Every Wrestling Rookie Of The Year: Where Are They Now?

20. 2003: Chris Sabin

Essa Rios Lita
IMPACT Wrestling

One of many young, small technical standouts to have sprouted in the wake of the monopoly, Sabin differentiated himself from an army of indistinguishable kick pad-clad cruiserweight acolytes by A) being really, really good and B) forming a legitimately all-time great tag team, the Motor City Machine Guns, alongside Alex Shelly.

To this day, he's still ageless. Last year, he worked one of the less-discussed matches of the year against Kazarian for Impact Wrestling on June 30. It was superb; so well-crafted that attention did not drift once throughout an 18:42 runtime that felt like a breeze. He worked AEW All Out in a merely good trios match in 2022 also.

One of the most reliable and consistent North American workers ever, he deserves another crack to show a bigger audience just how fantastic he is.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!