Match of the Year Tournament - C Block - June

The year is halfway through already, hard to believe eh? A late edition to the blog but one tht I'm excited to play around with is this "Match of the Year Tournament," a suggestion from a dear friend of mine. It took some thinking for me to figure out how I'm going to structure this and, to be totally honest, it's a running work in progress, but here's hoping this works out well and makes sense to everyone else! Shoot me an email if thinks need to be ironed out and I'll address them next month. 

The Pre-Quarterfinalists

The C Block Pre Quarter-Finals

 June was looking to be a pretty dry month for a while there. No big shows I was looking forward to, AEW wasn't quite hitting like it had been, and I was feeling kinda burned out. I was kinda concerned I wouldn't find three decent matches to add to the bracket but as luck would have it, I know how to sniff out good wrestling!

 

Holy Demon Army vs. Super Generation Army - 06/09/1995

I gave this match the spotlight for Weekly Watchinst 053 - 1 Year Special, and it should come to no surprise that this match is truly exceptional. Four of the best wrestlers in the world going hell for leather at the absolute peak of their runs. The story told in this match is second to none and I'll never, ever tire of it.  

 

Akira Hokuto vs. Rumi Kazama - 08/25/2993

Featured in Weekly Watchlist 054 when I was missing Akira Hokuto matches, this isn't quite on the level of some of her classic matches with Aja Kong or Manami Toyota, but this spring is great in its own way. Kazama tries to measure up to the far more seasoned and tough Hokuto but comes up short, ultimately trying to wear her down bit by bit but coming up short in the end. It's a great spring and I thoroughly enjoyed this.  

 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. David Finlay - 04/11/2025

An easy Match of the Month contender that was added to the bracket after working on that monthly blurb, I was enamoured by these two. Finlay's hard hitting style was able to snuff out a lot of ZSJ's frenetic counter and hold based wrestling, but both men found a chance to gain an advantage in their own ways. Zack worked to tear Finlay apart technically, while Finlay was set on physically beating ZSJ until he couldn't get to his feet again. A great clash of styles that epitomizes the New Japan style.

It's a great bracket of pre-quarterfinalists, but which match beats the others to advance?

 

 The Quarterfinalists

The C Block Quarter Finals

Is anyone surprised? One of the best tag team matches every to take place beat out the competition. But I'll be honest, ZSJ and Finlay was a hell of a lot of fun and so was the Hokuto/Kazama match, even if it was a bit short. But I'll be damned if that tag match doesn't do something to me every time I watch it. An easy advance.

But now we're onto the semi finals, the best match from C Block's May bracket faces June. Which month had the better match?  

 

The Semi-Finalists

The C Block Semi-Finalist

You guys need to understand something, I held off on reviewing Hangman and Ospreay from DoN because it's too good. I seriously was in tears at the end of that match. I have something much, much bigger in mind that requires me to leave that match on the backburner, but I'm saying it right now.  

The back half of 2025 is going to need to work extra hard to have a fighting chance at beating Hangman/Ospreay.

So, with that said, which match advances to the finals? I didn't screenshot it here and normally we'd have previous months to reference/look back at, but with this being the first post, we don't.  

The A Block's Semi-Finalist was Yota Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd - 02/11/2025

The B Block's Semi-finalist was Toni Storm vs. Mariah May - 03/09/2025

And of course, we already know who made it in the C block. So, out of those three, which match advances to the finals and is my match of the half-year?

 

The Finalist

Adam Page vs. Will Ospreay Advances!

This was a hard match to advance, because until it happened, Storm/May was an easy, easy finalist. Without a doubt. But once these two locked up and the tears started to flow, I knew that match didn't have a fighting chance. Good luck D, E and F block, cause you guys have a fucking tough hill to climb to try and beat out the C block. 

 

So, next month I'll let you guys know who made it to the pre-quarterfinals for the D Block - July, as well as who advanced to the quarterfinals. So stay tuned and place your bets now! Keep an eye on the Match of the Month sidebar for the blog that I update regularly and guess yourselves which matches land in the pre-quarterfinals. 

Until next month, take it easy friends!