Jetlag

Szakacs is amazing. I don't think there's anybody who does the "crazy british hold escapes" better. Maybe it's because he's a heavyweight, but the way he moves is really fascinating to watch. The KO chop finisher is brilliant too and makes for really interesting bouts. The guy combines intensity and technical brilliance like the best of the british wrestlers. Also has that Volk Han-like charisma that only a former Hungarian army officer/refugee could have. The problem? He has about 10 matches on tape. But since Alan Sarjeant has a thread too, the name Tibor Szakacs deserves to be known. Recommended matches: vs. Big Bruno Elrington vs. Jack Fallon vs. Prince Kumali

Roach not being talked up much is a bit of a mystery to me. A badass giant with a black belt in judo, who wasn't afraid to rip guys heads off with forearms or just dump them hard in the middle of the ring. And it's surprising how well he works as a TV star in restrained british style bouts when you expect this guy to show up in NJPW and battle Hashimoto. I find it really amazing that I watch his matches to see him eventually knock the shit out of people, but then end up staying for the more technical stuff. I really love his graceful throws and surprisingly agile movements when locking in holds. Due to him being Roach, every match becomes interesting simply because he has it all over his opponent's in size and skills. Being quite a household name, he also has many taped matches including some brawls in germany (which I enjoyed more than OJ), so unlike some other british guys footage is not an issue with him. Also, I have soft spot for the guy because watching him as an unstoppable machine in Never say Never again is one of my earliest childhood memories. Recommended matches: Pete Roberts vs. Pat Roach (2/13/80) Pat Roach vs. Gil Singh (4/21/80) Pat Roach vs. Tom Tyrone (10/11/83)

Poor Pete Roberts. I don't think I've seen anyone really praise this guy except for OJ and Regal. Doesn't look like much, not flashy at all, but he has a real knack for slick, graceful technical wrestling (especially dig his takedowns) and creating intensity within the span of a few rounds wrestling session on TV. It's not just that he can throw a european uppercut, but really work escalation into his matches, even when they technically remain fairly harmless. For example, in one of his bouts vs. Pat Roach, he does this awesome half-boxer/half-Fujiwara-like ring positioning about to lure Roach into the corner and then kick the shit out of him. His big drawing card is his consistency as he has shown up on british TV for many years and never stopped being awesome even as british TV wrestling was on it's last legs. Apparently he has worked abroad aswell but somebody else will have to comment on that. Only seen him matching up really well with Fujinami in japan once. Regardless, give him a chance. Recommended matches: vs. Pat Roach vs. Wayne Bridges vs. Terry Rudge

He also did some really fun stuff in NOAH, working as a heel invader there.

Nominating: Tibor Szakacs, Pete Roberts & Pat Roach via. OJ's euro wrestling thread: http://z11.invisionfree.com/wrestling_ko/index.php?showtopic=2555&st=0

I like him and he's a guy with some worthwhiel matches under his belt but there's about a dozen other euro guys who deserve your attention more, and perhaps another dozen who deserve to be nominated just as much as him. Why bother with this guy when Franz van Buyten is right there? EDIT: Actually I just remembered all the Van Buyten matches I uploaded to YouTube have been deleted, so I guess he's not there actually.

Is it really? A lot of old school workers have these abilities. In fact, the combination of these is almost a must have for anyone in order to get into my Top 100. I'd say that right now there are 70 workers locked for my list who all have what you describe here and then I've got another 50 workers battling for the last 30 spots who aren't much worse.. I mean, since you don't seem to be considering post-2000 workers at all, you obviously have a smaller pool of talent to choose from... and granted, I like Ted a lot, but this argument about Ted being a rare combo (a total package?) isn't going to make me rank him ahead of 20 other workers.

Isn't the whole "Showstopper" gimmick centered around him being a superworker? The most obvious example would be that street fight with Jericho. They both come out in street fight gear, trying to look really tough and all that, then trade lousy punches. Their WM match felt like a pretty dire forced epic to me aswell. He also loved participating in convoluted matches with Triple H. Perhaps it is also lack of understanding his physical limitations (believability) and bad execution, for example when he works "seasoned veteran controlling a stronger, young opponent" against Cena and doesn't come across that well doing it. The thing is that watching post comeback Shawn I often feel that it's clear he still knows what he's doing, but doesn't have the physical tools/awareness to put it together into actively good matches. Slightly adjusting his style could've helped.

Post comeback Shawn is a pretty good example of someone who's not the all-capable superworker he thinks he is (similiar to Triple H) and was unable to adapt properly to age. Pre-comeback Shawn really liked to do that silly over the top bumping shit that rarely made his opponent look good and also fucked himself up good. Anyways I really can't stand post comeback Shawn (45 minute bout with Cena aside, through some miracle) and his pre-injurystuff, while often solid and sometimes great, is still below someone like Bret Hart. No chance.

I absolutely hate Minoru Tanaka. Absolutely one of the worst guys in the old BattlARTS stuff. Not that his junior shit is bad, but as a shootstylist he is insanely dull. Interesting moveset, but mostly he is just plain uninteresting with his silky soft kicks and light matwork.

I can't find Jaguar Yokota vs. Pantera Surena online anymore. Anybody still have it? FLIK? Sadly flik.theditch.biz seems to be gone.

I'm sure he has a hundred good matches on tape if you go through Cubsfan's channels. And he has that fucking amazing 2010 brawl against... I think it was Demus? That match had blood and flying and reckless punches and remains one of the better singles matches of the decade, no kidding. Pretty awesome talent and an ideal example of someone who doesn't need to be a star to be awesome all around.

Great upload, Bob Alpra deserves a medal. Hoffman wrestles pretty much exactly like he does in AJPW, even doing the same spots. That deadlift Fallaway Slam into a seamless pin was insane. I think Dave Taylor stole that?

For my money Kellett is an amazing character and a guy you have to see once in your lifetime but you have be pretty into that showman style of wrestling to put him anywhere near a Top 100. He could put on a pretty brutal match at times, picture 2000s Kikuchi except without the serious matches on tape. He has about as much of a case as Mitsuo Momota.

It is available in full and used to be on YouTube, but the channel was taken down. Maybe somebody saved it.

I don't wanna make this discussion about Jumbo vs. Taue now. But the point about Taue being in a lot of great matches was to address JvK's point about Jumbo being in a lot of great matches. That being said I think you are underselling Taue's abilities. Taue was a dude who I think was outstanding in the 1993 tag by eating offense and selling. He would fly all over the place when he took an elbow from Misawa or a spin kick from Kobashi, but do it in a believable way. Aside from that he is exceptional in his role as Kawada's backup man. It's one of my favourite understated performances and it gets overlooked because Kawada is right there and also displaying all time great selling. The 94 match against Hansen that OJ brought up is an example of Taue being aggressive and controlling the majority of a match and really stamping his mark on it. I don't ever recall feeling "kid Jumbo is actively making Dory's elbows/Baba's chops/whatever look really outstanding!" or that young Jumbo was being extra-fired up in a remarkable way. Sure he knew how to bump, get fired up and crank up the intensity, but that's about it. And let's be real, being better than Dory and Baba in 1975 and being worse than Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi in 1993 arent things that compare well.

Chino Sato vs. Rimi Yokota, 1/4/1980 This is a remarkable match. It feels different from the previous rookie-ish matches from the get go as they bitch slap eachother and the crowd gets really excited. Following that it's all over the place: brawling through the crowd, hitting the mat, impact moves and flying. It's distinct in the way it builds; they get more and more uncooperative, refusing the even get rolled on their backs for pinfalls. I wouldn't call it a great match but the intensity they created was outstanding. Chino may have been the better woman as I felt she was quite good at expressing the exhaustion and toll that the match was taking. At one point, Yokota keeps reversing Chino's attempt at a boston crab, so she simple hurls her all over the ring with a giant swing. One of the best uses of that move that I've seen.Yokota was less expressive but her ring work was razor sharp as usual. Chino Sato/Rimi Yokota v. Hiroko Komine/Patty Steiger, 2/21/1980 Steiger is a big pale redheaded broad that doesn't really look like she belongs in a wrestling ring. Chino Sato has looked really good so far so I'm stoked to see her teaming with Rimi. This isn't much of a match though. A little clumsy brawling, Sato and Yokota work over Komine's leg a little before they easily beat her. It was all good matwork but nothing to write home about compared to the other matches reviewed above. Poor Komine gets a stalling butterfly suplex, giant swing, two powerbombs and a splash all in a row. Talk about overkill. Ayumi Hori v. Rimi Yokota Hori was a big girl. This was a back and forth, all action bout that switched between hard slams and holds. No real rhyme or reason to any of it but I remain impressed by how good these girls are at the technical stuff. Hori looked physically awkward but had some really good arm work. Yokota was her usual self. At this point my supply of early AJW TV ends (for now) and I'll just continue with all the Jaguar I can find online. Jaguar Yokota & Mimi Hagiwara vs. Devil Masami & Tarantula, AJW 4/1/1983 Devil Masami! After watching this, maybe she's the woman I should be following. Nothing wrong with Yokota, but the focus of this match were the heels and Hagiwara to a lesser extent. Yokota showcases some fun 80s flying offense she gained and not much more. Masami on the other hand beat the shit out of Hagiwara landing rushing headbutts and punting her in the throat with a microphone. Most of heels' attacks were focused on the throat and it was pretty gruesome stuff. After the 2nd fall the faces get real pissed off and even bash the ref in the head with a table. It's really breaking down after that and Hagiwara even tries to disassemble the announcer's rink. Watching these tiny japanese women rampaging like Hansen is pretty funny. Masami gets a big nasty crimson mask but that doesn't stop her from press slamming Yokota out the ring into a bunch of trainees. Three flat falls keep this from being more but it was a fun watch.

Would you say Yamamoto is as good as Ono and Usuda? I've kind of neglected him but I've loved him in the few matches I've seen of his. I dunno, really. I've nominated those guys but I've hesitated to bring up Yamamoto. The short career and spontaneous schedule really hurts him. At his best he was better than half the guys nominated. I'd say Usuda is better because he was right there with Yujiro when it came to carrying the lesser BattlARTS guys and he also got better matches out of Yuta Yoshikawa and Keita Yano. Ono is a little more difficult because he never fought outright shitty guys, but then he has more and better high end stuff. I will say Yujiro Yamamoto may be better at short undercard matches than them.

This is a "Pirate Fight" - a chain match where the goal is to climb the opponent's turnbuckle and remove his flag. For my money it's the best match from germany on tape, and a real contender for the best euro match ever. The battle is pure stylistic weirdness as it's a chain match that goes nearly 40 minutes, filmed like a documentary style handheld, worked like a PWFG bout. Lots of grappling, elaborate chain tricks. It seems absurd but it totally works thanks to the great filming and both guys doing a fantastic job in their roles. Taylor is the grimacing heel laying a huge beating on Van Buyten, who is an incomparable babyface here. It really is the camerawork that pushes this to the next level as you get lots of great shots and closeups of their faces. The match itself is very minimalist, as they struggle for minimal position changes as if it were a shootstyle match to which the crowd reacts accordingly (the crowd is incredibly loud throughout this, by the way). Both guys do all kinds of chain chokes, inbetween beating the fuck out of eachother. Taylor dishes out some heavy punches, Franz smashes into him with reckless elbows. The "nearfalls" consist of guys tugging on the chain while trying to get the flag, and you won't believe how compelling they make it look. I don't think there was a single wrestling move or big bump in here, but the whole match works as a battle of wills and endurance and as such is done as well as any other wrestling match in history.

This is a No DQ, Tap Out and Knockout Only, Loser Leaves Town match that goes about 35 minutes. Despite the length it's a real goody, maybe the best match of the year. Dieter is the local babyface technician who can kick ass if necessary. Morowski was a canadian worker who is used to these stipulation matches. No gimmicks required, they just beat the shit out of eachother. The technician vs. brawler story makes this unique as it leads to some unusual matwork and struggling. Dieter wants to do holds and takedowns into a pin, but Morowski throws punches and pulls his hair. This leads to Dieter visibly aquiring Morowski's tactics over the match and fighting fire with fire. It develops into a really compelling bout with great selling. Dieter has this great punch drunk selling and at one point does this ridiculously great sell of a Morowski heart punch. Morowski on the other lands punch after punch and does a very convincing job selling that he is slowly punching himself out. After 7 rounds with no winner, the announcer says the 8th. round will be endless until there is a decision. At this point both guys look like they have been beaten past the point of human tolerance. It builds to really nifty, albeit clunky finishing sequence. Great bout, one of the best from germany, and according the Dieter himself the best of his career.

I'm having problems with Austin. He seems like somebody who should cruise into my Top 100, but then just doesn't. Like his WCW work a LOT, like the Bret Hart matches, like him in 2000-2001 and the Angle match is a favourite of mine. But then I started putting my Top 100 together and the competition is starting to get really steep for him. I'm starting to feel he is, in essence, just not that good. I've been kind of avoiding his commercially most succesful phase, but if somebody could point me in the direction of a few matches from that period I would really appreciate it.

So what makes him so different from Robert Gibson? You can say he was carried by his partner, but he was in a bunch of good matches. Why does Jumbo being in good matches add to his resume while Gibson's are comfortably ignored? I just looked at your list of +**** ranked 70s Jumbo and I would be curious about what your measure for a "great" match by 70s standards is. I like those Funk tags but in no way are they +**** material. The guys that jdw posted are interesting. Are there any 1971, 1972, 1973 Fujinami matches on tape? The earliest Fujinami I can find on Ditch's site is 1977. That's not a real comparison. If you keep it fair and include Fujinami's stuff until 1979 it's much more even. He was doing really phenomenal stuff by that time. Taue: if Jumbo gets points for being in those Funk tags what does Taue get for being in the 1993 MOTY tag, the best long AJPW tag in a while with Jumbo, and the best 6 man ever? If you ask me he is much closer. Really excellent match series against Kawada, a few real good long singles matches, actively great in tags. How about these guys: Marty Jones 1972 - 1978 - I think only matches from 1976-78 are available, but what is there is a damn great match against Rudge and a super impressive, state of the art match series against Mark Rocco. Jun Akiyama: 1992-1998 - has those HDA tags in 1996. Bryan Danielson: 1999-2005 - while not his best work, he got good as early as 2001 and continued to do some of the best work on the scene for years. Yuki Ishikawa 1992 - 1998/ Daisuke Ikeda 1993-1999/Alexander Otsuka 1995-2001 - these guys are interesting because much of their case rests on that early period. They all look good almost from the get go and have a bunch of good/great matches under their resume despite limited footage situation. Throw in a couple other guys like Low Ki (1998-2004), Masa Funaki (1985-1991), Kiyoshi Tamura (1989-1995), Yujiro Yamamoto (2008-2011), Ken Shamrock in PWFG and Jumbo's resume as a young worker doesn't seem super special anymore. EDIT: Naoya Ogawa (1997-2003) would also be an easy inclusion. I think "Best Rookie" would be an interesting discussion. Also: JvK, what is your Top 10 for 70s workers? I've thought about it a little and from the top of my head I would rank these guys above Jumbo: Jack Brisco, Destroyer, Billy Robinson, Buddy Rose, Jim Breaks, Alan Sarjeant, Steve Grey, Mick McManus, Tibor Szakacs, Terry Funk.

As someone who has seen every 70s Jumbo match there is too find... what exactly are the performances that make him a top 10 worker for the period? He is in some good to great matches, some of which I'm a big fan of (the Bockwinkel match springs to mind), but I don't recall him doing a single thing that really pushed him being head and shoulders above a majority of the talent pool of 70s wrestlers... I think the word that describes him best is "good in his role" during that period. While a top 10 tier worker would be described as "sensational in his role". Re Fujinami, I guess argueing whether it's "better" is a matter of taste, but he displayed more mat skill in his LA match vs. Mando Guerrero than I've ever seen from Jumbo. Wouldn't say it makes me rank Fujinami above Jumbo but it def. adds more to Fujinami's resume for me than Jumbo being handlead from one hold to another by Funk and Robinson. If you wanna go by sheer volume of great matches, sure, Jumbo beats them all by footage KO. EDIT: Where does Antonio Inoki rank for you, considering he was in some damn good matches against Brisco, Destroyer, and Backlund?

Never seen this dude. Is he as good as Yujiro Yamamoto?

I like him as he's been in a handful of matches I really like. That being said has he ever had a really good match against somebody who isn't a superworker like Hashimoto, Tenryu, Fujiwara and Tamura, or to be precise a match where he actively brought something of his own to the table besides kicks? Is he better than, say, Osamu Kido?