Which champion in WWE is the company's workhorse?
The job of a WWE Superstar is notorious for the number of days the company's talent are on the road, wrestling on TV and at live events. While this workload should be lighter due to the brand split, wrestlers are still known to work over 100 matches and be on the road for two-thirds of the year.
It seems even worse for WWE's champions, who are expected to act as the faces of the company. Roman Reigns and The Usos are currently undisputed champions and have appeared on both shows despite The Tribal Chief not wrestling too much on TV this year.
Wrestle Ops recently put together a list of wrestlers who have worked the most matches for the Stamford-based company in 2022 so far. As expected, the list is topped by Undisputed Tag Team Champions The Usos, with Jimmy Uso at 77 matches this year and his brother Jey following close behind with 75.
Seth Rollins is third on the list with 72 matches, followed by Riddle at 68. The top five is rounded off by reigning SmackDown Women's Champion Liv Morgan.
As we’ve passed the half-way point of 2022 here are the WWE superstars with the most matches of the year thus far:
1: Jimmy USO - 77 matches
2: Jey USO - 75 matches
3: Seth Rollins - 72 matches
4: Riddle - 68 matches
5: LIV Morgan - 65 matches https://t.co/igUuArkZvm
These five superstars have been the cornerstones of WWE TV in 2022. The Usos have been tag champions for a year now and are often seen representing their Tribal Chief.
For their parts, Rollins and Riddle have been featured in storylines throughout 2022, and Liv Morgan challenged for titles all year before winning the Money in the Bank briefcase and the blue brand's Women's Championship earlier this month.
Who has wrestled the most WWE matches in a year?
WIth the advent of Covid-19 lockdowns and the subsequent cancelation of house shows throughout 2020-21, no superstar wrestled 100 or more matches during the pandemic. In fact, the yearly number of matches a superstar wrestles has been on a downturn since 2017.
So, who has wrestled the most matches for WWE in a year? Interestingly, the answer is Greg Valentine, who in 1985 competed a staggering 235 times.
In the modern era, Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) wrestled an impressive 228 matches in 2013, the year he first went up against The Authority. Following this feat, Dean Ambrose (aka Jon Moxley) wrestled 218 and 204 matches in 2015 and 2016 respectively. He also holds the record for most years with 200+ matches, as he also wrestled 218 matches in 2013.
Remember a few years ago I believe Dean Ambrose had the most matches in WWE in 2015 with 218 matches throughout the year
Asuka got the record for most WWE matches in 2020 with just 64 matches
Pandemic aside, 64 matches a year feels a lot more reasonable than 218 matches a year https://t.co/nCYdy41AzK
As stated above, this number has been on a downturn since 2017, with no one wrestling more than 200 matches in a year. For example, Ricochet wrestled a comparatively low but still impressive 158 matches in 2019.
Even though these numbers look impressive, WWE Superstars being in fewer matches decreases their chances of being injured and helps partially dismiss the stigma of wrestling being a brutal job.