Lee Casebolt

Show is ten times the wrestler Bigelow is. More if you include his character work.

I love Haku, but no. I don't buy the "he had different obligations" argument in his case, either, since his basic responsibilities were to look scary (check) while beating up jobbers or dropping short matches to top guys. Didn't have to do promos, didn't have to carry angles, didn't work long matches.

Andre will probably make my top 25 unless someone points out an anti-treasure trove of prime Andre that's terrible. Andre always felt like an Event. Mastered doing more with less when his body was breaking down after having been stunningly athletic in his younger days. And Andre's the only guy in wrestling who could make me look forward to a battle royal.

Terry's a guy where I see why other people are into him, but it doesn't do as much for me. Legitimate all-time talent, but will probably be far lower on my ballot than most.

I'll be right there with you, I expect. The tag work, the Backlund feud, the Owen feud, the Austin feud, everything that went in to the last incarnation of the Hart Foundation...

Based on recent viewing, I would rate Orton as the second best wrestler in his family.

One of the things that really shines through with DK is how he carries himself in the ring. Even watching him mostly broken down in 1989 in All Japan tagging against the likes of Jumbo, he looks absolutely convinced he is the baddest motherfucker on two feet. That, more than his offense, is his defining trait to me. You see guys like Benoit and Davey Richards trying to ape that to varying degrees of success, but they're not as natural or convincing as Dynamite.

I like Mike Rotunda more than most people, but top 100? No.

I make some differentiation - I love a good Haku match more than anything I've seen out of lucha or joshi, but I'm not going to argue Haku over Manami Toyota or El Satanico any more than I'd argue Best of the Best (way fun) over The Godfather (not fun). My expectation is that after watching a few hundred hours of wrestling, and reading a few hundred thousand words about wrestling, often focused on wrestlers I have heretofore paid little if any attention, who my favorites are might change a bit.

That cage match is amazing. Not at all what I'd expected from either guy, but incredibly compelling.

Trying to reconcile the various perspectives here - all of which have merit to some degree or another - I finally boiled it down to this. How excited am I by the prospect of something new coming to light from a given wrestler? If someone digs up a match with Arn Anderson, Randy Savage, or Nick Bockwinkel in a territory I didn't know they worked or against an opponent I didn't know they faced or otherwise in a new and different situation, I am way excited. If there's a new Kamala match... somewhat less so.

One of my favorites despite how much I hate the 90s All Japan style. Will definitely be the highest of the Four Pillars for me.

The Enforcers run with Arn Anderson. Larry more than holds his own in the "He's just a man!" match from Clash 17.

I'm going to have Arn stupidly high. #1 overall is a real possibility. He doesn't have any of the all-time classics other wrestlers have, but he gets points from me for never having had a disappointing performance. Disappointing booking, sure, but you always knew Double A was going to hold up his end and then some.

If this were a Top 100 Businessmen in Wrestling poll, I'd give Brody strong consideration.

The I Quit match is amazing, no question, but what else does he have in the way of standout, must see matches?

I like Kopylov a lot, and I'll take the excuse to watch the whole RINGS run again, but I don't expect to see him in my top 100.

Given how good post-prime Bock is, I feel very confident giving him credit for a certain assumed level of excellence over the years we don't have footage. Tentative top five for me, and I very much doubt he drops out of the top ten.

Pat O'Connor vs Bob Orton Sr, in three parts... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA--kPCfKu0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiOYVO66oKw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiOYVO66oKw The worst part about this match is that between the black and white footage and overall video quality, it's sometimes hard to tell the two apart. (The second worst is Russ Davis. I am anti-Davis, which sucks considering how much I love this era.) We think of O'Connor as primarily a technical wrestler, which he is, but I thought he was also effective here as a reluctant brawler. Orton's also very good here. I love the little touches like breaking the head scissors to use the knee, and then going back to the hold. I further appreciate the referee getting in to make one- and two-counts when the wrestlers are on the mat in holds and shoulders hit the mat. Helps give the whole thing more of a sense of legitimacy alongside the struggling for holds and counterwrestling I really enjoy.

It is the # 1 metric for the WO HOF. This project from how I gather is completely different than the Observer HOF . If their is no footage I don't see how you can vote for someone. So Strangler Lewis shouldn't be on the list via the Microscope point. I am definitely starting an Ed Lewis thread now. I know there are at least three matches out there.

Especially since Tariel is terrible. Not a good worker, not a good shooter, has no charisma, has a terrible look... I can't figure out how he was even employed, let alone getting wins over Tamura. When I first saw this, I assumed it was a shoot because I couldn't believe anyone would book something this dumb.

Said this on twitter already, but I feel like this was the one time where the Russo/McMahon vision of "action adventure TV" and my idea of good wrestling really came together and produced something amazing. It plays out like a well-choreographed movie fight. Both men can really wrestle, Shamrock can stick to his brawling style, while Owen brings some theatrical but logical highspots using the environment. Really an outstanding match, and one of the few Attitude Era WWF non-main event matches I go back and watch regularly.

Why not. GROUP A Rick Steiner: Largely because I'm a huge mark for a strong amateur background. Steiner has the most explosive and diverse offensive repertoire of the group by a fairly wide margin. As the Steiner Brothers became The Steiner Brothers! he became a little one-note, but this is a pretty one-note group, so it's hard to hold that against him. Demolition Smash: Smash was my favorite part of Demolition as a kid. There is probably no rational reason for this. The least of the group as an athlete, but I find him a more credible brawler than Animal, and at least comparable as a seller/bumper. Road Warrior Animal: Has some great athletic spots, but his high-end offense (thinking here mainly of his flying shoulderblock) rarely looks like it has impact. The Road Warrior act either limits what he can show or covers for limited skills. GROUP B Terry Gordy: Had the most opportunities to work long, high end matches, and mostly took advantage of them. Great brawler, and could wrestle enough to be in the ring with Williams and the Steiners and not look out of place when the other three were putting on the amateur exhibition phase of the match. Bam Bam Bigelow: It says something about his career that his two standout performances in my mind are his last man standing run at the end of the first Survivor Series (a much better match than it gets credit for, IMO) and working Lawrence Taylor at Wrestlemania. Had all the tools as an athlete, had a look and some charisma, but it never really came through into any strong runs. John Tenta: I feel like he would rank higher if he'd been better presented during his career, but aside from the short run as Earthquake vs Hogan, he really never had a program he could shine in. GROUP C Yoshihiro Tajiri: I'm not sure he's an all-time great, but he's way above the other two in this group. Can do it all physically and an outstanding character worker, as well. 2 Cold Scorpio: Scorpio's hit-or-miss for me. When he's in with a better all around worker (Benoit) he can produce some top notch stuff. On his own, he's a little spot-spot-spot. Sabu: HATE. The only guy on this list I legit can not stand. The constantly blown spots I could forgive. The insistence on repeating them, sometimes three times or more, I can't. Really great character, has a legit aura to him, but he's pure FF material for me. GROUP D Chris Benoit: This is completely unfair. Benoit was my favorite wrestler from '93 until I quit watching in '03. Objectively, I look back now and see how much of the Benoit act contributed to his final days, and I'd just as soon never see anyone else wrestle the way he did. Subjectively... look, the matches were really, really good, ok? Eddie Guerrero: I never developed the emotional attachment to Eddie I did to Benoit, though I can see the argument that he was better in a number of ways. Shawn Michaels: I was a Bret Hart guy which, at a certain point in time, meant you had to be an anti-Shawn guy. Really like the early AWA-to-IC title run portion of his career, really hate the World title run to first retirement portion, hot and cold on everything since then. Along with Mick Foley, deserves more credit (or blame) than he gets for creating the modern WWE Main Event style.

I'm the exact opposite. If someone's shoulders are down and their opponent is touching them, that's a pin. Refs should be counting. If you're not being held down. prove it. Get the fuck up.

Opposite 180 - I left wrestling fandom for a few years, then got back in around '07/'08. I was initially really high on Davey Richards and, to a lesser extent, Eddie Edwards. Now? Not so much.