Dave Meltzer's star ratings in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter were once highly sought after by many professional wrestlers, but in recent years, they're more often than not a subject of ridicule among those in the business.
Melzter clearly has great admiration for the style of wrestling in Japan and AEW, hence why the latter company, in particular, frequently receives ratings of 5* and above. Many argue that's a result of the journalist's friendship with The Elite and the fact Tony Khan has embraced Meltzer as an unofficial advisor of sorts.
Chris Van Vliet recently interviewed Meltzer and, in what can only be described as a cringeworthy exchange, interrogated him about that rating system. The Newsletter writer struggled to justify both his past and current ratings, making it clear exactly how flawed the system is.
There are those who still take them deadly seriously, of course, but WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins isn't among them.
"If I'm not mistaken, I think that Kurt Angle has no five-star matches [from Meltzer], OK?" Rollins said on the IMPAULSIVE podcast (via WrestlingInc.com). "One of the greatest of all time, and there's a plethora of these people."
"My point is Dave's great. He's a great historian, he's been a part of the business for a long, long time. He's great as a historian, but match ratings are silly, match ratings are very silly. It's so subjective. If it's good, it's good. You know when something's good."
Those are sentiments it seems the vast majority of fans now agree with, particularly given how awful some of those 5* matches are. Meltzer isn't a huge fan of WWE's style and so has often failed to award many of the company's instant classics with a score which would be even close to deserving.
For proof of that, look no further than the fact AEW will soon have more 5* matches than WWE and WCW combined.