10 Stars WWE Are Booking Perfectly
Your time is up; your time is now.
The obvious honourable mention is Neville.
As The King of The Cruiserweights, he has excelled in the character department. The Neville Level has been set. The Geordie cuts utterly believable promos, veering from stoic menace to roaring boasts. He has mastered in-ring storytelling by essentially hiding the elite reserves of his expansive repertoire, putting only the worthiest opponents over by dusting off his Red Arrow on special occasions - while also reinforcing his heel act by denying the crowd its spectacular appeal. The Neville Level is next-level in its nuanced psychology. Creative deserves credit for placing Neville on this platform. He was treading water this time last year. Now, all around him are drowning in comparison to his greatness. And that's the problem.
His push has verged on the fatalistic at times; as much as he is royalty, it's hard not to perceive those around him as peasants, feeding on the morsels of exhausted, diminished crowds. It's a damn shame that Neville lies marooned on the 205 Live island. This marginalisation of the best interface between character and workrate is beneath him.
Neville is at the RAW main event level; he has outgrown his kingdom. Still, a not inconsiderable number of his peers are in receipt of expert handling from a much-maligned regime...
10. The Miz
The Miz act is perfectly calibrated in and for 2017.
He's not going to headline WrestleMania again, but you suspect that's the point by now. He continues to refer to his big night in 2011 as if it wasn't his peak. He says he's A list, but he's B list, and that's the source of the heat he generates more consistently than any other heel. He has his trophy wife and entourage of hangers on. He holds his devalued Intercontinental Title as if it's an Academy Award. The whole act is comprised of bluster and bullsh*t, and it's more effective because of that. There is nothing more eminently detestable, especially in the current political climate, as delusion. In the era of Fake News, Miz's constant delusions of grandeur and transparent spin grate on the nerves because of his unshakeable belief in it. You want to see his opponents shake that belief from him.
Well, perhaps not Jason Jordan. If their rumoured SummerSlam match bombs, it would be churlish to blame Miz - but by the same token, he's the only man detestable enough to douse this dumpster fire.