InYourCase

I may have already asked you this on Twitter, but have you seen his work with Hero from PWG?

I think you're getting Roddy confused with Eddie Edwards. Lethal has worked two PWG shows, one against Eddie, the other against Willie Mack. Roddy was on those shows but he worked Trent and then tagged with Eddie on the next night and wrestled the Bucks. Roddy's having a year that confirms he'll be on my list. He's had a decade of high-profile matches on the indies and always seems to deliver. Love the guy.

Their VOD's come out a cycle after their DVD's. DDT4 just got released on DVD, so the show prior was just released on VOD. For whatever reason I'm having trouble putting this into words so hopefully it makes sense. http://www.highspots.com/c/PWG-VOD.html

Still holding out for a hero (Alan, actually) to come back to PWO just to write something about Mochizuki. Mochizuki will finish in my top 10. One of those guys that ticks off every box I could want in a wrestler. Great offense, good seller, tremendous ace, and always seems to add something to multi-man matches. He's an all-time great with an all-time great title run in 2011. Gave Yoshino (at the time), YAMATO, BxB Hulk, and Tozawa (at the time) their career singles matches during that one reign. He's someone that should be on everyone's list but some Dragon Gate tendencies will keep him from ranking really high on some people's list. vs. CIMA: 12/10/01 vs. Genki Horiguchi: 4/22/03 vs. Ryo Saito: 2/6/05 I know I'm doing him an injustice by skipping so much time for recs. This is why Alan needs to be here! vs. YAMATO: 5/13/10 vs. Masato Yoshino: 4/14/11 vs. YAMATO: 5/5/11 vs. BxB Hulk: 7/17/11 w/ Don Fujii & Super Shisa vs. T-Hawk, Eita, & U-T: 10/10/13 vs. Masato Yoshino: 1/16/14 vs. Akira Tozawa: 10/9/14

Shingo has a shot of cracking my top 20. Shingo has the leg up on say, Tozawa or YAMATO, because he's been great since he debuted in 2004. Very few people have crisper offense than he does. A lot of hardcore Dragon Gate fans in both North America and Japan don't care for Shingo because he's sort of had the same act for forever, sans a short period from 2008-2010. Outside of that time period, he's sort of been a babyface by default. The fans don't have a reason to boo him so they cheer him. When he was a heel and feuded with BxB Hulk he showed how great of a heel he could be. His offense really dictates he should be a heel, but as I said, the fans just don't have a reason to boo him. Another thing Shingo has helping his case is that the third Shingo/Susumu Yokosuka match from DGUK (from the show titled Shingo/Yokosuka III) is my favorite match from the Dragon system. TJ Hawke does a great job of recapping the match. He has it at ****3/4, to me it's an easy *****. Regardless, it's an amazing match that really adds to Shingo's case. http://411mania.com/wrestling/views-from-the-hawkes-nest-dragon-gate-uk-shingo-vs-yokosuka-iii/ w/ CIMA, Naruki Doi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: Susumu Yokosuka, & Kenichiro Arai: 2/23/05 w/ CIMA, Magnitude Kishiwada vs. TAKA Michinoku, Susumu Yokosuka, & Masaaki Mochizuki: 9/7/05 vs. Takeshi Morishima: ROH 4/28/07 w/ BxB Hulk vs. KENTA Tajii Ishimori: 3/20/08 w/ Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi: 8/28/08 vs. BxB Hulk: 7/11/10 vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: 9/14/12 (most people on PWO will have a stroke watching this. Throwing it in here because I love it) vs. BxB Hulk: 12/28/14

I'll be the high vote on Aries for sure. To me, he's the second best worker in ROH history. There's a definite gap between he and Danielson, but he's #2. Shown he can work as the ace of a promotion as both a face and a heel. Not to mention his TNA run, which has featured an excellent X Division Championship reign and then two really solid matches with Bobby Roode for the World Title. The Jeff Hardy matches did nothing for me and then after that he went on to be booked like "just a guy" in TNA. It's sold out on ROH's website, but for anyone looking to see more of Aries from ROH, his compilation DVD titled "Evolution of A-Double", I believe, is the perfect set. I'm assuming everyone here has seen his important matches with Joe, Punk, and Bryan, so I'll try and rec a few lesser known matches that I think are great. vs. Alex Shelley: 5/7/05 vs. Takeshi Morishima: 4/21/07 vs. Roderick Strong: 10/6/07 vs. Go Shiozaki: 2/23/08 vs. Jimmy Jacobs: 6/28/08 vs. Kenny Omega: 11/14/09 vs. YAMATO (DGUSA): 4/2/11

Apologize for some thread bumping, but there are a few guys I want to discuss. Tozawa is a sure fire lock for my list and if he continues wrestling the way he is, he has a shot at being my wrestler of the decade. His young boy stuff was nothing special, nor was his early in-ring career. Once he got some confidence in PWG and DGUSA, he became something else. In PWG he was great at working from the bottom as a fiery babyface. Worked great with Hero, Steen, and Generico. Had a somewhat disappointing match with Low Ki, but that was more because Ki didn't want to do anything. Came back to Japan in the summer of 2011 as a completely different worker. Worked as a cocky, dickhead heel and was so, so great. Obviously character work isn't considered for this project but I'd like to add that he was probably the best heel in wrestling from 2011-2013. BxB Hulk can get on my nerves but he and Tozawa had a great tag run during that time period also. Now working as a super babyface in Dragon Gate. His finish, which is a straight-jacket German Suplex, has become one of my favorite things in wrestling at the moment. There's such a struggle to get his opponents arms locked and when he finally does, the crowd goes crazy. He's a charisma machine and is nearly as over as Gedo in Korakuen Hall. I'm convinced no one is more over in a certain building than Gedo is there, also. Tozawa is very, very close. Tozawa will become the eventual ace of Dragon Gate and it will be one hell of a journey. For those that don't care for the Dragon Gate style, Tozawa is the one guy I would really look at having on your list. Between the three chapters of his career, there's something there for everyone. -vs. Chris Hero: PWG 9/5/10 -vs. Kevin Steen: PWG 12/11/10 -vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: 10/13/11 -w/ BxB Hulk vs. Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora: 3/4/12 -w/ BxB Hulk vs. Naruki Doi & Ricochet: 7/21/13 -vs. T-Hawk: 5/9/14 -vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: The one Alan posted above vs. Kzy: 2/28/15 -vs. Shingo Takagi: 5/8/15

Katsuhiko Nakajima was great when he started wrestling at the age of 16. He was tearing it up in virtually every promotion in Japan in 2005. Great charisma from the start. He was a prodigy. The last few years haven't been banner years for Nakajima. He seems to not care. It's a real bummer. The T2P Class was really strong with Yoshino, Milano Collection A.T., and Ryo Saito being the standouts. Doi is really the only one that I think has gradually improved from just being okay to a very good wrestler. Yoshino is the one to really focus on here. He was great from the start. Debuted in late 2001, by 2003 was the standout in Toryumon. I plan on watching some more Ryo Saito later this week because I'm starting to think he might be in the same boat as Yoshino. I really like Johnny Gargano but I don't think he stands out as being anywhere near "great" until 2011. Always seemed to lack something. Being with two charismatic guys like Swann and Chuck Taylor helped him a lot, I think. Gargano is an above average worker with extraordinary charisma that puts him over the top. Without that, he's just as good as Seth Rollins, which isn't that great.

Lou Thez Award (Wrestler of the Year) 1) Kevin Owens 2) AJ Styles 3) Jay Briscoe Most Outstanding Wrestler 1) Daisuke Sekimoto 2) Roderick Strong 3) Chris Hero Feud of the Year 1) Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Shuji Ishikawa 2) Roderick Strong vs. Drew Galloway 3) Fenix vs. Mil Muertes Match of the Year 1) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi: 1/4/15 2) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada: 1/4/15 3) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto: 3/31/15 Show of the Year 1) Wrestle Kingdom 9 2) ROH Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 3) ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night 1 Tag Team of the Year 1) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi 2) Masato Yoshino & Shachihoko BOY 3) Cesaro-Gun Most Improved 1) Roman Reigns 2) Kotoka 3) Johnny Mundo Best Promo 1) Kevin Owens 2) Jay Briscoe 3) Drew Galloway Best Technical Wrestler 1) Zack Sabre Jr 2) Drew Gulak 3) Tracy Williams Best Brawler 1) Daisuke Sekimoto 2) Shuji Ishikawa 3) Kohei Sato Most Overrated 1) Kurt Angle 2) Mr. Anderson 3) Randy Orton Most Underrated 1) Jimmy Susumu 2) Cesaro 3) Luke Harper Most Charismatic 1) Shinsuke Nakamura 2) Mark Briscoe 3) Dalton Castle Promotion of the Year 1) Ring of Honor 2) Big Japan Pro Wrestling 3) Dragon Gate/EVOLVE - undecided at the moment Best TV 1) NJPW on AXS 2) ROH Wrestling 3) Lucha Underground

1993 All Japan would have to be at the top of my list. I'd put Dragon Gate Infinity from 2011 a step behind that. I wouldn't really consider Infinity a TV show anymore (I don't vote for it in the WON Awards) because it's nothing more than a live event with an Infinity logo slapped on, but 2011 was still in a TV format. Some of the booking with Junction Three got a little goofy, but the in-ring quality was so outstanding. The best year for Dragon Gate, in my opinion. Mochizuki working on top, PAC/Dragon Kid/Ricochet doing amazing things in the midcard, Tozawa coming back into the fold and being amazing. Awesome year for the company.

UPDATED – 6/15/15 – KING of STARZ New additions in BOLD NJPW Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma: NJPW New Beginning in Sendai (****3/4) KUSHIDA vs. Kyle O’Reilly: BOSJ Finals 6/7 (****1/2) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito: New Japan Cup Finals (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. AJ Styles: Invasion Attack (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. Tomoaki Honma: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (****1/4) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gedo: BOSJ Korakuen 6/5 (****1/4) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, & YOSHI-HASHI: Road to Invasion Attack 4/2 (****1/4) Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito: NJPW New Japan Cup 3/5 (****1/4) Young Bucks vs. RPG Vice: Invasion Attack (****) Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto: New Japan Cup Finals (****) AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****) reDRagon vs. Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (****) Jushin Liger vs. Yohei Komatsu: BOSJ Korakuen 5/22 (****) Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto: New Japan Cup 3/5 (****) Tomoaki Honma & David Finlay Jr vs. Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka: BOSJ Korakuen 5/30 (****) Bobby Fish vs. KUSHIDA: BOSJ Korakuen 5/30 (****) Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto: Wrestling Dontaku (****) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles: New Beginning in Osaka (****) KUSHIDA vs. Rocky Romero: BOSJ Nagoya 6/3 (****) Dragon Gate Akira Tozawa vs. Shingo Takagi: KING of GATE 5/8 (****3/4) Akira Tozawa vs. Kzy: Champion Gate in Osaka 2/28 (****1/2) Masato Yoshino & Shachihoko BOY vs. Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora: Gate of Passion 4/9 (****1/2) Akira Tozawa vs. Dragon Kid: DEAD or ALIVE (****1/2) Eita vs. Jimmy Kagetora: Open the New Year Gate 1/12 (****1/4) Monster Express vs. Jimmyz vs. Mad Blankey vs. Dia Hearts: Glorious Gate 3/6 (****1/4) Masato Yoshino vs. Masaaki Mochizuki: KING of GATE 5/24 (****1/4) Jimmyz vs. Millenials vs. Mad Blankey: DEAD or ALIVE (****1/4) YAMATO vs. T-Hawk: KING of GATE 5/8 (****1/4) BxB Hulk vs. Uhaa Nation: Champion Gate in Osaka 3/1 (****1/4) Akira Tozawa & Shingo Takagi vs. Eita & Kotoka: KING of GATE 5/24 (****) Akira Tozawa vs. Flamita: Glorious Gate 3/24 (****) Big R Shimizu vs. Jimmy Susumu: Open the New Year Gate 1/16 (****) BxB Hulk vs. Akira Tozawa: KING of GATE 5/16 (****) T-Hawk & Flamita vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid: Glorious Gate 3/6 (****) Masaaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid, & Kzy vs. Don Fujii, Gamma, & Ryo Saito: KING of GATE 5/16 (****) BxB Hulk vs. Jimmy Susumu: Truth Gate 2/5 (****) ROH The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Kingdom: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****1/2) Roderick Strong vs. KUSHIDA: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night One (****1/2) Young Bucks & AJ Styles vs. ACH, Matt Sydal, & Cedric Alexander: ROH TV 2/14/15 (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. Adam Cole: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night One (****1/4) The Briscoe Brothers vs. Matt Sydal & ACH: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. Bobby Fish: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****1/4) Cedric Alexander vs. Kazuchika Okada: ROH/NJPW Global Wars Night One (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. ACH: 13th Anniversary Show (****1/4) The Kingdom vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Hanson: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****1/4) Samoa Joe vs. Michael Elgin: Conquest Tour 3/14 (****1/4) Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****) ROH All-Stars vs. Bullet Club: ROH/NJPW Global Wars Night One (****) reDRagon vs. RPG Vice: Conquest Tour 3/14 (****) Young Bucks vs. reDRagon: 13th Anniversary Show (****) Matt Sydal vs. Cedric Alexander: 13th Anniversary Show (****) Roderick Strong vs. Alberto El Patron: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****) WWE/NXT Kevin Owens vs. John Cena: Elimination Chamber (****1/2) Kevin Owens vs. John Cena: Money in the Bank (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena: Royal Rumble (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: Wrestlemania 31 (****1/4) Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch: NXT Unstoppable (****1/4) Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: NXT Rival (****1/4) Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley: NXT Rival (****) Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Wade Barrett vs. Stardust vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper: Wrestlemania 31 (****) Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor: NXT Rival (****) Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns: Fastlane (****) Cesaro-Gun vs. New Day: Extreme Rules (****) Cesaro-Gun vs. New Day: Payback (****) Indies Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr: PWG Don’t Sweat the Technique (****1/2) Young Bucks vs. Matt Sydal & Chris Sabin: PWG Black Cole Sun (****1/2) Ricochet vs. Matt Sydal: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/2) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Axel Tischer: wXw 16 Carat Night 1 (****1/2) Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick: EVOLVE 40 (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher: WWN Supershow (****1/4) Biff Busick vs. Mike Bailey: EVOLVE 44 (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/4) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong: PWG Black Cole Sun (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee: EVOLVE 43 (****1/4) Young Bucks vs. Monster Mafia: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/4) Timothy Thatcher vs. Axel Dieter Jr: wXw 16 Carat Night 1 (****1/4) Biff Busick vs. Mike Bailey: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****) Drew Galloway vs. Ricochet: EVOLVE 37 (****) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak: EVOLVE 38 (****) Rockstar Spud vs. EC3: Impact Wrestling 3/13 (****) Timothy Thatcher vs. Roderick Strong: EVOLVE 37 (****) TJ Perkins vs. Mike Bailey: EVOLVE 43 (****) Chris Hero vs. Tommy End: PWG Don’t Sweat the Technique (****) Johnny Gargano vs. Davey Richards: EVOLVE 41 (****) Other Puro Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto: Big Japan Korakuen 3/31 (*****) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa: Big Japan Korakuen 5/28 (****3/4) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuji Okabayashi: Big Japan Korakuen 2/2 (****1/2) Akito vs. Shigehiro Irie: DDT Nagoya 5/17 (****1/2) Joe Doering vs. Go Shiozaki: All Japan Korakuen 1/3 (****1/2) Masato Tanaka vs. Shingo Takagi: Zero-One Tokyo 3/29 (****1/2) HARISHIMA & Happy Motel vs. Kota Ibushi & Strong BJ: DDT Korakuen 1/25 (****1/2) Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara: All Japan Korakuen 3/27 (****1/2) TMDK vs. Dangan Yankees: NOAH Korakuen 1/10 (****1/2) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato: Big Japan Korakuen 1/2 (****1/4) Twin Towers vs. Yuji Okabayashi & Yujji Hino: Big Japan 3/21 (****1/4) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi © Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie: DDT Korakuen 4/29 (****1/4) HARISHIMA vs. Kota Ibushi: DDT Saitama Super DDT (****1/4) Dangan Yankees vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Kohei Sato: Zero-One 3/1 Korakuen (****1/4) Yuji Hino & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Antonio Honda: BJW/DDT/K-Dojo New Years Eve Wrestling 1/1 (****1/4) Minoru Suzuki vs. Naomichi Marufuji: NOAH Great Voyage in Yokohoma 5/10 (****) TMDK vs. Killer Elite Squad: NOAH Great Voyage in Nagoya 2/11 (****) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo: DDT Saitama Super DDT (****) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano: DDT 5/17 (****) Lucha Underground Fenix vs. Mil Muertes: 3/18 (****1/2) Sexy Star vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Mack vs. Killshot vs. King Cuerno vs. Fenix vs. Cage: 5/13 (****1/4) Prince Puma vs. Cage: 3/25 (****) Prince Puma vs. Hernandez: 5/27 (****) King Cuerno/Cage/Texano Jr. vs. Mack/Killshot/Big Ryck vs. Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico: 4/22 (****) Jack Evans vs. Aerostar: 5/13 (****) Prince Puma vs. Drago: 4/29 (****)

UPDATED – 5/31/15 – MAJOR UPDATES! New additions in BOLD NJPW Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (*****) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma: NJPW New Beginning in Sendai (****3/4) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito: New Japan Cup Finals (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. AJ Styles: Invasion Attack (****1/4) Kota Ibushi vs. Tomoaki Honma: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (****1/4) Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, & Tomoaki Honma vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Kazushi Sakuraba, & YOSHI-HASHI: Road to Invasion Attack 4/2 Karl Anderson vs. Tetsuya Naito: NJPW New Japan Cup 3/5 (****1/4) Young Bucks vs. RPG Vice: Invasion Attack (****) Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto: New Japan Cup Finals (****) AJ Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****) reDRagon vs. Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters: NJPW New Beginning in Osaka (****) Jushin Liger vs. Yohei Komatsu: BOSJ Korakuen 5/22 (****) Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto: New Japan Cup 3/5 (****) Tomoaki Honma & David Finlay Jr vs. Yohei Komatsu & Sho Tanaka: BOSJ Korakuen 5/30 (****) Bobby Fish vs. KUSHIDA: BOSJ Korakuen 5/30 (****) Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows vs. Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (****) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto: Wrestling Dontaku (****) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AJ Styles: New Beginning in Osaka (****) Dragon Gate Akira Tozawa vs. Kzy: Champion Gate in Osaka 2/28 (****1/2) Masato Yoshino & Shachihoko BOY vs. Jimmy Susumu & Jimmy Kagetora: Gate of Passion 4/9 (****1/2) Akira Tozawa vs. Dragon Kid: DEAD or ALIVE (****1/2) Eita vs. Jimmy Kagetora: Open the New Year Gate 1/12 (****1/4) Monster Express vs. Jimmyz vs. Mad Blankey vs. Dia Hearts: Glorious Gate 3/6 (****1/4) Jimmyz vs. Millenials vs. Mad Blankey: DEAD or ALIVE (****1/4) BxB Hulk vs. Uhaa Nation: Champion Gate in Osaka 3/1 (****1/4) Akira Tozawa vs. Flamita: Glorious Gate 3/24 (****) Big R Shimizu vs. Jimmy Susumu: Open the New Year Gate 1/16 (****) T-Hawk & Flamita vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Dragon Kid: Glorious Gate 3/6 (****) BxB Hulk vs. Jimmy Susumu: Truth Gate 2/5 (****) ROH The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Kingdom: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****1/2) Roderick Strong vs. KUSHIDA: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night One (****1/2) Young Bucks & AJ Styles vs. ACH, Matt Sydal, & Cedric Alexander: ROH TV 2/14/15 (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. Adam Cole: ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds Night One (****1/4) The Briscoe Brothers vs. Matt Sydal & ACH: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. Bobby Fish: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****1/4) Cedric Alexander vs. Kazuchika Okada: ROH/NJPW Global Wars Night One (****1/4) AJ Styles vs. ACH: 13th Anniversary Show (****1/4) The Kingdom vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Hanson: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****1/4) Samoa Joe vs. Michael Elgin: Conquest Tour 3/14 (****1/4) Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly: Winter Warriors Tour 2/21 (****) ROH All-Stars vs. Bullet Club: ROH/NJPW Global Wars Night One (****) reDRagon vs. RPG Vice: Conquest Tour 3/14 (****) Young Bucks vs. reDRagon: 13th Anniversary Show (****) Matt Sydal vs. Cedric Alexander: 13th Anniversary Show (****) Roderick Strong vs. Alberto El Patron: Winter Warriors Tour 1/31 (****) WWE/NXT Kevin Owens vs. John Cena: Elimination Chamber (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena: Royal Rumble (****1/2) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: Wrestlemania 31 (****1/4) Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch: NXT Unstoppable (****1/4) Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: NXT Rival (****1/4) Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley: NXT Rival (****) Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Wade Barrett vs. Stardust vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper: Wrestlemania 31 (****) Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor: NXT Rival (****) Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns: Fastlane (****) Cesaro-Gun vs. New Day: Extreme Rules (****) Cesaro-Gun vs. New Day: Payback (****) Indies Roderick Strong vs. Zack Sabre Jr: PWG Don’t Sweat the Technique (****1/2) Young Bucks vs. Matt Sydal & Chris Sabin: PWG Black Cole Sun (****1/2) Ricochet vs. Matt Sydal: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/2) Zack Sabre Jr vs. Axel Tischer: wXw 16 Carat Night 1 (****1/2) Chris Hero vs. Biff Busick: EVOLVE 40 (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher: WWN Supershow (****1/4) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/4) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong: PWG Black Cole Sun (****1/4) Young Bucks vs. Monster Mafia: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****1/4) Timothy Thatcher vs. Axel Dieter Jr: wXw 16 Carat Night 1 (****1/4) Biff Busick vs. Mike Bailey: PWG From Out of Nowhere (****) Drew Galloway vs. Ricochet: EVOLVE 37 (****) Chris Hero vs. Drew Gulak: EVOLVE 38 (****) Rockstar Spud vs. EC3: Impact Wrestling 3/13 (****) Timothy Thatcher vs. Roderick Strong: EVOLVE 37 (****) Chris Hero vs. Tommy End: PWG Don’t Sweat the Technique (****) Johnny Gargano vs. Davey Richards: EVOLVE 41 (****) Other Puro Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Sekimoto: Big Japan Korakuen 3/31 (*****) Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuji Okabayashi: Big Japan Korakuen 2/2 (****1/2) Joe Doering vs. Go Shiozaki: All Japan 1/3 Korakuen (****1/2) Masato Tanaka vs. Shingo Takagi: Zero-One Tokyo 3/29 (****1/2) HARISHIMA & Happy Motel vs. Kota Ibushi & Strong BJ: DDT 1/25 Korakuen (****1/2) Go Shiozaki vs. Kento Miyahara: All Japan 3/27 Korakuen (****1/2) TMDK vs. Dangan Yankees: NOAH 1/10 Korakuen (****1/2) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Kohei Sato: Big Japan 1/2 Korakuen (****1/4) Twin Towers vs. Yuji Okabayashi & Yujji Hino: Big Japan 3/21 (****1/4) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi © Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie: DDT Korakuen 4/29 (****1/4) HARISHIMA vs. Kota Ibushi: DDT Saitama Super DDT (****1/4) Dangan Yankees vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Kohei Sato: Zero-One 3/1 Korakuen (****1/4) Yuji Hino & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Antonio Honda: BJW/DDT/K-Dojo New Years Eve Wrestling 1/1 (****1/4) Minoru Suzuki vs. Naomichi Marufuji: NOAH Great Voyage in Yokohoma 5/10 (****) TMDK vs. Killer Elite Squad: NOAH Great Voyage in Nagoya 2/11 (****) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo: DDT Saitama Super DDT (****) Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano: DDT 5/17 (****) Lucha Underground Fenix vs. Mil Muertes: 3/18 (****1/2) Sexy Star vs. Pentagon Jr. vs. Mack vs. Killshot vs. King Cuerno vs. Fenix vs. Cage: 5/13 (****1/4) Prince Puma vs. Cage: 3/25 (****) Prince Puma vs. Hernandez: 5/27 (****) King Cuerno/Cage/Texano Jr. vs. Mack/Killshot/Big Ryck vs. Ivelisse/Son of Havoc/Angelico: 4/22 (****) Jack Evans vs. Aerostar: 5/13 (****) Prince Puma vs. Drago: 4/29 (****) Still need to see War of the Worlds Night 2, the Dragon Gate Korakuen from early May, and I need to finish the 16 Carat (and by finish, I mean start Day 2), but I was way behind on this and I felt like I needed to update it.

ROH shows from the Gabe era when they used the smoke machine. The smoke would fill the ring during the introductions and it added an extra layer of intensity. Absolutely love it.

Dylan talked me into participating. Blame him for any of my absurdity from here on out. Top 10 Contenders: -Genichiro Tenryu -Kenta Kobashi -Stan Hansen -Toshiaki Kawada -Bryan Danielson -Mitsuharu Misawa -Jumbo Tsuruta -Ric Flair -Masaaki Mochizuki -KENTA -Rey Mysterio Jr. -Chris Benoit -Volk Han -Shinya Hashimoto

Kojima is by far the better half of TenKoji. Love the G1 Final with Akiyama and I think the 1/4/2001 match with Kawada is a lot of fun, but he wouldn't finish in my Top 200.

Milano is a guy I like a lot. Very unique gimmick and he had the charisma to pull it off. There's a small shot of him making my list, but he's certainly someone I'll dive deeper into. He was "the guy" in Toryumon and Dragon Gate for a short time period. If you haven't seen him I would suggest giving these a look. -vs. Ryo Saito: 1/15/05 -Crazy MAX vs. Italian Connection: 9/8/2002 -vs. Ryo Saito: 11/13/01 -vs. Magnum TOKYO: 12/16/03

-Anything JBL does. It's not just that he's not a good announcer, he takes away so much from the product. Can't stand him at all. -Referees randomly enforcing this "legal man" crap. It's 2015, let guys have some fun. I would like to see "lucha rules" in all tag matches. In ROH, especially, nothing kills a tag match like a great series of offense and then suddenly the referee kicks a guy out of the ring for not being the legal man. It's dumb. Either enforce it 100% of the time or none of the time and I'd much rather have it be none of the time. -Probably another really unpopular opinion on here, but there's some Dragon Gate-hating that I feel is unfair. It's not 2003. CIMA is basically an old man. These guys aren't going balls-to-the-walls all the time. I'm not saying they have the most sound psychology, but ffs, not everything in that company is just MOVEZ~! -Vince Russo living in 1998. -The TNA "lunatic fringe community"

My main issue with Nigel is that for most of his matches, especially during his World Title run, I often felt like he was the second best guy in the match. Danielson, Aries, Generico, KENTA, etc. are all a level above Nigel. Of course, those are guys that are elite workers, but rarely did I find a sole Nigel performance great. He has a lot of matches that I really, really like, but rarely is that because of him more than his opponent.

I haven't seen a lot of early-2000's Super Dragon that Bill has been pimping lately, but 2006 Super Dragon would fall under the "dangerously stiff" category. That added to the ROH/CZW feud, which he was absolutely excellent in. Not sure if there is a reason why he didn't get booked more after that, but he was every bit as good as Necro during the feud. It's stuff now that is cringe worthy because of the sheer brutality, but it certainly made him stand out. His 2006 BOLA match with Necro is something else. Necro knocks him out a few minutes into the match and the two proceed to shoot on each other with punches and chairs. It's, ummm, insane. Probably wouldn't make my Top 100, but would be damn close.

My hypothetical list would probably have more 2000's guys than just about anyone. Stealing Bill's format for this, also. Definite: Akira Tozawa Austin Aries Cesaro Chris Hero CM Punk Daniel Bryan Hiroshi Tanahashi Kazuchika Okada KENTA Kota Ibushi Kurt Angle Matt Sydal Sami Zayn Samoa Joe Tomohiro Ishii Just on the Cusp: AJ Styles Christopher Daniels Jay Briscoe Kevin Steen Low Ki Mark Briscoe (both Briscoes and Steen probably have a better shot of making my hypothetical GTTE list) Prince Devitt Ricochet Sami Callihan Sheamus Shinsuke Nakamura Need to See More: Amazing Red Kyle O'Reilly Mascarita Dorada Necro Butcher Super Dragon No Chance Batista Bully Ray Chris Masters James Storm (yuck!) Randy Orton Seth Rollins Timothy Thatcher (sorry Bill) Hardly Seen Anything: Kyle Matthews Not Listed (Should be considered): Daisuke Sekimoto Jamie Noble Masaaki Mochizuki (probably the best Dragon Gate guy for non-DG fans to look at) Shingo Takagi

Sam's a geek who is often carried by Tanner. The podcast is quite entertaining because of their dynamic. Their JLIT breakdown was a hoot. Worth listening to every week.

I have nothing to say other than the fact that I'm really, really enjoying this so far.

Liger making motorboat sounds on commentary was the greatest. Eight-Man Opener: *** Ibushi & Komatsu vs. Naito & Tanaka: ***1/4 Bullet Club B Team vs. TenKoji & Honma: **1/2 RPG Vice vs. reDRagon vs. Young Bucks: ***3/4 Omega vs. Shelley: *** Six-Person Fiasco: DUD Sakuraba, Yano, & Ishii vs. Tanahashi, Shibata, & Makabe: **3/4 Styles & Yujiro vs. Okada & YOSHI-HASHI: **1/4 Nakamura vs. Goto: N/R I have very mixed feelings about this card. The first two matches and the Jr. Tag Title match were all fun. Hell, Nakanishi’s dive was the best thing I’ve seen all year. Four out of the five Bullet Club performances, however, were bad. A Honma win is typically great but being in Fukuoka sucks the life out of anything that should be exciting. Wasn’t feeling the Omega match. I had high expectations going in and this wasn’t what I was hoping for. Take out the trash can spots and I think I would’ve really liked it. On a positive note, I thought Omega’s post-match promo was excellent. Nothing needs to be said about the IG match. “Serious Love Story” made me pop but I absolutely hated this match. The next two multi-man matches were there. For once in my lie I didn’t like something Ishii did. I thought he and Makabe’s felt forced. I liked their match earlier in the week but this wasn’t a good continuation of that. Yano throwing a water bottle at Tanahashi makes me laugh every time. The rest of the act doesn’t. I saw the main event but I don’t remember a thing about it. Will be rewatching it later today. So the undercard, sans Omega/Shelley, over delivered. It was fun to watch at the very least. The second half of the show sucked. Obviously that’s without rating the main event, but the three matches before that were dull and not enjoyable at all. Thumbs in the middle.

Favourite style of wrestling? There's not a lot of wrestling styles a don't like. Enjoy strong style and whatever you would consider Dragon Gate. Typically I just don't care for Lucha or "WWE style" matches filled with headlocks, pointless holds, and finisher spamming kickouts. Favourite way wrestling is presented? I love when wrestling is presented as a legitimate competition (90's All Japan) but I also like some fun mixed into sport. That's what I think of when I think Dragon Gate. World class athletes like Mochizuki, YAMATO, and Tozawa mixed in with some fun undercard matches. I like a variety up and down the card. Favourite type of match? Trios matches. There's so much you can accomplish with trios matches. It's a good way to load up on star power in a match, yet protect those guys by having one of the lesser stars take the fall. There are so many different ways to progress feuds when trios stuff is done right. That's where All Japan thrived, imo. Kawada, especially, had such a knack of staying interesting even when he wasn't the one doing a majority of the action. I love the way he or Misawa or Kobashi would interact with Taue or Jumbo on the apron. It's such an easy way to build up a big match. Trios matches can also just be fun spotfests, which I think are needed in wrestling and I welcome with open arms. It's nearly impossible to duplicate a trios match. Favourite gimmick match? One that I'm sure everyone on the site will disagree with - the Dragon Gate DEAD or ALIVE cage match. I completely understand that it's not for everyone, even some DG fans, but it's a match that is always so wacky and innovative and I absolutely love it. War Games and Dog Collar matches are things I also really enjoy. Favourite wrestler? All-time? Kenta Kobashi, Daniel Bryan, and Masaaki Mochizuki. Currently? Tomohiro Ishii by a mile and a half. Matt Sydal would be second. Favourite match? 12/3/93 HDA vs. Misawa/Kobashi is the first one that comes to mind simply because Kawada's performance absolutely blew me away the first time I saw it. The 6/9/95 and 12/6/96 tags would also be in consideration. Honorable mention to Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation from 7/3/2005. Favourite feud? Danielson vs. Morishima Favourite angle? Jesus Christ I have no clue. Favourite promotion/period of wrestling? All Japan 1990-1995, ROH 2005-2007, and New Japan 2012-now Little things that happen in wrestling that you always love? Minoru Suzuki and Toru Yano facial expressions.

I don't think he's adapted poorly with his injury at all. He still has to get over and as much as I like some of his grappling work, that's not going to get over with the WWE audience. Plus, I think Bryan's a smart enough guy to know what style he can work and what style he can't. The only reason he's out of action currently is because of a concussion, which I believe was at the fault of Sheamus. I actually came to the thread to bring up how Bryan is able to adapt so well. Currently going through his best-of from wXw and it's amazing how he adapts in front of every crowd. I'm probably not as high on his early ROH stuff as most people. Something about him from 2002-2003 just never clicked with me the way it did with others. That said, since then, he's been able to do so many different and great things with his in-ring style and his character. He's an elite brawler (Morishima and Sheamus matches), obviously a tremendous technical wrestler as shown during his entire ROH title run, and his later years on the indies when he adapted more of a shoot-style has been very fun to watch recently. Not to mention the fact that he got over in NOAH during a time when no gaijin were pushed or really over, for that matter, and while much of Europe is a big blank spot for me, he's been over there for what seems like a million tours and his wXw work has been tremendous thus far. Bryan, now that I've been thinking about who the greatest wrestler of all-time is, comes to my mind immediately. Especially because he's worker such a variety of styles better than anyone else that I know of. I don't think you can hold the 2015 run against him. His match quality was still high when he was healthy and I don't doubt that *if* he returns, his matches will continue to be great.