Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Best North American in ring performers of last 20 years


Best American in ring performers of last 20 years  

73 members have voted

  1. 1. Who is a better in ring performer?

    • Bryan Danielson
    • Shawn Michaels
    • It's a draw. They are both as good in the same way.
  2. 2. Who is a better in ring performer?

    • Kurt Angle
    • Chris Benoit
    • It's a draw. They are both as good in the same way.
  3. 3. Who is a better in ring performer?

    • Bryan Danielson
    • AJ Styles
    • It's a draw. They are both as good in the same way.
  4. 4. Who is a better in ring performer?

    • Kurt Angle
    • Shawn Michaels
    • It's a draw. They are both as good in the same way.
  5. 5. Who is a better in ring performer?

    • Bryan Danielson
    • Kurt Angle
    • It's a draw. They are both as good in the same way.


Recommended Posts

Usos throw much better super kicks. Its not throwing a million superkicks that is bad. Its that none of them are good. 

There was a time I liked the Bucks, they understand tag team wrestling. But in the last few years with the Indy "boom", they do these spectacle matches and they are not good at them. It feels too neat and clean. Which is death to those types of matches. 

As longevity goes, the Usos have been together a decade. They have been good to great most of their time as team. Can work great face or heel against a wide variety of teams. 

I think schtick ruined New Day, they can have great matches but now its overwhelmed by whatever gimmick they are pushing this week. 

MNM would have to be high up on list of best teams of last twenty years. But they had a relatively short run. 

Up to 2003, I think the Dudleys were very good. Then were inconsistent. 

The Shield would have to be the best team since 98. Both in two man tags and trios. I can't think of any less than good matches they had as a team. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They've only become board darlings the past year or two. And it was only the past 6-10 months they started showing any personality too. They had good matches previously, but always seemed like the ones being carried. The epic Luke Harper performance in the best 2 out of 3 falls match comes to mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

I am not sure if @West Newbury Bad Boy is trolling with the Bucks

I don't think I am, but the Bucks' persona is semi-infectious in that they're trolls themselves. But I'm dead serious in my endorsement of them. They're next-level talents who should be counted among the best acts of the last 20 years. 

And I was pretty close to mentioning the Usos if the tag discussion did take off. Board darlings since their heel turns, sure, but they've been running wild since at least 2011. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What are some of their earlier great matches? I wasn't back to watching week in, week out until mid 2013. I don't really recall them doing much of note in that time period. 

And I agree wholeheartedly with you on the Bucks. They are so great at crowd control and manipulation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure the Usos borrowed a hell of a lot more from the Briscoes than the Bucks.

The Bucks have three modes: comedy and pop the crowd spots, start with that but finish hot, and serious Bucks. When they do the all serious stuff, they probably are the best tag team not called The Revival.  But it makes up a small percentage of their output. Nick Jackson is a legit all-time great hot tag.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Oyaji said:

What are some of their earlier great matches? I wasn't back to watching week in, week out until mid 2013. I don't really recall them doing much of note in that time period. 

2013 they were crushing it in Shield matches for most of the year. In the latter half of the year the tag scene was pretty lively, and they were hanging in there with the Hounds and the Rhodes boys. I can see overlooking the Usos a bit when Bryan and the Hounds were running red hot, but they were there and they were very good. 

Earlier than that, I don't have specifics. But I remember them being great on Superstars for a long time while nobody was watching them and Trent and Kidd and Justin Gabriel crushing it every week. That whole gang was building some nice "best kept secret" cred. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The match with the Outlaws was really good. They really became the team at that point. 

It's a short period but the Outlaws became a really good working team by 99/00. But did not get to work real teams in long matches at that time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/13/2018 at 12:03 PM, Boydy said:

I find it funny that people think Daniel Bryan is a better worker then Shawn Michaels, really lol.

I'm not sure why that would be funny at all. I'll take Bryan's ROH title run against any stretch of Shawn's career, let alone 1998 or later. Not to make everyone feel old, but Shawn's back injury was over 20 years ago...

That said, I'll defend second-run HBK more than most here. Having re-watched a lot of 2000s WWE in the last couple of years, he had far more good than bad during that stretch. His return match against HHH, the first chamber, Mania 20 triple threat, 07 Cena matches, 08 Jericho matches, and strong close with the Taker matches were all better than most guys can claim from that time frame. The worst stuff you could point to would be some of the longer HHH singles matches or the Hogan match (but at least that one was funny bad). Even in his forgettable stuff like his work with Masters, Kennedy, JBL, etc, he still proved he could work a crowd as well as anyone. He wouldn't be out of place in a WWE top 10 for the first decade of the 2000s.

Bryan's just that much better. His 2002-2008 ROH run is about as high quality a run as you can get, peaking with work against Nigel, Strong, KENTA, and Morishima. The 2008 Nigel heel turn match is one of my favorite matches ever. Putting Bryan's WWE run against HBK's second run would be more of a fair fight, but not even necessarily one where HBK comes out ahead. Bryan still had matches with Sheamus, Punk, the Shield, Orton, Bray, HHH, and Roman that would give Shawn's résumé a stern challenge. Not to mention, Bryan had a stretch where he was the most over face since Austin and basically forced WWE to re-write a WM around him. That should count for something. Putting it all together is a no contest.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I get the idea of people thinking the Bucks are overrated (four WON Tag Team awards in a row) and that they get overly snowflaked but the "they're fucking terrible and an embarrassment to the business" is basically Jim Cornette territory. Actually, it's basically Skip Bayless trolling Lebron territory. 

I completely get hating the comedy six-man vaudeville stuff but the NJPW stuff has been heavy on psychology and they've had some pretty insane violent car-crash matches in ROH. At the very least, they're one of the more versatile acts going. 

I know there's a joke that people only watch GIFs and form an opinion but, uh, are people only watching GIFs to form an opinion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Hagan said:

the "they're fucking terrible and an embarrassment to the business" is basically Jim Cornette territory.

Well that is the thing. They choose to be terrible.They know better and do it anyway. I'm not even sure the ballet shit has made them more over. They were doing fine as a fast paced team who knew how to work. Their current fame is almost all getting a spot in the Bullet Club. 

But no they are noi terrible by nature. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fair enough...though I'm not sure the Bullet Club *helped* them get over. I mean, that's an interesting chicken and an egg debate. They joined at the end of 2013 so this faction has had a pretty long run Arguably, the Bullet Club is more popular now (especially in North America) than they were in the Devitt and Styles-era. A lot of the popularity is due to the rise of NJPW in general, the entry into the North American market and the success of BTE Youtube show.  Is the thesis that they're not nearly as popular without Omega's rise to fame? That's possible, though I think they'd always be a main act in ROH and the indies. Omega's star power has lifted a lot of these guys, though. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I honestly think the Bullet Club is all a cool t-shirt design. 

AJ and Balor blowing up in WWE has had to have helped New Japan and Bullet Club in America. But I don't think the bad matches have boosted the Bucks Q rating. It seems to have turned off some former supporters. 

It does remind me, Beer Money was a great tag team of the last decade. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/13/2018 at 6:39 AM, RIPPA said:

I am eager to hear how John explains that Cesaro, Pete Dunne and Aleister Black are North American

I thought we were discussing working in North America, not being from North America. My bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, OSJ said:

I thought we were discussing working in North America, not being from North America. My bad.

In reality, when I started the poll my intention was wrestlers who worked in North America (USA and Canada, not Mexico), for this reason I didn't put in Mexicans.

If Nakamura would have been a great stint I would have put also him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, francescofuoco1998 said:

In reality, when I started the poll my intention was wrestlers who worked in North America (USA and Canada, not Mexico), for this reason I didn't put in Mexicans.

If Nakamura would have been a great stint I would have put also him.

Nakamura's WWE run thus far has been the greatest disappointment that I've seen in a lifetime of watching wrestling. Half of it is WWE's fault for making him just another guy and half of it is Nak's fault for being incredibly lazy ever since he was called up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WWE destroyed every face. They are not able to manage a wrestler, the scripted promos are deleterious.

What hurt him was also the fact that he was involved in unfinished feuds against Ziggler and Corbin. He could have been a big star if he was managed in the right way, he also needed a manager who could have spoken, like Lesnar.

They destoryed Rollins, Balor, in part Strowman (because he lost clean so many times, he will finish like Big Show and Kane), Styles (only his in ring ability let him to stay over).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/18/2018 at 12:59 PM, francescofuoco1998 said:

They destoryed Rollins, Balor, in part Strowman (because he lost clean so many times, he will finish like Big Show and Kane), Styles (only his in ring ability let him to stay over).

 

No.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, mattdangerously said:

No.

Unfortunately they can't manage a babyface.

Rollins could have been a great babyface, but after his return from injury he stayed heel.

Strowman will finish as Big Show and Kane, with the big push at the start. He is over, but with the right direction he could have been a big draw, while now is only over with the live crowd.

Balor is not much over, he is not super carismatic, but with the right booking he could have been a great babyface. His character could have been so much important if the writing team would have went in depth, but his demon's character is nothing. It's always himself with a paint on his body.

Styles is still over, but not because of the booking, but because of his performances. You should remember how many clean how many time he was defeated in a clean way in anonym SD shows (like when he lost against Corbin, and after few time he became champion. This is a wrong way to book a babyface. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

Wins and losses generally don't matter. Styles eating a few low-profile clean falls didn't harm him in any way. 

For a top face wins are very important. Imagine in the 80s if Hogan would have lost clean against Kamala: if drawing power would have been hurt.

The problem of WWE is that every face, except Reigns, in part Strowman (but he will finish like Kane and Big Show, unfortunately)  is booked with the 50/50 rule. So nobody is over.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...