El Dragon

What a freaking talent base you are working with here man. Like the tape trades would be trading any show you run around like candy on Halloween. Super Excited to see the direction.

Larry Z is a great commish choice for any fed, especially of his popularity in late WCW. Really like your start and am excited for the tournament.

I don't think there's any hiding that our mindsets on this draft was very similar, to the point me and you might even be something akin to sibling promotions, and I'm super interested to see the directions you go. You already have a fantastic roster of young up and comers combined with really good top talent. Being honest, I'm rooting for Regal in the tournament. I think he'd nail the Heel Ace role and we never got to see it.

I'm trying to pick out which disguise Vince using would be most fun. Really looking forward to whats going on up Northwest!

You might have the most intriguing roster going in this little game, because you can go so many weird directions. I can't wait to see the direction your going from here!

God, what a great roster to run a fed with. Really strong opening too, the name is super clever and super Bischoff.

With the wrestling world in total chaos, there have been reports of many small feds forming to answer the opening. With the Mexican scene struggling with the larger feds deaths, it appears that the legendary Negro Casas has taken it upon himself to try to bring the industry back to it's feet. Casas has been trying to push for as many of the top Luchadors in the country to unite under his banner, promising good pay days and growth for more future paydays, claiming he has a deal in place to help the talent gain greater exposure outside of Mexico. Meanwhile, while the wrestling news that has been dominant out East has been the formation of U-COSMOS, their has been a quiet undercurrent of news coming out of Yokohama. Jushin "Thunder" Liger has apparently been in contact with many top junior heavyweights in the wrestling world, trying to make arrangements to find housing in the Yokohama area. Meanwhile, while many expected Akira Taue to either join the U-COSMOS with his old tag partner in Kawada, or follow Kobashi and Misawa to the United States, but the rumor has it he has put money down into a promoters license. This news seemed straight forward enough, except for a very surprising development. Taue and Liger were seen on a long international flight to the United States last night, apparently heading to the Charlotte area. Even more surprising then the two making there way stateside, is that they were seen by a fan waiting for a flight to arrive, and greeted one Negro Casas, also making his way to the area. The 3 men were seen leaving in a shared vehicle. Breaking News: Press Conference to be Held Tomorrow!

And none of his tag teams were as good as as the Kings of Wrestling. Hell, Beer Money wasn't as good of a tag team as Kidd and Cesaro. If you want to name some contenders here, you'd want guys who have had great tag matches with multiple partners in multiple settings in multiple roles. I'd look more Roderick Strong then James Storm, for example. You could also make a decent case for the Briscoes, if you wanted.

Are you just gonna keep naming wrestlers that can't hold a candle to Cesaro or.....

I wish there was a like button on this board.

Yeah, Eaton basically eliminates Claudio from this conversation. He had all time tag teams with Condrey and Lane, one of the most under rated teams of all time with Koko. None of Claudio's teams touch those, and I love Claudio. Hell, honestly I think the Bar overall was a giant letdown of a team, and it always felt like those 2 should have worked much better then they actually did.

I have gone on the record that when we do this again in 2026, Bryan is my one vote with a bullet. The diversity of his matches, of the roles he can play, and his range of opponents he got something at minimum something good with is crazy. Actually expanding, out of the guys who are active from the Top 100, I’m not sure how many of them even raised there case in the last 4 years. From 100-1 Virus- I haven’t seen enough from him recently but I would assume stock up. Matt, have you been watching enough to be able to tell if he’s still putting in great work? LA Park- Stock the same, I would imagine. Some great stuff spread around in between him picking his spots. Shinsuke Nakamura- Stock Down. He was a flawed case but the highs were so high, and the last voting period was perfect for him. I couldn’t see him making the list again if it was now, let alone 5 years from now. Sami Zayn- Stock Down. He still might be the best NXT baby face ever, and he’s been fun as a heel, but he was just a background player overall. Cesaro- Stock Down, maybe stock the same. Felt like he was a couple big years away from moving high on this. But the Bar always felt like it should have been better, and while he’s been fun for a while, I think adding more years without tons of high end work hurts him more then helps. His moment is going the wrong way. Hiroshi Tanahashi- Stock up. I’m not a fan, but people on this board have argued he has had a better career then Bryan. I think they are crazy, but there are probably enough that put him super high that top 50 is reasonable expectation if I had to guess. Chris Jericho: Stock up, Id think. I’m not a big Jericho guy and didn’t vote for him last go around, but I’d be more open to having him in a bottom 10 type spot now by a long shot. The opposite of Nakamura, as 2016 was probably the worst time to evaluate Jericho when he and AJ were stinking up the place. Samoa Joe- Stock up, a bit. He had the stuff with Lesnar which made the WWE run worth it. You can argue he was the best guy in the company at selling a program with just mic work, which not everyone will evaluate, but some will. It’s a debate as I didn’t like his NXT work but thought he was generally always a main show highlight. Brock Lesnar- Fuck if I know. He’s had amazing performances and he’s been an act I’m completely over, sometimes at the same time. I agree with Matt’s general take on Brock, but the Bryan, Balor, and Styles matches were super fun. He works amazing as an imposing bully against a smaller baby face, but in almost any other role he seems to just mail it in. If he got top 50 again I wouldn’t be shocked. AJ Styles- Stock up, minimally. I think AJ is very good and was in the running for best worker in WWE for a couple years, but I don’t know how he can reasonably climb much higher then what he was last time at 39. Maybe in the 30-35 range, because while he has some highs, he also had stuff that didn’t click like it should have. Dustin Rhodes; Stock stays the same. He’s still capable of something great, and is a rock solid TV guy, but I don’t think he’s really gained positions. Maybe he gets to top 25, perhaps, but it’s iffy. John Cena- Stock stays the same. If you like super Indy Cena maybe a slight bump. For me it actually lowers him a bit. But he’s in the right area already to me. Rey Mysterio and Justin Liger- Stock stays the same. They’ve had some great performances and certainly didn’t hurt themselves, but they needed more to move past the top 5 or so. I think you can maybe argue Rey passes Liger, but these are still the top 2 pure Juniors. Daniel Bryan- Stock up, I think. Not much, what with already being 5th. But I would expect him to actually finish top 3 if we did this again. I think he passes Misawa, and at least one of Hansen and Flair: I am of the opinion the only person more likely to finish 1st in 2026 over Bryan is Funk.

Also, his original story was that he “considered” filing a restraining order against her and she has been stalking him since 2017. Then it was revealed he was having an affair with her in 2019. Lying like that brings basically all of his story into a gigantic question, we’re as the accuser has had the same story, unchanged, the entire time. Really not looking good for Riddle.

Also, in my neck of the woods St. Louis Anarky just announced the field for the “Spirit of Spaulding” 24 person, 2 block round robin tournament that is starting soon with all shows going up. Names in the tournament include Gary Jay, Matt Fitchett, Davey Vega, Aaron Williams, AC Mack, Warhorse, Thomas Shire, Jeremy Wyatt, and Fred Yehi. Getting 11 matches from Yehi with a variety of opponents should be super fun.

Honestly when Candice LaRae came forward with how shocked she was and had no idea I was very skeptical. She was closely associated rival/tag partner of Ryan for years. Also he popularized moves like the Boobplex on her. She might have been cool with it, but that never raised any red flags? Really?

Being real, I think the sad part is a lot of the talent DO believe in what CHIKARA was supposed to represent. A lot of the talent, especially the younger workers, probably joined because they thought it was a place to would be perfect for them due to them being very inclusive. That ideal is great. The problem is the person running that was an egomaniac who bought into al his own shit.

I'm uniquely qualified to give specifics here, so quick rundown. When the original breakdown of this shit was happening, a wrestler in CHIKARA going by Kobald was accused by 4 separate women for predatory behavior. CHIKARA promptly fired Kobold, but it has spurred on others to tell stories of the company being shitty, as one of the women who came out (a former podcaster for the company who now does the same for CZW) has started taking on reports from other who have similar stories for the company and posting them. Lowlights have included accusations of Quack getting caught sleeping with some of his female students, including the time his wife found out. Also, accusations of racism, homophobia, and more have been levied on Quack. Also, the podcaster running this also happens to be my best friend of 15 years, and I can personally testify the Kobald shit was horrific bullshit and I will punch that dude in the face if I ever meet him in person.

Or it's a sign he asked to turn heel repeatedly, which he did. He's stated as such. He was still popular, he just wanted to turn heel.

I similar vain to Togo who is a good shout, Meiko Satomura would have to be in the top 10 running too, right?

Are we really judging quality by what a modern crowd thinks of a match on if it’s bad now? Cause I’d rather self lobotomize with a hatchet then watch an Adam Cole epic and people love those.

Yeah, we are listing the almost Memphis style Bryan/Miz March as bad now? That match ruled.

Which Miz part? I liked there most recent feud, even though it was the only face Miz stuff that was bearable. And while the Kane feud was the shits, he also got a legitimately entertaining tag team out of Kane.

Oh, didn't realize would even notice I haven't posted much. Just been focusing on work, have been kind of out of wrestling for a while.

With respect to the New Japan fans: It's Bryan and it isn't close. He's been a contender for best in the world for basically every year he's been active. I think you can make a claim he's in "best ever" category and I don't think it's hard. Some names that would be in a top 10 discussion that haven't been brought up yet, mostly from US. Rey Mysterio: While it seems like he's clearly done as a top line guy this minute, he was having good stuff with Andrade, what, last year? Was probably the only guy in the discussion with Bryan in the US for most of the 2000-2010 era. And has still produced very well in times since. It's weird how his name doesn't get mentioned when he was such a stalwart for so long. Chris Hero: I'm not even a big Hero guy, but I'm surprised some others haven't thrown his name in the running yet. I would guess the failed WWE runs have hurt him in a lot of eyes. Jun Akiyama: Maybe I'm just super out on New Japan, but he'd still be my "best guy in Japan" for this century so far. Another name I'd give a shout to being a super Darkhorse, though obviously not a winner in this contest, is Eddie Kingston, who has remained one of the few guys I will seek out there work for almost 15 years now.

Only wrestler I think you could make a very convincing argument for best wrestler of the decade for 2 decades.