January 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. 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.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata

Wrestle Kingdom 10 January 4th 2016

Promotion: NJPW

Story:

Who really needs a story, this is just two bulls going toe to toe so they can see who's best. The reason Shibata got the match was because of a pair of pinfalls he scored on Ishii during the World Tag League event.

Winner: Shibata by pin fall after a Penalty Kick to become the New NEVER Open weight Champion

Grade: 5 star

Reason it was great:

Both Wrestlers told a fantastic story in the ring with neither of them having the advantage for long. They sold moves and also no sold moves at the perfect time, and also kept the crowd engaged through out the match. I always felt that the match could go either way and it had a big fight feel from the opening bell. What helped that along was they stuck with strikes through the majority of match which helped it with the big fight feel.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles

Wrestle Kingdom 10 January 4th 2016

Promotion: NJPW

Story:

After Nakamura defended his belt at Power Struggle, he issued an open challenge to any member of Bullet Club for Wrestle Kingdom. That challenge was accepted by AJ Styles. This match was billed as the  first ever meeting between the two and was considered a dream match.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall after a Bomaye to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Grade: 4 1/2 stars

Reason it was great:

An incredibly compelling story in the ring left us not knowing who was going to win. What makes that even more special is these two were able to make us suspend that disbelief even though we knew that AJ Styles was leaving NJPW after this match. Also the mutual respect shown after the match was a feel good moment.

Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens

Last Man Standing Match, Royal Rumble January 24th 2016

Promotion: WWE

Story: 

This rivalry got kick started at Survivor Series when Ambrose and Owens met in the semi finals of the WWE Title tournament. They met again at TLC in an incredible match with Ambrose leaving with the gold and then a double count out on an episode of Smackdown to set up this match. The build up was done to perfection with them trading beat downs and verbal jabs and not meeting in tag team matches and singles matches every show  Because of that it actually felt special when they did meet in the ring.

Winner: Dean Ambrose when Owens couldn't answer the ten count after going through a table outside the ring from the top turbuckle. Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship.

Grade 4 3/4 stars

Reason it was great:

Back and forth action making both guys look incredibly strong. I like the fact that Owens was going for the moonsault  to end the match instead of trying another pop up power bomb since Ambrose kicked out of the first one. There were a ton of high spots with a great lead in story and great selling of the injuries after the match when they both came into the rumble match bandaged and obviously hurting. I was on the edge of my seat not knowing who was going to win because it seemed at times like they both might. Just a great telling of a hard fought match.

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 and 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.