Thoughts on the following (polarizing) wrestlers

[Loss]

Kurt Angle

Shawn Michaels

AJ Styles

Christopher Daniels

Kenta Kobashi

John Bradshaw Layfield

Necro Butcher

 

We've done some of these before, but I thought it would be fun to revisit them, and especially in the context of them all being the most debated wrestlers on the Internet these days.

[Mad Dog]

Kurt Angle: I've written about him at length so I'm just going to say that he's barely better than an indy spot monkey.

 

Shawn Michaels: Selfish. Guy's built like an old lady but expects to be treated like Superman in the ring. Never really done anything to put another wrestler over in his career. Weak moveset. He either oversells or no sells. Too high up the card for his age and drawing ability.

 

AJ Styles: Good for the most part. Gets a little spotty in most matches but doesn't deserve the hate he gets on the net these days. Could do a lot better with promos.

 

Christopher Daniels: Sucks in short matches and when he dons the Curry Man gimmick. He tries to throw too many spots into a match. He does a lot better in longer matches but relies too much on moves like the STO.

 

Kenta Kobashi: Single most overrated wrestler currently out there. He's regressed a lot since the formation of NOAH but he seems to get a total pass due to nostalgia and his age. If a 10 year younger Kobashi was putting on the stuff he does today then he would be getting shit all over.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield: Sucked as the WWF Champion but has made a lot of strides since. Not someone I go out of my way to watch but he no longer makes me change the channel when he's in the ring.

 

Necro Butcher: Top 5 for being overrated. Probably the best garbage wrestler out there but then that's not saying much. Has some basic fundamentals down so he can break out of the deathmatch crap from time to time. Nothing special though.

[sek69]

I'll add more later, but I just want to say that Styles and Daniels seem to be baring the brunt of anti-TNA sentiment on the net that seems to grow in a ratio to their mainstream appeal.

 

Before TNA, Daniels was every smark's fantasy, but now he's shit because he's focusing on TNA instead of smart fan wank groups like ROH.

[Loss]

Daniels works all the time in ROH.

[Mad Dog]

Yeah but it's not his #1 fed. RoHbots tend to attack a lot of wrestlers if they have priority over RoH. Daniels and Styles became cool to hate on when TNA pulled them in 2004.

 

EDIT: I agree that it also seems people hate on them in direct proportion to how well TNA does. The hate for them really ramped up when the Spike deal was announced.

[goodhelmet]

EDIT: This was a lazy answer. I'll respond later.

[World's Worst Man]

Kurt Angle - Most overrated wrestler ever. Has obvious selling flaws and doesn't setup his spots very well. He's better at short matches, and gets to be barely passable in long matches.

 

Shawn Michaels - Another guy with selling issues. Is more worried about getting himself over than putting the opponent over. Quite overrated himself, but not as much as Angle.

 

AJ Styles - Really spotty, but has shown that he can "keep it in his pants" and wrestle fundamentally sound if he wants to. He generally needs to be matched up against a good worker to have a good match though, otherwise he tends to go nuts against lesser opponents.

 

Christopher Daniels - Fairly good worker, he sometimes gets a little spotty. Like AJ, is hit or miss, but he's a bit more consistent.

 

Kenta Kobashi - Still a very good worker. His biggest flaw is the no-selling nonsense, but it's not a huge mark against him, because unlike Angle, he clearly knows how to sell, but he decides to use the fighting spirit stuff as a shortcut for building drama. Basically, if Kobashi is wrestling a "big match style" (vs. Sasaki, Akiyama etc) he isn't all that good due to the selling/spottiness nonsense. If he's wrestling lesser matches (ones that a lot of people don't actually see, like w/ Hashi vs. Akiyama/Kanemaru), he's still legitimately great.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield - Seems alright, but that's it. He looks good against good workers, but he can't elevate a match against a lesser worker. A perfectly acceptable wreslter compared to some of the stiffs in the E.

 

Necro Butcher - Sloppy. Actually seems to have ok psychology, but past that he doesn't bring anything to the table. Honma and Yamakawa from 99-2000 kill him as far as deathmatch workers go. If Necro wasn't taking sick bumps, he'd be a dime a dozen guy.

[Guest Cam Chaos]

Kurt Angle - very entertaining with high work rate but poor psychology who's inconsistency as a character has damaged his marketability.

 

Shawn Michaels - pretty much the same thing. Good when motivated but likes to hog the spotlight and break kayfabe simply because he knows he can get away with it.

 

AJ Styles - Again, almost the same thing however he has slightly better psychology.

 

Christopher Daniels - Fantastic all round performer.

 

Kenta Kobashi - Has had some great matches but is not the legend many proclaim him to be.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield - Has improved in the last couple of years in the ring but is much better behind the mic.

 

Necro Butcher - From what I have seen he's a garbage wrestler who stands out because he does the occasional wrestling move. Whoop de doo.

[JHawk]

Kurt Angle: Has always been good on the mat, which is a given considering his Olympic background. Could have been one of the all-time greats had he started earlier and not been so injury prone. The lack of leg work leading into the ankle lock is his biggest flaw, as well, as his need to use high spots (the top-rope belly-to-belly, etc.) in matches where they're not needed.

 

Shawn Michaels: I love this guy's matches from an entertainment standpoint, but so help me God I'm going to break my TV one of these days when he insists on doing that damn kip-up.

 

AJ Styles: While I enjoy his matches for the most part, often the psychology just isn't there.

 

Christopher Daniels: I love this guy. I love the gimmick, I love his matches, I love his promos. His size is the only thing keeping him from being a major player in the industry long before now.

 

Kenta Kobashi: Haen't seen too much of him, but the match with Samoa Joe was awesome.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield: I'll always question the decision to put the belt on him when they did since he wasn't established as a top guy yet. However, going into the JBL gimmick finally gave him something to work with, and his credibility has gone up tenfold. He also has the best lariat since Stan Hansen, bar none.

 

Necro Butcher: I've never seen one of his matches.

[sek69]

Kurt Angle: Seriously overrated as a worker, almost all of it seems to be due to Meltz's hard-on for "real". He's been wasted in silly angles and gimmicks, and he's too deteriorated now for him to be a top level performer.

 

Shawn Michaels: Call me cynical, but I don't believe his whole born-again good guy act, for no other reason than everything the guy's said for the last 15 years ended up bullshit. The marine story, Survivor Series, losing his smile, he's just told too many tall tales for me to believe he's suddenly a boy scout. He should be putting over the next generation at this stage of his career, but the only guy he gives a rub to is HHH.

 

AJ Styles: Not the best promo guy, but he gets the points across he needs to. He gets spotty with the X matches, but then that's usually what the matches are booked to be anyway. He can tone the spots down when the match calls for it. If TNA could pry one of WWE's great promo guys they currently have as agents, Styles could become the complete package.

 

Christopher Daniels: He was the Hot Indy Guy for years, then all of a sudden the smart crowd started to turn on him when TNA was starting to take off. In a division where the wrestlers tend to blend together, Daniels stands out as a worker and as a character. My only worry is TNA wants to make him the face in his feud with Joe, but the fans aren't gonna buy Joe as heel so they might not try to make Daniels a face.

 

Kenta Kobashi: I was fearing the worst when I got my copy of his match with Joe. I was expecting to see someone barely mobile after years of headdroppery. He's obviously lost a step, but he can still hold his own. He's not going to be able to recapture the 90s, but he's not embarrassing himself either.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield: The bastard won me over. He's become a solid brawler and a good promo guy. He can't be thrown in there with just anyone yet, but he's made amazing progress in a short period of time.

 

Necro Butcher: Never seen anything by the guy. I'm not a fan of deathmatches so I doubt I ever will.

[Guest Kilgore Trout]

Yeah but it's not his #1 fed.  RoHbots tend to attack a lot of wrestlers if they have priority over RoH.  Daniels and Styles became cool to hate on when TNA pulled them in 2004.

 

 

Daniels is one of the most popular people at RoH shows. People who hate him and Styles hate them because their spotfest guys not because of any promotional bias. There are lots of people who hate them that would say the same things about lots of the RoH guys as well.

[Coffey]

Kurt Angle ~ He's entertained me a lot in the past. I liked his Royal Rumble match with Benoit. I liked a lot of his Smackdown 6 shit too. Hell, I even enjoyed his feud with Edge which led to him getting his head shaved. For the most part, however, Angle has always entertained me outside the ring more than inside it. His Team ECK crap was gold. I liked his storyline with HHH & Steph. Nowadays, since he's the "intense" Angle with a mouthpiece he doesn't really do it for me. People talk about how Angle sucks as a goofy, funny character but that's when I like him the best.

 

Shawn Michaels ~ He had a good year in '05. It's pointless to pick apart his matches because they've been the same for his entire career and they're never going to change. We know that he's going to kip-up and no sell all the previous work done in the match. Outside of that though, he's pretty entertaining to me. At least in the ring. Outside the ring he hasn't done anything for me since D-X.

 

AJ Styles ~ I'm not on the bandwagon. He's bland to me and blows a lot of spots. I don't think he's some phenominal worker like a lot of other people do. I don't think he's the guy TNA should be building around.

 

Christopher Daniels ~ I think he's better than Styles but his gimmick is so hokey. I like him in the ring though.

 

Kenta Kobashi ~ One of the best workers I've ever seen. Had a great '05 in my eyes and was my third vote for Wrestler of the Year. His ROH match with Samoa Joe, the tag match the next night and his NOAH match with Sasake put him up there for me. I still like him and don't relive his glory days because he's still better than a lot that we have here in the States.

 

Necro Butcher ~ Drizzling shits.

[sek69]

Daniels is one of the most popular people at RoH shows. People who hate him and Styles hate them because their spotfest guys not because of any promotional bias. There are lots of people who hate them that would say the same things about lots of the RoH guys as well.

The smart heel turn on Daniels occured right around the time it became clear TNA was his primary fed.

 

Maybe it is just a co-incedence, but somehow I doubt it.

[Ray]

Kurt Angle - He's very good. Great bumper, good offense, great cocky heel, good at getting/keeping the crowd involved, large number of good matches in a short career, etc...

 

AJ Styles - Styles has grown on me a lot recently. Many of his matches are total spotfests, but they're wild and crazy and incredibly fun to watch. He also brings a lot of babyface fire to his work.

 

Shawn Michaels - I'm one of the few who believe he was at his best as a face tag wrestler. He was fantastic at selling, bumping, hope spots, and building sympathy with the crowd. Outside his matches with Angle, I haven't enjoyed him much lately. He's looking old and relies far too much on strikes, at which he's never been good.

 

Kenta Kobashi - If Kenta Kobashi is not a legend then there has never been a legend in wrestling. He's top five all-time and still the best in the world today. No other can bring the level of drama, intensity, carrying ability, moveset, or story. Has a staggering, enormous body of good-great matches over his career with a wide range of wrestlers. Perhaps the hardest-working wrestler ever.

 

Christopher Daniels - Does nothing at all for me. Pass.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield - Good "old-school" heel. A competent worker who is universally underrated.

 

Necro Butcher - Good for what he is - a garbage wrestler. Can be fun.

[sek69]

Kurt Angle - He's very good. Great bumper, good offense, great cocky heel, good at getting/keeping the crowd involved, large number of good matches in a short career, etc...

 

What does Angle do besides a thousand German suplexes, the Olympic Slam, and the Ankle Lock?

 

I'm not trying to be a smartass, I can't really think of any move he does besides that pop-up belly to belly from the top rope he busts out once in a while.

[anarchistxx]

Kurt Angle - Overrated by most internet wrestling fans, underrated by most people on sites like this and DVDVR, not to mention all the ROHbots. I think he's a very good wrestler. He's not amazing, or the best wrestler around today, but his matches are varied and interesting, and he can pull a reasonable match out of most opponents. Great body of work, against a variety of wrestlers, with vastly differing styles.

 

AJ Styles - I don't dig him at all. All the contrived sequences and spots he throws out every week do nothing for me. he is a decent worker, but nothing more.

 

Shawn Michaels - He has the face role down to a tee, and is one of the best at playing it. His matches are generally of a good quality, and he has a number of very good-great matches in his body of work as well. Has a few problems with selling and psychology from time to time, similar to Angle, he is a very good rather than great worker.

 

Kenta Kobashi - From what I have seen, Kobashi is great, but then again, I haven't seen all that much of him, aside from his highly pimped matches, so it's not fair for me to give an opinion.

 

Christopher Daniels - The worst wrestler on this list by a kile. The fact that his in ring character is completely different from his gimmick. His 'perfect' moves which make his matches look more like ballet. His complete lack of facials or emotion in his matches. Can't stand him.

 

ohn Bradshaw Layfield - Seems to have gone from underrated to overrated in the span of a few months. I don't love his mic work like some, but it is solid, but his ring work is just passable. Very carryable, but I don't think he's anything more than a reasonable talent.

 

Necro Butcher - Must confess I've never seen a match of his.

[Guest Dangerous A]

Kurt Angle- Very good. Not great, but very good. I still question him being in the WON HOF, but I attribute that more to the lack of a good field more than anything else. Is starting to show wear and tear very quickly.

 

Shawn Michaels- I don't really have much of a problem with his in ring work. His politics back in the day were terrible and was a setback for WWF getting things done. Still, while he has goofy selling issues in his matches, he milks the WWE way of working for all it's worth.

 

AJ Styles- Very good and could be great. He has the ability to sell and once he learns how to incorporate more intelligent things and not take german suplexes onto guardrails, he will be all the better for it. Has unspoken charisma because while he isn't good on the mic, people want to watch him and watch him be successful.

 

Christopher Daniels- Very good, but definitely overrated by a lot of people. While he hardly fucks up in the ring, when he does it's of the crash and burn variety. Works better in ROH because he doesn't have the time or creative restraints.

 

Kenta Kobashi- One of the greats. He is a notch above the other guys in this post. He has had some nutty matches since his return in 2002, but he also still works a hell of a match when he wants/has to. It'll be sad to see him have to retire, but it's probrably for the better.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield- Has made the most of his push the last year and a half. Will dog it occasionally (See Batista and Taker matches), but can keep up with the good workers on SD. Has done a lot to stay over, including some major ass kissing. Still, very entertaining when he has a mic.

 

Necro Butcher- I've never seen his work, so I cannot properly comment on him.

[Guest EastCoastJ]

Kurt Angle: A very good worker who too often gets labeled as an elite worker. Not on the level of Rey Mysterio or Eddie Guerrero, and probably not at the level of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Has never been a draw due to poor initial use of his character and inability to cut a real money promo. Currently working like a borderline insane man (not meant to be sarcastic) with nothing to lose. If he is still alive and/or not in a wheelchair by 2010, I would be shocked.

 

Shawn Michaels: Clowning like the nWo in 2005. A Hogan like master of subliminaly burying his opponents. A top level worker, but his over the top style and goofy promos don't do a whole lot for me.

 

AJ Styles: He's got a good look and a great style, but as a character there is nothing interesting about him at all. A definite boost to TNA though.

 

Christopher Daniels: As a character, he is one of the most boring guys that I have ever seen. A decent worker who does nothing to make me want to track down more of his matches. I actually thought he was the weakest wrestler in that 6 man X-Division tag on the first TNA Prime Time special. As a character and performer, I am loving Austin Aries ten times more than Daniels right now.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield: Has been labeled underrated so much that he has now become overrated. A fantastic old school brawler with great ring presence and fantastic interviews. As a champion, he never cut a money drawing promo though and as a result two programs (Cena/JBL and Batista/JBL) that should have meant more didn't. Still one of my favorite guys to watch though.

 

Necro Butcher: An occassionally interesting sideshow attraction who is doing irreversible damage to his body for what will never lead to any kind of a wrestling career at a higher level.

[Guest Dorian]

I'm about to cause a blizzard in Edmonton, I'm posting about wrestling. Kami...

 

Kurt Angle ~ Very good wrestler when he started, but has since degraded into a joke of his potential. About the only thing that is above average before I left, was his willingness to pop the crowd, but that's not really a good thing...

 

Shawn Michaels ~ I always was a Hitman fan, and frankly I couldn't stand the guy then, and as of what I remember from the time before I quit watching the WWE, his gimmick of a boy toy when he's so freaking old is absolutely rediculous.

 

AJ Styles ~ I've seen very little of him and its TNA. So bare with me. He's a great high flyer, I like this technical work but still isn't world class there, his brawling is pretty shabby, and he does sound like a country hick when he does his promos. However, I couldn't help but being drawn into his matches, he makes sure that his promos cover the bases and make me believe what he saying isn't something its not, and for that I liked what I saw. Hopefully I'll get ahold of some more TNA and I'll really see why people think he's one of the best in the world.

 

Christopher Daniels ~ I've seen two matches (one against AJ, another tagging with Skipper) and one promo, and again TNA, so this is gonna be very brief. I liked what I saw. He's very fluid in the ring and I really think that TNA should put him as a main attraction. His promo I vaguely remember, was during his X title reign where he'd take on all stars from everywhere, and when he did that, I totally bought into his character and really wanted to see him do his stuff. Again, another person I need to see more of to give off a better reaction.

 

Kenta Kobashi ~ I saw one match with Kobashi a long time ago. But I can't comment on it.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield ~ While I groaned at the thought of him holding the WWE title, JBL had a title reign that I actually enjoyed to watch and he plays his new character greatly (maybe cause its not that much different than him). I honestly would hope he gets a face run, since I think a lot of people would actually take to him being a face with his current gimmick.

 

Necro Butcher ~ Haven't seen, can't say.

[sek69]

TNA's coming out with a Best of Christopher Daniels DVD soon, I'm guessing it will probably just solidify everyone's opinon of him no matter what side you're on.

[Mad Dog]

Here's the TNA press release on the Daniels DVD:

 

TNA HOME VIDEO PRESENTS ?HEAVEN SENT, HELL BOUND: THE BEST OF CHRISTOPHER DANIELS?

Available at major retailers on January 10

 

TNA Wrestling?s latest DVD release, ?Heaven Sent, Hell Bound: The Best of Christopher Daniels? will be available starting on January 10 at major retailers in the United States and Canada.

 

The release joins TNA?s current line of DVDs available at Best Buy, Trans World, Tower and Musicland locations across the United States, including Best Buy, HMV and Future Shop locations in Canada.

 

Packed with nearly four-hours of the best of ?The Fallen Angel?, the DVD is a comprehensive look at the TNA career of the X Division star!

 

 

The lineup for the Christopher Daniels DVD is as follows:

 

Daniels? TNA debut match (July 2002) vs. Low Ki vs Elix Skipper vs Kid Romeo vs Tony Mamaluke vs Jerry Lynn

 

A complete chronicle (8 matches!) of the Triple X vs. America?s Most Wanted wars, including their battles at the Nashville Asylum, the 2003 Cage Match, their 2004 ?Best of 3? Series, as well as the Turning Point cage match.

 

The ?Ironman Match? between Daniels and AJ Styles from Against All Odds

 

The Ultimate X Match against AJ Styles where The Fallen Angel won the X Division Championship

 

Hard Justice bout vs. Shocker and the Lockdown match vs. Elix Skipper

 

Slammiversary three-way against Matt Bentley and Chris Sabin

 

Plus, ?iMPACT!? matches against AJ Styles, Chris Harris, Chris Sabin, Jerrelle Clark (his first match as X Champion), ?Primetime? Elix Skipper and more. Bonus footage on the DVD will be The Fallen Angel?s entrance music and photo gallery (nearly 100 pics!), as well as Daniels providing commentary for one of his first matches from 1994 with Chicago?s Windy City Wrestling promotion!

 

CHECK OUT ?HEAVEN SENT, HELL BOUND: THE BEST OF CHRISTOPHER DANIELS? COMING JANUARY 10

[Guest TheShawshankRudotion]

Kurt Angle - An excellent athlete, picked up the game quickly, it's a shame the game he picked up was the WWE Style and it's a shame the year was 1999/2000. His superb timing could have been better used in a different era. Shitty, shitty punches. Awesome moonsault. That pretty much defines Kurt Angle, for me. I find a lot of Kurt Angle matches enjoyable and a lot of them I wouldn't call technically good. He's like a really good pop song. Lesser amateur wrestlers have been more convincing on the mat, though, which is a bit of a puzzler. Some of the time he reminds me of a parrot - a parrot will say the words, but the parrot doesn't know the meaning of the words or why it is saying them. Angle will work on a leg, or sell a leg, not because he gets why, but because he's been told to - and that's why we get all this goofy stuff from him. Awful at money promos.

 

Shawn Michaels - a lot like Kurt Angle. Michaels is probably a better pop song, though. Excellent at finding the right moments to pop the crowd though not a entirely masterful crowd manipulator. He tends to just hit the same note. But he tries to get the crowd into it in an almost shameless fashion, so there's some points there. Pretty crappy moveset and not the most believable wrestler. I enjoy the fact that he has been trying to get the crowd to stomp their feet with Sweet Chin Music, and they're like counting instead. It's hilarious. I don't really like his promos, but he certainly has a charm about him.

 

AJ Styles - I don't really care enough to have an opinion on him. I liked the Air Raid team. So... yeah... uum, him and the word "Faggot" have been a on-going joke between LOTC and I. Does some nice pretty moves, very athletic, comes off sometimes more as a gymnast than a wrestler.

 

Christopher Daniels - The dude looks funny. His head is bigger than his body and it looks funny. I can't take the dude seriously when he looks like that. I bought a Best of Christopher Daniels tape a few years ago and was a lil underwhelmed - I liked the Curry man stuff, but was more impressed with Superboy. Not an awful wrestler, by any means. I don't really care about him either.

 

Kenta Kobashi - I love Kobashi. One of my all time favourites. Gets so much flack for being Cryboshi, and that's what I really like about him. He gets you emotionally invested, brings out sympathy, gets you cheering, and he gets you to care. Great moveset, awesome moonsault, some of my favourite matches have come from him. I haven't seen his later stuff, but I don't think it would influence my overall opinion on him. The best wrestler on this list by a very large margin. Just another level above guys like Angle and Michaels.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield - it kinda sucks that JBL is liked so much recently. I recognized potential in him from about midway through 2000 when he cut this awesome promo on Edge and Christian. The guy could make an awesome face and it sucks that they made him a chickenshit. I like his wrestling style, they should put Trevor Murdoch ring side to watch how a texas brawler fights with surl. Him vs. Brock Lesnar would be a really awesome feud, though.

 

Necro Butcher - never seen him wrestle.

[Guest Dorian]

I think the problem with JBL is that once he was in that APA gimmick, he sorta laxed off and didn't really try. When this happened, I think a lot of people soured on him (I'm one of them) and also his backstage things didn't help win him any points.

[Guest Some Guy]

Kurt Angle: I've liked him at times and disliked him at others. He is a very good at WWE's style of working and promos. He consistantly puts on entertaining matches, that have glaring flaws in them. I still can't get past his heel logic of working the back and then going for an anklelock. I would prefer if he worked more of a heel bret hart style where he focused on the leg and fully intended to win every match by submission but still had a bunch of other ways to win a match.

 

Shawn Michaels: It's no secret that I'm a big fan of his matches. I have far less problem with the kip up spot than most people around here seem to. To me it's just anpther form of babyface comeback. His selling is spotty at times during matches, though not as bad many make it out to be.

 

AJ Styles: I think he's an amazing athlete but not all that great as a worker. I bought he DVD to see enough of him to form and opinion and feel that he is way overrated by TNA marks. Sidenote: Russo seemed to go out of his way to make AJ's first NWA title seem like it was Russo's win by the way he reacted.

 

Christopher Daniels: I haven't seen enough of him. I'll buy the DVD when it comes out.

 

Kenta Kobashi: Never seen him.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield: I used to hate him blindly until I saw his match with Eddy. I think his promo work is very good and his ring work is pretty decent.

 

Necro Butcher: Never seen him.

[Loss]

Kurt Angle - I resent him. He got a push Chris Benoit or Chris Jericho would have had far more success with in 2000-2001. His needless risk-taking and gross injuries are the main reason WWE-style wrestling has become headlocks and spinebusters. And he has nearly succeeded - at times - in bringing superior talent a level down. He gets a lot of praise because of his amateur background, but he rarely does anything that he's been able to translate from that background. I don't think he's horrible, but he's not a great worker. He's a once-good worker who's now very deteriorated and stale, and while he's not as much of a detriment to the company as HHH or Shawn Michaels, he's not exactly helping the cause either.

 

Shawn Michaels - Michaels is probably better at subtly burying his opponents than HHH. He has almost never put over an opponent as having any type of advantage whatsoever over him, unless it's a size and strength advantage, which is probably why his best matches are against guys so much larger than him. We've seen him try to outwrestle Benoit, outfly Misterio and upstage John Cena in the past 18 months, and none of it has worked. Punches like a girl, has the look and build of an old lady and is synonymous with an era that's ancient history in wrestling years. He's one of the best in the company, but that's an indictment of the working style in WWE, not a compliment. I used to enjoy him, now I can barely stomach to watch his matches because I'm so sick of him. Like Kawada~!, I prefer him as a babyface tag wrestler. Nothing else he has done has aged well at all. He could be beneficial to the company -- as a positive locker room influence, as a money-drawing heel -- and refuses to do either. He's in major need of an image makeover that he'll never get as well.

 

AJ Styles - Terrific athlete, but really uneven in the ring. As malicious as it sounds, the best thing could happen to him would be an injury he'd have to work around, because it would make him work smarter and still eliminate many of his highspots. At the rate he's going, he'll be another Sean Waltman/Jeff Hardy type who wrestles such a high-risk style at a young age and is considered yesterday's news before he even turns 30.

 

Christopher Daniels - Better than Styles, and I think he's pretty good, but he wrestles the exact same way as both a face and a heel, and that's very annoying.

 

Kenta Kobashi - It's funny how people always talk about Kawada's selling and Kobashi's offense, because on the surface, I always think of Kobashi's selling and Kawada's offense. Haven't seen him work in years, but always loved him and thought he was awesome. He did some things that were annoying after you expect him to move past those tendencies, like cry on false finishes, but he's probably the most emotion-filled wrestler ever, for better or worse. One of the best workers of all time, without much question, and he's probably had more ****+ matches throughout his career than all but a handful of wrestlers. It's just sometimes difficult to figure out where the good ends and the bad begins with Kobashi, but at the same time, that's one of the reasons I like him so much.

 

John Bradshaw Layfield - Great talker, the best in wrestling currently in fact, and I actually think the A Few Good Men skit *was* a money promo from him. Really solid worker who does his best work opposite luchadores. With them having heat backstage and with Juvi's background, that would probably be a huge guilty pleasure feud that would be far more entertaining than it deserved to be.

 

Necro Butcher - Still haven't seen the Joe match, but hopefully will soon.