#TheChris100 2021: 80-61

 

Hard to move on with a list celebrating greatness in wrestling without acknowledging the passing of Scott Hall last night after several heart attacks caused by complications with hip surgery. Scott Hall is one of the greatest figures in pro wrestling history, and it's hard to see this business as it is without his contributions. He was a titan who many of the wrestlers on this list surely would have looked up to. Rest in peace, Bad Guy.

80. YOH (8 ballots, 382 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: Sol, Flae (17)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ SHO vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW, 4/4)
• vs. El Desperado (NJPW, 6/7)
• w/ Tomohiro Ishii vs. Dick Togo & EVIL (NJPW, 7/10)
• w/ SHO vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW, 8/16)
• vs. SHO (NJPW, 9/4)
• vs. DOUKI (NJPW, 11/15)
• vs. Master Wato (NJPW, 11/27)
• vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW, 12/5)
• vs. SHO (NJPW, 12/11)
• vs. Hiromu Takahashi (NJPW, 12/15)

"YOH is one of the NJPW success stories that it seems like nobody is talking about. He's better than a lot of people seem to give him credit for. SHO was really flashy so I understood why he overshadowed YOH a bit, but he really overshadowed him at times, while YOH to me was always the more complete wrestler. I think SHO has actually looked better since becoming an evil gamer, but YOH to me is still the better of the two. He's just so crisp." ~ Chris Gibbons

79. Penta El Zero Miedo/Pentagon Jr. (9 ballots, 384 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 105
High Vote: Doxxystocksy, Tyson Boyd (10)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Laredo Kid vs. Chessman & Texano Jr. (AAA, 2/4)
• w/ Laredo Kid & Rey Fenix vs. Brandon Cutler, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 3/24)
• w/ Eddie Kingston vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 6/30)
• w/ Eddie Kingston vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 7/7)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. Brian Cage & Taurus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid (AAA, 8/14)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (AEW, 8/25)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 9/5)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. El Hijo del Vikingo & Laredo Kid (AAA, 10/9)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (AEW, 11/13)
• w/ Cody Rhodes, PAC & Rey Fenix vs. Andrade El Idolo, Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood & Malakai Black (AEW, 11/24)

78. Hikari Noa (10 ballots, 384 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 223
High Vote: Sol (20)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Rina Yamashita (TJPW, 4/1)
• w/ Sena Shiori vs. Mirai Maiumi & Miu Watanabe (TJPW, 4/12)
• vs. Miyu Yamashita (TJPW, 4/17)
• vs. Yuki Kamifuku (TJPW, 5/4)
• w/ Mizuki & Yuki Arai vs. Maki Itoh, Marika Kobashi & Yuki Kamifuku (CyberFight, 6/6)
• vs. Marika Kobashi (TJPW, 6/17)
• vs. Raku (TJPW, 7/10)
• vs. Rika Tatsumi (TJPW, 7/23)
• vs. Yuki Aino (TJPW, 10/9)
• vs. Miu Watanabe (TJPW, 11/25)

"Hikari Noa is one of those wrestlers that when I see her, it always astounds me how young she really is. At just 24 years old, she already feels like such a complete wrestler. Great presence, great look and in 2021 especially she's really putting the resume together. She was one of the most consistent workers in maybe the most consistently entertaining promotion in the world. She's not quite on the level as the true aces of the company like Miyu and Kamiyu, but she's not far behind." ~ Chris Gibbons

77. Kendo Kashin (10 ballots, 387 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: ceftaxias (13)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuyuki Fujita & Takashi Sugiura vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh, Manabu Soya & Masa Kitamiya (NOAH, 2/24)
• vs. Masakatsu Funaki (Real Japan, 3/3)
• vs. Kenoh (NOAH, 3/7)
• w/ Kazuyuki Fujita & NOSAWA Rongai vs. Hao, Kenoh & Nio (NOAH, 3/14)
• w/ Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura (NOAH, 4/18)
• w/ Kazunari Murakami & Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masao Inoue, Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH, 4/29)
• w/ Kazunari Murakami, Kazushi Sakuraba & Takashi Sugiura vs. Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue, Mohammed Yone & Shuhei Taniguchi (NOAH, 6/26)
• w/ Daisuke Nakamura, Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Hao, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh & Manabu Soya (NOAH, 8/15)
• vs. Kenoh (NOAH, 9/12)
• vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (NOAH, 9/20)

"It's hard for me to describe the wrestling style of 53-year old Kendo Kashin, it's like nothing else out there, but this video might be the closest comparison." ~ Chris Gibbons

76. Ilja Dragunov (9 ballots, 388 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 147
High Vote: Raul Rodriguez (2)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Tyson T-Bone (WWE, 2/4)
• vs. Sam Gradwell (WWE, 3/4)
• vs. Sam Gradwell (WWE, 3/25)
• vs. Noam Dar (WWE, 6/3)
• vs. Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown (WWE, 6/24)
• vs. Pete Dunne (WWE, 8/10)
• vs. Roderick Strong (WWE, 8/17)
• vs. WALTER (WWE, 8/22)
• vs. A-Kid (WWE, 10/6)
• vs. Rampage Brown (WWE, 11/17)

"Ilja Dragunov has been fascinating to me since I saw him wrestling WALTER in wXw years ago. Here's this tiny little Russian freak who makes annoying little faces and hits like a brick. He's a pretty damn good mat worker and he has an extremely strange magnetism to him. You can't help but want to cheer for this guy. One of the absolute oddest guys to watch in the world, and I mean that in the best way possible. Wrestling needs unique, charismatic weirdos like Ilja." ~ Chris Gibbons

75. QT Marshall (11 ballots, 392 points) – LOWEST RANKED 11 BALLOT WRESTLER

Last Year’s Ranking: 208
High Vote: brendan (15)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. JJ Garrett (AEW, 2/23)
• vs. Fuego Del Sol (AEW, 3/3)
• vs. Cody Rhodes (AEW, 5/5)
• vs. Baron Black (AEW, 5/12)
• vs. Cody Rhodes (AEW, 7/7)
• vs. Paul Wight (AEW, 9/5)
• w/ Aaron Solo vs. Dante Martin & Matt Sydal (AEW, 9/11)
• vs. Dustin Rhodes (AEW, 9/15)
• vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 11/5)
• vs. CM Punk (AEW, 11/24) 

"QT Marshall made a faustian bargain that has seemed to pay off in the year 2021. He sacrificed his association with the Nightmare Family to lead his own group of wrestlers, The Factory. QT has been established as the go-to guy in AEW to put over many of their new signings. His over-exaggerated facials and selling make his opponents look world class." ~ brandon

"QT Marshall is the best 'enhancement talent' in the world. Marshall's role in this business is almost entirely to make other wrestlers look like stars, and he excels. He is so good at getting the heat on making babyface opponents the focus of the match, it's unreal. But maybe I've just watched way too many hours of Dark and it's ruined my brain." ~ Chris Gibbons

74. Arisa Nakajima (6 ballots, 395 points) – HIGHEST RANKED SIX BALLOT WRESTLER

Last Year’s Ranking: 15
High Vote: maize (4)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee & Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 1/11)
• w/ Nanae Takahashi vs. Momo Watanabe & Saya Iida (SEAdLINNNG, 2/10)
• w/ Hanako Nakamori & Nagisa Nozaki vs. DASH Chisako, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Makoto (SEAdLINNNG, 4/2)
• w/ Chihiro Hashimoto vs. ASUKA & Hanako Nakamori (Yumiko Hotta Anniversary, 4/4)
• w/ Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi Haruka vs. Aja Kong, Hamuko Hoshi & Hiroyo Matsumoto (Ice Ribbon, 4/18)
• w/ Nanae Takahashi vs. ASUKA & Makoto (SEAdLINNNG, 5/26)
• vs. Nanae Takahashi (SEAdLINNNG, 7/11)
• vs. Ryo Mizunami (SEAdLINNNG, 8/19)
• vs. Hanako Nakamori (SEAdLINNNG, 10/13)
• vs. Ryo Mizunami (SEAdLINNNG, 12/29)

 

73. Lio Rush (11 ballots, 408 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 416
High Vote: Wild_Kunt (16)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Laredo Kid (MLW, 2/10)
• vs. Rocky Romero (NJPW, 3/5)
• vs. Clark Connors (NJPW, 4/9)
• vs. Jordan Oliver (GCW, 4/9)
• vs. Low Ki (VXS, 4/10)
• vs. Myron Reed (MLW, 5/5)
• w/ Adrian Quest, Chris Dickinson, Fred Yehi & Yuya Uemura vs. Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson,  JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor (NJPW, 8/14)
• vs. Tom Lawlor (NJPW, 8/16)
• w/ Dante Martin vs. Lee Moriarty & Matt Sydal (AEW, 11/10)
• w/ Dante Martin vs. Anthony Bowens & Max Caster (AEW, 11/17)

"Following the career of Lio Rush is one of the most frustrating things in the world. It's not his fault; it's quit the opposite. He's had some bad injury luck, and he's a rare worker who's willing to vocally cut ties if he feels disrespectful. But I selfishly just want to watch him all the time, because wow, is there a more talented worker in America than Lio Rush? If you made lists of best technical wrestlers and best high flyers, I could see Lio cracking the top 5 in both. He's also extremely capable in hardcore matches. Does he sometimes get a little too wrapped up in crazy gimmick stuff when he's on the indies? Yeah, but that's part of the charm. Whether he's doing spooky bullshit on a GCW show or doing TV tag matches, Lio Rush is always must-see." ~ Chris Gibbons

72. “Alwayz Ready” Matt Cardona (11 ballots, 416 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: Doxxystocksy (9)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers & Hernandez (Impact, 2/13)
• vs. Sami Callihan (Impact, 4/15)
• vs. Brian Myers (Impact, 4/25)
• vs. Chris Bey vs. Chris Sabin vs. Moose vs. Sami Callihan vs. Trey Miguel (Impact, 5/15)
• vs. Nick Gage (GCW, 7/24)
• vs. Rohit Raju (Impact, 8/17)
• vs. Sam Stackhouse (GCW, 8/20)
• vs. Joshua Bishop (AIW, 10/2)
• vs. Effy (GCW, 10/9)
• w/ Chelsea Green vs. Allie Katch & Effy (GCW, 12/17)

"The former Zack Ryder's post-WWE indie run involving buckets of blood as one of the top heels on the multiple indies was one of the most shocking wrestling developments in 2021. Even more shocking was how natural he was at it. Cardona reached nuclear heat levels against Nick Gage in Atlantic City unlike anything I've seen on the indies in years, and his deathmatch debut was a thing of beauty. He was perfect. Your mileage may vary on how the run went from there, but that night, that moment when Cardona pinned Gage seconds as garbage started pouring into the ring, Matt Cardona was the best heel in wrestling." ~ Chris Gibbons

71. Riho (11 ballots, 417 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 325
High Vote: TH (14)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Serena Deeb (AEW, 2/17)
• vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW, 2/28)
• w/ Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker & Maki Itoh (AEW, 3/7)
• vs. Maki Itoh (AEW, 3/10)
• vs. Serena Deeb (AEW, 5/30)
• vs. Skye Blue (AEW, 9/1)
• w/ Shoko Nakajima vs. Arisu Endo & Suzume (TJPW, 10/9)
• vs. Britt Baker (AEW, 11/24)
• w/ Ryo Mizunami vs. Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga (AEW, 12/3)
• vs. Jamie Hayter (AEW, 12/8)

"AEW started a lot of talk about pillars in its storylines this year. Sammy, Darby, MJF and Jungle Boy are pillars of the men's division while Britt Baker is the pillar of the women's division. But Riho has been the silent pillar of the AEW women's division since the start of the company, and she had another quietly great year in the company for 2021. She's always one of the best opponents for Baker, and had some really great stuff with Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb and Jamie Hayter." ~ Chris Gibbons

70. "The Honey Badger" Neil Diamond Cutter (7 ballots, 418 points) – HIGHEST RANKED SEVEN BALLOT WRESTLER

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: typls (1)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. John Wayne Murdoch vs. Lord Crewe (No Peace Underground, 1/8)
• vs. Satu Jinn (ICW NHB, 1/9)
• vs. John Wayne Murdoch (ICW NHB, 2/27)
• vs. Ruben Steel (NPU, 2/28)
• vs. Tank (ICW NHB, 4/10)
• vs. Alex Herzog (ICW NHB, 6/26)
• vs. Dale Patricks (ICW NHB, 6/26)
• vs. Atticus Cogar (ICW NHB, 7/3)
• vs. Insane Lane (ICW NHB, 7/4)
• vs. MASADA (ICW NHB, 8/13)

"So good to have Neil back in the fold. The Honey Badger never left fully, but spent a better part of the last decade in midwest shindies that didn't really make much accessible tape. IWTV has given us the gift of making guys like this more easy to watch, which of course also comes with the cost of all the shitty Halesverse we must endure to keep them in business. And we are so lucky to have Danny Demanto on our side, plucking guys like NDC out of their mid-career exile hell and giving them the chance to bleed between the chains. When I met him at KOTDM and talked to him about NHB, he bragged about being "the only guy who does a lionsault off those chains". Not sure what more there is to say." ~ Bucky

69. Dante Martin (12 ballots, 421 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: Tyson Boyd (18)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Matt Sydal (AEW, 6/4)
• w/ Matt Sydal & Mike Sydal vs. Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 8/11)
• vs. Anthony Bowens (AEW, 8/18)
• vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (AEW, 9/8)
• w/ Matt Sydal vs. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (AEW, 9/15)
• vs. Malakai Black (AEW, 10/16)
• vs. Matt Sydal (AEW, 10/27)
• w/ Mr. Iguana vs. Aramis & Arez (GALLI, 11/7)
• w/ Lio Rush vs. Lee Moriarty & Matt Sydal (AEW, 11/10)
• w/ Lio Rush vs. Anthony Bowens & Max Caster (AEW, 11/17)

"When Dante Martin's brother Darius got hurt early in 2021, Dante could've easily fallen in the cracks. Top Flight already wasn't a heavily pushed tag team, so despite being bullish on his talent, I wasn't expecting to see much from him until Darius returned. But when you can fly like Dante Martin, it's hard to keep you on the shelf. He ended up in tag teams with Matt Sydal and Lio Rush and was great in both, and his Team Taz feud was really fun stuff. Daniel Garcia and Lee Moriarty seem to get a lot of the attention for being the next generation of the company, but Dante might be the best of those young, hungry guys." ~ Chris Gibbons

68. El Hijo del Vikingo (9 ballots, 423 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: typls, Raul Rodriguez (3)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Taurus (AAA, 2/4)
• vs. Arez (RIOT, 3/21)
• vs. Abismo Negro Jr. vs. Aramis vs. Latigo vs. Villano III Jr. (AAA, 5/3)
• vs. Abismo Negro Jr. vs. Villano III Jr. (AAA, 5/31)
• vs. Aramis vs. Kamikaze vs. Komander vs. Latigo vs. Toxin (AAA, 7/3)
• w/ Laredo Kid vs. Brian Cage & Taurus vs. Fenix & Pentagon Jr. (AAA, 8/14)
• vs. Taurus (The Crash, 9/11)
• w/ Laredo Kid vs. Fenix & Pentagon Jr. (AAA, 10/9)
• vs. Bandido vs. Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal vs. Samuray del Sol (AAA, 12/4)
• vs. Laredo Kid (AAA, 12/5)

"El Hijo del Vikingo isn't a human being. You can't convince me otherwise. How can a man fly like that? The level of body control on Hijo del Vikingo's dives is unreal. Every other match he's doing a variation on one of his moves that completely blows my mind. I think he still can grow in actually constructing his matches, but Vikingo is still a spectacle unlike anyone else in wrestling." ~ Chris Gibbons

67. Villano III Jr. (8 ballots, 424 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 37
High Vote: Raul Rodriguez (1)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Trauma I & Trauma II vs. Centella Oriental, Terry 2000 & Ultimo Gladiador (AULL, 3/15)
• w/ Abismo Negro Jr. vs. Centella Oriental & Myztezis Jr. (AULL, 3/20)
• vs. Centella Oriental (AULL, 3/27)
• vs. Toxin (Mexa, 4/17)
• vs. Ricky Marvin (Lucha Memes, 4/18)
• vs. Solar (Lucha Memes, 5/30)
• vs. Abismo Negro Jr. vs. El Hijo del Vikingo (AAA, 5/31)
• w/ Toxin vs. Komander & Octagon Jr. (AAA, 7/3)
• vs. Baby Xtreme (Lucha Libre Boom, 7/31)
• w/ Chik Tormenta vs. Arez & Lady Maravilla (AAA, 10/11)

"Villano III Jr. Few names make me check out a lucha card as quickly as that one. He has been on an unreal tear since his feud with Centella Oriental started in 2020 and he has not stopped one bit, and he never takes a day off in the ring. Whether he's working AAA, Lucha Memes, AULL, Mexa, IWRG, Kaoz, Invasion Indy, or wherever the hell else in Mexico he finds himself, it's always worthwhile. One of the absolute hardest workers in Mexico." ~ Chris Gibbons

66. Laredo Kid (11 ballots, 427 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 101
High Vote: Raul Rodriguez (18)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Black Taurus (Lucha Memes, 1/22)
• w/ Octagon Jr. vs. Abismo Negro Jr. & Texano Jr. (AAA, 2/4)
• w/ Rey Fenix vs. Abismo Negro Jr. & Taurus (AAA, 2/7)
• w/ Octagon Jr. vs. Abismo Negro Jr. & Taurus (AAA, 3/11)
• vs. Arez (AAA, 3/20)
• w/ Aramis & Dragon Bane vs. Arez, Black Taurus & Gringo Loco (GCW, 4/9)
• vs. Latigo (AAA, 5/31)
• w/ ASF vs. Arez & Gringo Loco vs. Dragon Bane & El Hijo de Canis Lupus vs. Juventud Guerrera & Kamikaze (GCW/BLP, 9/3)
• w/ El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Penta El 0M & Rey Fenix (AAA, 10/9)
• w/ Aramis vs. Arez & Latigo (AAA, 12/19)

"Another incredibly talented luchador probably ranked too low (love you all but you need to watch some more fucking lucha), Laredo Kid is just a fucking star. Pandemic AAA has been in kind of a weird spot with its booking and match quality, but you can trust when you get to Laredo Kid, whether it's in singles, tag, trios, scramble, whatever action, he's going to be delivering to the fans. A truly great flyer who I selfishly hope we get a bit more in America this coming year." ~ Chris Gibbons

65. Jade Cargill (11 ballots, 428 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: Jonas (9)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Shaquille O’Neal vs. Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet (AEW, 3/3)
• vs. Red Velvet (AEW, 4/8)
• vs. Leyla Hirsch (AEW, 9/15)
• vs. Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW, 9/29)
• vs. Red Velvet (AEW, 11/17)
• vs. Thunder Rosa (AEW, 12/29)

"Rookie of the year. Is she 'green'? Yeah, of course she is. She's got one year of training and has less than ten matches that last longer than a minute. But she already has an unreal presence in the ring that other AEW women who have been working years longer than her can't match. And she hits hard. A rookie mistake here and there is fine when otherwise she's a complete package like this." ~ Chris Gibbons

"To quote myself, what if Sheamus was a muscle freak black girl with a fat ass. She wrestles kind of like Stan Hansen at times. I wanna see her and Mickie Knuckles in a sitdown punchout. If you've ever said anything like "Jade has all the tools she just needs a little polish" or that she's green or whatever, you're a huge dumbass and don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Jade Cargill is basically THE IDEAL WRESTLER." ~ Bucky

64. WALTER aka Gunther (9 ballots, 429 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: 163
High Vote: ceftaxias (4)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. A-Kid (WWE, 1/14)
• vs. Tommaso Ciampa (WWE, 4/7)
• vs. Rampage Brown (WWE, 4/8)
• vs. Ilja Dragunov (WWE, 8/22)
• vs. Nathan Frazer (WWE, 11/18)
• vs. Cara Noir (wXw, 12/18)

"WALTER (now Gunther) has been crushing wrestler of the year polls like this for years so it's hard to say what wasn't already said a million times in 2017 already. He's a monster. He hits you like a fucking freight train. A lot of "big beefy boys slapping meat" wrestlers end up feeling really bland and boring to me, but WALTER is one of the few that really does seem to have actual heft to his matches. That Ilja match was WWE match of the year with a bullet. Even when he only has like five televised matches on a show nobody otherwise watches, WALTER is still worth going out of your way to see." ~ Chris Gibbons

63. Tsukasa Fujimoto (5 ballots, 431 points) – HIGHEST RANKED FIVE BALLOT WRESTLER

Last Year’s Ranking: 67
High Vote: Mikey8422 (3)
 
Recommended Matches

• w/ Arisa Nakajima vs. Sareee & Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG, 1/11)
• vs. Suzu Suzuki (Ice Ribbon, 1/23)
• vs. Rina Yamashita (Ice Ribbon, 2/20)
• vs. Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon, 3/27)
• w/ Tsukushi Haruka vs. Maika Ozaki & Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon, 4/11)
• vs. Tsukushi Haruka (Ice Ribbon, 4/24)
• vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto (Ice Ribbon, 8/9)
• w/ Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon, 8/9)
• vs. Ibuki Hoshi (Ice Ribbon, 9/18)
• vs. Tsukushi Haruka (Ice Ribbon, 11/13)

 

62. Rocky Romero (11 ballots, 433 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote: brendan (13)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Chris Dickinson (NJPW, 1/29)
• vs. Lio Rush (NJPW, 3/5)
• vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. (GCW, 4/8)
• vs. Fred Yehi (ROH, 5/21)
• vs. Jordan Oliver (VxS, 9/30)
• vs. Trey Miguel (Impact, 10/24)
• vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW, 11/10)
• w/ Alex Coughlin, Alex Zayne, David Finlay & Fred Rosser vs. Danny Limelight, Jorel Nelson, JR Kratos, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor (NJPW, 11/13)
• w/ Chuck Taylor vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (AEW, 12/8)
• w/ Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. EC3, Eli Isom, Taylor Rust & Tracy Williams (ROH, 12/11)

"At nearly 40 years of age, Rocky Romero showed no signs of slowing down any time soon. A lot of Rocky's stuff the past few years has gone under the radar, so I love that he's getting love here. He had a great year. A lot of the Bloodsport stuff has lost its novelty to me, but the Chavito match was great. He had a match in basically every televised promotion save WWE in 2021. He's a great veteran technician to have a showcase match with. Call me crazy, but I think Rocky might have gotten the most out of Danielson on that late-year "Danielson match of the week" run. He's just so slick and makes other guys look so great in the process" ~ Chris Gibbons

61. "The EST" Bianca Belair (11 ballots, 433 points)

Last Year’s Ranking: NR
High Vote; Tyson Boyd (6)
 
Recommended Matches

• vs. Bayley (WWE, 1/29)
• vs. Sasha Banks (WWE, 4/10)
• vs. Bayley (WWE, 5/16)
• vs. Bayley (WWE, 6/20)
• vs. Carmella (WWE, 7/16)
• vs. Sasha Banks (WWE, 10/1)
• vs. Charlotte Flair (WWE, 10/15)
• vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (WWE, 10/21)
• vs. Becky Lynch (WWE, 11/1)
• vs. Doudrop (WWE, 12/20)

"When I went to a WWE house show in Milwaukee this past summer, Bianca Belair was only behind acts like Rey Mysterio, John Cena and NBA Champion Bobby Portis when it came to most over performers on the card. She tore the house down with Sasha in a match that (live bias acknowledged) felt better to me in the moment than their Mania match. Bianca has a spark to her that makes her hard to ignore. Since we throw away all the stuff like baffling booking decisions at major ppvs aside in a poll like this, it's hard to think of maybe more than a handful of WWE workers who had better years than Bianca in the ring" ~ Chris Gibbons