2017 MOTY Yes/No Thread

[GOTNW]

Let's give it a shot. Worst thing that can happen is that's it's dead again.
Last year's:
http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/34183-the-2016-moty-yesno-thread/?p=5751134

WWE

John Cena vs AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt vs Baron Corbin vs The Miz (Elimination Chamber 2/12) || 4 yes || 0 no || =4

John Cena vs AJ Styles (Royal Rumble 1/29) || 4 yes || 0 no || =4

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (Wrestlemania 4/2) || 4 yes || 0 no || =4

Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman (Payback 4/30) || 5 yes || 0 no || =5

Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss (Payback 4/30) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles (Backlash 5/21) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman (Great Balls Of Fire 7/9) || 4 yes || 1 no || =3

The Hardys vs. Cesaro & Sheamus (Great Balls Of Fire 7/9) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa joe (Summerslam 8/20) || 5 yes || 0 no || =5

Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles (Survivor Series 11/19) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

WWE NXT

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode (Takeover 1/28) || 4 yes || 1 no || =3

#DIY vs. The Revival vs. Authors of Pain (4/1) || 4 yes || 1 no || =3

Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (Takeover Chicago 5/20) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY (Takeover Chicago 5/20) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

Asuka vs Ember Moon (Takeover Brooklyn 8/19) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

WWE UK

Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate (1/15) || 8 yes || 0 no || =7

Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews (1/15) || 5 yes || 2 no || =3

 

WWE Mae Young Invitational

Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler 9/12 || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

US indy
Anthony Henry vs Fred Yehi (Style Battle 1/7) || 3 yes || 3 no || =0

Trevor Lee vs. Chip Day (CWF Mid-Atlantic 3/25) || 5 yes || 0 no || =5

Dominic Garrini vs. Cain Justice (CWF Mid-Atlantic, 2/25).|| 2 yes || 0 no || =2

Best Friends vs. Leaders of the New School (PWG 3/18) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin (CWF Mid-Atlantic 6/3) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

CMLL
Barbaro Cavernario vs Rey Cometa (1/6) || 2 yes || 2 no || =0
Ultimo Guerrero vs Valiente (1/6) || 2 yes || 1 no || =1

 

AAA

Dr Wagner Jr vs Psycho Clown (Triplemania 8/26) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

Mexican indies

Rey Hechicero vs. Caifan (Promociones El Cholo de Tijuana 1/6) || 1 yes || 1 no || =0

Imposible vs Relampago (IWRG 1/22) || 2 yes || 1 no || =1

Golden Magic vs. Pirata Morgan Jr. (IWRG 2/12) || 2 yes || 0 no || =2

Rush vs LA Park (Baracal Entertainment 3/11) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

NJPW

KUSHIDA vs Hiromu Takahashi (1/4) || 2 yes || 3 no || = -1

Katsuyori Shibata vs Hirooki Goto (1/4) || 7 yes || 2 no || =5
Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi ( 1/4) || 10 yes || 0 no || =10
Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (1/4) || 11 yes || 3 no || =8

Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki (2/5) || 5 yes || 0 no || =5

Katsuyori Shibata vs Will Ospreay (2/11) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee (2/11) || 5 yes || 0 no || =5

Tetsuya Naito vs Michael Elgin (2/11) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW Sakura Genesis 4/9/) || 6 yes || 1 no || =5

Kenny Omega vs. Tomihiro Ishii (5/3) || 1 yes || 1 no || =0

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (Dominion 6/11) || 2 yes || 0 no || =2

Jushin Liger vs. Taichi (BOSJ 05/31) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (G1 7/17) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada (G1 8/8) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (G1 8/12) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (NJPW 8/13) || 2 yes || 0 no || =2

Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW 8/14) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

 

AJPW

Kento Miyahara vs. Jake Lee (4/15) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Kento Miyahara vs Shuji Ishikawa (5/21) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

Kento Miyahara vs Suwama - All Japan 6/11 || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs Naoya Nomura & KAI - 8/27 || 1 yes || 0 no || =2

Shuji Ishikawa vs Kento Miyahara - (8/27) || 3 yes || 1 no || =2

Kento Miyahara vs. Suwama (10/9) || 2 yes || 0 no || =2

 

BJW
Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (BJW 1/2) || 6 yes || 0 no || =6

Daisuke Sekimoto vs Hideki Suzuki (BJW 3/5) || 3 yes || 0 no || =3

Hideki Suzuki vs Yuji Okabayashi (BJW 5/5) || 4 yes || 0 no || =4

Hideki Suzuki vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani (BJW 5/25) || 2 yes || 0 no || =2

Hideki Suzuki vs. Ryuichi Kawakami (7/17) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

 

DDT & friends

Saki Aki vs Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro 1/4) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Yuu vs Shoko Nakajima (Tokyo Joshi Pro 1/4) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

UK Indies

Drew Galloway vs. Bully Ray (WCPW 1/6) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Travis Banks vs Zack Sabre Jr (WCPW 1/6) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Marty Scurll vs El Ligero vs Gabriel Kidd (WCPW) 1/6 || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

Katsuyori Shibata vs Matt Riddle (RevPro 1/21) || 2 yes || 3 no || =-1

Zack Sabre Jr vs Marty Scurll (RevPro 1/21) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

KUSHIDA vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (RevPro, 4/13) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

 

Other Indy

El Phantasmo vs Kyle O'Reilly (ECCW 1/14) || 1 yes || 1 no || =0

Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle (wXw 3/11) || 1 yes || 0 no || =1

[World's Worst Man]

I heard there was this Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada match that had a lot of people buzzing.

[Noah Mark]

I'll start it off. My nomination would be Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito from the WrestleKingdom 11. I thought this was the best match on the show. The theme of the match was Naito working over Tana's leg.

 

Another match that I enjoyed was from CMLL's Three Kings day from 1/6/17. Rey Cometa vs Cavernario. These two know each other really well which makes for a better match. It was rushed but both guys were able to get their big spots in.

[Grimmas]

Fred Yehi vs Anthony Henry from Style Battle was a classic in matwork, stiff work and logical old school wrestling. My current match of the year.

 

Valenite vs Ultimo Guerrero from that January 6th show was their best match yet and it added hate! Valiente was on a mission to beat UG doing 4 straight vicious tope's. UG was ripping mask, it was awesome.

 

My third match of the year so far is Caifan vs Hechicero from Tijuana on January 6th as it was a slow building mat work match with lots of time given and a great progression of heat.

[Grimmas]

 

Another match that I enjoyed was from CMLL's Three Kings day from 1/6/17. Rey Cometa vs Cavernario. These two know each other really well which makes for a better match. It was rushed but both guys were able to get their big spots in.

Yes to this, second best match on the show and a ton of fun. Cavernario selling a superkick by doing the worm was spot of the year.

[Coffey]

I'll start it off. My nomination would be Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito from the WrestleKingdom 11. I thought this was the best match on the show. The theme of the match was Naito working over Tana's leg.

 

Absolutely second this. Best of the card to me and probably my favorite match in the Dome since they started calling it Wrestle Kingdom.

[El-P]

 

I'll start it off. My nomination would be Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito from the WrestleKingdom 11. I thought this was the best match on the show. The theme of the match was Naito working over Tana's leg.

 

Absolutely second this.

 

I third this. Naito is brillant. I already have a MOTYC for 2017.

[Bierschwale]

YES, affirmatively, to Henry-Yehi.

[InYourCase]

Why is Okada vs. Omega not on here?

 

Also want to nominate Strong BJ vs. Twin Towers from Big Japan 1/2

 

NO to Yehi vs. Henry. I like both guys and that was not a very good match. It would've been very good had it been 18-20 minutes, but the last 10 felt dead and the execution suffered greatly in the last stretch. Those two are capable of much more.

[WingedEagle]

Seconding Strong BJ vs. Twin Towers from 1/2.

[Grimmas]

Just a note, nominations and votes should be accompanied by a sentence or two explaining why.

[rzombie1988]

YES - BJW 1/2/17 - Twin Towers vs Strong BJ

 

Match link is here: https://rutube.ru/video/b75ddb98345691e1e8f1415d4031f3ec/?pl_id=1067514&pl_type=user

 

Review with pics/gifs here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/big-japan-pro-wrestling-122017-twin.html

 

My thoughts:

MOTY. Fricking awesome real mans pro wrestling right there. 4 big dudes just clubbering the hell out of each other for 20+ mins. This was stiff, this was realistic and I just wish all wrestling could be like this.

 

They started it off slow, doing lesser moves and keeping it simple with strikes then opened the match up more and more with suplexes and big lariats and big hits until the finish where Sekimoto bled hardway after a stiff headbutt and delayed german'd Ishikawa. The crowd was hot all throughout and this was fricking great. Big highlights here was the Sekimoto hardway juice, Sekimoto hitting a deadlift vertical suplex on Sato, Sekimoto's/Okabayashi's crazy facials and just piles of potato strikes.

[superkix]

Yes to Naito/Tanahashi. I need to rewatch this in a couple of months Naito was excellent against Tanahashi's aging ace. Some really smart work.

 

Yes to Strong BJ/Twin Towers. Same formula as their previous match-ups but with a touch more brutality and some great selling from Sekimoto.

[spudz25]

Yes to Naito/Tanahashi. Had it been the last match on the show, the world would still be buzzing about it.

 

Yes to Omega/Okada. Unfortunately for Naito & Tanahashi this match followed their's. Maybe best match I've ever seen.

 

No to Yehi/Henry. Shocked about all of the love this match got. It was solid, but I thought it was rather plodding.

[El-P]

We're talking about MOTYC at least, right ? So :

 

NO to Okada vs Omega. Overblown self-conscious epic with a top ropre Dragon Suplex headdroping meaning exactly zilch. The lesser match of the second half of the show, and both tag matches were better than this.

[WingedEagle]

Seconding Strong BJ vs. Twin Towers from 1/2.

 

YES -- Another terrific iteration in the second best tag team feud in recent years. While I haven't been the biggest Sekimoto fan at times because he seems to completely disregard selling, that is absolutely not the case here. Just a tremendous job putting over Ishikawa & Sato's power offense for an extended stretch before the hot tag to Okabayashi, who comes in as fired up as ever. These four pound each other the whole way with brutal chops and strikes that build meaningful near falls. What puts this match -- and, really, all of their counters -- over the top is the terrific pacing that gives everything meaning and impact rather than rushing to the next spot. Add in some opportune blood and select no selling during the finishing run to pop the crowd and you have the early frontrunner for tag team match of the year.

 

**** 1/4

 

YES -- Tanahashi vs. Naito and Okada vs. Omega. See WK11 thread.

 

NO - Ultimo Guerrero vs Valiente (1/6) and Barbaro Cavernario vs Rey Cometa (1/6)

 

Both matches had shining moments and spots, and the former had strong characters, but after rushing through the first two falls neither match did enough to capitalize on the time afforded them in the third. Barbaro works when he goes the Hiromu Takahashi route and tries to kill himself. There was some of that, but the comedy didn't work for me. The finishes in both matches very much felt out of nowhere rather than a logical followup to anything we saw preceding them.

[Coffey]

I'm also saying No to Okada/Omega. That's not what I want my pro-wrestling to be & not what I want the future of pro-wrestling to look like. We don't need 50-minute "epic" matches where moves like a Guardrail Elevated DDT to the Concrete, A Springboard Moonsault into the crowd and a Top Rope Dragon Suplex don't mean shit. Meanwhile, after two Tombstones, the match ends with a Shortarm Clothesline. We also don't need a bunch of pro-wrestlers trying to recreate or worse, one-up that match. I actually think, if anything, that match hurts pro-wrestling. Just like Mankind being thrown off of Hell In A Cell.

[soup23]

US indy
Anthony Henry vs Fred Yehi (Style Battle 1/7) || 2 yes || 2 no || YES

 

I see some of the flaws in this in the fact that I thought Henry lagged behind the story elements here and if he was there as a contrast in strategy to Yehi, that should have been fleshed out. The final ten minutes also felt a bit plodding. Beyond all of that though this was a heck of an accomplishment from both but especially Yehi in getting a cold and uninterested crowd into a 30 minute draw. ****

CMLL
Barbaro Cavernario vs Rey Cometa (1/6) || 2 yes || 1 no || NO

 

Good match but nothing beyond that for me. I thought the lightning match and the apuestas between these two last year was better. This seemed like a greatest hits version.

 

Ultimo Guerrero vs Valiente (1/6) || 1 yes || 1 no || YES

 

Probably my barometer for yes or no votes in this thread. This was very good and ramped up between each fall culminating in Valiente's springboard in the third caida. ***1/2

NJPW
Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW 1/4) || 6 yes || 0 no || YES
Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (NJPW 1/4) || 3 yes || 2 no || YES

 

Talked about these in WK thread. Both are great matches now. Would recommend JR and Barnett all of Omega vs. Okada.

[bradhindsight]

I'm also saying No to Okada/Omega. That's not what I want my pro-wrestling to be & not what I want the future of pro-wrestling to look like. We don't need 50-minute "epic" matches where moves like a Guardrail Elevated DDT to the Concrete, A Springboard Moonsault into the crowd and a Top Rope Dragon Suplex don't mean shit. Meanwhile, after two Tombstones, the match ends with a Shortarm Clothesline. We also don't need a bunch of pro-wrestlers trying to recreate or worse, one-up that match. I actually think, if anything, that match hurts pro-wrestling. Just like Mankind being thrown off of Hell In A Cell.

This was the main event of the biggest show of the year. If there's ever a place, it's certainly there.

 

YES to Okada/Omega for me

[JerryvonKramer]

I'd like to see Shibata vs Goto represented, even if everyone says no.

[JerryvonKramer]

For others I've seen, assuming 4 stars is the cut off, I'd be NO on Yehi vs Henry (3.75) and NO on Okada vs Omega (3.75)

 

YES on Naito vs Tanahashi (4)

[superkix]

I'd like to see Shibata vs Goto represented, even if everyone says no.

 

I'd say yes to Shibata/Goto.

[GSR]

 

 

I'd like to see Shibata vs Goto represented, even if everyone says no.

I'd say yes to Shibata/Goto.

Just a note, nominations and votes should be accompanied by a sentence or two explaining why.

[JerryvonKramer]

Here:

 

Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata (1/4/17)

 

Chono sitting at ringside (contender for my least fave wrestler ever).

 

As this match started my girlfriend who was meant to have just gone to bed came in, sat down, and then ended up staying for the whole match. She'd never seen a wrestling match before so started out with all the usual "it's fake isn't it" talk, but that soon died down and she ended up getting really into the match and rooting for Goto. Her exact comment at one point was "the one in the black has been a real shit, I want the other one to come back and get him". By the end she was marking out for near falls. This was a very interesting experience in itself for me, because it's the first time I'd watched a match with a non-fan for years and years.

 

I thought this was a really excellent and fucking brutal match. I loved the sick arm section at the start with Shibata ramping up violence. He was working so stiff and sick, the level of roughness was breathtaking at times.

 

The hope spots from Goto were well timed, and each time Shibata took back control he ramped up the level of violence and dickishness some more. There was also a good level of cock-measuring stuff going on from him, I thought his character work was very effective.

 

Goto down his comeback stretch pulled out a number of pretty incredible spots I've never seen before which generally involved Shibata's neck landing on his knee. Some of those spots were "holy shit" incredible in my book.

 

This match had everything really, sound psychology, great storytelling, really next-level brutality, innovative (groundbreaking?) spots, and a gradual escalation of violence (it boils over when Shibata nails the ref). As good a match as I've ever seen in an NJPW ring. And it won over a non-fan in front of my eyes, which is something.

 

*****

[WingedEagle]

Yes to Shibata/Goto. See WK11 thread for thoughts. Upped it to ****1/4 on a rewatch today.