Shoe's ongoing MOTYC for 2016

[shoe]

I thought I'd keep a MOTYC for 2016 list here.

1/1/16 CMLL Kamaitachi vs Maximo Hair vs Hair 4 1/2*
1/2/16 PWG Timothy Thatcher vs Drew Gulak 4 1/4*
1/8/16 Free Lance Wrestling Mustafa Ali vs Isaias Velazquez 4 1/2*
1/4/16 NJPW Nakamura vs AJ Styles 4 1/2*
1/16/16 REV Pro AJ Styles vs Zack Sabre Jr. 4 1/4*
1/16/16 REV Pro Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll 4 1/2*
1/20/16 aired CWF Mid-Atlantic Cedric Alexander & Mason Maddox vs. Smith Garrett & Chet Sterling 4 1/4*
1/21/16 aired NWA Smokey Mountain Toby Farley vs. Tristen Ramsey 4 1/4*
m 1/23/16 NJPW/CMLL Volador jr/Mistico/Tanahashi vs Ultimo Guerrero/Memphisto/Okada 4 1/4*
1/24/16 NJPW/CMLL Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi 4 1/2*
1/24/16 Progress Zack Gibson vs Mark Haskins 4 1/4*

2/7/16 RPW Zack Sabre Jr vs Will O'Spreay 4 1/4*
2/10/16 aired LU LLSM KIng Cuerno vs El Fenix 4 1/4*
2/13/16 TWE Fred Yehi vs Colby Corino 4 1/4*
2/14/16 NJPW Kushida vs Bushi 4 1/4*
2/14/16 NJPW Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega 4 1/4*
2/14/16 Progress Rampage Brown vs Mikey Whiplash 4 1/4*

2/21/16 AWE Jimmy Rave vs AR FOX 4 1/4*
2/21/16 WWE Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose 4 1/4*

2/25/16 PWX Chris Hero vs Cedric Alexander 4 1/4*
2/26/16 ROH Young Bucks/Kenny Omega vs ACH/Kushida/Matt Sydal 4 1/4*

2/28/16 Beyond Chris Hero vs Jonathan Gresham 4 3/4*

3/4/16 CMLL Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi 4 1/2*
3/9/16 LU Mil Muertes vs Prince Puma vs Pentagon Jr. 4 1/2*

3/11/16 WXW Zack Sabre Jr. vs Big Daddy Walter 4 1/4*
3/12/16 AAA Pentagon Jr. vs Hijo Del Fantasma vs Fenix vs Octagon Jr. 4 1/4*

3/12/16 ROH Kushida vs ACH 4 1/4*

3/12/16 ROH ReDragon vs Strong/Cole 4 1/4*
3/16/16 LU Mil Murtes vs Fenix 4 1/4*

4/1/16 Evolve Ricochet vs TJ Perkins 4 1/4*

4/1/16 Evolve Zack Sabre Jr. vs Will Ospreay 4 1/4*

4/1/16 ROH Matt Sydal vs Kyle O'Reilly 4 1/4*

4/1/16 NXT Sami Zayn vs Nakamura 4 3/4*

4/1/16 NXT Bayley vs Asuka 4 1/4*

4/1/16 NXT Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe 4 1/4*

4/2/16 Evolve Zack Sabre Jr. vs Matt Riddle 4 1/2*

4/2/16 Evolve Ricochet vs Will Ospreay 4 1/2*

4/2/16 Evolve Chris Hero vs Zach Sabre Jr. 4 1/2*

4/2/16 Evolve Johnny Gargano/Ibushi/TJP vs Will Ospreay/Marty Scurll/Tommy End 4 1/2*

4/4/16 WWE AJ Styles/Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens/Cesaro 4 1/4*

4/10/16 NJPW Kushida vs Will Ospreay 4 1/2*

4/17/16 Rev Pro Zack Sabre Jr. vs Mike Elgin 4 1/4*

4/23/16 ROH Lethal vs Strong vs ACH vs O'Reilly vs Moose vs Jay Briscoe 4 1/4*

4/24/16 CMLL Negro Casas vs Rey Hechicero 4 1/4*

4/27/16 LU Rey Misterio/Dragon Azteca jr./Puma vs Fenix/PJ Black/Jack Evans vs SOH/Evealise vs Joey Ryan/Cisco/Cortez 4 1/4*

5/1/16 WWE Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles 4 1/2*

5/3/16 NJPW Kushida vs Jushin Liger 4 1/2*

5/7/16 Evolve Tracy Williams/Drew Gulak vs TJP/Fred Yehi 4 1/2*

5/8/16 Evolve Tracy Williams vs Drew Gulak 4 1/2*

5/21/16 NJPW Kushida vs Kyle O'Reilly 4 1/2*

5/22/16 WWE Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens vs Miz vs Cesaro 4 1/4*

5/22/16 WWE Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles 4 3/4*

5/30/16 Progress Chris Hero vs Big Van Walter 4 1/4*

5/30/16 NJPW Jushin Liger vs Ricochet 4 1/4*

5/31/16 NJPW Kushida vs Gedo 4 1/4*

5/31/16 NJPW Kyle O'Reilly vs Taguchi 4 1/4*

6/7/16 NJPW Will Ospreay vs Taguchi 4 1/2*

6/11/16 ROH TV Kyle O'Reilly vs Kushida 4 1/4*

6/17/16 AAW Zach Sabre Jr. vs Johnny Gargano 4 1/4*

6/18/16 PWX Cedric Alexander vs Zach Sabre Jr 4 1/2*

6/18/16 CWF Mid Atlantic Trevor Lee vs Andrew Everett 4 3/4*

6/19/16 WWE John Cena vs AJ Styles 4 1/4*

6/19/16 Progress Chris Hero vs Marty Scrull 4 1/4*

7/8/16 CMLL Volador Jr. vs Kushida 4 1/4*

7/13/16 NXT Finn Balor vs Nakamura 4 1/2*

7/16/16 Liga Elite La Park vs Rush 4 3/4*

7/16/16 Evolve Cedric Alexander vs Johnny Gargano 4 1/4*

7/16/16 Evolve Roddy Strong vs Matt Riddle 4 3/4*

7/16/16 Evolve Zack Sabre jr. vs Jigsaw 4 1/4*

7/17/16 Beyond Zach Sabre Jr. vs Jonathan Gresham 4 1/2*

7/18/16 NJPW Okada vs Marafuji 4 1/4*

7/20/16 NJPW Kushida vs Ishimori 4 1/2*

7/23/16 ROH TV Jay Lethal vs Kyle O'Reilly 4 1/2*

7/24/16 NJPW Naito vs Michael Elgin 4 1/4*

7/24/16 ACW Hooligans vs Roscoe Eat Lisa vs Unholy Complex vs Masada/Kash 4 1/4*

7/28/16 NXTSA Revolution vs Gargano/Ciampa 4 1/4*

7/30/16 NJPW Shibata vs Naito 4 1/4*

7/31/16 Supre Libre LA Park vs Rush 4 1/2*

7/31/16 Beyond Brian Cage vs Keith Lee 4 1/4*

7/31/16 Beyond Zach Sabre Jr. vs Jonathon Gresham 4 1/2*

8/4/16 NJPW Shibata vs Kenny Omega 4 1/4*

8/5/16 SCI Joey Lynch vs Ray Fury 4 1/4*

8/6/16 SCI Matt Riddle vs Jimmy Rave 4 1/4*

8/6/16 SCI Jimmy Rave/Anthony Henry/Chris Hero/Gunner Miller 4 1/2*

8/6/16 NJPW Okada vs Ishii 4 1/2*

8/11/16 CWC Kota Ibushi vs Cedric Alexander 4 1/2*

8/13/16 NJPW Michel Elgin vs Nakajima 4 1/4*

8/13/16 NJPW Naito vs Kenny Omega 4 3/4*

8/14/16 NJPW Kenny Omega vs Goto 4 1/4*

8/20/16 NXT The Revival vs Johnny Gargano/Tomasso Ciampo 4 1/2*

8/21/16 WWE AJ Styles vs John Cena 4 1/2*

8/21/16 J-Cup Matt Sydal vs Will Ospreay 4 1/4*

8/21/16 J-Cup Kushida vs Kanemura 4 1/2*

8/31/16 CWC Kota Ibushi vs Brian Kendrick 4 1/2*

9/4/16 IWRG Canis Lupus vs Trauma 1 5*

9/8/16 CWF Mid Atlantic Trevor Lee vs John Skyler 4 1/4*

9/9/16 VIP Dallas Zack Sabre Jr vs Sammy Guevara 4 1/4*

9/11/16 WWE Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles 4 1/2*

9/14/16 CWC TJP vs Kota Ibushi 4 1/2*

9/14/16 CWC TJP vs Gran Metalik 4 1/4*

9/17/16 PWX Matt Riddle vs Anthony Henry 4 1/4*

9/25/16 Inspire Pro Ray Rowe vs Sammy Guevara 4 1/2*

10/7/16 Pentagon Jr. vs Sammi Callihan SF 4 1/4*

10/8/16 AAW Chris Hero vs Zach Sabre Jr 4 1/2*

10/9/16 WWE Miz vs Dolph Ziggler 4 1/2*

10/9/16 WWE Styles/Cena/Ambrose 4 1/4*

10/10/16 NJPW Shibata vs Kyle O'Reilly 4 1/4*

10/16/16 Wrestle Circus Donovan Dijak vs Keith Lee 4 1/4*

10/16/16 Evolve Chris Hero vs Matt Riddle 4 1/4*

10/30/16 WWE Charlotte vs Sasha Banks HIAC 4 1/4*

11/5/16 NJPW Bushi vs Kushida 4 1/4*

11/10/16 Rev Pro Zach Sabre Jr. vs Shibata 4 1/2*

11/18/16 ROH Bobby Fish vs Will Ospreay 4 1/4*

11/19/16 NXT Revival vs DIY 4 1/2*

11/20/16 PWX Zach Sabre Jr. vs Anthony Henry 4 1/4*

11/26/16 AAW Chris Hero vs Sami Calliahan 4 1/4*

12/4/16 WWE AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose TLC 4 1/4*

12/7/16 CWF Trevor Lee vs Otto Scwanz 4 1/4*

12/12/16 Beyond Johnathon Gresham vs Ricochet 4 1/4*

12/17/16 Wrestle Circus Chris Hero vs ACH 4 1/4*

12/18/16 WWE Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Flair Iron Man Match 4 1/4*

12/29/16 Beyond Chris Hero vs Keith Lee 4 1/4*

[shoe]

Nakamura vs Styles

I thought this was really well worked. I liked the early pacing. AJ playing opossum with the back was gold. AJ working the leg has tons of drama. The spot where AJ was caught in a triangle and delivered a 1 arm Styles Clash was epic. I loved all of Nak's back work . Wish he would have made it more of a priority down the stretch.With that said I got really caught up in the excitement of the finishing run. 4 1/2*

[shoe]

1/16/16 REV Pro AJ Styles vs Zack Sabre Jr. 4 1/4*

This is something of a dream match. Both guys had great 2015's. I loved the grappling on the mat early. Neither one of them being able to get the advantage. The counter wrestling was really well done in this. At one point AJ goes for a leap frog and Zach ankle picks him in mid air. Pretty much that was the feeling out process of the match and it was fun. Then though AJ gets a neat looking Calf Killer on. Sabre Jr escapes, but AJ stays on the leg for a bit. Till Sabre Jr. transitions to the arm. In a nice spot, Zach's leg crumbles when he stomps on AJ's arm. Zach goes for a double knee to the arm, but misses and dings his knees on the mat. This leads to the Calf Killer. Then we get this sick counter exchange between Calf Killer and Armbar 2 or 3 times. Sabre Jr. on the finishing run kind of shit cans the Calf Killer work done to him. Zach catches AJ in a Triangle that AJ counters into a 1 arm Styles Clash. Follows up with a Bloody Sunday and goes for the Styles Clash. One of the stories of the match has been counter wrestling. So Zach catches him in some form of Triangle into a double arm bar/leg lock contraption for the tap out. The finishing run was so exciting. 4 1/2*

[cactus]

I was in attendance for that match and it was great, although I couldn't see much of what was happening on the mat and I thought the finish was rather abrupt. You should check out the Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll match from the same show. One of the best matches I've seen live and I preferred it to ZSJ vs Styles.

[shoe]

I'm going to be watching the whole card tonight .

[shoe]

1/16/16 REV Pro Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll 4 1/2*

 

I liked this. I don't think from a psychology stand point this was as good as the main event. With that said this match was loaded with big time moves. The crowd was going nuts. I felt some of the kick outs were overkill. An example Scurll delivers a tope into a spinning DDT and plants Will on the floor. Brings him in and puts him in his finisher. He ends up escaping, to me that is over kill. They could have milked the drama on some of Scurll's submissions. They were too focused on getting to the next section.

 

I liked the one upmanship early. I thought the counters were really good. Their personalities shined early on. I thought it was smart to keep the limb work to a minimum. This allowed Ospreay to get all his shit in without the consequences of blowing off selling. Scurll did work the arm for a bit, and it was well done. It just wasn't the narrative of the match. Then towards the last part of the match got nasty. with knees, digit manipulations, headbutts, and nasty elbow strikes. The finishing run was pretty damn good. I can see people just eating this match up live because of all of the excess that hurt the match some for me. This was a great highspot match with tons of drama.

[Childs]

I watched the main event and will watch the Ospreay match. Anything else I should catch from the show? I generally can't bring myself to sit through three hours of RevPro.

[shoe]

I liked the Lethal match, but it's not necessary to watch.

[Dylan Waco]

Have you watched any of the AWE footage from the show I attended (handheld and Raw footage, not best, but not terrible by standards of those things)? Would also be curious if you caught main event of this weeks CWF Mid-Atlantic show, Kalisto v. ADR from SD last week, or the main event fro this weeks NWA Smoky Mountain?

[shoe]

I haven't yet, but will watch them today.

[shoe]

1/20/16 aired CWF Mid-Atlantic Cedric Alexander & Mason Maddox vs. Smith Garrett & Chet Sterling 4 1/4*

 

This just a really good old school southern tag. Everything they did was spot on. This had the best psychology of everything I've seen. We start out with a really good babyface shine. The partner with the least experience is the one shining up the babyfaces. That makes perfect sense. On the outside Alexander delivers a nasty elbow. This sets up the heat. Alexander was great in the heat. Sterling as FIP was tremendous. Totally understood how to die and comeback. Cedric's crispness on offense made his selling mean so much more. A really high end Southern tag that will always resonate with me.

[shoe]

1/21/16 aired NWA Smokey Mountain Toby Farley vs. Tristen Ramsey 4 1/4*

This was a really exciting hard hitting match. Here they used the hard hitting and sick headbutts to build the drama and the escalation of hatred. When Ramsey went to the top rope it took me out of the brawl they were having.Where I thought Ishii and Shibata had flaws in the structure of the match. These guys didn't have that issue except for the one mistake of going to the top.

[shoe]

Have you watched any of the AWE footage from the show I attended (handheld and Raw footage, not best, but not terrible by standards of those things)? Would also be curious if you caught main event of this weeks CWF Mid-Atlantic show, Kalisto v. ADR from SD last week, or the main event fro this weeks NWA Smoky Mountain?

Need to look at the AWE footage. I liked ADR/Kalisto but not enough for a MOTYC.

[Dylan Waco]

Fancam of Chip Day v Ciampa. Keep in mind that it was shot from the "heel" fan side of ring (yes AWE has a rudo fan section, and while I know some might hate it, I thought it added a ton to this match and Rave v Gargano).

 

[shoe]

I'll check it out late tonight.

[AstroBoy]

Trying to check out new things this year so I watched that Maddox/Alexander vs. Garrett/Sterling tag and loved it. Everything about Alexander screams superstar, I think he'd be a great fit in NXT. Maddox looked to have tons of potential and he and Cedric told a really fun story through the match with all kinds of neat little character work. Was also really impressed with Sterling's exhausted selling after making the hot tag. Definitely gonna keep my eye on this promotion this year.

[shoe]

​1/24/16 Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi 4 1/2*

 

This was an incredible feud in 2015. They hit a homerun in 2016. This started with a real fun angle the previous night. Both guys come across as big deals. This was a real fast paced bout. Dragon Lee with a tope early on . He would ding his knee. This was a big moment because Kamaitachi would work over the leg. His Dragon Screw was particularly nasty. Dragon Lee sold the leg throughout. He would still hit his big moves, but still sold the leg after a big move which I thought was fair based on the leg work. Their was some nice call backs. The double stomp off the top and the cross up of it later was great. I also dug how Kamaitachi went back to the leg later in the match. The finish was pretty great too.

[shoe]

1/23/16 NJPW/CMLL Volador jr/Mistico/Tanahashi vs Ultimo Guerrero/Memphisto/Okada 4 1/4*

 

This was pretty fun. They did a great jobbing of incorporating comedy, crowd interaction, and then balls to the wall action. With Guerrero and Memphisto being the 2 best bases on tour so we got some incredible dives.We see thee heels get the advantage early. We get a Kaientai pose that Mistico breaks up with a great rana. Then it is all action with everyone joining in on the action. Mistico in particular looked incredible.Ultimo Guerrero shined as well. Tanahashi worked really hard here.

[Luchaundead]

Fancam of Chip Day v Ciampa. Keep in mind that it was shot from the "heel" fan side of ring (yes AWE has a rudo fan section, and while I know some might hate it, I thought it added a ton to this match and Rave v Gargano).

 

 

I've watched this match 3 or 4 times now due to the fact that I like both these guys and actually respect the opinion of people I have heard say it was good and I just can't get it, what am I missing this match seems like any basic house show match and I hear low end MOTYC praise being heaped upon it.

[Edwin]

Just watched AJ vs. Nakamura and it was very, very good. I liked Styles faking he re-injured his back and attacking Nakamura from behind, plus I like how they constantly built on Nakamura going after Styles' previous back injury. Glad this wasn't such an over the top trading finisher/bomb fest as it seems to be the normal thing in a lot of big singles matches from Japan. Other things I really dug were Nakamura's Bomaye's. Also AJ's running knee spot and springboard elbow are neat spots he usually pulls off. Flashy, yet effective and he really gets them in. Nakamura transitioning from the armbar to the triangle armbar and AJ countering with a single-leg Styles Clash was a clever reversal which I'm sure I've seen him pull off in others matches I'm forgetting. The throwback to the Nakamura/Takayama Tokyo Dome match from 10-11 years ago where Nakamura bum rushes into a vicious knee to the jaw was awesome. That's a spot that I've seen Nakamura take several times since then in big Tokyo Dome matches and he really just dives into his opponents knee and it looks brutal.

 

The only flaws I can bring up against this is why is AJ going for Torture Rack Bombs after he came back from a back injury which Nakamura had also attacked previously and the striking exchange one-upmanship that is be expected as it's a concurring trend there, however they were really leading those elbows in, specially Styles who you could really hear his elbows landing on Nakamura's jaw.

 

Other than that, this was excellent overall and my current MOTY.

[Dylan Waco]

 

Fancam of Chip Day v Ciampa. Keep in mind that it was shot from the "heel" fan side of ring (yes AWE has a rudo fan section, and while I know some might hate it, I thought it added a ton to this match and Rave v Gargano).

 

 

I've watched this match 3 or 4 times now due to the fact that I like both these guys and actually respect the opinion of people I have heard say it was good and I just can't get it, what am I missing this match seems like any basic house show match and I hear low end MOTYC praise being heaped upon it.

 

 

I can't be fully objective, because I was there and that effects the way I look at it, but I loved it live and on tape. That said a big part of what makes the match special to me is understanding the crowd dynamic where you effectively have a rudo cheering section (the side where it was taped) and a section that cheers for the "AWE heroes" at every show. Ciampa had to kind of change his approach early on because of that, and I think that explains the decision to turn up the heat both on the rudo fans, and with the big crowd popping spots on the floor. It's very rare for a match that is very much a modern indie match to feel as authentically energetic and snug as this came across to me. I thought it escalated very well, and really liked Chip's flurries and troll spots throughout. I also loved the finish, as Ciampa had worked on the arm early, and went back to it to finish the job.

 

I love "basic house show matches" and would be more inclined to rate them higher than the average person. That said, I find that to be a really odd thing to say about this match. Almost nothing about the match comes across that way to me on tape, let alone in person.

[Luchaundead]

That may come across more dismissive than intended basic house show match isn't a bad thing to me just not something I would praise so highly they had a fine match and they gave the crowd what they paid for which is their job as wrestlers. Part of what makes it house-showesque to me is Ciampa's UK scene tribute act that he has picked up since becoming a progress regular which he only uses in America on less visable shows. The match had gaga that I reiterate was fun and entertaining for the crowd but does nothing for me on tape. Fine match but I've seen better from both guys.

[Childs]

Finally caught Ospreay-Scurll and liked it a good bit. Ospreay did a bunch of spectacular stuff but the match was also well-paced with a genuine face-heel dynamic. The finishing stretch went a beat or two longer than I would've liked. But on the scale of big indy showcases, it wasn't wildly excessive.

[shoe]

1/1/16 CMLL Kamaitachi vs Maximo Hair vs Hair 4 1/2*

Man this was really good. The 1st fall was all Kamaitachi. He starts with a low level drop kick. Then begins working the leg.Loving Kamaitachi playing with his hair to get over the stip. Maximo gets in a chop to try to get some seperation from the leg work. It would be for not. An awesome Dragon Screw followed by a Figure Four for the 1st fall.

The 2nd caida and Kamaitachi is right back on the leg. His limb work has been really good here. On top of that Maximo's selling has been great. Maximo's steals the fall with a 1/2 crab.

The 3rd caida and we see Kamaitachi go back to work on the leg. Maximo is putting over the leg work. Big back Senton to the floor by Kamaitachi. Again he's focusing the attack on the leg. Maximo gets a great flash pin. We see Maximo hit 3 dives, but they are staggered apart because he was selling the leg. Maximo hits a rana off the top. Maximo is making it look like it's taking very ounce of strength to move. We get a run of nearfalls. Kamaitachi teases that he was fouled. Then rolls him up for a super heated near fall. Maximo returns the favor, then we get the deciding fall. 4 1/2*

[conker8]

The two japanese fans add a lot of emotion in this match.