Top 5 Favorite Wrestlers

[Pepsi]

I know it's hard to do, especially for those who have been long time wrestling fans, but give it a try. Tell me your 5 favourites of all time. You don't have to do a write up like I am. I just have a lot of time on my hands these days.

5. Scott Hall
Up there with Jake Roberts as one of the best talkers in the history of the business. He was also an entertaining in ring performer, and everything he did oozed cool. It's a shame that he had the personal problems he did. If not for all his demons he surely would have been much more successful than he was.

4. Ted Dibiase
He was dynamite on the mic, a solid in ring performer and he had the coolest entrance music of the 80's. this was probably my favourite gimmick of all time. It was so solid that it was able to remain relevant for around 10 years without needing a reboot.

3. Christian
I am a rare Christian fan in that I have actually been a huge fan of his ever since his days as the silent sidekick in the brood. As his career grew he got better and better. When he and Edge were tag champs, they were comedic gold. When he broke off from Edge it seemed like he was going to fade away, but he was a work horse and managed to fight his way through a very competitive time in the post WCW sale WWE. When he went to TNA he proved he had what it took to sit at the top. He has now earned the place as one of those guys the fans will always respect no matter how under utilized he is.

2. Owen Hart
My brother was a huge Bret Hart fan, I on the other hand was a big jerk as a child. I hated Bret Hart mostly just to irritate my brother. When Owen turned on Bret I was so happy. I remember jumping up and down and screaming "in your face" to my rather when Owen pinned Bret at Wrestlemania 10. He was probably the greatest whiny heel there ever was. My Owen Hart fandom started as a way to annoy my older brother, but it grew into a true respect.

1. Macho Man Randy Savage
From the moment I started watching wrestling in 1991 Savage was consistently among my favourites. The strange thing is I don't think he was ever my very favourite at any time. There was always someone I liked slightly better, but from when I started watching in 1991 till the end of WCW there was never a moment where I could say he wasn't one of my top 3 favourites. He's a performer in the ring and on the mic that stood the test of time. It didn't matter whether he was a heel or a face, everything he did was gold.

[Jules]

I'm not going to number them as it would require too much thought. But here's five wrestlers who have made the biggest impact on my entertainment as a pro wrestling fan.

Bret Hart
After my Hulk Hogan phase Hart was my favourite wrestler. I remember my cousin and I never liked the same guy. I was Hogan, he was Warrior; I was Bret, he was HBK. I've since looked back and have come to admire Bret as a smark. Great worker.

Stone Cold Steve Austin
I went off wrestling in the mid-90s and this gimmick hooked me back in. I would tune into RAW, like most people, just to see what Stone Cold would get up to. Having worked for a few fuckwits, I completely get the Austin angle and I understand why millions lived vicariously through Austin v McMahon. The crowd was never hotter than when that glass shattered, and nothing was more entertaining than Austin on a rampage.

The Undertaker
When I used to mark out for people like Hart in the early 90s I never really liked Undertaker. As I've got older I got a lot more respect for this guy. Not just because of longevity, and certainly not because he got the biggest ever continued push in pro wrestling history (the streak), but simply because in his day Taker was an out of this world performer. Yeah, his mic skills were never great, but he was a tremendous athlete, a wonderful performer, and completely changed what was expected of big and powerful wrestlers.

Eddie Guerrero
People always say HBK was the greatest worker mainstream pro wrestling has ever seen. You could argue people like Bret, Ric Flair, Macho Man, possibly even Austin, but Eddie's name should go right up there. He could work with anybody in any kind of match because he was so versatile in his ability, and he had so much charisma that he could get over no matter what gimmick or alignment he played. I loved how Eddie always put his heart and soul into his performances, he deserved his WWE title push, it was a real tragedy for his family and for wrestling when his life was cut short. If you've never seen them, go watch Eddie's match with Benoit in NJPW (Black Tiger II v Wild Pegasus - Best of the Junior Heavyweights 96 I think - its on youtube somewhere), and his WWE title success against Brock Lesnar has to be one of the best underdog vs dominant giant matches ever performed. RIP Eddie Guerrero.

Kurt Angle
I was a Kurt Angle mark no doubt about it. Even when I satisfied myself I was a true wrestling smark, I would whoop and holler for Kurt Angle like I did for Hogan as a little kid. My favourite ever in-ring performer, and is second to none because he could work a great match with anyone. He played the cowardly heel like a champ, and could even do a good job as an intense, if goofy, face. His body is battered nowadays, and though I don't watch TNA I've heard Kurt can still put on a decent match.

[The Soul Of Philly]

#5 CM Punk

- Probably was among the first "indy darlings" that I followed. He captivated me from the moment I saw him. When I got his DVD and watched it, I felt proud like he was my friend that did what he wanted to do and did it his way, without changing.

#4 The Rock
- As a youngster, I looked up to my uncle and therefore, mimicked him a lot. He was a Rock fan, which in turn, make me a rock fan. The more I watched him, the more I became a fan because of The Rock making me a fan than because my uncle was a fan. My uncle passed away in 2008 and when Rock came back two years ago, I'm man enough to admit I broke down into tears. It took me back to when me and my uncle tagged against my younger brother and his younger brother, my other uncle. he'd hit the rock bottom and I'd hit the People's elbow.

#3 Dolph Ziggler
- "Hi I'm Dolph Ziggler" and with that, I found myself laughing at this guy because I knew a guy like that, he was relate-able in a sense. He grew and got a chance to show off his skills and I think he's a future star, the fact that they don't tease the MITB as much makes me think they're really going to let him win the WHC and hold it for a while.

#2 Goldberg
- The only reason I even dared to watch WCW as a kid, remember I was born in 1992, by the time I knew of WCW, it was late 98/Early 99, so I was almost seven and Goldberg just was intense and hurt people. I did the jump and cut throat taunt when I saw him, I made TJ do that in all the wrestling games. Hell, I bought WCW vs nWo for the n64, and I DIDN'T HAVE THAT! When he was in WWE it was awesome to me, albeit in hindsight, it was a bit lackluster in some spots, but a guilty pleasure is that WM20 match Goldberg vs Brock.

#1 The Undertaker
- The reason why I love pro wrestling, the first memory of watching wrestling is watching a taped version of KOTR 97 when Taker threw Foley off the cell. Since then, Taker has been my number 1 and probably will always remain that way.

[Jason Cashe]

I find that my childhood and my current age will clash over this list so many times over that it'd probably change next week. But I'll put out what I think is my Fav 5 now.

#5 - Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig
As a kid I remember seeing his segments where he'd throw footballs or shoot basketballs and they'd be Miracle Shots. Not knowing it was shits and giggles I was in awe by it. Then to see that he could compete with anyone and had by far the best Mouth Piece in Pro Wrestling period? He was just special. Total package and only in Dolph Ziggler do you see hints of him today.

#4 - Rob Van Dam
The first match that REALLY gave me goosebumps with RVD was his Hardcore Title match with Jeff Hardy at the Invasion PPV. When WCW had just recently been purchased and the whole Alliance thing was going down. They wrestled the shit out of that match. Because of that I searched for other RVD matches and WOW I was blown away at some of the shit he did. ECW with Jerry Lynn, probably the only Lynn I can even watch but it was incredible. Tag Team with Sabu was just crazy. He visualized to me why ECW was what it was and the rest came after him.

#3 - Ric Flair
The moment Ric Flair showed up in "WWF" wearing the "REAL" World Championship...I was hooked! I can still hear my Mom saying "Oh My that's Ric Flair!" cause she remembers him from the old days. I had seen him before cause I watched so many old tapes my Mother had when I was young. He was the most decorated Wrestling in History, survived a plane crash and went on to wrestle all year, 60 minutes a day far too often. The guy has and always was a work horse and now John Cena almost can match him in World Titles...Sad..

#2 - Shawn Michaels
I was a huge fan of The Rockers. They were a flashier Rock N Roll Express and looked better doing it to me even as a kid. Total ripoff I admit but when Michaels turned on Jannetty on The Barber Shop? I was so upset. I might have been in tears but I remember clinching my fists and punching my pillow growling a lot. I was mad at school and my Teacher laughed cause he knew why I was mad. I also dislike Sensational Sherry even before then but then FOR SURE. It took Sid Vicious power bombing HBK repeatedly for "giving him the night off" for me to start liking him. Then he redefined Entertainment.

#1 - I sat and pondered a while with this one. So many people would name Guerrero or Savage in part because of what they've done and in part because of their deaths. I agree and wouldn't argue either as a Top Favorite but I wasn't a SUPER fan of either. I didn't open eye wide like I was in a daze when I watched them. Loved them both however. So for here I will say a tie.

Road Warriors and Sting

Both gave me excitement, love for the entertainment and sport of Pro Wrestling. I'm a Tag Team fan because of the Road Warriors. Other teams helped but that was the first Wow Factor in Tag Teams and even in the sloppy days of LOD 2000 I was the biggest fan. Sting throughout his entire career I was hopeful of his success. I watched his first match with Flair and sitting in front of my TV I begged for Sting to kick his "Butt" (Go Biggs!) and then he went from Blonde hair to Crow Sting and I was all the way hyped for that and his baseball bat. Loved it.

[warrenpeace]

Punk
Lesnar
sabu
Undertaker
Edge

[Johnny Rebel]

5. Scott Hall.

There was nothing more exciting than watching the beginning of the nWo. The premier storyline in all of wrestling history, and it was centered around Hall as the lynchpin. The perfect blend of mic skills, size, and in-ring ability. I wish he could have kept it all together.

4. Arn Anderson

He was the motor behind the Four Horseman. Flair brought the energy, and Arn brought the substance. If he was about 4 inches taller, we'd be talking about him as one of the best of all time, and perhaps on the same wavelength as a Ric Flair.

3. Stevie Richards

A guilty pleasure of mine. I always thought he had the charisma to carry ECW back in its beginning stages. The three-way dance between The Sandman, Funk and Richards is probably my favorite match of all time.

2. C.M. Punk

He's restored my faith in the wrestling business. The WWE was in bad, bad shape coming in to 2011, and C.M. Punk almost single-handedly propelled himself to the Steve Austin/Rock levels, IMO, this year. He's carrying the WWE at the moment... I don't care what anyone else says. He's the only interesting they have going.

1. Shane Douglas

Probably an obviously one, considering I've based my character visually off of him. ECW was my favorite promotion back in the day, and Shane Douglas' promo when he throws down the NWA championship hooked me. I can remember building a wrestling ring in friends backyards and using the belly-to-belly suplex as my finishing move in honor of the Franchise.

[Michael Jennings]

5. Ric Flair
4. Bret Hart
3. Steve Austin
2. Shawn Michaels
1. Randy Savage

[Buckson Gooch]

5. Bray Wyatt (dude is going to do some great stuff on the main roster, his NXT stuff has been "must see")
4. Dean Ambrose
3. Scott Hall/Kevin Nash
2. Edge
1. Randy Savage

[Speede]

6. The Miz/Dolph Ziggler (Tie)
5. Chris Jericho
4. Christian
3. AJ Styles
2. Shawn Michaels
1. Edge

Have to add a sixth, and a tied sixth at that. They're my favorite wrestlers in the game today other than Styles, and I'm still pissed The Miz is back in the midcard. honorable mentions also go out to Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, The Shield, Kazarian, and CM Punk.

[papapancho]

Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, El Hijo del Santo, The Rock, Macho Man Randy Savage


Men who made me cry or cheer or scream at my television screen. Honorable mention goes out to Goldust who I have loved, hated, and everything in between for over his entire career. I loved every version of Goldust ... including The Artist Formerly known as Goldust.

Probably the one that stands out the most is El Hijo del Santo since he doesn't get much player here in the good ol USA. He was a GOD in mexico. His father was the greatest and got my grandfather into lucha libre which he helped get me hooked as a youngster.

Before Hulk Hogan went nWo ... El Hijo Del Santo did it.

Shoutout to Tito Santana too. Arriba!

[Nathaniel Havok]

5.) CM Punk
He is quickly rising to the top of this list, in my eyes. He's already knocked HHH off of my list, which 10 years ago, I would have told you was IMPOSSIBLE to do. His feud with Joe in ROH was the best feud of 2004, and probably of the century. When he says he's the "Best in the World"... He makes you believe it. Which means, there's no denying that at this very point in time, he IS the best in the world!

4.) Curt Hennig
There is no denying the talent of the late Curt Hennig. He WAS perfect! Technically sound, awesome on the mic, and knew what to do, how to do it, and WHEN to do it, to get a specific reaction from the crowd. An in-ring general, without question. I was ecstatic to see him return for a small run in 2002! Wish it could have went somewhere. He is the exact definition of a Hall of Famer!

3.) Kurt Angle
Need I even give an explanation?!?! For a man who "thought professional wrestling was 100% fake and never hurt", when he started training... He's come a whole hell of a long way! He is BY FAR the best technical wrestler of all time, and is everything a professional wrestler SHOULD be! He was born and bread for this business, and you can tell it's not just a "money thing" for him. At least, not since around 2000-ish. It's his love, his passion, and he was meant to be one of the best!

2.) Ric Flair
Ric WAS number 1 for YEARS in my book... Until he decided to ruin his career by joining WCW TNA. After the best match he'd had in YEARS (WM With HBK), he decided to go back on his word, and wrestle in TNA!?!? Come on, Ric! But I will NEVER forget what he did for this business, what he's done IN this business, and what he's become in this business. He is a true legend, and I will always think of him as such.

1.) HBK
The only man in the history of the business, who can literally do ANYTHING he wants! Innovative, multi-talented, and very "cutting edge" in the late 90's. He changed professional wrestling, and reinvented what a "top talent" could be. He gave the "smaller guys" a chance to really take hold of their careers. While Bret gave smaller guys a chance, Shawn gave them a launching pad. Even after "finding God", he proved that it wasn't his mic work, it was his ability. And he will always be number 1 in my book, until Punk or Ziggler knock him off.

Honorable Mentions: Dolph Ziggler, Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Owen and Bret Hart, Sting, Randy Savage, Shane Douglas, AJ Styles, and Chris Benoit

[Level-Two]

1. Chris Jericho (2000-2005) - Favorite wrestler of all time.
2. Edge
3. Brock Lesnar
4. CM Punk
5. Triple H

Always been a sucker for great heel characters since I was a kid... now I RP as one.

[Your JESUS]

5. Dean Malenko- Just rub his wrists on the way to the ring, I was like he is about to fuck someone up.

4. Mr. Perfect- Don't forget he's the reason WWE had that broke dick Hardcore title. Perfect was the man.

3. Rick Rude- His WCW run as world champ was classic, Rude was the man.

2. Ultimate Warrior- I feel like it's like Vanilla Ice, eventually it will be cool again to say you were a warrior mark. I loved that dude as a kid and even talked to him on the phone when I was 16 and tried to go to his school.

1. Steve Austin- Hands down grew up my teens and young adult life watching this dude. I still remember him rolling the video camera when he was a Hollywood Blonde in WCW with Pillman. When Austin won the TV title I thought this guy is the shit. Haha his stun gun was cool too when he would drop a dude throat first on the rope then roll them up for the pin. An Austin mark before being an Austin mark was cool. I also loved early WCW stuff if you can't tell.

[biggs]

1) Eddie Guerrero
-Anyone who knows me knows how much I adored Eddie. He's the only wrestler, heck, the only entertainer that I would say is a personal hero of mine. What he overcame in order to come back to wrestling, and the fact that he worked so hard and worked at such a high level after all that he had been through, well, it's nothing short of inspirational.
Also, Eddie is without a doubt the most complete performer wrestling has ever seen. Talented in the ring, charisma to spare, he could make you love him or hate him just like that. (Although I always loved watching him!) Even with a crappy angle like the Dominic custody battle, Eddie was able to be pure gold. His promo from atop the ladder, where he said he was going to defeat Rey Mysterio for Fathers everywhere gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it, and that was despite the horrible story surrounding it. Every week, one of the highlights of my week was seeing Eddie perform.
I'm not the type of person who cries often, but when Eddie died, that was probably one of the four times I've cried in the last ten years, and the only time I cried harder was when my grandmother died. He made that big of an impact on me. I remember the Friday before he died, one of my buddies challenged me to not watch wrestling for a week, because he was concerned that I was too obsessed with it. When I heard the news, I told him flat out that I was not going to do the challenge, because I had to watch the Eddie Tribute Shows. I still have them recorded to this day.

2) Daniel Bryan
-If there's anyone who has risen up to almost Eddie levels, it would be Daniel Bryan. Not only can he go in the ring, but he just does all the little things that make him so gosh darn likable for me. The therapy sessions with Dr. Shelby and Kane should not have worked at all, but D-Bry made them work. The way that he wasn't scared of Kane's fire going off, but how it just seemed to piss him off more, was just so funny. But most of all, it's the fact that he's such an amazing worker in the ring. Also, the fact that he's from my home state doesn't hurt either, but I think I'd love him just as much regardless of where he's from.

3) Bret "The Hitman" Hart
-Admittedly, my fandom for Bret Hart developed more as I was older, because when I was a little kid, sure, I liked him, but workrate wasn't something I really watched wrestling for. My mom wouldn't let me watch WWF, so I had to settle for WCW, and even though the booking of Bret was horrible and inconsistent, I still liked the guy. His Owen Hart tribute match with Chris Benoit was the match that truly made me a fan, and thanks to DVD releases and the internet, I've been able to watch a whole heck of a lot more Bret Hart Matches. What can I say, I love wrestling.

4) The Rock
-I'll be honest, The Rock's stock has been dropping for me, after his subpar matches with Cena at the last two WrestleManias, but the bottom line is that as a teenager, I absolutely loved The Rock! Despite my mom's anti-WWF stance, my brother and I would sneak watching WWF, making sure we had WCW on the quick channel switch button. From the moment I first saw The Rock, in a street fight between The Nation and DX, I instantly liked him a lot. Eddie was my favorite overall, but The Rock was my favorite in WWF at that time frame.

5) Tie-CM Punk and The Brian Kendrick
-I'm going to go for a cop out here, because in all honesty, I love both guys too much to keep them off this list. Punk is on here for his excellent in ring work, his promo skills, and just all around awesomeness. The Brian Kendrick is on here because he's an above average worker, really wacky, and he grew up in the same town that I did. (He went to my rival high school, and earned money for wrestling school washing dishes at Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor.) I loved the London & Kendrick Tag Team, so much that I have all of their pay per view Tag Team Title defenses on DVD, but the point where Kendrick really shined on me was when he became "THE" Brian Kendrick. I loved his smarminess, I loved the fact that he was finally getting recognized for his great in ring work. He was the first guy to get "favorite" status after Eddie's passing.

[Cid Phoenix 2013]

1. Kurt Angle
2. Chris Benoit
3. Bryan Danielson
4. Chris Jericho
5. Lance Storm

[C.J. Gates]

Not feeling full write ups right now, but here's my list.

#1 Undertaker
#2 Triple H
#3 Edge
#4 Mick Foley
#5 Bret Hart

[The Smooth One]

5. Lex Luger - While he wasn't a great wrestler...he was intense and he had a great physique

4. Ric Flair - Woooo...WDWJ is modeled partially after The Nature Boy...Clothes..Cars..Women..Jet Setting...Fucking awesome

3. Dean Malenko - one of the best mat wrestlers of all times...WDWJ is part Dean Malenko

2. The Rock - early in his career was one of the best on the mic...tremendous talent..awesome charisma..the total package brand...every wrestler should hope to be the Rock

1. Randy The Macho Man Savage - incredible athlete...unpredictable...the voice...the antics. the elbow...the double axe handle ..the swag!!