Parties

I am unabashedly an Inoki mark and will have him somewhere below #70 on my list. I actually think he was dynamic by early/mid 70s standards and that he's got many good-to-great 80s showings. The common crit on him from people who created the DVDVR New Japan set was that there are tons of dull Inoki countouts out there on tape. I tend to value people by their best matches rather than their worst. Something like Inoki-Brody can be outright awful, but the other pairings people have listed here - as well as his involvement in the multi-man gauntlets and promotional wars - make for outstanding highlights.

LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD: 1) John Cena, 2) Roman Reigns, 3) Sasha Banks MMA MOST VALUABLE FIGHTER: 1) Ronda Rousey, 2) Conor McGregor, 3) Holly Holm MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: 1) Timothy Thatcher, 2) Cesaro, 3) Virus MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER: 1) Conor McGregor, 2) Demetrious Johnson, 3) Robbie Lawler BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW: 1) Floyd Mayweather, 2) Ronda Rousey, 3) Conor McGregor FEUD OF THE YEAR: 1) Sasha Banks vs. Bailey, 2) Rockstar Spud vs. EC3, 3) Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR: 1) The New Day, 2) The Brass Ring Club (Cesaro/Tyson Kidd), 3) Dinestia Felino MOST IMPROVED: 1) Bailey, 2) Xavier Woods, 3) Roderick Strong BEST ON INTERVIEWS: 1) Xavier Woods, 2) Conor McGregor, 3) Big E MOST CHARISMATIC: 1) Bailey, 2) Sasha Banks, 3) Big E BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER: 1) Timothy Thatcher, 2) Virus, 3) Hechicero BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD: 1) Roman Reigns, 2) Brock Lesnar, 3) Kongo Kong BEST FLYING WRESTLER: 1) Dragon Lee (II), 2) El Barbaro Cavernario, 3) Aerostar MOST OVERRATED: 1) HHH, 2) Kenny Omega, 3) Kane MOST UNDERRATED: 1) Cesaro, 2) Hechicero, 3) Trauma II PROMOTION OF THE YEAR: 1) UFC, 2) NXT, 3) CMLL BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW: 1) NXT, 2) Guerreros del Ring (CMLL), 3) Lucha Underground PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR: 1) Sasha Banks vs. Bailey (NXT Takeover: Brooklyn), 2) Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (Wrestlemania 31), 3) EC3 vs. Rockstar Spud [Hair vs. Hair] (TNA, 3/13) MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR: 1) Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald (UFC 189), 2) Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustaffson (UFC 192), 3) Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm (UFC 193) ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: 1) Chad Gable, 2) Jay White, 3) Dana Brooke BEST NON-WRESTLER PERFORMER: 1) Summer Rae, 2) William Regal, 3) Dario Cueto BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER: 1) Mauro Ranallo, 2) William Regal, 3) Brian Stann WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER: 1) Matt Striker, 2) Steve Corino, 3) Josh Matthews BEST MAJOR SHOW: 1) NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, 2) Wrestlemania 31, 3) UFC 189 (July 11, 2015) WORST MAJOR SHOW OF THE YEAR: AAA Triplemania 23 (8/9/15) BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER: Dragon Lee - “Operación Dragon” (Somersault plancha) MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC: Reid Flair’s cameo in Paige/Charlotte feud WORST TELEVISION SHOW: WWE RAW WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9) WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR: PCB vs BAD vs Team Bella WORST PROMOTION: AAA BEST BOOKER: Ryan Ward PROMOTER OF THE YEAR: Dana White BEST GIMMICK: Bailey WORST GIMMICK: The Authority BEST WRESTLING BOOK: Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling's World Champion (Bob Backlund & Rob Miller) BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD: Abstain / haven't seen any

Enfermero match was solid but nothing that would get someone on a top 100. Looked like Lizmark hooked his feet on the middle rope during a tope. Did anyone else besides Enfermero Jr. (and thus presumably Enfermero Sr.) ever have a male nurse gimmick? It's kind of an odd but inspired heel character. The Estrada match was good, particularly in the thIrd fall. First two has some lax work from Jerry, hitting some really bad strikes and weak armbars. Critiquing Estrada on anything but his dives and bleeding feels silly from what I've seen, but maybe he has moments elsewhere of good matwork? There were points where it looked like Lizmark was watching Japan tapes, hitting an Oklahoma Roll-ish slam, a Northern Lights suplex, and going for a Dynamite Kid top rope headbutt in short order. Highlight of the match by far was Lizmark's amazing plancha.

I really do like Bret and he'll make my list somewhere between #70-100, but he suffers from fatigue for me. He's been discussed so exhaustively and his matches so watched and analyzed due to being the WWF ace at a time when we all grew up watching him. He's not unlike Flair/Brisco/Jumbo in that I know what I'm getting, I genuinely consider it great, but it just ain't hip right now. In some ways I revere him for being probably the all-time best at that style in that company. The Submission Match with Austin was my #1 all-time WWF/E match in the Smarkschoice poll, and I'd probably still say so. But because his role, time, and place get discussed endlessly, it rarely feels like there's a new/riveting/fresh perspective on him. I don't wanna unfairly fault the guy for being phenomenal in a capacity that I find kind of stale right now, but that's where I'm at with him.

Watched the (TV?) Styles-called version of Guido/Smothers vs. Candido/Storm. Will look for the handheld. Good match, and I continue to love Tracy’s one-legged dropkick. Little Guido is also a guy I’d love to see more of as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad performance from him. Even his UWFi stuff is very good. Couldn’t immediately find some of Dylan’s recommendations for Smothers online but will try to seek them out. He hasn’t connected with me as a top 100 worker yet, but he’s been so touted on the Exile shows and elsewhere that I have to give him a fair shake. I watched a singles from ’95 of New Jack vs. Tracy that I thought was OK, but gives you the understanding expressed on Exile about why SMW suffered from not having a super-over babyface ace. Tracy clearly works his ass off and is a great talent, but he never feels like a superstar. So far I’ve actually liked the 1998-2003 “indie veteran who’s way more agile than you’d expect” version of Smothers more than the WCW/SMW guy. That said, his SMW promos are really good, including the discussed one where he sits on a swing and explains why his heel turn was simply a means of defending his heritage from Turner executives. One of the big takeaways for me from this GWE poll is that I don’t think I have the love for certain American promotions of the south that I thought I did. SMW hasn’t thrilled me in-ring yet, and as a promotion on the whole I find the promos to be a lot better than the matches. Maybe it's due to being a lifelong Yankee, but I feel like I'm missing the point of some of it culturally, and that it can come off as sort of low-rent and hokey in the bad way. Even a lot of Crockett stuff doesn’t hold the appeal for me that I thought it should. I love Memphis/Continental and even the Mid-Atlantic/Florida/Georgia/Houston of the 70s/early 80s that I’ve seen, but SMW feels way more like a Crockett show to me than it does an offshoot of Watts or Jarrett. But I also much prefer the late 80s World Class with scuzzy Memphis guys coming to the earlier Von Erichs-heavy stuff, so my taste on southern wrestling seems to stray from the gospel.

Not even close to making my list, for all of the usual reasons people have been giving for the last 10-15 years. I don't like Rockers-Rose/Somers as much as many of you do. Ditto the Mind Games match with Foley or the Razor ladder matches. He was undeniable during his peak (say '94-'97) in terms of being an amazing pinball/bump freak. Even in his prime, his approach to structuring a match was glaringly bad and he'd awkwardly telegraph spots in order to do something flashy. Only WWF match of his that could be among the 100 best matches in company history for me would be the Action Zone '94 tag, which is kind of a miracle showcase for all four guys, and has the advantage of including probably the best Hall and Waltman performances that I've seen.

As Elliott noted back in May - the weirdest thing in making this list is when you have to do a side-by-side comparison of elite but totally different workers. Do I like Fuchi more than I like Steamboat? Finlay over Black Terry? Buddy Rose or Jim Breaks? Virus or Bobby Eaton? Some of those #25-50 slots are really tough to choose. While I do have a working list of 100 that I’d be happy with, I also have an ever-revised list of 40-50 opt-ins who I need to see more of, or just figure out where I stand on them. Like, I’ve seen a ton of Tommy Rich, Ole Anderson, Tito Santana, Koko Ware and Dan Kroffat. But if I devote a few hours to just watching interesting matches of theirs that I’ve never seen, which could make my list? Only one way to find out. This is true of tons of people who aren’t shoo-ins but are intriguing candidates. Then there are some Lucha and Joshi options who I’m just not familiar with. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Yumi Ikeshita match. I’d need to see a lot more Emilio Charles, Jr. or Ringo Mendoza for example to gauge where each stands. Basically trying to tackle one worker a day and fully immerse my viewing in that person as much as possible each day leading up to the deadline. It definitely focuses what I watch and creates a fun compilation nature to the process. The YouTube/DM playlists devoted to a single worker are goldmines in this sense. My #100 (which changes constantly) as of today is Seiji Sakaguchi, who doesn't even have a thread yet (I should get on this). Who seems like kind of an amusing barometer to measure people against. After watching a few hours of your stuff (ideally your best/highly praised stuff), do I like you more or less than I like Sakaguchi? The most amazing part of all of it is just how short and tough a top 100 really is once you get going. So many awesome workers who’d make a top 200 and not this. So many heartbreakers where a guy I love is coming in at #106. For me, that bottom 10 is going to have some sentimental favorites.

He's not horrible at all, but doesn't come close to making my list. It's hard to say why exactly he got worse as he got older. Some of it is likely injuries and pills, some of it is that he tried to be "epic" when he should have just been good. Often he seems as capable as his opponent. Put him in there with someone as selfish and melodramatic as 2005 Michaels or reckless as 2004 Brock and it's just brutal. My favorite Angle is the 2002 Smackdown Six foil for Mysterio who tagged with Benoit and later feuded against him. That was the point at which he was athletically great, worked a breakneck pace that remained entertaining, had guys around him who could structure spots/matches/drama, and used his crazy genetic gifts in ways that allowed for comedy and fun. He was an ideal base for Mysterio's offense and as a character he played well against Edge. It felt like good lucha. All three teams were used very well and Heyman or whoever it was understood how to book Angle (equal parts credibility and comedy) better than anyone before or after.

Matt is at least talking up the game of "family man" in saying that he's trying to turn babyface IRL as well, by being a father/husband who can make TNA better as a role model/company ace. Dude looked pretty rough on the poster for POP TV, but I haven't seen him wrestle in a couple years now. I'm the last person to lobby for Angle, as people have always said there's no way he can pass a WWE physical, but I imagine that test suddenly gets a lot easier to pass when Mania's nine weeks away and the Wade Barretts of the world are walking into Vince's office to pitch themselves as Taker's opponent.

What he's good at is in direct opposition to what they want. Brawling, bleeding, hateful promos, smarm, heeling on the crowd, improvisation. 2-3 years ago he was working a better version of Owens’ current gimmick. He was viewed as the clear leader of the Shield in its inception. He’s just in a bad role right now - #3 or #4 babyface in a company that’s only capable of pushing 1-2 at a time. He’s not a Sheamus or Cesaro athlete who can work like a machine through repetition to build a progressively strong version of the same match every night. Ambrose has said that of his WWE peers, he particularly admires Randy Orton. He’s well on his way to being the Orton Lite to Reigns’ take on Cena Lite.

Some head writer like Lagana or Kapoor saying something to this effect while rolling his eyes after Vince drags them all into a particularly bad midnight Creative team meeting? Absolutely.

Angle has a habit of wishful thinking, but he sure has been hinting at this in recent weeks. Ditto the stuff about WWE wanting AJ Styles' signing to be particularly quiet, leading people to guess that he may be a surprise entrant as well. I'm not an Angle fan, but even I can say he would feel fresh and fun on this show. You could honestly do Angle-Undertaker on two months build and most people in that building would absolutely love it, including Undertaker as he gets to do his fake triangle chokes and other mat stuff that can hide his age in a decent fifteen minute match. Angle would probably take some reckless bumps, but you could do a lot worse at this point. Angle-HBK from the '05 Mania is one of my all-time least favorite matches, and even I would be stoked to see Angle get a three month victory lap. I'll add here that I laid out a solid card on the first page of this thread that could still happen, with the exception of finding Taker a new For what Taker now is and what use he has on this show and going forward, Angle's a better option than most of the others on the table.

To Casas one could add about three hundred different tag matches, but easy to get into stuff would include Casas-Liger from '90 (Casas wearing Felino's gear) and Casas-Santo from the Peace Festival in '96. Fast paced, fun, weird matches that are under 15 mins if memory serves.

It's strange that exhibiting one's faults with brazen charm is a lot more interesting than being someone who does everything correctly without flair, but that's life. Sabu's botches are more exciting than the best-executed move in most workers' arsenal.

Classic maybe, but I don't see the case for Junior. He was criminally underrated in WWE, when he was lighting it up on SD and later ECW. His matches with Sydal, Rey and Bryan are damn good by any measure. He suffers from some TNA Syndrome and from being squandered in WCW. I like his Lucha Underground character more than I like the matches.

This is a somewhat forced comparison, but I kind of always think of Roberts as a prime example of an American rudo. Pirata Morgan is a better mat worker and bumper than Jake, but they're similar enough in their Top 100 strengths (expert heeling, charisma, brawling, persona) that when I look at Morgan likely making my list, I wonder what he has that Jake lacks. The chief difference I'd guess is that as a WWF heel who didn't stay long anywhere thereafter, he didn't get to work enough bloodbath blow-offs, esp. post-territories. He doesn't get that Tully/Flair/Bockwinkel-level comeuppance. I can't think of a Morgan-Faroan type of match to be found on Jake's C/V. I like the Steamboat feud but it's pretty tame for two NWA alum in '86. The Savage feud is notorious but if those two ever had a really great knock-down brawl, I haven't seen it. Best Jake match that I've seen might be against Garvin on the 12/83 Georgia TV. They tell a pretty good story of Jake being outclassed on the mat but then finding cheap shots that keep him mounting these sneaky comebacks. Whether him being outclassed on the mat by Garvin is good storytelling or lack of athleticism probably depends on how you view Jake. I vaguely recall him being in the camp of "Heels shouldn't look like the superior athlete, even when they are", which I buy into psychologically but may be a rationalization for lack of skill on the part of guys like him, Raven, and whoever else espouses that theory.

Only the finish of Smothers-Eaton from the 1990 Power Hour is readily available online, but that was good stuff. The ring break almost could have been an intentional spot the way it played into Smothers' high flying and Cornette's interference. Smothers vs. Buddy Landel (WCW Saturday Night, 12/8/90): “Great ovation here for Tracy Smothers,” says Jim Ross, and he's right. Good brawling on the floor and some nice reversals on the mat, but Landel looked like he didn't want to take bumps. Buddy was wearing his kneepads, yet wasn't always cooperative with where Tracy wanted to take the match. Even when Buddy was in slow motion, the showdowns of trading punches and Smothers' fired up babyface offense were worth watching. Not a must-see, but another example of Tracy working hard – and probably harder than his opponent deserved. Smothers vs. Austin (TV Title, '91?): This is the era where Young Austin still had Lady Blossom and looked like a Young HHH. Weird to see Austin doing Dolph Ziggler overselling. Okada should watch some Smothers matches to see how a tall guy can believably make a swift dropkick into his go-to offensive manuever. Austin fully botches his Stun Gun finisher in a five minute showcase that only highlights his early faults. Smothers vs. King Cobra (USWA, January '97): This was Smothers as Shaquile Ali - one of the greatest gimmick names ever - in the Memphis wing of the Nation of Domination, w/ Miss Texas and Mo from Men on a Mission. I was curious to see what King Cobra looked like in 1997. Answer: solid if uneventful. Tracy plays stooge heel, berating the crowd and wearing a leather glove on each hand. Cobra dances, Smothers stalls on the floor and bumps big for Cobra's punches before a foreign object win and Brian Christopher run-in. Smothers vs. Lawler (Power Pro, '98): This was for a Memphis-ECW feud. 1998 Lawler doing his 1982 shill with Dave Brown felt weird and hokey. I love Lawler, but dude's got a terrible bowlcut here, while plugging his softball game and a piece written about him in a Cleveland Indians fanzine. Both matter much more to him than this match or feud. Smothers comes out fired up and talking jive in a good, quick promo. The loser in this match appears to be women, who get trashed on the mic by both guys. Stacy Carter wins the match for the King in baffling fashion. Rare situation where it felt like Lawler was being carried, and this too short and half-assed to be what you'd want from these two names. Smothers vs. The Barbarian (Worldwide, 1/29/00): Four minute match of two veterans making their returns to WCW for the first time in ages. Must have been really weird for them to go there and then have the company close like five weeks later. This has everything that's great about Worldwide: Tenay and Hudson selling this match as a big story that you need to see, the crowd giving huge reactions to the Barbarian yelling and shaking his fist, headbutts, butterfly suplexes, and Smothers using fancy mat counters and dropkicks at 100 MPH. The announcers seemed genuinely stoked to call this and rightfully so. Smothers vs. Candido vs. CM Punk (IWC Big Butler Fair, 7/2/04): Solid ten minute match, but not as good as the Smothers-Punk-Sabu three-way from IWA-MS. Tracy's cast as dumb old man heel, which is kind of a waste as he's the most natural babyface of the three. Highlight of the match is Candido taking someone's cowboy hat from the crowd, wearing it while lariating Punk, then throwing up the Hansen-Longhorns sign. Punk wins with the worst Shining Wizard of all time, followed by a bad crossbody. There's nothing wrong with Smothers here, but considering how much better he looked in the aforementioned 2001 three-way, it looked like Father Time was starting to catch up to him.

Jericho is the safe/dumb/terrible choice. Unless they're dumb enough to do Reigns-Taker, I feel it has to be either Ambrose or Owens. No one else makes sense. Del Rio's not over enough. I could see them mistakenly thinking that Sheamus is over enough, but that would tank even harder than Wyatt did. Big Show or Kane is the kind of thing that I'm sure that they'll at least consider, but that would get booed out of the stadium. With better booking, there are many guys you could go to: Harper, Titus, Braun, Ryback, Rusev. None of them are even close right now. If it's Ambrose, it becomes the make-or-break match of his career. Top star who saves the show, or dismissed midcarder for life. If it's Owens, I feel he might have a couple extra chances, but it's got similar stakes for him as well.

In fairness, Meltzer clarified that Cena is a lunatic who has a history of "healing fast" and coming back from injuries insanely early, so he did say that Cena might be crazy enough to work Mania. Even if he did, that doesn't leave much time to book a program. I think it's a great, fortuitous story for this to be "The Year Where Fate Created New Wrestlemania Stars". Zayn, Ambrose, New Day, Owens, Balor, Joe, ten others: the crowd wants them and they're all capable of the star-making performances that the company externally wants when talking about these damn millennials needing to go out and seize opportunities. As of now it looks more like a panic button clusterfuck in which Vince has Reigns work two matches on the card to prove that he's the real Daniel Bryan, HHH gets his giant Lemmy Memorial parade float, Steph slaps a bunch of people in the face without recourse, Rock does the bad Xeroxed version of his act that he's been coasting on for years, Lesnar is booked as an afterthought and becomes just another guy, Jericho jobs to give someone a meaningless "rub" third from the top, and Vince himself goes through a table at age 70 to teach the youngs how lazy they are. But I could be wrong and hope that I am, if only because being pessimistic about the biggest show of the year is no fun.

EDIT: n/m, words that make more sense in the WM 32 thread.

If this doesn't end up being my favorite post of 2016, then greatness lies ahead.

"Let's go." "We can't." "Why not?" "We're waiting for Goto."

1) Is “not selling” really a style? 2) Is not selling really what the live New Japan crowd wants? It’s possible - I’m not saying otherwise - but the assertion is being made here and I don’t want to gloss over that. I buy that “Who can take the most violent strikes and punishment?” may be what some of them want, from a slightly sadistic perspective. In praise of sadism: I love BattlARTS/FUTEN, but I wouldn't if the selling sucked. No-selling and poor selling often get swept under the rug in Japanese wrestling conversations, because non-native defenders of the workers in question say “Selling doesn’t matter in this match/moment/context/style/fighting spirit forever.” That rationalization has been used quite often, in discussing many different workers and companies, for anything even approximating an “epic”/big match. The “good in my opinion/objectively bad” vs. “not my cup of tea/fine then you shouldn’t be critiquing said cup of tea” semantic arguments over selling have been going on in IWC conversations of Japanese wrestling for at least ten years. Probably much longer. I found the case against selling to be suspect when Alan4L and Gordi were making it back then, and I find it suspect now.

It does speak to the idea that they've learned several wrong lessons from Bryan's 2014. Having Reigns lose the title in the Rumble feels like booking themselves into a bad corner. The goal seems to be that it isn't enough for him to be a strong face champion who successfully defends at Mania. He needs to overcome the odds and win the title for the third time in four months at Mania so that they can recreate the "correct" version of Bryan's Mania win with their preferred star. Going to the well of Reigns as challenger-who-must-prove-himself again so soon ironically achieves the opposite effect, making him look both like a perennial loser (kayfabe) and overpushed (behind the scenes). I suspect they also look at the bad business/casual viewer interest of the 2006-2012 pre-Authority years and make a false correlation: McMahons as dominant heel GMs = money. They had tons of other overbearing heel GMs (Johnny Ace, Regal, Vickie, AJ Lee, Maddox, Coachman) during bad business periods and it made no difference. The last babyface RAW GM was a reclusive Bret Hart for one month in 2010. Prior to that it was Foley in 2003. Weird that Smackdown had a face GM for almost ten uninterrupted years in Teddy Long and later Booker, though both were routinely put in their place by Vince/Steph/heels. No one at any time mistook Long or Booker as having any real kayfabe power. Basically this is a long-winded version of me saying that I wish Undertaker would retire and become the 2016 onscreen hybrid of Watts and Eddie Marlin.

The missed cues and all of them being caught on camera are an example of Dunn and the whole operation being a bit rusty when it comes to producing Attitude-era crash TV. You can likewise hear it in the announcing. Everyone's fifteen+ years older and trying to remember how to whip up a frenzy in the moment. I like the Rumble stip as it gives the match a badly needed shot in the arm, but man Twitter geeks were freaking out thinking it means Roman will win. Seems obvious you'll get at least a disputed finish that holds up the title. Hate to say it, but Reigns-HHH at Mania suddenly seems more feasible, esp. if there's some kind of Rock involvement as ref or corner man. Still hoping it ends up Reigns-Brock and HHH-Rock - much better use of a 90K crowd.