I try not to write about professional wrestling. My enjoyment of what goes on in the squared circle is essentially an escape from not turning everything that I enjoy my life into some form of content. I’ve already done that with hockey, my daily viewings of some form of pro wrestling does not need to be that as well. But, when I have the opportunity to comb through some matches I really like for various reasons in some form of mental exercise? Boy, I will do it.
My first venture into this year-end practice of picking one match from this past year that I like from each promotion I try to regularly watch, was just last year — and it was full of some real good stuff. In 2023, my love for the sport was only heightened by doing this. I was so enveloped into trying to absorb as much as I can but it was really this year that made me feel secure in enjoying what I enjoy.
While last year it was more of a variety show — while certainly I had more love for the more violent matches — in 2024, I really found security in knowing what specific wrestling I will hold above everything else. And, well, that will become apparent as I make my way through the list.
Again, a big credit to Lauren Theisen of Defector that has been doing a list like this for a few years now. I’m only piggybacking off of her idea and going “Oh yeah? I liked these matches, though.”
Mayu Iwatani vs. Syuri | Stardom, Ittenyon Stardom Gate | Jan. 4
For those less informed and not as willing to wake up at 3:00 a.m. EST to go watch one of the biggest events of the year in Japanese pro wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) has Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome at the start of every year. It typically features an absolutely insane match that remains on these best-of lists by the end of the year. But, it also has a Wrestlemania-like magnetism for other Japanese promotions to book shows around the big show.
One of those shows was Stardom’s Iittenyon Stardom Gate that happened just a few hours before Wrestle Kingdom all the way at the start of this year. And, it might have just featured the best match of the entire weekend between Mayu Iwatani and Syuri. It certainly helps when it’s two of the best in the business going at it.
The main event of this show featured just over 19 minutes of pure fast-paced, hard-hitting wrestling. Iwatani would do her typical workrate spots of using her lankiness to whip around the ring in breakneck speeds and then hit multiple dropkicks in a row. While Syuri is so much more of a methodical and technical wrestler than her opponent. It was a clash that we have seen before, as both of these wrestlers have now been in Stardom for several years and this January matchup didn’t bring anything super new to the table. It was just two impeccable workers performing at the highest of highs and doing their own thing.
Syuri’s avalanche suplex going straight into a variation of a cobra clutch always gets me. A submission hold right after a move that is typically followed by both wrestlers taking a breather? That stuff just works. Iwatani flying around and doing insane dives that verge on the edge of being reckless, but also attempting to kick Syuri’s head off a few minutes later. It is going deep into the toolbox of both wrestlers and this match just poured it all onto the table.
And, it featured a spot that made people freak the hell out online — which is always a bonus. With Syuri seated on the top turnbuckle, Iwatani held her head by both hands and delivered a shoot (real) headbutt straight to the noggin. The dull thud that the skull-on-skull impact made sends ripples down anyone’s spine. You can debate whether or not the unsafe spot should have been used or if it was even worth it if it did heighten the match; but I think it just rocked. It made the match just so much more severe and while they were working as hard as ever the rest of the 19 minutes, it was that one second that pushed it into the slot as my favorite match from Stardom this year.
Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Syuri – STARDOM (1.4.2024)
— headskull (@awesomePuro) January 4, 2024
IWGP Women's Championship#stardom pic.twitter.com/UuSXb2Zdwn
Miyu Yamashita vs. Masha Slamovich | TJPW, Tokyo Joshi Pro ’24 | Jan. 4
Like I mentioned, it’s a big day when Wrestle Kingdom is on.
On the same day as The Big Show and Stardom’s own show, fellow Joshi promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling held their own event earlier in the day. I remember distinctly watching this happen live and remembering it as something that I will no doubt be thinking about and talking about throughout the year. Miyu Yamashita (a personal favorite for just how vicious she is and how often she visits North America) and Masha Slamovich (an independent wrestling staple) went toe-to-toe in what was an absolute war.
There was no fat on this faceoff. No steady build that went gradually along at a snail’s pace to stretch out the actual action in the ring; it was just power from the beginning. And not just your typical stiff strikes to start a great match — but real, thudding and breathtaking moves. Almost immediately, Slamovich’s piledriver on the apron sends a shockwave through your bones. And then Yamashita, oh Yamashita, has near perfect strikes that make you buy in so hard and live and die with everything that she throws throughout the match. It gives a little hint of Japanese women’s wrestling of the past and just the taste of viciousness that everything needs.
Almost immediately after watching this, I had the urge to spread its gospel. Everyone needed to see this and I was actively concerned that other wrestling fans would not.
Miyu Yamashita (c) vs. Masha Slamovich – TJPW (1.4.2024)
— headskull (@awesomePuro) January 8, 2024
Princess of Princess Championship#tjpw pic.twitter.com/UoLYOVTCDJ
Chihiro Hashimoto, Mika Iwata vs. Mio Monomo, Sareee | Sendai Girls | Jan. 7
If I had to choose one thing that defined by watching of pro wrestling in the year of 2024, it has to be Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling. I’ve dabbled in some of their key matches before — just checking out the top matchups that you hear about online and then adding it to a long To Watch list I have on my phone (I am normal) — but this year, watched this one single tag match between four extremely talented wrestlers and from there, went on to watch almost every show I could get my hands on.
While Stardom has all the glitz and glam and high-level production and TJPW is a neon-filled cast of bright and strong characters, Sendai lives in a world of Joshi that feels underground. Hell, it could be literally underground. Most of their shows are at a venue called the Sendai PIT and it is a dark, dingy, low-budget place that fills maybe just over a couple hundreds people. Add steady and extremely simple production with minimal camera cuts to that and you have something immediately so appealing. And then add some of the most hard-hitting pro wrestling in the world and it is perfect, to me.
And it was exactly that during this early show. Mika Iwata is a no-nonsense fighter, Chihiro Hashimoto is literally perfect (I could go on and on but I would probably lose the dozens of readers that are reading this blog), and they are facing a team of Mio Monomo and Sareee, the latter being one of the best pro wrestlers in the entire world.
I don’t even think I need to give a play-by-play of this match. It is just exactly what you want. Like a warm bowl of salty soup on a cold day. Hashimoto’s suplexing Monomo to hell and then facing a long-time partner in Sareee for the final stretch was just so good. One match to highlight an entire year of getting really into one specific company.
Zack Sabre Jr vs. Bryan Danielson | New Japan Pro Wrestling, The New Beginning In Osaka | Feb. 11
I couldn’t go off in a self-satisfying list without mentioning what I deem as my personal Match of the Year. Maybe more than anyone in the entire world, the year of 2024 was defined by Bryan Danielson. A legend that can easily go down as the greatest of all time went on a run that can only be compared to the most elite of hot streaks in any sport.
In February, he faced yet another challenge. Danielson is a technical wrestler — focusing on the details and will happily have grappling and striking sequences without any major obvious climaxes for dozens of minutes — and opposite of him in this match at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s The New Beginning In Osaka, was Zack Sabre Jr., the most equal-to-his-talent wrestler that Danielson could face. Sabre Jr. and Danielson had a singles match later last year in All Elite Wrestling; based around the fact that they were battling for the title as the best technical wrestler in the world. An easy premise.
And now with that fantastic match behind them, they returned to collide in Japan with the opportunity to get really in their own bag. While other wrestling can be just waiting for the spot. Waiting for the big display of skill that will go viral online, and the rest of the match be sort of crap, Danielson vs. ZSJ was something you just couldn’t take your eyes off of. Every second felt crucial. Every change of position in grappling, every kick to the chest; not a second wasted. It’s just exactly what you want to see (if you’re into this stuff).
And maybe more important than anything, it really kicked off an extremely strong year for NJPW. I could’ve put several other matches in this spot and gone on and on about Gabe Kidd or Shingo Takagi’s years, but this match felt special and even more special that it was one of the peaks of Danielson’s final year of full-time wrestling. One of the best to ever do it.
Watch the full match on Dailymotion, completely legally.
Yuya Aoki vs. Takuya Nomura | Big Japan Pro-Wrestling | March 20
Big fucking boys going to work. Big Japan Pro-Wrestling is primarily known for two things: Bloody deathmatches and shoot matches that will feature lots of heads being kicked. This was the latter. In this title defense for Aoki’s BJW Strong Heavyweight title, he faced one of the best up-and-coming wrestlers that will only get more and more popular as he moves up the ladder.
Takuya Nomura is more widely known as one half of the stellar tag team with Fuminori Abe, Astronauts. But here he is all by himself with a shot to get back the title he previously held for just 104 days in 2022.
This showdown was just a war. Nothing fancy or flashy — just two people incredibly good at what they do and willing to sacrifice their wellbeing for the love of the sport. Shoot headbutts, suplexes that make your spine tingle, submission holds to keep you on the edge of your seat; this match just had everything I want. It was a warm blanket to go over and tuck me in. A hot, black coffee in a rundown diner on a rainy day. Everything from the brutality to the low-level production and minimal attendance where you can hear what every single audience member is saying. Just perfection.
Masashi Takeda vs. Violento Jack | FREEDOMS, The Gekokujo 2024 | March 22
I love deathmatch wrestling. It quenches an undeniable thirst for something just a bit more visually real than what people have become so accustomed to. It isn’t Wrestlemania, it’s people smashing each other with light tubes and anything else they can get at their local hardware store.
So when you mix that with the whole aura of Japanese pro wrestling and its Strong style that just feels more authentic than people jumping and leaping and flipping, it becomes near perfect. FREEDOMS is not my most watched promotion, but I will always remain on the lookout for the best matches they can give and this March collision between two of my favorite deathmatch wrestlers in Violento Jack and Masashi Takeda was must-watch. And boy, did it deliver.
Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe it. It was an explosion of glass shard-filled ecstasy. Dropping each other on their head directly on to tubes that would explode with a dramatic white dust, throwing each other outside of the ring into panes of glass, and breaking one another’s backs on piles of chairs. It’s just the simple stuff where you can turn your brain off and welcome in with both arms the chaos.
Takuya Nomura vs. Fuminori Abe | Game Changer Wrestling, Bloodsport X | April 4
I already mentioned both of these guys earlier. Nomura and Abe combine to be one of my favorite tag teams on the planet, but here during Wrestlemania weekend in the city of Philadelphia, they were able to take part in an event that I hold so dear to my heart. Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport is essentially pro wrestling boiled down to everything that’s great. Wins are by submission or knockout only and there are no ropes. Just two people on the mat, grappling or tossing each other around with no barrier.
And here, the two combatants are so familiar with each other that it adds another layer of intrigue. The previous Nomura vs. Abe match in 2023 was heralded as an all-time bout. The deep-seeded respect as they each drove their forearm through each other’s temples. And now, they get to come over to the West and do it all over again in an environment with fertile ground to do the same thing.
It wasn’t as great as their 2023 collision, but it was just as good. They understood what to do. They kicked the shit out of each other.
Mark Briscoe vs. Eddie Kingston | Ring of Honor, Supercard of Honor | April 5
Eddie Kingston brings the heart and soul of pro wrestling to the masses. With everything that he is involved in, he provides authenticity to the forefront and it might just be because he is being his true self. There is no character work here or trying to wiggle his way through a story. Kingston is who he is. And he finally got his dues.
Last year, it was his year. A wrestler that came into All Elite Wrestling years ago, as someone who has already spent decades in the business but never really got his chance to shine for any major promotion, in 2023, Kingston earned his titles. First, he went to NJPW to get a hold of the NJPW Strong Heavyweight title in July. Then he snatched the Ring of Honor world title from his longtime archrival Claudio Castagnoli a couple months later. And back home in AEW, Kingston put up both of those titles to form the North American version of the Triple Crown with the Continental Championship (it’s a long story, basically a legendary set of three belts back in All Japan Pro Wrestling). And he won the damn thing. He got what he wanted. Eddie was on top.
And in 2024, it was all about his collapse. Coming back down to Earth after reaching the heights. He lost the AEW belt to the incoming Kazuchika Okada in March, and then in the middle of his ongoing collapse, he had a battle with Mark Briscoe to lose the ROH title.
It was just part of the downfall — that unfortunately is still at a pause after he left the match against Gabe Kidd to lose the NJPW belt with an injury that is still plaguing him — but this bout with Briscoe was emotional. Briscoe himself is another underdog story.
One half of the legendary tag team The Briscoes with his brother Jay, who never got their shot at one of the major promotions that could give them some financial freedom, Mark is a fighter. And early last year, Jay suddenly and tragically died without them getting their flowers. But now with more backing since his brother’s passing, Mark was able to take advantage of Kingston’s collapse and get the ROH title back in such a great match.
Jay was always the star of the team with Mark being the firecracker support. Jay has held this top ROH belt twice before at the top of his career, but Mark was never able to hold it himself. And now he finally did.
It was one of those matches this year that weaved the storytelling of pro wrestling with real life. Tragedy turned into television, but in a way that felt right and respectful.
Shinya Aoki vs. Chihiro Hashimoto | DDT, April Fool | April 7
I’ve already talked a lot about technical wrestling. You either like it or you hate it (and if you do you are stupid). But just another aspect about it that I love is that you can be rewarded. Rewarded for every second you move and groove with the rhythm of the grapples. The crescendos and the decrescendos of each hold bubbling up to the surface in an explosion of a move. And it most likely will be a move that wouldn’t even get a reaction if it was in any other match.
The prime example of this this year was a match in DDT between former MMA fighter (and generally insane person) Shinya Aoki and someone I have already expressed adoration for, Chihiro Hashimoto. These two go to work. It is eerily quiet in the hallowed Korakuen Hall as these two pound the mat and work limbs. Jiving and weaving around each other through most of the match until a powerful suplex breaks it up and breaks open the match from there. The viewer was rewarded.
This isn’t just people leaping into one another, but it was battle between struggle and strength. Nothing was given to the opponent. Everything was earned. Just one of those matches that sticks with you.
Roderick Strong vs. Fuminori Abe | DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling, Limit Break | May 19
Oh, it’s another Fuminori Abe match. If you have actually been checking out this list of matches, you know what it will entail. Some hard-ass hitting and generally making a fool of his opponent. Over in North Carolina, at one of the premier independent federations, DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling, he was able to collide with AEW’s Roderick Strong.
This was a stiff match. Hitting each other with strikes that made you wince in a way that you would not believe that it was their first ever match with each other. You wouldn’t even think twice if this was the finale in a feud that lasted multiple years. Two guys in black trunks putting on a display of top-tier pro wrestling in the most literal sense. Again, nothing fancy or flashy (but with a little bit of goofy) and at a promotion that is slowly becoming one of the best in the world for putting on the highest of quality shows in North America.
Gabe Kidd vs. Kaito Kiyamiya | NOAH, Grand Ship 2024 | June 16
I watched this match on my phone waiting for the train. As you can see, I try to watch as much wrestling as I can and when it is two guys I really like coming together at a big show, I have to gobble it down any which way I can. So if it’s streaming on a tiny screen, with headphones in and blocking out the entire world, I will do it.
And maybe it was my brain tuning out of everything around me — something I might not be able to do while watching some other matches at home — but immediately after this match finished I felt it was the best thing I have watched this year. Period. No movie or show could have beaten this.
It was bloody. It was brutal. It was filled with Gabe Kidd’s cockiness and being a brutish asshole to a perfect amount, without overdoing it. And then Kiyamiya was able to be the wunderkind, the Next Great Thing, who overcame the stronger opponent on the big stage under the lights.
It had all the makings of a classic Japanese headliner and between two young wrestlers who could do this for the next couple of decades. Just, man, it was so good.
Josh Barnett vs. Jon Moxley | Bloodsport Bushido | June 22
Moxley is the best. The absolute best. The king of this shit. Just the one guy that I will point to and nod whenever I need to feel good about pro wrestling. He has an undying fiery spirit and passion for bringing guys down to the mat and making them squirm.
We’ve already talked about Bloodsport. But rather than the veteran halls and other independent pro wrestling venues around the United States, Josh Barnett took his baby to Japan for the first time. And at one of my favorite venues over, the Ryogoku Kokugikan, there was a mat with four posts attached to it for people to get hit and bleed on.
This match is for the real heads. If you like this and have only casually tuned into Wrestlemania at your friend’s house because it’s on, I am so sorry. You have been cursed with enjoying the sport of sports and now you need to suddenly consume as much as you can. You have the sickness.
Moxley and Barnett battle. Blood was shed. Heads were crushed. Arms were barred. Beauty on a canvas mat in front of thousands.
Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. | CMLL, Sabados De Coliseo | June 22
Another technical bout. This time, ZSJ takes his talents to Mexico City for the oldest professional wrestling promotion on the planet, CMLL. And he had to stare down the barrel held by Mexico’s best technical wrestler, Hechicero. Someone who rose to northern stardom after appearing briefly in AEW and facing none other than Bryan Danielson, he completed the love triangle of international technical wrestlers and had another stellar, 2-out-of-3 Falls match with ZSJ in June.
It was a back-and-forth forceful fight where the upper hand in the bout changed hands often as the tangle of limbs rolled all over the canvas. It didn’t have the heights as some other ZSJ matches this year, but it was just purely the good stuff. And since I don’t typically enjoy Lucha Libre (kind of obvious from this list of matches I like) this was my favorite match coming out of CMLL this year.
Sareee vs. Giulia | Marigold, Summer Destiny | July 13
Before her departure to the dark lands of WWE, Giulia led the new upstart promotion of Marigold. It is an incredibly long story that will take you into the nasty parts of this business and might just make you say “Yeah, no thanks” but essentially, one guy left one of the biggest Joshi promotions to go start his own and took a bunch of talent with him, like Giulia. There is more, but just, ah, whatever.
Sareee has already been mentioned — and honestly, is probably my favorite overall wrestler from this past year — and puts on yet another stunning performance against a good opponent. Coming into this, it was about the control of Marigold and who was truly the face of the company. Giulia was leaving, and someone needed to take the headliner position. Sareee isn’t signed full-time as a Marigold wrestler but freelances there, and of course, puts in the best matches that that company has to offer.
This was what you expect from these two talents. Stiff kicks to the head, dropkicks that send the other flying, leaps from the top rope to crush anyone on the ground, suplexing the other on top of their head; it was just a beating at breakneck pace. And finally, with Sareee grabbing a tight hold of Giulia’s wrist, it was called after the referee had to stop the match with assumption that Giulia was not going to tap and would rather have a bone snap in two. It was a way for Giulia to leave without looking up at the lights, and Sareee to take her place easily. Just a great match, but still not my favorite of Sareee’s year.
Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland | All Elite Wrestling, All In | Aug. 25
Bryan Danielson’s year had to include this. He announced that at some point in the near future, he was going to step away from full-time wrestling. Danielson was able to take part in a parade of stellar matches, as he travelled all over the world facing the best of the best and having a streak of must-see performances. But, none of them featured him winning a title.
In London at Wembley, in front of tens of thousands, he did it. After a very successful run with the AEW Heavyweight title, Swerve Strickland has already gotten all the juice he could out of his reign. He rose to stardom, was seen as one of the best young pro wrestlers in the business and went from someone cast aside by WWE a few years ago, to leading an entire company. His time to hand the title to a legend came and the match itself was special.
I don’t hold the dramatics and storytelling of pro wrestling as the most important thing for me — would rather see a guy get dropped on his head than listen to a guy talk about how much this match means to him — but this had so many important and memorable moments. Maybe nothing more than Danielson staring at his family sitting ringside, yelling how much he cared about them, and Swerve trying his hardest to cave his chest in with vicious kicks. Repeating kick after kick straight into Danielson’s chest as he just sees his wife and children. A man being broken but overcoming any strike because of the love for his family. That’s just the stuff right there.
It was a match that made you scream at your screen. It meant so much. Again, a mix of wrestling and the real world. This was Danielson being able to be on top for part of his final year and on the biggest possible stage ever he was able to leave with the belt on his shoulder.
Bryan Danielson vs Swerve
— Wwe.C4 (@WweC4__) August 25, 2024
Title vs Career Match
AEW All In (2024)
🎧: No Church In The Wild-Frank x Jay Z#AEWAllIn pic.twitter.com/0MRJma1bJo
Sareee, Mayu Iwatani vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, VENY | Sareee-ISM, Chapter V | Sept. 2
My favorite tag match of the year. Four extremely talented wrestlers coming together and working their asses off.
Sareee really established herself as not just as one of the best wrestlers on the planet this year, but as a great promoter, too. Through her Sareee-ISM shows, she has been able to bring some of the top freelancers around Japan to just hit each other extremely hard and put on some of the best matches of the year in a very dark room.
This match was maybe the best of the bunch. Something that everyone should go out of their way to watch. A pure display of hard-as-hell professional wrestling and bodies just flying all across the ring to kick each other directly in the head. There might be nothing more I could say to sell you on why it was one of my favorites. It was just so good.
If you’re for some reason at the end of this list and haven’t watched this yet, just do it already. Do it for yourself.
This shit kicks ass.
