The Voices of Wrestling 2019 Match of the Year countdown officially begins with matches that ranked #100-76 in this year’s poll including the first appearance of first-place votes as well as several high-end matches from promotions across the world.

2019 MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

Introduction & Honorable Mentions: voicesofwrestling.com/2020/02/03/vow-match-of-the-year-2019-introduction-sadness-village/

VOICES OF WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

#100

Arisa Hosiki vs. Hazuki

7/24

Stardom

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“All that needs to be said: The best nearfall of the year in La Hazukistral, must watch for that alone. The crowd was absolutely nuts and true hatred was shown between two unexpected enemies. Hoshiki was great yet again and Hazuki is very missed at the start of 2019. Can’t wait to see what happens next in both of their careers.” Dylan Fox

#100

Shuji Ishikawa & SUWAMA Vs. Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto

3/19

AJPW

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“Strong BJ and Violent Giants had an awesome match in January. Two months later, this rematch was even better. They took everything great about that first encounter and went to a whole other level. This was a clash of strenght and power, taking everyone to their limits. Ishikawa and Okabayashi had tremendous exchanges. If you wanna see four big guys destroying each other, this is your match.” Gin Malkâvar

#99

Caveman Ugg vs. Jack Bonza

10/19

PWA Australia

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“Two of Australia’s top heavyweights went to war for the PWA Championship in October. Prior to this encounter, many expected Bonza to enter as the most hated man in the building, but shockingly the crowd turned on Ugg because he had been absent from PWA since winning the title. This match was a brutal, bruising and incredibly painful-looking clash, which would fit in seamlessly during a G1 Climax tournament. Check it out if you love that style.” Jamie Apps

#98

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KUSHIDA

1/29

NJPW

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“This ruled. Good dueling limbwork which escalated throughout the course of the match and culminated in the finish, Tanahashi getting heat from the fans, KUSHIDA’s “fuck you” slap, the cloverleaf teases, KUSHIDA’s hope spots. A simple formula done well, lean and concise, not bloated like NJPW main events tend to be. KUSHIDA will be missed more than any of the Elite dorks. Great match.” Brennan Patrick

#97

Daniel Makabe vs. Jonathan Gresham

4/19

3-2-1 Battle

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 2nd

“An indie “dream match” that is worth every bit of the hype it has received.” Andy LaBarre

#96

Invisible Man vs. Invisible Stan

4/5

GCW

Overall Points: 12

Total Votes: 4

Highest Vote: 2nd

“A love letter to the pro wrestling referees. A love letter to the live wrestling audience. A love letter to pro wrestling storytelling, this was more than the best comedy match of all time (a hill I will happily die on). What’s so great about it, is that it totally works in a legit pro wrestling sense. There’s no rules being broken, there’s no wrestler’s breaking character or kayfabe being stamped, there’s nothing to anger the Cornette crew (although they still got mad online about it). It’s just a ref and the production team putting on a show (with a cameo from Kikutaro), like the Hollywood Globetrotters or a half-time show. Wonderful professional wrestling.” Shane Doyle

#95

Giulia vs. Hana Kimura

12/24

Stardom

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 2

Highest Vote: 2nd

“A brutal match in the best possible way. This totally delivered on the hype, and the excitement of the arena was terrific. They worked a frenetic pace, going at each other with blistering offense. Ground struggles, wild outside brawling, boots and stomps, headbutts, submissions, head drops. This was a mesmerizing display of violence.” aguakun

#93

WALTER vs. Rey Fenix

3/9

wXw

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“The best match of Fenix’s career. We know he’s a wonderful flyer, and that his tag team with his brother are a popular act, but for me the real money in Fenix is him as a singles wrestler. For those that remember the great casket match Fenix had with Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground, you’ll know how exciting Fenix can be in there with a big dude to base for him and someone he can sell his ass off against, and WALTER played that role to a tee. This continued the running theme of Carat weekend of WALTER really descending into a despicable character who was being overly-aggressive and intense and perhaps a little desperate in his matches. WALTER powerbombing the poor guy so hard that his mask falls off and a nearby fan has to hand him a secondary mask to continue the fight is one spot that has stayed with me throughout 2019.” Ed Mills

#93

Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura vs. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi

12/9

AJPW

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“These four are the new beating heart of AJPW. All four looked like stars of the future in this, the 2019 Real World Tag League semi-finals. The crowd sounded like they were going to explode at times throughout this one, and not only because of the match itself but because of how over these four wrestlers are with AJPW diehards. Aoyagi’s charisma was through the roof in this, and both he and Miyahara seemed to dictate the tempo of the match; a great example of this is when Aoyagi fires up and slaps the turnbuckle at rapid speed, inducing a double-time chant in the crowd, magically “speeding up” the bout without taking a bump. Jake Lee shined the brightest in this match, mainly for booking reasons—he was scheduled to wrestle Miyahara for the Triple Crown the next month and was dominant over Miyahara here—but he was brilliant as ever. Studs, the lot of them.” Justin M Knipper

#92

Masashi Takeda vs. Jon Gresham

4/4

GCW

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 3rd

“Now THIS was a sprint. The grappling was excellent. Very fast with both guys working for holds at an extreme pace and showing tons of urgency. Takeda bleed after a spill to the outside and Gresham capitalised on it by bringing out some great, quick strikes targeting the eye. Takeda nailing Gresham with the knee for the KO was amazing” Lee/MC

#91

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

7/6

NJPW

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 2nd

“The July 6th encounter between Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi wasn’t their best encounter. Hell, it may be one of their worst. However, this is the only one of their matches I’ve attended live, which put it into a different stratosphere for me. Being in the crowd for this and getting to be a part of the standing ovation for both men before the match got underway is a special moment I’ll never forget, hence my high placement of this match on my list.” Jack Beckmann

#90

Will Ospreay vs. Bandido

5/23

NJPW

Overall Points: 13

Total Votes: 4

Highest Vote: 3rd

“An absolute classic and I hope that these two are career opponents.” Dave Musgrave

#85

Brett Ison vs Allie Kat

6/2

SUP

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 1

1 First-Place Vote

#85

Momo Watanabe vs. Tam Nakano

1/13

Stardom

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 1

1 First-Place Vote

#85

Mio Momono vs Takumi Iroha

11/3

Marvelous

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 1

1 First-Place Vote

“This was Mio Momono’s first match back after a terrible injury that sidelined her for 11 months. She was given a trial by fire as she was put against the dominant ace of Marvelous Takumi Iroha. This crowd was firmly behind Mio as she fought with everything she had against Takumi’s ruthless strikes. Mio survived to get a 20-minute draw as she proved she could hang in there with Iroha. As someone that is probably Marvelous and Takumi’s biggest fan this was the company’s magnum opus with their really strong booking of Takumi combining with a popular performer’s comeback from injury to make this one an emotional experience.” Alex Richards

#85

Star Jr. & Valiente vs. Fugaz & Mistico

10/18

CMLL

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 1

1 First-Place Vote

“My favorite thing in wrestling and largely entertainment itself, is seeing someone who’s put the work in finally being recognized. Sometimes that means seeing a film director or actor have a break out project that gets them a proper limelight and opens up the door for future projects to actually have budgets or to star in movies that will run outside of arthouse cinemas.

Star Jr. is the perfect example of this in CMLL(who actually do a pretty good job of putting over talent under the age of 30). If you don’t know who Star Jr. is, this is the match that will have you knowing who he is. Not because you’ll be recommended this match from every Lucha Libre fan, but because this is the match that will be the starting point of his years-long push. When he starts being the CMLL talent on everyone’s lips, this will be ground zero and it was excellent life. A star making performance for one of the guys who use to be lost in the CMLL midcard shuffle.” Lostinyourears

#85

Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley

11/20

AEW

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 1

1 First-Place Vote

“To me, wrestling has always been a marriage of physicality and story, character and thrill. This year, more and more, I can’t get into the thrill of the fight without a lot of background work on story. It’s a change in me, not wrestling itself, but it’s been one of the many reasons why the success of All Elite Wrestling has been so exciting to watch this year. This match is the platonic ideal of a match between two very different personalities on a very differing, though both upward trajectory. The contrast of styles made for the most mesmerizing, captivating television match all year. Moxley is finally the star he should be. Darby is on a path to similar stardom. I don’t know why but this match just did it for me, in its simplicity and chaos. It wouldn’t leave my brain for a good week afterwards. I can’t really think of the last time a television main event has done that.” Sandra Berry

#84

Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor

1/27

WWE

Overall Points: 14

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 5th

“This was tremendous, Balor’s career match by a huge margin over anything else I have seen him do. I liked the early flurry by Balor, the cut off by Lenser was big but not super overdone, and Lesnar running full speed kidney first into the corner of the announce table was one of the nastiest momentum changers I can remember seeing. Even without a history of intestine issues that would have been a hospital trip. After that bump everything Balor did looked like it could end a match, Lesnar caught his dives on his back instead of catching them, sold every suplex like he had a hernia and that final double stomp off the top was just an awesome piece of violence. I loved the finish too, we hadn’t seen the chicken wing hammerlock in a while and I loved Brock too busted up to lift and throw, so he just grabs the arm and tries to rip it off his body. That maniacal look on his face as he was cranking the arm was bone-chilling, no one does crazy lunatic anymore convincing then Brock, he looks like he wants to cripple his opponents, and totally could do, which makes him super scary.” Phil Schneider

#83

Hirooki Goto vs Tomohiro Ishii

8/1

NJPW

Overall Points: 15

Total Votes: 2

Highest Vote: 2nd

“I’ve been watching less and less of New Japan these past two years, but matches like these always bring me back. Goto and Ishii cannot have a bad match together, and this was another barnburner, absolutely incredible in its intensity. To me, matches like this are what make New Japan, in so many ways, because a lot of promotions these days can intimidate their epic main event style.” Sandra Berry

#82

Kento Miyahara vs. Jake Lee

4/29

AJPW

Overall Points: 15

Total Votes: 4

Highest Vote: 7th

“Miyahara and Lee have had great matches in the past, but this was the first time they’ve fought where it didn’t feel like Jake was being swallowed up by Miyahara’s distinctive presence. Lee held his own in a way he hasn’t too often before, so even though he still feels a step behind Kento to be his true rival, he felt signifcantly elevated by this match. The scenario of facing the Triple Crown champion in the CC final made the crowd really believe in Jake’s nearfalls, making it even better when Kento eventually won. It was a huge signal from All Japan that this is THE reign for Miyahara, winning the CC as champion and going on to defend the title for the rest of the year. Jake will have his day one day, and matches like this will get the fans to believe in him more as a top guy opposite Kento.” Oli Court

#81

Kenny Omega & Riho vs. Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita

11/3

DDT

Overall Points: 16

Total Votes: 2

1 First-Place Vote

“No match made me smile as much as this one in 2019. I didn’t smile much in 2019, as it was a pretty shitty year for me all things considered, but for the twenty or so minutes this match was on, I experienced pure joy. Kenny Omega is easily my favorite wrestler out there, and after seeing him be wasted in AEW, seeing him enjoy himself and put in 100% effort was a joy. Most I’ve enjoyed myself watching wrestling since Omega/Okada IV.” Jack Beckmann

#80

Ophidian, Laredo Kid, Arez vs. Black Taurus, KTB, Gringo Loco

8/30

BLP/GCW

Overall Points: 16

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 4th

“High flyers versus heavyweight beasts. Agility vs. Power. This was an insane display of creativity performed at the highest of paces. You literally couldn’t blink: one second, Taurus was beheading someone with a brutal lariat, and the next one, Arez was trying the most innovative of stunts. The red hot crowd couldn’t believe what their were witnessing. Some of the stuff these guys did was jaw-dropping and they made me jump out of my seat several times. This match was fulfilling in every way possible: not only did it have non-stop action, but also showed tremendous levels of imagination and overflowing levels of passion by all six men.” Ricardo Gallegos

#79

Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada

4/6

NJPW

Overall Points: 16

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 3rd

“I never thought I’d see a NJPW match with such a clear face/heel dynamic. The heat Jay White got was incredible. Extremely dramatic last few minutes without needing a bunch of finisher kickouts. Hugely satisfying win for Okada.” Mongo Underscore Ebooks

#78

WALTER vs. David Starr

3/8

wXw

Overall Points: 17

Total Votes: 3

Highest Vote: 4th

“The key to the Devlin vs. Starr feud has been the role that Starr’s feud with WALTER over the years has played into it. After losing so many matches to WALTER, particularly in wXw, Starr was desperate for a win. Add to that the subtext of Starr’s wrestler unionization efforts against WALTER’s status as another wrestler brought into WWE’s talent ocean, and you get another dimension to the match. This was intense, and it was a great version of a WALTER match.” Kim Wong

#77

Akito vs. ASUKA

7/15

DDT

Overall Points: 17

Total Votes: 4

Highest Vote: 4th

“This was something you would expect from DDT, but for me never to the level it went. The concept of a one light tube deathmatch was goofy enough, but when I found out it was the one who breaks it loses, I had no idea what I was getting into. To my delight, this was incredible. It wasn’t something that for a wrestling match you toss on the spreadsheet and rank late in the year, it was something that makes your sheet because of how difficult it had to be to work this match. From the high spots involving the tube, the bumps around it, chain wrestling over it, flip bumps from the top, a missed moonsault, the works. Everything made you gasp for the fact one slight bit of error ends this match, whether it was a planned finish, or a legit accident. This kept my attention throughout because I didn’t know how it could end. Asuka at one point missed a spinning roundhouse kick that actually caught the tube, but didn’t break it, causing the building to gasp as they almost saw a finish. After a bit more, Akito goes for a muscle buster, only to have Asuka flip out, and throw a kick to the head that Akito counters by putting the tube to his head, thus causing Askua to break the tube on his head, giving him the win. This is one that probably wont rank near as high as I had it, but for me I just couldn’t get over how risky everything was having to make sure you don’t break the tube. Great work all around, facials were great, the ref helped with the nerves, and just a fantastic story. This is what makes DDT so special to so many fans. Such a simple concept that came out to perfection.” Ryan Cooke

#76

Big Mami vs. Lady Maravilla

12/14

AAA

Overall Points: 17

Total Votes: 6

Highest Vote: 6th

“These two have a pretty good feud going on AAA. It all started over Lady Maravilla flirting with Niño Hamburguesa and taking advantage of his attraction towards her and as a result, she along with Villano III Jr. were able to defeat him and Big Mami for AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championships. Big Mami had enough and challenged Maravilla to a Hair vs Hair Luchas de Apuestas match. This match was a good match that told a great story and exceeded all expectations and climax with Nino helping Big Mami to win the match and the post made her look like a star.” Filip Pejic

VOW 2019 Match of the Year Results (260-76)