And there are SPOILERS in here for Schmoedown Spectacular 5 so don’t read this unless you have watched the event.

This is another tough list to make because there were so many AMAZING matches this year and I feel great that I got a chance to see them. With Covid-19 raging across the planet, the Movie Trivia Schmoedown could have fallen by the wayside, but the crew found a way to provide some brilliant performances in movie trivia in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar setting.

Of course, this is my list. Yours may be different and that is fine.

#30. Kevin Smith defeated ZaFlurtin Flaus at Spectacular 5. Just entertaining. The match itself may not be great, but the entertainment value is high.

#29. Video Drew defeated Jen Kempe. The emotion from Video Drew after her win and her perfect game was a highlight.

#28. Korruption defeated The Family. This led to the retirement of Drew McWeeney and the dissolution of the Family. It also put Korruption onto a path towards the titles.

#27. Chance Ellison defeated Robert Parker in IG Tournament. Everyone had dubbed “The Spider” Robert Parker the heir apparent in IG. Chance put an end to that.

#26. Final Exam defeated Deep 13. Deep 13 was a question away from knocking off Final Exam. Instead, Final Exam continued their solid streak.

#25. Horror Free-4-All. The Free-4-All fell victim to the pandemic, but that led to us getting the horror specific Free-4-All, won by the eventual singles champion Adam Collins. No Bibbiani though…Hm (Schmoeminati???)

#24. Brendan Meyer defeated Marc Andreyko in Singles Tournament. “The Kid” and “The Android” put on a top show between two of the greats in the MTS.

#23. Shazam defeated Final Exam. Shazam was on the shelf for a chunk of the season, but came off strong and defeated the powerful team of Final Exam.

#22. Who’s the Boss defeated The Odd Couple. Who’s the Boss set the team’s point record here and was certainly their highlight of the season.

#21. Ethan Erwin defeated Jeff Sneider. Jeff Sneider was really close to knocking off the powerhouse Erwin. It was down to the final question.

#20. William Bibbiani defeated The Barbarian in the Singles Tournament. Bibbs had a perfect game and he, again, showed his emotions. The Barbarian is a future superstar, but this one belonged to The Beast.

#19. The Odd Couple defeated Deception. The veteran team overcame the upstarts from Korruption. This was Adam Collins sole defeat of 2020.

#18. KOrruption defeated the Founding Fathers for the team championship. Filled with emotion and frustration, KOrruption came from behind and defeated the Founding Fathers at a Schmoedown Throwdown.

#17. Chance Ellison defeated Mike Kalinowski in IG Tournament finals. Chance came from behind to defeat his team partner for the right to go to Spectacular and face Chandru. Korruption showed how strong of a faction they were. No sign of cracks in their faction.

#16. Deep 13 defeated Tom & Paul. One of the early season (still in studio) matches that was an upset. Everyone thought Tom and Paul would roll through this match, but Deep 13 showed how strong they could be.

#15. Ethan Erwin defeated John “The Outlaw” Rocha in Sudden Death. Rocha played one of his best matches of the year, but came up just short from the juggernaut that is Ethan Erwin.

#14. Dan Murrell defeated William Bibbiani and Brendan Meyer in a #1 Contender Triple Threat Match. This was one of the few LIVE events of the year and this was an amazing performance from “Dangerous Dan.” Even when it seemed as if the Shazam partners were working together, Dan was able to hold them off.

#13. The Odd Couple defeated Final Exam in the Team Tournament finals. This may be the best performance of the year from The Odd Couple. They battled right to the end to earn a shot at Shazam.

#12. Stacy Howard defeated Eric Zipper. Stacy continued her magic pulls with a Sir Anthony Hopkins pull that led to her eventual victory. Eric Zipper was tough luck loser all year long.

#11. Andres Cabrera defeated Andrew Dimalanta in Star Wars finals. This tells you how great this year’s matches were when this does not reach the top 10. Ace completed his unlikely run through the Star Wars Tournament with a victory over the Finstock Exchange competitor.

#10. Kevin Smith defeated Chris Jericho. Two huge stars came in and had a thoroughly entertaining match that was not just a match with celebrities. It even went into Sudden Death.

#9. Chandru “The Chosen” Dhandapani defeated Kevin “The Smasher” Smets for the Innergeekdom Championship. This had a real grudge match feel to it and you can thank Chandru for his great heel work. You also saw Kevin Smets and the length of his respect. It was almost a double turn. Intense match.

#8. The Odd Couple defeated Shazam for the Team Championship at the Spectacular 5. The Odd Couple seemed defeated. The looked beat and down. Then, they won. The emotions after the match were as real as they get and they were well deserved.

#7. Dan Murrell defeated Ethan Erwin. Dan Murrell successfully defended his title against the powerhouse Ethan Erwin in a massively impressive trivia match.

#6. Andres Cabrera defeated Laura Kelly in Star Wars Tournament. Laura Kelly missed one question. That was all it took. Ace was on ire and overcame everybody’s belief that Laura was going to take this one. The energy on Twitch was off the charts.

#5. Shazam defeated Korruption for Team Titles. Again, I love the emotion after the match is over. It just helps punctuate what was a great match. Korruption did not give up and forced Shazam to answer their questions. The sight of Bibbs having to finally sit down was one of the top images of the year.

#4. Adam Collins defeated Dan Murrell for the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Championship in Sudden Death at Spectacular 5. Honestly, this should probably be higher on the list, but I was rooting for Dan and his loss put a bit of a damper on the results. Still, it was an amazing battle between the two competitors and went deep into sudden death.

#3. Andrew Dimalanta defeated Joseph Scrimshaw in Star Wars tournament. This was a first round match and set the tone like crazy. Both men were perfect and it came down to sudden death where Scrimshaw was just not quite as correct as Dimalanta. This was an insane match.

#2. Dan Murrell defeated Ben Bateman to defend his singles championship. Bateman was ahead by six points heading into the final round, but Lucas Black appeared and reared his head, leading to a shocking come from behind victory by Dan. Even Dan was shocked as he looked to his partner Mara and mouthed “I won”.

#1. Dan Murrell won the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Championship from Ben Bateman in Sudden Death. Their live event in Atlanta was one of the best title matches in history and set the standard for the year. This went into sudden death as well and was the first (and not the only) time this year that showed that you can never count out “Dangerous” Dan Murrell.

I can’t wait to see where season 8… “War” will go from here. If this season is any indication, the Movie Trivia Schmoedown will burn it down!