BWOTYear: 2016, A Year in Review + The BWOTW Awards

Hello there readers, and welcome to this retrospective of the fucking strange year that was 2016. 

Now, this blog celebrates the best matches that grace our various screens of all sizes. But not only will we be looking at the best wrestling matches of 2016, for we shall also give recognition to those who excelled in other aspects of pro wrestling. Also, although the weekly format picks out the one best, in this special year review, we'll take a look at the best ten, as there have a been a load of awesome matches, and because it is very hard to decide.

And so, here it is....

The Best Matches of the Year

AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura - WrestleKingdom 10

Dailymotion - Vimeo

A match here that took place a couple months before the start of this blog, but that doesn't really matter because this was class. Taking place at New Japan's biggest show of 2016, WrestleKingdom 10, AJ Styles challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. 

At the time, AJ was dealing with a niggling back injury, but you could watch this and not even be able to tell anything was wrong with him. Everything was crisp, good as ever and he held nothing back. Plus, when you're going in there with Nakamura, at WrestleKingdom in the Tokyo Dome, you've gotta bring your all. These guys kicked the shit out of each other, painful looking spots, and it was all sewn together into an instant classic. 

The next night at New Year's Dash, AJ Styles would say farewell to New Japan, ready to venture to the new shores of WWE, and Nakamura was soon to follow. Speaking of which...

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn - TakeOver: Dallas

Dailymotion - Vimeo - WWE Network

Oh my fuck, what a match. I love it.

We're at WrestleMania weekend here, and this was the best damn match Texas witnessed. Nakamura's debut could not have gone better; a hell of a reaction, a hot crowd, and an amazing match with Sami Zayn.

This is probably the match with the best crowd division ever. 'Na-ka-mu-ra/Sa-mi-Zayn!' rung out for a good long time, followed later by the 'Fight Forever!' chant synonymous with this match. 

What boggles my mind to this day about this is that it is said these two hardly, if at all, discussed anything about this match. They never encountered each other beforehand... HOW!? This match looked like something done between two guys who have wrestled each other for years, or at least talked about thoroughly. The sequences in this one were so complex, so insane, it was like watching poetry. 

We had Nakamura's awesome entrance kicking us off, and then the match ended with an NXT farewell to Sami Zayn who then rocked in the ladder match the next night at WrestleMania 32. Both beautiful moments.

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens - Battleground

Dailymotion - WWE Network

Hands down my favourite match between these two in WWE, possibly ever, we have Sami Zayn popping up on this list once more, taking on Kevin Owens.

This match was brutal, with some wrestling that looked nasty as shit. That brainbuster on the apron is probably the most horrific spot this whole goddamn year. Zayn fucked up a moonsault to the outside which proved more beneficial awry than it would have if it was successful, which is a testament to the knowledge these two have about storytelling in wrestling. 

This felt like a match fuelled by piss and vinegar, proper blood feud. Owens and Zayn are masters at conveying emotion in wrestling, Zayn was still awesome even under the Generico mask. It was so compelling. Perhaps at the time this feud didn't get the build it deserved, but I am hopeful somewhere down the line these guys will be the main event story.

Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa - Cruiserweight Classic Episode 4

Dailymotion - WWE Network

The final first round match of the Cruiserweight Classic saw the tag team partners of Tommaso 'Have-To-Check-The-Spelling-Of-That-Every-Goddamn-Time' Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. 

This match told probably the best story this year. All you needed to know was these guys are tag partners, the promo package beforehand and everything was self contained. You didn't need weeks of RAWs or the like to build this match up to tell a massive story. Just a brief video, the match and the aftermath gave us a lovely story. 'I hit to hurt, not to injure' from Ciampa was a great line and was acted out greatly in the ring.

This was stiff. They did not go lightly on each other, which only went towards making the entire tournament appear even more important. And this was the first round remember, up until now the majority of the bracket had been 'more well known guy vs lesser known guy' and it was kinda obvious would win. This one however, it was up in the air. Kept me guessing and firmly positioned on the edge of my seat.

Kota Ibushi vs Cedric Alexander - Cruiserweight Classic Episode 5

Dailymotion - WWE Network

Just one episode later in the Cruiserweight Classic and we got this barn burner. The match that arguably got Cedric Alexander signed to the WWE, his face off with Kota Ibushi was a fucking classic.

Alexander's balls to the wall approach to this match was a sight to behold in his challenging of the world-class talent that is Ibushi. The emotion was dripping off of him, and the reactions of the crowd fuelled the flames. It was also so valiant, and the shift from determination to desperation could be seen all over Cedric's face. Even in defeat, you had to admire the man, him and Ibushi put on a clinic, and those "Please-sign-Ced-ric" chants were well warranted.

The Revival vs #DIY - TakeOver Brooklyn II

Dailymotion - WWE Network

We're in August now and at TakeOver: Brooklyn II, and the NXT Tag Team Championships are the focus of this bad boy. Just under a month removed from their clash in the Cruiserweight Classic, Ciampa and Gargano challenge The Revival in this amazing match up.

Lots of support for #DIY, a lot of us were more than half expecting them to win with the push they received in the lead up to this. It was this sort of desire that boosted the emotional power of this match, with the glimmers of hope when it looked to be swinging in their favour, and the ruination of it by Dash and Dawson made those emotions take a dip into despair. 

Simply put, it was another instance of The Revival having a tag team wrestling version of King Midas's touch; another match turned to gold here.

AJ Styles vs John Cena - SummerSlam

Dailymotion - WWE Network

The night after the previous entry, it's SummerSlam. Amidst the various okay-ish matches that peppered the show, this insta-classic shone like a torch through pitch as it's saving grace.

The conclusion to the brewing fantasy feud, AJ Styles and John Cena go toe-to-toe, Brooklyn was blessed that day. This was a big 'holy shit!' match, with amazing sequences, massive spots, and lots of sphincter tightening tension. As a guy cheering AJ on at fuck-knows o'clock in the morning, I was hugely invested in this match, watching with a constantly shifting mix of elated grins and gritted teeth. 

It is another instance of Cena showing that he can fucking wrestle. If a balls out match is needed, a balls out match you will get. Their match at Money in the Bank was a much more story driven match, with The Club being a big question mark lingering, but this was the definitive bout. AJ Styles versus John Cena. No gimmicks. No shit. Pure wrestling.

The Young Bucks vs The Addiction vs The Motor City Machine Guns - All-Star Extravaganza VIII

Ring of Honour takes centre stage now and sweet shit they went above and beyond and back again. The tag team division is one of ROH's strongest assets, and throwing these three great teams together and some good stuff was bound to happen. Throw them together with ladders, some tables and a few chairs and it jumped to the next level.

Christopher Daniels died for our sins in this match. The blood was intense, verging on unsettling at the end of it. Despite the loss of copious amounts of life force, he didn't take any breaks, took the brunt of even more big moves and made sure everything went swimmingly. 

One of the coolest things ever this year was seen in this match, a Meltzer Driver off the ladder through a table, the setup seen in the picture above. Say what you will about The Young Bucks, but they know how to make a match 12 times more awesome than it currently is.

The Young Bucks vs Pentagon Jr. & Fenix - Battle of Los Angeles, Stage Three

The Young Bucks are back again, this time in Reseda, California, for the third night of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. This time their against another brother duo in the shape of Fenix and Pentagon Jr. 

Hahaholy fuck this match had some incredible action in it (evidence above). I pray I get to see Fenix and Pentagon team a lot more in the future, because they are insane together. On their own they're amazing, then having them in the same match, and having The Young Bucks there to work with, money making formula. 

This was my personal highlight of the BOLA tournament, and just thinking about it gets me raring to go for another PWG event. They had one sometime earlier in December, but God knows when we'll see that released, let alone a preview video. Regardless, PWG know how to deliver, and deliver they did.

The Revival vs #DIY - TakeOver: Toronto


Dailymotion (Starts a couple minutes in) - WWE Network (It hasn't got its match links up, so its a link to the whole show, sorry)

They're back again! The Revival + #DIY = Am-A-Zing

It's 2 out of 3 Falls this time around and my God it added so much to the match. Each fall felt more important than the last, as the match progressed, so did the drama of it all. When you compare this to their prior clash at Brooklyn, you can see how far #DIY have come as a team, and their is a clear evolution of their approach to facing The Revival. Rematches are always at their best when you can see callbacks to the previous encounter; where Ciampa may have been blindsided before, he countered this time and so on. 

Somehow, Dash and Dawson managed to be even more dastardly, but this time, there was a more distinct feel of desperation on their part. This undying endurance from #DIY and clawing lust for life from The Revival meshed into a concoction of gods fighting for Earth itself. 

The finish was the most amped I had been in a long time, the side-by-side submission holds were a sight to behold and made for one last utterance of tension and strife. What a class match.

There you have it readers, my 'Top 10 Matches of 2016', if I had to pick one to coronate one as the best, I'd ask for more time. Some were better than others, but distinguishing between them is a nigh impossible task all things considered. 

And now, for a look at those who stood out amongst the pack these past 12 months, it's time for...

The 2016 BWOTW Awards

Male Competitor of the Year: AJ Styles

What can I say? From the Tokyo Dome then debuting at the Rumble in January, to being WWE World Champion in December, AJ Styles has had a phenomenal year, no two ways about it. You'd struggle to find a bad match of his from this year, though his booking may have been a bit shaky in the Jericho feud, he made sure those matches ruled. Lets look at all the programmes he's had this year; Jericho, Reigns, Cena, Ambrose, they've all been great to watch. Styles has become, in my opinion, the top heel in the WWE, on par with Kevin Owens. He's been able to embrace the cocky dick side of his character, reminiscent of his Bullet Club days, and has become a regular highlight in the wrestling week.

Female Competitor of the Year: Charlotte

As with AJ, though her booking may not have been the greatest, she has consistently been able to make some matches a joy to watch. History was made when she became the first holder of the reinstated WWE Women's Championship (now RAW Women's Championship), stealing the show at WrestleMania alongside her Horsewomen companions, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. In maintaining her flawless Pay-Per-View record, her matches at these have always stood out in some way. There's no denying the effort Charlotte puts in to making her matches memorable, whether it be through throwing caution to the wind by taking to the air, or by embracing more hardcore/extreme action. 

Tag Team of the Year: The Revival

SAY YEAH! 

Dash and Dawson, The Revival, stood out in 2016. Despite being crowned NXT Tag Team Champions in November of 2016, they were a relatively un-established team, not even going by their 'Revival' moniker. However, they made people take notice, delivering classic after classic after classic in their feuds with American Alpha and #DIY. It's gotten to the point that when you see these two walk to the ring, you can expect a tag team wrestling clinic to be on show. These guys certainly do go hard, all day and night.

Title Reign of the Year: The Miz - Intercontinental Champion

Whatever I may feel towards The Miz, I have to admit that his reign as Intercontinental Champion was great. He immediately pissed me off by taking the title from Zack Ryder, and from then on he continued to be a prick. As well as all his heel antics, he also managed to put on some really good matches too; the Fatal-4-Way at Extreme Rules, plus his surprisingly good series with Ziggler. We can't not discuss his ongoing feud with Daniel Bryan. His promos on Talking Smack and all their segments together have been a joy to watch, and fundamental in The Miz becoming as good a champion as he is.

Brand/Promotion of the Year: NXT

Yes, NXT wins it. From putting on awesome TakeOvers to having a myriad of debuts, NXT has stood out amongst the rest. Dallas, The End, Brooklyn II, Toronto, plus their great shows at Osaka and Melbourne, NXT have been knocking out of the park. You just have to scroll up to see the incredible matches the brand has seen this year, plus many more. NXT has changed drastically since last year, with big name additions making up a lot of the roster; Nakamura, Roode, Almas, Aries, Strong, TM61, Young, Moon, plus more yet to debut. NXT is set to make a big impact in the coming year too.

Feud of the Year: AJ Styles vs John Cena

The feud that many thought would never occur, Mr. TNA vs Mr. WWE, the leader of The Bullet Club vs the leader of the Cenation, AJ Styles vs John Cena. Right from the off this feud was hot, with the initial pleasantries and then the Styles attack, it was all exciting stuff. We had standout promos, with Styles notching up the intensity and passion - 'People like you bury people like me'. Their match at Money in the Bank was great, then SummerSlam took all we knew and flipped it upside down. With Styles taking the name of 'The Face that Runs the Place', the effects and battle scars have lingered, and with Cena's recent return and challenge, we'll be getting Styles/Cena one more time at the Royal Rumble. Who knows what's next in store?

Innovation of the Year: Cruiserweight Classic 

From it's announcement early in the year to its debut on the WWE Network, I was seriously hyped for the Crusierweight Classic, and then that was accentuated when the lineup was announced. Guys who I had wanted to see in WWE (e.g Sabre Jr, Cedric, Ibushi, Gulak) and those returning stars (Kendrick and Tajiri) plus the usage of NXT wrestlers Ciampa, Gargano and the then yet to debut Swann. Week after week we got incredible matches, the bar being raised night after night. And now, we have a dedicated division and a network show, along with the new Cruiserweight Championship. Added to this the fact this appears to be an annual event, WWE have staked their claim in expanding their horizons, especially now with the rumoured women's tournament, and the upcoming United Kingdom Championship Tournament.

Pay-Per-View/Special Event of the Year: TakeOver Dallas

Just look at the card; Aries/Corbin, Bayley/Asuka, American Alpha/The Revival, Joe/Balor and Nakamura/Zayn. Whilst Aries and Corbin was the weakest link, it was still a real good match. Plus with the standout tag match accompanied by the downfall of Bayley and the crowning of Asuka, the event was made even better. Then you add to this my favourite of the Joe/Balor series, with the blood of Joe ramping things up. Finally, you put the jewel in the crown that is Nakamura/Zayn - a bonafide classic. What a great show, a fucking great show at that. 

Shock of the Year: Goldberg vs Lesnar - Survivor Series

Who saw this coming? Nobody. 

Goldberg at his finest, destroying fuckers. My God I was so worried this was gonna be a shitshow, with Lesnar winning and souring my week. Nope. Monday morning, break time at school, watched this on my friends phone and reacted like a madman. Incredible stuff. Also in the running was AJ's debut, however there was a lot of signs and indications in the lead up to it, as was Shane's return. But, this takes the cake as I felt it went from expecting one extreme to delivering the other. He was right, he did have (at least) one last ass-kicking left in him.
 
Spot of the Year: Shane McMahon and his WrestleMania Moment

C'mon now, how can you dispute this one? Shane O'Mac risking life and limb, diving from the top of the Cell in a bid to try and put The Deadman down and claim Monday Night RAW as his own. No matter how many times you watch it, it is exhilarating to watch. I remember being sat in my living room, on edge as he stood on the top looking down, and then being in awe during and after it. 

The Closing Thought

2016, as bad as it was overall around the world, it was a fucking great year in wrestling. WWE has shaken things up drastically, with the big name additions on both the main roster and NXT, the brand split, the Cruiserweights, added to this all the awesome matches they had to offer, 2016 was the best year in WWE for quite some time. After the debacle that was 'The Divas Revolution' the year before, the women's roster became more serious and key part of the shows. Tag team wrestling has gained a brighter spotlight all over the world, with some truly great teams getting recognition. It livened up, it gave us more reasons to watch, and was the spawning point for why I started this blog in the first place. I felt that wrestling was becoming so much better, and I needed an outlet to express my thoughts on it. I figured I could help those jaded and lapsed fans see the good stuff that there is in the wrestling world, and show it off to those newer fans. 2016, you've done me a great service, and you've set 2017 up to be a killer year. 

Thanks for checking this one out guys, hope you liked it, hope you thought I did a good job of summarising these past 12 months, and I hope next year will be great for you in whatever paths you choose to take. Have a good one!

BWOTW: 26/9/16 - 1/10/16

Ahoy my dear readers and welcome to this latest (for now) edition of 'Noah's Best Wrestling of the Week' AKA 'The Blood of an Angel'

Philip J. Fry - new owner of TNA Wrestling

Quick note on that, as of right now, no-one really knows what's going on with TNA, hopefully we all come out on the better side.

As is the norm around these parts, before we dive elbow first into the good stuff, let us first move our gaze into looking at the news of the week;

1. Drew Gulak and Tony Nese were on RAW! It appears that they have some sort of deal that has them working both EVOLVE and RAW, which is ridiculously cool because I can't get enough Drew Gulak in my life (but WWE, the fuck have you done to his theme you bastards!)
2. Tetsuya Naito has won the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from Michael Elgin. And just like last time he had a belt, it didn't take long for him to toss it around without a care in the world.
3. Having already being booked for ROH's UK tour in November, it appears Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay will now be ROH regulars. As a massive fan of these two, and a wrestling fan proud of his country's scene, C'MON YA BASTARD!
4. Speaking of ROH, The Young Bucks have claimed the ROH Tag Team Championships for the second time. The Bullet Club take over more of the wrestling world.
5. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is coming our way soon! Competing teams have begun to be announced on wwe.com, and so far they include:

• The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
• Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano
• Tino Sabbatelli & Riddick Moss
• Hideo Itami & Kota Ibushi - How fucking cool does that sound?
• Cedric Alexander & Andrade 'Cien' Almas - Again, how fucking cool does that sound?
• Tye Dillinger & Bobby Roode - One more time, how fucking cool does that sound?

WWE Clash of Champions

Best Match on CoC: Cesaro vs Sheamus - Best of Seven Series Final
Honourable Mention(s): The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson - RAW Tag Team Championship Match
TJ Perkins vs Brian Kendrick - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match

Before we look at the matches, I think that this was possibly the coolest thing of the night. TJP, you know how to make an entrance, mate.

It's RAW's first standalone pay-per-view, it's Clash of Champions. As you can see from my awfully cluttered listing, this show had some good matches, but the best of the batch was the blow-off match to the Best of Seven Series, Sheamus versus Cesaro. 

These guys went fucking hard, bell-to-bell. It really felt like these two went out there to prove something, and I wouldn't be surprised if they legitimately were. It had aspects of all the matches so far in the series, like Cesaro's niggling injuries came into play with Sheamus focusing attention on his lower back, and the theme of being the toughest came through with both men taking all these painful looking moves. Sheamus's new super drop on his knee is possibly the most wince-inducing thing I've seen in a while. Cesaro also pulled out some new shit, deciding to dial it up;

It was a bit clunky and it looked like he might have hit Sheamus right on the schnoz, but it sure was cool.

Now, there was one particularly scary moment in the latter half of the match, with Cesaro deciding to go for the suicide dive, that earned it's name right here, and landing like a javelin;

And even after this, both of them continued to destroy each other, a testament to both of 
these guys determination to put on a bloody good match - Cesaro for his endurance and as for Sheamus, some may have decided to tone it down a notch in case of hurting Cesaro a tad more, but he responded well to Cesaro's continued assault. 

They spilled into the audience, with both on the concrete floor. This is where the match gets soured a bit; the decision is made to deem it a tie with the ref stating neither were in any shape to compete. Whilst this was a bit of an annoyance, it did give us a great quote from Cesaro;

'I've fought with one arm before, JESUS!'

As a whole, it was much better than how I expected it to be, easily the best match of the series and of the Pay-Per-View.

Monday Night RAW

Best Match on RAW (26/9/16): Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann vs Lince Dorado & Drew Gulak


We're donning purple once again as RAW turns to the Cruiserweights. Whilst TJP and Tony Nese had a really good match later in the night, I felt that this tag team match of Alexander/Swann vs Gulak/Dorado was better.

It had the fluidity we've come to expect of the Cruiserweights, mixed in with a huge amount of amazing action throughout. Possibly my favourite moment of the match occurred fairly early on; after Swann and Dorado dazzled their way out of each other's head-scissors', they went into some more technical wrestling until someone stepped in;

Lince got dead'd.

Dorado would recover though, moonsaulting on all of them after dumping Swann like a sack of shit over the ropes, where Swann flipped even more than most then as well. It was all pretty quick, with the match being a bit more lenient towards the wrestler being illegally in the ring for a little bit so that there wasn't many lulls.

With the reports being that Gulak is on RAW to mainly be enhancement talent, which in and of itself is kinda disheartening to hear, it's a shame that he didn't have a whole lot of time to shine here. Although, he did have an awesome moment with Swann in the fanciest roll-up pin I've ever seen which eventually resulted in the finish.

Lovely bit of wrestling on RAW here, these Cruiserweights are wrecking shop on here, and I can see they're probably going to be climbing up the leaderboard fairly quickly.

SmackDown! LIVE

Best Match on SD! (27/9/16): AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose - WWE World Championship Match

It's another rematch from Backlash, Ambrose looks to walk into No Mercy brandishing the gold as he challenges Styles for the WWE World Championship.

I have to apologise because, honestly, I really can't remember a whole lot about this match, nothing particularly stood out to me, but I know I liked it more than the other matches on the show. I guess, y'know, it was a match, it had AJ, AJ's really good. 
I like Styles' new grey'n'black gear, looks very cool. (I am seriously drawing a blank on this match right not please don't hate me)

There was some faffing around with Cena on commentary near the end with both participants of the match going out of their way to punch the man in the face. 

SmackDown! literally only had 3 matches this week. That's really not enough in my opinion, especially when the blue-brand is meant to be the one dedicated to wrestling. I mean, we had some good non-wrestley bits (like the Miz/Ziggler promos), but fuck me did we really need like 4 segments of Randy wandering around looking for Wyatt? 

I dunno if this is a widely shared opinion or view, but Orton does things so goddamn slowly. I skipped once of his 'looking about a bit' segments and it was even slow at x6 on fast-forward. Fuck off Orton.

NXT

Best Match o NXT (28/9/16): Hideo Itami vs Lince Dorado

We're heading down to Orlando, FL as we now flick the channel to NXT. Once more, we have Hideo Itami going up against a Cruiserweight Classic participant. This time its The Golden Lynx, Lince Dorado.


Dorado proved in this one how goddamn athletic he is. This whole sequence below has him pulling off a ton of incredible manoeuvres, and doing them with such a quickness and ease its unreal; 

Hideo did some more of his 'kick the shit out of people' routine that we've come to know. It became a lot of strikes following the sequence above, though some caution was thrown to the wind when Lince performed an Asai Moonsault, and later on in a failed Shooting Star Press attempt. Whilst I'm sure its sore as fuck, there's something special about missing a Shooting Star and not landing on your feet. Looks like you've properly screwed up, which is really how it should be, what with the 'high risk/high reward' factor of the high-flyers. 

Hideo continued his winning streak after landing a Go To Sleep on the RAW Cruiserweight and receiving the three count.

Some cool stuff here on NXT, not an epic by any means, but it did its job at filling the time effectively

Ring of Honour

Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 263): Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs The Bullet Club (Adam Cole & 'The Hangman' Adam Page)

Shifting gears now to non-WWE, we begin with this week's episode of Ring of Honour TV. Main eventing this one, we've got the team of Elgin and Tanahashi facing off against a team of Bullet Club, Adam Cole and Adam Page.

Nothing too spectacular in this one, it was a fairly basic tag team match here. Elgin was slinging around some heavy lariats in this one, clattering the chest and back of Page with these. A lot of heel work by Cole and Page/The Adam Family, with Cole facing up against Elgin for the world title at All-Star Extravaganza, so building to that match was the main antagonising point here. 

Elgin won the match for his team here with a bucklebomb/powerbomb combo onto Page, gaining the momentum heading into his championship match.

Again, I feel the need to apologise about this match's write-up, but really it's a testament to the type of match this was; fine. As always you can watch ROH TV for FREE at www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current or on the Fite TV app.

Whilst the matches weren't amazing this time around, my favourite part of this episode was one of the best promos I've heard in a while, and it came from Christopher Daniels.

Speaking of Ladder War....

ROH: All-Star Extravaganza 8

Best Match on ROH ASE 8: The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) vs The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) - ROH Tag Team Championship Match - Ladder War VI

Sweet Jesus, this match was fucking incredible.

MCMG had donned more 'street wear' in preparation to this one, but with the others wearing their normal gear, made them look a little silly. Nevertheless, that is pretty much the only issue I had with this match, and I hardly consider that an issue at all. 

We start off going fast and the whole match was perfectly paced from start to end, mixing the build to faster action and resetting after a big spot kept things flowing really nicely. Even when people were recovering and on the floor after whatever it was that murdered them, the energy of the crowd and the awe from what you had just witnessed bode enough time so that you were kept engaged throughout.

One of the cool bits I really liked was the Young Bucks aiding each other to get on ladders, at one point leapfrogging one on, but my favourite was when Matt leaned the ladder against the ropes, allowing Nick to climb to the top easily before setting it back down again. 

Now that I've got the little technicalities down, I would have to be brain-dead to not talk about the insanity we witnessed. It was about three minutes into the match when Daniels would be busted open above his left eye from a shot from a ladder, and let me tell ya, he bled like a motherfucking motherfucker. 

Even angels bleed

Pretty much everyone finished the match with some blood on them, even if it wasn't their own. Kaz also got cut open on the back of his head from a table shard, which was also very nasty to see. 

We had an awesome spot where 4 tables were broken in succession in around a minute, the coolest of which I think was Nick landing a 450 splash onto Kaz and forcing the table to implode.

The Bucks fairly early on constructed a mesh out of security barricades, and in these sorts of matches, when something gets set up or built, someone inevitably has to experience it the hard way. Again, it was Daniels who put his body on the line, being dropped on it from a height and even bouncing off of it which would have been freaking terrifying. 

Another wonderful thing I love about these matches is when you start seeing ahead, getting ideas about what's coming next. As soon as Matt managed to get Shelley into the Tombstone position on the floor, and the camera cuts to showing Nick on the ladder in the ring, you know you're about to see some crazy shit. In this case, it was the biggest Indytaker I've ever seen.

I don't want to give away too many of the spots as I hope those who haven't seen this will seek it out, but I was absolutely dazzled by one in particular. Nick was atop a ladder, and then his 4 opponents would come and pick up the legs of the ladder, and dump him off, sending him crashing to the floor via a table. He landed like a satellite coming back to Earth, and even in the slow-mo replay the fans in attendance let out an audible 'OOOOOPPPHHH'.

As if one mega-Indytaker wasn't enough, the wind down to the climax saw another one come into play and rock the casbah.



Fuckin' hell amiright? This would be the final blow, with The Young Bucks then climbing the ladder one last time to pluck the gold out of the sky.

What a hellacious, astounding, bejeezusing incredible match. What a goddamn spectacle.

SUPERKICK COUNT: 19

TABLES BROKEN: 8

Lucha Underground

Best Match on LU (S3E4): Aero Star, Fenix, Drago & Sexy Star vs Worldwide Underground (Johnny Mundo, PJ Black, Jack Evans & Taya)

It's like last week but with Sexy Star and Mundo added in!

This match was pretty similar to the 6-man from last week. It had a similar sort of pace, but had a few lulls, like the early goings with Sexy Star and Taya, but once the tags started coming in and new faces came into the ring it started picking up. 

This marks the first time I've seen a Mundo match in a long while, but I guess I'll be seeing more of him now not only in LU, but also in his matches at the PWG Battle of Los Angeles. I'm glad he still has his fanned entrance, did give me a bit of a chuckle. I can't really remember a whole lot from his WWE days, but he sure did entertain me in this one. He's got some vicious kicks on 'im. 

I guess PJ and Jack have sorted out their squabble we saw last week, they seemed fine here but there wasn't much of an explanation to it.

The 'Super Friends' of Drago, Fenix and Aero Star continued to pull off some super cool moves in this one, with one especially lovely combo from all three culminating in a Fenix 450 splash. Still undecided which of the three is my favourite, might be Aero Star. 

Sexy Star got one proper hard shot from Taya at one point, after being pinned the side of her face had some serious swelling going on, plus under that mask it must have hurt like a sum'bitch. 

Nice bit of quick, succinct action here. 

The Verdict

Best Match of the Week: The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) vs The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) - ROH Tag Team Championship Match - Ladder War VI - ROH: All-Star Extravaganza 8

Whilst that clash between Cesaro and Sheamus was pretty damn great, the fucking Ladder War had to win this one. The risks these guys took, the innovation of ladder usage and spots were palpable. Also, you just had to admire Daniels's effort. In tandem with that promo, this was his night. The man's in his 40s, and he took one hell of a beating in that match, going through ladders, tables and bouncing off of barricade, not to mention the loss of blood. And even after all of that, he still pulls off a perfect moonsault. The 'FALL-EN-AN-GEL' chants were well deserved, just showing how his performance resonated with those in that room.

What a man. What a match.

That's all from me for this week readers, so whilst I mop up all this Christopher Daniels blood, here's the leaderboard's new rankings for you to take a gander at. 

Hope you guys and gals have a good week, a good month and a good year, and I'll see you here next Friday/Saturday/whenever the fuck I manage to put it up next time.