Coffee Talk #249: Your Top 10 Wrestlers of All Time

A lot of you posted great comments on WWE’s list of the top 50 WWE Superstars of all time. Most of you agreed with the majority of the picks, but some of you were puzzled by various rankings and omissions. RPadholic Nightshade386 suggested that we all start our own lists and I thought that was a brilliant idea!

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the RPad.tv merchandise sale, why the hell people like pomegranates, or the best bourbon you’ve ever had, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

A lot of you posted great comments on WWE’s list of the top 50 WWE Superstars of all time. Most of you agreed with the majority of the picks, but some of you were puzzled by various rankings and omissions. RPadholic Nightshade386 suggested that we all start our own lists and I thought that was a brilliant idea! Here’s mine:

  1. Ric Flair: Simply the greatest of all time. In his prime, he could put on an outstanding match with a broomstick. Even after he lost a step, Flair could work the mic like nobody else. He carried the NWA and the early days of WCW.
  2. Shawn Michaels: The Heartbreak Kid started off as a dynamic wrestler and transformed into the greatest in-ring performer I’ve ever seen. I dropped him to the second slot because his mic work was uneven and he didn’t do a great job carrying the WWE when he was champion.
  3. Ricky Steamboat: Some of you will question this pick, but can you think of someone that wrestled in two of the best matches ever seen in the NWA and WWE? People still talk about Steamboat’s championship match with Flair and his WrestleMania III match with Randy Savage. Also, has anyone ever made an arm drag look so cool?
  4. Steve Austin: I remember watching him in WCW as “Stunning” Steve Austin and enjoying his work in ECW. I never thought that he’d define an era of WWE and become its most popular Superstar. The crazy part is that he couldn’t wrestle his best at the height of his popularity due to a neck injury. For a brief period of time Austin was perfect: he could wrestle great matches, carry the company, and cut fantastic promos.
  5. The Rock: The other wrestler that defined WWE’s “Attitude Era”, The Rock cut some of the most hilarious promos ever and was brilliant at putting people over with the mic. His wrestling was good offensively, but his ability to sell was better (nobody sold the stunner better than he did). I honestly believe that he could have topped this list if he didn’t cut his wrestling career short to pursue acting.
  6. Hulk Hogan: I’m going to get heat for ranking Hogan this low, but nobody can deny that he sucked in the ring for most of his career. Even in his prime he was a mediocre wrestler. Still, his charisma was undeniable, he carried the WWE, he made the company global, and he sold almost as much merchandise as Austin (yes, that was a dig).
  7. Andre the Giant: The Eighth Wonder of the World was always limited in the ring, but he could singlehandedly sell out arenas. He’s a legend that became known throughout the world. He was also a great locker room guy. I loved when he decked the Ultimate Warrior with a stiff shot for getting out of line. Andre helped make wrestling larger-than-life entertainment.
  8. Sting: While most people know him from his Crow-wannabe days, I still remember the bleached-blond kid with a rat tail and neon tights. He was dynamic and charismatic. He put on fantastic matches with Flair and even carried the limited Lex Luger to excellent shows.
  9. Arn Anderson: Double A was the best complementary wrestler ever. As The Four Horsemen’s “enforcer”, Anderson was an integral part of making the group seem so bad ass. Flair had the belt and the spotlight, but Arn was the heart and soul of The Horsemen. His wrestling was excellent, his promos were intense, and nobody made the spinebuster look so forceful.
  10. Kurt Angle: Arguably the greatest athlete to ever wrestle professionally, Angle’s in-ring work was ridiculous in his prime in terms of offense. As far as selling and physical storytelling, there are better…but not many. I never bought into his “intense” promos, but a lot of people liked them. I was thoroughly entertained by the wise-ass and comedic versions of Angle.

Anyway, that’s my list. I’d love to see yours! Feel free to rip mine apart too.

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

70 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #249: Your Top 10 Wrestlers of All Time”

  1. I have limited periodical memories of wrestling so here is my top 10 :

    1. The Nature Boy

    2. HBK

    3. The Rock

    4. Stone Cold

    5. Hulk Hogan

    6. Ok I guess that is my top 5 list since I can't remember anyone else.

  2. 1. ric flair

    2. andre the giant

    3. hulk hogan

    4. the rock

    5 . hbk

    6. undertaker

    7. randy savage

    8. sting

    9. brett hart

    10. kurt hennig

    i only watched wrestling from 1984-1997….so, this list is comprised of only those who wrestled in that era

    ray called andre the giant "andrew"…dont know if that was intentional, but i found it funny

  3. I plan to catch some flak here, but here goes it.

    1. The Rock, I enjoyed everything he did. I don't think I can say that about any other wrestler, so his rank is number 1. The Corporate Rock is the best heel ever.

    2. Ric Flair, old school Flair ranks him at number 2. The awesome entrance the long robes with the badass hair. I enjoyed watching him work in his younger days.

    3. Brett Hart, the best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be.

    4. Hogan, how could you not like him growing up? His work was crap but he sold himself on an image.

    5. Scott Steiner, simply amazing stuff from someone so big. I'm a Scott Steiner mark, but I still think he was amazing. Mic work…not so much.

    My bottom 5

    6. Undertaker

    7. Mankind/Cactus Jack

    8. Rob Van Damme (more ECW version)

    9. Macho Man

    10. Kevin Nash/Diesel

      1. I enjoyed his work, not as much with the Wolf Pack but he always put on a good fight in my opinion. Not to mention his jack knife hurt more than a power bomb because it was called jack knife….and he was tall lol.

  4. 1) Ric Flair(Wasn't this one obvious?)

    2) Bret Hart (probably the greatest technical wrestler I've ever seen)

    3) HBK (probably the best mix of charisma, athletics & skill)

    4) Hulk Hogan (I hate his matches, but you can't den his impact)

    5) Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

    6) "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (can't deny his impact and appeal)

    7) Andre The Giant (Seriously)

    8) The Rock (Great workrate despite a serious lack of a move set. punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, rock bottom, people's elbow)

    9) Triple H (Yeah, I know. But the guy carried the company for a decade)

    10) The Undertaker (Same reason as Hulkster)

    Honorable mentions in no particular order (since I don't have to):

    Arn Anderson, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit (the whole murder thing aside, you can't deny the guy's skill), Eddie Guerrero, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Curt Henning, & Mick Foley

    1. apparently, an 8 followed by a ) automatically becomes a 8). Makes my list look kinda silly honestly….

      3. I may have overestimated. I was mainly ranking him just under Stephen Hawking and at least a cool million under Helen Keller (mainly for her mic work).

  5. 1. Ric Flair: Let's face it… wrestling wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for the Nature Boy.

    2. Hulk Hogan: For basically the same reason I put down for Flair, except Flair was cooler and better.

    3 & 4. The Road Warriors/L.O.D.: These were the guys that I looked forward to in the tag division. These guys were not only innovators, but the things they've done behind the curtain are legendary as well. When it comes to high spots, am I the only person who remembers the scaffolding match against the Midnight Express?

    5. Chris Jericho: When I first saw this dude, I hated him. I was about 18 or 19 at the time so it quickly dawned on me "wait… I'm SUPPOSED to hate him". So after watching his work from there, I loved the guy ever since.

    6. RVD: This guy took everything that had been done in the ring before, and kicked it up to 11. That's not an easy feat. I also never would have held the Hardcore Championship belt with my own hands if I didn't run into this awesome person at an Eat 'N Park (local Pittsburgh restaurant chain) one night.

    7. Andre the Giant: For all the reasons already stated.

    8. Stone Cold: For the same reasons.

    9. "Macho Man" Randy Savage: OHHHH YEEEEEAAAAH!

    10. The Undertaker: Anyone who can carry a gimmick for 20 years is doing something right. When he first came on the scene way back, he was all my wrestling fan friends talked about. He brought the dark side, and it was awesome.

    Notes: I always thought HBK schtick was cheesy… and I thought the Rock was pretty much at the right place at the right time. It's obvious he didn't have much love for it, or else he wouldn't be making bad kids movies right now.

    2. Totally remember that scaffold match. I was actually reading an interview with Jim Cornette talking about how he wrecked his knee in that match because Big Bubba didn’t catch him.

  7. I never really got into wrestling, but when I was really young I did know who Hulk Hogan was. Friends of mine now also talk about how they love HBK and Triple H. And also when I was younger I got to see Sting fight the Million Dollar Man, which was kind of cool. I of course know of the Rock and John Cena, etc. I just never cared much for it all, but those are really the only ones I really know of.

    As for favorite bourbon, I don't like bourbon. I prefer Tennessee sour mash, Irish Whiskey, and Scotch. I can taste the difference between those and bourbon. Also, I don't drink Canadian Whiskey.

  8. @KINECT (again)

    I offcially hate my Kinect. Played Kinect Adventures and it wasn't too bad, there is some fun to be had there.

    Rented Kinectimals for my friends kids to play so I decided to try it out first in case they had questions. What a piece of crap. No controller means no skipping cut-sceney crap. Picked up a controller and still couldn't skip. Petting an animal is a bunch of pre rendered hands petting it. You just wild flap around and it pets the animal calmly, no punching or slapping it. Flipped off the TV and it scratched him under his chin and he loved it.

    Rented Kinect Joy Ride. CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!! Driving with Kinect sucks. I should have known it was going to be bad when it told me all I had to do was drive and they would take care of braking and accelerating. Steering sucks. It doesn't register small corrections. You have 3 options haul ass left, right or go straight. You have to do super exaggerated movements for it to pick anything up too. To boost you pull your arms back but it rarely worked.

    Went through advanced setup to fine tune my Kinect. It still can't tell when a different player comes in unless it is me and my 2 year old brother standing there. My friends kids were playing and it did recognize two kids were playing but made them both boys and hurt her daughters feelings (she is 4).

    Speech command still suck. After manually turning on the Xbox I can then say "Xbox" from here there is only ONE command you can do which makes me wonder why its even here. Then say "Kinect" and you get taken to Kinect Hub and now when you say Xbox you can read any of the on screen things and it will do them.

    1. great kinect review. this is why i'm trying to win one from Burger king instead of trying to buy one.

    2. A friend of mine bought it and he plays the Dance Dance game and swears it is great. Then again…his new girlfriend bought it for him and he might just be saying it for points. No clue.

      I honestly trust your review more than the guy I've known my whole life lol.

    3. Yeah, thanks for that. I was considering getting one because my wife really wants to try out that Dance, Dance game, but I'm not going to spend close to $200 just to try out a game that may or may not work.

      I don't suppose I could ask you to put it in your game queue for a review later, could I? That way, I could tell my wife: “Look, SlickyFats played and reviewed this game and he said this…” And then she would be all like: “Did you just call me fat?!” … I can’t win.

      … are you paying attention here, Bsukenyan?

      -M

      1. I'll be taking these games back tonight for a partial refund. If the Dance game is there I will get it.

        Also I took my secretary to my house at lunch today and we played Kinect Adventures, she loved it. But like I said so far that is the only compelling title I have found so far and it comes with the Kinect.

  9. @ Side note

    I upgraded my gaming tv to a 40" HDTV the other day. Wow… what adifference.

    Now that my gaming tv is up to par, I'm this much closer to getting a PS3.

      1. Close…

        A 30" SD GE that I got at the swap meet for $25.

        Funny thing is… my Xbox has less freezing issues running in HD than it did in SD. Is that weird?

      1. Funny you should say that.

        I actually went there the other day when I bought the TV I did to scope that TV. However, I decided that I just didn’t want to wait.

        Besides, my wife is 4’8″ and she would get trampled trying to get one.

      2. This year will be my first time to do Black Friday shopping. I just want a new TV. I am considering the 50″ 720p Walmart will have for $500. I don’t know if there is enough difference between 1080p and 720p (since most 720s do 1080i)

  10. I can't believe you were using SD. It's appalling. :)

    Then again I like new tech and buy it way too early. I replace it for no other reason than I want newer. My gf doesn't know it yet but our 16 month old 46 XBR is soon to be replaced.

    1. Me… I'm the type that still listens to vinyl because things recorded for vinyl, sound better on vinyl.

      Technically, I'm still not sold on HD as a whole yet. The only reasons I see for it are games and sports… that's it. Movies and TV to me are just as enjoyable in SD.

      2. I would love to have an HD tv, but my little 20" SD tv has lasted for the past 5 years and will surely last for a little while longer.

  11. I subscribed to Dish network again so I can watch Hornets games in HD. I want a 60inch tv now. Damn Redzone and NBA season. Thankfully Bestbuy is 0% for 18 months.

    @bsu
    Dude, eat the cash and get an HD set of any size!!

    1. that horse was being talked about as if it were one of the greatest racehorses in history, without having ever run a triple crown event…balderdash

      2. Race horses are magnificent animals. It is very fascinating and simply amazing to watch. The beauty, elegance, strength, and control that is necessary for horse racing is simply incredible. If you ever get a chance to really be close to race horses it is quite an experience, in my opinion. Besides that, horse racing is quite an old sport and I personally find the pedigree’s to be interesting. In the end though- some people like horses, others don’t.

        I have always found horses to be amazing creatures and have loved the stories. The Godolphin Arabian was a truly legendary horse which sired plenty of other horses, some of which were in Triple Crown contention years ago. Also, I think of a lot of things like this to be like Pokemon IRL.

      3. There are thousands of magnificent animals. For some reason, people talk about horses as if they aspire to be one. I think it’s hilarious. The Onion had a great article about it when the last horse was getting way too much mainstream press.

      5. They are some of the bigger animals with extraordinary strength to be tamed and ridden by a person. I think that is one reason they get so much press. There is a lot of money in horses too. Also, because historically they have been raced for reasons unknown to me. Seeing a good race horse up close is impressive though.

      7. Tigers or elephants or any of the hundreds of other animals you want to bring up aren't tamed and raced in the same manner.

        Smartguy had a good point, some people are in to horses like other people are in to their particular hobbies or past times. Not everyone thinks much of horses, and others do. Rarely have I seen someone who isn't a horse person "get it."

      9. You missed a key part of what I said though, raced as well as tamed. But again, there is something more about horses that not everyone "gets."

      10. Some people are just really into it though Ray. My other half’s family are very into horses. They pay a lot of money for the animals and their care and accessories. Her sister paid over 5k for a damn saddle for a barrel horse. To me that is stupid outrageous but everyone in her family thought it was money well spent considering what it was going towards.

        What I’m getting at is that people who like horses pour a LOT of money into it more so than any hobby I have ever seen. Seriously, they own a horse trailer that is worse almost as much as my house. So it doesn’t surprise me that some people get very wrapped up in it. Maybe the same can be said about people like us and electronics? I know I was sad when the DC got put out to pasture and I think about it on 9/09 still lol.

      12. @Ray

        I didn't try to say it was any less ridiculous. It's strange when you know someone who spends as much money on a horse that you could purchase a Cadillac with.

  13. This is coming from a technicality standpoint… My all time list is a little different.

    1. Curt Henning

    2. Ric Flair

    3. Chris Benoit

    4. Undertaker

    5. Bret "The Hitman" Hart

    6. Shawn Michaels

    7. William Regal

    8. Kurt Angle

    9. Kevin Nash

    10. Chris Jericho

    1. Good list xellieXbeesx

      I feel that kevin nash is a little out of place in this list with all these technical wrestlers

      2. hennig is my FAVORITE wrestler, so i can understand you putting him number 1, i dont think hes the greatest though, but i dont fault your logic, sir

      6. Hmmmm i think we are going to have to agree to disagree. I havent seen nash's early work but what i remember from his first stint with the wwe he wasnt that versatile. I cant put him in a top ten list of technical wrestlers based on potential.

      8. Besides Taker youre right theres no other big man that couldve wrestled just as good but this is why i feel that he shouldnt belong in ellis' list of technical wrestlers because youre then gauging him on potential. HOFers dont get in on potential. Im not crticizing your list or opinion rpad. Im just giving my opinion on ellis' list and why i feel he shouldnt bein the top ten of technical wrestlers.

  16. I watched this recently and wanted to see your list. I'm glad you put Angle in the top 10. I'd have Undertaker in there over Hogan. Either 1 or 2.

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