#TheChris100 2020: #20-11

 

We're deep in it now. These are the best of the best wrestlers of 2020. A lot of good-ass wrestlers here.

20. Hangman Adam Page (8 ballots, 331 points, average rank 11)

High Vote: TH, Son of Mecha Mummy (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix (AEW, 2/19)
w/ Kenny Omega vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 2/29)
vs. Wardlow (AEW, 10/22)
vs. Kenny Omega (AEW, 11/7)
vs. John Silver (AEW, 11/19)

19. Yoshiko (10 ballots, 333 points, average rank 20.7)
High Vote: Andrew (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG, 1/24)
vs. Sareee (Diana, 2/22)
vs. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG, 7/13)
w/ Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto (SEAdLINNNG, 8/26)
w/ Sareee vs. Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto (SEAdLINNNG, 11/27)

"Yoshiko had an unreal 2020 campaign working for a lot of different joshi promotions against a variety of opponents, but it was her work against Arisa Nakajima in SEAdLINNNG where she was making magic happen the most. Whether it was a singles match or a tag, those two beat the hell out of each other basically all year. Few joshi wrestlers have the pure presence as a brawler that Yoshiko has, and Arisa was a perfect foil for her." ~Chris Gibbons

i can't start my day without a pic of ibushi

18. Kota Ibushi (8 ballots, 345 points, average rank 11.5) – HIGHEST RANKED EIGHT BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: BlodN (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata (NJPW, 2/22)
vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 6/22)
w/ Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW, 8/29)
vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW, 9/27)
vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 10/10)

17. Sasha Banks (11 ballots, 345 points, average rank 22.18182)
High Vote: Luke (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Io Shirai (WWE, 7/1)
vs. Asuka (WWE, 7/19)
vs. Bayley (WWE, 10/25)
vs. Bayley (WWE, 11/6)
vs. Carmella (WWE, 12/20)

"Sasha was the hardest WWE to compile a list of recommended matches, because while other workers in the company had clear highs above everything else they did, Sasha Banks just had a full year of good stuff that was hard to choose over the other. There were at least four Asuka matches alone that I could've listed, let alone the stuff against Bayley, Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, Carmella, Lacey Evans, Alexa Bliss, the various tag matches, etc. Even with all the talent in the WWE women's division, Sasha stands tall. Only Asuka really gives her a run, and when those two are together, they create magic." ~Chris Gibbons

16. Kazushi Sakuraba (11 ballots, 353 points, average rank 18.09091)
High Vote: Sol (6)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Go Shiozaki (NOAH, 9/22)
vs. Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, 9/23)
vs. Manabu Soya (NOAH, 10/3)
w/ Takashi Sugiura vs. Masa Kitamiya & Manabu Soya (NOAH, 10/28)
w/ Takashi Sugiura vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura (NOAH, 12/19)

"There have been a lot of old shooters that ended up on this list, and they're all worthy of their placements. It was a great year if you love guys in their 50s and 60s doing matwork and strikes. While there are many candidates for Old Man Shooter Of The Year, I think Sakuraba takes it pretty easily. He had one of the best N-1 Victory runs in NOAH and helped launch Kenoh's super-fun run where he challenged all the veteran technicians in the company. Nothing quite hits like a guy like Sakuraba going out there trying to show those young'ns how to really fight." ~Chris Gibbons

15. Arisa Nakajima (9 ballots, 354 points, average rank 16.77778)
High Vote: Andy (1)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 1/24)
vs. ASUKA (SEAdLINNNG, 6/13)
vs. Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 7/13)
w/ Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 8/26)
w/ Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee & Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 11/27)

14. Toru Sugiura (10 ballots, 363 points, average rank 15) – HIGHEST RANKED TEN BALLOT WRESTLER
High Vote: Andrew (1)
 
Recommended Mtaches:
w/ Takashi Sasaki & Tomoya Hirata vs. Kenji Fukimoto, Masashi Takeda & Yuko Miyamoto (FREEDOMS, 1/24)
vs. Takumi Tsukamoto (FREEDOMS, 6/25)
vs. Masashi Takeda (FREEDOMS, 7/28)
vs. Jun Kasai (FREEDOMS, 8/31)
vs. Masashi Takeda (FREEDOMS, 12/25)

"Toru Sugiura is currently on an unreal title run as the King of FREEDOM World Champion. He's held the belt for well over a year and went through the likes of Masashi Takeda (twice), Yuko Miyamoto, Jun Kasai, Takashi Sasaki and Takumi Tsukamoto in 2020. That's a real who's who of Japanese deathmatch wrestling and doesn't get to his opponents from 2019 and 2021. Sugiura is taking all of what these guys have and coming out on top in spectacular, bloody fashion. The name of the championship has been very apt for Sugiura's run. He truly does feel like the king of FREEDOMS.

13. Eddie Kingston (11 ballots, 378 points, average rank 18.90909)
High Vote: Damian (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Anthony Gutierrez (EVOLVE, 1/18)
vs. LA Park (RevPro, 2/14)
vs. Daniel Makabe (wXw, 3/6)
vs. Cody (AEW, 7/22)
vs. Jon Moxley (AEW, 11/7)

"Eddie Kingston signing to a major television promotion is something that should have happened a long time ago. He has been one of the best workers on the entire planet for almost 20 years at this point, and despite all the wear on his body, he might be getting better. Kingston's a complete package. He brings so much fire to everything he does, whether it's his major network television debut or a late-era EVOLVE show with hardly anyone in the crowd. And while it's great to see him succeeding on TV having great matches with Cody and Moxley, it was those indie shows, in the U.K. against LA Park or in Germany for the 16 Carat Gold Tournament, or in ICW No Holds Barred giving Brett Ison his best-ever match, that I'll most fondly remember from Kingston's 2020." ~Chris Gibbons

12. Isami Kodaka (9 ballots, 400 points, average rank 10.11111)
High Vote: Lao Tzu (3)
 
Recommended Matches:
w/ Kenji Fukimoto & Takashi Sasaki vs. Alex Colon, Danny Havoc & Matt Tremont (GCW, 2/6)
w/ Yuko Miyamoto vs. KAI & TAJIRI (AJPW, 5/31)
vs. Fuminori Abe (BASARA, 7/14)
vs. Takuya Nomura (BASARA, 9/22)
vs. Minoru Fujita (BJW, 11/17)
 

"Isami Kodaka might legitimately have been the best wrestler in three different Japanese promotions. He was one of BJW's most consistent workers, and his title match with Minoru Fujita was the best match in that company with a bullet. In BASARA, he had an incredible run of technical matches, putting on matwork clinics month after month. He might have only worked a handful of AJPW shows, but he put more effort into his tag run there with Yuko Miyamoto than a lot of AJPW's top stars put in all year. That's before we get to FREEDOMS, GCW, DDT, Asuka Pro, various produce shows, all where he put in work. Whether he was working an 8 minute undercard technical match or a 30 minute deathmatch epic, Kodaka was working at a ridiculous level in 2020." ~Chris Gibbons

11. Rina Yamashita (9 ballots, 416 points, average rank 9.22222) – HIGHEST RANKED NINE BALLOT WRESTLER

High Vote: Wild Kunt (2)
 
Recommended Matches:
vs. Saki Akai (DDT, 1/12)
w/ Ram Kaicho vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi (Ice Ribbon, 2/24)
vs. Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon, 7/25)
w/ Minoru Fujita vs. Mammoth Sasaki & Violento Jack (FREEDOMS, 8/31)
vs. Minoru Fujita (FREEDOMS, 11/10)

"Nobody told Rina Yamashita it was a pandemic year. She actually worked 14 more matches in 2020 than she did in 2019 according to Cagematch. Yamashita worked 14 different promotions not counting produce shows. Her best stuff was in FREEDOMS (both as a singles worker and in one of the best tag teams of the year with Minoru Fujita) and Ice Ribbon, but she also had good stuff in SEAdLINNNG, OZ Academy, DDT, and YMZ, among others. Versatility is the word to use when talking about Rina Yamashita's 2020. Any promotion, any placement on the card, in singles or tags, Yamashita delivered, and it feels like she's just getting started." ~Chris Gibbons