Who becomes "The Man" when HBK retires?

[Shocky]

Loaded question to be sure. For arguments sake, lets ignore the entire Hogan~Austin~Cena line of thinking. For some reason, the lineage of greatest wrestler here stateside went from Ric Flair, to Shawn Michaels. Sure, guys like Savage, Hart, or Steamboat may have laid claim, but usually the first train of thought goes to Flair and Michaels. Flair and Michaels have the eerie similarity of ability in the ring, and on the mic. They bring an all around package to the business.

On the eve of perhaps the retirement of Shawn Michaels from the business this weekend, who becomes the guy afterward, or perhaps, has the guy already taken the crown?

When I think of it, I go to three people.

1). AJ Styles. When I think of great wrestler, Styles pops into my head right away. AJ Styles is pretty much the little engine that could in today's world of wrestling. His size isn't going to overwhelm you, yet he doesn't rely too much on high flying ability to put him in the spot monkey category. My negative against Styles is his inability to cut a good promo. I'm sorry, I just don't believe what the guy is selling when he's on the mic. His in ring work is top notch, but he doesn't have the all around package for me.

2.) Kurt Angle: I think the argument will lean heavy towards Angle from most people. Some will say that Angle took the torch from Michaels at Wrestlemania 21, and I'd be hard pressed to argue against that. Angle is an all around great performer. He is excellent in the ring, and excels on the microphone.

3). Chris Jericho: Jericho is my personal pick. For whatever reason, it's just easy for me to picture the lineage going from Flair, to HBK, to Jericho. You see a lot of Ric Flair in Shawn Michaels, and you damn sure see a lot of HBK in Y2J. Since his return, his in ring presence has become beyond amazing, and his mic work is as top notch as always. If I'm making a pick, the Lionheart gets my vote.

 

[Safari.GFX]

WWE needs to push Chris Jericho, I do think he could be the next big thing. He's hitting his prime right now.

AJ Styles, is one of the best wrestlers in the world, but I don't like to hear him on the micraphone.

Kurt Angle, is close to retirment, I don't see him aroung much longer, although one might argue, he was the Big Thing.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I like what you said here, Shocky. I agree that Jericho would be the next to become "the man" after Michaels retires because he's just as good in the ring as he is on the mic. Out of the guys currently on WWE's roster, Jericho is one of the few that is in the top tier for both in-ring ability and mic skills. He's not the best at either but he is close to the top for both. It could be argued that HBK already passed that torch to Jericho in the ladder match at the end of the phenominal feud they had in 2008.

 

[Milkyway!]

Well Shocky, you know what they say. "To be the MAN! You gotta beat the MAN!" The reason we see Shawn Michaels as "The Man" is because Michaels was the one to defeat Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24, "retiring" him "forever". So, whoever beats Michaels to retire him, certainly because "The Man" in my eyes.

Right now, I believe that man will either be The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, or Drew McIntyre. It all according to how WrestleMania 26 plays out. If The Undertaker beats Shawn, then I certainly suppose that makes him "The Man" for retiring Shawn Michaels.

Chris Jericho for reasons you've already said, and he has quite a few wins over "The Man."

Now for the man that adds a small twist to the thread, and I like to become "The Man" Drew McIntyre. We all know that Drew is high up on Shawn's list as a superstar. So, if he defeats Shawn Michaels at maybe next year's WrestleMania to retire Shawn. Drew McIntyre would be "The Man"

Of course, to fully become that man, Drew will need some serious pruning throughout the years. But in 5-10 years, having that win on his record. I could fully look back and think "Dang, that truly is "The Man""

 

[Y 2 Jake]

To a point I agree with you Shocky, the three people you posted about are overrated, much like HBK & Ric Flair. HBK because nobody actually gave a shit about him until 1997 and because people still talk about him today like he's a great performer. He's consistently good, but he's not been consistently great for a number of year. Ric Flair because there was 15 years or so when he was one of the most abysmal guys on any roster.

1). AJ Styles. When I think of great wrestler, Styles pops into my head right away. AJ Styles is pretty much the little engine that could in today's world of wrestling. His size isn't going to overwhelm you, yet he doesn't rely too much on high flying ability to put him in the spot monkey category. My negative against Styles is his inability to cut a good promo. I'm sorry, I just don't believe what the guy is selling when he's on the mic. His in ring work is top notch, but he doesn't have the all around package for me.

Wouldn't Styles have to put on classic after classic to be put in even a lower category than HBK & Flair? He's very talented, but he's not great. You can always depend on a Styles match to be entertaining, but how many classic matches has he actually had? How many has he even had in the past 5 years? In TNA that will likely never happen and in WWE he wouldn't be the same Styles that people rate so highly.

2.) Kurt Angle: I think the argument will lean heavy towards Angle from most people. Some will say that Angle took the torch from Michaels at Wrestlemania 21, and I'd be hard pressed to argue against that. Angle is an all around great performer. He is excellent in the ring, and excels on the microphone.

If Kurt Angle was to overtake HBK, in the fans eyes, as the greatest active wrestler alive today, or whatever, wouldn't he have to still be good? Or at least somebody who still rises to the occasion. HBK might be pretty average on TV and most PPVs, but if it's a big match he always delivers. Kurt Angle's last big match was againts Matt Morgan. It was an ok match, the best of Matt Morgan's career, but the old Kurt Angle used to get a whole lot better out of limited big men.

If Kurt Angle was still good, half his matches wouldn't be taken up by the Ankle Lock.

3). Chris Jericho: Jericho is my personal pick. For whatever reason, it's just easy for me to picture the lineage going from Flair, to HBK, to Jericho. You see a lot of Ric Flair in Shawn Michaels, and you damn sure see a lot of HBK in Y2J. Since his return, his in ring presence has become beyond amazing, and his mic work is as top notch as always. If I'm making a pick, the Lionheart gets my vote.

He'll probably take the post, but he is, without a doubt, the most overrated wrestler alive today. He's still sloppy as hell, his TV matches are average, his promos are supposed to be boring and are (look at CM Punk who does similar to what Jericho does, but better. I'm unsure why people embrace them so much.) and he's not even all he's cracked up to be on PPV.

Talented as he is, he's a poor man's Shawn Michales.

 

[Tenta]

usually the first train of thought goes to Flair and Michaels. Flair and Michaels have the eerie similarity of ability in the ring, and on the mic. They bring an all around package to the business.

I'm sorry, when the Fuck did this happen? Because I assure you, plenty more names come between Flair and Michaels, and furthermore, the only way people tie together Shawn and Ric is because of the God foersaken sappy retirement match. If anything, once Ric retired, Kurt had already become "The Man". Kurt, right now, delivers more on a nightly basis than Shawn Michaels ever did. His legit shooting amateur skills help him, but the man right now is twice the worker that Shawn Michaels is. This isn't trying to belittle Shawn, as he's certainly great, but in my eyes, Kurt Angle is the heir apparent to Ric Flair's throne, for the following reasons.

1. Versatility as a character: Kurt Angle can play the role of a heel and a face equally well. He's doing it right now with Ken Anderson in TNA as a face, and has always been able to elicit a pop from the crowd. Shawn is marginally ok as a a face, but God knows the only true time Shawn is appealing is as a heel. His work with Hulk Hogan was instantly better than any of his work before between DX's original inception, and his return. Kurt, on the other hand, plays both a face and heel character extraordinarily well. This versatitlity as a character is what got Ric Flair by for so many years, and it's what will cause people to compare Flair to Angle.

2. Versatility in the ring: Kurt can simply do more in the ring. He is a mixture of what you'd get if you combined Chris Benoit's technical skills with Shawn Michaels aerial assault. Shawn has always been good for spots, but his matches have become all to formulaic. Granted, when he's able to break from the formula, he's good, as shown in Wrestlemania 25. But his stuff is usually too simple, and we all know it too well by now. Kurt, meanwhile, always can work something new in his arsenal, and usually does.

Again, Shocky, I really don't see where you get this comparison to Shawn and Ric. Though Vince would like you to believe otherwise, the obvious transition of great workers is Ric to Kurt; Not Ric to Shawn.

 

[Shocky]

Ric Flair is nowhere near as good in the ring as a guy like Bob Backlund. I just see a ton of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. It's like how I look at Triple H, and you clearly see that the guy idolized Harley Race growing up.

When I think of Kurt Angle, I think of traditional wrestlers like Bret Hart, Bob Backlund, and if you can trace a lineage back far enough, Lou Thesz. Kurt is the best hold for hold, real wrestler in the world in the business today, but I don't liken him to the Flair and Michael chain of the business. Do I think Angle is better then Michaels, certainly.

What I'm getting at I guess is, look at PWI. For whatever reason, the last 30 years can be summed up with Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels asskissery, and for whatever reason, most of the internet has followed suit that those two are the standard bearers of greatness in the business.

 

[#hamler]

to me, i don't think there is just one "man". triple h, undertaker and shawn are the only "MEN" in the business right now. since shawn left, undertaker might be leaving soon that leaves spots for a few men to step up. Randy orton and edge are great right now along with chris jericho might be considered a man but neither of these men aren't at the shawn michaels status right now. to me, right now the only men are underatker and triple h...
future "MEN" orton, edge and jericho. micheals has passed the torch to all of these men, not just one... you will be missed "man"...

 

[indyfan8]

AJ would be a great prospect. He's talented, able to tell a great story, definitely a catch that TNA needs to hold on to. As for WWE, they can really pull the trigger on Randy Orton right now with how hot he's getting, especially being over working heel, but over as a babyface. Reminds me of how how Austin got over in the early get-go..

 

[Tastycles]

I think looking at the qualities of Flair and Michaels, the common themes are flamboyance, and over the top showmanship. Both Flair and Michaels are oversellers, and both of them add in a lot of taunting and other things that aren't really moves. By continuing in the same vein, Angle is too much of a purist to be in the same lineage. Jericho is probably in the same group, but I'm not sure he's going to be around for that much longer, so maybe we are looking at Styles as the next in the lineage. However, I don't see as much of the all around showmanship in Styles as in HBK and Flair.

In ring stylistically, Morrison is the most similar, but I'm not sure he really he'll ever reach that plateau, and the same could be said for Kofi Kingston. Indeed, I don't think there's a clear person for it right now, but I suppose Styles will get there.