It's Tempest's birthday - so as a special treat to himself, he gets to wax lyrical about his favourite non-WWE matches of all time!
00:00 - Start
01:16 - 10
02:16 - 9
03:16 - 8
04:31 - 7
05:44 - 6
06:55 - 5
08:01 - 4
09:20 - 3
10:18 - 2
11:37 - 1
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00:00 - Start
01:16 - 10
02:16 - 9
03:16 - 8
04:31 - 7
05:44 - 6
06:55 - 5
08:01 - 4
09:20 - 3
10:18 - 2
11:37 - 1
SUBSCRIBE TO partsFUNknown: https://bit.ly/2J2Hl6q
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/partsfunknown
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/partsfunknown/
Buy wrestling merchandise here: https://www.wrestleshop.com/
Read more Feature content here on WrestleTalk.com: https://wrestletalk.com/features/
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Tempest, it's your birthday.
00:03 Happy birthday, Tempest.
00:06 Last year for my birthday, I gifted myself the pleasure
00:08 of coming up with my list of my 10 favorite wrestlers ever.
00:11 And it was the hardest list I've ever made.
00:14 So naturally, I've decided to double down
00:17 and give myself another set of impossible choices to make.
00:19 It is no secret that my love for wrestling
00:22 lies primarily outside of the confines
00:24 of Vinnie Mac's traveling circus.
00:26 So you better believe I have had a metric ton
00:28 of wrestling matches to choose from for this list.
00:31 Keep in mind that these are not the matches
00:32 that I think are objectively the best ones.
00:35 These are just the ones that have given me the fuzzies
00:37 while watching them the most.
00:38 I haven't watched all the wrestling matches
00:40 there have ever been.
00:41 I know that will come as a shock to some of you,
00:43 but it is true.
00:44 So if there are any matches you're upset aren't on this list
00:47 I'm probably upset by it too.
00:49 What I'm trying to say is these are the 10 matches
00:51 I like more than the TNA triple threat.
00:53 Don't be mean, it's my birthday.
00:54 I'm Tempest Haling from PartsFunknown,
00:56 and these are my 10 favorite non WWE matches ever.
01:00 Before we get on with my list, of course,
01:01 make sure that you like this video, subscribe,
01:03 and enable notifications to always on
01:05 so you never miss a fun list just like it.
01:07 And check out the plethora of new content
01:09 coming to PFK right now.
01:11 Survival series, no holds bored.
01:13 Subscribe, you don't want to miss it.
01:15 Number 10, Orange Cassidy versus PAC, AEW Revolution 2020.
01:20 Listen, there's a reason this match has been viewed
01:22 on YouTube 41 million times.
01:25 I was casually aware of who Orange Cassidy was
01:27 when he arrived in AEW, and I was casually excited
01:30 to see that he would be wrestling PAC
01:31 at a show I was going to attend.
01:33 Then the match happened, and I casually wet myself
01:36 over how much fun it was.
01:37 This match started a perfect formula
01:39 of Orange Cassidy annoying curmudgeonly heels,
01:41 but being too talented to be beaten easily.
01:44 And for that, I raised my glass to them.
01:46 It is no secret to people that old Orange Julius
01:48 is one of the best wrestlers in the world now.
01:50 But in February of 2020, being in a building
01:53 with 10,000 people collectively losing their minds
01:56 over a man rolling across the ring made me realize
01:59 just how special a performer Orange Cassidy is.
02:02 I have been very blessed to have witnessed
02:04 so many incredible wrestling matches in person,
02:06 and this will continue to be reflected in this list.
02:08 But I don't think I've ever seen a match live or at home
02:11 that more perfectly encapsulated wrestling
02:14 being fun like this one.
02:16 Number nine, Ric Flair versus Terry Funk,
02:19 NWA Clash of the Champions 9.
02:21 And now for something completely different.
02:23 I have not been shy about my admiration
02:25 for the late, great Terry Funk,
02:27 a man I believe has a legitimate claim
02:28 to be the greatest wrestler ever to live.
02:31 And if I had to pick one match
02:32 to perfectly exemplify why I love this man,
02:35 it would be his match with Ric Flair
02:37 for the NWA World Championship
02:39 at Clash of the Champions 9.
02:40 Two words, five letters, I quit.
02:43 Nevermind the setup angle for this match
02:45 being one of the best of all time,
02:47 this is the best I quit match there has ever been.
02:50 I could use a lot of flowery language
02:52 to describe how the punches and the drama
02:54 and the selling and the finish are perfect,
02:56 but there simply isn't a more succinct way
02:58 to describe all that besides it being NWA drama
03:02 and Amarillo violence done at the highest possible level.
03:06 I love wrestling, and I love wrestling
03:08 of all times and styles, and it is matches like this
03:10 that make me wish I could have been alive
03:12 to see the heyday of Mid-Atlantic as it happened.
03:16 Number eight, Jon Moxley versus Tomohiro Ishii,
03:19 G1 Climax 2019.
03:21 For my money, this is still the best match
03:23 that Jon Moxley has ever had.
03:25 I was so incredibly excited to see Mox compete
03:28 in the G1 just months after Dean Ambrose
03:31 was getting beat by EC3 on Raw.
03:33 I didn't quite know what to expect.
03:35 His matches with Juice Robinson and Joey Janela
03:37 had been good, but this was the first match
03:39 that Mox could really sink his teeth into.
03:42 Ignore that.
03:43 I really wanted Mox to succeed as a longtime Ambrose fan,
03:46 and to see him wrestle this match with Tomohiro Ishii,
03:49 a man that could not be a better opponent for Jon Moxley,
03:52 I was very excited.
03:54 Then what we got was a brilliantly worked,
03:56 tremendously violent, and equally emotional performance
03:59 that began during the entrances and ended with Mox saying
04:03 in his post-match promo that his career had been
04:05 in the toilet bowl, but no one in the universe
04:07 can tell him what he can and can't accomplish.
04:10 This match makes me so emotional, and yeah,
04:13 on the surface, it is a well-worked match
04:15 between the two best brawlers on Earth,
04:17 something to enjoy and admire, but as a fan of Mox,
04:20 to see him bet on himself and show the world
04:22 exactly why WWE was dumb as (beep) not to let him loose
04:26 was one of the most cathartic matches
04:28 I have ever, ever witnessed.
04:31 Number seven, Cody Rhodes versus Dustin Rhodes,
04:34 AEW Double or Nothing 2019.
04:36 Pro wrestling has made me feel a great number of emotions,
04:39 but it takes something very specific in pro wrestling
04:41 to make me cry.
04:43 When Cody Rhodes revealed that he would be facing
04:45 his brother Dustin at the first ever AEW pay-per-view,
04:48 I had mixed feelings.
04:49 Cody was coming off of surgery and hadn't wrestled
04:51 since January, so I was trepidatious,
04:54 but I also knew that this was the match they
04:57 and loads of fans always wanted them to have
04:59 at WrestleMania, but never got.
05:01 Do not bring up Fastlane.
05:04 It is my birthday.
05:05 Do not make me think about bad things.
05:07 This is, in many ways, a perfect match.
05:10 I don't care if Cody's baby face, heel, baby face stuff
05:13 is clunky, it simply doesn't detract from the raw emotion
05:16 that exists between these two brothers wrestling
05:19 a brilliant Southern States NWA bloodbath.
05:22 This was a match that showed people what AEW could be.
05:25 It wasn't just being the elite with great matches.
05:27 It was a little bit of everything,
05:29 including some old school wrasslin',
05:31 and God damn it, I love old school wrasslin'.
05:35 Literal blood, sweat, and tears were left in the ring,
05:38 and there's no doubt Dusty would have been utterly proud
05:41 of what his boys were able to accomplish that night.
05:44 Number six, the Young Bucks versus the Hardy Boys,
05:47 ROH Supercard of Honor 11.
05:49 And now for something completely different.
05:51 My favorite tag team when I was a wee lad
05:54 was the Hardy Boys.
05:55 My favorite tag team as a wee adult lad was,
05:58 and still is, the Young Bucks.
06:00 I had a type, what can I say?
06:01 I even began telling the Young Bucks apart
06:03 by telling myself Matt has dark hair like Matt Hardy does.
06:06 The two teams were always linked in my mind,
06:08 and that isn't a coincidence.
06:10 A lot of influence was drawn from the Hardys
06:12 by the Young Bucks, so to see these two teams
06:15 face off in a ladder match at the height
06:17 of the Hardys' resurgence in popularity
06:19 was a dream match come true for me.
06:21 I will concede that there have been better ladder matches,
06:24 but I don't think I could say
06:25 that this one wouldn't be my favorite.
06:28 This is not a tame ladder match.
06:30 These four lads went utterly, utterly crazy,
06:33 with bumps to the point that a WrestleMania return
06:35 for the Hardys seemed uncertain.
06:37 But the bit that makes me sit up in my chair
06:39 and point at the screen has to be these guys
06:41 recreating the famous finish to the original
06:44 Hardys' Edge and Christian ladder match.
06:46 It's a wonderful extra detail that helps put a bow
06:49 on two generations of tag teams coming together
06:52 in a brilliant, brilliant match.
06:55 Number five, Kenny Omega versus Tomohiro Ishii,
06:57 G1 Climax 2018.
07:00 I haven't mentioned commentary yet in this list,
07:02 despite it obviously playing a big role
07:04 in the quality of each of these matches,
07:05 but never is that more the case
07:07 than in Kenny Omega's clash with Tomohiro Ishii
07:10 in the 2018 G1 Climax.
07:12 Omega was undefeated in the tournament
07:14 leading into this, his seventh match,
07:16 as well as being IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
07:19 And so when he fires up on Tomohiro Ishii
07:21 and Kevin Kelly says, "He's unbeatable.
07:24 "Omega's unbeatable," you best believe
07:26 that (beep) sends chills up my spine every single time.
07:31 It's easy for loads of G1 Climax matches
07:33 to sort of blend together what was so much quality wrestling
07:36 crammed into such a short amount of time,
07:38 but this one has always stood out to me
07:39 for its unbelievable drama.
07:42 Could Omega actually run the gauntlet?
07:44 Surely not, but this match has you believing
07:46 that it is possible before Ishii puts him away,
07:49 leaving him bloody and broken.
07:51 I love this match.
07:53 It pains me that we don't get to see Kenny
07:55 in the G1 Climax anymore,
07:57 but I know it pains him a lot less to be able to miss it,
08:00 so I'll allow it.
08:01 Number four, Kazuchika Okada versus Hiroshi Tanahashi,
08:04 Wrestling Dontaku 2018.
08:07 I have gone on record saying I think the rivalry
08:09 between Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi
08:12 is the best in wrestling history.
08:14 I don't have the time to talk about exactly why that is.
08:16 Maybe I'll reawaken my sleeping YouTube channel someday
08:19 to fully explain, but this match at Wrestling Dontaku 2018
08:22 is, in my opinion, the greatest match
08:25 these two have ever had together.
08:27 The full circle feeling of Okada now attempting
08:29 to set the new all-time record
08:31 for IWGP heavyweight title defenses
08:33 by beating Tanahashi, the man who had held
08:35 the previous record, is magical.
08:37 Oh, and who ended that reign from Tanahashi?
08:40 Okada.
08:40 (beep)
08:41 Brilliant.
08:42 The fans cheer for Tanahashi even after Okada
08:44 had surpassed him as the top star of the company,
08:47 something Okada takes note of and feeds off of.
08:49 They do callbacks to their other classic matches
08:52 seen through their legendary wrist control moment,
08:54 put on one of the best matches of the year,
08:56 and cap it off with a history-making win for Okada,
08:59 beating Tanahashi for the first time in over two years.
09:02 I can't express exactly how special this title reign
09:05 of Okada's was as it was happening.
09:08 It was truly legendary, legacy-defining,
09:11 and as someone who is more than invested
09:12 in the careers of both of these men,
09:14 this hits the bullseye of exactly the kind
09:17 of sports-based wrestling I love to see.
09:20 Number three, Samoa Joe versus Kenta Kobashi,
09:24 ROH Joe versus Kobashi.
09:26 It's just two of the best wrestlers of all time
09:28 in their prime beating the (beep) out of each other.
09:30 (beep)
09:31 Blast that.
09:32 It will always be funny to me
09:34 that when Kobashi arrived backstage,
09:35 he pitched throwing salt and doing karate poses for heat,
09:39 completely unaware that the Ring of Honor crowd
09:41 would welcome him as a legend,
09:43 to which Samoa Joe simply laughed and said,
09:45 "No, big baby face."
09:47 This is the greatest ROH match of all time, bar none.
09:51 There aren't many matches I wish I could go back
09:54 and experience live quite like this one.
09:56 The crowd just loses their (beep) minds
09:59 with every single chop,
10:00 every single knee,
10:02 every single kick,
10:03 every single lariat.
10:04 It is, to me, the greatest example
10:07 of an overarching story not being necessary
10:10 to just tell a wonderful story from bell to bell.
10:13 These two big mother (beep) are bad as (beep).
10:16 Who's the baddest?
10:17 Let's find out.
10:18 Number two, Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada,
10:22 New Japan Pro Wrestling Dominion 2018.
10:25 The greatest wrestling match I have ever seen in my life.
10:30 Bell to bell, that would be the case regardless
10:32 of all the other components that elevate this match.
10:35 The action, selling, storytelling,
10:37 and payoff are all God tier.
10:40 But to really appreciate this match to its fullest,
10:42 you have to look at it in full context.
10:45 That being that this was the culmination
10:47 of multiple storylines set over two years.
10:50 Okada having the greatest championship reign of all time,
10:54 Kenny Omega shedding Bullet Club,
10:55 and the jealousy he held within him
10:57 to reunite with Kode Ibushi.
10:59 The three prior matches Omega and Okada had together,
11:02 leaving them at one win, one loss, one draw.
11:04 Every single conceivable aspect of this match was perfect.
11:09 The build was perfect.
11:10 The title reign was perfect.
11:11 The two wrestlers involved were perfect.
11:14 And it all culminated in the stars aligning
11:16 in the most perfect match and title change I have ever seen.
11:20 Two out of three falls, 70 minutes,
11:22 and Kenny Omega finally becoming champion.
11:25 Is the match a little long to show to a casual fan?
11:28 Yeah, probably, but so is the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
11:30 And you know what?
11:31 That's perfect too for the people that love it.
11:33 And I (beep) love pro wrestling.
11:37 And number one, the Young Bucks versus Kenny Omega
11:40 and Hangman Page, AEW Revolution 2020.
11:44 My single favorite match of all time.
11:47 Cast your mind back to 11 minutes ago,
11:50 and you may remember that I was in attendance
11:51 for Orange Cassidy versus PAC,
11:53 which means, dear viewers, I was also in attendance
11:56 for Kenny Omega and Hangman Page's
11:57 AEW World Tag Team title defense against the Young Bucks.
12:01 In my opinion, the greatest tag team match of all time.
12:05 When I wanna put on a comfort wrestling match,
12:07 I watch this match.
12:09 As a long-time viewer of Being the Elite
12:11 who had grown to love Hangman Page
12:13 and become all the way invested in his story,
12:15 I was on the edge of my seat for about 40% of this match.
12:18 And that might seem low, but it is only because
12:21 for the other 60% I was on my feet.
12:23 All the while waiting to see if this was the night
12:25 that Hangman turned his back on Kenny.
12:28 The callbacks to the other members of the Elite,
12:30 the golden trigger on Kenny,
12:31 resulting in the greatest kick out at one of all time,
12:34 the vastly different dynamics between all four men
12:37 in the match, leading to every different combination
12:39 of guys being just as intriguing as the last,
12:42 all making this the greatest experience
12:44 I have ever had watching a wrestling match.
12:47 And now, I'm gonna go watch all 10 of these matches again,
12:50 because what better way could I spend my birthday than that?
12:53 And that's my list.
12:54 Please make sure of course that you like this video
12:56 and subscribe so you never miss a fun list just like it.
12:59 And check out my list from my last birthday,
13:01 my 10 favorite wrestlers of all time.
13:04 But you know what?
13:05 On the day after my birthday,
13:06 I'm giving a little gift to myself with today's list.
13:09 In honor of Canadian Thanksgiving,
13:11 AKA proper Thanksgiving, because dinner goes before dessert
13:15 and Thanksgiving goes before Halloween,
13:17 I would like to give thanks for the performers
13:20 that have made me love this little thing called wrestling
13:23 that we all dedicate so much time to.