Hey everyone, welcome to McRankings, which is a monthly feature in the DOI newsletters. To spice up the DOI website, every week (Or as much free time as I can get) I will rank, in my opinion, the top 10 indy wrestlers that I have seen for the week. The monthly rankings will remain in the newsletter, which is available monthly. I will also rank the top 5 tag teams, top 5 women wrestlers and top 5 “Intangibles”. There will also be one “McMatch of the Weekend.” Rankings will be on what I’ve seen only, and I usually make all the top shows. NWA-TNA wrestlers will only be ranked if they wrestle in the northeast area, but I will not rank wrestlers on what they have done in NWA-TNA, but I will comment on it. This is what I look for in a ranking. The criteria is listed in order.
1- Workrate- how good was the match from a wrestling standpoint. A lot of rest holds? Non stop action? Ring psychology, footwork and selling moves will also factor into this.
2- Character/Crowd Reaction- How the wrestler did with the crowd. Was the crowd chanting boring or were they popping the whole match? Likewise, was the crowd sitting there or booing and cursing the hell out of the heels?
3- Finally win/loss records. This won’t really factor into it too much, but if 2 guys are tied, then I will give the nod to the guy with the better win/loss record.
What up everyone in DOI land and welcome to another McRankings. This weekend I checked out PWU's return show, featuring an awesome match between Jack Evans & Trent Acid. These rankings reflect this show only, as it is the only show I saw with my eyes.
TOP 10 SINGLES WRESTLERS
10. Rockin Rebel- had a hilarious match with Human Tornado.
9. Mana "The Polynesian" Warrior- picked up a huge win over Mike Kruel at PWU.
8. Tom Carter/Reckless Youth- took Corino to the limit, before having interference end his chances of beating Corino.
7. Steve Corino- defeated Tom Carter after help from the Backseat Men.
6. Human Tornado- made a big impression in his match with Rockin' Rebel.
5. Jay Lethal- looked good, and picked up the win for his team in the 6-man tag match at PWU.
4. Corporal Robinson- fought Homicide to a double dq at PWU.
3. Homicide- battled Corporal Robinson in a brutal match.
2. Trent Acid- lost to Jack Evans, but still came out looking like a winner.
1. Jack Evans- defeated Trent Acid in a hell of a match.
TOP 5 TAG TEAM WRESTLERS
5. Backseat Men- Kashmere and Acid do it all over again, starting May 20th, as they made it clear by attacking Homicide, Carter & Corporal Robinson on 4/1.
4. Mark'd- went down to Lethal/Azraiel/Dragon at PWU.
3. Jay Lethal/Azraiel/Insane Dragon- had a good match with Mark'd at PWU.
2. AMIL- lost to Notorious Inc, in their quest to become the first ever PWU & AWA Tag Team Champions.
1. Notorious Inc- defeated AMIL to retain the PWU Tag Titles.
TOP 5 WOMEN WRESTLERS
Note: On weeks where there weren’t enough women wrestlers, managers/valets will be placed in spots. Women wrestlers will always be ranked ahead of managers/valets.
5. Christie Hemme- convinced everyone that she doesn't belong in a ring at Wrestlemania.
4. Trish Stratus- carried Christie Hemme at Wrestlemania. (Hey it was a slow week for indy womens wrestling!)
3. Dustie Diamond- announced at PWU.
2. Luscious Lily- did some PR work for PWU.
1. Jade Chung- managed Cheech at PWU.
TOP 5 INTANGIBLES
The intangibles will be used for the top 5 people/angles/interesting developments that occurred during the week.
5. NWS Presents the 6th Annual J-Cup- This should be an interesting event, as it will be the first non-Ricky O J-Cup in the tournament's 6 years. NWS is currently working on a huge name who could potentially win the tournament. We'll have more on this tournament as the date approaches.
4. 3PW offers Free Tickets to Anyone Not from Pennsylvania on 4/9- 3PW will give out free tickets to their next show, if you present a non-Pennsylvania state ID at the door. This is a revolutionary idea, and should help 3PW bring in new fans. It should also make those new fans come back if 3PW can put out a kick ass product.
3. ECWA Super 8 this SATURDAY Night- The premier and best independent tournament of the year returns this Saturday. Check out the DOI site for all our Super 8 coverage and interviews with the wrestlers. For more on the tournament, visit http://www.ecwaprowrestling.com
2. ROH's Best of the American Super Junior Heavyweight Tournament Comes Down to a Japanese Man vs a Cuban Guy- Sure, you can say that cultural diversity is running rampant in America, but this tournament was a complete joke. Then again, what else would you expect when Kendo Ka Shin and Gabe Sapolsky are booking it? I guess this is what you get when you run a tournament the week before the Super 8- bad karma.
1. WrestleMania 21 Comes and Goes- This year didn't feel like a true Wrestlemania but it was good seeing Hogan, Austin and Piper again. HBK/Kurt Angle did a great job of stealing the show. Cena's win did look weak, and it should only be a matter of time until Batista drops the belt back to Triple H, but it was great watching the Superbowl of our sport, on the biggest day of the wrestling year, deliver overall, a good show.
