|
Post by bossrock on Sept 27, 2017 15:23:21 GMT -5
Coming out of Wrestlemania, A.J. was in the early running for number 1. A match of the year candidate against Cena at the Rumble, iron man performance in the Elimination Chamber, very good TV matches with Cena, Wyatt, and Harper, and a surprisingly great match with Shane McMahon gave him a stronger case than most. But boy, did the Kevin Owens feud drag him down. While I do think the Backlash and Summerslam matches are underrated, everything else was pretty unremarkable and we were no longer getting the same quality TV matches we got last year. I still think he's the best wrestler in the world on ability alone, but the actual in-ring results (which were usually not his fault) barely keep him in the top 10 and could see him slip further.
|
|
Michael
Full Member
Posts: 249
Pronoun: He/Him
|
Post by Michael on Sept 27, 2017 15:26:56 GMT -5
I've still got AJ at #5 and he's done nothing of note since the Shane McMahon match. Goes to show how incredible that 1st quarter of the year was for him.
He and Owens had no chemistry and the feud just kept going and going and going AND even when they had good matches, things still went incredibly wrong.
You had the botched finish at Battleground. They had a good "street fight" at a house show in Baton Rouge and half the thing was improvised cause a table broke long before it was supposed to break.
AJ is still great but others are going to end up lapping him before we get to January 1st.
|
|
|
Post by Charles on Sept 27, 2017 15:29:38 GMT -5
Got AJ around #10 - Owens feud went way too long and just killed his 2017 momentum. But damn if that Shane match at Wrestlemania wasn't fantastic
|
|
|
Post by armsofsleep on Sept 29, 2017 12:49:12 GMT -5
Hope he gets something fresh for the end of the year. I didn't adore the Cena match, but I loved a lot of his TV stuff like the Ambrose, Harper, Orton, Gable, and even Ziggler matches. I was cold on the Shane feud as a whole but the finale delivered big time. Since then, I really disliked the Owens feud and he just hasn't had the opportunities (yet). Probably somewhere in my top 40 currently.
|
|
|
Post by thefourmanband on Sept 29, 2017 14:14:04 GMT -5
I thought Styles was going to run away with my number 1 spot this year after Hero got signed and wasn't being used in NXT, but here we are now and there's a good chance he doesn't even make my top 5. Hopefully moving away from the KO feud does him some favors
|
|
gagnewest
New Member
Posts: 41
Pronoun: He/Him
|
Post by gagnewest on Oct 18, 2017 14:43:44 GMT -5
He drops out of my top ten due to the long-fizzling Owens feud, which wasn't solely KO's (or Shane's) fault: it did take AJ a while to figure how to work face again. His solution – taking musculoskeletal-warping bumps even more frequently – is undoubtedly effective; I just wish it was toward less pyrrhic purposes than trying to get Corbin over again.
|
|
|
Post by bigdavesbigscoop on Oct 23, 2017 19:43:24 GMT -5
Between the triple threat at HIAC, the match with Balor, and the 6-man tag with the Shield, the month of October may have brought AJ back in contention for my #1 spot.
|
|
|
Post by exposer on Oct 25, 2017 20:25:41 GMT -5
AJ was the best wrestler in WWE from January to April. He sort of vanished from May to September, but SDLive's booking has been mostly terrible this year which has hurt him. The Kevin Owens series really damaged his year. He's having a resurgence though as he's been the best wrestler in WWE during October. He's a brilliant veteran who can have good matches with just about anyone. It's sort of hard to describe how good he is, but he manages to put his matches together extremely well. Of course, his bumping is all-time level. He will do very well by year's end for me & has a chance to jump pretty high if he continues to have a strong end through December.
|
|
Michael
Full Member
Posts: 249
Pronoun: He/Him
|
Post by Michael on Oct 26, 2017 8:36:45 GMT -5
Imagine how different the conversation about AJ is for the top spot if the Owens program is actually good.
|
|
|
Post by armsofsleep on Oct 26, 2017 12:13:38 GMT -5
I still think I'd have his year behind last year's, but yeah it's a lot closer. Imagine if they actually fulfilled the promise of him doing US title open challenges. Imagine a random cruiserweight coming out for a fire TV match. That could've really been something.
|
|
|
Post by bossrock on Oct 26, 2017 15:53:37 GMT -5
Had it not been for the Owens program, I'm confident he'd be at least top 5.
|
|
|
Post by problematic on Nov 1, 2017 16:49:05 GMT -5
He’s had a real run the last month. I thought his performance in the triple threat at HIAC was an all timer. Legit top 3 individual performance I’ve seen from anyone this year. Then the Corbin match was very good and Corbin has been poor for a while. Then the Finn match which I didn’t think was a MOTYC, but was a very good match and a superhuman AJ effort, happened. I’ve dug the Singh burials, but I admit I hope that he gets a few more big shots this year because a few late great tv matches and a MOTYC could land him as the top WWE guy on my ballot with the Roman health stuff and Braun booked into cringe for 2 straight ppvs.
|
|
|
Post by bossrock on Nov 14, 2017 0:16:43 GMT -5
His recent string of performances from Hell in a Cell, TLC, and most recently against Jinder could very well get A.J. back in the top 10. Glad he's been given another opportunity to prove he's arguably the best ring general in the world today.
|
|
|
Post by Dante, The Voc on Nov 25, 2017 9:04:21 GMT -5
Top 20? 25? AJ's a tough cookie to crack. He has a laundry list of great matches (Cena, the Chamber, Shane, Jinder) and a few other really good bouts, but he did little to nothing impressive from April to September. That's almost half the year. If the Owens feud banged, he'd be a no-brainer top 5. He's had a great year, but nowhere near the level of his 2016.
|
|
|
Post by brockobama on Jan 2, 2018 3:44:32 GMT -5
Sure, it's more than fair to say that I have a complicated relationship with AJ, but I just don't see it, guys. The Cena match at the Rumble is quite good but has some big problems. Liked him in the Chamber but he wasn't my favorite part of the match by a long shot. Hated the Shane match where most people liked it. Rest of the spring and the summer was a wash for me outside of a few hierarchy-based TV matches against the likes of Gable and Dillinger. Have no idea where this "all timer performance at HIAC" talk is coming from. Balor and Jinder matches did little for me. Lesnar match totally ruled, top 20 MOTY level stuff, something that is a fine accomplishment on the back end of a storied career, but if it's one of the scant highlights of his year I can't really justify having him on the top half of my list in 2017. Is there something I'm missing or does everybody just really like posting that otter gif every Tuesday?
|
|