My Top 100 Matches of 1998

[Loss]

#100 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 03/26/98)

#99 - Terry Funk vs Mick Foley (WWF Monday Night RAW 05/04/98)

#98 - Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit vs Raven (WCW Uncensored 03/15/98)

#97 - Mens Teoh vs Shoichi Funaki (Michinoku Pro 01/14/98)

#96 - Masato Tanaka vs Mr. Gannosuke (FMW 01/06/98)

#95 - Goldberg vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Halloween Havoc 10/25/98)

#94 - Booker T vs Chris Benoit (WCW Saturday Night 05/30/98)

#93 - Aja Kong & Mayumi Ozaki vs Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura (GAEA 12/27/98)

#92 - Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WCW Souled Out 01/24/98)

#91 - Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato (GAEA 01/15/98)

#90 - Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Otani (NJPW 01/04/98)

#89 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Thunder 01/15/98)

#88 - Mr. Aguila, Pantera, Salsero & Venum Black vs Juventud Guerrera, Mosco De La Merced, Pantera Del Ring & Super Crazy (Promo Azteca 01/30/98)

#87 - Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (ECW Heat Wave 08/02/98)

#86 - Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW 03/07/98)

#85 - Hayabusa vs Hisakatsu Oya (FMW 12/13/98)

#84 - Hardy Boys vs Serial Thrillaz (OMEGA 12/05/98)

#83 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 08/08/98)

#82 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 08/29/98)

#81 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Muto (NJPW G-1 Climax 07/31/98)

[Loss]

#80 - Raven vs Chris Benoit (WCW Souled Out 01/24/98)

#79 - Masato Tanaka vs Tetsuhiro Kuroda (FMW 06/19/98)

#78 - Sting vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Monday Nitro 03/23/98)

#77 - Rob Van Dam vs Bam Bam Bigelow (ECW 04/04/98)

#76 - Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 05/29/98)

#75 - Eddy Guerrero vs Rey Misterio Jr. (WCW Monday Nitro 12/21/98)

#74 - Minoru Tanaka vs Masaaki Mochizuki (BattlARTS 05/27/98)

#73 - Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit (WCW SuperBrawl VIII 02/22/98)

#72 - Chris Benoit vs Fit Finlay (WCW Slamboree 05/17/98)

#71 - Aja Kong vs Mariko Yoshida (ARSION 06/21/98)

#70 - Octagoncito vs Mini Abismo Negro (AAA 06/05/98)

#69 - Chris Benoit vs Booker T (WCW Monday Nitro 06/08/98)

#68 - Bret Hart vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Monday Nitro 10/26/98)

#67 - Goldberg vs Sting (WCW Monday Nitro 09/14/98)

#66 - Hardy Boys vs Venom & Shane Helms (OMEGA 07/24/98)

#65 - Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Monday Nitro 09/14/98)

#64 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Thunder 11/12/98)

#63 - Eddy Guerrero & Juventud Guerrera vs Rey Misterio Jr. & Billy Kidman (WCW Monday Nitro 12/28/98)

#62 - Rey Misterio Jr. vs Juventud Guerrera vs Billy Kidman (WCW Starrcade 12/27/98)

#61 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS 03/06/98)

[Loss]

#60 - Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker (WWF Royal Rumble 01/18/98)

#59 - Owen Hart vs Ken Shamrock (WWF Summerslam 08/30/98)

#58 - El Hijo del Santo, Negro Casas & Felino vs Silver King, Villano IV & Villano V (CMLL 12/18/98)

#57 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka (BattlARTS 01/20/98)

#56 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 01/26/98)

#55 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 03/29/98)

#54 - Candy Okutsu vs Mikiko Futagami (ARSION 04/17/98)

#53 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 05/01/98)

#52 - Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (FMW 03/13/98)

#51 - Shawn Michaels vs Steve Austin (WWF Wrestlemania XIV 03/30/98)

#50 - Super Delphin & Gran Naniwa vs Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji (Michinoku Pro 11/08/98)

#49 - Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW Monday Nitro 11/16/98)

#48 - Hayabusa vs Kodo Fuyuki (FMW 11/20/98)

#47 - Chris Benoit vs Booker T (WCW Thunder 05/27/98)

#46 - Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (FMW 04/30/98)

#45 - Booker T vs Fit Finlay (WCW Great American Bash 06/14/98)

#44 - Jushin Liger, El Samura, Kendo Kashin, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Hayato Nanjyo vs Shinjiro Otani, Koji Kanemoto, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kaz Hayashi & Masakazu Fukuda (NJPW 06/05/98)

#43 - Eddy Guerrero vs Billy Kidman (WCW Starrcade 12/27/98)

#42 - Shadow WX vs Tomoaki Honma (BJPW 07/26/98)

#41 - Owen Hart vs Ken Shamrock (WWF Fully Loaded 07/26/98)

[Loss]

#40 - Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs Daisuke Ikeda & Carl Greco (BattlARTS 04/19/98)

#39 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (AJPW 06/05/98)

#38 - Yumi Fukawa vs Candy Okutsu (ARSION 02/18/98)

#37 - Olimpico vs Halcon Negro (CMLL 10/30/98)

#36 - Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 08/23/98)

#35 - Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (AJPW 10/11/98)

#34 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 04/18/98)

#33 - Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/01/98)

#32 - Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama & Satoru Asako vs Toshiaki Kawada, Yoshinari Ogawa & Takao Omori (AJPW 08/23/98)

#31 - El Hijo del Santo vs Felino (Monterrey 10/18/98)

#30 - Jun Akiyama vs Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 09/11/98)

#29 - Mariko Yoshida vs Candy Okutsu (ARSION 12/18/98)

#28 - Serial Thrillaz vs Death and Destruction (OMEGA 05/08/98)

#27 - Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Vader & Stan Hansen (AJPW 12/05/98)

#26 - Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (FMW 05/19/98)

#25 - Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masa Chono (NJPW 06/05/98)

#24 - Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki (NJPW G-1 Climax 08/02/98)

#23 - Hayabusa, Daisuke Ikeda, Hisakatsu Oya & Ricky Fuji vs Kodo Fuyuki, Koji Nakagawa, Kintaro Kanemura & Gedo (FMW 06/19/98)

#22 - Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko vs Chris Jericho & Eddy Guerrero (Brian Hildebrand Tribute 11/29/98)

#21 - Manami Toyota vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 08/23/98)

[Loss]

#20 - The Rock vs HHH (WWF Summerslam 08/30/98)

#19 - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW Championship Carnival 04/11/98)

#18 - Chris Benoit vs Booker T (WCW Great American Bash 06/14/98)

#17 - Atlantis, Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas vs El Hijo del Santo, Black Warrior & Blue Panther (CMLL 04/24/98)

#16 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Carl Greco (BattlARTS 04/24/98)

#15 - Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJPW 09/11/98)

#14 - Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs Kodo Fuyuki & Yukihiro Kanemura (FMW 05/27/98)

#13 - Jushin Liger vs Koji Kanemoto (NJPW 07/15/98)

#12 - Steve Austin vs Dude Love (WWF Over The Edge 05/31/98)

#11 - Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (BattlARTS 05/27/98)

#10 - Akira Maeda vs Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 07/20/98)

#9 - Reiko Amano & Chikayo Nagashima vs Toshie Uematsu & Sonoko Kato (Oz Academy 06/21/98)

#8 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS 01/21/98)

#7 - Olimpico vs Halcon Negro (CMLL 10/23/98)

#6 - Koji Kanemoto vs Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJPW 06/03/98)

#5 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 10/31/98)

#4 - Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 06/12/98)

#3 - Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJPW 07/24/98)

#2 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yammamoto (RINGS 09/21/98)

#1 - Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 06/27/98)

[Childs]

Thinnest top 100 of the decade? Definitely picked up in the second half of the year.

[Loss]

The summer is the best time of the year for sure, but yeah, this is the first time I had to dip below ***1/2 in the top 100. That said, the top matches are pretty strong.

[Superstar Sleeze]

All Japan's reign of dominance at #1 ends, but damn if they did not get close. They had more high-end matches (60% of top 5) than 1997, but could not grab top spot. I am going to try to watch the top 5 soon.

Also interesting that WCW managed to nab 22 slots to WWF's 7. WCW's "best" year is probably 1997 from overall combination of being mainstream and quality storylines, but they had a hard time cracking top 100 last year. WWF grew in popularity, but declined in quality matches. Do you feel WCW was able to grab more slots due to an overall decline in quality work or because WCW mid-card stepped it up?

[Loss]

I think the WWF was the better all around wrestling company through probably Survivor Series, even if this list doesn't reflect that. The stuff that didn't make this list from the WWF is far more solid than the stuff that didn't make this list from WCW. The WWF also peaked higher in the ring, I think. They trailed off at the end when they started doing live embalming and attempted suicides on television, though.

[NintendoLogic]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who considers Kobashi/Akiyama the All Japan MOTY.

[fxnj]

What's the argument for Kobashi/Akiyama ahead of Kobashi/Kawada?

[Loss]

I think Kobashi-Akiyama is one of the more focused matches of the decade actually. Akiyama's work on Kobashi's leg is among the best body part work I've ever seen in any match. I can see someone watching it and being turned off by Kobashi's possibly too melodramatic selling, but that wasn't enough of a negative to put it below Kawada-Kobashi for me. The two matches are neck and neck, but I do think Kobashi-Akiyama is slightly more streamlined in terms of its focus.

[WingedEagle]

I haven't watched Kawada/Kobashi in forever but am curious to compare it with Kobashi/Akiyama when I get there. Seeming as how I'm in mid-October 1993 and trying to go chronologically there while also hoping to watch some selections from Best in Japan 2000s and countless others items for the GOAT project, we'll see when we get there. Seeing you bang through '98 in almost under 2 months is either motivating or completely deflating -- haven't decided which!

 

Looking over your thoughts throughout the year, it felt like this year more than any other thus far wasn't all that well represented by the MOTY list. The results and distribution here were no surprise, but it seemed like WWF was far and away the most enjoyable promotion to keep up with on a segment to segment basis even if there were only so many truly elite level matches. It was definitely nice to see that as I remember a lot of the angles and promos from '98 more vividly than other years. I know there are reasons why the consistency and quality of the output varied at later times, even as business peaked in subsequent years, but '98 had the rise of arguably an all time hot babyface, heel and feud at the same time. Just a perfect storm of episodic television.

[Zenjo]

I agree with 3 of Losses top 5 picks, which is a new record. It's been either 1 or 2 for the other years I've finished. I've got a few more attempts to score a 0 but am not very confident. It would be great if we had 10-15 people posting their favourite matches from every year. Even if it's only a top 20 or so.

 

I used to view 1998 as being a bad year in terms of match output. That was in the days when I was first discovering Puroresu and had no idea how much things would start to suck in future years. If you're not directly comparing to 91-97 and judging the year on it's own merits then it's a much rosier picture. There's actually lots of really good stuff from 98, with plenty of promotions contributing noteworthy matches. In terms of the overall quality of my list I felt like it was a comparable year to 1990, which I might not have expected before viewing.

 

I decided to go with a top 80 this year to make sure there's no filler. As usual anything not on the Yearbook is highlighted as well as a few matches that were featured on the set in incomplete form. And as always I bring to you the Joshi love with women's matches from no less than 8 different promotions.

[Zenjo]

Zenjo's Top 85 Matches of 1998

85) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 5/1/98)
84) Sting vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW 3/23/98)
83) Shinjiro Ohtani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Koji Kanemoto & Dr Wagner (NJ 8/8/98)
82) Booker T vs Chris Benoit (WCW 5/27/98)
81) Atlantis, Mr Niebla & Negro Casas vs El Hijo Del Santo, Black Warrior & Blue Panther (CMLL 4/24/98)

80) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Stan Hansen & Vader (AJ 12/5/98)
79) Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi vs Miho Wakizawa & Kayo Noumi (AJW 10/10/98)
78) Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Genechiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka (NJ 7/15/98)
77) Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker (Casket Match) (WWF 1/18/98)
76) Mayumi Ozaki & Sugar Sato vs Kyoko Inoue & Yoshiko Tamura (OZ 6/21/98)
75) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJ 4/18/98)
74) Mariko Yoshida vs Reggie Bennett (ARS 8/31/98)
73) Aja Kong vs Toshiyo Yamada (GAEA 11/23/98)
72) Scorpio Jr vs El Hijo Del Santo (CMLL 7/31/98)
71) Hayabusa vs Masato Tanaka (FMW 3/13/98)

70) Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs Hikari Fukuoka & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP 2/11/98)
69) Masahiro Chono vs Manabu Nakanishi (NJ 7/31/98)
68) Meiko Satomura vs Sonoko Kato (GAEA 8/23/98)
67) Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJ 4/11/98)
66) Octagoncito vs Mini Abismo Negro (AAA 6/5/98)
65) Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama (AJ 7/24/98)
64) Ultimo Dragon vs Shinjiro Ohtani (NJ 1/4/98)
63) Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 1/25/98)
62) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (AJ 1/26/98)
61) Ken Shamrock vs Owen Hart (Lion's Den Match) (WWF 8/30/98)

60) Kaoru vs Meiko Satomura (GAEA 10/29/98)
59) Terry Funk vs Mick Foley (Falls Count Anywhere) (WWF 4/28/98)
58) Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda (BAT 5/27/98)
57) Shadow WX vs Tomoaki Honma (Barbed Wire Baseball Bat and Barbed Wire Board Match) (BJ 7/26/98)
56) Steve Austin vs The Undertaker (WWF 8/30/98)
55) Sonoko Kato & Meiko Satomura vs Toshie Uematsu & Rie (GAEA 7/19/98)
54) Olimpico vs Halcon Negro (CMLL 10/30/98)
53) Mikhail Iliokhine vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 9/21/98)
52) Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima (NJ 8/2/98)
51) Jushin Thunder Liger, El Samurai, Kendo Ka Shin, Dr Wagner Jr & Hayato Nanjyo vs Shinjiro Ohtani, Koji Kanemoto, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kaz Hayashi & Masakazu Fukuda (Elimination) (NJ 6/5/98)

50) Yumi Fukawa vs Candy Okutsu (ARS 2/18/98)
49) Ric Flair vs Bret Hart (WCW 1/24/98)
48) Kaoru vs Toshie Uematsu (GAEA 12/27/98)
47) Alda Moreno & Miss Janeth vs Rossy Moreno & Xochitl Hamada (Relevos Suicidas) (AAA 9/18/98)
46) Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit (WCW 2/22/98)
45) 14 Man Torneo Cibernetico (CMLL 3/31/98)
44) Sugar Sato vs Meiko Satomura (GAEA 3/15/98)
43) Cuty Suzuki vs Mayumi Ozaki (JWP 11/15/98)
42) Chris Benoit vs Booker T (WCW 6/14/98)
41) Aja Kong vs Michiko Omukai (ARS 2/18/98)

40) Goldberg vs Perry Saturn (WCW 4/19/98)
39) Kumiko Maekawa vs Yasha Kurenai (AJW 11/29/98)
38) Yoko Kosugi vs Sumie Sakai (Jd' 12/29/98)
37) Mayumi Ozaki & Sugar Sato vs Kaoru & Toshiyo Yamada (GAEA 3/15/98)
36) Mima Shimoda vs Chapparita Asari (NEO 5/6/98)
35) Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 8/8/98)
34) Jaguar Yokota & Yoko Kosugi vs Lioness Aska & The Bloody (Jd' 2/2/98)
33) Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 9/21/98)
32) Sonoko Kato & Meiko Satomura vs Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima (GAEA 3/29/98)
31) Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda vs Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato (GAEA 1/15/98)

30) Billy Kidman vs Juventud Guerrera (WCW 11/16/98)
29) Michiko Omukai vs Yumi Fukawa (ARS 4/11/98)
28) Olimpico vs Halcon Negro (CMLL 10/23/98)
27) Reiko Amano & Chikayo Nagashima vs Toshie Uematsu & Sonoko Kato (OZ 6/21/98)
26) Jaguar Yokota vs Chapparita Asari (NEO 2/15/98)
25) Diamond Dallas Page vs Goldberg (WCW 10/25/98)
24) The Undertaker vs Mankind (Hell In A Cell) (WWF 6/28/98)
23) Koji Kanemoto vs Dr Wagner Jr (NJ 6/3/98)
22) Mariko Yoshida vs Candy Okutsu (ARS 12/18/98)
21) Akira Maeda vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS 7/20/98)

20) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJ 3/29/98)
19) Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh (NJ 7/31/98)
18) Dr Wagner Jr & Emilio Charles Jr vs Mr Niebla & Shocker (CMLL 1/23/98)
17) Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs Vader & Stan Hansen (AJ 5/1/98)
16) Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace (AJ 6/5/98)
15) El Hijo Del Santo vs Felino (MTY 10/18/98)
14) Mr. Aguila, Olimpico & Pantera vs Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero & Zumbido (CMLL 7/3/98)
13) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (AJ 9/11/98)
12) Hikari Fukuoka vs Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP 3/6/98)
11) 14 Man Torneo Cibernetico (CMLL 4/28/98)

10) Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS 1/21/98)
9) Shinobu Kandori, Rumi Kazama & Yasha Kurenai vs Eagle Sawai, Michiko Nagashima & Sayori Okino (LLPW 2/15/98)
8) Momoe Nakanishi vs Kumiko Maekawa (AJW 3/1/98)
7) Genichiro Tenryu vs Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 8/1/98)
6) Shinya Hashimoto vs Kazuo Yamazaki (NJ 8/2/98)
5) Steve Austin vs Dude Love (WWF 5/31/98)
4) Manami Toyota vs Shinobu Kandori (AJW 8/23/98)
3) Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS 6/27/98)
2) Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 6/12/98)
1) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (AJ 10/31/98)

[soup23]

Nice List Zenjo and will certainly be watching a lot of the joshi here.

 

Probably most surprised by the Saturn vs. Goldberg result actually as I liked it for what it was but thought Saturn tried way too much stuff for my tastes. I can see that being rewarded though.

[Loss]

Interesting list! Hope I can find all or most of the blue matches online.

[Zenjo]

I couldn't argue that Saturn vs Goldberg was technically good. It was the intensity and the contagious excitement from the crowd that made it special. How often do you see a match of that length where every single move from one wrestler gets a pop? The weirdest match that I've ever put on one of these lists also featured Saturn (1996 #47). Everything about it I usually hate, apart from this one time only.

 

Edit: I've added some really good CMLL to the list and expanded to a top 85.

[ohtani's jacket]

66) Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs Hikari Fukuoka & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP 2/11/98)

 

 

This was a workrate driven tag as you'd expect with Toyota vs. Fukuoka being the main match-up. Toyota worked heel, but she did this annoying shtick where she'd no sell Fukuoka's throws then overpower her with the same moves. I hate that sort of heel work. She'd do a similar thing in matches where she'd lie in a submission hold and act like it wasn't hurting. To me that's infinitely more annoying than her running around on a bad leg. The dives were a mess in this in terms of their orchestration, but the two moves that put Toyota away were fantastic looking. I liked Ito in this despite the fact I didn't think it was right for her to be playing the kid sister act after the breakout year she had in '97, but ultimately it wasn't a very good performance from Toyota and it needed to be for the match to be special.

[Zenjo]

For the majority of the bout it was decent enough action but a bit below being listworthy. Ito and Kuzumi held their ends up in the #2 roles and allowed the focus to be on the Toyota vs Fukuoka rivalry. I agree that Toyota's heel act was annoying, the dreaded red outfit. What made this for me was Fukuoka, and in particular the way she absolutely killed it at the finish. Her two big moves looked stunning when they were hit right. She was the star player and got rewarded with a major win in her career over somebody she'd never beaten. I agree that Toyota's heel work was in general terms not good, yet in this case it made the ending even more satisfying. I wanted to see Hikari kick her ass, and that she did in spectacular style.