GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[El McKell]

24 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Why are we worried about Sting when Cena is still on the table?

Because John Cena is an all time great with tons of classic matches, including some against lesser opponents, and Sting had a career full of mediocre performances.  

[Boss Rock]

24 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Why are we worried about Sting when Cena is still on the table?

I think Cena has had a lot more goodwill over the years.

[ohtani's jacket]

12 minutes ago, El McKell said:

Because John Cena is an all time great with tons of classic matches, including some against lesser opponents, and Sting had a career full of mediocre performances.  

I would take Sting vs. Vader, Cactus Jack, The Dangerous Alliance and Regal over Cena's entire career. Though, to be fair, Cena had about a half a dozen great matches. 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

4 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Though, to be fair, Cena had about a half a dozen great matches. 

After about 180 straight tries, on PPV.

[SirSam]

30 minutes ago, Reel said:

Absolutely gobsmacked Moxley still hasn’t dropped. I know people like him, but him outperforming both Shield guys by this margin is not something I saw coming. 

It isn't just Shield guys he's outperformed, he will end up higher than all but a very select few modern American wrestlers. From his generation there aren't a whole lot higher, it really is only Omega, Danielson, Cena, AJ, Samoa Joe and Punk and you could argue he comes through a long enough time after most of them that he is in a seperate generation whom he is the pack leader of.

I'm a huge Moxley fan, had him at 9 but I didn't expect him to rise this high.

[MoS]

53 minutes ago, Reel said:

Absolutely gobsmacked Moxley still hasn’t dropped. I know people like him, but him outperforming both Shield guys by this margin is not something I saw coming. 

I am the resident Mox defender on this board and even I am now thinking he is very high haha

Think he will be a part of the 40s, not above that 

[Boss Rock]

Mox missed the cut for me mainly due to his WWE singles run, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe I was too harsh. The Shield tags rule and he's been excellent 2019-onward with only a few hiccups during the Death Riders run.

[Tetsujin]

2 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Why are we worried about Sting when Cena is still on the table?

Although I agree, in the end Cena has far more reputation as an all time worker due to the ~15 motyc matches he has in his career. He's an awful wrestler to watch weekly and he probably has more big matches that sucked than big matches that were awesome (but booking didn't help most of the times, being fair), but in the end he had the WWE machine behind him more time than anybody else in history, and he had plenty of better wrestlers getting him out of his comfort zone from time to time to keep him interesting.

[MidasGloves]

I had Mox 24th and I wouldn't even blink an eye if he matched that placement though I doubt he'll go THAT far. In the 00s he's an above-average deathmatch guy and good tag worker in CZW while having some good work in HWA, in the early 10s he has some genuine classics already with Jacobs, Danielson & Regal (plus his FCW Seth matches are very good), Shield trios speak for themselves and even as the guy on the outside he contributed a lot to Seth/Roman tags, his 2014-17 solo run is really solid-to-great work across the board even when he was given cheesy prop spots, that tag run with Seth is the last time I'd say Seth had a good in-ring run, and then after a mediocre final stretch in WWE with the heel turn he's been all gas since he left there. Killer NJPW stint, hot early run in AEW carrying their main event through COVID, and from the formation of the BCC through today mid-Death Riders he's just been hitting over and over again from main event epics to TV sprints to big tags and done it as one of the most hated heels of the 2020s or over like crazy with the crowd (All In vs World's End just last year to see both 4 months apart) with the only misstep being the feud with Cope (which I would hardly blame on Mox). That doesn't even include his outside bookings from his returns to NJPW to work some great brawls, his strong indie work (including one of the best shootstyle matches ever against Barnett alongside deathmatches and some awesome brawls, especially the Biff Busick one), and his few CMLL dates where he's turned in multiple great multi-man tags. That's nearly 20 years of varied, consistently great work with the worst stretches being a matter of months. You could call it AEW bias since he's been their load-bearing pillar/true ace for about six years but I do think his absolute best-ever matches (vs Jacobs I Quit, vs Barnett Bloodsport, Shield/Wyatts) are outside the company, and some of his best AEW work are quick TV matches like against Uno & Yuta rather than just his time on top.

In terms of indie guys who missed both the post-AE vacuum boom and he mid-10s boom he's head and shoulders above his peers. I believe Mox can do anything and if he keeps going strong I think he might have a Top 10 case by 2036.

[Reel]

Boy did I think that Moxley/Barnett match was an abomination

[DR Ackermann]

I'll elaborate later, but a lot of what Mox does feels like cosplay and he hasn't resonated with me for a few years.

[Reel]

I think his Bloodsport match with DBS Jr is proof that he doesn’t really have a clue about MMA or shootstyle, and you can tell about him entering a BJJ tournament all you want, but him trying to do a Shogun Rua spot in that match is one of the more embarrassing things I’ve ever seen. 

[HeadCheese]

I don't have a big take on Sting being that high. He almost made my list. I think the biggest factor that someone would vote Sting is just rules. Sting from 1989 to 1994 was maybe the most this rules United States wrestling ace ever wrestler ever, he some parts between that are fun, and AEW run which was great. 

I think he also benefits alot from emotional attachment (part of a wrestlers job is get the viewer emotionally attached).

I think Cena was a far better wrestler than Sting (ranked him 33, above Tenryu and below Aja Kong) especially with his ability to adapt. The Brock Lesnar matches are all time great. He has maybe my favorite Triple H match at Night of Champions 2008. His 2010s where he is trying to adapt to the company adapt to the WWE changing was great. He also has maybe the best year I can think of that someone has had in WWE in 2007.

The last year run had some great points, the Royal Rumble was great, vs. Cody Rhodes was fun cheesy dumb (affectionate), AJ Styles was very fun, and Gunther match was great.

Moxley (ranked at 75, above Ultimo Guerrero and below Bull Nakano) is interesting case because sometimes he really clicks and sometimes he really dips with me. He has improved at improved at it but, sometimes in his brawls kind of would like him to do more of lucha brawl style (picking up things that are natural there) or have the weapons out/having a manager step up stuff in the background (like the All In Texas match with Marina Shafir) instead of the hardcore style. He is a interesting guy.

I do like the Bloodsport Japan match he had with Barnett and Biff Busick.

[Boss Rock]

I also remember liking his Bloodsport matches but it's been a few years.

[DR Ackermann]

I didn't vote for any of the modern New Japan guys but if you like that style I understand why people voted for them more than I get someone voting for Mox who functions as a discount version of so many better workers. 

[El Boricua]

In a similar boat as DR regarding Moxley, don't have any emotional connection with him and feels derivative of other wrestlers.

The little Stinger in me is delighted by Sting's placement. 😀

[Makai Club #1]

Glad Fujiwara ranked pretty high this time as well, particularly with the influx of newer voters such as myself. Absolutely deserved. Great wrestler. So charismatic in the ring too. Really the complete worker in that sense. Has the technique, ability to tell a compelling story even with his style and could potray any sense of emotion you'd want. 

[cad]

That's Atlantis slapping the dog shit out of Shocker in Blue Panther's gif. I'll go ahead and count that as a top 100 finish for him.

11 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

You're welcome to post this as my blurb for Satanico if you like.

Hey, feel free to take credit for any of my late night rants, but I'm warning you right now that it's a losing strategy in the long run. Let me know if you'd also like to assume responsibility for my 3 AM credit card purchases.

[El Dragon]

I said in the Discord that if Inoki beat Fujiwara in this I'd retire from online wrestling discourse because clearly there is nothing for me here because how straight up stupid that would be, and how I felt there was no way we'd be that dumb. But here we are, I guess. Let my final note be Antonio Inoki sucks, and y'all are crazy.

[Control21]

Blue Panther had a decent jump compared to 2016, but I thought he would finish higher. As one of his high voters, I think he was one of the best ring workers of all time. He was just consistently great from the very start and never missed a beat. A true maestro.

I also thought Fujiwara would finish higher. It's not a significant drop for him, but it's interesting to see how Tamura and Han made big improvements compared to 2016. Fujiwara kinda just held his own. I think Fujiwara is just as exciting as Han and Tamura, and probably should have been ranked in the top 30, but I'm just one guy.

Moxley finishing above Panther, Meiko, and Fujiwara is pretty silly.

[DR Ackermann]

Fujiwara is a contender for number 1. I had him at 7. If he was physically larger and thus had more exposure, more people would recognize his greatness. One of a kind. I've come around on Inoki. He could really dog it, but at his best he borders on a transcendent quality that few wrestlers can match. Fujiwara is one of those wrestlers, but they get there in different ways. I had Inoki at 26 this time, didn't rank him at all in 2016.

[Shrike02]

Fujiwara didn't finish higher because he only garnered votes from 42% of the voting pool. Those who voted for him, including me, rated him very highly.

[Boss Rock]

I voted Fujiwara at 77. Terrific technical worker and grizzled ass-kicker. There was a NJPW trios match he worked in 2022 and he was still tons of fun to watch. Just such a commanding presence. Maybe if I had watched a bit more I would've had him even higher.

Meiko was one of the final additions to my ballot at 96. Great longevity worker but not without some impressive peaks, the 2015 match with Io easily being the best Stardom match I've ever seen (also the match that made me say "oh my God!" more than any other). And while she was shunted off to NXT during her WWE run, it was still quite fun. The Roxanne Perez match in particular is a standout.

[ohtani's jacket]

Who were these 200;+ people who didn't vote for Fujiwara? Name them.

 

 

[MidasGloves]

Blue Panther very clearly gained places due to all the Danielson marks (myself included) rushing to watch his old tape after Bryan called him his favorite, but he's also just been showing out like crazy as of late with a series of excellent sprints with Ultimo Guerrero, great trios/tag work, a real intrinsic understanding of what the Arena Mexico crowd wants, and of course showcases of his matwork with not just Danielson but Xelhua & Moriarty both in CMLL and the US. I can't say what I watched justified putting him above guys like Park, Casas, Rey or Santito but it was enough to get on the ballot in the bottom quarter.

Fujiwara is a guy who was regrettably in the "clearly excellent but I wasn't able to watch enough to fit on my ballot without it feeling performative" zone for me alongside Bockwinkel. Him dropping places while having the craziest Top 25 turnout so far really shows that like Bock it likely just is a matter of people like me not seeing enough to know he deserves better. Definitely one of the first guys I'll do a deeper dive on.

Meiko is just so cool and it's cool she got as high as 45th even if her recent retirement has put her on the minds of many. A great mixture of athletic and physical with impressive longevity only eclipsed by the insane run of her rival in Kong. She's got great matches in every era of her career, even her baffling stretch in NXT UK of all places (A real "What's a polar bear doing in Austin, TX" run) where she worked with great talent like KLR, Jinny & Perez (plus a Bayley house show match we luckily have tape of). Her Stardom & Senjo & other mid-10s work were what clued me into her and helped me see how good her opponents in those matches (Io, Mayu, Chihiro, Kana, etc.) were.

Andre gaining spots is also unexpected and a really cool result. I think he was getting pushed a lot in opposition to the prevailing theory that he wasn't good because he could barely move in his final years but it's nice to see both more eyes on younger Andre work and the ingenuity that made his slower work resonate so much anyway. He's a blueprint that other giant wrestlers, including ones I had near or above him on my ballot, likely needed to exist to succeed as much as they did.