My 8 Favorite Matches

floyd · February 17, 2010

Shinya Hashimoto & Takayuki Iizuka Vs. Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami (NJ - 1/4/00) - Ogawa and Hashimoto duke it out in the Tokyo Dome. Lots of cool stuff in this match, the build-up with Hashimoto dumping a table at the press conference and an embarrassed Fujinami slapping him, Iizuka cutting pieces of his hair out pre-match, Antonio Inoki's pimp stick, the MEGA-RABID crowd. But the actual match? Meh. Shootstyle which I never got into to. ***3/4

Genchiro Tenyru Vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJ - 1/4/00) - This sounded fantastic to me on paper but I didnt get into it. Seemed like they ditched the first 10 minutes and went straight into the exhausted finishing sequence a few minutes in. ***

El Apache Vs. Oscar Sevilla (AAA - 4/11/00) - Grudge match. What made it majorly pimp was it was an outdoor show and looked like it had rained heavily cause there was about an inch of water covering the ring. I was afraid they'd slip and slide but still did their dives and bleed all over. Well worth finding it. ****

Kenta Kobashi Vs. Takao Omori (NOAH - 4/15/00) - Champion Carnival finals with the champ taking on Omori. If Omori wins he'll get a title shot. Awesome finishing sequence, Omori looked like a million bucks this night. ****1/4

El Apache Vs. Oscar Sevilla (AAA 2/3 Falls - Hair Vs. Hair - 4/18/00) - Rematch but this time it's Hair Vs. hair, who gets humilated? Even more blood this time round. A bit too short though. ***3/4

Mike Mayhem Vs. Low Ki (FWA - 4/15/00) - Great indy match where Low Ki looked like the world's most awesome-ness wrestler. ***3/4

HHH Vs. Chris Jericho (WWE RAW - 4/17/00) - Jericho uses a Jedi mindtrick to get HHH into a World title match! OK TV match. Awesome angle, crowd and THE markout moment of 2000. ***3/4

Masato Tanaka Vs. Hayabusa (FMW - 5/5/00) - Shoulda realy liked this but I didn't. Some crazy moves at the end but lots of slow parts. ***1/2

Yuko Kosugi Vs. The Bloody (JD' - 8/3/00) - 30 Min. Iron-Women's match where whoever has the final fall wins. Slow at parts awesome in others. They wrestled clean but also brawled in the stands. ***3/4

Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJ - 1/4/01) - Although their first encounter was a non-title match. Champion Sasaki vacated the IWGP belt a vowed to win it again in a tournament. And here's the finals in the Tokyo Dome! Short match (both guys wrestled once already) but really great action. I actually liked this a bit more then 10/9/00 but that doesnt sound right. A rewatch is in order! ****1/4

Takehiro Murahama Vs. Minoru Tanaka (NJ - 4/21/01) - K-1 Vs. New Japan. They wrestled like a Battle Arts match but kept some New Japan elements in. Really great showing for both guys. ****

Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Mitsu Nagai (AJ - 4/29/01) - Match where both guys hit each other harshly and then make grimace faces getting back up. Fun match but not great. ***1/2

Akira Hokuto Vs. Meiko Satamura (GAEA - 4/29/01) - Veteren Hokuto takes on youngster Satamura in a big matchup for her and GAEA. The emotion from the fans was awesome. The intensity from both wrestlers was too. And I was winching during every Hokuto slap like Melzter during Steamboat/Flair. Those slaps were LOUD. ****1/4

Satoshi Kojima vs. Toshiaki Kawada (NJ - 6/6/01) - Short but good match. Kojima looked like he could hang with Kawada. ****

floyd · February 24, 2010

2000

Ikuto Hidaka Vs. Katsumi Usuda (BattlARTS - 3/12/00) - I heard great things about this but after drinking the Kool Aid. Nothing. I'll put it on my future rewatch list. ***1/4

Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho (WWF Wrestlemania - 4/2/00) - Neat Triple Threat match which is 2 falls. The first is for the Intercontinental title, the 2nd for the European. Angle has both belts. Kewl thing about the DVD is all 3 guys do a commentary on the match. ***3/4

Aja Kong Vs. Meiko Satamura (GAEA - 5/14/00) - This match features over 147 Death Valley Drivers. Satamura and her thick legs tries to kick the giant down. ****

Kenta Kobashi Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH - 5/26/00) - Burning Inc. gets another chance at the Triple Crown. Takayama tries to take him out early but no dice. ***1/2

Ultrataro Jr. Vs. Super Dragon (Revolution Pro - 7/7/00) - Indy matchup showcasing a young Super Dragon. Ultrataro gets in a wheelbarrow like position and his head is bonked repeatably on the wall. ***1/4

SUWA Vs. Dragon Kid (Toryumon Hair Vs. Mask - 8/24/00) - SUWA and his gang of thugs tries to win a cheap one but the ref overturns it. Will SUWA's feudal-era haircut be shaved? ***3/4

TLC 1 (WWE - 8/27/00) - Awesome spots that build from crazy to Ultra-mega-ludicrous-Crazy towards the end. The layout of the match is great, everything timed so it's not too much but something's always happening. Siskal: 2 Thumbs up. ****1/2

Hayabusa Vs. Kodo Fuyuki (FMW Iron-Man match - 9/26/00) - This is a 60 minute Iron man match, most falls at the end wins. Slow. Like a bodyslam takes 10 seconds to lift, 10 seconds held in the air, Slam and 30 seconds to wait for the guy to stand up. Still some good stuff throughout like Hayabusa flying around and Fuyuki screaming before every clothesline. Was hoping for a more exciting ending. ***1/2

Hayabusa Vs. Kodo Fuyuki (FMW 15,000 volt Electric Dynamite Cage Thunderbolt Death Match - 10/15/00) - When a 60 min Iron match doesn't settle who the better man is you take the next logical step... Fuyuki does the coolest opening move ever, tossing his belt into the cage and causing it to discharge, stunning Hayabusa. ***1/2

Kaoru Ito, Momoe Nakanishi & Nanae Takahashi Vs. Etsuko Mita, Mima Shimoda & Kumiko Maekawa (AJW Cage Match - 11/23/00) - You'll never see this in the WWE. NASTY cage match, more brutal than the 2000 Armageddon match. It's escape the cage and your entire team has to be out at the same time. Blood and crazy moves. Seriously these girls kill each other, I felt sorry for the ref being locked in there. ****

2001

HHH Vs. Steve Austin (WWF No Way Out 3 Stages of Hell - 2/25/01) - 40 min epic-like match where the first fall is a regular match, the 2nd a streetfight and the 3rd a steel cage. Austin looking for revenge after HHH orchestrated the heinous hit and run last Nov. First fall is good, 2nd is great. Last is kinda slow but both guys were tired. Can't call it the classic some do but definitely worth looking for. Whoever wins this gets the World title shot at WM. ****1/4

Keiji Muto Vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ - 4/14/01) - Muto is bound and determined to slow everything down. Even Dory Funk Jr. would be bored. Still its a dream match and the endings good. ***1/4

Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH - 4/15/01) - Finals to crown the first GHC World champ. Out with old, in with the new? At one point, Takayama knees Misawa in the chin busting him open and soon Misawa's chest is all bloody. ***1/2

Steve Austin Vs. Kurt Angle (WWF Summerslam - 8/19/01) - Never loved this as much as alot of people but still good. Austin ambushes Angle right off and it's all a hella beating from then on including 14 Stunners. They really tried to get Austin over as a massive heel and Angle a super babyface. ****

The Rock Vs. Chris Jericho (WWF No Mercy - 10/21/01) - Jericho looking to win the WCW World title now that Bishoff's not in charge. Some slow parts but lots of great stuff and an exciting finish. Jericho showed he could hang with the great one. ****1/4

Aja Kong Vs. Meiko Satamura (GAEA - 12/15/01) - Another awesome match from their series with Satamura trying to get the title. Very dramatic at the end. ****1/2

floyd · March 3, 2010

I'm running a Best of the 2000's (00-09) poll over on another forum so I'm watching as much 2000s matches as I can. I'm trying to watch all the majorly suggested ones but also following the Wrestling Observer's yearly best match awards and trying to watch them all. For anyone else interested in the results from the last 10 years and maybe something to watch here ya go:

Wrestling Observer Checklist ho:

2000

1.) Atlantis vs. Villano III (3/17 - Arena Mexico)

2.) Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (1/23 - Madison Square Garden)

3.) Dudley Boys vs. Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boys (8/27 - Raleigh)

4.) Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kensuke Sasaki (10/9 - Tokyo Dome)

5.) Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (6/25 - Tokyo)

6.) Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (2/27 – Hartford)

7.) Triple H vs. Chris Jericho (7/23 – Dallas)

8.) Triple H vs. Rock (5/21 – Louisville)

9.) Chris Benoit vs. Steven Regal (5/25 – Cincinnati)

10.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (4/11 – Kanazawa)

11.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada (1/17 – Osaka)

12.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Takao Omori (4/15 – Tokyo)

13.) Dudleys vs. Edge & Christian vs. Hardys (4/2 – Anaheim)

14.) FBI vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Yoshihiro Tajiri (8/26 – New York)

15. Rock vs. Chris Benoit (7/23 – Dallas)

2001

1.) Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu (6/8 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan)

2.) Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Steve Austin & Triple H (5/21 - San Jose)

3.) Toshiaki Kawada & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka (12/14/00 - Osaka)

4.) Minoru Tanaka vs. Takehiro Murahama (4/20 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall)

5.) Triple H vs. Steve Austin (2/25 - Las Vegas)

6.) Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho (1/21 – New Orleans)

7.) Rock vs. Steve Austin (4/1 – Houston)

8.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (12/23/00 – Tokyo)

9.) Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (5/29 – Edmonton)

10.) Akira Hokuto vs. Meiko Satomura (4/29 – Kawasaki)

11.) Rock vs. Chris Jericho (10/21 – St. Louis)

12.) Keiji Muto vs. Yuji Nagata (8/12 – Tokyo)

13.) El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas vs. Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero (11/2 – Mexico City)

14.) Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kumiko Maekawa (5/4 – Kawasaki)

15.) Edge & Christian vs. Dudleys vs. Hardys TLC (4/1 – Houston)

16.) Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (8/19 – San Jose)

17.) Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kumiko Maekawa (10/24 – Tokyo)

18.) Keiji Muto vs Toshiaki Kawada (4/14 – Tokyo)

19.) Yuji Nagata vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (6/6 – Tokyo)

20.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata (3/2 – Tokyo)

2002

1.) Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (10/20 - Little Rock)

2.) Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima (7/17 - Osaka)

3.) Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (8/25 - Madison Square Garden)

4.) Keiji Muto vs. Toshiaki Kawada (2/24 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan)

5.) American Dragon vs. Low Ki (3/30 - Philadelphia)

6.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (2/17 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan)

7.) Spanky vs. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Doug Williams (7/27 - Philadelphia)

8.) Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (12/9/01 - Tokyo)

9.) Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (9/22 - Los Angeles)

10.) Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge (9/24 - San Diego)

11.) Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura (6/5 – Osaka)

12.) Low Ki vs. American Dragon vs. Christopher Daniels (2/23 – Philadelphia)

13.) Hulk Hogan vs. Rock (3/17 – Toronto)

14.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka (4/7 – Tokyo)

15.) Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele (12/11/01 – Osaka)

16.) Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito (2/24 – Yokohama)

17.) Kurt Angle vs. Edge (5/19 – Nashville)

18.) Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (5/2 – Tokyo)

19.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (9/23 – Tokyo)

20.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue (2/17 – Tokyo)

21.) Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kumiko Maekawa (2/24 – Yokohama)

22.) Low Ki vs. AJ Styles vs. Jerry Lynn ladder match (8/21 – Nashville)

2003

1.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (3/1 – Tokyo)

2.) Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (1/19 – Boston)

3.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshinobu Kanemuru& Makoto Hashi (9/12 – Tokyo)

4.) Chris Jerchio vs. Shawn Michaels (3/30 – Seattle)

5.) Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London (4/12 – Philly)

6.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama (7/16 – Osaka)

7.) Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (3/30 – Seattle)

8.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Yuji Nagata (9/12 – Tokyo)

9.) Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Jun Akiyama (8/17 – Tokyo)

10.) Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (9/16 – Raleigh)

11.) Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Sabin (8/27 – Nashville)

12.) Chris Harris & James Storm vs. Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper (6/25 – Nashville)

13.) Low Ki vs. AJ Styles (1/5 – Tokyo)

14.) Homicide vs. Steve Corino (8/16 – Fairfield, CT)

15.) Randy Orton & Chris Jericho & Christian & Scott Steiner & Mark Henry vs. Shawn Michaels & Rob Van Dam & Dudleys & Booker T (11/16 – Dallas)

2004

1.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (7/10 – Tokyo Dome)

2.) HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (3/14 –Madison Square Garden)

3.) Samoa Joe vs. C.M. Punk (10/16 – Chicago Ridge)

4.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (4/25 – Tokyo)

5.) Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (4/18 – Edmonton)

6.) Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (2/15 – San Francisco)

7.) Samoa Joe vs. C.M. Punk (6/12 – Dayton)

8.) Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takyama (8/8 – Osaka)

9.) HHH vs. Shawn Michaels (12/30/03 – San Antonio)

10.) HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (4/18 – Edmonton)

11.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (4/25 – Tokyo)

12.) Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (11/3 – Tokyo)

2005

1.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe 10/1 New York

2.) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels 4/3 Los Angeles

3.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki 7/18 Tokyo Dome

4.) Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles 9/11 Orlando

5.) Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima 11/5 Budokan Hall

6.) AMW vs. XXX 12/5-04 Orlando

7.) Satoshi Kojima vs. Toshiaki Kawada 2/16 Tokyo Gym

8.) Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero 2/15 Arena Mexico

9.) AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels 2/13 Orlando

10.) KENTA vs. SUWA 9/18 Budokan Hall

11.) Mistico vs. Perro Aguayo Jr. 5/13 Arena Mexico

12.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura 6/5 Sapporo

13.) Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Doug Williams 11/12 Coventry, England

14.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita 5/8 Tokyo Differ Ariake

15.) KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru 7/18 Tokyo Dome

16.) Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe 12/26/04 Philadelphia

2006

1.) Do Fixer vs Blood Gen. (ROH 3/31/06)

2.) KENTA vs Marufuji (NOAH 10/29/06)

3.) Bryan Danielson vs KENTA (ROH 9/16/06)

4.) Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness (ROH 8/12/06)

5.) Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TNA 12/11/05)

6.) KENTA vs Low Ki (ROH 12/17/05)

7.) Chris Benoit vs Finlay (WWE 5/21/06)

8.) Cage of Death: CZW vs ROH (ROH/CZW 7/15/06)

9.) Rikio/Morishima vs KENTA/Marufuji (NOAH 7/6/06)

10.) Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker (WWE 2/19/06)

11.) Averno & Mephisto vs. El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas 12/16/05 Mexico City

12.) Samoa Joe vs. A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

13.) Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura (3/5 Tokyo, NOAH Budokan)

14.) Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong 3/31 Chicago Ridge (ROH)

15.) Edge vs. Mick Foley 4/2 Chicago (WWE WM22)

16.) Chris Hero & Super Dragon & Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe & Adam Pearce & B.J. Whitmer 4/22 Philadelphia

17.) Edge vs. John Cena 9/17 Toronto

18.) Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe 11/19 Orlando

2007

1. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (8/25/07)

2. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori Vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi marufuji (7/15/07)

3. Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuiness (6/9/07)

4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (4/23/07) (74)

5. John Cena Vs. Umaga (1/28/07) (46)

6. Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (9/15/07)

7. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Edge Vs. Randy Orton (4/29/07)

8. Cima, Shingo Takagi & Susuma Yokosuka Vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki (3/31/07)

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Hirooki Goto (11/11/07)

10. Hiroshi Tanahasi Vs. Yuji Nagata (4/13/07)

11. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (9/15/07)

12. Undertaker Vs. Batista (4/1/07)

13. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (4/1/07)

14. BJ Whitmer Vs. Jimmy Jacobs (3/31/07)

15. Briscoes Vs. Ricky marvin & Kotaro Suzuki (1/21/07)

16. Takeshi Morishima Vs. Claudio Castragnoli (8/10/07)

17. Chris Harris Vs. James Storm (5/13/07)

18. Briscoes Vs. Claudio Castragnoli & Matt Sydal (5/12/07)

19. Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe (12/10/06)

2008

1. SHAWN MICHAELS VS. CHRIS JERICHO 10/5 PORTLAND

2. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels 3/30 Orlando

3. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe 4/13 Lowell

4. Blue Panther vs. Villano V 9/19 Mexico City

5. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama 12/2/07 Tokyo

6. Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries 12/29/07 New York

7. Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson 2/23 New York

8. Undertaker vs. Edge 3/30 Orlando

9. Naomichi Marufuji & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA & Kota Ibushi 9/14 Tokyo

10. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino & Genki Horiguchi vs. Cima & Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid 3/29 Orlando

11. KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji 10/25

12. Undertaker vs Edge 8/17 Indianapolis

13. Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black 3/16 Philadelphia

14. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black 7/26 Detroit

15. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shuji Kondo 11/3 Tokyo

16. Kenta Kobashi & KENTA vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima 6/14 Tokyo

17. Volador Jr. & Sagrado & La Sombra vs. El Hijo del Fantasma & La Mascara & Valiente 4/30 Mexico City

18. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Kotaro Suzuki 9/6 Tokyo

19. Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles 8/10 Trenton

20. HHH vs. Jeff Hardy 10/5 Portland

21. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi 3/28 Orlando

22. Kurt Angle vs. Yuji Nagata 1/4 Tokyo

23. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs 9/19 Boston

24. Takeshi Morishima vs. Naomichi Marufuji 12/2/07 Tokyo

2009

1. UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS 4/5 HOUSTON

2. Davey Richards vs. Shingo Takagi 9/6 Chicago

3. KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 3/1 Tokyo

4. Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi 9/6 Chicago

5. KENTA & Go Shiozaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima 6/22 Tokyo

6. Davey Richards vs. KENTA 4/3 Houston

7. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho 6/28 Sacramento

8. Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards 9/25 Boston

9. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. A.J. Styles 11/15 Orlando

10. KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 2/11 Tokyo

11. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima 12/27/08 New York

12. Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe 11/15 Orlando

13. John Cena vs. Randy Orton 9/13 Montreal

14. C.M. Punk vs. Jeff Hardy 8/25 Phoenix

15. Rey Mysterio vs. John Morrison 9/1 Cleveland

floyd · March 6, 2010

More of Floyds innermost thoughts and feelings:

2001

Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho (WWF Ladder match - 1/21/01) - Great ladder match with insane moves. The end of the 2000 Benoit/Jericho feud. ****1/4

Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF - 4/1/01) - Their feud begins at Wrestlemania with Benoit keeping up with Angle's mat wrestling so Angle has to change strategies. ****

Edge & Christian Vs. The Dudleys Vs. The Hardyz (WWF TLC II - 4/1/01) - I'd put the first TLC match a tad higher but this one was great too and included a huge crowd and each had a third NPC to help with the crazy spots. ****1/4

Rock Vs. Steve Austin (WWF - 4/1/01) - The bionic redneck's return journey is almost complete! He takes on fellow babyface the Rock for the World title. Last 10 minutes are like WWF's version of a All japan finish with close nearfalls and using each others finishing moves. The end of the The Attitude Era. Hey why is Vince McMahon walking down to the ring? ****1/4

Momoe Nakanishi Vs. Kumiko Maekawa (AJW - 5/4/01) - Match goes 30 minutes and is exhausting (but great) cause both girls go full throttle the whole way. ****1/4

Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho Vs. Steve Austin & Triple H (WWF - 5/21/01) - Benoit/Jericho try to break the WWF ceiling and win the tag titles. Super hot crowd are rabid to see them get the upset and even HHH really tears it up in this match. ****

Kurt Angle Vs. Shane McMahon (WWF Streetfight - 6/24/01) - A completely ridiculous match. They actually tried to portray Shane, the promoter/owners son as being in Angle's league. WTF? All he did was goofy dances and botched moves. Any semblance of a story or psychology is thrown out the window in lieu of stupid garbage stunt work. Pointless moves to get a cheap pop which lead nowhere except laying on the ground for minutes at a time. You see THIS is why wrestling is not and will never be respected by the public. Having said that. This match is awesome. :-) ****1/4

Yuji Nagata Vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (NJ - 6/6/01) - Nagata dons the gloves and defends the IWGP World title against MMA fighter Fujita. The heat for this was great but I didn't really get into it. ***1/2

El Dandy Vs. Negro Navarro (IWRG 2/3 Falls - 11/18/01) - Technically brilliant it was still too slow for me. Both guys do a respectful mat wrestling match. Just saw they had a hair Vs. hair match a few months before this that I need to go find (If it was ever taped). If you like good mat wrestling, counters and funky submissions you should check it out. Who the fuck is floyd to doubt El Dandy? ***3/4

Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (12/9/01 - Tokyo) - Started out awesome with Takaiwa doing the Jericho repeated powerbombs, the last one throwing Marufuji over the ropes ONTO the ramp! Takaiwa then acted like a jerk until Marufuji made his comeback for the big finish. I foresee great things in the future for that Marufuji kid. ***3/4

2002

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue (NOAH - 2/17/01) - Despite his mask Liger is one of the most expressive heels in the business. New Japan invade NOAH pt. 1! ***3/4

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi Vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata (NOAH - 2/17/01) - After a billion operations Kobashi makes his return to NOAH. Nemesis Akiyama and New Japan's Nagata are here to welcome him back. ****

Low Ki Vs. American Dragon Vs. Christopher Daniels (ROH - 2/23/02) - I dont think it's the classic some people do but still a good 3-way match to open the ROH era. ****

Hulk Hogan Vs. Rock (WWF - 3/17/02) - Unbelivable crowd heat makes this memorable and this dream match help keep Wrestlemania 18 from being one of the worst. Brother. ****

Bryan Danielson Vs. Low Ki (ROH - 3/30/02) - Great match from ROH's finest. Match was long and was built up really good. ****1/4

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Vs. Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka (NOAH - 4/7/02) - This time it's Tanaka coming along with Liger and things get personal with Liger's mask almost getting ripped off and low blows left and right. ****

Kurt Angle Vs. Edge (WWF - 4/21/02) - Not as good as I remembered but still worth checking out. Their feud really begins here. ***1/2

Yuji Nagata Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJ - 5/2/02) - Two MMA punching bags meet for Nagata's IWGP title. Free agent Takayama's from NOAH so what's he doing here? Bringing the title to Misawa on a silver platter? Short but very good title match. ****

Kurt Angle vs. Edge (WWF Hair Vs. Hair - 5/19/02) - This feuds turned nasty. It's Hair Vs. Hair. It's true. It's DAMN true. Really good and kinda forgotten match, Edge really starts to make a name for himself here. ****

Yoshihiro Takayama Vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NJ - 8/3/02) - The Megapowers explode in the G-1 tournament. Short but stiff match. ****

Yoshihiro Takayama Vs. Osamu Nishimura (NJ - 8/10/02) - An awesome G-1 tournament match that never gets talked about. Nishimura does cool things on the mat to ground the big guy but soon gets thumped. I dont know for sure but the way they were fighting I'm betting the points were close to see who gets into the finals. Good stuff! ****1/4

Masa Chono Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJ G-1 finals - 8/11/02) - The year of the Takayama continues with Chono having his best singles match in almost 10 years. This is the G-1 finals, Chono territory. Crowds into it with Chono trying to comeback. ***3/4

AJ Styles Vs. Psicosis Vs. Jerry Lynn Vs. Low Ki (TNA Double Elimination - 6/26/02) - It's a double elimination match which means if you lose two falls your out. It's also one-one-one (not a 4-way) but each match begins right after the last one. Great way to crown the 1st ever champ. Ricky Steamboat ref's the final fall. ****1/4

Spanky Vs. Low Ki Vs. Christopher Daniels Vs. Doug Williams (ROH 60 Min Iron man match - 7/27/02) - Four way Iron man match to crown the first ever ROH champ. Points are this, if you win a fall you get 2 points while the loser gets -1. Whoever has the most points at the end is da ROH World champ! Awesome match. Slow at points but they kept it going as well as they could've (it was over 100 degrees in the stuffy hall). Low Ki and Daniels still have unfinished business. ****1/2

Low Ki Vs. AJ Styles Vs. Jerry Lynn (TNA - 8/21/02) - The first TNA match I ever watched and it's still great. 3-way ladder match for the X-Division title. Finishing move is nasty. ****

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Vs. Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka (NJ - 8/29/02) -They still hate each other but this time the roles are reversed cause it's in New Japan! Kikuchi tries to no sell everything but he's not Hogan. ****

Chris Benoit Vs. Kurt Angle (WWF Unforgiven - 9/22/02) - Reluctant tag teamers have to get one more match out of their system. Great match. While not as "epic" maybe even better than the Royal Rumble one (Which I'm planning on rewatching soon) ****1/4

2004

Randy Orton Vs. Mick Foley (WWF Falls Count Anywhere - 4/18/04) - Still the best Randy Orton match ever. Bar none. Foley makes him a champ. ****1/2

Dylan Waco · March 7, 2010

Floyd where are you running that best of 00's poll?

floyd · March 7, 2010

Floyd where are you running that best of 00's poll?

Over at PWT. I'll send you more info.

If anyone else wants to throw in a list let me know! I'm lways looking for more voters and the way it's looking I dont think I'll get as many as I'd like. I got some invites but you dont have to be a member there if you dont want too, I'll take your ballot from here and post the results at my blog. (Due July 31st right now but will probably be moved up)

smkelly · March 8, 2010

I agree with the Orton/Foley match. I loved how Orton and Foley both bumped around like lunatics.

floyd · March 14, 2010

2001

Shinya Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka Vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (Zero-1 - 1/13/01) - Zero-1 VS. NOAH! Ogawa and Otsuka are good but this is the Misawa/Hashimoto show. Mostly a tease for future confrontations. ****

Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama Vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata (NOAH - 3/2/02) - The return match on NOAH's ground. Even better than the 1st and they have a longer, better built up tag match. The Misawa Vs. Hashimoto moments are awesome, sucks they never had that singles match. As seconds Akiyama and Nagata are much better and shine themselves during the match. Great match so go watch it now! (But watch the 1/13/01 match before) ****1/2

Minoru Inoue Vs. AKIRA (NJ - 5/18/01) - Didnt think much of this match but by the end is was really good. Built up to some good spots and near falls. ****

TLC 3 (WWF Smackdown - 5/22/01) - One of the greatest runs in WWF TV history continues as McMahon signs new champs Jericho & Benoit in a dangerous TLC match. This time it's 4 teams! Out of the first four I think this is the weakest which is saying alot as it's still tremendous. ****1/4

Steve Austin Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF RAW - 5/28/01) - Austin defends the title in Canada. Vince is at ringside backing up Austin. Look at Austin's expressions in this match, he's such a great heel (although the fans refuse to accept him). ***1/2

Steve Austin Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF Smackdown - 5/29/01) - The return match also in Canada. Benoit's got the busted up ribs. Knowing that Hepner's judgment may not be the best, McMahon unselfishly declares himself the outside referee to ensure a fair match. Although I didnt get int this alot of people think it's one of the best of the year so you should check it out. ***3/4

Toshiaki Kawada Vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (AJ - 6/8/01) - I liked the Kojima match a bit more but this was great too. Hard hitting match. ****

Keiji Muto Vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJ - 6/8/01) - If Muto wasn't so determined to slow the match down this would've been a MOTY. As it was it's still really good. Tenryu defends the Triple Crown against the New Japan star. ****1/4

Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF Cage - 6/11/01) - Great TV cage match that ultimatly put Benoit on the shelf for a year. Known for 2 big bumps. Steve Austin does commentary. ****

Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH - 7/27/01) - Misawa defends the GHC title against former tag team partner Akiyama. ***3/4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima Vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele (AJ - 12/11/01) - This as the G-1 finals. Didnt think much seeing the lineup but it's a great match, almost like a AJ 90's tag match. Even I, who own a "Kojima/Tenzan aren't all that" T-shirt, found myself rooting for them at the end!?!? ****1/2

2002

Eddie Guerrero Vs. RVD (WWF Ladder - 5/27/02) - Overrating this but I loved it! Guerrero defends the I-C title against RVD. Great ladder match which crazy spots but RVD doesn't go at top speed. This is the match where a fan runs in and knocks Guerrero off the ladder, I hope security did some free dental work on his teeth. ****1/2

Jushin Liger, El Samurai, Minoru Tanaka, Masayuki Naruse & Masahito Kakihara Vs. Eddie Guerrero, Black Tiger, Gedo, Jado & Koji Kanemoto (NJ - Gauntlet Match - 3/24/02) - Cool elimination match from the NJ Juniors. I always liked these type matches although there wasn't anything mega special in this one. This was a brief feud with the evil Team 2000 in black taking on Team Liger. Guerrero was the star here although everyone looked great. ***3/4

TLC IV (WWF RAW - 10/7/02) - Eric Bishoff did a spinaroonie in Las Vegas and it picked this dangerous TLC match. Kane & The Hurricane are defending the tag belts against former TLCers. Each guy (Christian, Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Hardy) had to find their own tag team partner for this match. Who did they choose? ****1/4

floyd · March 17, 2010

2001

El Hijo Del Santo Vs. Nicho El Millonario (CMLL - 2/3 Falls Mask Vs. Hair- 4/6/01) - Nicho El Millonario is Psychosis and he puts his hair on the line against Santo Jr.'s mask. Awesome and an underlooked match witht big bumps from both guys. ****1/2

Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya Vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi (AJ - 6/30/01) - Another excuse for Kawada & Tenryu to be mean to each other. Araya is the only non-senior citizen in the match and he takes his beatings like a MAN. ****1/4

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy (WWF Hardcore match - 7/27/01) - From the Invasion PPV. Hardy defends the WWF Hardcore title (remember that?) and RVD is used to No-DQ matches. ***3/4

Keiji Muto Vs. Yuji Nagata (AJ - 8/12/01) - G-1 finals with World champ Nagata carving out his legacy and hopefully defeating the legend. Slow to start but super hot at the end. ****1/4

Osamu Nishimura vs. Yuji Nagata (NJ 9/16/01) - Nagata stays with Nishimura on the mat, perhaps getting ready for his MMA fight with Mirko Cro Cop. ***1/2

Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata Vs. Keiji Muto & Hiro Hase (NJ - 10/8/01) - Blood brothers Hase & Muto take on ronins IWGP Champ Nagata & GHC Champ Akiyama. Started off a clean match especially with amateur stars Akiyama & Hase, but once Akiyama DARED to use the Dragon Screw it got personal. ***3/4

El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas Vs. Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL - 2/3 Falls - 11/2/01) - The PPV rematch from a year ago with Santo and Casas working together against the #1 tag team. ****1/4

The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane & The Big Show Vs. Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, RVD, Booker T & Shane McMahon (WWF Elimination match - 11/18/01) - Survivor series eliminaion match with the most ever on the line, control of the company! Will it be the WWF still or the Alliance running the show? Really picked up at the end. ****

El Hijo Del Santo Vs. La Parka (Monterrey - 2/3 Falls - 12/23/01) - Remember when Kane and Austin has a 1st blood match and everyone said it was stupid? Cause kane had a mask? Well... An Insane bloodbath, one of the bloodiest ever. Like something from the movie Saw. La parka's white outfit and the ring is completely smeared with blood from Santo Jr. ****

floyd · March 21, 2010

2001

Bryan Danielson Vs. Spanky (ECWA - 2/24/01) - Opening match in the Super 8 Tournament. These guys both debuted just a few months previous and had as good a 10 minute match as you can get. It's like they packed a great 20 minute match at doublespeed. I see a bright future for this Daniel Brian kid. ***3/4

Bryan Danielson Vs. Reckless Youth (ECWA - 2/24/01) - Semi-finals. Another really good match but not as flashy as the 1st round. ***1/2

Bryan Danielson Vs. Low-Ki (ECWA - 2/24/01) - Finals! I'm hoping to get ahold of the semi-legendary APW King of the Indys after seeing this stuff. Their ROH match in 2002 was awesome, but right now I'd put this one just ahead of it. Even after wrestling 2 matches in the tournament they went all out and had great wrestling, stiff strikes and crazy moves (Low Ki's corkscrew 450 from the top to the floor is one of the most insane and dangerous things I've ever seen). ****1/4

Momoe Nakanishi, Nanae Takahashi, Kaoru Ito, & Tomoko Watanbe Vs. Mima Shimoda, Etsuko Mita, Kumiko Maekawa, & Manami Toyota (AJW - Elimination match - 2/28/01) - Man I always feel so bad for the poor ref in these matches. Cause it's more of a Jerry Springer out of control brawl then an actual match with rules and stuff. And these girls are vicious! Anyway awesome elimination match that has TOO much action for the camera to keep with. ****1/4

Shocker Vs. Dr. Wagner Jr. (NJ - 5/18/01) - CMLL guys in the New Japan Best of Super Juniors tourn. They worked a more New Japan type match but still kept the wacky matwork and the fans really dug it. Shocker hit the crazy Davey Richards dive over the guardrail and amazingly didn't kill any Japanese business men. Good stuff. ***3/4

Shinjiro Ohtani Vs. Masato Tanaka (Zero-1 - 7/13/01) - Good match with Ohtani working on the ankle but watch out for the Tanaka Hulk up. ***3/4

Shinya Hashimoto Vs. Steve Corino Vs. Dylan Night Vs. Gary Steele (PWF - Iron-Man match - 12/16/01) - Huge 90's NJ star Hashimoto, who drew millions of dollars and fans, ventures into the American indy scene! 30:00 min Iron man match, winner gets the title. Lots of good stuff here but lots of parts the guys seemed lost. Hashimoto was defending the NWA World title and was a monster here, barely ever being on the defensive. ****

2002

Edge Vs. Chris Jericho (WWF Cage - 7/25/01) - Very cool and kinda forgotten cage match with escape the cage rules. ****

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Edge (WWF No-DQ - 9/24/02) - Guerrero defends the I-C title in a dangerous anything goes match. Crazy free TV match where a ladder gets used alot. ****1/4

Rey Mysterio Jr. Vs. Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF - 9/24/02) - Short but super TV match with Angle and Benoit continuing their feud and forgetting how dangerous little Rey is. This was all awesome action but sadly too short. Smackdown Six era is getting awesome. ****

floyd · March 22, 2010

2000

Dean Malenko Vs. Scotty 2 Hotty (WWF - 4/30/00) - malenko defends the Jr. title against Scotty. This match is remembered by its crazy ending a superplex countered into a DDT in mid-air. Wonder if Malenko Vs. Jerry Lynn was any good? ***1/2

2001

Wataru Inoue Vs. Jushin Liger (NJ - 5/18/01) - From the BOSJ tournament. OK match, Liger makes Inoue look like a contender. ***1/2

Jushin Liger Vs. Minoru Tanaka (NJ - 6/4/01) - The Best of Super Juniors finals. They gave it plenty of time which was nice. Win or loss Liger made Tanaka look like a 100 million yen. ***1/2

Keiji Muto Vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJ - 6/4/01) - I dont know what Muto was on but he was tremendous here, running and jumping around like a trainee. Pretty good match. ***3/4

Red Vs. Low-Ki (UCW - 9/14/01) - Both guys must've spent alot of time choreographing this match and it came of great. ***3/4

El Hijo Del Santo vs. Shocker (Monterrey 2/3 Falls - 10/21/01) - Another good Santo Jr. match. Shocker acts like a jerk but soon wears the crimson mask. ****

2002

Low Ki Vs. Samoa Joe (ROH - 10/5/02) - The Prophesy hired some fat dude to take out Low Ki. Bryan Alverez's worst nightmare, these guy were super stiff in everything they did. It's a match with no honor! ***3/4

Paul London Vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH - 12/7/02) - Rematch from All Star Extravaganza. Both guys wrestled once already. The Winner of this match gets the #1 contendership. ****

2003

AJ Styles Vs. Paul London Vs. Low Ki (ROH - 2/8/03) - Great 3-way match where the winner gets a shot at ROH Champ Xavier later on the show. ****1/4

floyd · March 28, 2010

Wrestyling Observer's Top 15 Matches of 2003

In order by date:

#13. Low Ki Vs. AJ Styles (Zero-One - 1/5/03) - They take their series to Japan in another great match. ****1/4

#2. Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF Royal Rumble - 1/19/03) - Team Angle is barred from ringside so we finally get a legit one-on one match! Thought their 2001 match was better but after re-watching this I was wrong! This is great stuff. ****1/2

#1. Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH - 3/1/03) - Finally after years of injuries Kobashi gets a title shot but Misawa isn't going out that easily. One of the best of the decade from two of the best ever. *****

#4. Chris Jerchio Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWF Wrestlemania - 3/30/03) - Jericho wanted to be like HBK but now feels he's surpassed him. So at Wrestlemania he vows to strike him down and hopefully not make him stronger than he could ever imagine. ****1/4

#7. Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar (WWF Wrestlemania - 3/30/03) - Angle wasn't supposed to be wrestling here. As in "you'll be a cripple or die". Never been in love with this as others not sure why. Good match, good matchup but didn't seem exciting or memorable to me (except the shooting star press). ***3/4

#5. Bryan Danielson Vs. Paul London (ROH Epic Encounter - 2/3 Falls - 4/12/03) - Long and very good match between two of ROH's best. ****1/4

#12. Chris Harris & James Storm Vs. Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper (TNA Cage match - 6/25/03) - Pretty righteous cage match. XXX has been cheating and having interference to keep their belts. Now it's inside a locked cage so it's a fair match. ****1/4

#6. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama (NOAH - 7/16/03) - Finals to crown the GHC Jr. tag champions. Can New Japan have the 1st champs? More flippy flip crap that goes nowhere. ****3/4

#14. Homicide Vs. Steve Corino (ROH Better Friends, Stiffer Enemies - 8/16/03) - This is a Fight With No honor, meaning Corino gets shredded with barbed wire and Homicide bleeds buckets. ****1/2

#9. Hiroyoshi Tenzan Vs. Jun Akiyama (NJ G-1 Finals - 8/17/03) - Tenzan's not only trying to win the G-1 for himself, but for the promotion. The evil invader Akiyama wants to get the prize in NOAH's trophy case. . ****1/4

#11. Juventud Guerrera Vs. Chris Sabin (TNA - 8/27/03) - Finals in the TNA Ultimate X Cup. Both guys have wrestled twice already but go all out for 20 minutes. ****

#3. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Yoshinobu Kanemuru & Makoto Hashi (NOAH - 9/12/03) - Think Kanemuru/Hashi are Akiyama's guys cause he sits ringside and their explodahs periodically. Not as balls to da wall as the 7/16/03 match but better structured and an even hotter finish! ****3/4

#8. Kenta Kobashi Vs. Yuji Nagata (NOAH - 9/12/03) - Kobashi defends the GHC World title against former IWGP champ Nagata. There more half nelson suplexes in this then chops in a Flair/Steamboat match. ***3/4

#10. Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar (WWF Smackdown 60:00 Iron Man - 9/16/03) - Lesnar's now a rageaholic heel and goes 60 minutes for the title on free TV. ****1/4

#15. Randy Orton & Chris Jericho & Christian & Scott Steiner & Mark Henry vs. Shawn Michaels & Rob Van Dam & Dudleys & Booker T (WWF Survivor Series - 11/16/03) - It's team Austin Vs. Team Bishoff. If Austin's team loses he has to retire. The greatness of this match begins when a bloody Shawn Micheals finds himself alone against 3 guys. ****

floyd · April 1, 2010

Wrestling Observer's Top 12 Matches of 2004

#12. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (11/3/04) - Don't have.

#11. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH - 4/25/04) - Big tag champs meet the small tag champs. Vanilla midgets try to keep up with former World Champions for almost 30 minutes. ****1/4

#10. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (WWE Backlash - 4/18/04) - Rematch from Wrestlemania. Benoit the champ now and must prove in his hometown that it wasn't a fluke. Whats that Earl Hebner coming down for? Good match but I dont think it's as great as most say. Too much dead time and shenanigans to me. ****

#9. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE RAW - 12/30/03) - 2003 closes out with HHH defending the title against HBK in San Antonio. Great TV match, one of the best in the decade. Dusty Rhodes loves the finish. ****1/4

#8. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Yoshihiro Takyama (NJ - 8/8/04) - From the G-1 tournament. Short but stiff match, especially Takayama who pretends to be a tackling dummy for Sasaki's Sasaki-lines. ****

#7. Samoa Joe vs. C.M. Punk (ROH World Title Classic - 6/12/04) - I can see why people love their matches as they keep it entertaining the whole way. I thought the commentary was good too. Can't quite call it great though. C.M. Punk takes the fat one to a 60:00 min draw for the ROH World title. ****

#6. Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE No Way Out - 2/15/04) - Brock defends the WWE World title (I forget which one) in a good match. Brock's seems to be too much to handle but Eddie got experience and some tricks up his sleeve. One of the best moments of the decade. ****1/4

#5. Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley (WWE Backlash - 4/18/04) - Talked about it earlier. Awesome No-DQ match. ****1/2

#4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH - 4/25/04) - Takayama and his rearranged face tries to win the GHC World title in one of Kobashi toughest defenses. ****1/2

#3. Samoa Joe vs. C.M. Punk (ROH - 10/16/04) - Their 2nd sixty minute draw. A liked a bit better than the 1st especially the ending which had more action. Can't quite see the 5 star match but I can understand why people love it. Both guys work well with each other. ****1/4

#2. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/14/04) - HHH defends the World title against Royal Rumble winner Benoit and a bloody HBK. Probablt Top 10 match of the decade for me. ****3/4

#1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH - 7/10/04) - Kobashi defends the GHC World title against old foe and injury maker Akiyama. Some INSANE bumps like a superplex and explodah off the apron to the concrete! Is this Akiyama's night to finally win the big one over Kobashi? ****1/2

floyd · April 7, 2010

Wrestling Observer's Top 16 Matches of 2005

-----------------------------------------------------------

16.) Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe (ROH - 12/26/04) - 2 Year champ Samoa Joe defends the World title at the year end show. Don't think it's as great as some say but still good especially the crowd. ***3/4

15.) KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH - 7/18/05) - KENTA singles push is on and he defends against Kanemaru in the Dome. ****

14.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita (NOAH - 5/8/05) - Differ Cup finals. Kenta/Marufuji play the heels especially to the section full of Hidaka's extended family and the Fujita Fan Club. ****1/4

13.) Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Doug Williams (NOAH - 11/12/05) - This took place in NOAH's invasion of Great Britain. Long ROH type match with Kobashi chopping people. ****

12.) KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura (NOAH - 6/5/05) - before he became GHC World champ Sugiura was in SugiKane and here they go for the Jr. tag titles. ****

11.) Mistico vs. Perro Aguayo Jr. (CMLL - 2/3 Falls - 5/13/05) - It's mano y mano to see if this Mistico is really any good. Tremendous match with lots of highspots and near falls. ****1/2

10.) KENTA vs. SUWA (NOAH - 9/18/05) - SUWA's a jerk! Actually the match is thrown out right off the bat but the ref restarts it. ****

9.) AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA 30 Min iron man match - 2/13/05) - Thirty minute Iron man match for Daniels's X-Division championship. Daniels just got released a few days ago, I guess to make money for Beefcake's one night shot. Man TNA was awesome back then. ****1/4

8.) Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL - 2/3 Falls - 2/15/05) - Short but great match. A couple of insane spots including Mistico doing a 360 dive outside and making a splat sound when he hit nothing but concrete. ****1/4

7.) Satoshi Kojima vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ - 2/16/05) - Kawada defends the Triple Crown against Kojima in maybe his best defense. Good long match with Kojima taking a beating but never giving up. ****1/4

6.) AMW vs. XXX (TNA Cage match - 12/5/04) - Rematch from their 1st cage match over a year ago. This is the de facto finale of their long standing feud as the losing team must break up forever! All 3 guys except Skipper bleed heavy, but he more than makes up for it in doing the stupidest/craziest move in wrestling history. ****1/2

5.) Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH - 11/5/05) - Some call this NOAH's greatest match ever. Kobashi and Sasaki meet again but this time bring their proteges along in a great tag team match. I still can't believe Nakajima was only 17 for this match. ****1/4

4.) Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (TNA - 9/11/05) - Probably TNA's best match ever. No it IS TNA's best match ever. The 3 best guys main event the PPV and fight each other for the X-Division title. Samoa Joe's undefeated. Daniels is the champ. And AJ Styles is the long time #1 TNA guy. Who leads TNA awesomeness until Russo gain power? ****3/4

3.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH - 7/18/05) - Awesome dream match up at the Dome. They take a chop battle to ridiculous but awesome lengths. ****3/4

2.) Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (WWF - 4/3/05) - Wrestlemania Dream matchup featuring Smackdown Vs. RAW. Who's crusine will reign supreme? ****1/4

1.) Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe (ROH - 10/1/05) - Dream match between maybe the best wrestlers of their hemispheres (at that time). Fans were awesome. ****1/2

floyd · April 8, 2010

Sabu Vs. Malice (TNA Ladder match - 7/17/02) - Was supposed to be Jarrett but he got suspended so Sabu answered the challenge. Winner of this match get a shot at Shamrock's title. MUCH better than I expected! ***3/4

Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle Vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio Jr. (WWE - 10/20/02) - The pinnacle of the Smackdown Six, this is the finals of the Tag team tournament. Benoit and Angle are always bickering, will they get along for this match? ****1/2

Brock Lesnar Vs. The Undertaker (WWF Hell in the Cell - 10/20/02) - Long and brutal cage match for Brock's World title. Both guys bleed including Paul Heyman. taker's hand is jacked and in a cast. Brocks the scariest man alive. Great match! ****1/4

Yuji Nagata Vs. Akira Taue (NOAH - 6/6/03) - Long time New Japan champ Nagata takes on 90's star Taue. Didnt love this as much as some but still OK. ***3/4

Homicide Vs. Trent Acid (ROH No-DQ - 6/28/03) - Forgotten anything goes match at Wrestlerave. Really good stuff. Acid especially takes some crazy bumps. ****

C.M. Punk Vs. Raven (ROH Dog Collar Match - 7/19/03) - Raven brings the dog collar into ROH as well as another big surprise. CM Punk doesn't approve of Raven lifestyle so he's gonna beat some sense into him. Hey it's for his own good. Pre/post-match shenanigans and storyline was really really good, match was OK. ***3/4

Steve Austin Vs. The Rock (WWE Wrestlemania - 3/30/03) - Austin/Rock III at Wrestlemania. Rock returns to put the smackdown on the about to be retiring jabronie. Considering what he went through before the match Austin was awesome. ***1/2

Eddie Guerrero Vs. JBL (WWE - 5/16/04) - Muta/Hase, Parka/Santo Jr., Beulah/Bill Alphonso. All bloody matches. but I gotta say this was the worst. Put the blood aside and you still have a tremendous match. ****1/4

C.M. Punk Vs. Samoa Joe (ROH - 12/4/04) - Part 3 of their 2004 trilogy. After their two hour draws, this one has a no-time limit stip. Punk gets busted open early so he tries to end it quicker this time. ****

Satoshi Kojima Vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NJ - 2/20/05) - On paper it's the biggest match ever. It's IWGP Vs. Triple-Crown champ and whoever wins gets all the belts! The only problem with this match is like some ROH matches. They get to a point where the fans are going crazy but then go 10 minutes too long. Well here they go 30 minutes too long. Still a great match. Goes just under an hour teasing a draw but their IS a unified winner! ****1/4

floyd · April 10, 2010

Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Tiger Mask & Heat (NJ - 5/2/03) - This was good but something was lacking. Maybe the crowd was too quiet. Tiger Mask does cool stuff and Kanemoto gets mad. ***3/4

Mistico Vs. Averno (CMLL - 2/3 Falls - 1/30/05) - Gonna have to rewatch this later as I don't see the 5-star classic some say but it's still a good match. First two falls fly by but sets up the 3rd fall as both are tired making the nearfalls more dramatic. ****

Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon (PWG - 2/12/05) - The Joe Dream tour continues with a really good indy match. Super Dragon tries to be stiff so Joe smacks him down. I still don't know how Super Dragon hit the burning hammer on Joe. ***3/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Spanky (ROH - 4/2/05) - This was a great round one match that went 25 minutes. More of an exhibition but some really good stuff. ****

Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher (IWA-MS - 6/11/05) - I've seen alot of messed up stuff in wrestling like fire, lobsters, leeches, sharp pencils, harsh language, Nicole Bass, etc... but nothing is a sick as seeing Necro legit cracking his head on the concrete. They pack the worst ass beating ever seen in 10 minutes. Commentary was great too. ****1/4

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE Vengeance - 6/26/05) - In some ways I think this is a better match than the WM but lacks the atmosphere and uniqueness. Still very good. Is Angle going to go 2-0? ****1/4

Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi (NOAH - 7/18/05) - I wasn't sure why Hashi had a bandage over his head like an escaped Amnesia victim, but then I knew why after he hit a top rope to the concrete flying headbutt!! Dudes crazy. More like a 80's NWA tag then NOAH one, I thought Suzuki was especially good as a heel. I thought this was great. ****1/4

floyd · April 12, 2010

Momoe Nakanishi Vs. Kumiko Maekawa (AJW - 10/24/01) - Their match earlier in the year went to a 30 min draw. This time they go the full sixty minutes. Not a terrible match but a chore to get through. The second half especially felt like they were just trying to fill time instead of have a competitive match. ***

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Smackdown - 6/23/05) - I've seen some call this not only the 2005 MOTY but a match of the Decade candidate. Didn't quite see that. Still a really good TV match though with Guerrero heeling it up tying to get that elusive win. ****

CM Punk Vs. Roderick Strong (ROH - 7/9/05) - CM Punk's become a punk and this is his LAST night with the company before going to WWE. Problem is he's still the ROH World champ! Will he take the belt to the feet of Vince McMahon or can Strong win the title? ***3/4

James Gibson Vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH - 9/7/05) - This was a simple but tremendous match. Danielson had come back form his hiatus and was taking on ROH World champ Gibson. Not talked about but a great ROH match. ****1/4

floyd · April 16, 2010

2002

CM Punk Vs. Chris Hero (IWA-MS TLC - 2/9/02) - 50 minute TLC match! Alot of people love this match but too much standing around setting up stuff. I remember their 2001 match was much better. ***1/2

Genichiro Tenryu Vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJ - 2/24/02) - Old Vs. New to see whose the top contender for the crown. ****

Keiji Mutoh Vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJ - 2/24/02) - Mutoh defends the AJ Triple Crown in a dream rematch! Unfortunately Mutoh uses his superpower of making 10 minutes feel like 30. Muta=Ganzo bomb survivor. ***1/2

CM Punk Vs. Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (IWA-MS - 3/1/02) - CM Punk defends the IWA-MS Championship against two international supahstars. ***

Shinya Hashimoto Vs. Masato Tanaka (Zero-1 - 3/2/02) - Hashimoto beats the crap out of Tanaka. ***3/4

AJ Styles Vs. Low Ki (ROH - 4/27/02) - AJ Styles travels to Low Ki's turf to continue their series. Another really good ROH 2002 match. ****1/4

Manami Toyota & Hotta Yumiko Vs. Kaoru Ito & Momoe Nakanishi (AJW - 5/2/02) - OK tag, nothing special. ***1/2

Genichiro Tenryu Vs. Satoshi Kojima (AJ - 7/17/02) - Tenyru pulled out a close win back in Feb. Now his All Japan Triple Crown is on the line. I thought this was tremendous. ****1/2

Edge Vs. Kurt Angle (WWF Cage - 5/30/02) - From Smackdown. A now bald Angle wears the Buddy Roberts wig. ***3/4

The Rock Vs. Undertaker Vs. Kurt Angle (WWF - 7/21/02) - Undisputed champ Undertaker defends against 2 opponents! Pretty good 3-wat with guy using each others finishing moves. ***3/4

HHH Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWF Stretfight - 8/25/02) - HBK returns after a career-ending back injury in 1998. He takes on his former bestest buddy in the world in an anything goes streetfight. What does HBK have left in the tank? ****1/4

The Rock Vs. Brock Lesnar (WWF - 8/25/02) - The Rock defends the Undisputed World title against the next big thing. "Pure" sports build! ****

Paul London Vs. Michael Shane (ROH Streetfight - 9/21/09) - The Texas Wrestling Academy explodes! An Anything goes fight without honor! Luckily paul London does not die. ****

Manami Toyota & Aja Kong Vs. Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada (GAEA - 8/30/02) - Toyota visits GAEA and teams with her old nemesis to beat up these young kids. Not as good as I heard but OK. ***1/2

Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsyoshi Kikuchi Vs. El Samurai & Masayuki Naruse (NOAH - 9/23/02) - Another chapter in the NOAH Vs. NJ feud. ***3/4

Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio Vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (Noah - 9/23/02) - Akiyama finds himself amongst those giants in Where the Wild Things Are. Big guys hitting each other. ***1/2

Yoshihiro Takayama Vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH - 9/23/02) - Takayama defends the GHC World title against Misawa. More aggressive than their 2001 match. ****

Edge vs. Kurt Angle (WWF - 10/3/02) - Great TV match with lots of time. ****

Chris Benoit vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (WWF - 10/3/02) - Fun stuff at the bookends but not the middle. ***1/2

Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya (AJ - 10/12/02) - The Kojima/Tenryu parts were very good. ***3/4

Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle Vs. Los Guerreros (WWF - 10/17/02) - This was really good. They packed a 20 minute match in 10 great minutes. ****

2003

AJ Styles Vs. Paul London (ROH - 6/14/03) - Great match! I'd say Paul London's best and that includes the Epic Encounter. ****1/2

Scramble Cage match (ROH - 11/1/03) - The debuting Jack Evans made this match AWESOME. ***1/2

AJ Styles Vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH - 11/1/03) - Think this is their 3rd ROH match. Really good stuff but not a MOTYC. ****

2004

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. El Samurai & Wataru Inoue (NOAH - 1/10/04) - The NJ Vs. NOAH war is not over, no sir! KENTA & Marufuji defend the GHC Jr. Tag titles in another great tag match. ****

Jushin Liger Vs. Makoto Hashi (NOAH - 3/6/04) - Palm strikes Vs. headbutts! ****

floyd · April 21, 2010

2002

Kentaro Shiga & Kenta Kobashi Vs. Akitoshi Saito & Jun Akayama (NOAH - 10/19/02) - Great tag team match where Shiga's inexperience get his beaten up alot. ****1/4

Kurt Angle Vs. Edge Vs. Chris Benoit Vs. Eddy Guerrero (WWF Elimination Match - 12/5/02) - And the Smackdown 6 finishes up the year with a great 4-way elimination match. Winner gets a shot at Big Show's World title. Edge gets his leg jacked up by A-Train before the match but vows to win it. ****

2003

Chris Benoit & Edge Vs. Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (WWF - 1/16/03) - The Benoit/Angle express has derailed and now Kurt got Team Angle watching his back (and neck). Cause Angle is handicapped it's a handicap match. Benjamin & Haas learns cheating by their mentor. ***3/4

Black Buffalo & Tsubasa Vs. Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama (Osaka Pro - 2/1/03) - Tsubasa & Black Buffalo defend the Osaka-Pro Tag titles against New Japan. Really good fast paced tag match. Might be rating this low gonna watch it again. ****

Los Guerreros Vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (WWF - 2/6/03) - Team Angle goes for the Tag titles. Can Team Angle get ALL the belts? ***1/2

Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (WWF - 2/6/03) - The rematch! This time on Smackdown. It's non-title though but a Benoit win could get him another title shot maybe at Wrestlemania? ***3/4

Hulk Hogan Vs. Vince Mcmahon (WWF - 3/30/03) - A No-DQ streetfight between the promoter and the wrestler. Vince vows to beat the WCW right out of Hogan. Both guys bleed especially Vince who takes his old man dive off a ladder. ***

Kenta Kobashi Vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH - 4/13/03) - New GHC World champ Kobashi defends against Honda. Honda has his long Olympic career and uses his skills to ground Kobashi. ***3/4

Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda Vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (NOAH - 6/6/03) - Tag match from the big boys. I know this match is well liked but I didn't get too much into it. Match goes a long time and Akiyama does mean things to Kobashi on the ramp. ***1/2

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin (NOAH - 11/1/03) - KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji defend their titles globally. Not as great as I'd thought but still really fun. Marvin & Guerrera bring the lucha comedy into it to. ****

2004

Chris Benoit Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE - 5/3/04) - Chris Benoit defends the World title against Shawn Micheals in a lost and great RAW match. ****1/4

El Dandy Vs. LA Park (ENESMA - 10/29/04) - Voted the Ring y Lucha MOTY. Pretty good title match with Park doing some cool dives. ***3/4

2005

Kenta Kobashi Vs. Minoru Suzuki (NOAH - 1/8/05) - Super awesome to begin with but it kinda waned for me. Suzuki's really cool and is super confident/arrogant for this one. Suzuki tried to disable Kobashi's arm to prevent all those damn chops and Kobashi-lines. ***3/4

CM Punk Vs. Bryan Danielson (FIP - 2/12/05) - Solid match where Danielson wants a regular match but Punk might have to resort to cheating. ***3/4

floyd · April 27, 2010

CM Punk Vs. Chris Hero (IWA-MS - 2/3 Falls - 2/7/03) - At 93 minutes I was dreading this match and figured this would be my Waterloo. But I really enjoyed more than I expected and the finish was top notch. The commentary helped things alot with them talking about their feud history. Much better than their hour TLC match IMO. ****1/4

Super Astro, Solar & Ultraman Vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo & El Texano (IWRG - 2/3 Falls - 2/10/05) - Fun lucha tag. It's not high paced but a slow mat based match especially from Navarro and the gang. They play nice for awhile, at least for the first 2 falls. Then in the last fall everything goes out the window. ****

Yuki Ishikawa Vs. Daisuke Ikeda (Ikeda Produce - 4/24/05) - Pinfalls don't count in this match, only a submission or KO.Never been the biggest fan of worked/shoot matches but this is really top notch. They seriously beat the crap out of each other. ****

Kenta Kobashi & Go Shioski Vs. Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu (NOAH - 4/25/05) - Story is young Shioski gets bullied around alot but Kobashi comes to his rescue. Especially from mean old man Tenryu who throws tables and bottles at Kobashi and gets a bloody chest for his trouble. ****

Blood Generation Vs. Do Fixer (Dragon gate - 7/3/05) - Really great six man tag with the last 10 minutes being all highspots and nearfalls like their ROH match. ****1/4

floyd · April 27, 2010

2000

Jushin Liger, Minoru Tanaka & Shinya Makabe Vs. Super Delfin, Takahiro Murahama & Tsubasa (NJ - 12/14/00) - It's Osaka Pro taking on New Japan. Lots of fun stuff and Juniors shenanigans. ***3/4

2002

Edge & Rey Mysterio Vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit (WWF 2/3 falls - 11/7/02) - The rematch to the WON's 2002 MOTY. A really good TV match that gets a good length. ****

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (WWF - 11/14/02) - Short match but I really liked it. This was a preview for the Guerreros Vs. Edge/Rey match at Survivor Series. ****

The 2002 Elimination Chamber (WWF - 11/17/02) - The Elimination Chamber has these Spinal Tap pods that open every 2 minutes letting a new guy out. It's an elimination match, winner get the World title. ***3/4

Lobo Vs. John Zandig (CZW Electrified Cage of Death - 12/13/02) - After being tortured and hung by hooks (not a work) Zandig still wouldn;'t sign the company over. They still got his signature but after a bunch of swerves and triple agents this match took place, whoever grabs the contract gets the company. ***1/2

2003

Kurt Angle Vs. Brock Lesnar (WWF - 8/24/03) - Started off really good but the last half wasn't all that. Lesnar the heel and is obsessed with getting the World title. McMahon's involved too. ***1/2

Kurt Angle Vs. The Undertaker (WWF - 9/3/03) - Really good TV match, a preview to their tremendous 2006 match. Angle's the champ here. ***3/4

Steve Corino Vs. Homicide (ROH Barbed wire - 11/29/03) - The feud finally ends in a barbaric barbed wire match. ****

Brock Lesnar Vs. Chris Benoit (WWE - 12/4/03) - World champ Lesnar meets the Wolverine. I don;t love this as much as many people but still worth a watch. ***3/4

Team Ultraviolence Vs. Team Hi-Fi (CZW - 12/13/03) - Cage of death featuring some surprises. Again it;'s for the company. The Cage of Death this year is weird. You start off on a scaffold, have to get into one of the two rings (One's filled with thumbtacks), then get back onto the scaffold and make your way to the starting point. If your feet touch the floor your eliminated. Lots of mega crazy bumps. ***3/4

2004

Jushin Liger Vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NOAH - 7/10/04) - New Japan's Liger has the GHC Jr. title so Kanemaru vows to win it back. OK match with a good ending. ***3/4

2005

Money in the Bank Ladder Match (WWE - 4/3/05) - Whoever wins this gets a shot at the title any time for a year. ***3/4

Samoa Joe Vs. Jay Lethal (ROH - 5/7/05) - This is for Lethal's Pure title. Samoa Joe's his mentor. I always liked the Pure matches which only allow 3 rope breaks (after their gone you on your own). Also any punch counts as a rope break against you. Really good match. ****

Austin Aries Vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH - 5/14/05) - Good defense against Danielson. ***3/4

CM Punk Vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH - 5/14/05) - Bloff to the Punk Vs. Embassy feud. Crown jewel Rave is trapped in the cage to get his comeuppance. ****

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE - 5/22/05) - Eddie turned on tag team partner and friend Mysterio so here they are fighting. ***1/2

John Cena Vs. JBL (WWE - I-Quit - 5/22/05) - New champ and pretty boy Cena needed to get over with the fans so he bleeds like crazy here. ****

Masato Tanaka Vs. Mike Awesome (WWE - 6/12/05) - Their series continues! ****

The Dudley Boyz Vs. The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer (WWE - 6/12/05) - Match was OK but what makes this really good is the pre and post match stuff. Beware the cheese grater and JBL. ***3/4

Chris Hero Vs. Arik Cannon (IWA-MS - 8/19/05) - I thought this was really good. Stiff match and neat submissions. ***3/4

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Ladder match - 8/21/05) - OK ladder match didn't get into it. Whoever grabs the custody papers gets Dominick. ***1/2

Yuki Ishikawa Vs. Alexander Otsuka (Big Mouth Loud - 9/11/05) - I know people love this match but I didn;t get into it. Too slow and 14,000 leglocks. I guess I prefer MMA. **1/2

Perro Aguayo Jr., Mr. Aguila, Hallowen & Damian 666 Vs. Pierroth, Apolo Dantes, Mascara 2000 & Universo 2000 (CMLL - 10/14/05) - OK 8-man, nothing too special though. First two falls are a double pin then double countout! ***

El Hijo del Santo Vs. Atlantis (CMLL - 11/11/05) - A trophy that honors El Santo, this is the Leyenda De Plata finals. Lots of mask ripping goodness here. ***3/4

floyd · May 8, 2010

AMW Vs. Team Canada (TNA - 1/16/05) - Forgotten match but I always really liked it. They try to recreate a Midnight Express/Rock N Roll tag in 2005. Begins with a brawl and continues for 20 minutes non-stop action. Team Canada's defending the tag titles. ****1/2

Ultimate X (TNA - 1/16/05) - It's AJ Styles Vs. Petey Williams Vs. Chris Sabin for the X-Division title in the ultra dangerous match. Styles takes a bump most people die from. ****1/4

Austin Aries Vs. James Gibson (ROH - 4/16/05) - Really good defense for the ROH title. ****

CM Punk Vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH Dog Collar - 5/7/05) - Rave gets out of the match buts its all a ruse and attacks Punk blooding him up really bad. ***3/4

Austin Aries Vs. James Gibson (ROH - 5/13/05) - Most people liked the 1st one, but I like this rematch alot more. ****1/4

CM Punk Vs. Christopher Daniels (ROH - 6/18/05) - Match goes an hour and is good, never drags. But doesn't pull away from the other hour draws from ROH. ****1/4

Batista Vs. HHH (WWE HITC - 6/26/05) - It's Evolution gone crazy. Batista defends the World title inside the Hell in a Cell! Awesome cage match, ring crew always seem to leave their barbed wire chairs under the ring. ****1/2

AJ Styles Vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH Streetfight - 7/23/05) - No DQ over who has the better Styles/Raves Clash. ***1/2

Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (WWE - 7/24/05) - Another great paranoid performance by Eddie. ***1/2

Low Ki & Homicide Vs. Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal (ROH - 8/13/05) - They had an awesome impromptu match at Manhatten Mayhem, but Joe and Lethal had already been beat up. This is the rematch! Look for the 10 minute brawl after the match. ****

Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles (TNA - 8/14/05) - X Cup finals! Samoa Joe is undefeated, can Styles be the one to stop the monster? Christopher Daniels does commentary setting up the MOTYC next month. ****1/4

Matt Hardy Vs. Edge (WWE Cage match - 9/18/05) - Matt Hardy and Edge take their real life feud into a steel cage. Loser gets Lita. Or winner I dunno.. ****1/4

James Gibson Vs. Roderick Strong (10/2/05) - It's Gibson's last match before returning to the WWE. Who's the MVP of ROH? Forgotten and great match. ****1/4

Samoa Joe & Low Ki Vs. Kenta Kobashi & Homicide (ROH - 10/2/05) - Kobashi and Joe meet again! But this time in a tag team match with partners Homicide and Low Ki on opposite sides. ****1/4

Bryan Danielson Vs. Roderick Strong (ROH - 10/29/05) - Their first meeting for the title. I really liked the ending, it came out of nowhere and people were stunned. ***3/4

Bryan Danielson Vs. Roderick Strong (ROH Vendetta - 11/5/05) - The rematch! Danielson defends the ROH World title against #1 Backbreaker Strong. A long epic-type defense. ****1/4

Steel Cage Warfare (ROH - 12/3/05) - It's Wargames rules but its elimination too. The Embassy (with TNA's Abyss) takes on Generation Next. Jack Evans tries to kill himself. ****

Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles (TNA - 12/11/05)] - The rematch, this time with AJ Styles shiny new X-Division title on the line. No runs-ins, just great wrestling. Russo HATES this match. ****1/4

El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas Vs. Mephisto & Averno (CMLL - 2/3 Falls - 12/16/05) - The Super Powers team of Santo/Casas take on the rudo extraordinaires. Another great tag match where Mephisto & Averno look like they can hang with the legends. ****1/4

KENTA Vs. Low Ki (ROH - 12/17/05) - KENTA defends the GHC Jr. title in Low Ki's turf. Hard hitting awesome match that closes out a tremendous ROH year. ****1/2

floyd · June 14, 2010

Wrestling Observer's Top 18 Matches of 2006

-----------------------------------------------------------

18.) Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe (TNA - 11/19/06) - TNA does ALOT of stupid things especially with the castaway WWE talent. But the buildup for this match was all gold. Not a classic but was intense. The undefeated Joe was the heel here mauling a bloody Angle until he makes the Olympic come back. ****

17.) Edge Vs. John Cena (WWE TLC Match - 9/17/06) - There was lots of cool stuff here and I feel like I should've loved this more. But I didn't. Good bumps throughout and World champ Edge had the advantage as he was undefeated in TLC matches. ****

16.) Chris Hero, Super Dragon & Necro Butcher Vs. Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce & B.J. Whitmer (ROH/CZW - 4/22/06) - Crazy ass brawl that goes 30 min! Pearce & Whitmer weren't top stars but got elevated in this match with Pearce bleeding buckets and Whitmer taking a burning hammer through a table. CZW also had their stock risen for the feud with the win and they gained a new member. ****1/4

15.) Edge Vs. Mick Foley (WWE Streetfight - 4/2/06) - Anything goes, falls count anywhere match at Wrestlemania. All the fun stuff is here including thumptacks, fire and a barbed-wire covered Mr. Socko. ****

14.) Bryan Danielson Vs. Roderick Strong (ROH - 3/31/06) - This is their third match and I think the best. They teased an hour draw but there was a winner at about the 55 minute mark. Really good stuff from start to finish and a Strong super-chop went awry and he hit the outside post so hard my TV shook. ****1/2

13.) Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita Vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura (NOAH - 3/5/06) - Don't have. :-(

12.) Samoa Joe Vs. A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA - 2/12/06) - Great rematch from their 1st classic. This time round Samoa Joe's the champ and is STILL undefeated. Styles and Daniels are friends but pretty soon it's a free for all with kewl moves and 3-way spots. I like the 2005 and 2009 matches a tad better but this is well worth checking out. ****1/4

11.) Averno & Mephisto Vs. El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas (CMLL 2/3 Falls - 12/16/05) - Averno & Mephisto are such great heels. And El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas are El Hijo del Santo & Negro Casas. ****1/4

10.) Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker (WWE - 2/19/06) - One of 2 Undertaker matches I'd say are great. Tremendous World title match with Angle working on the ankle and doing cool counters while Undertaker tries out some stuff he saw on UFC. Micheal Cole says "Vintage Undertaker" 47 times in this match.****1/4

9.) Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio Vs. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH - 7/6/06) - I loved this tag match. For those who don't know, Morishima and Rikio are super huge sumo-like dudes and twice the size of little KENTA/Marufuji. match went to a 30 min draw and wasn't boring at any time. ****1/2

8.) CZW Vs. ROH (ROH/CZW Cage of Death - 7/15/06) - Wargames! One of the best feuds of the decade end with this all or nothing Cage of Death. The booking of this match is fantastic, it's actually a story that unfolds from beginning to end and has spectacular moves including Nate Webb doing some funky upsidedown Van Terminator and Ace Steel bringing in mo' cowbell. ****3/4

7.) Chris Benoit Vs. Finlay (WWE 5/21/06) - Never loved this as much as others but still very good. Benoit's looking for revenge at Finlay cheating his way in their last match. Micheal Cole says "Smashmouth offense" 42 times in this match. ****

6.) KENTA Vs. Low Ki (ROH 12/17/05) - KENTA defends the GHC Jr. title in Low Ki's turf. Hard hitting awesome match that closes out a tremendous ROH year. ****1/2

5.) Samoa Joe Vs. AJ Styles (TNA 12/11/05) - The rematch, this time with AJ Styles shiny new X-Division title on the line. No runs-ins, just great wrestling. Russo HATES this match. ****1/4

4.) Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuiness (ROH - 8/12/06) - Awesome rematch to their first Unification match. This time THERE MUST BE A WINNER. This was in Britain so McGuiness had the fans and despite getting voluntarily opened up (hardway?) on the post he kept going and taking it to the champ. ****1/2

3.) Bryan Danielson Vs. KENTA (ROH - 9/16/06) - KENTA pinned Danielson in their 3-way match in June. This time it's for the World title AND Danielson's get a jacked up shoulder. People say he's overrated, I definitly think KENTA is underrated, two of the best for the decade. ****1/2

2.) KENTA Vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH - 10/29/06) - Little Marufuji shocked the WORLD when he became GHC World champ. Now he meets his long time tag team partner in a match for the title. When KENTA defended to Jr. title again him, Marufuji lost. So he's hoping against another defeat here. Not the typical NOAH World title match but a 40 minute version of the Jr. matches. ****3/4

1.) Do Fixer Vs. Blood Generation (ROH - 3/31/06) - Super fast super awesome spotfest. I know people think their matches in Dragon gate are better but I still haven't seen as great a multi-man tag match as this one. Some also hate the crowd but I thought it was the crowd heat that made this such a classic. ****1/2

floyd · June 19, 2010

2005

Kurt Angle Vs. Marty Jannetty (WWE - 3/17/05) - Rock Rock Till You Drop, Rock Rock Never Stop! Angle warms up for his Wrestlemania match but finds Jannetty's not as washed up as he thought. Really good TV match. ***3/4

Shelton Benjamin Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE - 5/2/05) - Gold Rush tournament where Shelton's trying to upset the showstoppah. ****

William Regal Vs. Chris Benoit (WWE - 7/16/05) - Short match but as always an awesome one from these two. ****

Chris Benoit Vs. Eddie Guerrero (WWE - 7/21/05) - This was really cool cause Benoit tried to talk sense into him before the match. And Eddie acted all nice then Pearl Harbored him and turned heel. ***3/4

Rey Mysterio Jr. & Batista Vs. MNM (WWE - 12/23/05) - Don't remember the storyline but I think Batista raped maria and she was scared of him or something. ***1/2

2006

La Mascara & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy (CMLL - 1/1/06) - Cool tag with the marque matchup of Santo Jr. and Blue panther but their partners aint too bad neither. Not great but a solid and very fun match. ****

KENTA Vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH - 1/22/06) - I love their other matches but this one didnt blow me away. Definitely gonna and rewatch this one again before the deadline. ***3/4

Captain’s Fall Match (Dragon Gate - 1/27/06) - Fun elimination match with shenanigans going on between teams. Finish was really hot. ****

Naomichi Marufuji Vs. Akira Taue (NOAH 3/5/06) - The 3/5/06 show was awesome cause it had old All Japan guys going against the new breed. This was a short match but they managed to cram lots of great moves, counters and nearfalls for a great finish. ****

Necro Butcher Vs. Low-Ki (IWA-MS 4/1/06) - I was really looking forward to this dream indy match but it wasn't as great as I hoped. Still Low Ki gets to kick necro in the head as hard as he wants too. ***1/2

Rey Mysterio Jr. Vs. Fit Finlay (WWE - 3/21/06) - Mean Fit Finlay throws Mysterio around. ***1/2

Rey Mysterio Jr. Vs. Randy Orton (WWE - 4/4/06) - Orton gets another shot at the new champ on Smackdown. They gave it a good length but nothing to go out your way to see. ***1/2

Chris Benoit Vs. JBL (WWE Cage match - 4/11/06) - Cage match from Smackdown! Benoit trying to get his U.S. title back. ***1/4

Samoa Joe Vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA - 4/13/06) - From Impact. Samoa Joe MAULS a bloody Daniels for about 10 minutes but Daniels won't quit! ***3/4

Mistico & Negro Casas Vs. Mephisto & Averno (CMLL 2/3 Falls - 4/15/06) - This was awesome and might even be my favorite lucha match of the decade (so far). First 2 falls go by quick but the last one is really sweet with lots of nearfalls like a All Japan match. Mephisto & Averno are great heels here with lots of cool tag team moves. ****1/2

Jun Akiyama Vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH - 4/23/06) - Linda like the Suziki Vs. Kobashi title match, Inoue really stepped up his game especially with working the crowd. The great thing though is Inoue was definitely the heel, but the crowd seemed to get behind the underdog. Akiyama's defending the World title here. ****

Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH - 4/29/06) - This match is overshadowed by their August classic but is really good. A more technical match, it was also a title Vs. title match but went to a double countout. I've been thinking on what my favorite feud is for the decade and I think it's these two's series against each other. ****1/4

Yuji Nagata Vs. Giant Bernard (NJ - 4/30/06) - I remember at the time this match happened everyone was talking about what a great match it was. And it is, but not quite a MOTYC to me. A-Train is really good here being a monster but still selling for Nagata as he tries to make the comeback. ****

Chris Benoit Vs. Fit Finlay (WWE - 5/3/06) - A KOTR ring qualifying match and they gave it lots of time for TV. ***1/2

Chris Benoit vs. William Regal (Velocity 5/8/06) - Maybe I was just in a good mood watching this but I thought this short match was tremendous. Another hidden gem from Velocity, so far my fav from their series. Regal gets busted open. Again. ****

L.A. Park, Marco Corleone & Johnny Stamboli Vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Dos Caras Jr. & Lizmark Jr. (CMLL 2/3 Falls - 5/19/06) - The FBI invade Mexico. Did L.A. Park and Dr. Wagner have a singles match around this time, cause both guys were awesome here and going after each other. OK tag match aside from that. ***1/4

Samoa Joe Vs. Scott Steiner (TNA - 6/18/06) - I thought this was tons better than I expected going in. Steiner's promos on Joe are awesome like showing his bicep to the camera then saying "That's a vein. You don't have one of those you fat bastard." Both guys thump each other around. ***1/2

LAX Vs. Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles (TNA - 8/13/06) - This was a good match but nothing great to put it over the top, their later matches are better as I remember. Still a good one to check out before watching the rest of the series. Styles & Daniels are defending the belts here. ***1/2

Kaz Hayashi Vs. Shuji Kondo (AJ - 8/27/06) - This match was Really good. Jr. match with tons of awesome moves and nearfalls. ****1/4

Osamu Nishimura Vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (MUGA - 2/3 falls - 9/25/06) - Not as into slow mat based matches but since I'm such a fan of Fujinami I got into this. Plus halfway through I realized I was looking at a honest to god 70's All Japan match in 2006. In fact I thought I saw Fujinami doing Inoki stuff and Nishimore channeling Dory Funk Jr's moves and Jumbo's selling mannerisms. Or most likely its all in my head. I WILL be watching this again. ****1/4

Brian Kendrick & Paul London Vs. William Regal & Doug Taylor Vs. The Hardyz Vs. MNM (WWE Ladder Match - 12/17/06) - Was supposed to be a tag team match but Holla Holla Playa Teddy Long came out and changed it to a ladder match AND added the Hardys and MNM to the match! Controversy crates cash. Some really good spots including Joey Mercury getting half his face wiped off and rushed to the hospital. Plus both Regal and Taylor are scared of heights. ****1/4

2008

Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto Vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshihito Sasaki (Big Japan - 1/2/08) - This was a great great tag. Although it's Big Japan this was a non-deathmatch match and was never boring and had a great (if a tad overkill) ending stretch. ****1/4

Bryan Danielson Vs. Low-Ki (PWG - 1/5/08) - Was scheduled to be CIMA but PWG champ Danielson found himself facing old foe Low Ki instead! Lotsa kicks and submissions. ***3/4

floyd · June 23, 2010

I really wish I was better at explaining why I like each match (like being able to write more than one sentence for each):

Wrestling Observer's Top 19 Matches of 2007

-----------------------------------------------------------

19. Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe (TNA - 12/10/06) - Really good rematch and better than the first. ****1/4

18. Briscoes Vs. Claudio Castragnoli & Matt Sydal (ROH - 5/12/07) - Awesome spotfest with makeshift Claudio and Sydal taking on the champs. ****1/2

17. Chris Harris Vs. James Storm (TNA Last Man Standing - 5/13/07) - Both guys get very bloody, end of their tag team and feud! ****

16. Takeshi Morishima Vs. Claudio Castragnoli (ROH - 8/10/07) - After winning a tournament, Claudio is punished with a World title match against Morishima. Claudio does the giantest of giant swings. ***3/4

15. Briscoes Vs. Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzuki (NOAH - 1/21/07) - The Briscoes won the Jr titles, this is the rematch where Marvin and Suzuki get a chance to keep the belts in NOAH. Non-stop spots. ****1/4

14. BJ Whitmer Vs. Jimmy Jacobs (WWE - 3/31/07) - One of the best (if not the best) cage matches of the decade. Crazy bumps and lots of injuries resulting. Lacy has driven Jacobs insane. ****1/4

13. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE - 4/1/07) - Main event match at WM. Shawn Micheals is great here. ***3/4

12. Undertaker Vs. Batista (WWE - 4/1/07) - Batista voes to end the Undertaker's WM streak and stay champ. Taker goes lucha here. ***3/4

11. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (ROH - 9/15/07) - Rematch with pirate Danielson wearing an eye patch to protect the injury Morishima gave him last time. ****

10. Hiroshi Tanahasi Vs. Yuji Nagata (NJ - 4/13/07) - Tanahasi has to meet Nagata's aggression to retain the title. ****

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Hirooki Goto (NJ - 11/11/07) - This is cool cause Tanahashi almost acts like a heel against the up and coming Goto. ****1/2

8. Cima, Shingo Takagi & Susuma Yokosuka Vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki (ROH - 3/31/07) - Rematch from the MOTY. ****

7. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Edge Vs. Randy Orton (WWE - 4/29/07) - Four way match for the title. Edge & Orton were tag team partners and Cena and HBK are feuding. ****

6. Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ROH Ladder match - 9/15/07) - Crazyass ladder match harkening back to TLC days. ****1/2

5. John Cena Vs. Umaga (WWE Last man Standing - 1/28/07) - Cena barely won their last match with a fluke rollup, now his ribs are hurt and the monsters hungry. ****1/2

4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE - 4/23/07) - Great match that went almost the entire final hour on RAW. ****1/4

3. Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuiness (ROH - 6/9/07) - From the Driven PPV, whoever wins this match gets a shot at Morishima. ****1/4

2. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori Vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH - 7/15/07) - KENTA & Marifuji find themselves on oposite sides in the NTV Cup finals. ****1/4

1. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (8/25/07) - Great big man / little man matchup for the ROH World title. ****1/4

My 8 Favorite Matches

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