Correction - In my last column I counted Jason Arndht as a potential member of my fantasy WWF light heavyweight division. It has since been pointed out to me (thanks Fro) Jason Arndht is the real name of Joey Abs and as we all can see on WWF TV each week he is far from a light heavyweight. The reason for my screw up was in my mind for some reason I thought that Jason Arndht was the real name of OMEGA Pro wrestler Shannon Moore who IS a talented light heavyweight who I saw do some=20 jobber work on Superstars months ago. It was Moore I was thinking of as a possible candidate for my LH division but after I did some research I discovered that Moore's work as a jobber for the WWF was a per-appearance deal and he was not signed on any type of developmental deal and has since signed with WCW and is working out in their Power Plant making my statement doubly wrong. The base of the problem was me getting the real names of former OMEGA Pro stars wrong and I apologise if I misled or confused anybody.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

WHAT IS 'OVER'?

In this column I want to talk about the single most important thing in the world to a wrestler - the state or the condition of being 'over' i.e. getting the desired response from the crowd. In this opinion column I argue that there are actually four types or categories of being over with some being more valuable than others and finally I give my list of the top 10 most over and bottom 10 least over wrestlers currently performing in the US. Okay, lets get started.

Over Entrance

This one is pretty self explanatory. Does the crowd pop when a wrestler's music hits? For the purposes of this discussion I count the 'entrance' as everything from the second a guys music hits up until the start of his match. So this includes anything they do most times on the way to the ring and pre-match. Stuff like Godfather bringing down the Ho's or Konnan's spiel. I would rate this as the least important type of over but as the Russo era of wrestling continues having an over entrance has become increasingly important and often results in a big push.

Being entrance-over-only is very common in wrestling today, Kane, Konnan, Godfather, Gangrel etc. and it is a major problem when these guys get pushed because of the perception that they are getting a lot of heat. The problem is that entrances go for 2 minutes tops and this does not draw much of a rating or fill much time on a PPV - these individuals then have to put on a match or at the very least do an interview that consists of more than just their standard intro and these invariably fall flat.

Over Character/Mannerisms

This is where the character/gimmick and its associated mannerisms is what gets the wrestler heat. Norman Smiley is by far the best current example. Fans will ignore poor Norman's entrance, snore through his matches until.......The Big Wiggle then they pop like mad. The Undertaker has been an example of this throughout his career. He has always got heat for his character being 'impervious to pain' as Gorilla used to say. The zombie sit-up, the no-selling are what gets his reactions from the fans more than his interviews or strictly on his ringwork..

Interviews

The most obvious example of someone whose interviews are over is the Rock. He gets exactly the reaction he wants all of the time.

Ringwork

The wrestler most people will instantly think of here is internet icon Chris Benoit. He gets zero reaction when his music hits, he is death on the stick and his mannerisms are beyond stupid (the snot blow?) but give him 10 minutes to tell a story in a match and listen to the fans respond. Same deal with the Hardy Boys. They generally receive polite applause when they arrive, have been given no mic time to speak of but listen to them pop the crowd with their suicidal highspots. Now I will probably get some arguments here but I still think that this is the most important type of over. Here is why; Chris Benoit or the Hardy Boys can keep the attentions of the fans or everyone out there in TV land or on PPV for anything up to 30 minutes. Check the quarter hour breakdowns for the ratings each week and wrestlers like the Hardy's or Edge and Christian and they do very well - even when their characters are not really developed at all. The simple fact is that people watch because of the wrestling is interesting and exciting. Now as Russo-wrestling takes hold and match times shrink ringwork is fading in importance but even wrestlers whose success is largely based in other areas like Rock or Austin still need to put on something watchable for 15-20 minutes on Raw or PPV. Remember that I am not strictly talking about in-ring ability here, it is the reaction of the fans to what happens in the ring that counts.

Okay now that I have outlined the four areas of overness I can give you my lists. Keep in mind that I don't see enough ECW to include any of their wrestlers so this is strictly Big Two and is based on how well the wrestler performs in the four categories.

Top 10 most over wrestlers

10. Hardy Boys

No one is into their characters much which makes it all the more impressive that fans get into their matches. The pops for the somersault senton or the clothesline off the barricade or whatever other suicidal move that these two come up with from week to week are only really behind the Stunner or a Rock Bottom in terms of fan response. With some further character development and some mic time - and the feud with the Outlaws is a good start - and these guys will move up the list.

9. Chris Benoit

Similar to the Hardys, he only rates this high because of the importance I place on being over in the ring. He scores almost negatives in the other categories. Try to define his character - its very difficult.

8. Sting

Unexplainable and highly unsuccessful heel turn notwithstanding, the WCW fans want this guy on top. The pop Sting got after beating DDP for his 2 hour title reign was probably one of the biggest of the year. Sting doesn't rate higher on the list is because at times his interviews are a bit lacklustre.

7. Sid

As much as I hate to admit it because he sucks so much, Sid is over. Despite no ability in the ring and very little on the mic, Sid just has that special something that the fans react to. The less said about this the better.

6. Bret Hart

Bret gets major points because he absolutely owns Canada - to the point where fans loudly deride Goldberg. Bret's ringwork is over, although the five moves of doom are a little outdated by today's standards and he can still provide a quality interview and his entrance can still pop the fans despite the crap WCW has put him through and all the other distractions over the past couple of years.

5. Ric Flair

I don't care how many people out there want to see Flair retire or take up some sort of non-physical role within WCW (personally I think he would have been the perfect choice as head booker) he is still amazingly over. His entrance still pops the crowd, his rambling, losing-it interviews are still way over and his ringwork while not what it once was still keeps the crowd interested. Despite all of Bischoff's attempts to quash Flair's legacy and now it appears Russo is taking his shots at it as well, Flair can still work the crowd with anyone.

4. HHH

HHH is over as a heel more than anyone else currently in the Big Two. Yes it required him to mess with all the top faces and have the company make getting him over as a mega heel as its primary focus for the past two months but the fact is he IS over. Not completely though, unless he is crippling someone with a sledgehammer his matches get minimal heat when he is on offence.

3. Goldberg

Goldberg has a lot of what the top two have (well, anywhere but in Canada) - over entrance, over mannerisms and over ringwork (such as it is). The area he falls down on is interviews. The crowd sits in silence until Bill anoints someone as 'next'. His interviews tend to ramble a bit and not have the reaction at every pause like Rock or Austin which is what drops him below those two.

2. The Rock

Rock is closing fast and with Austin's injury it probably won't be long before Vince gives the fans what they and puts the belt on Rock for the long term. It has become trendy on the internet to ridicule the Rock as catchphrases and nothing else. Now granted he has not really mastered the art of delayed selling but the guy has only been in wrestling for about 4 years and he keeps his interviews fresh enough to still entertain, his entrance and mannerisms draw raucous response and his ringwork is not quite as over as Austin but the fans will still pop for all his signature spots and get involved. Regardless of the internet's lack of respect the Rock has made huge strides since his debut and is the heir apparent. People chant for the guy at the competition's PPV's - enough said.

1. Steve Austin

This one was still pretty easy, although Rock has closed the gap recently. Austin gets heat for doing anything. The glass breaks - the fans explode, during interviews the fans pop at all the right times, the double middle finger, the get in the face of fallen rival etc - all way over and most importantly Austin's intensity keeps the fans attention and their heat throughout his matches regardless of his opponent. Austin scores big in all 4 categories and is still the man in the wrestling biz.

Top Ten Least Over Wrestlers

NB I didn't want this to be a true list of the most un-over wrestlers because that would wind up just being a list of jobbers. Instead this is a list of either those who are not over yet are still pushed or those that are perceived to be over but in reality are not. Hopefully this will clear up as we go along.

10. Lex Luger

Luger had such potential and there have been times over the past 10-12 years when he has been over huge. The last couple of years have really dragged him down though. Ever since he was built up to take on NWO Hogan, beat him only to have to give the title right back to him 6 days later his heat has been steadily fading. No one is quite sure if he is a heel or a face and everyone dozes through his interviews and matches.

9. Buff Bagwell

Buff was mildly over as Scott Steiner's lap dog but dozens of swerves meant that the fans don't trust him anymore. His interviews get little reaction except for cheap heat local references because he still comes across as an arrogant jerk. His matches are very dull also but I guess this is a function of his bad neck. Still he is not over but remains prominently in the spotlight.

8. The Big Show

Let's face it here, this guy is pushed for his size only. Fans pop for the chokeslam and little else. He has been a World champ in both feds because he is over 7 feet tall. He is NOT over.

7. The Godfather

This guy gets the IC Title because fans cheer the hoes and the sing-along. Okay take the gimmick and entourage away and what do you have - a highly un-over and un-entertaining wrestler. The Godfather's whole schtick is an entertaining distraction but really not worthy of the number 2 belt in the fed.

6. Konnan

A 'poor man's Road Dog', Konnan has zero heat outside of his fruit and vegetable sexual reference gibberish yet has held several titles in WCW. His ringwork is not over by any stretch of the imagination from the ludicrous rolling clothesline to that annual contender for rspw's worst move of the year award - the 'tequila sunrise'. Konnan has very little going for him yet only very rarely has to job.

5. Rick Steiner

Ugh. Where do I start with this clown. Let's see - tedious matches, ridiculous character, nothing entrance, hell he does not even have a decent catchphrase. Yet he has held several belts and insists on carrying all the offense every time he wrestles (see Steiner v Benoit for TV title). It looks like Russo has some clue and had Sid destroy him and get him off my TV.

4. Big Boss Man

Why anyone in their right mind would push this guy to a PPV main event is beyond me. The only explanation I can come up with is to try and achieve the seemingly impossible goal of a -********** match with the Big Show. This guy has been about as un-over as a wrestler can possibly be since his return to the WWF. He even got very little heat for stealing the casket of someone's father. If anyone has any ideas why this guy continues to get pushed please e-mail me because I am fresh out of ideas.

3. The Powers that Be

You didn't think I would let a column go by without taking the obligatory shot at Russo and Ferrera. They claim that this insipid angle is just a way to get wrestlers over, that if they really wanted to get themselves over they would be on camera. Problem is they ARE trying to put themselves over as the saviour of WCW and the bearer of great ratings as well as the all powerful creative force. They don't appear on camera but the rest of the promotion from their chief mouthpiece Shiavone to Buff Bagwell to Roddy Piper all kneel before their almighty powers. Problem is that they are not over in any way. The skits with Duggan - no reaction, the retirement angle with Curt Hennig - apathy, the nonsense with Jarrett and Bagwell - thoroughly heatless and don't even get me started on the pi=F1ata on a pole shenanigans. The whole point is that they are not over in any way but continue to be portrayed by the statements and reactions of the rest of WCW as not only all powerful behind-the-scenes forces but also the saviours of the promotion.

2. Jeff Jarrett

This guy has been the beneficiary of a virtual non-stop push for almost 10 years in BOTH federations and still he is not over in ANY area. What have the fans reacted to in that span - interference from the Roadie, negative heat when involved with the Horsemen, Debra and beating up women. His interviews are terrible, his offence outdated and dull, his only recognisable mannerism is a rip-off of the Flair strut and the only time anyone popped for his entrance was when breasts were included in it. One of the most undeserved pushes this decade.

1. New Age Outlaws

Greatest tag team in history? I'm with old Herb on this one, they are not a team they are an entrance. Don't believe me, then lets check the facts. Exhibit A - Even at the height of their popularity as a team their matches still played to silence - they did not even have a recognised finisher that the fans could pop for. Exhibit B - the Gunn heel turn. Once the catchphrases stopped so did the fan reaction. Exhibit C - the most damning evidence of all, DX are now heels, they have attacked Rock, Austin, all of the MacMahons (which covers all the top faces in the fed) and the fans STILL chant along with the intro.

So there you have it. I'm sure my selections will not sit well with many of you out there so please feel free to email me and let me know how much I suck.