February 2016 Match of the Year Candidates

I'd like to give a little background into match grading. For the most part match grading is subjective, some people look for flawless execution of a story while others look for consistency and a feel of realism. Others view the match as a single entity while other people include the story into the grade.

I want to tell you my grading system. The story is huge to me, if the story is great, then that can raise a grade of a match a whole 1/2 star, and vice versa if the story sucks it can also drop the grade a 1/2 star. I'm also huge into realism, if a guy takes a DDT and lays on the floor for 15 minutes only to come flying in at the last second to save the match, that's a little to much for me. Also a blown spot or two isn't a deal breaker if the blown spot results in a realistic feel. Lets face it, when you are doing a back flip of the second rope into a reverse DDT where you need to catch your opponent who is standing a few feet behind you, it isn't always going to work out perfectly. In a real fight that move would actually hit perfectly 1 out of every 100 times. I will also give a guy a break if he kicks out of a finisher simply because finishers aren't as devastating as they used to be. While standing in the middle of the ring trading punches while the crowd yells Yay/Boo will drop the grade. That move is so over done and usually is placed at a point where a guy took a DDT that he jumped back up from but is trying to make us believe the strikes are really hurting him.

So the things I look for while grading matches are the story leading up to the match, whether the execution in the ring was believable and how enthralled I was by the match. Did I get sucked in? Did I at any moment utter the words Holy S!%#? Did I look forward to the match because of a great build? Was the action in the ring a great story being told?

Keep that in mind as you read what I believe are the match of the year candidates from February for 2016.

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Fastlane February 21st 2016

Promotion: WWE

Story:

After AJ debuted to a huge pop and strong showing at the Royal Rumble these two traded victories on Raw and Smackdown. Jericho teasing a heel turn refused to give AJ the rubber match until AJ beat him into it.

Winner: AJ Styles wins by Submission when Jericho taps to the Calf Crusher

Grade 4 1/2 stars

Reason it was great:

These two have really good chemistry between them. The story leading up to the match was really good pitting the newcomer to the WWE, who may be the best wrestler in the world, against the war torn veteran of the WWE. A lot of high spots and impressive moves were done. There were a couple of missed moves which didn't take away from the match because of there realism. All in all it was a great story told in the ring with an even better build and mutual respect shown by both men and I had an honest feeling that both men could have won the match.

Kushida ACH, Matt Sydal vs Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks

14th Anniversary Show February 26th 2016

Promotion: ROH

Story:

After winning the championship at Honor Rising just a week earlier Kenny Omega makes his return to ROH wrestling for his first match in more than 5 years. The Young Bucks continue their rivalry with Matt Sydal and ACH. The last time these two teams met was on ROH TV where Sydal and ACH were victorious. Kenny Omega and Kushida also have a long standing rivalry in NJPW having traded the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship over the last year and Omega lost the title to Kushida at Wrestle Kingdom 10 just over a month prior.

Winner: Matt Jackson by pinfall after a One Winged Angel to retain the 6 man NEVER Openweight Championship

Grade: 4 3/4 stars

Reason it was great:

This match was awesome from start to finish. High spots every where and the ending had so much going on I needed to watch it 3 times. Moves were believable and they all had really good chemistry together. I enjoyed the way that The Elite for Bullet Club played with the crowd and were able to draw up some really good heel heat. ACH is also a man possessed, he makes almost every move look effortless. All six men packed a lot of action in just over 16 minutes of ring time.

Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole Vs Kyle O'Reilly 

14th Anniversary Show February 26th 2016

Promotion: ROH

Story:

Adam Cole turned on his partner Kyle O'Reilly and will do anything he can to keep O'Reilly from winning the top belt in ROH. Cole is also trying to become the third man in ROH history to win the title twice. O'Reilly recently made Lethal tap out in a non title match.

Winner: Lethal by Pinfall on Cole after a double Lethal Injection on both men to retain the ROH Heavyweight Championship.

Grade: 4 1/2 Stars

Reason it was great:

You could feel the animosity between Alex Cole and Kyle O'Reilly through the TV set. The sheer hatred they showed towards each other brought a very unique dynamic to the match. All three had great chemistry and the move set was very believable. I got sucked into the match and really bought in to all three men having a legitimate shot at winning the belt. 

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article to follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary also wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster.