Kadaveri

Well she's had a couple of MOTYC calibre matches in the last few months now and they were totally different to each each stylistically. If Mariah May vs. Toni Storm isn't the #1 women's match to ever take place outside Japan it's probably #2.

They do a lot of 6/8/10 man tags, not many multi-mans.

Mio Momono The best pure babyface of her era and even just that doesn't quite do her justice. From very early on in her career she'd developed a distinct personality that she incorporated into her matches brilliantly. She's an over-energetic little pest who does things like screaming her opponent's face to throw them off. Done by almost anyone else her gimmick would just be annoying but she pulls it off and makes you think it's just her real personality. She's also an incredibly athletic cardio machine despite not looking like one and takes some incredible bumps. Her feud with Mayumi Ozaki in 2023-24 came closer than anyone to the visceral and emotional vibe of the Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto feud. vs. Maruko Nagasaki - SEAdLINNNG 5/5/17 vs. Takumi Iroha - Marvelous 11/3/19 w/ Yumi Ohka vs. Hibiki & Sareee - WAVE 12/27/20 w/ Mei Hoshizuki & Rin Kadokura vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata (Elimination) - GAEA 6/13/21 vs. Miyuki Takase vs. Sakura Hirota (Tomoe Battle Rules) - WAVE 6/29/21 vs. Chikayo Nagashima - Marvelous 5/3/23 vs. Mayumi Ozaki - Marvelous 8/7/23 vs. Mayumi Ozaki - Oz Academy 4/28/24

Chihiro Hashimoto Debuted in 2015, by 2017 had succeeded Meiko Satomura as the top star of Sendai Girls and still holds that position as of 2025. She has an amateur background and incorporates those skills into her pro-wrestling about as well as anyone in her era. She tremendous raw power/strength that makes her suplexes look especially damaging. In 2023-24 she's been out of the main title picture for a while, her tag team with Yuu (Team 200kg) is one of the best tag teams in the scene, and Chihiro is definitely the better of the two. vs. Meiko Satomura - Sendai Girls 9/24/17 vs. Sareee - Sendai Girls 6/8/19 vs. Mei Hoshizuki - Marvelous 8/20/21 vs. MIRAI - Stardom 2/4/23 w/ Yuu vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka - Sendai Girls 2/11/24

Here is my Top 100. I might add new matches later on. ****1/2 1. Darby Allin & Sting vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson - AEW 3/3/24 2. Demus vs. Mad Dog Connelly - ACTION 4/4/24 3. Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston - AEW 3/3/24 4. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Mio Momono - Oz Academy 4/28/24 5. CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre - WWE 10/5/24 6. Nanae Takahashi vs. Sareee - Marigold 12/13/24 7. Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley - AEW 10/12/24 8. Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland - AEW 8/25/24 9. Mayu Iwatani vs. Sareee - Stardom 4/27/24 10. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Junior - NJPW 2/11/24 ****1/4 11. Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay - AEW 4/21/24 12. Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett - AEW 8/7/24 13. Blue Panther vs. Ultimo Guerrero - CMLL 11/30/24 14. Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs. Mio Momono & Sareee - Sendai Girls 1/7/24 15. El Cuervo vs. Pedro Portillo III - IWA Puerto Rico 11/21/24 16. HARASHIMA vs. Yuki Ueno - DDT 17/3/24 17. Bryan Danielson vs. Hechicero - AEW 2/3/24 18. Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Junior - CMLL 6/22/24 19. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther - WWE 4/6/24 20. Blue Panther vs. Hechicero - CMLL 6/11/24 21. VENY & Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Mayu Iwatani & Sareee - Sareee-ISM 9/2/24 22. Hideki Suzuki vs. Yuma Anzai - AJPW 6/24/24 23. AJ Styles vs. Cody Rhodes - WWE 6/15/24 24. PAC vs. Bryan Danielson - AEW 7/3/24 25. Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hanako Nakamori & Hiroyo Matsumoto - SEAdLINNNG 8/23/24 26. Demus vs. Lunatik Xtreme - Zona 23 1/21/24 27. Nanae Takahashi vs. Sareee - Marigold 9/23/24 28. Rei Saito vs. Yuma Anzai - AJPW 8/3/24 29. Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada - NJPW 1/4/24 30. Kris Statlander vs. Mercedes Mone - AEW 12/28/24 31. AZM & Takumi Iroha vs. Natsupoi & Sareee - Sareee-ISM 7/29/24 32. Arisa Nakajima & Leon vs. KAZUKI & Rydeen Hagane - PURE-J 7/5/24 33. Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Mio Momono & Riko Kawahata - Sareee-ISM 7/29/24 34. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne vs. Cash Wheeler, Daniel Garcia & Dash Wilder - AEW 2/3/24 **** 35. 1 Called Manders vs. Mad Dog Connelly - SLA 1/26/24 36. Hook vs. Samoa Joe - AEW 1/17/24 37. Blue Panther vs. Bryan Danielson - CMLL 4/5/24 38. Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn - WWE 6/15/24 39. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther - WWE 10/7/24 40. Kris Statlander vs. Mercedes Mone - AEW 11/23/24 41. Atlantis Jr vs. Hechicero - NJPW 2/19/24 42. AJ Styles vs. Cody Rhodes - WWE 4/2/24 43. Blue Panther, Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero & Volador Jr vs. Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Matt Sydal - CMLL 3/29/24 44. AKINO vs. Mio Momono - Oz Academy 1/7/24 45. Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka - Sendai Girls 2/11/24 46. Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher - AEW 4/20/24 47. La Parka vs. Rush - Lucha Libre Elite 4/21/24 48. Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale - AEW 5/26/24 49. Bozilla vs. Sareee - Marigold 10/24/24 50. Kento Miyahara vs. Yuma Anzai - AJPW 5/29/24 51. HARASHIMA vs. Shinya Aoki - DDT 10/20/24 52. Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy - AEW 11/23/24 53. Masa Kitamiya vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NOAH 1/2/24 54. Ludwig Kaiser vs. Sheamus - WWE 6/3/24 55. Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Junior - Revolution Pro 8/24/24 56. Mio Momono & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato - Marvelous 3/30/24 57. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mike Bailey - MLP 10/19/24 58. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Sareee - Sareee-ISM 1/16/24 59. Miu Watanabe vs. Ryo Mizunami - TJPW 9/22/24 60. Mei Seira vs. Yuna Mizumori - Stardom 10/27/24 61. Natsupoi vs. Starlight Kid - Stardom 12/29/24 62. Hazuki vs. Mercedes Mone - NJPW 12/15/24 63. Arisu Endo & Suzume vs. Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi - TJPW 2/10/24 64. Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley vs. Dash Wilder & Dax Harwood - AEW 3/3/24 65. Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland - AEW 4/21/24 66. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay - AEW 12/28/24 67. Aja Kong & Sareee vs. Manami & Meiko Satomura - Sendai Girls 11/17/24 68. Miu Watanabe vs. Miyu Yamashita - TJPW 3/31/24 69. Christian Cage vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW 3/3/24 70. Riko Kawahata vs. Takumi Iroha - Marvelous 9/29/24 71. Masha Slamovich vs. Miyu Yamashita - TJPW 1/4/24 72. Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Murphy vs. Daniel Garcia, Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood - AEW 1/27/24 ***3/4 73. Chikayo Nagashima, DASH Chisako, Drake Morimatsu & Tomoko Watanabe vs. Maria, Mio Momono, Riko Kawahata & Takumi Iroha - Netflix 9/12/24 74. El Hijo de Fishman vs. Mascara Sagrada - Riba Auditorio 3/22/24 75. Fuminori Abe vs. Roderick Strong - DPW 5/19/24 76. Miu Watanabe vs. Shoko Nakajima - TJPW 5/6/24 77. Randy Orton vs. Gunther - WWE 8/31/24 78. Pete Dunne vs. Sheamus - WWE 10/7/24 79. Sheamus vs. Gunther - WWE 5/6/24 80. Jon Moxley vs. Josh Barnett - GCW 6/22/24 81. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton - WWE 5/10/24 82. Hazuki & Koguma vs. Mei Seira & Suzu Suzuki - Stardom 5/5/24 83. Kofi Kingston vs. Gunther - WWE 5/13/24 84. Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW 1/3/24 85. Bozilla & Sareee vs. Giulia & Utami Hayashishita - Marigold 5/20/24 86. Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn - WWE 8/12/24 87. Adam Page vs. Jeff Jarrett - AEW 7/3/24 88. Mascara Dorada vs. Stuka Jr - NJPW 2/19/24 89. Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer - AEW 6/30/24 90. Io Shirai vs. Utami Hayashishita - Marigold 7/13/24 91. Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs. Nanae Takahashi & Yurika Oka - Sendai Girls 3/24/24 92. Orange Cassidy vs. Roderick Strong - AEW 3/3/24 93. Manami & Ryo Mizunami vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka - Sendai Girls 7/15/24 94. AZM vs. Mayu Iwatani - Stardom 8/18/24 95. Pete Dunne vs. Sheamus - WWE 8/19/24 96. John Hawking vs. Savio Vega - IWA Puerto Rico 12/28/24 97. Daniel Garcia vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW 12/25/24 98. Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama vs. Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura - NOAH 6/19/24 99. Aja Kong vs. Yurika Oka - Sendai Girls 3/8/24 100. Daniel Garcia vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman - AEW 9/7/24

I recently rewatched this (probably for the 4th or 5th time) and I loved it more than ever. Involuntarily fist-pumping as Steamboat intervened to alert the referee to Punk still moving his arm. It's a moment that really works if you watched the Punk vs. Steamboat feud beforehand capping off with the Punk face-turn. It feels like a moral lesson almost than Punk deciding to 'be that man' and defend Steamboat ended up getting him a reward that he couldn't possibly have predicted, so it's not like he was being cynical about it or anything. Joe was also pitch-perfect in this. His strikes look like he's totally demolishing Punk and really puts over what a great effort Punk was putting in to actually get any offense together. But it's not like Joe was invincible either, he shows just enough chinks in the armour to make you believe this isn't a lost cause. The moment where he illegally uses the ropes was amazing, especially the crowd reaction. This is one of the best matches ever. *****

I've only watched the first two episodes and I've enjoyed it a lot so far. I don't think it being a bit historically inaccurate is a big deal really, everyone knows these things are semi-fictional. The stuff they've changed (e.g. compressing the timeline) is justifiable when you've got to tell this story in 5 episodes to a mostly unfamiliar audience. Toshikuni having a bigger role than he did in real life makes sense for an 'adaptation' because you don't have the time to flesh out the characters of all 4 Matsunaga Brothers. The Jaguar-Sato drama wasn't even that far off the truth. I think they communicated the audience that this is promotion where not all the matches have predetermined winners and the older stars who aren't drawing anymore get ruthlessly put to pasture. That's the truthful substance of it. That they got that across by fudging the details a bit to get it across within the time constraints doesn't really matter. I say all this as a massive Zenjo nerd.

Can you imagine the reaction of the ROH fans if Kobashi actually did a sneaky coward heel gimmick and got the win after throwing salt in Joe's eyes.

Chris Jericho was like a better version of Sid Vicious in that he was generally a lot more over than his talent level would normally warrant as he had the knock of disappearing for long periods whenever fans were close to tiring of him. Now he's gone and been a consistently pushed act for 5 years in the same promotion and, oh no.

Black Sabbath are in as a band.

I'd really like it if he wrestled the way he did against Rey Mysterio all the time. Angle's true disposition is he's a super-intense bully and bringing that aspect of his personality to the forefront created much better flowing matches than when he got obsessed with trading finishers/pretty reversals for the sake of it with Benoit etc... Or that brief 2006 WWECW run was also a much more optimal version of Angle than his default mode. The more frustrating thing about him really is he does show potential to have been a real top tier wrestler, in some ways I think he did actually get it, but there's just this aggravating bit of brainworms going on that stops him ever reaching his potential except in some specific circumstances. He's a very high-level prop wrestler, by which I mean wrestlers who have a certain set of talents/abilities but needed to be used in the correct way to really get high-level stuff out of them. There's certainly room for in wrestling, might even make towards the bottom of my list if I'm feeling generous towards them in 2026. The Summerslam 2001 match vs. Austin I think is a great example of Kurt being in that kind of role. Austin is the main driver of the match narrative and his performance is the best thing about it, but calling it a "carry job" or something like that would be grossly unfair. Angle's talents elevate the whole thing to higher level that the vast majority of wrestlers are capable of. For all the criticisms of his selling, he has a great selling performance in this match, and that's not his only great selling performance, his flaw is more than he doesn't seem to have a good sense of when he should be selling, so left to his own devices we often get total messes like those TNA Jeff Hardy matches.

Roman's an increasingly weird case because the period where I think he's a Top 15 worker in the world was 2015-18 when half the internet insisted he sucked. That's where the bulk of his case is made to me, even if his contribution to The Shield is a bit underrated at this point. 2019-21 he's still pretty good at times, though the Bloodline stuff can get pretty grating with his stopping in the middle of matches to deliver his monologues. But it's really his huge run as the Ace of a booming WWE in 2022-24 that throws everything off, it's by far his most successful run where he's given tremendous opportunities, but that's the run where this guy just sucks. I liked the Brock Summerslam match a lot but other than that it's the most boring Ace run in WWE history to me. He insists on slowing every match to a crawl whenever it looks like it might be getting interesting, and the constant Bloodline interference and shenanigans just becomes a bit of a joke before long.

The AEW run has really added to his case, probably the best run of a 60+ wrestler in US wrestling history. He definitely wasn't making my list without that but I think he might sneak in now. I don't think he had a single match which didn't at least deliver, and the way he reinvented himself in his 60s as some daredevil maniac old man is really astonishing. Yes he was protected by only ever wrestling in tags, but really that just tells you that other companies should be doing that with their older wrestlers who can still go in other ways. And despite that Sting did have quite a lot of ring time in a lot of these tags. When his run first started I suspected he was just gonna be on the apron 90% letting Darby do the heavy lifting before he gets in for a hot tag and hits his signature stuff, you know the drill, but that wouldn't be a fair characterisation of his run at all. The FTR match at Grand Slam 2021 was the first one when I was really realising that Sting is simply a really good tag wrestler.

Dude if you don't like a wrestler don't put them in your Top 100 Ever list. And I'm gonna use that as a jumping off point because I've never experienced the feeling that I'm being peer-pressured by some astroturfing campaign into saying a wrestler is "objectively" great like with Will Ospreay the last year or so. It's really quite weird. I've actually seen him live many many times in 2013-16 when he was a regular on the UK indies and I can't remember ever having strong feelings about him. He was just a guy. If people enjoy his style of wrestling then more power to them but it's not something that interests me at all. To me his kayfabe character is "guy who is phenomenally great at every aspect of wrestling" (I wonder if that makes people think he's actually that in real life), like you've put in a cheat code to give your video game character maxed out stats on everything. It all feels aimed at people who mainly appreciate the most surface elements of pro-wrestling (e.g. athleticism and moves) which most obviously require "real" skill to uninitiated eyes, but there's no pro-wrestling soul to any of it. He's like the culmination of "sports entertainment" over pro-wrestling. I don't believe in any of it. The comparisons with Misawa feel bizarre to me as I simply cannot imagine ever believing in a Will Ospreay comeback the way I get sucked into e.g. Misawa's big comeback against Taue 4/15/95. Misawa has a certain level of vulnerability and determination to struggle against the odds that Ospreay can't convey because nothing ever really affects him. I don't hate it, there are a bunch of Will Ospreay matches I thought were really good, but the overall package is a bit boring and uninspired to me.

Marvelous 2/18/18 Review Not a good show so let's just get this over and done with. Megumi Yabushita vs. Miki Tanaka The most entertaining part of this match was the start where Miki was upset that Megumi wouldn't shake her hand so pushes her in the back very petulantly. The match itself was largely just sitting around in bodyscissors and half crabs. Bizarrely there was a moment where Miki was out of breath from being in a submission so long that she needed to stop for a moment and Megumi even passed her a bottle of water and let her catch her breath in the ropes for about 30 seconds before restarting. I don't know if that was meant to be funny or what but it ended up just making Miki look useless. 1/4* Chikayo Nagashima & KAORU vs. Momoe-chan & Rin Kadokura This was a pretty good showing considering who is involved, especially when the match was actually dragged down a bit by Tommy doing her annoying "Nooooooooooooo!" schtick way too much making herself the centre of attention. I thought Rin looked good on her hot tag and she even got a believable nearfall on Chikayo which got a big reaction from the audience and it felt like she was getting over a bit. **1/4 Sakura Hirota vs. Pandita This was just stupid. DUD Kyuri, Maruko Nagasaki & Mio Momono vs. Natsumi Maki, Tomoko Watanabe & Yuu Yamagata Natsumi has now joined Level 5 following the events of the last show and is fighting Mio Momono's army of hyper-active dungaree-clad little pests. I couldn't help but notice Kyuri was all over the place with her timing multiple times in this match and constantly slowed everything to a halt whenever she got involved. She's probably always been the least of these 3 who regularly tag together but I've never seen it be this obvious. The best segments here were when Mio and Natsumi faced off and we got lots of cool battles over rollups, and Tomoko coming into to lariat everyone was fun. I actually don't remember Yuu doing anything heh. This was mostly good except when Kyuri was making a mess of things. **3/4