Super 20 - Week 7, 2012

With more NXT stars than Raw ones this week, has the world gone mad? No.. this is wrestling, so expect the unexpected. But who really ever though an Indian promotion would ever come along that would challenge the big American companies? Ring Ka King finds itself entering the Super 20 this week and most likely will for many weeks to come..

20 new		Percy Watson Sadly the end of Titus O'Neil's 3-week streak on the Super 20, but perhaps the beginning of something new as Percy Watson hits number 20 on a super tough week. He looks like he could be a future star to me - he's confident, his in-ring work is good, his promos are clear, he has a good voice and he has charisma. Plus, age is on his side.
19 new		The Great Khali Don't know if it's my new-found love for Indian wrestling after seeing Ring Ka King, but I find myself receptive to the return of Great Khali. He brings something different to the table and we haven't seen him for a while, plus he sold the RKO like a champ' on Raw - which he deserves kudos for.
18 new		Gail Kim I wasn't into Gail Kim much til the last couple of weeks when she had two great matches with Tara. Tara deserves plaudits too, but Gail Kim is just a little bit better.
17 -16 6w		James Storm Storm did not look the star that he did last week on Impact or Against All Odds and seemed to play second fiddle to Jeff Hardy. He still looked great though, but TNA need to put everything behind him leading up to Lockdown if they want to build him up as the next top face of the company (which they should)
16 new		Johnny Curtis Curtis' character is awesome and unique and he plays the part of the creepy sexually charged guy well. Proper laugh out loud moments when you see him hiding behind doors or corners of walls. As well as his backstage skits, he had a cool match with Yoshi Tatsu on Superstars this week and showed off his new personality well, making the rest holds fun with his peculiar mannerisms.
15 new		AJ Styles AJ Styles still looks like a main event star to me, no matter how many mid-card angles he gets put in. His matches with Daniels and Kazarian this week were good and he came out of both looking like a real pro.
14 +2 2w		Austin Aries Aries gets in here for a second week just on match strength alone. I'm glad to see him beat Alex Shelley clean, he has to be one of the first long-term dominant heel champions I've seen in years. But it begs the question - who else is left? Zema Ion is the new number one contender, and whether that was by accident or not after the Jesse Sorenson injury, it should prove to be an interesting match up with Aries. The fans are already chanting his name - perhaps a face turn is in order? That could be the cause if they plan to feud him with Ion.
13 new		David Otunga Hilarious promo from Otunga this week, "praying" for John Laurinaitis in the Tim Tebow pose to big heel heat. The reason I love Otunga is the same reason I love Ring Ka King - he's an over the top, larger than life character who takes what could be a crap gimmick without the right direction and gives it personality of his own. Always like to see wrestling in suits, ever since I saw The Wall in WCW - so another bonus that helps find Otunga back on the top 20.
12 new		Gunner Welcome back to the Super 20 Gunner and let's hope you stay here for a long time to come. It was about time someone beat the hell out of Garrett Bischoff and taught that punk kid a lesson, and thankfully that man was Gunner at Against All Odds. Would preferred to have seen his DDT on the concrete, but a simple DDT to the mat was fine enough. Still believe he will be a World Champ' by the time the year is through.
11 new		Sonjay Dutt Not sure if Sonjay Dutt is an American-born Indian wrestler or if he is just one of the Indian guys, but he has a crispness to his in-ring work that I was surprised to see - most of the other Indian talent in RKK is pretty green. His character is great too, that of the weaselly heel and he does it better than anyone else in wrestling right now. Kissing his opponent's foot was hilarious and even one of the Indian commentators broke into English to laugh and say "I love this guy"
10 +2 2w		Robert Roode I thought I was getting sick of Robert Roode, but the ending of the Against All Odds match showed me he is a legitimate champ', with his interactions with Sting. Spitting in Sting's face then laughing and telling him to count when Sting knocked Hardy out with the belt was great. I can forgive how badly the match was booked (why didn't Sting count Bully to win the title if he could count Roode?), just for the great ending - which Roode played magnificently. Even tapping out to Sting on Impact and rolling out cradling the belt like his baby and trying to get friendly with Bully Ray was quality - "Calfs and abs, like old times!" - "Old times" of course being less than 2 weeks ago.
9 new		Jwala I don't know what Jwala's beef is and I'm not quite sure if he is face or heel, but he has an amazing intensity and creepiness about him. Not even sure what the mark is on the side of his face, but it looks cool. As soon as I saw him on camera he stood out to me and he is one of the better Indian wrestlers in Ring Ka King.
8 -5 2w		Randy Orton Randy Orton brings real star power to WWE, and even though he is hanging around in the mid-card at the moment, he should either win the Elimination Chamber match or face the winner at WrestleMania. A strong match with Bryan with a good ending in where he brawled with Big Show sees him stay around the top 10.
7 +2 2w		Heath Slater The One Man Southern Rock Band stays on the chart for a second week after having the best match in WWE world on Superstars with Justin Gabriel. Why is Gabriel not here though? Because he doesn't have the charisma, the charm and the brilliance of Heath Slater. Both are good workers that compliment each other, as seen with their great match - but Slater has the edge on Gabriel with his mannerisms and general demeanor. He stands out from the crowd.
6 +7 7w		Sting Sting is one of only two players left suviving from week 1 of the Super 20, in a tough week where Cody Rhodes (did nothing noteworthy), John Cena (not on TV), John Laurinaitis (rarely featured) and Mark Henry (suspended) all lost their spots. But Sting was great this week.  His mega charisma, while more apparent than anyone elses in TNA, doesn't overflow and make anyone else look bad. That is why Sting is so good, whereas Hogan's charisma just steals the show - that can  be a positive or a negative. The Stinger was great in the tag team match main event and his segment with Roode at the end of Against All Odds showed why he is one of the more intriguing characters on the show, even if that match was overbooked so poorly at the end.
5 +2 2w		Triple H The Triple H-Taker feud just blows everything else out of the water right now in WWE and the slow build up to WrestleMania should be epic. Hunter's opening promo on Raw was long, but necessarily so - it gave a new spin to the feud and made the match seem more relevant than it would have been, giving HHH a heelish edge.
4 +2 2w		Daniel Bryan Bryan improves week after week and his new left-wing liberal gimmick makes him even more hateable as a heel. Everything about him has improved, from his promos, to his matches and even his facial mannerisms. It is small things like that which make a star and one of the things I criticised Daniel Bryan about in my '10 reasons Daniel Bryan sucks' was how he should study Randy Orton for that part of his in-ring game. Seemingly he has taken my advice and he has become one of the more entertaining acts in WWE at the moment because of it.
3 new		Magnus After seeing Magnus kill it on the microphone this week on Impact and then seeing him in Ring Ka King as "Sir" Brutus Magnus, I am convinced he is the future of the business. Wade Barrett move over, Magnus is the next big thing out of England. To think he is only in his mid-twenties is a shock, his in-ring work and promo style suggests that of a veteran. In Ring Ka King he looks like a total star and in TNA he is helping make Samoa Joe relevant again - something nobody has been able to do for 2 years.
2 n/c 7w		Bully Ray The Bully was incredible this week, as always and along with Sting is one of only two remaining stars who have appeared on every Super 20 list since its inception, many moons ago. He played his part in some good matches this week and cut awesome promos as usual (calling Christy Hemme a skank was priceless), but my favourite Bully moment this week came on TNA Xplosion, the UK only show. Some blonde slag from the shitty Man U channel was being interviewed as she had been in attendance at the Impact house show in Manchester, when Bully Ray turns up in a Liverpool top and starts calling her ugly and fat and to stop calling him at 3 in the morning. So, so funny - but not as funny as... .
1 new		Scott Steiner ...Big Poppa Pump! With Ring Ka King pulling in a reported 14million viewers in India, beating out Raw in America by 10million, Scott Steiner is the hottest act in wrestling right now. Some may say Matt Morgan would be entitled to this honour, due to him being the RKK champion - but the real star of the show is The Genetic Freak, bringing his surreal jacked-up comedy ravings to India and terrifying the fans in the process. Anyone who doesn't believe a Ring Ka King star deserves to be at the top of this list just needs to watch the opening minutes of one of the latest episodes in where Steiner calls the Indian general manager Jazzy Lahoria "white trash". Ring Ka King is awesome in itself, but Steiner being on there makes it 10 x better. It is more simplfied and old school in it's feel as it's for an audience more unaccustomed to wrestling than our own, which begs the question why they brought a lunatic like Scott Steiner across - someone that native English speakers can barely understand half the time. It just adds to the greatness that is Ring Ka King - the show is wrestling gold and Steiner is the best act on there.

Guide
Position
movement
weeks in chart

Breakout Star Of The Year Award - Washington David Awards For Excellence In Sports Entertainment

This Washington David Awards For Excellence In Sports Entertainment award, the Breakout Star Of The Year goes to the best newcomer to a promotion within the last year.

5. Austin Aries
As Austin Aries made his way down the Impact Zone ramp donned in some kind of shit purple cape for the first time, me and my friends thought - who is this guy?  Another lame skinny loser from ROH who thinks he's a big shot.

Then the match started and off he went, proving us all wrong.  Finishing off some jobber with a sick-looking brainbuster, the saviour of the X Division was finally here.  A little guy who actually carried himself like a main eventer, who didn't look nervous when he spoke, who could get away with his size because he acted like a man and not a boy.

What the X Division was lacking was someone like Aries, someone to give the division credibility.  And sure enough, he became X Division champion within a couple of months of debuting - and rightfully so.   While Kendrick had his funny moments through the year (calling Hogan a reptilian being the highlight) his in-ring style was bland and looked weak and ineffective.  Aries hits much harder and his stiffness paid off for him.

But unfortunately Aries has fizzled out towards the end of the year after his impactful debut.  The returning Kid Kash began to steal his spotlight and looked like the real star of the X Division, the new alpha male.  Hopefully next year things will pick up for him again and it would be nice to see Aries against some bigger opponents.

4. Mason Ryan
"OMG BATISTA HAS JOINED THE NEW NEXUS WTF" were the collective thoughts of the Raw viewing audience as Mason Ryan made his debut attacking [insert whoever Punk was feuding with at the time here], and no doubt if WWE was as obsessed with Twitter as they are now then "Batista" would have been a trending topic popping up in the bottom left corner of the screen.

But it was not Batista joining the New Nexus that fateful night, it was Mason Ryan.  While his debut year has been far from impressive, with no notable feuds or matches to speak of, the potential in Ryan is what sees him enter at number 4 on this list.

The big man from Wales has all the qualities to get a big push in the next year - i.e. he is one of the most muscular guys the WWE has ever seen.  You can only imagine what he would have looked like during the 80's and 90's when everyone was on steroids.  If guys like Evan Bourne and R-Truth can get busted on the Wellness policy and Ryan can't, then I don't know what he is eating for breakfast.

3. Garrett Bischoff
In one of the top contenders for match of the year (Hulk Hogan vs. Sting, Bound For Glory), Garrett Bischoff had his star-making moment.  Like Clark Kent turning into Superman, the lowly referee Jackson James became the rebellious son of Eric Bischoff, Garrett.  And not only was Garrett no longer a referee, he was the breakout superstar for TNA in 2011.

Flashing the Bischoff crest on his left pec with pride was another defining moment for the young star, standing up to his father for his evil wrong-doings in Immortal.  And so begins the father-son feud between the two Bischoffs which will likely (hopefully) run long into the next year.  One can only hope TNA brings in David Flair, son of Ric, to have a dream feud with Garrett Bischoff, son of Eric.  Perhaps in 2012?  Sometimes dreams do come true (see: Kevin Nash returning to the WWE).

2. Hunico
The lights dim down to a golden hue, the ethereal new age music begins, summoning spirits of the Aztecs, the rich heritage of the luchadors, the soul of Mexico.  The trampoline is in place for the big entrance.  And here he comes, Latin America's biggest wrestling superstar and the man that the all-mighty, all-knowing Wrestling Observer newsletter (more like MMA Observer these days) dubbed the "Wrestler of the year" back in 2006.

And then Sin Cara, a.k.a. Mistico, botches his ring entrance.  Then he botches in his debut match.  And again, and again.  And then he fails the wellness test.  Then he fucked his leg up with an injury.  And the big project, designed to be the next Rey Mysterio to shift cheap masks to kids, completely fails.

But fortunately WWE has a plan.  In comes Sin Cara Negro, the arch-nemesis of Sin Cara.  And it turns out this guy is better than the real Sin Cara, much better in fact.

While Sin Cara was out for smoking weed, or whatever he did wrong, Sin Cara Negro was making the Sin Cara character look good.  And so one of the worst feuds of the year began, Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara - then quickly ended, with Sin Cara Negro being unmasked in the end, who then became Hunico.

Hunico already looks like one of the best workers in the WWE today already and it would be a crime if they let him slip under the radar now.  He has already had good matches as the fake Sin Cara and as Hunico - and being one of the last 4 in this years Survivor Series match was a mark-out moment for myself personally.  If WWE want another guy for the Mexican audience to enjoy, here is your man.  Dump Sin Cara and let him go back to Mexico, or the TNA X Division.  Hunico is the next big thing.

1. Booker T (Winner)

WHUT DA HEYYUULLLL!

And with the greatest of ease, Booker T comes in at number one, the winner of the prestigious Breakout Star Of The Year Award!  Of course, he makes this entry for his commentary career and not his wrestling career (which incidentally starts again this Sunday against Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title).

First, let me take you back to last year.  As the cameras rolled for NXT Season 3, the all divas season, and Michael Cole was just getting into full swing with his comedy heel character - things were good, but he needed someone to bounce off.  The good guy to be the butt of his jokes - just as he had been for JBL years ago on Smackdown.  Josh Matthews couldn't be that guy - though he has brilliant chemistry with Cole, he is simply too quiet and unopinionated.  Though Josh is great, he works best as the subtle troll announcer - but that's a whole other article in itself.

So after turning up at the Royal Rumble and being one of the trainers for this year's Tough Enough, Booker T landed himself a commentary position on the Smackdown announce table.  With cliche after cliche, smarks complaining online in droves about his ineffectual commentary and Cole ribbing him throughout the whole show, a new era of Smackdown was born.  Smackdown became the absolute best wrestling show on TV this year, surpassing Raw and Impact.  Of course, Orton, Christian, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus and others were a big part of that - but it would not have been the same without Booker, Cole and Matthews calling the action.

To celebrate the first ever Breakout Star of the Year award winner, let us take a look at this very special clip of the man we know as the five time, five time, five time dubya C dubya champion, Booker T.  Oh mah goodness!