We look back over Dave Meltzer’s five-star wrestling matches.
Damn, I was almost giddy with excitement about getting to check this one out. Ishii and Shibata are two of my favourite wrestlers of all time, yet, somehow, I’ve never seen this match. Time to change that.
Continue readingIt’s been a while since I’ve dived into a five-star classic, so I’ve decided to mix up the formula a bit. Previously, I was going chronologically, but it was proving hard to find certain matches which kept derailing me. Therefore, in a change to your regularly scheduled programming, I’m going to start jumping around history, picking bouts I’m in the mood for, rather than what Father Time dictates. That explains why we’re going straight into a favourite of mine: Styles vs Joe vs Daniels from TNA’s Unbreakable 2005.
Read moreMeltzer loved his nineties Joshi, didn’t he? We’re back in AJW where Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada are facing off for the IWA World Title with the added stipulation of it being a Hair vs Hair match. It was the blow-off to a long-running feud which grew out of the two having previously teamed together.
The match’s defining moment.
Kenta Kobashi loves a five-star performance. This time, it’s not a six man involving a host of Japanese legends. It’s a straight up tag team match for the All Asia Tag Team Titles with the Gaijin team of Furnas and Kroffat defending the belts against Kenta and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. Shall we have a look at what went down?
I can’t find any pictures of the match. Have Bull instead.
A quick note before we start, the list I’m using for these five-star matches has a Bull Nakano vs Yumiko Hotta cage match on it that happened around this time. However, I can’t find that anywhere. I haven’t even come across any mentions of it outside of that list. I’m assuming it’s a mistake – Bull wrestled Aja Kong in a cage a few months before – but if anyone can clue me in, please do.
There is a slightly complex stipulation for this one. It’s Two out of Three Falls, but it’s actually what WWE would call a Three Stages Of Hell. They start off with a Falls Count Anywhere, then have a Stretcher and finally a Cage. I can’t find if it was a particular section that got five stars or not, so I’m going to watch all three. Also, it’s worth noting that it would be giving these recordings too much credit to say they were terrible quality, which is going to affect the review.
We’ve seen this match before, haven’t we? Yes, a few months after this six-man combo got a five-star rating they went out and did it again. That first one stood the test of the time. Will the second?
Liger takes flight!
I’m about to do something I have never done in a Meltzer’s Classic. In fact, it might be something I’ve never done before. I going to compare something favourably to a Taichi match. It is my favourite Taichi match, but it’s a Taichi match all the same.
Quick disclaimer, chronologically, I should be covering Tenyru, Kawada and Fuyuki vs Tsuruta, Fuchi and Yatsu. However, I can’t find it anywhere. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of it or even some highlights, let me know. For now, we must move on.
Time to be honest. There is no way I am going to be able to write out a match report for this or even anything close to one. There are twelve women in this and – outside of Nagayo and Asuka – I know nothing about them. They also all wear very similar gear and are constantly switching in and out of the ring. What I’m trying to say, is I don’t have a clue who anyone is. On top of that, I don’t think the full thing is out there. As far as I can tell there’s only a seventeen-minute highlight package online. It’s far from convenient but as Meltzer once described this as the best match he’d ever seen, I don’t think I can miss it out. So I’ll have to do my best with what I have.
