10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2021
2021 wasn't the year of the Ox. It was the year of the Dragon.
2021 was in part a great return to an old normal - even if that normal was stained with constant anxiety. But that's the world now.
ROH and Impact don't feature here. The former is all but dead, the latter the living dead. A fading NJPW nonetheless boasted several excellent matches, all of which were bittersweet given the clap-crowd backdrop against which they were promoted. WWE wasn't particularly great this year, to put it mildly. The promotion committed the worst offence, in that it was a drab type of crap instead of "Erick Rowan's spider" so-crap-it's-good, but their honourable mentions were worthy. Bianca Belair Vs. Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37 was an outstanding display of power versus technique, where the Men's Money In The Bank Ladder match was so great that AEW should study how to lay one out.
MJF Vs. Darby Allin from Full Gear was an awesomely competitive technical stunner overflowing with drama. Dr. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa created an incredible tone in their Lights Out war, which was so much better than a procession of demented spots. Countless wrestlers - Adam Cole, PAC, and Sting (!) to name just a few - enjoyed awesome years. Every Young Bucks match is an honourable mention.
The standard was unreal in AEW, but even the retconned NXT delivered something quite incredible...
10. Eddie Kingston Vs. CM Punk - AEW Full Gear
Christ, what incredible tonic this was in response to so much pro wrestling content excess.
Not every match needs to go 30 minutes, or even 15. Not every storyline needs to be some lengthy epic performed with an absurd level of intensity. Think about your real life. The people in it that you tend to resent or outright dislike are the people you know but don't don't wish to get to know. They're the rude ar*ehole who belittles you in social situations or the workplace; you're the person who remembers and holds onto a perceived slight.
This mini-masterpiece used pettiness as a plot thread, and it was magnificent, relatable, and totally believable as a result.
Punk and Kingston struck the sh*t out of each other but refused to sell it because that would involve conceding a point. Punk was at his nasty prick best in a match with no body slam attempts. He wasn't glad to be back. He wanted to put this out-of-shape disappointment back in his f*cking place, and he did so by raining down elbows on the crown of his head. Kingston told Punk to f*ck off, and it was beyond cathartic because you wished you had told that aloof friend of a friend d*ckhead to f*ck off, too.
An electrifying blood-soaked pissing contest with a Frye/Takayama sequence so good and natural it felt like they invented it, Punk Vs. Kingston was something every pro wrestler should study.
Not that they'd approach its brilliance.