Voices of Wrestling 2024 Match of the Year: #6 (Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson)

Bryan Danielson kicks off his final full-time year with an instant classic against Kazuchika Okada—#6 in Voices of Wrestling’s 2024 Match of the Year!

VOICES OF WRESTLING 2024 MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• Introduction, Voters & Honorable Mentions
• Matches #100-76
• Matches #75-51
• Matches #50-26
• Matches #25-11
• Match of the Year Statistical Analysis & Top 10 Early Reveal (FlagshipPatreon.com)
• Match #10: Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
• Match #9: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre
• Match #8: Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay
• Match #7: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
• Match #6: Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson

VOICES OF WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• 2023
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012

#6
Kazuchika Okada defeats Bryan Danielson
01/04
NJPW

Overall Points: 347
Total Votes: 62
Percentage of Ballots: 30.54%
2 First-Place Votes

“Another slot, another Danielson match. This hit the heights we expected of their previous encounter at Forbidden Door II and was worthy of the distinction of “dream match”. The pacing of the match was simply perfect.” – Ryan Largent

“Not hearing this in many MOTY conversations, but I think it was Okada’s best match of the year. Okada was wrestling what would be his final Tokyo Dome for a long time and Bryan Danielson was living out his dream of wrestling in the Tokyo Dome. The best part of watching Danielson wrestle is watching how much he loves it. Makes me (the fans) love it more.” – Jon Rogers

“What turned out to be Bryan Danielson’s final year as a full-time in-ring performer kicked off in New Japan with a match against Okada. And as you’d expect, neither man held anything back. You could tell the kinds of matches that really motivated Danielson in his final year and the challenge of going to Japan to take on its biggest star fit that bill.” – Greg Parks

“It’ll be very easy to overrate this because of the two wrestlers in it, the arena and based on the fact that it’s actually good unlike many dream matches. In fact, their first match wasn’t very good, due to injuries amongst other things. However, I thought this was a great match. Danielson working the arm was very compelling. Strong storytelling and great wrestling to boot. Danielson doing submissions can vary from interesting to boring and this is the former. He crafted some wonderful submission sequences and would occasionally throw a disgusting kick to the bicep. Danielson was doing some of his best work in that regard. He was excellent. Okada sold very well and helped enhance those submissions by doing so. Okada attempted to tell a story with Danielson’s eye in return, but he lacked the aggression and follow through. It was a nice idea though, and Danielson did a good job at selling it himself. The closing stretch focused more on the rainmaker being hit (and a pin attempt to follow) than whether it’ll get the three which is refreshing. And a preferable way to end the match, although they could’ve milked it a little longer. But enough of that, the faults are very little. And the highs are terrific. A strong MOTYC.” – MC

“Do you like wrestling matches that feature both competitors having a specific game plan that they’re trying to implement? Then have I got a match for you! After Danielson suffered a broken arm in his previous match against Okada, he kayfabe blamed it on Okada, so “The American Dragon” said that his goal was to even the score and break Okada’s arm. However, Danielson was also just coming off of a broken orbital bone, which gave Okada a target of his own to aim for. Taking everything they learned from their first match, both men were able to put the minute details and the technicalities of the sport on full, glorious display.” – Aaron Hyden aka Hustle

“Okada and Danielson’s first match was marred by Danielson’s broken arm, and we have in the rematch a redemption and an improvement of their potential.” – Kim Wong

“After a dissapointing Forbidden Door match that ended with a broken arm, both men faced each other again and just killed it. This was the type of match I was expecting and imagined that they could have, and there is still some left in the tank. ” – Abraham Delgado

“Possibly Okada’s last great New Japan match.” – Jacob Nelson

“An arm for an arm. Bryan has a lot of great matches in 2024 and while it isn’t the peak of it, it might as well be the smartest. Okada’s test is to prove to Bryan that he’s just as good without his right arm – the arm used for the rainmaker. It conveys a great story and Okada passes the test proving to Bryan that he is better than the 50% that Bryan told Okada he was. He’s certainly not on the level as Bryan himself but a good tier below. Even without the arm, the Rainmaker is inevitable.” – Nathan Heslip

“My top rated non-US match and top rated match that did not involve Will Ospreay. Would’ve been a MOTY in most other years and only gets fifth on my ballot this year. ” – Paul Fontaine

“I think I’m the only human on the planet that liked this match as much as I did (#4 in my Top 10). This smoked their Forbidden Door encounter. It helped that Danielson’s didn’t completely destroy his body in this one, I guess. What could wind up being Okada’s final Tokyo Dome match was another epic that was on the level of a number of his other classics in this building. ” – Case Lowe

“We can all agree that 2024 was the worst year for professional wrestling ever. Professional wrestling has rarely been as uninspired or devoid of soul as it is now. So, during these dark days, it’s been hard to find matches that look like they hurt. So, it’s a breath of fresh air when two guys go out there and give their all to produce the kind of wrestling that feels real. A year removed from it, this could even be the last great match from both men’s careers, something unthinkable back then. Okada and Danielson were two of the last members of a dying breed, and getting a match like this before wrestling went to hell, was really lucky for us.” – Evandro Furtado

“A match that we had before, we needed one more time, and it delivered!” – Ryan Ciocco

“As disappointing as Bryan Danielson’s injury was during the Forbidden Door match this match was everything we knew they could do together.” – Mongo Underscore Ebooks

“Danielson and Okada had a good match at Forbidden Door 2023. Whether it was the tired crowd, working a more Okada led match or, most likely, Danielson’s broken arm, it wasn’t quite what it could have been. Six months later and one fixed arm later they hit it out of the park. Danielson looks for a payback by torturing Okada’s arm while Okada targeted the bad eye of Danielson. This time Danielson controlled the pace making the match that much better. A match fitting the legacy of the Dome. ” – Semi Salmikannas

“The greatest wrestler of all time in a match at one of the greatest venues for wrestling on the planet. Okada got to play the home conquering hero one more time before he left for AEW, and Danielson got to have his Tokyo Dome moment.” – Slyguy46

“For a wrestler that has a technical wrestling award named after him, Bryan Danielson is one of the best big-time hate-filled grudge match wrestlers of this generation. I think for a lot of us we’ve gotten this warped sense that grudge matches need a stipulation, or blood or weapons to feel violent and like a worthy blow-off. Danielson excels at just exuding hatred through everything he does in the context of the match itself without needing any crutches to assist him. This match just feels so personal. I saw the Forbidden Door match live and then watched it back and it was pretty good, sure, but definitely a disappointment for a one-off dream match between two of the best wrestlers of all-time. This match, which I think was an all-time classic, doesn’t succeed in the way it does without that Forbidden Door match though, so it all becomes very meaningful in the end. Danielson is in his last year as a “full-time wrestler” (we don’t fully know what that means) and has his arm broken by Okada, taking a significant chunk out of that time. Then almost immediately, he injures his eye. The American Dragon is out for revenge in this match. He’s beat Okada, he’s made him submit and humbled him, he doesn’t need this win so much as he needs to make him pay for what he did. That lost time has haunted him. Okada meanwhile has been haunted by the loss. Danielson is vicious throughout with his attack on the arm and Okada’s desperation of having to go to Bryan’s bad eye is so compelling. The elbow drop is treated like a huge deal after it original broke Danielson’s arm. Okada clenching his teeth and fighting through the Goodrich elbows was a great visual. This match is just jam-packed with meaning for it’s entire run time. There’s also a beautiful irony to Danielson wresting this match with an eye patch, just like he did against Morishima, another man he had this same insane “I hate you” chemistry with. The ONLY thing I wish this match had was a few more minutes and that’s a pretty rare request from me. My opinion on that might change watching it again some day, and the finish with Okada fighting through and hitting the Rainmaker sure was great, but I felt like I had been set-up to expect a kickout so it felt just a tad flat. That’s it though. Otherwise, this is perfect. ” – Travis McNeill

“Danielson screaming “I’M GONNA BREAK HIS FUCKING ARM!” at Okada puts a giant smile on my face. ” – Jeff Ahmed

“Their first match in AEW didn’t light the world on fire, mostly down to Danielson breaking his arm during the bout, so this was the redo to show what both men were capable of together when at the top of their game. Danielson’s arm work on Okada was sublime, coming into play throughout the whole match, and putting any Rainmaker attempt in doubt. Plus, it brought added drama with Danielson so determined to seemingly break Okada’s arm in retribution for his own arm break in 2023. Smart storytelling that felt right at home in the Tokyo Dome.” – Theo Sambus

“I promised myself I wouldn’t allow recency bias alone to let this slide off my list this year. It may however have enhanced it because after watching Okada sleepwalk through so much of 2024, revisiting the level he is still plenty capable of made me equally hopeful and frustrated with him.” – Dave Ryan

“Getting to finally see Bryan Danielson wrestle in the Tokyo Dome is something I have been wanting for a long time. To finally see arguably the best wrestler of all time wrestle on the actual biggest stage in wrestling was enough to put the match on this list. But they don’t just leave it there and give you a disappointing match. Okada and Danielson put on a fantastic technical match. The arm work by Danielson was really interesting. He really shined here as he displayed everything in his arsenal. Okada did a great job to sell the arm. One criticism I see about this match from others is Okada “no-selling” the arm and just winning with a Rainmaker, but I don’t see it that way. This is a great callback to their match at Forbidden Door 2023 where Danielson made Okada tap out. Okada was resilient and was able to overcome Danielson’s onslaught of attacks to the arm. That might seem like a copout to some but I actually enjoy the story of a wrestler’s ( in this case Danielson’s) plan being executed but still ultimately failing. If that sort of match is done sparsely in pro wrestling it has the possibility of working as well as it did in this match. ” – Rene Martinez

“The second (and best) offering from Kazu and Dragon was everything you’d want from a rematch. A deeper understanding of the opposing side, a ramped-up intensity, one guy who is hungrier to get a win back… all happening with two of the greatest wrestlers to ever do it. What a great way to start the year.” – Warren Hayes

“What a way to start the year! Close your eyes and think of what Okada and Danielson would be capable of in a marquee match on a Tokyo Dome show and multiply that ten and you are close to what we get here. In a year stacked with great, emotional matches this couldn’t climb above #8 for me, but goddamn is it an exceptional match. ” – Chris Colvin

“The Tokyo Dome just hits differently. When Okada and Danielson met here, the energy of the dome in addition to the main event, almost legendary aura of both wrestlers created a technical masterpiece that surpassed their previous effort at Forbidden Door in 2023.” – Jeremy Finestone

“Beautiful pro-wrestling. Nothing more, nothing less.” – Velkej Bracha

“A dream match needs more than just the sake of wrestling each other “just because” and this time there was so much more. Danielson out for revenge and Okada out for redemption. This match was everything I love about pro wrestling. It was technical, it was brutal, it told a story and the atmosphere of the Tokyo Dome on January 4th was excellent. The first “dream match” encounter between these two ended up falling short of incredibly high expectations partly due to Bryan Danielson breaking his arm during the match. But this time? This time there was more to it than just “dream match.” Bryan Danielson had a score to settle with Okada after suffering an injury in their first match. His goal? Revenge; destroy the arm of Okada so he can never throw another Rainmaker. Okada had goals of his own; avenge the loss he suffered in their first encounter and destroy the recovering orbital bone fracture Danielson was hiding under an eye patch. This is perfect wrestling. What was technical mastery on behalf of Danielson soon transformed into violent brutality as he targeted Okada’s arm with some nasty submissions and some of the best kicks in wrestling. Okada would also trade technical wrestling for brutality; tearing off Danielson’s eye patch as he targeted the orbital bone fracture. I could go into specific moments and spots but I would talk about this forever. 5 stars, two of the greatest of all time delivering on a huge stage with huge expectations. I loved this, it will be standing in the MOTY conversation when 2024 is set and done.” – Noveliss

“This was that dream match in the perfect setting that everyone has wanted since we could dream of it. ” – Ryan S Cooke

Voices of Wrestling 2024 Match of the Year
(305-11)