Wrestlers Of The Month: July

Wrestling was (as the kids say) cooking this past month. All companies were hitting on a different level from TNA with Slammiversary to WWE/ NXT with Great American Bash and Evolution and then AEW had there biggest show of the year in All In Texas and it was absolutely brilliant (imo)

So here are my Top 10 Wrestlers Of The Month with a few more honourable mentions than usual because i couldn’t leave them out

Honourable Mentions:

Nick Wayne – Continuing to defend ROH TV title in very good matches and I’ve enjoyed seeing him have more of a spotlight on AEW and ROH.

Leon Slater – Had a great match with Moose at Slammiversary and won the X-Division Championship

Athena – Decent title defenses against Alex Windsor and Thunder Rosa but got a huge victory, winning the Women’s Casino Gauntlet

MJF – Very simple, a pretty good four way match on Dynamite and, of course, the Casino Gauntlet match win too, receiving a future World Championship Match

Lyra Valkyria – She’s had another busy month, a fantastic triple threat at Evolution but a decent tag team title match and 2 out of 3 falls against Bayley as well all within the month

10

Iyo Sky

At the moment Iyo can’t seem to not have a good match. A fun 8 Woman Tag match, a battle against Stephanie Vaquer and though it was a DQ finish and i genuinely can’t wait for them to have a proper 1 on 1 classic but before the cash in Iyo had a absolutely immaculate match with Rhea Ripley at Evolution everything about it was brilliant. The only reason she’s at 10 is because she did take the pin for the cash in and she lost the title but don’t get me wrong the match itself was one of my favourites matches of this year let alone the month.

9

Rhea Ripley

So very similar to Iyo but she didn’t take the pin for the title loss, like i said a fun 8 woman tag this past week on Raw. But she can’t not make the top 10 after that fantastic match with Iyo at Evolution.

8

Naomi

Can you see a trend? I mean she won the Women’s World Championship in a very unexpected cash in. Personally, i don’t understand the hype behind Naomi but i can’t deny her a place on this list when she’s won a major championship so.

7

Bandido

Him and Konosuke Takeshita had one of the best matches of the month at Supercard Of Honor on All In Weekend and he had a decent performance in the Casino Gauntlet match and some good tag matches on TV. He continues to impress me as someone who’s not seen much of him before being in AEW but that Takeshita match was stellar.

6

Jacy Jayne

Well so much for “the most beatable champion”. She walks into this month still the NXT Women’s Champion, saw off the challenge of Jordynne Grace then went to Slammiversary and shocked the wrestling world again becoming the New TNA Knockouts Champion in a great match with Masha Slamovich. So Jacy 2 Belts continues to surprise everyone.

5

Kazuchika Okada

Just great matches. Though his match with Kenny Omega at All In Texas wasn’t the classic people are used to them having it was still a brilliant match and though it had a little too much interference for my liking it was great nonetheless. Also he had a good match with Kota Ibushi during the build to All In. Also he’s the inaugural AEW Unified Champion and seemingly keeping the Continental and International Championships as well so more than deserving to make this list.

4

Toni Storm

Toni continues to be a absolute delight to watch every Wednesday and Saturday on AEW. Her promos are one of a kind, the match against Billie Starkz was decent and made Billie look good in defeat. However, the match against Mercedes Mone was magical another that was one of the best of the weekend and of the month, maybe even of the year. Both Women went out there and nearly stole the damn show, honestly do go seek it out if you haven’t seen it and she retains her Women’s World Championship in the process. Very successful month for Miss. Storm

3

Jon Moxley

Mox has had quite the month. Firstly he’s had some fine multi man tag matches on Dynamite before and after All In Texas. Speaking of WOW the Texas Death Match was a masterpiece and though he’s not the most likeable thing in AEW right now the beating he took from Hangman was brutal. The fork spot (you know the one), the bed of nails and once again being forced to tap out via being hung by a chain. Only Jon Moxley would go that far for a loss. But yeah absolute respect from me.

2

Sol Ruca

So maybe a surprising pick for this high up but Sol’s month has been quantity and quality with 4 matches in 5 days from NXT to Main Roster to not 1 but 2 PLEs. She had the best match on Great American Bash defending successfully against Izzi Dame, had a very good showings on SmackDown and Evolution, even snatching the soul of one Charlotte Flair so a massive month for Sol as she continues to show how great she is as a wrestler and i think if she carries on the way she’s going could become one of the best in the next few years.

1

‘Hangman’ Adam Page

Was it really going to be anyone else?

A all time moment at All In Texas defeating the unstoppable Jon Moxley, vanquishing The Deathriders from the top of AEW and bringing back the AEW World Championship belt. Not only that but the match itself was a masterpiece from start to finish. I loved it. Definitely a match of the year candidate. Then this week on Dynamite defended the title in a great rematch with Moxley.

So there’s my list do tweet me @MrRetrospectGuy on twitter if there’s someone i missed.

Here’s the article in video form.