elliott

Ooooh definitely nominate Uematsu & Maiko! And give us all the Yamada in GAEA recs! I plan on watching every GAEA show at some point, but don't know how soon it'll be.

How are we supposed to know that when you've said nothing positive about her here but were quick to name 10 people definitely better and another 20 "maybe.? You gave no indication that Bull was "slightly" outside your top 10 and when challenged on a controversial name you made it clear you think she's better to. Your only post on her from 2016 was how she wasnt a candidate. I can't read your mind

Then you should be a fan of Bull Nakano.

There isn't one. Unless you just really like moonsaults.

What match?

I ranked Rey Jr 19th in 2016 and I think I nailed that one. He's not there for me but I wouldn't blink or question it if someone put him #1. I watched a fair amount of his 90s stuff in the past 5 years and it holds up better than I expected. His 2000s work is of course fantastic. I thought Rey finishing as high as he did was one of the best results from 2016.

I ranked Mitsuharu Misawa #20 in 2016 and I'm fine with that. That Fuchi handheld I just watched the other day was really cool. I have nothing to add about Misawa.

It might be that match. I'm pretty sure it was 04. Definitely not before then.

I ranked Sangre Chicana #21 in 2016 and I think I nailed that one, but could see him move into the top 15. He's right there with Hokuto as the best I've ever seen at his best. The difference is we got to see all of the matches from Hokuto when she was at her best. Chicana is a few extraordinarily high end matches separated by years. If we had anywhere close to a full view of Chicana's prime he'd be a top 5 candidate. I love great selling and punching and hardly anyone is better at selling and punching than Chicana.

I ranked Hokuto #22 in 2016 and I blew it. She's a top 5 contender. At Hokuto's best the best wrestler I've ever seen. I can't get all the way to #1 because I think Terry Funk's best is only like 0.01% worse than Hokuto's but Funk was at that level way longer. The Hokuto vs Matsumoto battle for my #2 is gonna kill me.

I ranked Eddie 23rd in 2016 and I feel great about that. He'll probably land in this same range again for me. I don't know what else there is to say about Eddie Guerrero at this point. Oh, I got some questions, @TimCooke which was the Guerrero vs Big Show match you used to put over? Smackdown match as I recall? Additionally everyone, what's available from his 2001-02 work? There's some interesting looking matches I haven't thought about or seen in 20 years now. The Low-Ki match is good. There's some stuff with CM Punk including a time limit draw from 4/26/02? Does that exist still? A Christopher Daniels match. Daniels isn't my guy, but I'd watch him vs Eddie. I forgot about the Doug Williams match. Someone named Will Damon? I'd watch all of his NJPW matches too. How does that stuff look? Eddie's career wasn't very long so the year he was out of the WWE and traveling represents a fairly significant portion of his career that should theoretically be available. I remember thinking this was a return to form watching at the time, but I've only seen the Low-Ki match in the last 20 years.

I voted Ricky Steamboat 24th in 2016 and I feel good about that. Steamboat is one of those folks who was never worse than good and was usually great. I expect him to take a hit based on some of the names below him but I can't see him out of the top 50. I don't know what else to say about Steamboat. Its Steamboat, he's awesome

I ranked Ricky Morton 25th in 2016 and I fucking nailed that one. Ricky Morton is awesome and probably exactly between the 20th and 25th best wrestler ever.

Coolest face paint ever. She spits mist sometimes too. So she has intangibles.

Those matches are awesome. Theres one against Yukari Ohmori I really like too.

It was related to NXT

I know, but I really believe it. When I went through all of the old Samurai Classics, there reached a point where eveytime I got to a Chigusa match I was expecting it to be awesome and she delivers time and again. And they aren't all the same like I said. The Dump matches are 100% different from the Lioness matches or the Devil match. She hits about the highest possibly peak and within it shows about the widest variance of high end match type possible. Like Misawa vs Kobashi is "different" from Misawa vs Kawada. But its all of the same style. Chigusa vs Dump and then Chigusa vs Lioness are in different universes from each other. Its the best brawling AND the best title match of its era happening at the same time.

I just assumed it was because it was easier than just saying Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi & Taue every single time. "PIllars" is just quicker. I dunno where it came from. No one was saying that back in the early 2000s and then I went on a wrestling sabbatical and when I came back they were the "4 Pillars" and everyone thought Undertaker was a super worker and HHH was gonna save the future of wrestling. It was really weird. Anyway. I really like the Kobashi vs Taue matchup. I feel like its the least talked about matchup between...uh...those 4 dudes but I really dig their big matches.

I ranked Chigusa 26th in 2016 and I'm happy with that, but its about 20 spots too low. Chigusa has maybe the most impressive peak I've ever seen. From 84-87 she's in some of the best brawls of all time, some of the best classic clean title matches of all time, some of the best tag matches of all time, she's the most over wrestler on the planet (Show me 1000s of people literally crying at a Hulk Hogan match) and stylistically she's basically creating BattlArts hybrid pro/shoot style one night mixed with the most incredible emotional spectacles in the history of wrestling another night. Her 84-87 is so good it basically gets her in the top 10 alone and everything else is gravy.

I ranked Riki Choshu 27th in 2016 and I feel great about that. I imagine he drops a bit in 2026, but its not because of him falling in my eyes, but others rising. I love him in the 80s. The Fujinami feud is awesome. Every single match they have is great. I know people have some criticisms, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. He was the driving force behind Tenryu's light switch going on and him flipping from good to great. Riki helped push Jumbo out of 70s style NWA champ mode and bring him to modernity. And Choshu made Hashimoto possible. As a tag team wrestler he's a game changing force and there's enough singles stuff against Fujinami, Hashimoto, Fujiwara, Tenryu to put him safely on my list. Sure he's disappointing in long singles matches, but he's awesome at everything else.

I ranked Daniel Bryan 28th in 2016 and I'm fine with that. I expect he will win in 2026 and probably 2036. I have no further thoughts on Daniel Bryan at this moment.

I ranked Aja 29th in 2016 and I feel great about that. She finished 49th overall with an average vote of 39 so I'm still ahead of the curve even if she's a little low. The Aja watching I'm planning on doing will all come from the last 15 years so I can get an idea of how long she's been great. Her peak is undeniable and what I've seen of the post peak is pretty undeniable too. I don't quite have her in my top tier of women wrestlers, but she's like the top of tier 2.

I voted Bull Nakano 30th in 2016 and I blew it with that one. Bull is a top 10 candidate for me. Anything you could ask for, Bull provides. You want all time great high end matches? You want maybe the coolest character in wrestling history? You want great selling? You want an offensive juggernaut? You want someone who understands their role and performs to the highest level in it? You want carrying lesser workers to all time great matches? You want someone good right away? You want a multi year run as a best in the world candidate? You want a post prime that consistently delivers (though is short)? You want incredible athleticism? You want stiffness? You want big bumps? You want bloody brawls? You want gimmick matches? You want classic title matches? Bull delivers in every setting over and over and over.

I ranked Barry Windham 31st in 2016 and I feel like that's too high. We've talked a little about Barry recently so I won't go too in depth here. Kind of a similar case to Eaton where I fucking love Barry. He has all the tools I could ever want and works in a time and place I love just about as much as any other time and place in wrestling history. I don't anticipate him in my top 50, but its more of a case of OMG there are so many great wrestlers! than anything wrong with Barry. If someone wants to put him (or Eaton for that matter) in their top 20 I'll listen to the argument and be glad to see it.

I ranked Billy Dundee 32nd and I feel like I blew that one. I love Bill Dundee. I think all around the Lawler vs Dundee rivalry is probably the best rivalry in the history of wrestling. That alone gets you on the list. But 32nd feels really high. I'd feel better about it if there was anything close to the level of the Lawler feud that didn't involve Jerry Lawler. Like if he had one more match that was as good as like the 5th best match he had against Jerry Lawler, I'd feel better about putting him in the top half. I really love him. He is actually a great all around worker. But 32 is too high.