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Match of the Month
This poll is closed.
Jun Kasai vs Hyper Misao 3 2.91%
Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA 7 6.80%
Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 27 26.21%
Seth Rollins vs The Miz 4 3.88%
Tomohiro Ishii vs Keith Lee 4 3.88%
Will Ospreay vs Matt Riddle 5 4.85%
Flyer & Volador Jr vs Ultimo Guerrero & Templario 2 1.94%
Muscle JK Strikers vs Ito Respect Army 2 1.94%
Dragon Lee vs SHO 3 2.91%
Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado 11 10.68%
Io Shirai vs Momo Watanabe 8 7.77%
Kento Miyahara vs Naomichi Marufuji 8 7.77%
La Familia Real vs Los Ingobernables 9 8.74%
KUSHIDA vs SHO 2 1.94%
Cedric Alexander vs Buddy Murphy 6 5.83%
None of the Above/Other 2 1.94%
Total: 52 votes
[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

 
  • Locked thread
TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



Saying "Its been a great month for pro wrestling" has become an almost worn out statement with how often promotions are hitting it out of the park. Nearly every major promotion had at least one match make this month's list. Miyahara and Marufuji put on a match that many All Japan diehards say may be the match of the year. Io Shirai and Momo Watanabe put on a stellar match in Stardom, while Tokyo Joshi Pro proved that Stardom isn't the only joshi promotion of note. New Japan continued to cement its reputation as a best bout machine with the Okada vs Tanahashi match leaving fans crying and the Best of Super Juniors tournament elevating its contestants. CMLL's Torneo Gran Alternativa ended spectacularly and L.A. Park shook up the main event scene in what looks to be an angle towards a mask vs hair match against Rush. The British indie scene got buzz with Lee vs Ishii and Ospreay vs Riddle. While WWE's month was a bit rough, it still brought us Miz vs Rollins and 205 Live continues to produce great matches that not enough people see. Watch it! It's good now!

Unfortunately I was not made aware of any significant fights from the actual fighting sports. MMA fans, make use of MMA's Best and Worst thread. If the other sports have something similar let me know because I haven't seen it.

This thread is for matches from all sports that this subforum covers, although most will probably be from the pro wrestling side. Matches are eligible for match of the month based upon when they become legally available (TV broadcasts, streaming services, VOD, etc.) with a bit more wiggle room for matches only on physical release.

As a side note, I usually bump the thread near the end of the month to post the next month's matches so people can check them out early. Would you rather I continue doing that or make a new thread on the 1st and the poll on the 7th after people have had time to watch?

Jun Kasai vs Hyper Misao
Tokyo Joshi Pro YES! WONDERLAND 2018 - May 3rd

Will Ospreay (c) vs KUSHIDA for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
New Japan Wrestling Dontaku - May 4th

Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
New Japan Wrestling Dontaku - May 4th

Seth Rollins (c) vs The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
WWE Backlash - May 6th (entrances starts at 3:25)

Tomohiro Ishii vs Keith Lee
Rev Pro Wrestling Epic Encounter - May 11th

Will Ospreay vs Matt Riddle
OTT ScrapperMania IV - May 12th

Flyer & Volador Jr vs Ultimo Guerrero & Templario
CMLL Gran Alternativa Finals - May 18th (video should go to 1:42:30)

Muscle JK Strikers (Reika Saiki & Marika Kobashi) (c) vs. Ito Respect Army (Maki Ito & Mizuki) for the Tokyo Princess Tag Team Championships
Tokyo Joshi Pro Let's Go to Kitazawa in the Spring, Bring Your Friends! - May 19th

Dragon Lee vs SHO
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors - May 19th (entrances start at 1:07:00)

Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors - May 22nd (entrances start at 2:11:30)

Io Shirai (c) vs Momo Watanabe for the Wonder of Stardom Championship
Stardom Gold Star - May 23rd

Kento Miyahara (c) vs Naomichi Marufuji for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
AJPW 2018 Super Power Series - May 24th

La Familia Real (LA Park, Volador Jr, Flyer) vs. Los Ingobernables (Rush, Terrible, Bestia del Ring)
CMLL Arena Mexico - May 25th (video should start at 1:51:00)

KUSHIDA vs SHO
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors - May 27th

Cedric Alexander (c) vs Buddy Murphy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
WWE 205 Live - May 29th (entrances start at 21:55)

None of the Above/Other
If none of these matches are notable to you, this is the option for you. If you have something you think should really be on here, go ahead and vote for this and mention it in the thread.



All Results (click emblem for tallies, links go to the match)
Andrade "Cien" Almas (c) vs Johnny Gargano for the NXT Men's Championship (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia - January 27th)
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Seiya Sanada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW The New Beginning - February 10th)
The Golden☆Lovers vs The Young Bucks (New Japan: Strong Style Evolved - March 25th)
Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa (NXT: TakeOver: New Orleans - April 7th)

TTBF fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Jun 7, 2018

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Cavauro
Jan 9, 2008

i voted for 2 of the matches. How about you

MassRafTer
May 26, 2001

BAEST MODE!!!
It's gotta be LA Park. I mean that was the best match of the year and this month happened in this year.

forkboy84
Jun 13, 2012

Corgis love bread. And Puro


I'm leaning towards Miyahara Marufuji but will watch Ingobernables 6 man to watch first.

Really was an excellent month of wrestling when Okada Tanahashi is only in the top 3.

super macho dude
Aug 9, 2014


Kento/Marufuji was the best match ever that no one actually watched in May.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I like that you bump the thread at the end of the month to prep for the next one, I think that's a good idea.

Also Okada/Tanahashi got my vote, because those two basically can do no wrong.

oatgan
Jan 15, 2009

hiromu/despy thanks for playing everybody!

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



super macho dude posted:

Kento/Marufuji was the best match ever that no one actually watched in May.

All Japan gets love here, but it seems to barely be on the minds of wreddit or Meltzer. That seems to be the thing limiting All Japan from getting more eyes on it. I don't really know how to fix that, which is a shame because I do think a lot of people who don't like New Japan would be into All Japan's style.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I'd love to watch All Japan but I barely have time to keep up with New Japan alone, and I really don't want to add ANOTHER monthly fee for online streaming on top of what I already have. I feel bad about that, but there's only so much time in a day.

forkboy84
Jun 13, 2012

Corgis love bread. And Puro


Jerusalem posted:

I'd love to watch All Japan but I barely have time to keep up with New Japan alone, and I really don't want to add ANOTHER monthly fee for online streaming on top of what I already have. I feel bad about that, but there's only so much time in a day.
I know the feeling. My All Japan viewing is strictly the same as my CMLL: find what folk are bigging up as very good and looking for it on Daily Motion. If it's not there? Tough titties for me. If I was to get another monthly streaming service I think Dragon Gate is what I'd look into.

MassRafTer
May 26, 2001

BAEST MODE!!!

forkboy84 posted:

I know the feeling. My All Japan viewing is strictly the same as my CMLL: find what folk are bigging up as very good and looking for it on Daily Motion. If it's not there? Tough titties for me. If I was to get another monthly streaming service I think Dragon Gate is what I'd look into.

Luckily every CMLL show goes on youtube so you don't need to worry about Daily Motion!

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



The CMLL YouTube uploads at 720p, which is probably much better than whatever Daily Motion uploads you see.

SatoshiMiwa
May 6, 2007


Watching the CMLL card tonight will be a great warm up for Dominion and may even have matches better than Dominion!

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



We have roughly two days left in the poll. If you've been waiting to cast your vote you should do it soon.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

I WONDER WHAT WILL WIN NEXT MONTH!!?!?! :laugh:

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

Gargano/Ciampa 2.

MJeff
Jun 2, 2011

THE LIAR
Gonna be tough to top Roman vs. Jinder for sure.

SatoshiMiwa
May 6, 2007


Maybe if Money in the Bank was actually Long Boys in the Bank it could have a chance

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



Jerusalem posted:

I WONDER WHAT WILL WIN NEXT MONTH!!?!?! :laugh:

L.A. Park is having a pretty good year.

KungFu Grip
Jun 18, 2008

Jerusalem posted:

I WONDER WHAT WILL WIN NEXT MONTH!!?!?! :laugh:

Ishimori vs. Hiromu

MassRafTer
May 26, 2001

BAEST MODE!!!
Miedo Extremo vs Eric Ryan

Cavauro
Jan 9, 2008

If by next month you mean the poll for the month that it currently is, it will be Okada vs Omega.

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



Depending on how many matches we have, I might put Okada vs Omega (full match) and then the three falls as different matches. I don't expect any of the individual falls to win, but since people can cast multiple votes it'd be an interesting look at which parts were more well liked.

e: if goons do the comedy option of making one of the falls the winner I'm still going to give it to the match as a whole.

John Dudebro
Dec 3, 2013

you should just declare Okada/Omega the winner and do a Runner-Up Of The Month poll

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Each of the three individual falls didn't exist in isolation though, it was all part of the greater whole.

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



John Dudebro posted:

you should just declare Okada/Omega the winner and do a Runner-Up Of The Month poll

Nah, I gotta give a chance to vote. There could be some wild card candidate, and there's definitely going to be people who don't watch New Japan (or outright dislike it) and I still wanna give them a voice. That's also the reason I keep Honorable Mentions in, since I've seen quite a few "I can't go MOTYC since I won't get enough support but I'll go with HM instead." That has dropped a lot since Jerusalem started counting MOTYC votes as HM votes, but it still happens.

Jerusalem posted:

Each of the three individual falls didn't exist in isolation though, it was all part of the greater whole.

I would say that's also true of Okada vs Tanahashi and Okada vs Omega, but not to the same extent so I see your point. It's one of the reasons I put ideas I've been kicking around in this thread instead of just doing something and hoping its well received.

KungFu Grip
Jun 18, 2008

Jerusalem posted:

Each of the three individual falls didn't exist in isolation though, it was all part of the greater whole.

Big Daddy Dave rates gauntlets separately so I'm sure this one will be too.

forkboy84
Jun 13, 2012

Corgis love bread. And Puro


KungFu Grip posted:

Big Daddy Dave rates gauntlets separately so I'm sure this one will be too.

2 out of 3 falls matches aren't gauntlets though? Does anyone review each fall in a Lucha match? I suspect not.

Cavauro
Jan 9, 2008

2/3 falls are officially a gauntlet match.

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



The votes are in, the poll is closed, and Lowtax spent money developing a forum feature that can be replicated by the home key instead of fixing search or the polls. Our winner for May is

Kazuchika Okadac vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - May 4th)

Even if you haven't been following New Japan long enough to grasp the full scale of this match (and I haven't) the extremely hot crowd's reactions tell you exactly what you need to know. It was a highly emotional match that left Tanahashi's fans crying. Like most matches on these polls that win by a landslide, you should really check it out!

Second place was Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado, which was my favorite match of the BOSJ tournament. The hatred that El Desperado showed to Hiromu surprised Hiromu and forced him to no longer take El Desperado lightly. El Desperado fought like a demon, and even as Hiromu tore at his mask he did not let up. This is a great match and it elevated El Desperado from "Suzuki's lucha goblin" to being a strong junior heavyweight threat.

In third place we have La Familia Real vs Los Ingobernables. While "LA Park is having a really good year" has become a bit of a meme on twitter, it is absolutely true. If you are not tuning into at least one of CMLL's weekly shows (free on their YouTube channel) you are really missing out. This specific match is the start of a feud between LA Park and Rush that will (hopefully) end with a mask vs hair match between the two at the anniversary show. If you're confused about lucha rules pop into our lucha thread and someone will help you out.

Fourth place is a tie between Io Shirai vs Momo Watanabe (Stardom) and Kento Miyahara vs Naomichi Marufuji (All Japan). Neither of these promotions get the attention they deserve and if you have the money to spare on another wrestling subscription service, I'd suggest considering Stardom World and/or All Japan TV. You might also want to check out DDT Universe which has a one month free trial and covers both DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro.

I don't have a big graphic this time since I'm on vacation for the month and don't have the files with me. Whoops. If you're an artist and would like to make a better looking template for me in exchange for a forums upgrade/avatar/whatever DM me or post in this thread if you don't have DMs.

All Results (click emblem for tallies, links go to the match)
Andrade "Cien" Almasc vs Johnny Gargano for the NXT Men's Championship (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia - January 27th)
Kazuchika Okadac vs Seiya Sanada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (NJPW The New Beginning - February 10th)
The Golden☆Lovers vs The Young Bucks (New Japan: Strong Style Evolved - March 25th)
Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa (NXT: TakeOver: New Orleans - April 7th)
Kazuchika Okadac vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship - (NJPW Wrestling Dontaku - May 4th)

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Oh man you should totally take some time if you can and check out Okada and Tanahashi's other matches. Every single one is amazing and until Omega came along most people would have thought of Tanahashi as Okada's greatest rival. Many may still see things that way to be honest, if only because they got to see the power dynamic between the two shift over multiple years and it was an incredible journey. I was lucky enough to be there live to see them fight at WrestleKingdom 10 and up until last year's Dominion it was the best wrestling match I had ever seen in my life.

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



We've too many MotYCs and HMs from pro wrestling to fit on one poll. The MotYCs are automatically in, but if your favorite match of the month was an HM let me know or it won't go on the poll.

MMA has one fight on the poll (Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero, UFC 225, 9th June 2018.) that I'm aware of.

TTBF
Sep 14, 2005



With a bit of time left, here's a look at June's nominees

Dragon Lee vs. El Desperado
NJPW Best of Super Juniors Finals - June 3rd

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori
NJPW Best of Super Juniors Final - June 4th

Sanada and EVILc vs. The Young Bucks for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
NJPW Dominion - June 9th

Will Ospreayc vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
NJPW Dominion - June 9th

Tetsuya Naitoc vs. Chris Jericho for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
NJPW Dominion - June 9th

Kazuchika Okadac vs. Kenny Omega in a 2-out-of-3 Falls/No Time Limit match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
NJPW Dominion - June 9th

Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero
UFC 225 - June 9th

Io Shirai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Meiko Satomura
Kenta Kobashi Produce: Fortune Dream 5 - June 11th

Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in a Streetfight
NXT TakeOver: Chicago - June 16th (video package at 1:49:00, entrances at 1:53:30)

Hiromu Takahashic vs. El Desperado for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship
NJPW Kizuna Road - June 18th (parade of champions and video package at 1:50:45, entrances at 1:54:00)

LA Park vs Rush
CMLL Arena Mexico - June 22nd (should autolink to 1:56:55)

Darby vs WALTER
EVOLVE 106 - June 24th

King Phoenix vs. Barbaro Cavernario
CMLL Arena Mexico - June 29th (should autolink to 1:30:35)

A link to just the match from Fortune Dream 5 would be helpful, as would a link to EVOLVE 106 on their streaming service.

TTBF fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Jul 2, 2018

forkboy84
Jun 13, 2012

Corgis love bread. And Puro


Can't help with an Evolve link, but Puroresu Dream has the Fortune Dream show here. The entrances for the match in question begin at 56:15

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GEORGE W BUSHI
Jul 1, 2012

Direct link to Io/Hiroyo/Meiko on Rutube

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