Even if you’re not usually a stat guy, it’s always interesting to look at the numbers and see how they line up with the impression we get just by watching things unfold. For example, we recently learned that with Dean Ambrose’s recent injury, Jimmy Uso is the new Iron Man, holding the record for the longest streak of wrestling matches without having to take more than 40 days off.
And thanks to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we have a whole bunch of new statistics about how WWE Superstars did in the calendar year of 2017: who wrestled the most, and how much they won or lost. Let’s take a look:
MOST MATCHES: Jinder Mahal 185, Baron Corbin 181, A.J. Styles 179, Sami Zayn 178, Charlotte Flair 173
All of these make sense, and one hopes Sami Zayn’s proven status as a workhorse will reflect well on his future with the company.
MOST WINS: Dean Ambrose 144, Shinsuke Nakamura 131, Seth Rollins 127, A.J. Styles 117, Roman Reigns 116
I wouldn’t have guessed Dean Ambrose as the winningest guy of 2017, but on futher reflection, he certainly hasn’t had a bad year. Neither have Shinsuke, A.J., and the other two Shield guys, for that matter.
HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE: Asuka 1.000, Nikki Bella .947, Aleister Black .916, Drew McIntyre .899, Finn Balor .889
Obviously Nikki’s absence for most of the year means she didn’t have to win as many matches as the rest of these folks. It’s nice to see Finn on the list as well, since he’s one of those guys whose “burial” we all like to fret about.
MOST LOSSES: Natalya 131, Nia Jax 128, Carmella 125, Jinder Mahal 124, Aiden English 123
Natalya’s no surprise, but Nia coming in second for losses is a bit of a shock to me. I wonder how many of those losses kept her “protected.”
LOWEST WINNING PERCENTAGE: Curt Hawkins .000, Gabriel Ealy.032, Uriel Ealy .033, Bo Dallas .041, Brennan Williams .071
Ah yes, Curt Hawkins, the anti-Asuka. While losing is his gimmick these days, the rest of the list are solidly jobbers (alas for former NXT Champion Bo Dallas, but you know it’s true). In fact, nobody will blame you if you haven’t learned who Brennan Williams is yet. The Ealy Brothers have such a great look, though, that I’m holding out hope they rise above their jobber status after a bit longer developing in developmental.
WON also has a list of superstars who preceded Jinder Mahal as the guys with the most matches in a single calendar year, going back to 2004:
2004 – Chris Benoit, 165
2005 – John Cena, 163
2006 – John Cena, 173
2007 – Batista, 161
2008 – C.M. Punk, 174
2009 – C.M. Punk, 197
2010 – Kofi Kingston, 183
2011 – Randy Orton, 202
2012 – Sheamus, 220
2013 – Daniel Bryan, 232
2014 – Cesaro, 218
2015 – Roman Reigns, 219
2016 – Dean Ambrose, 206
It’s hard to miss that nobody before or since has come close to the amount of work Daniel Bryan did in 2013, which says a lot about Daniel Bryan and how he was doing in 2013. He probably would have loved to keep working just as much if he hadn’t been sidelined by an injury in 2014 and forced to retire from further injuries in 2015.
It’s also worth noting that in this year was the first year since 2010 that no one wrestled more than 200 matches, with Jinder’s 185 being the most. Considering the injury factor and the number of days a WWE Superstar works every year, letting those numbers dip a bit is probably actually for the best.
(Check out our must-listen McMahonsplaining podcast with Deonna Purrazzo. Subscribe on iTunes or Google.)
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