PWPNation.com is happy to announce the “Greatest Ever Series,” where we’ll rank a wide range of topics from the world of professional wrestling. The first will be a list of the Top 50 Wrestlers of all time.
Members of the PWP Nation staff and community put together their own collective lists, which was then infused into one solidified list. From all walks of life, young and old, long-time to recent fans, we feel like we have a very accurate and precise list that can represent the greatest performers and wrestlers of all time.
This list will feature current stars like John Cena and Daniel Bryan, to old school legends like Bruno Sammartino, Andre The Giant, Lou Thesz, and stars from the most popular time in wrestling, the “Attitude Era,” like ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and The Rock.
The following names are the members who helped contribute to the final list:
- Eron Ramadanov, Editor-in-Chief of PWPNation.com
- Jay Alletto, Owner & Founder of PWPNation.com
- Zak Fellows, Senior Staff Writer
- Matt Burgess, Featured Writer
- Brennan Daly, Featured Writer
- Tim Bell, Featured Writer & News Reporter
- John “JCD” Dimiceli, Senior Staff Writer
- Zack Heydorn, Featured Staff Writer & Host of “The Bottom Line” on PWP Nation Radio
- Chris Baker, Staff Writer
- Nick Ohrn, PWP Nation Community Member
- Mike Roche, PWP Nation Community Member
- Stephen Ajamie, PWP Nation Community Member
- Ford Fischer, PWP Nation Community Member
- Ron Adams, PWP Nation Community Member
- Matthew Hollie, PWP Nation Community Member
Along with these names, we received several other anonymous lists.
One of the biggest questions we’ve been asked is how the members of the PWP Nation universe put together their respective lists. When posing this task to them, we asked them to take into account everything that can be considered when trying to analyze a wrestler/performer:
- In-ring abilities
- Microphone/promo skills
- Drawing power/merchandise sales
- Longevity
- Name recognition
- Influence on the business
- Intangibles
Obviously, we can’t confirm that people didn’t place their own personal bias into their respective lists, but we feel like because there were so many entries, the margin for error is small. Also, we asked our contributors to take into account the different eras. For example, it’s hard to compare someone like Lou Thesz against someone like John Cena. Both great in their respective eras, but two completely different performers.
The Top 50 list will be released in several parts:
Let’s begin:
#5. The Rock
Achievements/Accolades:
- 10-time WWE World Champion
- 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion
- 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- WWE Royal Rumble Winner (2000)
Opinions:
“Arguably the most well-known wrestler in history, The Rock is an example of the best of talent and the best of character. Overcoming initial hostility for his smiling hero persona, he took a turn towards comedy and smack talk that makes any time with a microphone a joy to behold becoming the Number 1A to Stone Cold Steve Austin during the Attitude Era. With such classic rivalries against Austin, Triple H, Mick Foley, John Cena and others, the wrestling star turned movie star turned pop culture icon is one of the greatest what to do success stories for prospective wrestlers.” — Zak Fellows
“At the end of the day, The Rock is the most mainstream professional wrestler to ever lace up the boots. His transition from “The People’s Champion” in WWE to “Hollywood Megastar” has been inspirational. He played both the babyface & heel role to near perfection, which is almost a requirement for anyone in the Top 5. His ability to let his organic charisma shine made him venomous to all of his potential adversaries. And let’s give The Rock credit where credit is due: by all accounts, he always did whatever WWE asked him to do. He became one of the biggest stars in the entire world and still comes back to WWE to give back to the fans. I have a hunch that we haven’t seen the last of The Rock performing inside the squared circle at WrestleMania.” — Jay Alletto
#4. Hulk Hogan
Achievements/Accolades:
- 6-time WWE World Champion
- 6-time WCW World Champion
- Royal Rumble Winner (1990, 1991)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005)
Opinions:
“Hulk Hogan revolutionized and kick started two different golden eras in two different situations: As the All American Hero in the WWE Golden Era of the 1980’s to the villainous leader of the nWo against WCW in the Monday Night Wars, the Hulkster is the superstar of superstars. Some may criticize him for his lack of variety in his matches but it doesn’t change that his charisma and overall ability drew people towards him and made people love to watch him. A driving force behind many wrestling success stories and still a known figure of the industry, Hulk Hogan is THE biggest name in professional wrestling.” — Zak Fellows
“While The Rock is the most mainstream star in wrestling history, Hulk Hogan is the second most mainstream star in wrestling history. It’s no secret that I am a huge Hulk Hogan fan. Being born in 1984, I literally watched the entirety of Hulkamania unfold before my eyes. He was a comic book superhero that came to life to vanquish all that was evil in the world. When he turned heel in 1996, he proved that he didn’t need the support of Hulkamania to continue to succeed in the world of wrestling. When Hulk returned to WWE in 2002, I fell right back into the wave of Hulkamania…as did millions of other fans around the world. He’s definitely a Top 5 and in some circles, he’s considered the greatest of all time. Period.” — Jay Alletto
#3. Ric Flair
Achievements/Accolades:
- 10-time NWA World Champion
- 8-time WCW World Champion
- 2-time WWE World Champion
- 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion
- 5-time NWA United States Champion
- 2-time WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2008, 2012)
Opinions:
“If a plane crash and back injury couldn’t stop the Nature Boy than nothing could. The 16 time World Champion proved to be one of the greatest technicians of all time boasting such classics against Ricky Steamboat, Sting, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and many other legends, most that you have already seen on this list even. With a career spanning the NWA, WCW, WWE and TNA wherever Ric Flair went he brought a passion and determination to be the best with him that has created a legacy of respect…a legacy we acknowledge as he takes his rightful place at #3.” — Zak Felllows
“Ric Flair could lace up his boots tomorrow and compete inside a WWE ring if they would allow him to. Throughout his illustrious career, Flair was able to gain the most World Championships of any wrestler in history with 16. He’s a bonafide legend who is influential in the world of pop culture to this day. He had the ability to make the fan believe that ANYONE had a chance to take the World Championship off of him. Flair rarely buried his opposition and did everything in his power to make his opponents look great in victory or defeat. This is a mentality that is lost at times in professional wrestling. The other four wrestlers in the Top 5 might tell you that Ric Flair should be #1 on this list.” — Jay Alletto
#2. Shawn Michaels
Achievements/Accolades:
- 4-time WWE World Champion
- 3-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- 6-time WWE Tag Team Champion
- 1-time WWE European Champion
- Royal Rumble Winner (1995, 1996)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
Opinions:
“I will give you a show that you have never, ever seen before. Why? Because I can.” Truer words can never be better applied. The Showstopper, the Icon, the Main event be it in 1988, 1998 or 2008 brought his A-game every single time delivering incredible match after incredible match earning his reputation as one of the greatest talents of all time. He also proved to be a figure of constant introduction: Bringing together the infamous D-Generation X group, popularizing the Ladder match and serving as a major figure of the WWE’s New Generation, the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression era and the Universe Era. Shawn Michaels is a true workhorse of the industry and for that, he has left impactful memories.” — Zak Fellows
“I’ve always had the love/hate thing with Shawn Michaels. He was the main reason I took a brief sabbatical from watching wrestling in 1996. That and hormones. Anyway, when HBK defeated Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 12, I was flabbergasted! I couldn’t believe, logically, that Shawn could be Bret. I didn’t get it. It made no sense to me. However, HBK went on to prove that he deserved that spot and worked extremely hard to keep it. Personally, I’m a bigger fan of his run from 2002-2010 than I was of his 1988-1998 tenure. But with that being said, he was the pioneer of The Attitude Era. His entire persona reeked of the direction that the business was naturally taking. He was able to build a body of work that is very difficult to touch & there could be a serious argument that Shawn Michaels is the greatest wrestler of all time.” — Jay Alletto
#1. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
Achievements/Accolades:
- 6-time WWE World Champion
- 4-time WWE World Tag Team Champion
- 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- Royal Rumble Winner (1997, 1998, 2001)
- King of the Ring Winner (1996)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
Opinions:
“A success story that still resonates to the guttural emotion of his fans, the Texas Rattlesnake went from a bitter, psychopath looking to inflict pain to a beer drinking, anti-authority maverick that people gravitated towards. Austin serves as an example to prospective wrestlers in many regards: Ability, Character and adapting from injuries just to name a few. Not to limit himself to a wrestler, he became an overall personality from authority figure, referee and most recently podcast host, the charisma of Austin was second to none and still lingers on. Steve Austin is one of the greatest of all time and as such, he should be acknowledged as one of the biggest names, wrestlers, characters, money makers and individuals in the history of professional wrestling.” — Zak Fellows
“What?! I can’t say I’m surprised that Austin is our greatest wrestler of all time. Nobody rocked a WWE audience like Stone Cold Steve Austin did during the biggest boom that the business has ever seen. I’ve always thought about the possibilities for The Rattlesnake if he never broke his neck in 1997 by an unfortunate piledriver from Owen Hart. His run at the top of WWE may have lasted for an entire decade! Nobody sold more t-shirts. Nobody flipped more birds. Nobody pushed the entire wrestling industry to shift it’s direction the way that Stone Cold did. His feuds with Bret Hart & The Rock stand out as two of the greatest rivalries in the history of professional wrestling. And if there’s one thing that this entire Top 5 has in common, it’s their ability to cut a unique promo. Either in the ring or backstage, Stone Cold cut some of the firecest promos that we’ve ever heard. So with that being said, I’m going to sit back, pop a Steveweiser and give an ode to ol’ Stone Cold…the definitive greatest wrestler of all time.” — Jay Alletto
That’s it, folks! The Greatest Ever Series is complete. Next, we’ll be going over the top 50 active wrestlers in the world. Stay tuned.
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