El McKell

He's 35

This isn't really weird cos Mutoh fucking rules and is incredible actually and Hashimoto isn't

"I've been to Parts Unknown, where Abyss is from and I found his girlfriend and trust me I went to the ugly part of Parts Unknown" Is an all time great sentence

We've got this tag match teaming w/Thesz against Inoki & Sakaguchi

Is it still a wrestling match if one wrestler is arrested for an actual assault on the other wrestler?

When does Funk actually retire in 1997? I know he spent the whole year basically doing last hurrah type stuff, the Bret match is presented as a kind of retirement but he just goes straight into an FMW tour, then does another FMW tour in December and is in WWF again by the end of the year. I don't think Terry Funk does enough really good stuff to be wrestler of the year in 1997 but he never actually takes any serious time off

Does hypnosis work in ring? is the weirdest fucking thing to have on the cover

Am I reading this right that WWE shareholders are getting 49% but the remaining 51% is going to Endeavor itself rather than to Endeavor shareholders? So as long as Ari Emmanuel remains CEO of Endeavor itself then he effectively has total control of WWE? Vince gave up control of the WWE and all he's really got for it is effectively a portion of UFC's future dividends? It's shocking to me that Vince would take this offer

Just looking at the threads and it looks like she was never added

He's violent and intense & he carries himself like a real star which makes him stand out in the environments he spent most of his career in. I could say that exact same sentence about Low Ki too except Low Ki was at a higher level when it comes to those things. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Low Ki vs Super Dragon (28/07/01) ***¾ Super Dragon vs TARO (29/11/03) *** Super Dragon vs Kevin Steen (16/12/05) ***½ Super Dragon, Chris Hero & Necro Butcher vs Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce (23/04/06) **** Super Dragon vs Necro Butcher (02/09/06) ****

I was the high voter on Naomichi back in 2016, I'll probably drop him a few places lower this time around. I 100% understand not liking this guy at all, but he's my thing, especially when in tag matches where I think his lack of ability to create a compelling opening to a match gets covered for. I'm a sucker for matches that have a good sense of escalation throughout and time the ending at the absolute cresendo of it and that's definitely how this guys matches usually go. The hook kick from weird seemingly impossible angles is cool as shit. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi (12/09/03) **** Naomichi Marufuji vs KENTA (29/10/06) ****¼ Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura (02/03/08) ****½ Koji Kanemoto vs Naomichi Marufuji (03/05/10) ***¾ Naomichi Marufuji vs Minoru Suzuki (23/12/15) **** Naomichi Marufuji vs Kazuchika Okada (10/10/16) **** Naomichi Marufuji vs Kento Miyahara (30/04/18) ***¼

He's kind of got a cool vibe but I wish he had an output of better matches or just more stuff where he stands out as something special. We all love the Royal Rumble 91 match but that's really more of a great Rockers performance. The only match in the little list below where I thought he was the best performer was the one with Jannetty. There's a zero percent chance that Pat Tanaka ends up on my list. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Pat Tanaka & Jeff Jarrett vs Memphis Vice (27/09/86) *½ Badd Company vs Midnight Rockers (19/02/88) **¼ Badd Company vs Brad Rheingans & Ken Patera (25/03/89) *** Pat Tanaka vs Marty Jannetty (17/10/93) **¾ Pat Tanaka vs Steve Austin (02/04/94) **

I couldn't tell when Trevor said it was one their best episodes ever if he was joking or not tbh.

Doesn’t belong in my top 100 but I’m someone who won’t be ranking Regal so the fact that I’m not ranking proto-Regal is to be expected. He is fun to watch, especially when he’s being vicious and less so when he’s doing his bumping and getting thrown around by the babyfaces (I can’t really articulate what about how he does this stuff that isn’t for me tbh) What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Terry Rudge vs Tibor Szakacs (05/04/74) **½ Terry Rudge vs Marty Jones (30/11/76) **** Terry Rudge vs Lenny Hurst (17/01/81) *** Terry Rudge vs Alan Kilby (20/06/81) **¾ Terry Rudge vs Ray Steele (10/06/87) *** Dave Bond vs Terry Rudge (19/03/88) **½

Charismatic as hell, easy to watch because of that magnetism in the way he carries himself. That Park match from TxT that people love starts off so good but veers into a dull walk n brawl in parts. He has an otherwise cool match with Mesias that has one of the most annoying table spots I’ve seen. His best match is a NJPW juniors match from the 90s that relies on none of what I think of as his usual strengths. I need to think about what I really think about Wagner and how to rate him. I’m not sure what to do with him What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Koji Kanemoto vs Dr Wagner Jr (03/06/98) ****½ Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Otani vs Dr Wagner Jr & Jushin Liger (06/03/99) ***½ Dr Wagner Jr vs Atlantis (13/03/01) *** Dr Wagner Jr vs Minoru Tanaka (01/06/01) ***¼ Mistico vs Dr Wagner Jr (27/07/07) **** El Mesias vs Dr Wagner Jr (13/06/09) ***½ Dr Wagner Jr vs LA Park (11/05/13) ***½ Dr Wagner Jr vs Blue Demon Jr (03/08/19) ***¼

His character probably seemed cool in the 90s but is pretty cringy in retrospect. I literally have no idea what he is good at in the ring. I think the highlight of his career might be some of the funny stuff as Johnny Polo. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Raven & Stevie Richards vs Pitbulls (16/09/95) **½ Raven vs Tommy Dreamer (07/06/97) **¾ Diamond Dallas Page vs Raven vs Chris Benoit (15/03/98) **½ Raven vs Diamond Dallas Page (19/04/98) **½ Raven vs CM Punk (19/07/03) ***¼ Raven vs AJ Styles (27/08/03) ***

I stand by what I said in 2014 except for she is not the joshi wrestler of the 00s, but I do have a very strong soft spot for her and she is definitely unique and always fun to watch. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Natsuki*Taiyo & Ray vs Kana & Nanae Takahashi (22/11/09) ***¼ Natsuki Taiyo vs Nanae Takahashi (12/11/11) ***½ Natsuki Taiyo vs Kaori Yoneyama (02/06/13) **** Natsuki Taiyo vs Io Shirai (26/01/14) **** Natsuki Taiyo vs Mayu Iwatani (06/04/14) ***

A great character in TNA in 2011 & 2012 (and good in the ring too), I cannot recommend the promos with Scott Steiner enough and for non-comedy shit everything he does in the build to his PPV match with Austin Aries also rules. Hard to say he really has enough in the ring in the relatively short post D-Von part of his career when he is good to warrant being on a top 100 though, but I do think he is good and shouldn’t be totally written off as a non-candidate. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Dudleys vs Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian (27/08/00) ***¾ Team 3D vs Motor City Machine Guns (07/11/10) **½ Bully Ray vs AJ Styles (12/06/11) ***¼ Bully Ray vs Austin Aries (13/05/12) ***½ Bully Ray vs Joseph Park (10/06/12) ***¾

WWE hasn’t been kind to this man but he does have a career before that that isn’t super short with some cool stuff. Good as an underdog and good as an exciting ball of energy, also I like when he screams for no reason putting on a headlock or whatever. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Akira Tozawa vs Chris Hero (05/09/10) ****¼ Akira Tozawa vs BxB Hulk (30/01/11) ***½ Akira Tozawa & Kevin Steen vs El Generico & Ricochet (27/05/11) ***¾ Naruki Doi & Ricochet vs BxB Hulk & Akira Tozawa (21/07/13) ***¼ Akira Tozawa vs Eita (11/05/16) **** Akira Tozawa vs Gran Metalik (26/08/16) ***¾

Brody is boring as hell and the Inoki match I watched feels like a miracle from Inoki to get an exciting big match feeling event out of Brody. I’m posting in all the threads of wrestlers I’ve looked into who haven’t had any posts during the 2026 run so they are still considered to be nominees but I don’t have much I can say about this man. Immigrant Song rules. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Bruiser Brody vs Ric Flair (11/02/83) *¾ Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr (08/12/84) **½ Bruiser Brody vs Antonio Inoki (18/04/85) ***¾ Bruiser Brody vs Abdullah The Butcher (04/08/86) **¾ Bruiser Brody vs Genichiro Tenryu (15/04/88) ***

A real mixed bag of a wrestler, terrible in his short WWE run, a deathmatch guy who isn’t good in deathmatches, I hate when he spits on his hand and I once saw him live and he broke a fan's umbrella for literally no reason. But when he’s on he delivers these very dynamic performances and he is something unique in a sea of cookie cutter US indie wrestlers. I liked his iron man match with Adam Cole when it happened like 10 years ago and I’m not gonna ruin memory of it by watching it again and hating it. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Sami Callihan vs Danny Havoc (12/12/09) *** Sami Callihan vs Fit Finlay (26/07/11) ***¾ Sami Callihan & Zack Sabre Jr vs Chris Hero & Tommy End (22/01/16) ****½ Sami Callihan vs Mike Bailey (03/02/16) **¼ Sami Callihan vs Pentagon Jr (22/06/18) ***

The Briscoes have a whole pile of incredible tag matches and for me it’s a toss up between them and KENTAFuji for best tag team of the 00s. He doesn’t have the resumé of singles matches that his brother has but he wasn’t granted the same chances to do that. If we’re comparing them when they’re in tags Mark tends to do the more memorable crazy shit that sticks in your head after the match is over What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Mark Briscoe vs Jay Briscoe (03/05/07) **** Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen & El Generico (11/08/07) ***¾ Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Kevin Steen & El Generico (26/08/07) **** Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura (02/03/08) ****½ Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Motor City Machine Guns (19/04/08) ***½ Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Matt & Jeff Hardy (26/04/14) ***½ Mark Briscoe vs Roderick Strong (24/06/16) **½ Mark & Jay Briscoe vs FTR (24/07/22) ****½

Undeniable charisma, I love the Ameno entrance music, great vibes in almost everything he does. I voted for him in the 90s last time but I’ll probably end up leaving him off this time around. Is there anything really good outside of his peak CMLL run that’s really worth watching? What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Mistico vs Averno (30/01/05) **** Mistico vs Ultimo Guerrero (25/02/05) **¾ Mistico vs Dr Wagner Jr (27/07/07) **** Carisitco vs Volador Jr (20/10/17) *½ Caristico vs Penta El 0 M (28/12/18) ***

I like Hotta but she seems to lack some kind of charisma or presence that the obvious people to compare her to have (Dynamite Kansai & Toshiyo Yamada). It is cool that she has the hand match with Kong to show that she’s good in a kind of underdog position and not just as someone who brutalises people. What I watched for this so far and my match ratings Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki (15/01/93) ***¾ Yumiko Hotta vs Dynamite Kansai (02/04/93) *** Yumiko Hotta vs Aja Kong (24/01/94) **** Yumiko Hotta vs Lioness Asuka (26/03/95) ***¼ Yumiko Hotta vs Manami Toyota (03/09/95) ****

My favourite from the 50s Chicago footage. I love these matworky matches with a real sense of escalation as they go. He isn’t consistent and can let worse performers drag him down to their level (although he pulls a really good match out of Yukon Eric). I really do think he has a lot to offer and has one all time classic match with Thesz. What I watched for this and my match ratings Verne Gagne vs Billy Goelz (21/6/50) *** Verne Gagne vs The Mighty Atlas (9/11/51) ***¼ Verne Gagne vs Red Bastien (1951) ***¾ Verne Gagne vs Lou Thesz (25/01/52) ****¾ Verne Gagne vs The Mighty Atlas (4/4/52) *** Verne Gagne vs The Great Togo (16/5/52) *½ Verne Gagne vs Carl Meyer (31/10/52) ** Verne Gagne vs Roy McClarity (6/8/54) ***¼ Verne Gagne vs Yukon Eric (21/1/55) ***¾ Verne Gagne vs Don Leo Jonathan (15/4/55) **** Verne Gagne vs Dick The Bruiser (28/10/55) * Verne Gagne vs Wilbur Snyder (4/5/56) ****¼ Verne Gagne vs Billy Robinson (20/11/74) ****