El Desperado
Where To Watch: NJPW World
Key Match: El Desperado vs. Kota Ibushi at NJPW 49th Anniversary Event, 4 March 2021.
As a young wrestling fan, I was always drawn to luchadores. Guys wearing cool masks and doing high-flying moves just looked cooler than anyone else. I don’t think El Desperado is from Mexico at all, but his combination of high-flying lucha libre and Japanese strong style makes him one of my favourite masked wrestlers currently. He really came into his own in 2020 and 2021, capturing multiple titles and having the best match of his life against Kota Ibushi. I think El Desperado still hasn’t hit his ceiling.
Mayu Iwatani
Where To Watch: Stardom World
Key Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Io Shirai…all of their matches really. Here’s one of them.
Before every match, the ring announcer calls Iwatani “Stardom’s Icon”. And even years after the peak of her success, it’s still true. She is the perfect person to carry Stardom because she does literally everything well. Iwatani is a high-flyer whose matches turn into neck-destroying, German suplex slinging violence. She can spend months doing comedy tag matches but turn into a villainous character when tournament season rolls around. Iwatani can be slotted into any position on a Stardom card and fit in perfectly. That’s what a real Icon does.
Bryan Danielson
Where To Watch: All Elite Wrestling
Key Match: Danielson vs. Kenta, ROH Glory For Honor V
I have to keep this short, because I could go over Danielson’s accolades for five paragraphs if I wanted. Danielson was putting on the best matches in the whole of WWE in 2020/2021, left for All Elite Wrestling, and has barely missed a step. He’s a master of technical wrestling and telling a story in the ring. He was a contender for best wrestler alive back in 2007 and has only improved since then. A Hall of Fame worthy talent in any company he’s ever worked for. Can’t wait till he gets back to Japan.
El Phantasmo
Where To Watch: IMPACT Wrestling, NJPW World
Key Match: Kyle O’Reilly vs. El Phantasmo
El Phantasmo is obnoxious. Years after the genre basically faded away, he still comes to the ring with dubstep music and headbangs to it (is that a thing? Is that headbang-able music?). His matches are more about him building clips for a montage than trying to win most of the time. And the way he speaks in promos is grating.
But, I can’t deny that he’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch. He’s one of those “video game” type wrestlers who pull stunts in the ring that humans simply should not be able to do. He’s annoying, but he’s so good at wrestling that you don’t want to skip his matches or promos.
theperfidioussinn.wordpress.com 