Indy Power Rankings for the Week of January 5th, 2015

 1.  Yuko Miyamoto-What a week for the BJW Death Match Heavyweight Champion (and DOVE World Heavyweight Champion) as he had a time limit draw, teaming with Isami Kodaka vs Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa at BJW on 12/30, then teamed with Kodaka to win the three-organisations tournament, beating KUDO and Yukio Sakaguchi in the first round, Makoto Oishi and Shiori Asahi in the second round, Ryuji Ito and "Kokutenshi" Jaki Numazawa in the semis and then Yuji Hino and Yuji Okabayashi in the final, all on 12/31, then teamed with Ikuto Hidaka, Fujita Hayato and Isami Kodaka on 01/01 to beat KAMIKAZE, Daemon Ueda, Kengo and Voodoo Mask 15 at Zero1 and then beat Kankuro Hoshino at BJW on 01/02 to retain his title; then teamed with Isami Kodaka to beat Heisei Yakuza Duo (Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba) in a ladder and steel cage death match at BJW on 01/04 to go 7-0-1 for the week. Miyamoto proved last week that the international influence has truly taken over the Indy Power Rankings and there may be no going back. Can Miyamoto continue this type of astonishing success (SEVEN wins in one week) for the rest of 2015? Doubtful, but it’s definitely possible for him to continue to win consistently. 

 

2. Jake Crist-1/2 of OI4K (or 1/3 if you prefer) had another great week this week after retaining his Rockstar Pro title TWICE in one week vs. very stiff competition. The multiple federation tag team champion teamed with Chris Hero to defeat Dave Crist and Aron Williams in a Double Jeopardy tag team match to retain his singles title on 12/31 and then defeated Chris Hero to retain the title again on 01/02 to continue his dominance of the Dayton-based promotion. 2 weeks into 2015’s rankings, he is the model of consistency after being absolutely unstoppable in late 2014. He has carried that success into 2015. With challengers lining up at Rockstar Pro and a lot of tag title defenses to come as well, can he keep up this pace? #5 in the online poll with 26 votes.

3. Doug Williams (@DougWilliamsUK)-Here’s a name we have not seen for a while in the IPR Top 10. The ACW German, Scottish Heavyweight, WAW Heavyweight and POW Intercontinental Champion defeated Josh Faulkner in the semis and Zack Sabre Jr in the final of the Worthing Trophy Tournament at Premier Promotions on 12/29 to go 2-0 for the week. With wins in 7 of his last 8 matches, the former TNA star has been crushing Europe in his recent appearances. Grand way to start of 2015 for one of the best in the world. If this week was any indication, you may need to keep an eye on him in 2015 as he looks to shine the bright spot light on himself once again.

4. Yuji Okabayashi-More international influence (specifically Japan) in the IPR Top 10 this week as he teamed with Ryuichi Kawakami at BJW vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani on 12/30, then teamed with Yuji Hino at the Three Promotion Strongest Tag Decision Tournament to beat Ryuishi Kawakami & Kazuki Hashimoto in the first round, then Daisuke Sekimoto & Antonio Honda in the second round, and finally, HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano in the semis, but inevitably lost to Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka in the finals. He then teamed with Daisuke Sekimoto at BJW on 01/02 to beat Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa and then beat Kazuki Hashimoto at BJW on 01/04 to go 6-1 for the week Much like our number one this week, he had a string of big wins, and while he did suffer one defeat, it wasn’t enough to keep him out of the Top 10. Can he build on this ranking going forward?
 
5. BLK Jeez (@Jeez215)-After being ranked right at the end of 2014 (but missing out on the 2014 IPR 100) he has found his way into the IPR Top 10 once again after the CZW World Heavyweight Champion (and JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion) defeated Dave Crist on 01/02 to retain the title.  Not only did he beat Dave Crist, he beat him on his turf in Dayton, OH at Rockstar Pro Wrestling. That was definitely not an easy accomplishment for Jeez, but with his recent string of wins, he made it happen. This week was a case where multiple wins were the usual flavor of the week, but big title defenses remained important as well.

6.  Zakk SpadeZ (@ZakkSpadeZ)-It’s a first-ever ranking for this Rockstar Pro Wrestling regular. On 12/31 he defeated Bruce Grey at Rockstar Pro, then defeated Pompano Joe, Flex Jordan, last week’s #1 Ace Perry, Jake Omen, & Zachary Wentz in a 6 Man Scramble Match on 01/02. Those wins, combined with being the first to knock off last week’s #1 in 2015, was enough to get him into the Top 10 for the first time. While the international talent mostly dominated the Top 10 this week, it was some of the Rockstar Pro talent who found a way into the IPR after two wins this past week. Having shows on a weekly basis can be a big benefit…or a difficult obstacle to climb. For SpadeZ, it was his opportunity to showcase his talent…twice!

7.  Aja Kong-With this spot, not only do we get an international star in the IPR Top 10, we get one of the best female wrestlers of all time as well. She is the NEW DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Champion after defeating Saki Akai on 01/03 to win the title. She then defeated Shu Shibutani in a retirement match at Wave on 01/04 to go 2-0 for the week. She has won 10 of her last 11 matches and that no doubt influenced the official voters to slide her into the Indy Power Rankings this week for the very first time. While her name is somewhat of a blast from the past, she is still doing big things in the Land of the Rising Sun.
 
8.  Matt Cage (@proudcaucasian)-The DREAMWAVE Champion & Zero-One USA Midwest X Champion (and #4 in the 2014 IPR 100) started out 2015 with a decent victory as he defeated Marek Brave at Funky Munky Wrestling on 01/03. To our knowledge, he is undefeated in his last 4 matches with 3 wins and a time-limit draw. After a TREMENDOUS 2014, we’re looking forward to big things from him in 2015. Can “Money” continue to be exactly that as the year rolls along? Time will tell. One thing is for sure, with all of the international talent in the Top 10 so far this year, he’s going to have some tough competition going forward.

 

9.   LuFisto (@LuFisto)-The WSU World Champion had another good weekend after defeating Heidi Lovelace at Rockstar Pro at their IPPV on 01/02. Clearly, that win alone was big, but it’s her recent record that really got her in this week (undefeated in her last 8 matches). How odd is it that one of the best female wrestlers in the world somehow missed out on the 2014 IPR 100? With her start to 2015, she’s doing her best to show that history will NOT be repeating itself. Will 2015 be the year where she smashes her way into the Top 100?

 

10.  Zack Sabre Jr. (@zacksabrejr)-Busy week for last year’s #41 in the IPR 100 as he defeated Jimmy Havoc on 12/29 at Premier Promotions, then lost to Doug Williams the same night, then teamed with Marty Scurll at IPW:UK on 01/03 to beat the London Riots, and then wrapped up the week by beating Sebastian at Progress Wrestling on 01/04 to go 3-1 for the week. Certainly not his best week as he reached #1 at one point last year, but definitely a good one. His ranking this week was possibly somewhat hindered by him receiving ZERO votes in the online voting competition. THE FAN VOTE MATTERS.

 
Honorable Mention. Adam Revolver-The OVW Heavyweight Champion just misses out again after defeating Michael Hayes on 01/03 to retain the title. He has won 8 of his last 9 matches…and a future ranking appears to be inevitable.

People’s Champ. Luxford-Australia dominated the online voting competition this week as they featured the #1 and the #3 in the fan vote. Luxford came all the way from behind to win the competition by a rather large margin, collecting 145 votes (47 more than the 2^nd place vote-getter). The IPW Australia Cruiserweight Champion is helping to prove that people need to take notice of wrestling Down Under.

Others missing out/receiving votes:
Live Wire-#2 in the online poll with 98 vote
TJ Warrior-#3 in the online poll with 92 votes
Ryuji Ito
Daisuke Masaoka
Marc Hauss
“The Working Man” Mr. Will-#4 in the online poll with 30 votes
Shane Marx
Ganger
Cousin Cletus
Kody Jack
Dave Mastiff
Thomas Shire
Derek Neal
Jason Lee
Jimmy Havoc
Rod Street
Spike Lopez
Mason Blake
Jaki Numazawa
Titan
Harashima
Ace Perry
Mickie Knuckles
Mike Cruz

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
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You can listen to the IPR Live here (this week is the IPR 100 Reveal): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/eliteradionetwork
Check out the Indy Power Rankings Reveal on Filling the Void (we’re talking PGP Buckley Memorial Tournament this on 1/6): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fillingthevoidrn/2015/01/06/indy-power-rankings-weekly-reveal

 

Here are the IPR 100 Links:

Night 1 (12/29 from 9 PM to 11 PM EST): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/elitepodcastnetwork/2014/12/30/ipr100-2014--night-1-ft-jesse-amato-ron-mathis-hudson-envy-more

Night 2 (12/30 from 9 PM to 11 PM EST):htt...p://www.blogtalkradio.com/elitepodcastnetwork/2014/12/31/ipr100-2014--night-2-ft-tessa-blanchard-heidi-lovelace-chase-owens-more

Night 3 (12/31 from 9 PM to 11 PM EST):http://www.blogtalkradio.com/elitepodcastnetwork/2015/01/01/ipr100-2014--night-3-ft-caleb-konley-matt-cage-shane-hollister-more

Here is the Tag Team Top 50 link:
12/30 from 3 PM to 5 PM EST:http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fillingthevoidrn/2014/12/31/indy-power-rankings-weekly-reveal