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)