WWE Mid-Year Round Table: Who was Most Outstanding Wrestler?
COVID-19 caused a sudden change to, well, everything. WWE shifted to crowdless and then minimally attended shows, which forced wrestlers to adapt on a week-to-week basis. With that said, who was your Most Outstanding Wrestler of the first six months for WWE?
Kevin Parvizi: I have to go with Bayley. I mean, Asuka, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Keith Lee, Angel Garza, and so many others have been delivering the goods each week, but what Bayely has done as #BayleyDosStraps is nothing short of remarkable. She’s one of the best heels in the business, she’s reelevating the tag titles, and she has been incredible as SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Dina Amanuel: The past six months have forced the wrestling industry to adapt to an atmosphere where fans are not there to enhance the experience. Asuka has shined during these past few months and truly is the MVP of the Reality Era. Her promos are perfect, her dancing amazing, and her matches? Even more incredible than her promos or her dancing. It is very difficult not to enjoy watch Asuka do what she does so well. She put on incredible matches with the likes of Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, as well as Charlotte Flair. She deserves the title of Most Outstanding wrestler.
Samantha Schipman: Our Wrestling Goddess, Asuka. She has been the MVP of no fan shows. Wrestling, dancing, commentary; she excels at all of it. Although she became champion in an unorthodox way, she deserves it and so do we
Chris Jeter: “The Empress of Tomorrow” Asuka‘s year started off well enough with a pair of critically-acclaimed matches against then-RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, though both matches served to reinforce Lynch as the company’s top female star. However, once Lynch departed, WWE filled the void with Asuka, and even though it feels like one of those pushes where the company is holding its figurative nose while doing it, she has become the most entertaining wrestler since the COVID-19 shows started.
Jesse Velasquez: Keith Lee. This was a very difficult decision. You could easily go with Drew McIntyre, Bayley, Io Shirai or Asuka in this place; there isn’t a wrong answer here. I’m going with the man who has a shot to take all of the male NXT single’s gold on Wednesday night. We all can bask in his glory if he is successful and makes a convincing case to become the WWE promotional wrestler of the year.
(In terms of pure wrestling, Samantha gave a nod to Drew Gulak, saying, “Someone that can match Daniel Bryan should be getting more love and respect.” Indeed.)
On a similar topic, who receives your vote for Most Outstanding Team/Stable?
KP: It’s the Boss’N’Hug Connection of Sasha Banks and Bayley. They, along with Asuka, have been the best part of WWE for months all while building towards what should be another all-time great rivalry for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. But for now, they are the best of friends, annoying us in a positive way each week on all three brands.
DA: For months now (OK, let’s be honest here, years) fans have clamored for a feud between Bayley and Sasha Banks. These two incredibly talented women have such incredible chemistry as a tag team that for the slightest moment I don’t want them to feud. Then Bayley puts Sasha in
matches she’s clearly not ready for and all I can think is, “Get Her, Sasha.” Making me question
my stance on a storyline? Now that is pure talent. I will say this: when this feud happens, we will
not be ready.
SS: Bayley and Sasha Banks. They are finally getting the tag team title run that they deserved the first time around. “Bayley-Dos-Straps/Bayley-Three-Brands” is coming into her own as a heel & “The Blueprint/The Standard/The Legit Boss/Sasha-Three-Shows” has been fantastic. We know the split is coming, but I hope they postpone it as long as possible.
CJ: Bayley and Sasha Banks. Sure, their second reign as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion is a means to get to their eventual singles feud, but these two have done more for those titles in a week than any other team has since WWE introduced them in February 2019. Plus, it gave them a chance to hunt out the credible babyfaces that were nowhere to be found on SmackDown.
JV: Bayley and Sasha Banks. The Monday night Messiah and his group are a very close second. Bayley and Banks have taken the proverbial WWE ball and ran with it during the first half of the year. While we are inevitably looking at a split sometime in 2020, let’s enjoy this dynamic duo’s performance.