Lance Archer

[8.0] "ENGAGER: 8 STRIKER: 8 CRAFTMASTER: 7 AERIALIST: 6 POWERHOUSE: 10 EXTREMIST: 9 ENTRANCE: 9 NARRATIVE: 5 GIMMICK: 6 ANGLE: 7 GRUDGE: 5 ELOCUTION: 6"

[6.0] "Big tough guy that I don't know why don't wrestle too much currently. Last time I ever saw a single match from him was against Ospreay almost two year ago. He is quite decent man. A bit outdated, but quite decent."

[7.0] "I really like Archer, tbh! I wasn't big into him in his TNA or AEW runs but I'm a huge fan of the ways that NJPW and AEW have used him. He's not a world-beater or anything, but he works great as a big man throwing around smaller guys. Cool look, cool personality and he goes out there every once in a while and puts on a clear-cut MOTN."

[9.0] "One of my favourite wrestlers. His rating on here is a disgrace. He can do typical big man moves and match formats but also bust out some awesome athletic stuff even in his forties. Amazing look. I wish AEW would book him better."

[7.0] "First saw this guy as a SVR2011 jobber with a cool theme. Poor runs in WWE, but in New Japan this guy was presented well and forged a solid run there, I wish he was used more in AEW."

[7.0] "contrary to popular belief, i thought it wasn't a bad TNA run at all, Monster Sauce is cool, and Blackout is based as hell."

[7.0] "Very underrated imo. It's kind of crazy how AEW hasn't utilized this guy, he has a great look and also is very good in-ring. Not the best by any means, but with the right opponent he can have a fantastic match. Not too sure if he's still with Jake Roberts as I don't keep up with AEW that much, but if he is... yeah, get him away from Jake ASAP. Needs to be a monster heel, feels like AEW haven't really taken advantage of the talent that is Lance Archer."

[6.0] "Lance Archer is strange to me. I absolutley love his work in Japan, however I feel like he just isn't cut out for America. He has had awful runs with both WWE and AEW and with his age I don't think he will ever do anything of note in the land of the Elite."

[4.0] "I just don't see any murder in the murder Hawk monster. I just think Lance is corny I don't see any violence or aggression in him. I can't believe I'm taking the time to write 250 words but it's required to leave this rating, even though plenty of people agree with my review. I don't think Lance is any real monster. Perhaps it's all the Jesus loving that doesn't do it for me."

[7.0] "Did not have good runs in TNA or WWE despite his size. Getting let go by WWE was best for his career as his NJPW run was great. He had success singles or with the Davey Boy Smith in the Killer Elite Squad. Was presented as a true monster. For a while he was presented well in AEW as well. More recently does not even appear on AEW TV which is unfortunate. In the ring is a good big man. On the mic and charisma wise he is nothing special but not bad either."

[6.0] "I remember a long time ago when I first started watching TNA Impact! while I was stoned. One of the guys that I remember mostly from that little period of time was Lance Archer, then known by Lance Hoyt and, earlier, "Dallas". This guy, the American Psycho, a bit-slow six-foot-something beast of a man, was the guy that made me jump out of my seat a couple of times due to his unexpected aerial offense. I remember those times greatly. I saw him in person for the first time at a Hart Legacy Wrestling show with Davey Boy Smith's son, Harry. A nice person when I saw him at a meet and greet later on. Now, fast forward to today, and he's more popular than he ever was! What an unexpected climb from being a TNA/WWE mid-card squash-man to the most popular big-man-possibly-on-Benadryl that we'd seen in ages. His work? It's tacky at best. Of course, there's the great charisma that comes out of Lance's mouth, and his in-ring work gets better as he gets older, which is quite rare in the wrestling business. He's a good mix of this-n-that, and I can't wait to see him improve more. As a family friend once put to me once we watched him against Adam Page, "just let him do a 630 senton and he'll be the best thing ever! "."

[8.0] "He is very underrated with this current score. He is a legit threat to anyone as a big man. He has charisma for days, and he has a lot of in ring experience."

[8.0] "In my opinion one of the best big man in the business. Super underrated by the companies he has worked for always delivers when asked for a big match."

[6.0] "Doesn't get the respect he deserves. And agile and intimating big man, he's done great work in NJPW and during the limited screen time he gets in AEW."

[7.0] "A heavyweight who is a very good hand in each of his appearances in All Elite Wrestling, we would like him to be there more often and more effectively."

[9.0] "A guy who truly just stuck at it and levelled up to the point where he ended up becoming the featured monster in the second biggest wrestling promotion. I really hope he shows up again soon in AEW, his title match with Hangman is hella underrated."

[6.0] "A very underappreciated big man in my opinion. Has tremendous size and a great look and he is a decent worker who can be carried to something pretty great with the right worker. Had a few opportunities in America where it never really happened for him but for some reason his charisma and gimmick gets over a lot better in Japan."

[8.0] "Good wrestler, can make everyone who works with him look good, is capable of overdelivering against a better opponent and can crush weak opposition like very few can, he would've definitely be a bigger star 30 years ago, but he can definitely mix well with the wrestlers of his generation."

[8.0] "Been a fan of his since his TNA days and I consider him to be one of the most underrated big guys around today."

[5.0] "Lance Archer's gimmick is not for me, but it was impressive seeing Lance Archer stand up next to the already giant Jeff Cobb! I'm satisfied with Lance Archer's move set. To get more out of Lance Archer, I think in some of his matches we should pick up the pace a bit."

[8.0] "So much improvement over the years. Went from regular tall and sorta skinny guy to big monster who moves around the ring well. Believable monster heel who can also be an entertaining face"

[9.0] "This year Archer has proven that against the right opponents he can have great matches. Ospreay brought two excellent out of Archer this year and Styles did the same thing in 2014. The rest of the g1 will show us if he can deliver against opponents like Kenta, Ibushi, Okada and Tanahashi. If he doesnt I will have to lower my rating, if he does I might give him a higher one. He has been great is the g1, I will change my rating to an 8. EDIT, 2022; The comment above was written in 2019. Unfortunately his overall rating is still under a six. This does make sense as his ratings up until 2018, when he was around 41, were mediocre. I gave him an eight in 2018, right now I will give him a nine. Considering that he has made such an improvement after the age of forty, I believe that he deserves a high rating, but also recognition and appraisal. I appreciate that he is pumping out solid to good matches on a steady basis."

[8.0] "An underrated brawler that's finally getting the praise he deserves from the wrestling world at large. Everything the guy does looks like it's lethal, especially on smaller guys."

[8.0] "Lance Archer has gotten better every year since leaving WWE where he was a nobody. The few years he spent in Japan seemed especially formative to him, to the point where he is now one of the best big guys in the ring. To me he is just one step below World Champion level, still he can be a very valuable part of a roster, best used as a dangerous threat to the champion. He is reliable and have enough credibility that you can throw him in the title picture at any times, either to help establish a new champion or in a short feud inbetween bigger challenges to the champion. Lastly, his current gimmick as an unstoppable chaotic brawler who beats up random guys while walking to the ring is great!"

[6.0] "He works well for a big guy in wrestling and delivers well in the ring. When paired with the right opponent he can deliver his role well and produce some really good matches. Works well as a monster but needs someone to do the talking as he lacks mic work. A supporting role in a stable like in NJPW worked well as does having Jake Roberts as his manager now in AEW. Everything came together later in his career but still better late than never. His run in NJPW was solid and his run in AEW right now has produced some good moments as well. He delivers in his role no matter how limited he may be."

[6.0] "I don't know exactly if he fits in with the style of wrestling that AEW asks for, even so, his career in NJPW cannot be said to have been bad. Speaking of AEW, he does both heel and face well and that makes him an interesting wrestler to watch, for his height he moves well but even so, without Jake Roberts he loses credibility by not having many skills on the mic."

[9.0] "Archer is one of the best monstrous wrestlers there are currently at wrestling. Gigantic, good wrestler, and very very savage. It's one of the most dominant big wrestlers I've ever seen"

[8.0] "Lance Archer is one of the great giant wrestlers out there. He has offered several good matches since joining AEW."

[9.0] "The Muderhawk Monster is a long way from being the tramp stamp guy playing a phony guitar. Suzuki-gun, ichiban!"

[8.0] "A great big man with a lot of talent, legit look, and good in-ring work. Sadly he discovered his right potentials in a late phase in his career after his run in the g1 and I don't think he has much time left to hold a gold in aew."

[8.0] "He's a great big-man wrestler. He puts on consistent entertaining matches and comes off as a threat in every match. The promos need some work but his crowd work is great."

[6.0] "Archer was stuck in a dead role with DBS Jr and the wider Suzuki-gun for years, and it was only in 2019 that he was finally allowed to go out and impress, and he did exactly that. He's a convincing big-man; energetic, powerful, creative, threatening, monstrous, athletic, and all with a distinctive and entertaining character. Archer is what Fale should have been in NJPW, and he's one of the few "monsters" in AEW who has actually comes off like a monster with their booking, in-ring work, AND character work. I won't say he's become some stellar performer now, and he occasionally leans too heavily into his goofy side, but his performances are usually rather entertaining at the very least because of the dedication he brings to playing his role, and with the right opponents he can have some very good matches. It's odd that AEW brought him in as this monster only to soon end his winning streak and put Cody over, and since then he's mostly just beaten jobbers and forgettable mid-carders, plus losing all the other major matches he's had (excluding beating Moxley for an NJPW title). AEW have proved they can book a monster on weekly television like how they've handled Wardlow and Luchasaurus, yet someone with far more refined in-ring skills, character work, and general potential like Archer has only appeared on AEW television 13 times over the last year, and usually in losing efforts or in matches against nobodies. It's just a waste of his potential, especially at his age of 44. Just use the guy properly. Throw him in a tag team and give him the tag titles -- whatever. Just give him SOMETHING where he can be on TV consistently and utilise his size and personality to present an entertaining character, because he could easily do that if allowed to."

[8.0] "One of my favourite powerhouses, it's always fun watching him bulldoze through opponents, he also displays athleticism that should be impossible for a man of his age and size."

[9.0] "Lance Archer is my favorite big man in wrestling today. Very good in ring, a good promo, looks like a million bucks. He's come a long way from being rather bleh."

[8.0] "Maybe 2 years ago I would've given Archer a 9 since he was my favorite gaijin in New Japan at the time. But honestly, his AEW run has sucked so far. It's mostly not his fault, with AEW dropping the ball whenever he would gain momentum, but I think his moment in the spotlight has passed and you can tell he's gotten a little complacent. I don't really know what they could do to get him over again. Side note: I hated his red braided look, he finally looks decent as of his return, but his best look was when he wrestled Ospreay in the G1. Now, with the negatives out of the way, Archer is one the best in-ring worker out of all the big men who have ever worked in AEW. His consistency is ridiculous and people just didn't see how good he was even before becoming the murderhawk monster. His size, aura, and intimidation are pretty damn good, and unlike most of his peers, he understands that jawjacking to your opponents and to the crowd during your match actually DOES make them feel more engaged. I think Archer should just pack his bags and leave AEW if he loses to the Blandman, I don't know why he left NJPW but I guess he foresaw their decline, so he could do wonders in Impact, NOAH, AJPW, or even give NXT a try."

[8.0] "I like the look of this guy too much, he is a mix between a giant but at the same time he is not so much either, however I like to see him on AEW now that he has made his return stamping the Cowboy Shit against a chair in Dynamite."

[10.0] "I think Lance Archer might be the best "big man" wrestler, in the US. He improved so much over the year, putting on some quality matches at least 3 times, that's more than majority of these giants who can't even walk properly! Love this guy man, he rules"

[7.0] "Technically a great big guy. Archer is good in the ring but is missing charisma. He didn't need that much charisma in Japan, where the focus is more on the wrestling and I really enjoyed his work there. However in AEW it's more imortant. At least they gave him Jake Roberts as a manager to do the promos for him."

[9.0] "Remember him from his WWE days, he was ok, but now he is so much better. He has charisma, inventive moves and amazing look"

[9.0] "I haven't watched or followed lance archer outside of AEW and after his debut last year i was impressed by his in ring work and his mic work pairing him with the legendary Jake the snake Robert gave him legitimacy his heel work was great when he first debut his face work is as great the squash he have on dark/elevation are extremely entertaining and funny"

[8.0] "He's a really fun big man who is kind of goofy in a good way. Instead of being all serious and stuff he seems like he's jacked up on Monster Energy and ready to smash people all the time."

[6.0] "Lance has pretty good charisma and can work reasonably well. I don't think he's anything spectacular, but he's definitely a solid upper-midcard talent who can have a good match with the right opponent. He became much more watchable when they switched him from "Generic Monster Heel" to "Pretty Good Monster Face"."

[7.0] "He's had a long career and is just now in the last couple years really starting to click. In both New Japan and AEW he has kind of the same role as a monster who puts over other stars, and the kind of role has a stigma around it but he might be the best one at it in a long time."

[7.0] "Archer has come a long way and his late time in New Japan as a singles wrestler really was an awakening for him. He's not only a fun "monster" wrestler but an underrated promo too."

[7.0] "In his Lance Hoyt days, dude was TERRIBLE lol, just a generic plodding big man with no personality behind him. It took a lot of years for the guy to improve: namely in Japan excursions to NOAH and NJPW. In Killer Elite, he was a alright brawler who played the heel foreigner role and he looked good in the 2013 G1, getting fairly decent matches. It was the last few years where I really felt like he put the steps together there, a great look with much improved ring work and personality meant that the Murderhawk was becoming a fairly big deal in NJPW as a monster heel. Naturally this hype got him to AEW, with Jake Roberts being his manager meant that his weak mic skills could be covered up, and his momentum grew.... up until he got the classic "Cody rub" and got relegated to Dark for months doing fuck all. It's sad, because Archer had the ring skills and monster status to make him a perfect champion to dominate his foes. He's a guy who's as good as the opponent he's facing against but he's usually able to stay on their level as long as he's not being thrown into dumb gimmick battles."

[7.0] "A quite underrated wrestler probably because for much of his career he has been limited to being a simple dominant powerhouse but as soon as they have given him freedom he has shown off with unthinkable movements for someone of his weight, a character development more than decent and a physical appearance that fits perfectly with this."

[8.0] "Archer has undergone an absolute career resurgence in the last couple of years. He was a fairly average tag team guy with Davey Boy Smith Jr. in NJPW as the Killer Elite Squad, but nothing particularly impressive. But once he was booked to compete in the G1 Climax 2019, he changed his whole gimmick. He was now the Murderhawk Monster, a crazy brawling maniac with a great look as well as in-ring work. He later came to AEW and connected with Jake the Snake Roberts, who is fantastic at getting over Archer's gimmick and crazed persona. Nothing prior to 2019 would have made me think that Archer had this kind of character in him, but I'm thrilled to have been wrong about him."

[8.0] "I only really seen lance in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but I loved him there. He reminds me of the undertaker, and really love that he walks the rope. I have not seen him in AEW since I do not follow that promotion often. If Archer is still anything like he was in NJPW then he is completely awesome in my books."

[7.0] "Currently commenting when his rating is 5. 64 and that is extremely too low. Lance Archer is a very solid mid-card worker with great size and agility to go along with it. He is capable of having some bangers with the right opponent, and has some value with character work as well. I get that he is an older talent (44), so there doesn't seem to be much untapped potential, but where he's currently at is way better than his rating on here suggests."

[8.0] "Great brawler with a killer gimmick, theme and look. His AEW association with Jake Roberts works well, despite their relationship being vastly underdeveloped. I crave to see how Archer works in front of a large crowd, but until then I enjoy his appearances. He has also gotten better on the microphone. I just wish he had a killer storyline and purpose in AEW as he feels underused (like unfortunately many of the huge roster)."