Vince McMahon's list of the top 5 wrestlers of all time...

[Tabascocat]

Did you know that Snuka's daughter is currently in the WWE? She is on TV almost weekly.

Had no idea, don't watch wrestling anymore

 

[Fletch]

Ultimate warrior is number one and its not debatable.

Uh, no. Hacksaw Jim Dugan rates higher. Jake The Snake too. Who can forget DV? That's right, Domestic Violence with his finishing move The Bit** Slap was ruthless.

 

[zrinkill]

No love for the Freebirds or VonErichs?

Kevin VonErich was my favorite when I was a kid.

Barefoot Kevin ...... watched them with my grandpa.

 

[Biggems]

If I'm looking at the top-5 for the WWE/WWF/WWWF, my list would go:

1. Steve Austin – In many ways a bigger draw than Hogan was in the 80’s, in other ways he was not. However, he took over the top spot of a fledgling company that was struggling to make payroll. Hogan had a fairly successful company that was getting ready to expand its operations and make a move towards wrestling dominance that no other promoter could match. He also didn’t have the heels that Hogan had to work with and Austin did it as a heel and as a face. Not to mention he practically came up with the character by himself.

2. Hulk Hogan – Hate to put him here since I think after 1989 he’s been a burden to the business outside of his stint in New Japan where he was a limited time draw. He worked in wrestling at the time because he was a massive body builder looking type of wrestler who was much more agile than most of the wrestlers who were his size and more barrel chested. But, he had fantastic set of heels to work programs with. One after another…Iron Shiek, Roddy Piper, Terry Funk, King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, Randy Savage. When Bundy is by far the worst heel to work with…you’re doing quite well. Can’t deny the guy for how well he drew in the 80’s.


3. The Rock – Actually not a huge of his work and I think he’s much more limited that people think. He plays one character extremely well….the guy that cuts heel like promos, but works and sells like a babyface. And he has to cut some pretty long-winded promos. His short, but sharp promos were dreadful. However…he was extremely good at that one type of character and it still sells well. He’s also the only real wrestler that legitimately went mainstream. I don’t think he could do what Austin did. I think he could have done what Hogan did. Really close between him and Hogan.


4. Bruno Sammartino – Responsible for Vince Sr.’s success as a promoter. He also showed that you can put the belt on your top babyface and it can work. Vince Jr. took that and ran with it while other promoters usually put the belt on their top heel. Has the all time record of selling out MSG which was so vital to the company’s success.


5. John Cena – I’m not a fan of his character or in-ring work. But, the guy sells and is majorly over. What’s also unique about him is that he can wrestle a heel and the blow-off match will then turn the heel to face. All the while Cena still remains the face. Very difficult and valuable to pull off.






YR

I can't argue with that list..........rounding out the top 10 for the promotion.....6. HBK, 7. HHH, 8.The Undertaker, 9. Brett Hart, 10. Bobby Heenan (wrestler, manager, announcer, and one of the best Heels ever)

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I can't argue with that list..........rounding out the top 10 for the promotion.....6. HBK, 7. HHH, 8.The Undertaker, 9. Brett Hart, 10. Bobby Heenan (wrestler, manager, announcer, and one of the best Heels ever)

That's a good list, but Andre "The Giant" has to be in the top-10 somewhere. Andre was a staple of the WWWF/WWF in the 70's and first part of the 80's. The guy was an amazing draw and had some of the best feuds.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Undertaker is the greatest ever. Best character, best moves , best presentation IMHO.

 

[DanteEXT]

Undertaker is the greatest ever. Best character, best moves , best presentation IMHO.

Which one? His mortician gimmick was ok for the time as everyone had ridiculous fantasy gimmicks but I was never a fan. Personally I think the American Bad *** gimmick was the best he used, more appropriate for this day and age.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Which one? His mortician gimmick was ok for the time as everyone had ridiculous fantasy gimmicks but I was never a fan. Personally I think the American Bad *** gimmick was the best he used, more appropriate for this day and age.

He, Calaway certainly has made the Undertaker gimmick last a long time. The guy's a great athlete too, sometimes that wasn't as showcased in the WWE. I think he's a top 50 guy. Not #1 and not in the top 10.

 

[Biggems]

That's a good list, but Andre "The Giant" has to be in the top-10 somewhere. Andre was a staple of the WWWF/WWF in the 70's and first part of the 80's. The guy was an amazing draw and had some of the best feuds.

i agree...............bump heenan and put andre at 9..............put hart at 10. heenan can be 11.

 

[Biggems]

IMO, the undertaker is the best character in wrestling history.....mark callous is the best big man of all time. he absolutely lived and sold the character. he had the promos and the in ring down to a tee. not only is the undertaker the best character, it is also the best in ring entrance of all time.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is another of the greatest characters, along with Sting (but we are talking WWE), Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Kane, and to be honest Vince McMahon,

 

[MichaelWinicki]

IMO, the undertaker is the best character in wrestling history.....mark callous is the best big man of all time. he absolutely lived and sold the character. he had the promos and the in ring down to a tee. not only is the undertaker the best character, it is also the best in ring entrance of all time.

Stone Cold Steve Austin is another of the greatest characters, along with Sting (but we are talking WWE), Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Kane, and to be honest Vince McMahon,

Mark is a terrific wrestling "big man". He's close to the best... I'd rate him the 4th best big man behind Hogan, Andre and Bruiser Brody. I'd rate him ahead of guys like Ernie Ladd and Blackjack Mulligan.

Vince & crew is terrific at creating characters. By far the best in the business. The problem I have with the characters is that their mic work suffers because they're so far removed from who they really are.

Also the characters cause the whole thing to be less real... Yeah, it's not real but compare the Undertaker character to say Bruiser Brody's. It's much easier to believe that Brody was a certifiable lunatic who was likely to do just about anything than it was believing the Undertaker's character.

 

[Sarge]

I kinda liked Ernie The Big Cat Ladd myself.

 

[Sarge]

Dominic DeNucci was also an early favorite of mine.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I kinda liked Ernie The Big Cat Ladd myself.

Oh, I'm a huge Ladd fan myself. I'm not sure he's a top-50 wrestler of all time but he's certainly in the top-100 (closer to 50 than 100). I don't think Ladd was the best worker as far as making his opponent look good, but his mic work was excellent and he could draw as a top-flight heel in most regions.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Dominic DeNucci was also an early favorite of mine.

Dominic was huge in the north east. He was Bruno Jr. when it came to using his ethnic appeal to win fans over and to draw. He was stiff in the ring but he was a hoot when he "lost his temper".

Not a top-200 wrestler but a solid guy for any promotion. He was always willing to do the job to an up & coming heel. Quite often a future heel challenger to Bruno or Backland would face and beat Dominic in a TV match.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Carlos Colon into the HOF? Really? That's kinda weak.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Carlos Colon into the HOF? Really? That's kinda weak.

They (the WWE) are inducting Colon into the HOF?

 

[Sarge]

Not one mention of Tony Atlas?.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

3. The Rock – Actually not a huge of his work and I think he’s much more limited that people think. He plays one character extremely well….the guy that cuts heel like promos, but works and sells like a babyface. And he has to cut some pretty long-winded promos. His short, but sharp promos were dreadful. However…he was extremely good at that one type of character and it still sells well. He’s also the only real wrestler that legitimately went mainstream. I don’t think he could do what Austin did. I think he could have done what Hogan did. Really close between him and Hogan.

Couldn't you say the same about Austin?

 

[Manwiththeplan]

He also didn’t have the heels that Hogan had to work with and Austin did it as a heel and as a face. Not to mention he practically came up with the character by himself.
YR

Austin had some pretty good heels. Triple H, Kane, Undertaker, The Rock were all early heels for him. Then later on The Big Show and Kurt Angle. Not to mention Vince McMahon was a great heel, one of the best, people just love to hate him.