Dr Gregory House’s Match of the Month (February 2019)

Alright

Back again for another month (are you surprised I actually committed to a second month? Because I am) here to tell you what matches I enjoyed this month and why you should too

Anyways here we go

Honourable Mentions

Ricochet, Alistair Black & Velveteen Dream v Tomasso Ciampia, Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole- NXT Halftime Heat- ****1/4

Kaito Kiyomiya vs Masa Kitamiya- NOAH Navigation for the Future- ****

Ben K v Shun Skywalker- Dragon Gate 5/2- ****

Laredo Kid v Flamita v Drago- AAA Conquista Total Gira- ****

Kings of the North v Ringkampf- OTT Unfinished Business- ****

Minoru Suzuki v Sanada- NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo N1- ****

Evil v Zack Sabre Jr-  NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo N1- ****

LIJ (Shingo & Bushi) v Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)- NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo N2- ****1/4

LIJ (Evil & Sanada) v Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr)- NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo N2- ****1/2

Taiji Ishimori v Ryusuke Taguchi- NJPW New Beginning in Osaka- ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi v Jay White- NJPW New Beginning in Osaka- ****

Aussie Open v Team Whitewolf- Rev Pro Live at the Cockpit 38- ****1/4

Buddy Murphy v Arkira Tozawa- WWE Elimination Chamber- ****1/4

Ricochet v Adam Cole- NXT 13/2- ****

Johnny Gargano v Velveteen Dream- NXT 20/2- ****1/4

Ilja Dragunov v Shigehiro Irie- OTT Homecoming 2- ****

Walter v PAC- OTT Homecoming 2- ****1/4

Nick Gage v Scott Steiner- ICW (US) Party & Bulls**t- ** (Just thought it was worth mentioning this actually happened)

Zack Sabre Jr v Shota Umino- NJPW/ROH Honor Rising N1- ****1/4

Will Ospreay v Dalton Castle- NJPW/ROH Honor Rising N1- ****

Joe Coffey v Ilja Dragunov- ICW Square Go- ****

Swords of Essex v Aussie Open- Progress Ch 84- ****1/4

Walter v Chris Ridgeway- Progress Ch 84- ****

Strong BJ v Jake Lee & Ryoji Sai- AJPW Excite Series- ****1/4

The Top 10

10- Jordan Devlin v Shane Strickland- OTT Unfinished Business- ****1/2

https://overthetopwrestling.pivotshare.com/home

Another match in a very underrated series between these 2 guys in OTT, in the shadow of Devlin’s showdown with David Starr on the next show both me put on a wrestling clinic with some excellent leg work from Strickland to Devlin

9- Teddy Hart v AJ Gray v Jungle Boy v Grim Reefer v Facade v Orange Cassidy- GCW They Said It Couldn’t Be Done- ****1/2

https://smvod.com/products/gcw-february-16-2019-they-said-it-couldn-t-b-done-atlantic-city-nj

This match was just bonkers, when the first two men in the ring are Teddy Hart with a cat in his arms & Luke Perry’s son doing a Tarzan gimmick you know you’re in for a wild ride, what follows is just a succession of flips, Canadian destroyers, cat’s running away and a man with his hands in his pockets, this match is just mindless entertainment in one Jim Cornette aneurysm giving little package

8- Walter v Veit Muller- WXW Dead End 18- ****1/2

https://www.wxwnow.com/en

It’s big Euro hoss v big Euro hoss, in a big Euro hoss fight, Muller the young pretender tries to gain the respect of Walter in his bid to become a member of Ringkampf, what follows is an extremely physical match in front of a crowd rabid for the hometown underdog

7- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu v Kento Miyahara & Daisuke Sekimoto- Giant Baba Memorial 20th Anniversary- ****1/2

https://rutube.ru/video/0144fe6667b7290ff69407f5a290a7e3/

Yes that Yoshi(Bah Gawd!)tatsu

A match loaded with star power, seeing Tanahashi face of with the ace of All Japan and an Indy legend in Miyahara and Sekimoto respectively but Yoshitatsu shines here, his exchanges with Miyahara are the highlight of the match and a far cry from his lacklustre performances in New Japan if that was your last exposure to him

6- Daniel Bryan v Samoa Joe v Kofi Kingston v AJ Styles v Jeff Hardy v Randy Orton- Elimination Chamber- WWE Elimination Chamber- ****1/2

WWE Network

What can you really say about this match, you’ve all seen it, it’s the Kofi Kingston show, He and Bryan absolutely kill it, hopefully they follow it up at mania

5- Barbaro Cavernario v Titan- CMLL Super Viernes 22/2- ****1/2

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P085X1IbTok

I am by no means the worlds greatest Lucha expert and I watched this match on a recommendation but it is tremendous action, highflying, hard hitting, the sort of cool pinning and submission combos only Mexico seems to be able to offer, what it’s all here in front of a rabid crowd, if you’re going to give one Lucha match a try this year, you wouldn’t go wrong with this one, plus there’s a midget in a chicken mask that inexplicably does a 619 at one point and a commentator who screams ‘Novela Agatha Christie’ for reasons I cannot with my limited Spanish provide any context for

4- Will Ospreay v PAC- Rev Pro High Stakes- ****1/2

https://rpwondemand.pivotshare.com/home

The buzz coming out of this match was the overbooked lacklustre finish and questions about Rev Pro’s booking philosophy this year, what shouldn’t be overlooked is the first 25 minutes that was absolutely next level action from 2 of the best the UK has to offer and 2 of the most athletic wrestlers in the world, if you’ve only heard the negatives this match is still more than worth a watch

3- Kento Miyahara v Suwama- AJPW Excite Series- ****1/2

https://www.ajpw.tv/

Not quite sure how to sell this, it’s just a great match between 2 great wrestlers, full of exciting action, Suwama is a Frak beast in this match battering Miyahara, the German suplex for the finish has to be seen to be believed, if you like your usual New Japan main event you’ll love this

2- Jordan Devlin v David Starr- OTT Homecoming 2- ****3/4

Hype video (MUST WATCH) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HSm5bX-oYoI

https://overthetopwrestling.pivotshare.com/home

The culmination of the hottest feud in European if not world wrestling, the match we’ve been waiting for since Starr betrayed Devlin at Redemption last year, the match that received the single greatest hype video in wrestling history (linked above), these guys delivered in an all out war, the intensity and hatred is palpable all the way through while Starr’s heel mind games with the entrance and tights add yet another layer

1- PAC v Kzy- Dragon Gate Truth Gate- ****3/4

https://rutube.ru/video/71b7c25067ba9cd271baa05c0fa91d94/

The final Dragon Gate match at the legendary Hakata Starlanes and what a fitting farewell this was, starting even before the bell with Kzy staring at PAC during the nation anthems building off PAC attacking Yoshino during God Save the Queen when he won the title last year, a fantastic little touch, what follows is an awesome fast pace match with mind blowing moves, the highlight of which is PAC’s SSP to the back! of a doubled over Kzy, a red hot crowd firmly behind Kzy, just a simply phenomenal match

Wrestler of the Month

#5 Zack Sabre Jr
#4 David Starr
#3 Kofi Kingston
#2 Kento Miyahara
#1 PAC

Perhaps a controversial one given that 2 of his big 4 matches ended with cowpat finishes but when it comes to the actual wrestling the former Adrian Neville has been in a league of his own this month, the Kzy match is my second best MOTY so far and the Ospreay match was 25 minutes of pure magic, couple that with the Walter & Starr matches there’s not many who can hold a candle to the Ba****d in terms of in ring output, hopefully promotors can get smarter in how to book round his limitations in terms of wins & losses and we can get compelling finishes to go with the stellar action in the coming year

Thank you for reading, all discussion welcomed, see you at the end of March

I'd put Matt Riddle vs Drew Gulak as my favourite match of Feb, ahead of the Smackdown gauntlet match.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:I'd put Matt Riddle vs Drew Gulak as my favourite match of Feb, ahead of the Smackdown gauntlet match.

I didn’t watch the Riddle/Gulak match, will take a look see

I also haven’t seen the gauntlet but I refuse to watch Raw & Smackdown on principle

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:I'd put Matt Riddle vs Drew Gulak as my favourite match of Feb, ahead of the Smackdown gauntlet match.

I didn’t watch the Riddle/Gulak match, will take a look see

I also haven’t seen the gauntlet but I refuse to watch Raw & Smackdown on principle

Whilst I respect you sticking to your principles the SD Gauntlet match is well worth the watch. It tells as good a story as the Chamber match, watching Kofi change his mannerisms throughout was storytelling perfection, especially when it came time to face AJ.