Brian Elliott Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 I thought I might release the FSM 50 list in the hope of generating some further discussion on Pro Wrestler of the Year. This list was chosen by contributors to Fighting Spirit Magazine. The criteria for the FSM 50 states: “Quality of matches in the period November 2014 to December 2015 was the main criteria in considering FSM's Top 50 Pro Wrestlers of the Year. Such bouts, however, were not merely judged on workrate or technical skill, but also performance on the biggest stage, ability to work the crowd, and quality of storylines.” The list was as follows: 1. AJ Styles 2. Kevin Owens 3. Kazuchika Okada 4. Hiroshi Tanahashi 5. John Cena 6. Sasha Banks 7. Roderick Strong 8. Zack Sabre Jr 9. Kota Ibushi 10. Matt Sydal 11. Brock Lesnar 12. Chris Hero 13. Shinsuke Nakamura 14. Seth Rollins 15. Yuji Okabayashi 16. Tomohiro Ishii 17. Cesaro 18. Daisuke Sekimoto 19. Masato Yoshino 20. Will Ospreay 21. Finn Bálor 22. Akira Tozawa 23. The Young Bucks 24. KUSHIDA 25. Timothy Thatcher 26. Shingo Takagi 27. Ricochet/Prince Puma 28. Kyle O’Reilly 29. Tommy End 30. Neville 31. Pentagón Jr. 32. Hirooki Goto 33. Fenix 34. HARASHIMA 35. Katsuyori Shibata 36. Michael Elgin 37. Drew Galloway 38. Roman Reigns 39. La Sombra 40. Meiko Satomura 41. "Speedball" Mike Bailey 42. Tomoaki Honma 43. Jay Lethal 44. Jun Akiyama 45. Bayley 46. Jay Briscoe 47. "The Villain" Marty Scurll 48. Dragon Lee 49. Mark Haskins 50. Volador Jr. The complete article, with notes on each competitor and much more, is in Issue 127 of Fighting Spirit Magazine, available in print and online at www.tinyurl.com/FSM127 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 Can someone explain Cesaro's 2015 to me? I'm not disbelieving, I just haven't watched much of the TV and can't think of anything of his that's been talked about. I see him here and on people's Most Outstanding ballots, and I'm curious as to what I've missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 Can someone explain Cesaro's 2015 to me? I'm not disbelieving, I just haven't watched much of the TV and can't think of anything of his that's been talked about. I see him here and on people's Most Outstanding ballots, and I'm curious as to what I've missed. He wouldn't place at the top of my list this year, but the standouts for me were Raw vs. Cena twice over the summer and Reigns I believe after Survivor Series. Also a number of good tags with Kidd earlier in the year against the Usos & New Day. Its a real shame Kidd got hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exposer Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 It's probably consistency more than anything else. Anytime he was on TV, he was still pretty great. The Tyson Kidd tag team had a great six month run with several really good tags with New Day, the Usos, and others. He has a match with Sin Cara from Feb 2015 that is incredible. It's on Main Event. He also had the two really great Cena US Title matches. Otherwise, he just had solid outings in pretty much everything else he was in. He'd probably make the back half of my top 10 from 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Can someone explain Cesaro's 2015 to me? I'm not disbelieving, I just haven't watched much of the TV and can't think of anything of his that's been talked about. I see him here and on people's Most Outstanding ballots, and I'm curious as to what I've missed. It was a quiet 2015 by the standard of his own ability. People will remember excellent Raw matches against John Cena and Roman Reigns, certainly, and aside from that he was excellent in just about every situation in which they put him, including in the Tyson Kidd tag team that was broken up by injury. He looked like a superstar at WrestleMania, too. Another year of "what could have been..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I'm baffled by that level of love for Kevin Owens. The Cena series, which I guess would be his signature work for the year, was a study in how limited his ideas are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I'm baffled by that level of love for Kevin Owens. The Cena series, which I guess would be his signature work for the year, was a study in how limited his ideas are. People did love those matches. I really enjoyed the first two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsem43 Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 No Io Shirai or Kairi Hojo? Meiko just looks like a token joshi pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 As with any list the criteria is key. I have yet to read the article that explains the criteria, so I don't want to criticize too intensely. That said I struggle to see any criteria where Owens is someone I could see that high. Even granting for the difference in opinion I may have with some about the quality of certain matches, I don't really see anyone rating him THAT high as an in ring talent, he didn't burst off the page as an undeniable, top tier star, nor is he clear draw. At times he was among the most over people in the WWE, and maybe still is, but he's not New Day over or even close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMick Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Can someone explain Cesaro's 2015 to me? I'm not disbelieving, I just haven't watched much of the TV and can't think of anything of his that's been talked about. I see him here and on people's Most Outstanding ballots, and I'm curious as to what I've missed. Jimmy, didn't you write a glowing reviewl of Cesaro v Rusev v Owens (on Raw) during the summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Oh of course! Well there you go, there's one good match of his I did see. And thanks everyone else for filling me in. Keen to watch Cesaro/Cara when I get the chance. My God...I absolutely loved that match. Honestly I'd have it at #3 for the whole year behind the girls. I lost all of my shit over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 As with any list the criteria is key. I have yet to read the article that explains the criteria, so I don't want to criticize too intensely. That said I struggle to see any criteria where Owens is someone I could see that high. Even granting for the difference in opinion I may have with some about the quality of certain matches, I don't really see anyone rating him THAT high as an in ring talent, he didn't burst off the page as an undeniable, top tier star, nor is he clear draw. At times he was among the most over people in the WWE, and maybe still is, but he's not New Day over or even close. The criteria was posted in the OP: Quality of matches in the period November 2014 to December 2015 was the main criteria in considering FSM's Top 50 Pro Wrestlers of the Year. Such bouts, however, were not merely judged on workrate or technical skill, but also performance on the biggest stage, ability to work the crowd, and quality of storylines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 No Io Shirai or Kairi Hojo? Meiko just looks like a token joshi pick. I thought she did well to get in given the "performance on the biggest stage" criteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Frankly, I find it charming that super-workrate lists still exist in 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Frankly, I find it charming that super-workrate lists still exist in 2016. It's amusing because some of the feedback has been asking how some of the WWE talent got so high up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 The top WWE guys: Owens, Cena, Lesnar, Rollins, Cesaro, Balor, Neville all had pretty workrate-y years. This was the year of John Cena, Indy Superstar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Elliott Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 So both workrate and sports entertainment are covered. That's probably as good as we could've hoped to achieve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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