15 Best Non-WWE Matches Of The Last Decade (According To Dave Meltzer)

13. Tomoaki Honma Vs. Tomohiro Ishii (5* - NJPW, 2015)

Ospreay KUSHIDA
NJPW

The NEVER Openweight Championship is a distant third in the NJPW title pecking order behind the IWGP World and Intercontinental belt - so this is broadly the equivalent of a United States title match buried on the Great Balls of Fire under-card producing a five-star classic.

Pretty unlikely, then, and not just because entrances are often given more time than actual matches on WWE pay-per-views. In New Japan, this one got close to half an hour, and its two competitors - something of a mismatch, perhaps, on paper - put in a pair of show-stealing performances worthy of a place in the world title main event that followed it.

The main event, incidentally, wasn't given five stars by Meltzer - but you try following something this good.

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