February was a much less successful month than January. Without any major shows in the month, most wrestling companies showcased transitional feuds to set up their more notable shows in March and April.
Nonetheless, there were some quality matches, and I will still give my top 10 (or top 9 + 1 because only the top nine are, in my opinion, must-see TV).
Here we go!
Honorable Mentions (all at 3.75 stars out of 5, listed chronologically)
Los Ingobernables de Japon d. CHAOS, 10-man tag match, Road to New Beginning
IWGP Jr. HW Champion Will Osperay d. Takahashi, New Beginning in Osaka
Kalisto d. Lince Dorado, 205 Live Cruiserweight Title Tournament Eighth-Final
Roderick Strong d. Hideo Itami, 205 Live Cruiserweight Title Tournament Eighth-Final
Angel de Oro/Atlantis/Dragon Lee d. Forestero/Sanson/Cuatrero, CMLL Friday Show, 2/23
10th Place: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: EVIL/SANADA (c) d. Kazuchika Okada/Hirooki Goto, Road to the New Beginning
I had trouble picking a 10th place since the ranking would be even with the 11th-15th places, but I went with this one because it proved to have a real high-stakes feeling to it. With the actual New Beginning matches, in my mind, hinging on the result of this match, I actually had a feeling that this match had higher stakes than were apparent.
Maybe that is a cheap way to decide the tie-breaker, but the matches really were about even, and I'm splitting hairs with this ranking. All the 3.75 matches are great watches, but none mandate you see them like the top nine do.
The following matches are all 4 stars.
9th Place: Mustafa Ali d. Jack Gallagher, 205 Live Cruiserweight Title Tournament Eighth-Final
These two helped close out round 1 with a bang, and they showcased a revival of sorts for Jack Gallagher. I remember being invested briefly in Gallagher, but much like the rest of the cruiserweight division, interest waned as WWE's interest waned. It's nice to see the division getting back on the map.
These two helped close out round 1 with a bang, and they showcased a revival of sorts for Jack Gallagher. I remember being invested briefly in Gallagher, but much like the rest of the cruiserweight division, interest waned as WWE's interest waned. It's nice to see the division getting back on the map.
8th Place: 2/19 Raw Gauntlet Match, Braun Strowman d. Finn Balor, The Miz, Elias, Seth Rollins, John Cena, Roman Reigns
This match lasted nearly two hours on its own, but kept each singles match from overstaying its welcome. I don't think a match this long can hold attention the whole time by its nature, but this one certainly tried.
7th Place: Soberano Jr. v. Niebla Roja, 10-minute Broadway draw, CMLL 2/23 Friday show
This lightning match was more impressive than I was expecting. I liked both Soberano and Niebla Roja during Fantastica Mania, but I was thoroughly surprised by the amount of action they crammed into the 10-minute limit. I would be more than happy to sit through another.
6th Place: Raw World Women's Championship Elimination Chamber: Alexa Bliss d. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Absolution
This was kind of a by-the-numbers chamber match with only a few major spots and a fairly simple setup. There were no real surprises and the eliminations came in the exact order you would expect, but that's kind of what made this match work. Sometimes it's best to just keep it simple and tell a story that you know will work with your audience.
5th Place: Drew Gulak d. Tony Nece, 205 Live Cruiserweight Title Tournament Eighth-Final
Drew Gulak was rambling about PowerPoint presentations and using politician mannerisms when I saw him for the first time this past January, and I thought him to be annoying beyond belief. The dawn of his new gimmick as a hard-hitting ground fighter with dirty tactics, however, is a great contrast from the high-flying style that dominates the cruiserweight division. The bout with Nece made me a fan and has me rooting for him to reach the final.
4th Place: WWE United Kingdom Championship: Pete Dunne (c) d. Roderick Strong, NXT
I have heard many good things about the UK title matches that have been going, but this is the first I've seen of them. Roderick Strong looks every bit the star that people have made him out to be, and I now feel like I need to check out the UK title tournament to see more of the work of Pete Dunne and the UK wrestlers.
The following matches are 4.25 stars.
The return of the Golden Lovers was anticipated since New Year's Dash and they did a good job of leading an excellent match between Cody and Hangman. I'm still not sold on Hangman as a top-flight talent, and he was the weakest element of the four, but he held his own here with Cody's heel tactics and the long-time tag efforts of Omega and Ibushi. I am looking forward to the Lovers facing the Young Bucks at New Japan's US show, in addition to the Cody/Omega match at Supercard of Honor.
This is the fourth match between these two, and it shows. Their match from January was definitely better, but this one had a great crowd in Florida and a high-pressure feel the whole way through. The dirty finish was not my favorite, but the rest of the match more than made up for it.
And the top match of the month, the only 4.5-star match, and the only MOTY contender from February is...
And the top match of the month, the only 4.5-star match, and the only MOTY contender from February is...
I initially was not sure about the idea of the incredible pairs tournament. It's an odd mindset that faces and heels are acknowledged to be faces and heels, but it does lead to some solid drama, and that showed here.
Volador and Guerrero are probably the top face and heel in the company, and their history of success allowed them to show good teamwork despite normally being rivals. Rush is the founder of the Los Ingobernables faction, and it was interesting to see him induct Terrible into the group with this match.
The match told a great story and the final fall hit all the beats it needed to. The early falls weren't perfect, but I enjoyed the match all the way through.
March is going to be a big month, with ROH's anniversary (which I attended live), New Japan's anniversary show, the New Japan Cup, Strong Style Evolved, and the Homenaje a Dos Leyendas will be making up most, if not, all of the spots.
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