DraVen
07-29-2007, 12:07 AM
WWE
WCW
NWA
ECW
AWA
TNA
ROH
Mid South/UWF
WWE
Steve Austin. The top babyfaces in the years before Austin came along were, I guess, Hogan, Warrior, Michaels, Diesel and Bret Hart. I hated the first four and wasn’t a particularly big fan of the last one. Steve Austin came along and just gave the WWF the big kick in the balls it needed. I had always been a fan of him from back in his WCW days but as a heel calling out Bret and then into the tweener phases of 1997 into full blown ‘You hear that pop? No? Well that’s because your ear drums just exploded’ babyface, the guy was just…fun, for lack of a better term. The decision to turn him heel in 2001 was perhaps not the greatest in hindsight but he absolutely carried the entire company on his back having one of the most consistently great years any wrestler ever had. You look at the top 10 WWF matches of 2001, conceivably, Steve Austin was in probably 8 of them and that is without even mentioning how delightfully entertaining he was. ‘What?’ kinda killed the mystique but even now remains one of the few wrestlers who brings out my inner ‘mark’. Bar Ric Flair, the guy remains the single greatest all rounder in history. Great talker, unbelievable charisma, great babyface, great heel and an absolute workhorse of a performer in the ring.
WCW
Sting. I’m going for Flair for NWA so I’ll say Sting here simply because of how huge a fan I was of him when I was 7 or 8. I still fear Vader to this day because of what he did to Sting. The son of a bitch. Don’t tell him I called him that by the way.
NWA
Ric Flair. Yeah, like it could be anyone else. For about 15 years from 1976-1992ish was the greatest living human being on the planet and no one in wrestling history has ever had a more consistently great run.
ECW
Cactus Jack. Mick Foley is one of my all time favourites. His promos as Cactus Jack in ECW are one of the main reasons why.
AWA
Nick Bockwinkel. The more I see of him, the more I’m becoming convinced that he’s, like, the greatest wrestler of all time. He’s almost certainly the best talker. Had the ‘I’m better than you and even your own mother would admit it’ schtick down to an absolute fine art. Him and Flair are the walking definitions of classy World Champions. Was 108 in the mid 80s and was still having great matches.
TNA
Samoa Joe. Has kinda been going through the motions recently, living off a reputation he made two years ago and thinking because he’s Samoa Joe people won’t notice. This is, of course, completely understandable considering the last 6 or 7 months. Still when he’s on, no one in TNA comes close.
ROH
Bryan Danielson. Loved him when I first saw him on 5 years ago, has improved tenfold since then and that equals something beyond ‘love’, I’d say I ‘lurve’ him. Outside of WWE, is pretty much the best wrestler in the world right now. Preferred him with the crazy hobo beard of doom though. Needs to work the travelling Dory Funk/Harley Race NWA Champion like yesterday, although I’m not sure, the ROH PPV thing has probably screwed up him being a certainty to win the title, right?
Mid South/UWF
I can’t choose between Dick Murdoch or Eddie Gilbert. Eddie Gilbert is one of the all round best performers in wrestling history that no one ever talks about. Shame he had so many problems, shame he died so young, shame he wasn’t 30 lbs heavier and 4 inches taller, shame he wasn’t a much bigger star because Gilbert was something special. Dick Murdoch is Dick Murdoch, he represents everything that is great about wrestling when it’s done right.
WCW
NWA
ECW
AWA
TNA
ROH
Mid South/UWF
WWE
Steve Austin. The top babyfaces in the years before Austin came along were, I guess, Hogan, Warrior, Michaels, Diesel and Bret Hart. I hated the first four and wasn’t a particularly big fan of the last one. Steve Austin came along and just gave the WWF the big kick in the balls it needed. I had always been a fan of him from back in his WCW days but as a heel calling out Bret and then into the tweener phases of 1997 into full blown ‘You hear that pop? No? Well that’s because your ear drums just exploded’ babyface, the guy was just…fun, for lack of a better term. The decision to turn him heel in 2001 was perhaps not the greatest in hindsight but he absolutely carried the entire company on his back having one of the most consistently great years any wrestler ever had. You look at the top 10 WWF matches of 2001, conceivably, Steve Austin was in probably 8 of them and that is without even mentioning how delightfully entertaining he was. ‘What?’ kinda killed the mystique but even now remains one of the few wrestlers who brings out my inner ‘mark’. Bar Ric Flair, the guy remains the single greatest all rounder in history. Great talker, unbelievable charisma, great babyface, great heel and an absolute workhorse of a performer in the ring.
WCW
Sting. I’m going for Flair for NWA so I’ll say Sting here simply because of how huge a fan I was of him when I was 7 or 8. I still fear Vader to this day because of what he did to Sting. The son of a bitch. Don’t tell him I called him that by the way.
NWA
Ric Flair. Yeah, like it could be anyone else. For about 15 years from 1976-1992ish was the greatest living human being on the planet and no one in wrestling history has ever had a more consistently great run.
ECW
Cactus Jack. Mick Foley is one of my all time favourites. His promos as Cactus Jack in ECW are one of the main reasons why.
AWA
Nick Bockwinkel. The more I see of him, the more I’m becoming convinced that he’s, like, the greatest wrestler of all time. He’s almost certainly the best talker. Had the ‘I’m better than you and even your own mother would admit it’ schtick down to an absolute fine art. Him and Flair are the walking definitions of classy World Champions. Was 108 in the mid 80s and was still having great matches.
TNA
Samoa Joe. Has kinda been going through the motions recently, living off a reputation he made two years ago and thinking because he’s Samoa Joe people won’t notice. This is, of course, completely understandable considering the last 6 or 7 months. Still when he’s on, no one in TNA comes close.
ROH
Bryan Danielson. Loved him when I first saw him on 5 years ago, has improved tenfold since then and that equals something beyond ‘love’, I’d say I ‘lurve’ him. Outside of WWE, is pretty much the best wrestler in the world right now. Preferred him with the crazy hobo beard of doom though. Needs to work the travelling Dory Funk/Harley Race NWA Champion like yesterday, although I’m not sure, the ROH PPV thing has probably screwed up him being a certainty to win the title, right?
Mid South/UWF
I can’t choose between Dick Murdoch or Eddie Gilbert. Eddie Gilbert is one of the all round best performers in wrestling history that no one ever talks about. Shame he had so many problems, shame he died so young, shame he wasn’t 30 lbs heavier and 4 inches taller, shame he wasn’t a much bigger star because Gilbert was something special. Dick Murdoch is Dick Murdoch, he represents everything that is great about wrestling when it’s done right.