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PWM Top 100 Wrestlers Of The Year Part 3 - 60-41

Writer's picture: Patrick EirePatrick Eire

Updated: Feb 3

Welcome to the third issue of the PWM top 100 wrestlers of the year. If you missed the previous issues you can check them out here:




Remember the criteria for the list was as follows:


Matches - quality and quantity of matches in the year 2024


Kayfabe accomplishments - Title wins, defences, days held, tournament performances, major event wins, feud wins etc.


Intangibles - Charisma, promos, stories told, look, presentation etc.


Influence - drawing power, importance to promotion, merch sales, social media buzz, records broken, number of promotions/countries wrestled in, general influence on the industry.



The List - Part 3 60-41


60. Yuma Aoyagi - Aoyagi had a slow start to the year in AJPW as his namesake Yuma Anzai rose up the ranks. In the Champion Carnival he acquired a very respectable 8 points. In July his form would return as he defeated Ren Ayabe to become number one contender for the Triple Crown Championship and he would win the title for the second time after he defeated Yuma Anzai for the title. Successful defences against Kento Miyahara and Ren Ayabe followed before he lost the title to Davey Boy Smith Jr. We also must not forget his incredible match with Konosuke Takeshita at DDT Judgement. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


59. Saya Kamitani - 2024 was a year of big change for Saya Kamitani as Queen’s Quest was forced to disband and she reached heights greater than ever before as part of the new HATE faction. Before Queen’s Quest dispansion Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita reigned as Goddess of Stardom Champions. Kamitani also won the High Speed belt for the first time, holding it for 92 days. Outside of Stardom Kamitani won the Catch the Wave tournament and would later defeat Yuki Miyazaki for the Regina Di Wave Title in November. In the meantime she even managed to make it to the finals of the 5Star Grand Prix. If that wasn’t enough she capped off the year by defeating Tam Nakano at Stardom Dream Queendom in front of 4,000 people at the Ryogoku Kokugikan to win her first World of Stardom Title. In what was a turbulent and uneasy year for Stardom Kamitani was a reliable figure all year round and blossomed into a flag bearer for the promotion as they head into 2025. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


58. Shingo Takagi - The man that has become synonymous with the Never Openweight Title has a 2024 that saw bangers against Tama Tonga, Gabe Kidd, HENARE and Ryohei Iowa. His G1 saw Shingo help produce 6 ****+ matches with the best of those being against Zack Sabre Jr and would to be the best IWGP World Title defense that Zack has had so far in his inaugural title reign at Power Struggle. - Peter Edge (@PeterEdge7)


57. Iyo Sky - 2024 was a great year for the genius of the sky. She began the year as WWE Women’s Champion before dropping it to Bayley at WrestleMania. Aside from that she dazzled WWE fans all year with excellent performances against the likes of Bianca Belair and Lyra Valkyria and who could forget her epic return to Japan as she faced Utami Hayashishita at Marigold Summer Destiny. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


56. Yuki Ueno - Yuki Ueno reigned at the top of DDT for most of the year holding the KO-D Openweight Championship from November 2023 until August 2024. Ueno made 7 successful defences in the year including some fantastic ones against Harashima and Mao. As Konosuke Takeshita has left DDT full time you could argue in the time since that Yuki Ueno has become the most complete wrestler on the roster. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


55. Masha Slamovich - Masha had a very busy year starting with a fabulous match with Miyu Yamashita at TJPW. Masha enjoyed some good tournament success winning the Jersey J-Cup in July and making it to the finals of the Queen Of The Indies tournament in August. The most impressive part of her year though is undoubtedly her title success. She held the TNA Knockouts World Tag Titles 3 times during the year. She held the JCW Title for the majority of the year with an incredible 21 successful defences. She also held the FL World Title and the IWS Women’s Title in Canada before defeating Jordynne Grace for the TNA Knockouts World Title in October, the biggest victory of her career so far. Masha has been a revelation since returning to the USA from Japan in 2021 and shows no signs of slowing down. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


54. Michael Oku - 2024 was a coming-of-age year for Michael Oku. From his journey to Mexico appearing as a prominent start across many CMLL shows, including Mistico’s 20th anniversary and featuring as part of Chris Jericho’s Rock n Wrestling Rager at Sea, to his headlining New Japan’s annual Royal Quest show alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi and his match of the year contender with Will Ospreay in the same venue in January, Michael Oku became a bonafide mega star in the eyes of many, with the world now at his feet in 2025. - Mark O’Brien (@WrestleMobs)


53. Roman Reigns - Roman may have only wrestled 6 matches in 2024 but each made a deep impact. First he defended his WWE and Universal Title at the Royal Rumble. Then at WrestleMania he teamed with The Rock to get the win in the main event of night 1 before his historic title reign came to an end in a match of the year contender in the main event of night 2. His year didn’t end there as he feuded with the Bloodline culminating in 2024 with a WarGames victory at Survivor Series. Despite a lax schedule Roman’s influence within the biggest promotion in the world cannot be denied. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


52. Samoa Joe - Entering 2024 as AEW World Champion, Samoa Joe would effortlessly cement himself as a worthy piece of that rich lineage. In history, his reign will likely be most remembered as the mountain for Swerve Strickland to climb, though his outing with HOOK may go down as the true collector’s item. Joe’s campaign would be halted in July, with the big man’s absence only emphasising his importance to AEW television. - Joe Hulbert (@JoeHulbert)


51. Nicholas Jackson - Alongside his brother Matthew, Nicholas also had a notable 2024. From retiring Sting in the first ever tag team PPV main event, bringing Kazuchika Okada into AEW, to returning to New Japan at a US event to save faction member Jack Perry, the Young Bucks had a busy 2024. The Revolution main event is heralded by many as a ‘match of the year’ contender, and is considered one of the Jackson’s best performances ever. The two also made history when they regained the tag belts at Dynasty, as they became the first 3x Tag Team Champions in AEW history. They held the belts until the ‘Fright Night’ Dynamite, losing to Private Party in the Wrestledream rematch after 192 days. - Charlie (@chx_rliex)


50. Matthew Jackson - As one half of the Young Bucks and a member of the ‘New Elite’, Matthew Jackson had an impactful 2024. Competing in high profile matches throughout the year (Revolution main event, Anarchy in the Arena, Blood and Guts), the team were a central focus within AEW for a good portion of the year. Although they were unsuccessful in beating Sting and Darby, the Young Bucks then went on to defeat FTR at Dynasty in the finals of a tournament to crown new tag champs. Notable defences include defeating both The Acclaimed and FTR in Wembley Stadium at All In, and the team of Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher at Grandslam. They successfully defended against Private Party at Wrestledream, before losing the belts to them in a rematch on Dynamite a few weeks later. Charlie (@chx_rliex)


49. Luke Jacobs - No one had a better year in European wrestling than Luke Jacobs. Jacobs defeated Michael Oku for the Revpro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title in August in a spectacular match before losing it back to Oku in December. He defeated Ricky Knight Jr in the finals to win the Super Strong Style 16 tournament in Progress before defeating Kid Lykos for the Progress World Title in July. He defended his title 9 times in 2024 including successful defences in Germany and the USA. He also had a lengthy reign as SAJ Openweight Champion in Italy. Luke Jacobs conquered Europe in 2024 and one has to imagine his conquest will lead to more international opportunities in 2025. Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


48. Saori Anou - Saori Anou had a very good year in Stardom holding the Wonder of Stardom title for the first 6 months of the year and again for 12 days in July including some great matches against Mika Iwata and Hanan. She also feuded with Iwata for the Sendai Girls World Title which she held for 60 days. She also ended the year as one of the current reigning Artist of Stardom Champions alongside Tam Nakano and Natsupoi as Cosmic Angels. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


47. Miyu Yamashita - The Pink Striker walked into 2024 as Princess of Princess Champion. She defended her title in a critically acclaimed match to Masha Slamovich before losing it to Miu Watanabe in another incredible match. In TJPW Yamashita also won the Princess Tag Titles alongside Maki Itoh as team 121000000 for the second time managing two successful defenses before the end of the year. It wasn't just TJPW where she made her mark. She held the DDT Universal Championship for a day in Washington, Seattle and had numerous great matches around the world against the likes of Kevin Ku, Nina Samuels and Gisele Shaw. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


46. Bayley - Bayley began the year by winning the Royal Rumble but the highlight of her year was certainly winning the WWE Women's Title in a fantastic match with Iyo Sky at WrestleMania, kicking off a 118 day reign. She was also on the winning side of Wargames at Survivor Series showing that she still resides at the peak of the WWE women's division. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


45. Masashi Takeda - When it comes to death match wrestling no one outshone Masashi Takeda in 2024. Takeda spent the first 9 months of the year as King of Freedom World Champion. This reign included some gloriously violent title defenses against Violento Jack and Yusaku Ito to name a few. Takeda also experienced tag team success in 2024 holding the BJW and TTT tag titles alongside Takumi Tsukamoto as Crazy Lovers. Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


44. Mio Momono - One of the biggest underdogs in wrestling. Her fighting spirit and never give up attitude always gets her big reactions from fans.Mio started the year very strong, she defeated AKINO to win OZ Academy Openweight Championship in a tremendous match. She held the title for almost four months.Her other achievements in 2024 came in a tag team with Yurika Oka. They're currently in their second reign as Sendai Girls Tag Team Champions. They had a big rivalry for these belts against Team 200kg (Chihiro Hashimoto, Yuu) which resulted in many great matches between them. Mio and Yurika end this year as double champions after winning AAAW Tag Team Titles in October by beating... Team 200kg. - Raion (@raion74_)


43. Trick Williams - Trick Williams established himself as the face of NXT in 2024, winning the NXT title twice. While not all of his feuds reached a high level in 2024 he still managed a pair of incredible matches with Ilja Dragunov and a solid rivalry with Pete Dunne. All of that aside Trick is an extremely charismatic performer with the ability to engage the fans in what he is doing and undoubtedly has many more great years ahead of him. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)


42. Darby Allin - Darby Allin has a deep authenticity and a unique style that are the reasons he has grown to become one of the most respected grapplers in the world. Throughout 2024, Allin had several excellent TV singles matches vs: Jeff Hardy, Adam Page, Jon Moxley and (especially) Will Ospreay. But his most important accomplishment and a sign of the trust he is held in by his promotion was as World Tag Champions with his partner the Icon Sting. Darby Allin was entrusted with (and pulled off) sticking the landing of Sting's legendary career in his one big PPV main event of 2024.


Another highlight of his year came in late July when, at the same taping, Darby got the win for Team AEW in the annual faction war Blood & Guts … and also won the World Title #1-contendership in the double-ring battle royal, Royal Rampage. Darby also made an excellent showing in the Gold League of the grueling Continental Classic round robin, including a signature win over the ultimate Gold finalist, Will Ospreay. - Sergei Alderman (@SergeiAlderman)


41. Jordynne Grace - Jordynne Grace is no stranger to having a great year in pro wrestling but 2024 might have been her best yet. It started brilliantly as she defeated Trinity at Hard To Kill to win her third TNA Knockouts title. She would go on to make an incredible 18 defences against a wide variety of stars including Gisele Shaw, Miyu Yamashita, Megan Bayne, Karmen Petrovic and even a defence in Australia against Delta. Not only that but Grace would also make a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble before making a further impression in NXT, including an NXT Women's Title match with Roxanne Perez at Battleground. Jordynne even managed a trip to Sendai Girls for a marquee match with Chihiro Hashimoto in Korakuen Hall proving that she is one of the most in demand talents of the year. - Patrick (@PatrickEireWres)




Check back tomorrow for the next issue which will include wrestlers placed 40-21!

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