WWE Wrestler review 2009...

Rjd2

This took way to long! I judged this on how much the performers entertained me and how they performed all year. I did not know that Hunter was doing one of these I swear...:eek::o



Chris Jericho 9/10

Was the most consistent performer of the year by a long shot. He's the yardstick every heel must measure himself against, his walk, manner, sneer Jericho did not waste one movement this year in the ring. His best matches was of course the Rey feud, no two wrestlers in the E put on matches near the caliber of them in the summer. He also had some very good matches with the likes of Morrison, Kofi, Taker in 2009. He finished the year strongly as he was one of the few beacons of hope on Raw towards the end of the year in his surprisingly enjoyable partnership with the Big Slow.

Best Moment....any of his matches with Rey.
Worst Moment..His Backlash match with Steamboat while decent was nowhere as good as Steamboats super performance at Mania suggested it would be.

Christian 8/10
Yep he was on a show where fewer and fewer people were watching as the year progressed but despite that he was one of the most consistent performers of the year. Honestly I cant recall a bad match and his stuff with Swagger, Ryder, Regal and even Dreamer was very good. His promo work was also very nice, he's one of the few people in the E that seems to be comfortable as face really.

Best Moment... His awesome Backlash match with Swagger. Those two had some crackers.
Worst Moment..Been left of a few PPV'S despite the fact that he was over and one of Vince's most reliable performers.


Morrison 8/10
He will never be over as a face sadly, but ring wise he has few equals in the E. He had some awesome matches with Bourne, Mysterio, Jericho, Edge just to name a few this year. He needs a high profile feud in 2010 though beating unestablished guys like Ziggler wont ever get the majority to care about him.

Best moment...His SD match with Rey.
Worst Moment....His MR ZIGGLES promo highlighted his weaknesses, it was childish, delivered horribly by a man whose voice suggests puberty is years away.


Randy Orton 8/10
The dominant force of the E this year. He cant complain about his position on the card but he can complain about the fact that he was booked in some dire feuds most notably with a very overweight Shane and an incredibly stale Batista. His work with Hunter was far from spectacular either. Their was highlights however, they teased occasionally a feud with Ted and of course his ring work with Cena. The build up their PPV matches was forgettable, but they mostly delivered. His Kofi feud as well has been good, its given him a much needed break from the main event and he was doing a fine job in getting Kofi over.

Best Moment...His Iron man match with Cena.
Worst Moment.. Getting battered by Shane on Raw was embarrassing but his lowlight will be been part of the worst Mania main event in years. Horrid moment really.

Rey 8/10
Started the year of spectacularly with an amazing performance at NWO, and it kept getting better most notably his feud with jericho which was great and to a lesser extent so were his matches with the likes of Morison and Ziggler. The suspension however hurt him and its hard to remember him doing anything that exciting since then apart from getting squashed by Dave. WOW!

Best Moment...any of his matches with Jericho and his TV match with Morrison.
Worst Moment.. Getting suspended and refusing to drop the IC belt to Ziggler which hurt Ziggler in the long term.

CM Punk 8/10
His heel turn was superb stuff a reminder that Hayes when on form is a fantastic writer. His feud with Jeff was tremendous stuff especially the promos that he cut around then. Howver sinceJeff left its been downhill, he was fed to Taker and he is currently meandering aimlessly in the midcard with Festus wrestling other midcard lifers such as Truth and Matt.
Best Moment....Headlining Summerslam and the Summer of Punk part 2!.
Worst Moment.. Everything that followed, especially his squash in Hiac against the deadman.

Jeff Hardy 7/10

He looked a natural in the main event this year. His promos while never spectacular were fine and his matches mostly were very good. He done a superb job in getting Punk over, and his series of matches with Edge before that were very entertaining. The highlight been their match at Extreme Rules. His loss sadly is been felt on Smackdown where the quality of the show has nosedived since his disappearance.

Best Moment....His final match with Punk in the Cage. It proved that if the feud is written properly people will respond and they really did after this match, no match has provoked that type of emotion in the E for a long time.
Worst Moment...Their is no horrid matches that stick out so I suppose been arrested after he left the E will do in this category.

Kofi 7/10
He finally got some direction this year. His US title run was good, he and his feud with Orton was one of the best things on Raw all year. Hopefully they follow up next year on him.
Best Moment...Destroying Orton at the Garden.
Worst moment,....Not been given promo time for months.

John Cena 7/10

Nothing divides people more than Cena. He had a horrid start to the year stuck wrestling muck like JBL and Big Show. Things did pick up towards the end of the year with his matches against Orton. He was not as protected as Hunter or Taker either this year as he did lose more than his haters would give him credit for. Promo wise, it was more of the same, some of his stuff was shouty and loud but even then like everything he does he always got a reaction.
Best Moment...Ironman match with Orton.
Worst Moment..any of his PPV matches with Show, no more please!!!

Miz 7/10
Phenomenal mic work all year from this guy and while no Benoit in the ring he proved on numerous occasions he can work a good match. Unless he ****s up backstage or steals Undertakers biscuits their is no reason for him not to break into the main event scene next year.
Best Moment...His match with Jo Mo apparently the best worker of the two at Bragging Rights proved he could work.
Worst Moment...Getting killed by Cena at The bash in three minutes.

Edge 6/10
Got injured just when his tag team with Jericho was beginning which was a massive shame. His ultimate Opportunist gimmick was getting stale this year however hopefully this break will mean that his character will have a different direction when he returns. When he was able to wrestle he excelled in gimmick matches, especially with Jeff and Cena the two guys he has has always had good chemistry with.

Best Moment
His Backlash match with Cena was superb.
Worst Moment....Some of his ordinary matches this year were dull, maybe injuries is finally catchng up on him? OH and his Vicky relationship was ran into the ground. No more please.

Drew 6/10
Solid worker but not over enough to justify his rapid push. Interesting to see how patient the E will be with him next year because he needs to start getting a reaction soon.
Best Moment...His IC match at TLC with Jo Mo was great.
Worst Moment...The crowd did not give 2 ****s about him. Its a reaction that he is familiar with by now though.

Sheamus 6/10
Has he been pushed to soon? Maybe but as the year comes to a close he holds the most prestigious belt in the E. Who would have thought it?
Best Moment...Beating Cena last Sunday in a passable match.
Worst Moment....The lack of crowd reaction he was getting until recently.

Evan Bourne 6/10
He jobbed quite a bit on Raw but he did do very well on Superstars and ECW (The two shows nobody watches) He needs something to do apart from losing to Swagger and Miz next year.
Best Moment....His match with Jo Mo early this year on ECW was great.
Worst Moment..Losing on a weekly basis to Raw midcard heels.

Dolph Ziggler 6/10
It looked so good for him at one stage and then he kept losing and losing to Jo Mo which has killed his momentum dead. Hes a solid performer but right now he is stuck in limbo.
Best Moment His Summerslam match with Rey was great.
Worst Moment.....losing 256 times to John Morrison. Good matches but it didn't help either in the long run.

HBK 6/10

Like Taker he done little memorable outside his Mania match. The DX feud with Legacy was the highlight of their reunion but outside that compared to previous years its been surprisingly quiet for him. Hopefully when he breaks up with Hunter we see more interesting stuff from him.
His Best Moment....His Mania math.
His Wost Moment....His horrible NWO match with JBL and him forgetting to sell a ten minute beatdown from Legacy in Hiac.

HHH 6/10
Nobody got as protective booking as did Hunter this year. He lost occasionally but hardly ever clean and even then he made sure had a fews over the guy before just to keep his heat. Ring wise he was solid, he is not as good as he once was but he can still go and he knows how to work a crowd better than most.
Best Moment.. Not a match but on a Raw before Mania, Orton knocked out Steph and handcuffed Hunter and it was the one time he actualy showed some vulnerability something which he refused to do all year, pretty appalling when you are a face no?
On this occasion he was superb however and you actually wanted to see him get his revenge on Orton.
Wost Moment...Not the million insider jokes or shameless shilling, after a while you get used to that, but his Mania match with Orton which absolutely blew, he was the booker of the match so he must take the majority of the blame.

Beth 6/10
Very solid worker I must say, and the one women who gets Mickie to step her game up. Their was little direction to her character this year, but what she had to do she done very well. Melina take note.

Best Moment...Her Royal Rumble match with Melina was super stuff.
Worst Moment.....They love booking her in squash matches which she is good in but for a viewer they get boring after a while.

MC Cool 6/10
Has no personality, pushed because she is sleeping with the deadman and cant generate a reaction to save her lfe. However the women despite getting fierce criticism over the years has actually worked very hard to turn into what even her critics would agree is now a very solid worker. Bravo Mc Cool their is hope for us all.

Best Moment...Her match with Melina at NOC where she controlled the match superbly.
Worst Moment..Her Miss Piggy promo illustrated the total lack of charisma that she has.



Undertaker 5/10
apart from an awesome Mania match and some decent Smackdown matches with Shelton he did very little to stick in the memory this year. His character while very over is very stale, how many times does he talk about taking peoples souls etc?
His work after he returned was pretty average especially his matches with punk which were glorified squashes. He has looked more mobile in the ring since then but even his match with Tista last Sunday was poor. His fans will be hoping that when Mania comes around he can rediscover his 2007 form.

Best Moment..His Mania match with HBK
Worst Moment...The Bragging Rights match with Rey, Dave and Punk where he was the weakest link sadly highlighted how much he was struggling in the ring.


Dave Batista 5/10
as a face this year it was obvious to all he had become horrendously stale and thankfully his heel turn seems to have given him a new lease of life. Ring wise same as usual, put in with talented guys he will do good, put in with not as talented guys he struggles.....
Best Moment..Him beating the **** out of Rey was hilarious, it was I swear..
Worst Moment.....His stuff with Orton this year, nearly made me give up on this wrestling lark altogether.

Maryse 5/10
Cant wrestle a lick but she has the IT factor and plays her character superbly.
Best Moment...Everything she does before she gets to the ring.
Worst Moment...The wrestling. Not good at all.

Melina...5/10
Spot Monkey! She proved she can work this year but she needs to tone it down in the ring, some of the stuff she tries in the ring she botches horrendously.
Best Moment...Her Night Of Champions match with Mc Cool was enterprisingly good.
Worst Moment...Her Raw matches, she needs to be on the recorded show for a reason.....

MVP 5/10
The E dropped the ball on him this year, they teased something with Orton which looked promising but he was quickly pushed into the wasteland that is the Raw midcard. His heel character could have capitulated him the main event, but right now a world title is a million miles away.
Best Moment...His awesome Raw match with Kofi a few months ago.
Worst Moment..Consistently coming out to dead crowds cant be doing much for his ego I suppose.

Henry 5/10
Booked perfectly as a monster heel on ECW and has been ok with the scraps he has been given on Raw. Sadly however like MVP he does not seem much of a priority with the E.
Best Moment...His Raw debut where he popped the crowd by pinning Orton.
Worst Moment...Some of his solo matches since then have been bad most notably his recent matches with the likes of Masters and Miz. He is better of been booked as a dominant monster really.



Matt Hardy 5/10
He worked while injured which I suppose was brave, but in the long term was dumb. Conditioning wise he was in terrible shape and his matches suffered. His heel turn which initially looked a good idea hurt him in the long run. The crowd did not want to boo him and since they turned him face again, its been impossible for him to get the momentum back he had in 2007 when he looked an absolute superstar.
Best Moment....Beating Jeff at Mania in what was the second best match of the night.
Worst Moment.. His time on Raw was a disaster.


Jack Swagger 5/10
Remember him? The one who was destined for the top? Well for whatever reason despite having all the tools to succeed he has been forgotten about for now and has been banished to Superstars. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Best Moment....His spell as ECW champion was great.
Worst Moment...Going to Raw has been a 100% disaster.


Big Show 4/10
His solo matches were horrendous bar none, thankfully his tag team with Jericho has been very good, without it I would have totally given up on him.
His Best Moment....Been paired with Jericho
Worst Moment.. His Cena matches where he was the culprit for them been so horrendous and of course the triple threat at Survivor Series where he was the weakest link.

Kane 4/10
If in doubt turn Kane was the WWE motto of 2009. He floated around killed some jobbers, put over some people the same as usual really.
His Best Moment.....He had a decent SD match with Jericho a few weeks ago.....
His Wost Moment...His million face/heel turns this year.



Mickie 3/10
Done nothing to deserve the love she gets form everyone on the net. Her matches with everyone not named Beth have been awful this year and its clear that she is merely going through the motions.
Best Moment Her matches with Beth
Worst Moment...Everything else.

Gail Kim 2/10
Their was many who claimed that she was carried by Kong in Tna well those who said that will be feeling very smug right now. She looked competent with Mc Cool but everyone else has been a disaster, her match with Mickie on one Raw was hilarious for how bad it was, and anytime she was in the ring with Jillian a kitten died.

Best Moment...She looked good on Smackdown, thats the recorded show.....
Worst Moment..Her Raw match with Mickie, nearly killed the womens division on Raw dead if reports are to be believed.


Chris Masters 10/10
The best their was ...etc...
Best Moment...Everything he did
Worst Moment..when he was not on screen the quality dipped and it was notable that this year buy rates slipped and he was nowhere near the card. Wake up Vince seriously.

DM_7

Very honest and accurate assessment of things.

If I did one of these I would spend the whole post spinning the story to make Mike Knox et all look better than the rock!

Very good post.

EDIT: On re-read its better than very good!

waltersobchak

Brilliant read.. very well thought arguments for everyone, and i totally agree with everything, especially about Christian, the guy works his ass off on the C-Show only to to be left off multiple PPVs.. Damn shame

jaykhunter

Fantastic review man! Now I don't have to do one :D

I agree with so much of this, it's great to read other people's intelligent opinions. Really just spot on about everyone!

Some small notes :

Chris Jericho : Love him, but his (amazing) honest-man routine is getting a bit tiresome. Needs to update it.
I'd consider either that excrutiatingly terrible "ejection" from RAW last week or his Mania match with the old timers to be his worst moment. Having to sell Snuka and Piper's offensive was so just degrading. Not to mention the awful-looking and botched storyline with Mickey Rourke.

Triple H : I think he did less burying this year than he's done in a while. Although he wouldn't get out of the main event this year! Sneaked in two more with DX at HiaC and TLC :eek: I'm very happy with how the DX/Legacy feud went, but it's a shame Legacy haven't done anything since.

Rjd2

Cheers guys
on Jericho one huge thing I should give him massive credit for is his willingness to put people over. Punk, Rey, J2g (is that his right name) Christian and many more have all gone over him clean and its not hurt him one bit. Its a trait that I wish others had.
Hunter has been fine recently I just think he is is way to overprotected. I know Taker is similiar but at least we get a break from him for a few months. :pac:

DM_7

Rjd2 wrote: »

Cheers guys
on Jericho one huge thing I should give him massive credit for is his willingness to put people over. Punk, Rey, J2g (is that his right name) Christian and many more have all gone over him clean and its not hurt him one bit. Its a trait that I wish others had.
Hunter has been fine recently I just think he is is way to overprotected. I know Taker is similiar but at least we get a break from him for a few months. :pac:

Very true Jericho always goes out of is way to make people look good. He can beat and make them look good in doing so. Kofi springs to mind. Hell he even made escobar look good before big show arrived on the scene last week.

gerrybbadd

I agree... Jericho has been awesome, especially the Heel Suit. I think CM Punk has been brilliant as a heel this year also (well, promo wise)

One thing thats been bugging me slightly though... Is it just me, or is the Christian we got back from TNA a carbon copy of his Christian Cage gimmick from that promotion. I'd much prefer to see the Christian that was super over in the WWE before he left for TNA!!!

flahavaj

Theres been some savage threads lately, brilliant effort rjd2 and I'd agree with much fo what you said.

Should've given Masters 11/10 though, you very very hard on him I thought.:pac:

gerrybbadd

flahavaj wrote: »

Theres been some savage threads lately, brilliant effort rjd2 and I'd agree with much fo what you said.

Should've given Masters 11/10 though, you very very hard on him I thought.:pac:

Ya, his pectoral dance gimmick will sell PPVS on its own me thinks... I'd like to see him do a Pec Dance to Frantic by Metallica!!!!:D