My 50 favorite matches

[silverwidow]

I'll do a favorite match by promotion (with a lean towards "best") to diversify things a bit. Caveat being that I've seen enough of the territory to form a solid opinion.

 

All Japan: Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue, 12/6/96

New Japan: Samurai vs. Ohtani, 1/21/96

 

UWF 1.0: Takada vs. Yamazaki, 12/5/84

UWF 2.0: Takada vs. Yamazaki, 8/13/88

UWFI: Takada vs. Sano, 10/14/94

RINGS: Tamura vs. Kohsaka, 6/27/98

 

AJW: Hokuto vs. Kandori, 4/2/93

ARSION: Yoshida vs. Yagi, 2/18/99

JWP: Kansai/Ozaki vs. Hotta/T. Inoue, 1/15/93

 

WWF/E: Hart vs. Hennig, 6/13/93

WCW: Guerrero vs. Misterio Jr., 10/26/97

[Big Rob]

I'd have to have a long think about a top fifty favourite matches, I still really haven't watched a big enough variety to do it justice yet. However, off the top of my head I could definitely see the following having a place:

 

Steve Grey vs Clive Myers (Joint Promotions 22/11/75)

Gwyn Davies vs Steve Veidor (Joint Promotions 26/05/76)

Pete Roberts and Kung Fu vs Johnny Kincaid and Dave Bond (Joint Promotions 08/10/77)

Terry Dunk and Dory Funk Jr vs The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (AJPW 15/12/77)

Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA - I Quit Steel Cage Match (JCP 28/11/85)

Dustin Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat vs Arn Anderson and Larry Zybyszko (WCW 19/11/91)

Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat (AJPW 25/05/92)

Ricky Steamboat vs Rick Rude - Iron Man (WCW 20/6/92)

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 16/4/93)

Royal Rumble Match (WWE 21/01/01)

El Hijo del Santo vs Blue Panther (06/10/04)

Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero (WWE 23/06/05)

Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH 05/11/05)

Chris Benoit vs Fit Finlay (WWE 05/05/06)

Chris Benoit vs Fit Finlay (WWE 21/05/06)

Pollo vs Comando Negro (IWRG 26/12/10)

CM Punk vs John Cena (WWE 17/07/11)

[NintendoLogic]

After some rewatching and rethinking, I dropped some matches from my list. They're not bad matches, they're just not quite desert island material. I can't think of anything to replace them with, so I'm at my 44 favorite matches for the time being. If you can't tell, my list is pretty volatile.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I gotta add Hogan vs. Iron Sheik MSG where Hogan wins the belt. It NEVER doesn't make me mark out. If I was trapped on a desert island with the tech to watch only wrestling matches, I'd need that match to lift my spirits up every so often.

[El-P]

RINGS: Tamura vs. Kohsaka, 6/27/98

 

ARSION: Yoshida vs. Yagi, 2/18/99

[Gregor]

No way could I do fifty. There's too much that I haven't seen and too much that I don't feel strongly about. I can do ten favorites, although I wouldn't argue that these are the ten best matches in wrestling history or anything. In no real order:

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (Mind Games)

Long-time favorite. One of the few matches from Michaels' reign in which the focus was on how badly he was being hurt, not how close he was to losing.

 

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (KOTR 1993)

I always liked how Perfect had this heel turn that lasted only for this match, and it's okay with everyone because that's how wrestling is. Hart returns fire by trying to hurt his leg and then ends up outsmarting him at the end.

 

Sting vs. Vader (GAB 1992)

Sting gives his best effort, and it's not enough. This is what a big bad guy winning a belt should feel like.

 

Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys (GAB 1990)

My favorite part of this one was when one of the Southern Boys pretended to be the other, exhausted, one. They had some tricks up their sleeve, too.

 

Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (1/13/91)

Brazo de Oro beats on Hijo del Santo until he snaps. Santo digs his fingers into Oro's cut during the camel clutch, and then Porky dresses his wound, which just results in Santo taking off the cloth or whatever and punching Oro in the face with it.

 

Hijo del Santo vs. Espanto, Jr. (No idea what the date is - it's the handheld title match on YouTube)

I struggle a lot with third falls in title matches. There's always something that isn't quite right, to me. This one was perfect.

 

Blue Panther vs. Atlantis (12/5/97)

The matwork is my favorite part of lucha, and they spent all match doing it. At one point Panther puts Atlantis in an upside-down Gori special and runs around the ring wearing him like a backpack.

 

La Fiera vs. Jerry Estrada (Don't know the date for this one, either - it's the chain match)

Absolute chaos. They're trying to yank each other to the floor, and eventually both guys go flying into the audience at the same time. Fiera at one point looks like he's lynching Estrada. At the end, the ref sees a chance to count both guys down and gets the hell out of there.

 

Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana (4/22/86)

Randy Savage is a favorite, and I wanted him included here. This is his best match, to me.

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett (In Your House 2)

I dunno if this is one of my ten favorites; I started to reach at the end. They did a bunch of fun spots with the Roadie, and I feel like Michaels should have had more matches like this.

 

If this says anything about me, it's probably that I don't mind crappy finishes, as there are, by my count, four bad finishes and only three really good ones.

 

Something I'm wondering from other people's lists: why is Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Survivor Series one of your favorites? I can see how it's a great match, but there's nothing about it that really grabs me and gets me super-into it. I'm not being critical or anything; I'd just like to hear what you really liked about it, because explanations are always more fun for me to read than lists.

[Log]

I have got to re-watch that Mind Games match. There's been like four or five of you have it on your list. I recall liking it, but not nearly that much. Haven't seen it in a while, though.

[JerryvonKramer]

I've never seen that Savage / Tito match but best Savage match ever? Really?

 

Maybe this match will crop up when I'm working through Prime Time.

[NintendoLogic]

Something I'm wondering from other people's lists: why is Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Survivor Series one of your favorites? I can see how it's a great match, but there's nothing about it that really grabs me and gets me super-into it. I'm not being critical or anything; I'd just like to hear what you really liked about it, because explanations are always more fun for me to read than lists.

Part of it is that I'm an unabashed mark for both guys. But even setting that aside, the match is everything that's right with wrestling. Great action plus great psychology means it's the kind of match that's timeless. Plus, the buildup led to what is probably my favorite promo of all time.

 

[El-P]

Holly shit, I forgot about that video. Tremendous.

 

(shit, now you gave me the urge to revisit WWF TV in 96/97, which is something I never did since I saw it happen. Can't believe it's 16 years old.)

[anarchistxx]

Been a while since I watched with any kind of regularity, so I'll have to go with the matches that stick in the memory and meant the most to me at the time.

 

My top five would be pretty indisputable;

 

Jumbo Tsuruta v Kerry Von Erich (AJPW, 5/22/84)

Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota v Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (AJW, 11/26/1992)

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW, 9/6/1995)

Samoa Joe v CM Punk (ROH, 10/16/2004)

Kurt Angle v Steve Austin (WWF, Summerslam 2001)

 

Then after that it would be some combination of;

 

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW, 6/12/1996)

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 8/6/1990)

Jumbo Tsuruta/Masa Fuchi/Akira Taue v Kenta Kobashi/Mitsuhura Misawa/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW, 10/27/1991)

Jumbo Tsuruta vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 24/10/1991)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 20/1/1997)

Ric Flair v Kerry Von Erich (NWA, 12/10/85?)

Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Eddie Guerrero (10.26.97 WCW)

Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (02/05/1993, AJW)

Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (AJW, 04/11/1993)

Devil Masami vs. Chigusa Nagayo (AJW, 8/22/85)

Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka (AJW, 8/22/85)

Jaguar Yokota vs. La Galactica (AJW, 1/5/85)

Dump Matsumoto vs. Chigusa Nagayo (AJW, 9/28/85)

Thunderqueen (JWP, 31/07/1993)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW, 02/05/80)

Ric Flair vs Bruiser Brody (St Louis, 1983?)

Ricky Steamboat/Jay Younblood vs Kernodle/Sgt Slaughter (NWA, 3/12/1983 )

Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Jushin Liger (NGPW, 17/03/96)

Vader v Sting (WCW Starrcade 1992)

Sting v Vader (WCW Superbrawl 1993)

Bryan Danielson vs. Alex Shelley (ROH 03/11/2006)

CM Punk v Samoa Joe (ROH, 04/12/2004)

Samoa Joe v Bryan Danielson (ROH, 02/10/2004)

Samoa Joe v Necro Butcher (IWA, 6/11/05)

Samoa Joe/Low Ki vs. Kenta Kobashi/Homicide (ROH, 10/2/05)

KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (Kensuke Office 2/11/09)

KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH 3/1/09)

KENTA vs. SUWA (NOAH, 9/18/05)

CM Punk vs. John Cena (WWE, 7/17/11)

Samoa Joe v Bryan Danielson (ROH, 05/05/06)

Shawn Michaels v Undertaker (WWF, 05/10/97)

Ric Flair v Jumbo Tsuruta (AJPW, 6/8/83)

Brock Lesnar vs Chris Benoit (WWE, 12/04/03)

Ric Flair v Rocky Steamboat (WCW, 2/4/89)

The Rock v Rikishi (WWF, 19/11/00)

Chris Benoit v The Rock (WWF, 23/07/00)

The Rock v Steve Austin (WWF, 1/4/01)

Steve Austin v Triple-H (WWF, 25/2/01)

Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku, Mens Teioh, Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki vs El Gran Hamada, Super Delfin, Gran Naniwa, Tiger Mask IV & Masato Yakushiji (Michinoku Pro, 10/10/96)

Tommy Dreamer v Raven (ECW, 6/6/97)

Rob Van Dam v Jeff Hardy (WWF, 22/07/01)

Hardy Boyz v Dudley Boyz v Edge/Christian (WWF, 2/4/00)

Chris Benoit v Steve Austin (Smckdown, 31/5/01)

Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 7/10/04)

Wild Pegasus vs. The Great Sasuke (NJPW, 16/4/94)

Jushin Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon (NJPW, 13/12/1995)

Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (NJPW, 09/02/1997)

[NintendoLogic]

I've decided to cull the list a little more, bringing it to an even 40. I dropped a few matches that were too short and/or gimmicky. In so doing, I conformed not only with my preference for straight wrestling matches but with my OCD need for nice round numbers. I don't foresee any more major revisions of my list, but you never know with this sort of thing.

[Frankensteiner]

I think it would be interesting to see which matches have been dropped from your original list.

[Grimmas]

Something I'm wondering from other people's lists: why is Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Survivor Series one of your favorites? I can see how it's a great match, but there's nothing about it that really grabs me and gets me super-into it. I'm not being critical or anything; I'd just like to hear what you really liked about it, because explanations are always more fun for me to read than lists.

Part of it is that I'm an unabashed mark for both guys. But even setting that aside, the match is everything that's right with wrestling. Great action plus great psychology means it's the kind of match that's timeless. Plus, the buildup led to what is probably my favorite promo of all time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DV0RHVteLs

 

Because it's the last of an old school style that ended around that time. Tells an amazing story. It's really one of the greatest WWF matches ever!

[NintendoLogic]

I think it would be interesting to see which matches have been dropped from your original list.

Here are the matches that were in the OP that I subsequently dropped:

 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco (8/28/76)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (2/5/80)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (12/11/80)

Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (3/23/81)

Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (3/22/85)

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlemania III, 3/29/87)

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (Summerslam, 8/28/89)

Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance (Wrestlewar, 5/17/92)

Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (Beach Blast, 6/20/92)

Bret Hart vs. 123 Kid (Raw, 7/11/94)

 

I also had the following matches in an earlier draft of the list:

 

Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (2/19/79)

Devil Masami vs. Chigusa Nagayo (8/22/85)

Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mayumi Ozaki/Dynamite Kansai (11/26/92)

 

For the most part, these are matches I found myself liking less the more I watched them, which would seem to indicate inappropriateness for a desert island list.

[NintendoLogic]

I didn't make any substantive changes to the list, but I did give up on rankings after the top ten. Also, I considered swapping out a match for Rock/Jericho from No Mercy, but after a rewatch, the ending with Stephanie getting Rock Bottomed left a bad taste in my mouth.

[FLIK]

I've sort of been keeping a similar list myself, to keep track of matches i'd have as my all time favorites. No plans or way I could limit it to 50 or any particular # as it's a constant work in progress

 

I've only been keeping track for a little over a year thus it only list stuff i've watched in that time frame. There's a TON of things not on here that would be if I could be bothered to getting around to it

 

03/14/1973 Johnny Saint vs Jim Breaks

05/05/1973 (British Lightweight Title) Jim Breaks © vs Johnny Saint

11/08/1975 Steve Veidor vs Al Hayes

01/13/1980 Bobby The Brain Heenan vs Lord Alfred Hayes

03/11/1988 (IWGP JR Title) Hiroshi Hase © vs Nobuhiko Takada

06/07/1990 (UWA Middleweight Title) Yoshinari Asai © vs Negro Casas

08/19/1990 Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs Bull Nakano & Grizzly Yamato

11/17/1990 (Elimination Match) Aja Kong, Bison Kimura, Madusa, Tarantula & Xochitl Hamada vs Manami Toyota, Mariko Yoshida, Kaoru Maeda, Mika Takahashi & Estelle Moreno

11/02/1991 (World Middleweight Title) Owen Hart © vs Danny Collins

10/23/1992 Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura

01/24/1993 Kyoko Inoue vs Takako Inoue

01/24/1993 Akira Hokuto, Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Harley Saito, Eagle Sawai & Miki Handa

02/16/1993 (2 out of 3 Falls) Riki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Tayayuki Iizuka vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Ricky Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara

04/02/1993 Devil Masami vs Chigusa Nagayo

04/02/1993 Dynamite Kansai vs Yumiko Hotta

04/02/1993 Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori

04/18/1993 Bull Nakano vs Devil Masami

06/15/1993 (Elimination Match) Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsumi Fujinami, Masa Chono & Hiroshi Hase vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara, Takashi Ishikawa, Tatsu Goto & Super Strong Machine

07/16/1993 Chris Jericho & Ultimo Dragon vs Negro Casas & El Dandy

12/10/1993 (Mask vs Mask) Super Delfin vs Sato

07/23/1994 (WWF Title) Bret Hart © vs Bob Backlund

07/31/1996 Mayumi Ozaki Reiko Amano & Sugar Sato vs Kaoru Toshie Uematsu & Chikayo Nagashima

08/18/1996 Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano, Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs Chigusa Nagayo, Sonoko Kato, Toshie Uematsu & Sakura Hirota

09/16/1996 (AJW Tag Titles) Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima © vs Sonoko Kato & Toshie Uematsu

04/12/1997 Akira Hokuto vs Kaoru

07/19/1997 (WCW Women's Cruiserweight Title) Toshie Uematsu © vs Yoshiko Tamura

11/30/1997 Mayumi Ozaki & Sugar Sato vs Kaoru & Toshiyo Yamada

11/27/1997 (RWTL) Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki

10/05/1998 (B-CUP '98 Tournament R1) Yuki Ishikawa vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga

12/27/1998 Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura

11/09/1999 Alexander Otsuka vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga

12/09/2001 Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Kintaro Kanemura, Mr. Gannosuke & Mammoth Sasaki vs Genichiro Tenryu, Kodo Fuyuki, Arashi & Kouki Kitahara

12/21/2001 (WEW Tag Title Tournament FINAL) Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Mr. Gannosuke vs Kintaro Kanemura & Mammoth Sasaki

10/01/2005 Kenta Kobashi vs Samoa Joe

10/02/2005 Samoa Joe & Low Ki vs Homicide & Kenta Kobashi

03/07/2008 (16 Carat Gold Tournament 2008 R1) Bryan Danielson vs Mike Quackenbush

03/08/2008 (World Of Sports Rules) Johnny Saint vs Mike Quackenbush

12/12/2008 (Tohoku Jr. Title ) Yoshitsune © vs Hayato Fujita Jr

06/17/2009 (Tohoku Jr. Title ) Hayato Fujita Jr © vs Great Sasuke

06/25/2009 Magnum Tokyo vs Toshiaki Kawada

06/25/2010 Shuri vs Kana

10/03/2010 Sakura Hirota & Kikutaro vs Toshie Uematsu & Ran YuYu

07/17/2011 (RAW Title) John Cena © vs CM Punk

09/11/2011 (Hardcore Match) Sexy Lady vs Ludark Shaitan

09/17/2011 Psycho Circus vs Fake Doink the Clown, Giant Clown & Beast the Clown

12/08/2011 (NWA Southern Title - No DQ) Se7eN © vs Drew Haskins

12/19/2011 (APW Universal Title vs Blackwell's Career) Jeckles © vs Larry Blackwell

12/23/2011 (IWGP IC Title) Masato Tanaka © vs Tomoaki Honma

12/31/2011 Team Ken Ohka vs Team Ryuichi Sekine Whole Indy Pro Wrestling World Great Battle 74 Person New Year Bonus Track

01/15/2012 Blue Panther, Atlantis & Solar vs Ultimo Guerrero, Felino & Negro Navarro

03/04/2012 (IWGP Title) Kazuchika Okada © vs Tetsuya Naito

04/22/2012 (SPW Tag Titles) The Reno Scum Adam Thornstowe & Luster The Legend © vs Virgil Flynn & El Chupacabra

05/20/2012 (RAW Title) CM Punk © vs Daniel Bryan

06/10/2012 (Anything Goes) Bully Ray vs Joseph Park

06/16/2012 (IWGP Title) Kazuchika Okada © vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

09/22/2012 (Last Man Standing) The Riv vs Levi Shapiro

10/8/2012 (IWGP Title) Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs Minoru Suzuki

10/14/2012 (Street Fight w Special Enforcer King Mo) Bobby Roode vs James Storm

 

but then I got lazy. Still, I'd be happy to give my thoughts on specific matches for those curious.

yeah this

 

Stuff i've added to my list since I first posted it

 

11/19/2005 (No DQ Match) Homicide vs Colt Cabana

12/03/2005 Homicide vs Steve Corino

12/03/2005 (Steel Cage Warfare) Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelly, Abyss & Prince Nana vs Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, Matt Sydal & Jack Evans

09/23/2007 (2 out of 3 Falls) TAJIRI vs Osamu Nishimura

01/14/2013 (IWGP Title) Hiroshi Tanahashi © vs Kazuchika Okada

 

Tajiri/Nishimura is such a wonderful hidden gem. Happens in the MUGA promotion so it's all about old school style mat work, selling & psychology. It's on youtube and i'd really recomend everyone giving it a watch.

[Dylan Waco]

I love Muga. Post that link FLIK

[NintendoLogic]

OK, here's the long-awaited expansion pack for my list. My original goal was to get it up to 100, but then I decided that rather than shoot for an arbitrary numerical goal, I should just make a list and let the chips fall where they may. I came up with 28 matches, bringing the total up to 68. Oh, and part of it is restoring the matches I had previously removed from the list, for those of you who were giving me grief about that. (EDIT: I swapped out Chono/Mutoh and Regal/Finlay for the Clash tag and Liger/Sano)

 

Jim Breaks vs. Johnny Saint (5/5/73)

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco (8/28/76)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (2/5/80)

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Billy Robinson (12/11/80)

Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (3/23/81)

Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk (4/14/83)

Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (3/22/85)

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlemania III, 3/29/87)

Lex Luger/Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard (Clash of the Champions I, 3/27/88)

Lex Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat (Great American Bash, 7/23/89)

Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Liger (8/10/89)

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (Summerslam, 8/28/89)

Stan Hansen/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (12/6/89)

El Dandy vs. Angel Azteca (6/1/90)

Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Masanobu Fuchi/Akira Taue (4/20/91)

Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance (Wrestlewar, 5/17/92)

Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (Beach Blast, 6/20/92)

Shinya Hashimoto/Riki Choshu vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa (4/2/93)

Bret Hart vs. 123 Kid (Raw, 7/11/94)

Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes (Clash of the Champions XXIX, 11/16/94)

Dynamite Kansai vs. Aja Kong (8/30/95)

Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams/Johnny Ace (6/7/96)

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrero (Halloween Havoc, 10/26/97)

Daisuke Ikeda vs. Alexander Otsuka (4/26/99)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader (5/2/99)

Chris Jericho vs. The Rock (No Mercy, 10/21/01)

John Cena vs. Umaga (Royal Rumble, 1/28/07)

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules, 4/29/12)

[FLIK]

I love Muga. Post that link FLIK

Heh, I posted it like 3 weeks ago in the Tajiri thread at DVDVR, surprised you missed it

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovHA-5tdfI

[NintendoLogic]

In a move that will no doubt cause consternation among many, I've undone the expansion pack and pared my list back down to 40. I've decided that when making lists like this, you need a hard numerical target. Otherwise, why not just list every match ever? And 40 isn't an entirely arbitrary number. Whenever I've tried to move beyond that, I've ended up with matches that either are lesser versions of matches already on the list, exist mainly to fill a niche, or just don't do much for me after a while. In particular, Rick Rude is a guy I've soured on a lot recently.

[Badlittlekitten]

I'm bored, here's my one. Similar to Flik, this is just a list of matches I've watched recently and would put amongst my favourites. It's nothing comprehensive and, as you can tell, I've just been through my 'joshi phrase' (it's all about WOS now.) I will expand the list and add more thoughts some other time.

 

Terry Funk vs. Rick Martel WWC 1986

Ted Debiase vs Roberts mid south 85.

Playboy Buddy Rose/Curt Hennig VS Dynamite Kid/Assassin Portland 11/12/83

 

Chris Renfrew vs. Jimmy Havoc ('Scottish world of sport' match ICW 7/1/12)

Mikey Whiplash vs. Jack Jester (ICW 7/1/12)

Had to include some Insane Championship Wrestling on my list. It's my favourite wresting promotion in the world. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it has better stories, characters, feuds, crowds, promos, commentators, and humour than anywhere else at the moment. It's a bit like an even more irreverent, Scottish, ECW. In a Scottish world of sports match the two parcipents have to down a shot of double vodka and a TRIPLE Jack Daniels and Coke between each round. What follows is hilarious, brutal, stupid, scary, pissed -up anti-wrestling. One of a kind. The second ICW includes the best wrestler in the UK, the creepy, sadistic, marvellous Mikey Whiplash. He's a cross dressing treasure and this last man standing match is daft, savage and overbooked, just as I like my LMS matches.

 

Young Pair vs The Black Pair AJW (1979)

'Lonesome' Jay Bradley vs Aston Vuitton Pro Wrestling Blitz Nov 2012

Two glorious 'squashes'.

 

OMG. I might have just discovered my favourite wrestler ever. (Or since the last one). Yumi Ikeshita is AMAZING. I'm sure there is better examples of her awesomeness, I've just raided youtube for every piece of footage of her and choose this pretty randomly. It's all great. She's tiny, even for joshi standards, and she has a cool as fuck afro AND SHE WILL KICK YOUR ASS. It takes real smarts to project an aura of toughness with such a small frame and Yumi's a natural, relentlessly stalking around the ring like an apex predator (don't make me laugh, Randy) and dishing out her brilliant offence with all the coldness of a hitman, doing the job, quickly, efficiently. That cigar in the back won't light itself. Every movement of hers drips with cool, calm, violence. You think you can take her out with a chair? She'll just stand there goading you to hit her on the head - unprotected - and continue to kick your head in anyway. When it's time to sell she's pretty damn good at that too.

 

I'm gonna scrape together my pennies for an AJW set I think, almost entirely to see more Ikeshita. There were three other people in this match too, including Jaguar Yokota, and they did stuff. But, yeah, Yumi.

. . .

 

The moniker 'lonesome' is a simple but class thing. Bradley is brilliant as the Angry Man, ruthlessly pulling apart the jobber, bad mouthing and spitting (!) at the crowd, retuning post match with a chair just to batter him some more. TNA give further proof they're idiots with this guy stuck in development while fake toughs and scrubs fill up their big faction.

 

Fit Finlay vs Young David 1982 WOS

 

Terry Tayler v Nikitta Koloff chi town

I love how Tayler just has to let the ref know that, "I had him, I HAD HIM!" whilst wincing in a armbar. The Russian's playing nice guy and he sells Tayler's arm and legwork like gunshots. His hope spots in particular are great. HUGE pop for the ending.

 

Flair vs Ronnie Garvin ChiTown

When you realised that, yeah, he may be a bit of an arse and a braggart, but he's OUR braggart (and arse). And the ways of the world are just not the same without him atop the mountain.

 

Flair vs Morton BAB86

The least Flair like Flair match I've seen. Also my favourite.

 

The Fabulous Rougeau's vs The Rockers (London 1989)

Nobody was a good as making themselves look like flashy show-off twats then the Rougeau's. Nobody was as good at mugging you off and making you look like twats then the Rockers. The perfect pair.

 

Willaim Regal vs Dean Ambrose (FCW )

The most beautiful of men do the most terrible, terrible of things. Packs way more punch drama wise than HHH/Taker or whatever.

 

Tajiri v. Ohtani 5/20/97

Sting vs Vader Strap Match

 

Andre the Giant vs The Masked Superstar (78?)

Les Kellett vs Leon Arras (WOS 1974)

The Fabulous Moolah, Kitty Adams vs Joyce Grable and Vivian St. John (MSG 7/30/79)

I love me some fun, dumb comedy stooges me. The women's match is the most fun twenty minutes ever. Moolah and Kitty should have had their own sitcom.

 

I'm pretty certain that whenever I do another list update that it'll be full of WOS stuff. Where has this been all my life? I suppose I've avoided it because of typical Brit self depreciation and Big Daddy. It's the best type of wrestling in the world. And the humour's great, natch.

 

Chigusa Nagayo VS Bull Nakano 1988/4/2

Crush Girls vs Marine Wolves (2/3 Falls 3WA Tag Title Match)

Cuty Suzuki vs Mayumi Ozaki (April 1989

Devil Masami Omori Yukari Jaguar Yokota vs. Bull Nakano Leilani Kai Velvet McIntyre

Yumiko Hotta vs Combat Toyoda 11/20/94

Bull Nakano vs Kandori Chain Match

Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong 11/14/90 Cage

My younger brother is now in secondary school and is all into the reactionary " ugh, wrestling's fake and gay" thing that former sorta-casual fans tend to fall into once they discover girls. His attention span could only deal with the odd Rock promo anyway. He was busy shooting stuff on the xbox while I had this match on the laptop. A casual glance to see what this wailing was about then . . he was absorbed. He even dropped that tough exterior for the wonderful "Is this real?" line as Bull was ripping Aja to shreds with some scissors. Bull's spring board karate kick thing was 'sick' apparently. He lost a couple of lives on Call Of Duty as Kyoko and Medusa etc. make havoc on the outside of the ring. I let out a "wooah" as Nakano steadied herself on top of the cage and we both leant up from our seats as she dropped the leg. A wide smile was painted across his face for a little while after. Sometimes I don't feel so old and jaded.

 

I love wrestling sometimes.

 

Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen

Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto (Hair vs Hair) - Aug 28, 1985

Both make borderline uncomfortable viewing these two. Although there is some very dark comedy to be found in the Hansen/Funk match. I love the ending when a dazed and brutalised Terry tries to get himself some more and follows Stan back to his dressing room and has to be dragged away. There is nothing, however, funny about the Chigsy/Dump match and post-match. Truly harrowing.

 

Jaguar Yokota vs La Galactica

Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami 8/22/85

Love that moment when Devil sets up Chigusa for the surfboard for the REACTION from the crowd is unbelievable. Thousands of pre teens collectively pissing their pants. Also love it when they're getting tired and start throwing desperate lefts and rights. They both have great faces; Masami and her cunning demonic smile, her eyes affirming the devious plots rolling through her head, and Chigusa, who looks pained and tormented, angelic and tough all at once, all the time.

 

Bull Nakano, Akira Hokuto vs. Minami Suzuka, Etsuko Mita 8/18/91

Akira Hokuto/bull nakano vs toshiyo yamada/takako inoue 4/23/93

 

Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori vs Bull Nakano & Aja Kong 3/27/94

Akira Hokuto, Mima Shimoda, & Etsuko Mita vs Miki Handa, Eagle Sawai, & Harley 1/24/93

Aja doing the Rude hip swivel! God that slap exchange between Kong and Hokuto is delicious. Is there a greater, um, slapper, in the history of wrestling than Hokuto? She delivers it with the fire and the fury of a thousand women scorned. Like she delivers everything then. I remember seeing one match where she delivered a slap FROM THE TOP TURNBUCKLE. Christ, bow down. There's that ridiculous bit where Kandori and Bull go for a jog down the very long entrance ramp. The story of the arch rivals begrudgingly bounding together to overcome the monster enemy is beautifully told. I love this colourful cast too; Aja the scary, overbearing one, Bull, the extraordinary looking beast that's really quite cute and vulnerable underneath, Kandori the cool badass one and Hokuto is . . well, Hokuto can be all those things - and more - at the flick of a switchblade. She's the greatest wrestling performer I've ever seen. But I'll save that for another ramble. She's great at receiving a battering here and really puts over her spirit and stubbornness. I like the part where she gets Irish whipped but can barely keep on her feet. Then THAT ending. I did mark out.

 

The LCO match features the commanding, shit talkin', wisecracking, firebrand Hokuto that I adore. Extra points for the post match where she calls out Kandori and completely mugs off Saito whilst doing it. Also some of them glorious slaps for the LCOers.

 

Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori

Well, duh.

 

KAORU & meiko satomura vs akira hokuto & sonoko kato 4/19/97

KAORU is like so, like, chill.

 

Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura, Chikayo Nagashima, Chigusa Nagayo

GAEA 6/11/00

The heel team made my computer explode with awesomeness. I'm typing from the library.

[ohtani's jacket]

Hey, somebody else has discovered the greatness of Yumi Ikeshita. I really love when she retires and they say she's leaving to get married and everyone is like "whoah, somebody's marrying one half of The Black Pair?"

[Guest Andrews]

10/14/2012 (Street Fight w Special Enforcer King Mo) Bobby Roode vs James Storm

How anybody can think this overly booked, poorly executed mess was one of the all time great matches is well beyond me.

[Badlittlekitten]

Hey, somebody else has discovered the greatness of Yumi Ikeshita. I really love when she retires and they say she's leaving to get married and everyone is like "whoah, somebody's marrying one half of The Black Pair?"

That's great. Do you know anything more about her career ohtani? There's nothing on youtube beyond 1980.