Bret Hart's Great Worker Rating System

[Y 2 Jake]

As quoted in his book.

I have my own theory on the three qualities it takes to be a great pro wrestler. Take it away Jake.

Thank you Bret.

Out of ten he rates them for - Physical presence, ability to talk and wrestkling talent.

A score in the high 20's makes you a great wrestler, in Bret Hart's eyes anyway.

He rated Hogan a 10 for physical presence, 10 for ability to talk and 2 for wrestling talent.

He rates Tom Billington 2 for ability to talk and 10 for wrestling talent. I guess we'll never know his opinion on the physical presence of Dynamite.

He rated himself (At that time, about 1989 I think) a 7 for physical presence, 4 for mic skills and 10 for wrestling talent. Somehow I think he'd make his scores higher later in his career.

So by Bret Hart's standards Hulk Hogan, who he doesn't rate, isn't a great worker. With my limited maths skills I've still come to the conclusion that he has a score in the lower 20's, thus he doesn't quite make the cut.

Dynamite Kid, who he rates as the best wrestler ever, also, even if he got a 10 for physical presence, wouldn't be a great worker. By his standards.

Yeah it's a load of rubbish. What do you think of it and feel free to do your own scores using his system.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

It's incomplete. But if Bret knows wrestling fans, if he got too into the rating systems, he'd be barraged with an endless stream of "how would you rate _____..." and that's all the book would become.

So I'll have at it.

Bret Hart gets a 6 for physical presence, a 10 for wrestling ability, and a 4 for mic skills. He gets the 4 largely based on his work in 1997. Total - 20 points.

Curt Henning gets a 5 for physical presence, a 9 for wrestling ability, and a 7 for mic skills. Total - 21 points.

Hulk Hogan I agree with Bret on. 10, 10, 2. Total - 22.

Ric Flair gets a 5 for physical presence (at least prior to 2001), a 8 for wrestling ability, and a 10 for mic skills. Total - 23 points.

Chris Jericho gets a 6 for physical presence, an 8 for wrestling ability, and a 10 for mic skills. Total - 24 points. Yes, a point ahead of Flair.

Randy Savage gets a 7 for physical presence, a 9 for wrestling ability, and a 9 for mic skills. Total - 25 points. He'd have gotten a 10 for mic skills, except he just lost track of himself sometimes.

Ultimate Warrior gets a 10 for physical presence, a 3 for wrestling ability, and a 6 for mic skills. Total - 19 points.

Anyone else I need to do?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It proves that the system doesn't really work, high 20's surely is 25 and over. You've got Randy Savage only. I don't disagree with any of your scores as such, but I don't agree that Jericho is better than Bret Hart or even Curt Henning. It's a flawed system.

I guess Austin, The Rock, Triple H & possibly The Undertaker could get over 25.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Well, let's see here. Brock Lesnar would be a 10 for physical presence, a 10 for wrestling ability and a 3 for mic skills.

I think the physical presence is definitely a ten. It's easy to be big - you're born that way. Brock had a tangible physical presence like no other. Umaga, Koslov, Batista and others have since tried to copy it with varying degrees of success.

Wrestling ability... I won't go into it too much. It's disputable, obviously. In my eyes, he's a ten. That's that.

A three because his mic skills were mediocre. Not so bad they were painful, but not good enough to grab your attention. They improved towards the end. That's a 23 overall. Not bad.

I'd do Angle, but I'd be tempted to give him a perfect thirty. I'd need a definition for physical presence. I take it that it's not literally how big a person is.

 

[Miko]

Not sure it works really, how do you define in ring ability after all? Bret loves the technical guys, so he gives them good scores and deducts points from. . . . . well non technical guys. Brawlers as such.

Personally I'd rather watch The Rock slap people and do the people's elbow than watch anything with Kurt Angle, or Bret Hart for that matter.

Some would say that Bret and Kurt are better wrestlers because they have better mat skills blah blah blah. I'd say bollocks, means fuck all, I find Rock more entertaining, so he's the better wrestler right? So if I was to score people, it would look like this.

John Cena: Physical presence is a 8. Mic skills are a 8 and wrestling ability is a 9.

Physical Presence: He doesnt have that same presence about him as certain other great wrestlers.

Mic Skills: Probably due to the script but they can be corny promo's, childish sometimes too but he makes them sound better than they should.

In ring skills: Never seen a bad Cena match, have also seen plenty that I'd consider great.

So thats a 25.

Kurt Angle: Physical Presence is a 7. Mic skills are a 9 and wrestling ability is a 8.

Physical Presence: I like watching Kurt Angle, but he just doesnt really feel like the big time for me. At least not up there with some wrestlers.

Mic Skills: Funny as fuck, can do good intense promo's too. Not the greatest mic worker ever but he's up there.

In ring skills: People bang on about Kurt all the time, dont see it myself, just a little extra mat stuff with some spots thrown in. Enjoyable yeah, just lacking something.

So thats a 24

The Rock: Physical Presence is a 10. Mic skills are a 10 and wrestling ability is a 10.

Physical Presence: A Hogan-esque aura I suppose.

Mic Skills: It's The Rock, need I say more.

Wrestling ability: What? Rock's matches entertain me more than anybody else's.

So that's 30 hmm, I dont know, from the outside that would look like a crazy scoring system. Dont think I'll use it again.

 

[NbR1Ch]

John Cena: Physical presence is a 8. Mic skills are a 8 and wrestling ability is a 9.

Kurt Angle: Physical Presence is a 7. Mic skills are a 9 and wrestling ability is a 8.

Ok..........you know I have to rip you apart now right?? How could you POSSIBLY give Cena a wrestling ability of 9 and only give Angle an 8?? First of all........Cena is NOWHERE near Kurt Angle......second of all......WTF????.....I dont mean to like.......make you feel stupid or anything........so I'm just going to ask a question.........does anybody........ANYBODY......agree with this??

 

[2012isbs]

Let's see who to score
The Miz Physical Presence 4 his look isn't that good Mic Skills 7 he's great on the mic Wrestling Ability 5 average but he's improving. 16, average if 15 is average
Mr. Kennedy Physical Presence 6 he looks okay not jacked btu not Colin Delaney either Mic Skills 9 great on the mic Wrestling Ability 7 very few bad matches with him. 22 Higher than I think he deserves but whatever.
Raven Physical Presence 8 he has an good look to him Mic Skills 8 great promos especially when his gimmick was being crazy or not showing barely any emotion at all which is goood because that was part of his gimmick in ECW. Wrestling Ability 9 he is awesome at entertaining people. 25 sounds good to me.

The System is flawed on Wrestlers with Jacked Mic skills or in one area btu who are average or mediocre at other things I think Mic skills should count for less.

 

[HBK-aholic]

By wrestling ability do we mean technical ability? I'm taking it as that anyway.

Shawn Michaels: 8 for Physical presence, 10 for ability to talk and 9 wrestling talent.
27, ah, Bret Hart does know his wrestling after all.

Seriously, though, I think he puts too much emphasis on the technical side, if that is what he meant, which is proven with Hogan only scoring 22, when he is argued to be the best Pro-wrestler of all time by a majority of fans. It's clearly not as important as mic skills, which are arguably the most important thing in becoming successful in the business. Hart knew he was great at the technical side, so has put too much weight onto it to make himself look better.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Hm... I'll just rate a few guys and see where it gets me

Well then, let's start with

The Undertaker:
Physical presence: 10
Mic skills: 5
Wrestling ability: 9

Now 10 in physical presence should be obvious... I couldn't rate the mic skills that high since first of all Taker, doesn't talk that much in the first place, and secondly, his promos are usually much the same. But he doesn't need to talk much anyway, he's The Undertaker. I rated him 9 in wrestling ability because of his size-ability ratio. While he's not the best technical wrestler by far, I've yet to see a man his size do the things he does. So points for him there.

Total: 24

Triple H:
Physical Presence: 9
Mic skills: 9
Wrestling ability: 7

Now I'm not a huge fan of HHH, and it probably shows... still 9 for a pretty impressive physique, even if he is not the biggest guy ever. Mic skills are very good of course, but he's not among my absolute favorites, and I need some room upstairs heh. Wrestling ability... well, he is good, but he doesn't quite put people over credibly unfortunately, and he usually follows a very similar routine as well. So only 7 here.

Total: 25

HBK:
Physical presence: 7
Mic skills: 10
Wrestling ability: 10

Now HBK is pretty small in relation to most Main Event guys, but with his style, he just manages to make it not matter - that's why he gets 7 instead of only 6 points in that department. And well, wrestling ability and especially mic skills should be out of the question.

Total: 26

The Rock:
Physical presence: 8
Mic Skills: 10
Wrestling ability: 9

Easily one of my most favorite wrestlers ever. I'd actually give him a 12 or so in the mic department if I could, he's just plainly off the charts in that department, and he was decent enough in the wrestling department.

Total: 27

I thought I'd more or less pick only more or less "legendary" figures since I have just seen more of those guys over a longer period of time than any of the current stars, cause I don't get too much wrestling here on regular TV.

 

[Miko]

Ok..........you know I have to rip you apart now right??

Okey Dokey

How could you POSSIBLY give Cena a wrestling ability of 9 and only give Angle an 8??

I knew that'd annoy somebody, I gave my reason's you know. Not everybody enjoys watching Kurt Angles style of wrestling, unfortunately he's just one of those guys that get creamed over because he's technical or some such shit.

First of all........Cena is NOWHERE near Kurt Angle

You think I was too generous to Kurt?

......second of all......WTF????.....I dont mean to like.......make you feel stupid or anything

Very kind of you

........so I'm just going to ask a question.........does anybody........ANYBODY......agree with this??

On the internet? Doubtfull. At the live events? Of course.

 

[Punk13]

Ok, Let me give this a shot, first we will start out with one of the most gifted athletes ever.

RVD
Physical Presence: 6 (He isn't that big, but is in amazing shape)
Mic Skills: 5 (WWE always limited his vocabulary anyways)
Wrestling ability: 15 ( Everyone knows he is amazing in the ring)

Sabu
Physical Presence: 8 (His scars are daunting)
Mic Skills:3 (when was the last time you heard hm speak on a mic?)
Wrestling ability:8 ( He is very innovative)

I'm in a rush so i can't write more but those are my scores.

LaterZ
~Jake~

 

[Uncle Sam]

Shawn Michaels: 8 for Physical presence, 10 for ability to talk and 9 wrestling talent.

8 for physical presence? Seriously? It's lower than that. Whether it's much lower or just a little lower is questionable, but it's definitely lower. If I was asked if Shawn Michaels had good physical presence, I'd say no. Again, I'm not talking about literally just size, I'm talking about utilising your size to its fullest extent and selling the threat you pose.

A 10 for the ability to talk would put him on par with the likes of The Rock, Kurt Angle and Mick Foley, which he is most certainly not. I'd give him an 8.

I'll let his wrestling talent lie, but I can't believe you think he's a better mic worker than he is a wrestler.

Let's do someone of actual interest. Oh, say... Jack Swagger.

I think Swagger's physical presence in the ring is his best attribute. Certainly, it was when he wrestled Cena. Was that because Cena gives so much back to his opponents? Probably. I'll be very generous and give him an 8 for physical presence. With some time to develop and get more experience, that could go even higher.

His mic skills aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination. They're definitely above average, so more than 5. However, they can still be a little dodgy and they aren't all time classics. I think a 7 is a fair score.

Wrestling ability... I'll just come out and say that I'd give him a 6. After the Cena match, I'd say 8. However, overall I think he's a 6. Above average and with potential to fulfill.

So, Jack Swagger earns a total of 21 from me.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

there is some absurd posts in this thread. goodness gracious, these things occur while im gone, and everyone loses their minds. Ill just do my favorite wrestlers I suppose. more maybe later.

Hulk Hogan

Physical presence 10 - Lets be real here. Its Hulk Motherfucking Hogan. Dude was a real life super hero.

Wrestleing ability - 9 - anyone giving him less is astounding, truly. He didnt botch, made eveything look belivable, and did everything logically. and sold the bejesus out of others offense. that IS pro wrestling. You all confuse the hell out of me, truly.

Mic Skills - 9 - As if anyone could captivate his target audience better than this guy. Be serious. I guess becuase he wasnt monotone, and "dark" and didnt curse, he was a good mic guy. He was amazing on the mic. Come the fuck ON

Bret Hart

Physical presence -5- what? He wasnt very big, or well muscled. Good looking, average built guy though

Mic Skills - 8 - criminally underrated. Cut some of the most searing white hot promos ever in 1997. Was also a VERY good face mic worker from about 1993 on out.

In ring ability - 10 - No one. and I mean NO ONE sold better. Ever. Every move was crisp, logical, and well placed. Never hurt another guy in the ring, and put on good to great matches with everyone.

Curt Hennig

Look - 8 - big, broad shouldered, blond haired roid freak. Great, great look. Had he come along at another time, wouldve beeen a world champ, no doubt in my mind whatsoever

Mic skills - 7 - Not that he was bad, but nothing particularly spectacular either. Always did well on the mic, always looked smooth and comfortable

In ring - 8 - bumped like a fucking maniac for everyone. Matter of fact, maybe oversold a tad. Still fantastic. great, great in ring worker.

John Cena

Look - 9 - Huge dude, good looking. really the epitome of what a big time wrestler should look like these days

Mic Skillz - 8 - Very good, solid preformer, although says a lot of repetitve stuff. Nothing thats too overly captivating, although, they dont allow folks to say things how they want too often these days, so yea.

In ring ability - 8 - be real guys. the man has solid to great matches with EVERYONE he works with, just about. Maybe except for JBL, but come on. That fricken JBL. Only issues I have is lack of long term selling during some matches, in some cases he just simply seems to forget. Confuses me.


Ill add more. (promises, promises NorCal...)

 

[Bernkastel]

Kane

In ring presence - 10 - In his younger days, Kane was the epitome of intimidation, even now after being in the company for 12 years he still holds an aura of intimidation around him

Mic skills -4 -Kane didn't need mic skills to get over, his actions and his presence were enough, in fact he didn't even say one word throughout the first year of his career. Now that his career has evolved, Kane does cut short, vivid promos that get straight to the point. He rarely botches on the mic, despite not saying much.

ability - 7- while Kane does not have the ability of a hogan or a flair, he is exceptional for a big man. His selling is superb, his spots are believable, and he can have good matches with a range of opponents that the fans can appreciate.

total: 21


Trish Stratus

in ring presence - 9 - Trish had a presence like no other before her in the ring, she captivated crowds from the moment her music hit to the moment the bell rang and her hand was raised. If Trish wanted to be hated, she was hated... if she wanted to be loved, she was loved.

mic skills - 8- Trish one of only a handful of women that could cut a believable promo, but unlike the others, Trish could have the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand. She rarely botched on the mic, she spoke confidently and clearly.

ability - 8- Trish had top notch psychology and her selling was second to no one's. She could have good matches with anyone, from the Lita's to the Victoria's to the Maria's. Her main problem was that she botched... and quite often important spots.

total: 25

Lita

in ring presence - 8- Very charismatic, second only to Trish in showmanship

mic skills - 7- Another woman that could cut a believable promo, she could generate a good amount of heat and a generous amount of cheers.

ability - 8- Lita shined when working an opponent superior or equal to her, as her matches with Trish were nothing short of brilliant. However, when working an opponent with less skill, she tended to get sloppy and it showed.

total: 23