Boss Rock

Darby is out of the CC and is being replaced by Jack Perry. I would have thought reforming Jurassic Express was TK acknowledging that Jack is not a good singles wrestler. Could have easily put Brody, Josh Alexander, Hechicero, Rush, Mortos, Ace Austin, Shelton, Bandido, Ricochet, or Yuta in there instead. Or give an ROH guy like Lee Moriarity or Lee Johnson a chance.

I actually kinda warmed up to the Righteous a bit when they actually got TV time on Collision. Mostly Dutch being a pretty solid big guy, but Vincent's snapping entrance was catchy.

Kinda sounds like GRAPPL.

Harley's not a great wrestler, but I find her to be easily one of the most entertaining acts on the roster.

Not making my ballot but definitely a guy I've always found very cool and fun to watch.

As someone who actually thinks his AEW run has been relatively inoffensive, no I don't care to see him back. Was never needed and added nothing.

I had seen quite a bit of Dick Togo before he came to NJPW in 2020, but imagine being told that the guy farting around with House of Torture is one of the greatest ever.

Curious how folks feel about Mercedes given her AEW run. She won't make my list but I think she's easily the greatest U.S. women's wrestler ever. But where does she rank among the all-time great women's wrestlers?

I expect more modern NJPW folks this time around given how hot the product was and how many eyeballs it drew until the post-pandemic doldrums.

I don't see Kenoh making my ballot, but he's easily my favorite NOAH guy. I've always been frustrated with his status as the designated transitional champion. Obviously there's no shame in that, but I really wish they gave him a lengthy reign at least once.

Okada-Fletcher was really good and I honestly thought it was going to a draw, but Fletcher is now the only person to pin Okada twice in AEW (not including Bryan's victory at Forbidden Door when Okada was still technically with NJPW). I still think Okada-Takeshita is the final, but further proof they see Fletcher as the future.

Terrific blocks. An Okada-Takeshita final still seems pretty likely, but lots of great matches for sure.

Fletcher will certainly be an interesting case. Certainly makes you wonder if he would have received the push he did had Mark Davis not been so injury prone. When it comes to AEW, I'm inclined to mention Hangman and Takeshita. Since 2020-onwards Page has been pretty great, but his ROH and NJPW run are very much a guy who still hasn't figured it out (granted his G1 run was actually kinda decent). Takeshita had moments of greatness in DDT but there were times he came off kinda cold, a guy with great offense but not a particularly great seller or with a ton of connective tissue. His AEW and NJPW runs have definitely been a full realization of his potential as he's filled those gaps.

While I'm honestly surprised Moxley has stayed with the Death Riders as long as he has since losing the title, this FINALLY feels like they're going to pull the trigger on them kicking him out.

I do wish Hangman's reign had gone a bit better. The MJF feud started off well enough but they got too bogged down in the contract and overbooking shenanigans. And this feud with Joe never felt particularly hot or interesting, as perfectly fine as it was.

I hope they follow through on Taipei death match.

One of the greatest hardcore/death match wrestlers ever and one of the greatest tag wrestlers as well. Ozaki is likely a top 40 lock for me.

Same as in the Etsuka thread: Both Etsuka and Mima will make my list. LCO is an all-timer tag team for me not just because of their great matches, but also because of their uncanny way to really get me invested when I often have very little context. Regardless of opponents, nearly every LCO match manages to get these reactions out of me: intrigue with how violent and chaotic it starts, frustration and annoyance with how much they dominate and how quickly they cut off babyface comebacks each time, and finally almost a fist pump when seeing them finally getting their comeuppance. There aren't many other wrestlers who can do that.

Both Etsuka and Mima will make my list. LCO is an all-timer tag team for me not just because of their great matches, but also because of their uncanny way to really get me invested when I often have very little context. Regardless of opponents, nearly every LCO match manages to get these reactions out of me: intrigue with how violent and chaotic it starts, frustration and annoyance with how much they dominate and how quickly they cut off babyface comebacks each time, and finally almost a fist pump when seeing them finally getting their comeuppance. There aren't many other wrestlers who can do that.

I honestly thought it was a pretty good match botches aside. The Raging Fire before the Rainmaker was a nice touch.

Tough position they find themselves in (what else is new) in that Tanahashi-Okada should absolutely main event the show, but that means a possible Tsuji win would be massively overshadowed. So I think there's a very good chance Takeshita retains.

Finally saw a clip of the ending to Kazarian-Santana and holy shit that was bad.

For a while I wasn't even considering Punk. As good as they were, I was never blown away by his matches with Cena and Joe. And while his AEW run was very good, apart from 2-3 matches his WWE return has been a disappointment. But delving into his older ROH stuff against Raven and Jimmy Rave, I was really impressed with how well they held up and how well Punk excelled as both a face and heel. Combined with his AEW run and first WWE stint, it might be enough to just make the cut.

Lowkey one of the best workers of the 2010's. I caught most of his AJPW run 2017-2019 and he was arguably top 10 in the world. Catching up on his older stuff in BJW, deathmatchers or otherwise, and he'll rank.

Likely a top 50 if not 40 pick for me. Awesome heavy-hitter.