Here we are, the highest level, the pantheon, so to speak. These are the wrestlers and personalities for whom I have rabid and some would say irrational level of adoration for. They're the folks that really stoke the flames of my wrestling fandom.
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| Screen grab via Impact Wrestling.com |
Joseph Park - If one person could keep me watching Impact, he would be Joseph Park. I can't explain how one guy could be so illuminatingly awesome in one role and dreadful in another, but Abyss' alter ego is causing this dichotomy in character. He's warm, innocent, eminently likeable, and his secondary occupation is that of a
lawyer, the most evil wrestling character that usually exists. I wish I could just rescue him from TNA and put him into a company that would better appreciate his talents like Chika... oh wait.
Rachel Summerlyn - Summerlyn has been gone most of the year, but she's certainly not been forgotten. Rumors of retirement are swirling about her, but she's certainly earned the right to proceed however she wants, regardless of whether she's in this bin or elsewhere. Hopefully, whatever she does, she'll keep her bromance with Jessicka Havok alive, because that's just the best thing ever.
ACH - My impression of ACH this year was that he took a step back in perception, but then again, I haven't really watched AAW or AIW from this year yet. ROH doesn't know what they're missing out on.
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| Photo via @WWESashaBanks |
Sara del Rey - I'm legitimately sad that del Rey seemingly doesn't want to wrestle in front of a camera anymore, but the way that everyone speaks so highly of her in developmental, how she's the best teacher and all, makes me smile at least.
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| Screen grab via WWE.com |
Mark Henry - I legitimately got a little dust in my eye when he made his retirement speech the night after Wrestling Match or whatever that fucking pay-per-view before Money in the Bank was called. Even though in the back of my mind I knew it was all a work (especially with John Cena needing to be out in the ring with him), I got so sad at the thought of a WWE without the threat of the Hall of Pain to split the wigs of those who needed a good lesson taught to them. Of course, when he pulled Cena in, gave him the World's Strongest Slam, and proclaimed that he still had a lot in the tank, I simultaneously marked out and breathed a sigh of relief.
PS, Mark Henry IS the one true Santa Claus, and fuck anyone who works for Fox News who gets offended by that opinion.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Daniel Bryan - I don't need Daniel Bryan to be in the main event to love him. I'll take him getting to wrestle anyone, whether it be Randy Orton or Heath Slater, CM Punk or a broomstick, one guy or five guys, tag team or singles, gimmick match or straight up broadway, on television every week. This past year, I got peak Bryan, a maniac who wrestled multiple times a week, most of the time in the showcase match on the card, so yeah, I have been just the happiest wrestling fan ever. God bless us, every one.
Bryce Remsburg - Still the podcast logo for a reason, folks.
