Boss Rock

Funny enough, Dustin was my 85, one below. One of the last additions after much deliberation. He's really good in early 90's WCW, really good tagging with Cody against the Shield, and has continued to be really good in AEW (the street fight with Fletcher is what clinched his spot). It's just hard to overlook that huge gap of 90's WWF to early 2010's. I know his ECW run is well-regarded but I wasn't blown away. And I'm probably a bit lower on his early 90's peaks than others. But at the end of the day, it's hard to deny a guy this late in his career who can deliver with guys half his age who are much faster.

Had Naito at 43. I agree with Makai Club that his output could be a bit inconsistent as injuries and vision issues crept up on him. But at his best he was right there with the very tip top of 2010's NJPW guys, 2016 and 2017 being particularly spectacular and arguable BITW runs. And even after that, he was still capable of great matches until at least 2022 or so. Could play both the dickhead heel or cool, roguish face. Could push the pace while other folks were a bit slower during the start of the 30 minute main event. And while his pre-LIJ face run is remembered as being a failed experiment, he was still really good. I really appreciate how much he was able to differentiate his Ingobernable run while still keeping a good amount of his repertoire.

Did not vote for Pac but interestingly enough I had Claudio higher.

He'll very likely make the top 50, but I think if any 2010's NJPW wrestler makes the top 10 it'll be Tanahashi.

I think Mox regained a lot of goodwill near the tail-end of the Death Riders run in the build-up to and match with Page. Shortly after that he dropped a lot of the repeated interference and went back to his usual style, just in time for the Continental Classic which he had a great run in.

I think Mox is worlds better than he was in WWE. He pretty much changed his entire offense once he left which was easily the weakest part of his game. I agree with Mone though. Nothing about her feels fundamentally different and had she gotten Charlotte's push in 2016, her Fed resume is likely even deeper. Though I do believe her leaving has helped her case as well.

Roderick was my 67. Terrific utilitarian worker and someone who's had a ton of longevity. Drop him into any match or situation and you're going to get something good. Excellent offense as well.

Trying to predict the next round of drops based on recent trends: Angle, Jaguar, Piper, Ishikawa, Strong, KENTA, Dusty, Owens, Baba, and Inoki. Granted I've been wrong about several of these.

Ozaki was my 34. Was hoping she'd hold on a bit longer. Joshi getting more representation now than in 2016 is certainly a victory, but I'm hoping we get at least a few in the top 50. Anywho, Ozaki could pretty much do it all: singles, tags, death matches. And her heel work could be downright evil. Finding her street fights with Kansai and her '94 match with Nagayo are some of my favorite gems this last decade of diving. Nakamura finishing higher almost defies explanation unless everyone decided to ignore the last 10 years. And considering how there are less than 10 active WWE wrestlers in the top 100, I don't think it's due to more Fed-centric voters. He's still a top 150 guy for me because of how good his peak was and how his pre-2011 work is still solid. But definitely a headscratcher.

I had Eddie at 80 and feel pretty comfortable with that. I imagine his AEW work is what made his case for a lot of folks and indeed it was pretty great until his injury, but he was really good before that too (particularly the Hero series). Can be a real dick as a heel but is even better as an everyman babyface. I can see why his King's Road tribute could be grating, but I think he pulls it off more often than not. Claudio was my 39. I would wager the greatest tag worker ever. Kings of Wrestling, Real Americans, Brass Ring Club, the Bar, and the Death Riders. No matter who he's partnered with, he knocks it out of the park. Quite possibly the greatest utilitarian/TV worker as well. Plays a solid babyface but honestly a bullying heel is where he thrives. I did not vote for Necro. Not sure if there are gaps I haven't seen or if he just had too short a peak. But it's a tremendous peak and his matches with Joe and Super Dragon are among the greatest I've ever seen. Excellent stuff with Low Ki and Toby Imada too. That being said, I'm curious if there is much beyond that because I haven't seen it.

Kandori was my 47. In hindsight maybe a little high, but she really is great. Like many others, my introduction to her was the Hokuto and Queendom tag matches. Even beyond those matches, she was a terrific bruiser and I honestly really like her business casual death match run as well. I remember in her thread someone mentioned there was a narrative years ago that Kandori was bad and that Hokuto carried her. I don't know if there's any truth to that, but it's wild to consider.

Nakamura continues to inch closer to surpassing his 2016 finish, ha.

I did not vote for Chris Masters, but I will never forget how cool his entrance and Master Lock Challenge gimmick were.

Ikeda was my 65. Of all the shoot style/BattlArts folks, Ikeda is my favorite. Just gloriously violent. In 2020 he and Ishikawa had another barnburner in wXw. I'm pleasantly surprised he not only made the cut once again, but he actually improved by 2! Barry was my 70. I've mentioned that U.S. 80's isn't my favorite era of wrestling, but Barry was different. Excellent offense and execution, could play both face and heel with ease. The Flair matches are still really, really good.

Tully was my 97 and one of the final additions to my ballot. 80's territory isn't my favorite era of wrestling, but I had to make room for Tully. The greatest stooge in history. The Magnum match goes without saying, but he also had really good stuff with Garvin and Steamboat.

Hero at 100. I figured if he made the cut it would be on the lower end. I know a lot of folks are critical of his earlier work and tendency to go long (and no, I have no desire to check out the 90 minute match with Punk). But he's another one who's been really good for a really long time. And his 2017 is one of the best years of any wrestler in recent memory. His return to NXT didn't exactly set the world on fire but he had some solid matches. Has mostly been inactive since working with AEW but his match with Senka during Mania weekend was a hoot and proof that he still has it. Was my 31.

Cool!

For me personally I see him as one of the best utilitarian workers. Great in both singles, tags, TV matches. And longevity is always a big factor in my book.

70 of mine have made the cut. Only lost 1 in my top 20 and 7 in my top 50.

I have to think this is why Owens made the cut but a lot of contemporary WWE folks didn't. His run, even as solid as it is (or was), has never been stellar. Yet he has all those years in ROH.

I suppose that's possible, especially if they don't watch WWE because there wasn't a huge surge of support for those folks outside of a few names. KENTA still seems a bit strange considering other NJPW guys like ZSJ, Nagata, and Goto fell unless those voters are just REALLY high on his ROH and early Noah runs.

I'm preparing myself for him to do even better this time.

I'm sure quite a few folks will disagree and there are some omissions that certainly stick in my craw, but I'm pretty cool with this.

Jay Brisoce in the top 100 also rules, but I honestly think Mark should've been in there too. I would have understood a few years ago considering Jay had the singles run, but Mark has really proven himself the last few years.

I never in a million years would've expected either Nakamura OR KENTA to make it, let alone both. Which is funny because Nakamura is still a periphery guy for me but I would've thought the last decade killed his case. As for KENTA, yeah he proved he's still fairly solid since leaving NXT, but I never would have thought he added anything substantial to his case unless his return to Noah has been phenomenal. Genuinely surprised by Jericho dropping. I know his AEW run has been very peaks and valleys, but I figured he still had a fair amount of goodwill with his constant reinventions. Both Hero and Kingston making the top 100 is awesome. There are some gaps in my viewing of Takayama, but most everything I've seen has been real good. Genuinely surprised he ranked this high but it's also pretty cool. Ikeda and Ishikhawa survive! Was really starting to doubt their chances. I knew 2010's NJPW would do well, but only Okada, Tanahashi, Kenny, and Ospreay seemed like locks. Looks like they are indeed the biggest benefactors of this vote, even moreso than Joshi. I didn't vote for a lot of U.S. territory guys and I think we all knew they would take a hit, but still pretty shocking how many of them dropped.