by VaderBomb » Feb 19, '15, 1:35 am
On a technical level, I'd rank a few people ahead of him but he's up there for sure. The thing about comparing NXT wrestlers to the people on the main roster is that they are allowed to showcase much, much more originality and depth within their matches. Bryan is the best technical wrestler in the WWE and easily the best on the roster since Eddie and Benoit. As a storyteller, he blows Neville out of the water and as far as tightness goes they're about on the same level. If Bryan were given the freedom that Triple H allows the NXT performers, it would be a bit more glaring as to how great he actually is. His move set is very limited considering what he's capable of, and the same goes for Cesaro. If Bryan and Cesaro were allowed the freedom of the NXT guys, we'd be seeing five star matches every week.
You can play devil's advocate (which I'm sure that someone will) and argue that we should judge them on their WWE performances alone but that's a cop out for the reasons that I stated above. The main roster wrestlers have little freedom in their matches and that includes big PPV matches. I will continue to choose to judge a wrestler by the work that they have presented throughout their career.
These would be my rankings as far as a top ten goes considering technical wrestling skill alone:
1.) Daniel Bryan - The best all-around wrestler since Misawa/Bret/Austin and the best technical American wrestler since Nick Bockwinkel (not going to count Angle because Bryan and Angle went pro around the same time). He can work with legit anybody in the world and not only put on a stellar show but he has the ability to make his opponent look twice as good as he is. Hell, he did it with Big Show earlier this week and I'm sure that he'll do it again come Sunday with Reigns. He's the undisputed king of pro-wrestling in my eyes, I fondly re-watch all his classics from ROH, Japan, and more and like a fine wine, they only get better with age.
2.) Cesaro - If anybody's been wasted more than Cesaro since coming to WWE, please state your case because I'll be hard pressed to agree with you. This guy should have been given unlimited improvisation and creative control since coming to the main roster but he's been shafted left and right. You watch the best of his work and he's easily as good as Eddie and Benoit as a total package. He's a hell of a lot better than Benoit as a character too. His lovability has hardly gotten a chance to shine through on Raw and SmackDown and as I watch him continuously lose on TV and waste his talent, I pray and pray more each day that Vince steps down and allows Triple H and Steph to the run the main shows.
3.) Finn Balor - Fergal Devitt has been in my top three personal favorites for years. He's proven to be the best gaijin in Japan since Brody and Hansen and like Bryan, Cesaro, Kidd, Neville, Zayn and Rollins, he can work and shine with anybody. He's probably the most exciting wrestler that WWE currently has.
4.) Hideo Itami - KENTA = 'nuff said. Alongside Naomichi Marufuji, he's the best junior heavyweight to come out of Japan since the 90s. Like most of the guys at the top of this list (especially Bryan), his tremendous volume of work speaks for itself.
5.) Tyson Kidd - Putting him just above Neville because they're on the same level considering everything, but Kidd's tighter. You don't train the the Hart dungeon and fail to become a master of the technical aspects of the sport. He's easily in the top five as far as his discipline goes in-ring, the only guys who I'd rank above him in that regard are Bryan, Cesaro, Balor and Itami.
6.) Adrien Neville - Tremendous techincal worker and high-flyer, always puts on an exciting match but as far as storytelling goes, I'd rank him below all of the people within this top-ten.
7.) Seth Rollins - Rollins is THE total package right now and he always has been ever since his Tyler Black days. As far as technical ability goes, he's about even with Sami Zayn.
8.) Sami Zayn - Not as tight as Neville or Kidd but almost. He's a better storyteller and perhaps the second best in WWE behind Bryan. His ROH work would make me rank him far above Kidd and Neville in the grand scheme but considering only technical ability, he's at #8.
9.) Natalya - Yeah, Nattie is the shit. She can pull a solid match out of the most passionless of divas, and for that she should almost be at #1.
10.) Dean Ambrose - He's showcased his brawling skills more than anything since coming to WWE, but watch his earlier stuff as Jon Moxley and his technical talent becomes quite apparent. He's almost as good in the ring as on the stick, and on the stick he is one of the absolute best.
Tied with:
also, 10.) Kevin Owens - Watch the few matches that he's had on NXT. If you like what you see, check out his ROH work because he's incredible and always has been. Like Ambrose, he transcends the fighter approach and is a wrestler with enormous amounts of athletic ability and storytelling depth.
After all that being said, yes Neville may perhaps be the most consistent technical wrestler right now considering the freedom that he has, but in the grand scheme of things he's not the best.