Who is or was the best 'professional wrestler'

[ChrisLove]

If you are too cool to take part in this thread - fuck off and listen to your backsteet boys CDs or whatever it is you do.

otherwise

I say Mick Foley

but I have a lot of time for

Hulk Hogan
Undertaker
Ravishing Rick Rude
Randy Savage


What makes a good wrestler? I say 70% in ring ability + selling move/good bumps/ athletic ability - 30% out of ring acting?

What about great wrestling angles?

I like

Taker/Hogan
Taker/Kane
Rock/Hogan
Cactus Jack/HHH

[befsquire]

the nature boy, rick flair.

duh.

[ChrisLove]

the nature boy, rick flair.

duh.

I can dig that...


WOOOOOO

[Ace42X]

My favourite ever match up was Foley as Cactus Jack vs HHH. There were thumbtacks and barbed wire on sticks - was CARNAGE. Saw it live on C4 while smurfing the web, and I was just totally amused.

Steve Austin and The Rock are also both great in terms of pure showmanship.

The Undertaker is fascinating, for my mag I had to review a biography of him (although it was totally tongue in cheek, concentrating on his kayfabe persona). Chris Benoit's (non-kayfabe) biography was also really interesting, if less entertaining.

Favourite wrestler of the now has got to be Rey Mysterio, just because they guy is INSANELY talented. I defy gymnasts to bust those moves!

[befsquire]

ok, you^ just took it 5 steps too far when considering it's not really based at all on who actually has any skill whatsoever.

it's showmanship, pure and simple. so i pick the one who runs his mouth best. and has the worst fake blonde hair and tan.

[paulb]

Mick Foley was always great....as a kid Shawn Michaels used to be my fav.

[ChrisLove]

My favourite ever match up was Foley as Cactus Jack vs HHH. There were thumbtacks and barbed wire on sticks - was CARNAGE. Saw it live on C4 while smurfing the web, and I was just totally amused.

Steve Austin and The Rock are also both great in terms of pure showmanship.

The Undertaker is fascinating, for my mag I had to review a biography of him (although it was totally tongue in cheek, concentrating on his kayfabe persona). Chris Benoit's (non-kayfabe) biography was also really interesting, if less entertaining.

Favourite wrestler of the now has got to be Rey Mysterio, just because they guy is INSANELY talented. I defy gymnasts to bust those moves!

I have been downloading the Tombstone doc which I thin you refer to - its good but as you suggest the non Kayfabe approach is kind of wack.

Recently watched the 'Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior' DVD which was interesting....

Not seen the Benoit one but the extra Kayfabe ones are better - I wuld recomend the two Mick Foley auto biographical books as great reads on that front - Im not a wrestling freak but those books were very good.

re Rey Mysterio - I respect the gymnastics but that only a smal part of what makes a good wrestler for me - He doesnt sell the story lines for me.

[Ace42X]

ok, you^ just took it 5 steps too far when considering it's not really based at all on who actually has any skill whatsoever.

Me? Seriously - take a look at Rey Mysterio's moves and tell me they don't take skill. The guy is teenie, and yet jumped off the 7ft high stage, and landed on his NECK straight into a roll off some cm thick gym-mats! I defy anyone to say that doesn't take balls and skill.

[TurdBerglar]

bret hart

[Knuckles]

Mountain Fuji! (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Network/7076/fijilive.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Network/7076/openpage.html&h=893&w=1265&sz=137&tbnid=qeDlP3TfEhUpFM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=150&hl=en&start=10&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGORGEOUS%2BLADIES%2BOF%2BWRESTLING%26 svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff)

[Extra Cheese]

either the iron sheik or classy freddie blassy

[Ace42X]

I have been downloading the Tombstone doc which I thin you refer to - its good but as you suggest the non Kayfabe approach is kind of wack.

Yeah, was Tombstone, but I was reviewing the UMD (Universal Media Disk) which is an abridged version. Was a kayfabe only selection.

Not seen the Benoit one but the extra Kayfabe ones are better

The Benoit one was interesting just to see the human side to it. I was disappointed that he didn't go into more details about Owen Hart's death, but I understand why he wouldn't. Was interesting to see the route into the career he took, alongside Eddie Guerrero, etc.

I wuld recomend the two Mick Foley auto biographical books as great reads on that front - Im not a wrestling freak but those books were very good.

I wanted to, Foley seemed to be a very nice person too, saw a bio on him onthe biography channel, and he just seemed to be a real good person. I also got the impression that there was more to him than the usual steroid-packers and Arnie wannabes.

re Rey Mysterio - I respect the gymnastics but that only a smal part of what makes a good wrestler for me - He doesnt sell the story lines for me.

His stories were generally flat when I was watching it, true.

[ChrisLove]

I wanted to, Foley seemed to be a very nice person too, saw a bio on him onthe biography channel, and he just seemed to be a real good person. I also got the impression that there was more to him than the usual steroid-packers and Arnie wannabes.



This is exactly right - he is just an all round great human being, a geniune role model (well for someone who made a living being hit hard in the head with stell chairs).

I would very much recommend reading his auto biographical books

[jabumbo]

andre the giant (y)

[ToucanSpam]

Bret Hart, with the Nature Boy Ric Flair in a close second.

[ChrisLove]

andre the giant (y)

Never really did it for me - didnt quite sell the storylines well enough to be one of the all time greats but you gotta ove him

[TAL]

^
I knew would say that. All of it.

[Gareth]

million dollar man ted dibiase cos he's the million dollar man which makes him the best.
'hitman hart - wrestling with shadows' is quite interesting.

[beastie fresh]

The Rock vs Triple H

One of the best matches ever, it was supposed to be Stone Cold vs Triple H but the Rock came and wrestled

Double Rock Bottom FTW (y)

The Rock and Undertaker(Going to win the belt on Sunday) are my favorites

[Justin]

Bret the hitman Hart!

wrestlemania 22 hall of fame inductee

maybe he'll slap hbk across the face just for the hell of it

[MagicCowboy]

Bonesaw.

[roosta]

The Rock was the best to ever get on the mic, so i'm picking him. His promo's were hilarious, nothing else comes close. I always watched it for the interviews.

second would be Foley.

[ChrisLove]

The Rock was the best to ever get on the mic, so i'm picking him. His promo's were hilarious, nothing else comes close. I always watched it for the interviews.

second would be Foley.


It doesnt matter what you think.


Wrestling misses the Rock.

and Foley

for the dozens..... and dozens of Mankind fans around the world

[Tzar]

stone cold for me.

[Kid Presentable]

million dollar man ted dibiase cos he's the million dollar man which makes him the best.
'hitman hart - wrestling with shadows' is quite interesting.

Everybody's got a price.

Remember Ted 'bought' the belt off Andre? Awesome.

Favourite wrestler is moot, probably Flair or Dibiase, and to a lesser extent Shawn Michaels pre-1998 back injury. I always was entertained by the guys who made people spend mega-bucks just to see them lose. The ones who could entertain at the same time. Macho Man managed to do this as a heel champ. The same became of HHH eventually. He was the first heel to win the main event at Wrestlemania, and the first (I think) to retain the belt at Wrestlemania as well. I liked that HHH's assholish persona was drawing people into backing The Rock as a babyface back in 2000. It was a job well done. It had to be with nobody left due to injuries.

Owen Hart would have probably gotten the spot as dominating Heel champ in 99-00 had he not died.

Favourite angles?

Savage/Steamboat
Savage/Hogan
Shawn/Bret
Angle/Benoit
Austin/Rock
Angle/Michaels

Basically the ones where the guys would be going all out to make it look like a high-stakes, personal battle. Austin vs Rock was untouchable the first two times. The Royal Rumble scuffles they chanced together were always good indicators of the electricty these two could create. Shawn and Bret from 1992 solidified HBK's future, the Montreal match from 1997 is actually pretty awesome too. And Angle Benoit was always just hard fought. The classic feuds for me get down to dividing the crowd in most cases. I'm close to putting HBK/HHH down for this reason, they had a good thing going, always reliably awesome, bloody matches with a solid back story.

PS: There is no way in hell that Undertaker, as a part-time performer is going to get anywhere near taking that belt off Angle. Mark my words. Taker vs Henry at WM22.

[Lex Diamonds]

stone cold for me.
Yeah you know it. What isn't there to love? He drinks beer, flips the bird, swears, runs people over, and wears a funny little waistcoat. (y)

[Planetary]

and wears a funny little waistcoat. (y)

lol

[ToucanSpam]

Everybody's got a price.

Remember Ted 'bought' the belt off Andre? Awesome.

Favourite wrestler is moot, probably Flair or Dibiase, and to a lesser extent Shawn Michaels pre-1998 back injury. I always was entertained by the guys who made people spend mega-bucks just to see them lose. The ones who could entertain at the same time. Macho Man managed to do this as a heel champ. The same became of HHH eventually. He was the first heel to win the main event at Wrestlemania, and the first (I think) to retain the belt at Wrestlemania as well. I liked that HHH's assholish persona was drawing people into backing The Rock as a babyface back in 2000. It was a job well done. It had to be with nobody left due to injuries.

Owen Hart would have probably gotten the spot as dominating Heel champ in 99-00 had he not died.

Favourite angles?

Savage/Steamboat
Savage/Hogan
Shawn/Bret
Angle/Benoit
Austin/Rock
Angle/Michaels

Basically the ones where the guys would be going all out to make it look like a high-stakes, personal battle. Austin vs Rock was untouchable the first two times. The Royal Rumble scuffles they chanced together were always good indicators of the electricty these two could create. Shawn and Bret from 1992 solidified HBK's future, the Montreal match from 1997 is actually pretty awesome too. And Angle Benoit was always just hard fought. The classic feuds for me get down to dividing the crowd in most cases. I'm close to putting HBK/HHH down for this reason, they had a good thing going, always reliably awesome, bloody matches with a solid back story.

PS: There is no way in hell that Undertaker, as a part-time performer is going to get anywhere near taking that belt off Angle. Mark my words. Taker vs Henry at WM22.

Other than your personal fav wrestlers, I've never more agreed with you about anything.

[ToucanSpam]

Kamala deserves to go into the HOF too because he has a 25 year career for goodness sake.

[Kid Presentable]

Kamala
Leaping Lanny Puffo!


:D

Lanny Poffo, or 'The Genius' was the younger brother of one Randy Poffo, bka 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.

[zorra_chiflada]

mick foley was always my favourite

[Otis Driftwood]

Skinner
The Berzerker (w. Mr Fuji)
One Man Gang (Akeem)
Bad News Brown
British Bulldog
and the Hitman

[ms.peachy]

the nature boy, rick flair.

duh.
what she said.

WHOOO!

[Lipper]

brutus "the barber" beefcake - hands down.

[Kid Presentable]

You notice how John Cena is on none of these replies? That's becuase he sucks. The guy is killing WWE slowly but surely.

[ToucanSpam]

You notice how John Cena is on none of these replies? That's becuase he sucks. The guy is killing WWE slowly but surely.
My god you're Captain Awsome today.


Cena is great outside the ring, but man, he has 5 moves and cannot sell his oppnents moves well enough.

[beastie fresh]

He is trying to become the next Rock, and I pray the Rock comes back soon and just totally destroys him

[Gareth]

haha
i'm going to WWE: ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA tonight
gonna see kurt angle v undertaker v world's strongest man mark henry etc
i dunno what's going on in pro wrasslin anymore it should still be big fun!

[Jmoney77]

bret hart
Bret Hart is the best and the sharpshooter is the best submission move!

[BangkokB]

The Great Kabuki~ A total army of one. And blew dust in his victims face. An unpredictable wildcard he was. He was to wrestling what Mr. Sphninx was to the term mysterious

A close 2nd would be Boogie Woogie Man. He's like a well oiled machine. He's been wrestling for 5 decades. That's dedication.