Welcome once again to the For Your Consideration series, a collection of columns from our writers at Voices of Wrestling highlighting great matches from this past calendar year and getting us all prepared for the annual Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year Poll.
To re-introduce the concept of this series, here is a paraphrased excerpt from my introductory column last year.
“These matches don’t have to be the writer’s number 1 match of the year, and in fact don’t even have to necessarily be in their top 10 for the MOTY poll that this series will lead into. These simply have to be matches that each particular writer thought were important enough to write about and highlight.”
If you want more, you can also read the full intro to last year’s series here. The overall concept is just as simple as the above quote makes it out to be though. Some of the matches might be great matches from smaller promotions or parts of the world that typically don’t get the attention that they may deserve. Historically, matches like PAC vs. Cara Noir from Riptide Wrestling or Zack Sabre Jr. vs. A-Kid from White Wolf Wrestling in Spain fit this mold and were part of the inspiration for creating this column series in the first place. Certain websites, writers, and/or podcasts were able to shine a light on these matches and boost them into the consciousness of the wrestling world where they could be appreciated by many more people.
But finding hidden gems or diamonds in the rough isn’t the only thing this column series is about. It’s about finding the matches that bring out your passion, excitement, and love for professional wrestling. And we all know that in this era of COVID, clap crowds, empty arena shows, half-filled arena shows, and bad booking, we really need those matches that remind us how great professional wrestling can be. Last year our writers highlighted some well-known, big-time matches that achieved that, such as Kenny Omega vs. PAC in an Iron Man Match (#10 in the VOW MOTY poll) and WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov from NXT UK (#4 in the VOW MOTY poll). They also wrote about matches that were more off the beaten path such as the Nick Jackson vs. Matt Jackson match on Being the Elite Episode #200. This match ended up in the “sadness village” of the MOTY poll with only a single 10th place vote – putting it tied for last place at #261 (both the article and the vote were done by yours truly). There were also pieces on matches that were very important on a personal level, such as the emotional Mei Suruga vs. ASUKA (aka VENY) match from Gatoh Move in the wake of Hana Kimura’s tragic death, and a match from the steadily growing scene in Australia with Marcius Pitt vs. Davis Storm in EPW.
What matches will be highlighted this year?
While 2021 still hasn’t gotten everything back to normal, and honestly who knows what “normal” will really be like going forward, there was still some great wrestling to be found all over the world. AEW Dynamite regular featured excellent matches on Wednesday night cable television the entire year, NJPW continued to have some of the best in-ring product in the world, the independent wrestling companies throughout the world started to regain their footing, and even WWE produced a few good matches here and there as they returned to live crowds and touring. So strap in, get your notebooks and/or spreadsheets in order and get ready to give some of these matches a try. They may put a match or wrestler you’ve seen a million times before in a new light, or show you something completely brand new that you wished you had heard about before.
So stay tuned to VoicesofWrestling.com as we highlight matches for your consideration in any end-of-the-year awards, polls, or maybe just for your own edification, enrichment, enjoyment, and/or personal match of the year list.
If you have a match you want to write about for this series, submit your pitch at voicesofwrestling.com/contact.
