We're here in the thick of it now. The best of the best. We've got all of the most beloved names in WWE, unless Humberto Carrillo is actually insanely popular with you people and I wasn't aware of it. We've got awkward jabs, bad advice on how to be hated, fancy graphics (okay, no they're not), the winner's theme song, everything you could ask for. Let's go!
The "Yes" Rankings (#20 - #1)
20A. Nikki Cross (79.3% - 12% - 8.7%)Previous score: 81.7% - 9.8% - 8.5%While the rest of the former members of Sanity either dropped in popularity (Eric Young) or dropped off the list entirely (Waine and Dolfe or whatever their names are), Nikki... also dropped in popularity. But not all that much! Fresh from her much-hyped callup as part of the, "Hell if we know, just throw them out there," batch of late 2018 (as opposed to the similar batch of early 2019), Nikki's had a stellar year, making a new best friend and winning the Women's Tag titles for a bit.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Nail the Sandman while Raven watches.
So who is it who managed to tie with Nikki Cross? Well. . . IT'S A NEW DAY, YES IT IS!
20B. Xavier Woods (79.3% - 16.3% - 4.3%)Previous score: 66% - 23.6% - 10.4%A big rise for Xavier Woods this year, who rose from being the least popular member of New Day to... still being the least popular member of New Day, albeit not by nearly as much of a margin. This is progress and calls for celebration!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Steal someone's theme song thereby turning them SRS again. Isn't it wild to think that that's how Xavier Woods debuted compared to where he is now?
19. Finn Balor (80.2% - 18.7% - 1.1%)Previous score: 71.6% - 21.6% - 6.8%Wait, why's he even here? This isn't an NXT list, sir. We have no place for you. ... Okay, fine, but only because Lio Rush and the Cruiserweights already showed up earlier. Turns out having your neck snapped and putting on a billion boring matches with Bobby Lashley won't hurt people's perception of you so long as you have a sweet match with Brock Lesnar first.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Start a cross-company angle where he becomes best friends with Jake Hager and they go on crazy adventures. Actually, shit, that'd probably make him more popular, my bad.
18. Aleister Black (82.6% - 9.8% - 7.6%)Previous score: 84.1% - 9.8% - 6.1%It turns out shutting yourself up in your room to cut rambling promos is an excellent way to be popular so long as you're covered in tattoos! Take notes, Authors of Pa- oh, right, they are covered in tattoos. Um... Maybe they need to start kicking people? Maybe that's what decides it. Or it's just because Aleister keeps a positive attitude.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Constant door-creaking noises. Constant. With every step, a door creaks. With every kick, a door creacks. It never ends. It
never ends.
16A. Kairi Sane (83.7% - 7.6% - 8.7%)Previous score: 87.7% - 8.6% - 3.7%Piracy pays off in the eyes of FAN! . . . even if poor Kairi spent so long rotting offscreen in the tag division before finally winning the belts that it seems a decent chunk of voters forgot who she was. Guess everything's coming up aces for the Rakugo Experience!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Invite everyone to a Mario Party 2 tournament, only allow people to play on Pirate Land. Even if they like that stage they'll get sick of it after the second or third time in a row.
So who tied with Kairi Sane anyway? Well. . . IT'S A NEW DAY, YES IT IS!
16B. Kofi Kingston (83.7% - 13% - 3.3%)Previous score: 82.3% - 11.6% - 6.1%Weird how both Kofi and Xavier managed to tie with people. It's been a banner year for Kofi Kingston, rising in popularity in light of his WrestleMania win and six month WWE Championship reign even if his actual place in the overall rankings did slip slightly. Guess there's something to be said for the Power of Positivity!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: I mean, personally as someone who absolutely loves Kofi, if I ever have to sit through a match as boring as the Kofi / Dolph cage match again I'll probably start hating his guts.
15. Rusev (84.6% - 7.7% - 7.7%)Previous score: 87.2% - 9.5% - 3.4%It may no longer be Rusev Day, but it is still most certainly Rusev's day! Even with having a storyline where his wife cheats on him with a predatory scary black man in about the most stereotypical, poor implications-laced storyline possible, FAN still loves themselves some formerly-Alexander Rusev. Never underestimate the power of a good mustache!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Yeah, I've got nothing, Rusev makes literally everything work. So who's the man that managed to overcome someone like this anyway?
14. Becky Lynch (84.8% - 10.9% - 4.3%)Previous score: 91.3% - 4% - 4.7%Sharp drop for Becky Lynch, who plummeted from the #3 slot last year all the way to #14 now, even if her popularity on the whole is still quite high. Guess at least she didn't get the worst of it of Raw's new power couple, huh?
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Go back to doing this.
Okay, I've been trying to delay this, but we're at the very end of the people who missed the cut on the top 10 (got some ties coming up), so I think it's about time I let him in.
12A. Bray Wyatt (85.9% - 8.7% - 5.4%)Previous score: 53.1% - 38.8% - 8.2%YOWIE WOWIE! Sharp rise for Bray Wyatt this year, who jumped over 30% in popularity since last year, nearly all of it coming from people who actively disliked him. Well, for everyone who did join in, or those who already loved them some Bray Wyatt, he's really glad that you're his friend and this is a friendship that will never ever end!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Go back to being a nuisance impossible to take seriously who exists just to get crushed by whoever the actual top guys are. . . . Wait, I think he's already starting to do that.
So surely it must be someone
super prominent and high on the radar if they managed to tie with someone as beloved recently as Bray Wyatt is, huh? Well. . .
12B. Zelina Vega (85.9% - 7.6% - 6.5%)Previous score: 61.9% - 15% - 23.1%Closing out the march to the top-10-that's-actually-11 is, of course, Zelina Vega. I mean, obviously, who
didn't see Zelina Vega being one of the 13 most beloved people in WWE? This is just logic, she's so good at managing Andrade's life and keeping him from going back to being a massive f***-up that she deserves all the love in the world for it. Remember that time TNA had her cut a promo about her dad dying on 9/11, only to then show up heeling on America later in the same show?
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: You know she used to wrestle under the name Snookie Fly? I feel like going by that again would do the trick.
Now we're heading into the top 10-that's-actually-11, and of course there is only one possible person who could follow Zelina Vega. . .
(87% - 3.3% - 9.8%)Previous score: 59.5% - 15.5% - 25%Hey, Andrade isn't less popular than his manager this year! Guess there's no quicker way to earn FAN's love and affection than to ditch two-thirds of your name. That or just a lot more people have actually seen him this year compared to the pretty large chunk of apathy he had going last time. Still, Andrade also managed to win over quite a few who disliked him before. Quite a win! . . . Now if only he could actually win once in awhile!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Go back to wearing this.
I'm not even kidding, early Almas was laaaaame. So who tied this time? Well it it's a new day yes it is, you know the drill.
(87% - 8.7% - 4.3%)Previous score: 82.4% - 10.8% - 6.8%For the second year running Big E makes the top 10 as the most popular member of New Day, but with a more clear divide than he had over Kofi last time around. I guess it's well past time to push Big E, huh? . . . Please? I don't think there's a single person who isn't related to Vince McMahon who would say it's a worse idea than Cain Velasquez, right?
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: I don't have anything to say here, so did you know Big E Langston is an anagram for, "I Gel Bang Tons"? Because of course it is. I really hope that made someone laOH SHIT!
(87% - 8.7% - 4.3%)Previous score: 84.1% - 7.3% - 8.5%Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: I don't really have anything to say about Ricochet - he does the good flipping, you know the drill - so I'm just going to link to this song I always think of whenever his name comes up.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Make the switch to a SRS slow, methodical resthold style.
(88% - 4.3% - 7.6%)Previous score: 66.7% - 17.7% - 15.6%Luke Harper made his return in a big way, first by screwing over Roman Reigns, then by regaining his first name, and now by seeing a big rise in his popularity among FAN voters! Harper goes from just making the writeup threshold last year to comfortably landing in the top 10 this time. Good things come for those who are forced to wait due to contractual terms.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Play into his last name, by having promos week after week where he just keeps complaining about the same minor thing over and over and over incessantly.
(89.1% - 10.9% - 0%)Previous score: 89.3% - 8% - 2.7%I guess they do want some! Much has been made of AJ Styles's potential degeneration in the ring, but it seems as though most of those who have come to dislike him over this past year were those who didn't have a firm opinion of him to begin with. AJ has a belt and he has his buddies, guess life is good for the Phenomenal One this year. Samoa Joe hasn't even gone in his house this year, man!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Ever having another match with Christopher Daniels. Years later that's still just an exhausting prospect.
So with Kofi, Xavier, and Big E gone, we're done with New Day members being tied with people, aren't we? Well, uh...
(89.1% - 9.8% - 1.1%)Previous score: 77.6% - 16.3% - 6.1%Quite a sharp rise for KO this year, with FAN just loving themselves the saga of a man who had a lot of fun with his family, came back to an immediate WWE title match, had it turned into a triple threat for no reason, lost, sat out Mania, joined New Day, turned on New Day, randomly threw a fit at Shane McMahon, squashed Dolph Ziggler, beat up Shane, beat Shane, was fired, was rehired, and beat Shane. Quite a narrative progression.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Win the Universal title, have a reign exactly the same as his previous one but with Chris Jericho replaced with Jinder Mahal, and the entire time try to present it like he's a face. FAN would hate his guts in no time.
(91.3% - 4.3% - 4.3%)Previous score: 88.8% - 10% - 1.2%Here comes Shin! ... Remember when they were desperately trying to get that over? After being relegated to the NXT voting last year (because past me was a f***-up and WWE.com's Superstars page is horribly laid out), Nakamura makes his main roster polling debut in a big way with the #5 slot. I hear if you listen closely you can hear Sami Zayn dancing.
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: (93.4% - 4.4% - 2.2%)Previous score: 93.2% - 4.1% - 2.7%Last year's winner is actually even
more popular on FAN this year, despite not retaining her #1 slot. Not bad for someone who's spent most of the year in the offscreen purgatory known as Why Does 205 Live Exist Instead of SmackDown Having a B-Show. And hey, it's looking very likely she'll both be starting and ending the year with a belt, so all in all, that's definitely a win. ... She didn't win the No One In Particular Memorial Women's Battle Royal why?
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: I mean, she's a time-traveller, if she really wants to be unpopular she just needs to go back and undo what she did to get popular in the first place. Actually, given that, why on earth hasn't she undone her losses to Charlotte?
(93.4% - 5.5% - 1.1%)Previous score: 90.6% - 5.4% - 4%It's everyone's favorite ex-rugby player American patriot who used to wear an eyepatch, was a Paul Heyman guy, is the Bar, is a founding member of the Brass Ring Club, dated Aksana, and speaks five languages. Granted I don't know if there's a single other person on the planet who has those sorts of credentials but still, he's definitely the best one!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Start up the New Corre. Or start hanging out with Adam Rose again. Maybe both?
(93.5% - 5.4% - 1.1%)Previous score: 89.9% - 6.7% - 3.4%Have you people ever thought about the way you're endangering the environment by just sitting around reading this ultimately pointless list? I bet you have some mass-produced snack or are drinking from a plastic water bottle right now, all while you consume electricity entirely for the purposes of some frivulous pursuit. Do the right thing! If it's daylight, be outside working for a better future! If it's night, be in bed! This planet needs you to be willing to sacrifice frivolities for the greater good!
Oh, he's smiling and hugging again? Disregard.
If you're wondering about how on earth the stats line up between him, Cesaro, and Asuka, it's literally just because one person didn't vote for those two but did for Bryan. Yeah, this is why I had to double-check between them because when first compiling it I thought it was a typo.Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Yeah, I don't think that's even possible.
So who managed to overcome even the might of The New (is he even still new? It's been nearly a year) Daniel Bryan to become the most popular person in WWE among the people of FAN? Well, think of it as though Bryan were challening for the ROH Championship. There's one natural man for the job of beating him in that capacity...
(97.8% - 2.2% - 0%)Previous score: 92.6% - 6.1% - 1.4%Samoa Joe this year has had a hell of a rise, all the way from being the most beloved man in WWE to... being the most beloved man in WWE, but also being more popular than Asuka! Woo, give him a round of applause! It seems like for all the complaints about Samoa Joe losing, we do it because we love him. Who knew? Guess it's not been a bad year for the Joester (that's what his friends call him, right before they die), because he managed to run up a couple of US title runs, just before indulging in his favorite hobby of failing to win the WWE Championship. Here's to another year of the Samoan Submission Machine!
Lizuka's tips on how to turn people away: Maybe try winning something besides FAN polls once in awhile?