Top Matches I Watched in February 2023

Top Matches I Watched in February 2023

By Alex Kalil

WOW! What a month for wrestling! New Japan is finally back! Pro Wrestling NOAH and AJPW doing good stuff. AEW killing it week to week! Even some great stuff from WWE and Impact. 2023 is gearing up to be an all time great year for wrestling!

Jon Moxley vs. Adam Page at AEW Dynamite 2/1/23: A really great hard hitting match from these two. Moxley jumps Page on the floor and the two start off hot. Page is able to bust open Moxley before the bell even rings and takes over early on with his power. Moxley fights back with his strikes and brawling style to stay alive. We get a great back and forth match with both men throwing huge bombs at each other. Page breaks out some Seth Rollins moves before a Buckshot Lariat gets a huge near-fall! Page locks in the Bulldog Choke on Moxley but Moxley is able to counter it into a roll-up and get the win out of nowhere. Great finish with a wrestling move being the difference maker in a match of huge blows that leaves room for a rematch. ****

Bryan Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher at AEW Dynamite 2/1/23:A very fun straight up wrestling match. Thatcher uses his size and power to manhandle Danielson all the while going after the hurt shoulder. Danielson is able to stay alive with quick strikes to pick at Thatcher and tries to out-wrestle him but with his hurt arm and the size difference, Danielson can't get much momentum. Thatcher does a great job working over Danielson, who sells perfectly. Danielson starts laying in headbutts to rock Thatcher but Thatcher is able to snatch a Fujiwara armbar. Danielson is able to fight out of it and is able to use his quickness to catch Thatcher with the Busaiku Knee to knock Thatcher cold and get the win. Danielson was on defense all match but was able to fight his way to an opening just long enough to hit his running knee and get the win. ****

No Holds Barred Match for the AEW TNT Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Samoa Joe at AEW Dynamite 2/1/23 ****1/4: A wild and crazy match! Darby comes out with a thumbtack hoodie to just charge right into Joe! Joe quickly shuts it down by wrapping a towel around his arm and lariats Darby and rips the hoodie off. From there, Joe manhandles and destroys Darby all around the ringside and in the crowd with his scary power and weapons like chairs and ringsteps. Darby does all he can to stay alive by throwing his body into Joe before finally blinding Joe with powder. With the opening, Darby rips up the ring mats before going for a dive only to miss and hit a table! Crazy bump! Joe powerbombs Darby onto the thumbtack hoodie before looking to choke him with it. Darby shoves his thumbs into Joe's eyes to get free! Darby levels him with a chair and goes to the top but Joe pushes the ref into the ropes and crotches Darby. Joe goes to the top and hits a top rope Muscle Buster onto the exposed wood of the ring! Jesus! Joe covers and reclaims the championship. Darby went for broke all match and in the end it cost him as Joe was able to catch him and get the win. Insane match to watch. ****1/4

NXT North American Championship Match: Wes Lee (c) vs. Dijak at NXT Vengeance Day 2023: A really good battle of a high flyer vs. a monster. Wes Lee starts off using his speed and quickness to stick and move against Dijak before the big man is able to catch Wes Lee and starts hitting big power moves and working him over. Wes Lee starts to fight back by dodging the big man and starts hitting his own big shots back at Dijak. We get a great back and forth as both men look for the killing blow. Wes Lee is able to slip out of the biggest of Dijak's offense and gets some nice near-falls in. Dijak changes up his style and goes high risk one time and Wes Lee catches him with a superkick and a backflip kick to rock Dijak enough to get the pin. Peaked a little before this finish but still a very good match. ****

Triple Crown Championship Match: Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Yuma Aoyagi at AJPW Excite Series 2023 Night 1: A good title match and follow up to their great tag match. The match starts out even with both men wrestling for advantage before Yuma takes a cheap shot to take over. Kento shuts down Yuma's momentum with some vicious headbutts and goes to work on Yuma and keeps control. Yuma does a nice job of staying alive and looking for openings by going for his submission and even running Kento's head into the guardrail. Match becomes a great back and forth as Kento looks dominant even as Yuma keeps fighting back. Kento hits his Straight Jacket German but Yuma kicks out! Now, Kento has a look of doubt on him. Yuma is able to hit the same string of offense he used to beat him in the tag match but Kento kicks out this time! Kento is able to rock Yuma with strikes and fights to get the Straight Jacket German on Yuma again before hitting it and getting the win. Very good showing by both men. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Catch 22 (c) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI at NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2023 Night 1: A really good tag match. TJP starts off hot for his team and Catch 22 seems to have the advantage in terms of wrestling but Kanemaru and DOUKI target TJP's knee to take out the veteran of the team. The story of the match becomes Catch 22 using their quick tag team wrestling while Kanemaru and DOUKI keep going after the knee of TJP until finally his knee starts to give out. Akira has to come in and try to win it by himself only to get double teamed by the heels. TJP is barely able to make the save and takes out Kanemaru to leave Akira alone with DOUKI to hit his finisher and get the win. TJP is able to overcome his hurt knee to still be the difference maker for his team. ****

Taichi vs. Will Ospreay at NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2023 Night 1: An excellent back and forth match. Ospreay starts off quick with his strikes and offense and looks to work over Taichi's back while Taichi looks to chip away at Ospreay with kicks and strikes. Ospreay controls early but Taichi's contestant strikes start to pay off as he starts to throw big lariats as well. Ospreay starts some mind games by using offense from Taichi's mentor, Kawada and Taichi responds with a brutal Ganso Bomb and a dangerous Backdrop Driver! We get an insane back and forth exchange of offense and counters with Ospreay coming out on top with a flying Hidden Blade to Taichi's face. But Taichi won't stay down! More forearms put Taichi down again but the crowd cheers him to his feet only to be met with another Hidden Blade and a Stormbreaker to end it. What a battle from these two! Taichi went down fighting while Ospreay looked more vicious coming out of this. ****1/2

AEW World Championship Eliminator Match: MJF vs. Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Dynamite 2/8/23: Championship Fight Night: A fantastic pro wrestling match. Takeshita goes right after MJF and batters him before MJF is able to use the referee as a shield and goes after Takeshita's arm. From there, the match becomes MJF being the smarter and craftier wrestler and using every advantage and shortcut he can to work over Takeshita's arm while Takeshita tries to work through the hurt arm to land big bombs and powerful strikes. We get some amazing back and forth wrestling as both men are able to counter the other and get big near-falls. Takeshita is able to build momentum and looks to have the match won but when he goes high risk, his hurt arm slows him down just long enough for MJF to roll out of the way of a senton. Salt of the Earth submission is locked on! Takeshita fights to the ropes but MJF pulls him back into the middle of the ring and Takeshita has to tap out. What a match! Takeshita was bigger and stronger but MJF was able to execute his game plan to perfection with the arm work all match paying off in the end. ****1/2

Bryan Danielson vs. Rush at AEW Dynamite 2/8/23: Championship Fight Night: A bloody and violent fight! Danielson comes in as a wounded man and Rush wastes no time going right after him and just beating the hell out of him. Rush goes after the injured shoulder and busts Danielson open as Danielson does everything to stay alive and fight back. Danielson is able to wrestle the brawler down and goes for the LeBell Lock but Danielson's shoulder is too hurt to lock it in and Rush goes right back to punishing the man. Danielson has to rely on his strikes and quick offense to stay alive even as Rush continues to brutalize him. Danielson finally is able to hit the Busaiku Knee for a big near-fall but Danielson is able to buy himself some time to recover. Both start throwing slaps, kicks and even headbutts at each other. Rush goes for a German Suplex but Danielson rolls through and another Busaiku Knee! That is enough for the three! Danielson was beaten and bloody all match but refused to give in and faced down the bigger man head to head and somehow came away with the win. Great match! ****1/4

NJPW World Television Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2023 Night 2: A great match under 15 minutes from these two. Right from the bell, these two go back to their tried and true game plays: Ishii wants to throw bombs and Sabre wants to pick at body parts to work for a submission. Sabre starts by going after the neck before the lariats and strikes of Ishii forces him to start picking at the arms of Ishii. Out of nowhere, Ishii starts to bust out some technical wrestling of his own and is able to catch Sabre off guard with some of his offense, including a Code Red! Time starts to tick away and Ishii starts to go all out with his offense while Sabre is willing to absorb the shots to try and get Ishii in close and lock in a submission or a pinning combination. In the end, Ishii gets too reckless and leaves himself open for Sabre to slip out of the Brainbuster and hit a Zack Driver to get the win. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. YOH at NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2023 Night 2: A really good back and forth battle. Hiromu easily controls early with his quick hard hitting offense and looks to overwhelm YOH. However, a dropkick to the knee by YOH gives him the opening he needs. Now, Hiromu is hurt and YOH goes right after him and works over his knee like a mad man. Hiromu has to battle from underneath but YOH is quick to shut it down by going back to the knee. Finally Hiromu is able to fire up and start bombing YOH with hard strikes and big offense. YOH seemingly abandons the leg work to try and beat Hiromu at his own style of match and gets some big near-falls out of it but in the end, Hiromu was able to hit some lariats and Time Bomb 2 to get the win. ****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Shingo Takagi at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka 2023: An incredible back and forth match! Both men start out slow and look to out-wrestle each other. Okada gets the early edge and starts going after Shingo's neck with a nice heel vibe to his offense. Shingo is able to start using his strikes to turn the momentium in his favor and forces Okada to fight for openings. Shingo keeps on the gas and works over Okada until Okada hits a Tombstone Piledriver on the floor! Back in the ring, Okada locks in the Money Clip to wear down the beast Shingo and set him up for the Rainmaker. Okada looks for his usual finishing combo ending with a Rainmaker only for Shingo to destroy Okada with a big lariat of his own! From there the match becomes an all out fight as both men start throwing their best shots and biggest bombs at each other. Okada hits a Rainmaker out of desperation to just give him a chance to find an opening to take over. Okada goes for a second one but is countered right into a Last of the Dragon for a huge near-fall! Okada is able to rock Shingo with an enzuigiri, and despite Shingo's one last flurry of offense, Okada hits a Cobra Flowson and one last vicious Rainmaker to get the win. I loved seeing Okada play heel to Shingo's babyface fire. While Shingo was a beast all match, Okada is still the Ace. ****3/4

Jersey J-Cup 2023 First Round Match: Jonathan Gresham vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey at GCW/JCW Jersey J-Cup Session 1: A good battle between a technical wrestler and a high flyer. Bailey uses his quickness to light up Gresham with strikes before he goes high risk and gets caught in an ankle lock by Gresham. Bailey now has a bad wheel and has to try and fight through the pain to keep fighting back against Gresham. Lots of back and forth strikes exchanges before Gresham goes back to the leg and damages it more. Bailey tries to fire up but his leg gives out. Gresham unloads forearm shots and rocks Bailey but he goes for a Shooting Star Press and Bailey gets his knees up! Bailey hits a Tornado Kick and rocks Gresham and finishes him with a Flamingo Driver. A little too long at times and Bailey's selling was off at times but a very fun back and forth match. ****

Texas Tornado Tag Team Match: Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Rush and Preston Vance at AEW Dynamite 2/15/23: A fun wild and chaotic brawl. LFI jumps Moxley and Claudio in the crowd and things start off hot. LFI looks to isolate Moxley and work him over while keeping Claudio neutralized. When the numbers are in their favor, LFI are able to keep control but when Claudio is able to join Moxley, the two take over with Claudio's power and Moxley's wild energy. Chairs, chains and tables are introduced as the match gets more violent and bloody with both Moxley and Vance getting busted open. Vance tries to choke Moxley with the chain but Moxley turns it around on him and choke Vance with the chain before switching to an armbar and getting the tap out win. A little rough at times but still a fun watch. ****

Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Montez Ford at WWE Elimination Chamber 2023: A very enjoyable and well paced match. Rollins and Gargano start the match off with some quick wrestling before Theory enters to get some heat. Rollins and Gargano team up to batter him before Priest enters to take over. Reed enters next and we get a nice show of power and agility by him. Ford enters last with a house of fire. We get some nice back and forth from everyone before the babyfaces triple team Reed to eliminate him. Gargano runs wild for a few before Priest catches him with a Razor's Edge to eliminate him. Rollins and Ford hit the Street Profits' finisher to eliminate Priest. Ford gets a lot of shine before missing a Frog Splash and is hit by a Curb Stomp and is pinned by Theory. Rollins and Theory go at it as Ford is helped out only for Logan Paul to rush in and take out Rollins, leaving him open for Theory to hit A-Town Down and get the win. Some great action all match with everyone getting a chance to show what they can do especially Ford before Theory is able to escape with the win. ****1/4

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Sami Zayn at WWE Elimination Chamber 2023: A heated and dramatic story-telling match. We get a slow start as the crowd boos the hell out of Roman and cheers Sami. Roman looks to ground and work over Sami while Sami looks to use the crowd's energy to fire up and land the big shots needed to take down Roman. Sami does a fantastic job of doing just enough to stay alive and fighting back as the crowd goes mental for every comeback. Match picks up as Sami is able to hit a Superman Punch and a Helluva Kick for a huge near-fall! A ref bump gives Jimmy Uso a chance to run out and lays out Sami for another big near-fall. Sami takes out Jimmy but is hit with a Spear but only for 2! The crowd still believes in Sami! Roman and Sami dish out blows before a second ref bump! Roman gets a chair but Jey Uso gets involved! Whose side is he on? We never learn because Roman ducks a Spear and Sami hits Jey. Roman batters Sami with the chair and one final Spear ends it. The crowd really helped this match as they were into all the drama and story elements but the finish and multiple ref bumps hurt the overall match for me. ****

Loser Leaves NJPW Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White at NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023: A really great story-telling match. White starts off trying to play mind games and stall the match while Kingston wants to fight. Kingston lights up White with chops and strikes and demands that White "fight for New Japan". White does just that: he starts throwing chops and strikes right back at Kingston and tries to pick him apart but Kingston refuses to back down. White tries to get violent and goes for the eyes only for Kingston to respond back, before the referee backs Kingston up. White uses this as an opening for a low blow and a Blade Runner. But Kingston rolls to the floor! Back in the ring, White only gets a 2 count. Kingston gets to his feet and nails a Backfist that only gets him a 2 count! Kingston unloads more Backflips before hitting a Northern Lights Driver but only 2! Kingston pulls White to his feet and gives White an acknowledgment of respect before one more Northern Lights Driver ends the match and White's NJPW career. In the end, Jay White did fight for New Japan but Kingston was able to fight harder. ****1/4

IWGP Women's Championship Match: KAIRI (c) vs. Mercedes Mone at NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023: A great back and forth battle. Mercedes is able to surprise and out-wrestle KAIRI early on with her Lucha style offense and works on KAIRI's arm. KAIRI does a nice job of fighting from underneath and making the match more even as it goes. The two start to trade offense and counters back and forth nicely. Great moment when Mercedes starts using her knees as weapons and KAIRI counters a Meteora into an Anchor submission. KAIRI rocks Mercedes with a backfist and tries to go to the top but the elbow but Mercedes uses her feet to grab KAIRI to prevent her. So good! Mercedes hits a Bayley to Belly for a huge near-fall! Mercedes gets desperate and uses the referee to block a backfist! The two battle on the outside leading to KAIRI powerbombing Mercedes through a table! Back in the ring, KAIRI goes for the top rope elbow but Mercedes kicks the elbow away! Frog Splash attempt but KAIRI gets her knees up! Right into a Crossface by KAIRI. Mercedes bites KAIRI's hand to break the hold and is able to lock her arms and rolls her into the Money Maker! Mercedes is the new champ! Some brilliant wrestling. The ref bump and table spot weren't needed but the rest was so good and fun to watch. ****1/4

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023: Another great match in these two's legendary feud. Both men use their classic strategies: Okada goes for the neck and Tanahashi goes for the leg. A fun back and forth all match as these two pull out their best shots. One key factor in this match was Okada never looking out of control and seeming to be taking Tanahashi lightly. Tanahashi is able to block the Rainmaker and goes for the High Fly Flow but Okada catches him with a dropkick! Okada goes for the Rainmaker again but the old Ace counters with a small package for a huge near-fall! That was Tanahashi's last shot and from there Okada hits his Enziguri, Corba Flowson and one culminating Rainmaker to put down his old foe. ****

Triple Crown Championship Match: Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Yuji Nagata at AJPW Excite Series 2023 Night 2: A really good current star vs. veteran match. Kento is confident in his ability and looks to out speed the veteran and take him out at the legs. Meanwhile, Nagata doesn't take kindly to Kento's ego and slaps the taste out of his mouth multiple times and looks to rip his arm off. Kento changes his game plan and starts landing bombs on Nagata, only for Nagata to do the same. Kento finds success by using his knee strikes to rock Nagata and looks for his arm-trap German but this late in the match, his arm is too hurt. Kento goes back to his strikes and Nagata is able to counter it this time. A pump-handle Exploder drops Kento on his head and a Backdrop Hold is enough to upset the Ace and give the win to the older, craftier veteran. ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kaito Kiyomiya at Pro Wrestling NOAH Keiji Muto Grand Final: The battle of the Ace of New Japan and the young Ace of NOAH. Right from the bell it is clear Okada wants nothing to do with Kaito and seems to treat him like an annoyance more than a threat. Okada goes through the motions early on and wants to finish this quickly. But Kaito won't go down that quickly. He fires up every time Okada puts him down and refuses to back down. Some nice babyface fire from Kaito who is able to take Okada off guard. Okada stops playing around and tries to end things only for Kaito to go after his powerful right arm and try to neutralize the Rainmaker. From there, Kaito starts stringing together more and more offense especially with his Shining Wizard. Okada goes for the Rainmaker only for Kaito to counter into a Tiger Suplex for a big near-fall! Kaito goes for one final Shining Wizard only to be caught by a Landslide. Okada wastes no time with the opening and nails a Rainmaker. 1,2...no! Okada picks up Kaito. He isn't done yet. An Enziguri, Corba Flowson and one final Rainmaker and Okada shows mercy by pinning Kaito in dominant fashion. Kaito showed a lot here and showed what kind of fired up babyface he can be but Okada isn't just the Ace of New Japan anymore. Okada is The Ace of Japan. ****1/2

Keiji Muto vs. Tetsuya Naito at Pro Wrestling NOAH Keiji Muto Grand Final: A fun conclusion to the career of Keiji Muto. Both start off even with some basic wrestling before Natio uses his youth and speed to take over and work over Muto's neck for Destino and his famously bad knees. Muto is able to fire back and goes after Naito's knees himself as well as pulling out moves from former foes and friends to take the fight to Naito. A nice story near the end with Muto having the advantage by bombarding Naito with Shining Wizards but Muto isn't willing to risk going for his moonsault as the killing blow. This costs Muto as Naito catches him with his own Muto style offense before ending the match and Muto's career with a Destino. ****

AEW All-Atlantic Championship Match: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Wheeler Yuta at AEW Dynamite 2/22/23: A good back and forth battle between these former teammates. Match starts off with the two trying to out-wrestle each other. Cassidy, being the man that trained Yuta, is able to keep getting the advantage and frustrates the young Yuta. Claudio comes ringside and gives his protege a slap to the face to wake him up. From there, Yuta fights with a more aggressive style; landing hard strikes and even going after the eyes of Cassidy and tossing him around ringside. Cassidy does a nice job trying to keep things at his level of intensity and not getting suckered into fighting Yuta. We get some great back and forth wrestling and even some story-telling with both men using the other's trademark pinning combination to try and get the win. Just as Yuta seems to be gaining ground on Cassidy and out-wrestling him, Cassidy blasts him with an Orange Punch for a huge near-fall. Beach Break follows for another big near-fall. Yuta is on his knees telling Cassidy to bring it and Cassidy hits one more Orange Punch to end it. Great stuff. ****

Jonathan Gresham and "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. The Motor City Machine Guns at Impact Wrestling 2/23/23: A really good tag team match. Gresham goes right after the knee of Shelley to give him and Bailey a target to work on. When Gresham and Bailey are able to isolate one of the Guns, they are able to keep control while the Guns are able to take over by using their superior tag team wrestling. Some great back and forth action all match. Love that Gresham and Bailey kept going after Shelley's knees to cut off the Guns' momentum, which Shelley sells perfectly all match. A miscommunication by Gresham and Bailey gives the Guns the opening they need to hit a double team move on Gresham to get the win. ****

The Young Bucks vs. Aussie Open at AEW Rampage 2/24/23: A super fun back and forth tag team match. The Young Bucks use their speed and agility to compete with the surprising power of Aussie Open, who look to isolate one of the Bucks to work them over. Match picks up and both teams start going for big tag team offense and get some nice near-falls out of it. A blackout causes a brief distraction that almost costs the Bucks the match but a symphony of Superkicks gets them back in the driver seat before a BTE Trigger gets them the win. ****