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

[Jetlag]

You should upload that 1991 Santo/Casas match. I recall it being pretty great despite poor picture quality. These two developed had these borderline shootstyle lucha matches that are so fascinating.

[zep81]

You should upload that 1991 Santo/Casas match. I recall it being pretty great despite poor picture quality. These two developed had these borderline shootstyle lucha matches that are so fascinating.

 

El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (WWA 05/17/1991)

https://youtu.be/94XaNoEJKNk

Upped it on YT for anyone who wants it.

[Cap]

Thank you muchly

[elliott]

Oh fuck yeah! Thanks Zeb! Everyone needs to watch that match ASAP

 

edited to thank Zeb instead of Truth because I'm apparently not firing on all cylinders today. But the point stands. Everyone watch that match right away!

[Cap]

I am not above taking a misdirected thank you for doing absolutely nothing.

 

Edit: Just watched it and yep, that was fantastic. I was a little skeptical because I tend to be somewhat wary of hidden gems and the description was hard for me to put together in my brain, but this was a master class in compelling grappling. Absolute classic.

[elliott]

Raising the stakes. Top 100 Japanese matches of all Time:

 

 

 

100. Riki Choshu vs Killer Khan 7/31/86 AJPW

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

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

97. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami 1/4/00 NJPW

96. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue 1/15/93 JWP

95. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 7/17/85 UWF

94. Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami 11/26/00 BattlARTS

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

92. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 5/27/98 BattlARTS

91. Keiji Muto vs Vader 8/10/91 NJPW

90. Chigusa Nagayo & CUtie Suzuki vs Devil Masami & Plum Mariko 11/20/93 WP

89. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 9/11/85 UWF

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

87. Shinya Hashimoto vs Masa Chono 8/9/91 NJPW

86. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Vader 6/10/94 UWFi

85. Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami 7/7/83 NJPW

84. Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (Street FIght) 3/17/95 JWP

83. Jushin Liger vs El Samurai 4/30/92 NJPW

82. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 8/28/99 BattlARTS

81. Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda 1/30/11 DDT

80. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 04/24/05 Futen

79. Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto 8/15/95 NUPW

78. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 4/4/97 RINGS

77. Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 12/6/93 AJW

76. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue 4/15/95 AJPW

75. Terry Funk vs Atsushi Onita (No Rope Barbed Wire Exploding Ring Death Match) 5/5/93 FMW

74. Mima Shimoda & Etsuka Mita vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe (Rage in a Cage) 9/21/97 AJW

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

72. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (2/3 Falls) AJPW

71. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi 10/19/90

70. Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu 2/21/85 JPW

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

68. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 12/6/93 AJW

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

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

65. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki 5/12/88 UWF

64. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs George Takano & Super Strong Machine 3/16/89 NJPW

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

62. Alexander Otsuka vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga 11/9/99 BattlARTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

53. 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) (5x5 Gauntlet) 5/1/86 NJPW

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

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

50. Mitsuharu Misawa s Toshiaki Kawada 6/3/94 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

44. Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 8/24.96 RINGS

43. Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjoh 6/14/89 UWF

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

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

40. 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

39. TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Shiryu, Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji 12/16/96 M-Pro

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31. 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

30. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (2/3 Falls) 11/26/92 AJW

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

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

27. Genichiro Tenryu & ashura Hara vs Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto 3/2/94 WAR

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

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

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

23. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 9/24/96 RINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 9/21/98 RINGS

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

14. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu 6/5/89 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

[Phil Austin]

Interesting. Nothing at all from the past decade in the top 100 for Japan? Any reason (not disputing, just intrigued)

[Matt D]

 

You should upload that 1991 Santo/Casas match. I recall it being pretty great despite poor picture quality. These two developed had these borderline shootstyle lucha matches that are so fascinating.

 

El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (WWA 05/17/1991)

https://youtu.be/94XaNoEJKNk

Upped it on YT for anyone who wants it.

 

Piling on the thanks for that upload. If I had ever seen it, it was before I had any sense of what I was watching. I really love how defined the rudo/tecnico roles were in that brilliant opening matwork. (And obviously it picks up to be an almost iconic version of the rest of the form as it goes).

[Jimmy Redman]

Interesting. Nothing at all from the past decade in the top 100 for Japan? Any reason (not disputing, just intrigued)

 

Too hipster.

[JerryvonKramer]

Certainly interesting that he put Funks vs Sheik and Abby above virtually every major AJPW classic.

[concrete1992]

There

 

Interesting. Nothing at all from the past decade in the top 100 for Japan? Any reason (not disputing, just intrigued)

tbf there is one 81. Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda 1/30/11 DDT

[peachchaos]

Raising the stakes. Top 100 Japanese matches of all Time:

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

I haven't seen nearly as much from Japan, but these are some of my favorites as well. Although I have no memory of that 94 AJW tag for whatever reason.

[peachchaos]

Certainly interesting that he put Funks vs Sheik and Abby above virtually every major AJPW classic.

 

With 3 of them placing in his top 40!

 

Can we assume he hasn't seen the 1978 match?

[elliott]

Taking these all at once.

 

Phil:

Interesting. Nothing at all from the past decade in the top 100 for Japan? Any reason (not disputing, just intrigued)

 

Dick Togo retired and Yuki Ishikawa moved to Canada. Its actually very likely that something from 2010-11 BattlARTS should be on there, but I haven't watched it yet if there is.

 

I've got the Dick Togo match and the BattlArts Elimination 6 man from 08 on there! But I'll give a real answer.

 

I really hate to make generalizations because there are ALWAYS exceptions and usually a lot of them. But I kinda have to. The short answer would be personal footage exposure. The reason for that is that I don't think Japanese wrestling was as good in the past decade as it was before that. I have no intention of taking a giant dump on wrestling that I know some people here really love. But that's pretty much it. I've tried watching a lot of the big New Japan matches and I just have no interest. I get why it works for folks, but its not for me. And there is so much wrestling to invest time in. There are definitely exceptions. I loved that Nakamura vs Sakuraba match. That's always one I remember. There are others I know I've enjoyed but none that much and I don't think that match was good enough to make my list.

 

There are a lot of wild Hansen, Funk, Choshu, Tenryu brawls, shoot style and 10 Man New Japan Matches. There's less 90s All Japan than you're likely to see on a list like this and most of the highly pimped Japanese wrestling from the last decade I've seen is a lost closer in style to 90s All Japan than a Terry Funk brawl or a 13 minute Kiyoshi Tamura match.

 

So that's what going on. I'm just not that into Tanahashi, Okada, Sekimoto, or Dragon Gate. Pimp me some 2010-2011 BattlARTS and Dick Togo and I'm all over it.

 

 

Matt D about Santo/Casas 91

Piling on the thanks for that upload. If I had ever seen it, it was before I had any sense of what I was watching. I really love how defined the rudo/tecnico roles were in that brilliant opening matwork. (And obviously it picks up to be an almost iconic version of the rest of the form as it goes).

 

Everyone that hasn't still needs to check out that Casas/Santo match from 91 or rewatch it if you've seen it but its been years. That match is SOOO great. I need to rewatch it keeping the rudo/tecnico divide in mind because everytime I've been kinda taken aback by the almost Regal like ferocity of the mat work in this match. Amazing match to add to the 87 & 97 classics. I'm not ready to do a top 100 Lucha matches list yet, but all 3 of them would be top 10 at worst.

 

Stacey

Too hipster.

 

Or not hipster enough? Speaking of, that SummerSlam 4 Way would be like #6 on this list.

 

Concrete

tbf there is one 81. Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda 1/30/11 DDT

 

There is also:

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

 

But I assumed Phil meant 2010-present when he said "Nothing from the past decade...?" So, yeah. But its just those 2 from the past 10 years.

 

Peach

I haven't seen nearly as much from Japan, but these are some of my favorites as well. Although I have no memory of that 94 AJW tag for whatever reason.

 

The 94 Queendom tag is the only thing I feel comfortable calling in the same universe as Chicana/MS-1. I almost hesitate to start writing about it, because I don't want to turn this into a thesis. So I'll just say its the greatest storytelling in a match ever. Watch that shit!

 

Parv & Peach

Certainly interesting that he put Funks vs Sheik and Abby above virtually every major AJPW classic.

With 3 of them placing in his top 40!

 

Can we assume he hasn't seen the 1978 match?

 

I love Funks vs Sheik & Abby more than just about any feud in wrestling history. Its one of those feuds that just transcends wrestling and becomes a life experience in a way stuff like Misawa/Kobashi or Jumbo/Tenryu just couldn't possibly. Maybe a little bit is the blood and guts because I feel the same way about Dump/Chigusa, Hansen/FunkI and Hokuto/Kandori. But Hashimoto and Maeda hit that "bigger than life" feeling quite a lot for me without the blood. I probably could/should have put the 12/78 tag league match on towards the bottom.

 

HOWEVER. I know Peach is talking about the 9/78 match. I have seen it. Parv sent me a YT link back during GWE and I watched it immediately and bookmarked the page. Unfortunately that particular video has since been pulled. I have searched for it a bunch of times since then but haven't found it. I even saw it listed on an episode of All Japan Classic but when I ordered the disc and watched it, it was actually the 7/79 or 12/79 match. I was super bummed, but there were still some cool ass matches on that classics disc so I got over it. So I know I've seen it. I know I fucking loved it. But I haven't been able to watch it since the first time. I've watched all of these matches, and many more, since the end of GWE and ranking shit as I go. So, if you can point me in the right direction, I'd be happy to get another Funks vs Abby/Sheik match on there

[Microstatistics]

 

So that's what going on. I'm just not that into Tanahashi, Okada, Sekimoto, or Dragon Gate. Pimp me some 2010-2011 BattlARTS and Dick Togo and I'm all over it.

 

 

All big matches from 2009-2012 Futen are must see, the 10/24/2010 tag especially.

[Boss Rock]

Thought I'd give this a go. This isn't necessarily a list of my highest ranked matches (otherwise I'd have a lot more from the last two years), but rather, a list of my favorite and essential matches. Also note that these are ordered chronologically rather than by best (although if forced to choose right now, I'd probably go Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi vs. Jumbo's Army '90, Kobashi-Misawa '97 or the Queendom tag).

 

Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (March 23, 1981)

Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (Empty Arena, April 6, 1981)

Stan Hansen vs. Andre the Giant (NJPW, September 23, 1981)

Stan Hansen vs. Terry Funk (AJPW, September 11, 1982)

El Satanico vs. Atlantis (EMLL, 1984)

Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan (MSW, March 22, 1985)

Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW, July 27, 1988)

Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada (Real World Tag League Day 22, 1988)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Chi-Town Rumble 1989)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions VI)

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (WrestleWar 1989)

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

Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Clash of the Champions IX)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen (AJPW, July 27, 1990)

Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, October 19, 1990)

El Satanico vs. El Dandy (EMLL, October 26, 1990)

El Dandy vs. El Satanico (EMLL, December 14, 1990)

Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, and Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, April 20, 1991)

Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW Summer Action Series II, September 4, 1991)

Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue (AJPW Summer Action Series II, September 4, 1991)

Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJPW, March 30, 1992)

Negro Casas vs. El Dandy (CMLL, July 3, 1992)

Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, February 28, 1993)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen (AJPW April 21, 1993)

Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, July 29, 1993)

Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams (AJPW, August 31, 1993)

El Satanico vs. Pirata Morgan (AAA, November 11, 1993)

Akira Hokuto and Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong and Bull Nakano (Queendom II, March 27, 1994)

Jushin Liger vs. The Great Sasuke (Super J Cup, April 16, 1994)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, June 3, 1994)

Cactus Jack vs. Vader (Halloween Havoc 1994)

Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW, November 20, 1994)

Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, June 9, 1995)

Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota (AJW, September 2, 1995)

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud (Big Ass Extreme Bash 1996)

Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, May 23, 1996)

Undertaker vs. Mankind (Summerslam 1996)

Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen (AJPW, September 5, 1996)

Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (In Your House: Mind Games)

Undertaker vs. Mankind (In Your House: Buried Alive)

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series 1996)

Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, December 6, 1996)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, January 20, 1997)

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, June 6, 1997)

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Badd Blood 1997)

Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, July 24, 1998)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader (AJPW, May 2, 1999)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW, February 27, 2000)

Kenta Kobashi vs. Vader (AJPW, February 27, 2000)

Atlantis vs. Villano 3 (CMLL, March 17, 2000)

The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz (WrestleMania 2000)

The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz (WrestleMania X-Seven)

Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker (No Mercy, 2002)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH, March 1, 2003)

Jun Akiyama vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH, July 10, 2004)

Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH, September 10, 2004)

America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X (Turning Point 2004)

A.J. Styles vs. Abyss (Lockdown, 2005)

A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe (Turning Point 2005)

Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (NOAH, December 2, 2006)

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinnes (ROH Unified 2006)

John Cena vs. Umaga (Royal Rumble 2007)

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Sixth Anniversary Show)

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (WrestleMania 25)

Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (The Bash 2009)

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (WrestleMania 26)

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

El Mesias vs. L.A. Park (Triplemania 19)

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)

Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (King of Pro Wrestling 2012)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Invastion Attack 2013)

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Climax 23, August 4, 2013)

Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Climax 23, August 4, 2013)

Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (Summerslam 2013)

Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena (Summerslam 2013)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (King of Pro Wrestling 2013)

Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 30)

Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 30)

The Shield vs. Evolution (Payback 2014)

A.J. Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (G1 Climax 24, August 1, 2014)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Climax 24, August 10, 2014)

Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Wrestle Kingdom 9)

Seth Rollins vs. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Royal Rumble 2015)

Fenix vs. Mil Muertes (Lucha Underground, March 18, 2015)

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 31)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (G1 Climax 25, August 15, 2015)

Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura (Year-End Climax, December 23, 2015)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Wrestle Kingdom 10)

Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee (Fantastica Mania 2016)

Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee (CMLL, March 4, 2016)

Aztec Warfare 2 (Lucha Underground, March 23, 2016)

A.J. Styles vs. Roman Reigns (Extreme Rules 2016)

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax 26, August 13, 2016)

A.J. Styles vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble 2017)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (Dominion 6.11 2017)

Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii (G1 Special in USA, July 2, 2017)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax, August 12, 2017)

Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega (G1 Climax, August 13, 2017)

Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns (Summerslam 2017)

[Tabe]

Raising the stakes. Top 100 Japanese matches of all Time:

 

 

 

100. Riki Choshu vs Killer Khan 7/31/86 AJPW

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

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

97. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami 1/4/00 NJPW

96. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue 1/15/93 JWP

95. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 7/17/85 UWF

94. Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami 11/26/00 BattlARTS

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

92. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 5/27/98 BattlARTS

91. Keiji Muto vs Vader 8/10/91 NJPW

90. Chigusa Nagayo & CUtie Suzuki vs Devil Masami & Plum Mariko 11/20/93 WP

89. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 9/11/85 UWF

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

87. Shinya Hashimoto vs Masa Chono 8/9/91 NJPW

86. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Vader 6/10/94 UWFi

85. Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami 7/7/83 NJPW

84. Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (Street FIght) 3/17/95 JWP

83. Jushin Liger vs El Samurai 4/30/92 NJPW

82. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 8/28/99 BattlARTS

81. Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda 1/30/11 DDT

80. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 04/24/05 Futen

79. Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto 8/15/95 NUPW

78. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 4/4/97 RINGS

77. Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 12/6/93 AJW

76. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue 4/15/95 AJPW

75. Terry Funk vs Atsushi Onita (No Rope Barbed Wire Exploding Ring Death Match) 5/5/93 FMW

74. Mima Shimoda & Etsuka Mita vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe (Rage in a Cage) 9/21/97 AJW

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

72. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (2/3 Falls) AJPW

71. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi 10/19/90

70. Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu 2/21/85 JPW

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

68. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 12/6/93 AJW

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

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

65. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki 5/12/88 UWF

64. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs George Takano & Super Strong Machine 3/16/89 NJPW

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

62. Alexander Otsuka vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga 11/9/99 BattlARTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

53. 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) (5x5 Gauntlet) 5/1/86 NJPW

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

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

50. Mitsuharu Misawa s Toshiaki Kawada 6/3/94 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

44. Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 8/24.96 RINGS

43. Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjoh 6/14/89 UWF

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

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

40. 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

39. TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Shiryu, Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji 12/16/96 M-Pro

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31. 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

30. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (2/3 Falls) 11/26/92 AJW

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

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

27. Genichiro Tenryu & ashura Hara vs Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto 3/2/94 WAR

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

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

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

23. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 9/24/96 RINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 9/21/98 RINGS

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

14. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu 6/5/89 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Man, nobody loves shoot-style more than me and even I wouldn't put two U-Style matches in the top 30

[elliott]

 

Raising the stakes. Top 100 Japanese matches of all Time:

 

 

 

100. Riki Choshu vs Killer Khan 7/31/86 AJPW

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

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

97. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami 1/4/00 NJPW

96. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue 1/15/93 JWP

95. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 7/17/85 UWF

94. Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami 11/26/00 BattlARTS

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

92. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 5/27/98 BattlARTS

91. Keiji Muto vs Vader 8/10/91 NJPW

90. Chigusa Nagayo & CUtie Suzuki vs Devil Masami & Plum Mariko 11/20/93 WP

89. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger 9/11/85 UWF

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

87. Shinya Hashimoto vs Masa Chono 8/9/91 NJPW

86. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Vader 6/10/94 UWFi

85. Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami 7/7/83 NJPW

84. Mayumi Ozaki vs Dynamite Kansai (Street FIght) 3/17/95 JWP

83. Jushin Liger vs El Samurai 4/30/92 NJPW

82. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 8/28/99 BattlARTS

81. Dick Togo vs Antonio Honda 1/30/11 DDT

80. Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda 04/24/05 Futen

79. Shinya Hashimoto vs Keiji Muto 8/15/95 NUPW

78. Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 4/4/97 RINGS

77. Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori 12/6/93 AJW

76. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue 4/15/95 AJPW

75. Terry Funk vs Atsushi Onita (No Rope Barbed Wire Exploding Ring Death Match) 5/5/93 FMW

74. Mima Shimoda & Etsuka Mita vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe (Rage in a Cage) 9/21/97 AJW

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

72. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Kerry Von Erich (2/3 Falls) AJPW

71. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi 10/19/90

70. Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu 2/21/85 JPW

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

68. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 12/6/93 AJW

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

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

65. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki 5/12/88 UWF

64. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito vs George Takano & Super Strong Machine 3/16/89 NJPW

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

62. Alexander Otsuka vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga 11/9/99 BattlARTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

53. 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) (5x5 Gauntlet) 5/1/86 NJPW

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

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

50. Mitsuharu Misawa s Toshiaki Kawada 6/3/94 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

44. Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 8/24.96 RINGS

43. Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjoh 6/14/89 UWF

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

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

40. 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

39. TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Shiryu, Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Super Delphin, Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji 12/16/96 M-Pro

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31. 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

30. Mayumi Ozaki & Dynamite Kansai vs Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada (2/3 Falls) 11/26/92 AJW

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

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

27. Genichiro Tenryu & ashura Hara vs Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto 3/2/94 WAR

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

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

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

23. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Volk Han 9/24/96 RINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

16. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto 9/21/98 RINGS

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

14. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu 6/5/89 AJPW

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

Man, nobody loves shoot-style more than me and even I wouldn't put two U-Style matches in the top 30

 

 

Hahaha! Well if not for you and your dang awesome comps

 

I don't think Tamura slowed down one iota between RINGS moving to shoots and U-Style starting up. There are rather obvious reasons for that, but yeah. Dude was every bit as great in 03/04 as 97/98.

[peachchaos]

Taking these all at once.

 

Peach

I haven't seen nearly as much from Japan, but these are some of my favorites as well. Although I have no memory of that 94 AJW tag for whatever reason.

 

The 94 Queendom tag is the only thing I feel comfortable calling in the same universe as Chicana/MS-1. I almost hesitate to start writing about it, because I don't want to turn this into a thesis. So I'll just say its the greatest storytelling in a match ever. Watch that shit!

 

Parv & Peach

Certainly interesting that he put Funks vs Sheik and Abby above virtually every major AJPW classic.

With 3 of them placing in his top 40!

 

Can we assume he hasn't seen the 1978 match?

 

I probably could/should have put the 12/78 tag league match on towards the bottom.

 

HOWEVER. I know Peach is talking about the 9/78 match.

 

Oh, wow. THAT match. Pretty sure I had that at #1 for 1994 even.

 

Sorry to disappoint but the only Funks/Arabs tag from that year is 12/78. The version that had been on YouTube was of really poor VQ so that may account for the difference in opinion on rewatch. Clarity breeds contempt. First world problems.

[Victator]

Anybody else ever blank on stuff like this? I have a ton of matches I love but then I panic of listing them.

[concrete1992]

Anybody else ever blank on stuff like this? I have a ton of matches I love but then I panic of listing them.

I organize everything in a spreadsheet and I still manage to miss a chunk of stuff when making lists. I am not proud.

[KB8]

I've tried to do this a couple times, but I give up after a little while because I feel like I might be shortchanging too much stuff. Outside of the '96 yearbook I've barely watched any 90s All Japan in around a decade and don't really remember anything about matches like 6/3/94 or 6/9/95 other than "I thought they were great wrestling matches." I don't really love the style at this point, but I'd feel weird leaving it all off a list like this. And it's not like I didn't still think the '96 Tag League final was outstanding on a re-watch so who even knows? You see my predicament.

[Mattsdmf]

I will post mine tomorrow. My list will be more personal favorites then just the 100 greatest but there will be overlap. I will also represent 1 match per matchup so there will be one Flair/Steamboat, one Austin/Rock, etc. it's mostly for variety sake.

[NintendoLogic]

KB8's post reminded me of something I think about periodically. How often do you guys watch your favorite matches? I generally only watch the matches at the top of my favorites list about once a year, if that. Part of that is an attempt to prevent the matches from seeming less special due to overexposure. If I'm really into a song, I have a tendency to listen to it repeatedly until I get sick of it, and I don't want that to happen with matches I like. Also, I'm all about the thrill of discovery and reevaluation, and there's basically zero chance of my opinion of 6/9/95 or Hart/Austin changing meaningfully.

[Ricky Jackson]

Basically, the only time I watch my fave matches is if I'm showing them to someone who hasn't seen them before or I happen to watch one for a podcast I'm watching footage for. Otherwise I'm all about watching stuff I haven't seen before