GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[Stephen-]

2 hours ago, SirSam said:

I think that will make her the highest rated Australian

Has Bill Dundee fallen already? I would imagine he has. Rough for the territories. Can't judge too much, I didn't include too many of them in my own.

[SirSam]

Seeing Batista made me wish I had put him on my poll as the guy that caught my eye on Wide World of Sports twenty years ago.

He never failed in conveying the intensity that wrestling should have.

[bustedquad]

Listing every single person who voted for Hunter is a great bit. 
 

All of you who did — history is watching you. Or something. 

[El Dragon]

No Hunter and Seth even in the top 225 feels like great news to me, especially with this wide of a voting net. 

 

Pillman being the first 2016 top 10 to fall tracks with the "90's Influential Juniors are screwed" line we've been seeing, but, to be perfectly honest: he always stuck out like a sore thumb on the 2016 list to me. Real short peak, and even that wasn't all blow away stuff all the time. Just always felt like a "I grew up with him and I really liked him as a kid" case, and a lot of that voter base left and without it, the actual real case for Pillman is just.... fine, I guess?

[Matt D]

Edge remains. A veritable nugget.

Trips dropping so much and Rollins doing so poorly really throws the list on its head in some ways. The kids aren’t buying the WWE propaganda.

[bustedquad]

1 minute ago, Matt D said:

Edge remains. A veritable nugget.

Trips dropping so much and Rollins doing so poorly really throws the list on its head in some ways. The kids aren’t buying the WWE propaganda.

Maybe the kids ARE alright. 

[Control21]

Pillman dropping so low makes me kinda sad. I think I blew it by not voting for him

[EnviousStupid]

What's even more surprising to me is how Triple H and Seth Rollins, heavily featured through WWE programming, appear on less ballots relative to other wrestlers ranked near them. I guess with the way points are allocated it shouldn't be shocking, but I'd have never expected that Sid Vicious would appear on more ballots (9.54%) than both Seth (9.13%) and Hunter (8.92%)

[SirSam]

I feel like I've been named and shamed but I'll stand on having Triple H at 79 on my ballot.

Work with Foley, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Benoit, Jericho, Danielson, Mox, Austin, Angle, Rock and even an older Flair in 2005 that I feel very much stands the test of time.

Was he arrogant, egomaniacal, at times very boring on the mic, etc? Sure but this is wrestling so arrogance and politics come with the territory and there are lots of other wrestlers that we all love I could call all those things as well.

Still a funny gimmick to name us all.

[Boss Rock]

Jarrett dropping just 1 spot is kinda hilarious. 

A bit surprised Mima Shimoda finished almost 100 spots higher than Etsuko Mita.

[Microstatistics]

#245

Mima Shimoda

I naively thought I was gonna be the high vote for her at #50 until the high vote placement for Mita dropped and knew what was to be. One of the great tag wrestlers AND a solid singles catalog.

31 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

A bit surprised Mima Shimoda finished almost 100 spots higher than Etsuko Mita.

I think people (including me) voted for Mima but not Etsuko. Probably not fair or accurate but still.

 

#239

Triple H

I know he is satan around here but I put him at #54 and was considering the 40s at one point. Fundamentally great wrestler with a rich career.

[Mattsdmf]

Finally got one of my wrestlers to land on the list:

Yoshinari Ogawa was #96 for me. Interesting how he's lower from 2016 but up from 2006.  He was a great tag partner for Misawa in 1999 and 2000 for AJPW but he really came into his own in NOAH.  He was such a scrappy prick in those matches against Kobashi and Takayama.

Tracy Smothers was my #92.  While he wasn't a world beater, he's had such a varied and long career.  He was able to get over in different places like Memphis, Smokey Mountain, ECW and IWA Mid-South.  And the Smothers dance is worth a spot on the ballot for sure!

Dax Harwood was my #99.  Ultimately, it's been his run with Cash Wheeler in AEW that has fully cemented him as one of the all time great tag wrestlers up there with Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton who can also wrestle singles and get over.  But most importantly, the amount of other worldly tag matches that he's been a part of since arriving in AEW in 2020 is what got him on this list.  The more I want to type out, the more I think I put him too low on my list.

[donsem43]

Poor Psicosis, what a horrific sandwich to be stuck in.

1 hour ago, Boss Rock said:

A bit surprised Mima Shimoda finished almost 100 spots higher than Etsuko Mita.

Shimoda got push as Manami Toyota's tag partner in '95-'96 plus had more singles matches in the late 90's/early 00's. I imagine that's where the difference is.

[Monch Wrestling]

The Sandman's reaction to his ranking :

https://twitter.com/i/status/2055412557033218446

[Makai Club #1]

Maybe its because Triple H was my favourite wrestler until I was like 13 (I had been hooked into wrestling since I was like 3 mind you) but I'll never be a big Triple H hater. But I couldn't justify voting for him with all his faults. Just too many bad matches to focus on his good ones which are plenty. 

But there are several victories in the recent batch, such as Seth Rollins dropping early. Thank god. Never saw someone has so soulless and dull. Seth somehow manages to turn even the crossfit, spot heavy style into a tedious excercise. And that's when his athletic ability was top notch. Now it's just okay and the rest is gettig worse. 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

1 minute ago, Makai Club #1 said:

Maybe its because Triple H was my favourite wrestler until I was like 13 (I had been hooked into wrestling since I was like 3 mind you) but I'll never be a big Triple H hater. But I couldn't justify voting for him with all his faults. Just too many bad matches to focus on his good ones which are plenty. 

HHH is a good wrestler. 

Quote

But there are several victories in the recent batch, such as Seth Rollins dropping early. Thank god. Never saw someone has so soulless and dull. Seth somehow manages to turn even the crossfit, spot heavy style into a tedious excercise. And that's when his athletic ability was top notch. Now it's just okay and the rest is gettig worse.  

Without sounding too harsh, he's a victim of a system that constantly rewards mediocrity. He was good in the Shield, decent in his first singles heel run in the WWE. Nothing exceptional but nothing to warrant the criticism he gets now. But he was simply continually pushed, as part of the chosen crew they were going with (see: Roman) and there was no way they were ever going to stop pushing him. Unlike wrestlers who constantly feel their place on the card under threat, he never had to adapt, evolve and grow as a wrestler. So while his act has stagnated, his body has continued to deteriorate, meaning he can't even cover up these deficiencies like he used to be able to a decade ago. If you'd put him in the cutthroat environment of the 80s or 90s, he'd have been dropped down the opening match long ago. 

[donsem43]

I don't actually mind pre Shield breakup Rollins. Post breakup though...

[MoS]

21 minutes ago, Monch Wrestling said:

The Sandman's reaction to his ranking :

https://twitter.com/i/status/2055412557033218446

He then called Sid and Batista "jobbers". 

I didn't rank Dax and Cash so who am I to complain, but them dropping so soon surprises me. They are guilty of cosplay sometimes, that time when they shoehorned in a bunch of Bret-Owen spots in their singles match stands out as a shiny example, but they are excellent excellent wrestlers. Great bumpers, good at getting across both cockiness and fire, and Cash is such a good FIP, while Dax works better as a hot tag. They have had such a huge variety of good matches against multiple opponents. The Briscoes trilogy is incredible and each match is different from the other. At least one YB tag is tremendous, and is tremendous in a completely different way than the Bucks tag. It's funny because I think while FTR is a better team, the Bucks can have good-to-tremendous matches (for fans of their style at least) with a wider variety of opponents, but FTR are no slouches by any means under that metric. But with the kind of names that have dropped, it's tough to say anyone was "robbed". 

 

TREMENDOUS bit by @Grimmas to reveal the name of everyone who voted for Triple H. I am getting a big kick out of the fact that Toni Storm is going to finish above Hunter and Freakin 

[MoS]

9 minutes ago, Makai Club #1 said:

But there are several victories in the recent batch, such as Seth Rollins dropping early. Thank god. Never saw someone has so soulless and dull. Seth somehow manages to turn even the crossfit, spot heavy style into a tedious excercise. And that's when his athletic ability was top notch. Now it's just okay and the rest is gettig worse. 

But he comes out in glasses and cackles 

[BackToBionic]

I laughed at the Triple H name and shame. If I made a giant list, 250 is probably about the range he'd land in so fair enough.

[HowtobeaMark]

5 hours ago, Matt D said:

Edge remains. A veritable nugget.

Trips dropping so much and Rollins doing so poorly really throws the list on its head in some ways. The kids aren’t buying the WWE propaganda.

Cody Rhodes still to place however