2023 Match of the Year?

[Crippler]

Spoiler: Full list in order

2. Jon Moxley vs. "Hangman" Adam Page - AEW Dynamite #171 (11.01.2023) ***
1. Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 ***1/4

I have about 30 matches on a hard drive, and I don't feel like deleting them. So, I figured I'll watch or attempt to watch them and put them to see what I had as my 2023 MOTY. I'll probably just go to the top 20 final, but I'll definitely watch more matches, just obviously some matches will make the cut above others. Oh, and if I missed a match, either I forgot about it, didn't know, or just didn't think it was good.

 

[Crippler]

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17
Jan 4th 2023
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (c)
The story of this is that Will's overaggressiveness and mistakes led to Kenny just beating the shit out of him. He works the back in real brutal fashion with stomps and backbreakers. He even shows his dick side by ripping off one of the corner turnbuckles just to kick him back-first into it. The problem is he's wrestling Will, who will sell for 13% before saying fuck and just going on with all his springboard and flip counter movers, which sure looks cool, but if a motherfucker is working your back, I don't want to see a fuckin handstand springboard into a kicks and shit. But I will say theirs a point in the match where Kenny puts him underneath a table and hits an awesome-looking doublestomp, breaking the table over Will's back, but as Kenny goes to slide back into the ring, he just says fuckin and just begins throwing hands fuckin' Kenny's shit up before suplexing him over the back of the broken table. Will hits a few big moves for near falls but once he realizes those were not going to get it down, he turns back into Dick Ospreay and just tries to hurt Kenny but that backfires and in nasty fashion as Will goes a spanishfly off the top but Kenny counters and hits a sick DDT onto of the exposed turnbuckles from earlier which has now busted Will open. He follows up by viciously slamming his head through the broken table on the floor. I will give credit to Will, his death, bumping, and selling of just getting the crap kicked out of him is way better than when you ask him to sell a limb. Kenny begins to get frustrated that he cannot put Will away, which allows Will to make a comeback. Hidden Blade gets a two, he goes for a Stormbreaker, but that gets countered into a V trigger, Kenny maintains grip of the wrist to stop a pinfall. Will knows he's pretty much done, so he spits on Kenny, so Kenny ends it with a V trigger followed by a one-winged angel for the win. Solid match, I've seen better from these two. Could have cut at least 13 minutes off this and could have gotten a better match. ***1/4

 

[Crippler]

AEW Dynamite #171
11.01.2023
Inglewood, California, USA

Jon Moxley vs. "Hangman" Adam Page
The story of the match revolves around pride, as the first match was halted due to a stoppage when Legit was knocked out, forcing the match to be stopped. So he's been off for two months battling a concussion. They waste no time trading big strikes as soon as the bell rings, as it's Mox who takes control pretty early on. He works the head, but it's more powerful moves to wear down Hangman while throwing strikes at his head to test the CTE. Mox doesn't really try to win the match; it's more about taunting and beating Hangman up more than it is about winning a match here, and Hangman just shows why he's the heart & soul of AEW, refusing to stay down or even give Mox the satisfaction of knowing he's getting to him. Side note, I love that this match has been pretty much dominated by Mox. Yeah, Hangman got a couple of moves and even got a decent comeback but he's still not fully himself while battling ring rust, while also in the ring with the top ACE for the company. The match ends when Hangman wins the slapfest and follows up with a big lariat into the Buckshot for the win. Post-Match: Mox is "Dazzed" which means both tech KO'ed the other. ***

 

[Chris]

I completely forgot that original feud between the two was based around Moxley legit knocking Hangman tf out a few months earlier

 

[Tommy MBE]

Mox 2021-2023 Was an animal. Dude was wrestling with purpose. Then BCC was formed and he went into the group.

His feud with Hangman was so entertaining and he's back wrestling like that.

 

[Crippler]

I completely forgot that original feud between the two was based around Moxley legit knocking Hangman tf out a few months earlier

gotta love when a fire feud happens by accident