It's time, once again, to rank the WWF superstars. For the uninitiated, this is where yours truly decides who is tops in the WWF according to the criteria of ring ability, mic ability, pop, current storyline, and title situation. Feel free to respond, even to challenge my rulings. The previous ranking for each superstar is shown in parenthesis.
Random WWF thoughts: Here are thoughts that don't fit into the rankings format but I feel I must share anyway:
1. (2) Stone Cold Steve Austin- Austin jumps up to number one as a result of the easiest face turn in the history of the WWF. He's getting booed one night at the PPV, loses that match to the more popular Rock, thus possibly losing his job, and by the end of the next night, people are cheering him. It was weird. People came to the arena with "Thank You Kurt" signs and left cheering a beer-chuggin Austin. Look for Austin to beat Angle clean at Vengeance, then lose to The Rock for the first time at a PPV in the final.
2. (1) The Rock- The Rock has been great of late, actually, The Rock is always great. I thought it would have been nice for him to finally get his revenge against a heel Austin from Wrestlemania, but I guess that's not going to happen. Oh well, I think he should beat Y2J and Austin at Vengeance to reclaim the position he left to make movies, the position that he's earned since coming back. He is, quite simply, the best entertainer in the history of this business.
3. (4) Kurt Angle- It's good to see Angle back at doing what he does back, but the fans are starting to bug me with their constant "WHAT?!?"s all the time. It's working to give Angle some heat, but I wanna see what this guy can do without the interruptions. It'll be funny, all summer Angle was unbeatable, and Austin was ducking fights. Now, it'll be an exact reversal. Look for Angle to feud with Edge when Vengeance is over.
4. (3) Chris Jericho- So far I like what Jericho is doing for his heel turn. Turning heel can be very difficult, Austin struggled with it for the better part of a year, turning into an original heel is even harder. I wonder if Jericho will be allowed to give as scintillating a match with The Rock as he did at No Mercy or will they have to tone it down to save something for the main event?
5. (7) The Undertaker- I liked the Undertaker's heel turn, especially since I saw it coming (only half a minute before it happened, but I saw it anyway). It was interesting enough to give the Dead Man a two-place jump, despite his usual shortened ring time. I think the WWF is reshuffling the faces and the heels to not only fill the void left by the Alliance, but also to make room for Triple H.
6. (6) Vince McMahon- It's funny, we miss Vince when he's gone, but he kind of annoys me when he around. Granted, he's supposed to annoy me, but I get a little worried when he dominates TV time. I think his job for the moment is to establish Angle and Taker as heels and Austin (and to a lesser degree RVD) as faces. Then, hopefully, he'll tone his presence down.
7. (5) Rob Van Dam- RVD's meteoric rise has slowed down a bit, but I think that's a good thing. He's not quite ready for the big time yet, but it was a good move to elevate him temporarily during the Alliance storyline. The fans love him, so that not all Alliance time was dead time. Now he can ease his way into the elite, and no one can help him more with that than the Undertaker.
8. (-) Ric Flair- This is why I love the episode of RAW right after a PPV, they will usually throw in the unexpected to start the new chapter. Fewer moments were less expected than when Ric Flair's entrance music hit as Vince was about to give Angle the WWF Championship (I think we were all expecting breaking glass). I like seeing Flair in the WWF, if no other reason than to hear his catchphrases more often.
9. (11) Edge- Will Edge actually defend the Intercontinental Championship at a PPV successfully? In the past four PPVs he has: won the title from Lance Storm, lost the title to Christian, won the title from Christian, and won the Unified title from Edge. I think he'll break the streak against Regal. I've been really impressed by this guy of late, he's been cutting the most intelligent promos since Helmsley left.
10. (13) William Regal- It was a priceless moment when Regal kissed McMahon's ass, especially the work done by Vince. Since then, it's been annoying. But I suspect that particular plotline will end tonight when Vince has to kiss The Rock's ass. I think Regal could have been an ideal stepping stone opponent for Edge, and I'm sure the Fed did as well. However, Regal has surgery coming up to repair that constantly bleeding nose of his, so don't look for him to make too much of an impact.
11. (14) Test- I will give Test credit where credit is due, his match with Edge was an incredibly entertaining affair, which managed to stand out in a very memorable PPV. Now his challenge is to maintain the head of steam the Alliance storyline afforded him (I don't think anyone benefited more than Test from that so-so story). I don't think a feud with Scotty 2 Hotty will help, but that should only be temporary.
12. (12) Christian- Last time I actually ranked a European Champion (Christian) ahead of the Intercontinental Champion (Test). That had to be a first. I really like Christian, he's an all-around talent. He saved Rob Van Dam's ass, sort of, when RVD was forced to cut a promo. He needs a real opponent with a real feud though to do anything with his belt. He'll get it, there just wasn't much time this PPV cycle.
13. (-) Trish Stratus- Finally, a true fighting champion. Trish seems to be the only champion to steadily defend her title since Survivor Series. Austin has yet to defend, same with Rock, Christian, and Tajiri. But Trish is there working her ass off in grueling Gravy Bowl and Bra and Panties Matches. God bless her (actually, god bless her for keeping her ass where it is).
14. (16) Kane- Kane gets a lift because a few guys that were ahead of him previously are now "unemployed". Other than that The Big Red Machine has stood his ground, doing just enough to stay in the singles division, but not enough to be elevated to the top ten, even though he was part of the winning team at Survivor Series.
15. (17) The Big Show- Same story for the Big Show. For the time being, he is being treated as a top guy, so I have to recognise him as such. However, I think that will change soon as the WWF begins to filter in returning talent from injuries and the old Alliance (they've still been performing at house shows, so it shouldn't be too long to see the likes of Lance Storm and the Hurricane).
16. (-) Tazz- Tazz is the kind of guy who should be taking on Christian, and who knows, maybe he will at a meaningless match at Vengeance (much like Al Snow did at Survivor Series). Whatever he does, I'd like to see the guy finally get to win a freaking match. He's performed well against the likes of The Big Show and The Undertaker, but I don't think I've seen the guy win a match since the second to last time he faced off with Maven (who also beat Tazz).
17. (15) Tajiri- Tajiri gets this ranking for his participation at the last PPV, when he lost a forgettable match with Regal, and, oh yeah, his meaningless Cruiserweight Title. I was certain he was going to win that fight, given the way Regal was behaving. Maybe he's hurting and therefore being kept out of matches, otherwise I can't think of any reason he's not fighting on TV regularly.
18. (9) Booker T- I was kind of hoping we'd seen the last of this guy for a while (although I knew he hadn't really lost his job, it was nice to pretend). Imagine my dismay when he came out and interfered in a match. Please tell me he is not getting a feud with Austin! How many chances does a guy get? I think a better feud, post-Vengeance, would be with RVD, with Booker serving as the WWF's fourth-best heel (after Angle, Jericho, and the Undertaker).
19. (20) Stacy Keibler- I'm thankful for the WWF's Thanksgiving presentation, and I wasn't even celebrating the holiday (I'm Canadian). Then the WWF turned around and gave us even more Stacy Keibler with a Bra and Panties Match. Tell me there's a more fan-friendly form of entertainment. You can't can you? More Stacy Keibler, less Booker T! Let's start a petition.
20. (-) Jerry "The King" Lawler- Of all the shocking moments of the past few weeks, the WWF winning Survivor Series with Kurt Angle's help, the return of Ric Flair, the turning of The Undertaker, the kiss between The Rock and Trish Stratus, NONE made me happier than the return of the one, true colour commentator: Jerry "The King" Lawler. I nearly cried. A lot of the fun has been missing since The King quit, and now it's back in abundance. And perhaps not coincidentally, matches like the ones with Stacy and Trish have been back with abundance.
1. (1) The Dudley Boyz- Hey look at that, more Stacy Keibler! (The non-petition worked). The Dudleyz are, once again, tops in the sham that is the tag team division. I knew these guys would beat the Hardys at Survivor Series, so the match wasn't too dramatic. But they were able to add some thrills, so that was good.
2. (3) The Hardy Boyz- The only team these two have beaten of late is Tajiri and Spike, but still they get bumped up in the Rankings. Why? There isn't anyone else to rank. I think this is the wrong time to split up Team Extreme, simply because there is no tag team division to support it right now. Give it a month, then bust these two up (if for no other reason than to help my rankings).
3. (-) Kane and The Big Show- I think these two will beat the Dudley Boyz and win the Tag Titles at Vengeance. My reasons are thus: The Dudleyz need real competition for a division that has been their's by acclimation for quite some time, the WWF is trying to re-tool its tag teams, these two need something to do, and finally, look at these frickin guys, who could beat them?
4. (9) Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty- I'm not sure if these two have even won a match yet, but they still get a five point jump. Something really needs to be done about the tag teams. I don't think these two will be the guys to give the Dudley Boyz a good match come Wrestlemania.
5. (6) APA- Worse is the fact that the APA is ranked fifth, despite not fighting as a unit since before Survivor Series. But they're still a team, and Bradshaw did fight Regal. Oh, and Farooq gave another tour-de-force uttering of the word "Damn".
6. (-) Spike and Tajiri- I think these two will be paired up for awhile to give each of them something to do, which is a mistake. I think Kai en tai might have more size than these two. Maybe if they bring back Lance Storm and The Hurricane as a unit a good feud will develop (Spike and Molly could still have unresolved issues, Torrie could get involved with either Molly or Ivory, it could work).
7. (-) The Rock and Trish Stratus- This is how pathetic the tag team division is, but, hey, these two did team up and defeat Kurt Angle and Mr. McMahon, setting up what I'm sure should be interesting television when Vince has to kiss The Rock's ass. More interesting was the liplock these two engaged in backstage. I wonder if anything will develop from that or if it was a one-time thing.
8. (-) Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon- Sure these two only fought together once, and lost, to a team with a girl, but they've been performing as a duo backstage and in the ring cutting promos. That's enough for the number 8 position (I'm reaching here, I know. I really should just make this a top 5 tag team list).
9. (-) Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho- You know, Angle keeps talking about winning every title there is in the WWF, but that isn't true. I'll forgive that he leaves out the Light Heavyweight Title and the Women's Title, because he's ineligible. But he has never won the WWF Tag Titles either. Anyone, he gets his second straight ranking in this laughable division for teaming up with Y2J to lose to The Rock and Kane (they're also slated to team up tonight against The Rock and Austin, who knows, maybe they already won, I bet they did).
10. (-) Test and Christian- These two haven't even teamed up yet, but they will tonight against Albert and Scotty 2 Hotty. So I decided to rank them higher than other one-time partners like The Rock and Kane and The Rock and RVD (who lost to the Dudley Boyz and Jericho in a handicap match). The reason? They've been helping each other out of late and could actually be a tag team in the weeks to come.
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THE YEAR 2000- YEAR IN REVIEW- See how the superstars of the WWF stacked up using my rankings system for the entire year 2000. Who was number 1, The Rock or Triple H? Who were the top tag teams? Also, the title pictures for each belt from the WWF Championship all the way down to the Light Heavyweight Title, with my own commentary on each reign.
LITA- ONE MAN'S OBSESSION- I admit, I am in love with Lita. I also admit that this behaviour has become a bit of an obsession. See pictures of the Team Extreme Diva, biographical info and random career facts, while I attempt to come to terms with the fact that I am in love with someone I see on TV.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS- Ranking archives dating back to November 2000. Missed a posting? Want to track my biases? Find all past information here.
SITE AWARDS- Here I list the multitude of awards (who knows? Maybe one day there will be a multitude of awards) that WWF Rankings has received.
