July has been a great month of watching. I finished my 1989 watching, and I had so many more matches than 25 I had to cut a couple dozen matches.

#25
Natsupoi vs. Saori Anou
“Indian Strap Match”
Stardom MidSummer Champions
July 2, 2023

I love the creativity here, but the stips hurt this from hitting real highs. The first part was worked around the strap, but they used it very violently later. The stip of getting a pin and then having to touch each corner is something that will hurt every match, though.

Rating: 7.75/10

#24
Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas (c) vs Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi
“All Asia Tag Team Championships”
AJPW October Giant Series
October 11, 1989

I love the double teamwork of Kroffat & Furnas. It’s really on an all-time great level. Joe and Kenta were pretty damn good in their babyface roles here, getting in great hope spots and fire. Awesome tag work.

Rating: 7.75/10

#23
The Brain Busters vs The Rockers
WWF
January 23, 1989

It’s a really good Southern tag match where the face-in-peril, hot tag, and finish were all really good. I didn’t like the opening third of The Rockers embarrassing The Brain Busters for so long. The shine went on sooo long. After that, though, it was all excellent.

Rating: 7.75/10

#22
Dynamite Kansai (c) vs Takako Inoue
“WWWA World Championship”
JWP
October 31, 1995

Inoue tried her hardest to bring the AJW Title back home, but she couldn’t put Kansai down no matter how much she threw at Kansai or how close the nearfalls were. Lovely wrestling.

Rating: 7.75/10

#21
Giulia, Mayu Iwatani, Syuri, & Tam Nakano vs Maika, MIRAI, Saya Kamitani, & Suzu Suzuki
“Generational Struggle Elimination Match”
Stardom
July 9, 2023

This was a lot of fun with a hot crowd. Pitting the current top talent vs the future top talent is a great concept that allows delivers. It took its time before eliminations, and all the eliminations were creative. A lot of fun moments with different talents interacting that may not always face each other too. A really good tag match!

Rating: 7.75/10

#20
Andre the Giant & Haku (c) vs Demoltiion
“WWF World Tag Team Championship”
WWF
December 28, 1989

I love how Andre and Haku work because it’s unlike any other tag team. Haku is a badass and does most of the work, and Andre is tagged in when it’s time to drop the big bomb to end things. This match has a great deviation from that formula, as Andre’s first bomb misses causing him to be attacked for a while. The match builds from there with awesome heat and a cool finish of Andre just destroying Smash for the win.

Rating: 7.75/10

#19
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
“AJPW World Tag Team Championships”
AJPW Excite Series
February 23, 1989

Another great match in the Tsuruta-Tenryu series. Yatsu needs a lot of credit in this series as well, as he more than holds his own on his quest to kill Tenryu. Kawada is the plucky underdog brought around in this match and does a good job after Tenryu keeps him calm. A very exciting tag match that is a real harbinger of things to come for AJPW.

Rating: 8/10

#18
Demolition (c) vs The Brain Busters
“WWF World Tag Team Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event
July 18, 1989, aired July 29, 1989

I have a lot of nostalgia for this match, as it’s one of the very first Saturday Night’s Main Event I remember my dad taping for me, and I couldn’t wait to watch it on Sunday morning.

Outside of that, it’s a tremendous match with great structure. Demolition is clearly the more dominant team, but The Busters are sneaky and frustrating. Demolition dominates to start until some double teaming gets a Smash face-in-peril, but Ax breaks everything up and gets an easy first-fall win. In the second fall, Demolition is dominant again, but now The Busters cheat like crazy until a super hot tag to Ax, and it looks like an easy match, but they double team too much and are disqualified and frustrated. The final fall is more Demolition dominance, but Andre slips a chair to Tully, who kills them, and they steal the titles. Perfect wrestling!!

Rating: 8/10

#17
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship”
AJPW Championship Carnival
April 4, 1989

Tenryu is so over, and this really helped this match, but what put it over the top was how locked in everyone was to destroying each other. Lariats were killing fools left and right, and they were devastating. The finish, although a countdown, was great as Jumbo saw his partner was in trouble, so he suplexed Tenryu through a table to get the count-out win!

Rating: 8/10

#16
Willow Nightingale (c) vs Giulia
“NJPW Strong Women’s Championship”
NJPW STRONG Independence Day
July 5, 2023

This was an awesome match focused on big power vs underdog fire, and I loved it. They worked to all the big moves well, and both played their rules tremendously well. The finishing sequence was amazing, and it finished the story perfectly!

Rating: 8.25/10

#15
Jushin Liger (c) vs Black Tiger
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship European Rounds”
NJPW Summer Fight Series
July 12, 1989

The European Rounds rules break the Junior Heavyweight style and make this feel more unique. Add in Mark Rocco playing a legit heel, and it just feels great watching it. It’s intense and dirty and has some outstanding spots. A real delight.

Rating: 8.25/10

#14
Chigusa Nagayo vs Shark Tsuchiya
GAEA Never Ending Bump
November 3, 1995

The feud between Chigusa and FMW wages on, as Shark kills her from the very start. Puts her through a table and brawls throughout the crowd. She uses every weapon she can, but every time Chigusa comes back. However, every Chigusa comeback has a Shark underling run-in and cut it off. Barbed wire, sticks, boards, etc… This was a great brawl that kept this feud going and made it even better.

Rating: 8.25/10

#13
Nanae Takahashi vs Starlight Kid
Stardom MidSummer Champions
July 2, 2023

Takahashi injects some passion into Starlight Kid, who stepped up and fought a Takashiashi match that was full of vicious strikes and, well, passion. I loved Kid having Momoe Nakanishi in her corner too.

Rating: 8.5/10

#12
Bob Backlund & Owen Hart vs Bret Hart & The British Bulldog
WWF Action Zone
January 25, 1995, aired February 26, 1995

A great traditional tag team matches with Bret playing the perfect face in peril, Owen and Backlund being an amazing asshole tag team, and Bulldog having a great hot tag. Bret keeping the Sharpshooter on the floor while Budllog won in the ring was a tremendous and memorable finish.

Rating: 8.75/10

#11
Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs Yoshiaki Yatsu
“AJPW Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Summer Action Series
July 18, 1989

I’m not sure why these two are so competitive against each other, but their chemistry is unreal. I saw so many cool bulldogs in this match, which was a highlight. Yatsu fought tooth and nail to overcome Tenryu, but it wasn’t enough. A great story and a great match.

Rating: 8.75/10

#10
Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Funk
NWA Clash of The Champions VII “Guts And Glory”
June 14, 1989

This is great fun. It was a short, heated main event where they worked stiffly and held nothing back. Heck, Funk even did a running piledriver on the floor! Scoff at the finish if you want, but it works well with Funk’s character and his frustration for being unable to put down The Dragon.

Rating: 8.75/10

#9
Atsushi Onita (c) vs Hayabusa
“FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Mine Explosion Time Bomb Death Match”
FMW Atsushi Onita Memorial Retirement Tour Last Fight ~Final Chapter~ April Series – Tag 20: 6th Anniversary Show
May 5, 1995

From the opening entrances, I was all in on this match. The stipulation makes the work all so meaningly, and all of the explosion spots were great. The countdown to the ring blowing up worked so well, and the match was on pace to be an easy Greatest Match Ever lock until the conclusion. Onita was retiring, and Hayabusa was going to be the new ace and the whole match was built around the dethroning, but instead, it ended with an Onita win. Wrestling polictics suck.

Rating: 8.75/10

#8
Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota
AJW Destiny
September 2, 1995

This match felt dangerous, and the table spots were brutal, but it didn’t hit the high levels I’d expect from a big Hokuto match. The finish was weird, with Toyota just hitting Hokuto’s finisher out of nowhere for the win.

Rating: 9/10

#7
Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue
AJW Destiny
September 2, 1995

This match was built around a huge struggle between the two. Every Inoue power bomb took so much effort. Every attempt by Inoue to win was a huge challenge. When Bull did a series of leg drops from the apron to the floor, wrestling may have peaked. Inoue finally getting her win on her fourth try was a great conclusion.

Rating: 9/10

#6
Lioness Asuka (c) vs Bull Nakano
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW
May 14, 1989

This was chaotic madness, and I loved it. After Lioness got off a really fast giant swing, the match broke into a Chigusa-Dump match, with Bull using every weapon she could find to pick her apart, including breaking the ring to use it as a weapon with the ring post hook and digging into her bloody forehead. Sadly, the referee threw it out after Bull chucked a heavy briefcase at his head because of a finish here, and it could have been an all-time classic.

Rating: 9/10

#5
Psicosis (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.
“WWA World Welterweight Championship 2/3 Falls”
AAA
September 22, 1995

After two great falls built around trying to one-up each other with matwork, submissions, and rolls, we get to one of the most insane third falls ever. Unreal dives left and right by both and huge moves everywhere, all set up in a logical fashion. This is the best lucha and felt really ahead of its time. No wonder this match was exported all over the world.

Rating: 9.25/10

#4
Jushin Liger (c) vs Naoki Sano
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Fighting Satellite 1989 Japan vs USA vs Soviet Union Battle Series Part II
August 10, 1989

I thought I watched the right Sano-Liger match a month ago, but I was wrong because this ruled. Sano destroys the arm, and Liger sells it so well for the rest of the match. After that destruction, Liger is able to counter a move into a superplex onto the apron and then the floor, which makes the rest of the match pure desperation by both. They do their best to put the other away, but both are severely hurt, and the drama is amazing. A beautiful, gritty fight that could make my top 100 matches ever!

Rating: 9.25/10

#3
Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs The Usos
“Bloodline Civil War”
WWE Money in the Bank
July 1, 2023

One of the best tag team matches in WWE history and great WWE wrestling. It worked so well playing off storylines and building drama setting up the finish of what the fans wanted, which sets up a huge match down the line.

It started pretty traditionally with a great shine by The Usos, followed by a face in peril by Jey, including an amazing hot tag tease where Jimmy was pulled off the apron by Solo at the last second. After a fun hot tag, the match started building towards the finish with no silly kick-outs, as partner’s made the saves. There was a great near fall where Roman stacked both The Usos, only for them to kick out. I loved Roman not sure what to do, and in shock, Solo just starts kicking ass and is like Roman, what the fuck? After some more great action, we got the big shocking finish. Awesome.

Rating: 9.25/10

#2
Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta
“Japan Grand Prix Final Match”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
September 3, 1995

Hotta was really feeling it tonight and was just plain mean! Early she stopped Toyota every time she got momentum with brutal kicks. When Toyota finally makes a comeback, she is brutal as well. The rest of the match was just insane, with some of the most killer suplexes of all time. Straight Jacket German Suplex from the top rope? Another unbelievable spot was Toyota diving off the top to try to put Hotta through a table, but Hotta got her feet up into her face. There was a Ganso Bomb as well. It all ends with a Super Ocean Cyclone Suplex Bomb with the largest bridge ever. What a brutal classic!

Rating: 9.5/10

#1 “My Match of the Month”
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship Real World Tag League Finale”
AJPW Real World Tag League
December 6, 1989

This is one of the biggest tag war matches I have ever seen in a non-gimmick match. It was violent and bloody and so dramatic. Although the story would seem, on the surface, to be focused on Tenryu vs Tsuruta, it turns out the real main character was Yoshiaki Yatsu! The dude comes in with padded headgear, which gets ripped off, and later replaced with wraps. He was hurt and was out to prove himself against the other aces. There were so many great neat touches, great nearfalls, and drama. I loved this; it is my favourite Real World Tag League final ever!

Rating: 9.75/10

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