Unless you're El Torito and Hornswoggle, it must figure.  Then it'd be sliders.

Yes, chapter two in the little rivalry happened, and since Horny 1½ starred his way to victory, apparently it must continue.  But aside from that frivolity, what this episode of Main Event featured predominately was big dudes hitting each other real hard to the point that it concluded with a victory from the Big Guy himself in a two-segger.  And good for him, since it felt like the last time he hit the Shellshocked was last year.

Yet while he got the bulk of the show going up against Jimmy Uso it was the Titus O'Neil/Sheamus fight that -- while the ending was wholly predictable for Albino Cena -- provided the bulk of the best action.  There's only one obvious person ahead of the Irishman in the "love the worker hate the creative" sweepstakes in Stamford, and Sheamus showed off why in this match.  It's not just that his body blows sound like gunshots or that he can quickly adapt to minor snafus in a match while it's going on; it's that he bumps like DiCaprio acting like a Wolf.  Here for perhaps the first time in his entire career, Titus looked like the land monster heel threat he was built to be. His big boots and throwing a release fallaway slam are part and parcel of the experience when he gets the time.

What wasn't was his throwing open-handed chops, European uppercuts, and the old Train Wreck backbreaker that helped elevate this to hoss skirmish.  And Sheamus ate it the same way he went through the ropes but landed on his feet off a simple O'Neil shoulderblock early: with aplomb.  It just served to further underscore the ludicrous embarrassment of riches that is the WWE's roster from stem to stern right now, and hopefully in the TWB 100 Sheamus earns another high mark and doesn't have the fact that his signature could now be called the Brogue KickOutOfNowhere! or shoddy writing aside held too harshly against his work.  He proved it against Barrett on Monday and here again tonight: less chatty, more splatty.

And now, back to the Big Guy.  Should you not be able to summon fire and mask yourself before a ritual goat bludgeoning, the best way to re-establish bona fides once a Champion is targeted is beating them up and/or winning.  Should you be able to check both those boxes in a 24-hour span, all the better.  Ryback put on a display of hiccups of stupidity (dear everybody: stop slamming Samoan heads into turnbuckles, it only makes them angry) but managed to subsume them in the long haul with powerful if rudimentary offense.  You know, the way he should be realized.  He avoided the Superfly splash late and sent Jimmy into Jay and into the floor as a result before quickly snapping off his signature and getting his hand raised.  It's almost a cheapshot for one of the Usos to lose to a running Samoan drop, but now that it's happened they need to right the ship quickly before XRules in what should be a well-contested match for the Big Pennies.

For a show focused on the bigs it was fitting that the former Mr. Langston got this party started right/quickly with the beating of Alberto Del Rio.  As with the Sheamus/Titus match that would occur later about the only thing to complain about was relative brevity; both matches would've bumped into must-see TV match territory with additional minutes added on and maybe saving Midget Madness II for Smackdown, Superstars, or Wrestling Challenge.  Nevertheless, with the time given both the former World Champion and current Intercontinental Champion put on a quality sprint.  It helped that the crowd was vocally behind Big E. from the jump, as Del Rio pulled off a really early tornado DDT and blocked the belly-to-Bayley to set up his codearmbreaker.  But once he survived the title-winning basement superkick, Big E. was well on his way to a W.

AND THEN WADE HAD SOME BAD NEWS!  The lectern was raised, and the former Nexian leader told off everybody as a bunch of losers with nonexistent or ruined lives and ran down the ex-Hawkeye as being a personality vacuum with no personality and a horrible Champion.  It would've been nice if he'd put over the fact he should know what a quality IC beltholder should be given his past holdings, but this is not the dreamland where it rains chocolate chips and my marriage to Anna Kendrick has survived my philandering with Kate Upton.  At any rate, E challenged him to get into the ring but to no avail; he'll probably have to wait a couple of Sundays for that.  If anyone's looking for the reason why the crowd is pouring more gas in the recently defibrillated Barrett's tank, it was all on display here.  The man is born for being a gleeful scumbag, and somehow the same old heel tropes coming out of his mouth seem whimsically amusing.  Perhaps it's because the glee of villanry is evident every time he's looming over the crowd he's about to denigrate; guys are higher on the card and getting more TV time, sure, but no one is currently enjoying his role on the ledger any more than the proprietor of the Bullhammer.  Given what happened the last time he held that strap, you'd think he'd want to avoid it like a swim off of Fukushima, but rebounding is rebounding.

He must figure a fourth run as the latest man to hold Pat Patterson's belt must be the (re?)start of something big.

Colt Cabana showed that funny was equal to money, at least in the ring Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

Today's entry will approach the halfway point. Let's get to it!

75. Colt Cabana
Points: 605
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 18th Place (Frank McCormick)
Last Year's Placement: 38th Place

Frank McCormick: Colt Cabana is deceptive. Sure, he's a "comedy wrestler," but the dirty little secret Jim Cornette isn't smart enough to realize is that a lot of comedians are actually very good wrestlers, period. He is particularly noteworthy for his World of Sport/British wrestling style, which he combines with his comedic skills to create some of the most unique and entertaining matches in wrestling today. His match on the last Wrestling is Art show with Drew Gulak, another major proponent of the British style on the indie scene today, still sticks out to me nearly six months after seeing it. And the truth is that Colt Cabana is just likable and rootworthy, both the very embodiment of the Spirit of Independent Wrestling, and as a performer in the ring.

74. Davey Richards
Points: 627
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote Received: 12th Place (Brock Lutefisk)
Last Year's Placement: 40th Place

73. UltraMantis Black
Points: 652
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (De O'Brien)
Last Year's Placement: 57th Place

TH: Mantis' mastery of the macabre and occult translates into pure entertainment in the ring. Much like his brethren in the Spectral Envoy, I didn't catch much of him outside of tags and trios matches, but luckily, he thrives in those settings. His Fire Pro-inspired offense always came off stiff and effective-looking, and he excelled in double team offense. As the point man for the Envoy, he always rose to the occasion.

De O'Brien: 2013 is likely going to rank as the most confusing year in the history of Chikara after the promotion’s abrupt closing in June, but that isn’t to say that the roster folded without a fight. UltraMantis Black, in particular, struck out with visions of dominance in other federations, and succeeded in winning the AIW Absolute Championship in November of 2013. Between his willingness to assert the reach of the Envoy in other federations and his victory over Ethan Page to secure that title, UltraMantis proved that while you can take the company away from the great and devious leader of the Spectral Envoy, you can’t make the great and devious leader of the Spectral Envoy stop trying to conquer other companies out there.

72. Davey Vega
Points: 687
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Danielle Matheson)
Last Year's Placement: 68th Place

TH: Vega is the best pure babyface wrestler on the indies right now, and his 2013 barnstorming tour helped solidify that reputation. Whether he was doing face in peril in tags with Mat Fitchett in Metro Pro, getting the crowd hype with whirling dervish singles offense in other various promotions, or being the rock for less seasoned wrestlers in the Wrestlings Are, Vega was a sure thing no matter where he went.

Rob Pandola: The most underutilized wrestler out there not named Hallowicked. His work is top notch, he can create real emotion in the viewer as a high-flyin' babyface or a prick heel like in ACW or St. Louis Anarchy, and can get over wherever he goes. Had a great showing in last year's J-LIT that was not talked about enough by people.

Brandon Stroud: The single most underrated, underappreciated performer in the business. Vega can wrestle circles around at least half this list.

71. Athena
Points: 699
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (De O'Brien)
Last Year's Placement: 46th Place

TH: The biggest shame of the year was the injury she suffered at the first WSU secret show in August. The boo-boo cost her a set of SHIMMER tapings, the final WSU show of the year, and the rest of the slate of ACW shows. Still, she put in some major work before going out, enough to put her in the top part of my ballot. She went to war against Jessicka Havok at the first WSU show of the year. While she's more known for her electric O-Face finisher, her bona fides as a brawler have come into focus in the last two calendar years as a competitor. This past year, she and Havok tore down the Flyers Skate Zone and then some. She also ruled at the Queen and King of the Ring with three great performances. I expect nothing but great things from Athena this year if she stays healthy.

Rob Pandola: Check out her second match with Jessicka Havok and her run in the Queen and King tournament for WSU. In the Queen and King of the Ring, she got to show off her versatility against a verity of opponents and styles. She was great in her showings in SHIMMER that year, specifically against a great opponent like Madison Eagles. One of the most promising talents in wrestling today. Also, O-Face. Never forget about the O-Face.

Frank McCormick: My inclusion of Athena on the ballot is based on two very simple facts: 1) The O-Face is one of the best finishers going; 2) Every match I've ever seen Athena in has stolen the show it was on. It's really just that simple.

Brandon Stroud: A game-changer. If you can sit still when she drops an O-Face on somebody, you should check to make sure your heart's still beating.

The absolutely charming Joseph Park was a hoot in the ring Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com

70. Joseph Park/Abyss
Points: 701
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Rich Thomas, Brandon Stroud)
Last Year's Placement: 95th Place

Brandon Spears: Honestly, I don't think Park's ever had a great match, let alone a good one. But every time he was in a ring I was enthralled. I'll never get over the way he holds a chair upside down with that goofy, deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. Loses points for having to revert back to the Abyss.

Brandon Bosh:“Do more with less.” These words should be posted on every arena marquee, every locker room door, every curtain and crate and cheap backstage prop in sight, week after week, until wrestlers start to smarten up. The story of Joseph Park is at once inspirational and vaguely depressing. Inspirational, because so many backyarder geeks could find their salvation in it; depressing, because so few of them ever will. Imagine if Mick Foley, upon turning from Mankind into Dude Love, had replaced his penchant for masochistic self-mutilation with bravura physical comedy and Three Stooges-style pantomiming, all based on the premise that he had no idea how to wrestle. Thousands of Foley wannabes could’ve been spared few million shards of light-tube glass. Instead, the lesson came from TNA, and maybe 25 people got the message.

As a dollar-store Mankind more affectionately known as Abyss, Chris Parks made a career out of doing less with more. In his youth, he was unusually agile despite his remarkable height and heft. He could’ve been a perfectly capable ring hand, putting on unexpectedly solid matches with TNA’s impeccable mid-‘00s roster, but he took the easy route for rapidly diminishing returns. He competed in countless “Monster’s Ball” brouhahas, subjecting himself to untold punishment from folding chairs, barbed wire, and, most famously, several hundred gallons of thumb tacks. TNA diehards became desensitized, as wrestling fans will, but the sideshow continued unabated for years.

Then, one week in 2012, we were introduced to Chris Park(s)’s brother, Joseph, a guileless attorney on the search for his missing brother. Because TNA Impact is ostensibly a wrestling show, Joe Park soon found himself between the ropes, training diligently and fighting for family pride. The matches were admittedly one-note, but for a couple of months they were revelatory; all of a sudden, Park revealed himself to be an enormously gifted physical comedian, capable of putting on succinct ten-minute matches that defied all classifications of quality wrestling but were undeniably entertaining. A typical Joe Park match probably featured between three and five maneuvers, at least two of which came from Park’s opponent. None of that mattered, though, because Park elevated stalling to an art form, glancing around for the crowd’s approval, feverishly trying to figure out the mechanics of an armdrag. Make no mistake, Joseph Park is a wildly unorthodox selection for a list compiling the 100 best professional wrestlers in North America last year (not least because accrediting TNA with a genuinely good creative decision is a gamble unto itself). That doesn’t mean he should be, though; I’d argue the greatest threat facing pro wrestling is the notion that only one style or type is acceptable. In order to grow and evolve, wrestling needs variety, flavor, all-around newness. It also needs fewer dead wrestlers, and a comedic dive from the bottom turnbuckle is unquestionably safer than a corkscrew moonsault onto the floor.

Besides, let’s not kid ourselves about the “importance” of the wrestlers who’d be eligible for such a makeover. In WWE and TNA, the midcard has become utterly inconsequential; its perennial players and cardboard belts lost any semblance of gravitas ages ago. To put it another way: casual fans already treat the midcard as a joke. We might as well make sure the joke is funny.

69. "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti
Points: 736
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Dave Kincannon)
Last Year's Placement: 28th Place

68. Candice LeRae
Points: 738
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Joey Splashwater)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

Rob Pandola: Since her return to PWG at TEN, she had some decent trios matches, and it was kind of a feel good story. There was fire in her comebacks, but you never felt like anything big would happen with her. Then the end of BOLA night 2 happened, which led to the best tag match of 2013, Candice and Joey vs. The Young Bucks. That match led me to two conclusions. One was that, without question, she was going to be the highest ranked female on my list, which she is. The second conclusion? If she wants it, she is the heir apparent to Ricky Morton. That's how good she was in ONE MATCH!!! Her baby face fire is second to none, and her rise up the card was a highlight and a great story to add to one of the best years in PWG history.

Joey Splashwater: Candice was incredible for PWG last year. For a female to become as popular as she has in PWG is a huge feat and her work in the ring is the reason why. Seeing her go at it with Adam Cole in some tag matches especially showed her shine most.

67. Jay Briscoe
Points: 747
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 17th Place (Rich Kraetsch)
Last Year's Placement: 58th Place

66. Austin Aries
Points: 748
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Brandon Bosh)
Last Year's Placement: 6th Place

65. The Big Show
Points: 774
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Samuel DiMascio)
Last Year's Placement: 13th Place

TH: Between storyline limbo and vacations presumably due to injury, Show had a lower-key year in the ring in 2013. When he did make appearances, however, he showed why he belongs in the conversation for best in-ring big man ever. Most of his key performances came in the beginning of the year against Alberto del Rio, but that series, especially the last man standing match where del Rio win the World Heavyweight Championship, punctuated a strong January for WWE.

Scott T. Holland: Once again, Big Show was a world title contender in 2013, engaging in a memorable series of matches with Alberto Del Rio. He also challenged Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series and, with Rey Mysterio, had a chance to win the tag team titles at TLC. He also served as a suitable foil for the ascendant Shield on and off throughout the year, including at WrestleMania 29. As often is the case with Big Show, his in-ring contributions were more about the overall story of a match than his individual prowess, but there’s something to be said for a workhorse whose presence in many ways positively influences the flow of combat.

64. Gail Kim
Points: 782
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 12th Place (Cewsh)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

Joey Splashwater: I could argue she's the best wrestler in TNA. Much like her husband's show Restaurant: Impossible where chef Robert Irvine saves failing restaurants, Gail Kim saves failing wrestling matches.

Drake Younger piledrove the competition in PWG Photo Credit: Devin Chen

63. Drake Younger
Points: 786
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Alex Torres)
Last Year's Placement: 96th Place

Alex Torres: From deathmatch ambassador to the MVP of PWG, and it couldn't have happened to a better person.

Joe Roche: At the Battle of Los Angeles Night 1, Younger took on Joey Ryan in a match that involved Legos. That's a thing that happened, and it was wonderful and it remains one of my favorite 2013 wrestling memories. The reinvention of Drake Younger throughout 2013 from hardcore, ultra-violent legend into accomplished technical wrestler, WWE style sports entertainer was amazing and deserves to be recognized. Drake is beloved in PWG which alone is enough to garner him some votes, his matches with Adam Cole throughout 2013 were awesome and it's devastating that he'll leave the independent's without having held the biggest prize in PWG.

Rob Pandola: Drake, in PWG, is the perfect babyface for that crowd. He earned their respect through hard work and a hybrid high flying/brawling style that works perfectly in that building. In the ring, he's all action. Never a dull moment. You almost get the feeling he's putting his body on the line way more than he ever did when he was in death matches.

62. Bobby Roode
Points: 799
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Cewsh)
Last Year's Placement: 12th Place

61. Kofi Kingston
Points: 800
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Dan McQuade)
Last Year's Placement: 52nd Place

Scott T. Holland: Kofi Kingston will one day be appearing at your neighborhood VFW hall, cleverly escaping elimination in a battle royal. That said, his 2013 Royal Rumble “crafty save” moment of using a desk chair as a pogo stick is probably his worst entry in this particular canon.

60. Robert Evans/RD Evans/Archibald Peck/Big Bad Quentin
Points: 801
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 14th Place (Frank McCormick)
Last Year's Placement: 33rd Place

Ryan Kilma: Peck/Evans offered slightly subdued less shenanigans year. However, behind the bells, whistles, and birds in neck-braces hides a rather nifty pro wrestler. Although he has a Goofy-esque physique, Evans has been able to keep up with the athletes in ROH, and cement his position as Best "Robert Evans" on the roster. Guys with below-average bodies that are adverse to pull-ups like Peck and Mick Foley are so good at capturing the lunancy of pro wrestling through storytelling that it's easy to forget they'd still great without any additional hoopla; I think his match with Eddie Kingston proved that.

The big question remaining is whether Peck actually spend a majority of 2013 in the year 2013.

Rob Pandola: I placed him high on my list for one specific reason: as a wrestler, this was his best year. Look no further than his matches with Tim Donst and Eddie Kingston in Chikara for proof. Yes, he's the leader of the band, and his comedy style will always take president over anything else, but when he wants to turn it on, he can TURN IT ON! I would play back-up Tuba for him any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Frank McCormick: Archibald Peck shouldn't be a terribly convincing pro wrestler. Not because he's a "vanilla midget" (have you seen the indies lately? Or the main event of Wrestlemania? Suck it, Nash!), but because he's a beanpole, all flailing limbs and ectomorph chest. Yet few wrestlers delight me as much as he. Much of that has to do with things outside of the scope of TWB 100 criteria, but his performance in the ring doesn't detract. He has a knack for connecting with the audience

59. Icarus
Points: 837
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Robot Hammer)
Last Year's Placement: 67th Place

Rob Pandola: In the beginning of 2013, the sun would rise in the morning, set in the evening, and Icarus was a heel. And then something changed. His in-ring style started to change, becoming more of a hybrid of baby face show off and heel scumbaggery. By the time he got to Never Compromise, he had transformed into a full-fledged baby face, and it felt natural. When people cheered for him, it felt natural. And that was because of his work in the ring. A transition like that, almost over-night, just doesn't happen without a sophisticated knowledge of working. Icarus proved that he was WAY better than what anyone had ever given him credit for, and we were all better for it.

58. Rich Swann
Points: 886
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 15th Place (Rich Kraetsch)
Last Year's Placement: 84th Place

TH: I'm still singing "All Night Long" at his and Ricochet's behest. The Inner City Machine Guns were one of the most fun tag teams in PWG and all of wrestling last year, and Swann's theatrics and pinball motions around the ring had a lot to do with that.

Rob Pandola: Red Bull in a human frame.

John Rosenberger: Rich Swann is basically what I would make if Create-A-Wrestler let you create an honest to god living pro-wrestler. He is effortlessly graceful, infectiously charismatic and just the most athletic person I’ve ever seen.

57. Christian
Points: 901
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 16th Place (Angelo Castillo)
Last Year's Placement: 89th Place

TH: Christian's status with WWE has left him with a weird resume in 2013. Despite long sojourns due to injury, he was never too far away from the main event players, and thus he was given a platform to work long matches with the rest of the top of the card. This paradigm led him to have some killer matches with Daniel Bryan on free TV, his inclusion in the RAW Money in the Bank ladder match, and a program against Alberto del Rio that allowed him to have the third best match at SummerSlam, which might not sound like much until you realize the two matches ahead of it may have been two of the best in WWE's 2013, let alone all time.

Jessicka Havok and Sami Callihan: Inexorably linked in the ring AND in sequence in the TWB 100 Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

56. Jessicka Havok
Points: 914
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 15th Place (Pablo Alva)
Last Year's Placement: 72nd Place

TH: Hers was the fury in 2013. Her unique physical presence and relentless ring demeanor allowed her to be a cyclone of destruction in whatever contest in which she'd participate. Whether she was towering over competitors like Serena Deeb or Athena, or going toe to toe with Sami Callihan, her ring presence was unmatched and special. The aforementioned match with Callihan was perhaps my favorite independent wrestling match of 2013.

Martin Bentley: J-Hav started 2013 deadly enough. This ended up being the year when she assumed the mantle of the Havok Death Machine, and it all steamrollered from there.

Although her year in SHINE started iffy, with her having to say she respected Reby Sky, Havok made that promotion her own, starting with a big win over a dream opponent for many in Madison Eagles, and then swatting away Portia Perez, before running into Rain and her Valkyrie group. Her problems would lie in the woman she thought was her best friend - Allysin Kay, who would turn on her, starting a massive war that still rumbles on.

Havok still reigns supreme as WSU World Champion, and it would be there where she took the moniker of "Death Machine" from one Sami Callihan (who she may or may not know outside of wrestling), sending him running to an anonymous compound in Orlando (which some say is a "performance center"). As J-Hav continued to dispatch everyone put in front of her (including the likes of Athena and Lexxus), she has now run into a new challenge in the shape of new WSU co-owner DJ Hyde. It remains to be seen if Deej will finally crack the Death Machine.

Havok has also dipped into promotions such as 2CW (not TCW, Jessicka...), AAW, CZW and FIP throughout the year, but the other major promotion J-Hav made her name in was SHIMMER. For a long time, many wondered if Havok would ever come to the Berwyn Eagles Club, given her long time standing with WSU, but that question was answered at Volume 53 in New Jersey with a sneak attack on Serena Deeb, who Havok continued a rivalry with back in Berwyn the following week, splitting two matches. After destroying the likes of Heidi Lovelace, Santana Garrett and Mia Yim, Havok returned in October, disposing of Mary Lee Rose, Leva Bates and Crazy Mary Dobson, only falling to the might of Madison Eagles in a return bout from SHINE earlier in the year.

I enjoy a lot of women's work in wrestling, but there's very few who command their stage and give off a superstar aura quite like Jessicka Havok. She uses her size more effectively than most, she performs a gimmick whilst "won" from someone else, she fits perfectly, and she probably has the most unique set of merchandise I've ever seen a wrestler sell, including the likes of dogtags, gas-masks and even "mini-grenades". I will be utterly stunned if she's still on the independent scene within two or three years, as J-Hav is exactly the kind of female performer that the WWE desperately needs as a counter-balance to who they have on the roster right now.

Rob Pandola: Her WSU Title match with Athena was great, but in pales in comparison to her match with Sami Callahan. This was a match that was years in the making, and when it finally happened, not only did people believe the hype, but the hype almost felt like an under-estimation on how good she can be. She puts all of her weight into that Demon Drop, which makes it look that much more devastating. It always feels like she's in a blood-war with anyone who is opposed to her. Every match means something to her. The heir-apparent to Bull Nakano.

55. Sami Callihan
Points: 915
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Pablo Alva)
Last Year's Placement: 26th Place

TH: Callihan was hurt by being taken from the active pool of wrestlers around the middle of the year. The lag time between his final independent match and his debut in NXT as Solomon Crowe – which happened in 2014 – was one of the biggest shames of the year because Callihan is such a unique presence in the ring. Any match he was in that didn't also feature Drake Younger was worth seeking out, but none was more notable than his match against Jessicka Havok. The two worked one of the most vicious, hate-soaked brawls of the year, an intergender match that played out in the most gender neutral fashion possible.

Samuel DiMascio: Callihan is one of the few wrestlers on the independent wrestler working a variety of promotions and looking equally awesome in almost in nearly every single one. You could probably point to a match of his from every promotion he worked for in 2013 that was a highlight for that promotion. Sami only got about a half a year of work in before getting signed to the WWE but he managed to build a rather stellar resume in that time. In that span he managed the most violent and fantastic match PWG had all year against Drake Younger, a psychologically thrilling sequal to the 2012 match with John Morrison in 2CW, and one of the best intergender matches you’ll see against Jessicka Havok in WSU. That is just the tip of the iceberg for Callihan but that just goes to show the versatility as well as the journeymanship of the bicycle kicking individual.

54. Eddie "Eddie Edwards" Edwards
Points: 915 (ranked ahead of Sami Callihan based on highest vote tiebreaker)
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Tristan Wolfe)
Last Year's Placement: 50th Place

Joe Roche: I can't very well say that Biff Busick and Eddie Edwards had the best iron man match I've ever seen and only credit Busick. Luckily for Edwards the TWB 100 isn't about personality or interviews because Edwards might not even make the list. But in the ring Edwards has a really strong style, obviously he takes a ton from Japanese wrestling, his chops are brutal, his strikes all sound like they really and truly hurt, and he can go to the mat with the best of them. The Edwards/Busick trilogy of singles matches exceeded my highest expectations and Edwards deserves at least half the credit for that. If you haven't seen any of their meetings, you should really make it a point to check them out - I'd watch them in order to truly appreciate how each match built off each other, but if you only have an hour - check out the Iron Man match from Tournament For Tomorrow 2.

Tristan Wolfe: Eddie Edwards was kind of the man in 2013. A lot of people might think of Eddie Edwards as a tag team guy, but he's so much more than that. For proof, go watch his match with Biff Busick in Beyond Wrestling. It doesn't matter if he's standing next to Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, or by himself, Eddie Edwards is going to put on a good match.

53. William Regal
Points: 920
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Danielle Matheson)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Regal showed up in the ring a half-a-dozen times tops, but every time he did, especially in NXT, he was phenomenal. His series of matches against the former Kings of Wrestling were two of the finest of the year. I didn't think he'd be able to top his contest against Kassius Ohno in April, but the match against Antonio Cesaro in December was regoddamndiculously amazing. He could very well be the best small-sample-size wrestler of all-time, and I hope he continues to make these spot appearances for as long as his body will let him.

Samuel DiMascio: Oh Regal, how I love thee. You are a like a fine wine, only getting better with age. Lord Regal went up against the Kings of Wrestling in 2013 in with that came two of the best matches of the year. His match against Ohno was magnificent. The way Regal manipulated the fingers of Ohno was brilliant and the way he sold the massive strikes from the Ohno as if he if his equilibrium had been completely out of whack. WWE gave use a Christmas gift that goes a bit under noticed by being so close to year’s end. That gift was Regal against Cesaro. Regal yet again put on what would be his last master class performance to date. Of course the Lord of NXT wasn’t going to be performing on a weekly basis but he managed to show his ability at his age at more than one point in the year was worth hefty praise.

Brandon Spears: I'm pretty sure he only had three matches in all of 2013, but in my opinion there isn't a wrestler on WWE TV who's more in tune with his character and knowing how to react to every situation. I'm loving Regal as the universally respected veteran who's just out to prove he's still a villain at his core.

This match with Punk helped Chris Jericho make the TWB 100 this year Photo Credit: WWE.com

52. Chris Jericho
Points: 970
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Joey O.)
Last Year's Placement: 16th Place

TH 2013 Chris Jericho is a far, far cry from the wrestler who placed first in the inaugural edition of this list, let alone prime turn-of-the-century Y2J. However, he still has some decent matches in him as proven by his RAW match against CM Punk in February and his series with Curtis Axel in the summer.

Ryan Kilma: An interesting what-if to ponder on a long car trip when your iPod's out of juice, all your CDs are unreadable, and you're hundreds of miles away from a radio tower is the role Y2J (or Christian or Sheamus) would've played in the Summer of 5'2" (the blockbuster sequel to the Summer of Punk). Business picked up almost immediately after Jericho left on another gonzo Fozzy hiatus. Not only is it easy to forget the Daddy Lion wrestled in 2013, he also participated in some pretty swell matches before parting. Although he mostly made the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber-match proper awesome by osmosis, his WM match with Fandango, though clumsy, contained all the awkwardness and excitement of a first dance and had me smiling the whole way through. As an added bonus, his match with CM Punk was Diamond Cutter-out-of-nowhere and is my pick for Match of 2013 (that had no major storyline implications whatsoever).

51. Christopher Daniels
Points: 971
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Brock Lutefisk)
Last Year's Placement: 18th Place

Brock Lutefisk: Bad Influence, need I say more? He’s still going strong, even in the tag team division. I rarely watch TNA, but I’ll tune in to watch Daniels.

Tomorrow, the list creeps towards the top.

"If y'all think two dudes oughtta be able to get married if they want, gimme a hell yeah!" Photo Credit: WWE.com

Via Deadspin via the Steve Austin Podcast

The truth of the matter is a lot of "heroes" in the entertainment and sports businesses believe in a lot of shitty things and aren't deserving of that mantel. Pro wrestling is no different. Most people within the business are not heroes, with the exception of maybe Diamond Dallas Page at this point. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is not a hero. He didn't play one on TV to be fair, but in his real life, he has a bunch of skeletons in his closet, most of them due to his piss-poor track record with women and domestic violence. That all being said, sometimes, celebrities come out with surprising and genuine moments of goodness. Austin, on a podcast he recorded and released months ago, had one of those moments of clarity regarding gay marriage, transcription courtesy of Barry Petchesky at Deadspin:

"I don't give a shit if two guys, two gals, guy-gal, whatever it is, I believe that any human being in America, or any human being in the goddamn world, that wants to be married, and if it's same-sex, more power to 'em." ...

... "What also chaps my ass, some of these churches, have the high horse that they get on and say 'we as a church do not believe in that.' Which one of these motherfuckers talked to God, and God said that same-sex marriage was a no-can-do?" ...

... "OK, so two cats can't get married if they want to get married, but then a guy can go murder 14 people, molest five kids, then go to fucking prison, and accept God and He's going to let him into heaven? After the fact that he did all that shit? See that's all horseshit to me, that don't jive with me."

No one could have said it any better than Austin. I don't want to put Austin on a pedestal, although he seems to be learning his lesson and improving on his ghastly problems with married life. However, for an industry that struggles with social progressivism, having Austin come out for the gay community, of which at least one member is employed on the WWE main roster, is the best possible thing to happen. He's arguably the biggest star in wrestling history, and he's gotten it right on marriage equality.

Yet, for all the plaudits WWE receives for its platform on the issue, whether it be the amount of influence and power that Pat Patterson had (or still has) or its showering of acceptance towards Darren Young, the company just got off an entire two week period where it celebrated the life of an unrepentant homophobe. Then again, Austin coming out for marriage equality doesn't end homophobia the same way that the election of a black man as President didn't end racism. Everyone has a lot of work to do in this area. I just think having Steve Austin as an ally instead of another apathetic non-voice or even worse, another person who agrees with Warrior is a great start.

This, in 2014, is unacceptable Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The worst ever live experience I've ever had at a wrestling show occurred at EVOLVE 10. Granted, the reason wasn't that the card itself was awful. Up until the announced main event, I was quite enjoying myself. Even though the main event went on too long and had a lot of the tired old things that plague a good bit of indie wrestling, my patience didn't wear thin because of the performance Ricochet and Johnny Gargano put on in the ring. And to be completely fair, in the aftermath, Gargano's performance became downright impressive when it was discovered he'd been wrestling on legs he couldn't exactly feel through the entire match.

My displeasure began when the crowd, which was full of people "celebrating" the final show ever at the ECW Arena, started to catcall the match for the sheer reason that it wasn't some kind of hardcore bloodbath featuring two guys they liked from a promotion that had been dead for longer than it was alive by that point. I'll never forget seeing this dude with a pock-marked face and unkempt dirty blonde hair in a WWE-sponsored One Night Stand hockey sweater continually yelling "Take it home!" while the two wrestlers tried to tell their story. I never wanted to assault another fan for spurious and irrational reasons more than I wanted to cold-cock that one. Luckily for me, I didn't follow through, but he represented an majority crowd of disgusting manchildren who only wanted wrestling the way they remembered it back in 1998. They eventually got what they wanted, when Sabu and Justin Credible came out for the "real" main event.

I don't blame those fans for their reactions, by the way. If one were to put a bleeding man in a shark tank, would anyone in their right minds blame the shark for attacking him? That show did not spontaneously generate with the fans already there. Gabe Sapolsky booked the show. He marketed it to former ECW fans as yet another farewell to a company that already had more than its fair share of farewells and tributes. He organized the bus trips from New York (and then had his cronies like Lenny Leonard bash Philadelphia as if the city itself made those fans boo the show). He put Ricochet and Gargano out to fail, and then he all along planned on the Sabu/Credible main event. Sapolsky planned and executed the entire event with the idea to capitalize on nostalgia behind it. He may have made the biggest gate on an EVOLVE show to that point, sure, but how many of those fans stuck around? How many minds were changed on the state of wrestling? If the answer to that question is "more than a minuscule amount," then I will be shocked.

Dumb people never learn from mistakes, and by and large, I have found that many wrestling bookers don't exactly have IQs worth bragging about. No matter the diminishing returns WWE got on its ECW reboot and rebrand, no matter how underwhelming TNA's attempts at ECW reunions were, no matter how many times other "reunion" shows faltered and failed to gain traction, people continue to try and revive the corpse of the company that upset the order in the mid-'90s without realizing why its mission statement of disruption was so successful. I don't know why the people behind Extreme Rising thought they would be different following the same formula.

The company cancelled all its shows this week and deleted its social media presence. The latest bout of cancellations was not the first time the company had to cancel shows, but it certainly looks as if it will be the last. Granted, the promotion wandered into some critical success with its in-ring action and by attempting to push new stars like Luke Hawx. But trying to attract new fans with an old and specific concept is like trying to lure in fresh meat worthy of eating with carrion. The only creatures you'll attract to your trap will be the vultures and the scavengers. Right now, old school ECW fans who have left the wrestling fandom are the scavengers. They take up the dead meat and leave before seeing what good might be next on the roadside buffet.

Meanwhile, the successful companies are the ones forging ahead trying to make new fans going forward. WWE is TV-PG because it wants the kids to watch, the ones who are still rasas tabulas when it comes to entertainment. Combat Zone Wrestling's motto isn't "hey, we're like ECW!" it's "Like Nothing Else." Chikara has morphed and changed over the years to fit with or even stay ahead of the times, and even its original concept was wholly unique. During its salad days, Ring of Honor was a fresh and innovative take on professional wrestling as more sport than entertainment. No company has ever succeeded on a massive and sustainable level fucking the corpse of a dead company because those fans have moved on, either towards evolutions of that company, or away from pro wrestling altogether.

The reasons above are why Extreme Rising was doomed to fail from the beginning. The company wasn't a hardcore outfit trying to get into the market; it was a specific appeal to the fandom of those who loved a specific company. Meanwhile, that specific company blazed a goddamn trail. Paul Heyman and his band of merry scumbags and misfits were viral before viral was a thing with a name. They combined the brawling and weapon use of Memphis with a Japanese sensibility and a lack of fear to take the piss out of themselves and created something that had never been seen in America before. ECW was not successful because it followed a formula; it got unlikely equal billing with the WWF and WCW because it forged an unknown path and struck gold.

WWE's ECW reboot, TNA's attempts at Hardcore Justice, the Extreme Reunions, Hardcore Homecomings, EVOLVE 10, and especially Extreme Rising all followed that same road map and tried tapping the same veins that Heyman and his company sucked dry. Is it any wonder that their successes were fleeting at best? Instead of trying to diverge from the path, however slight or drastic as was called for, they kept telling themselves that the gold was still there. Yet none of them learned a goddamn thing from any previous mistakes made.

My guess is that Extreme Rising won't be the last time someone attempts capitalization on the specific ECW brand, but it should be. No other company's legacy has been ransacked like ECW's has, and the returns have diminished to the point of trickles. The next time someone has the grand idea of aping ECW, that person should not look at the specifics, but at the general idea of what Heyman, his agents, and his wrestlers did. Try something new. Do something that has never been done before, or at the very least, that has never been done before in the area you're promoting it. Forging ahead is how wrestling grows. Those mutants and manchildren shouting "Take it home!" to a guy working on dead legs? Leave those guys in the past where they fucking belong.

I have no idea why the following video was produced, other than to show that the Rougeau Brothers really liked to go out on the water on their speedboat so they and their friends could water ski. Then again, what other reason would one need to have this video in their lives? The best touch is the bed music. When I think "bad bad bad bad boys," I think of pasty white Canadian dudes on a boat. But hey, Gloria Estefan is a major step up from the random butt rock WWE would have used today.


This week's video comes to you from @GingerPimpernel. Please thank him for this slice of '80s-tastic glory if you will.

Ryback had his moments in the ring in 2013, especially against John Cena Photo Credit: WWE.com

Moving right along!

50. Ryback
Points: 991
Ballots: 18
Highest Vote Received: 12th Place (Rich Thomas)
Last Year's Placement: 45th Place

TH: As The Big Guy got more and more comfortable in his own skin, WWE decreased his ring time. Before he was phased out, however, he had several nice little matches where he broke out some inventive spots and threw his weight around like a big guy should. His year started out with a wonderful clusterfuck against CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. He had two stellar free-TV bouts against Daniel Bryan, and his tables match later on in the year on RAW against John Cena was wonderful for its awkwardness. Ryback gets an unfair rap sometimes, and his work in the ring is a huge part of why he's still one of WWE's strongest hands.

Scott T. Holland: Ryback gets points largely for his last man standing match with John Cena at Extreme Rules, which gave us one of the most memorable WWE moments of 2013.

49. Kane
Points: 1006
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Rich Thomas)
Last Year's Placement: 31st Place

TH: Kane, especially nowadays, has a definite ceiling, but in the first half of 2013, he right about arrived there. His work in tags and trios matches with Daniel Bryan and [partner x] against various opponents that included The Shield was on point. I don't know if going away after SummerSlam helped or hurt his case, since singles Kane has always been hit or miss. But the first half of his year was pretty darn good.

48. Trent?
Points: 1053
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Danielle Matheson)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

John Rosenberger: Trent? was another fella whom I was relatively unfamiliar with as he was underutilized in WWE, but his work in DGUSA, EVOLVE and PWG really won me over something huge, athletic and comedic is not the least common combinations in pro wrestling but usually the more one is in one direction they are in the other. Trent? can be very comedic but also can be very serious. His work as part of “The Best Friends” is pretty amazing, but he can also strong and no-nonsense as he is in DGUSA. One of my favorite matches of 2013 was Taylor vs Trent in an elks lodge that had just had a quinceanera and had left some of their balloons around. Those two worked and sold those balloons as borderline deadly foreign objects and permanently endeared him to me.

Joey Splashwater: In DGUSA, EVOLVE and PWG, Trent? has been one of the brightest stars to see wrestle on a regular basis. One of my favorite live matches in 2013 was in December at a DGUSA show vs. Rich Swann.

47. Adrian Neville
Points: 1089
Ballots: 19
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Brandon Bosh)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Neville didn't have the freedom he had in the indies, which hurt him not with his impressive moveset, but with the range of motion and time given for each match. Despite those limitations, Neville was still impressive down in NXT. The most important thing was keeping his identity, what made him unique, and he was able to impress both in tags and against former partner Corey Graves at the end of the year.

Scott T. Holland: I didn’t have much (any) exposure to Adrian Neville before I started watching NXT religiously in late May. Though he was in and around the tag team and NXT title scene throughout much of 2013, generally he seems to be a wrestler who rises to the level of his competition. It’s no surprise his best showings have been against the likes of Sami Zayn (in a No. 1 contender match in November) and his less stellar performances feature opponents such as Corey Graves. Still, he’s got raw skills and plenty of potential; I predict a much stronger ranking in 2014.

46. AJ Styles
Points: 1104
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Cewsh)
Last Year's Placement: 49th Place

45. Bo Dallas
Points: 1106
Ballots: 18
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (Brandon Rohwer)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

Scott T. Holland: Bo Dallas had a great start to 2013, winning an NXT tournament to qualify for the Royal Rumble, in which he eliminated Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett. There now are 169 wrestlers who have logged a Royal Rumble elimination, which is more than the 126 who have entered without making one elimination. But to me joining the club is noteworthy. That’s to say nothing of Dallas’ pursuit of an run as NXT champion, during which he displayed the sometimes elusive ability to wrestle in complete connection with his character.

Andrew Rosin: I'm not want to trust a man whose gimmick is pun-based, But the way Bo Dallas has been able to turn himself into the most straight up cornball face the fans love to boo has turned me into a BO-liever.

44. Kyle O'Reilly
Points: 1135
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Pablo Alva)
Last Year's Placement: 55th Place

Joe Roche: Here's the thing about Kyle O'Reilly, he uses an arm bar finisher, so he spends most of the match working over your arm/shoulder. I know that sounds obvious, but not many people do that. Hell The Miz uses the figure four, so he spends an entire match hitting you in the head and then CRITICAL FIGURE FOURS you out of nowhere. Kyle has great psychology, but he's also the best version of Davey Richards that we have in wrestling. He uses a ton of kicks, and Muay Thai offense and he's got that whole MMA vibe to his skill set. However, he does everything with purpose. He locks on submissions with speed, he strikes with quickness, he links his moves together -- Kyle O'Reilly will be at the top of this list someday, I guarantee it.

Rob Pandola: reDRagon is a great tag-team that took some time to grow on me, and the only reason why was because I knew how great Kyle was as a singles competitor. I started to see glimpses of it in AAW with his series against ACH, but then his match at TEN against T.J. Perkins opened my eyes to his potential. His potential became reality at BOLA. It's his resume. If someone wants to know what all the fuss is about, you hand him both nights of the 2013 BOLA. Submission's out of nowhere. Kicks that will knock you out. Endless counters. THIS is how you infuse MMA into wrestling.

Joey Splashwater: In terms of purely in ring work, Kyle O'Reilly is at the top tier of this list. His tag team work with Bobby Fish and being ROH tag champs for most of the year featued many great matches featuring reDRagon. In PWG, Kyle was one of the best things going as he won the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles and was a breakout singles star. Even in smaller feds like AAW, I watched some of his work and dude always was on point.

Tim Donst's underhanded tactics were a big part of his excellence at telling a story Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

43. Tim Donst
Points: 1210
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received:1st Place (John Rosenberger)
Last Year's Placement: 34th Place

TH: Tim Donst's finest moment this year came in a match against a ring announcer. That statement is not a knock. His match with Gavin Loudspeaker at the final Chikara show of the year (in June?!?!?) was pro wrestling distilled into its finest form, a theatrical stage show full of exaggeration and larger than life personalities preening for the audience. Sure, he had some other great contests, especially against Colt Cabana at Wrestling Is Art's debut show, but this match was one of the best stories told in a ring in 2013.

Alex Torres: Pay attention, or you might miss one of the best guys going today. There's nothing holding him back. He made something magical happen at Absolution 8, not something I feel often in indie wrestling.

Ryan Kilma: Donstantine's 2013 Chikara season was proof positive that wins don't matter in professional wrestling. Despite being on the losing end of all his matches in the shortened Chikalender, Donst retained his status as one of the premier mat wrestlers on the indie circuit through via veteran-like consistency and generosity. His A:NC match with Gavin Loudspeaker is a perfect bout to show wrestlers-in-training. The contest wasn't eyeball-popping, but was certainly one of the more competent matches featuring a non-wrestler in recent memory. It never had the chance to reach the inanity of Lawler-Cole because Donst was the one in the director's chair. The overused trope to identify a splendid wrestler is that they can "have a match with a broomstick;" and TD had a pretty cromulent match with someone possessing a broomstick-like physique, so now what?

Rob Pandola: His match agains Gavin Loudspeaker at Never Compromise was WAY better than it had any right to be, and a lot of that credit needs to go to Donst. That being said, the best Tim Donst is AIW Tim Donst. Against Michael Hutter, Eddie Kingston, Mickie Knuckles and Chris Hero, he brought a fire that you felt in every move he made. A sense of frustration, of not being accepted. It was as if he wasn't just fighting the people he was in the ring with, but his own personal demon's at the same time, like each victory took another one away. The most interesting wrestler, if only because he was the most compelling.

John Rosenberger: Nobody has told more effective in-ring stories in 2013 than Tim Donst. His story of a bully alienating his only group of friends slowly but surely was told as effectively via in-match actions as any promo or vignette, then you have his ongoing feud with Eddie Kingston that spanned the Midwest and was filled with heartfelt anger and hatred towards each that felt so authentic and so real that it was impossible not to get swept up in. In addition to this you have standalone matches that tell incredible stories like that between him and Chris Hero at AIW or with Cabana in WIA, that prove he can be just as effective of a story teller in a single match as he can in a prolonged feud.

42. Chuck Taylor
Points: 1218
Ballots: 18
Highest Vote Received: 7th Place (Danielle Matheson)
Last Year's Placement: 44th Place

Ryan Kilma: No one since Paul Heyman has revolutionized the concept of hardcore wrestling as much as Chuck Taylor, and I'm saying that without even a whiff of irony.

Rob Pandola: I have more Chuck Taylor or Chuck-Taylor-related t-shirts than any other wrestler In my closet. This has nothing to do with anything, I just thought this public forum would be the right place to say that. He also had a fantastic match with Drew Gulak that ended up being my favorite match of Gulak's CZW title reign so far. Add the wonderful dynamic he has with Trent? In Best Friends and it all adds up to one of his best years on the indies so far.

Mike Pankowski: Chuck is easily the best wrestler at telling stories in 15 second title matches on Instagram. But you can see why that can be when he competes normally. Chuck brings a good amount of comedy to his matches while also having a varied move set. You will never watch a bad or an unenjoyable Chuck Taylor match, and he deserves a lot of credit for that.

41. Ricochet
Points: 1255
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (George Hazar)
Last Year's Placement: 51st Place

TH: Most of the footage I saw of Ricochet in 2013 was his work with Rich Swann in the Inner City Machine Guns. Luckily, that team kinda ruled and made for some of the most entertaining tag team matches of the year. Ricochet's shtick works on so many different levels, but because he's so frenetic and engaging, his best wrestling comes in the manic tag environs found in PWG.

Samuel DiMascio: Ricochet may very well be the perfect PWG worker. The company is all about seeing absolutely insane stunts for the people jamming into the small sweat box of an American Legion that stands in Reseda, California. Ricochet does the most insane stunts and makes the Legion that much hotter. There he’s worked great in tags in trios. In that environment he is able do all the flips and jaw dropping moves without it seeming nonsensical. Ricochet does things other wrestlers can’t and he does it with style that other wrestlers couldn’t dare match.

Rob Pandola: His "Evolutions End" match against AR Fox was a great showcase for his versatility and his improv skills, but the standout moment for him was at All-Star Weekend 9 with Rich Swann vs. AR Fox and Samuray Del Sol. The exchange with Del Sol was a look into the future. The next evolution of the "Matrix Minuet". Pure Technical Ecstasy.

40. Eddie Kingston
Points: 1256
Ballots: 19
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Robot Hammer)
Last Year's Placement: 21st Place

Samuel DiMascio: Kingston is one of the few Chikara wrestlers who can leave the confines of the promotion and fit in in another promotion equally if not better than his home. His work in Chikara was spectacular. The fact that he got a really good match out of Icarus would be more than enough for the Grand Champ to rank favorably with me. That doesn’t take into account the two rather awesome matches he had with Green Ant. One thing that Kingston does that I can’t see myself ever getting sick of is him selling his leg. He does it so magically that every wrestler he faces looks like a threat and at the same time he looks like a beast for powering through it. Kingston was a big part of why I viewed the first half of the year of Chikara as the best in-ring indie for those six months.

Rob Pandola: His decent into madness in Chikara was wonderful, with matches against Green Ant, Kevin Steen and Archibald Peck as highlights. His match with Icarus is a master class in the art of the double turn, especially looking back on the history of each man separately in Chikara. His transformation into an old-school heel was complete with his work in Wrestling Is Cool against Eric Corvis and Frightmare. He debuted for AAW, and immediately started a great feud with former champ Silas Young that was talked about more for the promos more than anything else, but the matches were right on the same level, featuring fantastic work from both. No one was able to bring pure street attitude into the ring better than him last year.

Frank McCormick: Eddie Kingston is a man with demons. Many, many demons. Even when he's in one of his smiling, happy moods, he's only a blink away from complete nuclear meltdown. He takes, nay invites, the pain his competitors dish out, using it as nectar and ambrosia for the tormenting demons inside him, the demons that suplex and backfist opponents into submission, or even other timelines. There's something raw and wild to Kingston. He wrestles because he can't not do so, lest he self-destruct, and that desperation makes him compelling, and terrifying, to behold.

John Rosenberger: Is Eddie Kingston the best wrestler in the world? Probably not, but what he lacks in grace and athleticism he makes up for in toughness and character work. Is it hard to play the jaded New Yorker with a chip on his shoulder? No. However it seems to be hard do so while making it feel so authentic and not like a guy doing a caricature of a Jaded New Yorker with a chip on their shoulders. While not the most original character in the world, Eddie embodies his persona in the ring without out even hinting that his true nature might be anything other than what showcases itself between the ropes.

39. Bully Ray
Points: 1274
Ballots: 18
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Andrew Rosin)
Last Year's Placement: 17th Place

Brandon Spears: It continues to amaze me that in 2013 Bubba Ray Dudley was the one of the least embarrassing parts of (arguably) the number two wrestling promotion in the country.

38. Jey Uso
Points: 1306
Ballots: 21
Highest Vote Received: 12th Place (Brandon Rohwer)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

37. Jimmy Uso
Points: 1307
Ballots: 21
Highest Vote Received: 13th Place (Brandon Rohwer)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: The Usos got over on their own, partially through a cool entrance, but also because they worked their asses off in the ring and made people get behind them. They helped bring tag wrestling back in vogue in WWE in the later part of the year, and their frequent run-ins with The Shield, especially on the Money in the Bank pre-show, were always a hit.

Greg Excellent felt the rocket that was Biff Busick in 2013 Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

36. Biff Busick/Frank O'Rourke
Points: 1308
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Rob Pandola, Frank McCormick)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Busick, or O'Rourke for those who only know him through the Chikaraverse, came out of nowhere and took 2013 by storm. His year could be distilled into two major feuds: Drew Gulak and Eddie Edwards. However, his ancillary matches in the various Wrestling Is promotions shouldn't be taken lightly. He had a fun romp with the Estonian Thunder Frog at Wrestling Is Respect, and his match with Sugar Dunkerton at the Art debut was one of the best of the year. His best match, however, may have come in front of "the boys" at the CZW school for a Beyond taping against AR Fox.

Alex Torres: A phenomenal athlete who understands the little things better than anyone else, Biff came out of nowhere and became one of the best wrestlers of 2013.

Joe Roche: Biff Busick is a wrestling tank. Trained by Lance Storm the dude throws an amazing Half and Half Suplex, he's incredibly athletic, he can mat wrestle with the best of them and he can go all night. Over the course of 2013 Busick engaged in two of the best series of matches I saw all year. His bouts as Francis O'Rourke in the Wrestling Is.. family against Drew Gulak were works of art. I can't recommend a set of matches more, each one builds off the previous match and they tell a compelling story from start to finish. Biff technical wrestled his ass off against Gulak and proved that he could hang with the European style and then he engaged in one of the choppiest set of matches I've ever seen with Eddie Edwards in Beyond Wrestling. Adam Cole and Sami Callihan had a good Iron Man match in PWG -- but Busick/Edwards at Beyond Wrestling "Tournament For Tomorrow 2" was absolutely incredible. Over the course of the year Busick proved that he can go hold for hold, or strike for strike with two of the best in the world and established himself as one of the "must see" independent wrestlers in the country moving forward.

Rob Pandola: My other favorite wrestler to watch live. The greatest compliment I can give him is that I have yet to see a bad match with him in it. He started the year with an instant classic with Drew Gulak on National Pro Wrestling Day, which started a rivalry still going today, went to the J-LIT and had a classic with ACH, and starting with Beyond Wrestling's We Care A Lot show, the best in-ring feud in wrestling last year with Eddie Edwards. Their matches were stiff, technical, and balls to the wall. Every move meant something. Nothing seemed out of place, and they pushed each other to get better, match after match. No one has yet to out-perform him in the ring.

35. Michael Elgin
Points: 1346
Ballots: 20
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Martin Bentley)
Last Year's Placement: 23rd Place

TH: My distaste for Elgin is well-documented, but he had a pretty good year for the times I saw him. He's a lot better in tags, and his teaming with Brian Cage in PWG yielded more than a few good moments. I also saw him have the first singles match of his that I ever enjoyed against Kevin Steen at Death before Dishonor.

Alex Torres: The last minute revelation that he could be funny (as one of the Men of the Year) put him over the edge as a complete performer.

Martin Bentley: One thing Ring of Honor is known for is waiting far too long to pull the trigger on certain wrestlers - Tyler Black and Davey Richards being a couple of notable examples. A man very much still in progress in this regard is "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin, and though he had his moments in ROH in 2013, including fantastic matches with the likes of Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong and Adam Cole, he earns my #2 vote more for what he achieved outside of his main employers.

First, PWG. The man tore the place up, often alongside Brian Cage in the Unbreakable Fucking Machines. Elgin and Cage took on the likes of The Young Bucks, Future Shock, the Inner City Machine Guns and Best Friends in tag team competition, whilst in singles matches, Elgin once again made the final of the Battle of Los Angeles, but once again falling short, this time to Kyle O'Reilly. He also had solid outings against AR Fox and ACH whilst in Reseda.

Elgin started the year as the AAW Heavyweight Champion, and ended it as one half of the AAW Tag Team Champions, alongside "All Ego" Ethan Page. His singles reign included great defences against the likes of Silas Young, Mat Fitchett, Davey Richards and MASADA, before finally dropping the title in a fantastic contest with Shane Hollister. Following the title loss, Elgin went on a rampage, before somehow being roped in by Page to replace Josh Alexander in his tag team, and in their first match together as a team, they upended Kung Fu Manchu in a three way with Zero Gravity to take the titles.

The rest of the year was spent touring the world, including stops in England, Germany and Australia, whilst also making an impact in AIW, where he had a fantastic series of matches with Josh Alexander, before ending the year as AIW Absolute Champion, taking the title from Ethan Page. Elgin did everything bar a Japanese tour, and you'd suspect that won't be too far along in his future the way he's going.

Joe Roche: I would argue that there is nobody better at the thing they do best than Michael Elgin. I'm not sure I'd recommend you sit down and watch a compilation of Elgin matches because I think you're going to see a ton of stuff on repeat and it'll wear you down, but on a full card, Michael Elgin goes out every night and tries to steal the show. The great thing about Elgin is that he's able to adapt his strong style to fit anyone. Elgin's 30 minute time limit draw with Josh Alexander from AIW earlier this year was one of the single best matches I saw all year long, but his AIW Heavyweight Title defense against Andrew Everett was a completely different challenge but equally strong match. Elgin's stalling suplex is a move I hate -- I just don't like the idea of stopping a match for 60 seconds to watch how strong you are, and how much balance the other guy has. However, Elgin catching guys bouncing off the ropes, or deadlift suplexing people from the outside of the ring into the ring is impressive. There is no doubt that Elgin is super strong. I also think Elgin is one of those guys who allows his opponents to get their shit in, and does everything he can to make his opponents look good. Elgin single handedly kicked off the Year of JT Dunn by absolutely making him at "Point of No Return" for Beyond Wrestling in a match that I was out of breath just watching.

Rob Pandola: He had WAY too many great matches this year, too many to list here, but there's two that I think people are kinda sleeping on. The first one is his series of matches with #WalkingWeapon in AIW. In those matches, they were both able to show off their technical ability, their strength game, and their under-rated speed and brawling. The other one? At AAWs Defining Moment, he stepped in the ring with Keith Walker and had the best HOSS match of the year. Walker came in going on a two-year undefeated streak in AAW. He was the toughest guy in the room, and the most threatening. It was a match they had been building up to for a while, and it more than lived up to its expectations. If there's one match I would say you need to go out of your way to see from last year, it's this one. HOSS HEAVEN!!!

Green Ant, along with assailANT, did some work in the tag ranks, part of his well-rounded year Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

34. Green Ant
Points: 1370
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received:1st Place (Philip Rosenbaum)
Last Year's Placement: 43rd Place

TH: Green Ant may be the most well-rounded graduate of the Chikara Wrestle Factory ever. He can wrestle any style, in any match type, and against any opponent. He did singles matches well. He and Fire Ant were a great tag team, and of course, as his teammates grew, so did his propensity to wrestle well. He took on mat-grappling, high spots, power moves, submission wrestling. He branched out and he planted roots further in his home company, or after June 2, companies. Few wrestlers show the width and breadth of ability in a career that Green Ant showed this year. Most wrestlers would be defined by leaping from the balcony of the Trocadero; for Green Ant, it was just another feather in a hat already donned in colorful plumage.

David Kincannon: Since the moment I started watching Chikara, Green Ant has been my favorite member of the Colony. In 2013, he did nothing to dissuade me from that opinion, as he had fantastic matches all year long, no matter what promotion he was wrestling for. To that end, the “closing” of Chikara for most of 2013 was probably more helpful to Green Ant than any other wrestler in the company. Not only did he wrestle in most of the Wrestling Is organizations, but he also wrestled for Evolve, NEFW and Beyond Wrestling, giving him exposure to more fans and giving him access to a wider range of opponents to show what he can do.

He performed more than admirably in Beyond’s Tournament for Tomorrow II, having great matches with Darius Carter, Matthew Palmer and Aaron Epic before meeting JT Dunn in the finals at Fete Music. He and Dunn wrestled an extremely intense match, hitting each other with everything that they had. We even saw a vicious side of Green Ant that we don’t see very often, opening up Dunn’s forehead and then proceeding to headbutt Dunn right on the open wound..

With additional great matches against Eddie Kingston, Mike Quackenbush and Drew Gulak, among others, 2013 was a banner year for the Colony’s break-out star.

Joe Roche: No individual performer benefited more from the CHIKARA shutdown angle than Green Ant. He was always considered a great technical wrestler but I really think going out on his own, having singles matches against new and previously untested opponents really pushed Green Ant to a new level. His performance in the Tournament For Tomorrow 2 was awesome including just an absolutely amazing finals against JT Dunn. I don't think Green Ant had as many standout matches in the Tournament as Dunn, but the match with Aaron Epic was a really good example of the mat wrestling technique that Green Ant has perfected.

33. Damien Sandow
Points: 1455
Ballots: 23
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Rich Thomas)
Last Year's Placement: 15th Place

TH: Sandow is one of the best villainous workers in WWE today. A lot of guys can talk the talk when it comes to being a bad guy, but no one's offense has a better way of conveying bad intentions. His laborious and overbearing stomps and relentless choking do more than just chew up heat segments; they set up glorious comebacks for the opponent which are aided and abetted by some of the best begging off you'll ever see in a WWE ring. If pushes were commensurate to ability, Sandow would've ended 2013 on top of the world, especially after the master stroke of a failed cash in of his Money in the Bank briefcase on John Cena. The world may remember it in the long term as the worst failed booking opportunity ever, but Sandow was brilliant in that match, brilliant enough to overlook the fact that he lost the briefcase without taking the title.

32. Emma
Points: 1464
Ballots: 23
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Willow Maclay)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Man, she can wrangle anyone for a submission hold, can't she? The Dancing Queen of NXT had one hell of a year inside the ring. Above everything else she did, she showed some incredible range. Her feud with Paige produced some of the best women's wrestling in a WWE-owned ring since Bull Nakano took on Alundra Blayze, but on the other side of the table, she and Santino Marella engaged in one of the best comedic matches of the year against Fandango and Summer Rae. When you have that kind of versatility, the sky's the limit.

31. Mark Henry
Points: 1465
Ballots: 23
Highest Vote Received: 14th Place (Chris McDonald, Joe Kearns)
Last Year's Placement: 27th Place

Brandon Spears: Due to his age and injuries, he'll probably never reach the Hall of Pain levels he got to in 2011, but that doesn't take away the presence he carries with himself in every match he's in. Bonus points for bringing back the Junkyard Dog headbutt.

30. AR Fox
Points: 1515
Ballots: 22
Highest Vote Received: 9th Place (David Kincannon)
Last Year's Placement: 36th Place

TH:Honestly, I don't know how this guy is alive. The risks he takes on offense and the bumps he absorbs on the other end would be enough to turn my hair white… well, whiter than it already is, if I were asked to do it. Yet he makes everything he does look easy. He's even added working rudo to his repertoire. His match to kick off the Tournament for Tomorrow studio tapings against Shynron was textbook heat-mongering and helped get his opponent's sympathies over huge. He's got a unique look, seamless offense, and fearlessness that might end up getting him killed one day. How is he not signed yet?

Alex Torres: AR Fox actually died three years ago, and the person who wrestles now is a zombie. That's how he does what he does.

Joe Roche: Once you get over the fact that 75% of what AR Fox does is absolute nonsense and you just agree to sit back and enjoy the show you can't help but not enjoy Fox. The transformation from happy, super athletic guy - into arrogant, super athletic guy took place in 2013 and it was a joy to behold. Fox's offense makes more sense coming from someone who is doing this insane offense because he can, and you can't stop him. I thought Fox's Evolve 23 and Evolve 24 matches with Anthony Nese and Ricochet were really good but if you're looking for some Fox matches to check out I'd recommend PWG BOLA 2013 including the Adam Cole & The Young Bucks v, Fox, Swann and Candice LaRae. I think his running dive over the corners to the outside is great, his jumping from the second to third rope and back around for an arm drag is nonsense, but I've seen him hit death valley drivers on the ring apron that looks amazing and also deadly too -- so the guy can do some compelling hard hitting offense mixed in with his insanity.

Rob Pandola: Still to this day the only wrestler I've ever seen who has made me say "WHY WOULD HE DO THAT??" not because of bad spots or stupid mistakes, but because of his continuing quest to take his skills and his physical endurance to new levels. There are a lot of wrestlers out there who claim the mantle of "Homicidal" or "Genocidal", but there's only one who, without question, holds the title of "Suicidal". Lo Mein Pain will never not look impressive.

29. Sheamus
Points: 1617
Ballots: 24
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Andrew Rosin)
Last Year's Placement: 7th Place

TH: Sheamus was well on his way to having another banner year and a solid top three finish on my ballot behind Cesaro and Bryan. Then, he tore a rotator cuff at Money in the Bank and sat out until the calendar expired. Tough break for a workhorse. Still, he put in some major work before he went out with the injury, including a few solid trios matches against The Shield, a bunch of one-offs against opponents like Bryan, Cesaro, and other old foes like Alberto del Rio, and of course, that Money in the Bank ladder match where he was injured in the first place. He gets MAJOR points for working a couple of dates after the injury took place with a MASSIVE hematoma. I know it probably didn't affect him either way, but man, the visual put an extra exclamation point on his performances pre-diagnosis.

Brandon Spears: Here's a guy who's been rightfully chided for his dickish, cartoonish behavior in feuds with Alberto Del Rio and The Big Show in years prior, but 2013 still proved that I just really like watching Sheamus work in the ring. Sadly, he was out for a lot of last year with an injury but here's hoping 2014 brings more of Sheamus coming out of his matches looking like he ran through a brick wall and less of Sheamus shitting in Alberto Del Rio's car.

28. Johnny Gargano
Points: 1647
Ballots: 21
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Philip Rosenbaum)
Last Year's Placement: 25th Place

Alex Torres: He called himself our hero, and he wasn't far off.

Joe Roche: The reason I think Gargano deserves to be at the top of every "Best Of" list is perfectly encapsulated in his match with Samuray Del Sol from Evolve 22. The match was just a great example of how a match should be laid out, how a match like that should end, just everything clicked. That match happened almost a year ago and I can still vividly recall the ending and replay it in my mind. Gargano did everything right in 2013, his matches with Kevin Steen in various promotions were MAGICAL, his matches with JT Dunn were technical and brilliant and his run in Dragon Gate USA was so impressive that it started to get boring. Gargano is capable of wrestling any style, he can have a great match with a high flyer, power wrestler or mat technician. I understand that he slaps the shit out of his leg when he punches and some of the stuff he does is nonsense, but Gargano is on the very short list of guys who can have a great match with anyone, at any point in a card. When you rolls you over, tumbles on his back and kicks you in the face, it's great. Gargano can lock in the Garga-No Escape from anywhere which makes his finishes feel organic and fresh. The other great thing about Gargano is that he looks like he's getting beat up. You can't discount how important this is -- when he sells, it is effective, which makes his matches more engaging and draws you in. Watch that match with Del Sol, or his match with Kevin Steen from AIW "Hell on Earth 9" the guy was operating on another level in 2013.

Rob Pandola: This is the year I became a fan of Gargano. Don't get me wrong, I always liked him in tag's as a member of FIST, and I always thought he was a good hand to have around. Then I watched his run at J-LIT, and his bout's against Adam Cole and Kimber Lee. THEN I watched his run at BOLA, specifically his match against Michael Elgin. THEN I watched him in DGUSA do a better job of being Bo Dallas in the ring THAN BO DALLAS!!!!!! As a singles competitor, this is the year he came of age. He can switch from being an annoying, pandering heel, to entrenched ace of a company, to fight-from-behind underdog baby face. The guy made me a believer.

Joey Splashwater: Gargano was by far the best thing in DGUSA with two of my favorite matches in the promotion's history vs. Shingo at the start of the year and vs. Chris Hero at the end. His debut in PWG led to great things with awesome matches vs. Michael Elgin and Kevin Steen especially.

27. Drew Gulak
Points: 1669
Ballots: 21
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Philip Rosenbaum)
Last Year's Placement: 99th Place

TH: Gulak's resume in 2013 is a direct rebuttal to anyone who says working the mat is boring. Granted, all of his matches ended up going to the standard indie wrestling derby finishes, none more scarily than his bout at National Pro Wrestling Day against Frank O'Rourke where he landed on the crown of his head on a half-and-half superplex. But I would argue the most interesting parts of his matches have always been the opening volleys. He has such a natural rapport with any of his opponents, and it shows in how well the grapple exchanges come off. I hope his rise to the top continues, because with tastemakers like Gulak, indie wrestling is in a good spot.

Alex Torres: The standard bearer for both CZW and Beyond, and when a bunch of WWE fans went to a DGUSA show in New York, the name they left with on their tongues was Drew Gulak's.

Martin Bentley: The Campaign for a Better Combat Zone continues, but whilst it does, Drew Gulak continues to impress the more people who see him. Of course his biggest achievement last year was winning the CZW World Heavyweight Title from MASADA, a title he has hung onto not entirely through pure skill, but there's a reason he's still the man in the Combat Zone. Don't believe me? Kimber Lee will tell you enough times.

In addition to his title win, Gulak also did battle in CZW with stars such as Tommy Dreamer, Chris Dickinson, Shane Hollister, Chuck Taylor and Chris Hero, so the level of competition he's faced for his title has proved impressive. Also, Gulak fared well in other companies, including winning EVOLVE's yearly Style Battle Tournament, capped off by a victory over a man he did battle with many times throughout the year, Biff Busick, aka Frank O'Rourke in the several times they met in the myriad of Wrestling Is promotions. Gulak also continued his dominance in Beyond Wrestling, and has made a name for himself in Dragon Gate USA.

For me, not many have impressed me as far as being mat technicians go than Drew Gulak. He stands out so well in CZW compared to almost everyone else on the roster that you can't help but notice his style, and how it's evolving CZW as a company beyond death matches and into a more varied style. The fact he's also impressing in many other companies goes to show that it's a style that many people want to see in today's wrestling, and that fans are getting educated to it. And with more worldwide experience, he'll only demonstrate more of his ability as time goes on.

Joe Roche: His matches with Biff Busick alone are enough to put him on this list, his work in the "Wrestling Is..." family of promotions was great and he is single handedly trying to bring the European style of professional wrestling back into the US independent scene. I'm not sure there is a better "mat technician" working right now than Drew Gulak. His work in CZW has also been inspired, taking the belt off Masada is no small accomplishment and carrying that belt, in the Combat Zone and wrestling that style and getting it over is a testament to his ability. Gulak is one of those guys who focuses on body parts, his leg lock submission always looks painful, the Gu-Lock is always applied in a great fashion and the hidden gem behind Gulak's appeal is that his body always appears to be getting beaten up. Gulak wrestles like he's in a fight, everything has purpose, everything looks brutal and stiff, and that helps enhance his in-ring presentation a ton.

Tristan Wolfe: Drew Gulak has been amazing everywhere he's gone in 2013. He's owned Combat Zone Wrestling. He's put on clinics in Wrestling Is and Beyond Wrestling. He's so fun to watch technically and can go move for move with any submission wrestler in the business. I don't know if anyone really appreciated how good Gulak was until 2013 and he's only going to get better.

Rob Pandola: There were a lot of guys that broke out of the pack this year and really made a name for themselves on the indies, but none of them really did it the way that Gulak did it. In CZW, He went from a comedy feud with Greg Excellent to a heel-heel feud with Sozio and The Front to capturing the CZW World Heavyweight Championship from Masada (BTW, the best pure wrestling match I have ever seen Masada in. Considering his bum knee and the pain he must have been in, that's an accomplishment in-and-of itself). In all of these matches, he never changed his rugged, mat-based style, and slowly, he won the crowd over. Not just any crowd, THAT CROWD. One of the hardest crowd to get over with IN THE WORLD ALL CAPS. He would go on to have title defenses with Chris Dickinson, Chuck Taylor and Chris Hero, each match better than the one before it. Add to that being the #1 ranked wrestler in Beyond Wrestling, his showings in Wrestling Is Respect, and his epic, multi-fed pure-wrestling feud with Biff Busick/Frank O'Rourke. My favorite wrestler to watch live. And he did it all his way.

John Rosenberger: One of the best technical wrestlers I’ve ever seen, Drew Gulak works his ass off every match and that’s why he’s had so many star turns around the country. There are few names in wrestling today that will singlehandedly make me consider going to their show but Gulak is one of them. Hell, I’ve never been CZW’s biggest fan but his title reign has made me strongly mull the possibility of going to a show every single time.

Brock Lesnar smash puny CM Punk! Photo Credit: WWE.com

26. Brock Lesnar
Points: 1672
Ballots: 23
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Chris Harrington)
Last Year's Placement: 48th Place

TH: If one were to take Lesnar's best return performances in WWE and consolidate them into one year, I might consider giving him the Regal treatment. However, the Triple H matches exist, and hoo boy, no matter how much Lesnar tried to save them with his raw animal fury, the layouts and Triple H's seeming lack of awareness brought the affairs down. But we'll always have that glorious, magnificent, trainwreck SummerSlam Attitude Era revival against CM Punk. I can't heap enough praise on that match, and so much of it had to do with both BRAWKKKK's ability to toss regular-sized humans around like rag dolls and his facial expressions showing pure incredulity at how Punk would always come back no matter how badly he'd get beaten down. A good face can mean so much to a wrestling match.

Samuel DiMascio: In the interest of being transparent the Beast Incarnate made my ballot off of one performance. That being said that performance was one of the most outstanding of any wrestler on the planet in 2014. A match between a mountain of a man against punk rocker/wolverine hybrid looking dude seems like a tough sell and yet Lesnar allows it to become something special. He made someone half his size seems like a completely legitimate threat while still looking like this monster. The match itself was pure chaos which Lesnar thrived in. I can only hope to see more of Brock Lesnar in the future because the only thing holding him back from being a potential number one is his lack of work.

Mike Pankowski: I will unashamedly admit that I love watching Brock fight. He brings a feeling to all of his matches that they could just careen out of control. And as long as the opponent is willing to go with him, the car crash that follows is highly entertaining. Maybe next year, the WWE will finally put on the dream match of Brock Lesnar vs. a grizzly bear.

Brandon Spears: Would've been near the top of my list if he had more than just three matches in all of 2013 and if two of them weren't with Triple H. (No offense to Hunter.) At the end of the day, I'm sure Lesnar is a consummate professional, but it says a lot that nearly everyone truly believes he wants to shoot murder whoever he's in the ring with.

The last group post is TOMORROW!

Mike Dell will enter as Champion, but will too much metal cause him to leave without it Sunday? Photo Credit: Kelly Kyle/Texas Anarchy

This week's Pick Three was hard to narrow down. A bunch of really cool shows are going on this weekend around the country, and if you're in an area where people congregate and do things in public places, you ought to see if the wrestling is going down. However, for folks in Austin, Providence, and Cameron, well, you guys have the best of the best going down this weekend.

GOLD - Inspire Pro Wrestling's No Room to Die

The new gold standard in Central Texas professional wrestling is back at the Marchesa Theater in Austin on Sunday for yet another huge event. The doors for this huge show will open at 5:30 PM local time, and that building has been filling up to the gills. Get there early! Not only will the regular stars of the company be there, but the folks running the show have brought in talent from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and Osaka Pro Wrestling. Inspire has gone to the international well before, but this show may have the heaviest outside flavor.

The main event, however, will remain very much a Texas affair, as "One Man" Mike Dell, who survived the challenge from his former friend Franco D'Angelo at Light the Fuse (which you can watch right here), defends his Inspire Pro Championship against a man who used to be made of too much metal, but is now simply known as "Unholy" Greg James. Also, the mysterious figure known only as The Red Scare appeared at Light the Fuse and put the fear of God into the Great Depression. Now, they will team together to face off against Frankie Fisher and Jiggle-O James Johnson. I don't like the latter two's odds.

But the aforementioned international talent lined up for this show is impressive. First, from the hottest company in the world, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Takaaki Watanabe makes his return to Inspire Pro, as he battles "Dirty" Andy Dalton. From Osaka Pro, the buzzsaw and former Chikara Young Lions Cup Champion Tadasuke will team with the Heaviest Sumo in the Land, Jojo Bravo, to take on yet another NJPW talent Lance Hoyt and his partner Matthew Palmer. And from NOAH comes another gaijin, Jake Dirden (whom regular viewers of Metro Pro Wrestling may affectionately know as "Homeless Brody"). He will descend upon Texas to battle the Cowboy, James Claxton. Most wrestling promotions would kill to have one of those imports walking into its doors, and Inspire has four regulars from Japan heading into the Marchesa.

Not to sell the rest of the card short though, other standouts from around the state will be in action. Paige Turner, Scot Summers, and Carson will also be wrestling at this show. If you're in Austin, San Antonio, or some other locale in the middle of the great state of Texas, you had better get your ass to the Marchesa. Don't say I didn't tell you so.

SILVER - Beyond Wrestling Secret Show/Combat Zone To Infinity

Similarly, anyone in New England who has a free afternoon Sunday and isn't making the trek to Fete Music (or to the RWA Chop Shop, the secret locale where the Beyond Wrestling secret show is taking place) is fucking up royally. Beyond Wrestling has already proven that whenever it takes over the hip music joint in Providence, RI, the show is must-see. In addition to retaking its residence at the hall, it will be sharing a double bill with the folks from Combat Zone Wrestling. At 1 PM at the aforementioned Chop Shop in Providence, the world-famous Beyond Secret Show will take place. If you want to go, let Denver Colorado (the man, not the place!) know on Facebook. Once you get your ticket squared away, be there at 12:30 PM local time. The matches have not been announced because, duh, it's a secret show. But trust me, it will be good.

Then, moving over to Fete Music at 3:30 PM will be CZW's Rhode Island debut, To Infinity. Drew Gulak will enter as CZW World Heavyweight Champion, but will he exit the same? Biff Busick, the man who has seemingly wrestled Gulak everywhere across the country in 2012 and '13, will get his shot at the title. No wrestler on this planet knows Gulak the way Busick does. Even if the title doesn't change hands, you are guaranteed a rock solid main event with these two in the ring. The Tag Team Championships will also be on the line, as the Juicy Product of David Starr and JT Dunn will defend against the Beaver Boys of Alex Reynolds and John Silver in what should be a rollicking affair. Masada and Chris Dickinson will engage in battle that may turn Rhode Island into a literal piece of land surrounded on all sides by water, while DJ Hyde and Kevin Steen will turn their Twitter war of words into a real, physical match.

BRONZE - Omega Championship Wrestling Chaos in Cameron

The Hardy Bros. reboot of OMEGA as a modern indie promotion has been unique to say the least, but the company's most anticipated show ever may be happening on Saturday with the Chaos in Cameron (NC). The bell time at Union Pines High School will be 7:30 PM local, and proceeds from the show will benefit said school. The roster of talent reads as an all-star lineup of North Carolina indie wrestlers, but the main event is one of the few tag team dream matches left to book in this day and age.

In one corner stand the brothers Briscoe. Jay and Mark have done everything in every promotion known to man without going corporate. They even wrestled the Rock 'n Roll Express! However, one team has eluded them, and now, maybe the most legendary mainstream tag team of the last 15 years will get back together to face Dem Boys. Matt and Jeff Hardy come home to do battle with the Briscoes in what should be a goddamn spectacle to say the least. I know some of y'all are sick to death of the Briscoes, and others were tired of the Hardys in 2001, but I think the fact this match is happening is so freakin' cool.

In addition to that legendary tag match, Hurricane Helms will team with the Bravado Bros. in trios action against Caleb Konley, CW Anderson, and Gambino. Reby Sky takes on the statuesque D'Arcy Dixon. In addition to those matches, Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, Trevor Lee, and Adam Page will all be in action as well.

If you can't make it to any one of the shows listed above this weekend, fret not. A billion shows are happening around this great country, continent, and world. For example, if you're in Cleveland, OH on Friday, you can hit up AIW. Supreme Pro Wrestling in Northern California has your hookup Sunday (which will feature Drake Younger's farewell to indie wrestling). And hell, Tennessee All-Pro Wrestling will be at the goddamn Old Cheese Factory. I still want someone to go there and give me a live report, because that sounds like the most awesome venue ever. Either way, good wrestling is happening everywhere. It's up to you to head out and enjoy it. Besides, you never know. Your favorite wrestler or promotion may be lurking out there. You just don't know it yet.

Will one of these two become the next NXT Womens' Champion? Photo Credit: WWE.com

Welcome to the Polling Place, where I will ask a series of questions to get the temperature of you, the readers of TWB and fans of wrestling. This week, I kick it off with a happening from last night's NXT. JBL opened last night's episode by stripping Paige of her Women's Championship due to the rigors of defending the Divas Championship on the main roster. Spoilers for future tapings suggest that a tournament will take place. Four names have emerged from the ether as likely favorites, including the BFFs Charlotte and Sasha Banks, Bayley, and the Richie Cunningham's older brother of Total Divas, Jojo Offerman. Of course, a chance exists that someone from the field could snag the title. Who do you think has the best chance of taking the strap?


Secondly, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling announced matches for their two jointly-promoted shows in May. Several matches piqued interest for various positive reasons, but one particular match set for War of the Worlds on the 17th in New York has generated a lot of controversy. Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW's ace-turning-elder-statesman, will not be taking on Adam Cole, Kevin Steen, Jay Briscoe, or Michael Elgin, but Michael Bennett. The disparity in card position and the clash in styles have polarized fans online, although most of the reaction has been critical of the match so far. I personally don't think it's that bad an announcement, but I want to know what you think.


Finally, the most talked-about feud in WWE in the last two weeks has featured Hornswoggle turning heel, joining 3MB, and feuding with El Torito. The matches have been super fun so far, but allowing WWE to promote anything based on a minority group's physical features can be problematic as referenced by the commentary for the various matches. Is this feud good harmless fun, or is something sinister afoot based on how JBL and Michael Cole are calling the matches? Furthermore, regardless of any social implications, is this feud actually any good in the ring?

Time to take the list to the doorstep of the top five!

25. Chris Hero/Kassius Ohno
Points: 1692
Ballots: 25
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Rich Kraetsch)
Last Year's Placement: 47th Place

TH: To be completely honest, the only prolonged match I saw of Ohno's all year was his masterwork against William Regal on NXT. That match was enough to put him on the tail end of my ballot. The contest was such a fabulous display of brutality on Ohno's end, and it baffles me to this day why, after putting in an effort like that, he was released.

Martin Bentley: If you consider in-ring for 2013, Hero didn't actually do a whole lot. In fact, the year was pretty notable for him being kept off NXT TV whilst supposedly WWE wanted him to work on his weight and conditioning. Whilst Kassius Ohno's developmental stay didn't exactly work out, he did have his moments there, most notably in a match where William Regal tested his fighting spirit, and for the brief spell he had upon his return, where he was having good matches with the likes of Luke Harper and Tyler Breeze before WWE sensationally let him go.

But once he was let go, man did Chris Hero return to the indies on fire. His first major statement of intent was at Dragon Gate USA, where he brought it to Freedom Gate Champion Johnny Gargano. This continued into a long-awaited CZW appearance where he challenged Drew Gulak for his CZW Title, a run-in to his old stomping grounds of Ring of Honor, and a return to PWG, where he started his series with Adam Cole, and also had a rematch from 2011 in ACW with ACH. Being released from WWE would devastate many wrestlers. It's only made Hero more determined to blow things up and dominate the scene once again.

Scott T. Holland: Kassius Ohno got my vote based almost entirely on his NXT match with William Regal, one of the forgotten classics of 2013, though he was more than passable in subsequent clashes with the Wyatt family. It’s a shame he was kept off TV all summer. Hopefully other voters have good things to say about his late-year run in his old Chris Hero persona.

24. Jack Swagger
Points: 1983
Ballots: 30
Highest Vote Received: 9th Place (Jesse Powell)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: BIGG HOSS was easy to make fun of because of his ill-timed injury he levied on Dolph Ziggler and because he was always in the background after his big push died out after Extreme Rules. However, reviewing his year, I saw he was in a lot of quality matches where he was either keeping up with the opposition or was the star performer. His most important match of the year was against Sami Zayn, which happened within the immediate wake of the former El Generico's MONUMENTAL two-out-of-three falls match against Antonio Cesaro. That match could have been swallowed up by the momentum of the prior match, but Swagger more than held his own and provided as close to a mammoth canvas for Zayn to bump off as Cesaro was. Speaking of the Real Americans, a big reason for their excellence in the ring was due to their sublime double team offense and cohesion. Swagger had a great 2013, even if he might have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit.

Brandon Spears: It's unfortunate that he spent most of 2013 in a tag team with Antonio Cesaro with Zeb Colter as his mouthpiece. Not necessarily unfortunate for the trajectory of his career, but because he very often gets overshadowed, and that's kind of been his M.O. since entering WWE. Swagger's an unbelievable talent and gets better and better each year and I really hope he's able to break out on his own again in the near future.

23. ACH
Points: 2049
Ballots: 27
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Pablo Alva)
Last Year's Placement: 10th Place

TH: ACH was a victim of his own stardom. The buzz surrounding him got so hot that Ring of Honor was going to be stupid not to get him on board. For his troubles, he got shunted into a lot of Proving Ground matches and other tags where he wasn't going to get the standout opportunities he did in other companies in his breakout year. However, he made the best out of what he had and rocked the shit out of any match he was in. He arguably outshone every other performer on the Border Wars show except maybe Paul London in an opening tag match, and no matter how deep he was obscured on the card, he always found a way to stand out. He had other performances around his usual stomping grounds as well, including a fantastic tournament match in AAW against Prince Ali. I see this as his "Daniel Bryan in 2012" year in ROH. He did tons of great work with the opportunities given, but I can't help but feel that if the company had given him more time and prestige in his matches if he wouldn't have produced better. IF he's not getting the same opportunities in ROH (or maybe even NXT???) in 2014 that Bryan got in WWE in 2013, then the wrestling world would have failed him.

Ryan Kilma: Albert C. Hardie, my 2012 #1 pick, holds the distinction of being the only Ring of Honor wrestler I have never fast-forwarded. Witnessing ACH compete in six-man tag after six-man tag is like watching Yngwie Malmsteen fool around with a makeshift Kleenex box guitar w/cardboard-tube neck: the aesthetic limitations at play make the beauty created that much more remarkable. After seeing enough matches of ACH standing around on the apron and getting little-to-no of his mind-expanding offense in has hopefully convinced his detractors that he can do much more than "movez." The way he "moves", off the ropes or standing still, to me, is a greater definition of the rush created by superb professional wrestling than any number of Avalanche Air Raid Crashes. The energy he radiates could power a dam; and missing a single second of any of his matches could mean missing out on something incredible.

Rob Pandola: A lot of people thought his breakout year was last year, but really, that was just the opening salvo. THIS was his breakout year, and it's not because of his work in ROH, although that has brought him a bit more exposure to a wider audience. No, if you want proof of his awesomeness, look no further than his Heritage Championship title reign in AAW. From the tournament which led to his crowning to his absolutely EPIC matches with Kyle O'Reilly, he was the consummate cocky baby face. He's someone that everyone can get behind, and the closest thing we will get to a 21st-century Tiger Mask. At least in spirit.

Mike Pankowski: I just love the style of ACH in the ring. He makes every move look so smooth in the ring. His kick and flip variations make me say thing like “Oh, that had to hurt” to “Wow, how the hell did he do that??” ACH also brings a good supply of video game inspired offense that warms my gamer heart. I’m glad to see more companies use ACH last year, and hope that number continues to grow.

Brandon Stroud: Watching ACH get new opportunity after new opportunity makes me feel proud. I've gotten to see this guy come up from being a scrawny kid with a dated Taimak gimmick to being one of the most exciting performers in the game, and I'm glad to be sharing him with the world. I knew he'd made it when I logged on to WWE 2K14 to make his create-a-wrestler and somebody'd beaten me to it.

22. Paige
Points: 2081
Ballots: 28
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Tristan Wolfe)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: If Emma is the mascot of NXT's excellent women's division, then Paige is the workhorse. She not only provided a sturdy base for the division itself, but because everyone who stepped in the ring with her had to play keep up, she by proxy was one of the two biggest single driving forces towards the evolution of how women could work in a WWE ring (the other being the direction of Sara "del Rey" Amato). At only 21 years of age, she had the best in-ring year of any woman on a WWE roster (excepting maybe Emma, but that's a personal preference thing) since Alundra Blayze, and she's going to get better.

Martin Bentley: William Regal has summed up Paige better than anyone ever could - "Ms. Hell in Boots". The former Britani Knight made NXT her personal playground in 2013, with no main roster WWE Diva, let alone developmental talent, able to keep up with her.

The one Diva that posed Paige any real problems was Summer Rae, doing so as an announcer when Paige accidentally bumped into her, but after a few sneak attacks and questionable wins, Paige was eventually able to overcome her. Paige got back on track at the right time, as NXT launched the Women's Championship in an eight woman tournament. Paige would come through Tamina Snuka and Alicia Fox in order to reach a dream final with another developmental Diva who had spent time in SHIMMER, the bubbly Australian Emma.

After an intense battle that was arguably the best televised women's match of the year, Paige bested Emma to become the first champion, and she didn't look back from there. Anyone who challenged her fell victim to the Paige Turner, with only main roster star Natalya taking her anywhere close to defeat. In a fantastic class of female talent in WWE developmental, Paige stood way above the rest, and that's saying something.

Joey O.: The women's division on NXT never fails to entertain, with a multi-dimensional cast of characters and wrestling styles, and the first-ever NXT Woman's Champ was the epicenter of it all.

Tristan Wolfe: Paige owned the NXT Women's Division in 2013. Paige is another one where she can make a good match out of any opponent and a great match out of a decent one. Paige is one of the most technically sound wrestlers in all of professional wrestling. I'm not just talking women's wrestling, I'm talking any wrestling. She's that good.

Brandon Spears: We're well into the 21st century and there's still a contingent of wrestling fans who believe women can't wrestle. She has a certain aura about her (and it's not just her beauty) where you just *believe* that she wants to destroy her competition. Just ruthless, and it's really fun to root for.

Brandon Stroud: Paige is great. When I say that I mean "a great pro wrestler" and also the boy "great," which is a totally different thing. I love that we have a truly alternative Diva now, someone who isn't afraid to get fired up and brutal in the ring, and someone who doesn't have a horrid spray tan. She's very good. In all the definitions.

21. Alberto del Rio
Points: 2156
Ballots: 29
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Samuel DiMascio)
Last Year's Placement: 8th Place

TH: I admit to taking Alberto del Rio for granted sometimes, but I think a lot of that is WWE's fault. They have him work in the same cycles, where he would suffer an "upset" loss then come out the next couple of weeks and kick the shit out of Kofi Kingston. But then he'll always come back with these masterful performances whether on pay-per-view or free television where he bumps his ass off, works the arm to a tee, and provides a canvas of villainy for any babyface to garner a sympathetic reaction through the course of the match. While 2013 wasn't his best year by any stretch of the imagination, an off year for him is something a guy like Kingston would have to strain and improve to attain as a best.

Samuel DiMascio: In a year where a lot of top names in injured for a portion of the year, not put on NXT television, or simply not performing up to their standards, ADR shined. From the first episode of SmackDown for 2013, going against the Big Show in a Last Man Standing match he made a claim early to be one of the top wrestlers of the year. Despite the idea that the World Heavyweight Championship was a worthless belt, Del Rio used it as a cornerstone for many of his feuds throughout the year which produced some of WWE’s best matches including the aforementioned Big Show match. Two other feuds with the belt in play were with Dolph Ziggler and Christian both producing under heralded PPV matches between Payback and SummerSlam respectfully. Isolating each match as something separate from his body of work doesn’t do him justice. The fact that Del Rio produced such quality in-ring work in the context of a feud, not including the outside elements, is what has me holding him in such high esteem.

TJ Hawke: The terms "overrated" and "underrated" are thrown around a lot when discussing art, and it's gotten to the point where the words have probably lost all meaning. As a result, I tend to hesitate to use those terms to describe a wrestler, match, show, promotion (movie, television show, etc), because it seems arrogant to think there is not a group of people that don't appreciate (or dislike) art at the same level as you do. However, despite all of that, I cannot help but feel that Alberto Del Rio was in fact underrated by a great many fans in 2013.

Del Rio has become one of the WWE's most consistent and interesting performers, and 2013 solidified himself with me as one my favorite wrestlers on their roster. While he's probably (ok, definitely) missing a list of classic matches that usually define "great" wrestlers, his consistency and ability to have fresh matches (a trait that I'm gradually appreciating more and more) are possibly the reasons I appreciate him more than others. I particularly encourage everyone to check out his PPV matches with Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and John Cena from 2013.

All of Mount Rushmore finished consecutively in the list? Holy crap. Photo Credit: Devin Chen

20. Adam Cole
Points: 2218
Ballots: 28
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Joe Roche)
Last Year's Placement: 20th Place

TH: Cole has developed into one of the most outrageous heels in the ring, and perhaps the only wrestler who could work "SUCK MY DICK" taunts regularly into matches without ruining the flow of the match. He sometimes gets stuck in the trap of the Davey Richards "let's try to prolong this match as much as we can without earning it!" tendencies sometimes, but his entertainment value between the bells is an almost constant positive.

Alex Torres: SUCK HIS DICK. SUCK HIS DICK.

Joe Roche: Cole went the entirety of 2013 as PWG Heavyweight Champion. Not only is Cole symbolically the most important champion in U.S. independent wrestling but I can't think of any truly "bad" Cole matches. Drake Younger (twice), Sami Callihan, Kevin Steen, Kyle O'Reilly, Chris Hero and Johnny Gargano -- that's not just a list of the best independent wrestlers in the world, that's a list of the men who Cole defeated in defense of the PWG Heavyweight title in 2013. That is a murderers row of competition -- and each of those matches was at worst, very good. The Iron Man match with Callihan was awesome which is a testament to both guys because Iron Man matches on the indy scene is a potential show killer. None of his singles stuff even mentions the fact that Cole and O'Reilly as Future Shock spent a long time during the early part of the year killing it in tag team matches in PWG.

Rob Pandola: Brash, cocky, funny, always telling people to suck his most intimate of intimates... but enough about me, let's talk some Adam Cole! He is, without a doubt, the best heel going today in wrestling. He can play chicken-shit one second and absolute blood-thirsty monster the next. He can play cool, but he will always give you a reason to hate him in every match. You want to hate him, but he's just too damn good. In almost every match that I've seen him in, there is always that one point when he just stops whatever silliness he was doing and gets down to business, and it's kinda jarring when it happens, but that's the point. That's why he's where he is today. Possibly the best facials in wrestling, too.

John Rosenberger: Coming in to 2013 Adam Cole was something of an unknown quantity to me, I’ve never been a huge ROH guy and was just getting my toes wet with PWG. However 2013 was a meteoric year for Mr. Cole in my eyes. Nobody embodies the underhanded yet overconfident heel champ better than Cole in my eyes. His every move in the ring drips of cockiness with the skill to back up his brash demeanor. The worst kind of guy is one who seems like he doesn’t need to cheat but still cheats, and that, in a nutshell, is Adam Cole. Plus, I’m a sucker for a Canadian Destroyer.

19. Matt Jackson
Points: 2227
Ballots: 27
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Tom Blackett)
Last Year's Placement: 32nd Place

18. Nick Jackson
Points: 2234
Ballots: 27
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (TJ Hawke, J K)
Last Year's Placement: 30th Place

TH: The Young Bucks continue to be the best tag team in the world through a simple formula of throwing superkicks, evolving Chris Jericho's taunt structure from the late '90s, and continually pushing the boundaries of double team offense. Again, they continue to be effective heels in the hardest environment to get boos in the world, and they were the only team that could have served as the final opponents for El Generico on the indie scene. They worked just as well as pinballs for the Dojo Bros as they did trading fireworks with the Inner City Machine Guns, and the fact that they worked for every single major independent wrestling company against the best competition they could find is proof enough for me that they are among the elite workers in history.

Joe Roche: I cannot separate the Jackson brothers. I mean I've seen them wrestle individually but to me The Young Bucks are one person and every time they step into the ring they're going to put on a potential Match of the Year. Young Bucks/Monster Mafia (IWL), Young Bucks/Inner City Machine Guns/Dojo Bros (PWG), Young Bucks/Steen and El Generico (PWG), Young Bucks & Adam Cole/Forever Hooligans & TJ Perkins (PWG) -- these matches all made my Best Of 2013 list, and I could go on. I honestly cannot tell you if I've ever seen a Young Bucks match that wasn't at least very good. The tandem offense is flawless, their tag work is impeccable -- if you're a fan of tag team wrestling, than you are a fan of The Young Bucks.

Rob Pandola: It's the Young Bucks. What, I'm NOT gonna have them on my list? COME ON!!! What else NEEDS to be said that hasn't already.

Joey Splashwater: The Young Bucks always give me my money's worth. I enjoyed just about every match they had in 2013. In three different promotions, they stole the show at about 5 live shows I attended. These guys are among my favorites in wrestling and I hope 2014 is even better.

Brandon Spears: In my three or so years of watching them, I don't think I've ever seen a bad Young Bucks match. And that's the highest compliment I can give to them.

17. Kevin Steen
Points: 2243
Ballots: 27
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (David Kincannon)
Last Year's Placement: 9th Place

TH: Just when I thought Steen couldn't top himself, he went and dragged not only an enjoyable singles match out of Michael Elgin, but an objectively great one in Ring of Honor of all places. I almost went to the Vatican after seeing that match at Death before Dishonor to put him in for early, living sainthood. The rumors of his demise, obviously, have been greatly overstated, and if he's working hurt, then he's not really showing it. He continued his trend of sustained excellence across every indie promotion in the country against opponents running the gamut from Elgin to the Young Bucks to John Hennigan even.

The rush to crown the next big thing in indie wrestling seems to have left Steen being taken for granted. A reason exists that Beyond Wrestling went to him to be the anchor for their national coming out party. Ring of Honor doesn't keep him around because it's a charitable organization. Squared Circle Wrestling doesn't keep bringing him back because he's local, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla isn't booking him on a legend's tour. The man may not be up to working two or three matches on a single card like he was a couple of years back, but he's still bringing quality in every contest he enters, on every bottom line he signs onto. If you think the game is passing Steen by, then you're sorely mistaken. The only way he'll stop thrilling crowds between the bells on the indies is if he either retires or he gets signed to WWE. If the latter's the case, he'll light it up in NXT rings at least. The man is a consummate professional and one of the finest wrestlers ever, and 2013 was just another year where he showed what he was all about.

Alex Torres: Did I vote for him just because of his love of zoos? The world may never know.

Rob Pandola: The only guy I've ever seen that truly looks like he's having more fun in the ring than you are in the audience.

John Rosenberger: Big guy athleticism is a trait I am endlessly fond of and Steen has it in spades. He can work as a heel just as easily as he can work as a face but his heel work is where he really shines. Theres a certain gleeful look in his eyes when he engages in some of the most brutal acts of violence belies a certain level of depravity that sends chills down your spine yet his joyful exuberance can put a smile on your face and therein lies the best explanation I have why Steen is so high on my list.

Joey Splashwater: Consistent as can be, Kevin Steen always brings the fun and showed it in the ring with a wide array of opponents in quite a few promotions. I think he's the hottest act on the indies, yes due to his personality but also because you know you're in for a fun match no matter who he is facing and 2013 was an example of that.

16. Big E Langston
Points: 2287
Ballots: 35
Highest Vote Received: 9th Place (Joe Kearns)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Langston (fuck you, WWE, he has a full name) burst onto the scene in WWE early in 2013, and he built a solid arc of in-ring action all the way through the end of the year. WWE's new generation of athletic, mobile, talented hosses seems to have built part of its foundation on Langston, who started the year mostly in tags and comedic matches. Of course, nothing is wrong with either, and he shone brightly in what was one of the best funny matches of the year against Ricardo Rodriguez and Zeb Colter. He later would have a superb series against Alberto del Rio while the James to his Meowth Dolph Ziggler was feuding with him. He'd parlay that success into an Intercontinental Championship reign where he worked hard in every match put in front of him. His debut year on the big roster was good, but I think he can do a lot better. If given the opportunity, I think he totally will.

15. Luke Harper
Points: 2299
Ballots: 32
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Bill Hanstock)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: I didn't catch as much Harper in 2013 as I would have liked, as I got on the NXT train fairly late in the year. However, he was the one member of the Wyatt Family who got to have spotlight matches, including a girthy, lengthy affair against Daniel Bryan on the last RAW of the year. He was the anchor for his team with Erick Rowan, and when Bray Wyatt couldn't wrestle due to injury in the fall, Harper stepped in more than admirably.

Frank McCormick: Bray Wyatt may be the star of the Wyatt Family, and Erick Rowan's got the mask going on, but for me the true breakout of the group is The Man Laundry Forgot, Luke Harper. He's a goddamn HOSS, and he will clothesline the fuck out of you. His Alligator Roll is so breathtakingly simple, yet so perfect. It's his intensity that's most unnerving, though. Bray gets to make creepy speeches and spider-walk, but I honestly think Luke Harper's staring, beard and hair wild, is probably the most chilling thing in wrestling today.

Brandon Stroud: Luke Harper can GO. If you haven't figured this out yet, you need to pay attention.

AJ Lee, nonchalantly dodging a Kaitlyn spear, had a breakout year in 2013 Photo Credit: WWE.com

14. AJ Lee
Points: 2488
Ballots: 33
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Rich Thomas, Andrew Rosin)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Lee was a victim of the main roster's apathy-bordering-on-antipathy for women's wrestling, but she submitted some head-turning performances on off-programming and pay-per-view. Her feud with Kaitlyn was always at least decent when it flared up, mostly due to Lee's willingness to rag-doll herself for her bestie's HOSS-GIRL offense. She also applies her signature submission finish, the Black Widow, with style and grace despite working with some competitors who can't even run the ropes correctly let alone get in position to take the move.

Ryan Kilma: By late 2012 AJ, a brightspot of gameshow NXT and prehistoric Best and Worst of Raw reports, was reduced to a prop by creative--switching between wrestlers more often than any of the six championship belts. Her only showcases between the ropes were in intergender tags with current beau X and a Bikini Battle Royale. Circa 2013, AJ stuck a pink Chuck Taylor into the revolving door of wrestler boyfriends (possibly trapping Chuck Taylor inside), grew a surname (Lee, of FCW lore) and began blazing a trail for WWE women's wrestling. Would it be too much to say "blayzing?" Her Divas Championship match with ex-Chickbuster Kaitlyn at Payback was the best WWE match between two women since Alundra Blayze was suplexing Joshis everywhere. Although they're vastly different titles separated by space and time, it's almost as if Lee retrieved the WWF Women's Championship belt Blayze unceremoniously dumped in the garbage on Nitro and (futile or not) began restoring its luster one Aksana match at a time. #AJ(Conquers)All

Frank McCormick: The Divas in general have drawn a very sorry lot for a very sorry amount of time. Terrible matches, terrible gimmicks, terrible lack of any discernible character other than "pretty lady." Through the sheer power of her "crazy," AJ stood out all year (as she did the year before), demanding the crowd's attention and standard Divas apathy one Shining Wizard and Black Widow at a time. And even if she's in one the atrocious multiple-Diva clusterfucks WWE seems so fond of, where each of them get about two moves each, one of which has to be a hair grab, her commitment to character, the unstable dark pixie who will murder your FACE if you look at HER belt out of the side of your eye, is obvious and welcome.

Brock Lutefisk: I think 2013 will be known as the year of Total Divas. WWE has gone all out and tried to push the cast and given them airtime. The one woman who wasn’t part of Total Divas received my highest vote. AJ Lee is an outstanding talent in the ring and her 2013 was great. I honestly thought her matches with Kaitlyn were great.

Brandon Bosh: AJ Lee deserves better. Here is a virtuosic performer with ten times the charisma and presence of Randy Orton or Batista, having proven herself as the equal of main-event players like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena, inexcusably relegated to heatless lumberjill fuckfests just because no other WWE Diva is in the same stratosphere. It’s a damn crime. But, of course, I’m here to talk about the wrestling. Fortunately, AJ is just as skilled inside the ring.

Despite being afforded limited opportunities to hone her craft against competent opponents, AJ has made great strides as a wrestler since her inauspicious NXT debut. As a lifelong wrestling fan, she holds a significant edge over every other current Diva (with the obvious exception of Natalya). To know wrestling, you need to watch wrestling, to obsess over it for years upon years. AJ is a consummate student of the game, as Good Ol’ J.R. would probably say. Her passion manifests itself in how expertly she plays whatever role is asked of her, be it a spunky underdog or a conniving spider-woman. She also takes some of the best bumps in the business, often folding in half like an accordion upon hitting the mat. (This is why Kaitlyn was her optimal in-ring adversary; no one sells a spear like AJ Lee.) I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the single greatest asset in AJ’s repertoire: her face, or, to be more precise, her eyes. When AJ gives you that look – you know the one – you can’t help but feel awe, or terror, or maybe another emotion entirely.

I digress. TL;DR – AJ Lee is the shit and deserves every bit of the success she’s earned.

13. Dolph Ziggler
Points: 2730
Ballots: 38
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Rich Thomas)
Last Year's Placement: 3rd Place

TH: The only person whom I charted as having more "good" matches in 2013 than Ziggler was Daniel Bryan, but unlike many of the people I had ranked ahead of him like Antonio Cesaro, John Cena, and even Randy Orton, Ziggler's "great" match resume was a bit lacking. Still, being the old reliable for something decent is nothing to be ashamed of. He scaled back his FULL ZIGGLER bumping enough out of self preservation and a little bit of a better groove on offense than in year's past. Despite his lack of time-consuming matches on RAW and pay-per-view towards the end of the year, he always seemed to work hard on the B-shows and below, which is always a great trait to have.

Brock Lutefisk: If this list was done after May of last year, I’d probably put Ziggler a little higher. The guy is tremendously talented, there’s no doubt about it. But man, he really did fall off a cliff around the summer time and hasn’t really recovered from it since. They haven’t even given him a mid-card title or anything. Because of that, I feel like it hurt the quality of the matches he was having. It really is quite a difference between 2012 and 2013.

12. Bray Wyatt
Points: 2845
Ballots: 36
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Bill Hanstock, Joe Kearns)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

Brandon Spears: While the most interesting aspects of The Wyatt Family have consisted of their theatrics outside of the context of a wrestling match, Bray's more than held his own in his matches. My favorite kind of wrestler is an athletic fat man, so I've loved him even since his Husky Harris days. Considering his matches only got better into the new year, I look forward to seeing where he ranks in twelve months.

VINTAGE Orton was hugely improved in 2013 Photo Credit: WWE.com

11. Randy Orton
Points: 2933
Ballots: 37
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Mike F., Robot Hammer, Brock Lutefisk)
Last Year's Placement: 42nd Place

TH: In the past, dissing Randy Orton was easy. He never bumped, relied on the pop from the RKO to make his matches seem like they were good, and played down below his own potential. In 2013, thanks to finding his spark against competition like The Shield and especially Daniel Bryan, Orton became one of the best wrestlers within WWE. By the end of the year, he wasn't just having better matches with people ahead of him on the talent food chain, but he started to get entertainment value with wrestlers against whom the well was supposed to be dry. No one, and I mean no one wanted to see him wrestle John Cena again, and yet their TLC main event match was one of the best of the year. I credit this to finding an actual sadistic bent to his offense, especially after turning heel, and a willingness to take the big bump that was missing in prior feuds. Orton blew me away in 2013.

Brandon Spears: 2011 might've been Randy's best in-ring work, but for me there was always something missing and it's something most people generally agree on: Randy Orton just seems like kind of a prick and the less they showcase that the less interesting he becomes. Thankfully, 2013 changed that for the better. In the wake of Daniel Bryan's feud with The Authority and Batista's return to WWE, Orton got kind of lost in the shuffle. But he's been doing some of the best character work of his career and I hope he continues to shine in the ring.

Brock Lutefisk: I don’t know how many people will defend Randy Orton, but I’ll name myself as one of his defenders. He’s a talented wrestler and ring worker. His matches against Bryan last year were fantastic. Also, let’s not forget about Orton’s beatdown of Miz that gave us this great moment in history.

10. Cody Rhodes
Points: 3034
Ballots: 39
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Brandon Rohwer)
Last Year's Placement: 14th Place

TH: Rhodes keeps improving every year. When I first started watching him in 2009, he looked awkward at times, unsure of his place in the ring. This past year, he had become one of the most confident babyfaces in the company, showing that maybe comeback fire was genetic. I still think he has a little ways to go, and part of that has to do with how and where he chooses his high spots, but the fact that he was able to reinvent himself along with his brother as the new Teddy Hart and Jack Evans team deserves a huge amount of applause.

Joey Splashwater: Had the most underrated year in WWE with some stellar matches, especially tagging with Goldust vs. The Shield at the end of the year. His constant improvement is very impressive and 2013 showed a noticable in ring jump.

What a comeback this guy had in 2013, huh? Photo Credit: WWE.com

9. Goldust
Points: 3337
Ballots: 40
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Dylan Hales)
Last Year's Placement: Not Ranked

TH: Goldust returned to WWE in October and wrestled for the company for three months. IN that time, he put in so much great effort in the ring that I felt like I couldn't rank him anywhere out of the top three. Seriously, he was that good in the last quarter of 2013. Every match he was in felt like appointment viewing. He didn't get a whole lot of time to show off his singles skills, but feature bouts against Randy Orton and Seth Rollins scratched that itch pretty nicely in the beginning of his run. Most of his worth was shown in multiman matches, but he came back during a time when WWE was arguably featuring tags and trios matches more prominently than the singles contests anyway.

A huge reason why Goldust's run was so good was because he once again reinvented himself. Rather than doing the same things he did in 2002 or 1997 or even in 1994, he became a planchas-and-moves indie spot guy. I repeat, at 44 years of age and at six-and-a-half feet tall, Goldust started throwing ranas, doing dives to the outside, and even giving fools the Yoshi Tonic. Most wrestlers slow down at this point in their careers, but Goldust not only metamorphosed, but he did the style he changed into better than a lot of guys who have been doing it for years. Forget the execution on his hurricanrana. His timing and innate knack for knowing when and where to bust out that move, as well as other ones for a guy his size, were uncanny.

And even in the face of all that change, he still showed a grasp of tag team fundamentals that helped the Rhodes Boys get as huge as they did. He basically took the ring, got his ass beat, and showed everyone in the company what it meant to be Ricky Morton. Sometimes, I feel like that art gets lost in WWE sometimes, but Goldust made it work. And he did all of this while most of the productive story focus was shining brightly on him. His matches were given the showcases that Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton maybe should have gotten given they were in the nominally most important feud, and he knocked that shit out of the park to the point where I remember his and his brothers' runs through the company rather than the malaise produced by the wheels being spun in the WWE Championship feud.

No matter how many times I want to count Goldust out, he keeps coming back ferociously. This man is one of the best in-ring performers of all-time, and his 2013 will stand out as excellent, even if he only got to showcase his skills in front of a national audience for three months.

Tristan Wolfe: 2013 Goldust is NOT the same Goldust we had a decade or more ago. This is a much older man wrestling like he's 25. I don't know who Goldust is training with, where he's getting all of this, but I am always excited to see what he's going to do next. Don't get me wrong, Goldust was never a slouch in the ring, but he sure as hell wasn't doing flip dives to the outside. He's owned the tag division in 2013 alongside Cody Rhodes, but there's more to this resurgence in spirit than Cody Rhodes and I love it.

Rob Pandola: THE feel good story in wrestling in 2013, and not just because he got his act together. He came back to the WWE not just with a new attitude, but a new move set. He was moving better than guys half his age, and who the hell would have thought he would bust out a Yoshi-Tonic. ON WWE TV!!!! IN 2013!!!!!!

Brandon Stroud: Goldust's return to WWE and resurgence as one of the top performers in pro wrestling is the single best story of 2014. The second best story is that I got to know the man and shoot a horror movie with him. Trust me, his wrestling is better than any experience I'm gonna have.

The only problem is that he's TOO good. He was 44 years old in 2013, outperforming these intense young athletes at the top of their game on the regular. Hurricanranas off the second rope. Yoshi Tonics. Dives to the outside. It's scary to say, but Goldust might be a better wrestler now than he's ever been, and WWE might not be equipped to handle him. I think we all knew Dustin Rhodes was A+ from the minute he stepped into a ring, but seeing him turn a "gay molester Oscar statue" gimmick into one of the most beloved and respected men in wrestling is a true miracle of hard work, perseverance and talent.

We're probably never getting that Goldie/Cody Rhodes WrestleMania match, but man, we can sure keep thinking about it.

8. CM Punk
Points: 3521
Ballots: 40
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Chris Harrington, Cewsh, Rich Kraetsch)
Last Year's Placement: 2nd Place

TH: CM Punk had the highest of highs in 2013 – like his Herculean effort to get not one but two watchable matches out of The Rock, his epic RAW main event against John Cena, The Streak match, and the Brock Lesnar SummerSlam match which may have been the best in both competitors' careers. I enjoyed watching him in big matches, but when the company you're in has the best in-ring year in its history, and even guys like Randy fucking Orton are busting their asses week in and week out and you clearly look like you're phoning it in most weeks, a top 10 aggregate ranking feels way too generous. I write this for a guy whom I ranked in the top half of my ballot, by the by.

Ryan Kilma: If you're the type of cat that likes to gaze star ratings, practically the readings of Dave Meltzer, CM Punk appeared to have a 2013 for the ages. From late Feb.-SummerSlam, Punk participated in five consecutive matches that were awarded a near perfect ****1/2 rating by DM (which is more than he received in his entire career to that point (3) and more than Jushin Liger ever recorded in a row (2)). Detractors say his offense is sloppy-especially his savage (no capitalization) elbow drop that looks more like a Friedberg-Seltzer parody than a homage. However, Punk's rushed neckbreakers and litter of ugly bulldogs have the urgency and recklessness of a person actually fighting for his life. Miniscule ticks like body language and eye intensity are traits that Punk has mastered and can absolutely not be taught. Punk left the WWE after the Royal Rumble in order to delve into his presumably mammoth comic collection. If 2014 is truly the last time we'll see him every week, it was one hell of an epitaph.

Rob Pandola: Had a fantastic TV match with John Cena, the best matches of The Rocks comeback, the last great Undertaker Streak match at last year's WrestleMania, and had the best match with Brock Lesnar since his return. If this is his last year, it's not a bad way to go out.

Brock Lutefisk: It bugs me to think that the WWE-lore will always put Rock-Cena high up on a pedestal. I say that because I think CM Punk had a much more amazing match with the Rock at the Royal Rumble. I enjoyed Punk’s match a lot more. In a lot of ways, I feel like Punk got more out of Rock than Cena did. The Rumble match to me might have been my favorite Punk match of the year. The match with Taker at Wrestlemania was second and BRAWWK was third.

7. John Cena
Points: 3784
Ballots: 43
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Tom Blackett, Andrew Rosin, TJ Hawke, J K, Zach Brown)
Last Year's Placement: 11th Place

TH: I keep wanting to say "John Cena had a good year, but..." but the only real black mark I can hold against him in terms of actual between-the-bells action was his hideous attempt at recreating a ROH main event with The Rock at Mania. Everything else he did, from his barnburner on RAW in February with Punk to his HOSS FIGHTS with Ryback post-Mania all the way through the end of the year were quality. While his booking left something to be desired, he seemed to give more of an effort in the ring across the board rather than just against the select few wrestlers who were in his league. He worked as hard against Damien Sandow and the Real Americans as he did against Punk and Randy Orton. His best moment, however, came in a spot where two lesser wrestlers could very well have went through the numbers and said "Y'know what, we're not following that" at SummerSlam. After Brock Lesnar and Punk tore the roof off the Staples Center, Cena and Daniel Bryan proceeded to rip the walls out and bomb the shit out of the foundation with their match. The crazy part? That match was Cena's best of the year, and he wrestled with a moon of Jupiter bulging out of his elbow.

David Kincannon:“John Cena can’t wrestle.” That’s one of the main tenets of “internet wrestling fans”, right? Well, if you watched wrestling in 2013, and still hold on to that notion, then you’re just not paying attention. The overhyped WrestleMania rematch with the Rock notwithstanding, Cena had fantastic matches with a variety of opponents last year.

The one that jumps immediately to the forefront of my mind is his SummerSlam match with Daniel Bryan. These two men, who represent extremely different styles and fan bases had, quite possibly, the best WWE match of 2013. The story of “smaller, more technical wrestler vs larger powerhouse” is a great in-ring story, and I think, in this case, it benefited from both men’s status as good guys.

In addition to that classic match, he also several other great matches with competitors as disparate as CM Punk (Raw in February) and Mark Henry (Money in the Bank). The match with Punk was a completely different match than those two men have ever worked before, with Cena even working in a rarely used hurricanrana. The match with Henry was interesting, because it focused on Cena being a physical underdog, including an early failed attempt to hoist Henry up for the Attitude Adjustment.

Whether or not you like the way Cena is booked is immaterial, between the bells, the guy can get it done.

Rob Pandola: Yes, he's still Super-Cena. Yes, he still has the move set that is his bread and butter, and will always be his bread and butter. That being said, this was his best in-ring year in a LONG time. His match with CM Punk on Raw rivaled his classic with Shawn Michaels years ago, his SummerSlam epic with Daniel Bryan (with a planetoid growing out of his elbow) was a fantastic face vs. face showcase, and MADE Daniel Bryant. He might be getting older, and the injuries are becoming more frequent, but as long as he keeps slipping new things in every now and again, he's going to be very interesting to watch the next few years.

John Rosenberger: There is a reason why I wouldn’t necessarily root for Cena but I rate him fairly high and that is big game performance. I’ve not once in the past few years seen a big match with John Cena in it and been upset that he was in that match after the fact. I may not be super stoked to see him, I may feel like his victory is a foregone conclusion but I never once said “Goddamn, (Insert wrestler name here) would have done so much better than John Cena.”

Mike Pankowski: John Cena, the character, can be maddening at times. John Cena, the wrestler, can go move for move with any other wrestler on the list. He makes any long match look like he goes through a war. He isn’t afraid to pull off or receive a big move that hasn’t been used by either wrestler. The other thing about Cena is that whenever he is in a big match, he always puts out his best effort. He might be off his game on a Raw from time to time, but when the match is of the utmost importance, Cena will make sure that both he and his opponent look like the stars the people want to see.

Joey Splashwater: If you think Cena sucks at wrestling, you're an idiot. John Cena has classic matches with great wrestlers (Bryan), very good matches vs. good wrestlers (Del Rio) and tolerable matches vs. goons (Ryback). As the years go by, Cena's matches get better and better. He's currently at a pace better than Steve Austin, The Rock and Hulk Hogan ever was at when they were "the face of the company" in terms of putting on great matches.

Brandon Spears: Each year the "Five Moves of Doom" criticism of Cena gets more and more laughable. It's disappointing yet understandable why he spent the last two years against The Rock when he could've spent more time elevating guys like Bryan, Cesaro and Wyatt, but he continues to prove he's one of the most adaptable wrestlers in WWE.

6. Dean Ambrose
Points: 3857
Ballots: 43
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Dan McQuade)
Last Year's Placement: 24th Place

TH: I found ranking the individual members of The Shield to be a tricky task. Their worth was definitely tied tightest to how cohesive and definitive their work as a trio was, but each guy brought something unique to the table. Ambrose, called "the Lunatic Fringe" by Michael Cole, provided an air of unpredictability. He was so reminiscent of Roddy Piper and Brian Pillman, and that level of unhinged energy was sorely needed to make the group work.

He also took the singles platform he was given and did some good things with it. Even if he didn't defend his United States Championship as much as I would have liked, he got several shots to have showcase matches, the most notable being a post-Mania Smackdown showdown with The Undertaker. His matches with Bryan were second in quality to the ones Seth Rollins had, but they were no doubt the chippiest, which I appreciated.

Brandon Spears: I generally detest most nicknames Michael Cole gives to wrestlers, but "Lunatic Fringe" is pretty much perfect. Sometimes nothing made me happier in wrestling than when Ambrose was swinging his arms at people like he was the freakin' Tazmanian Devil.

Brandon Bosh: WWE television is a controlled environment. Improvisation is shunned, and even the most trivial event is scripted to the letter. Very little that happens on Raw or SmackDown feels organic, unplanned, or spontaneous. As such, those fleeting moments of chaos and pandemonium are essential to the vitality of the product. I don’t consider pro wrestling a “sport” in need of a raw, unscripted presentation, but I still see value in the illusion of the unknowable. To this end, no active WWE wrestler is as gloriously unknowable as Dean Ambrose.

Ambrose has been likened to a slew of esteemed wrestling legends – chief among them “Rowdy” Roddy Piper – simply because he gets it on a level most young grapplers will never fathom. He is always in character, hamming it up for the nearest camera, making lewd faces and messing with his hair. One of his signature maneuvers consists of leaping at his opponent and flailing his arms spastically, like a toddler mimicking a Thesz press. There are plenty of graceless WWE wrestlers who’ll fuck you up for real while looking totally impotent – Ryback comes to mind – but only Ambrose will make it look like your life is at stake without inflicting so much as a broken nail. The world needs more wrestlers who can do that. At the very least, we should all band together and appoint Dean Ambrose the new Charismatic Enigma, seeing as he deserves the title way more than its previous recipient.

Next week, the top five shall be breached!

Via With Leather

Connor Michalek, the young lad known more affectionately as the Stone Crusher, has passed away from brain-and-spine cancer. Michalek famously and adorably tapped out Daniel Bryan in December of 2012. He was Bryan's biggest fan, and he even got to sit front row at WrestleMania XXX to see his hero achieve his greatest professional triumph.

I hate that I have to write this entry, but the Stone Crusher was a great, feelgood story when he first was able to meet Bryan. I hoped he would pull through, but man, cancer is a real jerkface, isn't it. Go home, hug your kids, and throw as much money as you can possibly afford towards cancer research.

Fuck.

Believe in The Shield, SNOOGINS Photo Credit: WWE.com

The plot of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is, at heart, a revenge tale. The titular characters are used as inspiration for characters in the movie Bluntman and Chronic, but they get ridiculously skewered on an Internet message board called Movie Poop Shoot. In an attempt to keep their good names intact, they roll out to Hollywood to prevent the movie from shooting, with several zany diversions along the way keeping them from attaining their goal in a timely manner. Of course, they realize the royalties from being in a potential blockbuster would hook them up for life, so they do the next best thing to get back at the trolls talking shit on them. They use their newfound fortune to fly across the country to beat the ever-loving shit out of every single one of the people who said a cross word about them.

Obviously, The Shield did not suffer such capricious injuries as having avatars of their likeness shat upon by faceless Internet trolls. They were set up to be mauled by 14 other wrestlers - 11 goons hand-picked by The Authority and the members of Evolution who would come out and pick the bones. They obviously had more of a reason to exact revenge because hey, they were led to the slaughter. But watching Smackdown unfold tonight and seeing The Shield prevent deja vu brought back vivid memories of the penultimate scene in Kevin Smith's much-maligned but overall hilarious installment in his series.

What made the arc brilliant was its strict adherence to the characters of the group while tweaking slightly the aim of their tactics. The Shield is a group of mercenaries, so they act either because a benefactor gave them a large lump of money, or because they wanted to get back at someone or some people who tried to impede their ability to make said money. The divide and conquer hunt of the members of the team they were slated to face again - Jack Swagger, 3MB, Fandango, and Curtis Axel (with Brad Maddox thrown in for good measure) - is a tried and true Shield tactic, only instead of jumping these entities for dastardly reasons, they did so with the hammer of righteousness at their beck and call.

Obviously, these tactics do not befit the strategy of white hats. Then again, for all my kvetching about John Cena not acting the part of the hero in shining armor, The Shield don't abide by a credo of "Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect." Character consistency is far more important than alignment is anyway. Besides, wrestling, like in cinema, doesn't demand that you always act virtuously to be popular. You just have to be entertaining when you do it. So just like Jay and Silent Bob can beat the snot out of a priest and a teenager just for their words on a forum and still be eminently appealing to the viewer, The Shield in all its coordinated attacking efforts, pithy catchphrases, and in Ambrose's case as he mauled Maddox, manic flailing was able to be suave as all fuck during their revenge fantasy acted out in the flesh.

It's like the bards have said since time immemorial: the queen is dead even though she's standing right there, long live the queen!

Wait, that doesn't sound right.  Ah, never mind.  What they said is: anything worth fighting for is worth giving up.

Oh, that doesn't look right, either.  That can't possibly be it.  HUP!  Got it now.

The phrase in question is: when a Champion is asked to give up their title for no good reason, they acquiesce.

For the last April episode of NXT on the network, the opening got right to the biggest development on the show and threw a shadow over the remaining 58 minutes and change as a result.  Hopefully you all got the JPEGs your heart desired of Paige walking around toting two titles, because to kick off the show GM JBL decreed that due to her callup and winning the Lisa Frank Memorial Belt the decision had been made to end Paige's reign as the NXT Women's Champion.  After some sulking, Paige handed over the better-looking strap in her arsenal, and thus the dumbest moment (intentional and unfunny division) in NXT history rolled out before the credits did.

What a complete load of hot garbage, from pretty much every single rational angle possible.  Consider all of the following:

• It didn't help JBL.  Apparently when the calendar changed over to 2014 he ceased becoming the Wrestling God and evil puppet of the Authority down Full Sail way, and more of a slightly faceish benign Mr. Furley type who could barely remember to show up for his job and cracked jokes at Bo Dallas' expense when he did.  It was never named who's bright idea it was to get the belt off of Paige, and he surely didn't seem to be overjoyed at doing his job or even "fake sad to her face and secretly joyous behind her back" as could be easily expected.  Unless this is an experiment to see if the viewing audience will accept a schizophrenic with a role of responsibility, what was the point of it?
• It didn't help Paige. One of the many things that make NXT resonate with their fanbase is their adherence to continuity.  Paige has become to NXT -- not just the women's division -- what Tazz used to be in ECW around the turn of the century; a misanthropic, pint-sized destroyer of worlds who'd just as soon put you in the hospital as look at you.  Her signature character beat besides being justifiably emotional when she wins titles is a scream, usually directed at a fallen victim after she's beaten them up and before she's finished them off.  William Regal doesn't throw around nicknames like Ms. Hell In Boots for his health and good looks; his fellow Briton earned every inch of that nickname by taking on the BFFs of the world and Emma in two sterling matches that got her high marks on the TWB 100 in her first year on the countdown and fighting them until they went down for the count or tapped out. 
  
  Making this even more egregious was her promo on the prior episode in which she held both titles as being equal and in so doing, put the Women's Title on the same platform as the Divas, even if moreso in theory than in practice.  Keep in mind: JBL didn't strip her of the title to be the King Jerk he's mastered becoming, there wasn't even a mention of an executive committee; she showed up for work and they were like "Need the belt because you're on RAW too much traveling around the world and whatnot" and after about a 20-second hissy fit that could've used 1000% more the threat of physical violence or an underdog "WHO SAYS I can't handle being a double Champion!?" she turned it over without having been beaten in the ring or even putting anybody over for the honors of beating her for the belt she'd held since last summer.  Part of Paige's whole narrative on the big shows is that she's the one who ended AJ's near 300 days on top which started last spring; that makes her formidable even if the nature of her initial victory was flash.  
• It didn't help the NXT diva roster.  Not to get all Rocky V or Jimmy Ellis, but who's gonna benefit from winning this belt without beating the titleholder?  It's not like any babyface (even Bayley!) is going to come out ahead on this score: good as they are in-ring and from a character development perspective, they are all Xeroxes of an original copy, the lower rungs on the babyface ladder.  And as for a heel, let alone Charlotte?  Someone will have to explain to me as if Fukushima water was poured down my gullet by the gallon and has started picking off brain cells how even beating two women or even three over the course of a tournament is a better option than using Paige's "last" night in Florida to make them a Champion.  Even with a modicum or an avalanche of chicanery, winning the title within the confines of the squared circle is the thing stories revolve around.  Even better, it would've been a nice parallel to Paige's Big Two story of "she's earned the belt but not everybody's respect yet" because heels cheating to win is sort a staple ever since Gotch and Hackenschmidt.
• It didn't help NXT.  Why is Tyson Kidd putting over how NXT being on the Network has made it the place to be and the perfect platform to launch his career if this sort of arbitrary decision is going to be handed down to the longest reigning Champion in Full Sail history from an in and out of character completely illogical decision?  BP can put on all the rebuilding narrative ads they'd like, Blackwater can try to rename itself after an element that doesn't exist, but the fact of the matter is when people think of malfeasance on an epic scale, they're the top/bottom of the list.  In the eyes of many, they're the list, period.  What sort of "place to be" wants their name associated with random incompetence and jerking their customers around?  Do you think Arby's was dancing with joy with all the free publicity that Jon Stewart gave it last week?  In WWE when Champions lose their belts, they are either a) beaten for it b) legitimately too injured to perform, which is then worked into the storyline c) screwed out of it, usually by a heel or heels not d) um you should just give it to us because reasons!
• Nobody is more proud of where they're from than the NXT alum.  Off the top of one's head in the past year alone, they've been the petri dish that's spawned the Shield, the Wyatt Family, Big E It's Still Langston To Me Dammit, Bo Dallas, and furthermore this title forfeiture was immediately followed by Alexander Rusev!  Furthermore, Paige was walking around backstage because she ended up being the mystery partner to Emma.  (More about this to come imminently.) Now, what do all 10 of these people have in common?  They've been called up to RAW, and when they return to where they made their names with justifiable pride they're feted as local boys or girls done good because they've returned in the first place.  To the horror of every Spengler alive, NXT and WWE have crossed the streams with gleeful abandon to the general betterment of everybody involved.  In the immortal words of Mahatmas Ghandi upon India's release from British rule, since when tho!?  Even with Paige's availability being reduced there was such a long interregnum between her rematch at Arrival and the last time she defended the belt that it wouldn't be that jarring to not have her on the show for a series of weeks.  In addition, it's not like she got wished out to the cornfield--she's going to be on Raw and Smackdown!  Nobody with a firing brain cell would send out an APB for an enchanting raven-haired lady, nor have much beef with the title being built up in her absence since it'd be on the shoulder or around the waist of the Divas Champion that ended the reign to end all reigns.  

Most galling of all?

• They had the perfect alternative set up and quasi-executed it on the show.  Charlotte's been mouthy since the heel turn, but now she's putting wins on the board and taken over the BFFs in Summer's callup, going full Cady without Regina around to keep her thumb on her.  So when she and Sasha went into tag team action against Emma + Mystery Partner, it was such a mystery that the once and former Champion didn't get introduced.  A small but further glass lightbulb when we expected to bite into an apple, since they sure haven't been slow-cooking Paige's begrudging acceptance of Emma as a human being let alone somebody she sees as worthy enough to tag with despite their being direct diametric opposites, but hey, it's not like Charlotte's actually put on her best performance in a string of steadily improving series of such what with her adoption of the familial Flop, using her gymnastics background to land on some but not all attempted offense on her feet, or a figure four headlock with her long legs to ground Emma and keep her grounded before putting the black hats in a power play situation that ended up with her Throwbacking Paige and pinning her clean right in the center of the ring or anything, right?!  *throws all the paper in the air and walks away disgustedly as the ensuing eyeroll registers 4.2 on the Richter*

To reiterate, the hottest of all possible garbage.  For the first time in recorded history a heel contender was built up with a series of wins leading to a match with a babyface titleholder and got to beat them without beating them for the belt, even though they got in the ring not half an hour from the latter still being Champion.  In a world built on nuance, continuity and logic it all got pushed into traffic because Benghazi.  Trust me, that's just as logical an explanation as anything we got on the program.

Charlotte will probably go on to win the tournament and hold the belt proudly; as noted, she's rounding into form quite well as a pro grapper.  But when lizard brains' internal marquees flash the words "strip Paige", this is not what we they meant.  When somebody makes the belt instead of the belt making them, you want to build off that momentum and then turn around and make the next Champion off of the previous Champion and the juice they brought to the table.  You may remember examples of this from 99.9999999% of wrestling to this point.  How it was justifiable to have Paige lose to Charlotte but not for the title is, to this corner, more incomprehensible and bad for business than the Streak ending at WrestleMania.  Undertaker's old enough to be somebody's grandfather, for the last few years they've had to carry or cart him out of there after wins, and he lost to possibly the toughest man alive who's won at everything he's ever done and is a certifiable land monster.  As much as it wasn't liked in the moment, it still made sense at the time and only grows in that aspect over time.  But this?


This was so egregious it got followed up almost immediately by Lana's legs and by extension Lana and not even that saved it.  So bad that Tyler Breeze put a Beauty Shot on somebody else's mug and there were still more ways that this was a bad decision continued to unfold like goblins misting out of Pandora's box to bring pestilence, death, a Tyler Perry remake of Roots, etc. upon the world.  So bad that a six-man tag with Sami Zayn and the Usos against the Ascension and Corey Graves, while good, didn't take away from the short-and-long term incomprehensibility on display in that open.  It was really a shame. 

That match deserved better, and featured not only a bit of Champions v. Champions flavor but actual viable faces to go up against the NXT Tag Team Champions, who might want to watch their asses lest some giddy fickle middle finger of fate probe them for their belts.  The white hats brought the aerial flavor to start off with leg lariats and vicious uppercuts, the bad guys slowed it down with their ground and pound.  Also notably, Corey Graves continued to give the normal fan not a single thing to cheer for and opted out of fighting Sami unless he was down already.  But eventually, it ended with a Zayn/Uso doble tope and a Superfly splash on the former Savior of Misbehavior to wrap up the show on a positive note.  Again, this was a two-segger match that could've gone another 15-20 easy, and the crowd was into it from stem to stern. All six men hit their offense with precision and aplomb; hell, even Graves managed to come off somewhat magnanimous.  Everybody's favorite Syrian-Canadian even got caught up in the moment and began to pop and lock...and just like that, out of nowhere, it was fade to black and on to the next show.  Because who wants to see Sami Zayn dancing like a dork, right?

It was, for the first time ever and from front to back, that kind of episode of NXT.

Why do I have to follow his character development on Instagram? Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman, especially around Friday night after Smackdown, and wait for the call. Anyway, time to go!

@tholzerman with the story lines progressing as they are, is there anything that wwe could improve at this poi? Everything is on point now.
— That Enrico Palazzo (@Enrico_Palazzo_) April 26, 2014

Oh, WWE might be doing fine right now, but the company is far from perfection, which is about the only thing that precludes any entity from needing to improve. For example, the announcing is godawful and is the wrestling world equivalent of listening to a series of wet farts. Though Paige's debut seems to be a step in the right direction, the Divas need a shitload of work. WWE still budgets time like Congress budgets money, and while the rash of extended matches the company has put on has been satisfying on my end, I wouldn't be too sad if it lopped off a little bit of time of each longer match to give some midcarders mic time or some stories below the main event narratives some play. Like, Big E Langston making his Instagram a must follow is great, but why is he forced to do most of his character development via social media instead of on camera?

WWE is in a great place right now, don't get me wrong. The main event stories are cooking, the match quality has never been better, and The Network is working as an awesome supplement to what's on the main narrative. But the company is far from not needing any improvement.

@tholzerman We all know that agile big men are cool, so who was the best? I say Bam Bam Bigelow.
— boxwatcher (@boxwatcher) April 26, 2014

Bam Bam Bigelow is a great choice, and probably my kneejerk reaction answer. He got to strut his stuff in all three big companies in the '90s, but then again, how many memorable matches did he have for the right reason? I'm sure he's got a few, but Vader, who got the big pushes to go with his ability, has plenty of great bouts. Then again, comparing matches just based on push alone seems disingenuous and unfair. This comparison sounds like a project to be aided by the WWE Network! That all being said, my answer isn't either one of them at present time. Kevin Steen is my pick for the best agile big man ever. That answer could be my recency bias speaking, but Steen is the consummate pro wrestler, and the fact he's doing it with a beer belly makes him even more awesome in my view.

@tholzerman I can't think of a question about Xavier Woods, so: if you were stranded on an island and could only have three (cont)
— Ian G. (@Doc_Ruiz2012) April 26, 2014

@tholzerman wrestlers entire career to watch while there, who would they be?
— Ian G. (@Doc_Ruiz2012) April 26, 2014

Wrestler number one would be Bryan Danielson/American Dragon/Daniel Bryan. He's clearly the best modern wrestler ever, and while his body of work behind him is impressive and imposing, his work at redefining the landscape of WWE only seems like it's beginning. Not only would his excellent work in WWE and ROH be included, but he'd have spot appearances in DGUSA and Chikara, plus formative years stuff in TWA and Memphis and overseas wrestling.

Wrestler number two would be Eddie Guerrero. In a relatively short career for an all-timer, Guerrero worked in a bunch of important places against a myriad of top opponents. His cross-section would include lucha libre, WCW, ECW, New Japan Pro Wrestling, WWE, IWA Mid-South, and ROH, which is a fantastic career trail.

The third and final wrestler would be "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Sure, his career got a bit warped and awful by the end in WCW, but from his humble beginnings in his father's promotions through Memphis, the WWF, and finally the first portion of his WCW career, his arc was fascinating to say the least. Whether wrestling in marvelous, well-regarded contests like against Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, or Diamond Dallas Page, or in weird clashes of style like against Bruno Sammartino, George Steele, and Dusty Rhodes, Savage's career was entertaining to say the least.

@tholzerman Can I kick it?
— bd (@IHatebd) April 26, 2014

As long as you wake up late for school, even if you don't wanna go...

@tholzerman Given the laudatory coverage of Warrior's death, I wonder what death of an 80's wrestling icon will devastate you the most?
— KMB (@KMB2476) April 26, 2014

I'm not sure if any '80s wrestling death will mess me up as much as Randy Savage's did. He was the pinnacle for me, an enigmatic but endearing wrestler whose body of work left an indelible mark on my formative years. Everyone else who affected me like Savage has waivers on their theoretical deaths. The loss of Bobby Heenan's lower jaw to cancer has already affected me like he's died, which could turn out to be morbid. However, seeing him the way he is so sad that I'm not sure death would add that much more grief. Hulk Hogan is such a cartoon character that I almost wouldn't believe he'd died.

I guess the one person who could die that would screw me up bad would be "Mean" Gene Okerlund. He was such an iconic voice, and he looks like he's aged maybe five years in the last 30. He's a guy who feels like he'd live forever, so that if/when he goes, I dunno how much I'd be able to handle it.

@tholzerman Can you guess at the logic for the still gray distinctions between the WWE Universe and the NXT Universe?
— Star of Savage (@StarOfSavage) April 26, 2014

Nope. NXT and WWE either need to be in full continuity, or they need to be separate. Pointing back to the first question, it's just another reason why WWE needs continual improvement.

@tholzerman For the Q&A: What's going to keep DB's title reign from repeating Punk's mid-card defense period?
— Marty G (@ThisPhillyFan) April 26, 2014

I'm willing to forgive the initial feud vs. Kane, who has a career as a sub-main event kinda guy, for two reasons. First, Bryan has a deep history with him that this match makes sense. Second, Bryan just came off getting the most royal treatment at the WrestleMania that the most people theoretically saw in history. Taking one pay-per-view off to focus on The Shield, three men who have only been the most important cog in WWE since November 2012, is not only acceptable but desired. However, if SummerSlam comes along, and the main event for the fifth straight pay-per-view is something other than Bryan vs. challenger, then WWE will have shown its true hand. I hate saying to give the company the benefit of the doubt when it doesn't particularly deserve it, but it's treading new territory with The Network and the PPV structure. I'm willing to wait, regardless of how tenuous it feels.

@tholzerman what was the worst heel turn ever? Most telegraphed?
— KF (@therick711) April 26, 2014

The worst heel turn was Rikishi's, revealing that he ran over Steve Austin for The Rock. WWE isn't the best company to be doing race-based angles now; what made anyone think it was the outfit to tackle such a story in 2000? The most telegraphed heel turn, in retrospect, was probably Tatanka's. No one puts the hard accusation on someone else in wrestling without having skeletons to hide in their closet to begin with, and Tatanka accused Lex Luger of joining the Million Dollar Corporation more vociferously and frequently than the Tea Party accused President Obama of being a traitorous Muslim Kenyan socialist.

@tholzerman Favorite moment of a face beating the hell out of a heel?
— Marc (@DasNordlicht91) April 26, 2014

Again, my recency bias might be showing here, but Daniel Bryan kicking the shit out of Bray Wyatt in the cage after his two week occupation by savages ended was pretty slick. The ferocity of the beatdown, coupled with how badly Wyatt had been harassing him for the two moths prior AND the crowd noise, made for a surreal, special ending to RAW.

@tholzerman The Return of Chikara is less than a month away! Yay! Shouldn't they start announcing some matches, though?
— GayProWrestlingFan (@GayWrestlingFan) April 26, 2014

As pointed out by @InTerraDeorsum, Chikara announced that it might not even announce any of the matches before the show. That announcement has rankled some folks who demand that wrestling companies announce matches before shows happen. I can understand that mindset, but in the case of Chikara, the company sold out its initial allotment for tickets for its return show within a week of announcing it three months before the date. It sold out the first half of a show in Chicago so fast that it announced a second show. Obviously, if people are buying tickets to the show within minutes of it being announced, they don't particularly care who is appearing or in what capacity.

I'm the last person to ask whether Chikara should announce matches ahead of time or not, because whenever I see that a show is happening within driving distance on a date that works for me, I am buying tickets. Chikara is my favorite wrestling promotion of all-time, and I go to its shows regardless of what the matches are. If more people are like me than are like those who demand matches be announced, then what incentive does the company have to announce matches? Will that strategy work forever though? I don't know. But then again, closing up shop for nearly a year, going completely viral, and building a story through ancillary promotions was against the grain too. Unlike WWE, Chikara's earned my trust, so it will have said trust until it does something to break it.

What happens when you're watching a wrestling match and a game of Duck, Duck, Goose breaks out? Well, the result depends on who "you" are. Some folks would rather pour acid on their eyes than watch the following match, and I find nothing wrong with that opinion. Comedy is subjective, and not everything suits every person. However, for me, I loved the atomicos incredible pitting Takoyakida, Ebessan, Scott Parker, and Shane Matthews against Colt Cabana, Johnel Sanders, Darkness Crabtree, and the Swamp Monster. That being said, I think the former team's victory here should come with an asterisk since those pesky Condors ended up apprehending Swamp Monster during the match, but hey, wrestling is wrestling.

Sparx felt the wrath of male hostility towards females at Death before Dishonor XI Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

The following is going to be a truth bomb to more than a few wrestling fans that I've encountered live or on the Internet. The fact that it's going to register as shocking or abrasive is the problem, but the following statement is true. Women are people. I know, that truth might be a little hard to swallow for some of those people out there. I'd like to think that the non-enlightened clods who chant "We want puppies!" at WWE shows (hint, they're not referring to baby dogs) or the asshole who decided to throw a coin at Seleziya Sparx at Death before Dishonor XI last September don't read this blog, but at the same time, I don't know everyone out there personally. Maybe you, yes you reading, need to be reminded.

Well, since I have your attention, another shocker is that women can be wrestling fans. The "35% of WWE fans are women" number is bandied about a lot, but I'd be surprised if the number was still that low. Not only are these women, who I must remind everyone out there are definitely people just like those among the world with cocks 'n balls, showing up to shows as faces in the crowd, they also populate the hardcore fandom, whether as respectable writers such as De O'Brien, DanielleMatheson, and RachelDavies, Tumblr cornerstones like Quackenbucshlight, and Twitter mavens like @prettyheartless and @sallen_87. When the only difference is anatomy, then no real difference exists at all.

Yet, no matter how many times I think the fans at large have turned the corner and embraced more of a feminist-friendly attitude, something happens that makes me lose my faith in progress. Whether it's the aforementioned coin-throwing incident at Ring of Honor or gross fans sitting behind me at last year's WSU Queen and King of the Ring Tournament frequently calling Kimber Lee the c-word, or fans actually putting singles in Shanna's gear as she stripper-danced to the ring, I am reminded that it can be hard not only for a female performer, but also for a female fan to go to any wrestling show, whether mainstream or independent.

I mean, if every time someone who looked like me came to ringside they were hurled with sexual insults, slurs that damned them for their appearance or anatomy, or were even assaulted, I would not want to go a wrestling show ever. Men get heel heat showered upon them, sure, but it's mostly for the acts they do in the ring, and rarely is the audience ready to see them get murdered just because they have a dick, like certain people in the crowd at the first National Pro Wrestling Day were frothing to see Sparx, Scarlett Bordeaux, and D'Arcy Dixon get. Wrestling shows, especially indie shows without the family friendly designation, can be hostile environments for women. If not, does anyone think this Kayfabe News article about a woman actually attending a ROH show would ring so funny in its truth?

Forget about being uncomfortable at how the performers are treated though. Try being a vocal female fan online. You end up getting weirdoes anonymously asking you on your Tumblr gross questions about performing sex acts with wrestlers, among other things. Of course, she handled it well, but the fact that she had to deal with a cretin putting that in her inbox is a sliver of what being a woman fan probably entails. I don't know how many of those questions she gets. I don't know how many disgusting propositions that the average female fan online gets, actually. But I do know that one is too many, and that male fans getting those creepshow harassing messages is minuscule compared to women.

Pointing out these problems is getting to be old hat. The time has arrived to do something about the treatment that women fans get at shows and online. If you're a male fan, and you have the urge to send something to a woman fan you barely know that you would not send to someone in public you know in real life, don't. Don't chant "We want puppies" or "Show your tits!" at a wrestling show. Don't throw things at female performers or cheer vociferously for disproportionate violence against females who get involved in matches. And for Crom's sake, don't fucking use the c-word in any capacity. You wouldn't call a black performer the n-word, would you? Of course not. Extend the same respect to female performers too.

Wrestling is a grand art, and it should be for everyone. The fact that some male fans out there ruin it for everyone through primitive and ugly behavior is grotesque and insanely offensive. A woman is before all else a human being, just like you, just like me. I can't believe I have to write something like this every six months, but I'm not going to stop until you gross pigs out there stop acting like swine and start acting like civilized human beings. Women have as much a right to go to a wrestling show as men do, and until the fans start showing that attitude, how the fuck can anyone expect wrestling promoters, whether big like Vince McMahon or independent like the Baron Bros., to follow suit?

Reigns scowled over many a fresh kill with his spear in 2013 Photo Credit: WWE.com

Kicking off the top five by believing…

5. Roman Reigns
Points: 3904
Ballots: 44
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Joe Kearns)
Last Year's Placement: 71st Place

TH: When The Shield debuted as a unit in late 2012, I, like many others, saw Roman Reigns as an add-on, a throw-in, something superfluous to round out the dynamic debut of at least one bona fide future star in Dean Ambrose and another whom many lavished with praise in Seth Rollins. His work in FCW as Leakee didn't impress me, although to be fair, I had only seen a small sample size of it. However, over the course of one calendar year, Reigns proved that he was an indispensable cog within the machine of both the trio and in his tag team with Rollins, a fearsome powerhouse needed to provide an imposing, nearly invincible presence within matches, and a true member of the WWE's HOSS Society.

In addition to providing the hard-hitting feats of strength, a bone-rattling spear that ranks as one of the best in wrestling history, and a monstrous, imposing presence, Reigns showed a certain panache to his brutality. He not only kicked people's asses, but he looked smooth as shit doing it. I think that kind of ring presence should be noted as an extreme positive. As a bad guy, it exuded arrogance to the point where he could draw extra boos from the crowd just through making his HOSSITUDE look easy (and in the future, as The Shield embarks on a run towards being good, that kind of confidence inspires cheers). A guy I thought would be a throw-in turned out to be maybe the most essential part of the group's superlative performances inside the squared circle. I look forward to Reigns improving and becoming one of the great big men of all-time in the future.

Joey Splashwater: Roman Reigns became a star in 2013, especially towards the end. His intensity in the ring went up another level and in my eyes, he became a star at Survivor Series. His spear on Rey Mysterio woke me up that Reigns was the real deal. As a whole, The Shield were awesome and had great matches all year with a great tag title run by Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Brock Lutefisk: I’ll go out on a limb here and say Roman Reigns gets in the top 10 of the TWB 100 next year and he’ll be there for years to come. Reigns really proved himself during 2013. He’s transformed into a terrific wrestler. Reigns as part of the Shield has really been terrific. He’s definitely established himself in the group. Personally, I hope the Shield stays together forever, but I’ll be happy to watch all three and certainly Reigns, do their thing on their own if it ever gets to that point.

Pictured above are two of the reasons Trey just wasn't feelin' Total Divas this week Photo Credit: WWE.com

 Yes, I just decided that I'm not going to go for an arbitrary list here, so one of my main writing crutches has been proverbially kicked out from under myself. Instead, I'm going to talk about the weird coalescence that both Total Divas and Legends House have in their 6th and 2nd episodes of the year respectively. Weirdly, it more links to the beginning of Total Divas' run this year than its current point of spending gobs of time pretending Ariane is a likable person. Around the second episode was the beginning of the rift between Nattie and Summer Rae. We were given no real reason for why this was, other than "ugh new people" or whatever. The same occurred this week with Tony Atlas and basically everybody, although there is a more guided understanding as to why. Old people don't like talking. That's the reason, I guess.

Still, it exposes a young period for Legends House that they are just barely in the feeling out process in terms of stories. Honestly, that is the best time for any reality TV show. A reality show that gives a shit about its storylines is a reality show that is getting substantially worse. Take Total Divas for instance! The bloom has been off the rose for this show for a long time. I watch it on the realization that I would rather deal with these stories versus Todd Chrisley blurting out Southern belle colloquialisms, but the stories are getting harder to defend in terms of interest. Tonight's show had Nattie be upset for reasons of "dude, we don't ever just fuck in places" or something like that. Ariane finally evolved into the most annoying person ever from her previous evolution of happy funk cheerleader. Also, Brie Bella evolved into the most annoying animal rights crusader in history.

It's a wonder I even watch this any more, other than feeling like I should give something to the fine readers of this blog in terms of the goofier parts of WWE's entertainment empire (which is still a funny thing to say, namely because suddenly that old mistress known as pro wrestling doesn't look nearly as ridiculous in comparison to an old dude babbling about silent movies). It's hard not to throw in the towel on basic things that do not hold a deeper meaning, or could be read as a deeper narrative to be scoffed at, or really are just dumb things happening on television.

Then again, I don't know. Some weeks I'm just not up for reality television antics, but maybe it is just to cleanse the palette of last week's double whammy of being bummed about the problems of others. Now the problems of others are insignificant and silly! Letting cats go missing! Talking way too much in a manner that suggests you haven't had many intimate conversations! Pushup bras! I'm going to swallow some cough syrup and forget this ever happened. No lists. Summer Rae wasn't even on the episode. Oh, they said "pussy" twice on television by getting away with the double entendre. So there. That's two reality shows. Also Tony Atlas talked to a horse. And ate it.

It was all for charity! Photo Credit: WWE.com

Welcome to a feature I like to call "Best in the World" rankings. They're not traditional power rankings per se, but they're rankings to see who is really the best in the world, a term bandied about like it's bottled water or something else really common. They're rankings decided by me, and don't you dare call them arbitrary lest I smack the taste out of your mouth. Without further ado, here's this week's list:

1. Daniel Bryan (Last Week: 2) - The ass-whipping by Kane last week on RAW may look bad until one realizes that Bryan granted him his own Make-a-Wish request to be relevant one more time before he retires to be a libertarian spokesperson. Good deed, Bryan. Good deed.

2. Paige (Last Week: 1) - I would have ranked her #1 again, but the Paige I know would have ripped JBL's throat out and shoved it down his gullet where his throat used to be upon the threat of being stripped of her title. I think Sweet Saraya needs to make a visit to Full Sail University.

3. Mickie Knuckles (Last Week: Not Ranked) - I was not going to tempt fate and not rate her after a weekend where she captured a major independent promotion's women's Championship (Resistance Pro). Honestly, she scares me more than nuclear holocaust, the Heat Death of the Universe, and Dora the Explorer combined. Do you know how creeped out I am by Dora? It's a lot.

4. Little Baby's Peanut Butter Maple Tarragon Ice Cream (Last Week: Not Ranked)OFFICIAL HOLZERMAN HUNGERS SPONSORED ENTRY - My second ever trip to a Food-Truck-a-Thon ended with this sweet treat. Trust me, the peanut butter and maple worked together like Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. Which flavor was the face in peril? What would that make the tarragon? WHY DID I TREK DOWN THE ROAD TOWARDS THIS DANGEROUS COMPARISON?

5. Matt Cross (Last Week: Not Ranked) - The bearded brawler captured the 24/7 Championship through a cunning plan of hanging off a building support in dropkick position and catching Icarus while he was on the phone. What the footage did NOT show was him dropkicking Damien 666, Christina von Eerie, three children, Green Lantern Fan (biggest pop of the night), and a little old lady. But hey, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

6. Steph Curry (Last Week: Not Ranked) - He may not have ended racism yesterday, but he went into the Basketball Avatar State once again to defeat it in a playoff game yesterday afternoon.

7. Lady Olenna Tyrell (Last Week: Not Ranked) - I wish she was one of my grandmothers. For the record, I'm immune to the kind of graphic sex talk that she laid on Margaery last night because I too got one of those awkward chats from my grandmother before she passed.

8. Mark Henry (Last Week: 4) - Rumor has it that Konor's newfound HOSS ESSENCE was bestowed on him by Henry after he passed the rigorous training needed to take on such a responsibility. Yes, being a HOSS isn't a right, or even a privilege. It's a responsibility to be USED WISELY.

9. Nathan McKinnon (Last Week: Not Ranked) - He's making the state of Minnesota sadder than when it realized what they had done after electing Jesse Ventura as its governor.

10. Sara del Rey (Last Week: Not Ranked) - SARA DEL REY FACT: She in fact knows that Chrisley indeed does not know best, and instead that he knows worst. She's convinced the show was named on Opposite Day.

The very definition of art Photo Credit: WWE.com

I don't watch a whole lot of Oscar-nominated films. I just don't get the chance to watch any movies anymore, but even when I was going to the theater, I was dealing mostly with the popcorn flicks. It's not that I'm opposed to the critically acclaimed films; my entertainment passions have always been more associated with the physical nature. So I have always been more inclined to check out the high stakes sporting matchups and to delve more deeply into the critical annals of professional wrestling. But one year, I actually saw most of the films nominated for Best Picture.

In 2010, I saw five of the ten movies nominated. Four of them actually felt like they were Oscar-worthy films. Toy Story 3 jerked at my heartstrings something fierce. Black Swan was psychological and edgy. The Social Network was bland, but it was also ambitious and well-acted. Inception, my favorite of the group, was inventive, action-packed, well-rounded, and exceptionally intelligent.

And the movie that won was the most boring piece of shit of the whole lot, The King's Speech. This film's win in the face of the other four movies I watched (the other five I didn't get to see, so I can't really judge them) felt like the reinforcement of every stereotype against Academy judges. It was, for lack of a better description, a typical Hollywood underdog story polished up under the sheen of World War II England. World War II plus overcoming physical disability equals Oscar gold. Fuck, it even has a goddamn montage. A MONTAGE. Every cheesy coming of age/underdog story '80s film had a fucking montage to the point that it's a lampooning mechanism in spoofs and slapstick comedies. So with The King's Speech winning the Oscar over at least three more deserving films, arguably four (I still vacillate on The Social Network, even if I do think its scope and acting performances should give it a tiebreaker), well, the old criticisms of The Academy didn't exactly ring hollow.

What does any of the above have to do with wrestling? Well, pro graps is considered a bastard art, a cheap money-stripper for the working class filled with titillation without artistic merit. In some circles, it is considered below the latest productions from the Happy Madison company. Believe me, I've had to sit through Grown Ups. If Adam Sandler's recent output isn't rock bottom, it's only got a couple of inches left to clear before getting there. Generally speaking, the more sheen a wrestling company has on it, the more corporate it is and the more popular it is, the less of a chance it has of being something worthy of holding up and critiquing as art.

Yet, in the open of RAW, I saw John Cena, a hero with wavering doubt in his eyes, questioning the fans why they would forsake him and feed him to the wolves. I heard a children's choir hauntingly sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" as foreboding. I marveled at the use of lighting and the shots that were captured by the cameramen. I was entranced by Bray Wyatt leading the children in their siren song, and my skin crawled when I saw the choir appearing out from the darkness in the lambs' masks. The opening of RAW tonight left me with a feeling of satisfaction that I get when I hear a beautiful song, watch a landmark episode of television, or take in a grand movie.

Watching great wrestling theater fills me with vindication, especially when WWE of all companies can frame a scene such as the one it opened RAW with. Furthermore, when the company can be that ambitious and fulfill all expectation how can it be called garbage? When it hits on every cylinder, how can it be looked upon with disdain in a world when polished garbage created to fit a tried and true formula is rewarded for its laziness?

Friends, wrestling is an art, and it is art with no modifier. Maybe no one else who doesn't understand already will see it that way, but fuck 'em. What passes for high art in cinema has no better or worse batting average than what the best in wrestling can provide anyway, and when tripe is celebrated, then maybe the social barometers are out of whack anyway.

That all being said, when the two media collide, sometimes the results are sublime. What I'm trying to say is in your spare time, why don't you rent The Wrestler from Netflix, okay?

Honestly, even I got a little creeped out by all the kids wearing lamb masks. Bray Wyatt and his family have been called a lot of things, like the next Jake Roberts, Waylon Mercy done right, and the next evolution of pro wrestling characterization. However, I would call him a gateway drug to horror movies as well. Some of the shit he does seems straight out of that genre, and of course, the blood and gore is only one component of those kinds of movies. The best horror films are psychologically terrifying. Who is more cerebrally frightening than the Eater of Worlds?