Matt D Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The sun has set on the British Empire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I enjoy learning new things every day. Yesterday it was Bull Nakano is a gaijin. Today it is Japanese Shoot Style doesn't have roots in MMA discipline's. Breaks was a top 15 guy for me and still feel like I haven't scratched surface on him as I've mainly gone through OJ recommendations in last two years after first watching him post-Dean write up's in 2005 for the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I'm cool with Breaks finishing where he did because it's the best he was going to do. WoS was the least watched area of viewing for this project besides Golden Era stuff. I'm already kicking myself over not watching more WoS because for whatever reason, I really enjoy it. Breaks was the only guy that ranked for me from WoS. Saint was close and I wanted to give a lot of guys closer looks and just never had time. Breaks is just perfect. I got lost in his matches, especially his series with Saint. I binged him pretty early on and felt a hole once I was done with his YouTube playlist. Amazing worker. So good at what he did. Happy with where he finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danish Dynamite Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I enjoy learning new things every day. Yesterday it was Bull Nakano is a gaijin. Today it is Japanese Shoot Style doesn't have roots in MMA discipline's. Breaks was a top 15 guy for me and still feel like I haven't scratched surface on him as I've mainly gone through OJ recommendations in last two years after first watching him post-Dean write up's in 2005 for the first time. We live and learn On Jim Breaks: He's another one I need to thank the board and the podcasts for. I'd seen a fair amount of his work over the years, but never really focused on him in particular for any length of time. He's still climbing steadily up my list the deeper I look into his stuff. Maybe he's someone that will do even better next time? I could see his stock rising over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The sun has set on the British Empire. Billy hasn't dropped yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I enjoy learning new things every day. Yesterday it was Bull Nakano is a gaijin. Today it is Japanese Shoot Style doesn't have roots in MMA discipline's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The sun has set on the British Empire. Billy hasn't dropped yet. Nor Regal but they aren't the pure (or majority) Joint Promotions guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danish Dynamite Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 "I loved his work as Mr. Perfect which some are down on in a modern context. But seeing his AWA work was a revelation. Just an awesome wrestler." Dave Musgrave Agree with Dave on that statement :-) I'll gladly go against the stream and say I also loved his Mr. Perfect work. And AWA and Portland only made me enjoy the guy more. I had him a fair bit higher than his final placement, but I notice three bits of perfection about his stats and placement: 1: Way to go, Lisa Lewis! A #1 one vote for the perfect one. I was waaaay down at #31, but for a while I thought Curt would be the one where I was most likely to be a high voter. I now know I really wasn't even close to being that :-) 2: Curt Hennig appeared on excactly 100 ballots. Only a perfect guy could do that. (I'll look stupid when it turns out Shawn Michaels is also on 100 ballots excactly...) 3: His average ranking was 55.05... And he ends up as #55... That is absolutely perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Hennig is one of those guys like Martell and DiBiase who seem to be getting free passes on years and years of mediocrity in WWF. Even if you love,love,love their other stuff, those are big stretches where nothing notable in ring happens. And I know people think the style was limiting but how does that explain other guys like Savage, Bossman and fucking Warrior having more standout performances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Alright, Lisa Lewis, front and center to explain the #1 vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKWebb Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 "I loved his work as Mr. Perfect which some are down on in a modern context. But seeing his AWA work was a revelation. Just an awesome wrestler." Dave Musgrave Agree with Dave on that statement :-) I'll gladly go against the stream and say I also loved his Mr. Perfect work. And AWA and Portland only made me enjoy the guy more. I had him a fair bit higher than his final placement, but I notice three bits of perfection about his stats and placement: 1: Way to go, Lisa Lewis! A #1 one vote for the perfect one. I was waaaay down at #31, but for a while I thought Curt would be the one where I was most likely to be a high voter. I know I really wasn't even close to being that :-) 2: Curt Hennig appeared on excactly 100 ballots. Only a perfect guy could do that. (I'll look stupid when it turns out Shawn Michaels is also on 100 ballots excactly...) 3: His average ranking was 55.05... And he ends up as #55... That is absolutely perfect! This was great, and I agree with all that was said. He's a personal favorite (especially from the AWA and Portland as mentioned). That combined with the love I had for the perfect one as a kid made him an easy addition to my list. His matches with Bock and the one noted with Hansen are my favorites. I still love the chemistry he and Bret had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Hennig is one of those guys like Martell and DiBiase who seem to be getting free passes on years and years of mediocrity in WWF. Even if you love,love,love their other stuff, those are big stretches where nothing notable in ring happens. And I know people think the style was limiting but how does that explain other guys like Savage, Bossman and fucking Warrior having more standout performances? Is it telling that none of these guys made my list at all? The one WWF guy who I ended up loving even more after watching loads of his stuff for this project is Greg Valentine. Mostly everybody else just got kinda grinded into dullness. By the way, Valentine finishing ahead of all these guys is really gonna irk some people. I know your average smart fan doesn't care at all for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danish Dynamite Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Hennig is one of those guys like Martell and DiBiase who seem to be getting free passes on years and years of mediocrity in WWF. Even if you love,love,love their other stuff, those are big stretches where nothing notable in ring happens. And I know people think the style was limiting but how does that explain other guys like Savage, Bossman and fucking Warrior having more standout performances? I have all those three (Hennig, Martel and DiBiase) between #25-31 (Hennig lowest). They all had storylines, character work and matches in WWF I really liked, and I love, love, love their other stuff I have one of the other three you mention higher (take a wild guess which one...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlittlekitten Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Gosh darn, was hoping Breaks might crack the top 40. First of my top 15 to go. Didn't rate Curt. AWA main events just don't do it for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I mean I liked (not loved) Curt in the AWA and Portland and I ranked his match with Hansen #1 on the AWA DVDVR set but I feel like he's really over rated here. Even in his early career I felt like his matches were much more likely to be "pretty good" than great. And his WWF and WCW runs offer very little to add to his case. Maybe it's just me because even after the AWA set I felt like I didn't like him nearly as much as everyone else who was talking about how great he was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I never got around to seeing Jim Breaks. I had him on my watch list for the project and I just ran out of time. Definitely a regret now. I had Hennig on my list at 57. Glad to see him place well. Despite his bumping being over the top I always enjoyed watching it. When I think about the IC title holders he is always one of the first guys I think of. Loved his AWA champion run as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Hennig is one of those guys like Martell and DiBiase who seem to be getting free passes on years and years of mediocrity in WWF. Even if you love,love,love their other stuff, those are big stretches where nothing notable in ring happens. And I know people think the style was limiting but how does that explain other guys like Savage, Bossman and fucking Warrior having more standout performances? He does not get a free pass for that at all. He was a very good to great wrestler for six years before he ever got to WWF, and that's why he made the list for a lot of us. It's a stretch to say Warrior had more good WWF performances than him, but no question Henning in WWF was a disappointment, much like Dibiase in WWF. If they were both great there, they'd both be top 20-30 guys. Martel too, though his career is less defined by his WWF gimmick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunning_grover Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I had Bull Nakano at #10. I wonder if I'm overrating 1990s joshi stuff or if it's simply "out of fashion" to like 1990s joshi. A bit of both, I guess. I almost was the high vote on her, but Bill Thompson apparently ranked her at #9. I had Owen Hart at #39. I almost wanted to rank him higher, but I reminded myself this is not a favourite wrestlers list... so I couldn't justify ranking him over the 38 wrestlers I ranked higher. I'm happy his mid to late 1990s heel run in WWF is also appreciated by others here. 8 more days to go... 55 wrestlers that are in my top 100 have appeared in the final results so far... 45 wrestlers of my top 100 haven't appeared in the final results yet... (that means 9 of the 54 wrestlers still to come are not on my list) ... #8 Masa Fuchi [#111] (high vote: #8) #9 Sangre Chicana [#95] (high vote: #9) #10 Bull Nakano [#61] ... #12 Dick Togo [#71] (high vote: #12) ... #14 Chigusa Nagayo [#110] #15 Fuerza Guerrera [#155] (high vote: #15) #16 Giant Baba [#63] ... #18 Manami Toyota [#89] ... #24 Dynamite Kid [#78] ... #27 L.A. Park [#96] #28 Mr. Gannosuke [#277] (high vote: #28) ... #31 Mayumi Ozaki [#133] ... #36 Jaguar Yokota [#114] ... #39 Owen Hart [#58] ... #41 La Fiera [#164] ... #48 El Samurai [#212] (high vote: #48) #49 Kyoko Inoue [#217] ... #51 Sgt. Slaughter [#64] ... #53 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi [#148] #54 Atlantis [#74] #55 Great Sasuke [#116] ... #57 Yumi Ikeshita [#384] ... #59 Brian Pillman [#72] #60 TAKA Michinoku [#180] ... #62 Shinobu Kandori [#146] #63 Shinjiro Ohtani [#65] #64 Steve Williams [#82] #65 Dynamite Kansai [#125] #66 Dan Kroffat [#254] ... #69 Perro Aguayo [#140] #70 Tito Santana [#80] #71 Bison Kimura [#420] #72 Devil Masami [#135] #73 Cuty Suzuki [#385] #74 Kerry Von Erich [#98] #75 Dennis Condrey [#199] #76 Pirata Morgan [#117] #77 Super Astro [#283] #78 Leo Burke [#296] #79 Jinsei Shinzaki [#400] #80 Hulk Hogan [#75] ... #82 Masato Tanaka [#175] #83 Javier Cruz [#502] (high vote/only vote: #83) ... #85 Psicosis [#183] ... #88 Marty Jannetty [#272] #89 Espectrito [#370] #90 Masa Saito [#160] #91 Sabu [#149] #92 Scott Steiner [#162] #93 Jacques Rougeau [#339] ... #95 Atsushi Onita [#89] #96 Carlos Colon [#103] #97 Roddy Piper [#83] #98 Stan Lane [#260] #99 Big Boss Man [#171] #100 Ron Starr [#403] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Surprised Dundee only got 87 votes. Can't imagine anyone not voting for him if they have seen enough of his work. A perfect example of a small guy who really knew how to work and get the most out his abilities. Yea but he never wrestled in Japan. This is close to true, but not exactly. I found one tour for him from when I was working on my fantbook a few months ago, which was the W*ING Junior Heavy title tournament in June '92. He worked Ted Petty (as the Cheetah Kid), Ariel Romero (as Gran Sheik), Katsunari Toi, Chaz Taylor, and Jimmy del Ray (as Jimmy Backlund) twice including the final which Dundee lost. Half of that tournament field is dead, of course. W*ING as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 (edited) Double post. Edited April 22, 2016 by Bierschwale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 71. Dick Togo Great little run from Dick Togo. I haven't really dived into the stuff that was pimped by Dylan, Segunda Caida and WKO during his traveling years, and I don't wanna That 90s Guy who talks about how his Michinoku Pro stuff still holds up (though it really does), so instead I'll simply say that since the fall of the Japanese wrestling system he's been one of the pioneers in taking his talent on the road and using his wrestling skill as a passport to see the world. Japan is a really small island (or group of islands, I should say) that happens to have a heck of a lot of people on it. But even in a city the size of Tokyo, the pro-wrestling world is really only a scene and boils down to the handful of neighbourhoods where it's concentrated. There are so many people who never ever leave Japan and so much talk within Japan about the need to be "global" that for Togo to embark on the wrestling world tour that he did is, I think, the best thing about him. Other guys have done it too like Taijiri and now Ishikawa up in Canada and it's a great alternative to the choice most wrestlers face in the current Japanese wrestling climate where you either open some bar or tiny restaurant or bust your ass trying to produce wrestling shows and hold some tiny promotion together. And from a fan's perspective it adds to the worker's resume and gives it a depth and variety that wouldn't be possible if they only stayed in that small Japanese scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 By the way, Valentine finishing ahead of all these guys is really gonna irk some people. I know your average smart fan doesn't care at all for him. He should have won Best Interview for 2015 just from when he heeled on Charlotte and said that women would never draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Jimmy Breaks is my first Top 10 guy to drop, and I will never forgive you 90-odd assholes who didn't vote for him for keeping him out of the top 50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeF Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I had Valentine in my top 20. I guess compared to where he finished the last time, this is a great showing for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I had Valentine at 45 so I just had it reversed from where he ended up landing. I love Valentine's style. I had the pleasure of seeing Valentine vs Tito at a house show back in 85 and I can still here the forearms they were giving each other bent over the top rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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