GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[Tetsujin]

10 minutes ago, donsem43 said:

Maybe this is me being nitpicky, but should Asuka and Iyo be considered modern Joshi? Asuka has spent about half her career in WWE/NXT. Iyo has spent about two fifths of her career there and a longer time than what she spent in Stardom.

Anyway, since a couple of people haven't checked them out I'll link to the YouTube playlist that I've made. Both of these have pretty much everything that has been uploaded by official WWE channels plus whatever matches I could find from their time in Japan.

Asuka:

 

Iyo Sky/Io Shirai:

 

This rules so much!

[Matt D]

Talking this through, aura or whatever else aside, the biggest beneficiaries past some modern New Japan and Joshi people are not just babyfaces (for Tito and others fell) but babyface Aces:

Sato, Jaguar, Chigusa, Cena (to be seen), Sting, Hogan, Dusty, Bruno, Mistico, etc. 

Everyone's holding out for a hero.

[Grimmas]

2 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Talking this through, aura or whatever else aside, the biggest beneficiaries past some modern New Japan and Joshi people are not just babyfaces (for Tito and others fell) but babyface Aces:

Sato, Jaguar, Chigusa, Cena (to be seen), Sting, Hogan, Dusty, Bruno, Mistico, etc. 

Everyone's holding out for a hero.

Isn't holding out for a hero what wrestling is all about?

[Tetsujin]

4 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Talking this through, aura or whatever else aside, the biggest beneficiaries past some modern New Japan and Joshi people are not just babyfaces (for Tito and others fell) but babyface Aces:

Sato, Jaguar, Chigusa, Cena (to be seen), Sting, Hogan, Dusty, Bruno, Mistico, etc. 

Everyone's holding out for a hero.

I'd bet Tanahashi will finish REALLY high, so this sounds accurate.

[ohtani's jacket]

I like a lot of stuff Hogan did early in his career before Vince took wrestling out of the bingo halls. The early Andre matches are slobber knockers. Even after he developed his formula, he mostly brought his working boots. He moved fairly well for a guy his size. I dunno. It's hard to hate on 80s Hogan. When I think of bad Hogan, it's monster trucks, Thunder in Paradise, and Dungeon of Doom. 

[Ma Stump Puller]

41 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

I had Mutoh at 76. A later entry on my list but I couldn't really deny him. Another guy who was really good for a long time and when he wrestled as Muta, he actually wrestled differently. In fact, he would be downright diabolical. Too many folks take this for granted with a gimmick change (stares at Demon Finn Balor).

I recall his retirement match* against Naito was very good.

His Naito match was solid and his Kaito series of matches the two had were pretty entertaining. Looking back on it Old Man Muto in NOAH as much as some people memed on it (and it was at some points quite the meme) was quite an endearing long term story all about battling against his limits and needing every little trick to survive against a never-ending torrent of challengers. That's honestly one of the main reasons why I had him so low on my list, his ability to consistently reinvent his offence/presentation to adapt to the zeitgeist is almost unrivalled. 

 

[Tetsujin]

Yeah Mutoh is what Jericho fans believe Jericho is.

[gungan]

Regal: my number 8. Best TV worker ever and super consistent except for that period when he was fucked up on drugs. Impressive versatility in that he could be thrown into just about any situation and make it work. And I've never vibed with the criticism that he lacks high end work. afaic his body of work has a fair bit of depth in that respect (Moxley FCW matches, various Finlay matches, vs Hero, vs Claudio, vs Arn, Zbyszko series, Christian series).

Mercedes: my number 71. She was always the best of the Horsewomen and second place was never close. Awesome big match worker, awesome bumper, awesome charisma.

KENTA: didn't make my list, but in terms of post-2016 output I remember really liking his 2019 G1 run, especially that ZSJ match (brutal war).

Ishikawa: my number 2. There's very little distance between his floor and ceiling, which is super impressive given that his ceiling involves some of the absolute best matches in wrestling history. Also, I found it super impressive that he looked like the best wrestler in the world when he was doing those wXw matches so deep into his career. I mean, I hold Thatcher's work from that period in very high regard, but Ishikawa was still the better performer in their two matches.

Asuka: my number 52. I love her run in Japan and her WWE run has been fantastic. Her WWE stuff doesn't hit the same heights as her best Japan stuff (particularly the Satomura series), but it's more impressive from a legacy perspective. The WWE house style could've neutered her, but instead she worked around those limitations and excelled. Out of this world charisma, too. Total aura farmer.

[SirSam]

57 minutes ago, Tetsujin said:

I'd bet Tanahashi will finish REALLY high, so this sounds accurate.

As he should