InYourCase

The first Joe match, as well as his stuff vs. Low Ki, Super Dragon, Bryan Danielson, and his stuff in the ROH/CZW feud stands out. It's not a lot, but I think it's more than Super Dragon.

Carlos Colon and Sean Waltman are two guys that I'm having a lot of trouble with. Colon, on some days, feels like a top 30 guy, and other days, I feel comfortable putting him in my bottom 20. Colon is great at everything he does and I've had a blast watching his stuff, but that leaves me conflicted, because while he's tremendous, he doesn't jump off the screen as someone that I need to rank really high. Waltman's career is bizarre and it, for whatever reason, makes him difficult to rank. I love his stuff with Jerry Lynn in Global and he has spurts of greatness for the next 15 years, but those are few and far between. He's someone that I feel like I need to include because of his peak, but he's also weighed down by a bunch of terrible performances.

I don't think either are making my list, but if one does, it'll be Necro. There's something about Super Dragon that is just a little off putting. I appreciate what he's done, I love the aura he brings to the table, and he's had a handful of great matches, but Necro is more talented in every aspect of being a wrestler. Super Dragon is similar to someone like Zack Sabre Jr in the sense that every big Super Dragon match, no matter who the opponent is, is worked like a Super Dragon match. He's not very versatile. Necro had a very specific style, but I think he adapted much better to guys, whether it be Low Ki, Bryan Danielson, Homicide, or Samoa Joe.

If Omega would have killed it last year, I think there would be room for him on my list. He's close, but I don't think he's going to make it. The All Japan run is a major plus for him. I love everything about that run. A majority of his DDT run is great and his PWG/part-time New Japan stuff helps his case, but I haven't seen enough of him thriving in New Japan to place him.

Kenny Omega http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/02/20/roh-njpw-honor-rising-japan-2016-february-20-review-lethal-honma/ http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/02/19/roh-njpw-honor-rising-japan-2016-february-19-review-strong-vs-ishii/ http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2016/02/14/njpw-the-new-beginning-in-niigata-2016-results-review/

That's a very good match to highlight. From Arena Warfare or whatever the name of the show was. Those two guys were so close to being booed out of the building and Danielson not only played a great heel, but won them over with his work.

I can accept that. I've never disliked a wrestler more than him and he's pushed as being "good" by a lot of people, so I'm clearly biased here.

I truly think he's one of the worst wrestlers ever. The worst wrestler that has been nominated, for sure. He does nothing convincing. His body language in the ring is so off-putting that it kills any interest I could possibly have in his work. Lazy. Awkward seller. He's not good.

I think Doi is the only Dragon Gate guy nominated that I won't be voting for. Milano would be the only other one and I'm on the fence with him. Doi, to me, is the best heel in wrestling. I think he's an incredible character, a great tag team wrestler, and a really fun midcarder. Where he struggles, however, is the main event scene. His Dream Gate run was a failure, both from a business perspective and from a match quality perspective. He lost the title to YAMATO in an excellent match, but other than that, his reign was really weak. It showed a lot of holes in his work. I love his SpeedMuscle stuff and occasionally he puts in fun singles matches, but he's not Top 100 quality.

This doesn't have to do with the Bruno conversation, just thought I should mention this. I'd make the argument that Colon has the best babyface fire // comeback ever. It's evident in the Hansen feud and extremely clear in the 10/16/82 Flair match. When I binged on Colon a few weeks ago, that's what came across more than anything. Great bleeder, brawler, and seller, but he really wins me over with his comebacks.

Wait, do people think Bruno is better than Colon? I don't dislike Bruno, but I find Colon to be much better.

I look at his "fake heel" run as a major positive. I watched all of his ROH run in hindsight, so maybe there's just something that I'm missing because I wasn't watching it DVD-to-DVD in 2006, but to me, he was just too respected by that crowd to garner any form of "true heel heat". The crowd knew he was the best and he played into that. I loved his character work from that run. Like in the NYC KENTA match, he messes up on his Liger Surfboard thing and as soon as the crowd starts to give him shit, he gives it right back. It's tongue in cheek in a way, but it was also an appropriate reaction for who he was and where he was working. I thought it was brilliant stuff. Plus, 2006 ROH had Hero, Necro, and Super Dragon that were doing heel things. Whatever Dragon was doing was going to pale in comparison to those three. Is it just Bryan's late-ROH work that bothers you, or his entire indie run? Because his 2009 ROH run wasn't anything special, but he put in a few killer performances in PWG and I think his run for Gabe in 2009/2010 is insanely great. The EVOLVE matches with Fish and Sawa are great (I'm really high on the Fish match) and I can't say enough good things about his short DGUSA run. Legitimately great matches with Doi (who was struggling at the time), YAMATO, and Shingo, and a really fun brawl with Ambrose. 2009 ROH was a bore, but that could also be a case of him not liking the way Pearce was doing things or the way he was being booked. The Morishima feud was over, he was no longer teaming with Aries, and he never found his groove on the HDNet tapings. If you look at his booking from 2009, it's all over the place. Whatever he was doing with The Embassy ended rather quickly and he was just doing "stuff" until his farewell tour. I really think that plays into his overall performance (and speaks to how bad Pearce was in his role) because whether it was with Low Ki, Homicide, Nigel, Morishima, or KENTA - he was always building up to something. His matches played off one another and there was a constant sense of progression. In 2009, that stopped. It showed in his work.

I don't get this guy. Amazing promo, great character, but not even close to someone that I would consider for my list. He works a style that I don't care for, which doesn't help, but from a technical standpoint, I still don't see much in the guy as an in-ring performer. Best entrance music in WWE history? That is an argument I could get behind.

One of my personal favorites - I think he had a unique charisma that was sort of tapped into in his early ROH run, but never fully capitalized on. That being said, a mix of not having a very long peak and a series of underwhelming indie matches means I can't rank him in good conscious. Love the guy, he's just not good enough for my list.

I credit PAC with making Ricochet watchable. They worked together for all of 2011 - in DGUSA and DG proper, both in singles and tags, and there's a clear difference between December 2010 Ricochet and December 2011 Ricochet. They had that 10 minute sprint in Korakuen, a fun match in Hakata, and then an insane, all-out spotfest in Osaka where Ricochet finally went over. In terms of athletic ability, that match can't be touched. There's also a tag match from Kobe World that year - PAC & Dragon Kid vs. CIMA & Ricochet that is one of the few DG matches I've given five stars.

Little bit of both, imo. He did his best work in the 2000s and 2000s Puro isn't exactly PWO friendly, but for whatever reason, and the glory days of NOAH are still in that awkward, recent/vintage phase. I love the guy and right now he's floating in my Top 40. The tag run with Hase has helped a lot because I thought he was great in a lot of those matches. I'm also a huge fan of his feud with Kobashi, which probably helps. I don't think a lot of people on here would enjoy those chop-fests, but I loved them. The singles match in the Dome, the tag match in NOAH with Go and Nakajima, and then their Diamond Ring tag in 2006 with Nakajima and Tenryu. His 2004 G1 run is lots of fun, also. Longevity is on his side, more so than peak, but even then he has the 8/8/04 Takayama match, the singles match with Kobashi, and the 11/1/90 tag with Hase vs. Mutoh & Chono.

Someone who is coming increasingly close to my list, but won't find his way on there. One of the most athletically gifted wrestlers ever, arguably the best foreigner in DG history, and someone who constantly puts out great work wherever he goes. In 10 years I'm sure he'll crack my list, but he just doesn't have the volume yet. I love the guy.

KENTA was bumped from my top 10 by Hashimoto, but he'll finish comfortably in my top 20. My pick, over Danielson, for wrestler of the decade between 2000-2009. His work in KENTAFuji can't go overlooked, also. He's an outstanding wrestler. Someone, who in my mind, does everything right. Great babyface, better heel. Has played the sparky underdog and the dickhead, veteran heel. Great in singles, tags, six-mans, etc. Someone that, to me, that gets unfairly criticized because of the generation that he's a part of. The "pro wrestling is objectively bad after *insert year here*" narrative that is so absurdly false and rather annoying. Side note, I think people forget how amazing he was in ROH. Anyone wanting to explore more of him needs to see him vs. Low Ki, the Danielson series, vs. Nigel, etc.

Who had the best 10+year run and when was it (pick your own parameters)? Tenryu from 1986 through 2005 has to be it. 1986 was when he started to come into his own, starting with the 1/28/86 match, did amazing stuff for the next 19 years, then had an excellent 2005 in NOAH. vs. KENTA, w/ Akiyama vs. Kobashi & Taue, and w/ Akiyama vs. Kobashi & Shiozaki. All high-level stuff because of Tenryu. Who had the best 10 year run and when was it? Has to be Fujinami from 1980-1990, right? Who had the best 5 year run and when was it? KENTA from 2005-2009 has to be in consideration. That's the first name that came to my mind. Who had the best 3 year run and when was it? Kobashi from 2003-2005. No questions asked. Who had the best 2 year run and when was it? Okada from 2012-2013 Who had the best single year and when was it? Mochizuki's 2011, KENTA's 2009 and Taue's 1995

As Dylan mentioned, his early ROH run gets overlooked a lot. He was great in 2002 and up through 2004. He stood out, more so than Ki or Dragon or Danielson and I think that added to a lot of his matches. Love his series of matches with Danielson, his performance in the hour long four-way at Crowning a Champion, and his 7/17 Pure Title match with Alex Shelley. I highly doubt he'll end up on my list, but he's someone that I considered at the beginning of the project. Very talented wrestler.

Someone who has made a huge impression on me when going back and watching Big Japan stuff. Diverse in the sense that he's gotten great outings of other strong lads, juniors, and deathmatch workers. Great tag/six-man tag worker, with his highlight performance probably being the 1/2/08 tag w/ Sekimoto vs. T. Sasaki & Miyamoto. His 10/10/05 Z-1 match with Kanemoto is another classic. Total sprint with a unique finish. Long story short, I'm ranking Sasaki. He'll be on the lower end of my list, but he's too diverse and has put in way too many great matches to not be represented by me.

This is an environment where people consider Taue to arguably the best of the four pillars. People on this site are higher on Taue than any other place I know. This is the wrong place to say he's under the radar because he's simply not.

Jeez and Eddie Kingston aren't touching my Top 500. Eric Bischoff would probably make my list before those two. Does CZW actually add to anyone's case? Jay & Mark Briscoe, maybe? Besides the blowoff match with Kingston, does Hero have anything beneficial in CZW? I can understand Trent Acid support, if you're really high on that time period, but other than that, I really don't think CZW has added to anyone's case. Drake Younger would be a total vanity pick for me in like a Top 200, and even then, that argument would be made off of his PWG/socal indie run, not CZW.

As of now, Sekimoto is #32 on my ballot.

Roderick Strong, Briscoe Brothers, Matt Sydal, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena are all guys that have needed this decade to place on my ballot. Aries, Low Ki, Generico, Styles, Punk, Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan, and Chris Hero have all been aided by this decade, but would've made my list regardless.