I personally would go with strict.
I believe it would weed out all doubt and arguments.
If a team in the NFL loses then you dont rank them higher then the winning team because the losing team star player was hurt or because they had different styles.
In MMA they go by wins(i believe). Doesnt matter if the guy has a hurt toe or his girlfriend broke up with him that day or styles. Its who wins, end of discussion.
Same in Nascar. Points system from winning.
I think if you are hurt then dont pull, if you foul out then its your fault nobody elses, if your style doesnt match up well then it sounds like you are screwed.
Going by 'puller A beat puller B today.....buuuuut puller B beat puller C 2 weeks ago in a dominant fashon (who puller A loses to usually) and and puller B had beaten puller A a while ago too. So we will rank Puller B higher still' is flawed IMO. There are wayyyy too many variables for any one person to process to make a TRULY accurate ranking system IMO. What if some guy doesnt have enough money to buy his steroids one month and loses to another guy... Then 2 months later he can afford them and beats a higher ranked guy and moves ahead. We would never know those hidden facts going off opinion alone so you HAVE to go off wins/losses IMO. Or does all the 'rankers' take into consideration the altitude that a puller lives/trains in? That affects their performance as well. Toooo many things to possibly consider IMO.
There could be a million hidden reasons why someone lost or won, wayy too many for someones feelings or opinions to decipher. Things even the puller themselves might now know about. So the only TRUE way to do it IMO would be a SUPER strict set of rules that judges wins and losses ONLY.
I dont mean to offend anyone this is just how i see it. I am wayy too lazy to do my own rankings though, haha. ;D