Boss Rock

Ricky is going to be an interesting case. At his best, he's one of the best babyface I've ever seen. But he has only like 10-12 matches I really like and the rest is just sort of there. Like Matt said his AJPW run doesn't have much of anything. I can't fathom him missing my ballot but apart from Flair matches that pop up he doesn't seem to have much in the way of hidden gems.

I'll see if I can put together a top 10 of his recent work. I dip in and out of NOAH frequently, but I think he's been very good the past few years (2018 especially). He almost strikes me as a late bloomer. Like he had potential and good matches earlier in his career, but it took him a little while to put it all together.

Jun Akiyama is still wrestling and he's still very good. Top 10 candidate easy.

vs. Meiko Satomura 12/23/2015 vs. Mayu Iwatani 12/22/2016 vs. Shayna Baszler 12/23/2017 w/ Tam Nakano vs. Kagetsu and Natsu Sumire 4/1/2018 vs. Meiko Satomura 4/19/2018 vs. Momo Watanabe 5/23/2018 2015-2018 are probably her biggest years but she's been doing pretty well in NXT, though I've admittedly not seen a ton of it.

I really don't recall if Shelton-Shawn was this awesome match or not, but that springboard into Sweet Chin Music was beautiful.

I think probably 2005 or 2006 is when Bryan was first getting serious #1 in the world consideration. FWIW, he won Most Outstanding in the Observer Newsletter Awards 2006-2010.

I'm in mostly the same boat. She has her flaws and annoyances but I can't picture a ballot without her on it somewhere.

The king of longevity along with Liger. I haven't seen a match of his since 2018, but that year started off with him having an awesome aspuestas match with the usually bad Sam Adonis and a fun workratey sprint with Aramis. Lucha isn't my favorite style but Casas is definitely my favorite and his greatness for at least 3 decades says a lot. Easy top 20 candidate who could easily make my top 10.

I remember when I first joined the board I would comb through the 2016 list and see where each wrestler landed in 2006. It certainly seems like joshi took the biggest hit in between votes.

I actually watched that one just a few weeks ago and yeah, that's a really good Naito performance.

The 42nd Anniversary Show match against Okada is probably my pick for best pre-LIJ Naito, at least based on what I've seen. A really good babyface performance.

Although the 80's U.S. territory style has never been my favorite, Lawler definitely stands out. Chris Hero started a podcast recently and said rather than "less is more", the phrase should be "get more out of less". And Lawler was terrific at that. The $10,000 challenge against King Kong Bundy stands out in particular. It's such a simple match structure and yet it's super fun and captivating.

Another NJPW wrestler who has a strong chance to make my top 50. I think the 2019 Bad Luck Fale G1 match is the only bad Ibushi match I've ever seen and that's because Fale has sucked more than usual in recent years. He's arguably been a top 10 wrestler since his return to NJPW in 2017 and you could make the case he was before as well. He's always been a really good tournament wrestler whether it be BOSJ, G1, or the Cruiserweight Classic. The Cruiserweight Classic in particular stands out as he faced a wider variety of wrestlers and had the best run of the tournament. An underrated aspect of Ibushi's game is how his style has evolved over the years. He still does high-flying and a lot of the same moves, but since moving up to heavyweight he's done a great job adding strikes and power moves to his game. He can be a terrific underdog face as well as a believable tough guy. It got to a point where he believably beat Suzuki at his own game in last year's G1. The only criticisms I can really think of are, like his former tag partner Kenny, a tendency to ignore leg selling and occasionally being too go-go-go. I'd like to see more of his early stuff in DDT, but most of what I've seen has been really good.

His WWE run wasn't great, but I have a lot of love for his match with Brock. He also had some pretty good matches with Roman and I honestly didn't hate the feud with A.J. But yeah, the bulk of his case rests on his early 2000's run. And that's probably still enough to round out the bottom tier of the ballot.

I once saw someone say this has replaced the annual "Is Tanahashi seriously injured?" cliche.

2016-onwards Naito has consistently one of the best in the world. His 2018-2019 had a few rocky outings due to suffering from double-vision, but he would still pull out some pretty high-caliber matches when called upon it. His 2020 was mostly disappointing due to being stuck with EVIL for most of the year, but he had a largely great G1 to make up for it and of course the MOTYC with Okada. I've enjoyed a few of his Stardust Genius matches pre-2015 but need to do a deeper dive on that period. That will probably determine if he's a top 50 candidate or "just" a lock somewhere on the ballot.

I think with Aja, she was big enough that she could be a convincing monster but she didn't necessarily tower over everyone to the point where opponents getting the better of her didn't look unrealistic. As it stands, she's my highest-ranked joshi wrestler just barely edging out Hokuto. I'd like to see more of her later career but she's a pretty strong "peak+longevity" candidate. She's not very good now based on her recent AEW showings, but she had a great match as recent as 2018 against Shida. She's a pretty strong top 20 candidate.

I think they both said the 2015 G1 match was their favorite match ever. Not either guy's best but still awesome and a low-key MOTYC for 2015.

Thanks! And I'll definitely check out that tag match as I do recall hearing that there was heat between him and HARASHIMA.

Bound to be one of the most controversial candidates this time around, but I like him so here goes. Kenny is easily one of if not the most polarizing wrestler in the world today. He's either the best in the world and one of the greatest to do it or an overrated hack who can't work. I tend to lean more towards the former as I think he's been one of the best in the world the past few years (arguably top 2 in 2017 and 2018). However, I certainly understand the criticisms. His leg selling can be spotty due to how many V-Triggers he throws per match and his comebacks come a bit too easily. He's certainly not the only wrestler to work a go-go-go style, but the praise he receives often makes him one of the easiest to criticize (very much like Toyota). And while his facials and mannerisms don't bug me nearly as much as others, he can still be histrionic and hammy. He's also not a particularly great babyface. But on the other hand, he may very well be the best in the world when it comes to offense. Not just the number of moves he uses, but how good he makes them look. Obviously everyone points to the V-Trigger, but his tope suicida is perfect every time. His dragon suplex almost defies logic with how fast it is. His time, execution, and overall athleticism is something to behold. And while his selling can be spotty, he's had a number of very good selling performances and is an underrated bumper. And while his style can be pretty go-go-go, he has a much better sense of pacing and escalation than most folks you see today. His big match performances are also pretty undeniable IMO. The Okada series is one of my favorites and all 4 matches made my Greatest Match of All-Time ballot. The Naito and Ishii series' also come pretty close. Those matches are also evidence of his underrated sense of pacing and escalation. He can certainly be go-go-go, but compare those matches to what you see in NXT or the indies. And even before his NJPW heavyweight run or current run in AEW, he had several great matches in DDT, AJPW, and in the 2009-2010 BOSJ tournaments. His tag work is also really good, not just with Page (admittedly Page was the bigger star of the two) but with Ibushi in the Golden Lovers. The Strong Style Evolved and Revolution tag matches against the Young Bucks are two of the best U.S. tags I've ever seen. Like Okada, unless he completely falls apart in the next 5 years he's a solid pick for my top 50.

Reigns has been a very good wrestler for quite a few years now, but for some reason I've always been lower on him than most. Maybe it's because he was forced in to a babyface role which saw him have to work extended heat segments with boring heels like Corbin, Bray, or McIntyre. Or maybe it's because some of his biggest matches fall into the "multiple finisher kick-out" formula WWE has been relying on the last few years which I've really come to dislike. His best matches are pretty dang good though and it's been a while since I've seen most of the Shield tags, so I'd like to reevaluate.

I want to revisit his later TNA career, but he's a top 15 candidate for me. His NJPW run was great, his current WWE run has been largely very good, and his 2005 was a BITW-level run. Terrific offensive wrestler who can do high-flying and spot-heavy matches or more story-driven stuff a la his first match with Cena. All-time great bumper and seller which I think has been a huge part of his success in WWE. Who else can say they've gotten to good to great matches out of Jinder Mahal, Shane McMahon, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger, Abyss, and Bully Ray? And as much as I love Jon Moxley, he wasn't very good as Dean Ambrose and A.J. put on great stuff with him too.

As lame as the Kane feud was, their Extreme Rules match was way better than it had any right to be.

I really enjoyed his 2017. His 2018 was a bit dull but DDT as a whole didn't do much for me that year. I'm really interested in doing a deeper dive on his early career and getting caught up on current DDT. His offense is terrific as he's such an athletic and explosive guy. The only main criticism I have is iffy limb selling, but he's hardly the only one.

Which Marufuji match was that? 2016 G1?