RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Pulse Wrestling's Top 100 of the Modern Era

that's the most horrible thing I've ever seen. I don't even want to know what kind of search you typed in to find that.

i dont see how you could possible see douglas rate higher than martel? what has douglas done?

i dont see how you could possible see douglas rate higher than martel? what has douglas done?

49. JIMMY SNUKA

Real Name - James Reiher
Aliases - Superfly
Hometown - Fiji Islands
Debuted - 1969
Titles Held - NWA Texas Heavyweight; NWA Texas Tag Team (with Gino Hernandez); CWA International Tag Team (with JT Southern); ECW Heavyweight (2x); ECW Television; NWA National Tag Team (with Terry Gordy); NWA United States Heavyweight (Mid-Atlantic); NWA World Tag Team (Mid-Atlantic) (2x, 1 with Paul Orndorff, 1 with Ray Stevens); NWA Canadian Tag Team (Vancouver) (with Don Leo Jonathan); NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight (5x); NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team (6x, with Dutch Savage); WWWA Heavyweight
Other Accomplishments - First ECW Heavyweight champion; PWI Tag Team of the Year award winner in 1980 (with Ray Stevens); Wrestling Observer Newsletter Tag Team of the Year award winner in 1981 (with Terry Gordy); Winner of Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Flying Wrestler award in 1981; Winner of PWI Match of the Year award in 1982 (vs. Bob Backlund); Winner of PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year award in 1983; Ranked #29 of the top 500 wrestlers during the PWI years; Ranked #41 of the top 100 tag teams during the PWI years (with Ray Stevens); WWE Hall of Fame member (inducted 1996)

Jimmy didn’t invent the high-flying style, and he wasn’t the first man to come off the top rope with an offensive move. But Jimmy Snuka could land a top rope body splash better than anybody in his day. The talent and agility he exhibited while standing upon the top rope while throwing up the “I love you” sign was a thing of beauty. He would sail off with the greatest of ease and land with precision.

As the 1980s begin Snuka arrived in the WWF as a savage-like heel managed by Capt. Lou Albano. He was one of the promotion’s top heels and made his mark with a Superfly leap off the top of a steel cage, barely missing Bob Backlund during a WWF Championship match.

The fans soon turned Snuka into a face thanks to his high-flying style. He fully turned face in 1982 and became the company’s number two babyface. His Intercontinental Championship run against Don Muraco in 1983 was what made Snuka a legend. After losing a cage match to Muraco in October of 1983, the Superfly made his most famous leap as he drug Muraco back into the ring and hit a Superfly Splash off the top of the cage onto a prone Muraco. The clip of that famous jump has become of one of World Wrestling Entertainment’s most played videos. It’s often been said that Tommy Dreamer, Bubba Ray Dudley and Mick Foley were all in attendance of Madison Square Garden that night and contributed to their desire to become professional wrestlers themselves.

In 1984, Snuka got involved in a hot feud with Rowdy Roddy Piper after Piper smashed a legit coconut on his head during an installment of Piper’s Pit. Snuka spent 1984 and the first part of ’85 chasing Piper across the country. Unfortunately when Hulk Hogan arrived in the WWF in 1985 Snuka was pushed down the card. Shortly after WrestleMania 1 he left the company.

He spent the next few years working in the AWA, Japan and did a stint in drug/alcohol rehab.

He resurfaced in the WWF at WrestleMania V in 1989. Unfortunately his star had faded considerably by this point and never really rose above the mid-card. He spent 1989, 1990 and 1990 as the second or third step up on the credibility ladder for hot incoming heels in the Federation. Men like Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, Warlord, Undertaker and IRS all used Snuka as a stepping-stone on their way up the card. He left the WWF again after Royal Rumble ’92.

Shortly after leaving the WWF he would become one of the founding fathers of Tod Gordon’s fledgling Eastern Championship Wrestling, the promotion that would later be renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling. He was the promotion’s first Heavyweight Champion and worked with other aging stars like Road Warrior Hawk, Terry Funk and Don Muraco.

In 1996 Snuka was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame and drifted into semi-retirement. The night after his induction he appeared as the mystery partner Savio Vega, Flash Funk and Yokozuna during Survivor Series ’96. Throughout the rest of the ‘90s and early millennium Snuka would make sporadic appearances for WCW and the WWF.

In the past twelve months alone Superfly has wrestled on two WWE pay per views. In June 2007 at Vengeance he teamed with Sgt. Slaughter to challenge his son Deuce and his partner Domino for the WWE Tag Championship. At Royal Rumble 2008 he appeared as a surprise entrant where he renewed his decades old rivalry with fellow surprise participant Roddy Piper. The best part of that exchange was just seeing the rest of the match’s participants selling for Jimmy’s offense and CM Punk & John Morrison’s kayfabe-breaking mark out of Snuka & Piper’s brawl.

It’s a testament to Jimmy Snuka’s talent, charisma and popularity that he is still called upon on occasion to compete on professional wrestling’s largest stage. As Jimmy goes into his sixth decade of life he is still able to work in the ring, albeit in a much shorter and protected manner.

While Snuka still steps into the ring himself from time-to-time his legacy will continue on as his adopted son “Deuce Shade” of Deuce ‘n’ Domino fame is making a name for himself on WWE’s SmackDown! brand without using the same old formula of playing up his family history.

His bare feet, ahead-of-its-time aerial ability, chiseled physique and personality made him stand out in the right way. Despite not holding a plethora of world-renown championships he always maintained a certain level of over-ness with the fans. He paved the way for fellow high-flyers to be able to come off the top rope and be innovative, and helped bring in a whole new era of island-born performers.

where did you live that you think Douglas invented the 3 way dance,

it was done for years, heck i saw a roddy piper, paul orndorf, jimmy snuka 3 way dance at a WWF house show when Douglas was most likely in diapers.

popularized the work shoot promo? do you know heyman was the brain child for that?

that mick foley and steve austin were more succesful in ECW with the work shoot than douglas?

The whole gimmick of the work shoot is getting yourself over when talent alone wont get you there, thats why the work shoot is already passe. No one does it anymore, how is it a revolution if it's already dead?

nothing douglas did transformed the industry, you have to seperate your love for ECW from the fact that a jobber was used well at it's inception.

the fact is heyman is a genius at using one or two dimensional wrestlers and making them look like a star. Taz is a perfect example, looked like a monster in ECW, but put him in the WWE and even though they tried to push him, the fact that he was slow, and tiny could not be overcome,

Martel has wrestled in all the major promotions, wrestled at a higher rate in his post prime days than Douglas in his prime. He held one of the most prestigious belts ever the AWA World Title, and the WWF tag titles twice when they meant something.

Douglas held one of the biggest Indy titles in the world,t he ECW world title, not in the same league as Martel.

I never said he invented it, I said he helped introduce it, which he did.

oh? considering this is the first time I've ever seen or heard anything about this in my twenty years of being a wrestling fan I'd like to know more about that.

yes, I know it was his brainchild, as I also know that Douglas was his mouthpiece for the formative years of ECW.

really? so they were ECW World Champions? Foley's promos were indeed successful and are considered not only highlights of ECW, but also instrumental in his later career. but Austin was only there for a few months and barely wrestled. it did help him prepare for his "Stone Cold" run, but he wasn't around long enough to be "more successful in ECW".

the revolution may have died, but that doesn't mean it never happened.

I disagree. Douglas' character DID play a large role in ECW, which brought about transformation in the wrestling industry.

it couldn't be overcome by Mcmahon, because he only understands one formula. seems to me that Heyman overcame it pretty well.

sorry, but I don't rate Vern Gagne's vanity title as highly as some people do. he was the Jeff Jarrett of his day. you have to separate your love for The Model from the fact that he doesn't have any long lasting impact on the industry as a whole.

10 to 15 years after I saw it?

what's to tell theyd often have 2 heels vs the baby face at house shows, especially if there was a big tv angle. at the show i went to it was gunna be piper and orton, but orton didnt/couldnt make it....

yes it's well known heyman coulnt afford real talent, and would often put a guy in the lead he thought didnt have what it takes to make it in the big leagues

dont be a whomod, you know what i meant. they were actually more succesful at pulling it off, they sounded like guys with real "heat" with WCW, wheras Douglas sounded like a spurned lover...plus they held titles in real organizations i dont think they needed a indy title to get over...

way to backstep, normally when someone says someone revolutionized a industry, they are talking of lasting change.

eddie van halen revolutionized music, you dont hear a lot of people saying Wham did....

you coulda plugged any low key WCW jobber in and had the same effect, remember Paul played to their strengths, had Leni Lane been available he coulda been the mouth piece...

yes if only vince understood the could understand the wrestling business as well as heyman, he could be writing pop culture pieces for a british tabloid, instead of being stuck as ceo of the largest wrestling companies in the world, the man certainly could take promoting leasons from heyman

lasting impact? you just agreed that nothing douglas did is still a factor?

the list is top wrestlers, not One Dimensional WCW Saturday Night Jobbers Who Got To Carry A Belt With No Fear Of Jumping Ship Because He Sucks Top 100

You'll not find any serious wrestling historian that finds Douglas to be a better all around worker than Martel.

Douglas was great in his role, but honestly as good as he was, he's a skidmark on wrestling history, a few years at the top of a famous Indy is not the same as a really good 12 - 15 year run that Martel had no matter how you look at it.

48. BRYAN DANIELSON

Real Name - Brian Danielson
Aliases - American Dragon
Hometown - Aberdeen, Washington
Debuted - 1999
Titles Held - APW Internet; APW King of the Indies; ASW Heavy Middleweight; ECWA Tag Team (with Low-Ki); FIP Heavyweight; MCW Southern Light Heavyweight; MCW Southern Tag Team (with Spanky); MSW Junior Heavyweight; NWA Canadian Junior Heavyweight; NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight; IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team (with Curry Man); PWG World; ROH World; ROH Pure Wrestling; TWA Tag Team (with Spanky); WSW Heavyweight
Other Accomplishments - Unified ROH World and Pure Wrestling championships; ROH Survival of the Fittest winner in 2004; Winner of Pulse Wrestlng’s Best Male Wrestler award in 2006 and 2007; Winner of Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Best Technical Wrestler award in 2005 and 2006; Winner of Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award in 2006

Number 48 on our Best Wrestlers of the Modern Era is a man who will almost certainly end up ranking far more favorably in a few years than he does now, and he’s already at the top half of the list. This man, the Best Wrestler in the World today, is a two time winner of Pulse Wrestling’s Male Wrestler of the Year award as well as a former ROH and PWG Champion. Bryan Danielson has gone from a backyard wrestler to an international star and one of the few draws on the indies.

Prior to being trained, Danielson, like so many of his contemporaries, began as a backyard wrestler, where he was the Backyard Wrestling champion. Deciding that this was worth pursuing, Danielson intended to join Dean Malenko’s school since Dean inspired him to be a pro, but due to the school’s closing, he instead joined Shawn Michael’s Texas Wrestling Academy where he was part of a stellar class that produced Brian “Spanky” Kendrick, Lance Cade, Paul London and Michael “Maverick Matt” Shane. Out of this he was signed to a WWE developmental deal, but when the territory folded, Danielson was set free into the indies. WWE would never know what they missed.

On the independent scene Danielson quickly made a name for himself. The most prominent and prestigious tournament on the indies was, at the time, the ECWA Super 8. In this tournament, Danielson advanced to the finals where he would meet longtime rival Low Ki in what many consider the tournament’s best match ever. This got him a spot in the fledgling promotion, Ring of Honor.

In 2002, when ROH was founded, Danielson was one of its immediate top draws. At the very first show he was in the main event and battled Low Ki and Chris Daniels in an epic three-way encounter that is still talked about to this day. He followed this up with a five star classic with Low Ki on the best show and just like that ROH was known as the place to find the best, most innovative wrestling. Naturally, with his skill, it wasn’t long before Japan took notice and Danielson began taking bookings in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he would become the IWGP Junior Tag Champion with Curry Man (Christopher Daniels). Through these years he had notable rivalries and amazing matches with Paul London (Night of the Butcher, The Epic Encounter), Jushin Lyger (Weekend of Thunder), Samoa Joe (Midnight Express Reunion), AJ Styles (Main Event Spectacles), Homicide (their 2005 best of 5), and Austin Aries (Testing the Limit, Nowhere to Run). Danielson would continue to split his time between Japan and Ring of Honor, putting on great matches, all the way through to 2005, when he finally committed to ROH full time and became ROH World Champion, dethroning James “Jamie Noble” Gibson in a classic.

As Ring of Honor Champion Danielson changed his in ring style, from a pure technician to a man more comfortable with longer, technical matches with a cocky heel persona. It was in this form that, throughout 2005 and 2006, Danielson would become known as the Best Wrestler in the World. His title run lasted over a year and featured classics with Roderick Strong (Vendetta, Supercard of Honor), Samoa Joe (Fight of the Century), Colt Cabana (Chi-Town Struggle), and, of course, Nigel McGuinness. All through the Summer of 2006, Nigel and Danielson would battle, putting on classic after classic, culminating in a Unification match between Danielson, the World Champion, and Nigel, the Pure Champion. This match is among the best in Ring of Honor history.

Almost immediately after this reign defining match, Danielson would go on to badly injure his shoulder. This was terrible timing as KENTA, the hard-kicking, undefeated Japanese junior was coming for Danielson’s title belt. Having already pinned Danielson in a tag and in a three way, KENTA was heavily favored. Danielson, however, injury or no, went out and put on a five star classic that is among my favorite matches ever with KENTA, defending his belt successfully for this match at Glory by Honor VI Night 2 and for 3 months prior until he was finally unseated by Homicide at Final Battle 2006. During his title run he won the Wrestling Observer Technical Wrestler of the Year twice and was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in 2006.

After taking the first few months of 2007 off, Danielson was back with a vengeance, changing his style for a third time, to a more MMA based offense and working face, he became the ROH ace, leading the company without the belt and putting on some of the best matches of the year in any promotion with KENTA (Driven), Go Shiozaki (Live in Tokyo), Austin Aries (Honor Nation, Glory by Honor VI Night 1) and of course, the immediate classic series with Takeshi Morishima. Danielson had to claw his way up the ranks to face Morishima and when he did, it was a war (see the ROH Match of the Year from Manhattan Mayhem 2). The match was a classic and Danielson broke his orbital bone and detached his retina. The next match, on the PPV “Man Up” saw Danielson nearly take the belt again before Morishima attacked the hurt eye. Since then, at Glory by Honor VI Night 2 and Rising Above, the fifth PPV taping, the hatred has gotten out of control and there is an issue to still be settled between the ROH Ace and future NOAH Ace. Coming into the New Year, Danielson awaits his accolades for a more amazing half of 2007 than nearly anyone but perhaps Cena managed in more time, while looking for another Ring of Honor title shot and to settle the score with Morishima.

During 2007, he was also slated to become NWA Champion, but an eye injury (in the first Morishima match) derailed those plans, while he joined PWG as a regular, winning their World Title and putting on classics with CIMA, El Generico, and, reportedly, Low Ki.

Bryan Danielson has developed into one of the most versatile and entertaining men in the wrestling business in any capacity. From a cowardly heel, to a pure technician, to a MMA style face, he can do it all. He’s taken Japanese crowds that didn’t care about him to their feet, cheering and showering him with accolades. He’s had the Manhattan Center in the heart of New York in the palm of his hand. The main star of ROH on Pay Per View, it’s only a matter of time before the world sees what we already know: Bryan Danielson is a man without peer in the wrestling business today.

now this guy I'm not as familiar with, although everyone online seems to think he's the best there is right now. how does he stack up?

"if he sucked that bad, why were the E and WCW so anxious to hire him?"

Oh come on, when has someones talent been a reason for WWE to actively pursue someone from another company?
Are you saying Monty Brown/Marcus Cor Von doesnt suck?

Fuck me, just look at some of the other cunts they have signed over the years including Mark "10 year contract and then some" Henry.

Whether a wrestler is any good or not has never been a factor with WWE/F!

hey, one guy turned Taz into a mini monster, the other turned him into a fat, crappy joke of an announcer. I know which one I prefer to watch.

But which one are you able to watch? Heyman's or McMahon's version?

Heymans couldnt draw any money, I'd dare say Taz is making more right now than he did in his ECW prime, if anything this proves my point.

Douglas could be ECW champ, but really what is that? Lower than a WECW announcer, hell Douglas can't even make it as a TNA backstage announcer, he was all Heyman.

Martel on the other hand, made it everywhere he went.

47. THE GREAT MUTA

Aliases Kokushi Muso; The Super Ninja; Super Black Ninja
Hometown Yamanhashi, Japan
Debut 1984
Titles Held NWA Heavyweight Champion; NWA Television Champion; IWGP Heavyweight Champion; IWGP Tag Team Champion; AJPW Triple Crown; AJPW Tag Team Champion; WCW Tag Team Champion
Other Accomplishments 1995 G1 Climax Winner; 1992 Battle Bowl Winner; Champions Carnival Winner 2002, 2004 and 2007; PWI ranked him # 3 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2002; PWI ranked him # 25 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the “PWI Years” in 2003; PWI ranked him # 22 of the 100 best tag teams of the “PWI Years” with Hiro Hase in 2003; Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1999); Wrestling Observer Match of the Year award in 2001 - vs. Genichiro Tenryu; Wrestling Observer Most Improved Wrestler award in 2001; Wrestling Observer Wrestler of the Year 2001

When I saw that The Great Muta was going to be in the top 100 I knew I had to cover him simply because I’m the biggest Muta Mark you can find. Ever since I first saw Keiji Mutoh in the guise of the scary and evil Great Muta I knew I’d seen one of the coolest wrestlers I would ever see. I want to set some ground rules here for this piece, and they may be unpopular but I feel they’re necessary. First off, this will be a reflective of the Great Muta character and its exploits in the United States as opposed to being a huge article on Keiji Mutoh. The reasons for this are that we are planning to have a Japanese List of the top 100 at some point in the future and no doubt Mutoh will be very high on that list, he may even be in the top 10. Another reason is that to cover ALL of Keiji Mutoh’s career would simply take up too much space and really if I condensed it into one huge article it would be doing the man a great injustice. So, with the ground rules clear, let’s take a look at THE GREAT MUTA!

Keiji Mutoh hit the United States in the late 80’s, wrestling as The Super Ninja in WCCW. However, it wasn’t until he hit the NWA in 1988 as the evil and twisted Great Muta that he found worldwide fame. Muta wrestled a very fast paced and high flying style for the time period, which was highlighted by his coup de grace The Moonsault. Muta was a revolutionary wrestler and the NWA fans were put in a hard conundrum. These days fans just cheer who they think is cool and the wrestling companies react appropriately. Back then things were a little different. If you were a heel and the fans started cheering you, chances were you wouldn’t be turned but rather de-pushed. There are exceptions, such as Roddy Piper and Jake Roberts, but they were rare. So the NWA fans were faced with an awesomely cool character that they were forced to boo. Thankfully, Sting made it much easier for them

Sting, at the time the NWA TV Champion, was well on his way to being one of the biggest baby face sensations of the decade. Paired up against the equally cool Sting, Muta finally had an opponent that would allow him to show off his dastardly side. The two competed in a number of classic encounters of which one of the best was at the 1989 Great American Bash. Sting and Muta not only clicked in the ring but they both shared a high impact and fast paced style so their matches were always full of exciting spots and counters. Muta’s rejuvenated heel character was so over that he eventually went on to defeat Sting for the title. Muta was one of the top stars in the company and experiencing a level of popularity in the States that he had never experienced before. However, this being WCW/NWA, his popularity was soon squandered.

In the later half of 1989, Muta was inserted into the feud between Terry Funk and Ric Flair, which was the hottest rivalry in the whole company at the time. Along with Funk and Gary Hart he was a member of the J-Tex Corporation. The main event at Halloween Havoc that year was to be Funk and Muta Vs Sting and Flair in a Thunder Cage Match. as silly as this sounds, the match would be contested in a Hell in a Cell style cage, minus a roof, and the top of the cage would be electrified to prevent escape. What this led to was some of the goofiest brawling ever seen, complete with cheesy electrical sounds when the wrestlers ventured too close to the “electrified” cage. In the end, Flair and Sting won an average match, with Muta taking the fall for his team. This would all lead to Starrcade, entitled “Future Shock”, where Muta was essentially ruined as a main event commodity in the company.

The idea for Starrcade 89 was that four of WCW’s top stars would wrestle in a mini-league to decide who the top star really was. Nicknamed the “Iron Man Tournament”, the event featured Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger and Muta. I think Scott Keith put it best that the real Iron Men were the fans who sat through this whole cripplingly boring show. Sting would go on to win the tournament but the big loser was Muta. Not only did he fail to win even one of his matches, but he also lost an embarrassingly short match to Flair that made him look like an absolute loser. Even his match with Sting that night was a let down and Muta soon was on the end of another loss, this time to a returning Arn Anderson, that cost him his TV Title. Pretty much any chance of ever main eventing in WCW again eradicated, Muta went back to Japan where he went on to win the IWGP World Title and become perhaps the greatest wrestler in Puro History.

Muta wasn’t done with America though as he made many trips back to the U.S in the next 10 years. Unfortunately, Muta never really captured the same sort of popularity he used to have. He was still popular with the fans who remembered his past exploits but he was never at the level of 1989 prime. Worse still, Muta almost seemed to have contempt for the fans when he came to America as he entered a number of sloppy and lazy performances, most notably in his NWA Title defeat to Barry Windham at Super Brawl 93. He was part of some great angles though. His nWo turn in 1997 was an excellent piece of storytelling and he did have a good match with The Steiners at Bash at the Beach 97 along with Masahiro Chono. Sadly, injuries and terrible booking really ruined his last big chance in America in 2000. Amazingly, turning him into a lackey for Vampiro and losing to The Cat did not reinvigorate Muta’s stagnant career.

Muta finally had a career renaissance in 2001 as he cut his hair and changed his wrestling style to rebound in magnificent style and become wrestler of the year. However, that is for another day and another column. Muta now runs All Japan Pro Wrestling and was recently seen on a TNA Pay Per View earlier this year, although he has yet to wrestle for the company.

It is without question that Keiji Mutoh experienced his greatest career success while working in his homeland of Japan. However, he remains a long time favourite for many fans who witnessed the Great Muta’s evil ways in the 80’s and 90’s. Muta was one of the most original and exciting wrestlers of his generation and for that alone he highly deserves his place in the Inside Pulse Top 100!

another of my all time favorites.

look, I'm Johnny Ace!

Fact: Matt Striker is ripping off Shane's "Dean Douglas" character. No one is currently imitating "The Model". I agree with Grimm, Shane's more influential.