ohtani's jacket

There were some fun pairings in this drop. I imagine Umanosuke Ueda and Pierroth Jr would have no shortage of topics to converse about. Heck, they'd make a hell of a team. Poor Mimi. At least she ranked this time. I'm surprised that Angel Azteca didn't make the list in 2006. Victor Zangiev is a win for this year's edition. Jose Lothario, Bas Rutten and Ryuma Go is the best trio thus far. I'm kind of shocked Mile Zrno made it this far. Hana Kimura is a sad one. If you like the theatrical side of wrestling, there aren't 500 wrestlers better than Roger Delaporte. I wanted Inca Peruano to do better. Is that Super Delfin? I love me some Delfin. We now live in a world where Vince McMahon is a better pro-wrestler than Tibor Szakacs. I wonder how Cornette would feel about making the list. I guess he'd get a kick out of Gypsy Joe placing right above him. I dig Black Buffalo, but how did he get 10 votes?

OK, I see!

#681 Yumi Fukawa Did she get nominated? I can't find a thread.

Nice to see Les Kellett get so many votes. I'm pretty sure every luchador that's dropped so far is better than Niebla, and Rayo for that matter. I'm surprised that Cesca is so popular. Not only did he get more votes than Ben Chemoul, Billy Catanzaro didn't even get nominated.

Nice to see Pimpi and Cassandro getting some votes. KB('s write up about Hector Guerrero has me fired up. I didn't know that cad is a WoS fan.

Alas poor Caswell Martin, I knew him. I am kinda happy that he was sandwiched between WING Kanemura and Mami Kumano, though. I mean that's pretty cool. I always felt as though Kumano laid the groundwork for bitchy wrestlers like Mima Shimoda and Takako Inoue.

Sid was on my short list but was culled. Deserves more recognition. If people like Breaks, they should check out Cooper as well.

There was a Horst match from the 60s in the French footage, fwiw.

If you're going to watch one Steve Veidor match, make it Veidor vs Gwyn Davies. One of the best matches of the 70s.

I dunno what was going on with the WWE in May, but it doesn't seem like there was anything worth watching. What a boring cage match. Who was the road agent for this crap? WrestleMania is looking more and ,more like an Undertaker carry job. Maybe the best of his career.

I'll see you that and raise the two Leilani Kai vs. Chigusa matches. I wonder how far people got post-Dump. Maybe that was a factor. Judy Martin is a great worker, I just find it weird that Lelani wasn't nominated as well.

OK, so this was good. Danielson's "best in the world" shtick irritates me, but that shot at the end with the bleeding forehead almost had me believing. This was a straight up work rate match. Yeah, the selling, transitions and character work could have been better at times (you're not wrong, Marty), but in terms of two dudes hitting each other with everything they've got, this was extremely satisfying. McGuiness may not be the smartest wrestler of all-time, but he knows how to hit a guy with a short arm lariat, and I think he matches up with Danielson extremely well. I could watch these two pummel each other all day long, though I doubt it would be great for either man's health.

How did Judy Martin get nominated but Lelani Kai didn't?

Was it Joshifans?

That reminds me of that fun primer comp that was made of early 00s Joshi. I can't remember the name of the guy who made it off the top of my head, but he was a cool dude. That and PUNQ match lists. Another guy who abandoned wrestling for movies, IIRC.

I really should have voted for Ken Joyce. Definitely the best of the WoS maestros. Not that it would have made much of a difference with the WoS guys dropping like flies. 00s Joshi perennially overlooked. I guess it may be that way for all time. To be fair, the decade started promisingly but fell off pretty quickly.

No-one will confuse this with being Joe and AJ's best match, but Joe vs. AJ lite is still a Joe vs. AJ match. You wish there was more depth to it, but they're being pushed for their workrate first and foremost. Weird WWE-esque finish.

I feel guilty since I left Rey off my list.

Yes! The docile tones of Matt D.

Nominating workers so that you can vote for themselves only for them to get 1 point anyway seems like an unnecessary step. I would prefer write-in votes, but it's not gonna move the needle either way.

Ted DiBiase vs. The Barbarian in a ten minute MidSouth brawl sounds like perfection.

Perhaps what you guys have done with the list in the 10 years since is more impactful (and positive) than the poll was at the time. The concept of only getting to do it once every 10 years, and younger fans finally getting a chance to vote, seems like a much brighter legacy than anything I remember from the '16 vote. I don't want to dismiss any of the work that went into the podcasts, though. Were you doing your podcast with Jimmy Redman at the time? Was that you? Tell me that was you.

Javier Cruz' drop off from #120 in 2006 is huge. I think we were watching a lot of 1990 EMLL at the time and he played a prominent role that year. Nice to see a lot of IWRG guys I haven't thought about it in donkey years. Chico Che! I was the other voter on Rene Lasartesse. Nice to see Matt and me on the same page. Not sure how I feel about Alex Wright being ahead of his dad. Actually, I do know how I feel. My favorite pick goes to Jim Brunzell. A fine wrestler.

It's a bit sad to see the French guys falling so soon. I guess Catch fans don't have much reach, though I know Matt tries his best. I was a non-believer as far as Rene Ben Chemoul goes until I saw film clips of him from earlier in his career. I have no doubt that in his prime he was one of the best ever. What we have from television is basically his post-prime, which people still find to be very good. Tejero deserves to be on everyone's radar as one of the great foils in wrestling history. I love El Signo. Texano was the best of the Misioneros, but Signo was the glue. i have a lot of time for Joe Malenko as well. Malenko vs. Fujiwara is a joy.

Satanico, Pirata Morgan, MS-1 vs. Mascara Ano 2000, Universo 2000, Cien Caras (AAA, 7/30/93) Time for the title match. This was for the Mexican National Trios titles. The Dinamitas were the champs. Both teams had extended entrances, which was nice. There was a cool moment after they took a photo of the belts where the Infernales tried to snatch them away from the refs. They went with a traditional opening caida. The matwork wasn't very good because, let's face it, the Dinamitas weren't exactly known for their mat skills. The initial MA2K/Satanico exchange was especially disappointing, although they did much better in the second caida when they switched to standard lucha exchanges. MS-I and Caras once again stole the show. I liked how their story was told over three acts. That's pretty good going for a pair of third stringers. The biggest problem I had with the match was the booking. Satanico faked a foul to win the opening caida. I know you were supposed to think how ring savvy he was for getting away with it, but I hate that kind of shit after weeks of drawing blood. The crowd didn't care because it was in Monterrey, and they either like or are used to that type of crap. They mostly cared about who won the fall. Caras repaid the favor in the second fall, and then Tirantes pulled a fast count in the tercera. What bugged me the most, though, was that instead of working the bout like a powder keg that was about to explode, they never really went at it. The Infernales attacked Caras after the bell, but it would have been nice to have seen some of that intensity during the match. It did have a certain vibe to it, though. I'd call it a good match but not a classic. MS-1 and Caras were fun, though.