2026 Nomination Thread

[fred]

Sareee

 

I'm still learning about joshi, but Sareee is one person that has popped off the screen whenever I've seen her. She's an intense, physical worker who can match the strengths of her opponent and is in so much demand that she can main event Marigold & Stardom in 2025 while also running her own promotion, Sareee-ISM. She is good enough that I think she warrants consideration despite losing nearly three years of her young career to COVID & WWE mismanagement.

 

Recommend matches

 

vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, 6/8/19

vs. Meiko Satomura, 4/16/19

vs. Nanae Takahashi, 12/13/24

w/ Natuspoi vs. AZM & Takumi Iroha, 7/29/24

[El McKell]

Noriyo Tateno

I didn't want to be the one to do this because I probably won't vote for her, but at this stage it's absurd that she doesn't have a thread. The Jumping Bomb angels are really great, they often kill it in their home promotion, they look 20 years ahead of their time in WWF. And it's not obvious watching them team that Tateno is in any way behind Yamazaki.

Jumping Bomb Angels vs Crush Gals 1987-09-14
Dawn Marie , Donna Christianello, Glamour Girls & Sensational Sherri vs. Jumping Bomg Angels, Rockin' Robin, The Fabulous Moolah & Velvet McIntyre 1987-11-26
vs Chigusa Nagayo 1988-07-19

[darren]

Sakie Hasegawa

One of the most reliable mid-card highlights of early-mid 90s AJW.

A pretty short career, her standout work is between 1992 & 1996, but delivered consistently energetic and just all round fun performances in this period.

Lacks volume of standout singles matches but her works was almost always good, often very good.

Also an incredible dazed expression seller.

Recommend matches

Sakie Hasegawa & Debbie Malenko vs Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue 1992/02/25

Sakie Hasegawa vs Hikari Fukuoka 1993/04/11

Sakie Hasegawa vs Toshiyo Yamada 1994/04/04

Sakie Hasegawa & Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue 1995/01/04

[Microstatistics]

Miu Watanabe

Seems like one of the best Joshi workers of the decade. Her initial presentation is quite jarring but rather deceptive as it gives way to an intense wrestler who works focused matches. The power wrestling is her calling card I suppose but she is solid on the mat, psychologically sound, and sells consistently. Potentially the best wrestler of 2025 in terms of big matches as well.

vs. Shoko Nakajima (TJPW, 8/17/2025)

vs. Mizuki (TJPW, 9/20/2025)

vs. Yuki Aino (TJPW, 10/18/2025)

[Jom]

Jack Evans

Somehow one of the dumbest wrestlers of the 2000s indie scene, while also being one of the smartest. Incredibly physically capable in a way nobody else could match at the time, and totally willing to die for the business with some of the nastiest bumps and falls of all time. At the same time, he avoided catching the bug every other 2000s guy had that made them try to do stuff they weren't good at. He's fantastic in his team with Roddy, as a fan favorite in AAA, and even as a shit-talking heel in Lucha Underground. Blows my mind that he hasn't made it onto the list already.

w/ Roderick Strong vs. Briscoe Brothers (ROH, 03/25/2006)

vs. Necro Butcher (ROH, 12/30/2007)

vs. Extreme Tiger (AAA, 05/18/2009)

[Jom]

Ryuma Go

Go had a strong start to his career as a talented junior, peaking in the late 70s with his fantastic series of matches with Fujinami. Go's best work came ten years later, after he kinda sorta lost his mind and became the Pro Wrestling Idiot. Go's a charisma monster from the late 80s onwards, putting on some of the most spirited matches of the early indies boom and being one of the main reasons the scene blew up in the way it did. I guess the "Ryuma Go vs. Space Monsters" matches of the later years may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those that can enjoy it, it's real great stuff.

vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW, 10/02/1979)

vs. Masashi Aoyagi (Pioneer Senshi, 04/05/1990)

w/ Kenji Takano vs. Imagine & Mr. Pogo (Samurai Project, 04/17/1996)

[Jom]

Wotan

A demon in human skin. No wrestler has inspired more terror in the last 15 years than Wotan. Of the currently active lucha brawlers, he's been far and away the best for a while now, building a resume of broken bodies and spirits. The Black Terry match is pretty infamous at this point, but his best work in my eyes has always come from his matches against Hijo de Fishman, full of bludgeoning and reckless throwing that looks more like a bar fight at some points. Any time Wotan wrestles one of his brothers it's equally vicious. He's one of the only wrestlers in the last few years where I've actively looked out for everything he's been doing.

vs. Impulso (WMC, 02/11/2017)

w/ El Hijo de Mascara Sagrada vs. El Hijo de Fishman / Mr. Condor (Lucha Strong, 02/15/2020)

vs. Demus (Zona 23, 03/26/2023)

[Jom]

Umanosuke Ueda

Historically speaking, Ueda is a vital part of Japanese wrestling history as the first major native heel. Sadly, the heavy focus on that fact has sometimes led to his actual in-ring work being overlooked, which I think is a damn shame. Ueda is great!! He's very much of the 70s heel mold, with a high propensity for chokes and nerve holds, but he's also a wonderful brawler and one of the greatest escalators in wrestling history. You can pull up basically any IWE tag involving Ueda, at some point he always gets mad enough that he breaks a bottle over someone's head or stabs them in the face with a turnbuckle. He also gets major points for his return run in the early 90s, where he took part in a few of the most violent matches ever, especially his "Anything Goes Anywhere" match with Ishinriki. Ueda not only created the Japanese heel, he set the bar for it sky high.

w/ Jos LeDuc vs. Mighty Inoue & Rusher Kimura (IWE, 09/09/1979)

vs. Terry Funk (AJPW, 08/02/1983)

vs. Koji Ishinriki (NOW, 12/11/1992)

[Jom]

Kim Hyun Hwan

Taekwondo is an awesome martial art to bring into pro wrestling. Kim Hyun Hwan was the shining star of the TKD invasion of FMW in early 1990, edging out over dojo head Lee Gak Soo through sheer coolness. Hwan flew around the ring with crazy spinning flying boots to the face, all while making the Bruce Lee "hwaa" noises and flexing. It's as goofy and stupid as it is awesome, putting in night after night of great different style fights. And that's really all that needs to be said. He was certainly one-dimensional, but I think it'd be more appropriate to say he was easily understood. You knew what you were getting with Kim Hyun Hwan every time he stepped in the ring, and that was kick-ass taekwondo action.

w/ Lee Gak Soo vs. Atsushi Onita & Sambo Asako (FMW, 03/10/1990)

vs. Sambo Asako (FMW, 04/01/1990)

vs. Yukihide Ueno (FMW, 12/02/1990)

[Jom]

Shuji Kondo

The closest thing to a video game pro wrestler we've ever gotten, but I mean that in a good way. Maybe the only scenario in which a man could be built like an action figure and hit shooting star presses and still come off as one of the best wrestlers in the world. Stellar as a base for smaller juniors while doing a damn good job as a junior himself when placed against larger opponents, although he almost always relied on his freakish power. His early Toryumon and Dragon Gate runs are wonderful, and his exit from that world leads him to being maybe the best part of the 2000s AJPW junior division, hovering around that spot with Kaz Hayashi and Ryuji Hijikata. Simply put, one of the best juniors of 21st century Japan.

vs. Dragon Kid (Toryumon, 07/04/2004)

w/ Kinya Oyanagi vs. KAGETORA & Kota Ibushi (El Dorado, 02/27/2008)

vs. Kaz Hayashi (AJPW, 08/30/2009)

[Jom]

Mr. Condor

Somewhat of a victim of the same sort of issue Bock has, in that we have almost nothing from the first 20 years of his career. What we have is generally great (including a fun apuestas with a teenage Rey Misterio Jr), but it does lead one to wonder just how much those years would have an effect on his placement. Still, we have a good bit of Romano Garcia's work from this current century, and it is something to behold. He's like if Black Terry always woke up on the wrong side of the bed. His chops are the hardest in the world, and whenever the rare wrestler is able to withstand those he's not afraid to punch them in the face. He still hasn't slowed down in the last few years either, getting into grandpa spats with Black Terry and finding opportunities to bust out some of his cool llave capabilities against guys like Xelhua. Another one for the list of old dudes that continue to impress far more than their younger counterparts.

w/El Gallego & Angel Mortal vs. Chiva Rayada I, El Chamagol, & Nino de Oro (AAA, 12/12/2003)

vs. Wotan (Gymnasio Hercules, 09/28/2019)

vs. Black Terry (Zona 23, 12/05/2021)

[Jom]

Kazuo Sakurada

Kendo Nagasaki, Dragon Master, whatever you want to call him. Sakurada is most well-known for being one of the two guys that trained Bret Hart, but he's a complete bruiser in the ring and works every match like he's trying to convince a rookie to give up on the business and move back home to pick up a day job. His WCW work is pretty fun, especially whenever he's teaming with Buzz Sawyer in J-Tex, and the little bits of Sakurada we have before then are cool, but he truly comes into his own when he returns to Japan in 1990 with my pick for the greatest match ever, the FMW Texas Street Fight. He then spends the next 10 years traveling around the country, picking fights with every name worth a damn on the indies, all while starting up his own promotions NOW and BJW. BJW gives him the platform to finally be a valiant veteran babyface, defending his own rookies against evil invaders, while also letting him do bizarre piranha deathmatches and other awesome shit like that. Sakurada deserves a lot more than being just a footnote in Bret Hart's career.

w/ Masanobu Kurisu vs. Tarzan Goto & Atsushi Onita (FMW, 04/01/1990)

vs. Hiromichi Fuyuki (WAR, 11/29/1994)

w/ Bruiser Okamoto vs. Tarzan Goto & Mr. Gannosuke (BJW, 07/25/1995)

[Grimmas]

UPDATED!!!

Note: You have till March 5th to get in any nominees. Voting will between April 5th and May 5th.

[Grimmas]

To clarify.

If they got a vote in 2016 they are nominated. If they have a thread and there is a comment since 2016, then they are nominated. 

If a thread exists for someone and there are no comments and they received no votes in 2016, then they are not nominated yet.

[El McKell]

So that means all the people in the list below are in the Index of Nominees but are not actually nominated. 
 

Adnan Al-Kaissie

Akira Nogami

Alex Wright

Baron Scicluna

Bobby Bass

Bull Pain

Candy Okutsu

Chic Cullen

Damien Wayne

Derrick King

Doug Somers

Gary Young

George Wells

Hido

Huracan Castillo Jr.

Jado

Jonny Storm

Kotaro Suzuki

Rampage Brown

Ranger Ross

Ricky Santana

Stan Stasiak

Takashi Ishikawa

Tiger Dalibar Singh/Gil Singh

Todd Morton

Togi Makabe

Tommaso Ciampa

Toru Tanaka

Waldo von Erich

If you are such a fan of 2000s NOAH that you wanna vote for Kotaro Suzuki or such a fan of NXT melodrama faces that you wanna vote for Tommaso Ciampa, or such a fan of the 2007 Yuji Nagata match with all the blood that you wanna vote for Togi Makabe OR any of the jabronis in that list. Post In Their Threads! If you're a lurker who can't post in their threads but you are in the discord, then say something about them in there and I'll put in in their threads. 

[Grimmas]

Thanks, that update is helpful!

[NotJayTabb]

Chad Gable

The weird passing of time makes me still think of him as a newcomer, but he's been having great matches for a decade now, he's definitely someone who merits consideration. A great tag team wrestler with a number of partners (American Alpha, Alpha Academy, the parings with Shelton and Bobby Roode), someone who can play goofy heel, intense heel, underdog babyface and work a good match in all those circumstances. The Shorty G run was crap, but Gable was still putting in some good work, he's got quite the catalogue of good matches at this point

Matches:

American Alpha vs The Revival (NXT Takeover Dallas 2016)

vs Jack Gallagher (205 Live July 2019)

vs Gunther (WWE Raw 4/9/2023)

[Jetlag]

Masakazu Fukuda

Incredibly talented guy whose career was unfortunately cut very short by his tragic passing. That said, Fukuda was quite great pretty much from the get go, and he stood out in a big way with his gangly physique and unique style. I would say he kinda wrestled like Tamon Honda before Tamon Honda wrestled like Tamon Honda, just a unique grappler with a knack for cool submissions and nifty suplexes, and not afraid to scrap hard. Apparently his background was sumo and he was even in the RINGS dojo for a bit. Lots of little gem performance from him working WYF, MUGA or NJPW, with the WYF vs Buko Dojo feud being an obvious standout as well as pushing Liger to the limit or having a mat classic with Osamu Nishimura. Really wish I could find footage of his sole appearance in Germany which sounds fantastic too.

Recommendations:

vs Osamu Nishimura, NJPW/MUGA 5/15/1998

w KAMIKAZE vs Yoshikazu Taru & Takashi Okamura, WYF 4/29/1997

vs Kazuhiko Shoda, NJPW7MUGA 12/8/1998

Super Taira

Big fan of Taira who is a really cool stylish indy wrestler that blends shootstyle with lucharesu. Footage of him is hard to come by but pretty much whenever he shows up he's a highlight with his unique approach and not afraid to go insanely hard even in obscure settings like KAGEKI or JWA Tokai. Since he became a regular Sportiva appearance he's looked consistently great while also showing up for free on the internet. I'm also really fond of his match series with Yasushi Sato. He's been around all the way since 1992, and he's definitely someone to look out for because from what I can tell he's always great.

Recommended matches:

vs Yasushi Sato, JWA Tokai 6/18/2017

vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024

w Cosmo Soldier vs Koji Niizumi & Kitai Kubo, KAGEKI 2/27/2011

Konaka

Incredibly unique wrestler who is both a mat genius but also a worshipper of old school match psychology and an immediate standout with his ghoulish appearance and eccentric style. It says enough that he came from the amateur-scene but became one of the most outstanding and most booked wrestlers on the japanese indy scene. Totally capable wrestler who always makes things interesting just by being who he is, and he's in a number of great matches both going at it with technical wrestling masters but also carrying lesser wrestlers. He does his comedy side personas and there's also the fact we don't have many of greatest matches due to Ustream blowing up (I am still praying for a copy of his ironman match with Yasushi Sato to show up somehow). Still Konaka is one of those guys who make me immensely happy to be a wrestling fan.

Recommended matches:

vs Sae, Sportiva 5/11/2022

vs Taro Yamada, Sportiva 7/5/2015

vs Yasushi Sato, Sportiva 7/21/2018

Chon Shiryu

Great, great wrestler as he's basically the Bobby Eaton of the Japanese indy scene all while working an insane gimmick. It's honestly crazy how good he is as I've seen him do multiple styles and roles, from sympathetic Rey Mysterio-like underdog face with unique spots, to working as a sleazy rudo, to hitting the mat in a lengthy grappling clinic, to garbage brawling, to working a psycho bumpfest in a sportsbar. And he does all that while being himself, and all that for well over 20 years now, and the man doesn't seem to slow down. Throw him in the ring with someone half-trained on a tiny show in a basement somewhere and he'll still give you a memorable match. If that's not the sign of an amazing wrestler I don't know what is, but he does have his share of genuinely great matches too. I love his signature spots but the fact he has great substance really makes him great.

Recommended matches:

vs Masa Takanashi, Choco Pro 1/22/2022

vs Samas, Hot Shushu 5/6/2024

vs Kiku, Ice Ribbon 5/6/2023

Yoichi Shinmei / Yacchae Seven

The former ace of the JWA Tokai scene from 25 years ago recently came back in his old age. Very athletic guy who can still go hard. Clearly he's a worshipper of Mitsuharu Misawa with those hard elbows he likes to throw and sometimes downright imitating finishes from famous Misawa matches but I think the way he puts everything together is pretty unique and makes him standout on his own. Clearly a super gifted wrestler who can go like no tomorrow and strikes me as one of the better wrestlers in Japan during his prime.

Recommended Matches:

w Yuta Oya vs Ali Najima & Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 20/22/2025

vs Super Taira, Sportiva 3/6/2024

vs Konaka, Sportiva 6/5/2024

Kazuki Niimura/Grappler ASUKA/ASKA

Somewhat legendary obscure figure from the Japanese 'amateur-pro wrestling' scene. As far as I can tell a super talented shoot stylist who was consistently a big highlight in that scene with his unrelenting submissions and brutal strikes with a few outstanding matches under his belt. His wider career is a bit of a mystery as he have almost nothing from him in other places like JWA Kansai or even Osaka Pro, though I'd love for more of that stuff to be uncovered somehow.

Recommended Matches:

vs Tadanobu Fujisawa, K-WEST 2/18/2010

w Fumitake Nakano vs Buffalo Sakata & Yoshiyuki Watanabe, JWA Tokai 8/29/1993

vs Takaku Fuke, JWA Tokai 1/18/2009

 

 

[Wrestlingfan0808]

Cody Rhodes 

One of the most important wrestlers in the last decade. From his role in helping AEW be the alternate promotion, to the role he played in WWE’s boom period when he made his return to the company. Cody also did something that was non existent at times, helped bring back the white meat babyface in mainstream wrestling again. While he can be a bit too company guy at times, more times than not he’s just being himself. Does a great job combining old school and modern day elements into his presentation and how he approaches wrestling, has shown to be very adaptable with who he wrestles, throws a great working punch, underrated brawler, and does a great job of displaying what pro wrestling is all about to the core, even while being super ambitious at times depending on the context of the match he’s working. He does a great job of crafting different matches to specific opponents while factoring in heel/face dynamics and changing approach and structures depending on these elements by actually focusing on the goal of each match within a story. Details matter.

Recommended matches in no order

Any of his tag matches involving his brother from 2013-2014. The Battleground tag is the one that’s received a lot of praised over the years and rightfully so, but they also have a bunch of sick tag matches on raw, smackdown, some other ppvs, and even on main event.

Vs Roman Reigns, Wrestlemania 39 and 40

Vs Aj Styles Backalsh 2024, Clash at the Castle 2024

Vs Seth Rollins Hell in a Cell 2022, Wrestlemania 38, and Wrestlemania Backlash

Vs Brodie Lee Dog Collar match, AEW Dynamite (sick squash match/angle)

Vs Kevin Owens Royal Rumble 2025, Bash in Berlin 2024

Vs Eddie Kingston AEW Dynamite 2020

Vs Solo Sikoa Smackdown 2024 (September 13)

Vs Darby Allin Full gear 2020, AEW homecoming 2020, AEW Fyter Fest 2019. Their series of matches is extremely underrated in AEW lore

Vs Gunther Crown Jewel 2024

Vs Chad Gable Smackdown 2024

Vs Chris Jericho Full Gear 2019

Vs Shane Strickland DEFY1 Legacy 2017

Vs Kurt Angle Steel Cage Match NEW Wrestlefest XXI

Vs Wardlow AEW Dynamite 2020

Vs Kyle O’Reilly DEFY4 Gigantic 2017

Vs Dustin AEW DON 2019

Vs Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2023, Night of Champions 2023, Backlash 2023

Vs Lance Archer AEW DON 2020

Vs Jay Lethal ROH Supercard Of Honor XI

Vs John Cena Summerslam 2025

Vs Rey Mysterio Wrestlemania 27, Extreme Rules 2011 

Vs Christian No Way Out 2012

Vs Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling 2018

Vs Nick Aldis NWA 70th Anniversary Show

Vs the Golden Lovers ROH/NJPW Honor Rising: Japan 2018

Vs Sammy Guevara AEW Dynamite Beach Break 2022

Vs Logan Paul (yeah I know) WWE Queen And King Of The Ring 2024

with Hangman vs the Golden Lovers NJPW Sakura Genesis 2018

with Dusty Rhodes and Goldust vs Curt Hawkins and The Dudebusters 

Vs Will Ospreay ROH/NJPW War Of The Worlds 2017

Vs Drew McIntyre RAW 2024, Smackdown 2026

There’s a bunch more stuff from his Indy run, his short time in TNA, New Japan, AEW, and even WWE but I have already said too much. I’m aware he’s been nominated already but I wanted to add more matches to highlight what he’s done. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Wrestlingfan0808
Just wanted to add to what was already said by adding in a bit more details

[highflyflow]

19 minutes ago, Wrestlingfan0808 said:

 

Cody Rhodes 

One of the most important wrestlers in the last decade. From his role in helping AEW be the alternate promotion, to the role he played in WWE’s boom period when he made his return to the company. Cody also did something that was non existent at times, helped bring back the white meat babyface in mainstream wrestling again. While he can be a bit too company guy at times, more times than not he’s just being himself. Does a great job combining old school and modern day elements into his presentation and how he approaches wrestling, has shown to be very adaptable with who he wrestles, throws a great working punch, and does a great job of displaying what pro wrestling is all about to the core, even while being super ambitious at times depending on the context of the match he’s working 

Recommended matches 

any of his tag matches involving his brother from 2013-2014

Vs Roman Reigns, Wrestlemania 39 and 40

Vs Aj Styles Backalsh 2024, Clash at the Castle 2024

Vs Seth Rollins Hell in a Cell 2022, Wrestlemania 38, and Wrestlemania Backlash

Vs Brodie Lee Dog Collar match 

Vs Kevin Owens Royal Rumble 2025, Bash in Berlin 2024

Vs Eddie Kingston AEW Dynamite 2020

Vs Solo Sikoa Smackdown 2024

Vs Darby Allin (Full gear 2020 and AEW homecoming specifically, but their series of matches is extremely underrated in AEW lore)

Vs Gunther Crown Jewel 2024

Vs Chad Gable Smackdown 2024

Vs Chris Jericho Full Gear 2019

Vs Shane Strickland DEFY1 Legacy 2017

Vs Kurt Angle Steel Cage Match 2017

Vs Wardlow Steel Cage Match 2020

Vs Kyle O’Reilly DEFY4 Gigantic 2017

Vs Dustin AEW DON 2019

Vs Brock Lesnar Summerslam 2023

Vs Lance Archer AEW DON 2020

Vs Jay Lethal ROH Supercard Of Honor XI

Vs John Cena Summerslam 2025

Vs Rey Mysterio Wrestlemania 27

Vs Christian No Way Out 2012

Vs Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi

+ a bunch of more goodies but I have already said a lot already. 

Already nominated. https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/56217-cody-rhodes/

[Wrestlingfan0808]

7 hours ago, highflyflow said:

Already nominated. https://forums.prowrestlingonly.com/topic/56217-cody-rhodes/

Yeah I just saw that. But I wanted to add more matches for ppl to be aware of for more context of his work 

[Grimmas]

1 hour ago, Wrestlingfan0808 said:

Yeah I just saw that. But I wanted to add more matches for ppl to be aware of for more context of his work 

Comment in the thread for Cody