|
STONE COLD 64 posted:man i gotta give credit to taichi from being the laziest piece of poo poo jr heavyweight to the point people were comparing him to the miz for how soft style he was to stepping up seemingly at age 40 to actually be one of the more competent and exciting to watch members of the heavyweight tag division. he is still a disgrace to dangerous k. he's always been a world class promo but i think eddie's really stepped it up as well at the same age and is doing his best in ring work this run.
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 15:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 05:16 |
|
|
2021 was the year I REALLY got into AEW through watching the Daily's Place Darks and starting to check in on PPVs. I was a 2000s indie wrestling superfan back in the day and I feel like I've learned 500 new names just in the last 12 months. What a great time to be a wrestling fan! As you can see from the list, I haven't watched much else besides AEW, but the Darks have helped me discover a lot of stuff happening in GCW and other places that are exciting. I wish I had more time to take in more places. 1. Bryan Danielson - My old favorite and now, my new favorite again. 2. Rey Fenix - Been loving high flyers my whole life and Fenix is on another level 3. Dante Martin - I am REALLY excited to follow this young guy as his career takes off 4. Pentagon - Pentagon is one of the "total package" guys out there: great workrate, great character presentation, can brawl, can lucha, can do it all. 5. Serena Deeb - It's been really fun rediscovering Serena as an absolute killer this year 6. Leyla Hirsch - She's in my Dante Martin zone as a younger performer whose career I'm very eager to follow 7. Thunder Rosa - I love her promos and I love to watch her wrestle. 8. Malakai Black - I'm a sucker for everything Tommy End is all about. 9. Daniel Garcia - The third pillar in my Dante-Leyla-Garcia "young people I hope have a meteoric rise" triangle 10. Eddie Kingston - Fun in the ring and on the mic, but mainly, he adds such a great grizzled angry veteran energy to his feuds. This was a fun exercise if only to think of all the wrestlers I consider favorites that just didn't make a top ten. I have so many favorites right now!!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 15:40
|
|
|
1. Jon Moxley, AEW. I just love watching him wreck fools, and I hope he'll be back soon enough, even if it's as an rear end in a top hat that takes the title off of my #2... 2. Eddie Kingston, AEW. There's charisma, and then there's "I'd follow him through Hell if he asked" charisma. The only real specific thing I want from AEW in 2022 beyond "keep being good" and "more women's matches on Dynamite" is Eddie wins a title at Grand Slam 2022. 3. Pac, AEW. The former "the man that gravity forgot" is always welcome on my TV. Just wish COVID made that more possible. 4. Malakai Black, AEW. Show up to the screams of black metal, kick in heads, Leave. 5. Rey Fenix, AEW. If gravity forgot about Pac, it just plain doesn't know who or what Fenix even is. 6. Dante Martin, AEW. Forget "forgetting" or "not understanding", he's just the young kid gravity is straight up afraid of. Can we get a Pac vs. Fenix vs. Dante Martin in the first even "The ring canvas is lava" match? 7. Big E, WWE. Deserves so much better and so much more. 8. Kevin Owens, WWE. Repeat of Big E comments. I wish he'd left, but 2.5 million a year is 2.5 million a year. 9. Bryan Danielson, AEW. Probably the greatest pro wrestler of the 21st Century re-establishing his claim to that title. 10. Tay Conti, AEW. The bright, happy, bouncing equivalent of a human Pomeranian, but also a judoka who will kick your face in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:07
|
|
|
Tough to follow stab's list but here goes: 1) Sting (AEW) Its Sting!! I got to see the match vs FTR and the Punk 6 man live. Sting rules. 2) Jon Moxley (AEW/NJPW/GCW/ETC) A monster run this year in just about every promotion worth a poo poo. Hoping he enjoys 2022 3) Nick Gage (GCW) If I could write 'the GCW roster' here I would. I dont catch it frequently enough to have individual favorites but every GCW show I watch is killer. Gage on AEW was mind blowing. 4) MJF (AEW) I think I saw 3 MJF promo segments live this year and never heard a word he said. Ridiculous heel heat and one of the most punchworthy faces in wrestling. 5) Penta el Cero Miedo (AEW/AAA) Heartbroken for Fenix, but the first time around we got the Penta Says singles run so hopefully Penta stays active 6) Bryan Danielson (AEW) Dickhead Danielson flexing his biceps like Nick Diaz with the submission locked in is so sick 7) Kenny Omega (AEW) I think I just really like when elite technical wrestlers start being dickheads. Kenny's ridiculous beard mustache and his increasing stress as the belts stacked up was fun to see the tower collapse. Made me care about TNA a little bit, a monumental feat 8) Luchasaurus (AEW) The hottest hot tag in wrestling, I remember seeing 'Judas Devlin' at an NXT Largo Loop with some buds. He has MGMT lyrics tattooed on his ribs and we were singing it to him. He heeled on us and told us to shut up. I told him to write in his Livejournal about it. He yells back with perfect timing 'ITS A XANGA!' Im glad he found a character that works for everyone and not just my dumb rear end 9) Thunder Rosa (AEW/MPW) The AEW women have improved so much and deserve more airtime on the big shows. Thunder Rosa escaping from NWA hell and having kick rear end matches full time with AEW immediately elevated the division 10) Cameron Grimes (WWE) Pre-AEW I was a big NXT guy, would go to all the local shows, and had some great times like the one mentioned in the Luchasaurus entry. All of that NXT love is pretty much faded, but Cameron Grimes still gets my attention and the bitcoin billionaire thing was a rare case of a Fed gimmick being less than 20 years dated. The only reason I know Duke Hudson exists is because of Cameron Grimes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:11
|
|
|
Top 20 for funsies. I could probably make a Top 50 and still be pissed at the names I'm leaving off. 20. HOOK - It's incredible that he became so much more than a meme. The aura around this kid is wild. 19. Dax Harwood - His partner is probably the better overall wrestler and would be my #21, but Dax is such a perfect promo and has this amazing throwback energy. I pop every time he mentions a "territory." 18. Hyper Misao - Every single Misao match is just so much fun, but she really stepped up her game last year with that recent deathmatch against Shunma Katsumata. 17. Walter - My #4 match of the year was a WWE match because of this guy. 16. Joey Janela - He's taken huge strides to get rid of his reputation as a garbage wrestler and the transformation has been crazy. His match (and post-match promo) with Nick Wayne solidifies him as one of the greats. 15. Malakai Black - HAIL SATAN 14. Chihiro Hashimoto - For the uninitiated, imagine a female Ishii. That's it. Only thing holding her back is that I didn't see as many of her matches this year as I'd have liked. 13. Orange Cassidy - I thought I'd be over the OC act at this point, but he manages to keep it fresh and add fun new spots. 12. Chris Brookes - Between the shows he's produced for DDT, the way he's helped developed Lulu Pencil, his amazing in-ring work, and his overall comedic sensibilities, there's no way I can't represent Chris on my list. 11. Bryan Danielson - Really sucks that there are only 10 spots in the Top 10. 10. Eddie Kingston - The emotional connection Kingston has created between himself and the fans is absolutely unreal. 9. Katsuhiko Nakajima - I love his kicks and his evil smile. He's the first wrestler I really latched on to in NOAH and I'm glad to see him as their champ. 8. Serena Deeb - She came back from injury with a completely different in-ring attitude and I've been blown away. 7. Zack Sabre Jr. - Best technical wrestler in the world (sorry Deeb). 6. Mei Suruga - Just a fantastic all around wrestler. I have a feeling she'd probably be really good at handling a tray the same way Mei Saint-Michel does, if she ever tried it. 5. Tomohiro Ishii - My dream is to have a chop battle with Ishii. 4. Miyu Yamashita - The absolute coolest and also a huge loving dork. How? 3. Shingo Takagi - His in-ring presence is off the charts. I'm not sure I've ever "believed" a wrestler as much as I believe Shingo 2. Miu Watanabe - The strongest wrestler there is. She really does put 110% energy into every single thing she does. Every move is crisp and she never ever phones it in. 1. PAC - PAC is perfect.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:13
|
|
|
1. DOUKI (Freelancer (NJPW), 30) - Taichi is my absolute boy and I love him to bits, but Taichi just spent 30 minutes through the medium of pro wrestling telling me "If I was your boy, then DOUKI is your boy now" and I'm not about to disobey the Holy Emperor. DOUKI has followed the path less followed in pro wrestling to say the least. Moving to Mexico at the age of 18 and seeking out Taichi, who was there on excursion, at the advice of Milano Collection AT. A relationship formed that would lead DOUKI to the most unlikely of routes into NJPW. I loved him as soon as he arrived with a style that was reckless and unrefined. It took him a time, but he's managed to hone his technique to a point where he can have awesome matches but still appear to be reckless and unrefined. With Hiromu Takahashi among his fans, it won't be long before he's a big deal in the NJPW junior division. 2. Taichi (NJPW, 41) - I've been a fan since the first time I set eyes on him when he was a dumbass junior heavyweight doing dumbass spots with TAKA Michinoku. Now people love him and I couldn't be more happy for him. Tokyo Sports Award winner Taichi loving Ishikari is one of the best wrestlers in NJPW and has dragged the IWGP tag division up from the depths of hell with him. 2022 marks twenty years in the business for him, and it would be great to see him mark that with the IWGP Championship challenge he deserves. Hopefully against his best opponent, Tetsuya Naito. 3. Ryo Mizunami (Freelancer (AEW, SEAdLINNNG), 33) - My "I told you so" pick. I put her on my list last year and said she'd be in AEW in 2021 and people would love her, and I've never been so happy to be proven right. The World's Aniki loving rules and combines incredible comedic charisma with hard hitting wrestling to produce what is basically the perfect pro wrestler. She's had some of my favourite matches of the year with Asuka and Arisa Nakajima. I used to dread my favourite Japanese wrestlers getting picked up by a US promotion because it'd mean I'd never watch them wrestle again and they'd lose all the reasons why I liked them in the first place, but AEW coming along means even if she spends the rest of her career on AEW Dark I'd happily watch her. 4. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 39) - He's just so loving cool. He wrestled one match in the whole G1 and still ended up with the best match of the tournament. Even during COVID clap crowds he still feels like such a rock star when he comes down to the ring. He's so good. 5. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG, 32) - Arisa Nakajima is an absolute murderer. She is one of the career rivals of Mizunami and while Mizunami is a killer with goofy charisma to hide it, Arisa is a killer with the demeanor of a killer and her matches never miss. She is the reason I never miss a SEAdLINNNG show if I can make it. 6. Atsushi Onita (FMW-E, 64) - For all the things AEW have done right in 2021, it is something that they completely and utterly humiliatingly screwed up on that I'm happiest for. Their embarrassing attempt at an explosion in the aftermath of Kenny/Moxley inspired Onita to return to putting on explosion deathmatches to show the world how they should be done, and I'm so loving happy for it. If you haven't seen Onita swaggering to the ring to Wild Thing, wrestling an absolute garbage match, blowing himself up and then had him throw water all over you then you are missing out one of the greatest pleasures life can give you. What a rock star. He owns. 7. Asuka (Freelancer (SEAdLINNNG), 23) - Asuka, or VENY, has continued to improve and along with Makoto, has been the rock of SEAdLINNNG's fantastic tag division. She lost out on a lot of opportunities to go overseas in 2020 and 2021 that she will be taking this year. If you get the opportunity to see Asuka wrestle in person then absolutely take it because she is the loving best. 8. Takayuki Ueki (Freelancer (FREEDOMS), 30) - Ueki eschewed a career as a police officer to chase a more respectable career path that benefits society more as a deathmatch pro wrestler and for that he should be commended. Ueki started off as a comedy wrestler in BJW before leaving the weird Japanese nationalist deathmatch promotion to go to the cool normal deathmatch promotions, FREEDOMS, where he has been absolutely loving insane. Doing a diving headbutt with a breeze block held up to your head is probably not the wisest thing to do but it looks loving cool and it beats being a cop. Ueki's match with Jun Kasai was so good, so crazy, so dumb and so funny that it got the FREEDOMS fans yelled at on Twitter by the promotion for making too much noise. It's one of the best matches of the year and you should watch it. 9. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous, 29) - She's so loving cool. She's really goofy too, but so loving cool. And one of the best wrestlers in the world. She main evented Osaka-Jo Hall this year, which is really cool. She's a company president, which is cool. She's Chigusa Nagayo's protege, which is cool. She drives a cool car and she wrestles cool matches. She is cool and you should watch her matches. 10. Aoi (JTO, 19) - This is gonna be my "I told you so pick", maybe not next year or the year after but somewhere down the line Aoi will be a huge star. She has incredible charisma that you just can't teach. She's less than a year into her career and has already developed into a great technician under the tutelage of TAKA Michinoku, who clearly also realised she's gonna be a star because he's paying for her to have backup dancers for her entrance and had her pin a legend in Yuu Yamagata today. Her catchphrase is "Just look at me" and you should listen to her. Watch her matches and see how great she is, so you can be in on the ground floor on a future great. Hopefully. Even if she doesn't live up to her promise in the future, she still loving rules now.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:21
|
|
|
1. Miro 2. Bryan Danielson 3. Veny 4. Rey Fenix 5. Thunder Rosa 6. Chuck Taylor 7. Dante Martin 8. Leyla Hirsch 9. Will Hobbs 10. Trish Adora 11. Luigi Primo
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:31
|
|
|
10) Tay Conti 9) Ricky Starks 8) Will Hobbs 7) Thunder Rosa 6) John Silver 5) Jon Moxley 4) Shida 3) Kenny Omega 2) Bryan Danielson 1) Hangman Adam Page
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:49
|
|
|
Went back and grabbed last year’s list; good amount of repeats for me, but that’s because a lot of the wrestlers I had listed only got better in the year since! 1) Kenny Omega Kenny is still #1, regardless of losing the belt to a VERY deserving Hangman. Despite starting 2021 with a Dud Barbwire Explosion match with Mox, Kenny put out banger after banger regardless of foe. The Belt Collector run was a LOT of fun, as was Kenny’s slow fall to madness and ego. If there’s one match to explain why Kenny’s my #2, it’d have to be the Danielson match in NY; regardless of collected injuries, Kenny put on a stellar performance and continued to prove he was the “Best Bout Machine.” 2) Bryan Danielson It takes two to tango, and Danielson is the perfect dance partner. As mentioned, his match with Kenny was an all-timer, but his subsequent heel run where he demolished Dark Order in brutal fashion is what cemented him as a big deal for me. And of course, the hour-long draw with Hangman was astonishing; it’s awesome to see ROH-era Danielson back, and I can’t wait to see what else he has in store for 2022. 3) Hangman Adam Page Not a lot to say that hasn’t been said. Hangman’s tale was the best feel-good storytelling in wrestling in a LONG time and proved you can tell well-planned, long-term stories and people will actually give a (cowboy) poo poo! Plus the dude has become a VERY good storyteller in-ring; a somewhat forgotten example being early in the year when, after beating Brian Cage and reclaiming the #1 Contender spot, the guy had the best conflicted “ah gently caress I’m gonna have to face my demons…” look I’ve seen. Dude’s great, and I hope he has a good run as Champ (so far, so good!). 4) Penta el 0M Love my skeleton ninja boy.  5) Rey Fenix And I love his flippy rubberband brother. 6) Serena Deeb Deeb has dialed-up her inner Bret Hart and it’s working wonders for her. Serena has had some of my favorite matches this year against Riho and Shida, and absolutely deserves a run with the title sometime in 2022. Originally seeming boring or flat (she sometimes still is), her heel turn and leaning into the arrogant Professor role has really boosted her as a must-see of the AEW Women’s Division. 7) Orange Cassidy Bit of a down year for OC (thanks in part to a never-ending bad feud with Matt Hardy), but he’s still a lot of fun and great to watch when he tries (more so when he doesn’t). 8) Miro God’s Favorite Champion AND a wife that does the splits! If Miro could stay healthy he’d be WAY up my list, since this year was a HUGE deal for him. Really dug his run as TNT champion and wish he had more time in the sun, but he’ll have another run with a major title one day. 9) Dr. Britt Baker, DMD If this was a midyear check-in, THE DOCTAH might be higher, but despite a good lead-up and victory for the belt against Shida, Dr. Britt’s had a sort of lackluster backhalf of the year. Still, she’s up on my list for two big reasons: 1) the Shida match at DoN, and more importantly, 2) the Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa. She’s still great on the mic and good in-ring, and I do enjoy the slow build of Jamie Hayter betraying her (soon…), but her matches have been a little dull and cheaty lately, so she drops down to #9. 10) PAC I feel bad putting this goblin so low, but it hasn’t been PAC’s best year. He’s been in and out a LOT so it’s hard to build momentum, but anytime PAC’s on-screen he’s still as good as ever. Hopefully he can get a bit of consistency in his schedule/health and have a bigger 2022. please give the goblin some gold. In short: 1) Kenny Omega 2) Bryan Danielson 3) Hangman Adam Page 4) 5) Rey Fenix 6) Serena Deeb 7) Orange Cassidy 8) Miro 9) Dr. Britt Baker, DMD 10) PAC Honorable Mentions: HOOK, Luchasaurus, Hikaru Shida, Malakai Black, Thunder Rosa BodyMassageMachine fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Jan 10, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:02
|
|
|
10. Eddie Kingston 09. Tomohiro Ishii 08. Chris Brookes 07. Thunder Rosa 06. Adam Page 05. Brian Danielson 04. Miyu Yamashita 03. Penta El Zero M 02. Orange Cassidy 01. Kenny Omega
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:05
|
|
|
In no particular order... The Bunny - not the best wrestler ever, but SO much better than she used to be, and with excellent character work to boot. Her performance in that street fight was a big deal, but she had good matches with Tay Conti and a hilarious tag with Emi Sakura against Abadon and Ryo Mizunami. Dante Martin - holy poo poo. I mean, Jesus Christ. That guy has noclipping turned on, but in real life. Lee Moriarty - TAIGASTYLE looks really cool and honestly modern wrestling needs more people who can make matwork look fun and exciting. Lee should get the kind of attention Daniel Garcia is getting, in my opinion. Leyla Hirsch - again, someone who can make mat wrestling look cool and, in Leyla's case especially, brutal. That she's so short only enhances her strengths, in my opinion. Someone under 5 feet shouldn't be able to throw Nyla Rose like a goddamn suitcase, but Leyla can and has. Nyla Rose - Nyla quietly became a much better and more consistent worker in 2021, putting on good matches with a variety of women in the division. She should tag with Diamante more often. Eddie Kingston - Nthing what everyone else has said about Eddie. The guy made himself an indispensable main event star to the point where watching AEW before he showed up feels weird. Serena Deeb - one of the smoothest workers on the roster, and one who just can't seem to have bad matches with anyone. The Shida series has been excellent, but her matches with Riho and Leyla Hirsch were excellent as well. Orange Cassidy - still great, still super over, still has a "big match" gear that's among the best in the company. They need to give him more high-profile stuff to do. I get that it's good to have midcard guys who are super over, but he's past that, I think. Tay Conti - a beautiful murder machine. She'd be a good candidate to get the TBS belt off Jade. Abadon - she put in a ton of work in 2021, and her Halloween gimmick match with Britt Baker was really fun. Her Dark match with Ryo Mizunami was genuinely good, too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:24
|
|
|
1. Eddie Kingston 2. Miyu Yamashita 3. "Hangman" Adam Page 4. Bryan Danielson 5. Mei Suruga 6. Kenny Omega 7. VENY 8. Maki Itoh 9. Miro 10. Minoru Suzuki wrestling's good. 10 does not feel like enough spots for how much i enjoyed wrestling this past year
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:30
|
|
|
1 kenny omega (aew) 2 nick fuckin gage (gcw) 3 shingo takagi (njpw) 4 MIRO (aew) 5 Shida (aew) 6 miyu yamashita (tjpw) 7 hangman (aew) 8 mox (aew) 9 yugi nagata (njpw) 10 el desperado (njpw) the "tag teams count too J-ru" top ten tag teams 1 young bucks (aew) 2 ftr (aew) 3 lucha bros (aew) 4 dangerous tekkers (njpw) 5 Dark order members uno and stu (aew) 6 Neo Biishiki-gun (tjpw) 7 Smile Pissari (ddt) 8 Proud and Powerful (aew) 9 2.0 (aew) 10 Magical Sugar Rabbits (tjpw)
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:37
|
|
|
1. Eddie Kingston 2. Thunder Rosa 3. Fenix 4. HOOK 5. Io Shirai 6. Jon "athan" Moxley 7. Kenny Omega 8. Bianca Belair 9. Dante Martin 10. Will Hobbs
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 17:38
|
|
|
People who refuse to order their lists are cowards and that is why their votes don't get counted 
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 18:02
|
|
|
I'm here to help correct the severe lack of Shida on these lists. 1. Hikaru Shida 2. Hangman Page 3: Dante Martin 4. Bryan Danielson 5. Rey Fenix 6. Eddie Kingston 7. Kenny Omega 8. Malakai Black 9. PAC 10. Penta it's hard limiting it to just ten and also I absolutely had to go back and edit this more than once IcePhoenix fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Jan 10, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 18:04
|
|
|
Suplex Liberace posted:teams Doing Tag Teams is a fun idea 1. Astronauts (BJW/AJPW/BASARA) Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura loving rule every time I see them. 2. Las Fresa de Egoistas (SEAdLINNNG) ASUKA & Makoto 3. Masquerade (Dragongate) Jason Lee & Kota Minoura 4. Azure Revolution (Ice Ribbon) Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera 5. NEXTREAM (AJPW) Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi 6. Stronghearts (GLEAT/Everywhere) El Lindaman & T-Hawk 7. Dangerous Tekkers (NJPW) Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr 8. Runaway SUPLEX (AJPW) Shotaro Ashino & Suwama 9. Eruption (DDT) Kazusada Higuchi, Saki Akai & Yukio Sakaguchi 10.ERE (Freedoms) Takayuki Ueki & Toshiyuki Sakuda
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 18:10
|
|
|
Yeah I can drop a quick and dirty tag team list now 1. Lucha Bros 2. Dangerous Tekkers 3. 121000000 4. Jurassic Express 5. Neo Bishiiki-gun 6. Highest Flight 7. TayJay 8. Evil Uno/Stu Grayson 9. Santana/Ortiz 10. FTR Will some of these people appear on my singles list? Who knows!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 18:34
|
|
|
1. Shun Skywalker (25, Dragon Gate) Easily the best wrestler of 2021. His Dream Gate run contains 3 of my top 5 matches of the year, and his character work, first as a young rising ace trying to make his mark on the promotion, followed by his slow descent into madness after losing the belt, with his treachery in the mask match and his increasingly desperate attempt to keep Masquerade together, has been almost second to none. 2. Kota Minoura (23, Dragon Gate) As the young number 2 of Masquerade, Kota hasn't had the exact same presence on the card as Shun, but he's also been putting in an MVP performance this year. His tag team with Jason Lee at the beginning of the year was fantastic, followed by a namemaking King of Gate run, into his first Dream Gate challenge against YAMATO, all delivered in the ring. In the back half of the year, he's had some great character work, serving as the sane straight man to Shun's descent into madness, fed up with his actions. 3. YAMATO (40, Dragon Gate) Still the undisputed ace and most handsome member of Dragon Gate, I know YAMATO isn't for everyone, as he has a tendency to get real self-indulgent with his big matches. But still, for me, everything about YAMATO's big match style just vibes with me, and his return to the Dream Gate scene after a few years away has been fantastic for me. His seemingly endless feud with KAI dragged at times, but in the big matches, the No-Rope Lumberjack match in July and the Dream Gate match in December, both delivered so you know, whatevs. 4. SB KENTo (21, Dragon Gate) The young phenom of Dragon Gate. After a phenomanl debut year in 2020, where less than six months into his full career he already had a five star match under his belt, and every publication that didn't have him as Rookie of the Year was objectively wrong, SBK only got better in ring this year, feuding with Dragon Kid in the first half before transitioning into a quite frankly, brilliant Brave Gate champ, anchoring the midcard singles division and headlining a ton of smaller shows. His feud with the younger members of Natural Vibes, classmate Jacky Kamei and U-T, produced some great bangers. 5. Bryan Danielson (40, AEW) Danielson was the guy who got me into wrestling, sadly as I left WWE behind in 2015, I so to left my first favorite wrestler behind as well. Thankfully, in 2021, Bryan returned to the world of wrestling that I watched, and immediately started making up for lost time. Nothing but amazing match after amazing match, capping off the year with a loving 60 minute broadway classic. The GOAT proving that he's still the loving GOAT. 6. Cody Rhodes (36, AEW) Adrenaline in my soul, something something Cody Rhodes. 7. Susumu Yokuska (43, Dragon Gate) The quiet, stoic workhorse of Dragon Gate. Not flashy or assuming in anyway, but the people who have watched Dragon Gate for any sort of time know how good he is. His twin gate team with King Shimizu was one of my highlights for tag wrestling in 2021. 8. Adam Page (30, AEW) As the protagonist of AEW (after Cody Rhodes), Adam Page finally capped off two years of build to finally winning the AEW title, and his feud with Danielson afterwards resulted in some fantastic wrestling. Some real life stuff, like the initial build to the Kenny match getting derailed and Kenny working the final match injured, dropped him down the list a bit. 9. Kzy (35, Dragon Gate) Eventually it'll be Kzy Time, but until then I'll just enjoy Kzy putting on some of the best matches of the year with an abundance of charisma. 10. Dante Martin (20, AEW) I've said before the watching Dante feels like I'm watching a young Dragon Kid in Toryumon. Just pulling out the most insane athletic poo poo and looking like a cheat code for physics. Pairing him with Sydal and Lio Rush has been brilliant, and his improvement over the course of the year has been fantastic to watch, reminding me so much of one of my favorite parts of Dragon Gate. I feel like PAC should be on here, but unfortunately the weirdness of COVID has meant he disappears for long periods of time so I forget about him, like Tozawa being in WWE. Dimebags Brain fucked around with this message at 07:47 on Jan 11, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 18:50
|
|
|
This list will look completely different to my previous years, as this is the year I started watching TJPW and really went all in on everything Wrestle Universe had to offer People i'm not gonna write about but am sad they aren't on my list (20+) Haoh, Tadasuke, Zack Sabre Jr, Daisuke Harada, Raku, Miu Watanabe, Yuka Sakazaki, Naomi Yoshimura, HARASHIMA, Drew Parker, Masakatsu Funaki, Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi, Kinya Okada, Akito, El Desperado, Taichi, DOUKI, Kento Miyahara, Keisuke Ishii, Kazusada Higuchi So close, yet so far (20-11) 20 - Saki "Sakisama" Akai (34, DDT) - Saki spent most of 2021 serving three roles. She was the embodiment of French aristocracy, she was a comedy wrestler doing Heavymetalweight shenanigans in the undercard, and she was one third of one of the most badass stables in the world. She even did two of those for the same company, and still found time to works matches for 5 other companies. Even if it's a while before we hear Rose of Versailles again in TJPW, Saki will still be killing it to Gwen Stafani wherever she shows up. 19 - YO-HEY (33, NOAH) - My boy, one of the guys in the junior division I know will always give me a great show, even if he willingly teams with Nosawa. Maybe it's a defence mechanism after Tadasuke turned on him and HAYATA turned on him (twice) and then Yoshioka turned on him after he helped Yoshioka turn on Kotoge. Just don't look into his past, enjoy the performer he is now. 18 - Yukio Sakaguchi (33, DDT) - Eruption are the loving coolest, and as a part of that team Sakaguchi is also the loving coolest. The consumate murder-dad, he will beat the poo poo out of you and choke you out then pat you on the back and tell you good job when you improve and overcome him. Every time he's on screen it's an absolute pleasure, and that includes the time he showed up in TJPW pretending to be a French doctor 17 - Yuki Ueno (26, DDT) - The lowest ranking member of the orginal 37KAMIINA (spoiler alert), but don't let that detract from the fact that Yuki Ueno rules hard and is this generation's Kota Ibushi. He looks great, he flies like it's nothing, and he fights hard. And his finisher is goddamn terrifying, it's a miracle he's never hurt either himself of his opponent 16 - ASUKA (23, Freelance (SEAdLINNNG)) - In 2019 Asuka had my match of the year, a single lightube Deathmatch with Akito. In 2020, I watched a bunch more of her stuff and put her on my list for this because she was so good so young. In 2021, the rest of the world finally got to meet her (as Veny) and fell in love as well. 15 - Minoru Suzuki (53, Freelance (NJPW)) - No matter his age, the King is still the King. If you know MiSu, you know how good he is. Check out the match he did for DDT last month, it's such a great time. 14 - Konosuke Takeshita (26, DDT) - I say it a lot, and I'll say it again. Konosuke Takeshita is the best young wrestler in the world today. He's a goddamn phenom, a generational talent, if he manages to stay healthy for the next decade people will be putting him in the lists of the modern day greats. And he didn't even fall to pieces in front of a clap crowd like Okada did. Straight up, the only reason Soup Boy is this far down my list is because Lamuella already gave him points and I want to make sure as many of my favourites as possible make the list. Takeshita is a drat near perfect wrestler already, and he's not even close to hitting his prime. 13 - Chris Brookes (30, DDT) - Chrissy B loving rules, he does the lighthearted stuff with YOSHIHIKO or Pokotan and then turns around and puts Shunma through a board with forks sticking out, because gently caress Shunma. Plus he's one half of the TJPW English commentary team and seems to have an absolute blast shitposting with his bud Akki 12 - Arisa Nakajima (32, SEAdLINNNG) - She may not be my favourite, but Arisa Nakajima is my pick for the best women's wrestler in the world, nobody does violence like her. Every time GWB posts a match of hers in the MOTYC thread I know i'm in for a good time. I continue to be very pleased at the end of every champ of the month poll when Arisa's face pops up. 11 - Mei "Suruga" Saint-Michel (22, Gatoh Move ChocoPro) - MSM is one of the most naturally gifted character wrestlers I have ever seen, she made her TJPW debut as a member of Bi-gun in January already fully formed and gave us 9 months of incredible content before going on to bigger and better things. While I would definitely happy for her to accompany Sakisama again, i'm glad she got to show off a bit to the AEW audience. The ones that count (10-1) 10 - Shunma Katsumata (29, DDT) - All praise the Lego Goblin, Shunma is the oldest member of 37KAMIINA yet acts the youngest. He does great comedy and brutal deathmatches and great wrestling and I love him so much, though not as much as the last Sauna Boy on the list 9 - Kenoh (37, NOAH) - The first Kenoh match I saw, he went an hour with Go Shiozaki and gave him one of the most horrifying headkicks I have ever seen. Since then, I have fallen in love with the absolute pissbaby. He still kicks people super loving hard and has absolutely zero chill, which is definitely my poo poo. He leads the best stable in all of wrestling Kongoh, it's such a shame I could only fit two of them on my list 8 - Kazuki Hirata (34, DDT) - Hirata is my favourite male comedy wrestler. Dude never has a dud segment, he turns everything to gold. TOKYOOO all day 7 - Seiki Yoshioka (34, NOAH) - The best junior in NOAH. He kicks hard, he moves fast, he has energy for days. He's not the most charismatic guy in the division (that is Tadasuke) but doesn't matter, Yoshioka gives nothing but full effort and every single one of his appearances are worth the watch. 6 - MAO (24, DDT) - Love me some MAO. Like his regular tag partner Shunma, MAO can shine in both comedy and deathmathes and anything in between. He's still not the most polished performer but i'm willing to give him a pass for that since he's still young with plenty of room to grow and is able to pull out the spectacular when he needs to. His comedy just hits different to someone like Hirata, MAO's D-Oh match with Chris Brookes stands alone as something that had me on my arse laughing the entire goddamn time. 5 - Yuji Hino (36, DDT) - loving love Hino, he makes everything better. He's a goddamn master of the craft, a beefy boy that's incredibly limited in the ring but makes sure that everything he does matters. He could do like 5 moves the entire match but you'll still walk out of it thinking that Yuji Hino is pretty cool, because Yuji Hino is in fact really goddamn cool. 4 - Katsuhiko Nakajima (33, NOAH) - Much like his Kongoh buddy Kenoh, Katsu kicks people as hard as he can until they stop moving. Unlike Kenoh however, Katsu seems to actually enjoy his work and always has a lovely smile on his face as he beats you unconscious. It was some dark days when he lost his hair in the cage, but it's starting to get the curls back. Now he just needs to stop dyeing it blonde and he will once again reach peak handsomeness. 3 - Miyu Yamashita (26, TJPW) - Miyu is so loving cool, she's the MegaChamp and the final boss of Tokyo Joshi Pro. She kicks people hard (i'm beginning to sense a trend in the wrestlers I like) and has such a charming personality to match her violence that it's hard not to love her. The first TJPW show I watched had her KOing Itoh with a headkick, and i've been in on her ever since. 2 - YOSHI-HASHI (39, NJPW) - GET BACK UP  In August 2020 YH won the NEVER Openweight 6-man championships in a great moment, and then he ran with it for over a year to become the backbone of the greatest 6-man champions in the companies history, his efforts transformed the belts from an afterthought to something they actually built stories about. He's the modern day success story, a man that turned it all around after years of being a joke and became a solid wrestler and one of the best parts of New Japan's recent down period.1 - Nodoka Tenma (Age Unknown, TJPW) - Sheer joy, that's what I feel whenever Tenma is on my screen doing anything. I love her pouts whenever she gets bullied (hence my av), I love her stubby little legs that make it near impossible to do certain moves or reach the ropes to escape a submission. I love that she is a supremely gifted comedy wrestler but she is also a hoss that will yeet a fool if she needs to. She filled a MSM shaped whole in my heart when the French contigent left, and she is my favourite wrestler. At least until March when she's retiring to become a farmer  gently caress that was hard, and the 20+ list kept getting longer as I realised there were more and more people I couldn't fit in 
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:05
|
|
|
it's too hard to do something like this. i'm going to copy someone else later
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:13
|
|
|
Please disqualify SG Bamboo's list for the outrageous accusation that Saki Akai and Sakisama are the same person
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:21
|
|
|
1. Maki Itoh 2. Maki Itoh (pre covid) 3. Kidd Bandit cosplaying maki itoh 4. Maki Itoh (pre pro wrestling) 5. Mizuki 6. Miyu Yamashita 7. Raku 8. Matt Crooks 9. Andraz Sporar 10. The person reading this.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:31
|
|
|
gently caress yes I'm Itoh's #10 
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:32
|
|
|
Rarity posted:Please disqualify SG Bamboo's list for the outrageous accusation that Saki Akai and Sakisama are the same person No matter how many times she and others have said that they are different people, i've never seen them in the room together (except for that one time) so will continue to #askquestions
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:32
|
|
|
If Sakasama was secretly Saki Akai then we'd see her hanging out with her Eruption buddies and that's just never happened
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:34
|
|
|
  Clearly different people, can't believe I would make such a rookie error. Oh well, too late to change it now
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:37
|
|
|
very strange how kidd bandit and maki itoh have never been seen in the same place, too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:39
|
|
|
I'm glad you have seen the error of your ways 
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:39
|
|
|
ItohRespectArmy posted:very strange how kidd bandit and maki itoh have never been seen in the same place, too. Please no, trying to like Kidd Bandit would make my brain explode
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:41
|
|
|
putting absolutely no thought into this 1. Bryan Danielson 2. Max Caster 3. MJF 4. Rey Fenix 5. Kris Statlander 6. John Silver 7. Miro 8. Patrick Voros 9. Bron Breakker 10. Chris Voros honourable mention: the rest of the aew roster, the New Day trio, Steen and Generico, Brock Lesnar, anyone Japan who I don't watch
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:51
|
|
|
1. PAC 2. Rey Fenix 3. Hangman Adam Page 4. Bryan Danielson 5. Penta El Cero Miedo 6. Thunder Rosa 7. Kenny Omega 8. Adam Cole 9. Eddie Kingston 10. Chuck Taylor Yeah, AEW is the only thing I consistently watch anymore. Wanna fight about it?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 19:54
|
|
|
10. Edge (WWE) Used to be my favorite wrestler, he is in the final years of his career but he is still great. 09. Sami Zayn (WWE) The best entrance theme in pro wrestling (unless they changed it since I last watched WWE), criminally underused and the guy I most want to see ditch WWE 08. Evil Uno (AEW) Purely as a wrestler Uno probably wouldn't make the top ten, but his vlog is one of the best around and together with Mrs. Uno has the best and coziest stream around. 07. John Silver (AEW) Johnny Hungiee. 06. Daniel Garcia (AEW) One of the most impressive technical wrestlers around, extremely impressive for his age 05. Christian Cage (AEW) In WWE he was always standing in the shadow of Edge, in AEW he is the experienced wrestler who excels at a good standard style of wrestling. 04. Kris Statlander (AEW) Who doesn't love Kris? 03. Colt Cabana (AEW) One of the original hustlers on the indie scene, wrestlers a good solid style with lots of humor. When we're all old and grey, Colt will still be wrestling. 02. Bryan Danielson (AEW) The best wrestler in the world, in his short time in AEW he has had nothing by great matches. Quite possibly the best wrestler ever. 01. Orange Cassidy (AEW) I started watched AEW half a year ago, and OC was just someone i gravitated towards. People see the fun gimmick, but sometimes miss that he is just extremely good at all aspects of wrestling.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 20:53
|
|
|
1. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW) 2. Hangman Adam Page (AEW) 3. Kenny Omega (AEW) 4. Bryan Danielson (AEW) 5. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW) 6. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW) 7. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW) 8. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW) 9. Kota Ibushi (NJPW) 10. CM Punk (AEW)
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 21:17
|
|
|
1. bryan danielson 2. hangman page 3. eddie kingston 4. kenny omega 5. thunder rosa 6. jon moxley 7. kris statlander 8. john silver 9. orange cassidy 10. cody rhodes i could easily name another 15, 20 people prolly more saffi faildotter posted:wrestling's good. 10 does not feel like enough spots for how much i enjoyed wrestling this past year seriously!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 21:20
|
|
|
1. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW) 2. CM Punk (AEW) 3. Go Shiozaki (NOAH) 4. Bryan Danielson (AEW) 5. Penta El Zero M (AEW) 6. Hikaru Shida (AEW) 7. Asuka (WWE) 8. Jamie Hayter (AEW) 9. Hirooki Goto (NJPW) 10. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW*) If I could add another 10, it would be Hangman Adam Page (AEW) Eddie Kingston (AEW) Adam Cole (AEW) Christian (AEW) Miro (AEW) Nyla Rose (AEW) Thunder Rosa (AEW) Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH) Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) Kenny Omega (AEW)
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 21:22
|
|
|
1. Jon loving Moxley Look, the dude's been my favorite active wrestler since probably 2014 and that's not changing. Like, at all. Dude is legit one of the best WORKERS in the world (as in, complete package), and he's getting pretty insanely underrated (again). Feel like Mox was rightfully getting his roses last year and in 2020 when he first left WWE and was the hottest thing going, but I feel like people are starting to forget again how great he is. Not only that, but as if I couldn't love the dude more than I already do, all I'mma say is the fact that he's seeking help for the alcoholism really hits hard for me. I hope he comes back and gets a hero's welcome and is on loving fire again, like he was when he first jumped to AEW/NJPW. Come back soon, Mox. 2. Kenny Omega The rest of this list is a lot tighter. The gaps between most of the rest of these awesome folks are significantly smaller. But man, Kenny's "Belt Collector" run after he beat Mox was freakin' great. I understand it had to end because Kenny's body was destroyed but man, I coulda watched him being a cartoon supervillain for a while longer yet. 3. Bryan Danielson Man, Bryan's heel run in AEW is a revelation right now. I really get nervous watching him wrestle still, but lord almighty the dude still has it and almost nobody can touch him. It's just as simple as that. 4. Hangman Adam Page Hangman has really been growing on me a lot. Dude has been absolutely crushing it, is rightfully insanely over as top champ in (IMO) the best wrestling company on the planet right now (sorry NJPW, I still love you), and he continues to come into his own as a world champion. GJ Hangmin. 5. Malakai Black I'm still really missing Bray Wyatt/Windham Rotunda, hope he comes back eventually. I realize that might be a somewhat controversial take, but in the meantime, my "spooky wrestleman poo poo" slot is filled by this wonderful man. Of course, Malakai would be on my list regardless; what he does is a little different for sure, and I loving love how he wrecks fools. I hope AEW does more with him, and soon. 6. Roman Reigns This is gonna be another unpopular take, but Roman is pretty much the only week to week consistently good thing about main roster WWE (Big E is good too, as are a bunch of others, but Roman has really elevated himself as a worker IMO which gives him the edge). I PRETTY much hate WWE at this point too, but if Roman had been doing what he's doing now in like, 2017, for all I know, WWE might not have fallen off quite so badly. Too little too late, unfortunately for WWE. Couldn't happen to nicer assholes. 7. Hiromu Takahashi I've fallen off NJPW pretty significantly this past year for a bunch of different reasons, but Hiromu is just incredible. Dude is just magnetic in a way that I don't think anyone else in the world can quite match. 8. Hook Hook is so loving cool. That's it. That's the reasoning. Seriously though if this kid keeps this up he's gonna be a world champ pretty drat quick. 9. Bron Breakker Literally the ONLY good thing about NXT 2.0. This kid, much like Hook, legit rules, and is insanely good for his age. Honestly almost reminds me of Young Brock in the sense that you can tell he's raw/still learning, but his talent level is obviously so off the charts that it barely matters. 10. Adam Cole WWE was stupid as gently caress to let him go. Pretty much as simple as that. Honorable Mentions: Shingo Takagi KENTA Will Ospreay Sammy Guevara Penta Fenix Kazuchika Okada CM Punk
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 21:31
|
|
|
Oasx posted:
They did, it's an absolute war crime.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 21:33
|
|
|
Shocking lack of Hayter in this thread. Embrace the Hayte, you philistines.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 23:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 05:16 |
|
|
AEW's the only wrestling I watched all year, so this is gonna be monotonous. In order of best to (relative) worst: 1. Kris Statlander I gave AEW a shot because everyone was saying All Out was a can't-miss highlight reel of the company. The whole show was good, but it was Britt vs Kris—predominantly Kris—that actually sold me on watching Dynamite. Since then I've gone back through the Fite archives and watched every match Stat has had in the company, even the most pointless Dark matches. She is as close to a perfect wrestler for me as I can remember seeing in the last 20-something years. She does the simplest big hoss slams, abstract submissions, and she flips. She does straight fights and she does comedy spots. She's kid-friendly and she smashes people in the face with perspex windows. She sums up all of wrestling for me; she's everything in one. I'd rather watch Stat squash some random on Dark than the usual main eventers go for 20 minutes. My one and only criticism of her is I wish her finisher was simply called the Big Bang, because it's impossible to hear 'Theory' and not think of the lovely, offensive, mean-spirited TV show. And that's the only criticism of Stat I can come up with. Even her theme is my favourite in the company. 2. Jungle Boy I would've simply put Jurassic Express on equal footing, but if tag teams have to be listed in some kind of order then I supposed I'd put Jungle Boy above Luchasaurus, though only barely. AEW leans on multi-man matches a bit too much for my taste, but of all the teams in the company, Jungle Express are the one who I don't tire of. I enjoy their wrestling, I like how the crowd is always into their entrance, and generally they're simply a joy to have on screen. Plus as an old Beverly Hills (or more recently Riverdale) watcher, I get a kick out of seeing Luke Perry's son pretending to be Tarzan with a giant man who thinks he's a dinosaur. 3. Luchasaurus See above. I respect that Jungle Boy tends to do a little more of the work and has more singles matches, so I'll place them in this order. But in my heart they're dead-equal. 4. Jamie Hayter She's the Mean Girl Statlander. Everything about her is cool and I have no particular criticisms of her herself. I just wish she got to do more than be a lackey. If she had been more of a singular entity or the leader of a team instead of subordinate then she'd have probably been my #2, but obviously that was not the case and it was frustrating to see her be at some many shows just to stand around. Wasted potential aside, she's incredible. Plus she's from just a little south of me, which is probably the only positive thing that can be said about the Southampton area. 5. Pretty Peter Avalon I love and highly value a comedy jobber who is really dedicated to their position. Always have. He mostly just lost in Dark tag matches in 2021, but that's fine by me. No one match he had was particularly notable, but he entertained me consistently. He reeks of the early 90s undercards and I love it. 6. Orange Cassidy He's neat, or whatever. 7. Anthony Bowens 8. Max Caster 9. Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. I couldn't rate Stat as my #1 and Jamie as my #4 and not also include Britt somewhere. She's cool, I've enjoyed most of her 2021 matches, I like her wrestling and character and everything. I only wish she'd been able to do a little bit more in the last couple of months. It's frustrating when a champion will go several weeks doing nothing but a pretaped promo aimed at nobody in particular. 10. Sting It's STIIING! But meme or not, it genuinely has made me very happy every time I've gotten to hear Tony Schiavone call anything Sting did in 2021. (Yes, I was a WCW kid.) After his dismal WWE run which appeared to disappoint everyone involved—and the less said about TNA's 'Joker' Sting the better—it's great to see Sting getting to do Sting stuff. Sure, he's not going to wrestle a full match and he mostly wrestles in a t-shirt now, but he can stare at people, he can do a splash or two, and every now and then we get a Death Drop or Scorpion, and that's enough for me. If he could've still had his WCW music then I'd move him up a spot, but I understand this is the most Sting we can get now, and I'll happily take it. Seeing (and hearing) that little bit of my childhood wrestling live on brightened my otherwise very dour year. Honourable mentions: Hikaru Shida, Wardlow, Bunny, Ryo Mizunami, Dustin Rhodes, Santana & Ortiz.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 23:43
|
|
