Johnny Legacy's Deep Thoughts
The Favorites Lists (Revised July 2024)
I noticed my original list of favorites from October 2019 has gotten some hits recently, and seeing how it's been nearly five years and I'm currently in my annual review writing hiatus for G1 season I figured it was time to revisit it.
Top 10 All Time Favorites (retired only)
A few shout outs before getting to the list proper. First, when he fully retires I have long known that Daniel Bryan Danielson will be in the top 5, I've been a fan of his since his pre-WWE ROH days. I still have a soft spot for CM Punk because he was easily top 5 all time for me before his AEW comeback, but I didn't like at all how he handled himself in AEW or his exit there. He's behaved himself so far in his WWE comeback which I've enjoyed very much even if I was on record that I would not have taken the chance on him after what happened in AEW. If he continues on the path he's on now he might get back in there when he's done. I also want to mention a few retirees on the Japan side that I've very much enjoyed going back and watching their matches in my Tokyo Dome reviews but haven't seen enough of them overall to consider putting them on the list: Riki Choshu, Shinya Hashimoto, and Tatsumi Fujinami.
Just missed the cut- The Great Muta, Mr. Perfect, Arn Anderson, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho (who needs to hang it up at this point), Minoru Suzuki (who may never retire but now belongs more here than the fully active list)
The List Proper
1. Ric Flair
2. Bret Hart
3. Randy Savage
4. Kurt Angle
5. Steve Austin
6. Shawn Michaels
7. Vader
8. Jushin Thunder Liger
9. Sting
10. Rick Rude
Top 10 All Time Favorite Tag Teams (mostly retired only)
Just a small note on this one, I seriously considered putting The New Day on the list as they don't look to ever get back to the way they were in their peak years, but they are still technically active so not yet.
1. The Steiner Brothers
2. The Hart Foundation
3. The Brain Busters/Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard
4. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane version)
5. The Rock N Roll Express
6. The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom
7. Doom
8. The Rockers
9. The Miracle Violence Connection
10. The Hollywood Blondes
WWE Men's roster
I'm not making a separate list for NXT this time simply because even though I am a fan of what Shawn has been doing with the brand under the new regime, there's just not anyone there on the men's side I'd really consider myself a FAN of right now.
1. Gunther
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
3. Kevin Owens
4. Cody Rhodes
5. AJ Styles
6. Pete Dunne
7. Ilja Dragunov
8. Bron Breakker
9. Seth Rollins
10. Chad Gable
New Japan
A few honorable mentions here for varying reasons: again Minoru Suzuki, Yuji Nagata, Toru Yano, Jake Lee (who I'd never really seen before this year's G1 and really like so far).
1. Tetsuya Naito
2. Yota Tsuji
3. Zack Sabre Jr
4. Hiromu Takahashi
5. El Desperado
6. Shota Umino
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi
8. Shingo Takagi
9. Gabe Kidd
10. Yuya Uemura
AEW Men's roster
Three guys that would be at or near the top of this list if it wasn't for major injury issues: Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and Kota Ibushi.
1. Bryan Danielson
2. Jon Moxley
3. Jay White
4. Will Ospreay
5. MJF
6. Katsuyori Shibata
7. Orange Cassidy
8. Darby Allin
9. Claudio Castagnoli
10. Kazuchika Okada
Women's roster (all companies)
Honorable mentions here include some women in Japan that I like but I haven't seen enough of them to put them on the list yet: Tam Nakano, Mina Shirwakawa, Giulia (that'll change soon with her coming to NXT). Also Stephanie Vaquer, which will also change soon. Since this is across all companies I watch I'm expanding the list to 15.
1. Asuka
2. Io Shirai Sky
3. Becky Lynch
4. Kairi Sane
5. Roxanne Perez
6. Rhea Ripley
7. Tiffany Stratton
8. TIMELESS Toni Storm (best gimmick in the business the past year)
9. Bayley
10. Shayna Baszler
11. Hikaru Shida
12. Indi Hartwell
13. Candice LeRae
14. Sonya Deville
15. Mariah May
Tag Teams (all companies)
1. FTR
2. DIY
No other teams are currently worthy of the list.
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