10 Most Prestigious Wrestling Tournaments Of All Time

3. The World's Strongest Tag Determination League (AJPW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLyAcOgfSH0 All Japan Pro Wrestling has a reputation for presenting some of the best wrestling on the planet, and that includes tag team tournaments. This round-robin tag team tournament feature an interesting twist because the belts would be vacated right before the tournament (regardless of when they were won), and the former title holders would be equal participants in the tournament. By having the champions vacate the belt for the tournament, it presented all participating teams as though they were all on equal footing, and no team had an advantage over the others. This tended to lead to some of the most dramatic and exciting tag team matches, with many of them taking place in the 1997 edition of the tournament. The participating teams were the Holy Demon Army (Kawada & Taue), Misawa & Akiyama, Kobashi & Johnny Ace (yes, that Johnny Ace), Steve Williams & Gary Albright, Stan Hansen & Bobby Duncum Jr., Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki and Barry Windham and Bradshaw. Through Giant Baba€™s stellar booking and dramatic match building philosophy, these teams all put on mesmerizing wrestling contests that have to be seen to be believed. This tournament ranks so high because, like its singles counterpart, it was booked with clean finishes, had logical storyline progression, and most importantly, everyone who took part in this tournament was treated like a big deal, and everyone had a chance of winning. Tournaments are always better when there isn€™t a clear favorite to win, anyway.