The 2013 Match of the Year Project

[jsnnmk]

Hello everyone and welcome to the beginning of the 2013 Match of the Year Project. Over the past couple of years here on the forums, this project has been started, but has not been finished due to many circumstances. However, I am happy to say that this year, you all have my word, this project WILL be completed!

The rules are the same as before. Nominate a match, then second it, followed by YES or NO votes. Once a match is nominated and seconded, it goes into the tally book as a +2. If it is nodded, but not seconded, there is no score on the match until it gets seconded.

The matches eligible for the project are from December 1st, 2012 to November 30, 2013. Also eligible are matches that may have been taped before the eligibility period, but aired inside the eligibility period. For example, the SHIMMER Volumes 49-52 were taped in October 2012, but they will be released on DVD in January-February 2013, so those matches are deemed eligible.

In late October, we will start the bubble thread of matches nearing the cut line in their respective categories (WWE & The Field). Myself & Greg McNeish will determine those cut lines at a later date, depending on how many matches are nominated and the amount of voting within the thread.

(Note: 2011 had a cut-off of +5 for WWE and +3 for the Field)

For all matches from WWE, TNA & ROH, WMR-Sports.net is the way to go to watch those matches. Unfortunately at this time, they have halted regristations, so if you are someone who has an account, I ask to please share your info with the folks who are looking to review the nodded matches throughout the year. (PM me for account info as well)

For matches from the indies, there will be links that will be rotated out monthly, where you can watch the match or permanently keep it.

Also, if you nominate a match and can find a link on any of the video sites for people to watch it, by all means do so and add it to your nomination.

I hope all of you on the forums partake in the project this year. When you nominate or vote on a match, I highly recommend giving a decent-sized review as to why you nominated or voted YES or NO on match. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated to get the best discussion possible for this project.

Also, you can change your vote, but make it PERFECTLY CLEAR in your vote that you are doing so.

Finally, PLEASE add the date of the match in your nomination.

Thanks for reading and let's have fun taking part in the 2013 Match of the Year Project!

[jsnnmk]

To get the ball rolling, here are the 1st batch of nominations for the Match of the Year Project:

1. DeviANT, Jigsaw, Solider Ant & The Shard vs. Mike Quackenbush & The Colony CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2

2. A.C.H vs. Mr. Touchdown CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2

3. The Dark Army vs. The Spectral Envoy CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2

4. Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio WWE Smackdown 12/7

5. AR Fox vs. Tony Nese EVOLVE #18 12/8

6. Jigsaw vs. Rich Swann EVOLVE #18 12/8

7. El Generico & Samuray Del Sol vs. The Super Smash Bros. EVOLVE #18 12/8

8. Johnny Gargano vs. Sami Callihan EVOLVE #18 12/8

9. The Nation of Intoxication vs. 4 Loco CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8

10. Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8

11. AR Fox vs. Robert Anthony CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8

12. D.J Hyde vs. Matt Tremont CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8

13. A.J Styles vs. Christopher Daniels TNA Final Resolution 12/9

14. Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy TNA Final Resolution 12/9

15. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus WWE RAW 12/10

16. Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong ROH Final Battle 12/16

17. Rhett Titus & B.J Whitmer vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team ROH Final Battle 12/16

18. The American Wolves vs. Bobby FIsh & Kyle O'Reilly ROH Final Battle 12/16

19. Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy ROH Final Battle 12/16

20. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico ROH Final Battle 12/16

21. Ryback & Team Hell No vs. The Shield WWE TLC 12/16

22. John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler WWE TLC 12/16

23. Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars WWE Main Event 12/19

24. John Cena vs. Antonio Cesaro WWE Tribute to the Troops 12/19

25. Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy TNA IMPACT Wrestling 12/20

26. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio WWE RAW 12/24

Links are posted in the "2013 Match of the Year Project Links" thread. Happy voting!

[Grash]

If you can see from the matches from Dec, we'll have a large number of matches tracked.
Here's a blank excel sheet setup that will help track your votes (or what you haven't voted)

http://www.gmwalek.com/wvmoty/2012Votin ... Sheet.xlsx

In a day or two I'll have another excel file for all that has info for the first matches nominated. This will make it easy to go ahead and record your votes.

[Grash]

Rules Question:
Are No votes allowed on matches which have been nominated, but not yet seconded?

[GooberBM]

I will deliver the first vote of the 2013 MOTY Project:

D.J. Hyde vs. Matt Tremont CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

So, this was the eponymous Cage of Death match, and it's really the first Ultraviolent match I've ever watched from start to finish. And you wouldn't think I'd say this, but this match was pretty flipping boring.

Apparently Mr. Hyde and Mr. Tremont don't much like each other and have been feuding for about a year and a half and all of this is set to culminate in the Cage of Death, and outside of the first 30 seconds where Hyde spits in Tremonts face and Tremont tries to rip him open, I didn't feel a lick of that hate. This match was just 20 something minutes of them trading spots of putting each other through panes of glass, into barbed wire, and hitting each other with chairs and weapons lined with thumbtacks. Even the ref gets in on it, helping Tremont set up one of the panes of glass for maybe the stupidest spot I've ever seen: Tremont sets the glass up between two chairs, puts Hyde UNDER the glass, climbs to the top of the Cage of Death, and performs a frog splash through the glass onto Hyde. He probably should've thought that one out a little more.

The reality of this match is that you had a large fat fuck (Hyde) and a much smaller fat fuck (Tremont) playing with their erector glass set and then tossing each other through it. Thankfully there was only one particular gross or disgusting spot: That being Hyde chokeslamming Tremont on the outside, through a plane of glass and a plywood platform covered in barbed wire. Real barbed wire. That got lodged into his back and arms, to the extent that the CZW crew had to physically cut him out with wire cutters. Hyde then rolled him around in the copious shattered glass inside the ring and tore his back up. But other than that, it wasn't really what I'd call gross. That was pleasant.

What the match became though, was two guys who I would hesitate to watch in any kind of normal wrestling match, masking their inability to be interesting to me with large amounts of excessive violence. And the violence they did wasn't very creative. The final spot was a tiny bit dramatic, but mostly it was about hoping they didn't murder each other.

Basically, the match was lots of sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing. And for that reason, I vote no.

[Greg_McNeish]

Rules Question:
Are No votes allowed on matches which have been nominated, but not yet seconded?

Yes. Also, to clarify, Nominations and Seconds count as YES votes, so don't vote again on the same match (unless you're changing your vote down the road).

[Greg_McNeish]

D.J. Hyde vs. Matt Tremont CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

Like Goober, this was my first ultra-violent experience, and I'm glad that I wasn't grossed out. That was a real concern of mine, going in. That was a pleasant surprise.

That's about it, though. It was pretty boring, overall. The cage itself was nifty, with lots of deathy things to play with, and a couple of the spots were pretty cool, but there was absolutely no flow to this match. Matt Tremont had the instinct to appeal to the crowd, which is nice, but the complete lack of malice towards his opponent was so stifling. When you're a non-descript fat fuck, in an 18-month blood feud with your 100% boring boss, with no real talent between you, all you've got is emotion, and here, there was none. What made that a slap in the face was how fired up Tremont was after the match, sending a flurry of "motherfucker"s in Hyde's direction. Where was that, while you were tearing each other to shreds?

And, really, that covers it for me. I usually don't like to critique matches on a single element, but when it's a match entirely composed of people murdering each other, I don't think it's too harsh to make "showing the desire to murder each other" a pass/fail criteria.

I've seen far worse matches, for sure, and I don't feel like I wasted my time watching this (unlike anything I've ever seen involving Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards), but this is a pretty easy No.

[isrs4life]

Well, it's great to see the 2013 Match of the year Project up and I like to Nominate from
Smackdown January 4. 2013
Sheamus and Randy Orton vs. The Big Show and Antonio Cesario
^I thought that was a good tag match and it had good brawling.

As for Raw and Impact from last week havn't seen a good match yet from the programs maybe
tonight will have one.

[Greg_McNeish]

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio; Smackdown 12/7 - SECOND

Our first match makes the actual ballot, with this main event from the first eligible Smackdown. It's not a barn-burner, but there were enough interesting elements to warrant a re-watch later in the year, which is what I consider the pass/fail during the first 6 months of the project. Sheamus was his usual clubbering self, and the majority of the match was him blowing Del Rio apart, and there are few better at that game than the Celtic Warrior. Del Rio is someone I've had a lot of criticism for, over the course of his WWE tenure, but this was possibly his first great stoogey performance. Rather than getting lost in arm work, or trying to look all menacing, he was just flopping around, and capitalising on those opportunities when Sheamus put himself in trouble. His kicks were really crisp, and worked as a great equalizer to Sheamus' punches, and the step-up enzuigiri to Sheamus' back, after a missed Brogue Kick was a creative way to work that signature spot. There's also the nice build around Del Rio randomly pulling out a moonsault, for the first good near-fall, then whiffing on another, for the finish. Add to that Ricardo being his ever-engaging self, and a fun post-match with Big Show being a douchebag, and you've got yourself a really fun TV main event.

They didn't get lost in kickouts; they didn't try to be or do anything more than what they were or should; they went in, gave us a fun 10 minutes, and got the fuck out. What more could you ask for, on any given Friday?

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus; RAW 12/10 - NO

This is a No of the big, stinkin' variety. They open up with Sheamus exploding Ziggler's taped leg for a few minutes, then that's completely forgotten about for the rest of eternity. Sheamus returns the favour later on, taking a facebuster from the top rope, afterwards looking like he doesn't know what planet he's on, then is instantly all better, and back in control. The match started nowhere, went nowhere, and ended nowhere.

John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio; RAW 12/24 - NO

An enjoyable match, sure, but compare this Miracle on 34th Street Fight to Orton/Otunga from the year before, and it's not even close. This was fun, but felt so overly scripted, and lacked any sense that the performers were really in the moment. Cena's acting was as horrible here as his boo-birds say it usually is, which just sapped any possibility of this being engaging right out of it. No amount of Ricardo reacting to Santa Claus could make up for that.

John Cena vs. Antonio Cesaro; Tribute to the Troops 12/19 - NO

Sorry, America. Definitely a lot better than the Christmas Eve match against Del Rio, but there just wasn't enough meat on the bones to put it on the ballot. I must say, it sure is refreshing to hear an entire crowd react positively to John Cena, for a change. Life was a lot simpler when people cheered babyfaces, and booed heels.

Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars; Main Event 12/19 - NO

Wow, I must be in a bad mood, or something. These guys got a lot of time (like, 20 minutes), and as such were really able to take their time. Little things like everyone pausing in the early going to let the crowd chant "Cody's moustache", and boo when Sandow first tagged in, gave this the feel of a bigger match than it was. I guess you could call it a Main Event feel, if you wanted. As well, Team Rhodes Scholars did a great job communicating verbally throughout the match, both with each other, and getting into it with Mike Chioda. Finally, they went with the tried-and-true Smackdown Main Event Tag Team Formula ©, which is about as automatic as a tag match can get, for being enjoyable.

So, it's a match with some definite positives, but some pretty glaring flaws. One that really hurt things, in my eyes, was when Daniel Bryan spent about 30 seconds loading up for a suicide dive, then finally ran the ropes for it, but instead stepped to the apron, for his leaping high knee. Sometimes you have to call an audible, but that was a clear example of how not to do it. There's also the opening babyface shine, which was about 5 minutes of COMPLETELY meaningless, boring mat work, from both Kane and Bryan. It took the energy that the crowd brought to the match, and just chucked it down a mine shaft. Stack on top of that Kane feeling off his game for the duration of the match, and a finishing stretch that somewhat fell apart, and this ended up being a solid effort at a match this long, but not something that holds up to the scrutiny of MOTY.

[GooberBM]

Time for some CEE ZEE DUB~! Votes:

The Nation of Intoxication vs. 4 Loco CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

This was dubbed the Ultra-violent Insanity Match. They were right. This was garbage. Do not watch it. There was no way to tell these assholes apart. They took exactly 2 minutes and 8 seconds of a 14 mintue match to dump all the fucks I could give into a black hole, never to return. There was a complete escalation of ridiculous, dangerous stunts, culminating in some asshole killing the 4 Loco Valet with a Michinoku (or Death Valley) Driver off of a scaffolding, through a table in the ring, and that not being ever remotely close to the climax of the match.

This was completely irredeemable in every conceivable way. Don't bother.

Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - YES

Unlike the last match, at least there seems to be a story here: Callihan is the Ultra-violent veteran and wants to maim (and take a shit on Cole) and Cole is trying to prove he can hang in that environment...though he's not all-in on the ultra-violent like Callihan is. And it was quite enjoyable to have Cole play it that way, as for example Cole had Callihan all set up sitting in front of a chair to do something to him, runs the ropes then comes behind Callihan, sits in the chair and puts on a chin lock. Cole playing up the cheese was much appreciated. Add to that the commentators having fun as follows, while talking about Callihan's willingness to get ultra-violent:
-Announcer 1: Callihan wanted to turn this into Cage of Defication
Announcer 2: That would be a first
Announceer 1: You could get shot in the announce booth and that would be a first, but I'm not encouraging that it happen

And you had a recipe for something to work. The crowd was definitely engaged in this one as weel, as Callihan couldn't build his system of chairs for a major spot, and the crowd rode him for it. It perfectly set up a point a few minutes later when Cole put the set of chairs together and the crowd gave him an applause. And Cole, being ever the showman took a bow and was annointed the Master of the Ultra-violent Feng Shui.

And then the climax of the match came when Callihan introduced a bag of poop (the same shit that Callihan promised to deliver onto Cole) and successfully powerbombed Cole onto it...but got caught with a rollup to lose to the Ultra-violent Virgin.


I have to say the match was pretty fun for the most part. The middle 5 minutes with Callihan in control drags a little, but Cole is pretty on fire throughout the proceedings. The big problem here was that Cole was committed to the story they set up at the beginning, but Callihan was way more caught up in the spots of the match. Had Callihan brought anything on the character end of things, or even brought some hate (as this is a long standing feud), this would've had a fighting shot at a yes vote...is what I'd say normally. But Cole doing everything in his power to make me care about this is going to be enough to get me to give this a weak yes nod. Check it out.


AR Fox vs. Robert Anthony CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

I should probably ignore the fact that CZW has a Wired TV Title but no TV show that any respectable wrestling fan watches and just focus on the match in front of me. AR Fox seems to be just a dude but here comes Robert Anthony returning to an ovation. And then he totally dumped a bucket of cold water on the crowd while AR Fox is flummoxed that this guy is such a dirtbag...okay this kid might make this interesting...and HOLY FUCK THE REF IS A 10 YEAR OLD KID~! 14 at the max. Okay, seriously, focus on the match.

I want to focus but there's way too much stalling going on right now as Anthony just....does a lot of nothing and his shit talking to the crowd is not very interesting and then we get into some pointless matwork where they essentially tied, and then Anthony bails and calls timeout. If he was going to do that, it would've helped to actually lose the matwork. That it does lead to Anthony taking the advantage helps take the edge off a little, and I'll give them credit for setting the parameters at least: Fox is quick and wants a fast pace, Anthony is the vet and wants to slow this to a crawl

Hot damn is AR Fox a little jumping bean. I mean with all these athletic jumps and flips, he does his name isn't really AR Fox, it should be STAR Fox...and Anthony just sized him up and took Fox out to get the advantage after one flippy flip too many. They go into a control segment and lead into an extended back and forth, as this match ended up going 30 minutes before AR Fox closed the show with his flashy, flippy finisher for the win.

This match just couldn't stand up to the ambition it showed. These two had enough gas in the tank to go all out for 20 minutes and give you a fun match, the fact that they tried to stretch it out to 30 just left everything dying by the end. The crowd just couldn't maintain a high energy level, they lost me for about 10 minutes during Anthony's control segment and Fox' bouncy bouncy wasn't enough to pull me back in....I don't know. Going slow was the right call for long stretches, both in the story of the match, and the structure, but it's just too long. They didn't do anything wrong, but they just don't have enough juice to go nearly 30 minutes. Had they chopped 10 minutes off of this and let them go all out, this could've had a shot but 30 minutes is just too much to ask these kids to pull off.

[GooberBM]

Sorry, the Callihan/Cole match would be a SECOND

[OneManX]

Alright kiddies... let's get the first batch of stuff cleared away.

DeviANT, Jigsaw, Solider Ant & The Shard vs. Mike Quackenbush & The Colony CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2 - YES

While it might not of told the best story... it told the most story. Really kinda doing a decent job at setting up the next few months, and highlighting the big things. Stretched out the time before Jig and Quack went at it, AssailANT taking the bullet for Quack, and Solider being left out in the cold int he end. The match itself was nonsense... complete insanity, but somehow it flowed, and unlike the other 8-man tag I never felt it was overwhelming.

A.C.H vs. Mr. Touchdown CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2 - YES

IF anything the finish can put the bullet in this one... but I will let this one pass, becuase this felt like a way better match up than their prior match, which felt like it never started to click. This one got some time, Touchdown was the D-Bag heel and even Veronica was okay in her spots. ACH got some impressive looking offense in, and you felt the crowd get straight deflated when Touchdown went for the baton. While I disagree with the ending... and felt like that drugged the match down a bit, it got the reaction you wanted... so I guess... I can let this one go.

The Dark Army vs. The Spectral Envoy CHIKARA Under the Hood 12/2- NO

So... take everything I said about the prior match and apply it to here. But just add more... but more isn't always better, and it showed here. Honestly, it was better than it had any right to be, and Blind Fury shocked the shit out of me by how good he still looked, and well he worked, but it just felt too busy... nothing really sunk in, I never had a chance to really chew on anything and get a good feeling about this match, if you are a CHIKARA fan... and I mean fan in the purest form, a lot of what this match does will hit those spots... if not.. then I can't help ya there. But in the end, it was just too much and felt too busy... and UltraMantis Black... I love the guy, great charactet... not feeling the finisher kick outs at all... and they felt tacked on to an already overloaded match.

The Nation of Intoxication vs. 4 Loco CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

It was alright... and that was about it.

Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8- YES

Probably my favorite match on the COD card, COD included, Sami and Cole came to play. And while they didn't blow the roof off the building I think they had a really fun brawl... and poo was involved, Sami kept saying he was gonna tak ea shit in the ring.. and poop on Adam Cole, and he did... kinda? The finish was stupid and out of left field.. but when Sami Callihan says he is gonna do something... he is gonna do it... bet on it.

AR Fox vs. Robert Anthony CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - NO

AR Fox is one of the best high-flyers out there. And Robert Anthony was a pretty good heel in his time in CZW. Like none of that came through at all. I think I describe this match as, "Never really getting out of 1st or 2nd gear"

D.J Hyde vs. Matt Tremont CZW Cage of Death XIV 12/8 - YES

IS this the best match out of the Hyde/Tremont series?
No.

Is this the best Cage of Death match?
No. 2006, ROH vs CZW, still takes the cake.

But I feel I have to defend this one, this did end up taking our feud of the year. The matchwas about Tremont destroying Hyde. That is it, na dit was slow, and there were lulls in the action, but people wanted to see DJ die... and he done died he did... and he done died in a grand way. It's pretty much the ending spot that makes or breaks COD, and it was makes it on my list as one of the better matches of the year.

Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong ROH Final Battle 12/1
Rhett Titus & B.J Whitmer vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team ROH Final Battle 12/16 - NO
Gonna bundle these two up and just say this... for given so much time... I was bored. I think the tag match is easily skippable, and Elgin/Strong just felt like bait for a bigger blow off.

The American Wolves vs. Bobby FIsh & Kyle O'Reilly ROH Final Battle 12/16 - YES... Barely
I don't know why. I expected it to suck, I was hoping that it would suck... but it didn't. It was a solid tag match, they pulled back on the finishing kick out bull shit.. kept away from leaning too heavy on the Ju-Jitsu Jackoff stuff... and manage to deliver a shockingly good match.

Kevin Steen vs. El Generico ROH Final Battle 12/16 - YES
If you hated LAdder War, the Steen/Generico ladder match from PWG, or anything in that vein... then... I feel bad for you son. Though I feel this one was paced a bit better, they did hold off on destroying EVERY ladder ever made until the very end. I think it's obvious that these two hate each other... there isn't much groundwork that needed to be laid down, they pretty much went for the throat at the sound of the bell. But they kept the cannons somewhat relegated to the end.

[Greg_McNeish]

Because in Nick's world, Matt Hardy doesn't exist.


A.J Styles vs. Christopher Daniels; Final Resolution 12/9 - NO

I wanted to like this match. I wanted to put it on the ballot. I wanted that SOOOOOOOOOOOO badly, but they simply refused to let it happen. The first half was really, really good. It starts with Daniels dancing to the ring like he's part of Chippendales, and really trying to make a mockery of what Styles clearly saw as being such a big deal. They work insanely slick mat work, at the start, building a dynamic that it's not about hurting each other, but about showing them up. Considering who they are, and how they're perceived by that crowd, that's an interesting, workable way to go about it. As they get off the mat, that comes into play even more, as Daniels turns up the douchebaggery, and AJ kind of snaps. That's when we get into the meat of the babyface shine, with AJ just treating Daniels like a piece of garbage. There's a nice moment where Daniels is barely holding himself up in the corner, after a big flurry, and AJ pauses to say "you're not talking now, are you?" As he's pulling out spectacular moves, big kicks, and submissions, it's never about truly hurting Daniels, but proving to him that he's not in AJ's league, has never been in his league, and never will be. Ladies & gentlemen, they have a story, and they're going to tell it, damn it.























... is what I thought. Then Daniels got his cut off, and proceeded to run a completely boring control section, before we got into the big move trading that was completely without emotion, or any real sense of direction. Cap that off with a finishing stretch that felt hugely underwhelming, and by the end of this thing, I was practically in tears, BEGGING them to please, please, please, just do something remarkable, so that I can overlook the bad, and give this the nod. But alas, they had no interest in doing such a thing.

I went into this match expecting a moves-fest, which told no story, but was kinda cool to look at. I came out feeling that it was a fairly movesy match, which utterly failed at telling a story, and made me hate wrestling for being able to toy with my heart like that. We normally think of emotional rollercoasters as being dramatic affairs, but this was the kind of rollercoaster that leads to AJ Lee going from sweet, innocent geeky girl, to psycho bitch, in a matter of months.

I award no points, and may God have mercy on their souls.

[TheLyontamer]

Time to make my first contribution to this year's project. Hopefully this year we can put the unrest of the previous ones behind us and take Titus O'Neil's advice. In 2013 we're gonna make it a win, people.


Since I've already typed these reviews, I'll throw them out there now. More WWE ones to come later.

Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE Smackdown 12/7) – YES

Without a doubt, this is one of the best performances that I’ve ever seen from Del Rio. If he had been able to produce this level of intensity from the beginning of his tenure in WWE, I’d have been a fan from day one. There was no wasted motion, no aimless moping around, and the entire match didn’t centre around him attempting to weaken one of Sheamus’s arms with the same three or four moves over and over again. He went right after the big white guy from the beginning, and basically just tried to kick fifteen different kinds of crap out of him. I could sense his intention to cause pain in any way possible, and was more engaged when he was in control as a result. The enzuigiri to the back of Sheamus was a neat spot and his bumping was also impressive.

Sheamus was exactly what I expected Sheamus to be. Everything that I remember. He showed fearlessness, mixed with a touch of arrogance, knowing that he’d win this if he kept calm and didn’t allow his emotions to take control of him. He threw in all his signature spots and the submission finish was quite unexpected for me.

This was the first time I’d ever seen ADR hit a moonsalt, so it really caught me off guard in a good way. He’s never really struck me as a high-flying kind of guy and I love when wrestlers pull out completely random moves that you’d never expect them to do. The finish played off the classic story of Del Rio going to the well one too many times with that particular move, and getting caught in the middle of the ring with a big Irish knee crushing the back of his head. His fruitless and desperate effort to somehow distract Sheamus by pulling down his kneepad was a nice little touch to convey the urgency of the situation. This was as good a ten-minute TV match as I’ve seen in ages, and definitely deserving of an early spot on the ballot.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus (WWE RAW 12/10) – NO

Up until the commercial break, this was great. We had Sheamus trying to blow Ziggler’s left leg to pieces, and ol’ Dolphy was bumping like a lunatic whilst screaming in pain and displaying awesome facial expressions that communicated one thing only: his leg was destroyed and the story of the second half of the match would be that he was struggling to even stand and had to think of a way to outsmart the giant Sheamus, using only his upper body.

Then Dolph effortlessly ran against the ropes a few times. Then he kicked Sheamus in the face. Then he began a lengthy control section which involve putting a lot of pressure on his injured limb. Before long, the entire beginning had been forgotten about. It was like an entirely different match. Sheamus didn’t help by blowing off a few moves himself either.

Here we have a match that started great before completely going off the rails. Compared to the Del Rio match, this was very weak.

[GooberBM]

I'm done with CZW so it's time to shake some hands.....in ROH:

Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong (ROH Final Battle 12/16) - NO

Boy did this match not have any energy at all. Strong, as always, came out like a fucking grinning dope but I was surprised that Elgin wasn't locked in at all. There was no sense of hate, desperation, exasperation, or anything. I mean Roderick Strong thinks Elgin is beneath him and I'm sure has treated Elgin like garbage of the last few years so where was any of this?

I mean give me some

Elgin: THIS IS FOR SNORING IN THE CAR! *punch*
THIS IS FOR THAT TIME YOU STUCK ME WITH THE BILL AT THE BAR! *Spinning backfist*
THIS IS FOR THE TIME YOU MADE ME STAY IN THE SAME HOTEL ROOM AS TRUTH MARTINI AND HIS TRANSVESTITE HOOKER *top buckle powerbomb*

If they had, I would've bought this in spades, but they didn't...They didn't even try to sell this one to you, so no. Not even a little bit.

American Wolves vs. Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly (ROH Final Battle 12/16) - NO

I'm shocked as hell, but this one had an actual story. Davey was coming back to ROH wanting to make amends for turning into a raging dick and unleashing Kyle O'Reilly on the world, but to do that he needs to reunite with Eddie Edwards....except Eddie is in Japan. So Nigel McGuinness puts out the bat signal and Davey hopes Eddie will answer the call for Final Battle.

So you then get a random assed Mike Mondo promo which allows Fish and O'Reilly to come out and be complete dicks including sweeping Mondo's busted leg and beating him up until Davey comes to make the save...only to be overrun by the numbers, until Eddie does show up to make the save and start the match.

Too bad this was flat as hell. It was a pretty mediocre shine and control segment (which considering the principles is kinda a compliment). It was dull but mostly inoffensive which is a huge step up from the last time these three were in a tag match together, and then, after 8 minutes Davey got fed up and broke up a pin attempt and then this train went off the tracks, over the side of the bridge, into the ravine, and exploded into a million pieces. In the last 5 minutes we had Manly Slaps, Jiu-jitsu kicks, submissions, submissions by the guy in the submission on the guy putting him in a submission....The only way I could accept it all was to break out into laughing. Then Eddie ended it the only way Eddie Edwards can: he did the pin/kickout/submission attempt thingy and then stomped O'Reilly in the head while he had the submission locked in until the ref stopped the match.

This was in the range of where I'd compliment these guys for their restraint and putting on a mediocre match together, and then they said we can't have that and fucking lost their shit. Easy no vote.

Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy (ROH Final Battle 12/16) - SECONDED

Time for the young lion to take on the delusional fat fuck and this was the first match that actually brought an urgency in the beginning. Adam Cole wasn't going to fuck around here, he was going to take ANY and EVERY opening Matt Hardy even began to give him to try to end him as quickly as possible. He wasn't trying to drag this out, he just wanted to go out there and get that big feather in his cap. This was important because the thing that was missing through the other matches was the simple idea that the bad guys are going to get blown out of a cannon because without that feeling, why would the bad guy need to cheat or pull some shenanigan like dropping Cole on the ring apron with a side effect out of desperation to not end up roadkill?

A pretty glaring issue in this match is Matt Hardy is effectively shot as a wrestler of any value. His ability to do any kind of high flying has been compromised by becoming quite the fat fuck, and then is compounded further by becoming old and unathletic (I really didn't know he was already 38). This led Matt to reducing his moveset to basically his top rope double axe handle and doing 5 side effects during the course of the match.

Matt's inability to do anything, took the good energy at the beginning of the match and hemorrhaged it away till we get to the ending where Hardy pulls the jersey on the referee, hits a low blow on Cole, and steals this with a rollup.

So why am I giving this the weakest of yes votes? Adam Cole in the first half of the match is just so full of piss and vinegar. He really does take it to the old man and wants to prove that he can go and he needs to get that signature win to put him on the map. He's alright on the sell and he does want to bring it home he just doesn't have anything on the other end to work with. But the fact that the match was a little more 10 minutes makes the whole exercise tolerable enough to give a provisional yes for now.

That's it for ROH for now. I shall tackle Ladder War in a standalone post to come later.

[isrs4life]

I'm nominating from WWE Raw January 7, 2013
I enjoyed the John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler match that kicked off Raw and felt like it
was a long enough and amazing match with a nice finish.

John Cena's usually comebacks but dolphz Drop kick and Superkick really were impressive during the match
and Big E Langston envolvement was good to and Cena's AA finish was awesome to.

The Ref was knocked out to and there was a 2nd referee theres my best job I'll try more this year.

[Grash]

Second
John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler, WWE Raw 1/7

Nominate
The Miz vs. Heath Slater w/ 3MB, WWE SD 1/4
The first part of the match has shenagians left and right up till Drew and Jinder get thrown out. Once that happen, the match picks up in intensity. Normally you'd see the match end when the extras get thrown out, but these two ended up holding my interest to my surprise.

Nominate
Big E Langston vs. Seth Rollins, NXT Championship Match W/ No Disqualifications, WWE NXT 1/10
This match tells a story. And it does it in droves. Big E is built up like a machine by surving the Shield's onslaught. We then have the NXT locker room empty out in two waves to remove Rollins and Ambrose. It leaves Rollins shocked and alone with Big E. And Big E delivers to take the belt. We have the NXT Locker Room back out to celebrate with Big E and NXT's "Pyros" make an appearance. JR and Regal are on commentary, and do an excellent job explaining what is going on and why it's important. Ultimately, this was the blow off to Rollin's NXT Title reign and it was done in grand style.

[Grash]

VOTE BOMB!

YES: 12/8 CZW Cage of Death XIV The Nation of Intoxication vs. 4 Loco
MMM The Madness of the match is so wonderful. The match ends with a guy getting punched in the balls by a chick only for us to be swirved. He pulls out the "cup", it happens to be a flash. He takes a swig and then slams the bitch into the mat from the scafolding. The match is on its way out from here. Now, Greg and Goober hated this match, but I'm here giggling and loving it. So fuck them (with a rusty pole) and sit back and enjoy the ride.

YES: 12/8 CZW Cage of Death XIV Adam Cole vs. Sami Callihan
This match was the Shit.

NO: 12/8 CZW Cage of Death XIV AR Fox vs. Robert Anthony
I couldn't get into the match once Robert Anthony cut his promo.

YES: 12/8 CZW Cage of Death XIV D.J Hyde vs. Matt Tremont
This is the blow off of the fued between these two and it was done in CZW fashion. This is definately not for the first to the Ultra Violence, so I can see how Goober and Greg are shitting on it. (oh wait, that was cole and Sami...)

NO: 12/9 TNA Final Resolution A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
I'm sick of seeing these two face off in "big matches"

NO: 12/9 TNA Final Resolution Bobby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy
decent match, just not good enough to me to vote yes for it.

NO: 12/20 TNA IMPACT Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy
decent match, just not good enough to me to vote yes for it.

NO: 12/7 WWE SmackDown Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio
Good match but not great.

NO: 12/10 WWE RAW Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus
Good match but not great.

YES: 12/16 WWE TLC Ryback & Team Hell No vs. The Shield
My gut tells me to vote YES for the brutality in the match isn't typical of the WWE.

YES: 12/16 WWE TLC John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler
Oh hell yes. AJ Swirve at the end of the match made this awesome.

NO: 12/19 WWE Main Event Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
I enjoyed the match, But not a great match.

NO: 12/19 WWE Tribute to the Troops John Cena vs. Antonio Cesaro
Again, Enjoyed it but not a great match.

YES: 12/24 WWE RAW John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio
This is the Miracle on 24th Street Fight. I love it. It's Holliday done awesome.

[isrs4life]

Nominate
The Miz vs. Heath Slater w/ 3MB, WWE SD 1/4
The first part of the match has shenagians left and right up till Drew and Jinder get thrown out. Once that happen, the match picks up in intensity. Normally you'd see the match end when the extras get thrown out, but these two ended up holding my interest to my surprise.

I'll 2nd this match. I loved watching this bout while it aired on Smackdown last friday it was an amazing match a lot longer then I thought
it would be and even the score dudes of aftermath liked it as well.

[Greg_McNeish]

YES: 12/8 CZW Cage of Death XIV The Nation of Intoxication vs. 4 Loco
MMM The Madness of the match is so wonderful. The match ends with a guy getting punched in the balls by a chick only for us to be swirved. He pulls out the "cup", it happens to be a flash. He takes a swig and then slams the bitch into the mat from the scafolding. The match is on its way out from here. Now, Greg and Goober hated this match, but I'm here giggling and loving it. So fuck them (with a rusty pole) and sit back and enjoy the ride.

I did nothing of the sort. I haven't seen it.