Your "So So Good" Top 100 Matches of All Time

[JerryvonKramer]

snapelookinggrumpy.gif

 

I might review some of these matches later, why not.

[Jimmy Redman]

You should. Feed the soul.

 

I don't begrudge you your silly little Ted matches mate.

[NotJayTabb]

Love that Shelton/Viscera match. Watched New Years Revolution on a whim last month and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Really fun match that no-one talks about.

[TheU_2001]

We've definitely seen every possible variant of ranking Flair-Steamboat trilogy now.

 

I was 1. Clash, 2. Chi-Town, 3. Wrestlewar

 

Chad was 1. Clash, 2. Wrestlewar, 3. Chi-town

 

I think Tim was 1. Chi-town, 2. Clash, 3. Wrestlewar

 

And now elliott is 1. Wrestlewar, 2. Clash, 3. Chi-town

 

Pretty amazing.

I agree with Chad.

1. Clash VI (my all time favorite match too)

2. Wrestle War '89

3. Chi-Town Rumble '89

[cowboy hats]

Just watched Shelton/Viscera because of this and...it didn't stand out at all. Actually, the only noteworthy thing was the presence of Shelton's 'momma' at ringside. Top contender for one of the most annoying things I've ever seen, in or out of wrestling.

 

Verdict: I regret watching!

[Microstatistics]

 

4. Trish Stratus vs Mickie James - WWE Wrestlemania 22

 

 

Watched this based on the high ranking and it was quite good. The character work was interesting and Mickie's work on Trish's leg looked really good and Trish sold it extremely well. Also the finish is a good example for why penalizing matches for botches can be counterproductive as the messed up spot at the end can be seen as a positive by saying Trish's bad leg buckled (which adds to the match) instead of treating it like negative and saying they screwed up. *** 1/2

[Microstatistics]

 

11. Trish Stratus vs Lita - WWE Raw 6th December 2004

 

 

Very good stuff. Hard fought and they managed to generate quite a bit of drama. Lita was good as the babyface challenger and Trish was great as the desperate heel champion. *** 1/2

 

 

5. Trish Stratus vs Lita - WWE Unforgiven 2006

 

This time the roles were completely reversed and both adapted to them well. Another good match. *** 1/4

[NintendoLogic]

deleted

[Microstatistics]

 

My list was in chronological order, but since everyone else is doing rankings, I will as well. I didn't do any extensive rewatching or analysis, just a quick "which one would I rather watch" gut reaction. My top ten is pretty well set in stone, but everything after that is tentative. I'll probably change my mind as soon as I click Post.

 

 

Yep this kind of list is an eternal work in progress. Posted mine a few hours ago and would already make some big changes.

[NintendoLogic]

deleted

[dkookypunk43]

I did this recently and here is what I came up with my viewing and where it is.

1) Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard Starrcade 85 Steel Cage I Quit

2) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada Wrestle Kingdom 10

3) Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 25

4) Terry Funk vs Ric Flair Clash of the Champions 9 I Quit

5) Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat Chi Town Rumble

6) Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat Clash of the Champions VI Ragin Cajin

7) Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels Bad Blood 97 Hell in a Cell

8) Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata G1 Climax 2013

9) Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs AJ Styles TNA Unbreakable 05

10) Bret Hart vs Steve Austin WrestleMania 13 Submission Match

11) John Cena vs JBL Judgement Day 2005 I Quit

12) Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine Starrcade 83 Dog Collar

13) Mistuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi January 20th 1997 AJPW

14) Kenta Kobashi vs Stan Hansen July 1993 AJPW on twice (97)

15) Bryan Danielson vs Takeshi Morishima ROH Final Battle 2008

16) Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness ROH Driven 2007

17) Shawn Michaels vs Mankind IYH Mind Games

18) Royal Rumble Match 1992

19) Dude Love vs Steve Austin Over the Edge 1998

20) Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper WrestleMania 8

21) Rock vs Steve Austin WrestleMania 17

22) Ric Flair vs Randy Savage WrestleMania 8

23) KENTA vs Low Ki ROH Final Battle 2005

24) Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect KOTR 1993

25) Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith SummerSlam 1992

26) Los Gringos Locos (Eddie Guerrero & Art Barr) vs Octagon & El Hijo De Santo AAA When Worlds Collide Masks vs Hair

27) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi Wrestle Kingdom 9

28) Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles Wrestle Kingdom 10

29) AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels TNA Bound for Glory 2005 30 Minute Iron Man Match

30) CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar SummerSlam 2013

31) CM Punk vs John Cena Money in the Bank 2011

32) Shawn Michaels vs HHH Badd Blood 2004 Hell in a Cell

33) Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar No Mercy 2002 Hell in a Cell 2002

34) Juventud Guerrera vs Rey Mysterio Jr ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash ⅔ Falls

35) Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle Royal Rumble 2003

36) Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho Royal Rumble 2001 Ladder

37) TLC 2 WrestleMania 17

38) Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels No Mercy 2009 Ladder Match

39) Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat WrestleMania 3

40) Wild Pegasus (Benoit) vs Great Sasuke Super J Cup 1994 Finals

41) Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels vs Triple H WrestleMania 20

42) Cactus Jack vs HHH Royal Rumble 2000 Street Fight

43) Mankind vs Undertaker KOTR 1998 HIAC

44) Cactus Jack vs HHH No Way Out 2000 HIAC

45) Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior WrestleMania 7 Retirement Match

46) Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan WrestleMania 6 4/1/90

47) Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask NJPW April 21st 1983

48) Ric Flair vs Terry Funk Great American Bash 1989 11/15

49) Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match

50) Kenta Kobashi vs Mistsuharu Misawa March 30th 2003 NOAH think this is 3/1

51) Bret Hart vs Owen Hart SummerSlam 1994 Cage Match 8/29

52) Dean Malenko vs Eddie Guerrero ⅔ Falls ECW August 26, 1995

53) CM Punk vs Samoa Joe Punk vs Joe II

54) Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa AJPW June 9th 1995 on twice (93)

55) John Cena vs Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins Royal Rumble 2015

56) Keiji Mutoh vs Masahiro Chono NJPW G1 Climax 1991 Finals 8/11/9181

57) Stan Hansen vs Andre The Giant NJPW 9/23/1981

58) Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig, 12/25/86, AWA air date

59) Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude, 2/29/92 Superbrawl II, JCP/NWA/WCW

60) Mankind vs The Rock Royal Rumble 1999 I Quit

61) Lex Luger and Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, 3/27/88 Clash of the Champions I, JCP/NWA/WCW

62) John Cena vs Daniel Bryan Summerslam 2013

63) Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack, 4/18/04 Backlash, WWF/WWE Hardcore Match

64) John Cena vs Umaga Royal Rumble 2007 Last Man Standing

65) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat, 6/20/92 Beach Blast, JCP/NWA/WCW 30 Minute Iron Man

66) Wargames Match WrestleWar 1991

67) John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, 4/29/12 Extreme Rules, WWF/WWE

68) Bob Backlund vs Ken Patera Texas Death Match 5/19/80 WWF

69) Ric Flair vs Sting Clash of the Champions I 32/27/1988 WCW/JCP/NWA

70) Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas 5/25/1992

71) Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano 1/21/1990 NJPW

72) Do Fixer vs Blood Generation ROH SuperCard of Honor 2006

73) Kevin Steen vs El Generico Final Battle 2009 Fight Without Honor

74) Kenta Kobashi vs Samoa Joe ROH 10/1/2005

75) Keiji Mutoh vs Genichiro Tenryu 6/8/2001 AJPW

76) Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio Halloween Havoc 1997

77) Atlantis vs Villano III CMLL Mask vs Mask 3/17/2000

78) Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero CMLL Mask vs Mask 81st Anniversary Show

79) Bret Hart vs Owen Hart WrestleMania 10

80) Wargames Match WrestleWar 1992

81) ROH vs CZW Cage of Death Death Before Dishonor 2006

82) Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masa Fuchi, 4/20/91, AJPW

83) Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu, 6/5/89, AJPW

84) Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama 7/10/2004 Tokyo Dome NOAH

85) El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Otani, 6/3/99, NJPW

86) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada NJPW Invasion Attack 2013

87) Vader vs. Sting, 2/21/93 Superbrawl III, JCP/NWA/WCW

88) Samoa Joe vs Necro Butcher 6/11/05 IWA MS

89) El Samurai vs. Jushin Liger, 4/30/92, NJPW

90) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada, 6/3/94, AJPW

91) Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka WWE/ECW One Night Stand 05

92) The Great Muta vs Hiroshi Hase 12/14/1992

93) HHH vs Undertaker HIAC WrestleMania 28

94) Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 21

95) Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen, 4/14/83, AJPW

96) Shawn Michaels vs Diesel IYH Good Friends, Better Enemies WWF

97) Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho WrestleMania 19

98) Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero WWE No Way Out 2004

99) The Canadian Stampede 10-Man Tag WWF IYH Canadian Stampede 1997

100) Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik, 6/1/84 Bootcamp Match, WWF/WWE

[Iron Anderson]

This is a great thread in regards to everyone's taste in matches. Has anyone considered pinning it?

 

I have made a dozen or so of these over many years. Have also made dozens of changes as well. I'm sure others have too. That's the best part about making a greatest match list. The ability to subtract and add. Much prefer this to a goat wrestler list.

 

Think I'll add one of my own.

[JKWebb]

I've really enjoyed looking at all these lists. I'll be using them as a reference point for things I haven't seen. I worked on this list in March for a road trip with my good brothers to Dallas for 32. I'm not saying these matches have to be called the greatest of all-time, but I am saying that in March of 2016 they were my personal favorite matches that I could recall seeing. I'm sure there are some matches I've seen since then that might bump some out, but I'd have to reflect more on that. This is something that easily changes over time. I take things into account like sentimental value and if I attended live, or at least I think I do. So, it really is just a favorites list. I am about to jump into the Portland set and the All Japan 80's set, so I'm sure this will change drastically after I complete those. Here's a list of 100 matches I love.

 

***Edit - I was going to think about tracking this and updating it. But, I think it would drive me crazy. This would change everyday and it's too hard to choose between what I actually think is great vs. favorites. I can't imagine how hard it is to try to map out what you actually think the greatest 100 matches of all-time are. Kudos to those who have, because I love looking at them. I made a few changes from the original post, but I'm never coming back to it again.

 

***Sting vs. Vader - 12/28/1992 - My personal fav match

1. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (4-2-1989) Clash VI

2. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard (11-28-1985) Starrcade

3. Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (03/01/2003) NOAH

4. War Games (5-17-1992) - Sting's Squad vs. Dangerous Alliance

 

6. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (6-6-1983) Loser Leaves Town/Memphis

7. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (7-23-1989) Great American Bash

8. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (06/03/1994) AJPW

9. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (01/20/1997) AJPW

10. Curt Hennig vs. Nick Bockwinkel (11-21-1986) AWA/60-Minute Draw

11. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (08/30/1986) AWA/"Blood in the Sand"

12. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (12/30/1985) Loser Leaves Town/No DQ/Memphis

13. HBK vs. Undertaker (10/05/1997) Badd Blood/Hell in a Cell

14. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (04/29/2012) - Extreme Rules

15. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (07/29/1993) AJPW

16. HBK vs. Mankind (09/22/1996) Mind Games

17. CM Punk vs. John Cena (07/17/2011) Money in the Bank

18. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (06/20/1992) Beach Blast/Iron Man

19. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (03/23/1997) WrestleMania 13

20. Sting vs. Vader (02/21/1993) Superbrawl III/Strap Match

21. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (04/18/2013) Summerslam

22. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (03/29/2015) WrestleMania 31

23. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (02/25/1990) WrestleWar

24. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (02/28/1993) AJPW

25. John Cena vs. Umaga (01/28/2007) Royal Rumble/Last Man Standing

26. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (02/20/1989) Chi-Town Rumble

27. Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers (12/25/1986) AWA/"Brawl in St. Paul"

28. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (03/23/1981) Memphis/No DQ

29. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (07/24/1998) AJPW

30. Liger vs. Naoki Sano (01/31/1990) NJPW

31. Lex Luger and Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (03/27/1988) Clash of the Champions

32. Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine (11/24/1983) Starrcade

33. Ted Dibiase vs. Jim Duggan (03/22/1985) Mid-South/Loser Leaves Town etc.

34. Royal Rumble Match (01/19/1992) WWF/Royal Rumble

35. The Enforcers vs. Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes: Clash of the Champions 17

36. HBK vs. The Undertaker (04/25/2009) WrestleMania 25

37. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat: Maple Leaf Wrestling IC Title Match - (02/15/1987)

38. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (11-15-1989) Clash 9/"I Quit"

39. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - WrestleWar 1989

40. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (09/01/1990) AJPW

41. Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior (03/24/1991) WrestleMania 7

42. Curt Hennig vs. Stan Hansen (05/31/1986) AWA

43. Jerry Lawler vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - Texas Death Match (09/07/1986) Memphis

44. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Wahoo McDaniel (08/28/1983) AWA

45. Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper: WrestleMania 8

46. HBK vs. Chris Jericho (10/05/2008) No Mercy/Ladder Match

47. Andre the Giant vs. Stan Hansen (09/23/1981) AJPW

48. CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe II: ROH (HR Draw) 10/16/2004

49. Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, AJPW (10/31/1998)

50. Atlantis vs. Villano III - 03/17/2000

51. Ric Flair vs. Vader - Starrcade 1993

52. MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicano - 09/23/1983

53. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon - Ladder Match - Mania X

54. Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff - Survivor Series 2003

55. CM Punk vs. John Cena - RAW (02/25/2013)

56. Rick Martel vs. Nick Bockwinkel (09/20/1984) AWA

57. Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue (06/09/1995) AJPW

58. Misawa and Kobashi vs. Kawada and Taue (12/03/1993) AJPW

59. Canadian Stampede - 10-Man Tag

 

61. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (06/05/1989) AJPW

62. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. - Halloween Havoc 1997

63. Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (10/01/2005) ROH

64. Magnum TA vs. Ted Dibiase: Mid-South (05/27/1984)

65. Lex Luger, Sting, Barry Windham vs. Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and Arn Anderson (04/03/1988) NWA Main Event

66. Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen (04/14/1983) AJPW

67. Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - Great American Bash 1990

68. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - Survivor Series 1996

69. Midnight Express vs. The Fantastics (03/27/1988) Clash of the Champions

70. HHH vs. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania XXX

71. War Games 1991

72. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee, NO DQ, LLT, Memphis (07/14/1986)

73. Midnight Express vs. Rock N Roll Express - WresteWar 1990

74. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - Superbrawl II

75. Buddy Rose and Doug Somers vs. Midnight Rockers (01/17/1987) AWA

76. Sting vs. Vader - Great American Bash 1992

77. Macho Man vs. Ric Flair - WrestleMania VIII

 

79. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi (01/04/2015) NJPW

80. Stan Hansen vs. Carlos Colon (01/06/1987) - Bullrope Match - WWC - Puerto Rico

81. Jim Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer - Mid-South (11/11/1985)

82. Kawada and Tenryu vs. Hansen and Gordy (12/16/1988) AJPW

83. Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (09/29/1985) AWA

84. Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana - MSG 6/16/1984

85. HBK vs. Diesel: In Your House

 

87. Stan Hansen vs. Leon White: 03/13/1986 AWA

88. IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Minoru Suzuki - G-1 Climax Day 7

 

90. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW - 02/27/2000

91. Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig (12/25/1986) AWA

92. Rock N Roll Express vs. Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khrushchev (JCP 09/09/1985)/NWA Tag Titles

93. Jumbo Tsuruta and Yatsu vs. Tenryu and Hansen - 12/09/1989 - AJPW

94. Kawada & Taue vs. Misawa and Akiyama - 12/06/1996

95. Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol - Memphis - 04/27/1987 - Steel Cage/Hair vs. Hair

96. Steve Austin vs. Dude Love - Over the Edge - 05/31/1998

97. Ric Flair vs. Ted Dibiase: 11-6-1985/Mid-South (More of an angle than a match or would be higher)

98. The Fabulous Ones vs The Moondogs - 05/02/1983

99. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson 05/04/1981 - Alley Fight/WWF

100. CM Punk vs. The Undertaker - WrestleMania 29

 

I took out a couple of matches because I know El Dandy vs. El Satanico 12/14/1990 and Ric Flair vs. Koko Ware from Memphis (11/18/1985) would fall in here as two of my personal favorite matches not listed. I'd probably add the Last Battle of ATL now and since mine is really more a reflection of favorites - Savage vs. Dibiase at MSG June of 1988 would be on there somewhere too.

[elliott]

Wow what timing. Since Micro updated his list (and it is fucking awesome) I figured I'd share this message I sent Stacey & MattD last night about sort of this very thing!

Matt is going to hate this because it is 100% great match and star ratings. HA. And really, I'm more on the side of "star ratings are stupid" so I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but maybe thats exactly why I'm doing this.

 

So we all know I'm crazy. I'm doing this "watch all the possible 5 star matches" project. I've been using the dvdvr 80s project results, Loss' top 500 of the 90s (I'm not doing the whole 500 - but a lot of it), the PWO 5 Star & 4 3/4 Star match thread, the MOTD thread, and the MOTY by year thread as a guide. I've also decided to go full crazy and reach back to wrestling's dark smart mark past by pulling out Jeff Bowdren's top 100 of the 80s and the 2000s equivalent: the 90s DVDVR polls.

 

Certain things I'm not watching. 80s Flair for example because I'm hoping the Crockett set is released before Steve Bannon kills us all. I watched the Flair matches that finished highly in Texas, Mid South and Memphis. But I'm not watching Flair vs Steamboat again until I have to.

 

I watched Hansen vs Kobashi 7/93 and Kobashi/Kikuchi vs Kroffat & Furnas 5/92 again because they're two of all time favorites no matter what. I'm not watching any other 90s All Japan because fuck 90s All Japan. I tried to start at least with the early Jumbo vs Misawa stuff, but I just couldn't get excited for it. My interest in All Japan is dependent mostly on Terry Funk, Tenryu, & Baba.

 

Everything else is fair game. Every style, promotion and era. I'm being as chronological as humanly possible with a little sidetracking usually for the sake of Lucha. I've made a ton of progress. Blowing through my initial batch of 60s & 70s stuff, the 80s and up through October 91. I've added matches as I've gone and picked up about 50 more matches from 1950-1981 that I'll need to go back and watch (depending on how much of it is on youtube or dm). Literally all of it will be new to me (its a lot of that Chicago Films shit or WOS) except for a few more 70s All Japan matches.

 

Needless to say, I'm not one of these people who has 10 five star matches. I'm going to have like 300 by the end of this fucking thing.

 

So what's the point of these 1:30am ravings of a lunatic? Well, if yall had known all of the details of this before and asked me "Hey, what are the top 100 matches you've watched so far in order from very best to least very best?" I would answer with this:

 

 

 

1. Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 (Hair vs Hair) 9/23/83 EMLL

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

3. Gilbert Cesca vs Billy Catanzaro 60’s French Catch

4. Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo 2/28/86 UWA

5. Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (Loser Leaves Town) 12/30/85 Memphis

6. Stan Hansen vs Andre the Giant 9/23/81NJPW

7. El Satanico vs Gran Cochisse 9/14/84 EMLL

8. Stan Hansen vs Carlos Colon (Steel Cage Match) 3/14/87 WWC

9. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (Mask vs Hair) 7/18/87 WWA

10. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik 12/09/78 AJPW

11. Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi 7/27/93AJPW

12. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Riki Choshu 6/9/87 NJPW

13. El Satanico vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) 12/14/90 EMLL

14. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu 1/28/86 AJPW

15. Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen 4/14/83 AJPW

16. Atlantis vs Villano III (Mask vs Mask) 3/17/00 CMLL

17. Team New Japan (Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino) vs Team UWF (Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kido) (Elimination Match) 3/26/86 NJPW

18. The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes & Paul Ellering vs The Four Horsemen & JJ Dillion (War Games) 7/4/87 JCP

19. The Destroyer vs Giant Baba 3/5/69 JWA

20. El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr (Mask vs Mask) 8/31/86 Monterrey

21. Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler NO DQ 3/23/81 Memphis

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

23. Invader I vs Ron Starr 9/19/86

24. Invader I vs Al Perez (Street Fight) 10/26/86 WWC

25. Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (Empty Arena Match) 4/6/81 Memphis

26. Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (Loser Leaves Town) 6/6/83 Memphis

27. El Dandy vs Pirata Morgan (Hair vs Hair) 09/23/88 EMLL

28. Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiako Takada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs Riki Coshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi (5x5 Gauntlet) 4/19/84 NJPW

29. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas 5/22/92 AJPW

30. Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano 1/31/90 NJPW

31. Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen (Texas Bullrope Match) 1/6/87 WWC

32. Infierno en el Ring (El Satanico, Averno, Mephisto, Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy & Mascara Magica) 09/28/01 CMLL

33. Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto (Hair vs Hair) 8/28/85 AJW

34. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura 11/29/89 AJPW

35. Johnny Valentine vs Wild Bull Curry 6/20/69 Houston

36. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (Boot Camp Match) 6/16/84 WWF

37. Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine (Dog Collar Match) 11/24/83 JCP

38. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki 07/24/89 UWF

39. Keiji Muto vs Masa Chono 08/11/91 NJPW

40. Stan Hansen vs Carlos Colon 2/28/87 WWC

41. Giant Baba vs Billy Robinson 7/24/76 AJPW

42. Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami 8/22/85 AJW

43. Akira Maeda vs Tatsumi Fujinami 6/12/86 NJPW

44. Shinobu Kandori vs Devil Masami 07/14/88 JWP

45. The Destroyer vs Mil Mascaras 7/25/74 AJPW

46. Stan Hansen vs Genichiro Tenryu 3/27/88 AJPW

47. Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano 8/10/89 NJPW

48. Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta 6/11/76 AJPW

49. El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Tim Patterson & Horace Boulder 5/16/92 FMW/WWA

50. La Gran Guerrera I: Carlos Colon, Invader I, Bruiser Brody, Dutch Mantell & TNT vs Abdullah the Butcher, Hercules Ayala, Chicky Starr, Kareem Muhammad & Grizzly Boone 12/12/87 WWC

51. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu 12/6/89 AJPW

52. The Rockers vs Buddy Rose & Doug Somers 8/30/86 AWA

53. Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich (2/3 Falls) 8/15/82 WCCW

54. El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr 04/10/88 UWA

55. Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen 9/11/82 AJPW

56. Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada 11/10/88 UWF

57. The Rock N Roll Express vs The Midnight Express w/ Jim Cornette 02/25/90 WCW WrestleWar

58. Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat WrestleMania III 3/29/87 WWF

59. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada 12/16/88 AJPW

60. El Satanico vs El Dandy 10/26/90 EMLL

61. The Von Erich’s (Kerry, Kevin & David) vs The Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts) 7/4/83 WCCW

62. Bob Backlund vs Ken Patera (Texas Death Match) 5/19/80 WWF

63. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka 12/14/00 NJPW

64. Kerry Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta (2/3 Falls NWA Title Match) 5/22/84 AJPW

65. Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba 2/4/82 AJPW

66. El Hijo del Santo vs La Parka (Super Llibre) 12/23/01 Monterrey

67. Invader I vs Chicky Starr (15 Minute Time Limit, Retirement vs Hair) 9/20/87 WWC

68. Jerry Lawler vs Austin Idol (No DQ, Hair vs Hair Steel Cage Match) 4/27/87 Memphis

69. Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior (Retirement Match) 03/24/91 WWF WrestleMania VII

70. Sasha Banks vs Charlotte (Hell in a Cell) 10/30/16 WWE

71. Ted Dibiase vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner’s Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo Cage Match) 3/22/85 Mid-South

72. Kerry Von Erich vs Michael Hayes (Loser Leaves Town Cage Match) 11/24/83 WCCW

73. El Satanico vs Atlantis 1984 EMLL

74. The Midnight Express vs The Southern Boys 07/07/90 WCW Great American Bash

75. Shinya Hashimoto vs Masa Chono 08/09/91 NJPW

76. Andre the Giant vs Killer Khan 4/1/82 NJPW

77. Nick Bockwinkel vs Wahoo McDaniel 8/28/83 AWA

78. El Satanico vs Shiro Koshinaka (Hair vs Hair) 7/30/84 EMLL

79. The Fabulous Ones vs The Moondogs (Stretcher Match) 5/2/83 Memphis

80. Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko & Sid Vicious vs Sting, Brian Pillman & The Steiner Brothers (War Games) 02/24/91 WCW Wrestle War

81. La Parka, Rey Mysterio Sr & Halloween vs Rey Mysterio Jr, Damian 666 & Vampiro 10/26/01 Tijuana

82. Keiji Muto vs Vader 08/10/91 NJPW

83. El Hijo del Santo vs Blue Panther 04/09/00 Monterrey

84. Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (Cage Match) 11/14/90 AJW

85. Mad Dog Vachon vs Jerry Blackwell (Algerian Death Match 5/22/83 AWA

86. Tony Salazar vs Herodes (Hair vs Hair) 3/2/84 EMLL

87. El Satanico vs Super Astro 10/26/84 EMLL

88. Terry Gordy vs Killer Khan (Texas Death Match w/ Special Guest Ref Kerry Von Erich) 11/22/84 WCCW

89. Terry Funk vs Barry Windham 9/19/86 WWC

90. Terry Funk vs Rick Martel 9/20/86 WWC

91. Shinya Hashimoto vs Victor Zangiev 4/24/89 NJPW

92. Jerry Lawler vs Bam Bam Bigelow (Texas Death Match) 9/7/86 Memphis

93. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy 8/31/83 AJPW

94. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Bruiser Brody & Jimmy Snuka 12/13/81 AJPW

95. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody 12/13/82 AJPW

96. Carlos Colon vs Hercules Ayala (Fire Match) 09/10/88 WWC

97. Eddie Gilbert & Ricky Morton vs Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita (Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl) 9/4/81 Memphis

98. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi 10/6/89 FMW

99. Jaguar Yokota vs Lioness Asuka 8/22/85 AJW

100. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs The Dynamic Duo (Gino Hernandez & Chris Adams) (“The Mane Event” No DQ, Hair vs Hair) 10/6/85 WCCW

 

 

 

 

I recommend all of these matches. My Five Star matches list will be a fucking galaxy.

 

 

So this is obviously a major work in progress. I mean, at the very least the trio of Flair/Steamboat & duo of Flair/Funk matches all deserve to be on there. Flair vs Windham, Garvin, Morton & Luger all have real shots.I'm watching WOS finally but not ready to rate it in this sort of context. 90s All Japan I don't know what to do with. I'll rank it when I watch it again for GWE 2026 Looking into the future, there are a bunch of lucha and shoot style matches that will be making their way on here so it'll be radically different next time you see it. But I love 80s wrestling the most so if you held a gun to my head and made me do a top 100, I'd be fine with it.

[Microstatistics]

One thing you can conclude from both of our lists is that El Satanico rules.

 

 

Looking into the future, there are a bunch of lucha and shoot style matches that will be making their way on here so it'll be radically different next time you see it.

 

Looking forward to the Kiyoshi Tamura infested version.

[Cap]

I keep saying I am going to put together my top 100 one day and I keep finding no motivation to start that. There is still far too much I want to feel more comfortable with. I would also have to go back and watch all the matches that I have highly rated again. My number 1 would probably be the same as Elliots.... after that... who knows.

[NintendoLogic]

I've done a fair amount of tinkering to my list over the months, and I think it's different enough now from the original to warrant a new post. Here's what it looks like right now.

 

 

100. Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (9/29/85)
99. Randy Savage vs. Tito Santana (4/22/86)
98. Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith (In Your House 5, 12/17/95)
97. Hiroshi Hase vs. Masahiro Chono (8/6/93)
96. Steve Austin vs. The Rock (Wrestlemania X7, 4/1/01)
95. Bret Hart vs. Undertaker (One Night Only, 9/20/97)
94. Vader vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (6/10/94)
93. Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai (8/30/95)
92. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco (8/28/76)
91. Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (2/19/79)
90. Misawa/Kawada/Kikuchi vs. Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi (10/15/91)
89. Keiji Mutoh vs. Masahiro Chono (8/11/91)
88. British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation (9/23/85)
87. Bull Power vs. Otto Wanz (12/22/89)
86. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (3/4/12)
85. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (Turning Point, 12/11/05)
84. Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (3/22/85)
83. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Pat Patterson (5/4/81)
82. Curt Hennig vs. Nick Bockwinkel (11/21/86)
81. Vader vs. Nobuhiko Takada (8/18/94)
80. Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (Summerslam, 8/28/89)
79. Terry Gordy vs. Killer Khan (11/22/84)
78. Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson (7/24/76)
77. Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue (12/6/96)
76. Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue (5/23/96)
75. Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (1/23/00)
74. Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Hansen/Vader (12/5/98)
73. Luger/Windham vs. Anderson/Blanchard (Clash of the Champions, 3/27/88)
72. Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner (Fall Brawl, 9/17/00)
71. Rock & Roll Express vs. Midnight Express (Wrestlewar, 2/25/90)
70. Vader vs. Keiji Mutoh (8/10/91)
69. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (4/6/92)
68. Lex Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat (Great American Bash, 7/23/89)
67. Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat (2/15/87)
66. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (9/1/90)
65. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (6/8/90)
64. Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu (7/27/88)
63. Barry Windham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio (Clash XXIII, 6/16/93)
62. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (6/5/89)
61. Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen (9/5/96)
60. Sting vs. Lord Steven Regal (Great American Bash, 6/16/96)
59. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules, 4/29/12)
58. El Dandy vs. Pirata Morgan (9/23/88)
57. Steamboat/Douglas vs. Windham/Pillman (Starrcade, 12/28/92)
56. Kobashi/Akiyama vs. Hansen/Taue (12/3/99)
55. Dynamite Kid vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (2/5/80)
54. Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes (Clash XXIX, 11/16/94)
53. HBK/Diesel vs. Ramon/Kid (Action Zone, 10/30/94)
52. Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Furnas/Kroffat (5/25/92)
51. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (7/24/95)
50. Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (In Your House: Mind Games, 9/22/96)
49. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (8/10/89)
48. Fujinami/Choshu/Maeda/Kimura/SSM vs. Inoki/Fuijwara/Sakaguchi/Hoshino/Mutoh (8/19/87)
47. Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/9/87)
46. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (7/24/98)
45. Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (Spring Stampede, 4/17/94)
44. Rhodes/Windham vs. Austin/Zbyszko (Superbrawl II, 2/29/92)
43. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (8/2/98)
42. Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (11/20/94)
41. El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (1/13/91)
40. Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera (5/19/80)
39. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (12/30/85)
38. John Cena vs. Umaga (Royal Rumble, 1/28/07)
37. Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik (6/16/84)
36. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (4/7/13)
35. Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (Summerslam, 8/19/01)
34. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (Summerslam, 8/18/13)
33. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (4/25/04)
32. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (2/27/00)
31. Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (Beach Blast, 6/20/92)
30. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Wrestlemania X, 3/20/94)
29. Rhodes/Steamboat vs. Enforcers (Clash XVII, 11/19/91)
28. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (4/15/95)
27. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (11/1/03)
26. Santo/Scorpio/Salvaje vs. Casas/Dandy/Garza (11/29/96)
25. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (Smackdown, 6/23/05)
24. Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (3/23/81)
23. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Chi-Town Rumble, 2/20/89)
22. Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (Halloween Havoc, 10/26/97)
21. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (King of the Ring, 6/13/93)
20. Midnight Rockers vs. Rose/Somers (8/30/86)
19. Vader vs. Sting (Great American Bash, 7/12/92)
18. Jumbo/Tenryu vs. Choshu/Yatsu (1/28/86)
17. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi vs. Jumbo/Taue/Fuchi (10/19/90)
16. Hansen/Tenryu vs. Jumbo/Yatsu (12/6/89)
15. Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue (12/3/93)
14. Vader vs. Sting (Starrcade, 12/28/92)
13. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Wrestlemania 13, 3/23/97)
12. Hansen/Gordy vs. Tenryu/Kawada (12/16/88)
11. MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83)
10. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (6/6/83)
9. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Great American Bash, 7/23/89)
8. Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (No Way Out, 2/15/04)
7. Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (2/28/93)
6. Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (7/29/93)
5. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Survivor Series, 11/17/96)
4. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (4/2/93)
3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (1/20/97)
2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (6/3/94)
1. Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue (6/9/95)

 

[elliott]

Figured I'd update mine as well since I've made it through my list of 90s matches to watch. This is really different from my earlier list, but is much closer to something I'm happy with.

 

 

100. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 12/6/96 AJPW

99. Taka Michinoku, Mens Teoh, Dick Togo, Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki vs Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Super Delphin, Tiger Mask IV & Masato Yakushiji 10/10/96 M-Pro

98. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon vs Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine (Double Mask vs Double Hair) 11/4/94 AAA

97. Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu 2/17/94 NJPW

96. Blue Panther vs Super Astro 10/9/92 AAA

95. La Gran Guerrera I : Carlos Colon, Invader I, Bruiser Brody, Dutch Mantell & TNT vs Abdullah the Butcher, Hercules Ayala, Chicky Starr, Kareem Muhammad & Grizzly Boone 12/12/87 WWC

94. El Hijo del Santo, Scorpio Jr & Bestia Salvaje vs Negro Casas, El Dandy & Hector Garza 11/29/96 CMLL

93. Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana 11/20/84 WWF

92. Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta 6/11/76 AJPW

91. Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano 8/10/89 NJPW

90. El Hijo del Santo vs El Dandy vs Negro Casas ( Mask vs Hair vs Hair) 12/6/96

89. Stan Hansen vs Genichiro Tenryu 3/27/88 AJPW

88. Shinya Hashimoto vs Nobuhiko Takada 4/29/96 NJPW

87. El Hijo del Santo vs Brazo de Oro (Mask vs Hair) 1/13/91 UWA

86. The Destroyer vs Mil Mascaras 7/25/74 AJPW

85. 5x5 Gauntlet Team New Japan (Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Seiji Sakaguchi, Shiro Koshinaka & Keiichi Yamada) vs Team UWF (Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Kazuo Yamazaki & Nobuhiko Takada) 5/1/86 NJPW

84. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada 6/3/94 AJPW

83. Shinobu Kandori vs Devil Masami 7/14/88 JWP

82. Akira Maeda vs Tatsumi Fujinami 6/12/86 NJPW

81. Chigusa Nagayo vs Devil Masami 8/22/85 AJW

80. Giant Baba vs Billy Robinson 7/25/76 AJPW

79. Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 8/24/96 RINGS

78. Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjoh 6/15/89 UWF

77. Stan Hansen vs Carlos Colon 2/28/87 WWC

76. Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff vs Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Eaton (War Games) 5/17/92 WCW

75. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki 7/24/89 UWF

74. Jushin Liger vs Naoki Sano 1/31/90 NJPW

73. Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine vs Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi (Elimination Match) 9/17/87 NJPW

72. Mayumi Ozaki, Cutie Suzuki, Candy Okutsu & Sumiyo Toyama vs Dynamite Kansai, Devil Masami, Hikari Fukuoka & Hiromi Yagi (4x4 1-Count Match) 3/21/95

71. Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine (Dog Collar Match) 11/24/83 JCP

70. Sgt Slaughter vs Iron Sheik (Boot Camp Match) 6/16/84

69. Dick Togo, Taka Michinoku, Shiryu, Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji12/16/96 M-Pro

68. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Josh Barnett 11/23/05 U-Style

67. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (Submission Match) 3/23/97 WWF

66. Yuki Ishikawa, Alexander Otsuka & Munenori Sawa vs Daisuke Ikeda, Katsumi Usuda & Super Tiger II 7/26/08 BattlArts

65. Tatsumi Fujinami, Keichii Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs Hiroshi Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Super Strong Machine, Masa Saito & Riki Choshu (Elimination Match) 9/12/88 NJPW

64. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheiko 12/15/77 AJPW

63. Johnny Valentine vs Wild Bull Curry 6/20/69 Houston

62. Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen vs Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura 11/29/89 AJPW

61. Keiji Muto vs Masa Chono 8/11/91 NJPW

60. Chigusa Nagayo vs Dump Matsumoto (Hair vs Hair) 8/28/85 AJW

59. Antonio Inoki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Seiji Sakaguchi, Kantaro Hoshino & Keiji Muto vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda, Kengo Kimura & Super Strong Machine (Elimination Match) 8/19/87 NJPW

58. Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town) 7/14/86 Memphis

57. Shinya Hashimoto vs Riki Choshu 8/2/96 NJPW

56. El Dandy vs Angel Azteca 6/1/90 EMLL

55. Infierno en el Ring (El Satanico, Averno & Mephisto vs Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Bucanero, Tarzan Boy & Mascara Magica) 9/28/01 CMLL

54. Carlos Colon vs Stan Hansen (Texas Bullrope Match) 1/6/87 WWC

53. El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr 4/10/88 UWA

52. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada 11/26.92

51. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas

50. 5x5 Gauntlet (Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura vs Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi) 4/19/84 NJPW

49. El Dandy vs Pirata Morgan (Hair vs Hair) 9/23/88 EMLL

48. Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town) 6/6/83 Memphis

47. Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (Empty Arena Match) 4/6/81 Memphis

46. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto 3/2/94 WAR

45. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito 8/18/04 U-Style

44. Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik 12/13/79 AJPW

43. Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (No Dq) 2/23/81 Memphis

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

41. Invader I vs Al Perez (Street Fight) 10/26/86 WWC

40. El Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr (Mask vs Mask) 8/31/86 Monterrey

39. The Destroyer vs Giant Baba 3/5/69 JWA

38.Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 6/9/95 AJPW

37. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 9/25/96 RINGS

36. Invader I vs Ron Starr 9/19/86 WWC

35. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi 1/20/97 AJPW

34. Negro Casas vs El Dandy 7/3/92 EMLL

33. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Ilioukhine 1/21/98 RINGS

32. Dump Matsumoto vs Chigusa Nagayo (Hair vs Hair) 11/7/86 AJW

31. Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen 4/14/83 AJPW

30. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Riki Choshu 6/9/87 NJPW

29. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 9/21/98

28. El Hijo del Santo, Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs Negro Casas, Tim Patterson & Horace Boulder 5/16/92 FMW/WWA

27. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu 1/28/86 AJPW

26. Jumbo Tsuruuta vs Genichiro Tenryu 6/5/89 AJPW

25. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 12/5/84 UWF

24. El Satanico vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) 12/14/90 EMLL

23. Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs The Four Horsemen & JJ Dillon (War Games) 7/4/87 JCP

22. Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino vs Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kido (Elimination Match) 3/26/87 NJPW

21. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (Mask vs Hair) 7/18/87 WWA

20. Stan Hansen vs Carlos Colon (Steel Cage Match) 3/14/87 WWC

19. Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo 2/28/87 UWA

18. Stan Hansen vs Andre the Giant 9/23/81 JPW

17. El Satanico vs Gran Cochise 9/14/84 EMLL

16. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 2/4/04 U-Style

15. Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee (No DQ Loser Leaves Town) 12/30/85 Memphis

14. Gilbert Cesca vs Billy Catanzaro 60’s French Catch

13. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 9/26/97 RINGS

12. Terry & Dory Funk Jr vs Abdullah the Butcher & The Sheik (2/3 Falls) 7/15/79 AJPW

11. Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi 7/27/93 AJPW

10. Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 4/2/93 AJW

9. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas 5/17/91 WWA

8. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 1/22/97 RINGS

7. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 6/24/99 RINGS

6. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 6/27/98 RINGS

5. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas 9/19/97 CMLL

4. Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda (No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match) 5/5/96 FMW

3. Atlantis vs Villano III (Mask vs Mask) 3/17/00 CMLL

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

1. Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 (Hair vs Hair) 9/23/83 EMLL

 

 

[Matt D]

Watch some Nick Bockwinkel, you heathen.

[elliott]

My highest rated Bock matches are

112. vs Martel 9/20/84

113. vs Hennig 11/21/86 (60min draw)

 

So he just missed out. Blame New Japan's multi man matches

[Matt D]

Where's Ken the Box?

[elliott]

Obviously this is the 100 best matches after all of the Ken the Box matches. That's implicit in all of our lists I thought?

[Cap]

My highest rated Bock matches are

112. vs Martel 9/20/84

113. vs Hennig 11/21/86 (60min draw)

 

So he just missed out. Blame New Japan's multi man matches

Here I am thinking from your ratings and our conversations that you are a reasonable person and you go put Bock vs Hennig at 113.... for shame

[elliott]

I'm good at masking my crazy

 

Really though, and I think it kinda comes out in my list, I prefer brawls and spectacles to the sort of classic world title match that Bock vs Hennnig is.Just glancing at my list...I don't see any US based World Title matches in the top 100. I haven't rewatched any Crcokett stuff so that plays a role for sure.

 

If I had to rank "title match styles" generally I'd say:

1. Lucha

2. Japanese

3. US

 

I was gonna say that BOck has my top 2 US world title matches...but I have Flair vs Kerry 8/15/82 at #103

 

113 ain't bad. If Tamura didn't exist and New Japan ran more singles & tags instead of giant 10 man matches all the time, Bock vs Hennig would've been a shoe in

 

(I'm gonna go ahead and blame the god awful commentary in Bock vs Hennig making me lowball it)

 

I want everyone who has the 1991 yearbook to go back and watch this though:

9. El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas 5/17/91 WWA

 

This was both staring me in the face and came out of nowhere when I watched it. With these two you always hear about 1987 and 1997. But holy shit this is right there with them. Its a title match, but I actually see it as the bridging the gap match between the 87 and 97 apuestas matches. They aren't kicking each other full bore in the face like in 1997. But there is a beautiful violence to the mat work you don't always see in title matches. I feel like Negro Casas must have been a huge UWF2.0 fan at this time because this is the shoot styliest lucha match possible. Most obvious hidden gem match ever. It is Santo vs Casas. Of course its a classic. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME!?

[Cap]

I get it I get it... kind of, haha.

 

I would say we are pretty similar in regard to our love for brawls. I haven't sat down and ordered my top 100 or anything, but if you looked at my 5 and 4.75 star matches my love for brawling comes out there. Still, I just find that match other worldly. Oh well. We have the same number one and a lot of the stuff you have high, I have really high.