2014 Year End - Notable Wrestlers & Matches

[stomperspc]

At the beginning of the year, I decided to watch as much 2014 wrestling as I could and blog about it (here) using a match review format. As you can see, I stopped about mid-way through the year. I fell behind during the summer and eventually threw in the towel in terms of doing reviews. I did keep watching current wrestling at a similar pace, however. As a means of doing something tangible with all that wrestling watching, I wanted to do something at the end of the year to wrap it all up. Hopefully this thread will can serve as a helpful resource in terms of being a look at 2014 in semi-real time.

 

I am going to do this in a couple of parts. First, I want to list out ten wrestlers that I personally feel have a strong case for “Most Outstanding Wrestler” (though on a calendar year rather than the WON Dec. – Nov. year). I am not a big fan of listing things out without providing an explanation, so for each wrestler I am going to recommend some matches that I think support their case (divided into three tiers) along with the argument for and against the wrestler being the best of 2014. I have included some links to reviews by different people (where applicable). These are reviews I thought did a strong job of capturing the positives of those matches.

 

The ten (well, nine for now) wrestlers I am going to cover are: Rush, A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Virus, Titan, Ricochet, Negro Casas, Tomohiro Ishii and Cavernario. Still deciding on a 10^th between a few guys (Hechicero, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Zack Sabre, ect.) I understand that the ten wrestlers I am listing are in no way a consensus top 10 (I am not sure the group even represents my top ten) but I think it provides a strong sample of wrestlers who had very good 2014’s. I also think by looking at these ten, you get a good start on potential top matches/MOTYC's from 2014. There are some wrestlers (Timothy Thatcher, Hechicero, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins to name a few) who I can certainly see a case for, but someone other than me are probably better off arguing in support of those guys. Please feel free to add anyone you feel deserves to be hyped.

 

“Must See” are matches I consider to be solid MOTYC’s or at least enough others did to warrant inclusion in this top tier. “Great” matches are you lower-level MOTYC’s/borderline candidates/just below MOTY-level matches. “Also Check Out” are all good matches of varying quality that I think give a good glimpse into the wrestler's year.

 

“The Case For” is my take on why the wrestler is a strong candidate for best/most outstanding wrestler of the year. “The Case Against” includes arguments I could see being made against that particular wrestler. “Other Awards” are WON award categories (although again on a calendar year basis) that I think the wrestler could be considered for.

 

For the second part, I plan on listing (in some format) other matches from 2014 that I think are worthy watching for one reason or another that don’t involve any of those ten wrestlers.

 

Since the 2014 sub-forum has seemed to disappear, I thought this might act as a good starting point for 2014 year-end discussion.

 

****************************

Rush

 

o Must See

o vs. Negro Casas – Hair vs. Hair (CMLL – 08/01 – Arena Mexico)

o Great

o vs. Shocker – Hair vs. Hair (CMLL – 03/21 – Arena Mexico)

o w/ La Sombra vs. Negro Casas & Shocker – CMLL Tag Team Championship (CMLL – 07/26 – Arena Mexico) – A rare top notch CMLL tag team match. There is a sense of urgency in the match in the way all four guys wrestle and make saves. The match served the dual purpose of building to Rush/Casas and being a great standalone bout as well.

o Also Check Out:

o vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW – 01/18 – Korakuen Hall) – A glimpse of Rush in a slightly different context.

o w/ Titan & La Mascara vs. Virus, Vangelis & Terrible (CMLL – 01/21 – Arena Mexico) – thought this was amongst the better CMLL trios matches of the year. Nothing mind-blowing but just a solid all-around match.

o vs. Vangelis (CMLL – 02/17 – Arena Puebla) – a bit of a throw away match but serves as an example of Rush being able to work a solid, normal singles TV match against an average-ish wrestler.

o vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL – 10/31 – Arena Mexico) – they totally break from the usual Ultimo Guerrero formula here. This is right with the Shocker hair match from March in terms of Rush getting a more than “by the numbers” match out of a veteran who rarely strays from his usual formula.

o The Case For

o Quality – three top level matches

o Quantity – until his injury, Rush was a regular presence on CMLL TV and as such, had plenty of average or above matches to show for it. I’d put his volume of good matches against anyone from the year.

o Variety – Rush performed well in high-intensity matches that were part of big feuds (everything versus Casas; the Shocker hair match), was involved in an excellent tag match, was a standout more often than not in his trios matches, and had two of CMLL’s better non-title, non-apuesta, non-lightning singles matches (versus Vangelis & UG). He was good or better in a lot of different contexts.

o Worked effectively as both a traditional tecnico and in the difficult in-between role that he, La Sombra, and La Mascara were booked into for the latter part of 2014. The second role (a technico that wrestles like a rudo) was particularly difficult to pull off and I thought he did a solid job in making it work and feel somewhat natrual.

o The Case Against

o The Casas hair match has been a bit divisive. Some see it as the perfect end to the feud while others see it as a bit too disjointed and one-sided to be a true MOTY-level match.

o Missed the last couple of months of 2014 with an injury.

o Other Awards

o Feud of the Year (vs. Negro Casas)

o Most Charismatic

o Best Gimmick (Los Ingobernables)

*********************************

 

A.J. Styles

o Must See Matches

o vs. Minoru Suzuki – G1 Climax (NJPW – 08/01 – Korakuen Hall)

o Great Matches

o vs. Kazuchika Okada – G1 Climax (NJPW – 07/21 - Hokkaido Sports Center)

o vs. Tetsuya Naito – G1 Climax (NJPW – 07/26 – Akita Prefectural Gymnasium)

o Also Check Out

o vs. Cedric Alexander (PWX – 01/19 – Winston Salem, NC)

o vs. Chris Hero (ROH – 03/22 – Montgomery County (Dayton) Fairgrounds)

o vs. Kyle O’Reilly (ROH – 08/22 – Milwaukee) – I find O’Reilly to be pretty solid with a tendency to do much or get lost in a longer match. I thought they held it together a bit better here and came away with a strong TV match, in large part due to Styles.

o vs. Adam Cole (ROH – 09/06 – Toronto) – probably have this behind the Hero match as Styles best non-NJPW match of the year.

o vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW – 10/13 – Sumo Hall) – thought this was better than the two Okada title matches from earlier in the year.

o The Case For

o Styles wrestled a large variety of opponents in 2014 and usually squeezed out good or at least better-than-expected results. Although not all of them are listed here, I watched nearly all of his US indie matches from the first 8 months of the year. Regardless of opponent (and some were rather low quality), he almost always had at least a watchable match. When he wrestled more high quality opponents on the indies or in New Japan, he was able to work up to that level.

o In addition to carrying indie guys, also got a surprisingly strong match out of Lance Archer during the G1. On a similar note, the Elgin ROH matches were much better to your run-of-the-mill Elgin matches (even if they still weren't anything I'd consider worthwhile).

o A legit MOTYC versus Suzuki.

o As strong of a singles match resume as any contender

o The Case Against

o None of the indie/ROH matches were “great,” with the possible exception of the Hero ROH Match.

o The first two Okada matches were not great by any means and it did seem to take him a few matches to get comfortable with his role in New Japan (although that shouldn’t be unexpected).

o Other Award Consideration

o Wrestler of the Year

o Best Box Office Draw (as an ROH/indies draw)

 

[stomperspc]

Virus

 

o Must See Matches

o vs. Titan – Mexican National Middleweight Championship (CMLL – 01/28 – Arena Mexico)

o Great Matches

o w/ Hechicero & Cachorro vs. Negro Casas, Dragon Lee & Cavernario (CMLL – 05/23 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Dragon Lee (CMLL – 12/09 – Arena Mexico)

o Also Check Out

o w/ Vangelis & Terrible vs. Rush, Titan & La Mascara (CMLL – 01/21 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Fuego – CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (CMLL – 06/15 – Arena Mexico) – this was fine but a notch below the Titan & Dragon Lee matches. Fuego is more of a warm body compared to the other two.

o vs. Dragon Lee – Lightning Match (CMLL – 09/02 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Cachorro – Lightning Match (CMLL – 10/21 – Arena Mexico) – two good lightning matches.

o vs. Negro Navarro (11/15 – Arena Olimpico Laguana) – thought this was a ton of fun. They work the usual Negro Navarro type match early on with mat work, reversals, and stand-offs. Virus eventually breaks the rhythm with a closed first and gets hounded on by the crowd for this. I think Virus is more fun when he is in there with a flyer rather than someone like Navarro. This felt a bit by the numbers but was technically really well wrestled and easy to get through.

o The Case For

o Several high-end matches including two of the better lucha singles matches of 2014 (vs. Titan & vs. Dragon Lee).

o Even with the plethora of strong En Busca lightning matches, Virus might have had just as strong of a lightning match year” as anyone based off the relative strengths of the Dragon Lee and Cachorro matches.

o Even when Virus is a bit player in trios matches, he often still comes across as the best/most polished wrestler in the match.

o The Case Against

o Stigma title match was disappointing, although some of that was certainly the fault of Stigma

o Somewhat top heavy resume. Four singles title matches in one year plus some lightning matches is more than Virus might often get but it is still less featured matches than gus in other promotions might get in one year.

o Other Award Consideration

§ Best Technical Wrestler

§ Most Underrated

*****************************************

 

Titan

 

o Must See Matches

o vs. Titan – Mexican National Middleweight Championship (CMLL – 01/28 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Cavernario – Mexican National Middleweight Championship (CMLL – 07/28 – Arena Mexico) – Titan’s performance in this was great. His flying was spectacular. For me personally, there is a fine line between cool innovation and “why didn’t they just do X instead?”. Titan stayed on the good side of that line. Without spoiling anything, he pulls out some truly jaw dropping spots that feel progressive without feeling unnecessary (if that makes sense). Cavernario served as a fine base and brought along some of his usual insanity as well. This is a true MOTYC for me.

o Great Matches

o vs. Polvora – Mexican National Middleweight Championship (CMLL – 11/16 – Arena Mexico) – See above (re: vs. Cavernario) with the caveat that Polvora is nowhere near as good as Canvernario but Titan might have been better here than he was in the Cavernario match. With the downgrade in opponent, Titan is forced to carry more of the load which he does by doubling or tripling the amount of flying he does. The good things is that Titan’s high flying offense is really, really great so this works.

o

o Also Check Out

o vs. Negro Casas – Leyenda de Plata Final (CMLL – 01/03 – Arena Mexico)

o w/ Rush & La Mascara vs. Virus, Vangelis & Terrible (CMLL – 01/21 – Arena Mexico)

o The Case For

o One of the better one-two punches of any of the contenders with the Virus & Cavernario title matches. Both are distinctly different and very good.

o Even if it is argued that he was matched up against high quality opponents in the two MOTYC-level matches, his title match versus Polvora was very good largely thanks to Titan.

o Solid, although largely unmemorable year in trios matches

o The Case Against

o His resume is a bit top heavy. Once you get by the top three matches, his match resume thins out quickly. He had a very top-heavy year. Stuck in non-featured trios most of the year and was oddly downplayed during Fantasticamania.

o There is an argument to be made that he was the lesser wrestler In both the Virus and Cavenario matches.

o Other Award Consideration:

o Best High Flyer

o Most Underrated (why he is not a regular in NJPW or at least on the Fantasticamania tour is puzzling.)

[stomperspc]

Shinsuke Nakamura

 

· Must See Matches

o vs. Kazuchika Okada – G1 Climax Final (NJPW – 08/10 – Seibu Dome)

· Great Matches

§ vs. Bad Luke Fale – New Japan Cup Finals (NJPW – 03/23 – Amagasaki Memorial Park Gymnasium)

§ vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – IWGP Intercontinental Championship (NJPW – 04/06 – Sumo Hall)

§ vs. Katsuyori Shibata – G1 Climax (NJPW – 07/21 – Hokkaido Sports Center)

· Also Check Out

§ vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW – 01/04, 02/09, 08/03) – I wouldn’t consider any of thse to be great matches but they are all good. There is something to be said for consistency. If nothing else, these matches show that Nakamura (and Tanahashi) can knock out good/fine NJPW main-event style matches in their sleep.

§ w/ Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito & Captain New Japan (NJPW – 01/05 – Korakuen Hall)

§ vs. Rush (NJPW – 01/18 – Korakuen Hall)

§ w/ Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Tetsuya Naito (NJPW – 02/02 – Korakuen Hall)

§ vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. (NJPW – 07/23 – Aomori) – loved the mat work and the submission stuff. Nakamura breaking out of the NJPW main event style mold a bit and having a fun mid-card match.

§ vs. Tomohiro Ishii – G1 Climax (NJPW – 08/01 – Korakuen Hall) – wasn’t as high on this as others but it was well thought of enough and worth checking ouy.

o The Case For

§ A very deep match resume with good or better matches on all big shows (impossible Graces assignments notwithstanding) and Korakuen cards.

§ A MOTYC-level performance versus Okada in the G1 finals.

§ Had a strong series against a capable but limited wrestler like Bad Luke Fale. Had a watchable match against Kevin Steen in ROH (which I would personally consider a rather large accomplishment).

§ Excelled in tag matches, trios, and singles matches against a relatively wide variety of opponents.

o The Case Against

§ Spent much of the spring & pre-G1 summer facing the Graces and Fale. While the Fale matches were all good or at least better than expected, they certainly weren’t blow away memorable matches with the exception of the New Japan Cup finals. Grace matches weren’t very good.

§ Dome main event versus Tanahashi was disappointing given its place on a big card.

§ His matches can tend to be feel redundant in terms of pacing and offense.

o Other Award Consideration

§ Pro Wrestler of the Year (his drawing record in 2014 was a big plus)

§ Best Box Office Draw

§ Most Charismatic

[stomperspc]

Cavernario

 

o Must See Matches

o vs. Titan – Mexican National Middleweight Championship (CMLL – 07/28 – Arena Mexico)

· Great Matches

o w/ Hechicero & Cachorro vs. Negro Casas, Dragon Lee & Cavernario (CMLL – 05/23 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Rey Cometa – Hair vs. Hair (CMLL – 09/19 – Arena Mexico)

· Also Check Out

o w/ Cachorro, Dragon Lee, Guerrero Negro Jr., Hechicero, Soberano Jr., Star Jr., Súper Halcón Jr. vs Black Panther, Canelo Casas, El Rebelde, Espiritu Negro, Flyer, Herodes Jr., Metálico, Oro Jr. – Cibernetico (CMLL – 03/25 – Arena Mexico) *Probably could have put this up one tier. Really strong cibernetico where everyone got a chance to shine. Cavernario looks good in it, but so does pretty much everyone involved. *

o vs. Hechicero – En Busca de Un Idolo (CMLL – 04/08 – Arena Mexico) *Maybe the best of the lightning matches from the tournament. This felt like more of a Hechicero showcase but Cavernario has a great sense of timing, bumps well, and fits his offense in appropriately. *

o vs. Cachorro – En Busca de Un Idolo (CMLL – 04/18 – Arena Mexico) * More of a Cavernario offensive showcase than the first Hechicero match. Cavernario takes a back bump off the apron to the floor which is a somewhat insane thing to do in a lightning match. *

o vs. Hechicero – En Busca de Un Idolo (CMLL – 05/30 – Arena Mexico) * See above. Liked the first lightning match between these two a bit better, but you can’t go wrong with either one. *

o vs. Hechicero – En Busca de Un Idolo Finals (CMLL – 06/20 – Arena Mexico) * I didn’t think this was as good as it could have been, but then again its ceiling was rather high. For someone wrestling his first big, long singles match at age 21, Cavernario looked really, really good. He was very smooth in a way that defies his age. *

o w/ Hechicero vs. Delta & Guerrero Maya, Jr. – Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship (CMLL – 12/16 – Arena Mexico) * Liked this a ton and would consider it borderline great. Both Canverario and Hechicero outclassed Maya and, to an extent, Delta as well. Great double teams from the rudos. The ending was a bit flat but Canverario and Hechicero could be an awesome long-term team. *

· The Case For

o Deep match resume. There were other En Busca lightning matches with Cavernario that are probably worth watching which shows just how many good or better matches he had.

o Nice variety – a good tag match, a very good trios match, a bunch of fun short matches, and a few featured singles matches.

o 21 years old or not, Canverario looked extremely polished all the way around the entire year. I am sure he had a shaky or blown spot or two sometime but I can’t recall any. He is a both a strong basic bumper and big bumper when needed. His opening mat work is always solid, he was a great base at times (vs. Titan), and had impressive flying offense of his own (the splash to the floor).

o Did a great job blending his offbeat character in with a more serious wrestling style. I never felt in any of this 2014 matches that the gimmick was overshadowing everything else nor did I feel that the gimmick was being downplayed. That’s a hard line to toe, particularly when working a caveman gimmick.

· The Case Against

o Aside from the Cometa match (and its not like Cometa is a slouch), Cavernario certainly benefited from often being in the ring with high quality opponents.

o A lot of his work comes in lightning matches. Opinions on sub-10 minute matches might vary.

 

· Daniel Bryan

o Must See Matches

§ N/A

o Great Matches

§ vs. Bray Wyatt (WWE – 01/26 – Pittsburgh)

§ vs. Triple H (WWE – 04/06 – New Orleans)

o Also Check Out

§ w/ John Cena & Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (WWE – 01/28 – Cleveland)

§ vs. Randy Orton (WWE – 02/03 – Omaha)

§ vs. Cesaro vs. Christian vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. John Cena – Elimination Chamber (WWE – 02/23 – Minneapolis)

§ vs. Bautista vs. Randy Orton – WWE Heavyweight Championship (WWE – 04/06 – New Orleans)

o The Case For

§ Two borderline/just-below MOTYC-level matches. In addition, they came against a wrestler who was/is still trying to find himself in the ring (Wyatt) and a semi-retired Triple H.

§ Despite missing all but five months of the year due to injury, he still has enough quality matches to stack up against the other candidates.

§ Did more with less than perhaps any other candidate. Kept himself over despite an aborted Wyatt angle to start the year. Got quality matches out of Wyatt and Orton. Made a match versus Kane that was centered on backstage brawling and forklift driving work to a certain degree with is rather miraculous.

o The Case Against

§ All of that missed time is difficult to ignore.

§ The Triple H and Bray Wyatt matches are probably lower level MOTYC’s. Lacks a real blow away singles match.

o Other Award Consideration

§ Best Technical Wrestler

§ Most Charismatic

§ Best on Interviews

[soup23]

I almost don't want to respond to this to break it up as I really think this style of breakdown is genius and a great comprehensive guide but I did want to let you know how tremendous this has been to read Stomper and I look forward to your conclusion on WOTY.

[stomperspc]

I almost don't want to respond to this to break it up as I really think this style of breakdown is genius and a great comprehensive guide but I did want to let you know how tremendous this has been to read Stomper and I look forward to your conclusion on WOTY.

 

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[stomperspc]

Ricochet

 

As an side, I think going purely off of work Ricochet wouldn’t necessarily be in my top 10 for this year. However, he has had a really interesting 2014 and worked in a ton of different places from Dragon Gate to Lucha Underground to US Indies to New Japan so I think he’s an interesting one to take a look at.

 

Also, still haven’t seen the 20-minute draw against A.J. Styles from December.

 

· Must See Matches

o N/A

· Great Matches

o vs. KUSHIDA (NJPW – 06/08 – Tokyo)

o Vs. Low Ki (House of Glory – 11/30 – Brooklyn) * This was like a very good ROH heyday (2002 – 2005 or so) match. Great opening five minutes or so with a slow build using the usual cool Ki mat work and standup. Ki looked great and really should be anchoring ROH or something instead of occasionally floundering around in TNA. Ricochet’s flying and ridiculous agility spots meant more in this match as they were used as comebacks and hope spots that for the most part were integrated seamlessly into the rest of the match. Could have done without some of Ricochet’s offense and like every 2014 indie match (and many Japan matches as well) they could have shaved off four or five minutes. However, it was more the middle dragging than the finishing stretch going onto long which I think is the lesser of two evils by far. Worth tracking down.*

· Also Check Out

o vs. Kota Ibushi – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (NJPW – 06/22 – Osaka) * This is a borderline “great” although that probably depends on your stylistic preferences. Two of the more agile and athletic wrestlers going and they give you just what you want from two wrestlers with those skills. Felt like they were holding back just a tad, too, for a re-match. These guys executed a match based around quickness and agility far better than any 2014 Dragon Gate match I saw.

o vs. Chris Hero (EVOLVE – 01/10 – Ybor City)

o vs. Uhaa Nation – Open the Dream Gate Championship (Dragon Gate – 03/06 – Korakuen Hall) * Considering Uhaa is still pretty green and they went 20+ minutes, this turned out really well. Nice selling from Ricochet and Uhaa’s power offense provided a nice contrast for Ricochet’s stuff.

o vs. YAMATO – Open the Dream Gate Championship (Dragon Gate – 05/05 – Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium) * My favorite Ricochet DG match of the year and maybe my favorite DG match from this year. Again, really strong selling by Ricochet. Went too long and did too much at the end, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

o (as Prince Puma) vs. Johnny Mundo (Lucha Underground – 09/06 – Los Angeles) * Just to see him working under the mask in a TV promotion. Could probably pick any of his LU matches to get a sense of Ricochet as Puma. I don’t think he’s been blow-away as Puma or anything but he doesn’t lose any of his connection by putting on the mask, which isn’t always the case.

· The Case For

o A pair of legit worthwhile matches, a borderline third “great” match (vs. Ibushi), and several other strong matches makes for a deep resume.

o Got over (or remained over) in several different stylistic/geographic promotions). There is something to be said for being the most over/pushed DG foreigner, one of the top (or the top) US indie stars, the lead babyface for a national TV promotion, and the BOSJ winner (despite being a NJPW outsider) all in one year. There are other circumstances but his talent certainly played a role in his ability to get pushed and get over in all of those contexts.

o In the discussion for best current high flier.

o Became far more well rounded in 2014. Adding more kicks to his arsenal has helped bridge the gap between his other stuff, as has the addition of some suplexes and a non-top rope finisher.

· The Case Against

o He had some stinkers as well, perhaps as much as any of the ten guys I’ve listed.

o His matches can still become disjointed from time to time. He’s not a finished product although he is getting there.

o Sometimes a little too much attempted comedy and “wink-wink” stuff that hurts the flow/pace of his matches.

o His style – even the more well-rounded version of it – might not be for everyone.

· Other Award Consideration

o Best High Flyer

o Most Charismatic

[stomperspc]

Negro Casas

 

· Must See Matches

o w/ Shocker vs. Rush & La Sombra (CMLL – 07/18 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Rush, hair vs. hair (CMLL – 08/01 – Arena Mexico)

· Great Matches

o w/ Dragon Lee & Cavernario vs. Virus, Hechicero & Cachorro (CMLL – 05/23 – Arena Mexico)

· Also Check Out

o vs. Titan (CMLL – 01/03 – Arena Mexico)

o w/ Tiger & Puma vs. Atlantis, Guerrero Maya, Jr. & Delta (CMLL – 01/26 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Volador Jr. (CMLL – 01/10 – Arena Mexico)

o vs. Blue Panther (CMLL – 01/21 – Arena Mexico)

· The Case For

o Casas had a great start to the year with four singles matches in January that I thought were good or better, plus a really strong trios match.

o The feud with Rush finally came to a head which meant more of those two beating the crap out of each other in trios and tags. From an in-ring standpoint, Rush/Casas is definitely a contender for feud of the match.

o The tag match was amongst the best tag matches of the year. Casas had a standout singles, tag, and trios match in 2014 which very few others can lay claim to.

o Arguably the greatest 50+ year old wrestler of all-time. 2014 only strengthened his case for that accolade.

· The Case Against

o Fizzled after the hot start to the year due to injury, booking, and just overall quality. His list of notable matches gets pretty thin by March, only picking up for a brief period in July for the hair match build.

o As mentioned with Rush, the hair match has drawn mixed reviews.

· Other Award Consideration

o Most Charismatic

o Best Technical Wrestler

o Feud of the Year (vs. Rush)

[ohtani's jacket]

I finally finished catching up on all of the Virus from last year. Overall, I thought his form in the first half of the year was stronger than the second, but with Hechicero being better in the indies than he was in CMLL, I don't think there was a better worker in the company at least singles wise.