Shoe's ongoing MOTYC for 2016

[shoe]

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

 

I loved this match, and it's the type of wrestling that really resonates with me. The crowd is pretty hot for this. They have the built in story of Kushida the Ace versus the all time legend of the division Liger. Kushida is after the arm which plays into his finisher. Liger is after the leg. Both guys are really selling here. That is where the drama is. They are making me care. Loved Kushida's counter to Liger's Kimura. Again the drama is set up by the selling and storytelling. Liger has compromised Kushida's leg and arm. The drama of Kushida escaping Liger's leg lock was off the charts. On top of all of this we build to a logical finish.

[shoe]

2/25/16 PWX Chris Hero vs Cedric Alexander 4 1/4*

 

Another Hero match. Dudes having a great year and Cedric has had a good one as well. These guys work the mat early. Hero escalates with the strikes. Cedric goes to that well too. I loved Cedric's dive because it came across like he was trying to hurt Hero. Alexander is a great babyface here. I thought the nearfalls escalated and the drama really built to a hot finish.

[WingedEagle]

Shoe, glad to see the love for Liger/Kushida. How amazing is it he's pulling that off in 2016?? Just an unbelievable match.

[Dylan Waco]

Gotta bump Kushida v Liger to the top of the pile.

 

Really hope Chip Day v Sami Callihan from AWE shows up on Smart Mark sooner than later. If you know the story I think it's a contender.

[concrete1992]

Gotta bump Kushida v Liger to the top of the pile.

 

Really hope Chip Day v Sami Callihan from AWE shows up on Smart Mark sooner than later. If you know the story I think it's a contender.

As someone not as invested in whatever story there is, I thought it was a contender.

[AstroBoy]

I thought KUSHIDA vs. Liger was a real strong match but I kind of struggled with KUSHIDA's selling of the leg in it. I have a hard time watching him running around doing handsprings and then just grabbing his knee while sitting on the mat. Not having a go at peoples' opinions, just thinking maybe I had a different read on some of it than others who are praising it so highly.

[shoe]

I thought KUSHIDA vs. Liger was a real strong match but I kind of struggled with KUSHIDA's selling of the leg in it. I have a hard time watching him running around doing handsprings and then just grabbing his knee while sitting on the mat. Not having a go at peoples' opinions, just thinking maybe I had a different read on some of it than others who are praising it so highly.

I can buy into that argument. Like when he wrestled Omega I thought Kushida's selling hurt the match. Here I didn't think that at all because Liger went after the leg and the arm. So to me because Liger had a 2 pronged attack I thought Kushida was on point in his selling. Plus they kept it on the mat for the majority of the match that everything registered for me. I really didn't see much springboards. On a side note I didn't feel you were having a go. Judging matches is subjective.

[AstroBoy]

The specific spot in question I was referring to was the springboard back elbow (I think it was a back elbow) after KUSHIDA initially hurt the knee. Like I said, kind of a minor nitpick and I actually did dig the the double limb attack by Liger. Just personally, the vibe I got from the opening of the match was that the current top dog hurt his knee, thus giving Liger a legit shot to capitalize and possibly win the title. The fact that I personally read that spot that particular way just led me to view the selling afterward in a bit of a different light. Also agree that wrestling is subjective, love seeing different points of view on stuff.

[Luchaundead]

I saw it very similar to Pete actually Liger opening focus was the leg and he switched to the arm mid match almost to the point that I forgot the leg work until he get a dragon screw and started back on the leg so for me I was actually so caught up in the match that I couldn't even see that nit to pick.

[shoe]

I thought it was early enough that the spot didn't take me out of the story.

[shoe]

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

 

This was just uploaded to their streaming service. This match was incredible. I thought we might have a styles clash here. I was wrong. These guys had great chemistry together. We get some really good mat work to start. It starts with Sabre jr. going after the arm. We see some great arm work for a bit. When Elgin gets a chance to work on top his focus is the neck and back. ZSJ cuts him off and is back on the arm. Elgin returns the favor and now goes after ZSJ arm in revenge spots.His arm work is more physical than precise. He wants to destroy ZSJ arm for 2 reasons. One is so he can't hurt him as much, secondly so ZSJ can feel the pain he feels. Both guys do a good in selling the arm. Which really amps up the drama.The back and forth action was tremendous. The one major issue in the match was the NJPW strike exchange which did nothing to help the story of the match.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Have you seen Hero/Sabre Jr & Tracy Williams/Drew Gulak from EVOLVE 60 & 61 yet? Would love to hear your thoughts on those matches!

[shoe]

I have seen Hero vs Sabre jr. I liked the match and gave it 4*. It felt a little bloated and some of the transitions didn't seem natural. Still a really good match that wasn't as good as the Dallas one.

[shoe]

5/8/15 Evolve Tracy Williams vs Drew Gulak 4 1/2*

 

I really enjoyed this match. The crowd was hot for the whole thing. Both guys were on point. The mat work was incredible. That Dragon sleeper I didn't even see coming. I jumped out of my seat.

[shoe]

5/7/15 Evolve Tracy Williams/Drew Gulak vs TJP/Fred Yehi 4 1/2*

 

Damn this was just a hot all action tag. They worked a southern tag within the catch point style. All four guys brought it. I was buying into all the near falls and submissions. Good, good stuff.

[shoe]

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

 

This was great. The mat work was suburb with a real struggle and consequences. The finishes I thought were all credible.

[ElHijodeGorgeousGeorge]

5/8/15 Evolve Tracy Williams vs Drew Gulak 4 1/2*

 

I really enjoyed this match. The crowd was hot for the whole thing. Both guys were on point. The mat work was incredible. That Dragon sleeper I didn't even see coming. I jumped out of my seat.

Couldn't have said it better and I actually had this thing at 4 myself but I totally get giving it a smidgen more. Just great work on the mat and high drama where it needed to be.

[shoe]

5/21/15 NJPW Kushida vs Kyle O'Reilly 4 1/2*

 

I really liked this. I loved how they incorporated the grappling with athleticism with some fun spots mixed in. The bread and butter of the match was Kushida focusing on the arm to try to lock on the Hover Board Lock. Kyle worked the leg. So this was right up my alley. O'Reilly was incredible here. It seemed when Kushida was about to go off the reservation , O'Reilly cut him off and did more damage to the leg. I liked how Kushida's selling got bigger and bigger as the match progressed. I think Kushida has been having a great year and a guy I could see as my wrestler of the year when it comes to workrate. I've been a fan of O'Reilly for the last few years. I actually wished NJPW had pushed O'Reilly in the Styles spot over Omega.

[shoe]

5/22/15 WWE Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens vs Miz vs Cesaro 4 1/4*

 

This is for the IC title. This was hot action, big moves, and great drama. All the little angles with the wrestlers helped with the match by marinating the stories. The Zayn/Owens dynamic right off the bat and bam we're off and running. Miz was great in his role as attempting to steal the the win. Eventually he did and it added a lot to the match. All 4 guys looked on point in this match. The action was great, but it was the story and drama that put it over for me.

[shoe]

5/22/15 WWE Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles 4 3/4*

 

 

Man what a way to end this feud. To be honest I still want more. This had so many great things. This had just stiff work. Incredible spots. Some holy shit bumps. The brawling in the crowd seemed personal. Even the use of the chair was so well done.The chair was used and had impact, but didn't numb you to it. The story telling was great. When Reigns hurt his leg you though if Styles capitalized on it he could pull off a victory. The work really sucked you into the drama. I wish Styles would have worked the leg though. Great stuff.

[shoe]

5/30/15 Jushin Liger vs Ricochet 4 1/4*

 

Man I'm not sure if Ricochet had something to prove that he's more than a flippy guy. Well he showed that here in spades. I loved this match. Ricochet was after Liger's neck. We'd get that for a few minutes and then we'd get a Liger comeback only to get cut off. Rinse and repeat that a few times. Liger's comebacks work so well because he has so many over moves from palm strikes, to koppo kicks, brain busters, or rolling sentons. So his comebacks have more equity to them. Then we move into the finishing stretch. We get a lot of near falls mixed into the drama of Liger making the ropes while Ricochet had him hooked into is grounded octopus. Finally after a few of those Liger had to finally tap out. Ricochet's offense was on point after Liger's neck, and Liger was so good at aelling it. The highspots were the window dressing. The story was neck work and the drama that it caused. Both guys were great here.

[shoe]

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

 

Manischewitz was this great. Gedo with a cheapshot right off the bat. Kushida makes him pay with some nasty arm work. I marked big for Kushida's switching arm bar. Gedo's selling of the arm is so great. I love the Gedo and Jay White interactions too. Gedo works the back with the exposed buckle. Gedo follows that up with a cross face with all his weight on Kushida's back. Kushida delivers a payback spot with the exposed buckle. Kushida back to the arm and they go into a pretty great finishing run. 4 1/4*

[shoe]

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

 

It's a battle for match of the night folks. We get some early grappling. O'Reilly on the arm and that is going to be his narrative for the match. Taguchi is using his butt offense mixed in with some good leg work. I liked the touch of O'Reilly shaking the leg out. O'Reilly's arm work was really nifty. Late in the match O'Reilly nails Taguchi with one of the nastiest knees I've seen. Then we move along to the finish which I was in awe of. The limb work in this was well done. The match was also able to make me smile to boot. Their is a natural aversion to Taguchi, but he's bringing it in the BOTSJ.

[shoe]

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

 

The finals in the BOTSJ and this goes down as one of the classic finals.This was super heated. I enjoyed the early comedy bits, especially Ospreay's revenge comedy spot. I liked how Will targeted the neck early on . Will's leg buckles and Taguchi just starts destroying the leg. I loved Ospreay's leg selling throughout. Will using one legged offense was neat like the one legged phenomenal forearm. I thought Taguchi was so great at cutting off Will's comebacks. I will admit Will doing the Sasuke Special pissed me off since he shit canned the leg work. Corino on commentary mentions how a guy with a bad leg could pull that off. Still it didn't kill the match for me. I thought the finishing run was so full of drama and great moments. Just great stuff.

[shoe]

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

 

I loved this match. It's a style that is hard to do in this enviroment of wrestling. That is the big hoss fight. You have 2 guys in the 6 ft 4 range and close to 300 pds just kicking the crap out of each other. Walter with his variations of suplexes is pretty sweet. This is a match that helps both guys.