bustedquad

I’m pumped. Let’s go.

***** 1970’s: Harley Race vs. Terry Funk - Houston, 7/1/77 1980’s: Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - AJPW, 6/8/83 Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard - JCP, 11/28/85 Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair - WCW, 4/2/89 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - WCW, 7/23/89 1990’s: Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Thunder Liger - NJPW, 1/31/90 Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart - WWF, 8/26/91 Vader vs. Ric Flair - WCW, 12/27/93 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - WWF, 11/17/96 Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue - AJPW, 12/6/96 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin - WWF, 3/23/97 Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit - WCW, 10/4/99 2000’s: The Rock vs. Steve Austin - WWF, 4/1/01 Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker - WWE, 10/20/02 Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe - ROH, 3/13/04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - ROH, 12/4/04 Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher - IWA:MS, 6/11/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi - ROH, 10/1/05 Team ROH vs. Team CZW - ROH, 7/15/06 Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness - ROH, 8/12/06 John Cena vs. Umaga - WWE, 1/28/07 2010’s: John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE, 7/17/11 John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE, 4/29/12 The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family - WWE, 2/23/14 WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr - PROGRESS, 10/28/18 2020’s: FTR vs. The Briscoes - ROH, 12/10/22 Hangman Page vs. Jon Moxley - AEW, 3/5/23 ****3/4 1970’s: Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Chavo Guerrero - NJPW, 10/20/78 1980’s: Terry Funk/Dory Funk Jr vs. Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy - AJPW, 8/31/83 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW, 2/20/89 1990’s: Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue - AJPW, 6/9/95 Diesel vs. Bret Hart - WWF, 11/19/95 Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr - WCW, 10/26/97 2000’s: Triple H vs. Cactus Jack - WWF, 2/27/00 El Hijo del Santo vs. LA Park - Monterrey, 12/23/01 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - NOAH, 3/1/03 Steve Corino vs. Homicide - ROH, 8/16/03 Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE, 9/18/03 Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack - WWE, 4/18/04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - ROH, 10/16/04 AMW vs. Triple X - TNA, 12/5/04 Team CZW vs. Team ROH - ROH, 4/22/06 Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide - ROH, 12/23/06 Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave - ROH, 3/5/07 KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson - ROH, 6/23/07 2010’s: Kings of Wrestling vs. The Briscoes - ROH, 6/19/10 Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico - PWG, 1/29/11 CM Punk vs. John Cena - WWE, 2/25/13 Sasha Banks vs. Bayley - WWE, 8/22/15 Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - WWE, 7/24/16 Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE, 11/18/18 2020’s: CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston - AEW, 11/13/21

I don’t have too much to add. I’ve only recently discovered a lot of his IWE stuff and it’s great, but I’d need to get more exposure before the 2026 poll, and he’s just not someone I feel like I need to spend the time remaining on. I will say however that the 11/29/89 tag is one of my favorite matches of the decade. Just awesome.

Love Ole but not enough to put him on my top 100. I would highly recommend the match vs. Magnum TA on the 11/22/85 edition of WCW. Great stuff.

I mean look, I’m not saying late 80’s Andre is some super worker. I used the Rumble performance as an example because it’s a fun bit during a time where he didn’t have many of those. But as I stated, I’ve also gone and watched a lot of other Andre that’s available where his limitations weren’t as much, and he is great, by my standards at least. The Khan and Hansen matches as others stated, some of the Inoki matches, earlier Hogan bouts (I even think WM3’s match gets overhated). He’s also got great stuff in the 70’s against guys like the Spoiler and Harley. He was a smart worker long before his limitations hindered him as much as they did at the end. I think trying to compare that to Hornswoggle as some sort of “gotcha” is ridiculous but hey to each their own.

One last political hit by Hunter to Cena.

I am much colder on Harley than I was 2-3 years ago. I’m still a fan, but I’m way more open to the critique, especially stuff I’m reading in this thread now from 10+ years ago. That said, I did just want to give special mention to the match against Terry Funk in Houston (7/1/77). It’s become honestly one of my favorite matches. Probably Harley’s best, as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t believe Gypsy Joe will make my list at all, but I’ve also only recently started to get into his work — that is, what of it I’m able to find online. Specifically, his IWE matches against Rusher Kimura on 12/3/76 and 5/7/79, and his match against Ashura Hara on 11/7/79, have been stand outs for me. Maybe if more footage sees the light of day between now and 2036 I can reasonably consider him, but not now.

The Rhodes Trio may be the only family that had a shot of all making it on my ballot if it wasn’t for the fact that post 2016, Cody is the most disingenuous feeling wrestler maybe ever. I remember thinking and hoping that him leaving WWE in 2016 would help him take that next step, because I bought stock in Cody going back to Dusty’s HOF induction speech. Instead, he just went and picked up every bad habit he could, which if you were watching any late 2010’s indies, you’d know it was a Petri dish of bad habits for wrestlers to pick up. He absolutely will be and should be remembered for helping change the industry with the creation of AEW, but for me, that’s where it ends.

I know I’m replying to a 12 year old comment but I absolutely love that comparison.

Brody will absolutely not make top 100. I was just discussing this last night with a friend. I by no means hate Brody - his wild brawls are great and he’s usually a part of some really fun All Japan tags in the ‘80’s. And as strong as that stuff feels when you’re watching it in the moment, it’s really where the buck stops with his work. I find his solo work against some of the all time greats to be lifeless and dull. Within the last 72 hours, I watched the Flair and Inoki broadways and I would rather pulled every lash from my eye than watch those again. And because of those type of performances — and there are others, I find myself reexamining even some of the more fun All Japan tags I love, and I realize in every single one, even the ones with Snuka, Brody is the weak link. The matches would not get worse without him as much as they do not get better with him.

I’ve only recently gotten into Brett’s work. Aside from the mostly known Portland matches against Buddy and Flair, I’d highly recommend his matches against Jake Roberts in Georgia. Their match at Last Battle of Atlanta is probably MOTN, and the follow up a week later on TBS is really strong as well. I don’t know if Brett makes my top 100, but I just wanted to put in a good word for the overlooked Sawyer brother, incase anyone was considering/curious about his work.

If you asked me two years ago, maybe even last year, I dont think I would’ve considered Andre for my ballot. But just around this time two years ago, I watched the 1989 Royal Rumble. And Andre, while mostly immobile at that point, put on just a masterclass of working that night, doing most of it from the corner or while holding on to the ropes. It was the best “defensive Giant”, if you will, role I’ve ever seen in a battle royal. It really opened me up to further examining some of his work, and finally digging deeper into his work in Japan and elsewhere. Obviously, missing footage from what his apparent true prime may have been is a detriment, but I feel pretty safe filling in the blanks based on the things I’ve seen otherwise. I think at this point, with weeks to go, Andre’s a lock for somewhere towards the bottom of my 100.

Thank you for this! I’ve been monitoring this thread off and on for a while. Finally got my answer.