Boss Rock

I'm begging them to put him in BOSJ, just to show how good he still can be.

Thanks!

Morton's another one I'd like to see a case made for. The Flair cage match is terrific and there some perfectly good Rn'R-MX tags I've seen, but apart from that I don't really know where to start. It also doesn't help that, like I said in the Eaton thread, the Rn'R-MX series has never really knocked my socks off.

A master of versatility who can adapt to almost any situation. You can look up any random indie Dick Togo match on Youtbe and find something that's at least pretty fun. Take this match for example. No ropes, just a mat against a guy who's only been wrestling for 5 months. And his peak stuff is pretty terrific. Obviously the Michinoku Pro tags with Kaientai DX and against Honda, but he has loads of awesome DDT matches against Ibushi, HARASHIMA, Gedo, and even Sanshiro Takagi. Tons of really good U.S. and Japan indie matches as well. A very strong top 30 contender.

Thanks, will do!

On the strength of his tag work alone Taue is a top 10 contender to me. It's his singles work I need to revisit as he never quite had the resume the other Pillars did. But I think that '06 match with Marufuji shows just how much he ruled.

Barely made the cut at 100 in 2016 which means he could be in trouble of falling off. But all of the shoot-styled wrestlers I've seen, Ikeda is my favorite. Wonderfully violent and physically-intense wrestler. The Ishikawa series probably represents the bulk of his peaks, but I love the Ono and Morishima matches and the Futen tag against Sato and Mashimo.

Yeah those 80's tags are all awesome. I even really enjoy the '84 tag league final with Brody against the Funks. Also cosign on Hansen's sense of chaos being a huge mark in his favor.

I agree with all of those. Even as he got de-emphasized, he was still really good and even better than a decent amount of the roster. One of the rare examples of someone retiring when they still had plenty of gas left in the tank. Top 10 candidate easy.

The glass and exposed ring match with Masahi Takeda in 2018 is terrific.

Another terrific utility player with a good amount of longevity. His BOSJ runs were always solid and his 2017 tag match with Ibushi against Okada and Gedo is great. Someone I'm definitely considering.

Yeah Kawada was always the angry one.

Kawada is currently a top 2-3 contender for me. He was arguably the best of the pillars '90-'92 with his rivalry with Taue really being the driving point of those amazing trios matches.And even if Kobashi and Misawa surpassed him later on, he was still right there in the conversation for best in the world. He was also the one most likely to try different things, mainly due to his desire to work more submission and shoot-based stuff in matches which butted heads with Baba. That's why I love his post-pillars run so much. He would have awesome pseudo-BattlArts matches with guys like Naoya Ogawa and Nagai while also having terrific Kings Road-esque bouts with Kojima, Tenzan, Tenryu, Sasaki, and Omori. The Holy Demon Army is also one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Sure, most of their best matches were against Kobashi, Jun, and Misawa, but those are still arguably the greatest tag matches ever. Not to mention he and Taue would also put on bangers against teams like Shinzaki and Hayabusa. My only main criticism of Kawada would be that his leg selling, which he was once very good at, pretty much fell by the wayside later on in his career (*stares at the Mutoh matches). The Misawa matches also lost a bit of their luster in the late 90's, but most of them were still very good.

Rey Fenix The most spectacular high-flier of his generation. What he's able to do in the ring feels akin to what Rey was doing in the mid-90's. An excellent babyface but has also played a decent heel when called upon, primarily with Death Triangle. Just an all around awesome singles, tag, and spotfest worker. Fenix vs. Mil Muertes (Lucha Underground Grave Consequences 3/29/2015) Rey Fenix vs. WALTER (wXw 3/9/2019) Rey Fenix vs. Kenny Omega (AEW Dynamite 1/6/2021)

Kento Miyahara Can be a bit formulaic and inconsistent when it comes to limb selling, but there are few if any who are more consistent in big match settings than Kento Miyahara. Fantastic offensive wrestler who can make any match, regardless of opponent, exciting because of just how good he is. Can play a great babyface against monsters like Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama or a cocky, hotshot heel who drives Wada mad. Has carried AJPW on his back for the last 5 years at least and has been one of the best in the world while doing so. Kento Miyahara vs. Suwama (AJPW 10/9/2017) Kento Miyahara vs. Zeus (AJPW 10/21/2018) Kento Miyahara vs. Jake Lee (AJPW 4/29/2019)

That makes sense.

Matt Jackson Controversial but arguably one half of the best tag team of the 2010's and honestly becoming one of the best tag teams of all-time. Thrives as a heel but is an underrated face in peril and seller. His injured back arc in 2018 led to great matches against Roppongi 3k, Guerrillas of Destiny (who usually suck), and Golden Lovers. Nick Jackson The hot tag of the team. Terrific offensive wrestler and high-flier. Also thrives as a heel but his exciting offense is easy to root for. Part of some of the greatest spotfests ever. Young Bucks vs. Future Shock vs. Super Smash Bros (PWG Threenendous III 7/21/2012) Young Bucks vs. Golden Lovers (NJPW Strong Style Evolved 3/25/2018) Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page (AEW Revolution 2/29/2020)

I need to revisit his pre-86 stuff because I really didn't care for it. But '86-92 is like an all-timer run for me. The 80's tags with Tenryu against Choshu and Yatsu, the Olympians against Tenryu, the singles feud with Tenryu, and then making Misawa and having killer trios matches in the 90's. If he was grumpy Jumbo his entire career he'd be top 10 instead of top 20. When exactly did he flip the switch to grumpy Jumbo?

3.5 years later and Misawa is still a top 2-3 candidate for me, but I don't think I see him as number 1 anymore. I agree with Jmare007 in that I think he has less longevity of the 4 and may have the least variety in terms of singles matches (except maybe Taue, I think his best is mostly in tag matches). Some of that is based on the fact that as the ace, he wasn't going to have singles matches with just anyone on the roster (not to mention clipped and/or lack of footage from Champion Carnivals). But even against a guy like Shinzaki or Fuyuki, he wasn't exactly having 4 star matches. He seemed to stick a bit too much to formula while Kawada would try something different or Kobashi would elevate the match with his offense and charisma alone. But at his best...he looked like the greatest to ever do it and no one will reach the heights he did. And while lots of those matches were because his dance partner was just as or almost as excellent, he just had a knack of making epic matches feel all the more epic. Terrific offense and terrific seller (even if he could never stop hiking up his tights). And while he may have had less variety in great singles matches, it's not like he didn't have really good to great matches against Williams, Gordy, Vader, or Takayama. But Kobashi had better and that's why he'll probably be 1 and Misawa will probably be 2 or 3.

I don't care for the Inoki series and there's a match in Japan with Backlund that's mostly mat work. But he and Backlund also had some really good matches in the Fed. And I've always thought the Misawa series was super underrated. The 1990, 1992, and 1993 Triple Crown matches and the 1993 Champion Carnival are all really good. And honestly, I don't think the Jumbo matches are bad either.

There's still a decent amount of his 80's work I haven't seen, but he's likely a top 10 contender.

I imagine the Bucks-DT did a lot to bring in viewers, but that's still an insane number for a show that wasn't particularly star-studded.

His AEW stuff is mostly better than when he was in WWE and his NJPW matches have been largely good to great, but still not someone I'd consider for this list. His strengths are still as a promo and character.

The Ronda match might actually be my favorite Charlotte match, but I do think it helps she's wrestling Ronda's type of match.

Doesn't have the peaks Nomura does but still very good. Another "wait and see" candidate.