This is my second time writing this out, I'd got all the way to the bottom and the site went wacky on me and erased it all, so I apologise if some of these are brief.
As the guy with the most drops so far, unless anyone has more (twenty three), I felt the need to go through them and give you all a little insight into my reasoning.
16. Terry Taylor
It was Buddy Landell v Terry Taylor at Starrcade '85 that proved to me that wrestling was worth watching. Of course, Tully Blanchard then came along and stole my heart, but, ever since then, I've tried to give those two guys the benefit of the doubt and looked for the positives in their work.
24. Ron Simmons
He had greatness in him. You could see it in his work with Reed, that he was more than just solid, that he really had an extra something to give. On a personal note, I'm also naturally inclined to sympathise with the ace/figurehead of a company during its darker times, as a result of the association between Bret, the New Generation and a downturn in business. I don't care about the Acolytes because I hate the Attitude Era, but I have enjoyed what I've seen of Farooq as the leader of the Nation.
25. Steve Keirn
This guy represents a lot of the problems with my list (not just the fact that it's heavily influenced by personal favouritism and gut feeling). I once asked, who is better, Io Shirai or Steve Keirn? I'm still asking myself that, because it gets to the root of my difficulty compiling this list; I like a lot of different people for very different reasons, and I like a few very different styles. Also, Skinner was great.
27. Io Shirai
It's upsetting.
29. Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio has everything I'm looking for; solid work-rate, great physique, natural charisma and, as a heel, great intensity and aggression. Of the feuds/match-ups WWE could put on, at the moment, I'd be most interested in a programme between Del Rio and Styles. I don't know if it'd be best for business, but I'm confident it'd produce high-quality matches and some great television.
40. Alex Shelley
If it weren't for the Motor City Machine Guns, I'd probably have drifted away from wrestling years before I found this brilliant site. They kept me watching TNA, almost single-handedly, and Shelley was the stand-out of the two. However, I'm not sure if I'm being honest with myself when I say that. Was his work better, or was it just his look? I really liked his look.
56. Doug Williams
This is another TNA pick, though I've seen a lot of his work on the British indies (including a blow-away match with Danielson). He gets bonus points for carrying two poor workers in his British Invasion stable, and keeping their matches enjoyable. If he'd have received a bigger push from a bigger company I, genuinely, believe he could've eclipsed Benoit as an excellent technician; he's a better talker and I don't think his grappling is far off. Maybe you think I'm crazy.
58. Arisa Nakajima
She was a very late addition to my list, and I have to, sincerely, thank the person who nominated her (and Shirai, who could've gone the way of Lance Storm). I started considering her when I was re-watching Kana's old stuff (trying to justify pushing her into the top ten). She'd never stood out to me before, but I had to ask myself: Can I really justify leaving her off when she's having consistently good matches? The answer, as it turns out, was no.
61. The Patriot
Wilkes benefits from being in the right place at the right time (sort of). He was mentioned in glowing terms by Cornette in one of his shoot DVDs and it inspired me to try to take a better look. He's good. Not top fifty good, but good enough to hop onto a list that also includes Jay Youngblood.
72. Joey Ryan
He would be the odd man out, if my list wasn't already very weird. I can't say much more than that I find him entertaining. Of course, his girlfriend's leagues better than him but, alas, she wasn't nominated.
79. Shane Douglas
He's a guy who clearly wanted to be an all-time great and, through his efforts, got really good. I have to admit that my anti-Kliq policy worked in his favour, because it also worked backwards, to some degree.
82. El Mesias
I was young at the time, and I've not gone back and watched it, but I liked him in his his TNA run. I had this, sub-conscious, feeling that he should have been kept stronger. If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't have even considered him, since there were quite a few other guys I'd not seen much of who, arguably, deserved priority.
83. Adrian Street.
"A man kissing another man! I don't believe it!"
86. Tarzan Goto
It was a match against Dan Severn that turned me onto him. As I've explained before (to Parv?), I tend to think highly of guys who have a poor physique/look (I'm very particular!), who can pull me into their matches, as I'm inclined not to care.
88. James Storm
He's been good for so long, with quite a few moments of greatness, and he's, so obviously, had a lot of his potential wasted by that company.
90. Matt Sydal
Fun high-flier. Good-looking.
91. Bobby Fulton
I don't really need to justify, since a few people have said he was one their radar but just didn't make the final cut.
93. Jay Youngblood
He's there, I guess.
94. Jinsei Shinzaki
Good match with Bret, plus great look equals ballot-worthy.
95. Jacques Rougeau
I'm inclined to agree that Ray was better, but I think the Mountie tips it in his favour. Really fun.
96. Lanny Poffo
What the fuck, WCW?!
97. Mike Rotunda
Did his captaincy of the Varsity Club entitle him to naval rank or did he just buy a boat in order to keep his ring name?
98. Kevin Sullivan
Great heel in his prime, fun heel in his senility.
Numbers ninety-nine and one hundred probably won't show for a while. They aren't guys I genuinely think of as being worse than the others guys in the bottom ten, but guys I think of as great, on the basis of only one or two matches.
This was a really easy listen. I can't wait for the next part!