If you haven’t picked up Phil Schneider and Chris Bryan’s Way of the Blade: 100 of the Greatest Bloody Matches in Wrestling History, please do so immediately. The bottom line, as the great Stone Cold might say, is that it’s among the best books ever written about professional wrestling.
(Paperback: https://amzn.to/3tXj6J9 Kindle: https://amzn.to/3uXTmhd)
Over the course of almost 400 pages, the two look at the bloody history of the business, highlighting 100 matches in 44 different promotions from around the world. It’s really cool to read about all these incredible bouts—but it’s even better to watch them, now powered by Phil’s gift for putting them into proper context.
What follows is a list of where to find these matches. If they are available on a streaming service, we’ve used the official source. But the bulk of them are on YouTube for the world to enjoy. As I hope you do. For the bouts that aren’t available readily online, you have his permission to email the author (Phil@list.org) to see about acquiring them.
Just click on the match to watch it (subscription required in a few cases):
Dr. Adolph Kaiser vs. Micheal Chaisne 2/28/57 French Catch
Golden Moose Cholak vs. Larry Chene 5/15/63 IWA
Johnny Valentine vs. Wild Bull Curry 6/20/69 Houston
Killer Karl Kox vs. Dick Murdoch 12/9/76 AJPW
Harley Race vs. Terry Funk 7/1/77 Houston
Bruno Sammartino vs. Superstar Billy Graham 8/11/77 WWWF
The Spoiler vs. Wahoo McDaniel 4/21/79 Houston
Terry Funk/Dory Funk Jr. vs. Abdullah the Butcher/The Shiek 7/15/79 AJPW
Larry Zbysko vs. Bruno Sammartino 8/9/80 WWWF
Jerry Lawler vs. Dutch Mantel 3/29/82 CWA
Sgt. Slaughter/Don Kernodle vs. Jay Youngblood/Ricky Steamboat 3/12/83
Fabulous Ones vs. Moondogs 6/13/83 CWA
Greg Valentine vs Roddy Piper 7/9/83 Mid-Atlantic
MS1 vs. Sangre Chicana 9/23/83 CMLL
Buzz Sawyer vs Tommy Rich 10/23/83 Georgia
Roddy Piper vs. Greg Valentine 11/23/83 Georgia
Hector Guerrero vs. Jose Lothario 6/8/84 Houston
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik 6/16/84 WWF
Terry Gordy vs. Killer Khan 11/22/84 WCCW
Ric Flair vs. Ted DiBiase 11/6/85 Mid-South
Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard 11/28/85 NWA
Hacksaw Duggan vs. Buzz Sawyer 12/27/85 Mid-South
Sangre Chicana vs. Perro Aguayo 2/28/86 EMLL
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Akira Maeda 6/12/86 NJPW
Masanobu Fuchi vs. Hiro Saito 6/12/86 AJPW
Ric Flair vs. Ricky Morton 7/5/86 NWA
Bruno Sammartino/Tito Santana vs. Adrian Adonis/Randy Savage 7/12/86 WWF
El Hijo Del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. EMLL 8/31/86
Invader 1 vs. Al Perez WWC 10/26/86
Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig AWA 11/21/86
Terry Gordy vs. Steve Williams UWF 2/6/87
Carlos Colon vs. Stan Hansen WWC 3/14/87
Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol CWA 4/27/87
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Riki Choshu NJPW 6/9/87
Four Horseman vs. Road Warriors/Superpowers NWA 7/4/87
Eddie Marlin vs. Tommy Gilbert CWA 4/4/88
Pirata Morgan vs. El Dandy EMLL 9/23/88
Terry Funk vs. Ric Flair NWA 7/23/89
Testsuo Nakano vs. Masakatsu Funaki UWF 7/24/89
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki UWF 7/24/89
Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano NJPW 1/31/90
Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto vs. Kendo Nagasaki/Masanobu Kurisu FMW 4/1/90
Pirata Morgan vs. El Faron EMLL 11/16/90
Brazo De Oro vs. El Hijo Del Santo UWA 1/13/91
Atsushi Onita vs. Tarzan Goto FMW 2/26/91
Jerry Lynn vs. Lightning Kid PWA 4/18/91
Akira Taue vs. Toshiaki Kawada AJPW 11/15/91
Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart WWF 4/5/92
Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance WCW 5/17/92
Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert WWA 11/14/92
Great Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase NJPW 12/14/92
Shinobu Kandori vs. Akira Hokuto AJW 4/2/93
Riki Choshu/Shinya Hashimoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa WAR 4/2/93
Cactus Jack vs. Vader WCW 4/17/93
Terry Funk vs. Atsushi Onita FMW 5/5/93
Aja Kong vs. Yumiko Hotta AJW 1/24/94
Rock and Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies SMW 4/1/94
Bunkhouse Buck vs. Dustin Rhodes WCW 4/17/94
Kodo Fuyuki vs. Kendo Nagasaki WAR 11/29/94
Dustin Rhodes vs. Blacktop Bully WCW 3/19/95
Headhunter A vs. Headhunter B IWA 5/1/95
Gangstas vs. Thugz SMW 5/20/95
Great Muta vs. Hakushi NJPW 4/29/96
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami NJPW 4/29/96
Megumi Kudo vs. Combat Toyoda FMW 5/5/96
El Hijo Del Santo vs. El Dandy vs. Negro Casas EMLL 12/6/96
Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart WWF 3/23/97
Sabu vs. Sandman ECW 10/10/98
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa NJPW 1/4/99
Atlantis vs. Villano 3 EMLL 3/17/00
Tajiri vs. Steve Corino ECW 5/14/00
Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle WWE 8/19/01
El Hijo Del Santo vs. LA Park Monterey Lucha 12/23/01
Ian Rotten vs. Chris Hero IWA-MS 5/4/02
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar WWE 11/20/02
Yuji Nagata vs. Kazunari Murakami NJPW 12/12/02
Steve Corino vs. Homicide ROH 9/16/03
Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL WWE 5/16/04
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa FUTEN 4/24/05
Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe IWA-MS 6/11/05
Team Anarchy vs. Devils Rejects NWA Anarchy 7/22/06
Devil's Rejects vs. NWA Elite NWA Anarchy 7/23/07
Eddie Kingston vs Chris Hero IWA-MS 9/29/07
Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer IWA-MS 3/1/08
Low-Ki vs. Chris Hero PWG 11/2/08
Kevin Nash vs. Mick Foley TNA 8/16/09
Sami Callihan vs. Danny Havoc CZW 12/12/09
Black Terry/Dr. Cerebro/Chico Che vs. Avisman/El Hijo Del Diablo/Gringo Loco IWRG 3/7/10
El Pollo vs. Commando Negro IWRG 12/26/10
Dick Togo vs. Antonio Honda DDT 1/30/10
Fenix vs. Mil Muertes Lucha Underground 1/25/15
Trauma 1 vs. Canis Lupus IWRG 4/29/16
Black Terry vs. Wotan Chilanga Mask 8/21/16
Slim J vs. Corey Hollis Anarchy Wrestling 7/28/18
Joshua Bishop vs. Dominic Garrini AIW 4/4/19
Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes AEW 5/25/19