soup23

Tough choice and I love the analysis that OJ brought here. I agree that Tamura really utilized the sink or swim approach. Of the stuff we have on tape, I think he performs best of all workers that have this tendency. Casas certainly excels when given stuff to do but when not, he certainly isn’t above just being there and hanging out. I think the notion that he is a Funk like candidate that has longevity and was always interesting is way overblown. Still the man has a 5 star match from me in 1987 and 4.75 match in 2012. Tough call but I’m leaning Tamura today.

Hammer is such a great heel. Everything he did here looked cunning and targeted. He mixes in the brutality of his strikes with the underhanded shortcuts when feeling extremely well. Kerry for his part was also great here showing fire when needed and selling when needed. Great duality throughout the match. Overall this is an excellent resume builder for each guys year. Kerry has the Freebirds stuff and Hammer has the Piper feud but when I get to the end of the year, I intend to have an eureka moment where I recall this match and it catapults both. ****

The wrestling here had me hooked and ready to proclaim this a lost classic. The garbage spots and Asuka shoe horning her dominant performance and booking in lessened the match overall. Uneven match as a result.

Great match with double juice and intensity. Both women had great expressions throughout the match and the strikes and escalation felt appropriate.

2000-2001 Sasuke is inconsistent without the high end classics of the 90s. Instead of boring matwork he replaces that with aimless brawling a lot of the time.

I disagree with Todd Martin a good deal but do find his Fix show with Wade to be an easy 2 hour listen each week. I’ll also shill Alan4L’s pod talking about the GWE 2021 mini update he just wrapped up.

Tough question Elliott. Right now I’d lean the Bull series but all four are fantastic feuds.

1/4/09 for tag, 3/2/08 vs Morishima for singles

Misawa is my highest ranked Japanese wrestler currently but his 2001 so far is diminishing the notion to me that he fell of a clip. More varied and top end matches than Kawada that year through June and he is top ten worldwide. Will see if it holds up but I didn’t expect that strong a finish from late era Misawa. In regards to late era Misawa’s singles matches, it’s a weak point for sure. The Hase match listed above is decisive but I think consensus has turned to think of it at least very good. The others are a mismatch of decent to good matches but almost are exclusively between past their prime workers. The biggest blemish I see is Tenryu bout. Tenryu was having an amazing run and that match is disappointing. Misawa first and foremost will be a peak candidate. He’s in my top 10 worldwide from 90-99. I don’t think I have anyone else with that distinction. It has been pleasant for me to revisit NOAH Misawa and find new wrinkles to enjoy from my favorite. .

Sucks. Got into many fantasy series based on his recommendations. RIP.

2/23/01 Casas/Plata/Juvy vs Satanico/Ultimo Guerrero/Black Warrior Most important part of this match by a metric ton is Satanico and Guerrero conflict but Casas is just a guy in the match. Sure the strikes are fine but he gets powerbombed by Guerrero and that is about it. Seeing Porky and Juvy in this setting is a distant second fun thing in this match. 5/13/01 Monterrey Dandy/Satanico/Panther/Bestia Salvaje vs Casas/Parka/Brazo de Plata/Antifaz This match would be a good case for perhaps differing opinion. Dandy and Casas work the mat for a while as an original pairing. It’s most certainly good. However, the match kicks up a notch imo when Parka moves on to mixing it up with Dandy. This leaves Casas having a few sequences with Panther but only giving a slight taste at something more between those two. 6/10/01 vs Antifaz Longer singles match where by end the Heat was again on Dandy as opposed to Casas. vs Santo 6/9 Tijuana Watched this yesterday and will give praise. Casas is Rudo and this felt very “our Champions Carnival League” style match between these two. I want to iterate that Casas isn’t bad in any of the stuff I have seen in 2001 but that I would struggle to think of a great match that has occurred because of him and I’ve watched 20 matches of his so far at this point. He’s still a top 100 wrestler of 2001 but it again feels hollow for someone that when compared to other potential #1 candidates where we have the footage of them in their prime years, I don’t see as many baseline performances.

I agree with this. I think Arn took a big step up between 1985 and 1986. He grew into his role as Ole understudy and starts excelling in singles matches. That being said gives Arn a pretty tidy career of 10 years in the good to great range. He will certainly rank for me but I do feel like Arn gets a pass on certain things and I am interested to dissect a comparison of Arns 86-96 to Tully’s 80-89.

Biggest thing I need to remind myself throughout this process is there is too much shit out there to cover. 2006 had questions of whether there were 100 great wrestlers to begin with. 2016 rectified that but I do think I leaned to heavy on historically perspective than looking at modern candidates or certain candidates within a style specialization. I continually want to feel good about each of rankings and I do take this process serious (too serious at points) that I also have a desire to have acclaim and justification by others thinking the same way. 2001 is a great example of that. So far in 2021, I have watched over 1,000 2001 matches and I am only into June for the year overall. I feel really good about the top of my WOTY list for this given year at this moment in time. However, OJ has watched much of the same stuff and we have wild differences of opinion. I respect OJ and have to accept that no one person can be an overall authority on any given topic or wrestler in regards to wrestling. That doesn't mean that I devalue persuasive viewpoints. I am still really intrigued to hear a detailed argument for someone considering Hokuto as #1 for example. My method until 2026 is to just plug away at the years/footage that I want to watch. These lists will be a "moment in time" projection no matter what. I am coming more and more to the realization that my true enjoyment of pro wrestling died with the Villano III Jr. vs Aereo apuestas match right before COVID took a stranglehold on the world. Sure in the next five years, someone like Takeshita may revolutionize modern wrestling and get me invested again but the lingering thoughts of Ospreay, Omega, etc dominating the scene for the next five years is not the type of wrestling I really want to invest and become embedded with. So I will stick to the years project that I am working on. WIth my increased organization over the last few years, I can still feel pretty good about my overall narratives of those years watched. It has been 2 years since I finished 2000, but I still feel pretty comfortable with that year overall. Right now I am in 2001 and 1983. After that? Who knows as I am itching to maybe jump to a year like 1992. I do like the years approach as they help fill in the gaps. I think most of the high point arguments for each candidate are known but I do really like that week to week viewpoint. It can hinder some workers that I adore (Casas 2001 for example) but it also elevates other with surprises in my eyes (Misawa and Santo 2001). Overall, it gives me more comfort in concluding stuff that "Casas took a back seat in trios for the most part in 2001 up until June and wasn't given opportunities to shine". That is compared to some generalized statements you see and I am guilty of as "Imagine how great Casas 1986 was if we had weekly footage." That is possibly the case that the footage would show that but it isn't definite. In the above where Casas has been in the background in 2001 so far, I think this is where my barometer is more strict compared to someone like Matt where I would penalize Casas for that and say even though he didn't get the opportunities, I do expect more for someone still in their general athletic prime than a top 80 performance as WOTY. This is an extreme case but Casas is someone bantered about as a #1 contender too so I do believe he will be someone with increased scrutiny. Finally, I do weigh big performances more than others. I still in my head can't equate arguments like Kawada's 12/3/93 selling and put it on equal footing with conclusions I agree with like "Bill DUndee is the best studio tv worker in history". The latter gets Dundee on my list but only to a certain point. The former puts Kawada in contention for top 20 and where I like to hear arguments centered around him as #1. This is perhaps a fault of mine currently but I do see it as too close of a prickly path where you can conclude that Sable had the 2nd best reactions of anyone in WWF in 1998 which is one of their most successful years so she deserves a spot on the list.

Another match that I will use to discuss the promotion/show in whole. This top to bottom was CZW's best show of 2001. It was tight at 1 hour 50 minutes, didn't have Ric Blade and had a good mixture of techincal wrestling (Fujita/Youth), highspots (SAT vs Divine/Storm/XL matches) and hardcore stuff (Pondo vs Mondo vs WIfebeater and this match). Beyond that, it featured some cool guys that show promise that you don't see on other indies like Ruckus. This match was a feel good moment as Zandig has been booked strong so seeing him tap here to Justice Pain felt rewarding. Backseat Boys being split up is in parallel with WWE starting to split Edge and Christian and both feel like a big mistake in retrospect. The action in this match was worked tight, some of the spots were fun like Zandig hiptossing Kashmere into the bushes and as previously mentioned, the finish is satisfying. Hoping for more of this CZW in the future as the seeds had been there but the booking and love of certain workers has held them back previously. ***

I liked this more than OJ but agree it was disappointing. I really enjoyed their matches in 2001 and was expecting close to MOTYC level here. Tanaka has been rising up my ranks of WOTY and with a breakout performance he could have been nearing the top three. Looking at the rest of the year, this feels like the peak so we will see how far he will fall. THe match had some great setup with the matwork that felt focused and purposeful but then it never escalated to something more. The final moments had some exciting execution and nearfalls but again felt disconnected from the previous 10-12 minutes. Overall, I can't really fault why this match didn't really click as all the elements were there and the technical acumen was good, it just didn't all come together. ***3/4

Sometimes a spotfest should just be a spotfest and this is one of the best one in wrestling history. Tons of points throughout where this could have went off the rails and seemed to be headed that way and at the last second, the rotation is perfect or the wrestler that is in the way moves. Only a few things aren't hit absolutely wonderfully in this match like XL's springboard 450. This match does bend the star rating formula in much the same way the Kamen/Ebessen 1/7/01 match does. I think you can just admire that its one of the best interpretations of the style of match the wrestlers went out to accomplish and was never topped by these performers again. **** (8.2)

Mutoh's 2001 is so heralded but watching it up to this point, he kind of does slide into this match sleepily. Sure, he had been in some big high profile matches in the year but I hadn't seen anything that has made me want to consider him as one of the top workers in the world. His most ambitious match to date was two days earlier vs. Hase and that was more miss than hit. This is much more compact and energetic and Mutoh busts out some neat wrinkles and tricks that we haven't seen so far. The Shining Wizard nearfalls were played off beautifully and Tenryu neutralizing the attack with a stiff punch always brings enjoyment to me. I am higher on Japanese 2001 matches than OJ but did see this as one of the clear highlights of the year so far. ****1/2 (9.1)

Not too worried about the selling but do see this as kind of an overall shift for Kawada as a performer and hope it isn't a preview of things to come. I have been surprised at the variety and quality of Misawa's output in 2001. Kawada has had his share of highlights too with the Sasaki/Nagai and Mutoh matches. This match and the 6/8 one vs. Tenzan seemed to have him shifting into popcorn style bomb fest type matches. I am on a upswing with Tenzan in general in 2001 so I enjoyed that match more but this one really speaks to the issues with that. The match has exciting moments and big moves throughout but just feels overall hollow. I didn't get a sense that Kojima was elevated in any way coming out of this match. Furthermore, his execution on some of the spots was off. The Ace Crusher from the ropes being the biggest example as that was meant to be a really exciting nearfall and it just fell flat. Kawada had been the king of the nuanced performance leading to this match and this seemed to shift that. The Sasaki 1/4/01 match was a preview but it was given a pass given that it was a tourney final selling exhaustion, it was a dome main event and the two performers were more game and prepared than Kojima was here. A really perplexing performance. ***1/4

Maybe I am generous as this came on a show that had some disappointing stuff and immediately after a Hase vs Mutoh 40 minute match which while I didn't hate, it certainly had some slow points, but I thought this match was great. Nagata was on a roll and Fujita showed his tenacity and toughness throughout the match. The pace didn't stop and the overall conclusion felt satisfying. This felt like a direction that Inoki wanted to go in that possibly could have worked. ****

Will use the final from the 2001 KOTDM to encapsulate the tournament as a whole. So far in 2000-2001, IWA has felt really regionalized. Sweet Science 2000 is an event that looks neat in retrospect because it started something but in actuality, it was in a parking lot with wacky seeding and almost all local talent. This event feels different and really encompasses the strengths/weaknesses of IWA MS at the time. = This is IWA MS biggest and most rowdy crowd. Sure it isn't thousands but the arena they were inside of at Charlestown, Indiana had character on these shows and it is a testament that the crowd is still rabid and hot at the end of this match chanting IWA after 6.5 hours of hardcore action the previous two nights. = This was the first show filmed by SMV. That was huge for distribution. We haven't even had commentary on an IWA show so far. The Punk vs Hero TLC match was the show that was commonly on all indie tape lists in 2002 onward but this show wasn't far off. The commentary on these shows with mostly Axl Rotten to Prazak range from eye rolling to completely inappropriate at points but it also helps guide the action at other junctions. = Ian's plight throughout the tournament really shows the self serving nature of his booking overall. Ian as the winner in this thing isn't an awful or undeserved choice but the way he gets there raises some questions. Dusty is Ian's hero and it shows here. The first round has him brutalizing Peter B. Beautiful in one of the more unprofessional wrestling matches in history to teach Peter a lesson on talking shit on internet message boards. The second night, Ian has three matches. The first is vs. the hottest outsider in the tournament in Nick Mondo. The second is vs. the hottest new prospect to the IWA faithful in Necro Butcher. Finally, the finals has him going up against the 2000 KOTDM winner in Rollin' Hard and the most established tag team in IWA in Mean & Hard. Even though it was three way match, Mean & Hard teamed up for most of the match and Ian was able to overcome the odds. Overall, this isn't a good match technically at all. Hard is awful. Mitch shifts from endearing to infuriating with each match I watch and Ian wasn't as consistent as he would be in the next few years. It does have an insane amount of light tube shots and some big spots. Overall, the 2001 KOTDM was more than likely the most violent deathmatch tournament on US Soil at the time and really signified that in the growing indie scene, IWA had arrived. ***

Takehiro Murahama I had him at #99 on my 2021 updated list which was a personal pick but he has been the biggest revelation of the 2000s so far. I think people generally see him as the other guy in that great Minoru Tanaka match and in general view Osaka Pro in the wrong lens as mostly a goofy comedy promotion. His rookie year in 2000 is one of the all time great rookie years of any wrestler and it started with match 1 vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa on 1/4/00. He is continuing to bring the goods in 2001 and by the time this list is made in 2026, I should have most of his career chronicled match by match. He is able to blend in being an ass kicker but also sympathetic from underneath. A wonderful worker. vs. Black Buffalo 7/22/00 vs. Super Delphin 5/7/00 vs Minoru Tanaka 4/20/01

I feel the opposite of Matt. He is pretty easy to contrast with Casas just based on being career rivals and I have been living in 2000-2001 which skews things but Santo has shown much more variety and high end performances than Casas In this timeframe. Santo is currently fighting with Austin as my WOTY for 01 which I wouldn’t have predicted going in. All of this is to say, I think Santo will place higher for me and likely in my top 10.

I am going to talk a little about this match but the thread really works to signify the differences Mid South tv had compared to other territories so far in my 1983 watching. Angles seem hotter in WCCW and Memphis but they do have the usually collection of bizarre heels ala Sabu. Mid South felt more straight laced with one occasional segment for that type of heel involving Kamala and Kabuki. THis tv episode has a Matsuda vs Wrestling II match and Bob Roop expertly on commentary talks about the precision and craftiness that Matsuda has that can be unassuming given his speed. Guerrero vs Gino was the tv main event and they went out there and gave them 9 minutes to craft a story. Chavo uses a surfboard and overall it felt like more competitive, ground based wrestling than we have seen on tv in other areas. Watts does a great job on commentary talking about how at Houston he witnessed Gino cheap shotting Chavo with a chair. THis plays into the finish as Chavo gets a measure of revenge and ends up scoring the pin. FUn match. ***

A good litmus test for 1983 NJPW and the quality of the promotion overall. This didn't make the DVDVR set and I agree with that sentiment but I thought it was a ton of fun especially seeing MDM beat the shit out of their opponents and them having to utilize flash to counteract that. Tiger Mask is someone I seem to have more tolerance on than his biggest detractors here but I thought he was really effective mixing in his high spots and selling when needed. An enjoyable tv match overall. ***1/4

Really quick clip of the match but a great angle. Jimmy Hart had been on ringside wrapped head to toe in a bandage for the first couple weeks of the year. Here he is tied to Dundee and tries to interject into the match. When that happens, Hart runs out in his regular attire and distracts King allowing Bock to "regain" the AWA title. The person dressed as Hart is revealed to be Andy Kaufman and they do an amazing gloating promo in the back