ohtani's jacket Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 Baby Jesus just cried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exposer Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 I'm disappointed in the lack of love for Fujiwara. I thought he was absolutely incredible on the New Japan set putting out amazing performance after amazing performance. The additional stuff from the shoot style promotions I've seen from him have been great too. I hope he gets more love as the time gets closer to submit ballots. I really enjoy Fujiwara and see him in the top half, but have also never gotten the top ten all time hype that was bestowed upon him from many going through the NJ set. As a result, I was initially disappointed. Fujiwara has some great strikes, submissions, and charisma but in a lot of ways I still see him as a limited performer and in the vein of a more athletic Onita. I see where your coming from here. I tend to be someone who's extremely impressed with wrestlers who excel at just a few things and make it work every time out. Fujiwara is one of those guys. I'm also a fan of epic charisma in wrestling with the likes of Fujiwara, Choshu, Tenryu, and Hash. They make everything feel huge and like a big deal. Fujiwara's performances in the 84, 86, and 88 tags and gauntlets are legendary. I think they're some of the best performances ever. Then you add in the Maeda and Inoki matches. Finally, I think he's still great today. Not as good as he was, but still extremely fun and watchable. Working that limited style has made him great for decades and I consider that to be impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted August 27, 2015 Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 I'm disappointed in the lack of love for Fujiwara. I thought he was absolutely incredible on the New Japan set putting out amazing performance after amazing performance. The additional stuff from the shoot style promotions I've seen from him have been great too. I hope he gets more love as the time gets closer to submit ballots. I had seen virtually no Fujiwara at the start of this project. Since then, I've watched every 80s set and Fujiwara is a lock for my top 10. I saw him as the standout worker of the NJ vs UWF feud, which is possibly the best in-ring feud I've ever seen. All time great matches with Maeda, Takada, Super Tiger, Yamazaki, Choshu, Inoki, etc. . Was great in singles or tags, against great workers or mediocre-bad workers. Could work the mat, brawl, was a great seller, awesome bleeder, etc etc etc. Fujiwara rocked. If I just turned in a top 100 from the 80s, Fujiwara would probably be my #1 or #2 guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 Rick Martel is in my top 15 atm as well, I think he is sooooooo under rated & passed up on by so many, Fujiwara for me, not so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 martel has a double stink on him: all those boring matches as the model, and the "failed world champ" thing not surprising that only the turbonerds would give him a fair assessment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 martel has a double stink on him: all those boring matches as the model, and the "failed world champ" thing not surprising that only the turbonerds would give him a fair assessment Failed world champ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 The crowd sure didn't like him. He was even getting booed in Canada by the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted August 28, 2015 Report Share Posted August 28, 2015 Steven, Martel gives 100% at all times. That's why he got the nod over Steamer here, although it may flip again by final submission, Steamer has been phenomenal in the 92 stuff I've been rewatching for WTBBP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Steven, Martel gives 100% at all times. That's why he got the nod over Steamer here, although it may flip again by final submission, Steamer has been phenomenal in the 92 stuff I've been rewatching for WTBBP. I agree, just thought you had them swapped on the Martel podcast. Glad you came around, for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 martel has a double stink on him: all those boring matches as the model, and the "failed world champ" thing not surprising that only the turbonerds would give him a fair assessment Failed world champ? being compared to hogan & flair, and anchoring a promotion as it's heading downhill, will give you that rep with the general fanbase see also: akiyama, jun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazeUSA Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 martel has a double stink on him: all those boring matches as the model, and the "failed world champ" thing not surprising that only the turbonerds would give him a fair assessment what the hell is a turbonerd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Great, you brought it back to Molly Ringwald. We're doomed. She's going to be #84 on Chad's list now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Been a couple of months since I looked at this. Let’s see where I stand as of now. Misawa Kobashi Pretty confident these will be my top two but I am unsure of the order which is a stark contrast from where I was two months ago. Flair Jumbo The two standard bearers in my eyes and where they will more than likely end up. I enjoyed Flair’s performance vs. Reed from October 85 FWIW as variety on some of his other performances where he faces a more powerful opponent. HANSEN was a huge omission and should be here on my rankings. Watched the Colon feud finally and it was grand. Satanico I picked Casas in the poll but see I ranked Satanico higher here. I will have to sit down and contemplate where I sit on the longevity/versatility of Casas vs. the quintessential heel character work in Satanico. Tenryu Funk Unsure of how much weight I should really put into his 90’s stuff but it doesn’t generally leave the best impression. As a result, he will likely be dropping slightly if I turned in a ballot at this moment. Casas Daniel Bryan Really want to take a closer look on him as I can see him being top 5 material. Liger Kawada This is where Funk would slot in right now. Lawler Tamura Hashimoto Tamura always will be my discovery of going through the 90’s stuff. Hashimoto just had an epic main event spectacle match with Great Muta where he gave an awesome performance. Rey Mysterio Jr. El Hijo Del Santo Haven’t given much thought to these guys lately. Ranking seems fine. Aja Kong Maybe a bit high on the prospect that when Loss poised the Kong vs. Kansai debate, I had to pause and think about who I thought was better. I think Kong slightly is but probably not at the degree my first list here shows. Bock Steamboat Buddy Rose Jim Breaks Two guys I need to see more of as of anyone in the upper half, these are the two I struggle with the most to grasp their identity and where their strengths and weaknesses in an overall candidacy lie. I think my unfamiliarity with them relative to everyone else surrounding them is a big factor in that perception. Chris Benoit Billy Robinson El Dandy Bull Nakano. Volk Han Jun Akiyama Happy with this ranking after the latest VOW HOF pod although I may flip these two back and forth. Rick Martel Ricky Morton Bobby Eaton Feel a tad high on Martel and I see someone like Taue below him and I am not sure that is the case. The other two feel comfortable being ranked next to each other in my eyes. Tatsumi Fujinami I need to rewatch the Choshu feud to see if he can hurdle over anyone. Vader Fujiwara Watched the 10/25/90 match vs. Takada as prep work for a pod and it is an amazing performance by Fujiwara. Top 5 shootstyle match of the 1990’s. Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Two more that feel right next to each other. Jack Brisco PARV influence Giant Baba Eddie Guerrero Shawn Michaels May raise Shawn up a tick more as his 96 babyface run is really good between the ropes. I know his 92 and 93 are fairly meh but between 1986-1997, he had 9 really strong years as a very good performer and I did like a smattering of his post comeback matches. Bret Hart Jaguar Yokota Someone else I need to see more of. Atlantis Akira Taue Taue will for sure be ahead of Atlantis and may make my top 30 when all is said and done. Randy Savage Riki Choshu Sangre Chicano Sgt. Slaughter Someone I always pause when I see him ranked this highly. He does have those absolute classics but I don’t know if he has enough of them to stay in my top half. Steve Regal Virus Love Virus but this feels a bit high in retrospect. Barry Windham Yuki Ishikawa Another guy that feels too high at the time of rankings. Blue Panther Pirata Morgan Ron Garvin Chigusa Nagayo Onita The Destroyer Akira Hokuto Greg Valentine Bill Dundee Naoki Sano John Cena Ted Dibiase Ted vs. Valentine is an interesting prospect and one where I may switch before the final vote. Devil Masami Can see her climbing the rankings a lot as her character work has rivaled Satanico which is fitting given the personas. Perro Aguayo Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Fit Finlay Probably need to check out the early stuff to see if I agree with the critiques that were levied in the GWE marathon sessions. Dick Murdoch Masa Saito Manami Toyota Chris Hero Looked really good in the IWA-MS stuff I have watched recently. Meiko Satomura Tito Santana Both are too low. Really solid performers that have good match after good match without any dip. Yatsu Tanahashi May not be in my top 100 anymore as I haven’t seen a performance from him since the G-1 that impressed me. Emilio Charles jr His match vs. Atlantis that just dropped is a lot of fun. La Fiera Ohtani Nakamura G-1 glaze here too. Terry Gordy May honestly not make my ballot. He is someone I so WANT to like just based on his size and demeanor but I am left wanting more a lot. MS-1 Hiroshi Hase Dynamite Kansai Criminally low ranking for Kansi here Dick Togo Takyama Steve Austin Sinobu Kandori CM Punk Also has looked good in early IWA-MS. Black Terry Dump Matsummoto Daisuke Ikeda Tajiri Super Dragon Toshiyo Yamada Larry Zbyszko Ricky Fuyuki Yoshihisa Yamamoto Tracy Smothers Tracy loves some offensive angles but he brings the goods inside the ring. Lex Luger Certainly off my list due to the Hansen omission. Hulk Hogan Feels like a good #100 choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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