2001 is a weird year for me because it was my first year of University so I missed so much. It was also 12 years before I started my spreadsheet, so I had almost no starting point. It’s taken a long time to finish this year off.

It was a fascinating year though, with the Invasion, the death of WCW/ECW, the start of Indies, Joshi still having great stuff, lucha libre being great, NOAH’s rise, and AJPW with a bit of a resurgence.

How does that play out for the top 10 matches of the year? Before the top ten, here are some honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions

• AKINO vs Ayako Hamada (ARSION, January 27)
• Carlos Amano & Chiyako Nagashima vs Meiko Satomura & Sumie Sakai (Oz Academy, February 18)
• Command Bolshoi
• Dr. Cerebro vs El Hijo del Santo (IWRG, March 3)
• Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka (GAEA, April 8)
• Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato (GAEA, April 22)
• Kumiko Maekawa vs Momoe Nakanishi (AJW, May 4)
• Kumiko Maekawa vs Momoe Nakanishi (AJW, August 17)
• Damian 666, Rey Mysterio Jr., & Vamprio vs Halloween, LA Park, & Rey Misterio Sr. (Tijuana, October 26)
• El Hijo del Santo vs LA Par-K (Tijuana, November 16)

#10
Command Bolshoi vs Azumi Hyuga
“JWP Openweight Championship”
JWP
February 18
Differ Ariake

Thoughts here.

#9
Megumi Yabashita vs Sumie Sakai
“AWF Women’s & Queen of the Ring Championship”
Jd’
March 18, 2001

Thoughts here.

#8
Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada
“IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament Final”
NJPW Wrestling World
January 4
Tokyo Dome

At the Tokyo Dome in the finals of the tournament for NJPW’s main title, it’s the NJPW star vs the former AJPW star in a true dream match that lived up to the hype. To add to the drama, Kawada had one less match in the tournament that night making the hometown NJPW star the underdog. It was a glorious sprint with a tremendous comeback finish by Sasaki.

#7
Command Bolshoi vs Kayoko Haruyama
JWP
December 9
Differ Ariake

Thoughts here.

#6
Sumie Sakai vs The Bloody
“AWF Women’s & Queen of the Ring Championship”
Jd’ Nameless Endless “5th Anniversary Show“
April 29
Korakeun Hall

The Bloody sets out to kill Sakai early in this match with some insane offence and blood. Bloody even throws her down a flight of stairs. The bumps Suaki takes are unreal, like missing a huge moonsault onto a pile of chairs! Sakai’s relentless fighting-back comeback was such a great performance and this feud is an all-time great feud that needs to be experienced.

#5
Steve Austin vs Kurt Angle
“WWF Championship”
WWF SummerSlam
August 19
Compaq Center

This is peak Kurt Angle and peak Steve Austin heel turn. Angle is the brave WWF loyalist trying to take the title back from the turncoat, giving all of his blood and energy to do so. Austin is a lunatic who is trying to kill Angle and take out anyone who stands in his way including multiple referees. The jealousy Austin has for Angle even shines through in how Austin works, as he is resorting to throwing Angle-like German Suplexes to show that he can do anything Angle do can better! Such a great story and a great match!

#5
Akira Hokuto & Mayumi Ozaki vs Chigusa Nagayo & Meiko Satomura
GAEA Edge of the Heart
March 11
Korakeun Hall

This is another violent awesome match with Hokuto and Ozaki being the best heel tag team ever! They literally put dog collars on Chigusa and Meiko to connect them, so they can destroy them with weapons. As you can imagine, Chigusa and Meiko are the valiant babyfaces who try to overcome. It’s a perfect brawling GAEA tag match!

#4
Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh
“AJPW Triple Crown”
AJPW Super Power Series 2001 “Super Power In Budokan”
June 8
Nippon Budokan

A well-known classic that really cemented the resurgence of Keiji Mutoh. The story here is tremendous with Mutoh hitting the Shining Wizard early and Tenryu having to throw everything he has to fight back. The legwork is really good and the finishing sequence is amazing. Not your typical AJPW match of the time, which really makes it stand out.

#3
The Bloody & Fang Suzuki
vs
Sumie Sakai & Hiroyo Muto
“LSD 2001 Match: No Rules Falls Count Anywhere Weapons Death Match for the TWF World Women’s Tag Team Championship”
“Jd’ … and Justice for All!”
July 22
Korakeun Hall

This is one of the most insane matches I have ever seen. They used every weapon imaginable and every part of the arena imaginable to try to kill each other. Heck, they even hung someone. This match has to be seen to be believed and will be making my top 100 matches of all-time list the next time I make one.

#2
El Hijo del Santo vs LA Par-K
“2/3 Falls”
Wrestling In Monterrey
December 23
Arena Coliseo de Monterrey

Thoughts here.

#1
Akira Hokuto
vs
Meiko Satomura

GAEA Limit Break
April 29
City Gymnasium

This is a top ten all-time match for me and one I keep watching over and over again since I was introduced to it a few years back.

The legendary badass Dangerous Queen tries to put down the new badass Satomura and it feels like a Rocky film, right up to the Rocky II finish. The crowd is amazing. The strikes are beyound vicious and the drama is HIGH! Seeing Hokuto’s second jump into the ring because they felt Hokuto was going to submit is a scene etched into my wrestling mind.

A must-watch all-time classic, watch the link above!

Coming Soon

The 2001 Wrestler of the Year list!

Twitter

You can discuss this on Twitter!

Discord

We also have a lovely discord community to discuss the greatest wrestler ever project and anything else under the sun. It’s an open and welcoming group and I am very proud of it. Everyone is welcome:

Join:

https://t.co/0pOARzaXHD

We also do weekly watch-along parties with chat!

Trans Rights!

It’s a horrible time to be trans right now, so please donate to the lovely folks here, who save lives!