Top 50 Stars of the Last 50 Years

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I got bored at work, came up with this list in my spare time. The top 50 stars in wrestling over the last 50 years. The basic criteria is popularity, fame and drawing power. The list is limited to appeal to U.S. wrestling fans. It's a work in progress, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Andre the Giant

Steve Austin

Fred Blassie

Nick Bockwinkel

Jack Brisco

Dick the Bruiser

John Cena

Ric Flair

Mick Foley

Dory Funk Jr.

Terry Funk

Verne Gagne

Bill Goldberg

Superstar Billy Graham

Bret Hart

Hulk Hogan

The Junk Yard Dog

Gene Kiniski

Killer Kowalski

Ernie Ladd

Jerry Lawler

Lex Luger

Magnum T.A.

Mil Mascaras

Wahoo McDaniel

Shawn Michaels

Rey Misterio Jr.

Roddy Piper

Harley Race

Dusty Rhodes

The Road Warriors

Jake Roberts

The Rock

The Rock 'n' Roll Express

Buddy Rogers

Bruno Sammartino

Randy Savage

The Sheik

Sergeant Slaughter

Jimmy Snuka

George "the Animal" Steele

Sting

Chief Jay Strongbow

Triple H

The Ultimate Warrior

The Undertaker

Jesse Ventura

Kerry Von Erich

[Dandy 0]

George "the Animal" Steele

Undeserved.

[King Kamala 0]

I don't know about drawing power but George Steele seems to fit the first two. He's popular amongst two maybe even three generations of fans and he gained a bit of notoriety for his part in Ed Wood. He's one of the few wrestlers that my dad knows. I don't know if I'd put him on the last but I could see how someone would.

[luke-o 0]

No Raven?

 

Boo-urns!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I don't know about drawing power but George Steele seems to fit the first two. He's popular amongst two maybe even three generations of fans and he gained a bit of notoriety for his part in Ed Wood. He's one of the few wrestlers that my dad knows. I don't know if I'd put him on the last but I could see how someone would.

Bingo. If you give non-wrestling fans the name of George Steele, I bet you the vast majority of them can identify him as a professional wrestler.

 

Luke-O, why Raven?

[spman 0]

Even though they may not mean much to American audiences, El Santo, Rikidozan, and Karl Gotch all deserve to be on this list simply on the basis of being cultural icons in Mexico / Japan

 

edit: Sorry, didn't see that you limited the list to appeal to US fans, but then by that measure, Mascaras should be out too, I would replace him with Eddie Guerrero.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I was thinking about Guerrero too.

 

If this is based at all on name recognition...Hall and Nash have to be given some consideration for their run in WCW.

 

That was a major boom period and I'd think that a lot of people would know them from the NWO angle. They certainly sold a ton of merchandise...even if it wasn't character specific.

 

It's one of those things though...if it's meant for "fame" as in number of casual fans or lower that would know of the person...they'd have to be above Gene Kiniski and the like. No non-watcher would know who that is. And casual fans would certainly be more likely to know Hall or Nash since there were millions watching.

[luke-o 0]

Luke-O, why Raven?

 

For remaining over for pretty much his entire run with the Raven character. For some of the best promos in ECW. For some awesome matches, not only in ECW, but also in WCW, WWE and TNA. For being the only wrestler to have an action figure made of him from every major organisation. As well as being one of the smartest mother fuckers on the planet that really gets this industry. You just have to listen to his shoot interviews or his "face-off" with the Honky Tonk Man to realise how much of a genius this guy is.

 

And plus, I'm a Raven mark.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

To add on to what Luke-O's saying...

 

Raven was one of the head figures in terms of popularity for ECW from roughly 1995-1997 being the ECW Champion and his feud with Tommy Dreamer is possibly the top feud ECW ever had.

 

He's had memorable feuds/matches with DDP and Chris Benoit in WCW as well as holding the WCW US Title briefly along with the WCW Tag Team Titles. His Flock was one of the more memorable aspects that helped WCW rise in 1997/1998.

 

He's also held the TNA World Title and was again, a key to the early importance that TNA built thanks to his feud with Jeff Jarrett.

 

Granted he didn't do much in the WWE (which is really, really a disappointment) but he still was a key figure in the Hardcore Title scene and had (for the fans that watched) a fun feud with D-Lo Brown on Heat.

[The Buzz 0]

I'd have to throw Raven on the tail end of the list as well. But then again maybe he'd be a perfect contender for 51-100 if you were doing a top 100 stars.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I would have to suggest Bob Backlund, Vader, and Ted DiBiase for the list.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I would have to suggest Bob Backlund, Vader, and Ted DiBiase for the list.

 

I'd like to second Vader being on the list. Hell, he was in an episode of Boy Meets World.

[luke-o 0]

Not to mention, that Raven still holds the record for most Hardcore title runs in the WWE. I believe it was 27 times.

[King Kamala 0]

I love Raven but he doesn't really belong on the list. He has some popularity sure but drawing power? Eh, an argument could be made but not a very good IMHO and I doubt there are any non-fans who could recognize him. The only non-wrestling appearence he made that I can think of was in that Stuck Mojo music video and that was kind of obscure (Sorry Laz).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The problem with Raven is that there are a ton of wrestlers who fit on that level. Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase, Arn Anderson, the Honky Tonk Man, Brutus Beefcake, etc. That a guy has great matches, interviews, "gets" the business, etc. has nothing to do with making the list. A guy has to stand out.

 

In regards to Gene Kiniski and company, I am looking for star power in their own time. Kiniski was the NWA World Champion for three years when that title was the biggest drawing card in wrestling.

 

Vader, Hall and Nash were all considered, I just had to make a cut somewhere. A lot of guys from say 35-70 could fall anywhere on the list.

 

Mil Mascaras headlined MSG a few times in his heyday. I think he's still the most recognizable mexican star in this country.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Raven was a fantastic character, had some of the best promos in wrestling history, and his feud with Tommy Dreamer might be my favourite ever.

 

But is he one of the biggest 50 stars? Probably not.

[AboveAverage484 0]

The problem with Raven is that there are a ton of wrestlers who fit on that level. Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase, Arn Anderson, the Honky Tonk Man, Brutus Beefcake, etc. That a guy has great matches, interviews, "gets" the business, etc. has nothing to do with making the list. A guy has to stand out.

 

In regards to Gene Kiniski and company, I am looking for star power in their own time. Kiniski was the NWA World Champion for three years when that title was the biggest drawing card in wrestling.

 

Vader, Hall and Nash were all considered, I just had to make a cut somewhere. A lot of guys from say 35-70 could fall anywhere on the list.

 

Mil Mascaras headlined MSG a few times in his heyday. I think he's still the most recognizable mexican star in this country.

 

Any reason for leaving Backlund out? I'm pretty sure he has to be included on here.

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Hall, Nash and Backlund are all more well known then Mascaras with all the older heads I know.

 

And people who had never heard of Mick Foley remember George Steele fondly, so he should be on the list.

 

I don't talk to any smarks in real life, so from a casual fan/mark perspective is what based those two statements on.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Kane/Glen Jacobs should be given a mention, even though I wouldn't put him in the top 50...

 

He is a well known name by the casual fans, or the use-to-be fans. Same with Jericho.

[Carnival 0]

Jeff Jarrett

[Hasbeen2 0]

Abdullah

Freebirds

Hacksaw Duggan

Kevin Von Erich

The Steiners

The Big Show

 

[tekcop 0]

I think a lot of people are missing the whole "popular in their time" thing. Just because a casual remembers seeing Hall and Nash on T-shirts in Wal-Mart doesn't really make them fit this list. Hell, if I asked my mom to list a bunch of wreslters, she'd be knee-deep in 70's AWA midcarders before she even think of Attitude Era guys. I used to work with a guy who only ever watched 70's Crockett Promotions when he was a kid. He'll talk about Johnny Valentine and Gene & Ole Anderson for days, but only remembers Flair as a relative rookie. Everybody has different memories.

[Celtic Jobber 0]

I'd suggest adding Ricky Steamboat, Demolition, and Ted DiBiase to that list.

[CanadianChris 0]

I think Demolition is clearly second-tier. If you're going to put another tag team on that list, the most glaring omission I can see would be the Midnight Express.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think Demolition is clearly second-tier. If you're going to put another tag team on that list, the most glaring omission I can see would be the Midnight Express.

 

New Age Outlaws were pretty huge draws from 98-99.

[Celtic Jobber 0]

I think Demolition is clearly second-tier. If you're going to put another tag team on that list, the most glaring omission I can see would be the Midnight Express.

 

 

Although they are mostly forgotten by WWE now (and written off by some as an LOD rip-off), Demolition had a huge run between 1988-1990.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Yeah they were easily the most popular tag team in the WWF during that time... No other tag team reached that popularity until the New Age Outlaws.

[CanadianChris 0]

That's funny, because I was thinking if you were going to put Demolition in there, you might as well put the Outlaws on there, too. Both teams were over as fuck for a time, but neither team had an exceptionally long shelf life.

 

I just don't see how you can have the RnRs on there without the Midnights. I hardly ever think of one without thinking of the other.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Rock 'n' Roll Express had the teenage girl dynamic. And as good as the Midnights were, none of them headlined a stadium show against Ric Flair like Morton did. If I were to select another team, it would actually be the Fabulous Kangaroos.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Your list is missing Val Venis, Funaki, The Godfather, D'Lo, Mosh, Thrasher, Naked Mideon, and Blue Meanie.