10 Wrestling Moments That Broke The Internet

6. Controversy Level: ******

Omega Okada I II
NJPW1972.com

On 4 January 2017, Kazuchika Okada retained his IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the expense of challenger Kenny Omega in an amazing match. A much-respected journalist awarded the contest a rating-busting ******. Something great was recognised as great by one person. This simple standalone story, a celebration of something brilliant, contrived to divide the wrestling fandom.

Suddenly, Dave Meltzer grew in controversy. Hundreds of fans spammed his Twitter feed with vicious accusations of bias - and thousands upon thousands more spiked Twitter and Reddit. They accused Meltzer of bias despite, you would happily wager, themselves viewing wrestling with a limited frame of reference. The idea of a Japanese guy and a North American who couldn't be that good, if he did not work for WWE, wrestling a match considered better than any WWE match ever was considered not an appraisal but an affront. Terrible, derivative "jokes" - "if X WWE match happened in the Tokyo Dome, Meltzer would give it five stars!" - still litter the Internet now. The meme is more exhausting than the superior sequel match - which Meltzer hilariously rated ******1/4. Imagine if it actually took place in the Tokyo Dome, and not the Osaka-jō Hall.

Meltzer would have given it SEVEN STARS, etc. etc.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!