Troyvang

Too early, but it’s good to get him on the radar for the next go round

I have no background on Japanese wrestling. The first match from Japan that I watched was when I started doing this project a couple of years ago. That is to say that I have no preconceived notions of this realm of wrestling or who is overrated, underrated or whatever. Looking at my big spreadsheet, as it currently stands, Sasaki will likely end up in my top 10 unless a lot changes between now and submission time. I like what I like. The thing I like most is big dudes striking the crap out of each other and hucking each other around. He delivers that in spades and I’m not afraid to admit it.

I'm going to say it: I love watching this guy wrestle. I wonder if it's what Jetlag posted above me talking about how he was judged at his time. I just started watching Japanese wrestling in 2022 when I started doing this project. The matches I'm seeing against Nakajima, Akitoshi Saito and others are just really hitting with me and he's going to be really, really high on my list. Just prepping everyone for that, haha

I just watched the 1/29/15 match with Rave and it was awesome. Just a super tight 16 minutes with a lot of great spots, back and forths and a really good finish with Rave getting the tap out. 5 stars for me.

Just watched the Jake match that was in the nomination. The best participant was Warlord, who was in Jake's corner.

He's extremely good. As others have said, and true athlete who just moves so smoothly. He's also among the most-self indulgent wrestlers I've seen and that can make things a slog to get through. He's an all-dessert kind of wrestler. It sounds great at first, but too much makes you sick and craving for some protein and vegetables.

I really enjoyed his 11/1/03 match from NOAH teaming with Ricky Marvin against KENTA and Marafuji.

I've mentioned somewhere else that I am very new to most great wrestling and am really doing this project to actively watch wrestling. Places I am unfamiliar with, people I am unfamiliar with, etc. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a member of the prowrestlingonly forum and had never watched a full Japanese match! So, Aja is one of the wrestlers that has really opened my eyes and caught my attention in this quest. She's so good, a total badass and can work with a variety of opponents very well. I really like to watch big people wrecking shit (see my avatar) and she's one of the best at doing that. I know I'm not really saying anything new, but she's really effing cool.

Currently, about a year into my project here, I have him as my #4. There is a super solid chance that he gets higher and I find it hard to believe that he will sink below four or five. I have a lot left to watch of him and am excited for what the next four years bring.

Sydal was one of my first favorites in the third phase of my fandom. First: little kid, big personalities as my favorite. Second: tween, attitude era edgy stuff. Third: high schooler, flashy big moves, starting to care about technique. I saw him from his appearances on NWA Wildside and TNA Explosion and he just jumped off the screen at me. Yeah, he was doing a ton of big moves, but they all looked really crisp. I do think that at least in those few matches, he did show in ring charisma as a white meat babyface. His Wildside debut on 6/7/03 against Delirious was awesome. I haven't watched it since then, but I still remember it vividly and was so happy that I got to see it. That being said, of course, it is pretty doubtful that he makes my top 100. One of those guys that is in the "favorites, but not top 100" category.

I'm going to have to watch a lot more of his bad WWE matches, because right now it's mostly been his stuff from the last few years and he would be pretty high on my list.

Takiyama has been one of the guys I've been most surprised with as I begin to watch Japanese wrestling and other things like that for this project. He's awesome. I've mostly watched his stuff with Kobashi, but in all of the matches I've seen with him he's looked great. Big dude who can move and kick ass. I feel bad that I'm just coming around to him now.

I am a huge fan of Umaga. He could move so well for a guy his size, looked great even in losses or when he was selling a lot. I don't think he'll end up making my list, but he was a genuinely good big guy worker.

1985: Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, Jerry Lawler 1995: Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuhara Misawa, Manami Toyota 2005: Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, CM Punk I haven’t seen enough of the other time periods in a critical eye.

This is a guy I've watched now in a few matches as I'm starting to watch wrestling in a larger scope and I am really digging what I'm seeing. I just love how he works and I'm a sucker for guys who make moves look like they hurt (probably because in most cases, they do).

I really am not a fan of Darby. I think those videos are laughable. His facial expressions are extremely cringeworthy. But above all, I just don’t find him believable. His look is just awful and I don’t think that any of his offense looks like it would impact anyone. Obviously I’m in the minority here and I get it, but I’m probably not ever going to fully get behind him as a top-notch act.

NBC lost their NHL rights, so that’s not an issue. NASCAR runs on weekends. Their are definitely other sports programs that could affect WWE though.

In the few months since I've been watching matches critically, I've gained a lot of appreciation for Joe. I knew he was good, but I hadn't really seen much ROH or TNA work. He's got a chance to be really high on my list and one of my top ranked American workers.

I'm watching his tables match with Douglas from SAW right now and he is throwing some awesome-looking punches. Just in general, great fundamentals.

I have watched this one and absolutely loved it. I only really knew Can/Am from their brief WWF stint and they blew me away, too.

I really love the Fantastics and especially Rogers. I don't know if he'll necessarily make my list, but either way, I needed to comment in his thread to mention that I think he's awesome and that dropkick is mesmerizing. If he had some good singles matches, he'd be a lock for sure

Kind of a varied mix, but matches with Hanson, Williams, Misawa and Takiyama stand out to me especially. Im just loving seeing all this new stuff right now.

So, when the 2026 edition started to ramp up, I decided that this was it and would be my gateway to dive into wrestling I’d never seen. Please bear with me on things that might be common knowledge to the community. So these rising and falling comments would be related more to the regular knowledge I had coming in. Rising: Kenta Kobashi i realize he’s accepted as one of the greatest of all time, but I hadn’t watched a match of his prior to 6 months ago. He now may be my favorite wrestler to watch just with everything he does in the ring. I know this isn’t exactly new news to most, but it is for me, haha Falling: Shawn Michaels I thought he would be a guy who would be near the top for me, but outside of a couple matches, really hasn’t matched my expectations. It seems like he is matching his opponent a lot and just isn’t as much of a standout as I thought he would be.

Thanks for all the great hours put into this. It's given me information about a place I never knew about and a desire to jump into it. Unrelated, but the picture above made me think of it: entrance robes that aren't made of silk or satin type fabrics always look like bath robes and there's really no way around it.

Man, terry being terry, makes it two matches before having to be removed. Good stuff!