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| Havok putting the boots to Alpha Female Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
100. Jessicka Havok/HAVOK
Points: 695
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 9th Place (John Rosenberger)
Last Year's Placement: 56th Place
Kevin Held: Absolute proof that women wrestlers don't have to be a size whatever to be compelling/awesome/attractive/fear-inducing.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 696
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 2nd Place (Brandon Mars)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
Samuel DiMascio: There aren’t many wrestlers that are such a perfect heel for Ring of Honor, but he delivers in the ring but in a way stylistically different than the traditional presentation for the company. Seeing him work the crowd against Hallowicked at National Pro Wrestling Day is something that I doubt many wrestlers could pull off with such ease. To see him also play a pretty good clean cut babyface in NEW at times is wild and shows his range.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 706
Ballots: 9
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Brandon Mars)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 707
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 13th Place (Rene Sanchez)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
Rene Sanchez: Jimmy Jacobs worked a few shows in Portland, OR (the area that I currently call home) this year for the West Coast Wrestling Connection under his “Zombie Princess” moniker and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when he was in the ring. My only experience with Jacobs had been through ROH where he had become a seldom used mouthpiece for the likes of Roderick Strong and BJ Whitmer in “The Decade”, so to see Jacobs perform extremely well in the ring (especially in comparison to some of the local, greener talent) was jarring. No one was smoother or as clean in the ring as Jacobs at the local show I attended and seeing him live really increased his value as an in-ring performer to me.
Brad Canze: Jimmy Jacobs is maybe the independent wrestler with the most presence while being the least physically imposing. He is a tiny man with crazy hair and more eyeliner than your middle school sister's "troubled" friend, but he puts enough effort and pride into everything he does to make everyone in the crowd pay attention. Jacobs is a longtime veteran with a great mind, evidenced by his apparent hiring as a WWE Creative team member, who knows when to do something and how best to do it to maximize a crowd reaction.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 707 (Placed ahead of Jimmy Jacobs because of the higher highest vote)
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote Received: 3rd Place (Dave Kincannon)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
Dave Kincannon: Even though he spent most of his time in Japan, Zack Sabre Jr had an impressive handful of matches in America. His performance at the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles, was stellar, as were his matches against Biff Busick and Timothy Thatcher when EVOLVE went to New York in September. Sabre’s command of technical wrestling is as sound as they come, and if he works more US dates in 2015, I can see him having a much higher TWB 100 ranking.
Samuel DiMascio: Zack Sabre is a fella who benefits from having a brief stint in American in 2014 but delivering during that period. Namely, his EVOLVE matches against Biff Busick and Timothy Thatcher were excellent contests that truly felt like they demonstrated him at his best. The latter of which felt like a fantastic modern twist on an old European grapplin’ fest. When you remove some of his Japanese junior-stylings, he is a skilled matworkers reminiscent of World of Sport stars such as Marty Jones or Rollerball Rocco.
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| Screen Grab via Impact Wrestling YouTube |
Points: 728
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 15th Place (Dylan Hales)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
TH: I saw none of Matt Hardy's Impact Wrestling work in 2014, but he made waves elsewhere, especially with brother Jeff in dream matches on the indies I never knew I needed until I saw them. While Jeff's work in those matches drew more attention, Matt laid the foundation and actually made an effective Ricky Morton for various opponents. His solo prestige stuff, especially against AJ Styles in Northeast Wrestling, should not be slept upon either.
Rene Sanchez: All I can say about Matt Hardy is this: HE’S STILL TAKING BUMPS OFF THE TOP OF LADDERS! HOLY HELL WHAT IS HE DOING? For real, to be in the game this long and to still be taking a suplex into a table from the top of a ladder is admirably idiotic and deserves a spot on this list in my eyes.
Samuel DiMascio: The better Hardy had an impressive year entering his 40s in a variety of environments across the country. In NEW, he puts on quality matches against the likes of AJ Styles and the Young Bucks. In TNA, he and Jeff put some heat in the tag division there while bumping like mad men in ladder matches and more. In numerous smaller indies Matt Hardy could come in, pop the house, and make the local guy look like a million bucks. Matt’s signature match in ’14 though was with Jeff against the Briscoes in OMEGA. That match may very well have been the best tag match in the world last year, creating an atmosphere unlike almost anything else in this time period. It was Matt’s selling and timing that made all the twists and turns work for the better.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 744
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 23rd Place (Brandon Mars)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
Scott Holland: Ranking someone like Becky Lynch is a bit of a challenge because her in-ring performance was directly affected by character tinkering that is the natural part of the NXT developmental process. It’s clear she’s got a strong wrestling background, and there’s a better than 50 percent chance she makes a significant upward move in 2015 voting as the NXT landscape changes and allows her to do more than work five-minute matches on weekly TV. All that said, in 2014 she showed flashes of significant potential and delivered entertaining moments, far more so than what you get from throwaway women’s matches on WWE B and C shows.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 748
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Drew Cordeiro)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
TH: The former Charade built upon his impressive under-the-hood debut year with a solid follow up. He worked as an effective babyface in several promotions, bumping around for relative giants like Brian Fury or going tete-a-tete with dudes more his size like Seiya Sanada. He's still a bit rough around the edges, but he's worthy of a spot and is getting better every year.
Dave Kincannon: In 2013, I liked Shynron. I thought that he was as athletic as they come, and was capable of having good matches. However, in my mind, there were definite flaws, and he hadn’t quite lived up to his potential. In 2014, I loved Shynron. He’s starting to put it together, and figure out how to use his athletic prowess in more effective ways during matches. Whether he was competing for the Rey de Voladores or the Young Lions Cup, teaming with Kitsune as the Ninjas with Attitude or having brilliant singles matches with the likes of AR Fox and Silver Ant, Shynron made an impression on me that eclipsed my thoughts of his 2013.
Frank McCormick: The inclusion of "The Spirit Dragon" is very simple to explain: I always see something different when I'm watching a match with Shynron. There's always at least one "Woah!" moment. In Chikara, in one half of ISW's "Ninjas With Attitude," Shynron provides the kind of "flippy shit" I love. And as he's still about 12 years old, his future is wide open. I want to see what he comes up with.
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| Photo Credit: Christine Coons |
Points: 748 (Placed ahead of Shynron because of higher highest vote)
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote Received: 5th Place (Alex Torres)
Last Year's Placement: 43rd Place
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 753
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (Jesse Dlugosz)
Last Year's Placement: 59th Place
Nick Ahlhelm: I still have a hard time believing Icarus is the top babyface of anything, but after months of him leading the belief in a resurrected Chikara, it was Icarus that led the fight in 2014. He won the Grand Championship at the return event before taking a leadership role in the ongoing fight with the Flood. In many ways Icarus embodied the #IAmChikara slogan he introduced throughout the entire Chikara season, even as he lost friends to the Flood’s attacks. Ultimately, he finished the year by ending the murderous Deucalion’s rampage, but perhaps tainted his own soul in the process. Other Chikara stars may get more press or higher ratings, but it was Icarus that made everything they did in 2014 possible.
Mat Morgan: Icarus is interesting because in a way, it's really astounding that he's become the tecnico ace of CHIKARA. Not just because for years he was either the most or second-most hated wrestler there (give or take a Vin Gerard), but because when you think about it, what is it that Icarus excels at? He's not the best brawler (that's probably Kingston), he's not the most impressive mat wrestler (that's probably Silver Ant), he's not the best high-flier (for my money that's actually Fire Ant), and he's not the most captivating character (that's UltraMantis). But on the other hand, he's quietly pretty good at all those things. While the Deucalion match at Quantum of Solace made clear that maybe he can't work miracles, he's a great asset in singles matches, in tag matches, and in trios, and he's by and large held up his end of the bargain as Grand Champion. May he continue his improbable tecnico run for another year, flying just close enough to the sun.
Brad Canze: Icarus has been a technically and fundamentally sound wrestler for years, and easily one of the best heels in wrestling for a long time. This is a guy who maximized his in-ring work so he could get an audience to boo him for practically anything he did, and could make a crowd go nuclear just by flashing his (awful) back tattoo. So 2014 was a challenge for Icarus was to transition from a seasoned heel ring general into a fluffy-haired babyface in a vinyl baseball jersey. This was a rebuilding year for Icarus, but basically what Chikara did with him was take a world-class salsa dancer and telling him "OK, no salsa, you do the Lindy Hop now." By the time I saw him face Jimmy Jacobs live at Moonraker he had figured out a lot of the kinks, and the two put in one of the most engaging, physical wrestling matches I saw last year
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| Photo Credit: Picture Dave |
Points: 759
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 14th Place (Brandon Kyla)
Last Year's Placement: 72nd Place
TH: Whether as the Bleeding Heart in Inspire Pro or as the visiting babyface workhorse in Beyond, Vega brought the heft in his matches in 2014. He continues to be one of the indies' unsung heroes, turning in solid technical bouts wherever he goes. However, his absolute highlight of 2014 may have been stopping time and giving an out-loud inner monologue to the fans during the bonkers, comedy atomico at King of Trios.
Kevin Held: I've seen some of his matches online, but I finally got to watch him in person last December at a St. Louis Anarchy show. He wrestled Gary Jay in an hour-long time limit draw. It never once felt like an hour, and the two men put on a clinic for would-be wrestlers when it comes to putting together a match.
Dave Kincannon: Davey Vega was one of the unsung heroes of independent wrestling in 2014. It doesn’t matter where he is on the card, what promotion he’s wrestling for, or whether he’s wrestling a singles match, a tag team match, an atomicos match at King of Trios, or one of those six man scramble matches that AIW likes to put him in, he could always be depended upon to hold down his end of any match. He’s dependable, and in a business like professional wrestling, I feel like that’s a pretty big compliment.
Chris McDonald: An underrated sleazeball in Inspire Pro. The “Bleeding Heart” is a great lackey for Dirty Andy Dalton, but when he’s in the ring he really starts to shine.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 790
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 13th Place (Chris McDonald)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
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| Photo Credit: El Rey Network.com |
Points: 809
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 16th Place (Rich Thomas)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
De O'Brien: In 2014, Lucha Underground debuted with much hype - a lucha show on a network run by Quentin Tarantino pal and frequent collaborator Robert Rodriguez? What's not to get hype about? - and it lived up to ALL OF IT, showcasing wrestling and, more importantly, wrestlers not seen often in the US outside a few select locations. One of the standouts is Ms. Sexy Star, a woman the WWE said was "too fat" to be a Diva, introduced through a vignette wherein she discussed lacing up a pair of wrestling boots to beat her demons and overcome a tragic past, to show women that you can be empowered no matter what you do or who you are, that wrestling is something women are just as good at, if not better at, than the men, and that women have valid reasons for competing - and the entire world sat up and listened. Here is a powerful, strong, brilliant woman wrestling against men and not being treated like a delicate flower, or being manhandled because she's a lady; here's a woman in a traditionally often male-dominated sport and culture going toe to toe with the best that sport has to offer and winning just as often as not. Thanks to Sexy Star - and to Lucha Underground - for giving wrestling a much-needed example to emulate in a landscape where that's often overlooked.
Mat Morgan: Sexy Star's greatest asset in Lucha Underground is the fact that she doesn't give a fuck. When I first saw her I was kind of critical of the fact that she kept going for moves like crossbodies against male competitors that 70% of the time ended in her being caught and bodyslammed, eventually it clicked in my head that those failures are the point. It doesn't matter how many times she gets caught and bodyslammed, because there will always be a next time, and next time she might just lay some dude out instead. That's why Sexy Star is fun and worth believing in even when she's sometimes underserved by the material Lucha Underground gives her; she never, ever, ever gives up, and that belief is infectious. Here's hoping she gets the stories and the attention she deserves in 2015.
Ryan Foster: Sexy is a fantastic athlete and works at a breakneck speed that makes her an ideal fit for the Lucha Underground temple. Sexy is also highly skilled at connecting with the crowd and has fans living and dying with her spirited comeback efforts. Though she lacked a true standout match in 2014, her feud with Son of Havoc and Ivelisse Velez early in the show’s run helped to establish the chaotic, anything-goes feel of the promotion.
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| Screen Grab via Impact Wrestling YouTube |
Points: 824
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote Received: 11th Place (James Girouard)
Last Year's Placement: 62nd Place
Joshua Browns: SO much natural talent. SO much potential. Impact really needs to figure out how to use him as something other than a blue-light special Triple H.
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| Photo Credit: Picture Dave |
Points: 830
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 10th Place (Chris Harrington)
Last Year's Placement: 54th Place
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 877
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote Received: 7th Place (Dylan Hales)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
TH: Chicken continued to delve further off the deep end in 2014, enhancing his already crazy image and refining his redneck kung fu even further. His work in tags with brother Jay was a great, whimsical counterweight to the sheer meanness his bro brought to the table. Few wrestlers brought as much frenetic energy to the game as Mark Briscoe did in 2014.
Rene Sanchez: Mark Briscoe has crazy eyes, missing teeth, and a manic demeanor that is viscerally enticing (author’s note: do those two words even work together?). All of this adds up to one of the most entertaining and visually appealing performers in ROH and a deserving member of the TWB 100. Also, in my humble opinion, the Froggy Bow is the most aesthetically pleasing move in all of wrestling today.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 920
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Ian Riccaboni)
Last Year's Placement: 66th Place
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 920 (Placed ahead of Aries because he was included on more ballots)
Ballots: 16
Highest Vote Received: 8th Place (Chris Harrington)
Last Year's Placement: 35th Place
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| Photo Credit: El Rey Network.com |
Points: 934
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote Received: 4th Place (Pablo Alva)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
Brandon Bosh: One of the happiest wrestling-related developments in 2014 was the emergence of the Lucha Underground aesthetic, which reimagines garden-variety babyfaces and heels as omnipotent heroes and villains locked in an epic struggle. The lucha tradition eschews realistic selling and pacing in favor of spectacular, physics-defying offense between demigods – and no luchador’s offense was more spectacular than that of Fenix.
Wrestling traditionalists might balk at the dizzying array of aerial attacks in a typical Fenix match, but the loyal disciples of Dario Cueto know that, when it comes to violence, more is more. With a twofold assault on El Rey and Unimas, the man of a thousand lives has found himself at the forefront of a cruiserweight renaissance, in which open-minded wrestling fans suspend their disbelief in order to witness some of the most exhilarating athletic action on the planet. WWE could use a wrestler like Fenix, with his bottomless reserves of babyface fire and kinetic energy; he might even be able to resurrect the catatonic RAW audience, which would be a mythical feat if ever there was one.
Ryan Foster: Probably Lucha Underground’s best pure luchador, every Fenix match includes at least one spot you’ve never seen before. Fenix uses the ring as his playground, improvising flips and dives that still feel like they’re a part of the flow of the match rather than a gymnastics exhibition. His feud with Pentagon Jr. produced some of the year’s most fun, exciting matches. Puma and Mundo may be bigger stars, but Fenix is the promotion’s soul.
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| Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Points: 942
Ballots: 17
Highest Vote Received: 6th Place (De O'Brien)
Last Year's Placement: Not ranked
TH: Coronado's over-the-top heel shtick and droning promo style take away from the fact that he maybe Chikara's best technical wrestler not named Silver Ant right now. His 2014 had a lot of gems that were easy to overlook because he wasn't part of the main angle at all. But checking out his work, especially against Jervis Cottonbelly at You Only Live Twice and Ashley Remington at Tomorrow Never Dies, will lead to satisfying results.
De O'Brien: In the beginning, I have to admit I was completely annoyed by the mere existence of Juan Francisco de Coronado. He came to the ring with his Mean Street Posse reject manservant Herbert; his scorn of the United States, or, as he calls them, the "United Stations", bordered on homicidally maddening; and even his bowties evinced a deep-seated anger in me. But, fair is fair, and 2014 has been the year of the Ecuadorian; Coronado is forever unfailingly polite, if a bit standoffish - as is befitting Ecuadorian royalty - at shows, his bowties are actually quite complimentary to a variety of outfits, and the matches he had against Ashley Remington this past year were an utter delight. Not to mention, he had a great match against Rockstar Spud at the 2014 King of Trios that was simply charming in its defense of the bowtie and who was more fit to wear one. As much as I do not care for Juan's villainous and devious in-ring actions - I won't be hoisting the Ecuadorean flag high anytime soon - I must admit I am looking very forward to seeing what he can accomplish in 2015.
Dave Kincannon: Juan Francisco de Coronado might be the most improved wrestler of 2014. In 2013, he was fun to watch, but he wasn’t someone who I would ever have thought might be great. I was wrong. His clashes with Ashley Remington in Chikara were fantastic, and the Battle of the Bowties with Rockstar Spud was one of the highlights of King of Trios. His mannerisms, facial expressions and that high pitched scream of his elevate his efforts beyond just sound wrestling matches to story-telling bonanzas.
Frank McCormick:"You can't wrestle!" That's a chant I heard with my own ears in 2013 under the glare of a werewolf with a huge package. It wasn't true in 2013, and it CERTAINLY wasn't true in 2014. He's always had a great gimmick. He just radiates heel heat, with the bowtie and the "United Staters" and the Titanic entrance theme. Now he's stepped up his wrestling game, and it's marvelous. I mean, let's be real: the Coronado/Remington feud was Chikara's best of 2014. (I was way more excited for and invested in that than in most of The Flood stuff.) He CAN wrestle, and it's glorious!f
Tomorrow, two guys who got first place votes are unveiled!