Tetsujin

I totally agree with El-P here. Angle was amazing as a go-go worker, but is not like he was great until 2003 and suddendly he stopped being good for the rest of his career. Great short-term seller, cocky heel dominating, limbworker, overconfident matworker, intense brawler... I think only Kobashi is better at kicking out at 2'999999 when it's necessary. He probably was the most entertaining worker to follow in TV beetween 2000 and 2006, which is awesome, and then you have his TNA run... I don't think that's Angle's peak (at least not all those years), but he is still great at what he does. His New Japan run is a bit dissapointing though, but I think you can still build his case without those matches and considering him a serious top 10 contender.

Not even close. Okada has that privilege.

The Jericho matches are excellent, specially the apuestas one. And you should definitely watch him against Billy Kidman at 15/03/99 Nitro, a match I consider a masterpiece in highflying cruiserweight matches. Another very underrated match is vs Taker at Royal Rumble 2010.

1. Kenta Kobashi 2. Bryan Danielson 3. Jushin Thunder Liger 4. Hijo del Santo 5. Nick Bockwinkel 6. Chris Benoit 7. Stan Hansen 8. Mitsuharu Misawa 9. Aja Kong 10. Hiroshi Tanahashi Choosing just ten wrestlers for a preliminar ranking is hard as fuck, because I can give another, idk, 20-25 names who have strong chances to be in these top spots too. I think I have my top 3 pretty locked (the order could change, though), but from #4 to maybe #25 or whatever anything can change. Same with wrestlers I'm considering for that Q2 segment of my list (26-50). For example, right now I have Hokuto and Akiyama near the top 20, but I can see both of them as top 10 locks if everything I still have to watch continues to deliver. And the more I think about it, the more I see Misawa out of the top 10 (but not too far below). I have more top tier contenders than ever, and that's fun and satisfying as hell, but also puts a lot of pressure on me. How the hell does a list feel right if you have Casas or Funk "only" at #15 or #20 in it? But again, there's a lot more of amazing wrestlers. I still have five more years...

He's a better, darker, Jeff Hardy, and I say that in the best way possible. He should look like a vanilla, "look at how edgy I am" version of Jeff, but his ringwork makes you take him seriously. His consistency have been pretty admirable since 2018, and I'm sure he's not at his peak yet. These next five years will be very important for him, and AEW should put the trigger on him for the main title sooner than later. The potential for a high position in a 2036 GWE is there, iykwim.

Two of my favourites: vs Io Shirai, Sendai Girls 19/4/2018 vs Mercedes Martinez, WWE Mae Young Classic 2019

I watched the Chigusa match yesterday, and damn. It was amazing, and Hokuto was perfect in her role, with all that vicious offence and attitude towards Chiggy. I also loved her in the Bull match in 1991 when I watched it a few weeks ago. I don't need her to be at 93-95 levels before and after those peak years, just great enough to see your career as consistent as possible. And Hokuto is delivering, to me at least. She clearly was a very good wrestler before her peak, from what I've seen. I'll watch those 80s tags and more 00s stuff.

That's also my favourite Martel match ever, and the only thing keping it away from the full five, for me, is the stupid finish. Everything else is just perfect pro wrestling. Other Bockwinkel matches are excellent too, they had awesome chemistry and it should be reminded as one of the best in ring sagas ever.

As recently as late 2019, he had his last singles match with Minoru Suzuki and that match rules. Not exactly the showdown I think the rivalry was building up to, but if you see it in a vacuum you won't be bothered by that. Great fight.

I'm one of those fans, actually, and yeah I love Vader. Not my favourite big man (Hansen exists) but pretty close. He'll probably make my top 30, surely top 50. The shoot stuff was a great reinforcement of his case, he was able to adapt to the ringwork there while retaining his overall style and aura. I love the "subtle versatility" he has, specially for a monster powerhouse. PS: and I LOVE Flair and specially Terry, too

I need a deep dive in his indie run, but I've been loving his WWE run. He's one of these guys that does everything he can with whatever they gave to him, be a four minutes match with Cesaro at WM kickoff, comedy stuff in a dead Cruiserweight division, etc. He has delivered in a big way when giving the chance (Bryan, Thatcher, ZSJ...) so yeah, these next five years will be crucial for him. He could make my list easily.

I'm pretty sure Kenny Omega have a strong chance to be that guy. I feel Shawn's goofiness kinda suits him very well, both as a confident babyface and as an arrogant heel, but Kenny does that while trying to look serious and great, and I think he actually ruined big matches because of It.

Grey might be my favourite WOS guy, and have a strong chance of making my list. It's just a matter of where. I've seen some of his most famous matches (Myers, Saint) and some others with guys like Breaks and Cortez, loved all of them, but I still need to watch a lot more of WOS as a whole, so any recommendations are welcome.

I'll watch more of his post-peak TNA stuff (let's say 2009-14, idk), to have a recent image of what he did in such a bad context. His peak years are among the best ever, and his WWE run was pretty cool too. I think he could be in my top 25.

Yassss thanks!!!

Yeah veteran Misawa is kinda cool, but honestly he doesn't have a very strong run. He also doesn't have a very strong Jr, Tiger Mask run. If you think about it, Misawa's case is all about peak, but the fun thing is his peak is absurdly long.

Remember this? Well, the match was an absolute masterpiece. White was the best heel ever for one night, but Tana played that role I described better than ever. I feel like no other two wrestlers today could have worked this particular match, it just happened because Jay is a fucking prodigy and Tana is one of the absolute best ever, even past his prime. I know New Japan main event formula isn't for everybody, but PLEASE give this a chance without caring for duration or whatever. The dynamic between these two characters is what pro wrestling is about. I can't believe I enjoyed this much a match in the COVID era.

More Toyota love here. Not somebody I can see myself putting her in the top 10 ir anything closer like other joshi stars like Kong or Hokuto, but I don't think she'll be outside my top 75 or so. I love her inmediate selling, I love how cool she looks while attacking and how much value she gives to her unlimited arsenal, something very difficult to me. I understand and even share the main issues people can have with her style, but I don't think those hurt her case as an amazing worker deserving a spot on the list. Just not as high as she could have been.

I'm pretty sure Banks is reading this thread (or will do it, eventually) and boy is she gonna feel great. As she should, because her career is going pretty fucking well even with WWE booking downtimes. Let's see how much she brings to the table in the next five years, but for now, even though she's a wrestling prodigy, I don't think I'll rank her. For a Project like this, I want to look at any nominee's career as a whole (or at least as already defined as possible), and Sasha isn't even in her 30s yet. When 2026 GWE happen, she'll have 34 years old still, she might be in her peak years (that sounds crazy considering how good she already is, but mid-thirties is the usual peak run for most wrestlers), and with so much to add to her case as a veteran. We will see.

He has a MOTYC-level match against Rick Martel in Portland, January 1980. One of the greatest championship matches of its time, for sure.

Recently I watched the Hashimoto match and it blew me away. What a fantastic match, and Regal was tremendous as the driving force of it.

MiSu's last year G1 run was fucking badass (he even had something pretty good with 2021 Will "Omega 2.0" Ospreay), he looked like he returned to his peak. He also had the Moxley match, the Shingo matches, and the last singles match of Liger's career, all of them rocked. That's just late 2019-20. He's aging ridiculously well, and that combined with his best stuff from the early 90s and his peak years in the 10s could be enough to make my list in the Q4. His indies and comedy stuff is also worth watching (I 100% recommend two Rocku Kawamura matches in 2017 or so, tremendous). The NOAH runs will decide if he finally makes it for me or not, and how high he ends if he does make it. I love the old bastard. His character is one of the coolest ever in profesional wrestling and that alone carries most of his regular matches, but his top matches (Sano, Kobashi, Tanahashi, Styles, Sugiura, Kawamura, Goto, Barnett etc) are huge, very different from each other, and as good as anyone's.

For these kind of projects I'm more of a ringwork guy, don't care about mic stuff, but obviously how you display your gimmick and charisma while wrestling are huge parts of how much I enjoy watching you wrestle, and the ellte mic guys usually do that with ease. Lawler is one of those.

Top 30 lock for me just by peak alone. If his post-80s stuff holds up, I can see myself putting him in my top 10, honestly. Lawler is what Hogan was but hundred times better, and he's among the best ever in a lot of categories (babyfaces, sellers, brawlers, heels, charisma, coming back...).

Oh yeah, KOR is one of these few current era guys I think can make it by 2026. Excellent tag worker, one of the best ever. One of the most dynamic strikers ever, too. I don't think he has the highs he should, but his consistency and overall coolness can be enough to put him in the lower spots of any list.