Tag Archives: CM Punk

The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (November 2023)

By Grimmas on December 6, 2023 | 2 Comments

It was a very light month in November, probably because I spent too much time watching The Traitors. I did get a top-25 match, though!

#25
Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato vs Sonoko Kato & Toshie Uematsu
GAEA Break Out!
September 16, 1996

Intense, quick tags, lots of brawling, and a high-paced tag match. A lot of fun!

Rating: 7/10

#24
Gunther (c) vs The Miz
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Survivor Series
November 25, 2023

The story of Miz trying to work the leg to take down the unstoppable Gunther was good and it was sold well by Gunther. The big near-fall off the Eddie Guerrero hijinks was really fun. The knee almost took Gunther out, but he was too good and put The Miz down!

Rating: 7/10

#23
Tito Santana (c) vs Paul Orndorff
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF at Kiel Auditorium
September 1, 1984

From my review of The Best of The WWF Volume II:

It feels like they wanted to show the St. Louis crowd a more NWA-style match, as WWF just took over the territory. The structure was not typical for a WWF match from the time, and it had lots of cool nearfalls, a non-WWF structure, and a lot of action. Tito is one of the best babyface workers ever, and seeing him work from underneath is great. His hope spots are tremendous. The comeback was intense by Tito, as usual. They fought back and forth down the stretch, leading to a time-limit draw.

Rating: 7/10

#22
Rhea Ripley (c) vs Zoey Stark
“WWE Women’s World Championship”
WWE Survivor Series
November 23, 2023

I kind of loved this. It was intense, hard-hitting, and dramatic. Zoey stepped up and used her power but was overcome as it wasn’t enough. Perfect title defense.

Rating: 7/10

#21
Hiromi Yagi vs Jaguar Yokota
JWP on September 8, 1996

Jaguar continues to look great, no matter what year it is. This has a lot of fun stuff, and I loved the sudden submission finish out of nowhere!

Rating: 7/10

#20
Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers, & The Young Stallions vs The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The New Dream Team, & The Islanders
“Elimination Match”
WWF Survivor Series
November 26, 1987

A match filled with a lot of action, quick tags, and a logical format, and I loved the story of the underdog Stallions surviving with the Bees.

Rating: 7/10

#19
Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, & Templario vs Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada 2.0, & Mistico
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL Grand Prix De Amazonas
October 27, 2023

This had exactly what you wanted, with spectacular moves, a hot crowd, and a good story about the feud between Templario and Mistico. Dorada continues to impress!

Rating: 7/10

#18
Bayley vs Bianca Belair
WWE SmackDown
October 27, 2023

A tremendous match, with Bayley working over the back and Belair selling it well. The highlight was a great segment that started on the apron and continued outside, and the finish was really good as well.

Rating: 7/10

#17
La Catalina vs Zeuxis
“CMLL Universal De Amazones Title Tournament Final Match”
CMLL Blue Panther 45. Aniversario
October 20, 2023

They both fought hard to win this tournament, and it was an exciting match.

Rating: 7/10

#16
The Powers of Pain, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Brain Busters, Los Conquistadores, & The Fabulous Rougeaus
“Elimination Match”
WWF Survivor Series
November 24, 1988

It is similar to the previous year but with more action, more stories, and the really fun Conquistadores surviving against all odds. Plus, a double turn!

Rating: 7/10

#15
Chigusa Nagayo, Sakura Hirota, Sonoko Kato, & Toshie Uematsu vs Chikayo Nagashima, Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano, & Sugar Sato
GAEA Endless Summer
August 18, 1996

Nagayo and Ozaki were awesome in this, controlling everything, but the rookies really came out to shine, and this was a blast!

Rating: 7/10

#14
Bryan Danielson vs Rush
AEW Dynamite
February 8, 2023

The first 2/3 of the match was great, with Rush just destroying an injured and bloody Danielson and being a cocky asshole about it. Danielson’s selling was great, and he was such a massive underdog. The comeback was good, too, but once we got to the longer finishing sequence, it fell apart a bit for me.

Rating: 7/10

#13
Chaparita ASARI vs Kyoko Inoue
“Japan Grand Prix”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
July 28, 1996

This was a blast. To start, they did the I’m taller than you exchange, with each standing on different things to get an advantage in a test of strength until it ended with ASARI hitting a top rope dropkick onto Inoue, who was standing on a steal chair. Immediately, ASARI sat in the chair while Inoue rolled to the floor and sat in a chair at ringside. A perfect start to the match. The rest was fun, too, with Inoue hitting one of the fastest giant swings ever and ASARI having tremendous spots throughout. It ended with Inoue’s death offense for the win.

Rating: 7/10

#12
Dynamite Kansai (c) vs Mayumi Ozaki
“JWP Openweight Championship”
JWP on August 10, 1996

This was dramatic and had a lot of great struggle between the two. The crowd brawling was awesome here, too.

Rating: 7.25/10

#11
The Usos (c) vs Drew McIntyre & Sheamus
“WWE Raw & SmackDown Tag Team Championship”
WWE SmackDown
January 6, 2023

This told a great story of McIntyre and Sheamus outmatching the Usos regarding power and being one-on-one, but the Usos are the superior team. Usos are also the masters of tag nearfalls, and the crowd was insane for them in this one. I love the classic cheating tag finish and Sami and Roman’s reactions while watching in the back while eating popcorn.

Rating: 7.25/10

#10
Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa (c) vs Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato
“Japanese Tag Team Championship”
AJW The Rising Generation Queens Carnival
September 1, 1996

Oz Academy (Nagashima and Sato) do some wild Sabu shit, and it’s so much fun as they are the highlight of this really good tag match that comes down to a very exciting finishing sequence.

Rating: 7.5/10

#9
CM Punk vs Ricky Starks
“Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Men’s Tournament Final Match”
AEW Collision
July 15, 2023

Punk is a master of playing the crowd and Starks is very charismatic and has the crowd with him, and the crowd was amazing here in Calgary! Punk really went out of his way to make Starks a superstar in this, and the finish was a perfect payoff.

Rating: 7.5/10

#8
Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai vs Devil Masami & Kyoko Inoue
JWP The Ryogoku Big Project
October 13, 1996

These two amazing teams have an amazing match, to nobody’s surprise. It started intense, with everyone hitting vicious lariats, but only kept it up all match. It built really well with a lot of great action and the main takeaway is this match looked like it hurt a lot.

Rating: 7.75/10

#7
Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs Asuka, Bayley, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane
“War Games”
WWE Survivor Series
November 25, 2023

I was a little apprehensive about the babyfaces winning the advantage as it goes against everything I know about War Games. When each person entering brought a new weapon, my skepticism was super high, but luckily, they salvaged things and turned it into a great match.

Bayley held everything together and worked her ass off. It was so nice to see KAIRI having so much fun upon returning to WWE too! Of course Io Shirai took some nutty bumps, including the jump off the top of the cage in a garbage can. The finish was very satisfying!

Rating: 7.75/10

#6
Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Raw
August 21, 2023

I had completely forgotten that Chad Gable existed, but it turns out he is the perfect Gunther opponent. Gunther, in the middle of the best IC Title run ever, faced an unrelenting technical wrestler who had the power to match up with him. He pushed and pushed Gunther and finally got the shock count-out win, setting up a rematch. It’s a perfect way to give Gunther his first loss in the WWE.

Rating: 8/10

#5
Orange Cassidy (c) vs Swerve Strickland
“AEW International Championship”
AEW Dynamite
June 7, 2023

Although Cassidy can do amazing moves, amazing comedy, and garner amazing amounts of sympathy, the real key to his amazingness is the little things. The ability to stay in character in almost any situation. Like sitting on the apron trying to avoid getting hit by slowly scooting out of the way. That said, this match hits on all of his levels of amazing, and Swerve is no slouch and a really good opponent for him as he can keep up on those levels and is a great counterpoint to him. It was an awesome match that got a lot of time and built from a great character-driven match into a match filled with amazing spots and such an awesome finishing sequence where each looked like the winner, and it had a perfect finish.

Rating: 8/10

#4
Bison Kimura vs Li Fua
Jd’ Star on July 30, 1996

I had no idea that Li Fua was Jaguar Yokota until days after I watched this, so that adds to the awesomeness here.

Li Fua is a deranged Chinese masked woman who spent most of the match cheating and stabbing Bison, making her bleed everywhere. It’s a violent brawl that goes all over the ringside area and involved many weapons. It even involved Fua doing a moonsault from the stage to the floor onto Bison. This match is insane.

Afterward, Fua cuts her own head and pours the blood into Bison in some kind of ritual. A must-watch match!

Rating: 8/10

#3
Pedro Morales (c) vs Don Muraco
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF on MSG Network
January 22, 1983

From my review of The Best of The WWF Volume II:

Muraco attacks before the bell, and Morales fights right back. The really cool being thrown into the corner and turning it into a sunset flip by Morales is awesome. The early goings are just Morales destroying Muraco and Muraco selling his ass off. He’s such a chicken shit that when Morales looks to jump off the top to the floor on him, Muraco hides under the ring. A massive low blow by Muraco brings things even, and that’s when Muraco can finally remove his shirt. Of course, Muraco uses it to choke Pedro, only for Pedro to low-blow him back!

Muraco ducked, and Morales hit the turnbuckle with his knee, which finally evens the tides and led to some good knee work by Muraco. After a pushoff of the figure-four, Morales has a comeback and does a backbreaker onto his hurt knee like an idiot. The Boston Crab he does is too close to the ropes, and his leg is too hurt to keep it on. Muraco still can’t control it, though. Morales keeps fighting, but the cross body by Muraco is caught, only for Morales’s leg to give up, and Muraco wins the belt.

It is a great, short, and intense brawl with amazing transitions that tell a wonderful story. I love these two against each other.

Rating: 8.25/10

#2
Aja Kong vs Kyoko Inoue
“Japan Grand Prix Final”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
August 30, 1996

Kong is out for death in this match, and Inoue is a perfect underdog with tremendous selling throughout. It’s intense from the start to the tremendous run of nearfalls down the stretch. Every lariat and every throw and hit just look like they hurt; it’s on another level. A great match that seems to be forgotten if you listen to Cagematch.

Rating: 9.25/10

#1
Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Raw
September 4, 2023

You know a match is special when the WWE uploads it to YouTube immediately.

This played off the previous match and built upon it. Gable knew he could win, and Gunther had doubts for almost the first time in his reign. Gable again fought from underneath, but here, his hope spots meant more. The comeback and the Gable’s attempts to win were electric. This had the best ankle lock submission nearfalls I have ever seen. When Gunther finally survived and got back on offense, there was no back-and-forth bullshit. He delivered a bunch of vicious offense and just pinned him clean. The camera immediately moved to Gable’s daughter crying in the first row. This might be my match of the year.

With this win, Gunther has become the longest-reigning IC Champion ever!

Rating: 9.25/10

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Posted in: Best Matches I've Watched This Month, Reviews | Tagged: aew, Aja Kong, angel de oro, Arn Anderson, Asuka, atlantis jr, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, bison kimura, boris zhukoff, Bret Hart, brian blair, Bryan Danielson, Carlos Amano, chad gable, Chaparita ASARI, charlotte flair, Chigusa Nagayo, Chikayo Nagashima, CM Punk, CMLL, conquistadores, davey boy smith, Demolition, Devil Masami, dino bravo, don muraco, Drew McIntyre, Dynamite Kansai, dynamite kid, GAEA, Greg Valentine, gunther, Haku, Hiromi Yagi, Io Shirai, jacques rougeau, jaguar yokota, jd' star, jim brunzell, Jim Neidhart, jim powers, jimmy uso, joshi, JWP, KAIRI, Kana, Kyoko Inoue, la catalina, lucha libre, marty jannety, mascara dorada, Mayumi Ozaki, Mistico, niebla roja, nikolai volkoff, Orange Cassidy, paul orndroff, paul roma, Pedro Morales, raymond rougeau, Rhea Ripley, rick martel, ricky starks, Rie Tamada, Rush, sakura hirota, shawn michaels, sheamus, shotzi blackheart, sonoko kato, Sugar Sato, swerve strickland, tama, the barbarian, the miz, TIto Santana, Tully Blanchard, WALTER, warlord, wrestling, WWE, WWF, yumi fukawa, zeuzis, zoey stark

The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (October 2023)

By Grimmas on October 31, 2023 | 2 Comments

I was really all over the place in October, but one thing kept me excited, and that was going through WCW’s 1996. We are in 1996 for our Joshi weekly watches, and I thought I’d get a head start on the rest of the world. Other GWE years I want to tackle are just not clicking with me right now.

Also, 2023 is turning out to be pretty damn cool, eh?

#25
John Morrison (c) vs CM Punk
“ECW Heavyweight Championship”
ECW on SciFi
September 1, 2007, aired September 4, 2007

These two had a long series, so they knew each other well and did a lot of counters. The crowd is really hot, and it’s a very exciting match with a great finishing stretch.

Rating: 7.25/10

#24
La Catalina vs Stephanie Vaquer
“CMLL World Women’s Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

Vaquer’s offense outside the ring was so vicious. They both worked stiff and had a very intense match that was a great counterpoint to a lot of the more high-flying of the rest of the card.

Rating: 7.25/10

#23
Bruno Sammartino (c) vs Stan Hansen
“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match”
WWWF on August 7, 1976

A famous match with Bruno getting revenge after Hasnen broke his neck. The crowd is so into Bruno’s revenge, and he gets it here with lots of blood and violence.

Rating: 7.25/10

#22
Becky Lynch (c) vs Lyra Valkyria
“NXT Women’s Championship”
NXT Halloween Havoc
October 24, 2023

A tremendous main event, with Valkyria playing the big underdog against the legendary Lynch. It was filled with hope spots and nearfalls for Valyria, and Lynch did a great job of controlling the action and trying to find ways to put away the underdog. Some of my favourite types of wrestling matches, and this was a good version of that.

Rating: 7.75/10

#21
Mistico (c) vs Virus
“World Historic Middleweight Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

Mistico is so spectacular, and Virus is so well grounded they make a perfect counterpoint for each other and a beautiful match to watch.

Rating: 7.75/10

#20
Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Super Calo
WCW Fall Brawl: War Games
September 15, 1996

Calo works over Rey’s arm so well and also hits some great dives and throws for the first large portion of this match. Rey sells his arm all the way through his comeback. A great stretch of nerfalls and Rey hits a double springboard hurrcanrana for the win utilizing the double ring. It was one of the better Cruiserweight matches in WCW history.

Rating: 7.75/10

#19
Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (c) vs The High Flyers
“AWA World Tag Team Championships”
AWA on July 7, 1977

It’s a really hot crowd in a very classic tag team format match. Lazna and Duncum bumped huge when The High Flyers were on offense, and The Flyers sold great on defense. It got more exciting as it went along to a great finish.

Rating: 7.75/10

#18
Dean Malenko (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.
“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”
WCW The Great American Bash
June 16, 1996

I’ve felt this match was odd because it’s Rey’s WCW debut, and Malenko grounds him for 3/4 of it by working his arm. The comeback is tremendous, though, and the arm work is really good. Truly the start of the new WCW cruiserweight era.

Rating: 7.75/10

#17
Natsupoi vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

Former enemies and current teammates can be really cool in a match against each other, and this one was that. It started with the know each other so well spots, but then they started to dig back into their former hatred. There were great nearfalls before a finish that was a little bit of a surprise, with Natsupoi pinning the Champion.

Rating: 8/10

#16
Suzu Suzuki vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 9, 2023

It was an excellent GP match, with Suzuki going for death and Nakano’s amazing selling leading the way. The last third was a tremendous run to the finish.

Rating: 8/10

#15
Umaga (c) vs Jeff Hardy
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE The Great American Bash
July 22, 2007

It was an amazing David vs Goliath match, with Hardy having awesome hope spots while Umaga killed him throughout. When it got to Jeff’s comeback, it was electric, and when Umaga did the run for the finish, it was death. Perfect wrestling.

Rating: 8/10

#14
Hazuki vs Suzu Suzuki
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 23, 2023

It’s all killer, no filler heated GP match.

Rating: 8/10

#13
Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Dean Malenko
“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”
WCW Halloween Havoc
October 27, 1996

After an amazing shine segment by Rey where he got his stolen mask back, Dean grounds him. The leg attacks are great, as well as Rey’s selling. In 1996, few had better comebacks than Rey. The finishing stretch is so great, ending with a vicious super bomb by Dean!

Rating: 8/10

#12
Mei Seira vs Nanae Takahashi
“Passion Injection”
Stardom New Blood 11
September 29, 2023

One of the highlights of 2023 is Nanae vs younger wrestlers, injecting them with passion. Mei was amazing, fighting to take it to Nanae and pushing her to the limits. Nanae was also great pushing back against it.

Rating: 8/10

#11
Maika vs MIRAI
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

The winner wins the Blue Stars block, so there is extra drama here in this awesome hoss battle.

Rating: 8/10

#10
Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta
“Japan Grand Prix”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
July 14, 1996

Kong completely brutalizes Hotta’s leg in the most violent way possible, and Hotta sells it so well. Hotta worked from underneath and had some good hope spots. For some reason, Hotta always really steps up against Kong!

Rating: 8.5/10

#9
Mistico vs Templario
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL Super Viernes
October 13, 2023

Mistico might be the best babyface in the world right now. Being so over really helps, but the great selling and hope spots, added with the spectacular moves, make him so loveable. I love that Mistico dominated for a large early portion of this match until Templario got a lucky comeback in the second fall, leading to him destroying Mistsco. The finishing sequence and the comeback by Mistico ruled! I don’t want to discount Templario here; he’s a great rudo, too.

Rating: 8.5/10

#8
Antonio Inoki (c) vs Andre the Giant
“Real World Martial Arts Championship”
NJPW Toukon Series
October 7, 1976

It was a tremendous David vs Goliath contest that was really focused on the strategy of both. Inoki was amazing at finding his spots where Andre would leave an opening.

Rating: 8.5/10

#7
Maika vs Suzu Suzuki
“5STAR Grand Prix: Final”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

A surprising final, which had to be changed due to the injuries. However, it added an extra level of excitement because the winner could have been anyone. It was an intense, stiff, and exciting match, with both stepping up their game to win the 5STAR! It was really a perfect tournament final match, as either could have won throughout, and they played it as two equally matched competitors.

I’m very excited to see how far Suzuki can go at such a young age!

Rating: 8.5/10

#6
Ultimate Dragon (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.
“J-Crown Championship”
WCW World War 3
November 24, 1996

Most of the match is a squash, with Dragon unleashing amazing offense, including one of the best and most brutal running power bombs ever. Rey is amazing at selling, and when he gets a comeback near the end, it’s electric with spectacular moves. The finish is otherworldly, with Rey attempting to complete the comeback with a springboard rana, only for Dragon to catch him and slingshot Rey off the top rope into a vicious sit-down power bomb for the win. It is a classic and very cool, for it does not follow the usual formula.

Rating: 8.75/10

#5
Becky Lynch (c) vs Tiffany Stratton
“NXT Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match”
NXT No Mercy
September 30, 2023

Stratton is very impressive, with amazing physical skills and tremendous presence. She wasn’t just carried along by Lynch but added a lot. This was one of the better all-over-the-arena weapons matches I can recall from the WWE in a long time. The spots were violent and vicious, and the nearfalls were unbelievable. Great finish, too.

Rating: 8.75/10

#4
Manami Toyota vs Meiko Satomura
“Battlefield WAR Tournament Second Round”
Sendai Girls Live Vol. 8
May 6, 2007

It was really cool to see generational legends go at it, and they delivered. The early portions of Toyota using her veteran status to keep control of Meiko was really great. As they build up to the match, they had a great bomb-throwing segment and finishing rush.

Rating: 8.75/10

#3
Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader
NJPW Wrestling World In Tokyo Dome
January 4, 1996

Two legendary though guys stand up and fight each other on the biggest stage with a red-hot crowd. This is amazing. Both really go for the kill throughout, and the Vader German Suplex spot is incredibly memorable.

Rating: 9/10

#2
Titan (c) vs Mascara Dorada
“CMLL World Middleweight Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

I haven’t seen too much of the new Mascara Dorada, but for a wrestler who debuted in 2021, he is insanely good. He reminds me of Rey Mysterio Jr., who came around and blew everyone away with his flying, but it never looked like he was showing off, but always competing in a match. Dorada is the same way.

Titan is no slouch, as he’s been great for a long time. With all the great flying, the spot that really hit me was Titan doing a double stomp from the top rope to Dorada on the apron. As it built towards the finish, all the submission nearfalls were amazing. It was a great match and probably in my top ten matches of the year.

Rating: 9/10

#1
Combat Toyoda (c) vs Megumi Kudo
“FMW Independent Women’s & WWA Women’s Title No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Blast Death Match”
FMW Fighting Creation: 7th Anniversary Show
May 5, 1996

Not much to say. It’s the best deathmatch and the best FMW match in history. It’s dramatic, it’s emotional, and it’s great.

Rating: 9.66/10

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Posted in: Best Matches I've Watched This Month, Lists | Tagged: Aja Kong, AJW, Andre the Giant, antonio inoki, AWA, Becky Lynch, blackjack lanza, bobby duncum, Bruno Sammartino, CM Punk, CMLL, combat toyoda, dean malenko, deathmatch, FMW, greg gagne, Hazuki, jeff hardy, jim brunzell, john morrison, joshi, la catalina, lucha libra, Lyra Valkyria, Maika, Manami Toyota, mascara dorada, Megumi Kudo, Mei Hoshizuki, Mei Seira, Meiko Satomura, MIRAI, Mistico, Nanae Takahashi, natsupoi, NJPW, NXT, puroresu, rey mysterio jr, Sendai Girls, Stan Hansen, STARDOM, Stephanie Vaquer, super calo, suzu suzuki, tam nakano, templario, Tiffany Stratton, titan, ultimo dragon, Umaga, Vader, Virus, WCW, wrestling, WWE, wwwf, yumiko hotta

The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (September 2023)

By Grimmas on September 30, 2023 | 1 Comment

I took a little break from GWE watching; I only had two 76/77 matches on the list this month. I was off-wrestling this month, but I got in a lot of the Stardom 5STAR and started to get back into CMLL.

#25
Superstar Billy Graham (c) vs Dusty Rhodes
“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Texas Death Match”
WWWF
October 24, 1977

This was bloody, with a superheated crowd in an intense brawl. It doesn’t really hit high gear, though, and the finish stunk, but a damn good match worth watching.

Rating: 7/10

#24
Hazuki, Shinobu Kandori, & Takako Inoue vs Natsupoi, Saori Anou, & Tam Nakano
Stardom MidSummer Fes
August 19, 2023

It’s a fun match, putting legends with current starts. All the legends hit their stuff and looked awesome, but the current stars carried the bulk of the work. It’s a textbook and is well worth watching stuff here.

Rating: 7/10

#23
Chigusa Nagayo vs Megumi Kudo
FMW New Year Generation
January 10, 1996

An amazing-paced 7-minute match where they fought with a great struggle like warriors! The power bomb finish was brutal!

Rating: 7/10

#22
Kaoru Ito & Manami Toyota vs Double Inoue
AJW Zenjo Strongest
January 3, 1996

This was just a super fun tag with a really hot finishing sequence and an insanely fast giant swing by Kyoko.

Rating: 7.25/10

#21
Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda (c) vs Double Inoue
“WWWA Tag Team Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
AJW Ota Ward Champion Legend
January 22, 1996

LCO work as psychotic heels against the sympathetic Double Inoue team, and it helps this tag for the first couple of falls. The third fall is tremendous action.

Rating: 7.25/10

#20
MIRAI (c) vs Konami
“Wonder of Stardom Championship”
Stardom 5STAR Special In Hiroshima
September 3, 2023

I really dug this title defense. Konami’s arm offense and kicks were on point, and MIRAI’s selling was tremendous. I loved her comeback and the finishing sequence, too. MIRAI’s lariats are so brutal.

Rating: 7.25/10

#19
La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis
“CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Title Match”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

A great opener to the Aniversario and a really fun tag match with some amazing dives and great double-team moves. There was a viciousness to this that made it extra appealing.

Rating: 7.25

#18
Momo Watanabe vs Saori Anou
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

It was a real blast where Momo was trying to knock out Anou all match, from an opening sneak attack to using her baseball bat and vicious heavy offense. Anou is pretty good from fighting underneath, so it’s worth watching.

Rating: 7.25/10

#17
Mariah May vs Mina Shirakawa
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

These two have been the most improved wrestlers on earth in the last two years, and they went out and had a good match between teammates. Mina’s leg work was on point as ever, and Mariah has developed some killer offense.

Rating: 7.25/10

#16
Mayu Iwatani vs Syuri
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Special In Hiroshima
September 3, 2023

These two are just great, and even in an undercard match, they will deliver something awesome. It was intense and stiff and led to a great finish.

Rating: 7.5/10

#15
Aja Kong vs Combat Toyoda
FMW New Year Generation
January 10, 1996

A wild brawl all over the arena with Combat bleeding and weapons. It’s a real fun hoss battle well worth your time.

Rating: 7.5/10

#14
Hazuki vs Syrui
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

A full-throttle intense 10-minute sprint that I loved. Two of my favourites doing everything to win their tournament match, but not in an epic way, but in a that put the other away as soon as possible way.

Rating: 7.5/10

#13
Manami Toyota (c) vs Kyoko Inoue
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Wrestling Queendom
March 31, 1996

Putting aside the horrible design to not have Kyoko win and to have her lose to her own finish, this match was pretty damn good. The crowd really wanted Kyoko to win, which made every nerafall hot. The nerafalls all felt big, and it got better and better as it went.

Rating: 8/10

#12
Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, & Sonoko Kato vs Eagle Sawai, Jenn Yukari, & Michiko Nagashima
LLPW
March 12, 1996

This is a rematch from a GAEA match higher on the list, and although it’s still pretty wild and a great match, it doesn’t hit the high levels the other match hit. The clipping makes it harder to rank, too.

Rating: 8/10

#11
Mayu Iwatani vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

Two legends of Stardom go at it for 15 minutes straight, trying to knock the other out. It’s as good as a 15-minute tournament match draw could be, really. These two need a big title match one day.

Rating: 8/10

#10
KAIRI & Saori Anou vs Unagi Sayaka & Sareee
AJPW Giant Series
September 8, 2023

Outside of the novelty of seeing these four, some of my favourites, in an AJPW ring, the match delivered. It was a great tag match where everyone was stepping up their game. Each team had really good team chemistry and double-team moves, too. The last few minutes were absolutely tremendous stuff.

Rating: 8/10

#9
CM Punk (c) vs Samoa Joe
“Real World Championship”
AEW All In London
August 27, 2023

This was a great opener and the only match I wanted to watch from this show. There were some nice nods to their previous matches with the headlock before Joe killed Punk into the table and blooded him up. Punk worked amazingly from underneath, and his comeback was fun, especially the Wrestlemania III tribute. A fun finishing stretch ended it. Punk then posed with a trans flag to push the match up even higher!

Rating: 8/10

#8
AZM vs Utami Hayashishita
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

The main event in Korakuen Hall delivered in a big way as teammates fought in the 5STAR. AZM used her high speed skills to try to sneak in a victory, while Utami used her power to pick her apart. It was a perfect power vs speed match.

Rating: 8.25/10

#7
Lince Dorado & Samuray del Sol vs. Soberano Jr. & Titan
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

The Lucha House Party makes a surprisingly good gringo rudo tag team here, and this was a dynamic, exciting tag. The first two falls were perfect, with great spots and good build-up. The third fall got a little extra, but this was filled with spectacular spots and some good playing character work.

Rating: 8.25/10

#6
Dragon Rojo Jr. vs Templario
“Mask vs Mask”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

There’s nothing like a mask vs mask match to end a CMLL Anniversary show, and this was a good one. I loved Dragon Rojo Jr. on offense for the first half; he kind of reminded me of Kikuchiyo in his movement. Templario’s comeback had a lot of spectacular dives, but the finishing stretch seemed like a letdown from what they were building.

Rating: 8.5/10

#5
Angel de Oro vs Volador, Jr.
“Hair vs Hair”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

A dramatic and great hair vs hair match made even better with Volador’s shoulder injury, making all his moves look more spectacular. I love these high-stakes matches. It makes everything feel way more important. This wasn’t just a spot fest. There was some great hate and submissions mixed in there.

Rating: 8.75/10

#4
Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, & Sonoko Kato vs Eagle Sawai, Jenn Yukari, & Michiko Nagashima
GAEA War Is A Friday Night
February 16, 1996

This is as fun as a wild all over the arena crazy brawl can be. Chigusa and Eagle just killing each other in the audience is a blast, but the story of Kato losing her shit was amazing. Blood and brawling, GAEA is such a great promotion.

Rating: 8.75/10

#3
Jaguar Yokota, Momoe Nakanishi, & Nanae Takahashi vs Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, & Yuu
Stardom MidSummer Fes
August 19, 2023

This was an exciting trios match main event. There was so much great action with everyone, especially the legends, getting their chance to shine. The action was really classic Joshi. I’m so blown away by how great Nakanishi was after 18 years of not wrestling a real match. She looked like she could main event today on a consistent basis. Unbelievable.

Rating: 9/10

#2
Terry Funk (c) vs Jumbo Tsuruta
“NWA World Heavyweight Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
AJPW NWA Champion Series”
June 11, 1976

One thing I immediately loved about this match was each fall was built like a regular match, albeit the later ones got shorter and went quicker toward finishing sequences. It has that great feel-out segment that leads to them figuring out what to do. Funk doing Jumbo’s finisher to him was fascinating, as I had no idea people were doing that before the 2000s. It is just tremendously well-built, and once it going going, it is an exciting match.

Rating: 9/10

#1
“Match of the Month”

Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus
“Cage Match”
WWE Payback
September 2, 2023

This was a perfect WWE cage match. It was not built around trying to do cool moves; it was built around the feud and legacy. For once, no blood, after being rammed into the cage, was perfectly covered, as Trish had a giant welt on her forehead. The tributes to the first-ever WWE women’s cage match and other cage matches in WWE history were perfectly done. They were even somewhat subtle, like the Bret-Owen superplex and the outside interference door slamming into the face. I loved the finishing sequence so much, where Becky had enough of Trish’s lackey, so she locked her in the cage too and took her out, leading to catching Trish on the top of the cage and hitting a super Manhandle slam. It was a brilliant match and will be near the top matches of 2023 for me!

Rating: 9/10

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Posted in: Best Matches I've Watched This Month | Tagged: aew, Aja Kong, AJPW, AJW, Akira Hokuto, angel de oro, azm, Becky Lynch, billy graham, bomber hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, CM Punk, CMLL, combat toyoda, dragon rojo jr, dusty rhodes, Eagle Sawai, FMW, GAEA, Hazuki, jaguar yokota, jenn yukari, joshi, Jumbo Tsuruta, Kairi Hojo, Kaoru Ito, Konami, Kyoko Inoue, la jarochita, lince dorada, LLPW, lucha libre, Manami Toyota, mariah may, Mayu Iwatani, Megumi Kudo, michiko nagashima, Mima Shimoda, mini shirakawa, MIRAI, momo watanabe, Momoe Nakanishi, Nanae Takahashi, natsupoi, Samoa Joe, samuray del sol, Saori Anou, Sareee, Shinobu Kandori, soberano jr, sonoko kato, STARDOM, starlight kid, Stephanie Vaquer, Syuri, Takako Inoue, tam nakano, templario, Terry Funk, titan, Trish Stratus, Unagai Sayaka, utami hayashishita, volador jr, wrestling, WWE, Yuu, zeuxis

The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month: Live @ AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door (June 2023)

By Grimmas on June 30, 2023 | 2 Comments

Doing this weekly was a little much, so we’ve moved it to a monthly affair. I will also cap the matches reviewed here to 25.

This post will include some of the awesome weekend I had going to Forbidden Door and some local shows! Plus, the Stardom pay-per-view, along with a few GME watches, Joshi Nights, and a 1989 focus!

#25
Bad News Brown vs Brutus Beefcake
WWF
April 22, 1989

I can’t believe I rated this match because, on paper, it’s kind of trash. In reality, it’s awesome. Bad News kicks ass; Beefcake gets in some nice hope spots and really has the crowd on his side before being cut down again. As Bad News is kicking ass, he grabs the mic, cuts a promo, then grabs scissors, and tries to cut Beefcake’s hair, only to be rolled up. Just awesome stuff.

Rating: 7/10

#24
Andre the Giant, Akeem, & The Big Boss Man vs King Duggan & Demolition
WWF SummerSlam
August 28, 1989

It’s so much fun and doesn’t go long enough to outstay its welcome. Ax body slams Akeem, and everyone gets a nice moment before a happy ending.

Rating: 7/10

#23
El Faraon vs El Satanico
“Best 2/3 Falls”
EMLL Super Viernes
June 30, 1989

A gritty lucha brawl, with Satanico standing out as an all-timer. The structure was pretty normal, but they did well with it. The only real drawback was how much the referee got involved. I loved the DQ finish.

Rating: 7/10

#22
CM Punk, FTR, & Ricky Starks vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson & The Gunns
AEW Collision
June 24, 2023

A fun eight-man tag is a good way to main event a TV show. Punk was a tremendous heel, and I had forgotten how much I like Juice Robinson. They did a good job of giving everyone a moment to shine too.

Rating: 7/10

#21
Athena vs Billie Starkz
“Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quater Final”
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door: Zero Hour
June 25, 2023

Starkz makes such a great babyface, and Athena really pounded her down. The bump to the outside was ridiculous. It was the best match on the pre-show.

Rating: 7/10

#20
Trish Adora vs Vanessa Kraven
Smash X Femmes Fatales Girls Next Door
June 25, 2023

The strikes in this were vicious! What I enjoyed about this was the two power wrestlers going at each other, but they were different power wrestlers. Kraven is a monster, while Adora is just a powerful woman. It was a great contrast.

#19
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader
NJPW New Year Golden Series
February 9, 1989

Vader looked pretty good as a damn monster, and Fujinami’s hope spots were really good. Vader even sold very well to make Fujinami look good before destroying him.

Rating: 7/10

#18
Spike Trivet (c) vs Artemis Spencer
“DEFY Men’s Championship”
DEFY X PROGRESS
June 25, 2023

I had never seen either before, but Spike did a great job working over the hand all match and playing a great heel. Spencer did have some really fun high spots to give up hope before giving up.

Rating: 7/10

#17
Sting (c) vs The Great Muta
“NWA World Television Championship”
NWA The Great American Bash
July 23, 1989

A high-octane sprint that got the crowd wild. Although the finish was shit, the crowd was hot, and they hit a lot of great high spots.

Rating: 7/10

#16
Rick Martel & The Fabulous Rougeaus vs Tito Santana & The Rockers
WWF SummerSlam
August 28, 1989

This is well laid out, with Tito wanting revenge on Martel for turning on him, but Martel only got in there when his team had the advantage. In between that, The Rougeaus are the masters of heat, and all three of the French Canadians put so much heat onto Tito playing face in peril that the crowd can barely contain themselves when the hot tag is finally made. The ROckers have a great run of offence before everything breaks down, and it ends with some amazing heel shenanigans.

Rating: 7/10

#15
Akira Hokuto vs Mima Shimoda
AJW WWWA Champions Night Osaka Queen’s Holy Night
August 30, 1995

A fun battle with Hokuto shows Shimoda she’s still The Dangerous Queen. It included two vicious table spots and some fun time brawling.

Rating: 7/10

#14
Demolition (c) vs Akeem & The Big Boss Man
“WWF World Tag Team Championship”
WWF
July 10, 1989

The feud between these two teams was a lot of fun, just two powerhouse units going at it. It started off hot before a decent heat segment on Smash. The Twin Towers destroying someone is always fun. The hot tag to Ax was great, including Ax body-slamming Akeem! The knife stick comes into play to end this intense tag battle.

Rating: 7/10

#13
Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door
June 25, 2023

Yes, Bryan broke his arm in this, but it’s still a tremendous match. Some of the audibles after the arm break really helped, especially with a tired crowd five hours into a show with it past midnight. Bryan coming out to The Final Countdown was a nice touch.

Rating: 7.25/10

#12
Eddy Guerrero vs Terry Funk
NWA World Championship Wrestling
May 9, 1989, aired May 20, 1989

One of those matches I had heard about forever but never saw. Funk does a giant swing and the most bizarre baseball slide ever, so that puts this into a positive right there! Funk was doing everything to let Eddy look good, but Eddy pumping like a freak for Funk was also great. Funk looked like a killer, and Eddy looked like he had a bright future, which is everything you could want from a match like this.

Rating: 7.25/10

#11
Athena (c) vs Kiera Hogan
“ROH Women’s World Championship Chicago Street Fight”
ROH on HonorClub
June 17, 2023, aired June 22, 2023

This was a brutal street fight with thumbtacks and a bunch of other weapons. The real stand-out was just some brutal spots like a Super Bomb through a table and a superplex through about two billion chairs. Blood and violence and a good one.

Rating: 7.5/10

#10
Giulia, Mai Sakurai, & Thekla (c) vs Hazuki, Koguma, & Mayu Iwatani
“Artist of Stardom Steel Cage Match”
Stardom Sunshine
June 25, 2023

This was kind of an odd one, as it had escape rules. This meant if you left, your team had the advantage of being closer to winning, but also one less person in the ring. That said, there were a lot of tremendous spots, with things like Hazuki hitting a senton from the top of the cage onto Giulia. The finishing segment of Giuliua vs Iwatani was their usual tremendous bout.

Rating: 7.5/10

#9
Vert Vixen (c) vs Mercedes Martinez
“DEFY Women’s Championship”
Smash X Femmes Fatales Girls Next Door
June 25, 2023

Sadly, Masha Slamovich’s flight was cancelled, but thankfully Vixen is an okay substitute. They did an angle where Martinez got a title shot by destroying a young protege of Vixen’s earlier in the night. Vert sneak attacked on the stage for a great visual start. Martinez is such a smart worker and it’s the little things that make things so great. After a great worked contest, they did a good finish playing off the angle earlier, with the protege attacking Mercedes with a chair to cause her to win via DQ.

Rating: 7.75/10

#8
Lex Luger (c) vs Ricky Steamboat
“NWA United States Championship”
NWA The Great American Bash
July 23, 1989

This match is a joy to watch Lex Luger completely manipulate Steamboat to retain his title. First, he got the rules changed, so it was no longer “No DQ.” Then he egged Steamboat on all match to eventually get him to use the chair and cost him the match. Luger was a great dick the whole time, while Steamboat was a perfect fiery babyface.

Rating: 7.75/10

#7
MJF (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
“AEW World Championship”
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door
June 25, 2023

I don’t think either of these two are very good, but hot damn, this match was good. Tanahashi not being able to move really limited them from doing all the stuff they would do, which annoys me. MJF went fully Larry, and Tanahashi is a charismatic babyface with great fire. Weirdly great old-school wrestling. Seeing Tanahashi and MJF on my spreadsheet is so weird, but there you go!

Rating: 7.75/10

#6
Stan Hansen (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu
“PWF Heavyweight & NWA United National Championship”
AJPW Championship Carnival
March 29, 1989

I loved the beginning portion of this match, with big offence from Hansen and Tenryu battling back. It remained good throughout but wasn’t at the level of the start. The finish was very lacklustre, but with that being said, it was still a damn good bout.

Rating: 8/10

#5
CM Punk vs Satoshi Kojima
“Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quater Final”
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door
June 25, 2023

CM Punk revelled in being the ultra heel and did such a great job of using every trick to up the ante. Aping a lot of Tenzan spots to get heat in 2023 is unique, but it really worked. Kojima being treated better in Canada, where he spent time as a rookie, than in Japan kind of warms your heart.

Rating: 8/10

#4
Aja Kong (c) vs Dynamite Kansai
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW WWWA Champions Night Osaka Queen’s Holy Night
August 30, 1995

Not much in wrestling is better than a fired-up Dynamite Kansai, and Aja Kong is also great in that role, so this was an awesome match. They brought the intensity from the get-go and went out to destroy each other, building towards a great Niagra Driver off the top for the finish! These two have had a great series of matches.

Rating: 9/10

#3
Jim Duggan vs Ted DiBiase
“Loser Leaves Town Coal Miner’s Glove On A Pole Steel Cage Tuxedo Street Fight”
Houston Wrestling
March 22, 1985

A tremendous brawl that uses its gimmicks extremely well to pay off a long storyline. It’s a famous match and sounds ridiculous on paper, but it works.

Rating: 9.25/10

#2
Queen’s Quest (AZM, Hina, Lady C, Miyu Amasaki, Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita) vs Oedo Tai (Momo Watanabe, Natsuko Tora, Rina, Ruaka, Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid)
“Loser Must Leave Unit Steel Cage 12 Man Tag Team Match”
Stardom Sunshine
June 25, 2023

I may have a new match of the year after this. The same rules as the other cage match, but the last person in the ring has to leave their unit this time. This works so much better because escaping saves your ass, even if it puts your team behind. Also, each escape felt like a huge accomplishment as they were all battles. After people escaped, they still battled the other unit on the floor!

It was tremendous storytelling with great hatred and drama between the teams. Utami establishing herself as Queen’s Quest’s ass was the stand-out story as she helps Kamitani escape putting herself alone two on-one. That led to a great finishing sequence with Utami bleeding, the teasing of a split between Utami and Kamitani, and Tora destroying Utami to leave, only to have Kashima be the final loser.

How could you not be happy with the love fest between Queen’s Quest to end the show? This was pro wrestling!

Rating: 9.25/10

#1 “Match of the Month”
Jumbo Tsuruta (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu
“Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Super Power Series
June 5, 1989

I hadn’t watched this match in many years, and with the focus on 1989 and the Greatest Match Ever, I figured I needed to. The nearfalls steal the show in this one, but consistent intensity and excitement make this a classic. Some really cool spots on the outside, too, that I loved.

Rating: 9.75/10

Note

You may notice the Omega-Ospreay match is not on this list. It wasn’t for me. I don’t want to be negative, so we’ll leave it at that.

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Posted in: Best Matches I've Watched This Month, Lists, Reviews | Tagged: aew, Aja Kong, AJPW, AJW, Akira Hokuto, Andre the Giant, artemis spencer, Athena, austin gunn, azm, bad news brown, billie starkz, Brutus Beefcake, Bryan Danielson, cash wheeler, CM Punk, colten gunn, dax haroow, Demolition, Dynamite Kansai, Eddie Guerrero, el faraon, El Satanico, emll, Genichiro Tenryu, giulia, Great Muta, Hazuki, hina, hiroshi tanahashi, jay white, jim duggan, joshi, juice robinson, Jumbo Tsuruta, kazuchika okada, kiera hogan, koguma, lady c, Lex Luger, lucha libre, Mayu Iwatani, Mercedes Martinez, Mima Shimoda, Miyu Amasaki, mjf, momo watanabe, natsuko tora, NJPW, NWA, One Man Gang, puroresu, ricky starks, Ricky Steamboat, rina, rockers, rougeau brothers, Ruaka, Saki Kashima, satoshi kojima, Saya Kamitani, shawn michaels, spike trivet, Stan Hansen, STARDOM, starlight kid, Sting, Tatsumi Fujinami, ted dibiase, Terry Funk, Thekla, TIto Santana, trish adora, utami hayashishita, Vader, vanessa kraven, vert vixen, wrestling, WWE, WWF

The Greatest Wrestlers of 2004

By Grimmas on October 19, 2022 | 11 Comments

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

If you want to discuss this you can do it on Twitter:

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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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Posted in: Lists, The Greatest Wrestlers of the Year List | Tagged: AAA, AJPW, AJW, Amazing Kong, Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero, CM Punk, CMLL, Command Bolshoi, Eddie Guerrero, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, El Hijo del Santo, Genichiro Tenryu, joshi, Jushin Liger, Kenta Kobashi, Kyoko Inoue, LA Park, Lacey, lucha libre, Meiko Satomura, Momoe Nakanishi, NJPW, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Ultimo Guerrero, Umaga, wrestling, WWE, WWF, Yoshiko Tamura, Yuji Nagata

2004 Match of the Year List

By Grimmas on October 9, 2022 | 1 Comment

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.

Posted in: Lists, Match of the Year List | Tagged: AJW, Akira Taue, Amazing Kong, AtoZ, Ayako Hamada, Brock Lesnar, Chris Hero, CM Punk, El Dandy, El Hijo del Perrero Aguayo, El Hijo del Santo, JBL, Jushin Liger, Kenta Kobashi, LA Park, lucha libre, Mima Shimoda, NEO, NOAH, Rey Mysteiro, ROH, Samoa Joe, The Bloody, wrestling, WWE, WWF, Yoshiko Takayama, Yoshiko Tamura

The Greatest Wrestlers of 2010

By Grimmas on July 9, 2022 | 13 Comments

In order to put together my top 100 list of the Greatest Wrestlers Ever, my goal is to put together a top 25 list for each year. Previously, on the “Maybe Not Taue” podcast, I have put together a list for 1985, 1990, 1997, and 2010. You can listen to those here.

Process

Step One is to go to my match ratings spreadsheet and enter in all the ratings each candidate had for that year and get an average.

Step two is to start watching matches. I make sure I watch at least 3 matches per person and if I feel I haven’t watched enough to judge the wrestler in that year, I watch more.

Finally, I order them by who I think was the greatest. This is based on the matches they had, how they worked, the versatile, how active they were, etc…

The following is the results of that process.

Honourable Mentions

Christian
Jushin Liger
Kevin Steen
Mascarita Dorada
Mickie James

Onto The List

All of the below stats are from cagematch.

They are some wrestlers with less 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 is not a definitive list, it’s a list of matches I have watched for this process, plus matches on my spreadsheet.

Matches lists are all 7/10 or higher and if they are bolded they are 8/10 or higher.

#25
Syuri

Matches: 16
Places Worked: SMASH, NEO, & Kaientai Dojo

I know 16 isn’t very many matches, but I did end up watching a lot of these and you can see glimpses of her greatness to come already. In context she was a professional kick boxer during this year, including taking on one fight. She translated that well to the ring, and was a great underneath fighter versus veterans all year. There may be a big bias showing in this pick, but it’s pick #25 so give me a break.

Recommended Matches:

vs Kana (SMASH 4, June 25)
with Kana vs Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH.10, November 22)
vs Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH Happening Eve, December 24)

#24
Ayako Hamada

Matches: 37
Places Worked: TNA, SHIMMER, WAVE, & JAPW
Titles Held: TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles with Awesome Kong & TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles with Taylor Wilde

Hamada is an interesting worker to me, as she is clearly very technically great in the ring, but never a truly elite wrestler. That said, she keeps being impressive in every situation so she makes it onto the list.

Recommended Matches:

vs Daizee Haze (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
with Ayumi Kurihara, Chreerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
with AKINO vs Ayumi Kurihara & Tomoka Nakagawa (Ayumi’s Style 5th Anniversary, December 12)

#23
Yoshiko Tamura

Matches: 96
Places Worked: NEO, Ice Ribbon, JWP, BJW, Sendai Girls, & Oz Academy
Titles Held: NEO Tag Team Titles with Ayumi Kurihara & NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Title

This is the last year Tamura was active in pro-wrestling, but what a year to go out on. From her vicious strikes to he reckless abandon on dives, she is always someone who will produce an exciting match.

Recommended Matches:

vs Meiko Satomura (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
with Ayumi Kurihara vs Io Shirai & Kane (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
vs Ayumi Kurihara (NEO Stage Door, December 31)

#22
Daizee Haze

Matches: 52
Places Worked: Chikara, ROH, SHIMMER, PWR, RCW, WWC, ACW, WSU, APW, NWA, 2CW, & F1RST
Tournament: ACW Queen of Queens

After years of seeing Haze as one of the best babyface workers around, she turned heel in 2010 to great success. Turning her small size and sympathy into aggression and meanness, it was quite the awesome transition.

Recommended Matches:

vs Misaki Ohata (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
vs Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
vs Ayumi Kuraihara (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
vs Ayumi Kurihara (“No Count Out”, SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
with Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Chreerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs (“Elimination” SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
with Amazing Kong vs Sara Del Rey & Serena Deeb (ROH Final Battle, December 18)

#21
Portia Perez

Matches: 43
Places Worked: ACW, 2CW, SHIMMER, Femme Fatales, WSU, ROH, F1RST, AIW, PWO, C4, PWS, AWF, & JAPW
Title Helds: ACW American Joshi Title (twice) & SHIMMER Tag Team Titles with Nicole Matthews
Tournaments: NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament (Finals) & ACW Queen of Queens (Winner)

The Canadian Ninjas Portia's tag team with Nicole Matthews.

If you miss real old school cheating Memphis style heels, you need to watch Portia Perez. She fakes injuries, hides weapons, runs away, and beats folks down. She is a legit heat monster, plus one of the best tag team workers of the modern era.

Recommended Matches:

with Nicole Matthews vs Cheerleader Melissa & MsChif (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
vs Alisson Danger (“Last Woman Standing”, SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
with Nicole Matthews vs Jessy McKay & Tenille (SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)

#20
Nanae Takahashi

Matches: 115
Places Worked: Ice Ribbon, NEO, JWP, Sendai Girls, ZERO1, & Oz Academy
Titles Held: International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Kazumi Shimouma, JWP Openweight Title, Triangle Ribbon Title, & International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Emi Sakura
Tournament: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Winner)

At her best she is one of the best in the world, but she can be very inconsistent. When she’s on and laying bombs she is someone you want to watch!

Recommended Matches:

vs Kayoko Haruyama (JWP Mania-X, April 18)
vs Command Bolshoi (JWP Never Give Up!, June 13)

#19
Mercedes Martinez

Previous Rankings: 2021 (#17)
Matches: 40
Places Worked: WSU, SHIMMER, EVOLVE, NYWC, ACE, IndyGurlz, ICW, NHPW, Femme Fatales, NWA, NWS, WXW C4, MXW, & 2CW
Title Helds: WSU Tag Team Titles with Angel Orsini, WXW C4 Women’s Title, & WSU World Title
Tournaments: NWA Iron Girls 2 (Semi-Finals) & IndyGurlz Title Tournament (Winner)

Mercedes Martinez is one of my favourite wrestlers ever and as great as she is, 2010 was a bit of an off year. She worked less, had lesser opponents, which hurt her standing on these rankings.

Recommended Matches:

vs Rain (WSU 3rd Anniversary, March 6)
vs Hiroyo Matsumoto (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)

#18
Madison Eagles

Matches: 21
Places Worked: PWA, SHIMMER, NEO, & MCW
Titles Held: SHIMMER Title & PWWA Title

I was disappointed with her earlier work in SHIMMER, but once she got the title and was the focus of the company she really won me over. Heck she had a great title defense against Jessy McKay in 2010! She is a natural heel with a wide array of brutal looking offense and I look forward to seeing more of her reign in 2011.

Recommended Matches:

vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
vs Jessy McKay (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
with Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)

#17
Jun Akiyama

Matches: 73
Places Worked: NOAH & Kensuke Office
Tournament: NOAH Global League (Finals)

A lot of people I trust put Jun Akiyama as a greatest wrestler ever #1 candidate, so I made sure to put them on the watch pile. I do think he’s the best of that AJPW/NOAH main event style, even if that style isn’t my favourite.

Recommended Matches:

vs Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH Spring Navigation, April 10)
vs Takahashi Sugiura (NOAH Spring Navigation, May 2)
with KENTA vs Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuji Nagata (NOAH 10th Anniversary, July 24)

#16
Claudio Castagnoli

Matches: 104
Places Worked: ROH, NOAH, Chikara, wXw, PWG, LWA, NWA, 2CW, EVOLVE, GSW, JCW, WrestleJam, LWA, & GSPW
Titles Helds: Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas Titles with Ares as Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes, JCW Tag Team Titles with Chris Hero, ROH Tag Team Titles with Chris Hero, & PWG Title
Tournaments: NOAH Global Tag League with Chris Hero (Semi-Finals), wXw 16 Carat Gold Touranment (Quarter-Finals), Chikara King of Trios with Ares & Tarsas (Winner), ROH Tag Wars with Chris Hero (Winner), PWG The Battle of Los Angeles (Semi-Finals), LWA Tag Team Title Tournament with Chris Hero (Finals), & ROH Survival of The Fittest (Finals)

Claudio is the type of wrestler that will be around this range every year they are active enough, due to his immense talent. Although he spent most of his year in a great team with Chris Hero, he did have some solo work to round out the versatility.

Recommended Matches:

with Chris Hero vs Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH on HDNet, August 21)
vs Roderick Strong (PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, September 5)
with Sara Del Rey vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush (Chikara Through Savage Progress Cuts The Jungle Line, September 19)

#15
Rey Mysterio

Previous Rankings: 1997 (#6)
Matches: 142
Place Worked: WWE
Title Held: WWE World Heavyweight Title

Rey’s year was off to such a great start with the awesome Undertaker match at the Rumble, followed by the tremendous CM Punk feud. However, after wining the WWE World Title he moved into a feud with Kane and then didn’t do much of note the rest of the year.

Recommended Matches:

vs The Undertaker (WWE Royal Rumble, January 31)
vs CM Punk (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
vs CM Punk (WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
vs CM Punk (“Society Pledge vs Hair”, WWE Over The Limit, May 23)

#14
Command Bolshoi

Matches: 72
Places Worked: JWP, Ice Ribbon, New AJW, WAVE, Oz Academy, IWA Japan, SMASH, WWS, Sendai Girls, & OSAKA Joshi-Pro
Title Held: Ice Ribbon ICEx60 Title
Tournament: JWP Summer Tag Team Tournament with Kaori Yoneyama (Winner)

My love for Bolshoi has been quite documented in other places, but let’s just say she is one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all-time, not to mention her strikes, flying, and comedy as well. She had plenty of chances to show that this year, and that will put her high on any list.

Recommended Matches:

vs Nanae Takahashi (JWP Never Give Up!, June 13)
vs Emi Sakurai (JWP Pure Slam, July 18)

#13
Cheerleader Melissa

Matches: 22
Places Worked: SHIMMER, Femme Fatales, RCW, AAA, PWR, NWA, JAPW, GSW, & Chikara
Title Held: RCW Title
Tournaments: NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)

Melissa starts the trend of 3 wrestlers who could had made the top 10 if circumstances were different. Her real issue was the lack of matches. Although she was tremendous in SHIMMER as a battling babyface trying to get to the top, she was very limited in her work elsewhere.

Recommended Matches:

with MsChif vs Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
vs Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
vs Tomoka Nakagawa (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
with Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)

#12
Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson

Previous Rankings: 2021 (#18)
Matches: 111
Places Worked: WWE, FCW, wXw, IWA Puerto Rico, DGUSA, NWA, Chikara, EVOLVE, HWA, IPW, CSW, RPW, PWG, ACE, 2CW, AIW, NYWC, & NEW
Titles Held: IWA Puerto Rico Title & WWE United States Title
Tournaments: wXw AMBITION 1 (Winner) & WWE King of the Ring

Bryan had a unique year, to say the least. He started out in FCW, WWE’s development territory, before joining the first version of NXT. Then there was a super hot angle where they debuted on Raw, which got him fired. This lead to a good run on the indies, not ROH, before rejoining the WWE in the fall. Although he was good with good performances, he never really got the opportunities to really push him up the list.

Recommended Matches:

vs Jon Moxley (DGUSA Way of the Ronin, September 26)
vs The Miz (WWE Bragging Rights, October 24)

#11
John Cena

Matches: 178
Place Worked: WWE
Titles Held: WWE Title (twice) & WWE Tag Team Titles with David Otunga

John Cena had an odd year. It started off real strong with the amazing feud with Batista, but it fell apart into a weird angle with the Nexus. Teaming with Otunga and feuding with Wade Barrett will drag you of the top 10.

Recommended Matches:

vs Batista (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
vs Batista (“Last Man Standing”, WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
vs Sheamus (“Cage”, WWE Money in the Bank, July 18)

#10
Sara Del Rey

Matches: 72
Places Worked: ROH, Chikara, SHIMMER, JAPW, MLW, NCW, 2CW, NWA, IndyGurlz, ACW, RCW, TNA, IWL, Remix Pro, NCW, Femme Fatales, AWS, CWF Mid-Atl
Title Held: CWR Women’s Title
Tournaments: Chikara King of Trios with Amasis & Ophidian, NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament, Iron Girls 2 (Winner), ACW Queen of Queens, & IndyGurlz Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)

The stalwart of American women indies, Sara Del Rey had another awesome year in 2010. Working as a tough and rumble heel in ROH, Chikara, and SHIMMER she got plenty of opportunities to showcase, including seeing her match up with Manami Toyota!

Recommended Matches:

vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
with Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
with Claudio Castagnoli vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush (Chikara Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line, September 19)
with Serena Deeb vs Amazing Kong & Daizee Haze (ROH Final Battle, December 18)

#9
El Generico

Matches: 71
Places Worked: ROH, PWG, C4, wXw, LWA, AWF, IPW: UK, JAWP, 2CW, APW, NWA, PWS, IWL, ABC, GBG, BCC, ACW, NSPW, DTU, AAA, & CWF Mid-Atl
Title Held: PWG World Tag Team Titles with Paul London
Tournaments: ROH World Television Title Tournament, PWG DDT4 with Paul London (Winner), BCC Title Tournament (Semi-Finals), ROH Tag Wars with Colt Cabana (Semi-Finals), PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, ROH Survival of The Fittest

El Generic was one of the best babyface wrestlers of the modern era, even if he’s a heel nowadays as Sami Zayn. The ability to sell with your whole body, because you are wearing a mask is a lost art. What is so impressive about Generico in 2010 is the amount of insane brawls he had, mostly centered around his feud with Kevin Steen (Owens).

Recommended Matches:

vs Big Van Walter (wXw Back to The Roots IX, January 16)
with Colt Cabana vs Kevin Steen & Steve Corino (ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2, April 24)
vs Kevin Steen (“Unsanctioned Mask vs ROH Career Fight Without Honor”, ROH Final Battle, December 18)

#8
Ayumi Kurihara

Matches: 79
Places Worked: WAVE, NEO, Oz Academy, SHIMMER, CMLL, BJW, JWP, JAPW, M-Pro, Osaka Pro, IBUKI, IWRG, Toryumon Mexico, & AULL
Titles Held: NEO Tag Team Titles with Yoshiko Tamura, X-LAW Women’s Title, & NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Title
Tournament: Catch the Wave (Finals)

That’s a lot of recommended matches, but that is because I had not even heard bout Kurihara until I started watching for 2010. She is an amazing babyface. Working great at getting sympathy and using exciting speed and moves. Big props for working all over the world too! The biggest shock of 2010 for me.

Recommended Matches:

vs Tomoka Nakagawa (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
vs Sara Del Rey (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
vs Daizee Haze (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
with Yoshiko Tamura vs Io Shirai & Kana (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
vs Daizee Haze (“No Countout”, SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
with Ayako Hamada, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
with Tomoka Nakagawa vs AKINO & Ayako Hamada (Ayumi’s Style 5th Anniversary, December 12)
vs Yoshiko Tamura (NEO Stage Door, December 31)

#7
CM Punk

Previous Rankings: 2021 (#25)
Matches: 114
Place Worked: WWE

This was all out heel Straight Edge Society Punk for the first half of the year and that will jump him into the top 10. The Rey feud is great, but he did spend a huge chunk of the year feuding with Big Show in a nothing feud which lowered him. Still he put on a master class of getting heat in the modern era.

Recommended Matches:

vs Rey Mysterio (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
vs Rey Mysterio (WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
vs Rey Mysterio (“Society Pledge vs Hair”, WWE Over The Limit, May 23)

#6
Meiko Satomura

Matches: 23
Places Worked: Sendai Girls, NEO, WAVE, Ice Ribbon, AAA, Oz Academy, SMASH, & IBUKI

If Meiko worked more matches in 2010, she probably would had been #1. She was unbelievable in everything she did. I guess training future stars and running Sendai Girls (maybe the farm too?) really took up her time.

Recommended Matches:

vs Yoshiko Tamura (NEO 10th Anniversary)
vs Kana (Kana Produce, April 29)
vs Emi Sakura (Knights of Ice Ribbon, September 23)

#5
L.A. Park

Matches: 56
Places Worked: AAA, PDM, Promociones Gutierrez, Lucha Libre VIP, AULL, X-LAW, EAW, FULL, IWRG, IWL, & DGUSA
Title Held: X-LAW Heavyweight Title
Tournament: AAA Campeonato Premier with Psycho Clown

Maybe the greatest brawler ever? L.A. Park was as wild and out of control as ever in 2010, but the only real issue is he mostly worked pointless trios matches. When given a chance though, he really delivered. I just wish he had more of those chances.

Recommended Matches:

with El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs El Hijo del Santo & Super Parka (PDM, May 31)
vs La Parka (“Naming Rights Match”, AAA TripleMania XVIII, June 6)
vs El Mesias (AAA Guerra de Titanes, December 5)

#4
Kaori Yoneyama

Matches: 89
Places Worked: JWP, Ice Ribbon, NEO, SMASH, Sendai Girls, WAVE, DDT, & BJW
Titles Held: NEO High Speed Title, JWP Openweight Title, & TLW World Women’s Tag Team Titles with Hailey Hatred
Tournaments: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Semi-Finals) JWP Summer Tag Team Tournament with Command Bolshoi (Winner)

For a good long while, Yoneyama was sitting on top of my list. I could only find a few matches and they all ruled! By the end I was able to find a greater variety that knocked her down a few slots, but truly high end Yoneyama is great. She works with such speed and high end offense, but not in a pointless spectacle way.

Recommended Matches:

vs Tanny Mouse (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
vs Emi Sakura (“Hair vs Hair”, JWP Revolution, September 19)
with Emi Sakura vs Kana & Syuri (SMASH.10, November 22)
vs Syuri (SMASH Happening Eve, December 24)

#3
Kana

Matches: 77
Places Worked: WAVE, NEO, Osaka Pro, SMASH, Osaka Joshi-Pro, FTO, Sendai Girls, Dradition, Fukumen, VKF, Kaientai Dojo, & Mobius
Tournament: Catch The Wave

The current Asuka of WWE was the freelance star of joshi during this dead period. Not being tied to a single promotion helps and hinders, but she made the most of it. Kana was at the top of her game this year, with her amazing kicks, submissions, and charisma. I LOVED her feud and team with Syuri, to really help put her on the map.

Recommended Matches:

vs Emi Sakura (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
vs Meiko Satomura (Kana Produce, April 29)
vs Syuri (SMASH 4, June 25)
with Io Shirai vs Ayumi Kurihara & Yoshiko Tamura (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
with Syuri vs Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH.10, November 22)

#2
Emi Sakura

Matches: 164
Places Worked: Ice Ribbon, NEO, JWP, ZERO1, SMASH, DDT, & IBUKI
Titles Held: ICEx60 Title (twice) & International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Nanae Takahashi
Tournament: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Semi-Finals)

Around this time I knew Emi Sakura had her amazing team with Yoneyama and I knew she was in the match of the year, but I didn’t realize she’d end up this high on the list. Being the owner of Ice Ribbon gave her some advantages, as she was able to be very active with amazing opportunities. She wasn’t just active in Ice Ribbon though, she did most of the big joshi promotions’ big shows putting on awesome matches all over the place. She was an exceptional babyface, but not a sympathy selling babyface, she had an aggressive edge that really added to all of her matches. Also, her finishing runs are some of the greatest ever.

Recommended Matches:

vs Kana (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
vs Command Bolshoi (JWP Pure Slam, July 18)
vs Kaori Yoneyama (“Hair vs Hair”, JWP Revolution, September 19)
vs Meiko Satomura (Knights of Ice Ribon, September 23)
with Kaori Yoneyama vs Kana & Syuri (SMASH.10, November 22)

#1
Chris Hero

Matches: 95
Places Worked: ROH, NOAH, PWG, wXw, LWA, 2CW, EVOLVE, GSW, IWA East Coast, NWA, NWA NJ, F1, ACW, CZW, MECW, JCW, PWR, SCW, & GSPW
Titles Held: JCW Tag Team Titles with Claudio Castagnoli & ROH World Tag Team Titles with Claudio Castagnoli
Tournaments: NOAH Global Tag League with Claudio Castagnoli (Semi-Finals), wXw 16 Carat Gold (Finals), ROH Tag Wars with Claudio Castagnoli (Winner), PWG The Battles of Los Angeles (Finals), LWA Tag Team Title Tournament with Claudio Castagnoli (Finals), ROH Survival of the Fittest (Semi-Finals)

Going into the watching process I didn’t realize Chris Hero was a #1 candidate for any year, so what a nice surprise. The variety of Hero’s 2010 is what really makes him stand out. He has technical battles, hoss battles, heel shenanigans, tag classics, epics, and just straight up awesome work. He also worked all over the world, as a heel and as a face, and as a singles and as a tag team. A complete year if there ever was one! In 2010, he may have cemented himself as the greatest tournament worker too.

Recommended Matches:

vs Big Van Walter (wXw 16 Carat Gold, March 7)
vs Ikuto Hidaka (EVOLVE 2, March 13)
vs Tyler Black (ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2, April 24)
vs Bobby Fish (EVOLVE 3, May 1)
with Claudio Castagnoli vs Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH on HDNet, August 21)
vs Akira Tozawa (PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, September 5)

What did you think of this list? Hit me up on twitter and let me know.

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Posted in: Lists, The Greatest Wrestlers of the Year List | Tagged: Asuka, Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Bryan Danielson, Cesaro, Cheerleader Melissa, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, CM Punk, Command Bolshi, Daizee Haze, Daniel Bryan, El Generico, Emi Sakura, John Cena, Jun Akiyama, Kana, Kaori Yoneyama, LA Park, La Parka, Madison Eagles, Meiko Satomura, Mercedes Martinez, Nanae Takahashi, Portia Perez, Rey Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Sara Del Rey, Syuri, wrestling, WWE, Yoshiko Tamura

Top 10 Matches of Year 2013

By Grimmas on August 31, 2017 | Leave a comment

Continuing the process of putting up match of the year lists, we are in the year 2013. The first year I started to keep track of matches on my google spreadsheet. In September I made the initial list that has ballooned out from there.

#10
CM Punk vs John Cena
WWE Raw
February 25

The classic “piledriver” match. I would say Punk is Cena’s best opponent and it’s the best WWE feud of the 2010’s. Another awesome match in that series, and sadly the last.

#9
Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus
CMLL
October 6

Two of the best mat workers in the world working a classic lucha title match. Anytime Virus gets the time in these matches they are must watches.

#8
Hirooki Goto vs Katsuyori Shibata
NJPW Dominion
June 22

I feel wrong putting this match on the list, due to what happened to Shibata in 2017. However this is my 2013 list (outside of a small edit later on). These two destroy each other with stiff strikes. Hard to watch in hindsight.

#7
Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura
NJPW G1 Climax
August 4

Shocking to say both of these wrestlers have competed in the WWE. They just have perfect chemistry and work at an extreme pace. Watch out for the kicks!

#6
Cesaro vs William Regal
NXT
November 21

The final match in the great career of Regal as he tried to put the cocky young jerk in his place. Everything you could want in pro-wrestling.

#5
Cesaro vs Sami Zayn
“2 out of 3 Falls”
NXT
August 21

Before NXT was on the WWE Network (and before the WWE Network was a thing) NXT was purely a development territory. However these two didn’t need to develop and they put up an amazing match here.

#4
The Shield vs Cody Rhodes & Goldust
WWE Battleground
October 6

A really underrated match where the Rhodes family had to win to get their jobs back. With an emotional Dusty in their corner, the Rhodes brothers were the perfect babyface southern tag team.

WWE_SummerSlam_2013_poster

#3
Brock lesnar vs CM Punk
WWE SummerSlam
August 18

CM Punk worked as a spunky underdog babyface against the monster here and it really worked. Punk pulled out all the stops and used his brains to make this match competitive. In the end, Lesnar is still the unslayable monster, but the ending was actually put in doubt.

#2
Daniel Bryan vs John Cena
WWE SummerSlam
August 18

My former #1 match of 2013 is an all-time classic. Cena went out there to make Bryan the star, and this is them doing a WWE main event match. The person possible version of that style!

#1
Dr. Wagner Jr. vs LA Park
TxT
May 11

On the original list I made in 2013, this match was #2, but my love for it has grown over time. This match starts out with LA Park lighting a Wagner shirt on fire that is draped over a chair and while Wagner makes his entrance, Park is flipping him off. It gets better from there. Blood, chairs, beer bottles, this is everything a brawl could possibly be!

Posted in: Lists, Match of the Year List | Tagged: Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, CM Punk, CMLL, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, Dr. Wagner Jr, Goldust, Guerrero Maya Jr., Hirooki Goto, John Cena, Katsuyori Shibata, Kota Ibushi, LA Park, lucha libre, NJPW, NXT, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, TxT, Virus, William Regal, WWE

AJ Styles vs CM Punk (IWA-MS 8th Anniversary Show, 10/23/2004)

By Grimmas on January 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

It’s time for the “Fan Favourites” match this week, where I review a match via request from the fans.

Chad Campbell of Place to be Nation sent in this request via twitter (you can follow me) and it is for CM Punk vs AJ Styles from IWA-MS. Chad has recently started a series looking back at IWA-MS called “The Last Territory” that I suggest everybody check out. He will not get to this match for a long time, but we will compare notes then.

There is a few more factors that make this a great choice. One is the Greatest Wrestler Ever Project taking place at Pro Wrestling Only, as these are two guys who look to be making my top 100 list. The other factor is that AJ Styles just made his WWE debut on Sunday at the Royal Rumble, so it’s nice to check up on a younger version of him right now.

Let’s get this out of the way first, this match is really great. It’s a great mix of old school and new school to create a modern classic.

The Old School

This match starts with a collar and elbow lock up and moves into matwork. The first 1/3 of the match is spent with Punk attacking AJ’s arm with submissions. AJ gets some counters and it’s a well laid out slow build to set up the rest of the match. There is a lot of neat old school things while working the arm, like AJ whipping Punk into the corner while Punk holds on and viciously drags AJ to the mat.

Later on CM Punk misses a move and his neck is hurt. This means that each wrestler has a focus for their offence and an easy way to get counters. Through out the match both men go back to the other’s injury to survive the contest.

By the way, AJ Styles has an amazing dropkick. It’s Jim Brunzell level.

The New School

How does Punk injure his neck? A missed tope.

Of course a lot of the offense is not old school. Instead of lariats by AJ, we get discuss lariats. There is a plancha, a tope, plus all of CM Punk and AJ Style’s trademark offense.

There is no true heel or face in this match either and the crowd is split.

A Modern Classic

The first comeback by AJ is such a great sequence after numerous awesome hope spots. It starts with AJ being able to toss Punk to the floor. He goes for a plancha, but Punk moves. Punk goes for a tope, where he moves which injures his neck.

One of my favourite moments of the match is AJ going for his Asai Moonsault into a Reverse DDT that is countered by Punk grabbing the injured arm. Punk then tries a suplex, but he can’t do it with his injured neck.

We move on for some great nearfalls, before AJ is able to hit that Asai Moonsault into a Reverse DDT, but it was on the floor. That looked amazing. It lead to a very dramatic 19 count where Punk got into the ring at the last second.

The finishing sequence is really hot. AJ goes for the Styles Clash, but Punk gets into the corner. Since that didn’t work, AJ goes for a superplex. Punk tries to counter with a Pepsi Plunge, but the injured neck allows AJ to fight out. A Tornado DDT is thrown off and AJ hits two discus lariats for a huge nearfall. A Shining Wizard by Punk gets two, then Punk’s Anaconda Vice gets a dramatic tap out submission. AJ’s arm was too injured to survive.

Rating: **** 1/2

Thanks to Chad for this “Fan Favourite” request, because it was a real pleasure to watch. It also shows that you can have old school classics with new school twists.

Remember to check out next Thursday for another “Fan Favourite”. If you want a match of your choosing reviewed here, either comment below, post on Pro Wrestling Only or hit me up on twitter.

Posted in: Reviews | Tagged: AJ Styles, CM Punk, IWA-MS, wrestling

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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (November 2023)

#25Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato vs Sonoko Kato & Toshie UematsuGAEA Break Out!September 16, 1996

#24Gunther (c) vs The Miz“WWE Intercontinental Championship”WWE Survivor SeriesNovember 25, 2023

#23Tito Santana (c) vs Paul Orndorff“WWF Intercontinental Championship”WWF at Kiel AuditoriumSeptember 1, 1984

#22Rhea Ripley (c) vs Zoey Stark“WWE Women’s World Championship”WWE Survivor SeriesNovember 23, 2023

#21Hiromi Yagi vs Jaguar YokotaJWP on September 8, 1996

#20Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers, & The Young Stallions vs The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The New Dream Team, & The Islanders“Elimination Match”WWF Survivor SeriesNovember 26, 1987

#19Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, & Templario vs Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada 2.0, & Mistico“Best 2/3 Falls”CMLL Grand Prix De AmazonasOctober 27, 2023

#18Bayley vs Bianca BelairWWE SmackDownOctober 27, 2023

#17La Catalina vs Zeuxis“CMLL Universal De Amazones Title Tournament Final Match”CMLL Blue Panther 45. AniversarioOctober 20, 2023

#16The Powers of Pain, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Brain Busters, Los Conquistadores, & The Fabulous Rougeaus“Elimination Match”WWF Survivor SeriesNovember 24, 1988

#15Chigusa Nagayo, Sakura Hirota, Sonoko Kato, & Toshie Uematsu vs Chikayo Nagashima, Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano, & Sugar SatoGAEA Endless SummerAugust 18, 1996

#14Bryan Danielson vs RushAEW DynamiteFebruary 8, 2023

#13Chaparita ASARI vs Kyoko Inoue“Japan Grand Prix”AJW Japan Grand PrixJuly 28, 1996

#12Dynamite Kansai (c) vs Mayumi Ozaki“JWP Openweight Championship”JWP on August 10, 1996

#11The Usos (c) vs Drew McIntyre & Sheamus“WWE Raw & SmackDown Tag Team Championship”WWE SmackDownJanuary 6, 2023

#10Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa (c) vs Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato“Japanese Tag Team Championship”AJW The Rising Generation Queens CarnivalSeptember 1, 1996

#9CM Punk vs Ricky Starks“Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Men’s Tournament Final Match”AEW CollisionJuly 15, 2023

#8Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai vs Devil Masami & Kyoko InoueJWP The Ryogoku Big ProjectOctober 13, 1996

#7Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs Asuka, Bayley, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane“War Games”WWE Survivor SeriesNovember 25, 2023

#6Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable“WWE Intercontinental Championship”WWE RawAugust 21, 2023

#5Orange Cassidy (c) vs Swerve Strickland“AEW International Championship”AEW DynamiteJune 7, 2023

#4Bison Kimura vs Li FuaJd’ Star on July 30, 1996

#3Pedro Morales (c) vs Don Muraco“WWF Intercontinental Championship”WWF on MSG NetworkJanuary 22, 1983

#2Aja Kong vs Kyoko Inoue“Japan Grand Prix Final”AJW Japan Grand PrixAugust 30, 1996

#1Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable“WWE Intercontinental Championship”WWE RawSeptember 4, 2023

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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (October 2023)

#25John Morrison (c) vs CM Punk“ECW Heavyweight Championship”ECW on SciFiSeptember 1, 2007, aired September 4, 2007

#24La Catalina vs Stephanie Vaquer“CMLL World Women’s Championship”CMLL Noche de CampeonesSeptember 29, 2023

#23Bruno Sammartino (c) vs Stan Hansen“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match”WWWF on August 7, 1976

#22Becky Lynch (c) vs Lyra Valkyria“NXT Women’s Championship”NXT Halloween HavocOctober 24, 2023

#21Mistico (c) vs Virus“World Historic Middleweight Championship”CMLL Noche de CampeonesSeptember 29, 2023

#20Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Super CaloWCW Fall Brawl: War GamesSeptember 15, 1996

#19Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (c) vs The High Flyers“AWA World Tag Team Championships”AWA on July 7, 1977

#18Dean Malenko (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”WCW The Great American BashJune 16, 1996

#17Natsupoi vs Tam Nakano“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixSeptember 30, 2023

#16Suzu Suzuki vs Tam Nakano“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixSeptember 9, 2023

#15Umaga (c) vs Jeff Hardy“WWE Intercontinental Championship”WWE The Great American BashJuly 22, 2007

#14Hazuki vs Suzu Suzuki“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixSeptember 23, 2023

#13Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Dean Malenko“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”WCW Halloween HavocOctober 27, 1996

#12Mei Seira vs Nanae Takahashi“Passion Injection”Stardom New Blood 11September 29, 2023

#11Maika vs MIRAI“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixSeptember 30, 2023

#10Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta“Japan Grand Prix”AJW Japan Grand PrixJuly 14, 1996

#9Mistico vs Templario“Best 2/3 Falls”CMLL Super ViernesOctober 13, 2023

#8Antonio Inoki (c) vs Andre the Giant“Real World Martial Arts Championship”NJPW Toukon SeriesOctober 7, 1976

#7Maika vs Suzu Suzuki“5STAR Grand Prix: Final”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixSeptember 30, 2023

#6Ultimate Dragon (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.“J-Crown Championship”WCW World War 3November 24, 1996

#5Becky Lynch (c) vs Tiffany Stratton“NXT Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match”NXT No MercySeptember 30, 2023

#4Manami Toyota vs Meiko Satomura“Battlefield WAR Tournament Second Round”Sendai Girls Live Vol. 8May 6, 2007

#3Antonio Inoki vs Big Van VaderNJPW Wrestling World In Tokyo DomeJanuary 4, 1996

#2Titan (c) vs Mascara Dorada“CMLL World Middleweight Championship”CMLL Noche de CampeonesSeptember 29, 2023

#1Combat Toyoda (c) vs Megumi Kudo“FMW Independent Women’s & WWA Women’s Title No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Blast Death Match”FMW Fighting Creation: 7th Anniversary ShowMay 5, 1996

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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (September 2023)

#25Superstar Billy Graham (c) vs Dusty Rhodes“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Texas Death Match”WWWFOctober 24, 1977

#24Hazuki, Shinobu Kandori, & Takako Inoue vs Natsupoi, Saori Anou, & Tam NakanoStardom MidSummer FesAugust 19, 2023

#23Chigusa Nagayo vs Megumi KudoFMW New Year GenerationJanuary 10, 1996

#22Kaoru Ito & Manami Toyota vs Double InoueAJW Zenjo StrongestJanuary 3, 1996

#21Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda (c) vs Double Inoue“WWWA Tag Team Championship Best 2/3 Falls”AJW Ota Ward Champion LegendJanuary 22, 1996

#20MIRAI (c) vs Konami“Wonder of Stardom Championship”Stardom 5STAR Special In HiroshimaSeptember 3, 2023

#19La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis“CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Title Match”CMLL 90 AniversarioSeptember 16, 2023

#18Momo Watanabe vs Saori Anou“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixAugust 15, 2023

#17Mariah May vs Mina Shirakawa“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixAugust 15, 2023

#16Mayu Iwatani vs Syuri“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Special In HiroshimaSeptember 3, 2023

#15Aja Kong vs Combat ToyodaFMW New Year GenerationJanuary 10, 1996

#14Hazuki vs Syrui“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixAugust 15, 2023

#13Manami Toyota (c) vs Kyoko Inoue“WWWA World Championship”AJW Wrestling QueendomMarch 31, 1996

#12Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, & Sonoko Kato vs Eagle Sawai, Jenn Yukari, & Michiko NagashimaLLPWMarch 12, 1996

#11Mayu Iwatani vs Tam Nakano“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixAugust 15, 2023

#10KAIRI & Saori Anou vs Unagi Sayaka & SareeeAJPW Giant SeriesSeptember 8, 2023

#9CM Punk (c) vs Samoa Joe“Real World Championship”AEW All In LondonAugust 27, 2023

#8AZM vs Utami Hayashishita“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”Stardom 5STAR Grand PrixAugust 15, 2023

#7Lince Dorado & Samuray del Sol vs. Soberano Jr. & Titan“Best 2/3 Falls”CMLL 90 AniversarioSeptember 16, 2023

#25
Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato vs Sonoko Kato & Toshie Uematsu
GAEA Break Out!
September 16, 1996

#24
Gunther (c) vs The Miz
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Survivor Series
November 25, 2023

#23
Tito Santana (c) vs Paul Orndorff
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF at Kiel Auditorium
September 1, 1984

#22
Rhea Ripley (c) vs Zoey Stark
“WWE Women’s World Championship”
WWE Survivor Series
November 23, 2023

#21
Hiromi Yagi vs Jaguar Yokota
JWP on September 8, 1996

#20
Strike Force, The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, The Rougeau Brothers, & The Young Stallions vs The Hart Foundation, Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The New Dream Team, & The Islanders
“Elimination Match”
WWF Survivor Series
November 26, 1987

#19
Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja, & Templario vs Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada 2.0, & Mistico
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL Grand Prix De Amazonas
October 27, 2023

#18
Bayley vs Bianca Belair
WWE SmackDown
October 27, 2023

#17
La Catalina vs Zeuxis
“CMLL Universal De Amazones Title Tournament Final Match”
CMLL Blue Panther 45. Aniversario
October 20, 2023

#16
The Powers of Pain, The British Bulldogs, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, & The Young Stallions vs Demolition, The Bolsheviks, The Brain Busters, Los Conquistadores, & The Fabulous Rougeaus
“Elimination Match”
WWF Survivor Series
November 24, 1988

#15
Chigusa Nagayo, Sakura Hirota, Sonoko Kato, & Toshie Uematsu vs Chikayo Nagashima, Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano, & Sugar Sato
GAEA Endless Summer
August 18, 1996

#14
Bryan Danielson vs Rush
AEW Dynamite
February 8, 2023

#13
Chaparita ASARI vs Kyoko Inoue
“Japan Grand Prix”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
July 28, 1996

#12
Dynamite Kansai (c) vs Mayumi Ozaki
“JWP Openweight Championship”
JWP on August 10, 1996

#11
The Usos (c) vs Drew McIntyre & Sheamus
“WWE Raw & SmackDown Tag Team Championship”
WWE SmackDown
January 6, 2023

#10
Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa (c) vs Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato
“Japanese Tag Team Championship”
AJW The Rising Generation Queens Carnival
September 1, 1996

#9
CM Punk vs Ricky Starks
“Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Men’s Tournament Final Match”
AEW Collision
July 15, 2023

#8
Aja Kong & Dynamite Kansai vs Devil Masami & Kyoko Inoue
JWP The Ryogoku Big Project
October 13, 1996

#7
Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair & Shotzi vs Asuka, Bayley, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane
“War Games”
WWE Survivor Series
November 25, 2023

#6
Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Raw
August 21, 2023

#5
Orange Cassidy (c) vs Swerve Strickland
“AEW International Championship”
AEW Dynamite
June 7, 2023

#4
Bison Kimura vs Li Fua
Jd’ Star on July 30, 1996

#3
Pedro Morales (c) vs Don Muraco
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF on MSG Network
January 22, 1983

#2
Aja Kong vs Kyoko Inoue
“Japan Grand Prix Final”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
August 30, 1996

#1
Gunther (c) vs Chad Gable
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE Raw
September 4, 2023

#25
John Morrison (c) vs CM Punk
“ECW Heavyweight Championship”
ECW on SciFi
September 1, 2007, aired September 4, 2007

#24
La Catalina vs Stephanie Vaquer
“CMLL World Women’s Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

#23
Bruno Sammartino (c) vs Stan Hansen
“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match”
WWWF on August 7, 1976

#22
Becky Lynch (c) vs Lyra Valkyria
“NXT Women’s Championship”
NXT Halloween Havoc
October 24, 2023

#21
Mistico (c) vs Virus
“World Historic Middleweight Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

#20
Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Super Calo
WCW Fall Brawl: War Games
September 15, 1996

#19
Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Duncum (c) vs The High Flyers
“AWA World Tag Team Championships”
AWA on July 7, 1977

#18
Dean Malenko (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.
“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”
WCW The Great American Bash
June 16, 1996

#17
Natsupoi vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

#16
Suzu Suzuki vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 9, 2023

#15
Umaga (c) vs Jeff Hardy
“WWE Intercontinental Championship”
WWE The Great American Bash
July 22, 2007

#14
Hazuki vs Suzu Suzuki
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 23, 2023

#13
Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs Dean Malenko
“WCW World Cruiserweight Championship”
WCW Halloween Havoc
October 27, 1996

#12
Mei Seira vs Nanae Takahashi
“Passion Injection”
Stardom New Blood 11
September 29, 2023

#11
Maika vs MIRAI
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

#10
Aja Kong vs Yumiko Hotta
“Japan Grand Prix”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
July 14, 1996

#9
Mistico vs Templario
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL Super Viernes
October 13, 2023

#8
Antonio Inoki (c) vs Andre the Giant
“Real World Martial Arts Championship”
NJPW Toukon Series
October 7, 1976

#7
Maika vs Suzu Suzuki
“5STAR Grand Prix: Final”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
September 30, 2023

#6
Ultimate Dragon (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.
“J-Crown Championship”
WCW World War 3
November 24, 1996

#5
Becky Lynch (c) vs Tiffany Stratton
“NXT Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match”
NXT No Mercy
September 30, 2023

#4
Manami Toyota vs Meiko Satomura
“Battlefield WAR Tournament Second Round”
Sendai Girls Live Vol. 8
May 6, 2007

#3
Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader
NJPW Wrestling World In Tokyo Dome
January 4, 1996

#2
Titan (c) vs Mascara Dorada
“CMLL World Middleweight Championship”
CMLL Noche de Campeones
September 29, 2023

#1
Combat Toyoda (c) vs Megumi Kudo
“FMW Independent Women’s & WWA Women’s Title No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Blast Death Match”
FMW Fighting Creation: 7th Anniversary Show
May 5, 1996

#25
Superstar Billy Graham (c) vs Dusty Rhodes
“WWWF Heavyweight Championship Texas Death Match”
WWWF
October 24, 1977

#24
Hazuki, Shinobu Kandori, & Takako Inoue vs Natsupoi, Saori Anou, & Tam Nakano
Stardom MidSummer Fes
August 19, 2023

#23
Chigusa Nagayo vs Megumi Kudo
FMW New Year Generation
January 10, 1996

#22
Kaoru Ito & Manami Toyota vs Double Inoue
AJW Zenjo Strongest
January 3, 1996

#21
Akira Hokuto & Mima Shimoda (c) vs Double Inoue
“WWWA Tag Team Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
AJW Ota Ward Champion Legend
January 22, 1996

#20
MIRAI (c) vs Konami
“Wonder of Stardom Championship”
Stardom 5STAR Special In Hiroshima
September 3, 2023

#19
La Jarochita & Lluvia vs Stephanie Vaquer & Zeuxis
“CMLL World Women’s Tag Team Title Match”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

#18
Momo Watanabe vs Saori Anou
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

#17
Mariah May vs Mina Shirakawa
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

#16
Mayu Iwatani vs Syuri
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Special In Hiroshima
September 3, 2023

#15
Aja Kong vs Combat Toyoda
FMW New Year Generation
January 10, 1996

#14
Hazuki vs Syrui
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

#13
Manami Toyota (c) vs Kyoko Inoue
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Wrestling Queendom
March 31, 1996

#12
Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, & Sonoko Kato vs Eagle Sawai, Jenn Yukari, & Michiko Nagashima
LLPW
March 12, 1996

#11
Mayu Iwatani vs Tam Nakano
“5STAR Grand Prix: Red Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

#10
KAIRI & Saori Anou vs Unagi Sayaka & Sareee
AJPW Giant Series
September 8, 2023

#9
CM Punk (c) vs Samoa Joe
“Real World Championship”
AEW All In London
August 27, 2023

#8
AZM vs Utami Hayashishita
“5STAR Grand Prix: Blue Stars”
Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix
August 15, 2023

#7
Lince Dorado & Samuray del Sol vs. Soberano Jr. & Titan
“Best 2/3 Falls”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

#6
Dragon Rojo Jr. vs Templario
“Mask vs Mask”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

#5
Angel de Oro vs Volador, Jr.
“Hair vs Hair”
CMLL 90 Aniversario
September 16, 2023

#4
Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, & Sonoko Kato vs Eagle Sawai, Jenn Yukari, & Michiko Nagashima
GAEA War Is A Friday Night
February 16, 1996

#3
Jaguar Yokota, Momoe Nakanishi, & Nanae Takahashi vs Momo Watanabe, Starlight Kid, & Yuu
Stardom MidSummer Fes
August 19, 2023

#2
Terry Funk (c) vs Jumbo Tsuruta
“NWA World Heavyweight Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
AJPW NWA Champion Series”
June 11, 1976

#1
“Match of the Month”

Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus
“Cage Match”
WWE Payback
September 2, 2023

#25
Bad News Brown vs Brutus Beefcake
WWF
April 22, 1989

#24
Andre the Giant, Akeem, & The Big Boss Man vs King Duggan & Demolition
WWF SummerSlam
August 28, 1989

#23
El Faraon vs El Satanico
“Best 2/3 Falls”
EMLL Super Viernes
June 30, 1989

#22
CM Punk, FTR, & Ricky Starks vs. Jay White, Juice Robinson & The Gunns
AEW Collision
June 24, 2023

#21
Athena vs Billie Starkz
“Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Quater Final”
AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door: Zero Hour
June 25, 2023