Photo Credit: Liv Morgan and Cody Rhodes (Instagram)
Ariel Helwani is a renowned combat sports journalist who has taken a keen interest in professional wrestling in recent years, inviting pro wrestlers to his podcast while also discussing the different aspects of sports entertainment. With the association of Yahoo Sports, the acclaimed journalist and host began a new program called Uncrowned, where he talks about wrestling, mixed martial arts, and boxing.
Recently, Ariel Helwani and Yahoo Sports released the first-ever ‘Uncrowned Pound-For-Pound Pro-Wrestling’ rankings, placing female and male stars according to their performances in 2024.
As per the first Uncrowned P4P rankings of wrestling, the current WWE Women’s World Champion, Liv Morgan, takes the first place among female talents, while Cody Rhodes, the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion, leads the men’s ranking.
Both the men’s and women’s rankings are predominantly occupied by WWE Superstars. Out of the ten listed female talents, eight are from the Stamford-based promotion. On the other hand, the men’s list has nine WWE stars out of ten.
A total of three AEW wrestlers are featured in both lists. The reigning AEW TBS Champion and the AEW Women’s Champion, Mercedes Mone and Mariah May are the entrants from Tony Khan’s promotion in the women’s list. Jon Moxley is the only male AEW star to feature in the men’s list, sitting at the second spot right below Cody Rhodes.
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MJF, Toni Storm, And Swerve Strickland Are Surprising Omissions From P4P Rankings
Being dominated by WWE stars, Ariel’s list has ignored some of All Elite Wrestling’s biggest talents in 2024. MJF is a shocking exclusion, given that he is considered among the best talents of the Jacksonville promotion.
‘Timeless’ Toni Storm, whose character work is highly praised by fans and critics, is another notable name missing from the top ten of the list, knowing she grabbed the top spot of ‘Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s’ recently released best women wrestlers of 2024. The Kiwi star enjoyed a great run as the AEW Women’s Champion until dropping the gold to Mariah May.
Swerve Strickland is one of the top budding talents in All Elite Wrestling. He enjoyed an impressive run of 126 days as the AEW World Champion. Despite having such a promising year, the former NXT North American Champion is among the biggest omissions from Uncrowned Professional Wrestling Pound-For-Pound rankings.
The Surprising Inclusions To The List
Roman Reigns has wrestled in only three matches this year, but he is WWE’s biggest draw. He is oddly placed at the seventh place in rankings, even below Sheamus, who is at number six for some reason. While the Celtic Warrior is an accomplished wrestler and a former World champion, this year has been ordinary for him. Hence, it doesn’t make sense for him to see in the top six ahead of the likes of MJF, Bryan Danielson, and Swerve Strickland.
Similarly, Kevin Owens is another unusual name that is featured in the top ten. The Prize Fighter has squandered world title opportunities against Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns this year, and it has not been a fruitful year.
In the women’s list, Noami is a big surprise and is placed at the number nine position. After returning to WWE earlier this she hasn’t had any significant achievements other than unsuccessfully challenging the WWE Women’s Championship a handful of times.
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Avik Das is an English Literature graduate with an experience of over six years as a professional writer. He has written for renowned publications such as The Sportster, Sportskeeda, Pinkvilla, and The Things