Beating Lethal

Best in the World 2015 saw Jay Lethal defeat Jay Briscoe to become the new Ring of Honor world champion. He's the twentieth man to hold the title and the first ever to hold it in conjunction with another active championship. Yeah, Bryan Danielson won the pure championship from Nigel McGuinness during his world title reign but he retired it immediately. He didn't hold belts simultaneously and work as a double champion.

Apparently Lethal will. Reports from ROH's latest TV tapings indicate that Lethal opted not to vacate the TV championship as he'd put too much effort into building it up. Matchmaker McGuinness then made the ruling that if Jay wants to stay a double champion he will have to defend the TV and world titles as separate entities. All of which makes sense from the point of view of Lethal's character and creates the chance to produce some fresh scenarios for championship defences and show-long stories at future events.

The double champ is here.

I'll be surprised if Lethal doesn't hold onto both belts for a while. It would be fairly pointless to go to the trouble of giving him a lengthy reign as TV champion (the longest ever, in fact) and not have him vacate the title only to lose it in a random title match after a few weeks. It would also be pointless to put the world title on him just to take it away quickly. That's not how things work in ROH. Wrestlers work hard to win titles and get to enjoy substantial reigns with them. It makes the titles and wrestlers, and by extension the matches involving them, mean more.

But at some point Lethal will lose the world championship, just as has happened twenty-two times before. Which is the point of this article: discussing the possible successors (as I perceive them) to Jay Lethal as the ROH world champion. As far as the TV championship goes I think he'll hold it for a few more months before losing it to guy who'd benefit from a surprise upset win, such as ACH, or being stripped of it after some form of shenanigans during a title defence.

I'll start with Jay Briscoe. There's a chance that Lethal will lose the title back to him but I think it would be dependent on him having a long title reign. I don't imagine ROH would take the gold from Briscoe only to get it back to him a couple of months later, even though it's an approach that would fit the sports-emphasis style of the promotion. But if Lethal has been made champion with no long term plan for a replacement (not that I think that's the case considering how well Delirious has done planning things out over the last few years) it's possible Briscoe could regain the belt in the far future (by which I mean some time next year). If Lethal left for WWE Briscoe would be a lead candidate for a short notice replacement.

As would Roderick Strong. My reasoning is the same as with Briscoe: he looks and wrestles the part, would be accepted in the role, and is unlikely to leave for another major promotion. I can't see him beating 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' at Death Before Dishonor XIII on July 24 but farther in the future he could be in with a chance. Right now he's more of a credible contender to stabilise Lethal's reign than anything else.

AJ's already got a belt though, so...

Sticking with the theme of men who probably won't defeat Lethal but might there's AJ Styles. ROH seems comfortable in presenting him as a special attraction. As such he doesn't need the championship. He's a draw for ROH with or without it. He's also won the IWGP championship twice since joining New Japan last year and is the champion right now. That places limitations on ROH, because New Japan aren't likely to be happy if their champion starts laying down for people elsewhere. And ROH have benefited too much from their relationship with New Japan to upset them. Styles is best off facing bigger names who aren't champion and losing (or indeed winning) any ROH title matches he's in via disqualification.

The first guy I'll name who I think has a crack at taking the title from Lethal in a long term planning capacity is Michael Elgin. He's one of the better wrestlers in the company despite fans having turned on him. In fact his  current status as a heat magnet is a large part of the reason I think he could end up beating Lethal for the title. People would be genuinely irate if he become a two time champion with his current persona. He has the character and in-ring ability to make a reign as heel work and it would be nice to see him get the championship run he deserved to have last year. Although I think an 'Unbreakable' title win would be reliant on Lethal becoming a babyface at some point the response to his win at BITW indicates he'd be accepted as a good guy. I don't think it's something that's going to come any time soon though, if it comes at all.

Moose is a possibility too, which isn't something I would have expected to write a few months ago. He's comfortable in the big man role and could easily introduce some flashier moves to help him fit in at the top of the card (big lads need to have stuff like the cross body block he used at Best in the World when they're main eventing). He's also really, really over. His burgeoning programme with Cedric Alexander will likely keep him busy for a few months but he should be done with that in plenty of time to challenge Lethal at whatever big show ROH promotes in September or October or perhaps even at Final Battle (although there's someone mentioned below who I think would make a far better opponent for Lethal at Final Battle).

No ROH champion has mastered the point into the crowd... until now.

A wildcard possibility is Nic 'Dolph Ziggler' Nemeth. I mention him mostly because at time of writing there are rumours floating about that he'll be leaving WWE when his contract comes to an end later in 2015. I don't think this will come to anything but if it does ROH has to be the favourite for the company he'd turn up in. It wouldn't rule out him working for New Japan and TNA is a laughable suggestion at this point. He's probably the WWE guy I'd most like to see in ROH. Everything that's needed to make it to the top of the work rate-centric promotion he has, and he could do it as a face or a heel. Nemeth would be a boon to ROH, giving him the title would only help matters.

But I'm not going to make any of those names my official prediction. That honour goes to Adam Cole. Everything I can find on the subject indicates that he has a significant amount of time left on his current contract. If Best in the World and TV spoilers are anything to go by he's on the cusp of turning face. Having him work as a face champion would be something new for him and the company. By the time he's finished with what I suspect could be a lengthy breakup with his Kingdom stablemates we should be just about ready for a build towards Final Battle. Babyface Adam Cole versus heel Jay Lethal would not only be new, it would be one of the biggest matches Ring of Honor could promote. I think this will be the match to headline Final Battle.

That is my official prediction. Now watch as I'm wrong, just as I always am when it comes to predicting ROH title changes.

ROH Best in the World 2015 review

ROH's Best in the World 2015 show started with a video package focusing on the main event, one of the most interesting matches they've presented in a long time, Jay Briscoe versus Jay Lethal. The chief reason this was an interesting match was that it was a champion versus champion scenario, Briscoe being the world champion and Lethal being the television champion, with both titles on the line. There was also the fact that Lethal had held the TV title for well over a year and Briscoe hadn't been pinned since March 2 2013. It felt like a big match because of how well the two wrestlers were presented and the video that kicked off the show only added to that. Everything from the promos the two men cut to the simple touch of listing the bigger names each man had made successful defences against drove home that the match was a big deal.

It was the main event I was most interested in. Whenever that's the case going into a wrestling show something's been done right. ROH did a great job promoting Lethal v Briscoe. Having said that the rest of the card did seen slightly underwhelming. Aside from the number one contender shop three-way nothing really stood out, and the three-way was mostly interesting because I wanted to see how a winner would be booked in a match involving guys who rarely lose in ROH.

The Addiction v reDRagon was a match I'd seen before and which had failed to grab me. The Bullet Club v Kingdom six man was a rematch. While the first encounter had been good I felt it had been slightly overhyped and so I wasn't as excited about this match as others may have been. Castle v Young sounded good mostly because I like the characters of both guys. And everything else looked like standard ROH fare: good but not necessarily the easiest stuff to engage with emotionally.

That last sentence perfectly summed up the first match, Mark Briscoe versus top prospect tournament winner and proud House of Truth member Donovan Dijak. It was a solid opener which didn't drag and saw both men get a turn in control but it didn't draw me in because I'm not the biggest fan of either guy and they did nothing to change that. Briscoe won after blocking Feast Your Eyes (a Burning Hammer into a knee strike) and hitting the Froggy Bow.

Pretty much the same thing can be said about match number two. It saw BJ Whitmer and Adam Page face off with ACH and Matt Sydal. Page and Whitmer had their Decade young boy Colby Corino with them. Colby's dad Steve (now inexplicably going exclusively by the title of King Corino) was on commentary for this match, as he is for all ROH shows, but he seemed reluctant to place any emphasis on his own personal feelings about Whitmer recruiting Colby to further their longstanding grudge. It's possible he doesn't feel comparable with the angle or, more likely, doesn't want to make it all about himself, preferring to keep The Decade in the spotlight. But if that's the case why bother doing it at all? Steve Corino's continued reaction to his son making a poor life choice is the entire story here and if he doesn't want to tell it, for whatever reason, it's not going to work. Which is a shame because there's a lot that could be done with it.

The match was entertaining enough. I like ACH a lot and couldn't help but feel he was a tad wasted here, especially considering how bland much of the rest of the card was (at least in terms of pairings). Page got the victory for his team after Colby pulled Sydal off a pin attempt from the Shooting Star press, distracting him long enough for Page to get the win with his Right of Passage finisher.

Young v Castle was a fun match that was surprising in how hard-hitting and back-and-forth it was. Although the approach they took made sense in terms of story: the match had come about because Castle had been the latest person to find himself accused of being "not a real man" by Silas. The two packed a lot in, including a Silas spear off the apron and a Castle deadlift German. Castle won off a rollup as Young was berating Todd Sinclair for not counting a pinfall, which Sinclair had refused because 'The Last Real Man' had shoved him into the ropes, crotching Castle, to get it. After the match Young hit his Misery TKO on one of Castle's lads. Castle was understandably distraught by this.

That was followed by the reformed C&C Wrestle Factory taking on War Machine. Alexander and Coleman got a nice welcome from the NYC crowd when they entered. Hanson and Rowe did not. They were mostly met with indifference, a worrying sign considering they've been in ROH for over a year.

This match was short and more about story than action. The story it was specifically concerned with was Cedric's continued edging towards the dark side. He tried using a wrench, the same weapon he'd used to hammer Moose and end his undefeated streak, but Caprice saw it in his hand and refused to tag him in. That allowed War Machine to grab Caprice and hit Fallout for the win. After the match Cedric teased using the wrench on Caprice but didn't. He did make it clear that their team was over though.

The first above average bout of the night was the number one contenders match. Michael Elgin, Moose and Roderick Strong had all been put in the match based on the strength of their performances and their win-loss records in 2015. It would be nice to think they were also selected because they're amongst the best guys Ring of Honor has. Elgin and Strong have both had their share of classic matches (and I'll say again that Elgin is a particularly fine finish man) and Moose has been constantly improving since I first saw him in EVOLVE. He understands how to work the role of the big man and doesn't go overboard on the bigger spots he's capable of.

There were plenty of highlights in this match. Amongst my favourites were: Elgin hitting a somersault tope on Moose, bowing afterwards and being jeered by the crowd; Roddy superplexing Elgin then Moose; Roddy performing another feat of strength by giving Moose a double knee gut buster; Elgin buckle bombing on Moose only to be immediately hit with a spear; Moose running across the ring, leaping to the top rope, and hitting a cross body to the outside on both guys; and the finish, which saw Elgin double power bomb Moose and being sick kicked as he tried for a third, with Strong pulling Moose to his feet to hot him with two jumping knees and a sick kick to put him down for three.

There was a handshake between Strong and Moose after the match. We were told Elgin shook Strong's hand but we weren't shown it. Veda Scott slapped Moose twice for daring to follow the Code of Honor, something she'd done before. This time it looked like she'd pushed Moose too far. He hunched down looking like he was setting up to spear Veda but before he could make a move Cedric Alexander ran out and smacked him and Stokeley Hathaway with the wrench. Veda smiled at him then Cedric screamed about how he should have been in the number one contenders match.

I liked this as a development. It creates a reason for Moose to not be in the title picture and freshens up Cedric's act by realigning him and giving him a manager. He and Veda seem promising together, and it neatly covers up his weakness on promos. Maybe caprice will go heel too and RD Evans will return to tag with Moose in a grudge match. Then again maybe not.

The Bullet Club trio of AJ Styles and the Young Bucks versus the Kingdom trio of Matt Taven, Michael Bennett and Adam Cole followed that. As pointed out earlier this was a rematch from the ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds show, one I felt was very enjoyable but mildly overhyped in the grand scheme of things. They did pretty much the same thing here, producing another spot-heavy match with way too many highlights to mention and too fast a pace to do a full write-up.

We got the opposite result to the original encounter. The Kingdom had won at War of the Worlds so it was Bullet Club's turn to go over here. They did so in memorable fashion, wiping out Maria with two super kicks and a Pele kick from Styles (what a southern gent he is) before isolating Cole as Bennett checked on his wife and Taven sold a beating at ringside. Cole fought back valiantly, going for a Destroyer only to be caught by AJ and hit with a buckle bomb-enziguri triple team and then 'The Phenomenal One's' Bloody Sunday, kicking out and fighting back again, but eventually it was too much for him. 'The One' was finally put down with an Indytaker followed by the Styles Clash.

After the match The Kingdom looked upset with Cole. This didn't really make sense. Taven had been lying at ringside for a while when the loss happened and could probably have mustered the strength to get back in the ring. Bennett had a right to look ticked off, yeah, but why would he when his wife had just been knocked unconscious by three pro wrestlers? Logic flaws aside the prospect of Cole splitting from The Kingdom is interesting. A face turn could work well for both him and ROH.

The Addiction's no disqualification match with reDRagon was not as enjoyable as the usual reDRagon effort. Their strength is having exciting strong style matches with plenty of tag work mixed in, not crowd brawling. The stip made sense, of course, because of the personal nature of the feud and because the two teams have already met under regular rules. This meeting needed something extra to give it a bit of variety and set it apart from previous meetings. But it was never going to be as good as a regular match.

They at least made full use of the stipulation. There was plenty of ringside brawling and chairs were used liberally. A table and a ladder were introduced after things had hotted up. The table was there because in 2015 these sorts of matches require a table to satisfy the punters. The use of a ladder was interesting though. It's possible it was done to tease Ladder War VI. Then again, it's possible it wasn't.

The finish saw reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Daniels on for former TNA world champion Chris Sabin to appear and pull the referee from the ring. The Addiction then recovered, Frankie took out O'Reilly by shoving him off the apron and into the crowd barricade, and hit Fish with Celebrity Rehab. The champions retained. Hopefully another team will be added to this rivalry if it continues. Addiction v reDRagon matches haven't wowed me so far.

Then came the Lethal versus Briscoe main event. It's worth sopping for a moment here to point out that the two men both have a lot of history in Ring of Honor. Briscoe has never been shy about reminding people that he was on the promotion's very first show. He's been a two time world champion and a record setting eight times. Over the last few years he's become one of ROH's most reliable headliners, working pay-per-view main events, being involved in heavily featured stories, and being well protected in terms of booking.

Lethal's pedigree is less celebrated but still impressive. He joined ROH a month shy of the company's first anniversary as Hydro, a member of Special K, and went through stints as Samoa Joe's protégé and pure champion before leaving to work for the promising-at-the-time TNA. It was easy to overlook how much he'd improved when he rejoined ROH full time in 2011 but improve he had. In the four years since he's won the television championship twice and, like Briscoe, become one of the company's most reliable wrestlers. The last eighteen months have probably been the greatest stretch of his career as he's been given the TV championship and tasked with making it mean something, which he has, been pitted against leading outside talent, and gradually been positioned as ROH's lead heel.

Briscoe versus Lethal is a match that's been brewing for a long time. Both guys have been built up so well. The atmosphere at the start of this match demonstrated what a great job both men, as well as booker Delirious, have done and how established they are as top names.

Before the first lock-up had even taken place Diesel and Dijak were sent backstage before the after Dijak had swiped his hand at Briscoe's legs. A suspenseful feeling out process, during which the combatants were bombarded by duelling chants from the crowd, was followed by a fight around ringside. Briscoe yakuza kicked Lethal. Lethal suplexed Briscoe. They threw one another into the barricade a bit.

Back in the ring Truth grabbed Briscoe's foot, distracting him and letting Lethal knock Briscoe down. Briscoe recovered and they traded uppercuts. Lethal got the better of the exchange by switching to clotheslines to knock the world heavyweight champion down. Back on their feet they traded jabs before Briscoe hit a neckbreaker.

A Lethal Injection was countered into a full nelson slam. Briscoe went for a Jay Driller but Lethal escaped into the Lethal Combination. Lethal went to the top rope but got cut off by Briscoe, who went for a superplex. Lethal fought him off but Briscoe fired back with a drop kick and went for his superplex again. Lethal fought him off again, this time pushing him down to the mat and hitting the Macho Elbow. Briscoe kicked out and immediately got put in the Koji clutch by the TV champ.

Briscoe made the ropes and rolled onto the apron. Lethal followed him out only to be set up for a Jay Driller. He escaped as Truth leapt onto the opposite apron to distract the referee. Nigel got up and sent Truth backstage as Briscoe recovered and Jay Drillered Lethal through the timekeepers table. Both men sold for a while before making it back into the ring just shy of the twenty count.

Briscoe was first to his feet and lobbed jabs at Lethal. Lethal surprised him with a super kick and went for the Lethal Injection again. Briscoe dashed forward and floored him with a rolling elbow as he rebounded off the ropes, getting himself a two count. Briscoe went for the Jay Driller. Lethal escaped it but got hit with a lariat for another two count.

Only the second double champion in ROH history.

The pair dragged themselves back up again. This time it was Lethal who struck first with a springboard cutter. He connected with another Lethal Injection but Briscoe kicked out. The crowd erupted at that as 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' clutched at his head in disbelief. He recovered and tried to hit Briscoe with his own Jay Driller. Briscoe escaped and tried for the move himself. Lethal escaped too, hit the move and then hit another Lethal Injection for the victory, a successful title defence and the ROH world championship.

The crowd gave him a "You deserve it!" chant. After a bit of celebrating from the new champion Briscoe came out of the corner and offered a handshake. In a nice moment Lethal accepted it with gusto before he continued celebrating. It was a touching way to close the show, watching a man who first worked for the company twelve years ago celebrate his first world title win. He'd earned it and it was lovely to see.

***

Results summary:

Mark Briscoe defeated Donovan Dijak
The Decade defeated Matt Sydal and ACH
Dalton Castle defeated Silas Young
War Machine defeated C&C Wrestle Factory
Roderick Strong defeated Moose and Michael Elgin to earn an ROH world championship match
AJ Styles and the Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom
The Addiction defeated reDRagon to retain the ROH tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Jay Briscoe to retain the ROH TV championship and win the ROH world championship

NXT Versus ROH

Triple H wants to expand NXT. He's made many comments in various interviews and Q&A sessions that indicates he believes the league can be expanded to into something that could operate autonomously (or semi-autonomously) from WWE. We've seen steps taken towards this goal with the events held at the Arnold Sports Festival and in San Jose as part of WrestleMania weekend. It's still early days but the fact that these events were able to attract very healthy crowds, the passion fans and wrestlers have for NXT, and the fact that the endeavour is being bankrolled by WWE (essentially meaning they don't necessarily need to worry about making a profit) makes me think that the growth of NXT into a marketable second brand within WWE is an attainable goal. It can afford to run at a loss for a while as it expands, that's not a position wrestling promotions are usually in.

That said it remains a developmental league. It's a place for wrestlers to learn and hone their skills before being promoted to the main roster, where they can earn better money and contribute to the shows where WWE makes its profit. Some people are brought in closer to this point than others. Finn Bálor, formerly New Japan's junior heavyweight ace Prince Devitt, could probably have bypassed NXT altogether. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze are all as main roster ready as they're going to get. Hideo Itami is still finding a middle ground between his stiff-as-nails NOAH style and the softer, safer approach taken by WWE's sports entertainers and working on his English. These things aside he's ready too.

But these names are in the minority. Most NXT wrestlers need NXT for the learning environment it was designed to be, not the WWE-owned indy fed people (not least Triple H) seem desperate for it to become. For the main roster to benefit from NXT as it's meant to a middle ground needs to be found, one that allows people like Enzo Amore, Alexa Bliss and Baron Corbin to become confident in-ring performers while also drawing sizeable crowds in its own right.

The solution WWE have apparently settled on is targeting indy talent with a proven ability to fill buildings of the size NXT will be holding events in as it expands. Essentially this means they're going after Ring of Honor guys. ROH operates on a smaller scale than WWE and is generally able to draw a couple of thousand or so people to their bigger shows. Although the ROH brand name contributes to this it's not enough by itself. It's the wrestler that deserve the bulk of the credit there. WWE understand this and want to sign these guys to help NXT and set back the competition. And while ROH is not direct competition to WWE it will be to an expanded NXT.

This would go down well with NXT crowds. Or any crowds, for that matter.
But my point still stands: ACH would be a good hire.

There are four wrestlers in ROH that I think WWE would be particularly interested in. At the top of the list is ACH. The most obvious reason is his dazzling aerial ability. He never puts on a foot wrong on his flying moves and never has a bad match. He can make himself look tremendously sympathetic when taking a beating, always handy for a smaller lad. He's precisely the sort of guy that could be signed strictly for use in NXT. This isn't to say he couldn't go far on the main roster, he could, but his style is well-suited to the more indy-flavoured NXT. With WWE on the hunt for a new lead high-flyer, and seemingly unaware that Kalisto is ideal for the role, ACH could be a great acquisition.

The second and third guys are Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. As reDRagon they've been ROH's most reliable in-house tag team for the last two years. Three weeks in the summer of 2013 and the Young Bucks' two month reign last year aside, they held the ROH tag team titles from March 2 2013 until April 4 this year. They're a team ROH has invested a lot of time in and an act the company continues to rely on for selling tickets, VOD streams, and tickets. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Fish and O'Reilly team has been one of ROH's greatest booking triumphs of the last few years.

ROH can't outbid WWE but even if they could it's possible reDRagon might be tempted away. ROH have treated them very well but there's nothing fresh left for them to do aside from beat the Briscoes for the longest cumulative days as tag champs, something they're only around four months away from accomplishing. Even their first match with the new Roppongi Vice team happened at the first opportunity, a sure sign that ROH booker Delirious is aware of how new things need to be done with the duo.

In NXT the team would have an entire roster of fresh opposition. They likely wouldn't get to display the dominance they have in Ring of Honor but I think it's fair to assume they'd be allowed to look immediately competitive with tag champs Blake and Murphy. It's also worth noting that aside from those two and the Enzo-Big Cass team there aren't that many teams kicking around in NXT right now, the Lucha Dragons having been promoted and the Vaudevillains having disappeared. A renamed reDRagon would be a welcome addition.

That they lost the tag straps to The Addiction, a talented pair of guys but men WWE are unlikely to have interest in, could indicate that reDRagon have announced they intend to leave ROH soon. Getting the titles off of them now avoids any sticky booking situations arising later. Of course it could just as easily be a switch made to tell a story and freshen up the doubles scene.

Bullet Club T-Shirt there. It's very much the new nWo shirt.

Another team WWE could show interest in from ROH is the Briscoe brothers. They've got a solid track record of good matches and have worked out their characters. The only stumbling block that presents itself is that Jay Briscoe is still the same man who made comments about shooting people if they tried to teach his son homosexuality was acceptable. Which, y'know, is a problem. ROH is a company that can get away with publically slapping down a guy like that and then getting back to business as usual. WWE isn't. It would be too big a deal (rightly so) for their sponsors. It could be assumed he's learnt the error of his ways but would they want to take that risk when they don't need to? I'm not sure they would.

Jay Briscoe is also a guy I think ROH would put up a fight for. Like reDRagon he's benefited from some strong booking over the last few years. He's not been pinned for around the two year mark and is only the second man ever to enjoy a second reign as the ROH world champion. He's a company stalwart who has, famously, been there since day one. Losing him would create a big gap in their man event scene. It could also send the message that even the most loyal ROH wrestler is willing to leave if they're offered more cash.

But Jay Briscoe isn't the fourth guy I think WWE would definitely be interested in. He and Mark are guys that I could see WWE hiring but not trying their hardest to lure away. The fourth name is Adam Cole. He's got everything  WWE looks for. The look, the wresting ability, the mic skills. There's nothing about Adam Cole WWE wouldn't embrace. He's probably the most signable member of the ROH roster.

The most important thing to note about Cole is that he would be an ideal replacement for Finn Bálor. They don't work especially similar styles but they can both slot into the experienced babyface role well. With a call-up to the main roster looking likely for Bálor a replacement who has as much appeal to live audiences would be desirable. Cole could fill that role nicely. As with Jay Briscoe I could see ROH making a counter offer but it wouldn't be one that WWE couldn't match. If they wanted him they'd get him. And if they're serious with their expansion talk, which we're assuming they are, they'll want him.

There are a handful of other guys WWE could be interested in. At 29 Jay Lethal is still young enough to enter the developmental system and have a meaningful main roster career. The same goes for 23-year-old Adam Page. Despite having lost steam over the last year or so Michael Elgin remains someone who'd make a solid mid-card addition to WWE and he'd look completely at home in NXT. ACH.

#streamers

Samoa Joe, who last wrestled for ROH at Supercard of Honor IX on March 27, doesn't feel like a true ROH guy after only working four matches for them in the last five-plus years, but he's worth mentioning here. Because obviously Joe could be a draw for NXT and do great things with everyone on the roster. With him being conspicuous by his absence from future ROH show line-ups, most notably the New Japan co-promotions, it seems safe to assume he's going to WWE. I wouldn't be surprised if they next quarterly special ended with him confronting NXT champ Kevin Owens.

But none of these guys other than Joe can be said to be the attractions that ACH, reDRagon, Cole and Briscoe are. They're reliable, exciting, in-ring performers who could benefit both WWE and NXT in the long run but they're not the instant fix that is required for NXT's expansion to work before this time next year. If NXT is going to grow and ROH stars are being targeted to help with that, Cole, O'Reilly, Fish, ACH and Joe are the guys I'd expect to get signed.

Rey Mysterio's Long Awaited Release

After months of negotiation Rey Mysterio is finally a free man. On February 26  his contract with WWE expired and his profile was moved to the alumni section of the company website. Breaking from the norm no announcement was made by WWE regarding the news, though they did confirm the departure when contacted, by  variety of websites, for comment.

Say goodbye to those merch sales, mate.

The release is something Mysterio has wanted for a long time. He's spent much of the last four years sidelined with major, minor and nagging injuries. Two hour reign as WWE champion on July 25 2011 aside Mysterio has mostly been used as a bit part player when he has been available. Not that the promotion can be faulted for this: Mysterio had become so unreliable that they couldn't afford to risk starting a hefty push with him for fear that he'd be struck with another injury, necessitating his disappearance from TV again.

You can also see why it would have been frustrating for Rey Rey too. Being given the company's top title for two hours just to further a storyline about someone kayfabe quitting can't be particularly rewarding. Neither can teaming with botch monkey Sin Cara Uno, feuding endlessly with Alberto Del Rio, or being slung into Royal Rumbles to little fanfare despite being an established headline player. These things and more are what Mysterio was given by the creative department over the last four years.

As frustrating as it must have been I still think Mysterio would have been best served by returning to WWE for one final run culminating in an official retirement match. His work in the 90's and during his first few years with WWE was top notch. Even after the injuries started racking up in the mid-00's Mysterio was still a reliable performer who remained over with fans.

In 2015 Mysterio's body has taken a battering and is held together more through medical science than anything else. He cannot perform at the level he is most fondly remembered for and as he wasn't savvy enough to introduce ground-based, easier-to-perform moves while he could still blend them in with his more flashy repertoire he's now in a position where he's going to disappoint people more than please them by getting back into the ring, simply because he's not able to do the high-flying he once did. His existing work is strong enough to ensure his legacy survives no matter how bad things get for him but there's no sense putting on shoddy performances if it can be avoided. And this case it can most certainly can be avoided: after over a decade as WWE's top Hispanic star Mysterio doesn't need to worry about money.

Looking rather Rey Mysterio-like, it's Fenix!

But for whatever reason Mysterio had his heart set on a WWE release and a move to AAA and Lucha Underground. Perhaps I'll be proved wrong and Mysterio will display his old magic touch in these promotions. Whether that's the case or not it will at least be interesting to see him opposite his old pals Johnny Mundo and Alberto El Patron in a new environment. The prospect of seeing him face off with Fenix and Prince Puma is pretty enticing too. Though the less said about the prospect of another addition to the Mysterio versus Chavo Guerrero series the better.

A Mysterio run in Ring of Honor could be entertaining too, again under the proviso that he doesn't prove to be completely washed up. Considering Alberto El Patron's dual deal with Lucha Underground and ROH this isn't too farfetched a thought either. Matches opposite Jay Briscoe, Adam Cole, Cedric Alexander, AJ Styles, Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong would all have potential to be great, while Mysterio v ACH could be a modern company classic if Mysterio were on form.

His departure from WWE was not the ideal thing for Mysterio, whether he knows it yet or not. But it's done now. While I don't have the highest of hopes for his in-ring career away from the known and safe surroundings of WWE there is potential in it. Hopefully we'll see that potential realised, rather than witnessing Mysterio become an addition to the list of guys who didn't know when to call it quits. Because ultimately I like Rey Mysterio and I don't want to see him Ric Flair himself.

Year End Awards 2014

For the fourth year in a row I’ll kick this bad boy off by saying that wrestling attracts lists. Also for the fourth year in a row I’m presenting lists of my favourite wrestling-related things of 2014. Previous years' awards can be found here (2011), here (2012), and here (2013).

But this year there are a few changes. In previous years I’ve kicked off with the five best characters in wrestling. That won’t be happening this year. There are two reasons for that. First, I didn’t think it was a particularly interesting topic anymore. Second, it’s a slog to write this thing and I felt that if I wasn’t especially interested in the topic it wasn’t worth writing about. For anyone interested Batista and Damien Sandow definitely would have made it onto that list. Tyler Breeze probably would have as well.

That leaves us five categories: top cards, top feuds, top matches, top tag teams, and top individual wrestlers. People with too much time on their hands may notice when reading what follows that the number of ranked cards has expanded from five to ten. I’ve no idea why I’ve only previously done five. It seems a pretty slim amount. Ten’s far more natural so that’s what I’ve done here. On this subject the number of feuds would have been expanded if there were enough interesting feuds on offer. Maybe next year.

As with previous years there are no non-North America based grapplers on any of these lists (except one, but that’s for a match that took place in the States). This isn’t a reflection on the quality of wrestling outside of the United States, it’s simply a case of me not following anything outside of North America enough to feel I can fairly judge and compare it. If English language commentary becomes a regular thing for New Japan, or if I end up signing up to their streaming service, that could very well change by this time next year.

The way I’ve ranked wrestlers takes into account the company they work for, their spot on the card, what is required of them by their employer and how well they’ve performed within their parameters. Different things are expected of Daniel Bryan and Jay Briscoe for example, despite both men being world champions. Even within WWE there are different expectations of wrestlers: more is expected of Seth Rollins than of, say, Jack Swagger.

Last year I noted that TNA had had to make some cutbacks which had resulted in “their product become more unfocused and counterproductive than I think it’s ever been before.” Little did I know that things would become worse this year. As such TNA barely features on these lists at all. What positives the company has aren’t used well enough to make me interested in watching, and if they’re not making me watch they don’t get ranked. EVOLVE fans may be pleased to see them getting a few mentions.

We’ll start, for the first time ever, with the top shows category (because the traditional opener of the top characters has gone). It should be a fairly self-explanatory subject. If you can’t figure it out probably give this post a miss, eh?

Top Ten Shows of the Year

10. ROH Best in the World (22.06.14)

(Full review here.)
This is the show where Michael Elgin finally captured the ROH world championship. Yep, a mere twenty-seven months after he became the hottest star in the company in an unsuccessful challenge against Davey Richards. Was it worth waiting for? Well… it was a good match with the right result but it came over a year too late, and I think the crowd reaction and following reign reflected that. But it’s worth watching, as are the tag title match, Strong v Alexander, Steen v Young, and the no DQ tag bout.

9. ROH 12^th Anniversary Show (21.02.14)

(Full review here.)
At the time it felt like it was existing between bigger events, which is something that often happens with ROH’s anniversary offerings. But reDRagon v Adrenalin RUSH, Hero v Cole, and the show-closing brawl between Kevin Steen and Cliff Compton all have something to offer and make this a show worth revisiting.

8. ROH All Star Extravaganza VI (06.09.14)

(Full review here.)
This show is probably most notable for Elgin’s unceremonial loss of the ROH title to Jay Briscoe, apparently necessitated by Visa issues that were sorted out fairly promptly. While good that match was not the best thing on offer. That accolade went to reDRagon v The Young Bucks. Cole v Styles was a strong effort too, as was Jay Lethal’s TV title defence against Cedric Alexander. It was a show that featured a number of matches we don’t usually see, and benefitted accordingly.

Best ROH TV champion ever? Your call...

7. WWE WrestleMania XXX (06.04.14)
(Full review here.)
Despite being incorrectly referred to as WrestleMania’s thirtieth anniversary (it was the thirtieth edition, there’s a difference) WWE got the important things right with their biggest card of the year. Daniel Bryan got two of the most popular victories of his career and Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista all did their best to make him look good getting them. Cesaro also got the most noteworthy win of his WWE career so far when he won the Andre The Giant Battle Royal (hey, it’s not his fault nothing’s been done with him since). Those matches and performances were strong enough to make the show memorable in spite of a shoddy Undertaker v Lesnar match and a rushed Shield six man.

6. WWE Elimination Chamber (23.02.14)

(Full review here.)
This show is here because of three matches: Titus O’Neil v Darren Young, Cameron v AJ Lee, and Alberto Del Rio v Batista. I’m joking, of course. It’s the Chamber match and the Shield v Wyatts six man collision that are most memorable about this show and they’re two of the reasons I’m ranking it here. The third is the Big E v Jack Swagger opener, which was far better than anyone could have reasonably expected. That nothing was done with Swags and E off the back of that performance is exactly what was wrong with WWE this year.

5. NXT ArRIVAL (27.02.14)

(Full review here.)
Looking back I think this was the show where people realised that NXT was more than just an enjoyable developmental programme. In these two hours the NXT crew put on a show better than the vast majority of RAWs (possibly all RAWs) this year and became “the new ECW” or “the new ROH in its prime” or whatever else you want to label it. Basically, it became better than WWE’s main product with this show. We all just took a while to realise.

4. WWE SummerSlam (17.08.14)

(Full review here.)
Brock Lesnar’s fifteen minute demolition of John Cena is the obvious thing to mention here. It was something different to the average WWE match made all the more powerful because it was the usually untouchable Cena who took the one-sided beating. Supported by Ambrose and Rollins’ wild lumberjack fight, a surprisingly entertaining Stephanie McMahon match, a great Rusev v Swagger match, and what was probably Miz’s best match of the year opposite Dolph Ziggler, this was the best main roster effort from WWE all year.

Sixteen of these bad boys. Sixteen!

3. ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (17.05.14)
(Full review here.)
ROH and New Japan collaborating to put on some never before seen matches was practically guaranteed to produce a great card so it wasn’t a surprise when it did. In spite of some odd choices (The Decade v Gedo and Jado and Hiroshi Tanahashi being tasked with carrying Michael Bennett) the event was a classic. The three-way main event was very good, an achievement in itself considering how unfamiliar the three were with one another, Jay Lethal and Kushida had a wonderful tussle over the ROH TV strap, and the Bucks and reDRagon had one of their many great matches. The news that the two groups will offer a similar collaboration in 2015 was most welcome.

2. NXT Takeover: R Evolution (11.12.14)

(Full review here.)
It’s probably a bad sign that WWE’s best show of the year was one put on by developmental talent. Because the main roster is clogged up with guys like Big Show, Mark Henry and R-Truth, none of whom are capable of contributing anything constructive, names like Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Finn Bálor and Hideo Itami have to make do with wrestling on Network specials. It’s not how the world’s biggest wrestling promotion should be run.

What’s good is that the stupidity of the company doesn’t seem to get any of the performers down. All of them do amazing work week after week, participating in a well-written, logical show that doesn’t rush anything and gives its characters time to development. The result of that approach is R Evolution. If that’s not a reason to apply that approach to the main roster I don’t know what is.

1. ROH Final Battle (07.12.14)

(Full review here.)
Ring of Honor takes the best show spot with, well, the best show of the year. It was easy to overlook how good Final Battle was as it came just days before NXT’s acclaimed R Evolution event. As much as I enjoyed the NXT spesh Ring of Honor’s year-ender was better. Every match did what it needed to. The majority did far more. The three title matches, the six man bout, and Strong v Page were all cracking efforts, and there was even an amusing swerve turn from Veda Scott. The show could not have done more. If this were the benchmark for ROH they could expand in no time.

Top Five Feuds of the Year

5. reDRagon v The Young Bucks

It wasn’t the most heavily emphasised rivalry in wrestling but the two teams clashed several times during the year: Raising the Bar Part 2, War of the Worlds, All Star Extravaganza VI, and the Super Junior tourney finals show. Every single time they did they produced something very enjoyable, and usually superior to their previous clash.

4. The Shield v Evolution

The two teams only met twice. But both of those matches were excellent and there was a compelling story to the feud: The Shield were tired of being used as mere enforcers by ‘The Game’ and The Authority so they turned babyface. It sounds simple and it was, but there were layers and nuances to it that really made it stand out, such as Triple H becoming obsessed with ending The Shield at any cost and the way the programme was presented as having tinges of the young guys wanting to take the older guys’ spots. Plus, of course, there was the ending. Which we’ll get to in a moment…

Note Batista's stylish red boots.

3. Sami Zayn v Adrian Neville
Friendly rivalries are not something we see all too often in WWE which is a shame as they can be very effective when done right. As was the case with Neville and Zayn’s rivalry. What’s particularly good about it, looking back, is that it actually had the seeds sown for it (intentionally or not) in late 2013 when the pair clashed in a number one contenders match (won by Neville).

They started interacting more frequently in the lead-up to Takeover II, being presented as pals that shared a healthy competitive streak. As things escalated, Neville becoming increasingly antagonistic and Zayn played the troubled babyface, doubting himself as he continued to fail in his quest to capture the NXT gold, the pair participated in a number of exciting matches against one another and shared opponents (such as that young prospect Titus O’Neil), and even had a couple of memorable verbal exchanges. They made everything they did matter.

2. Daniel Bryan v The Authority

It was the rivalry that drove the 2014 WrestleMania Season. And one of the reasons I like that fact is that it wasn’t the original plan. Things had to be rejigged after the CM Punk walkout and the fans’ unwaveringly positive reactions to Daniel Bryan week after week.

It worked because it stuck to probably the most successful formula WWE has ever had: the downtrodden babyface who keeps going no matter what’s thrown at him. Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Batista, Randy Orton ad Kane were all deployed against D-Bry in a wide variety of skits and segments and he kept going, determined to win the WWE championship. His opening match battle with Tripper at WrestleMania XXX was a joy to watch and cleverly saw Bryan gain the retribution he needed to before he went on to have his moment of victory later in the night when he made ‘The Animal’ tap out to the Yes Lock for the title.

1. Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins

When The Shield were split and went their separate ways I was disappointed. Not only did it feel like the lads had plenty left to accomplish together but I wanted to see a member of a faction win the WWE championship without his teammates turning on him. It came across as an act of desperation designed to distract viewers from the absence of Daniel Bryan rather than a well-considered move that would improve WWE programming.

But improve WWE programming it did. Rollins became a bratty, entitled egotist who was handed opportunity after opportunity and cheated to come out on top every time. Ambrose was cast as the deranged vigilante, the one man determined to give Rollins what he deserved. After making us wait nearly three months for a proper match the pair didn’t disappoint: they had a great battle at SummerSlam and followed up with memorable performances on the August 18 RAW and at Hell in a Cell. It was exactly the rivalry WWE needed to make it through the year without their hottest star.

Greatest rivalry of 2014. Fact.

Top Ten Matches of the Year
(There’s no analysis here. If you want to know why these matches are in the top ten just go and watch them…)

10. Big E v Jack Swagger – WWE Elimination Chamber (23.02.14)

9. Sami Zayn v Adrian Neville – NXT R Evolution (11.12.14)

8. Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins – Falls Count Anywhere match, WWE RAW 18.08.14

7. Kushida v Jay Lethal – ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (17.05.14)

6. reDRagon v Time Splitters – ROH Final Battle (07.12.14)

5. Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins – Lumberjack match, WWE SummerSlam (17.08.14)

4. The Shield v Evolution – No holds barred elimination match, WWE Payback (01.06.14)

3. reDRagon v Young Bucks – ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (17.05.14)

2. The Shield v The Wyatt Family – WWE Elimination Chamber (23.02.14)

1. Cesaro v Sami Zayn – NXT ArRIVAL (27.02.14)

Top Ten Tag Teams of the Year

10. New Age Outlaws

Because the Outlaws were in the first wrestling match I ever really paid attention to and they're the reason I became a fan. There's no way I'm passing up an opportunity to rank them somewhere in a Year End Awards in what will probably be my only chance. Plus they won the tag belts and had more than competent matches with the Usos and the Rhodes brothers. That’s enough to justify their inclusion.

9. The Vaudevillains

A vaudeville act that enters the arena as part of a silent movie. One is a strong man incapable of working a particularly strong man style. The other is a skinny, pale fella originally introduced as a singer. Written down it sounds a mess. But the pair have done everything possible to set themselves apart on a lively, interesting roster. For that they deserve a tonne of credit.

8. The Usos

Jimmy and Jey had the underwhelming honour of being WWE’s most reliable team, guys who’d always put on a good match and occasionally push themselves to great ones. Their most notable offerings this year were a pair of tag matches against Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan, their tag team title win over the New Age Outlaws in early March, and a six man tag match against The Wyatt Family alongside John Cena, towards the beginning of their lengthy series with Harper and Rowan. The trouble the Usos have is that they’re in WWE, where tag wrestling takes a back seat. That and the fact that they’re not especially interesting characters.

7. The Wolves

TNA’s premier tag team. It’s not much, but it’s something. They did put in good performances against Team 3D and the Hardy Boys in the three-way series, getting the overall victory when they won a Full Metal Mayhem match (on Impact because TNA can’t afford pay-per-view). Outside of that series Eddie and Davey rarely shone, but they did have a handful of decent outings against The BroMans and MVP’s heel unit.

They'd have been better off in ROH.

6. Adrenaline RUSH
ROH were stupid to split ACH and TaDarius Thomas back in April. There was so much more that could have been done with them and a disservice was done to the tag division by not pitting them against The Young Bucks. Imagine how good a Bucks v reDRagon v Adrenaline RUSH match could have been! In less than three months they had numerous exciting matches with reDRagon and even dragged enjoyable showings from various Decade pairings. They were exactly the sort of team that makes ROH worthwhile.

5. The Dust Brothers

The Rhodes boys had competent matches against the New Age Outlaws at the start of the year before doing a whole lot of not much for months on end. They were reinvigorated when Cody became Stardust: he threw himself into the new persona and Goldust subtly reconfigured himself to become the intimidating enforcer of the team. It’s tough for tag teams to stand out in WWE but the Dusts have come about as close as can be reasonably expected.

4. The Bravado Brothers

After sending The Young Bucks packing from EVOLVE (in storyline because of a suspension, in reality because the Bucks cost top dollar) the Bravados went on to become the longest reigning Open the United Gate champions ever. They became the focal point of a thin but talented doubles scene in the company, working a series of matches with The Colony before progressing to The Premier Athlete Brand. Not the flashiest wrestlers but a pair of guys who know their gimmick and make the most of what they do well. Not bad for a pair of guys Ring of Honor (stupidly) cut a year or two back.

3. The Premier Athlete Brand

Technically this entry should about the pairing of Caleb Konley and Anthony Nese, but Trent Barreta tagged with both men on different occasions and all three wrestled some very good trios matches throughout the year. The Brand’s highlights of 2014 were a win in the six man tournament final at Mercury Rising, a loss in a spot-heavy TLC match against Uhaa Nation, AR Fox and Rich Swann, their tag title victory at EVOLVE 35, and their three-way collision with The Colony and the Bravados on the final night of the WWN China tour. Not bad for a group who hadn’t really teamed at the end of 2013.

2. The Young Bucks

They had great but psychology lite matches with everyone. Most notably they tangled several times with reDRagon and always put on a great show. In addition to that they had enjoyable bouts against Daniels and Kazarian, the Briscoes, and the dashed together pairing of ACH and Matt Sydal. This is, of course, without mentioning their stellar New Japan work (for reasons discussed above), although I say that their three-way IWGP junior tag defence against Forever Hooligans and Time Splitters at Global Wars was top notch.

1. reDRagon

Another really strong year for Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, the undisputed team to beat in ROH as well as two of its most well-defined and popular characters. With two ROH tag title reigns to their name, one of which started in 2013 and the other of which started in May and is still going at well over two hundred days, and cracking bouts against The Young Bucks, The Addiction, Adrenalin RUSH and Time Splitters, amongst others, there was no other choice for the number one spot. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly continue to be the benchmark for tag team wrestling.

Two time tag team of the year winners. Prestigious, no?

Top Twenty Wrestlers of the Year

20. Jack Swagger

Even 2010, the year he won the World Heavyweight championship, wasn’t as good a year for Swagger as 2014 was. He was part of an underutilised tag team with Cesaro until they split had some enjoyable matches after WrestleMania. His summer series of matches with Rusev were surprisingly gripping and he made a surprise appearance in the Matches of the Year list alongside Big E.  

19. John Cena

Cena had a pretty unspectacular year all told. He failed to elevate Bray Wyatt in their feud and had numerous unspectacular high profiles matches on RAW and pay-per-view, many of which co-starred 'Mr Charisma' Randy Orton. But he did have two very enjoyable main events against Brock Lesnar and did a good job of making 'The Beast' look unstoppable in both (though particularly the first). He ended the year on a strong note with a decent tables match victory over Seth Rollins at TLC.

18. Rusev

‘The Super Athlete’ has been very good as an emotionless, unstoppable killer. He sells far more than he needs to and he’s had above average matches with everyone from Big E to Jack Swagger to Sheamus. He’s gotten his character over (with an assist from Lana) and been sensibly protected. One of WWE’s few successes.

17. Bad News Barrett

Took a bit part on a YouTube show produced by obnoxious commentators and turned it into one of the most over characters in wrestling. His post-'Mania RAW match opposite Rey Mysterio was a fun demolition and his IC title winning outing against Big E at Extreme Rules exceeded expectations. Had he not had some, ahem, bad news in the form of a separated shoulder Barrett would likely be much higher on this list. I hope his push gets back on track in 2015. The dude deserves it.

And yes, Barrett's half year in WWE was better than anyone's full year in TNA.

16. Luke Harper

Got a borderline-stunning win (via interference, natch) over Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental title late in the year. The rematches they had were amongst the few highlights of the TV shows they were on. This is in addition to the six man matches he worked as part of The Wyatt Family, most notably the ones against Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns, all of which were never less than fun.

He'd have been number one in a Greying Beard category.

15. ACH
ACH retained his status as both ROH’s premier flyer and wrestler least effected by ring psychology. He didn’t get any major wins over any established company names but he did have some electric outings against everyone from Adam Cole to Jay Briscoe to his favoured sparring partner Cedric Alexander. Before Adrenaline RUSH were (prematurely) split they had been a highlight of ROH’s tag division. That they didn’t get more opportunities to steal the show with reDRagon and The Young Bucks is a real shame. But now that he’s been selected for a prominent singles role ACH deserves to be one of ROH’s most heavily pushed guys in 2015.

14. Cesaro

Cesaro seemed poised for big things back in April. After winning the Andre The Giant Battle Royal, to a huge pop, he broke away from Real Americans tag partner Jack Swagger and took on Paul Heyman as his manager. But after winning a three-way match against Swagger and Rob Van Dam at Extreme Rules nothing much was done with the Cesaro and Heyman pairing. After they split a few months later Cesaro was mostly used as a guy who’d produce good matches, most notably against Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler on pay-per-view. It’s nice that he’s seen as reliable but so much more could be done with him.

13. Bray Wyatt

Character-wise it was a great year for 'The Eater of Worlds'. He managed to turn every sketchy bit of material sent his way into something worth watching. Unfortunately he was lumbered with a string of less-than-ideal opponents and gimmick matches. John Cena in the spring and early summer for example. His programme with Dean Ambrose has yet to pick up. It might end without doing so. The pointless autumn sabbatical didn't help either. But when he was good (v Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble, v The Shield at Elimination Chamber, the ladder match at Money in the Bank) he was really good.

12. Roman Reigns

Yeah, Roman Reigns. Surprising, right? He rose to the occasion in the Royal Rumble, making sure he looked like the machine he was booked to be. He participated in great six man tags before The Shield were split, most notably against the Wyatts and Evolution. He again looked like a beast in the WWE championship ladder match at Money in the Bank and did what he could at Battleground a month later. Sadly, things fell apart for him after that, with a drab SummerSlam outing opposite an unmotivated Randy Orton preceding a three month layoff. He's going to struggle as the leading man WWE seem keen to cast him as but he has at least proven he'll give every chance he's given his all, and that he’s trying to improve. 

11. Johnny Gargano

‘The Whole Shebang’s’ epic run as Open the Freedom Gate champ was ended at the hands of Ricochet in a great match at Open the Ultimate Gate in April. Seven months later Gargano regained the title during the WWN tour of China in another belter opposite Ricochet. In between he produced compelling work with Anthony Nese, Matt Sydal, Drew Gulak and Rich Swann and turned babyface again. His burgeoning rivalry with The Premier Athlete Brand should be a highlight of EVOLVE in 2015.

10. Daniel Bryan

This should have been Daniel Bryan's year. The WWE creative hive mind okayed a pushed for him when it became obvious that audiences weren’t willing to accept a Batista v Orton singles main event at WrestleMania. That saw him beat Triple H in the ‘Mania opener before capturing the WWE title in the main event. Had he not needed an extended amount of time off the likelihood is that he’d have held the title until SummerSlam before dropping it to Brock Lesnar. Instead he made a single defence against Kane before vacating the strap and getting surgery. Appearances he’s made since indicate he’s as popular as he was at the start of 2014 so hopefully he can return and get back on track next year.

9. Jay Briscoe

He got a surprise second reign as ROH champion when visa issues necessitated a quick change from Michael Elgin. He then got a surprise extension of that reign when Adam Cole's Final Battle win was scrapped because of injury concerns. It wasn't just luck that got him placed here though. Briscoe had enjoyable matches at the ROH 12^th Anniversary Show, Glory by Honor XIII, and Final Battle, and tag outings alongside his brother at War of the Worlds, Survival of the Fittest Night Two, and Champions Versus All-Stars. At this point he is out doubtlessly ROH's 'Mr Reliable'.

Headliners of the show of the year.

8. Tyler Breeze
'The Gorgeous One' arguably has the most rounded act in all of NXT. He has a unique look. He can talk. And he can wrestle a very good match. Obviously his performances at the NXT specials were all particularly good, but his less noteworthy matches, such as the three-way against Zayn and Kidd, his match with Kalisto, his unsuccessful challenge for Neville’s title on episode 111, and his tag match alongside Tyson Kidd against Hideo Itami and Finn Bálor, were worth a look too. If Neville and Zayn make the leap to the main roster next year then ‘The Gorgeous One’ could finally get his hands on the NXT championship.

7. Adam Cole

For the first half of the year he was the ROH world champion and during that time he produced great defences against Chris Hero, Kevin Steen, Jushin Liger, ACH, and Jay Briscoe in a hard-hitting Ladder War at the Anniversary Show. He dropped the strap to the not-as-hot-as-he-was-in-2013 Michael Elgin in a solid headliner at Best in the World and then focused on establishing his Kingdom faction with Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis (and later Matt Taven). The second half of the year saw him work some “dream matches” against the likes of Matt Sydal and AJ Styles before failing to regain the title from Briscoe in a wild Fight Without Honor. With or without the world title Cole was ROH's top in-ring performer.

6. Dean Ambrose

Seemingly surpassed Roman Reigns in popularity after the split of The Shield thanks to his Feud of the Year opposite Seth Rollins. Their matches never failed to disappoint. They even managed to do something interesting with the usually tedious lumberjack gimmick. While they were doomed to fail their attempts to match Mick Foley’s death-defying bumps inside Hell in a Cell were appreciated. Before that split the Shield lads showed themselves to be the best three man unit WWE's ever had with their performance opposite the Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber and Evolution at both Extreme Rules and Payback. It’s just a shame that he ended the year on low note in a dreary programme with Bray Wyatt.

5. Adrian Neville

'The Man That Gravity Forgot' was one of the many consistent highlights of NXT. His ladder match with Bo Dallas at the inaugural NXT special was ace, as were his defences against Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd, as well as the four-way match at Takeover II. Neville is a reliably crisp hand who can do incredible things in and around a wrestling ring. And his verbal work has been good too. Considering how wooden he's been in the past I think that deserves particular credit.

4. Dolph Ziggler

Floated about for the first half of the year before finally being given something meaningful to do in the second. With his three Intercontinental title reigns he desperately tried to make the championship mean something again. He didn't manage it trading the belt with The Miz but he fared better opposite Luke Harper. The handful of matches he had with Seth Rollins were excellent and I wish there’d been more. Survivor Series saw ‘The Show Off’ presented as a top guy, outlasting three heels to come back and win, sending The Authority packing.

He ended the PPV by having the match of the night at TLC. I hope the renewed interest in him carries over into 2015. Ziggler is a guy that fans want to see. WWE should be embracing that.

Solid back half. Not like that...

3. Ricochet
‘The Future of Flight’ became EVOLVE’s top star this year after defeating Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate title and getting first dibs on choice opponents. His performances against Chris Hero, Trent Barreta, Matt Sydal, and Uhaa Nation were all first rate, as were his two title exchanges with Gargano. Outside of WWN Ricochet won a great Battle of Los Angeles tournament in PWG, became the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the Open the Dream gate championship, and defeated Kushida to win New Japan’s Best of the Super Junior tourney.

Surely he should be ‘The Present of Flight’ by now?

2. Sami Zayn

The former El Generico (I’m smashing kayfabe there, right?) stood out as the most naturally likeable man in all of wrestling this year. His ongoing quest for the NXT title was one of the plots that made NXT such an enjoyable watch during the year, punctuated with charismatic promos and attention-grabbing matches. Highlights of his year in the ring were matches against Corey Graves, Tyler Breeze (Takeover), Adrian Neville (R Evolution), Tyson Kidd, and, of course, his match of the year showing opposite Cesaro at the original NXT special. His upcoming programme with old rival Kevin Owens should be a highlight of NXT next year.

1. Seth Rollins

For the first half of the year Rollins was part of the incredibly popular Shield trio. That saw him participant in lively six man tag matches against The Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber and Evolution at Extreme Rules and Payback, in addition to entertaining singles outings against Batista and Dolph Ziggler and a memorable performance from the number two spot in the Royal Rumble.

His heel turn on June 2 provided him the opportunity to change his act up for a prominent singles role, which he seized. It also provided the launching pad for his Feud of the Year opposite Dean Ambrose. The second half of the year saw Rollins enter a dynamic, and winning, performance in the Money in the Bank ladder match, wrestle the most enjoyable WWE lumberjack match in years, headline a pay-per-view in prime gimmick bout Hell in a Cell, and rub shoulders with top lad John Cena on TV and PPV.

Rollins made 2014 a breakout year for himself by seizing every opportunity WWE sent his way. If only everyone in WWE were given things to work with.

The best wrestler of 2014.