Jetlag

Wahoo hasn't been discussed much, so I will bump this. With the NWA Classics service making some of his matches easily available, and a plethora of footage on YouTube, I think there's no way around Wahoo. The tough, ex-football player who throws the hardest chop in the world is a great character of course, but Wahoo has something beyond that. Sure there's lots of guys who hit really hard, and then there's also some guys who can bleed, but few of them feel like a force of nature the way Wahoo does. The man is able to turn simple moments, such as getting tossed out of the ring or hitting a guy on the apron into epic visuals. His body language is amazing. The Spoiler match is a textbook class on how to build an epic match around simple strike based offense and timing. The Flair match at Battle of the Belts is a classic long title match with that extra bit of violence and grit Wahoo adds. The guy shows up in so many places, even Puerto Rico and japanese garbage indies, washed up 70s tapes and studio fights, and never stops looking like fucking Wahoo. The Hashimoto comparison hits the nail on the head.

Giving Usuda a polite bump because I just found this weird as hell Usuda vs. Tomoaki Honma matchup from Big Japan: https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiLp9ysl6zLAhVFbRQKHfTfBUsQFgggMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymotion.com%2Fvideo%2Fx3djq2e&usg=AFQjCNEY9bTZXsHE_d2Of6kutB9yceysyw&sig2=EtJcd4TUFn9fFBHmaPxdNQ Going back through Usuda's stuff I'm starting to think the guy is undersold. Now you really have to be a completist to be familiar with this guy enough to see his case, but let me explain. For example, did you know Katsumi Usuda and Ikuto Hidaka have all-time great chemistry together and all their meetings are outright spectacular? Did you know Usuda has a history of getting damn great matches out of indy lowcarders, including such names as junji.com, Naoyuki Taira, Yuta Yoshikawa and (the absolutely terrible) Keita Yano? Did you know Usuda was pretty good right away in PWFG and then became a pretty great tag worker in BattlARTS? Did you know Katsumi Usuda may have been in fact be one of the best undercard workers in his country in the second half of the 2000s? I don't expect any of this stuff to be on people's radars but I want to emphasize Katsumi Usuda's career is worth studying. I also want to say while he is clearly a "BattlARTS" guy and part of his case rests on those brutal fights he had with his buddies throughout the 90s, he also developed into quite a remarkable junior worker who could match up really well with anyone. I want to point to his J-Cup match vs. Men's Teioh here (weird and awesome match), but the above BJW match is also a good example of this. He holds the match together with his selling, keeps things interesting through Fujiwaraish counters and blasts his opponent in the face. In conclusion, I'd characterize Usuda as almost a japanese Bobby Eaton. Not exactly a charisma bomb, but great mechanics, lots of high end tags under his belt (including a very unheralded tag from december 2010 in FUTE'N where Usuda gives a really masterful performance) and shows the flashes of brilliance you want from a wrestling master.

Schumann is very interesting. He is very much a 90s guy and different from the other euro workers nominated. Really good worker as long as you don't expect WoS style high end grappling from him. I imagine if you are into Brian Pillman you'll be really into Schumann aswell. He also has a lot of matches on tape against a variety of opponents. Really consistent guy, and best of all he didn't lazy his way through face vs. face matches doing comedy like other guys would. If you want to nominate him, here's 3 reviews: Schumann vs. Chris Benoit, Vienna 1991 If you liked Schumann vs. Liger, here's him vs. another 90s star. This is a really compelling match. Benoit isn't a heel, but Schumann is the hometown favourite. Benoit can beat Schumann and they do some really good head to head to wrestling throughout the match, leading to a really hot last two rounds. Schumann sells like he is on the edge of defeat. It leads to a particularily great near KO in the last round. This is a qualifying match of some sort, so they do the scoring thing in the last round where each knockdown scores a point. No big dives or bumps, but a super effective match. Schumann vs. Finlay, Reslo 1992 I think OJ panned their matches. This pains me because in my eyes Finlay is as awesome as ever in these and Schumann goes toe to toe with him. Schumann always takes a full on assbeating from Finlay and gives back as good as he can. By the end of this match the arena is considerably dismantled, both guys swinging pieces of the barricades around while all the little kids and their granddads in the audience are freaking out. Schumann hits a fucking plancha on Finlay with no regards for the safety of anyone. Finlay does some really great bumping including a monkey flip into the ring which I've never seen before. I still think Finlay sucking during this period is a myth and in fact mullet Finlay is underrated. Schumann vs. Barry Horowitz 6/26/94 Ever wondered what a long Horowitz match would be like? Well here you are. Horowitz is really fantastic in this, doing lots of nifty tricks and punching Tony St. Clair in the face. The austrian crowd is really rowdy in this and the two work a rocking match until halfway into the bout Schumann starts doing a really compelling job of selling an injury. This is a classic heel foreigner vs. european babyface match and the type of bout Franz could do in his sleep.

Could you give a link for that 2003 Kakihara match? Only see one from 2006. EDIT: Nvm its this right?

I like the french style, but Cesca has like 7 matches on video and he doesn't always look outstanding in them. In fact he sometimes looks like the lesser guy next to Catanzarro, Anton Tejero etc. I enjoyed him vs. Ben Chemoul but Chemoul is the better guy aswell. The french guys are suffering from current lack of footage, plain and simple. Maybe we should do an extra list for guys with very limited footage available.

I'll probably have him as my #1. The guy couples a tremendous variety of excellent matches over a nearly 30 year time period with a legendary aura. He has a formula, yes, but it's a winning formula in my eyes. The great performances in random high school gyms and british church halls make up for the holes in his career.

I love Arkangel as guy holding CMLL undercard tags together. Currently I'm not familiar enough with his history to see a case for him (as he only gets showcase matches once in a blue moon), so I would like to know when exactly he got really good.

Trauma I had two really great years in 2010 and 2011. His advantage over his brother is that he has a handful of go to single matches, not all of which were easy tasks (the Angelico match comes to mind). If that period had kept up he really could have been one of the better workers of the 2010s, but unfortunately an injury happened and Trauma I wasn't the same anymore. Right now he doesn't touch his brother, as he kind of he lost the super menacing, stiff brawler aura that made him stand out in the beginning and as a mat worker was never top shelf (later on even regressing). He seems to have some kind of resurgence going with lots matches against prominent opponents, haven't gotten to check it out to be honest, but currently I don't see a case for this list at all and it pains me because at his best the guy is a killer.

I really, really liked her match vs. Amano from 1999. Really out of left field great performance. However, her other, more praised stuff that I've seen isn't on the level. Maybe she would benefit from someone doing a mass uploading spree because there's still a lot I like about her and the online footage from her is limited. I recall her matches vs. Haruyama are some of the best 2000s joshi bouts simply for being psychotically fast paced, violent deathfests.

Good as a rookie with a good cool-stuff-per-minute ratio (which is what you want from a young overactive japanese girl worker), but her post-injury, pushed as company ace current run I don't like at all. It represents all the bad aspects of the style for me - excess combined with bad execution. Didn't even like her matches against Kana who had developed into a near superworker at that point.

This starts slow and builds to quite the epic 3rd fall. Lewin's chops and nerve holds were unusual and nasty looking. I dig the chop to the throat as a finisher and him attacking Terry's face in the 3rd was nasty. This was the Terry Funk show through and through. He does all his awesome signature punches and bumping and throws in a bunch of amazing ankle picks. It felt like something a high end UWF wrestler would bust out. The best being in the 3rd where he does this awesome amateur switching and sliding to weasel into the toe hold. His staggering selling alone comfortably pushes this into the EPIC territory. Nuclear reactions in the 3rd are a testament to the greatness here.

Kawada being a bad 70s wannabe may be the most alien thing I've ever heard. Sure you are talking about the guy who spin kicks, stomps people on the back of their heads when doing a leg crab and doesn't do worked punches at all? Or is "doing holds and going long" something that belongs in the 70s in general? I don't recall him doing any Destroyer-style teases of the Stretch Plum. Atleast now I have a motivation to watch those 60 minute matches again....

Good example of a shootstylist who was really great right out of the gate. For 3 years this guy produced a string of high quality undercard matches with some incredible carry jobs under his belt. Great on the mat, great at structuring matches, great at telling a story through subtle selling and mannerisms, and a really great moveset to top it off. And then BattlARTS closes and his career kind of ends. I was excited to see him popping up in HARD HIT again but he hasn't done anything worthwhile there. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done in NJPW had he been accepted into their dojo.

No comments on Sawa, so I'll leave something here. I don't see him as a contender at all, ESPECIALLY not with the hardcore BattlARTS fans. To his credit: able to work both as a spunky underdog and as a stiff bully. To his detriment: often obnoxious and goofy with his mannerisms to a degree that he would drag down matches. Not great at his style. He has a handful of surprisingly good outings (his match with Super Tiger II borders on a miracle), but for the most part he is fodder to the argument that Yuki Ishikawa is the best ever.

I haven't dived to deep into him, so I mainly want OJ's opinion here. I was surprised to learn he has quite a bit of footage on tape, so I want to know if he's a contender. He has a really strong rep especially with the folks who used to watch him in germany but the footage isn't there. I really love him vs. Czeslaw and based on that I could see putting him above someone like Pete Roberts.

I think Jones is a wrestling genius. It baffles me that Dylan mentions his lack of subtitles, nuances and tactical approaches, because that seems to be his trump card for me. He's being touted as a forebear to the Regals and Finlays but those guys are far more erratic. Jones is a stone faced technician and doesn't do any of that posturing or grimacing at all. I may be seriously overinterpreting things but the way he carries himself, how he will dissect a body part or calmly set up a move off of the top and how he excels both at fighting heavyweights and lighter types in methodical/fast paced bouts makes me think of him as "the man" of british wrestling akin to a Misawa type. When he gets fired up at a heel its barely a change from his usual demeanour and yet he oozes intensity. I would add him vs. Alan Woods to the list of recommended matches. Not a perfect bout, but I love it for Woods' performance and how Jones fuels his mania. Jones also shows some real commitment there taking reckless bumps to the floor. The match also has some nice symmetries for you psyche-fans to spot. Jones/Rudge is epic. And Jones does so much in it. One thing I love about him is that he knows exactly how much offense to give and take, when to hit his spots etc. A 30 minute technical match is a perfect example of this, but he never loses his sight even in these rippingly fast paced go here-go there lightweight style bouts. I guess one criticism towards him is that he doesn't jump out the way some of the flashier technicians or outrageous characters of the era will do. On the other hand, he does enough nifty stuff like bust out a Santo-style tope or just slapping his man square in the face in the first round. Point is the main thing that keeps me glued to watching him wrestle is the stuff described above. Nuances and subtitles. Again maybe I'm just ranting, but in my eyes Jones beats the shit out of a loooooot of other guys nominated in this.

Nominating Caswell Martin, again via. OJ's euro thread.

Faulkner is one of those ultra-talented, slightly weird brit dudes you just come across. When he's fired up and pissed-off, he's blowaway great. What's interesting about him is that he was also able to do super fast paced, 70s-lightweight-workrate stuff. Even more notable is that unlike many other brit workers he has some tag bouts worth checking out, being in a popular team with his brother Bert Royal. I remember having problems with his more cliche doosie-doo "smiley technical brit comedy" stuff, but he's def. a guy I want to go back and study in detail before I complete my Top 100.

Really? I've never heard many positive words for him even from DG/Evolve fans. In fact the general opinion on him seemed to be that he was "Gabe's project" and not good enough to be poster boy. He has also worked several indies and never really set the world ablaze.

I think not being on the same level as the best rudos ever isn't a big knock against someone. It really may be your expectations. I'm not very familiar with Panther's rudo work but I really enjoyed his amusing bumping and stooging while working in Hamada's UWF. As far as placing Panther goes, he'll be about in my Top 20-30. He's had a loaded career with great mat performances, quality singles matches and that really great late career feud with Casas. And he's still been damn good in the last couple years. I guess you could make the argument that he's a bit of a one trick pony but when your trick is hitting the mat hard and being as awesome as he is I simply don't care.

I watched the recommended Austin matches that I wasn't familiar with. I think the problem for me is that Austin's image has been built up as this mythical asskicker, almost like a Stan Hansen or Vader type slotted into crazy overbooked matches. His 2001 run matches that image, as he is awesome as a psychopath there. The Attitude Era stuff shows him not quite as that asskicker, but rather as a pretty smart worker, which is a big plus. A negative is that the matches don't feel very violent even when Mick Foley is there killing himself. Sometimes the smoke and mirrors (as in the matches with Rock) gets a little overbearing. Overall I'd say the stuff is underwhelming but still ends up being a feather in his cap, if that makes sense.

Pirata Morgan: There's also a Complete & Accurate for Pirata here: http://segundacaida.blogspot.de/search?q=Pirata+Morgan Blue Panther:

I'm not really seeing that bit about Hash being a specialist. The guy has a huge variety of great matches under his belt, including several matches built around all the things you mention about Hase (well, except maybe for bumping and stooging, but doing something like that simply didn't fit his role). Including matches against other heavyweights, juniorweights, martial artists, guys from other promotions, jobbers, US style workers, etc. And he does those things as good as anyone I've seen. I could see it if you said Hase is a superworker due to being closer to an US guy, but that raises the question can only US style guys (or guys who are close to it) be superworkers?

I'm a little puzzled by Hase getting praised as a superworker. He's clearly the most talented NJ heavy after Hashimoto, but Hash will be in my Top 10-20, while Hase right now isn't a lock for the list at all. He has strong positives: quality amateur style matwork, great at bomb throwing, and knows how to create drama. Problems for him are the chunks missing from his career due to him being exiled from NJ and being a part timer later on. In the 2000s he is far overshadowed by other guys even in post-split All Japan. What is most puzzling about him is that he clearly understands wrestling very well as evidenced in his selling and expressiveness, but also sometimes mixes these Kurt Angle-ish tendencies into matches (throwing a dozen Uranages in a row, awkward pacing etc). I can only watch so many matches that build from indian deathlocks to Uranages and nearfalls before it gets old. His AJPW work, very good Akiyama match aside, was very underwhelming. His match vs. Kobashi wouldn't even make my Top 30 for 1997 and him vs. Misawa in 2000 is kind of painful. His best match for me is against Hashimoto and the gap between that match and the rest of his work is nearly as big as the gap between him and Hash.

He looks good in the little footage we have, but ultimately he's a guy who's legendary for his influence and vision rather than legendary matches. If you want to put him on your list based on him being a fun old man technician there's a lot of competition for him.