10 Obscure Wrestling Matches Fans Had No Idea Happened

Wrestling fans love to talk about “dream matches,” their pie-in-the-sky ideas and fantasies for matchups that they’d love to see happen, but likely never will. While that sort of speculation can be fun, sometimes reality is way more fun as far as unexpected matchups, particularly those that many fans are completely unaware of. After all, the history of wrestling is long, and few performers stick with one promotion their entire careers.

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Let’s take a look at 10 of these obscure and unlikely matchups. Some have happened on the indie circuit, in dark matches, and sometimes in front of cameras for major wrestling promotions, and two of which involve Randy Savage.

10 Bryan Danielson vs. Kamala (LSW, 9/30/2006)

Two weeks after putting on a classic against KENTA at Ring of Honor’s Glory by Honor 5, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson made his only appearance for Connecticut’s Liberty States Wrestling, defending the ROH World Title against Kamala the Ugandan Giant, of all people.

It’s one of those random matchups that tend to happen on the indie scene, and the result has surprised fans who have sought it out online, as both Danielson and Kamala work to their strengths in a match that ends in a double countout.

9 Steve Austin vs Randy Savage (WCW Saturday Night, 5/27/1995)

In March of 1995, Big Van Vader was stripped of the United States Title, so a tournament was held to determine a new champion featuring stars like Ric Flair, Jim Duggan, Big Bubba Rogers, and others. Within those brackets was a totally normal matchup that’s a dream match in retrospect: Golden Era icon "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. future WWE icon Steve Austin.

Savage would win in two-and-a-half minutes on WCW Saturday Night, but would be knocked out of the tournament due to a no-contest finish against Ric Flair.

8 The Hart Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers (WWE Wrestling Challenge TV Taping, 1/11/1994)

For a brief period from late 1993 to early 1994, Bret and Owen Hart formed a tag team in order to set up a breakup storyline and subsequent brother vs. brother classic at WrestleMania 10. A couple weeks before they split at Royal Rumble ‘94, they put on a brothers vs. brothers classic against Rick and Scott Steiner.

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Captured at a TV taping of WWE’s Wrestling Challenge, this must-see match was only officially wrestled on the WrestleFest ‘94 VHS, but might be one of the best tag team matches in WWE history.

7 Penta El Zero M vs. Ultimo Dragon (SCP Super Clash X, 9/15/2018)

SoCal Pro Wrestling has been running somewhat under the radar compared to more high profile promotions in the area since 2007, so even at the time in September 2018, fans might not have been aware that the California indie delivered a dream match at its tenth-annual Super Clash event.

In the main event, the legendary Ultimo Dragon took on Penta El Zero M (a.k.a. Pentagon Jr.), with Penta getting the win after ripping off Dragon’s mask for a cheap victory. After the bout, Penta challenged his opponent to a mask vs. mask match, but that has yet to happen.

6 One Man Gang vs. Shawn Michaels (WCCW, 1/11/1985)

Before finding success as a tag team specialist with Marty Jannetty in the 1980s, a young Shawn Michaels performed for influential promotions Mid-South Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling.

For WCCW, on a show with big matches like Ric Flair defending the NWA World title against Terry Gordy and The Midnight Express dethroning The Fantastics as NWA American Tag champs, Michaels — billed as “Sean Michaels” — was much lower on the card, losing to classic monster brawler One Man Gang in a two-minute squash.

5 Randy Savage vs. Jushin Thunder Liger (NJPW Summer Struggle Day 19: WCW World in Sapporo, 8/3/1996)

Throughout the 1990s, WCW had a working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, resulting in not only some crossover shows like Starrcade ‘95, but also some NJPW vs. WCW matches in Japan that Western fans have likely never seen.

One such matchup pitted "Macho Man" Randy Savage against junior heavyweight legend and former WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Jushin Thunder Liger. While not regarded as anything special, it’s an amusing matchup, with Savage getting the win in the end.

4 CM Punk vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. (IWA Mid-South Spring Heat, 3/1/2002)

This triple threat for Midwest indie staple IWA Mid-South feels like a weird little anomaly resulting from where everyone involved was at in their respective careers. At the time, CM Punk was killing it on the indies and months away from making a televised debut on Impact Wrestling, Eddie Guerrero was finishing up a run on the indies after being fired from WWE the previous year, and Rey Mysterio Jr. was between runs in WCW and WWE, and still wrestling unmasked.

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Together, the stars battled for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, with Guerrero dethroning Punk after nearly 12 minutes. CM Punk, however, would win it back the next day.

3 Kurt Angle vs. Owen Hart (WWE Shotgun Saturday Night, 5/15/1999)

Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle made his official televised in-ring debut at Survivor Series in November 1999, but he spent half a year wrestling dark matches and house show bouts. While many of these dark matches were against other developmental talent, he did have a surprising opponent in the form of Owen Hart, weeks before his unbelievably tragic and avoidable in-ring death.

It’s certainly dream match material, but WWE has yet to release the footage, and reports at the time suggest that this dark match is more of a curiosity than a technical masterpiece.

2 Vader vs. Will Ospreay (RevPro Uprising, 8/12/2016)

In 2016, a baffling storm of controversy ensued when Ricochet and Will Ospreay put on a buzzworthy match in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The pair’s mind-blowing athleticism drew the ire of many pro wrestling traditionalists, including legendary bruiser Big Van Vader, who vocally criticized the match on Twitter.

To capitalize on the tiff, Vader and Ospreay clashed in a match for the UK’s Revolution Pro Wrestling, which ended with Vader coming out on top over the high flyer.

1 Chyna vs. Masahiro Chono (NJPW The Spiral, 10/14/2002)

In the time since Chyna’s death in 2016, many fans have re-evaluated her career, realizing that perhaps they didn’t give a fair shake to “The Ninth Wonder of The World.” Looking back at her match history reveals some surprising matchups after her 2001 departure from WWE, particularly a 2002 tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling — a rarity for a female wrestler.

Performing under her real name of Joanie Laurer, she mainly wrestled tag matches, but did have one notable and strange singles match against NJPW legend Masahiro Chono, taking him on in a near-12-minute effort in the Tokyo Dome.