Microstatistics

To be fair, 37 was a severe underestimation of Shawn to begin with. I regretted it almost immediately, he should have been closer to 20. But uncovering two distinct all-time great singles peaks (1994-1997 and 2005-2009/10) and the universally lauded Rockers run, coupled with intrinsic fundamentals and intangibles, made a place in the Top 5 the bare minimum. Casas was hit by a relative lack of high-end output (the inverse was true for Santo, hence the ascension). His case also felt exceedingly Santo-centric for me at first, but great work vs. the likes of La Fiera and Rush ensured a respectable Top 40 finish.

Funk and Bryan are Top 2.

This was the Top 10 of the list I submitted, including shifts from 2016. 1. Kenta Kobashi (6 --> 1, +5) 2. Shawn Michaels (37 --> 2, +35) 3. El Hijo del Santo (15 --> 3, +12) 4. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (22 --> 4, +18) 5. Kiyoshi Tamura (7 --> 5, +2) 6. El Satanico (2 --> 6, -4) 7. Bryan Danielson (26 --> 7, +19) 8. Eddie Guerrero (12 --> 8, +4) 9. Jushin Liger (3 --> 9, -6) 10. Gunther (New) Only Kobashi, Tamura, Satanico, and Liger remained, with further rearrangements. For the ones that dropped down: Genichiro Tenryu (1 --> 22, -21) Negro Casas (4 --> 40, -36) Tatsumi Fujinami (5 --> 13, -8) Akira Hokuto (8 --> 16, -8) Jun Akiyama (9 --> 19, -10) El Dandy (10 --> 75, -65)

Submitted my list today. This one is exponential more "accurate" and representative of my tastes than the one submitted in 2016 because I primarily employed an empirical, GME-driven approach. If a wrestler had the output (volume, ceiling, variety of opponents etc.), it was reflected in the placement. 1. Kenta Kobashi 2. Shawn Michaels 3. El Hijo del Santo 4. Yoshiaki Fujiwara 5. Kiyoshi Tamura 6. El Satanico 7. Bryan Danielson 8. Eddie Guerrero 9. Jushin Liger 10. Gunther 11. Mitsuharu Misawa 12. Brock Lesnar 13. Tatsumi Fujinami 14. Kenny Omega 15. Bret Hart 16. Akira Hokuto 17. Daisuke Ikeda 18. AJ Styles 19. Jun Akiyama 20. Vader 21. Kazuchika Okada 22. Genichiro Tenryu 23. Tetsuya Naito 24. Ric Flair 25. Chris Jericho 26. The Undertaker 27. Ricky Steamboat 28. Aja Kong 29. Hechicero 30. Antonio Inoki 31. Jon Moxley 32. Kurt Angle 33. Stan Hansen 34. Roman Reigns 35. Mick Foley 36. Volk Han 37. Shinya Hashimoto 38. Jumbo Tsuruta 39. Steve Austin 40. Negro Casas 41. Toshiaki Kawada 42. Nobuhiko Takada 43. Jerry Lawler 44. Steve Grey 45. Chigusa Nagayo 46. Will Ospreay 47. Jim Breaks 48. Roddy Piper 49. Lou Thesz 50. Mima Shimoda 51. Nick Bockwinkel 52. William Regal 53. Sami Zayn 54. Triple H 55. Jack Brisco 56. Chris Benoit 57. Akira Maeda 58. Akira Taue 59. Io Shirai 60. The Destroyer 61. Pirata Morgan 62. Dick Murdoch 63. Marty Jones 64. Naomichi Marufuji 65. Giant Baba 66. Hulk Hogan 67. Josh Barnett 68. MJF 69. Keiji Muto 70. Shinjiro Otani 71. Bob Backlund 72. Megumi Kudo 73. Samoa Joe 74. Edge 75. El Dandy 76. Naoki Sano 77. Darby Allin 78. El Samurai 79. Bull Nakano 80. CM Punk 81. Rush 82. Randy Orton 83. Cody Rhodes 84. Mariko Yoshida 85. Mayumi Ozaki 86. Axel Dieter 87. Jim Londos 88. Anton Tejero 89. Mocho Cota 90. Giulia 91. Miu Watanabe 92. Koji Kanemoto 93. Dolph Ziggler 94. Ricky Morton 95. Scott Steiner 96. Yuji Nagata 97. Azumi Hyuga 98. Tully Blanchard 99. Asuka 100. Bruno Sammartino

Eight out of 10 seem like certainties at this point (alphabetically arranged) - Eddie Guerrero, El Hijo del Santo, El Satanico, Jushin Liger, Kenta Kobashi, Kiyoshi Tamura, Shawn Michaels, Yoshiaki Fujiwara The ones below appear to be in contention for the remaining spots (so would be Top 20-25 locks) - AJ Styles, Akira Hokuto, Bret Hart, Brock Lesnar, Bryan Danielson, Daisuke Ikeda, Gunther, Jun Akiyama, Kenny Omega, Mitsuharu Misawa, Tatsumi Fujinami

Bruno will be in the 75-100 range for me. Minimalist, relentless brawling was his meat and potatoes and that style ages fairly well. Hence, I enjoy his special attraction 80s work quite a bit, though his late 60s work vs. Giant Baba illustrated that he was really strong technically as well. His prime was the 70s even if some of his matches from that era fell flat for me. Still, the Superstar match from 8/1/1977 is his masterpiece for being an all-out out-for-blood fight and likely the best match of the WWWF era.

I think he has a strong case for best TV worker in WWE history. The best Smackdown match ever (vs. Austin, 5/29/2001), the Velocity match ever (vs. Regal, 7/12/2005), and some of the best matches on Raw all belong to him. Hell, he might even have the best Nitro match (vs. Bret). Add a solid PPV record and the Wild Pegasus run (with the Eddie Guerrero 96 BOSJ semifinal as his career peak) and I'll rank him even if it's likely not in the Top 50.

Won't rank him but I think he is the best in-ring McMahon by a country mile. The KotR Street Fight might be Kurt Angle's best match period and WM33 is one of my favorite WWE AJ Styles matches. He was solid in the DX vs. McMahons/Big Show HIAC as well. The stuntman accusations are probably not off base, especially for the late 90s/early 2000s, but at least added an endearing spectacle element to the matches.

Yeah, maybe I should do proper deep dives before I make claims like these. The three matches below are all great, worked quite distinctly role-wise, and tell unique stories at the different phases in his career/life. His formulaic match beats are perhaps not the most compelling wrestling in the world but he is always a solid hand and is fundamentally really quite strong and stylistically versatile. vs. Chris Jericho (AEW, 11/9/2019) vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 11/7/2020) vs. Roman Reigns (WWE, 4/7/2024)

Miu Watanabe Seems like one of the best Joshi workers of the decade. Her initial presentation is quite jarring but rather deceptive as it gives way to an intense wrestler who works focused matches. The power wrestling is her calling card I suppose but she is solid on the mat, psychologically sound, and sells consistently. Potentially the best wrestler of 2025 in terms of big matches as well. vs. Shoko Nakajima (TJPW, 8/17/2025) vs. Mizuki (TJPW, 9/20/2025) vs. Yuki Aino (TJPW, 10/18/2025)

Huh, the majority of appraisals of Backlund here are pretty negative and yet he finished in the Top 100 last time. I agree with the criticisms to some extent so he is unlikely to be higher than 75-100 if I do rank him. Having said that, I think his goofiness is overstated and his technique and fundamentals were actually very strong. Plus, he was evidently one of the most over wrestlers in US history. Moreover, as some people have alluded to, he does have the volume. Not saying that I do, but if someone values most of his stuff vs. Superstar, Sheik, Inoki, Patterson, Valentine, Hogan, Patera, Slaughter, Rose, Takada, Bret etc., I can easily see them placing him astronomically high.

I attended live. Really good show with 4 hours of compelling wrestling. The tag match and the ending were the only misfires. MJF vs. Adam Page: Solid opener, albeit a little long. I would have liked some more hateful brawling but MJF's heel antics were fun. **3/4 Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe: Very good stuff as you'd expect from Mercedes. First time watching Momo and she was a little slow on the uptake but grew into the match and story. ***1/2 Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet: This was shockingly good and maybe the best match of the night, the last thing I would have expected. Great action, even if Ricochet's selling wasn't the best, and the Nana story was incorporated very organically. ***1/2 Kazuchika Okada vs. Brody King: This was alright but pretty by-the-numbers. Seeing Okada sell like a comedy heel was strange (even if he did it quite well). **1/2 Hurt Syndicate vs. Outrunners: Shelton looked good as always but this was terrible and a complete waste of time. Should have been a 3 min squash instead. *1/2 Toni Storm vs. Mariah May: Their All In match was my 2024 AEW MOTY and while this didn't hit those heights, it was the perfect ending to a memorable trilogy. Few of the transitions and selling were rather lazy but the violence and vitriol were on point, to a disturbing degree. Excellent, climactic finish. This should have been the main event. ***1/2 Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita: Pretty good, better than their All Out 2023 match in terms of psychology. Takeshita looked like a beast and Kenny worked well as the underdog vet. Don Callis drew crazy heat. Great finish that protected both guys. *** Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher: Maybe I was a little burned out after 3 hours because the start was so slow and devoid of anything interesting. But they won me over by the end with the escalation of crazy spots and violence, though the repeated blood consumption spots were revolting. ***1/4 Jon Moxley vs. Cope: The match itself was actually ok (Moxley's off-selling notwithstanding) but the finish was nonsensical and completely killed the crowd. They had a truly great ending right there with Christian's crafty one-handed pin but instead made him look like a complete chump. **1/4

Interesting question and I think I agree with the majority of comments here: Bryan was an in-ring prodigy but not necessarily someone who was singularly important for putting US indie wrestling on the map in the 21st century. He was just one of the guys involved in its ascension (albeit the best one wrestling-wise). Overall, Punk is a bigger draw and seemingly the bigger name, though it is hard to overstate just how over Bryan was in WWE from late-2013 to early-2015.

To me, Ospreay seems to be a case of high-end performance vs. generic outing. Criticism of his selling is overstated and even fallacious if you look at his best work but appears to sustain if you examine his average spotfest. In some ways, he epitomizes some of my most despised elements of modern wrestling, namely 1) the perennial back-and-forth segments that have usurped proper transitional segments 2) introducing a lot of ideas into a match but not following through on any of them. The Danielson match was an egregious example of the latter, though Bryan was almost as guilty. Will's strikes are stiff and his athleticism undeniable but most of the rest of his offense is not particularly interesting either. Having said that, he is one of the best in the world when he is working from underneath against a belligerent heel and his three top MOTYC-level matches all embody that: vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW, 6/5/2019) vs. Kenny Omega (NJPW, 1/4/2023) vs. Kyle Fletcher (AEW, 11/23/2024) Maybe the WK match was more of a Kenny clinic (though Ospreay's selling in it was pretty fantastic) but I have yet to see a better Shingo match and Full Gear was almost certainly Fletcher's career match. As a result, despite the limiting flaws, I'll consider him for the Top 50 due to my penchant for tippy-top performances/matches (particularly against wrestlers who haven't hit the highest level against anyone else).

Toni Storm One of the standout women wrestlers post-2015. She has an extensively diverse catalog of work, having worked in virtually all the main wrestling regions (Japan, USA, UK, Germany, Mexico), and hence has incorporated different stylistic elements into her arsenal. In the ring, she is generally reliable with decent fundamentals and an ability to work both serious notes as well as comedy spots. Her current "Timeless" run is probably her most compelling, dripping with eccentricity and charm, and the Mariah May feud is likely a career best, culminating in one of the best non-Joshi women's matches in history at Wembley. vs. Io Shirai (Stardom, 5/14/2017) vs. Meiko Satomura (WWE, 8/9/2018) vs. Mariah May (AEW, 8/25/2024)