elliott

If I had to turn in my ballot right this second, this is what I came up with. I still have lots of gaps I'm trying to fill and this would be totally different if I did it again tomorrow. I feel ok about the top 20. My bottom 15 are really guys I'm pretty sure will make my final final list but I want to see more to have a better feel on where to rank them. Stan Hansen Jerry Lawler Satanico Jumbo Tsuruta Ric Flair Negro Casas Terry Funk Toshiaki Kawada Mitsuharu Misawa Sangre Chicana Hijo del Santo Genichiro Tenryu Tatsumi Fujinami Nick Bockwinkel Buddy Rose Rey Mysterio Jr Shinya Hashimoto Akira Hokuto Bill Dundee El Dandy Pirata Morgan Riki Choshu Eddie Guerrero Chigusa Nagayo Ricky Morton Steve Regal Blue Panther Volk Han Atlantis Kenta Kobashi Giant Baba Daniel Bryan Vader Dustin Rhodes Akira Taue Perro Aguayo Jaguar Yokota Jack Brisco Bull Nakano Dick Murdoch Bobby Eaton Randy Savage Ricky Steamboat Arn Anderson Jushin Liger Kerry von Erich Villano III MS-1 Yoshiaki Yatsu Gran Hamada Billy Robinson Akira Maeda Naoki Sano Rick Martel Jun Akiyama John Cena Kiyoshi Tamura Barry Windham Ted Dibiase Tully Blanchard Michael Hayes Fuerza Guerrera Tajiri Devil Masami Masa Fuchi Bret Hart Chris Adams Steve Austin LA Park Dynamite Kansai Andre the Giant Curt Hennig Ron Garvin Bobby The Brain Heenan Mick Foley Fit Finlay Sgt Slaughter Terry Gordy Jerry Blackwell Steve Williams Dusty Rhodes Hulk Hogan Brian Pillman Tommy Rogers La Fiera Tommy Rich Mocho Cota Dutch Mantell Yoji Anjo 2 Cold Scorpio Emilio Charles Jr Espanto Jr Shinobu Kandori Roddy Piper Buzz Sawyer Kantaro Hoshino Carlos Colon Dump Matsumoto Mad Dog Vachon Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Re-reading this thread I kinda want to change my vote from Ted to Rude. The "booker's dream" picture that Parv painted of Dibiase kinda makes me think of Ted as a spineless corporate yes man. Whereas Rude's refusal to job to Hogan is my kinda crazy.

The Pro-Wrestling Super Show did it with current talent last year. Oh cool! I'll check these out. I like the idea of doing it during the territory days. More room to play and stuff to think about. 90s and current scene are so much more limited for obvious reasons.

Without knowing what Dylan's point is, I just wanted to say I think Jerry's draft idea would be a really interesting topic. There are tons of different factors you would have to consider. Location, territory size, business model, etc etc etc. Are all the wrestlers Free Agents so each promotion is starting from sractch or are you just taking the top 2-3 guys from each promotion and shuffling them around? Since this is a fantasy and you're building a territory around your top draft pick, is the history of the territory still intact or are you saying you're building a promotion to bring wrestling to this particular territory for the first time, because Wrestler A might mean a lot more than Wrestler B in a specific territory based on prior history. That was wordy and may not have been clear so I'll use an example to help clear it up. In 1980 if Memphis had the #5 draft pick and was deciding to pick between Jerry Lawler or Bob Backlund they would pick Jerry Lawler. In 1980 if WWF had the #5 draft pick and was deciding to pick between Jerry Lawler or Bob Backlund, they would pick Bob Backlund. Now if you're making your fantasy draft selections under the idea that there is no prior wrestling history in this territory and you're grabbing the "best available talent" I would argue 1980 WWF would select Jerry Lawler with that #5 pick. So there's a lot to think about. Cool idea though.

Are you referring to the all time classic they had in the G1 Tournament or the dogshit match at Havoc that happened a month after Chono suffered a broken neck which everyone agrees changed his career forever? There are plenty of arguments for Dibiase over Rude. That Havoc match isn't really the best thing to point to. For me, I voted for Ted. I think Rude's peak was better but it is really close enough that Ted's longevity as a strong worker pushes him ahead of Rude.

Goc you're awesome for doing that!

So I found this match that I've never seen anyone talk about ever and its fucking Sangre Chicana vs Satanico in a title match from 9/24/83 (so the day after Chicana had the best match ever) filmed with a ringside camera with incredible video and audio quality. Has anyone seen this before?

Grimmas, when I was going through all the Satanico matches I could find this one stood out as an example of La Parka looking awesome: La Parka/Satanico/Fuerza vs Lizmark/Sagrada/Volador 2/15/94 There's a really long Parka vs Psicosis match from 95 or 96 on youtube that I loved in 2001 and absolutely hated when I watched it for the GWE project. I can't seem to find it right now. What is the best LA Park vs Fake La Parka match?

Thanks conker! You should check out this Satanico/Dandy match from 3/14 Satanico is a top 5 lock for me. I really need to do this same project for Negro Casas because he's the only luchadore I can imagine giving Satanico a run for the top luchadore spot.

We didn't cover Paul Pierce did we? I can't think of anyone but it is someone awesome. Sidenote, what a brutal way to lose a series.

The Bret/Hakeem comp also allows me to drag the thread back to the gutter where it belongs and say that Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart are Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins.

I've been slowly making my way through the 80s NJ Set and I'm in the middle of a bunch of great Fujiwara. I have seen a couple of Fujiwara matches over the years (I've seen the Choshu match from 6/87 and a Takada match from 1990) but I'm really watching him closely and in bulk for the first time. I'm really digging him so far. I thought the two Maeda matches from early 86 were terrific and 2/6/86 is the best Inoki match I've ever seen. His facial expressions and selling really stand out so far (and of course the headbutts). I'm looking forward to checking out UWF and then PWFG stuff as well when I finish the 80s sets. For the big Fujiwara fans, who is his best opponent? Looking at the Other Japan results it looks like Sayama. Would that be fair? What was he doing before 1984? What is his best match against a dog shit worker? When was his peak? I saw DR Ackerman say earlier in the thread that 1991 was around his peak. Would that be the consensus?

I'm really impressed that no one has offered up the most obvious NBA players to figure out wrestler comps for: Ron Artest Stephen Jackson What do you got? Hansen and Brody was my gut reaction but that's way too nice to Ron Artest and way too mean to Stephen Jackson.

I like the Mark Henry Tyson Chandler pick. Thats a good one. So is Buddy Landell as Josh Smith. Dynamite Kid almost feels like a good Allen Iverson. The Derrick Rose Bulls are Toshiaki Kawada to LeBron's Misawa and I fucking hate it. Derrick Rose is Kawada's knee which is just perfect.

Josh Smith feels like a good Kurt Angle. As enormously talented as he is stupid.

What is the pro wrestling equivalent of Austin Rivers trying to guard James Harden?

My major problem with Hogan as MJ is that MJ was the biggest star in the world AND the best worker in the world. Not just in a "working effectively to please the casuals and bring them back for moret" way but in a super hardcore way as well. MJ was Flair and Hogan combined only he was a bigger star than Hulk and a better worker than Flair. He was Fast and the Furious 7 and Citizen Kane.

Also, since you're still reading the thread, John, do you have a good Bill Walton pick?

John can you come up with a good comp for Dr J? Will, you got a Lawler pick?

Not fully comfortable with Bobby, given his recklessness / stupidity in the incident: http://a.espncdn.com/nba/news/2000/0112/285010.html Head on with a minivan as well, with it being a miracle that he didn't kill other people. * * * * * Hank Gathers was player beloved by his teammates. Tragic death. Still remembered today. Exciting "high flying" type of a team. That would be a more fitting Owen, despite the lack of NBA time. I thought about Gathers, but went with Phills because Gathers didn't make it to the league. Not a comp to focus on or analyze. It was meant as "hahaha that was fucked up but it made me laugh"

Anything said or done by Rob Feinstein.

My immediate thought was Sting in 1990. But that feels like giving somebody too much credit and I'm not sure who There's got to be a better comp though.

HBK would absolutely have resorted to wearing a wig for an entire year if his hair got to that point while still performing. So there is also that. I think Barry was much much much better at basketball than Michaels was at pro wrestling though. And for a longer time. I was trying to think of a good HBK. Personality wise, Barry is probably a good choice. But HBK was really great as a young guy then had pockets of being great then was fucking terrible for like 8 years but most people were convinced he was still great. Bret Farve feels like a better HBK comparison.

I want to make a Duncan is Fujiwara comp but I need to watch more Fujiwara. I would base it on "people who actually watch the footage know how good they are." but I've only really just begun digging into Fujiwara.

Pretty sure Owen Hart is Bobby Phills.