Rarely do I get a year with a 10/10 rated match in it, let alone 3. 1994 was a special great year, even if it falls below 1993. Every match in the top 10 and the honourable mentions I rated 9/10 or higher.
Honourable Mentions
- The Great Sasuke vs Jushin Liger, NJPW, April 16
- Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs The Nasty Boys, “Chicago Street Fight”, WCW, April 17
- Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW, June 3
- Kaoru Ito & Sakie Hasegawa vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada, AJW, June 10
- Mocho Cota vs Negro Casas, CMLL, September 23
- Dustin Rhodes vs Vader, WCW, November 16
#10
Hiroshi Ono & Terry Funk
vs
Nobutaka Araya & Shoji Nakamaki
“Hair vs Hair No Ropes Barbed Wire Fire Death Match”
IWA Japan Texas Bronco New Coming
November 13
Multipurpose University Plaza
One of the wildest and most out-of-control brawls ever. Some of that is due to the unpredictability of fire but mostly due to the unpredictability of Terry Funk.
#9
Kyoko Inoue vs Manami Toyota
“IWA World Women’s & All-Pacific Championship Unification”
AJW
August 24
Nippon Budokan
A title unification match which had the epic feel you would want from that stipulation. Kyoko put in an impressive performance from her great selling to great offence, to her timing on kick outs. The finishing sequence was epic!
#8
Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Ota Ward Champion Legend
January 24
Ota Ward Gymnasium
One of the most brutal stiff fights in wrestling history. Aja Kong is a beast and Hotta is unrelenting. If you like violence, go for this!
#7
Dustin & Dusty Rhodes & The Nasty Boys
vs
Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck, Terry Funk, & Col. Robert Parker
“War Games”
WCW Fall Brawl
September 18
Roanoke Civic Center
I know there is no blood, but this is one of the most wild and unpredictable War Games ever. Dustin is a perfect babyface for the Studd Stable to go after, and the dynamic of the loose cannons of The Nasty Boys and Terry Funk mixed in make this one of the greatest War Games ever.
#6
Aja Kong & Akira Hokuto
vs
Dynamie Kansai & Yumiko Hotta
“Elimination Match”
AJW
August 24
Nippon Budokan
A match where everyone plays their roles perfectly. Kansi was a dominant badass. Hotta was throwing violent kicks. Kong was the great champion she was but got knocked out. Hokuto was the valiant babyface left alone to fight back against the two.
#5
1-2-3 Kid vs Bret Hart
“WWF World Heavyweight Championship”
WWF Monday Night Raw
taped July 1, aired July 11
Fernwood Resort & Country Club
The most old-school travelling World Champion against local babyface the WWF has ever done. Bret took the underdog 1-2-3 Kid and made him feel like he’d win the World Championship on a random Monday Night Raw.
#4
Bull Nakano vs Shinobu Kandori
“Chain Match”
LLPW/FMW/AJW
July 14
Tokyo Coliseum
A brutal encounter between two badasses hitting each other with chains. One of the best uses of a gimmick being used in a gimmick match ever.
#3
Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota
“VTOP Woman Tournament First Round Match”
AJW Doumu Super Woman Great War ~ Big Egg Wrestling Universe
November 20
Tokyo Dome
The pace that these two put up on such a big stage is unbelievable. An unreal match you need to see to believe! What I love about this is, outside of the big moves and the pace, everything makes sense and nothing feels out of place.
#2
Aja Kong & Bull Nakano
vs
Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori
AJW Wrestling Queendom
March 27
Yokohama Arena
A few years back we started watching Joshi every Sunday and I feel one of the goals was to get to this match in context. It was sitting on YouTube as a recommended match for years that kept tempting me, but I held off until I got there in order. It was worth the wait. The two rivals slowly begrudgingly gained respect over the course of the match against two all-time legends in a violent unrelenting tag war that would be the number one match in almost any other year.
#1
Bret Hart
vs
Owen Hart
WWF WrestleMania X
March 20
Madison Square Garden
Every time I go to rewatch this match I expect to lower it from the high place I have it in my head, then I finish it and it remains. The story of the young brother trying to update the older brother on his best night always gets me. The care they took in this match to get Owen over as a heel and over from a nothing undercard worker to a main eventer is one of the best performances in history. Greatest opener ever too!
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The 25 greatest wrestlers of 1994.
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