Since it's four, I always split it up evenly. Two for the biggest draws in their era, and two for the best performers in their era. When I say 'performer,' I mean alittle bit of everything rolled into one: Charisma, look, presence, mic skills, character/character work, absility to adapt as a character (and in-ring performer to adapt and have good matches with all different sorts of wrestlers; size, age, style, etc) in-ring work, match quality, match resume, how long they did it for, etc. So, here goes:
Draws:
Hulk Hogan - was a huge draw in the 80's that brought wrestling to the forefront and mainstream of pop-culture with the 'Rock N' Wrestling' era with MTV. Then, did it again in the mid 90's for a few years as a heel and a completely different character from what he was in his first go around as a huge draw in the 80's. For a VERY long time, even if you asked someone who knew nothing about wrestling, they still knew who Hulk Hogan was. That speaks for itself.
Steve Austin - Brought the WWF back to prominence on a mainstream level for the first time since the 80's. Would've been better for him if his run on top lasted longer, but apparently he sold more shirts than Hogan or anyone ever in this short period of time, and of course brought Raw HUGE ratings when the previous few years the NWO was crushing them. Part of that probably was because the NWO wasn't as hot in 1998 as it was in 1996-1997, but still, you have to give credit to Austin more than any other wrestler for making WWF number one again.
Performers;
Ric Flair: - IMO, the greatest overall performer of all time. Match quality, resume, promos, charisma, presence, everything rolled into one. I'm not talking Ric Flair in 2000's WWE (even though, he could still go), but I'm talking Flair of the 80's in the NWA. He always 'got it', no matter what. He knew what buttons to press at every single moment in a match to make his opponent look like a billion bucks. He not only talked a good game, but he showed it to you, as well. You saw the women, the limosiuines, the fancy, expensive robes, the designer suits, the expensive sunglasses, the hair, everything. He made you believe he really was that guy, and he pretty much it was. Ric was always believable when cutting a promo. Always believable in the ring. We don't even have to go through his resume of great matches and his great promos. He could literally do it all and kept the NWA afloat in the 80's while the WWF was running roughshod all over the country. Without Flair in the NWA in the 80's, you can question if the NWA would've even made it as far as they did until they had to sell it to Turner.
Shawn Michaels - Some might think I'm being alittle bit biased with this, but the had TWO incredible runs as a performer in two different decades; the 90's and 2000's. From signing with the WWF in 1988 as 1/2 of The Rockers who for four years in the WWF had incredible matches with teams like The Brainbusters, The Fabulous Rogeau's, the Hart Foundation and more to finally getting his chance in 1992 to break off on his own (his idea) as a heel. You literally saw him rise from the bottom of the card as a smaller guy in an era of giants get better and better every year from 1992 and on to eventually becoming the best worker in the country from 1994/1995-1998. You saw his character evolve from cocky 'sexy boy' in 1992, to full-blown babyface in 1996 as Champion, to a full blown ASSHOLE degenerate in 1997.
The guy to have all the 'first of' matches in the WWF: First ladder match, first iron-man match, first Hell in a Cell match, first Elimination Chamber match. It's not a coincidence at all that Vince had Shawn have the first of all of those matches to see if those type of matches would work. And of course, all of them did and alot of that was because Shawn paved the way in those particular matches and showed how it could be done. All of those gimmick matches still exist to this day, and Shawn had the first of all of them.
He wasn't Austin or Rock on the mic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Austin and Rock were great in their respective ways on the mic and had great catchphrases. Shawn wasn't one who really had a catchphrase, but got over on the mic because he was an emotional guy who spoke with genuine emotion alot of the time on the mic in 90's. He might've been a nutjob in that era, but in alot of ways that worked for him, in the ring and on the mic.
He was also the most versatile guy in the ring that I can ever think of, along with Flair. All sorts of gimmick matches (listed above), matches with big guys (Taker, Diesel, Sid), brutal, hard-hitting matches with guys like Mankind (Mind Games), Triple H (SummerSlam 2002), technical matches with Angle, Benoit, Bret. Pretty much always delivering at the biggest show of the year with a multitude of different wrestlers.
Does anyone have a match like Shawn had with HHH after being gone for 4.5 years? I'm really not sure. The fact that so many wrestlers over the past decade have said that their biggest inspiration to become a wrestler in the first place was Shawn? He wasn't the biggest draw (and really, who was going to beat the NWO head to head when they FIRST formed in 1996-1997? NO ONE. But to me, he makes up for that with the huge impact he had on the business over the past decade or so with so damn many wrestlers listing him as their reason to become a wrestler in the first place.
That's my Mt. Rushmore.
