The Big Valbowski | D+
2002 has not been a good year for the Big Valbowski. What was once one of the most controversial and talked about gimmicks in wrestling has now become one of the dullest in wrestling. Valbowski did not do much in 2002 aside from small alignments with various Smackdown faces. It is time for WWE to drop the Valbowski gimmick and allow Sean Morely a chance to run with something new. .::.Ashish
Rikishi | D
Rikishi saw fans grow tired of his character in 2002. With little innovation and no push, Rikishi closed the year at somewhat of a crossroad. It may be time to try and repackage the big man after failed attempts to raise him to higher status. The fact that Rikishi has been good for getting others over keeps him from failing the semester. .::.Ashish
Ric Flair | A+
WWE has been lucky to have Ric Flair available so far this year. Flair started the year off with a solid program against Vince McMahon at the Royal Rumble and did a respectable job as half owner of WWE. He also had a very memorable program with the Undertaker that turned out being much better than anyone expected. Flair continued to deliver excellent promo work, and still went out and busted his ass every night, despite being over 50 years old. He's even been wrestling house shows, and at the stage of his career, that is remarkable. His feud with Austin could have been better, but was more or less ruined due to Steve Austin's departure. And the angle around the brand extension and losing ownership came off sloppy, but were totally the fault of bad, rushed WWE booking as well as Steve Austin refusing to play his role. Since being ousted as fifty percent owner, Flair has seemed to lack direction, but has still done his part, most recently putting over Brock Lesnar. .::.Ashish
Billy & Chuck | B+
Despite a somewhat ridiculous gimmick, and the very much depleted tag team division, the fact is that this team has held the titles for most of the year and delivered entertaining segments as well. They have not really been part of a well built program due to WWE losing focus of the tag division. They have done a good job though at what they have been given to work with. They closed the first half dropping the tag belts to Hulk Hogan & Edge. Hopefully the second half will allow Billy & Chuck to shine with better programs. .::.Ashish
Eddie Guerrero | A
Since making his return to the ring on April 15, Eddie Guerrero could make a claim as the MVP of the Raw brand. He had a fantastic series of matches with Rob Van Dam, winning the Intercontinental title from him at Backlash, and holding it until the incredible ladder match on May 27. He was in the midst of a feud with Steve Austin that had great potential when Stone Cold left the company, but Eddie (and Flair too) transferred the feud over to Flair completely believably. The return of Chris Benoit has also been a boon for Eddie, as they are now feuding with Bubba Ray & Spike Dudley. Eddie is undoubtedly one of the most talented wrestlers in the company, and his promo work has been excellent as well, establishing him as one of the most promising men in the business. .::.Jacob Ziegler
Diamond Dallas Page | B+
Part of the grade I'm giving DDP is out of respect. I never cared for him in WCW, but when he gave up doing nothing to come to the WWE and get paid less for it, I gained a great deal of respect for him; and besides, his motivational speaker character was really funny. DDP was not given a full blown program to work with through the first half, other than a somewhat thrown together angle as Christian's motivational speaker, but did excellent work despite somewhat bad material. He held the European and Hardcore Titles this year, before a neck injury forced him to retire. .::.Jacob Ziegler
Raven | C+
Raven started the year as the color commentator for Sunday Night Heat, and was actually doing a very good job, but he soon grew tired of it and wanted to get back in the ring. However, his work in the ring has hardly been anything to scream about. He seems to have lost his ability to put on great matches and was booted on RAW to close out the first half. He is a 20+ time Hardcore Champion, but that belt has little to no value to begin with. Raven does have mic talent though and could do well if given the right program and opportunity. .::.Ashish
Maven | C+
Maven really started to break out in 2002 as a solid WWE superstar. He had a mini-angle with the Undertaker to kick off the year but really started to gain focus after gaining Torrie Wilson as his "girlfriend" and working an entertaining program with Tajiri. However, a leg injury cut his first half short. He still has a lot to learn and his in-ring skills need plenty of work, but he seems up to the task. He showed himself as a hard worker with potential. .::.Ashish
Tajiri | C
Tajiri has not been given much TV time this year following a program with Maven that was cut short due to Maven's injury. He remained one of the most talent in-ring performers in WWE, but was reduced mainly to WWE B-shows such as Velocity. He could make an impact on the WWE Cruiserweight division if WWE saddles him with a push. .::.Ashish
Test | D
Test is a strange case, because the WWE seems to alternate every few months by pushing Test heavily, and then letting him rot in the mid-card. This year he has done very little, outside of beating some low card talent, and teaming briefly with Booker T and Mr. Perfect. He has now formed a formidable alliance with Lance Storm and Christian, but fact remains that up until now, Test has accomplished very little this year. He also still needs work on the mic and in the ring. .::.Jacob Ziegler
Note: Some wrestlers were not graded due to making little to no impact throughout the first half of 2002.
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