Every Wrestler With 10 Or More Dave Meltzer 5 Star Rated Matches
The Best of the Best, according to Big Dave.
Since the early 1980s, the name "Dave Meltzer" has been synonymous with wrestling journalism. The man responsible for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has been the source for wrestling news for decades, and his status as the king of scoops still looks incredibly secure.
Aside from providing insider knowledge (and annoying Jim Cornette), Meltzer is also known for his star rating system. Dave has rated thousands and thousands of match on a scale of 0-5 (or higher) since the very first edition of the Observer came out, and his scores are still highly regarded and coveted by those in the industry.
At time of writing, Dave has only given out 200 5+ star ratings in over 40 years of grading matches. Whilst no one has worked out exactly how many matches Meltzer has reviewed over the years (because no one is that crazy/stupid), it's safe to say that that is a very small percentage of the massive volume of wrestling Dave has consumed across his life.
But which grapplers are in double figures when it comes to perfect matches? The following 12 competitors have all scored 10 or more 5+ star ratings at the time of writing, so let's find out who Dave's favourites are when it comes to the sport he loves.
12. Ric Flair - 11 Matches
An unsurprising start, The Nature Boy was part of the unofficial first 5 star Meltzer match when he took on Butch Reed at a Florida wrestling event in 1982. Flair would go onto have ten more perfect matches across his storied career, bringing his total to 11.
Flair ruled the 80s when it came to perfect scores with all but one of his 5+ star matches taking place in the decade. Yes, that is 5+ star matches, because Charlotte's Dad was part of the first ever 6 star match when he took on Ricky Steamboat in 1989. That's 28 years before a certain match in the Tokyo Dome.
Flair also owes some of his success to the WarGames format as two of his 5 star-ers came inside the dome. And one of those matches had Sid in it, so you know Ric was really working hard.
The fact that Flair is the only American on this list says a lot about the kind of wrestling Dave Meltzer likes and just how good Ric Flair was to overcome that. His technical, methodical style played right into Dave's hands at a time where matches outside of Japan struggled to impress him.