Top 100 Revisited

[Warner2BruceTD]

Good luck.

When in doubt, I just went with the guy whose matches I liked the most. Then changed my mind a hundred times, then looked back on the list and wondered "what the fuck was I thinking" at some of the placements.

It's hard to rewind your mind 3-4 years, though. Hard to erase shit that happened since then that massively changes things. It makes you wonder who is laying in the weeds now, working prelims, not standing out at all, who will emerge over the next three years, and be a lock for something like this. Or who will just explode and move up 50 spots. Because those guys are out there.

[s@ppisgod]

In his prime, I would take Brian Pillman over Stunning Steve Austin. Yeah, I said it! I would have loved to see a healthy Pillman go into WWF and wrestle 30 minute matches with HBK and Bret

1. Ric Flair

2. Shawn Michaels

3. Bret Hart

4. Bryan Danielson

5. Kurt Angle

6. Ricky Steamboat

7. Eddy Guerrero

8. Double Murderer

9. CM Punk

10. AJ Styles

11. Randy Savage

Not as familiar with the Japs and lower level indies...

I put more stock in some guys like Punk and Savage, because while they aren't as technical, their matches draw you in. I'd much rather see Macho Man in the ring on any given night than even someone like Benoit. But Benoit has the resume that the Mach doesn't.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Two guys who jump out at me that I feel like I overrated are Chris Benoit & Curt Hennig.

Benoit is a guy who I always felt was overrated. I understand why people really dug his stuff, and I really dug his stuff too (to an extent), but he was always consistently overrated to me and I put him as high as I did almost because I felt like he had to be that high. I see plenty of guys below him who I think are better.

Hennig is probably my favorite wrestler of all time. Let me get that out of the way. However, name ten great Curt Hennig matches. It's harder than you think, and if he's rated as high as I have him, it shouldn't be. Hennig is a guy who knew how to work, took some of the best bumps of all time, and was a fantastic pro wrestler. But the fact is, his list of truly great matches is not very long, at least in the context of his elite peers. I realized this when I was doing his write up for the original thread, and it's something I hadn't really noticed until then.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Also, AJ Styles was really, really great.

Styles in 2013 reminds me of Ladanian Tomlinson as a Jet. He's one of those guys that was as good as it gets, but you have a hard time remembering in the moment because you see him rushing for three yards per pop (any Impact match these days) and getting outplayed by Shonn Green (Chris Sabin). But then when he retires, you remember 2006 (Styles vs Daniels vs Joe).

[s@ppisgod]

Two guys who jump out at me that I feel like I overrated are Chris Benoit & Curt Hennig.

Benoit is a guy who I always felt was overrated. I understand why people really dug his stuff, and I really dug his stuff too (to an extent), but he was always consistently overrated to me and I put him as high as I did almost because I felt like he had to be that high. I see plenty of guys below him who I think are better.

Hennig is probably my favorite wrestler of all time. Let me get that out of the way. However, name ten great Curt Hennig matches. It's harder than you think, and if he's rated as high as I have him, it shouldn't be. Hennig is a guy who knew how to work, took some of the best bumps of all time, and was a fantastic pro wrestler. But the fact is, his list of truly great matches is not very long, at least in the context of his elite peers. I realized this when I was doing his write up for the original thread, and it's something I hadn't really noticed until then.

Yeah, I agree. I was never a big Benoit guy, but going from ECW's in-ring prime to WCW's in-ring prime to WWE's in-ring prime and being an equal player in all does have a big influence. He's got piles of 4* matches by most any standards. But ya know if you put him in there with Ultimate Warrior, he doesn't get the matches that Mach got. If we're doing the sports analogies, Benoit is a compiler. He's Cris Carter.

Perfect does get a little overrated. He's an amazing seller and he had unique charisma for a heel. People really liked disliking him. But as a wrestler, his prime was cut too short and there were too few big matches.

Styles is the man. The durability, the consistency, the improved technical skills. He's become a great all-around wrestler, limited only by a lack of talent around him post-TNA's prime. Tons of good wrestlers like Shelley and Sabin and Petey and Lethal to the usual upper-echelon Joe/FA/Angle matches, but after Angle put him over big, there was nowhere else for him to go. That rarely seems to be as big of a problem in the WWE, as it was in TNA/WCW/any other promotion. Which is really a credit to them.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Alright, I'm stopping at 81, I just don't want to split hairs anymore...my head hurts.

1. Ric Flair
2. Shawn Michaels
3. Kenta Kobashi
4. Randy Savage
5. Bryan Danielson
6. Mitsuhara Misawa
7. Chris Jericho
8. Eddie Guerrero
9. Ricky Steamboat
10. Hiroshi Tanahashi
11. Kurt Angle
12. CM Punk
13. Jushin Liger
14. Dynamite Kid
15. Brian Pillman
16. Bret Hart
17. Steve Austin
18. Tiger Mask I
19. Terry Funk
20. Mick Foley
21. El Generico
22. KENTA
23. Chris Benoit
24. Keiji Mutoh
25. Vader
26. Nick Bockwinkel
27. Ultimo Dragon
28. Rey Mysterio Jr.
29. Owen Hart
30. Samoa Joe
31. AJ Styles
32. Naomichi Marufuji
33. Kevin Steen
34. The Undertaker
35. Kazuchika Okada
36. Bruiser Brody
37. Stan Hansen
38. Davey Richards
39. Curt Hennig
40. Nigel McGuiness
41. Claudio Castagnoli
42. Dean Malenko
43. John Cena
44. Hulk Hogan
45. Arn Anderson
46. The Rock
47. Tully Blanchard
48. Toshiaki Kawada
49. Sting
50. Rob Van Dam
51. Edge
52. Genichiro Tenryu
53. Shinsuke Nakamura
54. Davey Boy Smith
55. Christopher Daniels
56. Prince Devitt
57. Austin Aries
58. Christian
59. Minoru Tanaka
60. Kensuke Sasake
61. William Regal
62. Fit Finlay
63. Masato Tanaka
64. Minoru Suzuki
65. Barry Windham
66. Ted Dibiase
67. Bam Bam Bigelow
68. Dragon Kid
69. Taz
70. SHINGO
71. Dusty Rhodes
72. Katsuhiko Nakajima
73. Kota Ibushi
74. Go Shiozaki
75. Tito Santana
76. La Sombra
77. Larry Zybysko
78. Booker T
79. Rick Martel
80. Magnum TA
81. Art Barr


I will just let it be known, that card is subject to change. I may change this thing at any time I happen to remember something. Honestly, I started to use the very awesome "If I was stranded on an island and only could watch matches from X, who would I choose?" method right around #4.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Love the Tito Santana shout.

I only got two gripes.

-Edge over Christian means we have to fight. But that's a minor gripe.




























-Sorry, that was me stalling before posting my major gripe, Larry Zbyszko, like he stalled at the start of every match of his career. Seriously, fuck that guy. I hate him.

Good list.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Also, we can both get fucked for not including Tajiri.

Man, what was I thinking?

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Love the Tito Santana shout.

I only got two gripes.

-Edge over Christian means we have to fight. But that's a minor gripe.

-Sorry, that was me stalling before posting my major gripe, Larry Zbyszko, like he stalled at the start of every match of his career. Seriously, fuck that guy. I hate him.

Good list.

Tito Santana rarely had bad matches. They had him run and mostly headline B-circuit for like a decade because he was such a good worker.

In 2009, when you made your list, I would not have included Edge on it at all. A few years later and a crash watch on his career and I put him somewhere in the middle. Christian is more consistent, while Edge is better at the high end, IMO.

I like Zbyszko, but at that point, I was running on fumes. I could probably put another 50 guys on the list if I thought hard enough, and still might, but I tap out for tonight.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Also, we can both get fucked for not including Tajiri.

Man, what was I thinking?

He is actually in my next 20, but I'm not putting them in order tonight.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The two hardest guys I found to place were KENTA and Benoit. I'm well aware they are A+ workers, but I never had a period where I marked out hard for their stuff like a lot of fans did, so thinking back at their stuff, its hard to judge with the rose colored glasses.

If I overrated someone, oddly, it was probably Foley, but every time I try and move him down, I can't stop thinking about the number of stars he made that dominated the 90's. I just can't move him down on pure principle.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I had no idea what to do with Mick Foley, I had all sorts of trouble with him myself. I like him just fine, and his best stuff is as cerebral and brilliant as it gets, but with a gun to my head, I rather watch the workhorse types. So he ended up sort of like an Undertaker type or Terry Gordy or Hansen where yeah, they belong on the list more so than some of the people who made it, but I didn't want to bother sticking them at #87 or whatever so instead went with some vanity picks to spice things up and rattle some cages.

[s@ppisgod]

Christian and Edge are totally different animals. Christian is the better wrestler, but Edge is infinitely more entertaining in the ring. He was the first guy to get a really good match out of Cena when Cena was at his stalest. Edge had great matches with Taker, Angle, Foley, an underrated match with Flair, etc. Christian is the type who would turn a short 10 minute match into a really fun watch. Versus Edge who really built to well-placed big spots and reversals. Such a great fit for the WWE's formulaic "great" matches of counter-finishers, trade finishers, false finishes, then ending.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Many of Edge's great matches are gimmick matches and stunt shows. Sounds like a knock, and I guess it is, but I don't mean it to be.

Christian appeals more to my tastes. I like a good ladder match just as much as the next guy, but man, Christian is a wrestler's wrestler. He can really put together a compelling match, and he really helped me turn a corner on Randy Orton of all people in 2011.

[s@ppisgod]

Larry, only real problem I have with your list is Jericho over Angle. What's the deal? As a starting point, Angle vs. hBK IMO was worlds better than Jericho/HBK.