The Wrestling Thread Will Take You Out, Like On a Date

[Wheels]

The WWE has mishandled both Miz and Del Rio. Del Rio should have stayed on Smackdown and Miz title reign was horrible. Miz should have beat the living hell out of Lawler in that first match by using any means necessary. Making an out of shape announcer look better than a guy your investing so much in, is completely stupid.

Del Rio is not ready to be the top heel on RAW. He needs to work on his promos and a mid-card run would have helped too.

 

[Lobo]

So guys who do you think has the better upside Cody, or Dolph? When it's all said and done, who will have had the better career?

Also as there has been a lot of Taker talk lately, where would you guys rate him among the all time greats? I'm not a huge fan, but I definitely have him in my top 10 maybe even top 5. I respect the hell out of him.

 

[Wheels]

In terms of star power or talent?

 

[Lobo]

Overall, star power, talent in the ring and on the mic, longevity, impact on the business etc.

 

[venom892]

Overall I'd say easily Taker is top ten. I agree this new Kane could be money. I can imagine an epic Kane/Sheamus WM match.

 

[Metallo]

So guys who do you think has the better upside Cody, or Dolph? When it's all said and done, who will have had the better career?

Also as there has been a lot of Taker talk lately, where would you guys rate him among the all time greats? I'm not a huge fan, but I definitely have him in my top 10 maybe even top 5. I respect the hell out of him.

Hmmm...Dolph has the better look and in ring skill but Cody has the mic skill and personality. It really is a toss up. As of right now I'd say...Cody by a hair. He's proven he can take any gimmick no matter how far out and make it work. WWE has shown you don't have to be amazing in the ring to get the push.

Cody is very good though and if The Miz can get a push to the top then I know Cody can. He's better than Miz all around. Cody just has to work at become a more intimidating heel.

Dolph will always have a spot as a top workhorse in the company and if he can really develop his skills at portrayal a character and talking then HE could easily be the bigger star of the two. Like I said its almost too close to call because they're both so good at what they do and two of the top young prospects in WWE.

As for Taker he's definitely in my top 10. He never had the star power of Rock Austin Hogan or Flair but he's a great athlete. Arguably the best big man ever. he had a great gimmick which he was successful at evolving. His tenure is incredible as well.

 

[Wheels]

Overall, star power, talent in the ring and on the mic, longevity, impact on the business etc.

1. Ric Flair
2. Hulk Hogan
3. Steve Austin
4. The Rock
5. Randy Savage
6. Shawn Michaels
7. Undertaker
8. Triple H

and after that is when it gets hard for me to rank them.

I believe if Flair had the WWF machine backing him, then he would've been the bigger star. If you put Hogan in JCP. He would be around No. 4 in terms of star power.

 

[Hunter Rider]

The criteria makes it hard to balance out a top 10 as some guys are very lopsided. I'll say this, HBK and Taker are 1 and 2 as the greatest big match workers ever IMO, and they also have the greatest longevity in terms of the high standard of their body of work.

As for Dolph and Cody, I'd say Cody has has had more mic time and developed well, Dolph is just starting to find himself in that area. Dolph is the guy I enjoy watching in the ring the most these days, but his style may lead to more injuries than Cody's safer style, which could hurt Dolph's chances at sustaining a top spot. However I'd say if Dolph can keep injury free and continue to progress on the mic, he'll be the bigger star of the two.

 

[bullets]

So guys who do you think has the better upside Cody, or Dolph? When it's all said and done, who will have had the better career?

Also as there has been a lot of Taker talk lately, where would you guys rate him among the all time greats? I'm not a huge fan, but I definitely have him in my top 10 maybe even top 5. I respect the hell out of him.

Both are improving. I think Cody has more personality and will fit in the main event scene. Ziggler is better in the ring and will possibly become better on the mic.
It's really a toss up but I think Rhodes has a slight advantage.



As for Undertaker, I think maybe in the top 15 and after some of the best wrestlers of all time. There's a few people I'd put before him but he is up there.

 

[Wheels]

If I didn't have to take star power/drawing into account, then one name wouldn't be on my list. Three guesses who.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

-- To celebrate TNA Wrestling's upcoming tour of the United Kingdom, Challenge have teamed up with the wrestling organization to run a competition which includes a first place prize of dinner with Velvet Sky. Details are available here.

i'll be honest stuff like this always creeped me out. who would enter stuff like that it would just be a little too weird

 

[DBryan]

Haha yeah it would just be very awkward.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

lol even if she did like you, the shaven gorilla's in suits watching the whole thing would kinda kill the mood

 

[Dr. Evil]

Watching NXT, I know why now that season five has turned NXT into a basically third brand:

- The WWE wants to air the season five finale on WWE Network.

I have an idea for NXT though. Don't know if it will be a good idea though.

 

[bullets]

If I didn't have to take star power/drawing into account, then one name wouldn't be on my list. Three guesses who.

Hogan!

lol even if she did like you, the shaven gorilla's in suits watching the whole thing would kinda kill the mood

I'd probably kill the mood by bombarding her with wrestling questions anyway.

 

[Pink Ranger]

-- To celebrate TNA Wrestling's upcoming tour of the United Kingdom, Challenge have teamed up with the wrestling organization to run a competition which includes a first place prize of dinner with Velvet Sky. Details are available here.

source: PWInsider.com

Second prize: nothing
Third prize: Matt Morgan kicks you in the head
Fourth prize: 8 hours in Jeff Hardy's van

 

[Wheels]

Hogan!

Dimg ding diing!!! We have a winner.

I'm mean if we were talking about the best all around performers in wrestling Hogan wouldn't even make the top 20.

 

[Mister Meddle]

The problem with Del Rio is he was too hot too soon. IMO he was at his peak shortly after he made his debut. This is why superstars should start from the bottom of the card and work their way up. Carlito suffered the same fate. He was interesting in the beginning of his career because they fully utilized what he was capable of. When it came to the point that he deserved a better push he suddenly became very stale. A new gimmick could have saved his career but at that point I found his act to be repetitive and boring. But at this point it's hard to repackage Del Rio just to make him interesting again. Not only that but they missed the boat with him earlier this year. He won the Royal Rumble just to get placed in the opening match and lose his World title match.

As for the Miz. Charismatic? Yes. Talented? Definitely. The only problem is his character. When you think of wrestling greats they were all unique in their own way. Hogan was the first super hero of wrestling. Warrior was the genetic freak, "out of this world" type of guy. Bret was the technical wrestler. Austin was the anti-hero. Rock was the charismatic guy that was incredibly hilarious and he was somebody that we could take seriously. But The Miz..... ? Sometimes you need more than talent to cut it. All what he has going for him is his cheap "I'm awesome" slogan and that badass video package that was shown at WrestleMania earlier this year. It says something when R Truth was the one keeping Awesome Truth interesting.

This is proof that the WWE's realistic approach is straight out boring. I don't want to cheer for somebody that I can relate to. I want to cheer for somebody that is somebody that I could never be. Characters that we can't find anywhere other than the USA Network, Monday nights at 8PM.

 

[TripleR]

I don't even think it's a problem with putting people towards the top too soon. In some cases that works like with Lesnar. The problem is putting them up there then booking them terribly. He seemed to lose 3 times for every 1 big win. If you want to make some one an instant star it CAN be done, just not when they are booked like that because then no one takes them seriously.

 

[Wheels]

CM Punk blows a hole in your theory, as does Steve Austin. Both are relatable.

 

[Mister Meddle]

I don't even think it's a problem with putting people towards the top too soon. In some cases that works like with Lesnar. The problem is putting them up there then booking them terribly. He seemed to lose 3 times for every 1 big win. If you want to make some one an instant star it CAN be done, just not when they are booked like that because then no one takes them seriously.

I have admit it took me about a year to actually like Lesnar. From the time he made his debut all the way through SummerSlam 2002 he was just an ordinary monster-like character. It was a good way to build him up but I felt that it all happened too soon.

I became a Lesnar fan around the time of WrestleMania 19 when he was a likeable character. As much as I like/d Heyman it gave Lesnar the freedom to become his own person and to be a character that's much more than the typical monster character.

 

[Nightmare]

The WWE has mishandled both Miz and Del Rio. Del Rio should have stayed on Smackdown and Miz title reign was horrible. Miz should have beat the living hell out of Lawler in that first match by using any means necessary. Making an out of shape announcer look better than a guy your investing so much in, is completely stupid.

Del Rio is not ready to be the top heel on RAW. He needs to work on his promos and a mid-card run would have helped too.

Completely Agree.

 

[Mister Meddle]

CM Punk blows a hole in your theory, as does Steve Austin. Both are relatable.

Not at all. CM Punk and Austin are only a couple of examples and they don't represent every superstar that ever stepped foot in a WWE ring. I was talking about the "relating to the superstars" in general. This kind of thing only works with selective superstars. Very few. As we know majority of the superstars aren't as gifted as either of the two. That's why the general realistic approach just isn't working in the WWE. It should be a mixed bag. I should've elaborated on this a bit better in my previous post.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

I really like The Miz, but something about him lacks. He looks to baby faced/clean to have an effect as an aggressive heel. I'd like a babyface run.

Del Rio would have been better off in his mask. Bringing in Cara was a huge mistake and Dos Caras would've had a better pay off.

 

[Wheels]

Not at all. CM Punk and Austin are only a couple of examples and they don't represent every superstar that ever stepped foot in a WWE ring. This kind of thing only works with selective superstars. Very few. As we know majority of the superstars aren't as gifted as either of the two. That's why the general realistic approach just isn't working in the WWE. It should be a mixed bag. I should've elaborated better when I was talking about relating to the superstars.

Yeah, it kinda sounded like a blanket statement, but I agree that the realistic approach doesn't work for everyone. We need more characters.