Cactus's 2021 GME Ballot

Let's get this finished.

19. Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr vs Terry Gordy & Stan Hansen (AJPW - 31/8/1983) (2020 GME Ranking: 16)
You know you have a hot crowd when they are going apeshit for Dory Funk Jr. of all people! The match starts off with Dory being worked over by the heels. They mostly keep him immobilized with an armbar and strikes. Dory gets the crowd pops big whenever he gets in a lucky jab. Terry was sublime in this, egging his brother on and pacing up and down the apron when he's not tagged in and throwing some great punches and doing a marvelous selljob of his leg when he is the legal man. Everything looks snug and not one move looks phony. This is yet another hellish brawl that we need more of in today's wrestling. Above all the great strikes and well-done tag team wrestling, the emotion is off the charts.

18. Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW - 6/5/1989) (2020 GME Ranking: 12)
An absolute masterclass on how to wrestle as a heel by Jumbo. He stiffs Tenryu and takes a few liberties here and there, but it's never over the top. It's always subtle and feeds fuel to Tenryu's comeback. Tenryu sneaks in a quick German for a two-count early into this, but it's mostly Jumbo taking control after that. Watching the faces in the crowd looking more and more shocked every time Tenryu kicked out made me realize I was watching something truly special. This blew me away when I watched it for the first time and it gets even better with age. This is where King's Road began.

17. Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito (NJPW - 8/13/2016) (2020 GME Ranking: N/A)
This starts the same way that all Naito matches start, with Naito trying to psych out Omega. This works and the two end up spitting at each other. I might be down on Omega's work in AEW, but he was magnificent here. Naito works over his knee and Omega does a masterful job at selling it. He'd attempt to make a comeback and only for his knee to give out on him and Naito would take back control. Even during the work-rate heavy home-stretch, he'd never stop selling and he even changes his V-Trigger up so that he uses his good knee to deliver the devastating blow. Everything they did had a purpose and this never felt like a spotfest, even though all the big highspots here were spectacular. That One-Winged Angel to Destino counter caught me off-guard and they couldn't have pulled that off anymore smoother.

16. Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue (AJPW - 5/21/1994) (2020 GME Ranking: N/A)
Man, any time you throw these four men in the ring together and you are going to get magic. We are just weeks before Kawada and Misawa have their iconic match and they really brought the hate to each other here. Misawa brushing off Kawada's trademark kicks are one of the many highlights to be found in this 40+ minute classic. Kobashi puts on a tremendous babyface performance here, and Taue looked like he was having the time of his life being a massive bully. This had so many ebbs and flows to it, and they never went overboard with the near-falls. It's a long watch with plenty of explosive moments, but this never felt excessive. A top 10 match of the 1990s, my only complaint is that their 6/9/1995 encounter is just a touch better.

15. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW - 1/20/1997) (2020 GME Ranking: 13)
They start this one out with both Kobashi and Misawa getting a brief shine segment. They fight back and forth until Misawa elbows the guardrail in a failed dive attempt and Kobashi focuses his attack on taking out Misawa's arm. Misawa tries to fight back the only way he knows how, by elbowing his enemies in the face. Initially, this seems like a bad idea as it's clearly hurting Misawa, but one lucky shot to Kobashi's lariating arm is all he needs to change the tide of this match. The way they built up to their big moves was magical. Kobashi kicking out of the Tiger Driver '91 shocked me as much as it shocked the two suits in the front row. The Misawa elbow finish could have easily fallen flat, but these two made it work. This was a phenomenal face vs face match that did not hold back on the workrate.

14. Megumi Kudo vs Combat Toyoda (No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Death Match – FMW – 5/5/1996) (2020 GME Ranking: 10)
If I had to pick one match to show someone to people that deathmatch isn't just a vulgar display of very real violence, I'd pick this match. Kudo and Toyoda tease the big barbed wire spots well and there are only four occasions when they take a bump into the barbed wire. Toyoda is retiring and wants to go out with a literal bang. After eight minutes of teasing that someone is going boom, the much smaller Kudo takes the plunge and she sells it like death. The later part of this match felt like Manami Toyota bombfest, but if they took the time to slow things down and sell their arses off. Toyoda takes one of the nastiest head drops I think I've ever seen. All this complemented with a pained Onita looking on from the commentary, makes this one of the best women's and one of the best deathmatches ever.

13. Shawn Michaels vs Mankind (WWF - 9/22/1996) (2020 GME Ranking: 8)
I'm starting to feel like Mick Foley might be a better worker than Shawn Michaels. Shawn beats on Mankind's leg for a solid ten minutes and never once do I feel like that I'm meant to be rooting for the psychotic Mankind. He puts himself through hell and only he could make it work because of his gimmick. I'd find any other wrestler getting up from the damage that Mankind takes here would take me out of the match. That table bump might be one of the best ever as it felt organic and not forced. Even the run-in finish couldn't sour this for me. I remember this being great, but I was shocked by how brilliant this was. A serious contender for the best WWE match ever.

12. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama (AJPW - 12/6/1996) (2020 GME Ranking: 9)
There's so much to unpack here. Taue is here to be the brains to Kawada's brawn. He needs to keep Kawada's temper in check, much like in the 6/9/95 tag. Akiyama is lacking in experience, but he has a lot of heart and is a much better tag partner than Kobashi ever was to Misawa. Some of the head drops here were nasty, especially the spike Backdrop Drivers that Misawa ate. The strike exchanges between Kawada and Misawa show us that their epic rivalry is far from over. Akiyama and Misawa isolate Kawada and it's all up for Taue to save the day. This was probably my favorite AJPW King's Road match, behind the 6/9/95 tag of course!

11. Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH - 8/12/2006) (2020 GME Ranking: 24)
This was an incredibly engaging and competitive technical classic with an all-time brilliant heel performance from Bryan. McGuinness is the hometown hero and Bryan wants to rain on his parade and the crowd might respect Danielson, but they don't like him. The rule with the rope breaks was a great bit of psychology. When Nigel uses up his third and final rope break, he has to pray that he doesn't get caught in another submission as the ropes can't save him anymore. The ring post stuff might be a bit much for a post CTE world, but I'll be lying if I said it didn't hook me into the match even further.

10. Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH - 3/1/2003) (2020 GME Ranking: 5)
Misawa plants Kobashi on his head with a sickening backdrop within minutes into the match and it looks like Kobashi is already out. Kobashi tries to mount a comeback by resorting to his trusty chops, but Misawa has him figured out and cuts him off with his elbow strikes. In an incredible transitional spot, Kobashi sidesteps a Misawa dive and sends him jaw first into the guardrail. Misawa powering up showed off his often-overlooked subtle charisma. Kobashi's performance here was vicious, but the fans got right behind him after that insane Tiger Suplex spot. As brutal as it was emotional, the only criticism I can throw at this match is that you can see how it influenced the next generation of indy wrestlers to try and replicate this match with mostly mixed results. Misawa and Kobashi see out their rivalry with their best singles match together.

9. Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada (NJPW - 4/9/2017) (2020 GME Ranking: 7)
The once-disgraced shooter takes on the golden boy in an effort to finally complete his redemption. I was worried this wouldn't hold up as a lot of the NJPW main events struggle to stay engaging on rewatches as you are just waiting for them to get to the good stuff. Shibata is clearly fucking with Okada as he dominates him during the opening matwork and this keeps the first 15 minutes engaging and is essential to the story they are telling. The finishing stretch is more typical for your usual Okada IWGP bout, but with added legitimacy as some of the strikes are mortifyingly stiff. This is a match you can show someone who scoffs at wrestling for being fake and they would walk away with some newfound respect for this crazy art form we all love. I'm struggling to think of a better 2010's NJPW match and I can comfortably say this is both guys' best match.

8. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS - 6/27/1998) (2020 GME Ranking: N/A)
Even as a recent shoot-style convert, this match flew by and the 30 minutes felt like 15. Tamura looks a lot different since I last saw him during the Volk Han trilogy. He's no longer a pretty boy, but he's now more built up and looks like a total badass. This was two mat maestros putting on some of the most impressive matwork and submission wrestling that I'd ever seen in a pro-wrestling match. These two are so proud and headstrong that they refused to give up a rope break unless it's absolutely necessary and we don't see a rope break until 13 minutes into the match! The strikes that followed the first rope break are incredibly intense and you could tell that Tamura was ashamed and pissed off that he was the first fighter to have to use the ropes to break a hold. They mostly stick to grappling after this, but once it's announced that 20 minutes had expired and that there were 10 minutes left on the clock, they start wailing on each other again. They both look exhausted by this point, but they still have a lot of heart and the final few minutes were super tense. I didn't care who won, I just wanted a decisive winner. This was amazing stuff that every fan needs to see once they are accustomed to shoot-style.

7. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns (WWE - 3/29/2015) (2020 GME Ranking: 6)
Reigns is one of the few guys who looks like a total boss TAKING a beating. He smirks at Lesnar while getting the shit suplexed out of him. Lesnar gets an F5 early but is in no rush to pin as he wants to hurt Roman. He doesn't spam the Germans, instead, he opts to attack Lesnar with an array of violent knees and clotheslines during the early portion of the match. Brock eats a ring post and bleeds like a pig. He sells his injury well, staggering around the place with a glazed facial expression. Reigns gets in a few hope spots before Lesnar catches him in an F5. Seth Rollins' music hits and he cashes in his MITB briefcase and turns this into a 3 way. I knew Rollins was going to get involved somehow, but I didn't expect him to do it while the match was still going on. The ending made Lesnar look strong while losing the belt and opens the door to a future Lesnar vs Reigns match.

6. Nick Bockwinkel vs Curt Hennig (AWA - 11/21/1986) (2020 GME Ranking: N/A)
There's no way that my ADD-riddled brain should have been able to handle this 60-minute draw. This was a lengthy match with even lengthier holds and they managed to keep my attention the whole time. They never stop working when they are in a hold, and the exchanges outside of the holds are exciting and quick. All their fundamentals were rock-solid and this match reminded me a lot of Flair vs Steamboat. This was a simple story of experience versus youth. Bockwinkel attacks Hennig at the start of the match when he has his back turned, but that's not enough to stop Hennig from fighting back. Bock incorporates a lot of subtle heel tactics into his arsenal, and this keeps the fans backing Hennig. Just when I thought that they were about to run out of steam at the 50-minute mark, Hennig takes a rough fall to the outside and is cut open badly. This soon breaks down into a fight, with both guys bleed buckets as they strike the hell out of each other as the time limit ticks away. You aren't going to find a better sixty-minute broadway than this.

5. Daniel Bryan vs Triple H (WWE - 4/6/2014) (2020 GME Ranking: 94)
The winner of this match will go on to join Batista and Randy Orton in the main event world title match. Bryan's massively over, but it feels like WWE might hold him back yet again.Triple H's NWA Champion cosplay wrestling style worked wonders for this match, keeping Bryan down with crossfaces and chickenwings in an effort to further damage his bad arm. Bryan bumps like a madman here, that Tiger Suplex spot had me wincing. We are used to seeing the big stars like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels kick out of a Pedigree, but seeing a guy like Bryan getting a second wind felt shocking. After managing to fight out of every attempt of a second Pedigree, Bryan uses his own momentum from countering Triple H's backdrop to perfectly set himself up to nail his big knee to get the win. This was an emotional rollercoaster packed with the physicality of an 90's AJPW match.

4. Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Umanosuke Ueda & Kantaro Hoshino vs Akira Maeda, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kid (Elimination Match – NJPW – 3/26/1986) (2020 GME Ranking: 4)
What we got here was a super hot interpromotional war where everyone gets a chance to shine. There's zero downtime in this match and it well over half an hour. I thought the roof was going to blown off the building when Maeda and Inoki interacted. Inoki is the ace defending the company from those pesky shoot wrestler, while Maeda is the dickhead renegade who has no issue kicking Kimura when he's down to show dominance. Takada throws strikes so quick that I thought my video was running on 1.5 speed. What Hoshino lacks in size, he makes up for with pure heart. We finally get a Fujiwara match to match his consistently awesome performance. Ueda is in this for a grand total of around a minute, but the crowd pop huge whenever he was in the ring. The finish with Inoki cleaning house on the last two wrestler gave me 'John Cena taking out the entire Nexus by himself at Summerslam 2010' vibes, but don't let that stop you from watching one of the best matches NJPW has ever put out.

3. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (Extreme Rules - WWE - 4/29/2012) (2020 GME Ranking: 3)
This was as good as I remembered it. Lesnar is back in the WWE after an eight-year absence and he feels like a video game boss that feels nigh on impossible to beat. After cutting open Cena with shoot nasty elbows, Lesnar controls 90% of the match. I don't even mind the ref stoppages as they give us time to reflect on how brutal Brock's offense is as they replay the elbow multiple times, all while Lesnar is pacing around like a caged animal. Cena sells his injuries well and all of his hope spots feel organic and he even makes a usually anti-Cena crowd root for him. This was a violent spectacle between two of the best ever.

2. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (Submission Match - WWF - 3/23/1997) (2020 GME Ranking: 2)
Even watching these two trade punches is elite tier stuff. They brawl throughout the crowd and it feels organic. The crowd, who have been quiet all night, wake up as soon as the crowd brawling starts. Once their back in the ring, Bret starts his assault on Austin's leg. Austin sells this so well, flailing all over the place. Austin tries to keep with Bret, but Bret keeps cutting him off. After getting cut open, Austin doesn't have much more to give. He tries to choke out Bret with an electrical cord, but Bret wails him with a ring bell. All the weapon spots have meaning and aren't just used to add a nice spot here and there. Austin passes out in the Sharpshooter, and Shamrock calls for the bell. J.R's call of Austin never giving up adding a lot to his face turn. This is so much more than just a good bladejob. So glad this holds up. The best match in company history.

1. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW - 6/9/1995) (2020 GME Ranking: 1)
The main reason I love this match is Kobashi's performance. His knee problems are no secret to anyone. When a simple kick sends Kobashi to the floor, Kawada and Taue devise their strategy to tear his leg to shit. Kobashi takes so many nasty shots to his knees and he makes you wonder if he is actually hurt. In the last 10-15 minutes of the match, Kobashi is barely walking. He tries to save Misawa from a beating by protecting him and it's just brilliant storytelling. This is tense, gripping and ripe with great storytelling. This is the greatest pro-wrestling match ever, in my opinion. I think I am going to struggle to find a match better than this. It's almost annoying how perfect this match is.