Lance Storm On Why Star Ratings Are “Asininely Stupid”
Lance Storm doesn’t put much stock in star ratings for matches.
Dave Meltzer’s star rating system consistently courts controversy, with stars like Will Ospreay atop the list of 5*+ matches while WWE Hall of Famers like Kurt Angle never achieved a 5* match in his career.
Now, Lance Storm joins the likes of Seth Rollins and Jim Cornette in criticizing Dave Meltzer’s system. During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Storm had this to say:
“I think for the most part, they’re asininely stupid. Well, it’s just someone’s opinion like, you know, a Siskel and Ebert giving it two thumbs up. It’s like, Oh, great.”
Continuing, Lance Storm explained that during the early days of the star rating system, the ratings had their uses as it helped fans determine which tapes to buy during the tape trading era.
“And I think when it started, it was very valuable. Because it started during the tape trading era. And if you’re old enough to be part of the tape trading era, it’s like you would get lists of tapes that someone had in the mail, where you actually went to the post office picked up your letter and opened it up. And there would be a printed photocopy sheet of all the tapes the dude had.
“And if you’re ordering three tapes of All Japan Pro Wrestling, which tapes Do you buy? Well, if you have access to the Observer, you can go look up the shows. And you can find out oh, sh*t, this show had, you know, really highly rated matches, it’s probably good. So it’s like a movie critic, what movie you want to see? Well, what are the critics saying is a good movie? I’ll go watch that. So it would help you.”
Lance Storm Finds Modern Star Ratings “Insanely Ridiculous”
However, according to Lance Storm, the days of a star rating’s usefulness are long gone as most people have seen the rated matches before the ratings are made known.
“But I just find it insanely ridiculous that someone would watch the movie, and then want to know what someone else thought about it. And determine their enjoyment based on the like, you’ve seen the movie? Did you like it? If you did, it’s great. If you didn’t, it wasn’t. And going back and comparing, like, I’ll go watch this match. Man. I think that was three and a quarter. I’m gonna go see if I’m right. What do you mean if you’re right? It’s like, that’s just his opinion. Who’s to say either one of you are right?”
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet and link back to this article with a h/t to TJR Wrestling.