GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[ohtani's jacket]

13 hours ago, Reel said:

It’s pretty much all there on YouTube, people just have to watch it, it’s not that it isn’t available. I do think as OJ has mentioned it doesn’t really have a discourse, but it’s not a matter of being hard to find. 

I think lucha needs more people involved like cad who offer takes. I might not always agree with the things he says about lucha, but it's always interesting and always thought-provoking. If there was more discourse surrounding the lucha candidates, you could start comparing them to the top guys on the list instead of simply comparing them to other luchadores. In my mind, there's very little that separates Negro Casas and Terry Funk as wrestlers. You should be able to have a discussion about which of them is better, but we're not there yet because I don't think we've full distilled what it is that makes Casas a great wrestler. 

The other thoughts I have about lucha is that I think because its been dismissed in the past, I think there's a tendency for people to try to shield or protect it. I can understand where that instinct compares from, but I think the mentality of "don't say anything bad about lucha" prevents the discourse from growing.

Access wise, it would be great if there was a way for fans to find out that you need to watch these three lead-in matches and the apuestas, or that these half a dozen matches showcase a particular rivalry. I don't think that information is easy to pin down. Just having a quick and easy list of the best matches from 1993 AAA or 1992 CMLL would be helpful. 

Then, I think you have to acknowledge that lucha, at least the classic lucha that I love, is closer in spirit to the US territories than a lot of modern stuff, and since those workers took a dip, there's nothing to suggest that people would necessarily love old-school lucha. There's also a problem with fans who like to see a laundry list of four star matches and above. That was always a problem with lucha. You had matches that showcased the artistry of lucha and lucha in its purest, most beautiful form, but there wasn't a list of all of the four star matches that El Hijo del Santo had. 

That said, i don't really know how people consume wrestling these days. This is simply based on what I've seen over the last 20 years. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I think Terry Funk is a great wrestler. One of the best ever. However, it would be nice if one or two matches dropped from his prime because when I see people comment that other people aren't volume workers it always makes me wonder why Terry gets a past on this. To me, he's a total performance-based candidate (including promo ability, if I'm being honest.)  I know we have great Terry Funk matches on tape, but I wonder if I'm the only one who raises half an eyebrow at this. 

[El McKell]

Terry Funk has tonnes of volume of stuff though. What do you think is his prime and why doesn’t AJPW stuff from 76-77 count as part of it?

[ohtani's jacket]

29 minutes ago, El McKell said:

Terry Funk has tonnes of volume of stuff though. What do you think is his prime and why doesn’t AJPW stuff from 76-77 count as part of it?

I would consider the mid-70s to be Funk's prime, at least athletically speaking. The AJPW stuff adds to the volume of footage, but I'm assuming that volume of work refers to the number of great matches we have from a worker. I should really have said one or two more great matches from his prime. A quick glance at cagematch (for argument's sake) tells me that Funk only has around 25 matches rated over 8.00 for his entire career. That doesn't seem like a lot for a top 2 guy of all-time. Quite possibly the lowest of anyone in the top 10. There are other reasons to love Funk, and perhaps a lot of his stuff is underrated, but if Bret isn't a volume guy (as has been stated) then how is Funk any better? 

[Matt D]

You should go out and see what it's like out there for a couple of weeks. Not right now since the top of the list and the whole list will make things rough, but maybe in a month. Don't stay there, but just dip your toes. 

Current wrestling is very cagematch/star rating oriented maybe with arguments about specific spots. Old wrestling tends to be more performance based/clip based/attribute based/summation driven in how it's discussed. (Unless you're talking about Kurt Angle never getting a five star match which comes up once every three months and is very painful).

[TRMD]

5 hours ago, Mantaur Rodeo Clown said:

The fact there are apparently “people” who think that Danielson should have come out and had some massive violent rage-fuelled brawl, in the opening match of the PPV, in that situation, with the storyline well established that he would have to wrestle again later that night and overcome adversity, goes to show how little people actually understand wrestling and booking a show. 
 

It made you “lose respect” for Danielson? What are you, a mark? His character is smart enough to try conserve his energy and start a match cautiously against a dangerous opponent, knowing he has to wrestle a triple threat match later if he wins. He even has a big bandage over his shoulder to scream to ROW ZZ: “hey folx, this guy is injured and the underdog!” Apparently you aren’t smart enough to watch a product that even 10 year old children routinely say is fake and gay. 
 

These are the kinds of cretins who I’m sure loved when Ospreay kicked out of 40 false finishes against Fletcher and then came back to wrestle another match against Okada and kick out of another 40 finishes to diminishing returns while looking like a used tampon. Hang on, I have a pair of keys around here somewhere I can jingle for you. 

Do you guys I think I wanted the entire match to be a Hansen style brawl? Can you read, bub? I’m talking about the start of the match. Literally the first minute.

And I’d rather be curb stomped by Doug Furnas than watch one Ospreay match, let alone 2 in the same night. That’s one of the most absurd correlations I’ve ever seen. The person who wanted BRYAN DANIELSON to brawl a little at Mania is also the same guy that wants to watch two Ospreay avengers style epics? What in the absolute hell is the through line there?

Itd be like saying “there are really idiots that want Wemby to get in the post and bang? I bet those same idiots love when the Celtics shoot 60 3’s in a game.”

[Grimmas]

3 hours ago, El-P said:

Anywoo. Just drop the 1-2 already.

Around 6 pm est

[EnviousStupid]

I said a few years ago somewhere that on the basis of his All Japan work alone, Terry could sneak into the top 30 of my GWE, and I'd still stand by that. Plenty of great matches for my taste, whether across singles or tags, working technical or brawling, sub-10 minutes or going much longer.

[ohtani's jacket]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

You should go out and see what it's like out there for a couple of weeks. Not right now since the top of the list and the whole list will make things rough, but maybe in a month. Don't stay there, but just dip your toes. 

Current wrestling is very cagematch/star rating oriented maybe with arguments about specific spots. Old wrestling tends to be more performance based/clip based/attribute based/summation driven in how it's discussed. (Unless you're talking about Kurt Angle never getting a five star match which comes up once every three months and is very painful).

I read Twitter a bit, but it's hard to follow the discussions. Reddit is easier for this old man to follow. 

[El-P]

21 minutes ago, Grimmas said:

Around 6 pm est

Probably gonna see it tomorrow. End of an era coming up.

[Robert S]

Re. the Lucha discussion: I have struggled to get into Lucha for maybe 25 years now, at one point I just gave up. Thing is, stylistically it (and I realize that is a very broad generalization) is just such a big outlier to every other style of pro wrestling (or at least surviving style, Europe obviously also was drastically different from the USA/Japanese spectrum we have got basically everywhere but Mexico (and I guess Central America) for the past 30+ years). Looking at the different facets, I have always found the "title match" to be the most approachable kind of Lucha (something that could happen very closely in other places of the world as well) with trios matches being the most inaccessible one. Seriously, after all the trios matches I have seen, I am still struggling to get (or maybe enjoy) even basic psychology of those matches (besides basically every match ending up in a terciera caida). And I just assume I am not the only one having such issues.

That is one reason why I never participate in these kind of polls, I find it hard to vote knowing that I am not fair to a big (and somewhat mainstream) portion of pro wrestling. 

[Tetsujin]

3 minutes ago, Robert S said:

That is one reason why I never participate in these kind of polls, I find it hard to vote knowing that I am not fair to a big (and somewhat mainstream) portion of pro wrestling. 

If you watched it and didn't like it, why would you have the need to vote for it? It's not about being unfair, it's about you not enjoying it. 

[TRMD]

6 minutes ago, Robert S said:

Re. the Lucha discussion: I have struggled to get into Lucha for maybe 25 years now, at one point I just gave up. Thing is, stylistically it (and I realize that is a very broad generalization) is just such a big outlier to every other style of pro wrestling (or at least surviving style, Europe obviously also was drastically different from the USA/Japanese spectrum we have got basically everywhere but Mexico (and I guess Central America) for the past 30+ years). Looking at the different facets, I have always found the "title match" to be the most approachable kind of Lucha (something that could happen very closely in other places of the world as well) with trios matches being the most inaccessible one. Seriously, after all the trios matches I have seen, I am still struggling to get (or maybe enjoy) even basic psychology of those matches (besides basically every match ending up in a terciera caida). And I just assume I am not the only one having such issues.

That is one reason why I never participate in these kind of polls, I find it hard to vote knowing that I am not fair to a big (and somewhat mainstream) portion of pro wrestling. 

Exactly me. The single biggest reason I didn’t vote in 2016.

[ohtani's jacket]

3 hours ago, Robert S said:

Re. the Lucha discussion: I have struggled to get into Lucha for maybe 25 years now, at one point I just gave up. Thing is, stylistically it (and I realize that is a very broad generalization) is just such a big outlier to every other style of pro wrestling (or at least surviving style, Europe obviously also was drastically different from the USA/Japanese spectrum we have got basically everywhere but Mexico (and I guess Central America) for the past 30+ years). Looking at the different facets, I have always found the "title match" to be the most approachable kind of Lucha (something that could happen very closely in other places of the world as well) with trios matches being the most inaccessible one. Seriously, after all the trios matches I have seen, I am still struggling to get (or maybe enjoy) even basic psychology of those matches (besides basically every match ending up in a terciera caida). And I just assume I am not the only one having such issues.

That is one reason why I never participate in these kind of polls, I find it hard to vote knowing that I am not fair to a big (and somewhat mainstream) portion of pro wrestling. 

In that case, I would recommend skipping trios matches. You miss some of the build for the singles matches but most of that you can live without. A lot of lucha fans are so familiar with the different trios match variations that I guess they naturally understand that "oh, it's gonna be this type of trios match" and then focus on tiny details like the matchup between wrestlers A and B in the second fall or how the third string storyline plays out.

The thing about trios matches is that the majority of them suck. Well, suck is probably too harsh, but it's not like they're constantly pumping out classic trios matches. Even seasoned lucha fans can get frustrated over which trios matches to watch, or are looking for tips from other folks about trios matches that feature a particularly interesting detail. An exciting trios match is a thing of beauty, though. 

[Matt D]

19 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

In that case, I would recommend skipping trios matches. You miss some of the build for the singles matches but most of that you can live without. A lot of lucha fans are so familiar with the different trios match variations that I guess they naturally understand that "oh, it's gonna be this type of trios match" and then focus on tiny details like the matchup between wrestlers A and B in the second fall or how the third string storyline plays out.

The thing about trios matches is that the majority of them suck. Well, suck is probably too harsh, but it's not like they're constantly pumping out classic trios matches. Even seasoned lucha fans can get frustrated over which trios matches to watch, or are looking for tips from other folks about trios matches that feature a particularly interesting detail. An exciting trios match is a thing of beauty, though. 

It's the journey that matters, not the destination!

[Grimmas]

Top 25s filtered by the decade people started watching will be posted after the #1/#2 reveal. They are interesting!

[El-P]

2 minutes ago, Grimmas said:

Top 25s filtered by the decade people started watching will be posted after the #1/#2 reveal. They are interesting!

Oh, I'm all about those ones ! 

[Boss Rock]

That should be cool.

[DR Ackermann]

The people have spoken. Correctly.

[Grimmas]

Top 25 for each decade in the reveal thread too.

[Stephen-]

What a neat result. Danielson is on for 2036. Though I doubt he performs this well again. This was his year, and he failed.

[El-P]

Holy shit Terry won ! Incredible ! That's pretty much the perfect winner. I'm sure Danielson himself would agree too.

The top 25 for each decade is fun. Unsurprisingly, I'm more in tune with the people who started watching in the 2020's despite having started in 1990 myself, considering the last 15 years (more or less) are the best pro-wrestling I've ever seen. Funny (and cool) to see Omega being rated top 20 by the oldest demo ! (and of course not by the 80's/90's people, who really are the peak of the pro-wrestling internet forums demo)

Anywoo. The Funkster won. Like he should, really. Funk you all !

[Boss Rock]

Funk was my number 10 and Bryan my number 5. But still, a very fitting number 1 and 2. There are parts of Funk's career I'm not huge on, but he was just fantastic for multiple decades in multiple promotions against multiple opponents. A dastardly yet cowardly heel in the U.S. and one of the most beloved babyfaces in Japan. A terrific brawler who adapted to the death match style perfectly. Had arguably the greatest match in North American history (Flair GAB). His selling could be cartoonish and over-the-top, but it was fitting in the cartoonish world of pro wrestling. There will never be another Terry Funk.

As for Bryan, he was the best wrestler of the 2000's. He was among the best in the world 2010's WWE. And he proved it again in 2020's AEW after what looked like a career-ending injury. He could play the badass and hard-hitting face. He could play the resilient underdog face. He could play the annoying douche heel. He could play the sadistic and punishing heel. There was nothing Bryan Danielson wasn't good at (except his tope). Just like there will never be another Terry Funk, I don't think there will ever be another Bryan Danielson.

[Boss Rock]

Thanks again @Grimmas for doing this. This was a lot of fun to participate in, especially for someone who discovered PWO because of the 2016 vote.

All in all, I think this was a really good top 100. Certainly a few placements I disagree with, but seeing voting trends and narratives was really fascinating.

[Tetsujin]

And this was it. It's been really fun, I'm gonna miss the forum being so alive again. But now my actual favourite part begins: the one when I start tracking wrestlers I don't know as much (or at all) that did somewhat ok on the list and watch some of their stuff.

Terry Funk is obviously an amazing winner. It's also really interesting how he managed to get such outstading result in a year were the pass of time didn't go as well for a lot of his contemporaries. It seems to me like every old school fan put all their efforts in keeping him high, maybe even at the cost of the rest. It's a fascinating poll to try to unfold, all things considered.

If/when we do this in 2036, my earliest and biggest prediction is that Will Ospreay will get really close to winning it, but either Kobashi or Danielson take it this time (very surprised to see the people who started watching in the 2020s ranking Kobashi at their #1).

 I'm actually planning a big project in spanish, to help people from Spain and Latin America to get closer to all the different pro wrestling through time and space, as our communities are mostly WWE and/or current wrestling fans. You'll probably be able to check it out on twitter soon. This GWE is gonna be a great thing to put a lot of people in search of new, different, excellent wrestling and I hope by 2036 I can help improve the spanish-speaking discourse and participation on it.

Thanks Grimmas and everyone involved.