Let Me Tell You Something!

It's a double conclusion for LMTYS as the Samoa Joe trilogy of five-star matches ends, at the same time it's the final of the twenty-two five star matches for his opponent, and obvious inspiration, Kenta Kobashi. In front of a rabid crowd in New York, the Japanese legend is given a reaction that greatly surprises him and inspires him to have the best possible match. He couldn't have chosen a better person opposite him in the ring to achieve this and Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to analyse the match, the surounding environment, and the performance.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the one and only entry in this series that came from the second biggest US promotion for around ten years. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross) are here to discuss the only triple threat/three way dance match on this list and why those types of matches, as prevelant as they now are, only claimed one perfect score, and why it was this one match for the X-Division championship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seven years after Dave Meltzer awarded five stars to the first ever WWF Hell in a Cell match, he gave the perfect score to a match in a very different environment. Two-and-a-half years into its existence, and Ring of Honor had come to be synonymous as the crown jewel promotion on the US indy scene. The promotion's two top stars of the time were a couple of hungry young competitors by the names of Samoa Joe and CM Punk. In Punk's hometown of Chicago, they battle it out in an epic for Joe's ROH World title in the eighteenth month of his reign. Recovering ROHbot Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and his young co-host Simon (@simoncross3) watch a match that really started to put these two men on the map that would go on to become two of the biggest names in wrestling for their generation.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After finally claiming the position of ace in NOAH, Kenta Kobashi already has the heir apparent snapping at his heels as he makes his tenth defence of the GHC Heavyweight Championship against Jun Akiyama at the Tokyo Dome where he had won the title from Misawa previously. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here once again to assess the match and reflect on the slightly less prominent, but still impressive, Fifth Pillar of the great 1990s AJPW scene in Jun Akiyama as he makes his final bow on this series.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arriving an episode later than intended, Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) re-draft their top ten lists, answer a query about time and relativity with relation to five-star wrestling matches, and discuss a match that is oft-replicated but rarely duplicated.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The twenty-fourth and final match involving Mitsuharu Misawa sees him one more time try to defend his position at the top of the perch, this time in his own promotion of NOAH, against his long-time heir apparent Kenta Kobashi. They have both gone through a lot to get to this endpoint, and Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross) are here to reflect on another five-star match, a changing wrestling landscape in the three years since the previous five-star match, and a final reflection on a man who can definitely lay claim to being one of the greatest wrestlers of any era and any part of the world. Join us to give tribute to the man of emerald one last time...lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

STOP THE PRESSES! It turns out there's a match that wasn't in our initial list that was a disputed entry, with different issues of the Wrestling Observer offering differing ratings. In the end, Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) decided to go on the side of five stars, if only because it gives us one more chance to watch a match involving both Toshiaki Kawada and the one and only "Shithouse" Masanobu Fuchi, as they fly the withered flag for All Japan and step into enemy territory of New Japan to face up-and-coming star Yuji Nagata and perennial mid-carder Takashi Iizuka.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After dominating this show with nearly 50% of all five-star matches at the end of the 90s, this is the final match at the day of this episode uploading that All Japan hosted to be rewarded the perfect score from Dave Meltzer. This time it's another tag clash, but in a sign of the changing dynamics, Misawa teams up with Ogawa to defend their AJPW World tag titles against his previous two partners, and now founding members of the Burning faction, Kobashi & Akiyama. How will this dynamic play out? Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to have their own say on things.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the state Misawa and Kobashi left each other after their previous five-star encounter, you think they'd would avoid each other like Simon (@simoncross3) will avoid a Joshi match (he never reads these descriptions, so I can get away with this). Instead, they're back at it only seven months later. They've grown beards too! Let's see if Simon and Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) enjoy it as much as they did their previous one, or if this proves to be a bit of a disappointment along the lines of Misawa's five-star rematch with Kawada.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of fighting side-by-side against Tsuruta's Army, the Holy Demon Army and an array of gaijin monsters, Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada are now facing off against each other for the richest crown in All Japan - the Triple Crown. Kobashi is the defending champion, but has yet to defeat Misawa when the title is on the line, so both men have so much to gain. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to watch and report back.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the fifth and final time, a year-closing clash from All Japan's World Strongest Tag League is the setting for another five-star collision, as Misawa once again teams up with his padawan Jun Akiyama to face his bitter rivals of Kawada & Taue of the Holy Demon Army. It's also the last time that Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) watch a match in this series to feature both Demon Army members, and they take this time to reflect on what their differing qualities brought both them as a team and wrestling in general.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fourth WWF match to gain the perfect score from Dave Meltzer, this is one of arguably as much historical significance as the Hart-Austin submission match that took place just over six months earlier. This time it's The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels facing off in the first ever Hell in a Cell match. Famous not only for the work of both the match participants, but some the extracurricular activities. Controversially in the eyes of some, this is also the only Undertaker-Michaels match to be rewarded five stars, the only match in Undertaker's entire career, and the second of only two for Michaels. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) discuss all of these matters and more in another bumper edition of this series.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's one thing to try to follow up a five-star match. It's another thing entirely to follow up on the only match at this point in the history of the Wrestling Observer that Dave Meltzer broke the star rating system and gave six out of five. Whilst they didn't necessarily go that far, Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) both currenlty have the 1994 iteration of Misawa vs. Kawada as their respective best match that they've seen during this series so far. But if anyone could pull off a match of even higher calibre, surely it's Misawa and Kawada?lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New Japan hosts this episode's five-star classic as Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) look to see if El Samurai's second appearance in this seriesis an improvement on his previous Best of the Super Juniors final that achieved the full rating from Dave Meltzer five years earlier.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a deep dive this time as Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) not only analyse the third WWF/WWE match to ever gain five stars, but also study the surrounding culture that this match reflected, and figure out why the case can be made that this is the most important wrestling match of the modern era.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's back to All Japan, as another World's Strongest Tag League tour is capped off with a match that gets the perfect score from Dave Meltzer. Akiyama has proven himself worthy to be in such hallowed company, but do he and his mentor Misawa continue their winning ways against arguably the greatest tag team of all time in the Holy Demon Army? Do Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) agree with this particular rating? Download and listen to find out.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for another list, another debate, and another alternative five-star match as Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) have a little natter and we hope you find it entertaining enough to give it a listen.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whilst they were a relatively small, regional promotion, the only five-star match contributed by Michinoku Pro Wrestling was emblematic of the influence that it would have on high-spot intense tag team matches involving large number of participants that can be felt to this day. Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to discuss the match itself and what it led to in the future.lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No rest for the wicked, as no more than two weeks after Misawa and his new partner Akiyama have wrested the All Japan tag titles away from the Holy Demon Army, they have to defend them against the top gaijin pair of 'Dr. Death' Steve Williams and Johnny Ace. Will they be up for the task? Will the match be of a quality that justifies John Lauranitas's smugness at the Bella family get-togethers? Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) are here to find out...lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a slight change of line-up. Whilst the Four Pillars of Heaven will no longer be contesting epic tag matches, the new "Fifth Pillar" of All Japan is starting to emerge in form of hot young prospect Jun Akiyama. He has replaced Kenta Kobashi as the partner of Mitsuharu Misawa. Will his lack of experience cost them defeat against the established Holy Demon Army? Will his inexperience also cause this match to result in a substantial dip in quality? Let's see what Lorcan (@lorcanmullan) and Simon (@simoncross3) have to say about all this...lmtyspod@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.