Microstatistics

Based on my top ranked matches, I decided to do a very quick, mini version of Loss's project. Just like any kind of list like this, this is a constant work in progress. My Top 25 Matches of the 1990s 25) Black Tiger II vs. Wild Pegasus (NJPW, 6/11/1996) 24) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (WCW, 10/26/1997) 23) Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 9/26/1997) 22) Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 9/25/1996) 21) Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito/Tomoko Watanabe (AJW, 9/21/1997) 20) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (AJPW, 4/15/1995) 19) Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (WWF, 3/23/1997) 18) El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (CMLL, 9/19/1997) 17) Jushin Liger vs. The Great Sasuke (NJPW, 4/16/1994) 16) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 6/3/1994) 15) Akira Hokuto/Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai/Yumiko Hotta (AJW, 8/24/1994) 14) Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai/Mayumi Ozaki (AJW, 4/11/1993) 13) Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 1/31/1990) 12) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 1/20/1997) 11) Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW, 4/2/1993) 10) Akira Hokuto/Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano (AJW, 3/27/1994) 9) Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WWF, 3/20/1994) 8) El Hijo del Santo vs. El Dandy vs. Negro Casas (CMLL, 12/6/1996) 7) Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (WWF, 9/22/1996) 6) El Hijo del Santo/Octagon vs. Eddie Guerrero/Art Barr (AAA, 11/6/1994) 5) Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJPW, 4/30/1992) 4) Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai/Mayumi Ozaki (AJW, 11/26/1992) 3) El Dandy vs. Angel Azteca (EMLL, 6/1/1990) 2) Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 6/24/1999) 1) Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (AJPW, 6/9/1995)

This match is so great. Terrific mat exchanges throughout, great big brother-little brother dynamic between Otsuka and Yone, Otsuka being his usual awesome self in general. Liked all the double team moves and saves as the match escalated. Plus Yone's look of shock after he managed to secure the win was a visual for the ages. **** 1/4 Great thread, by the way. Carl Greco is very underrated. I don't consider him to be near the level of Ishikawa/Otsuka/Ikeda but he is still very good, particularly on the mat.

Incredible charisma + Incredible skill. His match with Americo Rocca from 1/27/1984 is one of the great matches I have ever seen. His overall greatness was easily evident despite the limited amount of footage. RIP.

You are the one who derailed the entire thread with your pointless hot take (lucha mostly sucks) and then got defensive when people called you out for it. Obviously people are going to get upset and look for explanations when you arrogantly dismiss an entire genre. Then you accuse lucha fans of being thin skinned even though any criticism of 80s US wrestling or Ric Flair or anything you regard highly causes you to respond in a hostile manner. This is not a personal attack on you but I wanted to point out some of the hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance. My take on the topic is this: Classic puro is very similar to American wrestling so it is very easy for people to get into it. Lucha is its own thing, a completely unique style and genre and so is completely new to people used to American wrestling. Some people are able to get into it, some aren't. Simple as that.

Let's not get too carried away here This company. 46 year old son of the owner going toe to toe with a monster heel and the future ace.

Agree with the two comments above. It's not exactly good but I never got the "OMG WORST MATCH EVER" hype.

This match never did anything for me. I like detail work as much as anyone but there was simply too much emphasis on it, not enough big picture stuff. Violent and gritty, yes, but so is every BattlArts/Futen match. Decent match, though. ** 3/4

After a quick rewatch (doesn't hurt it's 1.5 minutes long) I realized the storytelling was definitely on point. Brock thinks he can casually dominate Goldberg like he has everyone else but gets shoved to the ground. He is stunned but tries to laugh it off, all cocky, but Goldberg catches him with a spear which ended up being a lethal blow. Another spear and jackhammer and it's over. Lesnar's arrogance got him in trouble and Goldberg was smart enough to get in the major kill shots early and end it. Good match. *** This was kind of like Hashimoto-Ogawa for me where the bizarro world booking momentarily overshadowed the match quality.

#1 stunned me. Really expected #2, #3 or #9 to take that spot based on Loss's comments and ratings in the past. I won't argue with #1 though. In many ways, it represents the best of pro wrestling.

It's hilarious they gave the men's Raw vs. Smackdown match 50+ minutes. 80s New Japan Elimination matches didn't go that long. So Lesnar ends the streak, destroys ace Cena and is generally unbeatable but gets squashed by a 50 year old guy who hasn't wrestled in 12 years? Hmmm.

Huh I always thought it was this one. I have even seen someone give it as high as **** 1/4 which prompted me to watch it for the first time since 2007 itself. Will check out the ONS match.

Yep. Many of the "toxic" effects of PC culture result solely from the anti-PC crowd's ridiculously exaggerated overreactions to everything. PC culture has its flaws but the irrational and blind hatred of it has contributed to many of the developments seen today in society.

So unless I counted wrong/missed something, 3 Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue tags made the Top 50. 4 in the Top 100. 5 in the Top 150. Quite the feud.

It hurts me in my heart that you had Hansen-Kobashi (and so much other great stuff) below that garbage joshi cage match. It's funny, in a 180 degree contrast, I was disappointed the cage match missed the Top 50 by a whisker and finished below stuff like that, IMO, mediocre Hansen-Kawada brawl. 3 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka matches in the 100-51 range plus that Tamura match in the Top 50 show how great and underrated he is. Same for Yoshihisa Yamamoto.

Am I missing something? People talk about this as a hidden Cena gem but I thought it was barely anything. And not because of the length, I have seen matches three minutes shorter that I have given **** to. It was just Khali doing some stuff and Cena selling and then a sudden comeback and win for Cena. There was no meat or flow at all. A good Cena selling performance but that's about it. * 1/2

I don't get why the anti-PC crowd is getting so worked up. He was fired for disobeying instructions and for being unprofessional. It has nothing to do with the great Satan PC ruining everyone's fun. And what he said was not exactly tasteful so a backlash is justified. The fact that it wasn't even funny/clever made it worse.

What a great reference. Thank you for doing this. A few thoughts ... I second Superstar Sleeze's request. Interested because this got **** 3/4 during the yearbook so this is a monster drop. What a match. Would have made Top 50 for me easily. Next level brutality + classic storytelling. Shocked at how low these are. Both are masterpieces in my eyes. I am probably the only one who thinks these are better than the 1/97 match. Big drop given the praise in the yearbook thread but still a strong ranking. One of the great US tags.

All of those sound pretty terrible to be honest.

Fuck yes indeed, classic David vs. Goliath battle in a shootstyle setting with a scorching hot crowd. Infinite rewatchability value.

I never really got the high praise for the match. I mean it has some great character work and is great blowoff but all time brawl? One of the best of the 80s? Not even close. I've seen dozens of Lucha brawls that are better in terms of brawling, violence, structure, etc etc. That said it is very good. *** 1/4

I went with Banks. The babyface criticisms are wildly overstated. Who cares if she can't talk well when she brings the traits needed to be a great babyface in the ring: fire, ability to garner sympathy, sell well etc. Absolutely superb heel as well. Charlotte is really good too, terrific heel.

Co-signed. Big, loud, maximalist ≠ dumb wrestler Minimalist, subtle ≠ smart wrestler He definitely went overboard at times though, I would never deny that.

Jvk since you are exploring modern wrestling (which you have criticized a lot), are you going to give lucha another shot? What about joshi which you seemed to like?

Exactly. While context is important, star ratings or other things like that should be standardized. Otherwise is gives an unfair representation of difference in quality between styles and promotions.

What is peoples definition when they say cosplay?. Doesn't cosplay imply copying heroes/influences as a sort of tribute to them?. I don't think the majority of modern puro or indie wrestlers do no selling sequences or strike exchange, for example, in homage to 90s All Japan or to conjure nostalgia. Agree with all of this.