The Best Wrestling Matches of 2020

2019 is here.

You'll see 2 lists.  Every 4 1/2+ match around the world and every 4 star WWE match of the year. The 2020 wrestling year starts in December, 2019. I used to take note of all the 4 star matches I've seen around the world, but that task is now too much for me.  

MOTY

1. Go v Nakajima (Nov, NOAH) 5

2. Ibushi v. Shingo (Oct, NJPW) 5

3. Walter v. Dragunov (Oct, WWE, NXT UK) 5

4. Okada v. Naito (Jan, NJPW) 5
5. Okada v. Ibushi (Jan, NJPW) 5

6. Okada v. Shingo (Oct NJPW) 5

7. Hiromu v. Ishii (July, NJPW) 4 3/4 

8. Shingo v Ospreay (Sep, NJPW) 4 34

9. Shingo v. Sho (July, NJPW) 4 3/4 

10. Shingo v. Ishii (Sep, NJPW) 4 3/4

11. Ospreay v. Sabre (Feb, Rev Pro) 4 3/4 

12. Lee v. Hiromu (Feb, NJPW) 4 3/4

13. Ospreay v. Hiromu (Jan, NJPW) 4 3/4

14. Suwama v. Ashino (June, AJPW) 4 3/4 

15. Bucks v. Omega/Page (Feb, AEW) 4 3/4

16. FTR v. Bucks (Nov, AEW) 4 1/2

17. Ishii v. Ibushi (Sep, NJPW) 4 1/2 

18. Ishii v. Taichi (Oct, AJPW) 4 1/2

19. Zeus v. Miyahara (AJPW, Oct) 4 1/2 

20. Nakajima v. Kiyomiya (NOAH, Oct) 4 1/2

21. Omega v. PAC (AEW, Feb) 4 1/2  

22. Miyahara v. Lee (Jan, AJPW) 4 1/2 

23. Hiromu v. Ishimori (Aug, NJPW) 4 1/2 

24. Edge v. Orton (June, WWE) 4 1/2

25. Ospreay v. Sabre (Feb, NJPW) 4 1/2

26. Ospreay v. James (Jan, MCW) 4 1/2

27. Ospreay v. Ibushi (Oct, NJPW) 4 1/2 

28. Sugiura v. Nakajima (NOAH, May) 4 1/2

29. Naito v. Tanahashi (NJPW, Sep) 4 1/2

30. FTR v. Omega/Page (Sep AEW) 4 1/2 

31. Bryan v. Styles (June, WWE) 4 1/2 

32. Ospreay v. Suzuki (Oct, NJPW) 4 1/2

33. Ibushi v. Suzuki (Oct, NJPW) 4 1/2

34. Ishii v Cobb (Oct, NJPW) 4 1/2

35. Balor v. Gargano (Feb, NXT) 4 1/2

36. Devlin v. Bate (Jan, NXT-UK) 4 1/2

 

WWE

1. Walter v. Dragunov (Oct, NXT UK) 5

2. Orton v. Edge (June, Backlash) 4 1/2 

3. Styles v. Bryan (June, Smackdown) 4 1/2

4. Balor v. Gargano (Feb, NXT) 4 1/2
5. Devlin v. Bate (Jan, NXT UK) 4 1/2

6. O'Reilly v. Balor (Oct, NXT) 4 1/4

7. Riddle/Dunne d. Fish/O'Reilly (Feb, NXT) 4 1/4
8. Cole v. Ciampa (Feb, NXT) 4 1/4

9. Lee v. Cole (July, NXT) 4 1/4 

10. Lee v. Dijakovic (Feb, NXT) 4 1/4

11. Imperium (WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) v. The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong) (Jan NXT NXT UK) 4 1/4

12. IC Ladder: Zayn v. Styles v. Jeff (Sep, Clash of Champions) 4 1/4

13. Gargano v. Priest (Oct, NXT) 4 1/4 

14. Iron Man: Balor v. Cole v. Gargano v. Ciampa (Sep, NXT) 4

15. Balor v. Cole (Sep, NXT) 4

16. HIAC: Bayley v Banks (Oct, HIAC) 4

17. Flair v. Ripley v. Shirai (NXT, June) 4

18. DIY v. Moustache Mountain (Jan, NXT/NXT-UK) 4 

19. Broserweights v Grizzled Young Veterans (Jan, NXT) 4

20. Thatcher v. Riddle (May, NXT) 4

21. Sheamus v. Riddle (Nov, RAW) 4

22. Balor v. Cole (Dec, NXT) 4

23. Riddle/Dunne v. Webster/Andrews (Jan, NXT) 4

24. Kushida v. Grimes (Dec, NXT) 4

25. Ladder Match: Morrison/Jimmy Uso/Kingston (April, Wrestlemania) 4

26. Bryan v. Jey Uso (November, Smackdown) 4

27. Reed v. Strong v. Gargano (July, NXT) 4

28. Tag Team Ladder Match (Jan, NXT-UK) 4

2019 NFL All Pro Team

Here are the best players from the 2019 NFL season

QB: L.Jackson - Balt MVP (1st team)
       R.Wilson - Sea (2nd team)

RB C.McCaffrey Carol (1st team)
       N.Chubb Cle (2nd team)

WR  C.Godwin TB (1st team)
        M.Thomas NO (1st team)
        D.Hopkins Hou (2nd team)
        J.Jones Atl (2nd team)

TE  G.Kittle SF (1st team)
       T.Kelce KC (2nd team)

C J.Kelce Phi (1st team)
    E.McCoy NO (2nd team)

G B.Brooks Phil (1st team)
   Q.Nelson Ind (1st team)
    Z.Martin Dall (2nd team)
    M.Yanda Balt (2nd team)

T  R.Ramczyk NO (1st team)
    L.Collins Dal (1st team)
    R.Stanley Balt (2nd team)
    M.Schwartz KC (2nd team)

DE  C.Campbell Jax (1st team)
       J.Bosa LAC (1st team)
       D.Hunter Min (2nd team)
       C.Jordan (2nd team)

DT A.Donald LAR (1st team)
       C.Heyward Pit (1st team)
       G.Jarrett Cle (2nd team)
       F.Cox Phi (2nd team)

OLB Z.Smith GB (1st team)
         TJ Watt Pitt (1st team)
         C.Jones Ari (2nd team)
         K.Mack Chi (2nd team)

ILB   L.David TB (1st team)
         E.Kendricks Min (2nd team)

CB R.Sherman SF (1st team)
      C.Hayward LAC (1st team)
      M.Peters Balt (2nd team)
      S.Gilmore NE (2nd team)
   
S   J.Williams Den (1st team)
     H.Smith Min (1st  team)
     A.Harris Min (2nd team)
     J.Adams NYJ (2nd team)

2019 NFL Playoff Picks

My Niners are back in the playoffs - here's what I expect to happen.

Wild Card:

AFC: Houston d. Buffalo
          New England d. Tennessee

NFC: New Orleans d. Minnesota
          Philly d. Seattle

Both 5/4 games are jump balls; no outcomes would surprise.  Both 3/6 games should be chalk; a New Orelans loss would be really surprising.

Divisional Round:

AFC:  Baltimore d. Houston
           Kansas City d. New England

Chalks is really likely in the AFC, particularly the Ravens.

NFC: San Francisco d. Philadelphia
          New Orleans d. Green Bay

I'll be rooting for the Eagles in that Seattle game; not because they aren't as good as Seattle, they are, but I don't need another Seahawk game this year, I've gotten all I can out of those 120 minutes.  The Saints are significantly better than the Packers

AFC Championship: Baltimore d. Kansas City
-The Ravens are the team you should pick; this is a close matchup and neither result surpises, but Baltimore's the best team in football (spoiler)

NFC Championship: San Francisco d. New Orleans
-Also close, similar to the AFC title, the Niners are the best team in the NFC and while they could lose to the Saints (but not the Packers or Eagles or Vikings) pick the Niners

Super Bowl: Baltimore d. San Francisco
-As the Bengals were to my team in the 80s, we are to the Ravens and they edge us out again.

Top 20 Television Series of the Decade

Each year I rank television series; I started in 2012 - here are the links:

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019


Here are all the Top 5s

2012: 1. Mad Men 2. Breaking Bad 3. 30 Rock 4. Girls 5. Parks and Rec
2013: 1. Mad Men 2. Breaking Bad 3. Arrested Development 4. Veep 5. Orange is the New Black
2014: 1. Mad Men 2. Transparent 3. High Maintenance 4. Please Like Me 5. The Americans
2015: 1. Mad Men 2. Fargo 3. Veep 4. Louie 5. Better Call Saul
2016: 1. Fleabag 2. Please Like Me 3. Better Call Saul 4. The Americans 5. Veep
2017: 1. The Deuce 2. American Vandal 3. Baskets 4. Better Call Saul 5. Ozark
2018: 1. Basketball: A Love Story 2. Better Call Saul 3. Succession 4. The Americans 5. Atlanta
2019: 1. Succession 2. Fleabag 3. The Righteous Gemstones 4. Euphoria 5. Pen15

So...what does it add up to....

1. Mad Men (AMC) - Mad Men was my number 1 four straight years; it would have been my number one in 2010 and it didn't air in 2011.
2. Breaking Bad (AMC) - Would have been my number 2 in 2010, 1 in 2011, and then was my number 2 in 2012 and 2013.
3. Better Call Saul (AMC) - in my top 5 all four seasons it has aired
4. Happy Endings (ABC) - would have been top 5 in 2011 had I done rankings, was in my top 10 in 2012, wasn't in my top 10 for 2013..I don't think I saw the full 2013 run until after 2013, it would have been in the top five.
5. 30 Rock (NBC) would have made my top 5 in 2010 and 2011, did make it in 2012 and was in the top 10 in 2013.
6. Louie (FX) - would have made my top 5 in both 2010 and 2011, made my top 10 in 2012, didn't air episodes in 2013, was in the top 10 in 2014 and the top 5 in 2015.
7. The Americans (FX) - in my top 10 in 2013, top 5 in 2014, top 10 in 2015, top 5 in 2016, top 20 in 2017 and top 5 in 2018
8. Fleabag (Amazon) - it's had two seasons, finished number one and number two
9. Succession (HBO) - it's had two seasons, finished number one and number three
10. Please Like Me (Pivot) - top 5 in 2014, top 10 in 2015, was number 2 in 2016

11. Veep (HBO) - top 10 in 2012, top 5 in 2014, top 10 in 2014, top 5 in 2015, top 5 in 2016, top 20 in 2017 its last season didn't crack the top 20. Veep lost some steam for me after its show runner left.
12. Parks and Rec (NBC) - was a top 10 show for me in 2010 and 2011, top 5 in 2012, top 10 in 2013
13. High Maintenance (eventually HBO) - a top 5, a top 10, two top 20s
14. Atlanta (FX) first season's a top 10, second season's a top 5.
15. Fargo (FX) it's first two seasons were top 5 for me and the third didn't crack the top 20.
16. The Deuce (HBO) first season was number one, and then it's final two were both in the top 20.
17. Barry (HBO) - top 10 in both of its seasons
18. Community (NBC) would have had three top 10s
19.  The Good Place (NBC) - a top 10 and two top 20s.
20. Billy on the Street (eventually Netflix) - would have had four top 20s

If I went to 25, in no particular order, Girls, Superstore, Friday Night Lights, Baskets and Horace&Pete.

Athlete of the Decade

LeBron James.  Runners-up: Tom Brady, Serena Williams


I've been doing a weekly list of the top athletes as long as I can recall; I've got the full documentation from 1990 forward; here's 3 decades of Athletes of the Year:

1990: Joe Montana  

1991: Michael Jordan

1992: Mario Lemieux

1993: Michael Jordan

1994: George Foreman  90-94

1995: Hakeem Olajuwon

1996: Michael Jordan

1997: Tiger Woods

1998: Mark McGwire

1999: Tiger Woods   95-99

2000: Tiger Woods

2001: Barry Bonds

2002: Barry Bonds

2003: Lance Armstrong

2004: Peyton Manning   00-04

2005: Reggie Bush

2006: Roger Federer

2007: Tom Brady

2008: Usain Bolt

2009: Manny Pacquiao  05-09

2010: Maya Moore

2011: Aaron Rodgers

2012: LeBron James

2013: LeBron James

2014: Madison Bumgarner  10-14

2015: Serena Williams  2015

2016: Michael Phelps 2016

2017: Tom Brady  2017 

2018: Breanna Stewart 2018

2019: Megan Rapinoe  2019

So - the nominees for Athlete of the 2010s:

Maya Moore

Aaron Rodgers

LeBron James

Madison Bumgarner

Serena Williams

Michael Phelps

Tom Brady

Breanna Stewart

Megan Rapinoe

The only two time winner is LeBron; he's likely fairly non controversial as Athlete of the Decade.  By my current metrics, he's now the greatest basketball player of all time.  Brady secured his spot as greatest QB of all time as he flourished in his 30s and who the greatest female athlete ever is feels above my pay grade but Serena Williams has a pretty good claim.  Those three are clearly a cut above the rest of the field.

30 years down and onto the next.  There will be a point where I stop publishing this (in truth, the publishing really just serves as my own way to keep the records, I understand how the next thing sounds, but it just doesn't matter to me at this point in my life if you're reading this or not - that wasn't always true, but now this is entirely just a way to keep my lists) but I'm likely to keep doing this on my own until I drift off into the sea.  

See you (or not, I don't know your life) in the Roaring (?...will we hand it a nickname?  Wilting?  Weeping?  Whining?...I'm sure something will catch on) 20s.