Honorable Mentions

Here I’ll list matches that don’t quite make the cut of “best” or that don’t feel quite imperative or interesting to write about.

• Volador Jr., Soberano Jr., & Mistico vs. Atlantis Jr., Ultimo Guerrero, & Gran Guerrero (CMLL 11/4/22)

• Orange Cassidy vs. Katsuyori Shibata (AEW 11/4/22)

• Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuji Hino (DDT 11/5/22)

• Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley (WWE 11/5/22)

• Mistico, Negro Casas, & Titan vs. Euforia, Hechicero, & Mephisto (CMLL 11/11/22)

• Adam Priest vs. Eric Ryan (CMLL 11/18/22)

• Calvin Tankman vs. Bryan Keith (FU 11/19/22)

• Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter (AEW 11/19/22)

• Bryan Danielson vs. Dax Harwood (AEW 11/30/22)

Gunther vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE 11/4/22)

It’s Rey’s bumps that stand out first. There’s little room for babyface shine as Gunther goes straight into ragdolling Mysterio around the ring, the floor, the apron. It’s great. Rey’s an astonishing seller and bumper, always has been really.

Then there’s Rey’s comebacks. Not even just the bursts of action, but how he builds towards them. In particular, I gasped in awe at Rey responding to repeated body slams by clinging to Gunther’s body to block the maneuver. That he then punctuates the sequence with a crucifix bomb, the touch of a master.

Gunther’s great, violent, and brutal in this, don’t get me wrong. But he’s merely one of the best wrestlers in the world. Rey Mysterio is one of the greatest of all time.

Rating: ****

FTR vs. Jeff Cobb & The Great O-Khan (NJPW 11/5/22)

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2022.11.5(Sat) 大阪府立体育会館大会 このジャンピングラリアットにはびっくりしました！ #njpw #njautumn #オーカーン #キャッシュ・ウィーラー

11:30 PM ∙ Nov 5, 2022

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Boy, have I missed FTR.

This match seems them in their most comfortable setting: working a modern take on the classic southern tag formula. FTR playing the babyfaces in that equation comes across especially natural in this match when they’re against a bruiser power team like Cobb & O-Khan. Having such a large duo as opposition, FTR can dip into the well of The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express, perhaps best illustrated by Cash busting out an early hurricanrana on Cobb.

Everything lands so well, especially Dax’s and O-Khan’s strikes, but its the restraint that I love best. After the hot tag to Cash, we get the kind of fun moves-laden finishing stretch we expect but one that never veers too far into silliness before we get FTR outmaneuvering the big men to get the win. Outside of their match with The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express themselves, this may be the most honest attempt at a southern tag FTR’s accomplished all year.

Rating: ****

Yuki Yoshioka vs. YAMATO (Dragongate 11/6/22)

It’s always fun when promotions know how to feed on the fans’ fear. I’m not a longtime Dragongate fan by any means, but even I’ve been burned by the tyranny of YAMATO at the top of the card. This match sees young first-time champion Yuki Yoshioka taking on YAMATO in a bout that feels even bigger than just the Open the Dream Gate title. At least in the moment, it feels that the match determines if Dragongate moves forward or backslides.

Really, that’s the main drama of the whole thing. Beyond YAMATO’s leg work and Yoshioka’s speed, it’s that philosophical battle underpinning the whole thing. It’s also what makes the result—and the manner its executed—so satisfying. To see Yoshioka overcome the challenger’s best efforts, and revel in his assured victory? What a delight to behold.

Rating: ****

Kasey Catal vs. Mickie Knuckles (ICW:NHB 11/12/22)

What a surprise this one was! I enjoy Mickie Knuckles even when her matches rarely cross over into “great” territory for me, but I’d never seen Catal wrestle before this. I might have to now though as both put on a really fun scrap in this.

Knuckles often has a very lighthearted nature in her matches so seeing her approach this with a little more gravity and aggression did well to set it apart from her other work. Catal’s game to eat shit on lighttubes, bumps on the floor, but she also fires back with really good forearms to stay credible in her own right. There’s some story-based choices in the finish that worked against the match’s flow, but outside of that there’s a lot of great deathmatch gimmickry and fire all over this.

Rating: ***3/4

Le Sex Gods vs. Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli (AEW 11/16/22)

I have my issues with Guevara and Jericho on their own, but together I’ve always enjoyed them. They’re a really fun, classic heel team, and they play exactly to those strengths here. Every moment from them has them cheating, gloating, or bumping like maniacs. It’s tonally perfect from two wrestlers who do their best work as old school stooges. Never in my life do I want to feel like those two are earning something, they are hustlers and fakes at heart.

All that works extremely well because Danielson and Claudio know how to deliver a beating. Dragon takes on more of the selling, face-in-peril approach here, which is great because it means we get to have Claudio locking in a Sharpshooter while posing with a baseball bat. Good times.

Rating: ****

Kevin Blackwood vs. Jonathan Gresham (C*4 11/18/22)

I wrote about their first match back in April, and in this rematch Blackwood is defending the C*4 Championship. It does a lot right by focusing on much of what made the first match so good: having these two stand and trade. Blackwood has great elbow strikes, and his kicks were utilized much more purposefully here too. Gresham, for his part, added a fun new wrinkle to the match up with some classic heel work as well. Would be down to see these two tie it up again.

Rating: ****

Eddie Kingston vs. Jun Akiyama (AEW 11/19/22)

It’s been said many times before that Eddie Kingston’s career is a story of failures. When it’s not the world holding the man down, then he gets in his own way. And because he’s such a charismatic and emotional performer, fans get led on that journey of peaks and valleys, success and setbacks alongside him.

2022’s been no different for Eddie. After seeming like the most electric performer in the company in the early year, he’s run into roadblocks both onscreen and behind it. That’s why it just feels good to see him happy. I have done my share in chronicling what this match means to Eddie Kingston, and to see it happen for the dude just feels right.

We’re dealing with post-peak Akiyama here. Still a great wrestler but not what he once was. So Eddie and he play the hits, they trade strikes, they do suplexes. But few wrestlers in the world fill negative space like Eddie Kingston, and it’s his selling and mindfulness in the quiet moments that elevate this to greatness.

Also, Eddie wins. Whatever else happens, whatever new setback waits down the line, Eddie Kingston has a win over The Fifth Pillar, the final tie to the legacy of King’s Road. And that makes me fucking happy.

Rating: ****

Sting & Darby Allin vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal (AEW 11/19/22)

Darby vs. Satnam’s going to make my Top 20 in 2023.

Rating: ****

Jon Moxley vs. MJF (AEW 11/19/22)

I live in constant fear of AEW giving in and actually, truly turning MJF babyface. This match seemed as good a time as any for that to happen, and I’m so glad they didn’t push through with it. I came to this match at a low point in my interest in AEW, so I’m mostly unburdened by any preconceptions from the build. Heck, I didn’t even watch the card that preceded this. That seemed to be the ideal way to come to it.

Really, this commits to a very simple idea. Even while MJF feigns being a plucky underdog hero, he just isn’t good enough. Mox works with the dominance and ferocity that he brought to Punk in Chicago, an all-timer force unfazed by anything as petty and fleeting as public opinion. At no point is MJF more clever, stronger, or better than Mox in any way. He even taps out while the referees down, a clear and obvious fraud exposed for the world to see.

But in 2022, he is more devious. While Mox spent years honing his abilities as a fighter, MJF has reveled in the muck. MJF steals the big one, just as he was always destined to.

Rating: ****

Mistico, Stuka Jr., & Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Atlantis Jr., Hechicero, & Mephisto (CMLL 11/22/22)

The back half of the year has seen CMLL become a surprisingly watchable promotion. A lot of this has been thanks to a rotating cast of characters in well-done lucha trios matches. In this match, we get a lot of the best moving parts of this system. Atlantis Jr., the best young prospect in Mexico today, gets to continue his rivalry with the man he unmasked at Aniversario, Stuka Jr. Meanwhile, Mistico is as spectacular a high flyer as ever, often pairing with Hechicero and Mephisto, two-thirds of the best rudo trio in the company. It’s exactly what you want from a trios in Arena Mexico: the rudos being bastards and the tecnicos bamboozling them.

Rating: ****