Loss

Taijiri Orton has been a major disappointment at the top of the card, and Taijiri is the better worker.

Rick Martel Martel had a memorable heel run and a memorable face run teaming with Tito Santana as well. Smash had an impact, but it was too tied into his partner, where Martel showed he was capable of succeeding as a singles star as well.

Chris Jericho This was an *extremely* tough pick, and I was going to go Piper until this morning when I thought about it more. Piper easily made a bigger splash, but Jericho reached the top title, something Piper never did, and has had far more good-great matches on top. I can see this going either way, though, and won't be disappointed with either result, because whichever guy loses will kick ass and take names in the loser's bracket.

Davey Boy Smith Taka is a great worker, but he has never really been allowed to strut his stuff on a regular basis, while Davey Boy always delivered, be in in tags with the Bulldog and Owen, or in top matches against Bret and Shawn. A little inconsistent, but he had a great run.

Brock Lesnar Both had the equal short-term impact, both were thought to be draws when they really weren't, and Brock was the far superior worker.

Bret Hart Only because I'll vote for him against anyone on this list. I'm hoping Bigelow will do well in the loser's bracket though.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

Vote for the wrestler that you think had the better career in WWE (whether you base that on impact or match quality is your decision), from 1985 to 2005. Voting will end Tuesday morning. Please give the wrestler's name first and any explanation thereafter. Thanks.

And the tournament will now begin.

We've gotten this far already and no one has said Sonny Onoo. I can't think of anyone worse, or more useless.

The latter. That match was given ****3/4 in the Observer and voted PWI Match of the Year for 1993.

I think the idea is to give props to the best match the wrestler had that year, whether it's a MOTYC or not.

Do you think he will go to SD! and feud with Cena when the TV indicates that Christian is going to get that spot? Do you think this could just be a smokescreen from the Fed? I'm not sure what will happen. I'd be happy with him going to Smackdown and teaming with Eddy Guerrero after he turns heel honestly. They've both been wanting to do a long tag run with each other for years.

Turning Jericho heel is only going to accomplish something if it puts him higher on the card. He's far more entertaining as a heel, but he's typically been more over as a face. That said, he tends to get pushed harder when he's the heel, and Meltzer reports that the rumors of him being openly frustrated with WWE are false, so maybe this will lead to a jump to Smackdown and program with Cena.

I re-opened this since I realized there was no reason to close this one since there's no voting here. I also got a great suggestion from alkeiper that I'm going to implement, which is that instead of bombarding you all with 32 matches to vote on tomorrow and keeping it open for two days, I'll just post eight matches a day starting tomorrow, and post the results and the first round of the double elimination bracket Friday.

Lioness Asuka v Jaguar Yokota - 08/22/85 (AJW) After watching the last match, this match left me cold. Perhaps I'll come back to it later, but my first instinct is to say that while it was a great match, it wasn't quite the classic it has been pimped to be. I enjoyed watching it, but compared to Devil/Chig, it's shallow. I'm impressed by how much offense Jaguar gives Asuka, considering that she's the babyface; the very beginning stages see Jaguar firmly in control, but after Asuka finds an opening, she keeps it for quite a while. Jag is the first to establish a strategy, targeting Asuka's leg, a plan she would later have thrown back at her. She's getting outwrestled in the early stages, but she keeps rallying back. Jaguar continues to go back to the leg every chance she gets though, eventually going into a great sequence where she applies a figure four and the teenage crowd comes unglued, rooting for their favorite to beat the odds. She does, but not without a major struggle first, where she attempts to reverse the figure four, only to have the reversal reversed, putting her back where she started. She tries to fight out of it, but is eventually left with no choice and reaches the ropes. At this point, Jag's leg has also been weakened by all the reversals, but not enough for Asuka to basically hulk up and stop selling the damage, performing an all out assault on the WWWA champ. Jaguar's comebacks are infinitely better than Asuka's, as she briefly regains control, but falls victim to Asuka's kicks in the end. After attempting to fight out of another leg hold, Yokota, like Asuka earlier, finally has no choice but to reach the ropes, but Asuka does her one better and drags her back to the center of the ring. The match goes into the final stretch soon after, with no real transition from Lioness' control to the flurry of false finishes. They trade some exicting moves, with Jag finding small success here and there, but Asuka still strongly in control, throwing everything she has at her -- a running tombstone piledriver, an airplane spin immediately followed by a giant swing and finally the most brutal punishment of all. Asuka catches Yokota in a vertical suplex position, only to throw her all the way to the floor and follow her out with a suicide dive into a splash. It would appear that any chances Yokota has of retaining her title at this point are gone, but miraculously, she kicks out after being put back in the ring. Three different suplexes -- a slingshot suplex, a German suplex and even a straitjacket suplex -- aren't enough to put Jag away, as she continues to kick out. She finally wins by landing a belly-to-back suplex while grapevining the leg, a move that comes out of nowhere, which is just enough to retain her title. There are two ways to look at this match. The first way is that Jaguar Yokota did a masterful job establishing Lioness Asuka as a worthy contender without actually dropping the title to her. She gave her the majority of the match and only won because she was lucky. The second way is that the finish totally contradicted all the work before it, that the vertical suplex face first to the floor followed by the suicide dive should have ended the match immediately and that everything thereafter was excess. I can see both schools of thought here, but between the two, I have to side with the latter view. Giving the challenger so much credibility is always a good thing, but the finish deserved a more prolonged build. Still, this match is incredibly exciting, and all the work on the way to the final destination is terrific. ****1/4

* The entire Great American Bash '91 card would be hilarious * The Stratus/Gayda tag match from RAW * Sting v Vampiro from GAB '00 or BATB '00 * Sting v Jeff Jarrett from Halloween Havoc '00 * Big Boss Man v Al Snow in Kennel in A Cell * Jake Roberts' match at Heroes Of Wrestling * Hogan/Bischoff v DDP/Leno from Hog Wild '98 I believe a "Judy Bagwell on a pole" match also took place in WCW at one point, but I don't remember the participants.

Chigusa Nagayo v Devil Masami - 08/22/85 (AJW) AJW matches in the 1980s have an atmosphere unlike any other era any other company era ever had. Chigusa Nagayo was essentially the biggest name in the history of pro wrestling. She wasn't on the level of Hogan or Rock in the United States; she was more on the level of Madonna, in that she was immersed in the pop culture of the time period. The Crush Girls were a wrestling promoter's wet dream, crossing over into just about every aspect of entertainment, and as a result, they attracted hoards of teenage girls. Hardcore fans of the time were often embarrassed or uninterested by AJW, and it was their loss, as matches like this were as good as anything going on in the world at the time, and possibly better. Teenage girls the nation over knew the score, however, and came to the matches in droves to scream -- loudly -- in support of their favorites. What's interesting (and disappointing) about this match is how it was buried for so long. It didn't really surface and becoming widely available until 2003, which is a shame, because for years, when fans referred to this card, it was synonymous with Lioness Asuka v Jaguar Yokota. For a match like this to play second fiddle to anything else is wrong enough, but for a match like this to lay dormant for 18 years is a crime against wrestling's very nature. Fortunately, the match is now more accessible and is getting much of the praise it deserves. The match starts with a rather long and intense staredown. Unfamiliar with the storyline, I'm surprised to see a handshake to start the match, but I guess if I learned anything from this match, it's that Devil Masami is actually sort of an angel in disguise, wrestling with utmost conviction, but respecting her opponent enough to not give her any less than her most violent, her most aggressive and most focused. And that rings true for much of this match -- we're a third of the way into the match before Chigusa even starts showing signs of life and demonstrates the ability to stay competitive. Early on, she is outclassed by Devil on the mat, she is out-assaulted by her when she tries to pick up the pace, and she's overpowered by Masami when she finds herself on the losing end of a test of strength, a position she'd find herself trapped in three times before the match was over. Nagayo embodies the hope of the crowd though, and has enough heart to carry her through her darkest moments. She also never backs away, no matter how tough the road ahead looks, and even though she's most likely overmatched in skill, her spirit keeps the fire burning when her body fails her. No moves are executed with ease on either side; there is a struggle for every strike, for every suplex, for every hold from the start of this until the bitter end. You won't find Nagayo, for example, applying a scorpion leglock without Masami fighting with everything she has not to let her opponent turn her over; you won't find it easy to punch Chigusa, as she blocks Devil's fists with her hands; you won't find Masami applying a piledriver without having to first reverse Nagayo's attempt at the move. The theme here is that nothing comes naturally when you have two competitors this determined, and that rings true for the entirety of the match. The match is put over beautifully by both competitors when it's over; the lack of a winner and loser would suggest that nothing was resolved, but in actuality, they both were better for wrestling this match, tougher for crossing each other's paths and humbled for learning the lesson that no matter how incredible they become at their craft, they will always have true peers. The embrace after the match symbolizes the respect earned by and for each wrestler. ****3/4