5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2002

#4 Toshiaki Kawada vs. Keiji Muto – AJPW Show, Feb 24, 2002

This was a match between two of the biggest stars of the 1990s who were never expected to ever face each other. A match between them was thought impossible, which made this clash even more historic. Yet despite it being 2002, both of them still wrestled as if age hadn’t affected them at all.

Both of these men were known for their leg-based offense: Kawada with his kicks and Muto with the Shining Wizard. That’s why both of them attacking each other’s legs made perfect sense. Attack the legs and your opponent won’t be able to hurt you as badly. Muto, in particular, did this over and over again, kicking the hell out of Kawada’s legs to the point that he could barely stand.

This was simply a clinic in wrestling psychology and proved why both men – especially Muto – are hailed as true wrestling geniuses between the ropes.

Say what you want about repeated dropkicks to one leg and dragon screw leg whips; Muto’s strategy worked perfectly, and Kawada couldn’t use his kicks to win the match. Instead, he had to resort to more dangerous moves, like his Folding Powerbomb, the Brainbuster, the Backdrop Driver and the returning Ganso Bomb.

What’s great about this match is that the selling is also realistic, although most of the strikes are ‘worked’, some of them are real, yet all of them look like the latter. That makes the match feel more dramatic and the wrestlers tougher, as they’re selling the pain like a normal person would as opposed to ‘theatric selling’.

This felt like a classic All Japan King’s Road match, and damn was it ever fun to watch. It had all perfect timing and big moves of old school AJPW, and the crowd reacted like they did during AJPW’s golden age. A must-see for any pro wrestling enthusiast.