Wrestling fans love to devise dream matches, fantasy bouts where two great wrestlers who have never crossed paths finally clash, with hopefully transcendent results. For some fans, their ideal dream matches are impossible, because the wrestlers in question might be retired, passed away, or a myriad other factors.
For some lucky fans, their dream matches actually happen, but sometimes they totally suck. Maybe there was too much hype, there was a lack of chemistry, or the booking was not to the fans’ taste. It happens, but not to all dream matches. Here are ten such dreams come true that actually lived up to the hype.
10 Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE Survivor Series, 11/18/2018)
The interesting thing about Brock Lesnar’s recent WWE matches is that many of them feel like they were deliberately booked to play off of fan expectations. This Raw vs. SmackDown bout between Lesnar and Daniel Bryan does exactly that with Lesnar’s savage beating of Bryan so long and brutal that disappointment began to settle in.
But that’s exactly the effect they wanted because the payoff was Bryan staging a comeback so exciting that fans started to believe he could pull out a win over Brock Lesnar.
9 Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WWF WrestleMania VI, 4/1/1990)
This dream match between every ‘80s kid’s two favorite WWF babyfaces is a legitimate miracle. In an era when egomania ran wild all over professional wrestling, somehow Hulk Hogan managed to put someone over that wasn’t himself, passing the torch to WWF’s other top babyface in a clean, decisive finish.
And the match is great -- easily Warrior’s best effort and one of the best WWF main event style bouts of the era.
8 Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12, 1/4/2018)
In 2017, Chris Jericho departed WWE for a part-time gig with New Japan Pro Wrestling and his first move was to make a surprise challenge to Kenny Omega for his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
The heated build to their WK12 bout required a No DQ stipulation between the two Winnipeggers and the match, billed as “Alpha vs. Omega,” was a violent, exciting brawl that went nearly 35 minutes.
7 Kurt Angle vs. Sting (TNA Bound For Glory, 10/14/2007)
Sting and Kurt Angle had clashed a little here and there, but this TNA World Heavyweight Title Match that main evented Bound For Glory was their first big singles match ever.
At this point, Kurt Angle was still doing good work and the aging Sting could still pull out a solid match here and there, and thankfully this dream match was one of Sting’s better late-period efforts, even if a little overbooked.
6 Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW Double or Nothing, 5/25/2019)
Cody and Dustin Rhodes never really got the huge, emotionally resonant brother vs. brother match fans were clamoring for during their time in WWE, but the familial dream match was the first thing the two did at the first AEW PPV, Double or Nothing.
And it’s one that exceeded expectations, tributing their heritage to create a violent, bloody -- really bloody -- classic, with a shocking amount of pathos.
5 Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka, 2/9/2020)
In New Japan, the most exciting thing is when Minoru Suzuki sets his sights on a new opponent. Jon Moxley leaving WWE led to the potential for myriad dream matches to be unlocked, and one of the most exciting was at New Year’s Dash!! 2020 when it became clear that Suzuki and Moxley were going to collide at New Beginning.
The result -- for the IWGP US Title -- was as violent as a fan would hope.
4 Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles (WWE TLC, 10/22/2017)
Finn Balor was supposed to take on Bray Wyatt at TLC, but Wyatt had to pull out of the show for medical reasons. AJ Styles was brought in as a last-minute addition, and a dream match was born: the founder of Bullet Club versus the most high-profile leader of the BC.
With no time to actually build to the match, there were no typical WWE shenanigans or overthinking -- it was just the two best dudes in the company, putting on a great match for the sake of competition.
3 Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT TakeOver: Dallas, 4/1/2016)
NXT’s top babyface Sami Zayn was on his way out of developmental for the supposedly greener pastures of the WWE main roster, and the company just signed Shinsuke Nakamura, one of the biggest stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Zayn deserved to go out with a bang, and what better way than to take on one of the best performers in the world?
The match is a frankly incredible 20-minute affair that had the fans spontaneously chant “Fight Forever” in the middle of it, and introduced mainstream Western wrestling fans to the phenomenon known as The King of Strong Style.
2 Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (WCW Bash at the Beach, 7/17/1994)
It was a dream match that was supposed to happen in WWE, but a handful of lackluster house show attempts led Vince McMahon to pull the plug on the idea. Hulk Hogan, the megastar face of the WWF who helped usher in a peak era for the company, versus Ric Flair, NWA’s top heel and one of the biggest stars outside of the McMahon empire.
It finally happened in WCW, before the two men were too old to put on a good show, and it really delivered -- even if it signaled the beginning of Hogan’s reign of terror over WCW.
1 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH Joe vs. Kobashi, 10/1/2005)
In the early to mid-2000s, two of the hottest promotions in wrestling were the American indie upstart Ring of Honor and All-Japan Pro Wrestling’s splinter promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH.
In 2005, the top guys of their respective companies -- Samoa Joe and Kenta Kobashi -- collided in what many fans consider one of the greatest indie matches of all time. The match is stiff and brutal, and the small but passionate crowd is nuclear for these two performers. It’s perfect.