We’re a few weeks past the halfway point of the year: what are your top 10 NJPW matches, thus far?

29 comments

1. “You got this, Fale. He isn’t even that big. He’s fake big. HE’S A FAKE BIG!” – El Phantasmo

2. Has to be either Okada vs ZSJ or Okada vs Despy

3. Okada vs El Desperado
   Okada vs Naito (Golden Series)
   Okada vs Shingo
   Tanahashi vs Ishii
   YOH vs Hiromu (BOSJ)
   Hiromu vs Ishimori (NJ Road)
   EVIL vs Ishii (Golden Series)
   El Desperado vs SHO
   Tanahashi vs Sanada
   SHO vs Taguchi

4. Okada vs ZSJ, but Okada vs Despy, Shingo vs Hiromu and Ospreay versus OC both also come to mind.

   Heck Phantasmo fighting Sting brings me such joy. Not my favorite match but him going for Sting’s nipples was a top moment of the year.

5. 1. Kazuchika Okada v Jay White – Dominion

   2. Kazuchika Okada v El Desperado – NJ Cup R1

   3. Hiromu Takahashi v Taijii Ishimori – NJ Road

   4. Shingo Takagi v Taichi – Golden Fight Series

   5. Taichi v Tomohiro Ishii – G1

   6. Hiroshi Tanahashi v Tomohiro Ishii – Dontaku

   7. Kazuchika Okada v Will Ospreay – Wrestle Kingdom

   8. Yoshinobu Kanemaru v Tomohiro Ishii – NJ Road

   9. Hiromu Takahashi v Minoru Suzuki – NJ Cup R2

   10. Kazuchika Okada v Tetsuya Naito – Golden Series

6. Off the top of my head

   ZSJ vs Shingo

   LIJ vs KONGO

   Hiromu vs Ishimori

   Taichi vs Ishii

   Jay White vs Okada

   Ospreay vs Okada

   El Desperado vs Okada

   Kanemaru vs Ishii

   ZSJ vs KENTA

   El Desperado vs El Lindaman

   ​

   EDIT: bad formatting

7. Favorite is probably Tanahashi/Ishii. Up there is Okada/Ospreay from WK.

8. I would add:
   Eddie Kingston vs Gabriel Kidd
   ELP vs Ospreay
   ZSJ vs Ospreay

9. Outside of Okada/Takagi being my current favorite I don’t really have a ranking for these. Special shout out to Kanemaru’s run in BOSJ.

   – Okada vs Takagi @ Wrestle Kingdom 16

   – Okada/Tanahashi vs Muto/Kiyomiya @ Wrestle Kingdom 16

   – Hiromu vs Suzuki @ New Japan Cup

   – Hiromu vs Takagi @ New Japan Cup

   – Taichi vs Takagi @ Golden Fight Series

   – Tanahashi vs Ishii @ Wrestling Dontaku

   – Okada vs Naito @ Wrestling Dontaku

   – Okada vs White @ Dominion

   – Kanemaru vs Ishii @ New Japan Road

   – Kanemaru/Desperado vs Swerve in Our Glory @ Forbidden Door

   – Sting/Allin/Takagi vs Phantasmo/The Young Bucks @ Forbidden Door

10. Taichi vs ishii.

11. Shout out to Ospreay vs ZSJ from New Japan Cup. Fantastic match.

12. In no particular order:

    * Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Will Ospreay for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 16 – Night 2

    * Kazuchika Okada vs El Desperado in the New Japan Cup – Round 1

    * Zack Sabre Jr. vs Will Ospreay in the New Japan Cup – Quarterfinals

    * El Phantasmo vs Robbie Eagles in the Best of the Super Juniors 29 – Night 9

    * Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tomohiro Ishii for the vacant IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku

    * Taiji Ishimori (c) vs Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship at New Japan Road – Night 5

    * Taichi (c) vs Shingo Takagi for the KOPW 2022 at Golden Fight Series – Night 7

    * Hiromu Takahashi vs Shingo Takagi in the New Japan Cup – Quarterfinals

    * Shingo Takagi vs Zack Sabre Jr. in the New Japan Cup – Semifinals

    * Tomohiro Ishii vs Minoru Suzuki at Windy City Riot

13. Jesus ZSJ and Shingo just cant stop. Ospreay and Tana have been incredible too

14. Okada vs Shingo, Okada vs Ospreay, Okada vs Despy, ZSJ vs Ospreay & Ishimori vs Hiromu are my standouts.

15. Okada vs Despy blew me away.

16. For me Will vs ZSJ – NJ Cup is my number 1. Flawless match. Perfect pace & timing

17. Off the top of my head, not in any order:

    ELP vs Robbie Eagles, BOSJ

    The 30-count Match between Taichi and Shingo for the KOPW trophy.

    Tanahashi vs Ishii for the vacant US title

    ZSJ vs Kenta from the G1

    ZSJ’s entire NJC run, but especially the matches with Ospreay and Naito

    Despe vs Okada, NJC

    I’m sure there’s some I’m forgetting from earlier in the year.

    On a more personal note, Okada and Rocky vs Jay and Hikuleo because it was my first ever time seeing Okada and Jay live. They just ooze charisma and presence, and despite being a throwaway tag it was my favorite match of the night.

18. It would take me too long to put these in order, but:

    – Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada (WK Night 2)
    – Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (New Japan Cup)
    – Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Will Ospreay (New Japan Cup)
    – Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shingo Takagi (New Japan Cup)
    – Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito (New Japan Cup)
    – Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Dontaku)
    – Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (Dontaku)
    – El Phantasmo vs. Robbie Eagles (BOSJ)
    – Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White (Dominion)
    – Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishiimori (New Japan Road)

19. Okada vs Ospreay (WK2)

    Hiromu vs Suzuki (NJC)

    Moxley vs Ospreay(Windy City Riot)

    ZSJ vs Ospreay (NJC)

    Tanahashi vs Ishii (Dontaku)

    Okada vs Jay White (Dominion)

    Okada vs El Desperado (NJC)

    Robbie Eagles vs El Phantasmo (BOSJ)

    Hiromu vs Shingo (NJC)

    Okada vs Naito (Golden Series)

    I’m sure people will disagree with Hiromu/Suzuki being so high but, hey, I like chops.

20. Ospreay has been pulling great matches this year ngl

21. How do you not even have one Ishii match in the picture?? that’s a failure…

22. You must be as drunk as I am because you have no Ospreay but Moxley in this list.

23. Ishii v Kingston in DC was pretty hype, but a lot of people didn’t see it since I don’t think it’s on World yet. I was there live, so I may be biased, but it SLAPPED.

24. Not in any particular order

    Both Okada v Naito title matches

    Zsj v Naito

    Ishii v Tana

    Naito and Sanada v Okada and Tana

    Zsj v Shingo

    Hiromu v Taiji Ishimori

    Zsj v Ospreay

    Sanada v Tana

    Kenta v Tana

    Edit:
    After reading the comments I wanna add an honorable mention to some matches I saw in the comments but completely forgot about when I made this list

    Hiromu v Suzuki

    Taichi v Shingo, both KOPW matches

25. Jay white vs okada was a dope match

26. Zsj vs Will Ospreay in the njpw cup

27. From #1 to #10:

    **(c) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62hPdJQNrs) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00607_2_08) **]**
    *NJPW, Wrestling Dontaku, 2022.05.01*

    **Hiromu Takahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDcyrzYieuU) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00605_13_08) **]**
    *NJPW, New Japan Cup day 7, 2022.03.13*

    **Swerve In Our Glory vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [** [**Match**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ix2j74Sebk&t=2868s) **]**
    *AEW & NJPW, Forbidden Door, 2022.06.26*

    **Kosei Fujita vs. Yasutaka Yano [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYNBVDbxjA) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00602_1_001) **]**
    *NJPW, Wrestle Kingdom 16 day 3, 2022.01.08*

    **Chris Jericho, Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara vs. Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino**
    *AEW & NJPW, Forbidden Door, 2022.06.26*

    **Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Kongo [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYNBVDbxjA) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00602_1_08) **]**
    *NJPW, Wrestle Kingdom 16 day 3, 2022.01.08*

    **Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Keiji Muto & Kaito Kiyomiya [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYNBVDbxjA) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00602_1_09) **]**
    *NJPW, Wrestle Kingdom 16 day 3, 2022.01.08*

    **Shingo Takagi vs. Hiromu Takahashi [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncih17IdlQ) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00605_25_07) **]**
    *NJPW, New Japan Cup day 13, 2022.03.21*

    **Robbie Eagles vs. Taiji Ishimori [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AijuXTeiAco) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00601_9_05) **]**
    *NJPW, New Years Golden Series day 10, 2022.02.13*

    **Satoshi Kojima vs. Great-O-Khan [** [**Intro**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AijuXTeiAco) **|** [**Match**](https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00601_19_04) **]**
    *NJPW, New Years Golden Series day 15, 2022.02.20*

28. Will Osprey vs Kazuchika Okada at wrestle Kingdom
    SANADA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the US title

29. This is premature. Wait until after the G1 is over.