Ric flair also was never the top guy in WWE (yes he was champion but he was never “the guy”) and he was good in ring and could talk. Ricochet is small and can’t talk. For WWE it is a deal breaker. I always look at NXT and AEW guys that are “monsters” and put them in the WWE and they aren’t big guys. I mean Lucha Saurus is the same size as guys like Sheamus and Cesaro and neither of those guys are looked at as huge monster type competitors. Size matters, not so much in that guys need to be big, but in that guys need to fit the size of the roster.
I disagree. Think of all the years and years of promo time and acting opportunities Rollins has had - and he is still atrocious. The messiah stuff is the worst he’s ever done, it feels like he’s regressing.
Ricochet I agree is awful. But he’s only been scripted to say superheroes are real. He’s also only been on the main roster for a year and a half. He is terrible but hasn’t had the chance to improve
What are your thoughts on Zack Ryder being more successful in WWE, than Ricochet will ever be? You were pretty hard on Ryder in his time with WWE, so you should be harder on Ricochet, in my opinion.
I think a lot of these guys are simply one dimensional “actors”. Take Rollins for example, I thought he did very well in his first heel run, and I think he did well in his babyface run (prior to fans turning on him). As for his “Monday Night Messiah” character, ya not so much.
For the most part, these guys are wrestlers who have no formal acting training who are being taught by other wrestlers who also have no formal acting training. When you give them a gimmick or character that resonates, it can click. When you expect them to perform as if they are legit actors, they suck.
The problem with Ricochet is that he just comes off as awkward anytime he speaks. Does it mean he cant be a top guy (and I dont mean THE top guy), of course not. There are ways around that. Was early AJ Styles/TNA much better? Guy can take an acting class, they can give him a manager, just dont script him to speak, there are so many things you can do.
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I would never ask Ricochet to read a script and be an actor cause he’s not. I would just have him speak as naturally as possible. He’s very kind and humble (he’s too humble), people would relate to his natural babyface character.
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He is worse than Rollins and it isn’t close. Go watch his “are you scared” line he delivered to Brock. It is way worse than anything Rollins has ever done. If you feel Rollins is regressing maybe that is more a comment on the script than his acting. Rollins is failing at acting out a particular character. Ricochet fails are acting like a normal human.
I would have him do interview segments and taped promos.
Zack Ryder never had a 365 made about him and also never got to be squashed by Brock.
Ryder definitely does have better toys than Ricochet though
Yeah that sucked but Rollins is just consistently bad to me for years. Give Ricochet more opportunities is all I’m saying.
I meant a real top guy i.e. a bona fide star and draw.
Anyone can be a modern top guy because it is meaningless.
Only because Vince would never let him. He was the second biggest drawing star of the 80’s behind Hogan.
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I saw this and my main take away was, Ricochet thinks he’s the shits and he’s just happy to be there. That first moment where it looked like he was almost grovelling to Vince after his debut, it was bad. I can see, hey, thanks for the opportunity, blah blah blah, but man, Ricochet is a pretty good talent.
His promos aren’t the best, but he came across decent just being honest and open, except for his attitude of just happy to be here. Sometimes scripted dialogue can be a killer.
I mean isn’t that true for plenty of possible top guys today? Vince won’t let them. My impression with Ric is that he didn’t get to the WWE until he was older, and he was on the smaller side for a WWE guy.
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I mean the scripted thing is what I think totally kills him. I don’t think he would ever be the best talker but he is super forced when he needs to recite lines.
So who do you consider a “real top guy”?
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In the French league of soccer when a minor team plays against an all star team, sometimes, the minor team is just happy to play against stars. We would say they lost because they were watching them play and were mesmerized. That’s how Ricochet appeared to be in this 365. Look that’s HBK ! look that’s goldberg ! Look I’m in WWE it’s crazy ! I mean it’s cool and everything, but at some point you have to stop just being a fanboy and you have to show that you want to succeed.
On one hand, I’d rather be a happy fanboy then miserable like some of the wrestlers, but I totally see what you are saying. For him to get to that next level, you almost have to have that next gear that almost demands it.
Like Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss?
Do you mean which active performers (Undertaker is considered not active for the purposes of this exercise) would I say would be real draws if that could still be measured?
Are we talking about for a carnival?