TheBean

Sharing match recommendations here: Tajiri & Zumbido vs Chicago Express & Black Warrior (05/29/97 BJW): 7-8 minutes of lucha sweetness. Nearly constant movement. BJW shows the whole thing. Even they knew how good this was - hidden gem. RECOMMENDED Tajiri vs Chicago Express (05/30/97 BJW): Reminds me of Tajiri vs Super Crazy - dives, cool arm drags, ranas - you'll dig it! Tajiri & Ikuto Hidaka vs Super Crazy & Super Calo (12/18/99 ECW) Chattanooga, TN. This would be so awesome to see at your high school gym! These fans saw something special. Spring board moves, tilt-a-whirls, dives, fighting in the crowd... the ending came sooner that I would have wanted but that's not a complaint but a preference. Very good stuff! RECOMMENDED Tajiri vs Tommy Dreamer (03/25/00 ECW): Wichita, KS. Corino is talking crap on the mic. Dreamer comes out to shut him up but Tajiri intervenes. This was a fun house show type match yet had some pretty good spots. Definitely scratches an itch for your standard ECW match. Everyone had fun, me included. Hiroshi Tanahashi & TAJIRI vs TERRIBLE & Texano Jr (11/03/10 NJPW): Pretty sweet action filled tag match! Everyone came to wrestle. Lucha moves, power double teams, Tanahashi doing his big stuff even though it's a small show. Yeah, this was a lot of fun. I recommend it. The video is below.

Sharing some recommendations for posterity. I have watched a good bit of 2000-2010's Omori and he's awesome. But I think he's probably someone you have to "get into" and understand his journey/history to fully appreciate. But it's not some big task to do that. Tag partner to Akiyama, tag partner to Takayama, challenges Kobashi in Champion Carnival before the NOAH exodus, exiled from NOAH, goes to Zero One for awhile, returns "home" to AJPW as a vet etc. His 2010 has depth beyond that arc especially once Akiyama & co. come into AJPW. Will update this periodically: Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori (09/04/99): If you are a fan of either guy then, damn man, you need to watch this!! Knees, lariats, armbars, attacks off the top rope, man! Why did people thing AJ sucked in '99? It has a big match feel, it has a nice early focus on grappling then, organically transitions to big moves but no MKII finishers which was refreshing. This is very similar to 2012-2015 actually Great match! Takao Omori & Mohammed Yone vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura (05/26/02 NOAH): A little bit earlier there's a schism in No Fear. Akiyama calls Omori out saying Takayama is using him...during the match Takayama wants to decimate Akiyama with double team moves (they do) but Omori says enough is enough and hit his partner with the Ax Bomber and splits. That looks to be on the 05/09 show. That sets up this match. Anyways...this was some great hateful hard hitting wrestling. It boils down to two parts 1) Takayama getting his ass kicked 2) Omori getting his ass kicked. Yone & Sugiura were very secondary in their roles. Yone was especially stiff with Takayama...I've got to see more of his NOAH work. I would have liked a little bit better of a finishing segment but, we get 20 minutes of potatoes so I can't gripe too much. If you're interested in watching this then, you should! Takao Omori & Manabu Soya vs Seiya Sanada & KAI - RWTL (11/26/11 AJPW): Omori & Soya have teamed up here as Wild Hearts. The thing is Sanada & Soya were tag partners just a few months ago. Not sure who wanted the split but, they square off right at the bell. Seiya goes for speed and shocks Soya. KAI's in there and they go for the double team. These two young guns look dynamic as all get out!They are fighting in the stands now. Old man Omori's out there choking Sanada with a child's parasol! Hahahaha! Back on inside the ring and KAI's trying Soya but, come on dude! Manabu is a freaking caveman...and not the Fred Flintstone type either.Omori gets in there and wisely slows things down with KAI. The K man eventually finds an opening to get Seiya, the fire plug, going. Omori's had enough and puts big Soy sauce in there. Hey, deadlift suplex a motherfucker, Soya! This is a real back and forth match. Omori's trying to Axe Guillotine Driver KAI off the top now. Great! erase his head from existence! Just tons of double team destruction but, surprisingly never goes into bonkers territory. Both teams were very impressive. This was a great match. Go Shiozaki & Jun Akiyama vs SUWAMA & Takao Omori (07/28/13 AJPW 2/3 falls match): Here we have one of the few reminents from Muto AJPW, ace SUWAMA and a cast off from Misawa's AJPW exodus in Omori up against NOAH's ace and Kobashi/Misawa pupil Shiozaki and Jun Akiyama. Let's all remember that Akiyama is former tag partners, champs and friends with Omori. Akiyama got to ride the NOAH wave in the 2000's while Omori was surfing relatively low tide in Zero-1 and washed up back in AJPW like driftwood. This was a battle for a lot. Omori had remade himself in partnership with Manabu Soya however. He was not someone to be kicked around anymore. This was Omori's home, AJPW had been through alot in that time and SUWAMA had been there and is still there. This isn't just his home, it's his kingdom. He had outlasted them all. Akiyama wants back in? Akiyama had been gone for 13 years. Ok that's fine but he has to earn it. Shiozaki on the other hand has no place in AJ. He's an outsider through and through. This was a battle. A beautifully long match that harkened back to the classics of AJPW '92-'96. The grappling, striking, layout and pacing were conservative. Therfore, the contest was more organic in its story progression and the escalation of aggression. The 2/3 falls usage was brillant and perhaps is what made it so damn good. It provided the wrestlers the framework to bring the level of excitement up and down, to be able to rest the fans energy only to build it back double fold. Classic Match.

Hamada UWF / FULL SUPER ESTRELLA '90 Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo (06/01): 11+ minute, really good lucharesu but too many moves followed by a pin attempt which stifled the flow. A pet peeve still a quality match. Hijo del Santo vs Fuerza Guerrera (06/04): 9+ minutes, pretty good- great under 10 min. match. =-=-=-= Yoshihiro Asai vs Cuchilla (06/04): Another really good under 10 min. match. A good portion of this was mat wrestling. Aja Kong, Bison Kimura & Grizzly Iwamoto vs Manami Toyota, KAORU & Mika Takahashi (06/04): Aja & co. are brutal bruisers while Toyota & Honey Wings are technical and fast. Pretty much exactly what I wanted with this one. Near classic match, LOVED IT! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Gran Hamada, Perro Aguayo & Kendo vs El Signo, Texano & Negro Navarro (06/04): Really fun first fall, nice pace & structure. 9min. 2nd fall featured a great technico shine with the rudos dominating towards the end to get the pin. 7 minutes. Quick moving third fall, 7 minutes. This match was a lot of fun! Yoshihiro Asai vs Negro Casas (06/07): Great match that should be part of the 90's junior canon. Mat wrestling, fierce chops and slaps plus nice twists & surprises. RECOMMENDED! =-=-=-= Kato Kung Lee & Super Astro vs Blue Panther & Cuchilla (06/07): Good stuff with good moves. I would have preferred a quicker pace but it had a nice rhythm nonetheless. Hamada UWF / FULL 1991 Yoshihiro Asai vs Bestia Salvaje (06/07): These guys threw caution to the wind! A year later, Asai puts on another awesome match. He & Salvaje brought the intensity and the moves. Great match, RECOMMENDED! Gonna keep my eye out for more Bestia Salvaje in the future. IWE Strong Kobayashi & H. Eigen vs Isamu Teranishi & Mighty Inoue (06/29/80): 2/3 falls. Great match! Match builds wonderfully. A match for old school tag wrestling fans. 20 min or so. RECOMMENDED NJPW Tiger Mask vs Villano III (06/24/81): Amazing technical encounter. Two greats engaged in a battle of wit & will. A classic bout - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Toryumon CIMA & Sumo Dandy Fuji vs Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (06/04/00): Very good action tag match. Cool moves & big dives. 13 min. CIMA vs Sumo Dandy Fuji: Follow up to the previous fight. Speed vs Power wager match. Sumo Dandy Fuji impressed me with his lariats & chokeslams. 7 minutes. UK Classic Wrestling Marty Jones vs Bernie Wright (08/87): Great technical first fall. Jones fights his way back into the 2nd fall. Fall #3 was quick and emphatic. Very good 10-11 min match. UWA Hamada, Solar & Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. & Baby Face (05/30/92): Excellent first fall, technical wrestling with Solar & Wagner, Puro style with Casas & Hamada then fast spectacular moves with Santo & Baby/Babe Face. Fall #2 is rudo score evening. Fall #3 brought it home. 16 min, fun, fun wrestling!

Now we're on to 1987. Change of pace, just going to post the reviews/write ups & pics here. Jan-March 01/10/87 Riki Choshu vs. Ashura Hara: Very good stuff with these two water buffalos locking up. Unfortunately not long enough to really develop into something special but with these two you can't go wrong. Animal Hamaguchi/Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu : Intense, urgent tag wrestling. This is how it should be done. And don't be confused, this isn't Jumbo & Tenryu carrying anyone. Animal & Yatsu are criminally underrated. Two of the best Japanese tag wrestlers of the 80's. Great match and little more than that to be honest. 03/12/87 Yoshiaki Yatsu/Animal Hamaguchi vs. Terry Gordy/Art Crews: A very good all action tag match! There's lots of rope running and simple but good looking moves. I'm unfamiliar with Art Crews but he keeps the party going so this is a winner of a tag match. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs. The Road Warriors - Great big time tag match! Lots of action and the Warriors actually used some wrestling holds. And sold for Jumbo & Tenryu. This was pretty much what you want with this matchup. 03/28/87 Yoshiaki Yatsu vs Pete Roberts: This is one for the real wrestling fans in All Japan. 8 of 9 minutes of these two trading holds & fighting for leverage. Then we get about a minute of big moves to set up the finish. I'm glad that we get to see Pete work a technical match. I think Yatsu is the man to have it. I really am starting to really appreciate him. This is a fast, athletic and competitive bout. Very good stuff, an easy recommendation. I see Pete vs Masa Fuchi get recommended, this is better. Jumbo Tsuruta & Tiger Mask vs. Tommy Rich & Jerry Oates. - I don't care for this match. There's nothing special about it. Feel free to skip right past it. Genichiro Tenryu & Hiroshi Wajima vs. Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase. - Wajima was a yokozuna in sumo which makes sense why Baba would have him debut in his late 30's. The focus on the bouts is Stan vs Wajima... which kinda seems like a waste of Tenryu. However, he improves any match with him in it. So he does the bulk of the nuts & bolts work for his team. Wajima wasn't as bad as I remember though. He does very well when he has his moments. I didn't write a rating but I would say this was good to pretty good.

Lucha Libre: World Wrestling Peace Festival '96 and IWE '81 IWE Cobarde & Herodes vs Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato (02/28/81): Great action tag match! Tons of stuff going on here. Definitely recommend this one! Ref kinda muffs the finish but it doesn't really matter. Mach Hayato vs Cobarde (03/02/81): Pretty cool stuff, paced closer to Mil in AJPW but moves similar to NJPW lucha libre at the time. joined in progress Carlos Plata & Jose Luis Mendieta vs Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato (04/08/81): This was off the hook! Joined in progress but fast paced action with some really crazy moments. Definitely recommend this one! Herodes vs Mighty Inoue (1981): Roy's got this listed as El Cobarde but it's Herodes. Very good stuff, Herodes is quite the the chicken shit heel. Good face/heel match with Inoue finding his openings. Exciting finish too. World Wrestling Peace Festival 06/01/96 Lady Apache & Reina Jubuki (Akira Hokuto) vs Bull Nakano & Neftali: This was Bull vs Hokuto with Lady & Neftali as help. A fun time! Negro Casas vs Hijo del Santo: Great match, they packed a lot into a short time. That dive was badass. RECOMMENDED Black Cat vs Tatsumi Fujinami: Fun, simple yet clever wrestling. Rey Misterio Jr & Ultimo Dragon vs Psicosis & Heavy Metal: Rey & Ultimo showcasing spectacular offense. Fun fireworks match. Perro Aguayo & La Parka vs Pierroth Jr. & Cibernetico: A blast! A bunch of action plus Parka is a hoot. RECOMMENDED Dos Caras, Atlantis & Hector Garza vs Dr. Wagner Jr, Silver King & Gran Markus Jr: LOVE IT, technically minded, BIG RECOMMENDATION to lucha novices like me.

Rey & Ultimo showcasing spectacular offense. Fun fireworks match but not much more. Other stuff from this show I'd recommend above this match are: Lady Apache & Reina Jubuki (Akira Hokuto) vs Bull Nakano & Neftali: This was Bull vs Hokuto with Lady & Neftali as help. A fun time! Negro Casas vs Hijo del Santo: Great match, they packed a lot into a short time. That dive was badass. RECOMMENDED Black Cat vs Tatsumi Fujinami: Fun, simple yet clever wrestling. Not recommended above Rey/Ultimo tag BUT feels like a definitely good stuff. Perro Aguayo & La Parka vs Pierroth Jr. & Cibernetico: A blast! A bunch of action plus Parka is a hoot. RECOMMENDED Dos Caras, Atlantis & Hector Garza vs Dr. Wagner Jr, Silver King & Gran Markus Jr: LOVE IT, technically minded, BIG RECOMMENDATION to lucha novices like me.

Well, that was a war! I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the hate in this match was off the charts. It wasn't the quick burst of hate type match but more of a smoldering hate. Shit talking on the mic, stare downs, nasty looks and gestures and of course blood and kicks to the face. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't a fast paced match but I thought that it was wonderfully laid out. The match was almost a series of escalating encounters of violence. I could see some fans of more modern wrestling not liking this. In my book though this was a classic. Very distinct and memorable for sure.

On the same card: Takako Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Mariko Yoshida & Kaoru Ito & Rie Tamada. A bit rocky in the beginning but the pace was great throughout and it was quite exciting. Takako/Mariko was the focus. ***3/4 Aja Kong & Reggie Bennett vs. Lioness Asuka & Bison Kimura. - It was a very neat match but not spectacular other than Aja brutalizing Bison. ***1/2 Minami Retirement Memorial: Suzuka Minami & Yumiko Hotta vs. Las Cachorras Orientales. A great AJW style tag match with Minami being in the majority of the match. Hotta was minor in her role...I'm not sure this was because it was Suzuka's retirement match or what. Still it was very exciting and I really wasn't sure who was going to win. Really emotional too which is nice to see. LCO were pretty good here in their berserk heel mode giving Suzuka a tough retirement match. ****1/4 - Match of the Night

This was clipped to 6 minutes from 14 minutes. I call bullshit but, there's a handheld available. Probably from way back in the seats or down low since this was outside in Yokohama Stadium for the explosions. What we do see on the commercial release is pretty damn good (and well spliced!). It's pretty much all the fast paced highlights. Bull & Akira knock fuck outta the FMW gals but, like Onita they show that never say die attitude. Very enjoyable and recommended stuff. Per BAHU & Steve Ayy's FMW podcast, some AJW girls were considering jumping to FMW's women's division. Of course that didn't pan out but, is probably the catalyst for the AJW owners OKing the interpromotion stuff to keep them happy as well as rake in the bucks.

This was a ferocious match. The Yamazaki & Harley team was one I wish I could see more of but we're almost to the end. This was a great match...seek this one out!

This one was fucking brutal! This was one of the most emotional and destructive spectacles that I have ever had the joy to witness. Everyone was trying to beat the living shit out of one another in some primal kind of way. These women would never be the same after this disturbing confrontation. There is no doubt about it. This match, if you want to call it that, covered Korakuen Hall in boiling hot blood and sweat soaked face paint for days. The echo of their howls could be heard months after. This is a must-see classic. *****

All Japan Pro Wrestling Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs Great Kabuki (01/28/86) HM Genichiro Tenryu vs Ashura Hara (04/12/86) Jumbo Tsuruta & G. Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Animal Hamaguchi (05/17/86) Tenryu & Giant Baba vs Stan Hansen & Ted DiBiase (07/05/86) HM Tenryu vs Yoshiaki Yatsu (07/31/86) HM Hansen vs Terry Gordy (09/11/86) HM Jumbo & Tenryu vs Baba & Tiger Mask (11/28/86) HM Zero One Wrestling Omori & Otani vs Takayama & Kohei Sato (02/18/07) Manabu Nakanishi & Omori vs Takayama & Sato (03/08/07) HM Masato Tanaka vs Daisuke Sekimoto (07/16/07) M. Tanaka vs Yoshihito Sasaki (05/27/07) Omori vs Y. Sasaki (07/16/07) Sekimoto vs Y. Sasaki (07/28/07) Sekimoto & Sato vs Omori & Y. Sasaki (08/02/07) HM M. Tanaka vs Dick Togo (09/30/07) HM M. Tanaka vs Takao Omori (10/26/07) HM M. Tanaka vs Yoshihito Sasaki (12/24/07) M. Tanaka & Otani vs Yuji Nagata & M. Nakanishi (05/29/08) Ring of Honor AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs Dragon Kid & G. Horiguchi (Dragon Gate Challenge 03/30/06) Aries, Strong & Jack Evans vs CIMA, Doi & Yoshino (Dragon Gate Challenge 03/30/06) HM * Blood Generation vs Do Fixer (Supercard of Honor 03/31/06) Aries & Strong vs SHINGO & Doi (03/04/07 5th Year Fest: Finale) B. Danielson, Marufuji & CIMA vs D. Richards, Rocky Romero & Mochizuki (2007 ROH in Osaka) Kenny Omega vs Davey Richards (Epic Encounter III March 2010) Austin Aries vs Tyler Black vs Roderick Strong (Big Bang) HM Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (Big Bang 2010) Roderick Strong vs Davey Richards (Bitter Friends... II) HM Motor City Machine Guns vs Kings of Wrestling (Supercard of Honor V - May 2010) *Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (DBD VIII - June 2010) Pro Wrestling NOAH *Marufuji & Ibushi vs KENTA & T. Ishimori (07/15/07) Marufuji & Suguira vs Briscoe Brothers (03/02/08) New Japan Pro Wrestling *T. Fujinami vs Solitario (05/10/79) Muto & Kensuke Sasaki vs Shinya Hashimoto & Junji Hirata (03/26/96) HM *Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tenryu (04/29/96) Japan Others TAKA, Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez (03/06/99) HM Yuji Okabayashi vs Shuji Ishikawa (02/02/15) HM United States - Major * Roddy Piper vs Greg Valentine (Mid Atlantic 07/09/83) Randy Savage vs Bret Hart (Sat. Night Main Event 11/28/87) *Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis (Bash at the Beach 1996) Neville vs Sami Zayn (NXT Revolution 12/11/14) HM Neville vs Finn Balor (NXT Rival 02/11/15) HM *Neville vs Cesaro (NXT TV {unaired, on first NXT dvd} 03/05/15) •Feud of the for the first half of 2026 would be Kings of Wrestling vs The Briscoe Brothers (reviews forthcoming). All Japan '86 is the only other stuff where I have been watch a year's worth. I really was digging Riki Choshu versus everyone especially Super Strong Machine. I like Steen & Corino vs Generico & Colt as well but it's not my favorite so far. Super quick to call a feud but the Omori vs Takayama stuff in early 2007 is top notch. •Biggest surprise so far might be black & yellow NXT. The peaks are really high but it might be due to cherry picking. Neville, Sami Zayn & Balor are great but they already were great as PAC, Generico & Devitt...which is why I hated NXT at the time. But now that we're 10 years passed all of that, I can enjoy it for what it is rather than what it was. •Tag team of early 2026 viewing is Kings of Wrestling. Briscoes are right there with them though. Like 1a & 1b. Marufuji has been killing it in his assorted tag matches. •Best Wrestler would probably be Masato Tanaka. His 2007 is amazing in Zero One. Having fantastic opponents like Yoshihito Sasaki and Daisuke Sekimoto helps! Y. Sasaki would actually be my #2 choice... a break out year in '07. Macho Man, Neville/PAC deserve shout outs. You should be checking their stuff out. •Best Match Watched candidates are marked with the star (*). Anything unmarked are just right under that designation. HM matches are Honorable Mention. Don't discount them one bit though... those are beyond just great matches, they're near classic bouts. What is next? I'm thinking Joshi June. Really enjoyed early JWP and I'd love to pick that up. Also want to keep going with ROH 2010 and will be putting those recommendations up shortly. I'm watching lucha libre and lucharesu so I'll be posting what I like/love. And then I'm trucking on with Cruising the 80's with a focus on AJPW 1987 but definitely have some excellent New Japan and IWE lined up. Actually, I'm interested in the intersection of some of those topics like ladies lucha libre, early 80's luchadores in Japan so it should be cool 😎

Terry Funk got #1 this year to the surprise of me & many others. I think this helped soften the blow of some of the other results this time around. I was going to write about how not to take these things too seriously or how only your list is the one that matters. Forget it. People want to get mad or want to be validated. That's what the internet is for anymore. I'm not going to change that. I'm not into that though. I guess that's why I didn't put a list together. Anyhow, I am pretty interested in the data from the project. I wanted to use the past results in combination with this year's outcome. I took the top 25 results from '06, '16 and '26. I assigned points to where they placed in each of the three polls. #1 = 25pts, #25 = 1pt. Then totalled those points. Finally ranked them by most points to least. For instance Flair's total looks like 18+25+22=65pts. I wanted a list that took all three GWE projects into account. Tie breaker#1: Who appears on more GWE top 25's. Tie breaker #2: Who appears most recently in GWE top 25. Ric Flair Terry Funk Kenta Kobashi Stan Hansen Mitsuharu Misawa Toshiaki Kawada Eddie Guerrero Jumbo Tsuruta Bret Hart Bryan Danielson Jushin Liger Rey Misterio Jr Genichiro Tenryu Steve Austin Vader Ricky Steamboat Aja Kong Chris Benoit Akira Hokuto Jerry Lawler Harley Race Randy Savage Hiroshi Tanahashi Dynamite Kid Hijo del Santo Nick Bockwinkel Mick Foley AJ Styles Arn Anderson Nobuhiko Takada Samoa Joe Tatsumi Fujinami Shinya Hashimoto William/Steven Regal Negro Casas CM Punk Jaguar Yokota Barry Windham The Destroyer Akira Taue (Honorary #40, #26 on two GWEs) Three timers: Jumbo, Kawada, Liger, Kobashi, Eddie, Misawa, Flair, Bret, Hansen, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Austin, Vader, Tenryu, Rey Jr Highest Three timer: Ric Flair (65pts, #1) Two timers: Hokuto, Aja, Hijo del Santo, Hashimoto, Danielson, Savage. Highest Two timer: Danielson (46pts, #9) One timers: Benoit, Harley Race, Dynamite Kid, Takada, Jaguar, Destroyer, Lawler, Bockwinkel, Arn, Fujinami, Regal, Negro Casas, Windham, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Mick Foley, Tanahashi Highest One timer: Benoit (23pts, #18) Top 40 represented by decade (approximately when wrestler's period of impact began) Pre 80's: 1 1980's: 15 1990's: 19 2000's: 5 Top 10 North American wrestlers: Flair, Terry Funk, Hansen, Eddie Guerrero, Bryan Danielson, Bret Hart, Rey Misterio Jr, Steve Austin, Vader, Ricky Steamboat Top 10 Japanese Wrestlers: Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Jumbo, Liger, Tenryu, Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Tanahashi, Nobuhiko Takada All that said, it's interesting to see how the list has stayed relatively static. These trends or recent events happen and a one time person cracks the top 25. Now my take away: I know the GWE projects were all done with the best of intentions. In the end though, folks use it argue and shit talk. We can call it debating or discourse but let's get real. There's enough of that shit in the world. Everyone is so primed to argue. Wrestling to me is an escape from that. I'm guessing it is for most folks. So, this list above ends it for me. Look at the number of three timers (15). That's an elite list right there. If we wait a decade, I'm thinking many of those folks are going to be top 25ers again. But if I'm also being honest, I don't want to be reading/writing about pro wrestling in 10 years time for the 2036 poll. This all seems like a young person's thing...especially the list making & arguing about it. I don't know about you but I've got a lot of work and worries as an adult. I'm more interested in watching wrestling and giving recommendations for folks just getting into older wrestling or looking to expand their horizons. If you're using the GWE list to do that then, you're awesome! That's what I think the big purpose of the list (& the hard work Grimmas & others have put into it) is. It is a excellent starting point for someone looking to get into other wrestling & wrestlers. It is also a prompt to get people out of their wrestling comfort zone. I think that is where I'm coming from at least. So in my book, that list above is my list for greatest wrestler ever. It's not my favorites but the numbers don't lie 😄 But it is another good list for someone to hopefully enjoy and get some ideas from. Perhaps, a watch project where they watch one match from everyone on the list. Or maybe making a thread on here or social media looking for other people's favorite matches by all of the one-time wrestlers. I dunno...I hope everyone reading this gets something out of it. Sorry if me being bummed on other people being aggro & shit has got you bummed now but, cheer up! There's wrestling to watch! Take care!

Another for shits & giggles list using the different polls: I took the top 25 results from '06, '16 and '26. I assigned points to where they placed in each of the three polls. #1 = 25pts, #25 = 1pt. Then totalled those points. Finally ranked them by most points to least. For instance Flair's total looks like 18+25+22=65pts. I wanted a list that took all three GWE projects into account. Tie breaker#1: Who appears on more GWE top 25's. Tie breaker #2: Who appears most recently in GWE top 25. Ric Flair Terry Funk Kenta Kobashi Stan Hansen Mitsuharu Misawa Toshiaki Kawada Eddie Guerrero Jumbo Tsuruta Bret Hart Bryan Danielson Jushin Liger Rey Misterio Jr Genichiro Tenryu Steve Austin Vader Ricky Steamboat Aja Kong Chris Benoit Akira Hokuto Jerry Lawler Harley Race Randy Savage Hiroshi Tanahashi Dynamite Kid Hijo del Santo Nick Bockwinkel Mick Foley AJ Styles Arn Anderson Nobuhiko Takada Samoa Joe Tatsumi Fujinami Shinya Hashimoto William/Steven Regal Negro Casas CM Punk Jaguar Yokota Barry Windham The Destroyer Akira Taue (Honorary #40, #26 on two GWEs) Three timers: Jumbo, Kawada, Liger, Kobashi, Eddie, Misawa, Flair, Bret, Hansen, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Austin, Vader, Tenryu, Rey Jr Highest Three timer: Ric Flair (65pts, #1) Two timers: Hokuto, Aja, Hijo del Santo, Hashimoto, Danielson, Savage. Highest Two timer: Danielson (46pts, #9) One timers: Benoit, Harley Race, Dynamite Kid, Takada, Jaguar, Destroyer, Lawler, Bockwinkel, Arn, Fujinami, Regal, Negro Casas, Windham, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Mick Foley, Tanahashi Highest One timer: Benoit (23pts, #18) Top 40 represented by decade (approximately when wrestler's period of impact began) Pre 80's: 1 1980's: 15 1990's: 19 2000's: 5 Top 10 North American wrestlers: Flair, Terry Funk, Hansen, Eddie Guerrero, Bryan Danielson, Bret Hart, Rey Misterio Jr, Steve Austin, Vader, Ricky Steamboat Top 10 Japanese Wrestlers: Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Jumbo, Liger, Tenryu, Aja Kong, Akira Hokuto, Tanahashi, Nobuhiko Takada

Thanks again for sorting the data by "started viewing" & thanks for your hard work in general 🙂

Wanted to say next post should be the Best Matches Watched of 2026 (so far) along with Best Wrestler, Feud of the Year etc. Stay tuned for that! I might also have some Greatest Wrestler Ever stuff too.

Glad you enjoyed it! I was going to do top 5's but it was a bigger task than I thought 🙂

For shits & giggles, I tallied the top 3 wrestlers from everyone's list submitted from the Your GWE List thread. I gave 3 pts. to a first place, 2 pts. to 2nd place, and 1 pt. to a 3rd place vote. That top 10 looks like this: Bryan Danielson Terry Funk Tenryu/Kobashi Hijo del Santo Bret/Fujiwara/Bockwinkel Ric Flair Shinya Hashimoto Misawa/Rey Misterio Jr/Negro Casas/Austin Hokuto/Liger/Inoki Kawada/Chigusa/Wagner Jr In case of tie, I used their composite top 25 scores from 2006 & 2016. Whoever basically did better in '06 & 16, would place higher in the tie. So that looks like this: Bryan Danielson Terry Funk Kenta Kobashi Genichiro Tenryu Hijo del Santo Bret Hart Nick Bockwinkel Yoshiaki Fujiwara Ric Flair Shinya Hashimoto Mitsuharu Misawa Rey Misterio Jr Steve Austin Negro Casas Jushin Liger Akira Hokuto Antonio Inoki Toshiaki Kawada Chigusa Nagayo Dr. Wagner Jr Just missing the list are Volk Han, Tanahashi, Aja Kong, HBK, Randy Savage & Jumbo...each with 2pts. A half assed methodology but seems more representative of PWO members sensibilities 🙂 Top 3 also seems likely too. Just tacking it here for fun also.

For shits & giggles, I tallied the top 3 wrestlers from everyone's list submitted. I gave 3 pts. to a first place, 2 pts. to 2nd place, and 1 pt. to a 3rd place vote. That top 10 looks like this: Bryan Danielson Terry Funk Tenryu/Kobashi Hijo del Santo Bret/Fujiwara/Bockwinkel Ric Flair Shinya Hashimoto Misawa/Rey Misterio Jr/Negro Casas/Austin Hokuto/Liger/Inoki Kawada/Chigusa/Wagner Jr In case of tie, I used their composite top 25 scores from 2006 & 2016. Whoever basically did better in '06 & 16, would place higher in the tie. So that looks like this: Bryan Danielson Terry Funk Kenta Kobashi Genichiro Tenryu Hijo del Santo Bret Hart Nick Bockwinkel Yoshiaki Fujiwara Ric Flair Shinya Hashimoto Mitsuharu Misawa Rey Misterio Jr Steve Austin Negro Casas Jushin Liger Akira Hokuto Antonio Inoki Toshiaki Kawada Chigusa Nagayo Dr. Wagner Jr Just missing the list are Volk Han, Tanahashi, Aja Kong, HBK, Randy Savage & Jumbo...each with 2pts. A half assed methodology but seems more representative of PWO members sensibilities 🙂 Top 3 also seems likely too. *Update, I wanted to add cad's picks too and there's a new top 15! 🙂 Bryan Danielson Terry Funk Kenta Kobashi Genichiro Tenryu Hijo del Santo Ric Flair Bret Hart Nick Bockwinkel Yoshiaki Fujiwara Shinya Hashimoto Negro Casas Mitsuharu Misawa Rey Misterio Jr Steve Austin Jushin Liger

Awesome Akira Hokuto pic - she is such a badass 😋 One of the few from my top 10-15 that did as well as thought they "deserved." Hoping that more recent wrestling fans are finding all kinds of old school wrestlers to watch from the GWE list. I feel like 1980-90's wrestlers in the #26-100 range (at least) are due more attention by younger fans in the next 10 years.

More madness for your eyeballs! NOAH Takeshi Morishima, Mohammed Gone & Go Shiozaki vs Nigel Mcguinness, Bryan Danielson & Rocky Romero (07/15/07): Awesome heated start with Nigel vs Morishima. These two are destroying each other! This is a great NOAH 6-man that has been overlooked with the passage of time. They go 11 minutes and its high quality, high impact wrestling. Big recommendation for old school ROH fans. Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi vs KENTA & Taiji Ishimori (07/15/07): Absolutely bananas junior tag match. These guys are kicking, elbowing & flying. Even the two lil flubs were "makes" in my book & don't diminish the intensity or excitement. And to top it off the finish was sublime. All Time Classic junior tag war in my book. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION for old school ROH/NOAH fans. ---- •Masaaki Mochizuki vs Akira Tozawa (05/08/10 DGUSA): Eleven minutes of awesome. A spirited youngster versus veteran match. Mochi looks to remove Tozawa's head with his kicks! Plenty of fierce strikes & quick pace - this is a great example of intensity and pacing being superior to unnecessary complexity & intentional epics. Great match, recommended stuff. •Tatsumi Fujinami vs El Solitario (05/10/79 NJPW): Wow! 10 minutes of aggressive yet sportsman-like chain wrestling. Absolutely enthralling stuff. A technical wrestling fan's dream...I LOVED IT. All Time Classic in my book! This felt perfect to me. If you're interested, MUST SEE. ----- •Genichiro Tenryu & Randy Savage vs Yoshiaki Yatsu & Haku (SWS 06/07/91): Man, this starts off with a bang! A real melee...this was GREAT! Macho's diving off the top & bleeding, Yatsu & Haku are stomping on Tenryu's face like they are trying to stamp out a fire. I LOVED THIS ONE. Haku is perfect in Japan - watch all of his SWS stuff 😄 Tenryu & Yatsu never have liked each other and are excellent foes. When I named the blog, Wrestling Dream Battles, this was the type of match that I was thinking about. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED stuff especially if you're a fan of any of these dudes! Although this match is in June, it's Macho Man and he's all about the MADNESS! Oh yeah! 😋 •Great Sasuke vs Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro 04/27/99): Yes! This was a great match. I loved all of the twists and surprises. Sasuke had a counter or reversal for Shinzaki at nearly every turn. It's probably not as got as their 1994 match but it's absolutely worth your time. Strongly RECOMMENDED EMLL If you're a regular reader then, you might have noticed I've been watching a lil more lucha libre. That's what's fun about these monthly projects. It's been getting me watching my DVDs which includes a small batch of lucha DVDs which in turn gets me looking up stuff online. I'm really trying to keep that in check though. Anyhow a real fun May Madness mini project was watching the 5/18/90 EMLL episode. Not 100% sure on that date but it's what was listed. Anyhow, most of the episode is a tag team tournament. I know a bit about the feuds at the time & wrestling booking so a few of the teams were composed of guys who were at odds. Classic booking, right? Anyhow here's the matches! Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Super Muneco & Hijo del Gladiador Lizmark & Pierroth Jr. vs Americo Rocca & Gran Markus Jr. Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr. vs Fuerza Guerrera & Huracan Ramirez Jr. Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Bestia Salvage & Mogur Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr. vs Lizmark & Pierroth Jr. Final: Angel Azteca & El Dandy vs Javier Cruz & Emilo Charles Jr. All matches are one fall except the final which is 2/3 falls. The matches are all relatively short and if you like WCW cruiserweight stuff then, you'll be fine here. Each early match was a lot of fun with a lot of quick action - arm drags, drop kicks, rope running etc. An emphasis on technical wrestling more than brawling. The finale, was wonderful fast technical wrestling that I LOVED. I would recommend the whole thing but especially the last match.

Gonna post the rest of '86 shortly & then start posting '87. 1987 is an interesting year. I've seen most of the "good stuff" but I think there's a couple more I ought to see... ...OK I've got the time so let's get back to the final quarter of 1986: Riki Choshu vs Strong Machine (09/20): Excellent macho type match Genichiro Tenryu/Jumbo Tsuruta vs Yoshiaki Yatsu/Animal Hamaguchi (09/20): Great action packed tag! Funk Bros vs Road Warriors (10/20): Great Warriors match w/ the Funks Haru Sonada, Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs Hiro Saito, Super Strong Machine & Ashura Hara (11/01): Hard hitting intense stuff Tenryu & Tsuruta vs Giant Baba & Tiger Mask (11/28): Near classic tag Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk (12/03): VG, very stiff Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase (RWTL Playoff Match 12/12): Awesome stuff Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Ted Dibiase (RWTL Final 12/12): Heck of a finals especially given how it all played out. Great match! For more in depth reviews of the last 3 months, check out:

Just want to say this is a great post by cad! Invaluable as I start to get into lucha libre. Just wanted to bump this also in case anyone else is interested.

Hello fellow wrestling dorks! DVD viewing time and I'm watching more Zero One. •Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito v Osamu Namiguchi & Shito Ueda: Pretty fun little match. Simple but effective tag wrestling. Seriously, U.S. wrestling should just aim for this instead of over complicating everything. •Takao Omori v Kohei Sato: I'm not sure how this was edited time wise. Maybe half was shown of 10 minutes. What we got was enjoyable stuff. •Daisuke Sekimoto v Kamikaze: 7 of 11 minutes. Holy cow! This was a hard hitting yet surprising little sprint. Kamikaze is an excellent mid card bruiser who pairs well with Sekimoto. This was a blast if you like lariats and suplexes! •Ikuto Hidaka & Munenori Sawa v Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Tanaka: Junior shoot-style brawl? That's a good way to describe this bout. They were haphazardly kicking each other all match. There's a lot of animosity here. This was really exciting and although a bit frenetic, it sold the hate. I definitely want to see more of these guys squaring off in '08. So it definitely did it's job 🙂 Great match •Masato Tanaka & Shinjiro Otani v Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi: Pretty damn captivating all out war! I actually watched this 2 nights in a row. The first time, I was pretty sleepy so I wanted to give it more attention. I'm so glad that I did. Any iffy feelings I had before could be attrition my need for sleep. This bout was the hard hitting, big bomb dropping match you want. Faces were smashed, brains were busted - yes if you like these wrestlers then, you will want to see this. And I'm going to say, give Manabu Nakanishi a little credit as a wrestler. This is the type of match he needs and thrives in. He might just be the best guy in here tonight. He had all kinds of little twists and cutoffs that added a bit of variety between the melee. This has a 9 on Cagematch and I can get behind that score. I'd say 8.5...it's a low end classic match. Clearly they have more inter-promotional fires to burn. I'm looking forward to seeing those!