Continuing our countdown of the best wrestlers of 2013!
See numbers 50 - 41 &
numbers 40-31 first!
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| Numbers 30 & 23 respectively |
30. Seth Rollins
The former Tyler Black started off 2013 both as the reigning champion of NXT and one third of the hottest new act on the main WWE roster, The Shield. The NXT Championship only lasted a week into the new year but The Shield spent the entire twelve months dominating WWE television. Rollins hasn't spent too much time on his own, winning the WWE Tag-Titles alongside Roman Reigns and taking part in a lot of six-man tags, but when he did wrestle solo bouts they were generally of a very high quality, like his Match of the Year contender against Daniel Bryan.
29. Bobby Roode
After an unsuccessful atempt at the TNA World Title at Genesis, The It Factor kick-started his year by winning the TNA World Tag-Titles alongside Austin Aries at the end of January. After losing the titles in April The Dirty Heels made several attempts to wrestle the titles back without success. During this period Roode and Aries featured in several segments with Bad Influence and both men proved that they are just as entertaining on the mic as the best team in the business.
After splitting with Aries Roode rounded out the year by forming an alliance with Bad Influence. The trio, known as EGO (the Extraordinary Gentlemens Organisation), have provided some of the funniest segments in wrestling television this year.
Roode also came out the better man in his feud with Kurt Angle.
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| That's "Machine Gun" to you |
Anderson spent 2013 establishing himself as a legitimate force in New Japans Heavyweight division. After failing in a World Tag Team title shot alongside Hirooki Goto against Killer Elite Squad at Wrestle Kingdom 7, he unsuccessfully challenged for the IWGPs Heavyweight singles crown against both Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada and helped make The Bullet Club the most exciting faction in wrestling today.
Machine Gun was only one match away from his second successive G1 Climax final and in December won the World Tag League alongside "Doc" Gallows for the second successive year to earn another IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Title shot at Wrestle Kingdom.
27. KENTA
In January of 2013 KENTA finally won NOAHs GHC Heavyweight Championship. He spent the remainder of the year defending the title against all comers and now holds the record for successful GHC title defenses in a calendar year with nine. Larry is happy.
26. John Cena
The majority of people reading this will doubtless be disappointed to see John Cenas name in our list of the best wrestlers of the year. You can console yourselves with the knowledge that he also made our Terrible25 list (meaning he's the second and final wrestler this year to have dropped places in the TWF50), which means that just like the majority of WWE audiences, we don't know whether we love him or hate him either.
Through 2013 John Cena (take a deep breath!): won the Royal Rumble, defended the Wrestlemania title match earned from that in a Match of the Year Contender against CM Punk, beat The Rock to re-gain the WWE Championship in the main-event of Wrestlemania, wrestled against doctors orders to take a clean pinfall loss to Daniel Bryan for the WWE title at Summerslam, returned from tricep surgery at least three months ahead of schedule to win the World Heavyweight Championship, and took part in the TLC match which saw Randy Orton unify the main titles in WWE.
Its been a phoenix like rise from the ashes for Dustys oldest son. Goldust had last appeared for WWE as a one-off entrant into the Royal Rumble until his brother, Cody, was fired by the Authority. What followed was named The Wrestling Media Nations Angle of the Year and Goldusts part in it's success can not be over-stated.
He may well be in the best shape of his career right now and the WWE Tag-Team title he currently possesses is the least he deserves.
24. Gail Kim
Gail Kim is once again the face of female wrestling in TNA. Her partnership with Lei'D Tapa is reminiscent of the Shawn Michaels/Diesel affiliation for Kims ability to bring a fantastic match out of anyone as much as it is for the small wrestler/big bodyguard visual when they enter the ring. Back in June Kim managed to get a TWF Match of the Year contender out of Tarryn Terrell(!) In October Kim won the Knockouts Championship for the third time.
23. Dean Ambrose
Ambrose enters the TWF50 just a few places higher up the rankings from his Shield stablemate Seth Rollins, surely because of the United States title that's found a home around his waste since he took it from Kofi Kingston in May. He's been the perfect heel champion too, losing the majority of his matches via disqualification or countout and making his opponents look fantastic. Each of the members of The Shield bring a different quality to WWE but the ability Ambrose has to draw people in each and every time he has a microphone in his hand is arguably the most important. He's drawn comparisons to both CM Punk and Heath Ledgers version of the Joker since his debut at the 2012 Survivor Series - maybe 2014 will be the year WWE allows him to live up to them.
22. Michael Elgin
2013 felt a lot like a holding pattern for Michael Elgin. He won and lost the Tag-Team titles in the same day in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and while still considered a top contender for the ROH World title, he's yet to win the big one. If ROH don't pull the trigger on him soon he may well become another guy that could have been.
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| A guy with THAT face a good guy? Neeeeever gonna work! |
On paper Alberto Del Rio should be in a similar position to John Cena with the WWE "Universe".
Heading into 2013 his partnership with Ricardo Rodriguez and WWEs desire to appeal to the Mexican market had turned Del Rio face and his feud with the Big Show, including a Last Man Standing match victory at the Royal Rumble via duct taping Shows ankles around the ropes, should have cemented him as one of the top babyfaces in the company. It didn't. In fact Alberto Del Rios 2013 can be defined as hugely successful for his character while equally as unsuccessful in terms of getting him over. The duel highlights of Del Rios year were the mild racism of Jack Swaggers "Real American" character - a match up that was the victim of both external politics and Jack Swaggers own stupidity - and his losing part in our "I'm Markin' Out Bro" award winning moment of Dolph Ziggler cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on him.
Del Rio then turned heel by targeting Zigglers head in a re-match after Ziggler had just returned from a legitimate concussion. He lost the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time in 2013 to the returning SUPERCENA at Hell in a Cell.
Continued tommorow....
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