What wrestling moments stand out to you in 2022? Let us know in the comments!
Tempest counts down the best non-WWE and AEW wrestling moments from 2022...
Watch Adam Blampied's WORST PPV Matches of 2022 https://youtu.be/taEOpVRC7SI
00:00 - Start
01:48 - 10
02:23 - 9
03:31 - 8
04:28 - 7
05:21 - 6
06:20 - 5
07:21 - 4
08:21 - 3
09:41 - 2
10:45 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
Tempest counts down the best non-WWE and AEW wrestling moments from 2022...
Watch Adam Blampied's WORST PPV Matches of 2022 https://youtu.be/taEOpVRC7SI
00:00 - Start
01:48 - 10
02:23 - 9
03:31 - 8
04:28 - 7
05:21 - 6
06:20 - 5
07:21 - 4
08:21 - 3
09:41 - 2
10:45 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
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SportsTranscript
00:00 2022 has been an interesting year in pro wrestling.
00:04 There has been an insane influx of news, some good, some the opposite of good, but I don't
00:10 want to end this year on a down note, so with the final week of the year coming to a close,
00:14 I would like to take this opportunity to draw attention to some of the amazing things in
00:18 this world of wrestling that may have been overshadowed by the bigger, more negative
00:22 headlines this year.
00:24 2022 is a fantastic year for wrestling.
00:26 The quality of in-ring performances continue to get better and better all over the world,
00:30 and there has been no shortage of incredibly emotional, highly dramatic moments to remind
00:35 us all of why we fell in love with this thing called wrestling in the first place.
00:39 This list is going to heavily focus on wrestling that would have taken place outside of WWE
00:43 and AEW, so some of you may have seen them, and to you I say well done, but to the rest
00:47 of you, I'm Tempest Hailing from PartsFunKnown, and these are 10 awesome wrestling things
00:52 you missed in 2022.
00:54 But before we get on with our list, make sure of course that you subscribe to PartsFunKnown
00:57 so you never miss a bit of fun wrestling content just like it.
01:00 We've got plenty of end of year content all over the channel, so make sure that you
01:03 check out our list of best pay-per-view matches, worst pay-per-view matches, best pay-per-views,
01:08 everything that you could possibly want in pro wrestling is found right here on PartsFunKnown.
01:13 Jam that jam.
01:14 Except actual matches, because we can't do those because we'll get demonetized, but
01:16 everything else, jam that jam.
01:18 Honorable mention, Denise eliminates Shawn.
01:21 Heh heh, Denise hits Shawn right in the dick.
01:23 In case you needed more reason to believe that Joey Janela's spring break is indeed
01:27 a ridiculous display and also a damn good time, here is friend of the channel and GCW
01:32 announcer Denise Salcedo hitting friend of the channel and dirt sheet boy Shawn Ross
01:35 Sapp in the nads and eliminating him from the clusterf*ck battle royal.
01:39 I do indeed love wrestling.
01:42 Number 10, the wrestling club.
01:44 Speaking of loving wrestling, there are few things more special than the genuine excitement
01:48 of a child.
01:49 At least that's what Luke Owen DAD tells me.
01:51 But if you have been around on wrestling twitter, you will know that there is a very special
01:54 group simply known as "The Wrestling Club" run by Victor Taylor Perry, where a group
01:59 of kids get to be shown some of the best wrestling of today and days gone by.
02:03 The excitement from the kids is touching, seeing them all so invested in this thing
02:07 called wrestling, getting to meet people like Sasha Banks, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland,
02:11 it's all just so heartwarming.
02:13 Perry's a good dude, spreading the love of wrestling and helping to foster the passions
02:17 of a bunch of middle school students in a way that I would have loved when I was their
02:21 age.
02:22 Number 9, Darby Allin offers Nick Wayne a deal.
02:25 A lot of fans have been exposed to many of the independent and international scenes best
02:29 in 2022.
02:30 Whether it be Kinosuke Takeshita, A.R.
02:32 Fox, or Willow Nightingale, loads of stars got eyes on them for the first time with crowds
02:36 getting more and more behind them each time.
02:39 And let me just say, you ain't seen nothing yet until you see Nick Wayne.
02:43 The teenage prodigy of the Northwest, son of Northwestern wrestling legend Buddy Wayne,
02:48 Nick has already made a name for himself as one of the best there is on the independent
02:51 wrestling scene with unbelievable matches with the likes of Will Ospreay, Billy Starks,
02:56 and so many others.
02:58 This dude was born in 2005, and he is one of the most impressive wrestlers I have seen
03:04 all year.
03:05 And I must not be the only one who thinks that way, as fellow Northwestern star Darby
03:09 Allin presented Nick with an AEW contract after Nick's match with Christopher Daniels
03:13 in Seattle for Defy Wrestling.
03:15 The pop when Darby's music hits is so cool, and then you get the moment Darby pulls the
03:19 contract out to huge You Deserve It chants, and you get one of the coolest indie wrestling
03:23 moments of the whole year.
03:25 Just wait until this guy turns 18, you AEW fans will really get to see something special.
03:30 #8.
03:31 Julia's 5-Star Grand Prix
03:33 There are few promotions who had a more consistently excellent 2022 than Stardom.
03:38 The undisputed rulers of women's wrestling, home of the best women's matches bar none
03:42 the world over, and the biggest all-women's tournament of the year, the 5-Star Grand Prix.
03:47 Julia has been a fantastic performer for quite some time now, but when I asked on Twitter
03:52 what everyone's favorite wrestling moment of the year was, so many people said Julia's
03:56 journey to winning the 5-Star Grand Prix.
03:58 The tournament is a round-robin with two blocks akin to New Japan's G1 Climax, and it was
04:03 during this run of matches against some of the best names in women's wrestling, Mayu
04:06 Itani, Suzu Suzuki, Starlight Kid, Mina Shirakawa, that Julia managed to garner 16 points to
04:13 make the final where she delivered maybe her best performance of the whole tournament against
04:16 Tam Nakano.
04:17 I truly cannot emphasize enough that Stardom has had an incredible year, and if you want
04:21 a gateway into the promotion, watching all of Julia's tournament matches will be a great
04:25 place to start.
04:27 #7.
04:28 Suzuki-Goon Breaks Up
04:29 It's not often that you see a group so despicable garner such an emotional reaction from an
04:33 audience.
04:34 In the most recent moment on our list, in December 2022, Minoru Suzuki revealed that
04:38 after over a decade together, Suzuki-Goon would all be going their separate ways at
04:42 the end of the year.
04:43 Suzuki-Goon was never the top faction of New Japan Pro Wrestling or Pro Wrestling NOAH.
04:48 Honestly, much of the time their heelish antics detracted heavily from people's enjoyment
04:51 of New Japan, but in more recent years, with the addition of Zack Sabre Jr., the vast improvements
04:56 of Lance Archer and Taichi, and El Desperado's emergence as one of the best juniors in his
05:00 division, the group has become more beloved than anyone could have expected.
05:04 As such, in their departing addresses, you had Taichi and Miho Abe say their touching
05:08 goodbyes, Minoru Suzuki, the murder grandpa himself, said they didn't need his help anymore,
05:13 and together this group of villains rode into the sunset to search for new horizons.
05:17 God damn, if I ain't getting misty-eyed just thinking about it.
05:21 #6.
05:22 Mina Shirakawa's Emotional Promo
05:24 I mentioned Mina Shirakawa a minute ago as one of the great opponents that Julia had
05:28 to face in her stellar 5-star Grand Prix run this year.
05:30 However, maybe the most emotional moment of the year in stardom has to go to Shirakawa
05:35 herself.
05:36 In 2022, Mina went from being the most likely to be pinned in her faction to one of the
05:40 most over babyfaces in the company.
05:42 How did she do that?
05:43 Well, by being god damn amazing for one.
05:45 Her 5-star Grand Prix was filled with great matches as well, but the most incredible moment
05:49 of her year came in a post-match promo following her match with Saya Kamitani.
05:53 Mina sits there in tears, with her teeth missing and her jaw broken, and gives the babyface
05:58 promo of the year, saying that every time she's thought to herself that she can't
06:01 do it anymore, that's what she uses to keep going because her dreams are her hope, and
06:06 if she doesn't keep going then she's not a pro wrestler.
06:09 Inject this babyface fire into my veins!
06:13 This is one of the most incredible promos of the year, and at just a minute and 20 seconds,
06:17 you have no excuse not to check it out.
06:19 #5.
06:20 Viano 4 Loses His Mask
06:22 There are few things in wrestling quite as spectacular as a truly monumental mask vs
06:27 mask match.
06:28 We got one of those indeed at AAA's TripleMania XXX event, an excellent display of lucha libre
06:32 that anyone wanting to check out the style must see.
06:35 Viano 4 was going to be near the end of his career no matter what the outcome of this
06:38 match was going to be.
06:40 He is 57 years old and a true legend of lucha libre, and on this night, he had the unenviable
06:44 task of trying to wrest the mask away from AEW World Trios Champion, Pentagon Jr.
06:50 Pentagon would ultimately get the win, but there are two lasting images that truly make
06:53 this one of the most awesome wrestling moments of the year.
06:56 Viano standing unmasked before weeping peers and fans, and this shot of Penta holding his
07:01 mask covered in blood.
07:03 Are you going to tell me that this isn't the most metal thing you have seen in wrestling
07:07 all year because holy s***.
07:09 Tell me when we get this Penta in AEW please.
07:12 There have obviously been better matches in lucha libre this year, but you will not find
07:15 a more emotionally significant moment, maybe in all of wrestling, than this one in 2022.
07:21 Number 4, Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku.
07:23 I've strayed away from including specific matches on this list, especially ones that
07:27 were included in last week's list of every 5 star match of the year, but there will be
07:31 a few exceptions, one of which is this match here.
07:35 Will Ospreay's 2022 is filled to the brim with great matches.
07:38 The man was having 5 star classics at your local indie just because he could.
07:42 But while I could talk about Ospreay's stellar G1 Climax, complete with the final match with
07:46 Kazuchika Okada, I would like to highlight this match with Michael Oku from RevPro High
07:51 Stakes.
07:52 While I was writing said list of 5 star matches, no match completely floored me and had me
07:56 on the edge of my seat quite like this one.
07:59 Some people may not be a fan of Will Ospreay and his style, and that's fine, but you have
08:03 to watch this match for the performance of Michael Oku.
08:06 In the ring, this is probably the best babyface performance of the whole year, from Ospreay
08:11 attacking Oku's family at ringside, bloodying him and sending him flying into the timekeeper's
08:15 table.
08:16 This is the match at the top of Tempest's recommendations for 2022.
08:20 Number 3, Jun Kisai's promo to El Desperado.
08:23 For those unfamiliar with the name Jun Kisai, first of all watch our list of craziest places
08:27 wrestling matches have ever taken place because he pops up in there, but he is one of the
08:31 biggest icons of the deathmatch style still working in wrestling today.
08:35 On September 12th, he and El Desperado capped off years of rivalry with the best deathmatch
08:39 of the year, and that even sounds a bit diminutive because this is one of the best matches of
08:44 the year, full stop.
08:46 What may have been better though, was the post-match promo from Kisai.
08:49 Both men bleeding, Desperado's mask completely ripped off, and Kisai delivers my promo of
08:54 the year.
08:55 This is translated of course, but I will read this word for word.
08:59 Before we fought, you said you didn't care if you lived or died in this ring.
09:02 Don't be a fool.
09:04 Death should be welcomed by no man.
09:06 There are countless who yearn to live but are doomed to an early death.
09:09 Here you are, surrounded by friends, cheered on by this massive audience.
09:13 You've fulfilled your dream of joining New Japan, rose to the highest ranks of the junior
09:17 division, you're living your best life possible.
09:19 So don't tell me that you'd gladly risk it all, you fool.
09:22 We, pro wrestlers, may not fear death or pain.
09:26 We accept that every time we step into this ring.
09:29 F*** chills.
09:31 This promo, to cap off this match, is truly emotional and one of the best complete performances
09:37 of the year.
09:38 Anywhere, any style.
09:41 Number 2.
09:42 FTR vs. Aussie Open.
09:44 The other of two matches to be listed here is the tag match that people will probably
09:47 have been the least likely to see, but absolutely must go out of their way to watch.
09:52 FTR vs. Aussie Open was the featured match from New Japan Pro Wrestling's Royal Quest
09:56 2 from this October.
09:57 As such, it aired on New Japan World sometime later, meaning you can go right now and watch
10:01 this classic, and you will be missing out if you don't.
10:05 FTR were by far the tag team of the year in 2022, and most people will point to their
10:09 excellent trilogy of matches with the Briscoes and Ring of Honor as their best work.
10:13 Rightfully so, those matches were indeed excellent, but that 2022 portfolio of theirs also included
10:18 this gem, and you could absolutely make the argument that it is the best of all of them.
10:23 The Briscoes matches featured a bit more plunder, tables, chairs, dog collars, and the like,
10:27 but this was just a wrestling match between two of the best teams in the world.
10:31 Some people might prefer the plunder approach, some people might like the more straightforward
10:35 style, but either way you slice it, you have excellent FTR matches to always enjoy from
10:40 2022.
10:41 Just make sure this one is one that you make time to see.
10:44 And number 1.
10:45 Speedball Mike Bailey's Entire Year.
10:48 Somewhat buried beneath all the wrestling news in 2022 has been Impact Wrestling chugging
10:52 along with Casual Greatness.
10:54 Masha Slamovich and Jordan Grace had a great match at Bound for Glory, Josh Alexander has
10:58 basically put Mr. Impact Wrestling on his resume with an excellent world title run,
11:02 but the biggest standout to me, and the most important bit of wrestling to check out in
11:07 2022 if you haven't seen it, has been the work of Speedball Mike Bailey.
11:11 Mike Bailey was stuck for a long time not being able to wrestle on big stages because
11:14 of the state of the world, but thank God that changed, because it doesn't matter if it was
11:19 at your local indie show, or a super indie, or Impact itself, where he reigned for almost
11:24 the entire year as X Division Champion, you will not find a more consistently excellent
11:28 wrestler in the world this year than Mike Bailey.
11:31 This was perfectly exemplified by his hour-long match with Josh Alexander recently that could
11:35 easily stand as Impact's match of the year, but Bailey's body of work has just been so
11:39 stellar I cannot put my appreciation of his skills into words.
11:43 He was in the main event of the only show I got to do commentary for this year, and
11:46 he tore the roof off there too.
11:48 If we're all lucky, 2023 will be another year of great things to come for Speedball Mike
11:52 Bailey, but until then, something tells me you all have a lot of wrestling to catch up
11:56 on from 2022.
11:58 And that's our list!
11:59 Make sure of course that you subscribe to PartsFunKnown right here where you can check
12:02 out all of our end of year content and survival series.
12:05 We've got two episodes of that out right now, and we'll have another one coming at the start
12:09 of January, so make sure that you're subscribed so you don't miss a single one.
12:12 Until then, have a happy new year!
12:14 Jam that jam!
12:15 [outro music]
12:17 (upbeat music)
12:20 (upbeat music)