Here is the epic conclusion to the greatest list ever composed. If you’ve missed anything at all here is 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, and 10-6.
A little bit of required reading for this part today since two of the parties mentioned were involved in one of the craziest, real moments in the history of the business. I wrote about that a couple months ago which you can find here. Have to plug my own stuff every now and again. But enough of that. Here are numbers 5-1:
5. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Joe: Austin was the savior of the WWF in the 90s. After being fired from WCW, he went to work in ECW where he did awesome promos and planted the seeds for what would become the “Stone Cold” character that would usher in the “Attitude Era” and save the business. The Attitude Era began with two key moments involving Stone Cold. First, after winning King of the Ring in 1996 Austin got on the mic and addressed Jake Roberts, whose gimmick became that he was a super Christian. Austin said that while Jake talks about John 3:16, “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass.” And with that a star was born. The next year at WrestleMania he faced Bret Hart in a submission match. Hart busts him wide open and throws him in the Sharpshooter. Austin is bleeding everywhere, screaming in pain, then passes out without ever submitting. The image of Austin with blood running down onto his teeth, screaming in agony made him into The Man. That match also turned him face and is what started him on the path to becoming one of the top three stars ever. Of course, the entire Austin craze almost didn’t happen when Owen Hart botched a piledriver and broke Austin’s neck in 1997. Six years later, problems stemming from that would cause Austin to retire but he worked one final WrestleMania with The Rock to finish things off right. Austin was wrestling’s biggest star since Hulk Hogan and was the reason the WWF was successful enough to put WCW out of business. He was the man, and if that rumored match between him and CM Punk takes place at next year’s WrestleMania it will be an amazing last hurrah for Stone Cold.
Jimmy: I was never really a fan of Austin, but I understand his importance. As a matter of fact, I stopped watching WWF when he took off as the top face because I thought it was just trashy and I ended up missing most of the Attitude Era as a result. Austin was the first real anti-hero to become popular in mainstream wrestling, as before him it was traditional face and heel alignment. His Stone Cold Steve Austin run is really what got him this high on the list, as I’m pretty sure that it was the highest grossing run in wrestling history. His WCW days as the Hollywood Blond Stunning Steve Austin were marked by techincal proficiency, but he never really made it past the midcard. His brief run in ECW showcased his true charisma and shades of the character that became Stone Cold. As for that character, Stone Cold changed everything for WWF and brought it back from the verge of collapse. Every major character after that point either went two paths - Hoganesque unstoppable face or anti-authoritarian sociopath. He had two great matches with Bret Hart between 1996 and 1997 that really put him over and was a part of legendary feuds with Vince McMahon and the Rock. The Vince feud set the template for essentially every Vince McMahon storyline since, but at the time it was revolutionary. I also very much enjoyed his time during the WCW/ECW Alliance period and subsequent fallout when he was just flat out weird.
4. Shawn Michaels
Jimmy: Another guy I never really liked during his prime, but I will confess to enjoying his run between 2003 and 2009. Part of my experience with HBK is tainted by the fact that I always liked Bret Hart more and thought Michaels was a woman. That probably came out of the fact that he superkicked Marty Jannetty through a plate glass window and ended the teaming of the Rockers, the most awesome tag team ever, an act I never forgave him for. Of course due to this, I overlooked the fact he had a great match with Kevin “Diesel” Nash, no small feat. His promos were great in DX and were the first time I thought he was interesting. The fact that he was a total dick that refused to job to anyone and was basically forced to usher in the Austin Era certainly never helped make him more likeable to me either. His comeback in the 2000s after a lengthy injury turned me into a fan though. He had a couple great matches with Triple H (and some really overdone ones) and a few great storylines with Chris Jericho. He was part of two of the best matches of the decade - the Wrestlemania 20 Triple Threat with Triple H and Benoit and at Wrestlemania 21 with Kurt Angle. The Angle one in particular was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. He “retired” Ric Flair in one of the most memorable bouts in Wrestlemania history, managed to get a watchable match out of mid-2000s Hogan and carried Triple H in the second DX run. Joe had him at 2 and I had him at 9. I probably jobbed him out a bit, but he screwed Bret so fuck him.
Joe: WWE says that Michaels is the greatest of all time, but that is not exactly the case. He also serious ego and drug problems in the 90s, most of which are detailed in the Montreal Screwjob piece I linked to above. Luckily his run in the 2000s saved his career and made it more than just a career with some good matches but loads of off-screen trouble. He had to retire in 1998 due to back issues but came back in 2002. In the 90s, his match with Mick Foley at Mind Games, the Ironman match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII, the ladder match with Scott Hall at WrestleMania X, and the first Hell in a Cell with Undertaker were all-time greats, but his best work was still years away. He regularly put on classics in the 2000s. Jericho at Mania XIX, Triple H and Benoit at Mania XX, Angle at Mania 21, Undertaker at Mania 25 are four of the best matches in WWE history. The match with Ric Flair’s career on the line at WrestleMania XXIV was outstanding and it was because of Michaels’ amazing in-ring ability that the Nature Boy’s last WWE match was a terrific send off. In the 90s the WWE wanted you to believe Michaels could work with anybody and put on a show unlike anything you’d seen, but it wasn’t until the 2000s he started living that. While I think his gimmick of being the “boy toy” and the fact he wasn’t even the best worker of his generation in the 90s work against him, the fact he was putting on clinics night in and night out in the 2000s solidifies his spot as a great.
3. Ric Flair
Jimmy: Ric Flair is probably the greatest combination of workrate and charisma. His promos from his time in NWA/WCW through his first WWF run were absolute gold. Through these and his “Flair vs. broomstick” style, he made deadweight like Magnum TA, Lex Luger and Sting look like absolute gods and had feuds with Terry Funk and Ricky Steamboat that set the bar pretty high for quality. The original 4 Horsemen set the bar for every stable in pro wrestling that wasn’t the Road Warriors or nWo (in all its incarnations). When he came to WWF as “the Real World’s Champion” and won the 1992 Royal Rumble in an epic performance, I wept like a baby. He was such a heel! When he returned to WCW in the mid-90s, it was a bit lackluster as Hogan ran train on the company and Flair ceased to be Flair. His return to the WWE in the early 2000s was great and his stint as Triple H’s manager was the best part of Triple H at that time. His antics ringside were the only watchable part of H’s matches with Scott Steiner in 2003 and Flair did all the work in getting the Evolution stable over since Orton was too green, Batista was a hoss and Triple H is charismatically challenged sometimes. When Orton turned face, he and Naitch had an amazing steel cage match that I didn’t think either man was capable of having. His final WWE match against Shawn Michaels was a fitting tribute to his career and I wish it had stayed that way. Instead he is in TNA, rehashing old feuds with Mick Foley and acting like a senile coot. Excepting his TNA run, I think the best thing you can say about Ric Flair is that he puts his all into it every single night and truly loves being part of the business. That isn’t something you can say about a lot of wrestlers.
Joe: The 16-time World Champion, the Nature Boy. Ric Flair was the guy for the NWA and WCW in the 80s. When you talk about great promo guys, Naitch is right there at the top. The classic lines are all there like, “My shoes cost more than your house!” or “stylin’ and profilin’”. Before Vince McMahon and the WWF turned wrestling into a nation-wide phenomenon, there were territories all over the country. When the NWA would roll into a territory, Flair would go out and work a match with the territory’s big star. Flair would let the guy kick the shit out of him for a half hour then he’d win in some cheap, total heel way to keep the belt but the local guy would look like a king. As wrestling got bigger, this worked against Flair. The big knock on Naitch is that he works the same match every time. That worked in the territory days since only locals would see those matches, but as wrestling became global you couldn’t always do the same spots. Generally, I feel it doesn’t really matter because of what I call the AC/DC Theory. AC/DC has had a formula since the 70s that has always worked and they stick to it and it rules. Same goes for Flair. And really Flair could go for 60 minutes any night and that is a special talent. His matches with Ricky Steamboat were always legendary and his match with Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII is one of the less talked about classics. Also, he made stars out of guys like Sting. He put guys like Magnum TA over. He could make anybody look like a threat, and the willingness to do that is rare in the business. Even in promos he would take the time to put everybody over. His stable, the Four Horsemen, set the standard for every wrestling stable ever. Flair is slowly killing his legacy in TNA now, but here at BBB we will always cherish the good times. Same goes for the next guy.
2. Hulk Hogan
Joe: The single biggest star in the history of wrestling. Hogan is the most important guy in wrestling history other than Vince McMahon. He is also the biggest bastard in wrestling history other than Vince McMahon. For all the great moments the Hulkster has given us, which of course I will get to since I still love Hogan, his ego has robbed us of so many more. There was no match with Bret Hart in ‘93, Sting was made to look like a fool in WCW, and Shawn Michaels got jobbed out because of Hogan’s insatiable ego. As for the good stuff, Hogan had so much natural charisma he is the single reason wrestling ever became big enough that we could take the time to write this. Every little kid liked wrestling back in the day because of the Hulkster. He was the ultimate superhero. The three demandments of Hulkamania were to train, say your prayers, and take your vitamins. He was a role model for kids. As a worker, he was far from spectacular but if the match really mattered and he was in there with a good worker he could do his part. My brother pointed out Ultimate Warrior’s best match was the retirement match with Randy Savage. Warrior’s second best match is his match with Hogan, and that is because Hogan carries it and makes it watchable. Granted he wasn’t capable of a whole lot in the ring, but it didn’t matter since Hulkamania was the strongest force in the universe. Hogan’s promos were epic. His promo at Mania IV is a favorite and his promo at Mania V is the greatest promo ever in the history of the business. Grocery shopping with Mr. T was also amazing. Hogan could fire up a crowd, and as the power of Hulkamania dwindled in the ‘90s, he underwent the greatest transformation of any wrestler. Hulk Hogan, the paragon of virtue, turned his back on the fans and joined the nWo, becoming Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Not many people can say they were the biggest hero in one era and the biggest villain in another. As sad a spectacle as Hogan is now, there was a time when he was the greatest man on the face of the planet.
Jimmy: Pro wrestling exists to most people between the ages of 20-40 solely because of Hulk Hogan. He is the first real wrestling star to be a known commodity in the mainstream. Its easy to lose sight of this because of the fact he is a total scumbag with a shitty reality show and just generally turned into a shell of a man, but the fact remains Hulk Hogan is the biggest star in the history of professional wrestling. There’s no John Cena, there’s no Rock, there’s no a lot of people without Hogan there to set the template. He had the catchphrases, the finishing move, the merchandise (oh, the merchandise!) and the look. He also happens to be, along with Randy Savage and Rick Rude, the only person to get an enjoyable match out of the Ultimate Warrior. Hulkster was one of my childhood heroes between the ages of five and nine, as he was for probably every boy at that same time. He beat King Kong Bundy, slammed Andre, won the battle of the Mega Powers and beat Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter. With Hogan, anything was possible. He followed up the steroid confession and decline of his face run in the early 1990s by shocking the world in 1996 and turning heel. His nWo promo at Bash at the Beach was one of the greatest of all-time and I have always believed that WWF couldn’t have gotten away with the Attitude Era if Hulk Hogan, the quintessential babyface hero, didn’t turn his back on the fans and become dastardly. Of course, like his face run, this heel turn went on too long and he monopolized the main event in WCW just as much as he did in WWF. His 2002 return started out well enough and I like to think of his career as essentially ending when he faced the Rock at Wrestlemania 18 in a great nostalgia match that showed the appreciation fans still had for him after a lackluster 1998-2001 in his career where he became an afterthought. Although he followed this up with an ill-fated title run, he did put over Brock Lesnar strongly. In 2005 and 2006 he showed he still had some juice and went over Michaels and Orton at consecutive Summerslams. Regardless of physical decline, Hogan kept his character strong and to that end that’s rare.
1. Bret Hart
Joe: When it comes to in-ring work, nobody is better than the Hitman. Bret was passable on the mic, but you don’t need to be that great on the mic when your gimmick is that you are the greatest technical wrestler in the world. A fitting gimmick considering he backed it up time and time again and proved that he truly was the Excellence of Execution. It wasn’t bullshit when he’d go out and call himself, “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.” When tag team wrestling still meant something, Bret was a part of the successful Hart Foundation. As a singles star he made a habit of putting on some of the greatest matches of all time. To name a few: British Bulldog at SummerSlam ‘92, Mr. Perfect at King of the Ring ‘93, Owen Hart at WrestleMania X, Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, Undertaker at SummerSlam ‘97, and Chris Benoit in WCW. That match with Bulldog is the ultimate highlight of Bulldog’s career, with Bret putting him over in front of his hometown fans in London. Bret also put over Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. Bret and Michaels worked the 60-minute Ironman match at WrestleMania XII that culminated in Michaels winning his first world title and beginning his time as the WWF’s golden boy. Luckily in the last few years the WWE has put the shame of the Montreal Screwjob behind them and embraced Hart’s legacy again. When the steroid scandal made wrestling a dirty word in the early 90s, Bret was the guy who carried the flag for the company. He was an extremely popular champion overseas when wrestling wasn’t big in America and he worked matches with anybody and everybody. He always made his opponents look good and never injured somebody in the ring. Current WWE Champion and future BBB Hall of Famer (such a hall doesn’t exist but it will at some point I’m sure) CM Punk summed it up by saying, “He is the perennial wrestler’s wrestler. No lie — best there is, best there was, best there will ever be.”
Jimmy: Bret Hart, apart from being my favorite wrestler, is the greatest worker of all-time by far. He could do technical masterpiece (Michaels, Perfect, Benoit) and he could do wild brawl (Austin). He could work a decent match with men with big men of average to subpar skills (Undertaker, Nash, Yokozuna) and he could put on a masterful performance against family (Owen, British Bulldog). He wasn’t the best talker, but he could get by and his in ring intensity and skills as a ring general overcame that. Bret Hart and Ted DibBiase worked a match together a long time ago that ended with Bret putting DiBiase in a small package, only to have the move reversed by the DiBiase for the win and it was the first time I ever understood the technical side of wrestling. Before that, it was Hogan and Warrior muscles and pomp. Bret was a workhorse and I loved that about him. Its sad that the defining moment of his WWF career became the Montreal Screwjob when it should be the fact that he successfully main evented shows with Bob Backlund in 1994 and did the most of any star in the company to get Steve Austin over, even turning heel for the first time to do so. He and Austin had amazing chemistry and their Wrestlemania XIII produced one of the most defining moments in that era, Austin covered in blood while in the Sharpshooter. His heel turn where he was popular in Canada and Europe and dastardly in the USA was well done and he made the most of it. It was a revelation to see how well he went with it. WCW completely blew his run, ruining first ever feuds with Hogan and making him look generally second-rate. Of course, if you ask Bret about this it is because Hogan was always afraid of him, in 1993 and in 1998. I know because I asked him when Joe and I met him. His career was cut short by a kick to the skull from Goldberg and a stroke a few years later, but it was nice to see him back on WWE TV the last few years and successfully close the book on his career with them. It went a long way to eliminating that image of him as a bitter, broken man and let him end his career with Vince McMahon on a high note.
So that is it! Thanks for reading!
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