IWF's top 50 Wrestling Superstars of All Time

[He who knows more than Nation]

Holy SHIT! I forgot Randy Savage! Need to edit! Will diagnose you're list tomorrow my friend, solid list, but how the hell do Deano, the Warriors and about ten others, namely Bret, get above HBK? Also forgot my man Owen, gonna edit a little bit. HOLY FUCK. FORGOT ULTIMO AND VADER!

Ok , I fixed it exactly the way i want it. got owen, vader, ultimo and randy savage in. I love World Class, but Kerry and Bam Bam Gordy are the odd people out. And I had Steve Williams ranked too high, definitely the third best gaijin heel behind Hansen and Vader.

 

[Hometown Kid]

I think I need to edit too, I just realize I forgot Vader and to a lesser extent Tito Santana.

And Owen to me was a reach due to the fact that he died right before his serious push was to begin. This list to me was "I haven't watched wrestling in awhile, whose match do I want to watch that will make me remember how great a wrestling match can be" I ranked HBK lower because I felt that his matches were more about a magical feel he could create, and suck any of his opponents into, more than him being a legendary wrestler in his own right. (For example his Ironman match against Bret, back then it was revered as a classic between the two greatest wrestlers in the industry, boyhood dream and whatnot. But when I watch it today...it's boring. The only thing I popped for was Gorilla coming out.) Flair was another one I probably underrated, but I think his promos were more his staple, and he couldn't realistically keep up with guys after '95.

I'll say more tomorrow/later. Bedtime.

 

[Airfixx]

Once again, I will be watching from the sidelines because I'm one of the few people round here honest enough to admit that they know jack-shit about the eras before my time or the likes of Japan & Mexico and am not enough of a psuedo-smark to pretent that I do.




Looking forward to the ensuing debate though.

 

[straight_edge76]

I'm still working on compiling my list in the order I want it in. After I PM it I will also liklely post it in the thread like HTK and Enzo have. I am not going to pretend to be some worldly smark, the majority of my list will be WWF/E and WCW being that I know next to nothing of Japan aside from the Misawa's, and Kenta's of the world (and aside from names I have only seen a few matches of each) and the Mexico stuff I know is all newer work. So my entire list will be American guys. Feel free to criticize my list however you feel fit.

 

[McFly...]

Please note that I made this list in a rush and I will admit it's kind of random. But hey, I did contribute. Enjoy.

1. Flair
2. HBK
3. Hogan
4. Bret Hart
5. Sting
6. Steve Austin
7. Rock
8. Andre the Giant
9. Undertaker
10. HHH
11. Ted Dibiase
12. Mr Perfect
13. Kurt Angle
14. Vader
15. Foley
16. Savage
17. Warrior
18. Ricky Steamboat
19. Scott Hall
20. Kevin Nash
21. Sean Waltman ( love Pac)
22. RVD
23. CM Punk
24. Eddie Guerrero
25. Rey Mysterio
26. John Cena
27. Owen Hart
28. Ron Simmons
29. Brian Pillman
30. Big Show
31. Dusty Rhodes
32. Chris Jericho
33. Dean Malenko
34. Tajiri
35. Low Ki
36. Daniel Bryan
37. Kane
38. Randy Orton
39. Jeff Hardy
40. Edge
41. Chavo Guerrero
42. Funk
43. AJ Styles
44. Double J
45. Dreamer
46. Christian
47. Miz
48. Regal
49. Finley
50. Nigel McGuinness

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Once again, I will be watching from the sidelines because I'm one of the few people round here honest enough to admit that they know jack-shit about the eras before my time or the likes of Japan & Mexico and am not enough of a psuedo-smark to pretent that I do.

Looking forward to the ensuing debate though.

Google corey's tapes. Best damn tape trader that ever lived. Best got dang prices ever. You can get like 10 discs, which usually have 3-4 hrs of stuff for 2 bucks a disc. And I mean it when I say he has EVERYTHING.



And if you're insinuating I don't know what I'm talking about, go fuck yourself. If you're taking a back handed shot at Adam, awesome. Either way, make a list. Don't be a pussy.

 

[Veritas]

If you're looking to expand you're collection, you can check out iOffer.com, too. I've found all KINDS of stuff on there. Everything current, the Monday Night Wars, NWA/WCW, the WWF National Expansion, AWA, early-JCP, Memphis, Puroresu, Lucha - literally everything. Just use common sense like eBay, shop around and you can find some good deals. The one time I had a problem with a few discs I ordered I contacted the seller and he replaced them within a week.

I even got a DVD burner from Hong Kong on there. ;-O

 

[Veritas]

All votes currently posted in this thread have been counted. Enzo, Hometown Kid, & McFly no more edits and thanks for contributing!

 

[pumpt73]

Mine is PM'd in, so I'll show mine to the community. Here goes:

1.Verne Gagne
2. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
3. Lou Thesz
4. "Handsome" Harley Race
5. Bret "Hitman" Hart
6. Nick Bockwinkel
7. Terry Funk
8. Jack Brisco
9. Dory Funk Jr.
10. Antonio Inoki
11. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
12. Tatsumi "The Dragon" Fujinami
13. Bruno Sammartino
14. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
15. "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
16. The Great Muta
17. Bob Backlund
18. "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
19. Kenta Kobashi
20. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
21. Pat O'Connor
22. Mil Mascaras
23. Rikidozan
24. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
25. Hulk Hogan
26. Jerry "The King" Lawler
27. "Canada's Greatest Athlete" Gene Kiniski
28. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
29. Mitsuharu Misawa
30. Andre The Giant
31. Eddie Guerrero
32. Stan "The Lariet" Hansen
33. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
34. "Y2J" Chris Jericho
35. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
36. Sargeant Slaughter
37. Killer Kowalski
38. "Superstar" Billy Graham
39. The Undertaker
40. Pedro Morales
41. Giant Baba
42. The Dynamite Kid
43. Kurt Angle
44. Davey Boy Smith
45. Tully Blanchard
46. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
47. Satoru Sayama (Tiger Mask)
48. Barry Windham
49. Dean Malenko
50. Danny Hodge

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Mine is PM'd in, so I'll show mine to the community. Here goes:

1.Verne Gagne
2. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
3. Lou Thesz
4. "Handsome" Harley Race
5. Bret "Hitman" Hart
6. Nick Bockwinkel
7. Terry Funk
8. Jack Brisco
9. Dory Funk Jr.
10. Antonio Inoki
11. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
12. Tatsumi "The Dragon" Fujinami
13. Bruno Sammartino
14. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
15. "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
16. The Great Muta
17. Bob Backlund
18. "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes
19. Kenta Kobashi
20. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
21. Pat O'Connor
22. Mil Mascaras
23. Rikidozan
24. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
25. Hulk Hogan
26. Jerry "The King" Lawler
27. "Canada's Greatest Athlete" Gene Kiniski
28. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
29. Mitsuharu Misawa
30. Andre The Giant
31. Eddie Guerrero
32. Stan "The Lariet" Hansen
33. "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
34. "Y2J" Chris Jericho
35. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
36. Sargeant Slaughter
37. Killer Kowalski
38. "Superstar" Billy Graham
39. The Undertaker
40. Pedro Morales
41. Giant Baba
42. The Dynamite Kid
43. Kurt Angle
44. Davey Boy Smith
45. Tully Blanchard
46. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
47. Satoru Sayama (Tiger Mask)
48. Barry Windham
49. Dean Malenko
50. Danny Hodge

Good taste, Hodge is one of the toughest bastards in the history of mankind. Windham is one of the most under rated workers.

 

[pumpt73]

Thanks Enzo. Finally someone who knows Hodge!!! If anybody hasn't heard of him, read up on the guy. One of the greatest amateurs turned pro in history. Guy was never taken down his Senior year in College. Basically the equivalent of never giving up a base hit all year as a pitcher. NCAA's Outstanding Wrestler is named after him, and before Hulk Hogan ever graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, Danny Hodge took that honor. Hell, he also posted an 8-2 professional Boxing record.

Yeah, bro, Barry really should get more attention than he does. I still think he's the best United States Champion ever. His heel turn showed a side of him that was needing to come out. Wildly popular as a face, he settled right into the heel role perfectly and completed the best version of the Four Horsemen.

 

[Airfixx]

And if you're insinuating I don't know what I'm talking about, go fuck yourself. If you're taking a back handed shot at Adam, awesome. Either way, make a list. Don't be a pussy.

I've listed my fave WWF/E this, that and the other on here untold times, but it's out of respect for those that DO know there shit that I don't submit lists for broader corss-company stuff... Just seems pointless when there will be such glaring ommisions from the off.

As for the tapes guy... Sounds cool... Hope he'll do UK shipping... Either way, cheers for the heads-up....

Care to recomend a good 'entry point' event for early 90's Japanese stuff? (I prefer watching entire events to cherry picked matches as I need to get a better feel for the fed and the jap style in general.)

 

[Veritas]

All submitted lists have been calculated. If you haven't submitted a list yet - why the hell not?!

On a list that must be trimmed down to 50, there have been a total of 122 wrestlers thus far to receive votes.

Airfixx, when you poll an audience, it's important to have varying opinions and age differences. If everyone had the same knowledge and voted the same, the list would be pretty damn easy to put together, right? This is an opinion based project so it's not like there are right or wrong answers - although if you submit a list with Koko B. Ware at #1 we may have to talk. Join the fun, sunshine.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

I've listed my fave WWF/E this, that and the other on here untold times, but it's out of respect for those that DO know there shit that I don't submit lists for broader corss-company stuff... Just seems pointless when there will be such glaring ommisions from the off.

As for the tapes guy... Sounds cool... Hope he'll do UK shipping... Either way, cheers for the heads-up....

I never followed the entire promotions as the language and culture barriers are too intense and I would never pay outrageous mark up for subtitled ones that float along the net. The reason puro is so dear to me is that I don't need to know what the background between two dudes is, the stories that are told in the ring are universal and it's as close to a real sport as wrestling gets. And one of the best things about Jap wrestling, even heels win cleanly, dirty finishes, at least in All Japan are so few and far between.

As far as shows go, you have to keep in mind puro shows aren't exactly modeled after American style shows, they're not episodic, they're presented in the fashion of legitimate sports, rivalries are rivalries, like Misawa-Kawada matching up for 7 straight years and Misawa getting the best of him for five straight years, until Kawada had his break through and won the next two, akin to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. So it's no surprise that the biggest and best shows are the two-three day tournaments. The Champions Carnival and The Worlds Strongest Tag League have been the premiere shows of All Japan since the 70's when names like the Funks, Steamboat, Abullah and Ted DiBiasie competed with the best All Japan. But in the 90's, from like 91-98 names like Misawa, Akira Taue, Kobashi, Kawada, Frofat, Furnas and Johnny Ace were regulars. You can't go wrong with ANY year from 91-98, each person in the tourney takes on everyone, every tourney is round robin format and you're sure to get at least 5-7 4+ star matches.

My personal favorites from All Japan are the Tag League Tourneys, and somewhere in a box in the garage I still have a copy of 93 or 94, can't remember, but it was Baba/Hansen, Misawa/Kobashi, Taue/Kawada, Furnas/Kroffat and Steve Williams and a very capable BossMan plus others Almost every match in that tourney goes beyond 3 1/2 stars. You will not find finer tag wrestling anywhere, you'll be hard pressed to find any better single tag matches from the states in general, let alone 6-7 near perfect tags. This show is must own shit.

For New Japan, you HAVE to own the Super J cup 94 and 95, with 94 being probably the best Juniors event in the history of the sport. In 94 you have Malenko, Guerrero, Benoit,Taka, Hayabusa, Liger and other guys in a fantastic tourney with Benoit (as Wild Pegasus) defeating Great Sauske in a fantastic Final. In 95, Liger, Funaki, Jericho, Ultimo, and Benoit amongst others in another solid tourney and as a bonus attraction, Rey and Psychosis have a great match. Just awesome shit.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Here's probably the best fucking site in the history of wrestling sites. Last time I gave this site out on another board they closed it down for a long while, don't know if it was coincidence or they were abusing it. Either way you get some FANTASTIC All Japan matches from the glory days. Enjoy, I know for sure HTK and Pumpt will and anyone who enjoys great wrestling. RoH fanboys, take note of what REAL 5 star matches are.
http://theditch.biz