Scarletlikesounds

Anyways, I wanna see Asuka & VENY vs. Spark Rush

Still 50/50, nothing's given me the indication she's doing anything other than retiring to Japan but as long as there's no retirement match and no official retirement announcement its safe to assume she'll wrestle again at some point, question is when.

MLW trying to rebuild their roster is always welcome to me so I'm genuinely hoping that they succeed just so we have more places to make money in America (they saved my boy Kozone from joining PC hell), but I'm not sure how well that'll go. I mean, there's clearly both an appetite and a low bar for studio wrestling in America rn, so maybe it'll go somewhere? I feel like they're putting in a lot less effort than ROH rn even though they'll probably surpass them in the studio wrestling push thanks to the wild amounts of ROH stigma nowadays.

With all the joshi fans I've seen I'm slightly surprised she didnt make it slightly further up, but not particularly surprised given shes not exactly a big name.

Really good, solid list but I think Yuji Nagata & Bob Backlund are a little low here. I love the way this is formatted.

Honestly, I have 0 Idea

Also, weird thing I've noticed but this French stuff translates really differently culturally, because the heels often come off as the faces to me- like every match poor bollet or tejero just wants to wrestle and these gremlins keep refusing to wrestle them and constantly evading them and then they tie them up in the ropes and try to beat on them when theyre helpless before abusing their rightful anger to throw them out of the ring- such dastardly behavior! for shame Buyten, for shame.

Hoooooly fuck I watched that Chemoul/Bordes vs. Tejero/Peruano tag and its a strong fucking 9/10, what an incredible incredible match. I think its the best catch I've seen, above Bollet vs. Weicz, Henker vs. Leduc & Cesca & Cesca vs. Catanzaro I also watched Tejero vs. Bordes and it's not quite as good but still showcases how great the two are as workers.

It definitely starts a little exhibition-y but it gets there eventually. Lotta charming stuff here, love the facials and the monster bumps that Moser takes. First introduction to them and I like these guys a lot, especially Moser.

Ben Chemoul was electric in the one match I saw of his, near the top of my list of guys to get into. Aquiles actually managed higher for me just because what we have paints such a clear consistent picture of him and is so so good. Shoko is wonderful but I never really considered her for the list. Momono made my list in about the same spot. Arik Royal is a wonderful shout, love the Fred Yehi series. I haven't gotten the Daniel Garcia hype. Mei Suruga is really good, but I think shes more top 300/200 than 100 for me. Trevor Lee maybe deserved a spot on mine. KUSHIDA carrying MLW lol. Orange Cassidy has been a real highlight of getting into weekly AEW viewing and perhaps if Id seen his older chikara stuff id have thought about him. Sekimoto is cool but feels like an inferior combo of Tanaka and Okabayashi (I'm wrong). I've seen very little Munewori Sawa and I wouldn't mind recs. Yuji Nagata has consistently been my favorite NJPW guy ever. HARASHIMA would have had a very good shot at my list if i'd seen more.

You just know Callum Newmans gonna bolt too when he gets offered an AEW contract next year. New year, same shit. I saw the argument on the Trish and Sarah podcast that this is a pretty normal thing around this year and that the reason Tsuji is losing the IWGP is because his real crowning moment comes later...but, no???? Just no. I mean I get that, but you have one guy who stands there and represents the company to the whole world and steps up to the plate and makes it mean something, then you have him drop it after a couple months to another clearly AEW bound guy. Frustrating.

He was a lower candidate for me but perhaps I could've reconsidered him further into the process. Of the big 4 in RINGS, Tamura, Han, Yamamoto & Kohsaka, Yamamoto always felt the most "pro" and least shoot of them all. He really had that rebellious little shit energy to him that came to life in the ring.

Another great match for a stacked January and the perfect introduction to Sportiva for me. Four rookies in a small restaurant put on this incredible match that just really spoke directly to my pro-wrestling loving heart. It's all simple stuff but it's ordered and done to perfection. I implore y'all to check this one out. The match in question is the main event here.

Really good way to start the year. Mei Seira is a standout in a japanese field full of top notch underdog babyfaces right now, and seeing Hazuki just torture and wipe the mat with her was great. Hazuki brings this twisted creativity to the match that just keeps popping you with new tricks to just rip apart Seira. Loved this match.

For my money Yuto-Ice has the best performance of anyone all year so far full-stop. And honestly I think it's up there for single match performance of the decade. This man has singlehandedly revived the meaning of fighting spirit for me. His selling of the arm here made me feel the weight of everything, and the sheer emotion he gets out of it is just nuclear. And tbf, that doesn't happen without an incredible Oiwa performance as well, who really sells the hatred of it all and makes it feel like a genuine battle. None of this is to detract from some solid OSKAR and ZSJ bits at the beginning but I'd say the beginning is like a 7/10 match that kicks into a 10/10 match when the arm "dislocates". Yuto-Ice suddenly feels like the unlikely frontrunner to replace Tanahashi, if such a thing is possible. Let's Get High! Big Up!

My personal match of the year so far? It's still really hard to measure Ai Houzan vs. Mio Momono, but if it weren't for that it would be. The sheer emotion of this one is incredible, Suzume gets so much sympathy out of me and every single thing she does feels so desperate- you can see exactly how much this match means to her, how close to the brink of losing she always is and how dire the situation is for her. And Miu is one of the best wrestlers in the world and really gets to shine in this bully heelish role where she controls the pace of the match. Incredible, gripping stuff. Really elevated Suzume for me and cemented Miu as my favorite current wrestler.

Awesome stuff, cool to see a thread on this match particularly, Inoki vs. Bock

Personally I don't think the nominations process makes sense now that we know the scale of the voterbase, but I don't think it could have been predicted that it would've gotten such a response. I do kinda wanna do away with formal nominations next time though.

God I love these two. Dempsey gets shit because he has to work his style in front of PC crowds, but he's maybe one of the best wrestlers on the planet right now, and Thatcher being as good as he is (like 77 or something on my GWE) and spending this decade basically dedicating himself to lifting up and training as many young workers as possible and doing so by giving them actual real life reps is a thing of beauty. Also, I think Norman Smiley & Timothy Thatcher have gotta be like the best trainers you could ask for in 2026.

The match is soooooo loooong but man is it just the definition of good work, the test of strength spots that went on for like 20 minutes somehow had me locked in the whole time. Really just the definition of classic pro-wrestling to me.

God what a delicious match. Roland Bock having this as his one signature match is the best one match example you could ever ask for. Take the most popular wrestler on the planet and just toss him around for 10 rounds like a ragdoll. It's just a thing of beauty, even when you watch the real thing it feels like witnessing mythology. And Inoki turns in a pretty strong performance of his own working from under. The fact that he's constantly struggling for a hand up and gets nowhere makes Bock look that much better.

Haven't seen it yet, but I'm curious as this means Roman is like 2 great mania matches in a row. The reviews for this have been REAAAALLY good even from people who don't enjoy the company.

Vice evolving from basically just there to shake her ass into a submission specialist was not on my card for 2026, but good for her- Id say shes evolved from like a 3/10-to a 5 or 6/10 which is strong improvement really. I desperately want to see Kendal Grey vs. Seri Yamaoka, although some of her mannerisms (the hulking up and taking the straps off) and general attitude actually remind me more of Senka. The big three way with these two and Jacy Jayne at S&D seems to have overshadowed this one, and fairly enough because Jacy does pretty solid work there.

Yeah, IDK I feel like he's getting a bit much adoration for tolerably booking something where the bar is literally in hell thanks to the bar being set by modern AAA and current WWE.

The Pillars all still make it and in high positions except for Taue who's in jeapordy but prob still makes it.