The Smart Marks WWE 30

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Welcome on and all to the very first installment of what we at Thesmartmarks.com hope to become a staple of our site in the future and the present, TheSmartMark30! What you have on your screen right now is a definitive listing of WWE's most well known stars, ranking them according to ten categories on a ten-point scale, to determine who exactly is the finest worker in the federation both in and out of the ring. Granted this is all our opinion, and we recommend that you all fret over the rankings as much as possible on the Smartmark Board. Go do that now, before you even read the listings. For those of you that don't listen to instruction, the categories used for our analysis were…

 

Aerial Ability (AA): This category takes into account the skill a worker has once he leaves his feet from either the mat or the top rope. We consider the use of a dropkick, a moonsault, or a top rope clothesline to be aerial ability.

 

Bumping (BP): This category measures the worker's ability to take their opponents offensive maneuvers. The worker's long term selling of the fall is not covered under bumping, as we felt as though that was covered more accurately under psychology.

 

Charisma (CH): Charisma measures just how much a worker can get the fans either to boo or cheer them. This category takes into account work on the microphone as well as the charisma they bring to the ring.

 

Gimmick (GK): This category takes into account the look of the wrestler as well as how well they play their designated role in the ring whether it be as simple as big strong guy or as complex as beer drinking redneck who hates authority.

 

Psychology (PS): Selling, building towards finishes, showing fatigue, and countering other people's routine moves is what makes up this category.

 

Ring Awareness (RA): Does the worker know where he is in the ring at all times, know how to cut the ring off, know how to position himself to use the ropes, and know how to run into a turnbuckle without looking like an idiot? All of those factors fall under the umbrella of ring awareness.

 

Speed (SP): This category examines the speed with which the worker can move, duck, dodge and weave.

 

Strength (ST): Can the worker move his opponents around the ring with ease? That ability is measured in strength.

 

Striking (SK): Covered in this category are punches, kicks, chops, knees, and clotheslines in all their forms and variations.

 

Technical Skills (TS): This category is essentially a catch all that measures such a variety of abilities as the use of suplexes, mat wrestling, submissions, and a variety of other holds that are not otherwise identifiable as any of the other categories. If the skill is not found anywhere else, it most likely falls under technical skills.

 

Well, now that the categories are explained and out of the way, let us move onto what we all came here to see. We proudly present number 30….

 

 

30.

The Big Show

Total: 33.7

AA 1.0 BP 2.1 CH 4.6 GK 3.9 PS 1.9 RA 2.7 SP 1.3 ST 9.6 SK 4.7 TS 2.0

 

The sad thing about The Big Show is that his lack of motivation and weight gain has hampered what could have been an outstanding career. When Show is motivated, he can be quite the entertaining performer. His Saturday Night Live skits and "Showster" gimmick are proof that he's got personality, if he's ever allowed to showcase it. But he's often pushed into the rather played-out role of the unstoppable monster instead. As far as his ring skills are concerned, Big Show's weight has continued to be a problem. When at his slimmest, Show was able to leapfrog the top rope and do nip-ups. However, that side of Show seldom seems to surface anymore, and we are left, more often than not, with a big fat slug that stinks up the ring on a nightly basis. Big Show has to work on the areas of his game that aren't dependant on his quickness, like his psychology, ring awareness, and technical skills if he is ever going to mature into a major player in the wrestling world.

 

29.

"Hollywood" Hulk Hogan

Total: 33.8

AA 0.6 BP 2.1 CH 9.0 GK 5.6 PS 2.1 RA 3.1 SP 1.7 ST 5.5 SK 2.4 TS 1.6

 

What's the point in really saying anything? Hulk sucks in the ring, but he's got great charisma. Quite frankly, that has been the hallmark of his entire career. His strikes are and always have been embarrassingly bad. So bad they have actually reached the "business-exposing" level of awful. And Hogan, even at his peak, was never a technical marvel. Now, he's even more deteriorated as a worker where at least, in the past, he had strength and bumping to get him through matches. Now he doesn't even have those going for him. The nostalgia thing was fun once against The Rock, but the horse is most definitely dead, reeking, covered in flies, and beating it really will not yield any more results. Hogan may have earned his reputation as a topflight draw, but he's had his day and it is time to think about putting the finishing touches on his career.

 

28.

Bradshaw

Total: 40.4

AA 1.4 BP 3.0 CH 4.5 GK 3.7 PS 2.9 RA 3.7 SP 3.9 ST 7.0 SK 7.6 TS 2.7

 

Bradshaw seems to be a very stiff striker, but the sad fact is that there just isn't a whole lot else to him. Bradshaw's speed, bumping, and psychology are barely adequate and his aerial ability is horribly bad. His APA gimmick was fun, but its dead as a doornail and he needs to move beyond it. Sadly, he's just not charismatic enough to make his newer "Texas tough guy" gimmick work in anywhere other than his home state. Bradshaw will continue to get by in the middle of the card with some stiff striking and using some of Razor Ramon's old offense; but that is just not enough to qualify him for elevation any time in the future.

 

27.

Maven

Total: 44.0

AA 4.5 BP 5.6 CH 5.2 GK 4.1 PS 3.4 RA 3.1 SP 5.9 ST 4.4 SK 4.3 TS 3.5

 

At this point in his career, Maven is just a very, very average wrestler who wouldn't have a hope in hell if it weren't for Tough Enough. He can at least be carried to good matches by opponents and/or tag partners, which is something, but it is going to take time for him to polish his work enough to become a real player on the WWE roster. Maven's bumping and speed are his best points right now, but he has to watch that the injuries to his legs don't hamper his movement in the years to come. Another test is going to be how well he sheds the Tough Enough gimmick and moves onto more character development. But most importantly, Maven has to gain experience that will build up his ring awareness and technical skills if he's ever going to achieve anything significant.

 

26.

Chuck

Total: 44.6

AA 3.3 BP 5.0 CH 4.1 GK 5.3 PS 3.9 RA 4.1 SP 4.5 ST 6.1 SK 4.4 TS 3.9

 

We remember back to when Chuck was in WCW and he was able to actually wrestle a little bit. Right now, Billy's the one carrying the team, which kind of speaks for itself. Chuck has been reduced to a belly-to-belly suplex and the jungle kick, which is limiting his technical skills. Chuck still bumps well and is pretty strong, but that's about all you can say about his in-ring abilities. Good thing he got cast into the Billy & Chuck gimmick, since it is about the only time he's ever really been over.

 

25.

Test

Total: 45.0

AA 3.9 BP 4.6 CH 3.3 GK 3.4 PS 4.1 RA 4.5 SP 4.3 ST 6.9 SK 5.6 TS 4.4

 

The problem with Test is that it seems as though he can kick it up a notch when he tries, but spends most of his life just plodding through matches. For a man of his size and build, Test seems to have a good grasp of the physical skills like strength, striking, and some of the best speed for a big man but his mind and personality just haven't caught up. His charisma, gimmick and psychology have been continual weak points in his matches since his debut. Test needs to get a personality that the fans care for, but on the same token, WWE needs to follow through on his pushes and not cut it off at the knees if it hasn't succeeded in two weeks' time. And why don't they let him drop the top rope elbow any more? It seems as though they've got all these big guys who can fly (like Brock Lesnar and Mike Awesome) and they do everything they can do ground them. Weird.

 

24.

Rikishi

Total: 45.1

AA 2.6 BP 4.6 CH 5.1 GK 4.4 PS 4.1 RA 4.6 SP 3.7 ST 6.6 SK 5.4 TS 4.1

 

While Rikishi shows flashes of what he was back in 2000, he's generally just become just another generic fat guy. If this were a year ago, he'd have scored a lot higher on a number of the categories. But the fact is, Rikishi's time is done, and it would probably be a good thing if we really didn't see him in the ring any more. Yeah, he's got charisma, and yeah, he's got a couple of decent moves, but he's really, really stale, and his TV time would be better used elsewhere. Man, that heel turn killed his career DEAD, didn't it?

 

23.

Billy

Total: 45.2

AA 3.3 BP 4.7 CH 4.1 GK 5.1 PS 3.6 RA 4.3 SP 5.4 ST 6.4 SK 4.6 TS 3.7

 

We feel as though Billy makes for a half-decent tag team heel but that is all he is ever going to amount to in our opinion. Billy can bump well and has half decent speed but he can be a complete mess in the ring by blowing up and screwing up spots (as reflected in his low technical skill rating). He hasn't really gone aerial since he was a Smokin' Gunn and has never really been able to maintain charisma since he was a New Age Outlaw. The "gay" gimmick seems to work okay with Chuck as a tag team. But let's face it, if Billy couldn't have a good match with either Chris Benoit or The Rock, how can he ever be a singles star?

 

22.

Brock Lesnar

Total: 46.1

AA 2.3 BP 3.5 CH 4.1 GK 4.9 PS 4.2 RA 4.1 SP 4.6 ST 8.6 SK 4.7 TS 5.0

 

Since we haven't seen too much of Brock in serious competition yet it is pretty hard to judge some of his more abstract skills like ring awareness and technical skills. It's also difficult to separate what you hear about a worker and what you actually see them do. Sure he can pull off a shooting star press and is a NCAA wrestling champion, but he hasn't exhibited those skills in WWE as of press time. What is not up for debate is the strength of a man who can manhandle Rikishi like Brock has done. The thing about Brock is that he's going to have to take time to develop himself by working with seasoned veterans who can call his matches. That period of time is also where Lesnar has to shake the Goldberg comparisons before they poison his career.

 

21.

The Undertaker

Total: 48.5

AA 2.4 BP 3.7 CH 5.6 GK 6.6 PS 4.9 RA 5.7 SP 3.2 ST 6.9 SK 4.9 TS 4.5

 

The Undertaker is an odd case where as his physical skills have diminished, he's developed a more well rounded approach to his game. Undertaker's psychology has dramatically improved his selling to the point where he's actually selling for guys like Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton now, and he always seems to be where he needs to be in the ring regardless of how poor his speed is. It’s a real shame that Undertaker didn't do this while in his physical prime. Anyway, even though Undertaker's gimmick as a redneck bully is working, he just doesn't have the charisma to be the top draw of the company, and should not be in the standard bearer position as WWE Undisputed Champion.

 

20.

Bubba Ray Dudley

Total: 50.3

AA 3.4 BP 6.3 CH 6.4 GK 4.7 PS 4.2 RA 5.5 SP 4.0 ST 6.1 SK 5.2 TS 4.4

 

The story on Bubba is that he bumps really well, and has decent matches more often than not. The issue with Bubba is that he hardly ever gets above that decent range and into the really good unless there are tables a plenty around to use. His gimmick is totally stale right now, heck, what IS his gimmick now? Bubba should also find himself another finisher since The Buh-Buh Bomb is really just a variation of the atomic drop.

 

19.

Goldust

Total: 50.4

AA 2.4 BP 5.1 CH 6.6 GK 7.2 PS 5.2 RA 5.0 SP 4.0 ST 4.9 SK 5.1 TS 4.9

 

Goldust's gimmick has been on an interesting evolutionary track since he first began hitting on Razor Ramon. No longer playing the homoerotic stalker, Goldust is instead is playing the less- bizarre-but-still-freaky role buddy role as Booker T's sidekick. But underneath the gimmick, Goldust is still a serviceable worker with passable bumping, psychology, and striking. Only a complete lack of aerial ability keeps Goldust from being an all around good wrestler. But even if Goldust improved that part of his game, he would never be considered the best of the best.

 

18.

The Reverend D-Von

Total: 51.6

AA 4.9 BP 6.6 CH 6.2 GK 4.9 PS 4.2 RA 5.2 SP 4.4 ST 5.1 SK 5.1 TS 5.0

 

D-Von seems to be able to put a whole lot of skills together to form a rather average whole. He doesn't have a whole lot of weak points, but he also doesn't appear to have anything that makes him look especially strong either. Even one of his better attributes, charisma, is being harmed a little bit by his preacher gimmick and bringing it back down into a lower range. D-Von does bump like a maniac though, and that’s got to be considered his best attribute.

 

17.

X-Pac

Total: 51.8

AA 5.6 BP 5.6 CH 4.9 GK 3.9 PS 4.9 RA 5.3 SP 6.9 ST 3.8 SK 5.4 TS 5.4

 

He is X-Pac and we all hate him. Next. Actually, X-Pac's charisma is one of the hardest things in wrestling to rate. On one hand, he draws thunderous boos; on the other can he draw anything else? Hence the average scores for that ability. X-Pac still is one of the speediest guys you are ever going to see and has a number of fine strikes when he uses his lower body. X-Pac's problem is that he is wildly inconsistent in the ring and it is incredibly hard to figure out which of his attitudes are going to show up, the lazy bastard, or the committed wrester.

 

 

16.

Matt Hardy

Total: 52.9

AA 6.4 BP 6.4 CH 4.0 GK 4.4 PS 5.1 RA 5.6 SP 6.6 ST 4.5 SK 4.4 TS 5.4

 

Matt may be a better in-ring wrestler than Jeff, but he's just not as much fun to watch. Still, the fact that he doesn't try to kill himself whenever he wrestles probably means that he'll be around long enough to improve. Most people are pretty indifferent to Matt most of the time, mainly because like Jeff he's totally stale and has the charisma of a brick. His other problem is that, unlike Jeff, Matt doesn't offset his problems with an awesome set of aerial moves and maniacal bumping, not that Matt is dreadful in those areas. Matt probably should have been allowed to go full tilt during his heel turn in order to freshen up his act and separate himself from Jeff.

 

 

15.

Jeff Hardy

Total: 53.4

AA 7.6 BP 8.2 CH 4.6 GK 4.4 PS 4.1 RA 5.4 SP 7.7 ST 3.7 SK 3.4 TS 4.4

 

Well, he can still bump but jeez - can Jeff even do anything else any more? Everything he does now is insanely sloppy as his move set, crispness, and general all-round ability have all nose-dived since he lost the Hardcore strap to Rob Van Dam. His psychology, ring awareness, and technical skills have been falling steadily for months now and they weren't exactly stellar at the beginning. He also shows no signs that he's improving in the strength and striking areas since his debut. Jeff is also about as charismatic as a piece of plywood and his promos are just about the worse ever seen on WWE television. Jeff has just been stuck in such a rut that he's lost all focus on improving himself.

 

14.

Triple H

Total: 54.3

AA 2.1 BP 5.6 CH 5.4 GK 5.6 PS 6.5 RA 6.7 SP 3.8 ST 6.9 SK 6.0 TS 5.6

 

If Triple H would just drop some muscle mass, go get healthy, and maybe stop moving like a slug, he would start busting out 5* matches again. But as of right now, Triple H does not have the same form he did before his injury. His bumping and speed are slowly returning but it’s unknown whether he’ll ever come all the way back, or if he’s going to fall back from his prime. His striking (with the noted exception of the high knee), strength, psychology, and ring awareness are still above average but the pace of his matches have slowed down so much, it makes them hard to fully appreciate. Tripe H has also obviously got a lot of charisma, but his raspy, droning promos are just mind numbing to listen to while he’s stuck in the face role.

 

13.

Raven

Total: 54.4

AA 3.4 BP 6.3 CH 6.3 GK 6.0 PS 5.8 RA 6.1 SP 4.8 ST 5.0 SK 5.2 TS 5.5

 

If you were not an ECW fan, you probably won't really get Raven's ranking here. Since getting into WWE, Raven has been held to a rather low standard, far below his actual ability. The man can bump, has a great gimmick, and has heel charisma coming out his pores. Raven has a great sense of timing, as reflected in his ring awareness. The best thing he could do to improve himself would be to get himself another finisher as the DDT has been devalued to a mid-match move and really shouldn't be his primary finisher. Unfortunately for Raven, it just seems that he's going out to stud way too early in his career, so we probably won't get to see him wrestle to the best of his ability ever again.

 

12.

William Regal

Total: 55.2

AA 2.6 BP 4.4 CH 6.6 GK 5.9 PS 6.6 RA 6.3 SP 4.3 ST 5.0 SK 6.4 TS 7.0

 

While most people hate his style, the fact is that, under the right circumstances, Regal can wrestle his ass off. He's an awesome technical wrestler on the mat but we just never get to see it displayed anymore. He also has some great looking strikes, specially the knees to the face and his European uppercuts. The problem is that Regal's plodding ring style just gets tiresome at times when he doesn't bother to shake up his offensive barrage. His charisma is just golden outside of the ring, but inside in ropes, it just evaporates, which is odd considering how great he was in that regard while he was in WCW. But despite his flaws, William still has a reputation as one of the best workers in the business, and everyone's just waiting for him to show it once again like he did at The Pillman Memorial show against Chris Benoit.

 

11.

Christian

Total: 57.1

AA 5.7 BP 7.1 CH 6.1 GK 4.3 PS 5.5 RA 6.1 SP 6.6 ST 4.7 SK 5.1 TS 5.9

 

We apologize for the boring scores, but right now Christian is… undistinguished. What is his gimmick right now? Is he a Canadian Horseman, or is he still the tantrum-throwing baby on a losing streak? His technical skills still need some work as he uses too many rest holds and relies on using the reverse DDT variations while on offense. His charisma is all right but he depends too much on cheap heat tactics to really get under the audience's skin. Another issue is that he looks too much like the other longhaired blond guys in the promotion now and he doesn't really do anything to separate himself from them. But Christian can still bump like a machine and has a good command of his ring awareness. But are those qualities too abstract to really get himself over? Only time will tell.

 

10.

Billy Kidman

Total: 61.1

AA 8.5 BP 7.6 CH 4.9 GK 4.0 PS 5.6 RA 6.9 SP 8.5 ST 3.9 SK 4.9 TS 6.6

 

Great flyer, great worker, one of the best cruisers to come out of the United States and has certainly made an impact as one of the forefathers of the American flyers. But Kidman seems to have developed the charisma of a door since joining WWE and his gimmick isn't much help, since he really doesn't have one. He has made impressive strides in the areas of ring awareness and technical skills since his debut. But he really hasn't picked up the finer points of psychology just yet as he hardly works a part of the body in preparation for either the shooting star press or the Kid Krusher.

 

9.

Booker T

Total: 61.2

AA 4.7 BP 5.7 CH 8.1 GK 7.1 PS 5.6 RA 6.1 SP 5.5 ST 5.9 SK 6.9 TS 5.6

 

At this stage in his career, Booker T is a pretty average worker compared to what he was. He's a little more sloppy, he's not as speedy as he used to be, and he doesn't show any of his aerial ability. However, he was such a strong worker to start with that none of that makes him bad; rather it makes him "good not great". We're not quite sure how Booker did it, but he's got the fans wanting to see him despite all the bad booking he's been through since joining the WWE, and that's some major league charisma. He also has some great looking strikes (especially the Harlem Sidekick) and uses his strength to show off his "Bookend" and spinebuster. We're still not actually sure what his gimmick is, other than it's funny and we like it……………… SUCKAAAAAAAAA!

 

8.

Lance Storm

Total: 61.3

AA 6.6 BP 6.6 CH 3.6 GK 4.8 PS 6.9 RA 7.3 SP 7.1 ST 5.0 SK 5.4 TS 8.0

 

Lance Storm is one of those good wrestlers that is waiting for that classic match up to catapult him into the "great" category. He puts on consistently enjoyable matches, and they're good more often than not. He can use his speed to work a fast paced match like it was nothing and has the technical skills to tie down his larger adversaries in a believable way. He's also got superb ring awareness, as best exhibited by the number of logical ways he can turn into the "Strait shooter" half crab. We can't really find fault with the guy in the ring with the exception of some rather soft looking strikes. Lance's real problem is when he's cutting a promo because he gets pretty boring to listen to at times. He either needs a better personality or a better gimmick to get him over the midcard hump.

 

7.

Edge

Total: 63.0

AA 7.0 BP 7.0 CH 7.4 GK 5.7 PS 6.0 RA 6.5 SP 6.9 ST 5.3 SK 4.9 TS 6.3

 

Despite being a solid worker, Edge has had pretty heatless singles matches where only his entrance would garner him any pops. But the more we and the fans see him, the more he demonstrates that he deserves to be a singles star. He's become a good worker, getting good heat, and having routinely good matches. He desperately needs to grow out of the goofy face gimmick though and get serious. His speed is perfectly reasonable enough to get a good head of steam going for his spear, and his bumping positions him perfectly as the underdog face against monster heels. Edge is one of the best all-around workers in WWE right now, and his scores reflect that fact.

 

6.

Rob Van Dam

Total: 64.4

AA 8.1 BP 7.4 CH 6.7 GK 7.6 PS 5.5 RA 6.3 SP 8.0 ST 4.1 SK 5.4 TS 6.6

 

Okay, here's the thing with Van Dam, he's was spot machine. In ECW, he tried to cover it up with ten minutes of stalling every match and it exposed his weakness. But since he's come to WWE, he's had to learn a little psychology, which to his credit, he's done. The problem is, after years of spot wrestling, his matches are still sloppy and hit and miss at times. His aerial ability is superb, but he can't throw forearms very well, and he still seems to move in slow motion. Rob's strength is also in doubt since we can't really remember the last time he tried to lift anyone. What is not in doubt is Van Dam's ability to bump for his opponents, use his charisma to get fans into his matches, and his ability to use his speed to get everything moving.

 

5.

The Hurricane

Total: 65.8

AA 8.1 BP 7.4 CH 6.7 GK 7.6 PS 5.5 RA 6.3 SP 8.0 ST 4.1 SK 5.4 TS 6.6

 

We're not exactly sure how Shane Helms got the Hurricane gimmick over again after what happened, but he did and that’s a testament to his own charisma. That is nice to know that for future reference when Helms needs to ditch The Hurricane persona before he becomes permanently attached to it and is remanded to comedy wrestling for life. You just can't fault Hurricane's wrestling as his aerial ability, bumping, and speed lend themselves to up tempo, exciting action. His striking and technical skills could still use a little sharpening, but there is probably little he can do to improve his strength.

 

4.

Tajiri

Total: 66.7

AA 6.8 BP 6.7 CH 6.5 GK 5.4 PS 6.6 RA 6.6 SP 7.6 ST 4.7 SK 8.7 TS 7.0

 

It's a real shame that Tajiri's TV time has been limited to WWE formula, where he's limited to a series of kicks and some signature offence. We have to wonder what Tajiri could produce if the powers that be would give him fifteen minutes to work with Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, or Kurt Angle. Tajiri is obviously charismatic; as he was able to get himself over with the crowd without speaking a word of English, but his gimmick of bitter Japanese boyfriend just doesn't seem to fit him well at all. As far as in-ring abilities are concerned, Tajiri's got great speed and off the page striking to round out his other good scores and his only real weakness is a lack of strength that's never going to get much better due to Tajiri's size.

 

3.

Chris Jericho

Total: 67.9

AA 7.5 BP 7.4 CH 7.9 GK 6.4 PS 6.6 RA 6.8 SP 7.1 ST 5.1 SK 6.0 TS 7.0

 

Contrary to popular belief, Jericho is good in the ring, not great. His strikes and psychology would have to be improved on in order to get himself up the ladder to the very top of ring work. His ring awareness could also use some improvement, as he seems to have a problem bulldogging his opponent in the correct position for the lionsault. And speaking of the lionsault, Jericho could use a more effective finisher than either the Walls of Jericho or the moonsault. That said, he's a thoroughly entertaining fellow both in and out of the ring, puts on good matches more often than not, and occasionally puts on a great match when matched against someone that can reign him in a little such as The Rock. He often uses his aerial attack to keep his opponents off guard enough to take advantage of the match. Jericho’s best areas are his natural charisma and ability to bump like a madman on speed for the shoddiest of offence.

 

2.

Eddie Guerrero

Total: 73.1

AA 8.8 BP 8.2 CH 7.4 GK 5.4 PS 7.6 RA 8.1 SP 8.2 ST 5.2 SK 5.9 TS 8.4

 

The sad thing about Guerrero is that is he’s such an awesome wrestler, and he’s saddled with the terrible “Latino Heat” gimmick that does positively nothing for him. We're not sure why we are automatically supposed to hate people with accents, but that’s WWE booking for you. But that sad issue really doesn’t change the fact that Guerrero is one of the top three workers in the company, even while he’s on the downside of his career. He has phenomenal aerial ability, bumping, ring awareness, speed, and technical skills, making his matches typically fast paced yet logical and convincing contests. His frog splash is one of the more underrated finishers today, but he can hit anyone from any distance with the move and always sets his opponents in a proper angle. He also has a fine array of rollups and counters to use in those instances where he is required to win by shadier means. His brainbuster and Gory Guerrero neckbreaker are especially devastating to smaller opponents. The only real in-ring problem with Eddie is, of course, his personal life, and the fact that he occasionally works sloppy and in slow motion thanks to it and that his strength isn’t so impressive in the gigantic land of WWE.

 

1.

Kurt Angle

Total: 76.4

AA 6.3 BP 7.6 CH 9.4 GK 7.7 PS 8.0 RA 8.3 SP 7.0 ST 6.9 SK 6.3 TS 8.9

 

Kurt Angle is simply the best worker in the company, PERIOD. The man has had one of the longest runs of good matches ever with the likes of The Rock, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho and has been able to elevate opponents like Edge up to the next level of stardom. He’s quickly becoming the official Ric Flair of this generation, where he can make anyone look like gold, and should have a clause in his contract that says he has to wrestle a fifteen minute match on every show. Perhaps that way, he would be able to showcase a few of his lower-ranked skills such as aerial ability and strength more often. It's just that he doesn’t show off that picture perfect moonsault or Olympic Slam Big Show enough to warrant higher ratings in those areas. But he certainly finds time to showcase his other major talents like bumping, ring awareness, and technical skills each and every night out. Honestly, no one has ever become such a consummate worker so quickly as Angle, we are truly witnesses to a prodigy. Kurt’s largest problem though is going to be keeping WWE booking from destroying his gimmick by switching him back and forth from Olympic badass to goofball one time too many. But right now, no one puts the pieces of the puzzle together better than Kurt Angle, the number one ranked wrestler in the inaugural SmartMarks30.