mookeighana

I took the list of Wrestling Observer Match of the Year Finalists and Runner-ups (1980-2012) and arranged them by date and how they finished. This might provide some inspiration. (Keep in mind that Dec matches are part of the following year's ballot.) 01/04: #2. Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto (Tokyo) [1/4/91] 01/19: #2. Angle vs. Benoit (Boston) [1/19/03] 01/19: #5. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi (Osaka) [1/19/95] 01/20: #2. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Greensboro) [1/20/87] 01/20: #2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (Osaka) [1/20/97] 01/21: #6. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho (New Orleans) [1/21/01] 01/22: #6. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Osaka) [1/22/99] 01/23: #8. Hulk Hogan vs. Iron Shiek (MSG) [1/23/84] 01/23: #2. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (Madison Square Garden) [1/23/00] 01/24: #4. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (Yamagata) [1/24/95] 01/25: #4. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (St Louis) [1/25/85] 01/28: #2. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Riki Choshu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (Tokyo) [1/28/86] 01/28: #5. John Cena vs. Umaga (San Antonio) [1/28/07] 01/30: #4. Bob Backlund vs. Adrian Adonis (MSG) [1/30/82] 01/31: #1. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (Osaka) [1/31/90] 02/05: #4. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka (Tokyo Sumo Hall) [2/5/87] 02/05: #5. Terry Funk vs. Shane Douglas vs. Sabu (Philadelphia) [2/5/94] 02/07: #6. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Greensboro) [2/7/82] 02/09: #10. Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani (Sapporo) [2/9/97] 02/11: #10. Kenta vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (Tokyo) [2/11/09] 02/13: #9. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (Orlando) [2/13/05] 02/14: #1. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Orlando) [2/14/86] 02/15: #6. Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (San Francisco Cow Palace) [2/15/04] 02/15: #8. Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero (Arena Mexico) [2/15/05] 02/16: #7. Satoshi Kojima vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo Gym) [2/16/05] 02/17: #6. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (Tokyo Nippon Budokan) [2/17/02] 02/18: #9. Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper (New York) [2/18/85] 02/19: #10. Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker (Baltimore) [2/19/06] 02/20: #3. Ric Flair vs. Rick Steamboat (Chicago) [2/20/89] 02/21: #7. Sting vs. Vader (Asheville) [2/21/93] 02/23: #7. Nigel Mcguinness vs. Bryan Danielson (New York) [2/23/08] 02/24: #3. Ric Flair & Larry Zbyszko & Sid Vicious & Barry Windham vs. Steiners & Sting & Brian Pillman (Phoenix) (War Games) [2/24/91] 02/24: #4. Keiji Muto vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo Nippon Budokan) [2/24/02] 02/24: #6. Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (Meadowlands) [2/24/85] 02/25: #8. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (Greensboro) [2/25/90] 02/25: #5. Triple H vs. Steve Austin (Las Vegas) [2/25/01] 02/26: #3. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka (Kawasaki) [2/26/87] 02/27: #6. HHH vs. Mick Foley (Hartford) [2/27/00] 02/28: #10. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawasda (Tokyo) [2/28/93] 02/29: #2. Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman (Milwaukee) [2/29/92] 03/01: #1. Misawa vs. Kobashi (Tokyo) [3/1/03] 03/01: #3. Kenta vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (Tokyo) [3/1/09] 03/02: #10. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas (Mexico City) [3/2/12] 03/04: #6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (Tokyo) [3/4/12] 03/06: #4. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama (Tokyo) [3/6/99] 03/09: #2. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera (Philadelphia) [3/9/96] 03/12: #2. Rick Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs. Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle (Greensboro) [3/12/83] 03/14: #2. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (New York) City Madison Square Garden) [3/14/04] 03/17: #1. Atlantis vs. Villano III (Arena Mexico) [3/17/00] 03/17: #9. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami (Tokyo) [3/17/92] 03/20: #1. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (New York) [3/20/94] 03/20: #5. Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Keiji Muto (Tokyo Korakuen Hall) [3/20/87] 03/21: #1. Steiners vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (Tokyo) [3/21/91] 03/22: #3. Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan (Houston) (Cage Match) [3/22/85] 03/23: #1. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Chicago) [3/23/97] 03/27: #1. Ric Flair vs. Sting (Greensboro) [3/27/88] 03/27: #2. Midnight Express vs. Fantastics (Greensboro) [3/27/88] 03/28: #1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (Phoenix) [3/28/10] 03/29: #1. Rick Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (Pontiac) [3/29/87] 03/29: #10. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & Genki Horiguchi vs. Cima & Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid (Orlando) [3/29/08] 03/30: #2. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Orlando) [3/30/08] 03/30: #4. Jerchio vs. Michaels (Seattle) [3/30/03] 03/30: #5. American Dragon vs. Low Ki (Philadelphia) [3/30/02] 03/30: #7. Angle vs. Lesnar (Seattle) [3/30/03] 03/30: #8. Undertaker vs. Edge (Orlando) [3/30/08] 03/31: #1. Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Cima & Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (Chicago) [3/31/06] 03/31: #3. Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (Ft. Lauderdale) [3/31/12] 03/31: #5. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Anaheim) [3/31/96] 03/31: #7. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff vs. Mr T & Hulk Hogan (New York) [3/31/85] 03/31: #8. Cima, Shingo Takagi & Susumu Mochizuki vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki (Detroit) [3/31/07] 04/01: #4. Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior (Toronto) [4/1/90] 04/01: #5. Undertaker vs. HHH (Miami) [4/1/12] 04/01: #6. Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Dragon Master & Masanobu Kurisu (Tokyo) [4/1/90] 04/01: #9. The Rock vs. John Cena (Miami) [4/1/12] 04/01: #7. Rock vs. Steve Austin (Houston) [4/1/01] 04/02: #1. Ric Flair vs. Rick Steamboat (New Orleans) [4/2/89] 04/02: #3. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (Yokohama) [4/2/93] 04/03: #2. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (Los Angeles) [4/3/05] 04/03: #3. HHH vs. Undertaker (Atlanta) [4/3/11] 04/03: #5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata (Tokyo) [4/3/11] 04/03: #6. Davey Richards vs. KENTA (Houston) [4/3/09] 04/03: #7. Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior (Los Angeles) [4/3/91] 04/05: #1. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (Houston) [4/5/09] 04/07: #2. Ric Flair vs. Bob Backlund (Atlanta) [4/7/82] 04/07: #10. British Bulldogs vs. Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake (Chicago) [4/7/86] 04/11: #1. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (Osaka) [4/11/93] 04/11: #6. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (Baltimore) [4/11/87] 04/11: #10. Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg (Tacoma) [4/11/99] 04/11: #10. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (Kanazawa) [4/11/00] 04/12: #5. Danielson vs. London (Philly) [4/12/03] 04/13: #3. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe (Lowell) [4/13/08] 04/13: #8. Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji vs. Mens Teioh & Dick Togo & Taka Michinoku (Philadelphia) [4/13/97] 04/13: #10. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata (Osaka) [4/13/07] 04/15: #6. Eddy Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko (Philadelphia) [4/15/95] 04/16: #3. Great Sasuke vs. Chris Benoit (Tokyo) [4/16/94] 04/16: #9. Jushin Liger vs. Great Sasuke (Tokyo) [4/16/94] 04/17: #8. Lightning Kid vs. Sabu (Minneapolis) [4/17/93] 04/17: #8. Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne (Chicago) [4/17/94] 04/18: #5. Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (Edmonton) [4/18/04] 04/18: #10. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (Edmonton) [4/18/04] 04/19: #5. Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Nobuhiko Takada (Tokyo) [4/19/84] 04/19: #6. Fantastics vs. Sheepherders (New Orleans) [4/19/86] 04/20: #9. Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (Tokyo) [4/20/91] 04/20: #4. Minoru Tanaka vs. Takehiro Murahama (Tokyo Korakuen Hall) [4/20/01] 04/21: #1. Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter (Madison Square Garden) [4/21/81] 04/23: #3. Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (Tokyo) [4/23/83] 04/23: #4. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (London) [4/23/07] 04/25: #3. Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (Yokohama) [4/25/92] 04/25: #4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Tokyo Budokan Hall) [4/25/04] 04/25: #5. Ted Dibiase vs. Randy Savage (Madison Square Garden) [4/25/88] 04/25: #5. Steve Austin vs. Rock (Hartford) [4/25/99] 04/26: #3. Midnight Express vs. Fantastics (Chattanooga) [4/26/88] 04/27: #8. Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol (Memphis) (Hair vs. Hair Match) [4/27/87] 04/28: #8. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel (Omaha) [4/28/96] 04/29: #2. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Chicago) [4/29/12] 04/29: #7. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton (Atlanta) [4/29/07] 04/29: #10. Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura (Kawasaki) [4/29/01] 04/30: #4. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (Tokyo) [4/30/92] 05/01: #4. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo) [5/1/98] 05/06: #3. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Texas Stadium) [5/6/84] 05/06: #10. Jushin Liger vs. Hiroshi Hase (Tokyo) [5/6/91] 05/07: #1. Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue (Tokyo) [5/7/95] 05/07: #2. Ric Flair vs. Rick Steamboat (Nashville) [5/7/89] 05/16: #6. El Hijo Del Santo & Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Negro Casas & Tim Patterson & Horace Boulder (Los Angeles) [5/16/92] 05/17: #7. Sting & Nikita Koloff & Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude (Jacksonville) (War Games) [5/17/92] 05/19: #1. Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera (Madison Square Garden) [5/19/80] 05/19: #5. Steiners vs. Sting & Lex Luger (St. Petersburg) [5/19/91] 05/20: #8. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (Raleigh) [5/20/12] 05/21: #7. Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay (Phoenix) [5/21/06] 05/21: #7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (Sapporo) [5/21/94] 05/21: #2. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin & Triple H (San Jose) [5/21/01] 05/21: #8. HHH vs. Rock (Louisville) [5/21/00] 05/22: #10. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan vs. Nasty Boys (Philadelphia) [5/22/94] 05/23: #4. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (Sapporo) [5/23/96] 05/25: #1. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (Miyagi) [5/25/92] 05/25: #9. Chris Benoit vs. Steven Regal (Cincinnati) [5/25/00] 05/29: #6. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Meadowlands) [5/29/84] 05/29: #9. Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (Edmonton) [5/29/01] 05/31: #5. Steve Austin vs. Dude Love (Milwaukee) [5/31/98] 06/02: #4. Antonio Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan (Tokyo) [6/2/83] 06/03: #2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo) [6/3/94] 06/05: #6. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (Tokyo) [6/5/89] 06/05: #6. El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto (Tokyo) [6/5/97] 06/05: #8. Footloose vs. Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat (Tokyo) [6/5/89] 06/06: #5. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo) [6/6/97] 06/07: #1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace (Tokyo) [6/7/96] 06/07: #10. Yoshihiro Asai vs. Negro Casas (Tokyo) [6/7/90] 06/08: #1. Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu (Tokyo Nippon Budokan) [6/8/01] 06/08: #2. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (Tokyo) [6/8/90] 06/09: #3. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (Philadelphia) [6/9/07] 06/09: #7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo) [6/9/95] 06/10: #6. Kota Ibushi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (Tokyo) [6/10/11] 06/11: #1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (Tokyo) [6/11/99] 06/12: #3. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda (Osaka) [6/12/86] 06/12: #7. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (Dayton) [6/12/04] 06/12: #9. Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada (Tokyo) [6/12/98] 06/16: #2. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik (MSG) [6/16/84] 06/16: #4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (Osaka) [6/16/12] 06/19: #2. Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards (Toronto) [6/19/10] 06/19: #6. Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji (Osaka) [6/19/10] 06/21: #1. Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tiger Mask (Misawa) [6/21/85] 06/22: #5. Kenta & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (Tokyo) [6/22/09] 06/24: #8. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Riki Choshu (Osaka) [6/24/88] 06/24: #9. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (Tokyo) [6/24/99] 06/25: #5. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (Tokyo) [6/25/00] 06/26: #2. Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards (New York) [6/26/11] 06/27: #3. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Yokohama) [6/27/98] 06/27: #8. The Cobra vs. Nobuhiko Takada (Nagoya) [6/27/86] 06/28: #2. Undertaker vs. Mankind (Pittsburgh) [6/28/98] 06/28: #3. Bob Backlund vs. Jimmy Snuka (MSG) [6/28/82] 06/28: #7. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (Sacramento) [6/28/09] 07/04: #1. Freebirds vs. Kerry, Kevin, & Mike Von Erich (Fort Worth) [7/4/84] 07/04: #6. Von Erichs vs. Freebirds (Ft. Worth) [7/4/83] 07/04: #10. War Games I (Atlanta) [7/4/87] 07/05: #4. Dynamite Kid vs. The Cobra (Tokyo) [7/5/84] 07/05: #9. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton (Charlotte) [7/5/86] 07/06: #9. Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima vs. Kenta & Naomichi Marufuji (Tokyo) Budokan Hall [7/6/06] 07/07: #6. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (Daytona Beach) [7/7/96] 07/07: #9. Ultimo Dragon vs. Chris Jericho (Tokyo) [7/7/95] 07/08: #3. Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane vs. Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong (Baltimore) [7/8/90] 07/10: #1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (Tokyo) Dome) [7/10/04] 07/10: #9. Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty (New York) [7/10/93] 07/11: #4. Bxb Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi (Kobe) [7/11/10] 07/13: #9. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid & David Schultz vs. Antonio Inoki & Fujinami & Cobra (Japan) [7/13/84] 07/13: #9. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (Tokyo) [7/13/89] 07/15: #2. Kenta & Taiji Ishimori vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi Marufuji (Tokyo) [7/15/07] 07/15: #8. Samoa Joe & B.J. Whitmer & Bryan Danielson & Ace Steel & Adam Pearce & Homicide vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero & Nate Webb & Necro Butcher & Eddie Kingston Cage Of Death (Philadelphia) [7/15/06] 07/16: #6. Kenta & Marufuji vs. Liger & Murahama (Osaka) [7/16/03] 07/17: #1. John Cena vs. CM Punk (Chicago) [7/17/11] 07/17: #2. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (Osaka) [7/17/02] 07/18: #3. Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki (Tokyo Dome) [7/18/05] 07/19: #4. Footloose vs. Shinichi Nakano & Shunji Takano (Tokyo Korakuen Hall) [7/19/88] 07/20: #5. Buddy Rose vs. David Schulz (Portland) (Chain Match) [7/20/82] 07/23: #7. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Baltimore) [7/23/89] 07/23: #8. Don Muraco vs. Jimmy Snuka (Landover) [7/23/83] 07/23: #7. HHH vs. Chris Jericho (Dallas) [7/23/00] 07/24: #3. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi (Philadelphia) [7/24/10] 07/25: #10. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (Tokyo) [7/25/98] 07/27: #7. Spanky vs. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams (Philadelphia) [7/27/02] 07/27: #7. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas (Los Angeles) (Hair vs. Hair Match) [7/27/87] 07/29: #5. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (Tokyo) [7/29/93] 07/31: #6. Hikari Fukuoka & Cuty Suzuki & Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Aja Kong & Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasgewa (Yokohama) [7/31/93] 08/03: #4. Cactus Jack vs. Eddie Gilbert (Philadelphia) [8/3/91] 08/04: #9. Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Otani (Tokyo) [8/4/96] 08/05: #1. Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid (Tokyo) [8/5/82] 08/07: #7. Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose & Doug Somers (Las Vegas) [8/7/86] 08/08: #7. Antonio Inoki vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (Yokohama) [8/8/88] 08/08: #8. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takyama (Osaka) [8/8/04] 08/12: #4. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel Mcguiness (Liverpool) [8/12/06] 08/12: #9. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Robert Roode & James Storm (Orlando) [8/12/10] 08/12: #10. Fabulous Ones vs. Sheepherders (Memphis) [8/12/85] 08/15: #5. Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada (Tokyo) [8/15/92] 08/16: #4. Midnight Express vs. Rock 'N Roll Express (Philadelphia) [8/16/86] 08/17: #9. Tenzen vs. Akiyama (Tokyo) [8/17/03] 08/18: #7. Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi (Tokyo) [8/18/12] 08/22: #2. Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka (Tokyo) [8/22/85] 08/25: #1. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (New York) [8/25/07] 08/25: #3. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (Madison Square Garden) [8/25/02] 08/25: #6. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka (Kawasaki) [8/25/88] 08/26: #10. Midnight Express vs. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson (Greensboro) [8/26/88] 08/27: #3. Dudley Boys vs. Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boys (Raleigh) [8/27/00] 08/27: #2. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Pittsburgh) [8/27/95] 08/27: #8. Curt Hennig vs. Bret Hart (New York) [8/27/91] 08/29: #8. Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog (London) [8/29/92] 08/30: #8. Rock vs. HHH (New York) [8/30/98] 08/30: #9. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu (Osaka) [8/30/88] 08/31: #2. Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi (Toyohashi) [8/31/93] 08/31: #5. Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr. vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy (Tokyo) [8/31/83] 09/01: #9. Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton vs. Joe Malenko & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (Tokyo) [9/1/90] 09/02: #10. Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto (Tokyo) [9/2/95] 09/05: #5. Chris Hero vs. Akira Tozawa (Reseda) [9/5/10] 09/06: #2. Davey Richards vs. Shingo Takagi (Chicago) [9/6/09] 09/06: #4. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi (Chicago) [9/6/09] 09/08: #2. Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko (Shea Stadium) [9/8/80] 09/11: #4. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (Orlando) [9/11/05] 09/11: #8. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (New York) [9/11/10] 09/12: #3. Kenta & Marufuji vs. Kanemura & Hashi (Tokyo) [9/12/03] 09/12: #8. Kobashi vs. Nagata (Tokyo) [9/12/03] 09/14: #7. Keiji Muto vs. Hiroshi Hase (Hiroshima) [9/14/90] 09/14: #9. Naomichi Marufuji & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenta & Kota Ibushi (Tokyo) [9/14/08] 09/15: #6. Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (Chicago Ridge) [9/15/07] 09/16: #3. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (New York) [9/16/06] 09/16: #9. Averno vs. La Sombra (Mexico City) [9/16/11] 09/16: #10. Angle vs. Lesnar (Raleigh) [9/16/03] 09/17: #2. Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (Kansas City) [9/17/81] 09/18: #10. KENTA vs. SUWA (Budokan Hall) [9/18/05] 09/19: #4. Blue Panther vs. Villano V (Mexico City) [9/19/08] 09/19: #5. Shiro Koshinaka vs. Nobuhiko Takada (Fukuoka) [9/19/86] 09/20: #5. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (Osaka) [9/20/89] 09/22: #8. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (Mexico City) [9/22/95] 09/22: #9. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Los Angeles) [9/22/02] 09/24: #10. Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge (San Diego) [9/24/02] 09/25: #8. Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards (Boston) [9/25/09] 09/28: #5. Freebirds vs. Road Warriors (Chicago) [9/28/85] 09/29: #8. Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (St Paul) [9/29/85] 10/01: #1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe (New York) [10/1/05] 10/03: #7. Ric Flair vs. Stan Hansen (Atlanta) [10/3/82] 10/04: #3. Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit (Kansas City) [10/4/99] 10/05: #1. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (Portland) [10/5/08] 10/05: #3. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (St. Louis) [10/5/97] 10/06: #9. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (Tokyo) [10/6/87] 10/07: #3. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (Philadelphia) [10/7/95] 10/08: #1. Tanahashi vs. Suzuki (Tokyo) [10/8/12] 10/09: #4. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kensuke Sasaki (Tokyo) Dome) [10/9/00] 10/10: #3. Dick Togo & Mens Teioh & Shiryu & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs. Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Tiger Mask & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji (Tokyo) [10/10/96] 10/10: #7. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito (Tokyo) [10/10/11] 10/11: #8. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Minoru Tanaka & Koji Kanemoto (Tokyo) [10/11/99] 10/16: #3. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (Chicago Ridge) [10/16/04] 10/17: #2. Edge & Christian vs. Hardys (Cleveland) [10/17/99] 10/20: #1. Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (Little Rock) [10/20/02] 10/21: #9. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (Tokyo) [10/21/97] 10/21: #10. Bruiser Brody vs. Jerry Blackwell (St. Paul) [10/21/84] 10/23: #4. Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama (Tokyo) [10/23/11] 10/23: #7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama (Nagoya) [10/23/99] 10/24: #4. Cactus Jack vs. Vader (New Orleans) [10/24/93] 10/24: #10. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler (Minneapolis) [10/24/10] 10/26: #4. Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (Las Vegas) [10/26/97] 10/27: #5. Steiners vs. Nasty Boys (Chicago) [10/27/90] 10/29: #2. Kenta vs. Naomichi Marufuji (Tokyo Budokan) [10/29/06] 10/31: #1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (Tokyo) [10/31/98] 11/05: #5. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (Budokan Hall) [11/5/05] 11/06: #4. Love Machine & Eddy Guerrero vs. El Hijo Del Santo & Octagon (Los Angeles) [11/6/94] 11/11: #9. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto (Tokyo) [11/11/07] 11/14: #10. Eddie Gilbert vs. Terry Funk (Wayne, NJ) [11/14/92] 11/15: #4. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Troy, NY) [11/15/89] 11/15: #9. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (Orlando) [11/15/09] 11/16: #7. Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman (Wichita) [11/16/98] 11/17: #7. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (New York) [11/17/96] 11/18: #6. Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko vs. Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes (Savannah) [11/18/91] 11/24: #1. Harley Race vs. Ric Flair (Greensboro) [11/24/83] 11/24: #9. Kerry Von Erich vs. Michael Hayes (Dallas) (Cage Match) [11/24/83] 11/24: #10. Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine (Greensboro) (Dog Collar Match) [11/24/83] 12/02: #5. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama (Tokyo) [12/2/07] 12/05: #6. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (Tokyo) [12/5/97] 12/05: #6. AMW vs. XXX (Orlando) [12/5/04] 12/05: #7. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (Tokyo) [12/5/84] 12/06: #7. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (Tokyo) [12/6/96] 12/09: #8. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Tokyo) [12/9/01] 12/11: #5. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (Orlando) [12/11/05] 12/13: #10. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis (Tokyo) [12/13/95] 12/14: #3. Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (Osaka) [12/14/00] 12/17: #6. KENTA vs. Low Ki (Edison, NJ) [12/17/05] 12/18: #8. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (New York) [12/18/10] 12/20: #7. Koji Kanemoto vs. Fujita Junior Hayato (Tokyo) [12/20/09] 12/22: #10. Bob Backlund vs. Nobuhiko Takada (Osaka) [12/22/88] 12/23: #8. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (Tokyo) [12/23/00] 12/25: #7. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich (Dallas) [12/25/82] 12/27: #6. Ric Flair vs. Vader (Charlotte) [12/27/93] 12/29: #6. Nigel Mcguinness vs. Austin Aries (New York) [12/29/07] 12/30: #9. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels (San Antonio) [12/30/03] EDIT: Fixed the Umaga/Cena date to be the Royal Rumble match. Thanks JR. EDIT2: Reformatted the entire list so it was standardized, added locations to several matches, limited to only the top 10 finishers each year.

That shouldn't be impossible. Here's two months (Genesis was the star ratings list for 3.5+): 10/1/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi ***** [ROH] 10/2/04 Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson **** [ROH] 10/3/02 Edge vs. Kurt Angle ****1/4 [WWF] 10/4/99 Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit ****1/4 [WCW] 10/5/97 Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in the Cell) ***** [WWF] 10/6/07 Randy Orton vs. Triple H (Last Man Standing) ****1/4 [WWF] 10/7/02 Kane vs. Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Jeff Hardy/Rob Van Dam vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/Spike Dudley (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) ****1/4 [WWF] 10/8/01 Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle ***1/2 [WWF] 10/9/04 Kenta Kobashi vs. KENTA **** [NOAH] 10/10/10 Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle **** [TNA] 10/11/03 Akira Taue/Daisuke Ikeda/Mohammed Yone vs. Kenta Kobashi/Tamon Honda/KENTA ***1/2 [NOAH] 10/12/02 Yoshinobu Kanemaru/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. KENTA/Takashi Sugiura (IWGP Jr. Tag Titles) ***3/4 [NOAH] 10/13/12 Kevin Steen vs. Michael Elgin ****1/2 [ROH] 10/14/12 Christopher Daniels/Kazarian vs. Kurt Angle/AJ Styles vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./Hernandez **** [TNA] 10/15/09 AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle ****1/4 [TNA] 10/16/04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk ***** [ROH] 10/17/99 Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy vs. Edge/Christian (Ladder) ****1/2 [WWF] 10/18/09 Matt Morgan v Kurt Angle **** [TNA] 10/19/03 Kurt Angle vs. John Cena ****1/4 [WWF] 10/20/02 Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit vs. Edge/Rey Mysterio ****3/4 [WWF] 10/21/01 Chris Jericho vs. Rock ****1/2 [WWF] 10/22/00 Kurt Angle vs. Rock (No DQ) ****1/4 [WWF] 10/23/94 Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair (Cage) ****1/4 [WCW] 10/24/93 Vader vs. Cactus Jack (Texas Deathmatch) ****3/4 [WCW] 10/25/12 Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle ***3/4 [TNA] 10/26/97 Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrero (Mask vs. Title) ****3/4 [WCW] 10/27/96 Dean Malenko vs. Rey Misterio Jr. ****1/4 [WCW] 10/28/07 Undertaker vs. Batista **** [WWF] 10/29/06 Naomichi Marufuji vs. KENTA (GHC Title) ****3/4 [NOAH] 10/30/94 Shawn Michaels/Diesel vs. Razor Ramon/123 Kid ****1/2 [WWF] 10/31/02 Edge vs. Chris Benoit ***3/4 [WWF] 11/1/03 KENTA/Naomichi Marufuji vs. Ricky Marvin/Juventud Guerrera (GHC Jr. Tag Titles) ****1/2 [NOAH] 11/2/98 Rock vs. Ken Shamrock ***1/2 [WWF] 11/3/05 Samoa Joe/Christopher Daniels/Alex Shelley vs. AJ Styles/Sonjay Dutt/Austin Aries **** [TNA] 11/4/11 Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes (Street Fight) ***3/4 [WWF] 11/5/05 Kenta Kobashi/Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima ****3/4 [NOAH] 11/6/02 AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn **** [TNA] 11/7/99 Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka ****1/4 [ECW] 11/8/07 Christian Cage vs. Kaz ***1/2 [TNA] 11/9/08 Kurt Angle vs. Abyss (Falls Count Anywhere) ****1/4 [TNA] 11/10/04 Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Elix Skipper (Ultimate X) **** [TNA] 11/11/12 Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries (Ladder) ****1/4 [TNA] 11/12/98 Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera ***1/2 [WCW] 11/13/05 Jeff Jarrett/Chris Harris/James Storm vs. Rhino/Brother Ray/Brother Devon **** [TNA] 11/14/02 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio ****1/4 [WWF] 11/15/89 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (I Quit) ***** [WCW] 11/16/98 Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman ****1/4 [WCW] 11/17/96 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin ****1/2 [WWF] 11/18/95 Chris Benoit vs. Eddy Guerrero ****1/2 [WCW] 11/19/06 Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe ****1/4 [TNA] 11/20/06 Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro (Ladder) ***3/4 [WWF] 11/21/04 Naomichi Marufuji vs. Go Shiozaki (GHC Hardcore Title) ***3/4 [NOAH] 11/22/08 Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson ****1/2 [ROH] 11/23/97 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. **** [WCW] 11/24/96 Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio Jr. ****1/2 [WCW] 11/25/92 Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels ****1/2 [WWF] 11/26/95 Bull Nakano/Akira Hokuto vs. Mayumi Ozaki/Cutie Suzuki **** [WCW] 11/27/11 Jun Akiyama vs. Taiyo Kea ****1/2 [NOAH] 11/28/09 Naruki Doi/Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid/Shingo Takagi ****1/2 [DG/DGUSA] 11/29/05 Chris Benoit vs. Booker T ***3/4 [WWF] 11/30/03 KENTA vs. Takashi Sugiura (GHC Jr. Title) ****1/4 [NOAH]

I concur. (Though as the expansive list that I posted above proves - there are recorded WWF/WWE matches that aired on every single day of the year; it's just a matter of deciding which one is your selection but you can rest assured that July 1 is taken care of with The Red Rooster defeated Jim Magen via submission at 1:57 with a chickenwing from Superstars 1989.)

This project dovetailed nicely with the "Most Televised Matches in WWF/WWE" analysis that I was working on, so I went ahead and put together a quick resource which may assist you. https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharringt...s_calendar_year

I think it's just that some people like to consult a physical copy of things instead of a digital website. At least, that's why people might want a book form. To a younger generation I know this seems weird, but a lot of people just prefer to have a bound version of things. I was shocked when I did my Kickstarter how many people wanted a physical book instead of just the cheaper PDFs. The altruistic side of things is that people are supporting Graham's work and it's a essentially a way to make a donation to his project and get something in return.

I'll have a larger update to this project sometime later. I just went through my results again and found a few shows that I had overlooked (like WWF on TSN in 1984 or International versions of some of the Syndicated shows). I'm also missing a handful of RAW/SMACKDOWN/HEAT/JAKKED/VELOCITY/SHOTGUN results that I hope to fix.

I didn't filter out women but they don't fare as well because: A) more valet/manager longevity than active wrestler - ie Sherri shorter matches than average male match C) doesn't include many contests (swimsuit, costume, etc) which can represent a lot of female appearances for Sable, Debra, Dawn Marie. I will look at this because its a good question but my gut throws names like Trish, Lita, Kelly Kelly, Layla and Mickie James and maybe Molly, as top females in term of wrestling time.

For me, it's always about the international rotations. I loved the dynamic of foreign wrestlers coming to the US and territory champs going to Mexico, Europe and Japan. There's so many people who have skillsets that would be greatly enhanced by more opportunities to work overseas and refine their talents with the veterans in those places.

Two things: #1: Everyone should support Graham's book! I'm glad he's publishing his book and his work has been invaluable for years. #2: Cheap plug: My project, Wrestlenomics, has two volumes. The first volume might be a good supplement and it's built from taking results from sources like Graham's website and Wrestling Observer newsletters and turning them into annual summaries by federation - win/loss records, most popular feuds/opponents, tag team records, etc- there's limited commentary, it's mostly going to be just facts. Kickstarter supporters have seen PDF previews for WWF 1982-1993 and WCW 1983-2001. The second volume (coming out much later) is going to be pro wrestling analytics - trying to use econometric models and other tricks to look at the information in my own way.

It's absolutely true that this list is very post-1982-centric. In terms of total matches, pre-1980, Bruno blows everyone away: 1963-1979 WWWF/WWF 1. Bruno Sammartino: 1843 matches 2. Baron Mikel Scicluna: 1473 matches 3. Chief Jay Strongbow: 1336 matches 4. Gorilla Monsoon: 1281 matches 5. Johnny Rodz: 1203 matches 6. Prof Toru Tanaka: 981 matches 7. Arnold Skaaland: 950 matches 8. Dominic DeNucci: 920 matches 9. Victor Rivera: 898 matches 10. Tony Garea: 897 matches 11. Ivan Putski: 755 matches 12. Larry Zbyszko: 734 matches 13. SD Jones: 697 matches 14. Pete Sanchez: 691 matches 15. Killer Kowalski: 681 matches 16. Luke Graham: 675 matches 17. Spiros Arion: 668 matches 18. Stan Stasiak: 641 matches 19. Manuel Soto: 616 matches 20. Pedro Morales: 613 matches 21. Tony Altimore: 579 matches 22. Johnny Valiant: 559 matches 23. Bobo Brazil: 535 matches 24. Haystacks Calhoun: 533 matches 25. Johnny Rivera: 508 matches I'm still trying to figure out the best way to determine which matches were and were not televised. Here's an example of what I'm tackling (I made up these results) EVENT @ PLACE (ATTENDANCE) All Stars Wrestling taping: A. Dory Dixon defeated Tony Altimore B. The Shadow defeated Gene Kelly C. Prime Time Wrestling 9/30/84: Skull Murphy & Brute Bernard defeated Pete Sanchez & Tony Martinelli in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0 8/15/79: D. Ted Lewin defeated Manuel Soto E. Pedro Morales pinned Bull Johnson 8/22/79: F. Ted Dibiase & Tito Santana defeated Jerry & Jimmy Valiant via disqualification G. Andre the Giant pinned Big John Studd with a reverse cradle at 12:08 In this scenario, I would assume that matches C/E/F/H/I were televised (at least once, possibly more than once on several shows) while A/B were probably dark matches before the taping actually started. However, it's possible they were taped too. Making things even weirder, PTW showed some old pre-1980 matches in the mid-1980s too so you have the issue of people who had matches air on WWF TV years after they were originally taped. To deal with this I labelled each match by what show they were possibly on as well as a separate flag on whether I thought that match ever aired. Some matches are "yes" (they aired), some matches are "no" (they probably didn't air) and some matches are "unclear" - which is that I have a length for the match, so it's very likely it did air even though it's unclear when it aired. I tried to include the "yes" and "unclear" matches in my analysis. For matches that were "yes" but didn't have a time, I applied the average length of time for a match on that show. So, as you can see, until I reconcile the results with match-airing lists, there's a lot of potential for mistakes. Furthermore, usually after 1980, if there is a time on the match, quite often it was a televised match. However, in the pre-1980 results, there's a large discrepancy between matches with times and when the TV tapings seemed to be happening. For instance, Bruno Sammartino has 256 matches with times (1963-1979) which total 4,499 minutes - this includes several 60+ minute matches with Waldo Von Erich, Gorilla Monsoon, Pedro Morales, Bill Miller and Hans Mortier. Were the MSG shows all televised even back to the 1960s?

I included some more matches with estimated times so these estimates are a bit higher than before.

It's still my first stab at the topic and I do want to refine some of the metrics before I feel really confident at the findings. I didn't include rumbles or 2/3 Falls match which would probably favor Hogan; obviously there is a lot more PPVs now for people to gain TV time (along with 3-hour RAWs and 2-hour SMACKDOWN!s). Hogan did a lot of TV interviews and wrestled on tons of house shows in the 80s (interviews to entice you to come to the show to see him) so he just didn't wrestle on free TV in a given year nearly as much as someone like Dolph does. This excludes Dark Matches too - previously Hogan/Andre wrestled lots of those, but now the champ does double-duty - once on TV and once for the live crowd. The Kane # of matches being SO much higher than HHH is a bit shocking to me; dunno if that's because Kane has stayed active these last few years while HHH has moved into a part-time role, or whether it's because Kane was doing tons of squashes (more matches, shorter overall time) or because I screwed up something! It could probably be split into quartiles of match lengths: under 3 minutes, 3-6 minutes, 6-10 minutes, above 10 minutes. Things like the Rockers/Rougeaus marathon matches obviously favor HBK's performance. There's also Triple H and Undertaker average 17-20 minutes per PPV match while guys like Kane & Big Show only average 12. Over time, it adds up - Kane only had about 1,650 PPV minutes in my model while HHH had almost 2900. If Kane wrestled twenty minute average (like Hunter), he'd be up at 2,580 - much closer. Guys with 1,000+ minutes of PPV time (again, this excludes rumbles but does include some iron man matches): Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Edge, Glen Jacobs, Rock, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio Jr, CM Punk, Steve Austin - obviously a very modern-centric list!

This one was nagging at me, so I decided to take a shot at it. I took my 1963-June 2013 WWWF/WWF/WWE database (compiled from TheHistoryofWWE results) and tried my best to attribute which matches were televised (ACTION ZONE ALL AMERICAN WRESTLING ALL STAR WRESTLING ALL STAR WRESTLING/MAPLE LEAF CANAL+ CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING CHASE COUNTDOWN ECW FNME FREE FOR ALL GCW HBO HEAT INT'L WRESTLING CHALLENGE JAKKED JAPAN TV Les Etoiles de la Lutte MAIN EVENT MAPLE LEAF MARCH TO WM MSG MSG/USA NXT PPV PRISM PTW RAW SATURDAY MORNING SLAM SHOTGUN SHOWDOWN SKY MOVIES+ SMACKDOWN SNME SUMMERSLAM FEVER SUMMERSLAM SPECTACTULAR SUNDAY NIGHT SLAM SUPER ASTROS SUPERSTARS OF WRESTLING TELE+2 TELE5 THE MAIN EVENT TNT TRIBUTE TV ULTIMATE CHALLENGE USA VELOCITY WRESTLING CHALLENGE WWE SUPERSTARS WWE.COM WWF GCW WWF SUPERSTARS YOUTUBE) and match lengths. For matches that were televised but I did not have the match length, I applied the average match length for that show. This ONLY includes matches - no contest, no rumbles, and explicitly excludes 2/3 falls and 3/5 falls matches. I haven't cross-referenced the televised results that I guessed against the actual show histories (i.e. I tried to figure out what matches were part of the Velocity taping, but I haven't gone back to double-check that exactly those matches aired.) This does not include interviews - so good luck adding those adjustments in! Top Fifty WWWF/WWF/WWE performers in terms of length of televised matches (through about June 2013) 1. Triple H: 6553 minutes in 677 matches televised matches. 2. Glen Jacobs: 6040 minutes in 828 matches televised matches. 3. Shawn Michaels: 6027 minutes in 600 matches televised matches. 4. Randy Orton: 5910 minutes in 530 matches televised matches. 5. Chris Jericho: 5761 minutes in 670 matches televised matches. 6. Undertaker: 5611 minutes in 698 matches televised matches. 7. John Cena: 5607 minutes in 520 matches televised matches. 8. Edge: 5411 minutes in 625 matches televised matches. 9. Bret Hart: 4698 minutes in 588 matches televised matches. 10. Big Show: 4660 minutes in 669 matches televised matches. 11. Matt Hardy: 4341 minutes in 627 matches televised matches. 12. Rey Mysterio Jr: 4317 minutes in 444 matches televised matches. 13. Christian: 4284 minutes in 574 matches televised matches. 14. CM Punk: 4005 minutes in 392 matches televised matches. 15. Jeff Hardy: 3818 minutes in 523 matches televised matches. 16. Chris Benoit: 3606 minutes in 409 matches televised matches. 17. Tito Santana: 3523 minutes in 560 matches televised matches. 18. Kurt Angle: 3370 minutes in 423 matches televised matches. 19. Rock: 3281 minutes in 404 matches televised matches. 20. Greg Valentine: 3220 minutes in 494 matches televised matches. 21. Miz: 3170 minutes in 382 matches televised matches. 22. John Morrison: 3162 minutes in 364 matches televised matches. 23. Davey Boy Smith: 3125 minutes in 471 matches televised matches. 24. Batista: 3074 minutes in 308 matches televised matches. 25. Hulk Hogan: 3072 minutes in 388 matches televised matches. 26. JBL: 2864 minutes in 444 matches televised matches. 27. Dolph Ziggler: 2727 minutes in 305 matches televised matches. 28. Booker T: 2711 minutes in 331 matches televised matches. 29. Kofi Kingston: 2665 minutes in 329 matches televised matches. 30. Owen Hart: 2617 minutes in 408 matches televised matches. 31. Rob Van Dam: 2561 minutes in 306 matches televised matches. 32. SD Jones: 2560 minutes in 477 matches televised matches. 33. Sheamus: 2520 minutes in 279 matches televised matches. 34. Bob Backlund: 2511 minutes in 258 matches televised matches. 35. Mark Henry: 2502 minutes in 403 matches televised matches. 36. Billy Gunn: 2448 minutes in 476 matches televised matches. 37. Cody Rhodes: 2435 minutes in 306 matches televised matches. 38. Randy Savage: 2425 minutes in 366 matches televised matches. 39. Tony Garea: 2345 minutes in 376 matches televised matches. 40. Shelton Benjamin: 2341 minutes in 310 matches televised matches. 41. Ted Dibiase: 2319 minutes in 377 matches televised matches. 42. Jim Neidhart: 2286 minutes in 356 matches televised matches. 43. Bob Holly: 2232 minutes in 424 matches televised matches. 44. Johnny Rodz: 2161 minutes in 358 matches televised matches. 45. Eddie Guerrero: 2154 minutes in 271 matches televised matches. 46. Sean Waltman: 2121 minutes in 396 matches televised matches. 47. Rick Martel: 2120 minutes in 327 matches televised matches. 48. Steve Austin: 2101 minutes in 236 matches televised matches. 49. MVP: 2075 minutes in 222 matches televised matches. 50. Ric Flair: 2036 minutes in 232 matches televised matches. If you want to see the detailed match counts by TV show, check out the giant chart: or the webpage I'm updating: https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharringt...ost_tv_time_wwf

With the resources of the new WWE Training Center and availability of their vast tape library, is there any particular wrestlers or matches you've been studying ?

I just did EXACTLY the same thing. Very good summary. 1992: PA -- Philly (18x), Kensington & Morrisville (1 time) 1993: PA -- Philly (14x), Radnor (2x), Morrisville (1 time); MD - North East & Essex (1x each) 1994: PA -- Philly (20x), Hamburg/Montgomeryville/Concord Township (3x), Montogeryville/ Valley Forge / Norristown / Harrisburg / Bristol / Jim Thrope (1x); FL -- Tampa & Ocala (1x each); NY -- Yonkers (1x); DE - Dover (1x); NJ -- Wildwood (1x) 1995: PA -- Philly (19x), Jim Thorpe (10x), Reading & Kennett Square (3x each), Glenolden (2x), Mifflintown & Hazelton (1x), FL -- Ft. Lauderdale (3x), Tampa (2x), Orlando (2x); NY -- Middletown (2x), Queens (1x); DE - Dover (1x); MA - Salisbury Beach (1x) 1996: PA -- Philly 17x), Plymouth Meeting (8x), Jim Thorpe (7x), Reading (5x), Glenolden (4x), Allentown (4x), Downington (2x), Bensalem (2x), Warwick (1x) ,Jim Thrope (1x); NY -- Middletown (4x), Staten Island (3x), Queens (3x), Deer Park (1x); MA -- Revere (2x), Webster (1x); Delaware - Burlington (1x), Wilmington (1x) 1997: PA -- Philadelphia (15x), Downington (6x), Monaca (4x), Scranton (4x), Allentown (3x), Warwick (3x), Rostraver (2x), New Kensington (1x), Beaver Falls (1x), Downingtown (1x), Hazelton (1x), Kutztown (1x), Hamburg (1x), Indiana (1x), Jim Thorpe (1x); NY -- Queens (8x), Buffalo (3x), Rochester (2x), Jamestown (1x), Elmhurst (1x), Syracuse (1x), Poughkeepsie (1x), Lake Grove (1x); MA -- Revere (8x), Waltham (6x), Webster (2x), Plymouth Meeting (1x), Downington (1x); Trenton (5x), Asbury Park (2x), Blackwood (2x), Elizabeth (1x), Wildwood (1x) ,Belmar (1x); FL -- Ft. Lauderdale (2x), Orlando (1x); CT -- Stamford (1x), New Britain (1x); WV -- West Liberty (1x); Delaware -- Glasgow (1x) 1998: PA -- Philadelphia (16x), Pittsburgh (3x), Rostraver (3x), Altoona (3x), Monaca (3x), Wilkes-Barre (2x), Hamburg (2x), Lebanon (1x), York (1x), Allentown (1x), Harrisburg (1x); NY -- Queens (7x), Buffalo (5x), Poughkeepsie (2x), Rochester (1x), Auburn (1x), Staten Island (1x), Poughskeepsie (1x), Freeport (1x); FL -- Ft. Lauderdale (4x), Kissimmee (4x), Tampa (3x); NJ -- Blackwood (3x), Woodbridge (2x), Trenton (2x), Atlantic City (1x), Asbury Park (1x), Belmar (1x) ; MA -- Revere (4x), Worcester (2x), Waltham (2x), Fall River (1x); LA -- New Orleans (2x), Baton Rouge (2x), Thibodeaux (1x), Alexandria (1x), Chalmette (1x); CT -- New Britian (2x), Manchester (1x), New Britain (1x); AL -- Birmingham (1x) Ozark (1x), Montgomery (1x); OH -- Cleveland (2x), Dayton (1x); GA -- Marietta (2x), Dalton (1x); IN - Indianapolis (1x); Tokyo (1x); MI - Inkster (1x) 1999: PA -- Philadelphia (11x), Wilkes-Barre (3x), Johnstown (2x), Lebanon (2x), Pittsburgh (2x), Rostraver (1x), York (1x), Allentown (1x); NY -- Queens (4x), Poughkeepsie (4x), Staten Island (3x), Buffalo (3x), Binghamton (2x), Freeport (2x), White Plains (1x), Schenectady (1x); FL -- Orlando (2x), Kissimmee (2x), Ft. Lauderdale (2x), Cocoa Beach (2x), Daytona Beach (1x), Palmetto (1x), Tampa (1x), Jacksonville (1x); GA -- Columbus (2x), Gainesville (2x), Dalton (2x), Warner Robbins (1x), Augusta (1x), Atlanta (1x), Duluth (1x); MI -- Lansing (3x), Grand Rapids (3x), Detroit (2x), Plymouth (1x), Flint (1x); OH -- Cleveland (3x), Dayton (3x), Columbus (1x), Warren (1x), Toledo (1x); NJ -- Trenton (4x), Asbury Park (1x), South Amboy (1x), Belmar (1x), Edison (1x); MA -- Worcester (3x), Fall River (3x), Boston (1x), Revere (1x); LA -- Baton Rouge (2x), Houma (2x), Alexandria (1x), West Wego (1x), New Orleans (1x); SC -- Columbia (2x), Spartanburg (2x), Rock Hill (1x); NC -- Raleigh (1x), Asheville (1x), Winston-Salem (1x), Charlotte (1x), Concord (1x); IL -- Villa Park (2x), Chicago (1x), Peoria (1x); DE -- Dover (3x); TN -- Chattanooga (1x), Nashville (1x); VA -- Salem (1x), Richmond (1x); AL -- Dothan (1x), Birmingham (1x); IN -- South Bend (1x), Gary (1x); CT -- Hartford (1x); NH -- Hampton Beach (1x) 2000-2001: PA -- Philadelphia (6x), Pittsburgh (1x), Bethlehem (1x); NY -- New York City (4x), Buffalo (2x), Poughkeepsie (2x), Queens (1x), Utica (1x), Schenectady (1x); FL -- St. Petersburg (2x), Ft. Lauderdale (1x), Tallahassee (1x), Jacksonville (1x), Orlando (1x); WI -- Milwaukee (4x), Green Bay (1x), LaCrosse (1x); OH -- Toledo (2x), Cincinnati (1x), Cleveland (1x); VA -- Virginia Beach (1x), Salem (1x), Norfolk (1x), Richmond (1x); MO -- Kansas City (2x), St. Charles (1x), Poplar Bluff (1x); CT -- Danbury (3x); NH -- Salem (3x); LA -- New Orleans (2x, Baton Rouge (1x); IN -- Indianapolis (1x), Evansville (1x); MN -- Minneapolis (2x); IL -- Villa Park (1x), Chicago (1x); MI -- Ypsilanti (1x), Battle Creek (1x); TX -- Houston (1x), Dallas (1x); AL -- Birmingham (1x), GA -- Atlanta (1x); Mississauga, Ontario (1x); NJ -- Asbury Park (1x) DC -- Washington (1x); AR -- Pine Bluff (1x); CA -- Los Angeles (1x); MA -- Worcester (1x) So, cities with 10+ shows were 136 Philly shows, 24 Queens shows, 18 shows in Jim Thorpe (PA), 15 shows in Revere (MA), 13 shows in Buffalo (NY), 12 shows in Ft. Lauderdale, 11 shows in Trenton... # of Shows by Month

Also, there were some questions that didn't get addressed during the podcast that I wanted to repost here for greater exposure: Person1 * Was there a Ted DiBiase of this set? (Someone who did a lot of high-quality work but also had a ton of matches where they phoned it in?) * Do we have to re-evaluate Greg Gagne’s reputation as a poor wrestler? * Was DeBeers better than his matches on this set would have you believe (i.e. competent, could be carried, occasionally good) or worse? * Now that you’ve seen Brody sell like a champ for Blackwell, can the healing begin and the Brody hate stop? Person2 * Heel in peril sections: was this something distinctly AWA and why did it originate? Did it affect the viewing of the podcast members one way or another? * How losing the boards changed the voting results for this set, not so much in terms of the amount of ballots but if we're seeing less "hive mind" voting? * Rose, Somers & Sherri: just how awesome this trio was, how they came to be put together, where they rank all-time among heel tag teams, whether or not they could have made any halfway decent blowjob tag into superstars during their run together. Can we get a Doug Somers set from Will?? * Is Verne Gagne a shithead?

As promised - closest to the pin stats! Four Ballots that were closest to the groupthink o soup23 (closest) o Masters423 o Childs o Phil Schenider Four Ballots that were furthest from the group o dave musgrave o ironmikesharpe o Stunning Grover o Cowboy Wally o Nomad (furthest)

Thanks! Compared to footage evaluation, compiling, distribution and debate - tallying stats ain't hard. It's a lot of fun, and I try to give at least as much depth as I'd be curious to read.

I keep getting the feeling that this is the year for R&R.

I hear ya. Here's my last shot: I split the shows up into four buckets: 0-1300 (quartile 1), 1300-1861 (quartile 2), 1861-3000 (quartile 3), 3000+ (quartile 4) What I'm seeing is that they're running more small shows, and so it's pulling the average down. RAW NUMBERS: 1999 Q1: 775 (3) Q2: 1669 (24) Q3: 2329 (42) Q4: 8289 (70) (Read as three small shows with average of 775 attendance avg, twenty-four medium shows with 1,669 attendance avg, forty-two large shows with 2,329 attendance average, seventy giant shows with 8,289 attendance average). 2000 Q1: 812 (4) Q2: 1663 (19) Q3: 2334 (47) Q4: 8834 (59) 2001 Q1: 717 (3) Q2: 1708 (17) Q3: 2283 (40) Q4: 8383 (60) 2002 Q1: 965 (7) Q2: 1595 (41) Q3: 2329 (31) Q4: 8227 (48) 2003 Q1: 965 (10) Q2: 1554 (46) Q3: 2265 (33) Q4: 10144 (36) 2004 Q1: 990 (15) Q2: 1534 (55) Q3: 2293 (34) Q4: 9706 (33) 2005 Q1: 928 (28) Q2: 1457 (41) Q3: 2150 (20) Q4: 8476 (33) 2006 Q1: 959 (36) Q2: 1494 (46) Q3: 2286 (11) Q4: 7812 (21) 2007 Q1: 967 (36) Q2: 1494 (27) Q3: 2228 (21) Q4: 7598 (21) 2008 Q1: 884 (44) Q2: 1526 (25) Q3: 2112 (19) Q4: 7772 (18) 2009 Q1: 972 (48) Q2: 1475 (25) Q3: 2153 (18) Q4: 8470 (20) 2010 Q1: 889 (59) Q2: 1530 (24) Q3: 2149 (24) Q4: 8390 (18) 2011 Q1: 857 (60) Q2: 1599 (27) Q3: 2096 (22) Q4: 8889 (18) 2012 Q1: 818 (46) Q2: 1499 (27) Q3: 2123 (27) Q4: 9103 (17) 2013 Q1: 1006 (21) Q2: 1554 (27) Q3: 2100 (17) Q4: 8300 (14) Total Average of attendance Q1: 911 (420) Q2: 1546 (471) Q3: 2237 (406) Q4: 8600 (486)

Everything about the Rey Mysterio jr vs Eddy Guerrero Feud in WCW from Sept 1997 to Nov 1997 was incredible. Rey's previous feud with Ultimo Dragon (August to Nov 1996) had great stuff too. Likewise, Dean/Ultimo (Dec 96 to Feb 97) was stellar. Big fan of Rey's work with Tajiri in Sept 2003-Jan 2004 as well. The singles matches in the Shawn/Marty Jannetty breakup in 1993 were awesome. Awesome Kong/Gail Kim Dec 2008 to August 2008 TNA work was great... that might be "main event" in a way though since it was the premiere women's feud in the US. Benoit/Guerrero had lots of good singles matches from 1995 to 1997 WCW and the Malenko/Benoit vs Jericho/Guerrero tags in 1998 were awesome. (Of course they rekindled that feud from 2001 to 2005 in WWE as well.) Of course Hardyz vs Edge/Christian (and throw the Dudleyz in there too) produced a ton of great matches, but I wouldn't consider those "forgotten". Depends on what you mean by "main event" - obviously the Daniels/AJ/Samoa Joe matches were terrific and really for TNA at the time, they were the draw that people cared most about. Jericho/Edge had a terrific feud in Summer 2002 including being part of "the greatest episode of Smackdown ever?" with a cage match. I loved all of the Angle/Rey interactions in WWE from 2002 to 2006 - starting at SummerSlam and continuing Kurt's very last Smackdown match (6/2/06). Ricky Steamboat vs Steve Austin in WCW (1992-1994) including Steamboat/Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds? Benoit/Finlay - 1998 in WCW and 2006 in WWE? Tajiri/Nunzio/Super Crazy in ECW 1999-2001? If you want really off the beaten path, DDP vs Marc Mero (Johnny B Badd) in late 1995/early 1996 is better than one might expect?

I don't know whether I should be proud or ashamed that after I heard Meltzer make that claim yesterday, I actually did start pulling numbers from puroresufan.com with the intention of looking at how the last decade was in terms of NJPW attendance before I even saw you post this. I gave up on that technique and this morning tried a quicker approach utilizing the WON results June 2008 - July 2013 which I've already compiled. They included 517 NJPW shows (which had attendance numbers for the majority - 493 shows) which provides a very nice sample. However, I this dataset may be missing many of the biggest shows (i.e. iPPVs that might have been reviewed separately by Dave) so I may need to amend those results into the dataset. Let me outright state that my NJPW knowledge is not strong. I listen to WO radio, sometimes I'll read the reviews or follow buzz online, but I don't know the players or situations that well. Names are easy to screw up (I remember having to google to check that Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hiromu Takahashi are two separate people.) Thus, trying to offer conclusions on a product that I'm not familiar has potential for some really basic mistakes. I started with isolating the top 16 "important" NJPW wrestlers for the shows that I had in the database. (Since I'm using Data Analysis package in normal Excel you're limited to 16 variables unless you utilize an add-in. While this is more evidence that it's time I just learn R, I stubbornly continue to ply my trade in my own personal Pro Wrestling Visicalc World.) I ranked "importance" by giving points depending on their place on the card - if you were in the last match you got a full point and if you were in the opener, you didn't get a point. That was balanced against total number of shows to eliminate wrestlers like Akebono who did only 5 shows in the database, but was at the top of the card for those shows. The people that came up were: Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, Yuji Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Takashi Iizuka, Wataru Inoue, Gedo, Karl Anderson, Yujiro Takahashi, Prince Devitt, Tomoaki Honma, Tetsuya Naito. This did exclude a few people who technically were on many, many shows but their position on the card wasn't sufficiently high enough - including Tiger Mask, Jado, Taichi and Manabu Nakanishi. Additionally, there are some people that didn't make the cut which I've noticed have moved up the card substantially in the last few years such as King Fale, Kazuchika Okada, Tama Tonga. It might be more appropriate to substitute one (or more) of these wrestlers in for guys who aren't moving up the card like Wataru Inoue, Ryusuke Taguchi or Takashi Iizuka. The quick & dirty attendance regression against which guys were on the card would suggest: Statistically Relevant (p-value is 0.02 or lower) Shinsuke Nakamura (886) Togi Makabe (793) Yuji Nagata (774) Hirooki Goto (669) Hiroshi Tanahashi (501) Tetsuya Naito (361)* (p-value = 0.05) Tomohiro Ishii (-1003) Statistically Questionable (p-value is above 0.15) Toru Yano (287) Prince Devitt (169) Tomoaki Honma (-42) Karl Anderson (-50) Ryusuke Taguchi (-154) Wataru Inoue (-245) Gedo (-272) Yujiro Takahashi (-286) Takashi Iizuka (-407) This is implying that if I card with all of these people on it, we'd draw a little under 2,000 people. This doesn't take into account the era of the wrestler - for instance, I know Prince Devitt had a heel turn recently so it would be conceivable to separate his tenure (much like separating Okada into his Rainmaker and pre-TNA personas). It would be possible to treat these wrestlers as different people if I knew who and where to draw the lines. Here is a look at the NJPW Talent average place on the card (100%=last match) over the timeframe. June 2008-July 2013 Attendance of NJPW Shows (from WON Results Section) All of these numbers don't necessarily answer Dave's core claims. I don't see a massive uptick in attendance during my timeframe - but I'm not sure exactly when (what timeframe) he's holding Tanahashi accountable for improving gates. I'm not even entirely sure all of the NJPW shows are being represented, including the most important ones. I don't have any idea how iPPV has performed in Japan or the US and profitability of said iPPV programs. Overall attendance in the dataset I had actually is a declining trend: NJPW Attendance (All Shows from Dataset) 2008 (Jun-Dec): 2,367 (51 shows) 2009 (Jan-Dec): 2,036 (100 shows) 2010 (Jan-Dec): 1,875 (104 shows) 2011 (Jan-Dec): 1,660 (105 shows) 2012 (Jan-Dec): 1,545 (92 shows) 2013 (Jan-July): 1,501 (40 shows) However, before I project a "sky-is-falling" trend let me again reiterate: (a) This may be missing some of the big shows NJPW did ( This includes only results from the WON Section (which includes some of those tiny shows they did with less than 300 people and a crew of young fellas). If we look just at the blue dots (which were all of the shows under 2,500 people), the annual averages aren't changing that much: NJPW (Small Shows under 2,500 people) 2008: 1,345 (39 shows) 2009: 1,284 (82 shows) 2010: 1,282 (88 shows) 2011: 1,272 (95 shows) 2012: 1,322 (86 shows) 2013: 1,398 (39 shows) What is the timeframe that Dave is comparing Tanahashi to - the mid-2000s? My initial takeaway is that from a drawing standpoint in the last five years, Tanahashi is among the top guys in NJPW, but it's not the top nor is he clearly a sole difference maker. (He's not a Hulk Hogan.) However, I would need more context before I could say whether I thought the claim was ludicrous or could be substantiated. EDIT: I'm getting feedback about the big shows that I'm missing from this experiment (i.e. Wrestle Kingdom shows), so I might have to dig around to add those to the dataset. I've since identified about 130 NJPW events that weren't in my dataset for this timeframe (see https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharringt..._draw_2008_2013 for a list which shows were and were not included). Don't know when/if I will get combing through the results to augment the dataset with these. I might make an effort to add all of the PPVs (39 were missing) and TV shows (34 were missing) for starters. EDIT2: I started taking all of the 1999-2013 results from http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/ Average Attendance 1999: 5,183 attendance (139 shows out of 141) 2000: 5,161 attendance (129 shows out of 131) 2001: 5,212 attendance (120 shows out of 122) 2002: 4,246 attendance (127 shows out of 129) 2003: 4,168 attendance (125 shows out of 127) 2004: 3,631 attendance (137 shows out of 140) 2005: 3,348 attendance (122 shows out of 124) 2006: 2,566 attendance (114 shows out of 117) 2007: 2,681 attendance (105 shows out of 109) 2008: 2,425 attendance (106 shows out of 108) 2009: 2,628 attendance (111 shows out of 114) 2010: 2,334 attendance (125 shows out of 132) 2011: 2,368 attendance (127 shows out of 136) 2012: 2,480 attendance (117 shows out of 122) 2013: 2,721 attendance (79 shows out of 85)

Regarding the ebb and flow of Edges support, I will say that I think Dave is expanding his base of voters so that ought to affect the results a bit. Also each year a single voter may find different reasons to support or abstain from supporting someone and I think it's going to vary every year. For instance, you're looking at the top ten overall and within each category I think you can start to mentally rank the candidates. Someone may put Edge far behind Cena but behind Batista. Last year, less support while this year it grows. I think he has a good rep as a hard worker and top brand champion which doesn't hurt. I expect his support with grow with the next three years.

There is. You can choose a category, and then vote for nobody if you feel none of them are worthy. This is different than not choosing the category and not being counted as part of the voting field. Really? I have never heard of this before. Yup. From the ballot itself: "The election is broken down into a number of categories. You should check each category for wrestlers that you feel you are familiar enough with based on geography that you've either traveled or are familiar with, and based on the time you have followed pro wrestling. You do not have to vote for a wrestler in every category you've checked." Okay but do we know if you check a category and vote for no one that it counts as a no vote against all of the above ? Originally, when there was a paper ballot - you would actually check off things next to the categories. The opening statement "I FOLLOWED THE HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA CANDIDATES" was essentially a Yes/No that you'd be answering. I don't know how others would handle it, but if I was doing that, I would just send Dave an email that said "X I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN AUSTRALIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS/PUERTO RICO CANDIDATES" and put "NONE OF THESE" under it for my email.