Boss Rock

Yeah that part I completely agree with and they were able to keep things interesting with OC (still disappointed we didn't get a singles match between him and Kenny, bit of a missed opportunity).

Agreed. Full Gear is the absolute latest they can believably stretch this out to.

Stalling Hangman's win annoys me. I understand worrying about Punk and Bryan overshadowing him, but if Punk debuts at Rampage that will at least temper some of the buzz heading in to All Out. There are only so many times you can wait to pull the trigger. It's a testament to AEW's booking and Page that he was able to get super hot again after spinning his wheels a bit earlier this year, but I don't see how you can hold off on this for much longer before the fans get frustrated. I can just imagine a Christian-Kenny segment getting drowned out by "We want Hangman!" chants.

I like Hideki a lot, but he's a weird candidate because of his relatively low volume. Per Cagematch, he has less than 500 matches in a 13 year career. Not to say volume is the end-all be-all as Tamura and Han get a lot of love despite having short careers. But with Suzuki you're only gonna get a couple singles matches per year. But when he's on, by God he's on. His charisma and presence is just so magnetic. When he was in BJW he personified the "final boss" archetype better than anyone. You have this guy who looks like he could be a business man or lawyer, but you know he's just a flip of the switch away from turning into an absolute killer who's not above telling the crowd to go fuck themselves. Right now I lean no, but 5 years is a long time and his best stuff is fantastic.

Also, I've always found the matches between these two underrated. I know they have a notorious stinker, but the '90, '92, and '93 TC matches and the '92 and '93 CC matches are very good.

This goes back to my thought in the Steamboat career that despite having very high peaks, I don't think there's as much meat as other top contenders.

Both are in my top 5 and liable to still be there by 2026. I have Misawa ahead because on his absolute best day, he was quite possibly the best wrestler in the world. But Hansen has a bit more variety of opponents in great matches, so this could eventually change.

Pretty much agree with El Dragon. Rey was more consistent, is a better babyface, and wins almost any volume argument.

As much as I enjoyed the Sabre series, it was the Mercury Rising match I think where Sabre got blasted by several boots but didn't fall off the apron. That was a "huh?" moment for me.

The Foley Backlash match is still his best.

Two wrestlers who found where the fountain of youth is. Jun is still wrestling, Liger just retired. Jun is still very good, Liger was still very good. Masters of adaptability who could wear different hats yet never strayed from their lanes. Fight!

Damn, that's pretty hard to argue against.

I like Eddie a lot. Terrific as a fired-up face and an absolute bastard of a heel. Got great stuff out of JBL. His NJPW run is a bit too go-go-go at times but full of fun matches. But there are definitely parts of his career (particularly early 2000's WWE) that I'm not crazy about. Hokuto was consistently great (even if she usually had better opponents to work with) and had higher peaks. The Dangerous Queen takes this.

Finlay-White is one of the U.S. show matches for the NEVER title. I always knew Finlay was good but he's really impressed the last few months.

Definitely Ultimo. He's definitely not as a good as juniors/cruisers like Rey, Liger, or Otani, but he still has several matches that I enjoy. He's not a lock, but he still has a shot at making my ballot. Orton on the other hand is one of my least favorite wrestlers. Terrific mechanics but just so rarely can make anything he does interesting. Not sure if it's a lack of work ethic, blandness, or both, but he just doesn't do much for me.

Yeah I can't imagine the folks watching are doing it because of J.R. Even when he was first brought on, it was probably an attempt boost credibility but I doubt anyone seriously started watching just because of him.

J.R. just really needs to be kept for those sit-down interviews and do other backstage work.

I went with Kobashi but this could change over time. Bryan has proven to be more versatile and has more instances of elevating lesser talent/broomsticks. But Kobashi has the highest peaks of any wrestler in singles and tag matches and that's going to be super hard for anyone to overcome. He's the best offensive wrestler ever and he might be the greatest seller as well. And while Kobashi's opponents were better than Bryan's best opponents, he has several classics with folks who aren't the pillars. That being said, Bryan is an incredible offensive wrestler as well and is a terrific seller in his own right. He was BITW-level for almost all of the 2000's and for a good chunk of the 2010's when he was active (WWE booking didn't always do him a ton of favors). Perhaps when 2026 rolls around I won't have AS MUCH of an emphasis on peaks, but right now Kobashi's peaks plus having 10+ years as BITW have him at number 1.

Just watch him get lamped and panic against Cain and Carwin, yep haha.

Amen. I really enjoyed his run in the Shield and think he's been a genuinely good tag worker at times. There was even a time in 2018 where I started to come around on him. But at the end of the day he's just a super mediocre singles wrestler.

I think Kobashi balanced the line of melodrama better than anyone.

Agreed.

I've seen more Sasha than Mayu matches and I MIGHT have Sasha's best match above Mayu's, but I think Mayu is better on almost every other night. Especially in terms of offense it's a no contest.

Kobashi was also very good by at least 1991 if not 1990.

I have Tenryu comfortably ahead, but there are quite a few similarities between the two. Neither were good athletes yet neither out-kicked their coverage. Both have great matches against a litany of opponents regardless of skill level. Both guys' offense were good for how they wrestled and both were great sellers. I personally just think Tenryu could wear more hats, had higher peaks, and had more volume.