2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

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Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

HM: Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela, AEW Dynamite, 10/02
HM: Thunder Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch, AEW Dynamite, 10/02
MOTYC: Kenny Omega/KENTA vs. Jon Moxley/Lance Archer, AEW Dynamite, 10/02

nth these

# ¿ Feb 14, 2021 07:50

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 12:33

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

HM: Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga
MOTYC: Emi Sakura vs VENY
HM: Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami
HM: Rin Kadokura vs Aja Kong

All from AEW Women's Eliminator Tournament Japan 15.02.

Nth this.

Disappointed that VENY and Itoh were eliminated, they both looked great

# ¿ Feb 18, 2021 03:18

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

MassRafTer posted:

From tonight's Dynamite

HM: The Young Bucks vs Proud and Powerful
MOTYC: Riho vs Serena Deeb

Punch McLightning posted:

HM: The Blade, The Butcher, & Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley, Lance Archer, & Rey Fenix from tonight's Dynamite

Nth

# ¿ Feb 18, 2021 10:48

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Neodoomium posted:

MOTYC:

Emi Sakura vs Yuka Sakazaki
Ryo Mizunami vs Aja Kong

AEW Women's World Championship Tournament, 2/22

Turns out Shida knows how to book a tournament and the people she picked are really loving good at wrestling

Nth

Alaois posted:

nth and i'll even toss in an HM

HM - Tay Conti vs Nyla Rose

And this one too.

I loved Britt's heeling tonight but Madi looked green

# ¿ Feb 23, 2021 06:22

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Lamuella posted:

HM: Eddie Kingston vs JD Drake. AEW Dark 23/02/2021

You'll see better matches this year, you'll see more athletic in-ring presentations, but if you think to yourself "I want to see two veteran bruisers just knock gently caress out of each other for five minutes" this is the match for you.

Nth

# ¿ Feb 25, 2021 02:15

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 2/24

HM: Hangman Adam Page vs. Isaiah Kassidy
MOTYC:Nyla Rose vs. Dr. Britt Baker
MOTYC: Lance Archer vs. Fenix

Nth

# ¿ Feb 25, 2021 15:04

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Jordan7hm posted:

MOTYC: Hikaru Shida, Mei Suruga and Rin Kadokura vs. Emi Sakura, Veny and Maki Itoh, AEW Women's Eliminator Tournament, 2/28

Same show:

HM for Yuka v Ryo (but this was reeeeal close for me)
HM for Rosa v Riho

Nth!

# ¿ Mar 2, 2021 00:25

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Pylons posted:

AEW Women's Eliminator Tournament 3/1

HM: Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa

graph posted:

HM: Stu Grayson vs. JD Drake, AEW Dark 3/2/21

this was way better than it had any right to be

Nth!

# ¿ Mar 4, 2021 06:44

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

MOTYC: Jade Cargill & Shaquille O'Neal vs Red Velvet & Cody Rhodes
HM: FTR & Tully Blanchard vs Jurassic Express
MOTYC: Nyla Rose vs Ryo Mizunami
HM: Hangmin & Hungiee vs Big Money Inc

All from AEW Dynamite 03.03

If you look at it from a pure match quality perspective that first match was probably closer to a HM, but given that one team consisted of two people who had (to my knowledge) literally never wrestled a match before it means that it was clearly the best laid out and agented match that I've ever seen, and as such a literal gold standard which makes it must-see. Also it retroactively justified all those long months of buildup segments.

Nth

# ¿ Mar 4, 2021 18:22

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Punch McLightning posted:

Y'all are really freaking me out, since I thought the Shaq tag was a respectable 1 1/2 star match, and I think I generally rate AEW high.

I don't feel like I understand enough of the technical aspects of wrestling (what's difficult, what's not, how a match should be structured etc) so I'm rating entirely from the gut. HM means I'd show it to friends who like the promotion. MOTYC means I'd tell anyone who likes wrestling that they need to see it.

I think booking a match such that Shaq is fun to watch and goes through a table without injuring himself, while also making Red Velvet continue to look great, while also giving a solid debut to Jade, while also being the first (I think?) intergender tag* on Dynamite is enough that I've already told my wrestling pals that they need to watch it. It was all about the spectacle and, as others have said, the excellent booking and planning that went into the match.

*does a tag match count as intergender if they manage the tags so it's always man v man and woman v woman? I think we've had more actual intergender wrestling from Penelope Ford interfering in Kip's matches.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2021 23:51

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

AEW Revolution

MOTYC: Young Bucks vs MJF and Jericho
MOTYC: Casino Tag Team Battle Royale
MOTYC: Hikaru Shida vs Ryo Mizunami
MOTYC: Darby and Sting vs Team Taz
MOTYC: Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley
HM: Women's Tag (from the buy in)
HM: Hangman Adam Page vs Big Money Matt
HM: Ladder Match

# ¿ Mar 9, 2021 01:12

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

AEW Dynamite 10/03

HM: Rey Fenix vs. Matt Jackson
HM: Britt Baker, Maki Itoh, Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida, Thunder Rosa, Ryo Mizunami

LionYeti posted:

The aew dynamite promos have caused me to reinstate my moty nomination for the exploding barbed wire deathmatch.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2021 07:01

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

CopywrightMMXI posted:

MOTYC: Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker, Mar 17 Dynamite, Lights Out match

Unnecessary Nth, and I'll 2nd the HM for Penta v Cody

# ¿ Mar 18, 2021 09:31

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

HM: Jungle Boy vs Danny Limelight
HM: QT Marshall vs Marko Stunt
HM: Max Caster vs Dante Martin
HM: Maki Itoh vs Riho

All from AEW Dark Elevation 15.03. Good show overall.

Nth

# ¿ Mar 18, 2021 09:36

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

I maintain my opinion that this is the best/worst matches thread and not the best/worst angles thread. And the Shingo/Ospreay match itself was basically flawless.

The flaw was that I had to spend most of the match being reminded that Will Ospreay exists and has a wrestling career

# ¿ Mar 21, 2021 13:23

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

A Fancy Hat posted:

HM

AEW Dark: Elevation 3/22/2021

Leyla Hirsch vs Ryo Mizunami

Ryo continues to be a great addition to AEW in terms of charisma and in-ring skills, this was a really fun match that made both Leyla and Ryo look like beasts.

Nth, Leyla looks better each time I see her

# ¿ Mar 24, 2021 02:24

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal, AEW Dynamite, 24/03
MOTYC: The Young Bucks/Brandon Cutler vs. Lucha Bros/Laredo Kid, AEW Dynamite, 24/03
HM: Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti, AEW Dynamite, 24/03
HM: Darby Allin vs. John Silver, AEW Dynamite, 24/03

Nth!

# ¿ Mar 25, 2021 23:15

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

karmicknight posted:

MOTYC: Ryo Mizunami vs. KiLynn King AEW Dark: Elevation 3/29/21.

match owned loving bones.

Nth, King looks like a star in the making

Rarity posted:

HM: Jungle Boy vs. Jack Evans, AEW Elevation, 29/03

Nth

Cerebral Bore posted:

HM: Christian Cage vs Frankie Kazarian
MOTYC: Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Good Brothers) vs Lucha Bros & Laredo Kid
HM: Hikaru Shida & Tay Conti vs Nyla Rose & The Bunny
MOTYC: Best Friends (Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor) vs Miro & Kip Sabian

All from AEW Dynamite 31.03. What a goddamn home run of a show this was.

Nth. Holy poo poo Miro looked incredible

# ¿ Apr 2, 2021 16:14

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

HM: Jurassic Express vs Bear Country
HM: Darby Allin vs JD Drake
HM: Tay Conti vs The Bunny
HM: Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs Jon Moxley & The Young Bucks

All from AEW Dynamite 07.04

Nth these

# ¿ Apr 9, 2021 02:47

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Jerusalem posted:

HM: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Danny Limelight - AEW Dark Elevation 4/12

This was so good, and it wasn't just Takeshita, Limelight lifted up to another level to keep up and it made for a hell of a match.

graph posted:

HM: Pac & Rey Fenix vs. Andre Montoya & Vary Morales, AEW Dark Elevation 12/4

just a loving wild murderfest

Nth these

# ¿ Apr 13, 2021 11:35

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: The Young Bucks vs. PAC/Fenix, AEW Dynamite, 15/04
HM: Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet, AEW Dynamite, 15/04
HM: Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood, AEW Dynamite, 15/04

Nth!

# ¿ Apr 16, 2021 05:30

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

flatluigi posted:

HM: Leyla Hirsch + Ryo Mizunami vs Nyla Rose + Madi Wrenkowski, Apr 19 AEW Dark Elevation

real fun match, gimme more aew women's tag matches

Pylons posted:

HM: Matt Sydal, Mike Sydal, & Danny Limelight vs. Kenny Omega, MT Nakazawa, and Konosuke Takeshita, 4/19 AEW Dark Elevation.

flatluigi posted:

HM: Max Caster vs Alan V Angels, AEW Dark 4/20

Nth!

# ¿ Apr 22, 2021 05:32

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

I Before E posted:

HM: Starks/Hangman
HM: Hobbs/Cage
HM: Darby/JB
MOTYC: Shida/Tay

All from Dynamite, 4/21

Rarity posted:

HM: Hangman Page vs. Brian Cage, AEW Dynamite, 28/04
HM: The Young Bucks vs. The Sydals, AEW Dynamite, 28/04
HM: Orange Cassidy vs. Penta el Zero Miedo, AEW Dynamite, 28/04
HM: Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford, AEW Dynamite, 28/04

Nth these, but I'm going MOTYC for OC vs Penta. I want to show my friends that match.

# ¿ May 1, 2021 05:51

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

MassRafTer posted:

MOTYC: Blood and Guts 5/5. Outstanding match, very heated, very good finish, fun bump at the end. Bloody MJF on top of the cage was a great performance.

Nth! Fun stuff, not perfect but gave me that MOTYC feeling in my tummy.

HM for QT vs Cody too

# ¿ May 6, 2021 10:51

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

graph posted:

HM: The Acclaimed vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss - AEW Dark 5/11/21

this was great intros to finish

Pylons posted:

AEW Dynamite 5/12

HM: Yuji Nagata vs. Jon Moxley, IWGP US Heavyweight Championship
MOTYC: Young Bucks vs. SCU, AEW World Tag Team Championship
MOTYC: Miro vs. Darby Allin, AEW TNT Championship

Nth

# ¿ May 13, 2021 08:12

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Pylons posted:

AEW Dark 5/18

HM: Fuego Del Sol vs. Lee Johnson
HM: Serpentico vs. Sonny Kiss

Nth

# ¿ May 20, 2021 12:32

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

A Fancy Hat posted:

HM: Christian Cage vs Matt Sydal
HM: Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley vs The Acclaimed
MOTYC: Serena Deeb vs Red Velvet
HM: Young Bucks vs Varsity Blonds

From AEW Dynamite 5/19/21.

People have already covered the greatness of 3 of these matches, but I also REALLY liked Eddie and Mox taking on the Acclaimed. It's not a match of the year or anything, but it was fun and Eddie and Mox's chemistry is amazing. Eddie perfectly plays the weird friend who keeps saying he'd murder someone if you need them to, it's great.

Nth, and just a fun vibe to the whole show. It really flew by

# ¿ May 21, 2021 01:04

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

I Before E posted:

HM: Ren Narita vs Royce Isaacs, Dark Elevation 5/24
HM: JD Drake vs Rocky Romero, Dark Elevation 5/24

Nth this, all praise the open forbidden door

# ¿ May 25, 2021 19:23

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Cerebral Bore posted:

HM: Hangman Page vs Joey Janela
HM: Jade Cargill vs Kilynn King
HM: Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) vs Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page

All from AEW Dynamite 28.05

Nth! Weird but fun show

# ¿ May 31, 2021 01:12

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: Serena Deeb (C) vs. Riho for the NWA Women's Championship - AEW Double or Nothing Pre-Show 5/30

Absolutely incredible atmosphere with the full crowd, two fantastic wrestlers, the sunset really added to the look of the match, and goddamn I always forget not only how great Riho is but how she just seems to have a natural babyface connection with the crowd. Plus Deeb is awesome too and... just a great match!

Absolutely Nth, I've missed crowds so much

# ¿ May 31, 2021 01:13

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: Hangman Page vs. Brian Cage, AEW Double Or Nothing, 5/30

loving fantastic

Never stop doing wrestling moves (Nth)

# ¿ May 31, 2021 01:18

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston, AEW Double or Nothing, 30/05

IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER

Yep yep yep

# ¿ May 31, 2021 01:50

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

HM: Casino Battle Royale, AEW Double or Nothing, 30/05

I'm an easy sell, everyone getting to come out to enjoy their first crowd pops in over a year was just wholesome

I'm absolutely fine with AEW battle royales just being pretty consistently good while telling multiple stories (which is to say I agree and, nth)

# ¿ May 31, 2021 02:33

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

HM: Cody vs. Anthony Ogogo, AEW Double or Nothing, 30/05

Big time coming out party for Ogogo, he's gonna be something

Nth, but the finish was deflating

# ¿ May 31, 2021 02:43

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

HM: Miro vs. Lance Archer, AEW Double or Nothing, 30/05

Miro's a beast

Nth. Had some MOTYC moments but finished a bit abruptly

# ¿ May 31, 2021 02:57

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

YourHumbleMessiah posted:

MOTYC: Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs Hikaru Shida, AEW Women's Championship Doubke or Nothing 5/30/21

!!!! Great+

Nth, I was mildly concerned at the start after every other match was 100 mph, but it built beautifully

# ¿ May 31, 2021 03:21

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

Rarity posted:

MOTYC: Darby Allin/Sting vs. Men of the Year, AEW Double or Nothing, 30/05

I had low expectations and they blew way past them, let Ethan and Darby just have a singles feud please

All Ego is over with me now and I get why he's in AEW. Nth

# ¿ May 31, 2021 03:41

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

sportsgenius86 posted:

MOTYC: Kenny Omega vs. Orange Cassidy vs. PAC, AEW Double or Nothing, 5/30

Orange Cassidy is legit one of the best wrestlers on earth

Nth, I'm dead

# ¿ May 31, 2021 04:17

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

flatluigi posted:

genuinely feel like tossing a motyc candidate to the entire card y'all

maybe one of the best ppvs i've seen in a long while

Yeah if MOTYC is "make time to watch this" then the whole show is that for sure

Jerusalem posted:

MOTYC: The Inner Circle vs. The Pinnacle in Stadium Stampede 2 - AEW Double or Nothing 5/30

Wonderful mix of cinematic and live, goofy fun and beating the poo poo out of each other, a ton of neat callbacks, a seamless transition to live and a superb ending to a great PPV. Hell yeah.

# ¿ May 31, 2021 05:06

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 12:33

Tarnop: Nov 25, 2013; Pull me out

HM: Penta vs Jack Evans, AEW Dark: Elevation 31/05

It's a Dark match so they don't go as hard as they both can, but it's still a fun match. They have great chemistry, there's some fun poo poo-talking and a heart-warming moment during Penta's entrance

# ¿ Jun 1, 2021 21:51

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > 2021's Best and Worst Pro-Wrestling Matches of the Year (plus Recommended)

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