Ranked Out: FWC Top 20

Let's talk about rankings for a second. First of all, no matter how unbiased or holistic you try to make them, they always wind up being a clusterfuck. And not to disparage WWR from doing their top 50, but I can't take any rankings seriously who equate wins in leagues like this one to leagues wins in leagues like this one. Plus, why should wins even factor into fantasy wrestling rankings? I mean, you don't really believe RP is the basis for wins...do you? Shouldn't position on the lineup matter more? Wouldn't that be a better indicator of who's been bringing their A game and who hasn't?

Rankings, in my opinion, should be based on a combination of titles, involvement in important league storyline, and quality of RP/character development. Bobby McDungshit could run his same tired gimmick for 5 years in 5 different leagues and win every title, but if he doesn't evolve during that period or stay involved in meaningful storylines, then I say Bobby McDungshit shouldn't even break the top 10. Ok, maybe top 10, but he can't be number one.

Back in the day on Prodigy Classic, we used to have these Unified rankings. Basically, anybody who made the top 20 (or was it top 50?) was eligible for a shot at the Prodigy Unified Title. I'm pretty sure member leagues had a vote in the rankings as well. Another good aspect of the rankings: they weren't updated every fucking week. You had an established list of contenders for a quarterly period, and that was that. So characters from more active leagues didn't have a distinct advantage over ones from less active leagues. Of course, as lists go, it was never perfect, but it did have that overtly subjective quality that is missing from real-sport rankings such as MMA and Boxing. I mean, what's wrong with setting up rankings based on the whims of your own preference? I kind of like it that way; straightforward.

So, just for the fuck of it, I've decided to establish my own FWrestling.com (FWC for the lay person) Top 20 rankings. They'll be posted every month or two, or whenever I fucking feel like. They shall also be based on a very scientific method: the 20 guys who I think are best. Simple, huh?

Well, let me clarify a bit more. My rankings are based on a combination of things:

-Character development
-Quality of roleplay
-Involvement with and importance to league storyline
-Recent accomplishments (titles, tournament wins, etc).

Most important among these are character development, RP quality, and storyline involvement. The quality of those storylines is important too; I'm not ranking somebody high just because they're involved in some huge clusterfuck of an angle. Wrestlers who are on leave, hiatus, or are not members in any currently active FWC feds will NOT be eligible for ranking until they return; and no, TEAM participation doesn't make you active (although it does count towards your ranking, should you be active). Another factor: not all leagues are treated equally. A World Title victory in WFW: NE or LVW is not the same as winning the EPW or NFW World belts. Look, essentially, I like all the leagues on FWC. We're a pool of mostly the same RPers, and I think all the leagues are pretty good. That said, there's a difference between carrying a title with a 10 year lineage, and winning one in a league that just opened/reopened last month. Naturally, the rankings will reflect this and will thus be comprised mostly of EPW/NFW roster members. However, as WFW: NE begins to pick up and other leagues establish some momentum as well, this will change. I don't look at characters as individual entities with Win/Loss records, but as components of a larger entity, and how they fit into that entity plays a big role in these rankings.

Do I think these rankings are important? Hell yeah, I made them! As far as I'm concerned, they're the motherfucking bible. Realistically though, they only carry the importance you assign to them. If you guys wanna make a big deal about them, be my guest. If not, that's cool too. I'm making them for fun, for debate, and so I have a reason to update this blog at least once a month when there's nothing else to write about.

Your input would be awesome, too. If you want me to add new criteria, I'll add it if it's a good idea. If enough people suggest I should move one guy ahead of another, I'll do it. Eventually, I'd like these rankings to become more of a community thing than just me rambling. But again, that's on you. So, without further ado, here they are...

Money Shot TOP 20 FWC (11/03/09)

"Golden Five"
1. Joe The Plumber (NFW)
2. 'Triple X' Sean Stevens (EPW)
3. Felix Red (NFW/WFW: NE)
4. The First (EPW)
5. Impulse (NFW)
"Top 10"
6. Shawn Hart (EPW/WFW: NE)
7. High Flyer (NFW)
8. Anarky (EPW)
9. Steve Knox (NFW)
10. Marcus Wescott (EPW)
"Fuck the rest of you guys"
11. Fusenshoff (EPW)
12. Cameron Cruise (EPW, NFW, WFW: NE)
13. Rook Black (NFW)
14. Dorchester Stratton (NFW)
15. Doc Curiosity (NFW)
16. Rocko Daymon (EPW)
17. Teresa Quaranta (NFW)
18. Brock Alyas (NFW)
19. Stalker (EPW)
20. Vic "The Bull" Tarano (NFW)

Notes: Hiatus wrestlers who surely would have made it had they been active include Nova, Dan Ryan, Ice Tre, and Lindsay Troy. Remember, this is based on active singles participation in at least one FWC league, and rankings are not solely determined by any one factor. In the Golden Five, the top two were easy, although I gave the nod to JTP because he's involved in a bigger storyline than is Stevens, although we could be living in a different world post-Crash 50.

-The next four slots were the toughest to figure out as each man is evenly matched. Felix gets the three spot due to major storyline involvement in all three major FWC leagues (although the match with The First at EPW's PPV was a one-shot deal), not to mention holding the WFW World Title and being slotted into the highly prized main event at Crash 50. What puts the First over the rest is that he's the number one contender for the EPW World Title, and is now involved in a big main event storyline (which also had a trickle down effect on Shawn Hart and Anarky who are also involved). Impulse has the NFW TV title, which I do consider to be the second most valuable title in the league, and his feud with my own Castor Strife combined with his Top 4 showing in TEAM was enough to put him over Shawn Hart. The First gets put over both of them because he's involved in the biggest storyline of the three (including a burgeoning feud with Stevens which has been building up for most of the year), while one could make the argument that being the definitive EPW number one contender is slightly a step ahead of the NFW Television Title. By definitive I mean, he is clearly being built up for a shot at a big card, as opposed to just getting one on a regular show. As for character development, Impulse is almost second to none, and I say this because The First is right there with him. While Impulse took off his mask and brought Rosie into his current storyline, The First has also developed his character and added Muse as his escort; so far, it's paying off, because she's an excellent character. Shawn Hart is on the outside looking in, but being the NEW ERA World Champion, the EPW IC Champion, plus his involvement in the HOPE storyline keeps him only a small step away from the top 5, and keeps him sitting firmly above the rest of the top 10.

-From 7-10 was tough, but at the end of the day I'm really liking High Flyer from an RP/Development perspective, plus he's staying involved in NFW storyline. His stock is clearly rising, Anarky's too (again, he benefits from being both one of my favorite characters and his involvement in HOPE). Steve Knox is really being pushed in NFW, and his slot in the Crash 50 main event keeps him high in the rankings, although what he does after Crash 50 will be his true test. That brings us to Marcus Westcott, who is an unfortunate victim of being at the conclusion of a main event push, while simultaneously being involved in an angle that involved two other characters (Ice Tre and Craig Miles) who went on hiatus. Jarrett's changing of Westcott from Beast took balls, and his RP was at it's A Game for the EPW PPV, coming very very close to upsetting Stevens for the big one. Since both storylines are finished, without a belt Marcus had no choice but to slide in the rankings. However, he could easily get back up there depending on what he does after Russian Roulette.

-Cameron Cruise would have been much higher, but Anthology's stock is starting to decline and as a result, so is his. He just lost his EPW IC belt to Hart, and Anthology is still not in the main event. Team Anthology needs to figure out a way to stay relevant, or Cruise will continue to fall. His WFW: NE TV title is a plus. Rook Black is the National Champ in NFW, which is great. However, he's not too active when it comes to RP, and I'd like to see more out of him storyline wise. As National Champ, he should be right up there with the main event storylines in NFW, but for whatever reason...he's not. He could easily jump into the top 10 with a little more effort. With Fusenshoff, it just comes down to the fact that he did a year long feud with Stalker, had the TV belt for a while, and is just IMO a better character than either Cruise or Black.

-Some of you may be wondering why I have Dorchester so low. Others might think I'm crazy for putting him on here at all, given his lack of recent singles matches. Well, both sides would have a good argument. Dorchester is in fact low, due to spending most of his time in tag competition, however his singles feud with Wildstar is phenomenal and his heel turn is THE BEST I've ever read. That's enough to propel him into the rankings without a match, and God help the rest of you if he stays in singles. Doc Curiosity could very well be the National Champ after Crash 50, but it's his excellent RP plus his segment writing that places him at 15. Although the lack of effort both he and Rook showed in their Crash 50 thread doesn't help them at all. I mean, the card doesn't even have a damn RP deadline...you couldn't find the time?

-Not really gonna put much into explaining the bottom five, other than each has a compelling reason to be there. Rocko Daymon, though, is someone who I really, really like as a character. He should by all means be in the top 10, but the problem is that he hasn't done anything relevant since coming back from hiatus to lose at Wrestleverse III. I know Straw isn't too thrilled with Rocko right now, and that's probably affecting his motivation to do anything big with him in EPW at the moment...but once he turns it on again, look for Rocko to move up big.

-One last, important note. I will not be including my own characters in the rankings, unless they get to the point where they're a product of this blog's readership and you guys decide I'm worthy of ranking. With that said, gun to my head, I would have put Layne Winters either in or just outside the top 10, due to his high level of involvement in HOPE, his mini-feuds with Copycat and The First, and his TV title run. J1D might have snuck in there simply for being LVW's Champion and the focus of the league's storyline, but the league's current hiatus probably would have kept him at 19 or 20, and possibly out of the rankings altogether. Castor Strife, on the other hand, hasn't had a singles match until Crash 50 rolls around, so I wouldn't have considered him either way. One Crash happens, his feud with Impulse plus his character development would probably have landed him somewhere in the top 20, with his placing highly dependent upon whether or not he beat Impulse. So, there you have it.

Comments would be valuable. I'm hoping you guys help me out with these, it's more fun that way.