GME Guide :
The Greatest Matches Ever 100-75
The Greatest Matches Ever 74-50
The Greatest Matches Ever 49-25
The Greatest Matches Ever 24-1
This project was supposed to come out toward the start of March but you know, i did the Best Of Osaka Pro and now here we are, i can finally talk about the 100 best matches ever. This will be in 4 parts, 25 matches by parts and it will come every week. I did put some links of the matches who are free to watch, i hope this will not limit yourself to not check out the matches without links aswell. But let’s stop talking and let’s start this blog.
100. Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa vs. Katsumi Usuda & Yuta Yoshikawa - BattlArts - 07/02/2010
Let’s start this list with Yoshikawa’s retirement, Yoshikawa is one of my favourite from the revived BattlArts and he fought until his last breath, incredible performance from him. Sawa & Hidaka were really going hard against him, you have a ton of insane slaps, kicks, elbows and Yoshikawa looks destroyed after all of those interactions. Usuda is a secondary wrestler but everything he does with Hidaka & Sawa is so hateful and the grappling they all did was so great. It’s really fought like a fight and they all go at it until no one can’t stand up anymore. The finish is really awesome with Hidaka , Sawa & Usuda screaming at Yoshikawa to keep fighting and get up before Sawa finish it all with two punches. Incredible way to finish Yoshikawa’s incredible career.
LINK HERE
99. Lou Thesz (c) vs. Ciclone Anaya - NWA Chicago - 31/03/1950
NWA World Heavyweight Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Match
From the few matches i’ve saw from Thesz during that period, this one is my favourite and yet i’ve saw his braodway against Vergne Gagne, a great match but i will not say it’s a classic like people say. But anyway, that match is everything i love about wrestling, when the basics are done perfectly, the match can be excellent and that’s what they did. The holds are so intense, the headlocks is a simple move but it looks extremely violent just by seeing how Thesz do it. Anaya also brings a ton of intensity in his holds and his cobra twist is treated as a deadly move. Thesz bumps are simply beautiful. Thesz would also throw a nasty kick while being in a leglock and the finish looked truly violent. New wrestler should study more this era of wrestling, there is a ton to learn.
LINK HERE
98. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka vs. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) - NJPW - 25/06/2000
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
4 of the best Juniors at that time working a super stiff match, a match you could see on a BattlArts or Fu-Ten show. Everyone is so violent, Otani is throwing some of the most crazy slaps i’ve ever seen, Takaiwa & Kanemoto are bruisers and they have awesome interactions together and Minoru mix up the strikes and the submissions. This felt like a savage match with everyone busting sick stuff and then you had all the big spots involving everyone especially Minoru & Otani but i really loved Takaiwa coming here to lariat and drop Junior Stars on their head. Kanemoto is really great aswell, let’s not forget about his performance.
97. Kana vs. Kyoko Kimura - WAVE - 16/08/2008
This match felt very uncooperative right from the start. They have been stiffing each others with crazy forearms but also some really sick punches. There is also a lot of hair pulling and they are able to told a story with Kana trying to overcome Kyoko. Kyoko looks mad here in all of her offenses and the centerpoint of the match is that famous headbutts that would bust open Kana on the forehead, which was really sick. The second part of the match is more centered on working submissions but they still continued to stiff each others and Tommy, the referee would stop the match just by seeing how unstoppable these two were, she couldn’t control anyone. Really sick brawl that kinda looks like a shoot if it’s the first time you see that match.
96. Taro Nohashi vs. Makoto Hashi - Fu-Ten - 24/04/2010
28, 28 shoot headbutts in exactly 3 minutes and 46 seconds. It’s basically the whole match. But we have some great other things like Nohashi attacking Hashi before the bell ring with an awesome intensity or Hashi doing some great striking combo to take down Nohashi. For the love of the game and for BATI-BATI.
LINK HERE
95. Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Hikaru Sato & Kengo Mashimo - Fu-Ten - 22/01/2012
Chaotic and extremely violent match. This is Hikaru Sato first match in Fu-Ten and he made sure that it was memorable. His interactions with Ikeda were out of this world, wether it was on the kicks or simply the 22 nasty shoot headbutts they’ve did. Mashimo & Ono performances are wonderful aswell especially Mashimo when he was against Ikeda but everything with Ono was so great. This is typically the stuff i need when i watch a match, and this kind of match is just regular in Fu-Ten.
94. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena - WWE - 29/04/2012
Incredible spectacle where Lesnar plays with Cena by destroying him. The first minutes are so fucking incredible and this really added a lot to the story of the match. Lesnar is untouchable and he literally destroy everything in his path even the refs and the officials. Cena is THE babyface, he sells a lot but he does it extremely well and he does some quick but awesome comebacks with a ton of intensity while bleeding a lot. Lesnar does sell incredibly well Cena’s comebacks. The big spot where Lesnar does the jumping knee strike over the top rope is so impressive and i really enjoyed his reaction after getting up, he hurted his knee but that made him laugh like he needed that pain. Simply amazing performance from both guys, one of the best WWE match.
93. Fugo Fugo Yumeji & BUKI vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Jota - EXIT - 14/07/2018
Ultimate dream match between two of the greatest shooter ever alongside two extremely talented beast in Jota & BUKI who is The Great Kabuki son. The Ishikawa/Fugo interactions are simply fantastic and it goes like you should expect with great matwork but mostly some really nasty strikes and Fugo legit gave a black eye to Ishikawa with a jumping headbutt, he isn’t named “The Best Headbutts In The World” for nothing. Jota does one of his best performance, tearing it up with Fugo with some of the most insane stiff exchanges you will ever see and do great with BUKI. BUKI is the weakest, but still show some really awesome work with his strikes and grappling by times. Wonderful EXIT match, one of the many in the list.
LINK HERE
92. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura vs. Bull Nakano & Grizzly Iwamoto - AJW - 19/08/1990
This match is truly special, in the sense that it’s the first and only match that made me uncomfortable, i never been in that position before and i’ve watched matches like Levy/Knuckles or even the sadly famous Act/Yoshiko match. But anyway, that match is vicious and very violent, Bull & Iwamoto are straight up bullies toward Bison & Aja. Everything between Iwamoto & Bison is gross, you have hair pulling, a ton of screaming, crying and also sickening strikes and Bull striked even harder than anybody else here. Aja is really great here rivalising against Bull. Another really gross spot in that match is all the kendo stick shots, they are thrown all at full forces and even some were thrown in the face, it’s that point of the match that made me uncomfortable when i saw it for the first time and seeing Bull unleashing herself on Aja with the kendo stick was crazy. It’s worth mentioning that all the moment where everyone was crying and screaming added a lot to the drama of the match. But after all i think this deserve to be here, not a single match gave me this feeling before so that’s why it’s truly special and just seeing those 4 going that hard and even made question the crowd himself about if that match was a shoot or not is truly impressive to me.
LINK HERE
91. Fujita Jr. Hayato & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Masato Tanaka & Takashi Sugiura (c) - ZERO1 - 19/09/2014
NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title Match
Dangan Yankees meet up !! This goes like you should expect, insane intensity with a ton of nasty strikes. Sugiura destroy Hayato and Hayato always fight back like an awesome underdog, i particularly loved what Hayato & Tanaka did together, they always bring the best out of each others. Even if Hidaka wasn’t the center point of the match, i thought he had the best interactions with Tanaka, i fucking loved when Tanaka countered the misty flip in the corner into a crazy lariat while Hidaka had his leg trapped in the corner. And then you have the finals minutes where everyone throws big bombs and Sugiura & Tanaka simply destroy Hidaka with all kind of different strikes. I couldn’t ask for more between these four.
90. Koki Kitahara & Daiyu Kawauchi vs. Shoichi Ichimiya & Kazunobu Nakamura - CAPTURE - 05/12/2002
The match start is such an incredible way with Kawauchi (who is Genkai/Hideyoshi) jumping on Nakamura by taking him down and being in fire with his strikes on Nakamura. It’s a 2/3 falls match so everyone is super intense and each rounds are kind of different while still having a ton of intensity. Everyone in the first fall throws crazy strikes at each others, Ichimiya who is a DDT comedy wrestler at this time looks like a fucking monster against Kawauchi or even Kitahara. Kitahara did Kitahara things which was being a beast on the mat but also kicking Nakamura in the head with a ridiculous spinning kick. The second fall is lovely between Ichimiya & Kawauchi but i will not spoil it. And the third fall is once again super intense on the mat and on the strikes. Ichimiya would sold his arm really well toward the end and the finish was gnarly.
LINK HERE
89. Jota vs. Kazuhiko Ogasawara - EXIT - 14/02/2010
Capture International Title Match
Incredible EXIT style match. Ogasawara is such a killer in that match, firing up with a crazy amount of nasty kicks and punches while Jota tries to survive and match the intensity and brutality of the karateka. The strikes are so damn violent and they all sounds huge with the tiny venue they are in. Jota would also try to pull a submission and it fit perfectly with the dynamic of the match. The knockdowns are also awesome with Ogasawara letting zero chance at Jota to comeback by kicking him really hard in the head. EXIT is just incredible, they don’t think about anything, they just fight and it fucking rules.
88. Kiyoshi Tamura & Takaku Fuke vs. Ryuki Ueyama & Seichi Ikemoto - U-STYLE - 07/12/2004
You probably know Ikemoto for his recent run in GLEAT by being an incredible striker & grappler, but you probably don’t know that he made his debut in 2002 and that he wrestled Kiyoshi Tamura and was already an excellent shooter. The match is incredible, it’s full of grappling and vicious strikes. Ueyama was an animal in that match, he was always laying down his strikes and kept going for quick submissions. It was the same for Ikemoto but Ikemoto was even faster on the submissions and the every interactions with Tamura were unreal. Tamura is still a fucking god even in 2003, his strikes are harder than ever and his grappling work is still so quick and clean. And for Fuke, it’s pretty awesome to see him go that hard, it wasn’t like that when he was in Osaka Pro during that period… But anyway, this match is simply incredible.
LINK HERE
87. Fugo Fugo Yumeji & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Jota & Kenji Takeshima - EXIT - 01/01/2015
Insane idea to bring Takayama in the basement for that match. Takayama is awesome here, he simply do what he does best which is kicking or punching people hard. Jota & Takeshima are awesome aswell with Takeshima who is mostly trying to survive and Jota who mix it up with based god Fugo to produce some of the most insane and brutal interactions you will ever see. Crazy headbutts, sickening kicks, slaps and knee strikes, this is the EXIT style, this is why i love the fucking game.
LINK HERE
86. Dekai Ichimotsu vs. GENTARO - Ichimotsu Wedding Anniversary - 15/04/2018
Big fight feel and an overall dream match when you know Ichimotsu well. This goes like expected with complex grappling, there’s a lot of struggle behind every holds, Ichimotsu really damage GENTARO’s body and most importantly his legs and GENTARO is incredible on the selling. Ichimotsu use multiples way to work on those legs like some brutal looking submissions or some stomps varations. GENTARO’s comebacks feels huge and since he has more experience, he works really smartly on Ichimotsu. Ichimotsu also pulls an insane dive at the outside at one point and it’s simply incredible. This match is a must watch for the people that love that old school style, where everything matters.
LINK HERE
85. BxB Hulk & Shingo Takagi (c) vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori - Dragon Gate - 20/03/2008
GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
When it comes to some of the best spotfest ever, this one is up there. While it’s kinda low on this list, i LOVE this match so much. The match have so much intensity, you have Hulk & Ishimori doing some of the craziest high flying spots while KENTA & Shingo are stiffing each others so hard. KENTA was incredible with his strikes and his speed, Shingo was an excellent powerhouse and did one of my favourite spot ever where he counters the superstar elbow of Ishimori into a blood fall just before annilating Ishimori at lighting speed with a insane pumping bomber. Everyone are flying everywhere, everyone is taking crazy bumps, you even have some amazing near falls at the end, this is literally perfect. Incredible match.
84. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Karl Gotch & Lou Thesz - NJPW - 14/10/1973
One of the best NJPW match. 4 grappling master doing a 45mins match full of amazing holds, sequences, submissions and stretching each others in the recent years of NJPW. Thesz is fantastic here bringing a bit of heel work by throwing sneaky punches or elbows, he also does some very great backdrops especially for his age because he was literally 57 years old in that match and he doesn’t look like he is the oldest in that match. Everyone is doing amazing work, Inoki & Gotch are so good together and the spot where Gotch is able to get up on his feet from a bridge while having Inoki on his legs is truly incredible. Sakaguchi also delivered huge, which is something i didn’t expected to see coming to this match. Phenomenal stuff, everyone need to watch this ASAP.
83. Daisuke Ikeda & Takahiro Oba vs. Kengo Mashimo & Makoto Hashi - Fu-Ten - 24/10/2010
56, 56 shoot headbutts were done by Ikeda & Hashi, this is simply insane. This is an incredible match, Ikeda & Hashi are victimizing each others skulls while Mashimo & Oba are really awesome at striking or grappling for Oba who was awesome with Hashi at the start. The match is just super intense like in every Fu-Ten matches and the strikes are fucking crazy. Ikeda & Hashi have some of the best chemistry in wrestling history, just based on trading shoot headbutts. This is the stuff i love to see and Fu-Ten is always able to satisfy me.
LINK HERE
82. KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O'Reilly - NJPW - 07/06/2015
Best Of The Super Junior XXII Final Match
Wonderful NJPW style main event. They simply gave us a masterclass in term of grappling added with big spots and some wonderful limbwork. I fucking love every interactions on the mat, they do rolls, they try to lock the submissions in or even have a sense of urgency to reach the ropes and it’s wonderful. They both work on each others arm but KUSHIDA was the best on the selling, KOR was snaping, kicking or stretching that arm in really bad position and KUSHIDA sold it so well. There is a ton of crazy strikes with all the kind of different kicks or even sick elbow strikes & slaps. There is also some big spots, done extremely well like that backdrop on the top rope by KOR or even that wonderful brainbuster by KUSHIDA on the apron. The finals minutes are typical NJPW with all the big moves, near falls and some amazing suspens with all the submissions done. Incredible match that you should watch or rewatch if you already did.
81. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa - Fu-Ten - 24/04/2005
Yes i know, you will say this is pretty low, yes it is, but there is just better matches than this one. This is still an amazing match, full of incredible violence that is even more violent that what you can see in BattlArts. As you can see on the picture over here, they didn’t hesitated to punch each others in the face, throws headbutts or kicking each others in the face. There is also a good amount of grappling here. This is peak BATI-BATI and my favourite singles match between these two. People are often blown away when they see this match so it’s maybe your time to finally watch it and watch Fu-Ten !
Link HERE
80. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Masato Tanaka & Takashi Sugiura - ZERO1 - 01/03/2020
The two best tag team in the 10’ finally have a proper match and they deliver a classic. It’s crazy to think that this is their only match but it was worth the wait. They do what they does best, this feel like a prime BJW bombfest with everyone adding their own touch. They pull all of their signature moves and there is not a single bad moment during it. Seeing the first interactions between Sugiura & Okabayashi and more Tanaka & Okabayashi was awesome. I’m glad the pandemic didn’t ruin this first time ever.
79. Monster Halloween vs. Crazy Zako - XGF - 04/01/2023
I know what you’re gonna say, “how this match is better than Ishikawa/Ikeda”, well, this is Da Crazy Zako and Jester Scum behind an incredible mask/gimmick doing a sort of cinematic match in the backyard for BACKYARD BRAWL 2. The vibe is simply insane, the atmosphere of the venue + the music added in the background add something really mysterious around this match and how Zako is gonna survive to Monster Halloween. The spots are simply insane, it’s gross and Halloween looks like unbeatable even if Zako do whatever it takes to take him down by using the objects and even a fucking guitar. Halloween also tried to set Zako in fire which was awesome. I’m not gonna spoil the finish or aftermatch but it’s insanely cool. XGF rules, BACKYARD BRAWL rules and Zako is a genius.
Link HERE
78. Daisuke Sekimoto & WALTER vs. Yuji Hino & Yuji Okabayashi - BJW - 04/11/2019
WALTER comes to Japan specially for the 20th Anniversary of Sekimoto and this was an absolute blast. Everything involving WALTER felt so hate filled, all the chops felt so damn huge and has real power behind them. It was basically the kind of match i love when they all go absolutely crazy with huge strikes and all kind of big suplexes, it’s the BJW style, back when it was peak. I loved everything Sekimoto did too like on his comebacks or the multiple insane suplexes he did. Okabayashi & WALTER were incredible together, i wish it wasn’t a one off for WALTER in Japan, he just fits perfectly here. Incredible match.
77. Hideki Suzuki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH - 08/04/2022
Hideki & Nakajima have this special chemistry where they can grapple for 15-20mins by having an incredible tension in the atmosphere. The counters out of the submission holds and transitions are done perfectly. I really don’t know how to explain this amazing feeling of seeing a packed crowd watching two guys grappling on the mat before starting to be really mean on the strikes. For the match in itself, they are both super violent on the strikes, you can really see that there is some true hate behind every strikes and it’s always wonderful to see. We need more of this kind of matches and a third match.
76. Yuki Ishikawa vs. Munenori Sawa - BattlArts - 19/06/2011
Student vs. Teacher is always an awesome story to tell and it’s even better when it’s an environment like BattlArts. It’s peak BattlArts violence with Sawa being so mean against Ishikawa and Ishikawa exactly knows how to answer to this and it’s just incredible to see the two best in BattlArts mixing up and doing absolute magics. The mat work is also amazing but the striking part where Ishikawa would punch Sawa in the face is just unreal and that’s why i love BattlArts, it’s only here you could see this kind of wrestling.
Link HERE
75. Tomoaki Honma vs. Minoru Suzuki - NJPW - 06/03/2021
New Japan Cup 2021 First Round Match
A match that has a place in my heart. I always loved Honma and how determined he was, even after getting his neck injury, he still has the spirit and always takes risk in his big match even if he isn’t as fast as he was before. But that match shows his whole spirit, he fights with his heart, he gives everything and he fight until his last breath. You can even see that Suzuki loves slapping him or throwing sick elbows, he had fun. The match is basically two old bastard beating each others up and Suzuki is motivated to pull something great for Honma. I think i have seen this match atleast 10 times and it’s not something i do often. It never gets old, Honmamania forever.
Conclusion :
This list is cool isn’t it ? This is only the start, the best of the best is just about to come soon. If you thought it already had a lot of matches that you never heard of, just wait until you see the 3 other parts. I hope you liked the first part, for me it’s always a pleasure to write about what i like, especially about something i’ve been working on about a whole year. The next part will be out next week, so next Sunday, like usual. Thanks for reading if you came this far and remember to enjoy it while it last.