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| El Generico putting the boots to both Young Bucks Photo Credit: Devin Chen |
5. El Generico
Points: 3622
Ballots: 40
Highest Vote:1st Place (Cameron Riley, Jesse Dlugosz, Shawn Duckett, Vince Morales, Jerome Cusson, Tim Bridges)
Last Year's Placement: 16th Place
TH: El Generico was a national treasure in 2012, even though he was a Canadian pretending to be a Mexican. I didn't know how he could follow up his 2011, but man, he did. I don't wanna say that he made a concerted effort to ramp up his storytelling in matches, because that would be really presumptuous on my part, right? However, he did have two of the best matches of the year from a pure psychology standpoint, against Sara del Rey at Chikara's Hot off the Griddle and Ricochet at PWG's Death to All but Metal. The former played on gender roles expertly, while the latter was almost a Mortal Kombat-style mirror match. OR maybe it was more Dark Link or nega-Scott Pilgrim. All I know is it was riveting theater.
To distill Generico's year down to two matches would be a disservice to him. As always, he was fantastic in PWG, but that's like saying water is wet, the sky appears blue to the normal human eye, and Lex Luger "was in the best shape of his life" in the late '90s WCW. Then again, it always bears mentioning. He and Willie Mack had a phenomenal run in DDT4, and his feud with the Young Bucks that included an impromptu reunion of Steenerico at BOLA night 2 was one of the best moments of the year. He was also pretty spiffy in Chikara as well, but again, that's natural.
His the most memorable moment in time of the year may have been one that could have ended his life if it landed slightly askew. Final Battle saw him and Steen have their literal final battle on the indie scene. Steen jerry-rigged a ladder altar and gave Generico the package piledriver through it, the rare bump that broke the Ziggler Scale. If there was any singular moment that defined El Generico, the wrestler, it was that. He took crazy, sometimes too crazy, bumps in order to make the fans drop their jaws. Sure, those giant falls often just whetted our appetites for him to bust out his crazy offense, but without the canvas of vulnerability that Generico lays out, it's just MOVEZ.
Generico will be awesome in WWE as Sami Zayn. I fully believe this, because you can't just stuff that kind of charisma and innate wrestling ability into a mask and leave it there. But he'll be awesome in a different way than he was on the indies, especially in 2012. El Generico was one of a kind, and I'm glad I got to see him at his best.
John Rosenberger: I watch a lot of wrestling clips at work during my lunch break. I work with a lot of nosy people who like to look at what you’re doing over your shoulder. More often than not, if somebody is taking the time to ask whom the wrestler I am watching is instead of rolling their eyes and walking away, it’s an El Generico video. The fact that his style is strong, fluid and, dare I say, beautiful enough to intrigue those who don’t usually care for wrestling says a lot more than I could in a paragraph.
Shawn Duckett: El Generico was the best in ring performer in 2012. He sells better than anyone in the business. He is like a human rag doll when taking insane bumps. His offense is high octane and keeps the fans on the edge of their seat during his matches. El Generico makes every card better with his presence. Generico can turn in a good match with anyone. The Brainbustaaaaahhhhh is the craziest finisher in wrestling. The Generic Luchador will be a great addition to the WWE. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for El Generico.
Vince Morales: I've always known that El Generico was a very good wrestler and that he was worthy of the adoration that we give him, but it wasn't until 2012 that I really began to realize exactly how great he was and how very lucky I was to see him perform live. After the year he had in 2011 in PWG and Chikara, Generico became a guy that you had to see when he came to your town. When I was in Miami for Wrestlemania I went out of my way to buy tickets to an ROH show because El Generico was wrestling Kevin Steen and anytime that happens you need to see it. (I didn't end up making it to that show because of bad directions. I will get my revenge on that hotel concierge one day.) I would get another chance to see El Generico live, this time against Sara Del Rey and the match did not disappoint.
On this blog, where intergender matches are championed like no other place, this match should be held up high as everything that intergender wrestling could and should be. If I made lists it'd probably be my 2012 match of the year. I would later see El Generico face off against The Shard in Chicago. This match seemed like the most obvious result in the history of wrestling to me. I'd never seen The Shard win a singles match and El Generico was the best wrestler in the world. How could he possibly lose? Yet, somehow, during the course of the match I got the idea that he could and that not only could he lose this match, but that The Shard would be a deserving person to win that match. I'd seen the Geikido and I'd seen The Shard, but he'd never looked like this. Not the way El Generico made him look. It was a masterpiece, but it came in the middle of the show and it didn't take away from anything else that happened before or after. It was amazing and it made me fully appreciate the greatness of this guy from Tijuana, Mexico.
We always hear about the details in wrestling and I don't think anyone does the details better than El Generico. Watch his fingers when he kicks out, the way he flutters them in the air like he is reaching for help. I love the way he looks to the crowd for help in his comebacks without ever losing sight of his opponent. When he goes for the top rope brainbuster there is a moment when he tells the crowd "hey guys watch this, it's going to be really cool and you'll love it" but he does it only with his body. It's this kind of stuff that makes him the easiest hire in WWE history.
I've seen a few people state on here that they like someone because they "make it real" for them. I've said this before and it is a great way to explain what a really great wrestler can do to you as a fan. I could say this about El Generico, but I don't think it would fully explain the way I feel about him. El Generico might take me to a special place when the match is going on, but it is not that place where this wonderfully make believe place is real. Instead, El Generico takes me to a place where, after I watch one of his matches, I want to spend the rest of my life with professional wrestling. Watching El Generico makes me want to watch more and more wrestling because wrestling is fucking awesome and when El Generico is wrestling, wrestling is beautiful.
Dave Musgrave: El Generico had another strong year, wrestling everywhere and doing everything. He could now be the heir apparent to Mysterio if WWE lets him be that.
Typical ROH Fan: Regarded as the best indy wrestler for a while before signing with.... errr I mean before going back to Mexico to help the orphans. Always delivered in ROH, PWG and DGUSA/Evolve. Not much more to say. Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole. (Favorite 2012 match: with Rick Knox and Kevin Steen vs. The Young Bucks and Brian Cage at PWG BOLA Night 2)
Points: 3622
Ballots: 40
Highest Vote:1st Place (Cameron Riley, Jesse Dlugosz, Shawn Duckett, Vince Morales, Jerome Cusson, Tim Bridges)
Last Year's Placement: 16th Place
TH: El Generico was a national treasure in 2012, even though he was a Canadian pretending to be a Mexican. I didn't know how he could follow up his 2011, but man, he did. I don't wanna say that he made a concerted effort to ramp up his storytelling in matches, because that would be really presumptuous on my part, right? However, he did have two of the best matches of the year from a pure psychology standpoint, against Sara del Rey at Chikara's Hot off the Griddle and Ricochet at PWG's Death to All but Metal. The former played on gender roles expertly, while the latter was almost a Mortal Kombat-style mirror match. OR maybe it was more Dark Link or nega-Scott Pilgrim. All I know is it was riveting theater.
To distill Generico's year down to two matches would be a disservice to him. As always, he was fantastic in PWG, but that's like saying water is wet, the sky appears blue to the normal human eye, and Lex Luger "was in the best shape of his life" in the late '90s WCW. Then again, it always bears mentioning. He and Willie Mack had a phenomenal run in DDT4, and his feud with the Young Bucks that included an impromptu reunion of Steenerico at BOLA night 2 was one of the best moments of the year. He was also pretty spiffy in Chikara as well, but again, that's natural.
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| The Final Battle Ladder Bump Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Generico will be awesome in WWE as Sami Zayn. I fully believe this, because you can't just stuff that kind of charisma and innate wrestling ability into a mask and leave it there. But he'll be awesome in a different way than he was on the indies, especially in 2012. El Generico was one of a kind, and I'm glad I got to see him at his best.
John Rosenberger: I watch a lot of wrestling clips at work during my lunch break. I work with a lot of nosy people who like to look at what you’re doing over your shoulder. More often than not, if somebody is taking the time to ask whom the wrestler I am watching is instead of rolling their eyes and walking away, it’s an El Generico video. The fact that his style is strong, fluid and, dare I say, beautiful enough to intrigue those who don’t usually care for wrestling says a lot more than I could in a paragraph.
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| Generico about to send Sami Callihan into the corner Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
Vince Morales: I've always known that El Generico was a very good wrestler and that he was worthy of the adoration that we give him, but it wasn't until 2012 that I really began to realize exactly how great he was and how very lucky I was to see him perform live. After the year he had in 2011 in PWG and Chikara, Generico became a guy that you had to see when he came to your town. When I was in Miami for Wrestlemania I went out of my way to buy tickets to an ROH show because El Generico was wrestling Kevin Steen and anytime that happens you need to see it. (I didn't end up making it to that show because of bad directions. I will get my revenge on that hotel concierge one day.) I would get another chance to see El Generico live, this time against Sara Del Rey and the match did not disappoint.
On this blog, where intergender matches are championed like no other place, this match should be held up high as everything that intergender wrestling could and should be. If I made lists it'd probably be my 2012 match of the year. I would later see El Generico face off against The Shard in Chicago. This match seemed like the most obvious result in the history of wrestling to me. I'd never seen The Shard win a singles match and El Generico was the best wrestler in the world. How could he possibly lose? Yet, somehow, during the course of the match I got the idea that he could and that not only could he lose this match, but that The Shard would be a deserving person to win that match. I'd seen the Geikido and I'd seen The Shard, but he'd never looked like this. Not the way El Generico made him look. It was a masterpiece, but it came in the middle of the show and it didn't take away from anything else that happened before or after. It was amazing and it made me fully appreciate the greatness of this guy from Tijuana, Mexico.
We always hear about the details in wrestling and I don't think anyone does the details better than El Generico. Watch his fingers when he kicks out, the way he flutters them in the air like he is reaching for help. I love the way he looks to the crowd for help in his comebacks without ever losing sight of his opponent. When he goes for the top rope brainbuster there is a moment when he tells the crowd "hey guys watch this, it's going to be really cool and you'll love it" but he does it only with his body. It's this kind of stuff that makes him the easiest hire in WWE history.
I've seen a few people state on here that they like someone because they "make it real" for them. I've said this before and it is a great way to explain what a really great wrestler can do to you as a fan. I could say this about El Generico, but I don't think it would fully explain the way I feel about him. El Generico might take me to a special place when the match is going on, but it is not that place where this wonderfully make believe place is real. Instead, El Generico takes me to a place where, after I watch one of his matches, I want to spend the rest of my life with professional wrestling. Watching El Generico makes me want to watch more and more wrestling because wrestling is fucking awesome and when El Generico is wrestling, wrestling is beautiful.
Dave Musgrave: El Generico had another strong year, wrestling everywhere and doing everything. He could now be the heir apparent to Mysterio if WWE lets him be that.
Typical ROH Fan: Regarded as the best indy wrestler for a while before signing with.... errr I mean before going back to Mexico to help the orphans. Always delivered in ROH, PWG and DGUSA/Evolve. Not much more to say. Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole. (Favorite 2012 match: with Rick Knox and Kevin Steen vs. The Young Bucks and Brian Cage at PWG BOLA Night 2)
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| Generico looking to tumble onto Adam Cole from above Photo Credit: Devin Chen |