I guess I'll take the heat as I justify my rating.
Ring Work: (10) As gifted as he was between the ropes, can't see giving him less than a 10. I don't think he's the GOAT by any stretch of the imagination (just not my style of wrestler) but he was damn talented from basically beginning until his very last match.
Mic Work/Promos: (7) As good as he was in the ring he was generally (taking his whole career into account) meh on the mic. He could go out and talk, but outside of his DX heel run (his Magnum Opus), he was nothing to write home about. This is even more apparent every time he makes appearances these days. The one thing that doesn't fail a wrestler (barring mental issues) is the mic work. For him to be such a hailed wrestler (on here and by WWE in general) and be called the compete package so much, his promos/mic work highlights don't compare to other zero tier legends (Rock, Austin, Flair, Macho, etc.) and is far behind most of the members of the Kliq (HHH, Nash, Hall). This is the one area where he's completely outclassed by most greats.
Gimmicks: (8) as a solo guy, he was made to be a heel. Thats where he did his best work. He was an absolute terrible "good guy" and I disliked almost all of his face runs (except the slave to JBL run
) . His great runs (DX heel) are offset by his bad runs (the boyhood dream that almost sank the company). His whole second run was carried by his ring work vs. his character work. Overall I can say he was memorable though.
Overall: 8. If wrestling was just about wrestling in the ring, he would be near the top of the list. Taking in all aspects of the craft (character, promos, gimmicks, etc) he's definitely above average but nowhere near my Mount Rushmore.