benjaminkicks

Funk is better. He was my #1.

Man, I love Austin, but I really don't see a case for him being this high.

Man, I had Taker somewhere on the back half of my ballot because, despite all the shit he's been involved with throughout the years (and there's been a lot, no doubt), I'm still a big fan of his high end stuff and figured that was enough to get him a spot on my ballot. But now I'm kinda regretting giving him that vote at all, because the idea of him higher than Tanahashi (who I had in my top 20) is kinda repulsive to me. Hogan and Angle higher than them both is even worse.

Surprised to see Batista that high and on 14 other people's ballots. And I wasn't even the high vote! The way his thread went I thought I might be the only one voting for him, though I guess I underestimate the kind of pull that modern WWE has. Makes me somewhat worried where guys like Trips, Edge, and Orton will rank, guys who I think Big Dave was was way better than, especially considering they all worked the same promotion.

I don't have my ballot handy, but I think Go Shiozaki is my first pick to show up. Nice to see 2 others show him some love, though seeing him finish below Roman Reigns is rough, even with that amazing picture for Reigns!

Just submitted mine. I like my list, but I kinda feel bad that I didn't make enough time to do a tag team list, fill in some more of my blind spots, or make cases for my favorite guys in the nominee threads. But all that aside, it's been a fun project that I'm very glad I took part in, even though I wasn't very involved. Really interested to see and discuss the results.

I think I'm the minority on this, but I think I prefer the Bryan/KENTA rematch from '07 over that '06 title match. Of course if the first one left you cold, chances are the rematch might do the same. I think it's a great match though, and you should give it a watch if you get the chance. They also had two singles matches in NOAH that are both quite good, and maybe it'll be easier for you to get into that matchup in that setting.

It's funny, because in my head I see Jun being "The Guy That Came After Those Guys" as a big part of his character. He's the guy who was destined to be the successor to the All Japan throne, and yet could never measure up to the Pillars. He was always living in the shadow of those guys, and he had a massive inferiority complex because of that. Even in his early years he had a big chip on his shoulder, and that reaches it's boiling point in the early days of NOAH when he switches to the white trunks and becomes the Stern badass. It's a narrative that continues into 2016 with Akiyama trying desperately as the Ace of current All Japan to bring the company back to it's former heights, but ultimately failing because those heights are simply unreachable. Of course that's all just part of my headcanon for the grand All Japan meta-narrative, but it's something I think about when I watch Akiyama wrestle, and it greatly enhances my enjoyment of him.

Depending on who you ask. AJ will make my top 30.

As a 21 year old myself, I'm counter to that as I am much more alike to that latter group in regards to my tastes and being "cine- and pop-literate", though I do admit that I'm an outlier. But it's an interesting way of describing and interpreting the generational divide.

That's fair. I guess there's too many nominees and not enough time to devote lots of effort on every guy. I guess I just would've liked to see more of an actual review of that AJ/Okada match from JvK, so I could get a sense of why he didn't like it, other than "I don't like the atmosphere". Especially because I find most of his other reviews pretty insightful.

The "it's cool if you like it" shtick is pretty inauthentic when you follow it up with derogatory comments like "Video game wrestling for an inauthentic age" and "watching AJ Styles pretend to be his favourite wrestlers". It also seems pretty ignorant to write off AJ's whole career and GWE case based off two matches.

Anyone else excited for the Dome show tonight/tomorrow morning? I think the card on paper looks pretty stacked, and if everything delivers it could be a better show than last year. I'm just hoping I can stay awake long enough to catch the whole show live. It begins at midnight here in Washington, which isn't too bad, but I know I'm gonna start getting glassy eyed around 3, which is probably when the big matches are just starting.

My mind immediately goes to Shawn Michaels for this, and 3 moments in particular: The awesome, feel good ending of the 2002 show, with Shawn pinning Triple H to win the first Elimination Chamber match and the title. His amazing performance at the 2003 show, in the Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff match. The superkick to Triple H right at the start of their triple threat with John Cena at the 2009 show. Awesome way to start the match, especially right after they did the DX entrance together.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/25825-jushin-liger-minoru-tanaka-vs-tsuyoshi-kikuchi-yoshinobu-kanemaru-njpw-cross-road-082902/?hl=%2Byoshinobu+%2Bkanemaru http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/25862-kenta-naomichi-marufuji-vs-yoshinobu-kanemaru-makoto-hashi-noah-navigation-over-the-date-line-091203/?hl=%2Byoshinobu+%2Bkanemaru http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/25896-low-ki-vs-yoshinobu-kanemaru-noah-navigation-over-the-date-line-091004/?hl=%2Byoshinobu+%2Bkanemaru Kotaro Suzuki: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/21966-kenta-vs-kotaro-suzuki-noah-first-navigation-012509/?hl=%2Bkotaro+%2Bsuzuki http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/21966-kenta-vs-kotaro-suzuki-noah-first-navigation-012509/?hl=%2Bkotaro+%2Bsuzuki http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/21818-mark-jay-briscoe-vs-ricky-marvin-kotaro-suzuki-noah-first-navigation-012107/?hl=%2Bkotaro+%2Bsuzuki

I nominated Shirai, because she might have enough stuff to fall on the back half of my list. I think she's one of the best workers in Japan, and have for a few years now. What do you guys think of Io?

This is disappointing to me, because I enjoy reading your stuff and would've really liked to see your final ballot. That said, I don't know where you're coming from with "the process isn't being taken seriously enough". I would like to see you expand on why you feel that way. I've been reading pretty much everything in the GWE section over the last year, and I don't get the sense that people aren't taking it seriously at all. There's a ton of people watching all sorts of stuff, analyzing it, debating about it, and generally spending a bunch of time on the project. I haven't seen anyone "not putting in the work". It's been a lot of fun for me just reading what everyone has to say, while also doing my own legwork to produce a ballot. I honestly don't understand what else you would want people to do.

Io Shirai http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30647-io-shirai-vs-koguma-stardom-22215/?hl=shirai http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30680-io-shirai-vs-arisa-nakajima-stardom-122913-title-vs-title/?hl=shirai http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/32230-io-shirai-vs-mayu-iwatani-stardom-823/?hl=shirai

I enjoy his tag work with KENTA, as well as some of the singles matches they had together. But he's usually pretty hit or miss for me. His offense ranges from really awesome to complete shit, sometimes within the span of a few seconds. Ditto his selling. I don't see him as a guy who would make my list, but I don't hate him or anything.

In terms of wrestling conventions of course Kawada is the heel. But throughout the overarching narrative that is 90's All Japan, I tend to view him more as an antihero. But that's probably because Kawada is my favorite. Misawa is amazing, but he was The Man. I like the story of the guy fighting and rebelling against The Man, so I naturally look at it through the POV of whoever he's facing. I love watching the arcs of Kawada, Taue, Kobashi, and Akiyama struggling to eventually overcome the Final Boss that is Misawa. But I hope that doesn't discount how perfect Misawa was in that role. His work speaks for itself.

How do you think Bryan compares to the greats of the 70's, 80's, and 90's? Guys like Flair, Funk, Lawler, Bockwinkel, Hansen, Rose, Jumbo, the Four Pillars, Hart, and whoever else. The serious #1 or top 10 contenders. Because the way I figure it, if Bryan is really the best wrestler of his generation (2000 to the present, I guess), as I've often seen claimed, that should put him in the same conversation as the greats from other generations, right? Unless you put less stock in being the best wrestler of the 2000's compared to being the best wrestler of the 70's, 80's, or 90's?

Some that come to mind for me, that haven't been mentioned yet: Daniel Bryan Shinya Hashimoto Meiko Satomura Jun Akiyama Cesaro KENTA Batista Daisuke Sekimoto

Do you like high flyers in general?

Lesnar/Taker at Hell in a Cell needs to be a grim, gritty, Dark Knight Returnsesque spiritual sequel to their clash at No Mercy '02.

Rusev is amazing. He should be the star of the company.