The Roster Rating Project

In the coming week or two, I plan to rank every wrestler on the WWE roster (That's 57 male wrestlers and 17 Divas according to WWE.com) based on my personal evaluation of their:

• In-ring talent: Wrestling ability, ring psychology and athleticism
  
• Mic skills: How good they are with interviews and promos
  
• Acting ability: They may not be Oscar-material, but can they pull off decent facial expressions and convey a range of emotions both physically and verbally?
  
• Charisma, presence and "it"factor: That undefinable characteristic that fills arenas
  
• Consistency in performance: How often they live up to their potential
  
• Character development: How interesting their on-screen personnas are; have they evolved or become stale?
  
• Overall value to the company

I'll assign grades in each of the above categories, with options being Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Average, Poor, Very Poor and Terrible

I'll present it in a countdown format, starting with the Divas soon.

This list is only my opinion, and I'd love to debate it.

Of course, since nobody reads my blog, that might be a little hard to achieve....

WWE Smackdown (June 5 2009) Review: The Best Wrestling Show

Once again, WWE Smackdown proved to be the most entertaining show of the week. With a great mix of veterans and great midcard talent, promos and wrestling, and very importantly, the absence of booking boogeymen like Triple H and John Cena, Smackdown is the most complete show in wrestling today.
I'll give some quick thoughts on this week's show, as I'm sleepy...

• The Edge-Hardy ladder match has been promoted well, not that it needs it. Opening the show with The Cutting Edge featuring Hardy, with ladders all over the place was nice. The two superstars again interacted very well with each other, this time with each of them seated atop a ladder. The segment ended with Edge shoving Hardy's ladder, sending him abdomen-first into the ropes and onto the floor. Looked painful.
• Edge vs. Mysterio was great. It would have been shocking if it were anything but. I really like how Edge has been getting a lot more clean victories lately.
• It was surprising to see Punk vs. Umaga two days before their PPV clash, but they had a very good match, surpassing their decent effort at Judgment Day. Punk won, which is always a good thing. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do different at Extreme Rules.
• The verbal sparring and subsequent match between Jericho and R-Truth was very entertaining. Jericho is simply untouchable on the mic right now, and it was nice to see R-Truth getting some new lines too. The match wasn't bad at all either, although the Codebreaker was slightly botched at the end. Nice to see R-Truth getting to rub shoulders with Jericho
• In theory, Benjamin vs. Morrison is a fantastic feud, but I'm really disappointed that Shelton keeps jobbing to Morrison. Nothing against Morrison, I just think it's high time Benjamin got a push. He's too talented to be midcard fodder. I can't understand why he just can't seem to get past that certain level.
• Dolph Ziggler is looking more impressive with each passing week...
• Would it be possible to have Maria referee all your matches, Vince? Please?

Best Performers: (1) Rey Mysterio (2) Edge (3) CM Punk

Best Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Edge

Best Promo: Edge

WWE ECW (June 2 2009) Review: Christian Is Solid, And The New Kidd On The Block Is Looking Good

The main event of this week's edition of ECW pitted Tyson Kidd against the champ, Christian. Kidd has looked really promising since his debut, with some really good matches, with ones against Evan Bourne and Finlay standing out in my memory. His match with Christian can now be added to that tally. It was a good, solid, wrestling match that gave the young guy a great rub by being in the ring with a classy veteran like Christian. Christian picked up the win, as he shoul, but not before elevating Kidd in our eyes.

• Tommy Dreamer cut a promo that he said could be his last one (I hope it is), but after being interrupted by Jack Swagger, he changed his mind and promised to win the title at Extreme Rules. I realy don't connect to Dreamer as a character. If he turned heel by somehow cheating to win the title, or better yet, by losing and refusing to honour his word that he would retire, he could be a little more interesting.
• For the first time, I really noticed Zack Ryder in his match against some local athlete. Ryder showed good aggression and personality, something that hasn't really come out before. I was pleasantly surprised. There seems to be a wave of young talent sweeping WWE, and I look forward to seeing what Ryder has in store.
• Mark Henry vs. Evan Bourne was all right. Looks like Henry's going to keep picking up fluke losses that will end with him ditching Tony Atlas. Who cares, did you say?

Best Performers: (1) Christian (2) Tyson Kidd (3) Zack Ryder

Best Match: Tyson Kidd vs. Christian

Best Promo: Jack Swagger

WWE Raw (1 June 2009) Review: MVP Is Ballin’… Kingston Goes Boom Boom Boom!

Two fantastic, extremely talented performers had a wonderful title match that breathed life into an otherwise dull and insipid show. And they weren’t Randy Orton and Batista, who will be headlining the RAW side of things this Sunday at Extreme Rules.

The show-stealing performance came from MVP and Kofi Kingston, whose US Title Match on the show turned out to be one of the best matches we’ve seen this year. Also, they’re hitting their stride at a time when the main event scene in WWE has become somewhat stale. If the creative team is looking at elevating talent to the top, and they should, then these two haven’t hurt their case at all with that awesome match. Oh, and the big news is that Kofi Kingston won the title. The manner in which it was done, with a quick counter turned into a surprise pin, suggests that there’s more to come between these two, and I can’t wait.
· Speaking of the main event, Randy Orton spent this edition of RAW being beaten up and kicked around by the 60-year-old Ric Flair in a “Parking Lot Brawl”, which was a way of making Flair fight without actually wrestling. Orton was being completely thrashed by Flair after answering his challenge, until Legacy arrived to make the save. I think I understand why they brought in Flair for the angle, to get the fans behind Batista even more, and possibly set up a heel turn later, but having him physically dominate the 29 year old WWE Champion who’s the future of the business is just ridiculous. Add to that Orton’s recent spate of beatings from Shane McMahon, and I can’t fault the fans who are complaining about WWE taking away Orton’s heat and credibility.
· Rumour has it that Ted Dibiase is turning babyface late this year. They may have been a hint of foreshadowing of this in a backstage vignette, where he tried to dissuade Orton from fighting Flair. He even faintly criticized Cody Rhodes’ performance too in the cage match with Batista earlier in the night.
· Vickie Guerrero picked a “random” tag team partner for Cena to face the team of Big Show and The Miz, which turned out to be Chavo. Nice idea, effectively making it a 3-on-1 handicap match. But can someone explain to me why the hell Chavo stole the win by pinning Miz? On a side note, I’m really starting to like The Miz. I personally love his promos, though I know a lot of people find him annoying. He has come a long, long way in the ring too, and I could see him in the US Title picture in the near future.
· I enjoyed the tag match between the Colons and Hardy/Regal. I like that they’re getting TV time. Hopefully they have something interesting planned for Hardy and Regal.
· Santino Marella vs. Vickie Guerrero was just painful to watch. The slop that Vickie brought to the ring in two buckets was disgusting. At one point, Hardy and Regal interfered (presumably in exchange for some favour from Vickie) Santino swung the bucket at them, sending slop flying all over the place. I hope nobody in the audience sued…

Best Performers: (1) MVP (2) Kofi Kingston (3) Randy Orton
Best Match: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP (United States Championship)
Best Promo: The Miz

TNA Impact (May 28 2009) Review: A Night Of Comebacks

I missed the first half hour or so of Impact, so I can’t comment on the Amazing Red vs. Suicide (X-Division Title) and Cody Deaner vs. Doug Williams (Ladder) matches. Apparently there was also a promo by the Mafia, primarily Sting, in which he used his new status as the Godfather to boot out Sharmell and Jenna from the faction. (Thank god!) It should be interesting to see what direction Sting takes from here.

The significant news is that three performers returned from wrestling wilderness on the show. Victoria (as a new challenger to Angelina Love), Raven (aligning with Dr. Stevie as he assaulted Abyss), and Shane Douglas (unclear what his role will be)

The other important developments were the two King of the Mountain Qualifying matches for Slammiversary. AJ Stlyes took on and defeated Daniels in a nice match, while Eric Young lost to Jeff Jarrett, and then turned heel, attacking him. I think Young will be effective as a heel, since he’s shown promise with a few dissatisfied and frustrated promos in recent weeks.

Also, Mick Foley cut a promo saying that after Slammiversary, he’s only going to defend the title once a year to safeguard it’s prestige, or something along those lines. I guess it’s a safe bet the title will change hands at the pay-per-view…

Best Performers: (1) AJ Styles (2) Daniels (3) Eric Young
Best Match: AJ Styles vs. Daniels (King Of The Mountain Qualifying Match)
Best Promo: Raven