Stock Rising/Stock Falling

[EnviousStupid]

Sami Zayn and Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli were #88 and #87 respectively back in 2016. I can't imagine them not making at least a slight jump after another 10 years of active work. Claudio especially. 

[Dav'oh]

I reckon Sami (whom I love) has regressed as a worker doing WWE formula matches; certainly, he's no El Generico. Not that I blame him.

Claudio in 2015 is exactly the same as Claudio in 2025, to mine eyes. Less bangers (god I hate that term), maybe.

I wont be going anywhere near them, but then I'll be avoiding most currently-active wrestlers.

[Gramsci]

Yes, I don't feel like these last ten years have served them as well as other candidates. Between 2010 and 2015, they were both at the peak of their powers, and I think they benefited from that in the 2016 voting. Their tag team runs with Steen and Hero, respectively, and their individual careers, especially in PWG and later WWE/NXT, boosted their cases.

I feel like they're two wrestlers with tremendous potential, some of my all-time favorites, who wasted their best years in WWE. And yes, there's an argument that they both made the most of the minimum in that environment, and that Zayn explored other unknown avenues with his heel turn, but I don't know if "doing the best they can within the crap they're given in WWE" is something that interests me too much compared to other candidates who were able to tap into their full potential. 

Claudio's run in AEW has been a bit disappointing for me, I was expecting something more like his 2012-2014 version in WWE and not so much "Superman Cesaro" from 2016-2017.

[Ma Stump Puller]

On 7/12/2025 at 6:57 AM, EnviousStupid said:

Sami Zayn and Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli were #88 and #87 respectively back in 2016. I can't imagine them not making at least a slight jump after another 10 years of active work. Claudio especially. 

Claudio might make a small push down the list but I think he's still going to be around the 80s slot regardless. A consequence of him being content to just be a solid mid-card tag specialist, perhaps. Sami I feel like might be viewed more positively since he did have a incredibly big babyface stint in the 2020's 

 

 

 

[DMJ]

Zayn has added plenty of things to his resume since 2016.

* Obviously all the Bloodline stuff, but, if you're just looking for matches, the match against Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber 2023 and then w/ Owens vs. The Usos at WrestleMania XXXIX. To be honest, those might even be the best matches of the entire storyline.

* I rated the Streetfight tag match with Owens vs. Judgment Day from Backlash 2023 as one of the best matches of that year

* The Gunther/Gable storyline, which I'll admit to not having seen every minute of (I'm not a weekly TV viewer), but I dug the match vs. Gunther at WrestleMania XL and vs. Gable at Clash at the Castle

* The Johnny Knoxville match and storyline

* Somewhat underrated ladder match vs. Styles and Jeff Hardy at Clash of the Champions 2020

* vs. Danielson at WrestleMania XXXVI (I really feel like Zayn and Danielson were among the best at altering and adapting to the Covid-era empty studio style, while too many wrestlers simply did their usual shtick and forgot that, without an audience, you really look like an idiot.)

 

[Tetsujin]

Both were mostly wasted by WWE, yet still I would say Claudio was far more consistent than Sami in these ten years, and even reached higher highs (no Sami match is better than the ROH Eddie Kingston match). Sami did literally nothing valuable from 2017 to 2022 (besides the Knoxville match) when he joined the Bloodline. He's been really good consistently since then, not on an all time level run but a very respectful veteran run nonetheless. At this moment I would still vote for both, but yeah, both their stocks, specially Zayn's, have fallen a bit. I considered them top 50 locks and now they're top 75 contenders.

[Boss Rock]

Not sure where I stand on Sami but Claudio is flirting with top 50 status for me. His WWE run really stood out to me due to being such a versatile tag worker, but I think in AEW he's had far more opportunities where he's delivered as a singles and multi-man wrestler. And he's just as good as he was 10 years ago.

[Tetsujin]

Some recent rises and falls, for now I'll focus on current guys still wrestling:

Randy Orton. Randy keeps rising up, the guy's consistency and longevity at this point are undeniable to me, and what most people would say are his worse years/run don't bother me at all. It's pretty surprising how fun to watch he is on any random tv match he's in, and how I can watch something like his Kane feud in 2012, which sounds like nightmare fuel on paper, and actually enjoy their matches. He also has great and even some excellent matches throughout 2004 and... 2025. Definitely one of the guys I think has benefited the most from the WWE style of workrate. Definitely much more than Cena, although without as much highs as him. Top 50 contender atm.

Roman Reigns is falling down and he's not a lock for the lower part of my list anymore. Too much bullshit surrounding him this last couple of years, and he's the forefront of a style of wrestling I personally despise, even if I acknowledge (ha) his talent to pull it off. He still has very good performances when he cares, and I enjoy the middle portion of most of his matches because him on top is very fun to watch, but I can't stand the overacting, he definitely cannot carry lesser opponents, and the bullshit melodramatic booking and finisher spamming gets me out completely. Lack of overall volume of work doesn't help either. Not a lock anymore, but he could still make it.

(You can mostly say the same about Rollins, but he wasn't a contender to my list to begin with).

Tully Blanchard. He's now a lock for my list. I honestly believe that, if he had the push and chances Flair got, he would have overdelivered as well as Flair did (not saying they're exact clones character wise nor in terms of in ring style, though). He has that *something* that makes every single one of his matches and performances something remarkable, at the very least. He stands out to me among guys like Arn, Windham, Dundee or some of his other peers I've seen getting more praise than him sometimes. He has so much flavour, iykwim. Top 75 contender.

Jon Moxley is climbing some spots as well. Now that Bryan is 99% gone, he feels like the only one left from his generation of indie stars still adding to his case at their peak. Like, you can always trust Joe or Claudio or Rollins or Kingston to put on a good match or even something great from time to time, but Mox is the only one I can see putting on one of the best matches of his career as soon as next week. The recent All In performance is a masterpiece at balancing brutality, cowardice, confidence and vulnerability, in my humble opinion. And his whole Death Rider run is filled with super strong character work, and a way of making the babyfaces earn their stuff, that I believe will be far more appreciated as we revisit it over the years (yeah the booking was mostly shit, not defending that). Top 75 contender as well, although, due to him still being at the peak of his powers, I will keep him on the lower side of my list to let people with more closure on their careers have an advantage.

John Cena is obviously falling down due to his atrocious current heel run. It's not just that the run is bad, it's the fact that it is bad despite being something fans were demanding for ten years or so. You cannot fumble a chance this good for a career pay off as big as this. Yet he's doing it. There's no soul behind everything he's doing. He's still on my top 100, but a bit lower. Top 75 contender atm.