Timbo Slice

He's been in some great matches, but he's the definition of someone who's a good hand and that's about it. Will fall outside my Top 100.

While Hogan/Andre is the pinnacle of big match WWE wrestling, I'm not sure Hogan is a better big match worker than Cena. Completely fungible, good talker, knows when to step it up, a smart worker...I don't see him falling anywhere outside of the Top 25 for me.

The guy who I can't wait to watch more of. Digging into some PWFG stuff right now, and I can hear arguments for #1 overall all the way to him being off the ballot. From what I've seen, the most unique wrestler in the proceedings, some of the greatest facial expressions in history and one of the best workers I've seen. Need to see more to see just how high I can put him, though.

Easy Top 25, maybe Top 10. One of my favorite workers to watch in his heyday.

3/17/00 vs. Atlantis is my favorite lucha match of all time, bar none. I know there are probably better matches out there, but it's just incredible on so many levels. Best lucha de apuestra worker ever?

Always saw him as the #4 guy in the Pillars. I will put him below Taue on my ballot. The one thing I will say about him is that his two-year run as GHC champ is one of the best championship reigns ever, working against a wide variety of opponents in such a way that he made every match feel big, even against guys like Awesome. He also benefits from being one of those guys that was highly visible in both the tape-trading period and the video-based internet boom which saw a lot of his big NOAH matches widely available on YouTube almost right away when it was still the "wild west" in some ways. That being said, probably not a better big-match worker outside of Hashimoto in Japanese history. I'll have him high on my list.

Won't consider him for a Top 100. Great talker, but his work never did much for me. He seemed like someone who could work up to a better worker in a match, but I didn't see him as the best guy in his best matches.

Matt, his run in 1996 is probably a good starting point. His older stuff is good, too, but he shines in 1996.

His indy stuff holds up well against a lot of his contemporaries (Punk and Hero for sure, maybe even Joe) and while he doesn't have the big match resume a lot of the guys that will be considered above him do, I'm not sure there's been a better worker since his career began. Top 100 for sure, probably Top 50-75.

One of the best aces ever. Knew how to work against a wide variety of opponents, and even though it would become the Lyger Show at times, it was still very appealing because he brought the best out of whoever he faced and they stepped up to his level. Kanemoto, Sammy, Ohtani, Pillman, and countless others have a lot to owe to Lyger. I've lessened on his matches over the years, but I don't see how he falls outside of my Top 25.

Top 50 for sure. Work is too good in my eyes. To answer Matt's question about working for the crowd, the answer is that there's a larger number of people who hate the style Davey represents. Joshi crowds went toward the Toyota style because it was exciting, so Aja, who worked the "better" style that people like Kansai, Hokuto and Bull worked had to adapt to what the crowd wanted to keep up. That's why many people saw the 6/6/97 Kawada/Misawa match as a turning point for AJPW's style due to what Kobashi did. In many ways, Aja's style died with the rise of Toyota. She just did what she could to keep up.

Easy Top 10, probably Top 5 with consideration for #1. Might have been the best wrestler on the planet in 1993, which I consider the greatest year in pro wrestling history.

Athleticism has always meant jack shit in wrestling. 80% of pro wrestling today is athleticism and it's pretty bad, so I don't get the argument on Lawler having a handicap for not being "athletic." Legit #1 candidate. Body of work, in-ring style, promos, style that doesn't get old, one of the best carriers I've ever seen, great matches with basically every wrestler in U.S in a 20+ year span.

Top flight tag worker, good singles worker. Work-first guy. He'll be on my cutline.

Top 10 automatic. Not sure about Top 5. I've grown to like him more than Kawada over the years because of his match layout, subdued selling, stretch runs, attention to detail.

Akiyama and Taue as sidekicks are interesting considering Kobashi as the #1 sidekick ever has catapulted him into the GOAT convo when he's not nearly as good as Akiyama or Taue. I have him as a clear Top 50, possibly Top 25.

Shittyness of games has nothing to do with it. It's an easy win for NFL on a Thursday night. SmackDown! moving to Thursdays doesn't make sense. Its ratings are nowhere near the Thursday night games.

They can do both. No reason at all not to put the old stuff on there. The original stuff has been really non-existent save a couple features.

Yeah, they were trying to come up with ways to keep the crowd guessing as opposed to just having a confined match with your usual lumberjack shenanigans. They should be applauded for changing things up like that instead of them not confining themselves to the match. It made things fresh.

Ryback also has a built in story with him once being a Paul Heyman Guy. If they really feed Rusev to him, it's a big mistake. Ambrose is the guy because he's the only one crazy enough to take him on and win. With Cena getting his rematch, you have to think the smart money is on Cena getting a little bit more offense or trying to sneak attack a way in, but Lesnar making it quick. No reason for them to do a longish match. Bryan coming back and being able to work Brock would be superb. Brock knows how to work smaller wrestlers like that. It would be Brock/Eddy all over again.

The superplex wasn't a credible finish due to interference. Had Rollins just kicked out, I would have been pissed. But Ambrose crawling over like he did to try and get there at least sold that it was hurt. I'm more pissed that somebody thought cinder blocks were a good idea for that finish. Logic's right. When you lose things like blood and head shots, you have to overcompensate somehow. So upping the risky highspots is the next step in the evolution.

God, really? Layout and execution are two different things. Ambrose and Rollins had a LUMBERJACK MATCH and did what they did tonight. That wasn't booked that way. They had ideas and did them.

People don't connect with Reigns that much. Not as much as they do Ambrose. Reigns had his strengths highlighted in The Shield. Now? He's having to work a different style altogether. Not something you do in a couple months. Pulling the trigger now would kill him dead.

That's the thing, Matt. With Brock having limited dates, it allows for easier booking. Can't fuck it up. With a demolition like that, Reigns doesn't seem like he can step up to the plate. It would just look weird. Bryan's comeback, where they could work the Morishima-style match that Danielson mastered a few years back, would be the best from a work standpoint. But booking? There's nobody on the roster, even with six months build, that would be seen as a realistic threat to Lesnar. Not even close.

Bonzo gonzo? Looks like Scott Keith finally made it to the big time.