Indy Power Rankings for the Week of October 27th, 2014
1. Jake Crist-1/2 of OI4K becomes one of the first people to have been #1 in the Tag Team Top 5 and #1 in singles (others include Michael Elgin and JT Dunn). It was an amazing week for ½ of one of the best tag teams in the world as he beat Aaron Williams on 10/22 at Rockstar Pro to advance to the Semi-Finals of the 2014 Cicero Cup. He then teamed with brother, Dave, to defeat Alex Colon & Kyle Kraven at Rockstar Pro on 10/25 and then followed that up by beating Matt Taylor to advance to the finals of the tournament where he beat Dustin Rayz. He was head and shoulders above the rest this week and is undoubtedly a VERY worthy recipient of this week's #1 ranking as he nearly swept all the official voters' ballots at #1. #4 in the online poll.
2. Kongo Kong/Osyris (@RealKongoKong)-What's in a name? Clearly, when it comes to "The Monsta" the answer to that question is: nothing. He has been tearing a path of destruction through the Midwest (and even Canada) in 2014 and after beating Dale Patricks at IWA Mid-South to retain the IWA Mid-South World Title on 10/23, he put that very title on the line as Osyris at PWK vs. Lightning Bolt Johnson on 10/25, where he once again emerged victorious. Is he unstoppable? We certainly can't answer that question, but what we do know is that he loses (especially in singles) on very rare occasions. This ranking once again pushes him closer to that #1 spot in the IPR 100 with just over 2 months left in the year! #5 in the online poll.
3. Jay Briscoe (@jaybriscoe84)-Hard to keep the ROH World Champion out of a top spot this week after 2 victories at the ROH TV Tapings on 10/25 in Florida. He and Mark Briscoe defeated The Kingdom of Michael Bennett & Matt Taven and then he followed that up with a singles win vs. QT Marshall.Yes, he does miss out on the #1 ranking again this week but with big title defenses on the horizon, it's unlikely that will be the case for very long. He has really started to get some momentum going as we march towards the end of 2014. Can he hang onto the ROH World Title and get ranked #1 for the first time in 2014?
4. Lee Byford (@ByfordSmash)-"Byford Smash" did exactly that this past week as he defeated two of the strongest competitors anywhere in wrestling as he scored a victory over Michael Elgin & Shane Mercer at IWA Mid-South on 10/23. It was arguably one of the biggest single victories of the weekend and the voters obviously agreed with that statement this week as that one win was enough to shoot him all the way up the Top 10 with his very first ranking. He has been a dominant force as of late, but a few nagging injuries and scattered bookings have held him back from his first ever Top 10 Ranking. That is no longer the case as the Tennessee big man has now made his mark. Tied for #8 in the online poll.
5. Icarus (@IcarusWRW)-The CHIKARA Grand Champion returns to the Top 10 this week after 2 big victories over the weekend in North Carolina for CHIKARA. First he teamed with fellow champions The Throwbacks and Eddie Kingston to defeat The Flood on 10/25 and then he followed that victory up with a big win vs. Jimmy Jacobs (ranked #7 last week) on 10/26 to retain the title. Solid week for the wrestler who holds one of the most important titles in North America, but where was the fan support this week? Not a lot of love in the fan vote from the CHIKARA faithful…or actually, no love at all as he got no votes in the online poll.
6. John Wayne Murdoch (@johnmurdoch25)-"The Duke of Death Match Wrestling" and the man who truly believes he is going to be the one to conquer Kongo Kong and take the IWA Mid-South World Title on 11/4 is back in the rankings for a 3rd straight week. This week he gets in with a couple of victories on 10/26 after going to a No Contest in a tag team match vs. Mickie Knuckles & Tripp Cassidy on 10/23 at IWA Mid-South. Murdoch has been absolutely killing it the last few weeks, doing everything in his power to not only get noticed, but to put everyone on notice that the EPW Openweight Champion will soon be a Double Champion. Tied for #8 in the online poll.
7. Karsten Beck (@thebeckstasy)–After winning the wXw/CZW/BJW Triangle League few weeks ago, Karsten Beck has been impossible to beat. He has been ranked #4 the last 2 weeks and then #1 the week before that. This is his 4th straight ranking and it comes after yet another victory at wXw…this time vs. The Rotation on 10/24. While it perhaps wasn't the strongest strength of competition, his overall record over the last few weeks was enough to help him slip into the Top 10 again. If he wants to stick around, he's going to have to get back to picking up multiple wins on a weekly basis, but for now, he's well-deserving of yet another ranking.
8. Tyler Bate (@Tyler_Bate)-Hard to argue with the inclusion of this top flight UK wrestler. Much like Icarus, the fans didn't show up to vote for him, but it was hard for the official voters to ignore what he did over the weekend as he won a 4 Way in the British Lions 2014 Tournament Qualifier, then beat Pete Dunne in the Finals. Add to that his victory with Dan Moloney on 10/26 vs. The Hunter Brothers (who have been previously ranked in the Tag Team Top 5) to retain the Kamikaze Pro Tag Team Titles, and you had a complete weekend for a guy who has no doubt been overlooked previously this year. Here's hoping this is just the momentum he needs to start picking up further rankings this year.
9. LuFisto (@LuFisto)-As with Tyler Bate and Icarus, the fans didn't show up to support LuFisto on the online poll, but she has absolutely been the model of consistency the last few months as the WSU Champion. This week she sneaks into the Top 10 with a successful title defense at NCW Femmes Fatales vs. Mia Yim on 10/25, proving just how much of a fighting champion she really is to defend her title outside of its promotion. While she hasn't gotten any very high rankings this year, she has certainly been ranked on more than one occasion, which just adds to her potential ranking in the IPR 100.
10. Will Ospreay (@WillOspreay)-As he claims, he does flips and makes you lose your mind. Well, this week he improved on a solid month by winning the SWE Speed King Title by defeating (former Champion) Kay Lee Ray, Rich Swann, El Ligero, Robbie X, and Curry Man on 10/25, which was possibly enough for a ranking on its own merit, but his follow up victory vs. Rich Swann on 10/26 at IPW: UK just sealed the deal for this talented UK superstar making him the 3rd European wrestler in the Top 10 this week.
1st Honorable Mention. Mickie Knuckles (@MickieLKnuckles)-She came dangerously close to making the Top 10 yet again after her tag team No Contest vs. John Wayne Murdoch & Reed Bentley on 10/23 and her win vs. Crazy Mary Dobson on 10/25 at Resistance Pro.
2nd Honorable Mention. Robbie X (@RobBell1995)-His loss to Will Ospreay on 10/25 was likely the only thing that kept him out of the Top 10 as he won the SWE Rumble, then won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Kamikaze Pro and then beat Hardcore Holly for the Kamikaze Pro Relentless Division Title. Pretty impressive weekend.
People's Champ. Mitch Johnson (@JohnsonEra)-The D1W Champion had an all-day war with Flyin Ryan McQueen in the online voting competition, but in the end, after 149 votes, he came out on top. Add to his win vs. Lennox Norris on 10/25 and you have a fantastic few days for the champ.
Others missing out/receiving votes:
Rampage Brown
Eddie Kingston
Courtney Rush
Joel Redman
Jocephus
Kacee Carlisle
Chris Masters
Tucker
Barbi Hayden
Houston Carson
Flyin’ Ryan McQueen-#2 in the online poll with 120 votes
Tanahashi
Matt Cross
Drew Galloway
AJ Styles-Tied for #9 in the online poll
Chris Hero
Adam Cole
Jay Lethal
Zack Sabre Jr.
Chris Silvio
Tyler Bateman
B-Boy
Cash Flo
Chris Sabin
AJ Smooth
Scotty Vegas
Okada
Bret Havoc-#3 in the online poll with 35 votes
Hardcore Holly
Zizou Maddox
Donovan Dijak
Johnny Miyagi
Gangrel
JT Dunn
Carter Mason-#6 in the online poll
Kameron Kade-#7 in the online poll
Jack Thriller-Tied for #9 in the online poll
GT Vega-Tied for #9 in the online poll
Our Website (where YOU can participate in the weekly online poll voting): http://indypowerrankingsipr.wordpress.com/
Our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/IndyPowerRankings
Also search "Indy Power Rankings" for our open Facebook group where anyone on the indies can promote their various merchandise, fan pages, and upcoming events
Our Twitter: @IndyPowerRankin
Our Instagram: @IndyPowerRankings
You can listen to the IPR Live here (this week's guests are Leva Bates & Tessa Blanchard): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weeklywrestlingpodcast
Check out the Indy Power Rankings Reveal on Filling the Void with special guest, Remi Wilkins: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fillingthevoidrn/2014/10/28/indy-power-rankings-weekly-reveal
Give Strong Style Wrestling (@StrongStyleWres) and The Hooligans (@BeardedBullys) a follow on Twitter and help them get to 2,000 followers!
