Best Matches of February 2017

A look at the best wrestling on offer in February 2017.

Honourable Mentions:

Io Shirai vs Shayna Baszler (Stardom Stardom of Champions) ****

Ringkampf vs Jurn Simmons & David Starr (WXW Dead End XVI) ****

Luke Harper vs Randy Orton (WWE Elimination Chamber) ****

AJ Styles vs Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton (WWE Smackdown) ****

Kento Miyahara vs The Bodyguard (AJPW Excite Series February 26th)****

War Machine vs Young Bucks (NJPW/ROH Honor Rising Night )****
Young Bucks vs Chosen Bros (PWG Mystery Vortex IV)****

10. Bullet Club [Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes & Young Bucks] vs Chaos [Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay & The Briscoes] (NJPW/ROH Honor Rising Night 2) 

Action packed free for all of a match. Great fun. Ospreay comes out looking great. ****1/4

9. Marty Scurll vs Zack Sabre Jr (PWG Mystery Vortex IV) 

Really good, long, technical match. This show actually took place in December but due to PWG not having iPPV only DVD is available, which came out in February. ****1/4

8. Kairi Hojo vs Jungle Kyona (Stardom Stardom of Champions) 

Kairi is WWE bound, allegedly, and it's matches of this high standard that no doubt got her that contract. Great match. ****1/2

7. Katsuyori Shibata vs Will Ospreay (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka) 

A different kind of match for Ospreay that proves that he has more to his game than just flips. He is on the verge of being a truly world class performer. ****1/2

6. Zack Sabre Jr vs Timothy Thatcher (Evolve 79) 

This was the end of Thatcher's very long, disappointing Evolve title run and the fans were rabid to see him lose. Hopefully the quality of this match gets Thatcher back to the level he was at before winning the title. ****1/2

5. Dezmond Xavier vs Rey Fenix vs Shane Strickland (Wrestle Circus Taking Center Stage) 

Crazy, innovative, high flying spotfest and oh lordy it's great. ****1/2

4. Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki (NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo) 

Very submission based match so if that's not your thing then this might not be for you but if you are this is superbly done. Really well worked match. ****1/2

3. John Cena vs AJ Styles vs Bray Wyatt vs Baron Corbin vs The Miz vs Dean Ambrose [Elimination Chamber Match] (WWE Elimination Chamber) 

Possibly the best Elimination Chamber match ever. It had really good storytelling, some great spots and a great winner. It's excellent. ****1/2

2. Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka)

This is absolutely fucking mental. I couldn't even begin to describe all the crazy spots in this but they include a a sunset flip bomb to the floor, Dragon Lee jumping over the top rope to give Takahashi a hurricanrana to the floor and Takahashi reversing a rana with a fucking nasty looking powerbomb in to the apron. What's even better is that the wrestling between the spots is great too. Watch it. ****3/4

1. Tetsuya Naito vs Michael Elgin (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka) 

This match is the perfect example of a match where everything that happens is done for a reason. New Japan has a spectacular modern record for building and structuring it's main events damn near perfectly and this is no different. Naito does a superb job of selling for Elgin and even in defeat Elgin looks fantastic. Superbly done stuff all round. *****