Interestingly, there is only one wrestler who appears in all three lists of 2011, 2012, and now 2013. I’ll let you know who when we get there, but I doubt the answer will surprise you.

1) Antonio Cesaro

Just missed out in making my 2012 cut but got an honourable mention, Cesaro has been working his socks off since arriving on our screens. He’s not great on the mic so his partnership with Swagger and Zeb Colter has been perfect in letting him shine in the ring instead. Oh and how he shined!

Everyone is going to point to The Cesaro Swing as the big move of the year, but don’t forget he already destoryed Miz against the barricades back in February when he was still a singles competitor. That’s the thing, he keeps inovating. Every couple months Cesaro will do something new, like the leapfrog over Swagger to stomp on the chests of his opponents on the ground.

There are no “5 Moves of Doom” to be found here. More like 500.

Also, check out this Swing from the indie circuit in 2009 when he actually swings his opponent a full 100 times. Bonus points for spotting the clean shaven D-Bry counting along.

2) Daniel Bryan

A common theme on these lists over the years has been me talking about how under-utilised Daniel Bryan is. We can’t really say that this year, can we? Pretty much everything worth watching in WWE went through him and he main-evented multiple Pay-Per-Views this winter.

We, as fans, tend to forget sometimes that despite D-Bry not having the title around his waist, he’s still doing well. We all want to see him as the champ because we like him but he is in prime-position in the company and for the wrestlers that’s the important part.

Hopefully next year will be just as good for the goat. He hasn’t gotten an injury yet and long may his luck continue. For a little highlight, let us all remember the moment when Daniel Bryan pinned John Cena clean in the middle of the ring for the WWE title. Pinned. John Cena. Clean.

And, yeah, Bryan is totally the only guy in the FF all three years.

3) The Shield

The Shield have had a hell of a year. They’ve been central to almost everything. All the big story lines have included them at some point or another. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the random interveners or hired enforcers.

I was tempted to just list Roman Reigns on his own as he has been the clear stand-out in the group but I felt it would be unfair to the group as a whole who have helped him create that little spotlight on him.

But because he is so damned beautiful…

4) Big-E Langston

BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E BIG-E… I kinda just want to write that for a couple paragraphs but I guess I should write something.

Anyone who follows Big-E online knows he’s a very warm, funny, and charming guy. It helps knowing this because his mic-work needs improving (or, more realistically, he needs a gimmick that doesn’t require him to be the tough serious guy). Everyone seems to like him and that doesn’t hurt when added to his already impressive physique.

He’s the current Intercontinental champion and they’ve partnered him up, in true WWE form, with the other big scary black guy because… sure! But despite him punching AJ in the boob earlier this year, next year should see Big-E hit even bigger heights.

5) AJ

She’s been almost single-handedly holding the Diva’s division together. Her and Kaityln had a great feud earlier in the year, then she ran the gamut of Total Divas. She barely got the same amount of air-time as most mid-card guys but she still managed to make one of the stand-out moments of the year with her pipe-bomb in August.

Long may the reign of Queen AJ continue. The WWE would be a lot worse off without her.

AND COMPETING FOR A PLACE…

I feel a little silly not mentioning some of the other great workers in the game right now. Here are some guys who just missed out of my Fave Five.

Cm Punk: I know it’s kinda ridiculous not to have him on the list, apart from D-Bry up there he has been on all previous ones. But his time off with injury and general relegation to the upper-mid card has hurt him in my eyes. Also, I really wasn’t a fan of the long drawn-out feud with Paul Heyman. REALLY.

Cody Rhodes: Cody continuously just misses out on the list, the poor little guy. It must keep him up at night. He’s got the looks, the talent, and the momentum. Hopefully 2014 is his break-out year.

Goldust: It is 2013 and Goldust is on a list of current great wrestlers within the WWE. Let that soak in. Amazing.

Dolph Ziggler: Remember when Dolph cashed in his briefcase and everyone lost their shit? Remember? It was only a couple months ago. Honest. No, really, it was. Sigh.

Welcome to the first in what will surely be semi-regular opinion articles about WWE wrestling. I’ve been a long time fan (since I was about 6 years old) but lost interest in the late 00s due to some terrible product management on behalf of the WWE. But now, much like many other wrestling fans of my generation, I’ve come back with a renewed interest and enthusiasm thanks to the high-profile exploits of a Mr. CM Punk.

The positives (and negatives) of CM Punk will be delved into on another occasion but for now I’d like to talk about something that has been on my mind lately and that’s intro music. Some work, some don’t and the ones that don’t can really kill the atmosphere.

The idea of intro music isn’t a new one but for some reason there has been a big emphasis placed on them in the last decade or so now that WWE have been releasing the songs for download. You’ll see the little symbol pop-up in the bottom left corner of your screen when the wrestlers walk out to the ring. Buy, buy, buy! But the thing is, they shouldn’t be just songs to be played in the background. They should be battle cries. They’re not just to anounce the arrival of the athlete but to make the crowd pop with the knowledge that s*** is about to get real.

For example, WWE are pushing Randy Orton really hard right now. And for some inexplicable reason, the crowd is going nuts for him. I don’t know how he gets away with having only 5 moves and John Cena gets crucified for it, but I guess that’s another day’s rant. When Orton walks out to the ring, what does he walk out to? The most emo whiney thing I’ve ever heard.

The guy is apparently “the apex predator” but with this song the only thing he’s a predator for is 16 year old girls. I wouldn’t trust Orton around any teenage girls by the way, with or without this song in existence. That may be off topic, but I’m just saying, we’ve all thought it.

I could go on about why certain songs are bad and can often have the impact of a wet sock on the crowd but I’d rather focus on the great ones. The ones that pump up the crowd. Get people excited. Puts everyone in the mood for some butt whipping.

While Christian currently has an insufferable song to walk out to right now, there was a time when his intro music made me smile from ear to ear.

When Christian turned heel against his long time tag partner Edge in 2001 this was his intro music and it did everything it needed to do. Make a ridiculous anouncement, and then let the guy walk to the ring to a headbanging guitar riff. This is a motif that wrestling intros did for a long time and did WELL. For example…

Bret Hart was a man who did his talking in the ring and suitably his intro had no words also. But that guitar wail at the start is instantly recognisable to any wrestling fan of that era and still to this day makes me want to stand up and cheer.

Nobody is really listening after the first 10 seconds or so because the crowd is supposed to be drowning out the music with their cheers/boos and the commentary team should be telling us that business just picked up so to have a bunch of lyrics seems redundant.

To emphasis the “nobody really listens after the wrestlers come out” point…

D-Generation X was the WWE’s answer to the NWO and was captivating television. Their entrance on the words “break it down” was theatrical. The 25 second build up was just gravy. It was teasing the crowd. Getting them ready. And it worked like a charm. It was hard not to mark out for the faux Rage Against The Machine theme.

I’m telling you folks, they don’t make them like this anymore…

If you’re not looking for the nearest rope to rattle and pushing imaginary things over your head, you’re either born after 1990 or dead inside. FACT.

These days, it’s hard to get a big pop from the crowd when wrestlers come out to the ring. I don’t know if it’s ennui, cynicism or just a general lack of connection with them. Either way, I’m sure getting rid of the crappy emo rock that’s accompanying them wouldn’t hurt.