in Lists, Wrestling

Deadseriousness Wrestling Power Rankings: LA Knight Meets Roman

la knight

Welcome to Deadseriousness Wrestling Power Rankings where we see who are the top wrestlers in the world this week.

 

This is the first ever Deadseriousness Wrestling Power Ranking. Let me know if you guys enjoy it.

Keep An Eye on Them

25. Dragon Lee

24. Miro

23. Nick Aldis

22. Logan Paul

21. Tiffany Stratton

Dragon Lee showed up on the main roster and stole the show instantly. WWE has their next Rey Mysterio ready to go. Miro is about to go on a killing spree for CJ Perry(‘s tits). Nick Aldis went from slumming it with Tyrus, the Fox News Champ, to now being the authority figure on Smackdown getting a fat check to maybe wrestle once every 15 months. Logan Paul won another one of his phony boxing matches and immediately called out Rey Mysterio. Tiffany Stratton got the Becky Lynch rub and a vacation.

Champions Doing Things

20. Rey Mysterio

19. Becky Lynch

18. Seth Rollins

17. Kris Statlander

16. Gunther

Rey Mysterio keeps winning every match he’s in for whatever reason. Becky Lynch is the NXT Women’s Champion for whatever reason. Seth Rollins is still Heavyweight Champion despite clearly being injured and not performing at his typical level and robbing Shinsuke Nakamura his last chance to win the big title in WWE. Kris Statlander is on TV sometimes. Gunther keeps beating Chad Gable.

15. Jey Uso: Jey Uso went from being the tag team champion to being main event Jey Uso to, uh, being tag team champion again. Ok.

14. Nia Jax: Nia Jax has a very important role coming up. She has to be a monster for Rhea Ripley to overcome and then she has to be food to make Jade Cargill look invincible. All while, for the first time ever, not injuring anyone. Godspeed.

13. MJF: MJF isn’t cooling off necessarily but Adam Cole injuring his leg clearly put ice on whatever it is they were doing together. MJF main evented the Wembley show and hasn’t seemed like the no. 1 guy since. I get the feeling he’s going to say something about this Israel conflict that’ll put him off these rankings entirely.

12. Cody Rhodes: Last week’s Smackdown actually propelled Cody up these Power Rankings. Prior to his face-to-face with Roman, it looked like WWE had no idea what to do with Rhodes. It felt like they were going to ask The Rock to face Roman again thus making Cody’s ‘finish the story’ thing all bullshit but he’s back in Roman’s line of sight. We are so back.

11. Toni Storm: I wanted to put Toni in the Top 10 but her little vignettes aren’t really connecting to the ring. Like, why did she lose a title match against Saraya only for Saraya to lose the belt anyway on a random Tuesday to Hikaru Shida who has significantly less juice than Toni? Wow, that was a flawless pun. I’m undefeated.

10. Jade Cargill

Jade Cargill hasn’t taken a single bump in WWE and they’ve already made her arrival feel like a big deal. She’s mostly just been seen backstage hanging out with Triple H but getting in Charlotte Flair’s face matters.

We’ve seen far more talented wrestlers get a silly name change and a year in purgatory NXT before they come to the main roster with another new silly name and zero creative direction. The Jade creative isn’t clear yet but she matters and I see a big Royal Rumble victory in her future.

9. Christian Cage

Christian Cage is 49 years old and looks like he’s in the prime of his career. He just had an amazing match with Bryan Danielson yesterday. He main evented a PPV a few weeks earlier. He’s almost 50 and he’s the no. 1 heel in AEW.

If I had to guess, I’d say he’s very close to teaming with Edge and ending his career with him so if this is the final big singles run of his career then he deserves a round of applause for maintaining his ability to be a slimey little dickhead. He’s a timeless prick.

8. Bryan Danielson

I think everyone watching Danielson each week quietly understands we are witnessing the homestretch of possibly the greatest wrestler of all time. And somehow, at the finish line of his career, he is putting on some of the best matches of his life like the 60-minute Iron Man Match against MJF or the strap match against Ricky Starks when he literally could only use one of his arms.

It sucks that Bryan Danielson will never win a title in his AEW career but he’s still having the best run of his life without gold in sight. He was great in WWE but AEW allows him to present a level of violence that highlights Danielson as a brutal threat instead of some ‘aw shucks’ underdog.

7. Judgement Day

The Judgment Day HAS to be in the Top 10. There are THREE television shows centered around them. We’re only a few weeks away from everyone in the group having a championship in their possession.

Damian Priest has the Money in the Bank trophy and the potential Match of the Year against Bad Bunny.

Dom is one of the most hated wrestlers in the game and easily had the best Wrestlemania entrance coming to the ring in handcuffs.

Rhea Ripley could lose the women’s title and wrestle Gunther for the IC title the following week and no one would question the booking decision.

Finn Balor is also there.

6. Swerve Strickland

Swerve Strickland might be having the best 2023 out of anyone on this list based solely on my opinions of his last year and what I think of him now. I always thought Swerve was cool as hell but a little generic and in AEW, oftentimes great wrestlers look ordinary because there are just so many unbelievable athletes on the roster.

But it was Swerve Strickland vs. Orange Cassidy for the International Championship that made me realize something different was happening.

But it was his faceoff with Hangman Page that made me realize Tony Khan saw Swerve as a big star. I am convinced Strickland could have the AEW title around his waist and look like the baddest motherfucker in the company with Prince Nana swerving behind him.

 

5. Edge

I’ll be honest, I was never a Rated R Superstar guy. I liked good guy Edge who had the old “yeaaa my durango” music.

The Edge who won the tag team titles with fucking Hollywood Hulk Hogan and put on bangers every night with Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio. Back when his finisher was the Edgecution and he always tried to use that wack-ass-looking sharpshooter.

So I don’t have the reverence for Edge that many wrestling fans do but I can still recognize big moments when I see them and Edge making his AEW debut to challenge Christian Cage was a big moment.

I’m not sure what Edge wants to do. I’m sure there will be a Kenny Omega match on a random Dynamite and the entire time I’ll be afraid of Edge paralyzing himself trying to keep up.

4. The Rock

Recently, I wrote about The Rock’s career disappearing right before our eyes but last month he showed up on Smackdown which I truly thought he would never do again. I understand he’s only reluctantly returning to the ring because Hollywood is on strike and DC Studios kicked him out of their movies but he still said yes to the WWE call and that’s something.


But the Rock is really on this list for his contributions to the business.

Two of the hottest acts in wrestling—LA Knight and Ricky Starks—are constantly compared to The Rock which is often used as an insult except it’s working tremendously for them.

LA Knight and Ricky Starks could very well be copying The Rock’s schtick and I do not give a single shit because they are the best parts of the TV show they’re on. If anything, more wrestlers should attempt to copy The Rock who is the most successful professional wrestler of all time. I have no idea who the fuck Baron Corbin is trying to copy but he should consider adding some Rocky stuff to his repertoire.

3. Ricky Starks

It may feel like Ricky Starks is too high up on this list but I think we’re going to look back at Starks’s 2023 as one of the most impressive runs for a young star ever.

He started the year beating Chris Jericho at Revolution. Then he had a program on Collision to help establish the Bullet Club. Then he beat CM Punk to win the Owen Hart trophy and Ricky Steamboat got involved. He had a Texas Deathmatch against Bryan Danielson.

And now he’s having promo battles with Edge.

Plus, he’s the current tag team champ with Big Bill and deserves all the credit for elevating Bill to a level that feels like they’re a modern-day Shawn Michaels and Diesel.

Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Jay White, Bryan Danielson, FTR, Ricky Steamboat, Edge & Christian. 2023 Ricky Starks may not be on the direct world title trajectory like Swerve Strickland or Cody Rhodes but he’s creating an impressive foundation that will make him an undeniable champion when that day inevitably comes down the road.

2. Bullet Club Gold

When Bullet Club Gold showed up in AEW, they were a total afterthought for me. Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks creating the Elite and separating themselves from the Bullet Club made that whole group seem goofy and outdated.

But Jay White, Juice Robinson and Billy Gunn’s annoying sons have benefitted the most from the new AEW show. There was one episode this year where the Bullet Club appeared in the entire first hour of Collison.

They remind me of the attitude era when Degeneration X were just adult children acting on all of their most juvenile impulses. BCG plays with a cardboard cutout of their leader, Jay. They seem to know where every camera is at all times.

And they’re cool as hell.

I think AEW desperately needed this act. Sometimes AEW walks this tightrope of being way too serious and being way too nerdy for the Internet comments. Like, a lot of MJF promos are little winks to comment sections and newsletter readers and, ya know, dorks.

Bullet Club Gold is for the streets.

1. LA Knight

LA Knight would’ve been at the top spot for these first-ever Deadseriousness Wrestling Rankings just for making himself the most over act in the business by simply shouting “YEAH” over and over.

Recently he’s been rubbing shoulders with John Cena. Arguably the greatest wrestler of his generation is letting everyone know LA is the next one up.

But it was last week’s Smackdown that officially makes this LA Knight movement real.

They’re actually doing it. LA Knight is getting a title shot. Against Roman Reigns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are the top wrestlers of the week?  Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let’s just talk real graps and not ratings or other lame shit.

Written by thelesterlee

Creator of Deadseriousness. Diehard Knicks, Yankees and Giants fan who wants to create a sports and pop culture space that isn't the same copy and pasted AI content you see everywhere else.

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