- Chris Benoit - Until June 24, 2007 I’m sure Jimmy and I both would have put Benoit near the top of the list. He was an unreal worker who regularly put on matches that were among the best you’d ever seen. The moment when he finally won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX was one of the greatest moments in the history of the business and his celebration with Eddie Guerrero was amazing. But then Benoit developed dementia from years of repeated blows to the head and on that day in 2007 he killed himself after murdering his wife and son. That changes everything and has made it uncomfortable to even think about him for five years now.
- Eddie Guerrero - So charismatic, so funny, such a great worker. Eddie overcame drug and alcohol issues to finally become WWE Champion and was in the best stretch of his entire career when he died suddenly of a heart attack at the end of 2005. It was such a tragedy.
- Ultimate Warrior - Not a good worker, but he was one of the biggest stars in the old school WWF. He at least deserves a little credit for his career.
And of course there are two guys worth mentioning since they aren’t on this list since we counted them as part of the new era of guys and didn't want to include anybody currently working unless they had built up a legacy we deemed acceptable:
- John Cena - WWE’s cash cow since 2005. Just like Hogan, Stone Cold, and The Rock before him, Cena is the big star relied on to carry everything. He is a mediocre wrestler with great charisma and has become one of the most important guys in WWE history. He also worked a match I believe to be one of the five greatest ever with the next guy here....
- CM Punk - The self-proclaimed “Best in the World” and current WWE Champion. Amazing on the mic, amazing in the ring, the Straight Edge Superstar single handedly made the WWE cool again last summer with an epic series of promos and a feud with John Cena.
So with that out of the way, I present to you numbers 25-21 of the Greatest Wrestlers of All Time:
25. “Ravishing” Rick Rude
Joe: One of the all time greats on the microphone, Rick Rude is the first of many stars from the old WWF that deserved to be WWF Champion due to his great promo and in-ring work, but never got past the Intercontinental title due to Hulk Hogan’s strangehold on the top spot. His cage match with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper that appeared on the old Coliseum WWF Superstars video tape is the first match I remember seeing and is forever a favorite. His wrestling career was cut short due to a back injury but his overwhelming charisma allowed him to stay on TV as a manager for several more years until he died from heart failure in 1999.
Jimmy: The Ravishing One was part of the great old school WWF cadre of mid-upper card heels that could have made a believable champ if Hogan hadn’t buried everyone. He made the Ultimate Warrior a credible star and had a brilliant feud with Jake Roberts that turned the Snake into a babyface. More importantly, Rude was awesome and fun to watch. He was ridiculously ripped, cut great promos and had the coolest tights (and mustache). He was also a part of my favorite cage match ever against Roddy Piper at some point in the 80s. If you could bring him back from the 80s and use him now, he would be in the main event of 90% of WWE pay per views. A total legend.
24. Dusty Rhodes
Joe: The American Dream baby! Big Dust is probably best known for having a feud in the 80s with Ric Flair that has gone down as one of the all time greats, including the segment in which the Four Horsemen jumped Rhodes and smashed his arm. The fans loved Dusty because of his charisma and the fact that his gimmick was that he was the everyman. He is one of the most charismatic performers in the history of the business and was one of the biggest stars of his generation.
Jimmy: The American Dream was part of one of the most memorable feuds ever with Ric Flair and the Four Horseman back in the old NWA days and before that had an entertaining run in the old WWWF against Billy Graham. His “Son of a Plumber” promos, amongst others, were highly entertaining and he even managed to get over in that absurd polka dot outfit Vince McMahon made him wear to humiliate him when he came to the WWF in the late 80s. The fact that he could look like a slob and still be a believable main eventer is a credit to his charisma (and the work rate of his opponents).
23. Mick Foley
Jimmy: The Hardcore Legend is a personal favorite of mine, even if he should have stopped wrestling a decade ago. His run as Cactus Jack in ECW was brilliant and violent. He cut some of the greatest promos in the sport and his matches with Sabu and Terry Funk were absolute bloodbaths. His Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker provided two of the most unforgettable moments in WWF/E history and his 2000 feud with Triple H helped make “the Game” a believable badass. If he hadn’t served as a glorified jobber and recycled all his great promos and storylines over the past decade, he could have been higher.
Joe: The greatest hardcore wrestler of all time, Foley worked for all three major promotions: the WWF/E, WCW, and ECW. Though he is most well-known for his time in the WWE as Mankind and nearly dying in the Hell in the Cell match with Undertaker, his best days came as Cactus Jack in ECW. He is an underrated worker who has made stars of numerous people for the WWE. He made Triple H into a badass, helped Randy Orton shed his pretty boy image and become a legitimate main eventer, and helped Edge on his rise to becoming the best heel in the business in 2006. Foley had no ego about making somebody into a star and that is every bit as important to his greatness as the classic matches.
22. Harley Race
Jimmy: One of the all-time greats in the NWA. He also had a memorable feud with Ric Flair and was the inspiration behind Triple H’s mustache and feud with Goldberg in 2003. Harley was a pretty badass dude and if WWF wasn’t so kid friendly in the 80s, should have had a manly feud with Hogan. Instead, he beat on Junkyard Dog and was “the King” before Jerry Lawler had that title in WWF. I’m not as up on his history as I am with most of the others on this list, so I’m going to have to keep it pretty short.
Joe: Another one of the old school legends, Race is one of the most important wrestlers from the old NWA days. I haven’t seen much of his work, but his feud with Ric Flair in the 80s was monumental as it gave way to the first Starrcade, what would become the NWA and later WCW’s flagship event. Race was a legit badass who tried to fight Hulk Hogan for real and he even ripped Ricky Steamboat’s face to shreds with sandpaper to make a beating from Ric Flair look legit.
21. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
Joe: DiBiase had perhaps the greatest theme music ever. Like Rick Rude, DiBiase suffered because of backstage politics played by Hulk Hogan and was never WWF Champion. As a consolation prize he was given the incredibly awesome looking Million Dollar Championship, but that belt was essentially meaningless. He was the perfect main event heel but never got a chance to showcase it, not even winning the Intercontinental title.
Jimmy: Another 80s heel from the WWF that would have been a god today. Think JBL but could actually work a match. The Million Dollar Man gimmick was awesome and he made it work better than anyone could have. He matched it by being a great worker as well as a great talker. He was part of the biggest feud in WWF by paying Andre the Giant to give him the title, which led to a battle with Hulk Hogan. This segued into Wrestlemania IV and Randy Savage becoming the WWF Champion and eventually having an epic rivalry with Hulk Hogan. In a more fair business, DiBiaise would have had a brief run with the title as a reward for how great he was.
That is it for now. Check back throughout the week for the rest of them.
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