Shoe's ongoing MOTYC for 2016

[Dylan Waco]

I don't get the acclaim for Trevor Lee at all.

What's your criticism of him?

[Luchaundead]

I don't get the acclaim for Trevor Lee at all.

His ability to work match to match building on his character really stands out in modern wrestling world his rise in PWG is an example of this as he came in unknown and by slowly fighting and winning bigger and bigger matches with a small package he started to get to the point he was the most over face in the company leading to his title match with Roddy, then he showed an intelligence and wisdom beyond his years and he started to hint at a heel turn as the crowd started lose their fervor for him, but it wasn't just "Hey I'm a bad guy now" he slowly started to use more heelish tactics and even found a way to switch his music (something fans at home don't get to see) from upbeat dance music to born in the USA in a way that felt organic as he did it in a match with ZSJ who is from the UK and then just stuck with it as the crowd was having a Pavlovian response to his original song and would always pop for it now he comes out to a chorus of boos. This may seem small but that kind of move that is calculated but comes across as something that just happened is what the acclaim is for Trevor Lee he just gets the important stuff about wrestling that is dying the part that's about working the marks so they do what you want and they react the way you want them to not the other way around.

 

Meanwhile in CWF where Trevor had already built him self up past the level he was in PWG he was honing his craft as the face/ace of a company being the guy that can carry a long main event that after it's over you feel like you just saw a match that mattered as the cherry on top of a soild show. Keep in mind he's a "spot guy" in TNA as well with the X-division champion and I think you start to see the picture forming of why people are comparing him to Bryan Danielson as he is a well rounded working pulling off every possible spot on cares all over the country and world. Then you have him as a plucky upper mid card act in Evolve showing that he can keep up with Catch Point or guys like Fox & Swann. That's just the big stuff he also always has solid good to great performances in wXw, AIW, AAW, Beyond, CZW, FIP, Smash, Omega (had another great championship run), FIP and others that I haven't even seen.

[Childs]

 

I don't get the acclaim for Trevor Lee at all.

What's your criticism of him?

It's not that, really. It's more that he hasn't sparked for me and I'm curious what I'm missing. I should add that I haven't watched the match Shoe reviewed here, which I'll do at some point.

[Dylan Waco]

 

 

I don't get the acclaim for Trevor Lee at all.

What's your criticism of him?

It's not that, really. It's more that he hasn't sparked for me and I'm curious what I'm missing. I should add that I haven't watched the match Shoe reviewed here, which I'll do at some point.

To me the CWF stuff is the key piece of the puzzle

[shoe]

He seems like a complete worker in the CWF. He's had good moments in PWG, but to me their are a lot of times that style brings out the worst in Lee. While CWF style plays more to his strengths.

[shoe]

Childs honestly Lee never sparked for me in PWG and Evolve. It took CWF for him to wow me . It's rather funny since Evolve and PWG style is the more flashy.

[fxnj]

Everyone should watch Lee/Everett. I can't comment on the Danielson comparison since that was my first time seeing either guy, but I think 90's AJPW is a better comparison for that particular match since you had the guys doing tribute spots anc the commentators comparing the pairing to Misawa/Kawada. I gave it ***** when I reviewed it in the match archive as I saw it as two guys who not only loved the style but had a great understanding of it and copied all the right things while giving their own unique spin to it.

[shoe]

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

 

Holy crap the future of wrestling was here. In the old days people would say that match was fake, but your match was real. Here it was. They took great elements of MMA and meshed them with great elements of wrestling. This was so goo. It was hard hitting, had great storytelling. Riddle's charisma is off the charts. The drama down the stretch was about as good as you could ask for. So many great little things. An example of this was Strong taking off his knee pad to wreck more damage. The match had layers of build. A real sense of trying to win, not wow the crowd. This really was a master piece.

[shoe]

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

 

What a way to open the show. It had a lot of energy to it. It had a real athleticism to the match. Where both guys were putting their best foot forward. I would have liked more defined heat and shine segments . Also the finish we got could have been teased to a little better. Still we got good mat work, strong strikes, and dives that looked impactful. This was a great Cruiserweight style match.

[shoe]

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

 

Another killer match from this show. I loved the escalation and desperation in this. Early on we get a fun WOS vibe match. Though it escalated into Zach getting more and more viciousness . He did a great job of working over Jigsaw's neck. Jigsaw tried to change the pace and went to the air. Which shows his original game needed to be changed. Really good stuff from both guys.

[Luchaundead]

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

 

Holy crap the future of wrestling was here. In the old days people would say that match was fake, but your match was real. Here it was. They took great elements of MMA and meshed them with great elements of wrestling. This was so goo. It was hard hitting, had great storytelling. Riddle's charisma is off the charts. The drama down the stretch was about as good as you could ask for. So many great little things. An example of this was Strong taking off his knee pad to wreck more damage. The match had layers of build. A real sense of trying to win, not wow the crowd. This really was a master piece.

 

 

This match got me even more excited for KOR v Riddle I know Roddy is great but KOR is an even more perfect fit. This is easily MOTYC

[shoe]

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

 

This is the main event of night 1 of the G1. The crux of the match was Marafuji ruined Okada's arm. Okada is such a formumatic/game plan worker didn't understand how to deviate from it. So he'd use the limb and do more damage to it. This was big because the Rain Maker shouldn't be effective. Marafuji was on point here. Okada could have worked a smarter match, but I buy that he didn't deviate from his plan.

[Wahoos Leg]

 

 

 

I don't get the acclaim for Trevor Lee at all.

What's your criticism of him?

It's not that, really. It's more that he hasn't sparked for me and I'm curious what I'm missing. I should add that I haven't watched the match Shoe reviewed here, which I'll do at some point.

To me the CWF stuff is the key piece of the puzzle

 

 

I've just dipped a toe into the CWF back catalog, but I've really enjoyed his recent work in AAW, especially his title match with Kingston from back in January

[soup23]

Lee in AAW is my favorite promotion which he is in besides CWF. He merges features of his PWG and CWF style together there.

[Childs]

I liked the Hero match from AAW though it struck me more as Hero looking great against a game young wrestler than as a battle between two great wrestlers. But Lee brought plenty to the table in that one.

[Luchaundead]

He was phenomenal in the 4-way on Killers Among Us a match I believe Dylan and I agreed on as most likely spotfest of the year

[shoe]

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

 

This was a really good match. Sabre Jr working heel towards the end really added a layer to the match.Sabre Jr was awesome at destroying the arm. Gargano getting hope spots . Gargano's selling is top notch and really made the match. He's really improved his selling. Maybe his time in NXT put the light bulb on. My one complaint was Gargano's shine could have been more solid. Overall strong stuff and Gargano has improved so much this year. His rep seems to match his skills set now.

[shoe]

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

 

Kushida has been on fire this year. His output has been incredible, and in actuality has slid into Nak's spot as workrate guru on the card. NJPW could turn him into a big draw if they play their cards right.

 

We get some grappling early and it sucked me right in. Kushida is after that arm. I loved Ishimori's dive. Ishimori's selling of the arm made the drama work. I marked huge for the attempted pile driver into the arm lock.The finish really flowed well and I loved it. Great stuff from both guys.

[shoe]

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

 

I really liked this match and is really showing the growth of Michael Elgin. He does such a great job with his power moves. Naito focused on Elgin's leg. Elgin's selling was so great and was where the drama of the match was. They were great at giving Elgin hope spots. He'd get cut off by Naito going after the leg. Their was a nasty blown DDT spot, but they covered well enough. Again I thought this was an incredible Elgin performance. His selling drove the drama of the match.

[shoe]

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

 

This was really well done. 1st they set up the whole time for the match. This is being made a big deal. Kyle comes out and is attacked by Bullet Club. They just destroy his arm. He goes to the back and a doctor is taping him up. He demands his match. So later in the show O'Reilly vs Lethal. Lethal is great with his character work. This is just a well worked with all of these great hope spots set up for Kyle. Lethal would work over Kyles's bad wing. Kyle would use kicks because his arm is no use. The angle and match really made this feel special.

[shoe]

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

 

I saw this live. It would lose a lot on tape. This was just a wild as fuck brawl. Quad juice. Weapons, huge bumps, crowd running from the wrestlers. This had gigantic dives. Some insane bumps. All chaotic, and super heated. Match went all over the place.

[shoe]

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

 

This was at the live event in San Antonio. These guys got 20 minutes and it was awesome. The Revival are the best tag team. We get a great shine from the faces. During the shine we get Gargano and Ciampa do their stuff. The Revival get heat on Ciampa and go to town on the arm. Eventually Gargano gets the tag and is running wild. Eventually he gets cut off and it's on. Down the stretch we get a bunch of near falls that the crowd buys 100%. We get a shitty DQ, but man what a ride.

[shoe]

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

 

I loved all the limb work in this. Plus Shibata dropped his stuff that hurts his matches. Shibata working over Naito's arm. Naito sells this really well. Naito revenge spots on Shibata's arm. Naito doubles down and transitions to leg. Naito had a rotating attack between arm and leg. All of Shibata's stuff looks great. Just good stuff.

[shoe]

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

 

This is just an old school Lucha brawl. Brawling in and outside the ring. Bloody as hell and super heated. The weapon shots were not overdone. Just pitch perfect.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_31g1QCwN0

[shoe]

​8/4/16 NJPW Sibata vs Kenny Omega 4 1/4*

 

I really liked this. Omega worked this 100% serious. The 1st big moment was Omega going after the arm. Then he starts working the arm. This is really smart. He's taking out Shibata's striking weapons. Omega's stretch muffler was so awesome. I thought Shibata selling of the leg was good, and something we don't usually see from Shibata. I loved all the hope spots based around chokes. Then Omega going for the One Wing Angel that gets countered into a Fujiwara was just brilliant.