ZubazKid

Co-sign all of this.

Number on my ballot that made the Top 200: 96 Number on my ballot that made the Top 100: 76 How many of my top 50 made the top 50: 39 How many of my top 20 made the top 20: 14 How many of my top 10 made the top 10: 7 Lowest finish for someone on my ballot: 287 (CIMA) Highest on my ballot that did not make the top 100: 43 (Buddy Rose) Exact placements: Giant Baba #74, Hiroshi Tanahashi #13, Genichiro Tenryu #6, Ric Flair #4

Danielson voter but who could be mad about the Funker taking the big prize? Funk was my #7 and both had similar cases of longevity & versatility, having great matches over decades with a wide variety of opponents. Thanks to @Grimmas for all the work you put in & for all that participated. In an unfortunate cruel trick my browser has posted photos from the entries blocking the top 5 picks of voters from the 00s-20s, so I may never know. Last night I decided to watch a match from everyone in the top 10. Got through Misawa v. Kawada 6/3/94, Bret vs. Austin from Survivor Series, Hansen vs. Kobashi 7/29/93 & Tenryu vs. Hashimoto 8/1/98. I might watch a couple each for the top 5. And between Bret match & recently rewatching the ‘97 Roumble I thought that Austin is pretty f’n good (even if I’m not sure top 5 but pretty f’n good.)

Honestly, the results could’ve been much worse with some portion of the voters clearly not understanding the assignment, and stated as much in their write-ups. I had Tenryu at 6 & Flair at 4 giving me 4 wrestlers I matched their spot on the final list, with a shot at 2 more. I have Danielson 1, Kobashi 2 & Funk 7.

We’ve seen a trend where U.S. based wrestlers are getting more votes, are on a higher percentage of ballots. I thought it would even itself out when we got near the top but Misawa falling at 10- below Austin & Bret- makes me wonder. Maybe Kobashi still finishes top 5, but I’m starting to wonder. I think it looks good for Danielson as #1, and I think Rey will fare better than I expected. I had Misawa #3, just behind Kobashi. I was blown away by the constant barrage of all-time matches the 4 Pillars had. Those matches still hold up today, even if some of them slipped a bit in the last GME. Anyway, Misawa’s great & the final order might be more interesting than I thought.

Was really hoping Aja would’ve made the top 10, but I suppose the difference between 10 & 11 is more symbolic than substantial. As someone who discovered a lot of different styles over the past 5 years prepping for this project, I really enjoyed seeing the top joshi stars. I was always impressed by the athleticism, violence & presence. Aja was my #9 & Hokuto my #10. My top 7 are still alive in Danielson, Kobashi, Misawa, Flair, Hansen, Tenryu & Funk. Kawada was my #8. Had Bret at #40, Austin at #23 & Rey at #17.

I had Tanahashi at #13 so he’s just the 2nd wrestler to finish where I had them ranked. I’ve still got 8 of my top 10 alive, but I doubt that’ll be the case by the end of the day.

You were correct & it seems we should never doubt that Vader is a top 20 wrestler in everyone’s eyes & the greatest wrestler in no one’s eyes.

Hokuto is the 1st from my top 10 to fall. Hopefully Aja survives to the top 10. I’d hoped Casas & Santino would make the top 20. Maybe I need to stop jinxing people by rooting for them.

Somehow, Foley persists is my new motto of resolution. Car in the shop? Kid driving you nuts? Dog shit on the floor? Somehow, Foley persists. I’d love to use it in real life, but no one would know what the hell I’m talking about. I have no idea how the hell he got this high, but I’m not sure he’s done yet. Grimmas said #20 & #15 don’t have a #1 vote & Foley seems a good candidate for a lot of votes without a #1.

All of the remaining 20 are on my ballot with Foley lowest at 65. I still have 14 of my top 20 alive, and my top 11 still kicking. Highest ranked loss was Akiyama at 12.

I’m stunned to see Foley make the top 20. And I like Foley! Everybody likes Foley! My guess is that universal appeal is what drove him this high. I thought I was high on Samoa Joe, but he’s guaranteed to finish at least 22 spots higher than I had him. Really surprised to see them both ahead of Macho Man, even though I think 21 is a good finish for him.

Giant Baba was my #74, making him the 1st person I voted at the spot they finished at.

I just love Roddy as a kind of “Everyman”, consistent hard-working good mid-card hand. I think of him like a spiritual successor to Arn Anderson (and was getting irrationally nervous both were going to fall in the last drop.) He’s the kind of guy built to put a TV title on him and just let him have good to great matches with everyone on the roster. He had a period around 2015 where everything he touched was gold and he was amongst the best in the world, but his case is made more for really consistent good and sometimes great work for 20+ years. And I think the fact that this crop of indie workers had basically their whole careers on tape & easily accessible is an advantage we aren’t talking about as much. A lot of people on here are great about unearthing treasures, but there are tons of older candidates we still wish had more footage. We’ll see what the data shows when Roddy drops, probably sooner rather than later. But I suspect he’ll be on a lot of ballots but without a ton of high votes, which rings true for consistency & longevity over peak.

Ahh, losing Buddy Rose SUCKS. He was my highest ranking loss at #43 and more importantly he was just such a masterful, great wrestler & I’m glad I got to see a lot of his Portland stuff & look forward to watching more in the future. I’ve got 76 wrestlers moving onto the list, looking forward to the reveal.