RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Pulse Wrestling's Top 100 of the Modern Era

for your mockery, here's how i would list out a top 10, taking as many factors into consideration as i could; career, skill, popularity, impact, legend, legacy, influence, feuds, etc.


10) bret hart

• he had a shorter career, which is why i ranked him lower. but he has big name recognition. amazing technical skill, perhaps best of the top ten. he's involved in one of the most famous wrestling-fan events of all time; the "screw job" and relating dramatic defection to wcw. his legacy remains today, some ten years out of the business; "you screwed bret" is still passionately chanted and debated.

9) the rock

• truly the people's champ, working fan appeal into a career. working the mic and telling a story in the ring to get the crowd into whatever he was doing. great atheletic ability, great energy. liked amongst his colleagues. able to succesfully branch out into other venues and industries like none before.

8) andre

• carried over from the pre-modern era (as billed by this list) to the "wrestlemania" era. enormous impact for enormous size. legendary name, long running career. life found interest outside of the business into movies and documentaries.

7) macho man

• amazing character recognition for all facets, from persona to voice to sayings to style and in-ring performance. long run over two federations, building stables of abilities. full package of wrestling skill and performance skill. famous feuds and battles.

6) shawn michaels

• essentially has two careers, both impressive on their own. amazing in ring skill, puts on a great show, can carry matches single-handedly. helped keep the wwf running in the business lull and helped bring it back during the climb up to the top. continues to contribute and perform at a high level.

5) triple

• storied career of title reigns and feuds. great legacy of staying on top while putting others over (often forgotten). impossible to ignore his involvement in current and certainly future of the business overall from a creative / ownership standpoint.

4) taker

• incredible, long career. iconic character and theme. instant recognition, consistant pop. dedicated run in a single federation. continues to operate at a top level, generally unheard of for someone of his age or size.

3) stone cold

• helped revive the industry and establish a rejected career. carried a defeated promotion on his back towards the top of the pile. definitive character to define an era. very good in ring skill, at least early on, to carry matches.

2) flair

• insurmountable industry career, from character to ring skills to mic skills to feuds to length-of-career to working with others and putting them over. has the respect of his peers, and has carried multiple federations on his back. continues to put his all into matches decades after starting to put his all into matches. he is wrestling.

1) hogan

• by adding the characteristic of sheer impact, he simply has to be top choice. flair has the wrestling appeal, and will likely dominate the internet/smart vote, but to the business as a whole, hogan has no competition. flair keeps things going in the ring and those in that world, but hogan brought eyes to flair and the business as a whole. title runs, building wrestlemania and hulkamania and the wwf overall, the key to the nwo and building the wcw overall, even all of his behind-the-scenes dictatorness all give him unparalleled clout, for better or worse. his mic skills, charisma, story-telling, and two iconic characters are amazing, and would certainly guarantee him mention in a top ten, but its his overall legacy and legend that lock him in as the top spot.

Dude, he can do a mean stepover facelock. That makes him better than Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit combined. If you factor in his on stage presence and impressive charisma and it was like Ric Flair, Bret Hart, and Antonio Inoki combined to form a single person who had sex with Jesus Christ and produced a baby that would redeem wrestling in the eyes of people everywhere.

Plus, he can do a mean armbar that seems straight out of Chris Jericho's trademark submission moveset. I bet if he got into the industry sooner and was employed by Heyman, he would have been the biggest wrestling superstar ever. Like, bigger and more influential than Shane Douglas himself.

Flair isn't #1, the list is shit.

valid points, though i think a lil skewed. but whatever, mine im sure are skewed the other way.

what about this argument: if you remove both from the sport, individually. if you delete flair from wrestling history, and try to re-imagine the timeline and industry without flair in it (maybe wcw never came to prominance, maybe wwe folded a few years back, maybe nothing changed, etc). then remove hogan from wrestling history, and try to re-imagine the timeline and industry without hogan in it (maybe vader became vadermania, maybe wrestlemania ended after 3 seasons, maybe nothing changed, etc).

which "sliders" universe is more different than ours?

to me, particularly with that perspective, hogan has by far the larger impact on the sport-dustry. do you guys really see it differently?

15:Chris Benoit
14:Kurt Angle
13:Mic Foley
12:The Rock
11:Andre
10:Terry Funk
9:HHH
8:Stone Cold
7:Shawn Michaels
6:Sting
5:The Undertaker
4:Macho Man
3:The American Dream
2:Old Bald Orange Cunt
1:Ric Flair

I think maybe Sting would not be as high.
While he will always be one of my faves, I think his "impact" would be less than someone like Angle!

Now, onto something Rob asked, but obviously he didnt read my post correctly!

There is a simple fact with any top 100/50/20 etc, that when they are being compiled, flavours of the month will always factor high, where as those that have lost popularity over the years will drop down the lists.

Take music for example.
If you did a top 100 albums list about 15 years ago, an album like Appetite for destruction would have ranked right near the top, as Guns N Roses were still a pretty potent musical force.
Now, if that same list was compiled today, not only would newer albums now be on the list, but as Guns N Roses are now considered a bit of a joke due to Axls antics and the "will it wont it be released" Chinese democracy album, you can pretty much guarantee that this will affect Appetites placing.
The album is still as good as it ever was, but the shit thats happened since then will make people think less of it.
You can also bet that if an album by a current flavour of the month, hits quite high in a list today, if the band then fails to continue with a decent career, then in 15 years they wont even feature in the list.

Hogans career in the last few years has done enough to tarnish whatever good he has achieved in the past.

Personally though, it would not surprise me if he is number one, cause if the guy is a Hogan mark, he would never accept Hogan was anything other than the greatest wrestler ever!

Personally though, it would not surprise me if he is number one, cause if the guy is a Hogan mark, he would never accept Hogan was anything other than the greatest wrestler ever!

15. Dusty Rhodes
14. Steve Austin
13. Arn Anderson
12. Honky Tonk Man
11. Ted Dibiase
10. Terry Funk
9. The Rock
8. Jerry Lawler
7. Ricky Steamboat
6.Eddie Guerrero
5.Jake The Snake Roberts
4.Under Taker
3. Rowdy Roddy Piper
2. Hulk Hogan
1. Ric Flair