My problems with WWE Main Event style !

[SUPERECWFAN1]

This isn't about Edge , or HHH. This isn't about the direction of the company under Stephanie McMahon. Nope...its about what many online coin , " WWE Main Event Style " . That for those who don't know is a style of work where the guys are all forced to work one type of style matches.


That's Vince's WWE STYLE. He wants everyone to work it. Be it big men with no talent like Chris Masters or guys like Jamie Knoble and Paul London who do have talent !

WWE style works for guys who can work it and modify it enough to make matches look pretty good. Guys like Shawn Micheals. He's spent his entire career doing WWE Style work...I just wonder how he'd face if he had taken that WCW offer in 1995 or 1996 ?

HHH is another one. Yes he's a scum bag for ruining Edge's title run. But he can work the WWE Style better than most and he's really became very good at it. The only problems is when he's in the ring with a Shelton Benjimen and Rob Van Dam ( 2 guys who can go FULL THROTTLE) and HHH looks like an old man out there lol.

Benoit is another one who had to get used to WWE style. But once he did , he excelled. He became a bonifid star and his reward was a WWE Title run in 2004.

Kurt Angle is another awesome worker who learned WWE Style the moment he stepped into the company. Kurt is only slowed by injuries now but its his work in this style , meshed with some of his amatuer wrestling thats really clicked and made him Best Wrestler in the WWE.

But this is where it ends. The WWE really doesn't have a guy other than these 4 who can work this style to success. Edge and John Cena are still trying to establish themselves with it and Edge is booked to his strengths in TLC Hardcore matches where he excels. Cena has struggled and fans have noticed which was the worst possible thing they could have had happen. Cena , who was forced to strip down his working now uses submission finishers and has started breaking out more fantastic moves. To compensate .

The Cruiserwieghts have it worse. Its been said that Vince has told Johnny Ace to sign any TNA Cruiseriweght and wants what the X-Division has. He wants it so bad the only problem is....he forces them to work WWE style lol. And thats his key loss right there....bingo.

By telling Paul London he can't do his typical offense or work his typical matches you bust him down. The same things have happened to every Cruiserwieght in the company. Jamie Knoble , is pretty much the only Cruiserwieght to get over as WWE Cruiserwieght Champion. Others will say .. ." what about Hurricane and Rey Mysterio Jr ? "

Hurricane got over for his gimmick. He went months before he became Cruiserwieght Champion and he was over before he got that title. Mysterio was booked so well by Paul Heyman , that he pretty much became an upper-card wrestler upon his debut.

The only thing that helped Jamie Knoble as champion was his gimmick. Had he not had his gimmick with Nidia , odds are he would have fizzled outta the company sad to say.


The Cruisers sadly can't get over. Unlike Samoa Joe who in TNA got over or Christopher Daniels as well. Both men got over because they bring thier own styles into the ring. Thats what clicks for them.

Rob Van Dam...his only sin is the fact he is stuck in the same style where he has to....go.....really.....slow at times. Thats been Rob's complaint. Guys who can work with him are booked elsewhere. But when Rob gets in there with guys who can match his speed like Micheals , Benoit and Jericho...he has shined. But in there against HHH and Taker fans wonder what the hell is going on lol.

Rhino is a good question. Why is he over in TNA so much ? Its because Vince dropped the ball on how to book Rhino. In ECW , Heyman booked to Rhino's strength using hardcore ECW Style matches to make Rhino a damn beast. TNA seeing what worked for ECW followed the same rule book and ...pff. Rhino is over in TNA.

In the WWE , Rhino was forced to work WWE style. Stuck in a style he wasn't really good in and the fact Rhino isn't built like most WWE stars with big arms ect ect....his career went south. Its just that Rhino was made for the ECW style...Vince couldn't see this and wouldn't.

This is the key problem. All these guys are sadly forced to work this 1 certain type style and what they know is tossed. This is why Lo-Ki would be a longshot in the WWE. Or a Samoa Joe....different styles and Vince hates that. And its a shame too...I don't see the Cruisers getting over at all the rate thier going.

[Steve]

They should all work the best style around, the Super Porky style!

Yes, everyone gets a bowl of ham.

[Forefinger]

Preach it brother!

[Tien Long]

The Cruiserwieghts have it worse. Its been said that Vince has told Johnny Ace to sign any TNA Cruiseriweght and wants what the X-Division has. He wants it so bad the only problem is....he forces them to work WWE style lol. And thats his key loss right there....bingo.

I completely agree. Comparing guys like Kendrick and London back in their days at ROH with today, I'm saddened by the fact that they are being held back and forced to work the "WWE main even style." These guys, along with the other cruiserweights, can go full speed and fly gracefully through the air, and it pisses me off to see them grounded (banned Shooting Star Press) or slowed down. Grounded mat work with some aerial manuevers may work for the bigger guys, but not for the cruisers. Back in the WCW days, there would be some classic matches for the cruiserweight title, but now, the audience is reduced to just pathetic "Battle Royales," which further degrades the division.

[adamthered]

What exactly is WWE Style? Technically I mean? I see this phrase thrown around but don't know what it means other than it keeps people's skills down. Can someone please explain precisely what this means so I can final know 100% what you guys are talking about :D Thanks.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

What exactly is WWE Style? Technically I mean? I see this phrase thrown around but don't know what it means other than it keeps people's skills down. Can someone please explain precisely what this means so I can final know 100% what you guys are talking about :D Thanks.


WWE Style is a style of work you see in WWE Matches. Notice how there aren't as many eye poppin moves by the Cruisers ? Or notice how Rob Van Dam is forced to work down ? The style is of guys getting 6 to 8 minutes on RAW , told to nail thier signature spots and then hit the finisher. In tag matches its ...8 to 10 minutes , each man nails his finisher and the final guy wins usually with his finisher is delivered lol.

When a guy is signed like Paul London , its usually followed by: London has been signed and sent to OVW to learn WWE Style. Because thats what they want. London's old style was better and different but WWE doesn't want that. They want this certain style they all work and it cramps the product.

WCW was wise on a lotta levels. They let the luchadores and Cruisers work thier own styles. Thats how come that division became so good.

[GreenHornet]

I only have a problem BEING at a WWE main event.

[Super Sonic]

Would Rey Mysterio be an exception to this rule?

[adamthered]

WWE Style is a style of work you see in WWE Matches. Notice how there aren't as many eye poppin moves by the Cruisers ? Or notice how Rob Van Dam is forced to work down ? The style is of guys getting 6 to 8 minutes on RAW , told to nail thier signature spots and then hit the finisher. In tag matches its ...8 to 10 minutes , each man nails his finisher and the final guy wins usually with his finisher is delivered lol.

When a guy is signed like Paul London , its usually followed by: London has been signed and sent to OVW to learn WWE Style. Because thats what they want. London's old style was better and different but WWE doesn't want that. They want this certain style they all work and it cramps the product.

WCW was wise on a lotta levels. They let the luchadores and Cruisers work thier own styles. Thats how come that division became so good.

All makes sense. One of the reasons I stopped watching because I got tired of seeing the same old thing in every match from every guy. Punch or kick, a few irish whips, maybe a lowblow, a couple sig spots, finisher, maybe reversal into the other guys finisher to a win or DQ. Never knew that was the WWE style always referred to on the boards.

Thanks for clearing that up. Yeah, it does stink. Really glad I have TNA to watch now. And if I wasn't lazy I'd really hunt down some ROH or Japanese stuff. But I'm lazy.

[Leslie Lee III]

The biggest problem with WWE style is the time limits and the unskilled wrestlers who appear. That's it really. Paul London and Spanky still put on great matches even if they can't do top rope moves (THANKS JUVI). As long as two talented guys are given a decent amount of time to put on a match it'll usually turn out very well.

[Gaz]

The biggest problem with WWE style is the time limits and the unskilled wrestlers who appear. That's it really. Paul London and Spanky still put on great matches even if they can't do top rope moves (THANKS JUVI). As long as two talented guys are given a decent amount of time to put on a match it'll usually turn out very well.
True. But even if Benoit can wrestle a broom to a great match with one hand, I'd still rather see him wrestle Joe with both arms. :p

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Would Rey Mysterio be an exception to this rule?


What sold Rey Mysterio Jr was the video packages Heyman used on Smackdown to introduce him. Most were clips of his spectaculer work in WCW and ECW .

[Leslie Lee III]

True. But even if Benoit can wrestle a broom to a great match with one hand, I'd still rather see him wrestle Joe with both arms. :p

Benoit's had plenty of great matches in WWE. I'd take his Smackdown work over Joe's Impact matches easily.

[Gaz]

Benoit's had plenty of great matches in WWE. I'd take his Smackdown work over Joe's Impact matches easily.
Depends if you see them as equal. I'd count Benoit's matches with Jordan as equal to Joe's squashes, in purpose and time.
I'd take any PPV match that Joe's had recently over Benoit's PPV work.

(Note, I love Chris Benoit's matches. Him and Angle or him and Jericho or he and Regal or Finlay or Mysterio or HBK or HHH, are all fantastic, if given time. But they'd be better if they could cut loose. Now, not that he's gonna do a shooting star, but there's a few things that he used to do, that he doesn't now,and it's not all about age.)

[Prohibition]

The problem wit hthe WWE style is that because they are on the road pretty much all year round, injuries have to be limited meaning the movesets have to be smaller with less high risk moves, therefore, predictability and boredom sets in.

IMO, that's something that TNA could benefit from with them currently being stationary, but with Jarret and he cookie-cutter matches every PPV, that seems unlikely.

[Gaz]

The problem wit hthe WWE style is that because they are on the road pretty much all year round, injuries have to be limited meaning the movesets have to be smaller with less high risk moves, therefore, predictability and boredom sets in.

IMO, that's something that TNA could benefit from with them currently being stationary, but with Jarret and he cookie-cutter matches every PPV, that seems unlikely.
True. But I think that they went the wrong way. Cut the schedule not the repetoire.

[stealthwise]

True. But I think that they went the wrong way. Cut the schedule not the repetoire.

Costs you more to do it that way. House shows still draw money, although if they were to actually move in that direction I'd like to see an off-season after Wrestlemania.

[Prohibition]

True. But I think that they went the wrong way. Cut the schedule not the repetoire.

I agree. It's putting uneccesary strain on the wrestlers themselves and as we have seen from the passing of Eddie Guerrero, the pressure can be too much.

That said, cutting the schedule will cost WWE lots of money as house shows and other shows do still being in the revenue, even if it is in decresing quantities.

[Gaz]

Costs you more to do it that way. House shows still draw money, although if they were to actually move in that direction I'd like to see an off-season after Wrestlemania.
Easy, rotate them. Let the cruisers and tag teams have the spotlight for a month or two, then they get time off. Or have certain people work house shows for a few weeks, and then not for the next few.

[stealthwise]

Easy, rotate them. Let the cruisers and tag teams have the spotlight for a month or two, then they get time off. Or have certain people work house shows for a few weeks, and then not for the next few.

Hehe, I'm sure HHH and the other musclebound "main event style" workers would love that.

[Leslie Lee III]

Depends if you see them as equal. I'd count Benoit's matches with Jordan as equal to Joe's squashes, in purpose and time.
I'd take any PPV match that Joe's had recently over Benoit's PPV work.

But Benoit vs OJ was a limited angle, I'm talking about the whole of their TV work in the past year. Benoit beats Joe, easy. His TV matches top some of Joe's PPV matches even with slightly less time. And forget Benoit, Rey Mysterio has had a ridiculously excellent year on TV alone. I'd say his work holds up to any wrestler on the planet in the past year.

My point is that the WWE style may limit certain moves, but that doesn't stop great wrestling. In fact, it can help by making wrestlers focus on the fundamentals of pacing and psychology more than spots. I'd rather watch Regal and Benoit fight and scrap over headlocks and armbars for 10 minutes than watch AJ flip around for 5. I also think Spanky, Gibson and London have had stellar matches week in and week out on Velocity, that most everyone overlooks for some reason. No, they aren't given the amount of time to be in their full ROH glory, but I'd say it holds up well with wrestling in many other feds that don't have WWE limits.

[Gaz]

But Benoit vs OJ was a limited angle, I'm talking about the whole of their TV work in the past year. Benoit beats Joe, easy. His TV matches top some of Joe's PPV matches even with slightly less time. And forget Benoit, Rey Mysterio has had a ridiculously excellent year on TV alone. I'd say his work holds up to any wrestler on the planet in the past year.

My point is that the WWE style may limit certain moves, but that doesn't stop great wrestling. In fact, it can help by making wrestlers focus on the fundamentals of pacing and psychology more than spots. I'd rather watch Regal and Benoit fight and scrap over headlocks and armbars for 10 minutes than watch AJ flip around for 5. I also think Spanky, Gibson and London have had stellar matches week in and week out on Velocity, that most everyone overlooks for some reason. No, they aren't given the amount of time to be in their full ROH glory, but I'd say it holds up well with wrestling in many other feds that don't have WWE limits.

OK, I call BS on the Benoit having better matches on TV than Joe's had on PPV. Name ONE. (Note, tags don't count, for either man.)
And you're right, Noble, Kendrick and London have had good matches on Velocity, but they tend to be allowed time there that, as cruisers, they aren't anywhere else in WWE. But they would be even better without the restrictions. (And I refuse to think that a chinlock held for 90 seconds is better than ANYTHING else. If I want basics, I'll go to a wrestling school.)

And I've made it clear in the past that I totally disagree on AJ. It's practically impossible for me to watch him and not agree with TNA's tagline for him.

[Leslie Lee III]

OK, I call BS on the Benoit having better matches on TV than Joe's had on PPV.

Benoit vs Orton and Benoit vs Regal take Joe vs Liger and the Triple Threats, maybe Joe vs Sabin as well. Joe's best matches don't happen on TNA PPV though. His best matches are those that are more toe to toe battles, when TNA mostly wants him to dominate. A noble cause on TNA's part, but it doesn't lead to the best Joe matches usually.

[Gaz]

Benoit vs Orton and Benoit vs Regal take Joe vs Liger and the Triple Threats, maybe Joe vs Sabin as well. Joe's best matches don't happen on TNA PPV though. His best matches are those that are more toe to toe battles, when TNA mostly wants him to dominate. A noble cause on TNA's part, but it doesn't lead to the best Joe matches usually.
The Regal one I'll give you against the Liger match. But Orton? It was pretty good, but nothing on the first triple threat. And I think the Sabin match is underrated. Chris looked damn good in that. I actually bought his babyface comeback despite knowing that they were booking Joe as unbeaten.
And the booking's got him over. The crowd goes nuts for him. If it ain't broke...

[Leslie Lee III]

The Regal one I'll give you against the Liger match. But Orton? It was pretty good, but nothing on the first triple threat. And I think the Sabin match is underrated. Chris looked damn good in that. I actually bought his babyface comeback despite knowing that they were booking Joe as unbeaten.
And the booking's got him over. The crowd goes nuts for him. If it ain't broke...

I'll take the Joe matches where he's over AND putting on some of the greatest matches in recent history. Joe vs Kobashi is on another planet than anything he's done in TNA, and Joe...lost.

[Convoy]

The Cruiserwieghts have it worse. Its been said that Vince has told Johnny Ace to sign any TNA Cruiseriweght and wants what the X-Division has. He wants it so bad the only problem is....he forces them to work WWE style lol. And thats his key loss right there....bingo.

By telling Paul London he can't do his typical offense or work his typical matches you bust him down. The same things have happened to every Cruiserwieght in the company. Jamie Knoble , is pretty much the only Cruiserwieght to get over as WWE Cruiserwieght Champion. Others will say .. ." what about Hurricane and Rey Mysterio Jr ? "

Hurricane got over for his gimmick. He went months before he became Cruiserwieght Champion and he was over before he got that title. Mysterio was booked so well by Paul Heyman , that he pretty much became an upper-card wrestler upon his debut.

The only thing that helped Jamie Knoble as champion was his gimmick. Had he not had his gimmick with Nidia , odds are he would have fizzled outta the company sad to say.


The Cruisers sadly can't get over. Unlike Samoa Joe who in TNA got over or Christopher Daniels as well. Both men got over because they bring thier own styles into the ring. Thats what clicks for them.

Maybe Vinny doesn't want the cruiserweight division to "overshadow" the heavyweight division? The main attraction for TNA (at least for me) is the X-Division.

Also maybe the high-risk manuveurs CWs usually pull increase the risk of injury and WWE doesn't want to pay that much in medical bills? :confused:

[Tien Long]

Hey speaking of London and Kendrick, check out Velocity on WWE.com for London doing a TOTALLY sweet Shooting Star Press to the outside of the ring, as well as Kendrick's Sliced Bread #2...the greatest thing since sliced bread!

[Prohibition]

Hey speaking of London and Kendrick, check out Velocity on WWE.com for London doing a TOTALLY sweet Shooting Star Press to the outside of the ring, as well as Kendrick's Sliced Bread #2...the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Living in... Noir York City means that I can't see Velocity anymore but that sounds like the WWE are using London/Kendrick and spot monkeys and nothing more.

[Leslie Lee III]

Living in... Noir York City means that I can't see Velocity anymore but that sounds like the WWE are using London/Kendrick and spot monkeys and nothing more.

You can watch it online at wwe.com, and London and Kendrick are so far from being spot monkeys. That's exactly what the WWE doesn't want them to be really, and neither ever was really. They always had strong fundamentals and have only gotten better and smarter with theim.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Maybe Vinny doesn't want the cruiserweight division to "overshadow" the heavyweight division? The main attraction for TNA (at least for me) is the X-Division.

Also maybe the high-risk manuveurs CWs usually pull increase the risk of injury and WWE doesn't want to pay that much in medical bills? :confused:


Thats the problem right there. The Cruiserwieghts don't have to go out and kill themselves. All they have to do is work good enough style matches thats really different than the Heavywieghts. And it scares Vince. He knows the Cruisers would get over and have people demanding they be pushed up the cards.

He doesn't want a guy like Christian as Champion. He's " too small " lol. Thats how he deems some guys sad to say.

[Bright-Raven]

No, Vince doesn't want to let his smaller sized talents go anywhere, because most of them made names for themselves outside of WWE. He does that to just about any talent that he doesn't personally build into a superstar, but it's even moreso with smaller talent. Think about it - Austin took YEARS from being a upper midcard star in ECW / WCW to joke "ringmaster" character in WWF until the Stone Cold persona came up. Ron "Farooq" Simmons was a multiple time WCW World Tag Team Champion, US Champion and World Heavyweight Champion, but he never really did squat in the WWE other than run his silly little clique group the Nation of Domination. Jericho, Benoit and Guerrero were all bad asses in the WCW and had to suffer in midcard hell for years until every star Vince had made either got injured and couldn't perform or left to do movies before they were given their opportunities. Lex Luger was a top name draw in WCW and would have been a name draw in WWF, but he was dumb enough to get drunk and give away the ending to his match against Yokozuna, so Vince killed his career and Luger never really did anything anywhere after that.

Even Ric Flair - think about this for a moment. In the WWF/E, he basically has been nothing but a jobber for Vince's handpicked stars: Hogan, Savage, Rock, Austin, Michaels and Trips. When he's not jobbing to them, he's putting over youngsters like Benjamin and Orton. Just because you give him a belt doesn't mean he's significant. He made his reputation elsewhere, and Vince damns him for it.

[Leslie Lee III]

Jericho, Benoit, and Guerrero were treated worse in WCW than they were in WWE. Sure, it took them a while to reach the top in WWE, but let's not fictionalize what they were doing before. Same with Faarooq really. Sure, he was champ, but an unsuccessful one and he had a good run with the APA. And Lex Luger was never really a draw. In fact he was a running backstage joke for that, because no matter what people just did not come out to see him as champ. And Flair was treated TERRIBLY by WCW towards the end. He SHOULD be a jobber right now and putting over youngsters. You really picked some of the worst examples to make your point. RVD? There may be an argument for, but none of the guys you named.

[the_big_billbowski]

I think WCW did it best. They started the show with fast paced Cruiser weight action, Had a strong mid card, but the Storyline and star power was what kept people intrested in the main event. mostly the main even matches were crap, but the storyline had people hooked. they had thier cake and ate it too. they just pigged out and got fat and stupid. I am so bored with WWE for a number of reasons. I'm sick of seeing the same guys over and over again, even the ones i like. thier is no storyline that intrigues me and makes me feel like i cant miss the next show. and then the WWE stye. I am bored with the matches. I recent went to Raw when Flair and Edge fought in the TLC match. that was the only good match. Angle vs Shawn was boring because i've seen it all before. nothing new, nothing exciting. too many matches are punch kick, punch kick. rarely do you see suplexs, ddts, pile drivers. i think Pile drivers are banned. I bought the Bret Hart DVD and watched it recently. you can tell the difference in matches then and matches now. TNA is a much more exciting company to me. sure the storylines are a bit hokie, but thier are some fresh faces, so old faces and some great wrestling action. nice alternative to the boring style of WWE. I have no doubt that at some point WWE will reinvent themselves, but for now, they offer very little entertainment value. (in my opinion)

[Erik Lehnsherr]

This isn't about Edge , or HHH. This isn't about the direction of the company under Stephanie McMahon. Nope...its about what many online coin , " WWE Main Event Style " . That for those who don't know is a style of work where the guys are all forced to work one type of style matches.


That's Vince's WWE STYLE. He wants everyone to work it. Be it big men with no talent like Chris Masters or guys like Jamie Knoble and Paul London who do have talent !

WWE style works for guys who can work it and modify it enough to make matches look pretty good. Guys like Shawn Micheals. He's spent his entire career doing WWE Style work...I just wonder how he'd face if he had taken that WCW offer in 1995 or 1996 ?


I wanted to address the Shawn Michaels part of the rant. You're pointing out his WWE style restrictions is why I don't buy him being ANYWHERE in the same league as Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit in the least. His fans would argue he's a "all around performer" and try to use his so called "mic skills" as reasoning to place him higher than those two but I don't buy it. His mic skills as a shock value member of DX worked for him and made memorable moments for his fans. They seemed legit when he was a heel worker and always in that capacity, they looked strong. In a face tandem, the Michaels of today, he's restricted and sounds INCREDIBLY forced on the mic. Isn't just blunt to the fact that Benoit or charismatic in getting his point over like Eddie.

Ring work wise? It's no comparision. Shawn can't work the matches that Eddie and Benoit were always capable of working. Be it Japan, Mexico, ECW talent, Indy styles galore...didn't matter. Eddie and Benoit could hang and has hanged with anyone this business has ever offered. Shawn's resume only goes as far as the WWE signs let him. He doesn't have the luch libre knowledge or ring psychology of Guerrero on his best day and can't tell nowhere NEAR as great a story as Benoit had done on almost a weekly basis for years now. HHH and Shawn may be close to talent level to their everyday marks but against the elite? Danielson, Benoit, the late Eddie, Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Kobashi? Yeah right.

[JohnPopa]

The story of Luger getting pulled from 'Mania X because of an interview is complete fiction -- WWF had soured on Luger for some time, even going so far as to have Jerry Jarrett come in and try and teach him how to relate to the audience more and work better, advice Luger laughed off and ignored. When Luger and Hart tied at the Rumble and the fans vociferiously cheered for Hart and not Luger, the company decided then to go with Hart at 'Mania X and move Luger down the card. This was all planned and booked long before Luger did any interviews regarding Wrestlemania X.

Luger's run with Hogan in WCW was also very lucrative and Luger was a good arena draw in WWF, although most people think he never drew a dime. He drew better than Diesel, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels or Mr. Perfect, although those guys were considered more 'over.'

Look, no one in WCW drew in the mid-90's. The company was changing owners constantly, couldn't draw for house shows and pretty much continually got the same buy rates no matter what the circumstances surrounding specific PPVs were.

McMahon treated Flair far better than most other people he took from the NWA, especially in the 80's when he endleslly humiliated Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Kerry von Erich, Jerry Lawler (although he had his own problems) and the Funks, saddling them with stupid, embarrasing gimmicks and burying them in cartoony feuds that generally saw them on the losing end of things. When he brought Flair in he kept Flair's gimmick and made him world champion and even honored his handshake deal to release him if he ever planned to move him from the top of the card. The only WWF star he really fed Flair to in Flair's most recent run was Undertaker but, otherwise, Flair's been used more effectively than most people on the roster. He's done jobs but rarely been humiliated or had his legs cut out from under him. In fact, Flair's probably more credible now than he has been in ten years.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I wanted to address the Shawn Michaels part of the rant. You're pointing out his WWE style restrictions is why I don't buy him being ANYWHERE in the same league as Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit in the least. His fans would argue he's a "all around performer" and try to use his so called "mic skills" as reasoning to place him higher than those two but I don't buy it.

Uhhh...this wasn't to do that. This was how certain guys can work WWE style very well. In fact we have no clue how he'd do in WCW had he jumped. Its different styles of work and action in each promotion. Micheals is just someone who knew how to work and grew into a Main Event Icon in WWE Style matches. This wasn't to diss Benoit or the WCW workers.

His mic skills as a shock value member of DX worked for him and made memorable moments for his fans. They seemed legit when he was a heel worker and always in that capacity, they looked strong. In a face tandem, the Michaels of today, he's restricted and sounds INCREDIBLY forced on the mic. Isn't just blunt to the fact that Benoit or charismatic in getting his point over like Eddie.

Its true. Micheals works best as a heel. He seems more alive and feeling as a heel. The heart & fire is there. In his fued against Hogan , Micheals was cleary enjoying it. But as a face he is over because fans enjoy him that way too.

I think Micheals is like a Flair. He can go both ways now. Be it heel or face. ;)

Ring work wise? It's no comparision. Shawn can't work the matches that Eddie and Benoit were always capable of working. Be it Japan, Mexico, ECW talent, Indy styles galore...didn't matter. Eddie and Benoit could hang and has hanged with anyone this business has ever offered. Shawn's resume only goes as far as the WWE signs let him.

Micheals has never worked in many indies besides the AWA during his career. Thats true. But his work speaks for itself. He came back with a bad back and just added to his legend status. The man cleary can put on memborable matches.


He doesn't have the luch libre knowledge or ring psychology of Guerrero on his best day and can't tell nowhere NEAR as great a story as Benoit had done on almost a weekly basis for years now. HHH and Shawn may be close to talent level to their everyday marks but against the elite? Danielson, Benoit, the late Eddie, Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Kobashi? Yeah right.

Actually ..Jose Lathero trained Micheals. So he knows some lucha wrestling. He just doesn't come out and does it a lot. Micheals has scaled his high risk style down over time due to his back. But again....the man has his own work in 10 years to speak for itself. ;)

[titanfan]

Matt Striker has potential with the "WWE Style", if you've seen his matches on HEAT, they are fantastic. I haven't seen any of his ROH stuff, which I hear was phenomenal, but if they would let this guy get in the ring, he could be really really good.

Going in reverse, it seems like it's taken Christian a long time to get out of the "WWE Style" when he's been on TNA. In his first few matches, he looked pretty bad--only now it looks like he's been starting to get out of his offensive moveset that he used in the WWE. (Which was very small)

You can still have great matches with a limited offensive moveset. HHH is a good example of this. My problem with Cena is that his offensive moveset is extremely random. A bunch of moves that make no logical sense to be used together in sequence to take down a foe.

[Leslie Lee III]

Matt Striker has potential with the "WWE Style", if you've seen his matches on HEAT, they are fantastic. I haven't seen any of his ROH stuff, which I hear was phenomenal, but if they would let this guy get in the ring, he could be really really good.

Actually, Matt Stri[/i[ker only had one or two ROH matches. Matt Str[b]yker was a mainstay for a significant amount of time. I don't know too many people who'd call either of their work "phenomenal."