Super 20 - Week 10, 2012

The Rock returned to Raw last Monday, how did he effect the rankings for the past week? Is Ring Ka King still popping numbers on the Super 20? Will Calfzilla make it 10 weeks in a row on the charts? Read on..

20 -18 5w		Triple H Trips wasn't featured on Raw this week, but for an epic video package about his match with Undertaker last year - however a video that surfaced online of him pedigreeing The Miz during an ad break on Raw helps him remain on the prestigious Super 20 for a 5th consecutive week.
19 -7 2w		Sting It's showtime!
18 new		Jazzy Lahoria This is one guy I've been wanting to put in here for a while, but I have been waiting for him to do something worthwhile to get in here. An eccentric character with a theme befitting of his name, Jazzy Lahoria is just one of the best of the Indian acts on Ring Ka King so far. He sold his chair shot from Jeff Jarrett like a pro and bladed, despite seemingly having no wrestling background. He showed charisma in his segment where Jarrett was trying to force him to sign the contract to hand over Ring Ka King. Never have a clue what he is saying, but that doesn't matter.
17 -11 2w		Tyson Kidd Tyson continues to be one of my favourite in-ring workers each week and a pretty good match with Michael McGillicutty on NXT helped him stay in the S20 for a second week.
16 new		Big Show A really good match with Mark Henry and a typical Big Show promo against Cody Rhodes sees the Giant re-enter this distinguished ranking system.
15 +3 2w		Sheamus Sheamus continues on his path of destruction towards WrestleMania. Now with Orton locked in a feud with Kane, it seems certain he will go one on one with Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania now. He cut an alright babyface promo about how he hates bullies on Smackdown then had a good match with Ziggler to follow up. Now is the time to start creating tension between Sheamus and Bryan, however.
14 new		Cody Rhodes Cody is back on the list for his promo against Big Show (we haven't seen a long Cody Rhodes promo for a while) and his "embarrassing moments" videos. A match between the two for the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania should be fun with an intriguiding build-up between the two.
13 new		The Rock As poor as The Rock was on Raw this week, he deserves his spot on the list just for the attention he grabs when he turns up. John Cena completely destroyed him in a fraction of the time it took Rock to try and make stupid catch-phrases trend on Twitter, but more on him later...
12 new		Deadly Danda Like Jazzy Lahoria, Deadly Danda is a guy I've been waiting to put in the list - and this week he finally gave me that oppurtunity to do so by turning heel. An awesome, Russo-esque swerve that nobody saw coming. One thing Ring Ka King can do that nobody else is doing is keep viewers coming back each week with tantalising cliffhangers.
11 -1 4w		Scott Steiner Everything Big Poppa Pump does just makes me laugh, especially so on Ring Ka King where everything seems even more absurd. The dichotomy between Steiner and the rest of the Indian wrestlers and fans is hilarious.
10 +9 2w		Johnny Curtis Wanna get weird? I have no idea why Johnny Curtis is not on the main roster. After the addition of the toothpick last week, Curtis started rubbing body lotion on himself while providing guest commentary during Kaitlyn vs. Maxine. How is that not enough to gain a call up to Raw or Smackdown?
9 +6 2w		Eve The Hoeski is the most over diva in WWE right now. Her new attitude and demeanor makes me laugh and it's about time that WWE divas got storylines and characters of their own. Even Natalya farts now.
8 -1 4w		David Otunga Otunga is quietly building himself up a streak on the Super 20, coming in for a fourth week in a row now. His pairing with Laurinaitis is just gold right now and almost everything he says elicits laughter. Great writing with great delivery. I'd love to see more matches with him as well after he dominated Ezekiel Jackson last week.
7 +2 10w		Bully Ray What more can I say about Calfzilla that I haven't already said? 10 weeks and still going strong, Bully Ray still continues to grab your attention even when Impact is in a dull period (no Vince Russo). Funniest moment of the week in all of wrestling when Bully Ray told that old catering woman "You get uglier every time I see you" - I'm laughing even typing it.
6 -1 2w		Magnus Congratulations to Magnus for his first ever World Heavyweight Title win, and just because its the Ring Ka King title doesn't detract from the moment.  Magnus. or Sir Brutus Magnus as he is known in India, is a shining beacon of hope for the future of wrasslin'
5 new		Chris Jericho Jericho is back and after 8 weeks or so of terrible, unfocused build-up, we finally get to the meat of the Jericho-Punk feud with an awesome show-opening promo between the two. But despite how great Jericho was in this..
4 +4 2w		CM Punk ..CM Punk edged him slightly with his performance. They turned a dull feud into an epic one in the space of 20 minutes. Great line from Punk: "While I was swimming with sharks, you were dancing with stars". As an aside - no more CM Punk-Bryan matches please. They started off good, but with each one it gets worse and worse.
3 +1 3w		John Laurinaitis Mr. Excitement is always going to find himself round about this place if he carries on just doing what he does. Booking Kane vs. Aksana for next week's Smackdown was priceless..
2 new		Jeff Jarrett The Boss has finally arrived in Ring Ka King and he was even better and funnier than I expected. Jarrett has been sorely missed in TNA and it was great to see him back on top, doing what he does best - being a cowardly, bullying heel.
1 n/c 3w		John Cena Despite Rock lambasting him for 20 minutes and having the ability to draw the most stupid and obnoxious chants out of the audience whenever he wants, Cena still came out on top in the war of words last Monday. Fruity Pebbles, Missing Balls and Kung Pao Bitch (whatever that means) all fell dramatically when Cena pointed out Rocky's "tattoo" on his wrist. I don't know if this beef is a shoot or a work, but I am enjoying it either way. And congrats to Cena for being the first person to win consecutive #1 spots at the top of this esteemed ranking system.

Guide
Position
movement
weeks in chart


Read previous Super 20 entries

Super 20 - 2012, week 5

Super 20 - the top 20 wrestlers this week in wrestling.

Week 5 of 2012

Week 5 of 2012 and the week of the Royal Rumble! With Sheamus winning and going on to WrestleMania, will he claim the #1 spot in the even more important Super 20 rankings?

20 -16		James Storm Storm is great but I think that TNA are pacing him to a big one on one finale with Roode which will likely take place at Lockdown. Starred in a great Tables match with Roode, Hardy and Bully on Impact.
19 -6		Eric Young EY's routine seems to be ongoing every week, but I still keep balling with laughter at everything he does. His chemistry with all the knockouts is great and it would be hilarious and Russo-esque if he ever got a shot at the Knockouts title, or even the Knockouts tag team titles with ODB.
18 -7		Mark Henry The WSM is doing great to get by on the Super 20 on his promo strength alone, as he simply can't wrestle matches at the moment because of his injury. Cutting down Big Show and Bryan on Smackdown was great, especially saying Bryan has a "Napoleon complex". He still put on a half-decent match at the Rumble too, against Big Show and Bryan, but unfortunately Bryan retained the gold.
17 new		Hunico He kayfabe broke DiBiase's wrist on Smackdown which was great and his entrance on the lowrider bike with Camacho is still awesome every time. Would liked to have seen more from him in the Rumble, but there was a lot of comedy and nostalgia spots to cover.
16 -2		Chris Jericho After an intriguing Highlight Reel on Raw in where he promised the "end of the world" at the Royal Rumble, anything less than a Nexus-like shock angle would fail to meet expectations. The fact nothing happened sucked, but Jericho redeems himself for putting on a great finale to the Rumble with Sheamus.
15 new		Mick Foley The Cobra vs. Mr. Socko was the match that has been waiting to happen for the past year since Santino debuted his green sock puppet and we finally got to see it in action at the Royal Rumble. Foley looks out of shape but he still has the charisma to pull off fun spots in matches like this.
14 new		Aksana The debut of Aksana on the Super 20 has been coming for a long time, with all her Teddy Long cut-scenes full of innuendos that barely pass for PG. What did it this week was her entrance music for her first match on Smackdown, using the cheesy saxophone jazz and blue lighting that comes on when she is with her "Teddy bear."
13 -11		Michael Cole When Cole was berating Booker T and Jerry Lawler for entering the Royal Rumble, I had the feeling he would be entering also and my wishes were met as he entered and got comically eliminated by the returning Kharma. Also love the fact he still continues to run down Daniel Bryan despite his recent heel turn - he still sucks. Vintage Cole.
12 new		Santino Marella Sometimes Santino's comedy irritates me, but he was particularly hilarious this week - first walking into Natalya's fart on Smackdown and secondly his previously mentioned Cobra vs. Mr. Sock lock-up with Foley at the Rumble.
11 +9		Titus O'Neil Heel Titus stays on the Super 20 for a 2nd straight week, an amazing achievement for any NXT wrestler and especially when it was the week of the Royal Rumble AND he moved up 9 places. Anyone who isn't watching NXT should be to see this great star in action. A draft to Raw or Smackdown after WrestleMania is in order. A great match with ex-tag partner Percy Watson was a highlight of the week.
10 new		The Miz Lasting over 40 minutes in the Rumble, The Miz looked like a real star until he was unceremoniously eliminated by the Big Show near the end. I want to see The Miz in a high profile angle going into WrestleMania and lasting that long in the Rumble shows WWE still have faith in him.
9 +3		Sting A weekly fixture in this list, Sting is gold on Impact right now and he feels like a legitimate general manager with the way he goes about things, in his own crazy way. A brewing feud with Bully Ray has high potential of something great leading into the big Lockdown PPV in a couple of months.
8 -7		John Laurinaitis Big Johnny getting on his knees and telling Zack "woo woo woo, you know it" like he was a make-a-wish kid in his wheelchair was classic, as was his selling of the GTS on Raw, looking straight down to the floor. I wanted him to see him screw Punk out of the title at the Rumble and get his revenge, but I'm sure that is to come later.
7 new		Ricardo Rodriguez Double R was fantastic in the Rumble, and in one that was littered with comedy spots he stood out the most. The arena popped when they heard Del Rio's music, but Ricardo coming out in a banged out old car and donning Alberto's scarf was hysterical, as was his square off with Santino. It was cool to see him get a join elimination with Mick Foley.
6 -1		John Cena Despite his cringe-worthy constipation face on Raw this week, Cena was great in his role and had a stellar match with Kane at the Rumble. Shame that it went to a double count-out, but it makes sense if they want to prolong the feud to the next PPV.
5 new		Kofi Kingston So you think Kofi Kingston is first up in the fave five this week because of his awesome handstand walk at the Royal Rumble? Well, that would be the main reason - but a solid match on Superstars with Michael McGillicutty also showed me the Kofi Kingston we have been missing since his unfortunate pairing with the inept Evan Bourne in Air Boom. After 'Mania, a solid singles run near the top of the card should be in order for Kofi, after putting up with years of crap.
4 -1		Bully Ray Impact is starting to feel like the Bully Ray show, and on any other week the hardcore legend would have probably been number 1 in the list again, but he had to contend with the Royal Rumble - no mean feat. His brawl with Hardy to open Impact, as was the tag team tables main event at the end and the prospect of a Sting-Bully feud has me excited.
3 +12		Cody Rhodes Despite going out with a whimper, Rhodes was one of the biggest stars coming out of this year's Rumble - lasting over 40 minutes and eliminating many of the legends and nostalgia acts. He will be the next top heel in wrestling, possibly after WrestleMania.
2 new		Kane Unfortunately, Kane did not get to keep up his long streak of consecutive Rumble appearances, dating back over a decade - but he did break Ryder's back (kayfabe) and hopefully force him off TV for a while. The look on his face as he tombstoned Ryder at the Rumble PPV was priceless
1 +7		Sheamus The undisputed number 1 for this week, I was shouting at the TV in the final five minutes where Sheamus and Jericho went one on one at the end of the Rumble. As much as I love Jericho, Sheamus was the perfect winner here and this victory should be the one that propels him to real main event superstar levels. Though he has held the title twice before and had good feuds, main eventing a WrestleMania headline match should kickstar his career as a real big draw, which he can be for the WWE.

Royal Rumble Picks

With the Royal Rumble coming up in a weeks time, it's that time of year when all wrestling fans start dipping into their piggy banks and heading down to the bookies to put money on who they think will win the Royal Rumble.  Let us take a look at the favourites and I will make my final pick at the end.

Sheamus

A popular pick for many, Sheamus appears to be one of the frontrunners to win the Rumble this year.  Having largely floundered around Smackdown, squashing everything in his way, Sheamus has had no notable feud and barely challenged for the World Heavyweight Title since he has been drafted to Smackdown - something everybody expected from him this year. The former two-time WWE champion seems to be a main event star of the future for WWE, but I don't think they're going to give him a 'Mania title match just yet.

Wade Barrett

Like Sheamus, Barrett has been mostly directionless since he was drafted to Smackdown - that was until his rivalry with Randy Orton. Appearing regularly on both Raw and Smackdown every week as of late, Barrett seems like he is in the favour of the higher-ups in WWE at the moment and after coming off strong in his feud with Randy Orton, there is a case to be made that he will be the winner of the Royal Rumble this year.  However, like Sheamus, I don't think Barrett will be involved in the title match at WrestleMania this year - my prediction is that Sheamus will fight Wade Barrett in a grudge match at the biggest PPV of the year.

Randy Orton

The hometown hero is surely the odds on favourite to win, right? Don't expect it.  Randy Orton is already a Royal Rumble winner, having won the match in 2009, and though we have seen others win the Rumble two or even three times in the past, Orton doesn't need this win to elevate his career any further right now. Of course, if you think back to the draft, you could believe promises could have been made to Orton that he would be in one of the main events of WrestleMania the followng year. Despite being the company's second biggest draw, Orton was coming off the back of a second WrestleMania in a row in were he fought a mid-card match and then had the slap in the face of being drafted to the B-show, Smackdown.  I still think Orton will be in a World Title match at WrestleMania, but I believe he will be going in as champion - perhaps against..

Cody Rhodes

...the Intercontinental champion, Cody Rhodes. But is Cody Rhodes a serious pick to win the Royal Rumble? It seems as though a feud with Goldust is on the cards at the moment, and though his elder brother wanted to have that match at WrestleMania, it could easily be over and done with by Elimination Chamber. Royal Rumble winners tend to have filler matches at Elimination Chamber PPV between the Rumble and WrestleMania to give them heat going into their big match, such as Alberto Del Rio last year beating Kofi Kingston.  While Cody Rhodes is on the brink of becoming a bonafide main eventer in WWE, he is definitely a dark horse for the Royal Rumble.  Though the theme tune of the PPV is indeed "Dark Horses" - perhaps a subtle clue?

Undertaker

If the gong were to chime after a countdown during the Royal Rumble match, nobody would see it coming and the WWE fans would go crazy.  It is around this time every year that Undertaker makes his bombastic return to the WWE for his annual WrestleMania match and doing it at the Rumble would be a huge shocker. The Rumble is always full of surprises and this would be a big one - but Undertaker winning the Rumble? While there is a possibility he could return, I can't see him winning the thing as he doesn't need to be fighting for a title at WrestleMania..

Chris Jericho

..and neither does the recently returned Chris Jericho.  Nobody can truly predict what is going to happen with Y2J, but one popular theory is that he will win the Rumble and face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, putting over Punk in the process and elevating him to being a true main eventer. While that would make for a great feud, I think WWE has different plans for Jericho. Though the mystery videos haven't been mentioned since his return as of yet, the WWE wouldn't go to all the trouble of making those clips if they did not have any meaning. I think there is a stronger possibility that Jericho will go on to face Undertaker at WrestleMania, rather than CM Punk - the January 2nd videos seemed to imply a feud with 'Taker more than Punk, with many being fooled into believing it could even be videos promoting the return of Undertaker.

Alberto Del Rio

Amongst the WWE fans, all the above mentioned names are being thrown around as possibilities to win the Royal Rumble this year, but Alberto Del Rio, last year's winner, is one name that is hardly getting a mention. Though he has only been off TV for a couple of weeks, it's almost as if he has been away forever, with everybody seeming to have forgotten that he even exists. Though out with an injury, reports indicated he would be back around the time of the Royal Rumble and so it is likely he will be making his return as a surprise entrant. Will he go on to win it for the second year in a row, though? It is likely CM Punk will be headlining the WWE title match at WrestleMania this year, as Raw's top babyface behind John Cena and I can't imagine the Del Rio-Punk feud that ended a month or so ago reigniting already.

John Cena

John Cena would be a shocking and dramatic pick to win the Royal Rumble and one that would piss many fans off, as Cena is already booked to face The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania. Why would he win the Royal Rumble? Say he wins the Rumble and uses his shot as a means of facing CM Punk for the WWE title before WrestleMania, as to defend the gold against Rock in their super main event. Cena did allude to facing Rock for the WWE title just under a year ago, after WrestleMania, but rarely since then has it been mentioned as a possibility. The popular thinking is that the Cena-Rock match does not need the WWE title for it to be any bigger, but it is also a known fact that Vince McMahon prefers for the final match of the night to be a WWE title match - as nothing should be bigger than the WWE title. It is an outside chance, but not completely impossible.

Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, Big Show or CM Punk

It almost went unnoticed, but recently WWE announced that competitors involved in title matches this year will be eligible for participation in the Royal Rumble event. This leaves a whole host of big name main eventers that could be involved in the match. Daniel Bryan or CM Punk could even lose their titles and then go on to win the Rumble that very night, booking themselves into a main event at the Rumble. While this is a chance, I'd guess that WWE are only doing this to bring more star power to the Rumble, than to throw any spanners into the works.

My Pick - The Miz

Since Survivor Series I have believed that The Miz would face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, after headlining arguably the second biggest PPV of 2011 against The Rock, as well as headlining WrestleMania earlier in the year.  I just did not know exactly how they would get to that point, but now I'm pretty confident in my assumption that The Miz is going to win the Royal Rumble and go on to face (and beat) CM Punk for the WWE title at WrestleMania 28.

WWE would not invest so much time and effort into The Miz over the course of 2011 if they didn't have a big match planned for him at WrestleMania.  Of course, a match with R-Truth is a possibility at this point, but I believe that WWE has much grander plans than that for the Awesome One.  Like I said in my WrestleMania article, I think Miz and Punk could pull of a show-stealing match at 'Mania.  Both are good workers and great on the mic and we have yet to see any real feud between the two except for the light, inconsequential feud going into TLC.

One other reason is that The Miz has had barely any screen time as of late. Surely that means he won't be winning this year then? To me, it's a red herring from WWE - the Rumble is always full of surprises, and this year I think The Miz will be the surprise pick to win.

Super 20 - 2012, Week 4

Super 20 - the top 20 wrestlers this week in wrestling.

Week 4 of 2012

A revolutionary week this week, as 11 newcomers make it into the chart, some returning faces, a couple of brand new stars and the very first ever NXT entries.  Read on to find out...

20 new		Titus O'Neil After a decent match with Darren Young, Titus O'Neil cut a hilarious and random heel swerve promo for seemingly no reason.  The first ever NXT entry onto the prestigious Super 20.
19 new		Mickie James A great match with Madison Rayne this week on Impact, TNA knockouts keep showing the WWE barbie dolls how it's done.  Mickie James is probably the best female in-ring worker around, an underrated talent.
18 new		Jack Swagger That two minutes of Swagger beating the crap out of Zack Ryder and then pinning him to steal the U.S. title was one of the most satisfying things on Raw as of late.  About time that farsical run came to an end.  The U.S. title suits Swagger perfectly.
17 new		Vickie Guerrero If you didn't see Vickie Guerrero daning on this week's episode of Smackdown make sure you find it on Youtube. She's had some funny moments in her career, but this was amongst the best of them. She also played her part well on Raw in the opening promo, laughing in Mick Foley's face as Laurinaitis told him he couldn't be in the Rumble.
16 -13		Gunner A big win over AJ Styles for Gunner this week on Impact, but unfortunately no DDT to the concrete.
15 +2		Cody Rhodes After posting my Top 5 Hornswoggle moments article this week, I got a kick out of Cody Rhodes going after the little troll and beating on him until Justin Gabriel made the save. They had a decent five minute match, Cody showing how talented he is in the ring as always.
14 -10		Chris Jericho Jericho falls down 10 places, but his performance on Raw was still gold, walking out in the middle of the tag team match after hyping up the crowd. Still no idea where this is all leading to, it's keeping us all glued to find out week after week - great writing
13 new		Eric Young EY was hilarious as usual and his "match" with Angelina Love. He keeps finding news ways to make his grapple spot funny, even though we've all seen it 100 times already. His chemistry with ODB is amazing, they should become a legit tag team.
12 +3		Sting The boss of Impact was great in his role as GM, as he has been every week the last couple of months. A feud with Bully Ray could make for some great matches and promos.
11 +3		Mark Henry The WSM running down Teddy Long and his Vegas wheel on Smackdown was priceless. His match with Bryan wasn't so good, but that was down to bad booking more than anything. Desperate to see Henry take the gold against Bryan and Big Show at the Rumble - he deserves to main event WrestleMania.
10 new		R-Truth As I go through the list it feels like there were lots of great comedy segments in wrestling this week.  Truth's photoshop slideshow at Disneyland was brilliant, and the "I'm not even sure if that's PG" line was hysterical. I though R-Truth as a babyface might be terrible but it's actually turning out better than him as a heel.
9 new		Garrett Bischoff The training video of Garrett Bischoff on Impact this week was hilarious and epic, channelling the spirit of Rocky Balboa and Tony Montana with a cheesy 80's movie style montage. Just who is Bischoff's trainer?
8 new		Sheamus Sheamus and Wade Barrett put on a spectacle of a match on Smackdown this week and one of the best TV matches in a while, with their tables match. Less leprchaun and Irish comedy and more intensity like this from Sheamus and he will find a regular spot in the illustrious Super 20.
7 new		Wade Barrett Barrett just about gets the nod over Sheamus, but he had the benefit of enjoying the previously mentioned promo with R-Truth to get him there. The win over the Irish fella helps too. He seems like one of the odds on favourites to win the Royal Rumble in a few weeks.
6 new		Dolph Ziggler Mr. Ziggles has truly arrived. His promo destroying Mick Foley was incredible and for the first time ever Ziggler felt like a bonafide main eventer, with the mic skills to match his stellar in-ring work.
5 +13		John Cena Cena showed a side of him we haven't seen for a long time this week on Raw, physically decimating Jack Swagger in revenge for his assault and title win over Zack Ryder earlier in the night. He looked great as the pissed off tough guy and even showed heelish tendencies in his assault, Swagger coming off as kind of sympathetic. The Rise Above Hate angle continues, but where will it lead to?
4 -2		James Storm It's stupid that James Storm had to fight another #1 contendership match this week - this time against Jeff Hardy - but nevertheless Storm looked like a legit main event star on the mic and in the ring. He has it all to be the lead face of TNA and take them to next level, I believe - as I wrote in this article.
3 -2		Bully Ray If Storm is the top face in TNA right now, then Bully Ray is the top heel. A fantastic backstage segment with Sting showed off a great chemistry with the Insane Icon and the post-main event beatdown on Storm and Hardy with his trademark chain was a mark-out moment. After a feud with Sting, Bully deserves a PPV world title match sometime in the next few months.
2 new		Michael Cole Any Cole Miners out there who didn't watch this weeks episode of NXT: Redemption - go and watch it. Cole was good on Smackdown and heeled it up to his usual high standards, but on NXT he gave a blistering performance. He destroyed everyone and everything associated with the show, all in typical Cole fashion and turned what would have been a terrible, unwatchable wedding angle between Johnny Curtis and Maxine into a work of art with the gift of his voice. Vintage.
1 +11		John Laurinaitis John Laurinaitis becomes the first ever star to win the historic Super 20 for a second time, after a blistering performance on Raw. If the Ziggler-Punk title match at the Rumble had no heat going into it, that all changed after Laurinaitis completely sold the match with his brilliant promo work. Credit has to be given to Punk for his promo against Laurinaitis also, and he narrowly misses out on the top 20 this week - but Laurinaitis was on another level with his end promo, finally snapping after weeks of back-and-forth with CM Punk. His mannerisms when he finally snapped were amazing and I had flashes of early Vince Mcmahon, fixing the tie and wiping down his suit. Decking Foley with the microphone was a touch of class to finish the show. If CM Punk can keep his game up, this feud could be the next Austin-McMahon - and hopefully they will have some matches down the line.