In this monthly recurring series, the residents of Wrestle Inn will offer you their recommendation for a single match you should seek out from the last month. We might not always highlight the “best” match; perhaps we’ll pick a hidden gem instead, or a match that you may not have heard of from a promotion different to what you usually watch. But, we can guarantee that all of these picks will be more than worth your time!

Trent Breward recommends:
Chie Koishikawa vs Hagane Shinnou, ChocoPro #316 (ChocoPro, June 11)
Egg Tart Explodes! While Chie and Hagane haven’t won tag title gold together, they’ve built fantastic chemistry; so when Hagane asked Chie to be his next challenger for the Super Asia Championship, he did so wanting to elevate her to the level of equals. This isn’t a face vs heel match, this is two friends looking to push one another to new levels, and indeed this is Chie’s best showing yet as a wrestler. She revels in the more violent nature of this match, while Hagane pulls no punches against his Egg Tart teammate. ChocoPro always produces interesting matches given the nature of their setup, particularly so when it’s combined with story and meaning.

Adam Ryan recommends:
The Rascalz & Rickey Shane Page vs Second Gear Crew & Jon Moxley, Wrestling Revolver and the Ring of Destiny (Wrestling Revolver, June 17)
The Rascalz and Second Gear Crew have been going at each other since at least February in a series of wild fights; to add another layer to the rivalry, the Rascalz brought in Rickey Shane Page, who’s about as violent and tough as they come. To counter that, SCG recruited Jon Moxley who can go to war with the best of them, and go to war these eight men did. There was blood, weapons and brawling all the way out into the hallway and merchandise stand of the building. I was at the show in person and the whirlwind brawl flew right in to me! They were close enough that when Wentz dove off the basketball hoop, he landed right in front of us. This whole match was complete chaos, one of the most wild brawls and epic fights you’ll probably ever see.

Fusa recommends:
Kenoh & Manabu Soya vs Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi, Dynamite Series Night 1 (AJPW, June 15)
A perfect introduction to four of the best Japan has to offer. Kenoh has been a workhorse all year both in and out of NOAH and this match was no exception. In what would be one of the last matches they would work together as members of KONGO, Kenoh and Soya brought the fight to AJPW’s Miyahara and Aoyagi. A match of well educated kicks and knees, it captured the essence of All Japan’s famous stiff striking reputation. A story of the top faces gaining revenge from the outsiders, Miyahara and Aoyagi aiming to reclaim the AJPW World Tag Championships back NOAH’s KONGO. Although it may have been a rough month for KENOH: losing Dragon Gate’s Open the Twin Gate Championship, followed by losing the AJPW World Tag Championship, and then finishing it off with disbanding KONGO, at least he can look back at this month and know that he put on a banger of a match and put a couple more names on his list of enemies.

Steve Howard recommends:
Nina Samuels vs Session Moth Martina, Friends Stand United (Riot Cabaret/Attack Pro Wrestling, June 30)
This wasn’t a six star classic, but it was endless fun. Great wrestling, good versus bad, beer, a love story and Martina doing an Enter Sandman entrance. What more could you want?

Corey Michaels recommends:
Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson, Forbidden Door (NJPW x AEW, June 25)
What a match to end an incredible night of wrestling. A perfect mesh of wrestling styles and stories, Okada and Danielson’s meeting of violence felt like a love letter for the past decade of wrestling and then some. Europe’s “The Final Countdown” heating up an otherwise room temperature crowd set the stage for something truly beautiful. Was this even real? Danielson was a master tactician, targeting The Rainmaker’s arm from the get-go while displaying the demeanour of a chaotic gremlin, and used his past history of injury and trauma to convince the world that something horrible was happening as he convulsed. Okada saw through it and almost disquieted any doubters that might have remained. But there was no rain; with a broken arm and decades behind him, Danielson tapped out one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. This is what it feels like to chew 5 Gum.

JJohnson recommends:
Jake Lee vs Takashi Sugiura, Green Journey (NOAH, June 17)
Jake Lee has been sinking in the deep waters of excellence set by the likes of Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima as GHC Heavyweight Champion. However, his defence against Takashi Sugiura was his best work in the emerald ring to date. They put on a battle, rising from a slow start to a crescendo of physicality and aggression. The Killing Machine brought the very best out of Jake Lee. He forced the champion to be brutal, to trade strikes, to hit harder. Lee had a passion in this match that was great to see, lifting the drama and emotion to a grand level. Omega vs Ospreay II will get the spotlight, but this match was a hidden treasure.

Ryan Dilbert recommends:
Miku Aono vs Misa Matsui, AWG ACTwrestling Step 20 (Actwres girl’Z, June 24)
For the love of God, don’t play a drinking game where you drink every time one of these women kicks the other in the back. You’ll end up in the damn hospital. Miku Aono and Misa Matsui tore into each other here from the jump. They poured all kinds of emotion in between the brawling and the body shots. The best Actwres girl’Z match of the year is a certified barnburner and is sitting there on YouTube waiting for you.

CiaranRH recommends:
Kaito Kiyomiya, Miyahara Kento & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenoh, Yuma Aoyagi & Kazuchika Okada, All Together Again (NJPW x NOAH x AJPW, June 9)
The interactions between the top stars of the top promotions in Japan was a delight; Kiyomiya and Okada writing another chapter in their rivalry, Aoyagi trying to ensure his teammates get along, Okada feigning excitement to team up with Kenoh for an attack to just leave the NOAH man to go it alone. This was a true dream encounter, a standout moment being the exchanges between Kento and Okada, the former dodging a Rainmaker and retaliating with a wicked Blackout knee strike.