Hello! Welcome to our new co-op project Wrestlers of the Week! Canada & Australia decided to put their differences aside to work on this season of Wrestlers of the week since we felt as if we can provide a more unique list than most due to the variety of stuff we watch. So from now on, the team of Milk and JRH will determine the best 10 wrestlers of the week.
To determine the top ten, we both made lists of the 20 best wrestlers of the week, based on what we watched in a given week. The #1 ranked wrestler got assigned 20 points and then that went down through to the #20 ranked wrestler, who got 1 point. We then tabulated the total points between our lists to determine the top 10.
The Wrestler’s of the Week for a given week will be assigned points based on where they rank. At the end of the season, we’ll calculate the best of the best using the total points! Anyway, onto the show~!
As always we start with honorable mentions where this week we give a shoutout to Kento Miyahara & Chris Sabin for just barley being left off this weeks list.
10) Sawyer Wreck & Ron Bass Jr (H20)
Milk: Sawyer Wreck & Ron Bass Jr earned a spot on this weeks list by winning the H20 Tag Team title s over the dominate champions Red Dead Redemption in a great match, For sure not gonna be the last time we see Sawyer Wreck on this list.
JRH: Since I didn’t watch the match or the show these two were on this week, I’m not gonna pretend I have a real strong opinion on their ranking. From what I’ve seen of both, but Sawyer especially, I do feel like if I did see this match they could’ve ended up ranked higher purely by me adding them to my list!
Total Points: 1 (Both)
9) Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH, All Together)
Milk: Kaito Kiyomiya earned a spot on this weeks list by being on the losing side of an awesome 6 man tag team main event on the All Together show and looking amazing in defeat. Kiyomiya makes his fisrt of many appearances on this list as he prepares himself for this years G1 Climax
JRH: Kiyomiya had a very strong showing in the awesome main event of All Together (a card I highly recommend watching in full) where he continued his enthralling Okada feud. He also had a perfectly solid, although not blow-away match with Sean Legacy on the NOAH Sunny Voyage show the next day. Kiyomiya has been having a great year in 2023, and hopefully will be able to continue that, both in the G1 and in NOAH.
Total Points: 2
8) Seth Rollins (WWE)
Milk: Seth Rollins earned a spot on this weeks list by defeating Damian Priest in his first World Title defense in a great match then also building up to a match against NXT’s Bron Breakker & overall just looking great all week.
JRH: I barely pay attention to WWE, especially the weekly TV (save for what I see on Twitter). I have no problem believing that Seth Rollins delivered a good World Title TV match, since I’ve seen him do it in the past. Regardless of all the complaints I can make about everything that led to this match, I’m sure it was good.
Total Points: 3
7) GUNTHER (WWE)
Milk: GUNTHER earned a spot on this list by being victorious in the best weekly TV match defeating Kevin Owens on Monday night raw. A great hard hitting match that was ppv quality earns GUNTHER a spot on this weeks list
JRH: Again, I didn’t watch it. I’m more than confident in saying that the best wrestler in the entire company having a match against a wrestler who I’ll always love, who both had some of the best matches I’d seen in 2023 WWE (tbh 2023 in general) must’ve delivered! Those two are so great that I can ignore all of the things I hate about the fed, so GUNTHER~!’s ranking must be deserved!
Total Points: 4
6) Kazuchika Okada (NJPW & All Together)
Milk: Okada earned a spot by being on the winning side of the 6 man tag main event of the All Together event and looking good in the process Also building to the inevitable Kiyomiya & Okada rematch
JRH: I mean, is it really shocking that Okada is on this list. He was the glue of the great All Together match. He got to really be Dickhead Okada, the best version of one of the best in the world! He was also involved in a pretty fun gem of a main on the first NJPW Road To STRONG card the following night, which pushed him above Kiyomiya on my personal list.
Total Points 5
5) Neil Diamond Cutter (H20)
Milk: Neil Diamond Cutter earned a spot on this weeks list by winning the world record setting 700 lighttube deathmatch against the most decorated deathmatch wrestler of all time Matt Tremont. He also won a match against Mouse on day 1 of the H20 anniversary weekend, when he knocked him out via brainbuster on a shopping cart.
JRH: I didn’t watch, but if you’re a deathmatch pervert like me, how can you not like Neil Diamond Cutter? Those matches just sound fun seeing them written out!
Total Points: 6
4) Kenoh (NOAH, All Together)
Milk: Kenoh earned a spot on this weeks list by being on the winning side of the 6 man tag, This was also JRH’s #1 pick of the week so I am going to allow him to explain why Kenoh’s performance was better than the others.
JRH: Kenoh was obviously a major part of that great All Together main that I’ve been raving about all article. He was just barely my personal #1 this week over Okada based off of his match with Hi69 on Sunny Voyage being slightly fresher in my mind than Okada’s tag on Road to STRONG. From a pure ratings perspective, I gave both matches the same rating, and could’ve easily swapped Okada and Kenoh around. What can I say? I just really fucking love Kenoh~!
Total Points: 7
3) Orange Cassidy (AEW)
Milk: Orange Cassidy earned the #3 spot on this week by complete luck of JRH and I both watching Dynamite this week and putting him on a decent spot on this list. The match was good but not what I thought would be worth a third place lmao. Swerve should have won though
JRH: I’m honestly surprised Orange is as highly ranked as he is (he was only #12 on my list), but I can’t deny that his AEW International Title bout with Swerve Strickland was one of the best matches in the week. It was one of many I gave a **** to (with the rest being on All Together, TJPW, Dragongate and the Impact PPV), but one that definitely registered in the mind well at the time I made my list. I’ve really been enjoying the Orange Cassidy reign, and Swerve also had a great showing in the match.
Total Points: 8
2) Yuki Aino (TJPW)
Milk: Yuki Aino earned this spot by winning a banger of a main event against Arisu Endo to earn a International princess title match at TJPW Stick Out 23 event. A great chance for both of these ladies to shine in the main event spot after Yuka got injured. I for one cannot wait to see the title match.
JRH: I mean, my god that TJPW Stick Out ’23 main event fucking ruled~! It was second best match of the week for me (only behind the All Together main). Even if you don’t pay attention to joshi generally or TJPW specifically, you should go out of your way to watch it. I’m also excited for the title match.
Total Points: 9
1) Alex Shelley (IMPACT)
Milk: There really wasn’t any other choice for my wrestler of the week, earning my #1 spot and the overall #1 spot by finally being a world champion (Sorry IWTV) and winning it in a awesome main event against Steve Maclin, Alex Shelley will now go on to defend against Nick Aldis and I swear if he’s a transitional champ I’m gonna cry.
JRH: Alex Shelley won the Impact World Title in the best non-Japanese match of the week IMO. If I wasn’t as high on both the TJPW and All Together mains as I was, that easily would’ve been match of the week and Shelly could’ve been super first by topping both our lists. It’s a match I’m sure when I rewatch it at the end of the year, I’ll love it even more! I’m very glad to see Alex Shelley getting the love he deserves, and am looking forward to his match with Nick Aldis. Aldis may have a (sometimes justified) reputation as a bore, but he is more than capable of pulling out an enjoyable match when he’s in there with someone as good as Shelley.
Total Points: 10
Thank you all for reading! See you next time for more Wrestler’s of the Week~!
