KB8

I should've put at least something from the Murakami feud on that list. Because yeah, that shit was awesome and the singles match from 2000 rules (the 2001 match is good too, but not quite at the same level).

I had Ishikawa at number 19 in 2016, but I think he makes my top 10 next time. It's not that I've necessarily learned anything new about him in the last five years; I think he's awesome now for the same reasons I thought he was awesome in 2016, it's just his volume of great matches and performances keeps going up with every new match of his that I watch. He was still amazing as of last year, so he has crazy longevity. The eternal Ikeda rivalry is obviously incredible and I'd put it up there with Tenryu/Hashimoto Lawler/Dundee, Santo/Casas, basically any all-time legendary match-up in wrestling history. Could probably count on one hand the number of wrestlers who are more - or even as - compelling when taking a beating than Ishikawa, but the real beauty of Ishikawa is how he can flip it and be the dirtiest mauling bastard on the planet just as effectively. I guess how high you'll consider ranking him will hinge on how much you like the Battlarts/FUTEN style of wrestling. If you love it then he's a top 10 contender all day. YUKI ISHIKAWA YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Kazuo Takahashi (PWFG, 7/27/97) v Carl Greco (PWFG, 6/1/93) v Bart Vale (PWFG, 7/21/93) v Duane Koslowski (PWFG, 9/23/93) w/Katsumi Usuda v Daisuke Ikeda & Carl Greco (Battlarts, 4/14/96) w/Alexander Otsuka v Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono (Battlart, 10/30/96) w/Takeshi Ono v Daisuke Ikeda & Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts, 1/21/97) v Daisuke Ikeda (Battlarts, 5/27/98) v Daisuke Ikeda (Battlarts, 8/29/99) v Takeshi Ono (Battlarts, 6/18/00) v Daisuke Ikeda (FUTEN, 4/24/05) v Hiroyuki Ito (Big Mouth Loud, 4/19/06) v Carl Greco (Battlarts, 6/1/08) w/Alexander Otsuka & Munenori Sawa v Daisuke Ikeda, Katsumi Usuda & Super Tiger II (Battlarts, 7/16/08) v Daisuke Ikeda (wXw, 3/7/20)

I legitimately think every single Volk Han match I've ever seen - and I've seen nearly all of them - are worth watching for at least SOMETHING he does, so I agree with that.

Santo was my number 20 in 2016, which is probably about where he'll land again next time. I get the point about formula, but I'm with everyone saying he might be the best formula wrestler ever, and I'm not against wrestlers using a match formula anyhow. And besides that, it's not like you can formula your way into being one of the best mat workers in lucha libre history. A stupidly graceful wrestler who could brawl and bleed like a total freakshow bastard, so you get the best of both worlds with Santo. Laundry list of great matches, from singles to trios, title matches to apuestas, over the course of four decades. EL HIJO DEL SANTO YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Atlantis v Fuerza Guerrera & Lobo Rubio (EMLL, 11/25/83) v Espanto Jr. (Monterrey, 8/31/86) w/Eddie Guerrero v Negro Casas & Blue Panther (Gimnasio Josue Neri Santos, 1987) v Negro Casas (Los Angeles, 7/18/87) v Espanto Jr. (UWA, 4/10/88) v Brazo de Oro (UWA, 1/13/91) v Negro Casas (WWA, 5/17/91) v Espanto Jr. (UWA, 5/14/92) w/Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr v El Dandy, Negro Casas & Hector Garza (CMLL, 11/29/96) v Negro Casas v El Dandy (CMLL, 12/6/96) v Negro Casas (CMLL, 9/19/97) v Felino (Monterrey, 10/18/98) v Blue Panther (Monterrey, 4/9/00) v LA Park (Monterrey, 12/23/01) w/Villano IV v El Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr (TXT, 2/25/12)

Han was my number 21 in 2016 and I'm okay with that. He might even climb a few spots into the top 20 next time, but I can't see him dropping any at the least. I can see why his number of career matches being so low (relatively speaking for pro-wrestling, anyway) might limit how high some people can put him, but it's not as if he only has a handful of them. Plus, we have footage of literally every single one that he did have, so from that perspective we can judge him pretty much completely in a way we can't for the vast majority of wrestlers, and I feel pretty good about saying I've never seen an actively poor Volk Han performance. Not one, not his very first, not his very last, not one in between (though I haven't seen ALL of them yet so I guess I'll hold off on committing to that statement?). A god of matwork but also a game and sort of underappreciated striker, especially when he went to his favourite spinning backfist, and nobody could sell a gut shot like Han either. He was also an amazing carny at heart because he'd whip out all of these ludicrous hapkido throws through joint-manipulation and pressure points and somehow made all of them look plausible. Han was one of a kind. VOLK HAN YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Akira Maeda (RINGS, 12/7/91) v Gennadi Gigant (RINGS, 3/5/92) v Akira Maeda (RINGS, 4/3/92) v Andrei Kopylov (RINGS, 7/16/92) v Dick Vrij (RINGS, 8/21/92) v Mitsuya Nagain (RINGS, 4/24/93) v Dick Vrij (RINGS, 7/13/93) v Nikolai Zouev (RINGS, 11/18/93) v Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 12/14/94) v Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 4/28/95) v Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 6/17/95) v Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 8/24/96) v Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 9/25/96) v Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 1/22/97) v Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 9/26/97)

His trailer park karate bit with Smothers at the 1990 Great American Bash is also the apex of bullshit martial arts bits in wrestling history. I will once again be considering Lane for a spot on the ballot come 2026.

I had Kobashi at number 22 in 2016. He'll most likely drop a bit in 2026, but not too far. I'd guess he'll finish around the #30 spot rather than the #20 spot. Look, I have nothing new to add on Kobashi at this stage of the game. People much smarter than me have written many millions of words about him for the last 20-odd years. He's great but not a favourite and he has some tendencies that I don't like, but at the end of the day he probably has as many great matches on tape as anybody in the history of wrestling. He's Kobashi and you know the drill. KENTA KOBASHI YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Jumbo Tsuruta v Genichiro Tenryu & Stan Hansen (All Japan, 7/15/89) w/Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada v Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi (All Japan, 10/19/90) v Stan Hansen (All Japan, 9/4/91) w/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi v Cam-Am Express (All Japan, 5/25/92) v Stan Hansen (All Japan, 7/29/93) w/Mitsuharu Misawa v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 12/3/93) w/Mitsuharu Misawa v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 5/21/94) w/Mitsuharu Misawa v Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue (All Japan, 6/9/95) v Mitsuharu Misawa (All Japan, 1/20/97) v Jun Akiyama (All Japan, 7/24/98) w/Jun Akiyama v Stan Hansen & Vader (All Japan, 12/5/98) v Tamon Honda (NOAH, 4/13/03) v Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH, 4/25/04) w/Go Shiozaki v Genichiro Tenryu & Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 4/25/05) v Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH, 7/18/05)

I had Steamboat at 23 in 2016, and that's probably a little higher than he'll finish in 2026, but he's still Steamboat and still awesome and still arguably the greatest long-time babyface in US wrestling history. I'm kind of surprised that some of his goofier selling has never really bothered me, but it hasn't and I rarely find it hammy. Or at least too hammy, I guess. Even if it's over the top I can get a kick out of Steamboat EMOTING all day. An amazing face in peril and a bit of an underrated hot tag, plus he has one or two decent singles matches on his resume as well. The WWF run that was maybe right in his prime probably wasn't as good as it would've been had he stayed in Crockett, but I like the Jake feud a lot and the Savage stuff is great. The Japan run has some good stuff, but is probably a bit disappointing on the whole. Retired as one of the best wrestlers in America; maybe the world. Doesn't have as effective karate as Stan Lane but I suppose it's not a big deal. RICKY STEAMBOAT YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Jay Youngblood v Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle (JCP, 3/12/83) v Tully Blanchard (JCP Starrcade, 11/22/84) v Jake Roberts (WWF, 6/27/86) v Randy Savage (WWF, 2/14/87) w/Eddie Gilbert v Ric Flair & Barry Windham (NWA World Championship Wrestling, 1/21/89) v Ric Flair (NWA Chi-Town Rumble, 2/20/89) v Ric Flair (NWA Clash of the Champions VI, 4/2/89) v Terry Funk (NWA Clash of the Champions VII, 6/14/89) v Lex Luger (NWA Great American Bash, 7/23/89) w/Dustin Rhodes v Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII, 11/19/91) w/Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff v Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko (WCW Saturday Night, 5/23/92) v Rick Rude (WCW Beach Blast, 6/20/92) v Steve Austin (WCW Clash of the Champions XX, 9/2/92) w/Shane Douglas v Hollywood Blonds (WCW Clash of the Champions XXII, 1/13/93) v Steven Regal (WCW Fall Brawl, 9/19/93)

Bryan was my number 24 in 2016 and I'm pretty happy with that, though I'd guess that next time he maybe cracks the top 20. Many people in this very thread have covered him and why he's good. He'll probably be the overall number 1 in 2026 and I don't really have any complaints about that. He's never been a personal favourite and there are periods - or at least highly-regarded matches - from his career that I'm not too high on, but for every 60-minute draw with Colt Cabana there's a Low-Ki match where they do maybe the best US mat wrestling ever. He also has a pretty okay resume of good wrestling matches, if that sort of thing matters to you. DANIEL BRYAN YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Low-Ki (ROH Round Robin Challenge, 3/30/02) v Low-Ki (JAPW, 6/7/02) v Paul London (ROH Epic Encounter, 4/12/03) v AJ Styles (ROH Main Event Spectacles, 11/1/03) w/Samoa Joe v Austin Aries & Jack Evans (ROH Third Anniversary Celebration: Night 2, 2/25/05) w/Jay Lathal v Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (ROH Tag Wars 2006, 1/27/06) v Samoa Joe (ROH Fight of the Century, 8/5/06) v Necro Butcher (PWG, Giant-Sized Annual #4, 7/29/07) v Takeshi Morishima (ROH Manhattan Mayhem II, 8/25/07) v Nigel McGuinness (ROH Sixth Anniversary Show, 2/23/08) w/Kane & Ryback v The Shield (WWE TLC, 12/16/12) v HHH (WWE Wrestlemania 30, 4/6/14) v Brock Lesnar (WWE Survivor Series, 11/18/18) v Kofi Kingston (WWE Wrestlemania 35, 4/7/19) v Drew Gulak (WWE Elimination Chamber, 3/8/20)

Sangre Chicana, Fabuloso Blondy & Satanico v Perro Aguayo, Lizmark & Ringo Mendoza (CMLL, 6/8/90) This whole thing was great. Maybe as an actual match it was only really good, but I don't think it was ever intended to be great *as a match*. For a match-slash-angle that set up a bunch of other things though, it was pretty fantastic. It had lots of great STUFF in it. It had several great performances. I don't know man, it was fucking great in one way or another and you can figure out which way that might've been at your leisure. There's a decent bit of history here that will enrich the experience if you're aware of it, like Satanico and Chicana being on the same team despite trying to kill each other the previous year, or that Chicana and Perro have been at each other's throats for years, but even if you DON'T know all of that stuff they do a pretty decent job spelling out the important parts. Satanico being amazing doesn't hurt either. He was outstanding in this and got to show a little bit of everything he's great at (which is a lot). The main takeaway is that El Satanico is, forever has been, and forever will be his own man. Even with the Infernales there was a sense the group was made in his image, maybe evident by the fact he was the constant through its several incarnations. Here he was teaming with two guys he clearly didn't care for, but not necessarily because his philosophical approach to wrestling was diametrically opposed to theirs. There are probably similarities between Satanico and Chicana even if you'd need to dig below the surface a little. You just know that above all else Satanico's a warrior. There's no such thing as a fight he'll shy away from and we saw that in the primera. His exchange with Ringo was brief, but it was a proper wrestling exchange and for thirty seconds there it was everything you wanted. When Blondy came in to throw a chapshot you could see that Satanico wasn't best pleased. Then Perro wanted a go and neither Chicana nor Blondy were in the mood to give him one, so Satanico stepped in and basically told everyone else to fuck off out the way. That he followed it up by dropping Perro with a hook and beating his chest triumphantly was pretty much perfect. After his side drop the first fall you can see him shift gears. In the primera, when Chicana or Blondy looked for him to get in on a mugging he wasn't interested, almost dismissive of the need to even go there. Then early in the segunda Chicana grabs Ringo and Satanico doesn't even hesitate. There was nothing underhanded about it, really. It didn't feel cheap and it's not like he wouldn't have hit him if Chicana wasn't holding him, but sometimes needs must and Satanico is a competitor to the end. The finish - or the ending, I guess - ruled. Satanico and Lizmark are in together and Lizmark is up top in the corner, then Blondy shakes the ropes and Lizmark takes a scary fall on his neck. Satanico immediately checks on him and it's clear straight away that Lizmark can't continue. Then all hell breaks loose. Ringo and Perro start fighting with each other, then Blondy sides with Perro so Chicana sides with Ringo because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Fittingly, Satanico removes himself from the fracas and tends to Lizmark, a man above such petty quarrels at this stage of the game. Beyond the Satanico stuff there was lots to like about this. Chicana wasn't all that interested in going at it with Perro but on the occasions he did it was awesome. His running dropkick at the intros, some of the punches, the way the crowd were hyped for all of it - I don't think it led to a hair match but I can only guess they'd have packed out Arena Mexico again if it did. Blondy was a hoot in this as well, just bumping and stooging to the back row and being a slimy prick. And Ringo got to do his thing, which will always be fun. Not really a showcase Sangre Chicna performance, but a great bit of wrestling all in all. Villano III, Gran Hamada & Eddie Guerrero v Shu el Guerrero, Scorpio & Scorpio Jr. (UWA, 6/5/92) This was good fun. I've watched a couple Scorpio Sr. matches recently and I'm not sure how good he is, but he captures an aura of scumbag rudo pretty well. The first fall was largely a rudo beatdown as they tried to rid Villano of his mask. In the segunda the tecnicos come roaring back and Villano tries to bludgeon all of them with a stick. The rudo stooging and chickenshitting was pretty fun, and in fairness to them if I'd tried to steal Villano's mask and he came at me with a big stick looking for revenge I'd probably bolt as well. Eddie was the perfect flier for his role here, getting major height on springboards and hitting everything gracefully. There was one headscissors that I'm pretty sure was half a botch, but he managed to turn it into a gorgeous takedown and then later one of his armdrags was sensational. There was also this great moment in the tercera where Shu, who'd had his mask torn by Villano, tried to scurry away from him, begging off on the floor, so Eddie shifted the remnants of his mask aside and casually poked him in the eye. I can't imagine there are too many Eddie Guerrero matches readily available out there that I haven't seen by now, so it's cool to come across one that gets decent time and delivers the goods.

The background part to Murdoch/Kox is cool as fuck. I had never really read into their rivalry before but now I want to see every single bullrope, blindfold and Texas death match they ever had in the 70s. Maybe some day a couple will show up...

I've felt this way for a while now as well. Like, I watched the 6/85 match with Terry Taylor a few years back and I didn't LOVE it, but I did love the stretch of the match where he got fed up with Taylor and tried to clean his clock. There was nothing underhanded about it, he just beat the brakes off him and the shift from him begging off earlier was completely convincing. He'll often have brief spells in matches where he rises above the hubris and looks like a total killer and they're routinely my favourite parts of Flair matches. It's why I like him so much as a Garvin opponent, because the majority of their matches are like that, but over the course of the whole match rather than a short segment of it. Then there's the Funk matches from '89 that are my favourite Flair matches ever. Flair in full "fuck it" mode is the very best. And psychotic old man Flair working ECW brawls was a hoot. (Of course I understand why he never worked like that every time)

I had Flair at number 25 in 2016 and I'd guess he'll be about there again in 2026. Many, many words about Flair have been written on this board. Many, many words have been spoken about him in 12-hour podcast series. He had lots of good wrestling matches and I have nothing new to add on the man. RIC FLAIR YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Angelo Mosca v Greg Valentine & Hussein Arab (Maple Leaf Wrestling, 9/6/80) v Kerry Von Erich (WCCW, 8/15/82) v Chris Adams (WCCW, 2/3/84) v Ricky Steamboat (JCP Boogie Jam, 3/17/84) v Jake Roberts (Mid-South, 11/24/85) v Ron Garvin (JCP World Championship Wrestling, 12/28/85) v Ricky Morton (JCP, 7/5/86) v Barry Windham (JCP WorldWide, 1/20/87) v Lex Luger (NWA Starrcade, 12/26/88) v Ricky Steamboat (NWA Chi-Town Rumble, 2/20/89) v Ricky Steamboat (NWA Clash of the Champions VI, 4/2/89) v Terry Funk (NWA Great American Bash, 7/23/89) v Terry Funk (NWA Clash of the Champions IX, 11/15/89) w/Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko & Sid Vicious v Sting, Brian Pillman & The Steiner Brothers (WCW WrestleWar, 2/24/91) v Mick Foley (WWE Summerslam, 8/20/06)

I had Dundee at 26 in 2016, which I'm not kicking myself over, but he's probably more likely to land in that 30-40 range next time. Or, you know, I go on a Lawler v Dundee binge and he ends up 20 spots higher. I get the knock that he never had any amazing stuff with someone other than Lawler, but to some extent I think the fact he had SO MUCH awesome stuff with Lawler even it up a bit. Sure, it would've been cool if he had a Dutch Mantel or an Austin Idol, but it is what it is. The four or five amazing Lawler matches are still amazing matches, and it's not like they're all the exact same. Dundee is also an unbelievable 'little things' wrestler and I put a ton of stock in that. Great tag wrestler (sneaky great Mid-South run with Terry Daniels and then Dutch), arguably the best studio match wrestler ever, almost certainly the best scaffold match wrestler ever. He's the Superstar and he ruled. BILL DUNDEE YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Jerry Lawler (Memphis, 8/22/77) v Tony Charles (Memphis, 6/16/79) v Tojo Yamamoto & Wayne Farris (Memphis, 3/7/81) v Sweet Brown Sugar (Memphis, 6/21/82) v Jerry Lawler (Memphis, 6/6/83) w/Terry Daniels v Dirty White Boys (Mid-South, 5/11/85) w/Dutch Mantel v The Fantastics (Mid-South, 9/22/85) v Jerry Lawler (Memphis, 12/30/85) w/Buddy Landell v Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantel (Memphis, 3/10/86) v Jerry Lawler (Memphis, 7/14/86)

I had Jumbo at number 27 in 2016. He was someone I had a difficult time placing then and he's someone I'll probably have a difficult time placing in 2026. Part of it might because he's a bit of a boring pick now, even if I try not to let that colour my thinking. Part of it might be because there's some Jumbo himself that I find boring. Sometimes I wonder if it's because I've seen so much of him, similarly to guys like Flair and Liger and the 90s All Japan crowd, who were the first wrestlers I really sought out footage of when Scotland discovered the internet for the first time in the 2000s and I wound up on a wrestling message board and ruined my life with this stupid hobby. Those other guys have suffered as well, replaced by wrestlers I haven't watched to death for the last 15 years. So it's worth thinking about, I guess. On the other hand there's a bunch of Jumbo that I just don't like very much. Dylan was in this thread six years ago talking about how he'd rather take a hammer to his own testicles than watch Jumbo (perhaps he was being dramatic; I couldn't possibly speculate), and while I'm not quite as against the idea of watching Jumbo as that, I'd still just...kind of want to watch lots of other wrestlers instead. It's a pretty common talking point now that he was good as a rookie and then sort of inconsistent and then Choshu rocked up and lit a fire under him. I don't know if I'd really argue that he was inconsistent in the first half of the 80s, though. If anything I'd argue the opposite - it's just that he was consistent in working a house style that bores me to absolute tears. Unless Terry Funk or Stan Hansen is involved I really just can't be bothered with most pre-Choshu 80s All Japan. I would probably consider the testicle-hammer before watching any Jumbo v Flair matches again. No interest in watching Jumbo v Race. I've actually re-watched some of the 70s stuff over the last few years and I liked it more than I expected to, but I'm not sure Jumbo himself was *amazing* in that stretch (though can you knock the guy for not being the driving force of amazing matches three, four years into his career? That seems sort of harsh). That ~5-year period from 88-92 is fairly unimpeachable and if I'm being honest, the number of great matches he has in that run is probably longer than the number of great matches some of the people I had above him managed in their entire career. So if Great Match Output (or whatever the hell) is a big part of your criteria then Jumbo knocks it out the park (Parv has a list of many, many star ratings in Jumbo's favour somewhere in this very thread). I don't know. He's a guy who had an incredible high and I low that I probably find lower than a lot of people. He was better than Terry Taylor but maybe not better than Sangre Chicana. Prolly. JUMBO TSURUTA YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Terry Funk (All Japan, 6/11/76) v Billy Robinson (All Japan, 3/5/77) v Nick Bockwinkel (Hawaii, 2/14/79) v Kerry Von Erich (All Japan, 5/22/84) w/Genichiro Tenryu v Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu (All Japan, 1/26/86) v Genichiro Tenryu (All Japan, 6/5/89) v Mitsuharu Misawa (All Japan, 9/1/90) w/Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi v Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 4/20/91) w/Akira Taue v Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (All Japan, 11/29/91) w/Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi v Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi (All Japan, 5/22/92)

I'm not sure there's anything left to say about Casas at this point. I mean I'm about to rattle off many, many words about him right here anyway, but I don't know. It's hard to articulate just how good he was in this. How can you really do justice to his performance? As a match I thought this was amazing when I first watched it 10 years ago, and after seeing the lead-in trios a while back it feels even richer taken in context. In those trios Ultimo ran circles around him and Casas had no answer, but he did everything in his power not to let it show. He'll also never lack for confidence, so with a new day comes new opportunity and he was in high spirits to begin. Then he asked for a handshake and promptly got put on his backside. The first caida was an exceptional matwork fall and the most impressive thing was the struggle. I'm not arsed about arguing with anybody who thinks there's no struggle in lucha or that everything is rehearsed; if you like it you like it and if you don't you don't, but there was a clear sense of struggle in this and Casas was incredible during all of it. Ultimo certainly held up his end as well, and I think the way he leaned into some of the matwork you'd see more in New Japan than CMLL gave it an almost hybrid feel. It had elements of their feud up to this point, with Casas never being able to crack the code nor manage to avoid Ultimo's kicks (this time it was a spin kick that caught him flush in the face). In the segunda there's a clear shift in Casas' mentality. He's dropped falls to Ultimo in trios matches and now he's 1-0 down in a title match, so even if he doesn't lose any confidence - he's Casas and he never will - he absolutely does ramp up the surliness. He starts throwing strikes, looking Ultimo in the face before he does it, even rolling out one of his own roundhouse kicks that was just gorgeous. When he has Ultimo in a sharpshooter and Ultimo grabs the ropes, Casas shakes his head and looks at him like "will you just give up already?" He's at the end of his tether and he needs some sort of victory soon. The return to the sharpshooter made for a great build to Ultimo giving up and there was almost a sense of relief from Casas when he did. The low blow between the second and third falls was amazing and Casas' dismissiveness when questioned was perfect. He was petty and spiteful and it only fuelled his competitiveness. The tercera was truly befitting of a deciding fall in a title match and of course Casas was absolutely sensational. He turned up the nastiness even more (loved him biting Ultimo's mask while he had him in the camel clutch to pull his head back further), then bumped like a maniac for Ultimo's comeback. The dives weren't just great in isolation, they were great because they continued the theme of their feud. Casas could avoid the first attempt, but Ultimo had that scouted in turn and in the end Casas wound up in the second row...and then up the ramp...and there was nothing he could do in either instance. All of his insecurities manifesting themselves when he falls off the top rope is one of the all-time great Casas moments. You can see him contemplating it, sheepish at first before buying into his own bullshit. Then he faceplants spectacularly and there's never been anybody quite like him. A minor quibble might be the ease with which transitions were come by in the last minute or so, but it's hard to ding them too much. I don't think this a carry job by any stretch because Ultimo absolutely held up his end, but it is one of the best performances of Casas' career, in a year where he may have been at the very peak of his power, where he took a great match and elevated it to one of the best of the decade. The greatest to ever do it.

I need to get around to nominating Herodes because I really want Herodes on my list, and right now #100 feels like the Herodes spot.

I had Murdoch at number 28 in 2016 and I wouldn't be shocked if I have him top 30 again in 2026. He's probably one of my 10 favourite wrestlers ever. The comedy stuff has been mentioned a few timed already, but I pretty much always love it and find him to be genuinely funny on the regular. The match with Afa from Madison Square Garden is literally 15 minutes of Murdoch comedy stooge horse shit and it's absolutely incredible and the greatest ever example of someone making a match worth watching entirely on their own. Literally the only thing Afa brings to the table is the rock hard head trope and Murdoch uses that in about half a dozen awesome ways. I wish they gave him a run with the NWA title because he was amazing at working lengthy title matches and the 9/85 Reed match is like twelve stars. A ridiculously great 'little things' wrestler and I honestly don't think I've ever seen a Murdoch match where he doesn't do at least something cool or amusing or interesting. I also find the Meltzer criticism of him funny, not because I hate Meltzer or because I think he's talking nonsense or whatever, but more for the fact I've never seen Murdoch do the "it's Miller time!" bit and I really wish there was footage of him doing just that because I guarantee it would rule. DICK MURDOCH YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Karl Kox (All Japan, 12/9/76) w/Killer Brooks v Jose Lothario & Al Madril (Houston, 2/10/78) v Afa (WWF, 10/22/84) w/Adrian Adonis v Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami (New Japan, 12/7/84) v The Nightmare (Mid-South, 7/14/85) v Butch Reed (Mid-South, 9/22/85) v Butch Reed (Mid-South, 10/14/85) v Ted DiBiase (Houston, 12/29/85) w/Masked Superstar v Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams (Houston, 3/14/86) v Antonio Inoki (New Japan, 6/19/86) v Dr. Death (Mid-South, 6/13/87) v Barry Windham (Mid-South, 7/11/87) w/Antonio Inoki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masa Saito & Seiji Sakaguchi v Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiko Takada, Riki Choshu, Akira Maeda & Super Strong Machine (New Japan, 9/17/87) w/Scott Hall & Bob Orton v Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino (New Japan, 11/17/88) v Yoshiaki Fujiwara (PWFG, 5/23/96)

I had Arn at number 29 in 2016, and even if he probably slips a bit in 2026 I can't see him falling out of the top 40. One of the best midcard wrestlers ever, one of the best tag wrestlers ever, one of the best multi-man wrestlers ever, and even if I buy into him not having that one truly elite match, he had a shit ton of good-to-very-good ones where his performances were routinely great. An amazing 'little things' wrestler and the point about him shifting from comedy stooge (some GOAT-level stooging, btw) to stone cold killer is dead on the money. Arn had some of my favourite shtick ever and he's someone I'm always happy to watch, whether it's in a two-minute studio squash or a twenty-minute arena match. ARN ANDERSON YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Ole Anderson v Rock n Roll Express (JCP World Championship Wrestling, 7/19/86) w/Tully Blanchard v Lex Luger & Barry Windham (JCP World Championship Wrestling, 4/23/88) w/Tully Blanchard v The Rockers (WWF, 1/23/89) v Great Muta (WCW Power Hour, 1/12/90) w/Barry Windham v Doom (WCW Starrcade, 12/16/90) w/Larry Zbyszko v Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat (WCW Clash of the Champions XVII, 11/19/91) v Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night, 1/4/92) w/Rick Rude, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night, 2/22/92) v Barry Windham (WCW Saturday Night, 6/6/92) w/Terry Funk, Bunkhouse Buck & Col. Parker v Dustin Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes & The Nasty Boys (WCW Fall Brawl, 9/18/94)

Well that was a hoot. Thank you!

I had Choshu at number 30 in 2016 and that feels about right. An absurdly charismatic wrestler who parleyed that charisma into being one of the best ever at performing bursts of energy that could blow the roof off a place. Even if the point about him being best in singles matches when being led was true, his presence was almost unmatched so at worst he'd be about the best possible supporting act in history. He was routinely amazing in tags, especially as the guy coming in to either fire back against the opposition in defiance, or inflict greater misery on a wounded opponent. Might've been even better in multi-man matches as he made pretty much every single piece of involvement feel special. His list of great matches is sort of ridiculous as well and I don't much care if he had a shitty broadway with Jumbo. RIKI CHOSHU YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Tatsumi Fujinami (New Japan, 4/3/83) v Tatsumi Fujinami (New Japan, 8/4/83) w/Yoshiaki Yatsu, Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Kuniaki Kobayashi v Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Nobuhiako Takada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura (New Japan, 4/19/84) v Antonio Inoki (New Japan, 8/2/84) v Genichiro Tenryu (JPW, 2/21/85) w/Yoshiaki Yatsu v Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu (All Japan, 1/28/86) v Killer Khan (All Japan, 7/31/86) v Yoshiaki Fujiwara (New Japan, 6/9/87) w/Hiroshi Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Super Strong Machine & Masa Saito v Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiichi Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura (New Japan, 9/12/88) v Big Van Vader (New Japan, 6/27/89) w/Shiro Koshinaka, Kensuke Sasaki, Kantaro Hoshino & Kuniaki Kobayashi v Animal Hamaguchi, Masanobu Kurisu, Hiro Saito, Tatsuhito Goto & Super Strong Machine (New Japan, 6/26/90) v Shinya Hashimoto (New Japan, 8/10/91) w/Shinya Hashimoto v Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa (WAR, 4/2/93) v Shinya Hashimoto (New Japan, 6/15/94) v Shinya Hashimoto (New Japan, 8/2/96)

I had Taue at number 31 in 2016 and I guess that feels about right. I don't think there's much more that can be said about Taue in the year 2021 and if there is then I'm probably not the one to say it, but he had an awesome peak and old man Taue has a bunch of super fun performances. I wish there were more All Japan matches throughout the 90s that were like those Taue/Kawada brawls from the early part of the decade. AKIRA TAUE YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Jumbo Tsuruta v Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue (All Japan, 9/30/90) v Toshiaki Kawada (All Japan, 1/15/91) v Mitsuharu Misawa (All Japan, 4/15/95) w/Toshiaki Kawada v Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama (All Japan, 12/6/96) v Yuji Nagata (NOAH, 6/6/03)

Savage was my number 32 in 2016, which feels simultaneously too high and about 30 spots too low. Re-reading this thread I'm clearly not the only one facing this dilemma with Savage, but basically he's one of a handful of wrestler where I can't separate "best" from "favourite" (though I think a large part of that is a fool's errand anyway, but I'll save that for the Eddie Guerrero thread). I don't think you can completely separate emotional investment or whatever you want to call it, no matter objective you're trying to be, and Savage draws me in emotionally in a way that very few have ever done. Interestingly enough I never really had that sort of emotional connection with Savage until about 15 years ago, by which point I was already a fully-grown manchild. I liked him growing up because he was a fucking screwball and now that I think about it most of the my childhood idols were fucking screwballs, so obviously I was going to like him. But not to the point where he was one of my five favourite wrestlers ever, so this isn't nostalgia doing all the talking. Nowadays, despite my wrestling horizons having been broadened substantially, he probably IS one of my five favourite wrestlers ever. One of the big positives for me is that, for a guy who was well documented for planning out matches to the minute detail, there were almost no Savage matches that actually felt rehearsed. I think a big part of that is because his character as a nutjob always translated, so it always FELT like he was going on instinct even if we basically know he wasn't. He's also damn near god tier when it comes to communicating hatred in a feud, whether it's against Flair in high-profile world title main events, or Crush in 1994 midcard programs. I guess he has a short peak, but I loved pretty much everything about that peak and there's enough stuff from points after it to keep me happy. I think his ceiling is probably just outside the top 25, depending on how I'm feeling on a given day, but there's almost zero chance he doesn't land in my top 50 again in 2026. RANDY SAVAGE YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Jerry Lawler (Memphis, 6/3/85) v Tito Santana (WWF, 4/21/86) v Ricky Steamboat (WWF Wrestlemania 3, 3/29/87) v Ultimate Warrior (WWF Wrestlemania 7, 3/24/91) v DDP (WCW Great American Bash, 6/15/97)

I had Windham at 33 in 2016 and I think he'll probably be about there again in 2026, if maybe a little lower. I could see the argument that he doesn't have the longevity to crack the top 30, but he has a ton of good-to-great stuff in a relatively short (by top 30 all time standards) period, and there are smatterings long after his peak where he's still really fun. One of the all-time great US tag wrestlers, either as a heel or a babyface, and has the top drawer singles matches, both as peak athletic 'next man up' who looked like the heir to the throne, as well as grizzled vet with the beer gut and dodgy goatee. He's got the awesome long matches and the awesome short matches, the technical matches and the brawls. Barry ruled. BARRY WINDHAM YOU SHOULD WATCH: v Terry Funk (Puerto Rico, 9/19/86) v Ric Flair (JCP WorldWide, 1/20/87) v Dick Murdoch (Mid-South, 7/11/87) w/Brian Pillman v Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (WCW Starrcade, 12/28/92) v Too Cold Scorpio (WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII, 6/16/93)

I had Eaton at number 34 in 2016, one spot lower than our dear elliot. He's maybe the best tag wrestler in US wrestling history and has amazing matches with like half a dozen tag partners. Him and Koko were the best Midnight Express that there never was, then he had the Condrey and Lane MX runs, then he had the Dangerous Alliance run where you could pair him with Eaton or Zbyszko or Rude or whoever the hell, and then he had the Blue Bloods stuff late into his career. An all-time great stooge, all-time great bumper, all-time great offensive wrestler, all-time great, period. His run in Georgia is also a hoot and he was already a killer TV match wrestler by 1981, so even if he maybe doesn't have an AMAZING singles run he certainly has a good one taken in its totality. BOBBY EATON YOU SHOULD WATCH: w/Sweet Brown Sugar v Dutch Mantell & King Cobra (Memphis, 7/19/82) w/Dennis Condrey v Road Warriors (JCP, 4/18/86) w/Stan Lane v The Fantastics (JCP WorldWide, 5/14/88) w/Stan Lane v Rock n Roll Express (WCW WrestleWar, 2/25/90) w/Arn Anderson, Rick Rude & Larry Zbyszko v Sting, Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Saturday Night, 2/22/92)