Childs

Toyota above Fujimani and Fujiwara is a bitter pill. Not surprised by Piper. The momentum behind his case has built steadily, though I still don't quite see the volume or consistency of an elite, elite guy.

41 of my top 100 still standing 33 of my top 50 18 of my top 20 (pour them out for Buddy Rose and Satanico) Difficult to complain too much about that, even though I'm part of the badly outnumbered "started watching in the '80s" cohort.

Shibata brought an edge to New Japan's most recent golden age that was missed after his injury. He produced some great matches in his earlier run. But I look at the guys right above and right below him, and I just don't think he did enough to be in that company.

Yeah, I had no idea Mistico had come up in the world to that degree. Didn't really consider voting for him, but that's mostly because he wasn't very good during his first run on top. His last few years are deserving of respect. Modern joshi is my biggest blind spot, so I'm not going to deny Iyo her flowers. Asuka's placement feels a little high, but her best stuff I love, so I'm not mad at it. On the Ishikawa vs. Ikeda question, I've always put Ishikawa higher, because to me, he encompasses all of what's great about BattlArts, from the violence to the cool submissions to the Inoki-influenced showmanship. He is the living embodiment of a style/promotion I dig. Ikeda's just a bad motherfucker, which is also great but at a slightly lower degree of difficulty. Choshu's another one of my favorites for all the reasons you guys have laid out. Also a great tag worker. I'm not sure how to get younger voters excited about a wrestling revolutionary from 40 years ago. It is what it is. Ibushi's highs are incredibly high, and I'd take the best version of him over the best of Naito, who transformed his aura, and Ishii, who was more consistent. I didn't vote for any of them, but again, not mad at their placements. I loved KENTA as a pissy little asskicker, but my god, he hasn't done shit at a GWE level for almost 15 years. That's tough to reckon with. Mercedes deserves her props as the best American woman. Regal, I will always love, not really as a British worker but more as the guy who made that technically sound British nastiness work in the U.S. mainstream. And I do think his best stuff against Benoit, Finlay and Hash (not to mention his end-times matches against Hero, Claudio and Mox) was legitimately great. Voted him a bit higher, but it's a fair placement. I was one of those who gave Ospreay a lower ballot vote. I agree with a lot of the criticism. I do zone out on some of his big matches. I find it hard to put his career in any kind of context at this point. But the dude is a force of nature with his athleticism and insane passion to be the best. Though I don't always like where it leads, I respect it.

Lesnar was the vote I regretted most from 2016. I overreacted to his unique presence in those first few comeback years and failed to focus on the broader point, which is that he's a turd who has not been good for the art form overall.

The best-case scenario of Minoru Suzuki was incredible, but he mailed in so many performances with the goofy facial expressions and the mindless forearm exchanges. Couldn't bring myself to vote for him. I've never been a Sabu person. So much of his work strikes me as just a mess rather than something gripping and unhinged, though I'll happily acknowledge he was one of a kind. I'd prefer him at his 2016 placement, but his rise was inevitable. I'm not sure I'd have Kevin Owens in my top 500. I've enjoyed him as a fat guy doing crazy spots in matches made great by other people, but that's about the best I can say. Morton and Dustin deserve better company. Oh, and Dandy was a beautiful wrestler operating on a totally different level than most of those who've dropped so far.

A little GWE poetry right there.

Earlier in this thread (or maybe one of the other GWE threads), someone made the point that you can no longer just assume an '80s territory wrestler's rep will hold up based on a few lines of praise and a handful of match recs. In other words, you have to proselytize for your guys. It's a good point, and Matt's long-term advocacy for Bock is proof. He convinced me. I used to have the slightest reservation about Bock, only because we have so little footage from his (presumed) physical prime. But Matt has spent years convincingly making a more important point, which is that every bit of Bock footage we do have reinforces his multi-faceted mastery. Would that every great from the '70s and '80s could have such an effective spokesperson.

I think Bock holds on for a while. Just looking at the limited sample of ballots posted here, he's on most of them and top 10-20 in many of those. For me, he's a legit No. 1 candidate. I couldn't say that about any of the dearly departed from the last few days.

Windham's my guy. Hate seeing him drop 75 spots. Can't say I'm surprised given the other names falling. I know he doesn't resonate with everyone at the highest level, and his peak was shortish, but man he did so many things well. His long TV match with Flair was a watershed moment for me in understanding that WWF wasn't the only way to do wrestling. And then his heel turn was one of the best ever. Every time I revisit that period, I come away thinking, "Barry Windham, goddamn!"

I don't get Roderick Strong cracking it. Good worker for a long time, but so much less special than dozens of men and women who have already fallen.

It's very possible that by the desert island test, I'll prefer 101-150 to 51-100. So many favorites have fallen the last few days. But 10 more women in the top 100 is a win. That was an obvious flaw in 2016 (on my ballot as well). I've only lost two of my top 50, while my second 50 have been largely wiped out, so I do wonder if we'll see something closer to the old consensus near the top.

Yeah, this latest drop was the first to make me say this poll can fuck right off (Murdoch, Brisco, Martel, Robinson, Finlay, Valentine). But that's the nature of these things. Times change. I'm baffled by something like Goldberg getting three No. 1 votes, but then I read the explanations, and I at least see the POV.

Yeah, I had him at 27 but not surprised he fell. The British candidates never gained the traction with this expanded voter base that they had in 2016.

Yeah, Sano and Marty Jones dropping 240 spots each are my biggest bummers so far. Sano was such a great, versatile wrestler; I wonder if his peak work being spread across styles and promotions has led to him being less distinct for younger generations? I'm sorry, there's no world in which Abyss was better than him.