Hello I’m Iwan Mackenzie and its time for something a bit different from me.
As you know I go to a lot of shows, I’ve currently done 50 shows so far this year and have seen a lot of wrestling matches, some bad, some good, some very good and some great but this next 25 matches are the absolute cream of the crop that I’ve seen live so far this year. Now with any list, it can be very subjective so just remember this is only my own personal view on matches, make sure to send me your favourites on Twitter.
This was a hard list to compile and I’ve had to leave a few matches off that nearly made it, so here are some Honorable mentions:
- Su Yung vs Charlie Morgan – Pro Wrestling: EVE “Global Women’s Strike 2” (9th February)
- The Besties in the World (Mat Fitchett and Davey Vega) vs The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Santos Jr) vs Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs The Hunter Brothers (Jim and Lee) – Fatal-4-Way Match for the Fight Club: Pro Tag Team Championships – Fight Club: Pro “International Tekkers 2019” (15th March)
- TK Cooper vs Candyfloss – RIPTIDE “Deep Six 2019” (15th February)
- The OJMO vs Ashmore – Pro Wrestling SOUL “Debut Show” (20th January)
- Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher – Fight Club: Pro “WrestleHouse ’19”
Right lets crack on with the main list starting with number 25:
25. Laura Di Matteo vs Jordynne Grace – Pro Wrestling: EVE “WrestleQueendom II” (30th June)
We start off the list with the grudge match to end a six month build of storytelling, you see back in October of last year, Di Matteo was able to submit Grace in a four way elimination match, in December she proclaimed 2019 as her year and said she has beaten some of the best with Grace’s name being mentioned, Grace took an issue with this and asked Laura “What makes you think, you could beat me twice?” to which Di Matteo responded back with “What makes you think you could beat me Once?” which led to a pull apart between the two and a match being set up at February’s “Global Women Strike 2”. Unfortunate due to scheduling conflicts that was not to be but it was given the bigger stage of WrestleQueendom II instead.
This was the match to see if Laura was able to back up her words or to see if Jordynne could even the score; the crowd were I’d say 85% in Laura’s corner with some Jordynne supporters in the crowd as well but Laura was the EVE faithful’s chosen one in this match. A real clash of styles here with Laura using her technical and high flying abilities against Jordynne’s absolute raw power, there was some insane stuff in this match with Jordynne powerbombing Laura on the apron and Laura actually tombstoning Jordynne in a real “Holy Shit” moment; it lived up to the feud, made Laura look like an absolute star in her performance and win, Jordynne still went down strong as well, considering which match it had to follow as well (More on that later) they still knocked it out of the park.
WATCH HERE: https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/media/eve%3A-wrestle-queendom-2!!!/89031/feature
24. Mark Davis vs Meiko Satomura: Fight Club: Pro World Championship Match – Fight Club: Pro “International Tekkers 2019” (15th March)
This was really the conclusion of the Satomura vs Schadenfreude story with Davis cashing in his Infinity Trophy to get his second match with Satomura after an unsuccessful challenge to her back in December last year in a Schadenfreude Lumberjack match.
Davis came into this match more confident and nasty than ever before following his massive win over WALTER the month previous, uncharacteristically Satomura attacked Davis straight away from the ring of the bell as she knew she wouldn’t be able to take Davis strength so she instead focused on her positives that being strikes, she got a load in but then Davis sucker punched her and the match swung in his favour before hitting some of the hardest chops that I’ve ever seen in an Intergender match.
He made his first fatal mistake when he took Satomura up to the stage where Satomura was able to DDT him and hit the cartwheel knees which led to Davis wearing the crimson mask of blood; a little while later a table was set up and Satomura was able to DVD Davis through the table in a massive crowd popping moment. Back in the ring and Satomura was able to hit two of her match ending Scorpion Rising kicks but they weren’t able to knock Davis off, she went for a third but Davis just fell due to the blood loss, Satomura complained to the referee, but she then went over to Davis and it turns out that Davis was playing possum this whole time and that it was part of a plan, he hit a suckerpunch followed up by the CYE to win the Fight Club: Pro World Championship.
This was worthy of its main event place, was another great match to add to the Satomura back catalogue whilst Davis looked like an absolute world beater, and at the same time a mighty strategist who knew exactly what he needed to do to win the title, great stuff all round.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fightclubprounlimited/325106427
23. Cara Noir vs Kyle Fletcher: ATTACK! Pro 24/7 Championship Match – ATTACK! Pro “Live at the Dome II” (20th February)
A match that was not originally meant to happen as it was originally supposed to be Kyle vs Jody Fleisch but Jody had a family emergency so the card was changed and be got this absolute banger instead in the opener no less. This was a clash of characters, Kyle the ass-kicking babyface who would fight through anything against the cold calculated even sinister Cara Noir.
Cara used his mind games and knowledge of the body to great work as he tried to break Kyle down whilst Kyle used his unmatched strength to throw Cara from pillow to post, there was an insane Superplex followed through into a Liger bomb by Kyle that only got a two count, Cara did eventually win though following a package piledriver to retain his title and earn a standing ovation from the crowd.
This is such a rewatchable match, you’ll find something new everytime you watch it, great work from both men involved.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/liveatthedomeii/320797872
22. Dan Moloney vs Ilja Dragunov – Fight Club: Pro “Hangover Part II” (24th May)
Following Dan Moloney’s breakout performances over the DTTI weekender, he was put up against one of the best in the world in Ilja Dragunov at “Hangover II” which led to one of the most brutal non-death matches of the year. They chopped seven shades of shit out of each other in this match and it was absolutely glorious to watch, Ilja used every move in his arsenal to try and put Dan away but Dan was on another plain by taking said punishment and still emerging to hit his own hard hitting offence.
This match was another reason as to why Dan Moloney is such a star in the making, he’s thriving on the Independent scene as opposed to his directionless WWE run and as for Ilja, he put on another great match and didn’t loose any cred in his eventual loss to Moloney.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fightclubprounlimited/
21. The Anti-Fun Police (Chief Deputy Dunne and Los Federales Santos Jr) vs CCBLAAAH (Chris Brookes and Lucky Kid): Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Championship Match – Kamikaze Pro “Underground VI” (2nd February)
This match was equal parts Fight Club: Pro and equal parts Tuesday Night Graps in its approach, it had the action and insane spots that you’d see in a Fight Club: Pro match but also had a segment of the match that was very TNG as Santos No Fun Gun was taken away from him and landed in the hands of Lucky who couldn’t be trusted so Brookes tried to take the gun away from him but they accidentally shot Chief to his death, they all checked on him, Santos cried in sadness before Brookes said to Lucky “Hey! we can fucking win!” dumping Santos to the outside and pinning Chief but Chief kicked out and revealed that under his shirt he had a bullet proof vest and pulled the bullet out that presumably killed him, it was was wonderfully silly but hilarious stuff.
This did save the show that it on as well, the crowd were pretty bad and even threatened to interfere in this match but Brookes shut them down in a spectacular way, they soon shut up after that. The last five minutes are absolute tag team excellence; this may well be my favourite Anti-Fun Police match that I’ve seen to date and Brookes and Lucky made a great tag team.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kpuvi/316322008
20. Mark Davis vs Shigehiro Irie – ATTACK! Pro “Live at the Dome II” (20th February)
Whilst Kyle had to deal with Cara in the opener, his tag team partner Mark Davis had a massive heavyweight challenge in the form of Shigehiro Irie to deal with. Both men had a contest to see who could sit on each other the hardest with Irie winning that exchange; both men hit massive dives to the outside on each other showing that there much like crusierweights in heavyweight form, Irie followed that up with a splash where he nearly fell out of the ring on impact that’s how much of a spring he got on it; more chops and strikes followed with Davis eventually attempting a moonsault but Irie moved, Davis was still able to pick up the win following a massive Piledriver.
This was a great battle of big lads that had the high flying in there to show how athletic both men are as well as great strikers, it took me a little bit of time to warm to Irie but he in a short time has become one of my favourite wrestlers to watch, Davis said to me after at the merch that it was one of his favourite singles matches he’s ever had, I’m very inclined to agree.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/liveatthedomeii/320797872
19. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr): RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championships Match – RevPro “Epic Encounter 2019” (10th May)
Aussie Open finally got there rematch with Suzuki-Gun after winning the WOPW Tournament in January to set up the match at York Hall.
Suzuki-Gun attacked Aussie Open at the start of this match leading to the usual Suzuki-Gun antics of attacking their opponents with chairs and locking in submissions all over the outside, Chris Roberts tried to get involved but Suzuki kept threatening him; Kyle was in isolation for a long time with ZSJ and Suzuki using every heel tactic in the book to wind the crowd up including Suzuki giving my mate Alex a death stare for starting an Aussie Arrow chant; when Davis got tagged in the whole match changed as he was able to take ZSJ out and it was a staredown between Davis and Suzuki where Davis matched up against the living legend in a wonderful striking war, Davis attempted the CYE but ZSJ cut it off so Suzuki went for the Gotch-Style Piledriver but Kyle broke that off.
Kyle absolutely unloaded on ZSJ and Suzuki when he got into the match and looked like an absolute star when he did, many double moves later and finally the CYE from Davis to ZSJ and Aussie Open were the new RevPro Tag Team Champions to a thunderous reception. Aussie Open kicked it up a gear in this match and looked like absolute stars; they do say for faces to work they need great heels and Suzuki-Gun were in final boss heel mode here, they really made the match as good as it was by being such great heels.
WATCH HERE: https://rpwondemand.pivotshare.com/media/epic-encounter-2019/87448
18. El Phantasmo vs David Starr: Ladder Match for the RevPro Undisputed British Cruiserweight Championship – RevPro “Epic Encounter 2019” (10th May)
After a few years of average or just good ladder matches in BritWres, this year we got two great ones, one of them I’ll be talking about later…
This was the last match match in the feud of El Phantasmo and David Starr after months of Starr cheating or using something to his advantage to keep a hold of the Crusierweight title so ELP got one more shot at the title and raised the stakes by making it a Ladder match where a new belt would be for the winner. Both men adopted darker sides to them for this match, ELP came out in full Bullet Club black with his new music playing through the arena whilst Starr came out with taped wrists and red jeans which meant we were getting Davey Deathmatch.
This had a difficult position to following a banger of a contest before but they were able to deliver absolute brutality, this very much felt more like a deathmatch with a ladder stipulation as both men bled, Starr more so with a nasty cut that led to blood across the ring including a sickening visual where Starr was upside down with a ladder wedge towards his head and blood was just pouring down onto the canvas.
This match had a lot more going on as well as the violence as we had some storyline based moments where Starr’s personal referee Shay Purser finally showed his true colours and gave ELP a low blow off the ladder and kicking Referee Chris Roberts down as well before handing ELP off to Starr so Starr could hit a piledriver off the apron through a table before Shay threw Starr back in so he could win but Roberts got back up and gave Shay a low blow and then tipped Starr off the ladder onto thumbtacks as Roberts had finally had enough off the bullshit and beat Shay all the way up the ramp and hitting a bodyslam on the stage, the York Hall crowd erupted for this moment, it was truly unexpected but very welcomed.
In the end ELP finally fulfilled his destiny and became the new Cruiserweight champion to end a brutal but great ladder match.
WATCH HERE: https://rpwondemand.pivotshare.com/media/epic-encounter-2019/87448
17. Su Yung vs Session Goth Martina: Undead Match – Pro Wrestling: EVE “WrestleQueendom II” (30th June)
This match came about all the way back in February where Su Yung made a shocking debut in EVE interrupting Martina’s post match rave and instantly leaving fear in Martina’s mind; they faced off at April’s “Bigger Than SHEus” which within itself was a great match and nearly a contender for this list, Yung beat Martina and bounded her hands together and took her away with the intention of making Martina her latest undead bride but a video later released by EVE revealed that Martina had escaped but her darker side of Session Goth had emerged ready to get revenge on Yung for what she did to her.
Both women upped their game from the last match and had a freer environment of York Hall and a freer stipulation (Undead match is basically a hardcore match) to give the fans a bigger, better and bolder sequel that I felt eclipsed their original effort. Both women went absolutely hell for leather in this match with numerous weapon shots including a Beer can covered Kendo stick (that I dubbed a Cando stick) which Martina produced to equalise Su’s own Kendo Stick; Martina got busted on pretty early but still looked like a badass as she suplexed Yung into three sets of chairs; not too long after, they headed to the ramp and they sat down with a can each and traded shots whilst in-between sips before they both clobbered each other and went down, a giant sumo baby then appeared to give Martina another can as well throw some other little baby figures out before leaving, it was certainly a moment that confused the crowd as well as myself but afterwards I realised that it was one of Martina’s kid there to help her which means backup was being used for both women.
This was certainly true in the case of Yung as well as Martina looked to have the match won but several Undead Brides emerged from all over the place to stop Martina, it was an awesome visual to see. Su would later put Martina through a door that she set up earlier but Martina would later put Su through a table as she dived onto Su and the Undead Brides with a swanton as the crowd lost their mind in this match. In the end Su was able to hit her finisher onto tacks to pick up the win before leaving with her undead brides and leaving Martina to take in the applause of the crowd who had all gained a new found respect for Martina.
For what both women put themselves through physically and giving a match that was fitting for a large show like Queendom II, this has to make the list, probably my favourite Martina match that I’ve ever seen.
WATCH HERE:https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/media/eve%3A-wrestle-queendom-2!!!/89031/feature
16. Darrell Allen vs Jonathan Gresham: British Rounds Match – Pro Wrestling SOUL “Soul 4” (23rd June)
Pro Wrestling SOUL has emerged this year with four tremendously great shows that’s had a load of great matches on the shows like OJMO vs Ashmore, Scotty Davis vs Jordan Breaks and Darrell Allen vs Johnny Kidd but I had to give this match the nod as it was SOUL’s biggest show and match to date and the first ever SOUL match to earn a standing ovation from the crowd.
As you’d expect from the two men, this was some of the best technical wrestling that I’ve ever witnessed in person and had a nice story through the rounds with Darrell fighting with one arm where it had been worked on so much and Gresham becoming more sneaky as well leading to some great heel moments. It was insane to see Gresham in such an intimate venue after his stint for NJPW’s Best of Super Juniors but very much welcomed, Darrell has been on fire this year so far and showed that even know he trains incredible wrestlers, he himself is an incredible wrestler and did not look out of place in the ring against one of the best in the world.
WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn6ZZeeAvFx-ro0nIhldmPg
15. Kyle Fletcher vs Trent Seven – ATTACK! “Live at the Dome III” (24th April)
A rematch from their wonderful encounter at PROGRESS some six months prior, this match in my opinion surpassed their original encounter all them months ago. They started off a little bit of comedy when Trent paraded Kyle’s Aussie Arrow pose by doing a over the top version of a cannon to fire back but the things got serious with Trent focusing on Kyle’s knee so he could take away Kyle’s strength and highflying abilities; Kyle still fought through the pain though by throwing Trent all around the ring and hitting a spectacular springboard senton to the outside.
Trent optimised his chops in this match to wear Kyle down but Kyle had learnt from their last encounter together and was able to fight through the pain that Trent dished out, even reversing a figure four lock that Trent had applied recently; Kyle attempted to hit the Aussie Arrow but his knee buckled from under him on the first time, but he was able to fight through to hit it for the second time which ultimately was the match decider.
Both men have tremendous chemistry with one another and this was another great example of how good the two work together, I welcome the third match!
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/liveatthedome3/332422270
14. Jordan Breaks vs Connor Mills: Pride of Brighton Quarter-Final Match – Riptide “Pride of Brighton” (9th June)
Going into this show, this was my pick of the first round as you knew the two would have tremendous chemistry from their training together at Knucklelocks but they took my expectations and absolutely smashed them out the park as they put on an even better match then I thought that it could be.
It started off with some incredible technical wrestling before moving into the story of the match which was Mills using his striking ability because he knew he could outclass Jordan in that area but Jordan scouted Mills wrist in order to take away the punches and chops, that still didn’t affect Mills chops which were the hardest I’ve ever seen him hit. The finishing stretch was insane as Mills hit a suicide dive to the outside, rolling Jordan back in the ring and hitting the 450 splash only for Jordan to catch him in the Kimura lock on Mills weakened wrist to get the instant tap out and the win.
These two had an absolute class match here at this show leading to chants of RIPTIDE and a standing ovation from the crowd, these two truly are the future of BritWres and they showed it here with tremendous performances from the both of them.
WATCH HERE: https://riptidewrestling.pivotshare.com/
13. Kagetsu vs Mayu Iwatani – Pro Wrestling: EVE “WrestleQueendom II” (30th June)
Originally before the EVE weekender, this wasn’t a match that I was mega excited for, I knew who both women were but had never seen enough to call myself a fan but after their performances on the Friday and Saturday EVE shows, I instantly became more excited for this match.
They started off really fast and frantically as the two showed off their tremendous chemistry from years of working in STARDOM together; simple story told here of Kagetsu using her stablemates in Odeo-Tai (Jamie Hayter and Martina) to her advantage and trying to break all the rules whilst Mayu used her incredible athletic ability to out manoeuvre Kagetsu at all costs including going for a big moonsault attempt. The near falls in this match were perfect and had be falling back in my chair multiple amounts of times.
In the end though they reached the 15 minute time limit just before Kagetsu hit a 450 splash, people were confused at first but then once my mate Dave gave it a standing ovation and I joined him, the whole crowd got to their feet to applaud this amazing match. Both women blew everybody away with their quick style of wrestling, really showcasing STARDOM in the best way possible and oh yeah did I mention this was the second match on the card? Incredible wrestling all round.
WATCH HERE:https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/media/eve%3A-wrestle-queendom-2!!!/89031/feature
12. Malik vs Connor Mills: J1 League Finals Qualfying Match – Frontline “NexGen 3” (25th May)
A bit of a personal dream match for me that kind of sold me on going to this show in the first place, these two were elevated to the main event position and absolutely killed it in this small church hall in Rainham.
The two built the match nice and slow with the two going hold for hold before resorting to the striking games that both men are very well known for. There was three insane spots that I must mention, first one being Malik placing Mills over the top rope and springboarding onto him with a footstomp; Malik putting Mills on his shoulder in an electric chair position and then climbing the ropes before hitting a massive German suplex; and the final spot being Malik attempting the German again but Mills learning from it and hitting a sunset powerbomb and a 450 splash but it only got a two!
Malik eventually won with the Chutknee to win the match and the adulation of the crowd. This truly was the match to show to people who had never seen either Mills or Malik at all before and to show why these guys should be everywhere right now.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nexgen3/340004857
11. Jordan Devlin vs Kyle Fletcher: Super Strong Style 16 Quarter-Final Match – PROGRESS “Super Strong Style 16 2019 Day 2” (May 5th)
These two had one of my MOTY last year at RIPTIDE so when they met each other in the quarter finals for this years SSS16, I got very excited when these two were paired up with each other. Since their encounter last August both men’s games had improved even more so this sequel was going to be even better and boy Jove it was!
Both men worked any incredibly quick style with highflying and counters galore, they were able to pack a lot into a 13 minute time frame but it absolutely worked for them, the match was that good that they got a mid-match standing ovation which always indicates that their doing something pretty damn special. Even though Devlin won, both men emerged from this contest looking like absolute megastars, Devlin as one of the best in the world right now and Kyle as a next potential superstar for the world.
WATCH HERE: https://demandprogress.pivotshare.com/media/chapter-88%3A-super-strong-style-16-day-2/87473/feature
10. Viper vs Kay Lee Ray: Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship Match – Pro Wrestling: EVE “WrestleQueendom II” (30th June)
This was both women’s swan song in EVE as both were leaving due to restrictions on their NXT UK contracts so both women were set up be each others last opponents and they went all out for the fans in York Hall that night.
It was very much a hybrid match, full of different styles from the pairs repertoire; part classic British style, part comedy, part Indy spot fest including trading Canadian Destroyers and a reverse rana from Viper that sent me out my chair. What was nice is that this match felt completely different from the previous matches I’ve seen of them live and that’s in baring in mind that I’ve seen them wrestle with Connect 4, Barbed Wire, within a steel cage amongst other things.
I loved this match to bits, a fitting tribute to two of EVE’s most loved roster members.
WATCH HERE:https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/media/eve%3A-wrestle-queendom-2!!!/89031/feature
9. Mark Davis vs Dan Moloney vs PAC vs Will Ospreay: Fatal-4-Way Match for the Fight Club: Pro World Championship – Fight Club: Pro “Dream Tag Team Invitational 2019 Night 3” (21st April)
So DTTI Night 3 buy and large was mostly a mystery show and it lead to things like this happening. Davis came to the ring and said that he’s the baddest motherfucker in FCP and challenged anybody thus we got the ever popular Moloney who was on the run of his career over this weekend, he was then followed by the “Bastard” PAC who also answered the challenge and it looks like we’ve got a triple threat but then Ospreay’s music hits and I fell out my chair, Ospreay stared a whole threw the others as we was there for PAC.
Every guy here played their role to perfection; Davis was being a massive prick champion who would do anything to keep a hold of it, Dan was the indestructible babyface who was fueled by the fans support and Ospreay and PAC’s interactions with each other really out this match over the top from me, their first face off had the Manchester crowd foaming at the mouth as two of the best of their collective generations went at it. My two favourite spots of this match were, Ospreay and PAC hitting reverse rana’s on Davis and Moloney respectively with them immediately going into a staredown off the impact of them.
The other was PAC using the FCP title to hit Moloney and pinning him only for Ospreay to come in and grab the ref’s hand as it was going down for three thus breaking the pin. It did look like Moloney was going to win but Davis sneaked in and hit the CYE to pick up the win and retain the title this time but possibly setting up a rematch somewhere down the line.
This was an adrenaline fuelled thrillride from start to finish, you honestly could not get anymore perfect than this match, it really was a “Moment” to be there for.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fightclubprounlimited/334280902
8. The Kris Wolf Retirement Gauntlet Match – Pro Wrestling: EVE “We’re All Gonna Die! The Frantic Scramble in Search for Meaning Through a Mess of Meaty Interactions: aka The Kris Wolf Retirement Show” (26th April)
The Kris Wolf Retirement Show may well be the best show that I’ve ever seen live, the first half of the show is hilarious in the best way possible, and we had a very good Kay Lee Ray vs Nina Samuels match where Kris herself was the ref. But things started to get emotional when we got to Kris Wolf’s actual retirement match and she went out in the Joshi tradition of facing everybody on the roster in a gauntlet match with a time limit of 2 minutes per match. Immediately on Kris’s entrance you could feel the love that Kris had brought people as the fans in the ResGal that night made the most noise I’ve ever heard in that place ever with chants of “Kris Wolf Clap Clap” “We Love you Kris Wolf we do” and “There’s only one Kris Wolf!” Before getting to the actual matches.
Now compared to the others on this list, this isn’t a brilliant wrestling match, it isn’t a six star classic or anything but it is an emotional thrill ride celebrating one of pro wrestling’s most loved characters. I did love the opponents choice for Kris as it alluded to her previous moments in EVE; Laura Di Matteo was her first EVE opponent, Erin Angel reenacted her She-1 match, Rebel Kinney was Kris’s opponent on the first SHEvoulution show amongst other callbacks that made following her EVE career worth it.
There are some great moments like Charlie Morgan bringing in a replacement for her match as she was injured in the form of “Fearfall” Jetta Morgan who was scared of everything in a great parody, Kris and Kay Lee Ray’s mini match where they do a 2 minute spotfest basically, Jinny still in Jinny Havoc mode wanting to sing Slipknot and the crowd basking her in song, and then the heel alliance of Jinny, Jamie Hayter and Charli Evans attacking Kris before Kris was saved by her inflatable friend Tito and then a surprise appearance by Kris’s former Odeo-Tai partner Act Yushika who saved Kris as Kris was able to pin Charli and win her retirement.
Much emotional scenes followed afterwards with a life thinking promo by Kris, a great video package that brought me and countless others to tears, a ten bell salute that signalled the end of Kris’s pro wrestling career, Kris and her wife embracing in the ring before Kris was crowd surfed to the back.
For pure emotion alone, this was my favourite match of the year, its a rollercoaster full of emotion but a more than fitting tribute to the one and only Kris Wolf.
7. Joey Janela vs Chantal Jordan: Falls Count Anywhere Match – Kamikaze Pro “Relentless Rules 2” (31st May)
You’ve probably already seen parts of this match all over social media as it went viral as soon as it happened, good reason to as well as it was absolute back shit insane! AEW star Joey Janela who had wrestled on the Double or Nothing pre-show only the week prior was now in a nightclub in Coventry wrestling a 15 Year old Prodigy in Chantal Jordan in my favourite match stipulation, Falls Count Anywhere.
This match immediately hit the ground running when Joey kicked Chantal in the facw away before they start fighting to the outside, with them fighting all over the venue, on the road, the bus, all over the streets; some insane moves followed like a crossbody by Chantal off the phone box, Joey’s piledriver to Chantal on the bonnet of a car and another piledriver in the chicken shop next door where Man Like Beano just looked on whilst biting into a wrap. Back inside and the action was fast and furious with Chantal earning some mega reactions from the crowd as she kicked and kicked even hitting a Canadian Destroyer but it was Janela who picked up the win via a Cornette Driver.
This was a starmaking performance for Chantal as she is set to be a mega star in BritWres over the next few years, and opinions might differ but in my humble opinion, Joey Janela is one of the best in the world, he can make anybody look great and he never fails to put on an entertaining match.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kprr2/339921474
6. Miyu Yamashita vs Gisele Shaw – Frontline “1 Year on the Frontline” (14th June)
The beauty of a new year in wrestling is that you get to discover new talents and by this time last year I’d never even heard of both of these two but now in the present day, I am massive fans of them.
Gisele Shaw has been one of the most consistently improving talents on the scene and has had a lot of great matches so far this year but this really was her magnum opus of matches that she’s had in the UK so far; I’d never heard of Miyu before but I knew she was a pretty big deal so I was excited to see this match.
For close to twenty minutes, these two kicked the ever living hell out of each other with plenty of great wrestling as well. Very technical start by Gisele who mostly controlled the first portion of the match and despite being known for being a high flyer more than matched Miyu for pure kicking ability; when Miyu had finally taken enough punishment, her face looked like a volcano was about to erupt with rage and that she did with some of the best strikes I’ve ever seen live. Gisele did get to show off her highflying ability though when she met Miyu up top with and hit the Canadian Cwtch (Spanish Fly), the crowd were losing their minds at this point to show how good this match was; Miyu was the one to pick up the win but both women won in mine and the crowd eyes.
This had a lot of vibes of the Ridgeway/Kenoh match the year previously but stood on its own two feet as an awesome professional wrestling match. I immediately want to see Miyu back in the UK as there’s so many matches that I’d want to see her have and as for Gisele, she showed why in this modern landscape of contracts taking away stars and places being needed to fill, Gisele showed that she can be a valuable asset to any company going forward for quality match content.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/oneyearonthefrontline/345909171
5. PAC vs Micheal Oku – RevPro “Live at the Cockpit 42” (2nd June)
I’m not a big RevPro fan, not as much as I used to be anyways, I’ve found myself not going to their shows this year as much as previous years but the appeal of seeing The OJMO or as he was here Micheal Oku get his biggest match to date against one of the best in the world in PAC was enough for me to go to the Cockpit on a really hot day as well to see it.
Unlike most PAC matches were the crowd is normally 50/50 or completely in love with PAC, in this match, Oku had the crowd fully behind him from his entrance to the last bell. The story of the match was PAC not giving Oku a chance at all because he believed that he should even be in the ring with him but because this was Oku’s big opportunity, he showed resilience every time, every time Oku would even hit a move on PAC, the crowd would go wild. PAC was able to use his strength advantage to take Oku for the longest time possible during which he taunted the crowd like the true Bastard that he is and it was glorious!
We then get the best part of the match where PAC looked to out Oku out of his misery and end the match early so he went to hit the Black Arrow but as he was in flight, Oku moved out of the way to a thunderous reaction; after that Oku unloaded on PAC and even was able to lock in the half crab and everyone wanted him to win but in the end, Oku couldn’t keep the Bastard down as PAC hit the Black Arrow successfully and picked up the win in the best Cockpit match ever in my opinion.
These two went out there for near to 30 minutes in boiling hot temperatures and wrestled (pardon my French) a fucking excellent wrestling match. PAC is one of the best in the world in my opinion, he looked absolutely glorious in this match but this was Oku’s match as he arrived in the big time by looking like a star against PAC, for two years in the business, he really has shown that he’s a megastar in our ranks; 2019 is the year of the OJMO.
WATCH HERE: https://rpwondemand.pivotshare.com/media/live-at-the-cockpit-42/88329
4. Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix) vs LAX (Santana and Ortiz): Dream Tag Team Invitational Semi-Final Match – Fight Club: Pro “Dream Tag Team Invitational 2019 Night 3” (21st April)
I’ve been going to live wrestling shows for 7 (and a bit) years now and seen 1000’s of matches but this is the best opening match that I’ve ever seen at any live show I’ve ever attended. Like I said in my number 9 post, DTTI Night 3 was a mystery show and we didn’t know who drew who in the DTTI semi-finals but we got classic IMPACT! rivals Lucha Bros and LAX, my hopes were already high.
In just under 10 minutes, these four men were able to put on a masterclass in tag team wrestling and a pure thrillride of a match, everybody performed excellently here. Key couple of spots were LAX hitting a multitude of tag team moves followed by Ortiz’s fall down splash where Penta broke the pin up by soccer ball kicking Ortiz in the head, ouch! There was also when Ortiz was pinning Fenix with Santana by him and Penta launched himself off Ortiz’s back to give him a Canadian Destroyer that collectively blew everybody’s mind at once and led to a mid-match standing ovation which tells you that this match was pretty special; Lucha Bros picked up the win the win with the Package Piledriver/Foot Stomp combo and led to the post match standing ovation as well.
What a match this was, it left me speechless after watching it but also incredibly happy as I’d had a pretty bad day at this point and all four men cheered me up and more.
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fightclubprounlimited/334280902
3. Command Bolshoi vs Leon: Pure J Openweight Championship Match – Pro Wrestling: EVE “She Slams on Saturdays” (9th March)
This was a very special match for EVE and any Joshi purists as it was for the Pure J Openweight championship, a very big honour for EVE to host that and it was Bolshoi’s UK/European Retirement Match which if you know how much of a legend she is in Women’s and Japanese wrestling then you will know that this is a big deal.
These two had history from their past as a tag team in Pure J so you know that their chemistry would be great but Peas and Rice! These two put on an absolute classic in front of 150+ people in a railway arch in East London. The pace of this match was absolutely inane, they did not let off for a second at all, being able to trade beautiful technical wrestling, insane moments of accuracy, Bolshoi’s tight rope walk and Leon’s missile dropkick being particular highlights, and a great sense of Japanese strong style throughout.
The crowd were going insane at every near fall of amazing move proving that you don’t have to do these amazing high spots of massive moves to hook a crowd in but with actual wrestling. Bolshoi won this match and to retain her title in a match that would have received a standing ovation if the crowd wasn’t already standing. Seriously one of the best matches that I’ve ever seen live, and I do not say that lightly.
WATCH HERE: https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/media/she-slams-on-saturdays-march-9%2C-2019/85117/feature
2. Chuck Mambo vs TK Cooper: Riptide Brighton Championship Match – Riptide “Riptide Rumble 2019” (12th April)
Going into this match, I knew it was going to be good, TK was on a roll with a rejuvenated look and feel and had a great match against Candyfloss at the previous show; Mambo is always on top form when he’s wrestling for RIPTIDE; and both men shared a natural chemistry from their previous matches as well as their tag team chemistry but Jesus on a bike, they just blew everybody out of the water with this match.
They told a simple yet effective story with TK targeting Mambo’s ankle and knowing all of Mambo’s tricks because of them being friends. TK looked like a calculated psychopath in this match whilst Mambo contrasted him as the never say die babyface that would go through hell to remain champ; many great high spots happened in this match but the story is what made so great and helped the moves mean more.
This was another great Mambo match in a series of great match that Mambo has had in the last 18 months, as for TK though, this was a revelation for him and instantly put him up there with the top of UK Indy talents.
WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyWPyyNVke4
- Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) vs The Swords of Essex (Will Ospreay and Paul Robinson): Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the PROGRESS World Tag Team Championships – PROGRESS “Chapter 87: BreadKnife” (31st March)
So in the end I had to give the Best of the Year award to this incredible feud ending TLC match for the PROGRESS tag straps in an epic trilogy closer of matches between Aussie Open the reformed Swords of Essex.
it was absolutely brutal at times with everybody not holding back in the weapons department, fantastic massive spots like Ospreay’s dive through a ladder over the top rope hitting a sunset flip powerbomb on Kyle onto Davis and Davis’ massive CYE to Robbo through the ladder, so many great spots to mention. Everybody just played their part to perfection here, it had the length of an epic match (clocking in at nearly 45 mins) and a molten hot crowd which is surprising in the current case of PROGRESS.
The right winners here as Aussie Open gave Ospreay a chance before taking an arm each and driving him through a table with a Fidget Spinner before grabbing the titles to a loud ovation thus making them two time champs and sending Will Ospreay out of PROGRESS again but for good this time due to his NJPW commitments.
There’s been a lot of great wrestling this year so far but for performances, big spots and match quality, character moments and everything I love in pro wrestling, this one takes the Crown for Best of the Year, so far this year.
WATCH HERE: https://demandprogress.pivotshare.com/media/chapter-87%3A-breadknife/86106/feature
So those are my personal picks for best live matches of the year so far, be sure to check back with me in December for the overall Top 50 of the year, until then go back and watch these awesome professional wrestling matches! They won’t take you 6 months overall to watch so go for a walk or something, I ain’t your dad…
If you want to follow me on Social Media then it’s @IwanMack
Thanks for reading
Iwan Mackenzie
