List of professional wrestling matches rated 5 or more stars by Dave Meltzer

Professional wrestling journalist and sports historian Dave Meltzer has assigned ratings to professional wrestling matches since the creation of his publication, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 1982, and named his first 5 star match in 1983. Receiving a 5 or higher star rating is considered by many to be a great achievement.[1]

Dave Meltzer

The first match rated more than 5 stars by Meltzer was Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat at a house show in Landover on March 18th 1989, which was awarded 6 stars.[2] The highest rating ever given by Meltzer is 7 stars, which he awarded to Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 2018. There have been 199 matches awarded 5 or more stars; Mitsuharu Misawa has the most individual matches with 25.

Matches

1980s

	Date	Match	Promotion	Event	Rating	Ref.
1	April 7, 1982	Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed[lower-alpha 1]	CWF	Miami Beach show	5	[3]
2	April 21, 1983	Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask	NJPW	Big Fight Series II Night 19	5	[4]
3	December 5, 1984	Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada	UWF	Year-End Special Day 10	5	[4]
4	December 8, 1984	Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen vs. Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk	AJPW	Real World Tag League Night 15	5	[5]
5	March 9, 1985	Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tiger Mask	AJPW	85 Gekitoh! Exciting Wars Night 14	5
6	August 22, 1985	Lioness Asuka vs. Jaguar Yokota	AJW	Summer Night Festival in Budokan	5
7	January 28, 1986	Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu and Yoshiaki Yatsu	AJPW	New Years War Super Battle Night 25	5
8	February 14, 1986	Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham	CWF	Battle of the Belts 2	5	[4]
9	April 19, 1986	The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) vs. The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams)	JCP	Crockett Cup	5	[4]
10	January 20, 1987	Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham	JCP	World Wide Wrestling	5	[5]
11	February 26, 1987	Chigusa Nagayo vs. Lioness Asuka	AJW	Kawasaki show	5
12	March 20, 1987	Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada vs. Keiji Mutoh and Shiro Koshinaka	NJPW	Spring Flare Up Night 21	5
13	April 11, 1987	Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham	JCP	Crockett Cup	5
14	July 31, 1987	Paul Ellering, The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal), and The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff) vs. The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Ric Flair, The War Machine, and Tully Blanchard)	JCP	The Great American Bash	5	[4]
15	December 6, 1987	Chigusa Nagayo, Mika Suzuki, Mika Takahashi, Yachiya Hirata, Yumi Ogura, and Yumiko Hotta vs. Etsuko Mita, Kazue Nagahori, Lioness Asuka, Mika Komatsu, Mitsuko Nishiwaki, and Sachiko Nakamura	AJW	Unknown	5	[5]
16	December 16, 1988	Genichiro Tenryu and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy	AJPW	Real World Tag League Night 23	5	[4]
17	January 28, 1989	Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada, and Samson Fuyuki vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Masanobu Fuchi	AJPW	New Year Giant Series Night 17	5	[6]
18	February 20, 1989	Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat	WCW	Chi-Town Rumble	5	[4]
19	March 18, 1989			Landover, MD show	6	[7]
20	April 2, 1989			Clash of the Champions VI	5	[4]
21	May 7, 1989			WrestleWar	5
22	June 5, 1989	Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 18	5
23	November 15, 1989	Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk	WCW	Clash of the Champions IX	5

1990s

	Date	Match	Promotion	Event	Rating	Ref.
24	January 31, 1990	Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano	NJPW	New Spring Gold Series	5	[5]
25	June 8, 1990	Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 19	5	[4]
26	September 30, 1990	Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada		October Giant Series Night 2	5	[8]
27	October 19, 1990	Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, and Akira Taue		October Giant Series Night 16	5	[9]
28	January 4, 1991	Akira Hokuto vs. Bull Nakano	AJW	Korakuen Hall show	5	[10]
29	February 24, 1991	The Four Horsemen (Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko, Ric Flair, and Sid Vicious) vs. Brian Pillman, Sting, and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner)	WCW	WrestleWar	5	[4]
30	April 20, 1991	Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, and Akira Taue	AJPW	Fan Appreciation Day	5	[9]
31	August 9, 1991	Big Van Vader vs. Keiji Mutoh	NJPW	G1 climax 1991 Night 2	5	[4]
32	April 24, 1992	Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota	AJW	Wrestlemarinepiad	5	[11]
33	April 30, 1992	El Samurai vs. Jushin Thunder Liger	NJPW	Explosion Tour Night 13	5	[11]
34	May 17, 1992	The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko, Rick Rude, and Steve Austin) vs. Sting's Squadron (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, and Sting)	WCW	WrestleWar	5	[11]
35	May 22, 1992	Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, and Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Masanobu Fuchi, and Akira Taue	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 6[12]	5	[9]
36	May 25, 1992	Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. The Can-Am Express (Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat)		Super Power Series Night 8	5	[11]
37	July 5, 1992	Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masanobu Fuchi and Yoshinari Ogawa		Summer Action Series Night 2	5
38	August 15, 1992	Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada	AJW	Mid Summer Typhoon	5
39	April 2, 1993	Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue vs. Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki		Dream Slam I	5	[13]
40	April 2, 1993	Shinobu Kandori vs. Akira Hokuto		Dream Slam I	5
41	April 11, 1993	Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki		Dream Slam II	5
42	April 18, 1993	Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami	JWP	Korakuen Hall show	5	[14]
43	April 25, 1993	Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada	AJPW	Champion Carnival	5	[15]
44	July 2, 1993	Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshinari Ogawa and The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)		Summer Action Series Night 1	5	[9]
45	July 29, 1993	Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen		Summer Action Series Night 22	5	[11]
46	July 31, 1993	Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, and Sakie Hasegawa vs. Cutie Suzuki, Dynamite Kansai, Mayumi Ozaki, and Hikari Fukuoka	JWP	Thunder Queen Battle in Yokohama	5	[16]
47	August 31, 1993	Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams	AJPW	Summer Action Series II Night 10	5	[17]
48	December 3, 1993	The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue) vs. Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa	AJPW	Real World Tag League Night 18	5	[11]
49	December 6, 1993	Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki	AJW	St. Battle Final	5	[18]
50	December 10, 1993	Manami Toyota and Akira Hokuto vs. Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue		Tag League The Best	5	[19]
51	December 10, 1993	Manami Toyota and Akira Hokuto vs. Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue		Tag League The Best	5	[19]
52	January 29, 1994	Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Giant Baba vs. Masanobu Fuchi and The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)	AJPW	New Year Giant Series Night 20	5	[20]
53	March 20, 1994	Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels	WWF	WrestleMania X	5	[11]
54	April 16, 1994	The Great Sasuke vs. Wild Pegasus	NJPW	Super J-Cup Final	5	[11]
55	May 21, 1994	Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 6	5	[9]
56	June 3, 1994	Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 16	6	[11]
57	July 8, 1994	The Great Sasuke vs. Jushin Thunder Liger	NJPW	Summer Struggle	5	[21]
58	August 29, 1994	Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart	WWF	SummerSlam	5	[11]
59	October 9, 1994	Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue vs. Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada	AJW	Wrestlemarinpiad	5	[22]
60	November 6, 1994	Los Gringos Locos (Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero) vs. El Hijo Del Santo and Octagón	AAA	When Worlds Collide	5	[11]
61	November 20, 1994	Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota	AJW	Doumu Super Woman Great War	5	[11]
62	November 30, 1994	Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera	AAA	Matamoros show	5	[23]
63	January 19, 1995	Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada	AJPW	New Year Giant Series Night 14	5	[24]
64	January 24, 1995	Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)		New Year Giant Series Night 17	5	[9]
65	March 4, 1995	Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Johnny Ace and Steve Williams		Excite Series Night 12	5	[11]
66	April 15, 1995	Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa		Champion Carnival Night 19	5
67	May 7, 1995	Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue	AJW	G*Top 2nd	5
68	June 9, 1995	Kenta Kobashi and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 15	5
69	June 27, 1995	Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong	AJW	Zenjo Movement Night 40	5
70	June 30, 1995	Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, and Satoru Asako vs. Tamon Honda and The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)	AJPW	Summer Action Series Night 1	5	[9]
71	July 23, 1995	Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda	AJW	Japan Grand Prix Night 8	5	[25]
72	August 30, 1995	Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue vs. Manami Toyota and Sakie Hasegawa		WWWA Champions Night	5	[26]
73	September 2, 1995	Akira Hokuto vs. Manami Toyota		Destiny	5
74	September 22, 1995	Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis	AAA	Mexico City show	5
75	March 9, 1996	Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Misterio Jr.	ECW	Big Ass Extreme Bash	5	[27]
76	May 23, 1996	Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue)	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 5	5	[9]
77	June 7, 1996	Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Johnny Ace and Steve Williams	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 15	5	[11]
78	October 10, 1996	Kaientai DX (Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki, and Taka Michinoku) vs. Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin, and Tiger Mask IV	Michinoku Pro	3rd Anniversary	5	[28]
79	December 6, 1996	The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue) vs. Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa	AJPW	Real World Tag League Night 16	5	[11]
80	March 23, 1997	Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin	WWF	WrestleMania 13	5	[29]
81	June 5, 1997	Koji Kanemoto vs. El Samurai	NJPW	Best of the Super Juniors IV Night 17	5
82	June 6, 1997	Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada	AJPW	Super Power Series Night 16	5
83	October 5, 1997	Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker	WWF	In Your House 18: Badd Blood	5
84	December 5, 1997	The Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue) vs. Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa	AJPW	Real World Tag League Night 15	5
85	June 27, 1998	Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	RINGS	Fourth Fighting Integration	5	[30]
86	October 31, 1998	Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa	AJPW	26th Anniversary Show	5	[29]
87	June 11, 1999	Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi		Super Power Series Night 14	5	[29]
88	October 23, 1999	Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Burning (Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama)		October Giant Series Night 11	5	[31]

2000s

	Date	Match	Promotion	Event	Rating	Ref.
89	December 14, 2000	Masanobu Fuchi and Toshiaki Kawada vs. Takashi Iizuka and Yuji Nagata	NJPW	Judgment Day	5	[32]
90	March 1, 2003	Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi	Noah	Navigate For Evolution	5	[29]
91	July 10, 2004	Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama	Noah	Departure	5
92	October 16, 2004	Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk	ROH	Joe vs. Punk II	5
93	September 11, 2005	Christopher Daniels vs. A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe	TNA	Unbreakable	5
94	October 1, 2005	Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi	ROH	Joe vs. Kobashi	5
95	March 31, 2006	Cima, Masato Yoshino, and Naruki Doi vs. Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, and Ryo Saito	ROH	Supercard of Honor	5

2010s

	Date	Match	Promotion	Event	Rating	Ref.
96	July 17, 2011	CM Punk vs. John Cena	WWE	Money in the Bank	5	[29]
97	March 31, 2012	Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin	ROH	Showdown in the Sun	5
98	October 8, 2012	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki	NJPW	King of Pro Wrestling	5
99	April 6, 2013	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada		Invasion Attack	5	[33]
100	August 4, 2013	Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 23 Night 4	5
101	October 14, 2013	Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi		King of Pro Wrestling	5
102	September 21, 2014	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata		Destruction in Kobe	5
103	January 4, 2015	Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi		Wrestle Kingdom 9	5
104	February 14, 2015	Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii		The New Beginning in Sendai	5
105	August 16, 2015	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura		G1 Climax 25 Final	5
106	January 4, 2016	Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi		Wrestle Kingdom 10	5	[33]
107	August 6, 2016	Kazuchika Okada vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 26 Night 13	5
108	August 13, 2016	Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito		G1 Climax 26 Night 18	5
109	September 3, 2016	Superkliq (Adam Cole, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Matt Sydal, Ricochet, and Will Ospreay	PWG	Battle of Los Angeles Night 2	5
110	January 4, 2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom 11	6
111	February 11, 2017	Tetsuya Naito vs. Michael Elgin		The New Beginning in Osaka	5
112	April 9, 2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata		Sakura Genesis	5
113	June 3, 2017	Kushida vs. Will Ospreay		Best of the Super Juniors Night 14	5
114	June 11, 2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega		Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall	6.25
115	August 11, 2017	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito		G1 Climax 27 Night 17	5
116	August 12, 2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega		G1 Climax 27 Night 18	6
117	August 13, 2017	Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega		G1 Climax 27 Final	5.75
118	September 3, 2017	Donovan Dijak vs. Keith Lee	PWG	Battle of Los Angeles Night 3	5
119	October 21, 2017	Walter vs. Zack Sabre Jr.	PWG	All Star Weekend 13 Night 2	5
120	January 4, 2018	Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom 12	5	[34]
121	January 27, 2018	Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano	WWE	NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia	5
122	March 25, 2018	Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	NJPW	Strong Style Evolved	5
123	April 1, 2018	Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll	NJPW	Sakura Genesis	5
124	April 7, 2018	Adam Cole vs. EC3 vs. Killian Dain vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream	WWE	NXT TakeOver: New Orleans	5
125	April 7, 2018	Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa	WWE	NXT TakeOver: New Orleans	5
126	April 14, 2018	A-Kid vs. Zack Sabre Jr.	La Triple W	Total Rumble 8	5
127	May 4, 2018	Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi	NJPW	Wrestling Dontaku	5.5
128	June 4, 2018	Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi		Best of the Super Juniors Final	5.5
129	June 9, 2018	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega		Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall	7
130	July 11, 2018	Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) vs. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong)	WWE	NXT	5
131	July 15, 2018	Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito	NJPW	G1 Climax 28 Night 2	5
132	July 19, 2018	Hirooki Goto vs. Kenny Omega		G1 Climax 28 Night 4	5
133	July 21, 2018	Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 28 Night 6	5
134	August 4, 2018	Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 28 Night 14	5.5
135	August 10, 2018	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada		G1 Climax 28 Night 17	5
136	August 11, 2018	Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi		G1 Climax 28 Night 18	5.5
137	August 12, 2018	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi		G1 Climax 28 Final	5.75
138	September 23, 2018	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada		Destruction in Kobe	5
139	September 30, 2018	Chaos (Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii) vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi)		Fighting Spirit Unleashed	5
140	December 15, 2018	Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi)		Road to Tokyo Dome Night 2	5
141	January 4, 2019	Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi		Wrestle Kingdom 13	5.75[lower-alpha 2]	[35]
142	March 24, 2019	Kazuchika Okada vs. Sanada		New Japan Cup Final	5
143	April 5, 2019	Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano	WWE	NXT TakeOver: New York	5.5
144	May 23, 2019	Bandido vs. Will Ospreay	NJPW	Best of the Super Juniors Night 8	5
145	May 25, 2019	Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes	AEW	Double or Nothing	5
146	June 1, 2019	Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole	WWE	NXT TakeOver: XXV	5.25
147	June 5, 2019	Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay	NJPW	Best of the Super Juniors Final	5.75
148	June 9, 2019	Dragon Lee vs. Will Ospreay		Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall	5
149	July 18, 2019	Kota Ibushi vs. Will Ospreay		G1 Climax 29 Night 5	5
150	July 19, 2019	Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 29 Night 6	5
151	July 20, 2019	Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay		G1 Climax 29 Night 7	5.75
152	July 26, 2019	Bandido, Flamita, and Rey Horus vs. Black Taurus, Laredo Kid, and Puma King	PWG	Sixteen	5
153	August 3, 2019	Sanada vs. Kazuchika Okada	NJPW	G1 Climax 29 Night 13	5
154	August 4, 2019	Tetsuya Naito vs. Shingo Takagi		G1 Climax 29 Night 14	5
155	August 8, 2019	Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii		G1 Climax 29 Night 16	5.5
156	August 10, 2019	Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada		G1 Climax 29 Night 17	5
157	August 12, 2019	Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White		G1 Climax 29 Finals	5.5
158	August 31, 2019	Walter vs. Tyler Bate	WWE	NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff	5.25
159	August 31, 2019	Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	AEW	All Out	5.25
160	September 22, 2019	Bandido vs. Dragon Lee	PWG	Battle of Los Angeles Night 3	5
161	October 26, 2019	David Starr vs. Jordan Devlin	OTT	5th Year Anniversary	5

2020s

	Date	Match	Promotion	Event	Rating	Ref.
162	January 4, 2020	Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1	5.5[lower-alpha 3]	[35]
163	January 4, 2020	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi		Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1	5.5
164	January 5, 2020	Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito		Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2	5[lower-alpha 4]
165	February 14, 2020	Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.	RPW	High Stakes	5
166	February 29, 2020	Kenny Omega and Adam Page vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	AEW	Revolution	6
167	September 16, 2020	Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent) vs. Santana and Ortiz	AEW	Dynamite	5
168	September 27, 2020	Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay	NJPW	G1 Climax 30 Night 5	5
169	October 10, 2020	Kota Ibushi vs. Minoru Suzuki		G1 Climax 30 Night 13	5.25
170	October 10, 2020	Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi		G1 Climax 30 Night 13	5.25
171	October 29, 2020	Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov	WWE	NXT UK	5
172	November 7, 2020	The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood)	AEW	Full Gear	5.25
173	December 6, 2020	Go Shiozaki vs. Takashi Sugiura	Noah	The BEST ~Final Chronicle 2020~	5
174	January 4, 2021	Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 1	5.25	[36]
175	January 4, 2021	Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi		Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 1	5
176	January 5, 2021	Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb		Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 2	5
177	January 5, 2021	Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White		Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 2	5.25
178	January 6, 2021	Kenny Omega vs. Rey Fenix	AEW	New Year's Smash Night 1	5
179	January 30, 2021	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi	NJPW	The New Beginning in Nagoya	5
180	March 14, 2021	Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.		New Japan Cup Night 8	5
181	March 21, 2021	Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi		New Japan Cup Night 13	5.5
182	April 14, 2021	The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Death Triangle (Pac and Rey Fenix)	AEW	Dynamite	5
183	May 4, 2021	Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi	NJPW	Wrestling Dontaku 2021 Night 2	6
184	June 12, 2021	Syuri vs. Utami Hayashishita	Stardom	Tokyo Dream Cinderella	5.5
185	July 25, 2021	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shingo Takagi	NJPW	Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome	5
186	August 22, 2021	Ilja Dragunov vs. Walter	WWE	NXT TakeOver 36	5.25
187	September 5, 2021	The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fenix)	AEW	All Out	5.75
188	September 18, 2021	Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi	NJPW	G1 Climax 31 Night 1	5.5
189	September 22, 2021	Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega	AEW	AEW Grand Slam	5
190	October 9, 2021	Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Fénix) vs. Jinetes del Aire (El Hijo del Vikingo and Laredo Kid)	AAA	Héroes Inmortales XIV	5
191	November 13, 2021	Superkliq (Adam Cole, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Christian Cage and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)	AEW	Full Gear	5
192	November 13, 2021	Adam Page vs. Kenny Omega		Full Gear	5.5
193	December 15, 2021	Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson		Winter is Coming	5
194	January 5, 2022	Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay	NJPW	Wrestle Kingdom 16 Night 2	5.75
195	January 26, 2022	Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara	AEW	Beach Break	5
196	January 29, 2022	Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku	RPW	High Stakes	5
197	March 21, 2022	Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.	NJPW	New Japan Cup Night 13	5
198	March 26, 2022	Shingo Takagi vs Zack Sabre Jr.	NJPW	New Japan Cup Night 14	5
199	April 1, 2022	The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) vs FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood)	ROH	Supercard of Honor XV	5

Wrestlers with the most 5-or-higher-star matches

As of May 1, 2022.

Rank	Wrestler	No. of 5★ matches	Highest rating
1	Mitsuharu Misawa	25	6
2	Kenta Kobashi	23	5
3	Kazuchika Okada	22	7
4	Toshiaki Kawada	21	6
5	Kenny Omega	19	7
5	Will Ospreay	19	6
7	Akira Taue	15	5
7	Hiroshi Tanahashi	15	5.75
9	Kota Ibushi	13	5.75
9	Manami Toyota	13	5
11	Shingo Takagi	12	6
12	Ric Flair	11	6
13	Tomohiro Ishii	9	5.5
14	Jumbo Tsuruta	8	5
	Tetsuya Naito	8	5.75
	Kyoko Inoue	8	5
	Young Bucks	8	6
18	Jun Akiyama	7	5
19	Masanobu Fuchi	6	5
	Zack Sabre Jr.	6	5
	Toshiyo Yamada	6	5
22	Adam Cole	5	5.5
	Ricky Steamboat	5	6
	Akira Hokuto	5	5
	Barry Windham	5	5
	Rey Fénix	5	5.75

Promotions with the most 5-or-higher-star matches

As of May 1, 2022.

Rank	Promotion	Abbreviation	No. of 5★ matches	Highest rating
1	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW	76	7
2	All Japan Pro Wrestling	AJPW	35	6
3	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	AJW	19	5
4	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment	WWF/E	14	5.5
5	All Elite Wrestling	AEW	13	6
6	World Championship Wrestling	WCW	7	6
7	Pro Wrestling Guerrilla	PWG	5	5
7	Ring of Honor	ROH	5	5
9	Jim Crockett Promotions	JCP	4	5
9	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide	AAA	4	5

Promotions with the most higher-than-5-star matches

As of May 1, 2022.

Rank	Promotion	Abbreviation	No. of 5+★ matches	Highest rating
1	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW	25	7
2	All Elite Wrestling	AEW	5	6
3	World Wrestling Entertainment	WWE	4	5.5
4	World Championship Wrestling	WCW	1	6
	All Japan Pro Wrestling	AJPW		6
	Stardom	Stardom		5.5

Notes

Occurred before the creation of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Originally 5.5, but later revised
Originally 5.25, but later revised
Originally 4.75, but later revised

References

Hart, Bret (2009). Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Grand Central Publishing. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-446-54528-0.
Dubey, Dushyant. "WWE News: Dave Meltzer says that Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat house show matches in 1989 did a 10.25 star rating". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
Meltzer, Dave [@davemeltzerWON] (April 1, 2018). "Dave Meltzer on Twitter: "I was there. Nothing on the undercard was anything special. Main event was easy *****. Best match I'd ever seen live up to that point."" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Twitter.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019)". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
"Meltzer's Classics". RamblingsAboutWrestling.com.
"In Search of Five Star Matches Part Two". PlaceToBeNation.com.
Meltzer, Dave [@davemeltzerWON] (June 14, 2017). "In 1989, Flair & Steamboat did 10.25 stars working an afternoon and evening show in Landover & Philly on house shows" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Twitter.
Observer Staff (August 21, 1991). "August 21, 1991 Observer Newsletter More WWF steroid troubles, Billy Graham lawsuit". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
"Hall of Fame season: The best matches of Akira Taue". F4WOnline. September 22, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
Observer Staff (February 25, 1991). "February 25, 1991 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Full Wrestlemania card released". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 2 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Super Power Series 1992 Tag 6". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
Observer Staff (January 17, 1994). "Jan. 17 1994 Observer Newsletter: The 1993 Wrestling Observer Reader Awards issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
Observer Staff (May 10, 1993). "May 10, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Konnan retires, Hogan buries WWF, Heyman new promotion, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (August 30, 1993). "August 30, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Wrestling recovery?, Terry Gordy collapses,Gene Okerlund leaves WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
Observer Staff (April 19, 1993). "April 19, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Von Erich death fallout, Hogan title update, Mania buyrate, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (March 7, 1994). "March 7, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Lawler case finished, WWE leaks finish that didn't end up the finish". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
Observer Staff (March 21, 1994). "March 21, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Tonya Harding and wrestling, Hogan/WCW, Mania X preview, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
Observer Staff (August 8, 1994). "August 8, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Back to business after trial, a huge week for pro-wrestling internationally, new promotion starting up, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (December 19, 1995). "Dec. 19, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Epic Rickson Gracie vs. Yoji Anjoh story which ultimately led to the creation of PRIDE, UFC IV set, Real World Tag League tournament, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (January 30, 1995). "Jan. 30, 1995 Observer Newsletter: 1995 Royal Rumble, angle to bring Ric Flair back to WCW, "Nu Jack" legal issues, business trends of past three years, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
Observer Staff (October 23, 1995). "Oct. 23, 1995 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Bill Watts already gone from WWE after three weeks, New Japan/UWFi update, Ultimate Ultimate tournament pairings, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (January 22, 1996). "Jan. 22, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 1995 Observer Newsletter Awards, 1995 Record Book, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (January 13, 1997). "Jan. 13, 1997 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 1997 Annual Awards Issue, a look at all the major shows of the year, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (November 11, 1996). "Nov. 11, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Infamous angle where Austin broke into Pillman's house, thoughts on Hall of Fame issue, Pancrase PPV, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 3 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
Observer Staff (August 3, 1998). "August 3, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More on Leno and WCW, WWF Fully Loaded review, death of June Byers, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
Observer Staff (November 15, 1999). "November 15, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ECW November to Remember review, Dynamite Kid book, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
Observer Staff (January 1, 2001). "JANUARY 1, 2001 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: CANDIDATES FOR WRESTLER OF THE YEAR, SAKURABA DEFEATS ANOTHER GRACIE, MORE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 4 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 5 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2020) – Page 6 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.
"Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2021) - Page 7". IWNerd. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

External links

Official website
Top 100 Matches on Cagematch
Top Rated Matches of All Time on The Internet Wrestling Database

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[3] Occurred before the creation of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

[36] Originally 5.5, but later revised

[38] Originally 5.25, but later revised

[39] Originally 4.75, but later revised

[1] Hart, Bret (2009). Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Grand Central Publishing. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-446-54528-0.

[2] Dubey, Dushyant. "WWE News: Dave Meltzer says that Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat house show matches in 1989 did a 10.25 star rating". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.

[4] Meltzer, Dave [@davemeltzerWON] (April 1, 2018). "Dave Meltzer on Twitter: "I was there. Nothing on the undercard was anything special. Main event was easy *****. Best match I'd ever seen live up to that point."" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Twitter.

[IWNerd-5] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019)". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[Meltzer’s_Classics-6] "Meltzer's Classics". RamblingsAboutWrestling.com.

[7] "In Search of Five Star Matches Part Two". PlaceToBeNation.com.

[8] Meltzer, Dave [@davemeltzerWON] (June 14, 2017). "In 1989, Flair & Steamboat did 10.25 stars working an afternoon and evening show in Landover & Philly on house shows" (Tweet). Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Twitter.

[9] Observer Staff (August 21, 1991). "August 21, 1991 Observer Newsletter More WWF steroid troubles, Billy Graham lawsuit". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[F4WTaue-10] "Hall of Fame season: The best matches of Akira Taue". F4WOnline. September 22, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[11] Observer Staff (February 25, 1991). "February 25, 1991 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Full Wrestlemania card released". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[IWNerd2-12] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 2 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[13] Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AJPW Super Power Series 1992 Tag 6". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[14] Observer Staff (January 17, 1994). "Jan. 17 1994 Observer Newsletter: The 1993 Wrestling Observer Reader Awards issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[15] "Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

[16] Observer Staff (May 10, 1993). "May 10, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Konnan retires, Hogan buries WWF, Heyman new promotion, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[17] Observer Staff (August 30, 1993). "August 30, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Wrestling recovery?, Terry Gordy collapses,Gene Okerlund leaves WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[18] "Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

[19] Observer Staff (April 19, 1993). "April 19, 1993 Observer Newsletter: Von Erich death fallout, Hogan title update, Mania buyrate, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[20] Observer Staff (March 7, 1994). "March 7, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Lawler case finished, WWE leaks finish that didn't end up the finish". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[21] Observer Staff (March 21, 1994). "March 21, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Tonya Harding and wrestling, Hogan/WCW, Mania X preview, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[22] Observer Staff (August 8, 1994). "August 8, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Back to business after trial, a huge week for pro-wrestling internationally, new promotion starting up, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[23] Observer Staff (December 19, 1995). "Dec. 19, 1994 Observer Newsletter: Epic Rickson Gracie vs. Yoji Anjoh story which ultimately led to the creation of PRIDE, UFC IV set, Real World Tag League tournament, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[24] Observer Staff (January 30, 1995). "Jan. 30, 1995 Observer Newsletter: 1995 Royal Rumble, angle to bring Ric Flair back to WCW, "Nu Jack" legal issues, business trends of past three years, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[25] "Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada". Cagematch. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

[26] Observer Staff (October 23, 1995). "Oct. 23, 1995 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Bill Watts already gone from WWE after three weeks, New Japan/UWFi update, Ultimate Ultimate tournament pairings, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[27] Observer Staff (January 22, 1996). "Jan. 22, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 1995 Observer Newsletter Awards, 1995 Record Book, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[28] Observer Staff (January 13, 1997). "Jan. 13, 1997 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 1997 Annual Awards Issue, a look at all the major shows of the year, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[29] Observer Staff (November 11, 1996). "Nov. 11, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Infamous angle where Austin broke into Pillman's house, thoughts on Hall of Fame issue, Pancrase PPV, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[IWNerd3-30] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 3 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[31] Observer Staff (August 3, 1998). "August 3, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: More on Leno and WCW, WWF Fully Loaded review, death of June Byers, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 9, 2020.

[32] Observer Staff (November 15, 1999). "November 15, 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: ECW November to Remember review, Dynamite Kid book, more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 8, 2020.

[33] Observer Staff (January 1, 2001). "JANUARY 1, 2001 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: CANDIDATES FOR WRESTLER OF THE YEAR, SAKURABA DEFEATS ANOTHER GRACIE, MORE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 17, 2020.

[IWNerd4-34] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 4 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[35] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2019) – Page 5 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[IWNerdPage6-37] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2020) – Page 6 of 6". IWNerd.com. January 1, 2018.

[40] "Dave Meltzer 5 Star Matches List (1983 to 2021) - Page 7". IWNerd. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Key people	Dave Meltzer Bryan Alvarez
Publications	Wrestling Observer's Tributes: Remembering Some of the World's Greatest Wrestlers
Other	Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards
Related	Live Audio Wrestling 5 or more stars rated matches
Category

List of professional wrestling matches rated 5 or more stars by Dave Meltzer

Matches

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Wrestlers with the most 5-or-higher-star matches

Promotions with the most 5-or-higher-star matches

Promotions with the most higher-than-5-star matches

See also

Notes

References

External links