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Worst in the World: Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki-NJPW Real World Martial Arts Championship

NOTE: Merry Christmas, everyone! I just wanted to take a minute to remind you of two things. First, I'll have an update on New Year's Eve, laying out what's to come on The Wrestling Section in 2024. Second, on New Year's Day, I'll have another special edition of The Worst in the World. With that out of the way, onto this new edition of The Worst in the World!
It's time...
I've written plenty about Antonio Inoki and his interest in shoot-fighting, whether that be his attempts to blend mixed martial arts with professional wrestling through Inoki-ism, or his actual shoot-fighting abilities. What I have yet to look at is Inoki's history with exhibition fights. Antonio Inoki has stepped in the ring with legit practitioners of all forms of combat, ranging from karateka like Willie Williams to boxers like Chuck Weppener. Hell, at the inaugural Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in 2000, a 57-year old Inoki would wrestle one of his final matches, an exhibition against Renzo Gracie of the legendary Gracie family. However, no match with a legit fighter Inoki ever had has ever come close to the prominence of his infamous fight with the almost undisputed greatest boxer of all time; Muhammad Ali.
Before I go deeper into this, I heavily recommend reading Aaron Tallent's article "The Joke That Almost Ended Ali’s Career" from The Sweet Science and Andy Bull's "The forgotten story of ... Muhammad Ali v Antonio Inoki" article from The Guardian for a more in-depth look at how this match-up came to be. They're where I got most of this information from. 
In April 1975, the then-undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the world Ali made a comment that he'd put up $1 million to any fighter from Asia that would face & beat him in a fight to Ichiro Yada, the president of the Japanese Amateur Wrestling Association. The seriousness of the initial challenge is unclear, as most sources consider it more of a joke, and part of the trash-talking persona of Ali. That comment, however, still made it back to Antonio Inoki, who held the NWF World Heavyweight Championship in the promotion he founded; New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Almost a year later in March 1996, the match was officially made; Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki: The War of the Worlds, with each man earning multi-millions of dollars (Ali getting $6 million, Inoki getting $4 million.) This is where things start to get messy.
It's been alleged that Ali's camp had agreed to the fight under the impression that it would be a work. Boxing journalist Jim Murphy has claimed the original ending would see the referee accidentally knocked out by Ali, allowing Inoki to knock out Ali with a kick for a win that kept Ali looking strong. Whether Ali just refused to lose, or had ever agreed to a worked match himself, is debated. Inoki has claimed that Ali had asked him when rehearsals would be, while Ali's fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco has said that Ali's camp believed this would be an exhibition, but that Inoki made it clear it would be a shoot. Wherever the truth really lies, there were going to be some heavy rules in place for this match to go down.
Essentially, Inoki was barred from doing just about anything. Suplexes & tackles were completely banned, while kicks were only allowed below the waist if he had a knee on the mat. These rules weren't laid out publicly beforehand, meaning that the 14,500 in attendance at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo and everyone watching live would be finding out these rules when the 15-three minute round fight started. The referee, judoka & wrestler Gene LeBell, has said there weren't any rules about kicking & grappling, but just based on how the fight actually goes, it's hard to believe. These rules were heavily aimed at Inoki, and as a result, led to one of the most bizarre fights you'll ever see.
Now, initially, I wasn't sure if I should cover this on the Worst in the World. After all, it's not really a professional wrestling match, it's an exhibition shoot fight. It wasn't until I looked it up recently that I discovered something; this fight, happened on a show held by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was held as part of a show that NJPW called "Real World Martial Arts Championship." It is listed on both the Internet Wrestling Database, and on Cagematch.net. It happened on a professional wrestling show, meaning that, like Butterbean vs Bart Gunn, it is fair game to cover on the Worst in the World...so let's take a look.

Round 1

The bell rings and Inoki immediately charges in, going for a sliding leg sweep to Ali's legs. Ali avoids it, so Inoki gets up and goes for a leg sweep. Ali avoids it again, prompting Inoki to stay on his back. Get ready to read that a lot, because that's the vast majority of this fight. Inoki lays on the mat, throwing kicks from his back, hitting his leg once. Ali circles Inoki, trying to find an opening, but Inoki's position makes it pretty much impossible without getting kicked. Inoki eventually gets to his feet and throws a low standing kick before going for hitting leg sweep. Inoki lays on the mat again, and I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like Ali complains & Gene LeBell admonishes Inoki for throwing a standing kick.
Ali again tries to find an opening with Inoki on his back, but Inoki keeps his guard up, kicking any time Ali gets close. Ali actually starts kicking Inoki's legs himself, and the two trade kicks for a bit. Inoki won't leave the mat, continuing to throw kicks from his back. One kick causes Ali to stumble, prompting Inoki to go for a double up-kick. It misses, as does a second attempt before Ali kicks him back. Ali circles the ring, continuing to kick Inoki before Inoki gets back to his feet. He immediately goes for another leg sweep and goes back to his back. Ali continues circling the ring, throwing a punch at Inoki's leg before Inoki kicks up at him. The two trade kicks again, with Inoki getting multiple shots on Ali's legs. The bell rings. Hope you enjoyed that, there's 14 more rounds of it.

Round 2

The bell rings and both men meet in the middle. Inoki throws another standing kick before, eventually, falling back down to the mat with another leg sweep. Ali circles the ring, waiting for Inoki to get back to his feet. Inoki throws another standing kick before going right back to the ground. Again, Ali waits for Inoki to get back to his feet before engaging. Another leg sweep attempt by Inoki misses, and Inoki lays on the mat again. Ali taunts Inoki until he gets back to his feet. The two circle the ring before Inoki whiffs on another leg sweep.
Again, Ali taunts Inoki as he lets him get back to his feet. That's basically the entirety of this round; Inoki goes for a leg sweep, but Ali dodges and taunts him, and then repeat. Outside of a few kicks, Ali really doesn't even try to strike Inoki. At one point, Inoki goes for a jumping kick, which earns him a warning from LeBell. Round 2 ends with little offense. Ali doesn't initially go back to his corner, instead trash-talking Inoki before LeBell makes him go back to his corner.

Round 3

The bell rings and once again, Inoki goes for a low kick before laying on the mat. Ali circles the ring until Inoki gets back to his feet. Another leg sweep from Inoki misses, and Ali continues taunting him as he circles the ring. Inoki lands a kick from his back, and then another, but Ali just continues taunting him until he gets back to his feet. Inoki quickly goes for another low kick and then goes back to the mat. Inoki continues landing kicks from his back, swiping at Ali's legs while Ali taunts him. The hometown crowd is firmly behind Inoki, popping big whenever he connects.
Inoki goes back to his feet, and immediately goes for a leg sweep that misses. From his back, Inoki lands a big kick, and later an up-kick before getting to his feet. Inoki continues landing kicks, some from a sweep, some from his back, before the bell rings to end the round. Three rounds in and Ali has only landed one punch on Inoki's legs.

Round 4

Inoki goes for a high, almost a roundhouse kick, early in Round 4 before going for another leg sweep. On his back, Inoki actually backs Ali into the corner, where both men rapidly kick away at eachother until LeBell steps in to break it up. That's far too much fun, back to the middle they go. Ali circles the ring as Inoki sweeps at his legs. Ali screams "I THOUGHT INOKI COULD WRESTLE!" as Inoki stands up. Inoki responds by going for, basically, a superkick, which gets him admonished by LeBell. Ali continues verbally laying into Inoki, loudly yelling "INOKI GIRL!"
Inoki has no time for sexist comments, again backing him into a corner before going on his back. Inoki up kicks at Ali, who actually starts climbing & hanging onto the ropes to avoid the kicks until LeBell steps in.
Back in the middle of the ring, Inoki goes for another leg sweep before laying on the mat. Ali circles the ring and waits for Inoki to get to his feet before the bell rings. Ali continues calling Inoki a girl and a coward before LeBell gets him back to his corner.

Round 5

 The two circle eachother to start before, once again, Inoki hits a leg sweep. Again, Ali waits for Inoki to get to his feet. Another standoff leads to another leg sweep from Inoki. This time, Ali's legs give out and he falls to the mat, which gets a big pop from the crowd. Inoki tries to follow up with an open-hand strike to Ali's face, but Ali avoids it. Ali also avoids three more leg sweeps, but a fourth grazes him. Inoki connects with another low kick, and then two more leg sweeps. Inoki lands a kick from his back, but Ali manages to grab Inoki's foot after. The bell rings before he can do anything, however, ending the round.

Round 6

Bet you didn't see this coming, Inoki starts Round 6 with a low kick. Inoki quickly gets up so he can hit a leg sweep, followed by a few up-kicks that get him admonished by LeBell. Inoki gets back on his feet for another leg sweep. Ali responds by circling the ring and avoiding Inoki. Inoki gets back to his feet and connects with another leg sweep. Inoki goes for a kick from his back, but Ali catches his foot. Inoki is able to gain the upper hand, however, by wrapping his legs around Ali and taking him down with a body scissor. Inoki lands an illegal elbow to Ali's head before Ali grabs the ropes, forcing LeBell to break them up and admonish Inoki.
Back on their feet, Inoki goes for another leg sweep. The two trade kicks again before Inoki gets back to his feet. The bell rings to end the round.

Round 7

Once again, Inoki starts the round with a leg sweep and lays on his back. The two trade kicks as Ali circles the ring. Eventually, Inoki gets back to his feet, but quickly goes back to the mat after landing a leg sweep. Inoki quickly gets back to his feet, where Ali lands a punch. Inoki responds with a leg sweep, knocking Ali off his feet. Ali gets to his feet quickly and avoids a follow-up leg sweep. Inoki kicks at Ali from his back before getting back to his feet. Inoki lands another low kick before falling to his back. The two trade kicks before Inoki gets back to his feet. Inoki lands another leg sweep, and the two trade kicks while Inoki's on his back. Inoki gets back to his feet before the bell rings to end the round.
After this round, we see Ferdie Pacheco rubbing down Ali's legs. It's not clear on the video, but according to the commentators, Ali's legs were already bruised and bloody from all the sweeps & kicks by this point. At the same time, one of Ali's cornermen, Angelo Dundee, complained that one of the eyelets on Inoki's boots was cutting Ali's leg up. They end up covering it with tape before the start of Round 8

Round 8

Exposed eyelet or not, Inoki starts the round with a leg sweep. A kick from Inoki on his back causes Ali to fall to one knee, only for LeBell to step in, claiming Inoki low-blowed Ali. Inoki gets back to his feet, and after a brief standoff, he goes for a leg sweep that Ali avoids. Inoki quickly gets back to his feet before going for a high kick, which earns him an admonishment from LeBell. Inoki follows up with a low kick before LeBell steps in, calling for Inoki's boot to be re-taped.
Inoki hits another leg sweep, which Ali responds to by trying to grab his ankle. Inoki avoids this, and the two trade kicks before Inoki gets back to his feet. Once again, LeBell calls for time to have Inoki's boot re-taped. After another standoff, Inoki hits another leg sweep. The bell rings, putting us past the halfway point of the match.

Round 9

Round 9 starts with a solid leg sweep from Inoki. Inoki lands another kick from his back before getting to his feet. Ali starts jabbing at Inoki, who avoids them, before getting a glancing shot on another leg sweep. Ali lands a small kick before Inoki gets back to his feet. Ali circles the ring as the two get into a long standoff. Inoki breaks the standoff with a leg sweep, and then a second which causes Ali to stumble. Inoki lands another leg sweep, but a fourth in the round is avoided by Ali. A fifth catches Ali's legs, while a sixth misses before the round ends.

Round 10

Round 10 starts with another leg sweep from Inoki. The two trade kicks while Inoki's on his back, which goes on for a while before Inoki gets to his feet. Ali catches Inoki with another jab, which causes Inoki to stumble a bit. After a standoff, Inoki responds with a leg sweep. Inoki goes for another leg sweep before kicking Ali from his back. Inoki gets to his feet before hitting another leg sweep. Yet another leg sweep causes Ali to fall into the ropes. Inoki pounces, locking in a waistlock, but Ali grabs the ropes to force LeBell to break it.
Inoki follows up with another leg sweep, followed by kicks from his back. Inoki gets back to his feet to hit another leg sweep. Ali kicks Inoki's legs before Inoki gets back up. Another leg sweep from Inoki, followed by kicks from his back. The bell rings soon after to end the round.

Round 11...

So...I ran into a problem with this one. I upload I found just doesn't have the 11th round of this fight. I'm not sure why...it's just not there. I went looking for another upload, but the only other I found cuts at the exact same spot, so I'm guessing it came from the same re-upload. I can only assume that Round 11 consisted of Inoki kicking Ali's legs and laying on his back in the middle of the ring.

Round 12

Round 12 starts with Inoki hitting another leg sweep. Inoki follows up with another leg sweep, and then another, and then another, before finally whiffing on a fifth attempt. A sixth leg sweep connects, but a low kick is avoided by Ali. Inoki goes for a few kicks on his feet before going for yet another leg sweep. He connects with another leg sweep attempt, and then another, and then another, before Ali grabs his foot. It might sound like I'm joking, but that's basically the entirety of this round. The bell rings soon after Ali grabs his foot.

Round 13

Round 13 starts with Ali circling the ring. Inoki goes for a waistlock, but it forces Ali into the corner and causes an instant break. Inoki follows up with another leg sweep attempt...and then another...before we get another standoff. Inoki goes for another waistlock, so Ali grabs the ropes. Inoki keeps the waistlock on for a while before kneeing Ali low, prompting loud protests from Ali's corner. Ali actually starts to leave the ring before LeBell talks to him. The match continues. Inoki quickly throws another standing kick, so Ali throws two jabs. Inoki goes back to the leg sweep before the bell rings. Before the start of the next round, Inoki is officially docked a point for the low blow.

Round 14

Inoki starts the penultimate round by throwing a jab of his own, which doesn't connect. Inoki continues to jab at the air before hitting another leg sweep. Ali looks for more jabs, but doesn't connect. The two take turns jabbing at the air before Inoki goes for another leg sweep. Each man tries to get the other to bring the fight to them, but neither budges. Inoki goes for a standing kick, and then hits another leg sweep. Ali lands a solid left hand before the bell rings to end the round.

Round 15

Alright, let's get this shit over with. The two shake hands before the bell rings. A standoff leads to Inoki hitting another leg sweep. Another standoff goes on for a long time before Inoki hits another leg sweep. We get another standoff, with Inoki again going for the leg sweep. Inoki feigns takedown attempts before hitting a leg sweep. Both men throw jabs before Inoki hits another leg sweep. Ali knocks Inoki down for the first time with a jab, just before the bell rings.

The Decision

Both men shake hands before going to their corners. The result was a draw, with judge Kokichi Endo (a professional wrestler & judoka) giving it to Ali, judge Ko Toyama (a boxing judge) giving it to Inoki, and Gene LeBell ruling it a tie.

The Verdict

It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. With how infamous this fight has become, I assumed this was going to be the most boring thing I'd ever see. Well, it's not the most boring thing I've ever seen. I was expecting the absolute worst, but there's still some action. That being said, man is this still brutal. It's quite literally almost entirely Inoki kicking Ali in his legs. 45 minutes of that and almost nothing but that. It's an absolute chore to watch.
It's so much of a chore to watch that I can't even say you should ever watch this. A pro wrestler fighting Muhammad Ali in an actual fight is such a crazy thing that actually happened, and is something we'll almost certainly never see again. It feels like something you'd have to see to believe, and something you'd watch just to experience it...but it's just so uninteresting. Skip this.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Kane vs The nWo-Friday Night SmackDown (3/28/2002)
  2. Kane vs Kane-Vengeance 2006
  3. Steve Austin & Bradshaw vs The Undertaker, Scott Hall, and X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/15/2002)
  4. Steve Austin & Bradshaw vs Scott Hall & X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/29/2002)
  5. Sgt. Slaughter vs Colonel DeBeers-AWA SuperClash III
  6. The Mexicools vs The Blue World Order-The Great American Bash 2005
  7. The Undertaker vs Kane-Monday Night Raw (2/22/1999)
  8. The Undertaker vs Kane-WrestleMania XX
  9. The Undertaker vs Kane-Survivor Series 1998
  10. The nWo vs Steve Austin & The Rock-Monday Night Raw (3/11/2002)
  11. Jake Roberts vs George Wells-WrestleMania 2
  12. The Undertaker vs Yokozuna-Survivor Series 1994
  13. The Undertaker vs Heidenreich-Royal Rumble 2005
  14. Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart vs D'Lo Brown & Test-WrestleMania XV
  15. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
  16. Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
  17. Melina vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2005
  18. Scott Hall vs Crash Holly-Sunday Night Heat (4/7/2002)
  19. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
  20. Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
  21. CM Punk vs Ryback-Hell in a Cell 2012
  22. The Rock's 25th Anniversary Battle Royal-Survivor Series 2021
  23. Hardcore Holly vs Billy Gunn vs Al Snow-WrestleMania XV
  24. Wendi Richter & The Top Gunns vs The Diamond Exchange-AWA SuperClash III
  25. Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez-AWA SuperClash III
  26. The Undertaker vs Chavo Guerrero-Friday Night SmackDown (10/31/2008)
  27. Booker T vs Buff Bagwell-Monday Night Raw (7/2/2001)
  28. The Undertaker vs Kane-Monday Night Raw (10/19/1998)
  29. John Cena vs The Miz-The Bash
  30. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  31. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  32. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  33. The Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship Match-WrestleMania XV
  34. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
  35. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
  36. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  37. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
  38. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
  39. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  40. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
  41. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
  42. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  43. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  44. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  45. Jake Hager vs Wardlow-AEW Dynamite (6/6/2021)
  46. CM Punk vs Ryback & Paul Heyman-Hell in a Cell 2013
  47. The Boogeyman vs Booker T & Sharmell-WrestleMania 22
  48. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff-WCW Thunder (4/26/2000)
  49. Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019
  50. The Texas Tornado vs Dino Bravo-WrestleMania VII
  51. CM Punk vs Ryback-Battleground 2013
  52. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
  53. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  54. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  55. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  56. Candice LeRae vs Christina Von Eerie-PWG DIO!
  57. Jeff Jarrett vs Nathan Jones-WWA The Inception
  58. The Fabulous Moolah vs Velvet McIntyre-WrestleMania 2
  59. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  60. The Rock 'n' Roll Express vs The Stud Stable-AWA SuperClash III
  61. Ernest Miller vs Disco Inferno-Bash at the Beach 1999
  62. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  63. Jeff Jarrett vs Nathan Jones-WWA The Retribution
  64. Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
  65. Carmella vs Asuka-Money in the Bank 2018
  66. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  67. General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
  68. Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
  69. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  70. The Last Rites Match-Destination X 2007
  71. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  72. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  73. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
  74. Gunner vs Garett Bischoff-Against All Odds 2012
  75. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  76. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
  77. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  78. The Electrified Steel Cage Match-TNA Lockdown 2007
  79. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
  80. The Rock vs Scott Hall-Friday Night SmackDown (3/7/2002)
  81. Legion of Doom vs Power & Glory-WrestleMania VII
  82. Steve Austin & The Big Show vs Scott Hall & X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/22/2002)
  83. Corporal Kirchner vs Nikolai Volkoff-WrestleMania 2
  84. Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
  85. The Mountie vs Tito Santana-WrestleMania VII
  86. Kane vs The Undertaker-Hell in a Cell 2010
  87. Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Savage-Halloween Havoc 1996
  88. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  89. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  90. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  91. The Miz vs John Cena-WrestleMania XXVII
  92. Kane vs Triple H-WrestleMania XV
  93. Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle-Mae Young Classic (Episode 2)
  94. Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel-WrestleMania VII
  95. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
  96. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  97. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-AWA WrestleRock
  98. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  99. The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
  100. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
  101. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  102. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  103. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  104. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  105. Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao vs Demolition-WrestleMania VII
  106. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  107. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  108. Greg Gagne vs Ron Garvin-AWA SuperClash III
  109. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  110. The Undertaker vs Muhammad Hassan-The Great American Bash 2005
  111. Randy Savage vs George Steele-WrestleMania 2
  112. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
  113. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  114. John Cena & Nikki Bella vs The Miz & Maryse-WrestleMania 33
  115. Paul Orndorff vs The Magnifcent Muraco-WrestleMania 2
  116. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
  117. Earthquake vs Greg Valentine-WrestleMania VII
  118. Scott Hall vs Spike Dudley-Monday Night Raw (3/4/2002)
  119. Rick Steiner vs Van Hammer-Bash at the Beach 1999
  120. Jeff Jarrett vs Buff Bagwell-WWA The Inception
  121. Triple H vs Randy Orton-WrestleMania 25
  122. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  123. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  124. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  125. The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
  126. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
  127. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
  128. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  129. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  130. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
  131. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
  132. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
  133. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Deathmatch-AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen (Night 1)
  134. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  135. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  136. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  137. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  138. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
  139. Hulk Hogan vs Sgt. Slaughter-WrestleMania VII
  140. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  141. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
  142. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  143. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  144. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  145. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
  146. Mankind vs Paul Wight-WrestleMania XV
  147. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  148. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
  149. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  150. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
  151. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
  152. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  153. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
  154. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  155. Jeff Jarrett vs Brian Christopher-WWA The Revolution
  156. New Jack vs Mustafa-Living Dangerously 1999
  157. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
  158. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
  159. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
  160. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  161. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  162. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  163. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  164. The nWo vs The Rock & Hulk Hogan-Monday Night Raw (3/25/2002)
  165. Steve Austin vs Scott Hall-Monday Night Raw (4/8/2002)
  166. Steve Austin vs Scott Hall-WrestleMania X8
  167. The Rock & Hulk Hogan vs Scott Hall & Kevin Nash-Monday Night Raw (3/18/2002)
  168. Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
  169. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
  170. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  171. The Undertaker vs Kane-SummerSlam 2000
  172. Scott Hall vs Bradshaw-Backlash 2002
  173. The Undertaker vs The Big Bossman-WrestleMania XV
  174. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  175. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  176. Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
  177. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  178. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
  179. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
  180. Jimmy Valiant vs Wayne Bloom-AWA SuperClash III
  181. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
  182. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
  183. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
  184. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious vs Kevin Nash & Sting-Bash at the Beach 1999
  185. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
  186. Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
  187. Steve Austin, Bradshaw, and Ric Flair vs The nWo-Monday Night Raw (5/6/2002)
  188. The Junkyard Invitational-Bash at the Beach 1999
  189. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
  190. The 1997 World War 3 Match
  191. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
  192. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  193. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
  194. The 1998 World War 3
  195. Kane vs The Undertaker-Night of Champions 2010
  196. Kane vs The Undertaker-Bragging Rights 2010
  197. The Undertaker vs The Undertaker-SummerSlam 1994
  198. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  199. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  200. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  201. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  202. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  203. The Undertaker vs Kamala-Survivor Series 1992
  204. David Flair vs Dean Malenko-Bash at the Beach 1999
  205. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
  206. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  207. Carmella vs Asuka-Extreme Rules 2018
  208. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  209. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  210. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  211. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  212. Jeff Jarrett vs Road Dogg-WWA The Inception
  213. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
  214. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  215. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
  216. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  217. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  218. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  219. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  220. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  221. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  222. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  223. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  224. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  225. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  226. Yokozuna vs The Undertaker-Royal Rumble 1994
  227. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
  228. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
  229. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  230. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
  231.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  232. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  233. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  234. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  235. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  236. Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
  237. John Bradshaw Layfield vs Batista-The Great American Bash 2005
  238. Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
  239. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  240. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  241. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  242. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  243. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  244. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  245. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  246. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  247. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
  248. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  249. Abdullah the Butcher vs Zeus-Capitol Sports Promotions 17th Aniversario 1990
  250. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  251. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  252. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  253. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  254. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  255. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
  256. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
  257. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  258. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
  259. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  260. Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer-WrestleMania 2
  261. Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
  262. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
  263. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  264. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  265. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  266. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
  267. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
  268. The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
  269. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Blue Demon Jr.-AAA Triplemanía XXX: Monterrey
  270. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  271. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
  272. Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
  273. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  274. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  275. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
  276. John Cena vs The Miz-Over the Limit 2011
  277. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  278. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  279. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  280. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  281. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  282. Buff Bagwell vs Roddy Piper-Bash at the Beach 1999
  283. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  284. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  285. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
  286. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  287. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  288. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
  289. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
  290. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  291. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  292. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  293. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
  294. Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
  295. The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
  296. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
  297. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  298. Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki-NJPW Real World Martial Arts Championship
  299. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  300. Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
  301. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  302. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  303. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  304. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
  305. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  306. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
  307. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  308. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
  309. The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
  310. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  311. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  312. The 1996 World War 3 Match
  313. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  314. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  315. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  316. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  317. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  318. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  319. The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)
  320. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  321. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  322. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
  323. The Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal-AWA SuperClash III
  324. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
  325. The 1995 World War 3 Match
  326. The Reina de Reinas Championship Four-Way-AAA Triplemanía XXV
  327. Butterbean vs Bart Gunn-WrestleMania XV
  328. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall
  329. Yoshiko vs Act Yasukawa-Stardom Queen's Shout
  330. Mickie Knuckles vs Mike Levy-IWA Mid-South Queen of the Deathmatch 2008
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. And don't forget to click the link here and vote in the poll to decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. The winner of that poll will be posted on January 7th, but on New Year's Day, I've got another special edition of the Worst in the World, as I'll be covering the Brawl for All.
EVERY. SINGLE. MATCH.

Comments

  1. Did you forget to rank the match on your list? I don’t see it anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wrestlemania 6 was pretty bad for a Wrestlemania when the only best match was between two wrestlers who weren't known for being great wrestlers (Hogan/Warrior) that is a dark timeline and while there was a decent tag team match between The Rockers/The Orient Express this show was riddled with short matches, matches that ended via count out and Roddy Piper doing black face paint for some reason.

    Rick Martel vs Koko B Ware
    Demolition vs Colossal Connection
    Earthquake vs Hercules
    Brutus Beefcake vs Mr Perfect
    Roddy Piper vs Bad News Brown
    Hart Foundation vs Bolsheviks
    The Barbarian vs Tito Santana
    Dusty Rhodes/Sapphire vs Randy Savage/Sensational Sherri
    Jim Duggan vs Dino Bravo
    Ted Dibiase vs Jake Roberts
    Big Bossman vs Akeem
    Rick Rude vs Jimmy Snuka

    You have a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll add these to the list. Thanks for the suggestions and Merry Christmas!

      Delete
  3. I got A US Title Match that goes all the way back to 2001 where the match was basically Kane killing Kanyon who was the champ but with Kanyon retaining via a cop out finish!

    Kane vs Chris Kanyon (Smackdown 8/2/2001)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Delete

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