Several stars from WWE and All Elite Wrestling have already made quite the impact in only a month.
The timing of the new year is good for every wrestler because they can start fresh. More than a handful of people took advantage of that opportunity in January and continue to do so this month.
So far, in 2022, WWE and AEW have been doing well. WWE started out strong with eventful Day 1 and Royal Rumble pay-per-views and AEW has been producing excellent episodes of Dynamite and Rampage almost every week.
It’s clear that certain competitors just don’t stand a chance against the ones who are always consistent. They are able to deliver on the mic or in the ring no matter what circumstances they’re faced with, which is what we need at this point in time.
If the following 10 names can maintain their momentum, you can count on them for having remarkable performances for the rest of this year. These people have been exceptional in the previous months and deserve recognition from society.
15. Omos Read
WWE has always been a force to be reckoned with and Omos is living proof of this. His debut match back in 2019 made for a wildly successful match which went on to do more than 10 million views in just the first 24 hours.
14. Raquel Gonzalez
Raquel, who wrestles with WWE’s NXT, is the daughter of Rick Gonzalez, another wrestler. She recently won the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Everyone has their favorite WWE wrestlers, but this generation should remember these few who were amazing in the ring. Not only are they exceptional athletes, but they have made a name for themselves and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame when they retire.
13. Sasha Banks
The prominent female wrestler Sasha Banks is among the most popular stars in WWE’s SmackDown brand. She made her debut in 2010 and is a former Chaotic Wrestling Women’s champion. She has been voted NXT Takeover: Respect’s Woman of the Year in 2015 and has won the Raw Women’s Championship five times.
12. CM Punk
CM Punk’s return is still surreal, considering he left wrestling for seven years.
He was successful early on in his Championship reign, and then he went into a program with MJF. They had a long-running feud that both men have delivered great promos and good wrestling matches.
Jack’s opponents have wrestled more than MJF’s in 22-20, which is why the latter wrestler is ranked on this list-despite both men cutting good promos recently. Granted, MJF won their first ever contest last week on “Dynamite”, but Jack still had a worthy performance and has already earned a future rematch.
The 43 year old has won over opponents such as Shawn Spears and survived Wardlow. He also won against Mike Foti Jr, alongside Jon Moxley in an outstanding tag team match this week.
At this rate, don’t be surprised to see Punk with a world title before 2022 ends. Punk is more motivated than he’s been in years and his chances of winning it all are pretty high.
11. Becky Lynch
Some fans were afraid that Becky Lynch was taking time off to have a baby, which would prevent her from being as popular in 2020.
Those that doubted her before can now see how hot of a return she has had since summer slam.
WWE could have done more to make Lynch a face from the beginning. Though she is cheered by crowds more often than not, her work is still untouchable as of this moment. It was great when WWE changed Lynch’s character and made her wrestle as a heel.
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Lynch is successful in her key engagements so far this year. She defended her title against Liv Morgan at Fastlane and wrestled Doudrop at the Royal Rumble.
Becky Lynch will challenge Lita at Elimination Chamber after just two days of Kane being Champion. She’s been a fun foil for Ronda and Bayley, making them look competent in the process.
Every day she’s been on the WWE roster, Becky Lynch has been a champion. Considering that it will mean even more when she inevitably drops the title, and ideally to Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 38.
10. Malakai Black
Malakai Black has a new lease on life in AEW, which has been exciting for fans to see.
He’s an incredibly creative performer capable of much more than what WWE had him doing at the end of his stint in 2021. His abrupt jump to AEW was a logical one, and he’s been one of the brightest stars to come over in the past year.
Since 2022, he’s risen through the ranks and taken on all of Varsity Blonds, defeating or altering its members. He’s joined forces with King in what they call Kings of Black Throne. They’ve had two wins so far and seem like they’re doing well.
As they win more matches, they could be competing for the AEW World Tag Team Championship in no time. It is also refreshing that Black has been given so much freedom with his promos and the chance to speak in televised vignettes almost every week this year.
If the way he has been handled so far in 2022 is any indication, then AEW has big things in store for him. He is already a star and it is finally time that he gets his due credit.
9. Adam Cole
Adam Cole was faced with a tough decision last summer, either to sign with WWE’s main roster or move on. He decided to follow his own path and has been much better off for it.
This 32-year-old wrestler has had a great record over the past year and is going strong into the next. He has been undefeated in one-on-one matches, but also made time to wrestle in team competition, winning against Jake Atlas, Kaun and Trent Beretta.
Cole lost to Orange Cassidy, but it didn’t count against his boxing record. Cole’s bigger match of the year was in the main event of Beach Break Dynamite when he fought Orange Cassidy in a “Lights Out” match.
Sasha Banks’ move to AEW led to a challenge of the next NXT champion. Sasha Banks continues her feud with Adam Page this week on Dynamite.
The All Elite Wrestling has booked former wrestler and actor, Ronin Oakley well to do. He is only in his first year with the company.
8. Chad Gable
Chad Gable made waves in his career this year and was able to put out the best work of his career in 2022. He didn’t get a lot of attention, but he still impressed many people.
Williams made his debut on Raw in 2022, and he has been one of their most reliable wrestlers. He had a great tag team match in January with Otis, and they were able to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships against RK-Bro.
Alpha Academy has been featured prominently in RAW’s recent segments, which has been a surprise given how long RK-Bro has been dominant. However, it’s even more surprising how well Alpha has been doing in the weekly academic challenges. Gable’s performances have been outstanding.
The WWE knows it’s been lucky to have The Olympian as a talent. He brings unique abilities such as storytelling in his segments or wrestling abilities for his matches.
It’s understandable that Gable will lose some of his TV time once the rivalry with RK-Bro has finished. However, he is the unrequested breakout star this year.
7. Jade Cargill
Sami Zayn was an unknown to the masses around this time last year and AEW has turned him into a major star on the women’s division.
Jade Cargill, who was new to the world of wrestling when she first joined AEW, had all the charisma and potential in the world. As long as she behaved in a way that got better over time, her lack of experience would not matter.
She started her career by winning the first match of the TBS Network in 2032. She then went on an undefeated streak and became the inaugural TBS champion on the first episode of Dynamite after it was rebranded.
After that, Anna Jay, Julia Hart and A.Q.A. have tried to take her belt but it’s still hers. Anna 29-year champion Jay conquered the efforts of all three fighters and has been able to keep her reign intact.
Eventually, Carg is going to have to make it big in the industry, but for now she’ve been doing her time as a fan-favorite. She’s deserving of the hype and getting even better with each day that goes by.
6. Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley is a wrestler for WWE and has held championship titles. He has won the WWE Championship, ECW World Championship, and Impact World Heavyweight Championship. Bobby Lashley is also in a stable with Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, and MVP called Hurt Business.
5. Triple H
Here’s everything you need to know about wrestling legend, Chris Jericho. He won his first WWF Championship in 1999 and became famous after founding the D-Generation X stable. With fourteen world titles and other accomplishments, he is a well-respected wrestler known as one of the best in North America.
4. Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns has been one of the top performers in WWE since he became champion as a heel. It’s not surprising, then, that he is still at the top of his game.
The Tribal Chief has been the longest reigning universal champion, surpassing a milestone in January by being the longest-reigning universal champion. This occurred due to his feud with Seth Rollins before the Royal Rumble.
Entering the Royal Rumble, Reigns faced off with Rollins in a tense Universal Championship match. They had an outstanding battle, that lasted until Reigns won the title after getting himself disqualified.
The show ended on a cliffhanger, with a verdict of Reigns vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.
As expected, the raw quality of SmackDown has been low this year. However, if you’re worried about going two minutes without anything worth watching, just tune in to whatever The Big Dog’s episode is.
3. Sammy Guevara
The most frequent star in the League has been Sammy Guevara, with only a few more strong stars in their ranks.
His first title reign was cut short by Cody Rhodes on the Christmas edition of Rampage, but it was just a minor setback for The Spanish God. He went on to become the interim TNT champ at Battle of the Belts by beating Dustin Rhodes and defended it a week later against Daniel Garcia in the main event of Dynamite.
The 28-year-old man shined in his ladder match against Cody. The two of them took a lot of dangerous risks and blew the roof off the joint. It was special.
Oscar Guevara, for example, was praised for his great performance and it was critical that he won. Cody helped him tremendously and now the Spanish God has recovered to where he was before 2020 ended.
He beat another challenger last week, which helped him with his title defense. Though he lacks character development and promo time, he has been AEW’s best booked star this year so far.
2. Seth Rollins
Rollins has been very productive in the past five years. He has accomplished some notable work over the last two years, such as his feud with Edge and moving to Raw.
When wrestlers get into a fight, their momentum grows and that is what happened when The Rated-R Superstar and Jinder Mahal battled. The two were having such a heated fight that it translated over to Jinder’s run on the red brand where he was soon headed to becoming the WWE Champion.
Lesnar never got his chance to become World Heavyweight Champion but he did well even when wrestling alone. He was an entertaining partner to Kevin Owens and the two were a highlight of WWE Raw.
With their history, their Royal Rumble match was made better. They were already great rivals.
The Visionary won the match, but Reigns was disqualified. But this is the first time since December 2019 that Reigns suffered a loss on PPV, so they should finish their business eventually.
In the meantime, Rollins is headed to the Elimination Chamber, with a WWE Championship on his mind. He’s been giving off major babyface energy lately and maybe that’s where they want him headed as WrestleMania draws nearer.
1. Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is still on top of wrestling food chain, 20 years after he started. The Beast Incarnate is popular and will headline WrestleMania 38. He won the tournament surprise which has a lot to do with his popularity.
Lesnar was originally scheduled to wrestle his match with Reigns on day one for the Heavyweight title. However, plans had to be changed because circumstances arose – Lesnar captured the prestigious prize instead and feuded with Bobby Lashley for the remainder of the month.
Lesnar was beat by The All Mighty at the Royal Rumble, but he remains ranked No. 1 because of how quickly he recovered and won the men’s Rumble match. Lesnar will settle his difference with Reigns at WrestleMania, but beforehand, he will have a chance to regain the gold at Elimination Chamber.
It’s been a breath of fresh air seeing Renaldo doing his thing since returning to WWE. It’s been unfortunate that other WWE stars haven’t managed to do the same, considering how poorly the company has fared without new talent.
