|
And this is it! The Top 2! The silver place medalist and the gold. Who will it be? How many points will separate them? Indeed, how many points will separate 2 from 3? It's time to find out, thank you all for your patience as this, of course, ended up taking longer than I thought.
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 16:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 09:32 |
|
|
A Fancy Hat posted:Makes me believe pro wrestling is real every time he's in the ring. Beer_Suitcase posted:he's telling the best story in wrestling right now. its hard hitting, authentic and heartfelt Spiggy posted:I'm so happy he's having his moment in the sun. edogawa rando posted:He’s finally getting his moment Red is Dead posted:Dude deserves the loving world.  Eddie Kingston 2022 Position: 6/63 2021 Position: 4/63 | 2020 Position: 4/43 | 2019 Position: 56/63 | Times Voted #1: 5 | Total Times Listed: 62
But perhaps the sweetest thing was the climax of a storyline years in the making and crossing multiple promotions. After a failed effort earlier in the year, Eddie Kingston finally, finally, finally, FINALLY defeated Claudio Castagnoli in a singles match for the ROH World Championship, adding the title to his STRONG one and at last gaining some small measure of vengeance on the man he still held a grudge against for - as Jon Moxley so richly put it - "some stupid Chikara bullshit". Eddie defended both his belts, sometimes singly but also at times putting everything on the line, defeating the likes of Katsuyori Shibata and Minoru Suzuki before he hit the Continental Classic and decided to sweeten the pot even more by putting both his titles into the prize pool along with the up-for-grabs Continental Title, forming a "Continental Crown" hearkening back to his much-loved memories of All Japan. That's what Eddie Kingston did in 2023, he was living the dream. Somehow, despite all his successes, Eddie hasn't lost either his edge or the perception from fans that he is the underdog fighting bitterly to cling on to whatever he can. Bryan Danielson was an immense help in this, as of course was Claudio Castagnoli, both of them looking down on him, taunting him, claiming he wasn't good enough. His success over both in the Continental Classic lead to World's End and the capstone of a great year for Kingston when he defeated close friend but also rival Jon Moxley. Eddie put all his chips in the middle and it paid off immensely, and so it is no surprise to see him with such a big points total in this thread, appearing on so many Goons' lists, getting the highest finish he has ever managed in one of these threads, and ending up almost Punch Sport Pagoda's favorite active Pro-Wrestler for 2023. Almost. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Feb 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 16:57
|
|
|
yea ok posted:he's the best of all time and he had his best year of all time Kvantum posted:The greatest pro wrestler ever, no contest. All that needs to be said. STONE COLD 64 posted:he was my favorite in roh, my favorite in wwe, and is my favorite in aew. tigerdriver82 posted:The best to ever do it. GOAT. Spiggy posted:The Greatest of All Time. A Real Horse posted:the best wrestler in the world. I am not going to debate that fact. He was created specifically for this purpose and we are blessed to be living during his reign. Twin Cinema posted:The GOAT. I think he may be my favourite wrestler of all-time. Artelier posted:My favourite of all time! He has such a superb mastery of pretty much all aspects of wrestling. Outlaw Mailman posted:Really makes anything he's involved in better, unreal talent in every way. edogawa rando posted:He’s just so goddamn good. What more is there to say? The Taxman posted:Simply the best. I don't think I need to explain any more. Erin M. Fiasco posted:There's not a wrestler better in the world and there may never be. apophenium posted:We're truly blessed to have this man plying his trade. TheWorstAmy posted:Another year of showing how effortlessly fantastic he is at everything he does. Bard Maddox posted:has been my favorite wrestler going on 20 years but he did such a good job getting the next guy over that he dropped down. Pinwiz11 posted:We don’t have long left, he’s one of the best to ever do it, and it’s going to be an emotional rollercoaster in 2024. On The Internet posted:He's rad. BodyMassageMachine posted:He's probably going to top most people's lists so congrats on another win this year  Bryan Danielson 2022 Position: 1/63 2021 Position: 1/63 | 2020 Position: 23/43 | 2019 Position: 3/63 | Times Voted #1: 28 | Total Times Listed: 64
To put it in context, if you picked only Bryan Danielson's #1 picks he would still have finished in 5th place. If you picked only his #2 - #10 picks, he would have still ended up in... 5th place! His next closest rival, King of the Bums Eddie Kingston, managed an incredibly high total and it was still 138 points less than what Bryan Danielson managed. His dominance is something I can't imagine being repeated for many years to come, the big question now is whether his final "full time" year of 2024 will see him make it a 4-peat or if some other wrestler will capture our imagination like nobody else but Bryan Danielson seems capable of achieving. But 2023 was his year, just like 2022 and 2021 before it. It isn't hard to see why, even with just a cursory look back at only the major moments of the year. He went over 60 minutes in an incredible Iron Man match for the AEW World title against MJF. He took part in - and won - an Anarchy in the Arena match with his Blackpool Combat Club against The Elite. He FINALLY got a match against Kazuchika Okada and defeated him at the Forbidden Door PPV, though he broke his arm in the process. He had a bloody and violent war with Ricky Starks in first a strap match and then in Texas Death, coming out on top both times. He FINALLY got to wrestle Zack Sabre Jr. at Wrestle Dream, defeating the only man who can challenge his status as the World's Best Technical Wrestler though that was not the end of the story. He took a shot at the TNT title but came up short, then suffered a busted eye that they made part of a story around a continuing war of aggression against Kazuchika Okada. He competed in the first ever Continental Classic, AEW's answer to New Japan's G1, and made it all the way to a fantastic semi-final against Eddie Kingston. He competed in a Fight Without Honor AND a Fight TO Honor Jay Briscoe at ROH's Final Battle, and he entered 2024 aiming at Kazuchika Okada once again at Wrestle Kingdom. That was all only the tip of the iceberg, however, there was so much more going on this year with Danielson. All the little things, the promos, putting guys over, working with different talent, his status as a respected figure within AEW both among wrestlers and with owner Tony Khan. Danielson has been a firm favorite of Punch Sport Pagoda's for as long as I can remember the forum existing AND Danielson wrestling (he made the Top Ten of that All-Time Thread back in 2007, only 8 years into his career!), and I don't see that changing. In 2023, just like he was in 2022 and 2021, Bryan Danielson was Punch Sport Pagoda's Favorite Active Pro-Wrestler in the world. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Feb 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:01
|
|
|
Swerve was robbed
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:02
|
|
|
A final ease of use ranking:code:
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:04
|
|
|
Senerio posted:Swerve was robbed If just 18 more people had posted lists putting Swerve down as their #1 pick and not picking Danielson at all, then he would have.... drawn for 1st place with Danielson! This is not to put down Swerve, his total is really high (Hangman Adam Page ranked #1 in 2020 with only 292 points!) but uhh... well, yeah! People really like Bryan Danielson!
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:07
|
|
|
Anyways, thanks for reading along all those who have, and thanks to everybody who made Top Ten lists this year! I'll put together a little stats thing in the next week or so, but for now I'm gonna go sleep for like 30 hours 
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:09
|
|
|
Bryan  Thanks for doing this; it was super fun reading along and being part of it for my first year, and hopefully not my last
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:11
|
|
|
Swerve ranked right where he should have... which is why I put him in 3rd, iirc. (Edit: no, me am dum. Sorry, bad night, worse morning) Bryan and Eddie just had better years. Now will Swerve rank higher than Eddie in 2024? If he wins the AEW world title and Eddie doesn't, then yes, I expect Swerve to rank higher for the next poll. The question is can he outpace the final full time year of Bryan's career? Kvantum fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Feb 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:11
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:Anyways, thanks for reading along all those who have, and thanks to everybody who made Top Ten lists this year! I'll put together a little stats thing in the next week or so, but for now I'm gonna go sleep for like 30 hours Thanks for doing that, do enjoy your sleep
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:23
|
|
|
Hmm let's see how I did this yearJerusalem posted:
Yeah that's about right
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:28
|
|
|
don't worry MAO will be number one next year
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:32
|
|
|
I was gonna do a bit where I pretended to be grumpy about people not watching enough Japanese wrestling but honestly I don't watch enough Japanese wrestling so I'm gonna try and do more of that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:35
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:
Eddie?
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 17:44
|
|
|
my list (in order) with the point total. Jerusalem posted:
that all checks out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 18:30
|
|
|
I think it’s safe to say that Bryan didn’t win the clam vote 
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 18:41
|
|
|
Incredible job, Jeru! Reading all these write ups had me considering which was the best and which was the nightmare blunt rotation: Nightmare blunt rotation: #43 Best blunt rotation: #44 It all makes sense really.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 18:53
|
|
|
THANK YOU J RU (clap clap clapclapclap) always exciting to read, and super fun. It's always a hard decision to put the top 10 lists together and you do a great job with the writeups and banners also wow some of these point totals and gaps, really interesting to see them
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 18:55
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:Perhaps the biggest surprise here is the drop of Asuka, who for years has done respectable totals and often been up there (or THE) top ranked WWE wrestler for that year's thread. FTR both managed to end up in the same spot (shared with current rival Malakai Black!) which is really rather nice. But the saddest realization though is that this is probably the last time we will see Mei Saint-Michel appear in these threads, as her master Sakisama has retreated to her palatial French Estate to lie glamorously on couches, benches and across window-sills, and where she goes, Mei Saint-Michel must follow due to the powerful Goblin magicks that bind her. Jerusalem posted:Along with his relationship with his "Mami" Rhea Ripley, Dominik is seemingly custom-made to enrage fans (which delights them of course), and it seems his dad knew what he was doing when he decided to stick with WWE to give his son the best chace for a successful career in wrestling. It looks like it REALLY paid off.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 20:34
|
|
|
Thank you Jerusalem all these descriptions and images are great! Can't believe one list really did make a difference (many times even!)
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 20:54
|
|
|
Thanks for doing this, it's great fun to read.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 21:09
|
|
|
you can no longer submit a list! thank you to all who participated. results will be posted soon
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 21:24
|
|
|
Just finished reading, thanks for doing this again. It's neat time capsules for the future as well.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 21:36
|
|
|
Hang on, about to submit a list
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 21:38
|
|
|
Awesome work! This is always a great read.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 21:47
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:I'm gonna go sleep for like 30 hours Well earned, thanks so much for putting this together. Excellent work.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 22:24
|
|
|
Nobody buy Nigel McGuinness an account.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 23:50
|
|
|
excited to vote for nigel mcguinness next year when he comes out of retirement to retire that clam digger
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 23:56
|
|
|
Kennel posted:Eddie? That would require Eddie to let a grudge go, and that ain't gonna happen, partnuh 
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 01:35
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 01:52
|
|
|
Brian Danielson is the 2022 Elden Ring of the Top Ten Wrestlers list. The idea that there are so many amazingly talented wrestlers in the US and in the world but Danielson stomps them into a cube in these polls is really something. We'll see where he stands with Ospreay and Okada(?) in his final year as an active wrestler now that they'll be (hopefully) enjoying the same visibility.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 02:22
|
|
|
thanks for this cool poo poo. i forgot to put takeshita in my list and he would have gained about 6 points from it which wouldn't have changed his position. blam blam blam
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 02:32
|
|
|
Thanks for all your hard work Jerusalem.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 04:12
|
|
|
Carver posted:It's neat time capsules for the future as well. they sure are, and is the best part about them imo wonderful job again jru!!! thank you so much for doing these they are so much fun
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 04:14
|
|
|
super macho dude posted:Nightmare blunt rotation: #43 Daddy Magic screaming at me not to bring the devil weed into his home.  Carver posted:It's neat time capsules for the future as well. It really is! Seeing who falls out of (or back into) favor is really interesting. Who would have possibly imagined CM Punk's triumphant return to wrestling would end up like... well... yeah. Didn't even get a SINGLE vote this year. fez_machine posted:Can't believe one list really did make a difference (many times even!)
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 06:42
|
|
|
Ospreays winning next year. He's only two years older than Takeshita.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 06:47
|
|
|
Unless I’m blind then Chris Jericho didn’t get a single vote, going from #9 to not being on the list at all is a major fall in ranks.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 06:48
|
|
|
Oh yeah, I think I might have mentioned that once at one point but it really is a standout, especially as he's kind of yo-yoed in the past. He was 9th in 2022, didn't rank AT ALL in 2021 (and CM Punk was one point outside of the Top 20!), ranked 39th in 2020 and 4th in 2019!
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 07:08
|
|
|
Lid posted:Ospreays winning next year. He's only two years older than Takeshita. 2024 is the year I convince you fuckers to watch Kento Miyahara, swear to god
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 09:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 09:32 |
|
|
If All Japan wasn't tucked away in its own little ecosystem I would happily watch it, but it's got the same problem as Stardom (and ROH!) where I hear alot about how good it is but the only way to watch it (live, which is really the only way I want to watch wrestling) is to buy an entirely new subscription on top of others I might have just to watch that and that alone. Still, Miyahara did REALLY well this year!
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2024 09:53
|
|