Everybody who comes to Cageside Seats has an opinion about what’s going on in pro wrestling — Wrestler Rankings are where YOU let us know YOURS.
Cast a vote in the comments. Give us the five performers you think entertained or impressed the most in the last week, and feel free to talk about why.
We also have the outcome of last week’s voting, the results of which make up our annual competition for the Cageside Cup, given to our Performer of the Year.
This week, we’re voting on nationally televised and
internet streaming pro wrestling shows that took place Aug. 17-23, 2025 — New Japan’s G1 Climax final, Raw, NXT, Evolve, Dynamite, Impact, ROH on HonorClub, SmackDown, Collision, and everything else I’m no doubt forgetting.
But first, here’s the outcome of last week’s voting, and how those results changed our annual competition for the Cageside Cup.
As the excellently named heenanwasright wrote on their ballot last week, it feels like she’s dropping all timer promos every week. Here’s most of the one that helped her finish first in our latest Rankings.…
- AEW’s G1 finalist came in second, with his opponent from New Japan finishing in a logjam and the bottom of our latest Rankings.
- The man who will next challenge for AEW’s World title was third, and the man who briefly got him to use his Casino Gauntlet contract to do so is down in that 4-way tie for eighth.
- Hijos de luchadores took fourth and fifth for their night’s at Triplemania: Vikingo’s son for retaining the Mega championship with AJ Style’s assistance, and Dr. Wagner Jr’s boy for winning his first AAA title.
- An old punk is getting a well-deserved spotlight in his native UK, and we put him in sixth for it. A young giant resurfaced in Mexico, claimed a cup and seventh… now we’ll await his next appearance in a few months, and probably on another continent.
- The other two guys in that aforementioned eighth place draw each lined up a shot at one of WWE’s titles during the week in question.
The CCWR: 2025-26, Week 16
1. Toni Storm
2. Konosuke Takeshita
3. MJF
4. El Hijo del Vikingo
5. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
6. Nigel McGuinness
7. Omos
8. (tie) EVIL
8. (tie) Drew McIntyre
8. (tie) Hangman Page
8. (tie) Sami Zayn
Points in our weekly Rankings determine the ongoing annual one — which will determine who wins the Cageside Cup next April. Full details on rules and scoring HERE.
Where nothing’s changed in the annual Top Ten since we checked ou the full Rankings last Sunday…
The Cageside Cup Performer of the Year Standings – through the Week ending Aug. 16
1. Toni Storm – 57
2. Seth Rollins – 41
3. Naomi – 39
4. Hangman Page – 36.5
5. Gunther – 34
6. (tie) Jacob Fatu – 32.5
6. (tie) CM Punk – 32.5`
8. Stephanie Vaquer – 32
9. Ron Killings – 29
10. Alexa Bliss – 25
Ready to do it again? You can always check the “how to” here if you need to, or ask a question in the comments. The main things you need to know are you have five spots on your ballot, you can’t put the same person in two of them, but you can split a single or multiple spots between multiple wrestlers. Now…
Let’s have those ballots! We’ll take it from there, and see you back here in a week for the results and another vote!
