Top MatchesSo this one is a bit closer than I would expect on face value. Kobashi is the king of this category to me. However, since submitting my ballot I have taken a few matches off and added a few matches and in that process it got closer (maybe not close, but closer). Just looking at my top 100, Kobashi winds up on there an unreasonable 13 times (3 in the top 10 and 4 in the top 15). Bryan winds up on the list currently 7 times (1 in the top 20). Together they make up 20% of my list, which probably says more about me as a fan (mark) than anything else. If you go beyond the list I have TONS of matches from each man at the ****3/4 and ****1/2 level. Kobashi still takes this, but Bryan is not only solid in this area, I think he will only get better as his matches age well.
Winner: Kobashi
Versatility If Kobashi is the king of top matches, I think Bryan is the king of versatility. Heel, face, tag, singles, top of the card, mid card, bottom, comedy, serious, work-rate, big-tv style, indies, WWE, etc etc etc…. I genuinely think he could be plugged into any spot on any card in any promotion and he would excel. Kobashi wasn’t forced into as many different roles as Bryan, but it is hard to imagine anyone excelling as broadly as Bryan does.
Winner: Bryan
ConsistencyThis is a razor close one. My gut says Bryan but it is hard to substantiate because both guys just deliver so consistently. In an attempt to see if I could put some sort of evidence behind my gut I just gave a quick look at my star ratings for each. I have more Bryan matches rated thank anyone and for context I try to log anything I watch in a focused way that is 4 stars plus and then anything that is like 3 stars plus that is part of a watch/rewatch project (wrestler, feud, promotion, etc). All that is to say this isn’t a perfect representation, but I have 62 **** plus matches from Bryan. I have 33 for Kobashi. Again. This is probably more a product of how many matches I have really sat down and watched in this way since I started doing this. There are lots of 90s AJPW matches that I haven’t logged yet. I am still going to give this to Bryan by a hair. It is hard to think of an actively bad match from either men. If I had to bet my life on a wrestler having a ***** classic on a given night against a game opponent, I’d bet on Kobashi. If I had to bet my life on a wrestler having a ***1/2 match against anyone on earth on a given night, I’d bet on Bryan.
Winner: Bryan
PromosI have, in the past tended to call this N/A if one or both of the wrestlers are non-English speakers because I only speak English. On occasion, I have given the point to an elite promo even if they are up against a non-English speaking wrestler because they are… well… elite. If this were Foley, Flair, Funk, etc. I’d give them the point no doubt. Bryan isn’t quite on that level, but I legit think he is just below that. Bryan wasn’t always a great promo, but it is something he really improved since going to the WWE. He has always had I am going to compromise here, because I feel ok making it up as we go. I am going to give him half a point. That feels fair in terms of giving Bryan credit for being a really GREAT promo, but not punishing Kobashi so much because I don’t speak Japanese.
Winner: Bryan (.5)
Charisma/It FactorThis is another one that is a bit closer than I think one might assume on first glance. Bryan has a natural, authentic, awkward charm. He always has. The fact that he captured not just the wrestling world’s imagination in 2013/2014, but also transcended wrestling speaks volumes to his unorthodox charisma. But he is coming up against a juggernaut here. No one screams “pro wrestling awesomeness” just by standing in a ring like Kobashi does. No one adds more to a match just by being himself. Kobashi gets this one, but it isn’t a blowout.
Winner: Kobashi
Elevating OthersBryan is in rarified air when it comes to elevating others. I think if you take out programs with Bryan a whole lot of careers look a lot different. The biggest example is Nigel. He is – I think – a bit unfairly maligned by some, but to me there is no doubt Nigel’s career is not as fondly recalled as it is today without Bryan. In the WWE, Bryan’s power to elevate has been on full display over and over again. Most notably, his feud with Kofi transformed Kofi into not just a main eventer, but the hottest babyface in wrestling. As much I genuinely enjoy Kofi and think he is a talented wrestler, that shine quickly wore off. Some might think it doesn’t count if it doesn’t stick, but I still count the Kofi feud as a huge resume line here. Off the top of my head I think Bryan has been pretty key in the upward trajectory and/or general career evaluations of Samoa Jo, Homicide, Low Ki, CM Punk, Roderick Strong, Nigel McGuinness, Takeshi Morishima, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, AJ Styles, Kane, Drew Gulak, Bray Wyatt, Seamus, and Christopher Daniels. I am not saying he “elevated” all of them or that many or most of them needed him to be successful, but that he was a substantial and material positive influence on them. I also can’t think of a single wrestler who was worse off for working with Bryan. Kobashi brought a lot of great wresters up to elite levels, but he just hasn’t been put in the same positions that Bryan has in this regard.
Winner: Bryan
OffenseBryan has a great array of offense, but this is another Kobashi category. It isn’t even about the moves or the versatility thereof. Kobashi is just an offense machine and everything he does feels massive. The list of people who could potentially touch him on this is short and Bryan ain’t on it.
Winner: Kobashi
SellingThis one is pretty close. I think both men are really top-notch sellers and excel at long term selling, but Kobashi edges this out because of the amount of emotion and sympathy he is able to elicit. His burly build and well-established toughness makes this all the more impressive. This one is razor thin, but I’m giving it to Kobashi.
Winner: Kobashi
Re-Watch ValueThis is probably the most important category to me, but it is also the hardest to make a judgement on here. Kobashi has the most impressive resume of absolute top end matches for me. Bryan has such a wide range of good to elite matches in a variety of promotions and with a variety of opponents. There is probably no one I purely and simply enjoy more than Kobashi when I am watching him do his thing. However, and I have said this before, Bryan’s work in the early to mid 2000s is pretty key to me getting back into wrestling (during kind of a rough time when I needed the escape), which was in turn key to wrestling fandom becoming a not unsubstantial party of my adult life. Bryan vs HHH is probably the best match I have ever seen live as well, adding to its nostalgia appeal. I think Bryan edges out this category based on that personal connection. To think of it another way, these are two dessert island wrestlers to me. If I could only watch one wrestlers work forever they would be top of the list of folks I’d consider, but gun to my head, I’d pick Bryan.
Winner: Bryan
Elliott’s Broom Bearing Bonus QuestionI decided to change the name on my breakdowns, but the spirit of the category remains: who has the most impressive record of carrying a broom to a great match/program?. I have always given this a half point and that won’t change. It doesn’t quite seem to be on par with the other categories, but I like the category Elliott introduced all the same. Look, Bryan is a fucking miracle worker in this regard. He got a great match out of Reigns before Reigns was having great singles matches. He got a great match out of Kofi, who is no slouch but has never had anything close to that. He got two really good to great matches out of two different versions of Bray, which both increasingly feel like outliers. The category originally came up because Elliott is a good bit lower on Nigel than I think most of us are and Bryan has multiple very good to great matches with him, one of which is on the group’s top 100. He is the clear winner here.
Winner: Bryan (.5)
Final CountBryan – 5
Kobashi – 4
As close as expected. They are really hard to compare. This isn’t comparing apples and oranges. This is comparing cheesecake and wings (I love both so much and don’t want to live in a world without either). Their greatness seems very different to me. Kobashi is the sort of perfect version of a particular type of wrestler. He is a big match babyface that thrived in a context that privileged big bombastic physical storytelling and shaped what constitutes a “great wrestling match” for countless fans today. Bryan is the – for many at least – the figurehead of an indie wrestling movement that ultimately reshaped the American wrestling landscape. He was different, but he also had to wear many hats in the process. He also thrived in an era that would shape (or reshape) what a “great wrestling match” looked like for countless fans today, but in a different way. The nature of their careers, how we experience each, and what we have from each is so dramatically different as well. I was philosophical about this because it doesn’t get closer for me than these two. I’ll stick to my score because it resonates with what my gut feeling about who is my #1 has been for about 6 months or so.
I'll take The American Dragon Bryan Danielson
