5 Best Wrestling Matches of 1996

2. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace

Imagine if Shawn Michaels & Razor Ramon were challenged by Bret Hart and Chris Jericho, with Jericho having only four years’ worth of experience. In this match, Williams and Ace are Michaels and Razor, Misawa is Bret, and Akiyama is Jericho. And Akiyama/Jericho proceeds to break the glass ceiling and grab the proverbial brass rings in one match.

The entire purpose of this match is to elevate Jun Akiyama to a main-event level and does it ever succeed. Akiyama more than holds his own against both ‘Dr. Death’ (a former world champion) and Ace (who was actually very good in the ring in Japan).

Of course, this being a Misawa match, there are some vicious head drops and high-impact suplex variations that highlight why AJPW’s wrestling style was so dangerous. At the same time, Steve Williams was the perfect heel in this match, slapping his opponents’ heads and bad-mouthing them while hitting them with stiff strikes and power moves that could knock the wind out of you in an instant.

By the time it was over, the crowd was firmly behind Akiyama and believed every near-fall as a match-ender. Both teams came so incredibly close to winning that it almost exhausted the crowd by the time it was over. When it ended, Akiyama had reached the main-event, had become a new star, and had even managed to get his finisher, the Exploder Suplex, over as a big match-ending move.

All in all, this was a fun and dramatic match that was put together perfectly and accomplished its initial goal effortlessly.