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How Bad Is Chris Masters"
May 19, 2005 by Graeme O'Neill

Since the debut of Chris "the masterpiece" Masters nothing but criticism has been thrown in Masters' direction. I thought I would examine whether this criticism is justified. In short I believe it is justified for a variety of reasons.

Since he debuted, Masters has had one match on television against anyone of any significance in Steven Richards. Watching the hype for Masters on television in previous weeks I was interested to see whether my instincts were right and Masters was nothing more than a green muscle boy in the mould of the Matt Morgans and Mark Jindraks of this world.

In fact I was shocked to discover Master was even worse. Silence greeted his entrance for the match (which I suppose was to be expected considering it was his first appearance) Masters then posed in a style which reminded me of Lex Luger's narcissist gimmick which bombed in 1993. Things didn't improve when he entered the ring. His offence was incredibly boring and he clumsily smashed Richards face in with a polish hammer. He then used one of the worst finishers in wrestling history - the full nelson for the victory to a round of audience apathy.

The next week he crushed Ring of Honor's John Walters to the sound of silence.

Masters then vanished from RAW as the hype for WrestleMania entered full swing. I was hoping WWE had seen how bad Masters was and sent him back to OVW.

Unfortunately Masters resurfaced with the Master lock challenge - one of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history. On SmackDown they have the Kurt Angle invitational which although not exactly the greatest thing in the world, we get to see some wrestling. The Masterlock challenge uses planted audience members who are crushed in seconds. I assume they are building to someone actually breaking the Masterlock however no one will care. When Kurt Angle finally loses in his invitational it will provide a great boost to a young wrestler's career because they beat a superstar like Kurt Angle. When Masters loses it will come off as a complete non event because Masters is nowhere near over.

Anyone who suggests Masters should be given a chance until he wrestles some established players should look at house show reviews where he has actually wrestled members of the main roster. They all tend to say the same thing regarding his matches - crowd killing, lack of heat and boring. I personally attended a house show where Masters was facing the Hurricane. Masters offence consisted of punches, kicks, chin locks and of course the Master lock. The crowd was mostly silent for the worst match of the night.

It's time WWE acted and either sent Masters to OVW or cut its losses and fired him. They will have seen the lack of crowd reaction to his matches and how bad he is in the ring. Maybe the Master lock challenge is a desperate attempt to get him over without actually having to watch him wrestle, but even that's not working. RAW on Monday was just the same as ever. No reaction on his entrance and Masters being forced to insult Omaha to get boos. It's time for Chris Masters to be removed from RAW. Now that would be Masterful !

by Graeme O'Neill ..

Eroslevel6 wrote:
You hit the nail right on the head brother. I was actually waiting for someone to talk about what a waste of time this guy is. When I first saw this guy's promo, I thought, "Oh god, here comes another McMahon-picked juicer who's probably stiff as a board and less entertaining." And sure enough, I (and probably most people who know about Vince McMahon's hard-on for size) was not at all surprised. He did, however, surprise me by being even less entertaining than almost any wrestler I've seen in years. He has less moves than Hulk Hogan (but I still love the Hulkster!). His character is dry as toast. His total lack of charisma screams to the fans "time for a bathroom break"; I honestly would rather sit through commercials than his one of his matches. And that Masterlock challenge is a lame attempt at giving this guy some "look at how strong I am" airtime. Of course, the lowlight of his 3 month "career" was that clumsy polish hammer on poor Stevie Richards. I honestly think this guy needs to stop wrestling. He adds absolutely nothing to the show. I actually dread his 10 minutes of fame every monday night. Now, I don't wish injury on the fellow, but if I know the WWE, they'll recycle his character/gimmick (after this one undoubtedly fails) a few times to keep pushing the same muscle-heads, and unfortunately, I don't see him off the air anytime soon any other way. I just hope that McMahon 'n' Company notice his lack of wrestling ability and charisma before he injures another wrestler, or puts another sold out arena to sleep.

Erkka J�rvinen wrote:
Oh i love stomping Chris Masters. His entrance fireworks costs more than this guy earns money for WWE in a year. Shows a lot of talent when you do 5 moves at debut and your entrance takes time more than your deput match. Oh and lets not forget, he injured SR in his first match! Oh well...nobody is perfect...(laughing my ass off) Now since someone from the writing team (with some brain cells left) saw that this guy can't wrestle, they make a gimmick for him that also absolutely sucks. A masterlock challenge! It takes time terribly much and it sucks. I guess WWE are running out of succesful ideas for Finishing Moves because they make a big deal out of full nelson... Sure it looks good when he does it to 100 pounder but i am gonna laugh when he tries to lock it to someone like Batista or Undertaker.

[email protected] wrote:
Ten moves that would make Chris Masters an almost decent wrestler. - 1)Alabama Slam i.e Bob Holly - 2)Discus Punch i.e. Chuck Palumbo - 3)Running Bulldog i.e. British Bulldog - 4)Vertical Suplex i.e Britsih Bulldog - 5)STK i.e Kenzo Suzuki - 6)Samoan Drop i.e every samoan wrestler ever - 7)Forearm Clothesline - 8)Running Elbow Drop - 9)Invert Powerslam - 10)Tilt A Whirl Backbreaker

MrDarron01 wrote:
Chris Masters is the absloute biggest piece of crap that the WWE has ever produced with maybe the exception of Gene Snitsky. He's reckless, dangerous and doesn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch. He has no charisma, no identity in the ring, no in-ring psychology and knows nothing about what makes a match work. He already injured Stevie Richards in his debut with a Polish Hammer to the face which just proves the man is an idiot. Either teach the bum how to wrestle of get him outta there before he ends up killing someone and ends up getting Vince stuck with a lawsuit.

Langdon Beck wrote:
I wouldn't say I'm a Masterpiece fan, but having seen him wrestle in OVW, I can tell he's not actually that bad given half a chance. But I'm writing to defend the Full Nelson. You've called it one of the worst finishers in wrestling history. That is, quite frankly, laughable.

The full nelson, when applied properly, can be an effective finisher. It's not the most painful of moves, but can be damn near inescapable when there's a guy like George Steele or, yes, Chris Masters behind it. It may not be pretty, but it's been around for decades and decades, and it has always proven to be an effective move that can wear down opponents until they submit. The Masterlock has even enhanced it through Masters swinging his opponent from side to side. Personally I think it's an excellent move, and at least Masterpiece is a New Guy with a finisher, unlike other recent debutantes in WWE.

On a Masters-related issue, Steven Richards' website has been comically building up heat with Masters since Richards was injured. But of course WWE won't take their potential feud anywhere. Alas!

Scaryguy0685 wrote:
Masters will only look good if he's actually put into a good feud. If he stays on Raw, he should feud with Eugene. Of course Eugene will have to come back from his injury. I think he'd be better on SmackDown with feuds. I think he'd have a worthy feud with Hardcore Holly, or Heidenreich. Enough of this ludicrous Masterlock challenge!

bill staples wrote:
WOW with that much criticism you think we would be talking bout HHH.The guy is young and inexperienced AND hes being shoved down our throat he hasnt had the tv time to let the fans hate him or like him he just showed up as an instant heel, injures Steven Richards legitamately which is never good for the business or the fans,and gets saddled with the masterlock challenge gimmick...not a lot in the right direction in my opinion.He does however have a tremendous build,hes young so he has time to learn,and he has plenty of people around him to help him and yes even carry him in the ring when needed.WWE should take him off the road and develop his moves in the ring or tag him with someone for a lengthy amount of time to sharpen his skills and for godsakes give him a manager so he doesnt have to talk. In closing the Masterpiece may be paint by numbers but if they follow the directions oh what a picture it will be

Louie John Buluran wrote:
Hi there, I do not agree with what you say to the MasterPiece Chris Master, He is still young the guy just turned 22 yrs.old and he still has some 15- 20 years. In this Business, I mean HHH when he started in the WWF now body thought that he would be a 10 time World Champion......... Do not judge him he is much more talented than John Cena.... If he would developed a great finishing move like the F5, Jackhammerslam, the Samoan Neck Breaker or Flip Pile Driver.... But first Vinnie Mac must give him good gimmick like being a part of Evolution or pairing him with Rene Dupree as the new NEWBlood cause those guys are born in 1983....they started to hit the GYM when they are barely 14 yrs.old....

MrDarron01 wrote:
Who cares if Masters is still young that's no excuse for him to be a terrible wrestler. Bryan Danielson is one of the best wrestlers in the world and he just turned 24 years old so age is no excuse. You would think that with all those ex-greats on the staff like Dave Finlay, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Ricky Steamboat that one of them would actually teach this idiot how to wrestle or you would think that he would at least wanna learn the basics but I guess that's too much to ask for.

LJ wrote:
Hi there ok I see American Dragon as a great wrestler but for me there are better talents like Harry Smith, TJ Wilson, AJ Styles, Amazing Red, and former ex Division Champion Chris Sabin and even Petey Williams with that Flip Pile Driver.... John Cena is the worst wrestler on this planet can you dig that.... If Chris Master was trained he can improve his ring works look at Matt Morgan know he had a good gimmick and a very original finishing move..

Chris Master has one of the greatest Physique in the history of wrestling and no he is not using steroids... He train hard to achieve that physique... These are the moves which can make Master a Superstar 1. Running Powerslam 2. Samoan Drop 3. Samoan Neckbreaker 4. Jackhammerslam 5. Tornado DDt. 6. F5 7. Master Bottom ( Rock Bottom rename0 8. Reverse Tornado DDT and his newly finishing move the Catatonic.

So lets wait a few months if Vince and his writers give him a story line,,, He might be the nexts Big thing or became the nexts " PAul Roma"

Andrew Jordan wrote:
Before the "Master-Lock" Challenge, Before his TV Debut on Raw, I saw him wrestle in a Dark Match Against "Textbook" Tyson Dux on Raw in Toronto. Chris Masters wrestling was impressive. It looked like Masters Crushed him down. It was really convincing, my friend leaned over and said to me "I think he might be dead" That's how awesome it was. If they actually let him Wrestle, and not Full Nelson people, you could have amazing matches, he's the kind of guy that needs to be put up against tougher guys, if anyone should move to Smackdown, it's Him. A fight between him and Big Show is much needed, or any wrestler equal to him or better.

MrDarron01 wrote:
Matt Morgan had an original move but now they have him as a wannabe Brock Lesnar doing the F5. Chris Masters and Matt Morgan aren't very good big men because they are immobile, flat-footed and careless. A perfect example of a great big man would be someone like Vader, Vic Grimes, Samoa Joe, Brock Lesnar or even The Undertaker in his heyday when he could get around the ring good even though he wouldn't sell for anybody but those are the prototypes for great big men in wrestling. Masters might be jacked and have a killer physique but you need the skills to go with it, He's boring on the mic and his matches and segments so far put the people to sleep or send them to the concession stands. Yes with a better moveset, a better gimmick and some mic skills Masters might become tolerable to watch but there's more to it then just having a killer moveset and so far he has shown me that he has no other kind of intangibles that will prevent him from getting lost in the shuffle in the long run.

And this gimmick they saddled Matt Morgan with needs to change soon because last I checked the stuttering gimmick dies pretty fast and can kill your career just ask Bubba Ray Dudley and Goldust.

Tiarn�n McMeekin wrote:
Over the past few months I think that Masters has improved greatly. I also thought that the 'Master Lock Challenge' was a good gimmick. I noticed how much bad press Masters was getting as soon as he entered WWE, but now that he's been there for a while and has faced off against bigger superstars than Steven Richards and random jobbers, people are singing his praises. What's more, Masters would make a far better WWE Champion than John Cena or Kane. Masters is probabally the WWE's best find this year, along with Ken Kennedy.

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