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| The quintessential Pride wrestling banner! Via @NylaRoseBeast |
1. Nyla Rose (Last Week: not ranked) - June is Pride Month, which for those who don't know or who are too ignorant to learn, is a celebration of everything gay. Nyla Rose is perhaps the most prominent LGBTQIA+ wrestler in the game right now, and she posted a cool header for you to use to celebrate Pride in a wrestling sort of way.
2. Orange Cassidy (Last Week: 4) - Cassidy is riling up THE NERDS who think what he does "isn't wrestling." Look, what he does isn't "traditional," but, as friend of the blog Dave E. says on Twitter, he's the most relatable wrestler out there, especially for younger fans who can still tie one on without worrying about getting babysitting.
3. Candice LeRae (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Her run-in during the Io Shirai/Shayna Baszler match at Takeover XXV was the most hilarious thing ever, not because it was bad, but because here comes this waifish lady charging to the ring with a kendo stick and just wailing on two women much larger than her with the most intensity anyone's seen in a WWE ring since who knows when. Like, I'm not sure Randy Orton has shown that much fire in his fucking LIFE.
4. Pizza by the Pool (Last Week: Not Ranked) OFFICIAL HOLZERMAN HUNGERS SPONSORED ENTRY - My family got a pool membership this year, so for dinner Friday, we ordered a pizza to the swim club. Let me tell you, that pizza was at least 15 percent more delicious than normal.
5. People Throwing Milkshakes at Matt Gaetz (Last Week: Not Ranked, Farage Milkshake Brigate Ranked 5) - Some British imports to America stink, like transphobia among the "left" and bland cuisine, but some are really good, like their take on rock 'n roll. Throwing milkshakes at fascist politicians is closer to the British Invasion than it is to widespread TERFism. Gaetz is one of Donald Trump's most staunch allies in Congress, and if him being under investigation wasn't enough, he got fucking dairy-decked. You just hate to see it.
6. Beth Phoenix (Last Week: Not Ranked) - I heard bad things about her commentary from folks who watched her on the second Mae Young Classic, but she was perfectly fine at Fastlane. At Takeover XXV, my biggest complaint is that she didn't talk enough. She's more trenchant than Nigel McGuinness (her note in hip control was way more illuminating to how to frame the art of wrestling than anything McGuinness has ever said), and way LESS extra than Mauro Ranallo. Give me more Glamazon, please.
7. Eddie Kingston (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Kingston won the Glory Pro Crown of Glory Championship this weekend and sobbed like he won the Chikara Grand Championship in 2011. Find you a man who loves wrestling as much as he does. You can't. He's one of the most genuine dudes I've met in wrestling, and even with his flaws, he's worth supporting.
8. Boomer Hatfield (Last Week: 1) - How do you follow up kicking your dad's butt and stealing his face? By graduating school and going to baseball, of course. Note, you cannot wrestle the younger Hatfield at a baseball stadium and hope to win. He's far too powerful there.
9. Kota Ibushi (Last Week: Not Ranked) - Sure, it's not the Okada money gun, but Kota Ibearshi is quite the piece of wrestling merch. New Japan is killing it, yo.
10. Otis Dozovic (Last Week: 10) -
