Stephen-

I don't know, it's not particularly amazing by any stretch of the definition but it's really enjoyable. Andre seems to take to this challenge very logically, and ends up winning. The ending sequence where Blackwell crumbles trying to lift Andre (and the commentators confuse it for a pin attempt for Andre) then Andre subsequently lifts and slams Blackwell for the win was just as epic for me as it was for the audience. I have only seen the short clip on Youtube. If there is a longer version available, I will update this review when I see it.

Not a match so I was going to skip over this in filing my reviews of '80s AWA, but have you seen the lateral deltoids daddy! Adrian Adonis is good in this promo too but Ventura is the star.

This is amazing. This is the kind of stuff I expect to see with Bockwinkel, and I am shocked to see with Dino Bravo. It was not entirely a carry job by Bockwinkel, though it was a pretty typical Bockwinkel worked championship match. We got an epic Greco-Roman test of strength where Bockwinkel dominates until Bravo rallies to overcome Bock and Bock takes a cheap shot to escape. Bockwinkel is grabbing hair at every opportunity, at one point being told off by the ref so he slowly raises his hand up Bravo's back towards the hair... great great cheating. We got an eye poke from Bockwinkel in between hip tosses to remain on top as Bravo fought valiantly to combat Bockwinkel's mat work. This is largely the Bockwinkel show both in his scientific wrestling but also his selling of the lower half throughout this is phenomenal. In this match, it really stood out to me even moreso than other Bockwinkel performances just how excellent Bockwinkel is at expressing pain and struggle with his face and body. Over time, Dino Bravo wears Bockwinkel down and just as Bravo all but has it won, Bockwinkel weasels his way out once again. Must watch. Career match from Dino Bravo. ****

This was a pretty fine match. It was mostly to get Jumbo over with the American crowd, I think, and Bockwinkel did an amazing job of making Jumbo look like a serious threat. I've seen better from both of them so I was not blown away by the action. There was some nice offense in here though from Jumbo. Jumbo's big offensive sequences got huge reactions out of the crowd and it's always great seeing Bockwinkel plead for mercy at the hands of the face, which he did well here and Jumbo did not let up. Not really much more for me to say on this match since it just was what it was. ***

One of many Bockwinkel matches that make me forever sad that we do not have the full footage. Even in the 5 or 6 minutes we do have, this ROCKS. I feel like a huge mark watching this, one because it is Bockwinkel and everyone is marked out for Bock, but also because there are some crisp punches from both Bockwinkel and Crusher in this one. I think early on in the clip, Bock busts Crusher open the hard way with a series of punches. Bockwinkel gets ragdolled around the cage on multiple occasions in one of the great showcases of Bock's bumping abilities. This is intense from the jump in the footage we have. Bock lands a flurry of left hands to Crusher's crown and the back of the skull that look mean. Bock attempts an escape and is sent flying off the top rope from a huge right hand. At one point, Crusher stomps on Bock's skull from the second rope and it is not a move I would ever want to take. The ending sequence is a near escape from Bockwinkel, the Crusher climbs up alongside him, sends him headfirst into the top of the cage, Bock goes flying, and Crusher pins him 1 2 3. This match is my shit. Just a brutal back and forth and Bockwinkel's bumping is an all timer here. I hope somewhere the entire footage of the match exists and I can properly rate it. No star rating since it's at most half the match. But I highly recommend.

This match is a classic. They tell such a great story with just the fundamentals of wrestling. The first third of the match is a Verne masterclass. Whatever solution Bockwinkel can come up with to Verne’s obstacles is negated by another hold or maneuver from Verne. The tide shifts with assistance from the ring post as Bockwinkel handicaps Verne after slamming his leg into the post. Then comes vintage Bock. The mental suffocation as Bockwinkel transitions from hold to hold and asserts his dominance. Verne has no answers. Bockwinkel eventually gets a little overzealous and Verne capitalizes on more than one occasion, locks in his sleeper, and Bockwinkel is out cold. Wonderful stuff. Must watch. If this were not clipped, who knows how high or low I'd rate it. I think I'm at ****1/4 as the match exists with what we have of it.

This is a thorough beating from Super Destroyer MKII. Gagne has a bit of success, once with a RNC and another time a huge rally late, both interrupted by the typical great heeling of Heenan. Sarge sells his ass off in Gagne’s rally, and Gagne is great in garnering sympathy here through his adversity. I had a lot of fun watching this, as you typically do with Sarge and Heenan involved. ***3/4

Heenan was a very fun heel here. He is always great. It was a pretty nothing match but Heenan still got a lot out of it, and your typical “weasel” chants following Heenan’s cowardice popped me. This was okay and good fun. **1/2

I do not think WWE lifers should be disqualified entirely, but I do struggle to see the argument for Jey as a top 100. I thought his title run was okay for WWE television, I mean it was better than Cena's heel title run at the same time. And there are a handful of good tag matches, but spanning across ten years makes it a lot more barren. I second them being overrated, not the most because Bully Ray and D-Von have that locked down, but they are up there. Their entire shtick was seeing how successful the Young Bucks were and being a total ripoff of them, but only 1% as talented as the Bucks and not even a full percent as innovative as the Bucks.

I would be fine with counting wrestlers that were not nominated. I am the Guerrero Maya Jr voter. He was not nominated. I also concede that it’s my fault he wasn’t. The nomination process is ideally largely for others rather than the nominator, I think. I know how great Guerrero Maya Jr is. You know how great [insert worker] is. But others may not.

Jim Brunzell off the board already is unfortunate. I didn’t vote for him, heck only two of us did, but he would have been in a 250 and probably a 200 of mine. Was a great all rounder babyface in the High Flyers, often doing the heavy lifting to cover for the much lesser Greg Gagne. High Flyers vs Bock and Stevens eternally great.

I think the huge argument in favor of nominees is that one large thread of wrestlers really helps in making sure you do not forget anyone, and also in discovering wrestlers you otherwise would never know. Nominations good. Also, second (or third, or fifth) the comments about the low bar. Nominee name, three matches. Pretty simple. Everyone has, what, ten years to get off whatever names now. And the discussion can always help people on the fence. I think without the nominee process, a lot of the discussion surrounding the project becomes less detailed.

I had Darby Allin just in my top 100 at #99 and I already feel like that was too low after watching another great performance against Kevin Knight on Dynamite. He's on a tear this year and my runaway WOTY as it stands. Career best match out of Clark Connors, extremely fun arena brawl with Gabe Kidd, MOTY contenders with Rush and Ciampa, great MJF squash, and then the Knight and Brody King title defenses. His case will only get stronger in 2036, if he remains in one piece. He is one of the 5 best TV wrestlers I have seen. His offense is innovative and unique, which is almost foreign in an era where so many guys are doing high spots and huge bumps for pops. The TNT title reign was great and his tag with Sting was great largely because of Darby's efforts. The aforementioned Walter match is one of the best performances I've seen. Darby is a very easy wrestler to get behind because his existence and his efforts is the most fundamental wrestling storytelling, and he excels at telling that story so well. And you want him to get up, and get back up again, and damn it get up again. Darby rocks.

I have next to no complaints with my ballot. My biggest blind spot was Europe so there are certainly some guys I'm forgetting there, and then some of the shoot style guys who were top 100 GWE worthy from what I've seen but I needed to spend a little more time to look into - and didn't. I'd like to think I represented the (relative, lack of) knowledge I have well enough. Rey Mysterio Jr. Bret Hart Randy Savage Ric Flair Steve Austin Manami Toyota Stan Hansen Kurt Angle Hiroshi Tanahashi Nick Bockwinkel Kenny Omega Jushin Liger Akira Hokuto Bryan Danielson Eddie Guerrero El Hijo Del Santo Negro Casas Kenta Kobashi Terry Funk Kazuchika Okada Ricky Steamboat Genichiro Tenryu Brock Lesnar Katsuyori Shibata Shinya Hashimoto El Satanico AJ Styles Arisa Nakajima Sangre Chicana Yoshiaki Fujiwara Aja Kong Vader Jumbo Tsuruta Buddy Rose CM Punk Samoa Joe Mitsuharu Misawa GUNTHER Arn Anderson Io Shirai Shawn Michaels Barry Windham Mayu Iwatani Chris Benoit Ron Garvin El Dandy Tully Blanchard Jaguar Yokota Chigusa Nagayo RUSH Devil Masami Jack Brisco Mick Foley Dump Matsumoto Riki Choshu Will Ospreay Akira Taue Toshiaki Kawada Rick Martel Tatsumi Fujinami Nick Jackson Matt Jackson Ricky Morton Mercedes Mone Claudio Castagnoli Meiko Satomura Kyoko Inoue Perro Aguayo Chris Jericho Kairi Hojo Sami Zayn Giant Baba LA Park Andre The Giant Dusty Rhodes Mayumi Ozaki Shinobu Kandori Atlantis Tito Santana Billy Robinson Dynamite Kid Virus Bruno Sammartino Mistico Kana Bull Nakano Dax Harwood Cash Wheeler Jon Moxley Mark Briscoe John Cena Hechicero Kota Ibushi Sareee Sgt. Slaughter Bobby Eaton Carlos Colon Jay Briscoe Darby Allin Guerrero Maya Jr.