Wrasslers Thread

[Oaf]

I remember we used to have a thread where people would rank their favourite 5 superstars on each brand every couple of months or so. Obviously we don't have the brands anymore, but I wanted to bring back a similar type of thread anyway.

But yeah, basically this is a thread to talk about specific WRASSLERS and stuff.

So.

MAH FAV FIVE at the moment:

Kevin Owens - Guy just fucking steals the show every time he's on screen, whether he be in a match, on the mic, on commentary or cutting a promo backstage. Incredibly watchable wrestler and endlessly good at what he does.

AJ Styles - Probably just a product of him being in the main event picture right now, but WWE have absolutely hit the ball out of the park in their use of Styles so far and the man is absolutely living up to the hype. In just 4 months he's become one of the most over guys on the roster... this was apparent when I went to watch Raw and Smackdown in the O2, he's got a HUGE following. And the use of the bullet club stuff is making his whole feud with Reigns very interesting. Plus there's the obvious fact that when it comes to delivering in the ring, there are only a handful of people on the planet on a par with him.

Sami Zayn - The guy is just so fucking fun to watch. From the moment his (FUCKING AMAZING) music hits until he leaves it's just a sheer joy experiencing Sami Zayn. And that match with Owens at Payback was awesome.

Nakamura - Similar to Zayn, the guy is a blast when he's on screen. An absolute bundle of charisma who commands the attention of the viewer like few can. I'd never seen him pre-NXT, but I'm already a huge fan.

Jericho - Now, typically, I'm not a massive Jericho fan and I think he's over rated as hell. But I can't deny that he's been absolutely brilliant since he turned heel. Heel Jericho who acts like a man with his head up his ass is a million times better than face Jericho who acts like a man with his head up his ass.

Other notable mentions:

The Miz (W/Maryse) - Yeah, I'm still high on The Miz. Even if he's bit a bit poo for a few years... but as of late, he's probably at the best he's been since his old main eventing WM days... guy just plays the heel so damned well. And even though Maryse talking sounds like listening to a car wreck, I love the whole "A-list couple" thing going on.

Cesaro - Cuz he's Cesaro, nuff said.

New Day - They're great, but haven't really done fuck all in a while now so miss out on the FAV FIVE.

Enzo and Big Cas - Because how can you not love them?

Roman Reigns – I have to admit, he’s mainly here because I enjoy seeing exactly how much he’s going to be booed every time he comes out. Besides, as I always say, I actually do quite like him anyway and he’s fresh on the back of once again delivering a great PPV main event.

The 5 people who need to win me over:

(Because "5 shittest" is usually just listing obvious people... I'd rather talk about people who I see promise in but just need to show me that little bit more)

Finn Balor - I know, show, horror, oh the humanity, ect. BUT. Let me explain. So I always see these highly rated internet darlings show up in WWE and, usually, I can tell why they're so beloved right away. With Finn Balor... not so. Yes, ok, his entrance is EPIC. I cannot deny this. But besides that… I never really see that much in him to be worthy of the immense praise he gets. I don’t mind his matches, but barring his matches against (I think?) Neville a long time ago at a Takeover and the recent one against Joe in Dallas, I’ve never really saw him have a match that I thought was truly great. Maybe I just need to see more of the guy… but right now, he doesn’t particularly stand out in the ring or on the mic, so I’m not sure I understand the hype.

Baron Corbin – I see some people like him, but I’m yet to see him do one thing that impresses me. He has a cool entrance and a nice looking finisher and… that’s where anything remotely positive I have to say about the guy stop. What’s his deal? How can a guy as void of personality and who’s move set consists of a finisher, punches, kicks and a nerve hold make it into WWE like this when it took a man like Kevin Owens 14 god damn years to do so?

Everybody who was in the League of Nations – It was basically a bunch of people where they couldn’t think of what to do with them… then they put them together and… couldn’t think of what to do with them. Then for some reason they beat the most over tag team in WWE at Wrestlemania and… then split up anyway, meaning nobody gains anything from it. Thank fuck they’ve split up, though… maybe that gives Rusev and Sheamus a chance to do something interesting. Del Rio? Well, I don’t think I’ll ever give a fuck about anything he does. Bores the fuck out of me.

Damien Sandow – His inclusion on his list has nothing to do with his own performance and everything to do with WWE’s use of him. How is a guy that great not being used more? Fucking hell WWE. As over as he was last year it’d have been a piece of piss to have made him a big star… but they just did nothing. Now they’ll have to push hard again to see him get anywhere near as popular… I see a release in his future, which sucks.

Stardust – Similar to Sandow, but at least he shows up regularly. But fucking hell, I still actually think that Cody Rhodes can be one of the best fucking guys on the roster and I’m not even kidding. He’s a great talker and very good in the ring as well… he just feels like a throwaway jobber at the moment, which is crazy.

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

The Vaudevillains.

Fin.

 

[Stevencc]

Enzo and Cas (not our Cas on the forum, he's great) are shite. Finn Balor is also shit - he's just a kooky entrance as Oaf touched on.

I tend to dislike the internet fans' wrestling darlings though.

Having said that Kevin Owens is fantastic and I've loved AJ for years now.

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

Enzo and Cas (not our Cas on the forum, he's great) are shite. Finn Balor is also shit - he's just a kooky entrance as Oaf touched on.

I tend to dislike the internet fans' wrestling darlings though.

Having said that Kevin Owens is fantastic and I've loved AJ for years now.

you're wrong buddy.

 

[Leewilson]

Regarding Sandow, I think he's very average in ring which is a big part for him not getting a push. He is a great talker and I love his segments but then I switch off when he's in the ring. Really he should be part of a tag team but Curtis Axel was not the answer. I did actually quite like the idea of him and Cody going together but they didn't push them two hard enough.

Talking of Cody, the guy has the potential to be a great heel. He's fantastic on the mic. But I do think there is just something missing. He looks a bit like a default wrestler you'd find on a video game (when he's not in Stardust mode). I really liked his dashing Cody Rhodes gimmick. But they aren't long term sustainable gimmicks. He does need to drop the Stardust stuff but when you look around the mid card and you have the likes of Owens, Zayn, Ambrose all filled with personality, it doesn't bode well. It's a big reason why Cesaro, despite being immensely talented has struggled so much.

 

[Stevencc]

you're wrong buddy.

About which bit, friend?

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

About which bit, friend?

Enzo and Cass and Finn Balor, guy.

 

[Stevencc]

Enzo and Cass and Finn Balor, guy.

I'm not your guy, buddy.

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

I'm not your guy, buddy.

I'm not your buddy, friend

 

[Oaf]

He's not your friend, pal.

Regarding Sandow, I think he's very average in ring which is a big part for him not getting a push. He is a great talker and I love his segments but then I switch off when he's in the ring. Really he should be part of a tag team but Curtis Axel was not the answer. I did actually quite like the idea of him and Cody going together but they didn't push them two hard enough.

Talking of Cody, the guy has the potential to be a great heel. He's fantastic on the mic. But I do think there is just something missing. He looks a bit like a default wrestler you'd find on a video game (when he's not in Stardust mode). I really liked his dashing Cody Rhodes gimmick. But they aren't long term sustainable gimmicks. He does need to drop the Stardust stuff but when you look around the mid card and you have the likes of Owens, Zayn, Ambrose all filled with personality, it doesn't bode well. It's a big reason why Cesaro, despite being immensely talented has struggled so much.

Yeah, that is absolutely Sandows weakest point... his in ring work. The same boat that I've always considered Wade Barrett to be in, actually.

As for Cody Rhodes, that default wrestler you'd find on a video game description is pretty much spot on He's like the basic template that you'd then build upon, and I agree, that's easily his biggest weakness. Image means a heck of a lot in WWE... hence: Baron Corbin.

 

[Oaf]

Damien Sandow – His inclusion on his list has nothing to do with his own performance and everything to do with WWE’s use of him. How is a guy that great not being used more? Fucking hell WWE. As over as he was last year it’d have been a piece of piss to have made him a big star… but they just did nothing. Now they’ll have to push hard again to see him get anywhere near as popular… I see a release in his future, which sucks.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

I think if we perused the wrestling posts on TFF circa 2012-13, we'd struggle to find a single negative post about Sandow's in-ring work. Aaron Hadded is a good worker. Always has been. But booking is everything, and he was booked terribly.

The intellectual savour gimmick was a great fit for him and was over. The tag team stuff with Cody, ending with him betraying Cody to win MITB, was also good and provided the set up for a main event push. From that point on, however, it was as though they were trying to ruin him. He lost myriad times while holding the briefcase. Then he failed to cash in on an injured John Cena. Then, for some unfathomable reason, they took away his gimmick and made him a completely generic midcard jobber.

He enjoyed a mini-resurgence in 2014-15 with the comedy stuff, but being the comic relief is a lose-lose spot. If you can't make shitty comedy work, you get the blame. If you can turn the shit into chicken salad (as he and Miz did with the stunt double gimmick), the bright sparks backstage pigeonhole you as a comedy guy. The stunt double story actually segued into a potentially good feud between Miz and Sandow. It was booking 101 to put Sandow over and push him as a babyface. The crowd wanted that, but WWE decided it was better to give the win to Miz. Then it was back to the lame comedy, with the Sandow-Axel stuff being a particular low.

I can take or leave podcasts on the whole, but I really hope he does a lengthy interview with someone like Jericho, Austin or Cobana. Would be interested to hear his take on the whole thing and learn whether WWE underutilised him because they genuinely didn't rate him or because he pissed off the wrong people backstage.

A wasted talent. Good luck to him.

 

[Oaf]

I can't help but think that he must have pissed off the wrong people, because I really do struggle to see how he kept finding himself in such brilliant positions to be pushed and then nothing being made of it.

Back when he had his intellectual savoir thing going I genuinely found him to be one of the most enjoyable parts of Raw each week. When he won money in the bank I nearly shit myself in excitement and I thought from there he was made. Then it all went to shit, as you say... it must have been around that time that he punched Vince in the dick or something.

I remember being in the crowd for WM31 in the andre the giant battle royale when it just made so much sense for him to win that. He was as over as anybody on that card that day. Fucking Sting wrestled his first ever WWE match on that day and didn't get as big a reaction as Sandow. Then of course Big Show won, which made total sense.

So yes, overall it's a real gut punch. You know, I only actually went and met 3 people at Axxess this year, and Sandow was one of them. He seemed a really top bloke and I'm happy that I got the chance to meet the guy before they let go of him.

I really hope he gets a bit of a Daniel Bryan treatment now... when Bryan was sacked there was an absolute outcry from the fans, chanting his name at every given opportunity to get him back... and look where that led. And obviously, there's the difference for Bryan between being shat on at WM29 compared to being the focus of the show for WM30. Sometimes, WWE treating a great performer like shit can be the catalyst for a better career than they would have ever had otherwise... hoping it's the case with Sandow too. I just question whether enough fans really care about him enough to start and then consistently keep some kind of movement to try to get him rehired.

 

[T.A]

Brock Lesner was in a promo for UFC - looks like he's back there for a bit

 

[JustinQPR]

One night only deal for 200, will be back for SummerSlam.

Very interested to see who they have him fight, hardly the best of looks for Vince if he gets pounded out in July then comes back as an unbeatable monster for August.

 

[Stevencc]

Nicole Bass, George "the animal" Steele and Ivan Koloff have all joined Chavo Guerrero Sr in that great ring in the sky.

 

[Smally]

Vader has said he doesn't have long left either

 

[Stevencc]

I love A. J. Styles but does anyone else think that the Styles Clash is just a really crap finisher?

 

[Oaf]

Yeah, it's not great. I feel like a lot of people have pretty poor finishers right now. Seth Rollins had one of the best finishers in years in the curb stomp, but after dropping that his pedigree was never quite on point, and now his knee thing... eh. It's one of those moves that doesn't really feel like a finisher. Ambrose Dirty Deeds ain't all that either. And staying on the Shield topic, I think that Reigns does pull off a good spear, but he's like the 39285th person to use it as a finisher so it kind of feels a little stale.

This being said, there are still some good ones out there. Kevin Owens pop up powerbomb is great, as is Wyatts Sister Abigail. And we still have Randy Orton around who, while not exactly the most exciting person on the roster, still has/executes one of the best finishers ever in my view.

Anyway, I forgot about this thread, and check it out, after meaning to update it once in a while, I haven't touched it in over a year. So let's update it right fuckin' now.

Top 5:

AJ Styles - Because how could it not be? Best in the world right now, and feels like a case of if he was around for the last 10 years or so as he should have been he'd have been in with a shout of being the best of all time. So damn consistent, absolutely always delivers.

Braun Strowman - I'm not really one to back another big typical Vince Mcmahon monster type, but fucking hell, Braun has actually delivered. He's been a pleasure to watch... though maybe we're all biased because it's just so fun watching him beat the fuck out of Roman. What a crying shame this guy got shafted at Wrestlemania, and is now injured.

Alexa Bliss - Because she's absolutely owning the womens division now. And right now, she's out performing all of the rest of the women, for me, even the so called 4 horse women.

The Miz - Moves up from honorable mentions to the top 5. He's been great for a long, long time now... there were fears that he'd take somewhat of a back seat when moving to Raw, but luckily there's been no evidence of that so far. He's probably the best he's ever been right now, and I say that as a guy who thought that back when he main evented Wrestlemania, he was absolutely worthy of it.

Shinsuke Nakamura - I was actually considering putting him in the "need to see improvements" list, but I guess I was basing that on the lack of actually seeing him in a WWE ring so far. His entrance is still one of the most fun things to watch in WWE, and that unique charisma of his means that he steals your attention every time he's on screen.

Honorable mentions:

Neville and Austin Aries for making the cruiserweight division feel a lot more relevant and important than ever thought possible.

Samoa Joe is killing it right now.

Bobby Roode is basically single handedly carrying NXT.

The Hardy Boyz comeback is still cool, all these months on.

Sheamus and Cesaro are fun as hell to watch.

Elias Samson!

5 in need of improvement:

Kevin Owens - He was top last time, and while I still like him, I feel that he's not been at his best for a while. Since winning the title and being completely outshone by Jericho, he's never really recovered and reclaimed his former glory. I don't doubt that he will, but hurry up Kevin. Plus I'm not really dig his whole face of America thing... putting somebody the calibre of Kevin Owens in such a generic, "oh look, I'm not American, hate me!" role feels like a waste. No doubt he'll kill it, but he's capable of so much more.

Jinder Mahal - Ok, he's the champion now, let's get over that. Now it's time for him to step up and prove worthy of it.

Finn Balor - Yeah, still. He is slowly winning me over... but it feels like his been doing it slowly for a long time, now. He needs to hurry up and have that moment that makes him suddenly worthy of his enormous praise/push.

Seth Rollins - Because he's one of the best wrestlers on the planet, but he's just felt lost pretty much since his comeback. He never really seems to be doing anything interesting, barring his feud with Triple H, and he feels as if he's capable of so much more.

Gallows and Anderson - I've been waiting for these guys to win me over, but it dawned on me that these two have been in it ages now. If they're still as "meh" now as they were then, and have never actually shown any signs of improvement, I think it's safe to say that these two just ain't that interesting. The only time these two have ever entertained me has been when Gallows calls people a nerd. If they got released tomorrow, I'm not sure anybody would miss them.

 

[Smally]

Gallows & Anderson haven't done a thing for me to make me care one way or the other about them.

My current fave 5:

AJ
Owens
Wyatt
Bliss
Neville

 

[iesty wfc]

current top 5 (in no order)
tyler bate
bobby roooooooo!
pete dunne
kenny omega
seth rollins

 

[Stevencc]

current top 5 (in no order)
tyler bate
bobby roooooooo!
pete dunne
kenny omega
seth rollins

Bloody hipster!

Rollins
Joe
Asuka
Nikki Cross
Mahal

 

[iesty wfc]

Haha I cant help it but every time I see bate I cant believe he is only 19

Their match at Nxt takeover won me over on dunne and I have seen enough of omega to think that he is pretty damn good.I would imagine wwe bound within a year

Plus some of their british based stuff is great. They did a ppv recently called glitched and they swapped gimmicks! And the british strong style stable is good too

 

[Stevencc]

I just found out that Vader has died.

He was one of the very best 'monsters' and the first big wrestler with athleticism and aerial ability that I saw.

He was great.