Daily DDT Staff Picks for Top 5 Current WWE Wrestlers
By Bassam Kaado
Chris Jeter’s Top 5
- Daniel Bryan
- A.J. Styles
- Johnny Gargano
- Sasha Banks
- Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan – Even as part of the most opulent roster WWE has ever had in terms of in-ring talent, Daniel Bryan still stands out as the cream of the crop. Since returning to the ring in April 2018, the former WWE Champion has shown that’s he’s every bit the technician he was before he briefly retired.
As he’s shown in his matches against Big Cass and The Miz, Bryan excels at bolstering the credibility of whoever steps in the ring with him through his bumping and selling. But when he gets to work opposite grapplers who can match him in athleticism and skill — A.J. Styles, Ali, Brock Lesnar, and Kofi Kingston immediately come to mind — he can script some memorable in-ring stories.
What makes Bryan such a special worker is his versatility; his strikes are crisp and realistic, his chain wrestling is phenomenal, and he can occasionally take to the sky. He’s an expert at garnering sympathy when he works as a babyface but can crank up the sadistic intensity when he goes heel — go back and watch that beatdown he dished out to Styles on the SmackDown before Survivor Series 2018 for proof.
Due to his overall body of work, many consider Bryan to be one of the greatest wrestlers of this generation. His efforts over the past year have reified those claims.
A.J. Styles – If Daniel Bryan never returned to the ring, A.J. Styles would be at the top of this list. It’s amazing to think that he’s still near the top of lists like this at age 42. But here he is, still living up to his “Phenomenal One” moniker.
After a fruitful run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Styles came over to WWE in 2016 with high expectations — and some concern from diehard fans regarding how hard the company would push him. Though it looked a little rocky from the outset, Styles eventually proved he was everything fans said he was, as he produced stellar matches with noted company guys Roman Reigns and John Cena during the spring and summer of 2016.
Not only did Styles craft classics with those two and the likes of Daniel Bryan, but he has also pulled watchable bouts out of guys like Jinder Mahal and Baron Corbin. He even got a half-decent match out of Shane McMahon and McMahon didn’t even need to jump off of something really high.
Sure, he’s participated in some underwhelming encounters — such as his matches against Chris Jericho, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, and Kevin Owens — but most of those disappointments were the result of shoddy booking more than anything Styles or those opponents did or didn’t do. But when Styles has been asked to produce a classic, he often has.
Johnny Gargano – When was the last time Johnny Gargano didn’t have a classic match at an NXT TakeOver? Whether it has been an opening match, a tag team title match, or the main event, Gargano has shown everyone why people call him “Johnny Wrestling”.
As one of the most naturally affable wrestlers on the NXT roster, Gargano has thrived in the underdog babyface role. Between his selling and his connection with the audience, Gargano pulls at the heartstrings of a fanbase more than any other wrestler, at least in the developmental ranks.
A Gargano match is an emotional roller coaster, and while some view the twists, turns, ups and downs as erring on the side of overdramatization, most see it as pro wrestling storytelling at its highest form.
In many ways, Gargano is reminiscent of post-2002 Shawn Michaels in terms of how his matches are structured (given that Michaels is a trainer at the Performance Center and has produced TakeOver matches in the past, that probably isn’t a coincidence). He may not get a chance to put on matches like this whenever he gets promoted to the main roster, so for now, let’s enjoy the HBK-like magic Gargano doles out while it lasts.
Sasha Banks – Aside from perhaps Charlotte Flair, no woman has been more at the forefront of this women’s wrestling renaissance than Sasha Banks. Sure, some herbs on Twitter will be quick to nitpick the most minute in-ring mistake she makes, there’s no question that Banks’ work has helped raise the profile of WWE’s distaff division.
While her pair of matches against Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn and NXT: TakeOver: Respect has more than cemented “The Boss’” status as one of the best wrestlers in the world, her tangos many tangos with Flair — primarily their television matches and their Iron Woman match at Roadblock: End of the Line — as well as her forgotten gem against Becky Lynch at TakeOver: Unstoppable and her low-key classic with Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble certain also buttress that point for anyone who may have forgotten that this woman is really good at pro wrestling.
Banks hasn’t been on WWE TV since she and Bayley dropped the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships to the IIconics at WrestleMania 35. Who knows when, or if, she comes back, but whatever she does in this next chapter of her career, she will no doubt approach it with the level of passion and skill that fans have grown accustomed to.
Seth Rollins – It’s admirable that Seth Rollins believes that he’s the best pro wrestler in the world right now. After all, he is the current Universal Champion and current company flagbearer. If he didn’t approach his current position on the card with that attitude, then he probably wouldn’t be in that spot. He said exactly what top guys are supposed to say.
However, Rollins is not the best wrestler in the world, at least in some people’s minds. He isn’t even the best wrestler in the company he works for. But that says more about the talent level in WWE more than Rollins’ own shortcomings because when he is on, there are few who can touch him.
Since getting called up in November 2012 and especially since his initial breakaway from The Shield in 2014, Rollins has earned high marks for his performances with a variety of wrestlers, from more methodical WWE-style stalwarts like Randy Orton and John Cena to underrated gems against indy darlings like Finn Balor.
Sure his booking has not always been as reflective to Rollins’ rosy outlook on WWE’s creative process (e.g.: his presentation during his first WWE Title run or his botched babyface turn in 2016) but his highlights — like his memorable cash-in at WrestleMania 31 and brief resurrection of the Intercontinental Championship’s credibility in 2018 — have outshined those gaffes. He may not be at the tippy top of the list, but Rollins has more than earned the right to be in the conversation.