Match of the Year Tournament - C Block - June 2026

Welcome, one and all, to the end of the first half of 2026! 

This months bracket determines the match of the year for the first half of 2026, and the match that moves onto the finals of the Match of the Year tournament!

Who will survive?! Read on and find out! 

 

The June Pre-Quarterfinalists

June was a much better month for yours truly! I still felt a bit burnt out but felt better overall! I felt more of a desire to watch wrestling outside of my home promotion of AEW, so I count that as a win! Admittedly, only one match here is from anything but AEW, but still! Progress is progress!

Mark Davis vs. Will Ospreay - 06/03/2026

A blisteringly fun main event, Mark Davis looks to either win or severly wound Ospreay on route to the Owen Hart Tournament finals. Brutalizing the resilient Ospreay, Davis' heavy hands crush Ospreay and make him fight for every inch he is able to find in this match. Once brothers in United Empire, both men put in an impressive shift in a match that had me on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the bout. Ospreay's ability to fight back from the brink and land some dangerously precise and vicious strikes on the hard-hitting Davis made this match a whole lot of fun. Been a big fan of Davis this year and this match is yet another reason that he has been one of the most improved of 2026.

 

Kris Statlander vs. Miyu Yamashita - 06/05/2026

The featured review of Weekly Watchlist 104 - The Pink Striker Challenges the Cosmic Killer, Kris and Miyu went hell for leather in this match. It was hard-hitting, highly competitive, and nail bitingly close at times when both women seemed like they could pick up the win over the other. I'll always love when a "bigger" name like Kris goes to a smaller promotion to ply her craft and help boost their credibility. Her match with Miyu did plenty to help make the title she held feel more legitimate and like a real prize to be won once she was finally beaten. I've been a big fan of EVE's shows and this match was a real highlight of what I've seen from them recently. 

 

Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay - 06/28/2026

A main event replay 2 years on from their last Forbidden Door main event, this match was just as fun as their last encounter and maybe even a bit better. I fuckin' loved this match. A lot of what I said about their match 2 years ago from my Five Star Friday feature applies in this match as well, shockingly, with both men being about as close to equals as possible, two top dogs at the top of their game, fighting to prove who is the better man. This will no doubt be getting its own Five Star Friday feature, with the story and excitement of this match being far too much to go over in just a standard Weekly Watchlist. Incredible, awesome, exciting and brilliant. Just think of synonym's for those words and you've got my exact thoughts on this match. So, so good. 

 

So, who made it to the quarterfinals?

The June Quarterfinalist!

Should it really come as a surprise to anyone? If you've seen the match, you know how much fun it was. This match was unreal and will 100% be getting a featured spot in a Five Star Friday somewhere down the road. The story told was brilliant and helped to elevate what was already an exciting match to something else entirely.

So, did Ospreay/Swerve beat out the june Quarterfinalist of Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita at AEW's Double or Nothing 2026?

The June Semifinalist!

Squaring off against the previous Semifinalists of...

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kyle Fletcher - 02/11/2026

Darby Allin vs. Tommaso Ciampa - 04/22/2026

It's some pretty stiff competition for the end of the year. I did go back and watch these matches to see how they held up, so who of these three advanced? 

The Finalist for the first half of 2026!

I'll be honest, Ciampa and Darby came very, very close to winning the finals, but Ospreay and Swerve had to go ahead and have a wild main event match and take the finalist spot. Can't all be winners, but they can come close!

And with that, the first half of 2026 is done! Ospreay and Swerve are my match of the first half of 2026, with the second half of the year having some stiff competition if they want to try and win.  

 

Until next month, take it easy friends!

 

 

 

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