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. The Young Bucks - AEW Revolution 

5. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE SmackDown 6/12

6. Edge vs. Randy Orton - WWE Backlash

7. Kenny Omega vs. PAC - 30 Minute Ironman match - AEW Dynamite 2/26

8. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay - Revolution Pro High Stakes

9. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryu (Dragon) Lee - NJPW New Beginning In Osaka

10. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa - wXw Ambition 12

11. Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair - WWE WrestleMania 36 Night 2

12. David Starr vs. LJ Cleary - OTT Take Me To Your Leader

[NintendoLogic]

New #1 for 2020.

[Microstatistics]

1965: Gilbert Cesca/Rene Ben Chemoul vs. Anton Tejero/Inca Peruano, 3/12

1966: Fritz Von Erich vs. Giant Baba, 12/3

1967: Francis Sullivan/Albert Sanniez vs. Bernard Caclard/Tony Martino, 10/21

1968: Franz Van Buyten vs. Jean Ferre, 1/20

1969: TBD

1970: TBD

1971: Jack Brisco vs. Antonio Inoki, 8/5

1972: Jim Breaks vs. Adrian Street, 2/12

1973: The Destroyer vs. Mil Mascaras, 10/9

1974: TBD

1975: The Destroyer vs. The Spirit, 7/25

1976: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco, 8/28

1977: Caribbean Sunshine Boys vs. Kung-Fu Fighters, 10/4

1978: TBD

1979: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Nick Bockwinkel, 2/14

1980: Axel Dieter vs. Moose Morowski, 10/5

1981: Steve Grey vs. Jon Cortez, 7/27

1982: TBD

1983: Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper, 11/24

1984: El Satanico vs. Gran Cochise, 9/14

1985: Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee, 12/30

1986: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda, 6/12

1987: TBD

1988: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Antonio Inoki, 8/8

1989: El Satanico vs. Sangre Chicana, 5/26

1990: Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada, 10/25

1991: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoji Anjoh, 7/3

1992: Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai, 4/30

1993: Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori, 4/2

1994: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, 3/20

1995: Kenta Kobashi/Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue, 6/9

1996: Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind, 9/22

1997: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han, 9/26

1998: El Hijo del Santo vs. Felino, 3/8

1999: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto, 6/24

2000: Cactus Jack vs. Triple H, 1/23

2001: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa, 12/9

2002: Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, 10/20

2003: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, 3/1

2004: Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama, 7/10

2005: AJ Styles vs. Abyss, 4/24

2006: Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue, 4/23

2007: Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe, 7/6

2008: Daisuke Ikeda/Katsumi Usuda/Super Tiger II vs. Yuki Ishikawa/Alexander Otsuka/Munenori Sawa, 7/26

2009: Daisuke Ikeda/Takeshi Ono vs. Manabu Suruga/Takahiro Oba, 4/9

2010: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, 3/28

2011: TBD

2012: Daniel Bryan/Kane/Ryback vs. The Shield, 12/16

2013: Rey Hechicero vs. Charles Lucero, 8/4

2014: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H, 4/6

2015: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, 3/29

2016: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani, 12/22

2017: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega, 8/12

2018: TBD

2019: Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi, 2/3

2020: WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, 10/29

2021: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair, 4/10

Last updated: 12/28/2021

[Edwin]

 

Spoiler

1980: Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera [Texas Death Match] (WWF, 5/19)
1981: Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk [Empty Arena Match] (CWA, 4/6)
1982: Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk (AJPW, 9/11)
1983: Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine [Dog Collar Match] (NWA, 11/24)
1984: Terry Gordy vs. Killer Khan [Texas Death Match] (WCCW, 11/22)
1985: Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA [I Quit Steel Cage Match] (NWA, 11/28)
1986: UWF vs. NJPW [Gauntlet Match] (NJPW, 5/1)
1987: Carlos Colón vs. Stan Hansen [Texas Bullrope Match] (WWC, 1/6)
1988: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 12/16)
1989: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano (UWF, 7/24)

1990: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Dragon Master [Texas Street Fight] (FMW, 4/1)
1991: El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro [Lucha de Apuestas] (UWA, 1/13)
1992: Sting's Squadron vs. The Dangerous Alliance [WarGames Match] (WCW, 5/17)
1993: Vader vs. Cactus Jack [Texas Death Match] (WCW, 10/24)
1994: El Hijo del Santo & Octagón vs. La Pareja del Terror [Lucha de Apuestas] (AAA/IWC, 11/6)
1995: Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog (WWF, 12/17)
1996: El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas vs. El Dandy [Triangular de la Muerte] (CMLL, 12/6)
1997: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin [No Holds Barred Submission Match] (WWF, 3/23)
1998: Steve Austin vs. Dude Love [No Disqualification Falls Count Anywhere Match] (WWF, 5/31)
1999: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 6/24)

2000: Atlantis vs. Villano III [Lucha de Apuestas] (CMLL, 3/17)
2001: The Rock vs. Steve Austin [No Disqualification Match] (WWF, 4/1)
2002: Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker [Hell in a Cell Match] (WWE, 10/20)
2003: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (U-STYLE, 4/6)
2004: Eddie Guerrero vs. John Layfield (WWE, 5/16)
2005: Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher (IWA-MS, 6/11)
2006: ROH vs. CZW [Cage of Death Match] (ROH, 7/15)
2007: John Cena vs. Umaga [Last Man Standing Match] (WWE, 1/28)
2008: Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima [Fight Without Honor] (ROH, 12/27)
2009: Team Uppercut vs. The Masters of a 1000 Holds (CHIKARA, 3/28)

2010: Minowaman vs. Necro Butcher (IGF, 2/22)
2011: Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda (Battlarts, 11/5)
2012: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar [Extreme Rules Match] (WWE, 4/29)
2013: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW, 8/4)
2014: Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WWE, 4/6)
2015: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins [Triple Threat Match] (WWE, 3/29)
2016: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn (WWE, 4/1)
2017: Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles (WWE, 11/19)
2018: Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE, 11/18)
2019: Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE, 4/7)

2020: Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa (wXw, 3/7)
2021: WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov (WWE, 8/22)

 

[NintendoLogic]

Made my first #1 pick for 2021.