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:

• Well, that was certainly a shocker on Monday, huh? July 9th, 2001: a day the will live in infamy. I've got to say that I never saw it coming (I don't see how anyone could have). The re-birth of ECW, under the WCW flag. These are the kind of shockers the WWF used to give us, and I think this one came just in time. With the steady stream of injuries to key performers, the WWF product has been sagging of late. I haven't been able to really get behind this whole Invasion thing because I thought the WCW sucked (actually, it did suck, regardless of what I thought). This wasn't the dream PPV it was being hyped as- finally the stars of the WWF vs. the stars of the WCW. It was the few remaining, uninjured WWF stars vs. the young WCW stars who never got a chance and the extremely few top WCW stars that McMahon has gotten under contract. Now, my interest is piqued- leave it to the little promotion that once shock up the industry to do so again.
• Now, I don't want everyone to think I've suddenly marked out: I do realize that the WWF and WCW are both owned by Vince, and I really don't expect to be seeing ECW doing arena shows throughout the country. ECW is not back in the way it was before, it will not be a full-fledged promotion. It seems the WWF will be using ECW as a plotline, almost a character in itself, which is the best use of it (think of it as the new NWO). When it comes right down to it, ECW wasn't that great a promotion (that is why it has been cut from the herd). Its show on TNN was unwatchable due to poor presentation, it wasn't that creative at packaging performers (c'mon, Mike Awesome? Names don't get much worse than that. Well, maybe the Porteguese Man of War was worse), and on the business end, they often couldn't pay performers. What ECW excelled at was pushing boundaries. ECW was an attitude, pure and simple. It was this attitude that the WWF co-opted to reclaim its position on top and the WCW failed to adapt and thus went bankrupt. Now the attitude is back with none of the flaws (and hopefully no half-hour Sandman ring entrances).
• The shockwaves of Invasion are spreading throughout the industry all the way to your favourite rankings. I had previously decided not to include WCW stars on the WWF Rankings, but now with the emergence of the ECW rebellion I had to do an about face. What was I to do, eliminate ECW stars as well (it would've been ugly, I assure you. Billy Gunn and Hardcore Holly would contend for the top ten). Better to include the both, for now, as all three groups are intermingled until Invasion.
• Finally, since this is my first posting since then, I should comment on the King of the Ring, which can be summed up as a disappointment. the Shane McMahon/Kurt Angle Street Fight was amazing, but other than that, few highlights. The main culprits were the New Jersey fans, who reacted as though they were at church. This completely drained any drama or emotion from the event. I remember when RAW came to Calgary, we gave Lillian Garcia as much pop as the East Rutherford crowd gave Shane McMahon's attempted shooting-star press.

Now without further adieu (and there's been plenty adieu), the rankings...

1. (5) Vince McMahon- The hug-a-thon that the WWF has become has been the biggest WWF-only story on WWF TV and Vinny Mac has been at the centre of it (literally). That is enough to elevate Vince as one of the top stars of the moment. Invasion also centres around Vince, as he is trying to destroy his competition and hold off his wife at the same time. However, it was Stephanie joining the fold that put Vince over the top to reach the top of the rankings. The world of professional wrestling is now all about the McMahon family.

2. (2) Stone Cold Steve Austin- Austin would have made top spot, but I think Vince has been the bigger presence of late. Stone Cold has become the world's most dangerous comedian, mixing his ridiculous (but funny) spats with Angle with brutal assaults on Michael Cole and Tazz. He hasn't fought since King of the Ring (where I think he injured his back when Booker T put him through the Spanish Announce Table), but that doesn't mean he hasn't been working hard. Ever since the Rock left, and especially since Triple H was hurt, Austin has had to put other guys over. From Kane and the Undertaker, to Benoit and Jericho and now with Booker T, its been up to Austin to make those guys look good and make the fans get behind them.

3. (4) Kurt Angle- Angle is hilarious. What other top star would allow his character to be reduced to this retarded-dork persona that Angle is currently portraying? Okay, so Angle was always a dork, but now he's playing dumb as well. But it's working, his bits with Austin and McMahon are funny. I do think that the WWF is going a little to far with the humour, however. These two are the top two heels (and the top two stars) in the Federation, they should be a little more vicious.

4. (11) Shane McMahon- Shane's swerve on Vince was brilliant, just the sort of conniving, devious thing that we expect from the McMahon's, but haven't been getting until Monday. Vince has been slimy, but not devious. Shane has been damn-near heroic with his amazing bout with Kurt Angle (I've said it before: Mr. Pay-Per-View) and his defence of the Undertaker on Smackdown! Well, no more. He sneak attacks Taker with DDP, then submarines Vince by stealing his ECW stars- pure McMahon.

5. (-) Booker T- Booker T has been the fightingist champion on WWF TV (oh, spellchecker is going to have a field day with "fightingist"), which is good for Booker, bad for WWF TV. His title defence with Buff Bagwell sucked (one of the reasons Bagwell was fired, I suppose), his match with DDP was doomed to be a run-in, and his match with Kurt Angle was pretty good. So let's review: match with top WWF star: entertaining. Matches with top WCW stars: yaawwwnnn!. I sign I saw on Smackdown! pretty much sums it up: WCW- bankrupt for a reason.

6. (6) The Undertaker- Hopefully, this Undertaker versus DDP thing will be wrapped up by Invasion, because it's doing nothing for me. Their encounter at King of the Ring was horrible, and nothing they've done since then has been all that great either. I was surprised that TSN showed Sara receiving the Diamond Cutter- somebody must've been asleep at the switch.

7. (-) Diamond Dallas Page- I haven't liked any of his work since DDP revealed he was the stalker, but he has been a mainstay of WWF TV of late and is feuding with the WWF's top face, so he gets ranked high. Actually the most interesting thing Page did was attack his boss, Shane, on Smackdown!, but that didn't amount to anything since the two teammed up on RAW. One thing: I'm just dying for Page to call the Undertaker scum.

8. (3) Chris Jericho- From three to eight, oh how the mighty have fallen. It's not Jericho's fault, this whole Invasion thing screwed up his ascent (which will be haulted further when the Rock returns next month). Just when it looked like the WWF was finally going to give Y2J the push he deserves, they screw him again. I guess I should've known better.

9. (8) Kane- No real reason to give Kane a jump (especially since he lost his IC strap since my last posting), but I will anyway. With the onslaught of injuries, Kane will remain a fixture near the top. He will be on Team WWF, especially after the beating he and Jericho received at the hands of ECW.

10. (15) Edge- King Edge, who'da thunk it? I'll admit, I was wrong. I thought for sure Rhyno would have won the tournament. Instead they crowned Edge champ to set up a funny rift with he and his brother and a feud with "The One" Billy Gunn. Waitasec... Edge did win, didn't he? Again, like Chris Jericho, Edge is being screwed out of his King of the Ring push by Invasion. Despite that, he's done some great bits of late as it looks like he may be turning face.

11. (10) Rhyno- Maybe Rhyno didn't win because of the ECW Revolution. Maybe, but I doubt it. Honestly, I'm not sure if the WWF was planning this ECW thing all along, or if it was a relatively new plan to revive a failing plotline (Invasion itself). Honestly, when I first heard the plans for Invasion I thought it was a bad idea. The WCW did not retain many stars so a PPV starring Lance Storm and Hugh Morris just didn't seem like a good idea to me. Actually, a PPV starring Rhyno and Tazz isn't much better (and I like those two).

12. (18) Tajiri- One could argue that Tajiri is ranked a little high here, especially given the quality of his opponents, but really, who cares? The WWF has been ignoring its own talent of late in attempt to make something out of WCW, so most of the guys on this list have dropped. All I know is when I hear that Tajiri's match is coming up next, I get excited. It doesn't matter if he's fighting Scotty 2 Hotty or Chris Jericho, his matches are worth watching. Also, his vignettes have been funny (they should have shown Tajiri and Vince hanging out at the strip clubs). Here's a question: does Tajiri join ECW, or stay with Regal? I'm guessing we will know the answer to that one soon.

13. (1) Chris Benoit- From what I hear, Chris Benoit was already injured before the King of the Ring, and postponed the surgery until after the main event. What a warrior. Now he's out for a year, just when he was poised to be a number one draw in the WWF, that's got to hurt.

14. (-) Albert- Ever since he was teammed with the Bossman, Jim Ross has been touting Albert as one of the future superstars of the WWF, and I could never figure out why. Until now. From his recent matches with Kane and the Undertaker I can see that Albert has the physical potential to be one of the great big men, he could be the next Kevin Nash, and he's not that far off. What he needs to work on is his promos and a new name- I can't see many "Albert" t-shirts selling.

15. (12) The Big Show- The Big Show makes the rankings week after week, yet I could care less if he was in the WWF. The reason is he is always on TV (hell, he was on twice on Monday). It looked like he hit the jackpot when Trish was in his corner, but the WWF quickly realized that not even Trish could help this guy.

16. (13) Spike Dudley- The injuries to Triple H, Rikishi and Chris Benoit were tough on the WWF, but Spike Dudley's broken leg? Devastating. Seriously though, I don't care if Spike has a broken neck, I still think he'd find a way to remain on television. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would achieve this level of popularity on the biggest stage in the industry (okay, maybe in his wildest dreams), so do you think a broken leg is going to stop him?

17. (16) Jeff Hardy- He was taken out of the King of the Ring tournament so he could fight X-Pac in a Light Heavyweight Title much, ouch. Then he had to drop the title to X-Pac the next night on RAW, that has to sting. Now, he gets to kiss Trish Stratus. Ahhh... all better.

18. (-) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley- One might think one minute on television would not be enough to get you ranked, and usually one would be right. However, this was one of the most shocking minutes (and I'm rounding up here, I doubt Stephanie was on for a full minute) in WWF history. Plus, I've missed Steph. Hey, just imagine if she's been on for five minutes!

19. (20) Lita- Last time out I was struggling for reasons to rank Lita. Not this time. Sure her promo at WWF New York sucked, but I think she had a cold (and it seemed as though there were technical difficulties). The real reason Lita ranks number nineteen (other than my undying love) is that she is currently gracing the cover of RAW magazine and her video "It Just Feels Right" was just released. This proves the WWF knows she is a marketable commodity (genuises!). Also: since Chyna's contract runs out in November, and will not be renewed, I guess this means we need a new Women's Champion, doesn't it? (Watch, it'll be Jackie).

20. (-) Paul Heyman- The mad scientist of professional wrestling strikes again. After months of adequate colour commentary, Paul Heyman finally makes the rankings (hey, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz and even Kevin Kelly have all made it), but it has nothing to do with his commentating ability. You know, this whole ECW Revolution seems like it has Heyman's fingerprints all over it creatively. I wouldn't be surprised if it was his idea. Now the WWF is out of colour commentators, with the defection of Heyman and Tazz. I'm guessing Ross and Cole will do double duty for awhile, but could this possibly mean a return of the one, true King? (Please don't let it mean a promotion for Jonothan Coachman or Michael Hayes).

1. (3) The Dudley Boyz- There really isn't much competition in the tag team division, as it, like most things, have been ignored because of Invasion. Hell, the Dudleyz defended their titles mostly against Spike and whoever happened to be his partner. Even after losing the tag team titles the Dudley Boyz are the number one tag team in the WWF, or ECW, or is it WCW? I'm confused.

2. (8) APA- The APA has been doing some good work leading the best of the worst in the WWF. Therefore, they were rewarded with the tag titles (which they haven't held in quite awhile). I think the main reason why they won is the Dudleyz had to lose to set up the shocker later that night (which the Dudleyz themselves aluded to), and the APA was the only viable option to win the tag titles. I wouldn't be surprised if they fought Palumbo and O'Haire at Invasion.

3. (-) Palumbo and O'Haire- I'll be honest, until they interfered in the Dudley Boyz title defence against the Hardys, I'd never heard of Palumbo and O'Haire. That right there pretty much sums up the problems with Invasion. The WCW was unwatchable by the time it went off the air so a lot of WWF fans, even passionate ones like me, have no idea who most of the WCW holdovers are. Now that I've seen them, I will say the duo looks impressive (actually, they're the only WCW performers to have impressed me thus far. Well, them and Stacey Keibler).

4. (2) The Hardy Boyz- They've had one tag team fight, and it never finshed thanks to Palumbo and O'Haire. Still, Jeff and Matt have to be the luckiest sons of bitches in professional wrestling for being matched up with Lita and Trish.

5. (6) X-Factor- Two members of X-Factor have WWF gold. If Justin Credible would have won the European Championship (he did challenge Matt Hardy in the Sunday Night Heat before the King of the Ring) I'm sure it would have been one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

6. (5) Edge and Christian- I'm not sure if E&C have even fought as a tag team lately, but the vignettes are pretty funny, so they get ranked sixth. Oh wait! They faced off against Billy Gunn and X-Pac, how could I have forgotten that!

7. (-) Undertaker and Kane- Taker and Kane faced the Dudley Boyz for the tag team titles, and surprise! Diamond Dallas Page interfered. It must suck to be an opponent of the Undertaker, DDP, or even Kane for that matter right now. The basic game plan is to stall until the run-in comes.

8. (10) Kai en tai- Taka and Funaki have done an amazing job of standing around while Bradshaw and Farooq talk. I have no reason to rank these guys, but there are no tag team right now (look how creative I had to be in order to get ten).

9. (-) William Regal and Tajiri- These two teammed up against Chris Jericho and Scotty 2 Hotty. Sure they lost, but the act well as a team in the Commissioner's office. Good enough for number nine.

10. (-) Spike Dudley and Molly Holly- Molly and Spike were impressive enough in their victory over Crash and Jackie, as well as their overall kissing and hand-holding ability to rank tenth.

For more WWF content on this site, click on any of the following:

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 1999. 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.