My 2024 pro wrestling year in review series rolls on with a stop in March which was a big one for AEW which saw the retirement of Sting and the welcome mat rolled out for free agent signings Mercedes Mone and Kazuchika Okada.
As the headline indicates, this month was dominated by the formation of the WWE WrestleMania 40 main event from The Rock vs. Roman Reigns to Cody Rhodes vs. Reigns instead, made official during a press event during Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas. We hit on all the key points and happenings including the #WeWantCody movement.
Of course, there was the continued fallout from Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon and his latest fall from grace. Many wrestlers went on the record about Vince. What did they say and why were they so conflicted?
We talk about the surprising firing of Scott D’Amore from TNA Wrestling, the announcement of AEW Big Business, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay both wrapping up in NJPW, Giulia preparing for her immediate future, and lots more from all your favorite groups.
For WWE in January, it was the best of times and the worst of times.
That and more kicks off my third annual Josh Nason’s Punch-Out pro wrestling year in review series where I do 12 episodes covering all the news and happenings for WWE, AEW, TNA, Japan and everything else that made headlines.
Janel Grant sues Vince McMahon for sex trafficking, sexual assault and sexual abuse which resulted in McMahon resigning from his TKO leadership post and a lot of fallout
WWE announcing a megadeal with Netflix to bring Raw to the streaming service
The Rock announced as joining the TKO board and also beginning his insertion into the WrestleMania 40 main event scene
TNA officially rebranded itself and kicked off a new era
NJPW began to prepare for a massively transitional new year with two big stars preparing to leave
The other AEW, WWE and news from other smaller promotions
Join me here twice a week as I continue the series with new guests. Did I forget anything from the month? Let me know.
The different lists above tell the story of the business, at least in highlight form, of 2006, around the world. If there is a basic theme, as far as the major promotions go, it’s that the biggest rise was UFC, that CMLL was also way up. WWE remained strong internationally, but their PPV shows fell domestically.
For live attendance, Mexico ended up as the strongest country in the world. Not only did CMLL have perhaps its best year in history, but AAA remained strong (although it was actually slightly stronger in 2005) with shows geared toward kids and girls especially. AAA suffered the major setback of the death of Antonio Pena, and many thought the promotion would be done by Christmas, with massive defections and a creative standstill. Nothing of the sort happened, but it’s also far too early to gauge the effects of the loss of Pena.
The largest WWE crowds of the year were also on shows in Mexico City. The largest TNA crowd in the history of the company was this past year in Monterrey, Mexico.
While we cover nearly everything during the month, the gateway to fall was dominated by a few stories in particular including CM Punk being fired by AEW following a skirmish with Jack Perry and a near-physical altercation with Tony Khan minutes before August’s All In.
We talk about how the news was relayed to fans and some of the immediate fallout which included the All Out PPV in Chicago a week after All In — a show that was regarded as one of the best the company did during the year.
Jade Cargill also switched employers as she signed a multi-year deal with WWE after several years in AEW and saying there was no other place she’d rather be. We discuss.
WWE’s merger with UFC to form the new publicly-traded TKO was complete and with it brought the beginning of a new era which included some ideas for the future, layoffs, and a new TV home for WWE SmackDown in 2024.
Davie and I also talk the month in NXT, Japan, Impact Wrestling, and everything in between.
I promise this is unlike any other year-end series you’ll hear or read, so catch up on the rest of the series in the archive and my MMA year in review series as well.
On a new entry in my annual JNPO pro wrestling year in review series, I am joined by Jesse Collings of Wrestlenomics and the Gentlemen’s Wrestling Podcast to talk all about the month of July.
We kick off by looking back at WWE Money in the Bank which saw two future title challengers created in addition to the first-ever Bloodline Civil War match. We also talk about Vince McMahon’s back surgery, the build to SummerSlam, and everything else from WWE and NXT.
In AEW Land, it was the month where the bromance of the summer — MJF & Adam Cole — really took flight from their Blind Eliminator Tag Team tournament win, their title shot at FTR, and a t-shirt that took AEW by storm. We also look back at Blood & Guts. Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor, and more.
We also dive deep into Impact Slammiversary, the month in Japan, and the rest of the big headlines from wrestling in our junk drawer segment. Well over 100 topics are covered in just over an hour.
I promise this is unlike any other year-end series you’ll hear or read, so catch up on the rest of the series in the archive.
My annual Punch-Out month-by-month audio recap of the year in pro wrestling continues with a stop in March and this episode’s co-host Bryan Rose of F4WOnline.
It was a stretch highlighted by a fun AEW Revolution, main evented by an Iron Man match between AEW World Champion MJF and Bryan Danielson that turned out to be a match of the year candidate.
CM Punk continued his flirtation with returning to AEW by ripping on Jon Moxley on Instagram, focusing on Moxley’s Rocky 3 concept for their 2022 feud over the AEW World title.
WWE began their final descent into WrestleMania 39 and what would turn out to be the final Mania before their eventual merger with the UFC. Speaking of the sale, Vince McMahon continued to do his thing in his third month back in WWE.
Plenty of other topics were on the docket including the first-ever Kenny Omega vs. Vikingo, two top Impact World Champions having to relinquish their titles due to injury, Will Ospreay suffering his own injury, and plenty more.
Join Bryan and I as we dive through more than 100 news items in just over an hour. I promise this is unlike any other year-end series you’ll hear or read, so catch up on the rest of the series in the archive.
The yearly tradition of the JNPO pro wrestling year in review series has returned: a month-by-month look at nearly everything that happened in 2023.
This episode covers February which was dominated by the run-up to WWE Elimination Chamber in Montreal and the discussion of whether Sami Zayn could leave his home country with the undisputed WWE Universal title. Spoiler: he didn’t.
Joining me to discuss is F4WOnline writer and proud Canadian Ian Carey.
Along with all EC talk, we discuss how Vince McMahon was continuing to embed himself within WWE after forcing his way back in January, in addition to the build to WrestleMania 39 as several new matches were made.
While it was mainly a month of transition for AEW, Jay White was making news in NJPW by losing both a loser leaves Japan and loser leaves NJPW match during the course of the month.
It was also a good month for Mercedes Mone who followed up her debut at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom with a victory over KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s title.
Ian and I talk about all that plus hundreds more topics over the course of an hour. Come relive wrestling history with us, won’t you?
The yearly tradition of the JNPO pro wrestling year in review series has returned: a month-by-month look at nearly everything that happened in 2023.
As you might expect, it kicks off with January with my special guest co-host Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling.
It was a month of tragedy with the unexpected passing of Jay Briscoe in a car accident which rocked the wrestling world.
It was a month of surprise as Vince McMahon forced his way back into WWE to facilitate a sale of the company. It would be the most newsworthy year in company history and it all began this month.
Other topics:
The road to WrestleMania began with Royal Rumble wins by Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley
Raw XXX
The beginning of Adam Cole’s return to AEW
The surprise end of Mickie James’ “Last Rodeo” in Impact Wrestling in a title vs. career match
Kenny Omega defeating Will Ospreay at a newsworthy WrestleKingdom
The Great Muta’s retirement tour finally began to wind down
Chris Jericho made his surprise PWG debut…and lots more.
With the end of 2022 hurtling toward us, it’s time to begin the best damn year in review series in the pro wrestling universe.
For the second straight year, I attempt to delve into all the big stories, results and news to help us remember all that we forgot about.
It begins with January — a month that saw two WWE pay-per-views, ahem, premium live events, Brock Lesnar winning and losing the WWE title and then winning the Royal Rumble, Jon Moxley returning from a rehab stint, and the free agency drama with Cody Rhodes beginning.
Helping me look back at this month is assistant editor, video game superstar and overall good guy Bryan Rose.
Here’s a few other of the many things we hit on:
GCW’s biggest pay-per-view of all time
Road Dogg, William Regal, Samoa Joe and others being cut from WWE
WWE’s “gory mutilation” shot at AEW
The first-ever AEW Battle of the Belts
Okada winning his first-ever IWGP World title…and more.
This show is brought to you by NordVPN, a service I have personally used since 2020. If you’ve ever thought about a VPN, check them out now with this unique URL to get a big discount and four free months — all with a money back guarantee.
As always, this is a free show. Just click the red button below to listen.
My first-ever pro wrestling year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out continues with a look at July 2021, a month that saw a somewhat surprising big name cut from WWE, a major AEW tease for August as two free agents were thinking about making their over, “Big Game John” coming back to WWE and more.
Helping me out is returning guest, co-host of Wrestling Observer Live & Big Audio Nightmare on this site and the Mid-Atlantic Pod as part of Arcadian Vanguard: Mike Sempervive.
A few of the topics we delve into:
WWE releasing “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, someone that they never really got
AEW announcing “The First Dance” for Chicago amid rumors both CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were interesting in coming in
John Cena making his surprise return at the end of Money in the Bank to Michael Cole’s delight
Japan, MLW, ROH, Impact, and more.
Just click below to listen and please check out the other pods in the series. They’re good!
In the past year, our website produced 1100 podcasts over 12 different shows. Thanks to subscriber Philippe Perez and voting on The Board, we present the final installment of the Best of 2019 podcast series for free, looking at some of the best segments, discussions, bits, and more.
In this podcast, we run through #1-15 with stops at the Bryan & Vinny Show, Filthy Four Daily, Wrestling Observer Radio, and Wrestling Observer Live.
15. Vince Russo’s Worst Nitro
14. Yoko, Suna, and Googleman
13. Bryan Calls into WOL/I Barfed
12. Vinny Loves The Maestro
11. Dave In Tokyo
10. Seth Rollins Is a Heel and It’s All the Fans’ Fault
9. Dave Cheats On Bryan With Steak
8. What’s With This Jon Baxley?
7. Producer Rob Takes the One Chip Challenge
6. The Waffle Joke
5. A Japanese Woman Learned the Word ‘Geek’ From Listening to Bryan
4. Vinny’s Best Finishes Reports from 2019
3. It’s The Wall Brother
2. Dave Turns 60/The Weights Talk To Dave
1. Granny Swears/Paisley Kayfabes/Spooks the Ghost Lad
If you like what you hear, try out a one-month subscription to get immediate access to thousands of shows and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
In the past year, our website produced 1100 podcasts over 12 different shows. Thanks to subscriber Philippe Perez and voting on The Board, we present part one of the Best of 2019 podcast series for free, looking at some of the best segments, discussions, bits, and more.
In this two-hour kickoff, we run through #33-#50 with stops at the Bryan & Vinny Show, Filthy Four Daily, Wrestling Observer Radio, and Wrestling Observer Live.
50. The Wintner
49. Granny Buries Bryan’s Book
48. What An Easter Egg
47. Karl Reviews Heroes Of Wrestling
46. The Kat vs Harvey Whippleman/Nobody Will Miss Michael Cole When He’s Gone
45. Rob Loses Control Of The Camera
44. Dave Meets a 75-Year-Old Japanese Baba Fan
43. Sean Waltman Tells The Story Of Rolando Vera
42. Shit In A Cell
41. The List of 2004 WWE Rejects
40. Bryan Plays With His Buzzer/Wild Boar and Primate/The Wrong Orange Cassidy/The Undertaker Guilt Trip/Hit & Run
39. Paisley Has the Same Birthday as Ricky Steamboat
38. Yeah, Kane
37. Dumbass Callers/Bryan Unplugs The Phone
36. Kota Ibushi Is Ivan Drago
35. Nitro Cologne
34. Bryan Learns He’s Wrestling Nick Gage/We Fucking Failed
33. Nine Inch Nails
If you like what you hear, try out a one-month subscription to get immediate access to thousands of shows and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
12 matches earned Dave Meltzer’s five star rating in 2019, dominated by (you guessed it) New Japan Pro Wrestling.
In chronological order, here’s what made the list including some notes from the corresponding Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We’ll focus on the nine matches that cleared the five star rating in another post.
Okada vs. SANADA | New Japan Cup Finals
March 24, 2019
“Kazuchika Okada captured the 2019 New Japan Cup and as expected, will headline Madison Square Garden on 4/6 and challenge Jay White for the IWGP heavyweight title. Okada won the biggest and best New Japan Cup tournament in history, and also had what was voted the two best matches of the tournament in his semifinal and final match. Okada scored consecutive wins over Michael Elgin, Mikey Nicholls, Will Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii and Seiya Sanada to win the 32-man tournament for the second time in his career. He had previously won the 2013 tournament, in its former 16-man form, with wins over Lance Archer, Karl Anderson, Toru Yano and Hirooki Goto.
This match was a classic and fantastic climax to the tournament, which wasn’t easy since the semifinals were so great and the every round had great matches.”
Will Ospreay vs. Bandido | New Japan Super Juniors Tournament
May 23, 2019
“To me, this was the match of the tournament so far. It was even better than their New York match, and that was, to me, the match of Mania weekend. The big pop was when Bandido finally got his 21 plex on Ospreay, he landed on his feet and hit a Spanish fly.”
Dustin Rhodes vs. Cody | AEW Double or Nothing
May 25, 2019
“The match was probably the most emotional match in North America since maybe the Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero mask match at the 2014 CMLL anniversary show. Blood is very much a debatable issue today. Blading, largely removed from major promotions today as an anachronism of the past, did work big for this audience and is still effective when used judiciously. I’m not a fan of it, but when not overdone it can be effective in getting matches and certain storylines over.
The audience was crying multiple times during the match. Even though Cody was the spiritual leader, his working heel style worked for the match because for it to work, Dustin had to be the sympathetic character. Cody won, but it wasn’t over. Dustin started taking off one of his boots while a loud “Thank you Dustin” chant started. Cody, who had left, returned, and told him that he doesn’t get to retire now, and that a long time back he had signed an open contract for a tag team match in Jacksonville against The Young Bucks. Cody then said, “I don’t need a partner, I don’t need a friend, I need my older brother.” That was it. The whole building was in tears in a way that may happen every few years in Mexico, on occasion in Japan, but hasn’t happened in the U.S. for a match in decades. When it was over, I thought the show should have ended, because nothing could top that.”
Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay | New Japan Dominion
June 9, 2019
“Ospreay beat Lee to follow his Super Juniors tournament win with an IWGP jr. title win, clearly making him the star of the division. This was one of the best matches of the year. But they had an absolutely insane spot where Ospreay was sitting on the barricade when Lee hit him with a tope and both went flying over the announcers table, talking former wrestler Milano Collection A.T out with them. Because of the set up, that was incredibly dangerous as well.
Not only has Ospreay been the best performer in the world for the past several weeks, but New Japan is presenting him as a landmark junior heavyweight, breaking Takagi’s streak, winning the title as well as being a contender for every heavyweight.”
Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay | New Japan G1 Climax
July 18, 2019
“The story here is both were injured legit. So from a crazy athletic standpoint, it was not as good as their Tokyo Dome match, but for drama and story telling it was much better.”
Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii | New Japan G1 Climax
July 19, 2019
“I think this was the first time I ever saw a match where at the 17 second mark I already felt it was going to be a **** match”.
Black Taurus/Laredo Kid/Puma King vs. Bandido/Flamita/Rey Horus | PWG 16th Anniversary Show
July 26, 2019
“The 7/26 show still drew a sellout crowd of more than 600 fans and featured an incredible match that some were talking was the best in the history of the company with Bandido & Flamita & Rey Horus beating Laredo Kid & Black Taurus & Puma King. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but would say it was the best PWG match I’ve seen since The Young Bucks & Adam Cole vs. Will Ospreay & Matt Sydal & Ricochet many years back, and would be among the best U.S. bouts of the past decade. This was nothing but big moves like futuristic Lucha Libre. Tons of dives and moves that nobody had ever seen before.”
Okada vs. SANADA | New Japan G1 Climax
August 3, 2019
“This broke the record-setting G-1 unbeaten streak of 13 matches dating back to last year. It was an incredible match that, because of the timing of the pinfall and the drama of using the time, made a great match classic. The emotion of Sanada beating Okada when everyone was convinced they were going to a draw was evident as they showed the fans in the front row and women all had tears in their eyes. This was the best show so far in G-1 and one of the best shows of the year.”
Shingo Tagaki vs. Tetsuya Naito | New Japan G1 Climax
August 4, 2019
“This match was so physical. The idea was to tease going the 30:00 but at no point was this telegraphed or did they slow down to pace or stall for a long match. Naito used a brainbuster but Takagi came back with a sick lariat. He went for last of the dragon, but Naito countered with a Canadian Destroyer and the running destino for a near fall. Naito got the pin with Destino and afterwards praised Takagi and said that some time we have to do this again.”
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi | New Japan G1 Climax
August 10, 2019
“Then, in what was the spot of the tournament, Ibushi ran in with the Bom Ba Ye and out of nowhere, Okada dropkicked him. Okada escaped from the kamigoye and used the same cradle he used to beat Jericho and Omega, but Ibushi kicked out. Ibushi got the pin after two Kamagoyes.”
Bandido vs. Dragon Lee | PWG BOLA Night 2
September 22, 2019
“Having been in the same spot nearly 31 years earlier for the famous Flair-Steamboat match in Chicago, where, at the finish, everyone around us proclaimed it as the greatest match they had ever seen, when this was over, my reaction was, it was better than Flair-Steamboat in every way except the historical aspect of seeing a “real” world title change in an era when that meant something.
This was about as good of a 12:00 match as you could possibly see. It had super wrestling, super flying, insane spots, two super charismatic guys, and a crowd going nuts. I’d call it the best singles match I’ve seen since going to PWG and aside from the Young Bucks & Adam Cole vs. Will Ospreay & Ricochet & Matt Sydal match a few years back, and maybe the six-man tag this summer, one of the three best overall.”
David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin | OTT
October 26, 2019
“Between the fantastic video building the match where Starr champions the independent scene against Devlin having signed with WWE, and Devlin taunting back saying that Starr has attended multiple WWE tryouts and only has this attitude because WWE won’t take him. The heat was some of the most amazing you’ll ever see, which isn’t unusual in that building. It was like a cross between PWG with the brutality of one of the A-Kid classics in Spain.
I’d go ***** for this one and I think it’s the rare kind of a match that will appeal to every kind of fan except the ones who need great production values or they won’t accept it. But it felt like a match that viewed live would be one of those matches that you would never forgot that you were at. It would be better knowing the story because it was a story match. But it was so good with the fight feel that you would love the match not knowing the background, like the pro wrestling version of Corrales/Castillo (one of the great boxing fights ever which was one of those fights that even people who didn’t know either fighter ended up in awe of) or Zombie-Leonard Garcia in MMA. The crowd was molten.”
