|
Post by armsofsleep on Sept 27, 2017 12:32:08 GMT -5
Are we still pretending he's not great? Put together a lot of good stuff in EVOLVE with two MOTYC's in the 6-way and the ZSJ title change. Awesome in WXW and PROGRESS with the Ringkampf stuff. A completely overlooked barn burner with Riddle in RevPro. He will waltz into the top half of my list easily.
|
|
|
Post by problematic on Sept 27, 2017 13:53:36 GMT -5
He's had a great year. WXW stuff has been on point, convinced a fan that he shot on a big lad Mania weekend, love the Darby match, et. Need to get around to watching him v Skyler. Once he embraced being a heel he became a big player
|
|
|
Post by venegas on Sept 27, 2017 14:02:42 GMT -5
I watched him carry a literal broomstick to a really good match in 321 Battle. The shoot style match vs Riddle was awesome. Serious #1 candidate as he has been every year since 2014.
|
|
|
Post by concrete1992 on Oct 3, 2017 17:00:28 GMT -5
Has a match against Josh Barnett in Buffalo in December. If that gets released then he's probably going to shoot up this list.
Without it you probably can still make a case of the ZSJ match and AMBITION. Top 25 with ease.
|
|
|
Post by quentinmoody on Oct 3, 2017 22:04:12 GMT -5
If this was just based on enjoyment every time someone appears, he might be my number 1. I've loved almost every single thing I've seen him do this year since January. He embraced the heel side and it's given his year so much life. His sneering, the smugness he exudes just putting in a headlock. He has the obvious stuff like the ZSJ matches and the AMBITION run but stuff like the Daniel Makabe match from 3-2-1, the John Skyler match from PWX, the Darby Allin matches, matches against guys you wouldn't think so well with like Theory and Kincaid, Thatcher just delivers quality every single time out.
|
|
|
Post by armsofsleep on Oct 4, 2017 8:09:52 GMT -5
If this was just based on enjoyment every time someone appears, he might be my number 1. I've loved almost every single thing I've seen him do this year since January. He embraced the heel side and it's given his year so much life. His sneering, the smugness he exudes just putting in a headlock. He has the obvious stuff like the ZSJ matches and the AMBITION run but stuff like the Daniel Makabe match from 3-2-1, the John Skyler match from PWX, the Darby Allin matches, matches against guys you wouldn't think so well with like Theory and Kincaid, Thatcher just delivers quality every single time out. You could tell people were losing the plot with this guy when EVOLVE 86/87 reviews were throwing out ** or less for the Theory and Kincaid matches. I get that he's pretty cold as a character there but the matches have never been terrible, even when they aren't booked super well.
|
|
gagnewest
New Member
Posts: 41
Pronoun: He/Him
|
Post by gagnewest on Oct 5, 2017 14:13:20 GMT -5
I had him at #1 after 16 Carat weekend, and while he's since been overtaken since, he could theoretically retake the top spot if the right footage shows up. His late heel resurgence in Evolve notwithstanding, he seems happier and perhaps better rolling around with guys in Europe, and I hope he has a long and profitable career giving guys worked head injuries over there. That Barnett match sounds intriguing though.
|
|
|
Post by notoriousgib on Oct 5, 2017 18:31:09 GMT -5
He's a top 25 guy for me easily. Happy he's doing well in Europe after a lot of people dumped on his EVOLVE reign. The ZSJ title change is probably the best match I've seen this year that didn't happen in a WWE or NJPW ring.
|
|
ed
Junior Member
Posts: 57
Pronoun: He/Him
|
Post by ed on Oct 12, 2017 5:11:47 GMT -5
Career best weekend for him at wXw tag league with 5 very good matches to his name. I would also recommend a match with James Alexander from the recent Fight Forever tour. I hope he's based in Germany for a long time because Thatcher in Europe brings out his best work.
|
|
|
Post by xoanafacetico on Nov 5, 2017 11:29:04 GMT -5
Everyone who thinks that he's better in Europe than America is a literal Mosleyite.
|
|
|
Post by brockobama on Jan 2, 2018 4:16:26 GMT -5
No longer my number one but it's not entirely his fault; his husband was just that much better. I feel like 2017 exposed Thatcher in a few ways by highlighting some of his biggest weaknesses (weird strikes, inability to adapt to someone who can't grapple) but it also gave him the room to reach the highest highs of his career so far. You can make a case for him as the best heel of the year (EVOLVE 79, 3-2-1 BATTLE!, hell, the Darby matches) as well as the best face (wXw tag league). The AMBITION match against Cobb was a highlight of what was already a real emotionally gratifying series of shows and that feeling was blown out of the water by the elation that was the World Tag League. I described the Ringkampf/Rottweilers match as life-affirming and I completely stand by it. Watching this guy I love bank on himself and move to a different continent in order to chase the hyperspecific sort of wrestling that brings him joy has been so, so good to me, the sort of thing I watch this dumb sport for. Maybe he was awkward on his feet in some sequences. Maybe he had a couple of matches where people were dead silent. Despite all that, no one in wrestling made me feel the way Timothy Thatcher made me feel in 2017.
|
|
|
Post by problematic on Jan 3, 2018 0:46:13 GMT -5
I strongly agree with Brock's take on Thatcher. He kind of feels overshadowed by WALTER which is an absolute shame because he had an incredible redemption year, and I don't think there was a single Thatcher match I saw in 2017 that I didn't think was at least good. I'm really high on the Josh Barnett match that just dropped because it kind of reminds you right at the close of the year of what Thatcher can bring to the table in a complete one off, but man alive. I actually think he benefits a lot from taking a step back and looking at his year with a long view. I don't instinctively think of him as a top ten guy, but he really has a great case when you pull back and look at it all.
|
|
|
Post by bossrock on Jan 3, 2018 11:10:12 GMT -5
Thought the Josh Barnett match was really good and came across like a shoot. While I'm admittedly behind on most of his wXw stuff with WALTER, I don't think he's quite a top 20-30 guy. That being said, he's had a really good year and any notion of him being dull (which I think was somewhat true late last year) has been dispelled. Other than the Cobb match, haven't seen a single match of his that wasn't at least "pretty good". Really embraced the hatred he was receiving near the end of his title run and morphed into a natural dick heel with Stoke by his side. Combined with his gritty technical style and hard-hitting strikes, Thatcher deserves a spot at least near the halfway point of the list. I will say that his T-Rex arm selling is a bit strange, though.
|
|