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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

2017 MOTY Countdown: Honorable Mentions

20. Not 25 nor 13 nor 5. There is no aesthetic reason nor religious imperative to limit our list of best matches of the year to 20. It is simply so. These are the remaining matches that I rated as ****1/4 or higher that are not included on the list of 20. Some notes:


Keith Lee vs. Sammy Guevera: Sammy Guevera playing a flashy and too cocky asshole heel in this match is some of the best character work I have seen this year. There are funny spots, but not nearly as many as this type of match up tends to get played for.

Arez vs. Belial vs. Impulso: This apuestas match is everything you could want from an apuestas match between indie luchadors. You get the blood, the brawling and the crazy dives.

Demonio Infernal vs. Black Dragon: Demonio Infernal was one of my favorite wrestlers to watch in 2017. When he was given the opportunity he had some of the most fun brawls of the year. This match was my favorite of his as it shows off his great bumping and selling as well as the viciousness he can bring to a match. He gets caught off guard to start the match but quickly comes back and slows Black Dragon down with brutal looking strikes and moves. Every spot of this match smoothly progresses to the next until we get to the brutal looking finish. Less than 10 minutes of fun spots and Demonio bleeding everywhere.

Authors of Pain vs. Team D.I.Y.: Johnny Gargano may be the best underdog babyface wrestler on the planet. The character work in this match is fantastic, with D.I.Y. coming in hurting and relying on their experience and trust in each other. The post-match angle was great, but even without that the emotion and story these two teams put in to this match was some of the best of the year.

Caristico & Soberano vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Sanson: Caristico and Ultimo Guerrero are obviously going to work well together, but this match stood out to me because of the intensity Soberano and Sanson brought. One of my favorite things in wrestling is a cocky heel that will show the flashy tecnico that they can flip just as well, and whenever Sanson and Soberano are paired Sanson is able to do this. Soberano, for his part, hits all of this big dives perfectly and his offense has a sort of earnest intensity that the best underdog, flashy/flippy tecnicos have. This match made me hope CMLL lets Soberano and Sanson continue to feud for some time.


PROMOTION NAMENAME OF SHOWDATE OF SHOWMATCHPROMOTION NAME
EVOLVEEVOLVE 792/25/17Ethan Page vs. Darby Allin
WMCArena San Juan Pantitlan2/26/17Arez vs. Belial vs. Impulsohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpV1ZBkkmxk&t=1930s
IWRG3/19/17Demonio Infernal vs. Black Dragonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4OOt_Y9wrs&feature=youtu.be
WRESTLECONWrestleCon Super Show 20173/31/17Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland
CZWBest of the Best 164/1/17Matt Tremont vs. Penta 0 M
NXTNXT TV4/12/17Drew Mcyntire vs. Oney Larcan
NXTTakeOver: Chicago5/20/17Akam, Rezar vs. Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa
Inspire Pro5/28/17Keith Lee vs. Sammy Gueverahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1rp2aMBqUs
CMLLArena Mexico6/16/17Caristico, Soberano vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Sansonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy5gmK4Ym6g&list=WL&index=22
CMLLArena Mexico8/4/17Rey Cometa, Soberano Jr., The Panther vs. Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5vPRp_nuEM&feature=youtu.be&t=00h44m47s
WWEMonday Night Raw8/7/17Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns
IWRGArena Naucalpan8/9/17Fly Star, Fly Warrior, Fulgor I, Fulgor II, Glen Calavera, Jerry Calavera, Mr. Leo, Septimo Rayo vs. Alas de Acera, Aramis, Black Dragon, Demonio Infernal, Diablo Jr., Dinamic Black, Eterno, Golden Magichttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqnkuwDaz2w&index=34&list=WL
AAAArena Ciudad de Mexico8/26/17Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Psycho Clown
IWRGArena Naucalpan9/3/17Villano III Jr. vs. Imposiblehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkmYDcciT7c&index=36&list=WL
The CrashAuditorio de Tijuana10/5/17Demus 3:16, Ultimo Maldito, Steve Pain vs. Mascarita Dorada, Laredo Kid, Arkangel Divinohttps://youtu.be/qi6teINeRB0

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