Picking the Smackdown Roster’s Best & Worst!
The Kingfish Arnie Katz picks the best (and the worst) in each important category on today’s Smackdown roster!
It is not always obvious who truly excels in the wrestling show. A good ring worker can look bad if the matches are against poor wrestlers or they are booked poorly. A superstar could be good with the mic, but get a bad script. And, of course, there’s the matter of opportunity. Wrestlers who don’t get mic time don’t have much of a chance to show their oratorical skill.
That notwithstanding, it’s an intriguing question. I’ll be sharing my judgments in a series of three columns and plan to update it every two or three months.
This time, let’s look at the performers on Smackdown.
Best with the Mic
1. Edge – There are still remnants of the verbal style that made Edge & Christian such lovable heels, but he has acquired a deeper seriousness to go with the world title belt. He does well with solo promos and can do nice give-and-take with others.
2. Undertaker – He is formulaic, granted, but it’s one hell of a formula. He’s useless for dramatic vignettes, but he sure can cut a promo.
3. Batista – It isn’t so much what he says but the way that he says it. Batista sounds like a champion, sort of the second coming of Bruno Sammartino.
Most Improved: Batista
Worst with the): Mark Henry (Khali is better because he doesn’t talk)
Best in the Ring
1. Edge – With Flair and Finlay mostly working on RAW of late, Edge advanced to the top spot among ring performers. Edge is athletic and knows how to wrestle a rough heel style. His matches nearly always rate B or better, often B+/A=.
2. Rey Mysterio – He’s on the shelf now and it is never a sure thing whether a performer can come back from injury, but Mysterio has stayed in the forefront of ring workers despite all too many broken bones and ripped muscles. A sign of how good he is is that he can credibly wrestle men much larger and it doesn’t look completely stupid when he wins. Rey has varied his assortment of holds, which had stagnated in recent years and could still use another alternate finishing move.
3. Chavo Guerrero – He may be the most underrated WWE Superstar. Chavo can work a match better than 90% of the people employed by WWE. He always gives a good show, whether he is asked to work as a babyface or a heel, or even if he is asked to be more like his late uncle Eddie.
Most Improved: MVP
Worst in the Ring: Great Khali (and he has some real competition
The Best Look
1. Batista – He looks like a champion. He exudes strength, power and resolve. Even when he wears a suit, which is not his best look, he comes across as the real deal, the authentic wrestling champion.
2. John Morrison – He has always been fairly decent in the ring, but the rock star persona really works for him. I’d like him get some kind of valet, but he does cut a compelling figure as he parades to the ring.
3. Edge –. Unlike too many of the Smackdown stars, Edge doesn’t look like a man playing a boy7. He and his character are young compared to some of the living relics, but he doesn’t try to convince us he’s still a teenager.
Most Improved: The Miz
Worst Look: Big Daddy V
That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising daily wrestling column.
– Arnie Katz
Crossfire4@cox.net
(3/21/08)
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