Greatest Matches Ever, According To "Wrestling Observer Newsletter"

[AtariLegend]

Matches given five stars by Dave Meltzer:

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

    * Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Ladder match) – WrestleMania X, March 20, 1994
    * Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Cage match) – SummerSlam, August 29, 1994
    * Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Submission match) – WrestleMania 13, March 23, 1997
    * Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell match) – Badd Blood, October 5, 1997

National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling

    * The Sheepherders vs. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) - Crockett Cup Tournament, April 19, 1986
    * Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham - Crockett Cup Tournament, April 11, 1987
    * Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair - Chi-Town Rumble, February 20, 1989
    * Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (2/3 falls) - Clash of the Champions VI, April 2, 1989
    * Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - WrestleWar, May 7, 1989
    * Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk ("I Quit" match) - Clash of the Champions IX, November 15, 1989
    * Ric Flair, Larry Zbyszko, Barry Windham, & Sid Vicious vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, Rick Steiner, & Scott Steiner (WarGames match) - WrestleWar, February 24, 1991
    * Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, & Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, & Larry Zbyszko (WarGames match)- WrestleWar, May 17, 1992

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

    * A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels – TNA Unbreakable, September 11, 2005

Ring of Honour

    * Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - October 16, 2004
    * Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi - October 1, 2005
    * Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA, Naruki Doi, & Masato Yoshino - March 31, 2006 (Presented as a Dragon Gate production)

All Japan Pro Wrestling

    * Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs. Dory Funk, Jr. & Terry Funk - December 8, 1984
    * Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi - March 9, 1985
    * Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Chōshū & Yoshiaki Yatsu - January 28. 1986
    * Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy - December 16, 1988
    * Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu - June 5, 1989
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - June 8, 1990
    * Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, & Kenta Kobashi - October 19, 1990
    * Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue, & Masanobu Fuchi - April 20, 1991
    * Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Toshiaki Kawada - May 22, 1992
    * Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - May 25, 1992
    * Masanobu Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - July 5, 1992
    * Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi - April 14, 1993
    * Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue, & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Jun Akiyama- July 2, 1993
    * Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi - July 29, 1993
    * Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi - August 31, 1993
    * Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi - December 3, 1993
    * Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Giant Baba vs. Masanobu Fuchi, Toshiaki Kawada, & Akira Taue - February 13, 1994
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - May 21, 1994
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - June 3, 1994
    * Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada - January 19, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - January 24, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace - March 4, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue - April 15, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - June 9, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Satoru Asako vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue & Tamon Honda - June 30, 1995
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue - May 23, 1996
    * Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace - June 7, 1996
    * Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - December 6, 1996
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada - June 6, 1997
    * Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - December 5, 1997
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - October 31, 1998
    * Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - June 11, 1999
    * Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa - October 23, 1999

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling

    * Lioness Asuka vs. Jaguar Yokota - August 22, 1985
    * Lioness Asuka vs. Chigusa Nagayo - February 26, 1987
    * Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada - August 15, 1992
    * Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki - November 26, 1992
    * Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori - April 2, 1993
    * Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki - April 2, 1993
    * Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki - April 11, 1993
    * Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki - December 6, 1993
    * Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue - August 24, 1994
    * Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong - November 20, 1994
    * Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue - May 7, 1995
    * Manami Toyota & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue - August 30, 1995
    * Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto - September 2, 1995

Japan Women's Pro Wrestling

    * Dynamite Kansai, Cutie Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki, & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Aja Kong, Sakie Hasegawa, Kyoko Inoue, & Takako Inoue - July 31, 1993

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

    * Los Gringos Locos (Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr) vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagón (hair vs. masks; 2-out-of-3 Falls under elimination rules for each fall) – AAA When Worlds Collide November 6, 1994

Pro Wrestling Noah

    * Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa - March 1, 2003
    * Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama - July 10, 2004

Universal Wrestling Federation

    * Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada - December 5, 1984

Rating System

Meltzer popularized the "star rating" system (originated by Jim Cornette and Norm Dooley), which rates matches on a scale of zero to five stars (sometimes going to negative five stars in the case of bad matches) in a similar manner to that used by many movie critics.[2] As in the field of film, a rating is a largely subjective affair that may take into account the amount of action, as opposed to restholds ("workrate"), the difficulty and variety of moves used, the history of the workers and their feud, the development of an in-match storyline based on the wrestling moves and how they affect the wrestlers, and the overall reaction of the crowd.

Five star matches, as rated by Meltzer, are extremely rare. Before 2004, the last match rated five stars in the US was in 1997. There have been sixty-five matches that have received the honor since 1983, when Dynamite Kid and Tiger Mask I had the first one ever. Mitsuharu Misawa has the most five star matches with 24 (including one match wrestling as Tiger Mask II).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Meltzer

[Gnrfan]

The first thing that strikes me from this is i have to start watching some Japanese wrestling coz i have no point of reference.

The other is i refuse to believe that there has been no 5* matches in 12 years of WWE. Although i am a fan of all 4 WWE matches on the list there has been better matches.... However its good to see Bret getting some credit especially the Bret vs Owen match which is the best on that list IMO.

I looked at how they rate the matches

a rating is a largely subjective affair that may take into account the amount of action, as opposed to restholds ("workrate"), the difficulty and variety of moves used, the history of the workers and their feud, the development of an in-match storyline based on the wrestling moves and how they affect the wrestlers, and the overall reaction of the crowd.

I'm suprised that some of the Edge & Christian vs Hardyz vs Dudleys are not in there based on the variety of moves & crowd reaction coz i also believe that they sold their injuries brilliant in that match.

The HBK vs Taker match at Mania this year must have been a close run thing too. And how Bret Hart vs Bulldog at Summerslam isnt a 5* match i'll never know.

The Joe vs AJ vs Daniels is a classic. But no ECW matches? RVD vs Jerry Lynn!!!!!!!

[AtariLegend]

^

8/29/92 Davey Boy Smith vs. Bret Hart  ****1/4

4/5/09 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels ****3/4 - Highest rated WWE match, since...

4/3/05 Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle ****3/4

But no ECW matches? RVD vs Jerry Lynn!!!!!!!

http://www.geocities.com/mfoy18/ecwstarlist.html

[BlowUpYourVideo]

In the end, this is just one guy's opinion. I try and not worry too much about what some guy thinks. I find it hard to belive that someone could think there's only been 4 five-star matches in the history of the WWE (only two of which I've seen ).

Foley/Rock - I Quit
WM16 Ladder Match
Lesnar/Angle - WM 19
HHH/Foley - Street Fight
Foley/Orton - No Holds Barred
and perhaps Jericho/Michaels from WM19

are worthy IMO.

[AtariLegend]

Foley/Rock - I Quit
WM16 Ladder Match
Foley/Orton - No Holds Barred

Good Matches, but those three do lack wrestling with out the stunts.

[Izzy]

Mankind v Taker - HIAC. If this doesn't merit 5 stars then nothing does. U can't train fir that stuff

HHH v Taker at mania was another classic, 5 star surely

[Gnrfan]

Mankind v Taker - HIAC. If this doesn't merit 5 stars then nothing does. U can't train fir that stuff

HHH v Taker at mania was another classic, 5 star surely

Mankind vs Taker was brilliant, but i don't think it will get 5* by the criteria that they set. Thats why so many matches include good technical wrestlers.

HHH vs Taker at Mania was horrible IMO. I hated it at the time and i watched it again about a month ago and still horrible.

What about Angle vs Benoit?

[AtariLegend]

All the Angle/Benoit singles matches, I could find.

2/6/03 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit  ****1/4
1/19/03 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit  ****3/4
9/22/02 Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle  ****1/2
5/20/01 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (2/3 falls � Pinfall only, Submission only, Ladder)  ****
5/5/01 Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (2/3 falls)  ***1/2
4/29/01 Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (30:00 Ultimate Submission)  ***1/4
4/1/01 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit  ****1/4
5/6/00 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit  ***

...And for reference:

4/1/01 Edge/Christian vs. Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/D-Von Dudley (Tables, Ladders & Chairs)  ****3/4
4/1/01 Triple H vs. Undertaker  ***1/2
4/1/01 Steve Austin vs. Rock (No DQ)  ****1/2

[Hammy]

I'd love to know what the difference is between a 4.5, 4.75 and 5.0 match, I mean really these ratings seem quite stupid.

[AtariLegend]

Austin/Bret & Bret/Owen had two of the best builds in wrestling history behind them.

The Michaels/Hall & Michaels/Undertaker matches featured amazing feats that WWE had never done before.

I think one of the problems some critics have "Undertaker/Mankind", is that the falls happened at the start of the match and Mankind was still able to take Undertaker to the limit afterwards.

As for "Edge/Christian vs. Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/D-Von Dudley", they didn't feature alot of wrestling holds that I remember.

[Hammy]

I think one of the problems some critics have "Undertaker/Mankind", is that the falls happened at the start of the match and Mankind was still able to take Undertaker to the limit afterwards.

Biggest I've read is, it was essentially a great spotfest, holy **** off the wall stunts, but as an actual match....

...compared to the first Hell in a Cell which combined great wrestling action with some uber cool bumps to, it depends what you judge things on and what you want out of a match.

[More Cowbell]

The guy who made this list is huge into japanese anime cartoons.

Seriously if 5 stars is the best possible u are telling me that only those 6 meet ur criteria. I think its a combination of wrestling, crowd reaction. Fued build up. Result of the match, how it affected the industry,

So I could see UT/mankind being a top notch match.

Itbrought hell in a cell to a new level, the fans were shocked and in awe. It was a decent fued build up. Although the technical wrestling isn't there this business is "sports entertainment" and in Sports entertainment I'd call that a 5