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Post by thefourmanband on Jan 4, 2018 0:26:04 GMT -5
Thought this would be fun to look back on at the end of the year. Here are some predictions for how my list will look at the end of 2018.
#1 Wrestler: Matt Riddle. Kind of a safe pick because I see him getting signed, while a lot of the other choices for my top guys have a chance to or already work for WWE, where match quality can fall off a cliff any given month. He also works just about everywhere so I know I'll get my eyes on him plenty, and my spreadsheet formula currently favors volume.
#1 wrestler after Mania weekend: Daisuke Sekimoto. He's already in a 6 way tie for my top spot, and while obviously we're only 3 days into the new year and that means nothing at all, he also has at least 3 matches coming up Mania weekend for WWN, plus the possibility of showing up for some other promotions affiliated with them as well. He's definitely going to fall off by the summer at the latest because I don't watch much Japanese wrestling.
Biggest Surprise: DJZ. If I was voting in Metlzer's awards this year I would have voted him for most improved. Ever since he's left TNA I've loved his work in AAW and Evolve, and hopefully more promotions get bring him in soon. A wild guess at his peak this year is somewhere around 10th, maybe higher depending on who gets signed and how long they sit out. Gonna toss an honerable mention to Jack Sexsmith as well, who has gotten very good as a babyface in Progress.
Biggest Disappointment: Shinsuke Nakamura. He would be a great pick for 2017 too. If I was doing a spreadsheet for 2017( which I didn't) I think I may have only rated 2-3 of his matches, and 2 of them would have been during his time in NXT, and he'll have to deal with the main roster's agenting for a full year in 2018, which is normally not good. Outside of a possible match with Styles at Wrestlemania there isn't many pairing for him on the SDL side that seem good for him either. The shakeup is going to really determine how his year will go.
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Post by concrete1992 on Jan 4, 2018 14:28:40 GMT -5
#1 Wrestler: Nick Gage...unless he gets arrested in which it could be anyone. As long as he keeps doing what he is doing, providing a presence to every show he's on I can't see him not being THE guy.
Biggest Surprise: Cain Justice. Not because people aren't aware he is great but because I expect 2018 to be a year he stretches his legs a bit and goes outside the territory. If he does that he'll get on more ballots and be a better candidate across the board. Black Label Pro and Nova Pro seem like the most likely destinations for him to branch out.
Biggest Disappointment: Braun Strowman? I don't know. This is a tough one Hate picking someone to fail but unless they give him back to play with Roman I don't see him showing off the same skills as he did this year.
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Post by anotherspammer on Jan 5, 2018 10:36:38 GMT -5
I dunno who is likely be my #1 for 2018, but Bandido going to Dragon Gate is going to get a lot more eyes on him and would not be surprised to see him make a lot of lists this year.
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Post by problematic on Jan 5, 2018 19:22:35 GMT -5
I'll play along
1. I almost hate guessing who my number one will be because then it becomes a sort of self fulfilling prophecy trap where I'm afraid I will try to vote toward my preseason pick (abolish preseason college football polls!). For that reason I'm running away from the safe picks (WALTER, Roman, et) and I'm going to go with Minoru Suzuki. It may seem oddballish, but I actually think he is very well placed to have a banger of a year right now as he had the MOTN at the Dome, he's moving on to a feud with Tanahashi who has great chemistry with, and he always has some show stealers in the G1. If he can put together a resume of peak Suzuki classics that go deeper than 5 or 6 this year, I would strongly consider giving him the top slot so long as the rest of his year is just good.
2. I'm not going to Mania this year which will change my perspective some, but I would honestly guess that Roman will be my top guy at that point in the year based off of his current tv match run, and the fact that he's got his redemption match with Brock to look forward to at Mania.
3. Biggest Surprise I really think could be Joey Lynch. If he's given strong platforms like he was in the back half of this year with increasing frequency, I have faith that he will deliver at an extremely high level. The Style Battle/Evolve weekend is going to be a big one for him, and he and his brother are breaking into Black Label. I think he showed this year that he was as good as anyone when given the chances to wrestle opposite top talents. I expect this trend to continue and suspect he will become a guy on most peoples radars by the end of the year. As a bigger pick, I'll say that lucha will bounce back from having a weak year, and will end up being pretty darn good in 2018.
4. Biggest disappointment I sort of agree with Braun in that I don't think he's likely to have as good an in ring year this year as he did last year, but Sam already went there so I won't. Instead I'm going to say Naito. Not entirely because of the loss to Okada possibly taking away steam, but also because I think he's about to be paired with Jericho and that's a black hole of interest for me personally. I just feel like he's a guy who could end up being kept away from a lot of the better wrestlers in his promotion for most of the year.
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Post by xoanafacetico on Jan 6, 2018 13:22:45 GMT -5
1) Takeshita. Only way that he loses momentum will be a lack of fresh challengers and they already just fed him to Ikemen for a guaranteed KO-D match and everyone in Shuten-doji is a new challenger. Plus he & Endo can do no wrong together.
2) Probably Sabre just because WM weekend is made for him, he SEEMS like a lock to get something from the NJ show in Long Beach, and it's not like any indie is going to stop booking him on top.
3) It depends on his non-EVOLVE bookings but if Anthony Henry, who I totally love, gets steam then he could be top ten.
4) Miyahara if he stays away from the TC for too long. They can ride a triangle of Doering-Shuji-Suwama for a while if they want.
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Post by Dante, The Voc on Jan 10, 2018 13:40:55 GMT -5
Johnny Gargano for sure is set for a ridiculous year. Between NXT Title pursuits and the ever-looming DIY feud, there's gonna be more than enough opportunity for him to show off in the ring (starting with his match on NXT in a couple weeks).
I think the usual suspects will probably be up there after Mania weekend. Gargano, Naito, Hiromu, Keith Lee, Roman, etc. are all going to have impressive résumés at that point.
Most of Lucha Underground's roster are probably going to skyrocket this year compared to last. Something about Lucha brings out the best in a lot of wrestlers, not to mention it's more exposure and they're taping and releasing in 2018, making everything eligible. Dante Fox, Pentagon Dark, Mil Muertes, among others, are probably gonna have more well-rounded outings this year than last.
I'm afraid I don't know where Tyler Bate goes but down after this year. He's basically had his biggest opponents in Progress and his feud with Dunne in NXT was unbelievable. It's easy to see him go down from here if he doesn't have the right opponents to work with.
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Post by armsofsleep on Feb 23, 2018 12:33:48 GMT -5
#1 Wrestler: Hiromu Takahashi. Not like he's my number one right now or anything, but if he can just bounce between junior tags with BUSHI and fighting for the junior title, plus if he comes to play for the BOSJ, he will be there. He was very very high for me this year without doing much at all for the second half of the year.
#1 wrestler after Mania weekend: Zack Sabre Jr. Been killer for EVOLVE so far and will continue to be fucking great I imagine.
Biggest Surprise: Templario. I expect he will be the Soberano Jr. of 2018, sort of picking up some big spots and getting more votes as a result. It's CMLL so it's always a crapshoot but this is a good guess.
Biggest Disappointment: Yeah, Braun feels like cheating I guess. Nagata as well, since he won't have the G1 to buoy him like it did this year. I'll go out on a limb and say Tanahashi. I think he'll still have good stuff, but as he transitions into being a part time guy, his days as a top 50 candidate for ballots seem numbered.
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ed
Junior Member
Posts: 57
Pronoun: He/Him
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Post by ed on Feb 24, 2018 7:18:16 GMT -5
#1 Wrestler: Walter. Already I've got him at #1 just a shade ahead of Roman for the first two months of the year and I suspect those two will fight it out all year on my sheet. I don't see how Walter is going to slow down with his overseas opportunities as well as killing it in Ringkampf tags in wXw.
#1 wrestler after Mania weekend: It'll probably still be Walter, but Thatcher has a real chance because he also has an interesting mania line up on paper and has BOTH Ambition and 16 Carat tournaments coming up in March. He'd only have to go deep into one of those tournaments to put himself out in front on my list before mania week.
Biggest Surprise: So far a guy I've been really surprised by how much I've enjoyed him is Cody in his feud with the Golden Lovers, I didn't even consider him for a second on the 2017 list, but he has a real shot this time around. Minoru Suzuki and Seth Rollins have had better 2018s so far than I was expecting too.
Biggest Disappointment: Ilja Dragunov feels like a cheat answer but it's the truth, it's only been a couple of months and I miss him dearly. Nagata too is a good shout, no G1 means virtually no chance of making my list this year. If AJ Styles has the misfortune of being on Smackdown for another full year, then he likely won't make my top 50.
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Post by notoriousgib on Feb 24, 2018 10:21:50 GMT -5
#1: Zack Sabre Jr. He was my #1 last year and is probably in my top 3 so far this year. He's my favorite wrestler period so I'm already pretty biased towards him, plus he's not locked down to one promotion and works a ton of places that I regularly watch where he's on the top of the cards. Few people aside from like WALTER and Riddle have that advantage. If I keep watching more non-NJPW puro then Ishikawa definitely has a shot too.
#1 after Mania Weekend: I feel like WALTER is gonna have a huge Mania weekend so I'd give him a good shot at reaching my #1 around that time. If Roman keeps up with his pace of having great matches on TV he's got a good shot too. I don't know what his feuds will look like post-Mania so he could come down a bit but I expect him to have strong showings through the next few months. Definitely could get to my #1 at some point.
Biggest Surprise: Will ditto Cody. I've been on the anti-Cody train for a while but I've been legitimately impressed with him this year so far, and I don't think it's just because he's working with Ibushi and Omega. I will refrain from outright stating "Cody is good now" until I see more hot matches with him that don't feature Golden Lovers.
Biggest Disappointment: I was pretty high on Travis Banks last year, but a good part of that is because I really enjoyed SPPT. With him as PROGRESS champ, I'm assuming we're gonna get less of him being able to be a really good tag worker who can also have great singles matches, and more overbooked PROGRESS main events. Can also see Okada dropping a bit for me unless something happens to freshen up his title reign a bit.
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Post by nakamurdahh on Mar 7, 2018 14:26:37 GMT -5
#1 Wrestler: Kenny Omega. Not really a stretch here, but we are looking at some mighty payoffs in the Golden Lovers/Bullet Club angle, whatever he does at All-In, and hopefully he gets another shot at Okada this year. This guess is kind of cheating because of the angles that have been set-up, but also factor in the match he had with Jericho, and I think Kenny has another outstanding year. Honorable Mention - Johnny Gargano, ZSJ, Roman Reigns
#1 wrestler after Mania weekend: WALTER. I was torn between him and Riddle, but like some of the above posts, I think people are going to be coming out of WM weekend feeling about WALTER the same way people felt about Keith Lee last year. Real fired up for him vs Darby). Couple this with the momentum from 16 Carat weekend earlier in the month, and it seems like an easy pick. Honorable Mention - Joey Janela (hyped for him vs Penta)
Biggest Surprise: Joey Janela. I'm kind of a honk for Janela anyways, but he is going to finish higher on people's lists this year than I think most might expect. He had some nice matches last year (the Sammy Guevara PWG match was one of my personal favorites), and all-around, he grew exponentially as a performer from January through December. He won't ever be the most technically gifted wrestler, but provided he stays healthy, he is turning into one of the better story tellers in the ring. His match vs David Starr kicked the year off proper. Honorable Mention - Dean Ambrose (this may be more hopeful than anything but I am hoping some time off will rejuvenate him when he is back)
Biggest Disappointment: Velveteen Dream. I get the benefit of posting this 2+ months into 2018, but I feel like after the Ally Black match, expectations might have gotten too high. Long term, he will no doubt be fine...he's athletic, young, and has outstanding presence in the ring and in an interview setting. 2019 might be his year, but I have a feeling we will look back at 2018 as a year with too high expectations. Honorable Mention - Tyler Bate (good call Dante)
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