We’re finally here.
From last year’s Survivor Series to Crown Jewel, Cagesiders and Dave Meltzer have been applying ratings on a five star scale to 145 matches over the last 12 months. Within this period, 149 different wrestlers have competed in at least one match. Of those 74 superstars wrestled on at least 25% of shows they were eligible for.
We already know that Universal champion Brock Lesnar finished at the bottom of the table (check out the full "Hall of Shame" for 2017-18 here). He’s not the only champion to miss out on the top ten. Also failing to make the cut are:
RAW tag team champions - AOP - Didn't wrestle on PPV during this 12 month span
WWE Cruiserweight Champion - Buddy Murphy - Didn’t wrestle enough matches
WWE Champion - Daniel Bryan - 58th - Average rating - 2.90
Raw women’s champion - Ronda Rousey - 36th - Average rating - 3.27
SmackDown Live Tag Team champions - The Bar - =27th - Average rating - 3.32
United States Champion - Shinsuke Nakamura - 16th - Average rating - 3.49
SmackDown Live Women’s champion - Becky Lynch - 13th - Average rating - 3.54
So who will join Shane McMahon in the Cageside Rankings Hall of Fame? Read on to find out!
Top ten 2017/18
10th - Samoa Joe
Appearances: 8 - Average: 3.578 - Meltzer average: 3.31 - Last year’s average: 3.93
Highest rated match - 4.28 v AJ Styles at Super Show-Down
Lowest rated match - 1.93 v Roman Reigns at Backlash
Number of 4 star plus matches: 4
4.28 v AJ Styles - Super Show-Down
4.24 v AJ Styles - Summerslam
4.08 v Seth Rollins/Finn Balor/The Miz - Greatest Royal Rumble
4.08 v AJ Styles - Hell in a Cell
9th - Rey Mysterio
Appearances: 4 - Average: 3.58 - Meltzer average: 3.13 - Last year’s average: N/A
Highest rated match - 4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble
Lowest rated match - 3.08 - Greatest Royal Rumble
Number of 4 star plus matches: 1
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
8th - Finn Balor
Appearances: 8 - Average: 3.581 - Meltzer average: 3.03 - Last year’s average: 3.83
Highest rated match - 4.22 v Seth Rollins/The Miz - WrestleMania
Lowest rated match - 2.71 - (w) Triple H/Braun Strowman/Kurt Angle/Samoa Joe v Shane McMahon/Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura/Bobby Roode/John Cena - Survivor Series
Number of 4 star plus matches: 3
4.22 - v Seth Rollins/The Miz - WrestleMania
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
4.08 v Seth Rollins/Samoa Joe/The Miz - Greatest Royal Rumble
7th - Xavier Woods
Appearances: 7 - Average: 3.60 - Meltzer average: 3.29 - Last year’s average: 4.15
Highest rated match - 4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble
Lowest rated match - 3.08 - Greatest Royal Rumble
Number of 4 star plus matches: 2
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
4.13 - (w) Kofi Kingston/Big E v The Shield - Survivor Series
6th - Aiden English
Appearances: 4 - Average: 3.63 - Meltzer average: 3.31 - Last year’s average: 2.68
Highest rated match - 4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
Lowest rated match - 3.08 - Greatest Royal Rumble
Number of 4 star plus matches: 2
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
4.08- (w) Rusev v New Day - Gable & Benjamin - Usos - Clash of Champions
5th - Charlotte Flair
Appearances: 10 - Average: 3.64 - Meltzer average: 3.08 - Last year’s average: 2.93
Highest rated match - 4.70 - v Becky Lynch - Evolution
Lowest rated match - 2.09 v Carmella - Backlash
Number of 4 star plus matches: 3
4.70 - v Becky Lynch - Evolution
4.41 - v Asuka - WrestleMania
4.06 - v Becky Lynch - Hell in a Cell
4th - Dolph Ziggler
Appearances: 12 - Average: 3.74 - Meltzer average: 3.25 - Last year’s average: 3.08
Highest rated match - 4.49 - (w) Drew McIntyre v Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins - Hell in a Cell
Lowest rated match - 1.60 - v Shane McMahon - Crown Jewel
Number of 4 star plus matches: 3
4.49 - (w) Drew McIntyre v Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins - Hell in a Cell
4.29 - v Seth Rollins - Summerslam
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
3rd - Cedric Alexander
Appearances: 4 - Average: 3.94 - Meltzer average: 3.5 - Last year’s average: N/A
Highest rated match - 4.43 v Buddy Murphy - Super Show-Down
Lowest rated match - 3.63 v Drew Gulak - Summerslam
Number of 4 star plus matches: 1
4.43 v Buddy Murphy - Super Show-Down
2nd - AJ Styles
Appearances: 13 - Average: 3.95 - Meltzer average: 3.79 - Last year’s average: 4.07
Highest rated match - 4.46 v Brock Lesnar - Survivor Series
Lowest rated match - 3.33 v Shinsuke Nakamura - Backlash
Number of 4 star plus matches: 6
4.46 v Brock Lesnar - Survivor Series
4.41 v Shinsuke Nakamura - Money in the Bank
4.28 v Samoa Joe - Super Show-Down
4.24 v Samoa Joe - Summerslam
4.08 v Samoa Joe - Hell in a Cell
4.00 v Rusev - Extreme Rules
1st - Seth Rollins
Appearances: 14 - Average: 3.96 - Meltzer average: 3.57 - Last year’s average: 3.90
Highest rated match - 4.49 - (w) Dean Ambrose v Drew McIntrye/Dolph Ziggler - Hell in a Cell
Lowest rated match - 2.34 - (w) Jason Jordan v The Bar - Royal Rumble
Number of 4 star plus matches: 6
4.49 - (w) Dean Ambrose v Drew McIntrye/Dolph Ziggler - Hell in a Cell
4.29 - v Dolph Ziggler - Summerslam
4.22 - v Finn Balor/The Miz - WrestleMania
4.21 - Men’s Royal Rumble match
4.13 - (w) Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins v New Day - Survivor Series
4.08 v Samoa Joe/Finn Balor/The Miz - Greatest Royal Rumble
Congratulations to the Architect, who held off the determined challenge of AJ Styles to take this year's crown. Woods, Joe and Balor have managed to get their second successive top ten placing.
Come this time next year, will we have more than one woman in the top ten? With the success of Evolution and possible future dream matches involving Charlotte Flair,Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, it is extremely likely. Cedric Alexander and Rey Mysterio will hope to appear on more PPV cards in order to maintain their position, whilst Aiden English is likely to drop down the rankings now Rusev Day have split.
SmackDown have dominated the table, with six wrestlers compared to Raw's three. The next Raw wrestler in the rankings is the 17th paced Sasha Banks. The Blue brand has 14 representatives in the top 20.
Match |
Event |
Rating |
Votes |
Meltzer |
Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair |
Evolution |
4.7 |
1380 |
4.75 |
Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler v Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose |
Hell in a Cell 18 |
4.49 |
309 |
4.5 |
AJ Styles v Brock Lesnar |
Survivor Series |
4.46 |
973 |
4.25 |
Seth Rollins v The Miz |
Backlash |
4.46 |
562 |
4.25 |
Cedric Alexander v Buddy Murphy |
Super Show Down |
4.43 |
296 |
4.25 |
Charlotte Flair v Asuka |
WrestleMania 34 |
4.41 |
1106 |
4 |
AJ Styles v Shinsuke Nakamura |
Money in the Bank 18 |
4.41 |
881 |
4 |
Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle v Stephanie McMahon/Triple H |
WrestleMania 34 |
4.29 |
1293 |
4.25 |
Dolph Ziggler v Seth Rollins |
Summerslam 18 |
4.29 |
316 |
3.75 |
AJ Styles v Samoa Joe |
Super Show Down |
4.28 |
735 |
4.25 |
Unsurprisingly, Rollins and Styles dominate the top ten matches list appearing in six of the matches. Table toppers Flair and Lynch Evolution match up is the highest rated in the two years of Cageside rankings, pipping the 4.69 rating John Cena and AJ received at Royal Rumble 2017. Ronda Rousey's debut match is the only one on the list which doesn't involve any of the top ten wrestlers.
Highest number of votes:
Match |
Event |
Rating |
Votes |
Meltzer |
Brock Lesnar v Roman Reigns |
WrestleMania 34 |
2.28 |
2494 |
3 |
AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura |
WrestleMania 34 |
3.62 |
2321 |
3.75 |
Brock Lesnar v Braun Strowman |
Crown Jewel |
0.91 |
1511 |
1 |
Undertaker v Triple H |
Super Show Down |
2.98 |
1419 |
1.25 |
Becky Lynch v Charlotte Flair |
Evolution |
4.70 |
1380 |
4.75 |
Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle v Stephanie McMahon/Triple H |
WrestleMania 34 |
4.29 |
1293 |
4.25 |
Charlotte Flair v Asuka |
WrestleMania 34 |
4.41 |
1106 |
4 |
AJ Styles v Brock Lesnar |
Survivor Series |
4.46 |
973 |
4.25 |
DX v Brothers of Destruction |
Crown Jewel |
2.71 |
947 |
1.75 |
Brock Lesnar v Roman Reigns |
Greatest Royal Rumble |
2.60 |
911 |
1 |
The list is dominated by WrestleMania, which takes 40% of the placing. Whilst his matches have been poorly scored, Brock Lesnar is always a big discussion point. Four of his six matches appearing in the list. Three matches from WWE's controversial tours of Saudi Arabia also made the table.