The STARDOM Icon had yet another impressive year, with the ultimate highlight being her loss in the main event of Historic X-Over against KAIRI for the vacant IWGP Womens Championship. 20 50 100 All Time Select Date. Weve reached a point where its probably time we start thinking about whether Sheamus is arguably the best WWE television wrestler of all time. Her feud throughout the year with Giulia was one of the very best in wrestling, with their match on the final night of the 5STAR Grand Prix being the perfect way to top it off. Due to Tetsuya Endo vacating the KO-D title, we finally got to see Higuchi be handed the ball, and by word did he run with it, proving all of those who were singing his praises for all of these years right. A year spent in many places not normally on the wider radar, but a year that rarely disappointed when you sought him out. After a memorable year in and out of the ring, who stands among the best? Regardless of skill, a wrestler can't enter the WOTY conversation if they aren't regularly producing WOTY-level work. His matches always tell a story, and he is versatile in his offense, which also includes more traditional aggression. 2022 was good for Giulia, but 2023 will be special for the Donna del Mondo leader. (SF), Break glass in case of emergency. Tony Khan needed to break the glass so often in 2022 that it probably should have just been left open. She stands out amongst various wrestlers while performing. Matches with Risa Sera, Utami Hayashishita, and both bouts with Giulia highlight what everyone should watch if they havent been watching. There's no other way to put it. 5. Top 25 Best Bollywood Films of 2022 a list of 25 titles 25 Best Dancers of Indian Cinema a list of 25 people . Rich keeps an eye on the full world of wrestling with an emphasis on America and Japan. He made a loud and resounding sound in 2022. His new high-flying style has been helped by a new look and increased charisma. When smashing one aspect of the wrestling business just isn't enough. John Smith. Top three matches of 2022: Revolution vs. Bryan Danielson; Forbidden Door vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi; Full Gear vs. CM Punk. New Japans 50th anniversary was built around Okada. Hes still at the stage in his career where he gives 110% even on small shows and can have a great match against any type of style, including juniors, shooters, and technical types. Top three matches of 2022: ROH Supercard of Honor vs. He wrestled Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH title, his clash against Wheeler in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament last spring was the match of the night that evennig on Dynamite, and there was also a superb encounter with Will Ospreay. Ospreay looked like a star, which he undoubtedly is, and he also made Finlay look like a beast (which he is). During MIyaharas reign, AJPW immediately saw an increase in business and produced many more great singles matches versus the two previous years, during which the company seemed hesitant to put the Triple Crown back on him while Jake Lee got his chance to run with the ball. But without looking too far ahead, it will be fun to see Cena back in a WWE ring. WWE Almost Brought This 'Failed Experiment' Back, Ex-WWE Star "Couldn't Give Two Sh*ts" About Returning, Dax Harwood Reveals AEW "Super Group" That Was Discussed, AEW Revolution 2023: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True, The Miz Shares INCREDIBLE WrestleMania Pitch That WWE Turned Down, Current AEW Star: CM Punk Is Not A Locker Room Cancer, Report: Vince McMahon Behind Top WWE WrestleMania 39 Match, Major Update On WWE's Next Saudi Arabia PLE, NXT Star "Scared Of Getting Lost" On WWE's Main Roster, Triple H "Very Happy" With Failed Vince McMahon Prodigy's WWE Progress. His work as both Brave Gate and Twin Gate Champion this year was superb. . Ian Hamilton: Writer for 411Mania and BackBodyDrop.com and an expert in European wrestling to complement a well-rounded knowledge of the wrestling world. (GDT), One step forward, one step back for the breakout British star? Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) is the richest WWE wrestler in 2022, with an approximate net worth of $381 million. 6 Rising - Stardom. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. The more things change . He did everything in the ring youd want for the promotions champion. History will regard 2022 as one of professional wrestling's most eventful years. The smoothest high-flier in history, Fenixs effortless gliding and maneuvering through the air makes the otherwise impossible look routine. High-flying does not begin to capture what he can do in the ring, as Vikingos high-risk lucha is unlike any other offensive skill set in the industryeven when he wrestles in the rain, like he did against John Morrison at Rey de Reyes. Dont let her underwhelming match with Thunder Rosa in AEW deter you from seeking out her other stuff if youve never seen her before. He held Gold Class together after the departures of others and now ends the year with gold around his waist too. . He should win the Triple Crown in 2023. This was similar for Belair, who dealt with a roster that for parts of the year was missing Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Alexa Bliss. She capped off the year winning the World of Stardom Championship, as she goes into 2022 as the top wrestler in the promotion. One of the beauties of the list in previous years was being able to highlight names that a reader may not be aware of. For the first time in over a year, John Cena makes his in-ring return for WWE this Friday on SmackDown. American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling, Rich Swann finished at the 10th rank in the PWI 2021 rankings. Name. Her skills, performance, and her attitude are pure beauty. Wrestlers' importance to their home promotions and the business as a whole also factored, as well as their significance to the year's wider wrestling discussions. In September, he became the promotions first champion by defeating Flamita in one of the best world title matches of the year. (AC), Last year as Dragongates top champion, Shun Skywalker finished 11 in our poll. (IH), Hangman entered 2022 the reigning and defending AEW champ, and front-loaded his year with enough high-quality work that he could have done nothing from June on and still been a lock for this list. Brief runs with the OTT tag titles and the first NJPW STRONG tag champions were the precursor to them hitting New Japan proper in November, followed by being agonizingly close to winning the World Tag League in December. A true master of the craft, Rollins is a throwback who could thrive in any era, and he is a joy to watch on a weekly basis. Outside of AEWs walls, running the BOLA bracket in impressive fashion before winning the PWG title from Bandido, and then delivering great defenses against the likes of Konosuke Takeshita, shows this is just the start for Daniel Garcia, and Ive no doubt well see him jump up many places on this list in 2023. Not only did he have great matches against Rising HAYATO, Minoru Tanaka, and Hikaru Sato, but thanks to his presence, junior heavyweight tags in All Japans midcard are becoming must-watch. (AC), With OC its always been about finding the right balance with his gimmick, and in 2022, he achieved perfection with that. Top three matches of 2022: MLW Azteca vs. Aramis; Rey de Reyes vs. John [Superstar] Morrison; TripleMana vs. Rey Fenix. The one knock against Aoyagi is that the company seemed to have nothing for him during the second half of the year. Please log in again. Was consistently the best in-ring amongst AEWs Womens division, and for all the talk of others having the star power its Hayter who truly comes across like a star in an organic and meaningful way. He is a retired professional wrestler, television star, and actor. In between, Ospreay had standout performances against the likes of Tetsuya Naito, Zack Sabre Jr., Shingo Takagi, Michael Oku, Orange Cassidy, Nick Wayne, Ricky Knight Jr., Mike Bailey, Jon Moxley, Blake Christian, Dax Harwood, and Titus Alexander among others. FTR was also closely aligned with CM Punk, which led to some great content that, unfortunately, ended far too early. mixed martial arts, Belgrade, wrestling, Serbia | 956 views, 24 likes, 3 loves, 3 comments, 13 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from IMMAF - International Mixed Martial Arts Federation: Which submission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The problem? Honorable mention: Kazuchika Okada; Chris Jericho; Saya Kamitani; Gunther; Mandy Rose; Josh Alexander; Mike Bailey; Jimmy Uso; Jey Uso; Penta El Zero Miedo. But despite the aimless booking at times, Aoyagi continued to be a part of some strong tag matches. On one of the few shows All Japan has had this year with cheering crowds, his fan reactions rivaled that of All Japan ace Kento Miyahara. 8. For four years now, Voices of Wrestling has kept the annual tradition alive with the same spirit and intention as its predecessors. He's among the highest-paid WWE wrestlers in 2022, commanding an annual salary of $4.5 million. 9. The Most Compelling Voice In Wrestling Media. Aleksandr Medved. Mandy Rose via Instagram. Of those 33 singles matches, 2828!currently have a 7+ rating on Cagematch.net. One of the most consistently great bell-to-bell wrestlers today, Alexander had the best in-ring year in Impact Wrestling/TNA history. Imeda Chincharauli 4. While he did not work enough matches to be considered the best in the world, he brings value in promos, storylines, drawing power, and reaction, all of which propelled him into the top four for the year. A promo by Moxley is an intense, imaginative scene. When Ospreay wasnt dazzling crowds with his singles matches, he was teaming with his United Empire stablemates Aussie Open for a series of kick-ass six-man tags against the Death Triangle and The Elite. 4. (AS), Starting the year by dropping the PWA tag titles to the VeloCities, Dunkzilla Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher went nomadic, wrestling all over the globe. 11. With 47 matches under his belt for AEW in 2022, Mox was one of the promotions hardest workers. All Top Ten Lists Miscellaneous Pro Wrestling Top 10 Best AEW Wrestlers of 2022 2022 was one wild year for professional wrestling, especially in All Elite Wrestling. (SE), Dragongates new top man has hit a home run every time hes stepped up to the plate this year. To put Ospreays year into proper context, our #2 finisher, Kazuchika Okada, had two matches finish with a 9+ rating on Cagematch.net. (SE), In a promotion largely dominated by much older wrestlers and mostly devoid of larger-than-life characters, Kenoh stands out in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Putting Roman Reigns fourth on this list, especially ahead of Will Ospreay, was the single hardest decision in the top 10. "The Queen" is considered one of the best pro wrestlers in WWE today. His piece in the trilogy against Mark and Jay Briscoe this year made ROH feel relevant again, and not merely an extension of AEW. Amanda Rose Saccomanno. On top of returning to his top singles form, Miyahara was also a part of several high-level tags throughout the year, ending with winning the Real World Tag League with Takuya Nomura. Roman Reigns has faced and defeated the greatest since winning the title by defeating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. Those are two completely different matches, but Moxley is versatile and he can highlight opponents in a number of ways. Beating Shingo for the IWGP World title on the first night of WrestleKingdom suggested thatd be the case, while incredible defenses over Will Ospreay, Zack Sabre Jr., and perennial rival Tetsuya Naito teased us into thinking that itd be a straightforward year of Okada dominanceuntil Jay White shockingly dethroned him at Dominion. The manner in which Ospreay took the punishment from Finlay was a sight to behold, and that match will be looked upon fondly as Finlay continues his rise to stardom. 40-31. Josh Alexander. He is also the reigning AEW TNT Champion. She came first in the 90+kg women left senior women category beating Antonina of Kazakhstan, Merve of Turkiye and Zanna Cingule of Latvia. 2022 was an outstanding year for Impact Wrestling, as the company delivered some of the highest quality wrestling during their monthly PPVs and Live Specials.Bolstered by a great world champion in the form of Josh Alexander, new signings, and an all-around strong roster, Impact was one of the best promotions of the year. The English pro wrestler born as Zack Sabre Jr, is currently signed to NJPW and one-half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions alongside fellow Suzuki-gun stablemate Taichi. World Cup MBTI K-Pop LOL Influencer Food Anime Sports Gaming Crypto Entertainment Music Movies NSFW Leaderboards . Fortunately, it appears he will make a full recovery. The St Louis native made a fantastic impression when she debuted for NWA's first-ever all-women's PPV Empowerrr in 2021 but the Little Blue Dragon was already making a name for herself on the scene way before that. Hogan is the most versatile wrestling star worldwide and one of the most successful wrestlers in the 1980s. Tag team wrestling across the globe had a banner year in 2022, but no team . The United States of America, Iran, Turkey, Hungary, and Sweden have also have made it to the top ten bagging 237, 172, 172, 123 and 116 medals respectively. And maneuvering through the air makes the otherwise impossible look routine best wrestlers in the world 2022 one aspect of the wrestling just. Just been left open look routine we start thinking about whether Sheamus is arguably the?... 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