GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[El-P]

The reveal is only at 550 and there's already fear and bitching about the perspective of *legit awesome* current workers making it "too high". Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. 😂 

Also, the Vince McMahon 23 vote is obviously an X (ex Twitter, ya know) person. You get the votes you deserve.

[El-P]

21 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Who, or what, is a Lulu Pencil?

This post has a true feel of "What does Six Seven means ?" 😄 No offense. I'm old too.

Here's a resume from Cagematch for ya : 

"Has a career outside of wrestling, decides to train as a wrestler to see if she can, manages to have one of the best feuds of 2020s pro wrestling, appears in AEW in a butler outfit which pops Eddie Kingston, makes the cover of PWI despite being last on their list, wins literally zero (0) singles matches, retires before the 2nd anniversary of her debut match, refuses to elaborate. Might be the GOAT."

As mentioned, she appeared on AEW TV as Emi Sakura's valet too, which is how I knew of her. The fact she got a vote is quite adorable and great.

[El McKell]

I think it's honestly pretty lame to rank someone like Lulu Pencil as your number 2 wrestler of all time. You can love the booking of that stuff (which to me is why it comes off so well), you can appreciate that she does have a very likable persona, that she came across very genuine but I feel like if you watch a lot wrestling and come to the conclusion that she is the 2nd best at the performance of it of everyone you've ever seen, I think you probably don't get it.

[ohtani's jacket]

I still don't understand who Lulu Pencil is after reading all of that. 

[BackToBionic]

I also feel further away from knowing who Lulu Pencil is after reading that blurb.

[Makai Club #1]

She is a journalist iirc. Or just a writer. 

 

Anyway, meme wrestler from Gatoh Move

[El McKell]

Wrestling superfan who worked for Emi Sakura's promotion during the no fan era of the pandemic. She lost all her matches, was a totally unathletic endearing underdog.

[NotJayTabb]

15 minutes ago, El McKell said:

I think it's honestly pretty lame to rank someone like Lulu Pencil as your number 2 wrestler of all time. You can love the booking of that stuff (which to me is why it comes off so well), you can appreciate that she does have a very likable persona, that she came across very genuine but I feel like if you watch a lot wrestling and come to the conclusion that she is the 2nd best at the performance of it of everyone you've ever seen, I think you probably don't get it.

To me, this is where your #95 - #100 slots can be used. I think a lot of us have put personal favourites that maybe aren't an all-timer, but deserve some recognition. #2 just feels like trying to get attention.

But then we're now having a conversation about Lulu Pencil that we wouldn't be having if she'd had one vote at #99, so maybe it's worked?

[ohtani's jacket]

I'm just gonna think of her as a Six Seven Numacchi.

[El-P]

24 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I'm just gonna think of her as a Six Seven Numacchi.

😀  Wow, this is a pretty deep cut. I'm amazed my brain even remembers that name ! (I did have to check who she was though, for a second I thought about Tanny Mouse... (why do I even remember Tanny Mouse ? Why so many needless information in my brain ?))

[Matt D]

1 hour ago, El McKell said:

I think it's honestly pretty lame to rank someone like Lulu Pencil as your number 2 wrestler of all time. You can love the booking of that stuff (which to me is why it comes off so well), you can appreciate that she does have a very likable persona, that she came across very genuine but I feel like if you watch a lot wrestling and come to the conclusion that she is the 2nd best at the performance of it of everyone you've ever seen, I think you probably don't get it.

It’s funny because I could actually see someone who truly and deeply loves ChocoPro and what it represents as the height of pro wrestling and the wrestling that speaks to them the most ranking Mei that high. She actually has a pretty solid body of work across different styles, in different places, as different characters, against different opponents, in different roles, including some pretty good matches that hold up well. She commits fully. I could see a once in a blue moon argument for someone with limited watching or very niche personal preferences going so high on Mei. 
 

(Hell, I think Mei’s better than all but peak, peak 2024-5 Adam Page, and I bet someone goes #2 on him)
 

Lulu feels like someone having too much fun.

[ohtani's jacket]

Not gonna lie. Terry Rudge hurts a bit. 

[NotJayTabb]

We did a Terry Rudge watch party right at the very start of the GWE26 process, and it was very much a "this guy is clearly awesome, why have I not watched him before?" moment for me. I'm surprised he's fallen so early.

[Grimmas]

I hated doing today's reveal, knew the WOS drops would hurt.

[HowtobeaMark]

I cannot fathom a world where Terry Rudge is below Kendo Nagasaki

[El McKell]

In some sense Terry Rudge falling so low is a shame because I'm sure everyone who loves William Regal would at least like him and they're missing out on something they'd enjoy by not watching him. On the other hand I cannot get into Terry Rudge that much at all, totally not for me, I watch him and see someone just a bit above the average World of Sport guy (so still better than Kendo Nagasaki)

[ohtani's jacket]

I'm changing my tune on the Rudge placement. I re-read the comment I made about him 10 years ago in his nomination thread, and I realized there's not that much Rudge footage left in the archives. While it would be interesting to see Rudge matches from the 60s, I'm not that big of a fan of his early 70s work and don't fully appreciate him until he shaves the head, grows his moustache and becomes a bonafide asskicker. If I could get any footage out of the archives, it would probably be his 70s matches against Pete Roberts. Rudge was one of those workers who wrestled in the higher paying overseas territories and would return to the UK every now and again for dates. Not a high volume guy. Would have been nice  if he'd finished higher, but it doesn't hurt as much as it did a few hours ago. 

[NotJayTabb]

Thought Tenta would do better than he has done. Incredibly fun big-guy wrestler, his stuff more than holds up.

Even as a big Tyler Bate fan, who was watching him wrestle in WMC's in Cov when he was just 15, placing at #35 on someone's list is wild 

[ohtani's jacket]

12 people must really like that Megumi Fujii vs. Yoshida match. 

Killer Kowalski was higher than I would have thought. Don Leo Jonathan was a nice surprise too. Not a guy you hear a lot of people talk about.

How did Octagon get that high? 

Is Johnny Blackcraft Caballero Downunder Elite Consejo Impact Morrison Mundo Nitro Onyx TV an actual ring-name?

Oki gets some love. 

El Hijo del Fishman was nominated but Fishman wasn't?

Dutch Mantell, ouch. The days of the 80s sets are well and truly behind us.

Robert Gibson I kind of get. I don't think you can expect modern kids to like the Rock 'n' Roll Express. 

El Samurai -- brutal. 

 

 

[El-P]

Cuty Suzuki & Bison Kimura back to back. Two of my old faves that were never really *that* great but loved them nonetheless, for various reasons.

(and there I could also make an awesome joke, which I won't because no one would get the ref, and everybody would be better off that way really. Yeah... I have lurked on that Discord *a lot longer* than people thought... food for thoughts...)

Anywoo. Grumpy bitch heel older Cuty and bleeding like a pig Kimura were their most fun versions.

Dutch Mantell dropping like hell is pretty funny. I used to love me some Dutch, both as a worker and an announcer, but to quote the great Brody King, he truly is an "old sack of shit".

Robert Gibson. The guy who actually was doing the Ricky Morton routine, ya know... (yeah, this is a VERY obscure reference, but this is where I am now)

Combat Toyoda, Megumi Kudo-made.

Chikayo Nagashima. The favorite worker of people who thought GAEA was overrated as hell (raise hands on both accounts)

Barbario, the only actual great wrestler who can do the worm.

Brad Armstrong. The most overrated member of the most underrated wrestling family. Or the opposite. Not sure.

PCO. Talk about a guy who made his case post 50's by doing the stupidest shit possible. His match with Steve Maclin in TNA a few years back was *insanity*.

Kaito. LOLNOAH

[El-P]

4 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Is Johnny Blackcraft Caballero Downunder Elite Consejo Impact Morrison Mundo Nitro Onyx TV an actual ring-name?

Tell me you're not actually asking this question. 😎

I did chuckle at the name though. That *was* pretty funny.

[Matt D]

One thing that's abundantly clear is that there are just a LOT of wrestlers. 

[ohtani's jacket]

3 minutes ago, El-P said:

Tell me you're not actually asking this question. 😎

I did chuckle at the name though. That *was* pretty funny.

I'm guessing it's John Morrison. I've never watched a John Morrison match in my life. 

[HowtobeaMark]

Robert Gibson the first from my ballot to fall. Not the one I was expecting

[Matt D]

I am down 21 wrestlers off my ballot at this point, by the way.