club

LA Park and Lou Thesz made mine. I have the suspicion Lord Alfred had a top 100 career, but footage.

Great seeing Bomber getting some love.

Great write up. Encapsulates what made him special in the context of 90s WWF.

You should totally submit a ballot! Don't feel obliged to put anyone on based on obligation/rep or anything of the sort. A list like this will never be finished.

Great post. I have Tamura at #4 currently, between Jim Breaks and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. What these all have in common is how good they are at leading opponents through these matches. Tamura will leave just enough openings for his opponent to make things flow well, without leaving so much open as to spoil the illusion of being uncooperative.

Might sneak onto my list. Such an under-appreciated guy. The King Ben match is almost proto-UWF and one of the best matches of the era. His deafness isn't overplayed but adds a neat wrinkle to his matches.

Nagata years as a top guy seem better the further away they are. At the time there was that taint of the losses to Mirko, and later Fedor, that hurt his aura. He'll slot in somewhere around #80.

Thanks for the recs. Thought the Hase and Kawada matches were both great. What a weird promotion post-NOAH All Japan was.

Been watching a bunch of Tokyo Pro shows this past week. Indy Anjo circa 1996 has been fun. Strong match with Okamura vs Tarzan Goto & Mr Gannosuke. He looked good teaming with Sayama vs. Benkei & Abby though the match was rough. Highlight of that was seeing Tiger Mask attempt a monkey flip on Abby. Anjo is always this fountain of charisma in-ring and the indys seem a way better outlet for this side of him than the shoot style feds. Outside of Tokyo Pro and WAR, is there any other Anjo indy stuff worth checking out?

No Bull Nakano? On my list: Billy Robinson Blue Panther Bret Hart Brian Maxine Bull Nakano

Bret will land somewhere in my top 30. 91-97, fantastic peak years. Not a great deal to shout about before that. I'm trying to figure out how he compares to wrestlers with similar patterns like Chigusa Nagayo, Jaguar Yokota, Atsushi Onita, Rick Martel or Yoshihiro Takayama. Looking back I realise Bret was also my gateway into this kind of fandom. Watching as a kid he was the first guy where I got a sense that in the ring he was clearly better than everyone around him.

He won't make my list but could totally see him making people's lists. Some high quality comedy bullshit.

Definitely Aja Akira Hokuto Akira Maeda Akira Taue Antonio Inoki Arn Anderson Atlantis Atsushi Onita Maybe Abby AJ Styles Alan Kilby Alan Sargeant Alexander Otsuka

Reminds me of some of the France stuff in how very un-1950s his offence is. He's so much fun from what I've seen. Wonderful physical charisma. Not sure there's enough for me to put him in my 100, but would be delighted to find more. His match with Brother Frank Jares:

DIdn't realise there were so many of his matches knocking around. Do love his chain match with Mr Argentina.

Always enjoy these - thank you!

Now it's all over, what are people's thoughts on Tanahashi's career? I've grown weary of the NJPW big match style over the years, but big match Tana 2008-18 is so great. He makes the right changes to his formula to tell a compelling story. I can see him in my top 20.

Fabulous, thank you! The Bock match is a great one.

First big show I saw was WM6, Hogan was a big part of drawing me in to wrestling as a kid. I outgrew him, and found him at times embarrassing, at other times deplorable, at times nostalgic. RIP.

Their singles match at Korakuen is comfortably my favourite Devitt match.

I've been watching a lot of 80s WWF and have been loving JYD. He's like a more loveable version of Rock N Wrestling era Hogan. Can someone recommend some key Mid South stuff of his?

I don't see myself voting for Gedo, but he's a consistently fun watch for about 20 years. Given the time I'd love to deep dive his stuff. Gedo & Jado vs Tarzan Goto & Mr Gannosuke from WAR 7/7/95 is a classic.

Brian Maxine I find it quite hard to put into words what I love about Brian Maxine, but here goes. We all know someone who’s an arrogant prick right? Someone who is clearly talented, but also clearly not the genius they make themselves out to be? The type you’re just waiting to fall flat on his annoying face? Brian “Gold Belt” Maxine is the best wrestling personification of this type. Everything he does just screams so well with this, from his wrestling style, to his crown and robe, to his patronising handshake. The WoS environment is perfect for this type of heel to thrive. Maxine’s generally wrestling in front of an audience that views letting success go to your head as a cardinal sin. The whole thing is cartoonishly absurd yet completely relatable. Recommended matches: Brian Maxine vs Steve Wright, 2nd December 1972 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VOn44x3Oso Brian Maxine vs Ivan Penzecoff, 15th Feb 1975 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDwpfwLhhtA Brian Maxine vs Robby Barron, 5th March 1977 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecwJaLJDfAI

To me, Kellet is a fascinating wrestler more than a great one. That juxtaposition of jester and psychopath. Some of the stories in Simon Garfield's book sound terrifying.

This is pretty much where I am with him too.