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. (1) Kurt Angle- Angle's number one for the third time in a row (which spans from late July until now), which is pretty impressive. However, I don't expect him to remain so after No Mercy. I couldn't exactly drop a guy after he won the WWF Title, which he did at Unforgiven, now could I? Angle's advantage is that he always goes out there and gives a good match, while some of the aging stars have to save it for PPVs. However, I'm tired of his feud with Austin, they should have left it after Unforgiven.
2. (3) The Rock- Even though his quality of opponents hasn't been that great as WCW champ, the Rock still deserves a jump because his TV work is so good. Plus, he's fought RVD twice for the WCW Title, so that ain't exactly bad. His best work, though, was this past Thursday on Smackdown! with Chris Jericho. It is unusual for the Rock to drop the catchphrases and be so blunt with an opponent, especially when that opponent is a face. My jaw dropped when he stared Y2J in the eye and flatly said "you're not that good".
3. (2) Stone Cold Steve Austin- Okay, maybe I will drop a guy after he won the WWF Title. However, since my last posting Austin also lost the WWF Title. So he dropped then, dropped further when he went AWOL for two weeks, and then climbed a spot by winning back the WWF Title in time for my posting. I really love the work he's been doing with the Alliance backstage. For my money it doesn't get much funnier than the Bionic Redneck uttering the phrase "chicken soup for the soul". Look for Austin to retain his title through dubious means, ending his feud with Angle (for the time being at least) and furthering his feud with RVD.
4. (7) Rob Van Dam- If I hadn't been busy with, you know, life and posted sooner, RVD would have cracked the Top 3. As it is, I think this is a better reflection of Van Dam's current place on the roster. There's the Big 3: Austin, Rock and Angle, then there's this guy waiting to get in. His victories over Chris Jericho cemented his status as main-event player (as I said they would) and now, low and behold, he is in the main event. To really step up, he'd either have to win the WWF Title (I don't think he will), or start cutting promos (again, I don't think he will, I think that's why Vince is back- to speak for RVD).
5. (5) Chris Jericho- I am absolutely loving his feud with the Rock. It only began two weeks ago, but thanks to brilliant work by both performers, it is the most interesting one going into No Mercy. It's good to see the WWF gave up trying to find Alliance opponents that can hang with the Rock (currently Austin and RVD are the only guys who can), and gave Y2J his chance. Here's a prediction that I hope doesn't come true: Chris Jericho finally wins the big one (yeah!), but he does so by turning heel. It looks like his long-rumoured turn is about to occur, and I think Stephanie and possibly Shane will be behind it. Just like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rocky before him, Jericho will turn to a McMahon to get him his title. This will strengthen the Alliance, refresh Jericho's character (which lost fan support to upstart RVD), make room for Van Dam to leave the Alliance, and give Rock a legitimate opponent for a lengthy feud, delaying his inevitable feud with Austin.
6. (9) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley- I gave Stephanie a jump in the rankings (not exactly the kind of jump I'd like to give her) despite her missing a week of action. Why? Because there always has to be a McMahon stirring the pot, and Steph's been leading the way in that category (although Linda and Vince look to factor in big in the coming weeks). She helped elevate RVD and Chris Jericho at the same time, and I think she'll do even bigger things for Y2J at No Mercy. Plus, she looks damn good.
7. (13) Christian- Wow, Christian ranked number seven, who'd ever have thunk it? His match with Edge at Unforgiven was pretty good. Their Ladder Match at No Mercy should be fantastic. In terms of matchups, this is the one I'm most looking forward to, as these two will give everything they've got to get over as singles competitors in this match. Their tag team careers took off as a result of their ladder match with the Hardys, this should do the same for their solo careers. It should be amazing.
8. (12) Edge- I almost ranked Edge higher than Christian, but last time I felt it was the IC title that put Edge over on Christian, so I had to do the same this time around. I think Edge has done a good job adjusting to life as a face, with some entertaining spots despite a lack of good ring time. Hell, his insults of X-Pac alone were enough to put him in the top ten (it was the feel-good moment of the year). Not that it matters much, but I think Edge will win this Sunday (I say it doesn't matter because in matches like these winning and losing is really secondary to the action).
9. (4) Shane McMahon- Shane was busier earlier in the month when he first teamed with Booker T to take on the Rock for the WCW title at Unforgiven, then later fought Kurt Angle for the WWF Title. Still, I think the best thing Shane-O did this month was when he bulldogged Chris Jericho into the steel ring steps while teaming with RVD against Y2J and the Rock. Shane is a wrestling chameleon: he has no moves of his own (except the Ali-shuffle step punch), but rather borrows the move of his opponent. It's really pretty impressive when you think about it: most of those guys took years perfecting this stuff.
10. (6) Booker T- The Book is fading fast, and I think this bout with the Undertaker is his make or break match. The WWF has given him every opportunity to succeed, and he's failed everytime. If he can't create an exciting match with the industry's top consummate pro, I think Booker T will be stuck in the tag team ranks for some time. Whether or not he succeeds, I don't know, but I think he will beat the Undertaker regardless (no use in trying to put the guy over with a loss).
11. (8) The Undertaker- This isn't such a bad beat for the Undertaker, even though I'm obviously not Booker T's biggest fan. Booker is still technically a top guy, so Taker isn't exactly slumming it. Plus, it's obvious that the Phenom's glory days are over, so now he gets feuds like this to keep him relevant. He's the resident legend of the WWF. It could be worse, he could be fighting Kronik (you know, if they were still employed).
12. (-) William Regal- Regal was rising back unto the rankings before the swerve, it just helped him soar to the twelve spot. I was thinking that I missed Regal in the ring of late, even though I used to complain we got too much of the guy. So it was nice to see him mix it up with the likes of Lance Storm and X-Pac (well, it's never that nice to see X-Pac wrestle, but at least he got thrashed). Too bad Regal got injured though, it stunts his rebirth as a heel if he can't wrestle (plus, he had just given the Alliance another credible threat).
13. (10) Tajiri- Another reason it sucks that Regal is injured is that he and Tajiri have to have a go to resolve that plot point. At first Tajiri was Regal's lackey, then they seemed friends. What now? I think Regal will get to Tajiri through Torrie somehow, maybe costing her a victory at No Mercy in her Lingerie Match, although none of us want to see Regal at the Lingerie Match, it would spoil the integrity of the contest.
14. (15) Test- I have no real reason to give Test a one-point bump, but I did anyway. He really hasn't done all that much solo work of late, and did not even wrestle at Unforgiven (but did get involved in the Rock vs. Booker T and Shane McMahon match). Still, the WWF is still trying to push this guy, and he does have a PPV match, albeit with Kane. Actually, that's a positive: Kane is a common stepping stone opponent. Maybe things are looking up for Test.
15. (11) Rhyno- Meanwhile, Rhyno is going nowhere. Oh sure, he won the U.S. Title at Unforgiven, yet still he drops four spots. Part of the reason is the ascension of those above him, but the main reason is that his title has been ignored. After beating Tajiri, he faced Jeff Hardy in a pretty good match and Edge in a meaningless one. He doesn't even have a spot at No Mercy. So he drops (although I bet he'll defend the title in the Sunday Night Heat warm-up bout, but it'll be against somebody like Perry Saturn).
16. (18) Tazz- Well, I still don't know what they're doing with Tazz, but in fairness, I don't think the WWF does either. He's not commentating on Smackdown! anymore, but I think that's more to use him as a wrestling than an indication of his commentating ability. The good news is he wrestles every night now, which a lot of guys can't say. His opponents aren't the best, but, with the exception of Maven, they've been in his league (Tajiri, Billy Kidman).
17. (-) Mick Foley- Foley's back! Foley's back! I'm so excited (can't you tell?). I love what this guy can bring to a broadcast, so I really think he'll help the upward swing WWF programming has been taking. It'll be interesting to see how he interacts with the new "face" Vince McMahon (oh, you know Vince'll be a face, if only for a few weeks). This guy is funny, can cut a promo with the best of them, and is one of the greatest ever in portraying emotion. There is nothing but upside in his return.
18. (-) Kane- There pretty much is no upside in the return of Kane. I guess he never left for long, but I didn't really notice, which is the hallmark of a dull performer. I'm sure the performer himself is a really good guy, but seriously, can anyone remember the last time this guy had any relevance? (I mean legitimate relevance, not Intercontinental Champion relevance).
19. (-) X-Pac- I feared this day would once again return, the day when X-Pac earned a return to the solo rankings. Not so much because I'd have to rank him, really this just gives me the opportunity to slam the guy, the fear came from the fact that if I'm ranking him, that means he's on television. A sad day indeed. It's kinda weird though, the guy held two titles for how long and nothing, no ranking, little TV time. Now he dropped the WCW Cruiserweight Title, got smoked by William Regal and the Big Show, and was completely punked out by Edge, and now he gets a ranking.
20. (-) Maven- I'll be honest, I never saw Tough Enough because I live in Canada. Now that I have the chance to see it in re-runs, I'm not even a little bit interested. Still, I think they might have lucked into something with this Maven kid, and given that he's been on Smackdown! for three straight weeks, I think the WWF recognises it. The original plan was for him to do one show, then report to OVW. Now it looks as though he'll stay awhile.
1. (1) The Dudley Boyz- This seems to be the only team the WWF cares about. They make every TV appearance, they fight against and with the big dogs (they even got a WCW Title shot against the Rock) and they have Stacy Keibler, not bad. Oh yeah, they're WWF Tag Team Champions too. All this adds up to landslide number one ranking.
2. (4) The Hardy Boyz- It's odd that these guys have been ignored, because, and I could be wrong here, I think people like them. I was surprised to see them win the WCW Titles, but it works. Booker T is being given one last shot at singles glory, so the belts had to go somewhere. Why not the most popular tag team in the WWF? It's also nice to see Lita getting involved in matches once again.
3. (7) The Hurricane and Lance Storm- The way I see it, one of two things is going to happen on Sunday at No Mercy. Either the APA will interfere in the match between the Hardys and the super-heroes, costing Storm and Hurricane the WCW Tag Team belts, or Storm and Hurricane will win the belts and immediately begin a feud with the APA.
4. (-) The Big Show and Spike- It's too bad Spike got injured, because these two were really starting to develop a chemistry in and out of the ring. In fact, if it were Show and Spike vs. the Dudleyz, I could foresee an upset in the making. But since Tajiri's only a temporary fill-in for Spike, I think the Dudleyz will keep their belts. However, look for Tajiri to get a measure of revenge for the Dudleyz putting Torrie Wilson through a table.
5. (2) Undertaker and Kane- Ranking the tag teams keeps getting harder. Already, at number five is a team not concentrating on being a team. But hey, they put Kronik out of business (literally) at Unforgiven and have an interwoven feud with the "team" that beat them.
6. (-) Booker T and Test- I put team in quotations, because Booker T and Test aren't really a team, they're two soloists temporarily teaming up. But they did hold the WCW Tag Titles for a week, and are hanging out together, that's good enough for number six. Plus, if Booker stinks out the joint with the Undertaker, they'll be a team real quick. P.S. Kinda ironic that Test was in T & A for a year and didn't get a sniff at tag titles, now when his solo career is on track he finally won them.
7. (3) APA- One way or another these guys will be going after the Hurricane and Lance Storm. I almost care. Still, they remain on TV, even with Farooq's deteriorating health (while he missed some shows, Bradshaw received a meaningless Intercontinental Title shot against Christian. Good for him!).
8. (8) The Rock and Jericho- When I ranked these guys as a tag team last time out of desperation, I didn't think they'd hold their position. Obviously not a team, these two did team up a few times to face the likes of RVD and Shane McMahon, the Dudley Boyz (and Nick Patrick) and the incomparable Raven and Justin Credible. Hey, three matches gets you on the list. Plus, if it wasn't for their past as a pseudo-team, this feud wouldn't have gotten underway.
9. (5) X-Factor- These two still hang out (as evidenced by Albert's
ultimately futile assist during X-Pac's confrontation with the Big Show
and his assault on Edge while X-Pac was being verbally bitch-clapped),
so they get ranked. Believe me folks, the tag team division is that weak.
10. (-) Raven and Justin Credible- Did somebody say weak? Imagine how overjoyed Raven and Justin Credible must have been when they learned that not only were they going to appear on Smackdown!, but they would be facing two of the biggest players in the game- The Rock and Chris Jericho. I imagine their excitement dissipated when they learned that their assignment would be to watch while their opponents beat the hell out of one another. (On a positive note, these two also teamed up to challenge the Hardy Boyz for the WCW Tag Team titles, too bad it was on Heat).
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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 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.