A veteran, a rebirth and an underdog! The Mae Young Classic lives again!

Image credits for this article: WWE.com.

If WWE has shown anything over the past two years, it is that their tournament events are well worth a watch. Whether it was the Cruiserweight Classic (an event I would like to see again) and the first Mae Young Classic, WWE has proven it can write compelling storylines out of the thirty-two person single elimination tournament.

With the finals announced for WWE Evolution, the show can waste no time with thirty matches to air in the upcoming eight weeks between now and then. With an entirely new (and much improved) announce team of Michael Cole, Renee Young and Beth Phoenix, the call is spot on.

The first round kicks off with Tegan Nox, a British talent with tons of upside that missed the last year to injury, and Zatara, Zartan's evil sister. No, that's Zarana, sorry. The Chilean luchadora Zaranna, one of the best wrestlers in the southern hemisphere. As much as I'd like to see more of Zatanna, this match was a foregone conclusion before it opened. Nox picked up the big win with her shiniest wizard. She moves on to face the winner of Isla Dawn & Nicole Matthews.

The second match brings the first return from the last MYC, Rhea Ripley, the Australian star that was eliminated in a bit of a shock to Dakota Kai. But the young star goes against another very new talent (and a personal favorite of yours truly) MJ Jenkins. This one was really built as a style battle between the fun-loving Jenkins and the intense powerhouse Ripley. Rhea controlled all the early goings of the match, but when Ripley pauses to taunt, it only fires up MJ. Jenkins comes back with some hard strikes of her own. But much like, the previous match, the announce team made the results of this one a foregone conclusion with their heavy focus on Rhea Ripley. MJ Jenkins goes down to a powerbomb, but the knowledge she's now at the Performance Center gives me hopes she can have a bright WWE future. Rhea takes on the winner of Kacy Catanzaro and Reina Gonzalez.

To quote Kid Rock quoting ZZ Top, she has legs & she knows how to use them.

I'm a bit surprised Lacey Lane kept her Ember Moon-esque look, just as I'm a bit surprised they mentioned her Performance Center signing. Vanessa Kraven is just a great power wrestler and against the much shorter Lacey, it creates a fun bout between the two. Vanessa acts as a rampaging beast on the indies, but here she works the more traditional WWE monster style. And despite all the power Kraven brings to the ring, the hometown girl hits a Crucifix Bomb to steal a win from the giant. She'll go on to face the winner of Jessie Elaban and former Undisputed Era dupe Taynara Conti.

The main event of night one pitted the Portuguese Killer Kelly against arguably the greatest still active joshi wrestler in the world today, Meiko Satomura. Killer Kelly is a great talent with a strong future in NXT UK, but seriously, she's facing down Meiko freaking Satomura. I respect the awe all three of the announcers hold for Satomura in their introduction of her, which instantly makes her feel like the big deal she should always be. Yet Killer Kelly was allowed to show how physical she could be, as she delivered some devastating strikes to the joshi veteran. Ultimately though, Satomura showed her fighting spirit and demolished her with a death valley driver a few minutes after hitting the move of the night, a flipping double kick to the back of Kelly's spine. She'll move on to face down one of two veterans in Mercedes Martinez and Ashley (Madison) Rayne. I like Madison, but Meiko and Mercedes has to be a dream match for more than just me.

It takes years to build that level of intensity on a headlock.

Overall, the first episode was very solid. Though the announcers telescoped the winners for eagle-eared fans, they never failed to get any talent's names wrong or forget any moves. Outside a few bad ADR post-recording spots, the first hour of the tournament gave some great wrestling and awesome talent. Like a thousand tournaments before it though, the really story will be to see what comes from the tournament. With Satomura present, it remains to be seen whether WWE will build a relationship with Sendai Girls like it seems to have started with NOAH. Which of the stars from the tournament will immediately hit WWE and NXT television? All that remains to be seen as we have seven weeks of action ahead of us!

What were your highlights from week one of MYC2? Let me know in the comments!

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. 

Let's see how I've done on my Wild Predictions for 2018... so far

Back in February I made some educated guesses of what I thought might happen between then and the end of the year. It's been almost six months since those predictions, so it seemed like a good time to review where I'm at compared to my original guesses.

One thing I love in wrestling is making guesses about where wrestling stories will go over the course of six months to a year. So today is the day, I'm going to share a few thoughts about the big promotions and wild guesses as to where they will go. The picks are in italics with any updates afterwards.

WWE:

Things are still looking good for Seth, even if it's on Raw.

Image credit: Seth Rollins / WWE.

Seth Rollins will be pushed as one of the company's top babyfaces... on Smackdown.

I got this one half-right. Seth Rollins is arguably the most over face of the male Raw roster. Doesn't look like he's jumping to the other brand anytime soon. FAIL.

Roman Reigns will not win the WWE Universal title at Wrestlemania.

100% correct. He might win in a few weeks at SummerSlam, but I suspect Braun Strowman or Kevin Owens walks off the show with the title. WIN.

The Mixed Match Challenge will end with the crowning of the first ever Mixed Match Champions, a title that will be defended across both brands.

Sadly, no cross brand tag titles came out of the series. But everyone is expecting some kind of women's title soon, so we will see.

AJ Styles will retain his title over Shinsuke Nakamura when he and the Balor Club turn heel and unite. 

Backwards on this one. The Balor Club wasn't involved and it was Nakamura that turned heel. I still wouldn't mind seeing him align with Gallows and Anderson though. 

Ronda Rousey will not win a title in 2018. Asuka will move to Smackdown and challenge Charlotte, keeping both women away from each other. 

So far I'm 100% right on this one, because thankfully I didn't go far enough to predict Asuka's Wrestlemania win. I suspect this will be a money match someday, but Asuka will have to be rebuilt between now and then.

Andrade "Cien" Almas will make his main roster debut after Wrestlemania and be a world champion by the end of the year. 

The first half was true. I still think he's got a very good chance to hold a title soon, especially with news that management is high on him as a top heel.

Kassius Ohno will replace a retiring Sheamus as partner to Cesaro, losing one of his names in the process.

Ohno is still in NXT... so far.

NXT:

Aleister Black will win the NXT title and hold it for the rest of 2018.

He did take the belt, but he has already lost it. I can't be happier though that Ciampa holds it however. FAIL.

A welcome sight, even thought it proved a prediction wrong.

Peyton Royce and Billie Kay will remain on the show and become major threats for the women's title. 

Instead, the Iiconics are on the main roster doing... something? This would have probably been better. FAIL.

The Undisputed Era will defend successfully against every current NXT tag team, but will drop the title to a surprise team. 

They haven't quite made it through the roster, but Moustache Mountain is the definition of a surprise team. I'll count this as a WIN. 

TM-61 will be released and immediately start a strong indie run.

Turns out NXT isn't done with The Mighty, as they're now called. I think the two men have a huge upside, but I still have doubts they will ever make the main roster.

NJPW:

Kazuchika Okada will drop his title at Dominion. 

Okada dropped the title at Dominion to Kenny Omega. Spot on. WIN.

IWGP champion Kenny Omega.

Juice Robinson will win either the Intercontinental or United States title before years end.

Juice Robinson isn't doing so well in the G1, but he won the United States title at Dominion. WIN.

The Young Bucks will participate in their first World Tag League after declaring themselves heavyweights.

They're heavyweights and tag champions, but we've got a few months to go until the Tag League.

The Elite versus Bullet Club feud will continue for most of the next year.

The feud did continue, and now it's morphed a bit into the Bullet Club Elite vs. the Bullet Club OGs. Should be fun to see it continue through at least Wrestle Kingdom. WIN.

If he doesn't sign a WWE contract, Rey Mysterio will make an appearance for the company in Japan.

He made his in-ring debut in a six-man at Dominion. Here's hoping we still get a one on one between him and Liger. WIN.

Cody will participate in his first G1 this year.

Failed on that one because Cody's busy filming Arrow again. Still hoping we see him in one. FAIL.

Fissures between Suzuki and Suzukigun will lead to Zack Sabre leading a turn on Minoru Suzuki.

Sabre-gun still isn't a thing yet. I can still see it happening by year's end however.

American fans will be apoplectic when the company books Michael Elgin in a title match at Strong Style Evolved.

Michael Elgin won the NEVER Openweight title in Japan, but he and NJPW have kept him off American shores, probably wisely. FAIL.

ROH:

Dalton Castle will drop the ROH title to a member of the Bullet Club, but it won't be Cody.

I suppose I still have a chance here should Dalton win back the title, but he dropped it to Jay Lethal of all people.

Kenny Omega will make more than one pay-per-view appearance with the company in the lead up to All In. Kota Ibushi will make at least one as well.

Both men wrestled at the Supercard of Honor event earlier this year. WIN.

Chris Jericho will wrestle at least once for the company and will have a major match at All In.

Not going to happen at All In. But Chris Jericho will definitely make an ROH appearance during their events on his cruise with the Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club match. PARTIAL WIN.

Another New Japan star will hold a title in the company in 2018.

Though New Japan stars have made appearances, Cody and the Young Bucks are the only NJPW talents to score new titles this year (the six man tag belts.)

Juice Robinson will start making regular appearances for ROH.

He has had no American matches for ROH. Probably not going to get this one, especially if rumors of WWE's interest prove too compelling for him.

Christopher Daniels will get a high profile match but not regain the ROH title.

Do six-man tag title matches count? Probably not. Here's hoping for the next four months with him getting some stronger matches in the worse towns he's ever been in. (SCU!)

The tag titles will be held at least once this year by a team that isn't currently on ROH television.

They've been left on the Briscoes for much of the year, but several new teams have debuted, even if none are particularly interesting.

Impact:

Brian Cage will be the man to unseat Austin Aries for the championship.

He hasn't won the World title yet, but he's the reigning X champion now. Pentagon beat Aries for the belt, but Aries regained it. 

The Grand Championship will officially be unified with the Global title.

Done and done. 100% correct. WIN.

The male roster will see less new additions for the rest of the year than the Knockouts roster, as the company seeks to rebuild their women's division. 

Both rosters have continued to gain stars, but the women's division has added a few more in the last couple months. 

Matt Sydal will work his way through multiple titles in the company, but won't win the World title. 

He's held the X division belt for most of the year. I can still see him getting a run with the tag belt as well.

LAX will lose the tag titles to a makeshift tag team.

Eli Drake and Scott Steiner are pretty makeshift. The pair didn't hold the belts long either. WIN.

Taya and Johnny Impact will form a unit against LAX upon Diamante's return. 

We got the OGz instead, which honestly may be better. Always a chance this feud is still coming as well.

Sami Callihan will be in the Global title picture before year's end.

It's back to the World Championship now, but I think there's a good chance Austin Aries versus Sami Callihan is the Bound For Glory main event.

Remembering the greatest super heavyweight: Big Van Vader

The best way to remember Vader, laying out the Bulldog and Hitman at the same time!

Before 1990, professional wrestling had Heavyweights, Cruiserweights and sometimes, even giants. But at The Great American Bash in the summer of that glorious year, America learned what a super heavyweight was, in the form of the monstrous figure of Big Van Vader. A four hundred pound American in a lucha mask that gained fame in Japan, he was like nothing anyone ever saw in wrestling before.

Leon White, the man behind that mask, died two days ago after pneumonia complicated his long running battle with heart disease. He was only 63.

Back when he first debuted, WCW was the B-league for an old northern boy like me. TBS was that weird southern channel and their talents were nothing compared to the almighty Hogan, Savage and Warrior. But even in my haze of northern viewing, when I did flip through to WCW, two figures always stood out to me as like nothing WWF offered. Cactus Jack was one of them, a figure I liked despite my brother's assurance he was pretty much just a Jim Duggan knockoff, and the beast called Vader.


By that time, he'd lost his crazy smoke shooting outer mask, which probably would have served the Shockmaster better than it ever did Vader. I only caught glimpses of his work in the promotion, usually in squashes to end all squashes. No one could stand against Vader. He would ultimately dominate the heavyweight scene in WCW for most of 1992 and 1993, putting on stupendous matches against Cactus Jack, Sting and Ric Flair. His final reign ended when he lost in a Ric Flair title-vs-career match, which also featured the onscreen debut of the future Charlotte Flair. By the company's finish, only two men would hold the title more than he did: Hollywood Hogan and Flair.

The advent of Hogan brought him into a monumental feud with the company's new babyface champion. He would do his best against the fading glory of Hogan, but Vader clearly didn't care for his presence or Bischoff's new direction with him. He ultimately left for WWF just as Nitro debuted, a decision that would haunt him for much of his life.

His WWF run was anything but spectacular and it would be shown for years afterward by the clear lack of respect Vince McMahon showed for Vader. During his three years up north, he would fail to win a single title and mostly be used as fodder in other people's storylines. Even as WWF struggled with a lack of big names, Vince seemed adamant against using the huge name he picked up from WCW. It basically destroyed Vader's career in the United States. After leaving the fed in 98, he would only make a handful of televised American appearances for the rest of his career.


Instead, Vader's career ended where it started, in Japan. He was a huge part of first All Japan and later Pro Wrestling Noah in the late 90s and early 00s. He would win the All Japan Triple Crown twice in that period as well as the coveted Champion Carnival tournament (think the equivalent of the G1 Climax.) He would become the inaugural Noah's GHC tag champion with 2 Cold Scorpio, a criminally under-rated tag team pairing.

After his Japanese run, he would pop up at various companies around the world, including a couple appearances for both Impact and WWE. He even made one stop here in Iowa for an SCW event back in 2013, teaming with major Iowa wrestling veterans like Marek Brave and Shane Hollister.
Much ado is put into the names that do and don't make it into the WWE Hall of Fame, but it is absolutely criminal Vince would not let whatever grudge he had against Vader go in order to allow the man to be inducted in his lifetime. (Though he did get to induct Stan Hansen in 2016.)


He announced around a year ago that a heart condition meant his time on Earth would be over within the next couple years. Sadly that has come to pass and history's greatest super heavyweight is gone. A better WWE would have Braun Strowman play tribute to him on Raw this coming Monday. I really only hope for a graphic, even if he's been a long time member of the WWE Legends program. Even death doesn't stop Vince from holding a grudge.

Let's look back at the man, the myth, the legend of Vader and remember all the great moments though. His career may not have ended on the highest note, but it's hard to argue against his place as one of the greatest of all time.

WWE doesn't have a talent problem; it has a storytelling problem

An old euphemism states "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." If that is the true definition of insanity, WWE's creative team must all currently write from padded cells.

Storytelling in general - and wrestling in particular - is built around tropes. There's only so many ways to tell stories around the battle of two or more people in the wrestling ring. Angles repeat, sometimes purposefully, sometimes not. But the key to good wrestling storytelling is to find new ways to keep things fresh. New Japan doesn't always succeed in this (see the endless matches between War Machine, Killer Elite Squad and the Guerrillas of Destiny), but usually can continue to tweak things in interesting ways (Okada/Omega, Okada/Tanahashi, Kushida/Takahashi, etc.) This allows them to repeat matches without it feeling like the same thing over and over again, generally with no clear conclusion.

Sometimes WWE storytelling leaves one feeling a lot like AJ here.
Image credit: WWE.

WWE has always had a problem with clear conclusions and feud blowoffs. But in the last few years, the company has fallen into a rut especially in the main event picture. Roman Reigns has worked the same match for years now: he gets brutalized for twenty minutes before pulling out a Superman punch and a spear (or eight) to turn things around. He's worked the same feud against Strowman, Big Show and Samoa Joe, all built around him being "the big dog". There's no good reason he picks half these fights, nor has his character ever been built around the spirit of competition. Instead, his blind heroism in an attempt to sell merchandise turns him into a blithering idiot.

At Money in the Bank, WWE will give us the fifth battle between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles under their banner. After the two men stole the show at Wrestle Kingdom a few years back, everyone anticipated their Wrestlemania encounter with enthusiasm. A lackluster showing ended with a Nakamura heel turn. But instead of paying off the feud with a heel title win by Nakamura, the company ended the next two matches with a double count out and a no contest. Nakamura picked up the win on Smackdown to pick the Last Man Standing stipulation for Money in the Bank, but at this point the once hotly anticipated feud between the two men feels like something we just want to end.

It seems like repetitive storytelling has become the norm for WWE. Whether it was the endless feud last year between the Usos and the New Day, Jinder Mahal picking up win after win, or the number of times The Miz fought Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins in the last twelve months, it just feels like the writing team build with holding patterns planned. It's especially frustrating for the weekly viewer, but even for a person like me that watches highlights and pay-per-views, it starts to feel tired after the third PPV in a row with the same people in the ring and the same false finishes to extend storylines.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that WWE is likely to change anything anytime soon. With two billion dollar deals for their two shows, the company looks like it will continue on the path that's clearly bringing them success.

That opens up avenues for companies like ROH, that have started to draw record numbers to events headlined by Cody, the Young Bucks and Dalton Castle. Impact has shown ratings increases on Pop as the company starts to solidify a roster after years in flux. Lucha Underground looks to return with more fanfare than in past years. Will all three companies continue to make storytelling decisions far stronger than those of WWE? That's anyone's guess, but I suspect the chances are good in the year ahead.

What do you see as WWE's main weakness in the days and months ahead? Let me know in the comments section!

VIZ is publishing Shinsuke Nakamura's autobiography

Apparently before his current WWE run, Shinsuke Nakamura wrote his own biography for the Japanese fans that knew him from his tenure in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Now VIZ Media, publisher of most of the manga everyone knows, is translating that book and bringing it to American shores.

And it's got a wicked cover to go with it.

King of Strong Style 1980-2014 drops on August 8.

I am anything but a huge manga reader, but I am a sucker for a wrestling biography. Shinsuke definitely falls into the "very interested" category for yours truly.

Is Shinsuke's biography something you're interested in?

Post-Wrestlemania Weekend Thoughts

I have read a number of mixed reviews about Wrestlemania this weekend. Most have been positive for the most part. I don't like focusing on the negative myself, so I'll keep most of my thoughts on what I did like about the weekend.

Unlike previous weekends, I didn't take multiple days off nor did I make sure to purchase as many events as I could watch. I actually kept my viewing to three shows and three shows only: Lucha Underground vs. Impact Wrestling, NXT Takeover: New Orleans and Wrestlemania itself. While Bloodsport and Spring Break 2 both sounded epic, I'll have to check them out some other time.

Lucha Underground vs. Impact Wrestling

Image credit: Impact Wrestling.

• Impact Wrestling frequently gives away main event pay-per-view quality matches on television, so it's no surprise they did the same on Twitch on Friday night. The crossover event with the pay-per-view-less Lucha Underground made for some stellar battles. 
• The weakest match of the night was probably Eli Drake and Brian Cage, and it was pretty solid. The announce team failed completely to cover the history of the two men. They have been tag team partners off and on for over a decade, but though Eli brought it up, it was ignored completely by Mathews and Striker.
• Teddy Hart teaming with Scott Steiner is just plain weird. And the match itself felt out of place on the card that otherwise featured only crossover battles (even if some of the crossover stars are also Impact talents.)
• The tag match between LAX and the team of The Mack and Killshot was a bit sloppy, but those four men went hard, probably far harder than they needed to at their place on the card. 
• Eddie Edwards versus Jeremiah Crane was built pretty much as perfectly as an I Quit match at that point on the card could be built. This wasn't meant to be the end of the feud between Edwards and Callihan, so Don Callis ending things worked perfectly. These two have tons of chemistry and I honestly could watch this blood feud go on for several more months. 
• The loss of Alberto El Patron made the main event three way a far stronger match than it probably would have been. Though Aries, Fenix and Pentagon didn't pull out their full stop arsenals, I suspect their rematch now scheduled for Redemption will be epic.

NXT Takeover: New Orleans

Image credit: WWE.com.

• The card didn't have a bad match on it, but the opening bout really set the pace for a great night. While it does feel like EC3 and Ricochet's debuts were a bit wasted in the ladder match, it did everything it needed to do to make every man look like a million bucks.
• The women's title match was the weakest on the card, but was far better than the last battle between Shayna Baszler and Ember Moon. I was very happy to see Ember appear on Monday night because a fourth match in this series is the last thing NXT needs. Both are talented in-ring competitors, but they just don't quite click against one another.
• The tag match featured a bit in it that points out everything wrong with WWE booking. The Strong turn was a sensible move for The Undisputed Era, but  earlier in the match he attacked Kyle O'Reilly to keep him from getting the win. It made no sense for Strong to wait in order to betray Dunne if his true goal was to make sure Cole and O'Reilly retained.
• I hoped Andrade "Cien" Almas might make his Smackdown debut on Tuesday night. He didn't, which means we have a rematch coming between him and Aleister Black. Almas has shown why he was hired in 2017 and I suspect a third match between him and Black will only deliver again.
• Fight forever. Seriously, Gargano and Ciampa put on a great match and I hope the feud keeps going for a few more months.

Wrestlemania

• The pre-show battle royals were messes, but I think Matt Hardy and Naomi were both good choices for the winners.
• Mustafa Ali versus Cedric Alexander was good, but half of what their match a couple months ago on 205 Live was. They should have been given ten minutes and a chance to go all out.
• If the opening match had set the tone for the night, I'd have enjoyed Wrestlemania a lot more. The triple threat was a great trainwreck of a match between the three men. They should keep their feud going for quite awhile longer in my opinion.
• I can accept Asuka's streak ending at Charlotte's hand. I cannot accept it ending in only thirteen minutes. That match needed ten more minutes and it would have been talked about in the same breath as the two classic Sasha / Bayley NXT title matches.
• I hope the mixed tag proved most of the Rousey nay-sayers wrong. She is far from perfect in the ring, but she seems to be a natural much like her Four Horsewomen stablemate Shayna. 
• Daniel Bryan, Undertaker, and Nia Jax were all feel good moments, but I'm not sure why they were all on back to back. 
• I predicted AJ versus Shinsuke would end with a turn, but I expected AJ to be honest. I think this feud isn't over yet by a long shot, but I feel Shinsuke needs a new CHAOS if he's going to make it as a major WWE heel.
• Anyone that hated Nicholas Cone's tag title win hates fun. That's all I'll say about that match.
• The main event deserved most of the chants it got. It was slow and plodding, but in the main event position, it ended exactly the way it should have ended.

Post-Wrestlemania debuts

• I know Smackdown already has a packed roster, but they got three new talents on the roster versus the plethora Raw got. Paige, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are all perfect additions to Smackdown, but it's hard not to look at the show as WWE's b-product when Raw brought the return of Jeff Hardy and Lashley, plus the main roster debuts of Ember Moon, No Way Jose and the Authors of Pain. 
• Smackdown should have seen either Andrade Almas or Sanity appear. Hopefully, Sanity will debut after the Usos / Bludgeon Brothers match. 

Wild predictions for televised wrestling in 2018

One thing I love in wrestling is making guesses about where wrestling stories will go over the course of six months to a year. So today is the day, I'm going to share a few thoughts about the big promotions and wild guesses as to where they will go.

WWE:

Are big things ahead for Seth Rollins? Image credit: Seth Rollins / WWE.

• Seth Rollins will be pushed as one of the company's top babyfaces... on Smackdown.
• Roman Reigns will not win the WWE Universal title at Wrestlemania.
• The Mixed Match Challenge will end with the crowning of the first ever Mixed Match Champions, a title that will be defended across both brands.
• AJ Styles will retain his title over Shinsuke Nakamura when he and the Balor Club turn heel and unite. 
• Ronda Rousey will not win a title in 2018. Asuka will move to Smackdown and challenge Charlotte, keeping both women away from each other. 
• Andrade "Cien" Almas will make his main roster debut after Wrestlemania and be a world champion by the end of the year. 
• Kassius Ohno will replace a retiring Sheamus as partner to Cesaro, losing one of his names in the process.

NXT:

Is gold in the former Tommy End's future? Image credit: WWE.com.

• Aleister Black will win the NXT title and hold it for the rest of 2018.
• Peyton Royce and Billie Kay will remain on the show and become major threats for the women's title. 
• The Undisputed Era will defend successfully against every current NXT tag team, but will drop the title to a surprise team. 
• TM-61 will be released and immediately start a strong indie run.

NJPW:

Will Okada be chasing the title at the G1 this year?
Image credit: NJPW.

• Kazuchika Okada will drop his title at Dominion. 
• Juice Robinson will win either the Intercontinental or United States title before years end.
• The Young Bucks will participate in their first World Tag League after declaring themselves heavyweights.  
• The Elite versus Bullet Club feud will continue for most of the next year.
• If he doesn't sign a WWE contract, Rey Mysterio will make an appearance for the company in Japan. 
• Cody will participate in his first G1 this year.
• Fissures between Suzuki and Suzukigun will lead to Zack Sabre leading a turn on Minoru Suzuki.
• American fans will be apoplectic when the company books Michael Elgin in a title match at Strong Style Evolved.

ROH:

Who will take Dalton's ROH World title?
Image credit: ROHwrestling.com.

• Dalton Castle will drop the ROH title to a member of the Bullet Club, but it won't be Cody.
• Kenny Omega will make more than one pay-per-view appearance with the company in the lead up to All In. Kota Ibushi will make at least one as well.
• Chris Jericho will wrestle at least once for the company and will have a major match at All In.
• Another New Japan star will hold a title in the company in 2018. 
• Juice Robinson will start making regular appearances for ROH. 
• Christopher Daniels will get a high profile match but not regain the ROH title. 
• The tag titles will be held at least once this year by a team that isn't currently on ROH television.

Impact:

Will Brian Cage be a huge part of Impact in 2018?
Image credit: ImpactWrestling.com.

• Brian Cage will be the man to unseat Austin Aries for the championship.
• The Grand Championship will officially be unified with the Global title.
• The male roster will see less new additions for the rest of the year than the Knockouts roster, as the company seeks to rebuild their women's division. 
• Matt Sydal will work his way through multiple titles in the company, but won't win the World title. 
• LAX will lose the tag titles to a makeshift tag team.
• Taya and Johnny Impact will form a unit against LAX upon Diamante's return. 
• Sami Callihan will be in the Global title picture before year's end. 

Is Big Match Shin back? The Men's Royal Rumble in review

The 2018 Men's Royal Rumble may have come on only an hour into the 240 minute broadcast, but it marked another sea change in WWE booking. After four straight years of WWE's "chosen" winning the title and getting rained by boos in the aftermath, an indie darling finally rose to take the victory in the first match on the road to Wrestlemania. In the process, he became the first (but not the last) Japanese talent to win a Royal Rumble.

Image credit: WWE.com. 

Shinsuke Nakamura certainly isn't a stranger to big matches. He spent a decade near or at the top of New Japan before he jumped to WWE. He was an instant main eventer in NXT and headlined against Jinder Mahal for the WWE title. But while Shinsuke was a world class competitor during his days in Japan, that Nakamura has been largely nonexistent in WWE. His first match in NXT was nothing short of epic. That battle with Sami Zayn earned the "Fight Forever" chant that came with it. But even as he won the NXT title and defended it in a brutal feud with Samoa Joe, he never quite showed the fighting spirit he showed at so many big New Japan events.

Of course, that Nakamura was mostly an illusion. Although Nakamura always had grand entrances, he frequently didn't push himself in all but the most important matches. That is not to say he ever just phoned in a match, but he only brought the intensity he was frequently known for part time. Even in the middle of huge feuds, he likely only showed intensity for two to three minutes in the many multi-man matches NJPW used to build to feuds.

I have long believed WWE could learn a lot from New Japan's booking strategy. Factions and a lot more six and eight man tags would help protect a lot of their feuds for bigger shows. Nakamura clearly preferred that style of operation as his intensity on television and even at many pay-per-views often seemed a shadow of his New Japan times. It was very strange to hear him called the King of Strong Style when he often showed little of the fighting spirit that defines the puroresu style.

The 2018 version of the Royal Rumble started out with a crowd hot for Finn Balor and Rusev. It kept its fire through multiple appearances and multiple eliminations. But when number fourteen hit the ring, business clearly picked up. With Finn already on fire, he and Shinsuke quickly lit up the crowd.

But Shinsuke and Finn's profile remained just one of many. The ring stayed full for much of the Rumble, but after the elimination of the #30 entry Dolph Ziggler by Finn, business picked up in the match. The final six were clearly split into two camps: the young guns of Roman Reigns, Nakamura and Balor versus the veterans John Cena, Randy Orton and the returning Rey Mysterio. But unlike previous years, the veterans met with trouble. Mysterio and Orton were both soon eliminated, and then there were four.

The intensity of those final four were palpable. Cena and Reigns stood against the Japanese imports Balor and Nakamura. The chosen ones stood against a pair of stars honed anywhere but in WWE. Despite a half hour in the ring, Nakamura had only eliminated one man: his old foe Sami Zayn.

But strong style made its comeback at the end of the match. Nakamura showed all the fire of his most famous confrontations as he stood up to the two men WWE put more money behind than anyone else in the last fifteen years. And in the space of ten minutes, he sent both John Cena and Roman Reigns hurling over the top rope.

Many fans assume the much desired AJ Styles / Shinsuke Nakamura rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 10. But I would rather see a rematch from a much earlier match, one from 2006 at a New Japan event called Toukon Shidou Chapter I. At that show, the defending IWGP Heavyweight champion was a man named Brock Lesnar and his opponent was a man searching to reclaim that belt, then a "super rookie". Shinsuke came up short against "The Beast" but I'm sure I'm not the only one that would love to see a Kinshasa delivered to the skull of the current WWE Universal Champion.


If WWE can continue the stride from their current booking and help Shinsuke rebuild the big match feel he carried so well in New Japan, they could restore the mystique he built in his classic confrontations with Tanahashi, Okada and Goto. WWE is currently overflowing with talents he could bring that same magical fire against. We saw it against Zayn and to a lesser extent in his main roster debut against Dolph Ziggler. But there's also talents like Finn Balor, Seth Rollins and Cesaro on the roster, as well as folks like Adam Cole, Aleister Black and Andrade "Cien" Almas (a man that once beat Nakamura for his IWGP Intercontinental title) waiting for a call up from NXT.

Whatever the case, the Royal Rumble this year stood out as one of the best in the company's history. With the right strategy, they could build a Wrestlemania in New Orleans like none other. Whatever the case, Shinsuke Nakamura looks to be a huge part of the future of WWE. Here's hoping the big matches for the King of Strong Style are here to stay.

A Phenomenal rise to the top: AJ Styles is the top wrestler of 2017

It's hard to argue that the obvious most valuable player of WWE today deserves a place at the top of the list. Over his twenty year career, we've watched AJ evolve from a cruiserweight jobber alongside Air Paris, to a foundation of the early days of TNA as X Division champion to a seasoned champion in Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and now World Wrestling Entertainment.

Image credit: WWE.com.

While he missed ranking on the Top 10 during the final days of his NJPW run (he actually came in #24 in the overall poll), he ranked at number two last year behind only Broken Matt Hardy. But this year, he would prove why he carried his nickname for all these years.

AJ opened and closed the year with the WWE World Heavyweight champion. But he would quickly drop the title at Royal Rumble to give John Cena his sixteenth (and three week) reign with the title. He took his immediate anger out on Shane McMahon. Their hatred brewed for several weeks until the two met in a brutal match to open Wrestlemania. With the anger between the two cooling, AJ turned face and started a run of matches like no other in WWE.

He entered a stellar feud with this year's #7, Kevin Owens. Over several months, the two men had amazing match after amazing match that extended through the summer. Ultimately, he would walk out with a short reign with the United States title. Though he quickly dropped that belt in match with Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler, he quickly rose to prominence by beating Jinder Mahal for his second title. He wrestled Brock Lesnar in an epic encounter at Survivor Series. From there he finished his feud with Jinder, only to move back to another series of stellar matches with Kevin Owens and Owens' new ally Sami Zayn.


AJ didn't come in at first place based on his winning record. In fact, he dropped far more pay-per-view matches than he won in 2017. But winning is far from everything in an entertainment form as subjective as professional wrestling. Every week he appeared in a match, Styles wowed fans. He consistently pulled out some of the best matches ever from Jinder Mahal or Baron Corbin. His in ring psychology is second to none and his offense is filled with flashy moves he can hit quickly and effectively. With a control of his body like no other talent on the planet, he can switch from solid mat skills to high flying in an instant. This versatility gives him so many ways to keep a match's momentum moving forward, that it may actually be impossible for AJ to have a bad match.

Over the course of the year, AJ has done something WWE has tried to do for over a decade with limited success (and rarely succeeded purposefully.) They have created a true blue white meat babyface that children, casual fans and the more jaded older fans (like myself) can get behind. It's made him easily the most popular talent online in the WWE roster. He's even one of the four talents focused on for merchandise over at WWE Shop. Sharing company with massive merch sellers like John Cena, The Shield and Finn Balor is nothing to scoff about.

The real question for AJ is where he's going in 2018. A feud with Shinsuke Nakamura may be in the future. If AJ retains and Nakamura wins the Rumble, they could set up a super-hot feud that could re-energize Nakamura. If they can come even close to their mat classic at Wrestle Kingdom 10 they could create something truly... phenomenal.

The Top Ten Wrestlers of 2017, Honorable Mentions part three

Tomorrow, we reveal the immensely talented number one wrestler of 2017 as voted on by the readers of this site. But first, we have the final ten talents that made a large impact over the year withotu quite reaching the top 10.

• Christopher Daniels (#20)
  
  

  

  Image credit: Oil Sandler / Sportskeeda.

  At 46 years of age and a quarter of a century into his career, Daniels is a veteran by any count. Only a few names can say they've made it as far and as high as he has without ever finding success in WWE. (While he never was on WWE television outside an appearance as a Conquistador, he did have a developmental contract from 1998-2000.) 2017 was one of his most impressive years in the business as he wrestled several great matches and finally ascended to the pinnacle of a world championship. While his run with the ROH title wasn't particularly long, it was quite an achievement for one of the best talents still going in the business.
  
  
• Johnny Gargano (#19)
  
  Injury slowed Johnny Gargano a bit in 2017, but he walked into the year as NXT Tag Team Champion and walked out as #1 contender to the NXT title. He ranked high on the list of talents here (while current NXT champion Andrade Almas didn't even get a vote.) And while he spent much of 2017 taking losses, he showed why he's called Johnny Wrestling in match after match. He and Tommaso Ciampa sold for the Authors of Pain like no other. The beating he took at Ciampa's hand set him up for a huge underdog babyface run. But he did succeed in putting Andrade on the map with a stellar match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III and bumped for Pete Dunne in perhaps the best UK title match so far. Gargano has a great 2018 in his future, although Tommaso has to be waiting in the wings as a major thorn in his side.
  
  
• The Young Bucks (#17 & 18)
  
  

  

  Image Credit: ROHwrestling.com.

  I marked Matt and Nick Jackson as the eighth and ninth best wrestlers in the world on my own personal list. They remained forgotten on several others. I suspect they may be victims of their own success. The Young Bucks don't ever have bad matches, but their place as a stalwart and true tag team means they often are forgotten during their dozens of reigns with multiple titles. They held the ROH tag titles twice in 2017, losing and regaining them from the Broken Hardys in their last match before jumping back to WWE. They would then team with Hangman Page (as the Hung Bucks) to capture the ROH Six Man titles. They would take the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team title on their sixth ride as well. (They have since claimed it for the seventh time at Wrestle Kingdom 12.) The Young Bucks have already reached the sky, but their lofty goal of selling out a ten thousand seat arena means they may draw a lot more eyes in 2018.
  
  
• Samoa Joe (#16)
  
  On any other roster, Joe would be a champion. Unfortunately, he's stuck on the roster of Raw, where Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns won't drop their matches without extreme circumstances. Joe dragged the best match Lesnar had this year out of him and actually made Reigns look better (if not great) when he played his latter day Hulk Hogan beatdown schtick. If all goes well in 2018, he will join AJ Styles on Smackdown. It might make that brand look like TNA circa 2008, but everyone and their uncle know the magic Styles and Joe can make. And just think if they threw Shinsuke in there...
  
  
• The Bar (Sheamus #15 & Cesaro #11)
  
  

  

  Image credit: WWE.com. 

  Cesaro and Sheamus were the only tag team not to rank one after another on this list. Both proved their worth by putting on great tag matches in 2017. Their heel turn cemented them as a unit. Cesaro has always worked at a higher level than Sheamus, but the Irishmen seemed relevant for the first time in years in The Bar. I suspect these two will hang together for some time to come.
  
  
• Charlotte Flair (#14)
  
  Charlotte's move to Smackdown and face turn have done wonders for her character and her in ring work. In my opinion, she works best as a face and she showed that off by putting on some matches far stronger than what we got in the last few months of her heel run. My only fear for her is that she will run out of goals to accomplish in WWE far too quickly.
  
  


• Neville (#13)
  
  

  

  Image credit: WWE.com

  My number six pick takes the cake for most improved character work by any meter. But this list is about in ring work and in WWE, he was right near the peak of that. WWE's decision to de-push and turn him was beyond idiotic and would have been a truly awful way to end one of the hottest runs in wrestling. I don't blame him for walking away to avoid being just another member of the Cruiserweight crew. I'm not sure if he will sit out his WWE contract or return, but smart money will be that he's back in the heavyweight division when he does. Honestly, who wouldn't love to see Neville on Smackdown feuding with Nakamura or Styles?
  
  


• The Miz (#12)
  
  I cannot argue that The Miz is really the MVP of Raw, often carrying a show that's primary champion is nowhere to be found and who doesn't ever wrestle on television. His character work is second to none and his in ring work has vastly improved in the last couple years. While I personally wouldn't have ranked him nearly this high, I respect the multiple voters that chose him as a top talent in WWE. 

That's the final ten. Observant readers probably already know who that leaves as number one, the second time our top talent has made an appearance in the top half of our list. Who is it? Find out tomorrow!

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.

Pete Dunne: the brash Bruiserweight blasts his way to #6!

I first learned of the existence of Pete Dunne way back in 2014 when he teamed with storyline brother Damien Dunne and perpetual foe Mark Andrews to form Team UK in Chikara's King of Trios. I was particular impressed him back then, but his exposure to American audiences was pretty much non-existence outside a few folks that subscribe to Revolution Pro or PROGRESS Wrestling's streams.

That changed at the very beginning of 2017 when Dunne was one of eight names inserted into the tournament for the WWE United Kingdom Championship. He burst onto the scene with a series of hard-hitting and compelling matches. He jumped his foes more than once during the tournament as he made his way through Roy Johnson, Sam Gradwell, and perpetual enemy Mark Andrews (a man that walked away from Impact Wrestling for a place in the UK division.) Ultimately, he would fall to one of the men he assaulted, Tyler Bate, in the finals.

Image credit: WWE.com.

Four months later, Dunne would take the title for the first time. He would hold onto it through the end of the year, defending against Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Johnny Gargano and Jack Gallagher. His run with the title has made him a clear anti-hero, something helpful when he spends so much time teaming with former rivals Tyler Bate and Trent Seven outside the purview of NXT and WWE. British Strong Style took home the King of Trios this year, held in the UK for the first time, three years after Dunne's first appearance and arrival on American soil.

As he ends the year, he also holds the ATTACK 24:7 title and the Destiny World Wrestling belt, while also spending most of the year as PROGRESS World Champion. He's made appearances all over the independents and starred in the first shows PROGRESS put on in the United States earlier this year.

His unique contract means he's regularly working all over the world for multiple promotions, with limits only on televised promotions not approved by WWE. Whatever the future for the UK division in the WWE will be, it seems clear Pete Dunne will continue to dominate the indies and his division. Hopefully, WWE realizes how much star power they have with the Bruiserweight. He could have major programs in WWE with some truly stellar talents. Who wouldn't want to see Dunne versus Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe or AJ Styles?

Now, it sure would be nice to see Dunne beat the hell out of Enzo Amore one more time.


Tomorrow we continue the non-WWE exclusive stars with another highly decorated worker in 2017...

Mr. Threepeat: Kevin Owens clocks in at #7!

Only one name has made everyone of the annual Top 10 lists on this site. And that is a man that has taken WWE by storm since he first signed in August 2014. A dominant former NXT Champion, WWE Universal Champion, two time Intercontinental Champion and three time United States Champion (the most recent of which came in mid-2017), Kevin Owens makes a solid argument for being WWE's most valuable player.

Image credit: WWE.com.

2017 opened with Owens at a new high. He won the WWE Universal title after the first champion Finn Balor went down with an injury sustained in his first title match. He held it all through the second half of the year, even beating Roman Reigns at Royal Rumble to retain. But his obsession with his own greatness made him turn on his friend and ally Chris Jericho. This turn would lead to a distraction at Fastlane that would cost Owens his title and his main event berth at Wrestlemania. Owens and Jericho degenerated into a feud that would lead through a transfer to the Smackdown brand. They would trade the United States title twice before the feud was over.

From there, Owens moved into a feud with AJ Styles over the United States title that carried both through the summer. They put on a series of epic matches, but ultimately the Phenomenal One came out on top.

But it was his shenanigans in the ring that ultimately lead to Summerslam and Shane McMahon's insertion in his match for the US title with Styles. He segued into a feud with Shane himself, one that still burns as 2017 closes.

Owens beat down Mr. McMahon to really kick it off, followed by a destructive Hell in a Cell match at that same pay-per-view. Sami Zayn would rescue him there, joining forces with his own friend as both felt Shane failed to give them the chances they deserved in Smackdown's "land of opportunity." He would interfere against his own brand's team (lead by Shane) at Survivor Series. Shane wanted to fire both men afterwards, but Daniel Bryan stepped in to keep both employed. Bryan would also count the deciding three count at Clash of Champions in a match for Owens and Zayn's jobs. This would turn Shane's enmity towards Bryan as well, but even as Owens moves back into the World title picture, his enmity with his boss still holds.

Kevin Owens is one of those rare talents that shines past any flaws. He looks like a pretty normal guy thrown in a world of lithe high fliers and muscular giants. But this belies his immense in ring skills, his ability to cut wicked promos (in his second language no less) and his ability to tell some of the best stories in wrestling today. Only a handful of talents can rise above the often dreadful storytelling of WWE programming. Kevin Owens deserves his place on this list for his ability to outshine so many talents around him.

Now Kevin Owens enters 2018 as the most hated man on the Smackdown roster. With multiple potential opponents to face moving forward, it remains to be seen if he can continue his streak into a fourth year. But now aligned with Sami Zayn, the future continues to be bright for the Top 10's most decorated entrant.

As we close out this entry, let's look back at one of Owens' finest moments as the Festival of Friendship comes to dark close...


Tomorrow, we introduce the talent with the highest rise in profile of the year, that rose out of a burgeoning wrestling scene to become one of the top talents in the world.

The Top 10 Wrestlers of 2017 Honorable Mentions, Part One

Every year we get more and more votes in our year end Top 10, and every year that means dozens of talents get recognized by our voters, but don't quite make it to our final list. So here are some of the other vote getters.

Image credit: Chris Grasso.

Joey Janela: The former starman probably will never be the most technically proficient talent or the best high flyer. He certainly doesn't have the size of Vince's favorites. But the Jersey native oozes charisma and shows a willingness to do things no sane human would ever do. He also put on maybe the best show of Wrestlemania weekend, Joey Janela's Spring Break, where he fought Marty Jannetty in an absolutely insane match.

War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe): Hanson and Rowe made a name in the New Japan tag team division while also dominating ROH. They finished their run with ROH at Final Battle and all indications are they will finish up with New Japan during the first week of January. Once the pair hits WWE, they could be hugely over hosses in the tag division... or they could join The Club as forgotten talent.

Finn Balor: Balor spent a lot of the year injured and even upon his return suffered from creative still angry about his injury during his win to become the first Universal champion. He's meandered around the upper midcard putting on solid if uninspired matches. Rumors WWE has no interest in a continued push for him seem fueled by Balor on social media, but it remains to be seen if he really will become a solid unspectacular midcarder or break out into a new storyline.

Charlie Haas: The former WWE and ROH tag star is still active on the Texas independents and gets attention from several voters in that area.

Image credit: ROH

Dalton Castle: The results of Final Battle came out during the voting period, but Dalton was vastly overshadowed this year by Bullet Club in ROH. Even as he enters 2018 as a world champion, it remains to be seen if the bookers of ROH will ever truly embrace him as the unique heroic figure he's been for years. As much as I love Castle, this win feels two years too late.

The New Day: The biggest tag team of the last two years only received votes from a single correspondent. Stuck in a rut by a WWE that refuses to push them as anything but a combined entity, they now seem to suffer the same inattention they received as singles stars as a unit. It's a sad step down for Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. The return of the Bludgeon Brothers and the recent title win by Gable and Benjamin have opened up the Smackdown tag division again, but it remains to be seen if WWE will ever let the trio re-define themselves in the weeks and months ahead.

Bobby Roode: He held the NXT title for much of the year, but Roode still hasn't really excelled in WWE. He's a great talent when given the time to shine but on the cramped Smackdown roster he may never get it. A solid run with the United States title could define him, but hopefully WWE realizes he could be a solid main eventer before his bump card runs out.

Mustafa Ali: Ali has quietly became one of the best stars of the Cruiserweight division even as WWE seems to treat him as little more than a third man in most storylines. With strong fan reactions, he may eventually get more attention as a 205 Live main eventer, but with Cedric Alexander, Enzo Amore and Drew Gulak dominating that place he may have to continue a patient wait.

Baron Corbin: Perhaps the most natural heel in the business, Corbin is a guy that could be huge if given a chance to look like a dominant force. Unfortunately, he spends too much of his time being treated like a chump or a fool. I predicted big things for Corbin on the main roster, but now it is questionable if he's too far damaged to ever amount to much more in WWE.

Image credit: Shimmer Womens Athletes

Nicole Savoy: I have been a big backer of the Mae Young Classic competitor and Shimmer's current top champion since I first saw her as part of the ChickFight Tournament on Shimmer Volume 71. Since that time she won the inaugural Heart of Shimmer championship and defended it for over a year. Following her two matches in the MYC, she ascended to the top of Shimmer by beating her former stablemate Mercedes Martinez to take the dominant spot in Shimmer. She's got a huge upside for 2018, although her MMA style offense probably means she won't see a WWE contract anytime soon with her other former tag partner, Shayna Baszler, already signed and Ronda Rousey rumored as a potential new recruit for the company.

Other talents receiving votes: Becky Lynch, Dean Ambrose, Dirty Andy Dalton, Gino Tiht, Jeff Hardy, Jerome Daniels, and Seth Rollins.

All images are credit: WWE.com, unless otherwise mentioned.