Random Matches

Kendall Windham, Stan Hansen, and Ted DiBiase vs. Akira Taue, Toshiaki Kawada, and Yoshinari Ogawa (09/29/1993, AJPW): More than anything, this match is all about the awesomeness of Stan Hansen and, to a lesser extent, Toshiaki Kawada. Ogawa is here to take the beating and he's (unsurprisingly) great in that role, taking some serious punishment from Hansen (including a powerbomb to finish him off). The match only goes a little over 10 minutes, not long enough to ever really move beyond just being "good." I was very surprised by how young DiBiase looked as you could've fooled me if you said this match was from 83' and not 93'. Sadly, I'm not saying that because DiBiase puts on a particularly memorable or spirited performance, but he still looks pretty good here considering he'd be essentially retired as an in-ring performer by the end of the year. (2.5/5)

Aja Kong vs. KAORU (02/13/2000, GAEA): I haven't seen much from the GAEA promotion and I must admit that while I've gone pretty far deep into the rabbit hole of great joshi wrestling, I've watched mostly 80s and mid-90s stuff. Anyway...this is a crazy violent match and I wasn't at all surprised to see that it had a super-high 9.57 score on Cagematch. Its the kind of match that showcases the brilliance of Aja Kong (which I already knew) and makes me want to see a bunch more from KAORU. There's some really unique use of weapons in this match, lots of great little moments, and I loved KAORU's plan of attack and how, once she realized Kong's arm/hand was seriously injured, she went right after it mercilessly. At only 16 minutes, the match isn't as epic as other highly-praised joshi matches, but I don't mind the comparative brevity because there is never a dull moment and everything they do is purposeful and advances the drama. Another absolute gem of a match out of Kong, who is maybe one of the best "big man" wrestlers just because she is able to get across both dominance and vulnerability better than almost any "giant" I've ever seen. (4/5)

Roddy Piper vs. Buddy Rose (05/19/1979, PNW): This one is a Lumberjack match, though they don't really spend all that much time outside of the ring and the lumberjacks don't come into play until the end. The action is okay if you're into this style, which is very minimal and brawl-based. The crowd is into this because both guys were mega-over with the Portland crowd but this is not a match that will blow you away aside from the heat. Fun for what it is and never boring, sure, but this will really only interest and impress those that like "old school 'rasslin'." (2.5/5)

Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Skywalker Nitron and Butch Masters (11/20/1990, AJPW): If you're reading this, you probably already know who Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa are and, even if this is a bit before each man's peak and before they became known as two of the Four Pillars, you also wouldn't be surprised that this is a total carry job as their opponents, known collectively as The Land of the Giants (admittedly, a sick name), are two huge stiffs. Skywalker Nitron went on to work as Big Sky, but he's mostly famous for playing Sabretooth in one of the X-Men movies and Michael Myers in Rob Zombie's Halloween. Butch Masters is a wrestler I'd never even heard of before so I was surprised to learn that he was active for 20+ years, wrestling as recently as 2012 with his earliest matches on Cagematch being from the late 80s. Anyway, Kawada and Misawa do a good job of making the monsters look like monsters and legitimate threats for most of the match, though once the tied turns, the momentum shifts entirely and its not long before Misawa and Kawada get the W. Really liked Kawada's dive to the floor and Misawa's final suplex. The crowd was also already super into Misawa, which I wasn't necessarily expecting in 90'. Not a very good match, not even a good match, but probably about as good as a Land of the Giants match could be. (1.5/5)

Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Dynamite Kid (08/17/1979, Stampede): This match was for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, a title that dated back to the 1960s but was barely promoted in the US in the 80s. Fujinami was in the midst of a long reign at this point. Kid comes out swinging with some good-looking forearms and then grabs an arm after a nearfall. Fujinami breaks it by backing Dynamite into the ropes but gets his wrist locked up again and taken down to the mat. Dynamite turns it into a headlock but Fujinami counters it into a nifty ankle lock that does some damage. Kid gets free and does some terrific selling and then gets back body dropped and dropkicked soon after. Dynamite gets a takedown and grabs Fujinami's ankle, but Fujinami grabs hold of his chin, turning it into a body scissors. Kid breaks free and hits him with some more stiff forearms and a headbutt in the corner. A dragon suplex by Dynamite gets 2 but Fujinami gets hold of the ankle again and hyperextends it with a dragon screw before twisting it up again. Fujinami hits another dragon screw and Kid is in serious pain as Fujinami grapevines the leg once more and falls back repeatedly. This would be dull and repetitive if it weren't for how intense and realistic it all is, both guys putting a ton of emotion into the struggle. Fujinami goes for a cover but Kid kicks out quickly and then hobbles into the corner. They lock up again and Fujinami gets sent to the ropes. He hits a tackle and we get some leapfrogs and then a midair collision - a classic "double down." Fujinami slams Kid's head into the mat a few times and goes for a cover but only gets 2. He applies a bow-and-arrow but Kid grabs the ropes to break it. Kid hits a huge headbutt and both men go down, exhausted. A sunset flip by Fujinami gets 2 and Kid slams his head into the mat and goes for a cover, but Fujinami bridges and then catches Kid in a body scissors! Kid tries to pin his shoulders but Fujinami gets his arms up. Kid counters the body scissors into a submission of his own, sitting on Fujinami's calves. Fujinami manages to turn it over and both guys, in an incredible show of strength and grit, push up off the mat. Dynamite manages to get a half-crab but can't get the submission and goes to work on Fujinami's lower back. He tries for an inside cradle but only gets 2. Fujinami hits a gut-wrench suplex and tries for an underhook but Kid goes to the corner and fights his way out. Fujinami grabs hold of Dynamite's ankle but eats a heel kick. Dynamite sends Fujinami to the outside of frustration, the first time this match has left the ring after 15+ minutes of action. Dynamite goes to the second rope and drops down on Fujinami with a stomp and then applies a rear headlock. Fujinami gets to his feet and gets hit with another barrage of strikes and then a snap mare. Kid tries for some pins but only gets 2 and goes back to targeting Fujinami's lower back. Dynamite ties him up in the ropes and goes for a running kick but Fujinami escapes and he crotches himself! Dropkick by Fujinami! 1...2...Kid has his feet on the ropes. Dynamite delivers a body slam and an elbow drop and then another slam before heading to the top rope, his nose busted up. He tries for a diving headbutt but Fujinami catches him with a dropkick! Dynamite ends up on the floor and Fujinami dives through the middle ropes, catching him with at least part of his body (the camera doesn't quite capture it and it looks like Fujinami got tripped up a bit). They brawl on the outside and Fujinami ends up back in the ring to beat the count. This was really good but I wish it had a stronger finish. Watching this, you can see why these two guys are considered among the best of all time. Had this ended with something even close to definitive, I would consider this "must see." (3.5/5)

Buddy Landell and Cocoa Samoa vs. Tully Blanchard and Bob Roop (04/24/1982, Mid-South Wrestling): Seeing Landell without his platinum hair is a little weird. I'd never even heard of Cocoa Samoa before this. Landell and Blanchard start things off with some good, fast-paced wrestling and Blanchard getting all pissy, which is always great. In comes Roop and Samoa, who has a very similar presentation/get-up as his close personal friend Jimmy Snuka. Roop hits some nice tackles but Samoa regains controls with some brilliant arm drags. Its not the most innovative stuff, but it all looks great and Roop moves better than one might expect looking at his physique. Roop sends Samoa to the floor but he comes back with a springboard sunset flip for 2. Blanchard makes the tag and they do a test of strength with Samoa bringing him to the mat and then making a quick tag to Landell, who holds onto a tight headlock. Landell takes out both heels and they head to the floor to re-think strategy. Blanchard applies a headlock onto Roop and then tags back out to Samoa. In comes Blanchard to eat more chops but The heels take over and cut the ring in half, working him over in the corner. Roop tries for a pin but Samoa gets his foot on the rope. Blanchard comes back in and hits an elbow and then a knee drop for 2. Roop comes back in and drives a knee into Samoa's ribs and then tries for a cradle but only gets 2. Blanchard comes in but ends up eating the turnbuckle and Samoa makes the tag! Landell seems to be in control but a blind tag leads to Roop hitting the High Knee and then a leg drop for 3. The match only runs 7 minutes but its good for what it is. (2.5/5)

Roddy Piper vs. Jack Brisco (07/10/1982, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling): I wouldn't say this match revealed anything new about Roddy Piper to me as much as it bolsters the argument that he could be very, very good against the right opponent and could get a ton of mileage out of doing "the little things" with a massive amount of energy and spirit. The extended headlock segment is probably the best use of a headlock I've ever seen in a wrestling match and I'm not sure anyone else could pull it off but these two. This is not a match that will impress modern viewers - there's simply not enough "high spots" - but its never boring or repetitive despite the straight-forward, rather simple offense. (3/5)

Tiger Mask II (Mitsuharu Misawa) and Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Samson Fuyuki (01/14/1990, AJPW): I was a little surprised to see that this was from 1990 as I always thought Misawa's Tiger Mask run ended by then. As I've watched more AJPW/NOAH over the past year, I've come to recognize the structure of matches like this as the two legendary tough guys - Tsuruta and Tenryu - team up with the less-established Misawa (under the Tiger Mask hood) and Fuyuki with the younger guys eating a ton of punishment. The Tsuruta/Tenryu interactions got the biggest reactions, but Misawa was impressive here too, moving with an energy and style that made him stand out. The finish was excellent as Tsuruta applied a half-crab to Fuyuki, Tenryu nailed him with a clothesline, but because he held onto the move, it wrenched Fuyuki's knee even more and he was forced to submit. (3/5)

Hisako Uno (Akira Hokuto) and Yumiko Hotta vs. Kazue Nagahori and Yumi Ogura (04/27/1987, AJW): This is the infamous match where Hokuto (who was still going by Hisako Uno at this point) takes a piledrives from the second turnbuckle, breaks her neck and basically holds it in place whenever she's not still wrestling, finishing the remaining 2 falls of the match (its a 2-out-of-3 falls match for the WWWA Tag Team Championships held by Nagahori and Ogura). After Hokuto's injury, Hotta looks legitimately pissed and really lets loose with her kicks, knocking some of Ogura's teeth out with direct shots to her face/head. It is brutal stuff. This is a hard match to rate because its hard not to focus on Hokuto's toughness as, rather than just spending the rest of the match on the outside, she does actually get involved and take some bumps after the injury. The finish is pretty ugly and feels a bit "forced" as Hotta seems to get up multiple times just so her opponent can lay into her with a believable finishing kick, but none of them look like match-enders the way Hotta's do. A "must watch" for fans of Hokuto because this match is regarded as a critical part of her origin story, but not an all-time great match or anything. (3/5)

Negro Casas vs. El Hijo Del Santo (07/18/1987, WWA): I spent a ton of time in 2025 and 2026 watching classic AJPW and joshi (mostly AJW) and a little bit of NOAH to help me broaden my tastes and put together a more respectable ballot for the 2026 Greatest Wrestler Ever poll at ProWrestlingOnly. Originally, my goal was to also watch more lucha libre, which didn't end up happening as I never really got "hooked" by the genre. I'm not a quitter, though, so I'm planning on diving deeper into the works of El Hijo Del Santo and Casas, two guys that have popped on many, many GWE lists I've seen. Anyway...Negro Casas is terrific and might have one of the best worked punches I've ever seen. Its not that it looks particularly real, but it looks dramatic and impactful in the best way. They tell a very basic story with Casas getting the first fall and El Hijo, the hero, having to fight hard to win the match (and to hold onto his mask as this is a Mask vs. Hair bout). There's an incredible visual when Casas tries to rip El Hijo's mask off and the referee has to try to choke him to stop it. Non-stop action, super hot crowd, and some nifty sequences with Casas bumping like a madman. (3.5/5)

Akira Maeda vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (08/13/1989, UWF): As someone pretty unversed in shoot-style pro-wrestling, I went into this with an open mind and the hope that it would blow me away with the striking and realistic submissions/counter-wrestling. That didn't exactly happen, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Maeda eventually gets the win with a series of stiff kicks that Fujiwara can't recover from, which didn't feel like a dramatic enough finish to me (but, hey, I get that this particular genre of wrestling is more about realism than about dramatic finishes). If this match is considered one of the best shoot-style matches of all time, I'm not sure how interested I am in seeing much more of the genre. (3/5)

Hisako Uno (Akira Hokuto) and Yumiko Hotta vs. Judy Martin and Leilani Kai (04/15/1987, AJW): Another early pre-Hokuto Hokuto match that I meant to watch before I made my Greatest Wrestler Ever ballot but didn't get to. This is a 2-out-of-3 falls match for the vacant WWWA World Tag Team Championships with the foreigners dominating the first fall, the babyfaces getting a countout victory for the 2nd when Kai suffers an arm injury, and then all hell breaking loose as Dump Matsumoto shows up and bloodies Hotta while Martin takes out Hokuto with a chair. I really liked the fire that the babyfaces showed here but disliked that the interference from Matsumoto didn't end the match. I'm fully aware that 80s joshi often involves all sorts of weapon shots and interference that doesn't cause a disqualification, but during a match for a vacant championship, there should be at least some logic that the reason the heels have to play by the rules is because they can't rely on a count-out or DQ to help them retain the titles. This isn't a must-see, though it is evidence that, even early on, Hokuto was a special worker. Good stuff. (3/5)

Dustin Rhodes vs. Bobby Eaton (12/07/1991, WCW): The date on this match on YouTube is 12/7, but Cagematch has it listed as happening on 11/11 (maybe that is when it was taped?). Anyway, this is about what you'd expect, which is a strong TV match from Saturday Night. Jim Ross is doing commentary solo but I kinda dig it because he is not only doing the play-by-play but also providing some very good commentary with plenty of references to Eaton's rap sheet as a heel. Dustin puts on a great babyface performance, selling the heck out of the damage done to his knee by Eaton's attack (which includes some marvelous chair shots on the floor). I also really liked Madusa's involvement on the outside. This is the kind of "classic" match layout that nobody seems to do these days, or at least not enough, but if you listen to the crowd, the heat is definitely there and it would still be there today (as proven by how much heat Stokely gets now that he's managing FTR). Not a "must see" match, but solid. (3/5)

Jerry Estrada vs. La Parka (04/30/1995, AAA): Not the best tape quality, but I don't mind a little bit of grain. Fun start with La Parka showing off his quickness and technical ability with Estrada forced to play defense a bit. Estrada's timing and spacing seems a bit awkward at times. The referee shows his allegiance to Estrada, making an incredibly fast count for him after a sunset flip. Parka applies a leglock to start the second fall but the ref essentially breaks it up. The ref makes an incredibly slow count when La Parka goes for a cover but La Parka continues to control the match, hitting an array of really good high-flying moves. He nearly cripples himself on a crazy springboard something-or-other to the floor but then makes up for it with an excellent suicide dive. Wow. Parka makes it back to the ring and the referee is forced to complete the count, tying things up 1-1. La Parka goes for another dive but gets caught up in the ropes and Estrada returns to the ring to hit him with a neck breaker. A ref's distraction allows Estrada to maintain control, but Estrada doesn't keep the pressure on. There's some dead time before Estrada delivers a suicide dive on his own. La Parka crawls into the ring but then retreats again, firing up the crowd. Back in the ring, Estrada bodyslams La Parka and then goes to the top but misses a back splash. La Parka covers and the ref doesn't even make the count. Estrada basically just stands and waits for La Parka to kick him. La Parka does a fancy pin but Estrada gets his foot on the ropes. He hits him with a dropkick that sends him to the floor and then comes flying off the top with a crossbody to the floor! Between the dead time (most of it when Estrada should seemingly be on offense) and Estrada just standing around, this match is really carried by La Parka's performance. They manage to make it back in the ring and La Parka hits an awesome Alabama Slam out of the corner. He goes to the top but misses a dropkick and Estrada applies a quick submission to steal the W. This match is listed on YouTube as happening on 4/30/1995, but seemingly didn't air until 08/06/1995 according to Cagematch. (3/5)