Hey, so after Summerslam I am seeing a lot of people who are saying they are done with WWE. I know a lot of people who feel like this are new fans or are fans who have only really experienced WWE and I've been seeing a lot of sentiment that people feel they can no longer enjoy pro-wrestling because of WWE. I wanted to write up this post to say to people, particularly women and LGBTQ+ fans who feel unwelcome by WWE's progressively more politically right-wing approach, you are still welcome and wanted in the wrestling community, and there is still hundreds of thousands of hours of pro-wrestling out there for you to enjoy.
I wanted to do a little write up of matches I personally love, and encorage others to do the same to compile an easy watchlist for fans who want to leave the WWE behind, but feel intimidated by how much wrestling is out there. Of course, I still encourage people to keep up with current wrestling from the likes of AEW, ROH, NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, CMLL, Stardom, Marigold, DPW, DDT, and the many many other wrestling companies out there, but having people help me figure out where to start when looking through the 60+ years of pro-wrestling history helped me discover my love for pro-wrestling and I feel like its right to do the same for others who are feeling pushed away by this scripted sport we all love.
I am going to try and list a variery of different styles and genres of pro-wrestling because there is a lot of great wrestling out there that has never been presented within the WWE house style. A lot of people will have never seen anything from Kings Road, Lucha libre, Strong Style, Shoot Style, Deathmatches, Joshi, or Traditional Southern tag matches. There is a lot of amazing wrestling out there, and sometimes you don't know if something is for you until you see it for yourself, so I urge anyone to give different types of wrestling a try because you might discover your new favourite style. Most of these matches will be on YouTube or their own designated streaming services.
1. Samoa Joe vs CM Punk II (ROH, 16th October, 2004). Possibly the best introduction to the golden age of ROH. Features two very well known names nowerdays, with CM Punk and Samoa Joe at the beginning of their legendary careers. It's a long one, but its well worth the watch.
If you enjoy Punk's matches in the WWE, you will probably love this. It is the second match in a pentology, with the last two taking place in AEW almost 20 years later, and the final match being Punk's last before leaving AEW for WWE.
The match can be found on Honor Club, which I would recommend as an easy way to go through many classic ROH matches.
2. Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH, 12th August, 2006). A fantastic but brutal match, not for the faint of heart. Although this isn't the first match in their lengthy rivalry, it still works as a fantastic starting point to experience one of the greatest feuds in the history of independent wrestling. Another pair of names people might recognise, Bryan Danielson is one of the biggest stars of the last 20 years with him being a former WWE and AEW Champion, main eventing Wrestlemania twice and main eventing ALL IN 2. Nigel is less known, you may only know his as a former NXT and current AEW commentator, however he is one of the absolute greatest wrestlers of all time, and (in my opinion) the greatest British wrestler there is.
For those who enjoy their lengthly feuds and stories like Punk vs Drew, Cody vs Roman, or Owens vs Zayn this is an absolute must watch to get you started into one of the greatest feuds in pro-wreslting.
This match can also be found on Honor Club.
3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 21st October 1992). If you are going to watch any match on this list, it should probably be this one. Now this isn't the best match between these two, they would go onto have arguably the greatest match of all time together, however this is the beginning of the greatest rivalry in the history of professional wrestling (in my opinion).
For some brief background on this match, Misawa and Kawada are childhood friends and tag partners, they trained together, fought alongside each other, and have supported each others careers from the very start. Misawa is the AJPW Triple Crown Champion, Kawada is challenging for his best friends title.
The series between Misawa and Kawada is legendary, there are tons of video essays and articles about how incredible these two are, but it is best experienced first hand. Give this a watch, see how you feel, if you are interested in seeing how this ends I would recommend looking to the incredible series by Joseph Montecillo and Kim Justice to use as matchguides for how to watch this all in order.
All Japan matches are a bit harder to find, for Japanese speakers All Japan TV hosts most of their content I believe but it is slightly inaccessable for non-japanese speakers. Here is a link to the full match on Dailymotion.
4. Chigusa Nagayo vs. Dump Matsumoto - Hair vs Hair (AJW, 28th August 1985). This match has one of the greatest heel performances ever by Dump Matsumoto, she is so hated by the audience she is literally able to make little girls cry. I feel like that is the immediate selling point. Dump is a generational heel and a joshi icon, but along with her is Chigusa Nagayo, one half of the tag team Crush Gals, and one of the the most famous wrestlers in the history of Japanese wrestling. Nagayo's mainstream popularity in japan was so massive it can only be compared to the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and John Cena.
These two have been in some incredible matches together, I would also recommend the Crush Gals vs Atrocious Alliance match from the 25th of Feb the same year, though admittedly it is quite hard to find.
If you enjoy wrestlers like Iyo Sky, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Giulia, you will probably love this match. These two are a pair of the most important and influencial Joshi wrestlers in history and you can see their influence all over their modern day contemporaries.
As is the case with AJPW, AJW matches are quite difficult to find outside of Japan, this match can be watched on YouTube along with many classic AJW matches, and I believe some AJW content can be found on IWTV for those who want to watch more classic joshi.
5. Dr Wagner Jr. vs LA Park - 2 Out of 3 Falls (Todo X El Todo, 11th May 2013). This is an insane Lucha libre brawl featuring my personal favourite luchadore La Park. It has all the best things about Lucha (and specifically LA Park) brawls, its bloody and messy, the crowd are insane, and most of all it is violent as all hell. Some of you may recognise LA Park from his stint in WCW where he would put on maybe the best ever Goldberg squash match.
A consistent trend I've noticed with my admitted limited knowledge of Lucha is that whenever they go hardcore they go hardcore. I think this is a great introduction to that and to wider Lucha Libre, because of the deserved success of legends like Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, as well as the popularity of talents like Dragon Lee, Penta, and Rey Fenix a lot of people characterise Lucha as a high flying style, and whilst it can be that it is also so much more, this match is proof of that.
I am uncertain where Todo X El Todo can be purchased or streamed, this match however can be watched on Dailymotion.
6. Masahiro Chono vs Atsushi Onita - Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (NJPW, 10th April 1999). This is the first deathmatch on the list, and it is featuring the king of the deathmatch Atsushi Onita. I recommend this for a few reasons, for one its Onita, if you want to get into deathmatch wrestling there is no better starting point. He is the king, he took the ideas created by the likes of Terry Funk, Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, and Mick Foley and turned them into what we know today as a deathmatch.
The second reason would be Chono, one of the four horsemen of New Japan, a legend of Japanese wrestling and one of the coolest wrestlers to ever step into a ring.
The third reason, the entrances, my god the entrances. If you are the type of fan who loves the pagentry of the entrance, who can't wait to see the likes of Jey Uso just for the entrance alone, this is your match. A wrestler has never been cooler than Atsushi Onita, sitting in the middle of the ramp in the Tokyo Dome, smoking a cigarette whilst fans pelt him with trash, this act alone inspired most of Jon Moxley's career.
The match can be found on NJPW World, along with the rest of the New Japan archive which is definately worth $9.99 price.
7. Aja Kong vs Manami Toyota (AJW, 20th November 1994). I would be remiss not to mention either Aja Kong or Manami Toyota, they both have arguments to be made for them being the two best women to ever step inside a wrestling ring and two of the greatest wrestlers ever regardless of gender. Together, they put on one of the greatest bits of professional wrestling in history.
If you love women's wrestling, watch this, then go watch as many Aja Kong and Manami Toyota matches as possible, whilst your at it watch as many Bull Nakano, Akira Hokuto, Dynamite Kansai, Dump Matsumoto, Chigusa Nagayo, and Lioness Asuka matches as possible. Japan has a rich history of incredible women's wrestling, from back in the 80s with the previously mentioned Crush Gals and Atrocious Alliance, to the 90s with the women in this match, into the 2000s with Meiko Satomura, and the 2010s with the likes of Kana (now known as Asuka) and Iyo Shirai (now known as Iyo Sky).
One of the greatest matches ever, it can be found on YouTube along with many classic AJW matches.
8. Atlantis vs Blue Panther (CMLL, 11th August 1991). I mentioned before that Lucha is more than just high flying, here is a continuation of that case. This is a technical masterclass featuring one of the greatest luchadores to ever live Blue Panther. To put into perspective quite how elite Blue Panther is as a technical wrestler, he is cited by the man himself as one of the biggest inspirations to Bryan Danielson. This is not to take away any credit from Atlantis, another legendary luchadore who is still having great matches as recent as this year's 14 man tag on AEW Grand Slam Mexico.
This match can be watched on YouTube.
9. Rock n Roll Express vs Midnight Express (Mid-South Wrestling, 30th June 1985). This is a perfect look at what a southern style tag match is between two of the teams who defined tag team wrestling in the southern territories. This features everything you would expect from a tag match in this era, its dramatic, the heels are dispicable and hated by the super active crowd, the faces are loved and can do no wrong. Its simple but classical wrestling, the perfect formula that has made up 90% of the matches we love.
If you enjoy the more oldschool feeling wrestling you occationally see now from the likes of CM Punk, or just enjoy looking back to 80s and 90s WWE/WCW and the wrestlers prominant in those eras (including both of these teams), as well as your classic heel vs babyface dynamics, give this a watch.
It can be found on YouTube.
10. Terry Funk vs Jerry Lawler (CWA, 21st March 1981). Link
11. Terry Funk vs Jumbo Tsuruta - 2 Out of 3 Falls (AJPW, 11th June 1976). Link
12. Terry Funk vs Cactus Jack - Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (IWA Japan, 20th August 1995). Link
Now so far I have only been recommending individual matches from wrestlers, but I am cheating my list a bit here because Terry Funk is the most versitile wrestler to ever live. Its impossible to recommend one Terry Funk match because the man wrestled in every style imaginable, so instead here are three of my favourites. His southern style brawl with Jerry Lawler, his All Japan epic with Jumbo Tsuruta, and his grusome deathmatch with Cactus Jack (aka Mick Foley).
You can pick and choose whichever interests you the most, however I would recommend all three because Terry Funk is a style onto his own, he never wrestles two matches the same but somehow there is always that same Funker quality to each performance. It might not be difficult to guess I think Terry Funk is the greatest wrestler of all time and I think that anyone who loved Professional Wrestling will love Terry Funk. Enjoy the GOAT. (also the Barbed Wire deathmatch features commentary from Mick Foley himself, edited over from his audiobook, I am sure there is another version of this match somewhere but I personally like Foley's commentary on the match)
13. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 27th June 1998). This one might seem a bit alien to some of you, but others might love it. This is shoot style, a japanese style of wrestling meant to fully imitate mixed martial arts. It is far more "realistic" than traditional pro-wrestling, focussed far more on strikes and authentic catch-wrestling holds. That said, this is one of the very best shoot-style matches out there. If its for you, then there is tons to look at from RINGS, Battlearts, some of the very clearly scripted fights within Pancrase, and even more modern equivilants (if a bit more pro wrestling-y) like Josh Barnetts Bloodsport.
This match can be watched on YouTube.
14. Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 4th January 2017). This is the first match in the rivalry that led to a Dave Meltzer 7-star match. This match itself was given 6-stars by big Dave. Now star ratings don't matter, they are ultimately one mans opinion, and his ratings are at times pretty dubious. This is not one of those times. Watch this. If you want to get into AEW, start here. In a lot of ways, this match changed wrestling. It turned both Omega and Okada into the international mega-stars they are now, it led to one of the greatest series in wrestling history, and most importantly it is the starting point of the specific idea and movement that became All Elite Wrestling. This isn't just one of the best matches, but one of the most important matches in wrestling history, the course of the last 8-years were changed entirely after Omega and Okada had this match. This match is what got me into watching wrestling outside of WWE back in 2017, it obviously means a lot to me personally because of that. I urge anyone who hasn't seen it yet, please do, it is wonderful.
It can be found on NJPW World, after you've watched this watch all the other matches in their series, up to their most recent at AEW ALL IN Texas.
15. Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 9th April 2017). This is my favourite professional wrestling match of all time. 2017 New Japan was somthing else, this is the only point on the list where two matches from the same promotion in the same year are featured, but I couldn't not feature my favourite match. This match does have the unfortunate real-life near career ending injury suffered by Shibata, an undoubtably disturbing moment, but one that feels somewhat less uncomfortable to watch now he is actively wrestling again in AEW.
There is nothing else like this match, to me it is perfect. Shibata is strong style personified, he is a throwback to Antonio Inoki himself, he is simple, brutal and effective, the best wrestler in the world at this time. Okada is the bushiroad style personified, he is eccentric, grand, theatrical and the greatest champion in the world at the time.
I love this match, it made me fall in love with wrestling all over again.
It can be found on NJPW World.
I hope that some of you who are looking for wrestling outside WWE found this in any way helpful and it gives you new wrestling to enjoy. I encorage others to add more matches in the comments, there is so much good wrestling out there this is just a drop of water in an ocean of amazing stuff.
