Shoe's ongoing MOTYC for 2016

[shoe]

I rewatched it and still like it a lot.

[shoe]

I know that I've watched more than one Parka II match in my life, but really it only ever seems like the ParK-Parka showdown from TripleMania. which is an awesome match during ParK's glory tour. God, what if there had been a Glory Tour ParK-Retirement Tour Togo match? Holy shit.

 

I'm beating the drum for Kodaka-Takeshita, have you watched it?

Okay I watched it and it was a really strong match. I'd say 4*. It was juat a hair below MOTYC. If the finish was a tap out I think I'd go 4 1/4*. It didn't so it just misses the list. I really enjoyed the arm work.

[shoe]

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

 

This was pretty good match. I liked the babyface dynamic from both guys early. We got both of them bringing some Flash to the bout. Eventually it settles down. This is when ACH focuses on the back. While Kushida had some really nifty arm work. I liked the stiff kicks to the arm. I particularly liked Kushida using the ropes to snap the arm. Some other aspects I loved was Kushida kept going for the Hover Lock to finally manipulate ACH into one. Kushida's top rope rana into a cross arm breaker had me come out of my seat. The match had some flaws. For example I felt the match went too long. This then have the wrestlers do some stuff that took away from the match. Still these guys really brought it, and having a hot crowd helped it.

[shoe]

3/12/16 ROH ReDragon vs Strong/Cole 4 1/4*

 

Man I liked this tag. We get a shine early with ReDragon looking great. The shine was all action with tons of hot moves. Though at the core the arm was the focus. I was marking out for the Memphis pumphandle spot. Both Fish and O'Reilly do stereo dives. Strong posts O'Reilly on the outside to set up the heat. Man the heels brought the heat. They really work over O'Reiily. I also like the missteps the heels would make from not teaming usually. This allowed hope spots and an eventual come back. I liked how the finish was set up. So we got a Southern tag, then it morphed into a fun filled finishing run.

[Luchaundead]

Any chance Dalton Castle w/ boys vs ANX promo get's the full Shoe MOTYC treatment?

[shoe]

I loved it, but no.

[donsem43]

If your interested, the best two joshi matches this year have been the 2/21 Mayu Iwatani vs. Evie and 3/11 Meiko Satomura vs. Syuri

[shoe]

I went to Mania weekend and there was a lot of incredible wrestling. I feel it blew away last year for number of great matches. I'm going to go back and watch them on tv and see what is what.

[shoe]

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

 

We get some flash early. TJP focuses on Ricochet's leg. I marked out big on the misdirection of the ref by TJP to stomp Ricochet in the balls. I thought Ricochet sold the leg really good when h was on defense. Though if it was his time on offense he would drop the sell for a bit.I loved. I really dug the story of TJP trying different ways to get back to the leg. I absolutely marked out for the finish.

[shoe]

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

 

At this point these guys have a match since they've worked each other so much. We start out with a WOS style early on. Both men are great at playing to the crowd. They lay the match out to emphasize both wrestlers strengths. We see Sabre Jr. control the match but gives Will plenty of openings to wow the crowd. The triangle spot was incredible, and the subsequent counters off it was great. Because they've worked each other so often they could mix things up. The finish here was awesome. On top of it all the crowd is losing their shit.

[Dylan Waco]

Really interested to see what you rank from the Mercury Rising show. You know I'm not a stars guy, but there were 6 matches on that show I would probably have had at 3.5 stars are better, and three matches that felt like legit MOTYCs (for totally different reasons) from my front row seat.

[shoe]

Really interested to see what you rank from the Mercury Rising show. You know I'm not a stars guy, but there were 6 matches on that show I would probably have had at 3.5 stars are better, and three matches that felt like legit MOTYCs (for totally different reasons) from my front row seat.

I'll be researching that show today . Since my GA tickets didn't give me a front row birds eye view. Lol. I liked Evolve 58 a lot with the main event only thing missing the mark for me.

[Luchaundead]

Happy to see you're high on TJP v Ricochet that match was great I also thought Yehi v Scurll was really good but seems to be getting way over shadowed by the weekend

[AstroBoy]

I thought Ricochet/TJP was a lot of fun but I was much lower on Ricochet's leg selling than others.

 

I also was higher on Sabre/Ospreay as a really spot-on showcase match for both guys.

[shoe]

I thought Ricochet/TJP was a lot of fun but I was much lower on Ricochet's leg selling than others.

 

I also was higher on Sabre/Ospreay as a really spot-on showcase match for both guys.

Sabre/Ospreay has worked a lot against one another . They seem to have a match , and then add some wrinkles with one another given the amount of time. So working together they'll be spitting out 3 3/4 - 4 1/2 * matches because what they do is really good.

[shoe]

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

 

This was incredible. This had it all. Great character work from both, hot moves, great high spots, hard hitting action, and incredible drama. I liked how each mocked each other early. Zayn using the arm drag as a weapon was neat. Both guys threw nasty strikes. On twitter people were thinking the forearm exchange was a shoot. The cross up of big moves added to the story. An example of this was Zayn's diving DDT between the corner ropes and Nak just kicked him in the mush. The strike exchange felt organic. Zayn's dive to the outside was beautiful. The flying armbar into the triangle was nuts. Zayn's answer? Kick him in the fucking head. Zayn's Kojima Clutch was a great piece of drama. A really great match.

[shoe]

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

 

This was real back and forth taking it to each other. I thought the submissions were well done. Bayley was all over the leg. Asuka's struggle was fantastic. Plus she sold it real well. The nearfalls down the stretch were fantastic. Their was great drama with Bayley passing out to Asuka's submission. Props to Asuka selling the leg post match.

[shoe]

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

 

Another killer match from this show. The blood really added a lot to it. I liked Joe pushing the ref away. After a while it took away from the match and it took away from the match. I thought Balor was tremendous working the cut. This had a real smash mouth feel to it. The drama here was so off the charts. Again the finish was tremendous. Joe as the monster is back in a big way.

[shoe]

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

 

These guys got 30 minutes and tore it up. Sabre Jr. uses his speed early. Hero uses his size and striking skills to keep Sabre Jr. down. The story of the match was when Zach used his technical skills he was in control. When he decided to get in a striking battle with Hero, Hero owned him. A really neat spot was Hero using a standing senton and Zach captures him in a triangle. When Hero would nail Zach with a strike Zach's selling of the blow was on point. Towards the end of the match Hero really targets the neck. We see a short piledriver, then a Saito Suplex. Two more roaring elbows to the back of the neck ends Sabre Jr. I thought this played even better live.

[Loss]

I did like Hero-Sabre, but I didn't get into it as much as others seem to have. It didn't feel competitive enough to me to truly be a MOTYC. At least I thought that until I realized that Hero was actually very giving, but he didn't really treat Sabre like someone at his level, just because he spent so much time jaw jacking with fans while working the match. I think in a way that was the whole point -- that Hero was overconfident and Sabre was an underdog -- but I usually like more parity in a MOTYC. I don't know. Evolve is brand new to me, so I might see it differently after watching more stuff. As of now, I'd go about ***3/4.

[JerryvonKramer]

That's a monster rating for Zayn vs Nakamura.

[shoe]

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

 

Holy crap this was awesome. This match was a great melting pot match. We get the early shine for Team Evolve. Team Britain cuts them off and work over Gargano. Gargano has really developed since working with NXT. We get a hot tag to Ibushi and the match eventually turns on its head into this incredible high spot fest spectacle. So many great moments in this. Highlighted by Ibushi and Ospreay doing double moonsaults from the loft of a barn. Just an incredible MP feel to it down the stretch.

[Cap]

That is the same rating I have on Nak vs Zayn. I rewatched it and loved it just as much as the first time. I thought it was special, so much I loved about it.

[Eegah]

I couldnt get behind that Ricochet Perkins match as much. It may be my pre-disposal of the little things Ricochet brings in the ring. Hes incredibly athletic and has gotten more and more smooth in the ring but his lack of selling and grips on psychology bug me. I thought Perkins was terrific in the match though and he got me into the match more than I expected.

[shoe]

That's a monster rating for Zayn vs Nakamura.

I think part of it is context. I'm more familiar with both guys than you. So I picked up on some of the nuances that you might have missed. Also again because of familiarity some of the nuances hit me.