Boss Rock

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?

No worries, I appreciate the info!

Shingo just should've won. There was already a story there with him beating Ibushi in the G1. Layup.

I was always under the impression that was like a year recovery, but good to know.

I've pretty much had a series of rough drafts since I saw the results of the last vote. It's really fun to see how your own list develops over time.