This is the definition of a work in progress! It's one of those overly massive and ambitious projects that isn't likely to ever reach a "satisfactory" level, so it's better to post what little I have, and slowly build upon it, than just keep adding to it without anyone ever seeing it because it's never "ready". In any case, what you have here is a list of matches I watched since November 2023 that I rated ***1/2 stars (wrestling)/very good (MMA/kickboxing) or higher, and also made a brief comment about. At this point, I wouldn't read too much more into the list than that.

1/3/24 AEW: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Darby Allin 12:50. Exciting sprint with big dramatic offense, very dynamic reversals, and a lot of recklessly flinging their bodies at one another. Their styles meshed really well, with strongman Takeshita ragdolling fiery kamikaze Darby around, including a massive avalanche German suplex. ***1/2

1/4/24 STARDOM, IWGP Women's Title Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Syuri 19:06. Energetic, all out, high impact spotfest that's a huge improvement over their previous 3 matches because they were finally trying to fit everything in, rather than to drag everything out. ****

1/10/24 DGPW: Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki 21:21. Almost as good in quality, crispness, and execution as their previous matches despite Mochizuki being almost 54, but this would certainly have been better at no more than 15 minutes, as for the first time, it felt overlong, with too much feeling out and dead time. Mochizuki wound up working the arm again after Shingo crashed the post when Mochizuki ducked the pumping bomber, but the older Mochizuki was generally fighting from behind. ***1/2

1/14/24 TNA: Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay 23:55. Big improvement from their 10/22/23 match. Will avoided the cringy acting, and stuck to his offense this time, with Alexander doing a much better job of feeding Ospreay, making him gain or retain the offensive by avoiding or countering something. They went crazy trying to really push it over the top in the final 10 minutes. ***1/2

2/3/24 AEW: Bryan Danielson vs. Hechicero 15:10. Similar to the ZSJ match, it started technically, but Danielson shifted to striking when he was getting outwrestled. The difference here was that Hechicero was happy to leave the technical wrestling, and show some striking and flying as well. This didn't feel like the technical masterpiece it was billed as, and they definitely could have worked better together with more familiarity, but it was quite interesting, as Hechicero is unique enough that this felt different than the normal Danielson match. ***1/2

2/11/24 NJPW: Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 32:46. Technical classic that was the best match of their careers. Wholly engrossing, intense struggle from start to finish where their movements, counters, and emotions felt realistic and genuine, and everything they did was done with purpose and conviction. They really upped the ante on the striking, and also succeeded in making it an organic, interweaved portion of their still more or less 100% technical match, *****

3/3/24 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita 21:57. Will's debut as a full-time AEW wrestler is a swift and compact video game match between two of the best athletes where where every spot was somewhat equally impressive but meaningless, and Takeshita kept Will on point throughout. ***3/4

3/8/24 ONE: Yau Pui Yu vs. Lara Fernandez 3R UD. Completely ridiculous pace. Both displayed tons of heart, desire, and determination, but it was a totally relentless, completely suffocating performance from Yu, who just kept charging forward punching, and didn't slow down a bit no matter what Fernandez tried. Very good.

3/29/24 CMLL Torneo Incredible De Parejas 2024 Final: Mascara Dorada & Rocky Romero vs. Atlantis Jr. & Soberano Jr. 17:58. A big time chaotic spotfest from two teams of rivals that was a lot of fun, but kind of messy. Everything they did was highly athletic, with Dorada being the flashiest. Soberano double crossed Atlantis, unmasking him so his regular partner, Romero, could get the win. ***1/2

4/17/24 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli 14:28. Reasonable length, fast-paced, spot oriented match designed to make Ospreay look strong going into his big PPV match with Bryan Danielson. Claudio is remarkably athletic for his size, and was typically great at tossing the opponent around, and working all the big man vs. small man spots. This wasn't so much about trying to go above and beyond to have a match of the year because they didn't want to risk injury before the PPV. The purpose was to get Will's core offense over, and show that he can overcome adversity. ***1/2

4/21/24 AEW International Title: Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O'Reilly 17:18. Their very physical technical styles have always been well suited for one another, and while this wasn't their best match together, they still take it seriously, delivering an intense match where they didn't waste much time or motion. They have great chemistry, counter each other beautifully, and bring the brutality, with everything seeming much more punishing than what others are doing. The finish came off flat due to Wardlow distracting the fans with his presence rather than O'Reilly. ***1/2

4/21/24 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson 32:40. A great showcase of what Will does, with Danielson putting him over consistently and completely, building all the early technical sequences around Will's athletic counter. Everything, of course, looks amazing from every physical and technical perspective, but Will is content to just do his thing rather than develop a match with Danielson, and Danielson just keeps setting him up and feeding him rather than pushing him to a higher level by making him work for anything. ****

1/4/23 NJPW IWGP United States Heavyweight Title Match: Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega 34:38. Kenny's first real singles match since 11/13/21 sees him carrying Ospreay to a MOTYC that while Gedo length, was actually consistently entertaining, as they opted for a dramatic and hard hitting match that had a lot of big moves, though they were spaced out and done at a more moderate pace than they would have been in a shorter, more junior style match. The first half was all very good, useful, and interesting stuff, but the crux of the match came when Ospreay tried to set up an avalanche style move of his own, but bladed when Omega countered it by DDTing him on the exposed top turnbuckle, slowing the match down in a very dramatic and effective manner. They did a great job of building up to Ospreay finally coming back, only to fantastically fool us by having Omega counter the avalanche style Frankensteiner by dropping poor Ospreay headfirst onto the exposed turnbuckle again! ****1/2

3/15/23 Marvelous: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Mio Momono 16:20. Hashimoto was ultimately a great base for Momono, and more than willing to keep setting her up. Their contrasting styles bring out the best in both. Once Hashimoto moved past the submission portion and got her brutal power offense going, it was very compelling, and they really built things up here into a proper big match despite this one only being the semifinal. ***1/2

3/23/23 AEW: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega 16:53. This all-time level American TV match was a super spectacular showcase of Viking's aerial exploits to get him over with the mainstream audience. Vikingo is faster, more athletic and spectacular though than even a young healthy Omega, and Omega was more than willing to be the base for Vikingo's flying, going above and beyond at all turns but the finish to help create a new star in the USA. ****1/2

3/30/23 WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow 2023: Black Taurus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander 12:45. The 3 way actually works a bit better for this spectacular aerial exhibition because there winds up being less setup time, but it's goofy that this starts out as essentially a handicap match, only to have Taurus play a minor role in the 2nd half. ***1/2

3/31/23 ROH, AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander 15:43. One of the most spectacular matches of all-time, but totally devoid of flow and believability, as seemingly every great spot they did took a minute to set up. ***1/2

5/3/23 Marvelous, AAAW Title: Chikayo Nagashima vs. Mio Momono 26:06. These two short athletic women are fairly similar styistically in their heyday, but while Nagashima is no longer an exceptional athlete, she's actually made good adjustments to remain interesting and relevant, and did a fantastic job of carrying this match and making Momono look that much better. Nagashima made Momono pay for trying to use her leaping and flying, but ultimately gave Momono much more of the spotlight through her great athletic comebacks. A big step up from their December match because it maintained the energy, despite being two and a half times longer, while also using that time to make it more dynamic, diverse, and dramatic. ***3/4

6/25/23 AEW, IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay 39:45. The disappointing no urgency grudge rematch was kind of the worst of both league's styles, a BS Road epic with blood and corny entertainment shenanigans. They kind of exhausted everything in their arsenal, but never really challenged one another in the manner in which they incorporated any of it, or brought their best stuff in terms of actually creating together. Ospreay's offense was good enough to keep things interesting, but the match rarely got beyond the most basic level of doing a single big move then waiting around. The whole thing was just so drawn out it actually felt slow despite involving two of the fastest and most athletic workers. ***1/2

7/15/23 AAA Mega Title: Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega 18:52. The much more spectacular AEW match was purely a showcase for Vikingo with Omega winning, while this had far more offense from Omega with Vikingo winning, which would have been fine if Omega did something akin to his normal style rather than a methodical rudo style. This may be the only match that was dramatically hurt by Omega being on offense so much. ***1/2

7/16/23 SGPW: Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. DASH Chisako 14:25. The expected strong work, but DASH typically is able to elevate things, doing a great job of making it feel like a big important match despite it not even beng the main event, and pulling the fight out of Hiroyo. ***1/2

8/12/23 AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Daga vs. Jack Cartwheel vs. Mike Bailey 16:06. Super spectacular chaotic high flying video game action that accomplished its one goal of wowing the audience despite having little connective tissue or drama. ***3/4

8/23/23 PFL 9, PFL Lightweight Semifinal: Clay Collard vs. Shane Burgos 3R. The PFL match of the year is an exceptional, high output war with Collard, one of the best and most relentless punchers in the sport winning the 1st 2 rounds with his boxing to all quadrants, while Burgos kick game took Collard's legs to the point he wasn't able to move much in the 3rd, though it was ultimately too little too late. Excellent match.

8/25/23 SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Sareee 27:32. An opponent at her level brings out the old Arisa, who delivers an intense, no nonsense, non stop fight against a near pre WWE level Sareee that flies by despite being a long match that isn't particularly fast moving or flashy. Probably the stiffest joshi match of the year, built well through consistently escalating violence. SEAdLINNNG MOTY. ****

8/26/23 RevPro: Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi 20:08. Two great workers delivering a high caliber exhibition with few surprises that felt a lot more like a showcase for Will than a continuation of their rivalry. This was at least a reasonable length, and flowed a lot better than their famous, hugely overrated 6/5/19 wannabe epic. ***3/4

9/1/23 Prestige: Fenix vs. Rey Horus 16:29. These two kings have excellent chemistry, fighting hard and aggressive despite the small show. They did a great job of utilizing their body control for some fantastic bumps and dynamic counters without making it look too overly choreographed. Very smooth and exciting action. ***1/2

9/2/23 SGPW Tag Team Title: Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs. DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto 20:39. Excellent effort, creating the feel of a big rivalry match feel, with DASH vs. Hashimoto clearly being the highlight. ***1/2

9/3/23 STARDOM, 5STAR Grand Prix 2023 Block B: Syuri [7] vs. Mayu Iwatani [7] (12:30. The most successful of their 1st 3 matches simply because they just did what they are good at without trying to manufacture a lot of false drama. Their weaknesses were largely hidden because there wasn't enough time for them to be exposed. ***1/2

10/1/23 AEW: Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. 23:12. A less is more match that retained the depth and variety even though it was basically only submissions and striking because they were able to tell and put over the stories so well, creating more drama and anticipation by doing a focused technical match where they had all the answers to one another. Bryan was able to withstand Zack's attack to his recently broken arm, and win through striking because they were too even technically to get the job done with a submission. AEW MOTY. ****1/2

12/5/23 AEW Continental Classic Blue League Match: Andrade El Idolo [6] vs. Bryan Danielson [6] 18:33. Intense, dramatic, hard hitting old school story oriented match with modern moves thrown in that really drew me in with the storytelling, and actually felt significant. ***3/4

12/15/23 ROH, AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus 16:29. Far less exhibition feeling than the typical Vikingo match, as Taurus, who is a total wrecking ball powerhouse who could still fly enough to keep Vikingo honest, forced Vikingo to utilize much quicker setups, otherwise he'd just catch him midair and toss him like a ragdoll. ROH MOTY. ****

12/16/23 UFC: Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa 3R. A classic of will over skill. No one was making any adjustments, but they're both relentless volume strikers who rank among the top 5 in the history of the women's bantamweight division in significant strikes per minute, and they typically refused to slow or back down. Undoubtedly, the action was tremendous, the display of heart was great, but there certainly wasn't a lot of diversity, so it kind of wound up being 3 rounds of the same thing, entertaining as that may have been. In the end, they did what they know how to do, for better and worse, and they did it all out for 15 really rough and tough minutes, just battering each other until even their bruises were bleeding. Very good match.

12/20/23 AEW, AAA Mega Title: El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Black Taurus 14:13. Not as good as their 12/15/23 ROH match because they played even and just exchanged spectacular spots. ***1/2

2/2/20 NJPW, RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title Match: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay 27:04. One of the best the openings we've seen from NJPW in ages, their best version of the old World of Sport style, and since the submissions, locks, and counters actually matter in that style, they were busy jockying for position and making meaninging movement toward alleviating the pressure or escaping, so there was no need to fill the time stalling or overselling. Zack did a great job of reigning Will in here so most of his stuff made some semblance of sense. ****1/2

11/22/20 NOAH GHC Heavyweight Title: Go Shiozaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 42:35. Nakajima constantly attacked Shiozaki's chop hand and lariat arm, but Shiozaki persisting was a reasonable story, but just became overkill when Shiozaki not only refused to move off using the arm, but it grew increasingly stronger as the match progressed despite Nakajima's relentless attack. Given the hand these two were dealt, they did a great job, but there were diminishing returns at this length, as it just became repetitive. ***3/4

6/8/19 SGPW, Sendai Girls Tag Title Match: Charli Evans & Millie McKenzie vs. DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto 18:38. So energized and urgent it felt more like the big interpromotional match than the actual title vs. title main event did. It was also fast-paced, hard-hitting, high intensity action from start to finish, rather than just in the second half. Mckenzie was really fired up here, going all out trying to one up DASH, and generally to have a match of the year. Matsumoto and Evans were good, but the match was mostly DASH and McKenzie making things happen. ***3/4

10/30/18 WWE Title Match: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan 22:35. A big step up from their April match, as this was given a proper amount of time to develop the injury and work the submission style to a proper conclusion that thankfully didn't involve the spaz Nakamura. Styles worked the left knee after Bryan injured it landing on his tope, including a suplex to the floor and then a kneebreaker on the table. This ultimately paid off when Styles caught a middle kick into a Dragon screw in the ropes, and Styles clashed his way out of a triangle into a calf crusher to retain. ***1/2

11/13/18 WWE Title Match: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan 20:19. Similar to, but not as accomplished as their 10/30/18 match. These two have good chemistry though, and work very well together. After 2 years of retirement, Bryan recaptures the WWE Title with a surprise heel turn. ***1/2

5/9/17 King Of Gate 2017 Block D: Masaaki Mochizuki [2] vs. Shingo Takagi [0] 13:11. Given it was a 13 minute league match at Korakuen Hall rather than a 25 minute PPV match at EDION Arena Osaka, this energetic sprint was a great follow up to the best match of the series on 11/1/15, a hell of a war that doesn't show any deterioration in the performers or the matchup. It began fast, shifting to Mochizuki's arm work and Takagi's knee work before settling on being a Takagi style slugfest. Takagi should have won, but the smarter and craftier fighter came out on top when Takagi died to his own aggression. ****

3/21/16 STARDOM, Goddesses of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani vs. Kairi Hojo & Meiko Satomura 24:21. Best joshi match of 2016, and arguably the best match in the history of STARDOM. Satomura's has her best match as the wrecking ball boss in this brutal striking war, facilitating fast, full energy and impact skirmishes that are incredibly intense and urgent rather than patterned and formulaic. Even though Satomura was a random outsider tossed into a match between 3 friends, this felt like an interpromotional war from the glory days. ****3/4

12/18/16 JWP: Arisa Nakajima vs. Command Bolshoi 30:00. One final match together before Arisa left JWP at the end of the year. They went really hard for 30 minutes despite the building being almost empty. The draw wasn't exactly surprising, but they worked it like a short match, rather than one that was lasting all night. ****

4/3/15 PWG: Chris Hero vs. Tommy End 19:50. End's PWG debut was a high quality striking match where he displayed a great deal of skill and variety with his kickboxing oriented style. Hero adapted well to what his opponent did and didn't have to offer, sticking to beating the crap out of one another. ***1/2

4/3/15 PWG: Ricochet vs. Andrew Everett 16:23. Spectacular gymnastics display, with Everett showing he possesses the aerial offense to hang with Ricochet, including a swandive shooting star to the outside and a double moonsault. Ricochet was definitely a lot better when it came to working the sequences and transitions, and required less setup time in general. Highlight was Everett landing on his feet for Ricochet's avalanche reverse Frankensteiner, hitting is own reverse Frankensteiner, and then a regular Frankensteiner. ***1/2

6/14/15 PCL: Flamita vs. Volador Jr. Mostly Volador feeding for young Flamita's spectacular flying, trying to raise his credibility to set up the future title challenge. Not as urgent as the best Volador, but a fun match where Flamita did a lot of spectacular stuff. ***1/2

11/1/15 DGPW EDION Arena Osaka, Open The Dream Gate Title Match: Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki 24:55. They pulled out all the stops to elevate their normal match to a really crazy, all out match of the year candidate, taking the best aspects of everything they've done before, and finally figuring out how to combine them into a classic big match that added a lot of new big spots featuring Takagi's power, Mochizuki's flying, and huge impact from both. It was close to twice the length of their usual match, yet still worked faster and more aggressively, with tons of bombs and extra brutality. Mochizuki was back to intercepting as many of Takagi's strikes with kicks to the right arm as he could, but Takagi was just so strong he was often overwhelming Mochizuki even though Mochizuki was fighting smartly. Takagi was in the midst of his 3rd run with Open The Dream Gate Title, but this was the first time it felt like he had finally managed to surpass the master that had owned him for the first 11 years of his career. ****1/2

12/12/14 PWG World Title: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Ricochet 22:20. O'Reilly controlled with brutal strikes leading into his submissions, working the arm, with Ricochet forced to use more suplexes and strikes to break free for his hot flying comebacks. More of a fight than a Ricochet exhibition, thanks to Kyle. Great finish with O'Reilly countering the shooting star press with a triangle. ***1/2

12/12/14 PWG World Title Guerrilla Warfare: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong 22:21. Strong arrived just in time for the late challenge, which O'Reilly decided should be guerrilla warfare. Match got Strong over as the new top heel with Adam Cole leaving, starting off hot and heated, but there were diminishing returns. It could have been excellent if it developed into a wrestling match, but it was just two talented wrestlers doing a match that had little beyond plunder. It had it's moments, but O'Reilly rightfully gassed, having already done a full match against Ricochet, while Strong was taking a minute to set up each "shitty little spot". ***1/2

8/4/13 NJPW G1 Climax 2013 Block A Match: Tomohiro Ishii [4] vs. Katsuyori Shibata [4] 12:17. Arguably the greatest striking oriented pro wrestling match ever, a no frills, aggressive, believable fight. It's brief and direct, accomplishing all it needs to before the point of diminishing returns was reached through a combination of intensity, urgency, and stiffness that made the fight seem real. They didn't have to do all the tropes of Strong Style because they were actually able to make the audience believe they were killing each other, so the selling, as well as the "early" finish were actually believable. This had a fierceness and savagery that simply can't come across when the primary motif is to lay around doing nothing to stretch things out. ****3/4

10/27/13 NOAH Global League 2013 Block A: Katsuhiko Nakajima [4] vs. KENTA [2] 19:52. The more manageable length kept them out of survival mode, and allowed them to utilize their energy more efficiently, resulting in their best match together since 3/1/09. Being compressed and more in the junior style rather than just kick exchanges kept it from becoming repetitive. There was more activity and movement, and they did a better job of building to the finish rather than simply pacing themselves throughout. Going from KENTA almost having the match won to Nakajima suddenly finishing him out of nowhere after one rather pedestrian high kick was a bizarre and unsatisfying finish though. ***1/2

12/29/13 STARDOM, JWP Openweight & World Of STARDOM Double Title Match: Arisa Nakajima [JWP champ] vs. Io Shirai [Stardom champ] 25:18 of 30:00. They set a more intense, serious, and less cooperative tone for this high stakes intrepromotional match, relying on fairly believable matwork for much of the first half. They tried to make the high spots feel more earned, but at some point they just had to get going, and fit everything in. The time flew by, but it was obvious this was going the distance, and somewhat disappointing given the amazing talent involved. ****

5/12/11 DGPW, King Of Gate 2011 First Round: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Shingo Takagi 18:18. A better version of their 1/17/10 match, and their best match thusfar, with Takagi giving a stronger performance, bringing his energetic bursts. Mochizuki was once again destroying his arm, and just had an answer for virtually everything Takagi tried. Takagi did his best to fight through the pain and level Mochizuki with big strikes, but Mochizuki just intercepted Shingo's punches and pumping bombers with his kicks. Takaki had more power, but time and time again, Mochizuki was a step or two ahead of him. They pulled out all the stops, and this was their best match so far, but the Rocky II finish at 18:18 where Mochizuki beat the 10 count but Takagi collapsed trying was a bit much. ****

1/17/10 DGPW, FIP World Heavyweight Title: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Shingo Takagi 13:03. Shingo was into his peak years now, and this wais an energetic, albeit somewhat brief match, with both near the top of their game. Takagi kept battering Mochizuki with his hard hitting power game, but Mochizuki was able to injure his arm on the apron to slow Takagi down. Mochizuki had nice runs with his athletic kicks, but his plan was clear, and by continuing to go back to the arm, he not only prevented Takagi from steamrolling him, but was eventually able to finish with an udegatame. ***1/2

3/1/09 NOAH GHC Junior Heavyweight Title: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. KENTA 25:45. At 25 minutes, they were able to go all out from start to finish, delivering a vintage KENTA match, a fast paced, aggressive striking war where neither would back down. They told a much better, more compact story, by removing much of the filler. KENTA was always battling from behind, fighting both Nakajima and his own body, as Nakajima kept shutting him right down by going back to the injured knee, which kept KENTA from ever building momentum. It was their best story match, and the pacing was better, as they were able to pick things up and slow things down at the right moments. The fact that they had a clear focus, but at the same time could also allow the match to breathe made for a much more dynamic and interesting match, as the action could be more varied and less predictable. ****1/2

7/5/09 NOAH: Go Shiozaki vs. KENTA 28:43. A shockingly good small show semifinal where they just beat the crap out of one another. Exceptionally rough and hard-hitting for the 1st 2/3, picking up the speed considerably for the final third to try to put it over the top. ****

6/13/08 KOPW: KENTA vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima 27:35. This intense, energetic, all-out striking war was a great way to start off this classic series of matches. Their most original match, and most junior style match, a full speed ahead aggressive battle that was striking based, but they knew how to get away with leaving the striking battles then going back to them, so they were able to find a good balance that kept us wanting more without getting burned out. The match built up well, and just kept getting more interesting as they answered each other so well, increasingly working more and more big moves into the mix. ****1/4

10/12/07 DGPW: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Shingo Takagi 6:31 of 14:20. A great example of an all-out aggressive Katsuyori Shibata style striking war, well before Shibata made the style famous with his 2012 return to New Japan. There's a great urgent drive, exchanging bombs back and forth at a very frantic pace, topping each other with impact. This feels like the best of their early matches, and probably the 2nd best match in the series. ****1/4 star range.

3/27/05 JWP: Azumi Hyuga & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Command Bolshoi & Kaoru Ito 21:25. Everyone was quite good here, and everything was very well done. All the pairings were quite good too, to the point it would be difficult to say pick the best worker or pairing. Having the outsider Ito added a bit of intensity and urgency, but this was still just a very small show main. ***1/2

9/18/05 DGPW, Open The Dream Gate Title Match: Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Shingo Takagi 20:32. These two already have good chemistry and a nice dynamic. Shingo still isn't great here, but he's solid and aggressive, becoming a credible challenger through controlling with his consistent knee attack. Mochizuki carried this, delivering the faster and more exciting action, winning the running battles and striking battles. ***1/2

10/9/05 01-MAX NWA International Lightweight Tag Title Match: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm 14:25 of 23:16. All flash and spectacle. A wild gymnastics display of athletic creativity and insanity, with the British team were doing their best to add height and/or some kind of twist or turn to everything they did. If they're going to do an unbelievable match, I prefer something like this that goes all the way with it, and is decked out to the absolute max. Storm did a crazy balcony dive.****

5/24/03 ARSION 5min 3R: Mariko Yoshida vs. Megumi Fujii 3R 3:30. We finally got to see what Yoshida could do with a real mixed martial artist, and it's otherworldly, the best women's grappling oriented match we've ever seen. Anyone assuming this would be a master vs. a debuting student who hasn't put the usual amount of time into pro wrestling training because it was just a fun side project was in for quite the shock, as Yoshida had so much respect for the skills of Fujii that she actually let her lead the majority of the match. Fujii gave the best debut performance ever, in the best debut match ever, in the best women's match of the style ever. Her movement, entries, traps, and crazy athletic attacks were just a thing of beauty. The pace of this match was fantastic, as they just went all out, almost nonstop, with Fujii launching an endless array of tricky, unique, and athletic grappling attacks. Yoshida really upping her game here, working a lot faster than she ever had before. If the question is how can pro wrestling exist in an MMA world, the answer is Yoshida vs. Fujii! *****

4/7/02 Jd': The Bloody vs. Megumi Yabushita 13:48. They kept this to a reasonable length, so they were able to go hard and bring junior style action from start to finish. Bloody isn't as technical as Sakai, but she has a much better idea of how to construct a match and keep things moving. Bloody was strategically trying to stay away from submission wrestling, bringing big action and chaos as usual, but Yabushita would still find a way to get her technical wrestling in, even if it meant countering with a flying armbar. This was a little sloppy, but a fast paced and exciting match with several big moves, including avalanche versions of the dragon suplex and armbar. ***3/4

2/18/99 ARSION Queen Of ARSION Title Match: Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiromi Yagi 20:36. The 1999 Joshi Puroresu Match of the Year is a wonderful technical display where the year's MVP, Yoshida, finally meets someone as skilled and even more entertaining. They never stop moving, and both wrestlers are required to actually find some way to defend themselves and work their moves in, with effort and energy applied to everything they try, and no wasted time or movement. Unlike Yoshida's previous opponents who focused on winning the standup, Yagi took the match in a different direction after taking an air raid crush at the outset, deciding to beat Yoshida on the mat or force Yoshida to outmaneuver her there, and boy did she have tons of great answers. ****3/4

3/22/99 RINGS: Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara 20:14. One of the better minimalist RINGS matches, but it's appeal will mostly be to purests. The only Tamura vs. Kanehara match showed none of what distinguished their earlier great work. It was about anticipation, rather than flash, keeping almost all their actions small and subtle, and doing slow slight progressions to near submission attempts. Kanehara was competitive, but never really made any true progress towards winning. ***1/2

5/4/99 ARSION TOURNAMENT ARS '99 1st Round: Yumi Fukawa vs. Mariko Yoshida 11:34. One of the best under 12 minute matches ever. Fukawa gives an amazing, passionate underdog performance, attacking Yoshida's left arm with everything she could think of, and then some. It's a truly beautiful grappling match, with a massively improved Fukawa refusing to accept her position as an undercarder. Fukawa showed so much heart, desire, determination, and improvement that she became credible even against the top grappler in the league, and made you care whether she won. ****1/4

5/4/99 ARSION TOURNAMENT ARS '99 Semifinal: Hiromi Yagi vs. Mariko Yoshida 13:39. A bit truncated compared to their 2/18/99 title match, but a faster paced, more dynamic contest where they packed in as much as they could. Their familiarity resulted in a slicker match that was one of the more exciting matches in the Yoshida style, and once again one of the top joshi matches of 1999. Yoshida did a great job of selling the arm here, having it cost her a couple chances at victory. Yoshida delivered two classics in one night, while Yagi scored arguably the biggest singles win of her career here with a wakigatame, handing Yoshida just her third loss in the 15 month history of ARSION. ****1/2

1/11/98 Jd' TWF World Single Title Match: Jaguar Yokota vs. Lioness Asuka 15:29 of 17:11. Along with LCO, Lioness was pioneering the workrate end of the hardcore wrestling style during this period, able to maintain the workrate joshi style, while adding props to make the moves seem more deadly. This was arguably her best of these ahead of the curve matches, and if it doesn't age as well, it's because the style has become so popular we see these stunts and gimmicks all the time now. This match was very frontloaded, with an awesome lightning fast technical burst start, but then Lioness shifted to the hardcore style, and Jaguar just couldn't compete in that realm, resulting in the match being rather one-sided, with Jaguar getting hope spots through athletic counters, but never actually turning the tide. The finish was anticlimactic, and as good as it was, they were capable of much better, but there aren't many female legends, or legends in general, who are modernizing in their mid to late 30's, much less through incorporating the roughest, toughest, and most athletic spots and bumps into their style. ****1/2

6/17/96 NJPW, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Dick Togo vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 15:56. Only singles match between these all-time greats, but Togo was very much an up an comer here, so Liger had to make him credible before making Togo pay for his cockiness by mercilously destroying Togo's bad left elbow. The brutality made it work as a shorter, more compact high impact match that didn't feel overdone, with perfect execution and great selling that didn't come at the expense of the pace or the flow. The famous spot had Togo try a tijeras off the apron only to have Liger counter with a crushing powerbomb onto the floor. This was an all-action match, but it didn't feel like an empty spotfest because they were able to make the offense meaningful, and feel so damn punishing. ****1/2

1/24/94 AJW 2/3 Falls WWWA World Tag Title: Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 38:37. A match designed to get huge underdogs LCO over where it was abundantly clear they were nowhere near Yamada & Toyota's level. They took an excellent 2nd fall, and had Toyota dead with a piledriver on the floor early in the 3rd, but their big early nearfall got no reaction, and they were never really a threat after that. Yamada was great here, but the least involved, as it was mostly Toyota selling for LCO. ****

7/17/94 WAR, UWA World Middleweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. The Great Sasuke 22:23. Incredibly, suicidally athletic match, with some awe-inspiring flying. They were doing their best to push the boundaries athletically, but it took until the finish spam for them to actually get in step and on the same page. ***3/4

8/13/93 UWF-I: Yoji Anjo vs. Naoki Sano 20:38. Anjo gave a great performance carrying this. He was really clever and tricky here, asking almost all the questions to put Sano firmly in the role of underdog who had to keep finding an answer. Anjo was the better striker, takedown artist, and grappler, but Sano would eventually turn the corner on the mat, and he kept surviving long enough to eventually win. ***3/4

8/13/93 UWF-I: Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Super Vader 6:24. Yamazaki as sacrificial lamb again, still managing to make this dramatic and exciting through his thoughtfulness and craftiness, having the crowd on the edge of their seats, pulling for him to find a way to somehow do anything to this unstoppable monster. It felt a lot longer and a lot more competitive than it actually was because there was a lot of strategy on Yamazaki's part, and they did a lot to make the offense they did seem meaningful and purposeful. It was just a very smart and effective match all around, that pulled everyone into their underdog story so Yamazaki wasn't killed by the result everyone knew was coming, while the threat of Vader, and his stardom, continued to rise. ***1/2

8/21/93 AJW Japan Grand Prix '93 Semifinal: Manami Toyota vs. Akira Hokuto 16:36. They mixed enough flashy stuff in between the well done knee work that you were into everything they were doing. Hokuto laid out a nice match, and Toyota wanted to outshine her bad enough to put a full effort into all aspects, rather than just the highspots. This was actually an exciting, all around performance by Toyota, as the action was urgent, intense, and spirited whether they were doing big dives or working each others appendages. ****3/4

12/10/93 AJW Tag League The Best '93 League Match then Final: Akira Hokuto & Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Kyoko Inoue 15:36 + 14:49. Kyoko & Yamada win the last league match to force a playoff match directly afterwards for the championship. They couldn't decide if they were doing a Toyota style workrate match or a Hokuto style drama working her bad knee, so the first was the former, and the 2nd was more of the later. Neither fully came together, but 4 top workers giving their all at a crazy pace was enough. Yamada & Hokuto were great, and the fans went home happy with Hokuto once again overcoming. ****1/2

8/30/92 AJW: Bull Nakano & Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami vs. Akira Hokuto & Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda 17:51. They went all out for this midcard 6 woman with FMW stars Megumi Kudo & Combat Toyoda in the offense to set up the 1st interpromotional match on FMW 9/19/92, delivering an incredibly energetic sprint that was chaos in the best possible way, with useful brawling segments that didn't hijack the whole match. Great effort throughout with an exciting climax with a lot of saves and double teams. ****1/4

12/28/92 WCW, NWA/WCW Tag Title: Barry Windham & Flyin' Brian vs. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas 20:02. Classic southern style tag with strong, fiery performances all around. Pillman and Douglas worked a more technical style early, while most of the striking was saved for Steamboat vs. Windham. Windham actually did a heel in peril segment and Pillman took his great face bump off the apron onto the guard rail to no major purpose before Douglas became the face in peril again after a big bump off the top rope to the floor. Steamboat's hot tag was brief, and Douglas had to hot tag back, with Steamboat able to help, taking Windham out with a high cross body where both went over the top and crashed onto the ramp so Douglas could finish Pillman with his belly to belly suplex. Windham mostly carried the match, as Steamboat was largely confined to the apron. ***1/2

9/21/91 TWA: Owen Hart vs. Takayuki Iizuka 21:40. One of the important early 1990's American junior heavyweight matches, along with the GWF Lightning Kid vs. Chaz and Lightning Kid vs. Jerry Lynn series, and then, of course, the next level WCW Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Brian Pillman series, transitioning the style of American wrestling from the remedial 1980's dropkick and high crossbody brand of so called "high flying" only performed by the faces to something that felt like a genuine Japanese junior style match. Owen was so far ahead of the curve as an athlete and an innovator. His gracefulness and body control never get old. Iizuka puts up competent and credible enough strike oriented offense while setting Owen up to be the star at every turn. ***1/2

3/27/88 JCP, NWA United States Tag Title Match: Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers 10:15. Really fiery, intense and urgent sprint with excellent and actually useful brawling that went a long way towards getting the grudge over before becoming a really flashy match for its day. Only held back by being so brief and having a silly finish. ***1/2

3/5/87 Joint World Mid-Heavyweight Title Decision Match: "Bronco" Owen Hart vs. Marty Jones R10 2:00 (R3 & 4 skipped). Owen's plane was late, so the match started almost as soon as he arrived, and he had to warm up in the ring. The match is it started kind of slow, but they did a nice job of drawing you in. Owen was well suited to this British style where everything was build from, out of, off, and through the most basic technical moves, in this case, the arm bar. They did a good job of building the match through the counters, and easing you into the high spots. It was more hard hitting than spectacular, with Jones using some big slams, but they understood how and when to play off of each other and change the advantage. ***3/4

5/5/85 WCCW: Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey vs. Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers 8:35. Shorter, more action packed match with the No DQ stip allowing all 4 to constantly brawl between the two rings, bumping often until the silly early finish. ***1/2

11/18/81 Joint Promotions: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 9:50. Fast-paced grudge match that's more about explosive brawling and general nastiness. This was their most aggressive and mean spirited bout, with both quickly becoming quite chippy, and just beating each other up at every opportunity. ****1/4

11/30/81 Joint Promotions, World Heavy-Middleweight Title Match: Mark Rocco vs. Dynamite Kid 12:50. Their aim was to combine their previous two matches, trying harder to reincorporate the technical aspects we saw in their first match with an increased focus on gymnastics, while amping up the aggressive rivalry aspects that made their 2nd match work. It's very explosive, and higher impact, but it didn't feel as unified and cohesive because they were now trying to make the best aspects of two very different stylistic matches work together in one match that, at 12:50, was hardly any longer. ****

1980

11/26/80 Joint: Dynamite Kid vs. Mark Rocco 11:22. Flowing and shifting start to finish technical classic that feels like a whole because they just keep evolving and working lengthy sequences out of the lock up, occasionally going right back to it to restart. ****1/2

6/11/76 AJPW, 2/3 Falls NWA World Heavyweight Title Match, Jumbo Tsuruta 10 Match Trial Series #3: Terry Funk vs. Jumbo Tsuruta 27:07 15:45 of 15:50, 6:01 of 6:05, 5:06 of 5:12. A great example of a fundamental technical wrestling match that works despite a relative lack of successful high spots because they were able to fend them off in a compelling manner. Funk wais the mastermind, giving one of his best performances in this teacher vs. student match pitting Jumbo's strength and agility against Funk's experience in adjusting on the fly. ****