Wrestlers I'm enjoying at the moment

Because wrestling fans can be accused of only looking at the negatives I just wanted to start a thread where we can say what we are liking about wrestling at the moment. I know I might be down on some aspects, but there is IMO an awful, awful lot to love out there.

Son of Havoc (Lucha Underground)
He encapsulates best what I think LU is so good at. And that is giving all their roster space and character development opportunities. At the start of LU he was a jobber. He lost all his matches. But he has a great executioner-type look. He has shown high-flying move-set that I definitely didn't see coming and he's got over with me. He's not a main-eventer, but I'm enjoying his work.

Rusev (WWE)
I didn't like Rusev when he first came into WWE, I thought he was just another big guy. I still don't think he's the greatest wrestler, but his character development has been spot on. WWE has kept a streak on him and we can criticize them getting it wrong, but it would have been so easy to have Swagger beat him at Summerslam. They've kept building him and that is paying off. And I hope they continue to do so as he can be a great heel big man. Of course Lana is also brilliant. Between the two they seem to know their characters so well.

Big Cass and Enzo (NXT)
They might not be the greatest wrestlers, but as an act can be as over as the New Age Outlaws. And you can't teach that.

Kota Ibushi (NJPW)
The Wrestle Kingdom 9 IC title fight was probably one of the top half dozen matches I've ever seen. Ibushi is just one hell of a talent.

Kevin Owens (NXT)
Flawless character development to date. NXT has a lot of high points and outstanding wrestlers. I know some think the show is a spot-fest. And I've argued that wrestling has moved on from the 80s, that rest holds don't work and viewers want excitement. But watching Owens is IMO like watching one of the great old timers (there's a lot of Arn Anderson in there I think) but in a modern setting with some modern moves.

Seth Rollins (WWE)
Great in the ring. Great on the mic. Has his character down perfectly. Maybe the best thing I can say about him is how many talents the writing on Raw is dragging down, and yet how he has thrived in this last year. Wit the cell match and the three-way putting him as a legit main eventer.

Prince Puma (Lucha Underground)
Some one recently made a very interesting observation. They said that they tended not to like masked wrestlers because the mask takes away the facial expressions. I guess I've a couple on this list so that can't be such an issue for me, but I think Puma's work is just the best in wrestling right now. What I like most about him is that he's the wrestler I'm watching across all promotions that seems the most fluid and able to break out any move at any time.

Brock Lesnar (WWE)
How can I not mention Brock? He might only wrestle a handful of times a year. But he does it with such intensity and leaves it all in the ring when he does that I'm more than happy with that.

Pentagon Jr (Lucha Underground)
Maybe I should not add this one as his character development is not complete. But I just love him. I love that look. I love the brutality. He's a heel. But he's too cool to be a heel.

Sasha Banks (NXT)
For a long time when I've been watching women's wrestling, I know I am watching women wrestle. There are ones main eventing based on looks rather than ability. There are slow spots. Blown finishes. All that sounds misogynistic, its not meant to be, its just that the product isn't as good as the men. But Bayley, Banks, Lynch and Charlotte can all go. And there are times when I watch them and I'm just watching wrestling and I like that.

Great article and agree about son of havoc. But would it have killed you to put a Tna guy on there

I've just not been watching it Adam. Ironically, the DVR was down to about 5% memory the other day, so I deleted the Impact episodes, just because I didn't see myself getting round to watching them. Then I learn that some are saying the product has improved a bit.

Rusev is great, so many positives to him. There's no reason he can't be a main event heel for a long time to come.

I also enjoy many of those acts. I can't get into LU and i struggle a bit with NXT but it's clear Owens is a fantastic talent.

The reason may well be whether they can translate his gimmick

It will be hard to convince a lot of fans he isn't an inferior version of Lesnar. His development will be interesting because it's almost impossible to see him being pushed this well on the main roster, yet his ability is there for all to see.

Just goes to show the importance of protecting wrestlers. If Rusev had been presented as a joke midcarder he wouldn't be the big deal he is now. You have to believe that Owens, given a similar sustained push on the main roster, could establish himself as a major player.

I meant Rusev. Owens is talented as hell, hes got every little thing you need and will go far. He may get joke booking once in a while, but not if his NXT time is anything to go by. And hes talented enough to sort it out. His mic work is excellent.

Rusev I worry about. Once the anti-US undefeated streak goes they have to work out the subtle changes needed. And subtlety isnt where I trust them

Im gonna throw my hat in the ring and say that Sasha Banks is one of - if not THE - best female wrestler in the world right now. The character is booked well, and she acts it perfectly. She is awesome in the ring and some of her moves would look brutal if done by a male wrestler, never mind a female one. The double knee drop across the corner of the ropes always looks impressive.

I dont watch LU or NJPW so I cant comment on them fairly, but I agree with everything else. All the WWE and NXT people you've listed are working really well right now and entertaining. And you cant, teach, that!

I think my writing was quite poor, but I tried to reflect that point of protecting Rusev. It would have been so easy for them to get a pop by having him lose to Swagger at Summerslam. I still think they could have got more out of him being US champ. If I were WWE id add the stipulation that the title can change hands by DQ. That way he can lose the belt to Cena without getting pinned or tapping out while keeping him strong.

I'm loving Lucha Underground, but I can understand why it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Last week they took what I always thought was one of the weakest gimmick matches, the Casket Match, and produced a 4* bout.

Samo wrote:Im gonna throw my hat in the ring and say that Sasha Banks is one of - if not THE - best female wrestler in the world right now.  The character is booked well, and she acts it perfectly.  She is awesome in the ring and some of her moves would look brutal if done by a male wrestler, never mind a female one.  The double knee drop across the corner of the ropes always looks impressive.

Exactly the point I was trying to make. I see her as a wrester, rather than a woman wrestling.

And you cant, teach, that!

I find myself saying that at home, watching on my own. I'm such a mark! How you doin'?

Prometheus wrote:
I find myself saying that at home, watching on my own.  I'm such a mark!  How you doin'?

Badda Boom! Reallest guys in the room!

Still havent found a use for Sawft yet, primarily because I dont have a clue what it means.

Anyone got any wrestlers they are enjoying (did I really just invite Adam to write about Spud?).

It is funny, but until recently I'd have had Miz & Mizdow on the list, but I've become a little bored of them. The Usos I was loving, but the whole tag division has been stale and they've suffered from that. And before his injury BNB would have been one of my favourites, but they are booking the IC so poorly that I can't get into him. I was never super hot for Daniel Bryan, but I'd have entertained a place for him on the list a few months ago, but he needs to have a freshen up (and a shave) IMO.

I must agree with Sasha and Enzo/Big Cass. Sasha is my favourite Wrestler at the moment full stop, she is so good at her character and has improved unbelievably in the ring in 12 months. Plus her theme us excellent as well.

Enzo and Big Cass are just awesome, I chant along with them (just like the new age outlaws) plus they are decent in the ring. Hopefully the gimmick will work on the main roster as they are both too talented to not achieve

I will add some more later but must give props to my man Bray Wyatt (I championed him as husky Harris so there...) In my opinion he's the best talker on the roster at the moment (Heyman is better but he's not really "on the roster"). He acts like je believes his own rhetoric which helps sell the gimmick. Will be a world champion by the end of this year

Enzo and Big Cass had one of my favourite moves in their match vs the Lucha Dragons. Enzo was the legal man and had been beaten down at the corner across from Cass. So Cass comes into the ring, takes out Sin Cara, grabs Enzos hand and drags him over to their corner to make the hot tag.

It was an excellent sequence, cleverly using their different sizes. Its the kind of tag team chemistry you rarely see, and a move I can easily see winning them the tag titles as a face team.

Prometheus wrote:Anyone got any wrestlers they are enjoying (did I really just invite Adam to write about Spud?).

It is funny, but until recently I'd have had Miz & Mizdow on the list, but I've become a little bored of them.  The Usos I was loving, but the whole tag division has been stale and they've suffered from that.  And before his injury BNB would have been one of my favourites, but they are booking the IC so poorly that I can't get into him.  I was never super hot for Daniel Bryan, but I'd have entertained a place for him on the list a few months ago, but he needs to have a freshen up (and a shave) IMO.

Don't worry, I won't go spud on you!

If I was going down the Tna route, it would be:
EC3
The Wolves
James Storm

Can't disagree with anyone on your list, though I much prefer Puma as Ricochet, his outfit looks Frak stupid, if I had to stick down another 10 I'd go for

Tomoaki Honma

Possibly the greatest jobber ever?

Tomohiro Ishii

For my money the most consistent performer in wrestling (even on a stacked NJPW roster) despite essentially being held together by gaffer tape at this stage

AJ Styles

Looking set to have a year just as good as last if not better, has really got his ring work down pat as a heel

Bayley

Because I love her, her wrestling is great, her gimmick is great, her music is great, her wavey entrance men are great, and her philosophy on hugging is very similar to mine, plus it tickles me every time anyone says 'Bayley to Belly'

EC3

Because he's flourishing in TNA and no one flourishes in TNA

ReDragon

The Young Bucks

Both of whom are just making tag team wrestling awesome again

ACH

A force of excitement and personality, almost single handedly trying to stop ROH undercards from being the blandest things known to man

El Barbaro Cavernario

I've never been a big lucha guy but this dude could be my gateway, being a brilliant wrestler aside he works a caveman gimmick complete with cheetah print outfit and a bone through the hair, what's not to love?

And finally Shinsuke Nakamura

Because he's japanese wrestling's answer to Michael Jackson....and you can't teach that

Oh and Daisuke Sekimoto because he's good at kicking Frak out of people as well as being in a tag team called Strong BJ

Probably not above any of the guys mentioned above, but "Prince Pretty" Tyler Breeze is entertaining at the moment.

Seth Rollins - I felt while hebwas in the Shield he could be the new Jeff Hardy to WWE, a guy who was insanely over but they never really replaced, I definitely under sold him though, he is far better than anything Hardy had, I wasn't so much going on styles but just the vulnerability aspect of his game, now though I see many more similarities in terms of how he carries himself to CM Punk, I wouldn't label him a new anyone though now, I think henhas the potential to be bigger than both of those guys, great look, great promo, brilliant in the ring and appeals to so many different genre's


Kevin Owens - whats not to love about this guy, from his look to the way he talks to his all round appearance, for years I said how I hated the prototype FCW guy, in in the past couple of years they have moved away from thay, Owens is just a legitimate badass, I've got no worries about him, he'll be a main roster main eventer

Rusev - This guy has been built fantastically well but the proof will be in the pudding, the easiest thing to do is book a monster as undefeated,  what the WWE have done expertly with this guy is book the gimmick tremendously well, the whole visual aspect of anything involving Rusev has been great, the problem WWE have will be how they keep him strong after he loses, history doesn't look good for the monster in WWE after he loses that air of invincibility but as of right now everything has been 100%

Daniel Bryan - Impossible not to like this guy for me, he brings such a raw reality to his matches, he makes everything he does look brutal, the most over face in the WWE for almost two years now, a face thats insanely over longterm, that in itself is an achievement.

Brock Lesnar - No point listing anything specific about this guy, I love the lot

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:
ReDragon

Awesome addition!

And finally Shinsuke Nakamura

Because he's japanese wrestling's answer to Michael Jackson....and you can't teach that

Was he accompanied to the ring by Marty Friedman at Wrestle Kingdom 8? I really enjoyed that..... Oh actually I think it was to Tanahashi. He had the pole dancers. I'd listen to any argument that Nakamura is the best wrestler in the world right now.

Reigns

Owens

Lesnar

Ziggler

Enzo n Cass

Lucha Dragons

Stardust

Luke Harper

Banks

Bliss

Riley

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
Ziggler

I went back to watch some Ziggler matches yesterday. His Summerslam (2009?) against Rey Mysterio was particularly enjoyable.

He's certainly one of the best athletes in WWE, its just a shame that IMO his best outings tend to be in multi-man events rather than one-on-one encounters.

Maybe if the Twitter-teased Bryan / Ziggler feud happens that can be corrected.

BTW am I the only one who's started to take more notice of Ryback since the Punk interview? This idea that he might be a bit legit dangerous, I'm sure I'm meant to think it's awful that he's not protecting the other wrestler, but I'm finding that for me it's given him a bit of hard an credibility that he's always lacked.

My current favourites:

Ricochet/Prince Puma:
Probably the most talented wrestler in the world today, the fact that he hasn't been picked up by a bigger roster is so confusing as he really has everything that he needs to take the world by storm. He'd be perfect for NXT right now but I heard in an interview with Teddy Hart that WWE are scared of hiring too many talented young guys incase they leave before debuting and go to TNA etc.

Trevor Lee:
Hard hitting, innovative and weird as hell. Lee is 23/24 and has a brilliant future in indie wrestling...he's had some great matches with Steen (Owens), Adam Cole and Chris Hero. He might not make it to WWE due to his size but he's awesome.

Candice LeRae:
Look up her match with Joey Ryan against the Young Bucks at PWG 11 and see that women can take on the men without a doubt! Her and Ryan have been great as the World's Greatest Tag Team and she's had some brilliant matches against guys like Johnny Gargano

Kevin Owens:
I don't really need to go on, everyone here and see just how good he is...a load of people played off that he would never make it due to his style but he's shown that he can make it due to the fact that he's awesome...he's honestly someone who could fill that Austin role that I think they've never really been able to fill.

Shinsuke Nakamura:
Nakamura is brilliant, he's got swag and a great move set. it says something that he's taken a "minor" belt and turned it in to one of the biggest belts in the company.

Kenny Omega:
I like Omega for the same reason as I like Nakamura...he's got charisma and a brilliant move set, his Croyt's Wrath might be my favourite move ever.

Enzo and Big Cass - these two (especially Enzo) are great fun

Kevin Owens - everyone knows how good he is

Dolph Ziggler - he'll always be a favourite of mine

The Miz - he's absolutely nailing this hollywood gimmick

Bray Wyatt - the way he carried the feud with Undertaker on his own was terrific, probably one of the best on the mic at the moment

Bram - Love his agressive style, his feud with Magnus has been one of the best in TNA in a while

James Storm - his transition into this evil cult leader is a breath of fresh air and really needed to keep storm relevant. Ever since he started the revolution, his work has been brilliant

Bray Wyatt. Absolutely love this guy. One of the best on the mic of ALL TIME. I could genuinely listen to a 3 hour Wyatt promo and not get bored once.

If he has a long career in the WWE I can honestly see him becoming my favourite wrestler of all time...

I can barely listen to a 20 minute Wyatt promo without getting bored. I don't think he's delivered a great promo in months, his aura has totally gone for me, his promos have become very repetitive and even more meaningless. I think he's poor at delivering live promos as well, he often stumbles and seems to struggle with the live crowd reacting to what he says. I also hate the fact that he always says 'man', it makes him come across as a stoner instead of a mystical cult leader.

I think the gimmick is already losing momentum, I don't think losing to the Undertaker harmed him, but I do think the gimmick has very limited longevity.

Adam D wrote:Great article and agree about son of havoc. But would it have killed you to put a Tna guy on there

Would AJ Styles count. Just watched his headline performance at New Japan Invasion Attack. MotY candidate.

Adam D wrote:Great article and agree about son of havoc.

If you get chance to watch the 8 April episode of LU, just how over has this guy got now? And it is completely organic based on his talent in the ring, look and strong story he's been in.

Crimey wrote:I can barely listen to a 20 minute Wyatt promo without getting bored. I don't think he's delivered a great promo in months, his aura has totally gone for me, his promos have become very repetitive and even more meaningless. I think he's poor at delivering live promos as well, he often stumbles and seems to struggle with the live crowd reacting to what he says. I also hate the fact that he always says 'man', it makes him come across as a stoner instead of a mystical cult leader.

I think the gimmick is already losing momentum, I don't think losing to the Undertaker harmed him, but I do think the gimmick has very limited longevity.

Lies and slander, Bray is awesome on the mic and by far the best Wrestler on the roster mic wise

Wrestlers I enjoy at the moment?

Paige - Go Norfolk!

The world loves Paige

Gregers wrote:

Crimey wrote:I can barely listen to a 20 minute Wyatt promo without getting bored. I don't think he's delivered a great promo in months, his aura has totally gone for me, his promos have become very repetitive and even more meaningless. I think he's poor at delivering live promos as well, he often stumbles and seems to struggle with the live crowd reacting to what he says. I also hate the fact that he always says 'man', it makes him come across as a stoner instead of a mystical cult leader.

I think the gimmick is already losing momentum, I don't think losing to the Undertaker harmed him, but I do think the gimmick has very limited longevity.

Lies and slander, Bray is awesome on the mic and by far the best Wrestler on the roster mic wise

I agree with Crimey on this one. His promo style is what sells his gimmick but his promo style is very limited, that’s not Bray Wyatt’s fault though it’s purely because his character limits the dynamics of his promos. I just feel we go round in circles with him and it’s all very predictable, not that predictable is a bad thing but he needs to bring something different to the party. If he struggles to hold the attention of adult viewers with his ramblings then the younger demographic have no chance. Have you noticed the lack of heat he receives too? He barely gets a reaction, I don’t think he connects to the live crowd well enough. I just think he needs to be more straight talking and get to the point as appose to the riddles and holier than thou ramblings.

I don’t dislike him though, I just think he’s not quite where some people think he is, and ultimately I think he could be a huge babyface, but in terms of top heels in the company I’d put Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens and maybe even Rusev ahead of him. Rusev gets far more of a heel reaction and connects with the live crowd, I also think Rusev is better in ring.

Wyatt is far from the finished article for me, I just worry that after a strong Rumble, strong road to Mania push and the match with The Undertaker, it hasn’t pushed him any closer to the glass ceiling.

I agree with those who have talked about Bray's limitations, but he's really not been helped by WWE in the last year.

The Wyatt Family was broken up. I think this was done because WWE felt the roster was looking a bit thin and wanted extra options, rather than to allow focus on Bray. A cult leader with no followers is a good way to kill his gimmick. And not one of the Wyatt family right now is stronger for that break up.

Cena feud totally derailed all his momentum. It wasn't even a win or loss thing, it was just really bad chemistry between the two. I'd stopped caring about Bray before their series had ended.

Jericho is not relevant. You can put him in a program and he'll come to the ring and wrestle, but he's not a star and a win against Jericho isn't going to rehabilitate anyone.

Wyatt and Ambrose had no heat behind it. If WWE had used that they were Shield vs Wyatt, or anything. But this was a feud that was produced from nowhere, had no heat and I think their fights were okay, but with no real prominence.

Wyatt had to carry months of a single-sided feud. Something, anything from Taker to put him over would have been nice.

I don't think Bray is the best wrestler every, or even best character. But I really think that in the last year almost every turn WWE has taken him down has been a bland, indecisive one that has gradually whittled away a cool over character to just another roster member.

Wyatt desperately needs a career defining feud. Undertaker had his Foley, Austin had his Bret Hart, Hogan had his Andre, etc. He was never going to get that from the part-time Undertaker, although a response of some sort would have been nice from the deadman - as has been said already.

There was the opportunity with Cena, but it was oddly booked and Cena prevailed as he always does. That left Wyatt with no heat for the rest of the year and going into mania this. And now he's stuck in no mans land.

Put the Wyatts back together. They are all worse off for their split.

Wyatt has to take some of the responsibility for me. He's been handed fueds with Cena, Bryan, Jericho and Taker, so not exactly a bunch of duds, yet he's still not as over as he should be. He's been put over without going over, he's been given a lot of promo time, but I still don't buy into him as much as I should.

Wyatt v Orton at Summerslam could be great. That could make or break him for me.

I'm not saying that Wyatt isn't blameless, but look at those feuds.

Bryan became part of the Wyatt family, for what, a week? That wasn't surprising because the WWE fans were giving him such momentum he wasn't going to be one of Bray's followers. But, having Bryan in and out of the Wyatt cult in the blink of an eye was the first nail in the coffin of that gimmick.

Undertaker, as we've said, did one match. That was it. No mic work, no promos, nothing.

Jericho I don't believe at this stage in his career with his part-time work isn't going to put anyone over at any level on the card. Before he fought Wyatt he'd been beaten in a couple of minutes at WM by Fandango.

I think Wyatt has done enough on his own regarding the crap he's been given to work with. It doesnt matter who you're in a feud with if theres no reason for the feud to happen.

I cant actually remember why he an Ambrose beat the Poopie out of each other for 2 and a half months. Because Wyatt saw himself in Ambrose and Ambrose's Dad was in jail? All I remember from the Jericho feud was Jericho attacked the Miz then Wyatt attacked Jericho.

I got the story with Cena about trying to get Cena to unleash the monster, its a shame that the biggest dud match of the three was the one Wyatt won, so he got nothing from that feud.

They could have started the program with Bryan a month earlier so it wasnt over so quick. Victim of poor booking again.

He carried the program with Undertaker himself, and actually made me interesting in seeing another Undertaker match - and I think he deserves a lot more credit for that.

Are his promo's kind of samey? Yes. Was breaking up the family the right thing? Arguably not. But all of those could be forgiven if he wasnt dealt a bum hand time and time again.

He's been given a lot to keep him relevant. He's been given big matches and big opponents. They give him mic time.

If we're talking grabbing the brass ring then I'm not sure he's done much close to it. His ring psychology was very good with Taker though.

I'd agree that Orton would be a good opponent for him. And he's one I would give a chance with Lesnar.

So, since I first made this list some things have changed for me.

Out
1) Rusev (WWE).  Don't like the direction this character has gone in or the matches he's been involved in.  I've not given up on him, but I'm not anywhere near as excited about him as I was going into Mania.

2) Rollins (WWE).  I'm not enjoying this weak champion run.  

3) Lesnar (WWE).  Just cos he's not around right now, he'll be back.

4) Ibushi (NJPW). Just not watched a lot of him recently.

In
1) AJ Styles (NJPW).  Because I've been catching up on some of his recent work in NJPW and the spot with Ibushi lauching himself from the top rope and it reversed into the Styles Clash at Invasion Attack is my favourite spot of the year.

2) Ivelisse (Lucha Underground).  She worked a match with a broken leg and she's got her character of baddest b1tch in the house totally down.

3) Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW).  Again because I've been watching a lot of his work and he's probably the finest conductor of a match I've ever seen.  He's an artist as much as a wrestler.

4) Cesaro (WWE). Just rocking it and making himself and everyone around him look a star in every match he works.

While I'm here...

New, Day Rocks!

My current fave five are:

Sasha Banks
Xavier Woods
Kevin Owens
Seth Rollins
Roman Reigns

New Day
Owens
Reigns
Ziggler
Cesaro n Kidd

Shoutouts to Lucha Dragons, Ryback and the realest guys in the room

Mine...

Dean Ambrose
Enzo Amore
Kevin Owens
New Day
Bayley

My five would be:

Kevin Owens
Cesaro and Kidd
Sasha Banks
Ryback(Thought he was great in the opening segment on Raw)
Dean Ambrose

New Day, Neville and Lana just miss out

Hero wrote:Enzo Amore

I hope you're not going Sawft on us.

He works the crowd better with his entrance more than anyone I've seen in 15 years.

I've got to say even though I've never been a fan of the guy up until this point, between his work in ROH, Evolve and as PWG champ Roddy Strong has been on fire this past 6 months, really put into focus by his great work on the night 1's of the 2 ROH vs New Japan shows, and I've heard that his work on the night 2's is even better

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:I've got to say even though I've never been a fan of the guy up until this point, between his work in ROH, Evolve and as PWG champ Roddy Strong has been on fire this past 6 months, really put into focus by his great work on the night 1's of the 2 ROH vs New Japan shows, and I've heard that his work on the night 2's is even better

I'm still tossing up whether I can afford the money to watch those. Maybe when I'm on vacation....

I'll go with: (not including Lesnar because he's not on TV, but he would be miles ahead of anybody else.)

Cesaro
Big E
Roman Reigns
Luke Harper
Xavier Woods