The Wrestling Elitists Star Rating Rubric

The Wrestling Elitists 5 Star Rating Rubric is a 1-5 star scale system. It’s a cumulative average of each contributor’s match rating. It gets more granular as the matches get higher ratings. But it’s completely subjective and not designed to personally offend all of you, IWC.

Here’s what the different ratings mean:

★

A quick TV match, squash, insulting the intelligence of the PPV community.

★★

A TV match, lousy finish, or disappointing PPV match.

★★★

A good TV or PPV match or potentially great match with a disappointing finish or slow start with a hot finish.

★★★★

An excellent match, which told a story and had logical and consistent psychology.

★★★★ 1/4

An excellent match with tremendous athleticism, logical and consistent psychology, but inconsistant pace from the first act of match to the last or a disappointing finish souring everything else.

★★★★ 1/2

Match of the year candidate which built steadily toward an unpredictable finish, but a DQ, run-in, time-limit draw, count-out, or obsession with making wrestlers look strong detracted from its classic status.

★★★★ 3/4

A classic match with unique and innovative storytelling, psychological callbacks where sequences and reversals matter, and a memorable, satisfying finish.

★★★★★

An all-time classic match, arguably the best match of all-time. It set a precedent for breakthrough storytelling, with psychological callbacks where sequences and reversals matter, and a gratifying finish that pays-off.