GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[Matt D]

Ospreay’s best quality is his earnest, infectious charisma where you can tell how much he loves wrestling through just how he moves. He’s great to watch on the apron in a tag since he’s so into everything. That isn’t going anywhere so he has a fighting chance.

[Boss Rock]

Choshu was my 26. Tremendous, hard-hitting grump. One of the best wrestlers of the 80's and still great in the 90's, particularly against Hashimoto and old rival Tenryu.

I had Ishikawa at 66 (one spot below Ikeda). Awesome, awesome violence. 

I had Ibushi at 37. I'm not entirely sure if I think it’s too high or not, but I’m not bothered by my final placing of him either. I agree the last few years have not been kind to him (though his Dynamite match with Okada was legitimately really good) and his myriad of injuries and refusal to seek proper medical treatment has understandably irritated a lot of people to the point where his himbo personality is no longer endearing. But to me, Ibushi was still an excellent junior for many years and then believably transformed into a heavy-hitting heavyweight. And even with the additional muscle, he could still deliver on the crazy high spots. As far as match quality, I think he’s consistently pretty great for the majority of the 2010’s all the way up until his injury in 2021. The Golden Lovers tag run in 2018 is fantastic and his Wrestle Kingdom match against Nakamura is still one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen.

[Boss Rock]

35 minutes ago, Tetsujin said:

Choshu dropping now is intriguing. It kinda gives me a concern for guys like Jumbo or Tenryu.

Anything can happen considering this list has been anything but predictable, but I still expect Jumbo and Tenryu to finish high. Choshu was 41 last time and Jumbo and Tenryu just fell outside the top 10.

[El-P]

Jumbo is gonna drop from last times placements.

Tenryu is not. I would not be shocked if Tenryu made the top 10. He would probably have made mine.

[Tetsujin]

Just now, Boss Rock said:

Anything can happen considering this list has been anything but predictable, but I still expect Jumbo and Tenryu to finish high. Choshu was 41 last time and Jumbo and Tenryu just fell outside the top 10.

I expect Tenryu in particular to be in the top 10, based on the ballots I saw online during this past month. Almost everyone had him there, but alas, those were like ~6% of total ballots so who knows.

The only ones that would truly shock me if they dropped anywhere below top 20ish would be Flair, Funk, Misawa and Kobashi. But again... Who knows.

[MoS]

I love Mercedes/Sasha and I had her at 56. Very glad to see her make it so high. She was the one who completely opened my mind to what level (American?) women in US mainstream promotions could reach. Sasha v. Bayley NXT 2015 will forever be one of my favourite wrestling feuds. 

[ohtani's jacket]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

The number of people influenced by older voters and outdated (yes ! I'm the one dropping it this time !) notions is not, as showed by some of the results. As far as the demographic goes, I have honestly no idea, but "new voters" doesn't mean "only young voters" either. Because you are active on X doesn't mean you're not a 40 years old yelling at clouds about "lack of psychology in today's pro-wrestling". (well, being on X in 2026 for anything other that professional reasons is *yuck*, but I don't even wanna get into this one)

FTR, I voted for Regal I believe in 2006 and (for sure) in 2016. Not sure I would have voted for him this time around, but maybe. He was always an old favorite of mine.

We were asked when we started watching wrestling. The number of people who began watching in the 70s and 80s was extremely small, as were the number of people who participated in the 2006 and 2016 polls. There may be a handful of people who discovered wrestling later in life, but I think it's safe to say that it was a younger demographic that voted. Are they influenced by outdated opinions? Perhaps to some degree, but you can't expect the entire foundation to crumble just because you've decided to nail your flag to modern guys' mast. The results have been surprising so far in that they haven't swung one way or the other. That suggests, to me anyway, that instead of staid opinions dominating the list, there's a mixture of all sorts of exploration going on. 

[Grimmas]

4 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

We were asked when we started watching wrestling. The number of people who began watching in the 70s and 80s was extremely small, as were the number of people who participated in the 2006 and 2016 polls. There may be a handful of people who discovered wrestling later in life, but I think it's safe to say that it was a younger demographic that voted. Are they influenced by outdated opinions? Perhaps to some degree, but you can't expect the entire foundation to crumble just because you've decided to nail your flag to modern guys' mast. The results have been surprising so far in that they haven't swung one way or the other. That suggests, to me anyway, that instead of staid opinions dominating the list, there's a mixture of all sorts of exploration going on. 

Amen.

[El-P]

11 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

We were asked when we started watching wrestling. The number of people who began watching in the 70s and 80s was extremely small, as were the number of people who participated in the 2006 and 2016 polls. There may be a handful of people who discovered wrestling later in life, but I think it's safe to say that it was a younger demographic that voted. Are they influenced by outdated opinions? Perhaps to some degree, but you can't expect the entire foundation to crumble just because you've decided to nail your flag to modern guys' mast. The results have been surprising so far in that they haven't swung one way or the other. That suggests, to me anyway, that instead of staid opinions dominating the list, there's a mixture of all sorts of exploration going on. 

I would consider someone who started to watch during the 90's and 00's as old, really. But yes, the % are an indication that it is indeed a pretty mixed crowd overall. The weigh of the old-school canon (you know the one) will be felt at the very top of the list though I think. As it is expected, of course. I actually have been surprised how well some of the greats from the last 15 years have done. But like it's been demonstrated the "AEW effect" has been pretty much killed off already. Some bubbles names that have not dropped yet show that there's remains of the hype of former years. Some names will be the product of some current trends of a niche landscape. Like I said, I think this top 100, whatever the rankings inside of it ends up being, is *much* better and representative than the last one.

[ohtani's jacket]

1 hour ago, Tetsujin said:

And someone please explain to me, as a casual BattlArts viewer, why Ishikawa always ranks much higher than Ikeda.

Ishikawa was positioned as the top wrestler in BattlARTS, so that may have something to do with it. He was an Inoki worshipper, so there's an element of self-aggrandizing in the way he carries himself character-wise. Ikeda always came across as Ishikawa's dance partner in BattlARTS. It wasn't until I saw Ikeda in Futen that I thought he came into his own. That was often the case in shoot style where guys had to get out from other people's shadow. 

With Choshu, I think how much you rate him depends on how you value the cultural impact he had on Japanese wrestling. People overuse the term "influence" a lot, but Choshu is easily one of the most influential Japanese wrestlers of all-time. More so than Jumbo or Tenryu. If you're looking from it strictly from an in-ring perspective, he's good, but great? I dunno. I've come to appreciate strong style a lot more over the years, but mechanically speaking, Choshu has his limitations. 

 

[El-P]

Funny, I was such a huge shoot-style fan, and I never bought into the Battlarts hype. I liked it (never watched a lot either), but never though Ikeda nor Ishikawa were these all time greats. I would think if I had watched it much later (when I grew an appreciation for older NJPW stuff), I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I think I was too much into the RINGS Tamura stuff at that time, which is far removed from the Inoki influence that Ishikawa portrayed. It's probably one of my biggest "what if ?". Wrong time, wrong place for me. 

[ohtani's jacket]

1 minute ago, El-P said:

I would consider someone who started to watch during the 90's and 00's as old, really. But yes, the % are an indication that it is indeed a pretty mixed crowd overall. The weigh of the old-school canon (you know the one) will be felt at the very top of the list though I think. As it is expected, of course. I actually have been surprised how well some of the greats from the last 15 years have done. But like it's been demonstrated the "AEW effect" has been pretty much killed off already. Some bubbles names that have not dropped yet show that there's remains of the hype of former years. Some names will be the product of some current trends of a niche landscape. Like I said, I think this top 100, whatever the rankings inside of it ends up being, is *much* better and representative than the last one.

The AEW effect was overstated, and no doubt a kneejerk reaction to the territory guys dropping, but that's part of what makes the reveal fun. This is a reaction thread. The deeper analysis can be done later. If we're talking about someone like Tanahashi, then yes there was a resistance from some quarters to place him highly in 2016, but New Japan was still in the mid of its mid-10s peak. It won't surprise me if Okada and Tanahashi do extremely well this time due to the time that's elapsed. If they don't, then it will be interesting to ponder the reasons. 

[ohtani's jacket]

5 minutes ago, El-P said:

Funny, I was such a huge shoot-style fan, and I never bought into the Battlarts hype. I liked it (never watched a lot either), but never though Ikeda nor Ishikawa were these all time greats. I would think if I had watched it much later (when I grew an appreciation for older NJPW stuff), I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I think I was too much into the RINGS Tamura stuff at that time, which is far removed from the Inoki influence that Ishikawa portrayed. It's probably one of my biggest "what if ?". Wrong time, wrong place for me. 

BattlARTS was some of the best wrestling of the late 90s. It was basically a hybrid juniors style and extremely different from the pure RINGS style. RINGS will always be more beautiful to me, but BattlARTS was interesting in the same way that Casas and Wagner cribbing shoot style holds was interesting. The '98 and '99 Ishikawa/Ikeda matches are some of my favorite matches ever. Given you loved ARSION, it's odd that you never gave BattlARTS much of a chance.  

[El-P]

9 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

 If we're talking about someone like Tanahashi, then yes there was a resistance from some quarters to place him highly in 2016, but New Japan was still in the mid of its mid-10s peak. It won't surprise me if Okada and Tanahashi do extremely well this time due to the time that's elapsed. 

I bet both will do better than Omega, and better than *some* pillars. Or not. 

2 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

The '98 and '99 Ishikawa/Ikeda matches are some of my favorite matches ever. Given you loved ARSION, it's odd that you never gave BattlARTS much of a chance.  

I watched those mixed shows. I really enjoyed Ikeda. But yeah, this was also the days of paying shitload of money to get tapes from overseas, so I really cherry picked... THEN AGAIN. When I think about some of the stuff I bought back then, maybe I did not cherry pick enough. 😅

[MasterJonBurr]

I think there are a lot of great Regal matches, but he does seem to be a guy whose attributes that are most appreciated extend far beyond specific matches. Kinda like Terry Funk or Abby, where their entire package is what is most impressive, with respect to any particular  performances. With the exception of the Flair or Empty Arena match, I almost never think of Terry Funk having great matches, I mostly think of him calling someone a Jackass or just being The Funker and being indescribably wonderful. 

[Matt D]

21 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

With Choshu, I think how much you rate him depends on how you value the cultural impact he had on Japanese wrestling. People overuse the term "influence" a lot, but Choshu is easily one of the most influential Japanese wrestlers of all-time. More so than Jumbo or Tenryu. If you're looking from it strictly from an in-ring perspective, he's good, but great? I dunno. I've come to appreciate strong style a lot more over the years, but mechanically speaking, Choshu has his limitations. 

With all due respect, this paragraph misses the boat on what makes Choshu special in-ring. Choshu presents himself as a star. He understands what fans will respond to and how to get them going. He has the patience to take a beating, to let it build and build and build, and then to have things boil over. When he hits the lariat, it's so often a release of all of his seething fury and rage and frustration. He's so good at taking up all the air in the room but in a way that serves the match and makes it bigger and better. You put him up against Vader and he can work from underneath and make every little victory mean so much. You put him against Saito and he can work it even, make it feel like a clash of the titans. You put him against Inoki, and then every single look across the ring at one another becomes a mythic and meaningful piece of doctrine from which the religious scholars could take fifteen different poignant meanings and argue with one another for years. "Mechanically-speaking" is really not Choshu's case. 

[MasterJonBurr]

Ishikawa probably tops Ikeda because he was the ace of BattlARTS (one of the most mythical promotions ever) and also wasn’t damned by his own success like Ikeda, by which I mean Daisuke kinda sucks in the bigger promotions. Or, at least, was unable to work that style on those tours, although honestly who could blame him?

[Boss Rock]

Could never really get into RINGS. BATTLArts was always more my jam, maybe because it has more of a pro wrestling feel.

[ohtani's jacket]

10 minutes ago, Matt D said:

With all due respect, this paragraph misses the boat on what makes Choshu special in-ring. Choshu presents himself as a star. He understands what fans will respond to and how to get them going. He has the patience to take a beating, to let it build and build and build, and then to have things boil over. When he hits the lariat, it's so often a release of all of his seething fury and rage and frustration. He's so good at taking up all the air in the room but in a way that serves the match and makes it bigger and better. You put him up against Vader and he can work from underneath and make every little victory mean so much. You put him against Saito and he can work it even, make it feel like a clash of the titans. You put him against Inoki, and then every single look across the ring at one another becomes a mythic and meaningful piece of doctrine from which the religious scholars could take fifteen different poignant meanings and argue with one another for years. "Mechanically-speaking" is really not Choshu's case. 

I appreciate all that, but sometimes you want a little more. I'd say the same thing about other wrestlers too such as Onita. It's the flipside of the argument that Misawa is a great wrestler who doesn't show any emotion. Choshu shows a huge amount of emotion but doesn't wrestle enough. I know you've watched an ungodly amount of Choshu in recent times, but I have it seared into my brain that Choshu vs. Hashimoto was good whereas Choshu and Jumbo going broadway was tough going. 

[El-P]

16 minutes ago, MasterJonBurr said:

I think there are a lot of great Regal matches, but he does seem to be a guy whose attributes that are most appreciated extend far beyond specific matches. Kinda like Terry Funk or Abby, where their entire package is what is most impressive, with respect to any particular  performances. With the exception of the Flair or Empty Arena match, I almost never think of Terry Funk having great matches, I mostly think of him calling someone a Jackass or just being The Funker and being indescribably wonderful. 

I can totally see that point. Although to me Terry being Terry more than often takes matches way above the plateau that Regal, while being a great worker, can't seemingly break to me. Then again, Terry Funk is one of my all time GOATS, while Regal is "a terrific worker I liked a lot".

[ohtani's jacket]

5 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

Could never really get into RINGS. BATTLArts was always more my jam, maybe because it has more of a pro wrestling feel.

Volk Han was one of the ultimate pro-wrestling showmen. I can't remember which Yamamoto match it is, but the finish is one of the all-time great pro-wrestling finishes. The kind of finish that makes you wan t to go out and run a marathon. Something like Tamura/Kohsaka, on the other hand, is much more heady. 

[Matt D]

5 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I appreciate all that, but sometimes you want a little more. I'd say the same thing about other wrestlers too such as Onita. It's the flipside of the argument that Misawa is a great wrestler who doesn't show any emotion. Choshu shows a huge amount of emotion but doesn't wrestle enough. I know you've watched an ungodly amount of Choshu in recent times, but I have it seared into my brain that Choshu vs. Hashimoto was good whereas Choshu and Jumbo going broadway was tough going. 

That's fair. That match in particular is interesting. Charles has framed it as the match where Jumbo realizes that time has passed him by but it's also a sign that maybe Choshu just doesn't have enough for an hour. 

But to some degree, yes, I had Choshu at #21 and not #1. 

[El-P]

3 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Volk Han was one of the ultimate pro-wrestling showmen. I can't remember which Yamamoto match it is, but the finish is one of the all-time great pro-wrestling finishes.

you and your odd tastes

[MoS]

I had Choshu at 49. One of the very few wrestlers who makes everything he does feel the most important and high-stakes inthe world of wrestling by his charisma, his ring presence, and yes, his work. They are very different wrestlers with very different stories, but wrt the above, I find Choshu very similar to Steve Austin. I am very happy he didn't drop out of the top 75. 

[Matt D]

Just now, MoS said:

I had Choshu at 49. One of the very few wrestlers who makes everything he does feel the most important and high-stakes inthe world of wrestling by his charisma, his ring presence, and yes, his work. They are very different wrestlers with very different stories, but wrt the above, I find Choshu very similar to Steve Austin. I am very happy he didn't drop out of the top 75. 

I liken him to Randy Savage as much as anything else.