GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't get the Nagata placing. I guess he has his fans from the 2010s. 

I also don't get the Abby placing after the territory guys came tumbling down. I guess the young people have an emotional connection with Abdullah the Butcher.

I just started watching Briscoes matches the other day. I have watched a grand total of two. They're nice. 

[Hollinger.]

Everyone was worried about how guys like HHH, Taker and Rollins were going to do with all the outsider ballots coming in, but I don't think there was ever any chance of them breaking through in a big way. None of the most extreme cases of WWE propaganda are picking up any votes with most of the PWO base, so it's just leaving them in the middle of the pack.

The actual push is going to be Bryan, Punk, Joe and Styles. The guys that already had support from the existing base that are also super popular among the normies. I'm sure there are guys that fit into that mold that I'm forgetting. Everyone is expecting Low Ki to drop soon, but he may have just enough cross over appeal. 

[Hollinger.]

I also think it's going to lead to a huge jump for Sting, who was a mid range guy already that will get a huge propaganda/nostalgia push.

[El Boricua]

Don't think anyone ranked so far has been on at least 40% of ballots yet. 

[Robert S]

3 hours ago, Boss Rock said:

Sabu, Nakamura, Hero, Baba, Inoki, Takayama.

Wait, Chris Hero is still in the running? WTF?

[El Dragon]

35 minutes ago, Hollinger. said:

Everyone was worried about how guys like HHH, Taker and Rollins were going to do with all the outsider ballots coming in, but I don't think there was ever any chance of them breaking through in a big way. None of the most extreme cases of WWE propaganda are picking up any votes with most of the PWO base, so it's just leaving them in the middle of the pack.

The actual push is going to be Bryan, Punk, Joe and Styles. The guys that already had support from the existing base that are also super popular among the normies. I'm sure there are guys that fit into that mold that I'm forgetting. Everyone is expecting Low Ki to drop soon, but he may have just enough cross over appeal. 

I think the voting process is fascinating because with so many votes it was very hard to tell what crowds would have major influence. For example, the crazy brawler route seems to have way more support then I thought possible: I had heard the hype for Abby and Dump and what not, but nowhere on my bingo card was Jun Kasai getting top 135 (and honestly it’s cool that he did) or Necro Butcher pushing hard for top 100.

 

I do think the 2 sub groups that have really pushed this time (other then the obvious Joshi push) are the 00’s Indy boom guys and new Japan diehards. The 00’s Indy guys that are left do have something almost nobody from the 80’s have: 15-20 cases of documented good wrestling on tape. Even past those big 4, guys like Roddy, Briscoe, Sami, Owens and Claudio just have tons of great work available out there, so them moving up makes sense. Even Low-Ki I can see moving up due to how easy to access he is (just show someone him the red clip and how can you not want to see more). 
 

2010’s New Japan is a more interesting one. We knew there would be plenty of support for the big 3(Okada, Tanahashi, Omega) and that the tier 2 guys (Naito and Ishii) were likely going to get in, the question was what I perceived as being the tier 3’s: Shibata, Suzuki, Ibushi, Nak. I think all 3 have some decent sized holes in their resumes (Shibata’s highs are great but the match to match consistency is iffy, Nak just spent a decade basically collecting a paycheck, Suzuki I feel is strongest but there are big gaps, and Ibushi is Ibushi, and I don’t know what else to say other then that). But now it looks like all 4 are getting on, when I honestly prefer Goto’s case to 3 of them. It was somewhat predictable, but I personally am a bit bummed about it.

[Tetsujin]

BURN THIS GOD DAMN PROJECT TO THE GROUND

[Matt D]

If Buddy was alive, this would have legitimately killed him.*
 

*he would have voted for himself five times with sock accounts so it wouldn’t be an issue in the first place.

[Ricky Jackson]

Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!

[El Boricua]

Glad Bruno and Dandy survived. Sadly, not surprised by Rose. And we still have not reached the 40% ballot threshold.

[Control21]

Some tough drops today. Buddy and Yoshida should have been ranked much higher. Losing ZSJ is also tough, but not entirely unexpected. 

I'm glad Volk, Tamura, Ishikawa, and Ikeda will all be in the top 100 though.

[Boss Rock]

I never in a million years would've expected either Nakamura OR KENTA to make it, let alone both. Which is funny because Nakamura is still a periphery guy for me but I would've thought the last decade killed his case. As for KENTA, yeah he proved he's still fairly solid since leaving NXT, but I never would have thought he added anything substantial to his case unless his return to Noah has been phenomenal.

Genuinely surprised by Jericho dropping. I know his AEW run has been very peaks and valleys, but I figured he still had a fair amount of goodwill with his constant reinventions.

Both Hero and Kingston making the top 100 is awesome. 

There are some gaps in my viewing of Takayama, but most everything I've seen has been real good. Genuinely surprised he ranked this high but it's also pretty cool.

Ikeda and Ishikhawa survive! Was really starting to doubt their chances.

I knew 2010's NJPW would do well, but only Okada, Tanahashi, Kenny, and Ospreay seemed like locks. Looks like they are indeed the biggest benefactors of this vote, even moreso than Joshi.

I didn't vote for a lot of U.S. territory guys and I think we all knew they would take a hit, but still pretty shocking how many of them dropped. 

 

[ohheylook]

Only 7 luchadors in the top 100, brutal. (not including eddie and rey)

[Tetsujin]

Low Ki in almost 200 ballots is insane. Get prepared for the big indie names to skyrocket.

There's some... Questionable names inside the top 100, but that's always expected (and we still need to see where they'll land). Really looking forward to the big thing. But damn I can't believe that Nakamura went on a strike since basically the last poll yet retained a spot. It's really hilarious.

[Grimmas]

The top 100: 

AJ Styles

Aja Kong

Akira Hokuto

Akira Taue

Andre the Giant

Antonio Inoki

Arn Anderson

Atsushi Onita

Barry Windham

Blue Panther

Bobby Eaton

Bret Hart

Brock Lesnar

Bruno Sammartino

Bryan Danielson

Bull Nakano

Chigusa Nagayo

Chris Benoit

Chris Hero

Claudio Castagnoli

CM Punk

Daisuke Ikeda

Devil Masami

Dump Matsumoto

Dustin Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes

Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Kingston

El Dandy

El Hijo del Santo

El Satanico

Genichiro Tenryu

Giant Baba

Gunther

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hulk Hogan

Io Shirai

Jaguar Yokota

Jay Briscoe

Jerry Lawler

John Cena

Jon Moxley

Jumbo Tsuruta

Jun Akiyama

Jushin Liger

Kana

Katsuyori Shibata

Kazuchika Okada

Keiji Mutoh

Kenny Omega

KENTA

Kenta Kobashi

Kevin Steen

Kiyoshi Tamura

Kota Ibushi

Kurt Angle

LA Park

Manami Toyota

Mayumi Ozaki

Meiko Satomura

Mercedes Mone'

Mick Foley

Minoru Suzuki

Mistico

Mitsuharu Misawa

Necro Butcher

Negro Casas

Nick Bockwinkel

Randy Savage

Rey Mysterio Jr.

Ric Flair

Ricky Morton

Ricky Steamboat

Riki Choshu

Roddy Piper

Roderick Strong

Sabu

Sami Zayn

Samoa Joe

Shawn Michaels

Shinobu Kandori

Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinya Hashimoto

Stan Hansen

Steve Austin

Sting

Tatsumi Fujinami

Terry Funk

Tetsuya Naito

The Rock

Tomohiro Ishii

Toshiaki Kawada

Tully Blanchard

Vader

Volk Han

Will Ospreay

William Regal

Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Yoshihiro Takayama

Yuki Ishikawa

 

[Boss Rock]

Jay Brisoce in the top 100 also rules, but I honestly think Mark should've been in there too. I would have understood a few years ago considering Jay had the singles run, but Mark has really proven himself the last few years.

[Boss Rock]

2 minutes ago, Grimmas said:

The top 100: 
 

AJ Styles

Aja Kong

Akira Hokuto

Akira Taue

Andre the Giant

Antonio Inoki

Arn Anderson

Atsushi Onita

Barry Windham

Blue Panther

Bobby Eaton

Bret Hart

Brock Lesnar

Bruno Sammartino

Bryan Danielson

Bull Nakano

Chigusa Nagayo

Chris Benoit

Chris Hero

Claudio Castagnoli

CM Punk

Daisuke Ikeda

Devil Masami

Dump Matsumoto

Dustin Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes

Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Kingston

El Dandy

El Hijo del Santo

El Satanico

Genichiro Tenryu

Giant Baba

Gunther

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hulk Hogan

Io Shirai

Jaguar Yokota

Jay Briscoe

Jerry Lawler

John Cena

Jon Moxley

Jumbo Tsuruta

Jun Akiyama

Jushin Liger

Kana

Katsuyori Shibata

Kazuchika Okada

Keiji Mutoh

Kenny Omega

KENTA

Kenta Kobashi

Kevin Steen

Kiyoshi Tamura

Kota Ibushi

Kurt Angle

LA Park

Manami Toyota

Mayumi Ozaki

Meiko Satomura

Mercedes Mone'

Mick Foley

Minoru Suzuki

Mistico

Mitsuharu Misawa

Necro Butcher

Negro Casas

Nick Bockwinkel

Randy Savage

Rey Mysterio Jr.

Ric Flair

Ricky Morton

Ricky Steamboat

Riki Choshu

Roddy Piper

Roderick Strong

Sabu

Sami Zayn

Samoa Joe

Shawn Michaels

Shinobu Kandori

Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinya Hashimoto

Stan Hansen

Steve Austin

Sting

Tatsumi Fujinami

Terry Funk

Tetsuya Naito

The Rock

Tomohiro Ishii

Toshiaki Kawada

Tully Blanchard

Vader

Volk Han

Will Ospreay

William Regal

Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Yoshihiro Takayama

Yuki Ishikawa

 

I'm sure quite a few folks will disagree and there are some omissions that certainly stick in my craw, but I'm pretty cool with this.

[El-P]

Mariko Yoshida not making the top 100 ? Well that's pretty ridiculous. People haven't learned a thing about pro-wrestling after all I guess

Only 13 women made it unless I'm mistaken. I dunno if that's better than 2006. I would bet it isn't, but then again, I really don't remember.

Lawler, Hogan, Benoit, Lesnar and hell, even Austin... Well. It is what it is... I shall say no more.

Apart from that, and considering I really don't care about rankings, it's a pretty decent Top 100. *Much* better than last time for sure. I still wonder about the top 10, since that's the only thing I managed to get through myself.

[Boss Rock]

13 minutes ago, Tetsujin said:

Low Ki in almost 200 ballots is insane. Get prepared for the big indie names to skyrocket.

There's some... Questionable names inside the top 100, but that's always expected (and we still need to see where they'll land). Really looking forward to the big thing. But damn I can't believe that Nakamura went on a strike since basically the last poll yet retained a spot. It's really hilarious.

I'm preparing myself for him to do even better this time.

[Control21]

11 minutes ago, El-P said:

Mariko Yoshida not making the top 100 ? Well that's pretty ridiculous. People haven't learned a thing about pro-wrestling after all I guess

Only 13 women made it unless I'm mistaken. I dunno if that's better than 2006. I would bet it isn't, but then again, I really don't remember.

Lawler, Hogan, Benoit, Lesnar and hell, even Austin... Well. It is what it is... I shall say no more.

Apart from that, and considering I really don't care about rankings, it's a pretty decent Top 100. *Much* better than last time for sure. I still wonder about the top 10, since that's the only thing I managed to get through myself.

I think we only had 4 or so in 2016

[Grimmas]

11 minutes ago, El-P said:

Mariko Yoshida not making the top 100 ? Well that's pretty ridiculous. People haven't learned a thing about pro-wrestling after all I guess

Only 13 women made it unless I'm mistaken. I dunno if that's better than 2006. I would bet it isn't, but then again, I really don't remember.

Lawler, Hogan, Benoit, Lesnar and hell, even Austin... Well. It is what it is... I shall say no more.

Apart from that, and considering I really don't care about rankings, it's a pretty decent Top 100. *Much* better than last time for sure. I still wonder about the top 10, since that's the only thing I managed to get through myself.

14 women.

[Hollinger.]

23 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

I never in a million years would've expected either Nakamura OR KENTA to make it, let alone both. Which is funny because Nakamura is still a periphery guy for me but I would've thought the last decade killed his case. As for KENTA, yeah he proved he's still fairly solid since leaving NXT, but I never would have thought he added anything substantial to his case unless his return to Noah has been phenomenal.

Genuinely surprised by Jericho dropping. I know his AEW run has been very peaks and valleys, but I figured he still had a fair amount of goodwill with his constant reinventions.

Both Hero and Kingston making the top 100 is awesome. 

There are some gaps in my viewing of Takayama, but most everything I've seen has been real good. Genuinely surprised he ranked this high but it's also pretty cool.

Ikeda and Ishikhawa survive! Was really starting to doubt their chances.

I knew 2010's NJPW would do well, but only Okada, Tanahashi, Kenny, and Ospreay seemed like locks. Looks like they are indeed the biggest benefactors of this vote, even moreso than Joshi.

I didn't vote for a lot of U.S. territory guys and I think we all knew they would take a hit, but still pretty shocking how many of them dropped. 

 

I think it’s less them adding to their cases and more the voter base changing drastically and those being two japanese guys who are known to more casual fans.