WingedEagle

We should probably just make everybody change their avatar to the pic of the lowest ranked guy they were high voter on. Scarlet letter the shit out of this place and shame everyone. It would be glorious. This is absolutely brilliant. Would happily put Teranishi as my avatar. So far him and Reigns are the only 2 on my list to pop up. As much as I don't love ranking Reigns at this stage, he was half of 2 classics and that's not something I could simply dismiss.

I expected Mistico to get a lot more love. Probably shows what I know about lucha, but figured he'd rank on a number of ballots.

Christian Rock? I was thinking that was more calendar material.

How often did Bruno or Graham make it Florida when they were champ though? Would seem at that point like its not a two way street.

I might very well agree with that. 5/25 gets all the love whereas the July match seems very much overlooked.

Wouldn't it be to Graham's interest to keep Backlund a regular in Florida, or at least no more than a special attraction in NY?

Not really NXT at this point, but Enzo & Cass are on Austin's new podcast. No earth-shattering insights, but a very fun listen.

I seem to recall Meltzer had a really fascinating piece (maybe more) about some of these shenanigans -- perhaps in connection with a Moolah obit or related story? To be fair, unless any of the current female crew has really gone digging outside company archives they probably wouldn't have any idea about the history there. Was Laurinaitis scouting for the boys or himself?

I think this is the key point. Perhaps its somewhat more formalized now or there's greater awareness, but it doesn't necessarily mean there's any dramatic shift in the relationship or approach.

So I finally started Backlund's book this week and thus far its really terrific. Very detailed and well laid out. Its also not at all choppy and a very easy read, as his co-author clearly did a great job. Big recommendation for anyone on the fence. I had a question about his move to New York. So he has a successful run in Florida for Eddie Graham and apparently does well for Muchnick in St. Louis. Why would Graham recommend him to Vince Sr. as a potential babyface champion? Wouldn't that ensure he'd almost never be able to headline with him? Seems like those interests are a bit at odds.

Akitoshi Saito seems like someone who'd have done a whole lot better if we ranked 150 or 200. Easily lost in the shuffle despite almost always putting forth a credible performance and playing a role in a lot of good matches. I hope the ballot with Cornette was submitted by Cornette. And ranked him ahead of the Young Bucks and every Indy work with a springboard 630.

Freebirds definitely could've been repackaged as The Golden Showers.

Outstanding post with many truths and a nod to some of the subjectivity that will (and should) come into play here for everyone. I'm also very much a matches guy and can say with certainty that great matches influenced my ballot more than regular season consistency. There are some exceptions where a name ranked highly without a bulk of MOTYCs (looking at you, Arn & Regal), but they are notable outliers on my list.

I like this. No chance I'll be that dedicated but may try to at least put together a watchlist for those I haven't seen much of.

What was reported about Tanahashi?

Two totally straight dudes. And ridiculously charismatic. While underdog babyface Nakamura had some great moments, I can't imagine him playing another role.

Wow, cannot believe Amazing Red came in that low and it will be a travesty to see the names that come in ahead of him. Not quite sure how I'd fit him into my 100, but he'd certainly be in the next rung of candidates.

This whole Joey Ryan business definitely has me wanting to rank the rankings. We should be able to yay or any entire individual ballots

Sounds good, if not entirely fair to Flair. I ended up slotting him at #2, but wouldn't have loved going either direction with my top 2 (or 3, for that matter) so no huge regrets.

Ha how far from 1 did you let him slide?

He's outright said he tries to incorporate Freddy Mercury & MJ.

Say what? Haven't had the chance to listen yet, but that is amazing.