2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Panther v. Adonis

35. Blue Panther v. Sam Adonis CMLL 7/21

ER: Last week Panther worked as Dusty Rhodes, and here he's back as a kind of vulnerable Hogan or a better late career Pedro Morales. Panther is one of the more sympathetic wrestlers in the world, with a very expressive face and pained eyes, great pleading looks to the crowd, still able to bump enough to put over offense and make it look painful. His comebacks always inspire the crowd more than almost any CMLL wrestler. Here Adonis jumps him before the bell, Panther comes back and rips off his Love Machine mask. Adonis comes back, kicks Panther in the face, slams him a bunch on the rampway (with Panther kicking his legs and holding his back in pain), then gets out his beyond shitty trump American flag. You can hear the boos and screams even through Arena Mexico's notoriously low mics. Adonis swinging his shitty flag only to get hit in the back of the head by a Panther tope is a top 2017 wrestling moment. Adonis throws maybe the nastiest chops in CMLL and that only adds to his dickishness, and Panther makes him pay for those chops by throwing a couple downward punches right at the bridge of his nose. Adonis his a flip dive, Panther gets riled up and clotheslines him into the front row, Panther throws nasty punches as both men fall into people on the front row, commissioners start holding them apart in the front row while elbows come close to hitting fans. We get a really great "hold me back!" segment with dudes in suits holding both men on separate parts of the ringside floor and both men looking like they genuinely want to break away. Panther gets the mic and puts down Adonis' trash American president, Adonis gets a mic and calls someone a puta (leading to his mic getting cut), and eventually Panther does break away and jump him. This was super simple but super effective. Panther is a great rep for Mexico, Adonis is really coming into his own as a loudmouth American, and I'm really excited for the hair match.

PAS: I don't know if I am sold on Adonis as a wrestler, but take a legend like Panther and put him against a shit talking American with a Trump flag in Arena Mexico it is going to be great. I can't tell you how much I loved the moment where Adonis is swinging the Trump flag only to have Panther fly in like Robert Mueller and crush him with a tope. Panther gets beat down but still he persisted. Finish with both guys trying to murder each other in the crowd is great, Adonis is a nut for that, he is begging for some one to knife him. Very excited for the hair match, Panther is the hero we need in 2017.

2017 MOTY MASTER LIST