Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: LOP Wrestler Rankings - Let Your Voice Be Heard
By Dr. CMV1
Aug 29, 2011 - 5:04:04 PM

As college football season approaches, I find myself reading the preview magazines that rank each team despite not seeing them play competitively yet. It got me to thinking about how much time we all spend watching wrestling and observing the wrestlers. Are we not capable of coming up with a ranking of the WWE’s top stars as a collective Wrestling Media just as the Associated Press manages to produce a ranking of the top college teams in America that are prominently featured on top sports websites during football and basketball season? I think we certainly are. This is something that I’ve wanted to see the WWE utilize in their quest to become more realistic. CM Punk, on a major sports news site, recently referred to this potentially new era that he hoped to spark as the “Reality Era.” Well, the reality is that wrestling is both sport and entertainment and that wildly popular sports use rankings by its media to help determine who should play in the biggest games. I say we create a rankings system that perhaps the WWE may one day adopt in their plans to become more real. TNA is trying to do that, I read, but I cannot yet manage to watch TNA regularly, so I don’t know the details. This is for us, though. We are the Wrestling Media and we have an outlet in Lords of Pain that reaches more wrestling fans than any other site than the WWE’s dotcom.

We’ll call this our dry run. If it works, we’ll try it out on a more regular basis. If it doesn’t, then we’ll just move on to another idea. Now, I will preface by stating that I don’t have any interest in doing this on a weekly basis, personally. I am happy to run it and post it about once a month, but I don’t have the time to compile it weekly. My groove is to write when the mood strikes and regular series – sans for the Road to Wrestlemania, which was worked on several months in advance – are just not something I can make the time commitment to. However, I’ve got two-three Columns Forum All-Stars that will be assisting in this project. They include Mizfan, Pringle, and Priest and you’ll see their breakdowns of the rankings as much as you’ll see mine. So, here’s how this is going to work…

1 – The Wrestling Media is made up of us – the wrestling enthusiasts. I would consider this site to be comparable to Yahoo Sports. They’ve got a large, loyal following and they churn out a lot of quality material. We, thus, have the readership to capably compile enough votes on a bi-weekly basis to cover substantial ground in our rankings. All that is asked of you is that you vote by ranking your top 10. You have from now until one week from today at 11:59PM EST. I’m only tallying votes from Monday-Monday. You don’t need to explain your rankings unless you want to. That will be our job. If you wish to explain yourself, then we will happily include some of your comments when the rankings are unveiled.

You can either vote in the facebook feedback, email me, or go into the forums and vote (http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php/5613-LOP-s-Bi-Weekly-WWE-Wrestler-Rankings-Let-Your-Voice-Be-Heard)

2 – The criteria will be about as mysterious as it is for college sports, but we’ll have some guidelines. The guidelines I suggest you follow when making your rankings include TV time, popularity (how over?), wins and losses, PPV match stature (opener, headline, main-event), match quality, storyline quality, and promo quality. I will provide a sample of data below in what I will set as the initial rankings.

3 – I’m considering taking whatever our rankings should be each month/week and immediately submitting it to the WWE in some way, shape, or form without regard for how little they might think of it. That matters not. What matters is that, in reality, the fan voice be heard beyond just what happens in an arena. In other sports, the press has gained a lot of influence.

Initial Wrestling Media (WM) Rankings for the WWE

1) CM Punk
2) John Cena
3) Randy Orton
4) Mark Henry
5) Alberto Del Rio
6) Sheamus
7) Christian
8) The Miz
9) R-Truth
10) Cody Rhodes
11) Wade Barrett
12) Dolph Ziggler
13) Daniel Bryan
14) Jack Swagger
15) John Morrison
16) Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne

The Top 4

1 – CM Punk  The Best in the World may not have won the main-event on Raw to get a title shot at the PPV, but he was clearly still the most engaging character. His mic work was spot on and his TV presence was greater than anyone else’s. He continues to be the best thing going in wrestling and it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon. In fact, I’m going to predict a very USC-like run at the top of the rankings for Punk. As popular as he is and as good as he’s been lately, I would be surprised to see him lose the top spot in the foreseeable future. My only concern is whether or not he can sustain the TV time now that he’s currently out of the WWE Championship picture, though it would seem that he’ll continue to be true focal point since he’s the most interesting guy in the company, bar none.

2 – John Cena  I have been very impressed with Cena over the last few months. The feud with Punk has seemingly got him energized. Gone is a lot of the goofy humor that isn’t really that humorous that has marked the last several years of his TV character. If that never returns, I’ll be A-OK with it. His Raw main-event work with Punk reinforced that he can, indeed, wrestle and that’s he’s actually better than everyone not named CM Punk in that ring on the roster (maybe better – yeah, I said it – we’ve yet to see if Punk can have entertaining matches with random heel challenger X like Cena has been able to do). TV and mic time is never going to be in question for Cena, but his quality in both regards has been much better in recent weeks. Cena will be the most interesting character to watch in these rankings. I like him – but it’s fairly safe to say that most of the IWC doesn’t share my feelings.

3 – Randy Orton  Outside of CM Punk, is there anyone having a better year than the Viper? Orton has been tearing it up in 2011 and, if it were not for Punk’s matches with Cena and the rise to the main-event that accompanied it, I’d say that Orton was the best in the WWE right now inside the squared circle. The match he had with Ted Dibiase on Smackdown was proof positive that just about every match that Orton is involved in lately as guaranteed to be, at the very least, really good. He’s hitting his stride in the ring right now and it’s been a pleasure to watch. His interviews and character work were fine this week, just as they’ve been for weeks now (little better than fine with a few exceptions here and there), but the work rate continues to be as impressive as anyone’s.

4 – Mark Henry  As recently written in a column, I’m loving the Mark Henry push and I never thought I’d say that. I see motivation, drive, and a hunger to win the World title before he rides off into the sunset presumably before too many more years pass. His promos have been the best of his career and I’m legitimately intrigued to see how his match with (presumably) Orton plays out. The Summerslam rematch he had with Sheamus on Smackdown may have been one of the better matches of his career, in all honesty. The one missing piece of the puzzle for him is having a good match at the main-event level. Nights like last Friday give us hope that he can do that against Orton.

Knocking on the Door of the Top 4

5 – Alberto Del Rio  The reigning WWE Champion has seen his stock rise in recent weeks, as he prepares to finally get a more focused push on TV in actual feuds. He sort of got lost in the shuffle on Raw during the segment with CM Punk and John Cena and he’ll have to learn how to better assert himself in that situation so that he doesn’t come across so much as the third wheel. However, he continues to play the smarmy, chicken shit heel very well. He had a strong match against John Morrison that further showcased his potential to have great matches at the main-event level and increased my desire to see how he fares against Cena at N.O.C. His facial expressions are great; one of the highlights of Raw was watching his reaction to the fans that threw Cena’s shirt back at him when he tossed it into the crowd.

6 – Sheamus  I’ll make a bold statement about the Celtic Warrior’s in-ring ability and say that he’s one of the top 5 wrestlers in the WWE right now behind Cena, Punk, Orton, and Christian only. The way that Sheamus works a match is very intelligent. He just seems to have a keen awareness in the ring of what he should do and when he should do it. I have been very impressed with his work against Henry. I give a lot of credit to Henry for being motivated, but I give a ton of credit to Sheamus for doing the bulk of the work. Additionally, he’s one of the most underrated characters in the company, too. His promos are entertaining and he’s got range between comic and serious that few in the WWE possess.

7 – Christian  He’s back in the saddle again, getting one more shot at the World title come Tuesday inside a steel cage. His work on Smackdown last Friday in preparation for that live special tomorrow may have been more of the same in terms of his mic work, but it was still as solid as it comes. Here’s hoping he doesn’t become irrelevant after the feud with Orton finally and officially concludes because the work he continues to do as a heel is exemplary. He’s making the most of his opportunity. His wrestling is top notch, as evidenced further by his match with Daniel Bryan last Friday. I’d love to see an extended series of PPV matches against the #6 ranked wrestler.

8 – The Miz  I’ve honestly felt sorry for the Miz since Wrestlemania. I thought he did an excellent job getting himself over as the classic chicken shit heel character. We got so conditioned on heels that got credible wins that we forget that heels don’t really need credible wins; they just need to win in ways that make you mad enough to want to see them get their comeuppance. That, in a nutshell, was Miz. Then he loses the title, feuds with his lackey, and is a mid-carder again. However, he just formed what appears to be an intriguing tag team with R-Truth. Their segment on Raw last week was the show’s most entertaining promo (yes, beating out Punk).

The Next 4

9 - R-Truth  You know, I don’t think I’ve actually done any praising of the R-Truth character. Here’s my chance…he went from the annoying, smiling, babyface mid-card rapper to one of the most entertaining characters on the Raw roster. I am tuned in fully every time R-Truth is on my TV right now and I am quite interested in this new tag team he’s formed with Miz. Both are good on the microphone and can carry a lengthy segment whether it be as serious as WWE title contention or mixing it up with the random celebrity at ringside. So, I have high hopes. Bottom line: Truth is a featured character on the flagship show not just in the ring, but especially on the microphone. If you get a lot of mic time in the WWE, you’ll remain relevant.

10 – Cody Rhodes  Every week, we know that Rhodes is going to get his chance to shine on Smackdown. He’s become one of the most prominent figures on that show, slowly but surely working his way up the card. I like what he’s saying about the IC title and I sure hope that they figure out a way to follow through on that (as it would be nice), but at the same time his interaction with Randy Orton that included a quip about wanting more than just the IC title makes you think that it won’t be too terribly long before this guy is taking the next step into the main-event level. As long as he delivers in the ring, as he’s done in past weeks, and continues to develop his character (which is a pretty good heat magnet right now), you have to like where Rhodes is headed.

11 – Wade Barrett  The last few weeks have been kind to Wade. While feuding with Daniel Bryan is not exactly that big of a deal when you consider where he was at a year ago, the fact that he got a singles match on the Summerslam card and a victory to go along with it is going a long way toward finally getting his career path back on track. When you look forward, Barrett is the type of star with the size, verbal skills, and budding in-ring skills to be given another opportunity to compete for the World title. He didn’t have much of a week, but his sense of entitlement is intriguing and we’ll see where it goes.

12 - Dolph Ziggler  Admittedly, I’m basing this ranking more on what he’s done in weeks gone by than what he did last Monday on Raw (where he was really just a bit player in a segment to further the story of the tension in his relationship with Vickie Guerrero), but Dolph has managed to get some time with the microphone even if it’s been on commentary. In those instances, he’s done quite well for himself and I get the feeling that all it would take for him to become a consistent top tier player is the WWE deciding that a spot has opened up for him. I think he’d thrive on Smackdown, but there doesn’t appear to be much upward mobility for him right now on Raw. That will ultimately hurt his ranking.

The Last 4

13 – Daniel Bryan  How long will the WWE allow Bryan to look good in loss, but continue to do nothing but lose? My rankings don’t take into account what happened on Superstars, so the victory over Drew McIntyre doesn’t count in my book. He had a very good match with Christian on Smackdown, but lost again. He’s got a pretty good losing streak going on right now; eventually, he’ll need to get a win or no one will ever buy him as a threat to the World Heavyweight Championship (especially at Mania when stakes are highest). He still holds the Money in the Bank briefcase and as long as he has that and continues to have, week-in and week-out, the best matches on TV, he’ll remain ranked…but a win would elevate him out of the last 4.

14 – Jack Swagger  You certainly don’t have to with your rankings, but I place a premium on being involved in some sort of storyline. There are a lot of mid-card wrestlers that just get on TV to wrestle a match, but it is not part of a larger story arc. They’re just on TV to get exposure and stay relevant. Swagger makes my cut because he’s started a new feud. He wants Vickie G. to be his manager. I look at Jack as another of those guys that could be instantly upgraded to main-event status should they just decide to give him another chance. He’s got the tools; perhaps a Vickie Guerrero stable of wrestlers would be a good idea for guys like him.

15 – John Morrison  In back to back weeks, we’ve seen Morrison defeat R-Truth in a really good TV match and lose to the WWE Champion in a really good TV match. At this point, there’s no question that Morrison has unique in-ring capabilities and a style that, while a little different, comes across well on TV. Who he chooses to share his bed with is his concern, so here’s hoping that the WWE realizes that the guy can flat out entertain with his in-ring performances. He’s sort of a modern day RVD – he can’t talk a lick (his tone of voice just makes him sound like he’s not out of puberty, yet), but he brings something to the table inside the squared circle that no one else does.

16 – Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne  The new tag team champions are an exciting duo and there’s been a lot of talk on the net about how Triple H wants to reinvent and reinvigorate the tag team division to the point that it features a title worthy of achieving. It has a long way to go because we’ve seen in the past that the quick fix of throwing the belts on two upper tier, but randomly thrown together stars doesn’t do much good in the long run. WWE’s dotcom has been asking what the team should be called, so apparently they might be a team from here on out. It’s because of that these two narrowly edge out the Divas of Doom for the final spot in my ranking, but they’ll be skating on thin ice.

Others considered: Divas of Doom, Ezekiel Jackson, Ted Dibiase, Alex Riley, Kevin Nash (not confirmed to be wrestling, yet), and Sin Cara