Tetsujin

Valentine is one of the guys I definitely wanna focus on when searching for new boys on my list. I've only watched the two Piper matches (the dog collar one being fucking phenomenal) and some random WWE stuff he was in (some Rumbles, SVS, those kind of things). I've heard he has some classics with Backlund (still on my to do list), but I don't exactly know where his case resides apart of those couple of matches against Piper and Bob. Any recs?

Bryan was always great, yeah, but he wasn't always as great as he was at his very best, so calling his entire career his prime sounds a bit too much if you ask me. 2006-09 Bryan is by far a better period than, idk, 2010-2011 Bryan or 2003-05 Bryan. What's crazy about Bryan is that he can have a very good match, or even something definitely great, at any point in his career, but most of the times those matches are just "another very good/great Bryan match". That's his day in the office. When you look at his absolute best work, more often than not you'll have it at 2006-09, 2012-14 and/or 2018. Those are his prime years.

Right now I'm focusing more on joshi, not because I'm following any planned agenda or something, but because I'm enjoying almost every single match and/or wrestler I'm encountering and always want to watch more. I'm sure that, not only the most clear GWE joshi contenders will rank pretty high on my 2026 list, but also the last half of it will have more joshi wrestlers that I've ever expected before. Three new girls (new to me) that I'm specially enjoying their work are Devil Masami, Mariko Yoshida and Megumi Kudo.

These two are neck-to-neck to me too. Misawa's case is definitely peak based, as he wasn't as good or outstanding as a Jr and didn't aged as well as other GWE top picks, but he happens to have one of the longest and highest peaks ever. Hansen is kinda different, because he was awesome since he was very young and retired while still being awesome. He can be hit or miss with some opponents (and some great opponents), but his consistency overall is quite remarkable. You could argue Hansen didn't had a singular, elite level run that we could easily identify as his peak, but he had mini-runs at that level throughout different parts of his career. Both are two of the absolute best offensive guys ever, and also two underrated great sellers imho. I will rewatch some of their classic singles matches to appreciate who did it better, but right now I would say Hansen is a lock for my top 10, while Misawa might be right outside of it.

These two are my current #1 and #2 as well, with Kobashi being slightly on top. I think Bryan is the most versatile wrestler ever, and Kobashi has the best peak(s) anyone ever had. Both guys are absurdly charismatic and have strong arguments for being considered the best wrestler of two different decades. I went with Kobashi because I believe his absolute best matches are a bit better than Bryan's, and Bryan doesn't have the all-time great selling Kobashi has (they both have every other all-time [insert any category you wanna bring].... But it's as close as any other comparison I'll ever see. I hope both guys finish at the top 5 in the overall thing by 2026.

I guess Steamboat is the right answer because he's basically an eternal babyface. His performance against Rude at Beach Blast 92 is the definition of a perfect babyface for me, and it isn't the only performance close to that level he has. But man, I fucking mark everytime peak babyface Martel fires up. He's like Lawler and Hogan, but less Superman and more Spiderman, if you get what I mean. It's a shame he didn't work as a face his entire career, but he was a pretty cool subtle heel too when it was needed, and the Model run is as good as it could have be, considering Vince's fetiche for ruining the big territory names he signed. I guess that, in my overall list, Martel has a strong chance to be a bit higher than Steamboat, but if the question is who's the most iconic babyface, Ricky's longevity gives him the edge here.

Yeah but something that both amuse me and annoy me is that it's almost always a low blow. Taker, Rollins, Bryan, Joe, Ambrose, Ricochet... It has become a running gag and I'm not sure I like it.

The thing with part-time Brock, to me, is not that he wrestled just a few times per year. It's that he only gave a shit when he wanted to. For each example of him being the best wrestler ever when he tries to be, you have another example of him not giving a single fuck about a match and/or opponent, finishing the bout and going home, ruining potential great matches and/or moments. I feel wrong placing Lesnar lower than top 25, because, honestly... He's so fucking good. He'll be the highest placed wrestler I don't like in my list. It's unfair how talented he is, considering he's not one of those workers who thinks about wrestling as their passion, just how they make a living. But that's also his main flaw, because he doesn't always care about wrestling and he produces atrocities when he feels like no trying.

I would argue Kobashi was BITW-level between 1992-2000 and then again 2003-05.

These are two of the wrestlers I think, at their very best, are the best ever. The thing with Kobashi is I think he managed to be the best ever both in his pyshical prime in the 90s, AND in his "Chopbashi" NOAH run. For example, when I watch the Joe match, I'm not just seeing Kobashi doing fanservice all over the place, but also him being minimalist while looking maximalist, and crafting one of the best matches ever out of chops and fanservice. I'm not saying he was the best ever throughout all the 90s and 00s (an argument about that can definitely be made, though), just that he managed to have some of his best nights ever both in the 90s and in the Chopbashi era. A lot of nights, actually. That's insane to me.

This is a fun one because KVE finished #98 last time, he'll have to fight for his place in the top 100 against newer guys that are building their case as time goes on. And Reigns might be the biggest case of all these current great wrestlers.

This one is hella interesting to me, for two things. First, I've never realized how similar aura they both have, totally feel like megastars when making their entrances to the ring, and both have great attitudes while wrestling that retains that aura. Second, I'm not near as high as everybody with these two. I'll vote for them, sure, but they're near the bottom of my list right now. To me, they're both lacking from volume, at least compared to other contenders, and their average match use to be fun, but not necessarily very good. I'll go with Choshu because he definitely has a higher cieling than Savage: some of the Fujinami matches, some of the Gauntlets and Elimination tags, the 84 Inoki match, the 85 Tenryu match, the 1/28/86 tag, the 87 Fujiwara match, the Hashimoto series... The only true MOTYC I can think from Savage is the GAB 95 Flair brawl. I don't like the Steamboat match, and the Warrior carryjob is great but not a damn all-timer like some would say, and other famous matches (more with Steamboat, the Tito Santana matches, SNME with Bret, WM VIII with Flair, etc) rank from good to very good for me, but not great or elite stuff, sorry.

I remember this one from the GWE forum, and to me it's Hansen any day of the week. Much better offense and selling, more great and elite matches, better gimmick... Both were pretty consistent throughout two whole decades, and Tenryu might have been more versatile (althought I don't really like some of his out-of-confort-zone stuff, like his work with Onita), but anything great you can have with Tenryu, Hansen can give it to you better. Also, Hansen was the best worker in their matches together. To put it in ranking language, Tenryu is a top 50 to me, Hansen is a top 10.

I'm not familiarized with André's work besides the Hansen, Killer Khan and Race matches, and his late WWE run, so I don't know what could be the argument for him ranking higher than Arn for anybody, other than "his best match (Hansen) is definitely better than Anderson's best match/matches". But I agree this would've been a hell of a match with both at their peaks.

I'm a big Shawn fan and right now he's a top 10 contender to me. And I do believe Toyota is a very accesible worker and one you could use to get introduced to joshi pretty easily. They're kinda similar because their respective characters rely on showing how awesome they can be before defeating their opponents, but they approach that character trait differently: for HBK is all about ego, but for Toyota is about fighting spirit. I think HBK's versatility is one of his biggest strenghts, specially considering gimmick matches. Unless he's paired with Triple H, you can always expect one of the best [insert random stipulation] matches if Shawn is in it: HIAC, LMS, Ladders, No DQ, Ironman, Triple Threats, Survivor Series, Rumble performances... He can be a fiery babyface or an asshole heel. He obviously will bump like a maniac, in a good way. He will adapt his offense while fighting big guys. His catalogue of great matches is huge, but I'm also finding him pretty good on a week to week basis pre and post injury (specially 2005-09). Toyota is one of the best spotty wrestlers ever. You can always expect fireworks when watching a match of hers. Maybe she was a bit excesive quite often and that stopped her matches to reach their full potential (still great matches most of them), but when she found the perfect balance she was as good as anyone. The Yamada tags with Ozaki and Kansai, the Aja matches and the Destiny Hokuto match are truly exceptional matches and she's one of the big reasons why. Both have tendencias that could hurt their matches a bit, exagerating their bigger traits, but I think Toyota's are a bit more present in her overall career. Manami is the best offensive wrestler, Shawn is the best seller. I'm a big fan of HBK's long term selling and (most of) his facial expressions and how he uses those two things to put over the epicness of the climax of his matches. I wish Toyota had some of that, but she's more impressive athletically. I have to admit I'm more of a character and theatre guy than a sport and athleticism guy when it comes to wrestling, so my personal preference will be Shawn. I think I enjoy most of his work more than Toyota's. But it's a pretty fun comparison!

I'm going with Hash here. I think he had a more consistent career and he peaked earlier and longer than Jumbo (I guess Jumbo would have been amazing throughout the 90s, but we'll never know sadly). The aura Hashimoto has in his matches is also something I don't think Jumbo can compete with, at least pre-1989 Jumbo. I still love Jumbo, 70s Jumbo is a prodigy and he's definitely good throughout the 80s, very good sometimes, but he didn't "find himself" until the Choshu and Tenryu rivalries. He worked the NWA style and he was good at it, but nothing really special like his late years. You can feel Hashimoto's uniqueness at any point in his career. In terms of offense, both are great. I believe Hash did more with less, though.

He's like the Kobashi of the style. So passionate, able to bring drama better than any other shoot wrestler, and he has a perfect balance between matwork and striking, while most of the other guys I've watched tend to focus more on one of the two.

I love the Joe trilogy and his entire WWE run, so he'll make my list, but to define exactly where I would need to dive deep into more of his pre-WWE stuff. Any recs?

Trying to reply both. I know the Aja rivalry, and the status she has before, during and after feuding with Bull. I like the rivalry and I love them together. My bad for saying I wanted Bull to be "the main attraction", she clearly was the ace of AJW and the biggest star of her period on top of the mountai, wasn't trying to say she wasnt. What I was trying to say is that, taking Aja as an example, even while still not at her peak and still not the face of the company, you can make a strong argument about Aja being, at least, as good as Bull in their most famous matches. I want Bull against obvious worse workers than her, and I don't think Aja was obviously worse than Bull in the cage match or the title matches from 1992, for example. I want to see Bull matches where the purpose can just be "look how good this match can be because it's a Bull Nakano match", not "look how cool this match can be because it's Bull Nakano, a great wrestlers, against [insert another great wrestler she faced]". I want matches where she's the main attraction from a ringwork perspective. And no, I don't need Bull to be the best at every aspect of her game. It would help to rank her higher, obviously, but there's no need for that because I already see how good she was. I think she's like Tenryu, wrestlers that the whole is better than the sum of their parts. I still like her and will rank her, just not as high as most of the other joshi candidates I'm also focusing on right now. She's very carismatic, energetic, and I can see the argument for her being a total package in the ring, but I believe some other joshi contenders took some of Bull's aspects to next level of greatness, and defined their ringwork better focusing on them and adding more personality than her.

From what I can say, Yoshida-Yagi is a better match than any Bull Nakano match I've ever seen (including Queendom). I like Bull, and I feel I should like her style more than I do because, on paper, hers is the type of wrestling I would do If I were a pro wrestler. But there's something about her that doesn't click with me as much as other joshi candidates, or great wrestlers in general. She's like a mix of qualities I appreciate, but in small dosis, and you can find what makes her great at bigger scale in other joshi legends. She's not as brutal as Aja, as dramatic as Hokuto, as menacing as Kandori, as spectacular as Toyota, as vicious as Ozaki, as creative as Satomura, etc. And I can't find a proper word for her: That's maybe because I'm watching her against (what I consider) better wrestlers, so I would love some Bull recommendations where she's the main atrraction, the clearly better wrestler of the match, against lesser known opponents.

Foley was the best wrestler in the Attitude Era by far (considering Austin best years, 1997 and 2001, happened just before and after the AE). The most intelligent "dumb" wrestler ever, and the kind of worker you could always trust to deliver something great when it was necesary. He'll be on my list, near the middle.

Just watched this. Fuck, you were god damn right. Satomura is a top 25 contender to me (just like others, idk, 40? or some others wrestlers, duh), and the more I watch of her, the more I'm convinced she's AT LEAST top 3 joshi ever. Right now I have her in my top 5 (Aja, Hokuto, Kandori and Devil are the other ones, and I think Meiko has a strong chance to, at least, surpass the last two), and she's totally one of the best workers of the 10s. Male and female. One of the absolute best offensive wrestlers ever, and her consistency is almost unmatched (from what I've watched thus far). Pretty hyped to see where I'm finally putting her after five more years watching her work.

Isn't Gorgeous George the guy that basically invented heel gimmicks and wrestling?

I think 2016 GWE nailed it with Bret. Top 20 but not top 10 sounds perfect for him, to me. I have him a bit lower, he's definitely a top 25 contender, it's just that there are more than 25 amazing wrestlers fighting for a top 25 slot.

I would say Batista had his best match ever with Trips at Vengeance 2005, the HIAC. Triple H is a guy I don't think deserves to be considered as great because reasons we all know, but I seriously think he really is pretty great at his best. Hell, I think he reached that level more times than people tend to give him credit for. Since 2002 he have: -Elimination Chamber 2002 (his performance kinda puts together the whole match). -WM XX main event, when I think he's the best performer of the match. -The Batista feud, the only time in his career he put over someone else, with the HIAC showdown as their greatest hit and a legit MOTYC. -WM XXIV Orton/Cena/HHH, very fun triple threat kinda underrated because how good that whole WM edition was (specially the MITB, Shawn/Flair and the main event. Oh and people seem to really like Show/Floyd too for whatever reason, but that's another story). -vs Cena at Night of Champions 2008. Their best match together I think, pretty cool. -Both 2008 and 2009 Elimination Chambers. -That TLC with Shawn against JeriShow, very fun stuff. -vs Sheamus at WM XXVI (he should have lost, yeah, but still pretty good match). -Both Taker matches at WM XXVII and XXVIII. I know some people don't like that kind of WWE epic storytelling, but I enjoy it for special ocassions like those two. -I remember really liking the cage match with Lesnar, but I should rewatch it, it's been a while. -Shield vs Evolution. Those two matches are amazing. -The Ambrose title match. This was the kind of match nobody expected to be that good, but damn they had so much quemistry. It was worked like a modern NWA title match, in a good way. -The Rollins match. Yeah I really like that, and I'm not really a fan of either guy. But that match worked pretty well for me. -Batista's retirement match at WM 35. That was fun as hell and Triple H showed his most vicious side sincew the RA Era. (I'm excluding the most famous or typically recommended stuff like the Bryan match or the Ronda mixed tag, but those obviously are fantastic matches too. I just wanted to focus on more underrated stuff.) As you can notice, I'm only recommending a couple of matches per year (sometimes even less), and considering how many opportunities he had throughout all those years(or gave himself), that's totally a failure of a main event career. For every great match or performance he has had, he had a lot more of dissapointing, mediocre or even garbage stuff, some of it even working with good wrestlers and bringing their worst version out of them (thinking of you, Shawn). But he still had more pretty good, some even excellent matches to his resume after his 2000-01 peak. I'm not trying to encourage people to reconsider Triple H's candidacy. I won't vote for him because, as Cap said, the bad stuff totally outweights the good stuff, and for the worst reason possible: he choose to be that way, to ruin wrestlers and matches just to keep his career alive. But I dislike that theory that he wasn't able to have good matches after 2001, so I wanted to share some of his cool stuff from the last two decades, that's all.