2026 Ideas

[concrete1992]

I have literally been reading GWE posts for the past 6 months as it is informative and fun. I know a ton of people got burned out by GWE 2016 but it created one of the best wrestling-related criticism resources. Between the actual list to the wrestler discussions to the broader topics. It makes me genuinely sad to think that whatever the next iteration might be could possibly not have that. I'm fairly certain it will, so not too worried but of all the things that I felt may have been given undue importance last time, having a documented history of these discussions is something that I think is worth preserving and continuing.

[Grimmas]

Okay, we may need some clarification.

There will be a central hub that will document the process. The bulk of the work will be done.

However, some people may not feel welcomed or like that particular type of hub, so there will be other hubs for watching and discussing. All hubs are optional, it's about how you feel comfortable and feel engaged in the project.

If people want everything on the central hub then make it as engaging and welcoming as possible.

[dkookypunk43]

Discord does archive everything and makes everything searchable but it would make it a lot harder than say a forum to have individual threads for each nominated wrestler

[Grimmas]

Discord will be used for watch parties, if you want voice conversations, that is all.

[dkookypunk43]

Good

[Jmare007]

I think a 2026 GWE project will be a good test if my burnout is temporal or I'm just kind past this sort of thing. I'm looking forward to make a case for Daisuke Sekimoto and Strong Big Japan, even just to get more people to actually watch the fun stuff they continue to deliver.

I'm really happy this is being thought as a project that will use every tool technology gives us to make it easier and encourage people to discuss and hopefully open their minds regarding wrestling.

Completely agree on footage being the main (sole?) criteria. Everything else just makes it too complex for people to actually want to participate.

Very curious if people take it as seriously as the 2016 vote and if we get some fans going full Parv with their main candidates

[Tetsujin]

GWE 2016 was what made me get outside of my WWE-current NJPW-90s AJPW bubble, so I would be very happy if it comes back by 2026.

Ringwork based on footage should be the main criteria, yes (however, if for example you have a tie between, let's say, Randy Savage and Bret Hart, and you can't find something to break that tie, I wouldn't be mad if you use promos to finally choose between them, because both are US wrestlers and specially big WWE workers; it's not the same as putting, idk, Funk above of Kobashi based on Terry's mic work). I'm also happy with the "have to participate in the process to make a list" rule, even if it means people like myself (very busy because of work and not a fluent english speaker) not being able to participate as much as I want to and therefore not being able to present a top 100.

The "book club" with YouTube stuff mentioned by Eliott, Grimmas and others sounds like a wonderful idea too, as it could be something that makes the project easier to follow for not-as-involved people (I'm not a podcast guy personally, no disrespect to anyone, I participated in a kinda famous spanish wrestling podcast a few years ago, but I need some visual reinforcement of what I'm trying to pay attention to, and not just hearing people talking. But that's just me, though).

I would add that the discussion phase have to start sooner, iirc 2016's started two years before, that seems like not a lot of time considering how much wrestling is there to cover and argue about. If 2021 is gonna be the year of debating and preparing everything, 2022 can be the start of the discussion process, why should we wait more?

Also, with the "crowd reaction not meaning that much because already stablished big stars will always have crowd support whatever they do in the actual match", I definitely see that, but then we come to the reasoning of: "wait, maybe it's the other way around, maybe it was their ringwork what made them huge stars to begin with and that gave them fired up crowds as a garantee once they were stablished". I can think of examples of both cases (Hogan and Bryan).

And I believe that if the project is called "greatest wrestler EVER", that has to imply the hability of trascending time. You can totally argue Hogan is a top 100 wrestler ever considering how is ringwork worked back then, fine, but did it aged well? Context is very important, but, in the end, the people making the list are doing it in 2021-26. I think balance between context and hability to trascend time is the key when searching the best wrestlers ever.

[TannerT]

Figured I would log on to give some thoughts, never been super active on PWO, but I have been super active on Twitter for over a decade now and I voted in the 2016 poll, so maybe I can give a little bit of the perspective of someone looking in.

 

- I do think "the process" should start much sooner, if people are to vote in 2026, I would say starting some preliminary stuff next year would be great (using this year to plan, lay the ground rules,etc.)

- You will have to allow people that do not actively engage with PWO 24/7 to submit ballots or just make it a PWO thing only. Twitter is the new forums and not allowing part of the discussion to flow to things such as Twitter, Discord, Slack, etc will make it less likely for a 2036 one to even happen.

- I think trying to engage with everything will cause some *extreme* burn out for some, if not most, people will make cases and it is easier than ever to get them in front of the eyes or in to the ears of people, but you do not have to engage! For instance, I am not going to engage in a Ric Flair thread or listen to a 6 hour podcast on Flair's case (granted, done by the right people would be highly entertaining) because I know where I stand on Flair.

- Please no tag team poll, do not give in to peer pressure, no tag team poll.

- People should not take this near as serious as an overall group voting thing, PWO is not the Academy, while taking your personal list as serious as you want, it would be for the best to know that you are not going to be happy with every result!

 

I think those are my biggest points, again just my suggestions, I fall in and out of love with wrestling all the time, but I will submit a ballot for this in some form in 2026.

[Grimmas]

12 hours ago, TannerT said:

Figured I would log on to give some thoughts, never been super active on PWO, but I have been super active on Twitter for over a decade now and I voted in the 2016 poll, so maybe I can give a little bit of the perspective of someone looking in.

 

- I do think "the process" should start much sooner, if people are to vote in 2026, I would say starting some preliminary stuff next year would be great (using this year to plan, lay the ground rules,etc.)

- You will have to allow people that do not actively engage with PWO 24/7 to submit ballots or just make it a PWO thing only. Twitter is the new forums and not allowing part of the discussion to flow to things such as Twitter, Discord, Slack, etc will make it less likely for a 2036 one to even happen.

- I think trying to engage with everything will cause some *extreme* burn out for some, if not most, people will make cases and it is easier than ever to get them in front of the eyes or in to the ears of people, but you do not have to engage! For instance, I am not going to engage in a Ric Flair thread or listen to a 6 hour podcast on Flair's case (granted, done by the right people would be highly entertaining) because I know where I stand on Flair.

- Please no tag team poll, do not give in to peer pressure, no tag team poll.

- People should not take this near as serious as an overall group voting thing, PWO is not the Academy, while taking your personal list as serious as you want, it would be for the best to know that you are not going to be happy with every result!

 

I think those are my biggest points, again just my suggestions, I fall in and out of love with wrestling all the time, but I will submit a ballot for this in some form in 2026.

I appreciate the comments Tanner and am very on board with you.

Is a slack worth it, would be my question?

[dkookypunk43]

15 hours ago, TannerT said:

Figured I would log on to give some thoughts, never been super active on PWO, but I have been super active on Twitter for over a decade now and I voted in the 2016 poll, so maybe I can give a little bit of the perspective of someone looking in.

 

- I do think "the process" should start much sooner, if people are to vote in 2026, I would say starting some preliminary stuff next year would be great (using this year to plan, lay the ground rules,etc.)

- You will have to allow people that do not actively engage with PWO 24/7 to submit ballots or just make it a PWO thing only. Twitter is the new forums and not allowing part of the discussion to flow to things such as Twitter, Discord, Slack, etc will make it less likely for a 2036 one to even happen.

- I think trying to engage with everything will cause some *extreme* burn out for some, if not most, people will make cases and it is easier than ever to get them in front of the eyes or in to the ears of people, but you do not have to engage! For instance, I am not going to engage in a Ric Flair thread or listen to a 6 hour podcast on Flair's case (granted, done by the right people would be highly entertaining) because I know where I stand on Flair.

- Please no tag team poll, do not give in to peer pressure, no tag team poll.

- People should not take this near as serious as an overall group voting thing, PWO is not the Academy, while taking your personal list as serious as you want, it would be for the best to know that you are not going to be happy with every result!

 

I think those are my biggest points, again just my suggestions, I fall in and out of love with wrestling all the time, but I will submit a ballot for this in some form in 2026.

I very much appreciate Tanner's perspective on this. I view it a little differently because I'm more active on say Twitter and Discord than PWO but I'm laying the ground work now by re-evaluating my list and seeing where they're trending with everyone in 2016 and with my own head. I'm just excited that I'm actually having the chance to take this a little more seriously than I did in 2016

[TannerT]

10 hours ago, Grimmas said:

I appreciate the comments Tanner and am very on board with you.

Is a slack worth it, would be my question?

I don't think a centralized Slack will work, but I have to figure that the GWE 2021 Slack and a few other wrestling slacks will probably have their own debates and have tastes change within those specific sub groups, and there is just no way for anyone to keep up with *everything* being said about *everyone* is all. 

[Matt D]

59 minutes ago, TannerT said:

I don't think a centralized Slack will work, but I have to figure that the GWE 2021 Slack and a few other wrestling slacks will probably have their own debates and have tastes change within those specific sub groups, and there is just no way for anyone to keep up with *everything* being said about *everyone* is all. 

Have you heard about Steven’s zine?

[TannerT]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

Have you heard about Steven’s zine?

Steven's zine has to happen

[Grimmas]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

Have you heard about Steven’s zine?

 

11 minutes ago, TannerT said:

Steven's zine has to happen

I could do a zine, but it will have a secret mission of pushing joshi candidates and getting Jaguar/Hokuto/Nakano 1/2/3 on the overall list, so be careful what you ask for.

[Matt D]

1 minute ago, Grimmas said:

 

I could do a zine, but it will have a secret mission of pushing joshi candidates and getting Jaguar/Hokuto/Nakano 1/2/3 on the overall list, so be careful what you ask for.

I'm going to watch a bunch of Kandori at least?

[Grimmas]

2 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I'm going to watch a bunch of Kandori at least?

bare minimum! Jaguar, Devil, Hokuto, Bull, Kong, Meiko, all should be high on people's lists.

[Alex]

11 hours ago, Grimmas said:

 

I could do a zine, but it will have a secret mission of pushing joshi candidates and getting Jaguar/Hokuto/Nakano 1/2/3 on the overall list, so be careful what you ask for.

I fully support this.

[concrete1992]

Frankly, not having a bi-monthly zine makes the entire endeavor feel pointless. I need it.

[Grimmas]

We can do this, but I need guest writers for articles. If people want to commit.

[funkdoc]

Seconding no tag-team poll, that just ended up being a boomer vote since everyone else got so burned out on the main ballot

Also reminder that the guy who watched the most matches for 2016 ended up being the high vote on...the Ultimate Warrior.  If he felt no shame, neither should you!

[El-P]

4 hours ago, funkdoc said:

Also reminder that the guy who watched the most matches for 2016 ended up being the high vote on...the Ultimate Warrior.  If he felt no shame, neither should you!

If there was ever an argument that watching a lot doesn't mean anything ! 

[El Dragon]

On 3/4/2021 at 9:28 PM, Grimmas said:

bare minimum! Jaguar, Devil, Hokuto, Bull, Kong, Meiko, all should be high on people's lists.

The Joshi watching Mondays have been a real treat. Except for Toyota. 

[Grimmas]

33 minutes ago, El Dragon said:

The Joshi watching Mondays have been a real treat. Except for Toyota. 

If anyone wants to vote Omega and they are not voting Toyota, I question them.

[NintendoLogic]

1 hour ago, Grimmas said:

If anyone wants to vote Omega and they are not voting Toyota, I question them.

Maybe they have sensitive ears and can't handle all the screaming.

[Grimmas]

10 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

Maybe they have sensitive ears and can't handle all the screaming.

Poor babies