Octopus Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 10 hours ago, The Natural said: The announcement of Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi got me thinking about wrestling rivalries with the best chemistry. Come up with: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega. Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk. The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. Steve Austin vs. The Rock. Bryan Danielson vs. AJ Styles. Probably missing something obvious. Rivalries I love: Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuiness Four Pillar mayhem CM Punk vs Samoa Joe Hijo Del Santo vs Negro Casas Eddie Kingston vs Chris Hero Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 In terms of chemistry Rey/Psicosis might be my favorite. Vader/Hashimoto is, of course, great with two very different hard hitters going at it. Obligatory DVDVR mention of Ikeda/Ishikawa. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Hero Morganti Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Claudio/Sami Claudio/Pac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) For the legendary-type stuff that you might list: DiBiase/JYD Von Erichs/Freebirds Steamboat/Rude I could name a ton of midcard ones that, while not legendary level, were incredibly fulfilling for me and personally legendary within my fandom. Edited January 20 by SirSmUgly 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinit Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Steamboat/Rude is a great call. R&R Express & MX Express Lawler & Dundee Windham & Flair Valentine & Santana 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zendragon Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Valentine v Santana really doesn’t get talked about enough 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 You could also say MX and Fantastics and MX and Southern Boys. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Steen/Generico foley/HHH Regal/Finlay 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1 hour ago, SirSmUgly said: Steamboat/Rude Finally watched the IronMan match. Dear lord, that was fantastic. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 WCW in 1992 kicked WWF's ass in terms of overall match quality, but due to a variety of factors, it might as well have happened on Neptune. None of that equated to success. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarrie Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 22 minutes ago, Octopus said: Finally watched the [Steamboat/Rude] IronMan match. Dear lord, that was fantastic. I really should rewatch that. I remember being annoyed by it, but it gets such universal praise I'm wondering if I was just overreacting to a nitpick. I did that more in my youth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1 minute ago, tbarrie said: I really should rewatch that. I remember being annoyed by it, but it gets such universal praise I'm wondering if I was just overreacting to a nitpick. I did that more in my youth. Honestly, me too. If I look back at posts I made elsewhere as a teen I’d cringe at myself. There is fair criticism on things like how quickly certain falls are, etc. But I actually like that about the match. Rude looks very strong and plays sounded beast well. Steamboat is always great and manages to walk the line of wonderful underdog babyface while still getting in the most offense. Very fun! Favorite IronMan match is close between that and the Danielson vs MJF from last year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 21 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: WCW in 1992 kicked WWF's ass in terms of overall match quality, but due to a variety of factors, it might as well have happened on Neptune. None of that equated to success. I was a WWF kid growing up (later 90’s though) so it’s fun going back and watching excellent WCW matches with people like Regal and Arn 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanie Sparkleface Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 59 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: WCW in 1992 kicked WWF's ass in terms of overall match quality, but due to a variety of factors, it might as well have happened on Neptune. None of that equated to success. Imagine if Max Moon had jumped to WCW in 1992. (Or traveled there on his jetpack.) I would've been... Nope, not making an over the moon joke. Nope nope nope. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Tenryu vs. Choshu is one that never gets a big enough nod. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 You know, I forgot to list my favorite rivalry. Anywhere it went, and with any permutations of the teams that were involved, it was great: Midnights vs. Fantastics. For my money, I've never seen a better series of tag matches across multiple years or promotions than between those teams. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 just saw a "WWE BREAKING NEWS WWE RAW Star LEG AMPUTATED" clickbait video title on YouTube, sad to see that Mean Gene is being forced by Satan to do his Hotline teases on YouTube 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Lawler vs. Dundee is THEE ONE but Dutch Mantell really should be mentioned after them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Punk/Cena had incredible chemistry in-ring. Bull/Aja??? For my money, Aja never had better matches than she did with Bull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) Backlund and Patterson had so much chemistry they did FOUR at the Garden. edit: And Backlund / Valentine were amazing together. Edited January 21 by Johnny Sorrow 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 5 hours ago, Octopus said: Finally watched the IronMan match. Dear lord, that was fantastic. Great match. Gave it *****. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude at WCW Beach Blast 1992 is still the best Iron Man match in wrestling history followed by Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT TakeOver: Respect 2005 *****. Thank y'all for your best chemistry suggestions, knew I forgot some. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) Speaking of Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude's Iron Man match at WCW Beach Blast 1992, what are your three favourite gimmick matches ever? Mine are the Royal Rumble, Two out of Three Falls and Hell in a Cell. I'll write some gimmick matches down and say the best match of each while I'm at it: Royal Rumble: 1992. Two out of Three Falls: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, NJPW Dominion 2018. Hell in a Cell: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, WWF In Your House 18: Badd Blood. Iron Man: Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude, WCW Beach Blast 1992. Submission Match: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, WWF WrestleMania 13. WarGames: 1992, WCW WarGames. Last Man Standing: John Cena vs. Umaga, WWE Royal Rumble 2007. Ladder match: Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels, WWF WrestleMania X. Elimination Chamber: Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston, WWE Elimination Chamber 2019. Edited January 21 by The Natural Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 15 minutes ago, The Natural said: Great match. Gave it *****. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude at WCW Beach Blast 1992 is still the best Iron Man match in wrestling history followed by Bayley vs. Sasha Banks, NXT TakeOver: Respect 2005 *****. Thank y'all for your best chemistry suggestions, knew I forgot some. I'm inclined to agree with you on those Iron Man matches and remain steadfast in my belief that thirty-minute Iron Man matches are far superior to their hour-long counterparts. I think the best hour-long Iron Man match was the Bret/Owen fancammed one, and it doesn't touch either of the matches you listed. The second-best hour-long one was IMO HHH/Rock, and I am lukewarm on it and like it much less than the consensus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.H. Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 The 3 Best Gimmick Matches are Thunder Queen, War Games/The Match Beyond and I Quit Match James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 As much as I love Steamboat/Rude, I also have a fondness for HHH/Rock 2000. I think it showed a willingness to learn from the issues with the psychology of the HIAC earlier that year and what people didn't like of Bret/Shawn and were able to be vulnerable in exchanging falls on transition moves like a DDT to get the crowd into it. The finish is absolutely awful however. By contrast, I feel like Brock/Angle is the most logical booking of one to a point where they killed the gimmick. If you're not going to drop an early DQ to weaken the guy with weapon shots and take two falls as a result and consistently hold that mini-break for the rest of the match, what are you even doing. It also happened to make for awkward TV. Looking through the Wikipedia page there aren't too many examples on there I like/liked. Bayley/Sasha I remember being good but haven't watched it again. Remember hating Rollins/Ziggler and Benoit/HHH. I don't think I could do Orton/Cena for an hour, and that NXT four way sounds my version of hell. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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