Pro Wrestling Love vol. 7: Best of Puroresu 2000-2004 (Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama, Toshiaki Kawada)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 7:

The Greatest Matches of Other Puroresu in 2000-2004

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Contact Info: You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these match reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion. 

Subject: This seventh volume of Pro Wrestling Love finishes the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Japan in all the non-NOAH promotions from 2000-2004. I had a being internal struggle whether to include the first half of 2000 All Japan (pre-split) with late 90s All Japan. The reason I decided against it is that I want some mystery about what I think the Greatest Match Ever is. If I was force to rank Misawa vs Akiyama from February 2000 against 6/9/95, 12/6/96 and 1/20/97 it might give too much away. :P So I liked the idea of breaking it out in this. Also, it is just easier from a bookkeeping perspective to keep all the 21^st century wrestling together. All Japan and New Japan will obviously be featured, but matches from Zero-One, Toryumon/Dragon Gate, U-Style, BattlArts and WAR were all watched. 

Ratings: All six of these matches should make my list. The #1 match is a contender for Greatest Match Ever.

DANGEROUS~!

The Top Six Non-NOAH Puroresu Matches of 2000-2004

#6. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Kazunari Murakami – NJPW 12/12/02

Puroresu Match of the Year, 2002

I would hazard to guess that no match in the history has ever overachieved as much as this match. That’s why my friends you watch all the matches. Yes, it was nominated for Ditch’s Project so it was not a completely new discovery, but nobody talks about this match. On paper, no one expects one of one hundred greatest matches of all time to take place when they watch this match, but that’s what you get in my opinion.

Murakami is at his absolute cocky shooter prick best. Find me a person that would not want to punch him in the face watching this. He is so eminently hateable throughout this match. You are just begging for the Nagata comeback. As the reader has come to find, I love energy in my match. Murakami is just a total speedball. He is a frenetic, out of control shooter that no one can contain. The opening sets the tone for the entire match. He bulrushes Nagata and is just stepping and stomping all over him. He is a maniac. There’s a great part where Murakami refuses to relinquish a cross-armbreaker and eventually Nagata just forces him to the outside where he gets battered and bloodied by Murakami’s entourage. The Crippler’s Crossface with all that blood oozing out was a very effective visual and of course Murakami would not be one of the best if he didn’t lick Nagata’s blood from his own forearm. Like I said above, the viewer is just begging for that Nagata comeback and we get it. Oh boy do we get it! It is a ferocious destruction of Murakami’s arm, an arm for an arm you see. Murakami was the star, but Nagata was no slouch in this and he really brought it when it came his turn. Murakami has one last gasp when his sleazy manager distracts Nagata long enough to apply a rear naked choke. That was a good last gasp for the crazed shooter. Nagata recovers and hits not one, not two, but three wrist clutch exploders. He wanted to make sure Murakami was punished for being such a dick. This is Inokiism at its finest the perfect confluence of shoot and spectacle.  

#5. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada – NJPW 10/09/00

All Japan Pro Wrestling was gutted and reeling from the departure of Misawa & Co. in the summer of 2000. However, they retained Toshiaki Kawada and that was all that was needed to make the All Japan invasion of 2000 seem like a big deal. A big enough deal to headline the Tokyo Dome. Inoki is sucker for a good invasion storyline. So it was booked Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada for the Tokyo Dome. It must have felt like Hell Froze Over for puroresu fans at the time. Kawada was going to work for Inoki. The New Japan fans were throwing objects at Kawada. This was personal. This had been building since 1973 when Inoki and Baba went their separate ways. This was not about titles. This was about pride. Which company is the best? Two men acting as surrogates for Inoki and Baba trying to win honor & glory not just for themselves but for their company. This match reflects the ego, machismo and bravado intrinsic to the hyper-masculine entertainment of pro wrestling. Don’t confuse this with hate. This is not a hate filled brawl. It is not a scientific grappling match. It is stand up, toe to toe, you give your best shot and I give mine. It is about who is the strongest, toughest man. It is a style that can leave a lot to be desired and is a big problem I have with a lot of modern New Japan. It can come off as more of a ritual than a match. It is like a game of bloody knuckles. You are trying to outlast your opponent and win in a very specific fashion. It is not logical because rituals are not logical. You fighting according to an unspoken code. It is the code of strong style.

It starts off just as a match of machismo and pride should start. A hotly contested lockup. Like two rams with their horns locked in a joust. Sasaki lets Kawada know this is a fight to survive as he punches him in the head. Kawada has that perfect jelly leg sell and Kawada asks the ref “Did he just do that?”. There is a great gritty, slopping grappling exchange that felt like a shoot. Then the ritual begins. They just stand eye to eye and chop and slap the ever loving shit out of each other. It is at the end of this Kawada gets his receipt with a closed fist to the face, the ultimate dishonorable cheap shot. Kawada begins his heat segment he hits his big bombs, but does so with arrogance. Both men are selling their asses off. Kawada is one of the best at selling fatigue in his match. It is this fatigue that costs him as he cant hit his powerbomb. Sasaki begins his comeback, but it is a tempered comeback because he is selling the toll his body has taken in this match. I loved how he had to break his Scorpion Deathlock just because he was exhausted. So the ritual begins anew. They just start throwing huge lariats at one another. Each are on jelly legs. The one lariat I still remember is Sasaki hits Kawada so hard that is a cloud of sweat that forms. I have not watch this match in five years and that really stuck with me. Sasaki collapses on a simple suplex attempt. Sublime selling. Sasaki is trying to power up but succumbs to Kawada’s enziguiris to the head. I usually am not fond of wars of attrition. They lack energy. In fact they are anti-energy matches. They are supposed to be draining to the competitors and the viewer. It was a ritual match where the unspoken rules were stand and trade strikes. To do otherwise is dishonorable. It is not smart wrestling. It is really fucking stupid wrestling. But then again Pride is a really fucking stupid thing.

#4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama 

AJPW 05/26/00

The comeback to end all comebacks! This up there with Lawler vs Bockwinkel in terms of my favorite comebacks of all time. The arm dangling at Kobashi’s side while he is valiantly trying to make a comeback against this Giant is so dramatic. He is trying to fight through the pain, but Takayama is always cutting off by attacking the arm. The best part of the match is Takayama hits his Everest Suplex and when he cant pick up the duke he just starts punching Kobashi in the face with closed fists. It is such a dick move. It is kinda temper tantrum in a way. He just starts liberally cheating. Kobashi rallies with punches of his own, but his left arm as his right arm just dangles at his side! It is electric! Then he just says “Fuck it” and hits that Monster Burning Lariat with his bad arm for the win. It is not just this being one of the all time great comebacks this is a very complete match. What makes it standout is Takayama’s full on heel performance. It is very American as he is outright cheating and even has his buddy, Takao Omori helping him distract Kobashi at ringside. He is stepping on Kobashi’s throat, he hits Kobashi so hard his eye swells shut. Of course, the armwork from Takayama was par excellence. This is just a badass heel heat segment. Kobashi is just in his element fighting from underneath the perfect balance between selling vulnerability and hope. It gets overshadowed by the NOAH match, but this will undoubtedly also make my list.

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

I mentioned in my previous volume how much I love a dick heel tag team picks on the junior babyface partner and really makes you beg for the Ace hot tag. We get that here in spades as old man Masa Fuchi gives one of the best heel performances of all time just being a total prick to Iizuka. Fuchi actually gets his ass kicked at the beginning of the match by Iizuka. It is only after a very scrappy, pride-filled exchange between Nagata/Kawada (loved the intense grappling and Nagata kicking Kawada in the head when he does hamstring stretches in the middle of the match. Kawada was being quite the asshole) that Fuchi manned up. One kneecrusher and Fuchi becomes the cockiest bastard ever. Fuchi stands on Iizuka’s head and taunts Nagata with a look that says to me “What the fuck are you going to do about it, Nagata?” So after quite the asskicking and all the taunting, Nagata steps in and Kawada rushes in to floor him with a kick to the head. Now they take turns beating the piss out of Nagata on the floor with Iizuka hapless in the ring. This is amazing tag team wrestling, some of the best of all time from the All Japan boys. There is a great moment when Nagata has recovered enough to get back on the apron as he tries to interfere, he collapses. That puts over the stakes of the match. Kawada was coming off a victory over New Japan’s champion. New Japan could not afford another loss to Kawada and All Japan. Iizuka miraculously applies a sleeper on Fuchi and holds it for long enough that when he lets go Fuchi falls outside of the ring. Kawada allows Iizuka to tag Nagata because if he loses Fuchi he will be all alone in enemy territory. While Kawada is the best wrestler in this match, he is not good enough 2-on-1. Now Nagata invites him into the ritual of strong style fighting spirit. Kawada gladly obliges. Kawada sells Nagata’s kicks to the head so well. I love Kawada. Kawada is able to hit a back drop driver and when Nagata kicks out, Liger pops and cheers him on. That’s a nice touch. Kawada is battling off both men and the New Japan crowd is nervous. Nagata targets Kawada’s knee and now New Japan has hope. Fuchi saves, but ends up in a leglock of his own. There is a great Fuchi selling spot where he looks for the tag after hold, but he does not need to tag out because he was not legal in the first place. Great moment. The All Japan boys not to be outdone end up grabbing simultaneous stretch plums. This is great, I love mirror spots! The finish stretch is insane. Nagata and Kawada rip into each other. Nagata wins the stand up applies a cross armbreaker, Fuchi stands on Nagata’s head as the time limit expires. You will be hard pressed to find better tag wrestling in the history of pro wrestling than this match. Kawada & Fuchi were the ultimate heel tag team, garnering so much heat by being assholes, but when it came time to sell for the comeback they sold. Iizuka was the perfect outgunned babyface partner that you know will get his ass kicked, but he is not going to give up. Nagata felt like an Ace for the first time here. His segments with Kawada felt huge. I think the coolest thing about the match remains the simultaneous face in peril segments where Nagata and Iizuka were both in trouble at the same time. It really made the drama for the finish run feel huge. From the moment where Iizuka finally took out Fuchi to the time limit expiring, this was perfect, high stakes tag wrestling.  

#2. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh – AJPW 6/8/01

Puroresu Match of the Year, 2001

Slow and steady wins the race. One wrestling cliché that I feel is misappropriated for many wrestlers is “no wasted motion”. In this match, there truly was no wasted motion. Every single move mattered, was milked and as given time to breathe. At one point, I popped for a dropkick to the knee like it was a frigging Burning Hammer. To me, that is pro wrestling. One the surface, this match is about Mutoh’s hyper-focused strategy: the knee, the knee, the knee and then Tenryu’s consequent retaliation. Buried in this match is Tenryu’s masterful performance working underneath and selling the effects of the opening bell Shining Wizard all the way to the final bell. Mutoh completely blindsided him with that Shining Wizard and from then on out Tenryu was selling the effects of having his bell rung. Mutoh wanted to hit the Moonsault right then and there, but Tenryu wisely powdered. That one headshot prevents from mounting any offense during the first ten minutes of the match. I love how when Tenryu is able to string three moves together punctuated with a powerbomb, it is a Kappo kick to the HEAD that Mutoh uses to regain the advantage and send Tenryu reeling to the outside. As Tenryu re-enters the ring, the tenacious Mutoh dropkicks the knee. So it begins Tenryu rallies and Mutoh attacks the knee. It is relentless and intense. The greatest spot in the match is when Tenryu dropkicks Mutoh in his KNEE. I popped so hard for that. What a great Fuck You spot. Tenryu is the best. Tenryu throwing all that knee work back in Mutoh’s face is so glorious. Tenryu runs through his big bombs, but cant pin Mutoh yet. Then it happens as he is going for the brainbuster, Mutoh knees him in the HEAD, what a great intra-match callback. Two Shining Wizards and backbreaker/moonsault spells the end for Mr. Puroresu. Mutoh’s transition were so on point in this match and all tied back to his overall startegy. I am such a  mark for logical, smart strategy and transitions. I loved him in this match. Tenryu was a genius in this match. The way he sold his bell being rung was great. He was constantly going for home runs to get himself back into the match because he found himself in such a big early hole. Amazing match as Pro Wrestling Love reigns supreme.

#1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama – AJPW 2/27/00

Puroresu Match of the Year, 2000

I just preached efficiency in the match right before this, but I think this is even more efficient. Everything is so impactful and meaningful. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I think was Misawa trying to recreate the magic of Misawa vs Jumbo, but this time he is in the Jumbo role. This was the big kickoff to the Akiyama superpush. This far outstrips the Misawa vs Jumbo match as this is a total tour deforce with Akiyama laser-focused on destroying the neck of Misawa (with how Misawa died this can be a little uncomfortable to watch at times) and Misawa’s world-renowned resiliency being tested like never before. Nothing says the stakes are higher than when Misawa squashes Akiyama’s nose on a nasty knee drop and crushes it with Akiyama coming up bloody. Of course, what makes this match work so well is the fact that Misawa is Misawa. The credibility of Misawa’s comeback had been built over the past decade and therefore there is never a moment in the match you think Misawa is out of it until he is shockingly out of it. At the beginning of the match, they establish this is not their first rodeo together and they have each other well-scouted avoiding the other’s signature moves. The first major blow comes from just that story of knowing each other so well as Akiyama avoids a reverse crossbody and drives Misawa into the mat. Misawa comes up holding his neck. Akiyama did not miss this and is laser-focused on the neck. My favorite spot is the drop toehold on Misawa sending him throat first into the railing. Piledriver on the floor and a Wrist-Clutch Exploder on the apron, all focused on the neck. Honestly, against anyone else I would be crying foul and claiming this is excessive, but this is Misawa and that means he is out of it, until the fat lady sings. Of course, it happens in the form of a monster back elbow. The Emerald Elbow was poised to bail Misawa out of another jam. This is of course just a hope spot on the eventual comeback. The viewer is accustomed to this. We enjoy it. We know the normal Misawa pacing. The execution is tight. Akiyama goes back to drilling the neck and Misawa is kicking out still. Then that nasty kneedrop happens to Akiyama. You know the end is nigh for Akiyama. Misawa runs through his bombs. ROARING ELBOW! Akiyama fights through it and hits two exploders. You know who Misawa reminded me of in that moment his old archrival Kawada in the way, he fumbled around the ring. That’s when you started to have faith in Akiyama. With more and more offense, Misawa looked more and more like Kawada. More and more you felt that Misawa was going succumb to Akiyama and then it happened on the mother of all Wrist-Clutch Exploders. Offensively, this is a masterpiece. Everything execution to perfection, great escalation, transitions are wonderful. What makes it so amazing is how All Japan had been booked so that story of the young upstart defeating the warrior-king in a war of attrition just enhances the drama. This match only really works at this level because it is Misawa. He is The Man. He always comes back. It just what he does. So when he doesn’t, it is such a big deal that it gives the match a massive feel to it. This is All Japan at their best and it is such a shining example of what made this promotion work and why it is so hard to touch them.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 6: Best of Puroresu 2000-2004 (Toshiaki Kawada, Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Did you hear the big news: FOUR NEW MOTLEY CRUE SONGS! Am I the only excited? :P New Mick Mars riffage is always something to rejoice. 

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 6:

The Greatest Matches of Other Puroresu in 2000-2004

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Contact Info: You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these match reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion. 

Subject: This sixth  volume of Pro Wrestling Love begins the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Japan in all the non-NOAH promotions from 2000-2004. I had a being internal struggle whether to include the first half of 2000 All Japan (pre-split) with late 90s All Japan. The reason I decided against it is that I want some mystery about what I think the Greatest Match Ever is. If I was force to rank Misawa vs Akiyama from February 2000 against 6/9/95, 12/6/96 and 1/20/97 it might give too much away. :P So I liked the idea of breaking it out in this. Also, it is just easier from a bookkeeping perspective to keep all the 21^st century wrestling together. All Japan and New Japan will obviously be featured, but matches from Zero-One, Toryumon/Dragon Gate, U-Style, BattlArts and WAR were all watched.  

PRO WRESTLING LOVE~!

Honorable Mentions

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04

These are two great shoot-style matches that I really need to go back to watch. I was just getting into shoot-style when I first watched these matches. I may have underrated them because I did not fully understand the genre and the genius of Kiyoshi Tamura. They are in the rewatch pile.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - Budokan 02/22/04

These are two dream matches from Toshiaki Kawada that just don’t quite live up to my lofty expectations due to some glaring flaws, but there is still enough goodness that people should check them out and make their own evaluations.

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02

Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - All Japan 6/30/01

Two matches that are exemplary of my favorite sub-genre of Puroresu, two dick veteran heels vs. an established star and a junior partner (usually a young lion). So much dickiness and fighting spirit in these two.

UWA World Trios Champions Do Fixer ( Maasaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, Kenichiro Arai) vs M2K (Genki Horiguchi, Magnum Tokyo, Susumu Yokosuka) vs Crazy Max (CIMA, SUWA, Don Fuji) vs Italian Connection (Milano Collection AT, Condotti Suji, YOSSINO) - Toryumon 08/30/03

Toryumon was the 21^st century answer to Michinoku Pro, I don’t think they were quite as good, but this was the best from what I saw of Toryumon and I wanted to represent it. Highspots galore as expected.

Yuji Nagata vs Kensuke Sasaki - NJPW 01/04/04

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 05/02

A pair of big time Yuji Nagata matches that are hate-filled and full of stiff strikes.

Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima – All Japan 07/17/02

The last one out see the legendary Tenryu in his last great singles match against the hit or miss Satoshi Kojima. After Mutoh brought Pro Wrestling Love to All Japan, it was clear Kojima was the future with Tenryu, Mutoh and Kawada all getting up there in age. This was his proving ground feud against the ornery Tenryu. This is light years better than their February match so if you have seen that and were underwhelmed and decided not to watch the rematch, think again and watch this one! This was not a Tenryu carryjob at all. I say that as person that usually runs cold on Cozy World. Clash of the Titans feel in this one where Kojima actually looks a breakout star. Also check out Satoshi Kojima vs All Japan Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto on 6/13/03 for another great Kojima match.

The Seventh To Twelfth Best Matches of Japan 2000-2004

#12. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shinjiro Ohtani & Tastuhito Takaiwa vs

Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka – NJPW 6/25/00

Before the vaunted New Japan junior heavyweight division fell off a cliff, they delivered this classic. It is amazing how great Ohtani and Tanaka are and they end up pretty much not doing anything for the rest of the decade. The big take home message from this match is Ohtani & Takaiwa hit hard and I mean really, wicked hard. Like they hit so hard they heel’d themselves and really made you root for Kanemoto & Minoru. They violently mugged their opponents in their corner. Kanemoto and Takaiwa got nasty with each other just yanking on each other noses. That’s level of nasty and gnarly this match got. Takaiwa and Ohtani absolutely slap the piss out of Kanemoto. I love the urgency from Kanemoto and Minoru to press any advantage they get because Ohtani and Takaiwa look like monsters in there. Minoru working flash cross armbreakers was such great, high drama. The finish run is an insane bombfest that will please anyone that loves a million miles per hour wrestling. Those Ohtani powerbombs! I mean goddamn! The stiffness and urgency of both teams keep this from ever feeling like a spotfest. Each team stayed true to their strategy, Ohtani & Takaiwa were going to kick the shit out of them and Kanemoto used movement & flash submissions to counterattack. The last great New Japan juniors match!

#11. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuyuki Fujita vs Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW 7/19/2004

Best Non-NOAH Puroresu Match of 2004

Most of the Puroresu matches I watched from the 2000s come from Ditch’s Best In Japan 2000’s project. Where a nominated list of 200-300 matches were to be selected from to make a Top 100. This match is one of the few I watched from outside that project. The credit for this discovery goes to that crazy, Inokiist Croat, GOTNW. This was an absolute gem of a find.

I am a total sucker for badass shooters. Kazuyuki Fujita is an Antonio Inoki wet dream. A pro wrestling badass that actually had success in Mixed Martial Arts. I have been on the lookout for any highly pimped Fujita and this does not disappoint. His opponent is another sleeze favorite, Shibata. Shibata does not have the same shoot credentials, but he plays the part well. Shibata tries to beat Fujita at his own game by kicking him really, wicked hard. There is one Shibata kick to the eye that is ungodly brutal. Fujita “sells” this tremendously. Does it really count as selling if your eye is literally swelling? Fujita responds by trying to choke Shibata out. Shibata responds with a heel trip/oo-soto-gari takedown and basically tries to kick through Fujita. Penalty Kick! Fujita is furious now. The merciless beatdown that ensues is beautiful. Great champion vs young lion dynamic. The great Fujita match, in all its ultraviolent, brutal glory!  

#10. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murakami 

NJPW 01/04/00

After the failure in my eyes of the big 1/4/99 angle where Ogawa basically squashes Hashimoto in worked shoot angle. The idea was to capture the magic of Pride with Ogawa stomping Hashimoto in the head a bunch and then a No Contest being called. It felt more Russo than anything else to me. I always thought it was funny that this was also the day of the Fingerpoke of Doom. WCW & New Japan both ran clusterfuck, quasi-shoot angles that really hurt business long-term. However, they do manage to right the ship one year later with the crazier, chaotic brawl spectacle from the Hashimoto vs Ogawa feud.

The Tokyo Dome was rocking for this one. Anyone who has watched a lot of Dome matches know one of the hardest things to accomplish is sustained heat in the Dome. Hashimoto vs Ogawa is the one feud I have seen where the heat is off the charts in the Dome and this match is probably their hottest. What added to chaos so much you felt like every move could be an instant KO or submission. Also, I got give a  shoutout to my boy, Murakami. We are going to talk about him a lot more in the next column, but this dude is one of my favorite wrestlers ever based on like four matches. He is the ultimate cocky shooter prick with an insane amount of energy. He is a total heat magnet. Hashimoto destroys Murakami and the ensuing Hashimtoo/Ogawa confrontation incites the crowd into frenzy. At one point, Antonio Inoki, Vampire Slayer comes into the ring with a Huge Wooden Stake to restore order. It is pandemonium! Everything feels huge in this match. Murakami gets his comeuppance in this match. Hashimoto & Pro Wrestlers finally get a win this feud. Raucous mayhem!

INOKI BOM-BA-YE!

#9. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki – NJPW 01/04/00

I know I am in the minority but I actually from the IWGP Championship match to the wild Hashimoto vs Ogawa tag from the same night. At the end of the day, I thought the climax of the previous match was lackluster because they were clearly still protecting Ogawa and you really wanted Hashimoto to get the win. This match felt more satisfying to me. Admittedly, I am a bigger Kensuke Sasaki fan than most and was very happy he won the IWGP Championship in the Dome against Tenryu. Sasaki is a great powerhouse and is the heir to Riki Choshu.

Great Clash of Titans match in the Dome that is a battle of generations. The structure of the match is simple anything Tenryu can do, Sasaki can do better. There should be no question left that Tenryu is the past and that Sasaki is the future. For fans of Greg Valentine, this is a match for you. Just two muthas stiffing the hell out of each other. When Tenryu takes a cheapshot with a closed fist, Sasaki gives as good as he got with his own closed fist.  Throughout the match, Sasaki is winning the little battles while Tenryu is forced to take cheapshots like closed fists and chops to the throat to stay in the match. Tenryu rattles off the Best Hits of Tenryu as Sasaki kicks out to prove his mettle. The best sequence of the match is Tenryu goes for a Top Rope Frankensteiner, but Sasaki powerbombs him off the top and then does his own Top Rope Frankensteiner. Whatever Tenryu can do, Sasaki can do better. New Japan in its simplicity can be just as beautiful as All Japan in its complexity.  

#8. Toshiaki Kawada vs Keiji Mutoh – AJPW 4/14/01

Mutoh invades All Japan with Pro Wrestling Love. Misawa & Co. departure from All Japan to form NOAH created a seismic shift in Puroresu. All Japan was left with just Toshiaki Kawada and quickly brought in Genichiro Tenryu as stopgap measure as WAR finally closed. All at the same time, the two biggest stars of New Japan saw the writing was on the wall as Antonio Inoki was slowly going insane with his obsession with shoot credentials. Hashimoto left New Japan to form Zero-One in 2001, get it? Mutoh saw an opportunity to gain power in All Japan fill the roster with his boys. Mutoh would end up becoming the President of All Japan for much of the decade. All Japan became a weird mix of Mutoh’s crew, Tenryu’s crew, Kawada and occasionally Hashimoto. This match comes from the beginning of Mutoh’s 2001 resurgence where he shaved his hand and became obsessed with injuring his opponent’s knee.

The beginning of the match told the story that Mutoh acknowledge Kawada’s supremacy in striking and tried his best to avoid the DANGEROUS strikes of Kawada but fall prey to them as Kawada zeros in on the neck. Kawada is amazing in this early control segment. Then comes classic Mutoh, he turns the tide with dropkicks to the knee and arm. He is peppering the entire right side of Kawada. There is nothing Mutoh does better than Kawada on a level playing field, but if he can take away Kawada’s striking ability than he has fighting chance. I love the urgency of Mutoh here on offense. He is doing a total full court press here. However, it is Kawada that ultimately shines brightest here. This is one of the best selling performances of all time. Kawada is able to sell two different limbs (leg & arm) like million bucks while still being competitive in the match. Mutoh had to blow off the neck selling to get his offense in. Kawada is a rare performer that can convey he is fighting through the pain to still kick ass. He does not stop selling and then go back to selling. He is selling while on offense that may be the single hardest thing to do in wrestling and that’s why Kawada is one of the elite. We see the genius of Mutoh’s strategy at the end as he is working figure-4s and cross armbreakers, but as Kawada is no longer able to stand it leaves him vulnerable to the Shining Wizard. Epic match to re-establish the re-invented Keiji Mutoh ad show why Kawada will always be one of the greatest sellers to ever live.

#7. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa – Zero-One 12/14/03

Best Non-NOAH, Puroresu Match of 2003

The story is simple: the larger Naoya Ogawa just needs to hits patented STO (a modified oo-soto-gari, a classic Judo takedown) and Toshiaki Kawada has to avoid. Naoya Ogawa is an Olympic Silver Medalist in Judo that is much larger than the typical Japanese pro wrestler. Kawada is usually a “kick you head off, drop you on your head” asskicker, but here he needs to change that strategy against the larger, more powerful Ogawa. He sticks and moves until he creates an opening by attacking the legs of Ogawa when Ogawa goes for the STO the first time early in the match. What follows is just amazing pro wrestling. Ogawa is this wounded bear that is fleeing from the scene but throwing wild double fists trying to keep the tenacious pitbull, Kawada at bay. There in lies the tension of the match. Can Ogawa get the one home run shot, his STO before Kawada makes it so Ogawa cant even stand? When you have a fan asking those types of question during a match you have them hooked. The drama can get no higher because at any moment you think the match can end. I loved how much struggle there is in this match. Kawada really has to earn his offense on Ogawa. Just because he injured the giant shooter, does not mean he is easy pickings. He constantly has to suffocate Ogawa as Ogawa is always throwing wild bear paws. Then it happens OGAWA STO! Kawada does his classic sell job falling ass first through the ropes to the floor. That is where I will leave the reader. Will Ogawa be able to capitalize with his bum wheel or does Kawada does survive the KO blow? Only one way to find out, watch this classic David vs Goliath chaotic brawl!

The next volume will cover the best six Non-NOAH matches to take place in Japan from 2000-2004. Conspicuous by their absence is pre-split All Japan where will they end up? Only one way to find out, tune in tomorrow! 

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 5: Best of Pro Wrestling NOAH 2000-2004 (Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Yoshinari Ogawa)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

Funny work story: So I have been working with this sales rep from China for the past month or so. She asked me in an email: How do you solve import tariffs? I popped for that one.

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 5:

The Greatest Matches of Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000-2004

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Contact Info: You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these match reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion. 

Subject: This fifth volume of Pro Wrestling Love finishes the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2000-2004. Pro Wrestling NOAH was a splinter promotion started by Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000 from the All Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion after the death of Giant Baba led to a year and half of tumult backstage. Misawa started the NOAH promotion with all the natives of All Japan (sans Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi, who said behind out of loyalty to Mrs. Baba). Personally, I think the Tokyo Dome show in the summer of 2005 is the proper place to stop this. I think that is end of peak NOAH, the Kenta Kobashi reign had just ended and the Dome 2005 show was the last major show before the downward spiral of NOAH in the late 2000s. However, I feel that a list of the best Puroresu matches from 2005-2009 makes a lot of sense and if I do a NOAH list from 2000-2005 it would cause some strange overlap. So out of deference from that list, we will do NOAH from 2000-2004 even though that is kinda messy because we would still be in the midst of Kenta Kobashi’s epic title reign.

Ratings: Reviewing these matches again reminded me how much I love each and every one of these matches. They are so unique and different from one another with such spectacular characters. It is a heartbreaker but I don’t see how #6 can make my list. The other 5 are all mortal locks and I would say #1 and #2 are Greatest Match Ever Contenders. I have flipped flopped one and two so many times so we will see what happens in April!

My Spirit Wrestler!

Top Six Match of Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2000-2004

#6. GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama – 9/7/02

NOAH Match of the Year, 2002

I don’t know when it was decided, but sometime in the middle of Jun Akiyama’s title reign, Misawa switched gears and decided that Kenta Kobashi was going to be the Ace. Kobashi was injured throughout the majority of 2001. It only made sense to finish what Babe started with the Misawa vs Kobashi feud that was the main feud of late 90s All Japan. Thus he planned for a major torch passing moment, but in order for that to happen Misawa would need to win the Championship. If he beat Akiyama, that would undo a lot of hard work that was put into the major Akiyama push. So he needed a transitional champion. Someone worthy to beat, but who? Misawa selected Takayama as big badass heel that has no allegiance to NOAH, a perfect person to beat. However, if Takayama defeats Akiyama it would have to be decisively which again undo all the hard work put into Akiyama. So Misawa thinks outside the box and uses a double transitional champion, a rare, shrewed move. So who could Akiyama lose to in a fluke fashion and be totally sacrificed at the altar of the Bleach Blond Badass of Japan. RAT BOY! Misawa is a genius!

Normally, I am not too fond of heel vs heel, but this is a great character dynamic. Imagine a cheating, dastardly David when he takes on Goliath. You can choose to root for Takayama to destroy this punk, cowardly scuzzball. Or you can root for Ogawa to somehow upset the Giant. Ogawa’s tights say “GHC Champ” so yes you should root for him! J  The hook of the match is that Takayama underestimates the undersized Rat Boy and Ogawa exploits this to make in-roads in the match. The beginning of the match establishes the danger that Ogawa is in as Takayama kicks his ass, but Takayama is cocky. It is an errant big boot that sees Takayama crotch himself on the top turnbuckle. Ogawa is totally desperate and urgent. He is shoving the ref out of the way trying to get his licks in when he still can. The focus of Ogawa’s attack is the arm. Takayama has a lot of great strength hope spots while Ogawa continues to desperately cling to his arm work. The best moment of the match is when Takayama is poised to take Ogawa’s head off, Ogawa ducks and drop toeholds into the steel post. They really milk the 19 count and when Takayama rolls in, Ogawa lets out a nice big “SHIT!” and I pop huge! You know it is just a matter of time now. Back drop driver after back drop driver does no good. Then one gigantic knee lift and Ogawa goes flying! The end is nigh for Rat Boy and Takayama kills him dead with slams and his Everest Suplex. I would say this is the best heel vs heel match ever. Whether you are cheering for the asskicking brute or the cheating punk, you will not leave disappointed.   

#5. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama 

GHC Heavyweight Title Tournament Final 4/15/01 

NOAH Match of the Year, 2001

In 2001, it came time for NOAH to establish their own championships and Misawa taps Takayama as the man he wanted to beat to make that championship mean something. Takayama is such a star. I love how he carries himself. He is king shit. Takayama is a very large man for a Japanese pro wrestler standing 6’ 5” and 275 lbs. It was Misawa that saw something special in Takayama. After years in the mid-card in UWFi and All Japan Pro Wrestling, Misawa began pushing Takayama after Baba’s death in All Japan and once NOAH was started he saw Takayama as a shoot-style badass heel that offered something very different than rest of the Five Pillars.

Takayama tries a new strategy against the greatest big match wrestler in puroresu history and that is use his inherent size advantage to bully Misawa. He is not going to engage Misawa in a fire fight like Kobashi would. The problem with Takayama is that he is inherently arrogant because he knows he is a big, bad asskicker. So when he pulls stunts like a one foot cover and warning kicks to Misawa’s kicks it serves to annoy Misawa more than hurt him. The next taunt was Takayama putting his hand over Misawa’s mouth. There is something naturally very upsetting about someone having their hand over your mouth controlling your ability to breathe and talk. So an enraged Misawa unleashes a barrage of elbows, but still the Giant is always able to go back to the knee lift to the abdomen. It is when Takayama bloodies Misawa with a nasty kick to the ear, just vicious. He unloads two absolutely sick elbows and an Emerald Flowsion that fell the Giant. The finish run is short and sweet, but it makes sense because it had been building the whole match. Takayama had controlled the whole match and was not just dominating Misawa, he was disrespecting him. Misawa totally obliterated him. No reason to drag it out just one short, explosive climax. This is the quintessential Misawa match. Takayama is a big, bruising Giant and they just build and build and build to that big finish run.  

#4. GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji 4/25/04

One disappointing difference between All Japan and NOAH is the lack of emphasis on tag team wrestling, but damn if this match is not one of the best tag team matches of all time. In late 90s All Japan, Misawa started peculiarly teaming with Rat Boy. I like to imagine that Ogawa is the only man alive that can make the ultra-serious Misawa laugh and that’s why Misawa keeps Ogawa around. Ogawa is my spirit wrestler. I am an inch taller and we have a similar build. We have similar badass hair (ok mine is nicer) and both have a love of zebra pants. If I was ever a wrestler, I would have been the most low-down, dirty, dastardly, cheating chump you would have ever seen. KENTA & Marufuji were the main beneficiaries of Misawa’s interest in pushing junior heavyweights. It would eventually lead to both of them being pushed in the heavyweight division as main event stars. I generally enjoy KENTA. He is a hard-hitting, explosive wrestler who suffers from the problem a lot of 21^st century wrestlers do and that’s moving a million miles per hour through a match undermining the action that happened previously. Marufuji would be better suited for the Japanese men’s gymnastics team with all his tumbling passes which result in very light offense. Never let it be said that I am not open-minded as a Marufuji match will be making my Top 100 matches of all time.

Misawa rushes over to catch Marufuji as he coming down on Sliced Bread and hits EMERALD FLOWSION!!! Ogawa covers. KICK OUT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!! KENTA flies in with a springboard legdrop and takes out Ogawa with roundhouse kicks. Misawa restores order with elbows and heads to the top. KENTA hits enziguiris to stun him. Marufuji joins him on top and hits a fuckin Moonsault Rock Bottom on Misawa! KICK OUT BY MISAWA! EVERYONE LOSES THEIR SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!!

That’s what we like to call in the business, “in medias res”. I have been trying to stay away from just doing play by play but that sequence has been burned in my head and it is one of the all time great sequences. I think what makes this match so great is that KENTA & Marufuji know they are the big time underdogs in this match, but they still believe in themselves without ever getting cocky once. They rush Misawa & Ogawa at the bell, but the Indomitable Emerald Elbow proved to be too much for them. The control segments by Misawa & Ogawa are great. Misawa & Ogawa are such an engaging odd couple. It is the hard-hitting Misawa and the underhanded Ogawa each controlling the young upstarts in their own way. I love the transition from this blowout to a competitive match. In 15 seconds, Marufuji hits a Sliced Bread on Misawa on the ramp and Kenta wipes Ogawa out with a knee and just like that KENTAFuji is right in this thing.  Don’t play with your food, Misawa & Ogawa. The resulting finish run is just an amazing fireworks spectacle of an insane bombs that I could never do justice. It is each man playing their character to perfection that makes this finish stretch so sweet. It is a great veterans vs young lions match with all the fixins. And to think this was not even the best match that night…

When I first discovered Youtube in 2006, I was a kid in the candystore this is one of the first videos of Puroresu I ever watched. It was love at first sight. I love Kenta Kobashi!

#3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – 11/01/03

Is there a more appetizing match on paper than Kenta Kobashi The Destroyer vs Rat Boy? It is the perfect match because there is nobody’s ass you want kicked more than Ogawa and there is nobody you rather do said asskicking than Kobashi. Some matches you can just predict exactly what will happen just based on the opponents. Kobashi is going to dominate early. Ogawa will do something underhanded to gain the advantage. He will take cheapshots and shortcuts to maintain his tenuous grasp as he desperately tries to survive all the while making Kobashi madder and madder. Until Kobashi just explodes in an effusive fury of closed fist punches! You know what sometimes I want a match to be exactly what I predict because the predictable is what makes sense and when you make sense you make dollars. When you have two characters that are so damn good at being who they are, Kobashi The Destroyer & Rat Boy, then execution of that story is going to be the treat.  It is a vast departure from the NOAH house style. This feels straight out of the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, TN with the liberal cheating, blood and closed fist punches.  If you have never watched this match, watch this match!

#2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama – 4/25/04

NOAH Match of the Year, 2004

This match is from the exact same card as the Tag Title match two slots above. The fans that night sure as hell got their money’s worth! If there was ever a time for a tie it would be between this match and the following match. I thought about doing a tie, but then I realized one match had to come after the other match. I couldn’t write my reviews on top of each other after all! Originally, when I was voting for the Best of Japan 2000-2009, I had this match above the match that follows. The more I think about the more I realize influence and historical import matters to me. I think that’s my tiebreaker. Misawa vs Kobashi had been building since Misawa and Kobashi became a full-time tag team in 1993 and it also kicked off the epic Kobashi title reign. So this match is a badass match, but the other just has more oomph due to history, but this is splitting hairs.

Kobashi had been champion for little over a year at this point, but had not really been tested. This was his stiff challenge. Takayama is bigger, had shoot credentials and is a former IWGP & GHC Champion. In some ways, Kobashi wrestles like the underdog reminiscent of how he wrestled Hansen in the early 90s when he was a young buck. He is going for big bombs early to win the match. Is it desperation or is it confidence? It is hard to say. The result is not it ends up with Takayama burying the knee in the midsection because Kobashi leaves himself open to the counterattack. Kobashi switches gears to working holds trying to use Takayama’s weight against him sapping the big man’s energy. This is a far more effective strategy has Kobashi is setting up his big offense using the holds. I love the urgency of Kobashi throughout this. It really puts over how credible a threat Takayama is. The match is famous for the amazing heat segment. When Kobashi tries to chop his way out of trouble, it is bye bye arm. Takayama wants to take the arm home with him and Kobashi is in full sell mode. Kobashi is such a  great seller, so emotive. The finish stretch is amazing: Takayama throwing every suplex at Kobashi, Kobashi gritting his teeth through the pain to kick out and even hit lariats. It is so powerful. The big man may have punched himself out. When Kobashi signals for the moonsault, the crowd goes bezerk! Like you need to watch this match for that one spot if nothing else because that is pro wrestling. I love that he finishes the match with moonsault (on the face!) because his right arm is so banged up he cant hit the Burning Hammer so he needs a suitably big bomb to win the match that does not involve the arm. If Misawa vs Takayama is quintessential Misawa, this is quintessential Kobashi. Strong fundamentals based work that respects the size and ability of his opponent, a dramatic heat segment filled with amazing selling and a gangbusters finish run. The part the crowd loses its mind for is a simple fist pump that is pro wrestling.

#1. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - 3/01-03

NOAH Match of the Year, 2003

I have said it before and I will say it again. The torch was not passed on this night. It was seized! What do you say about a match this epic that was literally a decade in the making. I guess I will start with that lived up to the insane expectation everyone had for this match. Misawa and Kobashi were no spring chickens. They may have already had the greatest match in pro wrestling history on 1/20/97. There 1998 and 1999 matches are nothing to sneeze at either. So where the hell do you go from there? It is a testament to these two amazing pro wrestlers that they managed to create such a special, emotional match. It is Misawa’s Last Stand as the Man. At this point, I cant remember if it was me or my co-host on Tag Teams Back Again that likened Misawa to Michael Jordan. His gimmick is that he is the Ace. He is the Man. No-nonsense, ultra-serious, resilient and best at his craft. People had defeated Misawa in the past for champions, but no one had ever BEAT Misawa. It was almost like the title losses of the 90s were just heat segments in Misawa’s career before the inevitable comeback. The difference with this match was there were no more comeback. Ok, ok, he won the GHC Title again, but work with me here, there was no coming back to feeling like he was The Man again, that luster was lost forever, which makes his GHC Title reign in late 2000s feel all the more desperate and hollow. Taue, Kawada and Akiyama all defeated Misawa for championships, but it was Kobashi that defeated Misawa for the right to be called The Man. It is so apropos that in this match, it is Kobashi who mounts the impossible comeback. The spot of the match is Misawa’s Tiger Suplex from the ramp to the floor. Kobashi is out. Emerald Flowsion. 1-2-NO! After years and years of making comebacks and putting people away, it is now time for Misawa to taste the medicine he made so many others taste. That sinking feeling in his stomach that he is not going to win and his opponent is about to make the superhuman comeback. The Burning Hammer reigns down on Misawa and Kobashi seizes the mantle of The Man!   

With NOAH done, lets take a look at what else was going with puroresu in the early 2000s, we look at all the other Japanese promotions from 2000-2004 namely New Japan and All Japan Pro Wrestling! The completion of the WWF 1993-1997 countdown is scheduled for Friday. I have not forgotten. 

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 4: Best of Pro Wrestling NOAH 2000-2004 (Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Jun Akiyama)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

I love BIG! Big production values, big riffs big solos, big hair, big smiles and even bigger EYES! ;) ;) Wooo-hooo! Does anyone do bigger in pro wrestling history better than Pro Wrestling NOAH?

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 4:

The Greatest Matches of Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000-2004

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time.

Contact Info: You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion. 

Subject: This fourth volume of Pro Wrestling Love begins the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in Pro Wrestling NOAH from 2000-2004. Pro Wrestling NOAH was a splinter promotion started by Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000 from the All Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion after the death of Giant Baba led to a year and half of tumult backstage. Misawa started the NOAH promotion with all the natives of All Japan (sans Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi, who said behind out of loyalty to Mrs. Baba). Personally, I think the Tokyo Dome show in the summer of 2005 is the proper place to stop this. I think that is end of peak NOAH, the Kenta Kobashi reign had just ended and the Dome 2005 show was the last major show before the downward spiral of NOAH in the late 2000s. However, I feel that a list of the best Puroresu matches from 2005-2009 makes a lot of sense and if I do a NOAH list from 2000-2005 it would cause some strange overlap. So out of deference from that list, we will do NOAH from 2000-2004 even though that is kinda messy because we would still be in the midst of Kenta Kobashi’s epic title reign.

GOAT

Honorable Mentions:

Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue – 8/5/00

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama – 8/6/00

The main events of the first two shows of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s existence. Please see the Misawa vs Akiyama match review for why these matches are important.

New Japan (Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue) VS NOAH (Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) – 2/17/2002

New Japan (Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama) vs KENTAFuji – 7/16/03

Two matches in the Jushin “Thunder” Liger invades NOAH storyline that make the NOAH junior division.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama – Tokyo Dome 7/10/04

The main event of the first NOAH Tokyo Dome show and it features the biggest possible matchup of NOAH. With Kobashi vs Misawa over, this should have been the feud of the future. I am not super high on the Kobashi vs Akiyama match up. I do think they tend to bring out their worst tendencies of over doing the bombs and false finishes, but still this match cant be denied as an entertaining fireworks show.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mistuharu Misawa – Budokan 9/23/02

In order to kick off the epic Kenta Kobashi reign, Misawa needs to win the title to drop the title to Kobashi and so they go back to Bleach Blond Giant of Japan as the transitional champion. Misawa and Takayama have a great dynamic. Takayama is the perfect Misawa opponent because he is such an asskicker so Misawa can really show his resiliency and ability to make a comeback in dire circumstances.

The Seventh to Twelfth Best Matches of Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000-2004

#12. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - 4/13/03

Kenta Kobashi’s first title defense of his epic GHC title reign comes against former Olympic wrestler (1992), Tamon Honda. Honda is an example of NOAH’s diversity and versatility compared to All Japan. Honda was a long time All Japan pro wrestler (debuted in 1993), but never rose above the midcard. In NOAH, he was able to get a crack at the biggest prize in the promotion at Ariake Colosseum.  In addition to showing NOAH’s range as a promotion, it demonstrates Kenta Kobashi’s range as a pro wrestler. NOAH is well-known for its big bomb, firework spectacle, false finish galore, emotional, high drama matches. Honda wrestles a more minimalist style that focuses on Olympic style takedowns and suplexes. Sometimes, I feel Kobashi’s critics forget how good Kobashi can be at wrestling fundamentals. Another example of this can be seen in his match in 1997 against Hiroshi Hase. In this match, Kobashi adapts to Honda style to have a great championship match that plays to Honda’s strengths and makes him look good while still feeling like The Man.

Kobashi has been a challenger to the throne for so long that old habits die hard and he still brings the offense to Honda early on. Normally in a championship match, a challenger is one that is aggressive because he has something to prove, wants to get into the champion’s head, and the champion’s advantage where a draw goes to the champion. Kobashi is an offensive juggernaut and in his mind the best defense is a good offense. I love his headlock so much and how he uses holds to set up his big offense. However, when you are on this aggressive it leaves yourself open to counterwrestling. Olympic wrestler Honda is an excellent conunterwrestler is able to use his wrestling acumen to takedown Kobashi with a massive German suplex from over the ropes onto a ramp. Honda settles into a groove to work over the arm, which would take away Kobashi’s greatest assets: the chop & lariat. Kobashi is such an excellent seller especially during the cross-armbreaker and it really makes people believe Honda has a chance. Honda manages some big nearfalls placed around German suplexes and submissions. However, he is just outgunned by Kobashi The Destroyer, who fights through the pain to hit Lariat after Lariat until Honda succumbed to the GHC Heavyweight Champion. Really strong title defense by Kobashi working underneath making Honda look like a million bucks and really a display at how effective Kobashi can be working holds and selling.

#11. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue – 5/18/01

Misawa won the inaugural GHC Championship in April of 2001 defeating the Bleach Blond Giant of Japan, Yoshihiro Takayama in an instant classic. His first title defense is against old foe, Akira Taue. Nobody will confuse this match for their classics in 1995, but this match is fabulous in regards to economy and efficiency. It briskly advances an elegant narrative in less than 15 minutes (for NOAH that’s a downright sprint!) to a great climax.

As this is the first Misawa match I am reviewing for Pro Wrestling Love, I will give some quick tips about Misawa. He takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. His favorite way to get out of a jam is elbow his opponent really hard in the face. Taue has been wrestling Misawa for about decade at this point and he is not going to fall for Misawa’s elbow tricks. He has Misawa well-scouted and is just suffocating him. It is just boot after boot to the head. Taue is hitting big bombs like the Nodowa from the ramp to the timekeeper’s table and the Dynamic Bomb. Taue is just on fire in this match. This is total Misawa in a groove match where he is hitting his hope spots with vigor, but Taue has an answer for everything. The Taue Backdrop Nodowa gets two and it is at this point the end is nigh. Misawa roars back with elbow after elbow to obliterate Taue and set up the Emerald Flowsion. It is tidy and efficient wrestling.  

#10. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama – 7/27/01

Jun Akiyama’s mega push began in February 2000 when he defeated Misawa in the Budokan in a massive upset that was reminiscent of Misawa’s upset of Jumbo in June of 1990. The mega push of Akiyama  continued at the first ever NOAH show where Akiyama defeated Misawa and Taue in two straight falls and then turned on his partner, Kobashi and put him out. The very next night on the second NOAH show, Akiyama choked Kobashi out with his new guillotine choke submission. Just like that Akiyama was the hottest star in Puroresu. Misawa was not completely different than Baba he still wanted to give Akiyama that big moment so first Misawa had to win the GHC Championship so Akiyama could beat him for it.

Thus this was supposed to be the crowning achievement of Akiyama’s career defeating Misawa in the Budokan for the biggest prize in NOAH. I am not going to complain about the follow-up booking, but instead focus on this stellar match. I love the beginning of this match because even though Misawa is the champion and he is a notorious slow starter, Misawa comes out elbows blazing fighting through all of Akiyama’s offense. In my mind, this is a direct consequence of Akiyama beating him the last time they were in the Budokan in February 2000.  There were so many times where Akiyama would get a big move like a dropkicking Misawa off top rope or Misawa totally crashes and burns into the floor on a missed elbow (similar to the February 2000 match) into railing that would usually lead to a heat segment, but in this match Misawa would not be deterred and he just kept rocking Akiyama with the elbows. Don’t get me wrong, Akiyama got his fair share of Exploders, but Misawa just kept coming forward. I love how they were making each other earn their offense Even after the missed elbow to the floor, he hit a crazy Super Tiger Driver from the Top Rope! That spot really stuck with me and Misawa is too damaged to cover. I love the finish. It is these two badasses in two corners opposite each other both exhausted and in pain. As they charge at each other, you know who can pull the trigger first will win the match and it is Akiyama with the high knee. It takes his choke and the Wrist-Clutch Exploder to win this championship. I love the story of this match compared to the February 2000 match. Misawa is so offense-minded here and it is Akiyama forced to be in Misawa role, absorb the punishment and keep plugging away. It demonstrates Akiyama’s resiliency. In a lot of ways, it was rope-a-dope. Misawa runs out of gas and the younger Akiyama is able to pull the trigger and hit the knee and follow through to win the match.  

The White Hot Puroresu Superstar of Early 2000s

#9. Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru 4/7/02

Another two crucial differences between Baba’s All Japan and Misawa’s NOAH were NOAH’s Open Door Policy and the promotion of junior heavyweight wrestling. NOAH working with New Japan would have been impossible while Baba was alive because of the Baba/Inoki rivalry stemming from their JWA split in 1973 that resulted in All Japan and New Japan. Here, we see not only NOAH working with New Japan by bringing in the legendary Jushin “Thunder” Liger, but also the junior heavyweights are placed in a prominent role. Under Baba, the All Japan did have a junior heavyweight division centered around Fuchi, Kikuchi and Ogawa, but it was a midcard division that was never placed prominently on TV or the card. Misawa strove to change this to add variety to his shows and looking to capitalize on the success of New Japan’s junior heavyweight division under Jushin Liger. This Liger/New Japan invasion of NOAH was herald to the wrestling world that NOAH would be taking junior wrestling seriously. This became a heated blood feud throughout 2002.

A lot of critics would tell you I am underrating this match and the entire series really and I think some would go as far to say this is a contender for the best NOAH match of the front half of the decade.   I would tell them being the ninth best match of NOAH during their hot streak means it is a damn great match! I like this match the best of the trilogy because to me it has the most intensity and the best payoffs. The beginning of matches are important to me and what better way to begin a match than a Jushin Liger PALM STRIKE! The New Japan boys are such great traditional heels in this match as it does feel closer to an American match than a Japanese match for that reason. Jushin “Nature Boy” Liger and NOAH Official Tommy Young-San have a heat argument, there is great ref distraction, there is cocky one foot pinfall attempts, there is flipping off Kanemaru as they work their laser-focused heat segment on Kikuchi’s arm. I really enjoyed Minoru Tanaka in the early 2000s with his cocky charisma and great explosive submissions and I don’t have a clue why he fell off the face of the planet after 2002. To me what really takes this match to the next level and makes it truly special is the testicular psychology they employ. Kanemaru has a propensity to kick up his leg and kick his opponent in the balls. However, you got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on Liger who avoids the ballshot and hits his own ballshot! Kanemaru sells it like death. The NOAH young boys climb on the apron to protest! So Liger taunts them and palm strikes one to hell. Liger is the best. Minoru casually walks over and kicks Kanemaru in the balls in the Shattered Dreams position. Kikuchi is a great hot tag. He personifies house afire here! Tackling everything in sight. Then this is the payoff to end all payoffs: Kanemaru drop toeholds Liger in such a way that he headbutts Minoru in the nuts. That could be the single best spot in the history of wrestling. Kanemaru definitely has a set as he goes after Liger’s mask ripping it open and going after Liger’s eyes. The intensity was off the charts great. I thought the finish run did not match the intensity and creativity of the beginning. Instead they trade suplexes and submissions. The first 3/4s of this match are on the level of the Midnight/RNRs in the way they are able to weave drama and comedy so effectively in this match. The testicular psychology is something that cant help but put a massive smile on your face, but at the same time be so gripping and dramatic. It is a shame the finish did not match the uniqueness of the beginning of the match.

#8. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama – 12/23/00

NOAH Match of the Year, 2000

Focus, focus, focus. In the year 2000, Akiyama has victories over the two biggest stars in Puroresu, Misawa and Kobashi. Can he finish the job and beat Kobashi again? The key to those victories is focus. You take what is given to you and don’t let up. From there, Akiyama has to weather this inevitable comeback and then unleash a barrage of Exploders to win.  There are two things working against Akiyama in this match: Kobashi is pissed he got choked out in the last match so he starts red hot and Akiyama’s pride at the end of match. In the previous matches, Misawa’s elbow and Kobashi’s lariats were rendered powerless by Akiyama’s tenacious work. Here, Kobashi has tremendous fighting spirit working through the arm injury and that is Akiyama’s demise is that Kobashi won’t be denied.

I love how Kobashi is raging mad at the beginning and Akiyama tries retreating and standing tall to no avail. Kobashi is a man possessed.  There is so much great selling from Akiyama as Kobashi is working on the neck. They actually make a headlock credible finish based on the tenacity of Kobashi and the selling of Akiyama. It is the dropkicks to the knee that afford Akiyama the opportunity to go after Kobashi’s arm to take away Kobashi’s lethal lariat and bruising chops. The arm work by Akiyama is textbook execution and Kobashi’s selling is amazing. Kobashi needs a knock out blow to turn this match around. He fights through the pain and musters up a half-nelson suplex. This is not something Akiyama had to come back from the previous matches. Yes Misawa & Kobashi hit hard, but this is the first time he was really rocked and knocked out. However, Kobashi’s arm is still messed up and not allowing him to fully capitalize. Kobashi goes for a move that does not use the arm, but Akiyama turns that into a powerbomb and now the playing field is levelled. Akiyama nails an Exploder on the concrete and Kobashi is out. This is where Akiyama’s pride gets the best of him. He should have collected his countout win, but he stops the ref’s count and wants the pinfall. This would efface all doubts and Akiyama would take his rightful place in the sun. It is too late now, Akiyama can hit all the Exploders he wants, but Kobashi has recovered and he won’t go down. Kobashi is exhausted collapsing on the mat but you can feel that Kobashi comeback. Lariats and then you know where this must end: Burning Hammer! I do think there were gratuitous suplexes and I thought the finish was a little overdone. Kobashi coming back from the Exploder on the concrete was a little much even for me who loves the crazy big style of NOAH and Kobashi.  This is a very NOAH match, a 35+ minute epic with a ton of major momentum shifts and big false finishes. It takes a you on a wild ride and it is fitting blowoff match for this heated feud.  

#7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue – 9/10/04

Taue! Taue! Taue! It is amazing how emotional Japanese wrestling can be. Akira Taue had become so beloved at this point that the crowd was cheering him on even as he was dominating Kobashi. It is customary in Japan to cheer for who ever is getting beaten up to raise their spirits. Of course, Kobashi is a very popular wrestler and an all-time great babyface, but that is how much this crowd wanted ‘ol Taue to win his one last shot at glory so they thought (Taue would win the championship in late 2005 to raucous pop). In my opinion, the Kobashi title reign had climaxed with Akiyama in the Tokyo Dome in regards to booking, but not in regards to great matches because this match is a blast. I would describe Kobashi’s title reign as having a long falling action before its final resolution in a loss to rookie bust, Takeshi Rikio.

Remember how Kobashi kicked Honda’s ass at the beginning of that title defense, well Taue don’t play that. Taue just boots off the apron and Taue dives on top of him through the ropes. It is off to the races and Taue came to kick ass. I love Taue because he is awkward and ungraceful. So when he dives to the outside it is just a total raw mess.  Kobashi goes for the old chop his opponent’s chest so that it looks like purple ground beef, quite nasty. For his part, Taue targets the injured knees of Kobashi. The beginning of Taue’s finish run is a wicked Nodowa on the ramp. This leads to a huge Taue bombfest that whips the crowd into a frenzy. It is not actually the Nodowas and the Dynamic Bomb that make me buy into all this. It is the missed moonsault by Kobashi that has me hook, line and sinker. Can Taue do it? Can he pull it off? The Taue-rana out of a powerbomb got a massive pop and I popped too. I felt bad for Taue and his fans after that nearfall. Kobashi lariat signals the death knell and the crowd is silenced. It all leads to the mutha of all finishes the Wrist-Clutch Burning Hammer! To me this is the great emotional story of the old gunslinger that has always been the fourth man on the totem pole trying to defeat The Man with full crowd support behind me. Taue leaves it all in the ring, flying through the ropes, attacking the knees and then chokeslamming Kobashi from eight million different angles. Kobashi is the man at making you believe the Impossible Dream can come true. Kobashi and the crowds were fatigued as the sun was setting on this historic title reign.

We continue the NOAH countdown and the question on everyone's mind is will it be Kobashi vs Misawa or Kobashi vs Takayam that finishes number one?

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 3: Best of WCW in 1995-2001 (Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, DDP)

Hey Yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

My mom has been talking a big game about what she is going to do with her retirement money. She keeps pushing that she wants to buy a pizza shop or a deli. Today, she switched gears to opening up a shoot catch wrestling promotion because she was afraid that they were going to force Becky Lynch into letting Charlotte win. Now this is an idea I can get behind!

Pro Wrestling Love vol. 3:

The Greatest Matches of WCW in 1995-2001

Objective:  Break up the Greatest Match Ever Project (hosted at gwe.freeforums.project.net) into more manageable chunks to help me build my Top 100 List for the project.

Motivation: Contribute to the discussion around these matches to enrich my own understanding of pro wrestling and give a fresh perspective for old matches and even hopefully discover great pro wrestling matches that have been hidden by the sands of time. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @superstarsleeze or at ProWrestlingOnly.com as Superstar Sleeze to continue the discussion. 

Subject: This third volume of Pro Wrestling Love finishes the Top 12 countdown of the best matches to take place in World Championship Wrestling from 1995-2001 (hey  I completed something!). The years were selected based on Hulk Hogan’s arrival in July of 1994 completely reimagining the company in his likeness. I would argue that similar reimagining happened when Vince Russo took over the booking in October of 1999, but WCW was so terrible from October of 1999 to end, March of 2001 that is not worth doing a separate blog on that. You can revisit past Pro Wrestling Love Volumes at ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com. You can check out the full version of these reviews in ProWrestlingOnly.com by going to the forums and finding the folders associated with the date of the match.

Ratings: The #1 match is a mortal lock for my final list. The #2 match will most likely be my #100, just a personal favorite match of mine. #3 is gonna be a heartbreaker for me, but I think it is on the outside looking in. Then #4-#6 won’t make the final list. As you will see, I will really rave about all six matches and you will probably think it is crazy that only two of these matches will make the list, but that’s how much amazing wrestling is out there.  

The Father's Day Brawl!

The Top Six Matches of World Championship Wrestling from 1995-2001

#6. WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Chris Benoit – SuperBrawl VIII

WCW Match of the Year, 1998

For a critically acclaimed wrestler, Chris Benoit lacks a clearly define canon. I think a lot of people would blame WCW and their promotional machine for that. A lot of critics would claim that WCW was not an environment conducive for Benoit to put on classics, to put on good matches yes, but not classics. Benoit always remained over in WCW even when he was not being pushed. His 1997 was pretty pedestrian aimlessly feuding with the Dungeon of Doom and being affiliated with a dying Four Horsemen. In late ’97, he started a feud with Raven and his Flock and this began Benoit’s first singles push. His Souled Out ’98 match with Raven is pretty damn good and Benoit is over huge even with a lack of push. DDP was coming off his major feud with Savage and just won the United States Championship from Curt Hennig. These two did a respect feud going into SuperBrawl. My Dad loved to mock this feud because of how much they said “respect”. My Dad still makes fun of babyface vs babyface feuds where “respect” is a major part.  

As far as I know, I am out on an island by myself with rating this match so highly, but I am a-ok with that as this is just an absolute war. I said it above that DDP is well-known for his pre-planned matches, but they never feel rehearsed or forced. This match is a great example of that. Everything from an Irish Whip to the final Diamond Cutter was earned. Both men were like the Russians at Stalingrad, there was no retreat only marching forward. I once heard the difference between babyfaces and heels is that babyfaces always move forward and heels retreat. I love the simplicity of that statement. As these two men are babyfaces I love that both men are always moving forward. This is a great babyface vs babyface match. The rough and tumble collar and elbow tie up, both men tenaciously looking to apply their finishers early, lots of great mirroring going on. It was two men totally invested in winning the championship and when the wrestlers are invested in winning the fans will be too. Two spots that I think really speak to how much struggle was in this match. Benoit eats a jawbreaker and then just keeps coming with chops and kicks. He was not not selling, he was fighting through the offense. Babyfaces always move forward. Other spot is when Benoit fights like hell on an Irish Whip attempt and turns it into a snap suplex. To me this is pro wrestling. There is a really, really good nearfall sequence that was pretty novel in 1998, but would be the perfect trigger now for a “This is awesome” chant, the difference is this match those nearfalls were earned. The best spot of the match was Benoit shoves DDP off a Diamond Cutter attempt and Page immediately uses that momentum to climb to the top rope and leap 3/4s of the away across the ring and wipe out Benoit. The urgency! The desire to win! The out of control nature! I just love it. Struggle, urgency, energetic, chaotic and an investment towards winning all things I love and this match had that in spades.

#5. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psicosis – Bash At The Beach ‘96

Rey and Psicosis came up together on the Tijuana scene. They were the Tom & Jerry of Lucha in the 90s. Psicosis the bigger of the two was the rudo. He was like a modernized Midnight Express. Tons of great bumping and stooging spots. I will never get tired of watching Psicosis go ass first into things. However, once Psicosis gained control just like the Midnight Express he had amazing, breath-taking offense. Just like MX even though he was so good, you never wanted to cheer for him. Not to mention, I think Psicosis may have the best costume in pro wrestling history. One part was how good he was as a rudo but the other part was being paired with maybe the greatest babyface of all time, Rey Mysterio Jr. What a phenomenon! I am so lucky to seen Rey’s run in WCW live. It was so revolutionary. His offense was sublime and completely shifted the paradigm. His selling is where he made his money because as much as everyone remembers the offense, it is the selling that made you invest in the man not the spots. That’s when you make money, when people are invested in you not your spots.

Rey and Psicosis had a vaunted, critically acclaimed classic in their home promotion of AAA on September 22, 1995. They would go onto have touring matches in ECW and in WAR. This would be the last of their touring matches as they would find a home in WCW. I have not seen the AAA match in years and cant remember it, but for my money at this time this is the best incarnation of their match. It is a true testament to how influential and important this match is that it is still promoted as one of the great PPV match openers on the same show that Hulk Hogan turned heel and joined the NWO. It easily could have been overshadowed, but that’s how good and revolutionary this match was.  

It would have been so easy for Misterio and Psicosis to just hit a myriad of mind-numbing highspots to astonish and amaze a virgin audience, but what make these two among the all-time greats is how they transition and build to those highspots for maximum senory impact. As I described before, Psicosis is the consummate heel. He knows when to let Rey shine and when to get heat for himself. It is so important to be selfless as a heel and Psicosis was so good about that with Rey Rey. In addition to Psicosis going ass first into hard objects, my other favorite Psicosis highspot is his gorgeous tope over the top rope just wiping out his opponent. On the flip side, Psicosis eats a crazy monkey flip on the apron into the post. For his part, Rey sold his ass off, great verbal selling, which is not used enough. When it came time to amaze, he certainly did with amazing hurricanranas. Even though the highspots are amazing and getting these two over with the new audience, their desire to win the match stops this from becoming just a spotfest and also the fact there is a great thread of neck psychology which is a touchstone that Psicosis keeps going back to whenever Rey goes on a fast break and the match looks to be getting away from him. Misterio’s Twisting Corkscrew Asai Moonsault is the crown jewel spot of the match. They had been blowing everyone’s minds all night and had established Psicosis as the nasty heel and Rey as the sympathetic babyface and then Misterio hits this and the crowd and their announcers all lose their minds. As revolutionary as this match was in terms of highspots, the reason it remains timeless is because of how character-driven it is. It is Tom & Jerry of pro wrestling putting on their masterpiece.  

#4. WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs Rey Mysterio Jr.
Great American Bash ‘96

WCW Match of the Year, 1996

A very polarizing match that I obviously fall in the camp of it being a classic match. This is Rey’s debut match not the previous match and I think that’s something a lot of people take issue with. I agree with them in a perfect world that you flip the order of these matches chronologically, but I don’t think this takes away from the greatness of this match.

The fledgling WCW cruiserweight division needed a shot in the arm otherwise it was going to go the way of the WCW Light Heavyweight division. It got exactly what it needed in the form of Rey Mysterio, a true overnight sensation. I think another thing critics take umbrage with is total lack of shine in this match. That is a very valid point. A debuting babyface needs that shine to get himself over with the fans. It is his way of introducing himself to the audience. It gives the fans a reason to cheer him and want him to win. Normally, I would be very upset about this, but the heat segment and comeback are so elite that this match remains to me one of the best matches in WCW history. The lack of babyface shine keeps it from being an all-time great match however.

They have a simple, but effective match. It is match all about space. Rey is trying to squirm away from Malenko and create space to enable his high flying offense versus Malenko wrangling Rey and suffocating him with his trademark chain wrestling. It is the perfect clash of styles. I love that opening Greco-Roman Knucklelock arm-snap thing Malenko does. It transition perfectly into an awesome Malenko heat segment where he worked the arm relentlessly with great variety. Dean controlled the bulk of the match, but he did not gobble Mysterio up. With no shine, it was important that Rey got in his hope spots and that is exactly what happens. Dean does a great job conveying frustration not being able to put Rey away. So when Rey can finally cut loose, he unleashes an arsenal of aerial maneuvers that wow the crowd and also demonstrate why Malenko was working so hard to ground Rey. The finish rages to a very satisfying climax.

The Star of my Mom's Shoot Catch Wrestling Promotion

#3. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page vs Sting – Nitro 4/26/99

WCW Match of the Year, 1999

GOOD GOD! Diamond Dallas Page knows how to lay out a classic. I wish he was a producer in WWE we would have so many good World Championship matches. Another feather in DDP’s cap is that he had all these other great matches as a babyface, the blue collar hero, People’s Champion, Die Hard, but here just less than month removed from turning heel, he is totally rocking it as a heel. On the other hand, Sting had an atrocious 1998 and honestly looked like one of the worst wrestlers I have ever seen. Here he was back to being the Sting of old that kid all hopped up on sugar and I mean that as a compliment.

This match is a great example of the positive feedback loop that can exist between wrestler and fan. The wrestlers delivered crowd-pleasing spots early popping the crowd, the wrestlers fed off this energy the crowd sensed this was popping even bigger and bigger and then all together there is absolutely incredible explosion at the end of this well. We start off as all great matches should with a long and strong babyface shine. DDP was bumping and running for the Stinger making him look like a million bucks. Sting was creating so much movement and energy. Fargo and the Stinger were vibing hard. I am a total sucker for the finisher teases. DDP sells his failed Diamond Cutter attempt by trying to walk out of the match, which I think was the perfect time for that spot. The transition to the heat segment was perfect: Sting doing the ten count punches in the corner, the ref is admonishing him because that is illegal and DDP nails a low blow. Textbook heel work there. The heat segment showcases the new heel viciousness of Page. Loved the finish stretch, DDP was really on the cutting-edge of US workrate the way he worked in so many nearfalls into his matches. They really crescendo into a raging climax. The failed Diamond Cutter late and the top rope Stinger Splash felt huge. By accident, Sting hits a safer version of the Ganso Bomb! This match really had it all. Sting blocking the Diamond Cutter and then dropping Page with the Scorpion Deathdrop to win the championship to one of the loudest pops you will ever hear is a great feel-good moment. Just an amazing Clash of the Titans, big fight feel that really did a great job with babyface/heel dynamics. Just a pure babyface vs. pure heel with a traditional layout, but the escalation was so perfect that everyone just lost themselves in the moment.

#2. Ric Flair vs Randy Savage – Great American Bash ‘95

WCW Match of the Year, 1995

The Father’s Day Brawl! This is perhaps my most out their pick that I will make out of all 100 matches that I will place in my Top 100. It will most likely come in at #100 as a way for it stand out. This could be my favorite match of all time as it features my two favorite wrestlers of all time. I have never heard anyone talk this match up besides me. It is so shocking to me. This match is not hidden by any means. It happened on a major PPV in the second biggest company. It features perhaps the two most popular wrestlers among wrestling critics. Yet I usually see ratings such as this was very good and baffles me because there is just so much hate and emotion in this match. This is a visceral and violent brawl. It is so chaotic. It feels like a shoot at times. The way Savage decks Flair from behind without any prompting and without Flair having any knowledge that it was going to happen was insane. That is so rare in pro wrestling. That’s what I mean when I say this felt like a legitimate barroom fight. Savage had every reason to be so pissed off because Flair had been going after his father, Angelo Poffo. The Macho Man was defending the honor of his dad on Father’s Day. He was just relentless opting for punching and choking in lieu of traditional wrestling moves. Constantly lunging at Flair, suffocating Flair even when he is begging off and even fighting from his back when his knee so injured he cant stand. This was Savage in all his Wildman glory. However, as great as the Macho Man was, this is still Ric Flair in there and Flair is still The Man. He bumps all over the place for Savage. He also knows he is in a fight and he brings that same violence back at the Macho Man. He suckers the Macho Man into checking on his father and clips the knee. The kneecrusher across the steel railing is perfect. They settle into that perfect rhythm. Savage desperately fighting from his back because he cant stand and Flair so smug attacking the knee at will. There is a very emotional spot as Angelo Poffo is pleading to the referee that Flair is cheating to try to save his son’s leg from being snapped in half. The finish sequence is a tour de force. Savage is fighting on one leg and but manages to get enough control to hit the Big Elbow, but he picks Flair up at two because that’s not enough. He grabs the ring bell and he wants to maim Flair and one can only assume the same way he did to Ricky Steamboat and crush his larynx. Savage ends up crashing and burning on the guardrail. I still remember how concerned those front row fans were because he hit so hard. The finish is superb Flair is a scumbag and decks old Angelo Poffo, Savage is forced to check on his dad and Flair knocks Savage out with the cane. Tremendous pro wrestling! You have never seen this before. Check it out. If you have, watch it with fresh eyes and be prepared for one of the most chaotic, intense brawls you will ever see, it really does feel like a shoot at times.  

#1. WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio Jr.  

Halloween Havoc ’97

WCW Match of the Year, 1997

Matches like these are always the most daunting in my mind to review. How do you add to all the thousands of words written and spoken about this classic? In my estimation, what makes this match stand out is how crisp everything is. I am not super into execution. I care more about character and plot development than being able to execute things perfectly. It really stood out to me on my most recent watch just how perfect everything was even though they were moving at such a high speed. Rey and Eddie were just clicking and both happened to have the night of their lives on the same night. I was also surprised how short it was. They pack so much in there that you believe it a 20+ minute match classic, but it is actually closer to 13 minute match.

The beauty of Rey is for all his crazy highspots nothing ever feels artificial or forced. There is no waiting for Rey standing there with a thumb up your ass. There is no overly orchestrated setup. It is Rey using his environment to create opportunities to go on offense and add weight to his blows. Rey was just so perfect on this night. Truly poetry in motion! Eddie was wrestling out of his mind on this night. This heel run is one of the best of all time. He was his sadistic best in this match. The sneer and scowl were on full display here and that translated into a medieval ass-whuppin’ on Rey. I loved how over Eddie was a heel at this point, big “Eddie Sucks” chants throughout the match. The stakes of this match are also high as Rey had to put his mask on the line to get this championship opportunity. The mask is attached to the bodysuit because of a previous incident on Nitro where Eddie tore it off causing Rey to lose the mask. So when Eddie is tearing at Rey’s mask all the while torturing Rey’s back, you cant help but want Rey to make that amazing comeback and kick Eddie’s ass. 

Unfortunately for Rey fans, for every breath-taking Rey hope spot, Eddie had a very literal breath-taking counter for Rey where he would knock the wind out of Rey with dropkicks, suplexes and even a massive powerbomb. The eventual Rey comeback, after Eddie slid into the post on a charge, was awesome and the crowd was him on every highspot. The finish stretch with the hurricanranas from crazy angles, missed Frogsplash and the forever famous Splash Mountain into a hurricanarana remains one of the all-time great stretches in pro wrestling history. Eddie was a mean son of a bitch in this match and Rey is the ultimate underdog. A perfect pair of characters combined with two men who were having career nights together and the stakes could not be higher with title vs mask. They could not fire a bad shot in this match.

I think after all this talk about American wrestling, it is high time we get the Japanese involved, what do you all say? Pro Wrestling NOAH is up next!