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 is the man, of this there can be no doubt. I have no problem with the WWF putting him over like this, he's earned it. My only problem is this unbeatable air they've given him. Unbeatables usually rip away drama from a wrestling feud, the problem is only compounded when the unbeatable wrestler is a face. There are so many ways they could have gone with Angle as a face, they didn't have to make him the new Hogan.
2. (2) Stone Cold Steve Austin- Austin's ring work has been too infrequent to garner him the top spot, what? However, his character work has been great, not just for himself but for building the Alliance, what? In fact, you can look at certain guys below him on this list, what, and see Austin's role in their ascension. For instance: RVD, what?, the Hurricane, Tazz and even Kurt Angle, what?, all have Austin to thank for their current status. Still, I think he'll lose his title at Unforgiven. He's had it too long (since Wrestlemania), and repeat bouts almost always go the other way. WHAT?!?
3. (10) The Rock- The Rock's work has been the most dynamic, the most entertaining, and yes, the most electrifying, of anyone since his return (which covers all the time between postings). However, Rocky does not get the top spot for a couple of reasons: one, sure he's a champion, but the WCW Title is not the WWF Title. This is evidenced by the quality of his opponents: Lance Storm, Christian, Test. While The Rock raises the profile of each of those performers, their association with him lowers his. Two, most of the show-stealing things the Rock has done have been mid-show performances, not main event performances. Finally, his most entertaining stuff has been with the likes of Lilian Garcia and Michael Cole, not with his opponent Booker T (who again brings the People's Champ down). Look for The Rock to be the exception to that return-bout rule I discussed earlier, keeping the title to set up a feud with Austin.
4. (4) Shane McMahon- Shane's involvement with The Rock/Booker T feud is not only an interesting twist, it's a necessity. This is obviously Angle's time, while The Rock works himself back into game shape and pays some dues for the time he was gone. I'm sure the hope was for Booker T to provide Rocky with a top-notch opponent while Austin was busy, and hopefully in return The Rock could bring some relevance to Booker T. While Angle vs. Austin took off, Booker sputtered. In comes Shane to save the angle, and not to worry, Shane-o will have something to show come PPV time. In fact, I wouldn't be overly surprised if he wound up winning the WCW Title.
5. (8) Chris Jericho- It's good to see the WWF didn't forget Y2J with the return of Rocky. They blow this guy off so often (in fact, they were doing so following Invasion), I pretty much expected Jericho to once again get lost in the shuffle as the WWF tried to push guys like Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page. The thing about Jericho is he's so talented and so popular that the WWF doesn't have to give him much to do for him to be successful. So they throw in a quick, but interesting, feud with Rhyno for Summer Slam. They give him a title shot with Austin that he dominates but narrowly loses. They team him with The Rock and let him do what he does best, denigrate opponents (and Stephanie) on the mic. Look for his Hardcore Title match with RVD to steal the show at Unforgiven.
6. (7) Booker T- I think "The Book's" time near the top will be coming to an end, at least for the time being. He's been given all the time and opportunity in the world, yet sometimes I feel the Big Show did more with an undeserving push. At this point, he's just become a parody of his WCW self, which was a blatant rip-off of The Rock, and even that isn't drawing heat. Just goes to show the old WCW didn't exactly have an eye for talent.
7. (11) Rob Van Dam- Speaking of eyes for talent, how could the Big Two wasted so much time getting this guy? I think it's quite obvious that he is a natural superstar, and I don't care how loyal he was to ECW, I'm sure he would have preferred a paying gig near the end. In any case, it's obvious RVD is doing a face-turn, the fans have spoken, but I think they should try and keep him in the Alliance. They need some superstars, especially if they ever get their own programming. I could see him losing the Hardcore Title to Jericho only to set him up for more meaningful bouts with Kurt Angle or Steve Austin. Then again, Jericho doing the job for RVD would cement Van Dam's status as a main-event player.
8. (9) The Undertaker- The Undertaker remains this high because, well, he's the Undertaker. The WWF thought they were doing the right thing by giving Taker and Kane double-gold, thus keeping the Phenom elevated, yet busy, but Kane had to go and get injured. So they had to keep Undertaker busy with matches with Booker T and Albert to keep him relevant. So he stays in the top ten, but remains in singles limbo.
9. (5) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley- Stephanie has been more relevant than the Undertaker of late, but she's not the Undertaker now is she? While her recent work with Test and the Rock has been a good distraction (her ring attire has been an especially good distraction), her best work has been keeping Chris Jericho elevated. Sure he's had matches with some of the best, but his real feud is with Stephanie, and she's been taking on the chin (or chest, depending on the episode) like a pro. One of the best works of the past two months was the Jericho and Rock vs. Stephanie, Shane, Booker T, and Rhyno insult-fest before Summer Slam.
10. (15) Tajiri- It impresses me how over the WWF has allowed Tajiri to get. To give credit where credit is due, Tajiri has done most of the work himself through his dynamic matches and charismatic performances in and out of the ring. But the WWF was smart enough to catch on (something they don't always do with smaller guys) by giving him steady TV time, William Regal, Torrie Wilson and now, the U.S. Title. I'm not sure how to handicap his match with Rhyno, but I think Tajiri will win with Torrie's help, which will hurt her standing in the Alliance and further that plotline.
11. (14) Rhyno- Here's the thing with Rhyno: I know he should be near the top, but I'm not exactly sure why. Sure, he's had a decent string of opponents of late, from Jericho, to The Rock, to Tajiri, but there's been very little variety to any of his actions. Sure, it was damn impressive when he put Y2J through the old Smackdown! set, and The Rock might have sold the Gore better than anyone had before him, but through it all Rhyno seems more like a weapon than a wrestler.
12. (-) Edge- Something tells me Edge should be ranked higher than Rhyno, after all he did win the Intercontinental Title and Summer Slam, and does have an interesting angle going into Unforgiven. Still, the IC title is now the third, or possibly even fourth, most important singles title in wrestling right now and matches with Lance Storm and Hugh Morris don't exactly stand up to WCW Title matches with The Rock. Plus, Christian has been doing most of the interesting work in the feud while Edge has seemed a bit out of sorts in his new role as face.
13. (-) Christian- Come to think of it, maybe Christian should be ahead of Edge. He has been doing the most interesting work in the feud and he has had a WCW Title match with The Rock. Hmmmm.... Naah. Edge is the Intercontinental Champion, after all, and Christian loses points for fighting The One Billy Gunn (although he does gain points for delivering the one man con-chair-to to Billy, thus giving the WWF reason to keep that zero off television for awhile).
14. (-) Hurricane Helms- I love this angle, absolutely love it. You know the Hurricane might very well be the first person to come over from the WCW merger that can actually cut a backstage promo. Oh sure, Booker T can cut a promo live to an audience, and Page has certainly been trying to create a character in his vignettes, but neither has been as successful as Helms. His bits are great, and he completes the character in the ring. I know this is sacrilege to say, especially for one from Calgary, but this is everything the Blue Blazer could have been. Camp straight from the Adam West Batmans, fun for all to see, and in no way an insult to the Hitmans and Hulkamanias of days gone by.
15. (-) Test- Here comes the quarterly Test push, how long do you think it'll go this time before it's cut short? Every once in awhile, the WWF remembers that they have this guy sitting around and then throw him out there and talk about his great potential. Then he goes out there and gets engaged to Stephanie, or wins the Intercontinental Title, or wins the Hardcore Title and it seems like he's a star on the rise. Currently, he's one of the Alliance's big guns (which kind of illustrates the serious talent imbalance), so he gets a push that includes air-time with Stephanie and matches with The Rock. Is this his big opportunity? History suggests they'll forget him again.
16. (16) Jeff Hardy- There are two things keeping Jeff from ascending into the upper echelon. One, the whole WWF vs. Alliance thing has been hurting some WWF guys, while helping less deserving Alliance guys (case in point: Test is ranked higher than Jeff Hardy). Two, his role in the tag team division keeps him from truly breaking ground in the singles division. Think about it: a huge part of RVD's runaway success is his two PPV Hardcore matches with Jeff Hardy. So while RVD is now near the top, fighting the likes of Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, who helped put Van Dam over, fights the likes of the Hurricane and Lance Storm.
17. (17) Lance Storm- Not that the Hurricane and Lance Storm are poor performers. Each are ranked here, and each deserve the time they've been getting. However, Lance Storm is not yet ready for a push to the elite, so he can't help his opponents get there. However, Storm is nearing the top of the second tier and deserved to be in the ring with The Rock for the WCW Championship. Plus, his match with Jeff Hardy on RAW last night was a pretty good piece of business.
18. (18) Tazz- I'm not exactly sure what they're doing with Tazz, but that would hardly be different as it often seems the WWF does not know what it's doing with Tazz. They needed him back doing commentary on Smackdown!, that's fine, they can still work him into storylines. They've given him some ring time on RAW, which is a positive. He remains a part of nearly every broadcast, another positive. But this tough guy from the mean streets of Brooklyn is getting punked out every show and takes it. Things are looking like they are about to reach a resolution, given his match against Shane and Booker on RAW, which Tazz was allowed to shine in for awhile, but then again, things looked like they were going to reach a resolution a couple of weeks ago too. Stay tuned...
19. (-) The Big Show- I think it's pretty obvious by now that this guy does not have what it takes to be the top-level guy his physique kind of demands he be. It's too bad really, because he's not that bad. If he could just be a mid-carder, a Bob Holly-type wrestler, we'd see him in a different light. But it's hard to see a seven-foot, four hundred pound monster as a jobber. To give the guy credit, in his recent match with Booker T, the Show was more entertaining than Booker, the supposed superstar. Plus, the Show's power can still be pretty impressive, just not impressive enough. The sad thing is: what else is a guy his size supposed to do?
20. (-) Shawn Stasiak- If you're not impressed with this guy then consider this: we haven't seen this many flops since the days of the Mean Street Posse, and that was three guys! Stasiak has had to go it alone in his various ways of buffoonery, and he's gone to the top, all the way to be humiliated by the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle! One puzzling thing: why has the WWF decided to pair him up with Stacey Keibler? There isn't that many divas to go around. Do they have actual plans for this guy? (P.S. on a personal note, I'm just dying for someone to call this guy "Meat").
1. (2) The Dudley Boyz- This is why I wished I had finished this ranking earlier: I knew the Dudley Boyz would win the WWF Tag Titles as soon as Kane came back from injury. I had them ranked number one before RAW. Oh well, no prediction credit for me. It was pretty obvious, having the titles united just weakens their value (except for the Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Titles, they have no value), and the Dudleyz are the best tag team in pro wrestling. They're the only team that goes out there every episode and performs as a unit. They even get to main event when paired with other such as Stone Cold Steve Austin.
2. (-) Undertaker and Kane- Despite hardly wrestling as a unit, Taker and Kane get the number two spot. After all, until yesterday they were double-gold holders. That's something. In order to win those titles they had to defeat the Dudleyz and DDP and Kanyon, so they did put together a good winning streak (they also beat Palumbo and O'Haire in a cage match), then they didn't wrestle again. I'm not sure if Kane is actually healthy, or just healthy enough to drop titles. That will determine the outcome of Unforgiven. A healthy Kane equals victory and a continued feud, an injured Kane equals new WCW Tag Champs and a solo feud for the Undertaker.
3. (3) APA- This is the other team that has made most television outings as a unit, but they have no belts, so they're number three. Still, not a bad time for Bradshaw and Farooq, who've gotten to team with the likes of The Rock and Chris Jericho of late, and are really capitalizing on the current weak state of the tag team division. Still, how far can you go when you're high spot is a clothesline? An impressive clothesline, sure, but a clothesline nonetheless.
4. (5) The Hardy Boyz- Undoubtedly the most popular tag team in pro wrestling, the Hardys aren't a real player in the tag team division right now. That could change now that they Dudleyz are WWF tag champs with neither team having an opponent going into Unforgiven. For now (and probably for the next little while), when Matt and Jeff team up, it feels more like an opportunity to squeeze three popular performers into a broadcast than any real build-up of the team.
5. (-) Kronik- A debut in the top five and a title shot at a PPV, not bad for a team that has yet to wrestle in a WWF match. I'm sure they'll fight someone on Smackdown! (and I'm sure the Undertaker and Kane will get involved somehow), but still, this whole introduction seems a little rushed. Oh well, they could end up champs if Kane is still injured (although I think the WWF would prefer to build them a story before they give them belts. You know, there are some people that didn't watch WCW and therefore have no idea who guys like these are. In fact, given their ratings, there are a lot of people who didn't watch WCW).
5. (-) X-Factor- How bad the X-Pac suck? At a time when all one has
to do to get cheers is be in the WWF, he still gets booed. The problem
is the WWF confuses this with real heat (as opposed real disdain for an
untalented performer), gives him two belts (meaningless belts, but belts
nonetheless), and allows him to drag down a potential star like Albert.
7. (-) The Hurricane and Lance Storm- I know both have more promise as singles performers, but I say keep them as a team for a bit. It clears up some air-time for other performers but still allows these two to shine. They have real in-ring chemistry (especially in their bout on the memorial Smackdown against X-Factor) and the names are a natural combination- Storm and Hurricane (no, I don't think I was the only one to notice).
8. (-) The Rock and Jericho- I know, I know, these two aren't a real team. But they teamed up twice in the past month and a half, and that pretty much puts them in tag team division (believe me, not many other people have teamed up twice in the past two months). So these to make the rankings. They make number seven because their mic team up against Stephanie, Shane, Rhyno and Booker T was one of the highlights of recent programming.
9. (4) Palumbo and O'Haire- I have no idea why the WWF decided to demote Sean O'Haire. I thought he was the strong link on the team and a real star in the making. It's Palumbo who I thought had no big future. Maybe that is why they sent O'Haire to OVW, so he could develop into a star; maybe they just don't care about Chuck.
10. (-) DDP and Kanyon- If you think I was stretching it with number seven, think how hard it was for me to find ten tag teams. Since Page's injury, these two are obviously not a team. In fact, they were only a team to give the Page/Undertaker feud a new look (which is a waste of time). But they did beat the APA for the WWF tag titles (which helped push Test more than it pushed these two) and did meet Kane and Taker at Summer Slam. Good enough to make the list.
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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.
