10 Best Wrestling Matches That Went Over 45 Minutes

The match that broke Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer's five-star rating system, Okada vs. Omega Pt. 1 was a triumph of triumph of purism and proof, much needed, that wrestling fans could get excited about something that didn't happen inside a WWE ring.

After the reading the rave reviews, just about everyone with a passing interest in the sport had to watch this bout, and - having then watched two men combine exceptional chain wrestling with blood-curdling spots for a full 47 minutes without so much as a moment's respite - few came back with anything other than glowing praise of their own.

What's really remarkable is that neither of the competitors were seriously injured, Omega having nearly been impaled on the table after a dive to the outside, minutes after hitting a vicious two-footed kick to the back of his opposite number's frighteningly limp skull.

Few other matches in history can claim to have made as many fans as this one did for NJPW, and for that reason among many others, it must go down as one of the great game-changing pro-wrestling moments.