WWE RAW

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I wrote a similar article in the NWA TNA folder grading the talent based on their in ring work, usage (like how frequently they are on the shows), and overall way they are booked. Also, don’t get mad if your favorite doesn’t get a good grade. I’m not grading them personally; I am grading them based on the criteria above.

 

 

RAW Superstars:

 

A-Train – This one is almost impossible to grade considering that he hasn’t shown up on RAW after his trade over from Smackdown. I haven’t been the biggest fan of his in ring stuff, but he is kind of a whipping boy for the net fans, that’s for sure. Also maybe after one failed push after another the WWE is really struggling to give him any new work.

 

Grade – (I)ncomplete

 

Al Snow – Well the WWE hasn’t really even put Al Snow in a ring for the last few years minus the time they had him wrestle as a “ninja” on RAW against Tajiri during his feud with The Coach. Too bad too as Al Snow was quite impressive in the Indy’s in the 90’s. Mainly only used as the Color guy on Heat, but that won’t do anything for his grade here.

 

Grade – F

 

Batista – As much as I DON’T personally like Bautista, this is one guy they ARE using the right way. He’s had a couple tag team title runs with partner Ric Flair this past year, and he is a instrumental part of the Evolution faction on RAW. Being teamed up with Evolution pretty much guarantees that Bautista will be a big part of the RAW roster for the remainder of 2004 and into 2005. Even though his greenness is still evident, he’s learning and will get better.

 

Grade – B

 

Chris Benoit – World Champion. I think that sums it up better than any other way I could have put it. He won the 2004 Royal Rumble to get his shot at the title at Wrestlemania, won the Triple Threat match at Wrestlemania XX, and won the triple threat rematch at Backlash. They guy is on a roll, and deservedly so as he should continue to be a strong champion till at least Summerslam. He’s been pushed at the top of the card and has performed tremendously, defeating a large part of the RAW roster in the process. Even before his trade to RAW it seemed as if Benoit was climbing his way to the top of the Smackdown roster as well.

 

Grade – A+

 

Chris Jericho – Chris Jericho was considered to be the MVP of RAW by many before the currently lottery in which many superstars switched shows. In my opinion though he has done a great job at getting Christian over as well as remaining as one of the more popular members of the RAW roster. His in ring stuff has been good all year with a better than solid match with Xian at Wrestlemania XX. I am sure there are good things in store for Jericho and hopefully it’s a World Championship program with Chris Benoit that would be superb for both guys.

 

Grade – B

 

Christian – Kind of fitting that he and Jericho would be side by side on this list as they were together as a team for the longest time leading up to the feud at Mania. Christian has gotten over tremendously as a singles wrestler winning the Tag team championship of the world and a nice Intercontinental title run when the title was brought back to the RAW roster. He is obviously looked at by the bookers as an important part of the show especially with him being teamed up with “Problem Solver” Tyson Tomko and Trish Status as well. This should be a better year for Christian than last year, and that is saying a lot considering how well he has done for himself over that time.

 

Grade A-

 

Chuck Palumbo – Can’t even grade him as he has yet to even wrestle(at least that I remember) on the Roster since being traded.

 

Grade – (I)ncomplete

 

 

Edge – He finally made his long awaited return at Backlash 2004 in a terrible match against Kane. He has since had some less than memorable matches on RAW mainly with Randy Orton and a forgettable six man tag, teaming with Shelton Benjamin and Tajiri against Evolution’s Triple H, Randy Orton, and Bautista. Time will show how bad Edge’s injuries have really changed him physically, but I feel after he gets the ring rust off for good that he will be a positive part of the RAW roster.

 

Grade – C+

 

Eugene – I know, I bashed this gimmick at first like pretty much everyone else, but I’d be lying if I said this isn’t an entertaining storyline. They have moved past the offensive part of the gimmick and actually turned it into a solidly entertaining comedy piece. Also, with Regal involved this should be even better considering he’s always been good comedic relief since he arrived in the WWE.

 

Grade – B

 

Garrison Cade – Vanilla jobber #3488765. That is it, nothing else. Oh, and he has a nice dropkick. The WWE seemed to have him and then partner Mark Jindrak over for about an hour and a half considering during the “let’s steal Evolutions money” storyline that actually ended before it got a chance to get started.

 

Grade – F

 

Johnny Nitro – Well he is basically nothing more or less than Bishoff’s lackey who the only time he’s gotten in the ring was to referee a couple of matches, so nothing much here to really give a grade on

.

 

Grade – F

 

Kane – The WWE seems like they confuse themselves with Kane’s gimmick, and how it is ineffective when he’s not a dominating monster. They tried to get him over big and it was working until his feud with Shane McMahon. While barely getting through that feud, the WWE thought it would be a good idea to convince us that he would be beating his “brother” who would be returning to his old and “more over” gimmick at Wrestlemania………where Taker has never lost. Good job on this one WWE….

 

Grade – D-

 

Lance Storm – Finally Lance did something for himself…..retirement. He was always an underutilized member of the roster minus his few tag team runs with Xian and Regal. But it was too little too late…………and the BORING gimmick sucked tremendously.

 

Grade – F

 

Mark Henry – Now since getting injured, he has yet to show back up on RAW, and at this point I highly doubt if we will see him again. It seems as if the WWE was trying to get something for their money this fall as Henry was shoved down everyone’s throat kicking and screaming. Also, after he was injured though, they finally gave up on the big man because of his injury problems……….too bad most of the fans gave up on him 8 years ago.

 

Grade – D+

 

 

Matt Hardy – I really thought that things may be looking better for Hardy after he was swapped over to RAW from Smackdown. I mean, he generally did a good job in his feud with Mysterio in which he carried the Cruiserweight title during the whole feud and then giving it up to Mysterio in the blow off. He then came to RAW and has been stagnant until his recent storyline with Kane and Lita. He hasn’t won a whole lot of matches since coming over, and I would even be so brave to say he has only won about one match since being brought over.

 

Grade – D-

 

Randy Orton – Love him or hate him you have to admit, the WWE is booking him correctly. He has time and time again beaten Mick Foley and actually gotten over for the time being. He is part of Evolution which with rumor’s swirling around, he Evolution might eventually be his faction to lead. But he is going to try and catch lighting in a bottle as he was hot coming off his Backlash 2004 match with Foley, but the real question is can he keep it going?

 

Grade – B+

 

Rhyno – He is RAW jobber #1. Too bad as he could actually be an effective heel given the right storyline. His in ring stuff of late hasn’t been anything to brag about considering he hardly ever gets on TV these days.

 

Grade – F

 

Ric Flair – Ric Flair is one of the best to ever step in the squared circle, and his match with Triple H on RAW last year proved it. But since then he has put together two very unimpressive runs with Batista holding the World Tag Team Championships. But at over 50 years of age I think it’s time for Flair to hang it up…………….the right way.

 

Grade – C-

 

Rob Conway – He has showed potential, but is starting to fall under vanilla OVW guy #322569. I like him better than Grenier or Dupree, but it just seems being on a team with Grenier is really going to hold him back from achieving what he could on his own

 

Grade – C

 

Rosey – Rosey seriously shouldn’t even have a job in the WWE and probably should’ve been dropped with his former 3 Minute Warning partner in Jamal. They saddled him with the stupid S.H.I.T gimmick that never turned into anything, but then again neither had his potential of being good in the ring at all.

 

Grade – F

 

Scott Steiner – He was in a feud with Test and teamed with him last year and it amounted to nothing, and he is now considered to be injury prone by the WWE themselves. He simply has nothing else left to give, and it’s really time for him to hang it up as he never recovered from the crap that was known as the Scott Steiner vs. Triple H feud.

 

Grade – F

 

Shawn Michaels – HBK has been really doing solid things in the ring since his return to the ring in 2002. He was involved in a wonderful triple threat match at Wrestlemiania XX(some refer to it as the best one ever….but not me of course) as well as a solid Royal Rumble performance and a great job on Austin’s team at Survivor Series.

 

Grade – A

 

Shelton Benjamin – Shelton has been one of the biggest bright spots for a company that needs to worry about future main eventers. Well they need to look no further than Mr. Benjamin. He did some great work against Triple H after he was traded over to the RAW roster the night after Wrestlemania. He looks to only be getting better and will be a plus on the RAW roster for a long time to come. Also, the fact that he has defeated Triple H several times at least shows that they are concerned about how legitimate Shelton looks right now as he seems to be remotely protected.

 

Grade – A

 

Tajiri – It’s hard to see what they want to do with Tajiri(big shocker there) as he has been jumbled around quite a bit since coming to the RAW roster to go against guys like Coach, Triple H, Kane, etc. But if they keep him on TV, it should only lead to good things for Tajiri as he always has seemed like he could make the best out of what they give him, and believe me they don’t seem to give him much.

 

Grade – B

 

Test – Well, it seems like they finally have given up on our old friend Test as he hasn’t been on TV in some time, but I am also aware that could simply be because of injury(which I think it is). But with all of the failed pushes he’s had, I think the WWE really might be contemplating what do with him next, if anything at all.

 

Grade – D-

 

The Hurricane – If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a thousand times, he needs to be on the Smackdown roster fighting in the cruiserweight division. It’s not that I don’t think he can fight against anyone else but it just seems as if the WWE could care less if he’s on the roster or not. I personally think that the Cruiserweight division though is where he would make the biggest impact.

Grade – D

 

The Rock – Well considering that I believe that he only made 2 appearances in the WWE all year because of his busy movie schedule, but they used him to the best of their abilities and even though he was a throw in for his Wrestlemania match it still proved that the Rock can still go and his layoff hasn’t effected him greatly.

 

Grade – C

 

Triple H – Well, he HAS gotten better since dropping his roid weight, and has been in some stellar matches in the last six months or so. He put on a great match with Ric Flair last year on RAW, and awesome match with Shawn Michaels on the final RAW of 2003, a few good matches with Shelton Benjamin, and two ***1/2 + triple threat matches at Wrestlemania and Backlash. He will probably also do something that we have yet to see him do as he is slated to wrestle Shawn again at Bad Blood, but this time in a Hell in a Cell. That could change though, and it’s expected that he will be the one to end Benoit’s current title reign as well.

 

Grade – A-

 

Tyson Tomko – Even though he’s been on the roster for a couple of weeks as Xian and Trish’s “Problem Solver”, he has yet to step in the ring for a full match.

 

Grade –(I)ncomplete

 

Val Venis – One of the more underrated wrestlers on the whole roster he is still hardly used and is used as either jobber fodder for guys like Kane, or is totally regulated to Heat. They are making him totally an ineffective part of the roster all together.

 

Grade – F

 

 

I should be doing a Smackdown one, in a couple of days, or if I get a chance to do it today.....I will. Feedback me or grade them on your own...........

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

I'm liking the break-down on every wrestler for a certain company you've been doing lately. Sounds a lot more believable than the PWI ones they do every 6 months or so.

 

Someone give this man his own column.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Bravo.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Damn Grandmaster Sexay for getting fired so quickly. I wanted to read his grade F.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Damn Grandmaster Sexay for getting fired so quickly. I wanted to read his grade F.

Grandmaster Sexay - He was given a shot to shine against Kane......not really but I have no Idea why they even brought him in in the first place.

 

Grade - F

 

just for you BBCW......or should I say BBGS(GS=Grandmaster Sexay)

[Eclipse 0]

You were right on the money with the RAW Roster breakdown. Couldn't agree more.

[haVoc 0]

I would have given Test an F.

[Guest TigerDriver91]

Excellent post. I agree with everything you said.

[Guest Coffey]

I wouldn't have given Chris Benoit an A+. After his Royal Rumble win, he was pretty much an afterthought playing second fiddle to both HBK & HHH. Remember when HBK hit Benoit with the Superkick so that HBK could sign the contract? Remember when Benoit got distracted by HHH on the ramp so that HBK could beat him in the one on one match on Raw? Sure, he is currently the champion and won at the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania XX & Backlash. On free TV though, he hasn't been used to perfection. That's what an A+ represents to me, perfection. So, I'd give Benoit an A- at most....

[Guest Fook]

I disagree with you on a couple of minor issues (for instance, I think Jericho should be higher than a B), but I think you did a nice job here.

 

I noticed you didn't grade some people, most notably Stephen Richards and all the women. Any particular reason?

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

You might want to remove the spoiler you wrote in HHH's grade report about him and HBK's match.

 

Oh and HHH traded his roid weight in for a little bit of a beer gut. Is it a good trade off?

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Oh and HHH traded his roid weight in for a little bit of a beer gut. Is it a good trade off?

I still don't see a beer gut, but yes, it is better he's not a roided monster.

 

He's been able to move around easier than before because of the muscle loss, has been injury free for several months while in 2003 he was injured every other week. Also, he's been having damn good matches all year. I don't think he's had one bad match (outside of the stupid 2:00 shit last week) for a while, mainly because he's facing above average workers instead of Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash and Goldberg.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Oh and HHH traded his roid weight in for a little bit of a beer gut.  Is it a good trade off?

I still don't see a beer gut, but yes, it is better he's not a roided monster.

 

He's been able to move around easier than before because of the muscle loss, has been injury free for several months while in 2003 he was injured every other week. Also, he's been having damn good matches all year. I don't think he's had one bad match (outside of the stupid 2:00 shit last week) for a while, mainly because he's facing above average workers instead of Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash and Goldberg.

It's no where as bad as say....my gut, but he's not the toned guy he used to be is what I mean.

[Guest sanyo]

Jericho= A. Y2J has barely had any screw ups, his feud with Christian has been entertaining, jobs more than any other guy at his position in history and behind Rock and Foley, is the 3rd best promo guy in the WWE.

 

Rock = A. If your grading him then the time he was here he did everything right. Awesome promos, great matches, and putting people over. Rock's left fingernail is more over then most of Raw's roster and his promos are unmatched.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I disagree with you on a couple of minor issues (for instance, I think Jericho should be higher than a B), but I think you did a nice job here.

 

I noticed you didn't grade some people, most notably Stephen Richards and all the women. Any particular reason?

As goofy as this may sound, I didn't rate Richards because he's a Heat guy because he is the "GM of Heat". The women would have all gotten an F, because I couldn't live with myself to give them anything higher. I HATE the women's division as I feel most of the women are untalented or way too green(Gail Kim).

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Oh and HHH traded his roid weight in for a little bit of a beer gut.  Is it a good trade off?

I still don't see a beer gut, but yes, it is better he's not a roided monster.

It's no where as bad as say....my gut, but he's not the toned guy he used to be is what I mean.

Yeah he's nowhere near as bad as when HHH came back from his honeymoon and it seemed that he lost all his muscle and his gut was pretty damn fat. Like he was doing nothing but, eating to get ready for a part in movie or something.

[Guest Ray]

Chris Jericho

Grade B

 

Christian

Grade A-

How is Christian better than Jericho?

 

Edge – He has since had some less than memorable matches on RAW mainly with Randy Orton and a forgettable six man tag, teaming with Shelton Benjamin and Tajiri against Evolution’s Triple H, Randy Orton, and Bautista.

The Orton match was good. The six-man tag was very good. What are you talking about?

 

Ric Flair – Ric Flair is one of the best to ever step in the squared circle, and his match with Triple H on RAW last year proved it.

I liked that match, but how the hell did it prove he's one of the best wrestlers ever? I'd like to think a great match in his prime (vs Steamboat, vs Race, vs Windham) did that...

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Chris Jericho

Grade B

 

Christian

Grade A-

How is Christian better than Jericho?

 

Edge – He has since had some less than memorable matches on RAW mainly with Randy Orton and a forgettable six man tag, teaming with Shelton Benjamin and Tajiri against Evolution’s Triple H, Randy Orton, and Bautista.

The Orton match was good. The six-man tag was very good. What are you talking about?

 

Ric Flair – Ric Flair is one of the best to ever step in the squared circle, and his match with Triple H on RAW last year proved it.

I liked that match, but how the hell did it prove he's one of the best wrestlers ever? I'd like to think a great match in his prime (vs Steamboat, vs Race, vs Windham) did that...

First things first, these grades are not to be used in a ranking system style. Christian has been getting a push since Wrestlemania while Jericho was on a decline. That alone is enough to give Xian the higher grade. Also, the fact that Xian is has been getting the push at Jericho's expense was part of the reason why the grade was higher. I DON'T for the record think that Xian is better than Jericho.

 

Now onto the Edge matter. The Edge/Orton match on RAW didn't get rated above **1/2 IMO, and the tag team was *** at best, which is good, but in no way where Edge should be considering he might get pushed to the main event. If you consider those matches anything special......sorry, but I don't.

 

 

Now about Flair. I didn't mean that that one match solidified the fact that Flair is one of the best ever. But at 53 years old, it doesn't hurt his cause. He is just futher making the claim by putting on better matches at his age than lots do when they are younger.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

Oh and HHH traded his roid weight in for a little bit of a beer gut.  Is it a good trade off?

I still don't see a beer gut, but yes, it is better he's not a roided monster.

It's no where as bad as say....my gut, but he's not the toned guy he used to be is what I mean.

Yeah he's nowhere near as bad as when HHH came back from his honeymoon and it seemed that he lost all his muscle and his gut was pretty damn fat. Like he was doing nothing but, eating to get ready for a part in movie or something.

I personally like HHH better with the gut. It's a bit of an old-school shine. It makes him more intimidating, as all the muscle just made him look like a 'roid stuffed gym rat.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

I'd give:

benoit: A

HBK: B+

Orton: A

Edge: B-

Kane: C

HHH: B

 

HHH gets a B because he's shown a lot of improvement.

[Guest sanyo]

Hey HHH's contract ends August. Do you think he's husling to get a bigger contract Also what are the contract negotations going to be like since he's now a son-in-law?

[Guest Choken One]

Hey HHH's contract ends August. Do you think he's husling to get a bigger contract Also what are the contract negotations going to be like since he's now a son-in-law?

He's going to TNA~!

 

 

I don't think he needs to bust ass to get a bigger contract when he always has a part of the company.

[The Mandarin 0]

The only people I give B or above:

 

Batista – B

Chris Benoit – Grade – A-

Edge – Grade – B

Johnny Nitro – B (Yep, that's right. He's been in a lot of important segments, and he hasn't even wrestled a match)

Randy Orton – B+

Ric Flair – B

Shawn Michaels – Grade – A (He's used better than Benoit, which is a shame)

Triple H – Grade – A-

 

Jericho, Christian, Trish and Eugene all get B-.

[2GOLD 0]

Edge should lose points for having the weakest spear in wrestling as a finisher. I'm more likely to believe the Leg Drop of Doom can finish someone off than that hug he gives people.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Hey HHH's contract ends August. Do you think he's husling to get a bigger contract   Also what are the contract negotations going to be like since he's now a son-in-law?

He's going to TNA~!

 

 

I don't think he needs to bust ass to get a bigger contract when he always has a part of the company.

A McMahon (in law) working for the enemy? only in America~!

[Guest sanyo]

That would be the greatest thing ever if HHH left to TNA. Wonder if Steph would break up with HHH or if the daughter runs off to the enemy. That would be awesome!

[MARTYEWR 0]

Pretty well-written post. I disagree with some things, most notably Johnny Nitro (I would've given him a C since I find his lackey act hilarious and better than Chief Morley's). Richards would get a D since he's basically a jobber at best, albeit an entertaining one. As for the women:

 

- Molly: A (Long title reign, plus her reactions to being bald are hilarious)

- Trish: B (Always entertaining, but some of her acting moments in the Jericho storyline left lots to be desired)

- Victoria: B (Has risen nicely, but isn't as over as Trish was during her babyface title reign and seems to be missing something)

- Nidia: D (Fairly ineffective)

- Stacy: D (Has done nothing since the Test storyline)

- Jazz: D (Injured and a non-factor)

- Ivory: F (Another non-factor)

- Gail Kim: D (Is learning to wrestle safer, but is still risky to be in the ring with)

 

That's all of them, right?

[nl5xsk1 0]

Good job, well written analysis. My only question/complaint is with the differences between I(incomplete) and F-grades. Shouldn't both Snow & Nitro have gotten incompletes (one match between them) rather than Fs?