Phil's Ongoing 2008 MOTY List

1. Blue Panther v. Villano V CMLL 9/19
2. Yuki Ishikawa + Alexander Otsuka + Munenori Sawa v Daisuke Ikeda + Katsumi Usuda + Super Tiger II BattlArts 7/26
3. Mitch Ryder v. Todd Morton XCW-Midwest 11/4
4. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer IWA-MS 3/1
5. Floyd Mayweather v. Big Show WWE 3/30
6. Mike Quakenbush v. Johnny Saint WXW 3/8
7. Teddy Hart v. Eddie Kingston v. Homicide JAPW 1/19
8. Yuki Ishikawa v. Carl Greco BattlArts 6/1
9. Necro Butcher v. Sami Callihan IWA-MS 10/4
10. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance vs Los Oficiales IWRG 10/17
11. Bull Pain/Todd Morton v. Jerry Lawler/Chris Michaels XCW-Midwest 8/9
12. Mystico De La Juarez/Silver King/Rubi Gardenia v. Cassandro/Magno/El Hijo Del Santo Lucha Libre London 12/9
13. Necro Butcher v. Predator IGF 6/23
14. Necro Butcher v. 2 Cold Scorpio IWA-MS 8//17
15. Low-Ki v. Chris Hero PWG 11/2
16. Blue Panther v. Atlantis CMLL 7/11
17. Blue Panther v. Villano V CMLL 9/29
18. Meiko Satomura v. Aja Kong SENDAI 10/26
19. Yuki Ishikawa v. Alexander Otsuka RJPW 6/18
20. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takeshi Morishima NOAH 3/2
21. Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness ROH 2/23
22. Erick Stevens v. Roderick Strong FIP 2/8
23. Trik Davis v. Sami Callihan IWA-MS 8/17
24. Hayato Jr. Fujita v. Yoshitune MPRO 12/12
25. Evan Bourne v. Chavo Guererro WWE 10/14



Previously on the List

Nigel McGuiness v. Austin Aries ROH 3/28
Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair WWE 3/30
Finlay v. JBL WWE 3/30
El Valiente + El Hijo Del Fantasma + La Mascara v. La Sombra + Volador Jr. + Sagrado CMLL 4/30
Finlay v. Chuck Palumbo WWE 5/20
Blue Panther v. Averno CMLL 11/4

3. Mitch Ryder v. Todd Morton XCW-Midwest 11/4

This was the main event of the first night of the XCW Best of the Midwest tourney with the winner facing Jerry Lawler. In honor of the King, Morton and Ryder do a hell of a job approximating a classic Mid-South Coliseum main event. Ryder is hugely over in New Albany and does a fine job as a poor man’s Lawler, taking a big beating and firing back with some awesomely timed comebacks. Morton is in the Bill Dundee role, and is Dundee level awesome. Super bumping (Morton may take the greatest clothesline bump in wrestling history), great looking cheating, and vicious looking offense. Morton doesn’t do a lot of fancy things, but everything he does is executed perfectly. I loved how Morton kept cutting off all of Ryder’s comebacks, Mitch would get rolling and Todd would sneak in a quick jab or a thumb to the eye, so when Ryder finally gets on a roll the crowd is losing it. You also have Bull Pain on the outside showing the thousand different ways he has to hit someone with a bat. This was CWA wrestling done by two guys raised on the style and it delivered everything you would want. This would finish top 20 on my Memphis ballot if it happened in 1983 and I am so glad that this kind of match is still happening.