With the VP2010s voting coming up shortly, the deadline being 12/1, I wanted to highlight a few wrestlers I want to make sure I getting their proper due. Time is of the essence, voters need guidance. I am here to lend my hand.

Anthony Henry

Probably the most notable of the bunch but as far as the 2010s are concerned he is still under appreciated. He is one of those dudes we got to see wrestle the whole decade which isn’t necessary but it makes the whole process easier. Over a 10 year span you can see how a wrestler grows, or regresses, and hopefully see them in a variety of situations

Henry wasn’t even too early into his career as the 2010s hit which to say he wasn’t a prodigy. Even early working the south, wrestling folks like Seth Delay and Strykn (underrated, doesn’t make my list but he is sick and you should watch), he wasn’t nearly as confident a wrestler as he grew to be around 2012/13. The traits were there but I always believe there is something about the way a wrestler moves around the ring. Not doing moves, not even the way he fills in the space between the moves, but when he walks, runs, gets in and out of the ring, does the way his body move convey anything? Modern Anthony Henry sure as hell does. In the early part of the decade he threw mean strikes still but wasn’t elite in some of the other things that you would hope.

A consistent dance partner early on is someone else I toyed with for this piece, Kyle Matthews. Kyle is one of the great technical wrestlers from the indies over the millennia and should be in consideration for any and all lists. But also someone that I blame myself for not mentioning earlier than early November where swaying you might not do a lot of good.

Toward the tail end of the decade you have his team with JD Drake, Workhorsemen. Don’t need much of an intro there but that seems to be where Henry’s profile took that next step. One of the best teams going now and think there is enough runway/work from 2017 forward from a core of EVOLVE to a real touring act to make that a meaningful part of their case. Not sure it helps prove out range as Henry felt more refining throughout the decade and the team being more of an extension than a departure.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Kyle Matthews (EW 8/24/13)
• vs. Chris Hero vs. Gunner Miller vs. Jimmy Rave (SCI 8/6/16)
• vs. Kyle Matthews (Anarchy 6/24/17)
• vs. Fred Yehi (4/26/19)
• w/ JD Drake vs. Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku (BLP 2/2/19)

Guerrero Maya Jr.

When talking about the great lucha wrestlers (more specifically CMLL) of the 2010s Maya Jr. gets left off way too often. Sure, put Virus, Cavernario, and Hechicero above him. I accept that. Once we start talking folks like Valiente, Dragon Lee, or Terrible, I think I have to draw the line. All those folks have a strong shot at making my list but Maya is one of the premiere pure luchadores of the decade. Can do graceful flying and beautiful matwork that is second to none. Every trios match he is in is that much more likely to be watchable because he was there. That is a hard case to make mid-November though. You aren’t going to go back and watch those matches to prove that out.

Luckily for us all, Maya also has top end stuff that stacks up well against others. I have to call out the Virus matches as quintessential title bouts. Hard to point to a Virus match as a recommendation to someone that isn’t Virus because…well of course a great match features Virus. He is one of the most “do it all” wrestlers we have ever seen, to not be capable of having a strong match with Maya would be more telling.

Not to take it to the trios matches because it does feel like you need to watch more of varying qualitites to underestand a singular wrestlers contribution, he has a handful of trios matches I’d consider amongst the top 25-35 of CMLL trios for the decade. I know that seems like it might not be high praise but you have to trust me, CMLL had a lot of heat on a week to week basis.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• vs. Virus (CMLL 6/7/11)
• vs. Virus (CMLL 10/6/13)
• w/ Atlantis & Delta vs Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Mephisto (CMLL 11/25/14)
• w/ Delta & Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi, Puma & Virus (CMLL 2/8/15)
• w/ Rey Cometa & Blue Panther vs. Hechicero, Kraneo & Ripper (CMLL 4/1/16)

Dean Allmark

DEON-O~!

PROGRESS ruined UK wrestling. People stuck talking about Mark Andrews and Jimmy Havoc versus a true legend like Dean Allmark. Sure, Allmark wrestled in PROGRESS but it felt so dumbed down. The style was meant to be digested by the terminally online with an inability to distinguish good work from the rate of work being done.

Where Dean thrived was in All-Star Wrestling. Thankfully for us you can watch a great deal of his matches there on his YouTube channel. He is working a style that sight-unseen I would have believed couldn’t work on video. ASW is running a lot of shows in short periods of time, meant to be taken in as almost theater or a circus. A ton of playing to the crowd, trying to get them involved beyond “invested”. The crowd is part of the act often. That feels like it needs to come at the expense of those not in the room yet Dean is a master at it so it doesn’t really matter.

His best stuff is with James Mason and tag matches against Robbie Dynamite. Each match of theirs are simply yet perfectly constructed. The best grilled cheese you’ve ever had every single time. Dean wrestles like a UK Ricky Morton. I’m being a bit simplistic but Dean is a simple wrestler in that regard. More about how he mixes the moonsaults, headscissors and fits of grappling into these fights of good and bad. A babyface through and through, Dean is amongst the best of the decade if not all-time.

RECOMMENDED MATCHES:

• w/ James Mason vs. Rampage Brown & Robbie Dynomite (ASW 3/17/12)
• w/ James Mason vs. Rampage Brown & Robbie Dynamite (ASW 2/20/13)
• vs. Rampage Brown (ASW 3/16/13)
• w/ Hiro Takahashi vs. The Bravados (ASW 8/20/13)
• vs. Danny Collins (ASW 2/17/15)