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In 2007, I made a thread wherein WrestleHut2000 chose their top ten favorite wrestlers of all time. In 2019, I thought it might be fun to do a similar thread again, and that lead to Rowdy Ringsports choosing their Top Ten Currently Active Wrestlers. Both threads were a lot of fun, but last year's ended very deliberately jussssssst before AEW Dynamite debuted as a regular weekly wrestling show. I had intended to do the thread again in September to mark a year since the last, but complications caused by COVID-19, the shutdown of so much wrestling, the lack of crowds, the moving of the G1 Tournament etc made me figure it would be better to wait it out, and then do a Top Ten Active Wrestlers of 2020 thread instead. So here we are, our chance to once again write up a top ten list of our current favorites, assign points for places and then find out who we as a forum truly loved the most this year. It will be very interesting (I hope) to see how things change from last year, not just because of the addition of AEW but to see how many people have moved up but also how many have moved down: which surefire can't miss stars ended up going nowhere (Darby Allin, for instance, was mentioned in last year's thread as surely being a top guy by the following year, and... welp). So here is how it is going to work - think about all the wrestlers currently working in major promotions, the indies, in Japan and Britain and Australia and anywhere else in the world. Write up who you are your current favorites, rank them from one to ten and then post them here in the thread. Feel free to go into as much or as little detail as you want as to why you've chosen who you've chosen, or to argue the case for any one (or more) particular wrestler you want to. I'll accept lists posted up till midnight EST on the 22nd of January. Points will be assigned to each of the selected wrestlers and we'll see how each wrestler ranks - who the forum's overall favorite is and how other wrestlers rank beside them. Points will work based on individual rankings, with 10 points for a 1st place rank and 1 point for a 10th place rank. So for example: Poster A posted:1. Hangman Adam Page Poster B posted:1. Asuka Would result in: Hangman Adam Page = 18 Chris Jericho = 16 Asuka = 15 Kazuchika Okada = 15 Adam Cole = 12 Jeff Cobb = 9 Go Shiozaki = 8 Yuka Sakazaki = 8 Cody Rhodes = 5 Toru Yano = 4 For the sake of my sanity I'll be keeping a running tally of points, so all votes as made are final - so no editing your post after the fact or posting 27 posts later,"Change my vote for Naruki Doi to a vote for Britt Baker!" - think VERY CAREFULLY before making your selection! Also, please consider:
And now, to kick things off - my "top ten" 1. Jon Moxley (AEW, 35) - I can't think of anybody who has had a better year as a wrestler (a plaintive voice wails "Go Shiozakiiiiiii" in the far distance), somebody who so consistently brought it at the highest possible level against such a strange and eclectic group of challengers. Moxley's reign as AEW Champion sadly had a shadow cast over it by COVID-19, but he did so much to make it work anyway. His feud with Eddie Kingston rose to shocking heights, especially considering Kingston only showed up in the promotion in July. But while that was the highlight, he also delivered incredible feuds/matches with Brodie Lee, Brian Cage, Darby Allin, MJF, Lance Archer and of course Kenny Omega, as well as very good one-off matches with Jake Hager and The Butcher. His promos have been superb, and he easily carried the company on his shoulders from February through to early December, once again proving that WWE's claim that he simply didn't have the mental strength to handle be a pro-wrestler was utter nonsense. It's just a drat shame that most of the year had to be spent in front of no or small/restricted crowds. Also he's gonna be a daddy now, and his personal and professional happiness just makes me happy too. 2. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 52) - There was a significant gap this year when New Japan wasn't running any shows, and when they came back they needed something big to make a splash... so they went with two 50+ year olds! Minoru Suzuki and Yuji Nagata beat the absolute poo poo out of each other, and it was glorious. Suzuki continues to defy age, physics and common sense by still being the scariest, toughest and most aggressive sonuvabitch out there. Along with Nagata, his matches with Shingo Takagi this year have been excellent, hard-hitting affairs, and there even appears to be an angle simmering in the background between himself and top Suzuki-Gun lieutenant Taichi which promises fascinating things. At 52-years-old, Suzuki doesn't need any qualifiers for why he's in my Top Ten list, he's simply just that good. 3. Hangman Adam Page (AEW, 29) - When Adam Page was named as competing against Chris Jericho to decide who would be the inaugural AEW Champion, I thought it wasn't a great idea. Page was good, but not as good as people made him out to be, and it was the wrong time for him to be going for the title. I still think I was right to believe this, but over 2020 Hangman Adam Page has also shown just why so many saw so much potential in him, and he has realized a tremendous deal of it. His ability in the ring can't be denied: his tag team championship reign with Kenny Omega was superb; his self-doubt and the tension it caused with The Elite was compelling to watch; his part in the Stadium Stampede was incredible; the way FTR got under his skin and wrecked his friendship with the Young Bucks; his devastation at the collapse of his partnership with Kenny Omega; all the way through to his growing, confused friendship with The Dark Order. Hangman Page has been a revelation in 2020, and with his youth and the storyline seeds that have been planted, it looks like he will continue to be so for 2021 and many years to come. 4. Mr. Brodie Lee (AEW, 41) - I was going to put him on my list anyway if only for his part in the OBLITERATION of TNT Champion Cody Rhodes, one of the most perfect squash matches and heel performances I have ever seen in my life. When he was cruelly taken from this world at an impossibly young age, it only cemented his place on my list, and makes me so sad that he can never appear on any future lists of active wrestlers ever again. Mr. Brodie Lee as the Exalted One was an inspired choice, part a riff on Vince McMahon's eccentricities but largely just a play on namesake Bruiser Brody's status as an "intelligent monster". It wasn't just what he did as a wrestler, but the affect and impact he had on those around him: he elevated everybody. The Dark Order was doing well but still recovering from a poor start, but when Mr. Brodie Lee arrived he rose them to new heights. New stars were formed, and his interactions with them both on the show but also the Being The Elite youtube series created and crafted personalities that still shine through to this day and into the future. That his last in-ring performance was putting over a babyface hero is almost as perfect as the fact he wrapped up his BTE appearances finally accepting John Silver as a colleague. Brodie Lee left the world a better place than he found it, he was beloved and respected and will be missed. 5. Bayley (WWE, 31) - The saving grace of WWE during the pandemic era, Bayley rose to new heights as a heel during this time first as the tag team partner of BFF Sasha Banks and then as her bitter enemy in a singles feud. Her ad-libbing was a breath of fresh air in the micro-managed disaster that is WWE, and even their bad booking couldn't stop her from delivering high quality both in the ring, on promos and as a guest commentator. Even though she was a heel, this was the first time since the glory days of her babyface run in NXT when the viewer was reminded just why people used to say that even WWE couldn't possibly gently caress up somebody as good as her. They did, of course, but she's so good that she's actually managed to somewhat recover from it, and every time she appears on screen it is a joy to watch her. 6. Sami Zayn (WWE, 36) - Disappearing for multiple months due to, you know, living in Canada and there being a global loving pandemic, Sami Zayn's return reminded yet again why an off-season is NOT a bad thing in pro-wrestling. He appeared to have recharged his batteries in the interim, and there was something wonderful about seeing him return and try to pretend that nothing had changed in the meantime. He still claimed to be Intercontinental Champion (with good reason), he thought he could still boss Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro around, and he expected to be greeted with open arms. When none of that happened, like all good heels he got pissed at people not letting him get away with bullshit. But the best thing is he could back it up, he "won" the Intercontinental Title in a match against a champion he claimed to be a pretender, and sent him packing to a different brand to boot. He let success go to his head, he annoyed everybody and then got made to look like an idiot and like all good heels he eventually lost to an actual good babyface who was elevated by the victory. Like Bayley, Sami is frequently misused and ill-treated by the dogshit promotion he works for. Like Bayley, Sami also still regularly finds ways to make things work in spite of that. 7. Orange Cassidy (AEW, 36) - OC was a lot of fun when he first started in AEW, but there was a fear that maybe he might end up being a one-note joke. Happily that was far from the case, as he has gradually stepped up his "effort" while still retaining the core of his character as a laidback, chilled out guy who is just a little too lazy to get bothered by much of anything... but when he actually decides to wrestle? Oh boy he's pretty loving great. His sudden appearance in the Parking Lot Brawl between Best Friends and Proud'n'Powerful was great, his matches against an increasingly exasparated Chris Jericho were hilarious, but it was his match against the bastard PAC at Revolution that really sold me on him as a phenomenal professional wrestler. 8. Cody Rhodes (AEW, 35) - He's the archetypal white meat babyface hero and it kinda rules. Cody is designed from the ground up to be a star and a hero (and on the reverse, an easy flip away from a corrupted, arrogant heel should he ever want to) and even if you can see the seams it doesn't really matter, because he just does it so well. But while his construction is deliberate, he's not committee driven or soullessly put together like he might have been in WWE (where they were more interested in Vince getting "revenge" on Dusty Rhodes for <FILE NOT FOUND>). There is a personal touch to Cody, an idea that yes he might be actively going out of his way to construct a persona... but he's doing it from a genuine desire to actually be that hero/icon and a role model for kids. Brodie Lee's obliteration of him as TNT Champion only worked because Cody had put so much hard work into building himself up in the role of Champion, which meant that his destruction actually meant something. There is no denying his commitment, his dedication, and his desire to be a star. He's doing what his dad did, which is great, but what is even better is how he's helping so many other people achieve their dreams too while he pursues his own. 9. John Silver (AEW, 29) - This weirdo little hyperactive 29-year-old kid with arms the size of tree trunks is exactly the kind of off-beat, weird and different thing that has largely been missing for far too long from pro-wrestling in the 21st Century... at least on the mainstream level. He's been around a long time on the indies, and when he came to AEW as one half of The Beaver Boys with Alex Reynolds and got co-opted into the Dark Order, it kinda felt more like they just really weren't all that sure what to do with him. But then on BTE he got to show a little of his personality and it was bizarre and weird and hilarious, and because AEW actually encourages creativity he got to start showing that on Dynamite as well. Boy did he, "Silver's got the zoomies!" was a hilarious post made by somebody as they watched Silver just go berserk during a multi-man match and fly in and around the ring like a fire-hydrant sized Claudio Castagnoli. He gets to talk, he gets to do skits, they're teaming him and Reynolds up frequently with Hangman Adam Page now. AEW has been a godsend for Alex Silver, which means a godsend for us, because we get to enjoy watching him go nuts now. 10. MJF (AEW, 24) - It was tough to think of exactly who to put last on my list, not least of all because some of my favorites from last year like Okada and Ishii have disappeared from this year's list entirely purely due to COVID restrictions. I thought about Chris Jericho, who despite saying some stupid-rear end, tone-deaf things this year continues to be a remarkable wrestling presence. Kenny Omega's late shift back to his Cleaner-era personality was a welcome and interesting change but one I think will really come to the fore in 2021. Switchblade Jay White is a detestable knife pervert as always and his gleeful goading of a crowd who CANNNOT make noise made for some great fun when he returned to New Japan. But in the end it was MJF, who has done to a large extent what all of these guys have done, but consistently across the entire course of the year, that cemented the spot. He's so good, he's so talented, he's so young, it really is quite extraordinary. The confidence he exhibits, the bullshit he pulls, the way he backs things up (largely) in the ring, he's a total package who I'd say is going to be a big star in the future... except he already is one in 2020. The long and short of it: 1. Jon Moxley (AEW, 35) 2. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 52) 3. Hangman Adam Page (AEW, 29) 4. Mr. Brodie Lee (AEW, 41) 5. Bayley (WWE, 31) 6. Sami Zayn (WWE, 36) 7. Orange Cassidy (AEW, 36) 8. Cody Rhodes (AEW, 35) 9. John Silver (AEW, 29) 10. MJF (AEW, 24) So that's my top ten as at this present time. It's quite different from last year's of course, with a significant AEW presence now that was largely absent last year. Okada's absence feels the most weird to me, but both he and Ishii had a quiet 2020 for reasons largely outside their control, and Okada in particular finally demonstrated a weakness in his God-like game by turning out to struggle to perform at a high level when there are no crowds to perform for (plus his dogged insistence to get the Money Clip over). So that's me, but what about you? Who were YOUR favorite active wrestlers in 2020? Have a think, post your lists, talk about your wrestlers, have fun! You have until midnight EST on January 22nd to get your lists in, and then we can see what we, the posters of Don't Post Puro Here, think! Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 09:14 on Jan 9, 2021 |
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Jan 1, 2021 06:26
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Countdown of Results starts here. Complete listing of final results. Final Statistics Goon Prediction Rankings Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Jul 4, 2021 |
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Jan 1, 2021 06:26
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Yes feel free to add in edits like ages and promotions and stuff, or fixing typos. Just don't adjust any of the people or places on your list, because whatever it is I see and put into the spreadsheet is final.
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Jan 1, 2021 07:05
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Sandman McMahon posted:9. Stiiiiiiiiing (AEW, 61) - I’m a lifelong Sting mark and will fist fight anyone who doesn’t respect the Stinger. Jerusalem posted:
Sandman, please update your list as Sting didn't have any matches in 2020. Otherwise I'll have to drop him off and push The Fiend up into your 9th place instead.
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Jan 2, 2021 05:30
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I've added in every list posted so far to the spreadsheet, some stats/updates coming soon.
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Jan 2, 2021 09:12
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A few stats for the first day (not counting Seams and Crapple!'s entries): - 35 goons have posted their lists. - 128 wrestlers have been submitted so far. - The breakdown by gender is 90 male wrestlers, 38 female. - The average age of the wrestlers selected so far is 33 - wrestlers picked so far who are at that age are: Angelico, Brandon Cutler, Bray Wyatt, Chris Dickinson, Evil Uno, Jeff Cobb, Saki Akai, Trent? and Zack Sabre Jr. - I do not have ages for: Abadon, Cara Noir, Danhausen, Leyla Hirsch, Lulu Pencil, THE HOODFOOT or Viktor Tykki. - 22 promotions have been specified so far, with a 23rd catch-all "other" for those with no clear/apparent "home" promotion. - With 37 distinct wrestlers, AEW is the most selected promotion so far. Next is New Japan, then WWE (excluding NXT), with TJPW and Stardom both sharing 4th place (not counting "Other"). - So far only two wrestlers have topped 100 points in the list, with the third place position on 87 points. - There are 4 female wrestlers in the Top 20. - The highest ranked female wrestler so far is Yuka Sakazaki, in 12th place on 41 points. - The breakdown by promotion for the Top 20 is: AEW: 11 | NJPW: 6 | TJPW: 1 | Gatoh Move: 1 | NWA: 1 - Mr. Brodie Lee and John Silver are both in the Top 10, and appropriately enough, on equal points 
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Jan 2, 2021 |
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Jan 2, 2021 13:39
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Rarity I love the gifs you included, I don't know why I'm always shocked at just how loving smooth ZSJ's transitions are.
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Jan 3, 2021 00:28
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Rarity posted:loving wild considering where he was 6 months ago that not a single person has voted for Keith Lee Even wilder, not a single person has voted for last year's winner, Kazuchika Okada, yet 
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Jan 3, 2021 01:54
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TV Zombie posted:wait. was okada really that forgettable this year? He really struggled in the no-crowd shows, without the fans there he seemed surprisingly lost - it was actually kind of nice to see that somebody as otherwise perfect as him actually does have a "weakness", albeit one that would never be a factor in pro-wrestling 999/1000 times. Once crowds started coming back he got better, but he was also super-focused on getting a really bad submission hold over which meant even his matches that were going well would suddenly crash to a screeching halt when he would put on the World Famous Money Clip. One of the only exceptions was his match against Hiromu Takahashi, where he added in a backbreaker element to the hold that made it look a lot more brutal. It didn't help that he had a seemingly endless series of matches against Yujiro Takahashi of all people. I'm hoping once things get relatively back to normal he'll go back to excelling at the highest level once more - his match against Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom is probably gonna be insanely good.
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Jan 3, 2021 02:04
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Penguin Patrol posted:This was incredibly difficult But in the end it was... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Gnkv9RVdU&t=16s
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Jan 3, 2021 10:50
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Diplomat posted:Ten wrestlers sounds like a lot until you try and narrow them down. Seriously, I had so many people who I thought,"Well I can't possibly NOT include them!" but then I also couldn't justify removing anybody else on my list. There's a LOT of great wrestlers out there, it rules.
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Jan 4, 2021 00:46
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Lead Pipe Cinch posted:A note to everyone rightfully selecting Ricky Starks: Google is wrong about his age being 26, he’s actually 30 (or was at the time of recording of whatever podcast I listened to him on). Thank you, I've adjusted it on the spreadsheet 
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Jan 4, 2021 02:02
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BodyMassageMachine posted:2) Lucha Bros. Lucha Bros are two people, if you don't adjust this list before midnight tonight I'll count your picks as Pentagon first and Rey Fenix second, and drop Nyla Rose off the #10 spot. Edit: And sorted, thanks BMM
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jan 5, 2021 |
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Jan 5, 2021 03:46
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A few stats after 4 days of lists: - 51 goons have posted their lists. - 159 wrestlers have been submitted so far. - The breakdown by gender is 112 male wrestlers, 47 female. - The average age of the wrestlers selected so far is 32 - wrestlers picked so far who are at that age are: Hikaru Shida, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Ryo Mizunami and SANADA. - I do not have ages for: Abadon, Cara Noir, Danhausen, Leyla Hirsch, Lulu Pencil, THE HOODFOOT or Viktor Tykki. - 24 promotions have been specified so far, with a 25th catch-all "other" for those with no clear/apparent "home" promotion. - With 44 distinct wrestlers, AEW is the most selected promotion so far. Next is New Japan, then WWE (excluding NXT), and the addition of Impact in 4th place thanks purely to the list of Edward Mass! - Three wrestlers have topped 100 points in the tally so far, with three other wrestlers right on the cusp. The lead wrestler has cleared 200 points so far. - There are now only 3 female wrestlers in the Top 20, with Hikaru Shida dropping down to 23rd place. - The highest ranked female wrestler remains Yuka Sakazaki, in 11th place on 57 points. - The breakdown by promotion for the Top 20 is: AEW: 10 | NJPW: 7 | TJPW: 1 | Gatoh Move: 1 | NWA: 1 - Of last year's top ten, four of the finalists remain in the current top ten. Only 1 wrestler from the 2019 top 10 has so far received NO votes this year, and it's 2019's Favorite Active Wrestler Kazuchika Okada! 
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Jan 5, 2021 07:41
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ShadowedFlames posted:7. Becky Lynch (WWE—she was active at the start of the year after all!) Holy poo poo I had forgotten just how much she actually did wrestle this year. It feels like forever ago.
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Jan 6, 2021 01:16
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Another update to bump this back to page 1, and remind anybody who hasn't put in their list yet there is still plenty of time, but you don't have to wait till the last minute! - 55 goons have posted their lists. - 162 wrestlers have been submitted so far. - The breakdown by gender is 114 male wrestlers, 48 female. - The average age of the wrestlers selected so far remains 32 though is right on the cusp of 33. Wrestlers picked so far who are at that age are: Hikaru Shida, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Ryo Mizunami and SANADA. - I do not have ages for: Abadon, Cara Noir, Danhausen, Leyla Hirsch, Lulu Pencil, THE HOODFOOT or Viktor Tykki. - 24 promotions have been specified so far, with a 25th catch-all "other" for those with no clear/apparent "home" promotion. - With 45 distinct wrestlers, AEW is the most selected promotion so far. Next is New Japan which rather surprisingly only has one more person on their list WWE (who actually have more if you include NXT as a catch-all). Edward Mass' list still keeps Impact in a surprise 4th place over Stardom. - Four wrestlers have now surpassed 100 points in the tally so far, with two other wrestlers right on the cusp. The top two wrestlers have both cleared 200 points. - Hikaru Shida has managed to rise up to 21st position, but that still leaves only 3 women in the Top 20. - The highest ranked female wrestler remains Yuka Sakazaki, in 11th place on 60 points. - The breakdown by promotion for the Top 20 is: AEW: 10 | NJPW: 7 | TJPW: 1 | Gatoh Move: 1 | NWA: 1 - 1 wrestler has managed to get a vote in postions 2-10 so far. Even one #1 vote would propel him into 4th place in the rankings. - 2019's Favorite Active Wrestler Kazuchika Okada still has ZERO votes! Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Jan 7, 2021 |
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Jan 7, 2021 07:04
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A week+ into the thread, some more stats. Remember, lists will be accepted through to midnight EST on January 22nd. - 59 goons have posted their lists. - 170 wrestlers have been submitted so far. - The breakdown by gender is 122 male wrestlers, 48 female. - The average age of the wrestlers selected so far is once again 33. Wrestlers picked so far who are at that age are: Angelico, Becky Lynch, Black Taurus, Brandon Cutler, Bray Wyatt, Chris Dickinson, Evil Uno, Jeff Cobb, Josh Alexander, Kazuchika Okada, Saki Akai, Trent?, Willie Mack & Zack Sabre Jr. - Yes, that means Punchsport Pagoda's favorite active wrestler for 2019 - Kazuchika Okada - has FINALLY gotten some votes, over a week into the thread. - I do not have ages for: Abadon, Cara Noir, Danhausen, Leyla Hirsch, Lulu Pencil, THE HOODFOOT or Viktor Tykki. - 24 promotions have been specified so far, with a 25th catch-all "other" for those with no clear/apparent "home" promotion. - With 45 distinct wrestlers, AEW remains the most selected promotion so far. New Japan is in second place while WWE still holds surprisingly onto 3rd place (if you count NXT wrestlers as overall WWE, they actually surpass NJPW's tally). Impact is in joint 4th place now with Dragon Gate. - Six wrestlers have surpassed 100 points in the tally so far. The top two wrestlers have both cleared 200 points with 2nd place well within reach of 1st place. - There are now only 2 women in the Top 20, with the highest ranked female wrestler remaining Yuka Sakazaki who has now dropped to 14th place. - The breakdown by promotion for the Top 20 is: AEW: 11 | NJPW: 7 | TJPW: 1 | NWA: 1 - The highest ranked WWE wrestler is in 25th place. - So far, there is still only one wrestler who has managed to garner votes in 9 out of the 10 possible ranks, and they still have not been picked anybody's #1 pick.
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Jan 9, 2021 08:20
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Bumping this with a reminder there are still roughly 10 days to get your submission in, the more people who put in a list the better!
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Jan 12, 2021 03:05
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Bumping with a reminder there's roughly a week left to put in your list.
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Jan 14, 2021 03:45
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There's not much of an update as new submissions are coming much slower now, but a reminder that entries close at midnight EST on January 22nd. Next year maybe I should make the voting window 2 weeks instead of three? - 62 goons have posted their lists. We're well short of the 114 who submitted in 2019, so I hope there are still plenty more to come. - 174 wrestlers have been submitted so far. This actually compares favorably with the 202 individual wrestlers submitted in 2019. - The breakdown by gender is 126 male wrestlers, 48 female. That puts us ahead of the 2019 total for women wrestlers, which was 46. - The average age of the wrestlers selected so far remains 33, very slightly higher than the 32.8 average age in 2019. Wrestlers picked so far who are 33 are: Angelico, Becky Lynch, Black Taurus, Brandon Cutler, Bray Wyatt, Chris Dickinson, Evil Uno, Jeff Cobb, Josh Alexander, Kazuchika Okada, Saki Akai, Trent?, Willie Mack & Zack Sabre Jr. - I do not have ages for: Abadon, Cara Noir, Danhausen, Leyla Hirsch, Lulu Pencil, THE HOODFOOT, Stark Adder or Viktor Tykki. - 24 promotions have been specified so far, with a 25th catch-all "other" for those with no clear/apparent "home" promotion. This is one more promotion than was selected in 2019. - With 45 distinct wrestlers, AEW remains the most selected promotion so far. New Japan and WWE hold their 2nd and 3rd places respectively. However, 4th place is now held by Dragon Gate, which has a single wrestler advantage over IMPACT. - There are still only six wrestlers who have surpassed 100 points in the tally. The top two wrestlers have both cleared 200 points with 2nd place well within reach of 1st place. - There remains only 2 women in the Top 20, and none in the top ten. - The breakdown by promotion for the Top 20 is: AEW: 11 | NJPW: 7 | TJPW: 1 | NWA: 1 - The breakdown of ages in the top 10 is 2 wrestlers in their 20s, 5 in their 30s, and 3 in their 40s. This makes the average age of Punchsport Pagoda's Pro-Wrestling Top 10 wrestlers 36, slightly older than the average for all wrestlers listed so far. - The highest ranked WWE wrestler is in 25th place, and probably isn't who you think.
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Jan 18, 2021 06:49
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There are two days left to get in your submissions, so please do!
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Jan 21, 2021 02:42
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One last plea for any further submissions to come in, there is a day left to get in if you haven't yet.
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Jan 21, 2021 23:19
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There's roughly 4.5 hours left to get in any last minute submissions, please do!
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Jan 23, 2021 01:18
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Thanks to all who put in lists, entries are closed now and I'll try to have results up by the end of the weekend, all going well.
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Jan 23, 2021 07:47
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It's time to see who Punchsport Pagoda's consensus favorite wrestlers for the year 2020 were. This year we had 186 individual wrestlers picked by 65 goons, a drop from 2019's thread where we had 202 wrestlers picked by 114 goons. As a result of the drop in both amount of wrestlers (small) and number of goons picking (fairly large), this year there were a number of ties in points totals. As a result, there are 43 ranked positions this year compared to 2019's 63. Yuki Ueno - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank WALTER - 2019 Position: #30 (-13 places drop) Tay Conti - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Super Sasadango Machine - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Stark Adder - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Risa Sera - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Marko Stunt - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Leyla Hirsch - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Leva Bates - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kzy - 2019 Position: #55 (+12 places improvement) Karl Anderson - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank The Hoodfoot - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Goldberg - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Frankie Kazarian - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Dustin Rhodes - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank AZM - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Our bottom position this year is Rank 43, and it is largely filled with new entries. 2019's thread was specifically placed to finish just before the debut of AEW Dynamite, and as such it is no big surprise to see a number of AEW wrestlers (young and old) making their appearance for the first time. In addition to AEW come wrestlers from DDT, FCF, Ice Ribbon, Independent wrestling, Impact, NXT UK and STARDOM. The sole WWE pick in this category was part-timer Bill Goldberg. None of these wrestlers were anybody's TOP wrestler, but they all did enough in the year to warrant at least a single vote in somebody's top 10.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:10
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 Will Ospreay - 2019 Position: #9 (-33 places drop!) Timothy Thatcher - 2019 Position: #59 (+17 places improvement) Takumi Iroha - 2019 Position: #51 (+9 places improvement) Taiji Ishimori - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Tadasuke - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Sareee - 2019 Position: #56 (+14 places improvement) Saki Kashima - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Peter Avalon - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Otis - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Matthew Justice - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Lee Moriarty - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Konosuke Takeshita - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Emi Sakura - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Chie Koishikawa - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Cara Noir - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Alex Shelley - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Another slew of newcomers, with representatives from AEW of course, but also Diana, DDT, Gatoh Move, Impact, New Japan, NOAH, STARDOM, WWE and the Independents. The big story of this category though is Will Ospreay's enormous plunge down the rankings. A Top 10 finish in 2019 with 222 points, he barely made the list at all this year with only a single person voting for him.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:22
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 Yukio Sakaguchi - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Yoshinari Ogawa - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Viktor Tykki - 2019 Position: #61 (+20 places improvement) Tony Deppen - 2019 Position: #61 (+20 places improvement) Rohit Raju - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Rhea Ripley - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Mikoto Shindo - 2019 Position: #55 (+14 places improvement) Mike Bailey - 2019 Position: #48 (+7 places improvement) Lance Archer - 2019 Position: #56 (+15 places improvement) Hikari Noa - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Hideki Suzuki - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Finn Balor - 2019 Position: #57 (+16 places improvement) Dax Harwood - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Charlotte Flair - 2019 Position: #62 (+21 places improvement) Baliyan Akki - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Representatives from AEW, DDT, FCF, Gatoh Move, Impact, Marvelous, NOAH, NXT, Tokyo Joshi Pro and the Independents. Dax Harwood makes his first appearance, in 2019 he was Scott Dawson but his time in The Revival failed to put him into any Top 10 lists, obviously moving to AEW worked out well for him in the very least that it made people on some Internet Forum somewhere happy, which is really the most important thing. Technically speaking, Finn Balor's move from the main roster back to NXT seemed to work out okay for him too.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:33
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 Toshiyuki Sakuda - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kenoh - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kaori Yoneyama - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Josh Alexander - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Jordan Oliver - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Don Fujii - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Black Taurus - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Becky Lynch - 2019 Position: #37 (-3 places drop) This big story of #40 is that it is almost entirely new entrants from 2019, and includes our first AAA representative. The only returning member of the list is Becky "The Man" Lynch, who went from #37 in 2019 to #40 in this year. A bit of a slip, true, but considering how reduced her presence was in 2020 and how everything from that early part of the year feels like a million years ago, it's actually pretty remarkable she ranked at all. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Jan 25, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 02:40
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 Susumu Yokosuka - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Starlight Kid - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kento Miyahara - 2019 Position: #42 (+3 places improvement) Hikaru Sato - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Dragon Kid - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Daisuke Sekimoto - 2019 Position: #40 (+1 place improvement) Chris Sabin - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Chris Jericho - 2019 Position: #4 (-35 places decline!) Brian Cage - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Brandon Cutler - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Atticus Cogar - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Aron Stevens - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Another batch of newcomers make the list, with representatives from AEW, All Japan, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, IMPACT, NWA, STARDOM and the Independents. But the BIG story, gigantic really, is the enormous drop in the rankings of Chris Jericho, surpassing even the drop of Will Ospreay. Ranked Punchsport Pagoda's 4th Favorite Active Wrestler in 2019, he only barely escapes being in the 40s in 2020. Jericho didn't exactly cover himself in glory in 2020 with some of the incredibly stupid things he said or did, and it seems it was more than enough to take away from the fact he's still involved in a lot of fun and entertaining stuff in AEW.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:49
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frankenfreak posted:Chris Jericho on the same level as 
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Jan 25, 2021 03:06
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 Takashi Sugiura - 2019 Position: #58 (+20 places improvement) Stu Grayson - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Neil Diamond Cutter - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Momo Watanabe - 2019 Position: #55 (+17 places improvement) Matt Sydal - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kyle O'Reilly - 2019 Position: #55 (+17 places improvement) Jungle Boy - 2019 Position: #48 (+10 places improvement) Jordynne Grace - 2019 Position: #61 (+23 places improvement) BxB Hulk - 2019 Position: #56 (+18 places improvement) A mixture of new places and returning wrestlers from 2019 come in at 38, with representatives from AEW, Dragon Gate, IMPACT, NOAH, NXT, STARDOM and the Independents. Perhaps the most notable entry is AEW's Stu Grayson, a founding member of the Dark Order stable which had a decidedly mixed reaction in 2019 but was utterly beloved by the end of 2020.
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Jan 25, 2021 03:06
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 Sonya Deville - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Shun Skywalker - 2019 Position: #57 (+20 places improvement) Shotzi Blackheart - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Rickey Shane Page - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Rich Swann - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Meiko Satomura - 2019 Position: #48 (+11 places improvement) Masashi Takeda - 2019 Position: #36 (-1 place drop) Konami - 2019 Position: #61 (+24 places improvement) Jungle Kyona - 2019 Position: #44 (+7 places improvement) El Hijo del Vikingo - 2019 Position: #63 (+26 places improvement) Darby Allin - 2019 Position: #32 (-5 places drop) Ben-K - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Another mix of newcomers and returning wrestlers from 2019, with representatives from AAA, AEW, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, IMPACT, NXT, Sendai Girls, STARDOM, WWE, and the Independents. Perhaps themost interesting part of this list is the positioning of Darby Allin. He ranked at #32 in 2019, and the conventional wisdom at the time was that he was on his way to being a big star and was sure to rank far higher in 2020. That certainly did NOT come to pass, and it will be interesting to see if his renewed push at the start of 2021 is going to see him rise up in next year's poll.
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Jan 25, 2021 03:18
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 Yuki Kamifuku - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Willie Mack - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Suzu Suzuki - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank SeXXXy Eddy - 2019 Position: #54 (+18 places improvement) Sammy Guevara - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Sakura Hirota - 2019 Position: #62 (+26 places improvement) Ryo Mizunami - 2019 Position: #55 (+19 places improvement) DOUKI - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank A mixture of newcomers and returns, with representatives from AEW, Ice Ribbon, IMPACT, Pro-Wrestling Wave, SEAdLINNNG, TJPW and The Independents. Perhaps the two that most standout are DOUKI and Sammy Guevara. The latter because he's clearly been earmarked as a future star from the beginning, and the former because he was just kind of a guy making up the numbers who suddenly blossomed during the COVID-19 era of wrestling shows. Suzu Suzuki did not rank last year, possibly because she wasn't born yet because Jesus Christ she's young.
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Jan 25, 2021 03:27
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 Yunamon - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank YAMATO - 2019 Position: #59 (+24 places improvement) Sonny Kiss - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Sasha Banks - 2019 Position: #57 (+22 places improvement) Sami Zayn - 2019 Position: #51 (+16 places improvement) Rina Yamashita - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Mio Momono - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Kevin Owens - 2019 Position: #39 (+4 places improvement) Keisuke Okuda - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Jeff Cobb - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Chris Brookes - 2019 Position: #47 (+12 places improvement) Chris Bey - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Chase Parker - 2019 Position: #56 (+21 places improvement) Angelico - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank Angel Ortiz - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank. This group represents the last of the wrestlers who couldn't possibly be ranked anybody's #1 favorite wrestler. In the rankings that follow, it's possible that wrestlers got up over 10 points without ever being named anybody's top pick, but up to this point NONE of the wrestlers were ever given that honor. There are some surprising names so low down, including Jeff Cobb, Sasha Banks and of course Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. It is quite sweet to see them both end up ranked in the same place though
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Jan 25, 2021 03:35
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 Yoshiko - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 0 YOSHI-HASHI - 2019 Position: #57 (+23 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Saya Iida - 2019 Position: #62 (+28 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 1 Shoko Najakima - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 1 Saki Akai - 2019 Position: #62 (+28 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Matt Martel - 2019 Position: #55 (+21 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 1 Kaito Ishida - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 1 Eita - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 1 Deonna Purrazzo - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 1 Danhausen - 2019 Position: #57 (+23 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Chris Dickinson - 2019 Position: #52 (+18 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: Alex Colon - 2019 Position: #53 (+19 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 1 Abadon - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 0 This is where we start seeing the power of the number 1 vote, as several wrestlers who were only voted for ONCE in the entire thread still managed a respectable ranking and power past many other wrestlers who recieved more individual votes and are "bigger" names. Promotions represented are AEW, Dragon Gate, IMPACT, New Japan, NOAH, ROH, SEAdLINNNG, STARDOM, TJPW, and the Independents. Danhausen represents not only the first appearance of ROH on this poll, but the ONLY appearance of ROH on this poll, compared to 12 ROH wrestlers being selected in 2019. New Japan's YOSHI-HASHI was down low in the ranks in 2019, but he got back up, B A R S B A Y 
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Jan 25, 2021 03:52
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 Kris Statlander - 2019 Position: #52 (+19 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Keith Lee - 2019 Position: #57 (+24 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Adam Cole - 2019 Position: #33 (no change) | Times Voted #1: 0 Finally the numbers are starting to thin out in each ranking. NXT's Adam Cole managed to stay exactly in place from his 2019 ranking, which sums up his position in the company as well as he remains an NXT mainstay with no apparent desire or push to be moved up to the main roster anytime soon. In 2020 he managed a face turn along with his stable The Undisputed Era, and enjoyed a quasi-celebrity feud against Pat McAfee and The Kings of NXT. Keith Lee meanwhile has more mixed success, as his NXT run ended on somewhat of a low note as he vacated his NXT North American Championship, promptly lost the NXT Championship (which was vacated the next show due to Karrion Kross' injury) and moved to the main roster where despite sticking around the main event he has been trapped in 50/50 booking and made to wear a shirt because Vince McMahon is a senile, out-of-touch old lunatic. AEW's Kris Statlander also had a tough year. After losing in her effort to win the Women's Title from Nyla Rose, she suffered an ACL injury in June and was largely absent from the promotion until late in 2020 when she made her return. Back to vibing well with Orange Cassidy, she has also made failed efforts to abduct members of the roster, because I forgot to mention she's an alien.
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Jan 25, 2021 04:04
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 Mizuki - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 0 Bray Wyatt - 2019 Position: #45 (+13 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 1 In an interesting contrast, Bray Wyatt managed to secure this position thanks to 3 votes: 2 put him 10th of a ranking but 1 listed him as their favorite werestler, giving him 12 points. But Mizuki was middle of the road all the way, managing 2 5th place rankings that secured her the same spot. Mizuki is a member of the rosters of both Tokyo Joshi Pro and DDT, and is 1/5th of the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions. She was after singles gold in 2020 though, winning the Tokyo Princess Cup for the second year in a row and unsuccessfully challenging Yuka Sakazaki (her tag team partner!) for the Princess of Princess Championship. Meanwhile, Bray Wyatt is.... well there have been fleeting highs and astonishing lows. Built as an indestructible monster, he nonetheless suffered a quick loss to Bill Goldberg of all people, then banished John Cena forever into a meta-narrative projection of a deconstruction of Cena's career (one of those fleeting highs), hosed about with Braun Strowman a bit, got creepy with Alexa Bliss and then got burned to death by Randy Orton. It's... yeah. But SOMEBODY enjoyed it, and that's the important thing, because we can't build a consensus view of our forum's favorite active wrestlers without these outliers thrown into the mix.
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Jan 25, 2021 04:13
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 The Butcher - 2019 Position: #59 (+28 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 SANADA - 2019 Position: #20 (-11 places drop) | Times Voted #1: 1 Nick Gage - 2019 Position: #18 (-13 places drop) | Times Voted #1: 0 Colt Cabana - 2019 Position: #58 (+27 places improvement)| Times Voted #1: 0 The great thing about pro-wrestling is that there's something for everybody: whether you want a monocled muscle-for-hire who moonlights as a guitarist; a former felon who has turned his life around to be simultaneously wholesome AND a brutal bloody deathmatch wrestler; an incredibly handsome man; or a good Jewish boy who just wants to be friends... well, wrestling has it! Of the 4, only SANADA was voted anybody's #1 pick (though The Butcher managed a respectable #2 spot), with the others making it up to this point thanks to more votes in lower rankings. Of all of them, Nick Gage probably had the quietest 2020 due to the lack of Independent Shows thanks to COVID-19 (meaning we also missed the joy of seeing him in Effy's Bi-Curious Battle Royal). Colt Cabana was involved in the Dark Order storyline in AEW, as the friendly new recruit to the cult being shielded by their leader from their darker dealings. The Butcher got wrapped up in the excellent Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston storyline, which also got him a title shot against Jon Moxley for himself and now sees him feuding against PAC and The Lucha Bros. SANADA was very busy in 2020 despite the long hiatus between shows due to COVID-19, making it to the Semi-Finals of the New Japan Cup and the final of the G1 tournament, as well as (eventually) feuding with long-time partner EVIL after the latter betrayed their leader Tetsuya Naito, and went into 2021 aiming for the IWGP Championship himself. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Jan 25, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 04:28
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 Miyu Yamashita - 2019 Position: #53 (+23 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Masaaki Mochizuki - 2019 Position: #49 (+19 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 The 25-year-old "Ace" of Tokyo Joshi Pro and the 51-year-old veteran of Dragon Gate both managed the same amount of points, and got their relatively high ranking despite not being voted the #1 pick of any goon who submitted a Top Ten list. Despite COVID, Yamashita managed a busy 2020 for TJPW, competing in the Spring Beautiful One Day Tournament, making it to the Semi-Final of the Tokyo Princess Cup and wrapping up her year with a victory in the aptly named "I Hope There Are Lots of Fun And Happy Things To Do Next Year" show. Mochizuki also managed a heavy schedule in 2020 despite COVID (and his age!), though his experience in tournaments this year didn't net him the results he might have liked, he did win the GHC Heavyweight Tag belts with Marufuji even if his attempt to win the Open The Twin Gate Title with Don Fujii ended in a loss. Still, I Hope There Are Lots of Fun And Happy Things To Do Next Year. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Jan 25, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 04:39
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 03:45 |
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 Riho - 2019 Position: #55 (+26 places improvement) | Times Voted #1: 0 Penta El Zero M - 2019 Position: #10 (-19 places drop) | Times Voted #1: 0 Evil Uno - 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 0 It was no surprise to see Riho do well, with the knowledge that if it wasn't for COVID she probably would have made more AEW appearances and likely ranked even higher. As it was, her 2020 in STARDOM didn't set the world on fire, with claims that AEW had made requests that she not lose too often to keep her looking strong for her eventual return. Whether there is any merit to that is unknown, but the lack of visibility in America and the hampered booking in Japan means despite a big improvement from her 2019 ranking, it still feels like she could be doing better. The same could be said for Penta El Zero M, who had to miss a chunk of time in AEW due to COVID, which also stymied an ongoing feud with The Best Friends (which later shifted to Best Friends/Proud 'N' Powerful, and it loving ruled). Luckily upon their return they got wrapped up first in the Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston feud on Eddie's side, then ended up escaping Eddie's manipulations to instead side with PAC to finally get their Triangulo de la Muerte stable back up and running. In the meantime though, Penta has largely been in the background or a supporting character to either his stable leader or his brother Fenix. He's very good in the role, but we also all know he could be easily going strong as a singles wrestler himself. Finally, Evil Uno takes a giant leap up from nothing to within the top 30 thanks to the huge strides The Dark Order has taken, and his own leadership role within it. Becoming more of a bumbling Mr. Smithers type during Mr. Brodie Lee's sadly too short time, he stepped back up to a more authoritative role as needs arose and has knocked it out of the park, and his ranking reflects what his fans have been saying for a long time: Evil Uno rules!
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Jan 25, 2021 04:50
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