Grimmas Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 The next Maybe Not Taue will be me doing my top 25 list for 2021. The year is almost over, who do you have as the greatest wrestler of 2021? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Just based on what I've watched so far it's Syuri and Utami ahead of everyone. However, I will do a huge amount of watching to really find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 11 minutes ago, Grimmas said: Just based on what I've watched so far it's Syuri and Utami ahead of everyone. You haven't watched any AEW nor NJPW then. But yeah, both these two are great and contenders, Utami especially. And if she keeps at the same pace and level for the next 4 years, there's no way Utami is not rated quite high on the GWE 2026. My answer to 2021 was in the dedicated thread, and it's Omega. Takagi and Utami absolutely belong at worst in the top 5 though. Syuri not that far behind, but there has been a *ton* of awesome pro-wrestling this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 6 minutes ago, El-P said: You haven't watched any AEW nor NJPW then. But yeah, both these two are great and contenders, Utami especially. And if she keeps at the same pace and level for the next 4 years, there's no way Utami is not rated quite high on the GWE 2026. My answer to 2021 was in the dedicated thread, and it's Omega. Takagi and Utami absolutely belong at worst in the top 5 though. Syuri not that far behind, but there has been a *ton* of awesome pro-wrestling this year. No NJPW watched, but a bunch of AEW. No way to Omega, he bores the shit out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Well, you asked the question. I give you my answer. He's got a shot at GOAT for me and this year was a pretty big one for consolidating his case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 3 minutes ago, El-P said: Well, you asked the question. I give you my answer. He's got a shot at GOAT for me and this year was a pretty big one for consolidating his case. Oh for sure, I see a lot of people will have him high. Any NJPW people to watch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 13 minutes ago, Grimmas said: Oh for sure, I see a lot of people will have him high. Any NJPW people to watch? Sadly I don't keep a list of great matches I've watched (I tried until about April, then got lazy). But basically go for Shingo Takagi and Hiroshi Tanahashi's big matches over the year and you'll pretty much get the best out of NJPW apart from the G1, which as always had its share of Ishii and Okada greatness too, and had a *killer* Zach Sabre Jr. string of matches too. Oh, and speaking about Okada, his series vs Jeff Cobb series was pretty much one of the best of the year too. Never go close to an EVIL match, ever. If someone with more detail in term of dates can chime in. But out of the top of my head that's what I remember really enjoying this year, Takagi being crazy awesome and saving the day and Tanahashi just cementing the fact he's a GOAT contender, making the most out of his broken body and having killer matches on the fly (like when he was thrown into that Dome show main event from nowhere this Spring). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 3 minutes ago, El-P said: Sadly I don't keep a list of great matches I've watched (I tried until about April, then got lazy). But basically go for Shingo Takagi and Hiroshi Tanahashi's big matches over the year and you'll pretty much get the best out of NJPW apart from the G1, which as always had its share of Ishii and Okada greatness too, and had a *killer* Zach Sabre Jr. string of matches too. Oh, and speaking about Okada, his series vs Jeff Cobb series was pretty much one of the best of the year too. Never go close to an EVIL match, ever. If someone with more detail in term of dates can chime in. But out of the top of my head that's what I remember really enjoying this year, Takagi being crazy awesome and saving the day and Tanahashi just cementing the fact he's a GOAT contender, making the most out of his broken body and having killer matches on the fly (like when he was thrown into that Dome show main event from nowhere this Spring). thanks. I'll add these folks at my list to sample. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsujin Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 Now that the year is over, I can 100% sure say that Bryan Danielson is my WOTY. Shingo, Reigns, Tanahashi and Rollins (maybe Desperado as well) all came close, but what Dragon accomplished both in his last WWE run and in his absolute banger of current AEW run is just something else. He excels at every situation and environment you throw at him, wheter you put him at the main event of WrestleMania in a triple threat match, or a short tv match with Evil Uno. And, boy, this "cocky-to-asshole living legend" gimmick he's been developing lately is the cherry on top. The GOAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 Up until very recently I would have said Shingo 100%. Consistently had the highest peaks of any NJPW wrestler and for a good chunk of the year, pretty much any wrestler. But then Bryan went to AEW and had 4 MOTYC's over the course of 4 months. I keep thinking his time off after WWE should hurt his case, but I find it harder and harder to make that argument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmartMark15 Posted January 20, 2022 Report Share Posted January 20, 2022 It's Danielson and I don't think any of the real popular candidates really come even close to the case that he built up through the year even with the time off that he took. I could certainly see some arguments for Akiyama, Garcia, maybe even Roman Reigns. I thought Shingo had a much better 2020 than he did 2021. Having the IWGP Title meant he had to drag out his matches to suit the needs of Bushiroad booking when it was being much more direct and concise that made him so enjoyable last year. As for Omega, he really didn't do anything at all this year that I thought was great, with the sole exception being when he wrestled the WOTY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnviousStupid Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 I watched as much of Jonathan Gresham from last year that's readily available online and feel confident calling him the WOTY. Like Danielson, he has plenty of great matches and performances while not having worked anywhere near as often as other wrestlers in contention (# of total matches is <50). Gresham was also tasked with being the Pure champion for most of the year, acting as the face of both the Pure Rules division and its match type. What we got were consistently impressive showings against a great variety of wrestlers. Sometimes it was against a reliably good opponent in Jay Lethal or Fred Yehi. Most of the time it was against far lesser talent: either unproven prospects like Joe Keys & Dak Draper, or the likes of Mike Bennett & Rhett Titus who have rarely impressed for most of their careers. I don't consider any of these wrestlers to be very similar stylistically, and they were all led by Gresham to either great matches, or one of their best in a long time. We also saw how creative he could be in both utilizing the Pure Rules stipulation and common wrestling tropes into viable finishes across these matches, something that he still maintains going into 2022. He also showed to be quite capable outside of a singles setting. Ever since returning through the pandemic, Jonathan Gresham was positioned as the ideological leader of the Foundation, who sought to return honor and prestige to Ring of Honor. 2021 saw the stable clash with the likes of La Faccion Ingobernables and Violence Unlimited, often leading to tags and multi-man matches where Gresham was, more often than not, a standout. Whether it was through teaming with Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, Rhett Titus or a combination of the three, they were always a noteworthy part of ROH throughout the year and absolutely add to his case. Gresham's body of work extends beyond just Ring of Honor though. If you were following the indies closely last year, you probably realized that Gresham had turned into one of the most elite talents all year. It's harder to encapsulate it all in paragraphs, so I'll list off a dozen or so bullet points to hopefully show just how much he was able to do: Had Davey Richards' return match after 4 years away from wrestling. Had one of the better matches with Minoru Suzuki during his US excursion. An excellent rematch against Lee Moriarty in PWG (he also had matches against Alex Shelley & Daniel Garcia that have yet to be released). My personal favourite independent MOTY in a sequel to his ROH Pure title match with Mike Bennett. Wrestled in Lucha Memes against two very different luchadores in Aramis and a 64-year old Negro Navarro. Gave the likes of Starboy Charlie, Myron Reed and Alex Zayne some of the best matches in their careers thus far, the latter also having his biggest victory over Gresham. Worked in NJPW Strong against two Young Lions, pulling out compelling matches that maintain the general restrictions around what they're allowed to do. Started defending the ROH World Title in other promotions, whether they were well-known or only a blimp on the radar, no matter how short-notice it was. Worked a different finish into the vast majority of his matches all year, regardless of opponent or promotion - something that I suspect influenced Bryan Danielson when he started working in AEW. All in all, I don't really think anyone else comes close. I wouldn't called it an all-timer of a year like Flair '89 or Joe '05. Maybe the highs don't quite match up against some of the more popular picks. But to me, he was standing head and shoulders above the rest, proving himself to consistently be one of, if not the best wrestler in the world. P.S. If anyone's interested, here's a personal list of my favourite matches and wrestlers from last year. Spoiler Match of the Year: #25. Daniel Garcia vs. JD Drake (Limitless Wrestling, 28.08.2021) #24. Andrade El Idolo vs. PAC (AEW Rampage #12, 16.10.2021) #23. Takuya Nomura vs. Yasufumi Nakanoue (BJW, 23.07.2021) #22. Jonathan Gresham vs. Lee Moriarty (PWG Mystery Vortex 7, 01.08.2021) #21. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Mio Momono (Sendai Girls SENJO Chronicle, 11.07.2021) #20. Daniel Garcia vs. Wheeler YUTA (IWTV 100, 08.08.2021) #19. Bandido vs. Rush (ROH Best in the World, 11.07.2021) #18. Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko (Stardom All Star Dream Cinderella, 03.03.2021) #17. Big E vs. Drew McIntyre vs. John Morrison vs. Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet vs. Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Money In The Bank 2021, 18.07.2021) #16. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns (WWE Smackdown, 30.04.2021) #15. Eddie Kingston vs. Miro (AEW All Out, 05.09.2021) #14. Jonathan Gresham vs. Mike Bennett (CWFA #4, 02.09.2021) #13. ASUKA, Mio Momono, Natsupoi & Syuri vs. Death Yama-san, Hazuki, Kagetsu & Konami (Hana Kimura Memorial Produce Matane, 23.05.2021) #12. Maki Ito vs. Rika Tatsumi (TJPW Still Incomplete, 17.04.2021) #11. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Konosuke Takeshita & MAO (DDT Effort, Friendship And Victory In Nagoya 2021, 23.02.2021) #10. Tommaso Ciampa vs. WALTER (WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver - Day 1, 07.04.2021) #9. HARASHIMA vs. Jun Akiyama (Cyberfight Festival, 06.06.2021) #8. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega (AEW Dynamite #103 - Grand Slam, 22.09.2021) #7. Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako & Mika Iwata vs. Mei Hoshizuki, Mio Momono & Rin Kadokura (GAEAism Decade Of Quarter Century, 13.06.2021) #6. Dak Draper vs. Jonathan Gresham (ROH 19th Anniversary Show, 26.03.2021) #5. Darby Allin vs. Miro (AEW Dynamite #84, 12.05.2021) #4. Daniel Bryan vs. Edge vs. Roman Reigns (WWE Wrestlemania 37 - Day 2, 11.04.2021) #3. Jun Akiyama vs. Kazusada Higuchi (DDT Judgement 2021, 28.03.2021) #2. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston (AEW Full Gear 2021, 13.11.2021) #1. A-Kid vs. Jordan Devlin (WWE NXT UK #156, 05.08.2021) sorry Spoiler Wrestler of the Year: #25. Miro #24. Natsupoi #23. Roman Reigns #22. AZM #21. Kevin Ku #20. Wheeler YUTA #19. Konosuke Takeshita #18. Starlight Kid #17. Chihiro Hashimoto #16. Shingo Takagi #15. Syuri #14. Maki Ito #13. Yuji Okabayashi #12. HARASHIMA #11. Momo Watanabe #10. Eddie Kingston #9. Darby Allin #8. Yuki Ueno #7. Mio Momono #6. Jun Akiyama #5. Kazusada Higuchi #4. Daniel Garcia #3. Takuya Nomura #2. Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson #1. Jonathan Gresham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 Awesome stuff! I wish I had the time to keep up on Gresham like you do. I'll reference this post when I start tackling his '21 work for certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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