So this was a wild week. Brody King stormed to the top of the NJPW ranks in an otherwise uneventful week for NJPW. In AEW, Sammy Guevara's personal life propelled him and Tay Conti far higher than they'd ever been before. CM Punk retook #1 and got back in the overall top 10. Kevin Owens had a bump after signing his new contract. Adam Page did rank but very low after his one hour match with Danielson, who also had a bump. Darby Allin ranked for the first time after a Twitter storm. For now I've reinstated Taichi as Emperor has provided a logical explanation for it. I've also taken the decision to remove inactives such as Omega and Moxley for a more up-to-date picture.

EDIT - So I missed the memo about Brody King signing for AEW. Since he is now an AEW, and until he debuts, inactive, talent, he's been removed. NJPW list has been updated and Takagi has benefitted coming in at #10.

Yo Todd, can you post the weekly ratings as they change in the thread so we see past ratings if we want? Down the line may do up some dataviz if there is enough data to do interesting things with it.

Sure man, I’ll do that.

Poor Tay finally breaks the list due to idiots harassing her online.

Interesting week this week. There continues to be remarkably little movement in WWE stars, although Edge did rank for the first time in a while this week. AEW was much more interesting. Sting almost made the overall top ten and Punk had a big jump after they teamed up. O'Reilly also had a big entry after his debut and Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara held on well, suggesting their scandal is far from over. Nyla Rose had what will likely be her biggest entry ever after a public spat with an asshole fan. Tiger Mask ascended the NJPW ranks, and Ospreay and White got on the board this week. SmackDown beat Raw. The main page has been updated and this entry is also listed permanently below for archival purposes.

---

Updated through 12/27


Worldwide

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Randy Orton
4. Rey Mysterio
5. Sasha Banks
6. Becky Lynch (+1)
7. CM Punk (+2)
8. The Miz
9. Nyla Rose (NEW)
10. Charlotte Flair
11. Sting (NEW)
12. Edge (+3)
13. Liv Morgan (-2)
14. AJ Styles (NEW)
15. Kyle O'Reilly (NEW)
16. Mandy Rose (NEW)
17. Carmella (+3)
18. Drew McIntyre (NEW)
19. Bobby Lashley (-3)
20. Chris Jericho


WWE

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Randy Orton
4. Rey Mysterio
5. Sasha Banks
6. Becky Lynch (+1)
7. The Miz (+1)
8. Charlotte Flair (+1)
9. Edge (NEW)
10. Liv Morgan


AEW

1. CM Punk
2. Nyla Rose (NEW)
3. Sting (NEW)
4. Kyle O'Reilly (NEW)
5. Chris Jericho (+1)
6. Tay Conti (-4)
7. Bryan Danielson (-4)
8. MJF (-3)
9. Sammy Guevara (-5)
10. Adam Cole (NEW)


NJPW

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi
2. Tiger Mask (+2)
3. Kazuchika Okada (-1)
4. KENTA (-1)
5. Tetsuya Naito
6. Taichi
7. Minoru Suzuki (+2)
8. El Desperado
9. Will Ospreay (NEW)
10. Jay White (NEW)


Shows

1. SmackDown
2. Raw
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

The final week of 2021 has been updated. Roman Reigns is inactive so several WWE wrestlers had a bump, and Lesnar took #1. If Reigns was eligible, he would still have won despite missing the PPV. There were several new entries including AJ Styles and Omos, who ranked for the first time. It was an all-WWE top 10, unsurprising given they just had a major PPV. Some very interesting findings on the AEW side of things, as it is clear now that Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara are benefitting hugely from their dalliance, particularly Conti who is closing on CM Punk at the top. Cody Rhodes' win propelled him to #4, and Jade Cargill and Mercedes Martinez ranked for the first time. Adam Page didn't rank and I doubt he would make the top 20 AEW stars. NJPW was very stable with Tanahashi dropping two places basically being the only change. SmackDown is extending its lead over Raw every week. Beginning now, I'll be doing this once a month. However, tomorrow I'll have an annual summary for the year of 2021 as a whole which should be interesting. The update to the main post is posted below for archival purposes.


--

Week of 1/3

Worldwide

1. Brock Lesnar (+1)
2. Randy Orton (+1)
3. Becky Lynch (+3)
4. Alexa Bliss (NEW)
5. Rey Mysterio (-1)
6. Seth Rollins (NEW)
7. The Miz (+1)
8. Edge (+4)
9. Sasha Banks (-4)
10. Liv Morgan (+3)
11. CM Punk (-4)
12. Charlotte Flair (-2)
13. Bobby Lashley (+6)
14. Maryse (NEW)
15. Beth Phoenix (NEW)
16. Tay Conti (NEW)
17. Omos (NEW)
18. Carmella (-1)
19. AJ Styles (NEW)
20. Big E (NEW)


WWE

1. Brock Lesnar (+1)
2. Randy Orton (+1)
3. Becky Lynch (+3)
4. Alexa Bliss (NEW)
5. Rey Mysterio (-1)
6. Seth Rollins (NEW)
7. The Miz
8. Edge (+1)
9. Sasha Banks (-4)
10. Liv Morgan


AEW

1. CM Punk
2. Tay Conti (+4)
3. Chris Jericho (+2)
4. Cody Rhodes (NEW)
5. Sting (-2)
6. Sammy Guevara (+3)
7. Mercedes Martinez (NEW)
8. Bryan Danielson (-1)
9. Jade Cargill (NEW)
10. MJF (-2)


NJPW

1. Tiger Mask (+1)
2. Kazuchika Okada (+1)
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (-2)
4. KENTA
5. Tetsuya Naito
6. Taichi
7. Minoru Suzuki
8. El Desperado
9. Will Ospreay
10. Jay White


Shows

1. SmackDown
2. Raw
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

If Hangman can't even break the top 20 in an all AEW list there is a problem with his booking. I don't know the amount of wrestlers under a AEW contract but your main champion should be at least one of the top ten most talked about person let alone top 20.

Double post

Ok, here we go. This is the comprehensive list of relevant wrestlers for the year of 2021. To qualify, wrestlers had to wrestle one match on a major promotion. Every wrestler that met this criteria was ranked, with the exception of Bad Bunny (would have been #1) and Shaquille O'Neal (would have been #3). It is possible I missed someone given the huge amount of change in the wrestling world this year, particularly within the top companies. As a one-off, list size is doubled. 40 wrestlers overall, and 20 from each major promotion, as well as 20 PPVs.

Annual List


Worldwide

1. John Cena
2. Roman Reigns
3. Brock Lesnar
4. Randy Orton
5. Goldberg
6. CM Punk
7. Rey Mysterio
8. Sasha Banks
9. Alexa Bliss
10. Paul Wight
11. Edge
12. Charlotte Flair
13. Bray Wyatt
14. Becky Lynch
15. The Miz
16. Seth Rollins
17. Braun Strowman
18. Jeff Hardy
19. Pat McAfee
20. Jon Moxley
21. Bobby Lashley
22. Drew McIntyre
23. Bryan Danielson
24. Chris Jericho
25. Carmella
26. Bayley
27. Asuka
28. AJ Styles
29. Bianca Belair
30. Sting
31. Mandy Rose
32. Finn Bálor
33. Lana
34. Liv Morgan
35. Nia Jax
36. The Bloodline
37. Kenny Omega
38. Rhea Ripley
39. Sheamus
40. Eva Marie


WWE

1. John Cena
2. Roman Reigns
3. Brock Lesnar
4. Randy Orton
5. Goldberg
6. Rey Mysterio
7. Sasha Banks
8. Alexa Bliss
9. Edge
10. Charlotte Flair
11. Bray Wyatt
12. Becky Lynch
13. The Miz
14. Seth Rollins
15. Braun Strowman
16. Jeff Hardy
17. Pat McAfee
18. Bobby Lashley
19. Drew McIntyre
20. Carmella


AEW

1. CM Punk
2. Paul Wight
3. Jon Moxley
4. Bryan Danielson
5. Chris Jericho
6. Sting
7. Kenny Omega
8. Cody Rhodes
9. Adam Cole
10. Matt Hardy
11. Christian Cage
12. Miro
13. Andrade El Idolo
14. MJF
15. Malakai Black
16. Britt Baker
17. Darby Allin
18. Dustin Rhodes
19. Jungle Boy
20. Ruby Soho


NJPW

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi
2. KENTA
3. Kazuchika Okada
4. Kota Ibushi
5. Jay White
6. Minoru Suzuki
7. Taichi
8. Tetsuya Naito
9. Buddy Matthews
10. Will Ospreay
11. Tiger Mask
12. El Desperado
13. Shingo Takagi
14. Hiromu Takahashi
15. TJP
16. Lance Archer
17. Doc Gallows
18. Karl Anderson
19. JONAH
20. Katsuyori Shibata


Major Shows

1. WrestleMania
2. Royal Rumble
3. SummerSlam
4. Money in the Bank
5. WrestleMania: Backlash
6. Survivor Series
7. Fastlane
8. Hell in a Cell
9. Elimination Chamber
10. Extreme Rules
11. Crown Jewel
12. Revolution
13. All Out
14. Double or Nothing
15. Full Gear
16. Takeover: Stand & Deliver
17. Takeover: In Your House
18. Bound for Glory
19. Slammiversary
20. Wrestle Kingdom


Weekly Shows

1. SmackDown
2. Raw
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

So, a few thoughts. First it's weird how things bunch together on these charts. I'm aware of a contradiction in the PPV rankings where AEW shows have dropped. I don't know why that is, perhaps they rejigged the calculation of it, I don't know. But all AEW PPVs ranked below WWE PPVs and above Takeovers.

First of all, look at Paul Wight! :lol: In truth we it not for Punk's crazy pop culture level spike when he returned, Paul Wight would be #1 easily which is incredible to me. I like the female representation in WWE, I think it shows you can make stars out of these women if you feature them equivalent to the men which is advice AEW could heed. Both companies have the same problem, they are struggling to build new stars to match, or really come anywhere close to, existing stars from past eras. You look at Bray Wyatt and you have to think there was a major breakdown in communication for him to be let go. Very strange indeed. One tag team on the list also surprised me although the Young Bucks were very close and may have been 21/22 for AEW. The one person that stands out as a much bigger star than people give her credit for is Charlotte Flair, who is top ten in WWE, even inclusive of all the part-timers. If I saw those metrics I'd push her too. Hopefully AEW can get some of those MJFs, Britt Bakers, Darby Allins, above the ex-WWE guys next year.

Is AEW's world champion nowhere on the overall 2021 list, or am I just not seeing Hangman?

Proof IMO that they should've swapped the belt to Daniel Bryan.

He's nowhere. I would note a few things going against him:

1. He is a genuine homegrown talent. So the WWE fanbase, by the far the biggest in pro wrestling, hasn't been exposed to him.

2. He is an upstanding dude as far as we know, free of any sort of scandal

3. He won the title at a rough time of year for wrestling even though AEW was hot at the time

He should be above Darby Allin and Jungle Boy though. But he doesn't really have a 'thing'. Darby is his own inimitable brand. Jungle Boy attracts the female audience. Adam Page is the everyman, I don't know if it lends itself very well to this sort of metric.

You also have to remember that AEW serves its core fanbase first and foremost and tries to attract new viewers secondarily. So you may see big differences between a metric like this and crowd reaction.

I will note on Hangman generally, and I've mentioned this before, that it was always gamble what they did with him. To book him like a loser for months in order to facilitate a redemption arc is great in theory and it was enjoyable, but when it's all done and dusted, you're left with a champion that for most of his run has been a loser. And the result is that he just doesn't feel like a big star. I also think they fumbled big chunks of the story by not doing anything with it and just waiting so that the story would be 'long-term'. Nor do I think they've really booked him well since his win. He's a fragile champion given his previous standing in the company, so you'd think they'd have given him a win.

I also agree completely PI, Bryan should win and Tony Khan has a big opportunity to shock his audience here and inject some suspense back into his product. But given how much Tony Khan hates criticism, I think he'll give the fans what they think they want, and Page will retain.

The rankings for January of 2022 have been updated. Roman Reigns continues to dominate the competition, and has once again shown his ability to elevate others by association as Seth Rollins is much higher than usual. Rousey enters where you'd expect, behind Reigns and Lesnar. Lita has also entered at a very respectable point as the #3 woman. Jon Moxley was top for AEW after his big return. They missed him when he was out, I don't think he gets the respect he deserves sometimes as a big star in the business. Cody's schtick continues to work for him and Danhausen does very well in his first month although some o fit will have been debut hype. Good to see Britt Baker get on there to break the list up a bit. in NJPW, no real surprises although next month will be interesting obviously, with Jay White likely to usurp everyone as he basks in his AEW exposure. SmackDown is now fully established as more popular than Raw. The Royal Rumble was up very slightly on last year but down every other since 2008. The main post has been updated and is posted below.

---

Updated through January 2022


Worldwide

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Seth Rollins
5. Randy Orton
6. Sasha Banks
7. Rey Mysterio
8. Goldberg
9. Becky Lynch
10. Lita
11. Alexa Bliss
12. Edge
13. Jon Moxley
14. The Miz
15. Charlotte Flair
16. Bobby Lashley
17. CM Punk
18. Maryse
19. Liv Morgan
20. Cody Rhodes


WWE

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Seth Rollins
5. Randy Orton
6. Sasha Banks
7. Rey Mysterio
8. Goldberg
9. Becky Lynch
10. Lita


AEW

1. Jon Moxley
2. CM Punk
3. Cody Rhodes
4. Chris Jericho
5. Sting
6. Bryan Danielson
7. Danhausen
8. Adam Cole
9. Britt Baker
10. Billy Gunn


NJPW

1. Kazuchika Okada
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi
3. KENTA
4. Tetsuya Naito
5. Tiger Mask
6. Taichi
7. Will Ospreay
8. Minoru Suzuki
9. El Desperado
10. Shingo Takagi


Shows

1. SmackDown
2. Raw
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

No idea if people are still interested in this or not but we'll plough on! Apologies for the delay, remember this is for February so it is outdated:


Updated through February 2022


Worldwide

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Randy Orton (+1)
5. Rey Mysterio (+2)
6. Sasha Banks
7. Alexa Bliss (+4)
8. Becky Lynch (+1)
9. Seth Rollins (-5)
10. CM Punk (+7)
11. Charlotte Flair (+4)
12. The Miz (+2)
13. Edge (-1)
14. Rhea Ripley (NEW)
15. Jon Moxley (-2)
16. Carmella (NEW)
17. Liv Morgan (+2)
18. AJ Styles (NEW)
19. Chris Jericho (NEW)
20. Bianca Belair (NEW)


WWE

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Randy Orton (+1)
5. Rey Mysterio (+2)
6. Sasha Banks
7. Alexa Bliss (NEW)
8. Becky Lynch (+1)
9. Seth Rollins (-5)
10. Charlotte Flair (NEW)


AEW

1. CM Punk (+1)
2. Jon Moxley (-1)
3. Chris Jericho (+1)
4. MJF (NEW)
5. Keith Lee (NEW)
6. Bryan Danielson
7. Sting (-2)
8. Jade Cargill (NEW)
9. Matt Hardy (NEW)
10. Danhausen (-3)


NJPW

1. Jay White (NEW)
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi
3. Kazuchika Okada (-2)
4. KENTA (-1)
5. Tetsuya Naito (-1)
6. El Desperado (+3)
7. Taichi (-10
8. Minoru Suzuki
9. Tiger Mask (-4)
10. Will Ospreay (-3)


Shows

1. Raw (+1)
2. SmackDown (-1)
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

---

So the big change on the top 20 was CM Punk jumping 7 places in the midst of his well-received work with MJF, who himself had a huge jump. Those two guys are money together. Charlotte jumped back up after an unusually low score last month, and I think that's Rhe Ripley's first time on the chart. Seth dropped after his brief stint with Roman ended abruptly. Keith Lee and Jay White had huge jumps after AEW debuts but are unlikely to chart for March. Jade Cargill becomes the second woman after Tay Conti to beat Britt Baker and make the top 10. Jeff Hardy doesn't chart as he was yet to debut for AEW. Big E was eligible but didn't chart. Raw beat SmackDown for the first time in months.

Todd, absolutely interested. Please continue to chronicle this most interesting current era pro wrestling time capsule. If nothing else, the Lesnar mark in me is loving it.

I know dated some but once again none of the male champions in AEW appear. I talk about Omega may being more suited for a midcard title. But looking at the numbers besides maineventers from WWE like Punk, Mox, Jericho, and Brian. Omega may should be the guy.

Updated through March 2022


Worldwide

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Rey Mysterio (+1)
5. Randy Orton (-1)
6. Alexa Bliss (+1)
7. Toni Storm (NEW)
8. Becky Lynch
9. Seth Rollins
10. Jeff Hardy (NEW)
11. Sasha Banks (-5)
12. Paul Wight (NEW)
13. CM Punk (-3)
14. Edge (-1)
15. Charlotte Flair (-4)
16. Chris Jericho (+3)
17. The Miz (-5)
18. Rhea Ripley (NEW)
19. Carmella (-3)
20. Liv Morgan (-3)


WWE

1. Roman Reigns
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Rey Mysterio (-1)
5. Randy Orton (-1)
6. Alexa Bliss (+1)
7. Becky Lynch (+1)
8. Seth Rollins (+1)
9. Sasha Banks (-3)
10. Edge (NEW)


AEW

1. Toni Storm (NEW)
2. Jeff Hardy (NEW)
3. Paul Wight (NEW)
4. CM Punk (-3)
5. Chris Jericho (-2)
6. Jon Moxley (-4)
7. Sting
8. MJF (-4)
9. Bryan Danielson (-2)
10. Tay Conti (NEW)


NJPW

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi (+1)
2. Kazuchika Okada (+1)
3. Tetsuya Naito (+2)
4. KENTA
5. Taichi (+2)
6. El Desperado
7. Jay White (-6)
8. Will Ospreay (+2)
9. Minoru Suzuki (-1)
10. Tiger Mask (-1)


Shows

1. Raw
2. SmackDown
3. NXT
4. Dynamite
5. Rampage

---

Ok, here we go for March. Remember, this is pre-WrestleMania and in order to be eligible a wrestler must be active and listed on the roster. It was a quiet month for WWE as their top stars geared up for their biggest show, with little movement outside of a small drop for Sasha Banks and a small rise for Edge. AEW saw a ton of movement with debuts and new stars becoming eligible, pushing CM Punk down to his lowest rank of #4 and Moxley down to #6. Tay Conti got on there - I wonder why. In NJPW, Jay White plummeted after his AEW debut went predictable nowhere, so Tanahashi and Okada regained the status quo. Raw beat SmackDown, and after many months I'm only figuring out this Raw/SmackDown comparison hinges mostly on how many episodes there are in the month. Oh well.

Biggest month of the year next month, stay tuned!

Toni's phat ass in the top 10. Wish KING KID would post the pics. He greedy.

Apr 8, 2022 14:09:01 GMT @ness said:

Toni's phat ass in the top 10. Wish KING KID would post the pics. He greedy.

SPOILER: Click to show

Dammit!!!

Can't wait for Zack to be NJPW's #1 following his New Japan Cup victory.

Apr 8, 2022 15:37:04 GMT Emperor said:

Can't wait for Zack to be NJPW's #1 following his New Japan Cup victory.

Who hurt you? Can't you see his existence PAINS ME SO?

Apr 8, 2022 19:31:20 GMT @ness said:

Apr 8, 2022 15:37:04 GMT Emperor said:

Can't wait for Zack to be NJPW's #1 following his New Japan Cup victory.

Who hurt you? Can't you see his existence PAINS ME SO?

I can see that, but I never got an answer as to why. I am very curious.