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| Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com |
80. Jonathan Gresham
Points: 648 (ranked above Dominik Dijakovic because of higher high vote received)
Ballots: 8
Highest Vote: 1st Place (John Pingel)
Last Year's Ranking: 40th Place
John Pingel: It’s really hard for me to put into words how amazing of a professional wrestler Jonathan Gresham is, but I’m going to try my best. The start of 2019 saw Gresham make his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, which was a longtime coming in my opinion. His debut match against Robbie Eagles was fantastic, but it was his follow up match with David Starr that really got the PWG faithful behind him. Gresham entered the Battle of Los Angeles, and made his way to the finals. He was ultimately defeated by Bandido, but it was a hell of a ride to get there. Every match he had ended in ref stoppage (Octopus Hold with hammer strikes. Like a fucking bad-ass).
Every match he has had with David Starr this year is a must watch. Gresham, like many others on this list, competed in a New Japan tournament. While Gresham’s Best of the Super Junior’s record doesn’t look great, his matches were all stellar. Gresham has the ability to work against wrestlers much bigger than him, and make it look believable. I go into every Gresham match believing he can win. His limb work is incredible, his high-flying is great. Everything about Jonathan Gresham is great.
He appears to be around for the long run in PWG, and in Ring of Honor as well. He, along with Jay Lethal, captured the ROH World Tag Team Championships to close out 2019. I know that Gresham has been wrestling for almost fifteen years now, but it feels like his time is now. Do yourself a favor and check him out, you will not be disappointed.
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| Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com |
Points: 661
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote: 11th Place (John Bills)
Last Year's Ranking: 71st Place
TH: Goto in 2019 was the wrestler that nearly everyone following New Japan wanted him to be. He was snug. He wrestled with passion. His big moves felt big when they hit. The sabbatical to get in shape with Katsuyori Shibata wasn't just a gimmick, and Goto felt fresher and more relevant than ever.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 680
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote: 16th Place (Jarred Giles)
Last Year's Ranking: 50th Place
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| Screnshot via Pizza Party Wrestling YouTube |
Points: 680 (ranked above Big E because of higher high vote received)
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote: 5th Place (Brock Jahnke)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Few people concentrate on the grapple-based style now even after its mini-renaissance in EVOLVE a few years back, but no one does it like Makabe. His grapple style is almost like anxiety personified, unlike Timothy Thatcher's brutality or Fred Yehi's sugar-addled child. He's a satisfying watch whenever he steps between the ropes.
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| Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com |
Points: 681
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote: 1st Place (Emily Newsom, Duncan Newton-Gaines)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: There aren't many geniuses in wrestling, but Toru Yano is one of them. In a company that can feature bloated matches where the wrestlers at their worst don't seem to be trying to win, Yano's style is not only hilarious, but it cuts deep the desire for a wrestler to win by any means necessary. I feel like that has become a lost art over the years, but Yano revives it with deft physical comedy and impeccable timing.
Scott Raychel: Toru Yano is the greatest wrestler alive today.
Duncan Newton-Gaines: The sublime master thief Toru Yano is the measuring stick by which all comedy wrestlers should be judged. His aggressive commitment to an offense that almost purely consists of cheating must be celebrated for its genius.
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 698
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote: 10th Place (TH)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Riho not only was one of the best if not the best wrestler for All Elite Wrestling in 2019, she may have been the smartest. Even if she was able to make Nyla Rose bump for her doing normal stuff that she might use against a similarly-sized opponent, it would have been fine to me. However, her use of leverage and strikes in situations where she was called to defeat larger opponents helped give her reign credibility. I mean, that kind of wrestling looks awesome anyway.
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| Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com |
Points: 699
Ballots: 10
Highest Vote: 2nd Place (Emily Newsom)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Taichi had an incredibly diverse 2019. Whether he was wrestling brilliantly as a cowardly heel, playing matches to build to Yoshinabu Kanemaru's Suntori Surprise, or emulating his mentor Toshiaki Kawada like in his G1 Dump Truck War against Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi had one solid year.
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 708
Ballots: 9
Highest Vote: 5th Place (Blu Rey Mysterio)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 709
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote: 5th Place (Bryan Heaton)
Last Year's Ranking: 18th Place
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 717
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote: 15th Place (Matt T.)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Proud n Powerful works because Santana is the straitlaced brawler and Ortiz is the goofball asshole. You can't really underestimate the importance of the manic energy Ortiz brings to each match. It's the right kind of chaos that helps build the team's aura.
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 724
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote: 10th Place (Matt T.)
Last Year's Ranking: 57th Place
TH: Page is AEW's Roman Reigns, and that's not a bad thing. They may have rolled back his push, but he brought some good hard-hitting fun to many of his matches. He gets the flow of televised wrestling matches, and that's a great skill to have.
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 730
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote: 16th Place (Duncan Newton-Gaines)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Santana has such a great command in the ring. It's both uncanny, and it makes me afraid that they'll eventually split his team up to give him a singles run. Either way though, his presence in the ring comes in handy when he gets to beat down one of the Bucks or a member of Private Party.
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 732
Ballots: 11
Highest Vote: 3rd Place (Chris Gibbons)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: The Dirty Daddy is the spiritual 69th place getter, but with all kidding aside, his run as the weekly feature match on Beyond's Uncharted Territory was one of the reasons that show was as critically successful as it was. He's one of the archetypical indie wrestlers, and Beyond and the indies overall are lucky to have him.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 743
Ballots: 14
Highest Vote: 15th Place (Rizz)
Last Year's Ranking: 43rd Place
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 753
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote: 12th Place (Brandon Kay)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: The pinball-bumping Hatfield scion built upon his impressive rookie year with a great leap forward. Of course, his biggest match delivered in spades. The lucha de apuesta against father Dasher had all the tension and passion that a match like that might carry south of the border. This kid should be a rock for the indies for years to come unless Triple H or Tony Khan come a-knockin'.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 753 (ranked above Boomer Hatfield because of higher high vote)
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote: 8th Place (Francis Adu)
Last Year's Ranking: 59th Place
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 765
Ballots: 12
Highest Vote: 5th Place (Bobby Godfrey)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: Darling qualifies as the smallest hoss, an excellent trait that rounded out her outstanding in-ring resume in 2019. Holding serve both in Chikara and Beyond, Darling showed that she was a major force in the ring in 2019.
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| Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com |
Points: 775
Ballots: 15
Highest Vote: 15th Place (Duncan Netwon-Gaines)
Last Year's Ranking: Not Ranked
TH: KENTA hasn't rounded back into NOAH Ace shape yet, but he's getting there. I loved seeing his swagger back, especially after he joined Bullet Club and had reason to be a miserable little prick in the ring.
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| Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Points: 778
Ballots: 13
Highest Vote: 7th Place (Francis Adu)
Last Year's Ranking: 95th Place
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| Photo Credit: Grenwail |
Points: 779
Ballots: 9
Highest Vote: 1st Place (Francis Adu)
Last Year's Ranking: 51st Place
TH: Trashy Timmy closed out the decade as one of the three most important in-ring workers, and he showed several flashes of why that's the case in 2019. Specifically, I want to focus on Bloodsport, an event where he's become pretty much the most elite wrestler on any card. His matches against Hideki Suzuki and Minowaman were the best on either card. Thatcher is that dude.
Francis Adu: It was probably around 2018 where Thatcher firmly took the mantle as my favorite wrestler in the world as the likes of Cesaro and Sasha Banks meandered a bit. It's the year where I think Thatcher had his best babyface performance of his life too. However, I'd say 2019 was the year Thatcher perfected his babyface persona to allow him to consistently draw me in all sorts of scenarios. The dream matches against legends pop out the most obviously as Thatcher sold his determination to prove himself to these legends so damn well. However, Thatcher also ruled as a touring star against less established wrestlers and as the growing ace of wXw during a year where wXw mostly sucked. No matter the context, Thatcher succeeded in making me caring about him more than anyone else in the world simply by always showing how much he cares about wrestling and being good at it. There was really no other choice but for Thatcher to rank as my top wrestler of 2019.
Tomorrow, the TWB 100 will blast through the midway point.
