Top Matches I Watched in June 2024

Top Matches I Watched in June 2024

By Alex Kalil

Another quality month of wrestling with AEW in full Forbidden Door season and some great weekly matches. WWE delivering a few good matches as did NJPW, NOAH and even ROH and AJPW!

AEW International Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kyle O'Reilly at AEW Collision 6/1/24: A really great back and forth match. Things start off with both men doing some nice mat wrestling before Ospreay picks up the pace and starts using his quickness to take over. Kyle is eventually able to fight back by going after Ospreay's arm and start working for submissions. Some incredible counters and exchanges from the two, all while Ospreay sells the arm perfectly and Kyle goes back to the arm any time Ospreay starts to get rolling. The match picks up as both men go for bigger and bigger blows. Awesome spot with Ospreay hitting a Hidden Blade, but when he goes for a second Kyle nails him with a knee! Kyle looks for a Brainbuster but Ospreay counters into a stunner and nails another Hidden Blade. Stormbreaker by Ospreay is enough to get the win. Just a great bell to bell match. Ospreay is easily in control early only to get wounded by the better technical wrestler, Kyle and has to fight back harder to get the win. Good stuff! ****

Best of the Super Junior 31 Block A Match: El Desperado vs. Clark Connors at NJPW Best of the Super Junior 31 Night 8: A wild brawl of a match. Both men start off trying to hit each other with chairs before the match spills onto the floor for most of the match. The two fight through the crowd and ringside using barricades, chairs and tables to try and punish the other. Desperado takes a beating by Connors before fighting back and smashing his face with a pair of chairs! Match finally gets in the ring only for Connors to cut Desperado in half with a Gore. Connors hits another Gore for a big near-fall and starts hammering Desperado with punches. No Chaser but Desperado with a hand on the ropes! Middle finger to Connors, who starts leveling Desperado with more punches! Referee tries to stop it but Connors won't let up and the referee disqualifies him. More angle than match but this was great at making Desperado look like a "never say die" babyface and Connors a ruthless heel. ****

Best of the Super Junior 31 Block B Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Robbie Eagles at NJPW Best of the Super Junior 31 Night 9: A well booked and executed match. Right at the bell, Eagles tries to wrestle Hiromu and go after the legs but Hiromu is quick to avoid it. Eagles is able to sucker Hiromu into a chop battle, only to drop him knee first on the floor. From there, Hiromu's knee is hurt and Eagles is all over it with offense and submissions. Hiromu tries to fight back but can't land his trademark hard hitting offense with only one good knee. Hiromu tries to lock in D but Eagles fights out and uses the Ron Miller Special to keep chipping away at Hiromu. In the end, Hiromu has to all but stand stationary and throw strikes for any hope of winning but even still Eagles is able to counter and lock back in the Ron Miller Special. Hiromu barely makes it to the rope for an excellent near-fall. Eagles starts to get frustrated at Hiromu staying in this and hammers on the knee. Hiromu is able to grab hold of Eagles for a roll-up and gets the pin out of nowhere! Eagles wrestled a near perfect match and did everything right to put Hiromu on defense all match but Hiromu never gave up and made Eagles pay for one slip up in the end. ****

FTR vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta at AEW Collision 6/8/24: Just a great bell to bell match. We get some nice opening tag exchanges with Claudio being the difference maker for his team and allowing the BCC to take over. When FTR does fire up and take over, they do so on Yuta for some nice little storytelling of Claudio being Yuta's muscle. Great back and forth action and near-falls all match with everyone working a hard hitting and stiff style. Time starts to run out and both teams start pushing the pace. Shatter Machine by FTR but Yuta makes the save. Claudio hits the Neutralizer on Cash for a 2 count. Claudio goes right into a Crossface and tries to force a tap out but time runs out. It's a draw. A great TV match with two teams working at a furious pace that got the crowd into the match before a nice finish to tease a rematch. Good stuff. ****

Konosuke Takeshita, Shun Skywalker and Yuya Uemura vs. Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino and Yuki Ueno at UJPW All Together 2024: A fun match highlighting the next generation of Japanese stars. Some early exchanges before the match settles with Takeshita, Shun and Uemura being the heels of the match. Takeshita punishes his old teammate Ueno for a while for some nice heat with Shun and Uemura joining in. Ueno makes the hot tag to Umino, who runs wild for a bit and we get a more back and forth match again. A lot of great action from everyone before the babyfaces hit Uemura with three top rope dropkicks at the same time! That was great! Kaito finishes things with a Shining Wizard on Uemura to get the win for his team. Super fun match with all 6 men getting time to shine and show off some really nice chemistry. ****

Triple Crown Championship Match: Yuma Anzai (c) vs. Kento Miyahara at AJPW Super Power Series 2024 Night 1: A fantastic match! A nice slow start with both trying for holds and basic wrestling. Kento lands the first big blow and right away Anzai fires right back only for Kento to start unloading headbutts! Here we go!  A really nice story plays out with Kento being the current Ace and refusing to give up his spot while Anzai is fighting for his place at the top and won't take Kento disrespecting him. Kento has to work smarter and use his experience to find openings and catch the younger Anzai, who does an amazing job of taking a beating but keeps firing up and fighting back every time. Both men keep looking for their biggest shot all match but their opponents have their offense well scouted. Awesome spot with Kento going for a knee, only for Anzai to block it with one of his own! Anzai blocks Kento from hitting Shutdown and hits one of his own! A final knee by Anzai before finally hitting Gimlet to get the win. A fantastic match that firmly cemented Anzai as the new Ace of AJPW, while showing that Kento is still a threat to be feared. ****1/2 

Best of the Super Junior 31 Semi-Final Match: TJP vs. Taiji Ishimori at NJPW Best of the Super Junior 31 Night 13: A really great pro wrestling match. Both men start off with some excellent straight up mat wrestling with back and forth holds. Ishimori starts upping the aggression by going after TJP's shoulder and neck with some nice targeted offense. TJP starts firing back nicely and goes to the neck of Ishimori as well, only for Ishimori to throw TJP, shoulder first, into an exposed turnbuckle to take back control. TJP is able to fight back and we get some really nice back and forth exchanges and near-falls. TJP is able to lock in the Pinoy Stretch but Ishimori is able to fight out when TJP adjusts his grip and gets him in the Bone Lock. Ishimori wears down TJP with his hold before a Bloody Sunday and one final Bloody Cross ends things. A really good match with both guys going after hurt body parts from a long tournament but Ishimori was able to pull off the win with his aggressive edge. ****1/4

Best of the Super Junior 31 Semi-Final Match: El Desperado vs. DOUKI at NJPW Best of the Super Junior 31 Night 13: A really good veteran vs. younger wrestler match. Some quick exchanges right from the start with DOUKI using his speed to counter Desperado's experience advantage. A knee breaker by Desperado slows DOUKI down and allows Desperado to work him over for a bit. DOUKI is able to fire up and makes a comeback by going after Desperado's hurt neck. We get a lot of back and forth action with the crowd firmly behind the underdog DOUKI. Some big near-falls as both men try for their trademark submissions. DOUKI is able to get the Douki Chokie in! Desperado is fading but DOUKI rolls to try and get him away from the ropes and Desperado counters into Pinche Loco! A second Pinche Loco is enough to get the win. The crowd was going crazy for DOUKI, who fought so hard to get the win but Desperado's experience helped him get the win here. ****

AEW International Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Rey Fenix at AEW Dynamite 6/12/24: A really fun back and forth match from these two high flyers. We get some really nice quick exchanges early on from both men. Nice storytelling with Fenix pushing the pace early on being the younger and faster wrestler and wanting a quick win over the more experienced and dangerous Ospreay. Ospreay is able to ground and slow down Fenix for a bit before the match becomes a wild display of action and counters. Ospreay goes for a Hidden Blade only for Fenix to cut him off. Fenix goes for a rolling cutter but Ospreay is there with a Hidden Blade to the face! Ospreay to the top and locks eyes with Swerve Strickland in the crowd and hits the Swerve Stomp to send a message to the champion. A final Hidden Blade and Ospreay gets the win. Just a great TV match between two amazing wrestlers with a really nicely done storytelling finish. ****

NJPW World Television Championship Match: Jeff Cobb (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii at NJPW Dominion 2024: An all out Hoss fight from these two. They waste no time and come out swinging for the fences with big stiff strikes and big bombs. Nice bit of storytelling with Cobb being the more athletic of the two and uses it to his advantage while also going after Ishii's bad neck with big offense. Lots of big back and forth exchanges and near-falls from both guys. Ishii is able to fire up and hits a hurricanrana on Cobb! Big Lariat but only 2! Ishii tries for the Brainbuster but his neck is too hurt to let him lift Cobb up and Cobb is able to counter into the Tour of the Islands and gets the win. Match was exactly what you expect from these two and I enjoyed the faster pace they had to work due to the time limit. ****

NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. HENARE at NJPW Dominion 2024: A hard hitting fight from these two. Lots of strikes, kicks and headbutts from both men as they refuse to back down and go right at each other. Some nice selling with HENARE selling his neck from all of Shingo's forearms and Shingo selling his ribs from HENARE's kicks. Shingo goes for Last of the Dragon but HENARE counters out and hits Streets of Rage but can't follow up right away for the cover. HENARE lights up Shingo with strikes but Shingo catches the leg and nails Last of the Dragon! Both men throw everything they have left at each other with big strikes. HENARE with a jumping headbutt and both men are down! Referee counts to 10 and the match is ruled a draw. Nice set up for a rematch with these two men just killing each other all match with big strikes and bombs. ****

Best of the Super Junior 31 Final Match: Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado at NJPW Dominion 2024: A really good back and forth battle from these two. Some nice wrestling exchanges early on before Desperado goes after Ishimori's knee. Ishimori ups the pace to take over with his speed and goes after the shoulder of Desperado, including running him into an exposed turnbuckle. Ishimori works on the shoulder for a bit of heat before Desperado fires back for a nice bit of back and forth. Nice touch with both men going back to the limb work later in the match to try and take back control. Ishimori is able to lock in the Bone Lock but Desperado counters out into Numero Dos. Ishimori fights out and hits a Canadian Destroyer! Ishimori gets desperate and low blows Desperado for a nice near-fall. The two are back on even ground as they fight to get the win. Desperado blocks the Bloody Cross and runs Iishmori into the same exposed turnbuckle! Jay Driller right into Pinche Loco and Desperado is the Best of the Super Junior! Really great back and forth action all match. Loved Desperado beating Ishimori by using his own cheating tactics against him for the finish. ****1/4

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney (c) vs. Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita at NJPW New Japan Soul 2024 Night 1: A really nice classic Southern datag match. TMDK look to start off fast and use their speed to control the match. However, War Dogs are able to cut them off and make the match a brawl on the outside and isolate Fujita. Some good heat on the younger opponent before Fujita makes the hot tag to Eagles, who runs wild for a bit. We get some good back and forth action and near-falls from both teams. Really nice spot with TMDK locking in dual submissions but Drilla goes to Fujita's eyes to break one of the submissions and keeps War Dogs in the match. Eagles goes for a dive but War Dogs catch him and Drilla hits Drilla Killa on the floor! Eagles is done! Fujita tries to stay in the match and even gets a few nice near-falls in before Drilla hits him with Drilla Killa. Connors hits No Chaser before a Full Clip ends things. Really good showing by TMDK before the aggressive and brawling style of War Dogs got them the win. ****

MJF vs. Rush at AEW Dynamite 6/19/24: A really good wrestler vs. brawler match. We get some nice opening exchanges with Rush looking to make things a fight and MJF wanting to keep things a wrestling match. MJF is able to take control for a bit before seemingly hurting his bad knee. A slip off the top gives Rush the opening to nail MJF with a brutal right and take over. Some nice heat on MJF including Rush choking him with a camera cord. MJF cuts off Rush going for the Bull's Horn with a clothesline and is able to rally. A Heatseeker and a Brainbuster is enough for MJF to get the win. A rather flat and sudden finish but really enjoyed the action all match and the story they were telling. ****

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Damian Priest (c) vs. Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash at the Castle 2024: A really well done hard hitting match. Both men come out swinging for the fences with Drew getting the early edge, thanks to the fired up crowd. Priest is able to start rolling on Drew but gets his leg hung up on a dive and hurts his leg. Nice story from there of Priest being hurt and having to work around his damaged leg and fight back against Drew. Lots of big strike exchanges and big bombs back and forth along with some nice near-falls. Drew accidentally runs Priest into the referee and takes him out right before hitting a big Claymore but no referee to count! New referee comes in. 1.. 2.. They stop! It's CM Punk! Drew tries to attack Punk and Punk kicks him low. Priest hits South of Heaven and gets the win! Loved the back and forth from these two and how hard hitting it was. The nice story of Priest hurting himself was a good way to work in the botch and the finish helped to build up Punk vs. Drew. ****

GHC Heavyweight Championship Match: Kaito Kiyomiya (c) vs. Gabe Kidd at Pro Wrestling NOAH Grand Ship 2024 in Yokohama: A nice heated fight between these two. Right at the bell, the two men start going right at it. Kaito tries to use his quickness early, only for Kidd to make this a brawl around ringside. Kaito does a nice job trying to fight back and match Kidd only for Kidd to bust him open and mock him. Here comes Kaito! Stiff strikes and an aggressive edge to the champion now to defend his home! Kaito is able to run Kidd into the turnbuckle to bust open Kidd and nails a Tiger Suplex on the apron. But now Kidd fires up at the sight of his blood! These two are in a fight! Lots of strikes and brutal bombs from both men as both seem to be pushing the other to fight back harder and harder. A top rope Tiger Suplex by Kaito and Kidd barely kicks out. Kidd goes down swinging and tells Kaito to hit him. Three Shining Wizard variations by Kaito and the champion retains. Really good stuff. Loved watching both men take a beating only to fire up and keep coming back for more. ****1/4

Best Two out of Three Falls Match for the ROH World Television Championship: Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Lee Johnson at ROH on HonorClub 6/20/24: A really good action filled match. Johnson takes the fight right to Fletcher from the start before Fletcher takes control and works over Johnson for some decent heat. Fletcher just hammers on Johnson for most of the first fall with Johnson trying to stay in it with some good shots before Fletcher puts him away for the first fall. Johnson takes a while to recover as Fletcher mocks him but finally Johnson counters Fletcher and runs him into the turnbuckle. Johnson takes advantage and gets a roll-up to tie it up. Johnson has momentum now and starts rolling. Two big sunset bombs in and out of the ring by Johnson, which looked amazing! Johnson hits a pair of Frog Splashes but Fletcher still kicks out! Fletcher shoves Johnson into the referee for a distraction and kicks Johnson low. Top Rope Brainbuster finally ends it. Really nice stuff with Fletcher easily controlling early before Johnson fires up and takes the fight to him and Fletcher has to cheap to get the last fall. ****

Owen Hart Foundation 2024 Men's Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024: A fantastic submission vs. powerhouse match. Danielson comes in hurt and tries to wrestle Shingo to the mat and neutralize his power and strength early on. Danielson gets hung up going for a dive and Shingo catches him and hits a twisting neckbreaker on the floor, right on Danielson's bad neck. Some great heat by Shingo as he just hammers on Danielson, who does a nice job fighting to stay in the match. Things become a back and forth battle of Danielson trying to rock Shingo with strikes and work submissions while Shingo is all power and big bombs. Some great near-falls and exchanges before Danielson is able to nail the Busaiku Knee but only gets a 2. Danielson stomps Shingo's head in and locks in a Triangle Choke. Shingo somehow powers Danielson up, only for Danielson to hammer him with elbows to drop Shingo again. Danielson locks in a deep armbar and Shingo has to tap. A great match with Danielson working from underneath against the bigger and stronger Shingo and having to find openings to ground him and get the submission win. Excellent stuff! ****1/2

Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024: An incredible back and forth wrestling match! Both men start off with some quick back and forth counters showing off both men's wrestling skills. Sabre doesn't fall for Cassidy's mind games and is able to ground Cassidy and work him over nicely, even does his own mocking kicks to rub it in. Cassidy gets serious though and attacks Sabre's hurt leg with some brutal looking Dragon Screws. Cassidy tries for the Orange Punch, only for Sabre to counter it and go after the hand to take away Cassidy's best shot. Awesome spot with Cassidy getting pissed at Sabre and violently stomping on his bad knee before going for a Cloverleaf but his hand is too hurt to lock it in tightly. The two exchange pinning combinations in an incredible display of wrestling and near-falls. Cassidy goes for the Mouse Trap but Sabre slips out and ties up Cassy's arms in a submission. Cassidy reaches for the ropes with his foot, only for Sabre to trap them as well! Sabre has Cassidy's whole body in a submission and he has to tap! Just an awesome bell to bell match. Cassidy tried to beat Sabre at his own game by out-wrestling him but was outmatched in the end. ****1/4

Ladder Match for the AEW TNT Championship: Mark Briscoe vs. El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024: A wild and very good ladder match. Some good storytelling with the men involved. Perry is the opportunist and looks for the quick and sneaky win multiple times, Takeshita is the powerhouse, Mark the wild man, Rush the quickster while Dante and ELP are the athletic wrestlers. Lots of really nice and creative spots to keep the action moving. A few highlights include Mark going nuts with big dives and Dante seemingly hurting himself to play into his last ladder match. Finish comes with Takeshita wrecking shop on everyone before taking out ELP with a Blue Thunder Bomb off the apron through two tables! Mark stops Takeshita from getting the belt with a Jay Driller through a ladder! Mark starts climbing but Perry is there and beats Mark down with a chair. Perry climbs up and is the new TNT champion. I liked the story elements sprinkled in to make this more than just a highlight reel  match. Good stuff with everyone getting a chance to shine. ****

AEW World Championship Match: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024: A phenomenal back and forth match from these two! Right from the bell, these two start off working at a fast pace and showing off amazing chemistry with quick counters and exchanges. Ospreay tries to push the pace being the faster wrestler while Swerve wants to ground and work over Ospreay for a nice bit of storytelling early on. The match has a great flow with both men taking control at times and landing big offensive shots while their opponent does a great job fighting back for their own offense. Brutal looking spot with Swerve hitting a Swerve Stomp from the top to the outside on a standing Ospreay onto the announcer's table! Ouch! More big blows and near-falls from both men. Ospreay with a Stormbreaker but only 2! Ospreay stalls on going for the Tiger Driver and Swerve counters with a roll-up for a close near-fall. Swerve hits Ospreay with a Hidden Blade but misses the Swerve Stomp. Ospreay charges with a Hidden Blade but hits the referee! Another Hidden Blade to Swerve but no referee! Don Callis is here and tries to hand Ospreay a screwdriver. Nana stops Callis! Ospreay looks to attack Nana but stops himself as he gets back in the ring. House Call by Swerve! Swerve Stomp but only gets 2! Another House Call but Ospreay still kicks out! Ospreay is out on his feet trying to fight still but he is done. One more House Call and the JML Driver finally ends it. What a match! The in-ring action from these two was incredible and some of the best counter for counter wrestling all year! Loved the storytelling as well with Swerve going after Ospreay's dominant arm all match and Ospreay struggling to go for that killing blow and in the end his mercy cost him. Amazing match! ****1/2