Topic – 20 years from now, we will look back at 2013 and say it was the career peak for _____ and the starting off point to stardom for ______.
Brett: Daniel Bryan / Antonio Cesaro
Kyle: I feel like Bryan could be both depending on 2014…
So I’ll go Bryan/Roman Reigns
Justin: Daniel Bryan/Antonio Cesaro and Roman Reigns
Brett: Well, if we can take two, Reigns was my other choice, too.
Justin: Also maybe Michael Elgin depending how next year goes…
Brett: I would have gone Elgin in ’12 because of the Richards matches. I actually felt he stalled out a little bit this year.
Justin: Magnus for starting point.
Kyle: Also, Jay Briscoe’s career peaked–He ‘aint winning that belt back!
Justin: Yes! Briscoe is a good one. Although he missed half the year, so not sure it was his career year
Jordan: Peak: Bully Ray maybe. I don’t think Bryan has peaked yet, and Bully is not going to be the top heel who holds the belt most of the year in the #2 company again.
Starting point: Roman Reigns
Justin: Bully is a great answer
Brett: I could see Adam Cole, also, holding the belts in the two top indies in the US was awesome. And he has been so great in PWG.
Chad: I like the Bully pick myself. As peak or start Brett?
Brett: Start.
Kyle: Jay won the biggest match he’ll ever win, over a guy who will likely have a better next 5 years in Steen (Mr.Wrestling’s pops are still Crazy).
Mark: Start: Prince Devitt.
Brett: Massive Arsehole Gimmick of the Year 2013.
Mark: Because he’s real.
Justin: Chad are you looking for peak moment of their career? Or peak year? That would sway my Briscoe vote. Hell, Curt Axel had his peak moment this year, too. If that’s the case.
Chad: I was thinking peak year but I can see how you would say that would still be it for Briscoe even with the time off just based on the milestone he achieved this year.
Ben: Jay Briscoe and Bully Ray are both in there as peaks for sure. Sadly, I think Dolph Ziggler is in the mix as well. Chris Sabin too.
I agree Roman Reigns is a good pick for start. I want to say Big E Langston as well, because I am a fan, but I’m not sure if he’s going to carry the ball or not.
Greg: I like Bully for peak and Ambrose for start, just to be different.
Dave: I’ll go with Curtis Axel for peak and Magnus as starting point. Magnus feels more like the Rock every time I see him…
Side Topic – The Prince Devitt Discussion!
Brett: I enjoy Devitt’s work. Though did he really have many great matches this year? I guess none are springing immediately to mind. I think I got into him most just because of the wackiness of Bullet Club doing run-ins and stuff in NJPW.
Mark: Real good stuff with Okada and Tana during the year, but the wackiness helped. Think he will be in WWE in 2014.
Kyle: I hope not. Thinking of “Devin Prince” wasting away on NXT to “learn how to work” is outright depressing.
Mark: It is, but they have interest so it will happen sooner than later.
Brett: I don’t think it’s a fit for him right now. He can work the odd main event in Japan or go work in NXT for 18 months.
Mark: If they want to do that cruiserweight show for the network then he’s coming for sure. I have a feeling the dome show might be it for him in Japan.
Brett: They’re going to have to pay him way more than they normally pay guys coming in fresh. I’m not sure they are going to want to do that.
Mark: Flashing jacket feud with Jericho. License to print money.
Brett: That would be incredible.
Topic – Who is the 2013 tag team of the year and where would you rank this year overall for US tag team wrestling?
Justin: I haven’t been completely up on TNA…in WWE I would say the Shield …the Usos have been very under the radar but fun too. I have really enjoyed redDRagon in ROH
Chad: I would say this is easily WWE’s best tag year since 2009 and could see an argument for it being their best tag year since the late 1980s. My tag team of the year would be The Shield with Goldust/Cody coming on strong the last three months of the year. On the indies it feels wide open between Wolves, redDRagon, and Young Bucks among other candidates.
Derrick: The Shield would be my choice, too, although the Usos, the Real Americans, and even the Rhodes boys should be involved. Not sure about indies, but I do enjoy the work the Wolves have done.
Kyle: The Shield for WWE. ReDragon and the Forever Hooligans were great, but no one is better than the YOUNG BUCKS.
Jordan: Shield seems like the obvious pick. Bad Influence has had a lot of good moments, but more from promos and segments than matches.
Steve Wille: I just said the exact same thing to Brett Carlson, Jordan. For me: 1. Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins 2. Bad Influence 3. reDRagon
Greg: I’m going with Bad Influence, simply because their act is more interesting to me than The Shield, though The Shield certainly had better matches this year (and better opponents, to be fair). I wouldn’t rank this year too highly, but it’s certainly WWE’s best tag team year since the early 2000s (Smackdown Six, really).
Ben: Given the chance to run with the ball, Bad Influence could have had a shot, but they’ve been relegated to the back burner. The Shield has been delivering great matches the entire year with everybody else, so they get my vote.
WWE’s tag division is, I would argue, at its best since at least 2000, maybe the 80s, because even during the Attitude Era you only ever had three real contenders for the belts and rarely non-title feuds among teams. Sadly, this has coincided with the usually strong TNA tag ranks thinning to the point where it’s a complete afterthought. So not quite one step forward, two steps back, but let’s say three steps forward, one step back.
Brett: I have three that I absolutely love: The Shield, The Young Bucks, and The Rhodes Brothers.
Callum: I’m going to back the calls on Bad Influence. I stopped watching Impact wholesale this year, and there are only a few people’s segments I’ll go out of my way to watch.
Brett: I also agree with Justin that the Usos are awesome. I think they’re just fantastic babyfaces. The pre-show match they had at MITB with The Shield was great stuff. Like, *** 1/2 good, IMO.
Justin: I loved that match, to me that was their coming out party.
Brett: Agreed. I thought they were ho-hum coming in to that show. By the end of that match, I was totally into them.
Justin: If I had to pick a “break out” match of the year, that may be it.
