Another one of those personal favorites where I can see him getting on my list. There was a stretch in the early 2000s where I thought he could do no wrong. He had the best Akiyama match in the 2003 G-1 Climax, was great in the 2002 Climax, as well.
I'm gonna find some room for him on my list, I think. Up there in the discussion for best tag wrestler ever, great psychology, snug work, great timing, great talker. If he isn't on my list, I'll be surprised.
Maybe the most fungible wrestler in this whole thing. He works whatever style is needed and is great regardless. The Irish Swiss Army Knife. Truly one of the all-time greats. Easy Top 50, probably 25.
That is always my point when talking about Hokuto/Kandori 4/2/93, too. First near fall in that match doesn't come until 18 minutes in. Sometimes, you just know how to get the crowd into it without the need for kicking out of stuff.
Well, that's because all the guys you mentioned could work heel. Steamboat was a perpetual face and All Japan was not used to a face touring Japan like that. I know there were other guys who ended up working face, but I think that has to do with the crowd more than Steamboat.
I think he's a completely underrated worker. One of the things he did better than almost anybody was lay out matches in a way to grab the crowd's attention, regardless of what you thought of his nutty spots. I think he has a shot at making this list for me.
Probably the best baby face ever. Resume speaks for itself, but I wish he didn't get hurt when he did. He could have made a run at a #1-type career if that was the case. Don't see him falling out of the Top 50 for me, maybe even Top 25.
Probably the only female worker I'll consider for my Top 10. When I went back and started going through the AJW Classics, she stood out heads and shoulders above everyone else. Didn't like much of her stuff in Jd', but there were few wrestlers better than her in her prime. She'll be way up there for me.
Bret and Punk are similar to me in a lot of ways. You could tell when he gave a damn, when he really wanted to put on a good match, all that. So when he did give a damn, he was great. But there was also a lot of time where he didn't give a damn that drags him down in my eyes. I'll have him in the bottom half of my list, I'm pretty sure.
I'll have him on the bubble. Liked his 2000s stuff better than his 90s stuff. Him teaming with Lyger in 2003 was one of my favorite things in wrestling at the time. Liked him as the gatekeeper of the BOSJ, as well. For his later stuff, the Hayato Fujita matches he had were great. Good longevity probably gets him on in the end.
One of my favorite wrestlers ever. Easy Top 50, maybe Top 25. Best big match wrestler I've ever seen. Not even a question. He adds something to a match that few others can match.
Not seeing it. In the big matches I've seen him in, he was always the lesser guy, and I never saw anything from him that made me think he was on the level of his other shoot-style contemporaries.
He was my WOTY for 2013 and it was by quite a wide margin so I'm as big on him as anyone. Definitely interested to see where he'll land a few years from now, but his work on the indies wasn't as god as Bryan's and while I think he's better right now, I'm not sure he's gonna get the chances we hope he'll get for a while.
He'll be close, if not just making the bottom part of the list. If anybody hasn't seen the 6/12/96 tag with him and Iizuka vs. Hashimoto and Hirata, go see it right now. One of his great non-UWF performances.
I think he has to be in my Top 100. The Garvin series basically did it for me on him, and I got a chance to see some of his Mid-Atlantic stuff, too. He'll be in there.
I'm gonna have him in the Top 10-15 range, and chances are he and Misawa will be back-to-back. As much as I've grown to appreciate Misawa more over the years, I'm not sure if I can put him above Kawada. Will be the toughest decision I make on my ballot, probably.
I can definitely see him making my list. Fantastic brawler, fantastic rudo, but I want to see a bit more of him before making him a definitive part of my list.