Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Ranking the WWE roster

Ranking the WWE roster

After ranking the WWE diva's, it is time to rank the men. I'll be ranking all roster members from the main roster, with no one from NXT. NXT might get its own rankings at another time.

Rules:
- Due to injuries or lack of appearances, these wrestlers will not be included: The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, Curt Hawkins, Tyson Kidd, Camacho/Hunico, The Rock and Christian.
- No Managers will be included
- Rankings will be based on match quality.

DISCLAIMER - These are based on what I have seen since 2012 and are not the official word. We all have different likes and dislikes and no one is going to completely agree with all my rankings.

Rankings:

1 Daniel Bryan - He was voted the ProWresBlog Wrestler of the Year in 2012 and has had an amazing run in the last few weeks. He is looking as good as he ever has and seems to have the world behind him right now.  He is the best man at comebacks in the whole world and is definitely #1.

2  Antonio Cesaro - He was voted the ProWresBlog Wrestler of the Mid-Year for 2013. He was clearly the best wrestler in the WWE, until WWE gave Daniel Bryan more time and better opponents. His biggest problem is that WWE really has no idea what to do with him and because of that, they are more likely to put him in the midcard rather than take a risk on him. He has been really underused as of late and honestly seems to be going nowhere. He has gotten good matches out of everyone from Khali to Orton to Sin Cara to Kane and there isn't really anything he can't do, except get a decent push.

3 The Shield - I'm pairing the Shield because they all haven't done enough in singles.  The Shield have had a never ending series with Team Hell No that has produced many good matches. They have been the best thing that has come to WWE in a long time and they have made tons of mediocre Raw's into good Raw's. These guys just produce quality and get tons of TV time.They won the ProWresBlog Special Prize for 2013 since they are mostly a trio or a team and probably could have won Wrestler(s) of the Year, but, they have three people whereas Cesaro and Daniel Bryan have one. The big thing that has hurt them is that they didn't have a ton of matches before Wrestlemania.

4 CM Punk - While I don't think he is as good in ring as Cesaro and Daniel Bryan, he is one of the top wrestlers in the WWE and is great on the mic. He has been out for about 2-3 months and will be back soon, but there is never any doubt on what he can do.

5 Alberto Del Rio - Alberto has been a great worker and can do so many different things in his matches. His lucha moves are exciting and his finisher works well. I really enjoy most of ADR's matches and he is definitely one of WWE's best.

6 The Big Show - Yeah, I know, he had a ton of bad stuff before, but for the last year to year in a half, he has been all quality. His series with Sheamus really let him shine and he is currently in my runner-up for the Match of the Year. Show does really simple stuff and makes it work well. He is always easy to buy into and definitely is a top worker in the WWE. His size benefits him as even simple things look impressive on him.

7 Dolph Ziggler - He is a great wrestler that is overshadowed by WWE's refusal to really go all the way with him. He is a great bumper and gets so much out of so little. He suffers a lot from being restricted to the same opponents over and over again and never really getting the storylines and angles that he needs.

8 Chris Jericho - Jericho will always be a great wrestler but his matches can be very repeated. There was a time when I was able to call his matches move for move because he always did the same stuff. He is a good go to guy for the WWE and can always be inserted into any situation and make it work.

9 William Regal - Regal never gets to do much but he is still a top wrestler and will probably forever be underpushed and underrated. He is so good at the simplicities of wrestling and can bring the brutal matches that no one else can, while doing little. He is a bridge to the way things used to be and will probably still be good 20 years from now. He only wrestles on television a few times a year, but always makes it count. A lot of people have his match with a Kassius Ohno a MOTY.

10 Justin Gabriel - When Gabriel gets a chance, he produces. He always due to for a good match and has been an undercard highlight in the WWE.  He is the WWE's poor man's version of an AJ Styles.

11 John Cena - Cena will always have tons of problems as a character, a promo man and as a wrestler. None of these problems are ever going to be fixed. But, he is pretty good at putting matches together and does fine in main events. He does deserve to be in the main event and at least we know that at worst, his matches will always be heated.

11 Sheamus - Overpushed? Yep. Horrible character? Yep. Good worker? Yep. Sheamus got a lot of good stuff out of his series with the Big Show and had a lot of good matches with him that got him this high on the list.  He was also involved in some good stuff with The Shield. His biggest problem is that he mostly only gets to squash people.

12 Curtis Axel - Axel was a really good worker on Superstars who really should stick to the midcard. He doesn't work a main event style and doesn't have the main event in him. WWE will remind you of this anytime. He is under appreciated though and is better at being a poor man's Arn Anderson than anything else.

13 The Uso's - The Uso's are pretty good wrestlers and have been involved in a lot of good stuff that nobody else has seen. I really enjoy most of their tag matches and the crowd gets into it.

14 Cody Rhodes - He is good but has to carry a lot of crap usually. He isn't a top worker, but has done some good stuff and is a fine midcard guy.

15 Yoshi Tatsu - He ends up here because we never get to see what he can do anymore. All he does is job, which is a shame since I know he can do great things.

16 Fandango - Fandango is a good worker but not one that really ever gets to show all he can do. The crowd likes him though and he should be able to do some good stuff in the future.

17 Drew McIntyre - Drew probably should be Top 5 to Top 10, but we never get to see what he can do. WWE still seems to be punishing him from whatever happened with him and Tiffany years ago. He gets very few singles matches nowadays and has been reduced to a comedic jobber. It's a total shame since he should be in the main event or near it. WWE has pretty much ruined him unfortunately.

18 Randy Orton - Orton has been inspired lately but I want to see a little bit more before he moves up on the list. Consistency is king.

19 Wade Barrett - Wade hasn't been involved in a ton of good stuff and is a little overrated as a worker. He looked like a main eventer years ago, but the upper midcard is probably where he belongs.

20 Tensai - It's hard to rate him since we rarely see him in singles, but he was good before his Tons of Funk team.

21 Ryback - Ryback isn't bad. He isn't a Brock Lesnar, but he also isn't a Nathan Jones. Daniel Bryan got the best stuff out of him and he is okay in his role. He is never going to be a top worker but he is fine at what he does.

22 Big E Langston - Big E is good at what he does but he keeps things simple. He is probably on the fast track to the main event, but I don't think he is ready yet for long matches.

23 Sin Cara - His style limits him and he hasn't been much but a jobber for a while now. His matches tend to be the same since nobody really knows what to do with him. He is also limited to the lighter wrestlers and the wrestlers who can work them.

24 Zack Ryder - Zack is just average in ring. He excels at being a character and getting people into him, but his push is always going to suck and he can be annoying for a lot of people at times.

25 Alex Riley - A-Ry is okay but he is another one of those who I don't see enough to rate high enough. He is also similar to people like Ryder and McIntyre as WWE ruined him for no reason whatsoever.

26 Triple H - He is overpushed, loves to ruin careers and isn't a great worker. 

27 Heath Slater - Heath is all comedy now but has done some decent stuff. He matches up well with Justin Gabriel, but it is hard to rate him since he usually gets squashed.

28 Damien Sandow - Sandow is a good character but is mostly average in ring. His best qualities are being a character and being on the mic and that is maybe all he needs to main event in the WWE.

29 Titus O'Neil - Titus seems like he could go as high as the WWE wants him to go. He's not a great worker but is passable and is better at being a character.

30 Santino Marella - He hasn't done anything except comedy in years so it is hard to rate him.

31  Mark Henry - I think Mark Henry is a great character, but I cannot recall a Mark Henry match that I ever enjoyed. Some people love him and that's fine, but I made this list out of what I saw, and for wrestling matches, I saw almost nothing that I liked from Henry. He is a great promo and a great character though and one of the company's best.

32 Kane - Kane's last year or so has been better than everything else in his career combined. He has gotten to show some character and his weaknesses have been covered well. He is still Kane though and Kane's formulaic matches will never be good.

33 Jack Swagger - He has been overpushed and really hasn't delivered. His new character has been a flop and he just isn't a main eventer. He could be a fine midcard person but his style just isn't great. However, if he keeps focusing on working body parts, he has a chance.

34 Jinder Mahal - Jinder is carryable but not that good. If he were anything except Indian, he wouldn't be on the roster. However, companies like diversity, so he has a job.

35 Darren Young - He can be funny at times, but he isn't a great worker and most of the time, he doesn't really cut it.

36 David Otunga - I don't recall any good matches of his that I have seen. He is a good character and in great shape, but that is about it,

37 JTG - I have yet to ever really see anything good out of JTG in the last few years. I am amazed at how he still has a job. He needs a new character, a new look and pretty much a new everything.

38 Brodus Clay - I can think of one match ever that was a Brodus Clay match and was decent. He can't work and due to his size, pretty much only does squashes. He is boring and WWE's highest paid jobber. He still has the distinction of being the only wrestler I've ever seen to botch a pin.

39 The Great Khali - Khali is useless. He can't wrestle, he can't move, he can't speak coherently and is a gigantic waste of space. He was voted the ProWresBlog Worst Wrestler of the Year in 2012 and the ProWresBlog Worst Wrestler of the Half-Year in 2013.

5 comments :

  1. Mark Henry at 30? You lost me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a Mark Henry fan in-ring. I know a lot of people like him but he just never appealed to me once the bell rang. He is a good character though and good on promo's, but I never want to see him wrestle.

      Delete
  2. I'd put Kane waaaay higher personally. He has had a really great year. I'd honestly put him in the top 10. I'd take Regal off the list. I love Regal but aside from his NXT match with Ohno, I haven't seem him wrestle once on WWE programming in a very long time

    ReplyDelete
  3. Where's Randy Orton?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I totally agree with your top 5 ! and then, I don't care about any of the rest ...

    ReplyDelete