From a Celtic Colossus to Zero Fear: the Top 100 Wrestlers of 2018 #15-11

Eighty-five wrestlers have come and gone on our countdown. Today we cut that list even more, as we close out the last five names before our Top 10!

Image credit: WWE.com.

15. Drew McIntyre

Ever since he made his return to the main roster after Wrestlemania, Drew McIntyre clearly seemed set for bigger things in WWE. His run in NXT felt odd, a short babyface title run in the main event ended by injury. But as Dolph Ziggler's ally and partner, he started to show a lot of the fire fans saw from him on the indies and in Impact. As poor a storytelling tool as it was for Braun, his alignment with McIntyre and Ziggler also increased the tag team's profile.

And while McIntyre ranks fifteenth this year, he could very well have a better 2019, as it seems clear he's being groomed to be one of the top heels for the company in the new year.

Image credit: WWE.com.

14. Daniel Bryan

Bryan's position at number fourteen on this list is an example of how much WWE can botch their storytelling. His return at Wrestlemania to team with Shane against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn should have lit a huge run for him. Instead he was mired in a feud with Big Cass in the aftermath, the purpose of which no one seems to understand. Though Cass took him out multiple times on television, their pay-per-view clashes were complete destruction for the big man. The last battle came with the news just hours later of Cass's release. Team Hell No made the Extreme Rules poster but their match started with an awful backstage angle and basically involved Bryan being beaten down by both men and slinking off from the tag division after the match.

Everyone thought the feud with The Miz would reignite the fire. Instead it felt like an average Kurt Angle feud in Impact with dirty trick shenanigans ending the matches instead of clever storytelling. His Crown Jewel match was moved to television after he refused to fly to Saudi Arabia and he lost the title to AJ Styles. Bryan's return was an absolute mess, leaving him as a lackluster upper midcarder.

But what a change a heel turn out of nowhere can make. Say what you will about WWE, but Smackdown offered a few brilliant storytelling points in the second half of the year and Bryan's heel turn to win the title was everything Shinsuke Nakamura's was not. Though he lost to Lesnar at Survivor Series, his heel role made that far more acceptable and he can enter 2019 on far more secure footing as Smackdown's top villain.

Cody and wife Brandi Rhodes, before his US title match at Wrestle Kingdom.
Image credit: @CodyRhodes on Twitter.

13. Cody

I'm personally a bit surprised at how high Cody made it on this list, until I remember that we might have a few old school NWA fans in this voting pool. He did have several significant matches over the year, but far less than he did in the previous year. Yet he made those matches count, with an ROH win over Kenny Omega, his US title victory over Juice Robinson and of course, his winning of the NWA title at ALL IN.

Of course if out of the ring achievements were part of this list, his production of ALL IN alongside the Bucks should have put him in a three way tie for first place. ALL IN proved a ton of naysayers wrong and helped increase the three men's cred enough to form an entire promotion around it in 2019.

That being said, Cody has promised he will miss a significant part of the early year with a desperately needed knee surgery, which puts a lot of his 2019 into question. But he's still in his early thirties, so his recovery should offer him a lot of years to keep doing what he does best and AEW could vary well reduce his schedule to a level that can maintain his health for years to come.

Image credit: WWE.com.

12. Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is the teflon man of WWE. Because it doesn't seem to matter how many losses he's given, he still comes out with high marks and in a good position. Of course, a lot of that can be put to his brutality in the ring. Joe makes everything look real and painful. At 39 and 280 pounds, he still moves like a Cruiserweight a decade younger. The man can go.

And he certainly wrestled his share of great matches in 2018. In the matter of a few short weeks, he faced Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and AJ Styles. His feud with Styles would get highly personal as he would cut some of his best heel promos ever. After that feud though, his year seemed to fizzle as he left the Survivor Series match in short order and has since been mired in a go-nowhere feud with Jeff Hardy.

Joe may never make it to the World or Universal title, but it's clear he's placed to be a major player whenever WWE wants him to be. Honestly, that's a pretty great place to be right there.

Photo credit: Impact Wrestling on Twitter.

11. Penta El Zero M

Call him Penta El Ciero Miedo, Pentagon Jr, Pentagon Dark or just Pentagon, he's now a dominant force in professional wrestling. He entered the year as just a Lucha Underground star and an indie mainstay for places like AAW and PWG. But Alberto El Patron's own idiocy over Mania weekend cost him a job at Impact and opened a door for his scheduled opponents at the Impact / Lucha Underground crossover show he missed. Fenix and Pentagon both immediately made their presence known and in his second ever Impact match, Pentagon beat Austin Aries for the World title. He would drop it back to Aries soon enough, but he cemented a spot on the Impact main roster that has listed since. He's since feuded with Sami Callihan and OVE and the LAX.

After leaving AAA in somewhat controversial fashion in 2016, he returned to that company as well, with his Mexican bookings featuring him in The Crash, AAA and CMLL, basically every major company in the country.

And yet still his most significant appearance might be as one of the hired talents at ALL IN, where he faced off with Kenny Omega in a certified dream match. Though he failed to pick up the W, even more people now knew about Cero Miedo.

Pentagon and his brother Fenix have been rumored targets of WWE for months. But with AEW in the mix, it looks like Penta may have two major promotions looking to sign him very soon.

The inaugural Impact Wrestling Top 10

I have written several unique Top 10 lists in the last couple years of producing The Wrestling Weekday. But somehow Impact Wrestling has always escaped my coverage. Considering the year end Top 10 featured a long time Impact star now in WWE at #2 and an actual Impact star at #1, it seems the time is ripe to feature the first ever list of Impact talents!

Image credit: Impact Wrestling. 

1. Ethan Carter III: While it currently feels like EC3 is treading water a bit at the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, he is cemented as a perennial main eventer on the Impact roster. He could still make huge moves in the year ahead, especially if the company decides to play off the loss of his storyline aunt from the roster. 
2. Drew Galloway: I am not a fan of Galloway as a heel. He made one of the best faces the company had to offer, while as a heel he feels like just another bad dude in a sea of bad dudes. But he has definitely made waves since his in ring return and looks to have a solid run as Grand Champion. 
3. Decay: After Total Nonstop Deletion, Abyss and Crazzy Steve are in a bit of a random space, but they continue to be one of the best units on Impact Wrestling, even if it seems unlikely they will challenge for the tag titles much this year. 
4. Davey Richards: Davey's path upon his return seems clear. After a short uniting of the Wolves for a few weeks, he will take a heel turn against his former partner. Hopefully, Impact uses Angelina Love as his mouthpiece during his heel run, because while Davey can go in the ring, he is still one of the worst talkers on the Impact roster.
5. Jade: If Impact is smart, they will start to build a major part of their promotion around Jade. The perennial #1 contender to the Knockouts title, the former Mia Yim has to be on WWE's radar now. She has the potential to be a game changer in the world of women's professional wrestling and Impact would be wise to market on that. 
6. Moose: Unlike Mike Bennett, Moose was smart to make the jump from ROH to Impact. Impact not only gets him in front of more eyes, but it also helps him develop more attention on his career as it continues to grow. He might still have a future in WWE, but with a more solid place on Impact, he can develop the same kind of following that has helped names like Styles, Roode and Samoa Joe in WWE.
7. Eddie Edwards: He finished 2016 as TNA World Heavyweight Champion, but his obvious impending feud with Davey makes the continuation of his reign seem unlikely, especially with Lashley after him this week. But Eddie has cemented himself as a growing star for the company, and arguably far more valuable than Davey.
8. Lashley: It seems likely Lashley will win the title just a few hours after this posts. Outside the #1 pick, no one on this list did as good a job as reinventing themselves in 2016 as Donald Trump's former wrestling buddy. His dominant work week in and out on Impact Wrestling builds upon his goal of making professional wrestling seem credible and he does a great job of that even when he's warring with Eddie Edwards at the Hardy compound. I never thought I'd say it, but I've became a big fan of this man in the last year. 
9. Rosemary: The Knockouts Champion is easily one of the most over talents on Impact television. With a compelling character, a unique in ring style and a propensity to do things in the ring to make a true impact, the former Courtney Rush is a figure a company could be built around. Along with Jade, she makes a strong case for Impact to double down on the Knockouts side of the roster. 
10. The Broken Hardys: Broken Matt Hardy was the top wrestler of 2016 as chosen by the readers of The Wrestling Weekday and the staff of the ESO-PRO podcast. But Brother Nero did his own reinvention in the second half of the year and even freed from his obsolescence, he still is in a much better place in his career in 2017. No tag team is as in demand in 2017 as the Hardys. The twenty year veterans look to make a huge mark with international matches that will likely be rebroadcast on Impact Wrestling broadcasts, even as they continue to push the boundaries of storytelling in the year ahead. 

Image credit: SI.com.

Drew Galloway: the champion TNA needs, not the one it deserves

Image credit: ImpactWrestling.com.

The Dark Knight meme is strong as I look at the crowning of Drew Galloway as the new TNA World Heavyweight champion on this week's Impact Wrestling. As the first man to successfully cash in the World title Feast or Fired case, the former Mr. McIntyre finally ascended to the place he should have been at months ago in TNA: on the top of the card.

But in many ways, it feels like yet another hotshot move by TNA where they make the right call for ratings a little too late. Galloway has been left as something of a cipher in recent weeks, only inserted into segments when he's needed rather than naturally being involved in storylines. His matches with Kurt Angle were great, but Drew isn't a talent that needs the approval of an aging veteran to be a main event star. He should have been crowned champion months ago but instead had to step aside for a lackluster run by consummate midcarder Matt Hardy as the top star in the company.

This is far from the first time or the last time that TNA made a decision that seems designed to try and bring back viewers alienated by bad booking decisions of the past, but at this point in their company's history, it might be time to consider just booking in ways to make fans happy more often. I'm not saying the hero should always win by any means. EC3 had a great championship reign as a nefarious evildoer. But most fans taking the time to check out non-WWE brands have moved past a need to see WWE nostalgia acts at the top of the card.

That doesn't mean TNA fans don't love the Hardy Boyz together or individually. They are still a strong pair of wrestlers, but they are not the kind of figures TNA should ever bank on at the top of the card ever again. With their age, their wear and their history of drug abuse, TNA has enough rising stars, both home grown and from under-utilized WWE runs, to build a great roster.

It just needs to start doing that. Keep the focus on Galloway, EC3, Mike Bennett and other focal points like Tyrus, James Storm and Bobby Roode. Even Eric Young and Bram have something to offer. Use WWE talents that have passed their prime like Lashley and the Hardys as key figures on TV, but not as the major stars TV regularly focuses upon.

Ultimately, Impact Wrestling seems to slowly be righting their own path after disastrous years in 2014 and 2015. Here's hoping they can continue that route instead of miring themselves in the same old mistakes the company has made time and time again. But they need to show a lot of fans consistency in storytelling before they ever start attracting viewers. Programs like Lucha Underground and NJPW on AXS have proven niche marketing can work for professional wrestling. It is time that TNA stops trying to be WWE and find what it's best at it. And I suspect that is good old school wrestling stories in the Southern tradition. I can think of few stars that can fill that formula quite as well as Drew Galloway.

If all goes well, the future looks bright for TNA to finally #StandUp.

POP is good for TNA, but is it enough?

Drew Galloway is just one of several stars with a huge upside for TNA, but
only if TNA spends the time to book them as the hot young talent they are.

The first two episodes of Impact Wrestling on POP TV offered solid wrestling entertainment with some solid talents whether it be from veteran Kurt Angle, journeyman Drew Galloway or TNA originals like Bobby Roode and James Storm (now reunited as Beer Money.) The company seems to be forming a talent pool that will support them moving forward, framed around Ethan Carter III, the former Derrick Bateman who has become a true superstar since his move to the closest thing WWE has to a competitor.

But despite strong matches from the above plus the likes of the Beautiful People, The Dollhouse, The Wolves, Tigre Uno and more, the company still seems scared of innovation. The focus in the main event continues to be a younger homegrown star versus an industry veteran, even when that veteran is as past his prime as Matt Hardy.

And because of their lack of innovation with their cast, it often feels like much of their talent isn't all that important. Sure EC3, the Hardys and Angle are huge stars, but everyone else ends up feeling like they're just filler for the stuff TNA management cares about. An excessive focus on the main event picture has been a problem in WWE sometimes as well, but two weeks into the new show, every thing not involving the four men above just seems thrown together.

The sad part is that it doesn't have to be this way. They've got Dave Lagana on the writing staff alongside Billy Corgan. He has a history of crafting solid scripted television, the kind of clever writing that Lucha Underground has every week. While the title holders may not even be featured on every episode, the writers behind Lucha Underground understand that making sure every feud they develop feels important, whether it belongs at the bottom of the card or at the top. They fill the rest of the show with multi-talent matches or create random challenges thrown out by owner Dario Cueto to keep the progression moving. It's simple booking, but when the focus is quality weekly serialized television, it helps Lucha Underground surpass Raw and Impact Wrestling in quality almost every week.

I'm not saying that TNA can ape that style perfectly, but restoring the focus on simple storytelling surrounding great in ring action won't hurt the company. Coupled with a few smart moves in who to push and TNA could rise from the ashes yet again. The balls in their court.

A busy weekend in televised wrestling

Two shows graced television and computer screens this weekend from the folks at both WWE and TNA. I previewed both Live from MSG and Bound For Glory to end last week, but both shows put on some great matches but with somewhat underwhelming results.

Live From Madison Square Garden started its life as a house show with Brock Lesnar announced for it. Like the last house show in Tokyo that featured Lesnar, it became a WWE special and the Lesnar / Show match didn't disappoint. Big Show was allowed to look like a massive giant, manhandling Lesnar for several minutes and even delivering three chokeslams. But it wasn't enough to lay out "The Beast Incarnate" who responded with a trip to Suplex City for Big Show. One more F5 put Show away for the day.

Big Show visits Suplex City. Image credit: WWE.com.

The rest of the card was filled with solid matches but very little story progression. The two interminable singles feuds were turned into a solid tag match as Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler beat Rusev and Sheamus. Neville got another singles win over Stardust as their feud continued, while roles were reversed in a Raw rematch of Team PCB vs. Team Bella. This time Charlotte and Becky Lynch abandoned Paige to her fate. Becky was kind enough to explain their reasons in a superb post-match promo.

Will a new TNA take shape at Bound For Glory?

I don't watch much TNA anymore. When it was on Spike, replays would appear on the site and be easily viewable by yours truly. Destination America does not do the same, nor do they offer the show on content partner Hulu, so I am left to follow most of TNA's storylines through recaps. Sometimes that leaves folks with a more negative view of a program if a reviewer personally doesn't like a segment (or vice versa.) But I have to say that while it doesn't have the depth of name talent previous TNA pay-per-views had, the upcoming Bound For Glory sounds incredibly solid.

The BFG poster is not helped by the large
image of the currently suspended Bram.

The show is headlined by a triple threat match for the TNA World Heavyweight title as champion Ethan Carter III defends against Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway with Jeff Hardy as special guest referee. I personally think this sounds like one of the weakest matches on the card not because the talent involved isn't great, but because the booking clearly implies typical TNA shenanigan booking to end the show. The big pay-per-view should have a decisive finish and it just seems doubtful that with his enemy EC3 and his brother Matt in the ring that Jeff will call it down the middle.

Raven's Top Five Biggest Disappointments

Some stars come from out of nowhere and leave an immediate impact, guys like Kevin Owens and Mick Foley. Other guys never even take off and linger in obscurity forever. But there are some guys out there who make it to the top, who have all the right tools in their arsenal, but never really came through.

Here is my list of five guys who I believe could have done a lot more, but for some reason just never came through.

5. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR

Yes I know, the Warrior was a hero, a legend, an unstoppable force, an Icon. I respect the Warrior, but when you ask me my favorite match is of his, I'm going to have to fall back on his match with Hogan at Wrestlemania 6. Right here in my home town, Warrior gave the best fight of his life. But what happened after that?

I mean for all that energy, all that running around, all that power and paint, what did we get after that? I few more badly booked matches, some crazy interviews and then the Warrior was gone, lost to legend.

A look back at the Lucha World Cup

It has been twenty-one years since the last time AAA broadcasted a pay-per-view in English, back at the illustrious When Worlds Collide, which most fans will remember as the show WCW built the Cruiserweight division from. But that changed on May 24, 2015 with the broadcast of the Lucha Libre World Cup on internet pay-per-view.

It’s a bit crazy that AAA never held a major trios tournament until this event, almost as if they’re taking a page from Chikara’s book for their return to English language action. Lucha Underground’s Matt Striker and Vampiro called the action, although both were a bit less polished than their El Rey appearances. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard Vampiro be quite this lecherous.

The Chikara connection actually received a call out in the very first match as the Dream Team took on Team NOAH. The NOAH unit featured the legendary Takayama alongside captain Taiji Ishimori and former King of Trios standout Atsushi Kotoge. The Team Osaka Pro alum was allowed lots of time to shine against the superstar trio of Alberto El Patron, Mysteziz and Rey Mysterio (the only carryover from When Worlds Collide.)

The other teams all brought it. The workrate was surprisingly deep based on the roster, but Team AAA and Team ROH/Lucha Underground brought a ton of great in-ring work. American fans already know how good El Hijo Del Fantasma is (with his Lucha Underground alter ego getting a subtle nod from Striker) and that El Texano Jr is a solid guy in-ring, but most everyone probably saw Psycho Clown for the first time. Perhaps Los Psycho Circus as a whole would have been more fun, but the three men put on an amazing battle against ROH’s Moose and ACH and Lucha Underground’s Brian Cage. Cage still strikes me as a man WWE missed the boat on in a huge way, as shown by his excellent work here and in the American tie-in.

Team All Japan took on the Mexican Legends Solar I, Blue Demon Jr and Dr. Wagner Jr. Against a team with 99 combined years of experience, Kenzo Suzuki (whose in-ring time was very limited), Tiger Mask III and Masamune didn’t accomplish very much. They were perhaps the most disappointing team of the eight in the tournament.

The final first round match was my favorite of the night. Team TNA Underground brought some good star power with Mr. Anderson, Matt Hardy and Johnny Mundo (otherwise known as John Morrison.) They took on the most intriguing team of the night, the thrown together Team Rest of the World. Drew Galloway (UK) and El Mesias (Puerto Rico) teamed with arguably 2015’s breakout talent of the year Angelico (South Africa). It seemed impossible that Team TNA wouldn’t make it to round two but the worldwide team gave them a run for their money. And again, Striker and Vampiro give another sly reference to one talent’s Lucha Underground alter ego.

With the four teams left, round two felt a bit telegraphed. As set up, the Dream Team vs. Team ROH and the Mexican Legends vs. Team TNA were solid battles, but they telegraphed the finals a bit.

The format of the tournament involved sudden death overtimes after the 15 minute time limits, which equaled one on one fights for five minutes. The third place match was ran only as such and it lasted all of seven minutes. But with AAA pushing Brian Cage hard, it made sense to give him a very decisive showing here.

The finals featured the Dream Team and Team TNA Lucha Underground. Anderson, Hardy and Mundo worked as great heels for the finals. The story of Rey Mysterio’s Mexican return played a huge part in this story and they revealed their purpose for doing so as the match moved into its third Sudden Death overtime. The final period pitted Mysterio against Mundo. Everyone that knows Mundo knows he’s an excellent base for the assault of someone like Mysterio. In a fast paced blast of action, Mysterio reverses an End of the World (or Starship Pain for WWE fans) into a Victory Roll for the finish.
The pay-per-view ran a little long in typical Mexican fashion with over four hours and a lot of pageantry between battles. The show did have some issues with silenced promos, which was especially annoying for the English language talk. But the in ring action and great commentary made up for the slow points.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen no word of replays or purchasing rights for the show in perpetuity. The PPV replays are only available for a week. But if it does become available against stateside, I recommend it.

And hey, Mysteziz works thirty times better here than he ever did in WWE.