1993 Match of the Year List

We are fast approaching my greatest wrestlers of 1993 list, so let’s drop the match of the year list first!

After just finishing watching almost all of 1993 joshi, this list may be a little joshi heavy. Rightly so, though, as 1993 was the year of the inter promotional wars and maybe the best run of any style of wrestling ever.

The honourable mentions are the remaining 8.75/10 rated matches I have seen that just didn’t make the cut. They really could be interchanged into the bottom of this list.

Honourable Mentions

• Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue & Manami Toyota – AJW, May 3
• Combat Toyota & Megumi Kudo vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada – FMW, May 5
• Harley Saito vs Takako Inoue – AJW, May 8
• Akira Hokuto vs Yumiko Hotta – AJW Japan Grand Prix, August 21
• Bull Nakano vs Noriyo Tateno – AJW & LLPW, September 29
• Manami Toyota vs Mayumi Ozaki – AJW WresleMarinpiad, October 9
• Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa vs Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada – AJW, October 10
• Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada – AJW St. Battle Final, December 6

Final Note

This list is based off of matches I have watched in the last few months and based off of my own personal biases. Take everything with all of the salt.

#25
Bull Nakano & Takako Inoue vs Shinobu Kandori & Utako Hozmu
LLPW, November 9

#24
Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada
AJW, May 3

#23
Devil Masami vs Kyoko Inoue
AJW WrestleMarinepiad, October 9

A very cool battle of different generations. The mix of Devil’s size and power offense with Kyoko’s weird offense was wonderful to see. One of my favourite version of Kyoko’s “Giant Swing” happened here. It all ends with a beautiful finish.

#22
Barry Windham vs Too Cold Scorpio
WCW Clash of the Champions, June 16

#21
Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita, & Mima Shimoda
vs
Eagle Sawai, Harley Saito, & Miki Handa
AJW, January 24

#20
Sting vs Vader
“Strap” WCW SuperBrawl III, February 21

#19
Akira Hokuto vs Rumi Kazama
“Hair vs Hair” LLPW, November 9

#18
Akira Hokuto vs Yasha Kurenai
AJW, June 11

I talked about this here.

#17
Pirata Morgan vs El Satanico
“Hair vs Hair” AAA Sin Limite, November 26

A bloody violent hair vs hair match which was an all-time great brawl. Filled with so many brilliant minor touches. The nearfalls were super dramatic as the third fall is unreal.

#16
Akira Hokuto vs Aja Kong
AJW WrestleMarinepiad, October 9

#15
Bolshoi Kid, Cutie Suzuki, & Plum Mariko
vs
Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, & Yumiko Hotta
AJW All-Star Dream Slam 2, April 11

#14
Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo
AJW St. Battle Final, December 6

Megumi Kudo comes in from FMW and doesn’t go for a barbed wire to defeat Kong, but puts up the fight of her life to really establish herself as a legit #1 contender.

#13
Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota
AJW, August 21

#12
Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect
“Semi-Final” WWF King of The Ring, June 13

#11
Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada
AJPW Excite Series, February 28

#10
Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue vs Eagle Sawai & Leo Kitamura
LLPW
June 15

Leo Kitamura is a wrestler I have never even heard of until I started watching all of joshi and here she is in the top 10 matches of the year. That’s how great the Aja Kong and partner vs Eagle Sawai and partner feud was in 1993. This is a match of contrasts as the brutes of Kong and Eagle try to destroy each other, while the face painted Kyoko Inoue and Kitamura do weird shit around them. An unbelievable and surprising match you must watch.

#9
Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen
AJPW Summer Action Series
July 29

Kenta Kobashi’s selling is a perfect contrast to the bruising Stan Hansen. This match has been talked about to death and has maybe the greatest finish in wrestling history.

#8
Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki vs Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue
AJW All-Star Dream Slam
April 2

The two Dream Slam shows are just filled with classic matches and this one may have the most exciting nearfalls and finishing sequence of them all. The heel Ozaki adds the dynamic and I can’t not mention the amazing giant swing Kyoko does here!

#7
Atsushi Onita vs Terry Funk
“No Rope Exploding Barbed-Wire Time Bomb Death Match”
FMW 4th Anniversary Show
May 5

You know 1993 is a classic year when this match doesn’t even hit the top 5. One of the most dramatic matches and one of, if not, the best deathmatch of all-time. Even if you don’t like deathmatches, like myself, this match transcends that.

#6
Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori
AJW St. Battle Final
December 6

The rematch to a match higher on the list and it’s really great on it’s own right. Some claim it is better, but the finish is not 100% perfect, compared to the previous mach.

#5
Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki
vs
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
“WWWA Tag Team Titles – 2/3 Falls”
AJW All-Star Dream Slam 2
April 11

This is the most exciting high action spot oriented match in wrestling history. Add to that the bad ass Kansai and the utter heelness of Ozaki and you are in for a giant treat. This is a match that really set up future generations of wrestling like the Omega’s and the Okada’s.

#4
Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami
JWP
April 18

I talked about this one here.

#3
Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto vs Eagle Sawai & Shinobu Kandori
AJW All-Star Dream Slam 2
April 11

This was the most shocking discovery of the joshi chronological watch we are doing on the discord. This match is NEVER talked about, it has no rating from Dave Meltzer, and the usual sights don’t have threads for it. That is bizarre, because this rules so hard.

We have the continuation of the Hokuto and Kandori feud, but with the adding addition of the beginning of the Eagle Sawai and Aja Kong feud, which also is awesome. Kong is at her best in huge tag matches and this may be the best performance of her career up until this point. The other take away is that Eagle Sawai is a great wrestler and this was a huge wake up party for me. Hate, drama, and excitement. Watch this!

#2
Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue, Sakie Hasegawa, & Takako Inoue
vs
Cuty Suzuki, Dynamite Kansai, Hikari Fukuoka, & Mayumi Ozaki
“60 Minute Iron Woman First Attack”
JWP Thunder Queen Battle In Yokohama
July 31

The joshi inter promotional wars of the 1990s is the greatest thing in wrestling history and this is one of the highlights. A 60 minute Iron woman match with Team AJW vs Team JWP. There is a lot of great stories and highlights in this 60 minutes. I normally would never recommend a match this long, but with the rules as they are and the team aspect it never drags. An all-time classic.

#1
Akira Hokuto vs Shinbu Kandori
AJW All-Star Dream Slam
April 2

The greatest match in the history of pro-wrestling, so of course it is number one. If you have not seen it, watch it now. If you have seen it, you do not need me to say anything. Most obvious match of the year ever.

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Next time I will drop my greatest wrestlers of 1993 list.