#TheChris100 2020: #10-1

 

And so our journey as the greatest wrestler of the year poll in history ends. Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who voted, everyone who shared the ballot with others, everyone who said nice things about the list, and everyone who wrote blurbs for the list. I couldn't have done it without you.

10. Katsuhiko Nakajima (13 ballots, 418 points, average rank 19.30769)

High Vote: Andy, BlodN (5)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Go Shiozaki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 1/5)
vs. Hideki Suzuki (NOAH, 2/16)
vs. Takashi Sugiura (NOAH, 5/9)
vs. Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH, 9/23)
vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 10/11)

9. Daniel Bryan (13 ballots, 445 points, average rank 18.46154) – HIGHEST RANKED THIRTEEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Damian (3)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Drew Gulak (WWE, 3/8)
vs. Cesaro (WWE, 4/17)
vs. Drew Gulak (WWE, 5/15)
vs. AJ Styles (WWE, 6/12)
vs. Jey Uso (WWE, 11/20)

"It feels silly even trying to talk about how great Daniel Bryan is at this point. Saying Daniel Bryan is a GOAT-tier guy is a boring take now. We all know that he's one of the best to ever do it, and 2020 once again reinforced that. Bryan apparently got to book a lot of his own feuds in 2020, and it shows from his opponents, largely fellow workrate greats like Gulak, Styles and Cesaro. The Gulak and Styles matches especially stand out in WWE's shaky (to put it nicely) output in 2020. There were quite a few wrestlers in WWE that made you say, 'that was pretty good for an empty arena COVID-19 era WWE match.' Daniel Bryan was the only wrestler good enough to forget all the circumstances around it and just focus on the wrestling." ~Chris Gibbons

8. Hiromu Takahashi (11 ballots, 478 points, average rank 11.36364)
High Vote: Parker Klyn, Corey (3)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Ryu Lee vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (NJPW, 1/5)
vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 7/2)
vs. EVIL (NJPW, 7/25)
vs. Taiji Ishimori (NJPW, 11/15)
vs. El Desperado (NJPW, 12/11)

7. Yoshinari Ogawa (11 ballots, 488 points, average rank 8.72727)
High Vote: Kono Fan (4)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. HAYATA (NOAH, 1/4)
vs. Dick Togo (NOAH, 1/30)
vs. Daisuke Harada (NOAH, 3/29)
w/ Atsushi Kotoge vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Kotaro Suzuki (NOAH, 4/18)
w/ HAYATA vs. Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara (NOAH, 8/30)

"I am truly puzzled by anyone out there that thinks Yoshinari Ogawa is washed up. Ogawa's 2020 showed that he is still one of the absolute best technical minds in wrestling, even at the age of 54. His match with Dick Togo from January might be the best match between two old wrestlers of the year, and the rest of his singles matches delivered as well. His tag team with HAYATA has had more mixed results, but I don't think that's because of Ogawa. They just don't seem to gel as a team as much as some of Ogawa's other partners." ~Chris Gibbons

6. El Hijo del Fishman (11 ballots, 568 points, average rank 6.81818)
High Vote: Jon (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Romano Garcia vs. Mascara Sagrada Jr. & Wotan (Lucha Strong, 2/15)
vs. Demus vs. Romano Garcia vs. Wotan (BELLO, 11/14)
w/ El Hijo del Angel vs. Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr. (Lucha Libre Boom, 12/5)
w/ Amatheus vs. Supe Dragons & Wotan (LLPM, 12/5)
vs. Demus vs. Romano Garcia vs. Wotan (AML, 12/6)

"The one man who can victimize Wotan. The pandemic hit and this mfer kept getting fatter and fatter and got even better and better. He inflicted evil on wrestlers, referees, and even fans. The son of Fishman is an enemy of God. Any match he has involving Wotan is guaranteed fire, it is the best rivalry in wrestling in my arrogant opinion." ~Flae

5. Wotan (11 ballots, 607 points, average rank 5.45455) – HIGHEST RANKED ELEVEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Kevin (1)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Mascara Sagrada Jr. vs. El Hijo de Fishman & Romano Garcia (Lucha Strong, 2/15)
vs. El Hijo del Perverso (LLDLJ, 2/16)
vs. Demus vs. Romano Garcia vs. Wotan (BELLO, 11/14)
w/ Super Dragons vs. Amatheus & El Hijo de Fishman (LLPM, 12/5)
vs. Demus vs. Romano Garcia vs. Wotan (AML, 12/6)

"This is a guy who at his base form can't help but be raw, vicious, violent and exciting. You can call him literally anything that suffices as beast and that would be an apt description. The rivalry with Fishman despite an unfortunate postponement of the mask match, continued to be the highlight of lucha and really all of wrestling to me this year. The set-up tags are malicious and outrageous and all feature an unbridled brand of chaos that I look for in wrestling. His mini-rivalry teaming with Demus against Los Hermanos Montanez is hilarious and even when wrestling in more 'technical' matches, he is still maniacal." ~Flae

4. Tetsuya Naito (17 ballots, 657 points, average rank 18.17647) – HIGHEST RANKED SEVENTEEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Logan Kenny, MikeyCC, BlodN (1)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 1/5)
vs. KENTA (NJPW, 2/9)
vs. EVIL (NJPW, 7/12)
vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 9/24)
vs. KENTA (NJPW, 10/17)

"Naito is one of the few wrestlers in NJPW that can get people who are more down on the promotion to feel some excitement. He started the year off with one of the best Okada main events in recent memory, finally getting his big Wrestle Kingdom victory that fans wanted from him years ago. Until the pandemic shut down New Japan for months, his title run had a great start with the defense against KENTA. And while some have criticized the booking around the EVIL feud and everything that's come after for Naito, those critics would be foolish to blame that on anything to do with Naito's actual work. He's still so charismatic in everything he does and is a constant joy to watch. While even Shin Nihon Freaks are starting to tire of the promotion in many ways, Naito's matches still feel fresh." ~Chris Gibbons

3. Masashi Takeda (15 ballots, 693 points, average rank 10.33333) – ONLY FIFTEEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Chris Gibbons, Sol (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Brandon Kirk (Stand Alone Wrestling, 1/3)
vs. Low Ki (ICW No Holds Barred, 1/5)
w/ Daisuke Masaoka & Jun Kasai vs. Takashi Sasaki, Toru Sugiura & Violento Jack (FREEDOMS, 6/10)
vs. Toru Sugiura (FREEDOMS, 7/28)

vs. Toru Sugiura (FREEDOMS, 12/25)

"I think I'd put Takeda this high if the only matches he worked were the Sugiura matches, especially the 7/28 challenge for the belt. The match unfortunately had to stop because of an injury to Takeda, but for the time before that he had reached a completely different stratosphere as a deathmatch worker. Takeda has long been one of the best deathmatch workers in the world, but his performance on that July day felt like his masterpiece. That he had such other great work in FREEDOMS, BJW and even the American indies is just icing on the cake." ~Chris Gibbons

2. Kaito Kiyomiya (16 ballots, 772 points, average rank 12.4375) – ONLY SIXTEEN BALLOT WRESTLER, MOST #1 VOTES
High Vote: Chris Gibbons, Flae, Smoldoink, Lao Tzu (1)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 1/4)
vs. Masa Kitamiya (NOAH, 9/22)
vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (NOAH, 9/23)
vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH, 10/11)
vs. Daisuke Harada (NOAH, 11/28)

"Kaito Kiyomiya's 2021 started a lot like his 2020 did, losing a GHC title match to an old man past his prime, and if his 2021 looks anything like his 2020, he's only going to reiterate to the world what NOAH fans saw all year; Kaito Kiyomiya is the best full time wrestler on the planet.

After dropping the title to Go, he dropped any pretense of being the new Misawa and unleashed his true form: Big Ace Yoshinari Ogawa.

Kaito spent his year completely dominating his lessors on the mat and hanging tough with the plethora of shooters and legends NOSAWA graciously put in front of him. He made every NOAH house show a must-see proposition and brought life to the multiman tags that are afterthoughts in every other major puro promotion. 

It's almost silly to recommend any individual singles match, as he had great outings against 19 individual wrestlers, but his opening night time limit draw with Mochizuki deserves special attention. Detractors of NOSAWAism might note that this was yet again another 'failed opportunity' to put the young ace over a washed up old man, but those that do will have missed out on a masterclass in sellling, matwork, and wrestling from underneath that showed off Kaito's impressive range as a worker and ensured that this match joined the pantheon of all time great tournament draws." ~Smoldoink

1. Go Shiozaki (19 ballots, 853 points, average rank 11.42105) – ONLY NINETEEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Raul, Dominic (1)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 1/4)
w/ Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Hideki Suzuki & Kazuyuki Fujita (NOAH, 2/24)
vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (NOAH, 3/29)
vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (NOAH, 9/22)
vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 10/4)

"From the results of this poll it's very clear that Go Shiozaki had a transcendent 2020. It didn't matter if the voter was primarily a New Japan fan, a fan of other puro, a joshi fan, somebody primarily focused on AEW or the American indies, or even lucha fans. Shiozaki landed on the lists of all these different types of fans with often very differing tastes. He might not have been everybody's number one worker of the year, but he was consistently high on the lists. In a year where other promotions' top guys struggled to reach the heights of years prior, Go took the ball and ran with it basically from the start of the year when he beat Kaito for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. His singles work and tag work before Nakajima betrayed him for Kongo was all excellent. In 2020, Kaito Kiyomiya may have showed why he deserves to be the next top star of NOAH, but Shiozaki showed that Kaito will have to pry that title from him. A truly transcendent title run and year for him." ~Chris Gibbons