20 AJPW Matches you must see before you die

2. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada – June 3, 1994

This now-legendary match was the first match in wrestling history to get an official 6-star rating from the Wrestling Observer. That is indeed saying something, considering this was during one of the peak years of AJPW’s run as Japan’s top wrestling promotion.

This match had everything. It featured two bitter rivals in Misawa and Kawada, whose rivalry had been going on for at least two years by the time this match took place. You had one of the loudest crowds in Japanese wrestling history cheering for every single move and reversal (even by today’s standards, the crowd in attendance is LOUD).

Both Misawa and Kawada hit each other with strikes so stiff they make JBL’s Clothesline from Hell look like a walk in the park. Finally, the match epitomized the dangerous and toughness-centric King’s Road wrestling style, with both Misawa and Kawada being hit with incredible head-spike neck bumps, culminating in one of the most vicious Tiger Driver ’91 head drops ever seen.

Although the standard for a 5 or 6-star match has definitely changed since 1994, this match still deserves that rating after all these years. It is a must-watch for any wrestling fan, as it set the bar so high that it wouldn’t be matched for twenty-three years.