Past Winners:
1997: Bret Hart
1998: Chris Jericho
1999: Mick Foley
2000: Chris Jericho
2001: Kurt Angle
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Eddie Guerrero
2005: A.J. Styles
Who’s *the man* this year? You’ll have to wait a few days to find out but, in the meanwhile, we’ll start counting down to the top position, taking you through another 49 people who we feel have been laudable over the past twelve months, moreso than the other wrestlers out there, but still not quite Number One.
Before we get cracking, a quick explanation of what these ratings are and how we came to our conclusions on them, so that we’re all clear as to where we stand.
First things first, this is an opinion list. If you don’t agree, that’s not a problem. Getting het up about it and deciding that we are wrong is, however, a problem – so let’s not see any hate mail, chaps and chapettes. If you think someone should have been rated higher, or not rated at all, we’re absolutely up for hearing your views but if we can try and keep the childish name calling to a minimum, that would be terrific.
We’ve based this list on many factors – it can be best summed up in that we’re looking for all-rounders. The best North America has to offer. We’re somewhere between kayfabe and not, since we do consider the success a chap has had onscreen in our ratings. If a guy holds a World Title, chances are that he’ll make the list, mainly because he was indeed elevated to the station of World Champ and attained a very high level of success. Don’t get me wrong, if there’s a lousy World Champ who has wrestled and interviewed badly through a lousy year, he’ll likely be rated below a guy who wrestles brilliantly, interviews at a top level but just so happens to have lost almost all his matches.
Ring-work. Interview delivery. Angle performance. Level of success on-screen. These are the main areas we look at. We’re not taking much notice of people’s behaviour backstage, since we’re not rating the best politicians in wrestling, we’re rating the best performers.
The rating period begins right after the end of our last Top 50 through to the end of this year. Well, last year. 2006, you know? The one with Italy winning the World Cup as Brazil collectively asked “Dude, what the hell?” In that time, just to refresh your memories, we’ve seen the following title changes:
WWE Championship:
John Cena — Edge — John Cena — Rob Van Dam — Edge — John Cena
WWE World Heavyweight Title:
Batista — VACANT — Kurt Angle — Rey Mysterio — King Booker – Batista
NWA World Heavyweight Title:
Jeff Jarrett — Rhino — Jeff Jarrett — Christian Cage — Jeff Jarrett — Sting — Abyss
ROH Championship:
James Gibson — Bryan Danielson — Homicide
ECW Championship:
VACANT — Rob Van Dam — The Big Show — Bobby Lashley
WWE Intercontinental Title:
Carlito — Ric Flair — Shelton Benjamin — Rob Van Dam — Shelton Benjamin — Johnny Nitro — Jeff Hardy — Johnny Nitro — Jeff Hardy
WWE United States Title:
Chris Benoit — Booker T — VACANT — Booker T — Chris Benoit — JBL — Bobby Lashley — Finlay — Ken Kennedy — Chris Benoit
NWA X Division Title:
Christopher Daniels — A.J. Styles — Samoa Joe — Christopher Daniels — Samoa Joe — Senshi — Chris Sabin — A.J. Styles — Christopher Daniels
ROH Pure Title:
Nigel McGuinness — Bryan Danielson — UNIFIED
WWE World Tag Team Titles:
Rosey & The Hurricane — Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch — Kane & The Big Show — Spirit Squad — Ric Flair & Roddy Piper — Edge & Randy Orton
WWE Tag Team Championship:
Heidenreich & Road Warrior Animal — MNM — Batista & Rey Mysterio — MNM — Paul London & Brian Kendrick
NWA World Tag Team Titles:
The Naturals — VACANT — The Naturals — AMW — A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels — LAX — A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels — LAX
ROH Tag Team Championship:
B.J. Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs — Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro — Austin Aries & Roderick Strong — Kings of Wrestling — Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal
WWE Cruiserweight Title:
Nunzio — Juventud Guerrera — Nunzio — Juventud Guerrera — Kid Kash — Gregory Helms
WWE Women’s Title:
Trish Stratus — Mickie James — Lita — Trish Stratus — VACANT — Lita — Mickie James
Now, strap parts of you onto parts of other stuff and hold on for dear life because the Top 50 is off and running!
NUMBER 50 – HARDCORE HOLLY
Last year’s 49
What we said last time: “He’s certainly one of a kind, which may well be a good thing.”
Ross: Once again, Bob is there or thereabouts – and you know, he’s pretty much in the top 5 most long-term WWE workers now, having been on the books since early 1994. Digest that. The only people I can think of who’ve been there longer are The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. And the Brooklyn Brawler, but he doesn’t count. Let’s be honest about this, Bob is an adequate interview, he’s a decent worker who doesn’t do anything particularly thrilling but he does what he does and he does it well. What gives him the nod here is that he managed to finish a TV match with a whacking great gash on his back and not only did he finish it, it was probably the best match in the new ECW. That’s not saying much, but it’s saying something. Thumbs up, Bob!
NUMBER 49 – STING
*New Entry*
Iain: The man called Overpaid continued to spurn the advances of WWE on behalf of his born-again Christian morals and instead returned to a company calling itself TNA. It remains to be seen whether or not Jesus picks up on the irony. In the meantime we’ve just got us a 47 year old man putting more effort into his matches than people half his age. True, most of those people were never professional wrestlers in the first place but his health is still quite impressive. The man with the $500,000 annual salary failed to boost TNA’s ratings but then no one man can achieve that, as Kurt Angle is now finding out. To be honest, Sting hasn’t wrestled a classic match for over a decade now and motivation is clearly a problem even on his limited schedule. He’s done a competent job though, and there are even hints of further character evolution at long last, so that’s something at least.
NUMBER 48 – HERNANDEZ
*New Entry*
Ross: I question whether it’s appropriate to call a move the Border Toss; I think it’s akin to paedophilia. They’re always on at you in school to ensure you respect the borders on your work. Well, they did in my day. Either way, that’s nothing to do with the accomplice in LAX, version 32, and replacing Machete, Kid Kash, Kamala, Slick, Big Bully Busick and Doink (Ray Apollo variant) amongst others. Hernandez is the sprigs of asparagus to Homicide’s big juicy steak but at least he knows his role and plays it well. Ultimately, he lobbed Gail Kim on at least a 30 degree trajectory and an arc of at least 15 feet, so we honour him with the Steve Austin “What are you doing out of the kitchen, bitch?†award.
NUMBER 47 – ERIC YOUNG
*New Entry*
Iain: He is one-third Ralph Wiggum, one-third Butters and one-third a joke that’s been run into the ground, but he very nearly died during surgery in March so let’s just be thankful he’s still around to tell it. Young has carved a unique niche for himself in TNA this year, which is more than the rest of the late Team Canada have accomplished, adding his name to the pantheon of ‘guilty-pleasure underdog jokers’ alongside the likes of Spike Dudley, Screamin’ Norman Smiley and Funaki. Or he could go down the Eugene road and cause viewers to deliberately hurl their Wii remotes at the screen out of unbridled irritancy (just kidding, TNA fans wouldn’t even know how to work a Wii and would instead deploy the remote as some sort of ghost-detecting stick to ensure privacy in the bath). Either way you just know Marty Jannetty is taking notes and making “Don’t Fire Marty†T-shirts.
NUMBER 46 – JAY LETHAL
*New Entry*
Ross: Ah, yes – the guy who likes to waste his immense talent by playing videogames. If I didn’t relate to him so completely, I’d be quite steamed. As it is, he’s had a couple of tasty matches, some adequate performances and seems to have the crowd behind him (less thought than last year) but still is nowhere near realizing the potential that lies within. Perhaps a gimmick overhaul would do the trick?
NUMBER 45 – SONJAY DUTT
Last year’s #37
What we said last time – â€ÂUp there with Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and that guy from Short Circuit 2 in terms of engaging Indian entertainers.â€Â
Iain: Okay, so he looks like the supervisor from a suburban branch of Starbucks cutting loose on his day off but, c’mon, he just looks so damn happy to be in the wrestling business that you couldn’t possibly fail to be charmed. You might also like to contemplate the comedic value of Sonjay throwing off the shackles of his barista apron, leaping up onto the counter, grabbing the hand of one of those la-de-da airhead yah students that try to make fashion statements with their coffee, and then doing that weird Old-School Sprinkler thing. Then he would run around really quickly, jump up and down and loudly squeak “I’m a wrestler, I’m a wrestler!†before someone made him eat chamomile to shut up. Then he would go home and his mother would have enlisted him in the Trampoline of the Month Club and oh boy, then it would be on. In conclusion, despite everything that came before the conclusion, it’s safe to say that we like the little fella.
NUMBER 44 – COLT CABANA
*New Entry*
Ross: This guy has the greatest commercial on the wrestling channel over here. It basically consists of him doing a couple of moves, but mainly dancing and acting like a goof in black and white as his outfit changes colour, all to the sounds of semi-disco, semi-porn music. I’m all in, baby. As for the man in question, he manages to do the near impossible and combine a knack for comedy with in-ring performance, resulting in some of the weirdest but more compelling outings over the last year. You’ve got to give the guy respect for not being hardcore workrate based and willing to take the riskier semi-comedy route, especially on the indies. I’d love to see him in the WWE given a chance to work his wonders and not jobbed to hell. We’ll have to see, I guess.
NUMBER 43 – RODERICK STRONG
*New Entry*
Iain: TNA told him to sod off. Unlike Austin Aries, who very politely asked to come back in, Strong’s response was more akin to “fine, sod you then†– only he might have used more four letter words and done a backbreaker on one of Jarrett’s guitars just to release the teardrops from his shallow, sinful eye sockets. Now, while Aries got himself a new name and fights for the right to be nearer to Kevin Nash’s groin than any other men, Strong’s reputation has arguably never been higher. He took Bryan Danielson to a sixty-minute time limit, put in a helluva good showing against KENTA, gained the peyote-esque experience of working in Dragon Gate and formed one half of one of the greatest tag teams in recent memory. His partner was of course none other than Aries, which almost brings us full circle but with the added bonus for Strong of not having to dress like a twat.
NUMBER 42 – SABU
*New Entry*
Ross: It’s never a good idea to fall asleep on a stack of crates in front of your new employer, but slightly more acceptable in the wrestling business than in my office, I’d presume. Although seeing a businessman out cold on top of packing cases would be pretty funny. Shall we digress? I think that’s best. Sabu’s a weird one. He’s got talent but spoons things up about as much as he nails ‘em. Sometimes he’s smooth, sometimes he’s rough but he’s never really disinteresting. He’s so marvelously inconsistent that you can’t help but wonder if you’ll be watching a top slice of action or a car wreck. Decent outings in ECW and with Rey Mysterio at ONS2 have been highlights, jibberish against the Big Show at SummerSlam was definitely a lowlight but he’s been there or thereabout. Let’s see if he’s employed next year. Or if ECW is alive – if not, he’s a job boy and end of story.
NUMBER 41 – GREGORY HELMS
*New Entry*
Iain: At the date of writing this he has held the Cruiserweight Title for 333 days, which is far above and beyond the second longest reign – a paltry 162 days by Tajiri. Not bad considering he started 2006 by jobbing to Jerry Lawler on PPV. He then got his title after leaving Raw for no discernible reason other than perhaps not wanting to share his packed lunch with Edge. After that came a broken nose and more time touching Matt Hardy than Lita ever managed. Neither of those two things lent themselves well to actually defending the Cruiserweight Title but, hey, neither does actually being the Cruiserweight Champion nowadays. At least he’s been given plenty of screen-time to remind everybody that he can be a pretty sharp wrestler when he wants to be. It also allowed him to debut his lovely hat, which, coupled with the little beard, may well be part of his quest to morph into The Edge and thus trump that greasy Canadian f*cker over on Raw. Who knows?
NUMBER 40 – MICKIE JAMES
*New Entry*
Ross: This entry was a bone of contention between Iain and I – he sees no worth in the girl, I see plenty. Good job I get to write this one! Over the last year, Mickie has come from a complete nobody in the eyes of the regular fan to getting over to the extent that the fans at WrestleMania started cheering HER instead of the perennial crowd-favourite Trish Stratus. That night, she left the ring with the Women’s Title having set a new standard by being half of the best women’s match in WM history and, as far as I’m concerned; one of the top three matches of the show. She’s been involved in and, for the most part, the heart of most of the interesting women’s skits in the last year, especially the one where she kidnapped Ashley, beat Trish about the face and then gave her a blood-soaked kiss. Probably the best piece of character work in a female since the halcyon days of Victoria. Interesting comparison, since Victoria was over like gangbusters back when she played a psycho but lost the lot once they turned her face. Mickie’s face turn certainly slowed her down but she’s bounded back well and looks set to carry the women’s division for the next few years at the very least and I’m all for that.
NUMBER 39 – BATISTA
Last year’s #7
What we said last time: “He is The Immovable Force meeting The Irresistible Object, heading out onto the town in snazzy suits to go to clubs that are too cool for the rest of us and spit-roast every hot chick in the V.I.P. room.â€Â
Iain: Oh, Dave. It’s not that long since every heterosexual man in the world would have stood back and let him either screw their girlfriends or turn them down for being fugly, all the while nodding with quiet understanding and thinking “Hey, it’s DAVE.†Now the ones without the fugly girlfriends just tap him on the shoulder, knocking off at least two muscles, and ask him politely to leave without causing a fuss. Meantime, Batista has spent the year fine-toning a stringent blend of annoyance. He annoyed Booker T enough to get punched in the face. He annoyed Lashley enough that the guy moved to a different brand. He annoyed his wife enough to get a divorce. He annoyed everybody by getting his new girlfriend an on-air role on Smackdown in which she displays the acting skills of a pile of toenail clippings. He annoyed Smackdown in general with condescending remarks about its lesser value compared to Raw. He annoyed Samoa Joe with insulting comments about TNA’s wresters. He annoyed WWE by getting a timely injury that messed up his big feud with Mark Henry, which annoyed the rest of us since somehow Mark Henry came to be considered an asset. He annoyed– well, you get the idea. There’s a backlash coming and it won’t be pretty.
NUMBER 38 – TRISH STRATUS
Last year’s #26
What we said last time: ” it wouldn’t be a bad idea to move her to Smackdown just to freshen things up “
Ross: Now I get to write the other side of the coin and I’m going to try to do it as objectively as possible. Personally, I think you can’t put too much distance between James and Trish this year, but do feel that James was the top female. Iain totally disagrees and hence the small margin between them with Trish on top. Who says an Englishman and a Scotsman can’t compromise? Far be it from me to cast any level of aspersion on her performance behind the scenes but you’ve got to wonder why she was allowed to bow out quite so gracefully where Randy Savage, Bret Hart and many others were not… either way, bow out gracefully, she did with a final women’s title victory in her hometown over her sort of main rival who she didn’t really feud with much in the 6 years they shared a roster, with a staunchly Canadian move. It was quite the touching moment and definitely something we can all get behind but I couldn’t help but feel that it was aboot bloody time. Trish reached a career peak in 2004 when she turned heel and her return from injury in 2005 as a face with no explanation as to the change in attitude did nothing but keep going on the treadmill. Sure, she’s a good worker and more than acceptable on the microphone, but for the first time in a half-decade, there was no improvement anymore and Trish, more than any woman before her, exemplified improvement. Perhaps her passion went. Perhaps not. The bottom line is that she’s gone and we’re left with a bunch of matches, promos and angles that captured the attention and kept us more entertained than any of us thought we would ever be by women’s wrestling. For this, she deserves the heartiest of pats on the back and sincere wishes she doesn’t get mowed down in the line of fire.
NUMBER 37 – CHRIS SABIN
Last year’s #30
What we said last time: ” Sabin kept impressing by doing the same thing over and over but doing it so bloody well that you just can’t resist.”
Iain: Another year, another World X Cup, another Ultimate X, another brief liaison with the X Title I think the only thing that changed for Sabin was the colour of his hair, which was not enough to get people to rally behind him instead of those two little scamps Alex Shelley and Kevin Nash. Shocking, I know. Fair’s fair though, Sabin has kept his game up when it comes to giving a decent account of himself in the ring – and towards the end of the year there were even signs of some genuine personality at long last, based on his willingness to mock Jerry Lynn. And, really, who are we to criticize somebody who is ready to mock Jerry Lynn? Okay, so this newfound persona comes with Kurt Angle making snide remarks about how his mother always made him wash behind his ears when he was a nipper and Vince Russo compromising himself with blow-up dolls in front of Jackass episodes all in the name of art but, hey, at least he’s not Kazarian.
NUMBER 36 – SENSHI
*New Entry*
Last year:
Ross: Another year in the remarkably inconsistent career of the chimp looking former Low Ki. Each year, I find myself wondering why this guy can’t maintain a position in the top 15. He’s certainly got the talent, he’s got an individual look at least and stands out from the other shorties on the indie circuit but he’s not come close to cracking the top 10 for the last 4 years, I believe. Purported as a difficult fella to work with, it must be this that is holding him back because he elicits a decent reaction with each appearance, works believably and works hard in the ring but as time slips away, his chance to build the legacy of a Styles or a Daniels fades with it. He’s got to move and move NOW if he wants to amount to anything of major note in the grand scheme of things. He should be hanging with Joe, Angle, Styles and Cage, not wasting time as one of Kevin Nash’s playmates.
NUMBER 35 – MATT HARDY
*New Entry*
Iain: Finally, Matt returns to the Top 50. Now that people have finally started to calm down about that ol’ Lita thing, what with her leaving the company and Matt on a different brand from Edge, all the complaints about the situation and WWE’s reaction to it should be laid to rest. Yes, they could have done more with Matt. No, they were never going to. End of discussion. Now he’s at a quite sensible position on the card, fast becoming the Tito Santana of Smackdown, i.e. a capable mid-carder with a steady popularity level and no chance of advancement. Of course, Santana never had the chance to randomly start teaming with Rick Martel at any given moment, and the Hardy Boys remain incalculably more worthy than Strike Force ever was. It remains to be seen what exactly happens with Matt and Jeff, since not even Vince McMahon appears to be sure at the moment. Perhaps Mr McMahon’s Ass could be drafted to ECW and they could be hired as its security team? I’m sure at least one of them would enjoy it. Try and guess which one
NUMBER 34 – RANDY ORTON
Last year’s #28
What we said last time: ” he’s now back in the position that he’s best used in, so let’s see what he can do with it.”
Ross: Good old No Mates has spent another year in limbo and, to be fair, it’s probably the best place for him. He’s evolving slowly – very slowly – into a decent worker and he looks out of place in the mid-card, since his achievements and past pushes make him seem out of the league of Shelton et al, yet he hasn’t got the look, the ability in ring or on the stick to convince as a main eventer. When you’re in the ring with Edge and he makes you look wooden on the microphone, you’re in trouble. Ultimately, Orton has had another year, a year that hasn’t been as bad as some of his previous years where he’s had greater kayfabe results but lesser performance, and we just keep waiting for him to step up and deliver on his potential. Perhaps next year will be the trick, but maybe not – most of the times he’s been under the microscope this year, he’s not done too much for himself. Certainly the Hogan program over the summer needed young Randy to step up like HBK did one year earlier, so that Orton could carry the whole thing. He couldn’t and he didn’t. We can’t hold that against him too much, since it takes Michaels and his religious backup to work a miracle with the 280lbs of useless that comprise Hogan these days, but he could have done without acting like a prat in the lead-up to WrestleMania, possibly contributing more to the biggest match of his year and actually working on developing his moveset so the dropkick isn’t one of his main offensive weapons? Just a thought…
NUMBER 33 – KEN KENNEDY
*New Entry*
Iain: Okay, first of all, some advice paraphrased from Ross’s astute observation – stop yelling out your name the second time you say it and go back to saying it quietly. That way it comes across better and you don’t look like you’re just having difficulty with your rear bathroom parts. Now I’m going to stop talking to you and start addressing them, so go away. It’s hard to know to make of Kennedy yet. Even though he’s been given plenty of attention on Smackdown for over a year now, he has made little progress and only started off with a rudimentary move-set in the first place. His feud with The Undertaker suggested that he might yet turn into a pretty good promo, similar to Christopher Nowinski in his brief pre-concussion days. No matter how tempting it might be, however, we really shouldn’t hope for any heavy objects to fall on Kennedy’s shaggy blonde mane. That’ll just earn us the wrath of the WWE’s vengeance demon, Sharon, since they clearly have big plans for him. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that by the time the King of the Ring tournament returns they don’t put two and two together and figure out that they could have a man named King Ken Kennedy feuding with Booker T
NUMBER 32 – JEFF HARDY
Last year’s #48
What we said last time: ” when he actually does get his act together enough to put down the PCP, he can put forth a tidy little effort which seems to involve leaping off tall things and driving his body into breaky or sharp things.”
Ross: It’s pretty good testament to Jeff – and pretty bad testament to Matt – that the younger and likely gayer member of Team Hardy has topped his brother on this list despite only having been back for about half a year. When we first heard that Jeff was on his way back, the initial reaction was to roll the eyes, wonder how long before he lost interest in wrestling/regained interest in stuffing drugs into his arms/lost his job/gained HIV. Amazingly, Jeff has not only looked a LOT healthier this time around, his in-ring work has been considerably better than at any time since the early 2000s. I guess not having 60% junk, 40% platelets in your bloodstream might actually be useful. With the exception of the appalling match against Carlito at Cyber Sunday, which might as well have been two pissed up chav girls fighting over a shell suit, his ring work has been more than acceptable, as well as probably giving us the best match on RAW this year in the ladder match against Johnny Nitro. He’s also done his bit on Pay Per View and, whilst the Jeff Hardy = Future Shawn Michaels/World Champ ship might have sailed, the Jeff Hardy = solid mid-carder worth keeping around ship is very firmly still in the harbour.
NUMBER 31 – RIC FLAIR
*New Entry*
Iain: Ric Flair? At number 31? This far into the 21st century? Why, yes. Look at his recent accomplishments – he became a WWE Triple Crown winner after nabbing the IC belt from Carlito in a heat-filled bout, he bumped like the madman he surely must be in a TLC match against Edge in order to get the fledgling champion over, he put in a fine showing at the Money in the Bank at WrestleMania, he gave us some of the best promo work of his career (and that is REALLY saying something) in the most interesting feud of the year with Mick Foley, he revealed himself to be more extreme than most people realised in their subsequent matches and against The Big Show in ECW, he nabbed himself another title belt alongside his good mate Roddy Piper, and he proved yet again just how passionate and charismatic he can be during his on-screen dalliances with DX. Furthermore, he did it all whilst his personal life grew overwhelming this year, what with a nasty divorce case, a new marriage, a major tax audit by the IRS and an arrest for road rage all adding to the never-ending turmoil that is the Nature Boy. And yet here he is, still standing tall, still living his life the only way he knows how by shutting it all out and doing the best he can do, however he can do it, in order to entertain the fans. The days of the Golden Broomstick Rule may be long gone but this man is still a regular highlight and is still worthy of our respect as a performer.
