Ranking What Was REALLY The Best Wrestling PPV Every Year 1990-2020

8. 2013 - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7

NJPW Tanahashi Okada
NJPW1972.com

NJPW delivered a classic show as the old lion roared back to the prominence of old.

While not their best ever match - it was merely "incredible" - Hiroshi Tanahashi's immaculate from-the-death comeback richly informed Kazuchika Okada's arduous ascent to Ace status, putting over in hindsight the scope of his incredible achievement of January 4, 2016.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazushi Sakuraba wrestled a phenomenal worked MMA match, ducking strikes like masters, with millimetre precision, to get them over as potential deathblows. Yuji Nagata and Minoru Suzuki worked a match in the classic strong style vein, projecting it to the upper bowl with fantastic facial expressions, and NJPW flexed by promoting an ultra-rare three-way match as if they were very well-practised at it: creative and never contrived, Prince Devitt's win over Low Ki and Kota Ibushi was beautiful.

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!