Top Matches I Watched in June 2023

Top Matches I Watched in June 2023

By Alex Kalil

Another month and another great time to be a wrestling fan. NJPW continues to build up to their G1 Climax. AEW adds Collison to their weekly TV with more quality matches, Punk returning and Forbidden Door being an all time classic PPV. Not to mention some great stuff from WWE, Dragon Gate and Impact.

Kazuchika Okada, Rocky Romero and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta and Shota Umino at NJPW STRONG Resurgence 2023: A super fun trios match that kept the story of Okada vs. the young lions going. Shota kept going after Okada all match and wanted to fight him. Meanwhile, Moxley and Okada are the two biggest difference makers in the match and able to change the momentum as soon as they get in the ring, Ishii is the powerhouse, Yuta is the annoyance all match and adds to the heat for his team and Rocky is there to take the fall. A lot of really great back and forth action that ends with Shota hitting Death Rider on Okada before hitting Rocky with one and getting the win. Good stuff. **** #1 Contendership Match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Lance Archer vs. Will Ospreay at NJPW Dominion 2023: A super fun 8 minute match. Archer goes right after Ospreay at the bell and looks to manhandle the smaller man. Ospreay goes for broke and goes full force at Archer to try and battle back. A nice bit of selling with Ospreay unable to hit Stormbreaker due to his previously hurt shoulder. Archer looks to have the match won until Ospreay goes to the big man's knee to bring him down and nails a Hidden Blade but only gets a one count! Ospreay goes all out and lands three Hidden Blades in a row to keep the monster down for three. This was great! **** NJPW World Television Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Jeff Cobb at NJPW Dominion 2023: A really fun follow-up to their first match. Both men go for their strategies from the last match: Cobb wants to use his power and strength while Sabre looks to out-wrestle the big man and go for submissions or pinning combinations. A great fast pace to the match as both men are trying to beat the clock this time. Some fantastic back and forth wrestling all match. Cobb looks for the Tour of the Islands and Sabre is able to counter into a crucifix pin to get the win. **** IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Master Wato at NJPW Dominion 2023: A really good back and forth match. Both men had their styles and stuck to them all match. Hiromu wants to overwhelm Wato with his fast paced and hard hitting offense while Wato tries to keep things as a straight up wrestling match and targets the head and shoulders of Hiromu. Wato goes through his normal string of offense and gets some big near-falls before looking for the Tsutenkaku German, which Hiromu does a nice job fighting out of. Hiromu unloads on Wato with bombs and lariats only for Wato to counter Time Bomb 2 into the Tsutenkaku German for a huge near-fall. Hiromu is finally able to out-wrestle and counter Wato into a Time Bomb and a follow-up Time Bomb 2 to get the win. Wato had all the tools to match Hiromu but just seemed to lack the power needed to put down the champion. **** NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Shota Umino at NJPW Dominion 2023: A crazy and physical brawl. Shota brings in backup for his feud with Okada and wastes no time trying to get his hands on the Rainmaker. Moxley and Claudio bring a fun energy to the match by making it a wild, Southern style brawl as everyone keeps getting involved and fighting on the floor even as the match is going on in the ring. Tanahashi and Ishii played their roles well and allowed Okada to face-off with Shota. Even with the help of his teammates, Shota wasn't able to keep Okada down and in the end, Okada once again asserted his dominance by hitting a Cobra Flowson and a Rainmaker to end it. Shota is still not ready to beat The Ace of Japan. IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: SANADA (c) vs. Yota Tsuji at NJPW Dominion 2023: A super exciting and hard hitting match. At the bell, Yota is able to shock SANADA with a big Spear and dive to take the champion off his game. Yota is completely unknown to SANADA and he has no idea what to expect from this beast of a man. SANADA tries to wrestle the big man and slow the pace down but Yota isn't having it. Yota throws around the champion and puts on an amazing display of power and agility including a top rope Spanish Fly! Yota has also done his homework and is able to masterfully counter a lot of SANADA's signature offense including Deadfall. SANADA is in trouble. The one thing SANADA does have scouted, after the opening exchange, is Yota's Spear. Yota goes for it a few times but SANADA keeps avoiding it. Yota goes for it a third time as the killing blow and SANADA dropkicks him right in the head! The big man is rocked! SANADA throws everything he has left at Yota before hitting Deadfall and getting the win. Yota looked to surprise SANADA by coming in as an unknown challenger and it almost worked if not for SANADA having the one big killing blow of Yota scouted. What a match! **** Open the Twin Gate Championship Match: Kenoh and Shuji Kondo (c) vs. Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda at Dragon Gate Rainbow Gate 2023 Night 2: A phenomenal story-telling match. A slow opening exchange at the bell before Kenoh and Kanda get in the ring and one leg kick to Kanda's knee puts him down. Susumu now has to go at it all on his own and hold off the 2-on-1 assault and hope that Kanda recovers. Naturally, Kenoh and Kondo keep taking potshots at Kanda while he is trying to recover, including Kenoh hitting a double stomp to his knee from the apron. Nasty! At long last, Susumu gets the hot tag to Kanda and the two are able to work together to work over the heels but clearly Kanda is still hurt. Susumu goes at it with Kenoh and gets trapped in an ankle lock. Kanda risks it all and hits a top rope elbow to break it up! Even on one leg, Kanda is still throwing himself at the heels! A King Kong Lariat to the knee by Kondo puts Kongo back in control and the two enjoyably beat Kanda down. Kanda tries for a small package and even uses the M3K box for any chance at winning but those hopes are snuffed out. Kondo locks in the Gorilla Clutch on Kanda, who tries desperately to get to the ropes. Kenoh sees this and just kicks the arm away as Kondo pulls Kanda back to the center of the ring. Using the momentum, Kanda is able to roll through the submission and gets a small package on Kondo and gets 3! What a babyface effort by the veterans who were able to pull off a Hail Mary play to get the win. ****1/4 Gunther vs. Kevin Owens at WWE Raw 6/5/23: A good TV match that told a nice story. Gunther is able to easily wrestle Owens to the mat early on and frustrate him. Owens finally has enough and recklessly starts swinging away and brawling the big man, only for Gunther to dump Owens on his neck. Gunther starts mercilessly working over the back and neck of Owens and puts him on the defensive. Some great babyface fire and hope spots by Owens, who takes everything Gunther throws out and keeps on fighting. As Owens fights back more and more, you see Gunther get desperate to put him away, even trying for a top rope splash but only getting Owens' knees. Owens looks to have Gunther on the ropes but a brief distraction of Imperium going after Sami Zayn on the outside gives Gunther an opening to schoolboy Owens and steal the win. **** World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Damian Priest at WWE Raw 6/5/23: A good back and forth TV match. Right at the bell, Rollins uses his speed to take quick shots at Priest and tries to avoid the big man. Priest eventually is able to get ahold of Rollins and uses his size and power to work over and ground the champion. Story of the match becomes as simple as Rollins sticking and moving while Priest wants to punish and beat down. A lot of great back and forth action and good near-falls for both men. Rollins is able to avoid a kick on the apron to get Priest up and hits a Buckle Bomb into the guardrail, in a callback to Rollins' match with Balor back in 2016, which hurts Priest's shoulder on impact. Priest is now a wounded beast but he still tries to manhandle Rollins, only for his shoulder to give out when going for the Razor's Edge. A pair of superkicks by Rollins gets Priest down and a Curb Stomp ends it for Rollins to retain. **** Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kaito Kiyomiya and Kento Miyahara vs. Kazuchika Okada, Kenoh and Yuma Aoyagi at NJPW/AJPW/Pro Wrestling NOAH All Together Again: A great 6 man tag match with six of the biggest names in wrestling. Loved the little stories told throughout the match. Okada and Kaito continuing their heated feud. Kenoh going after Tanahashi and Kento. Yuma trying to get his team to work together. Okada mocking Kento. So many great moments. We get a lot of great back and forth action all match from everyone before Okada's team is able to work together, isolating Tanahashi and Okada hitting a Rainmaker to end it. ****1/4 Impact World Championship Match: Steve Maclin (c) vs. Alex Shelley at Impact Wrestling Against All Odds 2023: A really good wrestler vs. brawler match. Shelley goes to work right at the bell, picking apart Maclin by working the arm and knee while trying to keep things as a wrestling match. Maclin, on the other hand, wants to fight and brawl and use his power to manhandle Shelley. Maclin is able to take over and works the back of Shelley before Shelley is able to make his limb work pay off with some nice submissions. Maclin starts to get desperate and tries to use an exposed turnbuckle and just starts throwing big offense at Shelley to try and keep him down. Some great back and forth from both men as they land their best shots for some nice near-falls. Maclin ends up running into the exposed turnbuckle before Shelley drives him into it as well. Maclin is rocked and Shelley hits Shellshock to get the win! Shelley is finally a World Champion! **** AEW World Championship Eliminator Match: MJF vs. Adam Cole at AEW Dynamite 6/14/23: A phenomenal 30 minute classic! Cole is able to rattle MJF early on before MJF starts to go after the arm of Cole. Some nice heel work by MJF as Cole sells the arm well. MJF starts to get cocky and walks right into a big superkick. Match becomes more back and forth as the two men start trading offense but Cole seems to have the edge. MJF responds by hitting a Tombstone Piledriver on the apron, looking to target Cole's past concussions. Cole now has to fight from underneath as MJF starts to look for submissions on the bad arm of Cole, who is able to get to the ropes. Heatseeker by MJF gets a big near-fall but Cole isn't giving up. Since wrestling and going after the head isn't working, MJF gets desperate and elbow drops Cole through a table on the outside! But Cole is still able to beat the countout and is still fighting back! MJF pushes Cole into the referee and knocks the ref out. MJF gets the belt and tries to frame Cole for hitting him but the ref is still out. Cole hits MJF with the belt! Cole hits The Boom but only 2! MJF kicks Cole low behind the ref's back. MJF tries to use the Dynamite Diamond Ring but the ref stops him! Superkick by Cole! Panama Sunrise! And Cole hits The Boom! 1...2...Time runs out! MJF tried every trick in the book to win but Cole wouldn't let up. Cole had MJF beat if he only had one more second. What an excellent match with a brilliant finish! ****3/4 Adam Page and The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta at AEW Dynamite 6/14/23: A very fun and enjoyable trios match. Things start off hot with both teams going at it right at the bell. The BCC look to isolate one member of the Elite and work them over with their brawling and physical style while The Elite look to fight back with their fast paced offense. Some great back and forth all match with a nice slow story of the Bucks and Page getting more and more on the same page before getting Yuta alone in the ring. A BTE Trigger and Buckshot Lariat gives the Elite their first big win in the feud. Fun TV match. **** Andrade El Idolo vs. Buddy Matthews at AEW Collision 6/17/23: A really great back and forth match. We get a nice opening exchange with Andrade being the faster wrestler and taking over. Matthews starts to go over the previously hurt arm of Andrade to create an opening, only to hurt his knee in the process. With both men wounded, they start going after each other's hurt limbs. We get some fantastic back and forth action and selling from both men before Andrade is able to fight and get the Figure Four locked in. Andrade is able to fight through his hurt arm to bridge into the Figure Eight and get the submission win. Just a great match! **** CM Punk and FTR vs. Samoa Joe and Bullet Club Gold at AEW Collision 6/17/23: A physical and vicious match. All 6 men worked a nice stiff, brawling style all match. Bullet Club Gold look to isolate and work over FTR with Joe coming in as the heavy. Punk comes in for the hot tags and runs wild. So incredible to get Joe and Punk in the ring together again. Punk and FTR are able to string together some great tag team offense, but Joe comes in and clears house. Punk gets locked in the choke and we get an awesome visual of FTR both trying to reach him. Dax is able to make the save at long last as Juice tries to pick up the pieces. A roundhouse kick rocks Juice who walks into a Big Rig and GTS for CMFTR to get the win. What a match! **** CM Punk, FTR and Ricky Starks vs. Bullet Club Gold and The Gunns at AEW Collision 6/24/23: Another really great multimen tag team match. We get a nice opening exchange with everyone getting to shine before the match settles into the babyfaces in control. The heels are able to take over by going after Punk and working him over. Punk gets the hot tag to Starks who run wild! Super exciting closing stretch as everyone gets taken out. Starks unleashes Spears on White and The Gunns before Juice rocks him with a Left Hand of God. White is able to pick up the pieces and hit Blade Runner for the win. Super fun and hot tag match. **** Four Way Match for the AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Daniel Garcia at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2023: A really good four way match with good storytelling from all four of the men involved. Cassidy looks to fight through his beaten down body, Shibata and Sabre look to rekindle their feud while Garcia looks to do anything he can do to win. Some really great back and forth action all match and they do a nice job keeping everyone in the match for the most part. Some fantastic exchanges and counter wrestling before Shibata is able to PK Garcia's head off but Cassidy shoves Shibata out the ring to get the pin. The champ does whatever it takes to get the win. Really good stuff. **** Adam Page, The Young Bucks, Eddie Kingston and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2023: A fantastic and heated ten man tag. Loved the early moments as we get back and forth exchanges from members of each team. Moxley and Kingston get in together and start chopping the hell out of each while the rest of the match breaks down around them. Claudio is able to isolate and work over Kingston nicely. Ishii comes in to help only to get rocked by Takeshita with one shot! Page gets the hot tag and here we go! Tons of crazy action as The Elite run wild. Bucks go for a double superkick on Moxley but Kingston pushes him out of the way! Kingston is still protecting Moxley! Everyone starts throwing big shots at each other before Yuta winds up taking a big Vertical Drop Brainbuster by Ishii, who gets the win. Match peaked a little early before the finish but what a match! ****1/4 IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2023: A brilliant and brutal match! A slow start early on as each man feels each other out. Ospreay goes high risk first to take advantage and starts to up the brutality of the match. We get a nice callback to their first match only reversed with Ospreay violently slamming Omega into the announcer's table to bust him up. Ospreay is full heel here by mocking the Canada crowd but it only serves to fire up Omega, who comes back and busts Ospreay open on the stairs before DDTing him on them! Ospreay is pouring blood as the two men battle it out! Incredible back and forth action with gorgeous counters. Omega looks to finish Ospreay off with the One-Winged Angel but Callis gives Ospreay a screwdriver. Ospreay stabs Omega! Hidden Blade and Stormbreaker follows up but Omega gets his foot on the rope! Ospreay makes it personal with a Kamagoye and a One-Winged Angel but Omega kicks out at one!!! Omega won't stay down but Ospreay isn't done! Some more back and forth counters before Ospreay drops Omega on his neck with a Tiger Driver 91 and a Stormbreaker finally ends it. What a match! Violent, bloody, great story-telling and two of the best wrestlers today. A perfect match! ***** Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2023: The Dream Match and great technical match. Danielson wastes no time trying to work his style match and looks to wrestle Okada while working over the arms. Meanwhile, Okada has the clear size and power advantage and is able to land a lot more big offensive moves while Danielson has to try and get Okada to the mat. Some great exchanges by both men as they are equal in terms of striking power. Okada ups the violence by hitting a Tombstone Piledriver on the ramp! Danielson fakes being hurt to sucker Okada in and hits a Busaiku Knee for a nice near-fall. Okada has enough of Danielson's games and starts to unload the heavy offense on him. A Rainmaker by Okada but Danielson kicks out! Another Rainmaker attempt but Danielson counters into the LeBell Lock! Okada keeps trying to fight out only for Danielson to tie up his other arm and locks in the hold more and more before Okada taps! Holy shit! What an upset! Danielson tapped out the Rainmaker! WOW! Great match! ****1/4 Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii at AEW Dynamite 6/28/23: An all out fight between these two. Both men come out swinging and start landing big shots right at the bell. Moxley is able to work over Ishii for a bit before Ishii starts to make a comeback. Match becomes a bomb fest and both men throw out their best shots and still keep getting up for more. Moxley is able to nail a brutal stomp before nailing Death Rider to get the win. Very fun sprint of a match. ****