Boss Rock

I didn't have Jericho top 10, but he was definitely in my top 20 based on his longevity and character work. And while he might be overrated as an in-ring worker, I've never thought he was terrible or even bad.

The issue with Brock other than the fact that it seems like the dude might be shot physically and is willing to completely eat people alive unless he cares or they actually give it back to him is that he's given the top star treatment while no one else is. He's the only guy who's made to look remotely important besides A.J. and occasionally Braun. It basically becomes a hindrance to the product as a whole.

They need to broadcast this or put it on the Network. I'm incredibly fascinated by how this will go.

Beth, Michelle, and Trish all looked like they could go on a full schedule again. They were that good.

I'm a bit disappointed that Bryan didn't make the top 15, but I understand he didn't quite have the longevity that some may want for that level. But I think what we got was definitely enough. Could wear any hat and deliver in any spot on the card and was easily the biggest non-Cena star since at least Jeff Hardy.

I think Rey easily has him beat in terms of versatility and nuance. Put the guy anywhere on the card and he was going to give you something at least pretty good. I did have Trips ranked fairly high because like Dylan said, he's too big a star (although I get why he had him ranked lower). But Rey was definitely a top 10 pick for me. Still, I'm glad he at least made the top 20.

I think the list has been pretty spot-on for the most part (although I think Trish was rated too low). And while I had A.J. higher I understand considering he's barely been there for two years.

https://twitter.com/snoringelbow/status/966864075929010176 Good news!

I would hope that with a shorter season it would be ready by at least spring or summer.

Daniel Bryan "Monster" First Elimination Chamber match for Survivor Series 2002

According to Luchablog, everyone is reporting to the temple today.

I think Roman's placement is fine. White-hot Shield run and at least two years of great matches countered by a fair number lackluster and uninspired feuds.

Glad Matt finished in the top 50.

Also makes sense given the "new management".

New temple. http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/lucha-underground-season-4-new-temple-pics-tickets/

If I had to guess, I think they were going for the story that Naito thought he was ready for the big Tokyo Dome main event four years after it was taken from him. However, the pressure was too much against a guy like Okada who's done this no big deal for three years. For the first time since going Ingobernable, his confidence was shaken and he just didn't have what it takes to get the job done. Which again, is a retread of the Okada-Tanahashi rivalry. So while I think it's kinda interesting that the role was reversed with Okada being the guy to mock his opponent who just wasn't ready yet, it's also a lazy retread. Okada losing his cool and failing at WK would have made for a much more interesting story.

You bring up a great point and I've seen the point made that going for the second Destino and getting lost in the moment is what cost him too. It's really tough to say when you break it down like that.

Going through it, I think about a quarter of those matches would make an all-time list for me. There's still a ton of stuff I need to see, though.

Probably.

I'm actually not too sure how it did compared to WK 9 because I think they were still fudging the numbers at that point. But I do agree that going the same route with Naito is a bit odd, even if I can sort of get behind it in a vacuum (Naito going back to his old Stardust Genius ways at the Dome, realizes he needs to fully embrace the Ingobernable). I sort of think Naito wins at Dominion once Okada breaks the title defense record, Okada wins the G-1, rematch at WK for all the marbles. The best story? Probably not.

While I do appreciate the long-term booking as opposed to the seat of the pants booking WWE uses (although putting out as much content as they do has to be difficult), it becomes a problem when you don't capitalize on a crowd reaction. Sticking to the plan as opposed to going with the hot hand is one of the biggest issues I've seen in almost every wrestling promotion and it's extremely evident in NJPW. Okada was hot in 2014-2015, but they held off on him beating Tanahashi until the next year. Hiromu was looking to be NJPW's biggest breakout star in a while, but they kept him defined as just another Junior to continue the stories with KUSHIDA and Ospreay. And while Naito helped them draw their biggest Tokyo Dome crowd in years, they didn't pull the trigger because they want Okada to break all the records and presumably have him win at Dominion two years after he originally lost the title. So while a lot of these stories are interesting in a vacuum, they don't capitalize on new opportunities when they present themselves.

Certainly explains his excellent punches and "less is more" approach. His match with Finn back in 2013 was legitimately Finn's best match until A.J. at TLC.

Maybe it's because I'm not an older guy (ha) but I liked Hiromu-Ospreay. That being said, I do think they went a bit overboard, but that's Ospreay for you. At his best, he's a very exciting high-flier. At his worst, he's over-indulgent with no sense of pacing or psychology. I wouldn't exactly say this was the "worst" of Ospreay but the screaming and ease of comebacks after being hit with big moves is annoying (although the latter isn't exactly uncommon in NJPW). I thought the match would have worked much better had Hiromu won considering he had answer for basically every big move Ospreay hit him with, but it is what it is. And while I wouldn't have had it in my top 10 for last year, I did love the Ospreay-KUSHIDA match from last year's BOSJ. Goto-EVIL was a chore and the whole ref bump to use the prayer beads only for the ref to then see EVIL use the prayer beads without calling for a DQ was terrible. This isn't hard: keep normal DQ spots outside of the ring and skip the ref bumps in general. I like EVIL and have always been a bit of a Goto apologist because the whole "fails for most of the year and then overachieves a few times" is a pretty fun character. But he's pretty dang boring at his worst and EVIL needs a really good dance partner to rise above "good". Main event would have been a MOTYC had the opening half not been so dang slow. SANADA had a career performance and Okada continues to be the master of selling peril even when the outcome isn't in any doubt. I legit though SANADA had him a few times even though I knew there was no chance he was winning.

A great lesser-known one is the WK 10 match with KUSHIDA. Has some comedy but strays from his big match formula and has some awesome selling.

New Beginning should be good, and I'm shocked they're doing as many singles matches as they are. Really hoping Hiromu wins but think they'll keep it on Ospreay. It still blows my mind that they've pushed Hiromu to the side in favor of Ospreay AND Scurll. Ospreay I can sort of understand but why not just have Hiromu keep the title for a year and THEN put over Ospreay? More mad about Scurll honestly because he can be so dang annoying. Okada-SANADA have always had good but not great matches, but with Okada playing heel in this one we might get another match a la Kojima in the G-1, which would be awesome. Goto losing to EVIL would be hilarious not because I have a problem with EVIL winning, but it would perfectly encapsulate everything that makes Goto's character a sadsack loser. Finally gets his big win back only for the guy he beat to upgrade to a better title and then lose in his very first defense.