10 Wrestlers Fans Completely Forgot Have 5 Star Matches, According To Dave Meltzer
Renowned wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has been handing out star ratings to wrestling matches since the creation of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. So far, over 200 matches have been awarded 5 stars or more by Meltzer. The first-ever wrestling match to receive this rating was Tiger Mask I vs Dynamite Kid which took place at NJPW Sumo Hall Show in 1983.
RELATED: 5 Recent Dave Meltzer 5-Star Matches That Deserved It (& 5 That Didn't)
Many wrestlers have had 5-star matches since then, and it's hard to keep a track of this since there have been a lot of multi-person matches that received this rating.
10 EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan & Velveteen Dream
In March 2018, William Regal introduced the NXT North American Championship and also announced a ladder match to crown the inaugural champion at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. Adam Cole, EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, and Velveteen Dream were part of this bout. It ended with Ricochet climbing up the ladder, and then Cole tossed him off the ladder to become the champion. This was the match of the night and received a 5-star rating from Meltzer.
9 Kevin Sullivan & Brian Lee
At Smoky Mountain Wrestling’s Volunteer Slam II, Brian Lee, Jimmy Golden, Ricky Morton, Robert Fuller, and Robert Gibson wrestled Kevin Sullivan, Killer Kyle, Stan Lane, The Tazmaniac, and Tom Prichard in a Rage in a Cage match.
RELATED: 10 Things Fans Need To Know About Smoky Mountain Wrestling
This was the only SMW match that received a five-star rating from Meltzer. For those who don’t know, this match was done in the 5-on-5 Wargames format.
8 Sid Vicious
Like other big guys in wrestling, Sid Vicious wasn’t known for his matches or promos. Though he did talk well on the microphone and wasn’t terrible in the ring either. Sid also has one five-star rating under his belt. The match in question took place at WCW WrestleWar 1991 where Barry Windham, Brian Pillman, Larry Zbyszko, Ric Flair, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Sid Vicious, and Sting joined forces in a Wargames match. Brian Pillman was the MVP of this match, though despite Sid almost killing Pillman with his powerbomb and causing the match to end early it received five stars from Dave Meltzer.
7 The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers are one of the few guys to receive a five-star rating as well as a minus five-star rating. Their five-star rating performance happened during the 1986 Crockett Cup's quarterfinal tag team match against The Fantastics. Every wrestler in the match as well as Jack Victory who accompanied The Sheepherders bleed in this match, and the referee stopped this bout just to end this brutal affair.
6 Horace Hogan
Horace Hogan was Hulk Hogan’s nephew and while he never came close to achieving his uncle’s level of fame, Horace at least had one five-star wrestling in his career than The Hulkster. It was a Best Two Out Of Three Falls Six Man Tag Team match between Horace, Negro Casas & Tim Patterson against Atsushi Onita, El Hijo del Santo & Tarzan Goto.
5 Lex Luger & Paul Ellering
Both Lex Luger and Paul Ellering were part of the first-ever Wargames match that took place during NWA's The Great American Bash tour in 1987. Dusty’s team won against The Four Horsemen when JJ Dillion submitted to the Road Warriors. While the match was really great, it wasn’t because of Ellering or Luger; Dusty was the standout performer of this match.
4 John Laurinaitis
For all the hate John Laurinaitis receives from wrestling fans, they can't ignore the fact that he had many excellent matches in All Japan Pro Wrestling.
RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About John Laurinaitis We Can't Believe
Laurinaitis was part of two 5-star matches but unlike a lot of the other wrestlers in this list, this wasn’t a multi-person match.
Both were tag team matches where Laurinaitis teamed up with Steve Williams. Mitsuharu Misawa was the common denominator here. One match saw him team up with Kenta Kobashi and the other Jun Akiyama.
3 Keith Lee & Donovan Dijak
Keith Lee and Donovan Dijak received a 5-star rating for their Battle Of Los Angeles 2017 Quarter Final Match in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Most of the matches on this show were great as well. Due to Lee’s powerhouse wrestling style, fans often seem to overlook that he’s actually a great worker in the ring. With the right wrestler, Lee can provide really great matches and he's shown that in AEW.
2 Andrade
Everyone knows already that Andrade is a great wrestler. But it’s been over five years since his match against Johnny Gargano at WWE NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia received a 5-star rating. His AEW run so far hasn’t been impressive, and fans kind of just forgot about him since he hasn’t worked a single match for a few months now. He's likely to get released by Tony Khan in the future.
1 The Best Friends
The Parking Lot Fight between Best Friends and Santana and Ortiz was the first Dynamite match to receive five stars. This was a really great match and received huge applause from fans as well as wrestlers. Though many fans may have forgotten that this match even happened a few years ago.
