I beg your indulgence on the lateness of this particular edition. I’ve combined the best of May and June together here to compromise for the lateness, and it is unfortunately far from comprehensive. I wasn’t able to get to a lot of the biggest hits, but the matches I did cover here did leave strong enough impressions for me to write about. That’s not to say that matches left off were worse, but these are the matches that I found the words for instead of having trying to squeeze blood from a stone on the memory.
In coming months, depending on how other projects line up, I may have to reconsider how often I come back to this monthly project, so keep an eye out on Twitter for any final word on that. I’ll try experimenting with ways to keep better track of all these things in real time instead of forcing myself to look back in hindsight as each month ends. Again, I’m not going to make any promises here, but I’ll give it all another go. Regardless, expect consistent updates to my MOTYC thread on Twitter, as well as the recommended matches page on this site.
Here’s a list of similarly high quality bouts from May and June that aren’t covered in detail today:
- Mad Dog Connelly vs. Tanner Keely (ZERO1 USA 5/4/24)
- Kazusada Higuchi vs. Shuji Ishikawa (DDT 5/11/24)
- Gunther vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE 5/13/24)
- Timothy Thatcher vs. Alex Shelley (Prestige 5/16/24)
- Adam Priest vs. Kevin Blackwood (DPW 5/24/24)
- Nia Jax vs. Bianca Belair (WWE 5/24/24)
- Gunther vs. Randy Orton (WWE 5/25/24)
- Mad Dog Connelly vs. Jake Lander (ZERO1 USA 5/25/24)
- Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone (AEW 5/26/24)
- Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser (WWE 6/3/24)
- Daniel Makabe vs. Amira (DOA 6/8/24)
- Team 200kg vs. Meiko Satomura & Takumi Iroha (Fortune Dream 6/12/24)
- Mistico & Heddi Karaoui vs. Virus & Freelance (Lucha Memes 6/16/24)
- Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Santino Marella (Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport Bushido 6/22/24)
- Virus vs. Zack Sabre Jr (CMLL 6/24/24)
Gunther vs. Sheamus (WWE Raw 5/6/24)
Once again, these two deliver at an extremely high level.
The obvious draw here is just how fucking hard they hit each other. But don’t be fooled, this is never something quite as cheap as just standing and trading (as awesome as that can be in the right hands). There’s a much sharper sense of struggle through this whole match, where it never seems to be a matter of pride when they trade hands but just the sheer violent urge to win. One sees it in how they jockey for position against the ropes, attempt to cut each other off with the viciousness of their blows, and the shifting strategies throughout.
On that note, the leg work in this arrives in such a clever way. The outside interference strikes that delicate balance of being cheap and dastardly while also being clever and dangerous. It hobbles Sheamus for the remainder of the match and his leg selling is so strong. Always limping just a little bit, and a little bit more panicked when trying to cut off Gunther. All the while, the physical signs of battle accumulate on his body. The beaten chest, the limp in his step, hell even the sweat flattening out his hair. An absolutely physical experience even thousands of miles away from the ring.
Rating: ****1/4
Calvin Tankman vs. Kevin Ku (DPW Limit Break 5/24/24)
Potentially the best DPW match of all time. Kevin Ku delivers here in a way that I feel like we haven’t seen since his fantastic 2022 run. This can’t help but evoke the same ideas and themes as the Alex Kane ACTION Title defense or the Uncharted Territory singles against JD Drake with Ku playing an undersized babyface against a much more imposing heel. Here against Calvin Tankman though, there’s an added layer of personal bitterness there. It’s a deeper layer to this pairing that hasn’t come out in their previous work, and seems to rise at exactly the right time too as Tankman’s talent feels like it’s sufficiently caught up to the occasion.
Ku’s a delight trying to chop the big man down, but a lot of credit needs to go to Tankman here. He threads the needle when it comes to big man limb selling, never quite being too hobbled by it but also keeping it just present enough to honor the work that Ku’s putting in. Tankman’s strikes have also become so much more killer, with him finding just enough urgency as the champion this year to fill the space that he couldn’t quite in years past. What results is a heated, smartly worked, and brilliantly timed title bout that stands as some of the best on the US indies all year (non-DEAN~!!! bracket).
Rating: ****1/4
Zack Sabre Jr vs. Jake de Leon (Dexcon Dekada 5/26/24)
I’ve written about this in great detail already, but it’s worth noting that this to me represents the start of Zack Sabre’s incredible midyear run. Here, he sheds the unnecessary babyface hulk ups from the match against Danielson and taps into his petty, pricking attitude as an outsider heel. Here, he stretches Mr. Philippine Wrestling himself to within an inch of his life, only to find that Jake de Leon has a little more in the tank than expected. Official footage is yet to drop, but be sure to keep an eye out for it once it does.
Rating: EPIC
Mistico vs. Magnus (CMLL Super Viernes 6/7/24)
The best of the Mistico singles matches this year so far. A lot of that comes from this feeling like one of the more petty encounters he’s faced in this recent main event run. It’s not just that Magnus cheats and pulls at the mask as any other rudo would, but there’s does feel like a stronger undercurrent of animosity runs through this. It’s in the way Magnus crowds Mistico with help from the other Depradadores, or the way he fires off those grounded punches to Mistico constantly. And Mistico himself has to adjust in small ways here as well. My personal favorite change comes from the slight change of strategy turning a La Mistica into a different submission to take the second fall. The third feels more like your standard CMLL main event bomb fest but it’s bolstered by the friction these two established earlier in the bout. After the bout, these two make gestures at potentially main eventing Aniversario (and if you know anything about CMLL, that’s far from a sure thing) and I really wouldn’t mind if they did.
Rating: ****
Hechicero vs. Blue Panther (CMLL Martes de Arena Mexico 6/11/24)
Have you ever seen a panther fly?
In CMLL, that’s a common enough occurrence. There’s Panthers of all kinds in the company, most of them do sick dives and top rope offense. Blue Panther himself has down his fair share of flying through the years. But now, unmasked, at 63 years of age, there’s just an additional bit of meaning to it. When he’s tied up by Hechicero and he bridges up on to the man’s shoulders and over into a sunset flip, it just means a little bit more that he still has it in him to do something so timeless. As he stands on the ramp, stomping his feet, getting the crowd hyped for a big dive, there’s a look on his face of awe as if he himself can’t believe what’s about to happen. Panther is the emotional core of this stunning display, but it just doesn’t function as well without Hechicero. Hechicero’s so perfectly comfortable in llave stylings, reaching into the fundamentals of working in and out of holds, that he’s a perfect foil to the older Panther here.
A magical match, the best that Arena Mexico has seen in years.
Rating: ****1/2
Adam Priest vs. LaBron Kozone (DPW Live 6 6/16/24)
Before we get to the obvious, LaBron Kozone rules. There’s room to tighten up the screws of his game, sure, but he’s been continuously impressing based on where he is on the card. Exactly the kind of quality midcard guy that makes the DPW roster feel so rich, and he turns in a strong performance here, perhaps one of his best ever. He looks credible using his size to ragdoll Priest, and when things go down to the mat, he doesn’t look out of his depth either. He also has a keen presence of mind as highlighted by the best moment of the match.
About halfway Kozone goes for a 450 Splash, but instead of landing body to body with Priest, his lands fully on Priest’s face instead. I couldn’t tell you how much of that was planned, but both men put over the gravity of it so well. Priest sells like his face has been imploded and even Kozone puts over an injury to his knee from the impact. It’s that little choice that adds substance to Priest’s late game ploy to start going for the leg. It’s a ruthless tactic, one he’s perfected over the year in DPW, and it’s what ends up winning him the day. Priest’s performance as a whole is a dogged, mean one. When he sees a small cut on Kozone’s forehead, he goes for punches–a move one might be used to at this point, but draws honest to God heat from this Chicago crowd. Exactly the kind of excellent, timeless match built on fundamental dynamics that has made Adam Priest one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Rating: ****
Jon Moxley vs. Josh Barnett (Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport Bushido 6/22/24)
I’m not quite as high on this as some other friends online, but this still undeniably rocks. By now, you’ve likely seen all the pictures of Mox’s spectacular bladejob in this, but this match is great long before the red starts flowing. It’s just a joy seeing Mox really focused on just tearing it up on the mat. He may not have the shoot credentials of a Barnett, but when one watches him work, that discrepancy never really comes through. Instead, he puts in some of his most motivated, intricate, and interesting work all year really getting down to the nitty gritty of things working his way in and out of holds.
And then when the blood does come? Fuck yeah. They get to it in such a sick way too with that giant swing into the ringpost and boy does Mox cut deep when it’s time. I wish the final moments had leaned into just a little more raw violence than the more pro-style choices like the Tiger Driver, but it’s really not enough to detract from this hard-nosed, bloody battle.
Rating: ****1/4
Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Jr (CMLL Sabados de Coliseo 6/22/24)
Zack Sabre Jr. comes back to Mexico and its the most alive he’s felt in years. Here, he finds himself up against Hechicero once again and completes the accidental technician’s round robin featuring these two along with Bryan Danielson. In the same way he was received in the Philippines, the iconic Arena Coliseo rejects the Brit in favor of their local hero. And it’s a delight. Beyond just the beautiful llave-style riffing, it’s Zack character work that shines here once again. He doesn’t mind working to rile up the Mexican fans, and his mocking of a neck injury on Hechicero early remains branded in my mind.
There’s a real sense too that this match feels whole and developed in a way one might not even expect from CMLL singles outings. Each fall builds on the last with new opportunities presenting themselves, like the dueling attempts at arm work, the submissions get grosser as things go along, and there’s just a real true sense of escalation. The final fall especially really plays on how the best lucha libre can make any hold, any pinfall feel like it’ll be The One. It makes for a wonderful tension that has one on the edge of their seat until the final whistle blows.
Rating: ****1/4
