Top Matches I Watched in March 2023

Top Matches I Watched in March 2023

By Alex Kalil

My God! We are 3 months into 2023 and already this is turning into an insane year for matches in wrestling! We had AEW give us one of the best shows of the year with THE greatest 60 Minute Iron Match ever! Some great weekly matches from AEW, NXT and ROH as well as NJPW doing very well. Plus the start of Wrestlemania weekend with Bloodsport and Supercard of Honor! What a month!

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks at AEW Revolution 2023: A good pure and simple wrestling match. Starks goes right after Jericho and gets the early advantage. Jericho starts to go after Starks' injured ribs to take over and get some heat. Starks fires up and goes for the Spear but Jericho counters with a Codebreaker. Jericho goes back to the ribs and locks in the Walls of Jericho but Starks counters into a Half Crab. Sammy runs out for a distraction only to be stopped by Action Andretti. The distraction allows Jericho to get the baseball bat and nail Starks in the ribs. Jericho goes for the Judas Effect but Starks blocks it! Starks hits Roshambo and gets the win on Jericho. Very good and fun pro wrestling. ****

The Final Burial: Christian Cage vs."Jungle Boy" Jack Perry at AEW Revolution 2023: This was a fight! Jack starts off with a house of fire -and wants to beat the hell out of Christian, who does everything he can to escape Jack's wrath. Christian is able to use his experience and wit to take over and trip Jack on the ringside steps and starts whipping Jack with his own belt. Some great fighting from these two as they brawl and +use dirty tactics to punish each other; going for the eyes, pulling hair and even throwing dirt at each other. Christian misses a swing with the shovel and Jack uses the shovel in a Snare Trap. A brutal Conchairto ends it as Jack rolls Christian into the casket for the win. A violent and brutal match. Loved the realistic down and dirty fight feel to everything these two did and Jack tapping into his darker edge to get the win. ****1/4

AEW World Trios Championship Match: Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (c) vs. House of Black at AEW Revolution 2023: A balls to the wall, all out action-filled match! Match starts off with The Elite able to go toe to toe with Black and Matthews and are able to use their quick offense to control early on. Brody King is the difference maker for House of Black. He comes in and wrecks everyone! House of Black are able to take over by brawling and isolating The Elite, while The Elite try to use their speed and teamwork to fight back. Great visual story-telling of The Bucks not able to match up to Brody while Omega is the only one to make a dent in the big man so naturally House of Black targets Omega. A distraction by Julia Hart gives Black an opening to blast Omega with Black Mass. House of Black looks to end it but the Bucks pull Brody and Matthews out of the ring while Omega desperately holds Black's leg to leave him open for a double Superkick! The Bucks are left on their own and look for the Meltzer Driver but Matthews catches Nick with a knee! Black Mass to Matt followed by Dante's Inferno and the House wins! Excellent match that really put over House of Black as a dominant threat. ****1/4

Texas Death Match: Jon Moxley vs. Adam Page at AEW Revolution 2023: What a bloody and violent war! Page jumps Moxley as he enters and here we go! In no time at all, the violence starts as Page takes barbed wire to Moxley's face! Moxley comes back and uses the barbed wire on Page before locking him in a Triangle Choke and stabbing Page with a fork! Jesus! Both men are covered in blood already! More carnage as chairs and barbed wire are used all match and both men utilize them to add extra punishment to their moves. Page wraps himself in barbed wire for a Moonsault to the outside. Moxley uses a pair of bricks to go after Page's right hand and piledrives him onto a chain! Page fights back and goes for the Buckshot but Moxley counters into a Death Rider and a Curb Stomp into the bricks! Good Lord! Moxley tries to choke Page out but Page slips out and gets his own choke in deep. Page finally nails the Buckshot Lariat and hangs Moxley over the top rope with a chain around his neck! Moxley taps out! These two men killed each other and punished themselves just to try and punish each other. An absolute war! ****1/2

60 Minute Iron Man Match for the AEW World Championship: MJF (c) vs. Bryan Danielson at AEW Revolution 2023: This Was Pro Wrestling! Right from the bell Danielson is clearly the calmer and better wrestler. MJF looks to stall and duck Danielson's early onslaught before finally going after Danielson's hurt shoulder. MJF works over the injury nicely to soften Danielson up for the Salt of the Earth as well as take away Danielson's advantage on the mat. Danielson is able to fire up and starts mounting a comeback which causes MJF to take more risks for bigger offense and he slightly tweaks his knee. Both men have an injury now and they start trading quick pinfall attempts to get on the board before Danielson is able to nail a Busaiku Knee and gets the first fall. Danielson looks for a second knee but MJF kicks him low for a DQ. MJF quickly capitalizes and scores two quick pinfalls to tie it back up. MJF is now back in control but Danielson starts to go after MJF's hurt knee with kicks and submissions. MJF starts to feel the desperation and nails a top rope elbow to the outside through a table on Danielson to try and get a count-out. But Danielson still makes it back in the ring! MJF is furious and willingly hurts his own knee more to hit Danielson with a brutal Tombstone Piledriver onto the broken table! Heatseeker on a now bloody Danielson gives MJF another fall and the lead. Now MJF is in his comfort zone and just mocks and belittles Danielson as he slaps him and stomps on him. Danielson fires back and starts going for broke. He throws himself at MJF with headbutts, dives and a scary Spider Superplex. A Diving Headbutt off the top by Danielson and MJF is pouring blood! Danielson locks in the Regal Stretch and MJF has to tap. It's tied again! Danielson looks for the Regal Stretch again but MJF is able to lock in the Salt of the Earth. The two trade submissions back and forth before MJF gets the Salt of the Earth back in. MJF ties up both of Danielson's arms and one of his legs while in the hold but Danielson still makes it to the ropes! 5 minutes to go and the two men start slugging it out. A second Heatseeker only gets 2. MJF goes to the top but Danielson catches him and lands some Hammer and Anvil Elbows but MJF slips him into a Tombstone Piledriver off Bret's rope! MJF tries to cover but his knee is destroyed!. He finally covers but Danielson gets a Half Crab in! Seconds to go! MJF can't get to the rope! Time expires! It's a tie! But wait! We get Sudden Death! Roll-up by Danielson. Kick-out! MJF blocks the ref and kicks Danielson low. Roll-up with the tights! Kick-out! MJF wants to use the belt but the ref stops him. MJF has the diamond ring! He misses! Danielson hits the Busaiku Knee! 1,2... Kick-out! Half Crab again! MJF barely makes it to the ropes but taps to make Danielson think he tapped out. MJF rolls outside to recover. He nails Danielson with an oxygen tank! Ref didn't see it! MJF locks in the LeBell Lock. Danielson is still alive! Danielson tries to fight but he can't do it! Danielson taps and MJF wins! My God! What a match! Perfect pacing, booking, story-telling and action with an amazing finish. The Greatest Iron Man Match of All Time! *****

New Japan Cup 2023 First Round Match: Taichi vs. SANADA at NJPW New Japan Cup 2023 Day 1: A really good back and forth storytelling match. SANADA starts off slow and doesn't seem to be fully into the match and Taichi makes him pay by hitting a DDT on the floor and just battering him with strikes. Taichi slaps and yells at SANADA to fight back and put his heart into the match and SANADA does! He rocks Taichi with strikes and drops him on the floor with a piledriver! Match becomes a back and forth battle as the two are able to counter each other's wrestling holds and trade throwing bombs at each other. SANADA hits a pair of Moonsaults for a big near-fall. Taichi fires back but SANADA is able to block a Black Mephisto and hits one of his own and breaks out a new DDT variation to get the win. SANADA needed to be woken up in this match and when he did, he showed fire and got the win. ****

New Japan Cup 2023 First Round Match: Tomohiro Ishii vs. David Finlay at NJPW 51st Anniversary Event: A good match up to get Finlay over as a heel. He works a more aggressive style and looks to pick apart Ishii's body especially his neck while Ishii looks to power through all the damage. Some great back and forth action as Ishii is able to absorb a lot of punishment and just hammer Finlay back in response. Both men start throwing bombs at each other before Finlay is finally able to counter Ishii and hit Trash Panda to get the win. Simple but effective wrestling match. ****

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: Bishamon (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW 51st Anniversary Event: A great tag team match up. Tanahashi starts off for the Dream Team before getting cut off by the superior team of Bishamon. Okada gets the tag and easily runs through both members of Bishamon. Okada looks to end it with a Rainmaker in 10 minutes but Bishamon is able to double team Okada to prevent it. When it's one on one, Okada easily controls the pace of the match but Bishamon's teamwork is able to keep things even. Okada and Tanahashi target the weak link of the team in YOSHI-HASHI with a elbow drop followed by a High Fly Flow but YOSHI-HASHI gets the knees up! Tanahashi and YOSHI-HASHI battle back and forth long enough for Goto to rush in to hit Shoto on Tanahashi and get the win for the champs. Okada was easily the most dominant threat all match but the numbers and team work of Bishamon was enough to counter it and get the win in front of a super hot crowd. ****1/4

ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Timothy Thatcher at ROH on HonorClub 3/9/23: A great match that fully utilized the gimmick. Right at the bell, Thatcher catches Yuta in a Fujiwara armbar and forces him to use a rope break and get on defense. Thatcher uses his power and strength to manhandle Yuta while working the left arm. Yuta starts to pick up the pace and use his quickness to tie up Thatcher in his own holds and go after the arm as well. Yuta nicely forces Thatcher to burn up all his rope breaks quickly and even throws a closed fist to keep in control. Thatcher is able to snatch Yuta in his own quick hold to get a second rope break and then stomps away on Yuta to use his last rope break. No more rope breaks for either man as Thatcher unloads on Yuta who has to roll to the outside to get away. Thatcher tries to follow but Yuta nails him with a closed fist behind the referee's back and ties him up in the ropes for the submission. Yuta used all the tricks that go along with a Pure Rules match and almost sweeped Thatcher but Thatcher picked up on the rules and almost beat Yuta in his own game until Yuta took a shortcut. ****

ROH Women's World Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Willow Nightingale at ROH on HonorClub 3/9/23: A very fun classic babyface vs. heel match. Willow starts out able to out-power Athena and uses her surprising speed only for Athena to go after Willow's shoulder. Amazing heel work by Athena who uses the environment well to work over Willow and just seems to be enjoying every moment of bullying her. Willow fires back by landing big bombs on Athena, who tries to run away and escape. Willow follows but Athena blinds her with thumbs in the eyes. Athena drives her into the ring steps again and catches her with the O Face as she recovers and gets the win. Great job getting Athena over the heel and Willow the babyface while making the match fun and exciting. ****

High Speed Championship Match: AZM (c) vs. Starlight Kid at Stardom Triangle Derby I Finals: A fast paced match right from the bell as these women fought all out to put each other away. Both women go after limbs with AZM going after the arms and shoulders while Starlight Kid goes after the right knee. Some nice work by both targeting their opponent's limbs with Starlight Kid dodging a double stomp and AZM landing right on the floor as well as AZM landing a double stomp to Starlight Kid's arm! Lots of big bombs and near-falls as both women throw their best at the other before AZM hits an insane top rope move that lands Starlight Kid right on her arm. AZM goes right into a submission and ties up Starlight Kid and forces her to tap. A little long for me and the selling could have been better but still a great showing. ****

Adam Page, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta at AEW Dynamite 3/15: A super fun trios match. Evil Uno starts off for his team and tries to go after Moxley but is quickly shut down by the brutal and vicious teamwork of the Blackpool Combat Club. Uno is able to fight back enough for Stu to get the hot tag and run wild in his hometown. Eventually the violent edge of the BCC puts them back in control and Stu on defense. Finally Page gets in and turns the tide for his team. Page goes for the Buckshot Lariat but Yuta takes him out with the ringbell! Super Smash Bros are all alone and they charge into the fight! One by one they are seemingly able to take out members of the BCC. Fatality on Moxley but Yuta makes the save! Yuta takes out Uno and leaves Stu open for a Swiss Death from Claudio before Moxley chokes him out to get the win. Great stuff as Page was the biggest threat to the BCC so they cheated to make sure he was no longer a threat. Even with that, still Dark Order fought to survive and looked to have the match won before the numbers were too much. ****

AEW World Trios Championship Match: House of Black (c) vs. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia at AEW Dynamite 3/15: A very fun, all out action match. House of Black works like a pack of wolves and looks to maul and manhandle the other two teams and keep people isolated. Match pretty much builds to Jericho and Omega facing off while the other members of their teams do their part to eliminate threats for their "leaders" to try and get the win. In the end, House of Black works more like a unit all match and are able to pick off people before they hit Dante's Inferno on Jericho for the win. Not an amazing match but the crowd was super into it and there was a ton of action. ****

New Japan Cup 2023 Second Round Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino at NJPW New Japan Cup 2023 Day 8: A great technical matchup between these two. Umino is able to surprise Sabre early on by taking him to the mat multiple times and keeping up with him in terms of wrestling. Sabre gets pissed and starts viciously going after Umino's shoulder. Umino tries to fight back only for Sabre to continuously go after the shoulder again and again. Finally Umino gets an opening by going after Sabre's shoulder as well. Great selling by both as Umino can't use his power as effectively with his hurt arm and Sabre can't use his left arm to lock in submissions deep. Both men do their best to work through their pain and out-wrestle the other with some great exchanges. Umino is able to counter Sabre one time too many and nails the Death Rider out of nowhere to get the win. Great match that made both men look good. Sabre was the better wrestler most of the match but Umino was able to do just enough to land a big bomb to get the win. ****

GCW World Championship Match: Masha Slamovich (c) vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey at GCW Worst Behavior 2023: A super fun and violent match. Bailey starts off right away laying in strikes on Masha and looks to end things fast but Masha isn't going down easy. Bailey tries to work the midsection of Masha with kicks, knees and even a Boston Crab. Masha responds by throwing every big strike and piece of offense she has at Bailey to stay alive. Bailey gets frustrated and starts to up the violence. Bailey takes the ring apart and uses the exposed turnbuckle and chokes Masha with the ropes to stop her, but she won't stay down! The two start throwing each other around with reckless abandon with Bailey even using the ring boards to punish Masha. At long last, Masha is able to fight back enough to drop Bailey with a piledriver on the boards! Bailey falls between the ring boards and is trapped as Masha chokes him out for the win. Loved Bailey playing the heel and upping the violence to try and put away the stubborn and determined champion but in the end, him tearing apart the ring lead to his own defeat. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Lio Rush at NJPW New Japan Cup 2023 Day 12: A great match between these two. Right from the bell these two show off their quickness and agility with Lio getting the advantage and taking over. Hiromu is quick to respond by just going for one big bomb after another on the smaller man. Match becomes a battle of speed vs. power as both men use their advantage to take back control. Lio is able to rock Hiromu and nails Final Hour to the back of the champion. Lio goes for one more but Hiromu gets his knees up and rolls right into a Time Bomb for a huge near-fall. The pace picks up from here with both men going for broke and getting some great near-falls in. Lio is able to hit YOH's finisher and goes for Final Hour again but Hiromu rolls out of the way. Lio tries a desperate roll-up only for Hiromu to kick-out and unload a series of heavy shots before a Time Bomb 2 ends it. Lio was easily the faster wrestler the whole match but he couldn't land the big move needed to keep the champion down and in the end, Hiromu was just too powerful for him. ****1/4

JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov at NXT 3/21/23: A physical and stiff match. Both men dished out hard shots right at the bell. Chops, slaps to the face, kicks and brutal suplexes all to just punish the other. Lots of great back and forth action as the two know each other well and are able to counter each other. Match ends in a no contest when their fight spills to the outside and Dragon Lee gets involved but a very good match to build on their feud. ****

Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo at AEW Dynamite 3/22/23: An incredible match up! Vikingo takes the fight right to Omega before he even gets in the ring and starts unloading one crazy high spot after another on Omega to just overwhelm him with offense. Omega has to try and work quickly to shut down Vikingo's momentum with his strikes and power to keep him grounded. Nice heel work by Omega only for Vikingo to keep surprising him with insane moves out of nowhere. Lots of crazy moments and it looks like Vikingo will actually pull off the upset but a missed 630 gives Omega the opening to nail a V-Trigger to the back of the head of Vikingo. One-Winged Angel is enough to get Omega the win but what a star-making match for Vikingo! ****1/4

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jeff Cobb at AEW Dynamite 3/29/23: A good TV match. Omega comes in banged up and Cobb is quick to use his strength to shut down Omega's fast offense. Cobb nicely works over Omega's midsection all match while Omega tries to stick and move and go for big offense to chip away at the armor of Cobb. Omega keeps pushing himself too much and his hurt ribs prevent him from finishing Cobb off multiple times and Cobb is quick to take advantage. Cobb tries to play mind games by hitting a V-Trigger and going for the One-Winged Angel but Omega slips out and rocks Cobb with a pair of V-Triggers before finally getting him up for the One-Winged Angel and the win. Omega had to really fight from underneath to survive but was able to pull it off. ****

Kota Ibushi vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey at GCW Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9: A fantastic match in just 7 minutes. Both men start out slow with some strikes and mat wrestling before Bailey goes after Ibushi's bad shoulder and launches him out of the ring. Ibushi comes back all business and lights up Bailey with kicks. Bailey tries to go back to the shoulder but Ibushi is able to block it and Bailey tries to roll to the floor. But Ibushi stops him. A brutal German back into the ring! Regal-plex drops Bailey on his head before a Kamagoye knocks Bailey out! Ibushi gets the win and shows he is back! ****

Josh Barnett vs. Timothy Thatcher at GCW Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9: A great technical wrestling match. Both men start off mat wrestling and working for holds. Some incredible back and forth wrestling and escapes from submissions. As the match goes on, Thatcher has the advantage on the mat and is able to keep Barnett on defense. Barrett responds by dropping Thatcher with a brutal Saito Suplex and even rolls both men off the apron to the floor to escape a submission. Barnett tries to drop Thatcher with more bombs but Thatcher is able to absorb the punishment and locks Barnett in a Fujiwara Armbar. Barnett is able to escape but Thatcher rolls into a kneebar and Barnett is forced to tap. The undefeated streak of Barnett is over! Thatcher was the better wrestler and while Barnett tried to change up the style of match, Thatcher was too good to be stopped. ****

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuki Ueno at DDT Goes Hollywood!: A good match between these two friendly rivals. Takeshita is the bigger and stronger wrestler and Ueno has to use his quickness to try and keep ahead of him. Ueno is able to take control for a while before Takeshita starts to go after the neck of the smaller man. Ueno does a good job of fighting back through all the punishment and both men start throwing bombs at each other. Match goes a little long with both men throwing their best shots before Takeshita is able to nail a big knee to Ueno to put him away. ****

AAA Mega Championship Match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Komander at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: This was an insane display of athleticism and wrestling. Both men pulled off some truly incredible and crazy spots all to wow the crowd and put away their opponent. Nice little story of Vikingo missing the 630 and Komander finally hitting the rope-walk Shooting Star Press for a big near-fall. Komander hits the Hidden Ace but Vikingo gets the ropes! Finally Vikingo uses his power and speed to hit a crazy slam off the top and a running double knees before a 630 finally ends it. One of the best Lucha style matches I have seen in years! ****1/4

ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Mark Briscoe at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: Classic pro wrestling right here. Mark comes in ready to prove himself as a singles wrestler but Joe is still a monster. Joe manhandles and throws around the smaller Mark, all while Mark throws every shot he has in the tank to try and chip away at Joe. Mark is able to use some high risk offense and big shots to finally rattle Joe and Mark goes for the hot tag... but Jay isn't there anymore. Mark fires up! And the two start throwing haymakers at each other. Mark finally is able to hit Froggy Bow for a big near-fall. Mark goes for the Cutthroat Driver but Joe gets the choke on him. Mark fights to the ropes but Joe drops him with a Sleeper Suplex before locking the choke back in deep. The referee has to call it. Mark fought like hell but Joe was just too powerful for him. Heartbreaking but still so good. ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: A very fun and simple wrestling match. Both men start off trying to out-wrestle the other with the veteran and larger Tanahashi being able to take control. Garcia responds by going after the knee of Tanahashi to take away the Ace's high flying as well as setting up for a submission. Nice heel heat as Garcia mocks Nakamura to attack Tanahashi more. Tanahashi goes after the knee of Garcia as well with kicks and Dragon Screws to even the match up. Garcia goes for a piledriver but Tanahashi slips out and nails a Twist and Shout before a High Fly Flow ends it. Basic match but Garcia's heel antics and classic Tanahashi comeback made it very fun. ****

Reach for the Sky Ladder Match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship: The Lucha Brothers vs. The Kingdom vs. Aussie Open vs. Top Flight vs. Rush and Dralístico at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: A wild spot-fest match. Every team did a great job showing what they could do and being in control of the match at some point. Lucha Brothers and Top Flight used their high flying and high risk offense, The Kingdom used their brains and tried to be crafty, Aussie Open used their power and LFI just brawled and fought everyone. Tons of wild spots and a total car crash match. Fenix is able to stop The Kingdom at the finish and gets the win for his team. Crazy match! ****1/4

ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: An amazing story-telling. Yuta tries to wrestle Shibata at the start but is quickly put in his place and clearly outmatched. Shibata locks in a Figure Four early and Yuta has to use a rope break. Yuta has to kick Shibata low behind the ref's back and use a closed fist to take over but it doesn't take long for Shibata to take back over and get back in the driver seat. Yuta tries to fight back but Shibata is just too much for him with a Sleeper into a PK putting Yuta away. Yuta bit off more than he could chew and was quickly reminded that he is still just a student compared to The Wrestler ****

ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Eddie Kingston at ROH Supercard of Honor 2023: An excellent match that furthered these two's feud. Right at the bell, Kingston goes right after Claudio and tries to fight him. Claudio quickly starts to use his power to toss Kingston around and lay in powerful strikes. Kingston goes after the knee to take away Claudio's power and soften the champion up. Claudio is able to take control and work over Kingston but the knee starts to come into play and give Kingston an opening to start firing back. The two start throwing bombs back and forth at each other for a lot of great near-falls. Claudio looks for the Ricola Bomb but Kingston counters into a roll-up but Claudio counters right back into a roll-up of his own and gets the win! Kingston played into Claudio's style of match instead of his own style and Claudio, the better wrestler, was able to get one over on him. ****1/2