Ma Stump Puller

Will almost conclusively have a spot on top 100: Aja Kong AJ Styles Akira Maeda Antonio Inoki Akira Hokuto Akira Taue Has a chance of showing up: Abdullah The Butcher Atsushi Onita Alexander Otsuka Arisa Nakajima

As someone who ran the Yuiga propaganda train for quite a while I am unfortunately remiss to say that she will not be on my top 100. She's terrific at what she does though and is probably the GOAT at intergender matches. I could definitely see her having a slot for some people.

I think people really overlook his pre-comedy stuff, Yano wasn't a solid wrestler but he was better than most at being a dangerous spoiler-heel who could chain enough bullshit together to catch anyone unawares, and his more bloody showings involving his work with the WEW belt are pretty fucking cool. In another world the guy would've been scrapping with Carlos Colon in some dingy stadium. Can't see a world where he gets top 100 though

I like Taichi more than most, I enjoyed him when he was a hapless rookie seconding Kawada in places like HUSTLE or AJPW, I was one of the few who actually liked his Jr heavyweight stint where he just stooged and stalled for most of his matches, etc etc. I'm somewhat mixed on his material today since it seems like he's relented to becoming a NJPWism upper main event guy who needs to have 30+ minute affairs with endless false finishes and forearms while also occasionally doing something Kawada did for the sake of it. I enjoy when he's pushed outside his comfort zone like his KOPW series with Shingo, but those aren't often enough these days so his material is (mostly) just acceptable tag matches with a good match every couple of months. When he's allowed to do a bit more I think he's tolerable than most at the style however.

Yeah the JWP fancam files give Ran some pretty stellar showings; she was a far greater natural when it came to working than some of her contemporaries, even if she didn't have the same success they had overall. Had some of the most awesome elbow shots since at least Misawa and from my viewing always came across as a super worker that just never got the spotlight deserved of them. Shout out to her never having a bad match with Carlos Amano, though with their joint consistency I imagine that would be next to impossible. Maybe has a slot in the upper regions.

One of the stronger characters in regards to playing the "washed up uncle who comes down to the ring to harass old work colleagues and blackmailing promoters for the Yakuza" role, and he does that fairly well I'd say. The Marufuji match is one of the few I've actually enjoyed that involved the latter in them, for instance, which is high praise. Don't think his career has the high-spots needed for a top 100 though.

Sadly of no fault of his own his career was far too short for me to really grade him on a top 100. That said, solid wrestler with a really wicked technical edge to them.

if you haven't watched the GENTARO match i'd heavily recommend it, very much one of the essentials

Clipped by 3 minutes. This was a pretty good starter, Yagi and Plum were sharp technical wrestlers and they showcase that aplenty here with lots of opposing joint and limb work from the pair, there's a good tit for tat with Yagi doing her usual goofy foot-biting in leg work and Plum answering by trying to break her elbow in a couple of pieces that naturally showcases the kind of grittiness that only two seasoned grapplers would understand. They do a great job as well of balancing the more faster pace with the submission work as Yagi sells the effected limb when in motion and so focuses more on her Judoka throws as opposed to the more high-risk stuff; whenever she does try to match Plum's more speedy offence later on in the match she utterly pays for it because Plum can scout her way better than vice versa with counters into submissions. Plum seems to have the more effective hold work as well, Yagi is faster on account of her background but Plum does these really tricked out modifications like a kneebar into figure-four that showcase her higher level of experience by comparison. The pace is still obviously dictated by the fact that this is still an opener so the two make sure to keep things energetic up until the very end when Yagi goes for a sick second rope Fujiwara armbar and gets the shocking upset victory over her more experienced opponent. Solid sprint and extremely fun from start to end, about as good as an opener like this is gonna get quite frankly. The more Yagi I watch the more I'm impressed with her potential GWE case....

WOW I did not know this was filmed (all the thanks to Kadaveri for digging it up) and am all the much better knowing that it was and actually perfectly preserved for IBUKI standards. Rookie Arisa Nakajima is definitely talented; despite her relative lack of experience here wherein even basic stuff like dropkicks can come out funny, she had already a very strong understanding of things that some simply never get the hang of, in this case selling. Nakajima does a terrific job selling, struggling, and fighting her way out of every hold that Yoshida is able to throw her in, conveying just enough to showcase her lack of advantage while never making herself seem overtly weak as to seem passive or not willing to fight back. Whenever there's a hold applied or one to be used she's always applying agency to either escape the hold but failing that to at least reach a rope instead. For much of the first half this is the formula we see as Yoshida does a solid job as always doing her submission-bullying antics, flowing well with every attempt and keeping the momentum going just enough that the match doesn't grind to a halt whenever she does apply her holds fully. Nakajima keeps in the game with more or less just defence until she starts to slowly edge out any sort of advantage with whatever she can chain together, generally simple moves like DDT variations. Yoshida however takes these with strides and continues to hunt for submissions, in particular honing in on the arms as a weak point with really cool modifications. The second half of the match becomes more explosive and inevitably with greater speed as Nakajima does some pretty sweet flash pins and rollups alongside top rope dropkicks to really hammer in that she's just throwing anything at the table to get the most out of her fleeting offence. We get some more struggles over submissions as Yoshida inevitably finds a opening to slap on a long cross armbreaker that the two women do a masterful job selling the sheer work involved on both sides as Nakajima has to roll around and manically find the ropes to escape the danger she's in. Yoshida also hits a pretty disgusting flush boot to the face that despite looking like murder was somehow not the end of the match as they manage to convey a nice crescendo piece where the vet gets far too confident trying to win and almost pays for it with Nakajima snapping on a very abrupt 2.9 rollup to escape another armbar attempt. Despite a neat escape from an Air Raid Yoshida is able to parry a forearm shot into the Spider Twist for the submission victory. This isn't astonishing in terms of content: there's no miraculously crazy spots or anything of that sort: but Nakajima here proves more than anything that, despite losing, her talent was pretty much undeniable even at this early point; her timing here is incredible but most importantly she 100% understands how to progress from bit to bit without losing the sense of legitimate struggle or fatigue. She gets bursts of action, sure, but there's always a tying back to her inevitable difference in hierarchy, that sense of impending doom where she's bound more or less to lose eventually. Yoshida similarly does obviously a great job at that and also working with those advantages to make a well-crafted match that has just enough of her opponent to be a showcase of her ability without it seeming too much like padding. Could've been the standard Yoshida Bully match we've seen a good couple of times but thankfully this is much better than just that. Sadly these two would not have a rematch a couple years down the line when Nakajima was considerably more capable and experienced yet for what it's worth this is still nevertheless pretty good by itself.

@highflyflow Did you see that Arisa Nakajima/Yoshida match that recently got found? Pretty cool

Including both TPW matches from the August show W/ Yoji Anjo v Takashi Ishikawa & Yoshihiro Takayama (TPW I Shall Return To Yokohama 25.08.1996) Mainly wanted to watch this because it's Sayama/Takayama but I was immediately dismayed that instead we instead got a lot of Ishikawa antics instead. Don't get me wrong, he's a perfectly fine wrestler, but he's really always been the fourth wheel in these sort of star-power tag team situations and purely there as a good hand, of which this match makes no attempt to change my mind on that. Sayama's performance here is pretty snug as he more or less just does his signature spots in the typically fast style we've more or less gotten used to, though there is some pretty cool grappling between him and Takayama here where they sprawl a little; despite it lasting like a minute at best it was definitely something to see the two of them going for a quick shoot. Anjo is I'd say the star here as he balances his signature shithouse antics with legitimate hate for his Golden Cups ally as they exchange some good blows between the two of them, Takayama showcasing his brute strength against Anjo's experience. Sadly the match goes well too short as Anjo just abruptly wins with a backdrop and the Ground Cross for the submission victory without so much as an attempt at a build beforehand. Perfectly fine for what it was but far too short to be much else than that. RANK: Decent W/ Yoji Anjo v Daikokubo Benkei vs. First Tiger Mask & Yoji Anjo (same event) I swear, Tokyo Pro had to have been created by a smark time traveller: how else do you get in your head that Yoji Anjo and Tiger Mask somehow are perfect for tag title belts, exactly? Pre-match promo has Abdullah forget the name of Benkei and have to keep saying "My partner! " over and over until someone eventually must've said something and he corrects himself. But yeah, this match is fucking bonkers just by names alone and I was actually astonished that it wasn't just said name-value that made this watchable. Daikokubo Benkei played the original masked Arashi back in WAR (you know, the weird big dude who they kept shoving in round matches for some bizarre reason, yeah that guy) and despite not being particularly good (especially for ex-sumo lads) he gets the memo here. He's a big ugly guy who makes mean faces and takes the bumps for Abdullah, really not all that deep there. He does have a lovely lariat though so that's something. Anjo is a delight with his shithead antics being such a great feeder for the more limited pair. Seeing him brawl with Abdullah as he does his usual gross fork stuff, his amazingly awful shrieks and screams as Abby works the head being a memorable highlight during the first half. Benkei continues the control with biting and chokes as you'd expect until Anjo gets a good fiery comeback by biting his ear in a bearhug, though comes short despite some nice kicks. Abby works with that dynamic better by selling really hurt when Anjo starts throwing with his own wild screams until eventually being able to catch his leg and sweep him. Sayama does nothing for basically the entire first half until he comes in during a submission to throw a safe kick to the back and then just wanders back to the tag rope as if nothing happened. More kino brawling as Anjo manages to finally get a handle of Abby's fork and in a particularly nasty spot gets him over a table post-gig so all the fresh blood just spills onto it in front of the cameras while the two are yelling. Sayama shows up to land some more kicks before disappearing again. The second half has Abby on the floor while Anjo and co just keep hitting his head over and over lol. We get some Tiger Mask/Abby interactions and they're pretty sweet, with Sayama throwing a bunch of fairly flush head kicks and even doing a standing monkey flip on Abby that was somewhat successful. Yeah it's a typical spot for the guy this decade, but frankly it's a miracle that the guy ca even still do that at this point without something breaking or snapping. The lead-in for the finish switches tact to focus on submissions, the monsters having zero answers bar mounds of interference to deal with it. Benkei hits a series of bad splashes alongside similarly meh looking moves until Anjo counters a scoop slam into the deep Fujiwara armbar for the tapout victory and the belts. This is surprisingly decent even if I think it loses the allure after the first half is over and done with. It includes a GREAT heat-seeking start and Anjo doing a shockingly good job working the beaten down babyface squaring up against the mean big lads with strikes. Thought him and Abdullah clicked the best out of everyone here, two dudes who are great at emoting getting to just ham it up with screams and dashes of blood all over the place like a B-movie horror. You don't get to appreciate it usually but with Abby's obvious English spot-calling and as an native speaker you can really tell just how much the match is dictated by him in particular. He's consistently getting Benkei to land more offence if it doesn't stick, getting Anjo to beat him up more when he's getting his big comeuppance, etc etc. Cool to see his experience helping to make this better than it was, and fair play to him I think for a 90's Butcher showcase this is pretty close to his cap at this point. Tiger Mask is.....here, I guess. Kinda disappointing as he does next to nothing here bar a lot of strikes and the occasional hold, hell he's not even legal for anything more than 2 minutes total here, dude does nothing on the apron either. I can't say his strikes aren't awesome but at the same time even those are very constrained which makes this feel like Sayama was more interested in the paycheck than actually trying. Definitely worth the watch if you wanna see a novelty matchup that actually pays off in Anjo/Abby but nothing beyond good in my mind. RANK: Good

if there's one thing great about Yasuda is that he is always pretty good at whatever role he's thrown into in terms of getting the crowd behind or against him, the 1997 G1 match against Tenzan and his 2002 Yoshie tag are worlds apart in what's required of him but he always knocked it out of the park

Had a couple of legitmately awesome years in the mid-2000's but around about like 2009 the wheels came off and never got back on again. Also the fact I don't think he had more than 5 something good singles matches that weren't gimmicked does hurt his case in the long run.

Good wrestler, will not be in the top 100 though. Shame since the guy even at the dregs of his career was still a very competent powerhouse-style worker.

Early JWP/Judo work was cool, but her stint in the West after is for the most part honestly just awful for the most part, idk if she just checked out after a couple of years or if it was the quality of opponents but she like downgraded significantly quality wise. Sad because you have a good couple of years where she seemed really promising with the Judoka gimmick

Sucks there's so little of his early work readily available since he seemed such a strong babyface with the late-material we have available, but there's GAORA for you. Won't be on the list but a good mention

If you PM @Grimmas I'm sure they would be able to accommodate your list and add them to the others submitted. We don't have a official system set up yet, so don't worry!

If you want the most authentic experience (I.E. no clipped shit, no dubbed entrances) look up the RE-C-DUB Project on Internet Archive, they have multiple years worth of material purely caught off local TV tapings. Very helpful

Idk I think the idea of Cena doing 200+ matches would've been super painful, even if they relegated a lot of them to tags or whatever. The guy did not look physically up to it the whole year and the couple of at least enjoyable matches came down to him being with guys who could work with his significant limitations.

Very polarising. One side you have his compelling character work and ability to grab crowds irregardless of the situation, the other he can be a lazy bastard who relies too much on shtick and cheapens out on having reliable matches, either leaning into complete apathy with his spotty selling or going way overboard into risky spots that probably contributed aplenty to his injury troubles. He might get on a top 100, I haven't decided yet since the NJPW-ism style is so bleh to me. If you can though go find his CMLL appearances, him as a heel henchmen for Liger is a lot of fun

I mean as a top 100 wrestler in terms of quality he'd be the last person on, but for "top 100 guys who I watch just for fun" he's definitely on there. So many incredible car-clash moments, loved his recent Best in the World run when he wasn't trying to pretend he was a wrestler.

There's going to be a lot of regency bias towards more recent individuals, I can see a lot of the 2016 GWE list not even showing up since a lot of that userbase don't even bother with the Projects anymore (their loss!). Predicting a lot of 80s wrestlers to be either much higher up here or not even there. Naito/Ospreay/Okada will all be there, though I can also see individuals like Gunther or Sami Zayn getting similar upgrades depending on a few factors. I'd hope so, Akiyama even this year has really shone as a very meat and potatoes-style wrestler, no frills but the things he does are very good.

I've now updated this C&A with a bunch of extra matches, enjoy

It's crazy that a unironic criticism of a wrestler (ESPECIALLY of this era and time) is "they're too stiff" like this was around when you had Hokuto legitmately punching people out in matches and doing career-threatening things to a far greater extent than a rough kick or powerbomb. It boggles the mind. I've watched a good bit of Hotta's matches (from her good years ofc, she sharply dwindles in watchability after the early 2000s.) and she's very much someone that I can totally get people not liking. She has a very crowbar-y style that some can work around and enhance and some clearly cannot, and she really doesn't give a flying fuck either way. She's gonna hit you hard, she's going to try to sit on you in the mat-work, it's just a part of life. Her style is very distinctive in that she obviously borrows a lot from shoot-style in her methodical grappling and focus on more "real" sequences, more grit as opposed to cooperative back and forths. She seems to think she was the hair apparent to Maeda when she's probably in actuality was closer to Anjo. Funnily enough her best matches are working that shithead Anjo-style bout where she's just being a huge bully to her opponent and stiffing them to death, it working either as a hometown defender against LLPW's talent or beating up the natives. She's better than I think some are giving credit to her selling-wise; I've seen instances where she doesn't clearly care about it, but with the right people she tends to ease up and start making more of an effort, ultimately it feels more realistic than the melodramatics of the 90s and fits her style much better. Kicks are great and I love the assortment of just randomly brutal bombs she seems to pull out of her hat, even if sometimes the pacing of them seems to drift as her later matches in the 90s have her doing seemingly endless amounts of moves to a near equal amount of near falls. I can definitely see someone having them on the top 100, for sure. It just depends on their tastes because she does some things great but can look pretty flavourless in other aspects, especially after the 90s where her mobility goes to pot and she has to rely more on the slop-brawling that dominated the industry for the 2000's.