Just going to list my personal top three . . .
III. Chris Benoit. Chris Benoit was at one point my second favorite wrestler, due to me starting wrestling back in 06, and he remained that for a good few years after. In particular, his match against William Regal at No Mercy was the match that elevated Benoit above the levels of the rest of the superstars. So much so that most of the time when I'd go back to watch an older match that happened before I started, I'd normally go with a Chris Benoit bout.
When it comes down to it, I firmly believe that Chris Benoit is the greatest technical wrestler in the history of wrestling. A lot of people will list of Kurt Angle or Bret Hart but to me Chris Benoit has something that just pushes him over the edge. Technically wrestling isn't just about the offensive but it's also about the selling and when it comes to selling I just always felt Benoit was in a league of his own here. What eventually pushes Benoit back into third is his mic skills. Both my two and three I consider some of the best ever while with Benoit I'd at best consider him good. There are other reasons that will be revealed in the explanations for number two and one but I'll give it that for now. I'll leave off by saying my favorite match ever is between Benoit and my number two . . .
II. Kurt Angle. Royal Rumble 2003 is my favorite match of all-time. It's just perfect. Kurt Angle also provides my third favorite match of all-time, probably my favorite Undertaker match, and plenty of other great matches I can watch over and over again. When it comes down to wrestling, Angle and Benoit are more or less equal, so what puts Angle over the top is his mic skills. Angle is downright hilarious when he wants to be, like his segments with The Rock, and cut several serious promos when needed to and those were still better than most of what Benoit cut. I don't know what else to really say, can't really go on to long talking about something unless I'm bitching about something.
I. Shawn Michaels. I hate giving this answer because it's one of the most generic answers you can. That's why I don't like doing GOAT's objectively like Lockard did because in the end of the day you're really only left with one clear cut answer being Hulk Hogan. Yet, here I am, listing of Shawn Michaels as the greatest, who normally seems to be high on the list. It's like when I have to answer my favorite anime, I hate that question because my answer is always Cowboy Bebop, probably the most critical acclaim anime, hell a common saying is "I hate all anime except Cowboy Bebop". Their is nothing new to add, it tells nothing to distinctive about my taste, doesn't add anything new to the discussion, and thus isn't as thought provoking as an answer as I'd like to give or an answer adding some sense variety to the discussion. It could be so commonplace that it seems like a cop-out answer but at the end of the day both Cowboy Bebop and Shawn Michaels are definitely my favorites.
To best explain why Shawn Michaels is my favorite, even though I don't have to, it's easiest just to look at his matches. His match with Angle at Mania is my third all-time favorite match; his HIAC with Taker is possibly my favorite Taker match and easily my favorite HIAC match (along with being in my top five favorite matches of all-time); his Raw match against Triple H is my favorite Raw match ever; his Raw match with John Cena is my second favorite Raw match and my second favorite Cena match; his ladder match with Chris Jericho is probably my favorite Jericho match, as well as my favorite ladder match (in terms of singles, at the very least - WrestleMania 2000 might beat it but otherwise it's good); and I could probably go on but I don't feel like it. As for promo wise, HBK is definitely one of the best in the prime example is his feud with JBL. When I read the premise of that feud, cause I didn't have my site to watch PPV's illegally back then, I thought it was going to suck. I was totally disinterested. Even though I haven't seen any of the PPV matches, that is one of my favorite feuds period. The promos in that feud were magnificent, and it really sold me in a feud I had zero interest in. Which is saying something since that rarely happens and I can't even think of another time it did. Also, I'm really pissed that Shawn never fought my current favorite Punk before retiring. Okay, I'm done!
