What would It Take for me to re-subscribe to the WWE Network?
Vince McMahon has retired as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. He is a sexual abuser and when that was made known to the public he stepped down in disgrace. Hoping to sweep that under the rug. Sadly, many are sending him thanks and praise for his retirement and ignoring the reasons for it. Vince McMahon is one of the main reasons why I unsubscribed to the WWE Network.
With Vince retired, am I going to re-subscribe to the WWE Network?
No.
Corporations do not just change their core attitudes when a CEO changes. If they want to change as a corporation there is many steps they have to take, otherwise they just continue on as is.
So…
What would It Take for me to re-subscribe to the WWE Network?
I think this is a fascinating question. It also comes in many layers. For example, they could do something that would make me try for a month, but it would not be enough to keep me on full-time. Therefore, I have broken this question up into sections.
What would It Take for me to re-subscribe to the WWE Network for one month?
Before I will agree to give the WWE any money, they need to fix two things.
- End the agreement with the Saudi Arabian Government
- Initiate and lay out a good plan to deal with sexual assaults
1. Taking money from a country like Saudi Arabia, to be their propaganda machine, is some vile business. I don’t need to go into how awful Saudi Arabia is and all they horrendous stuff they have done here, so if you are curious look it up. Taking money from them to promote and normalize them to North America is fucking disgusting. End the deal now.
2. There is clearly an issue with sexual assaults and abuse within the WWE. Stories get passed around and Vince even gave away millions of dollars to quiet things up. You can’t be a legitimate safe place to be if you have no plan or policy in place for victims to come forward. Therefore they need to initiate and policy for victims to come forward and get justice.
If the WWE was able to accomplish those two things then I will give them a month long subscription. It would be a very clear sign that they are trying to improve their practices.
What would It Take for me to re-subscribe to the WWE Network for a few months?
If the WWE can pass the first small hurdle there are some small things that will help to cement they have turned a new leaf. That includes some firings.
Kevin Dunn
This person has been Vince’s right hand man for decades. He’s a sexist and has to have known about Vince’s abuses. His attitude towards women and minorities is pretty awful. Vince’s “yes men” need to go and he’d be the top of the list.
Firing Dunn has the added affect of removing him as “Director.” WWE over time has almost become unwatchable with it’s camera cuts. It’s almost as if the director is too embarrassed by the product they are producing and trying to hide it. Sometimes the cuts come so quickly it makes you queasy.
Bruce Prichard and co.
Another huge “yes man” for Vince. You can listen to his podcast and hear his views. Bruce is a well known one, but I am sure there are many more men surrounding Vince that fit this bill. They all got to go.
Clearing house of these folks who enabled Vince and went along with whatever he said would help the company in ways we can’t even imagine. Do that and I’ll sign up for the WWE Network for a few months.
What would It Take for me to re-subscribe to the WWE Network?
Back to our original question. What will get me to not only dip my toes back into the WWE Network, but be a full-time subscriber again? That’s a more complicated situation and comes down to a lot of personal taste. This isn’t a checklist, more of a general idea area. It comes down to if the WWE is good again or not. Here are a few things I’d like to see.
- Women – WWE has not treated women as equals to men. They are a novelty used to spice up the show. Really not acceptable. It’s lead to one of the greatest wrestlers of this generation, Sasha Banks, just walking away.
- Anticipation – There used to be a time where you were excited for an upcoming show or angle development. Those days need to return.
- Stakes – Things ceased being meaningful in the WWE a long time ago. You are not excepted and are discouraged from caring about something that happened more than a few weeks ago. If something happens you should care about that months and maybe even years into the future. Titles changing hands mean 0 and they need to mean 100.
- Stale – Everything about the WWE is stale. From the format, to the stories, to the matches, to the production, to the everything. You can turn off the company for a year and come back and feel like you haven’t missed a single thing. Heck, the WWE has used evil “Authority Figures” for 24 years now. That’s ridiculous.
Any wrestling fan could probably rattle off things for days that they would want to see, but these few things would restore my faith in the company.
Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, it is your move now.
The Greatest Wrestlers of 2010
In order to put together my top 100 list of the Greatest Wrestlers Ever, my goal is to put together a top 25 list for each year. Previously, on the “Maybe Not Taue” podcast, I have put together a list for 1985, 1990, 1997, and 2010. You can listen to those here.
Process
Step One is to go to my match ratings spreadsheet and enter in all the ratings each candidate had for that year and get an average.
Step two is to start watching matches. I make sure I watch at least 3 matches per person and if I feel I haven’t watched enough to judge the wrestler in that year, I watch more.
Finally, I order them by who I think was the greatest. This is based on the matches they had, how they worked, the versatile, how active they were, etc…
The following is the results of that process.
Honourable Mentions
- Christian
- Jushin Liger
- Kevin Steen
- Mascarita Dorada
- Mickie James
Onto The List
All of the below stats are from cagematch.
They are some wrestlers with less recommended matches, but are higher than others on the list. That is because I know them well enough, so I didn’t need to watch more. The recommended matches is not a definitive list, it’s a list of matches I have watched for this process, plus matches on my spreadsheet.
Matches lists are all 7/10 or higher and if they are bolded they are 8/10 or higher.
#25
Syuri
Matches: 16
Places Worked: SMASH, NEO, & Kaientai Dojo
I know 16 isn’t very many matches, but I did end up watching a lot of these and you can see glimpses of her greatness to come already. In context she was a professional kick boxer during this year, including taking on one fight. She translated that well to the ring, and was a great underneath fighter versus veterans all year. There may be a big bias showing in this pick, but it’s pick #25 so give me a break.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kana (SMASH 4, June 25)
- with Kana vs Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH.10, November 22)
- vs Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH Happening Eve, December 24)
#24
Ayako Hamada
Matches: 37
Places Worked: TNA, SHIMMER, WAVE, & JAPW
Titles Held: TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles with Awesome Kong & TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles with Taylor Wilde
Hamada is an interesting worker to me, as she is clearly very technically great in the ring, but never a truly elite wrestler. That said, she keeps being impressive in every situation so she makes it onto the list.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Daizee Haze (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
- vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
- with Ayumi Kurihara, Chreerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
- with AKINO vs Ayumi Kurihara & Tomoka Nakagawa (Ayumi’s Style 5th Anniversary, December 12)
#23
Yoshiko Tamura
Matches: 96
Places Worked: NEO, Ice Ribbon, JWP, BJW, Sendai Girls, & Oz Academy
Titles Held: NEO Tag Team Titles with Ayumi Kurihara & NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Title
This is the last year Tamura was active in pro-wrestling, but what a year to go out on. From her vicious strikes to he reckless abandon on dives, she is always someone who will produce an exciting match.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Meiko Satomura (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
- with Ayumi Kurihara vs Io Shirai & Kane (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
- vs Ayumi Kurihara (NEO Stage Door, December 31)
#22
Daizee Haze
Matches: 52
Places Worked: Chikara, ROH, SHIMMER, PWR, RCW, WWC, ACW, WSU, APW, NWA, 2CW, & F1RST
Tournament: ACW Queen of Queens
After years of seeing Haze as one of the best babyface workers around, she turned heel in 2010 to great success. Turning her small size and sympathy into aggression and meanness, it was quite the awesome transition.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Misaki Ohata (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
- vs Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
- vs Ayumi Kuraihara (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
- vs Ayumi Kurihara (“No Count Out”, SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
- with Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Chreerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs (“Elimination” SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
- with Amazing Kong vs Sara Del Rey & Serena Deeb (ROH Final Battle, December 18)
#21
Portia Perez
Matches: 43
Places Worked: ACW, 2CW, SHIMMER, Femme Fatales, WSU, ROH, F1RST, AIW, PWO, C4, PWS, AWF, & JAPW
Title Helds: ACW American Joshi Title (twice) & SHIMMER Tag Team Titles with Nicole Matthews
Tournaments: NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament (Finals) & ACW Queen of Queens (Winner)
If you miss real old school cheating Memphis style heels, you need to watch Portia Perez. She fakes injuries, hides weapons, runs away, and beats folks down. She is a legit heat monster, plus one of the best tag team workers of the modern era.
Recommended Matches:
- with Nicole Matthews vs Cheerleader Melissa & MsChif (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
- vs Alisson Danger (“Last Woman Standing”, SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
- with Nicole Matthews vs Jessy McKay & Tenille (SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
#20
Nanae Takahashi
Matches: 115
Places Worked: Ice Ribbon, NEO, JWP, Sendai Girls, ZERO1, & Oz Academy
Titles Held: International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Kazumi Shimouma, JWP Openweight Title, Triangle Ribbon Title, & International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Emi Sakura
Tournament: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Winner)
At her best she is one of the best in the world, but she can be very inconsistent. When she’s on and laying bombs she is someone you want to watch!
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kayoko Haruyama (JWP Mania-X, April 18)
- vs Command Bolshoi (JWP Never Give Up!, June 13)
#19
Mercedes Martinez
Previous Rankings: 2021 (#17)
Matches: 40
Places Worked: WSU, SHIMMER, EVOLVE, NYWC, ACE, IndyGurlz, ICW, NHPW, Femme Fatales, NWA, NWS, WXW C4, MXW, & 2CW
Title Helds: WSU Tag Team Titles with Angel Orsini, WXW C4 Women’s Title, & WSU World Title
Tournaments: NWA Iron Girls 2 (Semi-Finals) & IndyGurlz Title Tournament (Winner)
Mercedes Martinez is one of my favourite wrestlers ever and as great as she is, 2010 was a bit of an off year. She worked less, had lesser opponents, which hurt her standing on these rankings.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Rain (WSU 3rd Anniversary, March 6)
- vs Hiroyo Matsumoto (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
#18
Madison Eagles
Matches: 21
Places Worked: PWA, SHIMMER, NEO, & MCW
Titles Held: SHIMMER Title & PWWA Title
I was disappointed with her earlier work in SHIMMER, but once she got the title and was the focus of the company she really won me over. Heck she had a great title defense against Jessy McKay in 2010! She is a natural heel with a wide array of brutal looking offense and I look forward to seeing more of her reign in 2011.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
- vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
- vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
- vs Jessy McKay (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
- with Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
#17
Jun Akiyama
Matches: 73
Places Worked: NOAH & Kensuke Office
Tournament: NOAH Global League (Finals)
A lot of people I trust put Jun Akiyama as a greatest wrestler ever #1 candidate, so I made sure to put them on the watch pile. I do think he’s the best of that AJPW/NOAH main event style, even if that style isn’t my favourite.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH Spring Navigation, April 10)
- vs Takahashi Sugiura (NOAH Spring Navigation, May 2)
- with KENTA vs Ryusuke Taguchi & Yuji Nagata (NOAH 10th Anniversary, July 24)
#16
Claudio Castagnoli
Matches: 104
Places Worked: ROH, NOAH, Chikara, wXw, PWG, LWA, NWA, 2CW, EVOLVE, GSW, JCW, WrestleJam, LWA, & GSPW
Titles Helds: Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas Titles with Ares as Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes, JCW Tag Team Titles with Chris Hero, ROH Tag Team Titles with Chris Hero, & PWG Title
Tournaments: NOAH Global Tag League with Chris Hero (Semi-Finals), wXw 16 Carat Gold Touranment (Quarter-Finals), Chikara King of Trios with Ares & Tarsas (Winner), ROH Tag Wars with Chris Hero (Winner), PWG The Battle of Los Angeles (Semi-Finals), LWA Tag Team Title Tournament with Chris Hero (Finals), & ROH Survival of The Fittest (Finals)
Claudio is the type of wrestler that will be around this range every year they are active enough, due to his immense talent. Although he spent most of his year in a great team with Chris Hero, he did have some solo work to round out the versatility.
Recommended Matches:
- with Chris Hero vs Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH on HDNet, August 21)
- vs Roderick Strong (PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, September 5)
- with Sara Del Rey vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush (Chikara Through Savage Progress Cuts The Jungle Line, September 19)
#15
Rey Mysterio
Previous Rankings: 1997 (#6)
Matches: 142
Place Worked: WWE
Title Held: WWE World Heavyweight Title
Rey’s year was off to such a great start with the awesome Undertaker match at the Rumble, followed by the tremendous CM Punk feud. However, after wining the WWE World Title he moved into a feud with Kane and then didn’t do much of note the rest of the year.
Recommended Matches:
- vs The Undertaker (WWE Royal Rumble, January 31)
- vs CM Punk (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
- vs CM Punk (WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
- vs CM Punk (“Society Pledge vs Hair”, WWE Over The Limit, May 23)
#14
Command Bolshoi
Matches: 72
Places Worked: JWP, Ice Ribbon, New AJW, WAVE, Oz Academy, IWA Japan, SMASH, WWS, Sendai Girls, & OSAKA Joshi-Pro
Title Held: Ice Ribbon ICEx60 Title
Tournament: JWP Summer Tag Team Tournament with Kaori Yoneyama (Winner)
My love for Bolshoi has been quite documented in other places, but let’s just say she is one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all-time, not to mention her strikes, flying, and comedy as well. She had plenty of chances to show that this year, and that will put her high on any list.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Nanae Takahashi (JWP Never Give Up!, June 13)
- vs Emi Sakurai (JWP Pure Slam, July 18)
#13
Cheerleader Melissa
Matches: 22
Places Worked: SHIMMER, Femme Fatales, RCW, AAA, PWR, NWA, JAPW, GSW, & Chikara
Title Held: RCW Title
Tournaments: NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)
Melissa starts the trend of 3 wrestlers who could had made the top 10 if circumstances were different. Her real issue was the lack of matches. Although she was tremendous in SHIMMER as a battling babyface trying to get to the top, she was very limited in her work elsewhere.
Recommended Matches:
- with MsChif vs Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
- vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 30, April 10)
- vs Ayako Hamada (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
- vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
- vs Tomoka Nakagawa (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
- vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
- with Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
#12
Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson
Previous Rankings: 2021 (#18)
Matches: 111
Places Worked: WWE, FCW, wXw, IWA Puerto Rico, DGUSA, NWA, Chikara, EVOLVE, HWA, IPW, CSW, RPW, PWG, ACE, 2CW, AIW, NYWC, & NEW
Titles Held: IWA Puerto Rico Title & WWE United States Title
Tournaments: wXw AMBITION 1 (Winner) & WWE King of the Ring
Bryan had a unique year, to say the least. He started out in FCW, WWE’s development territory, before joining the first version of NXT. Then there was a super hot angle where they debuted on Raw, which got him fired. This lead to a good run on the indies, not ROH, before rejoining the WWE in the fall. Although he was good with good performances, he never really got the opportunities to really push him up the list.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Jon Moxley (DGUSA Way of the Ronin, September 26)
- vs The Miz (WWE Bragging Rights, October 24)
#11
John Cena
Matches: 178
Place Worked: WWE
Titles Held: WWE Title (twice) & WWE Tag Team Titles with David Otunga
John Cena had an odd year. It started off real strong with the amazing feud with Batista, but it fell apart into a weird angle with the Nexus. Teaming with Otunga and feuding with Wade Barrett will drag you of the top 10.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Batista (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
- vs Batista (“Last Man Standing”, WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
- vs Sheamus (“Cage”, WWE Money in the Bank, July 18)
#10
Sara Del Rey
Matches: 72
Places Worked: ROH, Chikara, SHIMMER, JAPW, MLW, NCW, 2CW, NWA, IndyGurlz, ACW, RCW, TNA, IWL, Remix Pro, NCW, Femme Fatales, AWS, CWF Mid-Atl
Title Held: CWR Women’s Title
Tournaments: Chikara King of Trios with Amasis & Ophidian, NCW Femme Fatales Title Tournament, Iron Girls 2 (Winner), ACW Queen of Queens, & IndyGurlz Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)
The stalwart of American women indies, Sara Del Rey had another awesome year in 2010. Working as a tough and rumble heel in ROH, Chikara, and SHIMMER she got plenty of opportunities to showcase, including seeing her match up with Manami Toyota!
Recommended Matches:
- vs Ayumi Kurihara (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
- with Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs Ayako Hamada, Ayumi Kurihara, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
- with Claudio Castagnoli vs Manami Toyota & Mike Quackenbush (Chikara Through Savage Progress Cuts the Jungle Line, September 19)
- with Serena Deeb vs Amazing Kong & Daizee Haze (ROH Final Battle, December 18)
#9
El Generico
Matches: 71
Places Worked: ROH, PWG, C4, wXw, LWA, AWF, IPW: UK, JAWP, 2CW, APW, NWA, PWS, IWL, ABC, GBG, BCC, ACW, NSPW, DTU, AAA, & CWF Mid-Atl
Title Held: PWG World Tag Team Titles with Paul London
Tournaments: ROH World Television Title Tournament, PWG DDT4 with Paul London (Winner), BCC Title Tournament (Semi-Finals), ROH Tag Wars with Colt Cabana (Semi-Finals), PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, ROH Survival of The Fittest
El Generic was one of the best babyface wrestlers of the modern era, even if he’s a heel nowadays as Sami Zayn. The ability to sell with your whole body, because you are wearing a mask is a lost art. What is so impressive about Generico in 2010 is the amount of insane brawls he had, mostly centered around his feud with Kevin Steen (Owens).
Recommended Matches:
- vs Big Van Walter (wXw Back to The Roots IX, January 16)
- with Colt Cabana vs Kevin Steen & Steve Corino (ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2, April 24)
- vs Kevin Steen (“Unsanctioned Mask vs ROH Career Fight Without Honor”, ROH Final Battle, December 18)
#8
Ayumi Kurihara
Matches: 79
Places Worked: WAVE, NEO, Oz Academy, SHIMMER, CMLL, BJW, JWP, JAPW, M-Pro, Osaka Pro, IBUKI, IWRG, Toryumon Mexico, & AULL
Titles Held: NEO Tag Team Titles with Yoshiko Tamura, X-LAW Women’s Title, & NWA Women’s Pacific & NEO Title
Tournament: Catch the Wave (Finals)
That’s a lot of recommended matches, but that is because I had not even heard bout Kurihara until I started watching for 2010. She is an amazing babyface. Working great at getting sympathy and using exciting speed and moves. Big props for working all over the world too! The biggest shock of 2010 for me.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Tomoka Nakagawa (SHIMMER Volume 29, April 10)
- vs Sara Del Rey (SHIMMER Volume 31, April 11)
- vs Daizee Haze (SHIMMER Volume 32, April 11)
- with Yoshiko Tamura vs Io Shirai & Kana (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
- vs Daizee Haze (“No Countout”, SHIMMER Volume 33, September 11)
- vs Madison Eagles (SHIMMER Volume 34, September 11)
- vs Cheerleader Melissa (SHIMMER Volume 35, September 12)
- with Ayako Hamada, Cheerleader Melissa, & Serena Deeb vs Daizee Haze, Madison Eagles, Sara Del Rey, & Tomoka Nakagawa (“Elimination”, SHIMMER Volume 36, September 12)
- with Tomoka Nakagawa vs AKINO & Ayako Hamada (Ayumi’s Style 5th Anniversary, December 12)
- vs Yoshiko Tamura (NEO Stage Door, December 31)
#7
CM Punk
Previous Rankings: 2021 (#25)
Matches: 114
Place Worked: WWE
This was all out heel Straight Edge Society Punk for the first half of the year and that will jump him into the top 10. The Rey feud is great, but he did spend a huge chunk of the year feuding with Big Show in a nothing feud which lowered him. Still he put on a master class of getting heat in the modern era.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Rey Mysterio (WWE WrestleMania XXVI, March 28)
- vs Rey Mysterio (WWE Extreme Rules, April 25)
- vs Rey Mysterio (“Society Pledge vs Hair”, WWE Over The Limit, May 23)
#6
Meiko Satomura
Matches: 23
Places Worked: Sendai Girls, NEO, WAVE, Ice Ribbon, AAA, Oz Academy, SMASH, & IBUKI
If Meiko worked more matches in 2010, she probably would had been #1. She was unbelievable in everything she did. I guess training future stars and running Sendai Girls (maybe the farm too?) really took up her time.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Yoshiko Tamura (NEO 10th Anniversary)
- vs Kana (Kana Produce, April 29)
- vs Emi Sakura (Knights of Ice Ribbon, September 23)
#5
L.A. Park
Matches: 56
Places Worked: AAA, PDM, Promociones Gutierrez, Lucha Libre VIP, AULL, X-LAW, EAW, FULL, IWRG, IWL, & DGUSA
Title Held: X-LAW Heavyweight Title
Tournament: AAA Campeonato Premier with Psycho Clown
Maybe the greatest brawler ever? L.A. Park was as wild and out of control as ever in 2010, but the only real issue is he mostly worked pointless trios matches. When given a chance though, he really delivered. I just wish he had more of those chances.
Recommended Matches:
- with El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs El Hijo del Santo & Super Parka (PDM, May 31)
- vs La Parka (“Naming Rights Match”, AAA TripleMania XVIII, June 6)
- vs El Mesias (AAA Guerra de Titanes, December 5)
#4
Kaori Yoneyama
Matches: 89
Places Worked: JWP, Ice Ribbon, NEO, SMASH, Sendai Girls, WAVE, DDT, & BJW
Titles Held: NEO High Speed Title, JWP Openweight Title, & TLW World Women’s Tag Team Titles with Hailey Hatred
Tournaments: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Semi-Finals) JWP Summer Tag Team Tournament with Command Bolshoi (Winner)
For a good long while, Yoneyama was sitting on top of my list. I could only find a few matches and they all ruled! By the end I was able to find a greater variety that knocked her down a few slots, but truly high end Yoneyama is great. She works with such speed and high end offense, but not in a pointless spectacle way.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Tanny Mouse (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
- vs Emi Sakura (“Hair vs Hair”, JWP Revolution, September 19)
- with Emi Sakura vs Kana & Syuri (SMASH.10, November 22)
- vs Syuri (SMASH Happening Eve, December 24)
#3
Kana
Matches: 77
Places Worked: WAVE, NEO, Osaka Pro, SMASH, Osaka Joshi-Pro, FTO, Sendai Girls, Dradition, Fukumen, VKF, Kaientai Dojo, & Mobius
Tournament: Catch The Wave
The current Asuka of WWE was the freelance star of joshi during this dead period. Not being tied to a single promotion helps and hinders, but she made the most of it. Kana was at the top of her game this year, with her amazing kicks, submissions, and charisma. I LOVED her feud and team with Syuri, to really help put her on the map.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Emi Sakura (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
- vs Meiko Satomura (Kana Produce, April 29)
- vs Syuri (SMASH 4, June 25)
- with Io Shirai vs Ayumi Kurihara & Yoshiko Tamura (NEO Summer Stampede, August 1)
- with Syuri vs Emi Sakura & Kaori Yoneyama (SMASH.10, November 22)
#2
Emi Sakura
Matches: 164
Places Worked: Ice Ribbon, NEO, JWP, ZERO1, SMASH, DDT, & IBUKI
Titles Held: ICEx60 Title (twice) & International Ribbon Tag Team Titles with Nanae Takahashi
Tournament: JWP Openweight Challenge League (Semi-Finals)
Around this time I knew Emi Sakura had her amazing team with Yoneyama and I knew she was in the match of the year, but I didn’t realize she’d end up this high on the list. Being the owner of Ice Ribbon gave her some advantages, as she was able to be very active with amazing opportunities. She wasn’t just active in Ice Ribbon though, she did most of the big joshi promotions’ big shows putting on awesome matches all over the place. She was an exceptional babyface, but not a sympathy selling babyface, she had an aggressive edge that really added to all of her matches. Also, her finishing runs are some of the greatest ever.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Kana (NEO 10th Anniversary, March 14)
- vs Command Bolshoi (JWP Pure Slam, July 18)
- vs Kaori Yoneyama (“Hair vs Hair”, JWP Revolution, September 19)
- vs Meiko Satomura (Knights of Ice Ribon, September 23)
- with Kaori Yoneyama vs Kana & Syuri (SMASH.10, November 22)
#1
Chris Hero
Matches: 95
Places Worked: ROH, NOAH, PWG, wXw, LWA, 2CW, EVOLVE, GSW, IWA East Coast, NWA, NWA NJ, F1, ACW, CZW, MECW, JCW, PWR, SCW, & GSPW
Titles Held: JCW Tag Team Titles with Claudio Castagnoli & ROH World Tag Team Titles with Claudio Castagnoli
Tournaments: NOAH Global Tag League with Claudio Castagnoli (Semi-Finals), wXw 16 Carat Gold (Finals), ROH Tag Wars with Claudio Castagnoli (Winner), PWG The Battles of Los Angeles (Finals), LWA Tag Team Title Tournament with Claudio Castagnoli (Finals), ROH Survival of the Fittest (Semi-Finals)
Going into the watching process I didn’t realize Chris Hero was a #1 candidate for any year, so what a nice surprise. The variety of Hero’s 2010 is what really makes him stand out. He has technical battles, hoss battles, heel shenanigans, tag classics, epics, and just straight up awesome work. He also worked all over the world, as a heel and as a face, and as a singles and as a tag team. A complete year if there ever was one! In 2010, he may have cemented himself as the greatest tournament worker too.
Recommended Matches:
- vs Big Van Walter (wXw 16 Carat Gold, March 7)
- vs Ikuto Hidaka (EVOLVE 2, March 13)
- vs Tyler Black (ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2, April 24)
- vs Bobby Fish (EVOLVE 3, May 1)
- with Claudio Castagnoli vs Jay & Mark Briscoe (ROH on HDNet, August 21)
- vs Akira Tozawa (PWG The Battle of Los Angeles, September 5)
What did you think of this list? Hit me up on twitter and let me know.
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