BritWres Matches Of the Year: #15-11
Since the start of the week our reviewer Iwan Mackenzie has been counting down his favourite matches of the year. We’’re halfway through the list and now it’s time for the matches that made it just outside the top ten. Take it away Iwan…
15. Luke Jacobs vs Francesco Akira – RevPro “Seasons Beatings 2021” (27/12/21
Credit: Rev Pro
A late year end banger of a match, this threw this list into complete turmoil after the bell had rung. These two went out there and just went for it.
Regardless that this was a Christmas themed show and it being a Bank Holiday, they still and gave the same high level of performance that they’ve shown in the year to give me one last great match for 2021.
I don’t want this to seem like recently bias, these two worked so well together as they already had the big/small dynamic and they both hit hard owing to their styles, lots of great work here from both of them and did earn a scattered standing ovation in St Neots.
14. Charlie Morgan vs Skye Smitson – EVE “WrestleQueendom 4” (27/08/21)
Credit: Pro Wrestling EVE
Now whilst all these matches are obviously all based on personal preference, this match in particular is very personal.
Between 2017-2019, Charlie Morgan was my favourite wrestler to watch on the British scene, I was invested in her story, thought her matches were great and the person behind it all was somebody I got on really well with.
Then on June 30th 2019, she publicly announced her retirement due to an ankle Injury; this was devastating to myself personally, and I was in tears about it, I was never going to see her wrestle again.
But life has a funny way of changing things. In the lead up to WrestleQueendom 4, we had teases of “The Gambler”, we didn’t know who it was and they were scheduled to face Skye Smitson, which ended up being the main event of the show, as Skye was late getting to the venue itself, which meant the excitement levels were off the charts.
Even Jetta’s big title win wasn’t enough to distract from the fact that on this night, Charlie Morgan made her return to professional wrestling.
The match itself went less than ten minutes and played out as Charlie Morgan’s greatest hits, including a replication of her famous balcony dive from York Hall, but this time, diving off a Ladder in the 229.
But after two years of not seeing her, all we wanted was to watch Charlie Morgan wrestle again and I can’t replicate that feeling again. Credit to Smitson as well for being a really good heel to compliment Charlie’s babyface persona.
13. Dream Team (Dean Allmark & Robbie X) vs Young Guns (Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen): Great British Tag League Block A Match – RevPro “Live in Bristol 3” (18/07/21)
Credit: Rev Pro
My last show before Lockdown was March 15th 2020, much like everybody else, it was a long time before I got a chance to head to a show again, but finally after 15 Months of waiting, I finally made my return to a BritWres show.
I took a £1.80 coach with my good friend Dave to watch RevPro. One of the big attractions for this show for me was this match, as on paper it looked absolutely amazing and it lived up the hype.
This match was the most vocal the crowd got in the first half of the show, Robbie and Deano worked together so well as a tag team, liked they had been teaming for years when the truth is very different from that.
Young Guns did so well here as well, not waiting around and taking every moment because they wanted to win, love that.
I feel that this match did do a lot for the Young Guns, and gave them the right impression that would lead to more show stealers for RevPro, with Deano and Robbie being perfect for them.
12. Jordon Breaks vs Connor Mills – Purpose Wrestling “Mills vs Breaks: Let’s Finish What We Started” (10/09/21)
Credit: Purpose Wrestling
This match was originally scheduled for Purpose’s debut show but due to a major injury to Solomon Lamb during that show, the main event was called off due to understandable reasons.
Purpose instead booked a new show so they could finally deliver this main event and after all the waiting the match itself was fantastic.
This was my first-time seeing Breaks since he had the UK Match of the Year 2020 against Spike Trivet at RIPTIDE. Now back here with a brand-new look, it was great to watch some of his technical exchanges with a bit of added arrogance to it.
Mills tried to match him but knew his strength led more in the striking wheelhouse, which he did to beat Breaks, which was working but Breaks went out of his playbook a lot as well here including a Finlay Roll on the outside into a load of chairs.
I loved this match, all of it had my complete and undivided attention, brilliant work from both men and the ending which had Breaks beat Mills via European Clutch and then Mills refusing to shake his hand would lead to stories down the line for these two and Purpose as a promotion.
11. Destination Everywhere (Connor Mills & Michael Oku) vs Young Guns (Luke Jacobs & Ethan Allen): RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship Match – RevPro “Live at not the Cockpit 53” (05/09/21)
One month after their instant classic, these two teams were set to face each other again but this time with Destination Everywhere’s newly won Undisputed British Tag Team Championship’s on the line.
Except unlike last time, Young Guns didn’t give DE a chance here, as they ambushed both Mills and Oku from the offset with Mills being thrown around the walls of the 229 and his hand and wrist being targeted whilst Oku was thrown across several rows of chairs.
For a large portion of this match we had Oku being beaten down by Both Young Guns, with Mills fighting his way back to that corner for Oku to tag in.
Destination Everywhere pulled out an absolute miracle here to win, but Young Guns lost nothing in defeat as they felt like genuine main eventers and showcased themselves so well. It didn’t matter which team you were supporting here; everyone was treated to an absolute belter.
Tomorrow we break into the top ten matches of the year and they are somehow even better than the ones listed here! Check out the rest of the entries this year below: