Pro Wrestling Rankings Feb-08: Becky Lynch
BECKY LYNCH
Once again, the Man headlines the FITE rankings. To be fair, Lynch likely would have landed on top this week even if she hadn't done anything of note, given that Seth Rollins (injury) and Brock Lesnar (back in hibernation) all but disappeared from WWE programming this week.
However, when it comes to Lynch, she once again was the straw that stirred the WWE drink, confronting and assaulting Stephanie McMahon on Raw, then slapping Triple H on Smackdown. As if that wasn't enough, Lynch went face to face with both Charlotte and Ronda Rousey this week as well.
While she may be "suspended" in storyline, the reality is that Lynch is World Wrestling Entertainment's MVP going into WrestleMania and unless WWE truly goes off the rails, Lynch will be the definitive personality for this April's flagship event in New Jersey. The 2019 Royal Rumble winner is The Man, indeed.
DANIEL BRYAN
With the WWE Universal Championship match set for WrestleMania, Daniel Bryan continues his march towards WWE's biggest event of the year with an Elimination Chamber bout against a slew of top contenders.
Bryan has been the lynchpin for excellence for the Smackdown brand weekly, including an entertaining match against all-time great Jeff Hardy this week. As if that wasn't grand enough, three years to the month that Bryan was forced to medically retire in his home State, he burst back into Washington as the WWE Champion, headlining Smackdown. It's the sort of moral victory that even those who hate "The New" Daniel Bryan can't help but admire.
THE ELITE
This week, Cody and The Young Bucks unveiled all the details for this May's debut All Elite Wrestling event in Las Vegas, shocking the world with the latest talent additions to AEW, including Pentagon Jr. and Rey [[Fenix]], among others.
While AEW continues to plan to take over the world, the insane amount of speculation about who could potentially bolt WWE and elsewhere to bolster the All Elite roster continues to come from all directions, echoing across the globe.
The Elite continue to landscape professional wrestling as we know it in 2019.
JAY LETHAL
The reigning and defending Ring of Honor Champion shattered all glass ceilings, burned all history records and dropped a flying elbow on all who came before him, becoming the longest reigning ROH Champion in terms of complete days as titleholder.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Lethal continues pushing forward this weekend when ROH invades the Sunshine State, including FITE's live broadcast of Bound for Honor. On that event, Lethal will team with lucha superstar (and potential future challenger) Rush and longtime ally Jonathan Gresham against The Kingdom.
As ROH heads towards Madison Square Garden and their anniversary event in Las Vegas, Lethal is very lethal, indeed.
RONDA ROUSEY
The Raw Women's Champion channeled the Rousey that struck fear into the hearts of men and women alike in UFC, wiping out Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan on Monday Night Raw in quick, brutal burst of combat sports brilliance.
Rousey has truly upped her game as a talker in a business where talking fans into the spectacle of the event is as important as wins and losses. She is on a collision course with Becky Lynch, but until she enters WrestleMania, Rousey continues to leave a path of destruction and tapped out opponents in her wake.
CHARLOTTE FLAIR
With her father's 70th proclaimed "Queen" of WWE continues her pursuit of a WrestleMania main event, continuing to face off with Becky Lynch on Smackdown while having world class bouts at live events against Smackdown Women's Champion Asuka. With all sorts of speculation that the second-generation star is going to assert herself in the Rousey vs.
Lynch Mania showdown, Flair remains the shining standard that all else will be compared to for generations to come. You can't discuss great women's professional wrestling without naming Charlotte.
THE KINGDOM
The reigning Ring of Honor Six Man Tag Team Champions have been one of the true workhorses for ROH over the last year. Their work ethic is probably surpassed only by the controversy that surrounds Matt Taven and his brethren, including Taven's claim that he, not Jay Lethal, is the rightful ROH World Champion.
While that matter may one day be settled, the two will face off in the ring in six-man tag team action at ROH's Bound by Honor in Miami live on FITE this weekend, while the Kingdom will also defend their titles against the uber-hot Villain Enterprises.
The Kingdom may reign this week on the FITE rankings, so their performance in the Sunshine State will determine whether that's the beginning of a dynasty or just another controversial aberration for Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan and Vinnie Marseglia.
EC3
The former Impact Wrestling Champion finally made his WWE in-ring debut this week, shocking Dean Ambrose with a quick three-minute pinfall victory.
For many months, the talk has been when and where EC3 will finally end up when he makes his way from WWE NXT to the main roster. Now, the question is when the verbally boisterous star will open his golden pipes to drop a pipe bomb on the microphone.
This week was the first step in a brand-new journey and a bold new world for one of the top prospects in professional wrestling. The countdown has officially started for that moment everyone is waiting for….
THE REVIVAL
With all the talk they are trying to depart World Wrestling Entertainment, the actual performances from Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder tells a vastly different story.
This past week on Raw, the "top guys" became the top contenders to the Raw Tag Team Championship, but even more important, the duo were the glue that held the Raw live events together this past weekend in Canada, going as long as 40-minutes against Chad Gable and Bobby Roode.
If tag team wrestling truly returns to form as the masterful art form it is on World Wrestling Entertainment programming in 2019, Dawson and Dash will be largely responsible.
WILLIE MACK
One of the hardest working, yet most underrated talents in professional wrestling is finally getting his just due. Already competing across the realms of Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and independent wrestling, Willie Mack is also the reigning NWA National Champion.
This week, the NWA launched a digital series documenting Mack's every move and match. As Mack heads to ROH in Florida this weekend and the revived Crockett Cup in April, he's finally getting his just due globally.
By: Mike Johnson
Every week here at FITE, we feature the Top Ten ranked personalities in the world of professional wrestling. Unlike other combat sports, pro wrestling cannot be measured in just wins and losses, especially when the drama and excitement of the genre is specifically based around not just the physical performance, but the excitement level created by its combatants. Thus, our top ten measures the most newsworthy performers in the business, who's momentum drives not just their own career paths but the promotions they compete for.
Mike Johnson is the lead reporter for PWInsider.com and has been writing about professional wrestling since 1996. He can be found on Twitter @MikePWInsider and MikeJohnsonWrites.com.