January 2017

What a month January 2017 has been in the world of Pro-Wrestling. It’s been amazing throughout. New Japan kicked it off with Wrestlekingdom which was phenomenonal and included 4 of the best matches you’ll ever see back to back to close the show. But then the rest of the world followed their lead and show after show, match after match, we’ve seen some amazing things.

This post isn’t going to be a comprehensive write up of the month, although if thats what you want my podcast cohost @ChimeraRouge has done that here. I’m going to run down my top 5 matches. And I’m going to follow that up with a list of all the matches I’ve loved, do check them out if you haven’t seen them. I feel I should mention here that I haven’t seen everything, so if you loved a match, or an event, that took place in January 2017 and it isn’t listed please let me know and I will endeavour to check it out. There are still a couple of things I may add to this list without prompting,as I do hope to watch WXW London, NJPW Fantastic Maina and Smash wrestling’s latest offering.

5. Marty Scurll, Pete Dunne and Travis Banks vs Will Ospreay, Ryan Smile and Shane Strickland 

This match was really something special. 6 phenomenally talented guys who had come.off amazing years in 2016 going at it, hell for leather. There were some awesome spots,  some fantastic bits of technical wrestling, some great double and triple teams and some excellent comedy – Scurll and Co selling T Shirts at ringside during the match springs to mind!

4. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode – NXT Takeover: San Antonio

This match was incredible. Bobby Roode is a master or ring psychology and storytelling and this match was a clinic in it. Both wrestlers are amazing and I think this was, from a purely storytelling point of view, the best I’ve seen in years. I look forward to seeing more of Bobby Roode at the top of the NXT card.

3. John Cena vs AJ Styles – WWE Royal Rumble

I feel that this match was booked in response to the amazing matches at Wrestle Kingdom. It felt like it should have been saved for mania, to be honest, but that didn’t matter too much. It was still an incredible, incredible match. It had everything and it was something special. The best WWE main roster match, probably since Cena Punk at MITB 2011, in my view. 

2. Okada vs Omega – New Japan Wrestle Kingdom

The match that had the whole world talking. Dave Meltzer called it the beat match in professional wrestling history and gave it six stars. It was incredible from start.to finish. It built well, it included amazing sections covering pretty much every style you can imagnetic and had a great nara time throughout. It inspired me to spend an entire day watching previous Okada matches. I didn’t think I’d see a match anywhere near as good as this for ages. 

But then….

1. Marty Scurll vs Zack Sabre Jr – RevPro High Stakes

This match was incredible and blew me away entirely. I’ve followed both guys for a while and seen them wrestle with and against each other many times. Knowing a bit about that history and seeing it play out in the ring was incredible. My friend called it “the best British wrestlingarch ever”, I’m inclined to think that that under sells it a bit. Incredible match and I don’t remember ever seeing one that I enjoyed more.

It is worth noting that Pete Dunne has in fact been in the highest number (4) of matches this month that I have felt the need to put on the list Marty Scurll appears 3 times and ZSJ, Shibata, MAndrews and Matt Riddle all appear twice in singles matches (Marty appears 4 and MAndrews appears 3 times if you count the Thunderbastard!). Also, the London Riots appear twice. What a great month of matches.

The full list of matches I’ve massively enjoyed in January 2017

• Slater vs Muscle cat – RISE BRUDENELL
• 12 man Rumble – RISE BRUDENELL
• Kushida vs Takahashi WK11
• Shibata vs Goto WK11
• Naito vs Tanahashi WK11
• Okada vs Omega WK11
• Conners vs MAndrews WWEUKCT
• MAndrews vs Dunne WWEUKCT
• Bate Vs Dunne WWEUKCT
• End vs Neville WWEUKCT
• Gallows and Anderson vs Sheamus and Cesaro  – RAW 16.01.17
• Spud vs Paul Robinson – PROGRESS 42
• Rampage vs Riddle – PROGRESS 42
• Pete Dunne vs Yoshi Hashi – High Stakes
• ZSJ vs Marty Scurll – High Stakes
• Shibata vs Riddle – High Stakes
• Seth vs Sami – Raw 23.01.17
• Scurll, Dunne and Banks vs Ospreay, Strickland and Smile –Live at cockpit 12
• ZSJ vs RJ Singh – Live at cockpit 12
• Nakamura vs Roode Takeover San Antonio
• DIY vs Authors of Pain – Takeover San Antonio
• Owens vs Reigns – Royal Rumble
• AJ vs Cena – Royal Rumble
• Rumble Match – Royal Rumble
• Morrison vs Mysterio – Dominant Dundee
• Sean Carr vs Anthony Henry – CZW Awakening
• Dave Crist vs Sami Callihan – CZW Awakening
• Tim Dunst vs Tony Deppen – CZW Awakening
• Ricky Shane Page vs Joe Gacy – CZW Awakening
• Thunderbastard Match – PROGRESS 43
• London Riots vs Kings of the North – PROGRESS 43
• SPPT vs Ringkampf – PROGRESS 43
• Mystico vs Euforia – Fantastic Mania 
• Axel Deiter Jr vs Marty Scurll – wXw London Calling 
• London Riots vs A4 – wXw London Calling

CwC Live Finals

Are you excited? I’m excited. This week we will see the finals of the CwC on WWE Network. 

I was surprised Noam Dar lost, but it does mean that ZSJ – one of the top 3 or 4 British wrestlers in the world today (in my opinion) has made the semis.

The other 3 semi finalists are Gran Metalik, Kota Ibushi and TJ Perkins. All 4 semi finalists have impressed me immensely.

I’m at a point where I genuinely don’t know who will win, and I’m not even sure who I want to win!

A ZSJ win would be great, especially given the recent winning spree the British have been on in international tournaments. And his technical ability is second to none. I certainly hope he takes the win over Gran Metalik and makes the final.

The other semi final has two of the guys who have stood out most for me. Ibushi is phenomenal, but Perkins has, for me, been on abother level. I feel that he and Jack Gallagher have been the two most impressive in the tournament and I hope he meets ZSJ in the final.

A ZSJ TJ Perkins final would be incredible. And my loyalties would be seriously torn! I think I’d have to support ZSJ but would certainly not be disappointed to see TJ take home the trophy. Whatever happens – it will be amazing!

The CwC has been a great success and I can’t wait for next year’s installment.  I also can’t wait to see cruiserweights on Raw.

Have you enjoyed the CwC? Who’s your favourite been? Who are you most looking forward ro seeing on Raw? For me, it’s Jack Gallagher.

The British are HERE

Recently I have been really enjoying tournament wrestling. New Japan lead the way with the G1 climax and the best of the Super Juniors which were both amazing, the Super J cup provided some awesome stuff (Ospreay vs Sydal anyone?). Progress’s Atlas tournament has been great. This year’s Battle of Los Angeles sounded incredible – can’t wait to see it. Even the WWE have got in on the act with the Cruiserweight Classic and the Smackdown tag titles tournament.

I was thinking about these tournaments, and it occurred to me that the last 12 months have been pretty successful for our British exports.

Battle of Los Angeles 2015 – Zack Sabre Jr

Last year Sheppey’s own technical wizard showed the best the independent scene has to offer that he was the top of the pile. Zack has had some incredible matches before, during and since this tournament and his recent work in the CWC has been awesome. He recently gave us a masterclass in gaining heat when he fought Jeff Cobb in Rev Pro and showed how two friends can blput on a face vs face showcase when he fought Will Ospreay in Progress.

Best of the Super Juniors 2016 – Will Ospreay 

The aerial assassin sent shockwaves through the world when he made the final of this, never mind when he lifted the trophy. It’s unheard of for someone so young and inexperienced to pick up this trophy,  but that’s testament to the hard work Will has put in in his short but amazing career. He continues to impress and improve and I look forward to seeing Will Ospreay on top of the world for many, many years.

Battle of Los Angeles 2016 – Marty Scull

The villain. Probably my favourite wrestler in the world today. Superb at gaining heat. Oozing charisma with every breath and seemingly unable to wrestle a match that isn’t a match of the year candidate. (His 3 vs Will Ospreay – including from WCPW Stacked available free – and 2 vs Chris Hero are just 5 of many amazing Marty Scurll matches this year.)

I, like many other wrestling fans, was delighted to see the Progress champion win this tournament and I can’t wait to see him scale further heights in the world of pro wrestling.

Cruiserweight Classic – Noam Dar?

The CWC has been a tremendous tournament. There has been some amazing matches and it’s still pretty hard to pick a winner. The three British entrants have shown themselves really well. My favourite match so far has been Jack Gallagher vs Akira Tozawa. Unfortunately Jack lost and can’t bring home the trophy, but he has done enough to earn himself a spot in the cruiserweight division on Raw.

We do know, however, that there will be 1 British star in the semi finals, as tomorrow’s quarter final features Noam Dar vs the afforementioned Zack Sabre Jr. This match will be awesome, and I have a feeling that the winner could go all the way and continue the trend of British winners. 

I suspect that will be Noam Dar, I’ve had a feeling about hin winning since I saw the video of hin and Finn Balor in New York prior to summerslam and he was one of the first named in Raw’s cruiserweight division.

The 5 superstars mentioned here are just the tip of the iceberg, there are lots, lots more amazingly talented British wrestlers out there. And now even the WWE are realising that the British are here.