Must See Matches

The other (better?) half of The Arn & Eddie Experience, Arnold Furious, joins Kieran and Mark to discuss a nostalgic classic from the days when wrestling was better... and worse: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect from SummerSlam '91 on August 26, 1991. PLUS: 1999, the West Texas Rednecks, swatting gum, the Mr Perfect vignettes, Bret Hart’s transition to singles, Ricky Steamboat, Virgil, “Coach” John Tolos...

Dave Ryan from Days of Thunder makes it a hattrick as he joins Kieran and Mark to discuss what is arguably the in-ring peak of NXT Black & Gold: Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade 'Cien' Almas from NXT Takeover Philadelphia on January 27, 2018 PLUS: "An-draid", the quality of this period of NXT, WrestleMania Dallas, THE MOVE~!, Ultimate Spider Jr., Be Like No One, undefeated Asuka, NXT Loud, Sid Vicious,...

Saddle up the MSM tandem, it's a two-hander as Kieran and Mark get stuck into the only ECW match to make the 104: Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome from Heatwave '98 on August 2, 1998. PLUS: VHS, The Head Hunters, The Night The Line Was Crossed, Bravo, zombies, FMW, Gran Naniwa, the brilliance of ECW TV, Atsushi Onita, The Zoo, JT Smith, “Roaring Elbow”, Ulf Herman, Taz, Jerry Lynn’s action f...

Mysterious joshi expert Kadaveri joins Kieran and Mark to discuss the context, rules, history and action of the epic interpromotional team battle: Dynamite Kansai, Mayumi Ozaki, Cutie Suzuki & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue & Sakie Hasegawa from JWP Thunder Queen Battle on July 31, 1993. PLUS: a useful deal, wrestling forums, WCW, Blizzard Yuki, FMW, unsanctioned promos, FI...

We’ve covered the end, now we cover the beginning. GRAPPL Gareth is here to talk the build-up, execution and aftermath of the first match in the Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat ’89 trilogy, from Chi-Town Rumble on February 20, 1989. PLUS: Monkeyoke, nostalgia for VHS, the genesis of Grappl, High Fidelity, “YAHOO!”, Magnum TA, the mystery of Hiro Matsuda and the Yamazaki Corporation, Die Hard, Hulk H...

With apologies for accidental false advertising, Eamonn Bell returns again to talk the only pure Dragon Date match on the 104: Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki from Gate of Destiny on November 1, 2015. PLUS: CIMA in all his forms, Kamikaze USA, Mochizuki Jr., Uncle Don Fujii, Open the Owarai Gate, Alice in Borderland , weird unit line-ups, Florida Bros., Kieran hasn’t seen The Wire , Animal Ham...

A marvellous man returns! Days of Thunder's Dave Ryan joins Kieran & Mark again to talk the first match between the Olypmic gold medallist and Mr. WrestleMania: Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005. Watch the match on WWE's YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/8WMHSghZix8 Follow the project and podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon: ⁠@MustSeeMatches⁠ Follow Ma...

Alan4L returns to talk the build-up, legend and aftermath of the classic Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard I Quit Cage match from Starrcade 85 on November 18, 1985. PLUS: Some Buckeldee slander, some Lefort shame, college football, Excalibur’s dad, 1980s TV studio wrestling, Buddy Landel, Razor Ramon, Paul Roma, Goldberg, Johnny Weaver, Ivan Koloff’s forehead, the cancellation of Magnum TA, Crockett...

Kieran's podcasting sidepiece, Andy Ogden from GCP, joins us to talk a nostalgic classic, Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior from WrestleMania VII, on March 24, 1991, the only appearance of the Ultimate Warrior on Must See Matches. PLUS: Play Your Ages Right, thrones, a large deadman appears, Randy Savage plays Ric Flair, the rear view camera, the wonderful Sherri Martel, the liar Gorilla Monsoon,...

Sarah Parkin returns to help Kieran & Mark cover one of the most important matches on our list: the first time two women of colour main event WrestleMania in Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair from WrestleMania 37 on April 10, 2021. PLUS: stupid entrances, treatment of female wrestlers and wrestlers of colour in WWE, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Kurt Angle, WWE TV production, Michael Cole, Masato Yos...

The glass smashes for JP Houlihan from GRAPPL Spotlight to talk with Mark & Kieran about the first televised match between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Bret "The Hitman" Hart from Survivor Series 1996 - November 17, 1996. PLUS: The Ringmster, Wayne's World , “Sony’s PlayStation, featuring the hit video game Crash Bandicoot, presents In Your House: Buried Alive”, Pillman's got a gun, The Sad G...

The Podcast is not even once until now! St. Louis Anarchy Wrestling’s Sean Orleans returns to talk Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles (and the fallout therefrom) from Wrestle Kingdom 10 on January 4, 2016. PLUS: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once , black mould, meeting AJ Styles, Delirious, a flaming Christmas tree, Preston, hair, the imaginary bullet, AJ’s back, Matt Skynet, the trademark bump, Yos...

Jamie from DramaticDDT joins Mark and Kieran on a very special episode, for reasons we get into, to cover the ASUKA vs. Akito IPPON Lighttube Death Match from DDT's Wrestle Peter Pan 2019 on July 15, 2019; the ONLY singles match these two have ever had! PLUS: The politics of covering Japanese wrestling, blow-up dolls, a dip into ancient DDT history, the comedy genius of Yukinori Matsui, Sugi/Yoshi...

Men with a mission, Kieran & Mark break the contradictions to welcome back Eastern Lariat's Dylan Fox to talk the 2018 G1 final: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi from August 12, 2018. PLUS: Rey Misterio Jr., Open The Voice Gate, Mike Bailey (for the second week in a row), Ikuto Hidaka, “a constant dripping tease”, Katsuyori Shibata, Terminator Tanahashi, the G1 trophy IRL, and the "daddy or c...

It's another famous series we're tackling in the wrong order! Pro-Wrestling Torch's Rich Fann (and all that implies) joins us to talk one hour of Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega from New-Japan's Dominion 6.11, June 11, 2017. Plus tangents into Rey Mysterio, getting grifted by Shinsuke, Mark's newest stat, vertigo and the art of the time limit draw. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter: @MustS...

Independent wrestler of note, Daniel Makabe joins Kieran & Mark to talk one of his all-time favourite matches: The 1988 Real World Tag League Final of Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada from December 16, 1988. PLUS: Car washes, Al Tomko ’s All-Star Wrestling, The Destroyer, ramen, “the most mountainous evil combination in history”, the balance of a tag tea...

Adrenaline, in our souls! Eddie Sideburns, on the show!  And he's here to talk with Kieran & Mark about modern classic, Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes from the first ever AEW show, Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter: @MustSeeMatches http://linktr.ee/mustseematches Follow Eddie: @eddiesideburns Kieran: @kieranedits Mark: @monkey_buckles MUSIC: "Chuck Kick...

Creator of the finest video essays on pro-wrestling, Joseph Montecillo joins Mark & Kieran to talk the second ever All-Japan Pro-Wrestling Triple Crown defence: Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu from June 5, 1989. Honestly, worth it alone for the story of how Joseph became a wrestling fan. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter: @MustSeeMatches http://linktr.ee/mustseematches Follow Joseph...

Joshi historian, Alex returns to guide Mark & Kieran through probably the wildest match covered so far: Dump Matsumoto vs. Yukari Omori from March 20, 1986. Plus Mark’s reading habits, the Greatest Wrestler Ever project, another Mark wacky travel story, Devil Masami, dubious hairstyles, pioneering violence, and another tremendous history lesson. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter: @Must...

Eamonn Bell joins Kieran & Mark to get deep in the weeds on “the Dragon Gate six-man”: Do FIXER (Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito & Dragon Kid) vs. Blood Generation (CIMA, Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi) from Supercard of Honor on March 31, 2006. We talk about the match itself, the history behind it, its legacy and influences, the Dragon Gate of January 2023, and much, much more. Plus, The Wres...

It's Dragon vs. Dragon Slayer, as Kieran & Mark talk the Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay Best of the Super Junior 26 final from June 5, 2019. Plus Mark’s live experience of the show and his 2019 Japan trip as a whole, bears, Naruto live (yes), Sumo Hall memories and seating advice, an episode of Kieran Talks Cameras, the etymology of Storm Breaker, a lot of Dragon Gate chat, and The Chuckle Brother...

Happy new year!! Sarah Parkin returns to help Kieran and Mark on their one and only trip to GAEA for Akira Houkto vs. Meiko Satomura from April 29, 2001. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter/IG: @MustSeeMatches http://linktr.ee/mustseematches Kieran: @kieranedits Mark: @monkey_buckles Follow Sarah: @sarahparkin1 MUSIC: "Chuck Kick Ass" by Nicolas Jeudy. Used under license from Dark Fantasy St...

Electrify your jingle bells, brother! We had to go big for Christmas, so official WWF correspondent Matty Edwards returns to help guide Kieran and Mark through the first match between two of the biggest stars in wrestling history: "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock from WrestleMania X8 on March 17, 2002.Follow the project and podcast on Twitter: @MustSeeMatcheshttp://linktr.ee/mustseematchesFollo...

Be on your best behaviour, the boss is here! CEO of wXw, Felix Kohlenberg drops by to talk the conclusion of the classic Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair 1989 trilogy with their match at WrestleWar on May 7.Follow the project and podcast on Twitter/IG/Mastodon: @MustSeeMatcheshttp://linktr.ee/mustseematchesKieran: @kieranedits Mark: @monkey_bucklesFollow Felix and wXw: @felixkohlenberg // @wXwGermany...

In spite of a dramatic revelation by one of the hosts, Sarah Parkin from Big Egg Podcasting Universe returns to talk Kieran & Mark through a collision between four of the greats of joshi puroresu: Aja Kong & Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto & Shinobu Kandori from AJW Wrestling Queendom II on March 27, 1994. Follow the project and podcast on Twitter/IG: @MustSeeMatches http://linktr.ee/must...