InYourCase

Gosh, I've been meaning to come into this thread for like two weeks now. Mochizuki will finish in my Top 10, possibly ahead of Flair and maybe even over Misawa. He's so fucking good. Anyone accusing him of being a "typical DG worker" is so close minded and just doesn't get it. He's the man. I thought his performance against Shingo on 11/1 was one of the best performances in a wrestling ring I've ever seen. A total pro. The best Dragon System worker ever. A Top 10 lock.

I think I like Cabana more than most. He has some really high points. But he's more suited for a Top 250.

Update from the end of May when I last posted 1) Kenta Kobashi 2) Stan Hansen 3) Genichiro Tenryu 4) Toshiaki Kawada 5) Bryan Danielson 6) Rey Mysterio Jr 7) Mitsuharu Misawa 8) Ric Flair 9) Masaaki Mochizuki 10) Shinya Hashimoto Contenders Tatsumi Fujinami KENTA Vader Jun Akiyama Jushin Liger Hiroshi Tanahashi Terry Funk is the obvious omission. I expect him to at least finish in my Top 25, but I haven't seen enough of him to even try to place him.

That match is WEIRD. Actually, that entire show is weird. Steen and Cage went on third in a title match, then the Young Bucks and Super Smash Brothers followed with one of the craziest matches I've ever seen, and then there's Generico vs. Ricochet II as the main event. I haven't gone back and watched the show in about two years, but while I love both Generico and Ricochet, I came away from that match with no strong feelings. I'm honestly not sure if I liked it or not. I did, however, really enjoy the way the roles were reversed, as you mentioned. I need to go back and watch that soon.

He worked heel in a handful of matches that I've seen, most notably the 10/9/10 PWG show against Ricochet. Ricochet was new to the company, Generico was the gatekeeper, and Generico didn't approve of Ricochet's flippy antics. It was very interesting to watch Generico take control and use some stiffer looking offense. He projected his anger and frustration really well, also.

tl;dr

Yatsu's performance in the 1994 G1 was interesting. His match against Choshu was more of a showcase for how great Choshu is, but Yatsu held his own. The Fujiwara match was fine. Simple and effective. Big fan of his match against Mutoh. Crowd was super hot towards the finishing stretch and I thought Yatsu was very, very good there. If Yatsu is on the bubble for you, I would give those a look.

Does Parv, or anyone else for that matter have an issue with younger members like myself submitting ballot? I'm submitting one, no questions asked. I signed up for PWO but wasn't as active at first because I was a little intimidated by Parv and some other members because their knowledge is far greater than mine. Then, after discussing this project with someone in a DM, I realized that me not having sat through hours of Mid South doesn't make my opinion any less valid than someone else's. I have a major issue with your post, Parv. I'm not going to have Rude over Ted on my ballot. I made up my mind a few weeks ago that Rude isn't going to be on my ballot. Then again, I've seen such little of Ted and so I'm not even sure that he'll make my ballot. This is like my getting up set that people aren't going to have Shingo Takagi on their ballot. Hell, Parv, something tells me you haven't taken a look at Takagi or any other Dragon Gate guys. I don't expect you to. But I'm actively looking for Lucha recs, I'm taking a long look at WoS, and I'm open to watching anything that people send me. Who are you to say that people aren't taking this seriously enough? That's bullshit.

Rising: Riki Choshu Stan Hansen Genichiro Tenryu Vader Kiyoshi Tamura Falling: Yuki Ishikawa Volk Han Mitsuharu Misawa (same thoughts that JvK has on Kawada)

Agree with a lot of this. Marufuji is making my list. His highs have been too high to keep him off of a list like this. He gets lazy and a little stale at times, but hating on Marufuji has almost become a meme. When he's on, he's great. Will finish on the lower fourth of my list, but he'll be on there.

Have to take a real close look at Tanaka. Alan is really high on him and it appears Joe is also. I've seen bits and pieces of Tanaka and always like what I see, but I don't put myself through W1 so I'm not seeing him on a regular basis. Has a shot to make my list.

Has a really high peak with the 6/22/13 Okada match. Makabe's best work, one of Okada's best matches. This year has had four matches with Ishii, two of which have been bad. Up until the G1 I was debating with myself on whether or not Ishii was slowing down or if it was Makabe's fault and after seeing Ishii killing it in the G1, I put those lackluster matches on Makabe. No shot at making my list.

I agree with Sam that Daniel Bryan is the ultimate variety wrestler. He's succeeded in every style that he's worked in. That greatly helps him. Hansen and Kobashi are fighting for my #1 spot and there's a chance I give Hansen the edge, simply because he was able to successfully work in a vareity of territories. Yes, he was very brawl heavy in both Puerto Rico and Japan, but I think his Colon stuff is just different enough from the bulk of his Japan work. I haven't touched his AWA stuff yet so I'm sure I'm in for a treat there. Kobashi is hurt by the fact that from what I've seen, he wasn't a great young boy, and didn't become truly great until maybe 1992 or 1993. He worked the big, All Japan main event style, and then the NOAH, bomb throwing, stiff suplex style. Both of which I love, but they aren't very different. Chris Hero was versitile in the sense that he not only works a vareity of guys successfully, but he is a great babyface and an even better heel.

This. I'd love to have the ability to breakdown things the way Parv or Dylan do, but whenever I try to go through a checklist like Parv's while watching the match, I end up finding myself disinterested in the match. I like to get caught up in the moment, and then afterwards, explain why I liked or disliked what I watched.

Interested Case as to why the aversion to 9/6/97? He didn't give Akiyama enough or what? It came across as a borderline Misawa squash. I don't remember Akiyama doing anything of importance in the match and Misawa looked so disinterested in the match. It wasn't a case of Akiyama not being in his league to me, but Misawa just not caring. I wrote in my notes that it's the worst Budokan Hall main event I've seen. Granted, I've seen less much less than you or jdw, for example, but I really didn't enjoy that match.

1) Kobashi 2) Kawada 3) Misawa 4) Taue Kobashi is a level ahead of the four corners, especially factoring in his NOAH run. He's in a battle with Hansen for my #1 spot on my GWE ballot and if he doesn't finish #1, he'll be finishing at a very respectable #2. No one connects with me the way Kobashi does. HIs facial expressions are so intense, his selling is so dramatic, and his offense is so crisp. Kobashi, at his best, is a fighter. He's not shooting, but he's scraping and clawing for everything. He portrays that he wants to win SO MUCH and I love that. I've recenlty fallen in love with zebra pants Kawada. 1980's All Japan is something I hadn't explored until recenlty and young Kawada has really impressed me. Then, obviously, he transforms into this asshole who kicks people in the mouth real hard and it is glorious. Kawada's performance in the 12/3/93 match is probably my favorite performance by a wrestler in any match, ever. If we're just talking about All Japan and not factoring in what these four men did after the split, I'd rank Kawada ahead of Kobashi. I've actually been really sour on Misawa lately. I ran across his 9/6/97 match with Akiyama about a month ago and that really turned me off on Misawa. I've been watching a ton of All Japan lately and Misawa, for the most part, hasn't come across to me as he once did. I still love him and he'll still probably finish in my Top 10, but right now, for whatever reason, I'm cold on Misawa. I love Taue. He's so great at being Taue and his baby giraffe-like movements really add to his charm. I'm really going to struggle ranking Taue on my GWE list because I love him and I think he's great at what he did, but I always struggle with the idea of that making him great. He added so much to the 12/3/93, 6/9/95, and 12/6/96 matches and without him those matches wouldn't be as great as they are, but Taue never comes across as the best worker in those matches. It's Kawada and Kobashi stealing the show in 12/3, then Kawada and Misawa in 6/9, and then Akiyama and Kawada in 12/6. Taue is almost a default #4. He's just not at the level that the other three are, but by no means is that a slight to him.

I still have a lot of Liger I need to watch, but for me, Rey is a lock for my Top 10 and right now he's my #5. He's had good matches with everyone he's been in the ring with. Angle, Orton, Edge, Juvi, Punk, JBL, etc. He's given Angle and JBL their best matches and since I haven't seen Orton vs. Foley in forever, I'm going to say he's given Orton his best match ever. That, of course, could change when I go back and watch Foley murder Orton. Rey's ability to have compelling and dramatic seven minute matches simply amazes me. This GWE project has given me the chance to dive into Hansen, Jim Breaks, Fujinami, etc, but the most fun I've had while watching all of this stuff is Rey's TV matches. No one does it quite like him.

Don't think I can't find room for Don Fujii on my list. I'll make it 11. Just watch.

Nope. I love Sasha. She's had an amazing year, but one amazing year isn't going to get you on my list. I've never seen her indie work pimped, which doesn't help her case.

Mark might have the weakest singles resume of anyone on my ballot. He's got a 2004 Low Ki match that I remember liking when I watched it a few years ago, but Mark has been putting in ***1/4-***3/4 singles matches for over a decade now. I've been fortunate enough to see some great wrestlers live at ROH shows over the past few years. AJ Styles, the Young Bucks, Samoa Joe, Kevin Steen, etc. - no one has impressed me more live than Mark Briscoe. Watching him from 15 feet away gave me a whole new perspective on the guy. He does everything well. His strikes, even his goofy looking kung-fu strikes, look great in person. As Dylan said, he bumps like a mad man. Generico might be the only guy that I've seen take stupider bumps in ROH. This guy is so great. Jay was pushed to the moon by ROH as this unstoppable ace and yet Mark stayed relevant and over by doing what he does on the undercard. Tremendous professional wrestler.

I think Jay's best two singles matches are vs. Jay Lethal from 6/19/15 and vs. Roderick Strong from 1/15/11 Was drafting my Top 50 last night and both Jay and Mark made my list and I might be the high vote on both. Jay came in at #41, Mark at #50. I absolutely love these guys. Both guys bring something different to the table (I'll explain more in the Mark thread) but having a list of the 100 best wrestlers and not including these two would be ridiculous to me. They both have very good-great singles matches, but they do the little things so well. I watch Jay work with a guy like a Donavon Dijak and Jay is a complete professional. He leads him to quality outings. Both guys, by all means, have the talent to be millionaires. Twitter has been their worst enemy.

ZSJ certainly comes across as more of a "technical wizard" in NOAH than he does in PWG or EVOLVE. I love his work in all three companies, but his NOAH work is my favorite. He's sneaky great on these undercards. He's getting over with the crowds and I hope one day, if he's not with WWE, he can fulfil a prominant role in the NOAH juniors division. I stand by what I said about ZSJ in July. He's very good, if not great, but doesn't have the volume to make my list.

Had this conversation a few months back with Dylan and he convinced me that I should be a part of this. I'm so happy he talked me into doing this because I'm having so much fun diving into WoS, 1980's All Japan, and anything and everything involving Stan Hansen. I have weak spots that I'm doing my best to cover and weak spots, like modern Lucha, that I'm going to stay away from. I'm very happy with the progress I've made on this project. I encourage everyone to submit a ballot.

Yatsu is making my list. I've been incredibly impressed with him going through his tags with Jumbo and Choshu. He's a guy that I'd love to rank highly but if his singles match with Hansen is as good as it gets then it's going to be really hard ranking him. Might be better if I put this in The Microscope gimmick, but a Yatsu vs. Taue debate would be a lot of fun. Who was the better fourth guy?

Are there any other really strong Yatsu singles matches besides the 10/28/88 match with Hansen?