Way too many. Just off the top of my head.....Thesz, Bruno, Jack Brisco, Harley Race, Flair, Dusty, Hogan, Austin, Rock..... And that list above shows there's even multiple criteria you could judge them on. Which matters more.....drawing power or technical ability? Hogan was far from a technical wrestler, but he drew assloads of money.
@@zlinedavid I would honestly say in the modern era, or at least the recent era, since about the 80s. The top guys are the best talkers. Flair, Dusty, Hogan, Austin, Rock, all the best of the best talkers. Really Flair was the only one of those guys who was a top technical talent. They all could work, even Hogan when he had to. The talking, the catchphrases, all that is what put them above the rest.
Jim hates these questions...there are way to many variables to consider...Gangs of New York is my favorite movie, but I don’t think it’s the greatest movie ever made...there’s a difference between best and favorite...
@Zedrik Allen Sadly most of us will never get to see the work that made Corny such a fan. I always refuse to 'rank' who is the greatest, but if Cornette says Lawler, then Lawler is in the conversation.
Whistler's Mother, Whistler, American......first time I've seen this referenced in a wrestling forum. However, you're not wrong about either statement. Met The KIng at a slow day at a comic con. Super nice guy (not a particular big fella, but I"m sure he'd beat me down good even though I have 30 pounds on him). Thanks for a good 15 minutes I won't forget, Mr. Lawler!
For me it's a toss up between Bret and Shawn. Bret is the best pure wrestler, but Shawn was the much better performer. Both of them could legitimately claim to be the best, but both come at it from opposite ends of the business.
@@paulflewitt5599 There are dozens of right answers. You could say anyone from Bret to Shawn to Bockwinkel to Harley Race to Jack Brisco to Angle... If I owned a territory and could pick any wrestlers from any era to work with, I am not sure if I would want the drama that came with Shawn.
Over 400 comments and no one has mentioned Rikidozan. No one anywhere pulled as high of TV ratings as he did. The entire sport in Japan is because of him. Of course he wasn't the greatest wrestler ever, but you would have a hard time finding anyone more Influential.
Depends what you consider a wrestler and I'm not joking. If the criteria is simply anybody who has ever been paid to wrestle and what is their impact on the wrestling genre, the answer is undeniably Vince McMahon.
Not only did El Santo have Movies in Mexico starring Him He was referenced in a truly Classic NWA Florida Angle that reacquainted bitter Ring enemies Jody "The Assassin" Hamilton and Dusty Rhodes. Jody Hamilton pretended to be a slimmed down version of El Santo supposedly "returning" from Mexico all so he could smash a plaque over Dusty's head!😉🎤🎥🌊☀️🍊🌴🤼♂️B.W.
For me, I would say Savage. He could work as a heel or face, had good size and was athletic , was a unique character and promo. Could work different types of wrestlers and had a long run in the business working and drawing money on top everywhere he went and transcended wrestling. All you have to say is “oh yeah” and people know it’s Randy. He also was loved by everyone from kids to adults to casuals to smarks and had some of The best ring attire. He ranks high in every category and had no flaws to him.
Biggest name probably the Rock now IMO, but I only started watching recently. Pretty crazy to watch older segments and hear the pop that Stone Cold got. Perhaps more fan involvement back then but my god was he over.
Thanks, casual fan. Savage deserves consideration for sure. The rest of those are just "most popular wrestlers that were rammed down your throat in the 80's & 90's."
Nick Bockwinkel and Flair certainly deserve consideration, but I still say Jumpin' Jeff Farmer is the greatest. When he got backstabbed one way or another and decided to go Full Force, there was no stopping him.
Perhaps but if there's no Motley Crews, there's no Farmermania. And without Farmer, there's no young Kenny Omega washing Jeff's jocks to pay his dues for his future run.
Terry Funk is up there for versatility and longevity. Harley Race is up there for being a touring World Champion. By Brian's criteria: Influential :Hulk Hogan/My personal favorite:Keiji Mutoh.
Bruno Sammartino was Pittsburgh royalty. I watched him on a 9" screen to a cutout crowd. Arm drag takedown, arm drag takedown, hip toss, bulldog . . . truth beyond science to a 12 year old in those halcyon days. /respect.
The reason I watched wrestling in the 70s was Andre The Giant, there'll never be anyone like him again. The best in ring performers Ive seen were Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask, Eddie Guerrero, Rick Martel and Steamboat.
I saw him for the first time in Australia around 77/78 when he was really young. Jim Niedhart said that if you couldnt have a great match with Martel you shouldnt be in the business.
Purely based on in ring basis then Bret Hart But if you consider mic skills, character,charisma and in ring psychology,drawing power together,Bret will be nowhere near top 10
Here’s a thought for influential. Lou thesz. I mean 1 of Austin’s biggest pops consistently was when he did the Lou thesz press. That tells me that bloke holds up in any era.
Without Thesz there is no professional wrestling. He basically pulled together and made the territories work, and made the NWA World Title have prestige.
@@drg5352 Agree. He held the NWA world title for over 10 years combined, and only had 3 reigns. So each time he won it, on average, he held it for 3+ years.
@@zlinedavid Lou spent a combined 18 years holding officially recognized world titles, longer than anyone. He also amassed the longest winning streak of any wrestler that I'm aware of - something like 934 - 0.
Jimmy King has to be right on up there. The guy by far had the most 5☆ matches, had the best promos, best gimmick, best song intro, best rapping style and the physical attributes that makes a great champion. Once in a lifetime talent.
Whoever you pick can spark a lively and interesting discussion that could educate and shed light on a wrestler that someone may have never considered or even seen wrestle. I think that's why people ask Jim. He's a knowledgeable guy and he has no problem arguing his points, which makes for a good podcast.
@@MachoWrestling101 I watch mostly old stuff, and I tend to agree with the ratings more often than not. I still think the obsession with one guy's ratings is unhealthy, but in general his old ratings tend to be quite agreeable. But with the new stuff, he'll just give a random unimpressive TV match 4.75 or something ridiculous like that, which pisses me off. His current ratings are completely off the chain IMO. It's not even a case of different tastes, he rates everything so much higher nowadays. Really inconsistent.
@@johnkolko5199 his stuff vs Pepper Gomez in SF and as a tag team with Pat Patterson is more of what I’m talking about... the footage is out there, but its rare and in pieces.
It's Hogan.....was the catalyst for two of the greatest eras in wrestling history (Golden and Attitude era), arguably the greatest heel and face ever, and introduced wrestling to mainstream American pop culture.
I will always see Bob Backlund as an embarrasment, a cringe joke and pure jobber material ala Santino Marella. I don't even want to remember he was a champion
@@stevehogan9958 omega, tanahashi, okada, ibushi, ospreay, fenix, allin, ricochet, moxley are literally 10 guys wrestling now who are all better than backlund omao
@@liamcourt5530 Based on that list, I'd say you have a certain style of wrestler you like, so I'm not surprised you don't care for Backlund. That's fine; to each, his own. Tanahashi and Okada are also two of my favorites
Lou Thesz, the inring greatness of Daniel Bryan with the ego of Jeff Jarrett. Fantastic and incredibly long career. Total workhorse and inring innovator... but booked himself to the top too many times for way too long.
@@staalhard666 1.) Lou didn't book anything; the NWA did. 2.) Lou was on top for so long because he was a massive draw who generated business everywhere.
@@Aphelion_k9f Technicality. Lou Thesz probably originated creative control. Only wanted to drop the title to guys he picked himself. For instance: Buddy Rogers was way more popular near the end of the 50s. But Thesz wanted to pass the torch to anyone but him. And Lou took the title from Rogers immediately when he came back in the mid 60s. The way Rogers was treated indirectly influenced WWWF to break away from NWA. You know what? Ask Jim. Pre 70s pro wrestling is barely treated on the podcast and this would be a great opportunity.
@@staalhard666 Nah, those types of politics go back to the Gotch era at least. Really even before that. Buddy was more popular in the early 60's (61 to 63) but he only had 3 good years before his health took a dive. Notice how quickly the WWE maneuvered their title onto Bruno. It wasn't Lou's decision to become champion again after holding the title for a decade. That was the NWA's decision. They chose Lou because he had legit fighting ability (like Brock Lesnar and Dan Severn) and asked him to defeat Buddy and get their belt by any means necessary. The reason why Rogers was treated so poorly by the NWA was because Vince Sr. and the Northeast were hogging all of his dates. The NWA was not a promotion like WWE is now or AEW, but an organization made up of 30+ promoters from around the globe. It was like the WBO or the NBA or NFL. The NWA champion had to meet the demands of all the members and Buddy was only meeting the needs of one. Thesz only held the belt a little while before dropping it to Kiniski. Also note that Thesz held much of his pull because of his relationship with Sam Muchnick. He and Muchnick were actually rival promoters back in the 40's before the NWA (Alliance) was formed. However, there were limits to his pull. The NWA forced Thesz to drop the title because they refused to let him take the belt with him to Japan.
I would go with Karl Gotch for most influential. The wrestling philosophy he passed down to all his students and how they used it can be credited for a lot of things, both good and bad, in modern day wrestling.
Will always be the Undertaker to me. Larger than life character, identifiable in the mainstream all over the world, was a draw on top of the card for his entire 30 year career. An absolute legend.
Hogan was a star in the AWA, WCW, WWF and really brought Pro wrestling to the modern living room. Stone Cold could work some amazing matches and was pure gold as far as persona interview. Ric Flair was an amazing traveling champion and what an entrance. Brett Hart was one of the best workers EVER, he could make a match look good with ANYONE, but not a top tier promo or charisma. The Rock is the biggest and highest paid main stream star. Lawler created lots of amazing talent, he kept a territory hot for decades as its number one star. There is no right or wrong answer... Hogan isnt my favorite by a long shot... but I think he really may have had the greatest impact. But I dont know if that is the same as the greatest of all time?
Even the Influential part is tricky..Hogan/WWF's rise essentially killed territories.. I was a Hogan fan until 1998.I could not watch most of the undercard..then he comes out and does a DQ finish in 5 minutes on Nitro?No way!I was salty at him for a long time..but to be at his level for that amount of time..not many can do that..to be the most famous wrestler on the planet!
2 biggest influencial wrestler's of all time gotta be Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Because so many have TRIED to duplicate so many aspects about them. Still to this day.
@@ToxicAvengerCleanYourMind Uuuh NO! lol..Ric Flair was influenced but he turned that gimmick into his own and put his own FLAIR into it! Jay Lethal imitated Ric Flair in that TNA Episode and NOT Buddy Rogers!..lol.. None of the wrestlers today like The Miz weren't even born when Buddy was wrestling. EVERYBODY IS INFLUENCED BY RIC FLAIR PERIOD.
The amount of wrestlers throughout the years that have been absolute legends in the business makes this an impossible question. Only thing I can safely say is that no one now can be considered the GOAT
It's The Rock. It really is. Best promos, charismatic, decent enough in the ring. Transcended the business like no other. Was at the forefront of the most popular time of wrestling in mainstream and culture. Got himself over without being propped up by others and didn't need to win to get over. The only other closest you can get is Hogan but Rock was more successful outside of wrestling so he gets the vote.
ummm pretty sure the hulkster diddn't get himself over lol vince put a promotional rocket on him for like 6 years straight he was everywhere outside of wrestling while wrestling he may be the most iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii- conic * while looking up into the air to the left with hands on hips* but he was on a monster push for years
@@despicablemonster Oh sorry, the comparison with Hogan was I meant that he too was a megastar who managed to break into the mainstream and achieve global fame. He obviously got a massive push yeah.
As far as transcending the business and full out charisma, absolutely he’s the best. As far as his work within the squared circle is questionable; not bad at all but he wouldn’t even crack the top 5. As good as he is promo-wise, he’s not even in the top 5 either; he’s mostly punchlines
@@tinotica I respect your opinion. Rock isn't one of the best work rate wise no, I would say good enough that you would not consider him bad though. He could certainly go in the ring if needed, like the Iron Man match at Judgment Day 2000 or his matches with Angle and Benoit but he would not be top 5 I agree. Luckily the wrestling business doesn't care about how good you are in the ring to an extent. Regarding his promos, he certainly centred some of his promos around his catchphrases later on, but every single time he did the crowd ate it up. The WWF Smackdown show and numerous video games were literally named after them so though they may be corny but they worked very well! I also disagree that he only used punchlines. His mic work as a part of the Nation was great, being the cocky young member going against the veteran leader Faarooq, as corporate champ it was even better with him and Shane McMahon being so entertaining together, the insults to Mankind and Austin which to this day still make me laugh. In 2000 he became more fan friendly so it became more cheesy I agree but then in 2003 as Hollywood Rock, again his heel promos were great. Surely he wouldn't be as big as a movie star if he wasn't great at talking. Also another point to add on, as I said he never needed to win to get over. He helped give others legitimacy/a rub just because he wasn't selfish like many other wrestlers who claim to be the greatest. That might be the best thing about The Rock, he was more than happy to put others over. He had confidence in himself, he knew he was bulletproof so he didn't get caught up in his ego like some others. Sorry for the essay by the way but I love wrestling and I don't get to talk about it much haha, take care.
@@Tafeafc ill definitely give you Hollywood Rock as that was my favorite character the rock ever played. And it also gave my favorite Rock Austin match. I’ll also give you the promos from 2001 as his banter with Stephanie, Shane, and Booker T were really funny. I guess he just got super corny going from 1999-2000. I meant to say catchphrases as opposed to punchlines earlier
Couldn't say it better myself. Ric Flair could work, great promo and is still relevant to this day (every time a chop is thrown, WHOOOOOO). On top of that he still relevant in pop culture.
@Dust Devil exactly.. If someone is their own booker that should take some of that "Flair" off of them being so good. They were pushed down peoples throats
@@blondie5989 I don’t condone what he did. What he did was terrible. However, I can see past that and appreciate the skills and matches he had when Benoit was in the ring
Martin “Farmer” Burns Lou Thesz Frank Gotch, Buddy Rogers Gorgeous Georgie for the early era of wrestling the 79's 80's 90's era of wrestling is mega hard to pick Gimmick, money making draw, charisma, technical ability
No one was more influential in building the wrestling business on television than Gorgeous George. Before him it was an aftermath and after him it was a television staple.
As much as I do not care for the Fella, Hulk Hogan is My pick as he was a Top Draw across at least 3 Major Wrestling Promotions and is still synonymous with the Industry to this Day ...
For me personally, it's either Flair or Bret, though I love Randy Savage alot. Flair as a promo and a personality was untouchable while Bret as a worker was miles beyond most others. Honorable mentions would be Piper, Curt Henning, Eddie Guerrero, Terry Funk.
For my money (at least in terms of influence) the top four for me - in no particular order - would be Gorgeous George (for effectively inventing the gimmick as we know it today), El Santo (for being THE luchadore and a legend in Mexico that, as far as I know, even dwarfs Hulk Hogan in America), Rikidozan (for effectively creating the pro wrestling [Puroresu] scene in Japan) and Ed Lewis (not only a massive figure in the early days but also a major part of why pro wrestling became a work).
Come on Jim this is pretty easy .Hogan in the 80s was the number one of all time from a business and entertainment point. A non wrestling fan could name him usually if they couldnt name another wrestler. Andre the Giant would have to be second just by pure respect. I give Flair third. These are all from Business stand points and reality. On the Fictional entertainment side.of things Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the butcher was two of the best wrestling preformers I ever watched.
Best wrestler ever for me: Bruno Best entertainer ever and personal favorite: Hogan Hogan was at one point the third most recognizable thing in the world (#1 Coca-cola, #2 the Jeep) and changed everything in wrestling. In Afghanistan, the locals only knew 2 wrestlers; hogan and Cena.
For wrestling, this is a stupid question. There's no right answer for the Greatest of all time, you can ask the Greatests for each generation and such.
Pure Wrestler. Bret Hart. Mic Skills. Steve Austin. High Flyer. Shawn Michaels Hardcore. Mick Foley. Gimmick. The Undertaker. Powerhouse. Goldberg. Just my two cents. No such thing as the"Greatest Wrestler of all time."
Not bad, but I disagree on best with the mic. I would put a few guys ahead of Austin. Piper, Jake Roberts, Savage, Dusty, The Rock. Austin was great, but mostly what he did was shtick and catchphrases. I honestly can't remember Roddy Piper ever repeating a line. The Rock did a lot of catchphrases, but I put him ahead of Austin solely for the time he shattered Billy Gunns career AND soul with the greatest takedown of a wrestler in a promo ever. "It doesn't matter what your name is" Roberts delivery had an unbridled yet somehow reserved intensity. He would start of real quiet and only for one brief moment raise his voice, man he was great. Scared the he'll out of me when I was a kid.
I was 6 years old watching the WWF religiously starting in the spring of 1991. In that decade without internet or youtube growing up nobody had better matches and a better run than Bret Hitman Hart.
@@Alamyst2011 HBK is overrated, most of his career he wrestled the same match. It goes like this 1. Get beat up and arch your back the entire match 2. Either get hit by your opponent's finisher and lose or hit him with your kick and fall down on him. Why do you think so many wrestlers want to imitate Shawn rn and not Bret? They don't have the balls to do it.
Wow , ive looked thru most of these comments , and its all a great variety of great stars . But ive yet to see a mention of Arn Anderson or Bruiser Brody . Both are 2 of the greats !
The schedule Flair kept as champion makes him the greatest ever. 380 matches a year carrying guys to great matches all over the world, best on promos, most 5 star matches as a American wrestler with 11, had the best series of matches with Steamboat in American history. Nobody touches him. Let me add this he also made 80 trips to Japan. He made 2 trips to Japan and worked 4 dates in America in a 10 day period.
@@marcespinoza6068 Take star rating out of it. 90% of wrestling experts like Cornette, Jim Ross, Steve Austin, Sting, HHH, etc all say the Flair Steamboat series in 1989 were the best in America history they had 4 matches that were perfect. His ability to work with say Barry Windham on Sunday in Charlotte in the afternoon show then in the night show in Greensboro carry Garvin to a great match then fly to Dothan Alabama wrestle Bob Armstrong and all these matches are 40 minutes or more not Hogan 6 minute squash matches. Plus partying like hell, working out, and screwing woman all over the country. A guy like Cena would not last 6 months at that pace Flair did it for 20 years.
I think most influential is Gorgeous George. While not directly copied as much as others, in a sense everybody has copied him. As he was the first really successful wrestler based on personality/gimmick he set the blue print for heels to draw money that has defined the business ever since. Though admittedly not so much lately. Hence, nobody watches.
I say its The Undertaker. he had the best Career of all Time and also the best Gimmick. He had so many legendary matches and feuds and was good as a face and heel.
This is one is my favorite history conversations ever. There will be a day when JC leaves us, when all the Cornette haters begin listening to these segments & they realize “Cornette was actually right way more than wrong.” Jim Cornette is wrestling.
Verne Gagne developed his territory, and talent, and brought a level of professionalism for amateur wrestling stars developed today like: Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, and Chad Gable.
I was born in early 1960s and all my friends and I couldnt stand him. He was an old man, bald and boring, keeping himself in the main event well past his his prime at expense of others wee would have preferred to watch. Im too young to have caught his prime Dumont network days. but in the era I watched noone was buying a ticket to see him.
This question is impossible to answer. It has to be broken down by era or 10 year periods or categories or or or.. like baseball Trout or Ruth, Aaron or Pujols.. you can choose any and the answer is correct
Ric Flair worked through out the world and worked in many decades. Flair's character was the perfect heel (rich, cheater, winner but a sinner, etc). Jerry Lawler stole Bobby Shane's gimmick. Corny is correct about comparing wrestlers of different eras. It's like comparing Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, or comparing the train vs the jumbo jet.
Mount Rushmore of wrestling Bret hart, Kurt angle, mr perfect, Shawn Michaels this is based off of pure talent I could easily go hulk hogan, Rick flair, the undertaker, Bret hart on impact
How could you POSSIBLY overlook SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM as the most influential wrestler of all time!? You can literally and definitively split wrestling history in HALF by Superstar Billy Graham. There is the PRE-Superstar Billy Graham era where the bodybuilder physique and strong promos was not a pre-requisite. Then the POST-Superstar Billy Graham era where you could have an anti-hero as champion as well as a pure heel be the standard bearer of the company. NO WRESTLER has been more influential than Superstar Billy Graham!
Mt Rushmore - Flair, Hogan, UT and Bruno. No wait it’s Austin, Rock, Dusty and Thesz. No wait it’s Austin, Funk, Brody and Race. No wait it’s HBK, Gagne, Bockwinkle and Andre. Bottom line - it’s impossible.
NO ONE IN THE INDUSTRY IS BIGGER THAN STEVE AUSTIN. HE IS THE GREATEST EVER. NO ONE SOLD MORE MERCHANDISE, OR WAS CALLED THE MOST POPULAR SUPERSTAR LIKE HE WAS, HIS WALKS TO THE RING POPS SAID IT ALL, BUT ALSO NO ONE HAD A BIGGER ERA THAN STEVE AUSTIN, THE ATTITUDE ERA IS NOTHING WITHOUT THAT MAN, LET ALONE THE CAUSE OF THE BIGGEST RIVALRY OF ALL TIME, AUSTIN, AND MCMAHON. THE GOAT, AND EVEN FLAIR HIM SELF HAS SAID IT, THAT HE HAS NEVER BEEN AROUND A WRESTLER SO BIG LIKE STEVE. VINCE, JR, ETC ARE NO DIFFERENT
My list of the 10 Most Influential Wrestlers Of All Time, In No Particular Order.... 1. Roddy Piper 2. Ric Flair 3. Dusty Rhodes 4. Terry Funk 5. Shawn Michaels 6. Bret Hart 7. The Rock 8. Randy Savage 9. Superstar Billy Graham 10. Harley Race
It's simple. Most Influential is Buddy Rogers. He fathered the heel gimmick still used today. Heels make the money and champions are nothing without them. Heels make everyone... even other heels. The Greatest is where it's impossible to judge. My personal faves were Bret Hart, Ric Flair, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Savage. The best technical wrestlers I ever saw were Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat was pretty much flawless in his prime. Both Flair and Bret admit he's the gold standard.
In my opinion it has to be Brock Lesnar! Nobody else has drawn more money than Brock doing as little as work as is possible. Hogan- great wrestler, drew a lot of money, but worked a LOT. Rock- drew a lot of money, but not a wrestler anymore.
Disagree,Brock took great bumps in his matches Meanwhile Hogan's(after leaving Japan) in ring style was safe,he took the least amount of bumps and drew more money
@@arnavbhagwat4232 to be fair drawing money and earning are a different thing,even when Lesnar was at top he wasn't drawing as much as Hogan Ratings were between 4.0 and 3.4
@@gamechanger700 nobody cares about ratings anymore cause no-one watches TV. Brock earned more money for himself doing lesser work tham Hogan ever did. That is the only thing that matters in wrestling, money!
When it comes to most influential wrestlers, another name i haven't seen here in the comments yet is Giant Baba. He was the reason why Wrestling became such a huge business in Japan in the 80s and 90s and All-Japan for awhile was almost as big as the WWF. Too bad his wife was such a mark.
You can't even make a proper mount Rushmore of wrestlers without leaving impactful guys off of it. Theres too many and too many eras
Amen to that.
I can't pick a favorite, can't get less than 4 favorites and dozens damn close.
It's like that with Mt Rushmore in most sports
Way too many. Just off the top of my head.....Thesz, Bruno, Jack Brisco, Harley Race, Flair, Dusty, Hogan, Austin, Rock.....
And that list above shows there's even multiple criteria you could judge them on. Which matters more.....drawing power or technical ability? Hogan was far from a technical wrestler, but he drew assloads of money.
@@zlinedavid I would honestly say in the modern era, or at least the recent era, since about the 80s. The top guys are the best talkers. Flair, Dusty, Hogan, Austin, Rock, all the best of the best talkers. Really Flair was the only one of those guys who was a top technical talent. They all could work, even Hogan when he had to. The talking, the catchphrases, all that is what put them above the rest.
Austin, Rock, vince/......make a case for Flair, Hogan, Cena
Jim hates these questions...there are way to many variables to consider...Gangs of New York is my favorite movie, but I don’t think it’s the greatest movie ever made...there’s a difference between best and favorite...
It's like watching movies based on "Oscar wins/nominations".
Or those Sundance films that are high art but mostly things I’d never willingly watch.
Wow, a woman. Hi!
That would probably be the greatest for you
Wtf?? What a stupid answer for a movie??
Any listener knows Corny is Lawlers biggest fan.
Mark for Jerry Lawler tho absolutely
Strap went down, Jim went up
@Zedrik Allen Sadly most of us will never get to see the work that made Corny such a fan.
I always refuse to 'rank' who is the greatest, but if Cornette says Lawler, then Lawler is in the conversation.
Lawyer was amazing he could talk his ass off a lot of people today don’t realize just how great Jerry is
@Andre Corbeil WrestlingWithWrestling 😭😭
I'd say Jerry Lawler is one the most underrated and overlooked when it comes to wrestling legends.
Also, Whistler's Mother looks good in a silk robe.
Lawler was a legend in the territory days, but he kind of fizzled out a bit once things got bigger
😱 🧓🍅🥣
Terry funk
@JOHN lll 👑1980-1994 sure
Whistler's Mother, Whistler, American......first time I've seen this referenced in a wrestling forum. However, you're not wrong about either statement. Met The KIng at a slow day at a comic con. Super nice guy (not a particular big fella, but I"m sure he'd beat me down good even though I have 30 pounds on him). Thanks for a good 15 minutes I won't forget, Mr. Lawler!
As far as who I liked to watch the most goes, Stacey Keibler.
Nobody could enter a ring like Stacey Kiebler.
Oh those legs went on for days
I can't believe that she dated Abdullah the Butcher.
Brett is probably one of my favorites.
One t.
Sean Michaels and Rick Flair were great, too.
For me it's a toss up between Bret and Shawn. Bret is the best pure wrestler, but Shawn was the much better performer. Both of them could legitimately claim to be the best, but both come at it from opposite ends of the business.
@@paulflewitt5599 There are dozens of right answers. You could say anyone from Bret to Shawn to Bockwinkel to Harley Race to Jack Brisco to Angle...
If I owned a territory and could pick any wrestlers from any era to work with, I am not sure if I would want the drama that came with Shawn.
I'll day undertaker....
When he returned to deadman gemick he gave classic matches and his was larger than life persona
Kenta Kobashi, he even put cancer in the burning hammer.
Over 400 comments and no one has mentioned Rikidozan. No one anywhere pulled as high of TV ratings as he did. The entire sport in Japan is because of him. Of course he wasn't the greatest wrestler ever, but you would have a hard time finding anyone more Influential.
Gorgeous George. Thats the level of person you have to summon to be as influential as Riki.
Depends what you consider a wrestler and I'm not joking. If the criteria is simply anybody who has ever been paid to wrestle and what is their impact on the wrestling genre, the answer is undeniably Vince McMahon.
Frank Gotch never lost 🤷♂️ in 7 years & was the 2nd NWA champion and the only man to really Retire as champion 💯👏
Not only did El Santo have Movies in Mexico starring Him He was referenced in a truly Classic NWA Florida Angle that reacquainted bitter Ring enemies Jody "The Assassin" Hamilton and Dusty Rhodes. Jody Hamilton pretended to be a slimmed down version of El Santo supposedly "returning" from Mexico all so he could smash a plaque over Dusty's head!😉🎤🎥🌊☀️🍊🌴🤼♂️B.W.
Ed Lewis is probably the most influential wrestler of all time considering what he, Toots Mondt, and Billy Sandow accomplished.
For me, I would say Savage. He could work as a heel or face, had good size and was athletic , was a unique character and promo. Could work different types of wrestlers and had a long run in the business working and drawing money on top everywhere he went and transcended wrestling. All you have to say is “oh yeah” and people know it’s Randy. He also was loved by everyone from kids to adults to casuals to smarks and had some of
The best ring attire. He ranks high in every category and had no flaws to him.
His run in 97' in WCW as a loose cannon psychopath was glorious
His only flaw was Hogan. The Hulkster refused to allow Macho Man to be bigger than he was
Agreed, savage
Oh yeaaaaaah !!!
Randy Savage is the GOAT.
Biggest name/draw: Austin or Hogan
Best in ring performer: HBK or Bret
Most respected & greatest gimmick: Taker
Most influential: Flair
Best in ring performer is the "phenomenal" AJ Styles.
Biggest name probably the Rock now IMO, but I only started watching recently. Pretty crazy to watch older segments and hear the pop that Stone Cold got. Perhaps more fan involvement back then but my god was he over.
Jim Londos would top most of the guys you named
biggest draw + performer = rock
best worker: Bobby Eaton.
agree on gimmick for taker.
agree on influential being Flair.
Greatest superstar: John Cena
Rock, Austin, hbk, flair, Hogan and Randy Savage
Thanks, casual fan. Savage deserves consideration for sure. The rest of those are just "most popular wrestlers that were rammed down your throat in the 80's & 90's."
@@jasondelvaux3036and what would your answer be mark
I'd love to see Jim do a history of wrestling where he looks at the greats and explains why they're the most influential.
Nick Bockwinkel and Flair certainly deserve consideration, but I still say Jumpin' Jeff Farmer is the greatest. When he got backstabbed one way or another and decided to go Full Force, there was no stopping him.
YEP
Perhaps but if there's no Motley Crews, there's no Farmermania. And without Farmer, there's no young Kenny Omega washing Jeff's jocks to pay his dues for his future run.
Don't get him...mad now.
Still curious how you can backstab someone one way or another...
@@bobmanning808 *YEP*
I think if David Von Erich had lived he'd be at the top of a lot of people's lists these days.
No way. Fritz was even better than David.
Not sure who the best wrestler is, but Bobby The Brain Heenan is the greatest performer wrestling ever saw.
Greatest Manager of all time. Not even close.
Wrestling, NOT Wrestling manager.
@@Backwoods_Squatch with corny 2nd
@@darinfry1543 You spelled "Classy Freddy Blassie" wrong. :)
Vince McMahon
If we go purely on in-ring ability, Mitsuharu Misawa is the greatest wrestler who ever lived
Definitely
Terry Funk is up there for versatility and longevity.
Harley Race is up there for being a touring World Champion.
By Brian's criteria:
Influential :Hulk Hogan/My personal favorite:Keiji Mutoh.
@Jamaal Moses, I would say it's a tie between Lou, Verne & Harley, mainly because those guys were legit tough guys & good workers.
Bruno Sammartino was Pittsburgh royalty. I watched him on a 9" screen to a cutout crowd. Arm drag takedown, arm drag takedown, hip toss, bulldog . . . truth beyond science to a 12 year old in those halcyon days. /respect.
Side headlock in there somewhere . . .
BRUNO= 🐐
Bruno was the Greatest Ethnic Hero Wrestler ever.
LMAO @ the idea of Pittsburgh royalty. A black and gold iron crown and scepter for the king... sitting on a throne of compacted Iron City beer cans
The reason I watched wrestling in the 70s was Andre The Giant, there'll never be anyone like him again. The best in ring performers Ive seen were Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask, Eddie Guerrero, Rick Martel and Steamboat.
I saw him for the first time in Australia around 77/78 when he was really young. Jim Niedhart said that if you couldnt have a great match with Martel you shouldnt be in the business.
I love the shoutout to Martel!
Randy Savage, Tully Blanchard, Dean Malenko, Curt Hennig
Savage, Bret Hart, Steve Austin. Pick one of the three and you're right.
Spot on
Purely based on in ring basis then Bret Hart
But if you consider mic skills, character,charisma and in ring psychology,drawing power together,Bret will be nowhere near top 10
Ever heard of Gotch or Thesz? They make the guys you mentioned look like noobs. Learn some Wrestling history before Posting nonsense, guys!
@@Implosionstechnologie Opinion based.
No, no, and no
Here’s a thought for influential. Lou thesz. I mean 1 of Austin’s biggest pops consistently was when he did the Lou thesz press. That tells me that bloke holds up in any era.
Without Thesz there is no professional wrestling. He basically pulled together and made the territories work, and made the NWA World Title have prestige.
@@drg5352 Agree. He held the NWA world title for over 10 years combined, and only had 3 reigns. So each time he won it, on average, he held it for 3+ years.
@@zlinedavid Lou spent a combined 18 years holding officially recognized world titles, longer than anyone. He also amassed the longest winning streak of any wrestler that I'm aware of - something like 934 - 0.
Never seen a full match witg Thesz and I even know that he's one of the greatest.
@@chada75 You can find dozens of his matches on YT if you ever wish to see.
In my opinion, it has to be a 3-way tie between Flair, Bret and Angle. Can't think of anyone else more complete in all aspects than those 3....
Angle & flair sure, but bret was never the complete wrestler.
Jimmy King has to be right on up there.
The guy by far had the most 5☆ matches, had the best promos, best gimmick, best song intro, best rapping style and the physical attributes that makes a great champion.
Once in a lifetime talent.
He also has an entire video game dedicated to him. No other wrestler has that achievement.
Who
Jimmy King 4 ever :)
I WILL RULE YOU!
David Arquette liked this reply 14 times.
In other words, whoever you pick, you’re wrong.
shawn michaels ?
Or you're right. It's a subjective question so your answer is just an opinion and valid to you.
its like answering the wife's questions, there is no right answer and you are going to hear about how wrong you are all week.
Whoever you pick can spark a lively and interesting discussion that could educate and shed light on a wrestler that someone may have never considered or even seen wrestle. I think that's why people ask Jim. He's a knowledgeable guy and he has no problem arguing his points, which makes for a good podcast.
It's obviously Kenny Omega because he points his fingers at people. 7.76 stars.
What stop smoking weed smart ass
I stopped looking at meltzers ratings when he rated something above five stars, completely fucks the entire formula.
LOL'ed
7 out of 5 stars lol.. Fuck meltzer
@@MachoWrestling101 I watch mostly old stuff, and I tend to agree with the ratings more often than not. I still think the obsession with one guy's ratings is unhealthy, but in general his old ratings tend to be quite agreeable. But with the new stuff, he'll just give a random unimpressive TV match 4.75 or something ridiculous like that, which pisses me off. His current ratings are completely off the chain IMO. It's not even a case of different tastes, he rates everything so much higher nowadays. Really inconsistent.
Ray Stevens is one of the most influential. Perfect, Flair, HBK, all took bumps like him.
I was always bored by Ray Stevens as a kid but we also got him in Chicago as an old man
@@johnkolko5199 his stuff vs Pepper Gomez in SF and as a tag team with Pat Patterson is more of what I’m talking about... the footage is out there, but its rare and in pieces.
@@patale1640 From what I hear his SF were as good as it gets, would have liked to have seen some of that
Ray Stevens made terrible albums.
@@jaysantos536 never fails haha every-time ppl remember the commercials for those comedy albums. Diff Stevens obviously:)
As a mexican, I have to say El Santo, or else, I'm going to end up on the street tomorrow morning in a garbage bag
/respect the Luchadores . . .
😂😂😂
el solitario or canek are better
Met Hijo Del Santo about a month or 2 ago, i could literally tell a legend was in that ring, he even did maneuvers and pin falls i’ve never seen live
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I knew jim would say Lawler when asked who is his favourite he always talks about king with so much reverence
It's a good favourite to have.
It's Hogan.....was the catalyst for two of the greatest eras in wrestling history (Golden and Attitude era), arguably the greatest heel and face ever, and introduced wrestling to mainstream American pop culture.
He was boring in the ring
This question deserves more than six minutes
Interesting that the one person who always gets forgotten in these conversations is Bob Backlund who was really good in the ring and a legit shooter.
I have never eaten...
I will always see Bob Backlund as an embarrasment, a cringe joke and pure jobber material ala Santino Marella.
I don't even want to remember he was a champion
I've been watching wrestling for a little over 40 years, and I'd say Backlund is probably one of the ten best wrestlers I've ever seen
@@stevehogan9958 omega, tanahashi, okada, ibushi, ospreay, fenix, allin, ricochet, moxley are literally 10 guys wrestling now who are all better than backlund omao
@@liamcourt5530 Based on that list, I'd say you have a certain style of wrestler you like, so I'm not surprised you don't care for Backlund. That's fine; to each, his own. Tanahashi and Okada are also two of my favorites
I might go with Lou Thesz. He was the first TV champion, and he was that inbetween from Ed Lewis to Harley Race.
Lou Thesz, the inring greatness of Daniel Bryan with the ego of Jeff Jarrett.
Fantastic and incredibly long career. Total workhorse and inring innovator... but booked himself to the top too many times for way too long.
@@staalhard666 1.) Lou didn't book anything; the NWA did. 2.) Lou was on top for so long because he was a massive draw who generated business everywhere.
@@Aphelion_k9f Technicality. Lou Thesz probably originated creative control. Only wanted to drop the title to guys he picked himself. For instance: Buddy Rogers was way more popular near the end of the 50s. But Thesz wanted to pass the torch to anyone but him. And Lou took the title from Rogers immediately when he came back in the mid 60s. The way Rogers was treated indirectly influenced WWWF to break away from NWA. You know what? Ask Jim. Pre 70s pro wrestling is barely treated on the podcast and this would be a great opportunity.
@@staalhard666 Nah, those types of politics go back to the Gotch era at least. Really even before that. Buddy was more popular in the early 60's (61 to 63) but he only had 3 good years before his health took a dive. Notice how quickly the WWE maneuvered their title onto Bruno. It wasn't Lou's decision to become champion again after holding the title for a decade. That was the NWA's decision. They chose Lou because he had legit fighting ability (like Brock Lesnar and Dan Severn) and asked him to defeat Buddy and get their belt by any means necessary. The reason why Rogers was treated so poorly by the NWA was because Vince Sr. and the Northeast were hogging all of his dates. The NWA was not a promotion like WWE is now or AEW, but an organization made up of 30+ promoters from around the globe. It was like the WBO or the NBA or NFL. The NWA champion had to meet the demands of all the members and Buddy was only meeting the needs of one. Thesz only held the belt a little while before dropping it to Kiniski. Also note that Thesz held much of his pull because of his relationship with Sam Muchnick. He and Muchnick were actually rival promoters back in the 40's before the NWA (Alliance) was formed. However, there were limits to his pull. The NWA forced Thesz to drop the title because they refused to let him take the belt with him to Japan.
@@Aphelion_k9f You seem to be more than well-informed. Hats off to you. True delight to read comments like yours.
Kenta Kobashi or Mitsuharu Misawa
You can tell peoples age in the comments section just on who they say.
Thank god I saw nobody say Cena
Cena.
@@bled83 you're just saying it to mess with the previous poster. LOL.
Juventud
@@paranoidandroid9979 the Juice? Lmao
I would go with Karl Gotch for most influential. The wrestling philosophy he passed down to all his students and how they used it can be credited for a lot of things, both good and bad, in modern day wrestling.
Will always be the Undertaker to me. Larger than life character, identifiable in the mainstream all over the world, was a draw on top of the card for his entire 30 year career. An absolute legend.
Hogan was a star in the AWA, WCW, WWF and really brought Pro wrestling to the modern living room.
Stone Cold could work some amazing matches and was pure gold as far as persona interview.
Ric Flair was an amazing traveling champion and what an entrance.
Brett Hart was one of the best workers EVER, he could make a match look good with ANYONE, but not a top tier promo or charisma.
The Rock is the biggest and highest paid main stream star.
Lawler created lots of amazing talent, he kept a territory hot for decades as its number one star.
There is no right or wrong answer... Hogan isnt my favorite by a long shot... but I think he really may have had the greatest impact. But I dont know if that is the same as the greatest of all time?
The buisness would not be what it is today if it wasn't for Hogan and Vince
Even the Influential part is tricky..Hogan/WWF's rise essentially killed territories.. I was a Hogan fan until 1998.I could not watch most of the undercard..then he comes out and does a DQ finish in 5 minutes on Nitro?No way!I was salty at him for a long time..but to be at his level for that amount of time..not many can do that..to be the most famous wrestler on the planet!
I love the way you broke that down and I agree
Can't forget Terry Funk
I bet Meltzer would say Twinkle Toes
2 biggest influencial wrestler's of all time gotta be Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Because so many have TRIED to duplicate so many aspects about them. Still to this day.
Flair imitated Buddy Rogers so in truth it's not Flair they're initiating. You're not giving credit to the original Nature Boy
@@ToxicAvengerCleanYourMind Uuuh NO! lol..Ric Flair was influenced but he turned that gimmick into his own and put his own FLAIR into it! Jay Lethal imitated Ric Flair in that TNA Episode and NOT Buddy Rogers!..lol.. None of the wrestlers today like The Miz weren't even born when Buddy was wrestling. EVERYBODY IS INFLUENCED BY RIC FLAIR PERIOD.
The amount of wrestlers throughout the years that have been absolute legends in the business makes this an impossible question. Only thing I can safely say is that no one now can be considered the GOAT
Yup, it's fun to try and debate it though.
Stone Cold Steve Austin
It's impossible to narrow it down. But to help narrow it down, the wrestler should be able to compete in all eras.
Corny didn't even mention Hogan. Are you kidding me? Everyone knows Hogan is #1. He saved wrestling in the 80s and had 2 major runs on top.
It's The Rock. It really is. Best promos, charismatic, decent enough in the ring. Transcended the business like no other. Was at the forefront of the most popular time of wrestling in mainstream and culture. Got himself over without being propped up by others and didn't need to win to get over. The only other closest you can get is Hogan but Rock was more successful outside of wrestling so he gets the vote.
ummm pretty sure the hulkster diddn't get himself over lol vince put a promotional rocket on him for like 6 years straight he was everywhere outside of wrestling while wrestling he may be the most iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii- conic * while looking up into the air to the left with hands on hips* but he was on a monster push for years
@@despicablemonster Oh sorry, the comparison with Hogan was I meant that he too was a megastar who managed to break into the mainstream and achieve global fame. He obviously got a massive push yeah.
As far as transcending the business and full out charisma, absolutely he’s the best. As far as his work within the squared circle is questionable; not bad at all but he wouldn’t even crack the top 5. As good as he is promo-wise, he’s not even in the top 5 either; he’s mostly punchlines
@@tinotica I respect your opinion. Rock isn't one of the best work rate wise no, I would say good enough that you would not consider him bad though. He could certainly go in the ring if needed, like the Iron Man match at Judgment Day 2000 or his matches with Angle and Benoit but he would not be top 5 I agree. Luckily the wrestling business doesn't care about how good you are in the ring to an extent. Regarding his promos, he certainly centred some of his promos around his catchphrases later on, but every single time he did the crowd ate it up. The WWF Smackdown show and numerous video games were literally named after them so though they may be corny but they worked very well! I also disagree that he only used punchlines. His mic work as a part of the Nation was great, being the cocky young member going against the veteran leader Faarooq, as corporate champ it was even better with him and Shane McMahon being so entertaining together, the insults to Mankind and Austin which to this day still make me laugh. In 2000 he became more fan friendly so it became more cheesy I agree but then in 2003 as Hollywood Rock, again his heel promos were great. Surely he wouldn't be as big as a movie star if he wasn't great at talking. Also another point to add on, as I said he never needed to win to get over. He helped give others legitimacy/a rub just because he wasn't selfish like many other wrestlers who claim to be the greatest. That might be the best thing about The Rock, he was more than happy to put others over. He had confidence in himself, he knew he was bulletproof so he didn't get caught up in his ego like some others. Sorry for the essay by the way but I love wrestling and I don't get to talk about it much haha, take care.
@@Tafeafc ill definitely give you Hollywood Rock as that was my favorite character the rock ever played. And it also gave my favorite Rock Austin match. I’ll also give you the promos from 2001 as his banter with Stephanie, Shane, and Booker T were really funny. I guess he just got super corny going from 1999-2000.
I meant to say catchphrases as opposed to punchlines earlier
It's Ric Flair, almost perfect in every category and covers so many decades
Couldn't say it better myself. Ric Flair could work, great promo and is still relevant to this day (every time a chop is thrown, WHOOOOOO). On top of that he still relevant in pop culture.
Flair is overrated
Bruno
@Dust Devil exactly.. If someone is their own booker that should take some of that "Flair" off of them being so good. They were pushed down peoples throats
I'd say flair or 1970's Terry Funk.
Macho Man Randy Savage!!!!
My personal favorite was Chris Benoit in terms of technical skills
@Eostre of the East ouch!
Yeah, Benoit was a technical master and his intensity made you believe in him even though you knew it wrestling wasn't real.
@JOHN lll Don't be a soyboy. His joke was funny.
That's like saying my favourite serial killer is Ted Bundy
@@blondie5989 I don’t condone what he did. What he did was terrible. However, I can see past that and appreciate the skills and matches he had when Benoit was in the ring
G I L L B E R G !
Or a Mulkey. Take your pick of which
Randy Hogan
Stevie Richards
Martin “Farmer” Burns
Lou Thesz
Frank Gotch,
Buddy Rogers
Gorgeous Georgie for the early era of wrestling
the 79's 80's 90's era of wrestling is mega hard to pick
Gimmick, money making draw, charisma, technical ability
The lack of Stanislaw Zybysko and George Hackenschmidt is disturbing...
Might as well include them since you put Frank Gotch in there...
Gotta put Bruno too
Solid Gold right there. You can find Farmer Burns training material on pdf online.
@@arnavbhagwat4232 You got that right!
Gotta have Jim Londos and Strangler Lewis there too.
Kurt Angle. Oh it's true. It's damn true. Were you aware that he won a gold medal with a broken freaking neck?
2003 Kurt Angle vs 1993 Bret Hart
2006 Angle vs 97 Bret Hart
Kurt's my favourite too.
Ed Lewis would've stretched 1996 Angle.
@@jd9119 I'm just not sure that would happen, Angle was a legit wrestler. Either way, I would give my left nut to see that match.
I would have to say Kurt Angle. He was the total package in every way. Only thing go against him was his health, but still had a incredible career.
I second this comment.
My personal favorite
His health broke down and he started as a 2nd career pro-wrestler.
Only if u count in ring work
@@sarthakrawat7748 so I r saying Kurt couldn't talk? Kurt couldn't play a character? And most importantly Kurt didn't have charisma?
Overall: Stone Cold Steve Austin
On the Mat: Kurt Angle
Match Quality: Shawn Michaels
overall: shawn michaels
And for the Math Scott steiner
@@Th3_Bl4ck_Sh33p that's a 141% chance that's an underrated comment
I like this!!
I agree hbk in his prime was the most controversial great in ring performer and psychology in the ring
No one was more influential in building the wrestling business on television than Gorgeous George. Before him it was an aftermath and after him it was a television staple.
Bret Hart for me.
As much as I do not care for the Fella, Hulk Hogan is My pick as he was a Top Draw across at least 3 Major Wrestling Promotions and is still synonymous with the Industry to this Day ...
There's only a hand few of wrestlers that even people who know nothing about wrestling know. Hulk Hogan is one of them.
For me personally, it's either Flair or Bret, though I love Randy Savage alot. Flair as a promo and a personality was untouchable while Bret as a worker was miles beyond most others. Honorable mentions would be Piper, Curt Henning, Eddie Guerrero, Terry Funk.
Idk i think Piper was better on the mic than Flair butt thats just an opinion
Hart had same match 1000 times
Bret ????? Bret sucked
it's Barry Windham for in ring work.
A 5 way tie between undertaker, the rock, Stone cold Flair and Hogan (in my opinion)
Switch out Taker for Michaels. It's close though.
Taker gets best gimmick though.
No Macho Man? Disrespectful
Billy Graham underrated and top tier influence on the business
I feel like the most influetial people for most of the guys in aew would be Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam
🤣🤣🤣
The invisible man
Jim, is so easy - The ShowStopper, The Main Event , THE ICON
For my money (at least in terms of influence) the top four for me - in no particular order - would be Gorgeous George (for effectively inventing the gimmick as we know it today), El Santo (for being THE luchadore and a legend in Mexico that, as far as I know, even dwarfs Hulk Hogan in America), Rikidozan (for effectively creating the pro wrestling [Puroresu] scene in Japan) and Ed Lewis (not only a massive figure in the early days but also a major part of why pro wrestling became a work).
Come on Jim this is pretty easy .Hogan in the 80s was the number one of all time from a business and entertainment point. A non wrestling fan could name him usually if they couldnt name another wrestler. Andre the Giant would have to be second just by pure respect. I give Flair third. These are all from Business stand points and reality. On the Fictional entertainment side.of things Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the butcher was two of the best wrestling preformers I ever watched.
1. Bruno
2. Hogan
3. Flair
My favorite is Kurt Angle
Goddamn these thumbnails are golden.
Best wrestler ever for me: Bruno
Best entertainer ever and personal favorite: Hogan
Hogan was at one point the third most recognizable thing in the world (#1 Coca-cola, #2 the Jeep) and changed everything in wrestling. In Afghanistan, the locals only knew 2 wrestlers; hogan and Cena.
For wrestling, this is a stupid question. There's no right answer for the Greatest of all time, you can ask the Greatests for each generation and such.
80s: Ric Flair 90s: Bret Hart 2000s: Tripple H 2010s: Kazuchika Okada
Can't believe the guy asking the question thought Flair or Funk were better than Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, etc.
Pure Wrestler. Bret Hart.
Mic Skills. Steve Austin.
High Flyer. Shawn Michaels
Hardcore. Mick Foley.
Gimmick. The Undertaker.
Powerhouse. Goldberg.
Just my two cents. No such thing as the"Greatest Wrestler of all time."
Goldberg is no where near the most powerful wrestler ever. I'd say he's the most overpushed wrestler ever but The Ultimate Warrior existed.
Take that your list and roll it up, and you get Randy the Macho Man Savage!.......OH YEAH!........dig it!
Mic skills to Steve Austin over rock?
Not bad, but I disagree on best with the mic. I would put a few guys ahead of Austin. Piper, Jake Roberts, Savage, Dusty, The Rock.
Austin was great, but mostly what he did was shtick and catchphrases. I honestly can't remember Roddy Piper ever repeating a line. The Rock did a lot of catchphrases, but I put him ahead of Austin solely for the time he shattered Billy Gunns career AND soul with the greatest takedown of a wrestler in a promo ever. "It doesn't matter what your name is"
Roberts delivery had an unbridled yet somehow reserved intensity. He would start of real quiet and only for one brief moment raise his voice, man he was great. Scared the he'll out of me when I was a kid.
@@strongestavenger3085 yep but those two are neck in neck so depending on the person it can go either way
I was 6 years old watching the WWF religiously starting in the spring of 1991. In that decade without internet or youtube growing up nobody had better matches and a better run than Bret Hitman Hart.
Hart sucked. HBK was the better worker
💯 I feel from 91-99 he had the best matches with nearly everybody he wrestled.
I was 6 years old too in 1991 🤣
@@Alamyst2011 HBK is overrated, most of his career he wrestled the same match. It goes like this
1. Get beat up and arch your back the entire match
2. Either get hit by your opponent's finisher and lose or hit him with your kick and fall down on him.
Why do you think so many wrestlers want to imitate Shawn rn and not Bret? They don't have the balls to do it.
@@Alamyst2011 you have learning difficulties .
The Crusher wasn't the greatest of all time, but I liked him the best!
Wow , ive looked thru most of these comments , and its all a great variety of great stars . But ive yet to see a mention of Arn Anderson or Bruiser Brody . Both are 2 of the greats !
The schedule Flair kept as champion makes him the greatest ever. 380 matches a year carrying guys to great matches all over the world, best on promos, most 5 star matches as a American wrestler with 11, had the best series of matches with Steamboat in American history. Nobody touches him. Let me add this he also made 80 trips to Japan. He made 2 trips to Japan and worked 4 dates in America in a 10 day period.
Agree with everything you said except the star ratings have to go. Those are based on one mark's opinion and not an actual rating system.
Whooooooooooooo
Flair is wrestling
@@marcespinoza6068 Take star rating out of it. 90% of wrestling experts like Cornette, Jim Ross, Steve Austin, Sting, HHH, etc all say the Flair Steamboat series in 1989 were the best in America history they had 4 matches that were perfect. His ability to work with say Barry Windham on Sunday in Charlotte in the afternoon show then in the night show in Greensboro carry Garvin to a great match then fly to Dothan Alabama wrestle Bob Armstrong and all these matches are 40 minutes or more not Hogan 6 minute squash matches. Plus partying like hell, working out, and screwing woman all over the country. A guy like Cena would not last 6 months at that pace Flair did it for 20 years.
@@rolltide9547 I agree but the star system is Meltzer and he's a moron.
I think most influential is Gorgeous George. While not directly copied as much as others, in a sense everybody has copied him. As he was the first really successful wrestler based on personality/gimmick he set the blue print for heels to draw money that has defined the business ever since. Though admittedly not so much lately. Hence, nobody watches.
I say its The Undertaker. he had the best Career of all Time and also the best Gimmick. He had so many legendary matches and feuds and was good as a face and heel.
This is one is my favorite history conversations ever. There will be a day when JC leaves us, when all the Cornette haters begin listening to these segments & they realize “Cornette was actually right way more than wrong.”
Jim Cornette is wrestling.
Verne Gagne developed his territory, and talent, and brought a level of professionalism for amateur wrestling stars developed today like: Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, and Chad Gable.
@Andrew Struss, don't forget about Stu Hart & Dory Funk Jr, they were awesome workers & trained alot of stars for the business too.
Gagne was boring as hell, we hated him in Chicago.
@@johnkolko5199 Not everybody hated Verne up there in Chicago, because he had sellouts everytime he worked up there.
I was born in early 1960s and all my friends and I couldnt stand him. He was an old man, bald and boring, keeping himself in the main event well past his his prime at expense of others wee would have preferred to watch. Im too young to have caught his prime Dumont network days. but in the era I watched noone was buying a ticket to see him.
Verne had nothing to do with those guys success
It's an impossible question to answer. It will always boil down to personal favorites.
Most influential? Hulk Hogan. Best? Kurt Angle and The Dynamite Kid.
It is Flair hands down, and that is that.
This question is impossible to answer. It has to be broken down by era or 10 year periods or categories or or or.. like baseball Trout or Ruth, Aaron or Pujols.. you can choose any and the answer is correct
Bruno, hulkster, flair, buddy rogers
Lou Thesz was the greatest of all time. He is responsible for manny moves and trope still in use today.
Yes for sure
Superstar Billy Graham doesn't get mentioned often enough imao.
I genuinely believe there’s no such thing as the greatest wrestler of all time, since it’s all subjective. But I think my favorite ever is Tanahashi.
Tanahashi is one of my all time favorites.
He is brilliant in every way.
My dream match would be hbk vs tanahashi.
Ric Flair worked through out the world and worked in many decades. Flair's character was the perfect heel (rich, cheater, winner but a sinner, etc). Jerry Lawler stole Bobby Shane's gimmick. Corny is correct about comparing wrestlers of different eras. It's like comparing Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, or comparing the train vs the jumbo jet.
The anwser is always Haku...
Mount Rushmore of wrestling Bret hart, Kurt angle, mr perfect, Shawn Michaels this is based off of pure talent I could easily go hulk hogan, Rick flair, the undertaker, Bret hart on impact
Personally Undertaker. The length of his run, his in ability in ring, he was a huge draw. Has mainstream appeal.
Totally agree especially 90s Taker for me but so many huge names that hard to even say a top 10
I'll agree the Undertaker is the greatest gimmick of all time. But he wouldn't make my top ten as a wrestler. I never was a fan of Mean Mark Callous.
I know a lot of people dislike him and for very valid reasons but when you look at Shawn Michaels, he checks off more boxes than anyone else.
Undertaker will always be in my eyes
I agree
@Aaron Lassiter lol why hogan i disagree with the hogan part
"The Foleys, The Takers, The Steve Austin, The Rocks ... Next to Kenny Olivier ?" - Jim Cornette
Best Heel: Roddy Piper.
Ted Dibiase
Paul Orndorff
@@tomjoad929 he's definitely up there. That basketball thing with the kid is hilarious. I laughed as a child at it. Ha. It's even funnier now.
@@shaynewest8757 Mr. Wonderful was great. But, if we're being honest, he's not even in top 10.
@@Am0ment0fB thats why he drew more money with hogan then anyone besides andre. piper was a rambling idiot.
How could you POSSIBLY overlook SUPERSTAR BILLY GRAHAM as the most influential wrestler of all time!? You can literally and definitively split wrestling history in HALF by Superstar Billy Graham. There is the PRE-Superstar Billy Graham era where the bodybuilder physique and strong promos was not a pre-requisite. Then the POST-Superstar Billy Graham era where you could have an anti-hero as champion as well as a pure heel be the standard bearer of the company.
NO WRESTLER has been more influential than Superstar Billy Graham!
Mt Rushmore - Flair, Hogan, UT and Bruno. No wait it’s Austin, Rock, Dusty and Thesz. No wait it’s Austin, Funk, Brody and Race. No wait it’s HBK, Gagne, Bockwinkle and Andre.
Bottom line - it’s impossible.
NO ONE IN THE INDUSTRY IS BIGGER THAN STEVE AUSTIN. HE IS THE GREATEST EVER. NO ONE SOLD MORE MERCHANDISE, OR WAS CALLED THE MOST POPULAR SUPERSTAR LIKE HE WAS, HIS WALKS TO THE RING POPS SAID IT ALL, BUT ALSO NO ONE HAD A BIGGER ERA THAN STEVE AUSTIN, THE ATTITUDE ERA IS NOTHING WITHOUT THAT MAN, LET ALONE THE CAUSE OF THE BIGGEST RIVALRY OF ALL TIME, AUSTIN, AND MCMAHON. THE GOAT, AND EVEN FLAIR HIM SELF HAS SAID IT, THAT HE HAS NEVER BEEN AROUND A WRESTLER SO BIG LIKE STEVE. VINCE, JR, ETC ARE NO DIFFERENT
My list of the 10 Most Influential Wrestlers Of All Time, In No Particular Order....
1. Roddy Piper
2. Ric Flair
3. Dusty Rhodes
4. Terry Funk
5. Shawn Michaels
6. Bret Hart
7. The Rock
8. Randy Savage
9. Superstar Billy Graham
10. Harley Race
My "personal” favorite wrestlers are Terry Funk, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and Mitsuharu Misawa
Out of those 4, Terry Funk is the only complete package really.
It's simple. Most Influential is Buddy Rogers. He fathered the heel gimmick still used today. Heels make the money and champions are nothing without them. Heels make everyone... even other heels.
The Greatest is where it's impossible to judge. My personal faves were Bret Hart, Ric Flair, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, and Randy Savage.
The best technical wrestlers I ever saw were Bret Hart and Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat was pretty much flawless in his prime. Both Flair and Bret admit he's the gold standard.
In my opinion it has to be Brock Lesnar! Nobody else has drawn more money than Brock doing as little as work as is possible.
Hogan- great wrestler, drew a lot of money, but worked a LOT.
Rock- drew a lot of money, but not a wrestler anymore.
Disagree,Brock took great bumps in his matches
Meanwhile Hogan's(after leaving Japan) in ring style was safe,he took the least amount of bumps and drew more money
@@gamechanger700 not even close. Brock works 3 matches a year and earns more than Hogan did in a year.
@@arnavbhagwat4232 to be fair drawing money and earning are a different thing,even when Lesnar was at top he wasn't drawing as much as Hogan
Ratings were between 4.0 and 3.4
@@gamechanger700 nobody cares about ratings anymore cause no-one watches TV. Brock earned more money for himself doing lesser work tham Hogan ever did. That is the only thing that matters in wrestling, money!
When it comes to most influential wrestlers, another name i haven't seen here in the comments yet is Giant Baba. He was the reason why Wrestling became such a huge business in Japan in the 80s and 90s and All-Japan for awhile was almost as big as the WWF.
Too bad his wife was such a mark.
Bret Hart. The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.
Everyone knows that the only real GOAT is the Brooklyn Brawler