Reactions to the Honorable Mention List, Part 2

[JerryvonKramer]

 

Is MikeF who voted for Ole at 32 PeteF's brother?

My brother is a gay hipster artiste who lives in New York, isn't named Mike, and would sooner slit his own throat than watch anything sports- or wrestling-related. This is not to say that he's NOT, I'm just saying it's unlikely, is all.

 

So he is called Mike? lol

[Stiva]

Has Mando submitted his ballot the wrong way around?

[PeteF3]

 

Scarlet Left, please show your work on Asuka at #7.

She has been the best joshi worker of the last decade... but yeah my best joshi worker ever is only top 15.

 

 

I like Asuka but being the best joshi worker of the last decade is like people talking up Dave Concepcion as a Baseball HOFer because he was the best shortstop of the '70s. It's not been a peak period for joshi and the '70s wasn't a peak period for shortstops--that distinction isn't as impressive as it sounds.

[Mando]

Has Mando submitted his ballot the wrong way around?

All hail King Booker.

[KB8]

Koko and Chavo Sr. were both on my ballot. I'm actually a little surprised Chavo never made it a little higher, honestly. Koko picking up a top 20 vote is just the greatest thing ever. I had him somewhere around sixty and figured I might have an outside shot at being the high vote. Boy was I dead fucking wrong.

[Childs]

One thing I want to do coming out of this project is watch more Kana and recent Satomura. I popped in their 2010 match a few weeks ago and found it exceptional.

 

Mando's Booker T pick shows he can overrate a mainstream guy as readily as an indie guy. So give the man credit; he can't be pigeonholed.

[Jimmy Redman]

I feel like between her NXT stuff, and me finding the time to delve into her joshi work, if we did this poll like 12 months from now I would be crazy high on Asuka.

Not necessarily #7 though.

[KrisZ]

I'm still shocked that I only have 1 guy off my list so far and it was my 100th guy

[JerryvonKramer]

Reminder: I did NOT vote for Mil Mascaras in the end.

[Cap]

I think Snuka was a fair few levels above Golberg or Warrior. He was a pretty good bumper in his prime, and has surprisingly great performances in Japan as well as in the signiture WWF run in 82-3.

That is probably true. I haven't really sought out a lot and haven't seen anything from his signature run in years. I am pulling from a real hodgepodge of his work when I think of him, so I probably need to give him a more thorough look.

[Eegah]

That quote by a Jarrett voter is now my favorite thing in the reveal so far.

[Matt D]

I didn't have Wagner, Jr. but he's still better than Mascaras.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

I feel like we need a podcast where somebody takes an hour to shit all over various picks. Not in a mean or dickish way, but in a "hey, we're all friends here and I respect your opinion but goddammit why did you rate Jeff Jarrett so high and cite his late-era face work as the reason for fuck's sake?" kinda way.

[MoS]

I love Kana/Asuka; pretty sure I have watched her entire pre-nxt career, and I am surprised that a) someone had her at No. 7 and she is ultimately ending below Sasha, whom I did not vote for. I had Asuka at No. 80, I think. Unless Sasha's name has come up already, and like a total goof, I have missed it.

[Eegah]

Jarrett gets a +1 for still being such a carnie at this late in the game.

[Scarlet-Left]

Scarlet Left, please show your work on Asuka at #7.

Okay, so there are a few separate tracks on my list, along with the standard criteria.

 

So, often times, the ordering is arbitrary to within five places or so, whenever I fail to conclude a worker-for-worker comparison. The prime example being Steve Keirn and Io Shirai. They could trade places on my list and I'd be just as happy/unhappy about it.

 

Fundamentally, however, Kana's high place on my ballot reflects the fact that I think she's cool, I get excited to watch her matches and that her character appeals to me. I'm a mark; I want her to win, and I feel satisfied when she does and bummed out when she doesn't.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=winntq3n6cA

 

Watching her evolve into her character on NXT has, also, done wonders for her case; she stands out from her peers to an even greater extent now.

 

Also, the fact that she has to avoid promos, means that she deserves extra credit for getting her character over with the audience and drawing people into her matches, based on body language and facial expression alone.

 

I watch wrestling for the story. So, at the absolute least, a worker must have ability and character. Kana's ability is unmatched by her peers and her character is compelling (which is all the more impressive considering that her most recent opponent has one of the brightest characters on the show).

 

With all that said, I can see the benefit of compiling a list on the basis of objectivity and restraint. And, I'm sure, once the results have come out, there'll be some kind of King James Version of the list; which takes account only of ballots submitted by the more trusted board members.

[JerryvonKramer]

This ranking of Batista has me thinking HHH made the top 100. I did fear that 152 voters would translate into an over-representation of 00s WWE.

 

I quite like Batista by the way, but I see that placement as being kind of emblematic. I am expecting a Top 100 placement for Hunter now.

[goc]

I regret not putting Batista on my list, he was a last minute cut but I like him a lot.

[Dylan Waco]

Where is Dory? I'm actually surprised he's still not fallen.

150 ballots is likely to help those like Brody, Dory, TM, et.

[Cap]

That JJ quote... beautiful.

[Woof]

This ranking of Batista has me thinking HHH made the top 100. I did fear that 152 voters would translate into an over-representation of 00s WWE.

 

I quite like Batista by the way, but I see that placement as being kind of emblematic. I am expecting a Top 100 placement for Hunter now.

 

That's in interesting remark considering 00s WWE is generally shit upon by the majority of people on this board. I went into this thinking most of those workers would be under-represented.

 

*shrug*

[Eegah]

Sasha Banks being that high is crazy but I guess at least she didnt make the top 100. I definitely like her but the sample size is entirely too small.

[stomperspc]

I didn't have Wagner, Jr. but he's still better than Mascaras.

 

I disagree. Mascaras' best stuff from Japan blows away Wagner's Japan work. Wagner does have the better Mexico work but we also don't have a ton of Mascaras in Mexico, relatively speaking. I've enjoyed most of Mascaras' stuff from NWA Classics (nothing has been great, but nothing terrible either). Mascaras was very smooth in the ring when he wanted to be. The stuff that often gets pointed to as a sign of his selfishness (taking over right away after brief offense from his opponent, making an opponent really fight out of a hold, ect.) tends to be beneficial to his matches as often as it is detrimental. He was very adept at working interesting sequences around relatively basic holds and escapes. Wagner Jr. was far too New Japan junior-ish for my tastes considering he was a luchador. His best matches are ones like that the March 2002 Shocker match and the 2013 Parka blood bath. None of those come close to Mascaras' best stuff with Jumbo and The Destroyer in my opinion.

 

I did not have either wrestler on my list. Both wrestlers are heavily flawed and spent large portions of their careers coasting. Mascaras' highs were much higher than Wanger's to me. I am pretty sure on an expanded list I'd have him well ahead of Wagner.

[Jimmy Redman]

Twenty two.

Holy fucking shit.

[JerryvonKramer]

 

Where is Dory? I'm actually surprised he's still not fallen.

150 ballots is likely to help those like Brody, Dory, TM, et.

 

This is a good point.

 

We've still not seen Brody, have we.