The Top 50 Matches Of The Year: 30-21
Credit: @iwanmack
One of the things that have really endeared me to UKPW is the rivalry between CPF’s Black and Lando who had a very good match in Chatham in 2021, an even better match in Falconwood in February this year in Falconwood before the rivalry ender come May but this time it would be a Ladder match.
Falconwood is a very small venue and the possibility of a Ladder match would seem impossible but they were able to do it and by god did they deliver.
These two were made to wrestle each other, they work so well together and maximise their potential with just a wonderful athletic Ladder match that was stuffed with brutality and big spots that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.
Honestly one of the best matches I’ve seen live all year round, and one of my favourite Ladder matches I’ve seen Live as well.
29. Nico Angelo vs Chris Bronson - New Wave Wrestling “Show 2” (25/11)
Credit: @blueradical/New Wave Wrestling
Chris Bronson was awesome here showcasing why he’s highly touted by people at New Wave and what a dance partner he had here in Nico Angelo who brought everything out of him with this match.
This was awesome from start to finish and the atmosphere inside this venue was truly holy.
28. Rayne Leverkusen vs Skye Smitson: Maiden Voyage Tournament Final for the Maiden of Chaos Championship - Pro Wrestling Chaos “All or Nothing” (26/11)
Credit: @blueradical/Pro Wrestling Chaos
A lot of promotions in this country feel like they don’t make the women a major part of the show and I do feel like a lot of audiences have been told not to care about these wrestlers either, which is really sad to me because the women’s wrestling scene in this country is strong as ever and, as Pro Wrestling Chaos displayed in one day, you can get people to care about these wrestlers and their journeys.
Take this tournament final between one of my favourite wrestlers, Skye Smitson, and one of the vreakout stars of 2022 in Rayne Leverkusen, they both went on journeys in the Maiden Voyage tournament before they met here.
Smitson showed power and dominance against Safire Reed and Aluna Blue, showing her vicious side; whereas Rayne Leverkusen beat tournament favourite Laura Di Matteo and then survived beating Alexxis Falcon which left her heading to the final with a rib injury that Skye exploited in the final.
Skye’s absolute brutality of Rayne’s injury was great to see and Rayne sold this really well, when Rayne did comeback, she brought the Thunder and got most of the crowd behind her (Some fans were behind Smitson), so when Rayne got the Submission victory, it made the end of the journey so worth it as within a day, Chaos had created two stars for their promotion in Rayne and Skye who will have a great 2023 with performances like this.
27. Dan Moloney vs Mark Trew - Purpose Wrestling “Everything I Love is Going to Die” (12/08)
Credit: South of Heaven photography/Purpose Wrestling
This feels like the real birth of Moloney’s ‘Superfight’ moniker that he would start to use around this time, as they went out and just killed it with a match that I just absolutely loved and the crowd really dug.
There were points where you thought they’d kill each other in order to get the win, gave this match a higher sense of importance and did showcase how great Mark Trew is, hopefully everyone knows that soon.
26. Chuck Mambo vs Cara Noir: Riot Cabaret World Championship Qualifier Match - Riot Cabaret “The Grand Opening” (28/06)
Credit: @theheaddrop/Riot Cabaret
Out of the great matches and moments Riot Cabaret have produced in their grand trilogy this year, I’ve gone with their very first match in this list between two of my favourite wrestlers for many years now; I’ve only seen Mambo and Noir face off once in a social club in Tooting in 2018, and since then they've both gone on incredible journeys that seeing this match again was something I really did want to see and the wait was worth it.
Absolutely loved this match, the storytelling in particular was just top notch as they were able to deliver a match that everyone could get behind and got Riot Cabaret off on the right note completely; plus with Cara Noir attacking Mambo after and Mambo now being the World Champion, I know there’s more to come and I’m here for it.
25. United Empire (Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs Luke Jacobs and Destination: Everywhere (Micheal Oku & Connor Mills) - RevPro “Live in London 61” (08/05)
Credit: backbodydrop.com
The moves in this match were absolutely incredible; from everyone involved and with some of the exchanges between Jacobs and Ospreay being absolutely electric; but what I do really appreciate with these matches is that they balance the hectic movements with storytelling which makes everything feel important.
This was especially true when it came to Oku’s focus wanting to be on Ospreay after what happened in January, with Mills trying to keep him on track against Aussie Open, as they’d be facing each other in the Great British Tag League.
Short story, this match is great and maybe a bit of a hidden gem from RevPro’s year, definitely seek this one out to watch.
24. Chris Ridgeway vs Emersyn Jayne: WrestleCarnival Pure Championship Match - WrestleCarnival “Ringmasters” (10/07)
Credit: Wrestle Carnival
When it came to WrestleCarnival crowning their first Pure Champion, they really did pick two wrestlers who could do this style and showcase the title well in its first appearance.
This match was great, the storytelling in this match was just fantastic, Ridgeway playing the bully role and kicking the crap out of his opponents is his best role for me, he exceeds as a wrestler when working like that, and Emersyn gave her greatest babyface performance I’ve ever seen here, her selling and comebacks were just great.
When Emersyn did lose her rope breaks, she really did have to fight back and she did that well, but Ridgeway was just that little bit better to beat her. This is a great display of these rules and I hope that these matches are treated as special attractions for WrestleCarnival going forward.
23. Mike Bailey vs Leon Slater - RevPro “Ten Year Anniversary - Night 2” (21/08)
Credit: RevPro/@britwrespics
2022 has been the breakout year for Leon Slater, he’s somebody that is still really young (still doesn't have a Cagematch Profile), and was working a lot of Northern Promotions like TIDAL, Breed, UKW etc. but really has burst onto the scene this year starting at Roy Johnson’s Everything Patterned in March where I first saw him and going onto work for PROGRESS, RevPro, TNT and even GCW in the United States, with a 2023 that looks very bright indeed.
What’s helped his progression through these months are working with some of the best in the world including but not limited to, Zack Sabre Jr, Konsosuke Takeshita, Blake Christian, Lio Rush, RKJ, Robbie X and Michael Oku; but it was his match against one of those Best in the World - ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey where his breakout moment came.
For close to sixteen minutes, these two went at it with such speed, big strikes included until Bailey was able to win it with the Flamingo Driver (Otherwise known as the Ms. Elizabeth Driver in some circles) but it was Leon Slater who got the big ovation as Bailey put him over and the crowd chanted his name. The Youngest in Charge took charge of his destiny and he has such a bright future ahead of him.
22. Michael Oku vs Connor Mills - RevPro “Uprising 2022” (17/12)
Credit: RevPro/@britwrespics
In between Epic Encounter and Uprising, Mills and Oku had lost their chance to get to the Great British Tag League final for the second year; Oku had lost his Cruiserweight title to Luke Jacobs; Mills had failed to defeat PAC and they both lost against Aussie Open at York Hall, with Mills trying to pull double duty like Oku had done in May.
Come the second night of the anniversary, during Destination: Everywhere vs Greedy Souls, upon a tag from Oku into Mills, Mills turned and struck Oku into the corner with a boot to the face, finally turning on Oku after months of tension.
From there, Mills found his viscous side, whilst Oku lost some confidence as he struggled to come to deal of the loss of his best friend, Mills cost Oku a chance to get to the British J Cup Final in October but it was November’s Live in London show that things got really personal when they finally came face to face, where Amira said what Oku couldn’t bring himself to say and told Mills how it was, this led to Mills hitting Amira with the same boot that he did to Oku, although this was incidental, it finally lit a fire inside Oku that led to this match at York Hall.
From the start this was just a fight, it was clear it wasn’t going to be the same wrestling match they had in May, they had what I can best describe as an Athletic Brawl, as they never stopped for a single second, with callbacks to previous matches they had not just in RevPro but over various promotions over the years, but told in a very natural way.
As somebody who has seen a lot of Oku and Mills' careers over the years, this did have an emotional pull for me, that’s why I loved it.
The drama here was top notch, with Amira having to get involved a few times as well but to the benefit of the match, the ending as well with Oku delivering the Big Boot to Mills this time round and ending this feud, but he didn’t look happy with having won this feud with his former friend, absolutely great touch to end this that British Wrestling Gadge (@Gadget80) loved as well when we were talking after the show.
21. Frenchadores (Senza Volto & Aigle Blanc) vs Amboss (Robert Dreissker & Icarus): World Tag Team Festival Tournament Final for the wXw World Tag Team Championships - wXw “World Tag Team Festival 2022 - Night 3” (03/10)
Credit: wXw
This was your typical speed vs power contest but it was built to something truly special; to start off with Blanc and Volto tried to overwhelm Amboss with their speed and high flying but Amboss dominated both of them and brawled to the outside, with Dreissker spearing Blanc through chairs and Volto and Icarus falling into the chairs from the apron, which led to both teams being counted out.
From there, Dave Bradshaw and other officials argued that the final should continue, so the match was restarted under Tornado rules with no disqualifications and counts.
From there, things got even crazier as they all hit big moves in order to secure their team the win, but Amboss made it violent as Dreissker ripped open Blanc’s mask and then threw a Toolbox at him, thus bloodying him as Amboss trap him under the stairs, this was when fellow Amboss member Laurence Roman came out to make sure Aigle would stay there, until Amboss rival Peter Tyhani came out to run him off.
Meanwhile in the ring, Senza Volto continued to stay in there despite being overwhelmed by Amboss, this led to Amboss ripping the mask off to humiliate Volto but this instead just made Volto angry as he rised to his feet, along with the crowd getting to their feet as well in a moment that still gives me goosebumps.
Frecnhadors from there get back to control and are able to hit the Tombstone and Double Jump Moonsault combo to win the match and the titles.
The atmosphere was electric, the wrestling was wonderful, this was such a great match to experience live and truly showed the emotional weight that wrestling can hold sometimes.
Check out the top 20 here