2017 MOTY Yes/No Thread

[Timbo Slice]

Well shit, now I can't wait to watch this because this sounds exactly like the Jake Lee match from Day 1 of the Champion Carnival.

[Boss Rock]

Yes for Okada-Omega II (one of my favorite matches this year and thought it out-did the WK mathc) and Yes for Dunne-Bate II.

[Boss Rock]

Yes for AoP-Revival-#DIY and Day-Lee.

[GSR]

Yes for Okada-Omega II (one of my favorite matches this year and thought it out-did the WK mathc) and Yes for Dunne-Bate II.

 

Yes for AoP-Revival-#DIY and Day-Lee.

 

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

[Boss Rock]

 

Yes for Okada-Omega II (one of my favorite matches this year and thought it out-did the WK mathc) and Yes for Dunne-Bate II.

 

Yes for AoP-Revival-#DIY and Day-Lee.

 

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

 

 

Fair enough, my apologies.

 

Yes for Okada-Omega II. Yes, they went an hour. Yes they had leg work that was abandoned early. Yes the stupid spot with Cody. But not only did the first half go faster than it did in the last match, they did a great job with the role reversals in the callbacks. It was also a much more collaborative effort than the WK match which was largely a Kenny Omega performance. Was not bored at all and thought it was one of the most exciting matches this year.

 

Yes for Dunne-Bate II. Good Lord, this was a FIGHT. I certainly loved the spots, but my absolute favorite was the two of them just throwing fists back and forth without abandon. They went for broke and got a crowd who may not be familiar with them 100% invested. It just had that big fight feel you don't always get in WWE title matches anymore.

 

Yes for AoP vs. Revival vs. #DIY. Excellent storytelling with the hated rivals putting their differences aside and saying "You know what? We have a bigger problem here." And the spots of separate tag members doing the other team's finisher was both creative and logical. #DIY and Revival had been at it so many times, they knew each other like the back of their hand. They knew what each team would do in that given situation and reacted accordingly. My only gripe was #DIY getting eliminated first and doing heel vs. heel in the end.

 

Yes for Day-Lee. A match that got the NJPW main event style right. While I am a fan of the NJPW style, there is often a feeling of long just for the sake of long. And while I understand the feeling out process by using mat work, there are times where it's completely pointless and drawn out. This match got to the point a lot quicker and still had the length, build, and action of a NJPW main event. And while a ton of indy wrestlers miss the point about "fighting spirit" and just completely forget to sell anything, that was not the case here.

[GSR]

No worries Boss Rock. It's just a way to prevent the thread being a long list of matches with nothing more than 'yes' or 'no' next to them (which is pretty pointless). If people give their views and opinions on the matches it'll also spark up a bit of debate with folk agreeing, disagreeing etc.

[SmartMark15]

NOMINATING:

 

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman - WWE 7/9

 

YES.

Just yes? I'm sorry, that's all there is. Rough, stiff violence from both guys. They constantly upped the intensity and made believable transitions that got you to buy into Roman potentially winning. You had the classic ringpost transition which works particularly well after the Tag Title match early in the night. Roman Reigns sells his ass off (again) but really, did we expect anything else? Then you had monster among men Braun Strowman putting in a fairly decent sell job on his arm...before turning it around into one of the greatest heel comebacks possible. The violence on the stage area was stiff, going through the screen was a wonderful visual.

Then, that glorious post-match angle. i don't care if it's a double turn or what it is. It's fucking awesome. Best ambulance match ever?

Easy MOTYC and another amazing chapter in what's turning out to be a classic feud.

****1/2

[SmartMark15]

NOMINATING:

 

The Hardys vs. Cesaro & Sheamus - WWE 7/9

 

 

These thirty minutes just flew by for me. Cesaro & Sheamus are on top of their game with the heel tactics. I can understand why The Revival haven't been that featured on Raw with these two guys working matches like this. Matt and Jeff bumped like nuts for the heels. Loved the ring post count out finish. That was really unexpected as I thought The Hardyz might even things up at that point. Cesaro & Sheamus trying to kill time and leading into the crazy good last five minutes or so of the match really took things into overdrive. Just a very, very good match here.

****1/4

 

[Jmare007]

Hell YES to Roman vs Braun at Balls of Fire. Those two have a very cartoonish feud and matches be compelling and entertaining as fuck. Loved the selling by both too.

[WingedEagle]

No to Braun/Roman Ambulance Match. See MDA.

[SmartMark15]

NOMINATING:

 

Trevor Lee vs. Michael Elgin - CWF Mid-Atlantic 6/3

 

Great match. Elgin made a believable monster redwood that Trevor had to chop down. Trevor sells his ass off once again and he makes such a fantastic babyface in peril instead of the more Ace-like position he embodies against a guy like Day. Loved the multiple PKs on the apron and Elgin just dropping before the sixth. The finish was hot and once again CWF-Mid Atlantic crafts another crazy good finish that ends exactly when it needed to. Never felt repetitive and always felt like it escalated.

****1/2

 

[Microstatistics]

NOMINATING:

 

Jushin Liger vs. Taichi (NJPW Best of the Super Jr. 24 05/31/17)

 

 

Liger is just ageless. His selling is still world class, he did a great job building sympathy for himself and added neat little touches (falling off the top rope because the mask ripping disoriented him or falling backwards to emphasize how strong his powerbomb was). Not a fan of the ref bumps and constant interference trend that has invaded NJPW but it worked really well here as whenever Liger built up some momentum, Suzuki-gun would just cheapshot him or Taichi would simply attack the referee/s and instantly curb it. Taichi's arrogance and all his heelish antics were awesome. My MOTY at this point. **** 1/4

[SmartMark15]

NOMINATING:

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 7/17

 

I thought that was absolutely awesome. This is the best I've seen Sabre on offense honing in on a single body part. This arm injury though hell in reality has done wonders for Tanahashi's performances. Here's a guy whose matches I (for the most part) just could not stand for a long time and now he's putting on great sympathetic babyface performances. Might just have to reevaluate my thoughts on his past work because this was a very convincing performance out of him. The aggression on the finish legitimately made me wince and want Tanahashi to end the match for his own good.

****1/2

 

[SmartMark15]

NOMINATING:

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 7/17

 

I thought that was absolutely awesome. This is the best I've seen Sabre on offense honing in on a single body part. This arm injury though hell in reality has done wonders for Tanahashi's performances. Here's a guy whose matches I (for the most part) just could not stand for a long time and now he's putting on great sympathetic babyface performances. Might just have to reevaluate my thoughts on his past work because this was a very convincing performance out of him. The aggression on the finish legitimately made me wince and want Tanahashi to end the match for his own good.

****1/2

 

[superkix]

Nominating: BJW World Strong Title: Hideki Suzuki © vs. Ryuichi Kawakami (BJW, 7/17)

[KawadaSmile]

Yes to Braun vs Roman at GBOF. So many great moments between those two, from Roman wailing at Braun with a chair to no avail, to that slick spear into the ambulance, to a batshit insane post-match that made both guys look like absolute monsters. Great stuff.

[superkix]

Nominating: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/8)

[Boss Rock]

Yes on Okada-Suzuki 8/8. When first watching it, I thought to myself "This is good, but I think the New Beginning match was better". Looking back, this match was definitely better than New Beginning. While NB had a great heel performance by Suzuki and Okada did a good job playing the resilient babyface, the limb selling on offense was a bit too problematic at times and was at least 10 minutes longer than it needed to be. This one didn't focus on any limbwork to be ignored and was just back-and-forth violence. It's like they took the face slapping sequence from the NB match and expanded upon it. Suzuki challenging the young ace to step up to him and Okada doing his best to go blow-for-blow (and trying to stick it to Suzuki with the Gotch-styled tombstone). And even though it was 30 minutes, it felt about 10 minutes shorter and did not drag at all.

[Boss Rock]

Yes on Braun-Roman 7/9. These two have arguably had the best rivalry of the year and think this was their best outing. Loved the story of Roman going for broke but absolutely nothing he did could stop the monster. And when he finally did get the advantage, he made one mistake and ended up losing because of it. And while I think it made for a good story and was certainly creative, the ending DID feel a tad cheap (although that was rectified by the post-match angle). Still, of all the violent encounters between Braun and Roman, this was the most entertainingly violent.

[Boss Rock]

Nominating: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Special in USA)

 

Longer than their previous encounters, but arguably the best and perfect way to cap off their trilogy. Back-and-forth, violent, great escalation, and some fantastic character work from Ishii, who plays a tremendous babyface.

[SmartMark15]

YES to:

 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW 8/8)

 

So Minoru Suzuki is a boss. Was there anyone here who didn't know that yet? This was pure and simple a story of the two guys trying to one-up each other and basically beat the shit out of each other. Probably my favorite Okada performance to date, he's able to subtly play heel against Minoru who was performing in front of his hometown crowd. Especially love Okada's face after he hit the Gotch Tombstone, the cheeky bastard. Loved Minoru tying up Okada into knots on the ground, thought that was really entertaining. Then the slaps. OH GLORY the slaps. Just violent and entirely compelling and the trade offs between Piledrivers and Rainmakers worked incredibly well too. Fantastic match, right up there with Ibushi-Naito.

 

****3/4

[SmartMark15]

Oh boy, we've got a lot of ground to cover.

 

My G1 Nominations aka How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Finishers

 

NOMINATING:

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW 8/12)

 

 

This was just awesome. Absolutely loved the dueling limbwork from both guys and the way they kept returning to it in order to facilitate the momentum shifts in the match. This is the best I've ever seen Tanahashi performing at because his arm selling has been through the roof throughout this G1. Naito, on the other hand, just exudes so much charisma and charm that everything he does feels urgent and exciting. His stalling tactics are crazy levels of entertaining and trolling. The finishing stretch following the Texas Cloverleaf was great. Loved that Tanahashi was undone by his ridiculous need to go for another High Fly Flow. Great match.

 

****1/2

 

Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW 8/13)

 

 

Well. It's about goddamn time.

As has been discussed and speculated since the announcement, the 30 minute time limit finally cut all the indulgent and dragging bullshit from their second (and first) match and we're left with the juicy, juicy, tasty lovely wonderful meat of the matches. From the frantic 100mph pace that opened the match with the finisher attempts playing into the rumors/speculation that this might end incredibly quick all the way to that brutal floor Reverse Rana that Okada sold LIKE DEATH. Props to Okada for really upping his selling game for the G1 because this may be the most consistent he's ever sold a body part in his entire career. In the past week alone, Okada's put in his two best ever performances in my opinion (vs. Suzuki and now vs. Omega). That Reverse Rana and the subsequent Dragon Suplex on the apron FINALLY added some real stakes to these matches they've been doing. For the first time, someone in these matches seemed legitimately vulnerable instead of two guys just trading a bunch of moves. Can I just say that Okada's German Suplexes are some of the grittiest most violent versions of the move I've ever seen? They're fantastic. Follow that up with a blistering hot finishing stretch with Okada's undoing being his compulsion to do sixty million Rainmakers in one match (same thing happened to Tanahashi the night before with his High Fly Flows) and Omega is finally able to get his elusive victory over the new Ace. YOU FINALLY DID IT, BOYS. I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU.

*****

 

Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW 8/14)

 

 

I don't know, guys. I think they broke me. Perhaps I just understand the "grammar" of this style more now or perhaps they really just have finally refined this main event NJPW style to something that I completely enjoy because I LOVED THIS.

It starts off a little slow but without much of the meandering matwork that comes from matches earlier in the year. Here, they go right for the good juicy meaty stuff. Lots of mind games from both guys as expected and lots of personality. Both guys target the neck relentlessly and there are some pretty fantastic moments that surround it. Omega not being able to complete his usual kip up and springboard was MASTERFUL (5 star moment). Omega stayed fairly consistent with his neck selling all throughout the match too and god knows it played right into the finish as well. Naito meanwhile put in what might be one hell of a babyface performance. He looked amazing taking just a BRUTAL beating from Omega. I have so much love for Omega's repeated and deliberate V Triggers all building up to that glorious callback of Naito collapsing just as Omega went in for one more (5 star moment). It was a great spot at Dominion and it's a great spot here. Then you have that ridiculous top rope DDT into the ring post and a whole series of bumps that people really shouldn't be taking (face first into the turnbuckle off the top, top rope powerbomb countered into Rana, etc.). Loved the desperation of Naito at the finishing stretch trying to hit any variation of Destino possible to get a pinfall. He probably went for one too many but that is a minuscule nitpick to this match.

Is this the MOTY? It just might be. It really just might be. While Okada-Omega III had the blistering pace and the down to earth story, this seemed to perfect the more theatrical elements that something like the Dominion match aspired for.

Whoa, boy, what a G1.

*****

[Boss Rock]

Yes on Okada-Omega G1. Here's what I said in the Match Discussion Archive:

 

 

I really liked the first two matches (the Dominion one was a MOTYC for me), but this one corrected the issues with the first two: get rid of the fluff, focus on the action. And oh boy did they ever. I knew Omega was winning because the champion going to the finals would render the WK main event pointless, but they really had me believing at times that Okada would pull it off. Microstatistics brings up a good point about Kenny being a bit too quick to recover and counter the two Rainmakers, but I'm nitpicking at this point because I loved everything else. 24 minutes of balls to the wall action with some of the best drama I've seen this year.

*****

[Boss Rock]

Yes on Naito-Omega.

 

It's not always easy to give a match a "big fight feel", but with the entrances, the staredown, and the crowd reaction, you could FEEL the stakes of this match. You could feel that apart from the champion Okada, Kenny and Naito were the top dogs of New Japan and that only one of them would earn the right to challenge Okada's status as ace. And then the match started. This was a NJPW main event doing King's Road to perfection. There was a very clear and logical sense of escalation, with each spot getting bigger and bigger. And instead of relying solely on signature moves and finisher attempts, there were incredibly creative spots such as Kenny DDT'ing Naito onto the ring post from the turnbuckle. Though it seemed certain Naito was going to win, there were legitimately times that it looked like Kenny would pull it off. Creating a sense of doubt even when the conclusion seems forgone seems like a bit of a lost art these days, which is a shame considering it's a quality that always elevates a match to the next level. The main story was Naito targeting Kenny's neck, hitting a particularly nasty piledriver on the announce table in the process. Meanwhile, Kenny took the same deliberate approach he did in the Okada match, most evident when he hit the two standing V-Triggers. There was also a great callback to Okada-Omega at Dominion, with Naito collapsing in exhaustion during a V-Trigger attempt. And while the end may have used a finisher too many, it ultimately furthered that sense of doubt as to who would walk away the winner.

 

I feel like me trying to put this match into words can't do it justice. Just watch it. It's probably my number 1 pick for Match of the Year in a year that's had a boatload of great matches.

 

*****

[Boss Rock]

Nominating: Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

 

Holy hell was this good. This was a literal clash of the titans. I think the best way to describe this match would be if you were to combine the Braun-Roman matches, the Brock-Joe match, and the Royal Rumble 2015 triple-threat match. The first 10 minutes of this were some of the most insane I've seen in recent memory, with Reigns spearing Lesnar through the barricade and Braun just absolutely laying waste to everyone. And although the match never quite reaches the heights of the first 10 minutes, the action never relents for a second. Braun was the star of this match but the other three had their times to shine. Brock in particular continued to prove he's one of the best sellers in the business when it came to Braun manhandling him. Speaking of Brock and Braun, they did a great job building towards a singles match for these two. The tiniest of quibbles I have of this match is your standard "two guys sell like death while two other guys work a spot" with Brock and Braun. Although considering Joe and Reigns had just been beaned with an office chair, it kinda makes sense. I don't think it's hyperbole to say this could be the greatest main event in Summerslam history, even if Bryan-Cena is a high hurdle to climb.

 

****3/4.