B-b-b-back from the dead!
After a long-ass hiatus, we're back with the one and only column in the world that applies the wonders of math, MS Excel, and a shitload of Yellow Cab pizza to determine in some sort of quantitative totally-in-kayfabe manner who the best wrestlers in the Philippines are.
Our secret weapon: the science of Smarkometrics 2.0, which is our proprietary model to assign some sort of real-world logic to the scripted melodrama of pro wrestling.
You may not agree with the outcomes—hey, wrestling is a totally subjective thing, we get it—but treat this as a helpful conversation-starter when it comes to ranking the swelling roster of the Philippine Wrestling Revolution.
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| Because, really, who else will do it? |
With the country's premier rasslin' promotion heading into its now-annual foray into the AsiaPOP Comicon to crown a new PHX Champion, we figured now is as good a time as any to assess the landscape, and see who's got momentum on their side as we hit the home stretch of 2017.
Caveat: this is just our own personal way of making sense of the made-up world of pro wrestling. If you happen to rank wrestlers your own way, we're completely on board with that too! But in the meantime, humor us a bit as we go on this little journey of ours.
*****
The Science of Smarkometrics 2.0
We want to know who's been performing well this calendar year, so these power rankings consider performances from all 2017 shows:
- PWR Live: Bagong Yugto
- PWR Live: Path of Gold 2017
- PWR Live: Mainit
- PWR Wrevolution X
- PWR Live: Resbak
- PWR #UnFathersDay
- PWR Renaissance 2017
- PWR Live: Bakbakan sa Bayanihan
(Note: Some people may argue that #UnFathersDay was a house show that doesn't count towards canon. But we think that's an unnecessary distinction for a promotion that doesn't even have a TV deal to separate a dark match from a live one.)
Four main criteria go into our assessment of each wrestler, which will then define where they fall in our rankings.
- Panalo Factor. What's the absolute win-loss record of each wrestler? This covers every official match he or she participated in, whether a one-on-one, tag, Triple Threat, or multi-wrestler matches like the Path of Gold. Take note: Pre-show contests don't count towards the numbers.
- Puso Factor. Why reward a wrestler who only fights weak competition? We've taken the composite win-loss records of every opponent each talent has faced, and aggregated them into one number. A number above .437 (the average win-loss record of a PWR wrestler) means a performer has consistently been matched up against above-average competition, while a number below it means below-par competition.
- Pasok Factor. You can't be the best if you don't show up for work. That's why we're counting what percentage of shows each wrestler competed in. Pulling double-duty helps your score, obviously, while taking days off chops down your performance here.
- Puri Factor. Championships count, so we're giving a bit of extra credit for championship wins and successful defenses. We've had 17 title wins or successful defenses throughout 2017—thrice as many championship matches as we've ever had in the past!—so we've divided three whole points by 17, and awarded .176 points for every victory in a championship match.
And with that, let's get into the rankings!
*****
Panalo Factor
Right off the bat, here are the win-loss percentages enjoyed by each PWR wrestler in 2017 so far.
Showtime:
- Newly-dethroned PWR Champion Chris Panzer (PAN) might still be smarting from his loss to Billy Suede (SUE), but he's riding high with a .875 record this year, including his Path of Gold win, and classic wins over the likes of John Sebastian (SEB) and Jake De Leon (JDL).
- The YOLO Twins (YOH & LOG) have been undefeated in their seven tag matches this year—no surprise for the first PWR Tag Team Champions in history. The only blemish on their record is their failed participation in February's Path of Gold tournament, but come on. Nobody's gonna hold that against the kings of the tag division.
- Quietly having a decent year are Ken Warren (WAR), Robynn (ROB), and Fighters 4 Hire (ROS & BAX), whose steady, reliable performances have them cracking the top ten winning percentages in 2017.
Skidmarks
- Former PWR Champion John Sebastian's .400 record is pretty shocking for a Wrestling Lord & Savior, but take note—he owns the dubious distinction of having three of his 2017 matches thrown out as no-contests: two championship defenses against Jake De Leon and Main Maxx (MAX) that got aborted by Apocalypse (APO)-ference and an injury respectively, and his chaotic tag match alongside Peter Versoza (VER) against F4H.
- Jake De Leon might be recognized as the face of PWR, but let's face it: his 2017 has completely sucked. His match against Billy Suede at Wrevolution X may go down as an all-time classic, but that was his only success this year. He's bombed twice in his feud with Ralph Imabayashi (IMA), and failed in his bid to win the PHX Championship from Chino Guinto (GUI). With seven losses on his slate, 2017 is his worst year yet.
- And don't even get us started with SANDATA (SAN). Remember when he was setting the wrong kind of records with his career-opening 0-7 streak? This year hasn't been much kinder, with the Pinoy Tecnico sporting a horrible 1-6 slate thus far—although we do acknowledge that his one win this year was against former PWR Champion Ralph Imabayashi. But really, get it together, goddamn.
Streaks
It's always interesting to consider what kind of streak each PWR competitor is on, if only to get a feel for how hot or cold a wrestler has been throughout 2017. We've compiled everyone's records into a handy-dandy streak counter for all of you hardcore fans out there.
Can we take a moment to give Chris Panzer a slow clap? Up until he lost the PWR Championship to Billy Suede, he was on a PWR record-setting eight-match winning streak dating all the way back to Suplex Sunday last year, and was immaculate throughout most of this year.
The YOLO Twins are just too good, as mentioned previously, but that dominance could get real boring real soon if the competition doesn't step up. As it is, they're on a six-match overall hot streak.
The Punk Dolls Robynn & Martivo (MAR) are also flying under the radar with a three-match winning streak of their own, and could be stepping up once more against the YOLO Twins in a bid to repeat their shocking upset win over them late last year.
JDL and SANDATA are both ice-cold, racking up four straight losses apiece. What will it take to get these men back on track towards PWR's upper tier?
And finally, the real reason the Deadly Sinns broke up can likely be derived here. Mike Madrigal (KUP) and Vlad Sinnsyk (SIN) weren't exactly setting the world on fire as a team.
Puso Factor
But winning doesn't count for much if it's against jabronis and patsies. We respect the hell out of a dude if he consistently lines up against tougher opposition, and we'll excuse him even if he loses.
Here's a glance at the strength of competition each wrestler has faced in 2017. Remember, the percentage indicated represents the aggregate win-loss record of all the opponents who he or she has challenged, win or lose. Anything above .437 is good, which is the average record of a PWR talent.
Showtime:
- The Network (AB3 & IDO) may be bottom of the pack when it comes to win-loss records, but this chart explains why—they've had the toughest field of opponents this year so far, at .663 and .553 respectively! That means on average, they've been up against foes 40% tougher than the typical challenger. This has mostly been skewed by their trifecta of matches against the 7-1 YOLO Twins. So take heart, guys. We believe big things are still in store for you.
- JDL finds some redemption in this chart too. His record sucks, but that's because he's chosen to face off against the toughest does, including the 7-1 Panzer, the 4-2 Chino Guinto, and the 3-2 Suede. The Senyorito takes no days off, and we gotta give him respect for that. Same goes for SANDATA, whose above-average opposition is likely why he's been losing so much.
- McKata (MCK) earns his way to a top-two placing, but that's admittedly some small sample size theater for you; his only appearance on the main card was against the 3-2 Billy Suede.
Skidmarks:
- Here's the interesting dilemma the YOLO Twins have created for themselves. By virtue of being so dominant, they've weakened their own strength of schedule. We see them on the tail end of this chart, mainly because everyone loses when they face the Ollores brothers. Either way, it points to one thing: the tag team scene is in desperate need of some strong new challengers for the reigning kings.
- Chris Panzer is in the same boat, not because he's underperformed, but because the foes he's chosen this year have generally not sported top-shelf records. Some judicious fights against some plus-.500 guys like Chino Guinto or Miguel Rosales would have helped him "hack" his record a little better.
Pasok Factor
Nothing much to see here, folks. We pretty much have all the top stars ringing up near-perfect attendance for the main show of all eight PWR events of 2017. Jake De Leon once again shows why he's the true workhorse of the promotion, having pulled double-duty at Path of Gold to wrestle a total of nine matches this year—the most by any local wrestler.
Key exceptions: Main Maxx and Chino Guinto are obviously out with injuries and won't be wrestling this year.
We do see a bit of a changing of the guard here. Kanto Terror (KT) hasn't been booked much, with a single appearance in the Path of Gold tournament to his name. Bombay Suarez has only wrestled on the main card twice, and we miss him in a big way. Vintendo hasn't been on the main card at all this year, but looks to be rebooting soon.
But take a look at all the new names that have stepped into a PWR ring this year! Zayden Trudeau (TRU), Brad Cruz (CRU), the KakaiBros (KH3 & MH4), Trian Dela Torre (TDT), Billy Suede, Koto Hiro, McKata, and Bolt (BOL) have all made their main card debuts, with tons of other talents waiting in the wings for their official call-up:
- "The Future" Evan Carleaux
- The Revo-Ranger
- GrabCamus
- Officer "Kap" Tutan
- Nina
- Bootcamper Jan
All in all, 2017 could go down as the year of the New Breed. Let's see which of them actually make it to the next level.
Puri Factor
It's been a year of championship dominance for both Chris Panzer and the YOLO Twins, and it shows in the scattering of puri points.
We mentioned above that there have been a total of 17 championship wins or successful championship defenses this year, listed as follows:
Bagong Yugto
- Versoza wins PHX Championship
- Sebastian retains against JDL
- Versoza retains against Main Maxx
- Versoza retains against Apocalypse
- Panzer wins PWR Championship
- Chino wins PHX Championship
- YOLO Twins win Tag Team Championship
- Panzer retains against Sebastian
- YOLO retains against Punk Dolls
- Chino retains against Peter
- Guinto retains against JDL
- YOLO retains against the Network
- Panzer retains against Suede
- Panzer retains against JDL and Imabayashi
- Suede wins PWR Championship
- YOLO retains against the Network
- Apocalypse wins All Out War Championship
As such, here's how we've scattered our points, with a title win or successful defense counting for .176 points each.
Again, one headline becomes pretty obvious: The YOLO Twins and Chris Panzer have been slaying it this year.
Whew.
All good? If so, here's what all of you have been waiting for. Adding everything up, we're finally ready to rank your favorite PWR superstars for 2017 so far. We'll do a proper write-up for the top ten, but here's how the bottom of the roster shaped up.
35. Zayden Trudeau (.458 points)
34. Brad Cruz (.525)
T-32. Kh3Ndrick (.563)
T-32. Mh3rckie (.563)
31. Kanto Terror (.580)
30. Dan Ericson (.661)
29. Bombay Suarez (.719)
28. McKata (.725)
27. Main Maxx (.832)
26. Koto Hiro (1.107)
25. Bolt (1.137)
24. Dax Xaviera (1.399)
23. Rederick Mahaba (1.412)
22. SANDATA (1.471)
21. Trian Dela Torre (1.612)
20. Crystal (1.650)
19. Mike Madrigal (1.656)
18. Ralph Imabayashi (1.689)
17. Jake De Leon (1.730)
16. James "Idol" Martinez (1.803)
15. Alexander Belmonte III (1.824)
14. Joey Bax (1.844)
13. Martivo (1.851)
12. Vlad Sinnsyk (1.868)
11. Ken Warren (1.892)
Busting into the top ten of our power rankings for the very first time is new PWR Champion "Beautiful" Billy Suede. We're pretty sure he'll be soaring way up the standings in no time, but for now, his ranking is hampered by the fact that he's wrestled pretty sporadically in the promotion this year, with just five matches under his belt.
Nevertheless, we're all in with the Beautiful One, and have no problem predicting that this is potentially going to be the Decade of Suede.
Whoa there. We honestly didn't see this coming up until we did the final tally, but the more we think about it, the more we like it. Not only has the Punk Rock Maiden been putting on a pretty solid run with her Punk Dolls tag team, she made history as well by defeating Crystal in PWR's first woman-vs.-woman match.
The sky's the limit for the rock-out rebel.
Surly, sinister, and devoted to destruction, All Out War Champion The Apocalypse has tons left to prove in PWR. After decimating his archnemesis Trian Dela Torre once and for all, it's time for him to set his sights on a bigger goal: destroying the very infrastructure that Philippine wrestling is built on.
Here's another pleasant surprise this high in the rankings. We've gone on record as saying the "Ruthless" half of Fighters 4 Hire is PWR's best-kept secret, but with this #7 spot, we're quite sure he won't be a secret much longer. What sets him apart from Joey Bax? His courageous forays into the singles space, where he owns a disqualification win against former PHX Champion Peter Versoza.
Calling it now: Some time in the next 12 months, Rosales is going to be challenging for singles gold.
He may not be PWR Champion any longer, but he's still a top-tier athlete in the Philippine Wrestling Revolution, and still our Wrestling Lord & Savior. John Sebastian is absolutely nutso lately with a slew of no-contests dotting his 2017 record, but there's no denying the skill it took to defeat both Jake De Leon and The Apolcalypse in a Triple Threat match to defend his PWR Championship earlier this year.
Don't sleep on Sebastian. He'll be back in the main event again for sure.
It still sucks knowing that we won't be seeing the injured Golden Boy back in action until early 2018 at the earliest, but up until his unfortunate ACL & MCL tears, he was breaking the glass ceiling in becoming the Network's first member to strike gold in the company.
It was heartbreaking to see Guinto surrender the PHX Championship at the last PWR show, but one thing's for sure: when he comes back, he'll be showing the world why he's perhaps the most #BLESSED performer in the company.
We're happy to eat our words, and for all the shit we've thrown Peter Versoza's way, he's actually had a pretty damn decent 2017. Defeating Main Maxx for the PHX Championship was no small feat, and he even actually pulled off a successful defense against The Apocalypse to cement his claim to the white-and-gold belt.
Perhaps his return to teaming with John Sebastian will reignite the fire in his belly.
It's good to be Chris Panzer, PWR Champion or not. His eight-match winning streak isn't likely to be matched by anyone else soon (except maybe the two gentlemen ahead of him in these rankings), and the quality of competitors he defeated during his race to the top of local pro wrestling was an absolute all-star lineup of past champions, top contenders, and legit superstars.
For the last time, this man is no choke artist. When you look at PWR, there should be one man on everyone's minds: the Detroit-bred leader of his own army of adoring fans, "The Man" Chris Panzer.
Come on, you knew this was happening.
The YOLO Twins have been absolutely unstoppable throughout 2017, completely dominating the PWR tag scene as its first champions, and showing off an ever-improving range of offense, charisma, chemistry, and skill in proving they're no flash-in-the-pan duo. The scary part? We don't think they've even peaked yet. Yohann and Logan Ollores are still very much a work in progress, and should be in for a long reign as the company's top tag team.
This calls for a celebration. You're all invited to go fucking mental on the motherfuckin' drop!
Here's a summary of points that went into the rankings. It's pretty clear the YOLO Twins and Chris Panzer were in a class all their own, while Versoza and Guinto had an evenly-matched tug-of-war as to who would rule the PHX Division. But beyond that, there's a huge middle class in PWR, with less than a point separating the #6 and #26 spots. One more win here, one less loss there, and the rankings would be thrown into absolute chaos.
And that's really the strength of PWR—its incredibly deep bench of fantastic combatants that can make a legit claim to being the best overall stable in the country today. So take no shame in being out of the top ten, guys. In the wild and crazy world of fake-fighting, things can switch up at the drop of a hat.
All told, we've seen 35 talents step into the ring for a main show match in 2017, with seven other talents who have made initial appearances on the pre-show. That's more wrestlers than both the Manila Wrestling Federation and Art of War Wrestling combined!
Now that's some quality pro-wrestling.
To nobody's surprise, Billy Suede is the absolute class of the field in the Warriors quadrant. He may not have wrestled often, but when he did, it was against the cream of the PWR crop. The Fighters 4 Hire's pug-nosed reputation as two of the toughest men in PWR today places them in the same arena, while Robynn and Ken Warren sneak in by virtue of their under-the-radar-but-still-impressive performances throughout the year.
The YOLO Twins need to find some better competition, or they'll be stuck in the Big Fish in Small Ponds quadrant for the rest of their careers. Given how dominant they are, there aren't many other tag teams that can put them on their heels. Chino Guinto's abbreviated reign as PHX Champion tells a similar story; he may have had some courageous battles against the likes of Ralph Imabayashi and Jake De Leon, but the two men collectively own just three wins this year.
The bulk of the roster falls into the Fighting Spirit Award cluster, putting up a good fight against consistently-strong opposition. Someone needs to go on a hot streak to break away from the pack and edge into the Warriors quadrant. Smart money says The Apocalypse and John Sebastian should be elevating themselves soon, while Vlad Sinnsyk's promising return to singles competition could make him a sleeper pick to hit the next tier.
And finally, wow, we see a bunch of rookies in the Underachievers quadrant. It's still too early to count any of them out for long, but the pressure is now on them to either start delivering, or step up their game to some better competition.
It's no small claim to say that 2017 has been the absolute best year for Philippine pro wrestling in history, and with still five more months to go, the Philippine Wrestling Revolution should have no problem leading the way.
What do you think of our PWR Power Rankings, Revo-Nation? Think that Billy Suede is ranked too low, or that Robynn and Miguel Rosales are placed too high? Let's have a conversation on it, and we'll see you at the AsiaPOP Comicon on August 25-27, where we're pretty sure someone is going to go on a hot streak and turn these rankings upside-down!
The 2017 AsiaPOP Comicon Manila is happening on August 25-27 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Tickets start at P600 for a one-day pass, and can be purchased exclusively through SM Tickets.
Photography courtesy of "Heartwarming" Hub Pacheco and "Mrs. Ruthless" Jacky Rosales.
Again, one headline becomes pretty obvious: The YOLO Twins and Chris Panzer have been slaying it this year.
Rankings
Whew.
All good? If so, here's what all of you have been waiting for. Adding everything up, we're finally ready to rank your favorite PWR superstars for 2017 so far. We'll do a proper write-up for the top ten, but here's how the bottom of the roster shaped up.
The Bottom-Feeders
35. Zayden Trudeau (.458 points)
34. Brad Cruz (.525)
T-32. Kh3Ndrick (.563)
T-32. Mh3rckie (.563)
31. Kanto Terror (.580)
30. Dan Ericson (.661)
29. Bombay Suarez (.719)
28. McKata (.725)
27. Main Maxx (.832)
26. Koto Hiro (1.107)
25. Bolt (1.137)
24. Dax Xaviera (1.399)
23. Rederick Mahaba (1.412)
22. SANDATA (1.471)
21. Trian Dela Torre (1.612)
The Middle Class
20. Crystal (1.650)
19. Mike Madrigal (1.656)
18. Ralph Imabayashi (1.689)
17. Jake De Leon (1.730)
16. James "Idol" Martinez (1.803)
15. Alexander Belmonte III (1.824)
14. Joey Bax (1.844)
13. Martivo (1.851)
12. Vlad Sinnsyk (1.868)
11. Ken Warren (1.892)
The Top 10
10. Billy Suede (1.901)
Busting into the top ten of our power rankings for the very first time is new PWR Champion "Beautiful" Billy Suede. We're pretty sure he'll be soaring way up the standings in no time, but for now, his ranking is hampered by the fact that he's wrestled pretty sporadically in the promotion this year, with just five matches under his belt.
Nevertheless, we're all in with the Beautiful One, and have no problem predicting that this is potentially going to be the Decade of Suede.
9. Robynn (1.982)
Whoa there. We honestly didn't see this coming up until we did the final tally, but the more we think about it, the more we like it. Not only has the Punk Rock Maiden been putting on a pretty solid run with her Punk Dolls tag team, she made history as well by defeating Crystal in PWR's first woman-vs.-woman match.
The sky's the limit for the rock-out rebel.
8. The Apocalypse (2.003)
Surly, sinister, and devoted to destruction, All Out War Champion The Apocalypse has tons left to prove in PWR. After decimating his archnemesis Trian Dela Torre once and for all, it's time for him to set his sights on a bigger goal: destroying the very infrastructure that Philippine wrestling is built on.
7. Miguel Rosales (2.037)
Here's another pleasant surprise this high in the rankings. We've gone on record as saying the "Ruthless" half of Fighters 4 Hire is PWR's best-kept secret, but with this #7 spot, we're quite sure he won't be a secret much longer. What sets him apart from Joey Bax? His courageous forays into the singles space, where he owns a disqualification win against former PHX Champion Peter Versoza.
Calling it now: Some time in the next 12 months, Rosales is going to be challenging for singles gold.
6. John Sebastian (2.039)
He may not be PWR Champion any longer, but he's still a top-tier athlete in the Philippine Wrestling Revolution, and still our Wrestling Lord & Savior. John Sebastian is absolutely nutso lately with a slew of no-contests dotting his 2017 record, but there's no denying the skill it took to defeat both Jake De Leon and The Apolcalypse in a Triple Threat match to defend his PWR Championship earlier this year.
Don't sleep on Sebastian. He'll be back in the main event again for sure.
5. "The Golden Boy" Chino Guinto (2.380)
It still sucks knowing that we won't be seeing the injured Golden Boy back in action until early 2018 at the earliest, but up until his unfortunate ACL & MCL tears, he was breaking the glass ceiling in becoming the Network's first member to strike gold in the company.
It was heartbreaking to see Guinto surrender the PHX Championship at the last PWR show, but one thing's for sure: when he comes back, he'll be showing the world why he's perhaps the most #BLESSED performer in the company.
4. Peter Versoza (2.387)
We're happy to eat our words, and for all the shit we've thrown Peter Versoza's way, he's actually had a pretty damn decent 2017. Defeating Main Maxx for the PHX Championship was no small feat, and he even actually pulled off a successful defense against The Apocalypse to cement his claim to the white-and-gold belt.
Perhaps his return to teaming with John Sebastian will reignite the fire in his belly.
3. Chris Panzer (2.985)
It's good to be Chris Panzer, PWR Champion or not. His eight-match winning streak isn't likely to be matched by anyone else soon (except maybe the two gentlemen ahead of him in these rankings), and the quality of competitors he defeated during his race to the top of local pro wrestling was an absolute all-star lineup of past champions, top contenders, and legit superstars.
For the last time, this man is no choke artist. When you look at PWR, there should be one man on everyone's minds: the Detroit-bred leader of his own army of adoring fans, "The Man" Chris Panzer.
T-1. The YOLO Twins (Yohann & Logan Ollores, 2.991)
Come on, you knew this was happening.
The YOLO Twins have been absolutely unstoppable throughout 2017, completely dominating the PWR tag scene as its first champions, and showing off an ever-improving range of offense, charisma, chemistry, and skill in proving they're no flash-in-the-pan duo. The scary part? We don't think they've even peaked yet. Yohann and Logan Ollores are still very much a work in progress, and should be in for a long reign as the company's top tag team.
This calls for a celebration. You're all invited to go fucking mental on the motherfuckin' drop!
*****
Here's a summary of points that went into the rankings. It's pretty clear the YOLO Twins and Chris Panzer were in a class all their own, while Versoza and Guinto had an evenly-matched tug-of-war as to who would rule the PHX Division. But beyond that, there's a huge middle class in PWR, with less than a point separating the #6 and #26 spots. One more win here, one less loss there, and the rankings would be thrown into absolute chaos.
And that's really the strength of PWR—its incredibly deep bench of fantastic combatants that can make a legit claim to being the best overall stable in the country today. So take no shame in being out of the top ten, guys. In the wild and crazy world of fake-fighting, things can switch up at the drop of a hat.
All told, we've seen 35 talents step into the ring for a main show match in 2017, with seven other talents who have made initial appearances on the pre-show. That's more wrestlers than both the Manila Wrestling Federation and Art of War Wrestling combined!
Now that's some quality pro-wrestling.
Competitive Map
Before we close, let's take one last look at a map defining the four kinds of competitors found in PWR.
- Warriors: Winning record against elite competition.
- Big Fish In Small Ponds: Winning records earned by fighting mostly jabronis.
- Fighting Spirit Award: Losing records, but against generally strong competition.
- Underachievers: Losing records against soft competition—chokers, if you will.
To nobody's surprise, Billy Suede is the absolute class of the field in the Warriors quadrant. He may not have wrestled often, but when he did, it was against the cream of the PWR crop. The Fighters 4 Hire's pug-nosed reputation as two of the toughest men in PWR today places them in the same arena, while Robynn and Ken Warren sneak in by virtue of their under-the-radar-but-still-impressive performances throughout the year.
The YOLO Twins need to find some better competition, or they'll be stuck in the Big Fish in Small Ponds quadrant for the rest of their careers. Given how dominant they are, there aren't many other tag teams that can put them on their heels. Chino Guinto's abbreviated reign as PHX Champion tells a similar story; he may have had some courageous battles against the likes of Ralph Imabayashi and Jake De Leon, but the two men collectively own just three wins this year.
The bulk of the roster falls into the Fighting Spirit Award cluster, putting up a good fight against consistently-strong opposition. Someone needs to go on a hot streak to break away from the pack and edge into the Warriors quadrant. Smart money says The Apocalypse and John Sebastian should be elevating themselves soon, while Vlad Sinnsyk's promising return to singles competition could make him a sleeper pick to hit the next tier.
And finally, wow, we see a bunch of rookies in the Underachievers quadrant. It's still too early to count any of them out for long, but the pressure is now on them to either start delivering, or step up their game to some better competition.
Conclusion
It's no small claim to say that 2017 has been the absolute best year for Philippine pro wrestling in history, and with still five more months to go, the Philippine Wrestling Revolution should have no problem leading the way.
What do you think of our PWR Power Rankings, Revo-Nation? Think that Billy Suede is ranked too low, or that Robynn and Miguel Rosales are placed too high? Let's have a conversation on it, and we'll see you at the AsiaPOP Comicon on August 25-27, where we're pretty sure someone is going to go on a hot streak and turn these rankings upside-down!
*****
The 2017 AsiaPOP Comicon Manila is happening on August 25-27 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Tickets start at P600 for a one-day pass, and can be purchased exclusively through SM Tickets.
Photography courtesy of "Heartwarming" Hub Pacheco and "Mrs. Ruthless" Jacky Rosales.
