5 Best Wrestling Matches of 1995

1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue – June 9th, 1995

This is, in my opinion, the greatest match in AJPW history, the single-greatest tag team match in wrestling history, and on my short-list of greatest wrestling matches of all time.

It was one of the rare occasions where traditional King’s Road wrestling included ‘western’ elements of wrestling likes good guys and bad guys. Misawa and Kobashi were the obvious good guys while Kawada and Taue used ‘dirty’ tactics that made them the obvious heels. Normally these two elements don’t work well together, but in this case they came together in one of the most dramatic matches ever.

You had multiple stories interwoven into one match, all of which played out perfectly in the ring. The main one was the years-long rivalry between Misawa the ace and Kawada the #2 man in the company. Kawada had felt bitter over being the #2 man for years, so when he finally scored a decisive pin over Misawa, it was an enormous deal for him.

At the same time, this match showed just why Kobashi was such a masterful wrestler in his prime. Not only was his selling perfect and his babyface fire strong, but he did perhaps the greatest thing a babyface could do. With his body virtually destroyed, he saw his partner Misawa being double-teamed and covered his partner with his own body because it was all he could so to save him.

This match is now over 23 years old, and no tag team match anywhere has come even remotely close to replicating this masterpiece. You will never see a better tag team match than this one; that is guaranteed.