GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[NotJayTabb]

Going to wear my "The Barbarian high voter" badge with pride.

Unless I've missed him, Hallowicked hasn't dropped yet, so he's either got a lot of little votes, or someone has voted him pretty highly. Either way, that's awesome 

[Stephen-]

Jim Brunzell off the board already is unfortunate. I didn’t vote for him, heck only two of us did, but he would have been in a 250 and probably a 200 of mine. Was a great all rounder babyface in the High Flyers, often doing the heavy lifting to cover for the much lesser Greg Gagne. High Flyers vs Bock and Stevens eternally great.

[highflyflow]

4 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Javier Cruz' drop off from #120 in 2006 is huge. I think we were watching a lot of 1990 EMLL at the time and he played a prominent role that year.

Good worker for sure, probably not top 100 but much higher than his ranking would suggest 

[HeadCheese]

Suprised my only High Vote is Rene Ben Chemoul, I think. Really Suprised I'm not the Andreza Giant Panda high vote.

[Boss Rock]

I didn't vote for him, but the Fabulous Ones were a fun discovery for me a few years ago so it's a bit of a shame Keirn finished so low.

[Garbage]

I assumed Brunzell and especially Keirn would have finished higher too, maybe the territories guys are even more hurt than I thought. Glad Tony Anthony, SUWA, Akira Nogami and Todd Morton got some votes. Someone needs to find a source for that XCW indy that Morton was wrestling in in the late 2000s that the Segunda Caida guys were talking up at the time. 

I've heard a decent bit about Ray Gonzales this past year (well, relative to every other year of my life) and the curiosity bug has hit me.

[El-P]

So, some people actually voted for Joey Ryan, Alberto del Rio and Micheal Elgin. In 2026.

*cough* X ex-Twitter *cough*

[KB8]

12 hours ago, club said:

A top-tier shithouse.

Nominated him, then didn't vote for him. Glad someone else did.

I went to school with a Kincaid and he was a wee prick as well so maybe I should just watch all the Johnny Kincaid. 

 

Some pretty surprising names dropping now!

 

Spoiler

#821

Haruka Eigen

I think the only Eigen I've seen is comedy match Eigen, which to be fair is usually a pretty fun time. Do we have much peak Eigen worth checking out?

 

 

#820

Bobby Fulton

The Fulton/Rogers Fantastics are one of the best teams ever and Bobby Fulton is not Tommy Rogers but also pretty well holds up his end of things. There's some fun SMW-era Fulton with the new Fantastics against the Heavenly Bodies. I probably couldn't come up with 819 wrestlers I think are better than Bobby Fulton, but maybe 619. A different project, perhaps.

 

 

#819

Danny Spivey

A decently fun Hansen partner. There was one match where he flung a chair at Misawa and got killed. 

 

#817

Ray González

I genuinely don't know if I've seen a Ray Gonzalez match. I surely must've, but I can't say with confidence. 

#817

Joe Malenko

Feel good about calling him the second best Malenko. With more Boris footage he could be third. Cool pick (that's not sarcasm, btw). 

 

 

#816

Tessa Blanchard

Couldn't comment. Probably worth watching if she takes after her old man. 

 

#815

Sandokán

I should watch the Panama stuff. 

 

#814

Koichiro Kimura

Had several RINGS fights that weren't very good and one against Grom Zaza that went 26 minutes but felt like 56. Can only assume he got better. 

 

 

#813

Lance Archer

That Adam Page match was alright. 

 

 

#812

Yuzuki Aikawa

Not a clue.

 

 

#811

Dalibar Singh

First "I should watch the WoS guys" comment of this batch. 

 

#810

René Ben Chemoul

I've seen one Chemoul match but it was enough to convince me that I need to see a bunch more. 

 

 

#809

Dr. Adolf Kaiser

I've seen one Kaiser match and it was enough to convince me that this is a slam dunk pick. 

 

 

#808

Marcela

I do not know who this is. 

 

 

#807

Todd Morton

Great puncher so good pick. 

 

 

#806

Anton Tejero

Tejero is close to the top of the list of wrestlers I want to see every piece of footage we have available from them. 

 

 

#805

Dokonjonosuke Mishima

The Tamura match was tremendous. 

 

 

#803

Daisuke Nakamura

Can't say I know who this is, friends. 

 

#803

Daisuke Harada

Another Daisuke I'm not familiar with. 

 

 

#801

Kazuo Sakurada

Worth a vote for that wild street fight with Kurisu against Onita and Goto. 

#801

El Signo

I mean, Signo rules and I feel like I probably should've at least considered him now. 

 

 

#799

Gus Sonnenberg

I don't think I've seen any Sonnenberg. 

 

#799

Chris Brookes

I'm not sure who this is so I probably haven't seen any Chris Brookes either. 

 

 

#798

"Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz

Probably has more meat on a resume than you might think. 

 

 

#797

Wotan

Anybody who is happy to call a junkyard their home is worth considering. Probably. Doubt there are 796 wrestlers who have a better top 3 career matches than Wotan. 

 

 

#796

Rusev

Never been huge on him. Did a workout video on Sheamus' youtube channel that was pretty amusing. 

 

 

#795

TJ Perkins

I forgot TJ Perkins existed. It has been a minute. 

 

#794

Máscara Sagrada

The Pirata Morgan stuff rules. 

 

#791

Akira Nogami

Cool pick. Always good for some fired up comebacks against higher-positioned opponents. Had one tag on the 80s New Japan set that was amazing. 

 

#791

Tony St. Clair

I couldn't tell you the last time I watched him. 

#791

Javier Cruz

Fell off my list this time around but he was on there in 2016. An awesome wrestler. I still love the Estrada hair match from '89. 

 

#790

"Jumping" Jim Brunzell

Jumped - if you will - off the page going through the DVDVR AWA set and I considered him again this time, like I did in 2016. He fell off towards crunch time, as he did in 2016, but that dropkick is still a thing of beauty. Need to watch the Bockwinkel broadway at some point. 

 

 

#789

Roland Bock

The Inoki match is incredible, I'll give him that. 

 

#788

George South

Solid hand, they'd say. 

 

 

#787

Dominic Garrini

Another modern candidate I'm not very familiar with. 

 

 

#786

Dream Machine

Vote for all of the Memphis guys, I say.

 

#785

Marty Scurll

Don't think I've ever seen a Marty Scurll match. Probably won't bother.  

 

 

#784

Col. DeBeers

Wiskowski had a pretty fun career. Great tag run with Rose in Portland and the ladder match with Blackwell in the AWA is much better than you's expect a ladder match involving a morbidly obese man to be. OR, perhaps you'd EXPECT a ladder match involving a morbidly obese man to be good. I wouldn't call you crazy for that. But that's a separate discussion. DeBeers was good. 

 

 

#783

Ken The Box

I know who Ken The box is. 

 

 

#782

Vic Faulkner

There's a whole WORLD of World of Sport to be sifted through. One day...

 

#781

Dominic DeNucci

Yeah okay let's do it. 

 

[Ricky Jackson]

As someone who has presumably watched more WWWF undercard stuff than the majority of folks around here, I would personally never rank Scicluna ahead of DeNucci, but to each their own

[highflyflow]

Yoshiko Tamura fucking ruled, sad she's dropped already.

[El-P]

At least she ranked again, like in 2006. Sorta. (I probably voted for her back then too)

[Makai Club #1]

It's really cool to see that Jey, Jimmy and Rikishi all voted. That's awesome

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I really should have voted for Ken Joyce. Definitely the best of the WoS maestros. Not that it would have made much of a difference with the WoS guys dropping like flies. 

00s Joshi perennially overlooked. I guess it may be that way for all time. To be fair, the decade started promisingly but fell off pretty quickly. 

[donsem43]

45 minutes ago, KB8 said:

Yuzuki Aikawa

Not a clue.

These are really the only two matches that you need to watch:

vs. Ayumi Kurihara - May 15, 2011

 

vs. Nanae Takahashi - December 24, 2012

 

41 minutes ago, highflyflow said:

Yoshiko Tamura fucking ruled, sad she's dropped already.

I knew I forgot somebody... Well to try and make up for it, here a playlist of what Tamura matches are up on YouTube:

 

28 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

00s Joshi perennially overlooked. I guess it may be that way for all time.

The only place that talked about it from the mid-00's to the mid-10's was that weird joshi message board whose name I can't remember. They used to upload a lot of stuff to Veoh.

[El-P]

17 minutes ago, donsem43 said:

The only place that talked about it from the mid-00's to the mid-10's was that weird joshi message board whose name I can't remember. 

.... and now I'm trying to remember that joshi board I was part of in the early 00's. Not SpiderTwist, that was a general message board. Damnit. Funky something ? I don't remember. Being old...

Anyway. I blame Vanes Naldi getting into Korean movies.

[ohtani's jacket]

That reminds me of that fun primer comp that was made of early 00s Joshi. I can't remember the name of the guy who made it off the top of my head, but he was a cool dude. That and PUNQ match lists. Another guy who abandoned wrestling for movies, IIRC. 

[ohtani's jacket]

30 minutes ago, donsem43 said:

These are really the only two matches that you need to watch:

vs. Ayumi Kurihara - May 15, 2011

 

vs. Nanae Takahashi - December 24, 2012

 

I knew I forgot somebody... Well to try and make up for it, here a playlist of what Tamura matches are up on YouTube:

 

The only place that talked about it from the mid-00's to the mid-10's was that weird joshi message board whose name I can't remember. They used to upload a lot of stuff to Veoh.

Was it Joshifans?

[El-P]

Kanako Motoya and PUNQ dropped on the same thread. Wow. I liked both.

[KB8]

I remember reading PUNQ's reviews back in the mid-00s on DVDVR. He watched eeeeeeverything for a minute there. 

 

Spoiler

#780

SUWA

SUWA rules. A menace who wishes only to make everyone's day significantly worse. That KENTA match still holds up (how was that fucking 21 years ago???)

 

#779

"Super Medico" José Estrada Sr.

I've seen at least one Super Medico match and it was fun. So fair play. I'm glad Boricua is still repping the Puerto Rico boys. 

 

#778

ACH

I'm honestly not sure who this is. 

 

 

#777

Dean Allmark

I know who Dean Allmark is, but could not tell you a thing about him as a wrestler. 

 

 

#776

Mickie James

Yeah Mickie was pretty fun for a minute there. The Trish match from Wrestlemania is a hoot. Or it was whenever I last watched it. 

 

 

#775

Kevin Ku

No idea. 

 

 

#774

Judy Martin

Love this. 

 

 

#773

"Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony

Man the Dirty White Boy ruled. His team with Denton was so good and I actually watched a handful of their matches recently. He was having really good stuff as late as 1994 too. 

 

 

#772

Chico Che

Portly fella hitting portly topes against the bullies will always rule so clearly this is a good pick. 

 

 

#771

The Barbarian

I like the Barbarian. I'd consider the Barbarian as seriously as Ted DiBiase at this point. His clothesline off the middle rope against Tito Santana at Wrestlemania 6 has always stuck with me from the moment I first saw it as a kid, on video when I rented it from Global Video because I'm not quite old enough to have watched Wrestlemania 6 live, and I could not really tell you why. But there you go. 

 

 

#770

Jack Gallagher

The weird little sex pest guy with the mustache? I've maybe seen one match. Two, tops. 

 

 

#769

Gran Apache

Had some really fun bloody brawls back in the 00s against Billy Boy. 

 

 

#768

Marcus Alexander "Buff" Bagwell

Feels like a good spot for Buff. 

 

 

#767

Ryo Saito

I liked Saito well enough when I was trying to follow Dragon Gate back in like 2005. Nice dragon suplex. 

 

 

#765

"Skinner" Steve Keirn

I maybe should've voted for Keirn. The Fabs are one of my three favourite tag teams of all time and some of those Memphis brawls are as good as it gets. Went from handsome tag team member to slovenly gator-hunting boor with tobacco dripping down his chin better than any wrestler in history. Man Keirn should've been way higher. 

 

#765

Bobby Barnes

I spologise to the WoS voters. I'll do better next time. 

 

#764

Alex Wright

Probably not better than his da. 

 

 

#763

Chris Masters

Had that really fun midcard run in 2010 that I don't think anybody ever would've expected at the time. 

 

 

#761

Mike Jackson

Without question the best Young Buck. 

#761

Hiromitsu Kanehara

Perfectly solid UWFi guy. I should watch his Kingdom stuff at some point. 

 

#760

Pez Whatley

Cut Jimmy Valiant's hair. Had a nice kneelift.

 

#758

Yuiga

Couldn't tell you. 

 

#758

Guy Mercier

The match with the incomparable Inca Peruano was very fun. 

 

#757

Daisuke Sasaki

Actually seen a little bit but it's been a long time. He hit hard, if I remember correctly. 

 

 

#756

"Glamour Boy" Shane Sewell

This sounded like a guy who passed through WoS but it turns out he did nothing of the sort and I don't know who he is. Worked TNA. Possibly a megastar. 

 

 

#755

Javier Llanes

I wish we had some peak Llanes because the Dandy feud from '94 is sensational. 

 

 

#754

Mr. Condor

Getting beat to hell and back by Black Terry feels like a pretty good case in itself for being on this list so I'm fully aligned with Mr. Condor being the 754th best wrestler to have ever lived. 

 

#753

Rene Lasartesse

Don't think I've gotten to any of the Lasartesse footage yet. 

 

 

#752

Frankie Kazarian

Been around forever. A guy who has wrestled a significant amount of matches, maybe of which I've seen, zero of them I remember. 

 

 

#751

Freelance

Would always show up now and then and be spectacular. Some of the IWRG stuff was so good. 

 

 

#750

Brett Wayne Sawyer

Not quite Buzz but then who is? Brett was pretty damn good, though! I like this pick. 

 

 

#749

Michael Elgin

I don't think I've ever actually seen an Elgin match. 

 

 

#748

Ken Joyce

I've read more posts from OJ about Ken Joyce than I've seen Ken Joyce matches. 

 

 

#747

"Pretty Boy" Doug Somers

The Somers/Rose v Rockers feud really was tremendous. 

 

 

#746

Alexa Bliss

Yeah cool go for it.

 

#745

El Faraón

Another guy I wish we had more footage of and especially from their prime. 

 

 

#744

Bull Pain

Someone I haven't thought of it forever. 

 

 

#743

Sid Cooper

I can only apologise again to the WoS folks. 

 

 

#742

Jay Youngblood

Watched the Final Conflict recently enough where I'm like yeah absolutely Jay Youngblood deserves some votes. 

 

 

#741

Pat Roach

I've actually watched enough Roach where I feel pretty confident in him being awesome without having a proper handle on him. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

How did Judy Martin get nominated but Lelani Kai didn't? 

[Boss Rock]

Dang, Doug Somers already dropped too.

[KB8]

13 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

How did Judy Martin get nominated but Lelani Kai didn't? 

I'm guessing Judy's early 80s AJW run played a part. Without checking I'm not sure there's substantially more early 80s Martin in AJW than there is of Leilani Kai from whenever she was over there, but the match with Sherri against Hagiwara and Omori is pretty great and maybe gave her that bump into the vaunted top 800. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I'll see you that and raise the two Leilani Kai vs. Chigusa matches. I wonder how far people got post-Dump. Maybe that was a factor. Judy Martin is a great worker, I just find it weird that Lelani wasn't nominated as well. 

[cad]

3 hours ago, Ricky Jackson said:

As someone who has presumably watched more WWWF undercard stuff than the majority of folks around here, I would personally never rank Scicluna ahead of DeNucci, but to each their own

He was my 100. I suppose I should explain it. I have just one grandparent remaining, my father's father, the man who gave me my last name. I'd have disrespected the family in a way if I hadn't voted for his homeland's greatest wrestler when I had the chance.

I really thought that he was my only shot at a unique vote.

12 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Javier Cruz' drop off from #120 in 2006 is huge. I think we were watching a lot of 1990 EMLL at the time and he played a prominent role that year.

He did better than in 2016. I mean sort of. He got the same number of votes, but last time his only vote was an 83.

[NotJayTabb]

Pat Roach dropping this early is a shame