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J-Ru you better finish this list in time to watch Higuchi vs Hino with us
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Jan 29, 2023 03:28
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I'm going to bed, someone please quote this when Jamie drops:
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Jan 29, 2023 03:29
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Billy stopped Zack from New Japan's #1 
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Jan 29, 2023 03:31
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ChrisBTY posted:He has no business being this good in 2022. apophenium posted:He makes everyone look good and puts on some great matches himself BodyMassageMachine posted:has been a bright spot across promos and in-ring. SalTheBard posted:constantly reinvents himself, and this year has been no exception. Penguin Patrol posted:Somehow had the best year of his career Cartridgeblowers posted:How is he still this good!? At, like, everything?! 1glitch0 posted:Best work of his entire career. Nehru the Damaja posted:I can't not respect what he's doing for pro wrestling. Nea posted:he got me back somehow  Chris Jericho 2021 Position: Did Not Rank | 2020 Position: 39/43 | 2019 Position: 4/63 | Times Voted #1: 3 Speaking of people whose actions largely negated the widely well-received quality of their in-ring work over the last couple of years, here's Chris Jericho! After an amazing Top 4 finish in 2019, he to 39th out of 43rd in 2020 and didn't rank on ANYBODY'S list in 2021. All this while people were loving what he was doing in AEW, but were frustrated by his actions outside the ring: regular donations to Donald Trump (and, to be fair, also to Democrats), his wife's open involvement in attending the January 6 "rally" that turned into an Attempted Coup (also to be fair, it's not like HE was there too), his IMMEDIATE dropping of all COVID protocols on his Jericho Cruise the very second they were no longer a legal requirement etc (gently caress being "fair" on that one  ).But at the same time he was also a regular donor of large sums of cash to good causes, particularly around injured wrestlers. He was widely praised for his professionalism and calm demeanor as he swooped in to get the disastrous CM Punk Media Scrum back on track, even as he was aware of the brawl that had broken out between Punk, Ace Steel and The Elite backstage. Progressive in some areas, regressive in others, I'm nowhere near qualified to figure out what it is about Jericho to makes him embrace so many seemingly contradictory ideas (I'm gonna assume growing up the kid of a celebrity hockey star and the privilege that came with it being a big factor!) but it was enough that people were happy to enjoy Jericho's wrestling and his character but nobody wanted to put him down as their favorite. Obviously that's changed (hell, he's on MY list!), and I can only assume that like myself, many others found that what he was putting together on Dynamite, Rampage and PPV was just so drat entertaining, so clever, so funny and enthralling to watch that it overwhelmed any disgruntlement with the dumb things he's said or done and people just enjoyed an incredible talent who continues his long track record of successful reinvention and ability to keep himself relevant while also doing whatever he can to help build up new talent. His deranged run as ROH World Champion where he took it upon himself to bring "dishonor" to the brand and ended up doing such a great job that even his critics on ROH Commentary admitted that he was an excellent champion. His formation of the Jericho Appeciation Society from the ashes of the Inner Circle, bringing in Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang along with Daniel Garcia to extol the virtues of "Sports Entertainment" in stark contrast to Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley's pro-wrestling focused Blackpool Combat Club. His regular work on commentary, his talent spotting - he saw Action Andretti and immediately saw star potential, leading to the incredible "tune up match with a jobber" where he lost clean to Andretti - his use of a loving fireball in 2022 and cackling,"I'm a wizard!" Getting "The Ocho" as a nickname over to the point that crowds have started (and continue) to replace 8 with OCHO! in referee ring counts now. Jericho keeps finding ways to start fresh and relevant, and as mentioned above part of what allows him to do this is his mentorship of (or rivalry with) young talent. It's not a selfish OR a selfless thing, but a mutually beneficial one, as he "uses" them to help keep him strong but in turn is not remotely shy about giving them opportunities to learn from him, to grow, to get the benefit of being considered associated with him. He doesn't always succeed, it doesn't always work, but he doesn't stick with something that isn't working or try to force it. One of his strengths is that he understands that a sunk cost fallacy helps nobody: it works or it doesn't, and if it doesn't you find something else, and you get the fans along for the ride. Hell, it must be working, because here he is back in the Top 10 after two years absence, and the last time he was in the Top 10 we were all raving about how remarkable it was he could continually reinvent himself and keep performing at such a high level for his age. Well he's older now, and he's still great. Who knows how long he can keep doing this, but he hasn't failed yet.
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Jan 29, 2023 03:33
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oh come on, he was so close to 8!
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Jan 29, 2023 03:37
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A Fancy Hat posted:there's something about him that's extremely easy to root for. Jerusalem posted:he makes things feel like they have real meaning/stakes to him, and gets the crowds invested in wanting to see him succeed. ChrisBTY posted:The people's champion. Infidel Castro posted:In previous years, he'd be #1. NutShellBill posted:He's not quite my favourite, but I just appreciate him for what he is now. disaster pastor posted:pissed off CM Punk so badly he exploded twice and vanished, what's not to like? BodyMassageMachine posted:The Anxious Millennial Cowboy is still my champ, Big Yee Haw. graph posted:we all love our handsome cowboy don't we  Hangman Adam Page 2021 Position: 3/63 | 2020 Position: 1/43 | 2019 Position: 63/63 | Times Voted #1: 4 Hangman was the AEW Champion at the start of 2022! Hell, he was still the World Champion in May of 2022! Somehow it feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only 7 months or so ago that he lost the title to CM Punk which set into motion a whole, bizarre series of events that made the remaining 5 months feel like 5 years. He had that 29 minute masterpiece of a match with Bryan Danielson to give Danielson his first loss in AEW, after going to a 60 minute draw right at the end of 2021! He had the Texas Death Match with Lance Archer! He beat Adam Cole (twice!) and even got in a quick couple of matches - one for the title, one not - with Dante Martin and Konosuke Takeshita before losing the title to Punk at Double or Nothing. He did SO much in just the first half of the year, and then there was everything that followed! Calling out Kazuchika Okada! Finding himself in a fourway with Okada, Cole and Switchblade Jay White instead! His late addition to the Dark Order Trios Team and losing in the final to former friends The Young Bucks as well as Kenny Omega - the man he beat for the World Title. Losing a rematch to Bryan Danielson. Getting knocked unconscious in a match with Jon Moxley for the World Title and suffering a bad enough concussion that for a few dreadful minutes he couldn't remember the name of his own child. The slow recovery and the build-up of the angle for a return match against Moxley that built up through the rest of the year and was resolved (that part) in early 2023. But all of that, ALL OF IT, is overshadowed by the words "empty-headed gently caress". During a promo building to the title defense against CM Punk, Hangman claimed that Punk spoke a good game but was actually locker-room poison. Punk - already insulted after Page hadn't been interested in getting advice backstage from him - took this to be a reference to Colt Cabana's disappearance from AEW and relegation to an ROH contract which meant he was still getting paid but was no longer around regularly. So Punk won the title, got injured and had to vacate the title. He recovered, made his big return to a huge pop, sat in the ring and IMMEDIATELY and without notifying anybody called out Hangman knowing that he wouldn't be coming out, then called him a coward for failing to do what was never going to happen. This was apparently his "revenge", but that wasn't enough, as at the Media Scrum after regaining the title from Jon Moxley, Punk took the chance to rail against his enemies - real or perceived - and complained that Hangman was an "empty-headed gently caress", implying both that he was too stupid to take Punk's advice and mentorship as well as suggesting Hangman's "empty" head had been filled with lies by The Young Bucks in support of their friend (and once Punk's) Colt Cabana. 2022 was actually an incredible year for at least the first half for Adam Page, and his ability to do what others couldn't and simply not react to being insulted meant he largely flowed through all the chaos around Punk and the Elite without really being overly affected by any of it. Unfortunately his concussion as well as the suspensions of Kenny and the Elite screwed over or at least delayed potential storylines that were in the works, and who knows how high Hangman might have ranked if the rest of the year had been as good as that first six months. He's won the whole thing before, it's not unthinkable that he might have been able to do it again!
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Jan 29, 2023 03:38
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tigerdriver82 posted:Just continues to impress the poo poo out of me every time I see him. ChrisBTY posted:How is he so good at professional wrestling? HOW? Numero6 posted:He's very good. Carver posted:I've wanted to just see more more more. A Real Horse posted:He has the potential to be a very big deal for a very long time. graph posted:loving. owns. Pinwiz11 posted:C'mon. He's great Shaman Tank Spec posted:He's just so crisp and clean in the ring, and his high energy style is a lot of fun to watch Infidel Castro posted:I haven't been this excited about a new guy coming into a company since Brock Lesnar.  Konosuke Takeshita 2021 Position: 59/63 | 2020 Position: 42/43 | 2019 Position: Did Not Rank | Times Voted #1: 4 It's time to let you all in on a little secret. You all only like Konosuke Takeshita because he's tall, handsome, strong, incredibly athletic, astonishingly talented, both young AND experienced, a seemingly lovely human being, beloved by his colleagues, salivated over by promoters and commentators alike, and has mastered wrestling to the highest level and yet continues to grow and show near unlimited potential. Take away all of that and he's probably only like... really good! It really is incredible, and the thing is it's not like he's NEW, he's been around for 10 yars now, but even with Wrestle Universe being a thing and DDT a part of it, he's only managed low rankings in 2021 and 2020 and nothing at all in 2019. But his arrival in AEW exposed him to a more mainstream (Western) audience and just like in Japan they lapped it up. Because I mean... holy poo poo, look at him. He's perfect! He's all a promoter could ever want, but unlike with some "can't miss" prospects, the crowds apparently feel that same excitement that the promoters do, which isn't something that always necessarily happens. Everybody wants a piece of him. Tony Khan clearly had dollar signs in his eyes when he saw Takeshita. Commentary was not at all shy about openly raving about what a star he could be. Based on the number of high profile matches he's got to have against big stars, it's obvious that the wrestlers love to work with him too. Fans lose their minds when they watch him wrestle, in awe of his skill and talent. He had a brief excursion to work some AEW shows, went back to Japan, and then came back as scheduled, but did he really know just how much he was going to be embraced? Signed officially to AEW now, but allowed to work a variety of indies and blowing them all away there too, Takeshita is a star of the present and future that we're all getting see working at an exceptionally high level already. He NEEDS some big wins in AEW, even though his losses against high profile talent haven't hurt him any in the eyes of the fans, you've got to strike while the iron is hot... and he is hot! It already looks like he is becoming somewhat affiliated with Bryan Danielson, and there have even been teases of a feud or at least antagonistic relationship with current AEW World Champion MJF... and bring it on I say! More Takeshita! MORE! Let's see his amazing German Suplexes (he wrote a College Graduation thesis on them!) and his lariats and everything and more! He took an amazing leap up from 59th to 7th from 2021 to 2022 and it still doesn't quite feel like enough of a jump, this guy is really, really, REALLY good!
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Jan 29, 2023 03:45
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I like that Take came over and showed people that DDT is more than the meme gifs, there's a ton of really talented guys
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Jan 29, 2023 03:49
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I have to admit that until I got caught a full DDT show I really thought it was just all pure comedy, and had no idea that they also had incredible matches at the top of each card, and a guy as phenomenal as Takeshita was just in there blowing everybody away each show and I could have been watching him for years now!
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Jan 29, 2023 03:52
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I'm going to assume Logan Paul got no votes and think thats objectively wrong.
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Jan 29, 2023 03:53
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Lid posted:I'm going to assume Logan Paul got no votes and think thats objectively wrong. He got ONE vote, listed as #3 on one person's list earning him 8 points and a ranking of 56/63!
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Jan 29, 2023 03:54
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Nea posted:He's the loving man and had the best moment of anyone this year. TUS posted:Super hard worker I just love to watch achillesforever6 posted:the best promo-man in a company of great promos Thauros posted:best english language promo El Gallinero Gros posted:Best promo in the business, most compelling guy, extremely solid worker, one of the wrestlers who can get real emotion out of me. Infidel Castro posted:He makes wrestling feel real. Lid posted:if he was coming here tomorrow i'd be there in an instant. Rarity posted:he cut the most brutal promo of the year and it was only on Twitter Shaman Tank Spec posted:A guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and cares more than just about anyone. Diplomat posted:Makes wrestling real disaster pastor posted:his time is coming, I swear. Cartridgeblowers posted:Give him the title. Just give it to him.  Eddie Kingston 2021 Position: 4/63 | 2020 Position: 4/43 | 2019 Position: 56/63 | Times Voted #1: 7 A 4th place finish in 2020 and 2021 that he couldn't quite match this year... but he got drat close. Eddie Kingston's career renaissance continued through 2022, and while some of the best story beats of the year came through his feud with Chris Jericho and the involvement of Claudio Castagnoli... what stands out the most is the pre-show of the Full Gear PPV in late November. The day Eddie Kingston's dream came true. As mentioned above, Eddie wears his heart on his sleeve, and he isn't at all shy about saying what he means, what he wants, what he hopes for and what he hates. Part of what got him into wrestling was watching the glory days of All Japan: Misawa, Kawada, Taue, Kobashi... and of course, the "5th Pillar", Jun Akiyama. Misawa is dead, Kawada, Taue and Kobashi all retired, the latter two for health reasons. But Akiyama was still active, still wrestling, still looking great... and Eddie wanted to fight him. Jon Moxley posted:Akiyama! Hey, Eddie Kingston is looking for you my friend. If you want to bring Sakuraba too, maybe I'll go with him. Most importantly, Jun Akiyama, Eddie is looking for you. Moxley just threw that out during the Forbidden Door Media scrum, openly fantasy booking and ignoring Tony Khan's laughing but slightly panicked reminders that this was a co-branded New Japan event and Moxley was naming NOAH wrestlers. Mox didn't care. Eddie had always dreamed of getting to wrestle Akiyama, and Moxley wanted his friend to get what he wanted. Then in November he had a chance of sorts, as Eddie and Ortiz were teamed up to face Konosuke Takeshita and Jun Akiyama. The two barely touched. It was of course all set up for neither to be satisfied with their brief interactions in the match, leading to a singles match at the Zero Hour pre-show the next day. There, Eddie got 10 minutes to wrestle with one of the greats of All Japan, a promotion whose tapes he watched as a youngster and credited with helping him stay out of trouble because he was too busy obsessing over wrestling to get into fights or commit crimes! I bring all this up to, once again, stress just how much wrestlers - especially those in the Top Ten - get people to invest in THEIR stories, THEIR emotions, THEIR dreams. Like Moxley, we all wanted to see Eddie's dream come true. To see him get to wrestle Jun Akiyama because it was something he had always wanted. Eddie's difficult life has had a lot of ups over the last few years since he was brought in to work a pandemic era match against Cody Rhodes and ended up with a permanent job just when he was thinking that he was going to go under on his mortgage unless he did something drastic. That was only ONE moment in Eddie's 2022, a year filled with highs and lows, all of which those of us watching thrilled or despaired too in sympathy or celebration with Eddie Kingston. How to even go into detail on the incredible years and threads of various storylines and feuds across multiple promotions that went into that moment at Blood & Guts where Eddie realized their team had "won" just as he was about to force Jericho to tap out... and it was Claudio Castagnoli of all people who had "stolen" the win from him... and that he had to "celebrate" with them, the victory ash in his mouth and the old resentments burning in him even as he tried his best to just let the moment of triumph pass. There is just so much happening with Eddie Kingston, and it's incredible to see it all unfold, and I'm so glad that he didn't sell those wrestling boots back in July of 2020.
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Jan 29, 2023 03:55
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Jerusalem posted:He got ONE vote, listed as #3 on one person's list earning him 8 points and a ranking of 56/63! Name and shame e. ok, it was a joke post. I'll forgive. Kennel fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 04:00
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Cartridgeblowers posted:A joy every time he's on TV. edogawa rando posted:I just think they're really neat. El Generico posted:has been putting out bangers all year. CombineThresher posted:is quietly one of AEW's best workers. disaster pastor posted:Quietly fantastic all year. NutShellBill posted:He's spent pretty much the whole year having 4 star matches A Fancy Hat posted:I enjoy every single thing he does Shaman Tank Spec posted:He's a very good worker in the ring and can do both good comedy spots and just murder people. apophenium posted:He's funny, he's a good wrestler, and a reliable reason to tune in to AEW's "b-show." tigerdriver82 posted:Great gimmick backed up by even greater wrestling. Oasx posted:One of the best characters in pro wrestling, and at the same time a great wrestler. SamuraiFoochs posted:the best pure character work in the world. pressedbunny posted:He's neat, or whatever.  Orange Cassidy 2021 Position: 17/63 | 2020 Position: 8/43 | 2019 Position: 16/63 | Times Voted #1: 3 With his highest ever ranking, Orange Cassidy ambles his way into the Top 5 for the first time after a slight fall dropped him out of the Top 10 he'd reached in 2020. The breakout star of The Best Friends, Orange continues to prove the foolishness of the concern that his gimmick would quickly get old or wouldn't work on television. Finding just the right balance between his detached demeanor and those periods where he actually puts in effort and tries, he continues to exhibit remarkable body control and spatial awareness as he twists in and out of holds, does dives through the ropes, kip-ups and drop kicks and hip tosses... all with his hands in his pockets and a generally disinterested air about him. It's remarkable how simple he makes it all look, and how well he continually pulls it off. One of the wonderful things about how great wrestling has gotten over the last few years is just how many great wrestlers there are, as the great number wrestlers who made Top Ten lists can demonstrate. As such, it's remarkable how often we get new and surprising match-ups that somehow just work. It was mentioned far earlier, but Orange Cassidy through Katsuyori Shibata this year! But that wasn't all, he wrestled Will Ospreay too! And it was great, the man who doesn't care against a man who takes everything personally, and boy did Ospreay take OC's laidback attitude personally, which lead to a fantastic match between the where their styles aligned perfectly, especially since both are capable of such remarkable body control. But probably the highlight of the year was OC's winning of the AEW All Atlantic Title. Giving some much needed gold to the Best Friends stable, it also lead to a lovely variation on the normal challenge format. Instead of Orange being challenged by wrestlers, they found themselves being challenged by him! And not so much challenged as he just kind of showed up while they were in the middle of something else and muttered that okay let's have a match sure why not? Or cut out their attempts to taunt or confront him by just agreeing to a match before they even had a chance to ask. Just like he does with his actions in the ring, OC's subversion of the way things like title challenges usually work puts his opponents on the back foot or gets them so worked up with anger that they end up screwing themselves over. In fact, the only wrestler who seemed to figure this out and try to turn it around on OC was Kip Sabian, whose own perplexing personality seemed to actually somewhat get under the skin of Orange as they headed into 2023 and Battle of the Belts V... but even then Orange managed to flip the script once more by using Sabian's own twisted logic to calmly agree to give a title shot.... to Trent? first! The moral of the story is... you're not going to outsmart Orange Cassidy. You might beat him in a match, but you're never really going to get one over on him or walk away feeling like you completely upended his whole world... but there is a good chance he's going to do just that very thing to you.
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Jan 29, 2023 04:05
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Jerusalem posted:He got ONE vote, listed as #3 on one person's list earning him 8 points and a ranking of 56/63! If we're naming & shaming, then name & shame every one of the sickos who didn't vote for Kento Miyahara, Best of the Best, so I can come round their house & force them to watch All Japan main events so he polls better in 2023 (Thank you for doing this, I have been enjoying the rundowns & am fascinated to see the top 5 when I get up in the morning!)
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Jan 29, 2023 04:05
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forkboy84 posted:If we're naming & shaming, then name & shame every one of the sickos who didn't vote for Kento Miyahara, Best of the Best, so I can come round their house & force them to watch All Japan main events so he polls better in 2023 He's in my HM, I just like the other member of Miyaken to Takuya better
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Jan 29, 2023 04:07
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edogawa rando posted:I just think they're really neat. disaster pastor posted:has really lived up to what everyone has wanted to see apophenium posted:Got over with crowds by putting on hard-hitting matches. Shaman Tank Spec posted:low key one of the best signings Tony Khan's made pressedbunny posted:had the best music of the year tigerdriver82 posted:Hits Hard and she has absolute banger entrance music. BodyMassageMachine posted:her hard-hitting style is a breath of fresh air that I hope inspires a similar level of quality in the women’s division moving forward. A Fancy Hat posted:What's not to like about a woman who just manhandles everybody and knocks the crap out of them? TUS posted:If it ain't obvious, my favorite women's wrestler. graph posted:boy golly did she crush the last quarter of this year Nehru the Damaja posted:I like ladies who hit nerds real hard. Rarity posted:I’m drinking the Hayterade, slopping it down by the bucket. El Generico posted:Jamie Hayter rules, I will offer no further justification for her position here.  Jamie Hayter 2021 Position: 33/63 | 2020 Position: Did Not Rank | 2019 Position: 58/63 | Times Voted #1: 2 I'll freely admit... I didn't get it. People raved about her, about how great she was, about how she should be champion instead of Britt or Tony or even Hikaru Shida, and how it was crazy that she wasn't. I didn't understand. I mean, she was fine as a wrestler, but not much more than that. She hadn't really shown anything on the mic to make me all that fired up about seeing or hearing her. As far as I could tell, she was just a serviceable if somewhat generic woman wrestler whose defining trait seemed to be that she was more competent as back-up for Britt than Rebel was... not exactly a high bar to clear. Man, most Goons are clearly far smarter than me. Because the moment, the SECOND that she got the chance to demonstrate what she had, Jamie Hayter was on fire. Matches against Willow Nightingale and Skye Blue padded her resume a little, a victory over former champion Riho gave her some credibility, but even so it felt like surely she was just going to be an early successful title defense for Toni Storm that more likely thany anything else would set the stage for Dr. Britt Baker DMD to aim to regain her title. Instead, Hayter beat Storm at Full Gear, and then something even more remarkable happened. Dr. Britt Baker DMD was actually genuine in her support for her. The way she initially seemed to take the spotlight from Hayter in subtle ways made me figure they were quickly going to move over and through Hayter, and once again I was wrong, and once again I was glad to be wrong. Because it turned out Britt was (at least for now) being genuine in returning the support that Hayter had formerly given to her when SHE was champion. Jamie was the new champion, Britt was supporting that, and then Hayter solidified her hold on the title and put to bed any doubts over her championship status by ending 2022 with one of the most incredible wrestling matches of the year. For 16 minutes at Holiday Bash, her and former champion Hikaru Shida beat the utter poo poo out of each other, and it was amazing. It was finally there, in that match, that I realized that Hayter wasn't just a competent wrestler who was happening to get "her turn". She was every bit as vital a part of making that match work as Shida was, and she added to it some of the personality that I had missed in her and that others had seen. Here was a champion determined to throw down with the best of the best and prove herself in a trial by fire, who wanted steel to sharpen steel and set to rest any doubters and make sure we were all drinking the Hayterade. I was a doubter. Not anymore. Nor am I alone, because whether they realized late like I did or knew all along just how good she was, the results don't lie. She's not just the most popular woman wrestler in AEW, not just the most popular woman wrestler for 2022, but most popular woman wrestler we've ever had in any of these threads ever before.The highest ranked, the highest points. Who is Punch Sport Pagoda's favorite woman's wrestler according to all the stats we can gather? It's Jamie Hayter.
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Jan 29, 2023 04:16
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Hayter earned it because Hayter Hits Hard
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Jan 29, 2023 04:22
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TV Zombie posted:Hayter earned it because Hayter Hits Hard Still not sure why it's not "Hayter Hits Harder", but yes, Hayter rules! Edit: somebody needs to design a Hayterade gang tag...
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Jan 29, 2023 04:24
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Infidel Castro posted:It's impossible for him to have a bad match. Skjorte posted:Probably the most exciting ‘big match’ wrestler to me today. Shaman Tank Spec posted:He's got such explosive energy and puts so much personality into everything. Carver posted:can't take my eyes off for a second of a match he is in. A Fancy Hat posted:He's just that good. BodyMassageMachine posted:remains the absolute BEST in the world. Cartridgeblowers posted:he's one the of the best of all time SamuraiFoochs posted:took himself completely and totally to the next level El Generico posted:makes me feel like the best is yet to come. El Gallinero Gros posted:Every great while a wrestler has such a special year that it really illustrates just how valuable they are. disaster pastor posted:drat, it was good to see him back.  Kenny Omega 2021 Position: 2/63 | 2020 Position: 3/43 | 2019 Position: 7/63 | Times Voted #1: 9 A reminder. Kenny Omega ranked third for this year, after ranking second last year, 3rd the year before, and 7th the year before that. He scored 263 points, his second highest total ever. He is clearly considered one of Punch Sport Pagoda's absolute clear and consistent favorites. He wrestled 10 matches in 2022, all of them after August. Kenny had a HORRIBLE year, just absolutely miserable. He was so beat-up and broken down after he crumpled to the Buckshot Lariat in November of 2021 against Hangman, he wasn't seen again August of 2022. His rehab and recovery was long and arduous, but when we finally heard the Battlecry again and he returned in triumph to team with The Elite and win the inaugural AEW World Trios titles, it seemed all was finally right with the world. Kenny was back, he was healthy and fit and re-energized. Given that he defeated a team with Hangman Adam Page on it to win the titles, it seemed the stage was set for any number of storylines and new match-ups ready to entice us all once more. Then the All Out Media Scrum happened. Once again Kenny disappeared, this time for two months as he and the Bucks served out a suspension for the brawl in CM Punk's locker-room. People assumed he and they would be back eventually, but who know how long it might be depending on if litigation ended up happening. Thankfully it was "only" two months, and when Kenny and the Bucks returned they picked up right where they left off by challenging for the Trios titles again. The last two months of the year were taken up with six of the matches in the Best of 7 series, absolutely incredible matches that reminded everybody just how good Kenny and the Bucks (and PAC and the Lucha Bros!) were. But we got so little of Kenny this year... and it didn't matter. Injured, suspended, unable to appear on television (at least for AEW), everybody still knew that Kenny is one of the best wrestlers in the world. What he showed us in those 10 matches he had this year is that this remains the truth even with (or perhaps because of) the time away. His 2023 started with a bang (already 3 matches, nearly half his 2022 total!) even if it did include some stress with his Visa temporarily keeping him away AGAIN! The universe keeps conspiring to keep Kenny Omega away, but Kenny Omega keeps on returning anyway to do it at a higher level than almost anybody else can. He has to, of course. He hears the Battlecry. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 04:27
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*holds hands with Foochs, waiting for J-Ru to announce the runner up*
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Jan 29, 2023 04:30
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Welp, it's time for the Top 2. You all know who is left, and you probably have a sneaking suspicion who the clear winner for 2022 had to always be. The question now I guess is just how the final points worked out.... and now it's time to find out!
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Jan 29, 2023 04:37
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Thauros posted:righful 2022 mvp Carver posted:totally captivated me in 2022 Nea posted:Had the best year of anyone. edogawa rando posted:I just think they're really neat. SamuraiFoochs posted:The dude owns. It's that simple. CombineThresher posted:his matches are always good, often different, and supply the blood and chaos I require from wrestling. Cartridgeblowers posted:The ace of AEW. Nothing more to say. TV Zombie posted:Was basically the rock and the ace of AEW apophenium posted:He's AEW's Ace, it's undeniable. Senerio posted:The man is undoubtedly the Ace of AEW A Fancy Hat posted:Dude was asked to basically carry AEW on his shoulders for a few months and he did it. SalTheBard posted:nobody has done more for one company Veryslightlymad posted:what hasn't this man done for the company, at this point? disaster pastor posted:kept having to put the company on his shoulders, but pulled it off. ChrisBTY posted:spent half of 2022 being all four of the pillars AEW rested on. A Real Horse posted:carried AEW through the dark. rare Magic card l00k posted:AEW's emergency button. El Generico posted:Please, finally take your well deserved vaycay.  Jon Moxley 2021 Position: 11/63 | 2020 Position: 2/43 | 2019 Position: 6/63 | Times Voted #1: 15 I'm sorry. Something else WAS supposed to happen! Outside of the chaos of the first few posted Top Tens, Jon Moxley planted himself firmly in the #1 position and he held it. For a day. 2 days. 3 days. 5. A week. 8 days. And then on the 9th, he slipped a place. Only briefly, only by a few points, and then he was back on top and started pushing out his lead again, and it looked like the inevitable was assured. And it all changed on the very last day that Top Tens could be submitted. After a year in which he proved himself time and time again as the rock upon which AEW could depend, after winning Champ of the Month 3 times on our monthly polls and then Champion of the Year in the annual end of year poll.... the common wisdom was that Jon Moxley was a shoe-in to win this whole thing. And he very nearly was... until he wasn't. Instead he equaled his 2020 ranking, even after absolutely blowing away his prior points record by over 150 points. He was clear of seemingly all competition, 3rd rank and below all in the 200s or lower. He scored more 1st place picks than anybody else, but unlike last year, the old wisdom that the most 1st place spots doesn't necessarily equal a 1st place finish turned out to be true once more. And he had such an amazing 2022 as well! He returned from rehab and immediately set about beating rear end. He feuded with Bryan Danielson so hard that they ended up becoming best friends and forming a faction together based on the concept of "let's beat up other people, and hopefully some of them will wanna hang out and beat up other people with us too". He found the antithesis of their Violence Gang in a DIFFERENT type of Violence Gang in The Jericho Appreciation Society, and he went to war with them too, hauling in his other Violence Buddy Eddie Kingston to be part of the fun. He through sheer force of personality willed Forbidden Door into place, wrestled in GCW (as their champion!) and New Japan, stepped up to become champion of AEW again after CM Punk had to vacate the title due to injury, and then turned what was supposed to be the fait accompli of Punk's return to regain the title into a far more intriguing storyline by beating the returning Punk in just over 3 minutes and cutting the aforementioned referenced,"WAS SOMETHING ELSE SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!?!" promo. It was all in service to Mox's plan to wrap up his unexpected title reign, finish up his business in GCW and then finally take a long deserved vacation with his wife and kid and just relax. 2022 had other plans. Losing in an excellent rematch to Punk at All Out, Mox probably thought the hard part was all behind him now. Instead, Punk was stripped off the belt (and injured again regardless, so the title was never going to stay on him) and now Tony Khan needed a reliable set of hands to step up to the plate once more. And Mox was there to do so, beating Bryan Danielson to win the vacant title but still dropping his GCW Championship in a Career vs. Title match against Nick Gage only a couple of weeks later. Despite word having gotten around that AEW would no longer be as freely allowing its roster members to work for different promotions, Mox insisted that "I go wherever the gently caress I want" and few would doubt him... after all, Tony Khan owed him about a million different favors. Mox would go on to defend the title until November when he finally lost it to MJF after William Regal seemingly turned against his protege in favor of MJF, though the waters got pretty muddied there around the confusion of Regal's sudden departure from AEW and return to WWE. But Mox had done his duty, he'd carried the AEW Title through troubled waters as a safe pair of hands (again!) and now it was time to wrap things up and get that well deserved break. All he needed was a storyline excuse to disappear for awhile, and the return of a disgruntled Hangman Adam Page out for revenge on the man who concussed him in October set the scene for what we presume (once again) will be Moxley finally getting his vacation. So long as 2023 doesn't have other ideas. And that was that, an incredible year, an MVP run, the salvation of the company TWICE, wildly popular here in Punch Sport Pagoda and clearly seen as the obvious winner of this year's thread. But as 2022 so frequently demonstrated, sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.
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Jan 29, 2023 04:37
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SamuraiFoochs posted:continues to put on insane performance after insane performance disaster pastor posted:just an endless series of terrific matches, including the best match I've ever seen in person. BodyMassageMachine posted:No matter who he’s facing, you KNOW you’re in for a spectacle 1glitch0 posted:Just out there rasslin good. Oasx posted:The best wrestler in the world, maybe the best wrestler ever. Skjorte posted:I've been thrilled to see him picking up his wrasslin' style from where he left off Infidel Castro posted:Elevates tons of young talent. El Gallinero Gros posted:Pisses excellence. Carver posted:Wrestling personified for me. tigerdriver82 posted:No-one will take this spot until he is proper retired. achillesforever6 posted:Best pure wrestler in the business A Real Horse posted:could carry my unathletic rear end to a 4.5 star match Shaman Tank Spec posted:The perfect wrestler. ChrisBTY posted:Didn't have a Meltzer rated 5* match his entire career and spent the last year and a half doing something about it. Nea posted:One of the best to ever do it. El Generico posted:I mean. Yeah.  Bryan Danielson 2021 Position: 1/63 | 2020 Position: 23/43 | 2019 Position: 3/63 | Times Voted #1: 12 It's not REALLY a surprise. I mean, that Moxley came 2nd, sure. But not who ended up beating him. Watching the last 2-3 days of lists come in and see Moxley and Danielson switching spots but Moxley somehow always end up back on top had me convinced that things would end up going the way they'd seemed to. But in the end, the simple truth we learned in 2021 came through loud and clear once more. Punch Sport Pagoda loving LOVES Bryan Danielson. He didn't win any titles this year (and hasn't since 2019!), he lost some key matches, he got played for a fool by Daniel Garcia and Chris Jericho, and was left in a frothing rage by MJF's treatment of his mentor William Regal... but Bryan Danielson had a hell of a year nonetheless, getting to indulge in two of his great apparent loves: wrassling the gently caress out of some people AND putting people over! Taking his first ever AEW loss to kick off the year in a title shot against Hangman Adam Page, Bryan set about having a war with Jon Moxley while also searching for Young Boys to mold into Violence Men. The war with Moxley ended when William Regal made a shock appearance storming to the ring and slapping the taste out of their mouths, leading to the formation of the Blackpool Combat Club and the theft of Wheeler Yuta from the Best Friends (Trent? wasn't all that bothered). Unfortunately, Danielson's obsession with adding Daniel Garcia to the mix didn't end well for him, costing him the chance to beat Chris Jericho for the ROH World Title which eventually ended up back in the hands of fellow BCC member Claudio Castagnoli.... who had also ended up replacing Bryan earlier in the year for his dream match with Zack Sabre Jr. where the hope had been for the two most frequent winners of The Bryan Danielson Award (Best Technical Wrestler) in the Wrestling Observer Annual Awards finally being able to see who truly deserved the award.... that was literally named after Bryan Danielson! But every "failure" Bryan Danielson faced was just an opportunity for him to do what he loves: wrassle more! He didn't win any titles, he lost most of his "big" matches, but he also got to wrestle a ton of people he'd either always wanted to or thought would be a great time or at least an interesting experience. He ended the year gunning for MJF's AEW World Title, and while it would be great to see him win it, once can't help but feel that he wouldn't be overly bothered either way so long as the match is an interesting experience and it helps him improve MJF as a wrestler and a champion. There's something special about Bryan Danielson, always has been. While he didn't come close to his own blow-away record points total from 2021, he still ended up with a clear margin of victory over the seemingly inevitable winner that was Jon Moxley and ended with the 5th highest points total in any version of these threads (4th highest if you don't count the 2007 Favorite of ALL Time thread). For the first time ever, we have a two-time winner of Punch Sport Pagoda's Favorite Wrestler of the Year, and not only that he did it two years in a row. He wasn't just our favorite male wrestler. He wasn't just our favorite AEW wrestler. He wasn't JUST our favorite wrestler of 2022. Bryan Danielson is Punch Sport Pagoda's Favorite Wrestler of 2021 AND 2022, and inevitability be damned.
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Jan 29, 2023 04:45
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Oh right, I completely forgot Danielson existed and was wondering who beat Moxley
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Jan 29, 2023 04:47
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This was fun to read as always J-Ru, thanks for running it again! If I can offer a suggestion for next year, I think it would be cool to see how many lists people are on in the stats. It's always cool seeing how many #1s people have so I think it would be equally cool just seeing how many times someone put them on a list in general!
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Jan 29, 2023 04:56
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A result that is equally surprising and unsurprising at the same time. Love the write ups. Thanks for doing this, J-Ru you're the best
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Jan 29, 2023 04:56
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Now to think about my favourite tag teams for GWB's contest, surely that one won't be full of guys from places I don't watch
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Jan 29, 2023 04:57
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A final ease of use ranking:code:
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Jan 29, 2023 05:01
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IcePhoenix posted:This was fun to read as always J-Ru, thanks for running it again! Thanks, and yeah I think would be a really good idea - especially at lower ranks, it's interesting to see those who got through on a relatively high appearance on a SINGLE list and those who were ranked relatively lowly but appeared in multiple lists. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 05:03
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Jerusalem posted:Thanks, and yeah I think would be a really good idea - especially at lower ranks, it's interesting to see those who got through on an relatively high appearance on a SINGLE list and those who were ranked relatively lowly but appeared in multiple lists. Yeah exactly. It's always funny seeing how many people in the ten point spot in the rankings were #1 on a list
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Jan 29, 2023 05:04
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I love Bry-D but honestly kinda wild he beat Mox this year
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Jan 29, 2023 05:13
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Only three of my top ten were unique this time, down from 5 in 2021. My favourites are getting more popular  Jerusalem posted:
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Jan 29, 2023 05:14
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My favorites did pretty good this yearJerusalem posted:A final ease of use ranking:
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Jan 29, 2023 05:23
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code:
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Jan 29, 2023 05:27
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i did it. i made the difference toward the end, encouraging people not to vote for jon moxley. every person voted for him but they most likely lowered him in their rankings out of respect for my efforts
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Jan 29, 2023 05:36
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Whose list was closest to the overall top ten. I need to know who represents the PSP hive mind
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Jan 29, 2023 06:27
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Seams posted:Whose list was closest to the overall top ten. I need to know who represents the PSP hive mind I'll put together statistics sometime in the next few days including the traditional breakdown of who was closest to matching the overall view of the forum as a whole.
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Jan 29, 2023 06:28
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This is the second straight year I was the only person to have Yuji Hino on my list, you should all be ashamed
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Jan 29, 2023 06:29
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| # ? May 18, 2024 18:31 |
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Maybe people were confused on if a mountain range was allowed be included in a Top Ten list?
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Jan 29, 2023 06:40
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