The Wrestling Section

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the 5 Star Series. Welcome to another edition of the 5 Star Series, the series that covers the greatest wrestling matches of all time to see what truly is the best match ever. There are over 200 matches from New Japan Pro-Wrestling on my list of potential matches for this series, and for our first venture into the company, I'll be looking at the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11, as Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kenny Omega. This match is not only the company's highest-rated match on Cagematch.net, but is tied for the highest-rated match on the entire site (with more votes.) The Match Facts The Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Kenny Omega The Event: Wrestle Kingdom 11 The Stipulation: Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Meltzer Rating: 6 stars Cagematch.net Rating: 9.80/10 (#1 on Cagematch's Top 100 Matches) Where to Watch: NJPW World ( The match is av...

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...

 Well, the 2021 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards have been released, and I have a problem regarding the Worst Match of the Year award. Not with the fact that the Zombie Lumberjack match won, because it absolutely deserved it, but because I've already covered the match previously, I don't have the opportunity to cover it again now that the awards have been announced. Covering the Worst Match of the Year winner is generally something I do, so now, I have to go back to the drawing board. And low and behold, I've got something, courtesy of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's resident Sublime Master Theif; Toru Yano. Like I said the last time Yano popped up in the series, Yano's not exactly a bad wrestler, and I do find some of his comedy spots funny, but when the bar for in-ring work is a lot higher like it is in New Japan, Yano's work is a lot worse by comparison. Case and point; Yano has three of the lowest-rated matches from Dave Meltzer in 2021, and two of the lowest-...