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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:14:17 GMT -5
Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker (WWE, 8/23/2015)
Undertaker was at his lowest when Lesnar broke his Wrestlemania streak, but came back with a vengeance, costing Lesnar the world title to set up this grudge match. Lesnar blindsided Taker during his entrance but Taker displayed a ferocity and tenacity that had previously been missing. But as the match went on, it became clear Lesnar was still the superior wrestler and would likely prevail. So, Taker embraced the win at all costs mentality to take advantage of the controversy surrounding the initial finish to hit Lesnar below the belt and trap him in submission during the restart. Though he was unable to get the satisfaction of a tap out as a Lesnar defiantly passed out instead. This was the big, memorable spectacle WWE often strives to achieve. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:15:21 GMT -5
Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom, 12/22/2016)
Shirai was the cocky champion who constantly belittled Iwatani leading up to the match. So, Iwatani had a real chip on her shoulder and started off with a great deal of fire. But Shirai casually grabbed her knee and began to assault it while strutting around. But she grew complacent, opening the door for Iwatani to blitz her neck with high impact moves. She was forced to take Iwatani more seriously from then on and finally breached her resistance with a huge string of high impact moves. Iwatani pushed Shirai to the limit, but her quest was ultimately a failure since she failed to capture the title and Shirai refused to be humbled. One of the best women’s matches of the 2010s. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:17:44 GMT -5
Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler (Stardom, 2/23/2017)
The shooter Baszler showed up in Stardom to challenge Shirai for her title. Baszler was a deadly submission artist and damaged Shirai’s arm right from the onset. Shirai used her athletic offense to target Baszler’s back, while trying to evade the arm submissions Baszler could grab from seemingly anywhere. Eventually, Shirai survived the holds and wore down Baszler’s back enough to setup her winning moonsault. A worthy invading shooter vs. promotion ace match. ****1/4
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:19:21 GMT -5
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW, 8/12/2017)
Omega had yet to best the dominant champion Okada as he lost to him in January and they wrestled to a draw in June. But he got his best opportunity here in the final of the G-1 Climax Block B since Okada had suffered a recent neck injury. Omega ruthlessly targeted the neck with several high impact moves and some aggressive strikes. Okada was in a big hole but displayed the fortitude that had made him such a successful champion. He teased a triumphant fight back and it was starting to look like business as usual, but Omega refused to relent from the neck and continued to blitz away until he prevailed. They sort of fell into the back-and-forth trap near the end but the compactness of the action, clever continuity and counters, and focus on the neck kept them largely on track. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:27:00 GMT -5
Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (NJPW, 2/3/2019)
Taichi challenged Naito for the Intercontinental Title but coordinated a pre-match assault with Takayuki Iizuka to injure Naito’s neck. Taichi feigning ignorance and prancing around as they assessed Naito’s condition was pretty funny, but they really could have shaved off several minutes from the segment. Naito made his inevitable return but was in a weakened state and it looked academic for Taichi. But Naito reversed Taichi’s attempt to permanently incapacitate him and Taichi ended up injuring his neck in a pretty fantastic momentum-shifting spot. Naito recovered to an extent, leading to a dueling neck-work section with focused offense, well-paced action, and consistent selling. Naito weathered some of Taichi’s surprising resilience and heel tactics, before giving him a taste of his own medicine and finishing him off. They probably did one near fall too many, but this was a slow-burning modern NJPW classic. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 7:35:41 GMT -5
And that is that. Thanks for reading.
My Top 100 (Ranked):
*****
1. Kenta Kobashi/Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 6/9/1995)
2. Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (WWF, 9/22/1996)
****7/8
3. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 9/26/1997)
****3/4
4. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWF, 10/25/1990)
5. Jushin Liger vs. El Samurai (NJPW, 4/30/1992)
6. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WWF, 3/20/1994)
7. Los Gringos Locos vs. El Hijo del Santo/Octagon (AAA, 11/6/1994)
****5/8
8. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (WWE, 3/29/2015)
9. El Satanico vs. Sangre Chicana (EMLL, 5/26/1989)
10. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda (NJPW, 6/12/1986)
11. Mayumi Ozaki/Dynamite Kansai vs. Manami Toyota/Toshiyo Yamada (AJW, 11/26/1992)
12. Rey Hechicero vs. Charles Lucero (Monterrey, 8/4/2013)
13. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 6/24/1999)
14. Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH, 4/23/2006)
15. Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WCW, 10/26/1997)
16. Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 1/31/1990)
17. Akira Hokuto/Aja Kong vs. Dynamite Kansai/Yumiko Hotta (AJW, 8/24/1994)
18. LCO vs. Tomoko Watanabe/Kaoru Ito (AJW, 9/21/1997)
19. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 7/10/2004)
20. Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper (NWA, 11/24/1983)
21. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito (U-Style, 8/18/2004)
22. Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiromi Yagi (ARSION, 2/18/1999)
23. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (ROH, 12/4/2004)
24. Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH, 3/1/2003)
25. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WWE, 3/28/2010)
26. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW, 4/2/1993)
27. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (WWF, 3/23/1997)
28. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton (NWA, 7/5/1986)
29. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude (WCW, 6/20/1992)
30. El Hijo del Santo vs. El Dandy vs. Negro Casas (CMLL, 12/6/1996)
31. Yuki Ishikawa/Alexander Otsuka/Munenori Sawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda/Katsumi Usuda/Super Tiger II (BattlARTS, 7/26/2008)
****1/2
32. Jim Breaks vs. Adrian Street (JP, 2/12/1972)
33. LCO vs. Ayako Hamada/AKINO (ARSION, 12/11/1999)
34. Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (ROH, 12/23/2006)
35. Black Tiger II vs. Wild Pegasus (NJPW, 6/11/1996)
36. El Hijo del Santo vs. Felino (Monterrey, 10/18/1998)
37. El Satanico vs. Gran Cochise (EMLL, 9/14/1984)
38. Akira Taue vs. Stan Hansen (AJPW, 4/11/1994)
39. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Akira Maeda (UWF, 8/13/1989)
40. Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai (NJPW, 1/21/1996)
41. Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta (AJW, 1/24/1994)
42. Jesse James vs. Al Costello (LA, 6/8/1960)
43. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (UWF, 9/7/1984)
44. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 6/27/1998)
45. Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca (EMLL, 1/27/1984)
46. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW, 8/12/2017)
47. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Volk Han (RINGS, 1/22/1997)
48. El Satanico vs. Lizmark (CMLL, 7/14/1998)
49. William Regal vs. Kassius Ohno (WWE, 3/21/2013)
50. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker (WWE, 8/23/2015)
51. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (ROH, 9/16/2006)
52. Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (NJPW, 2/9/1997)
53. Cactus Jack vs. Triple H (WWF, 1/23/2000)
54. AJ Styles vs. Abyss (TNA, 4/24/2005)
55. Vader vs. Sting (WCW, 7/12/1992)
56. Daniel Bryan/Kane/Ryback vs. The Shield (WWE, 12/16/2012)
57. Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 1/20/1997)
58. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Antonio Inoki (NJPW, 8/8/1988)
59. Axel Dieter vs. Moose Morowski (Hannover, 10/5/1980)
60. Lou Thesz vs. Buddy Rogers (Chicago, 6/21/1950)
61. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 6/3/1994)
62. Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW, 4/15/1995)
63. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW, 6/5/1989)
****3/8
64. Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom, 12/22/2016)
65. Hiroshi Hase vs. The Great Muta (NJPW, 12/14/1992)
66. Akira Hokuto vs. KAORU (GAEA, 4/12/1997)
67. Yuji Nagata vs. Togi Makabe (NJPW, 7/6/2007)
68. Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (NJPW, 2/3/2019)
69. Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (AJPW, 5/25/1992)
70. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NOAH, 12/9/2001)
71. Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL (WWE, 5/16/2004)
72. El Hijo del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. (EMLL, 8/31/1986)
73. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Kerry Von Erich (AJPW, 5/22/1984)
74. Jim Londos vs. Bronco Nagurski (Philadelphia, 11/18/1938)
75. Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 11/22/1996)
76. Akira Hokuto/Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano (AJW, 3/27/1994)
77. Atlantis vs. Villano III (CMLL, 3/17/2000)
78. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (ROH, 8/25/2007)
79. Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 12/24/1994)
80. Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (CWA, 12/30/1985)
81. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (TNA, 12/11/2005)
82. Steve Grey vs. Johnny Saint (JP, 1/28/1980)
83. Daisuke Ikeda/Takahiro Oba vs. Makoto Hashi/Kengo Mashimo (Futen, 10/24/2010)
84. Terry Funk vs. Stan Hansen (AJPW, 4/14/1983)
85. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Osamu Nishimura (MUGA, 9/25/2006)
86. Terry Funk vs. Jerry Lawler (CWA, 4/6/1981)
87. Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers (AWA, 8/30/1986)
88. Jushin Liger vs. The Great Sasuke (NJPW, 4/16/1994)
89. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Jack Brisco (AJPW, 8/28/1976)
****1/4
90. Kenta Kobashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 4/23/2006)
91. Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler (Stardom, 2/23/2017)
92. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WWF, 8/27/1995)
93. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (WWE, 8/17/2014)
94. The Destroyer vs. The Spirit (AJPW, 7/25/1975)
95. Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 4/13/2003)
96. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF, 4/15/1990)
97. Jun Akiyama vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 9/9/2006)
98. AMW vs. Triple X (TNA, 12/5/2004)
99. El Satanico/Averno/Mephisto vs. Tarzan Boy/Rey Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero/Mascara Magica (CMLL, 9/28/2001)
100. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (WWF, 11/17/1996)
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Post by tetsujin on Aug 9, 2020 12:14:13 GMT -5
Tetsuya Naito vs. Taichi (NJPW, 2/3/2019)Taichi challenged Naito for the Intercontinental Title but coordinated a pre-match assault with Takayuki Iizuka to injure Naito’s neck. Taichi feigning ignorance and prancing around as they assessed Naito’s condition was pretty funny, but they really could have shaved off several minutes from the segment. Naito made his inevitable return but was in a weakened state and it looked academic for Taichi. But Naito reversed Taichi’s attempt to permanently incapacitate him and Taichi ended up injuring his neck in a pretty fantastic momentum-shifting spot. Naito recovered to an extent, leading to a dueling neck-work section with focused offense, well-paced action, and consistent selling. Naito weathered some of Taichi’s surprising resilience and heel tactics, before giving him a taste of his own medicine and finishing him off. They probably did one near fall too many, but this was a slow-burning modern NJPW classic. ****3/8 Holy fucking shit YES! This match is so underrated due to the stupid fan narrative of "Taichi being a bad worker" and because it doesn't follows the usual NJPW main event formula (and thank god it didn't, tbh). One of my favourite matches ever, even if I don't consider it for my top 100 or anything, I love seeing some praise for it.
Great thread and a very interesting list, btw. Gave me some recommendations like Shirai/Baszler or Han/Nagai. And I think you're the guy with less 5* matches I've seen on the whole internet, which I think it's pretty cool, because this day almost every match that's "just" great receives 5* or 4'75* or even more than 5* and that's bullshit.
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 9, 2020 15:54:20 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words. And I agree, handing out 4.75 or 5 stars too easily for everything sort of devalues the system. A 4.5 or even a 4.25 rating should still mean world-class stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2020 8:40:07 GMT -5
Excellent, my favourite thread on the board. It really helped me reevaluate stuff I had previously dismissed (NOAH) and highlighted certain blind spots (pre-97 WWF). Thanks!
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 10, 2020 22:48:10 GMT -5
Excellent, my favourite thread on the board. It really helped me reevaluate stuff I had previously dismissed (NOAH) and highlighted certain blind spots (pre-97 WWF). Thanks! That's great to hear.
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