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I want to start by saying I watched wrestling consistently from the 89s to 2005, but I hadn’t seen anything until this years royal rumble. Since then I’ve managed to watch WWE/AEW current and get through 12 years of pay per views. This influenced my list a bit Tie for #1: Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley. I watched these grow up in WWE and dominate AEW concurrentky snd it has been awesome. 3: Kenny Omea: The match between him and MJF is the best match I’ve ever seen 4: Hijo del Vikingo 5: Christian Cage 6: Gunther: Best worker in WWE at the moment. 7: Rhea Ripley 8. Swerve 9. Iyo sky 10 LA knight
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Jan 10, 2024 14:38
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1 Eddie Kingston - For me he's telling the best story in wrestling right now. its hard hitting, authentic and heartfelt 2 Bryan Danielson - I thought that the last time i would get to see Bryan wrestle was the WWE house show where he jobbed out to Bray in 5 minutes under the red lights. Having Bryan come back, and put on banger after banger even with all of his injuries made this year pretty cool 3 Samoa Joe - Hes Going to Kill You and Im gonna enjoy every minute of it. He was a great foil to MJF 4 Swerve - It was the Texas DeathMatch with Hangman that really punched his ticket for me. Both of them put on a brutal display of pro wrestling violence, but not just for the sake of violence. there were stakes and emotion . 5 Hangman - see above, also I love his big ole moonsault and his AWE Texas Death Shirt is badass 6 Toni Storm - I never really heard of her prior to AEW and i was impressed with her when she showed up. Her new gimmick is just *so good* and i make sure to never miss one of her segments 7 Thunderbird Damo McCullough - Ive known Damo since we were in church youth group, he was a friend of my little brother. When I started wrestling he came to all the shows, helped set up the ring, played the entrance music. Now hes an Father, an accomplished power lifter and for real Texas Wrestler. Hes been consistently working all over Texas getting his name out there this https://www.youtube.com/@Texasdamo 8 Orange Cassidy - he wrestle good 9 Konosuke Takeshita - SOUP! The Terry Funk Memorial 10 Spot for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Wrestling Excellence (55+ Division) Sting - It's just incredible to see him still at it - I only really get to watch Dynamite and the the AEW papes. Id love to watch more from other companies but I only have so many wrassle watching hours a week Edit: corrected. They were numbered in my head lol Beer_Suitcase fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Jan 10, 2024 |
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Jan 10, 2024 20:18
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Terry Funk, great as he was, isn't eligible for the 2023 thread. Do you have somebody else you want to throw in there instead? Also as noted in the OP I am assuming you are listing 10 at the top and 1 at the bottom if you don't specifically give numbers.
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Jan 10, 2024 20:47
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Hey it's this thread! I fell off pretty hard this year, but here's my list for 2023: 10. Jamie Hayter (  )Poor Jamie getting injured and having a stinker of a loss against Toni Storm was pretty unfortunate, but she was on fire the first half of the year and was putting some respect on the AEW Women's Title. Really hoping she's healed up and comes back even stronger, especially since the Women's division is picking up steam w/ Toni and Julia as champs and lots of big returns lately (Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, Mercedes???). 9. Penta  Love my boy Penta, even if he had a whole lot of nothing to do this year besides lucha party matches. Plus that series against the Elite for the Trios titles technically ended in 2023 so I'm counting that towards Penta being cool and good. 8. Samoa Joe Joe has settled into a nice elder statesman role while still maintaining all his terror and malice. Him (rightfully) beating MJF for the title is long overdue, gold watch run or not. 7. Swerve Strickland 2023 was Swerve's year. This dude got to another level, and I am VERY excited to see where he goes in 2024. Bonus points for the home invasion vignettes elevating him to supervillain status. 6. Jon Moxley JUST TAKE THE drat VACATION, MOX!  Great as always, Mox continues to be the Ace of AEW.5. Kenny Omega ( )Ugh, this one hurts, but Kenny was firing on nearly-all cylinders this year after his injuries took him out most of the prior year. Plus it was nice to see him and Kota together again, albeit briefly. Get better soon, Cleaner... 4. Bryan Danielson The GOAT, with multiple MOTY candidates. He's probably going to top most people's lists so congrats on another win this year, AmDrag. 3. Eddie Kingston KING OF THE BUMS! Eddie continued to be magnetic as the only person in pro-wrestling that doesn't know it's staged. The man's passion is unrivaled, and I'm glad he's finally getting his flowers as the C2 Winner. 2. Hangman Adam Page Big yee haw, forever my champ. Hangman had stellar feuds with Mox/BCC and Swerve, with the latter especially being incredibly sick and nasty in all the best ways.  1. Orange Cassidy The workhorse champ, who finally got recognized by the masses for the astonishing performer he is. OC's a long way away from being "the pockets guy" while never betraying what's worked and endeared him to fans for years.  The Short List 10. Jamie Hayter 09. Penta 08. Samoa Joe 07. Swerve Strickland 06. Jon Moxley 05. Kenny Omega 04. Bryan Danielson 03. Eddie Kingston 02. Hangman Adam Page 01. Orange Cassidy Honorable Mentions Angelico, Brody King, Darby Allin, Sting, Christian Cage, Will Osprey, Zack Sabre Jr., Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm BodyMassageMachine fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Jan 10, 2024 |
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Jan 10, 2024 22:22
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1.Bryan Danielson 2.Eddie Kingston 3.Orange Cassidy 4.Will Ospreay 5.Zack Sabre Jr 6.Willow Nightingale 7.Giulia 8. Tomohiro Ishii 9.Swerve Strickland 10.El Desperado
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Jan 11, 2024 00:23
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All caught up, thanks Beer_Suitcase I've put in Sting on your list, and Pillowpants I've put Moxley into 2nd place on your list since there can't be two number one spots.
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Jan 11, 2024 02:22
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I only ever watch AEW so if this list isn't as worldly, it's only cause I can't watch the several days worth of content the wrestling world has to offer every week. Get back to me when I'm a millionaire and never have to work again. Honorable Mention: Jade Cargill - At least she left AEW and now WWE fans can overhype her. 10. Big Bill - The man worked on himself in and outside of the ring, got sober, won a championship, and I no longer know him as the guy who once tagged with a loud-mouthed runt with a consensual penis. 9. Powerhouse Hobbs - I like his look, but I'm just waiting for him to stop being the sizzle and start being the beef on the major shows. He *should* be dominating everything he touches every week. 8. Willow Nightingale - <marge>I just think she's neat.</marge> But seriously speaking I dig her style and look and I wish I saw her more. 7. Kenosuke Takeshita - This loving monster. 6. Eddie Kingston - I never get tired of his mix of raw emotion and at the same time not giving a drat and how he keeps bringing the energy to the ring. 5. Mark Briscoe - To wrestle while navigating life after the tragic loss of not just your tag team partner, but your own blood brother, can't be an easy feat, and he could have hung it up and went home to be a family man. I give him consideration for that. 4. Swerve Strickland - I just continue to be impressed with him and he had a banger of a 2023. 3. Christian Cage - This crazy motherfucker took mocking the deaths of peoples' fathers and got it over, just another in a long line of reasons why you'd be stupid to not utilize him. 2. Bryan Danielson - Another year of showing how effortlessly fantastic he is at everything he does. 1. Orange Cassidy - I've loved his story all year long. He's one of the guys every Cornettehead thinks doesn't take wrestling seriously and if they watched him beyond putting his hands in his pockets and touching his foot to his opponents' legs, they'd see how wrong they are. Edited to only reword something, I was tired and worded it compeltely the opposite of what I meant. TheWorstAmy fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Jan 11, 2024 |
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Jan 11, 2024 03:18
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10. Jeff Cobb (NJPW, 41) Didn't have a huge year, but he's a big handsome strong man who I will never be disappointed to watch wrestle. His highlights were probably the two matches with Zack Sabre Jr. for the NJPW World Television Title, and with HENARE and Great O Khan vs. Okada, Tanahashi, and Ishii for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Titles. But he had a decent G1 and he even got to wrestle Kenny Omega on AEW TV! Tour of the Islands and F-5000 are awesome moves. Plus he does a standing moonsault at nearly 300 lbs. That's the kind of stuff I love to see. Someone give this man his drat Ribera jacket already!!! 9. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 48) That's Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Tomohiro Ishii to you! A well-earned plaudit for a man who puts on compelling matches as a matter of course. His singles matches are almost always awesome, with his high standard of selling, stiff offense, and no-selling at just the right points to juice up the crowd. But his best work was in the trio with CHAOS stablemates Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, where he plays the brawling tank. His finisher is a stalling brainbuster, which he performs so perfectly it's a believably killer move. Step aside Steiner screwdriver. 8. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 36) ZSJ wrestles an exquisite technical style that is just a joy to behold. He moves from one bonkers submission move to another with vicious grace. Watching him use his grapple know-how to twist up a heavy striker is a lot of fun. Seeing him go hold for hold with another technical great is equally fun. He's a smug son of a bitch with a penchant for calling people dickheads. Best example was at last year's Wrestle Kingdom where he yelled into the camera during his entrance telling Rishi Sunak to "pay the loving nurses, dickhead." The rare wrestler who's got good politics to match his wrestling ability. He has submission finishers named named after a Mogwai song and an Aphex Twin album. He's really fuckin' cool. 7. Jon Moxley (AEW, 38) Plenty has already been said about Jon Moxley. He's a bad motherfucker and he loves to bleed. While he had a bit of a lowkey 2023 (compared to carrying the AEW World Title a coupla times last year), he still gives it his all in every match. Probably the best brawler working, he likes to gnaw on people's foreheads, scratch people's backs, and lariat people's heads off their shoulders. He also moves like a big toddler, all fluid and wobbly and weird which is just kinda fun. He's also something of a role model to me as a recovering alcoholic. I wish he used his New Japan theme in AEW. If he did he might be higher on the list. 6. Kenny Omega (AEW, 40) Anything I could say here about Kenny Omega is probably cliched by this point. The man's a legend. He was one half of my favorite match of the year and never fails to bring that big match feel. He also seems like a genuinely swell guy and I hope he heals from the ol' poopy gut disorder. 5. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 33) A very cool guy, smooth as anything in the ring. A menacing persona that nevertheless gets cheers from the crowds. I had him picked to go to the finals of AEW's inaugural round-robin tournament, but 2023 was all about Swerve making a case for himself to be AEW's next Top Guy. And I think he should be! I think he will be. He's on to bigger and better things after finally getting to move past the feud with Keith Lee and having two statement matches with former AEW World Champion Hangman Adam Page. Plus I like when he hits the griddy. 4. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 42) I don't have the history with BryDan like most of y'all do. I'd never seen him wrestle before fall 2022. I do remember seeing him in his heel vegan treehugger persona cutting a promo about a reclaimed wood title belt. His year started with MJF putting him through a gauntlet with a couple of standout matches before finally getting the title shot in a 60-minute iron man match. One of the best matches of the year. But even after that I was still skeptical. Danielson just kept having good matches and it finally clicked for me. This guy is hosed up. He loves wrestling, and he's very, very good at it. Went on to have super matches with Okada, ZSJ, and two bloodbaths with Ricky Starks. Something the top half of my list all have in common is intensity. Danielson sells you on the match and makes it matter, especially now that he's planning on wrestling part time. We're truly blessed to have this man plying his trade. 3. Kento Miyahara, (AJPW, 34) After I watched a couple of Kento matches (on the insistent recommendations of SG Bamboo and forkboy84) I remember remarking, "Does this guy do anything besides high boot, blackout knee strick, headbutts, and the shutdown suplex?" And the answer is yes, of course, but even if those were the only moves he did he'd still be this high in my list. It's about how and when he uses these moves, always elevating the stakes of the match. Talk about intensity, talk about charisma, you're talking about Kento. Seriously, if you haven't, go check out a Kento match, including his entrance. Dude's a superstar. It's hard not to chant along with the crowd for the Best of the Best. 2. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 36) The best big match wrestler alive. His ring presence is unparalleled. One of his coolest moments of the year was a feud with Kaito Kiyomiya and "young boys" all over the place. Smug, scornful Okada is just a joy to watch. In the second half of the year, Okada worked with his CHAOS friends to win the NEVER Openweight Trios Titles and has put on MOTYCs with them. He also had a G1 with no match under a ***3/4 (except the one with Tanga Loa, but Okada can hardly be blamed) and an electric tournament final with Naito. I like it when he does the Rainmaker.  1. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 31) Nearly every drat match this bruv put on in 2023 was a classic. His diptych with Kenny Omega over the IWGP US/UK Title were my favorite matches of the year. After bulking up and moving to the heavyweight side of things, Ospreay had to to shift from being a mostly highflying type of guy. He still does that stuff, which makes it all the more impressive, but he's also adapted with lots of stiff strikes and power moves that just make him so much fun to watch. Sells like mad, great facial expressions, and can cut a hell of a promo when he has to (I'm thinking about the impassioned babyface promo he made before the match with Chris Jericho at All In). Had a strong G1 with extremely memorable matches against El Phantasmo and Naito, as well as stellar affairs versus the likes of Yota Tsuji, Shota Umino, Josh Alexander, Mike Bailey, and Zack Sabre Jr. I'm excited for him to join AEW, even if it means he won't be wrestling as much as he did with NJPW.
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Jan 11, 2024 04:23
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10. EFFY- Love his in ring work, love his out of ring work. Monday Not Raw on Twitch is the best three hours of wrestling on Monday nights you will see. Also teamed with ICP and formed Insane Clown Bussy, and if you can't like that, do you even like pro wrestling as a concept? 9. Samoa Joe- Joe is gonna kill you! Joe is gonna kill you! A longtime favorite of mine, and headed into 2024 the world champion of a major wrestling company. The kind of wrestler that even without a belt, or a long time story, can give one promo and instantly be a credible threat to anyone. 8. Will Ospreay- He is so unbelievably talented it is absurd. Looking forward to him wrestling Swerve in the main event of All In later this year for the AEW Championship. 7. Konosuke Takeshita- Takeshita broke my heart by joining with Don Callis. He was supposed to be the chosen one! He was supposed to bring balance to AEW, not destroy it! But my god he is incredible in the ring. And he's only 28... 6. Hikaru Shida- Shida is the coolest woman in all of wrestling and it isn't close. Great in the ring, great on the mic, great at cosplay, she's just the best. 5. Bryan Danielson- Danielson is 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. So why is he only 5th on my list? gently caress you, this is favorite active wrestler, not best, and it's my list. 4. Jon Moxley- Eventually his back may break from all the times he has had to carry AEW's main event scene on his back. Anytime he is in the ring, or backstage, or featured on TV in any capacity is a treat. 3. Penta El Cero M- Penta continues to be the absolute coolest man in professional wrestling. Whether he is confused by his doppelganger suddenly appearing in front of him, brawling with someone one on one, or in a tag team clusterfuck, Penta is the man. 2. Eddie Kingston- King of the Bums finished the story in 2023. Won a world championship in a match that I definitely didn't cry at the end of because EDDIE loving DID IT EVERYONE! In a company with a lot of talented promos, he is far and away the most talented. TK gave an entire (amazing) tournament just to give Eddie a third championship to hold, and I can't think of anyone more deserving. 1. Sting- This will be the second to last time I can put Sting on my list, and as a lifetime Little Stinger I am going to take advantage of that. When a beloved star comes back, they usually either are a pale imitation of their past self, or are actively lovely/dangerous and drop people on their head a lot. Sting has instead chosen to be even more badass than he ever was, and not only has brought back all the classics, but added "Will jump off of high poo poo for a regular TV match" to his list of incredible things he does in the ring. The only wrestler who can get away with no selling someone's offense. Will almost certainly be in this spot on my list next year. The chance of me having tears in my eyes at some point March 3, 2024 is 100%. Thank you Sting.
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Jan 11, 2024 05:04
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The joys of watching so many promotions casually, I went through the rosters of the seven companies I gave more than 5 MOTYC nods to last year and noted all the people I would want to put on a list like this. Then I cut down that list to 30 people and bah gawd you'll see them all in my honorable mentions. Will also be linking a match for each of the top 10 people that I think exemplifies why I like them so much. Honorable Mentions - Takuya Nomura (30, Big Japan) - Fuminori Abe (29, Freelancer) - Daisuke Sekimoto (42, Big Japan) - Ryo Mizunami (35, Freelancer) - Maya Yukihi (34, Freelancer) - Sareee (27, Sukeban) - Ryuki Honda (23, All Japan) - Yuma Aoyagi (28, All Japan) - Yuma Anzai (24, All Japan) - Ryo Inoue (21, All Japan) - Chris Brookes (32, DDT) - Hideki Okatani (23, DDT) - Yuji Hino (38, DDT) - Hyper Misao (34, TJPW) - Nao Kakuta (36, TJPW) - Miyu Yamashita (28, TJPW) - Kazuchika Okada (36, New Japan) - Zack Sabre Jr (36, New Japan) - HARASHIMA (49, DDT) - YOSHI-HASHI (41, New Japan) (Hash was the very last guy I cut from the top 10 and it hurt the most, guy is one of the most consistently great performers on the roster and I'm happy I was one of the first to follow YH girl onto the train all those years ago) 10. Kaito Ishida (28, GLEAT)  I love a vicious little fucker in wrestling, give me a smaller dude with great sounding kicks and I'll check him out. Even on the most nothing GLEAT cards i'll still check out was Ishida is doing, and it seems the company have trust in him as well as he was the person tapped to have Takehiro Yamamura's return match after more than four years off injured Match to Watch: Kaito Ishida vs T-Hawk – GLEAT April 12th 9. Arisa Nakajima (36, SEAdLINNNG)  The Violence Queen, the ace of SEAd, you put her in a big match and I guarantee she will deliver a memorable performance that I will invariably link in the thread. She also won one of the Champ of the Month polls once upon a time which I get a chuckle out of whenever Jru posts the extended stats. Match to watch: Arisa Nakajima and Takumi Iroha vs Sareee and KAIRI – SareeeISM August 4th 8. YuuRI (26, Ganbare Pro)  Though I haven't gone back to see her earliest work in JTO I've been following YuuRI's career since she hit GanPro and it has been fabulous to see her evolution into a young Joshi hoss right before my eyes. It's only a matter of time before GanPro pull the trigger and give her the top belt and I will certainly be hooting and hollering when they do. Also her theme music is rad, always bopping along when she comes out Match to Watch: YuuRI vs Isami Kodaka – GanPro August 6th 7. MAO (26, DDT)  My favourite member of 37KAMIINA. MAO can do anything from high flying athletics to mat grappling to emotional storytelling to absurdist comedy and although he isn't the best at any of this scattershot approach to wrestling makes me appreciate him all the more because that's who he wants to be. MAO is MAO, accept no substitutes. Match to Watch: MAO vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA – DDT September 24th 6. Yuji Okabayashi (41, Big Japan)  One of the stalwarts of the Strong division of Big Japan and one half of one of the best teams ever in Strong BJ, Yuji Okabayashi absolutely rules. The most straight forward wrestler since Kento Kobashi, he's an unstoppable meat golem who throws suplexes and lariats with glee and will not change up his game plan because he guarantees he's a beefier man than you. Would probably have placed even higher if he didn't take the second half of the year off to contemplate retirement. Match to Watch: Yuji Okabayashi vs Fuminori Abe – BJW May 25th 5. Shuji Ishikawa (48, All Japan)  The best giant in professional wrestling. Man had a couple of years where he was kind of washed with the occasional gem then suddenly (according to my motyc spreadsheet) had the fifth best in-ring 2023 year of everyone I watched. Very sad he's left All Japan but hopefully he shows up somewhere else so I can watch him, if not then rest well you Violent Giant Match to Watch: Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa and SUWAMA) vs Strong BJ (Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi) – AJPW June 17th Match to Watch: Shuji Ishikawa vs Dan Tamura – AJPW August 22nd 4. Kento Miyahara (34, All Japan)  The Best of the Best. The most consistently great wrestler in the world and the beating heart of All Japan. Kento is the draw, Kento is the star, Kento will give you a show to remember so next time you chant along with his theme. I love Kento Miyahara, he's one of those wrestlers in the vein of Okada where he's not got a repertoire of cool moves (he's got like 6 moves total) but the way he uses them and the way the crowd react make every single one of his single or tag matches must watch. Match to Watch: Kento Miyahara vs Katsuhiko Nakajima – NOAH July 15th Match to Watch: Kento Miyahara vs Yuma Anzai – AJPW September 8th 3. Miu Watanabe (24, Tokyo Joshi Pro)  Feel the L-O-V-E, do the loving hands, give her the loving title already Match to Watch: Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai vs Ryo Mizunami and Yuki Aino – TJPW October 9th Match to Watch: Miu Watanabe vs Rika Tatsumi – TJPW March 18th 2. Gabe Kidd (26, New Japan)  He's a madman you know. By far the best thing to come out of this latest iteration of the Bullet Club, Gabe's a feral fucker who will fly at you from any direction when you least expect it because gently caress you. David Finlay can get in the trash for good, Gabe is my dog for real Match to Watch: Gabe Kidd vs Kaito Kiyomiya – NJPW July 27th Match to Watch: Gabe Kidd vs Yota Tsuji – NJPW August 5th 1. Kazuki Hirata (36, DDT)  Kazuki Hirata is the most creative man in wrestling, his Extreme Title run in the back half of the year showed that you can give him any old bullshit and he'll spin it into gold. A Bra and Panties match where you're also blindfolded? Sure. A match where you get attacked by ghosts or balloons if you kick out? Let's do it. A match against the invisible man? gently caress the hell yes. Hell, the picture I chose is from a match where he forced his opponent to wrestle down to his level, going so far as to make him wear Hirata's spare trunks. Hirata is the man DDT called on to show New Japan's resident weirdo Hiromu Takahashi just how out there wrestling can be, the image of Hiromu's thousand yard stare as he's desperately trying to make sense of Hirata pinning Hiromu's belt to win another of Hiromu's belts will stick with me for years to come. Oh, and he also had one of the most emotional matches of the year against the departing Saki Akai. Hirata has range is what I'm saying, and he is my favourite active wrestler in the world. Match to Watch: Kazuki Hirata vs Yukio Sakaguchi – DDT August 13th Match to Watch: Kazuki Hirata vs Saki Akai – DDT November 3rd Match to Watch: Kazuki Hirata vs Hiromu Takahashi – DDT November 12th
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Jan 11, 2024 05:21
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It really was incredible watching Hiromu - the weird and wacky New Japan guy who made KUSHIDA go insane with his antics and convinced Will Ospreay he was a cat - just utterly flummoxed and with no idea how to handle Hirata and all the insanity in that match  apophenium posted:This guy is hosed up. He loves wrestling Words to live by 
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Jan 11, 2024 07:51
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change my answers.
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Jan 11, 2024 09:47
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SG Bamboo posted:Match to Watch: Kazuki Hirata vs Hiromu Takahashi – DDT November 12th What I LOVE about threads like this is the fact I can watch something I wouldn't even think to normally watch. So thankyou for this - this is loving amazing. I'm trying to stifle giggles so my workmates don't wonder what I'm watching...the sultry music round made me get up and walk away for five minutes.
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Jan 11, 2024 11:48
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Look at all these fools voting for a B+ player 
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Jan 11, 2024 23:15
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Rarity posted:Look at all these fools voting for a B+ player Yeah,vote for an A+ player like Kento
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Jan 11, 2024 23:47
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Rarity posted:Look at all these fools voting for a B+ player Hi Rarity hope you're well 
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Jan 11, 2024 23:55
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Fool me gently, B+ Man.
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Jan 12, 2024 00:26
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you're too scared to change my answers.
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Jan 12, 2024 02:58
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1 - bryan danielson - this was the year i finally realized bryd was the best wrestler in the world, period 2 - will ospreay - this guy, wow. it’s going to be nuts having him in aew 3 - orange cassidy - ridiculous international championship runs, wrestling almost every week for a year with all different finishes every time and never getting stale. the finish at wembley, awesome 4 - christian cage - the best heel in aew curently, what a guy, also still able to wrestle his rear end off at 50 5 - eddie kingston - eddie had the year of his life and he deserves it. going from a downtrodden guy doing mud shows ready to quit to being a triple crown champ in three years 6 - athena - her minion stuff this year was incredible, and while i didnt see all of her matches it’s obvious she crushed 2023 7 - el hijo del vikingo - nice of vikingo to show up on rampage and do all that crazy poo poo no one else can do 8 - swerve strickland - banner year for swerve, that fuckin texas death 9 - toni storm - i’m a big gimmick person and golly toni is incredible. and i thought the candy dish stuffed down her rear end pape finish was hilarious 10 - daniel garcia - big things coming for garcia, who was booked to lose in the c2 and got more over because of it, incredible stuff HM - shota umino - want to give a special shout out to shooter. while watching his match with ospreay earlier this year, i realized he has it. he has that top 5 worldwide main eventer snap, idk how to describe it but he’s got it. i hope good things come to him in 2024 other HMs fletch, willow, mox, hanger, samoa joe, jay white, mjf, big bill, soup, rush, zsj, omega, darby
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Jan 12, 2024 03:45
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If Shota had beaten Ospreay for the title I think it would have put him into my list for sure, it was a star-making performance for a guy who it was already obvious was going to be a star, but now it's clear he has an even higher ceiling than I thought he did. Anyways, great to see 39 Top Tens have already been posted, and 116 wrestlers from 19 promotions (plus the catch-all "Indies" category) - I hope to see many more!
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Jan 12, 2024 04:55
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10. Swerve Strickland- The most compelling character in AEW at the moment in my opinion. 9. Eddie Kingston- Infinitely real with a microphone in his hand, great, cathartic performance in the Continental Classic and across the board in general. 8. Mayu Iwatani- Had a great 5* GP, delivered on a historic match with Merecedes Mone and had 2 incredible defenses of the IWGP women's title. 7. Orange Cassidy- I'm a loving mark for OC. Absolute genius character and had an epic run with the International title. 6. Zack Sabre Jr- I just think he's neat 5. MIRAI- I can see MIRAI being my favourite wrestler in the world pretty soon. Everything about her caters to what I like in wrestling. She can do really slick technical wrestling and then switch it up and hit the most incredible lariats you've ever seen. Had some great matches with the white belt. 4. Jay White- Awesome at everything. Gets across a very distinct character through his facial expressions and body language and combines it with some of the best in-ring work in AEW. Had a tremendous Continental Classic and was in one of, if not the, best tag team match I've ever seen. 3. Natsupoi- Hands down my top women's wrestler of the year. Absolutely killed it in every format. Singles, tags, trios, even paid a visit to Sendai Girls and had an excellent match with Chihiro Hashimoto. One of those people you watch in the ring and just cannot believe how good she is. 2. Brian Danielson- Thank god he went to AEW. He and Zack had my favourite singles match of the year, he worked all sorts of matches in a variety of styles against all sorts of opponents and every single one of them was quality. Another standout in the Continental Classic 1. Will Ospreay- He found the pro wrestling cheat code. Never, ever misses in the ring. The most exciting wrestler in the world to watch. Crapple! fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Jan 12, 2024 07:43
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Red is Dead posted:What I LOVE about threads like this is the fact I can watch something I wouldn't even think to normally watch. You're very welcome, glad new people are checking out Hirata. Doubly funny as in classic DDT style this followed up Saki Akai's retirement match which was played completely straight and was an absolute tearkjerker before transistioning right into this nonsense
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Jan 12, 2024 07:47
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1. Dalton Castle (ROH, 37) 2. Toni Storm (AEW, 28) 3. Konosuke Takeshita (AEW, 28) 4. Serpentico (ROH, 39) 5. Athena (ROH, 35) 6. Ethan Page (ROH, 34) 7. Brandon Cutler (BTE/BTDO, 36) 8. Samoa Joe (AEW, 44) 9. Christian Cage (AEW, 50) 10. Kip Sabian (AEW, 31) HM: Kenny Omega HM: Eddie Kingston HM: Swerve Strickland HM: Ryan Nemeth HM: Peter Avalon Diplomat fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Jan 12, 2024 20:59
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I totally forgot to put in Zack Saber Jr. in my list because God damnit he'll always be one of my favorites. But i stand by my list, so sorry Zack, maybe next year 
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Jan 13, 2024 03:25
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There were so many wrestlers I wish I could have included, it's wonderful that we are so spoiled for choice.... but even so how could you betray Zack Sabre Jr. like that!?!  All caught up through to Diplomat, hope to see even more lists soon!
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Jan 13, 2024 05:16
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Might put a list in
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Jan 13, 2024 09:12
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Hell yeah, Zack Sabre Jr. needs the love after what we're calling.... the super macho dude incident.... 
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Jan 13, 2024 09:55
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The Zack Saber Jr. Honorable Mention Award goes to: Zack Saber Jr
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Jan 13, 2024 15:37
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1 kenny omega 40 aew 2 bryan danielson 42 aew 3 Samoa joe 44 aew 4 Yoshiaki Fujiwara 74 independent 5 eddie kingston 42 aew 6 christian cage 50 aew 7 emi sakura 47 aew 8 jaguar yokota 62 independent 9 STING 64 aew 10 Tatsumi Fujinami 70 independent
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Jan 13, 2024 15:48
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I don't want to spam multiple threads or anything (at least not till closer to the 24th) so hopefully this bump reminds people to get their lists written up, there are 10 days left before I stop taking entries.
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Jan 14, 2024 22:22
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let's unsticky da thread so that others will find it
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Jan 15, 2024 17:41
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everyone come find it now because they did what i said. don't embarrass me
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Jan 16, 2024 00:14
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Yes, another bump for visibility, things were ticking along nicely and then dried right up, which has happened in past threads and then picked back up, so I am hoping that you're all out there busily prepping your Top Tens!
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Jan 16, 2024 04:55
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Thinking about submitting a list
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Jan 16, 2024 14:11
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Jerusalem posted:Yes, another bump for visibility, things were ticking along nicely and then dried right up, which has happened in past threads and then picked back up, so I am hoping that you're all out there busily prepping your Top Tens! I have a draft of a list 
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Jan 16, 2024 15:35
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Rarity posted:Thinking about submitting a list Smackdown Your Vote!
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Jan 16, 2024 17:39
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Christ, 10 is loving impossible this year. Truly Honorable Mention That Deserves His Own Spot: Bray Wyatt His last match was at Royal Rumble 2023, so he counts. gently caress, I miss Bray so much. People used to joke around about the wackiness of his gimmicks, and frankly it was probably warranted, but the guy was special. There was a spark of SOMETHING creative and weird and just off-kilter enough that plenty of people hated it, which is fine, but it was special. It was different. There is no other, and there will never be another Bray Wyatt. I'm sad we won't ever know more about what was in his head, sad we won't ever hear him speak again, and of course even sadder that a young father literally my own age was gone so soon. RIP, Windham. I'll always be a Firefly. Honorable Mentions: Swerve Strickland, Shota Umino, Okada, Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, "Hangman" Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Orange Cassidy, Toni Storm, Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Ilja Dragunov, Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, Sting, Darby Allin, Hijo del Vikingo, Aleister Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, Julia Hart, Kris Statlander, Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi, El Desperado, Christian Cage The Actual List: 10. Jey Uso I'm gonna have a good number of WWE folk on this list, and that's not gonna be super popular, but holy poo poo I absolutely couldn't leave out Jey. Not gonna lie, I NEVER would've thought either of The Usos would be so good in singles, but Jey has absolutely blossomed as Main Event Jey Uso. YEET. 9. Samoa Joe Joe saved me from my most hated top title reign since Super Cena, and well, he just loving rules. 8. Konosuke Takeshita He's plateaued a little in recent months, but loving hell, the dude is incredible. Just amazing. A living legend-to-be in his formative stages, I reckon. 7. Roman Reigns People hate The Bloodline storyline at this point, but it's been, barring a couple stumbles (which is impressive given the length of the whole thing), it's been loving amazing. Banger matches (Roman's matches with Drew, Sami, Cody, Kevin Owens, the tag with Solo vs. The Usos), amazing segments both dramatic and comedic, and the fact that it's either made or revitalized careers (Jey and Jimmy individually, Solo, Sami, Kevin, Cody, Drew, now AJ...Roman had a banger of a match with LOGAN PAUL), and Roman is at the center of all that. At this point, Roman's run is rivaling the length of the entire full-time run of Vince as a top heel, and granted it's in different capacities, but that's wild. If Cody doesn't beat Roman for the title at Mania, I am going to be ROYALLY pissed; the Bloodline story needs to start wrapping up or at least changing up sooner than later, but goddamn what a run it's been. 6. Rhea Ripley Rhea just rules. Dominik has also been on an absolute belter of a run, but he needed Rhea. Rhea didn't need him. She's so good she gets cheered over any other woman on WWE's roster and probably about 80% of the men...and she's supposed to be a heel. Just awesome. 5. Gunther The man FKA WALTER has legitimately revitalized the IC Title. That used to practically be a loving meme around here, but holy poo poo has he ever done it. The number of bangers this man has had, simultaneously looking indomitable and giving his opponents enough that they're boosted even in defeat is just...transcendent. Bless that man. One of the BITW, no question whatsoevwe. 4. Will Ospreay Will is so good he at least can kinda split Japanese crowds a little against fuckin' Okada. That's just nuts. He can do anything and do it well, and he's kinda like a British Ibushi: often comes off dumb as hell, but he's legitimately a guy who just exists to wrestle, wrestling makes him happy, and that comes across in absolutely everything he does. Combine that with the transcendent ability, and there you are. 3. Eddie Kingston I initially set out to have him second, but I BARELY, just barely couldn't put him above my actual #2. Eddie has gone from a guy I liked to a dude I see as a loving legend in the past year. Long live The Mad King, The King of Bums, Eddie loving Kingston. 2. Cody Rhodes Goddamn does WWE ever need to strap up Cody. Dude is the ace of the E, has been for a while now, and he's everything they could possibly want. He's Cena levels of handsome, likable, and over with women and children, but at the same time, his journey and the way he comes off means he doesn't breed the resentment that superface Cena did with smarks and adult men. He can work his rear end off, cut promos that're at least in the same league as his pops, and is just such an authentically likable person. There is an EXTREMELY short list of people in all my time watching wrestling whom I've wanted to succeed as a human being, not just a fan, as much or more than Cody. Trips, PLEASE have Cody Finish The Story at Mania. Please. 1. Jon Moxley Ace Of The World, bitch. Has he had as much of an otherworldly 2023 as 2022? Hell nah, but he's still my #1 guy, and will always be unless god forbid something horrid comes out about him, which I don't foresee happening. I don't care what anyone says, the man needs to go on a redemption run after spending much of 2023 putting people over. OC, Hangman, Punk, Swerve, Eddie...they all deserved it, but now Mox deserves to be at the top again as a hero for a while.
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Jan 16, 2024 19:10
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We gotta temper our expectations for Mox's 2024, Foochs. Like for example, I'm reducing my outlook for this year to be him only beating Naito for the IWGP Title, entering the G1, failing to win his block (the block winner is Bryan Danielson who in turn loses in the Final to Shota Umino), and then the main event for Wrestle Kingdom in 2025 is Moxley vs. Shota. You know, keeping it reasonable. 
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Jan 16, 2024 23:29
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Jerusalem posted:We gotta temper our expectations for Mox's 2024, Foochs. Like for example, I'm reducing my outlook for this year to be him only beating Naito for the IWGP Title, entering the G1, failing to win his block (the block winner is Bryan Danielson who in turn loses in the Final to Shota Umino), and then the main event for Wrestle Kingdom in 2025 is Moxley vs. Shota. Harsh but fair (He's not going to beat Naito, but Mox went on record in an interview saying he'd give anything to be the only man ever to win the WWE, AEW, and IWGP world titles, and gently caress me, he could plausibly do it. He's basically the ONLY guy who can, tbh, and how loving rad would that be?!)
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Jan 16, 2024 23:59
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SamuraiFoochs posted:Harsh but fair Ospreay's only one Stamford contract away from it tbf
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Jan 17, 2024 00:01
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