The Man Comes Around! Becky Lynch is the top wrestler of 2018!

Becky Lynch by Rob Schamberger.

Rarely can I say a talent topping the year end list made a mark on only part of the calendar year. Sasha Banks, Broken Matt Hardy and AJ Styles had career defining years with matches and stories that reshaped the wrestling world for much of 2015, 2016, and 2017 respectively. The same cannot be said for Becky Lynch.

Becky first came on my radar when she was still Rebecca Knox. In the earliest days of Shimmer, she worked for the promotion yet her career seemed to be speeding to an end. She retired from in ring activity in 2008, a perplexing decision for me as she seemed to be one of the best women on the independents at the time.

In 2012 she returned to wrestling and almost immediately signed with WWE, as the promotion clearly had something in mind for the woman they renamed Becky Lynch. If you look at those early days, she clearly seemed positioned to serve as a training body for the talents WWE wanted to bring up. She wrestled regularly against Bayley, Carmella and Sasha Banks. But even as she became a more important figure in NXT, she was the one member of the Four Horsewomen never to hold the title.

Even when she was called up to the main roster, it seemed like she was destined to forever be the bridesmaid but never the bride. Even when called up to the main roster, the Divas and then Women's title eluded her grasp until the new brand split. She seemed mostly defined by betrayals during this period, with both Paige and Charlotte turning on her at one point or another. She became the inaugural Smackdown Women's Champion, but no one saw her reign as anything exceptional, and Alexa Bliss quickly stole her thunder as the next "in" star.

She spent much of the first part of the year as a body in various battles with the Riott Squad. The Iiconics became her next regular feud, but one confined only to television, and one frequently interspersed with random battles with Mandy Rose or Sonya Deville. She seemed stuck in a rut.

But SummerSlam... well, it changed a few things. In the lead up to the match between Becky Lynch and Carmella, Charlotte made her return to the roster. She won a match that inserted her into the SummerSlam title match. Becky was none too pleased that her friend turned enemy turned friend was inserted herself in Becky's chance for the title.

Things came to a head at SummerSlam. Charlotte stole a victory and became Women's Champion, only to be brutally assaulted by Becky Lynch. Thus, The Man was born.

Image credit: WWE.com.

Since that time, Becky has become a dominant force on Smackdown. She would win the title at Hell in the Cell and defend it against Charlotte twice more. It's hard to argue that she's the top female wrestler in the company when she went on to put on multiple amazing matches for the remaining pay-per-views of the year. Her new personality came with a cutting wit that she was only allowed to show rarely before. Even dropping the title at TLC (without being pinned) just set her up to continue a dominant streak in the months ahead.

Yet the most interesting thing about Becky throughout her WWE career is that she's carried a narrative through-line. She's always been the good person, the one that wants a better division, a better place on the card and friends. Yet even since NXT, she's always the one being betrayed by those friends. Even in her turn to the Man, she continued to be the face in her own story. Charlotte betrayed her by inserting herself in the match and taking Becky's victory. The Man is just Becky finally letting her old friendships go in favor of a better her and a better women's division.

Perhaps no place shows this better than Smackdown's invasion of Raw before Survivor Series. While it would cost Becky a place at the pay-per-view, the invasion marked her as the leader of an entire division. Her dominance made it clear she could main event anywhere and the inadvertent injury may very well end with her facing Ronda Rousey in the first ever women's main event at Wrestlemania.

Becky Lynch is the Man. And we can all be damn glad she came around.

From an NXT star lost in the main roster shuffle to the man of many names: the Top 100 Wrestlers of 2018 #50-36

Our countdown continues for the rest of the week and the next and today it moves onto the wrestlers ranked in the first part of the second half of our list! Let's check out the names!

50. Andrade "Cien" Almas

Almas seemed lost in the shuffle when he was called up to the main roster and despite a few solid matches hasn't really been given much to do still. He's got a ton of upside, but falls in the shadows of other heels on Smackdown Live.

49. Xander Killen

His babyface work at 3XW and CEW doesn't compared to his vicious heel promos in SCW, but Xander has started to make a solid name for himself as a top up-and-comer in Iowa wrestling and beyond.

48. Tyler Bate

He finishes the year becoming a WWE exclusive talent and it couldn't happen to a better guy. Bate has shown himself to be a classy sort at a young age and continues to be a talent with a huge future in the business.

Image credit: NJPW.

47. Evil

Hampered a bit by injury, the King of Darkness remains the most solid and stable upper midcard talent in New Japan. It seems doubtful he will ever move to the main event tier there, but he's got a solid future in any promotion he wants to make his home.

46. Nick Aldis

He held the NWA title for eleven of the twelve months of the year and defended it around the world against a great array of talent. He's playing the dastardly heel most of the time, but Aldis shows that he's a far greater talent than TNA ever let him show.

45. Fenix

Fenix is an amazing talent and one of the best high flyers in the business, but probably will never exit the shadow of his brother Penta El Zero Miedo. Still, he managed to main event ALL IN which may make him a likely target for All Elite Wrestling in the new year.

44. Xavier Woods

Woods comes out well ahead of his New Day brethren on this list, I suspect because of his entertainment factor. There's few stars as consistently fun in the ring as the Up Up Down Down star.

43. David Starr

To quote his introduction: "The cream in your coffee, your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler, the Jewish cannon, the physical embodiment of charisma, the most entertaining man in professional wrestling, the Bernie Sanders of professional wrestling, the best of the best, Mr Americanrana, Davey Wrestling, the 104 minute man, the main event, “he’s really good at Twitter”, the king of taunts, The Product" David Starr. It's an insane list for an incredibly talented star, a consummate journeyman wrestler whose grown into an internationally known superstar. He's starting off his New Year with a free match streamed to Youtube against Pac, which should get him off to an equally bright 2019.

Image Credit: WWE.

42. Alexa Bliss

Injury certainly hampered Alexa on this list, coupled with the fact that she'll never be the best wrestler on WWE's roster. She's incredibly skilled at building stories but her bell to bell performances have never matched many of the talents on this list. Still Alexa has a ton of talent to keep her going into the future, whether she wrestles again anytime soon or not.

41. Shane Hollister

Personal issues brought "The Shug" out of retirement, but his run since in SCW has been nothing short of magic. Hollister works a heavily strike based offense that allows him to look believable in conflicts with foes twice his size. An independent veteran, I encourage everyone to seek out his appearances in SCW in the coming months.

40. Dezmond Xavier

Like his tag partner Zachary Wentz (#64), Dezmond takes high-flying to another stratosphere, hitting moves I wouldn't think a normal human could ever manage. I suspect some of this is related to their work with CIMA and Oriental Wrestling Entertainment, but they've brought it to America and Impact with a fire that should lead them to big things ahead.

39. Flip Gordon

I don't think Flip was on many people's list of top stars last year. But after signing with ROH and becoming a major featured player on Being the Elite, he's risen to be a household name for a lot of wrestling fans. Flip's still young with a ton of upside and a lot of talent. With at least another year on his ROH contract, expect him to become a foundation of the promotion in 2019.

38. Gyasi (JAH-C)

Whether as one-half of Vicious and Delicious or on his own, JAH-C made a name for himself in Iowa and Minnesota this year. As he continues to expand his wrestling horizons, he and his tag partner will hopefully see a lot more traveling in their future!

Image credit: Photos by Manning.

37. JT Energy

Personally, I rank JT Energy as the talent with the most upside on the Iowa independents. He has mastered the art of being a heel at a ridiculously young age and only grows better with each and every appearance in the ring. He's now a regular for three Iowa promotions and made his debut for the biggest, The Wrestling Revolver. With more eyes on him in 2019, here's hoping he and his partner JAH-C can get a ton more bookings!

36. Johnny Impact / Mundo / Hennigan

Impact Wrestling still has issues at the top of the card despite a stacked roster. Impact still doesn't quite feel right as the top player there, which even Impact fans took note of when they voted Sami Callihan wrestler of the year. But the former John Morrison has an uncanny control of his own body, a great style in the ring and the abs of a god. It will be interesting to see what 2019 brings for him in Impact, Lucha Underground and MLW.

With that, we are now almost two-thirds of the way through our list! Have any talents on this list surprised or shocked you? Are any of these names ones you still need to check out? Hit me with your comments and let me know!

A few random thoughts and reactions to the action and hijinks of SummerSlam weekend

I'm going to break this one into a few points as I look back at my personal thoughts on SummerSlam weekend, especially what worked and didn't.

Ronda Rousey: WWE's most over champion! Image credit: WWE.com.

• The NXT Tag Team title opener was a solid match, but it really threw too much out there early in the night. Big false finishes and crazy spots are a staple of the black and gold brand, but its pace really felt like it wore out the crowd for parts of the next match.
• EC3 feels completely out of place in NXT, mostly because he's a traditional WWE style wrestler in a world of indie super-gold. But his battle with Velveteen Dream really allowed him the chance to shine, even if Dream's victory seemed like an assured thing to me. With Dream effectively now an antihero face, he could easily step into the main event spot heading into Takeover: War Games against Ciampa while the Brits versus The Undisputed Era can highlight the card's namesake.

Velveteen Dream looked like a million bucks at Takeover. Image credit: WWE.com.

• In the eight years since their last match way back at EVOLVE 6, Adam Cole and Ricochet have both grown immensely. But I'm also very glad that Cole no longer carries the North American title, as its felt like it had no value as party of the ongoing Undisputed Era wars. I hope for a quick rubber match and for Ricochet to go on and take on some new challengers, perhaps other EVOLVE alums like Keith Lee and Matt Riddle. 
• I feel bad for the NXT women. The brand is so heavily focused on the top two women on the brand and then calling one of those people up every few months, that it hasn't really felt like they've been on solid footing since Bayley, Carmella, Nia Jax and Asuka came to the main roster. Kairi Sane isn't anywhere close to ready for a place on Raw or Smackdown where she would quickly lost (see Moon, Ember.) Shayna will be on the main roster by Survivor Series, and I honestly could see it happening in the next 36 hours. Kairi can start building new feuds with new stars, and wrestlers like Bianca Belair can finally get some time on a bigger stage.
• The main event match between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano may be the worst of the three they've wrestled. By no means was it a bad match, but it felt very much like a do-over of their street fight. Topping the Unsanctioned Match isn't realistic, but I'm really bothered that this was the second straight pay-per-view to end with Gargano being a moron. 
• The pre-show to SummerSlam was underwhelming. The opening encounter was a head-scratcher, Gulak and Alexander needed more time and The Revival were obviously not the team to knock off The B Team. But their matches worked really well for the live crowd, as they set up the crowd to be blown away with a complete reversal in the next contest.
• Rollins and Ziggler went only twenty-two minutes, but this match was leaps and bounds above their Iron Man match. Place at the open of the card they could afford to go long and epic without worrying about worn out fans sitting on their hands or counting rather than watching what over-booked timed nonsense came at Extreme Rules. Both men seemed more at ease with a match not bogged down the clear hands of others, and they shined with Ambrose and McIntyre as key seconds.
• The New Day did what they needed to do and made the Bludgeon Brothers look vulnerable. They also accomplished the same thing the majority of the Smackdown matches did: set up a clear place for a Hell in a Cell rematch between the two units. 
• I have to give props to the folks on the Raw writing side for knowing when a squash match should be on the card no matter the place of their foes. Strowman beat Owens and Balor beat Corbin, both in under two minutes. The Monster Among Men and the Demon both needed strong victories to make their characters continue to work and they delivered that in spades.

The Demon rises! Image credit: WWE.com.

• The booking of Charlotte and Becky Lynch seems fraught with peril. Charlotte is in heavy danger of becoming a female Roman Reigns, booed by the fans that are tired of the title basically being her anointed place on the roster. The cheers heel Becky received made it clear that the fans aren't going to turn on her in favor of the Queen. 
• Joe and Styles and Miz and Bryan should not have been so close on the card. Both matches were far too similar in their style to work as well as they could individually. They did both succeed at making it clear these feuds are far from over, and like the New Day and Bludgeon Brothers, seem perfect for a Hell in a Cell match. 
• Jeff Hardy going eleven minutes surprised me, as it really does feel like he's on an exit path on Smackdown. My fingers are crossed that he's about to wrap up, perhaps with a feud with Orton, and move aside to give us the Rusev / Shinsuke Nakamura feud the US title deserves. 
• The four Rs now rule supreme in the Raw women's and men's division as pretty much seemed clear from the get go. Ronda's domination of Alexa made me quite happy as I was terrified another Bella heel turn was in the works. The Reigns and Lesnar match was mercifully short, which put at the end of the card was the smartest move they could make. 
• Strowman coming forward and making his attention clear pre-match made sense. His failing to have said match doesn't. For a man buried under a dozen ladders at Money in the Bank and won, nothing Lesnar did to him should have kept him down to not cash in on Roman. I wonder if we're not moving into an injury storyline to give him time away from the card, or if WWE just will continue with him not cashing in the case for no good reason. (It still bothers me that his character as presented didn't cash in during all of Lesnar's appearances over the lead up.) Now that it's been lined up that Strowman doesn't want to be an opportunist like so many previous holders, he has no reason to book the match wherever and whenever the hell he wants and should get it done sooner rather than later. 

I've seen several lackluster reviews of this year's event already. Honestly I'm a bit perplexed. WWE finally made a few smart decisions in booking while also giving fans a lot of what they wanted. Top to bottom the card either featured solid wrestling or solid storytelling, and in some cases, both. Raw is now ready to build some new feuds for all their titles while Smackdown has started three feuds that could be hot over the next several months. 

Of course, WWE's week to week booking could take them anywhere. But right now, color me intrigued heading into Hell in a Cell. Here's hoping WWE can continue smart booking and great storytelling in the weeks and months ahead. 

The most dominant wrestler in the world: Asuka comes in at #4!

There's only one person you can say is the absolute most dominant wrestler in the game today. Her name is Asuka. While her NXT Women's Title reign ended after 510 days (a record unlikely to be beaten,) it ended because she left NXT for the main roster. (First champion Paige actually did the same thing, although she won the Divas title before she dropped the NXT Women's belt.)

Image credit: WWE.com.

Before she did that though, last year's third best wrestler put on some of the most devastating matches in the history of NXT. She picked up brutal wins against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross in triple threat battles. She fought an epic Last Woman Standing match against Cross that was one of the longest women's matches in WWE history. She showed heelish tendencies in her final victory over Ember Moon. But a minor injury made the switch to Raw a wise decision. She chose to walk away from NXT and her title rather than see it stripped from her.

From there, she arrived on Raw with twin victories over Emma, followed by utter dominance over the likes of Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke. Even on the house show circuit, any team with Asuka on it never dropped a win.

But perhaps it was the Raw versus Smackdown Survivor Series match that marked her biggest achievement in 2017. In a match with eight former champions on the roster (and the always lackluster Tamina), Asuka ran the gauntlet, even overcoming two on one odds at the end of the match for the win.

2017 was built around dominance on NXT and a slow burn to prove herself on Raw. That implication came at the first Raw of the year as she took that dominance over a woman that has grown exponentially since they last met in NXT. Alexa Bliss took a stiff loss to Asuka, which leaves everyone to question whether or not even this year's number nine pick can stand up to the onslaught of the woman once known as "Most Dangerous."

It's very clear the "Empress of Tomorrow" dominated in 2017 and looks to repeat that dominance in 2018. But the real question is... can anyone at all beat Asuka?

Let's end the week with a look back at one of her world class butt-whoopins to Dana Brooke, perhaps the perfect person to get smashed by Asuka.

Alexa Bliss: the baddest bliss in the business at #9

"You're welcome."

Alexa Bliss delivered the phrase this Monday on Raw. But as the most decorated female wrestler of WWE in 2017, she deserves the accolade.

Image credit: WWE.com.

She opened the year as Smackdown Women's Champion, just six months into her tenure on the main roster. The Smackdown women's division revolved around her until she jumped to Raw. She almost immediately entered the title picture there. Having already beaten Becky Lynch for the title on her previous show, she took out two more of the Four Horsewomen to take her titles on Raw.

With victories over every Horsewomen but Charlotte, she seemed to be cemented as the top woman of Raw. As 2018 opens, the looming presence of the undefeated Asuka clearly puts her in danger, but no one can argue she spent the year defining what it meant to be a top wrestler in her division.

The interesting part of Alexa's career is just how much better she fit on the main roster than the microcosm of NXT. She never made it far on that roster, only getting a lackluster title match against Bayley that showed the Full Sail crowd at their worst. With her sudden arrival as a force to be reckoned with on the main roster, she's opened up huge storytelling possibilities in the years to come. Even with a Raw roster with Nia Jax, Bayley, Sasha, Mickie James, Asuka and all of Absolution, she still seems poised to be a top talent for years to come.

The Smackdown Top 10 for February

After the events of Elimination Chamber, the stars of Smackdown Live edge closer to the lineup for Wrestlemania. With no matches official yet for the biggest show of the year, everything seems up in the air with the men and women of the blue brand. But even with as many questions as answers left, The Wrestling Weekday takes a look at the top ten superstars or teams of the brand.

Just a reminder about the numbers at the end of each entry. The first number is the wrestler's rank from the last list. The second is the number of months they have been ranked on the list.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

1. American Alpha: I've got to be honest; I wish I could rank the Smackdown Tag Team Champions a lot higher than the number ten spot. But while Chad Gable and Jason Jordan are infinitely talented, their booking has been one of the weakest part of Smackdown Live. A feud with The Usos looks to be in the cards, but already this team seems hungry for new challengers. (10/5)
2. Dolph Ziggler: His heel turn came about a year too late, nor will a feud with Apollo Crews or Kalisto really help him move up the ladder. An entourage would actually be a great thing for him right now, but WWE seems unlikely to make that happen. For now it seems Dolph is destined to play the perennial midcard talent until the end of time. (7/3)
3. Dean Ambrose: Dean's push has faltered post-WWE title reign quite a bit. As Intercontinental Champion, he feels like he's mostly treading water, even as he seems destined to be thrown into the annual seven way ladder match for that belt at Wrestlemania. It's a far cry from the solid and steady booking of Reigns and Rollins, which is a true shame for (IMHO) the most talented of the former Shield members. (8/12)
4. Alexa Bliss: The former Women's Champion took a tough loss at Elimination Chamber. But even though she lost her belt, it is hard to argue that Alexa has had one of the fastest rises on the main roster of any star post-draft. Even without the title, she is still arguably the top dog of the women's division, with battles with Becky Lynch and Naomi to continue in the future. (4/3)
5. Baron Corbin: The Lone Wolf has cemented himself as a dominant force on the WWE main roster post-Survivor Series. With a series of strong wins and a pair of near misses for the WWE title, he seems clearly poised to enter the main event scene post-Wrestlemania. I still suspect he lost his position for that show to Orton, but even if his push has been slowed, he clearly will be one of WWE's top stars in the years to come. (9/2)
6. John Cena: The face that runs the place won his record tying sixteenth world title, only to drop it two weeks later. Going into Wrestlemania, his future seems unclear but with his time divided between Hollywood and WWE, he will likely pop on and off this list frequently. (U/1)
7. AJ Styles: The former WWE champion has made a huge splash in his year with WWE. Though he's lost the title and seems clearly out of that picture for Wrestlemania, he clearly has a strong future on the blue brand in the coming months. (1/2)
8. Randy Orton: His push from Survivor Series to Royal Rumble has been astronomical, but the fan reaction to his sudden rise to the top of the card has been less than stellar. Though he could be destined for a stellar match at Wrestlemania, the situation between him and the current WWE champion is far from clear as of this writing. (3/2)
9. Naomi: Few wrestlers have deserved a major run with the women's title as Naomi. She is a natural talent and showed great promise back to her earliest days in FCW, but the Funkadactyls gimmick hampered her rise in WWE's women's division. After her last push was halted by the arrival of Paige, she floundered until recent weeks when the writers saw fit to move her to the top of the Smackdown women's division. Hopefully she can retain a presence there, but with a multi-woman match at Wrestlemania likely in her future, she could face more contenders than she could handle very soon. (U/1)
10. Bray Wyatt: In the last few months, Bray Wyatt has won his first two titles in his four years as a WWE star. Now as WWE champion, he's finally arrived at the pinnacle of the blue brand. The position is well deserved, but whether or not he will hold on to it for more than a few weeks remains to be seen. But with Wyatt as champion, it seems clear he will have the fans eating from his hand for some time to come. (3/2)

Image credit: WWE.com.

Asuka: #3 in the Top 10 Wrestlers of 2016

116 matches. 0 losses.

In sheer dominance, no one holds a candle to the woman once known as Kana. She has dominated the women's division of NXT since the year began. Not even Bayley's road to glory could slow her down. She dominated Bayley, Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James over the course of the year. She handed multiple talents losses in under a minute.

Image credit: WWE.com.

And let's get this out of the way: Goldberg never looked this good as he dominated his way through WCW.

For while Asuka's win streak in NXT is impressive, perhaps it is her uncanny in ring acumen that should really get the most talk here. You can count on one hand the number of WWE talents as gifted as she is in striking and technical prowess. She can even pull out high flying moves when necessary although with her kicks and the Asuka Lock, she rarely needs to even think about the ropes.

At 35, she's older than almost every other woman on WWE's roster. (Only Tamina and the recently re-signed Mickie are older.) But though she's wrestling for over a decade, she's always worked a far more limited schedule than a regular WWE talent. Mixed with a style that looks aggressive but is built to limit much of the wear and tear a wrestler faces in the ring, she still has a lot of years ahead of her. With few injuries in her background, she seems built to be a dominant player in WWE well into her 40s.

Of course, when she arrives on the main roster will be anyone's guess. But in the mean time, expect her to be dominant on NXT until she's ready to be called up. And even if she loses the title, don't expect it to be by pinfall. WWE has triple threats and fatal four ways specifically to keep characters like Asuka dominant for many more months to come.

The 2016 Honorable Mentions List, Part Two

Tomorrow, we will return with the first of the top three, but today we take a look back at everyone else that made an impact in 2016. These figures all received multiple votes in our awards, but didn't quite earn enough to make it into the Top 10.

Image credit: WWE.

• Alexa Bliss: I would make a strong argument that Alexa earns a "Most Improved" award for the year. She showed tons of character on Smackdown Live and pretty much made that women's division competitive. Her feud with Becky Lynch has been nothing short of epic, and I look forward to her continuing her dominance in 2017. 
• Rosemary: TNA's resident mistress of decay has combined epic character work with her already capable in ring style, honed by years on the Canadian indies and in SHIMMER (where she played a very different character.) Joe Crowe sums her up wonderfully, saying, "She spews different colors of mist. And she, unlike almost all other big-league female wrestlers, has a character that goes beyond 'Lady who wrestles.'"
• Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson: It's no surprise there's crossover between the people that voted for The Revival and those who voted for Charlotte. Both of them have a lot of old school nostalgia at their base, but I personally think The Revival currently have a stronger game than the Raw Women's Champion.
• Seth Rollins: I can think of only a few big returns as bungled as WWE bringing back Seth Rollins. From his return as a heel to his turn against Triple H that hasn't shown any story progression (because that feud can't start until Wrestlemania season) to a series of so-so matches with Kevin Owens, he just could not get off the ground with Raw's weak booking. 
• Bobby Roode: Roode had a good first few months of the year in TNA as one half of Beer Money, but I doubt anyone voted for him for that. His Glorious arrival in NXT has revitalized his career. His song has inspired a great new character for him and he looks to have a strong 2017 in a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura. Of the names on this list, he's the one I suspect will rise the most on next year's list.
• Dean Ambrose: Dean seems like he'll never quite make this list. He's a solid in ring worker, but his gimmick and his go to spots have become stale as a babyface. Only Roman Reigns more desperately needs a heel turn in WWE. 
• Becky Lynch: Becky finally received a title in WWE, but her run as inaugural Smackdown Women's Champion was dwarfed by the rise of Alexa Bliss. As a babyface, she makes a far better underdog than she does a top dog which hopefully will mean a feud with La Luchadora in the coming weeks will give her some good in ring time without immediate rematch after rematch against Alexa.
• Sasha Banks: Last year's number one had some more great matches in 2016, but her year just couldn't compare to the previous. After a great Wrestlemania match, several of her matches with Charlotte were good but none seemed to be the game changing bouts she had with Bayley in the previous year. Still, Sasha could have a huge run in WWE still ahead of her, especially if she could make a move to the blue brand. 
• Tetsuya Naito: The leader of Los Ingobernables De Japon had one of the best years of any wrestler in New Japan. He won both the World Title and the Intercontinental Title, which he continues to hold as of this writing. While the return of Suzukigun might make Los Ingobernables play second fiddle for a bit, he's still cemented himself as a top star in the promotion and arguably a suitable replacement for Nakamura at the main event. Additionally, he has put up some of the best matches of any NJPW star in ROH where he's wrestled a great feud with Jay Lethal. 

Naito does evil like no one else. Image credit: NJPW.

That's the complete list of everyone that fell below the Top 10 line. With it, you may be able to determine your guesses for the top three wrestlers of the year. Any ideas? Share them in the comments below!

The Smackdown Top 10

It has been far too long since The Wrestling Weekday last ran down the top ten stars of any promotion. But with WWE split into three distinctive brands, it seems apt to focus on the Smackdown Live brand in the aftermath of Sunday's TLC pay-per-view. So let's take a look at the ten big winners for the brand coming out of the show.

Just a reminder about the numbers at the end of each entry. The first number is the wrestler's rank from the last list. The second is the number of months they have been ranked on the list.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

1. American Alpha: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable have become the kings of the pre-show for WWE in recent months, but on television, they continue to score some great looking wins. Probably the crispest team on the roster, both men are great all arounders with huge futures as a team or in singles competition. They've clearly been kept away from the tag titles for the last several months, but one should strongly suspect a huge push for the team heading into Wrestlemania season. (6/4)
2. Baron Corbin: Corbin needs better quality of foes if he is ever going to hope to succeed on WWE's main roster. But he faces a major dilemma in Smackdown's complete lack of depth on the midcard level. His feud with Kalisto now done (hopefully), he can perhaps move on to the former tag champions, as Heath Slater and his old foe Rhyno both seem like great foes for him in the months ahead. (U/1)
3. Dean Ambrose: I'm not sure if anyone came out of TLC looking as bad as Ambrose. He put up a valiant effort, almost got the win, but still came up short against AJ, this time because of the betrayal of a man that he helped bring into the company. A feud with Ellsworth seems nonsensical, but he might be able to do something interesting if someone like Dolph Ziggler would align with Ellsworth against him. (2/11)
4. Dolph Ziggler: Sure, he didn't regain the Intercontinental title. But Dolph looks strongly poised to move into a higher position yet on the card. He could easily be the next opponent for AJ Styles or he could continue his short feud with Ambrose from earlier in the year. But it seems clear he's a key player in the future of Smackdown Live. (10/2)
5. WWE Super Card: The promotions for the game were integrated right into the programming. The game often seemed ignored in the push of the 2k series of games, but the free mobile game is literally one of the most addictive things ever and a blast to play. Good for WWE and company for making the game feel like a true part of the WWE Universe. (U/1)
6. James Ellsworth: I am still not sure how a chinless jobber has become pivotal to Smackdown storylines yet here we are. He's played a huge role on TV in recent weeks and his apparent heel turn at TLC poises him to be a huge part of Dean Ambrose's continuing saga. (U/1)
7. Alexa Bliss: If there's one talent that has came into her own best on the main roster since their recent NXT days, it is Alexa Bliss. While never dominant in the NXT women's division, she has been a spitfire in her quest for the Smackdown Women's Title. She picked up the title in a tables match, a convenient stipulation often used for heels to steal a title from a face. Her feud with Becky seems to be far from over, but whether she can maintain the title will show where she stands in the future firmament of Smackdown Live. (10/2)
8. The Wyatt Family: I have absolutely no idea where WWE is going with Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton as a unit, but having the evil influence of Wyatt finally sway a foe does amazing things to cement his importance to the brand. Randy Orton continues to put on some of the best matches of his career while also having a unique direction of his own right now. And while Luke Harper didn't get to be a part of the tag champions, he still is the hossiest hoss in WWE. (U/1)
9. The Miz: He put on a hell of a match with Dolph Ziggler, but it might be his continued battle with Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack that might make him one of the true icons in the future of wrestling. Much like Corbin, he's left with little competition with Ziggler out of the way, but he seems poised to have a big Wrestlemania moment as a match between him and Daniel Bryan looks incredibly likely. (U/1)
10. AJ Styles: Eleven months ago, he was in the semi-main event at the Tokyo Dome in New Japan. Now he seems like the most dominant star in WWE today. "The Champ That Runs the Camp" seems almost unbeatable on the WWE roster. So unbeatable that he seems destined for a huge match at Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania. Sure, John Cena could return to feud with him before either event, but with both Undertaker and Shawn Michaels looming in the rumors, AJ Styles could be on his way to his biggest match ever. (U/1)

Image credit: NJPW.

Agree with my list? Disagree? Let me know who your choices would be in the comments section below or on social media. 

Tommy's Take on WWE No Mercy 2016

Hey all, I have returned nearly a month after my first post.

My time management sucks.

Credit Heavy.com

For what it's worth, my thoughts on Raw's Clash of the Champions, in a nutshell? Smackdown blew them away.

Now we're on to the second Smackdown PPV, No Mercy. Again, this is not a comprehensive recap. For that, there are better writers to seek out. These are just my thoughts on the show.

Kickoff Match: American Alpha & The Hype Bros. beat The Ascension & The Vaudevillains.
WWE World Title Triple Threat Match: AJ Styles (c) retained against John Cena and Dean Ambrose by pinning Cena.
Nikki Bella pinned Carmella.
Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater & Rhyno stopped The Usos.
Baron Corbin toppled Jack Swagger.
Title vs Career Match: Dolph Ziggler pinned The Miz (w/Maryse) to become the Intercontinental Champion.
Naomi beat Alexa Bliss.
Bray Wyatt pinned Randy Orton.

 My thoughts:

• Miz and Ziggler steal the show...again. Dolph Ziggler versus The Miz wasn't just a great match, it had emotions. The fans bought into Ziggler's struggle and The Miz needing to be taken down a peg. This was a better match than Backlash, if only because Ziggler was selling both the desperation and his leg (more consistently than last month, anyway). The key, of course, is what happens next. Fans care about Ziggler again, and Miz is still on fire...but aside from the mandatory rematch, what happens to capitalize on this? There's not a lot of heel depth for Ziggler to feud with (aside from revisiting his feud with Baron Corbin, which nobody wants). Maybe Luke Harper or Bray Wyatt, intertwining Ziggler with Orton?
• Welcome back. It takes a lot to really get me to mark out these days, and I had become convinced that Wyatt versus Orton was going to end with Orton punting Bray Wyatt into the WWE history books. Instead, we got the return of Luke Harper, and it gives me (foolish) hope for the future of The Wyatt Family. Orton and Bray had a good match, but the crowd was dead and even I never felt like Orton was ever in any real danger until Harper showed up. That's what two and a half years of booking Bray as a punching bag for the top stars will do to "The New Face of Fear". I have seen calls clamoring (again) for a Harper vs Wyatt feud, but let's be honest: It will be a long time before that feud will ever do either man any favors. Let them run roughshod. Heck, at this point I would be happy with Harper and Wyatt as tag team champions.
• Poor Ms. Bliss. I felt, going into this show, that Alexa Bliss was in no way a threat to Becky Lynch, and that Lynch was probably just treading water until Eva Marie returns. I like Bliss, as she's very athletic, has a great look and is promising on the microphone (it just seems like her comfort level isn't quite there yet)...and so Lynch's mysterious injury seemed like a perfect opportunity to begin building her as a proper threat. I got nervous when she came out and cut her promo, because that seemed like the perfect set up for the arrogant heel to get squashed (I was almost expecting an Asuka debut). Instead we got Naomi. What followed was a sloppy match that seemed like it was telling a story (Alexa Bliss working the arm in response to Becky's own Dis-Arm-Her)...and Naomi squeezing out a lucky win. If you want to make Alexa seem like a legitimate threat to the title, that wasn't the way to do it. Instead she's been repeatedly overshadowed by Eva Marie and Carmella, the former of whom is a notoriously bad in ring worker and the latter of whom hasn't been able to draw a crowd reaction on the main roster as a face or a heel. Hopefully they bail Bliss out before she become another NXT also-ran (like most of the Kickoff show's Superstars).
• The pacing of the show. I enjoyed the show. I even understand putting the World Title match on in the beginning because of the Presidential debate. That said, the pacing was just a little weird, especially when the pacing peaked with the Intercontinental Title Match and the last two matches were largely performed in front of dead crowds...and this wasn't even a Raw/WrestleMania/Summerslam effect where the fans had been sitting through a show that was just waaaaay too long. Obviously, it doesn't help when someone as popular as Becky is taken off the show at the last minute, but Miz hasn't wrestled in front of a dead crowd in years, and he and Ziggler stole the show last month, so they should have been the obvious choice to end the show if the World Title Match was going on first.
• Faces and heels are officially dead. Jim Ross said on his blog today that he didn't understand AJ Style being booked to cheat when he was clearly the crowd favorite. Unfortunately, Jim Ross and I both need to come to grips with the fact that faces and heels are dead. There are several examples of this in WWE right now, but when The Miz and Dolph Ziggler are getting split "Let's go, Ziggler!" "Let's go, Miz!" chants, it is time to stop worrying about who is getting booed and who is getting cheered once and for all, and just focus on who elicits a crowd reaction and who doesn't. ESPECIALLY when a certain segment of the audience loves to voraciously boo babyfaces until they turn heel...then cheer them to the point that they turn them back into babyfaces...at which point they are booed again. Stop worrying about it. That goes to you, me, Jim Ross and WWE Creative. The wrestling audience has morphed into a whole other beast, for better or for worse.
• Stop being too smart for your own good, WWE. WWE matches have been having lots of creative spots and finishes these days...and it's not necessarily a good thing. Some things (like Luke Harper appearing in the ring, but not actually touching Orton, so as to not cause a DQ) aren't bad. Other things (like Cesaro and Sheamus fighting to a draw in a Best of Seven Series, or AJ Styles tapping out to two men, and so the match carries on as if nothing had happened) are pretty silly at best, or make you feel like you wasted your time at worse. This is made doubly bad when it seems like cutesy finishes like these are popping up on every major show now. Possibly the only thing that annoys me more at this point are all the false finishes that pop up in just about every match, especially all the finisher kickouts. Heck, the biggest highlight I've seen on regular TV in months was Ambrose pinning Cena with a sunset flip, because it was a non-finisher pinfall, which made non-finisher/interference/weapon pinfalls look possible again.

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to manage my time better to post new thoughts sooner.

The NXT Top 10 for May 2016

It is that time again. It was December when the talents of NXT last appeared in a Top 10 list, and since that time four names on the list moved up to the main roster. With six new slots open, NXT talent have a chance to make a big debut on this month's list!

Alexa makes her debut in the NXT Top 10 this month. Image credit: WWE.com.

1. Alexa Bliss: Though her allies Blake and Murphy seem to have no luck whatsoever, over the last few months Alexa has become a true veteran of the women's division. Outside the three other women on the list, she's also one of the few signed talents to regularly be featured now that Emma and Dana have moved to the main roster. Her chances at another title shot right now seems slim, but she could have a great match with the new Women's Champion. (U/1)
2. Austin Aries: Aries made a splash in Dallas, but still hasn't really done anything of huge significance on the roster. Until that happens, he will remain a solid midcard player. I wouldn't be surprised to see a heel turn for him in the near future, hopefully as a move towards a feud with the top star on this list. (U/1)
3. The Revival: The former tag team champions are still on a tear as they seek to regain their former titles. Dash and Dawson are strong enough talents for the main roster already, but I suspect they will have a continued path on NXT for the next several months as they help cement a strong tag division without Enzo, Cass and The Vaudevillains. (6/2)
4. Nia Jax: Nia has mostly been the star of squash matches since she lost to Bayley in December. But even with one loss under her belt, she has been a major player in the women's division. Though she still is far from the strongest female star on the roster, the slow brewing feud between her and Asuka promises a huge match in the future of NXT. (U/1)
5. American Alpha: Jason Jordan and Chad Gable may be the most over stars on the NXT roster if it wasn't for a major signing that has electrified the company. Jordan and Gable have the potential to be huge stars either as a team or, eventually, singles stars. A long tag team reign is the perfect role for them now as they continue to electrify the roster with stellar match after stellar match. (7/3)
6. Bayley: The former women's champion took a large hit to her push when she passed out to Asuka in Dallas, but she really embodies Sami Zayn's old moniker: the heart and soul of NXT. While her future with WWE's secondary brand seems limited, she still stands as one of the developmental brand's biggest talents ever. Wherever she goes, she has a bright future with WWE. (3/2)
7. Finn Balor: Last time around, Finn was the number one man on the list. The loss of his NXT title at a house show hurt his standings, but his greatest problem right now is his failure to connect with NXT's audience as strongly as other faces on the roster. Arguably Bayley and American Alpha get more cheers than Balor, but they aren't as highly featured. Still the number four position is as high as Balor honestly can be featured here. (1/3)
8. Asuka: The #3 and #2 spot were hard to judge, but the lack of regular appearances by Asuka since her big title win in Dallas dropped her to the three spot. Asuka is an unstoppable beast on the NXT roster and hugely over with the live audience. She gets tons of cheers (at least outside of matches with Bayley) and her dominant run in the women's division marks her as a star to watch in the future of NXT and WWE. (4/3)
9. Samoa Joe: The new NXT champion lacks a strong storyline right now, with only the continuation of his feud with Finn Balor keeping his story going. While the unexpected debut of Eric Young (still not a signed NXT talent) changed things up a bit, Joe still needs a few more strong victories and new foes before he really starts to look like the champion and main event player we all know he can be. (2/3)
10. Shinsuke Nakamura: "Fight forever." Nakamura instantly electrified the NXT audience with his debut match against Sami Zayn. Subsequent beat downs of Tye Dillinger, Alex Riley and Elias Samson have kept that streak going. He easily gets more cheers than any other talent on the roster. A major player if he should stick around NXT, WWE already has him signed to the Hawaii Bash at the Beach show with the main roster. While we won't see him reignite his NJPW feud with Brock Lesnar in NXT, the match between the two could easily jet Nakamura to the main roster quickly. Right now, it will be hard to top him as the new most beloved star of NXT. (U/1)

The former IWGP Heavyweight and IC champion made a huge debut in NXT.
Image credit: NJPW.

Alexa Bliss is ready to replace the Four Horsewomen

With Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks now main roster regulars, NXT’s divas roster was left depleted in the aftermath of Takeover: Respect. But with the advent of Asuka at the same show and the continued presence of Dana Brooke and Emma, Bayley wasn’t without contenders.

But instead of going with any of those three women, NXT is pushing Alexa Bliss. Two weeks into her feud with Bayley, she seems ready to take over as the top mean girl of NXT.

Alexa Bliss is perfectly bad. Image credit: WWE.com.

Alexa wrestled a solid match with Peyton Royce on this week's NXT. Peyton got in far more offense than I think I’ve seen before, but Alexa Bliss looked like a million bucks as she did everything she needed to pick up the win over Royce. Blake and Murphy surprisingly remained only as ringside spectators, though one suspects they will become far more important once she regularly starts wrestling Bayley.

Is Nia Jax the second coming of Kharma?

Kharma was a failed experiment by WWE, mostly due to a lot of unwanted media attention in the aftermath of her failed pregnancy. But most fans agree that Awesome Kong could have been great in the WWE Divas division, maybe even giving the current "Divas Revolution" a jumpstart years ahead of time. But it wasn't to be.

Image credit: WWE.com.

Last night on NXT, Nia Jax made her in ring debut in a brutal takedown of Shimmer regular Evie. It was a great match with the much smaller and more seasoned Evie selling like a million bucks for the massive new Samoan star. In all the right ways, Nia reminded long time viewers of the dominance of Awesome Kong in the early days of the TNA Knockouts. She looked like a monster, which was a smart way to book her first onscreen match.