Inspired by a Mick Foley facebook post, on the last episode of 3 Count Radio, Derek and I picked the WWE All Stars for 2015. We divided it into Faces and Heels and picked 3 singles wrestlers, 1 tag team, and 1 female. Here are the teams.
THE BABYFACE MAKE-A-WISHES
#1 PICK - JOHN CENA
The easiest pick of the entire list, no babyface has worked his ass off more than John Cena so far in 2015. Despite some questionable booking recently, Cena has been in 8 of the top 10 wrestling matches of 2015 thus far. You can not argue with that.
#2 PICK - DEAN AMBROSE
The victim of bad booking as well, Dean has done the best he can to overcome and still get over. Fans were going absolutely nuts when they thought Dean had won the WWE title at Elimination Chamber. His merch sales have been solid (at times even better than Cena) … and hopefully can continue to go up.
#3 PICK - FINN BALOR
Finn was the fortunate recipient of some unfortunate injuries in NXT, with Hideo Itami and Zami Zayn both badly hurt, he skyrocketed into the #1 Babyface position in NXT. He’s run with it, not only being the most well rounded talent down in NXT, but also defeating Kevin Owens for the NXT “World” Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, in one of the coolest moments of the year.
TAG TEAM - ENZO and BIG CASS
Ok, the wrestling chops aren’t all the way there, but goddamn are these two guys mega-over. Enzo Amore is one of the most charismatic talents in the WWE recently and his teaming up with 6’9” and longtime friend Big Cass is one of the most entertaining things in all of wrestling right now.
FEMALE WRESTLER - BECKY LYNCH
Derek and I were torn on this pick, he wanted Bayley and I opted for Becky (and since I write for the site, guess who gets the tiebreaker?). Becky Lynch has overcome an absolutely dreadful first appearance to find her niche as the steampunk goddess she is now. Her in-ring work is what put her over the character work from Bayley.
THE HEEL POP-UP POWERBOMBS
#1 PICK - KEVIN OWENS
Give this man the ball and let him run with it. Owens is the best natural heel in the WWE and all of wrestling. He’s got so many tricks up his sleeve we may never see all of the cards he is holding. That, and he and John Cena have had the best 3-Match series I have seen in the WWE since Mick Foley vs. Triple H. Kevin Owens should be a monster-heel WWE champion by 2016.
#2 PICK - SETH ROLLINS
Seth Rollins had a freaking awesome 2015 thus far, both Derek and I see shades of Shawn Michaels in his character and in-ring work. Unfortunately for Seth, Owens was just that good. His cash in at Wrestlemania was my favorite cash-in of all time, and made me regain my faith that maybe Money in the Bank wasn’t all played out after all … then Sheamus won this year and ruined all of that.
#3 PICK - RUSEV
*Note* Not Sheamus. The WWE is hurting when it comes to heels right now, and since Brock Lesnar is kind of a “tweener,” Rusev is the best remaining option. Besides his awful booking with Cena and Ziggler, his work has been amazing.
TAG TEAM - THE NEW DAY
The heel entertainment equivalent of Enzo and Cass … but maybe even better. The dynamics of this team have been top notch since their heel turn, which was needed since week two of them forming. Seeing Kofi wrestle as a heel has been refreshing and the mic work of Big E and the facial expressions of Xavier Woods always have me cracking up.
FEMALE WRESTLER - SASHA BANKS
Simply put, Sasha Banks is the cream of the crop of the female division. She’s improved dramatically since I first started watching her in the BFFs in the early days of NXT. Her 2015 has been a perfect mix of excellent ring work, character and microphone work, and championship wins and defenses. The Boss is legit.
