For those who don't know me other than as a casual acquaintance, No, I do not take myself so seriously that I think I can write some definitive work about this subject. But those who DO know me, know that I love wrestling. So this is strictly for my entertainment and hopefully yours if you decide to finish it.
The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment for those who don't know) recently made one of their videos, "The 50 Greatest Superstars of All-Time" available for instant viewing on Netflix. I think this has resulted in more people watching it than if it was just a DVD for purchase. So it's sparked a little conversation among my friends and family on Facebook and I thought I'd chime in with my own list (I chose to do only a Top 10 because I just ain't got that kind of time!). But first, a brief explanation...
Scott Hall (also known as Razor Ramon) said he'd rather be in the ring with someone who was over than someone who could work. Being over for a wrestler means he's popular, whether it's because he's a "good guy" ('babyface' or 'face' for short)and the people love him, or because he's a "bad guy" ('heel') and the people love to hate him. Either way, he's "got" the people. Being able to work means a wrestler may not necessarily "have the people" but he can put on such a good match that when the people watch him in the ring, they are usually entertained. Now why would Hall say he prefers be in the ring with a wrestler who is over, as opposed to a wrestler who can work? Shouldn't a wrestler want to be in the ring with the guy who is going to help him have the best match possible?
The answer is simple. When you're in the ring with a guy who is over, you don't have to do anything! Wrestlers are businessmen. Their job is to make maximum money while taking minimum risk. Because wrestling involves an element of athletics, there's always an element of risk involved even though it is a performance art and not an athletic competition (in other words, wrestling is "fake" for those of you still stuck in the 80s). But when a wrestler is over, you're practically assured of making money and increasing your value even if you don't "tear the house down" with a great match. The harder you have to try in the ring, the greater your risk becomes.
Through the years there have been some phenomenal athletes who performed as wrestlers who could "tear the house down" on any given night. But you ask the average person on the street to name some of them and they'll most likely draw a blank. But you ask them to name a popular wrestler, and there'll probably be one or two guys who will come to their mind right away whom wrestling "purists" will tell you were not great workers, but they knew how to get over.
I like to consider myself a wrestling purist. I LOVE to watch great wrestling. But I also appreciate the importance of a wrestler getting over. The more over a wrestler is, the better it is for the business as a whole. The more fans come to see the "main attraction" the more money the business makes and the more money that wrestler makes. Then there's the "trickle down" effect. In essence, if you're part of the company, you're a part of helping the "main attraction" get over and the more money he brings in, the more the company is bringing in and it then trickles down to you. That's why these guys don't really beat each other up. They're working together to put on a performance that's going to make the both of them money. When someone gets hurt, it hurts the entire product because now he can't perform.
But a great worker can have great matches his entire career and ultimately not make a dent in the bottom line. It's the guys who get over, through a combination of looks, charisma and crossover appeal, that elevate the business of pro wrestling and deserve to be recognized as the Greatest Wrestlers of All-Time. That being said, here we go...
1) HULK HOGAN. Ask someone to name a professional wrestler and even if they don't know a thing about wrestling, they know the name Hulk Hogan. He's still the only wrestler ever to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It's understood that he had a lot of help getting to that place (the promotional genius of Vince McMahon, owner of the WWE, as well as all of the opponents he faced) but that's the case with every wrestler. Hogan knew how to get over perhaps better than any wrestler in history and deserves credit for it. In the 80s every kid believed in the power of Hulkamania, even me and Hogan was not one of my favorites. Bottom line, he did more to eleveate the business of professional wrestling than anyone.
2) ANDRE THE GIANT. Before Hulk Hogan was a household name, there was one other wrestler who everyone knew and that was Andre the Giant. Billed as being 7'5" tall, Andre was really only 6'11" but he had a condition called giantism that caused him to look more like a giant than a tall, lanky basketball player of similar height. This made him an attraction everywhere he went. And at a time when Hulkamania was struggling to get off the ground for lack of a reputable opponent, Andre became a villain to challenge Hogan for the WWF World Title at WrestleMania 3, which is still the largest event in wrestling history. Andre put Hogan over in that match and legitimized Hulkamania. He was the only person who could and therefore, deserves nearly as much credit as Hogan does for the way the wrestling business benefitted.
3) THE ROCK. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson came along during a period when wrestling was experiencing another boom in business. And he contributed to it as much or more than anyone by being more charismatic than perhaps any other performer in the history of the business. Incredibly funny, he not only mastered the art of improvisation in his interviews (promos), but he also realized the importance of catchphrases. The fans could get involved with the Rock more than they could with anyone before or since because they all knew he would eventually say, "If you smelllllllllllllllllll what the Rock is cookin'!" giving them a chance to say it right along with him. And there were nearly a dozen others. Like Hogan and Andre, he has tremendous crossover appeal, resulting in the most successful acting career a wrestler has ever enjoyed. The fact that he is African American and a featured star also helped draw a whole new demographic of fans that in the past never had a main event performer of his caliber to support.
4) STEVE AUSTIN. The boom period in wrestling that The Rock contributed to was really started by the emergence of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Austin was the central figure in ushering in the "Attitude Era" in the WWF, when wrestling became more "real" with grittier, edgier storylines and less cartoony. It has since regressed back to a more "kid-friendly" product, proving that the change was more trendy than revolutionary but it did result in the most lucrative period that the wrestling business has ever enjoyed because it made wrestling something "cool" to watch instead of something you were expected to grow out of. The popularity of catchphrases that the Rock ran with also began with Austin who would end his promos with "...'cause Stone Cold said so!" and it wasn't long before the fans were joining in.
5) RODDY PIPER. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper still gets a big reaction to this day. His trademark Scottish kilt and bagpipes are two of the most recognizable character symbols in wrestling. He was at the forefront of the WWF's push to gain more mainstream media exposure through his rivalry with Hulk Hogan, the whole "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" of the mid-80s and the WWF's association with MTV. Whenever the WWF needed one of its stars to interact with a celebrity, they always called on Piper who could always hold his own in any verbal sparring match and most importantly, generate the public's interest in the product. Working with mainstream stars such as Muhammed Ali, Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper, he has to be given just as much credit for the first WrestleMania being the commercial success that it was as anyone. He was an innovator as well with his legendary interview segment "Piper's Pit" (which has spawned a seemingly endless supply of imitations over the years) proving that a wrestler could get over without actually being in the ring. Several other superstars have used this same method to similar success in furthering their own careers. Not as large or massively muscled as his rival Hogan, it was easier for fans to identify with Piper, as evidenced when he exceeded Hogan in popularity briefly prior to his 1987 retirement when he became a babyface.
6) "GORGEOUS" GEORGE. A true pioneer, George Wagner was just a wrestler like all the others of his day until he started to tap into the persona that would eventually come to be known as "Gorgeous" George. It was the first time anyone had incorporated showmanship and personality into wrestling and it is the reason wrestling continues to do big business to this day. Eventually, someone else probably would have done the same thing that George did, but the fact that he realized this in the 1930s makes him a true visionary. More than all of the technical wrestlers of his day, George was a household name, even being mentioned on the I Love Lucy show. His innovations have continued to benefit the business of professional wrestling to this day.
7) BUDDY ROGERS. Similar to how "Gorgeous" George brought showmanship to the forefront, the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers brought the art of the promo. The first of the really great talkers, Buddy became a huge draw everywhere he went and became not only the NWA World Champion (at the time the highest honor in the business) but also the first WWWF (now the WWE) World Champion. He would be the only man to hold both titles until his successor "Nature Boy" Ric Flair won the WWF World Title in 1992 nearly thirty years later! Since his time, the ability to deliver a compelling promo has become almost a necessity in a wrestler getting over. Another of his innovations was "The Look." Rogers was the first wrestler to really recognize the importance of maintaining a certain physique and style. Wrestlers to this day are able to get exposure that they might not normally get simply by possessing the right look.
7) RANDY SAVAGE. The best worker on this list so far, and probably the second-most recognizable personality of the 80s other than Hogan. The "Macho Man" had tremendous crossover appeal, as evidenced by a successful commercial and voice-over career. He was one of the first wrestlers on the big stage who could appeal to both the mainstream public with his charisma and over-the-top persona, and the die-hard wrestling fan with his in-ring ability. With the addition of Miss Elizabeth, Savage was not the first to make a beautiful woman his manager, but he was undoubtedly the most successful at using her presence to further his character's drawing power. Their on-screen relationship opened the door for storylines involving women and romance being central in main event matches at big events.
8) JAKE ROBERTS. Jake "The Snake," once maligned by purists for brining a python to the ring and draping it over his defeated opponents, is now widely respected as a legend and an innovator. In an era of cartoonish characters who would yell and scream, Jake was a man of average build who spoke softly but could back up everything he said, not because he could beat his opponent to a bloody pulp, but because he possessed the DDT: a move that was like a secret weapon he could strike with at any moment to defeat even the largest wrestlers. Even when he was still wrestling way past his prime, fans believed in him as a competitor because of that one move. It is a testament to his understanding of ring psychology. At a time when a lot of acts tried to incorporate animals, Jake was the only one who was able to do it in a way that came across as cool not corny. That combined with his unique persona, really revolutionized the industry for wrestlers who were different to make an impact.
9) VINCE McMAHON. Wrestling is built on rivalries. And the greatest rivalry of all time was also another reason for the the boom period the business experienced during the emergence of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Vince McMahon, as a performer, really got involved in a storyline for the first time and even though everyone knew he owned the company and Austin was working for him, he was able to make the audience suspend their disbelief and just enjoy the conflict between the two. His portrayal of the unfair, arrogant, overbearing boss was the perfect foil to "Stone Cold's" renegade persona that the fans identified with so completely. The feud was revolutionary in that it really made more of the inner workings of the business part of the entertainment itself and opened up opportunities for the drama to play out in venues other than a wrestling ring.
10) THE UNDERTAKER. Since "Gorgeous" George, gimmicks have always been a part of wrestling. The right gimmick can take a wrestler from mediocre to the main event. Mark Callaway, while a talented athlete and performer, was just another wrestler when he adopted the gimmick of The Undertaker. A little cartoonish and silly at first, few probably dreamed that it would go on to become the most successful gimmick of all time. Unlike Hogan, Andre, or the Rock, who are simply amped up versions of themselves, the Undertaker is a character. Most character gimmicks lose popularity over time but Callaway has been able to adapt the gimmick to fit the changing times and interests of the fans and has become a legend who transcends the business as a result. The Undertaker is truly proof that while he's not nearly as charismatic or athletic as others on this list, the right gimmick can result in a legendary career.
There you go. My Top 10. Some might argue that there aren't more pure wrestlers on this list but like I said before, being a great worker doesn't always translate into more money. The purpose of this list is to identify those wrestlers who have done the most to further wrestling's mainstream credibility and drawing power.
Feel free to comment. I'd love to know what you think. Later peeps! ;)
