Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY List

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
2. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
3. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
4. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
5. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
6. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
7. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
8. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
9. Finlay v. Undertaker 3/6 WWE
10. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
11. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
12. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
13. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
14. Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
15. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
16. Chris Benoit v. MVP 4/10
17. Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4
18. Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
19. Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13
20. Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
21. Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
22. BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
23 Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
24. Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
25. Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16

16. Chris Benoit v. MVP 4/10

The conceit behind this Benoit v. MVP feud is kind of cool. MVP comes in as kind of a joke character, who is now trying to prove he is the real deal by taking it to the legendary veteran. Benoit starts out disdainful , but is learning to respect him. Of course this would work better if currently every angle in the WWE wasn't basically the same.

I don't understand WWE at all. I watch ROH and they have this long involved angle based around spurned love and manipulation and hate. Meanwhile everything in the WWE is based around babyfaces earning each others respect through long grueling wrestling matches. Micheals doesn't respect Cena, Cena wants to prove he is the better man. Will they shake each others hands? Batista doesn't respect the legacy of the Undertaker, but he needs to prove his toughness against the legend. Hell even on the undercard, here MVP wants to prove he belongs in the ring with Benoit, on RAW Carlito is tired of being disrespected by Flair. When the fuck did the WWE become 2001 ROH? Hell even look at the Vince v. ECW feud, it is all about Vince not respecting the legacy and hard work of the ECW originals. Vince as Christopher Daniels refusing to shake Balls Mahoney's hand is just bizarre.

Supposedly Michael Hayes has a bunch of power and that is why there is more wrestling lately. That doesn't make any sense either, Michael Hayes is a guy who became a legend by smearing cream in a giant black guys eyes, and making ghetto New Orleans folk pull guns on him. He beat up Fritz and gave him a heart attack, he wasn't trying to earn Kevin’s respect.

The match itself was pretty much a one man Benoit show. For NOVA generation wrestlers, MVP has better execution then Punk or Kennedy, but this is still Benoit as Fuerza. I really dug the post shot Benoit took, and I like how MVP doesn't seem to know how to tuck his head on German suplexes. The finish was pretty awesome too, with MVP teasing the insane German from the ring to the floor, and countering the inevitable Benoit counter. It does a nice job of establishing the learning curve.