All Japan Pro Wrestling

Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs Great Kabuki (01/28/86) HM

Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86)

Jumbo Tsuruta & G. Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi (05/17/86)

Tenryu & Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (07/05/86) HM

Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Yatsu (07/31/86) HM

Hansen vs Terry Gordy (09/11/86) HM

Jumbo & Tenryu vs Baba & Tiger Mask (11/28/86) HM

Zero One Wrestling

Omori & Otani vs Takayama & Kohei Sato (02/18/07)

Manabu Nakanishi & Omori vs Takayama & Sato (03/08/07) HM

Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto (07/16/07)

M. Tanaka vs Yoshihito Sasaki (05/27/07)

Omori vs Y. Sasaki (07/16/07)

Sekimoto vs Y. Sasaki (07/28/07)

Sekimoto & Sato vs Omori & Y. Sasaki (08/02/07) HM

M. Tanaka vs Dick Togo (09/30/07) HM

M. Tanaka vs Takao Omori (10/26/07) HM

M. Tanaka vs Yoshihito Sasaki (12/24/07)

M. Tanaka & Otani vs Yuji Nagata & M. Nakanishi (05/29/08)

Ring of Honor

AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs Dragon Kid & G. Horiguchi (Dragon Gate Challenge 03/30/06)

Aries, Strong & Jack Evans vs CIMA, Doi & Yoshino (Dragon Gate Challenge 03/30/06) HM

* Blood Generation vs Do Fixer (Supercard of Honor 03/31/06)

Aries & Strong vs SHINGO & Doi (03/04/07 5th Year Fest: Finale)

B. Danielson, Marufuji & CIMA vs D. Richards, Rocky Romero & Mochizuki (2007 ROH in Osaka)

Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (Epic Encounter III March 2010)

Austin Aries vs Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (Big Bang) HM

Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (Big Bang 2010)

Roderick Strong vs Davey Richards (Bitter Friends... II) HM

Motor City Machine Guns vs Kings of Wrestling (Supercard of Honor V - May 2010)

*Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (DBD VIII - June 2010)

Pro Wrestling NOAH

*Marufuji & Ibushi vs KENTA & T. Ishimori (07/15/07)

Marufuji & Suguira vs Briscoe Brothers (03/02/08)

New Japan Pro Wrestling

*T. Fujinami vs Solitario (05/10/79)

Muto & Kensuke Sasaki vs Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata (03/26/96) HM

*Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tenryu (04/29/96)

Japan Others

TAKA, Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez (03/06/99) HM

Yuji Okabayashi vs Shuji Ishikawa (02/02/15) HM

United States - Major

* Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine (Mid Atlantic 07/09/83)

Randy Savage vs Bret Hart (Sat. Night Main Event 11/28/87)

*Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis (Bash at the Beach 1996)

Neville vs Sami Zayn (NXT Revolution 12/11/14) HM

Neville vs Finn Balor (NXT Rival 02/11/15) HM

*Neville vs Cesaro (NXT TV {unaired, on first NXT dvd} 03/05/15)

•Feud of the for the first half of 2026 would be Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (reviews forthcoming). All Japan '86 is the only other stuff where I have been watch a year's worth. I really was digging Riki Choshu versus everyone especially Super Strong Machine. I like Steen & Corino vs Generico & Colt as well but it's not my favorite so far. Super quick to call a feud but the Omori vs Takayama stuff in early 2007 is top notch.

•Biggest surprise so far might be black & yellow NXT. The peaks are really high but it might be due to cherry picking. Neville, Sami Zayn & Balor are great but they already were great as PAC, Generico & Devitt...which is why I hated NXT at the time. But now that we're 10 years passed all of that, I can enjoy it for what it is rather than what it was. 

•Tag team of early 2026 viewing is Kings of Wrestling. Briscoes are right there with them though. Like 1a & 1b. Marufuji has been killing it in his assorted tag matches.

•Best Wrestler would probably be Masato Tanaka. His 2007 is amazing in Zero One. Having fantastic opponents like Yoshihito Sasaki and Daisuke Sekimoto helps! Y. Sasaki would actually be my #2 choice... a break out year in '07. Macho Man, Neville/PAC deserve shout outs. You should be checking their stuff out.

•Best Match Watched candidates are marked with the star (*). Anything unmarked are just right under that designation. HM matches are Honorable Mention. Don't discount them one bit though... those are beyond just great matches, they're near classic bouts. 

What is next? I'm thinking Joshi June. Really enjoyed early JWP and I'd love to pick that up. Also want to keep going with ROH 2010 and will be putting those recommendations up shortly. I'm watching lucha libre and lucharesu so I'll be posting what I like/love. And then I'm trucking on with Cruising the 80's with a focus on AJPW 1987 but definitely have some excellent New Japan and IWE lined up. Actually, I'm interested in the intersection of some of those topics like ladies lucha libre, early 80's luchadores in Japan so it should be cool 😎

Anyhow, I am pretty interested in the data from the project. I wanted to use the past results in combination with this year's outcome.

I took the top 25 results from '06, '16 and '26. I assigned points to where they placed in each of the three polls. #1 = 25pts, #25 = 1pt. Then totalled those points. Finally ranked them by most points to least. For instance Flair's total looks like 18+25+22=65pts. I wanted a list that took all three GWE projects into account. Tie breaker#1: Who appears on more GWE top 25's. Tie breaker #2: Who appears most recently in GWE top 25.

1. Ric Flair
2. Terry Funk
3. Kenta Kobashi
4. Stan Hansen
5. Mitsuharu Misawa
6. Toshiaki Kawada
7. Eddie Guerrero
8. Jumbo Tsuruta
9. Bret Hart
10. Bryan Danielson
11. Jushin Liger
12. Rey Misterio Jr
13. Genichiro Tenryu
14. Steve Austin
15. Vader
16. Ricky Steamboat
17. Aja Kong
18. Chris Benoit
19. Akira Hokuto
20. Jerry Lawler
21. Harley Race
22. Randy Savage
23. Hiroshi Tanahashi
24. Dynamite Kid
25. Hijo del Santo
26. Nick Bockwinkel
27. Mick Foley
28. AJ Styles
29. Arn Anderson
30. Nobuhiko Takada
31. Samoa Joe
32. Tatsumi Fujinami
33. Shinya Hashimoto
34. William/Steven Regal
35. Negro Casas
36. CM Punk
37. Jaguar Yokota
38. Barry Windham
39. The Destroyer
40. Akira Taue (Honorary #40, #26 on two GWEs)

Three timers: Jumbo, Kawada, Liger, Kobashi, Eddie, Misawa, Flair, Bret, Hansen, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Austin, Vader, Tenryu, Rey Jr

• Highest Three timer: Ric Flair (65pts, #1)

Two timers: Hokuto, Aja, Hijo del Santo, Hashimoto, Danielson, Savage.

• Highest Two timer: Danielson (46pts, #9)

One timers: Benoit, Harley Race, Dynamite Kid, Takada, Jaguar, Destroyer, Lawler, Bockwinkel, Arn, Fujinami, Regal, Negro Casas, Windham, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Mick Foley, Tanahashi

• Highest One timer: Benoit (23pts, #18)

Top 40 represented by decade (approximately when wrestler's period of impact began)

Pre 80's: 1
1980's: 15
1990's: 19
2000's: 5

Top 10 North American wrestlers: Flair, Terry Funk, Hansen, Eddie Guerrero, Bryan Danielson, Bret Hart, Rey Misterio Jr, Steve Austin, Vader, Ricky Steamboat

Top 10 Japanese Wrestlers: Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Jumbo, Liger, Tenryu, Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Tanahashi, Nobuhiko Takada

All that said, it's interesting to see how the list has stayed relatively static. These trends or recent events happen and a one time person cracks the top 25. 

Now my take away: I know the GWE projects were all done with the best of intentions. In the end though, folks use it argue and shit talk. We can call it debating or discourse but let's get real. There's enough of that shit in the world. Everyone is so primed to argue. Wrestling to me is an escape from that. I'm guessing it is for most folks. So, this list above ends it for me. Look at the number of three timers (15). That's an elite list right there. If we wait a decade, I'm thinking many of those folks are going to be top 25ers again. But if I'm also being honest, I don't want to be reading/writing about pro wrestling in 10 years time for the 2036 poll. This all seems like a young person's thing...especially the list making & arguing about it. I don't know about you but I've got a lot of work and worries as an adult.

I'm more interested in watching wrestling and giving recommendations for folks just getting into older wrestling or looking to expand their horizons. If you're using the GWE list to do that then, you're awesome! That's what I think the big purpose of the list (& the hard work Grimmas & others have put into it) is. It is a excellent starting point for someone looking to get into other wrestling & wrestlers. It is also a prompt to get people out of their wrestling comfort zone. I think that is where I'm coming from at least.

So in my book, that list above is my list for greatest wrestler ever. It's not my favorites but the numbers don't lie 😄 But it is another good list for someone to hopefully enjoy and get some ideas from. Perhaps, a watch project where they watch one match from everyone on the list. Or maybe making a thread on here or social media looking for other people's favorite matches by all of the one-time wrestlers. I dunno...I hope everyone reading this gets something out of it. Sorry if me being bummed on other people being aggro & shit has got you bummed now but, cheer up! There's wrestling to watch! Take care!

NOAH

Takeshi Morishima, Mohammed Gone & Go Shiozaki vs Nigel Mcguinness, Bryan Danielson & Rocky Romero (07/15/07): Awesome heated start with Nigel vs Morishima. These two are destroying each other! This is a great NOAH 6-man that has been overlooked with the passage of time. They go 11 minutes and its high quality, high impact wrestling. Big recommendation for old school ROH fans.

Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi vs KENTA & Taiji Ishimori (07/15/07): Absolutely bananas junior tag match. These guys are kicking, elbowing & flying. Even the two lil flubs were "makes" in my book & don't diminish the intensity or excitement. And to top it off the finish was sublime. All Time Classic junior tag war in my book. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION for old school ROH/NOAH fans.

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•Masaaki Mochizuki vs Akira Tozawa (05/08/10 DGUSA): Eleven minutes of awesome. A spirited youngster versus veteran match. Mochi looks to remove Tozawa's head with his kicks! Plenty of fierce strikes & quick pace - this is a great example of intensity and pacing being superior to unnecessary complexity & intentional epics. Great match, recommended stuff. 

•Tatsumi Fujinami vs El Solitario (05/10/79 NJPW): Wow! 10 minutes of aggressive yet sportsman-like chain wrestling. Absolutely enthralling stuff. A technical wrestling fan's dream...I LOVED IT. All Time Classic in my book! This felt perfect to me. If you're interested, MUST SEE.

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•Genichiro Tenryu & Randy Savage vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Haku (SWS 06/07/91): Man, this starts off with a bang! A real melee...this was GREAT! Macho's diving off the top & bleeding, Yatsu & Haku are stomping on Tenryu's face like they are trying to stamp out a fire. I LOVED THIS ONE. Haku is perfect in Japan - watch all of his SWS stuff 😄 Tenryu & Yatsu never have liked each other and are excellent foes. When I named the blog, Wrestling Dream Battles, this was the type of match that I was thinking about. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED stuff especially if you're a fan of any of these dudes! Although this match is in June, it's Macho Man and he's all about the MADNESS! Oh yeah! 😋

•Great Sasuke vs Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro 04/27/99): Yes! This was a great match. I loved all of the twists and surprises. Sasuke had a counter or reversal for Shinzaki at nearly every turn. It's probably not as got as their 1994 match but it's absolutely worth your time. Strongly RECOMMENDED

EMLL

If you're a regular reader then, you might have noticed I've been watching a lil more lucha libre. That's what's fun about these monthly projects. It's been getting me watching my DVDs which includes a small batch of lucha DVDs which in turn gets me looking up stuff online. I'm really trying to keep that in check though. Anyhow a real fun May Madness mini project was watching the 5/18/90  EMLL episode. Not 100% sure on that date but it's what was listed. Anyhow, most of the episode is a tag team tournament. I know a bit about the feuds at the time & wrestling booking so a few of the teams were composed of guys who were at odds. Classic booking, right? Anyhow here's the matches!

• Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Super Muneco & Hijo del Gladiador
• Lizmark & Pierroth Jr. vs Americo Rocca & Gran Markus Jr.
• Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr. vs Fuerza Guerrera & Huracan Ramirez Jr.
• Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Bestia Salvage & Mogur
• Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr. vs Lizmark & Pierroth Jr.
• Final: Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr.

All matches are one fall except the final which is 2/3 falls. The matches are all relatively short and if you like WCW cruiserweight stuff then, you'll be fine here. Each early match was a lot of fun with a lot of quick action - arm drags, drop kicks, rope running etc. An emphasis on technical wrestling more than brawling. The finale, was wonderful fast technical wrestling that I LOVED. I would recommend the whole thing but especially the last match.

•Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito v Osamu Namiguchi & Shito Ueda: Pretty fun little match. Simple but effective tag wrestling. Seriously, U.S. wrestling should just aim for this instead of over complicating everything.
•Takao Omori v Kohei Sato: I'm not sure how this was edited time wise. Maybe half was shown of 10 minutes. What we got was enjoyable stuff. 
•Daisuke Sekimoto v Kamikaze: 7 of 11 minutes. Holy cow! This was a hard hitting yet surprising little sprint. Kamikaze is an excellent mid card bruiser who pairs well with Sekimoto. This was a blast if you like lariats and suplexes!
•Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa v Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Tanaka: Junior shoot-style brawl? That's a good way to describe this bout. They were haphazardly kicking each other all match. There's a lot of animosity here. This was really exciting and although a bit frenetic, it sold the hate. I definitely want to see more of these guys squaring off in '08. So it definitely did it's job 🙂 Great match
•Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani v Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi: Pretty damn captivating all out war! I actually watched this 2 nights in a row. The first time, I was pretty sleepy so I wanted to give it more attention. I'm so glad that I did. Any iffy feelings I had before could be attrition my need for sleep. This bout was the hard hitting, big bomb dropping match you want. Faces were smashed, brains were busted - yes if you like these wrestlers then, you will want to see this. And I'm going to say, give Manabu Nakanishi a little credit as a wrestler. This is the type of match he needs and thrives in. He might just be the best guy in here tonight. He had all kinds of little twists and cutoffs that added a bit of variety between the melee. This has a 9 on Cagematch and I can get behind that score. I'd say 8.5...it's a low end classic match. Clearly they have more inter-promotional fires to burn. I'm looking forward to seeing those!

•Dick Togo vs Masato Yakushiji (03/07/97): Was going to watch this for March Mayhem but got it now! Yakushiji does a bunch of cool arm drags & ranas like you want him to. This is prime Togo so he makes all of that look great will still man handling the weenie Masato 😄 11 minutes of really fun stuff!

•Shinzaki & Hamada vs Naniwa & Mochizuki (05/09/99): This match was about Jinsei being a heavyweight competing against juniors...and a FMW & All Japan level heavyweight at that. We get fun comedy with Mochi & Naniwa not wanting to face him. But they put their pea brains together and attack him as a team!  Hamada does some big moves but no other Gran Hamada awesomeness of note. This is a breezy action packed tag match. About 15 minutes.

•Great Sasuke vs "Fake" Sasuke (Masao Orihara) (05/09/99): Big time singles matches. Much like lucha libre, there's more more brawling. Orihara & his valet were excellent heels. I mean Orihara was a real scum bag. But don't think there wasn't great flying, counters & false finishes - there was! This was a great match. Definitely cathartic.

Rey Mysterio

vs Eddie Guerrero (03/18/04 Smack Down!) A very good match for the belt. It was cool seeing them go so hard on a TV match when just a few years earlier they couldn't get 10 minutes on Nitro.

vs Eddie Guerrero (09/09/05 Smack Down! Cage match): This is towards the end of the Dominik's Dad saga. Eddie looks like a disturbed individual. I really am appreciating his character work. This bout has excellent intensity along with  cool cage spots. They told a great story and sold how much they wanted to win. The finish was extremely clever given the storyline & personal animosity. A great cage match and seriously I am not a cage match fan.

Motor City Machine Guns

vs Kings of Wrestling (May 2010 ROH Super Card of Honor V): The Guns come out ready to fight. They do their synchronized attack but the Kings respond with a Storm of Boots to the face. The big guys use their size to their advantage. Chris damn near KO's Shelley with a back brain elbow - damn! This is as awesome as I hoped. I'm not going to spoil anything but we get a finish that serves the overall booking instead of serving the match. I can live with that especially since it's justified. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Ring of Honor tag match. A classic to me.

vs Matt Taven & Vinnie Marseglia (04/28/17 ROH Unauthorized): This takes me back watching ROH on Sinclair. I've got a clutch of these DVDs to watch and am pumped after this bout. It's a relaxed tag rules match. It features all sorts of tag switch a roo's, dives and other spots - High octane stuff! Taven & Vinnie were really good in keeping up with Shelley and Sabin. In fact, neither get any credit from what little I've seen. Taven was a great character & heel in late original ROH. In fact, he gets in some character work in this high speed bout. Respect is due! Great match - recommended!

Lucha Libre Ladies

•Cynthia Moreno, Lady Apache & Xochitl Hamada vs Martha Villalobos, La Tigresa, & La Diabolica (05/08/92 CMLL): Anyone familiar with early 90's joshi should be familiar with a few of these luchadoras. Like in AJW, they are amazing here. Just an amazing pace & dazzling skill from the technicas. A great team of rudas. I LOVED THIS ONE!

•Cynthia Moreno, Lady Apache & Miss Janeth vs Dibolica, Tania & Maria del Angel (05/08/93 CMLL): Wow! What a first fall! Cynthia & Lady Apache are on some next level shit. They are so quick & graceful, making the rudas work like mad. Falls #2 & 3 are good and definitely have their moments but Fall #1 is where it's at. LIKED IT

More good shit at wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com

Marufuji, Danielson & CIMA vs Davey Richards, Rocky Romero & Mochizuki (ROH Live in Osaka): Mochi is an honorary No Remorse Corps member & it totally makes sense. This is exactly the match you from these 6 dudes - plenty of stiff kicks & elbows, great team moves yet excellently paced. There's no rushing but no dragging things out either. A near classic? Low level classic? You decide! Strongly recommended 6 man.

Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis (WCW Bash at the Beach 1996): Fucking psychotic awesomeness! They wrestled this like it was their first, last & only match in WCW. They wrestled this like it was their last day on Earth. This was next level shit that is still ahead of its time because it is executed to perfection. As far as WCW Cruiserweight matches go, it a classic. Loved it! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

vs Dean Malenko (08/15/96 WCW Clash of the Champions): Rey was aggressive with his moves but Dean's had more effect. Malenko's Ice man persona was a great contrast to Rey's Mighty Mouse. This was a lot of fun opening match for the Clash. Cool finish too!

vs Kaz Hayashi (05/01/99 WCW Sat. Night): 7 minutes but this was very good. It wasn't all rope running & high flying. Kaz was a good rudo & maskless Filthy Animal Rey was keeping hope alive. Very good TV match.

Macho Man

vs Bret Hart (Sat. Night Main Event 11/28/87): Only 15 minutes but they told a great story. There's great selling and constant action. Miss Elizabeth on the outside is fantastic! Bret and Savage are two of the very best going at it - classic match! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

vs Ted DiBiase (06/27/88 Cage Match): This is WAY better than their WM 4 match. This is a fight with urgency & desperation! Virgil is playing spoiler on the outside. Miss Elizabeth is beautiful yet helpless. The fans are electric! One kid is SO electric that his dumb ass climbs the cage trying to save Savage from Virgil's vicious assault. 😆 I love it! This is a great cage match. I recommend it to ya.

Thank you for reading folks! More Madness to come!

•Riki Choshu & Takashi Iizuka & Osamu Nishimura & Satoshi Kojima vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Akira Nogami & Michiyoshi Ohara & Akitoshi Saito: As I get older, I understand the punch & stomp-on-the-throat style of wrestling much more. I have always valued intensity in wrestling; a type of intensity that you don't get in 2020's wrestling (sorry it's true). It connects with me on a primal level. I'll be honest, I'm more interested in these bone eating, skull fuckers smashing their fat fists into each others' faces  than what Muto is doing too.  This is that type of match. I don't think it hits the same highs as the similar 04/05/96 bout in Korakuen Hall but it is very good stuff nonetheless!
•Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Genichiro Tenryu: Two of the very best ever. Two guys that are in my personal top 10 ever. Early on the Dragon is breathing fire and Tenryu is getting burnt. Dragon Rocket topes until Genichiro puts an end to that. Tenryu busts Fujinami in the snout and is gushing blood! This is what he needs. Tenryu feeds on his opponents pain. Oh this is fucking beautiful - blood is spraying off Fujinami's chest with every chop from Tenryu! The Dragon WON'T QUIT. This is classic stuff. Emotionally speaking, this is an All Time Classic to me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Must see!

•Randy Savage vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan: Where did this come from?! This was great. They worked surprisingly well together. Savage took a couple insane bumps for his 1996. This was about 9 minutes of wrestling joy. Maybe I'm a Tenzan & Savage fan. Maybe I just love bright colorful pants? Either way RECOMMENDED stuff.
•Shinya Hashimoto vs Nobuhiko Takada: That bastard Takada waltzes back into New Japan and wins the belt??? Hashimoto says 'Fuck that!" The mutton chopped big man is gonna get that title strap back. Takada isn't buying it. This is a very good to great big-time title fight. Both guys are laying in the kicks. Hashimoto is hitting his chops. Heck even the submission holds are pretty good too. A match like this makes me wish Takada had just stayed with NJPW for his own sake. He's a pro wrestler more than a shoot stylist. Seeing him here is a precursor to Yuji Nagata (Nagata trained under Takada) so, it definitely could have worked. Anyhow, this is a nice hybrid of both styles and definitely is worth your time. It's not a long match, like 12-13 minutes. Many people think this is a classic so there's no reason to skip it.

Please check out my other blog Wrestling Dream Battles

Thank you for reading!

It's cool to see a bunch of other people did. It's also cool to see some youngbloods on the board. Hope you folks stick around! As I said elsewhere, it be cool to hear some different views on some old matches on the Match Discussion archives.

Back on my original blog, I did a big list of my favorite projects from the first 350 posts. I'm going to share that here with you. It's really the best way I feel like a I can participate in the GWE experience/excitement. If you're looking to the GWE stuff for new people and matches to watch, I hope this helps. I'm pretty sure you're still going to watch wrestling afterwards, right?

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Early-mid 80's AJPW is really awesome stuff. I think it's a fantastic way for someone to get into old school wrestling or Japanese wrestling. You've got lots of legends and it's got a even mix of U.S. & Japanese stars. Then when Terry "retires", Brody is in NJPW and Riki & co. join for a few years, it feels like a brand new organization. Similar to the early days of NOAH or when Akiyama & co. go to AJPW in 2013. Hansen, Tenryu & Terry Funk are my #1, 2 & 3 wrestlers of all time. Jumbo, Misawa and Riki up in the top quarter for sure. I would probably put Dory Jr. there as well. Seriouly, I see people ranking Baba but no Dory Jr.!? 😁Then personal favorites like Ted DiBiase, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Ashura Hara & Kuniaki Kobayashi are shining in this era too. Top 50 guys. This is prime stuff. Here's the best of what I saw:

• Bruiser Brody vs Jumbo Tsuruta (10/14/83)
• Dory Funk Jr. vs Stan Hansen (AJPW 11/28/83) 
• Baba & Dory Jr. vs Hansen & Brody (AJPW 12/10/83)
• Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (AJPW 05/22/84)
• Brody & Hansen vs Baba & Dory Jr. (AJPW 08/26/84)
• Tiger Mask II vs Pirata Morgan (AJPW 12/08/84)
• Brody & Hansen vs Terry & Dory Funk Jr. (AJPW 12/08/84) 
• Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 12/12/84) 
• Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 06/21/85)
• Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 06/21/85)
• Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Tiger Mask (AJPW 08/31 aired 09/07/85)
• Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 08/31 aired  09/07/85)
• Ric Flair v. Rick Martel (AJPW 10/21/85)
• Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW 11/30/85)
• Shoehi Baba/Dory Funk Jr v. Jumbo Tsuruta/Tenyru (AJPW 12/12/85)
• Stan Hansen/Ted DiBiase vs Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/12/85 aired 12/14) only 1/2  aired
• Tiger Mask vs Great Kabuki (01/28/86)
• Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86 AJPW)
• Tenryu & Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (07/05/86) 
• Stan Hansen vs Terry Gordy (09/11/86) 
• Tenryu & Tsuruta vs Giant Baba & Tiger Mask (11/28/86) 

You'd be wise to check out 1985-86 for Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi and Super Strong Machine (Junji Hirata) as well. No "classics" but really exciting wrestlers in great matches. These guys are fucking great! Definitely personal favorites that I watch for in New Japan and IWE as well. 

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Tatsumi Fujinami became one of my favorites because of my 1988 New Japan project a few years ago. My admiration definitely increased when watching New Japan 1980. Fujinami is the quintessential technical pro wrestler. Top 10 wrestler. I highly recommend watching these:

1980

• Tatsumi Fujinami & Kantaro Hoshino vs Dynamite Kid & Steve Keirn 01/18
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid 02/05
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ashura Hara 04/03
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Chavo Guerrero 05/09
• Kengo Kimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami 09/25

1988

• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader (04/27/88)
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu (05/27/88)
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Riki Choshu (06/24/88)
• Tatsumi Fujinami vs Big Van Vader (06/26/88)
• Antonio Inoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami (08/08/88)

Other pretty recent recommendations are:
Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami - 04/29/96

Hulk Hogan vs Tatsumi Fujinami - 03/12/82
👆Click the links to go to Wrestling Dream Battles blog 👍

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Tiger Mask I is absolutely worth checking out especially beyond his matches with Dynamite Kid. I think the hindsight "bad reputation" Tiger has gotten is from just how hard those matches were hyped. And don't get me wrong those are amazing matches at first but I've probably watched them all 5 times each. Only their final encounter holds up after multiple viewings. Tiger Mask/Sayama has one of the best runs ever. Some of my favorites from his New Japan tenure are:

• Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (11/05/81)
• Tiger Mask vs Steve Wright (04/01/82)
• Tiger Mask vs Black Tiger (05/26/82)
• Tiger Mask vs Bret Hart (07/30/82)
• Tiger Mask & Tatsumi Fujinami vs Black Tiger & Pete Roberts (08/27/82 NJPW)
• Tiger Mask vs Pete Roberts (09/10/82 NJPW)
• Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada (02/03/83 NJPW)
• Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid (04/21/83 NJPW)
• Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (06/02/83 NJPW)
• Tiger Mask vs Kuniaki Kobayashi (07/14/83 NJPW)

Then you have his stuff in the original UWF and WoS. I don't know if he'd make my top 100 due to the brevity of his quality but certainly top 25 of the 1980's wrestlers.

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I'm really glad that I've had the opportunity to dig into FMW. As an ECW fan in high school, FMW always seemed like the cooler cousin of ECW...if just for the Tanaka vs Awesome stuff. In my VHS days, I had BJW & IWA Japan stuff but not FMW. Eventually I got an Explosion Death Match comp tape. Then a few years later, I got the Highspots Hayabusa comp which was very good but not great as a taste of the true best of Hayabusa. So finally sinking my teeth into the meat of FMW has been fulfilling. As garbage/hard core wrestling has fallen out of mainstream favor for a long while, I think the memory of ECW and FMW is fading. So I'm glad to keep the flame burning. I need to watch more but my absolute favorites so far are:

• Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto vs M. Kurisu/Dragon Master [Kendo Nagasaki] (FMW 04/01/90)
• Masato Tanaka, Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hido & Hosaka (FMW - Exploding Barbwire match - 09/01/96)
• Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke (01/06/98 FMW)
• Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (03/13/98 FMW)
• Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (04/30/98 FMW)
• Jado & Gedo vs Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka (05/05/98 FMW) HM
• Hayabusa & Tanaka vs W*ing Kanemura & Kodo Fuyuki (05/27/98 FMW) HM
• Tetushiro Kuroda vs Masato Tanaka (06/19/98 FMW)
• Hisakatsu Oya vs Tetsuhiro Kuroda (12/12/98 FMW)
• Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 02/27/99)
• Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 03/19/99)

Masato Tanaka and Mr. Gannosuke are definitely top 100 guys. Tanaka's case gets stronger as he's awesome in the 2000's & early 2010's. I would say top 35. He is probably my favorite wrestler of all time BUT in my mind, that's not what the Greatest Wrestler Ever is. But maybe that's why I didn't put a list together 🤔😋
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I'm very glad that I've been able to find and enjoy early ROH. I wasn't quite sure of what I was in store for as I wasn't sure just how developed some of guys were. And you can definitely see some chinks in their armor on some of the lesser known matches but, on the big recommended matches below, they delivered. As you can tell, there's a handful of guys working at that high level but the matches never seem repetitive. I threw in a couple other matches from IWA-MS may as have been in a ROH ring.

The list below has some usual suspects but I bet there's a couple that you don't know:

• American Dragon vs Low-Ki vs Christopher Daniels - Era of Honor Begins (2002)
• American Dragon vs Christopher Daniels  - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
• Christopher Daniels vs Low-Ki - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
• American Dragon vs Low-Ki - Round Robin Challenge (2002)
• Jerry Lynn vs AJ Styles -  Road to the Title (2002)
• American Dragon vs AJ Styles -  All Star Extravaganza (2002)
• Low Ki vs American Dragon vs Steve Corino vs Samoa Joe - Final Battle (2002)
• Bryan Danielson vs Paul London  (ROH - Night of the Butcher 12/07/02)
• Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Do Or Die – May 2003)
• Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels (ROH Glory by Honor II - September 2003)
• Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (ROH War of the Wire - November 2003)
• AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson (ROH Main Event Spectacles 2003)
• CM Punk vs AJ Styles (Tradition Continues 2003 ROH)
• Samoa Joe vs Homicide (ROH Death Before Dishonor 2, Night 1 07/23/04)
• Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TPI 2004 Finals 09/18/04 IWA-MS)
• Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero (TPI 2005 09/24/2005 IWA-MS) HM
• Low Ki & Homicide vs Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal (Punk: The Final Chapter 2005)

It looks very likely Danielson could end up winning the 2026 GWE. I can't rate him that high especially since I haven't seen much of his 2011-present work. I'd say top 50 and undoubtedly top 10 best wrestlers of the 2000's. AJ Styles is right up there with him...like I would probably put AJ ahead of Bryan because of his adaptability. He can wrestle American Dragon's style but also do the traditional high flyer style and more when he gets to TNA. Samoa Joe makes the top 100 but I'm not sure where. Top 75-85? CM Punk should be on the list. If we're talking total package then top 50 perhaps. Certainly top 25 of the 2000's.

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I'm going to keep posting some of these match guides (battle guides) over on Wrestling Dream Battles. So if you're planning on watching more wrestling, you'll find some great recommendations there. Ones that are planned are: Joshi, Dragon Gate USA, AJPW 2010's, Ring of Honor 2009-2010's & Early 2000's Puro. Hope to see you there!

•Brahman Brothers vs. Hoshito Takahashi & Kazuki Hashimoto: A really fun junior comedy match. Good bits of humor with some nice wrestling. Nice start!
•Speed of Sound (Hercules Senga & Tsutomu Osugi) vs. Madoka & Shinya Ishikawa - A fun 10-11 match with a heel ref. Speed of Sound (who remind me of Cheech & Cloudy) are growing on me. They did a lot of good stuff. Unfortunately we didn't get much of note from Madoka & Ishikawa who are talented in their own right. They should have used lower ranking guys than them. So a tad disappointing but still a good time.
•Yuko Miyamoto, Kankuro Hoshino & Masato Inaba vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Takashi Sasaki & Shadow WX: Badass 6 man match! Miyamoto is so damn cool! He really made this so exciting. He was taking it to all his opponents. I'm not taking anything away from others (and thank goodness Ishikawa & Sasaki were in this too). I guess this was a real team effort by all. Everyone added something and I thought it was great. Miyato is becoming a favorite of mine though 🙂
•Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi) vs. The Non-Stops (Ryuichi Kawakami & Yoshihito Sasaki): Oh yeah this was 12-13 minutes of hard hitting action. It's not a tank emptying war but for where its at on the card, it's great. Yoshihito Sasaki might just have the best lariat in the business. It's a head eraser. I need to see more of these teams facing off!
•Barbed Wire Boards Death Match: Abdullah Kobayashi & Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Jaki Numazawa & Masashi Takeda: Started slow but this got good. Tsukamoto really tasted the wire as his back was visibly chewed up from all the slams he took in the stuff. Abby Jr. is past his "prime" but brought a lot of charisma. Jaki never really had a prime but he was still more of a wrestler here than Abby Jr. today. Takeda was good but I need to see more of him before I form an opinion on him.
•2 out of 3 Falls Death Match: Isami Kodaka vs. Ryuji Ito: If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough. This was all about who's tougher because otherwise a lot of this could be called dumb. The psychology here is :"we're bound to be in pain & bleeding by the end of this - who can tolerate more?" So you get your turn-my turn spots. You get Side Russian leg sweeps onto objects - both guys are getting hurt. But again: who's tougher? Not who's smarter, more skilled, anything. That's not to say all match is like this because each guy really doesn't want to get destroyed. It's 2/3 falls and feels like an endurance match in a good way. There's no quick 2nd fall for instance. Again, tough not smart.  I'm not sure if I can rate it but it really is something to see. Not for the squeamish. Both guys were fucked up by the end. If you're interested, then I am going to Recommend it...Strong Recommendation actually. Thanks for reading folks!

•Akira Nogami & Takeshi Iizuka vs Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto (NJPW 04/16/92): Yes! 7 of 11 minutes of fun, fun tag wrestling. Neon pink and yellow trunk wearing baby faces versus two fat on muscle mask wearing heels (Saito & Goto were in their Raging Staff gear). This was a treat! These teams fit like a glove. Like WCW Saturday Night, this is simple quality pro wrestling. 3 guys on my top 85 favorite wrestlers list!

•Kenta Kobashi, KENTA & Tamon Honda vs Yoshihiro Takayama, Naoki Sano & Go Shiozaki: A lot of the match story & action was Shiozaki challenging his mentor, Kobashi. They damaged each other's chests with vicious chops. Then there's the additional element of Go breaking away from 'Burning' so Honda & KENTA are glad to punish Shiozaki for. Sano & Takayama are a helluva team to have on your side though. Takayama has eternal beef with Kobashi and KENTA for instance. There's tons of hard hitting action like you'd expect. If you like this style then, I RECOMMEND this one - it's great! See the full 04/27/08 NOAH show review here!

•Akira Tozawa & Kevin Steen vs Young Bucks (PWG - DDT4 2011 - 04/03/11): Wow, this told a story! This was a typical Bucks get their shit in match. Tozawa & Steen are fighting the Bucks in the crowd early on. Very much a battle! The Bros. injured Akira and Steen is left to fight on his own. 2 on 1 - can Steen survive? Can Tozawa do anything to help!? Haha you might be able to predict a little of what happens but you'll have to watch to find out 🙂 Great match from the first third of PWG's peak. RECOMMENDED

•Athena vs. Ayako Hamada (Shimmer #53 04/06/13): This marks pretty well on my April Anarchy checklist. Two 'A' wrestlers and an April match. And this is actually a lot of fun! The crowd is a little sleepy since this was a Wrestlemania weekend show and I'm sure were overloaded. Anyhow, this was a good vet vs up-and-coming star match. Hamada was drilling Athena with kicks. She was taking some big risks too. I think this could have been more developed but by the three count, I had a big smile on my face. 

•Angelico & Hijo del Fantasmo vs Masato Tanaka & Ikuto Hidaka (AAA - Star Battle Japan 10/26/16): OK now this isn't an April match BUT it's Triple A plus we've got an 'A' wrestler - good enough for me! 😄 Plus two more guys on my 85 favorite but not greatest 85 wrestlers list. Actually, Tanaka definitely is on my top 100 GWE. Anyway, this is a blast at 15 minutes. A load of fun fireworks wrestling. Angelico who I've seen maybe once was impressive in a modern wrestling sense. I definitely recommend this match if you're looking for something a lil different.

•Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura vs Jim Brunzell & Greg Gagne (04/19/81 AWA): A really fun cage match! To be honest, the faces probably got too much offense in but Adrian and Jesse were calling it so it stayed competitive and kept everyone happy. Adrian even did a splash off the top of the cage! 

•Devil Masami vs Chigusa Nagayo (04/15/87 AJW): This was a great match with high energy & high intensity. It begins with a technical orientation but escalates into a power battle as Devil takes over. This Crush Gal won't quit and rattles Devil with great duplexes and pinning holds. Masami gets frustrated and brings out the weapons and introduces a bit of anarchy into this April match. At under 15 minutes, I give this a Strong RECOMMENDATION as two of the best ever go at it. Click the link for pics & more April Anarchy!

•Hijo Del Santo y Negro Casas vs. Bestia Salvaje y Scorpio Jr. (04/02/99 CMLL): The crowd was really amped for this one. I think that elevated excitement. This was fun seeing Negro and Santo on the same team. Good action, each fall was a little different and was a fun afternoon wrestling match 🙂

•Blue Panther vs Hijo del Santo (04/09/00 Monterey): This was a ton of fun! Painful holds, flying head scissors, pinning predicaments - it was two masters going at it. This was allowed to breathe and by the 3rd fall, the outcome was in doubt. Folks that have seen WAY more lucha libre than me have called this a classic. I can't say since I'm tourist in Lucha libre land. I will definitely recommend this bout though. You will have fun too. Also I noticed that no one has commented on the PWO match discussion archive since 2018. I'm glad to give this a mention 👍

•The Rock vs Triple H (04/30/00 WWF Backlash): Make no mistake, this isn't pro wrestling. This is Sports Entertainment®™. And it is great sports entertainment. Seeing as it's been awhile since I've watch a big time WWF/E match, it reminded me that the "match" is a device to get the audience to big moments, to the spectacle. We pop for everything else except the match. This is a shining example of that. There's a guest referee, run-ins, shenanigans, and bonus shenanigans. This additionally seems like a fantastic one match summary of this era of the McMahon-Helmsley regime. It's a classic Sports Entertainment®™ main event.

•Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero vs Super Crazy & Ryusuke Taguchi (04/28/03 NJPW): This is a real treat for fans of these dudes. Bucanero & Ultimo are their usual great selves - a top 10 tag team of the 2000's. Super Crazy meshes well with them and is cool to see him in this setting. Taguchi is pretty under appreciated. Here he's still a young Lion on whatever 😋 He's in all black gear and his main offensive move is a killer drop kick. And from watching a lot of 80's wrestling, I've learned to really value a good drop kick! (Heck that seems to be what Okada thought too!). Anyway, this was one from my Video Daze post and am glad I made time for it. Solid Recommendation for fans of any of these guys.

•Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle (04/14/05 WWE Smackdown): 99% of this bout is fantastic! These two guys flowed. They never made this dull. Everything kept moving and they filled this with plenty of surprises. This was PPV level stuff and actually felt like they wanted to prove that they could do a ROH/Japan high work rate match on TV. It's only sullied by a WWE finish but I highly recommend this. It's on the Eddie Guerrero 'Viva La Raza' DVD.

Thanks for reading!

•Kauze Nagahori vs Condor Saito: Intense, energetic joshi as a competition. Both were attacking and always looking to get the upper hand.. They cut a fantastic pace & nailed simple yet effective moves. Very good stuff!

•Jumping Bomb Angels (Tateno & Yamazaki) vs Yukari Omori & Hisako Uno (Akira Hokuto): Rabid pace and an excellent dynamic with Omori as power house paired with the young but competent Uno. You might think she was a liability at this age but she was making Tateno & Yamazaki look great while pulling off her beginning offense in a believable, intense manner. The Angels were in top form today and that's all I need to say about that 🙂 Very good to great match.

If you're digging this check out my other blog:

April Anarchy: Devil Masami vs Chigusa Nagayo - 04/15/87

March Mayhem: Toyota & Yamada vs Takahashi & KAORU - 03/20/88

Bull Nakano in the 1980's

•Bull Nakano vs Yumi Ogura: This is just as aggressive as the previous bouts but more traditional in structure. This has a good baby face vs heel vibe with Bull looking to brawl & cheat. This has a little bit of everything. I think it's a great match!

I definitely recommend all of these matches. I'm about quicker, more urgently paced wrestling matches online anymore. If you're interested then these are for you. This show also has some longer matches like Chigusa vs Dump & Lioness vs Devil as well. If you've got the time & inclination, check those out too!

Welcome to Apache (04/14/06)

•NOSAWA Rongai & Onryo vs MIYAWAKI & Naoshi Sano: Joined in progress but no matter. This a fun junior match to kick things off.

•GENTARO vs Wataru Inoue: There's a good story here with GENTARO working over Inoue's leg. He uses leg locks, dragon screws and a cool sharpshooter. There's even a really cool spot from the apron too. I really dug this match but man, it needed one more minute. That finish came too quick. GENTARO was great here by the way. He's a guy that I try to catch when I can. Very good match.

•Daisuke Sekimoto, Ryuji Ito & Katsumasa Inoue vs Mammoth Sasaki, Hi69 & Saburo Inematsu: Big Japan versus Apache Pro! Everyone showed great effort and heart here. It was only given about 10 minutes but they packed it was action and intensity. This was very good and definitely something I recommend checking out!

•Jushin Liger, Gedo & Jado vs W*ING Kanemura, Bad boy Hido & Tetsuhiro Kuroda: This starts as Hido vs Liger. Liger dominated him but gets attacked post match and gets his hair cut. The rest of the guys, who are supposed to have a tag team main event, come out. We get an impromptu 6 man match! They're fighting in the crowd & bleeding. Apache Pro is getting beaten with Team NJPW (CTU) using old school tactics. This gets a little dry but, a molten hot tag is made to Kanemura! It's on like Donkey Kong!! This is very much laid out like a FMW 6 man...I was popping for the final minutes. This is for all FMW fans & gets a rock solid recommendation for me.

Plus there's a Jun Kasai Vs Takashi Sasaki death match. It's 18 minutes long and while I like both guys, I'm not interested in spending 18 minutes on it. 

This was a very good show and relaunch of Apache Pro. I'm looking forward to more of this stuff in the future!
 

I appreciate it! And without further ado, let's get to the wrestling!

•Mike Awesome vs "Earthquake" John Tenta (AJPW 03/22/03): This was a fun match that put Awesome in an interesting situation. He wasn't the biggest man in the ring. Tenta, even a little bit older was still damn large. Awesome had to employ more brawling than raw power. Earthquake needs to slow the Gladiator down and uses a great looking sleeper hold to even the odds. This was fun and something different as there's a good story told instead of a slew of power bombs (not that I dislike those 🙂).

•Mike Awesome, Johnny Smith & Gigantes (Jerry Tuite) vs. Earthquake, Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai (AJPW 03/28/03): 9 of 15 minutes. This was a barrel full of monkeys. There were callbacks to Awesome vs Tenta. Tenryu is chopping & punching. Tuite is the big foreigner who can sort of run roughshod over Tenta and Tenryu just because he's large. Hirai is that lumpy WAR dude that doesn't mind throwing elbows. Plus he's the right size of heavyweight that he can get thrown around. While the previous match is a soft recommendation for Mike Awesome fans, this one is a recommendation for all early 2000's wrestling weirdos. 

•Matt Sydal vs PAC (ROH 5th Yr Fest: Finale 03/04/07): A very good junior action match. There's some great moves but we get a rare error from PAC. Steal covers for it (ala Liger vs Sasuke Super J Cup '94). I don't knock it for that but it feels beneath what they could do in '07. It is a under card match on a big show so, it's understandable. Still fans of both will get a kick outta this one.

•Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs Shingo & Naruki Doi (ROH 5th Yr Fest: Finale 03/04/07): This bout is stupid in the best way! This is a ballz to the wall movezzz match. It starts standard enough but somewhere along the way they opened a jar of bananas and made this straight bonkers. It's one of those matches where the "tag" stipulation gets lost in the action. It's not Dragon Gate rules...it's Young Bucks in PWG style. I think that is the "stupid" thing but eventually I said, "screw it" and went along for a good time. These dudes are 4 of the best at that type of wrestling so this was great stuff. Nearly a classic if you're in the generous mood. I mean if you're reading this then I gotta highly recommend it.

•Masato Tanaka vs Hirooki Goto (NJPW 03/22/10): Hirooki Goto reminds me a lot of Tanaka. They both have that toughness and intensity about them. So, I dug this one. They blistered each other's chests with chops. They rattled jaws with elbows and battered brains with slams. This was 10 minutes of smash mouth wrestling. This felt like a puro WCW Saturday Night main event. Solid recommendation and if you dig this Tanaka is doing more of same in Zero One. Check out Tanaka in Zero One Wrestling 2007. In the meantime, New Japan has the match below:

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Neville vs Cesaro (NXT 03/05/15): Not gonna lie, I threw the horns a few times during this one 🤘 It was awesome. Cesaro was like Steven Regal in his precise brutality yet he did his own thing. He used his freakish strength in ways Regal could only dream of. He showed a mean streak that I really don't remember seeing as Claudio. Cesaro is a meaner, more aggressive, more calculated version of Castagnoli. Then, Neville, is a more grounded and focused version of PAC. When he tried his flying moves, they were done out of desperation rather than exhibition. It's wonderfully surprising when Cesaro stops those "hail mary" moves dead in their tracks. This is a wicked twist as Neville has been the man in my NXT viewing. Cesaro seems like the end to all of that. I LOVED THIS ONE. What's crazy is that this was a Dark Match and it only seems to be officially available on the first NXT DVD set (which I have). Find this anyway you can because I think it's an All Time Classic. Highest Recommendation.

Thanks for reading folks! Again, click https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/2026/03/ for more wrestling recommendations👍

•Nick Bockwinkel vs Rick Martel (03/13/83 AWA): Martel comes in like a rocket, hitting the champ with a drop kick. The Canadian hero keeps hitting Nick with offense which keeps him rolling to the safety of the floor. But let's be honest, Bockwinkel is coming up with a plan. He gets his challenger in a test of strength and controls the match. Eventually, the Quebecois finds himself stuck on the floor with Nick playing king of the mountain. You can't keep Martel for long and he lets the champion have it! The crowd is hot for this match and seems to end at just the right time. Great heel performance from Bock & a great offensive baby face display from Rick. This is very good 15 match from two of my favorites. If you're needing to scratch an 80's wrestling itch, I recommend this one.

•Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi vs. Terry Gordy & Art Crews (03/12/87 AJPW): A very good all action tag match! There's lots of rope running and simple but good looking moves. I'm unfamiliar with Art Crews but he keeps the party going so this is a winner of a tag match. Yatsu &Animal are awesome and if you didn't know...Then your ass better call somebody! 😄 

•Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Pete Roberts (03/28/87 AJPW): This is one for the real wrestling fans in All Japan. 8 of 9 minutes of these two trading holds & fighting for leverage. Then we get about a minute of big moves to set up the finish. I'm glad that we get to see Pete work a technical match. I think Yatsu is the man to have it. I really am starting to really appreciate him. This is a fast, athletic and competitive bout. Very good stuff, an easy recommendation.

• Akira Nogami vs Hiro Saito (03/11/92 NJPW): A simple yet fun heel vs baby face match. Saito, the brawler, is beating Akira up on the floor. He really smashes a table into our neon yellow trunk wearing hero. Very appropriate for '92 😁 Saito is full of hate and is grinding Nogami down. Can he overcome the stocky Saito? This was an easy match to watch. It's got great pacing, A simple story and just the right amount of stiffness and aggression. 
• Eddie Guerrero & Black Tiger III vs Wataru Inoue & Shibata (03/22/02 NJPW): This was a lot of fun. Black Tiger III/Silver King & Eddie as a tag team - yes, please! Inoue and Shibata are the plucky youngsters. Their contribution is pretty basic but Eddie and BT Silver King bring all kinds of fun moves and moments. I actually don't know if people here knew Eddie was BT II or a mega star in WCW/WWE. This is one of types of matches that keeps me searching for stuff online as I want to truly cut back. It's under 15 minutes, it's got a neat mix of talent and it's a good time. Here's NJPW's link:

•TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask vs. The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez (03/06/99 Michinoku): M-Pro seems to reign supreme in pacing, emotion and knowing what to do when. I felt this was flawless... Not necessarily a classic per se but, 15 of 21 minutes of near classic lucharesu. Don't sleep on this one because it's not 1996 or Kai En Tai.

•Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (03/20/10 ROH Epic Encounter III): These guys worked their asses off ALL MATCH. I appreciate the aggressive Richards hunting Omega throughout. He kept lighting the Canadian up with kicks. He wanted the Cloverleaf hold early but switches to his arm. Kenny is fighting to stay in this one. He's got to use his big moves to even this up. And damn, Kenny's got plenty of those in his arsenal. This match had a great pace, providing top notch action for a little bit under 25 minutes. I think what hooked me were the surprises and counter moves. This absolutely is worthy of the 'Epic Encounter' title and is a classic in the full speed ahead junior style. If you're curious & reading this review then, I think you should check this out! For more ROH recommendations Check out: https://wrestlingdreambattles.blogspot.com/search/label/ROH
 

•Abdullah The Butcher vs Jack Brisco (AJPW 03/27/81):  This is not a match but a chaotic spectacle in the best way. I think every once in awhile, we should watch Abdullah the Butcher vs a star such as Jack Briscoe. It serves as a type of mental reset. We are just watching simple yet charismatic wrestling. There's no real maneuvers or complex story play out. It is just simple good guy versus bad guy. Additionally, we get to see the fans go absolutely bonkers in the venue. I think this is true fan engagement. No one is needing to bring a sign, chant names or songs...the people in attendance are watching the brawl but are also a part of it. Maybe the wrestlers bump into you, or use your chair as a weapon, maybe your entire row of seats gets knocked down and scattered around the ring floor...you're right there. I think there's a lot of imitation of this but Abdullah is one of the best. So I can't say if this is better than another Abby 'match' right now but I will say this is really fun stuff. If you're needing some true pro wrestling, this is a good choice.

•Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW 03/02/84): March Mayhem indeed! A quick intense fight between two of the most intense wrestlers of the 80's. Fujiwara is like a mad man from the start. He's put on a choke and won't let go. Eventually Riki finds his way free. He then proceeds to smash the fuck out of Fujiwara's face against the unprotected top turn buckle! I'm really surprised there's no blood. Things break down and the wily Fuji' goes under the ring for a wrench. From here to the end of the footage, this resembles something you'd see in AJPW with the Funks. This was a blast!! It's about 8-9 minutes of wrestling goodness.

•Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Mika Takahashi & Kaoru Maeda (AJW 03/20/88): Wow! This was a spirited sprint! This was a beginners style tag match and had plenty of scoop slams & drop kicks (not a bad thing). There were some great arm drags and rope running segments as well. There's one especially sick back breaker - keep an eye out for that one! Yeah, this was a lot of fun. These women brought the intensity and desire to win their novice level bout so the relatively simple moves were a perfect fit. It showed that their efforts were more impressive than their skill. Of course they would improve in that regard soon.

•Gran Hamada, Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. MEN'S Teioh, Shoichi Funaki & Yoshihiro Tajiri (Michinoku 03/01/98) - 8 of 13 minutes shown. This was very good Michinoku action. It's not as crisp as the top shelf stuff but is still damn good especially once they start picking up the pace. Tajiri fits in wonderfully and wish we got more of him in this one. I'm looking forward to seeing more Hoshikawa.

FMW  2000 (03/27)
•Gedo, Jado & Koji Nakagawa vs. Hayabusa (H), Naohiko Yamazaki & Yoshinori Sasaki - Fun match with Hayabusa (H) guiding the youngsters up against Team No Respect. Yamazaki was a little clumsy like a baby giraffe but it worked well. H had to save the day a couple times in a bigger brother way. Gedo, Jado & Nakagawa were excellent as always... especially in these 6 man matches. Nice way to kick off the event.

•Balls Mahoney, Chocoball Mukai, Crazy Boy & Tracy Smothers vs. Hideki Hosaka, Hido, Hisakatsu Oya & Kintaro Kanemura - This was fun like a bag of pop rocks & a Pepsi! Stuff was happening all over at the beginning! And the draw really is that everyone here is pretty solid worker (except Crazy Boy but he's doing the flying moves). The other bonus is that Balls, Tracy, Kanemura & Hido were working with each other in ECW around this time. So they really gelled. Very good stuff!

•Hayabusa (H) vs Kyoko Inoue 03/27 - This was a good match and was looking to be a great one at the very beginning. I think this became too much "your turn, my turn" wrestling. Someone would do 5 moves and try to get a pin then when that doesn't work the person on defense gets an opening. Then they try 5 moves and try to get a pin then it switches back. It is kinda lazy from a layout standpoint. Hayabusa does do this sometimes... not very often but unfortunately this is one instance. It is also elsewhere in wrestling, of course but we have two dynamic wrestlers and it doesn't feel dynamic. Why is it good? It's good because it does tell a quality story. It does actually treat Kyoko as an equal... there's no bull shit pervert spots or brushing her off. It's treated like Hayabusa vs a mid carder...so we can't actually believe they were going to do a great match.. I just wish they did.

I definitely would recommend the multi-man matches over the big match. I think you'll have a lot more fun with those! 

•CM PUNK vs. EDDIE GUERRERO vs. REY MYSTERIO (IWA-MS 03/01/02): This has no reason to be this good in such a tiny venue with ropes as loose as an old rubber band. These greats went for it though. Eddie Guerrero had nothing to prove. Rey was maskless but a star that clearly was getting better each day. Punk was champ but let's be honest, had a lot to prove here. He had to keep up with two of the best workers. And the young Punk did it! These guys went for fun spots. They went for tricky spots. And they hit them all. It wasn't as crisp as you'd see because of the ropes but damn they didn't let anything stop them. Now I'll stop you, it's not a tank emptying battle for the ages but for an indie match less than 15 minutes, this puppy will put a smile on your face.

•Dr. Wagner Jr., Mistico & Dos Caras Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero & Hector Garza (CMLL 03/4/05): This was a blast!. Everyone did something impressive and cool. There was a decent sense of animosity between the teams. I thought the finish was rather brutal for lucha libre (at this time). It's sort of an 80's finish.

•Dr. Wagner Jr. & Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero (CMLL 03/11/05): This picks right up where the previous fight left off. There's so many cool moments and this is a breeze to watch. Plus this has a clean finish! 

Thanks for reading folks!

• Magnitude Kishiwada & Shoichi Uchida vs. Yoshihito Sasaki & Ryuichi Kawakami - Good to really good match. This had some really surprising moments for an under card match. Sasaki and Magnitude crushing wind pipes with lariats was totally unexpected for instance. All 4 guys put on a performance worth your time. Seeing as I skipped the official opener, this was a fine way to kick things off !
• Chairs Match: Takashi Sasaki vs. Sakigake - I'll have to keep an eye out for Sakigaki. He's a decent mid card guy. Takashi Sasaki is a ton of fun here. He's just going for big moves and Sakigake is fighting him off. Sasaki doesn't quit and eventually gets his move. This is hard hitting and the chair spots send a twinge down my spine. There's one I'm glad that they don't hit perfectly because the one guy could have been really hurt. This is a fun, fun match...weird to say that right after the previous sentence but that's wrestling for you.
• Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match: Suicide Kings (Drake Younger and Danny Havoc) vs. Ryuji Ito & Takumi Tsukamoto - Haha! Oh shit Drake has some blood gelatin swinging off his forehead at the end of this one 😄😵 This was a very good match. They kept the pace up. They had their spots of course but there's good tease and reversals too. It felt competitive which is always a positive. The barb wire bat spots were especially cringe inducing. And I'm not talking about some socially awkward situation...I'm talking about watching a guy get suplexed on a baseball bat wrapped in barb wire and  imagining how painful that would be. 
• RIP Coffin Death Match: 045 Junkies (Jun Kasai & Jaki Numazawa) vs. Isami Kodaka & Masashi Takeda - This was a good standard death match. It took a little bit to get going, I thought. Isami Kodaka really kicked the match into 2nd or 3rd gear. He started getting everyone else to do wrestling instead of aimlessly doing pedestrian hard-core wrestling. It was rather low effort before he got tagged in. Once everyone started wanting to work, this was fun. It was a little 'tongue in cheek' death match wrestling however... like the fun is that the crowd is enjoying the wrestlers do stunts rather than have a competitive match. Or that's how Kasai & Jaki were acting. Eventually once Jun, who is a good wrestler, got serious this was worthwhile. 
• Shinjiro Otani vs. Kazuki Hashimoto - This was a pretty good "young punk vs old grump" match. Hashimoto lit Otani's chest up with stiff kicks but Shinjiro has had worse (I think!). So the veteran wrestler was able to mount a come back with some stiff kicks and slaps of his own. And that's the point of the game. Hit the other guy really, really good. I ended up getting into this match because of the simple story and the intensity they were displaying. This gets this show back on track in terms of high quality wrestling.
• Shinya Ishikawa & Amigo Suzuki vs. BJ Strong (Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi) - Good tag team match. Amigo was out of his depth here being a junior wrestler vs two heavyweights (super heavies). Shinya was a great partner for him. This match told a good believable story so it never hit the height that it could have. Still it was well done and a fun bout.
• YMCA Death Match: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuko Miyamoto - This took a couple minutes to warm up but once they did, this was great! I cannot believe they did that superplex spot! What is best about these two is they want to do a wrestling match augmented by the props rather than make complicated arrangements. This was so much fun. Miyamoto had to give it his all to combat the titan Ishikawa. I definitely recommend this one! By the way, the props were barb wire, light tubes, chairs and two boards with sea shells attached to them (I think?). 

This was a really good show/DVD. Everything was easy to watch and got me excited to see what was next. I was a little disappointed by the Big Japan Strong  tag match as that was a selling point of the DVD. I was hoping for a battle but instead got a really fun story match. The thing is I'm not an Amigo Suzuki "fan." It's my second time seeing him...but that's on me not the wrestlers. Death match & hard core wrestling fans will get a kick out of this show. Thanks for reading!