club

Who did you miss?

WIth all the spooky wrestlers getting cut, I don't like EVIL's chances in WWE.

Of the modern guys, who ranks highest? Ospreay? Kenny? Okada? Roman? Would assume they'll all feature in the top 50. Where does Cody land?

Submitted my list earlier this week. Already want to change it. Roll on 2036. Genichiro Tenryu Terry Funk Jim Breaks Kiyoshi Tamura Yoshiaki Fujiwara Akira Hokuto El Hijo del Santo Jaguar Yokota Shinya Hashimoto Bret Hart Negro Casas Antonio Inoki Kenta Kobashi Hiroshi Tanahashi Nick Bockwinkel Ric Flair Tatsumi Fujinami Steve Grey Mitsuharu Misawa Bull Nakano Keiji Muto Chigusa Nagayo Jushin Thunder Liger Akira Maeda Tarzan Goto Riki Choshu The Destroyer Randy Savage Shinjiro Otani Volk Han Naoki Sano Ricky Steamboat Stan Hansen Aja Kong Mayumi Ozaki Vader Marty Jones Shinobu Kandori Arn Anderson El Satanico Osamu Nishimura Yoshihiro Takayama Sid Cooper LA Park Andre The Giant Eddie Guerrero Gilbert Leduc Steve Austin Jack Briscoe Blue Panther Nobuhiko Takada Kazuo Yamazaki Toshiaki Kawada Rey Misterio Jr Bryan Danielson Atsushi Onita Sabu Atlantis Tully Blanchard Giant Baba Rick Martel Perro Aguayo Masakatsu Funaki Jun Akiyama Devil Masami Mick Foley Jumbo Tsuruta Sangre Chicana Virus Tatsuo Nakano Jerry Lawler Kyoko Inoue Pirata Morgan Billy Robinson Dynamite Kid Meiko Satomura Brian Maxine Tommy Rich Yuji Nagata Yoji Anjo Lou Thesz Minoru Suzuki Hiroshi Hase Shinsuke Nakamura Samoa Joe El Dandy Johnny Saint Mark Rocco Dump Matsumoto Zack Sabre Jr Fit Finlay Akira Taue Jackie Sato The Great Sasuke Masahiro Chono William Regal Shawn Michaels Dick Togo Yoshinari Ogawa Yumi Ikeshita

Ended up with Kandori at #38. There's a certain no fucks given attitude she projects better than anyone. Slightly unhinged like things could go west at any moment. Her stuff's so compelling for it.

Had her at #93 for much the same reasons.

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.