InYourCase

I have no hot takes on Kenichiro Arai. Joe Lanza brought him up in the "Who Will You Be the High Vote On?" thread and I felt the need to nominate him. He's SUPER grimy and has become the king of Japanese indies this year, but I can't fathom him making my list. Love the guy, always puts in a solid effort, but he's not a top 100 wrestler of all-time.

Not as high on CIMA as most Dragon Gate fans, but he'll be on my list somewhere. CIMA's big matches are a little disappointing, especially those that I reviewed for the Countdown to Kobe series. He falls into that DG trend of slowing things down to a point that they go too slow. That said, I really like CIMA in tag matches. His Osaka 06 run with Gamma has been awesome (by far the best stuff of Gamma's career). Of course, CIMA has some great singles matches. His title change vs. Shingo on 7/21/13 was perfectly set up to put Shingo over as the next "CIMA" of the promotion. Booking changed that but the match structure was great. He's got an awesome sprint-ish match with YAMATO on 1/20/10. That gets overlooked as a truly great DG match.

Dragon Kid is really, really good. He was a little shaky in the Toryumon days. He's really gotten better as he's aged. He works a fast pace, but he's very in control now. He had a slow, smart, "psychologically sound" match with Flamita on 7/20 last year that really made me appreciate DK in a new light. The match isn't great, but DK is really good in it. I also have a soft spot for his match with Shuji Kondo from July 2004. Kondo literally throws him on his head and it becomes a great giant vs. cruiserweight match. Not sure where DK will end up on my list. He'll probably end up being around Ryo Saito in that 70-80 range.

Another one of those guys that I'll have on my list that probably no one else will. Saito, for whatever reason, reminds me of Tenzan. He has a unique charisma that comes across in big matches and it takes those matches to another level. 2/6/05 and 9/12/13 are his best performances. In the first, he takes it to Mochizuki, who by this point is the ace of the company. He's in a completely different role in the 9/12 match. YAMATO is the hottest heel in the company, Saito is an underdog babyface, and the two light up Korakuen Hall. He'll probably finish in my 70-80 range. I think I'm higher on Saito than most Dragon Gate fans.

Yokosuka has had a career of a ton of very good matches and a handful of great matches. His match with Shingo from DG:UK is my favorite Dragon System match ever. It tops anything Toryumon, Dragon Gate proper, DGUSA, T2P, etc. ever produced. It's the fucking best. He's succeeded in singles, tags, and trios matches. He has a slim shot of cracking my Top 50. When he turns it on, he's incredible. I'll watch him in six-man tag after six-man tag on Dragon Gate Infinity's and then he turns it on and shows everyone that he's one of the best wrestlers in the world. Awesome big match worker. Love the guy to death.

Here's the thing about Horiguchi - I'm giving him my #100 spot. I can't let him go any higher, but he's one of my personal favorite wrestlers and he deserves my #100 spot. Amazing, amazing babyface. His 4/22/03 match with CIMA is probably the best Toryumon singles match and his performance in the 7/3/05 six-man really puts it over the top. I hate most of his heel work, so that's a major mark on him. He's one of those Dragon Gate guys that is always solid and once or twice a year puts on a stellar performance. I'm perfectly okay with me being the only person that ranks Horiguchi.

CIMA Dragon Kid Ryo Saito Susumu Yokosuka Genki Horiguchi Kenichiro Arai (Lanza wanted him nominated, I think) http://openthereviewgate.blogspot.com/ There's at least three reviews for each guy there. That should be all the Dragon Gate guys that need to be nominated.

Hansen and Kobashi are battling for my #1. Danielson has fallen off into a comfortable third with Kawada and Tenryu behind him and Misawa, Mysterio Jr, and Mochizuki behind them. I'm getting close to finishing up Hansen's All Japan work and I have absolutely loved it. One thing that Hansen does better than anyone I've ever seen is project a sense of danger when he's outside the ring. The 10/21/86 match with Jumbo is the best example I've seen of that. There's almost a sense of dread when he and Jumbo leave the ring. It's so much different than Jeff Jarrett's walk-n-brawls. When Hansen is on the outside, I feel like someone is about to die. I love it. No one has made the ring post look as dangerous. I'm also a huge fan of the way Hansen works tag matches. He always finds a way to stand out in them. I was telling Dylan on Twitter a few weeks ago that I adore the way Hansen moves around the ring. He always looks like he's trying to rip someone's head off and I love that. Kobashi is the ultimate babyface and I love that about him. I love his GHC run and the vast majority of his All Japan stuff that I've seen. One thing that might hurt him when I'm finalizing my list is that he only worked that King's Road/NOAH main event style. I'm amazed at how well Hansen has adapted everywhere I've seen him. Loved his Colon stuff in Puerto Rico, his All Japan run, and the little bit of stuff I've seen from his New Japan run. I haven't even touched his AWA work yet.

I always thought you were anti-Shiozaki, Bill. Glad I was wrong. I could see Shiozaki making the tail end of my list. I need to go back and watch his GHC runs because I haven't seen those matches in forever and I have almost no memory of them. His run as a young boy doesn't touch Nakajima's, but he's sustained his momentum, unlike Nakajima, which gives him a better shot of making my list.

@_InYourCase Most of my tweets feature me arguing with Bill. It's good stuff.

Dylan brought it up on the first page, but in terms of popularity, Dragon Gate is #2 behind New Japan. They pack Korakuen every month (to a point where it becomes a safety hazard). They have five big PPV's every year, one of which just drew 5,000 in Tokyo on the same night as the G1 Finals. I'd put them ahead of DDT, who is comfortably ahead of NOAH, All Japan, and W-1. In terms of star power, CIMA is starting to take a backseat to Masato Yoshino, YAMATO, Shingo Takagi, etc. I think Dragon Gate is also the best booked company in the world, fwiw

I SHOULD be upset that El Patron is ranked as highly as he is and that YAMATO is at 167 but it's 2015 and there's no reason for anyone to care about this list.

Steen and Genki Horiguchi are the two guys that I really, really want to put on my list, but I don't know if they'll make the cut. I'm a big fan of Steen's ROH run, especially his stuff from 2007-2010. Love his team with Generico, love his singles work against Nigel, and then of course, the Generico feud. Doesn't hurt that he was really the only thing worth watching in 2012 ROH. His match from October of that year with Elgin is still my favorite Sinclair era ROH match. Unless I'm forgetting someone, I think Owens might be the best ladder match worker ever. Maybe Edge, who excelled in those matches, but Owens has had numerous high-quality ladder matches for nearly a decade now. I have Owens at four ****+ matches this year and I've yet to see his ladder match with Balor. Cesaro and Sasha would rival him, but right now Owens is my WWE worker of the year.

Admittedly I don't know as a lot about Hamada. What makes him standout over CIMA? CIMA, at least as of now, would be a slamdunk vote for me. Checks off boxes for influence, drawing power, and in-ring ability.

The right answer to Kobashi's last great match is Kobashi & Shiozaki vs. Sasaki & Nakajima from 11/5/05. Kobashi is awesome in that match.

I haven't seen the Yone stuff, I'll be sure to watch that. He was fine in Global League last year, but certainly not one of the best performers. Hero, Tanaka, Sugiura, Kojima, and Nagata were much better than him. Also wasn't a fan of his GHC match wtih KENTA. I was actually incredibly underwhelmed by it.

Baby Nakajima was the best. Him battling with Kobashi, Sasaki, & co. in NOAH was a ton of fun. He then had that super fun run in All Japan. He had a ridiculously great match with Shuji Kondo in 2007, I believe. Sadly, he hasn't done much since that series with KENTA in 2009. He shows flashes of greatness once in a blue moon. He would probably have a case for being the best wrestler under 21 ever, but his case runs cold after 2009. As of now, I wouldn't put him on my list.

KENICHIRO ARAI! Can we please get him a nomination thread? You have to turn in a ballot, Lanza.

There's a portion of Elgin's career from about mid-2011 through early 2014 that I love. He completely fell off a cliff after winning the ROH World Title, though. He had two matches with Tommaso Ciampa in the second half of last year that I loved, but other than that, he did nothing for me. His G1 run was a breath of fresh air. He seems motivated for the first time in two years. Won't be anywhere close to making my ballot, but I'm glad that people have been showing #BigMike some love lately.

Vader has a shot of making my top ten. Have to go through a little more of his NJPW stuff, some WWF stuff, and his late 90's All Japan run, and as long as that isn't super disappointing then he could be anywhere from 10-20.

Most of the Dragon Gate crew. I'll have Mochizuki in my Top 10 (I think Alan will also), Shingo in my Top 25, and both Susumu Yokosuka and Akira Tozawa have a shot of cracking my Top 50. I'd also be shocked if I wasn't the high vote on Austin Aries.

Whoever was under that mask was an excellent heel. Didn't even cross my mind that it was someone else but I guess it wouldn't shock me if it was.

Backlund also went to BattleArts in 1998 and from the two matches I've seen (he had 5 total) he was crazy over. He wrestles Great Sasuke in one of those matches and it's actually a nifty little match. He also had a feud with Low Ki and Austin Aries in 2007 TNA. He was weirdly entertaining in that feud. Backlund wins weirdest career in wrestling history.

O'Reilly got my third place vote for Most Outstanding last year. He doesn't have the volume to make my list but I think he's arguably the best indie guy going right now. His 2013 PWG run was a ton of fun. Great match with Sami Callihan, a really underrated match with Trent Barreta, and a highly touted match with ACH. He was so over with that Reseda crowd in 2013-2014. Last year he had a great matches with AJ Styles, Zack Sabre Jr, Ricochet, and Cedric Alexander. He really stood out in reDRagon matches, also. I love me some Bobby Fish but O'Reilly was on another planet in some of those matches.

The same guy (ClassicsPuro83) has also uploaded one full Misawa comm. DVD and is in the process of uploading a second. The video quality for some of these matches is ridiculous. Going through the Akiyama stuff right now and it's quite fun. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL85CGtFeIc-UYkUVbWQCxWjYLqNtK4c4n https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL85CGtFeIc-VY3sHW55Lk5qaFWpNV7vmp