GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Stephen- said:

Iwatani and Shirai. And I think Asuka?

I was referring to the Japan working wrestlers, but yes, of course, Shirai and Asuka also.

[El-P]

44 minutes ago, Tetsujin said:

Yeah this is hella interesting. At this pace I wonder if the one finishing on top will get more than, let's say 75% of total ballots.

Ok. I bet the guy who get the highest % is gonna be Danielson. 

[ohheylook]

no WOS guys in the top 100 is brutal

[Grimmas]

5 minutes ago, El-P said:

Ok. I bet the guy who get the highest % is gonna be Danielson. 

He's fourth.

[El-P]

Ok, so neither Young Bucks made the top 100, and barely 1/4 of the people voted for them. Therefore I disqualify 3/4 of the voters. 😎 Well, I won't repeat what I already said about the Bucks. The GOATs. 

Tiger Mask. Yeah, we get it people, he wasn't the first to do lucha libre inspired shit in Japan. But he's still easily one of the most influential worker ever. Also, he kinda rules in UWF, doing stupid-ass pro-style in the middle of the early shoot-style stuff.

Lou Thesz. Back then pro-wrestling was realistic. *checks Lou doing silly stooging and bumping* Yeah, no, actually, forget that.

[ohheylook]

how do you have 18.6k posts here

[El-P]

1 minute ago, Grimmas said:

He's fourth.

Damn, spoiler alert ! Fourth, uh ? Hum... So probably Flair (yawn) and some of the old canonical favorites (you know the ones). Fourth seems *low* for Danielson. Now, the % will be interesting too.

[ohtani's jacket]

19 minutes ago, El-P said:

Yes, I know. But you know what I mean. To me it's super interesting that, even putting Rikidozan apart, the two most influential wrestlers in Japan in the 80's (the other one being Riki Choshu) are coming from Korean families. And I wonder if that ever played a part, even unconsciously, in what they brought to Japanese wrestling. Both pushed the style further, pushed the intensity, both were seen as rebels and anti-system heroes. If I believe Choshu's Wiki, he was prevented from representing Japan at the 72 Olympics because he was seen as Korean, and when it happened it actually competed for South Korea. I wonder if a certain experience of racism pushed both of them to shake the Japanese pro-wrestling system and aesthetics, going toward heated Japanese vs Japanese stars, moving away from the US gaijin stars, Choshu pushing the pace like crazy, Maeda changing the dynamics with doing the clean job as a huge star to build the new generation, something neither Inoki nor Baba were willing to do. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Still, it's a topic I'd love to hear more about from the concerned people, but sadly, unless a totally shoot documentary about that topic comes up, we'll never know.

Akira Maeda is a nationalist with conservative beliefs that wouldn't sit well with you. 

[Tetsujin]

Breaks out of the top 100, therefore no WOS representation, saddens me. Breaks in particular was an unbelievable wrestler, he has become my favourite heel of all time over the years. Definitely one of the biggest feats of 2016's GWE.

I'm shocked Abdullah made it higher than Thesz or Race (and we're yet to see how much higher!). I'm even more shocked Megumi Kudo still hasn't shown. And Christian Cage sneakily getting closer and closer to the top 100 intrigues me.

[ohheylook]

Kudo pretty easily the most shocking one to me that is still alive and she's in my #1 match of all time.

[El-P]

Just now, ohtani's jacket said:

Akira Maeda is a nationalist with conservative beliefs that wouldn't sit well with you. 

Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I mean, at this point, I expect *nothing* from anyone anymore on the puroresu scene. Who isn't a conservative in Japanese wrestling would be more the question (apart from ZSJ of course).

Lioness Asuka dropped. Well, I've seen way too much of her egoistical bullshit in the late 90's/early 00's to really care one way or another. She was always the Robert Gibson of the Crush Gals anyway. Kinda.

[ohheylook]

1 minute ago, Tetsujin said:

Breaks out of the top 100, therefore no WOS representation, saddens me. Breaks in particular was an unbelievable wrestler, he has become my favourite heel of all time over the years. Definitely one of the biggest feats of 2016's GWE.

I'm shocked Abdullah made it higher than Thesz or Race (and we're yet to see how much higher!). I'm even more shocked Megumi Kudo still hasn't shown. And Christian Cage sneakily getting closer and closer to the top 100 intrigues me.

Please don't wish ill will on Abby, we need him top 50.

As far as no WOS stuff, yes, it's pretty shocking but it does seem like since OJ did all the legwork leading up to the last vote, there has been a lot less interest. Breaks was my #2 European wrestler, I believe, but he is the ONE that should be in the top 100, imo.

[El-P]

Harley Race. I remember the days of people began hating on Harley because he was doing "too much moves". Fun times (nah, not really, it was embarrassing for the people involved, really). Harley's matches with Baba in the seventies, my god.

[cad]

I really just want to get down to the final hundred names so I don't have to sit here sweating about whether anyone I'm rooting for made the final list. If you're in the top 100 then it's all gravy. This is the most brutal part of the reveal, not even close.

I'm sure it would be different if I were heavily invested in anyone who had a shot at number one.

[ohheylook]

@cad did you post your list anywhere? Very curious on your rankings.

[ohtani's jacket]

Not that uspet about Breaks. He's in good company with Lou Thesz. 

[Shrike02]

I adore the Destroyer. Had him ranked super high. Glad someone ranked him #1. Him falling out of the top 100 is quite aggravating.

[El-P]

The high point of the Destroyer pimping happened during the 2006 edition, mostly thanks to JDW. Hence the super high result at the time. We loved the Destroyer on SC.

[ZubazKid]

Looking forward to the drops tomorrow with the expectation at least half of them will be a casualty from my list. But we’ve made it this far & like many others have pointed out, it’s about the journey. Since this project was announced I’ve been watching footage like I was cramming for a test for 5 years, before having to cast my ballot either right before or right after I reached madness, and the jury’s still out. But I will say the only way I was able to find a path was due to recommendations, playlists & footage sources from this community past & present. So thanks for all that contributed to my journey to this list.

[cad]

2 hours ago, ohheylook said:

@cad did you post your list anywhere? Very curious on your rankings.

No, I'm gonna do an after action report when my last guy has fallen. I'll spoil it now and tell you that it won't be very interesting. It's a list born of ignorance and sloth. But they say this is about the journey, and I've been closed minded and lazy for well over ten years now.

[Microstatistics]

So #150 is the mark after which many of the big names from 2016 are dropping out, not unexpectedly I suppose.

#136

Matt Jackson

#124

Nick Jackson

Didn't rank (or even really consider) them but I do like them. Individually talented and they would have ranked fairly highly on a tag list.

 

#135

Darby Allin

My #77. Maybe the best TV worker ever, alongside Chris Benoit.

#130

The Undertaker

I ending up putting him at #26. Perhaps a little too high, but maybe not since his resume is better than most.

#128

Akira Maeda

Finished with him at #57 but I think maybe he should have been Top 50. A menace on offense but surprisingly good at working from underneath.

#126

The Destroyer

At #60, he didn't rank as highly for me as I envisioned, but he was still a maestro. That #1 vote is awesome.

#121

Lou Thesz

Noo, so close yet so far away from the main list. Underrated him at #49, should probably have been 30s or higher. Probably the wrestler of the 1950s but could go well into the 1970s.

#119

Jim Breaks

He held out fairly well actually but the fall was inevitable, considering how the other WoS guys have fared. My #47. The 2/12/1972 Adrian Street bout was the match of that decade.

[El Boricua]

62 remain from my ballot, let's see how many survive tomorrow's final drops before the top 100.

[Boss Rock]

81 still on mine, only 2 in my top 50 have fallen (1 was my number 20).

[Ricky Jackson]

48 left for me. Good thing I finally got into old school Joshi in the last few years, otherwise my list would be totally busted.

Ya know cuz I'm such old man desperately clinging to my territory heroes...

[Reel]

Boy, that Nigel placement makes it increasingly hard to believe that having matches in AEW isn’t good for like 30 votes.