Board 8 > Scarlet Ranks 150 User-Nominated Wrestlers Part II

(+) Yeah! (+)

Rey rey is a lot like the Big Show where his best days are behind him but unlike show hes still getting tons of bookings so his 40 year old version is more memorable

Probably his biggest flaw has consistently been WWEs inability to book him well.
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I didnt like wrestling that much growing up, but my top two were always Taker and Rey. Takers gimmick was so great, and I loved watching this little Rey dude take down big bad bruisers (despite being a huge kid myself).
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Lopen posted...

Also the Eddie Guerrero death exploitation. Good god.

yeah that was horrible, but it was even more a knock against Vickie and Chavo imo

man that was handled terribly
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Eddv posted...

Rey rey is a lot like the Big Show where his best days are behind him but unlike show hes still getting tons of bookings so his 40 year old version is more memorable

Probably his biggest flaw has consistently been WWEs inability to book him well.

Yeah, I would say the WWE booking is what Lopen's complaints consist of; it just matters how much those aspects of WWE booking affect the character.
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Vickie and Chavo should have been more ashamed of it as people, but Rey on TV definitely abused it the most

Royal Rumble 2006 may legit be my least favorite Rumble because of that.
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Lopen posted...

Vickie and Chavo should have been more ashamed of it as people, but Rey on TV definitely abused it the most

Royal Rumble 2006 may legit be my least favorite Rumble because of that.

In hindsight, I laugh at Rey's usage of Eddie's death. They keep saying, "Awwww, you got me Eddie!" on commentary, and it's so terribly cringy.
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I wish I could laugh at it

I mean I don't even get upset primarily because it's in bad taste (and don't get me wrong it is in bad taste)

Cringey is definitely the right word. And we got months upon months of that.

It's not wrong to say my problems with him are mostly WWE booking, but some of it does extend to the man too. Like his Lucha Underground stuff is better but he still does some of those crappy 619 setups so his wrestling style has been permanently tainted to some extent. And while I primarily blame Vince for exploiting Eddie's death, Rey could have said no. I know the general idea is "well would you say no to that amount of money?" and if I'd had Rey's career till that point and could easily just go to Mexico or whatever exactly like he's doing now? I honestly don't think it would be that difficult.

It's kinda funny that Rey and Show are kinda opposite sides of the same thing for me and were ranked back to back. I like Show a lot relative to his skill because I find it easy to suspend disbelief for him, and I like Rey less relative to his skill because he's the least believable wrestler this side of Spike Dudley.
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#46 - Shinsukeeeeeeeeeeeeee Nakamuuuuuraaaaa Nominated by: charon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=717Ci6m_qdg" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M45I5VInwY4" data-time="

Diminishing returns. I've been less and less interested in Nakamura since he became a lazy, Americanized WWE guy. He may be finally finding his stride now, thanks to a much-needed heel turn, but two years of dull booking backed by an attitude that screamed, "I'm just here to get paid," means that a man who I once considered a wrestling god, has been reduced to demigod status.

But let's talk New Japan. In twenty years we'll look back and realize how absolutely insanely lucky we were to see such a worker with the combination of legit credentials, organic charisma, style and aesthetic personality and in-ring ability competing at his prime. Sometimes I jump on Youtube just to watch his entrance at WrestleKingdom 8. It sums the man up - idiosyncratic, brilliant and unmissable. His ability to work with different styles is remarkable; sure he's had legendary encounters with Tanahashi, a fellow all-rounder, but he's had stellar bouts with Ibushi (high flyer), Sakuraba (shooter), Davey Jr. (powerhouse) and Tenzan (brawler). If you could bottle what this man had in New Japan, then wrestlers would kill each other to get a sniff.
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I always kinda want to watch Nakamura's NJPW stuff, because in WWE he's been a whole lot of whatever (though heel Nakamura is better)

But I always tend to gravitate towards the guys that are (more or less, random appearances on ROH excepted) Japan exclusive whenever I get in the mood to watch it. Ishii and Yano are still my two favorites to watch because they do stuff that you just don't really see done remotely well in any form in the US. And if I wanna watch good all arounders I'm going to watch guys who are still current like Naito.

But you gave a convenient link to a full match there so I probably will watch that at least.
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Lopen posted...

Ishii and Yano are still my two favorites to watch because they do stuff that you just don't really see done remotely well in any form in the US.

Yano constantly is climbing my rankings, and Ishii is still in! So that's good news.

Lopen posted...

But you gave a convenient link to a full match there so I probably will watch that at least.

It's a great fucking match. It's actually where I started watching New Japan.
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I have honestly always hated Nakamura.

In New Japan, I thought he was a waste of space that was wasting what could have been good match slots from Tana or Okada on his ass.

He's like a midway point between Tenzan and Kojima only instead of inheriting either mams good points he got all of their bad.

The struggle of Michael Cole to explain the guys appeal really resonated with me (though lol at the Japanese Michael Jackson push)
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#45 - Kurt Angle Nominated by: ZeroSignal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbEcjYM-RU" data-time="

He walked into wrestling and immediately got it. Never has there been a natural superstar like Kurt Angle in the business. Fuck Triple H. Kurt Angle was the REAL reason 2000 was a great year in WWF. Kurt was a superstar in TNA, he was a superstar in WWE, and quite frankly the wrestling business was done a service when he decided to step into the professional ring for the first time.

I think WWE took Kurt for granted. He was a natural comedic genius, and even though his character was often used as a punching bag for a plethora of jokes, he was so fucking phenomenal in the ring that you still took every damn PPV match seriously. The guy knew how to straddle the line between competency and write-off joke. He was foolish enough to be a heel and also smart enough to be a heel at the same time. It's really an impressive path to forge.

I look at Kurt now and I wonder just what price his body had to pay. He seems to be suffering a little bit from CTE; I wouldn't be surprised given he spent time in the ring during the most brutal era in wrestling, and when he went to TNA, it didn't end. I'm not saying he's a shell of his former self, but he's clearly on the decline. It will probably be a tragic end to a fantastic career. He was a true wrestler's wrestler, like Benoit was. He was never my favorite guy, but he definitely kept me glued to my seat from bell-to-bell. And that's what matters most in wrestling.
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I think with Kurt his situation is more real to us because we saw the degradation up close and personal.

His situation mirrors what a lot of other wrestlers have gone through but he STARTED at such a high high and just like....by 2005 he was already at the point where he had taken too many bumps (this was the genesis of the human wrestling machine gimmick, a way Heyman came up with to allow kurt to wrestle almost entirely mat based to cut down on his bumping)....and then proceeded to keeping taking them for another 11 years.
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Kurt's one of my all time favorites for sure. It's weird to say since he was a star during a boom period, but I kinda wish he was a big deal a little earlier or a little later for like, match sake. It seems like he missed a lot of potential great matches and feuds by being HHHeld down. Also sucks that I was never huge on Benoit who was another of his prolific feud partners.

We never saw Kurt vs Bret Hart, Kurt vs Mr Perfect. Or alternatively Kurt with a longer career and at peak condition vs guys like AJ Styles. Sure he had a quality run in TNA that did feature some good matches with AJ Styles, but AJ Styles wasn't nearly at his peak then and Kurt was already going downhill there. Not to mention it being in the incompetent TNA.

I do think breaking down is just something that's going to happen regardless of era with the guy cause he always goes at 100%, but yeah, he could've been so much more I think.
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Perfect is another great example of a body just giving out honestly from just bumping LIKE A BOSS to get people over. How much of his tenure was wasted on Hogan? How much better could he have been if he was just a bit less intense.

The guy was basically done by 1992 or 3. Sure he made some comebacks but he was never the same guy again.
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Perfect also had the added drug problems on top of the breakdown, so it's a fair comparison.
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Perfect was interesting because in his case it felt more like he just kinda gave up. Part of it was breaking down, sure, and I'm sure the pain made him dial it back, but like there are flashes of his old greatness even after 1993 when he was motivated, but they were rare times indeed.

Whereas Kurt never gave up. He just pushed and pushed and just utterly fell apart and we got to see it in action.

Perfect is kinda the smarter version of Kurt if that makes sense. Though he probably had even worse drug problems than Kurt given his early death so probably worse in some regards of being smart.

Very similar though yeah. Right down to being wasted by the guy on top.
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#44 - Mickie James Nominated by: Lopen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0WRXBpMtLo" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7A8K-ST69s" data-time="

I freaking love Mickie James. Her feud with Trish has always been my favorite women's feud in WWE (and most likely all of wrestling), and she's just so gosh darn likable. Even as a heel. Everything she does just sort of tickles me. Remember how she came out in Orlando with a Native American headdress that was like 8 feet long? Awesome.

She's also a fucking fantastic wrestler that I think never really gets her due. Whether she was psycho stalker or a Hardcore Country, Mickie has always been in that super upper echelon of women's wrestlers. I know, I know. I'm a terrible person for not watching joshi stuff. But I was never a fan of Daniel Bryan's dog. I've been certainly diving into Japanese wrestling, but I don't have the time or the interest in women's wrestling in Japan (yet). But in my limited scope, Mickie is just a goddamn superstar.

She is incredibly charismatic, she is not afraid to go for some very high risk moves, and is one of the best wrestlers currently working. Hell, at age 38, she's still at the top of her game, a virtual ancient entity in the world of women's wrestling. But if you put the title on her today, I'd completely buy it.

And that's why she's my #3 women's wrestler on this list!
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Well I'm probably top 5 on the board in terms of watching joshi stuff (almost certainly behind voltch, Tom, NBIceman, might be number 4) and feel confident in saying Mickie more than holds her own against most of them.

Particularly since the quality of her competition is far lower than what they're generally with. Beth Phoenix was fine and I guess nowadays there's less of a gulf, but nowadays Mickie isn't really given the time to have hype matches. But she can still deliver today if given time. That Asuka match you have there was awesome, and her feud with Becky Lynch a bit over a year ago had some of the best you'll find in WWE too. She's probably the only women's wrestler active in WWE today outside of Asuka that really gets how matches work beyond "do cool moves"

Her feud with Trish was definitely the best women's storyline ever too and that contributes a lot for me too, though that take with a bit more salt as I'm sure there have been comparable or better joshi storylines that I simply don't have the viewership breadth to properly appreciate since my joshi viewing is more just watch random matches voltch recommends and/or matches with people I like booking in TEW->watch more from the ones of those lots that I like, so I can't fully appreciate a lot of the feuds there (though they do tell good stories in the ring and/or have brief feud summaries from the show or voltch so the feud storylines aren't completely lost on me)
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I do quite enjoy Mickie but she was the other person i was referring to when i said I have better memories of her from Lopen TEW journals than real life.
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Well to be fair outside of that one Trish feud (and that match vs Asuka actually had a hype build) Mickie's booking has been horrendous at worst and unmemorable at best so no one should begrudge you for that.
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Lopen posted...

Well I'm probably top 5 on the board in terms of watching joshi stuff (almost certainly behind voltch, Tom, NBIceman, might be number 4) and feel confident in saying Mickie more than holds her own against most of them.

I would tend to agree, especially in modern Joshi. Mickie doesn't touch the Shirai sisters or the Meiko Satomuras or the Kairi Sanes or Asukas of the world, but those are women who've each had stretches where they had arguments as some of the best wrestlers in the world. Mickie is 100% as good as a lot of the Joshi wrestlers that aren't in that tip-top echelon.
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That's interesting actually. It does make me feel better about having Mickie high up as I do.

Here is a big hot take for you guys:

I think Mickie is a more technically proficient wrestler than 80% of the men in wrestling. Probably 90%.
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I'd probably put her in the same tier as Kairi Sane myself but that may be not having seen enough of her stuff. I only really watched her feud with Meiko Satomura and I came out of that one more impressed with Meiko than Kairi. Not to say Kairi isn't great or anything.

But yeah Mickie is really good. She's not the most athletic or jaw dropping in the world, but she has a really good sense for what she can and can't do and what makes sense in a match given the build, which a lot of men can't even do. Like I remember in that feud with Becky Lynch I was talking about... they started with a lock-up but it was like... INTENSE, you know? Like they rolled out onto the floor and ept the lock up on each other and were all like RARRR.

Which it should have been because there was bad blood there. Meanwhile you see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have a match start with a lock-up and it's... a lock-up. And I'm like "WHOO LUNATIC FRINGE"
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Its honestly sort of hard to tell but she was a tentpole kf the knockouts whilr they were really good.

She and Gail Kim and Victoria were a VERY solid crop and amazing WWE had them all but were too busy pursuing Attitude Era redux to make use of them.

To large degree I see the modern Women's revolution as completely taking them for granted.
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Lopen posted...

And I'm like "WHOO LUNATIC FRINGE"

Ambrose was given a segment where he likes a lot of cream in his coffee, and apparently WWE thought that supported the notion that he was a lunatic.

I mean, c'mon.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBeNPKoM8s" data-time="

Lunatics in WWE have a history with cream so I can follow the thought process at least
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All right, that's it for today.

Next write-up: The biggest drop between the last time I ranked wrestlers and this time.
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Lopen posted...

I'd probably put her in the same tier as Kairi Sane myself but that may be not having seen enough of her stuff. I only really watched her feud with Meiko Satomura and I came out of that one more impressed with Meiko than Kairi. Not to say Kairi isn't great or anything.

But yeah Mickie is really good. She's not the most athletic or jaw dropping in the world, but she has a really good sense for what she can and can't do and what makes sense in a match given the build, which a lot of men can't even do. Like I remember in that feud with Becky Lynch I was talking about... they started with a lock-up but it was like... INTENSE, you know? Like they rolled out onto the floor and ept the lock up on each other and were all like RARRR.

Which it should have been because there was bad blood there. Meanwhile you see Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have a match start with a lock-up and it's... a lock-up. And I'm like "WHOO LUNATIC FRINGE"

IMO this is more a problem with WWE in general than anything and it's one of the big reasons I stopped watching.
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NBIceman posted...

IMO this is more a problem with WWE in general than anything

Well you're not wrong. I don't think this is something that's really taught there any more. People are more concerned with getting their spots in and doing the same basic match with some different spots sprinkled in cause NXT/performance center teaches this.

There are people on the show that know better and will do matches differently for different builds though. And Mickie James when given time to actually have matches that matter is one of the few on the roster that's one of them is what I was getting at. Which by default makes her a better wrestler than most of the roster, for me.
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Yeah, I think that's fair. WWE wants their roster to have high-floor, low-ceiling, safe matches. The members that take a few risks sometimes are definitely going to stand out some.
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I keep telling you guys, TJP is where it's at for women's characters. They have been rapidly improving by having weirdly good shoot style elements to their main event matches, but the gimmicks are ace.

Kairi and Io are great, but Mayu is on the same tier as them. Arisa and Tsukasa are at that level, but above as a tag team. Problem is, japanese women's wrestlers often have a short shelf life and they settle down and get married.

Like Ayumi Kurihara was a genius wrestler, above even Kana's level, then she got married to YOSHI HASHI woops.

As for Nakamura, post CMLL stint that gave a personality to his hybrid MMA style he was great. He gave a shit when he tried to push the IC title up to main event level. The matches with La Sombra are great and the feud with Ibushi really helped elevate both.

His last year with the company was way lower standard though.
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TJ Perkins?
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Tokyo Joshi Pro, home of Saki-sama and the source of zombie girl wrestling memes.

It's a DDT affiliate.
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voltch posted...

Arisa and Tsukasa are at that level

are you talking about a different Arisa than the stardom one because
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#43 - Mick Foley Nominated by: Inviso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_71XTbOMpM" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMWkDr77sOc" data-time="

I don't think anything that doesn't involve criminal charges has ever tainted my opinion of a legend like Holy Foley and its ruination of the Hardcore Legend. I walked away from that show with an opinion of Foley as this broken, corporate shill, utterly in opposition to the character I loved as a child. It really hurt. He was just another Miz-like WWE-positive entity. His love for the WWE Women's Division went beyond comfortable and become creepy, and his family demonstrated that wrestling may have more than one royal family... but theirs wasn't one.

I remember the character who rebelled against the system of wrestling which was destroying his body in ECW and I become kind of depressed as a result. Foley was once something truly, truly special to me in wrestling. My first wrestling match ever was the 1998 Royal Rumble. Foley's return under different guises immediately stole the show for me. He was a little goofy, but immensely entertaining. From that point on, he steadfastly remained a Top 10 worker for me. The brutality of his matches was always painful to watch, but at the same time cathartic. The extremity was always deflected as a result of callous fans. He had to put bread on the table for a family that loved him, and the barbaric crowds demanded a sacrifice in order for that steady trickle of cash to contain flowing. Or it came from the evil villainy of the McMahon-Helmsley Dynasty. Either way, it was the stalwart family man who was broken in half (as God is my witness) by those around him. And yet, his perseverance was impressive.

I still have extremely fond memories of the Foley that disappeared around 2004. I have no fond memories of the man who forced a Best of 7 between a Ninja Turtle Villain and Toothless.
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Yeah I can't speak for Holy Foley but Foley's definitely been a guy who overstayed his welcome for me. Every appearance since he was no longer an active competitor in WWF has diminished him. Now me, personally, I'd say he got most damaged for his TNA run. In particular his feud with Flair featuring a promo with the two of them punching themselves in the face until they busted themselves open, and the most upsetting hardcore match I've ever seen-- not because of the brutality but because it looked like two broken down old men making each other bleed, and keep in mind I've never felt that about Terry Funk matches. His return as the meek doormat GM certainly didn't help either.
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Yeah Foley was damaged far far more for staying too long at the fair than even Flair or Hogan was.

I think this is primarily because Flair and Hogan just have boatloads of charisma and mic skills where Mick was ALWAYS to an extent about telling stories with his body.
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#42 - Jesse Ventura Nominated by: gravy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WhkYgQxvg" data-time="

Imagine if Corey Graves was actually good at putting someone over, and you'd have Jesse Ventura. While Bobby Heenan was probably funnier, Ventura was usually the more effective pro wrestling announcer. That's not to say Heenan wasn't effective at getting wrestlers, matches and angles over as much as Ventura was more focused. One key difference is that while Heenan declined in WCW due to the company's lack of structure, Ventura adjusted his style to the greater emphasis on in-ring wrestling and thrived. He still told jokes, he was still funny, but he settled into more of an "insight from a retired wrestler" role than he had in the WWF.

Ventura was also unique in that he didn't only cheer the heels. There were babyfaces that he regularly complimented, like the British Bulldogs. He was at his best, though, when he pointed out the hypocrisy of the babyfaces and his theoretically "neutral" announcing partners. The above embedded clip from SummerSlam '89 is possibly his greatest moment. If you've never seen it, I won't spoil where it goes, but it starts with Ventura complaining that the Ultimate Warrior wasn't disqualified for hitting Rick Rude with the belt outside the ring. It really demonstrates what Ventura would do week-in and week-out.
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I've only seen a bit of Ventura but he's pretty great
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scarletspeed7 posted...

He walked into wrestling and immediately got it. Never has there been a natural superstar like Kurt Angle in the business. Fuck Triple H. Kurt Angle was the REAL reason 2000 was a great year in WWF. Kurt was a superstar in TNA, he was a superstar in WWE, and quite frankly the wrestling business was done a service when he decided to step into the professional ring for the first time.

Fucking right. Kurt was one of my favorites during his initial WWE run from 99 to 2006. Favorite matches with him include his cage match with Benoit in 01, the Benoit match at the 03 Rumble, every 1-on-1 match with Lesnar in 03, HBK at WrestleMania 21, and his world title match with Taker at No Way Out 2006.

In fact, speaking of that last one, the buildup to Angle/Taker in 06 was great. No longer was Angle the cowardly heel we saw when he was facing Biker Taker in 2000; badass wrestling machine Angle realized he was about to step in the ring with the more invincible deadman/zombie Taker, and still uttered the following words...

"When that bell rings, I don't have a soul either."
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The next one will enrage some people.
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oh boy
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#41 - Daniel Bryan Nominated by: Inviso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg_dSNFm7Gc" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFQGbGVKvKE" data-time="

Chock some of this up to my hiatus from wrestling in the early 00s, but Daniel Bryan was never my top guy. Over the years, I've grown to love his personality, however. In fact, it was his non-wrestling performances that really won me over. I look at some of the sheer ballsiness and devil-may-care attitude that he displayed on Talking Smack and think, "Man, it must be so freeing to not give a single fuck about your job." He was getting paid to run down angles on RAW and make light of WWE's failures. On top of that, he was for a long time the best character on Total Divas. Bryan's behavior on that show only further endeared him to me, and that's why he ranks as highly as he does.

However, I can't really say that a particular Daniel Bryan match really stands out in my mind as one of my favorites. Sure, the moment of him winning at Mania is legendary now, but in all honesty, I was coming back into wrestling right around that time; I didn't really participate in that Daniel Bryan fellowship that inundated so much of the WWE fandom of the time. I came back in and he was almost immediately injured, followed by another injury later. But having gone back and learned about his past (watching ROH matches), I've really begun to like the man as a wrestler. Still, I have a little teensy part of me that doesn't particularly care about Bryan.

That said, WWE has booked him brilliantly since his return. I know that sounds odd, but if you can't strap a title to him, just keep the guy over. It's Randy Savage booking, essentially. So all of that combines together and creates a ranking just shy of the Top 40.
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https://fatal4wayblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/goat-face.jpg
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Rankings So Far:

150. Jenna Morasca
149. Ashley Massaro
148. The Great Khali
147. Krissy Vaine
146. The Final Solution
145. Rhaka Khan
144. Dave Crist
143. Rosa Mendes
142. Jackie Gayda
141. Matt Taven
140. Jinder Mahal
139. Heidenreich
138. Bryan Alvarez
137. Enzo Amore
136. Dan Matha
135. The Boogeyman
134. Vladimir Kozlov
133. Santino Marella
132. Glacier
131. Muhammad Hassan
130. Torrie Wilson
129. James Ellsworth
128. Nikki Bella
127. Jay White
126. The Shockmaster
125. Hornswoggle
124. Kevin Sullivan
123. Steve Blackman
122. Barry Darsow
121. Taylor Wilde
120. Ronda Rousey
119. Bob Holly
118. Chris Kanyon
117. Vickie Guerrero
116. Chase Owens
115. Disco Inferno
114. Sasha Banks
113. MVP
112. Buff Bagwell
111. The Big Boss Man
110. Heath Slater
109. Scott Norton
108. Charlotte Flair
107. Timothy Thatcher
106. Rich Swann
105. Goldust
104. Matt Sydal
103. Kane
102. Bayley
101. Tommaso Ciampa
100. Tyler Bate
99. Taichi
98. Mark Henry
97. Terry Gordy
96. Booker T
95. Vampiro
94. Ron Simmons
93. Dusty Rhodes
92. Dynamite Kid
91. Road Warrior Hawk
90. Raven
89. Alex Wright
88. SANADA
87. WALTER
86. Lou Thesz
85. Hirooki Goto
84. Chuck Taylor
83. Juice Robinson
82. Andre the Giant
81. Maria Kanellis
80. Hayabusa
79. Josh Mathews
78. Jacques Rougeau
77. Toru Yano
76. Triple H
75. Braun Strowman
74. Kevin Nash
73. Sid Vicious
72. EVIL
71. Perry Saturn
70. Daffney
69. Awesome Kong
68. Trish Stratus
67. Miz
66. Terry Funk
65. Kota Ibushi
64. Seth Rollins
63. Bruiser Brody
62. Billy Graham
61. Naomichi Marufuji
60. Brock Lesnar
59. Roderick Strong
58. Undertaker
57. AJ Lee
56. Kairi Sane
55. Chavo Guerrero
54. Randy Savage
53. Ultimo Dragon
52. John Cena
51. Hulk Hogan
50. Shawn Michaels
49. Jeff Hardy
48. Big Show
47. Rey Mysterio
46. Shinsuke Nakamura
45. Kurt Angle
44. Mickie James
43. Mick Foley
42. Jesse Ventura
41. Daniel Bryan

Remaining Wrestlers:

Adrian Neville (Mega Mana)
AJ Styles (Mega Mana)
Arn Anderson (Eddv)
Asuka (Snake)
Becky Lynch (Inviso)
Bobby Heenan (Eddv)
Bret Hart (ZeroSignal)
Brian Pillman (JONA)
Chris Jericho (Inviso)
CM Punk (ZeroSignal)
Dan Lambert (JONA)
Dave Meltzer (JONA)
Dean Malenko (GOGZero)
Diamond Dallas Page (JONA)
Eddie Guerrero (Johnbobb)
Edge (ZeroSignal)
Eric Bischoff (Lopen)
Ethan Carter III (Mega Mana)
Finn Balor (Voltch)
Hiromu Takahashi (CybrMonkey)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (CybrMonkey)
Hurricane (Johnbobb)
Jake Roberts (Snake)
Jushin Liger (Snake)
Kazuchika Okada (CybrMonkey)
Kenny Omega (CybrMonkey)
KUSHIDA (Girugamesh)
Lex Luger (Tom Bombadil)
Matt Hardy (Johnbobb)
Minoru Suzuki (CybrMonkey)
Mister Perfect (Lopen)
Pentagon (Charon)
Ric Flair (Inviso)
Scott Steiner (ZeroSignal)
Shinsuke Nakamura (charon)
Steve Austin (trdl)
Ted DiBiase (JONA)
Tetsuya Naito (CybrMonkey)
Tomohiro Ishii (JONA)
Will Ospreay (CybrMonkey)
William Regal (IHateThisCPU)

The Remaining Nominations by User:
charon - 2
CybrMonkey - 7
Eddv - 2
Girugamesh - 1
GOGZero - 1
IHateThisCPU - 1
Inviso - 3
Johnbobb - 3
JONA - 6
Lopen - 2
Mega Mana - 3
Snake - 3
Tom Bombadil - 1
trdl - 1
voltch - 1
ZeroSignal - 4
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This is about right.

Daniel Bryan to me reallt has always been a quintessential 'hes good but...' guy. His popularity a function of his perceived scarcity.
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I'm not going to fault you for your fandom just not overlapping with a guy's best stuff. I have very few feelings about Shawn Michaels because I first watched wrestling during his hiatus, stopped watching before he came back, and starting watching again after he retired. And clearly we're in the part of the list where you like everyone a lot and have to differentiate them via minor things.
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Eddv posted...

This is about right.

Daniel Bryan to me reallt has always been a quintessential 'hes good but...' guy. His popularity a function of his perceived scarcity.

You're entitled to your opinion and all but this part is just factually wrong.
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#40 - Scott Steiner Nominated by: ZeroSignal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89FHgivPGd0" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msDuNZyYAIQ" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYlo3GvuVmA" data-time="

My thoughts on Scott Steiner are scattered all over the place, so I'll try to make some coherent sense (unlike Scott Steiner).

Scott Steiner is a man who pretty much invented and popularized the Frankensteiner. Think of how long that move has been around. Now think about this: Scott Steiner did a Frankensteiner 2 months ago to win the Impact Tag Titles. The man is like 55 years old and barely mobile, yet he still somehow found a way to do a FUCKING FRANKENSTEINER OFF THE TOP ROPE IN 2018.

Scott Steiner pretty much lives his gimmick, and his gimmick is being the most obstreperous person ever and yet also being so badass that no one will call him on it. He openly insults Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at virtually every opportunity, and why shouldn't he? Steiner claims he's already in the only wrestling halls of fame that matter since WWE's HoF doesn't have a physical location unlike the others. The indisputable gumption on display with Steiner doesn't end there. For example, when Josh Mathews livestreamed the set-up for Impact vs. LU in New Orleans, Steiner pretty much threatened Mathews and followed him around shouting at him. It was tremendous.

Then you have his actual professional work. While he started as a member of the most impressive technical tag team of a generation, over time he evolved where his partner (Rick) did not. He became a physically bloated mass of ginormous muscles that shouted and screamed like a crazy person. His greatest promo of all time is well-known, of course, but I also think back fondly on Steiner running around an Indian arena calling the people of India, "white trash" as they fled from him. That's just the height of Steiner's bizarre craziness mixed with his character's somewhat realistic arrogant egoism.

What really impresses me most about Scott is his ability to transform. In wrestling, you evolve or die. And in a business where beloved workers might only last 5 or 6 years, Steiner has remained relatively relevant for 30+ years. That's amazing. Whether he was putting on clinics as a tag team technician or shouting from the rooftops as a world champion, Steiner has run the gamut as a worker, accruing so many accolades that it will make your headspin. And on top of that, he's just such a great character in and out of the ring, that I just had to throw him a bone and give him a Top 40 slot.
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