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)
- The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Kane vs The nWo-Friday Night SmackDown (3/28/2002)
- Kane vs Kane-Vengeance 2006
- Steve Austin & Bradshaw vs The Undertaker, Scott Hall, and X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/15/2002)
- Steve Austin & Bradshaw vs Scott Hall & X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/29/2002)
- Sgt. Slaughter vs Colonel DeBeers-AWA SuperClash III
- The Mexicools vs The Blue World Order-The Great American Bash 2005
- The Undertaker vs Kane-Monday Night Raw (2/22/1999)
- The Undertaker vs Kane-WrestleMania XX
- The Undertaker vs Kane-Survivor Series 1998
- The nWo vs Steve Austin & The Rock-Monday Night Raw (3/11/2002)
- Jake Roberts vs George Wells-WrestleMania 2
- The Undertaker vs Yokozuna-Survivor Series 1994
- The Undertaker vs Heidenreich-Royal Rumble 2005
- Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart vs D'Lo Brown & Test-WrestleMania XV
- Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
- Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Melina vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2005
- Scott Hall vs Crash Holly-Sunday Night Heat (4/7/2002)
- Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
- Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
- CM Punk vs Ryback-Hell in a Cell 2012
- The Rock's 25th Anniversary Battle Royal-Survivor Series 2021
- Hardcore Holly vs Billy Gunn vs Al Snow-WrestleMania XV
- Wendi Richter & The Top Gunns vs The Diamond Exchange-AWA SuperClash III
- Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez-AWA SuperClash III
- The Undertaker vs Chavo Guerrero-Friday Night SmackDown (10/31/2008)
- Booker T vs Buff Bagwell-Monday Night Raw (7/2/2001)
- The Undertaker vs Kane-Monday Night Raw (10/19/1998)
- John Cena vs The Miz-The Bash
- Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
- Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
- Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
- The Fatal 4-Way Intercontinental Championship Match-WrestleMania XV
- Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
- The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
- Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
- Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
- Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
- The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
- The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
- Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
- Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
- Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
- T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
- Jake Hager vs Wardlow-AEW Dynamite (6/6/2021)
- CM Punk vs Ryback & Paul Heyman-Hell in a Cell 2013
- The Boogeyman vs Booker T & Sharmell-WrestleMania 22
- David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff-WCW Thunder (4/26/2000)
- Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019
- The Texas Tornado vs Dino Bravo-WrestleMania VII
- CM Punk vs Ryback-Battleground 2013
- The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
- Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
- Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
- Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
- Candice LeRae vs Christina Von Eerie-PWG DIO!
- Jeff Jarrett vs Nathan Jones-WWA The Inception
- The Fabulous Moolah vs Velvet McIntyre-WrestleMania 2
- Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
- The Rock 'n' Roll Express vs The Stud Stable-AWA SuperClash III
- Ernest Miller vs Disco Inferno-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
- Jeff Jarrett vs Nathan Jones-WWA The Retribution
- Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
- Carmella vs Asuka-Money in the Bank 2018
- Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
- General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
- Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
- The Last Rites Match-Destination X 2007
- Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
- The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
- The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
- Gunner vs Garett Bischoff-Against All Odds 2012
- Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
- EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
- The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
- The Electrified Steel Cage Match-TNA Lockdown 2007
- Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
- The Rock vs Scott Hall-Friday Night SmackDown (3/7/2002)
- Legion of Doom vs Power & Glory-WrestleMania VII
- Steve Austin & The Big Show vs Scott Hall & X-Pac-Monday Night Raw (4/22/2002)
- Corporal Kirchner vs Nikolai Volkoff-WrestleMania 2
- Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
- The Mountie vs Tito Santana-WrestleMania VII
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Hell in a Cell 2010
- Hollywood Hogan vs Randy Savage-Halloween Havoc 1996
- The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
- Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
- ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
- The Miz vs John Cena-WrestleMania XXVII
- Kane vs Triple H-WrestleMania XV
- Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle-Mae Young Classic (Episode 2)
- Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel-WrestleMania VII
- Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
- Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
- Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-AWA WrestleRock
- The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
- The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
- Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
- Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
- Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
- Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
- The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
- Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao vs Demolition-WrestleMania VII
- Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
- The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
- Greg Gagne vs Ron Garvin-AWA SuperClash III
- Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
- The Undertaker vs Muhammad Hassan-The Great American Bash 2005
- Randy Savage vs George Steele-WrestleMania 2
- The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
- The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
- John Cena & Nikki Bella vs The Miz & Maryse-WrestleMania 33
- Paul Orndorff vs The Magnifcent Muraco-WrestleMania 2
- Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
- Earthquake vs Greg Valentine-WrestleMania VII
- Scott Hall vs Spike Dudley-Monday Night Raw (3/4/2002)
- Rick Steiner vs Van Hammer-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Jeff Jarrett vs Buff Bagwell-WWA The Inception
- Triple H vs Randy Orton-WrestleMania 25
- Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
- Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
- Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
- The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
- Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
- Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
- Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
- The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
- Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
- The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Deathmatch-AEW Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen (Night 1)
- Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
- Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
- Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
- Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
- Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
- Hulk Hogan vs Sgt. Slaughter-WrestleMania VII
- Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
- El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
- Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
- Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
- Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
- The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
- Mankind vs Paul Wight-WrestleMania XV
- Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
- Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
- Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
- Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
- Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
- Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
- Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
- Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
- Jeff Jarrett vs Brian Christopher-WWA The Revolution
- New Jack vs Mustafa-Living Dangerously 1999
- Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
- The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
- British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
- Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
- Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
- Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
- Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
- The nWo vs The Rock & Hulk Hogan-Monday Night Raw (3/25/2002)
- Steve Austin vs Scott Hall-Monday Night Raw (4/8/2002)
- Steve Austin vs Scott Hall-WrestleMania X8
- The Rock & Hulk Hogan vs Scott Hall & Kevin Nash-Monday Night Raw (3/18/2002)
- Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
- Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
- Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
- The Undertaker vs Kane-SummerSlam 2000
- Scott Hall vs Bradshaw-Backlash 2002
- The Undertaker vs The Big Bossman-WrestleMania XV
- Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
- Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
- Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
- The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
- Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
- Jimmy Valiant vs Wayne Bloom-AWA SuperClash III
- Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
- Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
- Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
- Randy Savage & Sid Vicious vs Kevin Nash & Sting-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
- Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
- Steve Austin, Bradshaw, and Ric Flair vs The nWo-Monday Night Raw (5/6/2002)
- The Junkyard Invitational-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
- The 1997 World War 3 Match
- The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
- Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
- Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
- The 1998 World War 3
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Night of Champions 2010
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Bragging Rights 2010
- The Undertaker vs The Undertaker-SummerSlam 1994
- The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
- Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
- Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
- Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
- Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
- The Undertaker vs Kamala-Survivor Series 1992
- David Flair vs Dean Malenko-Bash at the Beach 1999
- The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
- The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
- Carmella vs Asuka-Extreme Rules 2018
- Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
- D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
- Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
- Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
- Jeff Jarrett vs Road Dogg-WWA The Inception
- Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
- Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
- Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
- Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
- Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
- Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
- Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
- Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
- Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
- Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
- PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
- Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
- Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
- Yokozuna vs The Undertaker-Royal Rumble 1994
- The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
- Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
- Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
- Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
- Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
- Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
- Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
- King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
- Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
- Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
- John Bradshaw Layfield vs Batista-The Great American Bash 2005
- Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
- The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
- The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
- The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
- AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
- Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
- Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
- Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
- The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
- Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
- Abdullah the Butcher vs Zeus-Capitol Sports Promotions 17th Aniversario 1990
- Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
- David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
- The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
- Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
- The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
- Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
- Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
- The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
- Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
- Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
- Adrian Adonis vs Uncle Elmer-WrestleMania 2
- Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
- Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
- Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
- Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
- Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
- Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
- Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
- The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
- Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Blue Demon Jr.-AAA TriplemanÃa XXX: Monterrey
- Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
- Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
- Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
- Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
- Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
- Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
- John Cena vs The Miz-Over the Limit 2011
- Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
- Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
- The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
- The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
- The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
- Buff Bagwell vs Roddy Piper-Bash at the Beach 1999
- Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
- Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
- The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
- The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
- Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
- Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
- WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
- Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
- Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
- Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
- Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
- Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
- The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
- New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
- The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
- Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki-NJPW Real World Martial Arts Championship
- Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
- Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
- Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
- Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
- The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
- "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
- Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
- Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
- Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
- Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
- The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
- Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
- Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
- The 1996 World War 3 Match
- Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
- Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
- The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
- James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
- John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
- Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
- The Shark Cage Match-Big Time Wrestling (1976)
- Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
- Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
- Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
- The Lingerie Street Fight Battle Royal-AWA SuperClash III
- Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
- The 1995 World War 3 Match
- The Reina de Reinas Championship Four-Way-AAA TriplemanÃa XXV
- Butterbean vs Bart Gunn-WrestleMania XV
- New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall
- Yoshiko vs Act Yasukawa-Stardom Queen's Shout
- 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.
Did you forget to rank the match on your list? I don’t see it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI did, my bad
DeleteWrestlemania 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.
ReplyDeleteRick 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!
I'll add these to the list. Thanks for the suggestions and Merry Christmas!
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteKane vs Chris Kanyon (Smackdown 8/2/2001)
I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestion!
Delete