40. El Hijo de Fishman (37 votes, 2199 points)
Average Rank: 32.89
Last Year’s Rank: 261
High Vote: Chris Gibbons (1)

Recommended Matches

• vs. El Hijo de Canis Lupus (IWRG, 1/28)
• vs. Mascara Sagrada NG (RIBA, 3/22)
• vs. Mascara Sagrada NG (IWRG, 5/12)
• vs. Gallo (Impacto, 5/17)
• vs. Mascara Sagrada NG (IWRG, 5/19)
• w/ El Hijo de Silver King & Misterioso Jr. vs. Estrella Divina, Mascara Sagrada NG & Veneno (IWRG, 7/28)
• vs. Macuarro (Zona 23/Lucha Memes, 8/18)
• vs. Mascara Sagrada NG (Super X, 8/24)
• vs. El Hijo de Canis Lupus (IWRG, 10/3)
• vs. Mascara Sagrada NG (Valle Lucha Libre, 12/1)

“I had my “come to Jesus” moment with Fishman this year. Each adrenaline dump has become appointment viewing. “ ~ Stevan S.

“There is no other wrestler that makes me fear for the safety of others like Fishman. It isn’t just that he is a great bloody brawler. It is that when he is in any given match, there is strong chance that Fishman is going to throw a punch of or forearm aimed through his opponent’s face. Just some ho-hum trios match is given a sense of “anything could happen” when Fisham is in the lineup. I was about to write “enters the ring” but the thing about Fishman is those bad intensions often aren’t confined to a ring. If your name shows up on the card opposite of his, get ready to be hurt.” ~ Sam DiMascio

“The world is (thankfully) full of lucha brawlers, happy to spend their time hitting each other with plastic chairs and bins, in flea markets and small, dirty venues. Fishman is different to his contemporaries. They feel like people on the outskirts, this life and the level of notoriety it brings are the best they could have hoped for. He however, carries himself in such a way and shows a distain for the crowd,that suggest he felt  born into and destined for better things.

In any society, some of the most unhinged people are always men, who believe they were promised more in life, than they have received. Hijo de Fishman is their grim champion.” ~ Nick Yeoman

“Fishman makes every match feel dangerous. He is on a short list of wrestlers where you should watch every single thing they do.” ~Dan Rice

“Fishman was having a pretty damn solid year otherwise in IWRG in beyond, but it’s the Mascara Sagrada feud that put him on the map for others. The bull terrier match was a thing of beauty, and then they just kept having war after war seemingly every other week. Easily the feud of the year in my books, and it’s the sheer violent presence of El Hijo de Fishman that makes those matches what they are. He’s one of the best sheer ass-kickers on the planet, and I’m thrilled more and more people saw the light in 2024.” ~ Chris Gibbons

39. Atlantis Jr. (40 ballots, 2226 points)
Average Rank: 35.45
Last Year’s Rank: 54
High Vote: Nathan A. (6)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Hechicero (NJPW/CMLL, 2/19)
• w/ Soberano Jr. vs. Mascara Dorada & Rocky Romero (CMLL, 3/29)
• vs. Mascara Dorada vs. Mistico (CMLL, 4/19)
• w/ Mistico & Volador Jr. vs. Averno, Rocky Romero & Templario (CMLL, 5/4)
• vs. Angel de Oro (CMLL, 8/27)
• w/ Star Jr. vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja (CMLL, 9/17)
• w/ Templario & Titan vs. Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL, 9/20)
• vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL, 9/27)
• vs. Kyle Fletcher (AEW, 10/17)
• vs. Stuka Jr. (CMLL, 11/2)

“You will see a ton of tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sequences in CMLL but a bunch of different babyfaces. No wrestler is guaranteed to get me out of my seat when they hit them like Atlantis Jr.. Electricity is in the air when he does it. Not the only reason he got on my ballot but the one that likely guarantees him a slot in every year ahead.” ~ Sam DiMascio

“Inheriting the mask, the legacy, and the push from his father it would be easy for him to feel inauthentic or shoved down our throats, but what makes Atlantis Jr. great is how naturally he fits in his role.” ~ Dan Rice

38. 1 Called Manders (46 ballots, 2238 points)
Average Rank: 42.02
Last Year’s Rank: 179
High Vote: Roo (1)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Mad Dog Connelly (SLA, 1/26)
• vs. Mance Warner (GCW, 3/1)
• w/ Tom Lawlor vs. Jaden Newman & Tank (ACTION, 4/4)
• vs. Alex Kane (ACTION, 4/26)
• vs. Adam Priest (SCI, 7/13)
• vs. Mad Dog Connelly (SLA, 7/26)
• vs. Matt Tremont (GCW, 8/4)
• vs. Rina Yamashita (GCW, 8/14)
• w/ Thomas Shire vs. Hideki Suzuki & Timothy Thatcher (wXw, 10/4)
• vs. Thomas Shire (SLA, 10/29)

“Manders got me to watch multiple GCW matches. If that isn’t VP100 worthy then I don’t know what is.” ~ Padraig

“A part of two of the better feuds on the US indies with Mad Dog and Priest, and just consistent as hell everywhere he goes. “ ~ Stevan S.

“Real happy for Manders, a dude who I immediately was high on when he came to the scene and the buzz seemed to die down in sequential years to no fault of his own. His year wasn’t entirely defined by his matches with Mad Dog but was great to see a bloody gimmick fight that could travel the globe. When not against Mad Dog, Manders was stil one of the few dudes on the indies who threw everything with real oomph. The former Iowa Hawkeye living up to the potential.” ~ Sam DiMascio

“In 2024 , Manders was able to create compelling rivalries from a talented but diverse group- Mad Dog Connolly, Adam Priest and to a slightly lesser extent, Luke Jacobs. Each gave The Cornbelt Cowboy a completely different opponent, but his chemistry with all three produced a steady stream of great matches.

The formation of a team with Thomas Shire, at the end of 2024, promises to give The Boss of the Plains a chance to show even more variety, this year.” ~ Nick Yeoman

37. HARASHIMA (42 ballots, 2242 points)
Average Rank: 32.29
Last Year’s Rank: 104
High Vote: Dr. Stump (7)

Recommended Matches

• w/ Ken Ohka vs. Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (Ganbare Pro, 1/6)
• w/ Masahiro Takanashi vs. Gaia Hox & Shuichiro Katsumura (Gatoh Move, 1/10)
• vs. Yukio Sakaguchi (DDT, 2/7)
• vs. Yuki Ueno (DDT, 3/17)
• vs. Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, 5/5)
• w/ Chris Brookes & Yuji Hino vs. Shigehiro Irie, Shuji Ishikawa & Yukio Naya (DDT, 5/19)
• w/ Keigo Nakamura vs. Fuminori Abe & Yuki Ueno (DDT, 6/16)
• w/ Shinya Aoki vs. Jun Akiyama & Keigo Nakamura (DDT, 9/29)
• w/ Yuki Ueno vs. Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku (DDT, 10/3)
• vs. Shinya Aoki (DDT, 10/20)

“In his fifties, still one of the best wrestlers in the world. The ceiling could be higher if he was featured more prominently, but even in tags on tour dates or comedy matches, I never felt like my time was wasted while watching HARASHIMA in 2024. “ ~ Stevan S.

36. Soberano Jr. (44 ballots, 2422 points)
Average Rank: 32.45
Last Year’s Rank: 21
High Vote: Sam DiMascio (6)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Templario (CMLL, 1/12)
• vs. Templario (NJPW/CMLL, 2/18)
• w/ Atlantis Jr. vs. Mascara Dorada & Rocky Romero (CMLL, 3/29)
• w/ Euforia & Templario vs. Akuma, Villano III Jr. & Zandokan Jr. (CMLL, 5/31)
• w/ Angel de Oro & Barbaro Cavernario vs. Mascara Dorada, Mistico & Templario (CMLL, 8/9)
• vs. Templario (CMLL, 9/6)
• w/ Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs. Neon, Star Jr. & Templario (CMLL, 9/13)
• vs. Atlantis Jr. (CMLL, 9/27)
• w/ Barbaro Cavernario & Euforia vs. Mascara Dorada, Mistico & Templario (CMLL, 10/25)
• w/ Angel de Oro & Hechicero vs. Atlantis Jr., Mascara Dorada & Mistico (CMLL, 11/5)

“he’s stupid, he’s sexy and he’s the best rudo going in CMLL. Soberano Jr is slowly becoming my favourite wrestler to watch. Just incredible amounts of getting it.” ~ Padraig

“Ahead of everyone on style points, and a damn good wrestler too. “ ~ Stevan S.

“We just got news Soberarno Jr. is going to be out for most of the year and I’m hurting. No wrestler on the planet screams superstar as loud as Soberarno Jr. does. His aura feels just a hair like magic. The way he swaggers can make every match he’s in feel twice as big. Yet he never looks above it. At worse, he was the second-best guy in any trios match he was in last year that I saw. And more often than not he was number one, he was the dude pushing the matches to their upper limits. There is no situation I can think of that Soberarno Jr. would not completely thrive in.” ~ Sam DiMascio

35. Kevin Ku (53 ballots, 2529 points)
Average Rank: 40.08
Last Year’s Rank: 63
High Vote: Raiden, Tusnami Papi (13)

Recommended Matches

• w/ Dominic Garrini vs. Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura (GCW, 2/9)
• w/ Dominic Garrini & LaBron Kozone vs. Jorel Nelson, Royce Isaacs & Tom Lawlor (DPW, 4/14)
• vs. Calvin Tankman (DPW, 5/19)
• vs. Miyu Yamashita (BLP, 6/7)
• w/ Dominic Garrini vs. Diego Hill & Ichiban (DPW, 6/16)
• vs. Daniel Makabe (SCI, 7/12)
• w/ Dominic Garrini vs. Malcolm Monroe III & Tommy Vendetta (GCW, 9/14)
• w/ Dominic Garrini vs. Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (DPW, 10/13)
• vs. Robert Martyr (C4, 11/29)
• w/ Dominic Garrini vs. Jake Something & Mike Bailey (DPW, 12/8)

“VIF had a pretty good year but Kevin Ku’s best performance is undoubtedly in the Makabe retirement match. The matches rise and fall in anger is perfectly shown by Ku. also he’s just cool” ~ Padraig

“Not going to lie to you, made my list because of the highs. The Tankman and Makabe matches are two have my absolute favorite matches of the year and honestly two matches that made me feel like you could still do something special on the indies. I have felt for the past couple of years there is a certain ceiling on most of indie wrestling…but man, there is something about the intimacy that can produce a one-of-a-kind feeling. And those two matches surely did that.” ~ Sam DiMascio

“I didn’t subject myself to GCW so I don’t know how Violence is Forever’s tag title run there was, but I do know that Kevin Ku had himself quite a year outside of GCW. Him and Dom had a very solid tag run in DPW, highlighted by a great bout with FTR at Super Battle. He also shone in singles action last year, with a great babyface performance against Tankman and a fun Bloodsport encounter with Garrini himself. But it was the emotional weight of the Makabe retirement* match that did it for me. A wonderfully worked match, Ku played the role of both mountain to climb and respectful friend at the same time. Dan was the highlight obviously but Ku made sure he went out with more than a joyful moment, but a sick ass match to boot.” ~ Andy/Shrimp

34. Sami Zayn (47 ballots, 2530 points)
Average Rank: 32.57
Last Year’s Rank: 55
High Vote: MC (4)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE, 1/29)
• vs. Randy Orton (WWE, 2/9)
• vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 2/12)
• vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE, 2/26)
• vs. Gunther (WWE, 4/6)
• vs. Chad Gable (WWE, 4/15)
• vs. Chad Gable (WWE, 6/15)
• vs. Bron Breakker (WWE, 7/6)
• vs. Bron Breakker (WWE, 8/12)
• vs. Gunther (WWE, 10/7)

“Doesn’t have the volume of a Sheamus or a Gunther, but Zayn did great work when kept away from The Bloodline and given something to sink his teeth into. “ ~ Stevan S.

33. Mercedes Mone (53 ballots, 2634 points)
Average Rank: 36.72
Last Year’s Rank: 110
High Vote: Sol (2)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Willow Nightingale (AEW, 5/26)
• vs. Skye Blue (AEW, 5/29)
• vs. Stephanie Vaquer (AEW/NJPW, 6/30)
• vs. Hikaru Shida (AEW, 8/14)
• vs. Momo Watanabe (NJPW, 8/30)
• vs. Queen Aminata (AEW, 10/16)
• vs. Kris Statlander (AEW, 11/23)
• vs. Hazuki (NJPW, 12/15)
• vs. Anna Jay (AEW, 12/18)
• vs. Kris Statlander (AEW, 12/28)

“Mercedes has been a lightning rod for the most polemic, outrage-driven opinions of any women’s wrestler in the 21st century. Every word, match, botch, and mannerism is placed under a microscope to justify or denounce her overwhelming popularity. Beyond the fact that I tend to admire the spontaneity of her imperfect execution, all the “botch-talk” fails to grasp how Mercedes’ true strengths lie in her creativity. Mercedes is not complacent enough to fall back on a “formula,” instead treating each opponent as a unique puzzle to solve. Her ability to play to the crowd and adapt on the fly, as evidenced in her Forbidden Door match with Stephanie Vaquer, lends an air of unpredictability. This unpredictability works wonders against wrestlers like Kris Statlander, who may otherwise be out of their element against an opponent like Mercedes. The strength of her ideas from beat to beat in each match transcends her physical limitations, putting her in a cut above nearly all other active wrestlers today.” ~ SolPosting

“I did not have Mercedes Moné being one of the best wrestlers in the world on my 2024 predictions but here we are. Obviously she’s always had the talent, but to see her really tap in and nail the time and push she was given felt so good. 2024 proved that she isn’t just the name value of Sasha Banks, she can hold her own on an entirely different American TV promotion. Her TBS Title reign may have lacked a lot of deep builds, but every single god damn match delivered. From the Willow bout at Double or Nothing, the Vaquer match at Forbidden door, and the incredible double header with Stat at the end of the year, Moné threw the fuck down in every big spot she got. She also had some real fun TV work with people like Aminata and Skye Blue to pad the notebook, but 2024 is the year of Big Match Mercedes all the way. At this point AEW PPVs need a Moné match to feel complete.” ~ Andy/Shrimp

“From an in-ring perspective, clearly the most impressive work of her career and thanks to that, has secured my stance as probably the best American women’s wrestler ever. She has tapped into a kinetic, frenetic energy that oftentimes made her pop in WWE but her matches have so much more meat on the bone now. Miss Money is actively pushing boundaries at times with insane transitions and sequencing, having stretches where she executes at least one counter I have never seen before in a match. But with all that creativity and innovation, she never forgets the fundamentals to make it tick. She has been on another level regarding how textured and intricate her matches are from both micro and macro perspectives. Every little action is conveying something that may or may not influence the outcome but she certainly isn’t going to telegraph where it goes and demonstrates a hasty, competitive energy that resonates as organic. The flow of her matches is erratic but astoundingly fresh in the sense that she is never complacent with a formula, an exceedingly rare trait for someone of her stature and experience.” ~ Flae

32. The Beast Mortos (55 ballots, 2650 points)
Average Rank: 38.31
Last Year’s Rank: 158
High Vote: Patrick (9)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Darby Allin (AEW, 7/20)
• vs. Komander (ROH, 7/26)
• vs. Hologram (AEW, 7/27)
• vs. AR Fox (ROH, 7/28)
• vs. Hologram (AEW, 10/12)
• vs. Arez vs. Rey Horus (DPW, 11/17)
• vs. Kyle Fletcher (AEW, 11/27)
• vs. Daniel Garcia (AEW, 12/4)
• vs. Kazuchika Okada (AEW, 12/12)
• vs. Mark Briscoe (AEW, 12/21)

“The sneaky AEW/ROH MVP. The model of consistency. Every singles match he has is ostensibly a Beast Mortos match but when it has this much energy, I can’t complain. Sure, I usually prefer a wrestler with a bit more variety but when you cracked into a fountain of HOOT, you are doing something right. What takes him to the next level is throwing him into multi-man matches where he gets to look shockingly on par with all the big names. Not from a wrestling ability you nerd, but in the pecking order. He almost always feels like a “hired gun” sort of dude, not narratively but more so he’s an outside entity who is a bad ass. That is cool! Mortos has broken through! Thank you TK, you did good by me here.” ~ Sam DiMascio

“Ok so Darby might be the TV wrestler of the year based on peaks, but if we are talking hit rate, Beast Mortos might be the guy. He stands out so boldly in what feels like a mid-card AEW gimmick. What Mortos and Holgram have given us in 2024 is nothing short of a classic feud in the making, two guys whos bell-to-bell impact helped make Collision a must-see show (god bless the e-sports arena). Even beyond the bangers with Holo, Mortos also shined as the “make me look good” pin eater to people like Takeshita and Ricochet, and as the love interest in the strangely entertaining LFI-Kingdom-Mortos triangle from the summer. A guy who maximizes not only his time, but his spot on the card, and someone AEW can build their new interest in lucha libre around.” ~ Andy/Shrimp

“I was afraid he’d be unused or lost in the shuffle in AEW like he was in TNA, but he’s more than made the most of every opportunity he’s been given on TV.” ~ Dan Rice

“The former Black Taurus has been an incredible glue guy in tags and trios for years, but I was impressed by just how much he shined when given singles opportunities in AEW. He’s still awesome in those TV trios matches, but what really makes his case is his 1-on-1 stuff against high flyers.” ~ Chris Gibbnos

31. Daniel Garcia (55 ballots, 2682 points)
Average Rank: 40.49
Last Year’s Rank: 44
High Vote: Andrew S. (7)

Recommended Matches

• vs. Swerve Strickland (AEW, 1/3)
• w/ Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black (AEW, 1/27)
• w/ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Lee Moriarty & Shane Taylor (AEW, 4/27)
• w/ Katsuyori Shibata vs. Anthony Henry & JD Drake (AEW, 5/30)
• vs. Will Ospreay (AEW, 7/3)
• vs. Kazuchika Okada (AEW, 11/27)
• vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW, 12/4)
• vs. Mark Briscoe (AEW, 12/7)
• vs. Shelton Benjamin (AEW, 12/21)
• vs. Kyle Fletcher (AEW, 12/22)

“I’m gonna say it: I didn’t mind the “escape the cage” stip. All six guys made it work by working around it, none more than Danny Red Death. Garcia had a year defined by underutilization (as most of his years are) but he managed to sneak in a shocking amount of greatness in there. Danny vs Christian opened the best AEW PPV of the year in a perfect metaphor for Garcia’s 2024: a great match that got overshadowed by the few better matches that came after it. On a night full of every kind of wrestling, Daniel and Cage kicking it off with a very simple, easy to follow heel/face dynamic rocked so hard. What a shame he then went on to give us the tiniest taste of a potential legendary tag run with Shibata. Only having 2 matches together last year but making both of those count, with really solid work against the Workhorsemen and STP. Instead of saving the tag division like they should have, Garcia’s back half of the year saw him get rare greatness out of MJF, nab himself the TNT title, and have a rock solid showing in the C2, specifically a fantastic match with Fletcher that is hopefully a tease for a future (World Title worthy, in my opinion) long term rivalry. AEW got themselves the essence of pure babyface-ness here, someone who’s heart shined through in a year that was not set up for him to do so.” ~ Andy/Shrimp