Your Current Fav Five

[concrete1992]

My list right now is exclusively modern wrestling, concentrated in America, because that's where my habits are.

 

1. ACH - if ACH is on a card, I'm probably gonna check it out. He's not just a high-flier, but his acrobatics are so awesome that I need to see everything just to believe it.

2. Kyle Matthews - Dylan got me into watching more Southern wrestling, where I discovered Matthews. The next bad match he participates in will be his first.

3. Akira Tozawa - He rarely wrestles in America, and when he does, it's for goddamn Gabe, but he's the most expressive dude in the ring I've ever seen.

4. Daniel Bryan - Obviously he wasn't going to stay on my must-watch list forever because as he's more valuable to WWE, the less he wrestles. Plus all his stuff is pretty much available now, right? Still, if Bryan's wrestling on Main Event or Smackdown, I'm going out of my way to make sure I watch those shows.

5. Athena - She's always been one of the better competitors on a given SHIMMER weekend, but she's been on a warpath since she got back from injury. Great brawling, good technical skills, super fire.

So when you checking out some lucha there TH.

[Steenalized]

Not necessarily in order other than how they came to mind right now:

 

1. Genichiro Tenryu

2. Dean Ambrose

3. Seth Rollins

4. Wade Barrett

5. Jushin Liger

 

So some 2000s Japan and current WWE is what I'm watching.

[tholzerman]

 

My list right now is exclusively modern wrestling, concentrated in America, because that's where my habits are.

 

1. ACH - if ACH is on a card, I'm probably gonna check it out. He's not just a high-flier, but his acrobatics are so awesome that I need to see everything just to believe it.

2. Kyle Matthews - Dylan got me into watching more Southern wrestling, where I discovered Matthews. The next bad match he participates in will be his first.

3. Akira Tozawa - He rarely wrestles in America, and when he does, it's for goddamn Gabe, but he's the most expressive dude in the ring I've ever seen.

4. Daniel Bryan - Obviously he wasn't going to stay on my must-watch list forever because as he's more valuable to WWE, the less he wrestles. Plus all his stuff is pretty much available now, right? Still, if Bryan's wrestling on Main Event or Smackdown, I'm going out of my way to make sure I watch those shows.

5. Athena - She's always been one of the better competitors on a given SHIMMER weekend, but she's been on a warpath since she got back from injury. Great brawling, good technical skills, super fire.

So when you checking out some lucha there TH.

 

When they add 24 more hours to the day.

[concrete1992]

World Council is debating the issue.

[W2BTD]

1. Tomohiro Ishii

2. Flamita

3. The Fantastics

4. Ricochet

5. Kazuchika Okada

[That Poor Bastard]

Dean Ambrose

Bo Dallas

Terry Funk

An Uso

Umaga

[BillThompson]

World Council is debating the issue.

 

Hey man, not to derail the thread too much, but could you check your PMs? I need some info from you based on a comment you made for an article I'm writing for a magazine.

[subatomic_elbow]

1. Sami Zayn- I'm always excited to see him on my TV. He makes everything more interesting.

2. Tyler Breeze- My favorite gimmick of the moment, perfectly executed.

3. Icarus- He improved a ton leading up to his match with Eddie Kingston that signaled the end of Chikara. Tonight, I get to see if he's going to continue that journey.

4. Luke Harper- Brutal, strange, and always entertaining.

5. Rusev- That look. That manager. THAT KICK.

[Coffey]

I'm sorry, I hope this isn't frowned upon to bump an older thread (instead of creating a new, duplicate thread) but my list has changed a lot.

 

My current five:

1. Rusev & Lana (WWE)

2. Bobby Fish of reDRagon (ROH)

3. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW)

4. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW)

5. Jay Briscoe (ROH)

 

Honorable mention(s): Simon Gotch of Vaudevillains (NXT), Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW)

 

I took a couple month break from WWE. In that time, I got more into ROH, NXT & NJPW (which I was already following). Now I have Lucha Underground too. It's a good time to be a wrestling fan for me right now. RAW has even been good the last two weeks.

[soup23]

Nope it is a good time to check in:

 

1. Kenta Kobashi

2. Kiyoshi Tamura

 

These two guys are neck and neck for my overall 1998 WOTY award and have carried the footage I have watched of it.

 

3. DDP

 

Another guy getting the 1998 footage rub but I think it is really interesting watching a guy become a star and mold himself into the main event scene without having stop/starts or having a goof briefcase prop.

 

4. Rusev

 

The guy I am most interested in the WWE currently. Brings such a different dynamic from anyone else they have.

 

5. Alan Killby

 

OJ piqued my interest and I watched one match the other night that was a ton of fun. I enjoy dipping my toe in these WOS wrestlers.

[goc]

1. Rusev - Easily the best act that WWE has right now, by a large margin. They haven't overexposed him or subjected him to their usual purposeless kill time until the next PPV booking.

 

2. The Nightmares - Digging up stuff on them for the GWE project has made me watch more of them lately. Damn this is such an awesome tag team, they could fly, brawl, cut promos and carry big angles & feuds. Super under rated tag team.

 

3. Satanico - This guy is the number #1 standout to me watching the lucha set and I've fallen completely in love with him. I will never tire of seeing him sucker his opponent with the disingenuous handshake attempt.

 

4. Sangre Chicana - It took me a while to really warm up to him but at this point in my watching I am REALLY digging him. Fantastic selling, insane dives and that awesome move where he ducks a punch and then comes back with one of his own.

 

5.Titus O'Neil - I think I've come to terms with the fact that WWE is never going to do anything with him, but he still produces a good match every time they give him an opportunity. Has the size, charisma & intensity to be a main event talent.

[JerryvonKramer]

1. Jack Brisco - remarkable worker and I'm already a bit sad that I only have 4-5 discs left.

 

2. Jim Breaks - so much looking forward to getting into this guy more. Brilliant combination of character work and sick sick limb work.

 

3. Kawada - We've just got into 1991 and the guy is already phenomenal, blows my mind to think about how much better he can get.

 

4. 70s Terry Funk - If getting through all the Dory is like a puritanical pilgrimage of salvation, Terry is the big fat cake with lashings of chocolate and ice cream on top waiting at the end of the tunnel.

 

5. AJ Styles - the glimpses of him I've gotten watching the Low Ki stuff make me excited to see more.

[Grimmas]

It's been a while since I looked at this, but these are the folks I am digging the most right now.

 

1) Mascarita Dorada

Just an amazing high flying babyface. If you like Rey Jr. in 96, you should love Dorada from the mid to late 2000's.

 

2) Goldust/Dustin Rhodes

Old or new Dustin, it's all awesome.

 

3) Larry Zbyszko

Currently in '91 WCW and loving The Enforces. Trying to catch up with as much of him as possible.

 

4) Dean Ambrose

He should be the new hot star to lead the company, sadly it won't happen. Even with his shitty material, he his making the best of everything.

 

5) Rusev

Foreign menace heels are awesome, and he's doing it great.

[Grimmas]

1. Jack Brisco - remarkable worker and I'm already a bit sad that I only have 4-5 discs left.

 

2. Jim Breaks - so much looking forward to getting into this guy more. Brilliant combination of character work and sick sick limb work.

 

3. Kawada - We've just got into 1991 and the guy is already phenomenal, blows my mind to think about how much better he can get.

 

4. 70s Terry Funk - If getting through all the Dory is like a puritanical pilgrimage of salvation, Terry is the big fat cake with lashings of chocolate and ice cream on top waiting at the end of the tunnel.

 

5. AJ Styles - the glimpses of him I've gotten watching the Low Ki stuff make me excited to see more.

You should watch the Suzuki match with AJ from this year's G1.

[El-P]

1/ Rick Martel

 

Babyface champ. Fire fire !

 

2/ Nick Bockwinkel

 

Heel challenger. What a rude asshole.

 

3 & 4/ High Flyers

 

Greg Gagne was actually quite decent. And Brunzell much better than I ever thought. Pretty terrific team.

 

5/ Rusev

 

And Lana. And Lana's skirt. The thing I liked the most when he debuted around Mania last year, and the only thing that still gets my interest now.

[Timbo Slice]

1. Bobby Eaton

 

Best right hand ever. Best swinging neckbreaker ever. Great bumper. Could watch him all day.

 

2. Rick Rude

 

Good lord, Rude in 1992 was fantastic in basically every way.

 

3. Vader

 

Can't wait to rewatch the strap match with Sting as I go through the pre-Hogan WCW PPVs.

 

4. Rusev

 

The calls for him being the Most Improved Wrestler this year are undercutting that he never really sucked. Now that he's getting a chance to shine, he's been terrific.

 

5. Bull Dempsey

 

Dude busted out the Face Eraser AND the Vader Attack this past week and does a great fat guy flying headbutt. One of the few shining spots on NXT.

[BillThompson]

1) Tito Santana

 

Fiery babyface extraordinaire!

 

2) Greg Valentine

 

Grinds down said babyface and lays in his shots.

 

3) Mascarita Dorada

 

Best mini of all time, and maybe one of the greatest wrestlers ever! Also, Grimmas is right, he's very much like Rey in 1996, only he's probably better on the mat.

 

4) Bull Power

 

Young Vader don't give a damn where he is, he just wants to punch Otto Wanz in the face!

 

5) Kurt Angle

 

2001 Kurt is awesome, telling great stories in the ring and doing his darnedest to overcome truly shitty booking.

[Tim Evans]

1. Rusev : Best guy in WWE right now since they made Ambrose into a comedy figure and Bryan's still out

2. Hechicero: Even thought I don't like his new look, he's still an amazing wrestler. I gotta get on his match vs Black Terry.

3. Rush: Still the master of CMLL. Love his new gimmick of dressing up with Sombra and Mascara.

4. Jerry Lawler: Finishing up my 1994 USWA watching and even in a down year. he's great. Especially his feud with Sid and Tommy Rich

5.Ray Gonazlez: Getting back into watch WWC and he's getting decent matches out of Hernandez and Ricardo Rodriguez of all people. It's a shame he never got a US run in WWE or WCW.

[ohtani's jacket]

1. Invader 1 -- classic brawler. The type you associate with Memphis, lucha, or indeed Puerto Rico. All the tools -- blood, punches, limited but effective offence -- but more importantly the timing. Blood, sweat and tears, staggered selling, great scope even to his studio bouts.

 

2. Marty Jones -- the comp I got of him recently reminded me that along with Breaks and Grey he was the best in a WoS ring. Was apparently a bit of an asshole who didn't like very many people and would swallow guys alive if he didn't think they were good enough, but man could he go. Tremendously talented offensive wrestler. Probably one of the best ever. And as Regal pointed out, created the style that Dynamite Kid and Sayama are always credited for along with Mark Rocco.

 

3. Bobby Barnes -- my look at 1981 WoS reminded me of what a great worker Barnes was. His submissions in the match I watched are amongst the best pro-style stuff I've ever seen. He simply stretches limbs in a way that looks like a Picasso painting. Great heel work too, arguably better than his classic exotico run where he was more deliberately aloof.

 

4. Shiryu -- absolutely my favourite of the MPro guys. Togo and TAKA were better workers, but Shiryu is the most 'lucha' of them are does the best mat sequences and dives. His topes are nuts.

 

5. Mano Negra -- after he unmasked, freed his mullet and grew a moustache, he became the Mexican Dave Finlay. So much fun to watch. So much so that his masked stuff is a major disappointment.

[Coffey]

I'm sorry, I hope this isn't frowned upon to bump an older thread (instead of creating a new, duplicate thread) but my list has changed a lot.

 

My current five:

1. Rusev & Lana (WWE)

2. Bobby Fish of reDRagon (ROH)

3. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW)

4. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW)

5. Jay Briscoe (ROH)

 

I haven't answered in ten months.

 

Currently:

 

1. New Day

2. Chad Gable & Jason Jordan

3. Pentagon Jr.

4. Sasha Banks

5. The Nasty Boys

 

Been watching a lot of The Nasties lately. Those two fuckers are endlessly entertaining, even in throwaways matches they'll do something that cracks me up & entertains me. Some of those WCW shows when they're feuding with Cactus Jack are BRUTAL. Talk about unsafe, stiff, unprotected weapon shots/strikes. Dude, when Mick Foley gets blasted in the head with that fuckin shovel? Holy shit. My friend John & I rewound & re-watched that like ten times in a row. Nuts.

 

And to add something new, current LEAST favorites:

 

1. Toru Yano

2. Charlotte

3. Bad Luck Fale

4. Eva Marie

5. Stardust

 

If were were talking non-wrestlers, Stephanie McMahon & Michael Cole are at the top of the list.

 

Also, Titus O'Neil is such a great hot tag.

[concrete1992]

1. Vader

-Tried watching him in a variety of settings for the GWE project and my goodness does he hold up in about all of them. Knocking bastards left and right.

2. Moose

-MOOSE! MOOSE! MOOSE!

3. Aja Kong

-You aren't guaranteed a great match out but you are guaranteed to question whether she should be wrestling these small ladies.

4. Ric Flair

-Heard Flair was good. Theory holds up.

5. Emilio Charles Jr.

-What is the opinion on this fella? Never quite figured it out. Never quite knew where to look. Either way, not a lot of imposing lucha fellas from my experiance that aren't just imposing when in brawls. He has a bit of that aura whether he's in trios or in a FIGHTING environment. Maybe I haven't seen enough. But I wanna see more.

[NotJayTabb]

1. Tyler Bate - heard he went down a storm at King of Trios this weekend, which came as no surprise to someone who has seen him grow as a wrestler over the past two years. Was watching a match he had against Jay Lethal that was really good, and I'm no Lethal fan. Still only 18ys old, astonishing

2. Jim Breaks - My favourite discovery from the GWE project. When he starts complaining, he's like the cantankerous next-door neighbour from a 70's sitcom, and I love it. Then he wrestles, and my word how he wrestles.

3. Jack Starz - Every time I've seen him, he's been excellent, and on Saturday I saw him have two great matches in the space of an hour. He's in great shape, has a unique look and I'm certain he's going to break out in the UK scene this year.

4. Jerry Blackwell - Another guy who I'd not seen before the GWE. He's a massive fat bloke who moves deceptively well, has great "vulnerable monster" selling and looks like a brute. What's not to love?

5. Fandango - Big fan of face Fandango, his moveset is much more suited to being a face. I do feel kinda sad for him hurling himself out of the ring onto Adam Rose for a minor pop, but I cheered.

[Ready_Willing_Gable]

I'm just gonna list wrestlers currently wrestling regularly in a major promotion, and I'm judging them on current ability. If I listed people I like to watch and reflect on in general, or even past favourites who are still chuggin on today, I'll be here too long

 

WWE:

Cesaro - the man inside the ring in this company right now, I rarely gravitate towards wrestlers who admittedly have little going for them on the mic. But it's cool to see him with a bit of momentum, and carving out a bit of a niche. It's chilled a bit in recent weeks, but still a fav.

John Cena - in all honesty, he's a little below absolute fav, but I included him because I nearly always enjoy him and also to balance out the rest of my picks looking 'smarky', cos I'm not like that - don't pigeon-hole me! I think online ingrates spoiling his act just stinks. Great wrestler, and currently the man to beat on the microphone

Kevin Owens - Microphone-wise, when he's on, he's on fire. And needless to say a box of tricks in the ring

New Day - ANTICS! crazy fun and charisma off the charts. Maybe Cena isn't necessarily the best on the mic atm.

Sasha Banks - The most rounded of all the women on WWE's books. If I didn't already respect her having the 2 or 3 best women's matches in company history, hearing her on Y2J's podcast talking about her growing up a wrestling fan, at the same time as I was, witnessing the bra n panties garbage etc. then to actually start her career path, rejecting the 'diva style' and playing a huge influence on the gradual changing of mindsets regarding women in wrestling. She's an innovator, an inspiration to women and a hell of a worker.

 

NXT:

Bayley - liked her anyway, great babyface, but I'm a fan for life after Takeover Brooklyn

Chad Gable - everyone's compared the guy to Kurt Angle already, for his background, look, wrestling style, humour and charisma but also Kurt Angle was one of the fastest people to take to the industry. From what we've seen, Gable has also picked things up really quickly.

Enzo & Cass - again, everyone's compared this team to N.A.O. I think they can better the N.A.O personally. That act always seemed so foreign to me, but weirdly enough with all this Brooklyn garb I don't understand at all, they just connect with me. I think it's because by all accounts they really do seem to BE their characters, nothing phoned in about it. When I first caught their entrance on NXT I was like "huh? people chant every word to this? it's like 30 words! this can't have been going on long, surely?", now I'M chanting every word

Kana - this is cheating because I really haven't seen as much as I should have watched, but from what I have seen; the women's division is in for a hell of a shake-up

Sami Zayn - His Raw debut actually felt underrated to me - I had no idea which way they were gonna go with it, Zayn pulled out some gold. The intro by Bret. Just a perfect debut, that.. Considering he wore a mask for so long he's so good at showing emotion, he'll be one of the top workers and top babyfaces for quite a while to come I think.

Tommaso Ciampa - hasn't wrestled on NXT TV yet but I have high hopes from what I've seen elsewhere. 'Energy' probably best sums up this guy. Couldn't say for sure he's a WWE guy, but I'm rooting for him

Tyler Breeze - adore the gimmick. He's perfected it and plays it to a tee. He should be on Raw by now, he's spent like half a decade in developmental now I think. Not sure if everyone likes this idea but I'd consider sticking him in a quick tag tean with The Miz so he can get a leg up on the main roster. I actually like The Miz though so you have to take that into account.

 

TNA:
Ethan Carter III - how? How did TNA end up with him in their laps? And even more amazingly, how come they're using him so well? To clarify he's not one of my favourite workers or someone I'll push people over to watch wrestle, but man, those mic skills. It's astounding to me WWE didn't want him.

 

ROH:

Dalton Castle - '95 era Golddust....Billy & Chuck....Rico....The Christopher Street Connection... probably loads more I can't recall... your homophobic arses took one hell of a beating! THE gimmick atm in my view. The charisma resonating from this man is unbelievable. Though don't make TNA's mistake and put him with girls instead of the boys. Idiots. Dalton's boys are on the line in his Silas match, and I'm nervous just thinking about it. Now that's a gimmick. "IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEBODY CAME AND MADE THIS WORLD COLOURFUL!".

Jay Briscoe - crazy watching this guy's growth since the start of ROH. Actually I'll name drop both Briscoes here because both transformed from a couple of wrestling brothers to a shit-hot tag team with awesome character value that fans always want to see. And what can be a rarity for tag wrestlers is standing out in the singles scene which Jay has done brilliantly.

Jay Lethal - A solid 9 on the mic and 8.5 in the ring. I've really enjoyed seeing his rise in stature over the past year. I loved his TV Title reign with the "this title means the world, because I have it" promos that really helped put over that belt for me. If I was in charge of recruitment at WWE, he'd be the next person I spoke to.

Kyle O'Reilly - I like reDRagon but this guy is above all that four corner tag team stuff in my book. The match with KUSHIDA is always gonna stand out but I've seen this guy have some belters. And I really rate him more as a singles competitor than a tag guy, even being in ROH where the tag scene is as good as anywhere atm. Needs work on his promos but I always have time for the scrawny looking wrestler who just goes out and kicks heads in. Cos that's me. Well, the scrawny looking part.

 

NJPW:

AJ Styles - I'll admit, 04-05 TNA was a big influence on me in terms of seeking wrestling outside WWE. I resisted adding Joe who has declined a little, and Daniels who is still really good, but the level this guy has stayed at is unreal. I'd never guess he was 38, where as the other two I mentioned do come off as veterans. And while he's not The Rock or anything, his promos and character value have improved immensely since that time. It's both surprising and unsurprising that WWE didn't go for him after he sent feelers out after leaving TNA.

Katsuyori Shibata - I'm no MMA nut or anything, but this guy's style connects with me. Possibly the most consistent performer in the last G1 in terms of all of his matches being at least pretty good. He was the best at working the 'man v lamp-post' style matches with Fale etc. He should've probably got a bigger rub out of that tournament, but man am I looking forward to his match with Naito

Shinsuke Nakamura - my personal fav of the 'Big 3'. Tana isn't far behind realistically but something about Shinsuke gives him that extra edge in support for me. I'm not even certain why I favour him. I guess his charisma resonates with me even stronger than Tanahashi

Tomohiro Ishii - OOF. Quite simply he's had some of the most brutal matches that I've ever seen (that didn't have a drop of blood in them). He just looks the part, the guy looks impossible to knock over. There's a few guys on New Japan's roster who do the strong style and it's like 'eh so what' but Ishii has never come off as lacklustre. His matches with Makabe and Honma rightfully come in for so much praise, but my fav is probably the match with Naito at The New Beginning in Osaka. Also the G1 matches he had towards the end of the tournament, firstly with Honma, then Michael Elgin (who, if he stays in NJPW long-term, he could be making my future list. But if he stays in ROH, he won't). Just crazy

 

I was going to do an 'other companies' section but I can't really think of anybody else I really hold to that standard.

 

Edit - also I didn't read the word 'five'. Well, I ain't unwriting that shit.

[Ready_Willing_Gable]

 

And to add something new, current LEAST favorites:

 

1. Toru Yano

 

BREEAK! BREEAK! BREEAAK!

[Laz]

Currently active 5:

Will Ospreay

Kevin Owens (been in my faves since '07)

Trevor Lee

Joe Coffey

Ricochet