Match of the Day - Lance Storm looks to become a grand slam champion in WCW

Lance Storm vs. Booker T - WCW Heavyweight title match - Monday Nitro (2000)

Lance Storm takes on the WCW Heavyweight champ, Booker T in hopes to become a four title champion.

Storm at the time held the WCW Crusierweight title (which he renamed the 100 kg and Under title), the WCW United States Heavyweight title (renamed the Canadian Heavyweight title), and the WCW Hardcore title (renamed the Saskatchewan Hardcore International title AKA S.H.I.T.) - all he needed was the Heavyweight title and, after less than a year into WCW, the Canadian native would have had possession of all the singles titles in the company.

Despite this match being mostly a warm-up for Booker T as he headed into the New Blood Rising PPV to defend the title against Jeff Jarrett, this is still a pretty good match and far better than said match with Jeff Jarrett that summer.

Song of the Day - Curse of the Knightmare

California X - Curse of the Knightmare from California X (2013)

Something I missed this year.

grunge-y, messy punk rock.

Get their debut S/T via Don Giovanni  Records.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Rhodes Dynasty all or nothing match against The Shield

Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Shield (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) - The Rhodes Family's careers on the line - WWE Battleground (2013)

Out of the weakest WWE PPV of 2013 comes one of the best matches of the year, it's the Rhodes brothers taking on the most dominant tag team in a long time, The Shield. If Cody and Goldie lost the match the Rhodes, including Huckleberry Dusty who works for NXT, would have lost their jobs and could never work in WWE again (because the Authority (Stephanie McMahon and Triple H) didn't like them or something (citation needed)).

This match and the whole storyline really was one of the most surprisingly good things to come out of WWE in the past twelve months. It's also the only good thing to come out of the Authority angle. Plus, it jump-started Goldust's withering career, gave us a chance to listen to Dusty Rhodes's insane ramblings, and gave Cody Rhodes something to do now that he has no mustache. The Shield on the other hand, gained more traction as a tag team and all in all just stayed relevant.

PS: This match is also the debut of Goldust's Darth Vader makeup.

Song of the Day - Can 'O Worms

Stone Titan - Can 'O Worms from Scratch 'N Sniff (2013)

Noisy and colorful metal from South Windsor, CT.



Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Shibata/Ishii G1 stiff fest

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax 23 Day Night 4 (2013)

If there was one bit of hype that I read on the internet that I did believe this year, it was the hype for New Japan Pro Wrestling. With an incredible good match to match ratio, exciting wrestlers, and outstanding events, I think it's safe to say that NJPW was the best wrestling promotion of 2013.

One outstanding event NJPW put on this year was the 23 annual G1 Climax, a super tournament featuring 20 of the top wrestlers in Japan that took place over the course of 9 days. That's right, a 9 day event that NJPW streamed lived every day featuring pretty much only good matches. One match in particular that got mega attention over the course of the 9 days is the Shibata/Ishii match from Night 4.

Tomohiro Ishii versus "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata is an adrenaline rush of stiff strikes and Japanese fighting spirit (which would be called no-selling in America). There's no feeling out process in the beginning, no rest holds, and absolutely no slowing down. There is a story to it however and that story is: who can look the most legit.

Song of the Day - Permanent State of Daylight

Calculator - Permanent State of Daylight from This Will Come To Pass (2013)

Sweet intro, sweet track.


Math.

Last.fm

Match of the Day - The Callihan/Younger Guerrilla Warfare match

Sami Callihan vs. Drake Younger - Guerrilla Warfare #1 contender's match - PWG All Star Weekend 9 Night 1 (2013)

Speaking of best-of series's and Sami's...

The series of matches between Sami Callihan and Drake Younger are a brutal mix of performing arts and insane indy wrestling nonsense; the opposite of what I said the Zayn/Cesaro match was. But you know what, Callihan/Younger is in another league all by itself.

This Guerrilla Warfare match at All Star Weekend 9 (the first Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show I ever saw, so it holds a special place in my heart) is the third and final match of the Callihan/Younger series in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and it also serves as a #1 contenders match for Adam Cole's PWG championship the next night. A Guerrilla Warfare match in of itself is an anything goes, hardcore match - a match that neither of these two are new too as both Callihan and Younger have cut their teeth in many violent promotions including CZW, BJW, IWA:MS, and IPW.

This match takes the cake for my favorite hardcore match of the year hands down. It's got chair spots, trashcan spots, staple guns, thumbtacks... hell, even the streamers get hardcore. The best part is that this is not some random slugfest, it's a big blow-off match between two heated rivals who just want to hurt each other. If you wanna get a better feel for this match I would recommend checking this video out that also features the first two matches boiling up to this match (it's a music video but the music doesn't suck).