Happy Wrestling Land’s The Year of Wrestling Matches*, 2021 Edition

Welcome to a special edition of Happy Wrestling Land’s Year of Wrestling Matches*, 2021 Edition. We’re looking back at the year that was inside the squared circle, the best and worst but mostly the best, with representation from WWE, AEW, NJPW, and Stardom.

We begin with the best.

The 25 Greatest Matches I Saw In 2021

In 2021 there was a lot of news about the possibilities of technology, but let me tell you about the reverse engineering required to compare a World of Stardom Championship defense to a Last Man Standing Money in the Bank Qualifier.

1. AEW World Title: Hangman Page [c] vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite 12/15/21)
2. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW Full Gear 11/13/21)
3. IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW Dominion 6.6 in Osaka 6/7/21)
4. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Syuri (Stardom Tokyo Dream Cinderella 6/12/21)
5. Steel Cage Match – AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. The Lucha Bros (AEW All Out 9/5/21)
6. NXT U.K. Title: WALTER [c] vs. Ilja Dragunov (NXT TakeOver 36 8/22/21)
7. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Saya Kamitani (Stardom Yokohama Dream Cinderella 7/4/21)
8. IWGP Heavyweight Title & IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 1/4/21)
9. SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Bianca Belair (WWE WrestleMania 37 4/10/21)
10. Unsanctioned Lights Out Match: Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker (AEW Dynamite St. Patrick’s Day Slam 3/17/21)
11. AEW World Title Eliminator – Semi Final: Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW Rampage 10/29/21)
12. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 9/22/21)
13. NXT UK Title: WALTER [c] vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver: Stand & Deliver 4/7/21)
14. CM Punk vs. Darby Allin w/ Sting (AEW All Out 9/5/21)
15. IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW Tokyo Grand Slam 7/25/21)
16. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW New Beginning in Nagoya 1/30/21)
17. AEW World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Hangman Page (AEW Full Gear 11/13/21)
18. Best of the Super Jr. – Final: Hiromu Takahashi vs. YOH (NJPW BOSJ 28 Finals 12/15/21)
19. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom Osaka Dream Cinderella 10/9/21)
20. IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/4/21)
21. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (WWE RAW 3/1/21)
22. Impact World Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Christian Cage (AEW Rampage 8/13/21)
23. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Fastlane 3/21/21)
24. Last Man Standing Money in the Bank Qualifier: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (WWE SmackDown 7/2/21)
25. 5★STAR GP – Final: Syuri vs. Momo Watanabe (Stardom 5-Star GP Finals 9/25/21)

5 Great Squash Matches

1. TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Fuego del Sol (Rampage 8/13/21)
2. AEW World Title Eliminator – Round 1: Jon Moxley vs. Dark Order’s 10 (Dynamite 10/27/21)
3. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard vs. Zach Nystrom & Elijah Dean (AEW Dark: Elevation 10/4/21)
4. Drake Maverick vs. WALTER (NXT 3/24/21)
5. Ricochet vs. Omos (RAW 1/18/21)

10 Other Gems From Stardom

1. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Mina Shirakawa (Stardom Tokyo Super Wars 11/27/21)
2. Hair vs. Hair – Wonder of Stardom Title: Giulia [c] vs. Tam Nakano (Stardom 10th Anniversary 3/3/21)
3. Wonder of Stardom Title: Tam Nakano [c] vs. Unagi Sayaka (Stardom Kawasaki Super Wars 11/3/21)
4. 5★STAR GP – Blue Stars: Syuri vs. Takumi Iroha (Stardom 5-Star GP Finals 9/25/21)
5. 10th Anniversary Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko (Stardom 10th Anniversary 3/3/21)
6. Cinderella Tournament – Final: Saya Kamitani vs. Maika (Stardom Tokyo Dream Cinderella 6/12/21)
7. Goddesses of Stardom Title: Giulia & Syuri [c] vs. Mayu Iwatani & Koguma (Stardom Yokohama Dream Cinderella 7/4/21)
8. High Speed Title: Natsupoi [c] vs. Starlight Kid (Stardom 5-Star GP 2-8/29/21)
9. SWA World Title & World of Stardom Title Challenge Match – UWF Rules: Syuri [c] vs. Konami (Stardom Tokyo Super Wars 11/27/21)
10. Tag League Special: Himeka & Natsupoi vs. Mayu Iwatani & Koguma (Kawasaki Super Wars 11/3/21)

5 Other Bouts of Pro-Wrestling Love

1. CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal (AEW Rampage 10/15/21)
2. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki (Rampage Buy In 10/15/21)
3. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW 9/19/21)
4. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW 12/3/21)
5. Dustin Rhodes vs. Malakai Black (AEW Dynamite 9/8/21)

10 New Japan Matches That Were Practically Refreshing

1. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Great-O-Khan (NJPW 10/9/21)
2. Best of the Super Jr.: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado (NJPW 11/21/21)
3. G1 Climax – Block A: Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW 9/23/21)
4. G1 Climax – Block A: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Great-O-Khan (NJPW 9/30/21)
5. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Tetsuya Naito vs. Great O-Khan (NJPW 49th Anniversary 3/4/21)
6. New Japan Cup – Round 1: Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi (NJPW 3/5/21)
7. NEVER Openweight Title: Shingo Takagi [c] vs. Jeff Cobb (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 1/5/21)
8. G1 Climax – Block B: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi (NJPW 10/20/21)
9. G1 Climax – Block B: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Taichi (NJPW 10/1/21)
10. G1 Climax – Block A: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Great-O-Khan (NJPW 10/7/21)

5 Really Bad Approaches To Wrestling

1. The Fiend w/ Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton (WWE WrestleMania 4/11/21)
2. Zombie Lumberjack Match: Damian Priest vs. The Miz w/ John Morrison (WWE WrestleMania Backlash 5/16/21)
3. WWE Title: Bobby Lashley [c] w/ MVP vs. Goldberg (WWE SummerSlam 8/21/21)
4. Minneapolis Street Fight: The Inner Circle vs. Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page & American Top Team (AEW Full Gear 11/13/21)
5. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. SHO (NJPW New Beginning in Hiroshima 2/10/21)

5 More Quality Utami Hayashishita Matches

1. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Maika (Stardom Tokyo Super Wars 11/27/21)
2. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Saya Kamitani (Stardom 10th Anniversary 3/3/21)
3. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Takumi Iroha (Stardom Osaka Dream Cinderella 10/9/21)
4. World of Stardom Title: Utami Hayashishita [c] vs. Hazuki (Stardom Kawasaki Super Women’s War 11/3/21)
5. 5-STAR GP – Blue Stars: Tam Nakano vs. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom 5-Star GP Finals 9/25/21)

2020 points of reference:

• Therapy in a Thunderdome: Top 50 Best WWE Matches of 2020
• AEW 2020 Year in Review: Best Matches, Promos & Wrestlers
• New Japan 2020 Year in Review: Best Matches & Wrestlers