Stephen-

Jack Perry is great! He's been a bright spot since returning last year. Give him another chance.

How do you determine if a wrestler is on too many ballots? Every ballot is its own individual list. Moxley didn't have a large amount of high voters. He had significant volume, which is reasonable on a list of one hundred names.

I cannot believe this is a real thread. Fuck it, I talked myself into favoring Lulu Pencil when I first engaged with it, and I stand by it. Lulu Pencil is better.

I voted Rey Mysterio #1, and in the weeks since submitting my ballot for 2026, I have debated between Rey and Bockwinkel for the greatest wrestler ever. As it stands on 5/26/2026, to me it is Rey. Rey Mysterio, to me, largely embodies what professional wrestling is. He understands the core values of the sport, and has mastered those aspects in a variety of roles and environments. From being more of a spot-heavy human highlight reel as a young prospect in AAA and ECW, to his role as the go-to wrestler in WCW and WWE to steal the show with masterful wrestling and putting over lesser talents as superstars with his ability to carry talent. He does this as a tag worker, too, as his work next to Rey Sr or in trio tags is vastly different to the work with Kidman in the late 90s/early 00s, and to his work with his son Dominik in the 2000s. He is the greatest TV worker I have seen, showing this both in WCW vs Dean Malenko, or Blitzkrieg, or Billy Kidman, and then in WWE with his memorable matches on Smackdown with the Smackdown Six, and Tajiri, and Finlay, and later on carrying broomsticks like Mike Knox and Luke Gallows to memorable matches. He is the best Chamber worker, notably dragging a dreadful 2009 and 2011 chamber up to good matches, and has the best Rumble performance in 2006. His babyface work is second to none, with fiery comebacks that resonate with every fan of any demographic as he takes beatings from monsters like Lesnar, Mark Henry, Undertaker, JBL, Kevin Nash, even in handicaps vs Ziggler & Roode. He works a sprint match as well as anyone, as showcased by great TV matches vs Danielson, with Ciclope, or w/ Edge vs Lesnar & Tajiri, or on PPV with Angle, Matt Hardy, and Punk. For someone that did so many memorable high spots, he had a natural ability to string together matches and make every second feel important. Mysterio could also work a more grounded match, having brutal brawls in WWECW vs Sabu and in WWE vs Alberto Del Rio. Despite nearly 20 surgeries to his knees, he finds ways to constantly reinvent himself to preserve his body while never losing what made him special, and 40 years on we still get legendary performances like his match on Smackdown vs Kevin Owens, or being the standout of a great WM42 ladder match, or putting Andrade over in an epic series of TV matches, or getting his son Dominik over both as a tag team partner and a rival. Perhaps Rey’s crown jewel, however, is taking a stipulation constantly belittled on US TV and working an excellent apuestas feud with Chris Jericho in 09. Rey Mysterio can do it all, and Rey has an ability like no other to make you feel for him as he sells his limbs like a wounded deer. The emotion as Rey triumphs is second to none. The emotion when he caps off great feuds with Eddie Guerrero, or JBL. You feel everything. He is groundbreaking in many ways, not just being the best offensive wrestler ever, and one of the most creative and most savvy workers ever. A shortened version of this is my explanation of why Mysterio was voted #1, and for future voters, I wanted to leave something they can ponder on.

Ricky Morton is very cool in my household. Probably. I don't know if anyone besides me in this house knows him, but I do, and I love him.

Gonna go with this one. (I voted Dandy somewhere in my 50 and Strong didn't make my ballot. I am a huge fan of Strong making the 100 though.) The comments about "aura" voters, or voters putting names that "should be on the list" I'd imagine. People know Morton as THEE tag team guy, in THEE tag team of all time. Whatever reason, I am happy. He deserves it.

He's also, I'd imagine, never been anything worse than very good to you. Across almost a quarter century, and adding to it today. To me, he has been great. I didn't vote for him but he was in my ten outside the 100. I think reducing him to just "very good" is a little underselling his heights, while simultaneously not highlighting that it's a consistent floor of very good. The next bad Roderick Strong match will be the first. That includes environments that aren't always great for wrestling at all, or sometimes not great for good wrestling. And he excelled.

I do not think Lulu Pencil is a top 100 wrestler of all time. I also do not think Chris Adams is a top 100 wrestler of all time. Lulu Pencil dropped a long time ago, anyway. She was the lowest ranked wrestler with a top 3 vote. It was hardly consequential. I will say she was not one of the ten worst wrestlers with a top 3 vote, but oh well. The irony of arguing against groupthink then pivoting to arguing that having an original opinion would have never been allowed in [insert time period] is not lost on me, though. It is what it is.

Iwatani and Shirai. And I think Asuka?

I mean, this is obviously not true when Goldberg and Alexander Nabiev are getting #1 votes. People are voting for legitimately mediocre to horrible wrestlers. Pages with influence will, naturally, influence. People also will only watch what they're willing to watch. I saw plenty of threads pushing for wrestlers or styles, and those wrestlers got nowhere. Elliott pushed hard for Jerry Blackwell, and nothing. Why can't Lulu Pencil be a better wrestler than Chris Adams? For all of the very good Chris Adams, there is also very bad Chris Adams. What if people connect with Lulu Pencil more than Chris Adams? A lot of wrestling and being a great worker is not just the moves but how the moves resonate with your audience. Lulu Pencil was great at doing that, Adams wasn't. Pencil was a great face that you could sympathize with, you could get behind, you could feel her struggle and her efforts and her improving and trying her hardest. Chris Adams never had any of this, sorry. And Lulu Pencil never had the lows of Adams. Bianca Belair is not 400 places better than Dan Kroffat, but she is better. Also, relax. You may be mentally ill. Then make the campaign for them.

Has Bill Dundee fallen already? I would imagine he has. Rough for the territories. Can't judge too much, I didn't include too many of them in my own.

I had forgotten to do reviews for the second disc of the AWA 80’s set, totally by accident, and I saved Bockwinkel vs Hogan for last. The footage begins with Bockwinkel entering the ring accompanied by the brilliant, beautiful brain Bobby Heenan, and with every Bock entrance, you feel the prestige and the moment. And then… The Incredible Hulk Hogan enters to “Eye of the Tiger”. And this place explodes. Hulk Hogan, in this moment, is the most over a wrestler will ever be (and if he isn’t, who cares. The moment baby!). Hogan immediately kicks off at Bockwinkel and Heenan, then holds up a shirt reading “We want the belts” on the front and “Now or never” on the back. The crowd loudly chants “We want the belts”. You can feel just how huge Hogan was. Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan are introduced, and the crowd boos loudly. And then Hogan… more “Eye of the Tiger”... and a humongous pop. Bockwinkel understands his job, always, and immediately cowers out of the ring when the bell rings. Hogan stalks the champion with Bockwinkel on the back foot and the tension is felt a whole 40 odd years later. Bock escapes again, and is met with more boos. Hogan kicks off the action tackling Bockwinkel with a huge shoulder and the crowd goes insane again. Hogan had every AWA crowd in the palm of his hands and it is such a treat watching a conductor at work. Early in this, Bockwinkel is winning technical exchanges and trying to use his skill advantage over Hogan, but Hogan’s strength keeps him in it and he comes out favorably every time. Bockwinkel takes some pretty neat bumps here to put emphasis on Hogan’s power. Hogan gets Bock pinned in the corner, and Bock fights his way out from the ground with some really crisp looking blows to the abdomen. I think I have said this plenty before, but Bockwinkel has some of the most underrated punches in wrestling. Now we get vintage championship Bockwinkel with his classy mat work, and perhaps some dirty tactics in the process. A fan shouts at referee Lord James Blears that Bockwinkel is illegally choking Hogan. Womp womp. Bock allows Hogan up to apply some tough knees to Hogan, and a pin attempt from Bock that is swiftly kicked out by Hogan - and Hogan flings Bockwinkel across the ring, allowing him some space. Hogan’s comeback in this portion gets another large pop from the crowd. Bockwinkel’s strategy in this match seems to be that if he can target Hogan’s torso, he can empty Hogan’s tank quickly and in a championship contest, Hogan does not have half the experience nor half the stamina reserve of himself. This means nothing to Hogan. Hogan is desperate to win, and he is laying it on Bockwinkel. He lands a clothesline that sends Bockwinkel to space and an elbow drop that nearly finishes the job for the Hulkster. Bockwinkel gets up, and he gets right back to targeting Hogan’s body. Huge blow after huge blow and Hogan is visibly fading, but Hogan fights back and drops Bockwinkel with a right hand of his own. This is billed as Bockwinkel’s last hoorah, and Bockwinkel is equally as desperate as Hogan to win. For different reasons. Bockwinkel to prove he still has what it takes, and for Hogan to prove he has it at all because if not now, when? Bockwinkel is taking more punishment than I’ve seen him take in this one, and he appears to be ready to go. This is it for the old face of the AWA. Hogan lands a huge clothesline, an elbow drop, and attempts a pin. The crowd believes this is it… Heenan himself believes this is it… one… two… Bockwinkel kicks out! Hogan drags Bock up for more and in the end lands himself in the grips of Bockwinkel’s sleeper. Bock does not have it in him to maintain the hold and Hogan is able to find his way out but Bockwinkel reapplies it with a tighter grip. Hogan is slowly fading. His only chance is to pin Bockwinkel into the corner, and into referee Lord James Blears! Another sleeper from Bock!!! AND HOGAN SENDS BOCK OVER THE TOP ROPE!!! Bockwinkel reaches the apron, and a huge suplex from Hogan! Leg drop! One! Two! Three! Hogan is the AWA champion and the crowd explodes! Hogan’s celebration is cut short, however, as Mean Gene announces that AWA president Stanley Blackburn had determined Hogan threw Bockwinkel over the top rope, disqualifying Hogan. Nick Bockwinkel retains his AWA Heavyweight title, and trash is thrown into the ring from the jeering crowd. We get some loud bullshit chants and Hogan takes out his frustration on a dazed Nick Bockwinkel, who is standing only with help from Bobby Heenan, and Heenan himself. Hogan sends Heenan and Bockwinkel flying out of the ring, then throws the AWA title on the ground to surround all of the trash. Hogan declares the belt belongs to the crowd and that he is the worlds champion. This is a classic. This is one of the best matches of all time. It may place on my GME list for 2027. It is truly spectacular. I was pretty convinced Vachon/Blackwell would be atop the second disc for the 80s AWA set but no, this is. Full five stars. What a match. Must watch. *****

This is some nice stuff. They were my favorite part of the tags earlier in the year and now we have a singles match with a lot of the same chemistry we saw there. Brunzell is showing strong mat wrestling to start this one out and outclasses Adonis. Adonis is able to find his way to his feet a few times but is grounded once more by Brunzell. Eventually, Adonis' strength advantage comes into play and he's able to work Brunzell's limbs. Adonis gets in his own holds until Brunzell finds his way to his feet and turns it into a fight. From here it's a lot of scrappy work in the corner, a beautiful suplex from Adonis a bit later in the match, Brunzell firing off his unique offense... Brunzell lands his signature dropkick and Adonis is caught in the ropes, allowing Brunzell to fire off right hands to Adonis' midsection. Eventually Adonis is freed and Brunzell furthers the damage by working his leg and following it up with a barrage of grounded blows to the face of Adonis before some more leg work. Brunzell goes for a figure four causing Ventura climbs on the apron, allowing Adonis to attack Brunzell from behind. Elbow splash from the second rope follows and Adonis wins. I have raved about Brunzell at length and he is amazing here too. I suggest watching this. It's pretty good. *** 1/4.

This is cool. I enjoyed it a lot more than their match from a few weeks prior. Adrian Adonis is great here and also takes some pretty gnarly bumps. Greg Gagne is always a neat fiery babyface so I can look past his sort of underwhelming looking offense. I mean, I think he has the worst punch of anyone in the territory at this time, but oh well. Jesse Ventura sells his head being busted open and the slow blood loss really well. It is a lost art these days, so that part impressed me. The star of this match, in my opinion without doubt, is Jim Brunzell. Every time he is in the ring, he is electric. It's 1981 and Brunzell is as good as anyone in the world, and he is flying (no pun intended) in this match. The finish comes with Adonis flying from the top of the cage and missing??? Again, Adonis takes gnarly bumps here. What a beast. Very good. Go watch it. *** 1/4

Short entry here because Buck Zumhofe kinda killed this match for me but I can still appreciate what the workers added to it. Super Destroyer Mark II was made to look like a real hoss here, Heenan and Gagne were wonderful here too. Especially Heenan. Heenan was an amazing chickenshit from the jump, not to be mistaken for an idiot though. He wrestled like an opportunist and it really draws you to hate (or love, certainly appreciate Heenan either way) him. The work itself is solid. This is one where Bockwinkel is here to make Sarge look strong, and he does a good job of that, but unremarkable otherwise. If you can get past Zumhofe being obnoxious and his existence to begin with, go check it out. ** 3/4.

The footage begins with Mad Dog cutting one of the best promos of all time, pounding a pine box coffin for “Jerry Fatwell”. He is reminded of the mines he worked in during his time off after Blackwell hospitalized him, and swears to send Blackwell to that same place. This promo is fiery, it is passionate, it is emotional. It is everything you love about Vachon. The action gets under way and Vachon sees red, taking out his anger on the Sheiks. Blackwell sneaks away while the Sheiks are able to hold down Vachon. Blackwell capitalizes and lands huge bodyslams to get his first fall on Vachon, triggering the 30 second recovery period and the ten count. Vachon claws to his feet at 9 to an eruption from the crowd, and Blackwell immediately lands another slam, another splash, and another fall. Vachon makes it to his feet on wobbly legs at 8 and another huge pop, before collapsing. Blackwell unloads huge right hands and headbutts, and Vachon is bumping all over. Vachon gets busted open by one of the headbutts and Blackwell pours it on with shots to the head and body, and a big splash in the corner. Vachon is resilient here and keeps finding his way up. Finally, Vachon counters Blackwell walking in recklessly with a huge left hand and then a combination of blows to take Blackwell off his feet. My god, these punches were fucking sick. And Blackwell bumps great. This is one of the best strike sequences I’ve seen. Vachon does not let Blackwell rest and chases him to the outside, slamming his head into the post and a chair shot for dessert. Some more big blows to the post and Vachon returns to the ring. Vachon is ripping at Blackwell’s mouth and eyes, biting Blackwell, and maintaining those crisp punches. A huge boot to the back of a kneeling Blackwell and a pin attempt, before realizing he is not done with Crusher just yet. Vachon has revenge on his mind. Blackwell has a crimson mask at this point. Vachon sprints in to a cornered Blackwell and Blackwell counters with a knee to the stomach. Blackwell climbs to the top rope (huge pop!) looking for his splash…. MAD DOG GETS OUT OF HARMS WAY. The crowd explodes. Now it’s Vachon’s turn to climb… and lands a huge knee on Blackwell’s face! Vachon pins Blackwell and triggers the thirty second recovery and ten count. Blackwell nearly makes it to his feet at 9 with assistance from the ropes but collapses at the final second. The roof is blown off this place. Blackwell’s corner try to handle Vachon after the match but are swiftly ran out. Is this not just the best match ever? Is this not just the greatest? How could you not love this match? Both men with career best performances in this. Some of the best brawling sequences you’ll ever see. Fucking amazing. This is a classic. Must watch. **** 3/4

Fun! We are missing around 5 minutes of it, and we join in progress with Brunzell in control. Brunzell spends a large portion of the match posing obstacles for Bockwinkel on the mat, a sight you do not see often. Bockwinkel’s struggle and frustration becomes apparent over time, and he starts to become desperate. Eventually, Bock is able to find his way to the ropes and, being the slimy bastard he is, uses this to his advantage and after breaking, drives his knee directly into Brunzell’s leg multiple times. This starts a long stretch of Bockwinkel making Brunzell pay for his actions. Brunzell’s selling of Bockwinkel’s offense is remarkable here, and contrary to expectations, it was Bockwinkel to really up the pace in the encounter from Brunzell’s more methodical work. Bockwinkel, though, gets overzealous and allows Brunzell to find a way into the match. Here, we get four beautiful dropkicks from Brunzell and a figure four nearly applied before Bockwinkel’s second, Ray Stevens, climbs onto the apron. Brunzell engages with Stevens, Bockwinkel looks to attack Brunzell from behind but misses and hits Stevens, Brunzell capitalizes with two more dropkicks and a three count to beat the world champion in a non title bout. It’s a solid match. I think it’s worth watching. *** 1/4

Wow. This blew me away with how good it was. It lasts less than 5 minutes and they go at it from the opening bell. The first few sequences are Jarrett and Embry with reversal after reversal, mirroring one another. Embry finally gets the better of Jarrett and then lays him out with a vicious clothesline. Jarrett gets up, lands his own, and Embry is down. Embry finds his way to his feet, and Jarrett attempts another, but Embry falls out of harm's way just in time, sending Jarrett spilling over the top rope onto the concrete exterior of the Pavilion. Jarrett lands on his shoulder here and I do not know if his injury was legitimate or not. That’s how well Jarrett sells it. Jarrett finds his way back in the ring just before ten and Embry immediately starts working that shoulder. Embry whips Jarrett into the corner and charges Jarrett, Jarrett gets his foot up and goes aerial. Jarrett lands a huge dropkick from the turnbuckle and lands directly on the shoulder. Jarrett lands a smooth sunset flip into a pin, Embry kicks out. Backslide, Embry kicks out. Roll up, Embry kicks out. Jarrett is determined and fighting. Sunset flip again, Embry reverses into a small package of his own and Jarrett is unable to beat the three count. God, this match is so great. Eric Embry promises Jarrett a rematch when he is healthy and then cuts the interview short to check on Jarrett. Must watch. Go check it out. *** 1/2

This is a really good opener. It only runs for about 6 or so minutes but the Guerreros make the most of their run time. A really chaotic trio constantly tagging in and out and sustaining a hectic pace. I think this is one of the more fun matches in late stage AWA, and worth checking out. ***

This match is good fun. DeBeers is pretty mediocre, and Slaughter does as Slaughter does to get a solid match out of him. I do think they could have used the stipulation better as this is no worse than a modern day WWE street fight, but it is a solid brawl no less. DeBeers, for all of his limitations, has electric heat here and the crowd is loving Slaughter beat the crap out of him. It’s okay. Watch if it interests you. ***

This is pretty awesome. So we get Bockwinkel on commentary for the footage we have and he gives a lot of great insight to his psychology, which is second to none in pro wrestling. From the start, Bockwinkel is targeting the heavily taped fist of Verne, to either eliminate Verne's strikes or weaken them significantly. Verne reverses the tide by doing the same to Bockwinkel. In the midst of this fist work is a lot of great limb work from both men and some great, high level technical wrestling and mat exchanges. Plenty of clean reversals throughout the match because Bockwinkel and Verne know each other so well and thus predict each other's next step. Bockwinkel's offensive wrestling in this match is seriously great. One of the better scientific back and forths I have seen. The ending is really fun. Bockwinkel thinks he has it won and celebrates with Heenan, he in fact did not have it won because Gagne's foot was on the rope, and Verne attacks Bockwinkel sending him into Heenan and Heenan goes flying. Some more back and forths between the two and we get a finish as Bockwinkel sends Verne towards the ropes and Heenan lowers them, forcing Verne to spill over. Bockwinkel is disqualified. Wow. This match is amazing. I highly suggest seeking this one out. ****

Joined in progress. Heenan is strangling Gomez, and Gomez has some excellent facial expressions selling the maneuver. Bobby Heenan lands some really nice snug punches and a huge dropkick, then attempts to exit the cage. It cuts to Gomez attempting to rip brass knuckles off of Heenan's hands, and then another cut to Gomez pulling Heenan off the cage and laying him out. Gomez now equips the brass knuckles himself and unloads countless right hands on Heenan after being told off by the referee. Because who cares what the referee says? It's a cage! Heenan has a full crimson mask. It is beautiful. Bobby recovers and lays out Gomez with a right hand. The mat is now red and the commentary points this out. Gomez removes the tape from the brass knuckles and digs them into Heenan's cut. Some more aerial offense in trading dropkicks. Heenan claws to the cage and starts climbing, Gomez meets him there. Gomez slams Heenan into the top of the cage and Heenan goes flying backwards. A pin attempt from Gomez and Heenan kicks out. Heenan, yet, is first up and wobbles to the cage to climb. Gomez stops him and Heenan hardly resists. Pin from Gomez that I thought ended the match but no. We get Heenan attempting some offense on Gomez and missing badly, sending himself head first into the steel. Gomez follows it up with a huge stomp and that is finally the end. What a fun match even if clipped. Super recommend. Super fun. ***

Clipped. This match is chaos. Bobo Brazil is taking on anything that moves and very quickly, they no longer move. We start with Heenan inviting offense, which is a rarity, and later on I am sure he regrets it. Heenan, once again, is amazing in this match. I think I say this for every Heenan review but he was. Heenan throws himself all around Comiskey Park. He's such a great bumper. The Sheik is pretty good here too, and gets the finish by biting and pinning Bobo Brazil. Fun stuff. Go ahead and watch it. From what we have, **.

This is another clipped match. The first clip is dominated by Graham, presenting issues to Snyder with a headlock. Every time Snyder exits, he finds himself back in Graham's hold. The second extended clip is mostly Snyder action, which is disappointing because it's largely Snyder with the worst stomps ever, but Graham still sells the arm really well. The third clip is more Graham, and he's got some crisp offense. A nice treat after the Snyder offense. We get some heel antics from Graham with working the corner and raking the eyes, but Graham immediately pays in the form of eating the turnbuckle. Snyder starts to work Graham, Graham finds himself to the ropes and instead of breaking, turns Snyder and goes for a huge punch... and misses! And Graham goes flying over the top rope! Graham returns to the ring and begs Snyder for mercy, to which the crowd reacts with displeasure. Snyder takes too long to attack and Graham does it for him. Back to holds from Graham. This is Graham's bread and butter here. Snyder makes his way to his feet and flips the action. Graham does the same and we get an exchange in the corner. Huge sequence of flying headscissors from Wilbur Snyder, the best action from him so far in the match. The finish comes when both are counted out for brawling on the apron rather than entering the ring. Very cool finish. There is more to the match and it heats up pretty quickly. Graham works his holds very well here and when he is forced to stand, has some neat strikes. This is a good match. I recommend. ** 3/4.