Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 1/4/18)

Incredible performances from both men in a no-nonsense contest that really played to their individual strengths. Minoru Suzuki was at his most callous without the Suzuki-goons bringing him down, and Hirooki Goto did a fantastic job of selling that classic Suzuki sadism. In a night that was mostly about trying to outdo the overdone, this was simple, brutal, and under twenty minutes. My kind of my match. Immediately, they stagger each other with hard slaps to the face before Suzuki grabs the sleeper and hangs Goto from the turnbuckle with it -- the visual of Goto's body going limp in the corner and lying motionless on the mat was unbelievable. Suzuki doesn't let up, throwing Goto out of the ring, cracking him with a chair, then swatting him in the face while he's down. Goto tries fighting back but Suzuki only cackles and levels him with an elbow. I loved how the sleeper hold > Gotch piledriver set-up played into the match, and Suzuki connects with one of the most awesome dropkicks I've seen in quite some time. The way he unloads on poor Goto with that never-ending combination of slaps and jabs, busting open his lip...so so good. Goto is finally able to build some momentum heading into the finishing stretch, reversing the top rope sleeper into a super Ushigoroshi. He hammers Suzuki with elbows, stopping him mid-swing with a lunging headbutt, before putting him down for the count with the GTR. My current 2018 MOTY, kiddos.

NJPW "WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 IN TOKYO DOME" (1/4/17)

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi 

This was wacky and haphazard, with some miscalculated spots that added a sense of urgency and unpredictability to the match. It fits Hiromu's 'time bomb' crust punk character and I think it initially forced KUSHIDA to work at that breakneck pace, nearly killing himself with the top rope somersault senton on the outside. They blew the 'rana over the ropes but Takahashi made up for it by hitting his own somersault senton from the top. KUSHIDA then snaps out of it and catches Takahashi's apron senton with a cross armbreaker on the outside. I loved KUSHIDA pissed off armwork with the hair-grabbing and kicks. The Hoverboard Lock struggle, along with Hiromu's selling, fleshed out the frantic nature of the match. The finishing stretch saw the champ's desperation in full effect as he tries in vain to hold onto his title, only to fall to Hiromu's Time Bomb finish. Structurally, this thing was a mess but maybe that's a big part of it's charm. Hiromu is like bizarro-KUSHIDA and I love it. 

NEVER Openweight Title: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Hirooki Goto

Out of every match on the show, this one had me hooked from start to finish. I understand that stylistically, these NEVER Openweight Title matches are polarizing but for me, it's a style I enjoy when the violence doesn't feel overly indulgent. This had the right balance, the crowd was fully invested, and it was awesome to watch Goto's mounting frustrations reach a tipping point as Shibata gives zero fucks and makes him work his kind of match. The strikes were stiff, as expected, and Shibata in is full 'Goonies never say die' mode, kicking, elbowing, headbutting Goto without regard. I don't even think Shibata cared if he kept the title or not, he just wanted Goto to show some fire and when Goto finally exploded, it was amazing. The build to that final headbutt exchange made it feel special and Goto's headbutts looked like a million bucks. I loved that shot of Shibata's zombie-fied face after Goto hits that final headbutt and plants him with the inverted GTR before finishing him off with the regular GTR. This is exactly the kind of win Goto needed and he looked like a total badass with that finish. I enjoyed this more than both of Shibata's matches with Ishii last year, as it felt fresh, not like a retread of old territory, and the performance from a reinvigorated and pissed off Goto was one of his best. I think this is my MOTN on first viewing. The end result was the absolute right decision and I can't wait to see what Goto does with the title while Shibata begins his road to winning the G1 Climax. 

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

This was good and would likely have been even better if Tanahashi put more into his selling. That being said, veteran ace Tanahashi does a masterful job of setting the pace of this match and I thought the storytelling was really good, with the dueling legwork, the callbacks to previous encounters, and Naito's mostly shenanigans-free approach to wrestling. The crowd was still hot from the previous match and bought what these two were selling. I'm a big fan of Naito's limbwork and his use of the injured leg to escape predicaments and squash momentum. When Tanahashi started going after Naito's leg, Naito's selling eclipsed Tanahashi's. When it comes to sustained selling, I'm a nitpicker and in a match like this, where Naito's legwork is a primary focus, Tanahashi didn't put enough into his performance to make me care. Things like him using the cloverleaf hold, which puts a lot of stress on the knees, and then running around to hit High Fly Flows without much of a limp in his step. The slingblade on the apron was a cool spot though. By the end of it, it felt a little puffy and should've ended on that first Destino but they kill a few more minutes, allowing Naito to hit a couple more to retain. A good slow-burner with a great underlying story and performance from Naito. The result makes sense considering the result of the main event and now LIJ is dominant as fuck. 

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchida Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega

Woof, this match. I mean, I think the reason Naito/Omega worked so well is that they kept it under 30 minutes and the downtime only added to the narrative, with Omega working around his bum knee. Here, the first 20 minutes felt like complete, sleep-inducing filler and then they suddenly ramp it up from a 2 to an 11, to the point where it felt artificial and mechanical. There's no doubt these two busted their asses for the second half of the match and some of the spots were nutzo but maybe they were trying a little too hard to re-create the 'epic', jaw-dropping nature of the Naito/Omega match. Even if they had shaved off 15 dull minutes, I still don't think this would've reached the much-hyped "MOTY" label everyone was hoping for...at least from my perspective. Lots of indulgent, finish-worthy spots, like the top rope dragon suplex, that were inconsequential thirty seconds later. That being said, I did like the finishing stretch, with Omega landing some vicious knees, including the Rainmaker knee, and Okada managing to counter out of every attempt at the One-Winged Angel, preserving the danger of it and laying the groundwork for the rematch. The spinning tombstone > Rainmaker combo was the cherry on the sprinkle-coated frosting of this cake and the exclamation point on Okada's dominant ace role while still making Omega look strong as a title challenger. This match skipped the appetizers and went straight to the dessert bar at the Golden Corral. 

New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 10 (1/2/16)

Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the best pro-wrestling event of 2015. Hands down. The K. Ibushi/S. Nakamura match topped many a folk's end-of-the-year lists, with Tanahashi/Okada easily in the top 5 and a pretty awesome Suzuki/Sakuraba squabble. Enter 2016. Wrestle Kingdom 10. Is this already show of the year? Probably.

NEVER Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata

We knew this was going to be awesome. We knew that when these two went at it, it would be sometimes hard to watch. The sound effects would make you cringe. The emotion would be high, the fighting spirit undying. The tag match from 12/19's Road to Tokyo Dome show gave us an awesome preview of what would come in one of the best tag team matches from last year. Did it deliver? Hell yeah. This was a contest of pure endurance and pain tolerance. Early on,  these two were begging for pain, trading shots until Shibata went Happy Gilmore on Ishii's back with a kick. But Ishii's a Stone Pitbull. He's like New Japan's version of the Absorbing Man. He chops Shibata like firewood and Shibata's forearms are nutzo. After kicking the shit out of Ishii, he gladly cleans it off his face with the side of his boot in the corner. He's polite about his violence, and god, does it look painful. Lariats, kicks, suplexes, and we all fall down. Ishii wants to keep his NEVER title and folds Shibata up with a powerbomb for two -- the first pin attempt of the match. Lariat? Count one. Sliding lariat? Count two. And those thunking headbutts are the stuff of nightmares. More lariats from Ishii, more kicks from Shibata...and a nasty flying knee kick, a front kick, and the PK for the Shibata victory! A surprising finish to a non-stop match in which the competitors didn't have time to think about the consequences of their actions, or the degradation of the human biomass. Life is short. Let's fuck each other up and call it art. A+

IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. AJ Styles

So these two are leaving New Japan, heading to WWE in a quasi-surprising move, and instead of going the Goldberg/Lesnar route and not giving two shits, they gave like 4 and a half shits. This was easily my favorite AJ Styles New Japan match, and when Shinsuke wants to be solid, he's above and beyond. A slower build, which suits the 18-year veteran Styles well. The high flying shenangians are in still in his repertoire but he's picked up a few new tricks along the way that don't jeopardize his chances as much. There's also a franticness to this match. You can see it in their movements and counters. AJ's a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion so in his mind, this is beneath him. But Nakamura's swallows his final piece of Bullet Club lead and Styles quickly needs to coat check the ego. He does beautifully with a Styles dropkick (one of the best still) but when he plays opossum in the corner, he pays for it with a backbreaker and a sick high knee strike in the corner. Shinsuke looks like a lunatic and I'd be happy to see a Shinsuke Nakamura/Dean Ambrose match in his WWE future. Styles sells the back with the suplex lift attempt and goes low with the snap suplex in the corner. He works over Nakamura's leg, trying to weaken the Boma Ye, but it doesn't seem to be working. Once Shinsuke connects with that murdering second-rope Boma Ye, the momentum shifts. AJ lands his own Boma Ye and goes old-school with the Firebird Splash and Nakamura goes old-school with the cross armbreaker counter. A one-armed Styles Clash from AJ isn't enough to dethrone the foppish king. He hits the Bloody Sunday set-up to another Styles Clash...wait, fuck that, Super Styles Clash is the better decision. But his ego comes back to haunt him and after Nakamura counters off the top with the Landslide, he nails AJ with one of the most brutal Boma Ye knees to the back of the head, followed by a second Boma Ye to retain. Awesome stuff. A+

IWGP Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Rewind to Wrestle Kingdom 9, Tanahashi was still ace. He defeated Okada to keep his belt and his pride intact -- well, relatively intact and then lost it to Styles. Okada had to wade through the Bullet Club bullshit to finally reclaim what was taken from him at Wrestling Dontaku 2014, and now, the stage is set for the final battle to decide Japan's top pro wrestler. Tanahashi goes for the leg early on because, let's face it, he likes the Texas Cloverleaf. Unfortunately, Okada's selling of the limb work left something to be desired in this match, and while it didn't necessarily detract from the match as a whole, the inconsistency made you realize that Kazuchika Okada is human and not a wrestling god. It was what you would expect from these two, with a little more salt and pepper here and there, some big nearfalls, the 'Hey, I respect you but I'm going to try and beat you with your own finisher' game, and one of the best finishes I've seen in awhile. Tanahashi, the consummate samurai, strikes out with a final flash of steel: a Sling Blade, a dragon suplex hold, and back-to-back High Fly Flows. But Okada won't go down. He can't go down. The passion for this rivalry is deafening within the Tokyo Dome, and maybe Tanahashi lets that get to him because in his heart-of-hearts, he knows that Okada is now the master. He tries for the third HFF but Okada shows him the best dropkick in the world! After Okada's German suplex, Tanahashi slaps Okada! He's got nothing left at this point and Okada won't let go -- literally. Three Rainmakers and it's goodnight, sweet prince Tanahashi. A+ And with this win, Okada fulfills his destiny. He becomes the embodiment of New Japan; the modern evolution of pro wrestling art. Here's to 2016!