I'm considering two factors when putting this together (1) workrate (2) everything else.
For me, as I've mentioned at greater length on more than one occasion, workrate is by far my most important consideration when evaluating a wrestler - I want to see athleticism or crispness or brutality or some combination thereof. Famous guys staring at each other regardless of crowd reaction is not as interesting to me as a high angle suplex.
But the list can't just be workrate, otherwise Katsuhiko Nakajima would rank ahead of Bruno Sammartino.
So the other category is everything else, some combination of titles earned or importance or overall recognition. My ballot for Meltzer's Wrestler of the Year Award is essentially this idea; my calculation rates workrate as solidly more important than would most, but some combination of actual in ring ability + other stuff is that award.
In the rankings, I offer some alternatives for each spot, probably through the first 25, maybe 50 - people who are similar, for some reason, but who didn't make this cut.
Is it a good list? Eh. Absent metrics I don't know how useful it is - but I hadn't done it before, so there you go. With that...
100 - Rob Van Dam - not here are Shane Douglas, the Sheik, 2 Cold Scorpio
99. Red Bastien - neither of the Kangaroos, none of the Grahams made this list
98. Shinsuke Nakamura - Goto isn't here, neither is Kojima, Makabe or Shiozaki
97. Maurice Vachon - here instead of rival Dick the Bruiser and future brawlers like Mark Lewin and Raven
96. The Destroyer - here for historical importance for launch of Japanese boom, not here is a figure of significance in lucha history - Canek.
95. Don Leo Jonathan - not here are Bad News Allen, Owen Hart and Edge and Christian
94. Riki Choshu - not here is a Japanese pioneer like Atsushi Onita.
93. Carlos Colon - here instead of Miguel Perez or Dusty Rhodes
92. Abdullah the Butcher - here instead of John Tolos or Masato Tanaka
91. Ultimo Dragon - who didn't make the list? There's no one from Mich Pro or Dragon's Gate.
90. Kensuke Sasaki - no Steiners or Road Warriors, no Chono, no Tenzan
89. Jimmy Snuka - high flyers not here - Jeff Hardy, Prince Devitt
88. John Pesek - Pat Patterson, Ted DiBiase, Minoru Suzuki, none of them are here
87. Dean Malenko - here for the workrate; not here - Osamu Nishimura, Curt Hennig
86. Samoa Joe - not here, Austin Aries, Low Ki, Chris Daniels, Nigel McGuinness
85. Bill Longson - Frank Sexton isn't on this list
84. The Crusher - Larry Hennig didn't make the list
83. Orville Brown - Neither George Hackenschmidt or Bronko Nagurski made the list.
82. Danny McShain - Takayama didn't make this list, neither did Terry Gordy
81. Ray Stevens - Not on the list: Jose Lothario, Angelo Poffo, Bill Miller, Ernie Ladd
80. Freddie Blassie - Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis, not on the list
79. Steven Regal - not here, Robbie Brookside, Bill Dundee, Bobby Eaton, Fit Finlay
78. CM Punk - not here, Steve Corino, Chris Hero
77. AJ Styles - no Jeff Jarrett
76. Jun Akiyama - not here, Taue. Dr. Death, Sugiura, Kea
75. Gorgeous George
74. John Cena
73. Andre the Giant
72. Giant Baba
71. Antonio Inoki
70. Bob Backlund
69. Ricky Morton
68. Sting
67. Triple H
66. Sabu
65. Dory Funk, Jr.
64. Bobo Brazil
63. Antonino Rocca
62. Eduoard Carpentier
61. Yvon Robert
60. Pat O'Connor
59. Yuji Nagata
58. Shinya Hashimoto
57. Genichiro Tenryu
56. Buddy Rogers
55. Killer Kowalski
54. Billy Watson
53. Chris Jericho
52. Hiroshi Tanahashi
51. The Undertaker
And here's the Top 50 Greatest Wrestlers of all Time:
50. Jerry Lawler
49. Verne Gagne
48. Roddy Piper
47. Bruiser Brody
46. Danny Hodge
45. Billy Robinson
44. Naomichi Marufuji
43. Tiger Mask
42. Tatsumi Fujinami
41. El Hijo del Santo
40. Mick Foley
39. Johnny Valentine
38. Blue Demon
37. The Great Muta
36. Bryan Danielson
35. The Dynamite Kid
34. Kenta
33. Mil Mascaras
32. Jack Brisco
31. Nick Bockwinkel
30. Stan Hansen
29. Vader
28. The Rock
27. Frank Gotch
26. Joe Stecher
25. Gene Kiniski
24. Harley Race
23. Strangler Lewis
22. Hulk Hogan
21. Rikidozan
20. El Santo
19. Eddy Guerrero
18. Ricky Steamboat
17. Randy Savage
16. Terry Funk
15. Steve Austin
14. Jim Londos
13. Shawn Michaels
12. Kurt Angle
11. Toshiaki Kawada
And now - the Ten Greatest Wrestlers of all Time....
10. Jumbo Tsuruta
9. Bruno Sammartino
8. Rey Mysterio
7. Bret Hart
6. Jushin Thunder Liger
5. Chris Benoit
4. Lou Thesz
3. Ric Flair
2. Mitsuharu Misawa
1. Kenta Kobashi
