January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786004 He didn't derail the point of the finish. He was willing to die for his captain and die he did. Agree. The Kobashi drama at the end actually enhanced the match for me. It added another layer to the story, without overshadowing the primary arc.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786013 He didn't derail the point of the finish. He was willing to die for his captain and die he did.We will agree to disagree on that one. After a certain amount of pop ups it's hard to take him "dying" seriously-the beatdown simply isn't that devastating if you can get up so many times.
January 30, 20178 yr Author comment_5786020 Naming ONE MATCH gets old. I think a top 100 matches ever project and poll similiar to the Top 100 wrestlers ever from last year would be really interesting. I've actually wanted to do something like this for a while. But I decided to hold off on suggesting it because I figured everyone would be burned out from the GWE project.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786033 Naming ONE MATCH gets old. I think a top 100 matches ever project and poll similiar to the Top 100 wrestlers ever from last year would be really interesting. I've actually wanted to do something like this for a while. But I decided to hold off on suggesting it because I figured everyone would be burned out from the GWE project. I feel many people would find making a Top 100 matches list much easier than making a Top 100 wrestlers list. But it would probably be a nightmare for the person organizing the whole project since thousands and thousands of matches could be nominated as compared to just 600-700 wrestlers.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786109 Akira Hokuto/Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano, Wrestling Queendom '94. This is held back by some structural/pacing issues, otherwise it would have had a good shot at dethroning 6/9/1995 for me. Still all time Top 10 level though. What are the structural/pacing issues with Queendom?
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786239 My choice for all time greatest pro wrestling match is Giant Baba vs Billy Robinson (AJPW, 1976)
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786240 Rock vs Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8. You will never convince me that there is a better example of the drama and pageantry of professional wrestling than this match. They don't do a bunch of moves, but they play everything perfectly. It is easily the 'greatest' match of all-time. Magnum/Tully 'I Quit' is second, and in my preferred style, but Rock/Hogan is... transcendent, it's more than a match, it's a moment.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786242 The only flaw with 6/9/95, as I see it, is the way Kobashi's leg is taped up.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786246 Akira Hokuto/Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano, Wrestling Queendom '94. This is held back by some structural/pacing issues, otherwise it would have had a good shot at dethroning 6/9/1995 for me. Still all time Top 10 level though. What are the structural/pacing issues with Queendom? It's not as compact as it could have been. There is some meandering around in the middle, some of the submissions run too long. They could have tightened the whole thing up a bit and cut around 2-3 minutes from the overall time. It's not really a big deal for a long match like that but it plays a factor when comparing it with the best of the best. Still, that would be the first match I would show someone if I wanted to emphasize the storytelling power of pro wrestling. Also the exchange in the postmatch is simply the greatest pro wrestling moment ever in my eyes.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786248 It's been a couple of years since I last watched it, but for years I have maintained that Misawa vs. Kobashi on 10/31/98 for the Triple Crown was the greatest match I had ever seen. I should go back and see if it holds up still. I can't remember anything surpassing it in my mind. Tabe turned me on to that match, as prior I had always felt that Misawa and Kawada had the best singles matches in AJPW during the 90's. I kind of turned my nose up at Misawa's matches with Kobashi, I thought they were overrated. Tabe changed my mind. I still prefer the Misawa/Kawada rivalry, but that 98 match was pretty close to perfect, the way I see it. For all the people voting for 06/09/95, I don't disagree with you. However, does anybody think that their 05/21/94 match was close to being as good as that, if not as good?
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786252 Akira Hokuto/Shinobu Kandori vs. Aja Kong/Bull Nakano, Wrestling Queendom '94. This is held back by some structural/pacing issues, otherwise it would have had a good shot at dethroning 6/9/1995 for me. Still all time Top 10 level though. What are the structural/pacing issues with Queendom? It's not as compact as it could have been. There is some meandering around in the middle, some of the submissions run too long. They could have tightened the whole thing up a bit and cut around 2-3 minutes from the overall time. It's not really a big deal for a long match like that but it plays a factor when comparing it with the best of the best. Still, that would be the first match I would show someone if I wanted to emphasize the storytelling power of pro wrestling. Also the exchange in the postmatch is simply the greatest pro wrestling moment ever in my eyes. I really think it needed to be a long match because they were telling such a huge story. I love that match. Top 3 for me.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786330 I go back and forth on this. Honestly, a lot of times it is what I watched the most recent between these few. 6-9-95 is up there for me, and I plan on revisiting it again with more context. The ones I toss around in my head these days are Clash 6, Bock/Hennig, Magnum/Tully, and Lawler/Dundee LLT. My current vote is Clash 6, but I think I would like to watch all of them back to back someday.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786331 For years I said 6/9/95, but I'm starting to think it's Atlantis-Villano III
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786332 I love Atlantis-Villano III. If I were to have a day of rewatching all matches I thought were contenders, it would definitely be on that list.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786334 Everyone's already said 6/9/95, but it's my pick too. With Clash 6 a close second
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786335 Is liking WrestleWar best of the Flair-Steamboat matches a minority opinion?
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786338 Is liking WrestleWar best of the Flair-Steamboat matches a minority opinion? yeah probably. I think if a poll was held clash 6 would have the plurality. And i think Chi-Town is better than WrestleWar for what that's worth
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786342 There was such a poll: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/33034-ranking-the-holy-trilogy/
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786343 Edited because this is a peaceful thread. I'll just say I don't know what the greatest match of all time is.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786345 I forgot to mention Cochisse/Satanico, that match def has a case for me, probably the best lucha title match.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786347 Surely there has to be someone else out there who prefers 12/96 to 6/9/95 strictly as far as AJPW tags, right?
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786356 Surely there has to be someone else out there who prefers 12/96 to 6/9/95 strictly as far as AJPW tags, right? Dylan Hales does. It's been probably two years since I've watched them at this point, but I was in favor of 12/3/93 over any of the praised All Japan tags.
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786359 For me it's Midnight Rockers vs Rose/Somers from 8/30/86 in the AWA. I'm a bigger tag team match fan than singles, so I have to lean in that direction. For me this match was the best one I ever saw 30 plus years ago and it still holds up to me. I started working on a top 100 tag team matches years ago and never finished it. I might have to throw that on my "to do list for 2017".
January 30, 20178 yr comment_5786388 Edited because this is a peaceful thread. I'll just say I don't know what the greatest match of all time is. I think that a lot of this feels more like 'best' match ever, and a lot less like 'greatest'. Then again, I really couldn't care less about 95% of stuff that happens in Japan, so I'm biased.
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