For you japanese wrestling fanatics

[Guest]

Who do you believe is the top 10 best Japanese wrestlers that you have seen. Can't say all time because I only seem a limited number of Japanese tapes..

 

My own pick  and not in Order

Great Sasuke

Jushin Lyger

Hayabusa

Shinjiro Ohtani

Cima

Magnum Tokyo

Dragon Kid

Ultimo Dragon

Misawa

Taka Michinoku (From J Cup 94 not the WWF version Japanese means Jobber Taka)

[Guest razazteca]

I like Hayabusa, Mr Gannosuke, Masato Tanaka, Yuji Nagata, Ultimo Dragon, TAKA, Megumi Kudo

 

but this is from a casual fan perspective

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Weak since there is no criteria but here is some food for thought.

 

1. Kawada

2. Tsuruta

3. Misawa

4. Liger

5. Kobashi

 

Tim

[Guest Jubuki]

Wow, lists!  Never seen those before.

[Guest wolverine]

Weak since there is no criteria but here is some food for thought.

 

1. Kawada

2. Tsuruta

3. Misawa

4. Liger

5. Kobashi

 

Tim

Definitely agree with your top 5 names.

 

But I'd do it this way:

 

1.  Kobashi '93

2.  Kawada '95

3.  Jumbo '91

4.  Misawa '97

5.  Liger '90

[Guest]

Ohtani is dickish at his finest.

 

A couple suggestions on who to watch...

 

1) Minuro Tanaka

2) Wild Pegasus (Benoit in Japan)

3) Black Tiger (EDDY~!)

 

Any others I'm forgetting, fellas and ladies?

[Guest wolverine]

Tanaka doesn't belong in a list of elite jr. talent like Benoit, Eddy and Ohtani, IMO.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Puh, I know i'll get flamed, but Benoit and Eddy were dull workers in Japan from what I've seen. They might have been good (although Eddy was rubbish at the J Cup 94, IMO) but they were dull and I prefer wrestlers with a character or some sort of 'special' skill (Lyger's mannerisms, for example), so I wasn't a big fan.

 

As for my own list...

 

1) Jyushin 'Thunder' Lyger - brilliant execution, innovative and fascinating matwork, great storytelling ability, fantastic ability to sell without using his face, entertaining mannerisms... I could go on...

 

2) Kawada - he's grown on me so much, mostly with his innovative selling techniques which aren't just there, but they help the story of the matches.

 

3) The Great Sasuke

 

4) Misawa

 

5) Gran Naniwa

 

There's lots of others I'd like to put in, like Genki Horiguchi, Gedo, Dick Togo, Akira Hokuto etc. but I don't think i've seen enough of them to judge so I'll not.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

NANIWA~! I wouldn't put him in as a top worker but he's definetly one of my favorites on pure hilarity itself.

[Guest wolverine]

Definitely agree with your top 5 names.

 

But I'd do it this way:

 

1.  Kobashi '93

2.  Kawada '95

3.  Jumbo '91

4.  Misawa '97

5.  Liger '90

I'm rewatching Kawada-Albright right now, and there's so much heat, my TV speakers may break

 

Seriously, this is just a tremendous performance by Kawada--every bit as good as Kobashi's best performances in 1993.  If this was 2002, it's MOTY, easy.  I hadn't watched this match in a long time, but it's enough to change my mind and put Kawada '95 as a tie for #1.  Awesome stuff.  ****1/2

[Guest]

What do you mean Tanaka doesn't deserve to be up there with those other juniors?

 

Tanaka rules it!

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Platypus says: "Puh, I know i'll get flamed, but Benoit and Eddy were dull workers in Japan from what I've seen. They might have been good (although Eddy was rubbish at the J Cup 94, IMO) but they were dull and I prefer wrestlers with a character or some sort of 'special' skill (Lyger's mannerisms, for example), so I wasn't a big fan."

 

Check out 3/17/96 Otani v Benoit, 6/11/96 Benoit v Eddy, 6/12/96 Eddy v Liger.  Your overall assessment is somewhat correct as Eddy is much better as the ultimate Rudo that he was in AAA and in WCW in late 1997...Benoit's overall character worked in WCW but he was every bit as effective in the ring storytelling wise in Japan.

 

Big Tim 2002 says: "What do you mean Tanaka doesn't deserve to be up there with those other juniors?"

 

Minoru Tanaka is nothing more than an average junior.  He may be a top 10 Junior in the world today, but if you stack him up against the greats, he doesn't hold a candle to their overall light.  His match with Murahama on 4/20/01 was enough to show me that as a 2nd year rookie carries him throughout the match.

 

Wolv says "I'm rewatching Kawada-Albright right now, and there's so much heat, my TV speakers may break

 

Seriously, this is just a tremendous performance by Kawada--every bit as good as Kobashi's best performances in 1993.  If this was 2002, it's MOTY, easy.  I hadn't watched this match in a long time, but it's enough to change my mind and put Kawada '95 as a tie for #1.  Awesome stuff.  ****1/2"

 

Terrific match.  Seeing this match has made me want to scoop out as much UWF and UWF-I as I can.

 

Tim

[Guest Black Tiger]

Don't forget about Koji Kanemoto, he's probably one of the New Japan's best pure wrestlers EVER. He makes a great addition to Team 2000 because now that he lost all the blonde streaks he looks like Junior version of Masahiro Chono.

[Guest Jubuki]

"If you, as I do, think Koji Kanemoto can't carry a bag of groceries from his car to his apartment, psychologically speaking..." -- quote on tOA

[Guest MrDanger]

Ah what the hell

 

1) Toshiaki Kawada

2) Mitsuharu Misawa

3) Jumbo Tsuruta (Although he is my personal favourite)

4) Jushin Liger

5) Kenta Kobashi

6) Genichiro Tenryu

7) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi

8) Shinya Hashimoto

9) Akira Taue

10) Hiroshi Hase

 

Once I see more of Tatsumi Fujinami in his prime I suspect that he'll probably feature.

 

And just because I'm in a list typing kind of mood, my 5 favourite Japanese workers today:

 

1) Jushin Liger

2) Yuji Nagata

3) Toshiaki Kawada

4) Satoshi Kojima

5) Minoru Tanaka