GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[highflyflow]

23 hours ago, club said:

Tenzan finishing so high is a mad one. Once we were into the 400s I just assumed he got zero votes.

I'm actually surprised he wasn't higher

[highflyflow]

14 hours ago, donsem43 said:

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

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.

The awesome bloodbath with Ozaki in 1999, too.

[Microstatistics]

Yes looking at magnitude of the WoS drops, I don't think even Breaks is going to make it at this point. Buddy Rose might be ok based on that clear stand-out of an ecosystem premise (one I largely agree with) but we'll see. The territory guys and US mid-carders are clearly on thin ice.

#219

Rey Hechicero

My heaviest hitter (#29) to drop yet. Already one of the all time great luchadors. The August 2013 Charles Lucero match is a zenith very few wrestlers have reached.

#212

Cody Rhodes

Probably better than his dad and definitely better than his brother. My #83.

#210

Steve Grey

Slotted him at #44 as my highest British wrestler. Contender for best babyface in history.

#209

Edge

He already had a solid resume by 2005 but that's when he really hit his straps and was one of the better wrestlers in North America for the second half of the decade. Put him at #74 even without getting to practically any of his AEW run.

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Steve Grey not making the top 200 is disappointing. If you are a Steve Grey fan, you know this is wrong. My only solace is that cad was the high voter. 

[KB8]

I would probably rather watch HHH than Seth Rollins, for whatever that's worth (not a lot, I'm sure). 

 

Spoiler

#480

Mascarita Sagrada

One of the most spectacular minis ever. The Espectrito match probably holds up as a classic and I should watch it again today.

 

#479

Tsukasa Fujimoto

Not familiar with our good friend Tsukasa Fujimoto. Maybe by 2036. 

 

 

#478

Taiji Ishimori

Haven't really thought about Ishimori in probably 20 years. Had some juniors tag stuff in the mid-2000s that I found okay but it's not something I'd revisit any time soon. 

 

 

#477

Yukari Ohmori

I actually quite liked the Dump match even though that stuff isn't really for me, but Ohmori has never done much for me. The Devil match from 8/86 is good but I was into Devil's performance more than anything else. Cool that she got some support this time around, though. 

 

 

#476

Silver King

There's a lot of fun Silver King out there. 

 

#475

"Little" Spike Dudley

Hard to find a wilder bumper than our man Spike. 

 

 

#474

Ricky Marvin

Another guy I haven't thought about in nearly two decades. 

 

 

#473

Dick the Bruiser

 

#473

Maybe the most bruiser-looking of all pro wrestling bruisers. The scowl is iconic. 

 

#472

Antonino Rocca

I couldn't tell you the last time I watched an Antonio Rocca match. 

 

 

#471

Kenichiro Arai

I've seen none of the Arai over the past 10ish years that has gotten a lot of talk in recent years. I only really know him as the Dragon Gate guy with the hard head. I should watch the GENTARO match. 

 

 

#470

David Von Erich

David was good. Probably could've been really good. 

 

#469

Yoshiaki Yatsu

Had one of the best bulldogs ever. Could watch him and Tenryu leather each other every day. 

 

 

#468

Tatsuo Nakano

Nakano is a personal favourite, though not someone I really considered and I'm not sure why. A real shoot style pit bull who was never afraid to get hit in the face, and it seemed to lead to him getting his nose splattered in 95% of the matches he was ever in. The Funaki match is also a stone cold classic and one of the best sub-10-minute matches ever. 

 

 

#467

"Hakushi" Jinsei Shinzaki

The WWF run had some very decent stuff and the Bret matches are good. Fun big man in MPro and has an All Japan run for the purists. I think my favourite stretch of his career though is him and Gannosuke trying to kill each other in FMW. 

 

 

#466

Bestia Salvaje

Pretty much an incredible scumbag rudo. If this was a top 120 he'd have made my list. The perfect devil on your shoulder, enough to even convince Santo to convert to the dark side. 

 

 

#465

Mr. Gannosuke

Him and Shinzaki finishing so close in the end is cool. I feel like I could watch the majority of Gannosuke's FMW run and enjoy it. 

 

 

#464

Abdullah Kobayashi

I watched some Kobayashi deathmatches back in the day, at least one that was on a Schneider Comp. I think he's still going as well, isn't he?

 

 

#463

Ole Anderson

Ole was a late cut. I've come around big time on him and as a no-nonsense brawler sort he pretty much rules. Super believable and even if I never took this into account specifically when putting my list together, his promos are about as good as they come in terms of reinforcing his character as someone who will properly fuck you up. Great tag wrestler, mean as fuck but also a super fun stooge. Any new Ole Omni footage that might drop on the WWE Vault is exciting. Ole was pretty great. 

 

 

#462

Pedro Morales

He had a great leapfrog. 

 

 

#461

The Ultimate Warrior

Look, he is what he is. Not exactly one for the purists, but his energy was remarkable and he has a wee handful of tremendous matches, even if his opponent was the driving force of those. Really fun apron worker in tag matches and that might sound like a backhanded compliment but I assure you it's not. 

 

#460

Shocker

I never really got it with Shocker when I went back and watched a lot of his 90s stuff. Then around the mid-2010s he'd show up on CMLL TV and be ridiculously fun and then there was the Casas stuff that ruled. Since re-watched some 00s Shocker and yeah, he was very decent. 

 

 

#459

Pete Dunne

Feels like he's been around forever. He's alright, I guess.

 

 

#458

Tatsuhito Takaiwa

Always a pretty entertaining bruiser meathead teaming with Ohtani and Kanemoto against Liger and co. 

 

 

#457

Jon Cortez

Another guy I need to deep dive. 

 

 

#456

Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Fell off my list this time and I regret letting that happen, but also 100 spots isn't a lot when you're looking at all of wrestling history. An awesome tag wrestler and I said it when Hector dropped, but the Guerreros were a tremendous tag team. Chavo also has the benefit of a more prominent singles run and has a few terrific singles matches under his belt, like the Mr Olympia match and the Bockwinkel match we got from NWA On Demand. He's got a really strong resume of TV stuff throughout the 80s. Yeah, Chavo ruled and I wish I voted for him again.

 

 

#455

Le Petit Prince

Talked about Prince the other day. Had him at #98.

 

 

#454

Adrian Street

Someone whose career I should probably in its entirety because what I've already seen is excellent. The Breaks match is a real MOTDC.

 

 

#453

Ken Wayne Shamrock

Shoot style Shamrock is a hoot and the Sano bout is one of the best ever wrestled in that style. Has some fun pro style stuff as well, including the Vader match and the awesome 3-minute dungeon match with Owen. 

 

 

#452

Blue Demon

How much Blue Demon do we even have? 

 

#451

Pat O'Connor

The Murdoch match is a blast. I haven't really jumped into any of the older footage so maybe I should do something about that. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Ronnie Garvin is an interesting case. There was a real push in 2016 to highlight what a great worker Garvin was instead of being sandbagged as the worst guy to win the NWA title. Now that he's slipped back to where he was before, I wonder if that's a true reflection of where he stands and perhaps 2016 was an outlier. 

[Garbage]

Kandori still being in is pretty awesome. I'm gonna hate her finishing below Randy Orton.

I watched a couple of those 2008 Edge/Undertaker matches recently and it reinforced my hatred of how Edge worked around that time. He gets even worse by 2010.

I don't think Cody Rhodes has ever actually been good. Does some things well but never actually been overall good. The all time bad Mania match this year didn't help my enthusiasm.

Really cool to see Tarzan Goto make it this far all things considered. I don't know what his current general rep is outside of the Japanese indy sleaze obsessives but I had him in my bottom 10 just for always delivering whats advertised. And what's advertised always looks like a good time.

[highflyflow]

2 minutes ago, Garbage said:

I watched a couple of those 2008 Edge/Undertaker matches recently and it reinforced my hatred of how Edge worked around that time. He gets even worse by 2010.

Truly one of the most dreadful guys on the roster after a certain point 

[ohtani's jacket]

Peak Edge may be the Matt Hardy feud. 

[Tetsujin]

I really like the Undertaker series, WM and the HIAC specially. His WrestleMania XXIV performance is pretty good, I love his countergame on Taker. Edge is also the last guy to ever bring something great out of Rollins, so there's that

[Childs]

41 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Steve Grey not making the top 200 is disappointing. If you are a Steve Grey fan, you know this is wrong. My only solace is that cad was the high voter. 

Yeah, I had him at 27 but not surprised he fell. The British candidates never gained the traction with this expanded voter base that they had in 2016. 

[El-P]

Grand Hamada : He ran so Tiger Mask could fly. Something like that. Loved him as an already old guy (aka younger than me now... fucking kill me) in MPro showing the young generation how lucharesu was done before a certain Mr. Arai even thought of going to Mexico.

Satoshi Kojima : took one of the coolest shit Kobashi did and turned it into just shit. Basically Riki Choshu if he picked up spots against every great guy he worked against. Managed to build himself into a great worker in the dreaded Japanese naughties. 

Tam Nakano. My gateway to Stardom. Yes, the hype was Syuri vs Utami, but then there was this magical girl looking fella, all uWu uWu, kawaii desu yô and stuff, and then the bell rings and she would FUCK PEOPLE UP. Just an awesome worker and awesome character. Her retirement match will remain an all-time classic for the ages.

Invader 1 : ahhh, remember when he was all the hype of the moment and I called him "Everyone new favorite's murderer", and people got all pissy and triggered and shit. Good times.

Paul Ordnorff. I even enjoyed washed up Orndorff in Pretty Powerful. That's how much I enjoyed Paul Orndnorff.

Raven : Did I ever mentioned how much I was a Raven fan ? I think I did. Probably not enough time. I LOVED Raven. It made me sad to see him struggle with health issues lately. Shine on you crazy diamond...

Cody Rhodes : no one can work a tear like Cody. He also resolved racism, haven't you heard ? Quite the worker really, as he hooked up with the coolest and most revolutionary people of the last 30 years on the indies to make people forget he was a WWE coded nepo-baby. That's being a true carny.

I wonder how Edge haters are gonna cope with him being this high....

[Boss Rock]

24 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Peak Edge may be the Matt Hardy feud. 

The Matt Hardy cage match is probably the best escape rules cage match in WWE history.

[El-P]

2 Cold Scorpio. 2 Decades 2 Soon

Takeshita & Ricochet : the now.

[NotJayTabb]

As the person who nominated her, Bayley was one of my last 10 cuts. Comfortably the best of the Horsewomen in my opinion, the fact that she managed really smart, really good matches with Eva Marie and rookie year Nia Jax remains a major feather in her cap. Then adjusting from being one of the great babyface workers into being a really fun heel showed some great range. Shame she didn't end up higher.

And on the subject of all-time great babyfaces, Steve Grey not cracking the top 200 isn't shocking, but it is depressing. He's a guy who leapt about 60 places from my 2016 ballot, just a terrific wrestler, just so easy to root for. Not as good as Edge though, apparently 

[Matt D]

200 is the new 100.

[gungan]

Gage: awesome methcore worker. Those H8 Club vs Necro/Klein matches from 2005 are top tier demented arena brawls.

Thatcher: it hurts seeing him so low. There was a good 10 year period when he was consistently one of the best workers in the world. He was a great throwback without succumbing to empty nostalgia bait.

Rollins: standard CrossFit cultist who has stamina for days but his form and execution are all over the place. I can't think of many wrestlers I'd rather not watch.

HHH: egomaniac who tanked loads of matches with his intrepid heel bullshit (e.g. the 2000 Royal Rumble match). Plus he ruined the 2003 Elimination Chamber match. Fuck him.

Orange Cassidy: I kinda considered him, which I would've never guessed before he signed with AEW. His CHIKARA stuff run was merely fun and I actively hated his Cassidy stuff on the indies (too self-conscious, too hyper ironic). The best underdog face in the world if Darby doesn't exist?

Evans: I love him. The tag team with Roddy was great, he's one of the best guys in that schizo Cage of Death match, and that Boston crab Danielson put him in was sick. He would've been a great Fuchi opponent.

Tam Nakano: I need to see more of her. My general impression of her is that she's basically a wrestling version of one of those vtubers like Korone or Suzuhara Lulu who have a kawaii exterior but are actual psychos who will fuck your shit up (complimentary).

Cody: below his brother and father. As it should be.

Edge: below Christian. As it should be.

[Mattsdmf]

Too Cold Scorpio: #71 on my list.  I'm shocked how low he dropped on this compared to last year.  That's really sad.

[KB8]

Spoiler

#450

Ivan Koloff

I like Uncle Ivan. There's really fun stuff there deep into the 80s. 

 

 

#449

Dolph Ziggler

Not really a Ziggler guy. Always found it hard to take him seriously and it might be the name. 

 

 

#448

Jamie Hayter

Haven't seen a lot of Hayter. She's had a few matches on some of the AEW TV I've had on in the background recently and she was wearing tartan so I thought she was Scottish but her accent does not suggest she's Scottish at all. Thus, I am conflicted. 

 

 

#447

Super Astro

Really fun. Someone I could watch dance and jump around all day, fun on the mat, great at taking a beating. A pretty awesome pro wrestler. 

 

 

#446

Giulia

I still don't think I've seen a Giulia match. As a matter of fact, I still don't know how to pronounce her name. 

 

 

#445

Killer Khan

I like Khan a lot as a shrieking big menace with a killer kneedrop. He's got a decent handful of awesome matches to his name as well. 

 

 

#444

Mocho Cota

Spoke about Cota the other day. My #95.

 

#443

Miyu Yamashita

A joshi candidate who's younger than me? Couldn't tell you a single thing. Let me get caught up on the 00s joshi before the new stuff. 

 

 

#442

Scott "Flash" Norton

I kinda love Norton. Awesome barrel-chested brute who will chop you in half if given the chance. 

 

 

#441

Umaga

Sure, there's some fun Umaga out there. 

 

 

#440

Gail Kim

I've only seen a couple matches from the TNA run, which is where I'm guessing her case is made. 

 

 

#439

Super Crazy

The Tajiri matches are a blast. 

 

 

#438

Naoya Ogawa

A proper AURA candidate. Very few wrestlers in history come off as a dangerous maniac like Ogawa. I know it wasn't good for business (to put it mildly) but the Hashimoto stuff is also incredible pro wrestling. 

 

 

#437

Bob Orton Jr.

I have a story about Bob Orton Jr. About 20 years ago, my best friend and I were sitting in my house playing my brother's X-Box. We wouldn't have left high school yet so I guess it was either during summer or we just decided to skip it that day, because we were drinking beers and playing one of those WWE Smackdown! games. You can do a Royal Rumble mode and when the wrestler you pick gets eliminated you can then take control of a new entrant that comes into the ring. I don't remember who either of us picked originally but by the end of the royal rumble my friend was Randy Orton and I was Bob Orton Jr. We were very not sober, let me stress this. We decided to team up and eliminate everyone else and at the end it was down to both of us and someone else. He eliminated whoever else was in there and then I immediately eliminated him, betraying him. As I did it my friend shouted, "NO, BOB ORTON MA DA!" which in Scottish terms mean "No, Bob Orton, my father!" You had to be there. Either way Bob Orton ma da became a running joke that we still use to this day. Bob Orton, Orton's da, is better than Randy Orton. I should've voted for him. 

 

 

#436

"Crusher" Jerry Blackwell

Talked about Blackwell. 

 

 

#435

"The Franchise" Shane Douglas

There's never been a point in my life where I've thought of Shane Douglas as being all that good so a #6 overall vote is some madness. 

 

#434

Stan Lane

Love Lane. Think I voted for him last time and wanted to again, but just couldn't fit him on the list. 

 

 

#433

Ray Stevens

There isn't a lot of Stevens I've seen that makes me think he was all that great. Maybe we need some footage of his peak. 

 

 

#432

"Love Machine" Art Barr

A supreme heat-seeking maniac for a minute there. 

 

 

#431

Toru Yano

Don't have much of anything to say about Yano, unfortunately. Maybe for 2036. 

 

 

#430

Minoru Tanaka

Not really a Tanaka fan. Maybe my least favourite wrestler who showed up fairly regularly in Battlarts. 

 

 

#429

Momo Watanabe

People really like Stardom. 

 

#428

Yoji Anjoh

Talked about him. Amazing wrestler. 

 

 

#427

Shiro Koshinaka

There was a period after the New Japan 80s set where I wouldn't have watched a Koshinaka match again even if you'd payed me. I don't remember what I hated about 80s Koshinaka on that set, but clearly I hated something. New Japan v WAR Koshinaka is a different story and old man Koshinaka driving his hip bone into someone's face I could get behind for sure. But there was a huge gap between good Koshinaka and bad Koshinaka. I've since gone back and re-watched some of the 80s stuff, in particular the Takada feud, and all of it was fine and even one of the Takada matches was tremendous, so I'm not sure what my issue was way back. He's not my favourite but Koshinaka is fine with me. 

 

 

#426

Kane

What are we doing here?

 

[Grimmas]

So... the mohammad's are determined to be the same voter, thus the list has changed.

I'll post a new thread with a proper list, but one change is Too Cold Scorpio is now #199, not #200.

Super Dragon is #200. I'll correct things tommorrow.

[DMJ]

Kyoko Inoue not cracking the top 200 is a shocker for me, though I guess she did at least move up from #217 to #204. In 2006, she was #65. I had her at #30 on my list.

With Takeshita making #206, I'm thinking Darby Allin will make the 100, which is crazy because he was not on the 2016 list. I wouldn't be mad at it either. I have him at #61.