The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (February 2024)
A fun month of watching as I transitioned from 1996 to 1992. The current stuff is weird. Stardom is dying. CMLL brought in Tessa. WWE is hot, but maybe with Mania closer, I’ll watch more. AEW is hinting at pushing women more, so maybe. I don’t know. 1992 has been a lot of fun, though!
#25
Miyuki Takase (c) vs Nagisa Nozaki
“AWG Championship”
AWG Beginning Pro
March 15, 2020
From the 2020 Joshi Yearbook Volume 3 post:
I loved the early brawling in this. After the brawling segment, it became a fun go for the win type title match that was very enjoyable and high energy!
Rating: 7/10
#24
Mr. Hughes & Vader vs Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII
January 21, 1992
Steiners throwing around huge dudes is always a fun match. This is before the big Vader push, so it feels kind of weird seeing him losing in the opener, although they did keep him looking strong.
Rating: 7/10
#23
Konami & Unagi Sayaka vs Masato Tanaka & Minoru Suzuki
Unagi Sayaka Produce Tono Wa Goranshin: 1-Ban Venus
January 7, 2024
A fun match where Konami and Sayaka work from underneath and do a great job of inserting hope spots throughout. Sayaka is one of my favourite underdog working around, and she shone here. I really want to see a Minoru Suzuki vs Unagai Sayaka singles match now!
Rating: 7.25/10
#22
Devil Masami & Hikari Fukuoka (c) vs Mayumi Ozaki & Reiko Amano
“JWP Tag Team Championship”
JWP on February 9, 1997
The future Carlos Amano stepped it up big time in this match. A really cool moment had Devil on so match of a rampage that she had to be held back. She’s really the master of getting the most out of these JWP tag matches! The finishing segment was absolutely great!
Rating: 7.25/10
#21
Mankind vs The Undertaker
“Buried Alive Match”
In Your House: Buried Alive
October 20, 1996
The WWF was so sanitized at this time, but this had a real fight feel. Maybe the dirt and shovels tricked my brain. The weapons and vicious moves around ringside looked really gritty though. There was even a nice nearfall in this, which was surprising. The finish was a little abrupt, and the post-match stuff was super silly, but this is pretty damn good.
Rating: 7.25/10
#20
Chihiro Hashimoto (c) vs Syuri
“Sendai Girls World Championship”
Sendai Girls Don’t Forget That Day
March 8, 2020
From the 2020 Joshi Yearbook Volume 3 post:
These two are always awesome against each other: the kickboxer vs the wrestler. They didn’t hit the high levels they had in other matches, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good match.
Rating: 7.25/10
#19
Jushin Liger vs Rey Misterio Jr.
WCW Starrcade
December 29, 1996
A real dream match at the time that was both disappointing but really good. The expectations for the two greatest juniors of all time squaring off for the first time were probably too high. Liger plays bully heel, which is fun, and Rey was amazing working underneath. There was a little disconnect between them and definatelwy the crowd that drags this down.
Rating: 7.25/10
#18
Kenta Kobashi (c) vs Stan Hansen
“Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Summer Action Series II
September 5, 1996
These two have had absolute classics before, but this does not hit that level. There are a lot of fun elements, and it’s absolutely hilarious to see Kobashi win with a lariat.
Rating: 7.5/10
#17
Cactus Jack vs W*ING Kanemura
“Barbed Wire Barricade Spider Net Glass Crash Death Match”
FMW Fighting Creation: 7th Anniversary
May 5, 1996
I am always very hit or miss on deathmatches, and I am still not sure what the key ingredient is to make one great or good or bad. It’s one of those undefinable things. This was violent and brutal and looked like it was a bad time for everyone involved. It did build well, but it’s not a match for someone who dislikes deathmatches.
Rating: 7.75/10
#16
Chigusa Nagayo vs Mayumi Ozaki
GAEA Victory Road
February 23, 1997
The Oz Academy and GAEA feud wages on, this time with the two head bosses having a vicious brawl. They use a pipe, table, a chain and have blood. Both pull out all the stops and work towards their strengths, speed and flying, with Ozaki and Chigusa being more grounded and power-based. It goes a little long, and at some point, Ozaki has problems with her bottoms and throws on some random pants to finish the match. Ozaki going for a top rope splash and Nagayo catching her with a kick to the head was one of the best versions of that I have ever seen. The finish was cool, too. Post-match, the feud continues!
Rating: 7.75/10
#15
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bigelow vs Masa Saito & Scott Norton
NJPW Masters of Wrestling: DRAGON THE REVIVAL
July 8, 1992
This ruled. Both Norton and Saito did the beat up one guy and call in the other because they proved the dude they were facing was nothing! When Vader came in to face Norton, they did a pose off. The first five minutes ruled of just big stiffs beating the shit out of each other with nobody backing down. It remained cool the rest of the way, although the finish was a tad flat. I think Vader-Norton is magic every time they are against each other.
Rating: 7.75/10
#14
Akira Hokuto & Chigusa Nagayo vs KAORU & Maiko Matsumoto
GAEA Winning Road
February 16, 1997
Hokuto and Nagayo vs a youngster and a rookie is the most OP match ever, but that doesn’t matter as it rules! The first half is Matsumoto getting destroyed by the heelish legends until she can finally make a hot tag to KAORU, who does her awesome flying. The rest is hope spots and the young team trying to battle back, but not having enough to overcome.
Rating: 7.75/10
#13
Arn Anderson, Beautiful Bobby, & Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, & Ron Simmons
WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII
January 21, 1992
This is Windham’s return and revenge match against Zbyszko for injuring his hand. It’s fast-paced, with a lot of heat done in a traditional tag format. Dustin plays face in peril, and he’s one of the best at this ever. The heels bump so well for all the babyface hope spots and comebacks, and the finish is perfect revenge, where Windham uses the cast for the win.
Rating: 7.75/10
#12
Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
AJPW New Year Giant Series
January 26, 1992
The young underdogs fight like dogs from underneath against the badass team of Taue and Tsuruta. The fire shown by Kobashi & Kikuchi was great but not matched by the badassness of Taue & Tsuruta. Great, more southern style tag, and the only flaw was Kikuchi getting a little too many kickouts at the end. Great match, though!
Rating: 8/10
#11
Black Tiger vs Shinjiro Otani
“Best of the Super Junior III: Block B”
NJPW Best of the Super Junior III
June 5, 1996
Eddie Guerrero starts off with fire and destroys Ohtani’s leg so well with amazing selling by Ohtani. The match progressed very well! Ohtani is just on fire during this period, with his mannerisms setting him above everyone else, and the crowd is so into him, making this feel even more special.
Rating: 8/10
#10
Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs Akira Taue
“Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Super Power Series
May 24, 1996
It was fun to watch as Taue relentlessly tried to put Misawa down, and it felt like time to end Misawa’s year-long reign. Misawa fights for his life basically just fending off Taue, but never really having control. It’s short and has an absolutely great finish, with Taue catching Misawa, who came off the top into a choke slam. The pop is great for Taue’s win!
Rating: 8/10
#9
Devil Masami vs Sakura Hirota
GAEA War Cry
January 19, 1997
This is the best sub five minute match ever! Hirota throws EVERYTHING at Masami and actually catches her off guard until Masami regains herself and crushes her! Chigusa Nagayo, Hirota’s second, jumps into the ring and hypes her up! Hirota is ready to run through walls and charges, which lasts a few seconds before Masami power bombs her to death!
Rating: 8.5/10
#
Bestia Salvaje vs Negro Casas
“Hair vs Hair 2/3 Falls”
CMLL on Televisa
October 18, 1996
From the opening moments of Salvaje attacking before the bell, this was a whirlwind of a match. A tremendously great selling performance by Casas. He was a great underdog fighting back for his life and to save his hair. Salvaje was relentless, and they kept this shorter and nonstop!
Rating: 8.5/10
#8
Mei Sera (c) vs Hazuki
“High Speed Championship”
Stardom 13th Anniversary Supreme Fight: Osaka Minami Rebellion
February 4, 2024
This was a classic High Speed match, and they work with such intensity and speed it’s a thing of beauty. Hazuki was so great controlling the match, but Sera not only held her own but was amazing in this, too. I loved the segment outside the ring with Hazuki just tossing her like garbage outside before diving on her and the strike exchange, but the submission win nearfalls building to the finish was my favourite.
Rating: 8.5/10
#7
Ilja Dragunov (c) vs Trick Williams
“NXT Championship”
NXT Vengeance Day
February 4, 2024
This was about as good as WWE storytelling can get. Carmelo Hayes at ringside was perfect, supporting his friend but looks shot of envy throughout. Him picking him up to hype him up for the comeback was great too. Dragunov was a beast and Williams is a tremendous babyface who fought so well from underneath.
Rating: 8.75/10
#6
Jushin Liger (c) vs Shinjiro Otani
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Hyper Battle
March 17, 1996
The first segment was Otani working the arm and Liger the leg, which was fine, but the match really picked up after the mat stuff. The nearfalls here were amazing. Liger and Otani were the most Liger and Otani I may have ever seen, as Liger was such a jerk and Otani such a goofball. Any match with a springboard dropkick to the arm is a massive plus for me, too. The selling by Otani of the big moves was unmatched here, especially on the palm strike finish.
Rating: 8.75/10
#5
Sting (c) vs Van Vader
“WCW World Heavyweight Championship”
WCW The Great American Bash
July 12, 1992
Sting starts off hot and takes it to Vader. It’s kind of nice to see Sting as the smaller guy. It allows him to do more of his fun flying. The real bulk and great part of the match is Vader destroying Sting, which was littered with hope spots. All of that is great. The finishing run had one spot I’m not sure I love or hate. Vader is on the top, and Sting puts him on his shoulders and walks him to the middle of the ring, and then just stands there. Forever. Just holds him up, struggling, before finally doing a Samoan drop. It was odd. Anyways, Vader ducked a Stinger Splash, where Sting gets busted open on the post and Vader power bombs him to death. After the post, they did a few moments of Sting having a concussion, which, in retrospect, is not fun to watch. Nitpicks aside, it’s a great star-making title change match!
Rating: 8.75/10
#4
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bigelow (c) vs Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto
“IWGP Tag Team Championship”
NJPW Explosion Tour
May 1, 1992
It featured Has had one of the best face-in-peril segments ever, where he bled so much while the monsters destroyed him. A hilarious moment is after Hase makes a comeback; Muto comes in and says, lets so move together and tells Hase to do a bridging suplex on Vader. It’s a few minutes before Muto is actually tagged in! It led to some fun moments, but was funny. It built well from there with nearfalls from both sides. Vader and Hase were the stars here and the finishing choke slam by Vader ruled.
Rating: 8.75/10
#3
Atsushi Onita, El Hijo del Santo, & Tarzan Goto vs Horace Boulder, Negro Casas, & Tim Patterson
“Best 2/3 Falls”
FMW in Los Angeles w/ WWA
May 16, 1992
A famous and insane match. It’s 2/3 Falls with two referees like a lucha match, but this is no lucha match. Well, it kind of is, as Santo and Casas put on a lucha clinic. However, the others do wild and crazy brawling all around them and the arena. It really needs to be seen to be believed.
Rating: 9/10
#2
Big Van Vader vs Sting
“King of Cable Tournament Final”
WCW Starrcade
December 28, 1992
This one takes the blueprint from GAB and ups it! They added a Vader beatdown segment to start the match before Sting unloads! The way Vader gets back on offense, with Sting missing a Stinger splash into the guardrail, is great! Vader’s control segment is even better here, and Sting fights back so well. Although the rope and dope moment was not paid off, the finish of Sting caching Vader off the top into a slam ruled.
Rating: 9/10
“The Best Match I Watched in February 2024”
#1
Masahiro Chono vs Rick Rude
“NWA World Heavyweight Championship G1 Climax Final”
NJPW G1 Climax
August 12, 1992
To me, Rick Rude feels like the most American style wrestler ever. Chono is one of the most NJPW style wrestlers ever. They’ve had a match in WCW that was dogshit, but I knew this was good because I saw it like two decades ago. Watching it now, I was blown away. Rude adjusts to NJPW so well, but doesn’t give up his essence, he just adds more fighting spirit spots and more stiffness. He even still does some of his overselling silliness and his prematch promo! The knack on this match is the middle gets a little routine, before they start hitting their huge moves to bring this home. The crowd was so into Chono which made all the nearfalls hit even harder. Really a tremendous match and an amazing Rude performance.
Rating: 9/10
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1996 Match of the Year List
In terms of match of the year lists containing matches that will go on my 100 greatest matches ever list, I think 1996 may be the best. Really, all ten could and probably will make it. What a freaking great year of high-end matches!
Honourable Mentions
- Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader, NJPW, January 4
- Shinjiro Ohtani vs Ultimo Dragon, NJPW, August 4
- Mariko Yoshida vs Takako Inoue, AJW, August 30
- The Great Muta vs Jushin Liger, NJPW, October 20
- Dick Togo, MEN’S Teioh, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki, & TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin, & The Great Sasuke, Michinoku Pro, December 16
Now, onto the list!
#10
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa
“Real World Tag League Final”
AJPW Real World Tag League
December 6
Nippon Budokan
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
I have been down on prime AJPW for a few years now, so I was curious to rewatch this match since I rated it so highly the first time I saw it. Watching it, I think my AJPW issue is that the style that is so popular today that I don’t like is a continuation of this wrestling. That said, the last ten minutes were unreal, and there is nothing in wrestling like Taue unleashed, dropping people with choke slams everywhere! Akiyama did good in the Kobashi role of trying to save Misawa’s ass too. A great match, but still, it felt like a lot of too much for me.
#9
Aja Kong vs Kyoko Inoue
“Japan Grand Prix Final”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
August 30
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
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.
#8
El Samurai (c) vs Shinjiro Ohtani
“UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW New Year Special
January 21
Korakuen Hall
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
The majority of this match is matwork and limp attacks, which normally would be a match that would kind of bore me, but this match blew me away. Ohtani’s attack on Samurai’s leg was amazing, including the vicious springboard dropkick into it. Near the end, when they hit their bigger moves, the near falls were tremendous, and the armwork by Samurai to get to the finish was perhaps the best moment of the match. A real classic.
#7
Dick Togo (c) vs Jushin Liger
“MPW British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Skydiving J
June 17
Nippon Budokan
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
This was a match I hadn’t seen in well over a decade, and boy, did it live up to my memories. Togo came in as a total asshole trying to destroy Liger. However, Liger wasn’t up for that shit and was a giant asshole back. It’s vicious, and everything hits so violently. You have the famous catching Togo off a dive and power bombing on the floor spot which was followed by another power bomb! Immediately, Liger enters the ring to strut! More great violent action continues on until we get some great stuff down the finishing stretch, including a flying dropkick into the arm, which Togo was using to pull himself up, and a top rope brainbuster. Great match!
#6
Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin, & Tiger Mask vs Dick Togo, MEN’s Teioh, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki, & TAKA Michinoku
Michinoku Pro Takewaki: These Days
October 10
Ryogoku Kokugikan
The greatest collection of high spots in a match ever, but that only scraps the surface of this classic. Kaientai DX are the biggest jerks ever, teaming up to take advantage and posing on top of fallen people. It’s great. The spots are insane, too, and so quick. Using the lucha tags makes every nearfall exciting. This match has to be seen to be believed, and it still holds up today!
#5
Psychosis vs Rey Misterio Jr.
WCW Bash at the Beach
July 7
Ocean Center
The best touring match ever comes to WCW PPV and steals the show. They took everything they learned from working everywhere and put it all together into one match that tops all their others. Outside of the insane flying by both, the build and story of the match is amazing as well. What a great way to let Americans know what lucha libre is.
#4
El Dandy vs Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo
“Triangle Cabellera contra Mascara”
CMLL Super Viernes
December 6
Arena Mexico
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
I had no recollection of this match, but it’s listed as a classic and, for some reason, an 8/10 on my spreadsheet. I am glad to admit I was really wrong, as this is the classic people say it is.
The first segment, where Casas and Dandy team up to pin Santo, so he has to put up his mask, was really great storytelling. Casas and Dandy then had a mighty fun singles match, leading to Casas winning and taunting everyone. That brings us to the bulk of the match, the Santo vs Dandy match, with everything on the line. It becomes a bloody, violent death match with great dives and huge drama from there, and it becomes the perfect hair vs mask match. The last few moments are as good as wrestling gets. Even if you don’t like the lucha style, this is one you will certainly love
#3
Combat Toyoda (c) vs Megumi Kudo
“FMW Independent Women’s & WWA Women’s Championship No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Blast Death Match”
FMW Fighting Creationg: 7th Anniversary Show
May 5
Kawasaki Stadium
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
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.
#2
Genichiro Tenryu vs The Great Muta
WAR Osaka Crush Night!
October 11
Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
From the Best Matches I Watched This Month blog post:
I had never seen this before, and I feel really stupid because this match is unbelievable. From the beginning, Muta shoots two different mist colours! He gains his advantage by breaking a glass bottle and digging that into Tenryu’s head for a while! Outside the ring, he piledrivers him on a table and then hits him with some kind of tripod or something. That wasn’t even enough, inside the ring he pulls out something and digs that more into the cut! Tenryu’s hope spots after that were great, and the cut-offs by Muta were on that level, too. Also, I’m not much of a chop person, but they looked great here, probably due to the other violence making it fit in. To get back to the outside, Tenryu switches to straight punches that look sick as fuck! Tenryu throws some chairs and a table into the ring to up the madness! However, more mist from Muta stops the attack before Tenryu can get too far ahead and uses chairs and the table to continue the assault, including moonsaulting Tenryu through it! Instead of going for the win, Muta attacks Tenryu’s second to steal his white shirt to use Tenryu’s blood to write on it and then choke him out. Muta thinks he’s all that, so he goes for the moonsault, which Tenryu counters with a massive top rope powerbomb and an enzuigiri, and one more powerbomb, which is countered with Muta misting him! Muta weirdly goes under the ring and emerges to use the mist again, but Tenryu covers his mouth with an unreal counter! That leads to the ultimate finish, and this is up there with Dr. Wagner Jr vs LA Par-K as one of the most amazing, crazy brawls ever! I am blown away!
#1 “Match of the Year”
Bret Hart vs Steve Austin
WWF Survivor Series
November 17
Madison Square Garden
From my Top 100 Bret Hart matches post:
I have talked a lot about this match in the past, and it’s my favourite match of all time. What I love about this is that it feels like a love letter to old school wrestling and the end of an era. Jim Ross tells the story perfectly, Austin knows Bret and uses his moves through out the match. One of my all-time favourite wrestling moments is Bret Hart’s comeback in this match, where he wins a first fight after losing one earlier. The emotion here is priceless.
Coming Soon
The top 25 wrestlers of 1996 list should be ready shortly, plus at the end of every month, I’ll write up the top 25 matches I watched during it.
You can discuss this on Twitter!
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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (January 2024)
We are into 2024, and boy, does current news make me not want to watch current wrestling. There is very little of that here as I focussed on 1996 and the GWE project instead.
#25
Hayabusa vs TAKA Michinoku
FMW Scramble Survivor
November 16, 1996
About two thirds through this was a fine junior match, with Michinoku looking amazing, but the last third was spectacular, with Hayabusa coming to the moment. I also enjoyed TAKA being in FMW, so he added using a chair to his legwork section. It reminded me of Rey Jr. working ECW. The dives were spectacular throughout this.
Rating: 7.5/10
#24
TAKA Michinoku (c) vs Minoru Tanaka
“Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship”
Battlarts Let’s enjoy BATTLARTS
October 30, 1996
I am not a big fan of shoot style, but they did a good job of mixing that up with junior style to keep me interested during the first half, which was a bit dull. The finishing and last stretch were really great and exciting, though! I bet most people would be higher on this than me.
Rating: 7.5/10
#23
Savio Vega vs Steve Austin
“Caribbean Strap Match”
WWF In Your House: Beware of Dog 2
May 28, 1996
It’s limited due to the touch the four corners rules of WWF strap matches, but this was vicious and violent with good psychology. It thankfully put the end to Austin with DiBiase as well.
Rating: 7.5/10
#22
Manami Toyota (c) vs Kyoko Inoue
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW Kokugikan Chojoden The Real Earnest
December 8, 1996
The first and final thirds of this match were really great, but the middle third was boring. However, this was the big Inoue title win, so it’s memorable.
Rating: 7.75/10
#21
Billie Starkz vs Maki Itoh
GCW Now and Forever
July 14, 2023
The cute-off that clearly cemented Starkz as a heel and Itoh as the babyface was a great use of fun and comedy; it added to the story. From there, both were great and had the crowd in the palm of their hands.
Rating: 7.75/10
#20
Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoji Anjo
WAR Revolution Anniversary
July 21, 1996
Anjo brings the shoot fight UWF style to Tenryu, who seems unimpressed, and weathers all the kicks, submissions, and comebacks with stiff lariats, straight punches, and power bombs. This low key rules.
Rating: 7.75/10
#19
Chris Jericho (c) vs Pitbull II vs Shane Douglas vs Too Cold Scorpio
“ECW World Television Championship”
ECW Heat Wave
July 13, 1996
Mostly built around the Douglas-Pitbull feud, and that part was wonderful, especially Douglas. However, a significant part of this was Scorpio out wrestling everyone and putting on a great performance.
Rating: 7.75/10
#18
Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Pogo & Terry Funk
“No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Mine Explosion Double Hell Time Bomb Tornado Death Match”
FMW Fighting Creation: 7th Anniversary
May 5, 1996
Completely chaotic with barbed wire, explosion, fire, and Mr. Pogo. I’m not sure if I like watching Pogo or hate it, but his sickle weapon, which he uses to dig into people’s backs, is something else. I loved all the evasions of the weapons. That is how you work a deathmatch!
Rating: 8/10
#17
Megumi Kudo vs Shinobu Kandori
“Street Fight”
LLPW on January 5, 1997
A really good ECW-like street fight. Kandori wore a suit, so that’s a huge win. She was a badass in this, and Kudo did everything she could to survive as they fought all over the arena. The finish was brutal in the best way possible. I can’t wait for the finale of this trilogy now!
Rating: 8/10
#16
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Shinjiro Ohtani
“UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Skydiving J
June 17, 1996
This is a hoot. Sakuraba tries to MMA Ohtani, who fights back with some vicious suplexes and kicks. It’s intense and nonstop action for eight minutes.
Rating: 8/10
#15
Super Delfin (c) vs TAKA Michinoku
“CMLL World Welterweight Championship”
NJPW Skydiving J
June 17, 1996
Young Taka is so fun to watch. He had this unbelievable balance and flying ability, but was so cocky and arrogant, every moment of watching him is a blast. The first third of this match is really good with TAKA hitting some incredible dives, the middle third is solid stuff, and the final third had a great finishing sequence. Although the final move was a little anticlimactic.
Rating: 8/10
#14
Aja Kong vs Kaoru Ito
Zenjo Perfection: Ota Ward Champion Legend
January 20, 1997
At one point, Kong beat up Ito and threw her into the concourse, then grabbed the barricade and stood waiting for her with it over her head to beat her down more with it. One of the best shot things in the history of wrestling. Ito did revenge and beat her up all over the arena, too. For a 30 minute draw, this felt like a wild and quick brawl, so I give this the highest recomendations.
Rating: 8.25/10
#13
The Gladiator & Terry Funk vs Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka
“Street Fight”
FMW Flashover
September 24, 1996
This is exactly what you want from this match. Hayabusa did flying. Tanaka and Awesome did their stuff, but not just against each other. Funk was wild. They brawled all over and used chairs and tables and it was a real blast.
Rating: 8.25/10
#12
Mizuki (c) vs Miya Yamashita
“Princess of Princess Championship”
TJPW Wrestle Princess 4
October 9, 2023
Yamashita is such a badass boss in these big title matches, and Mizuki plays her role of fighting champion really well. It was a great, intense title fight, though, that really shows Yamashita is the best ace wrestler around today.
Rating: 8.5/10
#11
Mistico vs Soberano Jr.
“2/3 Falls”
CMLL Super Viernes
September 1, 2023
A great main event all-tecnico match that saw Soberano Jr. play subtle heel, teasing the greatness that was later to come in the year. Mistico’s comebacks and babyface fire are unmatched in 2023, and the amazing spots the both of them pull off are unmatched as well. I’ve seen few matches with this many amazing spots that didn’t feel like a spotfest.
Rating: 8.75/10
#10
Atlantis y El Dandy y Lizmark y El Hijo del Santo vs Blue Panther y Dr. Wagner Jr. y El Felino y Negro Casas
“Torneo de Alto Rendimiento Torneo Cibernetico Match”
CMLL Homenaje A Salvador Lutteroth
March 22, 1996
All these absolute legends go in there and have a fast paced Survivor Series like match. Great matwork, great flying, great storytellingb and action. It’s like comfort food.
Rating: 8.75/10
#9
Shinjiro Ohtani (c) vs Ultimo Dragon (c)
“UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight & NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship vs IWGP Junior Heavyweight & WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, J-Crown Tournament Semi-Final Match”
NJPW G1 Climax
August 4, 1996
Ohtani is such a beast here, but luckily, Dragon is along for the ride as this hit some high levels. The start was really exciting, the middle was some fun matwork, but the real joy was the finishing stretches. All the hot moves were expertly timed, and the crowd was great. I could watch 1996 Ohtani all day long.
Rating: 9/10
#8
The Great Muta vs Jushin Liger
NJPW Super Grade Tag League VI
October 20, 1996
Another crazy brawl for Muta in 1996 and this one includes Liger missing Muta and stabbing a table with a lead pipe or something! Wild stuff. Bloody and chaotic with a fun Liger facepaint gimmick reveal. It was definitely memorable.
Rating: 9/10
#7
Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin, & The Great Sasuke vs Dick Togo, MEN’S Teioh, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki, & TAKA Michinoku
Michinoku Pro From Lucha no Kuni: Heartbreak
December 16, 1996
These Days is so ingrained in my head as the greatest Lucharesu match of all time that I was surprised when I saw this match listed as better on Cagematch. Upon watching it, I don’t know if it’s better, but if it’s not, it’s damn close. I’m not sure what words to say about a match like this. 23 minutes of both teams throwing everything at each other to try to win, with no spots that bugged me. The high spots were tremendous, and the Kainetain DX team ups were all great. I’d say maybe it’s below the These Days match just because Kainetain DX didn’t do as much posing and team-up jerk moves. Regardless, a ridiculously great match.
Rating: 9.25/10
#6
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa
“Real World Tag League Final”
AJPW Real World Tag League
December 6, 1996
I have been down on prime AJPW for a few years now, so I was curious to rewatch this match since I rated it so highly the first time I saw it. Watching it, I think my AJPW issue is that the style that is so popular today that I don’t like is a continuation of this wrestling. That said, the last ten minutes were unreal, and there is nothing in wrestling like Taue unleashed, dropping people with choke slams everywhere! Akiyama did good in the Kobashi role of trying to save Misawa’s ass too. A great match, but still, it felt like a lot of too much for me.
Rating: 9.25/10
#5
El Samurai (c) vs Shinjiro Ohtani
“UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW New Year Special
January 21, 1996
The majority of this match is matwork and limp attacks, which normally would be a match that would kind of bore me, but this match blew me away. Ohtani’s attack on Samurai’s leg was amazing, including the vicious springboard dropkick into it. Near the end, when they hit their bigger moves and the near falls were tremendous, and the armwork by Samurai to get to the finish was perhaps the best moment of the match. A real classic.
Rating: 9.25/10
#4
Mayu Iwatani (c) vs Syuri
“IWGP Women’s Championship”
Stardome Gate
January 4, 2024
This was one of the most violent non-weapons matches I have ever seen and an instant classic. Fast-paced and incredibly hard-hitting from the beginning, and it only built better throughout toward an incredible finish of Iwatani coming off the top like she was doing a standing moonsault, only to hit a reverse hurracanrana for the win. It was filled with insane moves and some of the most vicious headbutts you’ll ever see, but it never felt like too much, and kick outs for kick outs state. In fact, the big near fall came when Syuri’s leg was on the rope. A must watch match!
Rating: 9.25/10
#3
Dick Togo (c) vs Jushin Liger
“MPW British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Skydiving J
June 17, 1996
This was a match I hadn’t seen in well over a decade, and boy, did it live up to my memories. Togo came in as a total asshole trying to destroy Liger. However, Liger wasn’t up for that shit and was a giant asshole back. It’s vicious, and everything hits so violently. You have the famous catching Togo off a dive and power bombing on the floor spot which was followed by another power bomb! Immediately, Liger enters the ring to strut! More great violent action continues on until we get some great stuff down the finishing stretch, including a flying dropkick into the arm, which Togo was using to pull himself up, and a top rope brainbuster. Great match!
Rating: 9.25/10
#2
El Dandy vs Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo
“Triangle Cabellera contra Mascara”
CMLL Super Viernes
December 6, 1996
I had no recollection of this match, but it’s listed as a classic and, for some reason, an 8/10 on my spreadsheet. I am glad to admit I was really wrong, as this is the classic people say it is.
The first segment, where Casas and Dandy team up to pin Santo, so he has to put up his mask, was really great storytelling. Casas and Dandy then had a mighty fun singles match, leading to Casas winning and taunting everyone. That brings us to the bulk of the match, the Santo vs Dandy match, with everything on the line. It becomes a bloody, violent death match with great dives and huge drama from there, and it becomes the perfect hair vs mask match. The last few moments are as good as wrestling gets. Even if you don’t like the lucha style, this is one you will certainly love.
Rating: 9.5/10
#1
Genichiro Tenryu vs The Great Muta
WAR Osaka Crush Night!
October 11, 1996
I had never seen this before, and I feel really stupid because this match is unbelievable. From the beginning, Muta shoots two different mist colours! He gains his advantage by breaking a glass bottle and digging that into Tenryu’s head for a while! Outside the ring, he piledrivers him on a table and then hits him with some kind of tripod or something. That wasn’t even enough, inside the ring he pulls out something and digs that more into the cut! Tenryu’s hope spots after that were great, and the cut-offs by Muta were on that level, too. Also, I’m not much of a chop person, but they looked great here, probably due to the other violence making it fit in. To get back to the outside, Tenryu switches to straight punches that look sick as fuck! Tenryu throws some chairs and a table into the ring to up the madness! However, more mist from Muta stops the attack before Tenryu can get too far ahead and uses chairs and the table to continue the assault, including moonsaulting Tenryu through it! Instead of going for the win, Muta attacks Tenryu’s second to steal his white shirt to use Tenryu’s blood to write on it and then choke him out. Muta thinks he’s all that, so he goes for the moonsault, which Tenryu counters with a massive top rope powerbomb and an enzuigiri, and one more powerbomb, which is countered with Muta misting him! Muta weirdly goes under the ring and emerges to use the mist again, but Tenryu covers his mouth with an unreal counter! That leads to the ultimate finish, and this is up there with Dr. Wagner Jr vs LA Par-K as one of the most amazing, crazy brawls ever! I am blown away!
Rating: 9.75/10
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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (November 2023)
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
You can discuss this on Twitter!
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The Best of The WWF Volume II (Coliseum Home Video)
Picking up where I left off in 2016, it’s finally time for the second in the Best of the WWF series. This is a heavy nostalgia area for me. This whole series was available at the video rental store in my home city (Max Videos), and I’d always get them. It was the only way to see wrestling outside WWF TV for me as a child.
It’s pretty wild to put Mr. Fuji on the cover in 1985, but here we go!
We start with the classic Coliseum Home Video intro video with the scrolling words leading to WWF clips mixed with ancient Roman pictures and great music. My second favourite WWF open, next to the symbol appearing over clouds with Gene Okerlund saying, “The WWF. It’s what the world is watching!”
Gorilla Monsoon is the host this time, so it’s a big step up from Vince. He really sells it as great historical footage and great matches from today put together just for me. For me? How nice of them.
Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas (c) vs Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch
“WWF Tag Team Championship”
WWF Championship Wrestling
April 17, 1984, aired May 26, 1984
Commentary By: Vince McMahon & Gene Okerlund
It’s a fun little match where Atlas and Johnson dominate, but some confusion leads to Adonis rolling Johnson from behind to win the belts. I really liked Altas doing a gorilla press on the floor to Murdoch, with Johnson punching him from inside the ring, leading to that finish.
Atlas and Johnson were so over and cool. They really should have been a big team going into the mid-80s.
Rating: Solid/10
Pedro Morales (c) vs Don Muraco
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF on MSG Network
January 22, 1983
Commentary By: Gorilla Monsoon & Vince McMahon
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
Killer Kowalski vs Pedro Morales
WWWF at Madison Square Garden
July 22, 1974
Commentary By: Jesse Ventura
Into the vault. I love Gorilla giving background over the first few minutes of the match before they go to the actual commentary. He goes on about Killer’s Claw and how dangerous it is.
This is clipped a lot, but we get a lot of Kowalski working over Morales’s leg, and it looks good, as does Morales selling. Morales is so over, and his punching comeback is fucking awesome, with Kowalski falling all over the place for it. Kowalski’s reaction to getting bit by just running around and stomping in annoyance is awesome and hilarious. Eventually, they fight on the floor for a double countout.
Rating: Fun/10
We get a graphic that says:
Midget Madness
- Little Brutus & Sky Low Low vs Billy the Kid & The Jamaica Kid
Heavily clipped, and outside of the comedy moments, they did a lot of good stuff here from what we could see. If they didn’t force the comedy on these guys, they would have been stars. Weirdly, they cut away mid-match, and we are just in another match.
- Little Brutus & Sky Low Low vs Joey Russel & Sonny Boy Hayes
We got a few minutes of a nineteen-minute match, so there’s not much to say except it looked awesome. We literally got the end of a fall and a minute of the next.
Chief Jay Strongbow vs Prof. Toru Tanaka
WWWF on MSG Network
December 19, 1977
Commentary By: Lord Alfred Hayes
The ring looks tiny! Gorilla builds up Tanaka and then tells us to look out for Chief’s War Dance and how boring the match will be because it’s old.
We are joined in progress and clipped. Gorilla was right; it was boring, but the crowd loved Strongbow! A DQ ends it.
Rating: Whatever/10
A WWF Musical Interlude
Captain Lou Albano plays the piano for under 30 seconds. That is followed by Gene Okerlund playing piano and singing “Tutti Frutti” on TNT, with Hogan playing bass with the band and the band all wearing stupid, trucking WWF hats.
Tito Santana (c) vs Paul Orndorff
“WWF Intercontinental Championship”
WWF at Kiel Auditorium
September 1, 1984
Commentary By: Vince McMahon
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
Some Surprise Endings!!!
That appears on the screen, and we get a few clips of surprise match endings.
- Don Muraco vs Rocky Johnson
Rocky is beating up a bloodied Muraco until Muraco pulls the referee in front of him, causing Rocky to punch the referee out! Rocky gets disqualified.
- Bobo Brazil vs Freddie Blassie
Blassie’s leg gets trapped on the rope while trying to get into the ring and gets counted out.
- Andre the Giant vs The Black Demon
Andre accidentally unmasks Demon, to which Demon runs away, covering his face after the match.
Rick Martel & Tony Garea (c) vs The Moondogs
“WWF Tag Team Championship Texas Death Match with Gorilla Monsoon as Referee”
WWF on PRISM Network
February 14, 1981
Commentary By: Lord Alfred Hayes
Gorilla takes no fucking shit and stops The Moondogs from cheating. We only got about the last two minutes of this match, but it was a fun finish.
Rick Martel & Tony Garea (c) vs Mr. Fuji & Mr. Saito
“WWF Tag Team Championship”
WWF Championship Wrestling
October 13, 1981, aired October 31, 1981
Commentary By: Vince McMahon & Pat Patterson
We open with a long shine by the Garea and Martel team as they pick apart both Fuji and Saito before eventually Saito just overpowers Garea, and we get a face-in-peril segment. It’s pretty well down with Fuji and Saito constantly tagging and wearing him down. There are some decent nearfalls, too. It’s really a classic WWF tag structure, which leads to a hot tag by Martel, who is really one of the best at those. The finish rules as Garea is being removed from the ring, and Martel goes to the top for a cross-body win. However, Fuji tosses some salt into his eyes, Saito rolls him up, and the referee turns around to count the pin for the new Tag Team Champions!
Rating: Fun/10
Some post-credit scenes hype up future Coliseum Home Video tapes.
Final Thoughts
This tape had two matches for my spreadsheet, which is pretty damn good. The bad stuff was mostly clipped, and there was some cool old footage here. You really can’t complain about this tape.
You can discuss this on Twitter!
Discord
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Join:
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How Can You Help?
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Please donate to Callen Lorde!
High Flyers (Coliseum Home Video)
One of the first things I did when I started this blog years ago was review Coliseum Home Videos because that was what I grew up on. The blog has morphed and changed over the years, but those videos are still pure nostalgia for me. I’ve always wanted to revisit them. Since I’m in some kind of watching slump, I decided now was the time!
This particular tape is the only one I owned as a child. On a trip, we came across a store with them on sale. I had no idea you could buy them. I thought they were only rentals. This tape had Savage, The Blue Blazer, and Jumping Bomb Angels, probably the reason I picked it out.
What does it look like with Steven’s 2023 eyes? Let’s find out!
This is from the Collector’s Series and starts with Gene Okerlund telling us what is on it.
Randy Savage (c) w/ Miss Elizabeth vs Virgil w/ Ted DiBiase
“WWF World Championship”
WWF Superstars
May 10, 1988, aired May 21, 1988
Virgil attacks before the bell, and when Savage makes a comeback, DiBiase distracts. This match is really about Savage selling and DiBiase being a dick. Savage eventually makes the comeback for real for the win.
Rating: Fun/10
The Rockers vs Los Conquistadores
WWF on July 9, 1988, at Boston Garden
Sean Mooney, Superstar Billy Graham, and Lord Alfred are a mix of commentators I love. They have such fun energy and distinct personalities.
This is a typical house show tag match but with a lot of energy from both teams. The shine segment is a little long by The Rockers, but that’s every Rockers match. Marty was a great face in peril here, and I love Los Conquistadores control segment. The comeback was nicely teased, and the hot tag was great. Rockers win using high flying!
Rating: Borderline Recommendation/10
The Jumping Bomb Angels (c) vs The Glamour Girls
“WWF World Women’s Tag Team Championship”
March 12, 1988 at The Spectrum
The blatant racism of Sean Mooney asking how to tell the Bomb Angels apart is something else.
This is such a great mix of Southern tag wrestling and Joshi wrestling. You have the structure from the USA but the constant fighting back and hope spots from Joshi. Glamour Girls are vicious and awesome, and Bomb Angels live up to the name of the tape, bringing pure excitement. The pinfall in chaos is great and leads to further matches as the Champions retain. One of my favourite WWF feuds of the 1980s.
Rating: 7/10
The Young Stallions vs The Shadows
May 9, 1987 at The Spectrum
When Demolition started in early 1987, Smash was played by one of the Moondogs. However, everybody knew it was a Moondog and chanted that at him. That would ruin Demolition, so The Moondog was promised another badass team gimmick, and Barry Darsow became the new Smash. Demolition went on to rule, and The Moondog tagged as The Shadows for a few months, wearing a full body suit and a mask jobbing around the country. Life is not always fair.
This was a solid WWF tag match, with everyone playing their roles well, but none exceptional. Shadows kept jobbing, and The Young Stallions got a small push.
Rating: Solid/10
The Blue Blazer & Koko B. Ware vs Danny Davis & Jose Estrada
WWF Prime Time Wrestling
January 4, 1989, aired January 23, 1989
We get the future High Energy three years in advance!
This was odd as it had two face-in-peril segments and a long finishing sequence. Owen was the most high flyer on this tape, but he doesn’t do much in this match outside of a big splash for the finish and a few small things during the match. The heels were boring in their control segments. Lord Alfred’s commentary was the true highlight.
Rating: whatever/10
Final Thoughts?
Overall, this is a pretty fun tape. One match for my spreadsheet and another that could go on. Outside of that, nostalgia raged through me, bringing good vibes, so it’s a win.
You can discuss this on Twitter!
Discord
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Join:
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How Can You Help?
Callen-Lorde is the global leader in LGBTQ healthcare. Since the days of Stonewall, we have been transforming lives in LGBTQ communities through excellent comprehensive care, provided free of judgment and regardless of ability to pay. In addition, we are continuously pioneering research, advocacy, and education to drive positive change around the world because we believe healthcare is a human right.
Please donate to Callen Lorde!
1995 Match of the Year List
1995 as a year of wrestling is freaking awesome, even if WWF and WCW were not at their best. Joshi, Puro, Lucha, and Deathmatches were all at peaks, while the emergence of ECW was all happening at once.
Honourable Mentions
- El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis, AAA, May 3
- Kyoko Inoue vs Manami Toyota, AJW, May 7
- Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera, Pentagon, & Psicosis vs El Hijo del Santo, Octagon, La Parka, & Rey Mysterio Jr., AAA, June 18
- Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai, AJW, August 30
- Aja Kong vs Bison Kimura, AJW, September 2
- Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota, AJW, September 2
- Raven & Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls, ECW, September 16
- Dynamite Kansai vs Manami Toyota, AJW, December 4
- Bret Hart vs British Bulldog, WWF, December 17
The List
#10
Bad Nurse Nakamura vs Chigusa Nagayo
GAEA Hearts On Fight
July 29
Korakuen Hall
From my “Best Matches I’ve Watched This Week” post:
This is the most shocked I have ever been by a match being great. The story of this classic is that Bad Nurse and her second Shark just destroy Chigusa with weapons and brawling, bloodying her up until Chigusa calls her out as a chicken and challenges her to wrestle. Nakamura takes up the challenge and argues with Shark leading to her throwing away the weapon and grabbing a headlock. Chigusa makes a comeback and, after some tremendous nearfalls, wins with a Running Three into a Dominator-type move that looked vicious.
#9
Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue
AJW Destiny
September 2
Nippon Budokan
From my “Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month” post:
This match was built around a huge struggle between the two. Every Inoue power bomb took so much effort. Every attempt by Inoue to win was a huge challenge. Wrestling may have peaked when Bull did a series of leg drops from the apron to the floor. Inoue finally getting her win on her fourth try was a great conclusion.
#8
Keiji Muto vs Scott Norton
“IWGP Heavyweight Championship #1 Contedership”
NJPW Fighting Spirit
February 3
Nakajima Sports Center
Although this started off a little slow, with Muto trying to keep grounded, it sure delivered. After Norton got control, the match was a classic. The offense by Norton was just vicious! The hope spots were so well planned out, and the cut-offs by Norton were perfect. The crowd was rabid for Muto. He got in some nice nearfalls as the match built to the finish, with some that had me bite. The finish was so well done, with Norton just having enough of Muto, who wouldn’t go away, so he goes to the top. Must watch match.
#7
Dynamite Kansai vs Mayumi Ozaki
“Street Fight”
JWP Jazz and Soul
March 17
Hakata Starlanes
From my “Best Matches I’ve Watched This Week” post:
This match was a wild street fight that was bloody and violent, and out of control. The ring was destroyed, and they used a chain like it was a dog collar match just because they wanted to kill each other, not because of the stipulations.
This escalated so well and never lit up. The finish was kind of a surprise, but I kind of dug it. An excellent match!
#6
Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa
“Champion Carnival Final”
AJPW Champion Carnival
April 15
Nippon Budokan
Taue was on a mission to chokeslam his way to winning the Carnival, and he wasn’t letting the ace of AJPW stand in his way! Tremendous relentlessness from Taue here.
#5
Psicosis (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.
“WWA World Welterweight Championship 2/3 Falls”
AAA
September 22
Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera
From my “Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month” post:
After two great falls built around trying to one-up each other with matwork, submissions, and rolls, we get to one of the most insane third falls ever. Unreal dives left and right by both and huge moves everywhere, all set up in a logical fashion. This is the best lucha and felt really ahead of its time. No wonder this match was exported all over the world.
#4
Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta
“Japan Grand Prix Final Match”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
September 3
Korakuen Hall
From my “Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month” post:
Hotta was really feeling it tonight and was just plain mean! Early she stopped Toyota every time she got momentum with brutal kicks. When Toyota finally makes a comeback, she is brutal as well. The rest of the match was just insane, with some of the most killer suplexes ever. Straight Jacket German Suplex from the top rope? Another unbelievable spot was Toyota diving off the top to try to put Hotta through a table, but Hotta got her feet up into her face. There was a Ganso Bomb as well. It all ends with a Super Ocean Cyclone Suplex Bomb with the largest bridge ever. What a brutal classic!
#3
Chigusa Nagayo & Dynamite Kansai vs Devil Masami & Mayumi Ozaki
GAEA Memorial First Gong In Korakuen
April 15
Korakeun Hall
From my “Best Match of the Week” post:
This is the main event of the very first GAEA show, and it’s the perfect way to establish a promotion!
I find it really interesting that Kansai and Nagayo are dressed normally, but Masami is dressed as Super Heel Masami, and Ozaki is dressed for a street fight. Ozaki knew what was up because this was one of the most violent wild, bloody brawls I have ever seen.
It was so out of control the ring crew started taking apart the ring mid-match, and the wrenches they used became a weapon for Ozaki. The sight of a half-destroyed ring with brawling everywhere is a great sight!
The match keeps escalating, and many times you think it is over, but it, instead, just gets more violent! All of this leads up to an all-time great finish, where Nagayo goes for the Running Three on Ozaki, but Masami on the outside just stabs Nagayo with a sword, allowing Ozaki to counter into a rollup
#2
Diesel (c) vs Bret Hart
“WWF World Championship No Holds Barred”
WWF Survivor Series
November 19
USAir Arena
I love this for the drama but more so for the logic. Bret looked at brawls and table spots, said what would actually make sense, and produced a classic around that. Still one of my favourite table bumps ever. Next-level wrestling is seeing a wrestler come into a match with a plan and execute it.
#1 “1995 Match of the Year”
Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa (c)
vs
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship”
AJPW Super Power Series
June 9
Nippon Budokan
It’s a famous match you probably know if you are reading this. My joy from this match is from Kobashi trying desperately to save Kobashi and Taue, bringing death at every move.
Coming Soon
The top 25 wrestlers of 1995 list should be ready shortly, plus at the end of every month, I’ll write up the top 25 matches I watched during it.
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:
We also do weekly watch-along parties with chat!
How Can You Help?
Callen-Lorde is the global leader in LGBTQ healthcare. Since the days of Stonewall, we have been transforming lives in LGBTQ communities through excellent comprehensive care, provided free of judgment and regardless of ability to pay. In addition, we are continuously pioneering research, advocacy and education to drive positive change around the world, because we believe healthcare is a human right.
Please donate to Callen Lorde!
The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month (July 2023)
July has been a great month of watching. I finished my 1989 watching, and I had so many more matches than 25 I had to cut a couple dozen matches.
#25
Natsupoi vs. Saori Anou
“Indian Strap Match”
Stardom MidSummer Champions
July 2, 2023
I love the creativity here, but the stips hurt this from hitting real highs. The first part was worked around the strap, but they used it very violently later. The stip of getting a pin and then having to touch each corner is something that will hurt every match, though.
Rating: 7.75/10
#24
Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas (c) vs Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi
“All Asia Tag Team Championships”
AJPW October Giant Series
October 11, 1989
I love the double teamwork of Kroffat & Furnas. It’s really on an all-time great level. Joe and Kenta were pretty damn good in their babyface roles here, getting in great hope spots and fire. Awesome tag work.
Rating: 7.75/10
#23
The Brain Busters vs The Rockers
WWF
January 23, 1989
It’s a really good Southern tag match where the face-in-peril, hot tag, and finish were all really good. I didn’t like the opening third of The Rockers embarrassing The Brain Busters for so long. The shine went on sooo long. After that, though, it was all excellent.
Rating: 7.75/10
#22
Dynamite Kansai (c) vs Takako Inoue
“WWWA World Championship”
JWP
October 31, 1995
Inoue tried her hardest to bring the AJW Title back home, but she couldn’t put Kansai down no matter how much she threw at Kansai or how close the nearfalls were. Lovely wrestling.
Rating: 7.75/10
#21
Giulia, Mayu Iwatani, Syuri, & Tam Nakano vs Maika, MIRAI, Saya Kamitani, & Suzu Suzuki
“Generational Struggle Elimination Match”
Stardom
July 9, 2023
This was a lot of fun with a hot crowd. Pitting the current top talent vs the future top talent is a great concept that allows delivers. It took its time before eliminations, and all the eliminations were creative. A lot of fun moments with different talents interacting that may not always face each other too. A really good tag match!
Rating: 7.75/10
#20
Andre the Giant & Haku (c) vs Demoltiion
“WWF World Tag Team Championship”
WWF
December 28, 1989
I love how Andre and Haku work because it’s unlike any other tag team. Haku is a badass and does most of the work, and Andre is tagged in when it’s time to drop the big bomb to end things. This match has a great deviation from that formula, as Andre’s first bomb misses causing him to be attacked for a while. The match builds from there with awesome heat and a cool finish of Andre just destroying Smash for the win.
Rating: 7.75/10
#19
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada
“AJPW World Tag Team Championships”
AJPW Excite Series
February 23, 1989
Another great match in the Tsuruta-Tenryu series. Yatsu needs a lot of credit in this series as well, as he more than holds his own on his quest to kill Tenryu. Kawada is the plucky underdog brought around in this match and does a good job after Tenryu keeps him calm. A very exciting tag match that is a real harbinger of things to come for AJPW.
Rating: 8/10
#18
Demolition (c) vs The Brain Busters
“WWF World Tag Team Championship Best 2/3 Falls”
WWF Saturday Night’s Main Event
July 18, 1989, aired July 29, 1989
I have a lot of nostalgia for this match, as it’s one of the very first Saturday Night’s Main Event I remember my dad taping for me, and I couldn’t wait to watch it on Sunday morning.
Outside of that, it’s a tremendous match with great structure. Demolition is clearly the more dominant team, but The Busters are sneaky and frustrating. Demolition dominates to start until some double teaming gets a Smash face-in-peril, but Ax breaks everything up and gets an easy first-fall win. In the second fall, Demolition is dominant again, but now The Busters cheat like crazy until a super hot tag to Ax, and it looks like an easy match, but they double team too much and are disqualified and frustrated. The final fall is more Demolition dominance, but Andre slips a chair to Tully, who kills them, and they steal the titles. Perfect wrestling!!
Rating: 8/10
#17
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship”
AJPW Championship Carnival
April 4, 1989
Tenryu is so over, and this really helped this match, but what put it over the top was how locked in everyone was to destroying each other. Lariats were killing fools left and right, and they were devastating. The finish, although a countdown, was great as Jumbo saw his partner was in trouble, so he suplexed Tenryu through a table to get the count-out win!
Rating: 8/10
#16
Willow Nightingale (c) vs Giulia
“NJPW Strong Women’s Championship”
NJPW STRONG Independence Day
July 5, 2023
This was an awesome match focused on big power vs underdog fire, and I loved it. They worked to all the big moves well, and both played their rules tremendously well. The finishing sequence was amazing, and it finished the story perfectly!
Rating: 8.25/10
#15
Jushin Liger (c) vs Black Tiger
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship European Rounds”
NJPW Summer Fight Series
July 12, 1989
The European Rounds rules break the Junior Heavyweight style and make this feel more unique. Add in Mark Rocco playing a legit heel, and it just feels great watching it. It’s intense and dirty and has some outstanding spots. A real delight.
Rating: 8.25/10
#14
Chigusa Nagayo vs Shark Tsuchiya
GAEA Never Ending Bump
November 3, 1995
The feud between Chigusa and FMW wages on, as Shark kills her from the very start. Puts her through a table and brawls throughout the crowd. She uses every weapon she can, but every time Chigusa comes back. However, every Chigusa comeback has a Shark underling run-in and cut it off. Barbed wire, sticks, boards, etc… This was a great brawl that kept this feud going and made it even better.
Rating: 8.25/10
#13
Nanae Takahashi vs Starlight Kid
Stardom MidSummer Champions
July 2, 2023
Takahashi injects some passion into Starlight Kid, who stepped up and fought a Takashiashi match that was full of vicious strikes and, well, passion. I loved Kid having Momoe Nakanishi in her corner too.
Rating: 8.5/10
#12
Bob Backlund & Owen Hart vs Bret Hart & The British Bulldog
WWF Action Zone
January 25, 1995, aired February 26, 1995
A great traditional tag team matches with Bret playing the perfect face in peril, Owen and Backlund being an amazing asshole tag team, and Bulldog having a great hot tag. Bret keeping the Sharpshooter on the floor while Budllog won in the ring was a tremendous and memorable finish.
Rating: 8.75/10
#11
Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs Yoshiaki Yatsu
“AJPW Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Summer Action Series
July 18, 1989
I’m not sure why these two are so competitive against each other, but their chemistry is unreal. I saw so many cool bulldogs in this match, which was a highlight. Yatsu fought tooth and nail to overcome Tenryu, but it wasn’t enough. A great story and a great match.
Rating: 8.75/10
#10
Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Funk
NWA Clash of The Champions VII “Guts And Glory”
June 14, 1989
This is great fun. It was a short, heated main event where they worked stiffly and held nothing back. Heck, Funk even did a running piledriver on the floor! Scoff at the finish if you want, but it works well with Funk’s character and his frustration for being unable to put down The Dragon.
Rating: 8.75/10
#9
Atsushi Onita (c) vs Hayabusa
“FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Mine Explosion Time Bomb Death Match”
FMW Atsushi Onita Memorial Retirement Tour Last Fight ~Final Chapter~ April Series – Tag 20: 6th Anniversary Show
May 5, 1995
From the opening entrances, I was all in on this match. The stipulation makes the work all so meaningly, and all of the explosion spots were great. The countdown to the ring blowing up worked so well, and the match was on pace to be an easy Greatest Match Ever lock until the conclusion. Onita was retiring, and Hayabusa was going to be the new ace and the whole match was built around the dethroning, but instead, it ended with an Onita win. Wrestling polictics suck.
Rating: 8.75/10
#8
Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota
AJW Destiny
September 2, 1995
This match felt dangerous, and the table spots were brutal, but it didn’t hit the high levels I’d expect from a big Hokuto match. The finish was weird, with Toyota just hitting Hokuto’s finisher out of nowhere for the win.
Rating: 9/10
#7
Bull Nakano vs Kyoko Inoue
AJW Destiny
September 2, 1995
This match was built around a huge struggle between the two. Every Inoue power bomb took so much effort. Every attempt by Inoue to win was a huge challenge. When Bull did a series of leg drops from the apron to the floor, wrestling may have peaked. Inoue finally getting her win on her fourth try was a great conclusion.
Rating: 9/10
#6
Lioness Asuka (c) vs Bull Nakano
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW
May 14, 1989
This was chaotic madness, and I loved it. After Lioness got off a really fast giant swing, the match broke into a Chigusa-Dump match, with Bull using every weapon she could find to pick her apart, including breaking the ring to use it as a weapon with the ring post hook and digging into her bloody forehead. Sadly, the referee threw it out after Bull chucked a heavy briefcase at his head because of a finish here, and it could have been an all-time classic.
Rating: 9/10
#5
Psicosis (c) vs Rey Misterio Jr.
“WWA World Welterweight Championship 2/3 Falls”
AAA
September 22, 1995
After two great falls built around trying to one-up each other with matwork, submissions, and rolls, we get to one of the most insane third falls ever. Unreal dives left and right by both and huge moves everywhere, all set up in a logical fashion. This is the best lucha and felt really ahead of its time. No wonder this match was exported all over the world.
Rating: 9.25/10
#4
Jushin Liger (c) vs Naoki Sano
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Fighting Satellite 1989 Japan vs USA vs Soviet Union Battle Series Part II
August 10, 1989
I thought I watched the right Sano-Liger match a month ago, but I was wrong because this ruled. Sano destroys the arm, and Liger sells it so well for the rest of the match. After that destruction, Liger is able to counter a move into a superplex onto the apron and then the floor, which makes the rest of the match pure desperation by both. They do their best to put the other away, but both are severely hurt, and the drama is amazing. A beautiful, gritty fight that could make my top 100 matches ever!
Rating: 9.25/10
#3
Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs The Usos
“Bloodline Civil War”
WWE Money in the Bank
July 1, 2023
One of the best tag team matches in WWE history and great WWE wrestling. It worked so well playing off storylines and building drama setting up the finish of what the fans wanted, which sets up a huge match down the line.
It started pretty traditionally with a great shine by The Usos, followed by a face in peril by Jey, including an amazing hot tag tease where Jimmy was pulled off the apron by Solo at the last second. After a fun hot tag, the match started building towards the finish with no silly kick-outs, as partner’s made the saves. There was a great near fall where Roman stacked both The Usos, only for them to kick out. I loved Roman not sure what to do, and in shock, Solo just starts kicking ass and is like Roman, what the fuck? After some more great action, we got the big shocking finish. Awesome.
Rating: 9.25/10
#2
Manami Toyota vs Yumiko Hotta
“Japan Grand Prix Final Match”
AJW Japan Grand Prix
September 3, 1995
Hotta was really feeling it tonight and was just plain mean! Early she stopped Toyota every time she got momentum with brutal kicks. When Toyota finally makes a comeback, she is brutal as well. The rest of the match was just insane, with some of the most killer suplexes of all time. Straight Jacket German Suplex from the top rope? Another unbelievable spot was Toyota diving off the top to try to put Hotta through a table, but Hotta got her feet up into her face. There was a Ganso Bomb as well. It all ends with a Super Ocean Cyclone Suplex Bomb with the largest bridge ever. What a brutal classic!
Rating: 9.5/10
#1 “My Match of the Month”
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship Real World Tag League Finale”
AJPW Real World Tag League
December 6, 1989
This is one of the biggest tag war matches I have ever seen in a non-gimmick match. It was violent and bloody and so dramatic. Although the story would seem, on the surface, to be focused on Tenryu vs Tsuruta, it turns out the real main character was Yoshiaki Yatsu! The dude comes in with padded headgear, which gets ripped off, and later replaced with wraps. He was hurt and was out to prove himself against the other aces. There were so many great neat touches, great nearfalls, and drama. I loved this; it is my favourite Real World Tag League final ever!
Rating: 9.75/10
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Trans Rights!
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1989 Match of the Year List
Let’s cut right to the chase. There were many sexist, sexual abusers, racists, and bigots of many varieties in 1989, and I don’t want to promote or watch them. If you are going to say my list sucks because it doesn’t have the typical 1989 matches in it, ask why I would hype up a match that includes such an abuser?
Honourable Mentions
- The Brain Busters vs The Hart Foundation, WWF, August 28
- Lex Luger vs Tommy Rich, NWA, September 12
The List
The 1989 year was loaded with so much top-end wrestling that this is a very deep top 10!
#10
Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs Yoshiaki Yatsu
“AJPW Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Summer Action Series
July 18
Shiga Prefectural Gymnasium
I’m not sure why these two are so competitive against each other, but their chemistry is unreal. I saw so many cool bulldogs in this match, which was a highlight. Yatsu fought tooth and nail to overcome Tenryu, but it wasn’t enough. A great story and a great match.
#9
Greg Valentine vs Ron Garvin
WWF
September 30
Madison Square Garden
A beautiful slugfest between two of the hardest hitters in wrestling history.
#8
Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Funk
NWA Clash of The Champions VII “Guts And Glory”
June 14
Fort Bragg Gym
This is great fun. It was a short, heated main event where they worked stiffly and held nothing back. Heck, Funk even did a running piledriver on the floor! Scoff at the finish if you want, but it works well with Funk’s character and his frustration for being unable to put down The Dragon.
#7
Akira Hokuto vs Chigusa Nagayo
AJW
March 19
The young Hokuto tries to take out the legend Nagayo and takes it to her with urgency. The selling is tremendous in this, and Hokuto looks like the future star she is, but of course, Nagayoholds everything together as the goat she is.
#6
Lioness Asuka (c) vs Bull Nakano
“WWWA World Championship”
AJW
May 14
This was chaotic madness, and I loved it. After Lioness got off a really fast giant swing, the match broke into a Chigusa-Dump match, with Bull using every weapon she could find to pick her apart, including breaking the ring to use it as a weapon with the ring post hook and digging into her bloody forehead. Sadly, the referee threw it out after Bull chucked a heavy briefcase at his head because of a finish here, and it could have been an all-time classic.
#5
Jushin Liger (c) vs Naoki Sano
“IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship”
NJPW Fighting Satellite 1989 Japan vs USA vs Soviet Union Battle Series Part II
August 10
Ryogoku Kokugikan
Sano destroys the arm, and Liger sells it so well for the rest of the match. After that destruction, Liger is able to counter a move into a superplex onto the apron and then the floor, which makes the rest of the match pure desperation by both. They do their best to put the other away, but both are severely hurt, and the drama is amazing. A beautiful, gritty fight that could make my top 100 matches ever!
#4
The Ultimate Warriors vs The Heenan Family
“Elimination Match”
WWF Survivor Series
November 23
Rosemont Horizon
This is one of my favourite matches in wrestling history and one of the best stories the WWF ever did in the ring. Heenan is forced to dawn the tights as Tully is gone and steals the show. Hiding, taunting, and even getting a pin when Arn and Haku had the advantage. Arn and Haku look like the all-time lost great tag team in this. Of course, it leads to a perfect end of Warrior getting revenge. Perfect pro-wrestling.
#3
Jumbo Tsuruta (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu
“Triple Crown Championship”
AJPW Super Power Series
June 5
Nippon Budokan
From “The Best Matches I’ve Watched in June 2023” post:
“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.”
#2
Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura
“AJPW Real World Tag League”
AJPW Real World Tag League
November 29
Nakajima Sports Center
This is all about the story! Tenryu wipes out Baba in the first moments, leading to Kimura having to try to fend off both Tenryu and Hansen on his own until Baba can make a comeback. This match is pure joy!
#1 “Match of the Year”
Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (c) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen
“AJPW World Tag Team Championship Real World Tag League Finale”
AJPW Real World Tag League
December 6
Nippon Budokan
This is one of the biggest tag war matches I have ever seen in a non-gimmick match. It was violent and bloody and so dramatic. Although the story would seem, on the surface, to be focused on Tenryu vs Tsuruta, it turns out the real main character was Yoshiaki Yatsu! The dude comes in with padded headgear, which gets ripped off, and later replaced with wraps. He was hurt and was out to prove himself against the other aces. There were so many great neat touches, great nearfalls, and drama. I loved this; it is my favourite Real World Tag League final ever!
Upcoming!
The top 25 wrestlers of 1989 will be coming soon!
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The Best Matches I’ve Watched This Month: Live @ AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door (June 2023)
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.
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:
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!
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