Discuss here.

Milano is a guy I like a lot. Very unique gimmick and he had the charisma to pull it off. There's a small shot of him making my list, but he's certainly someone I'll dive deeper into. He was "the guy" in Toryumon and Dragon Gate for a short time period. If you haven't seen him I would suggest giving these a look.

 

-vs. Ryo Saito: 1/15/05

-Crazy MAX vs. Italian Connection: 9/8/2002

-vs. Ryo Saito: 11/13/01

-vs. Magnum TOKYO: 12/16/03

I dig Milano a good bit myself. Clearly one of the better guys of the Toryumon era. I think the 1/15/05 Saito match may be his career match and performance. A real super outing.

 

I also enjoyed a good chunk of his other matches in Japan. He showed skill in being able to carry dry workers to quality matches also. The Wataru Inoue NJPW bouts from 9/06 and 6/07 are decent examples.

 

His U.S. indy work is also pretty interesting. Rock-solid matches in ROH, IWA-MS and Chikara with the likes of Samoa Joe, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli.

 

 

Truth is, he maybe wouldn't make my top 100 due to the quality levels of so many others. But chances are he would crack my top 150.

I love the gimmick and enjoyed all the little nuances. My favorite Milano match and performance was a tag match with Nakamura against the NOAH boys in 2009. Check it out.

He stood out in Toryumon and NJPW a bit and he had some straight-up carny submissions at times, but he also wrestled in an era I didn't like when it came to Japanese juniors wrestling. I know he was well-liked in the states because he was on TNA, but I don't see him for this.

Milano is right on the bubble for me. I wish he would've stuck around in Dragon Gate for a few more years because he left right when things turned the corner, from a match quality perspective, in the company. He left in February 2005 right before things got hot with Do FIXER and Blood Generation. I like his New Japan stuff and I finally saw his match with Hero from IWA-MS (in US History class, in case anyone that listened to WDKW was wondering), but I don't know if that's going to get him on my list.

 

He was REALLY good in T2P. At times a little unpolished, but he was so different than anyone in the Dragon System and so ambitious for his age. I just ran across a clipped match of him and Ryo Saito in Toryumon Mexico from 2000 (the only bit of Toryumon Mexico I've been able to find) and for a 23 year old who has just breaking into the business, it's clear he had something to him. He might be the last guy I decide on. I'll have to go back and rewatch some 2003-2004 Toryumon to seek out some Milano stuff because he's someone that I feel should be represented by someone, but there's a few guys that as of now have the edge of Milano.