Peaked at ‘good’

[Olly1984]

5 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I think Rikishi would be a good candidate. Lots of fun, solid worker, great character work, over with the crowd, but I don't think I can point to any matches memorable for quality - there was that one where he just got smashed up by Austin in revenge for the hit-and-run, but I don't think it counts as such.

Gotta give him a free pass just for this @Carbomb

That and obviously when 2 cool dances in the Rumble then he chucked em both out!! 

[Supremo]

13 hours ago, Carbomb said:

I think Rikishi would be a good candidate. Lots of fun, solid worker, great character work, over with the crowd

Terrible driver though. His insurance must be through the roof!

Like father, like son. Jey Uso is the epitome of this. Fun, wildly over, but a bit crap. I don’t begrudge them trying by giving him the Rumble win, but I think the last few weeks have completely exposed his level. He’s not him.

Manifest it at Wrestlemania.

[tiger_rick]

Randy Orton. He has had one great match and feud, but that was with Mick Foley, who is absolutely incredible. However, over the rest of his 20-odd years in the company, he's just had a load of good moments, some really promising ones - like kicking Vince in the head - that led nowhere really and a million and a half 3* matches. I'm glad he's achieved longevity with his style and stopped failing drug tests and bullying women backstage but he's one of the most uninteresting people in the history of the business. In 2025, hearing someone speculate about a Randy Orton match or feud is fucking insane to me. Be like hearing someone get excited about a Bob Backlund World title feud in 2000.

[RedTwoster]

13 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Randy Orton. He has had one great match and feud, but that was with Mick Foley, who is absolutely incredible.

He crossed my mind, until I remembered his series of matches with Christian, which were absolutely fantastic. There’s a whole generation of WWE prospects who fit the criteria for this thread, though - including:

Carlito - who is perfectly fine, but nothing better than that, ever.

Bobby Lashley - I like Lashley, but I don’t think he’s ever had a truly great match. There’s every chance that’ll change now he’s in AEW, though.

MVP - Again, I really like MVP, but I don’t think he’s ever had a match you could consider great. 

Natalya - Perhaps she was affected by arriving on the scene at a time when women’s wrestling wasn’t treated in a serious way, but even when working with some of the world class female wrestlers who are in WWE right now, I’m not sure she’s ever gone beyond having simply a ‘good’ match. 

[tiger_rick]

3 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

He crossed my mind, until I remembered his series of matches with Christian, which were absolutely fantastic. 

Nearly mentioned them. They come up sometimes. I didn't see them until years later but they're absolutely good and not great. Maybe better if following at the time but I wasn't. And if I was, I was well into skipping Orton segments by then!

[d-d-d-dAz]

Orton is fascinating. I agree completely with Rick, yet I'm aware that lots of very good wrestlers and smart people from the industry consider him one of - if not the - best ever.

It always interests me when you hear it. He's like the Michael Carrick of wrestling. To the fans, he's fine, important to have in the team but no ones favourite as he lacks any real excitement. He's just clockwork, ticking over in the same way at the same pace, keeping everything running on time.

But other players/wrestlers? they will always go out of their way to say that no, he actually is the best.

I love those little knowledge gaps between the experts and fans, and would love to know what I'm missing.

But yeah, as a pleb... I like him, good character at times, seems a good laugh (these days), wouldn't be against him winning another title or two... but literally never get excited to see him in a match. Especially now he's so bulky. He's not a man that needed slowing down.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Orton is fascinating. I agree completely with Rick, yet I'm aware that lots of very good wrestlers and smart people from the industry consider him one of - if not the - best ever.

It always interests me when you hear it. He's like the Michael Carrick of wrestling. To the fans, he's fine, important to have in the team but no ones favourite as he lacks any real excitement. He's just clockwork, ticking over in the same way at the same pace, keeping everything running on time.

But other players/wrestlers? they will always go out of their way to say that no, he actually is the best.

I love those little knowledge gaps between the experts and fans, and would love to know what I'm missing.

But yeah, as a pleb... I like him, good character at times, seems a good laugh (these days), wouldn't be against him winning another title or two... but literally never get excited to see him in a match. Especially now he's so bulky. He's not a man that needed slowing down.

When listening to a lot of pros in any sphere talk, the most common and significant point of praise tends more to be about consistency in delivering good quality, rather than moments of greatness (though, obviously, that's not always the case - instances of genius impress everyone). Michelin-star chefs are rated for being able to turn out hundreds of high-quality dishes per day. Consistency is what separates a great music act from a one-hit wonder. So I would venture to guess that what Orton draws admiration for from his fellow professionals is being able to have a good programme with anyone, and make anyone look competent enough that they look like they belong in the ring with others, and on TV.

[Hannibal Scorch]

Yep, Orton for me, just never found him anything more than good, ever. 

Kyle O'Reily - I like him and I haven't seen his ROH run so I am prepared for an education, but never notched it up for me.

Ethan Page - No himself vs Karate Man doesn't count.

Sammy Guevara - Another who has had some great matches, or been involved, but wouldn't say he is anything more than good. The worst pillar.

[wordsfromlee]

On 3/30/2025 at 2:26 PM, Mr. Levity 84 said:

Gotta throw Big E into the mix. Decent NXT Champion, had some fun matches as part of the New Day, but never had a better than 'good' singles match, particularly during his completely forgettable WWE Title run.

Not only had I forgotten he held the WWE Title, but I'd also forgotten that Bobby Lashley - who Big E won the belt from - held it too.

[air_raid]

Instead of relegating people that are held in high regard by the company or groups of other fans, and speak up for someone who should be considered as having been “good” but rarely is, and that’s Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. No, he should never have main evented Starrcade and yes, The Disciple was crap. But in his prime he was over like Rover and held his end up fine in the matches. Go watch him against Mr Perfect from Mania VI ; they love him. These days everyone would complain at (spoiler alert) someone as “limited” as him ending The Perfect Record, but everyone loved him back when making people care was all that mattered. As it always should be.

[Sphinx]

I reckon the praise for Orton is down to him being smooth, in the right place at the right time, and the notion that the little he does counts. I imagine other wrestlers enjoy working with him.

[RedTwoster]

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Sammy Guevara - Another who has had some great matches, or been involved, but wouldn't say he is anything more than good. The worst pillar.

As you say though, he has had some great matches, so I’m not sure he counts - but I’m totally with you on Kyle O’Reilly, and I’d add Strong, Taven and Bennett to the mix too. 

Although I’m not his biggest fan, I think Adam Cole has had some great matches - including the one against MJF at All In. 

Sticking with AEW, I’d throw Wardlow in the mix. He’s had some good matches, but nothing better than that. Same goes with Serena Deeb - she’s clearly very talented, but I’m not sure she’s ever had that stand out match. She may well be capable of it, though.

[Chili]

4 hours ago, air_raid said:

Instead of relegating people that are held in high regard by the company or groups of other fans, and speak up for someone who should be considered as having been “good” but rarely is, and that’s Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. No, he should never have main evented Starrcade and yes, The Disciple was crap. But in his prime he was over like Rover and held his end up fine in the matches. Go watch him against Mr Perfect from Mania VI ; they love him. These days everyone would complain at (spoiler alert) someone as “limited” as him ending The Perfect Record, but everyone loved him back when making people care was all that mattered. As it always should be.

Always felt quite bad for Bruti, as by the time of his injury he'd absolutely picked up stuff from working with better performers and by the time of his accident was actually pretty alright in the ring, to go along with his charisma and connection with the crowd. It's not a big what if, but it would be interesting to see how he'd have got on as a performer had he not have to sit out for nearly three years.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

19 hours ago, Supremo said:

Terrible driver though. His insurance must be through the roof!

Like father, like son. Jey Uso is the epitome of this. Fun, wildly over, but a bit crap. I don’t begrudge them trying by giving him the Rumble win, but I think the last few weeks have completely exposed his level. He’s not him.

Manifest it at Wrestlemania.

Thats a great shout for the favour. Launches fueds with Walter, Uso and royally pisses off Reigns and Seth. Arrows.

[RedTwoster]

22 hours ago, air_raid said:

Instead of relegating people that are held in high regard by the company or groups of other fans, and speak up for someone who should be considered as having been “good” but rarely is, and that’s Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake.

In the spirit of this, I’m going to say A-Train/Albert. When I started watching wrestling, I thought he was a brilliant big man wrestler on the Smackdown brand, and I was surprised when I found out that people considered him a bit shit. I don’t think he was at all.