TonyPulis'Cap

Guerrero is Amazing Red, in the persona that he was using in MLW. This is taking place in a nightclub in Orlando, but its a fun looking venue for wrestling with the balconies at the side. Very much appreciated the match not starting with the standard early 2000s crusierweight standoff, with Hidaka looking really smooth. Guerrero does a good job at keeping Hidaka off balance with his evasive spots, but as soon as Hidaka catches him and wheelbarrows him into the barricades, he's in charge. With his ability to kick as well as fly, Guerrero (Red) at this point was a really fun combination of Tajiri and Super Crazy. The match loses its way a bit when Hidaka tries to work on the leg, but they do get things back on track with a series of creative sequences. Guerrero gets a rana off the top, followed by a red star press. At this stage he was getting a good push with the company. It felt a bit choreographed at times, but lots of energy and the two guys matched up well. (** 3/4)

This is for Kojima's MLW World Title that he had won towards the end of 2002, and is a cool title defence for Kojima back in his home promotion. Unfortunately this was clipped for MLW's Underground TV show, so its hard to get a complete sense of the match, but from what we do see, Kojima is really good on offence - explosive in his strikes and he has such great in ring charisma. Smith does show resilience to dig in after taking a lot of punishment in the sequences we see, and does get a couple of decent(ish) nearfalls of a lariat and a sit down powerbomb. While technically proficient, it does feel though that Smith doesn't have the weapons that Kojima does. In the closing stretch there is a great nearfall where Smith blocks the lariat and counters to a backslide that the crowd bites on, but almost straight after that he falls victim on a second attempt of the lariat. Hard to rate without seeing the full match, but from what we do see its a solid little encounter with the novelty of seeing Kojima defend a US promotions belt in AJPW.

Another match that was part of Jonny and Jody's US excursion in the summer of 2002. This time, they are team mates rather than opponents. A couple of days before Spanky had beaten Storm in a singles match, also for the HWA. This tells a classic 'highflyers vs. technicians' story, with the Brits getting plenty of shine early on. Spanky and Collyer are both good bases, and them just sticking to the basics helps to keep the match flowing. In the initial exchanges, Storm and Fleisch's speed keeps their opponents on the defensive, until a cheap shot turns the tide. That then leads to a decent, if unremarkable heat segment on Jody. Fleisch is always a decent FIP where every move looks like its breaking him in half, while at the same time timing his hope spots well to keep the crowd invested. The match does break down a bit following Storm's hot tag, but the guys manage to pull things together again for an exciting closing stretch, with the crowd loving Jody's 720 DDT and shooting star press to the outside. The finish is nice with Collyer able to catch the high flyer woth a technical pin, going back to his own strengths to win the match, rather than trying to risk playing into his opponents style. This is a nice little tag match, with Fleisch and Storm winning over another US indie crowd who would not have been familiar with them coming in. (***)

Can't say to be an expert on wrestling in 2022 having not watched a ton, but from what I have seen, and from a mainstream perspective you'd be hard pressed to look past Jon Moxley, who has been super consistent both on weekly TV and PPV and who has had to carry the AEW main event scene given everything that has gone on. I've enjoyed Danielson a lot at times - loved the Hangman Page matches - but between some injuries and times when he just seemed to be doing very little, I think Moxley has been more consistent.

I would say something only being a couple of years behind the cultural zeitgeist is pretty decent for wrestling... As far as Raven goes, he's always been guilty pleasure territory for me. He was someone that was able to create compelling garbagy brawls during the late 90s when that was the 'in thing' with lots of smoke and mirrors type stuff, but history has probably not been kind to his promos which were always pretty rambling and nonsensical. From memory they just sounded like he'd looked up a few words in a dictionary that day and decided he would try and shoehorn them into a promo. Despite all of that, as I say, I always enjoyed him - he was fun in WCW and then liked him in TNA between 2003-05 when he got into decent shape.

Kendrick's ability to be more technical means Storm is less 'go-go-go' than would be his normal approach at the time, and allows him to work in some of his technical/British counters, which is something he's always been super underrated with. Jonny is in babyface mode here compared to the touring matches he's been doing with Jody Fleisch where he'd been the heel in those. Spanky is much more methodical than a lot of the other indie names at the time, and it helps Storm to slow down, sell and build sympathy. As things progress, Kendrick gets frustrated by Storm's ability to hang with him and ups the violence with a top rope stun gun. But as the pace picks up, this now plays into Jonny's strengths and he scores with a double jump somersault plancha which gets a great reaction from the crowd. Down the stretch the match does slip into becoming a bit spotty, but the fans are now properly won over by Jonny who hits a series of his signature big moves for a series of nearfalls. Spanky is just trying desperately to hang in there for the last few mins, shocked he's on the verge of defeat when he's on home turf, until he gets that slight opening and kicks the ref into the ropes when Storm was up top. He then counters a rewind rana into a power bomb to eek out a win after hanging in there during a really impressive Storm flurry of offence. (** 3/4)

This is part of the American tour that Jody and Jonny were on in the summer of 2002 and just a day after they had torn the house down at CZW Best of the Best the previous night in one of the best spotfest matches you will ever see. This was the classic UK indie matchup at the time that the two were now doing as a touring match. After the adulation of the CZW fans the night before, this is something of a comedown (and the less said about the very loud "you're a f*g" chant aimed at Jonny before the match the better). As I say, this is their touring match, but they do vary up some of their standard sequences. Jody is so good with his high flying at the beginning, nailing all his big spots including the springboard shooting star press to the outside. Storm for his part is good at providing an effective base early on. As ever, they are just so smooth in their exchanges, and the rapid countering of each others offences making sense given their level of familiarity. Storm is actually a lot more vicious than in some of their other matches and we also get some brawling on the outside which includes a disgusting chair shot from Storm to Fleisch. As we hit the closing stretch, Storm nails a killer sit down power bomb to counter a leaping rana, and actually kicks out of Jody's 720 DDT before nailing a rewind rana from the top for the win. At the end, both guys have won over the crowd - it's non stop action, but that's what you want from these guys. (*** 1/2)

No collar and elbow tie up to start this one - La Parka just fires a chair at Sabu to say "let's f***ing go!" But after a gentlemen's agreement they both put down the chairs and start to feel each other out, but there's an aura to these guys to where you feel the madness can erupt at any time. While there is some mat wrestling at the beginning, the match always feels on a knife edge. Sabu is the first to go to the air, sensing he is overmatched on the mat. While there are some nice exchanges, the crowd seems distracted until the tables and weapons come out - very much a post ECW crowd vibe going on. Perhaps sensing that, they take it to the outside and we get some crowd brawling, but the two guys intensity and brutality makes it compelling, highlighted by the mental table spot that La Parka takes to the outside. You can now tell things are going to the next level - and on that note Sabu just goes to town on La Parka's head with a pair of scissors, resulting in a badly mangled mask and even more mangled face. La Parka's head is a bloody mess. Sabu is like the shark smelling blood just brutalising Parka and hitting him with all his big triple jump spots. The crowd is now firmly invested and on his side. Down the stretch there are nasty kicks and punches from both guys as we enter the 'war' stage of the contest. With his tattered mask, skeleton gear and all the blood, La Parka is like a character from a horror movie and Sabu can't put him away until a final triple jump moonsault does the trick. The blood and intensity in the exchanges puts this next level, where the violence between the two lives up to the mayhem that it promises. (****)

The word you keep see coming up in all the tributes is 'enthusiasm', which was undoubtedly true - it was infectious when you listened to him, and it was great to hear an announcer genuinely enthused in what he was watching. But on top of that, I thought he became a genuinely great announcer. When you get into late 2004 and into 2005 with the start of TNA's 3 hour PPVs, he and Tenay have formed into a proper commentary team that plays off each other brilliantly. They were a huge part of those PPVs and unlike so much modern wrestling commentary which detracts from what you are watching, they enhanced it - just made you happy listening to them. As others have said as well - just seems to have been a great bloke that everyone has had kind words to say about.

This is from St Louis, and while only just under 7 mins, is an absolute blast. We all know the feud coming in and that translates perfectly to the frenzied sprint we get here. As you would expect, there isn't much 'wrestling' in this, but there is just pure energy, chaos and intensity. There is lots of brawling on the outside and the hate the two guys have translates perfectly to the type of match they are having. I say a match, but its very much a fight. There is also that sense of both occasion, but also that a regular official wouldn't be able to handle the match, by having Lou Thesz as the special referree. He doesn't do much, but adds gravitas without overshadowing the two guys in the match. When Thesz is knocked down, Piper steals his belt - a great example of a 'weapon' finding its way logically into a match without it being planted under the ring. Snuka wins by countout (you were never getting a 'decision' in this one), but that's an ending that leaves you wanting more rather than disappointed (*** 1/4).

Hulk Hogan defends the WWF World Heavyweight Title This is just pure spectacle, and pro wrestling when it is at its best - when it can capture the 'big fight feel' or real sports but fuses it perfectly with entertainment and theatrics. Its got the setting, the venue, the crowd that enhances the two guys perfectly, and both Hogan and Piper come across as megastars. Both have the big special entrance - Piper with the marching band, Hogan with Cyndi Lauper. You get the extra celebrity tie in with Mr T at ringside (and Bob Costas as ring announcer). Is the match a 'technical classic'? No, but it doesn't need to be - its pure emotion and intensity and has a terrific pace throughout. Piper in particular is fantastic here, managing to balance right on the line of being underhand enough to preserve heel status and show that Hogan is superman, without straying into being a chickenshit that wouldn't be able to live with the champ. On the one hand, you would want it to go longer, but on the other, it didn't need rest holds and padding out time - it works for being an intense sprint that never lets up, with the brawling fitting the frantic nature of the occasion and the hatred going in. It doesn't have a finish, but ultimately it sets up the first Wrestlemania main event and it wants you leaving more. Just great stuff (*** 1/2).

Thankfully (Devon) Storm is going by the name 'Salem' here, otherwise this was going to get tricky... his gimmick here is a fairly low rent cult leader. Storm meanwhile was getting a decent push in XPW, which would be the only US run he would get in his career, so it's a shame - for him - that the company would only limp on for another month. Early on Salem tries to use his strength and size advantage, which is a simple story to tell, but given this is 2003, they can't help but crowbar (if you excuse the pun) in some typical indie reversal and standoff sequences. Once they've got that out of the way, Salem does start to dominate. Storm sells for large parts, which in front of a normal crowd would hopefully have elicited good sympathy but in front of a rather indifferent XPW crowd in a weird dirtbike/skate park doesn't really get much of a reaction. The brutal looking wheelbarrow he takes into a guardrail deserved more. Given the environment the match goes to the outside and that allows Storm to get a great rana off the entrance way. Everytime he tries to get that momentum however, Salem is able to take over with a big move. Storm takes some nasty bumps which does manage to drag the crowd into being invested, although is off his game offensively. A through line of the match is that Storm doesn't have the power to take Salem over with his usual array of ranas and keeps getting caught, but despite that Salem can't put him away. Because of this, Salem calls for his follower Altar Boy Luke to interfere, but he botches that to cost him the win despite dominating most of the match. There's some decent action here - I've always like Devon Storm/Crowbar - but they seem to run out of ideas midway through. (Jonny) Storm wasn't presented as much of a threat, which is odd given that in his other XPW appearances he'd been pushed well, so his win here comes across as a fluke rather than him being resilient and battling out a victory. (** 1/2)

Storm had beaten Jerry Lynn the previous night to get a shot at Kaos' XPW TV Title. He looks great early on, getting lots of shine and flustering Kaos. Given he had only had a couple of appearances in the company (and a only a few in the US) Storm is really over with the crowd. Kaos is athletic and can hit big spots, but feels like a rich man's backyarder whenever I've seen him - he doesn't really do transitions, and also doesn't act too well as a base here, meaning that some of the sequences come off looking a little rough. As was the way with Kaos matches at the time there is way too much outside interference (think the RVD/Bill Alfonso dynamic with the volume turned up) from GQ Money (the future NXT producer Ryan Katz). Speaking of which, Bill Alfonso is actually the 'trouble shooting ref' on the outside here to try and counter that interference, however it just ends up being another factor that overwhelms the match. As you would imagine, there's lots of early 2000s indie style exchanges, and not at the top end of that style either, with no real rhyme or reason behind what they are doing. Storm is a better technical wrestler than just the highflying he gets to do here, but Kaos doesn't show much appetite to want to do anything other than a spotfest. Although to his credit, he does hit all his big spots well. Down the stretch there is a good nearfall off a Storm top rope DDT, but then the match ends rather abruptly with Kaos hitting a piledriver for the win. If they had just gone pure spotfest then this probably would've been more exciting, but with all the stuff on the outside, there was just too much going on. (** 1/4)

And apparently its all down to the 'unforeseen' circumstances of the Queen's Jubilee, which apparently is creating issues for the live events industry. Personally, I'm not sure I can think of anything the Queen would rather do on her big weekend than head up to Nottingham (a traditionally Royalist city if you know your British history) and see the Artist FKA Nia Jax in action. Didn't they always say that the Royal Family were big fans of World of Sport back in the day?

Really enjoyed this match - its not spectacular in terms of a juniors match, but has great interactions, and a fantastic performance from Liger full of little touches and subtle moments. He plays such a good prick heel here, being really antagonistic but also letting his partner do a lot of the heavy lifting. The 'invaders' jumping the faces from the get go really sets the tone, and all Liger's underhand moves builds the crowd anticipation for when his opponents take it to him. The first time Kikuchi gets to light him up is brilliant. In also really enjoyed a moment midway through where you can see Liger keeping wanting to come in for a cheapshot but fearful of doing so while it looks like Kikuchi has any chance of responding. While Kanemaru had some nice sequences, I actually found him the least compelling of all the guys and didn't like the moments when he hit a low blow or tried to use the ropes for a pin. As others have highlighted, the low blow in particular popped the crowd, and I guess you can use the 'all fair in love and war' narrative, but twice it took me out of the match when I was trying to get into the home town guys taking it to the invaders. Lots to like in this though, with the bonus of a great post match brawl that leads you to wanting more in the feud. (****)

I enjoyed this, even if I can see the criticisms others have highlighted. For one, it's probably 5-7 mins too long, but you can't argue that the crowd aren't invested and living and dying with Marafuji. I'm not an expert of Takaiwa, but here he alternated between being a no nonsense bad ass to being really boring, often in the same sequence. I'm a Marafuji fan, and thought he was great at eliciting sympathy with his selling, although again, there were a couple of moments - the coast to coast dropkick after having his knee heavily worked on being the most egregious - where he would just pop up. But again, his combination of gaining sympathy and fire has the crowd invested and keeps you entertained. I loved the start, with Takaiwa just going straight at Marafuji and then the sequence on the ramp. Sometimes a match works with a nice slow build and increase in the tempo, but I like here that they just went at it out of the gate and made it clear that if the fans wanted Marafuji to win they were going to have to will it into happening. Good stuff here (*** 3/4)

The build-up for this match comes out of the burgeoning Corino/Alex Shane feud that ratchets up on this show (read more about that here) when Doug agrees to defend the FWA Title against Corino, in part to stick it to Shane (who was the FWA’s heel authority figure, both on and off screen). WOS legend Mick McManus is the guest timekeeper for the match which gives a nice nod to British wrestling history and also makes the match feel more bigtime. FWA Title matches at this stage were 2/3 falls and reflecting the need for both guys to pace themselves we get a methodical start, with Corino trying to hang with Williams on the mat but being outmatched and caught off guard by Doug employing a lot of old WOS counters. There’s a nice story that, getting frustrated and recognised he is outmatched when it comes to technical wrestling, Corino then tries to make this into more of a brawl, but Doug won’t be bullied and as regular now for NOAH he’s happy to go strike for strike as well. I really like how Doug is presented at this point- being smart and tough as the top face. Given Doug is dominating, the first pinfall feels on the one hand that it comes out of nowhere, but on the other, I liked that Corino recognised he was only going to get small windows so went for it with a DDT when one opens and ends up getting the cobra sleeper to go 1-0 up. Given it’s a 2/3 falls match, it makes sense that Doug taps quickly to avoid sustaining more damage. Now Corino has the advantage, he gets more aggressive trying to wrap up the match quickly against a now vulnerable opponent becoming more heelish in the process but not in a cartoony way. However, this ends up costing him, serving to fire up Doug who starts fighting like a wounded animal from underneath. I love Doug’s fire here, really snapping off his European uppercuts, and he responds with a revolution DDT to level things up. I really like the through lines in the match, with the aggressor getting sloppy in his determination to win to end the match quickly – and this time its Doug that makes that mistake. Following the start of the third fall he immediately goes to the top for his bomb scare knee drop but ends up being caught with a superplex. We then get both guys emptying the tanks with big moves, including the tease of a double count out when both get back in at 19. Corino again tries to go for the cobra sleeper, but this time with his foot on the ropes for leverage showing his desperation to try and win the title. Just as we are building to a crescendo, we get a ref bump and both guys end up getting visual pinfalls. While this does interrupt the flow of the match, it leads to Alex Shane and Jack Xavier getting involved, and Doug pinning Corino in the confusion. This is an instance when parts of one match have been sacrificed to push forward other interweaving storylines. That ends up taking away slightly from the final result, however the interconnected storylines running through matches was something the FWA was very good at in 2004, and sometimes you have to look at that bigger picture. In saying all that it’s still a damn good match though (*** ¾)

These two would end up forming a union later in the year as heels, but at this stage, both are faces. Tighe is coming off a great 2003, arguably the most consistent in ring performer in the company outside of Doug Williams, but unsuccessfully challenging Doug for the British Heavyweight Title at British Uprising II at the end of the year. Belton hadn’t done too much in the company yet but was getting more opportunities. As a face/face matchup, we get respect at the beginning with lots of counters and escapes. While some of the exchanges are a bit rough, it feels nice to see some more traditional British WOS influences in there when the FWA style was usually very US indie inspired. Early on it feels a bit ‘exhibitiony’ but that sets the table as things get more heated as we go along. As the match progresses, Tighe’s strength and greater experience – in terms of being in higher profile matches – sees him get more dominant, while Belton performs his well as the underdog hanging in there. You can see some frustration starting to emerge in Tighe as he can’t put Belton away, and he gets caught with a flash pin after trying to hit one too many German suplexes. This was a really fun and competitive match between the two and continues Tighe’s run of strong matches from the previous year - however him getting caught in a flash pin (following on from his loss in the main event of BU2) is the start of a losing streak which will be the catalyst for his heel turn later in the year. (***) As a side note, Tighe had been granted a rematch for the title and being a good (naïve) babyface, he had put that title shot on the line in this match, adding more depth to why he would become increasingly frustrated.

This is part of Storm’s brief run with XPW, which came about due to a working agreement with the FWA and resulted in the creation of the XPW European Title (a ‘title’ which would last longer than XPW and be defended in the FWA…well, a briefcase claiming to have the title in would be…). This is No. 1 contenders match for the XPW TV Title and came about due to a double pin in a 4-way No. 1 contenders match at the previous show. We open with some standard mid 2000s indie standoff stuff, but its more measured than usual, and there’s some decent chain wrestling going on. Lynn is a good base for Storm in this match and allows him to get over with the crowd by basing for his high flying. The early exchanges are good at helping put Storm over to the crowd at the ECW Arena that would have come in perceiving Lynn to be the bigger star. There’s lots of fun sequences in this, and the match manages to avoid devolving into full on spot fest territory. Both guys are faces, so the simple story is Storm trying to stick and move, while Lynn is able to counter some of Jonny’s high flying as the more powerful of the two. Lynn was very good at this point, coming off his great early TNA run in 2002, and this is a sort of budget version of his matches with AJ Styles from around this time (which is no way an insult, as those matches were great). Storm ends up getting the win with a wheelbarrow DDT, and while it may be went a little long with a few too many kickouts at the end, this is a good match. It shows the strength of his performance, that while Storm came in as the underdog, there’s a really decent pop when he wins. It’s a shame for Jonny that this is the one time in his career that he was getting a decent push with a US company, and that the company ends up going out of business a couple of months later. (*** ½)

One of the aspects of a project like this is that you can end up going down some pretty random rabbit holes in your watching, and that's exactly what I found myself doing with Shane Douglas of all people. Don't think it's highlighted he's got a case of making a top 100 of all time, but he's had periods - like when he returns from the awful Dean Douglas run to ECW in 96 - when he is a really dynamic performer, but a lot of that comes from his promos and the way he carries himself rather than too much of the in ring. I find his initial rookie/babyface runs in WWF/WCW to be fine - he's fairly non-descript, but obviously its the Franchise runs in ECW when he is at his best. As Dean Douglas the gimmick is so over powering and 1995 WWF is not an environment creating the conditions for success, but as I say in 96 ECW he is really good, although as time goes on and his body gets more broken down, to me he starts to move further and further down the Triple H/Jeff Jarrett scale in being a guy that was way overpushed as the 'top champion'. As I say, injuries were taking its toll, but as 97 goes on and certainly in 98 he's not very good. He does have a very fun match on his way out with Justin Credible at Cyberslam 99, which is better as he works face and sells for a lot of the match. The less said about the second WCW run, where his matches are generally dreadful, and while his promo delivery can still be decent he's in a series of terrible feuds and angles. although as are most people in the company at that point. Post WCW, there's not too much there either, one of his best runs is actually backstage interviewer in TNA, but not sure that qualifies as much of a case for this particular project... I even watched some of his XPW run where he is both the booker and champion. Again, it's not like Rob Black's XPW is an environment that creates the conditions for success, but that's again where the Triple H/Jarrett comps come in, where his act of trying to still be the dominant champion when he just shouldn't be wrestling in that way - being aware of your limitations so you can accentuate the positives is something I look for - and makes it very depressing to watch, given he was a guy that made his name railing on the older guys to move aside. So no, no case for me, but an interesting rabbit hole I went down nonetheless.

Doug is the FWA Champion coming in, while Flash is representing the 'Old School' which was the main heel stable in the FWA at the time. British wrestling legend Mick McManus is at ringside for this, while there is an old World Of Sport ref for the match, which rather than be nice nods to the tradition and history of British wrestling are sadly red flags for the complete mess this match will devolve into. Flash cheapshots to start the match, and the early exchanges are the best part with both guys showing great fire and intensity and lots of snap in their strikes and chops. Barker tries to slow things down, but quickly realises that if its a technical battle then that plays right into Doug's hands, who will dominate on the mat, whereas when its a brawl the challenger has much more of a chance. After a flurry of offence, Doug gets a really nasty DDT off the top rope, but the old ref, after doing a standing 2 count WOS style then just calls for the bell?... to general confusion with no-one sure what's going on. We then get Dino Scarlo, who was off screen the FWA booker and on screen part of the Old School turning this into a 2/3 falls match, so Doug has gone up 1-0 rather than winning the match. You can already tell this is now going to go off the rails... After what seems an age, Doug goes on the attack against a still dazed Barker to try and finish off the match, which is a sound strategy and when the two guys can actually just wrestle straight the match is decent, but the old ref - think one of the Athletic Commission refs at MSG in the 80s - is so useless it ruins any momentum. Given how the story of the match goes, there's a chance that could be intentional, but I genuinely think he just didn't have a clue what was going on. Williams gets the Chaos Theory, but just as it looks like he's going to get the 2nd fall and retain, we get the next screwy moment as the bell rings again 'for the end of the round' and this is now being fought under European rounds. As rip offs of Over the Edge 98 go this is not the most compelling. Despite all this, Doug is still dominating, until Barker gets a low blow and a pin with his foot on the ropes (maybe a bit much?) to tie things at 1-1. Barker then destroys Doug's leg with a chair, with Dino Scarlo just liberally joining in as well, which makes you think - why bother with the elaborate changing the rules on the fly story for the match if the interference/cheating is just going to be so blatant anyway? Just have him interfere to cost Williams the match. Rather than be Steve Austin vs Dude Love, this is Lance Storm vs Mike Awesome from New Blood Rising in making no-one come out looking good. After using the chair, Barker continues to work over the leg. Doug manages a hope spot, but can't execute the Chaos Theory with his injured ankle which I liked, but then Flash gets an ankle lock and the ref just calls for the bell without Doug tapping which I liked less (why not throw a bit of Montreal in for good matter?) and Flash is the new FWA Champion. Because of what went before, and the general shoddyness of the screw job execution no-one in the crowd really gets whats going on so you don't even get the reaction to the hated heel cheating to win. The booking in this destroys what could've been a really good match given that Doug is a brilliant wrestler, and Flash Barker in the FWA was a more than decent enough worker. Mick McManus presents Flash with the belt, but again its not clear if he was involved in the Old School's conspiracy to get the belt or if he's just an old guy that like the rest of us doesn't know what's going on... just really bad * for the match and -***** for the booking.

Ultimately Mickie James (sadly, as I like her as performer a lot) is not going to make my top 100, but to me, a good representative of how I view this project - half (most) of the joy for me is getting to discuss nominees and exploring matches you haven't seen before/in a while as part of evaluating them, even if deep down you know they probably aren't going to make your list going in. Mickie is part of the period of women's wrestling when its hard to know exactly how good she could've been, given she was wrestling at a time and in companies where opportunities for women to have good matches and compelling feuds (even if she did have one killer storyline with Trish of course) was much more limited. Ultimately though, we can't judge on what if's. She's not the most technical or athletic of wrestlers, but I value the emotion and drama she brings to her matches, and while she has had some memorable moments as heel, think she is a tremendous babyface, that can take a beating and come back with great fire - her matches against Beth Phoenix are good examples. As others have pointed out, she has longevity too, still going strong across Impact and NWA and due at time of writing to be in the Rumble again. I wouldn't disagree with anyone saying she isn't at the level of a GWE list, but welcome the opportunity to talk about her and recognise her abilities.

Not to just repeat what others have already said in the thread (although actually, that's exactly what I'm about to do) but for me it's a 'not yet...but if he continues on his current trajectory then he may have an outside shot'. I haven't watched the second Danielson match yet, but thought he was really good in the first one. I think Danielson is clearly leading large parts and mapping things together, but wrestling a 60 min match, particularly in a modern setting where fans have much more of a limited attention span is no means feat, and at no times does it look like he's being 'carried' in the sense we use that term. It's not flashy or over the top, but he has a real physical charisma to him - able to build crowd sympathy but - so far - without him coming across as weak or pandering, which I think is how he has been able to get so over in AEW at a time in modern wrestling where top of the card babyfaces have often been hard to build. I haven't watched all his big AEW matches, but I watched almost all his ROH run and by the end he had got really good - the proper workhorse of those Elite/Bullet Club multi ,man matches. In particular his last big match against Jeff Cobb at Final Battle 2018 is a fantastic all action battle where the two guys just smash each other. Other matches I'd recommend from his ROH run if anyone wants to check out: vs. Jay Briscoe - No DQ (ROH TV 213) 8 Man Tag Team Match (Manhattan Mayhem VII) - yes this is a multiman, but Page is the real star and very good in this vs. Kota Ibushi (Supercard of Honor XII) vs. Joey Janela - No DQ (All In) - may not be to everyone's tastes, but a proper spectacle vs. Jeff Cobb (Final Battle 2018)

This has a great sense of anticipation at the beginning - you can tell the crowd is buzzing and excited at the possibility of the title change. Akiyama coming out with a gangster looking Yuji Nagata in a suit is also great. I watched this after the GHC Title Tournament final where Misawa faced Takayama and this is very different - Misawa is the one that dominates from the off. Early on, Akiyama is struggling to get anything going, and it seemed like Misawa was that more successful team in a sports match saying "you want to take the title, you are going to have to earn it". Whether by accident or design, early on Akiyama does seems like he is a bit out of his depth, but as others have pointed out, it tells the story that if he wants to win the title he is going to have to win through being resilient - hanging in there till he can get an opening. I understand the criticism that if you want Akiyama to be the ace coming out of this, you would want to make him look more dominant in the early and middle parts of the match, but I feel like they have gone for the approach that if Misawa is the big boss to be slayed, then that needs to be firmly established within the match structure itself so Akiyama's win is truly meaningful. I can also see the criticism that things are a bit lethargic until the final few mins, but in personal preference I don't mind a match being slow at times to build to that crescendo. There's a great nearfall once Akiyama has started hitting the big exploders where Misawa barely gets his foot on the rope, but at that moment it shows Misawa has very little left and the title is there for Akiyama with one last push, building the crowd to be excited that title change is coming. (**** 1/4)

A bit of a mixed bag of a match this for me - I liked it, but did think there were dull moments when Takayama was on offence, which is for extended periods of the match. I enjoyed Takayama getting right in Misawa's face during the ring introductions, but sadly he doesn't show that dickish intensity (for want of a better phrase) for more of the match. Early on there's a bit too much Misawa selling and sitting in holds to really capture your attention, but it picks up nicely when Misawa starts firing up with the elbow exchanges. I like Takayama when he is being more of a brawler, but here it never felt like it was believable he would win. On the one hand, I enjoyed there wasn't lots of kick outs, but on the other, I didn't think Takayama really got any legitimate nearfalls the crowd bit on. There are fun moments - like the nasty Takayama German suplexes and the blood that looks like Misawa has had his head severed or something from a horror film is a great visual, but ultimately, it did leave me a bit disappointed given the praise others in the thread have for it. (*** 3/4)