highflyflow

Is that really such a wild take? It got a #1 vote in the GME poll this year, and landed in the top 200 overall.

Honestly did not expect this thread to be so negative post-2016. It's interesting, because on other corners of the internet, I've seen Punk talked up as a legitimate #1 contender or at bare minimum top 10, and that just hasn't seemed to translate to this thread. I wonder if those people will end up submitting a ballot next year, and how that'll affect his ranking on the overall list. Anyway, Punk will make my list, somewhere between 40-75, for all the reasons (both positive and negative) listed here. Where do people stand on CM Punk, post-AEW and in the midst of his second WWE stint? Has his comeback work helped or hurt his case to you? I love a lot of his AEW run, especially the Last Dance 2023 stuff up to and including the final Joe match, but I'm mostly ambivalent to the current WWE work.

Save Fujiwara, Tamura will be my highest ranked shoot-stylist. Unbelievable combination of athleticism and skill, and brings a certain character that's so easy for me to connect with in these shoot style matches, whether it be the cocky underdog in Takada's UWFi, the prodigy in the first year in RINGS, or the established ace against underdogs like Yamamoto in those peak 97-99 years. Unreal how good he looks early in his career, too; I think the 1992 Yoji Anjo match is a legitimate classic, and I wouldn't be mad if someone said that wasn't even his best work in UWFi. Top 20 contender

In an ideal world, Aja is at least top 15 on the overall list next year. I don't expect to see it, but I do expect her to be even higher than she was in 2016, and I suppose that's a victory in its own right.

Funnily, I think 2003 might be my answer. Same opponents as 2002 and about the same level of quality of matches but stretched out over a full year, plus the Brock match in December.

What's the best individual year of Rey's career?

Surprisingly lack of discussion for YAMATO considering he's hyped as a low-key WOTY candidate for the Dragon Gate fanbase. Where does everyone stand on YAMATO today? Where does he rank as far as best Toryumon/DG guys ever? How does he compare to contemporaries from other companies like Shiozaki, Tanahashi, Sekimoto, HARASHIMA, Okada, Naito, Ibushi, etc?

Love the 02 Hero match, have seen practically nothing else. Any recommendations? I know the Kingston cage match gets a lot of hype, and I'm planning on getting to it.

Don't know if I'd vote for Kanemaru but I really really enjoy his early 2000s NOAH stuff, I'm up to 2002 and imo he's easily the best junior in the promotion by that point sans Ogawa. Would like to hear a case for him as someone that's mostly unfamiliar with his post-NOAH work.

Got all the way up to #229 in 2016. Where do people stand on Gino Hernandez currently?

Anyone considering Sandman this time around? I'm not nearly familiar enough with ECW to make a case for him, but I do enjoy Sandman and think he's probably better than he was given credit for in this thread.

The wonderful thing about the project this time around is that a wrestler like Yuki Ishikawa, someone who most would agree is great and deserving of consideration for a top 100 list (he was #70 in 2016), is now getting legitimate consideration as a potential dark horse #1 candidate. I wasn't a part of the process last time around, but judging from all the threads I'd imagine that if someone were to float the idea of Ishikawa as a #1 contender, it would be met with a level of derision by a few vocal contributors, and would inevitably invite comparisons to a certain wrestler, and I think it's a good sign that that's not the case anymore. One of the wrestlers I'm most interested to see where they end up next year, especially given how he's added to his case in the near-decade since the last poll (the 2020 Ikeda match especially).

Really, any promotion? Even mudshow Indies? Again I ask, who cares? Why would the latter outweigh the former in this situation?

Surprising lack of recent discussion for Murdoch here given that he was talked up as a potential top 30 candidate in this thread in the early stages, and got all the way up to 53 in 2016, between Greg Valentine and Akira Hokuto. Where do people stand on Dick Murdoch going into 2026?

With all due respect, who could possibly care about this? I don't care that a wrestler didn't get courted by one of the worst, most laughably moronic promotions in wrestling, that's actively emphasizing recruiting athletes to their awful PC system in favor of indie darlings. Is it a testament to those that did break through the glass ceiling in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world? Sure, and it's completely fine to value that when looking at their case, but if not then I really don't see it as a big deal, given their remarkably narrow view on what makes a good and successful wrestler in the first place.