Happy New Year wrestling fans!
2024 was a big year for this blogger. I've been busy as hell, challenged myself to start something new, and have learned a lot about myself. I won't get into the weeds about what this year meant to me, as I'm sure a lot of you don't need to read some sob story or emotional, pointless rambling, so I'll get right to business.
This post is a review of the first year in the Wrestling Vault's history. I wanted to go over some general blog stats, as I'm still blown away by some of the numbers and stats, as well as some more personal stats. As many of you know, I keep a spreadsheet where I add every match I watch in the order I watch them. I'm going to be keeping a spreadsheet for each year the Vault is active, so I can keep track of how much I watched each year.
I'm excited to see these numbers, so let's not waste any more time!
Blog Stats
Number of posts: 38
Total blog views: 1748 total page views
(Some
of these were from me when I started the blog, before I found out you
could block views from your own browser, so subtract about 50 for a more
accurate number)
Top posts: My blog will always show the top 3 posts, so I wanted to let you see my top 5.
I
am still blown away at the reception Tapping Out received in such a
short period of time. I can never thank all of you enough for showing it
love.
Top countries: I'll be honest, this category is here purely because I checked all my stats after Tapping Out exploded and couldn't believe how far this blog has gotten. I mean, check this shit out;
Wrestling Stats
(The spreadsheet does not reflect the entire year of 2024. The chronology of my spreadsheet is spotty and I did not start recording everything I watched this year in order until June 10, 2024)
Matches watched: 439 (6 matches watched twice)
Top Promotions watched: 2024 was the year of DPW. I started watching DPW right around May of this year, excited with the idea of Roderick Strong coming through for their Limit Break show. I've just recently made it to 2024 in DPW, right as 2025 is about to start. I'll be caught up soon, I promise.
Star Ratings: To the surprise of absolutely nobody, I'm very generous with my star ratings. I like wrestling, ok! If you want me to be negative all the time, I'll probably get there in another 15 years.
4* dominated the rankings, with 230 matches getting that distinct honour.
There was one more 3* match than 5* matches this year, with 88 and 87 matches apiece, respectively.
2* had 23 matches, unfortunately, while 1* had 7 matches to its name. A murderers row of grim outings. There were also 3 DUD matches, all of which were too short to rank fairly.
The Worst of the Worst:
Here's every one star match this year. Everyone point and laugh at these miserable excuses for wrestling.
 |
| Havoc '91 is on there twice because I watched it twice, unfortunately. |
Cliff Morgan's Top Picks
Wrestlers of the Year: As with everything on this blog, this pick is purely subjective. I'll also be keeping it to wrestlers active in 2024. As a result, nobody from DPW will be on this list, even if I could go on for hours about how incredible their roster is.
It's tough to go through everything you watched in a year and decide who you liked best, so there's a very good chance I missed someone. This is in no way a definitive list.
So, in no particular order, here are some of my favourites from the year;
Kyle Fletcher
Fletcher has been a breakout star in the back half of 2024 after joining forces with Don Callis. He's proven that he's greater than the sum of his parts after Aussie Open disbanded and has been able to hold his own in blisteringly good matches in the Continental Classic. 2025 will be a big year for the Protostar.
Damian Priest
Cashing in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania, Priest was the World Heavyweight Champion for 4 months until running into the Ring General, GUNTHER. Priest has more than been able to hold his own as a singles guy and proven that he's deserving of his position at the top of the card. The sky is the limit for Priest.
Stephanie Vaquer
With a match against Mone that had the entire wrestling world asking "who will sign her first?!" Vaquer put herself on the radar of a lot of wrestling fans that had never heard of "La Primera" before. She hasn't done much of note while in NXT, but the times she's been able to let loose and be her best, her talent has shone through.
Will Ospreay
I remember feeling upset a couple years ago when people pointed out that Ospreay was getting closer and closer to surpassing Mitsuharu Misawa's number of Meltzer rated 5* matches. "How could this flippy acrobat possibly be better than the Emerald Emperor?!" I thought, having never watched an Ospreay match before. Years later, I get it. I've said it before and will continue to say it, Ospreay is leading the charge in a new generation of wrestling. His style will soon be adopted by more and more people. Often imitated, but never duplicated. Once in a generation.
Swerve Strickland
Winning the AEW World Title against Samoa Joe, Strickland took his place at the top of the mountain in AEW. A roster that is swimming with exceptional wrestlers, Strickland rose above the rest and proved any doubter wrong. A year before, I was telling people "I just don't see it in Swerve," but with matches and feuds that keep me on the edge of my seat, begging for more, I get it. Swerve is the real deal.
Kris Statlander
Stat was in need of a character reset after ditching the alien gimmick a few years ago. Always someone I saw something in, she proved that she was worth watching with her TBS title win over unbeaten champion Jade Cargill in the middle of 2023. Now, a year later, Kris has evolved and stood out amongst the pack. Having exceptional matches against her former partner Willow Nightengale, the perfect pairing with Stokley Hathaway, as well as back-to-back Pay-Per-View standouts against Mone. If Stat does not hold more gold in 2025, I will be shocked.
Oba Femi
What an unreal year 2024 has been for Femi. His charisma leaps off the screen, his athletic ability is something that should only be possible in comic books, and a talent that comes to someone so naturally its as if he was born inside a wrestling ring, The Ruler of NXT dominated as North American Champion and seems set to lord over the Black and Silver brand as the NXT Champion in 2025, if Shawn Michaels knows what's best for business.
Bryan Danielson
Without knowing it, 2024 turned out to be the end of the in ring career of the greatest wrestler in the world, arguably of all time. Not having a single bad match all year, putting his career on the line after finally winning the AEW World Championship, and coming down to "The Final Countdown" to one of the biggest crowds in the history of wrestling, 2024 was the year of the Dragon. An emotional, exciting ride the whole year through.
GUNTHER
What more needs to be said about GUNTHER? With Bryan Danielson's full time in ring career over, I think we need to start having the very serious conversation about considering GUNTHER to be the best wrestler in the world right now. His talent in the ring is legitimately second to none. He's in a class of his own. He's spent nearly 80% of his time in WWE as a champion, and has spent 246 days of this year holding a title. Long may The Ring General reign.
Adam Page
Spiralling out of control following his feud with Swerve at the back end of 2023 and into the beginning of 2024, Adam Page's promise of "burning your world to the ground" came true when he broke the internet by torching the home of his greatest enemy. I'll never forget the feeling waking up and checking Twitter, and the first image I see is Hangman calmly drinking scotch while a house burns behind him. Iconic. The Cowboy has undergone an incredible transformation this year, with every single thing about his character checking every single box possible. Hangman is the backbone of AEW, the beating heart in which the entire company circulates from.
Chelsea Green
Finally getting her time to shine, Chelsea has been a delight every time she gets in front of a camera. From taking an unreal bump at Money in the Bank in her home country, to becoming the inaugural WWE Women's United States Champion, Chelsea's success story is one that just feels right after all this time. She's game for everything and anything, and has managed to turn her comedy into something worth watching and getting behind.
Jake Something
How Jake Something hasn't been picked up by AEW or WWE (the former more than the latter, thank you) is beyond me. He has a presence that grabs you the second he walks through the curtain, he can work well with anyone and wrestles in a style that leaves you with no choice but to get hyped as fuck. A big man that can move like a cat and hit like a truck, Something really is... well, something. I've been spoiled already for how his 2024 looked in DPW and I can't fucking wait to watch Super Battle.
Jon Moxley
"I will burn down the forest to plans a new one." The mission statement that changed AEW. Moxley has had my attention from the moment he beat Danielson for the title and smothered him with a bag. Every time he's on screen, I can't look away. The Death Riders feel like an ever present force in AEW, lurking around every corner waiting to shank someone for stepping out of line. There's every chance he'll be the champion until they put him in the grave if AEW doesn't change it's ways and figure out how to dethrone the King.
Matches of the Year: I'd also like the give a special spotlight to some matches from this year. Some I reviewed, some I did not. I won't give a lot of details for why I liked each match, as I want you guys to watch them for yourself. Grade these matches for yourself and tell me what you think. This is the lightning round at the end of the game show.
Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston - AEW Revolution - 03/03/2024
The Young Bucks vs. Sting & Darby Allin - AEW Revolution - 03/03/2024
Oba Femi vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs - NXT Stand & Deliver - 04/06/2024
GUNTHER vs. Sami Zayn - Wrestlemania 40 - Night 1 - 04/06/2024
Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson - Title vs. Career - AEW All In London - 08/25/2024
Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander - Chicago Street Fight - AEW All Out - 09/07/2024
Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland - Lights Out Steel Cage Match - AEW All Out - 09/07/2024
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre - Hell in a Cell - WWE Bad Blood 2024 - 10/05/2024
Big Boom AJ vs. QT Marshall - AEW Full Gear 2024 - Zero Hour - 11/23/2024
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW Full Gear 2024 - 11/23/2024
Will Ospreay vs. Darby Allin - AEW Dynamite - Holiday Bash 2024 - Day 1 - 12/18/2024
And that does it for 2024! Tomorrow will be my last "official" 2024 post, an everything after that will be the start of 2025 for the Wrestling Vault! If you've made it this far, thank you. Sincerely. This all started as a way for me to get my passion for wrestling out and do something with all this time I spend watching wrestling. Now, I feel like it's slowly turning into something more. I did a "podcast" that resonated with people more than I could have ever hoped, I've got projects in the works that excite me and motivate me to learn more, and I've got an outlet for all of it.
Once again, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I mean it. You all make this blogger really happy.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com if you want to drop me a line.
Until next time, stay safe friends.
Cliff Morgan
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