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Best workers of the 2010s (so far)


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I was looking through my top rated matches from this decade and noticed some recurring names. A really, really rough draft:

 

1. Black Terry

2. Brock Lesnar

3. Minoru Suzuki

4. Daniel Bryan

5. Kazuchika Okada

6. Jun Akiyama

7. AJ Styles

8. Negro Casas

9. Io Shirai

10. Dick Togo

 

Honorable Mentions: Tetsuya Naito, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Rey Hechicero

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10 Ken oh

9 Kimura Hana

8 KAORU

7 Suzuki Hedeki

6 Fujiwara

5 Black Terry

4 Golden Magic

3 Bryan

2 Suzuki Minoru

1 Nakajima Arisa

 

Honorable Mentions

Brock

Io

Togo

Nakamura

Joe Doring

Miyahara

Suigura

Tanahashi

Shibata

Naito

Takashita[ i hate DDT ]

Ishikawa

Ishii

Carvanario

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In no order:

  • Daniel Bryan
  • Virus
  • Negro Casas
  • Sami Callihan
  • Cesaro
  • AJ Styles
  • Timothy Thatcher
  • Chris Hero

Will try to expand on some of these folks. Admittedly, while I probably wouldn't have AJ as my #1 for any single year, he's active and very good-great throughout the entire decade. A lot of the other top contenders disappear for awhile.

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In no particular order:

 

Kento Miyahara

 

AJ Styles

 

Hiroshi Tanahashi

 

Masaaki Mochizuki

 

Daniel Bryan/Danielson

 

Shuji Ishikawa

 

Katsuori Shibata

 

Brock Lesnar, even though he has had some very poor recent performances

 

Those are the guys who came to mind first, some I was unsure about or have only seen a small amount fron would be:

 

John Cena

 

Io shrai

 

KANA/Asuka

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Re: Casas:

 

Based on footage, who else can be one of the best in the world in four decades?

 

Does Casas really have that much of a case in the 1980s?

 

 

Based on footage? Probably not until 87, no. I suppose "touching four decades" would be more accurate.

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Virus

Dr. Cerebro

Bryan Danielson

CM Punk (yes...I think his 2011-2014 run is good enough for this list)

Aerostar

Ultimo Guerrero

Tanahashi (he's been in far more good than bad...and his good has been good enough to break into a list that really isn't top heavy at all)

AJ Styles

Black Terry

Negro Navarro

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Io Shirai is an awesome call.

 

This could be recency bias, but is there a case for WALTER? I know his most pimped stuff has come in the last few years but he's been quietly working top matches in Europe since the beginning of the decade. I have a feeling a deep dive could reveal a lot more great stuff for him. I also think, if he continues on his current path, the next two years will make an even stronger case.

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In no order and the first ones that come to mind:

 

A.J. Styles

Daniel Bryan

Tomohiro Ishii

Tetsuya Naito

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Kazuchika Okada

Chris Hero

Kota Ibushi

 

I don't know if it was this decade but Ibushi got an almost *** match out of a blowup doll in DDT. I could see an easy argument for him being worker of the decade when all is said and done.

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Kenny Omega deserves some love. Forget the whole 6 stars deal, he's a very ballsy and creative worker who's been involved in a number of great matches in a wide variety of settings throughout the decade.

 

Meiko Satomura has also quietly assembled an impressive resume of low-key MOTYC's throughout the decade.

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Would anyone count Rey Mysterio? with him being outside the WWE bubble and hitting a ton of places and a variety of opponents along with his experience I'd say I'd throw him in.

Rey's a tough one as his post-WWE run probably doesn't net him too many points for this discussion. Has some bangers in Lucha Underground but not enough where he's a top 10 or so wrestler for the past few years. I don't think that's going to be improving anytime soon.

 

Cena should probably be mentioned but hard for me to realistically think that someone that has not been the best wrestler, or in the top 3, in his company for a single year makes it sort of hard to justify in my eyes. Granted, someone might say his 2011 deserves that rub.

 

Sekimoto hasn't been included cause he's not that good.

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I feel like Cena sort of fell off a cliff when he started to "adapt" to the second wave of former indy guys becoming the norm as his opponents. That said, he still gets points for adapting and it did pretty much win over the crowd. You suddenly can't be making a "not enough movez" argument against the guy who's doing springboard stunners.

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Kenny Omega deserves some love. Forget the whole 6 stars deal, he's a very ballsy and creative worker who's been involved in a number of great matches in a wide variety of settings throughout the decade.

 

Meiko Satomura has also quietly assembled an impressive resume of low-key MOTYC's throughout the decade.

 

I haven't seen enough of Kenny's DDT or early NJPW stuff to say one way or the other, but if he keeps delivering like he did last year I think he'll have an argument.

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No love for John Cena? Great decade for matches and promos from the guy.

 

Cena's tough because I'd wager the majority of his best stuff was around 2007. He still delivered some great matches here and there, but being a part-timer also hurts him compared to more consistent wrestlers.

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From what little I've seen, I'd go with MiSu. Legit MOTYCs this decade vs Tanahashi, Sugiura, Styles, Yano... best match on this year's Jan 4th card vs Goto... and I have heard good things about the Riddle match as well.

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