So a few weeks ago, good old Dave Meltzer of the wrestling observer newsletter gave the Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny omega match at dominion 2018 a 7-star rating. According to the interent wrestling database, this match is by far his HIGHEST match rating ever (i don't blame him because the match was amazing). So statistically, this is his favourite match of all time. Now, why I'm writing this now?
Well, his best match ratings have been a consistent 5 stars since 1983 with the exception of all the Omega vs Okada matches and the Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada match at AJPW's Budokan hall show in June of 1994.
There are fans that take his match ratings as an offence somehow like "Why he rates X match better than Y match?" or thinks that he "hates" WWE which is ridiculous considering that he gave three WWE matches a 5 star ratings just this past year. One was the ladder match to crown the first ever NXT North American champion, the Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa unsanctioned match at NXT Takeover New Orleans Wrestlemania weekend and the Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Cien Almas match for the NXT championship at NXT Takeover Philadelphia Royal Rumble weekend.
Since he went with his ratings higher, should he just get rid of his ratings and just give his opinion on whether he loves the match or not? My answer would be yes but he doesn't need to do this. What do I mean by that? Well, he needs to give a rating scale on which match was great, which match was ok and which match sucked by stars since he's been using the stars format for over 35 years. 1 star means the match sucked, 3 stars means the match is ok and 5 stars which are the highest scale means the match is great so that it gives his audience the sense of consistency with his ratings.
I'm gonna end with this, at the end of the day wrestling is subjective. What makes a great match to a Dave Meltzer is different from me and other wrestling fans. Does his 7 star ratings means that he's objectively right because he's a famous wrestling journalist? NO. It means that he loves that particular match at that's it and we wrestling fans shouldn't makes excuses as to why he or any other wrestling fan loves or hates a particular match. In other words, like what you like and stay respectful when someone has a different view.
What do you think about his overall rating system? Sound off in the comments below. Follow me on twitter @omar_playa. Subscribe to this blog for honest pro wrestling opinions and stay safe smarks.
Well, his best match ratings have been a consistent 5 stars since 1983 with the exception of all the Omega vs Okada matches and the Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada match at AJPW's Budokan hall show in June of 1994.
There are fans that take his match ratings as an offence somehow like "Why he rates X match better than Y match?" or thinks that he "hates" WWE which is ridiculous considering that he gave three WWE matches a 5 star ratings just this past year. One was the ladder match to crown the first ever NXT North American champion, the Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa unsanctioned match at NXT Takeover New Orleans Wrestlemania weekend and the Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Cien Almas match for the NXT championship at NXT Takeover Philadelphia Royal Rumble weekend.
Since he went with his ratings higher, should he just get rid of his ratings and just give his opinion on whether he loves the match or not? My answer would be yes but he doesn't need to do this. What do I mean by that? Well, he needs to give a rating scale on which match was great, which match was ok and which match sucked by stars since he's been using the stars format for over 35 years. 1 star means the match sucked, 3 stars means the match is ok and 5 stars which are the highest scale means the match is great so that it gives his audience the sense of consistency with his ratings.
I'm gonna end with this, at the end of the day wrestling is subjective. What makes a great match to a Dave Meltzer is different from me and other wrestling fans. Does his 7 star ratings means that he's objectively right because he's a famous wrestling journalist? NO. It means that he loves that particular match at that's it and we wrestling fans shouldn't makes excuses as to why he or any other wrestling fan loves or hates a particular match. In other words, like what you like and stay respectful when someone has a different view.
What do you think about his overall rating system? Sound off in the comments below. Follow me on twitter @omar_playa. Subscribe to this blog for honest pro wrestling opinions and stay safe smarks.
As an outsider, I know Gamejolt recently got rid of their 5 Star rating system citing that users respond better to a simple like/dislike system and it's a little hard to gauge what a 3/5 rating for a game means. While this system may work better for a mass user rating system, maybe it'd work out for Meltzer?
ReplyDeleteKind of like the way RT says something is fresh/rotten by whether it has a 6/10 or higher. Would use different nomenclature because those terms tend to be divisive.
Anyways, insightful article!
Thanks for reading , I truly appreciate it.
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