Has the in-ring action in WWE ever been better than right now?
 

I'm not asking if there have ever been people you enjoyed more or whatever, but pretty much all across the board, there are some VERY talented in-ring wrestlers in the WWE. If you don't watch Smackdown, you might not really agree, but guys like Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Kaval, Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, R-Truth, etc...they can all GO in the ring and they are all capable of having great matches. That list was just off the top of my head.

How would you guys compare today's in-ring product to yesteryear?

theres some great performers right now but the strong emphasis on safety and banning dangerous moves really takes a lot out wind out of the sails.

Honestly, I think this is a big reason why there's so many quality wrestlers now. They're able to work around it and still have some awesome matches. Maybe not mind blowing, but compared to a lot of WWE's history, they're really awesome.

But you also have to remember that it's a different time. The product is now much faster than it was even 12 years ago, and there's A LOT more variety. And there are, for the most part, less squash matches. Yeah, you'll get some squashes here and there, but for the most part there's actual wrestling over three big moves and a pin.

Getting away from the bigger bodies allows them to focus more on talent, too.

I don't think you really need 'dangerous' moves to have awesome matches. Also, I think today's grappler is being pushed to be more creative by NOT using those moves.

Did you happen to see DiBiase vs. Bryan at Survivor Series? That match was completely within the confines of modern WWE's rules, but there were some brutal looking spots, and it was a great match all around.

i think that the hard crackdown on steroids as of late has done a lot to help the performances in the ring also... most of the younger guys in the company are quick and athletic rather than oversized, slow and injury prone.

Nothing beats the quality of matches from 2001 for me. Most of the PPV main events were awesome and every PPV seemed like it had a match of the year candidate. Had WWE not blown the Invasion angle, it would have been a perfect year.

I'd Like to see Daniel Bryan vs Kaval, that would be a great match.

Honestly, no. And I love it.

I would say yes mainly due to the past WWF/WWE years having entertaining tag team and lower divisions but considering the Brand Split years only, this has been a rare year where both brands have a lot of quality wrestlers in every division and not just the main event division.

Even the lower tier shows (NXT, ECW, Superstars) are full of talented wrestlers or future talented wrestlers.

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I found myself getting pretty into the Curt Hawkins/Trent Barreta match on Superstars. Pleasantly surprised there.

Cant wait til they go away from PG and start doing crappy 2 minute matches again.

oh wait..umm..no I dont

It's finally gotten better all across the boards just like you said. I agree 100%

Or just go right ahead and watch condoned barbarism in CZW's Tournaments of Death. I wonder what the interview process is to become a "wrestler" in CZW. It would probably go something like this:

1. Do you think wrestling is real Yes/No?:
-If Yes please continue, if No you are not CZW material thank you.

2. Do you have an IQ below 100?

3. Are willing to have matches involving Florescant lights, barbed wire, fire, tables, thumb tacks?

4. Are you able to botch every move possible to put you and your opponent in the most danger as possible?

5. Do you think this will get you noticed by the WWE, TNA, ROH, Chikara, your local Indy fed where even Heidenrecih and Matt Bourne can get work at?

6. Do you like being paid for work? If yes, try a real job. This is CZW!!! It's hardcore to be poor and disfigured and have nothing to show for it!

Is the in-ring talent the best ever? Yeah probably.

Is it the most consistantly good in ring action ever? Probably again.

Is it the best in-ring action the WWE has ever had? No. And I'll tell you why.

Though almost all the matches in the WWE right now are pretty good, none are great. The WWE has been seriously lacking in great matches for the past two years. In the last 2 years their have only been a handful of "great" matches HBK/Taker I & II, Orton/Cena Iron Man, Punk/Hady Ladder Match and that's about it. The amount of good matches it at an all time high in the WWE but the amount of "great" matches is at an all time low.

Just on the topic of great matches I wanted to add the Cena-HBK iron man match from Raw

I do not remember a time where there have been so many solid guys out there. Not since the attitude era I think. I enjoy mostly everyone now. I even enjoy Mark Henry matches lol.

I've got to say it is pretty good now but I think in 2004 there were much more skilled workers in the WWE. and some of the guys that are still working now were in their 'prime' in my opinion.

Angle, Jericho, Benoit, Eddy, Edge, Christian, Regal, Rey, HHH to some extent was even enjoyable then.

Brig, Triple H was extremely enjoyable during that time or any time for that matter.

2002 - 2004/5 had an amazing roster, the matches then were pretty awesome.

That match was awful wtf are you on about?

Anyway yes, Smackdown always has good matches as does Superstars and even Raw here and there. I still think 2000/2001 when they were stacked with guys like 'The Radicals', Triple H, Jericho, E&C, Angle etc were better than now though.

Didn't see this post coming you bloody predictable swine.

2002-2004 smackdown was excellent to watch :)

On the subject of "current" great matches, John Morrison/Evan Bourne from JoMo's last night on ECW was epic.

That was more than 2 years ago. But then again you might have just been saying this autonomusly from my post if so my bad.

I thought it was great but then again its all opinions.

I honestly feel that the first Dolph/Danielson match on PPV was the second best match WWE has had all year.

To be honest I don't think I can give a fair opinion on this. I don't care about any of the personalities. Very few rasslers interest me from a booking or storyline standpoint, it's hard to just sit and watch a match.

Also, I feel that too much of wrestling is done by the book, you seldom see guys go to the ring knowing just the finish and go perform, it seems like everybody goes out and follows the script move by move. Maybe that's not the case but I can't see past the not caring for the gimmick or story.

Well...no one's said it yet, but I have to give my vote to around 2000. The radicals had just come in and they were very solid. Dean Malenko made Scotty Too Hotty look incredible. Also, HHH and Rock were still young enough to make great things happen. My opinion...it had the best wrestling with personality, and personality should count towards in ring product.

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The midcard right now is in the best shape it's ever been, it's pretty much stacked with guys who can consistantly put on great matches.

The tag title match from Survivor Series was really good for its length. (Thats what she said)

the only thing i would say has been better in the past is the story-telling part to matches, even though that's kind of ethereal to me. i just cared more back then than i do now.

If someone thinks watching Cena wrestle for an hour is good, then they should go watch Steamboat and Rude do a half hour iron man. It was 3 times as good as John Semen and Robot Orton's catastrophe of a match.It was all gimmicks man.Weak sauce.

I was watching the beginning of SummerSlam 2000 earlier and realized how bad the mid-card was then. The two opening matches were Road Dogg vs. X-Pac and Right 2 Censor vs. 2 Cool and Rikishi. Today's mid-card blows them out of the water.

Overall: Yes
Main-Events: Probably not.

In the late 90s/early 2000s, some of the best workers ever were in the main event. They were able to put on better main events as a small group, and they also had the advantage of stronger writing and hotter crowds to fuel them.
I think WWE could get there again, but that was sort of a renaissance for main events.

But overall I think you could make a case for the entire show being as strong as it's ever been wrestling wise.
The midcard is the strongest it's probably been since 2001. The tag division is lacking, but that crop of uppermidcard talents more than makes up for it.

I agree with Jeritron. The main event can't hold up against mid-late 90s to mid-2000s. But overall, it's great.

And the midcard is so strong because they're now finally building a roster from basically scratch. A good majority in the mid card now that make it great will be the main event within 5 years.