If you haven't picked up an issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated in a while, I'd reccomend hitting the newstand and picking up the latest edition. In addition to a really terrific compillation of the greatest Ric Flair covers of all time, it also features the annual PWI Poll.
You can see a preview of the magazine and subscribe at PWI's official web site.
The magazine says the poll was put together using the results of a survey of subscribers. Seeing as how PWI remains the last bastion of kayfabe, it's hard to tell how legit the poll is. But regardless, the results are intriguing. I thought I'd highlight some of the more interesting questions and the poll's findings.
. Who is pound-for-pound the best wrestler in the world?
Number one response: Bryan Danielson
That's a pretty impressive showing for the American Dragon, who scored higher than even Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. I guess the one caviat is the whole "pound-for-pound" deal, which tends to favor smaller wrestlers. But nevertheless, anyone who has seen a sample of Danielson's work might tend to agree.
. Who is the most under rated wrestler?
Number one response: Paul London
I agree with that one, too. The immediate reaction by some people reading those results might be, "Who cares about Paul London? He's just a jobber." But that's just it - He shouldn't be. More than anyone I can think of, London has been the most unfairly miscast because of his size. He can be so much more than just a bump-taker or high spot artist - a lot, lot more.
. Is wrestling better or worse than it was five years ago?
Number one response: Better.
There was actually a lot of quality wrestling produced in 2003 - mostly from WWE's Smackdown brand, which was dominated by a fantastic feud between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. But there was also a lot of crap, including the return of Goldberg, Scott Steiner headlining pay per views, Zack Gowen, and Vince vs. Stephanie. I'll take Randy Orton, Edge and even John Cena over that junk. Although I do miss Brock.
.If WWE could add one name to its talent pool, who would it be?
Number one response: Kurt Angle
Angle is definitely the one that got away, and never was that more apparent than at last week's Lockdown when he put on a performance that could potentially revolutionize the way pro wrestling looks in the future. WWE is worse off without him, although I'm happy to see Angle having reclaimed some semblance of quality of life in TNA.
. What is keeping TNA from truly competing with WWE?
Number one response: Problems in creative
TNA has the talent, production, budget and support to make a real run at the big time, but until it shakes things up, it can only grow so much. It seems everybody knows that but the people who can make a difference.
There are something like 50 questions in all, and it's a fun read. Highly recommended.
Comments (6)
So what you're getting at is, fans don't want to see Scott Steiner handcuff and blindfold Petey Williams then proceed to drag him around telling him he's going to make him into a champion, even though Petey had already been X-Division champ before?
Oh wait, I totally forgot Vince Russo's "if it happened more then 2 years ago, it didn't happen" rule. (Disclaimer: This rule does not apply to Montreal. Vince Russo wants you to remember every aspect of Montreal so he keeps redoing it every couple years just so you remember HE was the man behind Montreal. Even if he technically wasn't...at all)
Oh, and worked shoots kick ass.
lol @ the Brock reference as a 'UFC Flop.' A bit bitter are they?
the American Dragon is really great, i use to watch him and spanky when thay first started in hbk's twa like 10 years ago or so, also spanky (brain keindrick)could be on that underrated list as well. The Twa had some great young talent Lance Cade was there also along with matt bently who did ok for him self in Tna
Most years, it seems the "pound-for-pound best wrestler" typically goes to someone on the rise. I believe Frankie Kazarian, Rob Van Dam, and Rey Mysterio each won the award well before they were key players.
Which made it all the more surprising to me last April or May when Chris Benoit was the number one response.
I picked up that magazine a couple days ago. The Ric Flair cover retrospective is great; a real history lesson, with covers going all the way back to the late 70's.
The Brock Lesnar/UFC story features a picture of Bradshaw, Steve Austin, and The Undertaker in the crowd. It's very weird to see 'Taker breaking kayfabe.
To mention an earlier post, this year (for obvious reasons) is probably the first year that Chris Benoit hasn't been #1 or in the top 3 since 1999.
Kind of interesting how they have a poll for which wrestler WWE should bring back, and the top vote-getter was Kurt Angle.
When you browse through the many wrestling message boards, you'll usually find that it's cluttered with people who have been bashing Kurt Angle's skills the very minute it was revealed that he left the company.