shortest ever ***** match?

[Guest saturnmark4life]

What are the candidates? I doubt there's ever been one under around 15 mins, am I wrong?

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

One of the candidates, according to SK, was Nasty Boys vs. Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan in a Broadstreet Bully Match at Slamboree 1994. I believe it was 9-10 minutes.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

I haven't seen a ***** match that is too short but here is a list of ****+ that are all 15 or less:

 

3/27/88 Midnight Express v Fantastics (10:30)

3/27/88 Windham/Luger v Anderson/Blanchard (9:30)

1/4/96 Vader v Inoki (14:xx)

11/24/96 Ultimo Dragon v Rey Misterio Jr. (14:xx)

10/26/97 Eddy Guerrero v Rey Misterio Jr. (14:xx)

1/22/97 Volk Han v Kiyoshi Tamura (12:00)

 

Tim

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

Looking at this subjectively, I would even call Rock/Bossman from Survivor Series 98 *****. Since there was no match to speak of, all you have to rate it on is a pin. It was a good pin. The match had a good reaction, and served it's purpose. Loosely speaking, that's *****.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Hardcore Battle Royale - JCW Volume 1

[Guest Ace309]

Nitpick, IDrinkMalk.

 

You're evaluating ***** as a hard set of criteria, and making what amounts to a sophistic argument.

 

A match could conceivably fill those criteria and still be lacking that je ne sais quoi that would make it a ***** match. IMO, Rock/Bossman did.

[Guest Sandman9000]

Of course, it was the greatest Boss Man match ever.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Owen vs 1-2-3 Kid at KOTR '94. It was something like 5 or 6 minutes and Keith gave it ****1/4.

[cawthon777 0]

I don't put a whole lot of stock into what some psuedo-famous PPV reviewer says, but I'd def have to go with Owen / 1-2-3 Kid from KOTR 94. Less than 4 minutes but it's the fastest paced 4-minute match you'll find (especially from the WWF).

[Guest bob_barron]

Nasties v. Cactus/Sullivan is my pick

[Guest Austin3164life]

Angle vs. Rey at Summerslam. I think it was around 10-12 minutes long. Great, great crowd heat, and tons of good action.

[Guest snuffbox]

Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan - Great American Bash 96, I think this was like 10 minutes

[cawthon777 0]

Benoit / Sullivan was great. I'd have to say that the Cactus & Maxx Payne / Nasty Boys match at Spring Stampede 94 outdid the Slamboree bout - IMO.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

I believe Kawada/Albright 95 at ****1/2 is just under 16 minutes. One of the finest performances of Kawada's career, which says alot.

[Guest Ace309]

I second the pimpage of that match.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

Yeah, I think that and Eddy/Rey Havoc 97 are the only two matches that I've seen that comes any where near ***** while clocking in around 15 minutes. It's just really hard to properly build match in that short of time. I'll have to check the times of some Junior matches, but I'm sure most of the great ones clock in around twenty.

[Guest wolverine]

My picks:

 

1. Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota 11/20/94 (17 mins)

2. Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura 1/22/97 (12 minutes)

3. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrero 10/26/97 (13 minutes)

4. Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura 9/26/97 (12 minutes)

5. Toshiaki Kawada vs. Gary Albright 10/25/95 (16 minutes)

 

Of those listed, I would consider #1 and #2 to be strong candidates for a ***** rating.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Looking at this subjectively, I would even call Rock/Bossman from Survivor Series 98 *****. Since there was no match to speak of, all you have to rate it on is a pin. It was a good pin. The match had a good reaction, and served it's purpose. Loosely speaking, that's *****.

Yes, Regal/Storm vs Dudleyz from Raw a few weeks ago was just a shameless ripoff of that match. I had to give it ****1/2 for being a direct copy. If they had bothered to make it an ARROGANT COVER~ or something, then it could have been *****

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

My picks:

 

1.  Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota 11/20/94 (17 mins)

2.  Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura 1/22/97 (12 minutes)

3.  Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Eddy Guerrero 10/26/97 (13 minutes)

4.  Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura 9/26/97 (12 minutes)

5.  Toshiaki Kawada vs. Gary Albright 10/25/95 (16 minutes)

 

Of those listed, I would consider #1 and #2 to be strong candidates for a ***** rating.

I'm not familar with the Rings, Volk Han stuff. I forgot about Kong/Toyota, probably the best match I've seen that goes under twenty minutes. I'd go ***** or maybe ****3/4. I'll have to check again, but I think that Toyota/Yamada hair vs. hair, and Toyota/Hokuto around twenty minutes as well. Though there not as good as the 94 Kong match.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

wow, a ***** bossman match. I mean, really, I don't think it's fair to compare the effing bossman getting rolled up at the opening bell to two guys beating the shit out of each other for sometimes upwards of half an hour. Funny though. Having recently watched angle/rey again, I think it's a certain contender.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Umm...maybe I'm missing something here, but a non-match that's nothing but a quick rollup cannot be *****. That's a DUD, since they didn't do anything.

 

Rey/Eddy was only 13 minutes? I remember it being longer than that. If that's the case though, that's definitely my pick. The Cactus/Partner brawls with the Nasties are fun as hell, but I wouldn't call them *****. The Cactus/Sullivan match is definitely the better of the two, and I think I clock that one in at ****1/4-maybe ****1/2ish.

[Guest Goodear]

The Jack vs. Nasty Boys matches (including the one with Max Payne) are usually really fun to watch, but they aren't really what anyone should consider good. Basically it comes out to four guys beating each other up all over the arena with no rhyme or reason until the ending kicks in from no where. The booking of those matches were great in my opinion, but it's not enough to raise the matches to the three star range ... which is about the highest rating a strait brawl can get from me.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Eh, I'm pretty friendly to good brawls when it comes to snowflakes, if only because it's something that's hard to do well. I think on the surface, it sounds simple, "Two guys go out there and beat the crap out of each other," but to keep up the pace, and still have it seem realistic is quite a task. Those two matches are, IMO, the perfect example of an out of control brawl in a pro wrestling setting. Masterfully booked, all kinds of innovative fun spots, tons of plunder, and good old-fashioned asskicking. Excellent shit in my book, and nothing to be ashamed of at all.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

I agree with agent. Look at how many times hardcore matches have ended up as a complete shit factory, and you appreciate the good ones. Plus those matches were pioneering the style in a way.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

And yeah, let's be realistic rock/bossman was a DUD, because if that's ***** then so is all those bits where 5 people win the HC title. Crash has had about 40 ***** matches%

[Guest DragonflyKid]

It's hard for me to give a match ***** unless it feels epic, sometimes the work may have been ***** but I still feel it may have been missing something.

 

The Toyota/Kong and Misterio/Eddy matches are those that come very close to ***** but they fell just short IMO. After watching many AJ matches where the period of nearfalls can sometimes hit 15 minutes+, great matches under 20 minutes seem to leave me wanting more. Maybe that's a postive and shows how enjoyable the match was but it also leaves me thinking it could have went longer and extended the drama that much more.

 

After Toyota/Kong BEWU ended I felt as though watching it was great experience but also wish it was five minutes longer. It was a tournament setting so I can see why it didn't go 20+ but couldn't escape the feeling that it could have been more. It's still a top 10 match for me but with 5 more minutes or so I think it could have easily been top 3.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I can certainly see how it's hard to go the full monty on a match when it isn't that long, but Rey/Eddy and say, MM/KK vs. Kawada/Taue or Misawa/Kawada are completely different animals. If Rey/Eddy had indeed gone as long as some of the primo AJ material, it would've lost points in believability in my opinion, because Eddy was just mauling Rey from pillar to post with the exception of a couple outbursts. It wouldn't be believable for Eddy to keep up the pressure, and have Rey NOT get pinned, even though his mask was on the line. On the other hand, Rey taking control of the match himself for an extended period of time wouldn't have made much sense in the context of the rest of the match. As it was, it was booked perfectly, with great psych on Rey's back, and prime rudo work from Guerrero. The finish to me is the only semi-weak area, but Rey HAD to win with a flashy move out of nowhere, and that finish is as good as any in that department. Everything in the match was executed flawlessly, and made sense. I have trouble considering it less than *****, personally.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

I realize they're different types of matches, I think it just comes down to my preference of having sustained periods of nearfalls. After watching some of the AJ matches I feel prowres can't get any better, and that other styles can't match up to the peak of the AJ style.

 

For the type of match it was Rey/Eddy was ***** IMO, I just don't feel it compares to several AJ matches and the few matches which I have rated *****. I recently upgraded 5/21/94 MM/KK vs. Kawada/Taue and rewatched it, as far as what I took away from it from an emotional and excitement standpoint I prefer it to Rey/Eddy.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The style itself is more conducive to deeper matches, no argument there. I've seen the 95 incarnation of MM/KK vs. Kawada/Taue, and if the 94 matchup is similar (which I'm sure it is), then it's a gem as well.

[Guest Downhome]

I'll toss out a few matches that I just really like which are short, seeing how I don't really ever give star ratings.

 

First off, how about Pegasus Kid vs. Black Tiger from '94 while we're at it. The match isn't but, I believe, 9-11 minutes long, but it's fantastic from where I sit.

 

I'll also mention Owen Hart vs. Keiichi Yamada from 09-15-87 isn't but around 10 minutes and Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psicosis from 09-16-95 is quite good and rather short, around 10-12 minutes long.

 

I only mention these because I just happen to have them on my computer, and I was just looking over all of my matches, and these were some great short ones.