Best of 2013 Pro Wrestling Tracker

[Warner2BruceTD]

New year, new thread.

 

[PP]

but its still 2012..

 

[EmpireWF]

but its still 2012..

The guide he's going off of has a year ending basically at the end of November. It's what Dave Meltzer uses for his Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards each year.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

First two major shows of the calendar year...

New Japan Pro Wrestling - "World Tag League" - meh. Nothing to see here. Aside from the semis and finals of the World Tag League, the rest of the card was house show level multi man filler. Show served no purpose other than to set up Nagata/Suzuki & Archer/Smith vs Goto/Anderson for Tokyo Dome. Pass on this. 4/10

CHIKARA - "Under the Hood" - Decent. Disjointed show. Nothing spectacular. I'll go match by match:

FIST vs 3.0 - I don't really like 3.0. FIST in this case was Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano. Arch rivals in DGUSA, partners here. Decent opener, work was solid, match was fine.

Icarus vs Dasher Hatfield - The CHIKARA roster is either hit or miss with me. Icarus is a miss. I don't like him. Again, this match was ok, nothing wrong with it, but nothing you need to see.

Jigsaw, The Shard, Soldier Ant, deviANT vs Mike Quackenbush, Fire Ant, Green Ant, assailANT - Lots of ants, and honestly the gimmick is getting ridiculous. The story here is Jigsaw turned on Quack after years of teaming together, after what looked like would be a slow burn Quack turn. SWERVE! But a good one. This was the first battle since the turn. Too long, went on forever. Too many ants. Fire Ant is outstanding. Some of the ants are 'just there' and bring little to the table. This match was a loooong collection of MOVES and ANTS. Forgettable.

Mr. Touchdown vs ACH for the Young Lions Cup - Rematch from YLC finals which I haven't seen but people are raving about. This was the best thing on the show. ***3/4. Let me tell you something about ACH & Mark Angelesetti, these two guys have some of the best facials in wrestling. Particularly ACH. He knows how to be a babyface, and has unique mannerisms too. Mark Angel is killing it with this Mr. Touchdown character, which I hated when he debuted it, but it has grown on me. What a gimmick, just awesome. Two of the brightest young guys around right here. If Touchdown was taller he'd be in NXT already. ACH is a tiny tiny man, but he gets it. After the match, Mysterious & Handsome Stranger got Veronica alone and poured pig slop on her. Then he unmasked as Archibald Peck, to the surprise of nobody. Crowd ate it up. Looks like Stranger is dead, so on to the next gimmick for Robert Evans.

INTERMISSION SURPRISE MATCH: Devastation Incorporation vs Los Ice Creams - Dev Inc is my Best Gimmick for 2012. The manager came out and did his old territory routine, making Herb Abrams & TOOTS MONDT references. He said Devastation Incorporation belonged on this "closed circuit television special", and he found two opponents in the back. Los Ice Creams got a nice pop. Dev Inc had a new third member. Nobody knew his name and he disappeared quickly to the back. That was weird. The same squash these guys always do, and it was tremendous. They have three points and will now get a title shot.

Delirious, Ophidian, & The Batiri vs Ultra Mantis Black, Crossbones, Blind Rage, Hallowicked, & Frightmare - FUCKING. AWFUL. -***. Just terrible. Total clusterfuck of garbage that never ended. This match felt like an hour long. Crossbones is a fat slob who can barely move. Blind Rage actually looked good after a long (like, years) hiatus. But the match was a mess. Just a long brawl, where two guys would take turns doing spots in the ring while everybody else hugged each other on the outside. I can't express in words how bad this was. HATED IT. HATED HATED HATED IT.

Young Bucks vs 123 Kid & Marty Jannetty for the tag titles - This was a lot of fun. Jannetty, despite his horrendously crippled feet & ankles, can somehow still work at a very passable level, which tells you how good he is. Yes, he was a step slow, but the Bucks covered for him nicely, and his chain wrestling was on point. He was were he needed to be at all times. He even did a dive off the top to the outside, which made me cringe. Fun best of three falls match with the Bucks doing a great job as the smarmy outsiders (ROH, which I dont think they are actually a part of, but play along dammit) who control the belts. The Bucks are great, and TNA blew it by wiping away their charisma. 123 Kid was good here, too. Enjoyed it. ***

Eddie Kingston vs Tim Donst for the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP - Oh boy. Check out twitter and see what the people thought. Bad. Just bad. Kingston is fat and it showed. Blown up nearly the entire match. Not good. Donst tried. He really did. So many spots that were awkward & disjointed, which ended up turning into slap battles. No flow, they just got lost. You can always tell when it falls apart, and this fell apart. DUD

Show - 5/10, some good , some bad, some horrendous. Not CHIKARA's best showing.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Mark Angel has star written all over him.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

A running list...for posterity.

WWE
The Shield v. Team Hell No/Ryback - 6-Man TLC - Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2012

TNA

Ring of Honor
Kevin Steen (c) v. El Generico - Ladder War - Final Battle 2012

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

CHIKARA

DragonGateUSA / Evolve

Other (American)

New Japan Pro Wrestling
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) v. Kazuchika Okada - Wrestle Kingdom 7
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) v. Kazushi Sakuraba - Wrestle Kingdom 7
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima v. Keiji Mutoh and Shinjiro Otani - Wrestle Kingdom 7
Prince Devitt v. Low-Ki v. Kota Ibushi - Wrestle Kingdom 7
Yuji Nagata v. Minoru Suzuki - Wrestle Kingdom 7

All Japan Pro Wrestling

DDT
El Generico (c) v. Kenny Omega - NEVER MIND 2012

Abroad (Other)

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

One of my biggest ROH complaints. Such an untapped resource, especially in a company that is super dry with a lack of personalities.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

EVOLVE 18 review...better late than never.

Arda Ocal & Colt Cabana on commentary.

Tony Nese (2-3) vs AR Fox (6-4) - First of four matches where the winner moves on to a four way later in the show. The gimmick here, is one man will pick up TWO WINS, as we hit the home stretch for WrestleCon and the big title tournament.

I'm a big Nese mark. This guy is good. By now you should know AR Fox, and if you don't, go hit up YouTube now. Good fast paced opener, exactly what an opener should be. Problem was, the wrong guy won. Fox went over, but to me, he didn't need the win and this would have been a good chance to put over Nese. ***

Masada (1-0) vs Papadon (0-0) - Masada got a massive pop, which explained the larger than usual crowd - lots & lots of CZW fans there for the double shot (CZW Cage of Death was later that night in the same building). The less said about this Masada DGUSA/EVOLVE run, the better. He hasn't looked good. He doesn't really mesh with the style or the roster. And this match was pretty bad, too. It was hard hitting, and probably the best Masada match for this group to date, but that isn't saying much. Masada won with a brainbuster. *1/2

At this point, Larry Dallas saunters out to the ring. He cuts his trademark shitty promo and offers Papadon a contract. He says he can take Papadon TO THE TOP. I get that Papadon is new and all, but if he did any kind of research, he would see that Dallas's other charges, The Scene, are still working openers after two years with the company. Surely Papadon is going to tear that contract up and...oh wait, HE SIGNED IT. That seemed too easy.

Now Marti Belle comes out, and I kid you not, if there was such a thing as a negative pop, this was it. Nobody cared about her. I mean, the building was SILENT. I swear I heard a toilet flush as she ran in. The silence was deafening. I've never seen a more apathetic wrestling crowd. Not a single person cared about her or her stupid ongoing angle with Dallas. Anyway, somehow this became a match. Two men vs one woman. Papadon powerbombed her, and Dallas stole the pin. So is Dallas 1-0? This whole thing was awful, just awful. Wrestlecrap awful.

Rich Swann (1-2) vs Jigsaw (1-2) - Good action. Swann wins.

Jon Davis (4-3) vs Chuck Taylor (9-4) - Taylor was accompanied by Drew Gulak & THE SWAMP MONSTER. This was played for comedy. Taylor did his invisible grenade routine from CHIKARA. He tossed it to the outside, where it "exploded" on Swampmonster, who sold it like a million bucks. These shenanigans distracted Davis and Taylor went for a cheap roll up for a Fire Pro-like 2.9 count. Davis would go on to win.

Davis says he is coming after Gargano tonight. Again?

Arda hits the ring and announces that The Young Bucks are coming back to DGUSA/EVOLVE in 2013. Yay. He also announces that John Morrison will work a match on the DGUSA west coast swing in January. The CZW crowd shits on this, and I chuckle. Some broad hits the ring and is freaking out of Morrison, and wants to be his manager. They never say her name. Christina Von Eerie shows up and lays her out, then mumbles something about Mad Blankey. This got over like a wet fart. These EVOLVE non wrestling segments are the pits.

Super Smash Bros (2-2) vs El Generico & Samuray Del Sol (0-0) - Generico & Samuray pick up the win here, in a match that was about as good as you would expect, but nothing blow away or memorable.

The bigger news, is Arda Ocal talked about JOE LANZA during this match. Why?

Fox vs Masada vs Swann vs Davis - Masada dropped Fox on his neck and nearly killed him. In four matches with this company, Masada is batting .500 in legit hurting guys. This match was super short, and with the absence of the usual Gabe Sapolsky merch pushing intermission, it was clear they were in a rush to make sure CZW started on time. Swann wins, so he's 3-2 now and it looks like they are trying to get him into the tournament.

Open the Freedom Gate Title - Johnny Gargano vs Sami Callihan - This is DGUSA rules, so no W/L records and traditional pro wrestling wackiness is ok. Jon Davis was planning on taking advantage by getting involved, but Sami Callihan told him to get lost. Match started slow, and was looking like typical Sami (i'm not a fan), but they finished real strong and this was probably the best Sami match i've ever seen. Keep in mind, I didn't like the Finlay matches people rave about or any of his other "classics", but this I really enjoyed. Gargano used the Gargano Escape with knees to the head for the ref stoppage. ****

Overall a pretty good show, clocking in at a brisk 2 hours, 20 minutes. The vignettes were really, really bad. Masada was Masada. The rest was good. This was better than the New Japan Tag League & CHIKARA Under the Hood, but not even close to a best show of the year contender.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Jeff Peterson Cup X, Night One

I'm doing this in real time. Overall thoughts at the end...

Samuray Del Sol vs Eddie Rios - Rios is a Florida indy guy. He looked good here. I like Samuray a lot, but sometimes his matches are just missing something. Can't put a finger on it. I found myself drifting in and out of this. Samuray wins with some wacky sunset flip deal off the top that even Lenny Leonard didn't have a name for.

Shane Strickland vs Joey Janella - Strickland is a CZW flyer, Janella is "from the New Jersey area" according to Leonard. Ok. Never heard of him. Janella has a terrible gimmick. He dresses like a bad 80's Rock & Roll Express knockoff and smokes a cigarette. Strickland is a raw flyer who could stand to add a few pounds. Good action, Strickland wins with some wacky finish that Leonard didn't have a name for. We have a trend.

Jonathan Gresham vs Derek Ryze - Gresham was all the rage on the indy scene a few years ago but has sort of fallen off. I don't know much about Ryze. In fact, I know nothing. This was a hard hitting, methodically worked slugfest. No flippy shit here. It also got over better than the other two matches, probably because it was so different. Gresham has a similar stature & style of a black Bobby Fish. He won with a delayed german suplex. Good stuff.

AR Fox vs Jay Cruz - Fox won this tournament in 2011, and brought his Open the United Gate title. Cruz is a Florida guy who is the regular tag partner of Eddie Rios from match one. The ring announcer said "Jonathan Cruz". This is the third name he's botched. Unbelievable. Decent action until Cruz blocked the Lo Mein Pain and kicked out of a thunder power bomb. Then Fox missed a moonsault. Cruz hit his sliced bread, but Fox kicked out. Fox then softened him up and hit the Lo Mein Pain for the pin. Best match so far. ***

Mike Cruz vs Maxwell Chicago - Cruz is a Florida indy guy who had a cup of coffee with DGUSA. Maxwell Chicago is...awful. He wears a body suit fashioned as a tuxedo, complete with bow tie. He might be better off pursuing comedy, because whatever it is he says during his matches always has the crowd laughing it up. And fwiw, he takes good bumps. Cruz hit TEN german suplexes, Eddie Guerrero style, and Chicago KICKED OUT. Lenny Leonard: "I guess we've established hat nobody is going to be beaten with a german suplex ever again". I'll say. Ridiculous spot. Cruz won it with a half crab a few minutes later. -*** for the retarded german suplex deal.

Back with the rest later, I gotta run...

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Johnny Vandal vs Lince Dorado - I don't know much about Vandal, other than he apparently has done Zero-1 tours in Japan. I know this because Lenny Leonard says so, and also because it says ZERO1 on Vandals trunks. Lince Dorado is a well traveled indy veteran who does a Tiger Mask gimmick. I always enjoy him, he does a great job. Loooooong heat spot on Dorado, as Vandal is the heel here. Nothing happening. The big comeback spot was a tope con hilo that wiped out both men. Crowd is DEAD, not sure why. Lince picked up the win with a shooting star press, which wakes up the crowd. Kinda. Also, they played Vandal's music for some reason. Awful. This was my favorite match so far.

Jon Davis vs John Silver - Silver is a little fella who is a ball of energy. Davis sat in the corner and just starred at Silver. Forever. He's really perfecting this bully/psycho routine. Then he basically just beat the shit out of Silver. Davis has really started to find himself as a performer and is a guy to keep an eye on. He's gotten in better shape, too. Both guys did a great job here. Silver as the feisty small guy, Davis as the imposing powerhouse. Davis moves on. I enjoyed the fuck out of this.

Papadon w/Larry Dallas vs Charles Cardwell - Larry Dallas, who cut a promo during the opening ceremony saying he didn't care about this tournament or Jeff Peterson, had the medal handed out to the wrestlers at the ceremony dangling from his zipper. He sure has odd ways of getting heat. Cardwell is the best friend of Peterson and was the surprise 16th entrant. He got the biggest pop of the night. Cardwell looks like a mini Chris Hero. Papadon won the ECWA Super 8 this year. I did not know that. Papadon channels Owen Hart and tells the crowd "I am the best!". Story here is that the rusty Cardwell is no match for Papadon, who is at the top of his game. Papadon dominating. Cardwell hits his death valley driver out of nowhere, and gets a 2.9. Larry Dallas sweating now, but Papadon takes control once again. Cardwell hits a rolling elbow out of nowhere for another 2.9. God damn this guy reminds me of Hero. Papadon wins it with the Wrath of God, which is a superplex that rolls into a piledriver. Papadon is good. I'm glad they didn't do the cliche finish. Another good underdog match, but we just saw one. Post match Dallas runs down Peterson and they give Cardwell a beating before the entire locker room clears to run them off.

Decent show, worth the $10, but I think i'll skip Night 2 unless the buzz is off the charts.

 

[EmpireWF]

WWE TLC - Best show since Extreme Rulz (and arguably the best of 2012) and for the first time in recent memory, a bunch of young guys were given the opportunity to shine and knocked it out of the park.

Shield vs. Ryback/Hell No was brilliant and all 6 men did a great job. Ambrose's facial expressions are gold, Rollins looks like a million bucks and Reigns isn't bad like I expected hearing about him out of FCW/NXT.

Is this the launch point for Ziggler's rise to the top? Big Show talked about it during the week, wanting him to use the superkick and boom, he beats Cena with it (essentially) right away. Who knows what the plan is between him and AJ (if anything), but there's no reason he cannot be a consistent main eventer by the summer.

Amazing how a week can make you feel like the future is bright.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Anybody have a link?

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

My first entry into this thread for 2013...

The Shield v. Team Hell No/Ryback
6-man TLC
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2012
-Fantastic match. The in-ring action was worthy of such a match and the development of the match, showcasing The Shield's teamwork of cohesiveness was A+ work. Very smart heel booking. Its rare you get to say that for the WWE these days.

 

[SuperKevin]

My 2nd favorite match of the night was the Tag Team Tables match between Rhodes Scholars and Rey/SinCara. Excellent match

 

[SuperKevin]

Overall I give TLC a 8.5 out of 10. The 6 man Tag match, the tag team tables match, and the ladder match were among the best matches I had seen in awhile. Would have been higher if it weren't for the 1st hour RAW worthy MizTV segment and the following 3MB job-a-thon

 

[FedEx227]

My first entry into this thread for 2013...

The Shield v. Team Hell No/Ryback
6-man TLC
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2012
-Fantastic match. The in-ring action was worthy of such a match and the development of the match, showcasing The Shield's teamwork of cohesiveness was A+ work. Very smart heel booking. Its rare you get to say that for the WWE these days.

One the best brawls I've seen this year and in many years from WWE.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

One the best brawls I've seen this year and in many years from WWE.

The booking was incredibly smart.

 

[FedEx227]

Dude, you have no idea how much I marked out when The Shield came from the crowd and not down the ramp.

I seriously started fapping.

 

[JimLeavy59]

It was extremely smart of them to keep Ryroids out of the match with that table spot.

 

[FedEx227]

Jim,

What are your thoughts on Ryback? You've really need made your opinion known.

Thanks!