Boss Rock

I need to revisit his initial WWE run and his brief run in Japan. His 2012-2020 run is filled with matches I love and matches I hate. At his best, he is the absolute attraction WWE would promote him as. The Cena 2012 match is the only one I would consider a classic, but the Punk, A.J, Bryan, Finn, 2015 Reigns, and Goldberg matches are all very good to great. At his worst, he's either incredibly lazy and selfish (Braun, Ambrose, 2018 Reigns), limited to dumb finisher/kick-out fests (also 2018 Reigns, Drew), or saddled with Triple H at his most Triple H. If he does make my list I don't think he makes the top 50, but he's also not someone I'm completely ruling out.

The round-robin and submission matches are great. He already looks like one of the best in the world.

I have to watch more of his early stuff, but his 2019 was phenomenal and Strong BJ is a really fun tag team.

Currently my pick for number 1 and while 5 years is a long time, it's going to be difficult to unseat him. Greatest offensive wrestler ever. It's not just the number of moves he had or how good they looked, but knowing when and how to bust them out. He obviously only did the Burning Hammer 7 times, but how many times did he bust out the Orange Crush? The antithesis of a GMSI worker. And even as his body broke down and he became more reliant on chops and half nelson suplexes, he still had the physical charisma to make them engaging. The same goes for his NOAH matches being very "big move, sell, big move, sell". As excessive as it could be, Kobashi could still make it engaging. He's also the ideal "peak + longevity" wrestler for me. He started in '88 and by '90-'91 he was already really good. His '93 is the stuff of legend and from then until at least '05 or so he was arguably the best in the world (he still looked good in 2006 too). He was Misawa, Jun, and Hansens' best opponents, all 3 of whom are top 10 contenders (the Misawa and Hansen series' arguably being the two greatest of all time). He was also an excellent tag worker in a variety of roles with a variety of partners. He could play the unsinkable underdog with Misawa or the big brother clean up hitter with Kikuchi and Jun. The early 90's trios matches mainly focused on the Kawada-Taue and Misawa-Jumbo dynamics, but Kobashi's selling and face in peril segments were pretty crucial. The only two criticisms I can think of are that he never really played heel and that he didn't have that one big broomstick carryjob (the closest I can think of is the great Tokyo Dome match against post-neck injury Chono). But even the folks I have in contention for the top 5 have their flaws. Kobashi is as close to perfect as I can think of. Arguably the greatest seller and greatest babyface ever. Greatest singles match ever (1/20/1997). The greatest tag match ever (6/9/1995). I just don't know how I'm going to be able to deny him the top spot.

Ishii is definitely a lock for me at this point. He's been a top 10 candidate for BITW for close to a decade now and is almost always the MVP of the G1. His inconsistent booking doesn't always give him a ton to do outside of tournaments, but it's almost impossible for him to have a bad singles match. And he's not just great in hard-hitting matches against guys like Suzuki, Shingo, Goto, or Shibata. He's also been a terrific underdog face against more heavily pushed guys like Jay and Kenny. Great offense but underrated seller as well. Fighting spirit no-sell moments are extremely difficult to pull off, but he's as believable as possible when he does it.

I dont think she has the volume for a 100 greatest ever list, but her peaks were really good. Very much a "what if?" candidate especially considering how quickly she picked it up.

WALTER Was a relatively obscure indie name who exploded over the last four years. Fantastic juggernaut and final boss type with some of the most physical matches in recent years. Might be the greatest chopper ever and his overall offensive game is among the best in the world today. Every WALTER match is a brutal spectacle. WALTER vs. Timothy Thatcher: Progess Chapter 62 1/28/2018 WALTER vs. Darby Allin: Evolve 106 6/23/2018 WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov: NXT UK 10/29/2020

Agreed, one of the greatest WWE matches ever.

The Unified match with Nigel is absolutely one of the greatest matches ever. The 2008 Anniversary Show match is also up there. I agree that his peaks dont quite reach the likes of Hansen, Flair, or the Pillars, but he's extremely hard to beat on overall volume and good matches with lesser opponents (Miz, Wyatt, Triple H).

3.5 years after posting this comment, Tenryu is still a top 5 contender for me. Insane longevity and versatility. Awesome slugfests with Hansen, Hashimoto, Choshu, and Kawada. Great, competitive championship-style matches with Mutoh and Flair. Exploding barbed wire cage with Onita? No DQ plunder match against Nobutaka Araya? Both really good. Tenryu was awesome and his ability to compete at such a high level for 20 years is a major feather in his cap. Also, his powerbomb is the only move that still doesn't look great to me. The enziguiri and lariat are awesome.

Hero's currently a top 30 candidate or so for me. His 2016 run is obviously great, but it's interesting to see how good he was prior to becoming the knockout artist juggernaut. I still need to do a bit of a deeper dive on his early 2000's stuff, but based on his matches with Bryan, Kingston, and Regal, he was still awesome before he became the final boss of the indies.

Just watching that match you could tell he was trying so hard to make it interesting, and he succeeded as well as one could in that match.

Bryan is an easy top 10 candidate for me, borderline top 5. The Pillars have higher peak and that's probably gonna give them the edge, but Bryan being the most versatile wrestler ever could give him an edge in the end.

I think Onita and FMW is going to be the next season.

Colon is currently a top 20 candidate for me.

The Bucks have a serious shot at making my ballot, but I'd like to do a deeper dive of their PWG stuff. And I THINK I would go Matt over Nick, but by like one spot haha.

Have only seen a handful of Fujita matches, but from what I recall he was basically like if Goldberg could work longer matches. Tons of physical charisma and power. Would definitely recommend the G1 match with Kawada.

The obsession Gedo has with G.O.D. continues to defy all logic. 5 years of mediocrity.

https://www.njpw1972.com/94649 Iron fingers ladder match.

I thought it was overall good but marred by the unification stuff and cut too short.

Nagata-Mox should be awesome.

Oh gotcha. Yeah which makes it even stranger for him to lose so early.

Unless Gedo continues to go against pattern, I think it's likely he or Okada beats Ospreay in the Dome or Dominion. Then the other wins the G1.

Same, very strange. I sort of wonder if Gedo has reached his expiration date as a booker.

It suuuuuucks. Seriously, why get rid of one the best-looking titles ever?