Essential Japanese Wrestling Discussion/News

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

If in ring was the main factor though; Hogan so high Above Ikeda and Chicana. Okay I guess he had charisma but I don't know if it was way above what Onita had. And Hogan was complete dogshyt for years and years. I guess he was serviceable at one time and he was a US guy or whatever. But if in ring was the MAIN thing, i don't buy him being in a top 100.

Hogan could hustle his ass off if needed he just rarely had to. I understand his placement but a lot of it is nostalgia.

 

[stro]

Dusty is better than people give him credit for. If you saw him before 1984 or so, he could work his ass off even if he wasn't particularly athletic. He's kind of become the poster boy for "charisma trumps skill/looks", but he could go at one point in his career.

 

[Silkk]

Update on cody hall?

 

[Jmare007]

I'm not advocating for Garvin, he didn't make my list. But I can see an argument for him over Dusty, it's not crazy talk imo.

I don't doubt Dusty was awesome in Florida and tagging with Murdoch but there's barely any footage of him at his peak. From what I've seen he's not someone that should be very high or even on a list like this one

Garvin was the guy who worked with the guy. A good brawler like Dusty with half of the charisma. Id rate Jimmy Garvin higher. Other than the crowd his Flair matches havent aged well. The crowd was hot for it but the crowd was hot for every Flair feud in that time.

Garvin could work a good match if needed but top 100 of all time? Nah.

Hogan got a lot of votes because of nostalgia, star power and people giving him credit for his good years (mid to late 80's) and not penalizing him for his bad ones. He was the rare case were voters just saw his positives and ran with them to make a case for him. Same thing happened with Taker.

Shoot style guys got jobbed just like luchadores because not enough people voted or even considered those styles when sending their ballots.

Look ar Satanico. Dude has one of the best averages but couldn't get in enough ballots. Sane with Casas. I repear, avg and ballots are key to undertanding some of the more confusing placements.

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

I'm not advocating for Garvin, he didn't make my list. But I can see an argument for him over Dusty, it's not crazy talk imo.

I don't doubt Dusty was awesome in Florida and tagging with Murdoch but there's barely any footage of him at his peak. From what I've seen he's not someone that should be very high or even on a list like this one


Hogan got a lot of votes because of nostalgia, star power and people giving him credit for his good years (mid to late 80's) and not penalizing him for his bad ones. He was the rare case were voters just saw his positives and ran with them to make a case for him. Same thing happened with Taker.

Shoot style guys got jobbed just like luchadores because not enough people voted or even considered those styles when sending their ballots.

Look ar Satanico. Dude has one of the best averages but couldn't get in enough ballots. Sane with Casas. I repear, avg and ballots are key to undertanding some of the more confusing placements.

I was shocked El Dandy made it as high as it did. The list isnt bad but some picks are questionable to me

 

[Jmare007]

I was shocked El Dandy made it as high as it did. The list isnt bad but some picks are questionable to me

That's inevitable when you have 151 voters. And almost all of them are huge wrestling nerds (myself included).

There was zero chace people were going to be happy about the whole list, that's why it was so funny reading people take the list so seriously and lose their shyt over some placements the main goal was watchibg a bunch of piff wrestling and have a snapshot of one corner of the IWC. This list is pretty different from the 2006 one and that's pretty interesting by itself. I hope it's done again in 2026.

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

That's inevitable when you have 151 voters. And almost all of them are huge wrestling nerds (myself included).

There was zero chace people were going to be happy about the whole list, that's why it was so funny reading people take the list so seriously and lose their shyt over some placements the main goal was watchibg a bunch of piff wrestling and have a snapshot of one corner of the IWC. This list is pretty different from the 2006 one and that's pretty interesting by itself. I hope it's done again in 2026.

There isnt much to lose your shyt over. Personal tastes aside, im proud of how the list came out as it was pretty balanced. Misawa winning the japanese vote

 

[stro]

I'm not advocating for Garvin, he didn't make my list. But I can see an argument for him over Dusty, it's not crazy talk imo.

I don't doubt Dusty was awesome in Florida and tagging with Murdoch but there's barely any footage of him at his peak. From what I've seen he's not someone that should be very high or even on a list like this one


Hogan got a lot of votes because of nostalgia, star power and people giving him credit for his good years (mid to late 80's) and not penalizing him for his bad ones. He was the rare case were voters just saw his positives and ran with them to make a case for him. Same thing happened with Taker.

There is a LOT of Dusty footage from like....1975 on out there. You might have to search for it, but he was all over the place from the mid 70s to mid 80s. WWWF, Florida, Georgia, JCP, NJPW, Mid South, AWA. It's out there if you really want to look for it. The earliest days of him teaming with Murdoch and his initial turn and first giant run in Florida is hard to come by, though. I think his matches with Superstar Graham are better than any match he had with Flair over the years.

As for Hogan...it would be hard to argue that he doesn't belong near the top of a list of greatest pro wrestlers just on popularity and influence alone. He was quite good in Japan in the 80s/early 90s against a wide range of talent (from Inoki to Backlund to Hansen to Andre to Abby to Fujinami to Tenryu to LOD), and he was as good as he could possibly be in the WWF for the time and style that was asked of him. WWF wise, 1991-1993 is pretty much a wash, and most of his WCW run was dogshyt ( although he still put on good matches when he needed to in 1994/1995, and again in 1999), but then he had his miracle 2002 WWE run that match quality-wise might have been the strongest 6-9 months of his entire career.

 

[3Rivers]

Will Ospreay's NJ deal is for 2 yrs according to WON

 

[Jmare007]

I dont like Dusty's work in japan enough to make a case for him. Most of what I've seen from Dusty pre 84' is either heavily clipped or mostly good but not memorable. Still, I'm not saying Dusty being a low part of the 100 is a mistake, I'm fine with his placement. It's just that him making it or not is to me so I don't see any problem with people being above him.

Agreed on Hogan for the most part. I was explaining voters reasoning for his placements from what I read on the threads for the project and the reactions to his placement.

 

[Beautiful Bobby Eatin]

Will Ospreay's NJ deal is for 2 yrs according to WON

Was thinking about this earlier but I'd be down with an Will Ospreay/Kyle O'Reilly BOSJ final this year.

 

[3Rivers]

Was thinking about this earlier but I'd be down with an Will Ospreay/Kyle O'Reilly BOSJ final this year.

I'm down

Gonna eat this summer between the BOSJ, Super J Cup, and WWE Cruiser weight tourney

 

[stro]

Will Ospreay's NJ deal is for 2 yrs according to WON

That's interesting considering how very recently he was posting things on twitter about how hurt he was and how he didn't know if his body could last much longer in the business despite being 22.

 

[3Rivers]

That's interesting considering how very recently he was posting things on twitter about how hurt he was and how he didn't know if his body could last much longer in the business despite being 22.

All those flips take their toll I guess

Hopefully he's aight

 

[3Rivers]