Boss Rock

I think I gotta go Bull. Not just the cage match or the cathartic passing of the torch, but those vicious tag matches with a combination of Iwamoto, Kimura, and Inoue.

Not sure how active he is nowadays, but have always been a big Kanemoto fan. The Samurai and Wagner BOSJ Finals matches are probably the biggest feathers in his cap, but he has tons of matches going all the way into the 2010's that are really good. Very good, stiff offense and can play a sympathetic babyface or a gigantic asshole. My only gripe is there are a few instances of him no-selling spots to get his shit in, but it's not like it happened every match either.

I'm on the fence about Ultimo, but I've always liked him and his best stuff is really good. If I do a deeper dive he could sneak his way on.

Cody loves to bleed. He realized he's good at it and just wants to show off, ha.

Great match, bump was silly and commercials were unfortunate, but I had a damn good time with this.

I would think he would be well enough for the Dome. Hopefully, anyway if it isn't a severe case.

I loved Nate in that match. First time I had ever heard of him and when it was over I thought he was so cool.

Shingo-Ospreay was great but don't think it's better than their BOSJ match like many are claiming it is. Credit to them for making 45 minutes feel a lot shorter, but still felt needlessly padded in the beginning.

I love the Cage of Death match, but having Super Dragon would've definitely been a plus.

That trios match looks great.

Even if my evaluation methods change or more footage of other potential contenders pop up, I can't fathom having Misawa lower than my top 10.

Atlantis is someone I've always liked because his big matches are great, but there are also a ton of gaps outside those matches I need to fill.

I've only seen a handful of matches but he was always a joy to watch.

That match is on the agenda for me. One thing I find really fascinating is how much Tana's stock has risen during what is generally considered the twilight of his career, or at the very least the twilight of his time as a featured player.

I agree with the belief that Tiger Mask is more of a blemish than post-04 Misawa. There were a few Tiger Mask matches that were fun (there's a match against Jumbo in particular, but big surprise, right?), but that's still a long time of not being a very notable worker. Compare that to Kobashi and Jun who picked things up much, much quicker. The last 5 years of Misawa's career aren't always easy to watch but I agree he still had a handful of really good matches. The '06 match against Morishima in particular is terrific.

I will at least try to make the time to watch Tanahashi-White, but 39 minutes is a heck of a long time.

I think that's always been my issue and I do want to give pre-86 Jumbo another shot. Because even though it's my thing stylistically, he was clearly a great athlete. Him being able to work that style and then reinvent himself is totally why I get folks putting him at number 1. Interestingly enough, I don't have that same issue with Hokuto. I've largely enjoyed what I've seen of her pre-Dangerous Queen.

It's always been a stylistic thing for me regardless of wrestler.

Yeah I honestly can't recall a match where his bumping for someone smaller actively bothered me.

Eddie is definitely one where the gaps probably hurt his overall case, but his versatility and high-end matches are great. There are so few wrestlers who could play both a fired-up babyface (Brock, JBL) and absolute bastard of a heel (Rey) with such believability.

Both the 7/24/1995 match and when Kobashi won his first Triple Crown are terrific. Their NOAH match for the GHC title is very good as well if not on the level of their previous matches. I agree that they were a super underrated pairing.

It's a shame that someone who broke a guy's arm and flipped him off immediately afterwards wasn't made the top heel of a promotion.

Good stuff.

Dustin had bucket loads of talent and he's still good to this day in AEW. But the stretches and gaps in his career are pretty big. I want to see a bit more of his early 2010's stuff as I understand that's always been held in high regard (I've already seen the tag matches with Cody against the Shield which are great).

Who was this?