Reactions to the List: 100-51

[The Man in Blak]

Chicana was the biggest reach on my list in terms of footage seen at #29, but he was such a revelation. His brawling and fire are on another level, but he was very capable as a more technical champion working the mat against guys like Ringo Mendoza as well. It's awesome that he made it to the Top 100 but, as more footage becomes available, he could end up looking out of place at this point in the Top 100 by virtue of being too low.

[DR Ackermann]

Chicana is the first guy from my top 20 to go. I believe he was somewhere in the 11 to 15 range. Incredible brawler and seller. If we had more footage from the 80s he might be a top 10 guy.

[GOTNW]

I'm surprised by how many top 20/30 votes Ikeda got, explains how he made it. I'm honestly more interested in the breakdowns if Grimmas is willing to do them, would be super interesting to see how results vary depending on how many styles people considered.

[DR Ackermann]

Ikeda was my gateway into Battlarts and the rest of those guys. He clicked with me immediately in a way that Ishikawa and Otsuka didn't. That said, I have Ishikawa higher. Ikeda did seem to coast a bit in NOAH, but he is still great when he pops up today.

[Timbo Slice]

There are a lot of guys in the top 150 or so that are highly ranked because if you really liked him, you placed him HIGH. Ikeda, Ishikawa, Chicana, and the guy who will probably have the highest ranking of those guys, Buddy Rose. They're all guys that rank extremely high if you're a fan of their work.

[Childs]

Interesting that Nakamura finished below Tanahashi. I figured he'd do better given that he's beloved by modern New Japan fanboys and well regarded by a lot of the more frequent posters here. Fine spot for him though.

[Cap]

Chicana and Nakamura are two of my personal favorites. They stand out among their peers to me and I tend to find a lot more enjoyment in their matches and love what they do to make a match great, ergo I am a lot higher on their matches and them as overall wrestlers as others I think.

 

I too am a little surprised by Nakamura is below tanahashi, but I am not surprised he is here. I noticed a general backlash against the flood of love for him coming out of his 2015 performances as people really started to take a close look beyond the high points. Seems like a reasonable spot overall.

[Timbo Slice]

Nak and Parka finishing close makes sense to me.

[Graham Crackers]

Sad to see Ikeda drop at 100 but what're you gonna do? I had him at 24. I'm way sadder about Sano missing out on the top 100, I had him at 31 and just assumed he would make it.

 

I am happy that Virus made it. He's probably my favorite active wrestler of the last several years. My number 35.

 

Sangre Chicana man. My number 28. A rare creature but when spotted looks like the greatest brawler of all time.

 

La Parka was my favorite wrestler when I was nine or ten. He replaced Foley and Vader before him. I know that WCW hadn't used him much but his costume, the comedy, and swinging a chair was enough to captivate my younger self. When I started looking up wrestling stuff online he was one of the first guys I looked up. Turns out he was a legit great brawler. I had him at 72.

 

Kerry didn't make my list but I think he is in the top tier of 80s US babyfaces. I think his placement is totally appropriate though any higher would have been a bit much.

[Matt D]

I have 1-2 more that I might be the high vote on in my top 10. I know I'm not on Andre but that's not due to lack of trying.

[Grimmas]

The saddest result of this whole project is that Tanahashi is going to be higher than Nakamura.

[Childs]

I'm actually fine with Tanahashi making the top 100, though I didn't vote for him. He found himself as a worker before Nakamura did, and he's sort of the Japanese Cena in the sense that he's made it work as his country's No. 1 main eventer despite an uninspiring skill set.

[Jetlag]

Nakamura is someone I'd put in the same tier as Hogan or Undertaker. Quite a character with some highs and lows and never really convinced me he was GREAT, but people watch his stuff. Well actually I'd be interested if his early "Phenom" stuff got people to vote for him.

[Danish Dynamite]

Hmmm... Nakamura at 94... I had him at 98... And still I feel he should've gone higher... Maybe this is now my biggest regret. Since turning in my ballot I've seen a handful Nakamura matches more, and he keeps impressing me. Absolutely one of the best new guys and I feel like I want to move him higher with every match I see.

[El-P]

Battlarts is the one japanese indy that I never got into simply because I had other priorities in buying tapes.

Nakamura was my #29. He's not my highest post 00's vote though. But yeah, I watched a few of his big matches over the past years, just incredible in this setting. Week to week, no idea, but he's the best big time wrestler today.

 

I didn't vote for the Destroyer this time around. Haven't rewatched anything, in 2006 it was exactly when I was getting into some of his most famous stuff.

[pol]

I feel like Nakamura is a guy you can justify ranking very highly if you're only looking at his best stuff. If you look at his whole career... perhaps not so much. Even during his (ongoing) peak, he's inconsistent.

[soup23]

Little surprised Nak didn't get a top 10 vote in the sense that if you do put up New Japan Vintage in the echelon with other revered time frames in wrestling history like All Japan 1990's, Nakamura is one of the cornerstones of that enormous boom.

[pol]

Enormous? I don't know if I'd go that far...

[JKWebb]

Love Nakamura... He made my list and glad to see him here in the top 100... Was lucky enough to see him in Dallas... Loved every minute of it

[Soko]

LA Park and El Dandy are the two guys I've really come to enjoy watching since discovering this site, having seen virtually no Lucha until the last few months, so it's pretty cool to see Park make the top 100. If I were to make a list, he's definitely a guy I could see making it comfortably once I've seen more of his stuff.

[Timbo Slice]

Dandy is gonna place relatively high because there are people VERY high on him. The Lucha footage explosion probably helped him more than damn near anyone.

[JRGoldman]

The saddest result of this whole project is that Tanahashi is going to be higher than Nakamura.

 

I like Nakamura more, but I can easily see the rationale in putting Tanahashi ahead of him if you've liked that company and style for a significant period of time.

[Grimmas]

 

The saddest result of this whole project is that Tanahashi is going to be higher than Nakamura.

 

I like Nakamura more, but I can easily see the rationale in putting Tanahashi ahead of him if you've liked that company and style for a significant period of time.

 

I can see why, I just don't personally think Tanahashi is great.

[Timbo Slice]

Tanahashi having a sustained period of highs (in his supporters eyes) as opposed to Nakamura having ups and downs does better in a majority. That being said, if you're a Tanahashi fan and think his best stuff is better than Nak's best, I would take pause.

[jaedmc]

The most impressive aspect to Nakamura is that around 2007 I didn't give a shit about that guy and didn't look forward to watching him at all and now he's in my Top 5 guys in the world. It's a massive turnaround.

 

I ranked Tanahashi higher because he got it much quicker and has sustained that quality for much longer. 10 years from now it's probable that their rankings will flip though.

 

Both guys suffer from having a lot of filler matches where it feels like they're coasting. Neither are as impressive in tags, which I also consider a form of storytelling the most elite wrestlers should be able to tell pretty well.