Jarf watches Londrick's Matches of the Year

[Jarf]

This little idea came to me inspired by a wrestling reviewer who goes by the name of Londrick who I've been following for years. Mainly because I usually trust his ratings for matches and feel like they're fair (most of the time).

But anywho, he recently posted a video where he listed out every match from 1985 to 2025, what he thought the match of the year was. And I thought "this would make for a really fun review series. So I'll be watching every match he dubbed Match of the Year and giving my take on these matches and if I think its deserving of that title.

And for a reference of the list I'll be going down, here is that video.

 

[Jarf]

1985: Magnum T.A. vs Tully Blanchard - "I Quit" Steel Cage Match for the United States Championship (NWA Starrcade)​

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Starting this series off with a classic. A match I've heard lots of great things about. Only three out of all of these matches weren't rated 5 stars by Londrick. This one was so I was curious to see how good it really was (which is kind of what sparked this idea). Is it 5 star worthy? In my opinion, no. I've seen much better blood feud matches (Punk and McIntyre for example). But if you're just looking for a bloody brawl, this is the match for you. Hardly any wrestling at all in this match. These two just beat the hell out of each other. I haven't seen much of Magnum before but from what I know, he was insanely popular and was being primed to be the next big thing and it really sucks that we didn't get to see the kind of wrestler he should've been. They use the cage a lot in this match, throwing each other into it. They bust the other open. They practically do everything to each other. Gouge the eyes. Magnum practically tears Tully's arm open and bites his forehead to draw blood. Tully beats the hell out of Magnum with the microphone. Like I said, no wrestling really. Just a vicious fight between two guys who hate the other. I can definitely see why this match was popular, especially for a match at this time. Tully gets so pissed that Magnum won't say I quit that he just chucks the referee to the mat. Somebody from outside, I don't know who, throws a wooden chair over the cage. Tully catches it, and breaks it and pretty much makes a spike out of one of the legs. He tries to drive it into Magnum's face. But Magnum is able to push back and get Tully off of him. But Tully accidentally throws that piece. So Magnum grabs it and he uses it instead, pushing it into Tully's forehead. We get a shot of Tully's screaming face, with blood now freely running down it. Magnum asks him again if he quits and Tully screams "Yes!" several times. Magnum T.A. wins the brutal I Quit Steel Cage Match. Ya love to see it. He considers fucking up Tully a little more and grabs him by the hair, before saying screw it and letting Tully fall back before leaving the new US Champion. I think Londrick overrates this match, but I can see why he loves it, because it is a pretty damn good brawl. And sometimes, that's all you need.

Final rating: ****3/4

 

[Jarf]

1986: Curt Hennig vs Nick Bockwinkel - AWA World Heavyweight Championship (AWA, November 15th)​

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Early on in the match, one of the commentators asked the other if he was ready to go an hour? The other guy responded with "I don't think it'll go that long." Oh boy, buckle in. The story they tell here is pretty clear. Curt at the time he had this match was 28 years old, while Nick was 51, almost 52. It was Curt's youth vs Nick's experience and about whether Curt could hang with someone the caliber of Nick as well as if Nick would be able to keep pace with someone that much younger. The first half of this match is just good wrestling, trading holds, and chain wrestling, nothing special. Curt goes after Nick's shoulder, and it's only made worse by Nick ramming himself shoulder first into the ring post. While Bockwinkel was outwrestling Curt at first, Hennig manages to get the better of and frustrate Nick, to the point where Bockwinkel gets desperate and tries to get a cheap pin on Hennig by grabbing the trunks. But then Nick kicks into another gear works over Hennig's knee, which he'll then limp on the rest of the match. So they've effectively damaged a body part of each other. The second half of the match when they start to amp up the intensity. Nick starts to look a little gassed and asks the timekeeper how much time is left. Things are going well for Curt, but then he gets shoved into the ring post and starts gushing blood, a cut that Nick opens up some more with punches until Curt's face is no longer visible under the blood. But Curt manages to land to elbows to Nick's forehead and busts him open. And with five minutes left on the clock, Hennig dominates until we're down to only a minute and half left to go and he gets Bockwinkel in a Figure Four, both men are bloody but Bockwinkel is able to hold on until the time runs down. An hour long classic ends in a draw. Bockwinkel retains but Hennig is now a made man. After the match is over, someone comes to the ring to interview Hennig, who sounds more confident than he looked at the start of the match and says he's got Bockwinkel's number. This was a masterpiece in making a star. Definitely MOTY worthy.

Final rating: *****

 

[Jarf]

1987: Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat - Intercontinental Championship (WWF WrestleMania III)​

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I already covered this match in my WrestleMania 3 review, so I'll try to keep this entry short. But goddamn, this match is such a pleasure to rewatch every time. Proving you don't need to go 30 or even 20 minutes to have a 5 star match. One of the few matches I've ever seen that I would consider flawless. This had such a good pace all the way through. Early in the match, the advantage goes to Steamboat, mainly because Savage is distracted by George Steele on the outside. But the tides turn when Savage tosses Steamboat over the top rope to the floor. Savage starts to go after Ricky's throat that Savage crushed months before. Steamboat starts to build up some steam (hehe). There's a really fast paced sequence here that ends with Savage getting the better of Steamboat with a knee to the back of the neck and a clothesline over the top rope. Savage is in control again, pushes Steamboat over the over the guardrail with a running knee. Steele helps Steamboat back up, but he just throws him back to the waiting Macho Man. Savage begins to beat on Ricky and covers after every move. Steamboat is finally able to catch a breather by back dropping Savage over the top rope to the floor. Steamboat tosses Savage back in the ring and heads to the top rope. Hebner tries to make him get down, so Savage steps directly behind Hebner, probably not expecting Steamboat to leap over him, which is exactly what he does to drop Savage with a karate chop to the head. Ricky covers Savage, who has his foot on the rope. But even so, momentum has completely turned in the favor of Steamboat. Steamboat makes several pinfall attempts, with one of them being so close that the audience thought he won and started preemptively celebrating. Steamboat slingshots Savage into the ring post and pins him again. Savage kicks out and takes a swing at Hebner, probably to get disqualified. Hebner ducked it though and Steamboat rolls him up again. Poor Hebner can barely keep up with these two. I don't know if I've ever seen a referee sweat so much. Thankfully he gets to take a break because Savage whips Steamboat into him. Savage hits a clothesline and heads up to drop the big elbow. Hits it, but there's no referee to count the pinfall. Savage tries to wake Hebner up, but then gets the idea to head outside, where he grabs the ring bell and heads to the top rope with it. But George Steele pushes Savage off, he drops the bell. Savage goes to body slam Steamboat just as the referee recovers and Ricky reverses it into a small package to get the three count. Steamboat wins the Intercontinental Title in a classic!

Final rating: *****

 

[Jarf]

1988: Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada - Real World Tag League Finals for the AJPW World Tag Team Championship (AJPW Real World Tag League Day 23)​

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I know you already have to be built different to be a pro wrestler. But you have to be built especially different to work in Japan! Just nothing but pure ass kickery. This match was incredible! The story they told was amazing. The first 10 minutes or so was nothing but four guys beating the fuck out of each other. They hold nothing back. I wouldn't say any strategy was being employed in that first 10 minutes except fists and kicks and chops. Hansen and Tenryu in particular beat the dog shit out of the other. But at some point in the match, Kawada gets in and hits a german suplex with a bridge on Gordy and Hansen kicks his legs out. He starts stomping on Kawada's leg and allows him to tag Tenryu in. But then he just knocks both of them out of the ring. Tenryu is the legal man now but Kawada is now a one legged man on the outside and his job the rest of the match is to just get his ass kicked. Tenryu is the legal man for the remainder of the match because every time Kawada tries to stand up, Hansen or Gordy are there to stop him. They don't allow Kawada to get back to his corner at all. So now the story has become can Tenryu win the match on his own. And Tenryu gets his ass kicked, but he delievers some stiff shots of his own. But even so, Hansen and Gordy dominate him and things are looking bleak. But then Gordy powerbombs Tenryu and it looks like that is it, but then Kawada slides in to break the pinfall at the last second. But unfortunately for them, it was delaying the inevitable. Hansen takes Kawada back outside and wrenches his leg and ankle. When Hansen is tagged back in, Gordy goes outside to beat on Kawada some more, but while he's doing that, Tenryu manages to get Hansen into a leg wrench in the ring. Gordy gets in to save his partner. Kawada tries to fight back again, but Gordy puts him right back down on the outside while Hansen taunts Tenryu on the inside. Tenryu says fuck you and hits Hansen with hard slaps across the face and then a big clothesline. Gordy runs back in though and drops Tenryu once again. Tenryu manages to stand back up and hit Hansen with 2 enziguris to the back of the head and then an elbow drop from the top rope. Gordy comes to help Hansen, but Tenryu ducks a clothesline, Gordy hits the buckle and Tenryu gives Hansen a big boot to the face. A last gasp from Tenryu who hits a powerbomb to Hansen for a 2 count thanks to Gordy who hits Tenryu with another powerbomb. Hansen sends Kawada off the ropes, big lariat and a cover just as Kawada is pulling himself into the ring. One, two, three. Hansen and Gordy take the win after an amazing match! Go check it out if you've never seen it. Match of the Year worthy indeed!

Final rating: *****

 

[Jarf]

1989: Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - 2 Out of 3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (WCW Clash of the Champions VI)​

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The second entry in the wrestling trilogy to end all wrestling trilogies. Flair and Steamboat had not one, not two, but three five star classics from this year. But this is the one Londrick considered the best. And it's easy to see why. This was an amazing match. With a one hour time limit. What I find interesting about this match is how Steamboat dominated a lot of the first fall, but lost. While Flair was in control of most of the second fall and lost. This was a true epic clash. Steamboat gives Flair two slaps to the face early in the match, and Flair seems almost stunned by the audacity. Like I said, this first fall is almost entirely dominated by Steamboat. Flair chops him and Steamboat chops back twice as hard. Flair has to head outside for a breather several times. That's not to say Flair doesn't get a few shots in but Steamboat has him on the ropes the whole first fall, up until the end where Steamboat rolls Flair up in a small package, only for Flair to reverse it, getting lucky and pinning Steamboat to win the first fall. In the second fall, Steamboat starts off hot, maybe to try to catch up. He goes after Flair's knee and even slaps on the Figure Four. Flair makes it to the ropes and when that doesn't work, Steamboat slaps on a Boston Crab, but again Flair gets out of it. But the tides finally start to turn when Flair heads outside, dragging Steamboat to the floor and tosses him into the steel barricade twice. It's Flair's match now, but he makes a big mistake by going to the top rope, which it's Ric Flair, historically that never goes well for him. Steamboat meets him up there and hits a superplex. Steamboat picks Flair back up and lifts him up and slaps on a double arm chickenwing to get Flair to submit. So now we're down to one more fall, which is spectacular. With 25 minutes left on the clock, they really go all out here. Steamboat chops at Flair's back, but Flair stands back up and gives Steamboat a big shin breaker before he slaps on the Figure Four. Steamboat escapes by reaching the ropes and the referee actually unties their legs, to which Flair gets pissed about and shoves the referee. Flair kicks at Steamboat's leg, softening it up. But Steamboat fires back with hard chops and backs Flair into a corner. Steamboat whips Flair into the corner. Flair flips onto the apron and runs into a clothesline from Steamboat. Flair begs off Steamboat, who moves in just for Flair to sweep his legs pin him with his feet on the ropes. Flair throws Steamboat back into a corner and gives him a hard chop that nearly sends Steamboat over the ropes. Flair continues to soften up Steamboat's legs and slaps on the Figure Four again, this time in the middle of the ring. Things are looking bleak for Ricky. I'm not gonna lie, this part kinda pisses me off because Steamboat starts slapping the mat to rile up the crowd. Looks like a tap out to me and it clearly looks like a tap out to the referee because he knows this isn't the finish but he looks over at the time keeper and shrugs his shoulders like he doesn't know what to do. Ricky reaches the ropes even though he's already lost. That's my only gripe I guess. Flair goes to corner Ricky again, but Steamboat gives him a hard chop and whips to the buckle again, this time Flair makes to the top rope and actually hits a crossbody off of it. Flair sends Steamboat off the ropes, Ricky ducks a chop and hits a running headbutt. Steamboat goes up and hits a crossbody for a close two count! This is such a great match! Steamboat goes up again and attempts splash off, but Flair moves out of the way. Flair continues to go after Ricky's leg but Steamboat manages to fire off hard chops to Flair, even though he's probably exhausted. But Flair drops Steamboat again, and heads to the top rope. But Steamboat grabs him and throws him off. Steamboat picks Flair back up and puts him back in the Chickenwing, or at least tries to, because his legs give out from under him. He still has Flair's arms hooked though, both men's shoulders on the mat, but just before the three count, Steamboat lifts his and the referee awards Steamboat the well earned victory. What a match! What a trilogy!

Final rating: *****

 

[Jarf]

1990: The Midnight Express vs The Southern Boys - United States Tag Team Championship (WCW Great American Bash)​

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Wow. They really pushed a team wearing the confederacy on their gear as babyfaces... Hmmmm... That's all I'll say about it. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this match. Londrick rated this match five stars and it's pretty tough to get that from him sometimes. Do I think it is? No, not really, but it's damn close. This was a fantastic match! The Express try to get the jump on Da Boys, but that doesn't go well for them. The match starts with Bobby Eaton and Steve Armstrong. And Eaton is just gonna get knocked on his back a lot early. When Armstrong tags Tracy Smothers, Smothers is gonna be the legal man for a long time. Smothers drops Eaton with a couple thrust kicks until Eaton tags in Stan. Which, fun fact that I didn't know before watching this. Stan Lane is one of the people who trained Tracy Smothers, so this is kind of like a full circle kind of moment. Stan and Tracy face off and have a karate battle. Stan holds his own but the student outdoes the teacher and drops him with a thrust kick. Bobby Eaton comes back in to get a kick to the face again. For most of this match, it's pretty much Smothers vs The Midnight Express, and it eventually blows up in his face when he rolls Eaton up. But Cornette on the outside distracts the referee. Stan Lane comes in and tosses Smothers to the outside and throw him back first into the steel barricade. The Express distract the referee just as Smothers gets up so Cornette can hit him with his tennis racket. Smothers can't catch a break because once he gets back on the apron, Stan shoves him into. They finally throw Smothers back into the ring and hit an atomic drop backbreaker combo. They break down Smothers for a while. A couple times, Smothers comes close to reaching Armstrong, but they just drag him back and continue to beat on him. But when Smothers finally does get that hot tag, the match kicks into its climactic finale! The Southern Boys almost have it when they hit a Doomsday Dropkick or whatever, but the referee is late on the count because he's trying to get Smothers out of the ring after he knocked Eaton out of the ring. There's lots of hesitation from the referee and the Southern Boys in these closing moments which brings the match down a couple points, but the match is still really good. Stan Lane launches Eaton off the top rope for a splash to Armstrong. Stan Lane stops Smothers from (slowly) breaking the pinfall, and Armstrong kicks out at 2.9999999 (because the referee hesitated). Armstrong plays possum and nearly pins Eaton with a small package. Stan Lane comes in and Smothers knocks him to the apron. The referee is trying to get Smothers out of the ring while Armstrong runs off the ropes. But Stan Lane catches him with a kick to the back of the head, Eaton takes advantage with a small package and the Midnight Express retain after a really overlooked match if I'm being honest. (Maybe it's because of the gear choice of the Southern Boys... Yikes)

Final rating: ****3/4

 

[Chris]

During that same era, the Freebirds were wearing Confederate face paint lol

 

[Jarf]

During that same era, the Freebirds were wearing Confederate face paint lol

Jesus Christ. Lol.

 

[Jarf]

1991: Super Generation Army vs Tsuruta-Gun (AJPW Fan Appreciation Day)​

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Yeah, I'm gonna keep it real with you guys. This is my least favorite match of the thread so far. I'm not saying it isn't a fantastic match. But it got 9.50 on cagematch, so I was like, it must be amazing. But this match, after a certain point starts to feel repetitive. And it's 50 minutes long too. Like, I know that there's already been a couple lengthy matches in this thread already but at least it felt like those had progression. Halfway through this match, I was checking how much time it had left (which was a lot). That's just how I feel about it. But now I'll talk about what I did like about this match. Kawada and Taue's beef was amazing. Kawada and Taue took every chance they could to fuck the other up. Literally the first thing that anyone does in this match was Taue knocking Kawada off the apron. Kawada isn't even the legal man. Kobashi has to hold Kawada back from getting into a fist fight with Taue. And then when Taue gets another chance, which is 30 seconds later, he knocks Kawada off the apron again. The leaders of each team, Misawa and Tsuruta face off early. Taue comes in to save Fuchi out of an abdominal stretch and of course, takes the chance to shove Kawada back off the apron. At that point, I was excited because I knew the moment Kawada got his hands on Taue, he was gonna fuck him up. And indeed he does. Taue gets Kobashi in an armbar and Kawada jumps in to kick Taue in the back of the neck. Just as Kawada is about to leave, Taue jumps him and now the fists start flying, and Kawada tackles Taue to the mat, giving him headbutts the side of the head and punches to what looks like the ear. The referee is trying to get Kawada off while at the same time, trying to keep the other four away. I thought that Kawada actually drew blood for a second, but he did not. It takes Misawa and Kobashi to pull Kawada back and Taue shakes his head as he's getting up. Then when Kawada comes in legally, he lights Taue up with repeated chops to the chest. Taue backs Kawada up to the ropes with slaps. Irish whip reverse, Taue drops Kawada with a running DDT. Taue tags in Tsuruta, who throws Kawada outside and hits a piledriver. And then not long after that, Fuchi and Taue hit a spike piledriver to Kawada outside again. So safe to say Kawada is in trouble. This is the point of the match where it starts to slow down though, because they keep Kawada down for a while. Typical heel team tactics. But then Kawada hits a spin kick out of nowhere and reaches Kobashi, tagging him in. Kobashi immediately comes in, hits a missile dropkick to Taue. Fuchi tags himself in, but Kobashi hits him with a drokick and then one to Tsuruta. In 10 seconds, Kobashi took out the entire opposing team. Kobashi tags in Misawa, who comes in with a flying elbow, Misawa hooks Fuchi's arms, but Taue comes in with a clothesline to save him. Fuchi rolls over to tag in Tsuruta and this is my favorite sequence of the match. Misawa knocks Tsuruta to the outside, he takes a run at the ropes, flips onto the apron, flips back into the ring. Kobashi comes in and hits a plancha onto Tsuruta while Fuchi gets in just to get punched out by Misawa. Kawada comes back in and starts booting Tsuruta in the head repeatedly. Kawada gets Tsuruta down into an armbar, and Misawa and Kobashi step in front of them so Taue and Fuchi can't save him. Generation Army has shown amazing teamwork in this match. Unfortunately, I've basically covered all that's worth talking about other than the finish, and there is 25 minutes left to go. Generation Army starts to isolate Taue now and keep him down. And this is what I mean by the match getting repetitive. They don't even work over a certain part of this body, they just kick his ass for a while. It just feels like they're killing time to get to 50 minutes. There is one moment where Kobashi dives off the top rope to the floor on Taue, but that is about it. Eventually though, Fuchi has had enough of this shit and as Kobashi is gonna go to suplex Taue, Fuchi comes in and dropkicks Kobashi's leg out which gets a loud booooo out of the crowd. And now it's Kobashi's turn to get the isolation treatment and Tsuruta-Gun does work on that knee that Fuchi just dropkicked out of place. They manage to keep Kobashi down for a while, much longer than Kawada or Taue were. But they way Kobashi gets that hot tag feels so anticlimactic. Fuchi is going for a shin breaker and Kobashi just elbows him in the back of the head, and simply just walks over. Like, oh okay. That was simple. He tags Kawada inside and him and Fuchi start throwing blows, but Kawada gets the best of this fistfight. Misawa and Tsuruta come back in, Tsuruta hits a powerbomb and nearly gets a two count off it. The match ends between Taue and Misawa and its a pretty damn great, stiff finish here. I love how Taue tries to football tackle Misawa, and Misawa catches him and hits a underhook powerbomb. Taue kicks out. Taue hits a chokeslam for a two count. The other four men come inside. Kobashi and Fuchi head out one side and Kawada fucking clocks Taue in the back of the head but Tsuruta knocks him outside. While the other four are out there, Misawa takes advantage and hooks a double hooked german suplex for the three count. Great match, but I think it would've much better if they shaved off about 20 minutes of this at the very least. And me personally, I think Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect had a much better match at SummerSlam this year and should be more considered match of the year.

Final rating: ****1/2