GWE 2026 Reaction Thread

[Boss Rock]

Surprisingly, I also had Hokuto at 16. While she had the big moves and spots like many of her contemporaries, there was just a grittiness and edge to her that really set her apart. It’s tough to put your finger on it, but you know it when you see it. Obviously she has one of the highest peaks of any wrestler ever (1993) but even though her career was relatively short, I never agreed with the assessment that she was simply a peak wrestler (Grimmas also did a fantastic job arguing Hokuto’s case). She’s really good to great almost immediately and up until the end of her career.

Foley was my 35. As far as brawlers go, I have Hansen and Funk ahead of him. But he was still excellent at what he did. I'm sure he regrets a lot of the stuff he put himself through but none of it ever felt like bumping for the sake of bumping. It was always in service of making the match feel as wild and unpredictable as possible. And while some might think wrestling in hardcore/no DQ settings might be considered "easy mode", I've seen enough Triple H plunder matches to know that's not the case. Foley was just so good at crafting matches, which makes it no surprise Orton never had as great a match as he had with Foley, and arguably neither did Edge.

[Ma Stump Puller]

30 minutes ago, Tetsujin said:

Hokuto getting this high with so less ballots than almost everyone around her, a queen indeed. Sadly, I believe her showcase spoilers Aja not being in the top 10.

I'd bet on Kong making it actually, she has a lot more exposure with modern voters through her work in the 2020's and her case is more biased towards longevity which typically is something more considered than things like peak or, god willing, how many times they won the WWE championship. 

 

 

[Shrike02]

I have two casualties from my top five (Bock 4, Jumbo 2) and I expect only one to survive and land there in the final results.

I'm puzzled by some of the results for wrestlers I don't rate that highly - indeed there's a few who've landed in the top 50 I didn't vote for - but that's the beauty of this project. It gives food for thought.

 

[Microstatistics]

#17

Mick Foley

Definitely an over-performance but makes sense considering the Samoa Joe effect (presence on well over 80% of ballots) and the hardcore/death match affinity boost. Had him at #35. Perhaps the greatest bumper in history of course but intelligent and creative to boot with sound fundamentals.

#16

"The Dangerous Queen" Akira Hokuto

@Boss Rock My #16 as well so perfect alignment. So Aja is the highest ranked woman but I would have flipped them: To me, Hokuto is the greatest women's wrestler ever and it's not even close.

[ZubazKid]

Hokuto is the 1st from my top 10 to fall. Hopefully Aja survives to the top 10. I’d hoped Casas & Santino would make the top 20. Maybe I need to stop jinxing people by rooting for them.

[Tetsujin]

I voted for all wrestlers in the top 15. 7 of them are on my actual top 15, with 6 of them on my top 10 (including the first four). Austin is my lowest ranked at #72, followed by Vader at #65 and Mysterio at #42.

[Reel]

I didn’t have Foley very high, but I do think he’s among a handful of wrestlers who have sort of invented a style that made themselves great wrestlers, and I think that’s a sort of admirable and impressive feat. Onita and Maeda in the same sort of boat. 

[Boss Rock]

Remaining 15 made my ballot, 7 in my top 10, another 6 in my top 35, and 2 just outside the top 50.

[Tetsujin]

So, out of the 15 remaining, I would say Vader, Stone Cold, Aja and Bret are the more likely to drop tomorrow (are they???), and Flair, Funk, Danielson, Misawa and Kobashi the least likely to miss the top 10. The other six (Eddie, Rey, Hansen, Kawada, Tenryu and Tanahashi) are the ones I'm more intrigued about. Again, this is all based on vibes because the list has only been consistent on lowering territory guys. Everything else is not as set on stone as one would believe.

[Childs]

Of those remaining, Austin is the one who belongs nowhere near a top 15. Huge star at a time when many of the voters dipped in, but he didn't have more than two or three years as a great worker, with maybe five others at the very good level. I voted for him, but in the lower half along with Joe, Foley and Punk. I didn't have Tanahashi in my top 50, but if your fandom was heavily shaped by the last 15-20 years, you could argue he was the best ever, so I have no problem with him going this far.