This is going to be a working list of my matches of the year. Nothing here is definitive and any match may be swapped out if I find one better or change my mind on rewatch. If a year is missing, it simply means I either haven’t watched enough from that year yet or haven’t seen a match that feels worthy of the spot.
1972 – Giant Baba vs. The Destroyer (AJPW Giant Series December 19th)
1973 – Mil Mascaras vs. The Destroyer (AJPW Giant Series October 9th)
1974 – Antonio Inoki vs. Kintaro Oki (NJPW Toukon Series October 10th)
1975 – Fritz Von Erich vs. Giant Baba (AJPW Summer Action Series July 25th)
1976 – Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Funk (AJPW NWA Champion Series June 11th)
1977 – Harley Race vs. Terry Funk (Houston Wrestling July 1st)
1981 – Nick Bockwinkel vs. Tito Santana (Houston Wrestling November 20th)
1987 – Antonio Inoki vs. Masa Saito (NJPW Blazing Cherry Blossoms April 27th)
1989 – Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (AJPW Super Power Series June 5th)
1990 – Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW Super Power Series June 8th)
1991 – Keiji Mutoh vs. Masahiro Chono (NJPW G1 Climax Final August 11th)
1992 – Stings Squandron vs. The Dangerous Alliance (WCW WrestleWar May 17th)
Honorable Mentions:
- CanAm Express vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (AJPW Super Power Series May 25th)
1993 – Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW Dream Slam February 4th)
1994 – Bull Nakano & Aja Kong vs. Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori (AJW All Wrestling Queendom March 27th)
1995 – Keiji Mutoh vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW G1 Climax 5 Final August 15th)
1998 – Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (NJPW G1 Climax 8 Final August 2nd)
2000 – Aja Kong vs. KAORU (GAEA Big Destruction February 13th)
Honorable Mentions:
- The Dudleys vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz (WWF Summerslam August 27th)
- Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. The Undertaker vs. Rikishi vs. Triple H (WWF Armageddon December 10th)
2002 – Masahiro Chono vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJPW G1 Climax 12 Final August 11th)
2003 – Aja Kong vs. Meiko Satomura (GAEA Ring on the Beat Night 1 June 14th)
2005 – Low Ki vs. KENTA (ROH Final Battle December 17th)
2006 – Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NJPW G1 Climax 16 Final August 13th)
2007 – John Cena vs. Umaga (WWE Royal Rumble January 28th)
2008 – Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE No Mercy October 5th)
2009 – Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE Extreme Rules June 7th)
2010 – Shuji Ishikawa vs. Abdullah Kobayashi (BJW September 19th)
2011 – Tetsuya Naito vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW G1 Climax 21 Final August 14th)
2012 – Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW DOMINION June 16th)
2013 – Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW G1 Climax 23 Final August 11th)
2014 – Kana vs. Meiko Satomura (Kana Pro Mania February 25th)
2015 – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW G1 Climax 25 Final August 16th)
2016 – Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW G1 Climax 26 B Block Finals August 13th)
2017 – Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 January 4th)
2018 – Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW Dominion June 9th)
2019 – Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White (NJPW G1 Climax 29 Final August 12th)
2020 – Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. The Young Bucks (AEW Revolution February 29th)
2021 – Daniel Garcia vs. Jonathan Gresham (PWG It’s A Long Way To The Top November 21st)
2022 – Daniel Garcia vs. Mike Bailey (PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2022 Night 2 January 30th)
2023 – Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks (AEW All Out September 3rd)
2024 – Zack Sabre Jr vs. Bryan Danielson (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka February 11th)
2025 – Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd (NJPW/AEW Wrestle Dynasty January 5th)
2026 – Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuya Uemura (NJPW G1 Climax 36 Final August 16th)