The best documented decade-runs in history, each judged only against its own decade.
The KWAR 100 is 93% post-2000 and the reason is the archive, not the wrestling. This is the same model with the era comparison taken out of it: K-WAR summed inside one decade, ranked only against the wrestlers who worked that decade, with the era normalisation already ensuring that a good 1978 season and a good 2018 season score the same against their own peers.
It is where Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, Hulk Hogan, Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu and Bruiser Brody turn up. It is also where the shape of the archive becomes impossible to ignore: the 2010s board rests on 141,927 documented matches, the 1960s on 1,686.
Two floors apply and both are the point. A wrestler needs 25 documented matches inside the decade, and a positive K-WAR total for it, seasons that beat the replacement level of their own era. The lists are allowed to come back short, and the 1960s duly does, with three names. Padding it to ten would mean presenting 'least badly documented' as 'greatest'.
One thousand six hundred and eighty-six matches survive from the entire decade, and three wrestlers finish it above replacement. This is not a ranking of the 1960s. It is a ranking of what a database assembled largely from northeastern territory results and a handful of surviving cards can say about the 1960s, and the honest answer is: not much, but not nothing.
14.5 over 96 documented matches, and the same man tops the 1970s at 13.2. The whole career the corpus holds is 205 matches, 151-29-24, in 23 of the 43 calendar years the span covers, so this is a decade won on a very thin record. All 92 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt, off a championship value of 92.6 that ranks #59. Two matches carry a star rating.
An 89.8% career, 115-8-5, and 7.4 across 89 documented matches in the decade. Nothing after it holds up: the 1970s read -11.7 and the whole-career figure is -15.1, #1,832. 51 top-decile belts among 53 title-match wins. Not one of the 128 documented matches carries a star rating, so Quality has nothing to read here and the ranking rests entirely on results against the men the archive records.
One documented year, 1963, and 36 matches inside it, which is enough for third in the decade at 2.7 and not enough to qualify for anything else: the career sits below the qualifying floor. A 61.1% return, 22-10-4. Eleven meetings with Bobo Brazil went 4-6 and seven with Pedro Morales went 5-2. One title-match win in the record.
Just under four thousand matches, and a top ten drawn almost entirely from the northeastern territory and the AWA, which is where the surviving records are. Harley Race and Nick Bockwinkel appear here and nowhere near the all-time list; Bruno Sammartino tops a second consecutive decade on 81 documented matches.
13.2 over 81 documented matches, a second decade at #1 after 14.5 in the 1960s. The 1980s then read -3.4 and rank #86. Championship value of 92.6 comes from 92 title-match wins, every one for a top-decile belt, mostly the same belt held across both decades. Fourteen meetings with Gorilla Monsoon and twelve with Ivan Koloff are the largest documented head-to-heads.
9.4 over 88 documented matches, second in the decade, with 6.4 and a #21 rank in the 1980s either side of it. The 1960s figure is -19.2. Career K-WAR of -3.9 ranks #822, so this is a row the decade view exists for. A 50.8% return, 168-96-67, across 331 matches. Twenty-two meetings with Giant Baba at 1986.9 went 7-9 and sixteen with Jumbo Tsuruta went 1-10.
8.2 over 105 documented matches in the 1970s and 18.1 across 176 in the 1980s, which is #9 for that decade and the better half of the career. Twenty-two meetings with The Crusher went 7-12 and 21 with Billy Robinson went 10-7. A 49.1% return, 143-112-36. 47 top-decile belts among 65 title-match wins, with championship value at 58.9. Four of 291 matches are rated.
8.0 over 79 documented matches, then 16.1 in the 1980s at #11 and -2.2 in the 1990s at #227, which is a career the corpus catches at three different weights. Eleven meetings with Antonio Inoki at a mean pre-match rating of 2160.9 went 5-3. 59 title-match wins, 58 of them for a top-decile belt. The archive has 22 of the 38 years in the span.
7.1 over 77 documented matches, and the 1980s undo most of it at -17.1 and a #278 rank. Career K-WAR of -10.0 sits #1,333. The whole record is 111 matches, 60-45-6, in 14 documented years. All 15 title-match wins are for a top-decile belt. Seventeen meetings with Wahoo McDaniel went 8-9 and ten with The Crusher went 3-7.
5.7 over only 34 documented matches, which is sixth in the decade off the smallest sample in this group. What follows is far longer: 45 documented years across five decades and 453 matches at 66.9%, with 8.3 in the 1980s and 2.9 in the 2000s. Nineteen meetings with Bret Hart at 2426.2 went 6-12. 55 title-match wins, 40 of them top-decile.
5.4 over 91 documented matches, seventh in the decade, with -5.7 in the 1960s and -1.9 in the 1980s on either side. All 50 title-match wins are for a top-decile belt, on a championship value of 51.3. A 61.4% return, 135-60-25, across 220 matches in 20 of the 25 span years. Seven meetings with Johnny Barend, who is on this board himself, went 2-5.
2.1 over only 43 documented matches, eighth in a decade the archive barely covers for him. The next one is a different story: 29.2 over 425 matches and #5 for the 1980s. Fifty-three meetings with Dick Murdoch went 33-12 and 52 with Riki Choshu went 31-16. A 73.1% career, 364-81-53, and 25 of 27 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt.
1.8 from 69 documented matches and ninth in the decade, on a career the model reads at -15.9 overall, #1,909. The 1980s take it back down to -15.4 and a #251 rank. A 64.5% return, 69-31-7, across 107 matches in 14 documented years. Only 5 title-match wins, three of them top-decile, worth 2.8. One match in the whole record is rated.
1.3 over 25 documented matches, tenth in the decade off the smallest sample in it. Seven documented years, 1978 to 1984, and 90 matches at 65.6%. Ten meetings with Ric Flair at a mean pre-match rating of 2018.9 went 3-7. Fourteen title-match wins, five of them top-decile. Nothing in the record carries a star rating, so this is a placement made entirely on results.
The first decade where the corpus has enough to argue with: 14,552 documented matches. Ric Flair takes it at 56.3, over Hulk Hogan at 49.2, and both of them by a distance over Randy Savage. Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki are fourth and fifth, which is the first time New Japan's records are dense enough to place anyone.
56.3 over 177 documented matches, then 66.0 and second place in the 1990s, then 33.6 and #36 in the 2000s. Three decades inside the top forty is what a career K-WAR of 135.4, #8, actually looks like broken up. Sixty-nine meetings with Hulk Hogan at 2338.4 went 16-48. 153 title-match wins with 151 top-decile belts, on a championship value of 165.2.
49.2 over 264 documented matches, and the reverse of the row above it: 69 meetings with Ric Flair went 48-16 the other way. Thirty with Antonio Inoki at 2132.7 went 7-16. The 1990s hold 24.4 at #33 and the 2000s 3.7 at #213. A 66.4% career, 370-147-37, with 121 of 122 title-match wins carrying a top-decile belt.
35.1 over 174 documented matches here and 36.6 across 268 in the 1990s, which is the higher figure at a lower rank, #14 against #3. That is the decade view working: the same output was worth less against a busier field. Forty-eight meetings with Ric Flair went 31-14. Every one of the 48 title-match wins is top-decile.
30.5 over 474 documented matches, fourth in the decade, on a career the model reads at -11.9 overall, #1,521. Everything after 1999 runs negative: -14.5 in the 2000s, -13.7 in the 2010s, -18.9 in the 2020s. Forty-nine documented years across six decades and 1,285 matches at 61.6%. 104 meetings with Shiro Koshinaka went 57-46.
29.2 over 425 documented matches, which is the most match volume in this group and fifth in the decade. The 1970s figure of 2.1 is the same career at a tenth of the coverage. Championship value of 31.2 ranks #253 off 27 title-match wins. Sixteen of 498 documented matches carry a star rating, and the archive has 30 of the 38 years in the span.
20.4 over 210 documented matches, sixth in the decade, on a career the model reads at -7.1 overall. The 1990s flatten out at 0.8 and #153. Twenty-three meetings with Ted DiBiase at a mean pre-match rating of 2099.8 went 8-6. All 30 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt, worth 25.7. Forty-two of 389 matches are rated.
19.8 over 134 documented matches, then 19.9 from 112 in the 1990s, which is almost the same output for a #44 rank instead of #7. Eighteen meetings with Steve Austin went 9-9 and thirteen with Ric Flair at 2040.8 went 7-5. Only 255 matches in the whole record, 66 of them rated, and the archive has 21 of the 46 years in the span.
19.1 over 197 documented matches, eighth in the decade, from a record that stops in 1988. Thirty-two meetings with Giant Baba at 2030.2 went 10-10 and 32 with Jumbo Tsuruta went 9-12, which is nearly a third of the whole ledger against two men. Ten title-match wins in total. Thirteen documented years, every one carrying matches.
18.1 over 176 documented matches, the better of his two decade figures after 8.2 and #3 in the 1970s. Career K-WAR of 10.0 ranks #376. A 49.1% return, 143-112-36, across 291 matches. Championship value of 58.9 comes from 47 top-decile belts inside 65 title-match wins, and four matches in the record are rated.
16.6 over 397 documented matches and 13.1 over 428 in the 1990s, at #10 and #62. After that it turns: -4.0 across 396 matches in the 2000s and -18.8 in the 2010s. Thirty-nine documented years across five decades, 1,297 matches at 59.0%. 142 meetings with Shiro Koshinaka went 68-71.
Forty-five thousand nine hundred and twenty-one matches, and the decade where the model's two halves finally agree. Bret Hart's 83.6 is the largest decade total anyone posts before 2000, and it is not close: Ric Flair's second-placed 66.0 comes from 408 documented matches against Hart's 493.
83.6 over 493 documented matches, the highest single-decade figure anywhere on this board. The 1980s read -5.3 over 196 matches at #113, so the whole career sits inside ten years. Thirty-nine meetings with Owen Hart went 36-3. Every one of the 124 title-match wins is for a top-decile belt, with championship value at 130.6.
66.0 over 408 documented matches, second here after topping the 1980s at 56.3. Sixty meetings with Sting at 2190.3 went 18-38 in a decade the pair spent largely in the same company. Career K-WAR of 135.4 ranks #8 and 211 of 931 matches are rated, which is 22.7% and unusually dense for a span reaching back to 1972.
58.7 over 365 documented matches, then 54.0 over 278 in the 2000s at #11, which is a career split almost evenly across two decades. The 1980s read -0.6 over 112 matches. A 68.6% return, 528-194-47, with 168 of 770 matches rated. 94 title-match wins and 78 top-decile belts, on a championship value of 80.6 that ranks #73.
51.2 over 408 documented matches, and the only career in this group with a figure in all five decades it touches: -0.4, 51.2, 18.3, 4.2, 0.8. Sixty meetings with Ric Flair at 2043.8 went 38-18. A 68.6% return, 504-181-50, across 735 matches, 233 of them rated, which is 31.7%.
50.7 from 404 documented matches and 23.3 across 175 in the 2000s at #59. The corpus has 16 of the 33 calendar years the span covers, so what looks like a short career is partly the archive. Sixty-five meetings with The Undertaker at 2309.6 went 39-23 and 56 with Triple H went 45-5. Every one of the 94 title-match wins is top-decile.
49.8 over 360 documented matches, sixth in the decade, with 3.5 before it and -3.3 across 224 matches after. Seventy-one meetings with Riki Choshu at 1950.2 went 25-45 and 45 with Tatsumi Fujinami went 18-26, which puts most of the decade in Japan. Only 17 of those 19 title-match wins were top-decile. Career K-WAR of 37.2 ranks #154.
48.9 over 701 documented matches, then 72.2 over 572 in the 2000s at #3, which is more output from fewer matches. Ninety-four meetings with Jushin Thunder Liger went 44-50 and 73 with Eddie Guerrero went 40-31. Career K-WAR of 119.6 ranks #14, and 260 of 1,301 matches carry a rating.
46.8 over 571 documented matches, and the rest of the career reads -12.6, -0.9 and -12.9 across three other decades. Forty-nine meetings with The Undertaker at a mean pre-match rating of 2366.6 went 9-33 and 42 with Triple H went 25-14. Championship value of 33.5 comes from 36 title-match wins, 27 of them top-decile.
46.8 over 825 documented matches, then 30.5 on 890 matches in the 2000s at #40. Forty documented years, every one carrying matches, and 2,063 in total at 62.7%. 183 meetings with Satoshi Kojima went 116-67 and 173 with TARU went 115-58. 78 title-match wins with 52 top-decile belts, worth 70.5.
45.6 over 596 documented matches here and 67.7 on 537 matches in the 2000s at #6, so the tenth place in this decade is the weaker half of the career. Eighty-three meetings with Kane went 61-13 and 66 with Triple H at 2111.2 went 44-16. Every one of the 103 title-match wins is for a top-decile belt.
Eighty-seven thousand six hundred and five documented matches, and the top ten is almost entirely the WWE main-event and upper-midcard rotation. Kurt Angle's 90.6 over 753 matches is the largest decade total in the corpus, and it includes the TNA years the older snapshots covered badly.
90.6 over 753 documented matches, the highest decade figure in the whole board. The 1990s read -0.5 over 61 matches and the 2010s 43.1 at #36, mostly in TNA. Fifty-four meetings with The Rock at 2232.4 went 14-36. All 105 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt, worth 126.7, and 223 of the 1,127 matches are rated.
76.7 over 565 documented matches, with 27.6 in the 1990s at #28 and 15.7 in the 2010s at #155 either side. Ninety-three meetings with The Rock at 2155.0 went 32-52 and 85 with Kane went 35-48. A 50.3% return, 507-426-73, and every one of the 104 title-match wins is for a top-decile belt.
72.2 over 572 documented matches, up from 48.9 over 701 in the 1990s: fewer matches, more credit, and a rank of #3 in the busier decade. The record ends in 2007. Career K-WAR of 119.6 ranks #14 against an overall #24, and championship value of 80.8 comes from 81 title-match wins.
72.2 across 667 documented matches, and figures in all four decades the career touches: 6.7, then this, then 15.0, then 26.2. Eighty-eight meetings with Jeff Hardy at 1883.0 went 44-37 and 87 with Matt Hardy went 42-38. Every one of the 113 title-match wins carries a top-decile belt, worth 123.1, and career K-WAR of 120.0 ranks #13.
68.2 across 715 documented matches, fifth in the decade, and the ledger keeps going: 30.1 in the 2010s, 14.6 in the 2020s. Ninety-five meetings with Bubba Ray Dudley and 93 with D-Von Dudley put a large share of the decade in tag matches. All 153 title-match wins are for a top-decile belt, on a championship value of 147.8.
67.7 across 537 documented matches, which is more credit from fewer matches than the 45.6 taken from 596 a decade earlier. Then it stops: -0.6 across 51 matches in the 2010s at #496. A 72.1% career, 857-253-77, and championship value of 106.3 from 103 title-match wins.
65.9 across 715 documented matches, and the only career here with four decades all in positive figures: 22.1, 65.9, 56.6, 28.6. Career K-WAR of 173.2 ranks #2. Sixty-eight meetings with Chris Benoit at 2049.8 went 18-47. 341 matches in 1,800 are rated, and 135 top-decile belts among 141 title-match wins.
65.4 across 550 documented matches, with 28.6, 43.9 and 33.8 in the decades around it. Thirty-four documented years, every one carrying matches, and 308 of 1,467 rated. Fifty-nine meetings with Alberto Del Rio went 48-10. Career K-WAR of 171.7 ranks #3, and 110 top-decile belts among 121 title-match wins.
65.4 across 564 documented matches, ninth in the decade, and then 78.9 across 942 in the 2010s at #2. Championship value of 316.0 ranks #1 in the corpus off 295 title-match wins and 288 top-decile belts. 145 meetings with Seth Rollins went 135-8 and 119 with Randy Orton at 2127.0 went 82-34.
57.1 across 792 documented matches, the largest match count in this decade group, and 31.6 and 12.3 in the two after it. Eighty-seven meetings with Edge went 38-42 and 81 with Christian went 36-39. Career K-WAR of 97.0 ranks #30. 113 top-decile belts inside 136 title-match wins, worth 102.1.
The best-documented decade in wrestling history at 141,927 matches, and the one that dominates the all-time list. A.J. Styles tops it at 87.8 over 860 documented matches. Dolph Ziggler is fifth on 1,294 matches, more than anyone else in the top ten, on a career that lost more than it won.
87.8 across 860 documented matches, the top figure of the decade, with 53.2 before it at #13 and 44.0 after at #21. That is three decades inside the top twenty-five and a career K-WAR of 184.9 at #1. Seventy-nine meetings with Dean Ambrose at 2234.7 went 46-32. Championship value of 216.8 comes off 228 title-match wins.
78.9 across 942 documented matches, the largest single-decade match count in this group, and a step up from 65.4 in the 2000s. The 2020s then read 1.9 across 45 matches at #450. A 76.3% career, 1186-308-59, and 209 of 1,554 matches carry a rating.
75.8 from 1,151 documented matches, with 59.1 following it in the 2020s at #5. The record inside the decade is close to even overall, 877-849-60 across the career, and 145 meetings with John Cena at 2472.4 went 8-135. Championship value of 224.5 ranks #4 off 262 title-match wins, 203 of them top-decile.
74.5 across 960 documented matches, up from 49.8 at #17 in the 2000s and down to 29.9 at #62 in the 2020s. Twenty-seven documented years, all of them carrying matches. 119 meetings with John Cena at 2352.7 went 34-82. 146 title-match wins, 145 of them for a top-decile belt, worth 150.0.
71.0 from 1,294 documented matches, on a losing decade inside a losing career: 838-977-29 in total, 45.4%. The model is reading who he was booked against and what was on the line. 166 of 172 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt, worth 177.7 at #12. 110 meetings with The Miz went 84-26.
69.6 from 827 documented matches, with 40.5 at #24 before it and 39.8 at #27 after. Career K-WAR of 149.9 ranks #6. 119 meetings with Seth Rollins at 1867.2 went 97-19 and 96 with Roman Reigns went 75-19. Championship value of 143.4 comes off 185 title-match wins, 157 of them top-decile.
66.5 from 1,015 documented matches and 52.0 from 157 in the 2020s, which is seventh in both decades off wildly different volumes. Seventeen documented years, every one carrying matches, on a 69.0% return. 137 meetings with Bray Wyatt went 122-10. 179 title-match wins with 173 top-decile belts, worth 204.0.
66.2 from 1,176 documented matches, with 7.8 at #159 in the 2000s and 32.6 at #44 in the 2020s. 111 meetings with Roman Reigns at 2184.8 went 46-61. Championship value of 211.9 ranks #7 off 226 title-match wins, 214 of them for a top-decile belt, and 159 matches in 1,595 are rated.
64.0 from 1,179 documented matches, then 59.4 from 337 in the 2020s at #4, which is nearly the same credit from under a third of the volume. The 2000s read -9.4 at #880. Championship value of 253.0 ranks #3 off 254 title-match wins. 139 meetings with Seth Rollins at 2032.6 went 81-53.
62.0 from 992 documented matches, with 20.8 at #71 and 22.5 at #102 either side. The head-to-heads are the largest in this group: 291 meetings with Hiroshi Tanahashi at 1752.0 going 125-162, and 266 with Togi Makabe going 134-128. 82 of 83 title-match wins are top-decile, worth 97.1.
Seven years, not ten, and the corpus ends in August 2026. Cody Rhodes leads on 67.4 from 351 documented matches; Will Ospreay's 63.5 is a complete Peak5 window sitting inside a partial decade. Every number here will move again.
67.4 from 351 documented matches, which tops the decade off the smallest match count in this group. The 2010s hold 52.5 across 1,128 matches at #22 and the 2000s 13.7 at #107. Ninety-five meetings with Jimmy Uso and 93 with Jey Uso went 40-55 and 37-56. Championship value of 224.0 ranks #5.
63.5 in 365 documented matches, more than double the 29.1 he took from 525 in the 2010s. 306 matches in 890 are rated, 34.4%, which is the densest coverage in this group and part of why the model likes the decade so much. Only 22 top-decile belts among 70 title-match wins, with championship value at 52.1.
60.2 across 331 documented matches, up from 37.6 at #44 in the 2010s and -0.4 at #332 in the 2000s. A 66.4% return, 623-288-26. Championship value of 173.8 sits #13 with 134 of 205 title-match wins top-decile. Forty-nine meetings with John Klinger and 37 with Ricochet are the largest head-to-heads in the record.
59.4 in 337 documented matches, fourth in the decade, against 64.0 from 1,179 in the 2010s. The same career at a quarter of the volume for almost the same credit. Championship value of 253.0 ranks #3 across 254 title-match wins. 280 matches in 1,565 are rated, 17.9%.
59.1 in 370 documented matches, fifth here after third in the 2010s at 75.8. The 2000s read 15.0 at #102. A 49.1% career, 877-849-60, which is as near even as anything this high. 203 of 262 title-match wins carry a top-decile belt. 139 meetings with Dean Ambrose at 2104.5 went 53-81.
58.7 in 387 documented matches, well up on 34.9 at #53 in the 2010s, and all of it on a losing career: 619-658-31, 47.3%. 104 title-match wins, only 63 of them top-decile, worth 90.9. Ninety-five meetings with Jey Uso went 40-55 and 80 with Jimmy Uso went 35-45.
52.0 in only 157 documented matches, seventh in the decade off the smallest count in this group by a distance. The 2010s hold 66.5 across 1,015. A 69.0% career, 809-329-34, and championship value of 204.0 at #8 with 173 top-decile belts inside 179 title-match wins.
51.4 in 684 documented matches, the largest count in this group, against 32.6 from 887 in the 2010s. Only 31 top-decile belts among 92 title-match wins, with championship value at 71.5. 117 meetings with SANADA went 43-73 and 115 with YOSHI-HASHI went 60-55. 276 matches in 1,610 are rated.
50.4 in 470 documented matches, with 53.0 at #20 in the 2010s and -14.8 at #1,205 in the 2000s. A 46.7% career, 804-902-14, which is a losing record carrying a top-ten decade. 301 meetings with Tetsuya Naito went 97-201 and 241 with Hiroshi Tanahashi went 100-137. 398 matches are rated, 23.1%.
49.2 in 166 documented matches closes the board, against -1.2 across 340 in the 2010s: nearly all of the value sits after 2020. 167 of 506 matches carry a rating, 33.0%. Only 33 title-match wins in the whole record, 26 of them top-decile, worth 23.3. Career K-WAR of 48.0 ranks #116.