8 Weirdest Wrestling Matches From Every Major Promotion

3. NJPW: Antonio Inoki Vs. Masa Saito - Ganryujima Death Match, 1987

Paul Bearer Paul Ellering
New Japan

It hasn't happened yet, but Jushin 'Thunder' Liger's first retirement match is wild.

Set for 4 January 2020, the combined age of Liger's four-man squadron is 217. 65 of those years were accumulated by the legend Tatsumi Fujinami, a man who is 19 years older than the promotion. It's going to be an absurdly heated and emotional smoke and mirrors masterclass, in which the sprightly Ryusuke Taguchi will take a dragon suplex from a grandad received as a God, but yes. It's nuttier than Daniel Bryan's sh*t.

What has already happened is the Ganryujima Island Death match between company founder Antonio Inoki and Masa Saito. Indebted to Japanese folklore, and promoted as the ultimate, only battleground brutal enough to bring their violent blood feud to an end, prior to it, Inoki and Saito had smashed one another's faces into jelly in absorbing spectacles, which this absolutely was not. It was 'the 'Mania XII Iron Man match, only slightly less tedious, and grapple-f*cked on a field.

There might be some decent action in the middle - people have only pretended to watch it in full, so we'll never, ever know - but in the end, Inoki threw Saito into some fire.

Boring bullsh*t + lots of nothingness = fire, WWE later borrowed the formula for SummerSlam 2013.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential 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 former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current 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!