So, as of Wrestle Kingdom 11 it will be one year since I've started this blog. Now while I haven't posted as many detailed opinions as I had wished in year one due to business that came up, I intend on posting more opinionated posts in the future for the big events and on the statuses of the various wrestling scenes that I try to update results on in the months roundups.
In the meantime, this particular post is just to say thank you to those who actually take the time to read these. I intend to improve the quality of the posts, as well as keeping the upcoming reviews concise but without sacrificing the quality and the bias that I hold. Hey, I have to uphold the nickname somehow.
So without further ado, the rest of this post is to express my thoughts about the wrestling scenes for the year.
Canada: I think the Canadian scene, while not weak necessarily, is at a point where it's actually worse to be in the Country's wrestling scene rather than branch out. Basically how the UK scene was for the last decade or two. While the Canadian Indy Scene has produced Kevin Owens/Steen and Sami Zayn into WWE, the remaining Canadians on the scene have had limited success (with the exception of Kenny Omega...who is KILLING it in New Japan), with Ethan Page and Josh Alexander being two of the current guys that have been able to escape the bounds of Canada. Speedball Mike Bailey would have been another guy, but with his legal situation results in a 5 year ban from the US, he's truly just limited to Canada and Japan, which unfortunately lowers his stock. Longtime indy mainstays Scott Parker and Shane Matthews are still scene every once in awhile but were squashed by The Revival in their NxT Shot. That being said, Nicole Matthews is one of the top females on the indy scene currently so there is still so talent coming out of Canada overall.
Top matches in Canada or featuring Canadians in the indy or WWE scenes
5 Stars
Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito Gl Climax Day 18
4.75
Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega At NJPW Dominion
4.5
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn at Battleground
4 Stars
Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn at Clash of Champions
3.75
Bobby Roode vs. Tye Dillinger NxT Takeover Toronto
Biggest Winner: Kenny Omega: Two time 6 man champ, IC Champ and G1 Climax all in the same calendar year...holy Crap...Not to mention now being treated as a legitimate star in Ring of Honor and even having some shots taken and received with the New Day in an unforseen and incidental cross-promotion war!
Honorable Mention: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens: How many times did these two manage to steal the spot light on cards this year? More than enough. You could argue that Owens and Omega could have been equal, but bad booking of the Universal Championship scene keeps Omega at Advantage. As for Zayn, he had multiple Match of the Year candidates against Shinsuke Nakamura, Owens, Cesaro, Miz, and AJ Styles. However, his shoddy booking post draft stopped him here.
Biggest Loser: Tyson Dux: Yeah he was part of the Cruiserweight Classic, but he was one of a few people who didn't shine when he had a chance on the biggest stage, similar to his TNA stints that I remembered. Great worker, but unfortunately just doesn't shine when needed.
Mexico
Well, on the one hand....via Lucha Underground (which will be a completely separate section) AAA is still on the scene. However it's just not via AAA. CMLL has had some great matches here and there, and Lucha Libre Elite had some cool matches (See Elgin vs. Volador Jr.) I would admit though that Mexico and Canada are in similar situations, except Mexico still had their top two promotions in the wrestling diehard's eyes. That being said, having Gran Metalik and Raul Mendoza represent Mexico in the CWC were fantastic choices, with Metalik reaching the finals. Dragon Lee has also been a fantastc find for Ring of Honor and CMLL. Finally, you can't talk about the Mexican scene without mentioning the (as of 12/28 before the last episode of LU)
Best Matches
Volador Jr. , Calienta, Mistico II vs. Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Ultimo Guerrero 4.75
Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee Fantastica Mania 2016 4.5
Gran Metalik vs. TJ Perkins CWC Finals 4.25
CMLL:Dragon Lee vs. La Mascara in a Luchas De Apuestas Match 4.25
UK and the rest of Europe
Biggest Winner: Pentagon Jr. Man, this dude has killed EVERYTHING. While you could make an argument for Fenix, Aerostar, or Drago, Pentagon is the AAA star that has connected best with the American Audiences. Regardless of situation, there has to be a day when this guy touches either WWE or New Japan gold because even though the character is a ridiculous concept (Zombie Samurai), this man is for real.
Honorable Mention: Gran Metalik. His performance at the CWC was phenomenal and I'm looking forward to seeing more of this guy (I saw some of his work in New Japan and wished he had been more over)
Biggest Loser: Alberto El Patron. Dude was horridly misunderutilized in WWE, trading off a then irrelevant US Championship that hurt both him and Kalisto, then (while he got a win at Wrestlemania) was essentially used horribly in the League of Nations, then left WWE with Paige in a pretty scandelous way. He's starting back up in WCPW and I believe he won CMLL's World Championship....but considering everything, this year could have been so much more for the former Del Rio.
Japan and Asia: Japanese Wrestling is at an all time high, coming from Wrestle Kingdom 10 and all throughout the year. Multiple matches have been highly rated and lately you have seen cross brand promotion between the top 2 Japanese promotions in New Japan and Pro Wrestling NoAH. Also, the Women's scene has seen a mainstream renaissance thanks to exposure via Asuka in NxT, as well as Meiko Satomura in Chikara and Io Shirai in Lucha Underground.
Biggest Winners:Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Asuka, Io Shirai, and Tetsuya Naito
Nakamura had one final huge match in New Japan, def. AJ Styles before heading off to NxT and essentially stealing Wrestlemania Weekend alongside Sami Zayn in his Debut, then winning the NxT Championship from Samoa Joe on two separate occasions.
Okada placed himself as the Top Guy in New Japan, finally beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in yet another 5 star classic, as well as (with the exception of a month or two)keeping the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in his possession for the majority of the year.
Asuka won the NxT Women's Championship and kept it from NxT Takeover Dallas to the end of the year, showing various character development in the process.
Since Asuka left for WWE, Io Shirai has been killing it for the Japanese scene, to the point of being named Japan's Female Wrestler of the Year. This culminated in an appearance for Lucha Underground, where she was the member of the Black Lotus Squad that defeated Pentagon Jr.
As for Naito, the character change that started in 2015 has fully developed him into the leader of the (latest) popular stable, Los Ingobernables de Japon. He was the only person to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship other than Okada after Wrestle Kingdom 10, and is the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion. LIJ is starting to take over even the Bullet Club as the most over stable in NJPW currently.
Honorable Mention:Naomichi Marufuji and Katsuyori Shibata. The dude is still leading the (admittedly) struggling Pro Wrestling NoAH and had a fantastic showing at the G1 Climax. Alongside current GHC champ Katsuhiko Nakajima, Marufuji has been leading the Noah invasion, which will hopefully continue into 2017.
Shibata won the NEVER Openweight Championship in a stiff classic against Tomohiro Ishii (which I thought was a better match than the AJ Styles/Shinsuke Nakamura match). Then (with 2 blips in Nagata and LIJ's EVIL) he dominated the NEVER Openweight Championship seen. To top it all off, he goes to Revolution Pro Wrestling and defeats Zack Sabre Jr. to win one of arguably the top 2-3 British Heavyweight Championships on the UK scene.
Biggest Loser: Manabu Nakanishi. Out of the remaining veterans of the previous generation, Nakanishi is sadly the most irrelevant. His fellow comrades from yesteryear all had a version of a career renaissance or send off. Hiroyoshi Tenzan had a spirited (albeit unsuccessful) run in the G1 Climax, Yuji Nagata was able to grab hold of the NEVER Openweight Championship, and Satoshi Kojima proved he could still go with the younger generation....still holding the NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag team Championships with David Finlay and Ricochet. Personally, Nakanishi needs to fade out man....or use 2017 as his springboard.
US Indies (including TNA, Lucha Underground, and Ring of Honor)
I would say the US indies shined on the MainStage this year more than most. Guys that had been on the indies for years like AJ Styles, Roderick Strong, Eric Young, Bobby Roode, TJ Perkins, amongst others. However the two biggest winners of this year for indy wrestling: Matt Riddle and Chris Hero. They were dominant and fantastic everywhere they went.
Top 10 Matches of the Year:
1)Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn NxT Takeover Dallas
2) AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro Raw after Wrestlemania
3)Kazuchicka Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi Wrestle Kingdom 10
4)AJ Styles vs. John Cena Summerslam
5)Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles Wrestle Kingdom 10
6)Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll Revolution Pro High Stakes
7)Richochet vs. Will Ospreay Best of the Super Jrs.
8)#DIY vs. The Revival NxT Takeover Toronto
9)Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii Wrestle Kingdom 10
10)Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens Battleground
For All of WWE, New Japan and the Indies, here are the events to look forward to in 2017
WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 (See Results!)
UK Championship Tournament (WWE) (See Results!)
NxT Takeover:San Antonio (NxT) See Results!
ROYAL RUMBLE (WWE)See Results!
New Japan Cup (NJPW)
Young Lions Cup (CHIKARA)
Natural Progression Series (Progress)
WrestleCon (Indy Wrestling)
NxT Takeover: Orlando (NxT)
WrestleMania (WWE)
DDT4 (PWG)
Ultima Lucha 3 (Lucha Underground)
Lucha Libre World Cup (AAA)
Best of the Super Juniors (NJPW)
Super Strong Style16 (Progress)
16-Karat (WxW)
Aztec Warfare 3 (LUCHA Underground)
G1 Climax (NJPW)
Battle Of Los Angeles (PWG)
Summerslam (WWE)
Shamrock Cup (MCW)
Top Prospect Tournament (ROH)
Best of the Best (CZW)
Jim Lyman Cup (AAW)
King of Trios (CHIKARA)
Bound for Glory (TNA)
Survivor Series (WWE)
Survival of the Fittest (ROH)
Fear and Loathing (ICW)
Tag League (NJPW, NoAH)
Cage of Death(CZW)
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