KB8

I had Saito at 87 in 2016. Looking back on my ballot from then there are some names that feel like "in the moment" picks, where they were probably fresh in the memory after watching some of their stuff in close proximity to the 2016 deadline. I think Saito was one of those guys, so there's a chance he falls into that 100-150 range next time, but that shouldn't be read as a knock on him at all because Masa Saito was the fucking bomb. His AWA run is badass and it felt like he got to be more or less the same Masa Saito he was in Japan. There was less "dastardly individual from the orient" nonsense with Saito than other Japanese wrestlers coming into territories during the 80s. He cheated and took shortcuts because he was a heel, not because he was from Japan and needed the same weapons as every other wrestler from Japan (the spike, the powder in the eyes...though he probably did that as well, tbf), so he could believably swing other wrestlers around the place on the regular. The tag team with Bockwinkel was a blast and I'll always favour wrestlers who have strong tag runs. Saito was also an awesome bumper who had real snap to otherwise simple bumps (armdrags, hip tosses, etc.), which was super impressive considering he looked a bag of cement with a bowling ball for a neck. He was also a straight up shit-kicker of the highest order in Japan, who could bleed like a maniac when required, so his versatility was pretty strong. He might not make it onto my 2026 list, but he remains a favourite and maybe I'll change my mind if I rewatch some of that New Japan run. MASA SAITO YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Curt Hennig (AWA, 3/28/85) v Antonio Inoki (New Japan, 4/22/87) w/Antonio Inoki, Dick Murdoch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Seiji Sakaguchi v Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine (New Japan, 9/17/87) w/Riki Choshu, Hiro Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi & Super Strong Machine v Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiichi Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura (New Japan, 9/12/88) w/Riki Choshu v George Takano & Super Strong Machine (New Japan, 3/16/89)

I had Rude at 88 in 2016 and I'll try to keep him there in 2026. It probably goes without saying that he's absolutely a peak candidate. I think he has good stuff outside of that peak run, like some stuff from Memphis and the tag team with Manny, but if you're voting for Rude then you're primarily voting for him based on that WCW run. You can count '89 as part of the peak as well if you want. He was outstanding in the best Warrior match and there's fun stuff against Piper in there as well. It's a shame he did next to nothing for much of 1991. Still, it's the year he had in 1992 (and those couple months at the end of '91 when he jumps ship) where he makes any sort of case. In an incredibly stacked year worldwide he was probably my favourite wrestler in the world, and besides that he's a personal favourite in general. I wouldn't spend any time arguing with someone who thinks Rude doesn't have the longevity to make a list. During the last poll I realised that if someone has a short peak that's awesome but not a whole lot of longevity then I'll consider them, because I guess ultimately that means a lot to me. And Rude's peak was evidently enough for me to put him on the list in 2016. He also has the best signature sell of a move in history and if you have a twitter account dedicated to that specific thing then I guess I'll at least take a look at your case. RICK RUDE YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Manny Fernandez v Rock n Roll Express (JCP World Championship Wrestling, 12/6/86) v Ultimate Warrior (WWF Summerslam, 8/28/89) v Dustin Rhodes (WCW Worldwide, 5/30/92) w/Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff (WCW WrestleWar, 5/17/92) v Ricky Steamboat (WCW Beach Blast, 6/20/92)

I had Duggan at 89 in 2016 and he'd probably be about there again, if not a few spots higher. If you don't care for the peak Mid-South/Houston run (~'83-'86) then he has no shot, but I flat out love that run and he's sort of a perfect example of a wrestler who made it onto my ballot because of their peak. Some of the WWF stuff might be okay, but honestly I don't care about watching any of it, so even if it's not actively detrimental to his case then it's certainly not something I'd use to bolster it. Haven't had the urge to run through WCW Duggan, though the Vader match is great and there's one squash from a Saturday Night that should be watched just for Schiavone making a comment about Duggan being intelligent and Heenan spending the rest of the match laughing uncontrollably (to the point where it sets off Schiavone as well). But the Mid-South and Houston stuff is top banana. Walking tall caveman Duggan is a blast and one of the best straight up brawlers of the era, with a pretty damn strong resume of awesome matches. The DiBiase feud is all-time level and the Sawyer feud is incredible in its own right. Some of the Gordy matches from '86 kind of blend together at this point, but there's at least one that I thought was great. And I can't think of too many people who had better babyface timing than Hacksaw. JIM DUGGAN YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Ted DiBiase (Houston, 8/26/83) w/Rock n Roll Express v Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (Houston, 6/8/84) v Ted DiBiase (Houston, 3/22/85) v Buzz Sawyer (Mid-South, 11/11/85) v Terry Gordy (Mid-South, 8/3/86)

I had Tama at 90 in 2016 and I'd do it again tomorrow, in 2026 and in 2056. Fire me, I'm already fired! Honestly, he got the favourite bump because I absolutely love him. I watched as much of his stuff as I could find right before the deadline and it was fresh in my mind come ranking time, so he had that going for him as well. Maybe 90 was too high, but at a certain point there's basically no difference between 90 and 97 or whatever. Anyhow, I know his run was a cup of coffee but Tama was awesome for a minute there. The Islanders are my favourite WWF tag team of the 80s just behind the Rockers, but they had great stuff as both a babyface team and a heel team. As part of that team Tama could be an amazing sympathetic face in peril and bring tonnes of energy during the shine, or an amazing bump freak shithead heel running distractions and cheapshots while Haku brought the seriousness. The Hart Foundation tag is one of my favourite WWF matches of the 80s and the Strike Force feud is better than, I don't know, every other WWF tag feud of that decade? He had a couple bonkers signature bumps, with his slingshot from the apron into the ring (landing face first) being the best of its kind. He'd also regularly take a bump over the top rope to the floor and just careen himself into the barricade like a nutjob. Even during the Islanders run he got to have some really good singles stuff and the MSG match with Martel is legit awesome. I don't actually remember too much of the Samoan SWAT Team run in WCW, but he probably deserves a spot on the list just because that might be the best name for a team ever. I also wish some of his run in Mexico was out there because Tama against the Villanos is a dream match if there ever was one. Tama ruled. I regret nothing. TAMA YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Roddy Piper (WWF, 11/26/84) w/Haku v The Hart Foundation (WWF, 11/16/86) v Rick Martel (WWF, 7/25/87) w/Haku v Strike Force (WWF, 9/21/87) w/Haku v Strike Force (WWF, 12/5/87)

I've come around a bit on Koshinaka over the years. Honestly, my memory of the Takada series is probably skewed at this point and I likely didn't hate it as much as I've let myself think, but either way I didn't really enjoy him at all on the 80s set. He's reliably fun in the NJ/WAR feud, though (then again "reliably fun" was the floor for just about everybody in that feud). The Heisei Ishingun run in the 90s is regularly pretty great and some of the hottest midcard stuff you'll see, especially the feud with Aoyagi and Saito in the early 90s. The 5/90 New Japan multi-man is amazing and he's maybe the second best guy in it behind Kurisu. Agreed with elliot on the '96 G1 run. The team with Tenryu was fun and as he got older he leaned nicely into the cantankerousness. Plus he has the awesome Satanico hair match. I'd never vote for him, but I certainly don't dread watching him at this point.

I had Yamamoto at number 91 in 2016 and that feels a bit too low, but in my defence I hadn't yet deep-dived RINGS before the first GWE. At that point as well I think shoot-style was probably only my second or third favourite style of wrestling as opposed to my first (or just, you know, my favourite). Yamamoto was awesome and one of the best shoot-style underdogs ever. Obviously the Tamura fights are the business, but the Han bouts are tremendous as well and it was cool as hell getting to see him start out in 1992 and track his journey towards becoming the Yamamoto we know and love throughout those first few years. A real feather in his cap as a youngster was his ability to get a really exciting contest out of Nobuaki Kakuta, who was all over the first couple years' worth of RINGS shows but despite being crazy over for whatever reason was never actually any good. I actually haven't even seen Yamamoto's '99 fight with Tamura, which is one of those "save it for a special occasion" matches that I don't really know why I have but here we are and these are the choices I've made with my life. YOSHIHISA YAMAMOTO YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Nobuaki Kakuta (RINGS, 12/19/92) v Volk Han (RINGS, 1/24/94) v Volk Han (RINGS, 12/29/95) v Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 4/4/97) v Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 9/21/98)

I think I had that Lawler tag top 25 when we did the Memphis set. The concession stand brawl was for sure in my top 10.

I had Ono at 92 in 2016 and I don't know what nonsense I was smoking at the time. Ono is one of my five favourite wrestlers in Japanese wrestling history, but I think that might've worked against him and I may have wound up shafting him in some daft pursuit of objectivity. Battlarts is also pretty niche and so maybe I thought having Ono just outside my top 50 would've been too much of a hipster pick (even though that still would've been about 25 spots too low but whatever). I guess his body of work isn't substantial, so that might've hurt him then as well. That said, and Jetlag basically covered it five years ago anyway, he has a deeper resume than people usually think, and at this point I feel like I have a pretty good handle on that. I guess I'd argue that he had two peaks. The first being in '97-'99 might sound silly considering he only debuted in 1994, but I've watched this stuff and he's looked like one of the best wrestlers alive as early as 1996. He was routinely awesome over the next couple years, not just when he got to be involved in main events (usually with Ikeda), but when he and Orihara were dossing around like a pair of absolute shitheads (though your mileage will very much vary on the latter). He had a frustrating lack of opportunity to showcase how good he was in the early parts of the 00s, but when he did have 10 minutes to stretch out he'd go and have one of the best 10-minute matches ever against Ishikawa just for the fuck of it. His second peak from around 2009-2012 is possibly even better and I think he has a genuine case as the best wrestler in the world in 2010. FUTEN was on a roll and everything he touched turned to gold, including the best 5-minute match in history versus Ikeda, maybe the best match of Mitsuya Nagai's career, the awesome 6-man tag from April, and then the Ono/Ishikawa v Ikeda/Usuda tag to round out the year. FUTEN being FUTEN means we don't get a ton of chances to see him after that, but the Team Taco v Mashimo/Sato tag from 1/22/12 is another absolute corker. Over the course of his career he has the absolute superclassics, the very good midcard stuff, the fun lower card stuff, and way more volume than even I gave him credit for in the past. If you're not too high on the style he works then Takeshi One being a top 25 candidate will seem like sheer lunacy, but to me he's pretty much everything I'd want in that particular style, which happens to possibly be my favourite style of wrestling, period. Incredible striker, brilliant grappler, amazing seller (this idea that he doesn't sell is wild to me), unbelievable bastard when he wanted to be, great at working as bantamweight underdog against the heavyweights, equally great as dominant force showing vulnerability...I don't know, man. He was 92 in 2016 but he'll be at least 60 spots higher in 2026. TAKESHI ONO YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Daisuke Ikeda v Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts, 10/30/96) w/Yuki Ishikawa v Daisuke Ikeda & Katsumi Usuda (Battlarts, 1/21/97) v Daisuke Ikeda (FUTEN, 9/26/10) v White Moriyama (FUTEN, 1/30/11) w/Daisuke Ikeda v Kengo Mashimo & Hikaru Sato (FUTEN, 1/22/12)

I had Condrey as my number 93 in 2016 and I'm happy with that. Condrey was fucking awesome and I agree with Dylan that he was every bit as good as Eaton in one of the best tag teams there's ever been. I said it five years ago, but his kneedrops are some of the greatest kneedrops you'll see and I love how he'd stomp someone in the nastiest ways possible. This wasn't your regular stomps to the chest, Condrey would stomp on a guy's instep or wrist or clavicle and they'd never look anything short of brutal. Obviously an amazing stooge, but another one of those guys who shifted from stooge to killer seamlessly and believably. I loved that dynamic of the Condrey/Eaton MX -- Eaton was the flash and had amazing offence, but while Condrey might've been a lover boy he was the last person you wanted to pick a fight with. I also give him bonus points for wrestling squash matches while still wearing his little dickie bow. On the rare occasion he got rid of it during a studio match it was effectively a rub for whichever ham n egger pushed him to that point. Condrey also has scope to move up because I've seen next to nothing of him outside the MX run with Eaton. Dennis Condrey ruled. DENNIS CONDREY YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Bobby Eaton v Bill Watts & Stagger Lee (Mid-South, 4/22/84) w/Bobby Eaton & Ernie Ladd v Rock n Roll Express & Jim Duggan (Houston, 6/8/84) w/Bobby Eaton v The Fantastics (Mid-South, 8/9/84) w/Bobby Eaton v Rock n Roll Express (JCP, 2/7/86) w/Bobby Eaton v The Road Warriors (JCP, 4/18/86)

I had Kikuchi at 94 in 2016 and I'm okay with that. 90s All Japan isn't my favourite style/era/whatever, and I don't have a ton of interest in going back and watching much of it, but any time I do and Kikuchi's thrown into the mix I'm almost guaranteed to see an incredible beatdown and awesome face-in-peril performance. A great FIP/underdog in general and makes me wish All Japan put more of a spotlight on the juniors division during the 90s, because he would've been a brilliant anchor. Still, my favourite Kikuchi might be later career Kikuchi where he was a snarling wee lizard maniac holding the microphone to his opponent's head while he'd clonk it with his own head. Every exchange with Liger is what the pro-wrestling is all about. I have no idea whether or not he actually has brain damage, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does, unfortunately. TSUYOSHI KIKUCHI YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada v Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (All Japan, 1/27/91) w/Kenta Kobashi v Akira Taue & Jumbo Tsuruta (All Japan, 1/26/92) w/Kenta Kobashi v Cam-Am Express (All Japan, 5/25/92) w/Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi v Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa (All Japan, 6/3/93) w/Yoshinobu Kanemaru v Jushin Liger & Wataro Inoue (NOAH, 2/17/02)

I had Takayama at 95 in 2016, and when I look at his body of work and what I actually value in wrestling, that feels stuuuupid low. The fact his peak is short doesn't bother me, because wrestlers with short peaks that also happen to be completely awesome peaks did well on my list then, and will do well on it in 2026. The UWFi run has been mentioned already but it really was a bunch of fun, especially his tag team with Yoji Anjoh (they were called Golden Cups!) where they'd wrestle WAR lumpies like Kodo Fuyuki and spend half the match mocking them for being fat and having scraggly ring gear. The 2000-2004 stretch is an all-timer. I don't actually love the NOAH match with Kobashi but the 2000 All Japan match is terrific. One of the greatest ever at just flicking the switch and absolutely whomping motherfuckers. The Nagata match where he about knees him to the moon is still the best Nagata match I've ever seen. He was still a wrecking ball after coming back from the stroke, with the KENTA matches that are a couple of the best ever monster v belligerent underdog matches, and the amazing Zero-1 tag with Sato against Ohtani and Omori where he's basically Godzilla and everyone in Korakuen Hall is petrified that they get caught up in his rampage. My god he was amazing. Why did I have him at 95, fer chrissakes? YOSHIHIRO TAKAYAMA YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 5/26/00) v Yuji Nagata (New Japan, 5/2/02) v Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH, 9/23/02) v Kenta Kobashi (NOAH, 4/25/04) w/Kohei Sato v Shinjiro Ohtani & Takao Omori (Zero-1, 218/07)

I had Hayes at 96 in 2016, and I'm fine with that but could easily have him higher. Elliot is right about Hayes' major strength: the sub-10 minute bar fight. He was tremendous at that particular aspect of pro-wrestling, and the fact that particular aspect of pro-wrestling is also one of my FAVOURITE aspects of pro-wrestling, there was no chance I could leave Hayes off. Obviously the Von Erichs feud ruled, but Hayes and the Freebirds had fun to awesome stuff in Memphis, Georgia, Mid-South, Houston and Crockett. Some may even argue his most famous post-Freebirds run as a tag wrestler is the best post-Freebirds tag run of the three, though Michael P.S. Hayes and Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and their magnificent hair being a better tag team than the vaunted Miracle Violence Connection may be a take too CONTROVERSIAL at this stage of GWE 2026. I actually think Hayes was the best Freebird even at their peak as a trio and he was my MVP of the DVDVR Texas set. His late-decade babyface run there ruled as well btw, especially the match with Buddy Roberts (it was a short and wild brawl, because of course it was). There's the DiBiase match that came with the Houston footage that I still need to see (and some other stuff there into the bargain), so his case might be bolstered for next time. MICHAEL HAYES YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Terry Gordy v Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee (Memphis, 7/14/79) w/Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts v The Von Erichs (WCCW, 7/4/83) v Kerry Von Erich (WCCW, 11/24/83) w/Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts v Bill Watts, Chavo Guerrero & Terry Taylor (Houston, 8/8/86) v Buddy Roberts (WCCW, 5/13/88)

I'm actually up to Stalemate on the 2005 stuff so I should get to their first match soon (I'm not watching EVERYTHING, because I'm not a maniac, just the stuff that interests me and that did interest me).

I had Jose at 97 in 2016 and he could just as easily finish 96 spots higher in 2026. Or like, 10 spots higher, so I guess I'm mostly fine with where I had him. I don't know, I have about 50 wrestlers I want to vote for in my bottom 20 so 97 shouldn't be taken as a slight, it's just that you watch him at 50 years old on that Houston footage and you can't help but think he'd be top 30 if we had him in his prime. One of the all-time great punchers with maybe the best uppercut in the history of the fake fighting. Had those Houston fans in the palm of his hand every time out -- almost Lawler-in-Memphis type reverence. The Guerreros feud is also amazing, so he has top tier matches to go with the top tier old man Clint Eastwood performances. Lothario was great. They should've given him the belt in '96 and made Michaels carry HIS bags. JOSE LOTHARIO YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Killer Karl Krupp (Houston, 3/24/78) v Gino Hernandez (Houston, 1/19/79) v Hector Guerrero (Houston, 5/25/84) v Hector Guerrero (Houston, 6/8/84) w/Hacksaw Duggan v Chavo & Hector Guerrero (Houston, 7/6/84)

I had AJ at 98 in 2016 and I'm not really sure what to do with him next time. I don't, like, LIKE Styles that much, but I went and watched some of the New Japan run just before the 2016 deadline and some of that stuff was great, which got him onto my list. I have no use for Tetsuya Naito one way or the other but the Styles match ruled and Styles was awesome in it. The Suzuki match was fantastic. I've since gone back and watched some 00s ROH-era Styles and he was really good there as well, which will sound redundant to people who are already a fan of his but I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. The Rave feud when he came back in 2005 has been a blast and Styles working surly as a bastard is amazing and I'm hyped about watching the Fight Without Honour (or whatever stipulation it is). Clearly very good in 2003 and the triple threat with Low-Ki and Paul London still holds up as being a spectacular spotfest almost 20 years later, which is sort of nuts when you think about it. That also highlights his longevity because he was involved in that Bryan match from the end of 2018 that was also great. TNA has become less of a joke now that some have revisited it, but honestly, I really don't have any interest in doing that myself, so I guess that particular stretch of his career in that particular wrestling promotion will always be a mystery to me (well, outside of 2005, which I watched in real time, but I doubt I'll go back to that either). The WWE run is fine and I should watch the Reigns series, I guess. Honestly, Styles could just as easily finish 98 again as he could 81 as he could off my list entirely. I have absolutely no affinity to him though, so if it comes down to picking him or a favourite like Herodes or Espectrito then I'm afraid he's out on his arse. AJ STYLES YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Paul London v Low-Ki (ROH One Year Anniversary Show, 2/8/03) v Jimmy Rave (ROH Third Anniversary Celebration - Night 2, 2/25/05) v Samoa Joe (TNA Turning Point, 12/11/05) v Minoru Suzuki (New Japan, 8/1/14) v Daniel Bryan (WWE TLC 12/16/18)

I had Aries at 99 in 2016 and surprisingly enough I feel fine about that. I actually went back and watched a bunch of 00s US indies last year and Aries was pretty fucking great for a minute there. All of his offence looked awesome, just super snappy and he'd often reel off combos without it feeling like someone just trying to string together cool looking shit. The title rematch against Joe in early '05 is badass and Aries was great in it getting his butt handed to him. A great match-up for Danielson (maybe don't watch the one that lasts three hours. Or, alternatively, do what you want) and a really fun tag worker. The match from Tag Wars (1/06) might be my favourite ROH tag match ever because it was basically a modern version of a southern style tag, with Danielson and Jay Lethal being shitheads and Aries and Strong (mostly Aries) being super fun babyfaces. Aries was also not afraid to take insane bumps and his signature lariat bump is one of the more ugly/crazy neck bumps ever. I haven't even watched any of the TNA run, but his ROH run has held up as well as I'd want and I could see myself throwing him another low vote in 2026. Just a shame he seems to be a gigantic douchebag. AUSTIN ARIES YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Bryan Danielson (ROH Survival of the Fittest, 6/24/04) v Samoa Joe (ROH Final Battle, 12/26/04) v Samoa Joe (ROH Third Anniversary Celebration - Night 3, 2/26/05) w/Roderick Strong v Bryan Danielson & Jay Lethal (ROH Tag Wars, 1/27/06) v Nigel McGuinness (ROH Rising Above, 12/29/07)

Murakami was my number 100 in 2016 and, to use elliot's terminology, I fucking blew it with that. #100, is usually reserved for the "kooky pick" in these polls and that belies how deadly serious - as deadly as his face as he emerges from under the ring covered in blood and sneering like a psychopath - I am about being a Murakami fan. Look, I get why people don't like him. He's certainly not for everyone and I can understand why he has a rep as a borderline (or fully over the line) unprofessional crowbar. But to hell with all that because Murakami rules and his aura is sensational and I could count on one hand the amount of people I buy as being a genuine lunatic more than I buy Murakami being a genuine lunatic. The death stare! The blood-licking! He also has some truly awesome matches on his CV and he's added a ton to all of them (just through his personality for a start). There are moments in tag matches where he gets involved and there's a palpable feeling of "oh christ this is about to go off the rails," but off the rails in the good way and not off the rails in the way jdw used to talk about Flair matches and that early arm work and let's not open that particular can of beans again, shall we? Murakami will be a lock for my list again and he'll be at least, like, six spots higher. There is no kookiness here. KAZUNARI MURAKAMI YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Naoya Ogawa v Shinya Hashimoto & Takayuki Iizuka (New Japan, 1/4/00) w/Naoyuki Taira v Yuki Ishikawa & Carl Greco v Yuki Ishikawa (Battlarts, 11/26/00) v Yuji Nagata (New Japan, 12/12/02) w/ Kohei Sato v Keisuke Okuda & Akira Jo (NEW, 7/7/17)

What are we thinking about Espectro Jr? He's not nominated for the GWE, but I watched the 1/4/84 mano a mano against Atlantis last night and my main takeaway is that I almost always find him fun and the original Infernales were a hoot and his mask is killer. I think his bump off an Atlantis tope took a block of fixed seats clean out the ground and he clocked Atlantis with a punch right at the start that about decapitated him. I guess his career is short, especially by lucha standards, but there's fun stuff there and I'm wondering if he has that one standout singles match.

I like Ted and had him on my list in 2016, ahead of people like Shinobu Kandori, Tully Blanchard, Takeshi Ono, Yoshihiro Takayama, Andre the Giant, Negro Navarro and Atlantis. He wouldn't be above them now, but that's because I ranked those wrestlers lower (in a few cases substantially) than I should've. I don't regret voting for DiBiase and I'll consider him again for next time, even if he'll probably drop a bit. Going through OJ's list: I'd go Tully for sure at this point. Tully was incredible. His bread and butter was being a snivelling weasel but he could flip the switch and turn into a rabid little monster as well as anybody ever. Prefer Tully in tags and I think Tully's best year ('86) - week to week, small shows and big shows, midcard and main event, lengthy showcase matches and five minutes studio bouts - is better than DiBiase's best ('85). Prefer Tully's best 10 year stretch to DiBiase's, though the Houston footage bolsters both their cases. DiBiase was a really good babyface towards the end of that Watts run, though. I don't think I've ever seen Tully work babyface so I guess Ted has that over him. I actually think the best Ted/Magnum match (one of the two from that same-day double shot) is closer to the best Tully/Magnum match (Starrcade) than most people would. In fact I think the DiBiase/Duggan multi-stips match is better than Magnum/Tully. Ted has incredible highs, basically. But Tully has the incredible highs and his average is better, and I'd rather watch Tully in a multitude of different settings than DiBiase. Tully's match with Funk at Slamboree '94 is also better than any 90s DiBiase match. Pretty easily Arn, though he doesn't have the résumé of amazing singles matches that DiBiase has. I guess DiBiase maybe wins on output? Arn's tag work probably narrows that, or maybe evens it out, especially if you're someone who values tag matches highly (and I do). Arn was a better stooge, better at working a body part, had more interesting cutoffs and was at least as believable as an ass-kicker, even if he never had the cool glove (that's not sarcasm, I love the loaded glove). I find Arn much more interesting in a week to week setting than DiBiase as well. I guess maybe Ted has him beat on longevity? I'm not really sold on the idea that people's work fell off a cliff whenever they got to the WWF and I can't really think of any WWF DiBiase as being particularly memorable. There's a handful of Brainbusters tags there that I'd call great, though. Honestly this isn't very close to me. I prefer Valentine. The more Greg I see the more I think he's a top 50 guy and I've never really thought of Ted as being that. Ted/Duggan is otherworldly but Valentine is one of the few guys here whose best work I'd for sure put above it. That Piper feud...christ that stuff is amazing. Maybe DiBiase? Output-wise it might be Sarge - the Sheik feud, Final Conflict, I love at least two of the Backlund matches. He has amazing highs, like DiBiase. I think Sarge is a better brawler and bumper (and obviously Ted is a great brawler in his own right). As far as signature bumps, Sarge's ringpost bump is cooler than DiBiase's backward roll-headstand bit. DiBiase probably has him beat on working holds, but at the same time I'm struggling to think of any DiBiase matches where I'm blown away by him actually doing that specific thing. If you're going "technical wrestler" then I guess DiBiase stomps him. Piper's highest high is better than DiBiase's but DiBiase maybe has more super high end output (I say "maybe" because I love Piper in Portland, but I acknowledge that others might not be as hot on it). Prefer Piper in brawls and I don't think there have been many as good as him at getting across a sense of hatred. Like, ever. Piper's stuff certainly looked ugly, which I'd argue often worked, but in terms of execution then Ted was obviously better. Piper's timing as a babyface was tremendous, though. A big Piper comeback where he's dodging and weaving and trying to pepper in shots on jelly legs is one of my favourite things in wrestling. So is DiBiase's fist drop but I'll take the former. I mean, I know OJ isn't a massive Buddy fan, but this is pretty much Rose in a wash for me. Again, DiBiase's peaks are sensational and I'd argue they're every bit as high as Buddy's if not higher at the absolute top end (seriously, I really love the multi-stips match), but everything else is Buddy. Hold-worker, stooge, being impressive in a variety of settings, bumping, brawling, variety of work -- if he's not better in all of those categories he's at worst as good. This isn't close to me. I don't really have much to say about Windham at this point. I think he's better than DiBiase at most things, though he doesn't have a sub-10 minute blood-soaked prison riot as good as the Duggan cage match. Better tag worker, more interesting week to week, prefer him as a babyface, and I think one of Windham's best qualities is being able to establish hierarchy depending on his opponent. The Eddie Gilbert match, the Scorpio match, the Regal match. I prefer Windham. DiBiase really takes this on longevity if nothing else. I love Rude and his peak run is one of my all-time favourites, but there's not really enough meat on the bone even when you cherry pick stuff from other points of his career (Warrior match, RnR tags, the best Memphis stuff). If I'm going purely on output then I think the Steamboat ironman match is incredible, but a bit below DiBiase and Duggan bouncing around in tuxedos trying to take the jaw off each other. I really can't be bothered talking about Bret Hart at this point, but peak output v peak output I prefer DiBiase's best match. The rest of it is probably Bret but I'd listen to arguments the other way and wouldn't put up a fight. I prefer Ted in maybe every category other than babyface prodigy. Hennig was probably a better bumper but the WWF stuff is still too much for me (someone who regularly gets a kick out of Shawn Michaels bumping like a dipshit). Martel. Ted was a better heel and I prefer the best DiBiase match to the best Martel match, but Martel is all-time level as a babyface and the Bockwinkel series gives him the output. Matt D would say the Model run hurts him and I wouldn't even bother arguing, because it was a whole lot of nothing for the most part. But peak Martel was amazing. I don't think there's a huge gap overall, though. I prefer in pretty much every category. Dundee's also one of the only guys here with a match I think is better than DiBiase's best. I guess I'd argue DiBiase has more top tier stuff with a variety of opponents, but more or less everything else I'm leaning Dundee. Studio worker, mat/hold-worker, brawler, shtick, stooge, babyface, input and output...yeah, I'm with Dundee all day.

Tim may like a different one, but the Eddie/Show match from the 4/15/04 Smackdown is wonderful and one of my favourite monster v underdog matches ever. Has some of the most creative lie, cheat and steal shtick Eddie ever did. He was so good that year.

I've gone through just about all of the Crockett from the beginning of 1985 through to the Crockett Cup '86 over the last two years, and I agree with the point about Arn not really being a standout in singles matches in '85. By 1986 he'd pretty much put it together, though, yeah. The Tully comp is always going to be drawn and I'd always have leaned Arn in the past, but I think with all the Houston footage of him and Gino, along with the weekly Crockett stuff...man, Tully was fucking awesome. I'll talk about a bit more about this at some point, but right now I can see Arn dropping a bit on my list while Tully will absolutely shoot up (from, like, 75 or something last time).

I've done a quick elliot-style run through of my own 2016 list and I'm getting a lot of "I fucking blew it with that one" as well. There are also so many picks in that 70-100 range that could just as easily fall off next time as make it, because there are about another 60 people that I could just as easily replace them with. It'll probably depend on how I'm feeling at the time, who I've watched recently enough, etc. I'll probably start running through mine later.

Pissed off and out for blood Liger is by far my favourite Liger. That usually comes in one of two forms, the first being inter-promotional Liger where he's out to put some M-Pro fools in their place or NOAH rock into town and he'll try and murder Kikuchi. The second tends to be something that happens over the course of a match, and the best examples are ones where someone foolishly goes after his mask. It's not surly Liger like you get against Ohtani and Kanemoto. He was always in a foul mood against those guys, but that's because they were punks and coming for the crown. When someone like Sano or Samurai tried to take the mask, that was when you'd get Liger going full and proper psycho. It went beyond the bounds of a wrestling match and you never wanted to push him that far. Liger was firing on all cylinders to start this, looking crisp in the early exchanges and picking up a well-earned round of applause after wiping Honaga with a plancha. He was looking like The Ace and you figured Honaga was in for a long night, but there was never inherent malice to what he was doing. He was going about his business and his business on the night was to win a wrestling match. Then Honaga went low and practically tore the whole mask off. Who knows why he did it. Maybe he thought Liger would lose all composure and it might actually give him a shot at getting into the match, maybe he just wanted to poke the bear to see if it would bite. Either way Liger goes apeshit and this was about as murderous as I've ever seen him. He demolishes Honaga to the point where people start booing him. Honaga is gushing blood from a cut and Liger is punching him dead in that cut, trying to peel the wound open further, just hammering him every which way. I thought they probably could've shaved it by a couple minutes and it would've felt a bit tighter, but I suppose it's hard to complain about getting TOO much psycho Liger. That they went and threw us a curveball at the finish was awesome and I should probably watch this feud in its entirety. How do I have no recollection of seeing it at all? This was peak Liger.

Any chance to see Kurisu and Aoyagi lay into each other is one worth taking. This was more of a whimsical house show version of a Kurisu match, where moments built around him throwing an opponent to the floor carry a little humour rather than a lot of dread, but they played their hits and in the end we go home happy. Early on Kurisu throws Koshinaka out the ring, but Koshinaka immediately jumps back in as Kurisu follows him out because he and everyone else in attendance knows what the wee fella's plan is. Kurisu wants to smash someone with a chair and the longer that can be avoided the better it'll be for Koshinaka. Of course the payoff to that later is as nasty as you expect and Kurisu jabbing the chair into someone's cheekbone will always look brutal. Some headbutts were thrown, hip bones were jammed into faces, Aoyagi belted people with kicks, a good time was had.

I'm going to do a proper deep dive on Ohtani this time around. Probably not so much the 90s stuff as I feel like I've seen all I need to see there, but I never really gave Zero-1 and beyond Ohtani a fair shake last time and even still he was on the fringes of my list. Honestly, I can take or leave most of the New Japan run at this point, but he has some really fun stuff as a heavyweight over the last 20 years or so and I should dig a bit deeper into that.