No Moon Landing's X Of The Year: Wrestling 2012

Wrestling owns and there was a ton of great wrestling this year

Match of the Year

Davey Richards (c) vs Michael Elgin, ROH World Championship, Ring of Honor Showdown in the Sun Day 2, Mar 31 2012
This match ruled. A fast-paced matched with high drama and some in-ring athleticism rarely seen, Richards and Elgin took us from high to low and hit every spot in between. A fantastic match featuring two of the best wrestlers in the world today that should have rocketed Elgin to even larger fame than he's current experiencing.



Honorable Mentions:
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Hirooki Goto, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, New Japan Wrestling Dontaku, Mar 5 2012
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Minoru Suzuki, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, New Japan King of Pro Wrestling, Oct 10 2012
Undertaker vs HHH, Hell in a Cell, WWE Wrestlemania 29, Apr 1 2012
Super Smash Bros vs Future Shock vs Young Bucks, PWG Tag Team Championship Ladder Match, PWG Threemendous III, July 21 2012
Kevin Steen (c) vs El Generico, ROH World Championship Ladder War, Ring of Honor Final Battle, Dec 16 2012

Show of the Year

New Japan Pro Wrestling King of Pro Wrestling, Ryougoku Sumo Hall, Tokyo, Japan, Oct 10 2012
Okada/Anderson and Tanahashi/Suzuki alone could make this show of the year, but the card also featured a great match between Low Ki and Prince Devitt, Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Suzuki for the IWGP Intercon title, and some excellent tag team matches for the IWGP Heavyweight and Jr. Heavyweight belts. NJPW has some of the best in-house talent in the world and this, coupled with the outrageous gaijin talent on this card, makes this the show of the year. Even the nostalgia matches can't drag this show down.

Honorable Mentions:
Ring of Honor Final Battle: Doomsday, Manhattan Center, New York, New York, Dec 16 2012
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, Barclay Center, Brooklyn, New York, Dec 16 2012
PWG DDT4 2012, American Legion Hall, Reseda, California, Apr 21 2012
Chikara Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur, The Trocadero, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2 2012
TNA Destination X 2012, Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida, July 8 2012
PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2012, American Legion Hall, Reseda, California, Sep 1-2 2012

Wrestler of the Year

Kazuchika Okada, NJPW

What can you say about the Rainmaker that hasn't already been said? He's come from being Samoa Joe's lackey in TNA, returning to Japan as a forgettable junior heavyweight, transforming, seemingly over night, into the Rainmaker, the heavyweight powerhouse and charismatic heel. His reign as IWGP champion created a series of incredible matches and a feud with Tanahashi, the rubber match being No Moon Landing's most anticipated match of 2013. Everything he touches turns to gold and we can only hope it continues that way.

Honorable Mentions:

Michael Elgin, ROH, PWG

Kevin Steen, ROH, PWG, CHIKARA

Adam Cole, PWG, ROH

Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW

El Generico, PWG, EVOLVE, DGUSA