Tetsujin

Eddie Monster is a, no pun intended, monster heel in SGW Uganda, and he's actually pretty fucking cool (a must see match I would recommend is the I Quit against beloved babyface Kapeeka). A top 100 vote this early in his career is obviously insane, but he does have a lot of talent. Ugandan wrestling is very intense and stiff, and he manages to have a real destructor aura while at the same time stooging and bumping like any heel in the territories.

Lucha has ten really interesting years going forward. Both WWE and AEW are getting stronger within it, be it with AAA or CMLL, and while the consequences of that for current Lucha might be concerning, I ask myself if it's possible that both big American companies showcasing mexican wrestling to a broader audience might get more people interested in its past.

Nah it's fine like that.

And this was it. It's been really fun, I'm gonna miss the forum being so alive again. But now my actual favourite part begins: the one when I start tracking wrestlers I don't know as much (or at all) that did somewhat ok on the list and watch some of their stuff. Terry Funk is obviously an amazing winner. It's also really interesting how he managed to get such outstading result in a year were the pass of time didn't go as well for a lot of his contemporaries. It seems to me like every old school fan put all their efforts in keeping him high, maybe even at the cost of the rest. It's a fascinating poll to try to unfold, all things considered. If/when we do this in 2036, my earliest and biggest prediction is that Will Ospreay will get really close to winning it, but either Kobashi or Danielson take it this time (very surprised to see the people who started watching in the 2020s ranking Kobashi at their #1). I'm actually planning a big project in spanish, to help people from Spain and Latin America to get closer to all the different pro wrestling through time and space, as our communities are mostly WWE and/or current wrestling fans. You'll probably be able to check it out on twitter soon. This GWE is gonna be a great thing to put a lot of people in search of new, different, excellent wrestling and I hope by 2036 I can help improve the spanish-speaking discourse and participation on it. Thanks Grimmas and everyone involved.

If you watched it and didn't like it, why would you have the need to vote for it? It's not about being unfair, it's about you not enjoying it.

Guys I'm sorry but I'm far more interested in speaking about how to make more people watch/talk about lucha than if Bryan should've wrestled Triple H with a machete (yes).

It's funny he's slowly getting higher and higher each GWE.

Holy fucking shit.

The top 2 is very deserving in the sense that I can't think of two more versatile wrestlers ever. Liger, maybe. But Funk and Danielson feel like the two guys that managed to master absolutely every single facet of pro wrestling available.

And Kobashi just dropped. He had far more voters that I expected compared to the other Pillars (as he should). He's also the list's best japanese wrestler ever, and by some margin too (as he should). What can I say about him. He's my favourite. There's no other wrestler that makes me FEEL the most, and to me that's the most important thing. The ability to make me care about him, always wanting him to win, always making me nervous or emotional. I could say he makes me feel that way because he's my favourite, but in reality it's the other way around: because he's making me feel this way, he became my favourite. And how did he manage to do that to me as a distant fan in time and space? It's obviously subjective, but I believe you can see his effort in any match he's in, and you can understand it. The guy wrestles like nothing is more important in that moment. It's do or die. Wheter as a lowcarder destined to always lose but always making you believe, to a midcarder on the rise who slowly but surely got to the top, to the undisputed ace of puroresu with his legendary title reign, to a broken man giving his all to retire with dignity. He's the one with the best attitude possible to make me suspend my disbelief the most, there's no other wrestling as sincere as he is. It's clear, based on his showcase this year compared to the rest of the Pillars and contemporaries of his, that this appeal of his, this aura as we say today, is universal. His passion for being the best just overwhelms and charms people. So glad for the top 3 result (#8 ten years ago always felt wrong for a guy like him). Also, he's one of the only four that never left the top 10 in any GWE edition (Misawa, Hansen and Flair as well).

Didn't Grimmas said Danielson was "only" the fourth with most votes? That really surprised me a few days ago. And it is true that I've seen a lot of ballots on Twitter either without Bryan, or with Bryan outside the top 50. So maybe he's not as unanimous as we all thought (I mean he's still top 3). Again, both Kobashi and Funk also have fans sectors where they're not really present, neither is on the radar of the WWE voters, Funk is mostly an 80s guy and those suffered the most this time (but he's also a hardcore guy and those got a bump, so...), while Kobashi is a Pillar, and we all know the recent relative push against the idea of the Pillars being the absolute best, and they're not having as many voters as the rest of the upper part of the list (1/5 didn't vote for Misawa at all!). I guess what I'm trying to say is the cases of the last three have pros and cons. I believe it's far more open than we realize, even if a lot of people (myself included) predicted the same three guys on the podium a couple of months ago. Or maybe I'm wrong again like every time I write something in this thread, and indeed Danielson wins by a huge margin. If Bryan drops now at #3, I believe that would be the most interesting result. A Funk/Kobashi final sounds more unpredictable than any option with Bryan tomorrow, I would say. But, again, any order would be reasonable between these three.

That amount of Austin votes is surprising even for one of the most popular wrestlers ever like he is, holy. And the fact that almost everyone who voted for Tenryu voted SUPER high for him is also tremendous. Yet the fact that other four wrestlers ranked ahead of them, with one of them being the last Pillar remaining in an edition where the Pillars aren't that voted compared to the rest of high ranked guys, man, that's incredible. I honestly believe the last three remaining are one of the best combinations for a consensual top three ever possible. Funk, Kobashi and Danielson are three wrestlers whose PASSION for profesional wrestling is very clear at everything they did on that ring, maybe more than anyone else ever. Funk is a perfect old school full package, Bryan is a perfect modern full package, and Kobashi is the ultimate heart and soul guy.

C'MON KOBASHI

The best Harley.

Considering Austin's peak is in reality two separated one-year peaks (1997 and 2001)... Yeah, by a wiiiiide margin.

Heart: 6. Austin 5. Tenryu 4. Flair 3. Funk 2. Danielson 1. Kobashi Brain (optimistic): 6. Austin 5. Tenryu 4. Flair 3. Kobashi 2. Funk 1. Danielson Brain (pessimistic): 6. Kobashi 5. Flair 4. Tenryu 3. Austin 2. Danielson 1. Funk

I remember my first experience with Hansen. A nerdy wrestling fan friend of mine told me about him as one of his favourites ever, and the name really captivated me. "Stan Hansen" sounds fucking dope, I don't know if we realize it enough. I searched him on YouTube and the first recommendation was the famous Kobashi match. Hey, I knew Kobashi, he was fucking awesome and rapidly becoming my goat. So I watched that match and my jaw was on the floor the entire time. That was more than ten years ago when I was a teenager. I gotta admit, there are some Hansen matches and performances I do not enjoy, especially when paired with aces (Bruno, Inoki, Backlund, Baba, Jumbo...). I believe those big figures take away too much of his essence when fighting him. The only exceptions are Carlos Colón and, to a lesser degree, Misawa. That's what ultimately dropped him out of my top tier list of guys, and in a couple of months he went from #7 to #27 (also because I ended up thinking better on newer guys to me like Jim Breaks or Buddy Rose). But other than that, he's sensational, and with Bret and Kobashi I would say he's the wrestler who wrestles the most like "yeah, that's what THEY would do in that situation" ever.

Kobashi being the most voted Pillar feels right. He's the most charismatic and the easier to get, after all. I'm shocked Misawa wasn't close to the top 5, but funnily enough I ranked him at #10 myself, so I can't really complain. He's one of the most subtle wrestlers ever and one of the biggest "final bosses" kind of wrestlers ever, if not the best one at that. And he managed to gain that aura not because of an overpowered gimmick like Streak Taker or Suplex City Lesnar or Hogan hulking up or stuff like that, no, he did it by just... Wrestling like the best guy in the match, with more stamina, the best strikes, the best reflexes for counters, more resilience, he just couldn't be beat in his best days. Hurts to say it, but I would've sacrificed Misawa if that meant Aja making the top 10 instead. It's a symbolic difference, but an important one for a lot of people, I believe. Bret and #9 and Rey at #8 feels kinda fair if both have to be on the top 10. Now I just want Austin dropping and I can rest, I will accept any order between the six remaining.

I see Bockwinkel did in fact rank higher than Cena. Justice.

I ranked Kobashi at #1, Danielson at #2, Flair at #9, Misawa at #10, Bret at #23, Hansen at #27, Funk at #30, Tenryu at #32, Rey at #42 and Austin at #72.

Aja just outside the top 10 hurts the most, specially with Stone Cold making it (Bret and Rey are boring picks too, but they were far better than Austin). GWE redeemeed itself with joshi this time, I don't think anyone can complain. Eddie repeating at #12 is cool, but holy shit that amount of votes. Crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if Austin, Bret and Rey rank above everyone else except Danielson. Glad Tenryu made the top 10 this time. So: Kobashi, Misawa, Hansen, Tenryu, Flair, Funk, Rey, Bret, Austin and Danielson. Not a bad top 10 at all (even with one big intruder imo). Prediction: 10. Tenryu 9. Austin 8. Bret 7. Misawa 6. Rey 5. Hansen 4. Flair 3. Kobashi 2. Danielson 1. Funk

Surprisingly "low" amount of votes for Tanahashi, but almost everyone who voted for him had him really high (hell, I had him at #4), so yeah. Awesome showcase even if he didn't crack the top 10, not that much of an issue. The best babyface in the world since Kobashi retired, and broken down Tana had so much fire and dignity whitin him that I believe he even added to his case these last few years. A pro wrestling legend I had the pleasure to follow most of his time on top writing his own legacy right before my eyes. Oh and there's no way Austin should be ranking above him and Kawada.

Kawada dropping now and only having 75% of votes I guess kinda confirms that the other two Pillars will rank below Danielson, whose group of guys is having much more people behind. Also, really funny that both Vader and Kawada beat the living shit out of Kobashi on their gifs. If the trend continues, maybe Hansen or Misawa drop next.

Vader being once again the highest voted without a #1 vote is so cool. It also surprises me a lot that Aja Kong had (at least) one #1 vote.

So, out of the 15 remaining, I would say Vader, Stone Cold, Aja and Bret are the more likely to drop tomorrow (are they???), and Flair, Funk, Danielson, Misawa and Kobashi the least likely to miss the top 10. The other six (Eddie, Rey, Hansen, Kawada, Tenryu and Tanahashi) are the ones I'm more intrigued about. Again, this is all based on vibes because the list has only been consistent on lowering territory guys. Everything else is not as set on stone as one would believe.