And the most misused talent is…
Unknown Date
By: Paul Lucas
Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, Kane, Rico, just about every Cruiser-Weight on the roster. It seems there are plenty of contenders in the race to be crowned as WWE’s most misused talent 2003. However there is one contender who lacks the name value of a Van Dam or Booker T, despite being the most impressive performer in their genre. There is one who would beg for the minuscule TV time of a Rico or a Tajiri. Ladies and gentlemen, the most misused talent on the WWE roster is…
Molly Holly.
No I haven’t gone delusional and this isn’t a joke. I am serious, no really, I am. Sure she may have a name as dumb as the early nineties comic-book bad guys and indeed she may have a gimmick worse than…hold on, what is her gimmick these days? However that simply isn’t her fault. For Molly Holly, or more specifically her alter-ego Nora Greenwald, is the outstanding performer in the women’s division’s most prosperous period. And that simply makes her misuse all the more infuriating.
“Hold on a second,” I hear you cry. “Even if we accept that she’s the most talented female that doesn’t make her the most misused performer on the roster.”
I did hear someone cry that, right?
Well here’s why I disagree.
Simply put, who is more misused than Molly? We will all have our favourites. Some may suggest that Booker T is the most misused because he recently failed to win the World Championship. Others would point to the likes of Van Dam or Rey Mysterio and claim that their high-flying artistry is the future, and as such they should be challenging for the championship. Many would look at a low-card talent like Rico and wonder why such a competent performer has so little TV time and such a god-awful gimmick.
Those arguments are pretty watertight in their own right. I couldn’t necessarily dismiss any of them. But I could argue with them all. And that’s really the point.
You see for every one, who wants Booker T to hold the World Championship, there is another who feels the honour should fall to Jericho, Kane and more. For every one who believes that the artistry of a Van Dam or Mysterio is superior in style to any other, there is another who believes they lack the technical facets of an Angle or a Benoit. Indeed for every one who believes that Rico should be on TV, there is another who will argue the case for Maven, Tommy Dreamer and more.
Now that’s not to say that the other divas don’t have their fans. There are plenty that want to see Jacqueline and Ivory get their cut of the diva cloth. There are plenty that are satisfied with the triumvirate of Trish, Jazz and Victoria.
However whereas we can argue the toss over who is the best in the men’s division and thus who most deserves to be the champion or receive a main event push, can we really argue about the superiority of Molly to her diva counterparts? For whereas every high-flying fan has Rey Mysterio, technical fans have Kurt Angle, big-men fans have The Undertaker, and so on, in the women’s division, no matter how you slice the cake you always get the same answer. Molly is simply superior in every department.
As a technician she comes into her own. In this facet there is no bigger gap to her counterparts. Yes Jazz is an impressive technical worker with a range of submission moves, but can anyone really rival the often innovative offence of the Dean Malenko-trained Molly? He was the man of a thousand holds and it looks like Molly picked up at least 999 of those.
As a high-flyer she is untouched. Yes Lita has her fans, but come on people; she hardly flies through the air with grace does she? The fact is that both Molly and Victoria far surpass Lita airily but are prevented from showing their talents in that manner because it is deemed “Lita’s gimmick”. Both have superior moonsaults and well, have you ever seen a Molly-Go-Round miss its mark? For those who highlight Victoria’s talent, remember who trained her…yeah, you guessed it.
Simply put no woman on the roster has Molly’s technical competence, aerial artistry, timing or ability to tell a story in the ring. Quite frankly no one bumps in her league either.
Of course WWE is not just about wrestling, it’s about entertainment. So what about the other aspects of the women’s game?
Certainly a “look” means a lot, especially in the women’s division. Molly lacks the obvious striking beauty of a Trish or a Torrie, and isn’t an Amazon with an intimidating look, like Jazz. But should that really hold her back? If anything it should work to her advantage. For she has an attainable look and sends out a positive message. You don’t have to have a body like a stripper, or be surgically enhanced to be attractive – nor do you have to be a body builder if you’re not a stripper. In the new era of respected women’s matches, with the female audience growing all the time, Molly’s look is the most marketable as realistic and respectable to women, whilst still attractive to men.
In the charisma department there are frankly few women who have grasped attention with their microphone skills. Certainly Victoria’s portrayal of the “psycho bitch” has been a wonder to behold but she lacks the microphone skills at this stage of her development to take that character to a new level. Trish and Lita certainly connect with the fans, but neither can cut a promo or work a microphone. Only Ivory and Molly can manage that. Molly’s advantage over Ivory? One is the oldest former women’s champion on the roster; the other is the youngest in history.
A combination of youth and experience combined with the look, the charisma, the character portrayal and the in-ring talent to become an absolute superstar. No matter what facet you draw on, or how you mark down the “best”, Molly can’t be toppled. Though this is the most thriving and talented women’s roster in history, Molly is superior to her excellent counterparts in every department.
If she were a permanent member of the women’s championship merry-go-round there would be no cause for complaint. However after losing the title last year, Molly was dropped to nothing more than a jobber-to-the-stars after having the guts to speak out about the atrocity of the HLA angle. Did HLA backfire on WWE? Big time! So why then is Molly still being punished for calling a spade a spade whilst the likes of Hogan, Piper and Sable are paraded despite their public attacks (and in some cases court trials) with the company in the past? There is no doubt that the women’s division is the best it has ever been and arguably the most entertaining aspect on Raw. However right now we are seeing the same three women wrestle every week with Ivory, Jackie and Molly called on occasionally to make up a tag match, all three floating without a gimmick or direction. What makes it even worse is that their talents may be submerged completely when Lita returns from injury.
Whoever you pinpoint as the best wrestler on the roster, can you imagine if they were a jobber on Heat? If Angle, Benoit and Mysterio got on Smackdown, only to make up the numbers in a tag match and never be included in a story line?
Simply put we wouldn’t stand for it. In fact we don’t stand for it. We let WWE know exactly what we think about whom we want at the top. So why when the women’s division is finally ascertaining some respect should it be treated any differently?
Molly is the Angle, Benoit and Mysterio of the women’s division rolled into one. So if WWE really wants us to take it seriously she should be treated in exactly that way.
The award for the most misused talent on the WWE roster goes to Molly Holly.
Let’s make her award, a push and recognition. You know she’ll grab it with both hands.