#TheChris100 2020: 100-91
A couple weeks ago we counted down all of the honorable mentions for this year's #TheChris100. That was all good and fun, but nobody's here to find out who the 275th best wrestler of the year was, even if I do love John Wayne Murdoch. No, it is indeed time to count down the top 100 wrestlers of the year 2020 as voted by the esteemed Chris 100 Voters. Thank you for everyone's patience as I took last week off for the most part. I wasn't feeling the best physically or mentally for most of the week, but I'm all good now.
Once again, thank you to all the voters. as well as anyone who didn't vote but shared the ballots and the posts. Special thanks to Sam for giving his blessing on me doing this project with no #WDKW100 happening this last year. There wouldn't be a #TheChris100 without the #WDKW100 first.
Now let's get to the list. Each wrestler in the top 100 will have at least five recommended matches listed under their names. Some of them will have some quick write-ups as well. I wish every wrestler could get a blurb, but I didn't get many bites on Twitter and I don't have knowledge enough on all 100 wrestlers to write about them all myself (or I'm biting my tongue because I have nothing but negative thoughts on them/their 2020 campaigns).
Enough stalling already! Time to Post List.
100. Hikaru Shida (3 ballots, 101 points, average rank 17.66667)
High Vote: Logan Kenny (8)
vs. Nyla Rose (AEW, 5/23/20)
vs. Penelope Ford (AEW, 7/1/20)
vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW, 9/5/20)
vs. Nyla Rose (AEW, 11/7/20)
High Vote: TH (6)
vs. Cody (AEW, 6/3/20)
w/ Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 7/15/20)
w/ Luchasaurus vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 9/5/20)
w/ Luchasaurus vs. Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix (AEW, 9/9/20)
High Vote: Andy (11)
vs. Bobby Lashley (WWE, 6/14/20)
vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 7/19)
vs. Randy Orton (WWE, 9/27/20)
vs. Roman Reigns (WWE, 11/22/20)
"Drew McIntyre is a wrestler that never fully clicked with me in either of his WWE runs or his major indie run between those runs. He's always been a more-than-capable worker in my view, but I always found him boring. Somehow, he managed possibly his best career year in the wasteland that was WWE Covid-19 television. McIntyre was consistently entertaining both as champion and chasing the title, and he had several great matches with workers who I otherwise wouldn't be bothered with watching. If you can get a great match out of somebody like Dolph Ziggler in front of zero fans in the year 2020, you deserve a spot on a list like this" ~Chris Gibbons
97. Virus (4 ballots, 105 points, average rank 24.75)
High Vote: Damian, Lao Tzu (15)
High Vote: Damian, Lao Tzu (15)
vs. Star Jr. (CMLL, 3/3)
vs. Judas el Traidor (Lucha Memes, 3/8)
w/ Cancerbero & Raziel vs. Cuatrero, Forastero & Sanson (CMLL, 9/25)
"This was his weakest year in a while but that's not his fault, as every time he actually got the chance to hit the ring he looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world. His match against Judas is one of the best three or so matches in Mexico this year and he was the key part of the best trios in CMLL this year in Aniversario. Lack of opportunity to face good wrestlers, even decent ones, hurts his case, but you can always count on him to make the most out of every chance he has." ~Damian
"Virus is a guy who would land a lot higher on this list in any other year. Covid shutdowns took away opportunities from everybody, but it feels like CMLL workers lost out more than anyone. Still, while Virus' resume may seem thin, he's a worker that makes the best out of every opportunity he gets. He is still one of the best technicians in the world, and he'll show that whether he has marquee matches in his resume or if he has to prop up lesser workers in otherwise forgettable trios matches." ~Chris Gibbons
96. Sareee (3 ballots, 106 points, average rank 16.33333)
High Vote: Andrew (7)
High Vote: Andrew (7)
vs. Yoshiko (SEdLINNNG, 9/24)
w/ Maki Itoh vs. Aja Kong & Miyu Yamashita (TJPW, 11/7)
w/ Yoshiko vs. Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto (SEAdLINNNG, 11/27)
vs. Saori Anou (OZ Academy, 12/30)
95. Adam Cole (BAYBAY) [5 ballots 106 points, average
rank 29.8)
High Vote: Andy (16)
High Vote: Andy (16)
vs. Tommaso Ciampa (WWE, 2/16)
vs. Pat McAfee (WWE, 8/22)
vs. Finn Balor (WWE, 9/8)
w/ Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong vs. Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, Pat McAfee & Pete Dunne (WWE, 12/6)
94. Kaho Kobayashi (2 ballots, 108 points. average rank
9.5) – HIGHEST RANKED TWO BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Wild Kunt (1)
High Vote: Wild Kunt (1)
w/ Yoshiko vs. Itsuki Aoki & Ryo Mizunami (SEAdLINNNG, 6.13)
w/ Yuu vs. Miyuki Takase & Rina Yamashita (SEAdLINNNG, 10/3)
w/ Kakeru Sekiguchi vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Saori Anou (OZ Academy, 11/8)
vs. Yoshiko (OZ Academy, 11/29)
93. “The Prinxe” Finn Balor (6 ballots, 109 points, average rank 38.83333)
High Vote: Andy (10)
vs. Dexter Lumis vs. Timothy Thatcher (WWE, 7/29)
vs. Timothy Thatcher (WWE, 8/22)
vs. Adam Cole (WWE, 9/8)
vs. Kyle O’Reilly (WWE, 10/4)
"Finn Balor in NXT is a wrestler I had no interest in going into the year. Outside of a handful of matches Balor's been dreadfully boring since he was promoted to, then demoted from, the main roster. That changed sometime halfway through the year when Balor somehow began working as a Serious Technical Wrestler while everyone else around him in the promotion was working spooky gimmicks. I think it's worked. I've seen his new style as playing pretend as a technician and his boring indie workrate-y stuff does still leak out in his matches, but I think he was consistent enough at it to stand out as perhaps NXT's best singles wrestler in 2020." ~Chris Gibbons
92. Bayley (5 ballots, 110 points, average rank 29)
High Vote: Michael Stocks (12)
High Vote: Michael Stocks (12)
vs. Asuka (WWE, 7/3)
w/ Sasha Banks vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane (WWE, 7/3)
vs. Sasha Banks (WWE, 10/25)
vs. Sasha Banks (WWE, 11/6)
"When WWE first went empty arena mode, they started heavily relying on Bayley and Sasha Banks more than anyone else. They worked both flagship shows just about every week and even showed up on NXT when they wanted to try for a ratings bump. It wasn't rare for them to be pulling double-duty on TV or pay-per-view. While I still think their character work and promos were more miss than hit, that stuff doesn't matter for a list like this. Their in-ring work was as consistent as ever. And while Sasha got the biggest share of praise from that run (we'll be talking about her more later), Bayley's work both as a singles worker and in her tag team with Sasha should not be ignored." ~Chris Gibbons
High Vote: Brandon from Maine (8)
Recommended Matches:
vs. Sammy Guevara (AEW, 1/1)
vs. Lance Archer (AEW, 4/29)
w/ QT Marshall vs. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (AEW, 6/11)
vs. Mr. Brodie Lee (AEW, 9/9)
w/ QT Marshall vs. The Butcher & The Blade (AEW, 11/11)
vs. Sammy Guevara (AEW, 1/1)
vs. Lance Archer (AEW, 4/29)
w/ QT Marshall vs. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (AEW, 6/11)
vs. Mr. Brodie Lee (AEW, 9/9)
w/ QT Marshall vs. The Butcher & The Blade (AEW, 11/11)
"It's hard for me not to just stand there in awe of how much fun Dustin Rhodes is to watch over three decades into his career. While he's largely been on the lower and midcards of AEW shows since his brilliant, bloody match with Cody in 2019, he's made the most out of his opportunities. Dustin can pull off a great five-minute television match in his sleep at this point, and when he does get booked in a position where he can show off more of his skillset, he looks smoother than guys a third of his age. I never expected a tag team with QT Dang Marshall to be something I actively sought out, but Dustin helped give that team a lot of credibility in making the Natural Nightmares one of my favorite TV acts of the year." ~Chris Gibbons
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