The Piledriver UK Wrestler Rankings # 5 - which UK stars have shone the brightest?
The best of Britain will be ranked once again, but who has stood out in the New Year?
Hello, and welcome to a brand new issue of the Piledriver wrestling newsletter, and another edition of a regular content feature, the Piledriver UK Wrestler Rankings. Following on from last month, I am ranking the best five British wrestlers in this continued list, with names dropping out and rising back up based on their performances.
Last time out, Will Ospreay took back his number one spot, with PAC, Giulia, Drew McIntyre and Joe Hendry all performing well. This has been a very tough list to make, as all five of these stars have had success this month, so who will be number one?
So, without further ado, here is the fifth edition of the Piledriver UK Wrestler Rankings. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and I hope you enjoy.
The Piledriver UK Wrestler Rankings #5 - January 2025
It has been as hard as always to choose just five wrestlers to be on this list, but I have just about been able to do that. Honourable mentions this month go to the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Pete Dunne and Jamie Hayter, who have just missed out, but I’ve come to the conclusion that the following five stars will make up the fifth Piledriver UK Wrestler Ranking.
5. Drew McIntyre
After returning to the ring in December with strong performances against Sami Zayn, Drew McIntyre has continued to look like one of the most dominant and imposing heels on Raw, as the WWE flagship show enters the Netflix era. Now, he has moved on to take the fight to more of his enemies, with recent matches against Jey Uso and Seth Rollins.
On the Netflix premiere of Raw, in front of the huge audience that it brought, Drew McIntyre was exceptional in his match against Jey Uso, but Uso did pull out a surprise win. Because Seth Rollins was also able to pick up a clever win against McIntyre, and because of how good the other people in this list have been, he is only able to get fifth place.
4. PAC
The Geordie superstar continued his exciting run as part of Death Riders on AEW TV in January, and he got an important win against Komander on Collision a couple of weeks ago. However, the match that really helped PAC stand out this month was when he competed in the main event of Dynamite on Wednesday night against Cope, formerly known as Edge in WWE.
The styles of the high-flying and powerful PAC and the veteran Cope combined perfectly, creating a great story in the match, which saw Cope trying to hang with PAC, who looks like he is in his physical prime. In the end, Cope was able to pull out the victory as he looks ahead to a title match, but an absolutely stellar performance from PAC ensured that he kept a place on this list.
3. Giulia
Giulia is the first of two wrestlers on this list who have seen their stock rise even further with major title wins this month, and she earned a chance at Roxanne Perez’s NXT Women’s Championship the hard way. Back in December, Giulia won the Women’s Iron Survivor match, outlasting five other women and gaining a shot at the title.
When it came down to her championship match at NXT New Year’s Evil, Giulia didn’t hesitate, with the British-Japanese superstar managing to end the incredibly dominant reign of Roxanne Perez. Since winning the title, Giulia has worked with major stars like Bayley, so it feels as if the powers that be in WWE trust her to carry the NXT women’s division into the future.
2. Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay had a fantastic match with Ricochet just after the last rankings were published, and he continued his momentum into his next contest, picking up a win against Brody King. His major moment came at AEW Worlds End, when the Aerial Assassin beat his rival Kyle Fletcher in a great match, before putting on a classic with Kazuchika Okada on the same night.
Despite narrowly losing to Okada, Will Ospreay was able to get his AEW tenure back on track with a victory against Buddy Matthews, and with the return of Kenny Omega, who has had some of the greatest matches of all time with Ospreay, the future is bright for the Essex lad. So, because of all of this, Will Ospreay occupies a very high position in this version of the rankings.
1. Joe Hendry
It feels like ever since Joe Hendry gained momentum on social media, becoming one of the most famous names in wrestling in the process, fans have been waiting for him to win major gold in the industry. Now, after previously being thwarted by JBL in a match with Nic Nemeth, Hendry went into this past weekend knowing that he couldn’t make the same mistakes twice.
Luckily for everyone that ‘Believes in Joe Hendry’, history did not repeat itself, and the Prestigious One was able to beat Nic Nemeth, one of the best in-ring competitors of the last 20 years, and capture the TNA World Championship. After WWE and TNA renewed their talent partnership, could we be just a week away from seeing a long-awaited Joe Hendry Royal Rumble appearance?
That’s all for this week’s Piledriver, I hope you enjoyed, and see you next time.
Thanks,
Owen Younger and the Piledriver team.