WWE's Top 50 Wrestlers of All Time

Exclamation Marc

#50 – Killer Kowalski
#49 – Batista
#48 – "Ravishing" Rick Rude
#47 – Bob Backlund
#46 – Dory Funk Jr.
#45 – Jeff Hardy
#44 – Nick Bockwinkel
#43 – Kane
#42 – Sgt. Slaughter
#41 – Jack Brisco
#40 – Big Show
#39 – Jake "The Snake" Roberts
#38 – "Superstar" Billy Graham
#37 – Junkyard Dog
#36 – Gorilla Monsoon
#35 – "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
#34 – Kurt Angle
#33 – Mick Foley
#32 – "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
#31 – The Iron Sheik
#30 – Pat Patterson
#29 – Randy Orton
#28 – "Classie" Freddie Blassie
#27 – The Fabulous Moolah
#26 – "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
#25 – Chris Jericho
#24 – Bruno Sammartino
#23 – Hulk Hogan
#22 – Terry Funk
#21 – Lou Thesz
#20 – Jerry "The King" Lawler
#19 – Edge
#18 – Dusty Rhodes
#17 – Ric Flair
#16 – John Cena
#15 – "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
#14 – "Macho Man" Randy Savage
#13 – Gorgeous George
#12 – Triple H
#11 – Eddie Guerrero
#10 – "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
#9 – Rey Mysterio
#8 – Andre The Giant
#7 – Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
#6 – Harley Race
#5 – The Rock
#4 – Bret "The Hitman" Hart
#3 – Stone ColdSteve Austin
#2 – The Undertaker
#1 – Shawn Michaels

According to Silvervision for the new 50 Greatest Superstars of All Time DVD.

Obviously there's bias but John Cena is embarasingly high on the list. Rey Mysterio higher than Ric Flair? Edge/Cena higher than Jericho? Angle and Roberts buried down the list.

These lists are so embarassingly bad sometimes.

Anyone else any thoughts or notable omissions?

Headshot

the best there is should obviously be at no 1

chordtype

I'm not that bothered about it really. Lists are lists.

I just want the DVD to be good.

Exclamation Marc

Austin should definitely be higher. The Undertaker is only number two for longevity and I feel Austin contributed a lot more.

glenjamin

Angle, Jericho, Foley, Flair and Hogan should all be a lot higher while Cena, Mysterio, Edge and especially Show should all be a lot lower. These lists the WWE do are a joke. The 20 best on the mic they did a while back had me in stitches as it was that badly done. HBK didnt even make that list.

chopperbyrne

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Anyone else any thoughts or notable omissions?

whatswhat

Back in the day, I always liked the Ultimate Warrior and the Bush Whackers were hilarious!!!!!

gimmick

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Anyone else any thoughts or notable omissions?

One Chris Benoit, but thats a story for another day.

Hogan at 23? Much as I have always loathed the guy, he was a top draw for a decade.

DHYNZY

Who compiled this ****list? I agree with the outright winner, as he unmistakably reinvented wrestling, but the rest of the list is based on what? This is terrible propaganda.

CMpunked

Yeah I was going to say Chris Benoit too.

I was surprised to see angle on the list. I don't disagree with him on it, but just seen it strange that they put him on it but put him so far down it.
I guess they are trying to keep them in his good books if he ever left tna?


These lists wreck my head.
Didnt vince call stone cold "the greatest wwe superstar of all time"?
If that changed than surely he should be no.2?

Cactus Colm

As a list of the top 50 wrestlers it does make some sense ... but the top 50 wwe superstars .. no.

Hogan should not be below the likes of Rey Mysterio, Terry Funk, or Edge. Easily he should be in top 10, if not top 5.

Nice to see Kane, Foley, and Macho Man on the list though.

Can't argue with Taker being number 2, he's been on top of WWE for the last 2 decades.

Furious-Red

What about this person been left out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfzpWE2n8ZY

Oops never mind found his name ha

Bubs101

FireballPitcher wrote: »

#50 – Killer Kowalski
#49 – Batista
#48 – "Ravishing" Rick Rude
#47 – Bob Backlund
#46 – Dory Funk Jr.
#45 – Jeff Hardy
#44 – Nick Bockwinkel
#43 – Kane
#42 – Sgt. Slaughter
#41 – Jack Brisco
#40 – Big Show
#39 – Jake "The Snake" Roberts
#38 – "Superstar" Billy Graham
#37 – Junkyard Dog
#36 – Gorilla Monsoon
#35 – "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
#34 – Kurt Angle
#33 – Mick Foley
#32 – "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
#31 – The Iron Sheik
#30 – Pat Patterson
#29 – Randy Orton
#28 – "Classie" Freddie Blassie
#27 – The Fabulous Moolah
#26 – "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
#25 – Chris Jericho
#24 – Bruno Sammartino
#23 – Hulk Hogan
#22 – Terry Funk
#21 – Lou Thesz
#20 – Jerry "The King" Lawler
#19 – Edge
#18 – Dusty Rhodes
#17 – Ric Flair
#16 – John Cena
#15 – "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
#14 – "Macho Man" Randy Savage
#13 – Gorgeous George
#12 – Triple H
#11 – Eddie Guerrero
#10 – "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
#9 – Rey Mysterio
#8 – Andre The Giant
#7 – Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
#6 – Harley Race
#5 – The Rock
#4 – Bret "The Hitman" Hart
#3 – Stone ColdSteve Austin
#2 – The Undertaker
#1 – SCOTT STEINER

Perfection

Bubs101

FireballPitcher wrote: »

#50 –SCOTT STEINER
#49 – SCOTT STEINER
#48 –SCOTT STEINER "
#47 – SCOTT STEINER
#46 –SCOTT STEINER
#45 – SCOTT STEINER
#44 – SCOTT STEINER
#43 – SCOTT STEINER
#42 – SCOTT STEINER
#41 – SCOTT STEINER
#40 – SCOTT STEINER
#39 – SCOTT "The Snake" STEINER
#38 – "Superstar" SCOTT STEINER
#37 – SCOTT STEINER
#36 – SCOTT STEINER
#35 – "SCOTT STEINER
#34 – SCOTT STEINER
#33 – SCOTT STEINER
#32 – "SCOTT STEINER
#31 – SCOTT STEINER
#30 – SCOTT STEINER
#29 – SCOTT STEINER
#28 – "Classie"SCOTT STEINER
#27 – SCOTT STEINER
#26 – "The Million Dollar Man" SCOTT STEINER
#25 – SCOTT STEINER
#24 – SCOTT STEINER
#23 – SCOTT STEINER
#22 – SCOTT STEINER
#21 – X-PAC
#20 – SCOTT "The King" STEINER
#19 – SCOTT STEINER
#18 – SCOTT STEINER
#17 – SCOTT STEINER
#16 – SCOTT STEINER
#15 – "Mr. Perfect" SCOTT STEINER
#14 – "Macho Man" SCOTT STEINER
#13 – SCOTT STEINER
#12 – SCOTT STEINER SCOTT STEINER SCOTT STEINER
#11 –SCOTT STEINER
#10 – "Rowdy" SCOTT STEINER
#9 – SCOTT STEINER
#8 – SCOTT STEINER
#7 – SCOTT "The Dragon" STEINER
#6 – SCOTT STEINER
#5 – SCOTT STEINER
#4 – SCOTT "The Hitman" STEINER
#3 – Stone Cold SCOTT STEINER
#2 – SCOTT STEINER
#1 – SCOTT STEINER
According to Silvervision for the new 50 Greatest Superstars of All Time DVD.

even better

Big Daddy Cool

these lists from the wwe is usually just silly, for me austin should be no.1, for dragging the wwf through the late 90's and the battle with wcw, and the rock should be at no.2, they were the reasons most people tuned in every week to watch what was going to happen. without a doubt hogan should obviously be in the top 10 ahead of mysterio, and in my opinion finding places for nick bockwinkal and the big show ahead of the warrior or the honky tonk man just sums up the wwe's attitude towards this list

MitchKoobski

Chris Jericho #25......feck this list!

ricero

love or hate hogan he should of been in the top 10 end of the day hes the muhammed ali of wrestling the first global superstar he was top draw for over 2 decades

Degag

Macho man making the list is pretty strange.

Charisteas

Error in the topic title. It's the Top 50 Superstars, not Top 50 Wrestlers, of all time. So actually being able to wrestle isn't too high a priority really.

I wish WWE would reveal how they came up with that list. That being said, it's the WWE's top 50, probably indicating that only credentials earned during each superstars run with the WWE/WWF is counted for. And explains why Sting and Goldberg didn't make the list.

To compile a list like that, you would either need to factor in many different formulas, or you would need to calculate it on a points structure. I would personally do it on a points system. Something similar to this.....

*WWF/WWE Heavyweight Championships (and WHC since 2001) - 30 points each one

*Intercontiental Championships / Royal Rumble wins / KOTR's - 20 points each one

*Tag Team Championships (including WTTC since 2001) - 10 points each one

*Wrestled in one of the top three matches on a PPV or major house show card - 1 point per event (So for a top superstar would be about 12 per year)

*One of the top 5 merchandise sellers each year - 10 points per year

*Wrestled each calendar year in WWE/WWF - 10 points per year

So for an example, for Shawn Michaels, since WWE chose him number 1, would be

*4x Heavyweight Championships - 120 points
*3x Intercontinental - 60 points
*2x Royal Rumble - 40 points
*5x Tag Team Championships - 50 points
*Wrestled in one of the top three matches in a PPV (Or major house show in the pre-ppv days) - Total estimate here- 12 per year from 1992-1997, 10 per year 2002-2010 - 140 points
*One of the top 5 mechandise sellers each year - Including DX merch, probably 1995-98 and then 2006-2008 - 70 points
*Wrestled each calendar year in WWE/WWF - 1988-1998, 2002-2010 - 200 points

Total - 680 points (Probably is number 1 by my calculations)

I also had Undertaker with 674, Hulk Hogan with 626 points, The Rock with 604, Steve Austin with 584 points, and John Cena with 512.

To be even more accurate, you could also factor in how many days each Championship was held, and factor in points for Movie, TV show, Chat-show and radio appearances too.

Wolfe Tone

Cena better than Flair.... ffs

GTR63

What a abysmal list even by wwe standards.Cena>Angle & Piper>Hogan.Makes no sense if its talent Angle HAS to make the top 5 easily if its being a "Superstar" it can only be Austin,Rock or Hogan.

Wolfe Tone

Hogan was WWEs greatest superstar by far. Not wrestler mind.

parker kent

MUSSOLINI wrote: »

Cena better than Flair.... ffs

Whilst I think a stray cat can wrestle better than Cena, the list is about WWF/WWE superstars. So Flair was past his peak when he first went to the WWF in the early 90s. Flair's golden years were the 1980s. His later run with the company obviously would not be enough to earn him a place in any top 50 list.

Plus I imagine the list is about superstars, so in-ring ability is not the be-all and end-all in McMahonland. But Cena should not be near any such list. If I were deciding it on in-ring ability, Shawn Michaels would be my number 1. If it is for overall x-factor, it would be Stone Cold Steve Austin. A pity that Austin was not at his Hollywood Blondes level of in-ring ability when he was the top man in the WWF.

All lists are subjective anyway, I don't think anybody can come up with a formula for deciding who is the best wrestler/superstar. It would be difficult in football to come up with a formula and it is impossible in wrestling given the obvious issues of it being scripted (so titles runs etc are not indicative of ability)/ Plus comparing across the generations is always difficult in any medium.

D2D

Rey Mysterio is no.9 :pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

CMpunked

where is the miz?! :eek:

D2D

CMpunked wrote: »

where is the miz?! :eek:

More to the point, where's Punk??

Gerard.C

Haha go on Vince ya legend!!! If he dont like ya, ya dont really matter. Too right for him

smilerf

Ok he achieved more outside WWE but i think Lex Lugar should be in there also Greg Valentine was good in hes day

Sunset V

Rey at 9?!

D-FENS

Charisteas wrote: »

Error in the topic title. It's the Top 50 Superstars, not Top 50 Wrestlers, of all time. So actually being able to wrestle isn't too high a priority really.

I wish WWE would reveal how they came up with that list. That being said, it's the WWE's top 50, probably indicating that only credentials earned during each superstars run with the WWE/WWF is counted for. And explains why Sting and Goldberg didn't make the list.

To compile a list like that, you would either need to factor in many different formulas, or you would need to calculate it on a points structure. I would personally do it on a points system. Something similar to this.....

*WWF/WWE Heavyweight Championships (and WHC since 2001) - 30 points each one

*Intercontiental Championships / Royal Rumble wins / KOTR's - 20 points each one

*Tag Team Championships (including WTTC since 2001) - 10 points each one

*Wrestled in one of the top three matches on a PPV or major house show card - 1 point per event (So for a top superstar would be about 12 per year)

*One of the top 5 merchandise sellers each year - 10 points per year

*Wrestled each calendar year in WWE/WWF - 10 points per year

So for an example, for Shawn Michaels, since WWE chose him number 1, would be

*4x Heavyweight Championships - 120 points
*3x Intercontinental - 60 points
*2x Royal Rumble - 40 points
*5x Tag Team Championships - 50 points
*Wrestled in one of the top three matches in a PPV (Or major house show in the pre-ppv days) - Total estimate here- 12 per year from 1992-1997, 10 per year 2002-2010 - 140 points
*One of the top 5 mechandise sellers each year - Including DX merch, probably 1995-98 and then 2006-2008 - 70 points
*Wrestled each calendar year in WWE/WWF - 1988-1998, 2002-2010 - 200 points

Total - 680 points (Probably is number 1 by my calculations)

I also had Undertaker with 674, Hulk Hogan with 626 points, The Rock with 604, Steve Austin with 584 points, and John Cena with 512.

To be even more accurate, you could also factor in how many days each Championship was held, and factor in points for Movie, TV show, Chat-show and radio appearances too.

Your points about PPV appearances and merchandise sales are fair enough, although neither can give a very clear picture of what made a “superstar” before say the late 80’s, as they were much less PPV’s back then and apart from the action figures, unless your name was Hogan you were lucky if WWF done up a t-shirt with your name on it.

I don’t think titles back then can count for much either, all the belts changed hands a lot less frequently and some guys like Jake never won anything, Hot Rod who won
Calculating how many matches a guy have wrestled is interesting as well but not when you think of the hours guys like Brooklyn Brawler or Funaki put in – it’s quality not quantity.

But the list is a joke – no Goldberg or Lesnar either, not saying they should have made the top ten or anything but not in the top 50?
And from personal favorites – no Bam Bam, Sid or Orndorf.

parker kent

D-FENS wrote: »

But the list is a joke – no Goldberg or Lesnar either, not saying they should have made the top ten or anything but not in the top 50?
And from personal favorites – no Bam Bam, Sid or Orndorf.

Orndorff is a good shout, he should be included. But again I'll repeat myself, this is a WWE list. So why should Goldberg be included given he had one short and unmemorable run with the WWE? If it were a WCW or general all time great list, then he should be included. It is like reading a list of all time great American Movies and wondering where the great European movies are.

D-FENS

parker kent wrote: »

Orndorff is a good shout, he should be included. But again I'll repeat myself, this is a WWE list. So why should Goldberg be included given he had one short and unmemorable run with the WWE? If it were a WCW or general all time great list, then he should be included. It is like reading a list of all time great American Movies and wondering where the great European movies are.

I’ll give you that, he’s unquestionably a WCW star more so, and although i'll always remember that spear on the Rock on his debut, you're right, what followed was cr*p.
But I ask you this….you reckon Dusty Rhodes made number 18 because of his 18 month WWF run that featured no title wins, one WM appearance in a mixed tag with Sapphire, and those pants?

Also, say what you want about the guy on any level, but no Warrier on this is just plain ridiculous.

CMpunked

then why have ric flair on the list?
He was in the wwf for a year in the 90s and then 6 years from 2002-2008.
His greatest matches were never in the wwf, they were in wcw and the nwa.
This isnt a proper top wwe superstars list because theres no reasons to why they are in the order they are in or what warrants their inclusion.

The list was just thrown together to be "wwe corporates favourite superstars".

The PW top 30 (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056058815) had more consideration, thought and effort put into it that that list.

D-FENS

CMpunked wrote: »

then why have ric flair on the list?
He was in the wwf for a year in the 90s and then 6 years from 2002-2008.
His greatest matches were never in the wwf, they were in wcw and the nwa.
This isnt a proper top wwe superstars list because theres no reasons to why they are in the order they are in or what warrants their inclusion.

The list was just thrown together to be "wwe corporates favourite superstars".

The PW top 30 (http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056058815) had more consideration, thought and effort put into it that that list.

I think we're all in agreement the list is a joke, but that said, i think Flair done a bit more with his time in WWF/E than Rhodes.
Without a doubt his best work was elsewhere, and Vince completely wasted the opportunity to feud him properly with Hogan in his first run, but he still won the belt twice, and a rumble, and was in a title match at mania.
That,coupled with his 2nd run (which granted was Flair way past his prime, but still included countless feuds with top names and PPV matches) merits inclusion on a top 50 list somewhere

Insect Overlord

Am I the only one who thinks Vader should have been somewhere in the list as well?

jmolloy

am i the only one surprised Vince didn't put himself on the list?

Gerard.C

Cant believe Flahavaj didnt make this list

parker kent

D-FENS wrote: »

I’ll give you that, he’s unquestionably a WCW star more so, and although i'll always remember that spear on the Rock on his debut, you're right, what followed was cr*p.
But I ask you this….you reckon Dusty Rhodes made number 18 because of his 18 month WWF run that featured no title wins, one WM appearance in a mixed tag with Sapphire, and those pants?

Also, say what you want about the guy on any level, but no Warrier on this is just plain ridiculous.

I know it is the typical myopic WWF list. Dusty is in the good books with Vince so he appears on the list. Whereas Hogan and Savage, who should be in the top 10 at the very least, are buried in the middle. I have not said at any point the list was well thought out or that it was a fair representation of the top 50 WWF superstars.

But NWA, WCW, ECW etc exploits should have no bearing on being on the list. So we can excuse them not having some people on it for that reason. But as always with them, it is hardly surprising that there are oddities about the list.

steelcityblues

Major slap in the face to Kurt Angle putting him that low down, just because he wrestles for the competition!

EDIT: just noticed no Lesnar either, and the now obligatory rewriting of wrestling history by ignoring Chris Benoit!

I think this should be retitled the top 50 Vince a*selickers of all time!

CMpunked

steelcityblues wrote: »

Major slap in the face to Kurt Angle putting him that low down, just because he wrestles for the competition!

EDIT: just noticed no Lesnar either, and the now obligatory rewriting of wrestling history by ignoring Chris Benoit!

I think this should be retitled the top 50 Vince a*selickers of all time!

Now come on, thats a little unfair.

Triple H isnt number one.. :P

TheTosh

No Owen, Bulldog or Malenko but Batista:eek:

mdwexford

Malenko wrestled about 2 matches in WWF.

The other 2 i agree with.

kronsington

yokozuna? earthquake? bastion booger?

i loved mr perfect as a kid. amazing charisma and awesome wrestler

best wwf vignettes ever. fact

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iK7vRYeY3U

paddyismaddy

how did botchista make the list

Charisteas

I've seen this list on other websites, and they have Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair were actually tied on number 17, and there is no number 18.

flahavaj

Gerard.C wrote: »

Cant believe Flahavaj didnt make this list

I was on the original 50 but I gave my spot to Harley Race. How else do ye think he got so high.

Joke list tbh.

Kurt Angle being number 34 is laughable.







He'd be lucky to make my top 200.:)

Jolt2007

People expected a decent list? Hell even if it was decent there'd still be bitching. That's half the fun :P I am curious how they numbered the list though. I assume pulled at random from a hat. It's just not possible to list those guys where they are using logic.

the groutch

that list is a waste of space, far too much hating on TNA recruits (hogan, flair, angle, etc)

eurokev

eh... The ultimate warrior

Rjd2

No Gail Kim

Charisteas

I think Chyna should have made this list. She broke a lot of boundaries during her time with the company, becoming the first woman to win the Intercontinental Championship, as well as becoming the first woman to enter a Royal Rumble, King Of The Ring, and at one time she became the number 1 contender for the WWE Championship. And of course was a part of the hugely successful D-Generation-X, and involved in a lot of good storylines.

Another notable omission is Verne Gagne.