WHO'S THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?
February 22nd, 2008

by Sean Cusack

It is often contemplated by scores of fans as to who truly is the greatest Professional Wrestler of all time? Certainly, there must be very distinct and concrete criteria as to what a Pro Wrestler is. Since this very unique facet of entertainment has been around for quite some time, it also must be taken into consideration exactly what Pro Wrestling is all about. First and foremost, from its early beginnings and even up until now, Pro Wrestling is a form of entertainment that was born under the tents of Carnivals and road shows. Now, it lives on under the roofs of arenas from all over the world.
Therefore, there are three very distinct criteria for organizing a Top Ten formal list of the greatest Professional Wrestlers of all time, they are: 1) Acting. Pro-Wrestlers must have natural microphone skills, charisma, personality, and acting skills. They are larger than life figures, and must express themselves wholeheartedly. 2) Athletic Ability. Only the greatest must be in phenomenal shape, whether they are muscle-bound freaks or round mounds of flab, how they use their bodies to execute purely athletically awesome displays in the ring constitutes their ability to personify the belief that what they are doing is real. 3) Persona. The greatest wrestlers of all time had the greatest characters of all time that they each portrayed in the ring.
Therefore, my list may not be accepted by everyone, but it surely will make sense to most.

10) "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Some hard-liner old-timers might be disappointed in Flair's low rank, but to me, it's the best spot to be in. He has surpassed Hulk Hogan, 'The Macho Man' Randy Savage, and even Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, in tenure of years in the ring. He even bests his best bud Arn Anderson, who officially retired many years ago. Ric Flair represents many eras of the business, the 70's, 80's, 90's, and the present, and is still going strong! He has 'defined' what it truly is to be a 'wrestler'. One must agree that his best days are before him and best they are. His natural ability was second to none. Truly a 'natural' and with ingrained charisma and audible chauvinism that supplemented his glitz and glamour add to the prestige of this wrestling icon. He has influenced more 'greats' than any other figure, which is why I Knight Ric Flair with the term the 'Original'. His act and ability has been duplicated many times, with some success, and some no success. Those who drank the 'Flair Formula' speak highly of its originality and testify by its potency. To name a few that tried this formula and applied it for themselves are Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Take all this into consideration and one must concede that Ric Flair is the perennial flower that bloomed more great careers by capturing the imagination of so many.

9) Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
The Calgary, Alberta, Canada native had an impressive career but sadly ended in total catastrophe which undoubtedly marred his ranking on this list. He was perhaps the most loved and adored Champion of all time. His small town values and big city dreams drove Bret to unprecedented heights from his humble beginnings while training in his father's basement known as the 'Dungeon'. Bret Hart made perhaps the best heel turn any wrestler could endure. And what an impact it made! He totally defined the emergence of the 'Austin Era' with a series of high caliber matches. Then, he took his heel saga into a new realm with a renewed heated feud against long-time, and real life rival, Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart then became involved in the most talked about wrestling controversy ever when Vince McMahon had him screwed out of the title at Survivor Series 1997 when he decided to leave WWE for WCW. Bret Hart was never the same after that. His career was a total dud in the WCW. One must not wholly blame WCW for not using Bret correctly, also, blame Bret for being a dud. He simply and unfortunately was never the same after the 'Montreal Screwjob'. I find it ironic that in an industry where the matches are predetermined, that a match where the predetermination was doctored for Vince McMahon's peace-of-mind sake was totally taken as a real happening. Although it was no lie that Bret was intentionally screwed without his knowing, the result of the match was still decided well before the bell rang to start the match.
Tragedy struck Bret once more in 1999 when his youngest brother, Owen Hart, died in a freak accident during a WWE live event. He then had to face the end of his own career where, in a match in 2000 against Goldberg, he suffered three consecutive concussions in their match. He then quietly walked away from the ring and shortly afterward suffered a final and definite career ending injury when he had a stroke. Bret Hart's career was nice and bright and then ended in darkness and sadness. Truly a sound grappling technician in the ring and an awe-inspiring speaker, Bret Hart's horrid ending to a great career sadly knocked him down a few notches on this ranking.

8) Mick Foley
People loved this guy, and for great reason. He pulled off one of the greatest displays of character develop in wrestling history. Not once, but three times! And it took him a remarkable short while to accomplish this in just a few years. He played three different characters and pulled them all off in fantastic grandeur. The rough-and-tumble 'King of Hardcore' Cactus Jack, the deranged Mankind, and the fun-loving Dude Love. All of these three distinctly unique personas equaled one very intelligent best-selling author. Mick Foley. He is also solid proof that if you have plenty of personality you really don't need the physique to match it. He was literally a 'human Muppet'. Ric Flair once callously referred to him as a 'glorified stuntman'. Isn't that what a professional performer is? Correction Mr. Flair, Mick Foley is now a 'glorified icon'. He exhibited stellar acting ability, amazing microphone skills, and truly death defying stunts that shocked onlookers. He exhibited all of the greatest qualities of a 'great. '

7) Goldberg
He was the answer to WWE's blowout hit 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. But by and large, it can be clearly determined that Goldberg was clearly anything but a Stone Cold rip-off. He was the ripped and ruthless monster that tore through the star-studded WCW roster in quick time. He garnered a huge following and defined the character that he was. The smoke-breathing behemoth engineered a magnificent, yet short, career hell-bent on pure athletic carnage and total dominance. His brute strength and anarchic wrestling ability soar this great to a respectable spot on this list.

6) Triple H
Many want to believe that this man is the ultimate number 1. Not quite. Let me tell you why. His career was slow-to-warm. He started out as a snob who couldn't win a match without a beefed up She-Man by his side, and even well into his D-X days. The greater part of his career is a sham, and he was also what I like to call a premature Champion. He didn't deserve the title when he won it. He lacked in popularity and compensated for it through heaving hot air into his microphone cameos. He is overrated but his tenure and precise wrestling acumen engineered a very athletic and physical ten time run as Champion. But that is exactly what his career built up to and has at last defined himself as Vince McMahon's old horse.
Triple H has endured so many horrible injuries that it is well believed that this man will be confined to a wheelchair before he even turns 50. He has also shriveled up like a prune after clearly halting heavy steroid use. But he knew he only had one shot at glory and went all the way, but has sufficiently suffered the consequences. He is a politicking phenom, garnering the respect and adoration of the McMahon family, even finding himself married to Stephanie McMahon, daughter of Vince McMahon. They have two kids together. Triple H is not number one simply because he cannot 100% stand up straight knowing what little stands behind him. A natural in the ring with a great worked-up persona encumbered with well-worded monologues make him a respectable leader in this list.

5) "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
This man is the epitome of a Champion. He has the most charisma and athletic ability than any other great. He proved the dominance of the 'little guy'. What a treat it was to watch all the combined years of this man perform in the ring! A blockbuster character with block-busting wrestling moves catapults Shawn Michaels in the prime spot on this roster of greats. His microphone skills have also been duplicated, as his heel days were pure arrogance and ignorance at its finest. But you know what? Even if he lost the damn match, he still outperformed whoever it was that he faced. He is in the upper part of this list where only defined icons exist.

4) Hulk Hogan
Hulkamania lands itself at number 4 on this list. I did not plant him at first for one real reason. He lacked in wrestling ability. He was the reason why I didn't like wrestling completely at first. His matches were God awful. All he would do was throw pain-stakingly slow punches that landed with little effort, bursted out in comical power spurts, haunted many with ridiculous feats of strength and huffed and puffed after only seconds into the match. He was big and cumbersome and only tossed and pounded his opponents around the ring. Even now, it's hard to stomach a whole Hogan match. However, his unbelievable in-ring presence and larger-than-life uber-persona jack this all time great way up on this list.

3) 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
He was the man that was the 'Savior' for Vince McMahon's fledgling WWE in the face of WCW's nWo dominance. The 'Attitude Era' belonged to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as he ushered in the era of the Monday Night Wars. He was at the absolute top. He perfectly defined all of the important aspects of a pro wrestling icon but what separates him from the rest was the importance of his role in turning around the WWE. He was instrumental in WWE dominance that would never be quelled. He doesn't make number one because like a lot of others on this list, catastrophic injuries inevitably cut his career short. But like all greats, his heel turn in the early to mid 2000's was one of memorable and impeccable performance and prestige. A great actor, a stellar performer, and an overall powerful personality drives Stone Cold to sky limit heights.

2) The Undertaker
He is the only man that truly put 'Hulkamania' to a screeching halt on two separate occasions, single-handedly derailed Stone Cold dominance, and thwarted the Rock's rise. He is The Undertaker. There is one statistic that puts him at number two and it is a record that is unbreakable and there could be no more compelling way to achieve it than on the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. His record currently stands at 15-0, which is likely to continue as does his unrivaled passion for the business. The Undertaker deserves this high rank. He has a persona that is purely awesome and incredible. Nobody plays it better than the Deadman. His microphone skills make him such a close score on his character that many think he is what he is. It fits him better than a glove. He is also the greatest of all the 'big men'. No other has been able to display his athletic ability for someone of such massive size. Sid Vicious, The Big Show, Kevin Nash, Abyss, Kane, Giant Gonzalez, Andre the Giant, The Great Khali, Mabel, and even Yokozuna couldn't do what he does in the ring. A living testament to true dominance, The Undertaker sits snug at number two.

1) The Rock
He is the most athletic and characteristically profound figure in Professional Wrestling history. He belongs at number one. And how smart he was to completely walk away at absolutely on top all by his lonesome. The Rock was born out of the tough bedrock strata that was the mid to late 90's wrestling resurgence. He deserves to be #1 because he not only dominated as a heel, but he also punctuated the 'Austin Attitude Era' and categorically emphasized breathing hyperventilation into the ongoing Monday Night Wars. He is number one. The Rock. The Elvis-with-Muscles, Muhammad Ali hybrid. What two better characters could you possibly combine? Arguably the greatest entertainer and athlete that ever lived. I have met the Rock before, as I have all the other members on this list with the exception of Goldberg and Hogan & Hart, and I can honestly say that his dynamic bleeds through every array of his aspiring superstardom.

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