Barbara Walters does, or at least she used to do, her "Most Fascinating People of 2011" list around this time every year. I think that's a pretty neat feature for me to
unequivocally rip off borrow, as there have been plenty of interesting personalities in pro wrestling. Here are my Most Interesting Wrestlers of 2011.
Kana - For as much of a beating as women's wrestling took in the mainstream, it's at the forefront of a revolution in the independents. While the domestic face of this upheaval has been Sara del Rey, it was Kana who served as the mysterious invader from Japan. She's an inspired juxtaposition, a brazenly sexy Asian siren who wrestles in garters, but who also plays with swords and threatens to castrate her promoters (although the fact that Tajiri still has his manhood is something of a stuck craw to John Hyperion...). For many of us who don't have the wherewithal to follow puroresu or joshi on the reg, her mysterious allure was only heightened by the prophets like Hyperion who promised a warrior, and in October, she arrived with great fanfare. Six matches later against del Rey (twice), Mia Yim, Cheerleader Melissa, LuFisto and Jessie McKay, across two promotions in SHIMMER and Chikara, and North America had seen what Japan already knew. Kana rules, and not just for her looks or her swordplay either.
Larry Sweeney - Sweeney isn't interesting for what he did in life in 2011. It was what his death did to inspire an entire company in that year. For having only seen him once in action, I was taken aback by the news he had committed suicide a week before King of Trios was set to open. But as a fan, it didn't hit me as hard as it did the men and women who knew him and worked with him. Among them were the wrestlers and staff of Chikara Pro Wrestling, and in a way, everything they did from that point on in the calendar year was a tribute to him. It brought out the best in them, even if it was the worst of circumstances that elicited the performance. Larry Sweeney left indelible his mark on Chikara, and sad as his passing was, the eternal memorial service that is Chikara continues to carry on with his spirit strong with them.
Colt Cabana - "Hi Colt Cabana!" One greeting during the overrun of Monday Night RAW gave the hardest working man in professional wrestling a new shot at stardom for people who may not have known who he was otherwise. He might have been more notable and buzzworthy within WWE than a few WWE wrestlers, which of course speaks to more than just the power of his buddy CM Punk, but I won't get into that. The cameras tried their hardest not to single him out at Money in the Bank, but that didn't stop him from getting at least one good look at America. That being said, if this was the only thing Colt was known for in 2011, I'm not sure he'd be worthy of this list. It's a weird case of a small brush with fame shedding light on a DIY media empire as well as a wrestling resume that is as good as any single resume can be for a guy who didn't work for the two major televised companies and who only made sporadic appearances for the independent leader. The man went out there and worked for any promotion that would have him, whether it was Chikara, NWA Hollywood, AAW or even the Juggalos. He was a world traveler. And oh yeah, he interviewed a who's who of the wrestling world on his podcast. I'd say for a guy that no one seems to want, Colt Cabana is doing just fine.
Austin Aries - The ultimate carny move is using wholly real life events to dictate a reaction for a wrestling angle. This has been done with marital angles or real life beefs or what have you, but I'm not sure I've seen it done with the backdrop of having malaise with the wrestling industry. But there A Double was, cutting Youtube videos about how wrestling may not be doing it for him monetarily anymore, and that he was thinking of leaving to pursue a career in Hollywood. Then, on the night after his supposed last match, he totally swerved everyone and joined the big bad villain faction. I could see where people might have been nonplussed about the whole thing, but that's usually what makes those kinds of line-blurring angles so great. Some of the best promotions in the past used those kinds of heartstring-tugging tropes to get people legitimately pissed off, yet still wanting to come back for more. That's what made it so great. Of course, he did end up getting his payday in TNA, where he remains one of the new faces that is making that show tolerable if not enjoyable despite the fact that Eric Bischoff and his son are in a... I can't type any more on that subject because my doctor told me I needed to mind my blood pressure.
Robert Roode - The cries for TNA to start pushing newer faces has been deafening for years now. It wasn't just on this mythical, hiveminded place called "The Internet" either. When Impact went on the road for the first time this year, the most vociferous cheers didn't go to Kurt Angle or Hulk Hogan or Rob Van Dam or Ken Anderson. No, they were for Beer Money. While there were arguments between fans who would be the better singles prospect between the two, I'd say there was almost a unanimous agreement that both James Storm and Robert Roode would be stars of some degree on their own. Roode ended up getting the baton first, and everyone thought that at Bound for Glory, he'd be the guy. Instead, it was another screwjob ending as a gateway to another heel turn for a guy winning the Championship. I don't know how much of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy with Eric Bischoff in charge, but there really is a
palpable curse around the top title. That being said, as awesome as Roode was in the lead-up to Bound for Glory, he's been just as good since turning heel and beating his tag partner for the title.
Zack Ryder - Steve Austin on Tough Enough had this famous speech about how guys don't have the drive to make it themselves in the industry, and if one made his or her own way, they'd truly be the ones to succeed. Then on RAW, there'd be matches featuring Mason Ryan or Ezekiel Jackson or whomever, and bam, instant disconnect. Somehow along the way though, that motivational speech started to ring truer and truer, and that ring started to take on the sound of "WE WANT RYDER!" or "WOO WOO WOO". Suddenly, the dork who was making sly insider references on his low-rent Youtube show was making people take notice of him, and not just fans on the Internet. Guys like John Cena, CM Punk and Jim Ross were praising him. While the belt has seen its share of disuse in the last couple of years, when Ryder won the United States Championship at TLC, it felt like a big deal, a huge deal even. It just goes to show that sometimes, it's not about what Vince McMahon wants. Sometimes, it's about the wrestler making Vince McMahon want him. Zack Ryder did just that in 2011.
John Laurinitis - When John Laurinitis showed up at Money in the Bank as Vince McMahon's hired stooge, he didn't really garner much attention for himself outside of the odd Internet point-out of "Hey, it's Johnny Ace!" He got decked by Cena in the main event after trying to fulfill the will of McMahon to keep the WWE Championship from walking out the door with Punk, and I thought that'd be the last we'd see of the guy on camera. I was wrong, and it turns out that I was happy to be wrong. In an era now where WWE is seemingly self-aware, that self-referential status has not been limited to the fan-favorite and edgy wrestlers. It turns out WWE itself can seemingly poke fun at its mega corporate entity, with Laurinitis as the figurehead for that meta attitude. He plays his role with such a stoogy goofball aplomb, that even if it's not acting and that's how he really is, he fits as a perfect counterbalance to the free-flowing and rebellious nature of guys like Punk and Ryder and even Cena to a point.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
CM Punk - For about a month, wrestling was cool again. It was all because of one man. That man wasn't Vince McMahon or John Cena or Rey Mysterio or Triple H. It was CM Punk. Deep down, I always knew he was capable of doing what he did in the summer and what he's doing now. A free spirit, bottled up in the restraints of the WWE midcard, if he had just gotten that one chance, that one opening to bust the WWE wide open and turn it on its ear, he would do it. Well, he did it, and he was a hot property not just for the dork fans who always supported him or for George Lopez or other guys who always featured wrestlers. He was a revelation to every fan, a guy that now Jimmy Fallon and Bill Simmons wanted to interview. It was okay for Michelle Beadle to openly profess her crush on him despite the fact that he was a wrestler. From June 27 through August 14, wrestling was relevant as more than a punchline. If anyone thinks that wasn't important, they're wrong. Alas, the corporate WWE machine got in its own way and made sure that the proceedings got shitted up by Triple H and Kevin Nash, but they seem to be on a course correction. There's change in the air, and if you don't like it, you'll be left behind. Those aren't my words, those are Punk's. I don't wanna be left behind. I love wrestling too much for that to happen, so naturally, I'm with Punk. I think I always have been.
Aries Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography
