Your current leader: Kenta v. Akiyama. NOAH. From May.
I wonder, following Misawa's death, how many matches at this level are remaining, as it is bone jarring. Kenta's a runaway choice for Wrestler of the Year; there's really not a scenario where anyone else should be considered. Akiyama should receive much more support than he does for the WON HOF; actually, that's part of a broader argument that I make which is workrate should be much more strongly considered than it is in making those determinations. Akiyama seems to get injured by not being as good as the other elite AJPW workers, but setting the bar requiring one is the greatest worker of all time or can't be in the HOF based chiefly on workrate seems like a poor calculation to me.
As the other MOTY posts are lost to us, here is my list of the elite (4 1/2 stars and up) matches I've seen so far in 2009: (edit, I'll use this post to add additional matches)
Kenta v. Nakajima (Feb) 5 stars
Kenta v. Nakajima (Mar)
Kenta v. Kotaro (Jan)
Doi v. Kanemoto (Mar)
Akiyama v. Go (April)
Ishii v. Inoue (Apr)
Tanahashi v. Goto (May)
Tanaka/Sekimoto v. Miyamoto/TSasaki (Apr)
Akiyama v. Kenta (May)
Nigel v. Marufuji (ROH - Dec 08)
Nigel v. Kenta (Mar -ROH)
Kenta v. Davey (Apr -ROH)
Danielson v. Black (May - ROH)
Sekimoto v. Sai (May - Zero1)
Kenta v. Marvin (June - NOAH)
Kenta/Go v. Nakajima/Kensuke (June - NOAH)
Marvin v. Ishimori (May - probably Kensuke Office)
Tanaka v. Hidaka (May - Zero 1)
Kodaka/Takeda v. Miyamoto/TSasaki (May - Big Japan)
Kanemoto v. Devitt (June - New Japan)
Kenta/Go v. Nakajima/Kensuke (June - NOAH)
Kenta v. Go (May - NOAH)
Ultimate X (Oct - TNA Bound for Glory)
My primary thought about Arturo Gatti's death is that Mickey Ward should have used a purse in that third fight. My primary thought about Steve McNair's death is that - holy shit, was that dude unlucky. The Sports Industrial Complex has wagged its finger a little bit, stepping as close to the "well, that'll learn you for stepping out on your wife" line as they feel the public will allow. This is, of course, ridiculous - the number of professional athletes of the level of Steve McNair's wealth and celebrity who aren't sleeping with some 20 year old waitress is smaller than the number of those same athletes who have never "cheated" (didja see Bob Gibson saying that of course ballplayers cheated in his day, ballplayers have always cheated, and that if steroids were around for him he can't say he wouldn't have loaded up too) on the field. The reason sportswriters aren't getting on top of a 20 year old girl is that none would have them.
McNair didn't face some cosmic justice - McNair just drew the wrong cards - I'm guessing that he was attempting to break it off with her (she was pulled over for a DUI 2 days before in the Escalade that they jointly owned, he was with her, obviously putting him in jeopardy of getting caught - not that I've been around a crime or two, but the proximity of the events leads me to suggest a tie in, that tie in being his saying something like "yeah, we gotta stop doing this."
Maybe it costs him the car. Hell, if she works hard, maybe it costs him the condo - but damn - murder/suicide by a 20 year old Dave & Busters waitress is a bad, unlucky ending. I don't know if ballplayers will "learn a lesson" that they should be faithful to their marriage vows as much as they'll consider strapping up even when at home.
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