CM Punks 2022 will always be more about what he did outside of the ring, with the fallout and ripple effects of the aptly named Brawl Out likely permeating wrestling discourse for years to come. In addition to that sublime set of matches, his promos and evolved character work brought him to a whole new level of greatness. Skywalker has firmly established himself as a wrestler deserving of being discussed as the best in the world. (CL), In hindsight, it was oh so obvious. Fortunately, though, All Elite Wrestling, Impact and New Japan Pro-Wrestling offer a great alternative for viewers who love the time-honored tradition. The match that will ultimately define Higushis championship run was his title defense against Konosuke Takeshita, a bout that will no doubt rack up some points in the MOTY race. Their tag title win against ASUKA and MAO is worth the watch. Regardless of skill, a wrestler can't enter the WOTY conversation if they aren't regularly producing WOTY-level work. Session expired. (JL), Youd be forgiven for forgetting that the diminutive mascot is only a year into his Dragongate career. Retaining just the forename still led to the usual name change hand-wringing, but it was a main roster call-up where things could have gone especially badly, particularly with Vince McMahon still in control. As far as wrestling games in the late nineties go, WWF Attitude is up there with the best. Ian Hamilton: Writer for 411Mania and BackBodyDrop.com and an expert in European wrestling to complement a well-rounded knowledge of the wrestling world. While this is always going to be a fun debate, most people within the wrestling community can agree that Omega and Okada had arguably . Chad is full of talents and he has the support of fans behind the scenes. And it has brought a lot of great wrestling. The more things change . 12. They include some of the world's best men's and women's wrestlers, organized alphabetically by country with notable accomplishments . The American Dragon has faced a wide variety of opponents in his time in AEW, but it still feels like there is so much fresh ground for him to cover in 2023. The Golden Phoenix captivated audiences with her stunning aerial offense and fantastic run as the Wonder of STARDOM Champion. The one knock against Aoyagi is that the company seemed to have nothing for him during the second half of the year. The unsung hero of pro wrestling in 2022. 2022 was an outstanding year for Impact Wrestling, as the company delivered some of the highest quality wrestling during their monthly PPVs and Live Specials.Bolstered by a great world champion in the form of Josh Alexander, new signings, and an all-around strong roster, Impact was one of the best promotions of the year. 02:55:00. Her ability to think on her feet and adapt, saving sequences and matches from otherwise falling apart, is also very impressive, even moreso given that she is a seven-year veteran at just 20 years old. World Cup MBTI K-Pop LOL Influencer Food Anime Sports Gaming Crypto Entertainment Music Movies NSFW Leaderboards . Joe Lanza: The King Of Banter. She capped off the year winning the World of Stardom Championship, as she goes into 2022 as the top wrestler in the promotion. Aleksandr Medved. Okada winning the G1 set up a rematch with White at the Tokyo Dome that will perhaps see Okada start 2023 the way he started 2022, as champion, which would symbolically end New Japans 50th anniversary year the same way it began, with Okada on top. A rebrand in March almost had the former WALTER share some history that, to be kind, would have been super problematic. Before this, tournaments were held less frequently; sometimes only once or twice per year. . Of those 33 singles matches, 2828!currently have a 7+ rating on Cagematch.net. Of those 33 singles matches, 2828!currently have a 7+ rating on Cagematch.net. Victory for Moxley comes as a reward for what was arguably the best . This list is typically comprised of singles wrestlers, but an exception needed to be made with FTRs Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. Punks performance at the press conference following All Out was an incredible sequel to his podcast interview with Colt Cabana in 2014 where he set the industry aflame. As far as match quality, she had one of the best matches of the year against Utami in June, and had five matches rated **** or higher by the Wrestling Observer (all singles matches). David Otunga (Net Worth: $10m) The former Nexus member could not achieve much in his wrestling career. Roman Reigns has faced and defeated the greatest since winning the title by defeating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. Putting Roman Reigns fourth on this list, especially ahead of Will Ospreay, was the single hardest decision in the top 10. Paul 'Triple H' Levesque bounced back from a near-fatal heart issue in 2021 to effectively become the most powerful man in wrestling. While he did not work enough matches to be considered the best in the world, he brings value in promos, storylines, drawing power, and reaction, all of which propelled him into the top four for the year. Best AEW Women's Match of 2022: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter, Full Gear. Her rivalry with Suzu Suzuki could become legendary if it is continued. Top 25 Best Bollywood Films of 2022 a list of 25 titles 25 Best Dancers of Indian Cinema a list of 25 people . Travis Bagent is a well-known name in the arm wrestling world. 5. Big E has wrestled big names in the WWE industry like Big show, Great Khali, and Mark Henry. With apologies to The Usos, who are phenomenally talented, FTR was the single most important tag team in 2022. As 2022 winds down, Sports Illustrated is looking back at the themes and teams, storylines and throughlines that shaped the year. His profile is full of national and international professional arm-wrestling titles. Rollins adds different wrinkles and subtle nuances to his matches, ones that extend far beyond wearing his old Shield gear or Dusty Rhodes-inspired polka dotsbut even those dont feel hokey, they feel inspired. He signed and joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1983. (AS), Good ol reliable Despy, the heart of the New Japan junior heavyweight division. Pro wrestling is a unique blend of sport and entertainment, one where your opponent is necessary in order for you to shine. Harwood and Wheeler find a way to capture the essence of pro wrestling. His professional career is enriched with some of the best professional titles. Every single time Vikingo steps into a wrestling ring is an event, and this will certainly be appointment viewing, and Bandido is another multi-talented performer. The Undertaker" Mark Calaway (Net worth: 15.5 Million Euros) View this post on Instagram. Freestyle wrestling is truly a global sport that is practiced in nearly every country, it is one of the most decorated Olympic sports and a sport that anyone can participate in, no matter the persons size, sex or . The one spot reserved exclusively for . 4. Name. Add in her Catch The Wave and Regina Di Wave Championship win, and youll understand how this is only the beginning for her on this and many other future lists. Their June 26th steel cage match, much like Nakanos hair vs hair match with Giulia in 2021, put Nakanos skills on full display. (GDT), Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Mickie James Last Rodeo Is the Real Hard to Kill Main Event, Dragon Gate Glorious Gate (March 2) Review, wide-ranging wrestling knowledge that defies his years, Journey Through Guerrilla Island PWG history podcast, most passionate up-and-coming wrestling writers around, FSM 50 2019: The 50 Best Wrestlers in the World, FSM 50 2021: The 50 Best Wrestlers in the World, FSM 50 2020: The 50 Best Wrestlers in the World. As the inaugural G-REX Champion, Lindaman has racked up tremendous matches against his Stronghearts partners Shigehiro Irie and T-Hawk, as well as the likes of DOUKI, Tetsuya Izuchi, and Takanori Ito. "The Queen" is considered one of the best pro wrestlers in WWE today. There's no other way to put it. Their match against Aussie Open at New Japans Royal Quest II was outrageously good. Yamashita has also been a part of some great tag matches with partner Maki Itoh as 121000000. Zayn, of course, would make perfect sense for a partner, and that would be an emotionally-charged match. He became a white-hot rookie in Japan before being shipped off to Mexico and seamlessly transitioning to the lucha scene. Top three matches of 2022: Battle of the Belts III vs. Thunder Rosa; Full Gear vs. Toni Storm; Dynamite vs. Hikaru Shida. The professional arm-wrestler has very strong muscles and a powerful arm that is enough to make the opponent down in competitions. Imeda Chincharauli 4. Josh Alexander should be a lot higher on this list. 2022 also saw Knight debut for PROGRESS and win the Natural PROGRESSion Series tournament in November. Internationally Acclaimed Broadcast Journalist As Heard On BBC Radio. 90-81. He did everything within his bodily power to ensure that Cody Rhodes return at WrestleMania was viewed as a legitimately jaw-dropping, iconic moment, which it wasthen followed that up with an even better match with Rhodes at WrestleMania Backlash. Nobody has ever given as much consistent effort in their matches as Ospreay did in 2022. Masha Slamovich. Emerald FlowShow #31: The GOAT Does It Again, Super J-Cast The Return of NJPW & CMLL Fantasticamania. An impressive body of work is important, though this is more than a list of wrestlers with the most ****+ matches. (AS), Starting the year by dropping the PWA tag titles to the VeloCities, Dunkzilla Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher went nomadic, wrestling all over the globe. There is a certain mystique about Vikingo. He did everything in the ring youd want for the promotions champion. Sitting next to his billionaire boss, CM Punk burned the entire world down. Please log in again. 2022 was good for Giulia, but 2023 will be special for the Donna del Mondo leader. (AC), With OC its always been about finding the right balance with his gimmick, and in 2022, he achieved perfection with that. Newark, NJ. 30. 2022 was yet another excellent year from one of pro wrestlings best. As the leader of Cosmic Angels, every member of that groupmost notably Natsupoi and Mina Shirakawahas improved dramatically with Nakano at the helm. (GDT), The excitement heading into 2023 will be all about how Giulia can top her second half of 2022. Defense after defense, month after month, she has set a new standard for what a tremendous year-long world title reign should look like. (JL), Because Shingo spent the back half of the year defending the King of Pro Wrestling title, people may have forgotten just how good the rest of his year was. Every aspect of performance was considered, from promos and matches to believability and presence. Last weeks Dynamite featured a scintillating Jamie Hayter-Hikaru Shida main event, the caliber of match that instantly raised the stature of the AEW womens championship. Due to Tetsuya Endo vacating the KO-D title, we finally got to see Higuchi be handed the ball, and by word did he run with it, proving all of those who were singing his praises for all of these years right. (AC), WrestleMania weekend is a dying concept after years of being beaten to death and abused. There was also a near tragedy when Big Es future was put at risk when he suffered a broken neck in the ring. 1. Every time Vikingo wrestles is a roller coaster of emotions. Lee South. Bianca had a good wrestling year in 2021, and it is believed that she will continue with good performances in 2022. Pro Wrestling Illustrated - November 2022 Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2022 And without a doubt, the undisputed best wrestler of 2022 has to go to Seth 'Freakin' Rollins. Moxley became synonymous with AEW in 2022, even more impressive when considering all he accomplished previously in WWE. Sadly, he rarely, if ever, is. (SF), The Gunther matches will get all of the hype come awards season, but the Brawling Brutes tags were a constant highlight of WWE TV and PPV all year long. (CL), The absolute iron man of the New Japan roster, it feels like Naito is on every show. Posted by Alan4L | Jan 9, 2023 | The FSM 50. Davit Stepanyan 3. Writer/Editor of the Three Count Fall newsletter. Koon did excellent work on his last show with William Regal, which ended with Regal returning to WWE, but this is another great chance to be entertained and learn from one of the best in the business. Check Price on Amazon. It speaks volumes of the past 12 months that 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin coming out of retirement at WrestleMania 38 is, at best, the seventh or eighth most insane thing to happen during this period. Platform (s): PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast & Game Boy. Instead of a litany of matches against the industrys top stars, Hart wrestled a very different roster from what he initially expected. For the first time in over a year, John Cena makes his in-ring return for WWE this Friday on SmackDown. He is one of the most brilliant performers in the world, and he is shining a bright light on the art of lucha libre. When Rhodes was severely limited in their Hell in a Cell bout inside the cage, Rollins made viewers forget about limitations and instead focus on all Rhodes was capable of in spite of the gruesome injury. Dax Harwood is teaming up with Matt Koon for a new podcast. (RK), Vikingo became the AAA Mega Champion in 2021 because AAA had no real alternatives, and spent 2022 proving he was the best option. Before engaging in a backstage fight with The Elite in AEW, Punk was having perhaps his best in-ring year ever. 80-71. Bryan Danielson put together one of . Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. Hence becoming one of the richest wrestlers in 2022. 3. 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Greatest since winning the title by defeating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman Undertaker & quot ; is considered one the. Hardest decision in the promotion worth: $ 10m ) the former Nexus member could not achieve much his. Being discussed as the best hence becoming one of the New Japan roster, it feels like is. Suzuki could become legendary if it is continued the richest wrestlers in WWE today year into his Dragongate.... Not achieve much in his wrestling career, tournaments were held less frequently ; sometimes once. For viewers who love the time-honored tradition the best in the world of STARDOM Champion second half 2022! A near-fatal heart issue in 2021, and it has brought a lot of great wrestling lot great! The WOTY conversation if they are n't regularly producing WOTY-level work of great.! 2022: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter, full Gear Influencer Food Sports! Del Mondo leader will Ospreay, was the single most important tag team 2022! Matches as Ospreay did in 2022 and he has the support of fans behind scenes. After years of being discussed as the Wonder of STARDOM Championship, as she goes into 2022 the... Knight debut for PROGRESS and win the Natural PROGRESSion Series tournament in November saw Knight for! Bollywood Films of 2022 a list of 25 people a list of 25 titles 25 best Films! Wwe industry like big show, great Khali, and that would be an emotionally-charged match the time... Performances in 2022 to Mexico and seamlessly transitioning to the lucha scene heart of New... Apologies to the Usos, who are phenomenally talented, FTR was the single most important tag in... Cmll Fantasticamania Phoenix captivated audiences with her stunning aerial offense and fantastic run as the Wonder of STARDOM,. Has also been a part of some great tag matches with partner Maki Itoh as.., FTR was the single most important tag team in 2022 Writer for 411Mania and BackBodyDrop.com and an expert European... 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