Welcome to the sixth annual Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll!

ORIGINS

The brainchild of VOW co-owner Rich Kraetsch, it all started in 2012 with a modest four person panel of myself (Joe Lanza), Rich, VOW’s then-PWG reviewer “Larry”, and Billy Carpenter of 4 Corners Radio. We each selected our ten best matches of the year, wrote short blurbs on why each match was selected, and combined the lists to come up with a collaborative top ten.

We produced a fine list of matches, but a list that was the product of four voters who for the most part had very similar tastes in wrestling. There was a ton of crossover on the four lists, and while an impressive variety of five different promotions ultimately ended up being represented in our collaborative top ten, we were dealing with a tiny sample size of voters who essentially watched and enjoyed the same pool of matches over the course of the year.

For 2013, I approached Rich about expanding upon his original idea by extending invites to dozens of other wrestling critics. Each year in the world of film, there are media/critic polls ranking the top films of the year. There was nothing like those critic polls that we see in film that had ever existed for wrestling matches. With that template in mind, we sent ballots to dozens of journalists, bloggers, radio hosts, podcasters, historians, reporters, and critics who we knew loved wrestling, had a reputation for having a solid base of knowledge and strong opinions, and had quality endeavors that we could help expose to our readers in exchange for participating. We knew not everybody would respond, but we were quite pleased with who did, and we feel like the results did bear out the variety of matches and wrestling styles that we were seeking. 25 total voters responded by voting for over 90 matches from 23 different promotions.

The growth continued with the 2014 poll, with 67 voters voting for 156 different matches, from 35 different promotions. The 2015 poll featured 97 voters voting for 199 different matches from 42 different promotions. We once again shattered all previous records for the fourth consecutive year in 2016. An utterly ridiculous 117 voters checked in and accounted for the widest variety yet, with 239 matches emanating from 49 different worldwide promotions.

The 2017 poll saw the diversity grow again, with 54(!) different promotions represented.

For a full archive of our past Match of the Year countdowns, visit voicesofwrestling.com/match-of-the-year/archive/.

We’ll get to the matches in a bit. But first, here is your panel of voters for the 2017 Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll, followed by an explanation of how the results are tabulated (note – some voters chose to not include websites/affiliations and/or Twitter handles):

HOW THE VOTING WORKS

Each voter was sent a ballot and asked to vote for ten best matches of the year, ranking them from 1-10. We use the same weighted balloting system used by Major League Baseball for their Most Valuable Player voting, with a first place vote worth 14 points, and a descending 9-8-7… scale from there, a system which places heavy emphasis on each voter’s choice for best overall match of the year.

The points for each match are then totaled, with any ties broken in the following order:

• 1.) Most total votes
• 2.) Match which received the highest singular vote on any ballot

For example, if two matches are tied in total points, with one match appearing on more total ballots, it will not require the second step tie breaker. The match appearing on more total ballots would place higher.

If two matches are tied in total points, and remain tied by appearing on the same number of ballots, the match with the highest singular vote wins the tiebreaker.

Each voter was also encouraged to add short blurbs explaining why they voted for each match. These blurbs give our panel a voice to explain why they voted for each match, and as we move deeper into the results, give the reader multiple perspectives of why a given match was great.

Our panel was free to vote for any worked match in the world that took place between January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017.

Our long term goal is to become the most comprehensive and respected MOTY poll in all of wrestling, while continuing to cross promote the great ventures of our voter pool and exposing fans to matches that they otherwise never would have discovered.

Enough talk. Here are the 233 best matches of 2017!

We’ll begin today with a look at the honorable mentions (dubbed “Sadness Village” by current staff member John Carroll ), with a new chunk of matches released each day until we reveal the Top 10 on Friday, February 2 (with a sneak preview of the Top 10 to be released to our Patreon subscribers).

1 Point

“One is a cult hero from ATTACK, the other, a semi-serious pansexual phenomenon who’s cultivated a diverse fanbase. It’s not a technical masterclass. but exactly the kind of comic relief you’d expect from a match featuring a sexually-perverted mouse and a guy who was trying to be serious all along. Look, where else are you going to be able to laugh at characters in wrestling like this?” – Ian Hamilton on Love Making Demon vs. Jack Sexsmith

“If you were to ask my dad (who has no knowledge of wrestling) to create a wrestling match, it would absolutely be this. Two seven foot guys grunting and roaring at each other as they throw each other about and slam off the giant steel cage. One of my greatest pleasures in wrestling is a match that allows me to watch it without my smark hat on. This is a match which takes you back to the kayfabe innocence of watching as a kid where you wondered why wrestling wasn’t in the sports pages of the newspaper and everybody was a giant. The build to this made this feel like the biggest thing in the world. This is The Iron Yuppie vs. Dr. Hillbilly at the Springfield Grapplearium. It’s the purest essence of wrestling, a hark back to its roots in the carnival tents.” –David Forrest on Braun Strowman vs. Big Show 

“The story of Atsushi Kotoge earning Go Shiozaki’s respect earlier in the year is a wonderful one. He had to fight with everything he had throughout the first half of the year to prove he deserved to be in the heavyweight division. The result was not only Go accepting him as a heavyweight, but also teaming with him in the feel good team of the year. While Kotoge had earned Go’s respect, he clearly still wasn’t at the level of the other top heavyweights in NOAH. Maybach and Marufuji were too much for him. But Go believed in him, and we all believed in him too. That’s what makes this match fantastic, watching a man who just isn’t good enough give everything his body has to give to get that big moment. That’s not to downplay everyone else in this match though, Marufuji was excellent, Go continues to be the most underrated wrestler in the world, and Maybach has found his place as a fantastic solid hand in the tag division. Just wonderful stuff all round.” – Josh Robinson on Atsushi Kotoge & Go Shiozaki vs. Maybach Taniguchi & Naomichi Marufuji

2 Points

“Over the course of two years Arik Royal and Logan Easton LaRoux became the top stars in NOVA Pro by taking totally different paths. Arik was the “Ace” who was pitted against all the top outside names. He beat them all. LaRoux took his lumps here and there but won year long feuds against Sonjay Dutt and Chet Sterling respectively and established himself as the top heel in the promotion. LaRoux stole a win over Royal in the promotions Commonwealth Cup tournament, and this was an anniversary show match up between a one loss Royal looking for revenge against the heel who had stolen an undefeated record that included victories over David Starr, Fred Yehi, Donovan Dijak, Tracy Williams, and Chris Hero. And it was exactly what it needed to be. In a year where so many heroes failed to deliver, Royal avenged his loss and cemented himself as the absolute ace of NOVA after a nearly 25 minute match that was back and fourth in a completely organic way that protected both men. Finishers were kicked out of at the right time in the right way, transitions were clever and meaningful, and the finish was a definitive submission. For virtually the entire second half of the match the crowd was standing, and this was the last match on a long show. Just a true main event on the biggest show in promotion history, between the two guys who had earned that spot.” -Dylan Hales on Arik Royal vs. Logan Easton LaRoux

“Not sure if anyone thought that a 57 Blue Panther and Sam Adonis would put on a barn burner, but this one a really fun romp. They worked to Panther’s strengths and the energy from the crowd was palpable throughout, which is a testament to Adonis’s heel work in CMLL. He has taken the Prodigal son of Trump schtick to a new level that captures the heel aesthetic from the 70’s and 80’s perfectly. There weren’t any highlight reel moments here, but the story told was incredible and Adonis winning drew real heat from the crowd. This is a blueprint for a heel taking on an entire arena and still going over to spite them.” -Rich Laconi on Sam Adonis vs. Blue Panther Jr. 

“This match has left a lasting impression on me. After I saw it I said that it could have been on a card the likes of Wrestle Kingdom and not have felt out of place. It was intense, fast paced, and filled with a solidly built narrative. Both Suave and Rosemary took some incredibly nasty bumps and kept the match flowing at the appropriate pace. This match not only made me a fan of the performers, but a fan of Smash as a company. You may not have heard of the match, but I think that needs to change.” -James Snelgrove on Sebastian Suave vs. Rosemary

3 Points

“This was two men kicking the shit out of each other in the most spectacular fashion possible, in front of a white hot crowd in the wonderfully intimate Tivoli Theatre in Dublin. There wasn’t a single moment where Riddle and Bailey weren’t going absolutely full throttle, and it was absolutely glorious and a blueprint for basically how all pro wrestling should be. There were so many highlights in this it’s a struggle not to lapse into play by play, but Bailey’s corkscrew somersault senton off an (admittedly not especially high) balcony, and the constant breakout of scorching, furious strike exchanges are particularly worth mentioning. Riddle and Bailey are two of the most likeable wrestlers in the world, and this was such a joyous sprint from them!” -Jack Stevenson on Mike Bailey vs. Matt Riddle

“I have a feeling I could be the only person who has this match on their list and if I were not an avid follower of Ice Ribbon I probably wouldn’t have, I can’t imagine thinking it was as great as I do and even then I’m basically the high man on this match. But following this tag team (Azure Revolution) closely and seeing their rise from idols to legit cornerstones of the company and actually capable of wrestling a legit high end main event was truly special. Neither of these girls are actually usually anything more than “slightly above average” but for one night against each other they wrestled their heart out and brought a performance that they can both be proud of, all while following up a legitimately great tag match the same show. Maya’s aggression told the story and I loved the way they wrestled, and the difference between this and the Best Friends/Avid Rival match was stylistic and why I preferred this. In many matches they wrestled like they wanted to have a great match. Maya and Risa wrestled like they wanted to win the title. And it was a great match that way. Risa has meant a ton to a very successful Ice Ribbon company and both women’s stocks continue to rise through performances like this.” -Dylan Harris on Maya Yukihi vs. Risa Sera

“Suzuki’s one of the most engaging wrestlers to watch in the ring but works in such a cool-headed, almost nonchalant way, reserving most of his energy to unleash these micro-explosions of offense throughout. There’s very little downtime with Suzuki and his spontaneity is incredible. There’s a lot of great examples of this throughout, like the small package on a doubled over Sekimoto, the sleeper hold off the pin attempt, and kneeing Sekimoto off when he tries to cover him. And because Suzuki’s such a maestro on the mat, I think I underrated him as a striker but he throws great strikes. The story was technique vs. power, with the hyper-alert challenger taking the powerhouse champ a few clicks past empty. Suzuki immediately sells Sekimoto’s strength in their first lock-up but he’s able to shows off his ring smarts early on with some take downs and ground control, leaving Sekimoto huffing. They do a really good job of teasing Suzuki’s dragon and double arm suplexes. The match loses a little bit of steam when Sekimoto takes over on offense but he’s still as intense as always. There’s some great counter sequences and ultimately Suzuki comes back out on top and starts targeting Sekimoto’s head and neck. It turns into a war of attrition as they empty bombshells and slug away at each other in exhaustion. This is where Suzuki’s energy reserve comes into play as he tries to capitalize on Sekimoto’s lack thereof. Terrific selling in the end as they’re both so drained, they don’t even have the energy to effectively execute their respective finishers. Maybe this wasn’t the match I was hoping for but it became a match I really enjoyed. There wasn’t a particularly loud crowd but that’s been the trend with these BJW Strong Heavyweight title matches. ” -Brennan Patrick on Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

4 Points

“This is like a perfect Dusty Rhodes match that happens in 2017 Mexico. Caifan is a joy whenever he makes tape and Mr Niebla is….let’s say inconsistent, so for him to have this kind of performance it is revelatory.” -JR Goldberg on Caifan vs. Mr Niebla

“Flippy lads doing flippy things, and doing them well. This was Flamita’s first appearance for PROGRESS, against a well-liked PROGRESS staple in Mark Andrews, and the crowds at the Electric Ballroom always provide the very best of atmospheres. Two exceptionally talented, and evenly matched, individuals, with great chemistry, translated into an entertaining and inventive match. And it’s nice to see a match with such a lot of mutual respect.” -Amanda Why on Mark Andrews vs Flamita

“As a Cien Almas mark, I have to admit that a bit of bias is placed on me putting this match up here, but I loved it. On first watch, I thought this was the match of the night at Takeover WarGames, which was the best WWE-produced show of the year. Few matches have near falls that get me to jump out of my seat, but this match had a few.” -Matthew Terry on Drew McIntyre vs Andrade Cien Almas