The Silver Report: November 2018

Looking at things objectively, November was a great month for yours truly. I got to reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in a while, went to ROH's Global Wars: Toronto with my amazing crew of wrestling fans, met Juice Robinson and Kushida (who put the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship over my shoulder), and got to watch an unbelievable NXT TakeOver: WarGames with those same wrestling friends. Despite all the great things that happened in November, I've been a complete mess mentally.

While I have spoken about this ailment in other forums, I've never talked about it here. I live with anxiety and depression. Although it has never progressed into anything severe — and hopefully never will — it is a constant struggle. Lately, I'm just finding it a little harder to cope, especially when I start thinking about my dating situation or rather lack thereof.

But what does this have to do with wrestling?

As one of my greatest passions, professional wrestling has helped me through the toughest of times. From watching a match to fantasy booking a current storyline to pouring over the latest news, fixating on professional wrestling and its many aspects, both in the ring and behind the scenes, helps get my mind off of the negativity that permeates my thoughts from time to time. While this next statement might sound like hyperbole, I can't think of how my life would've turned out without professional wrestling. For all the frustration it can cause, it has brought me just as much or even more joy and more importantly, relief from the anxiety and depression.

Crown Dud

While WWE's 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia was controversial from the very beginning — due to the country's restrictions on women — recent events have put this business relationship at the forefront of public discourse.

On October 2, Washington Post journalist and critic of the Saudi government Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia's consulate in Turkey. Khashoggi would never leave the consulate as he was assassinated within. The assassination caused an international incident that saw many countries and corporations cut ties with Saudi Arabia. That is everybody but WWE.

Unfortunately for WWE, this incident and the resulting investigation happened right in the middle of the build for their second show in Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel. Despite being vilified by the media and most of the roster being against doing the show, WWE decided to put their head down and push forward. They put their head down so far, in fact, that they lost all common sense. To be honest, that's the only way you could explain the rather distasteful "respect is out the window" storyline used to build the Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation X.

As horrible as everything proceeding Crown Jewel was, it couldn't get any worse ... right? Right?!

Although the live crowd reactions may say otherwise, Crown Jewel was quite easily the worst pay-per-view of 2018. Confirmed racist Hulk Hogan was paraded out to "host" the show. The supposed WWE World Cup to determine the best in the world was filled with mediocre matches and won by Shane McMahon — who wasn't even in the tournament. Brock Lesnar squashed Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship yet again, a result I should be frustrated over but I've stopped caring about the Universal Championship at this point. And as the awful cherry on top, the Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation was an absolute disaster as Triple H tore his pectoral muscle in the opening minutes, Shawn Michaels almost spiked himself doing a moonsault, Kane's mask slipped off at one point, and Undertaker forgot how to perform a simple Irish whip.

In summation, what goes around comes around. So hopefully, WWE's recent loss to karma will cause them to rethink the future of their business relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Source: SportingNews

When The Man Comes Around

WWE's handling of their women's division on the main roster has been laughable at best, but I'll give them credit for stumbling on gold in Becky Lynch's new badass attitude. Although this attitude started as a misguided heel turn as WWE creative tried their best to frame Becky as the villain despite overwhelming cheers, WWE finally gave up pushing Becky as a heel and started pushing her as a badass babyface, nicknamed "The Man", after Evolution. Positioned to face Ronda Rousey in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series, it looked like Becky's rising star in the women's division and WWE as a whole would be fed to the company's new golden girl.

Well, that wasn't how things would go down.

On the final Raw before Survivor Series, Becky Lynch would lead the women of SmackDown in an all-out assault on Ronda Rousey and Raw's roster of women. In the chaos, Becky would have a chance encounter with Nia Jax. Becky accidentally hit Nia a little hard, which caused Nia to retaliate with a wild fist to the face. The resulting blow gave Becky a concussion and a broken nose. Unfortunately for the women of Raw, that punch only fired up The Man as she laid waste to their entire roster before leaving through the crowd with blood smeared all over her face like war paint.

As a result of the concussion that Nia's punch caused, Becky was pulled from her much-anticipated match with Rousey at Survivor Series. Despite that disappointment, Becky's popularity has skyrocketed to heights unseen. You could say she has even surpassed Rousey as the most popular wrestler in the company.

Now fingers crossed that WWE can capitalize on their accidental superstar.

Source: WhatCulture

Must-See Matches of November

11/3/2018

Power Struggle
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki

11/11/2018
Global Wars: Toronto
SoCal Uncensored vs. Super Smash Bros.
Juice Robinson vs. Baretta

11/13/2018
Smackdown
AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

11/14/2018
NXT
Hanson vs. Kyle O'Reilly

11/17/2018
TakeOver: WarGames
Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream
Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne, Ricochet & War Raiders - WarGames

11/18/2018
Survivor Series
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

11/28/2018
NXT UK
Pete Dunne vs. Jordan Devlin

Best Matches of 2017

It's been a very long time since I've written on here. Just under three years, in fact. A lot has changed in my life in the last three years, but the one constant I still have in my life — for better or worse — is professional wrestling.

2017 was one hell of a year for wrestling. Fans saw the return of an Olympic hero, the rise of the Monster Among Men, the dominance of the Rainmaker, and sheer brilliance of the Elite. It was a year of highs and lows, but those highs were among the finest wrestling has seen this decade.

In all honesty, the match quality on display throughout 2017 was nothing short of breathtaking. With so many phenomenal matches, there is no way to highlight every single match that blew away fans in 2017. So here is my list of the 12 best wrestling matches of 2017 in chronological order. If you are looking to check any of these bouts for yourself, I highly recommend subscribing to the WWE Network, NJPW World, and/or ROH's Ringside Membership.

Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada 

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11

Four days into 2017 and wrestling fans witnessed the greatest match of all-time according to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer — breaking his iconic five-star rating system. Although some might scoff at such high praise, Omega and Okada earned it with a 40-minute wrestling classic.

Starting with traditional mat-based techniques to feel each other out and slowly ramping up to the final leaping Tombstone and Rainmaker combination, it's hard for fans and casual observers not to be amazed by the titanic clash between arguably the two best wrestlers in the world today. Omega and Okada didn't just introduce jaded wrestling fans, myself included, to the glory of New Japan, it single-handedly changed the pro wrestling world as we know it. And for the better.

Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews 

WWE UK Championship Tournament Night 2

While the UK Tournament Finals between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate gets more attention due to Bate's excellent performance as the injured underdog, this semifinal bout pitting Dunne and Andrews just edges it out in my opinion.

Dunne's gruesome joint manipulation and ground game paired perfectly with Andrews' high-flying offence and uncanny ability to reverse any move. This great clash of styles makes for a fast-and-furious 10-minute affair that easily showcased what WWE's UK Championship division can offer.

Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii 

NJPW New Japan Cup Night 2

Although this list is very Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada-heavy, you cannot understate how great of a 2017 Tomohiro Ishii had. In terms of match quality, he put on incredible matches with the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, and Keith Lee. But out of all of Ishii's matches, his surprise win over Kenny Omega in the first round of the New Japan Cup is his finest.

The match was everything you want from a New Japan main event — stiff strikes, crisp wrestling, and high stakes. Don't miss out on watching this diamond in the rough.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata 

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017

Despite this being Okada's best match with a wrestler not named Kenny Omega, it was sadly overshadowed by the tragic end of Katsuyori Shibata's wrestling career — due to a blood clot caused by a sickeningly stiff headbutt performed during the match.

After years spent redeeming himself in the eyes of the New Japan fans and wrestlers, Shibata finally earned a chance to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Not letting this prime opportunity to dethrone New Japan's heavyweight ace Okada pass him by, Shibata brought it to Okada with stiff momentum-shifting strikes. Although Shibata's dominance eventually fell to Okada's Rainmaker finisher, Shibata won over the hearts of the wrestling faithful.

Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Addiction 

ROH War of the Worlds: Toronto 

Yes, I am a little biased since I saw this match live, but I can't understate how amazing it was. This six-man tag easily ranks among the best matches I've seen live and that includes the likes of Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, #DIY vs. The Revival, and the 2016 Men's Traditional Survivor Series match.

From bell-to-bell, no one in Toronto's Ted Reeve Arena was sitting or silent. All six men put their all in one insane six-man tag that saw multiple Superkicks (poor Kazarian), Meltzer Drivers, High-Fly Flows, and V-Triggers. I highly recommend going out of your way to find this match — it epitomizes why pro wrestling is so much fun.

Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate 

NXT TakeOver: Chicago

Although the UK Championship division didn't takeoff in 2017 like WWE had hoped for, it consistently put on the best matches of any division in the company. One match that stood above the rest, especially in the WWE, was the second match between Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.

A rematch of their showdown in the UK Championship Tournament finals, Bate and Dunne held nothing back. From debuting new moves to finisher kickouts, the two hit each other with everything and the kitchen sink.

If you need further proof of how great this match was, just watch the Chicago crowd. Despite starting out silent, the excellent action worked up the crowd into an absolute frenzy. They even got an American crowd to chant for another country!

Kushida vs. Will Ospreay 

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 24 Finals 

Coming off of a humiliating two-minute defeat to Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, Kushida needed to win the 2017 Best of Super Juniors tournament in order to earn a chance to redeem himself. Unfortunately for the disgraced ace, Will Ospreay, one of the greatest high-flyers in the world today and the 2016 tournament winner, was in his way.

What resulted from this epic showdown was a match that in any other year would easily be Match of the Year. Sadly, it happened in 2017, but that shouldn't discount its greatness. Kushida and Ospreay put on a 30-minute classic that perfectly mixed high-flying risks with impressive submissions, innovative chain wrestling, and intense strikes.

Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada 

NJPW Dominion 2017

Going into Dominion, the anticipation for Omega vs. Okada II was through the roof. Everybody wanted to see how these two would top their six-star classic from Wrestle Kingdom — and they did just that.

Battling to a 60-minute time limit draw, Omega and Okada left everything in the ring that June evening. They perfectly built on their previous match with better wrestling, stiffer strikes, more drama, and unbelievable ring psychology. Although there was no definitive winner to the match, everybody watching knew that Omega and Okada put on the single best match of 2017 and possibly of all-time.

Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada 

NJPW G1 Climax 27 Night 18

For what this third encounter between Omega and Okada lacked in length, it certainly made up for in intensity. With only a 30-minute time limit to work with, Omega and Okada came out of the gates hitting each other with their most devastating offence and they didn't let up. The match was so fast-paced and crisp that it's hard to pull yourself away for even a second.

Although Omega didn't win the IWGP Heavyweight Title by dispatching Okada this time, he brought the greatest wrestling match trilogy since Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair to a grand conclusion.

Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito 

NJPW G1 Climax 27 Finals

New Japan's annual G1 Climax tournament always delivers some of the best matches of the year and 27th iteration was no slouch. Although I do prefer Omega vs. Okada III, the finals between Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito was just as great.

Fighting for 35 minutes, Omega and Naito showed why they were the top stars under Okada by putting on one of the most high drama matches of 2017. Don't tell me you watched the piledriver off the announce table to the concrete floor or Omega DDTing Naito's head into the top of the ring post, and didn't lose your mind.

AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor 

WWE TLC 2017

As horrible as it sounds, thank you meningitis. If it wasn't for your viral infection rocking the Raw locker room, we would have never gotten the first and currently only encounter between the two former leaders of the Bullet Club. And what a match it was.

Getting just under 20 minutes, Finn Balor and AJ Styles showed up the entire WWE roster with a match so crisp and so smooth that it looked effortless. While it may not of had the emotional hooks or story-telling beats of the other matches on this list, it was joy to watch wrestling THAT good in a WWE ring.

Undisputed Era vs. Sanity vs. Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong 

NXT TakeOver: WarGames

Despite the WWE's changes to make the former WCW stipulation their own, the first WarGames in 17 years was one hell of an entertaining match.

The nine men which made up the three teams in the match gave it their all. Quite literally too considering the smashed tables, dented chairs, bruised bodies, and busted open heads left as result of all the carnage. While it wasn't the prettiest match on this list, the sheer craziness and spectacle of this car crash had me in tears from pure enjoyment.