Graham Crackers

Unless I see something really incredible before the deadline this is my top ten (order tbd) Yoshiaki Fujiwara El Satanico Mitsuharu Misawa Negro Casas Jerry Lawler El Hijo Del Santo Yuki Ishikawa Stan Hansen Shinya Hashimoto Volk Han

If you're placing Cornette on your list I feel like you'd have to have Heenan ahead of him. I've liked more Heenan matches (and I'm under the impression he wrestled more often) and he was a better bumper. Cornette is essential to the Midnights' act and I've certainly enjoyed his performances when placed in an actual match but, to me it's just obvious that Heenan brings more to the table as a wrestler.

Bull Pain's weapons shots are the best. They're like Lawler's punches or Santo's tope. Not sure I've seen enough to put him on my list but he's someone worth exploring if you're into deathmatches.

Cassandro is the first guy I thought of here who might benefit from having seen him live a number of times. Honestly, all of my favorite performances of his were live matches that were not taped. Phil's onto something about the aura that some wrestlers have live. Seeing Hijo Del Santo live really pushed him to the top level for me. It was partly that he seemed to work so damn hard for a small show in a small venue but there was also an energy that he brought to the room. I saw Atlantis wrestle Ultimo Guerrero in Queens before their mask match and while it was very much a house show match, I was impressed by the way Atlantis interacted with the crowd. I was pointing out Ultimo Guerrero's cheating to the ref in my pidgin Spanish (yeah, I'm that guy). It was a small show and I'd guess that about a dozen other people were being similarly vocal. It was really cool to watch Atlantis take the time to seemingly acknowledge each of us. Any time the ref missed one of the rudo's misdeeds Atlantis would point to me or one of the other protesters. It's a simple detail but really made the show feel more inclusive.

I can also get behind the desire to do more match ranking projects. I miss the more active 80s Project discussions from before DVDVR went batshit.

I probably can't provide a complete picture but here's some stuff I really like: Toshiaki Kawada vs Masa Fuchi AJPW 7/1/2000 - Cool to see Kawada stretching out Fuchi like Fuchi stretched out Kawada and pals in the early 90s. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Maunakea Mossman AJPW 7/23/2000 - Last great Hansen match. Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW Triple Crown Decision Match) AJPW 10/28/2000 - Gritty title match. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya (Real World Tag League) AJPW 12/6/2000 - Solid match if you're into Araya. Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya vs Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi AJPW 6/30/2001 - Maninly worthwhile for Tenryu vs Araya portions. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto AJPW 4/27/2002 - Neat tag with team WAR picking on the rookie. Yoji Anjoh & Mitsuya Nagai vs Taiyo Kea & Masa Fuchi AJPW 9/16/2002 - One of my favorite things about the AJPW of this era is the oddball midcard matches like this. Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Hase & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi, Nobutaka Araya & Nobukazu Hirai AJPW 9/16/2002 - WAR vs former NJPW guys and Shinzaki. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi AJPW 10/6/2002 Shinya Hashimoto & Kazuhiko Ogasawara vs Satoshi Kojima & Kendo Kashin AJPW 1/13/2003 - I fucking love the AJPW vs Zero1 feud. Genichiro Tenryu vs Kazushi Miyamoto AJPW 2/16/2003 - Miyamoto puts up quite a fight attempting to get revenge for how he was treated in the 2002 tag. Satoshi Kojima, Arashi, Nobutaka Araya & Kendo Kashin vs Shinjiro Ohtani, Masato Tanaka, Ryouji Sai & Kazuhiko Ogasawara AJPW 2/23/2003 - Massive AJPW vs Zero1 tag. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Satoshi Kojima & Kendo Kashin AJPW 5/25/2003 - Fuchi vs Kashin is hilarious. Shinya Hashimoto, Kohei Sato & Hirotaka Yokoi vs Satoshi Kojima, Nobutaka Araya & Shigeo Okumura AJPW 6/11/2003 - Really fun Hashimoto performance where he acts as coach/team captain. Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima (AJPW Triple Crown Championship) AJPW 6/13/2003 - More AJPW vs Zero1. Probably Kojima's best singles match. Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto (AJPW Triple Crown Championship) AJPW 2/22/2004 - Pretty good as far as dream matches go. Kensuke Sasaki vs Osamu Nishimura (Champions Carnival) AJPW 4/5/2008 - Nishimura had a pretty good showing in 2008 Suwama vs Osamu Nishimura (AJPW Triple Crown Championship) AJPW 6/28/2008

It's a shame there were so few ballots. Here's what I turned in: 1.) Espanto Jr. vs El Hijo Del Santo (Mask vs Mask) Monterrey 8/31/1986 2.)Gran Cochisse vs Satanico (NWA World Middleweight Championship) EMLL 9/14/1984 3.) MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 9/23/1983 4.) Los Brazos vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan & El Verdugo (Super Libre) EMLL 11/10/1989 5.) Solar, Ultraman & Super Astro vs Sergio El Hermoso, Bello Greco & Rudy Reyna UWA 2/26/1984 6.) Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca (NWA World Welterweight Championship) EMLL 1/27/1984 7.) Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala & Verdugo vs Atlantis, Angel Azteca & Ringo Mendoza EMLL 3/1988 8.) Emilio Charles Jr, Fabuloso Blondy & Pirata Morgan vs El Dandy, Atlantis & El Faraón EMLL 7/21/1989 9.) Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 2/28/1986 10.) Super Astro, Atlantis & El Faraón vs Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther & Emilio Charles EMLL 8/18/1989 11.) Sangre Chicana vs Satanico EMLL 5/26/1989 12.) La Fiera vs Babyface (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 8/15/1986 13.) Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan & Hombre Bala vs Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. EMLL 2/1987 14.) La Fiera, El Faraón & El Egipico vs MS-1, Satanico & Pirata Morgan EMLL 3/29/1985 15.) El Satanico & Espectro Jr. vs El Faraón & La Fiera EMLL 8/12/1984 16.) Babyface, Cien Caras & Mascara Año 2000 vs Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco & La Fiera EMLL 1986 17.) MS-1 & Masakre vs El Dandy & El Satanico EMLL 8/11/1989 18.) El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (Mask vs Hair) WWA 7/18/1987 19.) Pirata Morgan vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 9/23/1988 20.) Tony Salazar vs Herodes EMLL 3/2/1984 21.) Perro Aguayo vs Sangre Chicana vs El Faraón vs Villano III (Elimination Match) EMLL 10/14/1984 22.) Gran Cochisse, Villano III & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs Fishman, Mocho Cota & Tony Bennetto EMLL 11/30/1984 23.) Atlantis vs Emilio Charles Jr. (NWA World Middleweight Championship) EMLL 8/12/1988 24.) Pirata Morgan vs Brazo De Oro (NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship) EMLL 11/17/1989 25.) Javier Cruz vs Hombre Bala (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 6/30/1989 26.) Espectro Jr, Satanico & MS-1 vs Mocho Cota, Sangre Chicana & La Fiera EMLL 9/30/1983 27.) El Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr. (Mexican National Middleweight Championship) EMLL 12/1/1989 28.) Los Brazos vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan & El Verdugo (UWA World Trios Championship) EMLL 10/27/1989 29.) Emilio Charles Jr. vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 7/28/1989 30.) Satanico vs Shiro Koshinaka (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 7/30/1984 31.) Hijo del Santo, Cachorro Mendoza & Chamaco Valaguez vs Jerry Estrada, Fuerza Guerrera & Talisman EMLL 3/9/1984 32.) Satanico vs Super Astro EMLL 10/14/1984 33.) Atlantis vs El Satanico EMLL 1984 34.) Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo & Tony Salazar vs El Satanico, El Dandy & Espectro Jr. EMLL 4/3/1987 35.) Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca (NWA World Welterweight Championship) EMLL 2/3/1984 36.) Satoru Sayama & Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo & Baby Face UWA 4/13/1980 37.) El Hijo Del Santo vs Espanto Jr. (UWA World Lightweight Championship) UWA 4/10/1988 38.) El Brazo & Brazo De Plata vs Hombre Bala & El Verdugo (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 11/17/1989 39.) Arandu vs Guerrero Negro (Hair vs Hair) ACM 1988 40.) Atlantis, El Dandy & Popitekus vs Gran Markus Jr, Pirata Morgan & Ulises EMLL 5/26/1989 41.) Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada & Super Astro vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan & Verdugo EMLL 9/1989 42.) Atlantis & El Hijo del Santo vs Fuerza Guerrera & Lobo Rubio EMLL 11/25/1983 43.) El Satanico, MS-1 & Masakre vs Rayo de Jalisco Jr, La Fiera & Tony Salazar EMLL 3/20/1987 44.) Atlantis & Satanico vs MS-1 & Tierra Viento y Fuego (Hair/Mask vs Hair/Mask) EMLL 9/22/1989 45.) Americo Rocca, Cachorro Mendoza & Kung Fu vs El Talisman, El Dandy & Guerrero Negro EMLL 1986 46.) Raul Reyes Jr. & Climax vs Mocho Cota & Loco Zavala Sonora 1985 47.) Pirata Morgan, Babyface & Cien Caras vs La Fiera, Lizmark & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. EMLL 1986 48.) Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs Mascara Año 2000 (NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship) EMLL 8/15/1986 49.) Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 9/21/1984 50.) Blue Panther, El Talisman & El Dandy vs Stuka, Americo Rocca & Chamaco Valaguez EMLL 11/1986 51.) Lizmark, La Fiera & Kung Fu vs Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala & Jerry Estrada EMLL 2/27/1987 52.) Atlantis & Lizmark vs El Egipcio & El Faraón EMLL 2/17/1984 53.) Sangre Chicana vs Villano III EMLL 12/7/1984 54.) El Solitario vs Dr. Wagner (Mask vs Mask) Monterrey 12/1/1985 55.) Mogur vs As Charro (Mask vs Mask) EMLL 9/18/1987 56.) Ringo Mendoza, Atlantis & Ultraman vs Satanico, Masakre & MS-1 EMLL 1986 57.) Super Halcon, Satanico & Masakre vs El Texano, Lizmark & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. EMLL 3/17/1989 58.) Rayo de Jalisco Jr, Atlantis & Alfonso Dantes vs MS-1, El Satanico & El Dandy EMLL 3/27/1987 59.) Atlantis, Ringo Mendoza & Tony Salazar vs El Satanico, MS-1 & Espectro Jr. EMLL 9/28/1984 60.) Fuerza Guerrera vs El Hijo Del Santo vs All Star (Mask vs Mask vs Mask) EMLL 12/8/1989 61.) Cien Caras vs Siglo XX (Mask vs Mask) EMLL 4/10/1987 62.) Americo Rocca vs El Talisman (Mexican National Welterweight Championship) EMLL 3/29/1985 63.) Kung Fu vs Javier Cruz EMLL 3/1988 64.) Emilio Charles Jr, MS-1 y Tierra, Viento & Fuego vs Atlantis, El Dandy & Mascara Sagrada EMLL 11/24/1989 65.) Mogur vs Mascara Año 2000 (Mask vs Mask) EMLL 9/23/1988 66.) Enrique Vera vs Dos Caras (UWA World Heavyweight Championship) UWA 2/26/1984 67.) Sangre Chicana vs Ringo Mendoza (UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship) EMLL 10/28/1983 68.) Tony Salazar, Mogur & Alfonso Dantes vs Hombre Bala, Talisman & Tony Bennetto vs Satanico, MS-1 & Masakre vs Ringo Mendoza, Atlantis & Javier Llanes EMLL 4/10/1987 69.) Angel Azteca, Atlantis & Blue Demon Jr. vs El Dandy, Super Muñeco & El Texano EMLL 3/24/1989 70.) Popitekus, Angel Azteca & Steve Nelson vs Emilio Charles Jr, Gran Markus Jr. & Masakre EMLL 6/9/1989 71.) El Faraón, Herodes & Mocho Cota vs Lizmark, Ringo Mendoza & Tony Salazar EMLL 2/24/1984 72.) Lizmark, Alfonso Dantes & Tony Salazar vs El Signo, El Texano & Negro Navarro EMLL 8/15/1986 73.) Kevin von Erich, Mascara Año 2000 & Halcon Ortiz vs Coloso Colosetti, Pirata Morgan & Herodes EMLL 9/23/1983 74.) Blue Demon Jr, Super Astro & Mascara Sagrada vs El Supremo, Espectro Jr. & Blue Panther EMLL 10/6/1989 75.) Blue Panther & Sergio El Hermoso vs Super Astro & Solar WWA 10/17/1987 76.) Atlantis vs El Faraón (Mexican National Middleweight Championship) EMLL 3/22/1985 77.) Lizmark vs El Satanico (NWA World Middleweight Championship) EMLL 4/1984 78.) El Hijo del Santo & Black Shadow Jr. vs Espanto Jr. & Eskeletor Monterrey 12/1/1985 79.) Blue Demon, Blue Demon Jr. & Ringo Mendoza vs Emilio Charles Jr, Pirata Morgan & Satanico EMLL 11/25/1988 80.) Centurion Negro vs Gran Hamada (UWA World Middleweight Championship) UWA 2/14/1982 81.) Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza & Tony Salazar vs Negro Navarro, El Signo & El Texano (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 9/19/1986 82.) Lizmark, Mil Mascaras & Valente Fernandez vs Sangre Chicana, Angel Blanco & Angel Blanco Jr. Monterrey 12/1/1985 83.) Fuerza Guerrera & Rocky Star vs All Star & El Hijo Del Santo (Relevos Suicidas) EMLL 12/1/1989 84.) El Dandy, Magico & Super Astro vs Gran Cochise, Americo Cruz & Javier Rocca EMLL 11/11/1987 85.) Kato Kung Lee vs Kung Fu (Mask vs Hair) EMLL 4/29/1988 86.) Javier Cruz, Impacto & Solar II vs El Dandy, Franco Colombo & Panico EMLL 10/1984 87.) Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. & Hombre Bala vs Blue Demon Jr, Javier Cruz & Hombre Sin Nombre EMLL 8/4/1989 88.) Chavo Guerrero, Cien Caras & Mascara Ano Dos Mil vs Lizmark, El Satanico & Rayo De Jalisco Jr. EMLL 10/20/1989 89.) Villano III vs Perro Aguayo (WWF World Light Heavyweight Championship) UWA 10/7/1984 90.) El Canek vs Don Corleone (UWA World Heavyweight Championship) UWA 2/14/1982 91.) Jerry Estrada vs Ultraman (Mexican National Middleweight Championship) EMLL 3/2/1984 92.) Andre the Giant & Cien Caras vs Alfonso Dantes, Herodes & Sangre Chicana EMLL 1981 93.) Javier Cruz vs El Dandy (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 10/26/1984 94.) Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz & Chamaco Valaguez vs Talisman, El Dandy & Guerrero Negro EMLL 3/13/1987 95.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs El Canek (UWA World Heavyweight Championship) UWA 6/12/1983 96.)El Dandy, Apolo Dantes & Eddy Guerrero vs Emilio Charles Jr, Pirata Morgan & Ari Romero EMLL 9/29/1989 97.) Jerry Estrada vs Javier Cruz (Hair vs Hair) EMLL 10/20/1989 98.) All Star, El Dandy & El Texano vs Espectro Jr, Jerry Estrada & Rocky Star EMLL 10/13/1989 99.) Jerry Estrada, Ari Romero & Rick Patterson vs Javier Cruz, Eddy Guerrero & El Dandy EMLL 10/6/1989 100.) Pirata Morgan vs Fabuloso Blondy (NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship) EMLL 12/8/1989 Amazing selection of matches. Even number 100, while pretty bad, is still kind of fascinating in a way that the worst matches on the other sets ever were.

I just watched this. To my untrained philistine eyes it went something like this: Kick - kick - submission attempt - Commentator cums in his pants - Crowd pops. Rinse repeat for 14 minutes until one of them actually submits. Didn't seem to have any sort of psychology to it at all to me, felt like the last 10 minutes of your typical Cena match only trade the finishers and false finishes for submission attempts. To me this lacked a lot of elements that I associate with pro wrestling. Namely: - Rope running - Collar and elbow tieup - Throws of any kind - Standard strikes that aren't kicks, like the reverse knife edge, forearm smash, or similar Jerry, I guess I appreciate you trying to watch this stuff but for someone so skeptical of other people's reasons for liking and disliking matches/wrestlers you seem to me like you're so blinded by your own confirmation bias that you aren't thinking logically about how shoot style is presented. I can't help but suspect that you can't see the psychology in shoot style because you've already decided there is no psychology. Remember that it plays by different rules because it's presented as being more realistic. If shoot style is designed to engage in more "realistic" grappling and striking then other styles then why would they include rope running or popular kayfabe strikes of yesteryear? Have you ever seen two real people get into a real fight? Yes, there is a foundation in martial arts for forearm strikes and knife edge chops but there is also a reason you don't see many MMA fighters busting them out. They are not very effective in reality and so they were phased out of the style. Wrestling has used real combat sports as an inspiration as long as it has been faked. The similar camera and lighting setup that boxing and wrestling shared lead to both being on TV in the 1950s. Wrestling was worked but if you want to suck your audience into the act you will usually allude to realities they are familiar with. In a lot of classic wrestling footage I see wrestlers go into boxing stances when punches start getting thrown. I'm not sure when this started becoming less common but it's obvious to me that wrestlers who are doing this are trying to signal that this wrestling match has the potential to turn into a fight. Even many of the classic controversial wrestling finishes evoke some of the more colorful endings of famous 19th century boxing matches. The 90s saw martial artists from around the world being brought into Japan in Vale Tudo tournaments and Pancrase promoting genuine shoot wrestling. The kind of grappling and striking in shoot style is designed to evoke similar images to what viewers might have seen in shoot fights at the time. As for rope running, it is one of the wackiest things about pro wrestling. I love a good rope running sequence but any time I've watched around non-fans it's the rope running sequences that lead to scoffing. If you'd like more historical precedent for the lack of rope running I will point out that some 80s shoot style (though really it was more of a prototype of a shoot style) used rope running and even top rope moves. When the decision was made to push towards Gotch influenced grappling in a more realistic setting both were phased out. If you watch the Fujiwara vs Super Tiger matches Super Tiger attempts to use top rope moves and rope running only to be foiled in every attempt. Throws do not make something pro wrestling. There are some shoot style wrestlers who use big throws. There are also some that don't. Which leaves us with the collar and elbow tie up to discuss. That is one way to initiate a grapple. There are also other ways to initiate a grapple. The only time that a collar and elbow tie up would be the only way to initiate grappling is if you're playing Fire Pro Wrestling and you haven't weakened your opponent enough to grab a waistlock. A word on psychology: Shoot style, outside of a few personalities and big matches is a style dedicated to those little details you spoke about in that Big vs Little thread. In your standard wrestling match using a rope break instead of finding another way of escaping a hold might not be a big deal but in shoot style it can say a lot about the wrestlers in the match. Escaping a hold without using the ropes is a victory for the escapee. Using a rope break is a victory for the guy applying the hold because it changes the score if the match goes to it's time limit without a decision. Also remember that any hold could win a match, creating an element of unpredictability. An armbar can break your arm 10 minutes in or 10 seconds in as long as it's properly applied. Shoot style promotions have booked plenty of fluke victories over the years.

I'm excited about this thread. Yokota's a worker I've been curious about since I first saw OJ write about her but I haven't really invested enough time on 80s AJW to really figure her out.

I'm not a very big fan of NWA style heavyweight mat wrestling. I like schtick, brawling, and tag team matches from various territories but most mat based matches wrestled by Americans don't hit me the same way. It's especially frustrating because I love mat based matches in other styles. I do enjoy some matches like this. I like Bockwinkel, Robinson, Martel, or Murdoch in this setting though I prefer all three in matches with more bombs, brawling, or stooging. I probably marked out more for the mat wrestling in Sonny King vs Ricky Morton from the Memphis set more than I have for any other pre-2000 mat based match on American soil. The high ranking Americans on my GWE ballot will be brawlers and tag wrestlers.

Fuck, that does sound intriguing. I was hyped for his match against Los Exoticos on the New Japan set but he didn't seem comfortable doing schtick. That array of opponents may be more his style.

I agree with all of this. You can add the Josh Barnett match to that list as well. Those Ogawa matches aren't all against super workers

Getting the PWFG set will get you Sano's best shoot style matches, pre Battlarts Ishikawa and Ikeda, and some fun foreigners. Of course there are some tremendous Fujiwara matches too but that's not what you asked about. Sano's PWFG trilogy: Wayne Shamrock vs Naoki Sano PWFG 5/19/1991 Minoru Suzuki vs Naoki Sano PWFG 7/26/1991 Bart Vale vs Naoki Sano PWFG 9/28/1991 Early Ishikawa against wacky foreigners: Bart Vale vs Yuki Ishikawa PWFG 7/21/1993 Vale was always a little awkward but he started putting it together and was pretty fun in 92/93. Baby Ishikawa is exactly who you hope he'd be. Duane Kozlowski vs Yuki Ishikawa PWFG 9/23/1993 The only really good Kozlowski match. It's cool to watch him for his feats of strength but he never became a good pro wrestler. Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda vs Yuki Ishikawa & Shoichi Funaki PWFG 5/19/1995 This one's a fun proto-Battlarts match and introduces Usuda who is one of your other great Battlarts workers. Battlarts guys you need to see (other than Ishikawa/Ikeda/Greco): Katsumi Usuda - became a great worker during the Battlarts revival, was good before that. Takeshi Ono - skinny punk who throws nasty strikes, probably has less footage around than the others but looks to be near their level Manabu Hara/Suruga - Strong wrestler during the revival Yujiro Yamamoto - Where is this guy? I loved him back in 2008/09. Check that stuff out. In U-Style you want to check out Hiroyuki Ito - great at creating drama in a shoot style match Dokonjonosuke Mishima - Interesting worker with a brief wrestling career. Doesn't have the resume of Ito's similarly short career but worth checking out. I wish I could help you with more RINGS info but 1993 is the only year I've watched en masse. Otherwise it's just been the most discussed matches.

I wish he was a contender. He is the best possible shoot style jobber leaning forward into strikes and always failing to block them. Has a real underdog charm. I just don't think that's enough resume for this.

A match with heavy workrate. That means a lot of movement and moves. It's a general sports term I first learned from boxing. Wrestling fans have this hilarious notion that it's something smarks invented.

Los Cuatro Cuarenta are the band that plays with Juan Luis Guerra and Negro Casas is a big fan. I think that's where it comes from.Guerra's music was just used by Casas as a nod to his pre-existing nickname. 4:40 refers to some track record Casas had in school while Guerra's band is 440 as in 440 hertz (cheesy music joke).

I think it's important for people to understand that the word "art" shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's a marketing gimmick. Art is whatever has been declared to be art. It's a genre distinction. It sounds important but it really doesn't mean much.

Declaring that something isn't art is lazy criticism. Declaring something to be art is not a statement of value.

I remember really liking Ian Rotten vs Tarek the Great. 2002ish maybe? I'll check when I get home.

Wahoo is one of my favorite Flair opponents because he always brings out Flair's violent side. If you like Flair vs Garvin then you'll like those. I remember liking the Battle of The Belts match as well as their match from the Mid South set.

The 40s, 50s, and 60s saw a number of subway lines connected that made longer commutes with fewer transfers possible. I wonder the extent to which that would have effected attendance. I also wonder if the decline of the Sunnyside Garden in Queens in the 60s had any effect on MSG attendance.

Hashimoto vs Tenryu 8/8/93 is a MOTDC for me.

Misawa just edges out Hashimoto for me but they're not too far apart. Fujiwara, Misawa, Tenryu, Hashimoto, and Ishikawa are my definite top five native Japanese wrestlers even if the order might change. I think Misawa has more great matches and that's what really gives him the edge for me. I can understand putting Hashimoto ahead of him as the worst Misawa is worse than the worst Hashimoto.

I definitely agree with him on Casas, Dandy, Panther, Santito, Satanico, Pirata, Virus, and Chicana. I wish I could agree about Villano III but I feel like we're missing the footage that would really make that case. Same with Solar. The strength of Black Terry's 2009-2011 had me considering placing him above Atlantis but I ultimately think they'll be at a similar level. I'd have Navarro a step below Terry but I feel like his 80s stuff has been so disappointing. Undecided on his placement in relationship to Atlantis. I need to spend more time thinking about Fuerza and Fiera. I could see them ahead of Atlantis but I'm not sure about that yet. Atlantis is an incredible babyface trios worker which makes comparing him to Charles particularly interesting as he's a similarly incredible rudo trios worker. That may make Charles a more valuable worker in trios matches but Charles doesn't have the singles matches that may inevitably push Atlantis ahead of him. Undecided on Park. I need to watch done more AAA.

I'm always glad to find someone else who likes that match.