The 25 best five-consecutive-year runs anybody has put together.
Career K-WAR rewards showing up for twenty years. This does not. It takes the best window of five straight calendar years and throws away everything either side of it.
Career K-WAR rewards showing up. Twenty good years beat five great ones, which is defensible as a measure of value produced and useless as a measure of how high somebody got. This board throws the career away and keeps the best window of five consecutive calendar years.
It moves people. Bret Hart is #31 all-time and #6 here. The Rock is #53 and #17. Will Ospreay is #32 and #7, from a documented career fifteen years long. Konosuke Takeshita is #69 and #23. Meanwhile Chris Jericho, #6 on the main list with 21 elite seasons and the highest Longevity score in the corpus, falls to #22, because the thing Jericho is exceptional at is precisely the thing this measure refuses to count.
Career K-WAR is a sum of per-season normal scores, so a season below the median of its era subtracts, and a worker with hundreds of documented undercard matches accumulates a long negative tail underneath a genuinely elite peak. That is a real property of the model and worth knowing before anyone quotes a career number at you.
The window is 2011 through 2015, and it ranks #1. Inside it: the Money in the Bank loss to CM Punk in 2011, rated 5.0 stars and worth +1.90 in quality lift; the WrestleMania 29 win over The Rock for the WWE Championship at 2.18 importance; the Last Man Standing match with Bray Wyatt at Payback in 2014, which tops the quality-lift column at +2.76. Dominance, championship value and network prestige each rank #1 in the corpus. Career K-WAR is 143.6, #7, and this five-year stretch accounts for 34.7% of everything positive in it, over 16 elite seasons.
Five years, 2022 to 2026, containing the highest single season anybody has recorded: 13.0 in 2024, #1. The 2020s ledger reads 67.4, also #1 for the decade. The nights are WrestleMania XL and the win over Roman Reigns for both world titles at an importance of 2.18, the 5.0 star Hell In A Cell match with Seth Rollins in 2022, the Summerslam 2023 win over Brock Lesnar worth +2.12 in quality lift. 270 title-match wins, 225 of them for a top-decile belt, and a championship value of 224.0, #5. The career total is 133.6, #9, of which this window is 40.3%.
Everything on this row happens after the move to WWE, and the window runs 2022 to 2026. Clash At The Castle in 2022 lifts quality by 2.08 in a 5.0 star Intercontinental Championship defence against Sheamus; the WrestleMania 39 triple-threat with Drew McIntyre and Sheamus adds 1.78; Summerslam 2024 takes the World Heavyweight Championship off Damian Priest at an importance of 2.11. Career K-WAR of 97.4 ranks #29 while this stretch alone carries 53.5% of the positive total. Twenty-three documented meetings with Cody Rhodes, one won, at a mean pre-match rating of 2437.9.
2014 to 2018, opening on a Raw win over CM Punk worth +0.96 in wins above expectation and closing with the Universal Championship taken off Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2018, +0.92 at an importance of 2.18. Between them: Extreme Rules 2015 and a Last Man Standing win over The Big Show that lifts quality by 2.49, Fastlane 2017 and Braun Strowman at +2.27. Network prestige of 1.316 ranks #3, dominance #5. The 2010s ledger reads 66.5. Twelve elite seasons, four good, and 41.9% of the positive total sits inside these five years.
The largest career K-WAR in the corpus, 184.9, and the smallest share of it in any one window: 26.5%, from 2014 to 2018. That is what 24 elite seasons and one merely good season look like. The five years themselves are the WWE arrival, Money In The Bank 2016 and a +0.93 win over John Cena, then Backlash and the WWE World Championship off Dean Ambrose at an importance of 2.18. The 2010s figure of 87.8 ranks #1 for the decade. Quality is #1 in the corpus and big match #1, which is why the all-time rank is #1 and the peak rank only #5.
Nine elite seasons on the whole ledger, and 54.9% of everything positive falls inside 1991 to 1995. The 1990s total of 83.6 ranks #1 for the decade. Inside the window: the WWF Intercontinental Title from August 1991, the WWF World Heavyweight Title from October 1992, WrestleMania X and both halves of that night, a win over Yokozuna for the belt at an importance of 2.18 and a 4.75 star defeat by Owen Hart, then the SummerSlam '94 cage match with Owen, 5.0 stars, +2.29. The Royal Rumble '95 loss to Kevin Nash tops the quality-lift column at +3.15. Overall he is #31; here, #6.
Twelve elite seasons and no merely good ones, over a window of 2020 to 2024. It holds the 6.0 star IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match with Shingo Takagi in 2021, the 6.25 star Wrestle Kingdom 17 defeat by Kenny Omega, the 6.0 star rematch at Forbidden Door 2023, a 6.0 star G1 loss to Tetsuya Naito, and the 6.5 star win over Daniel Bryan at Dynasty in 2024, +2.63. Quality added of 1.206 ranks #3. 306 of 890 documented matches carry a rating, 34.4%. Overall he is #32, and #7 here.
WrestleMania 31 is the hinge of the window: a triple-threat cash-in on Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, +0.95 in wins above expectation at an importance of 2.18. Money In The Bank the following year takes the same belt off Reigns at 2.14. The five years are 2014 to 2018 and they hold 31.5% of a career total of 149.9, which is #5. Sitting oddly against a Titles rank of #4 is the big-match figure, -0.331 at #2,287. He has 145 documented matches with John Cena and has won eight of them, at a mean pre-match rating of 2472.4.
The 2000s ledger reads 90.6, #1 for that decade, and the window is 2000 to 2004. It starts with the European and Intercontinental titles inside three weeks of February 2000 and the WWF World Heavyweight Title off The Rock at No Mercy in October, +0.68 at an importance of 2.18. All 105 of his title-match wins are for a top-decile belt. Two measures disagree with everything else: wins above expectation is -3.830 at #3,697 and the big-match figure -8.167 at #3,871, against Quality at #15 and an all-time rank of #8. Fifteen elite seasons, two good.
2013 to 2017, and the prime rank matches the all-time rank exactly, both #10. Titles is the component that outruns the rest: #3 on a championship value of 253.0, from 254 title-match wins with 224 of them for a top-decile belt. The United States Championship ran a year from May 2013 and the Intercontinental Championship into 2016; before WWE there was the FIP World Heavyweight Title for nearly three years and two CZW Championship reigns. Network prestige of 1.218 ranks #4. Thirty-nine documented matches with John Cena at a mean pre-match rating of 2495.3, four of them won.
Quality added of 1.325 is #2 corpus-wide, which is why a career rank of #14 and an overall rank of #24 both sit under a prime rank of #11. The window is 2002 to 2006 and its centre is WrestleMania XX, a triple-threat with Shawn Michaels and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, +0.71 at 2.18 importance. The 2000s figure of 72.2 ranks #3 for that decade and the 1990s figure of 48.9 ranks #7. 260 of 1,301 documented matches carry a rating, 20.0%. Titles is the drag at #72.
A losing career, 619-658-31 over 1,308 documented matches, and #19 all-time. The window is 2020 to 2024 and it opens on the WWE Championship taken off Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, +0.85 at an importance of 2.18. Before that came the independent years: the EVOLVE Title off Chris Hero in 2014 at +0.91, then the Dragon Gate Open The Freedom Gate Championship. The 5.0 star Hell In A Cell defeat by CM Punk at Bad Blood 2024 tops the quality-lift column at +2.38. 44.8% of the positive total sits in the window, and the big-match figure ranks #43.
Dominance and Titles both rank #7, each eight places up on an all-time rank of #15, while wins above expectation ranks #1,350, one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven the other way. The window is 2011 to 2015: the United States Championship in March 2011, the World Heavyweight Championship twice across 2012, and at the end of it the Survivor Series win over Roman Reigns at an importance of 2.18. 226 title-match wins, 214 of them for a top-decile belt. 1,477 of 1,595 documented matches are WWE's. The 5.0 star Clash At The Castle defeat by WALTER lifts quality by 1.90.
Career K-WAR of 149.9 ranks #6, and only 29.7% of it falls inside the best window. 2011 to 2015 covers the TLC cash-in on The Big Show and the SummerSlam 2013 win over John Cena for the WWE Championship, +0.92 at an importance of 2.13. Either side of it: the ROH World Heavyweight Title for fifteen months from September 2005, the PWG Title, the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title, and in 2024 the AEW World Championship off Shane Strickland in a 5.25 star title-versus-career match. Wins above expectation ranks #6 and the big-match figure #15.
Network ranks #1 in the corpus and schedule strength #3, which is what twenty-seven documented years inside one company buys: 1,506 of 1,607 matches are WWE's. Those five years, 2011 to 2015, hold two heavy nights two months apart in 2013: the WWE Championship off Daniel Bryan inside Hell in a Cell and then the WWE World Heavyweight Championship off John Cena in a TLC match, each at an importance of 2.18. Career K-WAR of 154.2 ranks #4, five better than an overall rank of #9, and only 28.7% of it belongs to the window. 146 title-match wins, 145 for a top-decile belt.
Nobody in the corpus adds more to match quality: 1.356, #1. The window is 1993 to 1997 and it holds most of the matches that figure is built from, the WrestleMania X ladder match with Scott Hall at 5.0 stars and +3.00, the no-holds-barred win over Kevin Nash at In Your House 7 worth +3.34, the first Hell In A Cell against The Undertaker at 5.0 stars and +3.17. In the middle of it sits the WWF World Heavyweight Title, taken off Bret Hart in the sixty-minute Ironman at WrestleMania XII. Titles rates lowest of the six components, #73.
79.4% of everything positive falls inside 1998 to 2002, and a career total of 51.1 ranks only #106 against a prime rank of #17. The corpus has matches in 14 of the 29 calendar years between the first and the last, so some of that shape is the archive's. Inside the window sit three WWF World Heavyweight Title reigns across 1998 and 1999, then Backlash 2000 and the belt off Triple H at 2.18 importance. Every one of the 52 title-match wins is for a top-decile belt. Fifty-six documented matches with Steve Austin at a mean pre-match rating of 2329.3, twelve won.
Money in the Bank 2011 is the centre of it: 5.0 stars, the WWE Championship off John Cena, +0.66 at an importance of 2.18 and a quality lift of 1.97. The window runs 2009 to 2013 and also holds the submission win over The Undertaker at Breaking Point. Before any of it came four IWA:MS Heavyweight Title reigns from 2001 and the Ring of Honor years, including the 5.0 star defeat by Samoa Joe in 2004. Wins above expectation ranks #14 and the big-match figure #9, on 217 title-match wins and a championship value of 200.1.
1,846 documented matches and a losing record, 838-977-29, carrying a Titles rank of #12 on a championship value of 177.7. The window is 2012 to 2016: the TLC cash-in on John Cena at the end of 2012 worth +0.96, the World Heavyweight Championship taken from Alberto Del Rio the following April, then the title-versus-career Intercontinental win over The Miz at No Mercy 2016, +2.14 in quality lift. 166 of his 172 title-match wins are for a top-decile belt, while the big-match figure runs the other way at #3,719.
Championship value of 297.1 ranks #2 in the corpus, off 306 title-match wins with 280 of them for a top-decile belt. The ECW World Television Title alone ran two years from April 1998, and the WWF Hardcore Title turned over three times inside five months of 2001. The window is 1999 to 2003, which does not contain the biggest night: that is ECW One Night Stand in 2006 and the WWE Championship taken off John Cena, +0.85 at 2.18 importance. Thirty-five documented years, every one of them carrying matches. The 2020s ledger reads -11.9, #1,535 for that decade.
Matches in 16 of the 33 calendar years between the first and the last, 580 of them, and still #34 all-time. The gaps there are the archive's. The window is 1998 to 2002, holding 53.4% of everything positive, and it ends at WrestleMania X-Seven with the WWF World Heavyweight Title taken from The Rock. The quality column is built from losses: WrestleMania 13 against Bret Hart at 5.0 stars, +2.37, and the Caribbean Strap match with Savio Vega in 1996, +3.13. All 94 of the title-match wins are for a top-decile belt, and Dominance ranks #11.
Longevity ranks #1 in the corpus on 33 documented years across four decades, and the best five of them carry only 23.2% of everything positive. Career K-WAR of 173.2 is #2. The window is 2000 to 2004, holding the WCW World Heavyweight Title off The Rock at Vengeance 2001 and, a year earlier, the Intercontinental Title off Chyna at Armageddon. The 31 recorded reigns start in Japan with the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Title in 1995 and pass through ECW and the WCW cruiserweight division. The big-match figure is the outlier at -11.110, #3,913.
Forty-six places separate a prime rank of #23 from an overall rank of #69. 77.2% of everything positive on the ledger falls inside 2022 to 2026, and the career total of 43.1 ranks #134. The belts before that are DDT's: a KO-D Tag Team Title from December 2016, three Iron Man Heavy Metal reigns, two long KO-D Six Man runs. Then the AEW International Championship, taken out of a three-way with Ricochet and Will Ospreay at WrestleDream 2024 in a 5.5 star match, and off Kazuchika Okada at Double Or Nothing 2026. 140 of 596 documented matches are rated, 23.5%.
Thirty-four recorded reigns, and every one of the 113 title-match wins is for a top-decile belt. The window is 2007 to 2011, but the two heaviest nights bracket it: New Year's Revolution 2006 and the WWE Championship off John Cena, then Backlash 2009 and the World Heavyweight Championship off Cena again in a Last Man Standing match, each at 2.18 importance. Schedule strength ranks #8, ten places up on an overall rank of #18. The 2000s ledger of 72.2 ranks #4 for that decade, and the SummerSlam 2008 Hell In A Cell defeat by The Undertaker lifts quality by 2.34.
The board closes on the ROH World Heavyweight Title reign that ran twenty-one months from March 2003, and on the window it fed: 2004 to 2008. Inside are Joe Vs. Punk II at 5.0 stars, the Unbreakable triple-threat with A.J. Styles, and the TNA World Heavyweight Title off Kurt Angle inside the cage at Lockdown 2008. Career K-WAR of 130.0 ranks #11, six better than #17 overall, and only 30.8% of it sits in the window. Seventeen years later he took the AEW World Championship off Adam Page at Full Gear 2025. The big-match figure reads 0.284, #1,812.