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Being a pro wrestler is one of the most difficult and taxing careers in the world. Every wrestler has to deal with not only the pain of actual in-ring work, but also the incredible toll wrestling takes on one’s psyche through constant travel, numerous expenses, and being away from one’s loved ones and family.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that many people that go into the wrestling business don’t last very long, and many that do only wrestle on a part-time basis. Then there are the exceptional few wrestlers that manage to have incredible wrestling careers that span decades, if not longer.
Some wrestlers have such incredible endurance and passion for the sport of pro wrestling that they keep going long after their bodies begin to fall apart. The ten wrestlers listed here are some of the best examples of dedication, passion and seemingly superhuman endurance. Here are ten pro wrestlers who’ve had the most matches outside of WWE.
For this piece, we’re using statistics obtained from the website wrestlingdata.com, which records info on all of a wrestler’s matches anywhere in the world, including non-televised matches and rare appearances in small promotions as well. The numbers next to each wrestler’s name is the number of pro wrestling matches they’ve had as of April 1st, 2018.
#10 Hiroshi Tanahashi - 2,098
Hiroshi Tanahashi began his wrestling career like most do in New Japan: as a ‘young boy’ that had to master the basics before he could really carve out an identity for himself.
Tanahashi became a main roster wrestler in NJPW during what many consider the promotion’s darkest era: the early 2000s was a horrible time for New Japan due to the failures of Inokism and historically-low interest in their product.
In fact, it was Tanahashi that was handpicked to be the ‘saviour’ of New Japan, the ace around whom the promotion would be built. Thanks to clever booking, Tanahashi effectively carried NJPW kicking and screaming into the 2010s, and was instrumental in bringing the company back from the brink of complete insignificance.
Of course, it also helps that he wrestled an insane schedule with brutal and lengthy matches. Tanahashi is still technically an active wrestler, and is just two matches short of his 2100th wrestling match. Not bad for a guy that spent the better part of a decade working at an extreme level and performing multiple High Fly Flows on a nightly basis.
#9 Kenta Kobashi - 2,243
Kenta Kobashi was once called ‘the perfect wrestler’ by Tokyo Sports. This was in tribute to his ability to work any kind of match, play any role, show different kinds of offensive moves, and tell any kind of story. He was an outstanding wrestler, and became something like a god in his native Japan.
Unfortunately, years of working such an intense style took a very serious toll on Kobashi’s body. While his career technically did span 25 years from his in-ring debut to his retirement, he spent many of those years on the shelf and dealing with injuries, especially 2006 and beyond.
That is why his number of matches is lower than many of his compatriots from All Japan: he only wrestled a handful of matches between 2010 and 2013. That isn’t to say, however, that he didn’t work an intense number of matches: wrestling over 2,200 times over 25 years is nothing to scoff at, especially when you actually watch a Kobashi match and see that his matches were far longer and more intense than your average WWE match.
#8 Manami Toyota - 2,264
Widely considered the greatest women’s wrestler of all time, Manami Toyota was one of the true pioneers of women’s wrestling. Her in-ring career spanned a whopping thirty years, and she reached her peak almost immediately.
She wrestled over 2,200 matches during her career, including one show in 2010 on which she wrestled all five matches. Her prime work was between 1989 and 1996, where and her co-workers in All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling (AJW) put on some of the most legendary wrestling clinics ever seen.
She was so far ahead of her time that she was voted the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1995, becoming the only woman to ever do so. In fact, she even kept wrestling for AJW beyond that promotion’s then-mandatory retirement age of 25, which is even further testament to how great of a wrestler she was.
#7 Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta - 2,642
The Great Muta is arguably the biggest and most famous wrestler to have never stepped foot in a WWE ring. His feuds in WCW with the likes of Sting, Vader and Ric Flair were legendary, and the man himself is widely regarded as one of the greatest masters of ring psychology wrestling has ever produced.
Sadly, he never could work for WWE for a number of reasons, including a no-compete clause in his WCW contract and too much work on his plate when he was president of AJPW. That said, Muta has been a big draw wherever he has gone, and has managed to stay very active in the wrestling business long after his physical prime had passed.
Despite being well into his fifties, Muta still wrestles sporadically, and has over 2,600 recorded matches since his debut in October 1984.
Whether he was wrestling under his real name or under his masked alter-ego, he has been one of wrestling’s biggest names, and looks like he’ll stay involved in one way or another for years to come.
#6 Toshiaki Kawada - 2,687
Toshiaki Kawada is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and is widely considered to be the sport’s stiffest striker. No one kicked harder than Kawada, as he exemplified the intensity and dangerous nature of AJPW’s King’s Road style more than arguably anyone else.
It was Kawada who faced Misawa in that legendary match on June 3rd, 1994 that was awarded six stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While he did have tremendous success in AJPW during the 1990s, things took a drastic turn in the 2000s.
Kawada was one of only two wrestlers in AJPW that didn’t go with Misawa when Misawa formed Pro Wrestling NOAH, which shocked many people given how close he and Misawa were reported to be.
Kawada kept wrestling all over Japan throughout the 2000s, with his last match to date having taken place in August of 2010. Kawada hasn’t announced a formal retirement, but he himself admitted that he lost a great deal of passion for wrestling after Misawa died in the ring.
To this day, Kawada holds an impressive number of matches under his belt, shy of a whopping 2,700 over a period of 27 years.
#5 Yuji Nagata - 2,883
Yuji Nagata is something of a legend in New Japan because of what he did to that company. By the dawn of the 2000s, NJPW was fully immersed in their twisted love affair with MMA, and then-owner Antonio Inoki’s incessant desire to see untrained MMA fighters take part in wrestling matches and vice-versa caused his company to take to such a degree that he was forced out of his own company in 2005.
Yuji Nagata was one of Inokism’s biggest victims, being a well-trained wrestler with a martial arts background. He was fed to MMA fighters Fedor and Cro Cop, and lost both fights so decisively that it almost destroyed his reputation beyond repair.
But Nagata worked through this and many other troubles, and effectively carried New Japan on his shoulders through the company’s darkest days. It was up to him to have the best matches and draw in crowds, which he worked tirelessly to accomplish.
Nowadays, NJPW is in safe hands, and Nagata can rest now knowing that he doesn’t have to carry the weight of an entire promotion on his shoulders. But his dedication cannot be overstated: since 1992, Nagata has wrestled almost 2,900 matches, and looks like he might keep going for a few more years.
#4 Hiroyoshi Tenzan - 2,893
Like many New Japan wrestlers, Hiroyoshi Tenzan debuted over two decades ago and gradually worked his way up to the top of the company. Tenzan was one of many wrestlers to stay with NJPW despite the failed ‘Inokism’ experiment, and was thus tasked with wrestling a highly taxing schedule in order for NJPW to struggle with its then-faltering popularity.
Tenzan achieved tremendous success during this period, winning numerous tournaments and championships as one of NJPW’s top draws. Despite suffering numerous injuries and working hurt for many years, Tenzan is still an active wrestler, having logged almost 2,900 matches since 1991.
Whether it’s singles matches or tag matches, and whether he’s wrestling on a tour or on a nightly basis, that’s still an incredible number of matches to wrestle in one’s lifetime.
#3 Satoshi Kojima - 2,927
Satoshi Kojima holds the distinction of being the first wrestler to ever wear both AJPW’s Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and NJPW’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship simultaneously.
He was a star in both companies, and has wrestled back and forth between these two of Japan’s biggest promotions since 1991. Kojima was among many stars from New Japan to leave for All Japan in 2002 when Keiji Mutoh became the new president of AJPW.
Kojima has been a consistent wrestler for many years whose devastating offense included a vicious, Stan Hansen-like Western Lariat that looked like it could cleave his opponent’s head off.
Although Kojima has been wrestling less in recent years due to suffering from multiple injuries, he does have almost 3,000 matches under his belt, which is still a very impressive feat.
#2 Mitsuharu Misawa - 3,208
The legendary Mitsuharu Misawa is on many fans’ shortlist for greatest wrestler of all time. A masterful worker and naturally-tough man, Misawa wrestled more or less nonstop between his debut on August 21, 1981, and his sudden and shocking death on June 13th, 2009. Misawa’s career spanned almost twenty-eight years, and he was in his prime throughout the entire 1990s decade.
Misawa logged 3,208 matches between his debut and his final match, most of them in his native Japan for either All Japan Pro-Wrestling or his own company, Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Sadly, Misawa’s dedication and commitment to pro wrestling were the sources of his downfall. He kept wrestling on a full schedule between 2006 and 2009, despite being riddled with injuries and those around him begging him to retire.
But because of NOAH’s struggles towards the end of that decade, Misawa had to use his own established star power to keep his company successful.
Ultimately, Misawa’s legacy is one of both incredible matches and dedication on one hand, and the consequences of stiff wrestling and high-risk moves on the other.
#1 Jushin 'Thunder Liger' - 3,870
Finn Balor once called Jushin Liger ‘timeless’ due to how much influence he has on the entire pro wrestling industry, which is 100% true. However, one thing that most people tend to forget about Liger is just how much he has wrestled.
Whether it was under his birth name (Keiichi Yamada) or under the mask as Liger (or under some other variation), he has been wrestling nonstop since March 3rd, 1984. In other words, Liger’s pro wrestling career has spanned over 34 years, and he has wrestled in almost four thousand matches.
That averages out to about 114 matches per year, which makes sense since NJPW’s schedule doesn’t require as many frequent shows as WWE. Nevertheless, Liger’s number of matches is significantly higher than anyone else on this list, which is a testament to how much passion the now-53-year-old Liger has for pro wrestling.
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