We are ready to kick off the A1W 100. Here are the first twenty entrants into the list with all the pertinent statistics as well as blurbs written by you (and me) for selected entrants. Let's get it started.
100. Mickie James
Points: 243
Votes Received: 6
Highest Vote: 37th Place (Always Heel)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
TH: Mickie James for me is about the midpoint of where a woman wrestler in America today is. She's obviously comfortable exploiting her own sexuality at the bereft of her wrestling craft, but at the same time, she still seems dedicated enough that she constantly is getting better in the ring. I shudder to think how she'd be used had she not have gotten fired from WWE, but in TNA, she seems to have found a home as an elder stateswoman. She had decent to good matches with Sarita, Winter and Angelina Love, and even though she's been deemphasized lately, she still is a solid standby for future matches with the likes of Gail Kim and Madison Rayne.
99. Athena
Points: 244
Votes Received: 3
Highest Vote: 8th Place (Barry Savant)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
98. Shiima Xion/Zema Ion
Points: 250
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 41st Place (Seth Zillmann)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
Alex Torres: Shiima Xion is a personality all itself; his swagger and narcissism half of what makes him so fun to hate. Don’t forget though that he’s an adept highflyer and one of the most fun wrestlers to watch in the ring. His antics all add to the story, making for a fun time. That fun has translated to Zema Ion completely, making him one of the highlights of Impact for me.
97. Kazarian
Points: 250
Votes Received: 6
Highest Vote: 29th Place (Niall Harkiss, higher vote tiebreaker puts him ahead of Xion)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: 59th in '09, 50th in '10
TH: Kazarian placed 66th on my ballot. Most people who find themselves situated in the middle third of my ballot either were spectacular in small doses or they were solid in larger ones. Kazarian falls in the latter. He wasn't blowaway spectacular in really any match I saw him in (which I can't blame him for for the first part of 2011 when Impact's in-ring was dreadful for the most part thanks to booking), but I never got the sense that it was bad because of the things he was doing.
96. "The Centerfold" Matthew Palmer
Points: 253
Votes Received: 3
Highest Vote: 11th Place (Barry Savant)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
95. Natalya Neidhart
Points: 259
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 32nd Place (Seth Zillmann)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in '09, 73rd in '10
94. Trent Barretta
Points: 260
Votes Received: 6
Highest Vote: 34th Place (Niall Harkiss)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in '09, 78th in '10
TH: Here's a guy I may have ranked higher if I had watched more NXT or didn't bail on Superstars midyear. The guy is crazy when it comes to the bumps he takes. Crazy. There is no one on the roster who will bump in a low card match to make a guy like Wade Barrett or even Heath Slater look like a world beater. I really hope WWE gets this cruiserweight show off the ground, because it's a place where Trentylocks can make a name for himself as a great all-around wrestler, since what I've seen from him on offense has been pretty good as well.
Dylan Hales: I am a fan of bump freaks, and Barretta is a bump freak. It does not take much to coax this guy into taking a superplex onto a pile of people who are barely paying attention or to leap over the top rope like he is topeing the invisible man. Unlike a lot of other guys, I don’t have a laundry list for Beretta, but he is a guy who works super hard every time out and never leaves you feeling like he didn’t give you 100 percent.
93. Shaun Tempers
Points: 261
Votes Received: 3
Highest Vote: 5th Place (Norko Kipte)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in both years
Dylan Hales: When I think quality indie wrestlers, Tempers is one of the first guys that comes to mind. He’s not a spot machine, but he’s got offensive spots that look impressive and nasty as well as a couple of standard bumps that are totally nutty. He’s the rare indie wrestler who makes a concentrated effort to work the crowd first and sees it as a key component of every match rather than an afterthought. He has nasty looking forearms, good ring movements, builds heat better than most heels in wrestling and can work to the strengths of his opponents. His match with Ace Rockwell was one of the best indie matches of the year and he had matches with guys like Kyle Matthews (another Southern indie wrestler well worth seeking out) and Steven Walters that are well worth seeking out. With the right opportunities Tempers could be capable of being a top ten type of guy.
Devon Hales: I have been watching Tempers wrestle live since he was a teenager wrestling in small Southern indie promotions in East Tennessee. His character is entertaining and he has very good heel shtick. Last year was possibly his best year. His offense is great including his devastating neckbreaker finisher. He can sell and bump well, and he connects with the crowd brilliantly. Check him out on YouTube, particularly his match with Ace Rockwell.
92. Finlay
Points: 262
Votes Received: 4
Highest Vote: 4th Place (Dave Musgrave)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: 32nd in '09, not ranked in '10
TH: Finlay made the biggest waves in 2011 by his release from WWE as an agent after an incident at a house show. That could have been the best thing to happen to him from the standpoint of a fan who likes watching him wrestle. He had some classic matches in his spot appearances for PWG and EVOLVE, including a really fun, old-school style brawl with Kevin Steen in the former's Battle of Los Angeles Tournament. With his rematch against Sami Callihan happening and a pending feud with Jon Davis in the wings for EVOLVE, the Belfast Bruiser is showing very little signs of slowing down, even in his 50s.
Dylan Hales: I assume everyone who voted for Finlay knows about the match with Sami Calihan, saw it and thought it was awesome. It was one of a very small number of matches that could be legitimately called a match of the year. His match with Kevin Steen in PWG – though not as good – was another great bout that I thought Finlay held together while Steen tried to wander off into his “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” routine. Lesser known are the quality matches with Timothy Thatcher and Harry Smith. Sure the Silva match was an abortion (not his fault at all), but Finlay remains one of the stiffest, most unique and most interesting wrestlers in the world.
Dave Musgrave: It was so refreshing to see Finlay go on his indie dream match tour in 2011. His match with Sami Callihan was my # 2 match of the year, and I really enjoyed seeing his match with Harry Smith live. Add in his match with Kevin Steen and tons of stuff I haven’t even gotten to see and it was a great year to be watching Finlay.
91. Gunner
Points: 264
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 23rd Place (Niall Harkiss)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
90. PAC
Points: 265
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 22nd Place (Vince Morales)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked both years
TH: I only saw one PAC match in 2011, but it was enough of an impression for me to put him on my ballot, albeit at 91st place (Which is better than being unranked, mind you, where most of the thousands and thousands of American wrestlers reside). It was with Brodie Lee at Dragon Gate's Philadelphia show in November, which featured a lot of cool spots from both guys. PAC is someone who is known mostly for flashy offense and flips (neither of which are bad, regardless of what the technical wrestling n00bs will tell you), and he does them so well that it's hard not to be impressed by watching him.
89. Brodie Lee
Points: 275
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 9th Place (Dylan Hales)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in both years
TH: Brodie Lee is a name that is going to be higher next year just because he got signed by WWE and will have had a bunch of awesome matches with the developmental guys that hit YouTube like a ton of bricks. That's a shame, because he was right there for fans of Chikara, DGUSA and EVOLVE to see having great indie style matches that featured great psychology and some awesome big man moves as well as some surprising high-flying stuff. I mentioned the PAC match in PAC's entry, but Lee, a guy who looks like he could hoss it up with Mark Henry as he is right now, threw a hurricanrana that I marked out for right in my seat. That, my friends, is impressive.
Dylan Hales: Brodie Lee was someone that would have made my list no matter what, but probably would have been MUCH farther down than I voted him. I’ve always thought he was a good bumping big man who worked stiff and looked credible against a variety of indie guys. I had him penciled in somewhere in the 35-50 range, but a funny thing happened on the way to submitting my ballot. I typed his name into YouTube. What I found out was that Brodie Lee spent a big chunk of his year having really awesome matches with the most unlikely cast of characters for a bunch of indies that you’ve probably never heard of (but probably should). It’s one thing to have a really good match with Sami Callihan. It’s totally different to carry a half-trained guy that works like a cross between Alex Porteau and Lance Storm to a borderline great match. And that was really just the tip of the iceberg as Brodie had some great performances against guys as diverse as Marc Krieger, Jordan Lennox, Tatanka (!) and motherfucking Danny Doring. That’s right in 2011 Brodie Lee had a very good match with Danny Doring. How the hell could I not put him in the top ten?
88. Kenny King
Points: 277
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 26th Place (Kevin Friskey)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in '09, 91st in '10
TH: Kenny King is like Shelton Benjamin if Shelton Benjamin wasn't some guy who just jumped really high and actually had some grasp of psychology and pacing. Granted, working in ROH isn't going to feed into that mentality for much longer, but then again, King has done some good stuff in PWG as well. I really enjoyed his match with Chuck Taylor at All-Star Weekend.
Alex Torres: “Superman don’t bleed!” Kenny shouted this at Death Before Dishonor, the only man not to bleed during Ladder War, and perhaps it’s the most appropriate thing said about him ever. Kenny and Titus, ever since becoming more serious, have elevated their ring games, Kenny in particular being a magnetic presence. To think, first time I saw him, all I can remember is “You killed Kenny” chants, and this year, he and Titus won in the main event of an iPPV.
87. Ken Anderson
Points: 277
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 18th Place (Rob Franklin, higher vote tiebreaker puts him ahead of King)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in '09, 55th in '10
86. Chris Sabin
Points: 281
Votes Received: 6
Highest Vote: 25th Place (Luke – Punk Rock Comedy)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: 65th in '09, 30th in '10
85. Rob Van Dam
Points: 284
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 39th Place (Niall Harkiss)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in '09, 48th in '10
84. Shelton Benjamin
Points: 288
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 14th Place (Brandon Infinger)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: 35th in '09, 89th in '10
83. David Otunga
Points: 289
Votes Received: 7
Highest Vote: 22nd Place (Dave Maes)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in both years
Dylan Hales: Otunga is going to be this year’s Del Rio, as he started improving toward the end of 2011 and has been really fun so far in 2012. Otunga snuck onto my list on the strength of two performances. The first was his bump fest v. Randy Orton on the holiday episode of Smackdown. The second was a house show performance I saw live in early December. Otunga was teaming with Michael McGullicutty v. Air Boom and the match absolutely stole the show. Otunga was great in the match bumping around, jawing with fans, throwing stiff shots, etc. He earned a mention, which is really what my 95-100 slots were for.
82. Kane
Points: 305
Votes Received: 5
Highest Vote: 17th Place (Dave Maes)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: 42nd in '09, 27th in '10
81. Willie Mack
Points: 305
Votes Received: 4
Highest Vote: 15th Place (Brandon Stroud, higher vote tiebreaker puts him above Kane)
2009 and 2010 Rankings: Not ranked in both years
TH: Willie Mack's ranking this year pisses me off. He should be in the top 25, just as I had put him at 21 on my ballot. He took PWG and made it his personal playground, having tremendous matches with everyone he took to the ring with. Whether it was in a multi-person tag match like at Kurt RussellReunion or in a singles feature match like against Chris Hero on more than one occasion, Mack brought the stiffness, the strikes and the intensity. I gave him the nickname Samoa Bro because the guy is almost a carbon copy of Joe, only not broken by being in TNA for the last seven years. He's a fast riser to most, but to me, he's already one of the best wrestlers in the country.
Dylan Hales: There are very few super indie workers who I have little critical to say of, but Willie Mack is one of them. Despite the fact that he didn’t have as many chances for “huge” matches as some of the bigger names (Steen, Generico, et), in some respects he felt like the MVP of PWG showing more energy and dynamism than just about anyone in the promotion. He was equally good in NWA Hollywood where I thought he was clearly the best worker in the promotion based on the smatterings I was able to see. A charismatic performer who can go “workrate” or settle into more standard structurally significant matches, Mack really stands out of the pack as a guy who people should be – and eventually will be – raving about.
