Wrestling's Greatest Rivalries #3 Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair I watched this series of matches the day after Fastlane 2021, when those of us in the UK would be able to watch an American wrestling PPV at a reasonable hour, instead of Fastlane. Well I don't tend to watch WWE PPVs these days, but you get the idea, I made an excellent decision. This series of matches underlined exactly why I don't watch WWE anymore. I'm very into now watching Funk vs Flair and nowhere near in

The first match in this series is one of my most vividly remembered wrestling-viewing experiences but this article comes with a lot of baggage. This is the tragedy of talent. I write this after spending much of the evening damning Will Ospreay's storyline involvement upon winning the New Japan Cup. This is the tip of the iceberg with Ospreay, there is a deluge of accusations of misconduct or worse against him. However, it's not really the time or place for me to exile Ospreay

The Four Pillars #1 - Setting the Stage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FsjI2kATlQ https://fightingfullosophy.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/walking-the-kings-road-part-1/ Cagematch Rating - 9.49 (106) Grappl Rating - 4.62 (24) WON - 5* Summary Genichiro Tenryu bested Jumbo Tsuruta much to the delight of the AJPW crowd in a true underdog performance. The majority of the match was controlled by Jumbo before Tenryu reacted to a period of Jumbo dominance culminating in a Back Supl

2020 has been an odd year for me. From the lowest of lows in a tricky headspace in the middle of lockdown consuming videos of American police deal with protestors in horror. To the highest of highs, getting pregnant and beginning to truly appreciate the strides i've made with my own mental health. In terms of wrestling, AEW has been a wonderful weekly tonic, NXT has completely fallen out of my weekly rotation and NJPW has flirted with turning into the WWE of Japan in terms

The most beloved WWE match of the modern era? Since the advent of the 'PG Era' wrestling in the WWE was often criticised by fans for not being more like the product that came before. Pure wrestling fans bemoaned the match quality and predictability. In fact, this match was the first match since 1997 to receive a 5 star rating from the Wrestling Observer in 14 years. It would take another 7 years before WWE would produce another 5 star match in the eyes of the Wrestling Obs

This match was the peak of the Four Horsewomen's time in NXT. The first of two matches between the two and the best rated of the two. This was part one of the end of Sasha Banks in NXT and the beginning of Bayley's run on top as the long member of the Four Horsewomen to stay in NXT. This match was for the NXT Women's championship with Bayley challenging Sasha Banks after earning her spot with victories over Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The dynamic say a sneering Sasha

This match was WWE's first ever 5 star match from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer! It was also WWE's first ever ladder match, the first of many! This match took place at Wrestlemania 10 and was for the Intercontinental Title. Strangely, two Intercontinental Titles hung above the ring as both Michaels and Ramon claimed to be the rightful Intercontinental Champion. After Michaels was suspended, Razor Ramon won the vacated Intercontinental Title however upon his ret

This match took place in WCW on 20th February, 1989. It was the first of the three matches that made up their now legendary trilogy as they fought over the NWA Championship. This match was presented as working class hero, Steamboat versus entitled private school educated elite, Ric Flair. This match is an entertaining bout that shows of great wrestling from a different time in the industry. Dave Meltzer rated it as a five star match and Grappl users have rated it as 4.8

This was Katsuyori Shibata's last match in professional wrestling. A nasty looking headbutt delivered by Shibata to Okada caused a subdural hematoma. He finished the match but looked worryingly injured as he staggered to the back. It is currently believed he will never wrestle again. However, his recovery from this injury has been life-affirming and he is still part of NJPW as head of the LA Dojo. This match took place at Sakura Genesis, April 9th 2017. The venue being

This was the oft-referred to double turn, the match in which Steve Austin really endeared himself to the crowd and Bret responded by vindictively taking out his frustrations on Austin. At Wrestlemania 13 Steve Austin met Bret Hart in a submission match. It ended up being a bloody affair with the more experienced submission wrestler, Bret Hart, emerging victorious. However the story of the match was Steve Austin getting over in defeat, a blood splattered mess who refused to