Joseph Montecillo's Best of the Month (July 2023)

This month was exceptionally busy, between the multiple tournaments in Japan running concurrently plus just a large swell of big shows happening on the same sets of weekends. With that said, this month’s list is busier than usual, and other great matches that normally would have made it have been pushed to Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mentions

• Samoa Joe vs. Roderick Strong (AEW 7/1/23)
• Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama, & Hideki Okatani vs. Kazusada Higuchi, HARASHIMA, & Akito (DDT 7/2/23)
• FTR vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson (AEW 7/8/23)
• Daniel Makabe vs. Artemis Spencer (Prestige 7/8/23)
• Daniel Makabe vs. Cody Chhun (Prestige 7/9/23)
• Cody Chhun vs. Judas Icarus (Prestige 7/9/23)
• CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks (AEW 7/15/23)
• Eddie Kingston vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW 7/16/23)
• Claudio Castagnoli vs. PAC (ROH 7/21/23)
• Athena vs. Willow Nightingale (ROH 7/21/23)
• Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuki Ueno (DDT 7/23/23)
• Syuri vs. Suzu Suzuki (STARDOM 7/23/23)
• Ricky Marvin vs. Calibus (Lucha Memes 7/23/23)
• Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham (Prestige 7/24/23)

Jon Moxley & Homicide vs. El Desperado & Jun Kasai (NJPW 7/4/23)

Immense fun, probably more so than any other New Japan match up to this point of the year. In a more focused hardcore setting—a straight 2v2 as opposed to a trio or larger—Jon Moxley’s best strengths really get to shine. The gleeful approach to violence, that irrepressible energy that has characterized the best of his work this decade. On top of that, there’s Jun Kasai. Despy’s great, of course, and we’ll talk about that more soon, but there’s something else entirely about the feeling of Jun Kasai having a New Japan Korakuen crowd in the palm of his hand. His charm and charisma fuels so much of the energy of an already explosive bout. Hard to go wrong with four extremely likeable dudes trying to kill each other.

Rating: ****1/4

Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado (NJPW 7/5/23)

Moxley has spent most of his time since the Hangman feud in tags. That’s not a bad use of the guy, but it’s certainly not how to maximize his strengths either. In this match against Despy, in the main event of Korakuen Hall, the Jon Moxley I named 2022’s Wrestler of the Year was unleashed at full force again. Almost effortlessly violent and ruthless in his approach to wrestling, he is a site to behold. I think the moment that got me really perked up for what was already a great match was Mox taking the shattered remnants of a guitar and stabbing Despy with the shards. Fuck yes.

Despy himself is great in this too, bringing a lot of the fire, timing, and bumping that has made his deathmatch excursions such a thrill. This match doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch as the Kasai match last year, but there’s a more direct conflict at hand here. It’s as simple as Desperado trying to make his way against arguably the best wrestler going today, and finding that that’s no easy feat.

Rating: ****1/2

Templario, Hechicero, & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Averno, Euforia, & Mephisto (CMLL 7/7/23)

The break up of Los Infernales left me somewhat worried. It’s tough to see my favorite tag unit of the year have to break up, but luckily the feud that’s followed has been rather enjoyable. Casting Hechicero in the babyface role is a strong choice given he has the most exciting offensive pace of the three Infernales, but even better than that is having Averno take his spot in Infernales for this tag. Averno brings a nastiness to the unit that even the previous iteration was lacking, perhaps best illustrated by him biting the tecnicos during the second fall heat segment. What results is one of the more heated trios from CMLL this year, adding a little more petty hatred to proceedings than usual. Definitely one of the better and more memorable trios of the year.

Rating: ****

CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe (AEW 7/8/23)

As far as a continuation to the Punk and Joe series goes, this match aims for something a little more accessible as opposed to strictly following up on the classics. Luckily, when Punk and Joe decide to broaden their appeal, they make a beautiful show of it because the timeless fundamentals of storytelling work anywhere. Besides, this match still retains all the classic flavors of their rivalry. Joe works as a nigh unstoppable monster on top. His stiff strikes and explosive power make him an intimidating opponent for any man, and CM Punk may be fearless but he is still only human. For Punk, it’s all about picking his spots, chipping away at the big man and finding the most minuscule opportunities to work. This time it pays off with Punk bringing back a 2004 classic: rolling Joe up to get his first ever victory over the big man. Do you need to know that roll ups were Joe’s weakness in 04 to enjoy this? Of course not, but real ones appreciate the thought.

Rating: ****

Nicole Matthews vs. Judas Icarus (Prestige 7/9/23)

The two nights of the Cascadia Wrestling Cup from Prestige were filled with a lot of great showcases for talent from the Pacific northwest area. While there are other great matches like the Makabe/Artemis match or the later Icarus/Chunn match, I wanted to focus on this bout between Nicole Matthews and Judas Icarus. Nicole in this match gets to work as more of the crafty babyface veteran trying to endure a younger scumbag in Icarus. There’s some fun arm work in this, but really it’s just all the little cool moments for me like Nicole’s beautiful side headlock escape that gets me. On top of that, everything just lands beautifully mechanically. A great showcase of two of my favorite PNW talents on a weekend filled with good stuff.

Rating: ****

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Natsupoi (Sendai Girls 7/16/23)

Months after Syuri seemingly exorcised the demon of Chihiro Hashimoto from STARDOM, Natsupoi makes the mistake of meeting her on home ground. Chihiro absolutely murders the poor girl, there’s no other way to put it. With a combination of some of the grossest power moves of the year, Chihiro puts an absolute hurting on Poi, making her regret crossing the promotional boundary. That’s not to take anything from Poi here. She can throw heaters with the best of them, and she’s definitely game to bump for Chihiro’s best stuff. That makes this an ideal kind of match up, swift and decisive in its brutality. Perhaps the best women’s match of the year.

Rating: ****1/4

CM Punk & Darby Allin vs. Ricky Starks & Christian Cage (AEW 7/22/23)

There’s a few things that help this stand out. For one, it’s a TV main event not initially announced before the episode began—a rarity in AEW, and a welcome change. For another, there’s the inclusion of Darby Allin. Darby’s the kind of dynamic performer that instantly elevates most any match that he’s included in. For example here, his speed and proclivity for big bumps are applied masterfully to the tag formula. Darby feels like he’s shot out of a cannon as the initial hot tag for the match, but when it’s his turn to play face in peril he’s able to take grosser bumps to play sympathetic instead. Beyond that, it’s what makes all the Punk Collision tags so great: patience, structure, and old school sensibilities applied to modern television. The best Punk match since his return.

Rating: ****1/4

Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW 7/26/23)

It’s easy to levy criticisms of being formulaic at Tomohiro Ishii, doubly so against an opponent like Eddie Kingston who slots so well into the standard Ishii match we’ve seen a million times. On the surface, it might even look like this match fits those criticisms, but that completely ignores the minute nuances both men bring to this. For one, Ishii’s back work on Eddie’s surgically repaired spine is a great addition that perfectly sets up how the match progresses and finally ends. For another, Eddie’s famously able to get way more out of the standard Ishii tropes like strike exchanges than anyone else. It’s the little pauses, the selling to let things breathe, the hopeful look in his eyes when he’s able to break through Ishii’s defenses after the latter kept absorbing his chops. Formula in the hands of masters like these two often results in greatness.

Rating: ****

Rocky Romero vs. Mascara Dorada 2.0 (CMLL 7/28/23)

Extended limb and focused body work doesn’t really feature much in CMLL or any of the lucha that I regularly watch and enjoy. Imagine my shock then when this Leyenda de Plata finals match is built primarily around Rocky Romero attacking Dorada’s torso. It’s a really focused attack built around some increasingly exciting bumps and attacks, most notably via dropping Dorada 2.0 back-first into the barricades. Perhaps even more surprising is that Dorada’s far more mindful of selling his midsection than I would have anticipated. To be clear, he’s not putting in some brilliant nuanced selling performance here. It definitely does vanish at convenient times, such as when he’s hitting all his big high flying offense body first into Romero. That being said, the way he considers it during the heat segments and even during his brief comebacks that Rocky’s able to cut off? That’s a surprising amount of wherewithal from such a young wrestler in one of his first main event spotlights.

And to add, all the spectacular shit looks great too. Dorada’s high flying is stunning. While he does sometimes lean towards the airy as opposed to the weighty, some of the thing he’s able to do can’t help but dazzle the eye. Applied to a really well-structured bout under the practiced hand of Rocky Romero, and the result is the best CMLL match of the year.

Rating: ****1/4

1 Called Manders vs. Mad Dog Connelly (SLA 7/28/23)

Manders & Mad Dog take the simplest possible approach to the sequel to their first singles match in SLA: do a little more, go a little harder. God bless them, it works. They set the tone immediately by going for headbutts before Manders can even get in the ring, and they simply do not let up. Filled with all the kind of scrappy blows and violence that made their first match so great, but this time given more room to breathe and expand. Quite simply, the kind of straightforward, brutal match that made Mad Dog Connelly such a must see talent in the first place. On top of that, probably the best Manders match I’ve ever seen too. These two together have become a real firecracker of a pairing and any time I see their names together, it’ll be appointment viewing.

Rating: ****1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Artemis Spencer (DEFY 7/29/23)

The Despy match might be better, but this might be an even better performance from Moxley. There’s a certain unhinged, brutal quality to him in this match, as seen by his constant biting at Artemis. This was the kind of oppressive performance that makes one stop and say, “That’s him. That is Him.”

Not to take anything away from Arty here. He’s cast perfectly in the sort of “top dog of a region” role here against the force that is Moxley. I like that he bucks the trend of Mox matches by running the blade himself instead of having Mox do so. It also feeds into Mox’s brutality to have a target like the open wound to go after.

This maybe misses its peak by just a smidge, but definitely a great match. This one’s up for free on DEFY’s streaming service so watch it now.

Rating: ****

Gunther vs. Chad Gable (WWE 7/31/23)

Perfect TV booking and wrestling here. The 5 Minute Challenge framework was a brilliant choice, emphasizing Gunther’s cockiness, and allowing for a major sense of accomplishment when Gable not only survives the time limit but also overcomes the big man physically in the closing seconds. Having Gunther force the match to continue also makes perfect sense, a heel pushed into a corner by his own hubris, growing more violent as a result of his embarrassment. The ensuing match is filled with classic Gunther bullying as well as some awesome Gable comeback spots. For fleeting moments, Gable looks capable of sealing the deal, and getting me to buy into that is the most magical thing the WWE’s produced in a bit.

Rating: ****