Northern Lights Bomb Wrestling Review #2
I was able to fit in a lot of good stuff this week, both from 2007 and 2024! So, let’s not dilly-dally!
*****
Continuing with my 2007 watch to prep my Wrestler of the Year list this week. There were a few candidates I needed to spend some more time with. Starting with Mistico.
I watched Mistico vs Averno from CMLL on January 5, 2007. Mistico had Scott Steiner’s chainmail on during his entrance! To add to the great visuals, the sneak attack and Snake Eyes into the steps looked great, as did Averna going to the ring with the camera catching Mistico rising in the back. This first fall is really nuts! Mistico tries an Asai to Moonsault to the floor and hits double feet to his head, and then Averna hits his weird reverse Michinoku Driver like three times for an easy win. Averno takes it to the outside to start the second fall and does another Snake Eyes, this time going into the guardrail. He then sends in Mistico and Tires to unmask him to huge heat. It ends up being a short fall with a quick and fun comeback by Mistico, as is so common in lucha. There is this weird beeping, like a truck backing up or a battery dying, which is so distracting for a while, but thankfully, it’s only a minute. For the third fall, Averna is afraid to take on Mitsico and only enters the ring to sneak attack him. Mistico’s dives are so spectacular! There are some good nearfalls between the two and some great little moments. Like Misico getting hit by an enzuigiri on the apron and collapsing to the floor. I just put it together that the beeping happens when it’s the referee cam view. Not a great i,dea. At times, it starts to drag, but luckily, someone soon hits a big move to pick things up again. They actually have Averno reach the ropes to break up La Mistica! This leads to Mistico ripping up Averno’s mask to pay him back for earlier. Some more nearfalls until Mistico puts him away. It got a little long in the last fall, but a damn good match. [7/10]
Mistico against Mr. Aguila from June 8, 2007 was the final of the Leyenda de Plata. I still have trouble in my head trying to think that this later Aguila is the same as the Aguila that appeared in the WWF in 1998. They just don’t fit together, you know? Unlike the previous match, this one was not about hate but about wanting to win. No mask ripping, but lots of great wrestling. Mistico repeats the Asai Moonsault into double feet spot, and it’s still spectacular here. It’s great action throughout, and the final fall is full of some great drama and nearfalls, especially the late Magistral by Aguila. I really love crowds during Mistico matches, they LOVE him. A damn good lucha match here! [7.25/10]
I watched Emi Sakura take on Aya Yuuki from a NEO show on April 7, 2007. Sakura looked great in this sub ten minute basic match.
That Sakura match did not hit the spot, so I found a match against Yoshiko Tamura from NEO on May 3, 2007, that looked promising. Now, this ruled! Tamura started as her usual dominant self until Sakura’s energy and speed blitzed her and put her on the defensive and almost took her out. Tamura had to fight back hard before finally putting her down. A real classic match story type. [8.5/10]
I watched my first ever Pro-Wrestling SUN match from January 14, 2007, as Amazing Kong faced Nanae Takahashi in a title for the title match in the main event. Steve Coron is on the outside in a referee shirt. I think in Kong’s corner. He does nothing, even though the match was heated, and went to the floor. Nanae did Spike Dudley’s Acid Drop in this and was able to follow the clothesline over the top with a tope, which was a great section of offense by Takahashi. She really brought it toward Kong and tried to work the arm, which Kong sold really well. Kong was able to counter and go back into crushing mode, giving Takahashi a few hope spots, but in the end, she got hit by a huge senton from the second rope. It was sub ten minutes, but a real blast. [7/10]
I had another Pro-Wrestling SUN (renamed CHICK FIGHTS SUN) show that I skimmed through from October 7, 2007. The opener was Kana vs. Natsuki Taiyo; both were seemingly young in their careers and did some rookie stuff. There was some clipping, but it was nice to see Kana already had the hip attack in her arsenal. Taiyo finished her with a huge power bomb. Fun enough for what it was. I skipped forward to the main event of Azumi Hyuga vs Nanae Takahashi. The graphic on the screen says, “Decide the icon of Chicks!” which is a weird way to describe this dream match. This went 28 minutes, and it felt like it for the first half, but the second half was filled with greatness with the mix of Hyuga’s speed and underdog style vs Nanae’s passion and force. Some true highlights here are Takahashi hitting a verticle suplex off the apron to the floor, where they both go down, and Hyuga hitting a top rope spinning DDT while they were both standing on the top. It had some really good nearfalls, and the finish felt like an end, with Takahashi hitting a muscle buster and turning into a Falcon Arrow for the win. [7.25/10]
I also checked out Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay from the November 9, 2007, WWE SmackDown. The crowd was super hot, which matched how great this match was in the ring. Finlay being larger made him such a great bully, and few are a better babyface than Rey. One spot that really stood out was Mysterio springboarding going for the Rana, but Finlay caught him and turned into a buckle bomb. Fucking fantastic match with Finlay’s work on Mysterio’s back was so great and unique, and the selling was great. The hope spots, comebacks, and nearfalls were all great. I can’t believe they got 18 minutes to put on this awesome match on TV! [8.25/10]
*****
Sheamus vs. Gunther from Raw on May 6, 2024, appeared on YouTube, so I had to check that out.
I’m glad somebody picked up the Fit Finlay vs Steven Regal mantle from 1996. These two beat the living fuck out of each other on free TV. If you like that style, it’s pretty perfect stuff here. It’s also one of those matches where the two have a long history, so there are counters and using each other’s moves. Something else that really helped this match was Gunther’s second taking out Sheamus’ knee behind the referee’s back to add extra heat and an extra pop when he is ejected from ringside. Gunther’s attacks to the knee were good, and the selling by Sheamus was excellent, especially how it affected his offense. His later firey comeback leading to a slow nearfall off the Brogue Kick was really great! It led to a tapout to a single leg crab right after, and it was even better. Great match. [8/10]
This match motivated me to try to catch up with some of my 2024 backlog!
Starting with the Dog Collar Match between Alex Windsor and Dani Luna from RevPro on March 31. This was not the best dog dollar match this year, but it’s fucking awesome, and it’s also bloody and violent! The spot where Dani Luna is near the post, and Windsor goes around her to tie her up with the chain was genius. They did a few more smart uses of the chain. Like using it to hook around the ropes and then wiping Windsor into it to get clotheslined. There is more of that kind of cool stuff throughout that made me think the spirit of Bret Hart still exists today, which is funny because I wrote that, and a second later, Windsor hit a chain-assisted Russian Legsweep! Windsor pulls out a dog metal crate from under the ring, which is something I have never seen before in wrestling. She gets her inside, slams the door into her side, and then dropkicks her while her head is inside the crate. Luna just misses putting Windsor through the create with a DVD for two and then suplexes her onto it. Windsor does a Sharpshooter, too, and wraps the chain around Luna’s neck while in the hold. Yeah, this is a modern day Bret Hart brawl!!!! The finish is fucking great, with a kind of push-off-the-ropes German Suplex followed by a slam by Luna. This ruled! [9/10]
I finally got around to the last two matches on Stardom’s All-Star Grand Queendom from April 27, 2024. Saori Anou vs Hanan for the White Belt felt like Hanan’s coming out party. She belonged in this big title match, which was a pretty good, dramatic, big action match. Anou is great working as an ace heavy favourite, and Hanan is amazing working underneath, so they gelled really well. I would say it goes a bit too long and falls for the many nearfalls trope of a lot of modern wrestling, but it’s definitely worth a watch. [7/10] The Red Belt main event with Maika and Momo Watanabe in Three Stages of Hell is another story. The first fall was a regular affair and had some pretty decent action, but the second fall was some kind of fall count anywhere thing that was kind of off. For me, there is something always odd about gimmick matches in Japan that aren’t deathmatches, like they never really click. Not sure why? By the end, I completely lost focus on this one, sorry Momo and Maika, I still enjoy you both.
For some reason, I had AEW Rampage from May 1, 2024, in my queue, so I popped it on. It starts with Kenny Omega dead in the ring from The Elite. Time to start skipping around. Up first were Jay White and Dante Martin. This was a fine little match with White leading things and Martin bringing the flying space. Deonna Purrazzo’s backstage promo had her leaning into her heel character, which is much better. Looking forward to her vs Thunder Rosa. The Rush hype video was fine work, too. Hopefully, they will use him better going forward. I skipped the Jericho and Cass thing, but that was followed by a really cool Swerve promo! Next were Rocky Romero and Kyle O’Reilly, two folks I have liked who had various points in their career. It’s a fine TV match with some good technical stuff and a few bigger moves. This is everything you want in this situation. Nothing to recommend, but it’s a good time. Saraya and Harley Cameron trash talked Mariah May, so fuck them. The main event is Willow Nightingale defending her TBS Title in a Manitoba Massacre match against Skye Blue is probably why it’s on my watchlist. This is basically a falls count anywhere match, and they start off on the floor. I’m going to take off marks as they have the annoying searching under the ring spot for weapons. I really wish people could just use organic weapons and not waste time searching them out. That’s a tiny nitpick, though, as the action here is great. Willow took a freaking flip off the apron, trying to hit Blue, but she moved, so she just crashed through a chair. Skye Blue did get bloody in this, which added to the chaotic nature. Blue brought out the thumbtacks but, of course, failed to use them the first time. Some nice fighting leads to Nightingale hitting a Fisherman Suplex off the top onto Blue through the tacks. The table is then set up and not used right away, so that’s the second time they went to that well this one. Blue is able to move out of the way of a moonsault, and then she goes outside to put a barbed-wire board on the table. They fight over who will kill the other until Nightingale hits the big sit down power bomb through the table. This is damn good fun. [7/10]
I finally got my first glimpse of the new Dream Star Fighting Marigold promotion as Giulia, Utami Hayashishita, Mai Sakurai, & MIRAI appeared on NOAH’s Wrestle magic show on May 4, 2024, against Great Sukuya, Nagisa Nozaki, Takumi Iroha, & Miyuki Takase. The Marigold roster and Rossy Ogawa accompany the Margiold team in their new tracksuits. It’s kind of cool to see the whole roster together like this, and damn, did I miss these wrestlers. A showcase was all but fun enough. I want a Utami vs Iroha match, please. Giulia gets the win with the Northern Lights Bomb!
*****
Joshi Night, 4 PM EST on the Discord, continued our trek through 1997. Join us on Sundays for a fun text chat and some great matches watched in contact. Also prep yourself for after we finish 1997, we start the 1980s Joshi Yearbook put together by the amazing Kadaveri.
We start off with three matches AJW from September 21, 1997. The first match saw the GAEA team of KAORU & Toshiyo Yamada against the AJW team of Kumiko Maekawa & Momoe Nakanishi. Momoe is just 17 but definitely shows off her potential. It’s a fine opener with a lot of energy. Up next was Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta. This was pretty meandering and nothing special, although it did pick up near the end. Not Toyota’s best. The final match we watched from this show was a cage match billed as “Violence War” between Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe. Now, this was good enough to make the whole Sunday worth it. Ito was wearing hockey pads, and LCO brought pink and blue chairs in to just destroy them. They also had chains and used them to just murder the first half of the match. After the hot start, it cooled down but definitely picked up with the seconds using fire extinguishers, and then LCO pulled a guardrail into the ring via the chain. Violence War indeed! It was chaotic and one of the better escape the rules cage matches I’ve seen. Ito hit a fucking top rope double foot stomp before escaping! [8.75/10]
We ended the night with two matches from GAEA. First was Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato from October 13, 1997. This was a match I could see people really loving. It was a struggle and a fight over kicks and submissions. Although it was a little too shooty for me. There were some big moves and nearfalls toward the end to bring this up for me. If more shoot fights had DVDs, I would like it better. [7/10] We ended the afternoon with Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato vs Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato from October 18, 1997, for the AAW Tag Team Championship. This was more to my liking, and Nagashima & Sugar have become a favourite team for me. It was full of energy, great double teams, and great drama. A perfect tag match. [7.25/10]
Sundays are the best days thanks to Joshi Night!
*****
A great week of action! I hope to finally finish my 2007 MOTY list next week, so look for some great matches to discuss here!
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The Greatest Wrestlers of 2004
In route to putting together my top 100 list of the Greatest Wrestlers Ever, I am going through each year and putting together a list for that particular year. Previously, on the podcast “Maybe Not Taue”, I put together a list for 1985, 1990, and 1997. You can listen to those here. 1993 and 2010 are on the blog.
2004
The year turned out better than I could have expected. With WCW dead and AJW dying, my hopes were low, but the emergence of the Indies and a variety of Joshi promotions made up for it. WWE focussed on some great workers, as did NJPW, while NOAH was running the Tokyo Dome! 2004 was a fun year, so let’s look at my rankings.
Process
I have a master list where I have done all these rankings, along with how many matches each wrestler had each year, so the first step is to add in any wrestlers to consider from 2004 that are not on this list, and then to sort by how many matches they had in 2004.
From there I focus on watching the footage, till I have a good idea of each wrestler and if they belong in the top 25 or not. I make sure everyone in the top 25 has at least 3 matches that I can recommend (7/10 or higher).
From there I start trying to rank from 1 to 25. I keep adjusting the rankings till I am comfortable with the results.
The following are the results of this process.
Onto The List
All of the below stats are from cagematch. Yes, they are not perfect.
They are some wrestlers with fewer recommended matches but are higher than others on the list. That is because I know them well enough, so I didn’t need to watch more. The recommended matches are not a definitive list, it’s a list of matches I have watched for this process, plus matches on my spreadsheet from before.
The matches listed are all 7/10 or higher and if they are bolded they are 8/10 or higher.
Honourable Mentions
- Aja Kong
- Akira Taue
- Alex Shelley
- The Bloody
- Christian
- Mercedes Martinez
- Takako Inoue
#25
Lacey
Matches: 26
Places Worked: IWA-MS, MIW, FLWA, NWA, MAW, ACW, ROH, WEW, CHIKARA, wXw, Neo Pro, MMWA, & SICW
Titles Held: NFW Women’s Title, MIW Women’s Title (twice), & NWA Midwest/IWA Mid-South Women’s Title
Tournaments: NWA Midwest/IWA Mid-South Women’s Title Tournament (winner) & 3rd Annual Women’s Elite 8
Lacey before SHIMMER was already awesome. She is one of the most natural wrestlers ever and adding with her smarts, she is a complete joy to watch. Her offence was already pretty damn crisp too to go along with her matwork and submission game.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Daizee Haze, IWA-MS Payback, Pain, and Agony, February 13
- vs Daizee Haze, “KO or Submission”, IWA-MS One More Time, June 11
- vs Mercedes Martinez, IWA-MS Ted Petty Invitational, September 17
#24
Yuji Nagata
Matches: 138
Places Worked: NJPW, AJPW, Toryumon X, & NOAH
Title Held: GHC Tag Team Titles with Hiroshi Tanahashi & AJPW World Tag Team Titles with Kendo Kashin
Tournaments: IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament (semi-finals) & G1 Climax
I never expected Nagata to make my list, but he was really special in big matches getting blooded by brutes. He really is a charismatic babyface when he is an underdog.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kensuke Sasaki, NJPW Wrestling World, January 4
- vs Mitsuya Nagai, NJPW Summer Struggle, July 4
- vs Genichiro Tenryu, NJPW G1 Climax, August 8
#23
Trish Stratus
Matches: 74
Place Worked: WWE
Title Held: WWE World Women’s Title
A fascinating year for Stratus, which makes her very hard to rank. It’s one of her best years overall, but so much of it was focused on the heel turn and outstanding character work. Her opponents and opportunities were very limited, but damn she was great when she got the chance. Her ability to carry everyone is elite.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Victoria, WWE Raw, June 21
- vs Victoria, WWE Unforgiven, September 12
- vs Lita, WWE Raw, December 6
#22
Último Guerrero
Matches: 103
Places Worked: CMLL, Toryumon Mexico, IWRG, MaxProad, LXW, & FIP
Title Held: CMLL World Tag Team Titles with Rey Bucanero (twice) & CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title
Tournament: CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa with Neutron (finals)
Mostly known for his great team with Bucanero in 2004, he also delivered when given a big singles match. Guerrero is always charismatic and it’s hard not to get excited when he’s in the ring.
Recommended Matches:
- vs LA Park, CMLL Guadalajara Domingos, April 18
- with El Hijo de Perro Aguayo & Rey Bucanero vs LA Park, El Hijo del Santo, & Shocker, CMLL Super Viernes, September 3
- with Rey Bucanero vs Mistico & El Hijo del Santo, , CMLL Guadalajara Domingos, November 7
#21
Rey Mysterio
Previous Rankings: 1997 (6th) & 2010 (15th)
Matches: 146
Place Worked: WWE
Titles Held: WWE Cruiserweight Title (twice) & WWE Tag Team Titles with Rob Van Dam
A rather odd year for Mysterio, who was either regulated to the cruiserweight division or was in tag teams. Rey is Rey though and he will always deliver, especially in the unreal performance against Chavo in June.
Recommended Matches:
- with Rob Van Dam vs The Dudley Boyz, WWE Judgement Day, May 16
- vs Chavo Guerrero, WWE The Great American Bash, June 27
- vs Carlito, WWE Smackdown, October 14
#20
Kyoko Inoue
Previous Rankings: 1993 (3rd) & 1997 (7th)
Matches: 63
Places Worked: NEO, Gatokunyan, NOAH, Mexico, WWS, & AJW
Titles Held: WWWA Tag Team Titles with Takako Inoue & NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Titles with Etsuko Mita
Tournaments: NEO Stage (semi-finals), NEO Japan Cup, & NEO Mid Summer Tag Tournament with Emi Sakura
I keep waiting for Kyoko Inoue to fall off, as everyone tells me she does, but it hasn’t happened yet! She is less mobile at this stage of her career, but that gives her the added benefit of more force on her offence. All her big matches delivered, and the rest of them were fun.
Recommended Matches:
- with Takako Inoue vs Ayako Hamada & Nanae Takahashi, AJW, January 13
- vs Nanae Takahashi, NEO Dream Rush, March 14
- vs Mariko Yoshida vs Takako Inoue, NEO Summer Stampede, August 14
#19
Command Bolshoi
aka Bolshoi 666, Bolshoi Kid, & PIKO
Previous Ranking: 2010 (14th)
Matches: 58
Places Worked: JWP, 666, IWA Japan, AtoZ, NEO, & AAA
Tournaments: JWP Tag Team Title Tournament with Jaguar Yokota (semi-finals) & JWP Openweight Title Tournament
The greatest technical wrestler of all time, Command Bolshoi, comes in at #19 with another well-rounded year. It wasn’t a year filled with big stand-out opportunities, but Bolshoi was great.. Her doing awesome work against Jaguar Yokota was a dream for me.
Recommended Matches:
- with Kyoko Kimura vs Jaguar Yokota & Nozomi Takesako, IWA Japan Anniversary Show, August 31
- with Kaori Yoneyama, & Kayoko Haruyama vs Azumi Hyuga, Erika Watanabe, & Tsubasa Kuragaki, JWP Pure Slam, September 12
- with Megumi Yabushita vs AKINO & Mariko Yoshida, Jd’, September 23
- vs Erika Watanabe, JWP, November 14
#18
Bryan Danielson
aka American Dragon
Previous Rankings: 2010 (12th) & 2021 (18th)
Matches: 109
Places Worked: NJPW, ROH, PWG, NJPW Inoko Dojo, IWA Mid-South, MLW, NWA, & Toryumon Mexico
Title Held: IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles with Curry Man
Tournaments: PWG Tango & Cash Invitational with Super Dragon (finals), NJPW Inoki Dojo Best of American Super Juniors (winner), NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XI (semi-finals), ROH Survival of the Fittest (winner), & IWA Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational (finals)
Another really solid year for Danielson. A lot of really good matches. Nothing by him really blew me away in 2004, but an okay year by Danielson will get him into the top 25 every time.
Recommended Matches:
- vs CM Punk, ROH Reborn: Stage One, April 23
- vs Homicide, ROH Reborn: Stage Two, April 24
- vs Chris Hero, IWA Mid-South An IWA Fairytale: The Hero vs The Dragon, August 21
- vs Alex Shelley, ROH Glory by Honor III, September 11
#17
Chris Hero
Previous Ranking: 2010 (1st)
Matches: 106
Places Worked: IWA Mid-South, CZW, ASW, CHIKARA, PWG, IWC, BJW, NWA, WZW, wXw, GPW, FutureShock, TTW, TNA, IZW, TLW, MLW, ICWA, BCW, IWA East Coast, CAPW, PXW, HWA, UWC, & BBW
Title Held: GPW International Title & CZW Iron Man Title
Tournaments: CZW Xtreme Strong Title Tournament (semi-finals), PWG Tango & Cash Invitational with CM Punk (semi-finals), Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup (finals), CHIKARA Young Lions Cup II (semi-finals), & IWA Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational
Chris Hero spent 2004 wrestling EVERYWHERE. Seriously look above. Hero had really put it together in 2004, mostly ditching the long epics, to work a more dramatic style. He was already a veteran this early in his career.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Samoa Joe, IWA Mid-South A Shot of Southern Comfort, May 29
- vs Bryan Danielson, IWA Mid-South An IWA Fairytale: The Hero vs The Dragon, August 21
- vs Alex Shelley, CZW High Stakes II, September 11
#16
Jamal
aka Ekmo
Matches: 82
Places Worked: AJPW, HCW, K-DOJO, & TNA
Tournaments: AJPW Champion Carnival, AJPW Autumn Festival Tag Tournament with Funkster (finals), & AJPW Real World Tag League with Taiyo Kea (winner)
Putting together these lists for singles years is making me realize how much I value a giant man who crushes people but sells really well. The future Umaga went to AJPW and was freaking awesome as a monster gaijin doing just that.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Keiji Muto, AJPW Champion Carnival, April 15
- vs Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW Crossover, June 12
- vs Satoshi Kojima, AJPW September Dream, September 25
#15
Yoshiko Tamura
Previous Ranking: 2010 (23rd)
Matches: 65
Places Worked: NEO, AtoZ, JWP, BJW, NOAH, & AJW
Titles Held: NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Title & TWF World Women’s Title
Tournaments: NEO Stage, NEO Japan Cup (semi-finals), & NEO Mid Summer Tag Tournament 4 with Asami (semi-finals)
I think Yoshiko Tamura is an unique wrestler to watch. At some points you think she’s getting shooty, then will get all spotty instead. Whatever her style is, she’s great.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Momoe Nakanishi, NEO Dream Rush, March 14
- vs Yumi Ohka, Jd’, September 5
- vs The Bloody, NEO St. Battle Day, September 20 (#7 MOTY)
#14
Jushin “Thunder” Liger
Previous Rankings: 1990 (12th), 1993 (32nd), & 1997 (19th)
Matches: 129
Places Worked: NJPW, OPW, NOAH, ROH, KAGEKI, & AAA
Title Held: GHC Junior Heavyweight Title
Tournament: NJPW Best of the Super Junior XI (semi-finals)
Liger was involved in a feud with NOAH junior heavyweights all year and was able to work a lot as a heel. Mean old grumpy Liger beating up NOAH wrestlers was a fun way to spend a year.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Takashi Suguira, NJPW Wrestling World, January 4
- vs Mitsuo Momota, NJPW Fighting Spirit, February 15
- vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, NOAH Navigation with Breeze, May 21
#13
Ayako Hamada
Matches: 57
Places Worked: GAEA, AJW, Oz Academy, LLF, AAA, & HUSTLE
Title Held: IWRG Intercontinental Women’s TItle, AAAW Title, WWWA Tag Team Titles with Nanae Takahashi, & WWWA World Title
Tournaments: Oz Academy Iron Woman Tag Team Tournament with Aja Kong (finals), Oz Academy Iron Woman Tournament, GAEA One Night Tag Team Tournament with Carlos Amano (semi-finals), & GAEA High Spurt 600 Tournament
I have always been iffy on Hamada and the limited amounts that I have seen her and although this was a great year, the jury is still out on her. Sometimes he’s the best Sabu ever and sometimes she goes to overboard with access. Her output is there though.
Recommended Matches:
- with Nanae Takahashi vs Double Inoue, AJW, January 13
- with Nanae Takahashi vs AKINO & Momoe Nakanishi, M’s Style Under World: 1st Contact, April 20
- vs Meiko Satomura, GAEA Anniversary Show, April 30
- vs Amazing Kong, AJW New Wave, May 2 (#4 MOTY)
- vs Nane Takahashi, AJW Rising Generation Special in Kawasaki, December 12
#12
Samoa Joe
Matches: 71
Places Worked: ROH, IWA Mid-South, PWG, Inoko Dojo, JAPW, GSW, IWC, NWA, USA Pro, & AWS
Title Held: ROH World Title
Tournaments: PWG Tango & Cash Invitational with Puma, GSW World Heavyweight Title Tournament (semi-finals), ROH Survival of the Fittest (finals), IWA Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational (finals), & IWA Mid-South Revolution Strong Title Tournament (winner)
Samoa Joe was intriging in 2004. He was involved in a lot of great matches, but in those great matches I thought he was clearly the lesser of the two involved. He had some disappointing outings as well, so really a mixed bag, but you can’t deny some of his top output.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Chris Hero, IWA Mid-South A Shot of Southern Comfort, May 29
- vs CM Punk, ROH World Title Classic, June 12
- vs CM Punk, ROH Joe-Punk II, October 16 (#3 MOTY)
- vs CM Punk, ROH All Star Extravaganza II, December 4
#11
Nanae Takahashi
Previous Ranking: 2010 (20th)
Matches: 108
Places Worked: AJW, NEO, GAEA, AtoZ, NJPW, & JWP
Title Held: WWWA Tag Team Titles with Ayako Hamada & WWWA World Title
Tournaments: AJW Japan Grand Prix & AJW Tag League The Best with Hikaru
When Takahashi is on, she is really on. In 2004 she was on a lot. When she is hitting her high end stiff offence, I love her the most. The team with Ayako Hamada really gelled through out the year too, giving her some nice variety.
Recommended Matches:
- with Ayako Hamada vs Double Inoue, AJW, January 13
- vs Kyoko Inoue, NEO Dream Rush, March 14
- with Ayako Hamada vs AKINO & Momoe Nakanishi, M’s Style Under World: 1st Contact, April 20
- vs Ayako Hamada, AJW Rising Generation Special in Kawasaki, December 12
- with Momoe Nakanishi vs Aja Kong & Amazing Kong, AJW, December 26
#10
Meiko Satomura
Previous Ranking: 2010 (6th)
Matches: 30
Places Worked: GAEA & NEO
Title Held: AAAW Title
Meiko only worked about half of the year in 2004, but she was still Meiko when she worked.
Recommended Matches:
- with Chikayo Nagashima vs Ran YuYu & Toshie Uematsu, GAEA War Cry, February 17
- vs Mayumi Ozaki, GAEA War Cry, February 29
- vs Ayako Hamada, GAEA Anniversary Show, April 30
#9
LA Park
Previous Ranking: 2010 (5th)
Matches: 52
Places Worked: CMLL, TNA, ENESMA, & IWRG
Titles Held: CMLL World Tag Team Titles with Shocker, X-LAW Heavyweight Title (twice), & Mexican National Light Heavyweight Title
The dancing skeleton will always do well on these lists. It was fun to watch him work more regular style matches this year and less wild brawls. It did excel in those, so that is another feather in his cap.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Último Guerrero, CMLL Guadalajara Domingos, April 18
- with El Hijo del Santo & Shocker vs El Hijo de Perro Aguayo, Rey Bucanero, & Último Guerrero, CMLL Super Viernes, September 3
- vs El Dandy, ENESMA, October 15 (#9 MOTY)
#8
Kenta Kobashi
Previous Rankings: 1993 (11th) & 1997 (15th)
Matches: 107
Place Worked: NOAH
Title Held: GHC Heavyweight Title
Although Kobashi did dwell into access at points to much for me, see that ridiculous Tokyo Dome match with Akiyama, his best was almost unmatchable. Him being more broken down makes his selling more believable and his kick outs more dramatic.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Yoshiko Takayama, NOAH Encountering Navigation, April 25 (#5 MOTY)
- with KENTA vs Akira Taue & Takashi Sugiura, NOAH Navigation with Breeze, May 25
- vs Akira Taue, NOAH Navigation Over the Date Line, September 10 (#10 MOTY)
#7
Momoe Nakanishi
Matches: 80
Places Worked: AtoZ, AJW, NEO, JWP, M’s Style, & Jd’
Titles Held: AtoZ World Title & NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Champion
Tournament: NEO Stage (winner)
Momoe is a joy to watch as she brings a level of selling that wasn’t present in the other big joshi wrestlers of the year. She was the big dramatic babyface that we needed. She is someone who gets better as the match goes along and really excels at comebacks and finishing stretches.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kayo Noumi, AJW, February 3
- vs Yoshiko Tamura, NEO Dream Rush, March 14
- with AKINO vs Ayako Hamada & Nanae Takahashi, M’s Style Under World: 1st Contact, April 20
- with Nanae Takahashi vs Aja Kong & Amazing Kong, AJW, December 26
#6
El Hijo de Perro Aguayo
Matches: 58
Places Worked: CMLL, IWRG, & LLA
Title Held: WWA World Tag Team Titles with El Hijo del Santo
Tournaments: CMLL Leyenda de Plata (winner) & CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa with Sangre Azteca
I have always been a fan of Perro Aguayo Jr. due to his amazing presence and he really translates that into the ring in 2004. The feud with El Hijo del Santo is a classic.
Recommended Matches:
- vs El Hijo del Santo, CMLL Super Viernes, August 13
- with Rey Bucanero & Último Guerrero vs El Hijo del Santo, LA Park, & Shocker, CMLL Super Viernes, September 3
- vs El Hijo del Santo, LLA, September 5 (#6 MOTY)
#5
Amazing Kong
Matches: 108
Places Worked: AJW, GAEA, Oz Academy, NEO, AtoZ, DDT, LLPW, & JWP
Title Held: LLPW Tag Team Titles with Eagle Sawai, WWWA World Title, & AAAW Tag Team Titles with Aja Kong
Tournaments: AJW Japan Grand Prix, Oz Academy Iron Women Tag Team Tournament with Chikayo Nagashima (winners), & Oz Academy Iron Women Tournament
Amazing Kong was everything youdreamt Amazing Kong would be in 2004. She was a destructive force killing fools in wild brawls using anything that was not tied down. A real eye-opening year for her.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Aja Kong, GAEA Anniversary Show, April 30
- vs Ayako Hamada, AJW New Ave, May 2 (#4 MOTY)
- vs Mima Shimoda, AtoZ Anniversary Show, July 19 (#8 MOTY)
- with Aja Kong vs Ayako Hamada & Mima Shimoda, AJW, December 26
#4
El Hijo del Santo
Previous Rankings: 1990 (21st), 1993 (15th), & 1997 (2nd)
Matches: 39
Places Worked: CMLL, LLA, & FMLL
Title Held: WWA World Welterweight Title
Tournament: CMLL Torneo Gran Alternativa with Mistico (winner)
Santo being able to work CMLL and Indies gave a nice variety of matches, from amazing brawls to showing off his great technical and flying work. The El Hijo de Perro Aguayo feud was unreal in every setting.
Recommended Matches:
- vs El Hijo de Perro Aguayo, CMLL Super Viernes, August 13
- with LA Park & Shocker vs El Hijo de Perro Aguayo, Rey Bucanero, & Último Guerrero, CMLL Super Viernes, September 3
- vs El Hijo de Perro Aguayo, LLA, September 5 (#6 MOTY)
- with Mistico vs Rey Bucanero & Último Guerrero, CMLL Guadalajara Domingos, November 7
#3
Genichiro Tenryu
Previous Ranking: 1993 (10th)
Matches: 70
Places Worked: NJPW & AJPW
Title Held: AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles with Masanobu Fuchi & WMG Tag Team Titles with Riki Choshu
Tournaments: NJPW IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament (finals), NJPW G1 Climax (semi-finals), & NJPW President Hoshino 10 Million Yen Offer Tag Tournament with Kensuke Sasaki (semi-finals)
Grumpy old Tenryu was at another level in 2004. I don’t know if someone spilled his tea or something, but he was extra vicious with his strikes and offence. He was even beating people to a bloody pulp. The amazing matches he pulled out of folks I don’t care about is impressive.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW New Year Giant Series, January 18
- vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan, NJPW Fighting Spirit, February 15
- vs Masanobu Fuchi, AJPW Excite Seris, February 22
- vs Minoru Suzuki, NJPW G1 Climax, August 7
- vs Yuji Nagata, NJPW G1 Climax, August 8
#2
CM Punk
Previous Rankings: 2010 (7th) & 2021 (25th)
Matches: 100
Places Worked: ROH, IWA Mid-South, IWC, FIP, TNA, PWG, WORLD-1, NWA, FWA, JAPW, Inoki Dojo, & wXw
Titles Held: ROH Tag Team Titles with Colt Cabana (twice) & IWA Mid-South Title
Tournaments: PWG Tango & Cash Invitational with Chris Hero (semi-finals), ROH Pure Wrestling Title Tournament (finals), IWC Super Indy Survivor Showdown Tournament (semi-finals), IWC Super Indy III (semi-finals), IWA Mid-South Tag Team Titles Tournament with Colt Cabana (sesmi-finals), ROH Pure Title Tournament (semi-finals), IWA Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational, FIP Heavyweight Title Tournament (finals), & FIP Florida Rumble
I may be a little biased with CM Punk, but this year was great for him. The variety going from wild brawl, to epic, to short TV matches is impressive. He was in a great tag team, but really excelled in singles contests. The Samoa Joe series is a performance that gives him so many points, it’s hard to deny him.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Bryan Danielson, ROH Reborn: Stage One, April 23
- with Colt Cabana vs The Briscoes, ROH Reborn: Stage Two, April 24
- vs Samoa Joe, ROH World Title Classic, June 12
- with Colt Cabana vs The Briscoes, “2/3 Falls”, ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, July 23
- vs Samoa Joe, ROH Joe-Punk II, October 16 (#3 MOTY)
- vs AJ Styles, IWA Mid-South 8th Anniversary, October 23
- vs Samoa Joe, ROH All Star Extravaganza II, December 4
#1
Eddie Guerrero
Previous Rankings: 1993 (36th) & 1997 (13th)
Matches: 121
Place Worked: WWE
Title Held: WWE Championship
Eddie Guerrero was always great, but in 2004 he found his groove as “Latino Heat” and took it to another level. He was saddled with a freshly turned/pushed JBL for months and not only made him look great, but delivered all-time classic matches. That’s ridiculous. Post losing the title he was de-pushed a bit, but still delivered good performances against the likes of Luther Reigns. An easy choice for wrestler of the year in 2004.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Brock Lesnar, WWE No Way Out, February 15 (#1 MOTY)
- vs Kurt Angle, WWE WrestleMania XX, March 14
- vs JBL, WWE Judgement Day, May 16 (#2 MOTY)
- vs JBL, “Cage Match”, WWE SmackDown, July 15
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I am now moving on to 2015 in my watching. This is fun, because it’s a year that my spreadsheet existed. There is a 2015 Match of the Year list on this blog, but it will be revised. Stay tuned.
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2004 Match of the Year List
We are fast approaching my greatest wrestlers of 2004 list, so let’s drop the match of the year list first!
This is list is based on stuff that was either on my database from the past, or I have watched over the last month. If a match is missing, either I liked other things more or I missed it.
Honourable Mentions
- Jushin Liger vs Mitsuo Momota, NJPW Fighting Spirit, February 15
- Momoe Nakanishi vs Yoshiko Tamura, NEO Dream Rush, March 14
- Chris Hero vs Samoa Joe, IWA-MS A Shot of Southern Comfort, May 29
- CM Punk vs Samoa Joe, ROH World Title Classic, June 12
- Chavo Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio, WWE The Great American Bash, June 27
- CM Punk vs Samoa Joe, ROH All Star Extravaganza II, December 4
#10
Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi
“GHC Heavyweight Championship”
NOAH Navigation Over The Date Line
September 10
Nippon Budokan
This match really harkens back to the glory days of AJPW and it’s so nice to see Akira Taue get a huge spotlight title match like this. One thing NOAH did better than AJPW was the spots from the apron to the floor and Taue had a doozy in this one.
#9
El Dandy vs LA Park
“Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship”
ENESMA
October 15
Salon 21
A late edition to the list, but it was so great I had to put it on. It’s LA Park doing a title match, so he’s less focused on the wild chaotic brawl and more on trying to win. What I am saying it’s not a typical Park match, but it’s still great! The seconds get involved in the end and in theory that would hurt the match, but somehow when Dandy and Park team up to get rid of them and then Park uses that to try a sneaky pin it gets even better! A real hidden gem.
#8
Amazing Kong vs Mima Shimoda
AtoZ 1st Anniversary
July 19
Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium
This is an all out war brawl that goes all over the arena and features one of the most violent power bomb from the apron to the floor through the table spots in history. This is the Kong unleashed I’ve always wanted to see.
#7
The Bloody vs Yoshiko Tamura
“TWF World Women’s Championship”
NEO St. Battle Day
September 20
Kitazawa Town Hall
Great matwork? Check! Vicious submissions? Check! Nasty suplexes? Check! Blood? Check! This match has it all and is a must see.
#6
El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs El Hijo del Santo
Wrestling In Monterrey
September 5
Arena Solidaridad
Gritty is the word that comes to mind watching this one. It’s a chaotic brawl but in a smaller venue so it feels like there is no controls in place. It feels unsafe and it’s amazing!
#5
Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama
“GHC Heavyweight Championship”
NOAH Encountering Navigation
April 25
Nippon Budokan
This match reaches levels of violence and stiffness that is almost unacceptable. What made this one stand out is that it doesn’t reach the level of excess you might except from a big NOAH title match. It’s just a brutal fight.
#4
Amazing Kong vs Ayako Hamada
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW New Wave
May 2
Korakuen Hall
This is truly one of the all-time great chaotic all over the arena brawls of all-time. Before I watched Aja Kong in AJW regularly, this is what I assumed she was like. A complete and unstoppable chaos machine. Hamada, in 2004, did an amazing job of helping to create even more chaos herself being almost Sabu like.
#3
CM Punk vs Samoa Joe
“ROH World Championship”
ROH Joe vs. Punk II
October 16
Frontier Fieldhouse
A famous match for getting the first 5* rating from Dave Meltzer for an American match since 1997. I normally don’t like hour long draws, but CM Punk does so much to make this compelling the entire time. Joe played his role perfectly too and they played off the first match extremely well.
#2
Eddie Guerrero vs John “Bradshaw” Layfield
“WWE Championship”
WWE Judgement Day
May 16
Staples Center
It’s the bloodbath match for Eddie. JBL had just turned and Eddie did this amazing job of cementing JBL has a threat, through bleeding buckets. A great underdog bloody performance by Eddie.
#1
Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero
“WWE Championship”
WWE No Way Out
February 15
Cow Palace
This match is one of the most classic underdog babyface performances of all-time. This was Brock at his best, a dynamic offensive cocky force. Eddie is in his “home” town and the crowd is wildly supporting him unlike almost any other match in wrestling history. A true all-time classic.
Thank You
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Next time I will drop my greatest wrestlers of 2004 list.
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