Johnny Mundo: #10 Wrestler of 2016

Last year, I was allowed to write some great pieces on two of my Lucha Underground favorites, Prince Puma and Pentagon Jr. (now Pentagon Dark.) This year, only one Lucha Underground performer made the Top 10, but he's a talent familiar to many fans and one that truly did have his best year in wrestling in 2016.

Image credit: Lucha Underground.

You might know him as Johnny Nitro or John Morrison, but to me he's definitely Johnny Mundo.

While not all of his 2016 appearances on Lucha Underground television were actually filmed in 2016, the calendar year cannot be looked at as anything other than impressive for the Mayor of Slamtown. He opened the year with a win over Dragon Azteca, Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio for the Lucha Underground Trios title. Though he lost them at Ultima Lucha Dos, he went on to beat Sexy Star for the Gift of the Gods title, again for the Lucha Underground title (which she won only a week before during Aztec Warfare III) and a final time to retain her title. He didn't manage any of those wins without sly tactics, but Mundo is a world class heel by any measurable rights.

His success cannot be pointed out without also talking about his Trios tag partners Jack Evans, the long time indie star that's years in Mexico are finally paying off with some great work on American television, and PJ Black, the former Justin Gabriel and now "Darewolf", another talent showing he was so much more talented than WWE ever let him give fans. Perhaps his most amazing ally is Taya, the Canadian wrestler turned veteran luchadora. She's been a true revelation in the last two seasons of Lucha Underground, almost as much as Mundo's career renaissance.

Mundo's only issues in Lucha Underground now is a lack of depth remaining in his opponents. He's wrestled almost every tecnico in the company and a decent number of the rudos as well. But Lucha Underground is always about surprises and I suspect he'll bring a few more in 2017.

Tomorrow we continue the list with the first repeat talent from last year's list, a man that continued an impressive run towards the top of his promotion in 2016.