Garbage

Given some of the names that dropped already I'm kind of stunned somebody like Smothers or Nishimura made it this far, some kind of campaigning for them over the past five years must have worked. If I vote in 2036 Nishimura will probably slide off so I'm happy I gave him a spot this time even if it was just at #89. At least he finished above Cole and Gargano.

I'm not sure I actually think Fiera is a better worker than Emilio or Bestia myself despite voting for him and not them, but I did watch a bunch of Fiera before the deadline and came away thinking he had a good resume of 90s singles matches.

Blackwell is actually my first wrestler to drop (#86) which might make me a little boring but hey at least all of my list finished within the top 500. Wish I could say they all finished ahead of KANE but c'est la vie. I expected my #99 to come out already but I underestimate how many fans he has now. I would have expected Shane Douglas to fall way more than 110 spots from 2016 if I'm honest.

Watched it last year and the 8/23/91 Shamrock vs. Funaki is not something I would recommend. Takes forever to get anywhere and then basically doesn't get there anyway.

I felt bad taking off Tommy Rogers but its just been too long since I watched the Fantastics vs. Midnight Express series that I couldn't do it. Maybe if he had a great singles program like '86 Morton.

Not that it can be fixed now, but surely these are the same voters who resubmitted due to error? Will their #1s (etc) get double points?

Never would have guessed Sho Funaki would get a vote anywhere near #35. Ouch for Tamon Honda finishing this low, but I can't be too shocked. His case might ultimately be a little thin considering every highlight of his on tape now seems to be between 2001 - 2003. Still he was a beast in 2003 and the Ikeda and Akiyama matches are great. Dork ass Marty Scurll shouldn't be anywhere near him. If we somehow get all the Fu-Ten matches Honda had this next decade I would bet it would lock him onto my own list. Hoping there are more gems from his outside of that 01 - 03 range we already that I've not seen, too. I need to dive more in Ran YuYu because she's pretty great in GAEA in my viewing. The September 2003 match vs. Meiko is one of my favourite matches of that year. Side-note, pretty cool the reveal thread has already hit 10,000+ views.

I assumed Brunzell and especially Keirn would have finished higher too, maybe the territories guys are even more hurt than I thought. Glad Tony Anthony, SUWA, Akira Nogami and Todd Morton got some votes. Someone needs to find a source for that XCW indy that Morton was wrestling in in the late 2000s that the Segunda Caida guys were talking up at the time. I've heard a decent bit about Ray Gonzales this past year (well, relative to every other year of my life) and the curiosity bug has hit me.

Wow I feel dirty not properly considering Tama/Tonga Kid now, he's way too electric to get this little attention. I'm glad Ivan Putski is winning some people over, he's actually really fun in the right setting and throws a super mean looking strike. Maybe he was a sloth for most of his run but it's a consensus I'd like to challenge one day. A bit wild how much los Traumas just disappeared off people's radars these past ten years.

I wouldn't ever vote for him but I may need to rep a bunch of Chavo Jr. tv matches in nine years so he gets higher than 800-something. Very reliable worker practically his entire WWE run with some of the best junior-style matches of the 2000s.

I do think the pillars will be fine, and I think the 'push back' on a lot of it is pushing back against the idea that it's the definitive and unquestioned peak of what a time period can be in terms of matches. Which, as big a fan of that era as I still am (if I made a top 100 matches, I'd bet 90s All Japan would still be the most well-represented decade for a company), I think is healthy as long it doesn't feel unnecessarily contrarian (though, how can that be proven person-to-person anyway). I think someone like Hashimoto should have always been seen as equal to any of them. I do think the length of the matches is daunting for people too like NotJayTabb said above, not to mention for newer viewers there can be pressure to think "well these four 35 minute matches need to be watched before the BEST one, is what I heard." I name one of my children Matthew D if you get Gen Alpha to think Andre is better than Will Ospreay let's gooooo (or whatever gen alpha are saying as a hype phrase in 2036)

The DVDVR 80s projects being so long ago that a lot of younger people don't even know what they are, let alone feel like they need to track them down and watch them, hurts the territory guys. Which is likely a result of forums being less relevant for wrestling talk than a place like twitter. I'd hate to single out the guy but I also think Dave Meltzer planting his feet in the ground that matches have only gotten better over time doesn't help a lot of it. Maybe a lot of these younger fans would like Misawa vs. Kawada or Duggan vs. DiBiase, but they also might go into assuming it can't be better than Tanahashi vs. Okada or Omega vs. Hangman Page. Maybe I'm overestimating how far this has spread, though.

He was (I looked earlier so going by memory) around #86 ten years ago, I'd say top 25 is a lock now. *But* not everyone is showing their lists so its possible he's being left off of more than I'd realise. Guess we'll find out.

I think Tanahashi probably lands top 10. There are a lot of omissions for him (including myself) but I've also seen a decent bit for Misawa and Kawada so I think he has as good a chance as they do. I've seen him at a higher rank on lists on average than I've seen for Liger. I agree the 80s territory guys will take a hit. I don't see someone like DiBiase making the 100. Edit - Arn Anderson was at #19 and Barry Windham at #25. No shot any more.

I came here to say something like this, she's an outstanding seller and I fully believe what's said about her not originally wanting to be the heel, because she leans into sympathetic facial expressions and being on the verge of collapse quickly and very well. I wasn't going to consider her because of blind spots plus to be honest some of her biggest matches like the 90 cage vs. Aja I wasn't really a fan of, but after seeing many more matches, her presence and selling combined with being able to turn a match around quickly in her favour, while still retaining the damage done to her, is probably going to earn her a decent place on the list. The 7/15/92 match vs. Hokuto I thought was excellent and despite a great, great selling performance from Hokuto, I found it difficult to not just pay attention to what Bull was considering doing next. She has a weird sort of Andre quality where I find it hard to not notice her despite the opponent (the fact I would normally say this about Hokuto says something). I'm going to have Kandori, Hokuto, Aja ranked higher for 2026, but I can't say for certain after this past week than she didn't make me more interested than all of them in respective singles matches against them. I watched the 1993 Devil match earlier to get more of a look at 90s Devil, and came away thinking Bull might have outperformed her by a smidge too, though you can't win a facial expression battle with Devil Masami. I still have blind posts and still probably won't be a fan of the 90 cage match, but looking at the bottom on my list I can't see her below Larry Zbyszko. edit - Just watched the Bull/Hokuto rematch in a cage (7/30/92) and it was awesome. There's no leaving her off now.

I really wanted to love that Don Frye match but jeez does Kawada just swallow Frye whole for the last seven or so minutes. The rest of the match ruels and is similar o the Ogawa match from memory. I likely would have had Kawada at #1 or #2 if I voted in 2016. He's around #15 now which I'm happy with. A stronger, more consistent 21st century run would have gotten him higher but I will never not think those prime years of 1991 - 1996 are some of the greatest wrestling that will ever happen. I also feel like I've gained a new appreciation for his attitude over these past few years. He's a strong guy, a tough guy, a dangerous guy, but what sets him apart for me is that he's perpetually got an issue comparing himself to others and refusing to admit someone is outdoing him, even if it does actually cost him the entire match. His interactions with Jumbo in 91 are some of my favourite bewteen two wrestlers just because Kawada keeps leaping at him, probably to try to be taken as seriously as Misawa, while Jumbo seems aggravated he even has to admit Kawada exists. Though you can tell he loved watching Kawada spin on his big knee to the gut. I watched the 94 champion carnival last night and you can almost see Kawada getting actually insecure that Doc is tougher than him and he might not be good enough. He's one of the most stubborn wrestlers there is and a perfect counterpart to Misawa being the ace that at some times seemed like he didn't even have to try. Maybe by 2036 I'll have written a "Kawada is 17" blogpost like Matt D's on Will Ospreay. Edit - (translated) interview snippet I always loved

I'll be voting him but I fully admit he's a case of selection bias for me based on what I've been viewing these past few years. Just last night I watched the Kawada 94 carnival final and the title win vs. Misawa again and thought they were both incredible, especially the latter having Doc at his most dominant. No telling what I'd think if I went through all the MVC tags but at the moment I think Doc was too good for too long to take off. The Gordy TDM we got from NWA classics is fantastic and thatw as 1987, and I agree with the posts earlier in the thread that he even has highlights as late as 2000. Williams/Vader vs. Kobashi/Akiyama is one of the best matches in Japan that year imo.

I think it's up in the air whether whether Steamboat would have been given a solid British Bulldog-like position, or an ignorable Barry Windham position in mid-90s WWF, though I'm leaning toward the latter given they probably would have slapped that fire breathing crap back on him.

Rough estimate at the moment Terry Funk El Satanico Yoshiaki Fujiwara El Hijo del Santo Negro Casas Stan Hansen Genichiro Tenryu Mitsuharu Misawa Jerry Lawler Kiyoshi Tamura

Steamboat on late 90s WCW syndicated shows being put in random matches with Finlay and Kaz Hayashi and Villano IV would have ruled.

A pre-Hall of Pain Mark Henry tv match recommendations list, probably for those already fans that want to bolster his case more by seeing him in a few different roles and positions, deniers need not bother. Bunch of these are in the realm of being only 4~ minutes long so taper expectations for a mountain of hidden ‘Great Matches.’ I only wanted to stick to 1v1s. vs. Christian, Velocity 7/6/02 vs. Mike Awesome, Velocity 8/24/02 vs. Tajiri, Smackdown 9/5/02 vs. Goldberg, Smackdown 10/6/03 vs. Shawn Michaels, Smackdown 11/3/03 vs. Booker T, Smackdown 11/17/03 vs. Chris Jericho, Raw 1/12/04 vs. Chris Benoit, Raw 2/2/04 vs. Rey Mysterio, Smackdown 1/20/06 vs. Rey Mysterio, Smackdown 1/27/06 vs. The Undertaker, Smackdown 2/10/06 vs. Chris Benoit, Smackdown 5/26/06 vs. Rey Mysterio, Raw (Tribute to the Troops) 12/24/07 vs. HHH, Raw 6/23/08 vs. Matt Hardy, ECW 8/19/08 vs. Finlay, ECW 9/16/08 vs. Matt Hardy, ECW 12/29/08 vs. Finlay, ECW 11/4/08 vs. Matt Hardy, ECW 1/6/09 vs. Christian, Superstars 5/12/09 vs. Evan Bourne, ECW 5/26/09 vs. Evan Bourne, ECW 6/16/09 vs. Cody Rhodes, Superstars 11/19/09

Might be a better argument for Silver King's case than Fiera's because he's *great* here, but I thought this was pretty awesome and Fiera brings it as a veteran tecnico working his way up from an assault. Unsure exactly when Fiera's peak is supposed to end, but I'm pretty sure it was prior to 1997 and this is a nice way to consider the kind of match he could still have during a post-peak.

This makes me feel better about leaving gaps, and actually up until just yesterday I decided I didn't want to submit a list because I hadn't revisited so many things for over a decade. But I said screw it I'm in. I just won't be able to properly judge a lot of people whose cases are mostly made from 1983-1989, because recently I put together a big watchlist of 80s matches and am adamant in sticking to it in chronological order (unless I accidentally skipped something). Only being at the end of '82 at the moment means some wrestlers might have to have their placements mostly made based on my memories of them from a long time ago (Tully, Garvin, Maeda, Windham, Sangre Chicana) while others that I have/currently am only scratched the surface of will have be left off entirely even though they've been up my alley (every joshi wrestler of the 80s, Michael Hayes, Masa Saito). AWA, Portland and Puerto Rico are mostly blindspots for me entirely so some of the best there will take a hit where they probably could have placed higher. In Puerto Rico's case I've to this day only seen maybe two matches. Zero from World of Sport. I'll hopefully avenge my silly self in 2036.

I don't think I've seen that since like 2012 either so maybe I would agree.

Kawada becomes great no earlier than late 1990 imo. Also Tenryu vs. Satoru Sayama from 2010 is probably better than any Kawada match after 2004 though I won't commit to that until I revisit some of it. Edit - I'm adding the caveat that I haven't seen Tenryu/Kawada vs. Hansen/Gordy in a long time so maybe Kawada is great there but my memory tells me he wouldntbe close to the best worker in the match.