Microstatistics

What a difference four years make. I was more impressed with Inoki than Brisco this time around. Brisco was still world-class with his aggression and attentive selling but Inoki's wrestling skill and composure allowed him to shine. 1971 MOTY. ****1/4

I'll likely have these two at x and x+1 in my Top 10. As people have alluded to, their case (i.e., ungodly peaks but stop-and-start careers) is remarkably similar. I'll go Eddie by the finest of margins for his versatility.

Top 10 contender. Other-worldly mat-worker who was pretty much world-class from day one. His ability to conjure gorgeous, limb-maiming submissions out of thin air was truly special but he was also a great striker and seller. He was THE star of 1992-1996 RINGS, gelling well with everyone, from the native talent to the other Russians. He didn't reach the heights of Tamura or Fujiwara, which is why I won't rank him as high as the other two. But on a per match basis, he is hard to beat.

Casas was #4 for me in 2016 and, looking back, that was way too high. A charismatic, skilled, versatile wrestler with incredible longevity but I'm having trouble finding truly great Casas matches that don't involve Santo in some way, particularly singles bouts. I still need to check out some of the trios KB8 has listed above and re-watch some other stuff (like the Hechicero match from 4/2016) but the lack of non-Santo output could limit the ceiling.

I was the co-high vote on Satanico at #2 in 2016 and am proud of it. There is a decent chance he'll again end up somewhere around there. At the very least, he's a Top 10 lock. Footage limitations could make the difference when I have to split hairs. Anyway, healthy number of great matches, best brawler ever, maybe the best punches ever, effective rudo and technico, world-class mat-worker, great seller etc. He is also a guy I'm struggling to find valid criticisms for. I've pointed out weaknesses of my other Top 10 guys, be it Kobashi or Santo or HBK, or even Fujiwara and Tamura (albeit to a lesser extent), but Satanico seems to have all bases covered. Maybe a stronger aerial game (though I've seen him bust out impressive dives) or more high impact offense?

Pat McAfee is the worst commentator since Matt Striker.

As sek69 mentioned earlier, I think he just doesn't care.

It might be a bit odd but if he believes it, there is nothing wrong in saying so. The AEW roster jumping to Kenny Omega's defense in response and touting him as the best on Twitter is much more bizarre and frankly quite pathetic.

The funny thing about this is that the pathetic backtracking is largely meaningless since now people want him to say Taiwan belongs to China (a common CCP talking point) or they won't accept the apology. Maybe placating authoritarians and their enablers is not such a wise idea. You give a hand and they take an arm.

Yeah, this is a great observation. I'd add Taue to that list as well. He is still in consideration for my bottom 20 or so and I think his selling ability was fine but his psychology could really be wonky. His love of following up big offense with the ankle lock and tendency to shoehorn it into finishing stretches were particularly egregious. I feel Eddie Guerrero was his best opponent since I feel he was able to cover for Angle's psychology lapses and provide organic transitions and a structure . The WM 20 match is probably Angle's career match, especially because the shift from the ribwork on Eddie to the anklelock heavy finish felt natural and earned.

Busting Makabe hardway disqualifies him I think.

1992-1993 Hiroshi Hase was a miracle worker. He got MOTYCs out of Mutoh AND Chono. That alone is Top 50 worthy.

Honestly, it's unlikely, but I could see him sneak into the 85-100 tier for me. I guess he benefits from my heavy emphasis on high-end stuff. Though, you could argue his good match/total match ratio is awful and diminishes his case. Still, the Foley, Austin, Bryan matches are all high-end and he effectively plays his role in them. The 2005 HIAC vs. Batista is his crowning achievement IMO since he got a great match out of a lesser wrestler.

No one has discussed Thesz since 2014? Anyway, he will likely be my highest ranked Golden Age wrestler. Great world champion who was effective as both a no nonsense, respectable babyface and subtle, roughhousing heel.

Initially I was skeptical since he has goofy tendencies but now I'm starting to think Nagata was one of the best Japanese workers of the 2000s. Just a really good/great match machine, operating against an impressive array of opponents. The 2007 Makabe match is the standout IMO but stuff vs. Murakami, Sasaki, Taue, Tanahashi, Bernard etc. ranges from worth checking out to must-see. His 2010s were solid as well so Top 50 is not out of the question.

There are a few guys I would likely put ahead of him in terms of number of great matches/all time classics and he probably won't make my Top 3 this time. But I stand by the rest, making him a safe Top 10 guy. The aforementioned list of post-2016 Liger matches further boosts his case.

I feel Flair is a bit like Fujinami in that his supposed post-1989 fall from grace is way overblown. His 90s WCW and 2000s WWE runs range from decent to excellent. Nice to see KB8 list the Foley I Quit match as a must-see. That's one of my favorite WWE matches. In fact, his entire 2005-2006 garbage wrestler run was gold with the the Triple H feud, Big Show ECW match etc. Technical wrestler Flair was good but to me that's not really his calling card. He was at his absolute best as the violent brawler, both as a heel or face, whether he was playing the psychotic bully or the fiery, vengeful ass-kicker. I had him at 43 in 2016, which seems reasonable. I can see him both gain 10-15 spots or fall out of the Top 50, but he will definitely be in the mix.

I think I need to deep dive into Rey. He might be king of the good match and I can't imagine not ranking him but, aside from Halloween Havoc 97, I'm struggling to find truly great Rey matches. I'm sure they are there but I found acclaimed stuff like Eddie Smackdown, Psychosis GAB, Malenko 96, Smackdown Six, Morrison 2009, Low-Ki 2015 to be merely good to very good.

No Fujiwara either. Here's a question and I'm asking it sincerely: Do you think your current excitement for joshi (e.g., 5 workers in the Top 10, Dump at #2) is going to last through to 2026?

After 2019 and 2020 GME, no Tamura is heresy Elliott.

Top 10 right now (Alphabetical) Akira Hokuto Daniel Bryan Eddie Guerrero El Hijo del Santo El Satanico Jushin Liger Kenta Kobashi Kiyoshi Tamura Shawn Michaels Yoshiaki Fujiwara Other Strong Contenders: Bret Hart, Brock Lesnar, Daisuke Ikeda, Jumbo Tsuruta, Jun Akiyama, Tatsumi Fujinami, Volk Han

Kandori is one of those wrestlers who is both overrated and underrated, IMO. She used to be overlooked and unfairly dismissed (e.g, previous Dreamslam reviews claimed Hokuto carried her, which is clear nonsense). But the pendulum might have swung too far in the other direction as some people now claim she actually outworked Hokuto. Makai Club #1 did a good job capturing her strengths. I'll probably rank her but in the bottom half.

Andre the Giant vs. King Kong would have been a better match. Kong understands the concept of selling better than Hansen.

Great topic. I feel predefining selection criteria is a key element as it allows prioritization of what people truly value and makes the actual ranking feel less arbitrary. Matt D's approach is an extremely rigorous one and I respect the commitment behind it but something like that might not be suitable for everyone. For instance, in general, I am going to heavily emphasize high-end output, since that to me is the most important thing in wrestling. It won't be as simple as "who has the most great matches" but will be sort of like a top-down approach and account for more objective metrics (variety of opponents, settings worked, roles played, styles mastered) to intangible, subjective components (contribution to match greatness through selling, offense etc.). This would help factor different elements into consideration while keeping the focus on the main thing, i.e., quality and volume of top matches.

Another guy who I ranked 30-50 spots too low in 2016. As people have mentioned, one of the most impressive peaks ever, which alone should be enough to get him into my Top 50. But he has a respectable amount of good stuff both before and after as well that boosts his case.