Clayton Jones

Did they edit the burning hammer spot off the DVD? I wouldn't be shocked given the context. This match was very good live, although I could have done without that spot.

Was there ever any follow up on Rory's criminal investigation? He was (allegedly) under suspicion of possession of child pornorgaphy, wasn't he? Criminal cases are really easy to look up in PA but I was never able to find formal charges brought against him.

Always a highlight of shitty undercards and occasionally a fun tournament or tag title run or challenge. Never skipped his matches. I loved his infectious personality and blue collar work ethic. I hadn't watched him in years but very sad to hear about his death.

So stoked to see PID back, and what a banger of an episode to tackle as a return.

Ha Barnes was also on my short list of potential nominations. Love it.

I really loved the first batch of Shelley matches I watched for GWE. He had a feud with Trey Miguel between a few promotions that made me much more excited to watch Miguel wrestle than I ever had been before. Not trying to knock the guy, Shelley just has that factor where he finds and brings out such an engaging quality in most of his opponents. He still executes technical one upsmanship and intricate sequences in a way that feels competitive like few modern wrestlers are able to do. Versus Bandido in Prestige in 2022 was also very good, with much more focus than your typical big singles Bandido match usually has. A little meandering towards the end as you might expect but overall a very enjoyable match with great contributions from Shelley as the vet. Then I went back and watched him VS Shocker in TNA, a match I probably watched decades back, but had zero recollection of. It was a ton of fun, not much more you could want, and great chemistry from two wrestlers from very different walks of life. I'm excited to go back for more Shelley when I'm able to circle back to him. I've never loved his team with Sabin so in the interest of fairness I'll probably pick back up there.

I don't know if Sargeant quite made the impression on me that Rudge did in just a handful of matches but he was damn close. Britain really had some great wrestlers in the 70s of and 80s. When it comes to the escape artist types the main thing I'm looking for is that they work with their opponents to figure out how their styles can work best together. Instead of just plugging their opponents into their formula. In the matches I watched VS Myers, McManus, and Boscik, I felt like Sargeant had a different approach for all three and even when he repeated some sequences between the matches it didn't feel lazy or forced. Maybe I picked the cream of the crop of his seven (?) matches on tape, if so I'll be curious to watch the next four!

I thought the borderline styles clash between these two made this match all that much better. I really liked seeing how they compensated for each other's styles, and it brought out some great stuff from both. McManus' cheap shot tactics are always entertaining but there was something about the way it countered Sargeant's technical style that I especially loved. Conversely Sargeant brought a fire to this I really enjoyed seeing from him, and the balance between his technical work and getting in his own little cheap shots on McManus was really entertaining. Finish was abrupt but it was also a nice change of pace after seeing the tempo predictably ramp up for so many British finishing stretches in this time period.

Awesome back and forth technical match. I agree that Sargeant handily took the first two rounds but I thought Myers turned the tide in the third round which made the fourth very compelling. This is my first time seeing Sargeant and I get that some of his escapes might seem repetitive if you've seen them a few times, but man they popped me VS Myers here. I'm a Clive Myers fan but the only other singles opponent I've seen him look this good against is Grey, which is really saying something about Sargeant. This was essential viewing for the style and the time period.

DVDVRs changed me as a fan, Southern Alcohol Comix changed me as a person fundamentally. Get better DEAN~!

The CHIKARA tag with Claudio VS Quack/Jigsaw is considered an all-timer by some. Making anyone give a shit about Kane is a feather in anyone's career cap (looking at you too Waltman and Helms!). Danielson would get plugged into good tags out of necessity pretty often, like Back To The Basics, but I can't think of many times he was booked with it as a focus. The NOAH tag leagues are a good call. I'd agree Funk utterly smokes him in this area either way.

The Spectrum was such an amazing venue to see events at. It simultaneously felt so big yet so intimate. A certain electricity always in the air like a living, breathing entity. Man do I miss it.

No sarcasm ChrisDrakkar! That post ruled. And I'm totally ignorant of reggaeton so it's fascinating insight, to me at least.

Bob Mould is a national treasure, his episodes of TIJ and Turned Out A Punk are great listens with tons of great wrestling content (much more on Jericho obviously). And his last album Blue Hearts is a banger and a half.

This is the level of insight that keeps me coming back to PWO. Thank you for this knowledge drop and your unbridled enthusiasm. I will be looking that version up immediately.

That Genele match was my starting point and I think it's a great Petit Prince 101. Having watched a good bit more since it's definitely not his most complete performance on tape but it gave me a very clear first impression of who he is, what is great about him, and what to look for moving forward. As others have mentioned the thing that strikes me immediately about the Prince is that he had no glaring faults. Great on the mat and great at using that skillset to build to his astounding offense. Great bumping and selling that never makes him feel cartoonish or superhuman in his comebacks. Every bit as good of a tag team wrestler as singles. His timing and sense of when to get into, and more importantly out of a tag match were impeccable. From what I've seen so far he was among the most complete generational junior heavyweights ever. I can't wait to dig into everything that's available.

Super Dragon's greatest case for me was his ability to elevate a generation of often-pasty nonathletic dudes of all shapes and sizes and make them feel like viable pro wrestlers. And also making me give a shit about Davey Richards on the flip side of that coin. He's not so much a 50 greatest matches guy, although his resume is better there than people often realize, but more about his overall contributions as the anchor of his territory. I haven't started watching him for the purposes of this project but have watched some really enjoyable stuff over on my blog in the past few years that is worth seeking out.

Watched a few matches from Nagata's 2011 AJPW run at the always prolific G Badger's recommendation, and then the February Miyahara match that I've read some buzz about. Certainly the best Miyahara match I've seen in a long time and a remarkable performance from a mid 50s Yuji. The 2011 stuff highlights the case a few people have made above, that Nagata has an impressively diverse career for someone who isn't really thought of that way. I will say one potential knock against him is that through all of it, through a lot of different characters and roles, he's usually still a very similar guy bell to bell in what I've seen. A trolling stagger sell here, a goofy prancing dance there, but I do wish that translated into the nuts and bolts of his matches a little more. Still he's one of the better Japanese wrestlers of the last two decades at structuring a match, whether it's a sprint, a blood feud, or a big title bout. He's an interesting candidate for certain that I feel like might have one the widest swings of how high or low he might land for me, only because I could see him pretty damn high.

My mom's favorite was the Fabulous Kangaroos, she said she caught a cardboard boomerang they threw into the crowd during their entrance as a kid. Also loved Bruno as any self respecting northeastern Italian did.

Wow, what a lineup! A few that haven't been on my radar previously that definitely are now.

You nailed some of the names that have had the strongest showings with this criteria for me so far (except Athena but I really like that observation). Rose is someone who I have no problem putting peak above all else for because his peaks are among the best ever when it comes to what I'm looking for. The easiest names to back up this kind of case for are the more expressive ones, Hokuto, Masami, Piper, Bock, Kingston, Kandori, and Thatcher are some that glancing over my notes have jumped up for me with this criteria. But even some of the more subdued greats like Grey, Akiyama, Satomura, Ishikawa, Jack Brisco I think are exceptionally strong at this "don't dare look away" factor like you said. And a few who I'd guess I'm a bit higher on than most that I think excel along these lines are Shelley, Bate, HARASHIMA, and Strickland, just throw out some of my less "safe" candidates who I'm still analyzing my cases for.

Absolutely Ma Stump Puller, Tenryu is someone who benefits so much from a project like this. Checks every box imaginable and somehow always has something great you're still discovering for the first time.

Two years ago I said I'd check in with thoughts on my criteria as it became more clear to me. About 300 matches later (which is about 100 less than I hoped for, but that's life) I feel like a few key traits are emerging for me that help define greatness as it relates to this project. For me thus far, the greatest wrestlers are almost always present. This doesn't always mean great at improvisation, but staying engaged in the moment, with the crowd, with their opponent. The greatest wrestlers know when to make themselves look great and when to make their opponents look great and often can do both at the same time. And the greatest wrestlers always leave you wanting more, at least through their prime. That's a pretty basic set of criteria after two years, but it's where I'm landing right now on what moves the needle for me. My biggest struggle is peak VS longevity, because I know I'm extremely biased towards the latter, but don't want to discount the great cases for the former.

I love the weird synchronicity projects like this create. I was also coming here to post for the first time in two months specifically to talk about how much I'm enjoying watching Io lately. She was on my rough draft as a "maybe, just outside the box" contender, but she is just so damn consistently good that her chances for me are looking better and better. It's the combination of her aura/star power along with her versatility that make her a must-watch, no matter if the match looks particularly interesting on paper. And that's still with me admittedly having big blind spots for her as I've never been the biggest Stardom fan. But thanks to the recommendations above I have more awesome stuff to dig into from her already very formidable career. Also bonus points for a rare banger of a modern WWE entrance song.

I love the love this match got in the previous replies. This was seriously great and I wouldn't say either guy carried more of the load than the other. What Baba was able to get out of his body at this point is amazing, this was a super heavyweight clash that left you wanting nothing other than the ever elusive 80s clean finish. And even then they did everything possible to put a satisfying bow on the inevitable countout. I really liked watching Hansen trying to contain a larger opponent which you only get to see now and then. This was a blast.