2010 MOTY List (Updated)

1. Black Terry, Negro Navarro & Dr. Cerebro v Solar I, Zatura & Suicida (IWRG, 1/28)
2. Dr. Cerebro v El Hijo Del Diablo (IWRG, 1/31)
   
3. Angelico, Solar I & Ultraman Jr. v Negro Navarro, Trauma I & Trauma II (IWRG, 1/7)
4. Rey Mysterio v CM Punk (WWE, 2/12)
5. Trauma I & Trauma II v Suicida & Zatura (IWRG, 1/14)
6. Christian v Drew McIntyre (WWE, 7/30)
7. Rey Mysterio v Jack Swagger (WWE, 6/11)
   
8. The Young Bucks v El Generico & Chuck Taylor (PWG, 2/27)
9. Chris Masters v Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 5/13)
   
10. Rey Mysterio v CM Punk (WWE, 3/28)
11. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro & El Hijo Del Signo v Pantera, El Hijo Del Pantera & Zatura (IWRG, 2/11)
    
12. Black Terry & Dr. Cerebro v Gringo Loco & El Hijo Del Diablo (IWRG, 2/7)
    
13. Black Terry & Dr. Cerebro v Gringo Loco & El Hijo Del Diablo (IWRG, 1/24)
    
14. Bryan Danielson v Kaval (FCW, 2/7)
15. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro & Trauma I v Pantera, El Hijo Del Pantera & Zatura (IWRG, 2/18)
16. John Cena & Evan Bourne v Edge & Sheamus (WWE, 5/31)
17. Chris Masters v Luke Gallows (WWE, 6/25)
    
18. Christian v Ezekiel Jackson (WWE, 1/31)
19. Rey Mysterio v CM Punk (WWE, 4/25)
    
20. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro & Cerebro Negro v Pantera, Suicida & Zatura (IWRG, 1/7)
21. Rey Mysterio v Tyson Kidd (WWE, 3/25)
22. Rey Mysterio v Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 8/13)
    
23. Evan Bourne & Yoshi Tatsu v Chavo Guerrero & Zack Ryder (WWE, 4/8)
    
24. Christian & Kane v Ezekiel Jackson & William Regal (WWE, 1/26)
25. Negro Navarro v Angelico (IWRG, 1/21)
26. The Undertaker v Rey Mysterio (WWE, 1/31)
27. Evan Bourne v Zack Ryder (WWE, 5/27)

-----

7. Rey Mysterio v Jack Swagger (WWE, 6/11)

I watched a big batch of 2010 WWE TV stuff last night and this was the match I was most looking forward to seeing. It didn't disappoint. Swagger looked great here, pacing things really well, dishing out nasty cut-offs and doing a bunch of stuff when he was in control that I dug. At the start he's great at chasing Rey around the ring in the proverbial game of cat and mouse, and when he winds up flying out to the floor it looks really cool. I enjoy those kinds of spots in Rey matches, but they always look sort of contrived; here it didn't come across as such. Well, I didn't think so, anyway. Stryker on commentary makes a good point about Rey using Swagger's own momentum against him, and it's unusual that I don't come away from a match thinking the guy's a jackass. Swagger's bodyscissors looked awesome here too, the way he'd crank it and add extra little bits of nastiness like rubbing Rey's face into the canvas. Wrapping Rey's entire body around the ring post as a set up was fucking great. He also hits a clothesline and a big boot to the face as cut-offs and they looked REAL awesome, especially the boot. Mysterio's always great at taking stuff like that, too. My favourite spot of the match is probably Swagger's variation of the Kurt Angle 'run up the ropes and suplex the guy off the top' spot, but this one caught me totally by surprise and didn't have any shitty no-selling beforehand. And Mysterio literally hurls himself the entire length of the ring just for the fuck of it, so you gotta love that. I thought the finish was a little too out of nowhere initially, but the more I thought about it the more I really liked it, especially because it came across as a combo of big time moves in quick succession and not a quick pin off a surprise finisher. Rey's Smackdown! match with Punk is still my US MOTY, and I like the Christian/Drew match from 7/30 juuuust a little more, but this is deeply up there and rocked big time.


9. Chris Masters v Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 5/13)

Well this was pretty awesome. If the Rey/Swagger match was the one I was most looking forward to seeing of all the stuff I watched last night, this was #2 on that list and, much like Rey/Swagger, it didn't disappoint. I've been hearing Masters is having a really, really good year so far and I've been looking forward to actually seeing some of it. I already like Ziggler a lot anyway, so yeah, I was psyched for this. Thought they managed to get each others' finishing hold over really nicely, especially with how they'd struggle and fight to escape it, and it created some cool moments. The finish is a good example, and Masters took it better than anybody I ever recall seeing before. I can honestly say Masters lived up to my expectations here, selling great and building stuff to and around the Masterlock. He's also a fucking awesome bumper for a guy with his build and he takes a totally insane flat back bump off the apron to the floor that looked amazing. Speaking of bumps, Ziggler is probably my favourite bump machine heel in wrestling. He eats a couple big bumps of his own here; the first being a face plant that got HUGE height and then a really cool spill out to the floor that leads to the aforementioned nutso Masters bump. His brutal face-first slingshot bump into the turnbuckle is where it's at, though. Seriously one of the best slingshot spots I've ever seen, and Masters' way of hitting the move to begin with is great in its own right since there's no obvious signs of the opponent having to cooperate. Great stuff.


17. Chris Masters v Luke Gallows (WWE, 6/22)

This was another great little Masters match. Gallows is very good in his own right, but this and the Ziggler match have definitely persuaded me to seek out a bunch more 2010 Chris Masters. He takes another bump out to the floor here that really wasn't that far off the one in the Ziggler match, plus he's great selling the lower back and eating a bunch of stiff strikes from Gallows. His shoulderblocks are probably the best going this side of John Cena, too. Nice finish, as well. Gonna need to see those Gallows/Mysterio matches soon. This is exactly what I want from a 7 minute WWE match these days.


22. Rey Mysterio v Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 8/13)

This was another good match and I think I already prefer Ziggler as a pinballing heel to Curt Hennig. Although he's definitely not all about the bumps anymore and has managed to work them into a formula that's built around the sleeper hold. He's basically really fucking good now. I'm fairly sure I could watch every Mysterio match from 2010 and at least enjoy it on some level. He spends about 85% of this working from the bottom, but I thought Ziggler was, at worst, interesting here, spending much of the time wearing Rey down with a chin lock. I thought he did a nice job of always keeping it interesting and at times it reminded me of how Randy Orton would work a chin lock on Mysterio, cranking it and never content to just sit there. There's one spot where Ziggler's doing a headstand to apply more pressure before falling forward into a neck bridge to crank it even more. He also hits a Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex as a cut-off spot and holy fuck if that ain't the first time I've seen *anyone* use that in the States. Final few minutes are choice and this is a perfectly fine way to spend ten minutes.


23. Evan Bourne & Yoshi Tatsu v Chavo Guerrero & Zack Ryder (WWE, 4/8)

I enjoyed this a little less than the Bourne/Cena v Edge/Sheamus tag from RAW, but this had a ton of cool shit in it and was a super nifty little tag match. Bourne's such a great FIP and Ryder and Chavo are really good at dishing out punishment. Great spot where they hit a backbreaker/hilo combination that looked real nasty. If Chavo worked the indies he'd be better than all buy a few on that scene. He and Bourne always have good chemistry and he was great at getting into position for, and then taking, all of Bourne's stuff. Tatsu busts out a cool as Hell octopus stretch thing here and he's a big part of a really neat finish.


27. Evan Bourne v Zack Ryder (WWE, 5/27)

Pretty sure this is my first time seeing a full Zack Ryder singles match. Some of his offence is pretty goofy looking but holy shit if Bourne doesn't do his damndest to make it look brutal. Bourne spends most of this taking a beating, but he has really good hope spots and there's probably only one guy in the company that takes a better beating than Bourne so it's not like I can complain. This was the first match I watched last night so I'm struggling to remember much in the way of specifics, but there was one hot shot across the top rope that looked awesome. Think I'm gonna try and get a hold of Ryder's matches with Christian.