Power Slam Magazine 50 Best Wrestlers of 2008

[thefinker]

There's definetely a smugness to the magazine when it comes to the Japanese wrestling scene, they think they can get access to material nobody can get over here, and it's like "your missing out on REAL quality wrestling"

I recall a book of lists Powerslam did, the Top Ten List involved mostly matches in Japan, the highest WWF(maybe American) standing was in 7th place (Stone Cold v Bret Hart, WM13) I was a bit WTF.

There is, without one shadow of a doubt, a bias to KENTA by the magazine. They praise him alot, and i recall one article a couple year ago that was just one big giant verbal orgasm about KENTA being one of the best wrestlers of all time. They do cover some AAA, but they certainly don't share the same enthusiasm about that.

[mcmahonfan85]

Dec 20, 2008 21:14:24 GMT -5 thefinker said:

There is, without one shadow of a doubt, a bias to KENTA by the magazine. They praise him alot, and i recall one article a couple year ago that was just one big giant verbal orgasm about KENTA being one of the best wrestlers of all time.

well, WWE seemed to take notice of him, since they basically turned Punk into a KENTA knockoff

[HMARK Center]

I never, ever, ever, ever take these lists seriously, but it's still cool seeing Nigel McGuinness in the top 3.

[Robbymac]

Dec 20, 2008 18:21:20 GMT -5 4TheGlory said:

Dec 20, 2008 18:12:43 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

WTF how is Cena/Batista not there, and half these wrestlers i dont even know

Cena..MAYBE. Batista I don't even know how anyone could think he was one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Though Batista is ranked #27. Which is odd because out of the current state of WWE workers, Cena> Batista by a mile

I don't think Cena is one of the best wrestlers in the world. I think he is THE best wrestler in the world.

Regardless, any publication that ranks the top 50 wrestlers of 2008 and does not include John Cena has ZERO credibility.

Especially when Rey Mysterio is ranked when he was out half the year with injury. Even Batista checks in at 27, so they must have some kind of odd agenda against Cena.

I don't know about the Japanese guys or the ROH guys so I can't comment, but I would personally rank Cena as #1 among the WWE/TNA guys.

Regardless there is no objective measure that you can justify ranking Batista, Sabin, Lethal, Morrison, Shelley, Roode, or Mysterio ahead of him.

[Bub (BLM)]

Jericho's had a far better year than Shawn Michaels. Shawn has done nothing of value since the Flair feud. Jericho and, can't believe I'm saying this, Batista carried their respective feuds with Michaels. All Shawn did was do sad puppy promos and take beatdowns every match.

[angryfan]

Dec 21, 2008 3:01:31 GMT -5 Robbymac said:

Dec 20, 2008 18:21:20 GMT -5 4TheGlory said:

Cena..MAYBE. Batista I don't even know how anyone could think he was one of the best wrestlers in the world.

Though Batista is ranked #27. Which is odd because out of the current state of WWE workers, Cena> Batista by a mile

I don't think Cena is one of the best wrestlers in the world. I think he is THE best wrestler in the world.

Regardless, any publication that ranks the top 50 wrestlers of 2008 and does not include John Cena has ZERO credibility.

Especially when Rey Mysterio is ranked when he was out half the year with injury. Even Batista checks in at 27, so they must have some kind of odd agenda against Cena.

I don't know about the Japanese guys or the ROH guys so I can't comment, but I would personally rank Cena as #1 among the WWE/TNA guys.

Regardless there is no objective measure that you can justify ranking Batista, Sabin, Lethal, Morrison, Shelley, Roode, or Mysterio ahead of him.

Here's the thing. An argument like that, while as opinion is perfectly valid, also smacks of the same bias the list creaters are receiving for saying the same about KENTA.

The argument is "he is the top guy in the biggest company, so he is the best thing going". True, but what about the X-factor of someone who sthe same company may have persued who declined their offer? Do they become "less talented" for saying "no thanks"?

Not trying to nitpick, just playing devil's advocate here.

[Robbymac]

Dec 21, 2008 3:22:11 GMT -5 angryfan said:

Dec 21, 2008 3:01:31 GMT -5 Robbymac said:

I don't think Cena is one of the best wrestlers in the world. I think he is THE best wrestler in the world.

Regardless, any publication that ranks the top 50 wrestlers of 2008 and does not include John Cena has ZERO credibility.

Especially when Rey Mysterio is ranked when he was out half the year with injury. Even Batista checks in at 27, so they must have some kind of odd agenda against Cena.

I don't know about the Japanese guys or the ROH guys so I can't comment, but I would personally rank Cena as #1 among the WWE/TNA guys.

Regardless there is no objective measure that you can justify ranking Batista, Sabin, Lethal, Morrison, Shelley, Roode, or Mysterio ahead of him.

Here's the thing. An argument like that, while as opinion is perfectly valid, also smacks of the same bias the list creaters are receiving for saying the same about KENTA.

The argument is "he is the top guy in the biggest company, so he is the best thing going". True, but what about the X-factor of someone who sthe same company may have persued who declined their offer? Do they become "less talented" for saying "no thanks"?

Not trying to nitpick, just playing devil's advocate here.

I said I couldn't speak to the Japanese or Indy guys on the list because I knew nothing about them. I was only speaking of the guys I knew and I don't think there is any objective measure you can rank Cena below the guys I mentioned. It is my opinion he should be ranked ahead of all TNA and WWE talent, but some of the guys they ranked without ranking Cena is just so patently ridiculous it removes any credibility from their list.

[VengeanceGOD]

It really depends on what the list is based on. I'm no Cena hater, but a guy like Shelley is more interesting in the ring than him.

[Robbymac]

Fine, then explain Batista and Robert Roode?

[Topher is Human]

Last year I probably would've had Cena at number one (MAYBE Edge). But the thing with Cena this year is that he did miss alot of it and besides the Rumble win at the beginning and his recent World Title win (Something others had done, alot more) he hasn't really accomplished anything this year.

[angryfan]

Dec 21, 2008 3:33:15 GMT -5 Robbymac said:

Dec 21, 2008 3:22:11 GMT -5 angryfan said:

Here's the thing. An argument like that, while as opinion is perfectly valid, also smacks of the same bias the list creaters are receiving for saying the same about KENTA.

The argument is "he is the top guy in the biggest company, so he is the best thing going". True, but what about the X-factor of someone who sthe same company may have persued who declined their offer? Do they become "less talented" for saying "no thanks"?

Not trying to nitpick, just playing devil's advocate here.

I said I couldn't speak to the Japanese or Indy guys on the list because I knew nothing about them. I was only speaking of the guys I knew and I don't think there is any objective measure you can rank Cena below the guys I mentioned. It is my opinion he should be ranked ahead of all TNA and WWE talent, but some of the guys they ranked without ranking Cena is just so patently ridiculous it removes any credibility from their list.

Been said, but injuries would keep it down. Yeah, won the Rumble and is having a title run, but missing half the year didn't help.

Also, I get what you meant about "I haven't seen them, so I can't say", and that's totally cool. I was just trying to point out the whole subjectivity of it all.

Look, if you've got two actors, right? One guy only does big budget action flicks for Universal, and maybe every year or so does a holiday family comedy. The other guy does foreign films, and lots of work for smaller production companies domestically.

What I was saying was, just because one guy has more money behind his work, and it is more widely distributed, does not necessarily mean that the quality of his work far surpasses that of his counterpart. It simply means that it has a higher production value in terms of "packaging".

It doesn't mean that he is a bad actor for said extra production values, it simply means that he has something that the othe guy does not, a large budget behind him.

Not his fault, in any way, he's doing his job, and doing it successfully. Kudos to him for that. However, it doesn't make a counterpart, who probably works equally as hard for less income and recognition, any less valid as a performance artist.

[sloride]

I'm not a fan of Powerslam whatsoever. All their writers are smug, pretentious arseholes and if you don't agree with them then you don't like 'real' wrestling. Plus as someone else said they way they write their articles is like this is fact when it is simply their opinion.

[mcmahonfan85]

Dec 21, 2008 4:53:56 GMT -5 sloride said:

Plus as someone else said they way they write their articles is like this is fact when it is simply their opinion.

like PWI

[cantona7]

I have been reading powerslam for years and most of the time I agree with their rankings in the PS 50s. Although I did expect HBK to feature highly in the top 50, I was surprised that he was ranked number 1.

[Robbymac]

Dec 21, 2008 4:50:55 GMT -5 angryfan said:

Dec 21, 2008 3:33:15 GMT -5 Robbymac said:

I said I couldn't speak to the Japanese or Indy guys on the list because I knew nothing about them. I was only speaking of the guys I knew and I don't think there is any objective measure you can rank Cena below the guys I mentioned. It is my opinion he should be ranked ahead of all TNA and WWE talent, but some of the guys they ranked without ranking Cena is just so patently ridiculous it removes any credibility from their list.

Been said, but injuries would keep it down. Yeah, won the Rumble and is having a title run, but missing half the year didn't help.

Also, I get what you meant about "I haven't seen them, so I can't say", and that's totally cool. I was just trying to point out the whole subjectivity of it all.

Look, if you've got two actors, right? One guy only does big budget action flicks for Universal, and maybe every year or so does a holiday family comedy. The other guy does foreign films, and lots of work for smaller production companies domestically.

What I was saying was, just because one guy has more money behind his work, and it is more widely distributed, does not necessarily mean that the quality of his work far surpasses that of his counterpart. It simply means that it has a higher production value in terms of "packaging".

It doesn't mean that he is a bad actor for said extra production values, it simply means that he has something that the othe guy does not, a large budget behind him.

Not his fault, in any way, he's doing his job, and doing it successfully. Kudos to him for that. However, it doesn't make a counterpart, who probably works equally as hard for less income and recognition, any less valid as a performance artist.

He didn't miss half the year. He missed 3 months. Mysterio on the other hand missed half the year. And he made the list.

[sloride]

Cena only missed three months although it does seem longer as he has come back from two major injuries in a year. Orton missed five months, Rey missed six months, Taker was out for a couple months, Edge was out for a couple months as well yet they were all rated highly.

[Red 'n' Black Reggie]

jericho at 24? punk at 21? black at 31? morrison at 44? cena not even on there?

yeah, i should stop reading the PS 50, i don't think i've ever agreed with that list.

[gaff]

"Like them or not, Cena and Batista have to be on that list."

I would disagree with that, Big Dave and John Cena haven't done much this year, weird saying that considering Cena and Batista both won the WHC and Cena won the rumble, but Cena has been out injured for a lot of the year and anything else he done simply wasn't interesting, the only time Batista has impressed me at all this year was his pre mania feud over the US strap with MVP, it actually made that title look credible for a few weeks!

Jericho is ridiculously under placed, he has totally transformed his character his look and his attitude, he has won the WHC twice as well as the IC title and excelled in the MITB match, he should have been in the top 3 performers of the year!

[Robbymac]

Dec 22, 2008 15:51:35 GMT -5 gaff said:

"Like them or not, Cena and Batista have to be on that list."

I would disagree with that, Big Dave and John Cena haven't done much this year, weird saying that considering Cena and Batista both won the WHC and Cena won the rumble, but Cena has been out injured for a lot of the year and anything else he done simply wasn't interesting, the only time Batista has impressed me at all this year was his pre mania feud over the US strap with MVP, it actually made that title look credible for a few weeks!

Jericho is ridiculously under placed, he has totally transformed his character his look and his attitude, he has won the WHC twice as well as the IC title and excelled in the MITB match, he should have been in the top 3 performers of the year!

Robert Roode did not have a better 2008 than John Cena.

I'm not sure how this is even arguable. It wasn't Cena's best year by any stretch, but come on. Its a top 50, not a top 5.

[Sir Woodrow]

Dec 21, 2008 4:53:56 GMT -5 sloride said:

I'm not a fan of Powerslam whatsoever. All their writers are smug, pretentious arseholes and if you don't agree with them then you don't like 'real' wrestling. Plus as someone else said they way they write their articles is like this is fact when it is simply their opinion.

Powerslam is totally bipolar at times too.

One moment they praise Cena and call him the next big thing and then when he gets to the top they start to trash him something fierce.

But at least they don't call you a mark if you have an opinion different from theirs like Fighting Spirit does in their letter page at times.