Three months into our Match of the Month project and we really haven’t had a dud yet. Maybe it’s more exposure to wrestling all across the world, maybe it’s people becoming soft in their old age or maybe 2015 is shaping up to be a hell of a wrestling year — either way, it’s fun to watch. The theme of our January and February Match of the Month was sure-fire MOTY-caliber top-tier matches and a clear line below those matches. March, while still featuring a couple MOTY-caliber heavyweights, was more about depth.

We had an incredible number of matches nominated this month by not only Voices of Wrestling staff but also our fans on Twitter, Facebook and all across the internet. Of course much of that can be attributed to a stellar and deep WrestleMania weekend, most notably a WrestleMania 31 show that overdelivered and a great weekend from the WWNLive brand (mostly notably EVOLVE).

WrestleMania weekend also seemed to light a fire under our voting base. The March Match of the Month saw the highest number of votes yet, destroying the previous months. It was a month where you could really promote and push your favorite match of the weekend because as you’ll see, after our top two, the competition was close. On an almost daily basis, matches were moving up and down 4-5 spots. One match in particular (Rockstar Spud vs. Ethan Carter III from Impact Wrestling) started outside of the top 10 after a few days of voting, climbed to 8th a day or so later then found it’s way near the top finishing sixth overall. Better yet, our March Match of the Month (as voted by you guys!), the WrestleMania 31 main event, wasn’t a sure-fire winner until the final day. Grave Consequences (Fenix vs. Mil Muertes) made a charge over the past few days and had a realistic chance of toppling this juggernaut.

We hope you enjoy March’s edition of Match of the Month, be sure to join the discussion on our forums (voicesofwrestling.com/forums) as we’ll be discussing these matches and much more in the coming days.

Special thanks as always to all of our voters, we literally couldn’t do this list without you. Thanks to Josh Engleman (@JoshEngleman) for providing statistical support, H2H analysis and much more as well as every member of the VOW staff who volunteered to do a write-up, plug their favorite match and much more. Enough talk, let’s get to ranking!

The Top 10

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

March 29

WWE – WrestleMania 31

W-L: 469-69 (87.1%)

Watch: WWENetwork.com

H2H Analysis: The gap between this match and Grave Consequences was huge halfway through the voting but ended up shrinking significantly. The similar overall numbers came through in the head-to-head match-up, with a final record of 10-10. The Mania 3-way had a perfect record against 9 matches. Oddly enough, the Dragon Gate 4-way tag (#19 overall) had the 4th best performance against this match (10-4) .

Match Analysis: This was the best WrestleMania main event in over a decade, and had a handful of great characters, moments and outcomes. The story going into this match was whether Roman Reigns belonged in this position. Has Reigns been pushed too far, too fast? Will Reigns be the reason for the worst WrestleMania main event in history? Reigns shut all of those hypotheticals down and delivered the best performance of his short career.

Lesnar managed to hit Reigns with four F5s, something he hasn’t had to do to any of his previous opponents. Suddenly, Seth Rollins music hit. Rollins ran down the long WrestleMania ramp to turn this 1-on-1 match into a triple threat match. Rollins delivered a Curb Stomp to Reigns to sneak out the victory and win his first WWE Championship.

Shock was the theme of this match. Brock Lesnar sold the shock of the punishment Reigns was taking, but not giving up to. Reigns was selling shock of the amount of damage he was able to inflict on the unstoppable machine. Rollins sold the shock of his plan actually working and the fact that after wrestling for 12 years he finally achieved his dream. For everyone who has been griping or concerned over the state of the WWE main event scene with Reigns at the helm, this match should ease your mind. Reigns is a mere 29-years-old and has been wrestling for less than 5 years.

When you have watched wrestling for over 20 years there are few things that give you goosebumps or make you jump off the couch. This match gave me those things and will forever go down as a top WrestleMania main event. -Taylor C. Mitchell (@MrTCMitchell)

Grave Consequences (Fenix vs. Mil Muertes)

March 18

Lucha Underground – Lucha Underground on El Ray

W-L: 390-70 (84.9%)

H2H Analysis: The strong charge coming down the homestretch wasn’t enough to grab the March gold medal from Mania, so Grave Consequences had to settle for the silver. As mentioned above, this match split the H2H battle with the Mania 3-way. There were four matches that tied for second against this match. One (EC3/Spud) makes sense. The other three, however, are mind boggling. Twin Towers/Yuji^2 (#24), Tischer/Sabre (#26) and Lashley/Angle (#30) all finished with identical win percentages. Bizarre.

Match Analysis: Mil Muertas versus Fenix in “Grave Consequences” is the greatest match of its type OF ALL TIME. What Tully and Magnum did for the Cage Match and Shawn and Razor did for the Ladder Match, Mil and Fenix did for the Put-Your-Opponent-In-Something gimmick match. I’m not hyperbolizing. This isn’t me fluffing the match after it rated highly on this list. I am dead serious. I don’t oft-say a match has “everything”…but this has everything. From BIG MATCH FEEL, to pomp and circumstance, to high stakes, to hotly contested ACTION performed at the highest level, Grave Consequences has it. Most importantly, matches of this type need to add an extra layer for it to truly be considered an upper echelon performance – the incorporation of the gimmick into the match as a character. It has that, too. It is complex storytelling for low class entertainment.

Lucha Underground is in its own world where suspending your disbelief is not necessarily required, but highly encouraged. It may be the only promotion on the planet where they could still adequately develop story arcs around an undead monster and his power source in 2015. They do this through careful narration that only true professionals can communicate without red tape. There is no “wink-wink” or breaking of the fourth wall nonsense that would be expected of such a story elsewhere. It is told with a straight face. From the moment the bell rings and the pageantry of a Dia de Muertos-inspired procession makes its way down the aisle, introducing the coffin, to the cinematography of the entrances of the competitors, you’re sucked in. You’re kept captivated by two performers that are all-in on selling this match in all its ridiculousness with a pokerface while ever-increasing the brutality. It starts fast and maintains an abnormal pace, multiplying the stakes before the crescendo that could only be described as corny if you weren’t out of your seat marking out like you just saw Mick Foley tossed off Hell-in-a-Cell again. This is Lucha Underground at its very best. This was special. -Larry

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito

March 15

New Japan Pro Wrestling – New Japan Cup: Finals

W-L: 324-104 (75.7%)

Watch: NJPWWorld.com

H2H Analysis: Ibushi/Naito went undefeated against four matches and only had a losing record against three others (#1 & #2, plus #4 reDragon/Bucks).

Match Analysis: A crowd that enjoys Naito, the continued ascension of Kota Ibushi and excellent chemistry between the Golden Stardust Geniuses. Some may have a problem with a “Your Turn, My Turn” match but when it is executed with style and excitement why would you complain about that? You want to talk about dropping bombs? These two do it with fearless expertise and bump better than Dolph Ziggler on Ziggler’s best day. This ended with some exceptional near falls, Ibushi looking like a hired gun and Naito earning sympathy for getting dropped on his head in one of the nastiest bumps of the year.

Ibushi has been featured near the top of every MOTM list thus far. If he continues this trend, we should expect him to be featured predominantly in many year-end lists as well as Wrestler of the Year. -Rob Barry (@RobsBrutalWorld)

reDRagon vs. Young Bucks

March 1

Ring of Honor – 13th Anniversary

W-L: 250-105 (70.5%)

Watch: ROHWrestling.com

H2H Analysis: This one is a little weird, in that it lost the H2H match-up’s against a few matches ranked below it. EC3/Spud, O’Reilly/Joe, Orton/Rollins and Bryan/Ziggler all finished above 50% against reDRagon/Bucks. Small sample, obviously, but still interesting to see that happen while still finishing 4th.

Match Analysis: Another tremendous match to add to this magic series between, in my estimation, the best two teams in the world right now. So damn crisp and exciting, and they kept perfect track of tag legalities to boot. I really liked the way they laid out Kyle for ages with an Indytaker to the floor (as he should be with such a huge move), and when he came back in for the finish he looked like a total glass cannon, selling like any big move would be the end of him. The interference was well placed too, as to not really take anything away from the match.

I wouldn’t say this was the best match between these two teams, that accolade still goes to their War of the Worlds match, but this was a prime example of fantastic tag team wrestling and a damn great match. -Rob Reid ‏(@R_Double_1997)

Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher

March 28

WWNLive – Mercury Rising 2015

W-L: 235-109 (68.3%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

H2H Analysis: Hero/Thatcher shares a similar story to reDRagon/Bucks, having losing records against a few matches from down the ranks. ACH/Joe, BxB/Uhaa and Tischer/Sabre were three of the eight matches to take down Hero/Thatcher H2H.

Match Analysis: Timothy Thatcher was the MVP of WrestleMania Weekend. I rated five of his six matches were *** ½ star or better. That is an insane work rate for a 72-hour period. The crown jewel of Thatcher’s epic weekend was a showdown against Chris Hero at Mercury Rising.

Hero vs. Thatcher was a contrast in personalities. For months, Hero denounced any man in the WWN Live family who dared try to best him. Thatcher was a vision of humility. He arrived for his matches, bowed to the crowd and wrestled. No boasting and no demeaning his opponent. His focus and steely grit served him well against the supremely skilled Hero. Despite Hero landing repeated elbows to the head, Thatcher survived. Not only did he survive, but he won. The ultimate prize though was that Thatcher earned Hero’s respect. We all can learn a few lessons from this bout. Grit triumphs showmanship. Humility defeats arrogance. Substance submits flash. Tim Thatcher not only displayed what it takes to be a tremendous wrestler but also showcased the qualities of what it takes to be a man. -Warren Taylor (@TeddyNoir)

Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud

March 13

TNA – Impact Wrestling on Destination America

W-L: 250-130 (65.8%)

H2H Analysis: This started well outside the top 10, but slowly climbed the ranks to finish at #6. It only had a losing record against four matches, our top 3 plus Shiozaki/Miyahara (#21).

Match Analysis: There are a lot of things that I am tempted to say about this match. Some of them are sort of hollow superlatives. For example, I could say this was the best TNA match in ages and one of the best matches in company history, and while that would be true, it would really be damning the match with the faint praise. It also tells you little about the match.

I could also focus on what was great in the match. Rockstar Spud as a Jerry Lawler/Fabulous Ones hybrid, bleeding, selling and returning fire at just the right moments. Big spots and near falls that were well placed and added drama to the match. The pre-match theatrics with Spud leading the crowd in song, and post-match exclamation point with EC3’s mockery of the “I respect you now” trope, leading to Spud getting his head shaved after all.

But at the end of the day what is most important to me about this match is that it passes the “Can’t Buy Me Love” test. I can buy Rockstar Spud as Ronald Miller, doing anything he can for the love of Cindy (played by Dixie Carter). I can buy EC3 as the jerkish jock Quint who Ronald/Spud becomes too close to, forgetting the things that were important to him in the first place. I can absolutely see Jeremy Borash as Kenneth, the friend Ronald abandons, at one point even hurling shit at his home in order to achieve the acceptance of the bullying cool kids (ideally the bag of shit would symbolize TNA, but I’m not sure it works in this analogy). But most importantly I can buy Spud – after being exposed as a fraudulent member of the in-crowd – recognizing the error of his ways, mounting that table at lunch with a baseball bat and saying “it’s all bullshit, it’s tough enough just being yourself!”

Spud knew he was going to get his asskicked coming in. He told Borash as much before the match. But he had to stand up for himself, he had strike back against the “bullshit” of bully culture, a true Be A Star moment that not even CM Punk could mock. Sure EC3/Quint didn’t shake Borash/Kenneth’s hand after the match, but Spud had his Ronald Miller moment, a moment that would have only been better had the show ended with Spud riding off into the sunset on a lawn mower, Dixie Carter in his arms. – Dylan Hales (@DylanWaco)

Uhaa Nation vs. BxB Hulk

March 1

Dragon Gate – Champion Gate in Osaka

W-L: 213-123 (63.5%)

H2H Analysis: This had a fairly standard profile, going undefeated against five matches, while only losing H2H battles against five matches. Four of those five were ranked ahead of Uhaa/Hulk, with ACH/Styles being the fifth.

Match Analysis: Uhaa Nation’s final match in Dragon Gate was dramatic, emotional, and a great show of his and BxB Hulk’s skills in working long, main event matches. Both guys are known for flashy and fast-paced wrestling, but they slowed it down while still retaining the excitement, producing the best match of Hulk’s Dream Gate reign. Hulk worked the legs of Uhaa early, and Uhaa sold the damage throughout the match really well. His slight hesitation before hitting the last part of the Uhaa Combination, allowing Hulk to get his knees up, was perfect. Hulk’s selling was also much better than his recent matches, with Uhaa’s big power moves clearly affecting his back. It all led up to a dramatic conclusion, with Hulk having to hit First Flash on Uhaa several times to put him down for good.

As good as the match was, the post-match was just incredible. Uhaa announced that he was leaving Dragon Gate, and the entire roster joined him in the ring to say goodbye. So many great moments here; Tozawa’s ridiculously emotional farewell to his best friend, nearly everyone crying their eyes out, “I am Don Fuji. Goodbye.” The immense love that the DG roster felt for Uhaa was clear. He is a special talent who should go a long way in NXT and WWE. This match, and his moving send-off, show that Uhaa Nation is definitely not just a great athlete; he’s a great pro-wrestler. – Oliver Court (@OliCourt14)

http://dai.ly/x2ifs04

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

March 31

WWE – Monday Night RAW

W-L: 269-169 (61.4%)

H2H Analysis: The profile for Bryan/Ziggler was fairly basic, save for its record against Styles/ACH. Bryan/Ziggler went 1-8 against the #10 overall match. That’s one of the biggest H2H beatings I’ve seen for two matches so close together in overall rankings.

Match Analysis: This RAW opener was the pinnacle of the Wait a Minute match. For the uninitiated, the Wait a Minute match happens when you’re half paying attention to the show – almost always on RAW, for the record – and about three or four minutes into a match you stop, take notice and say “wait a minute.”

I expect Bryan to have a lot of Wait a Minute matches in the process of resurrecting the Intercontinental Championship and he’ll spend a lot of time chasing the quality of this, the first defense of his reign. More important than the match (which you need to see) is the journey Bryan is taking the IC title on. From what I can tell the destination is the return to glory that the Workrate Championship enjoyed for decades. Enjoy the ride, folks. -Alex Wendland (@AlexWendland)

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

March 29

WWE – WrestleMania 31

W-L: 256-168 (60.3%)

Watch: WWENetwork.com

H2H Analysis: Nothing too weird in the matches this destroyed. Nothing too weird in the matches that destroyed it. Two people thought this was better than the Mania 3-way and Grave Consequences. If I had to guess, one of them is named Rich Kraetsch. The other is likely named Krich Raetsch.

Match Analysis: For the record, I did not vote this match over the Mania three-way but probably did vote it over Grave Consequences. Seriously, I love this match that much. I initially thought my high praise for Orton vs. Rollins was due to how I watched WrestleMania: with nine friends at my apartment, drinking, screaming and just generally going nuts anytime anything remotely interesting happened. Then I watched it again, in the confines of my home, by myself and you know what? I still loved it. Randy Orton proves how much of his career was wasted in methodical, slow-paced “WWE-style” main events and how he should’ve been doing sprints all along. A ton of back and forth action and the perfect match to follow a spotty Ladder Match opener.

The Santa Clara crowd was hot for each and every near fall as they generally had no idea who would come away victorious. Orton hits a monster superplex, a great looking powerslam after Rollins attempted the Phoenix Splash and then, of course, THE RKO. I don’t even need to describe it, you know what I’m talking about. The best part of this entire match was Randy Orton’s face after hitting THE RKO. You could see the genuine excitement in his demeanor knowing he and Rollins just created an all-time great WrestleMania moment. -Rich Kraetsch (@richkraetsch)

AJ Styles vs. ACH

March 1

Ring of Honor – 13th Anniversary

W-L: 195-138 (58.6%)

Watch: ROHWrestling.com

H2H Analysis: The final match of the top 10 was likely the most divisive. Styles/ACH went undefeated against seven matches, which is a fairly high total for something this far down the list. The strength of its performance against the bottom tier helped push it ahead of some other matches that ranked slightly below. The IC Title Ladder match, Balor/Owens, DY/Sekimoto & Sato, Hero/Busick and Mundo/Cuerno all took down Styles/ACH in the H2Hs, but it wasn’t enough to push those matches into our top 10.

Match Analysis: Even though I graded this out at ****¼, I was still surprised to see it finish in the top ten in such a loaded month. I obviously enjoyed this match a lot, but I figured it would be one of those kinds of matches that others would see as a nice little match, but for whatever reason just happened to connect with me stronger. The voting shows I was wrong. What we had here were two guys who virtually never put in a bad effort these days. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a bad AJ Styles or ACH match? The AJ Styles tribute spots by ACH were very cool, and I love AJ’s new thing of working towards the calf slicer while always having the instant death Styles Clash ready in his holster. This had virtually no chance of being bad, and it ended up being great. -Joe Lanza (@JoeMLanza)

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Other Nominees

Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

March 25

WWE NXT

W-L: 211-163 (56.5%)

Intercontinental Title Ladder Match

March 29

WWE – WrestleMania 31

W-L: 217-187 (53.8%)

Watch: WWENetwork.com

Samoa Joe vs. ACH

March 13

Ring of Honor – ROH Conquest Tour

W-L: 155-138 (52.9%)

Watch: ROHWrestling.com

Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick

March 27

EVOLVE – EVOLVE 39

W-L: 168-155 (52.0%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

King Cuerno vs. Johnny Mundo

March 11

Lucha Underground – Lucha Underground on El Rey

W-L: 183-172 (51.5%)

Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommy End

March 27

EVOLVE – EVOLVE 40

W-L: 169-171 (49.7%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

Kohei Sato & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Dangan Yankees

March 1

ZERO 1 – FOURTEEN

W-L: 155-157 (49.7%)

http://dai.ly/x2ixvfs

Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly

March 28

Ring of Honor – ROH TV

W-L: 143-146 (49.5%)

Watch: ROHWrestling.com

Dia Hearts vs. Jimmyz vs. Mad Blankey vs. Monster Express

March 6

Dragon Gate – Glorious Gate 2015

W-L: 144-148 (49.3%)

http://dai.ly/x2j732e

Daiki Inaba vs. Shinjiro Ohtani

March 13

ZERO1 vs. W1 – KASSEN 2 (BATTLE ZERO1 vs. W1 ALL-OUT WAR)

W-L: 142-150 (48.7%)

http://dai.ly/x2kb20a

Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara

March 27

All Japan Pro Wrestling – Dream Power Series 2015

W-L: 131-141 (48.2%)

http://dai.ly/x2kummj

Akira Tozawa vs. Flamita

March 24

Dragon Gate – Glorious Gate 2015

W-L: 124-156 (44.3%)

http://dai.ly/x2l0gta

Drew Gulak vs. Chris Hero

March 28

EVOLVE – EVOLVE 40

W-L: 120-152 (44.1%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

Twin Towers vs. Yuji Hino & Yuji Okabayashi

March 21

Big Japan Wrestling – Ikkitousen Death Match Survivor (Day 3)

W-L: 110-148 (42.6%)

http://dai.ly/x2kysjg

Killer Elite Squad vs. TMDK

March 17

Pro Wrestling NOAH – Great Voyage 2015 in Tokyo

W-L: 125-185 (40.3%)

Axel Dieter Jr vs Tommy End

March 8

wXw – 16 Carat Gold

W-L: 56-142 (28.3%)

Watch: https://vimeo.com/westsidextremewrestling

T-Hawk & Flamita vs. Mochizuki & Dragon Kid

March 6

Dragon Gate – Glorious Gate 2015

W-L: 95-159 (37.4%)

http://dai.ly/x2j700w

PJ Black vs. Ricochet

March 27

EVOLVE – EVOLVE 40

W-L: 112-200 (35.8%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Galloway

March 28

WWNLive – Mercury Rising 2015

W-L: 89-162 (35.6%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

Lashley vs. Kurt Angle

March 20

TNA – Impact Wrestling on Destination America

W-L: 115-211 (35.3%)

Hideki Suzuki vs. Masakatsu Funaki

March 1

ZERO1 – Fourteen

W-L: 94-200 (32.0%)

http://dai.ly/x2ixv2r

Io Shirai vs Kairi Hojo

March 29

Stardom – The Highest

W-L: 77-169 (31.4%)

http://dai.ly/x2l1zo6

Resistencia vs. Tortugas Ninja

March 7

PCL – Cara Lucha XI

W-L: 78-174 (30.9%)

Cedric Alexander vs. Matt Sydal

March 1

Ring of Honor – 13th Anniversary

W-L: 87-219 (28.4%)

Watch: ROHWrestling.com

Axel Dieter Jr vs Tommy End

March 8

wXw – 16 Carat Gold

W-L: 56-142 (28.3%)

Watch: https://vimeo.com/westsidextremewrestling

John Hennigan vs. AJ Styles

March 11

FWE – FWE XIX

W-L: 67-175 (27.5%)

Watch: http://store.rfvideonow.com/

KAI vs. Keiji Mutoh

March 8

Wrestle-1 – Trans Magic (Day 2)

W-L: 57-155 (26.7%)

http://dai.ly/x2k4fhh

Panther Family vs. Puma, Tiger & Virus

March 7

CMLL – CMLL on CadenaTres

W-L: 62-172 (26.5%)

Athena vs. Mia Yim

March 28

SHIMMER – SHIMMER 71

W-L: 59-176 (25.1%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

AR Fox vs. Matt Cage

March 8

EVOLVE – EVOLVE 38

W-L: 49-195 (20.0%)

Watch: WWNLive.com

Uhaa Nation/Da Mack vs. Andrew Everett/Cedric Alexander

March 8

wXw – 16 Carat Gold

W-L: 41-168 (19.6%)

Watch: https://vimeo.com/westsidextremewrestling