Welcome to the VP2010s where voters submitted ballots of the best in-ring wrestlers of the 2010s. To learn more about the scoring and how the list came together go to the intro-post. If you would like to review the honorable mentions click the category. Without further ado, the list continues. Also want to thank Corwo for most of the recommended matches on this post.

30. Daisuke Sekimoto (15 ballots, 836 points, Average Rank 39.00)

High Voter: Ed (5)
Previous Ranking: 73 (2016), 90 (2017), 70 (2018), 20 (2019)

Recommended Matches
w/ Yoshihito Sasaki vs. Abdullah Kobayashi & Takashi Sasaki (BJPW, 3/19/2010)
w/ Yuji Okabayashi vs. Suwama & Takumi Soya (AJPW, 1/2/2012)
vs. Shuji Ishikawa (BJW, 3/31/2015)
w/ Yuji Okabayashi vs. Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa (BJW, 1/2/2017)
w/ Hideki Suzuki vs. Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura (BJW, 5/13/2018)

The Hardest Man of The Decade. The man who epitomizes the BJW Strong Division philosophy. Hit hard, get hit hard, dump people on their skulls and if that doesn’t work just do it more and harder. Carving out his place on this list through sheer power in the titanic struggles with Yoshihito Sasaki and Shuji Ishikawa as well as fighting alongside his Golem Son against the Twin Towers. If you were looking for pure, simple pro wrestling from this decade that doesn’t let you down, Daisuke Sekimoto was probably involved in it. – Cole

29. Matt Jackson (12 ballots, 840 points, Average Rank 21.92)

High Voter: Squill (2)
Previous Ranking: 92 (2014), 85 (2016), 86 (2017), 34 (2018), 56 (2019)

Recommended Matches
w/ Nick Jackson vs. El Generico & Paul London (PWG, 5/9/2010)
w/ Nick Jackson vs. Akira Tozawa & Kevin Steen (PWG, 3/4/2011)
w/ Nick Jackson vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen (PWG, 1/14/2013)\
w/ Nick Jackson vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 3/25/2018)

With his brother Nick, the young bucks were the tag team of the decade. They were one of the top acts in PWG, joined bullet club and went on to dominate the New Japan’s jr tag team scene, then with kenny omega they created the elite which took the wrestling world by storm, all leading to the formation of their own promotion. The young bucks defined what indie and tag wrestling looked like and Matt did it all with an injured back. – the_padraig

Some of my all time favorite matches are tag team matches and alot of the those team matches involve the Young Bucks in the 2010s. I think they work best as dorks.

Matt Jackson felt like the more calculated, most likely to plant and thumbtack shoe. He feels mostly likely to superkick Rick Knox and cartwheels into backrake. He also has the interesting back selling stuff. – Henry/HeadCheese

28. Nick Jackson (12 ballots, 841 points, Average Rank 22.08)

High Voter: Timothy Robert Buechner, Henry/Headcheese (2)
Previous Ranking: 87 (2016), 80 (2017), 33 (2018), 53 (2019)

Recommended Matches
w/ Matt Jackson vs. El Generico & Paul London (PWG, 5/9/2010)
w/ Matt Jackson vs. Akira Tozawa & Kevin Steen (PWG, 3/4/2011)
w/ Matt Jackson vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen (PWG, 1/14/2013)
w/ Matt Jackson vs. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 3/25/2018)

It’s hard to find something to say about Nick’s decade that you can’t say about Matt’s.  So let’s talk about nick’s single work, nicks biggest matches without his brother is an iwgp jr heavyweight title match against kota ibushi, an evolve title match against AR fox, a match against his brother in WXW and two best of the super juniors runs. In this Nick shows he’s capable of producing great matches without his brother. Having all the athleticism and creativity that he normally does. Nick Jackson had a fantastic decade, it helps he’s also in the tag team of the decade. – the_padraig

Some of my all time favorite matches are tag team matches and alot of the those team matches involve the Young Bucks in the 2010s. I think they work best as dorks.

Nick felt more the spotty, wilder, and dorkier of the two. The younger brother. Matt would hit the tombstone piledriver into it but, Nick would springboard in to it. There’s times where as a team they go overboard and I can see why some people don’t like them but, as of 2024 The Young Bucks are my favorite tag team of all time. The Nick Jackson vs. Rey Fenix Dynamite match from 2019 is still in my head. – Henry/HeadCheese

A strong contender for worst hair of the decade. – EAMONN

27. CM Punk (18 ballots, 860 points, Average Rank 46.33)

High Voter: HD (2)
Previous Ranking: 13 (2010), 11 (2011), 6 (2012), 28 (2013)

Recommended Matches
vs. John Cena (WWE, 7/17/2011)
vs. Chris Jericho (WWE, 4/1/2012)
vs. John Cena (WWE, 2/25/2013)
vs. The Undertaker (WWE, 4/7/2013)
vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE, 8/18/2013)

CM Punk did more with a third of a decade than many wrestlers did with a full one. The pipe bomb has been imitated to death, but if people weren’t watching at the time it’s hard to explain what a culture shock it felt like. Punk was the best promo of the decade, with him murdering The Rock on the mic being a personal favourite. While his match catalogue isn’t as long as other top level wrestlers, his highs are the highest in the decade: the Money in the Bank match against Cena is the best match of the decade (and Punk would cement himself as Cena’s best opponent), the Lesnar match at Summerslam and pulling the last great Wrestlemania Streak match from the Undertaker. He wasn’t the smoothest or the crispest in the ring, but that was the point. Punk’s wrestling was like the man himself: Rough, unapologetic and consistently undeniable. – EAMONN

26. Black Terry (12 ballots, 877 points, Average Rank 21.67)

High Voter: Dan Rice (1)
Previous Ranking: 1 (2010), 4 (2011), 3 (2012), 29 (2013), 44 (2014), 67 (2016)

Recommended Matches
vs. Chico Che (IWRG, 1/22/2012)
w/ Negro Navarro vs. Trauma I & Trauma II (IWRG, 12/21/14)
vs. Guerrero Maya Jr. (Chilanga Mask, 8/16/2015)
vs. Wotan (Chilanga Mask, 8/21/2016)
w/ Negro Navarro vs. Hechicero & Virus (Lucha Memes, 3/26/2017)

A late-career resurgence that benefited from the explosion of indy lucha on youtube. There is nothing quite like a hi-def close-ups of a 50+ year old man punching guys in the face hard. – jon

There were multiple matches in the 2010s that altered my brain chemistry. The Black Terry series with Chico Che certainly contains a few of them. – Sam

Black Terry was the best wrestler of the 2010s, and I don’t think it’s particularly close. The indie lucha explosion, partly fueled by YouTube, partly fueled by Terry’s own son, allowed him to prove, year after year, that he was the best wrestler on the planet. An underrated mat wrestler, an elite rudo base, and the best brawler walking the Earth. Black Terry wasn’t just great for his age, he was better than everyone, period. He could take a packed arena match or a half-lit parking lot brawl and make it feel like the most important fight in the world. He has multiple matches that could easily be called the match of the decade, against Demus, Aero Boy, Wotan, and more. Every match was a lesson. Every exchange had purpose. He made bad wrestlers entertaining, good wrestlers better, and great wrestlers desperate to keep up.

Let me make one thing clear: if Black Terry isn’t on your VP2010s list, I do not respect your list, and I do not respect you. – Dan Rice

25. Tomohiro Ishii (16 ballots, 885 points, Average Rank 36.63)

High Voter: the_padraig (7)
Previous Ranking: 55 (2012), 17 (2013), 8 (2014), 17 (2016), 26 (2017), 9 (2018), 2 (2019)

Recommended Matches
vs. Yuji Nagata (Riki Pro, 1/17/2010)
vs. Shibata (NJPW, 8/4/2013)
vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW, 8/1/2014)
vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW, 2/13/2015)
vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 8/6/2016)
vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW, 8/8/2019)

The stone pitbull spent the decade dominating the never openweight division, winning the new belt five times, Tomohiro Ishii indeed himself as THE openweight wrestler. Known for his hard strikes and resilience, Ishii would have countless classics against the likes of Shibata and Goto. Ishii real greatness is shown in the G1 competing in every one 2014 onwards Ishii puts together some G1 performances that make him in my opinion the G1 MVP of the decade. Always reliable to produce classic after classic G1, Ishii is a special wrestler. – the_padraig

Some wrestlers have aimed to master more complicated styles and roles but I’m not sure a single wrestler in the 2010s fully mastered what they were more than Tomohiro Ishii. He almost singularly defined the G1 Sprint. And that was when people really gave a shit about the G1, in no small part to what he did. – Sam

24. Meiko Satomura (15 ballots, 909 points, Average Rank 31.20)

High Voter: Ed (3)
Previous Ranking: 55 (2010), 59 (2011), 82 (2013), 45 (2014), 42 (2016), 25 (2018), 58 (2019)

Recommended Matches
vs. Kana (Kana Pro, 4/29/2010)
vs. Nanae Takahashi (Stardom 3/20/2012)
vs. Aja Kong (Sendai Girls, 4/8/2016)
vs. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls, 10/16/2016)
w/ Io Shirai vs. Chihiro Hashimoto & Mayu Iwatani (STARDOM, 3/9/2017)

The joshi standard bearer that didn’t leave so soon. – Sam

23. Claudio Castagnoli / Cesaro (16 ballots, 935 points, Average Rank 30.50)

High Voter: Simon (7)
Previous Ranking: 56 (2010), 47 (2011), 49 (2012), 2 (2013), 17 (2014), 25 (2016), 18 (2017), 2019)

Recommended Matches
w/ Chris Hero vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (ROH, 6/19/2010)
vs. El Generico (PWG, 1/30/2011)
vs. Sami Zayn (NXT, 8/21/2013)
vs. William Regal (NXT, 11/21/2013)
w/ Jack Swagger vs. Sheamus & Christian (WWE, 2/10/2014)
vs. Sami Zayn (WWE, 2/27/2014)
vs. John Cena (WWE, 7/6/2015)
vs. Sheamus (WWE, 9/25/2016)

Wraps up a great indie run as a tag specialist and then carries that over to WWE. His runs with Tyson Kidd, Sheamus, and Jack Swagger range from damn good to great. Will forever be linked to Sheamus for me, not just because of The Bar, but because they are the gold standard of that “WWE Midcard”. You could put him on any show, A-B-or-C and he was always able to deliver something completely worthwhile. In this era, that feels near impossible to manage on a year-to-year basis, let alone a week-to-week like Claudio did. – Sam

22. Mark Briscoe (16 ballots, 946 points, Average Rank 38.75)

High Voter: A. BASTARD (10)
Previous Ranking: 40 (2014)

Recommended Matches
w/ Jay Briscoe vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli (ROH, 6/19/2010)
w/ Jay Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus & Kenny King (ROH, 9/17/2011)
w/ Jimmy Jacobs, Kevin Steen, Jay Briscoe, Harlem Bravado, Lancelot Bravado, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Eddie Kingston, Frightmare, Hallowicked, UltraMantis Black, Scott Parker, Shane Matthews, Gran Akuma & Tim Donst (CHIKARA, 11/18/2012)
w/ Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy (OMEGA, 4/26/2014)
w/ Jay Briscoe & Roderick Strong vs. Alberto El Patron, ACH & Matt Sydal (ROH, 4/4/2015)

Mark doesn’t have the singles success that his brother had during the decade but don’t let that distract from the 10 years he had. Bricoes had great matches against the Young Bucks, OGK, and GoD. Mark brings his redneck kung-fu to all these doubts. He’s also a fantastic promo, “Welcome to the Jungle Micheal Jenett” being my personal favorite. – the_padraig

21. Shinsuke Nakamura (15 ballots, 992 points, Average Rank 28.27)

High Voter: Ondinhas (10)
Previous Ranking: 90 (2010), 53 (2011), 94 (2012), 23 (2013), 25 (2014), 46 (2016), 84 (2017)

Recommended Matches
vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NJPW, 1/4/2010)
w/ Masato Tanaka vs. Hirooki Goto & Tetsuya Naito (NJPW, 6/16/2012)
vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (NJPW, 1/4/2013)
w/ Tomohiro Ishii vs. Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba (NJPW, 12/2/2014)
vs. Kota Ibushi (NJPW, 1/4/2015)
vs. AJ Styles (NJPW, 1/4/2016)
vs. Sami Zayn (NXT, 4/1/2016)

The Japanese legend did two of the coolest things anyone can do: beat Kazushi Sakuraba in the Tokyo Dome and then steal a paycheck from WWE while hanging out at the beach and surfing – EAMONN

Mr. Wrestle Kingdom. On his home promotion’s biggest stage, he always put on his Sunday Bests. As much folks can say he didn’t always try on the smaller stages, when the lights were brightest you could almost always count on him. Then he retired. Good for him. – Sam