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Some things to remember as the Oklafan Top 50 is on the horizon

Posted: Dec 22nd 2011 By: mikeiles

Here I am sitting at my desk in my office at home on December 22nd, knowing that a lot of whining and complaining is about to commence. You see at midnight on New Year's Eve as the clock strikes 12, Burnham will be posting the Oklafan Top 50 for 2011. The idea of doing a Top 50 every year was my idea back in 2005. It was much easier back then to do a Top 50. There were only 6 active feds in Oklahoma (FCW, IZW, MSWA, TPW, SRPW, and NWA-U/NWA-OK). Our first #1 ranked wrestler was John O'Malley, and he was a unanimous decision. Rocco Valentino was a unanimous decision in 2006 as well. But to be honest, I don't think we have had a unanimous decision in years. The wrestling scene in Oklahoma has changed a lot.

I love reading Pro Wrestling Illustrated's PWI 500 every year. It is usually the only issue I buy all year. When I started helping on Oklafan, I wanted to do a Top 100, similar to that. I pitched the idea at the beginning of 2005. As I said above, in 2005, there were 6 active feds. Compare that to 2011, when we had 10 active feds to close out the year. Actually 9 if you figure MSWA is currently inactive and may not come back. So it seems every year, it is a love/hate relationship filling out my Oklafan Top 50. I know people are going to complain and I have even received some e-mails and phone calls from wrestlers or promoters or bookers complaining about where they were (or weren't) ranked.

Here are a couple of things to remember:

1. The ENTIRE thing is a work. This includes the list itself and the opinions of the voters.
2. Yes, the voters are all marks. Technically, everyone involved in wrestling all the way up the ladder to Vince McMahon is a mark is some form or fashion. Otherwise we wouldn't be involved in this crazy business.
3. You won't get booked any more or any less depending on where you were or weren't ranked. This one came from "Big Money" Chris Matthews who told me that in 2005 when he was ranked #36 despite not wrestling in Oklahoma for the latter part of 2005. This one is a big one. I doubt very seriously that WWE will look at the Oklafan Top 50 and decide who they will be booking or signing.
4. This last one is my rule. There were 143 wrestling shows in Oklahoma in 2011, not counting WWE and the midget shows. If a wrestler didn't work at least 12 matches during the year, I do not consider them. I am looking for the Top 50 wrestlers in Oklahoma (according to my opinion) and if a wrestler couldn't get booked on at least 1 show per month out of 10 active feds and 143 shows, they aren't one of the top 50 for 2011. I had some close friends not make the list because of this rule and they ribbed me about it (Jason Jones being one of them). Does that exclude some wrestlers that if they had 12 matches they would have been at or near the top? Absolutely. But again this is my opinion and it is only for a 12 month period. Not a career achievement. Again, this rule is what I go by. I don't know if the other voters have a similar rule or not.

So that's it. As I close this little diatribe, I will begin to fill out my ballot. That being said, if you remember nothing else I said during it, remember the first thing I listed. It is all a work. So, if you want to bribe me for a better ranking, just let me know.

Just kidding.

Or am I?