I write this on Mondays. The Bears game is on in an hour. Let’s get to the damn rankings!
Continue reading “FBC NFL Power Rankings Week 4”Author: Brandon Andreasen
Football Gambling Writer. Comedy Writer
Twitter: @awfulmusicfacts
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FBC NFL Power Rankings Week 3
I hate football. Actually, thats a lie. I love football. I love having a boozy Sunday, enjoying beer while watching the games at my favorite bar. I just hate everything else about it. Like, I hate Antonio Brown. He is a slimy, creepy shithead. I hate Roger Goodell, using Bart Starr’s widow as a shield to avoid getting booed in an NFL stadium. I hate everything about both teams from the state of Florida, and there isn’t a way for the Redzone network to mute both games.
Mostly though, I hate how football makes me feel, having to balance my feelings of rooting for people who are going to have dementia and CTE by the time they are 50. Having to root for people who are notable creeps and scumbags. And mostly, I hate…you know, no. It’s none of that. I just really fucking hate the Florida teams. Lets get to the rankings!
Continue reading “FBC NFL Power Rankings Week 3”Fancy Boys NFL Power Rankings Week 2
32 teams started their season this week. 31 team will continue on, while the Miami Dolphins are getting immediately relegated to the Big East conference, where they will play University of Connecticut and Syracuse, and probably lose to the University of Pittsburgh.
Some things were expected, like the Chiefs winning and Jameis Winston being terrible. Elsewhere, the Chargers and Seahawks escaped with victories, while the Jaguars lost their quarterback, the Giants unfortunately still have theirs, and the Cardinals and Lions took turns trying to prove who deserved to win less. Let’s get into it!
Fancy Boys Football Power Rankings: Week 1
Welcome to the opening power rankings for Fancy Boys Club. I’m fully prepared to step on about a million grenades for this Week 1. Starting next week, this will drop every Tuesday, and god help me, probably won’t be as long. Let us know what you think in the comments and always be sure to check us out on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages!
Continue reading “Fancy Boys Football Power Rankings: Week 1”FBC NFL Preview: NFC North
Let’s get it on! It’s the only preview any of you care about! The NFC North. The Bears return almost an entire roster that had 12 wins last year. The Packers jettisoned their well massaged Butterball turkey of a coach and fortified their defense. The Vikings rebuilt their offensive line. The Lions fired Jim Bob Cooter. It’s midwest football babaayyyyy!
Continue reading “FBC NFL Preview: NFC North”My 50 Greatest Wrestlers of All Time 50-41
50: Mr. Perfect
He had every tool needed to be one of the all-time greats. He was in shape. He was charismatic. He knew how to wrestle. He knew how to sell in the ring. His matches tended to pop through the tv screen, almost as if he made them feel bigger just because he was in the match.
The only thing he didn’t have was health. He was never taken seriously for a run with the Heavyweight title because he could never seem to stay healthy long enough to be considered reliable. That’s the biggest shame of his career. We really never got to see Perfect and what he could do at the top of the mountain.
Greatest Match/Feud: Perfect vs. Bret Hart at Summerslam 1991.
49: Owen Hart
Never given enough proper feuds to work with. I’m gonna skip the tragic end to his life and instead focus on a feud that made me want to be a wrestling fan forever. Owen vs. Bret. Even then, I realized how important the feud was. It was little brother vs. big brother. The rest of the family was at ringside. Everything felt so real and raw, and going back and watching it again, that feeling comes back, sweeping over me. The matches age really well, with two incredibly well trained technicians at the height of their ability going at it.
Greatest Match/Feud: Hart vs. Steve Austin at Summerslam 97. His entire feud with is brother in 1994.
48: Daniel Bryan
His placement here is more of an understanding by me of his importance in wrestling in the current age. His underdog run that led to his championship win at Wrestlemania is still one of the best wrestling moments of the past two decades. The reason he isn’t higher is, this is my damn list. I just never got into Bryan as much as others did. Going back and watching old ROH matches of him, and you could see why guys like Kevin Owens was going to be a star. Even then, though, I never quite saw it.
His elder statesman status in WWE earns enough respect to land him top 50.
Greatest Match/Feud: Winning the championship at Wrestlemania 30. Bryan vs. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniel at the first ever Ring of Honor show in 2002.
47: Lex Luger
A cautionary tale for drug abuse in wrestling, the way it all ended for Luger sometimes covers up how good he was for as long as he was. Trying to shoe horn him into the role of “New Hulk Hogan” notwithstanding, Luger had impressive championship runs in NWA and WCW. He was considered a centerpiece of WCW at the most important time in the company’s history. It’s all just fantasy booking at this point, but one of the great matches generationally would have been Lex Luger vs. Brock Lesnar.
Greatest Match/Feud: Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat at Great American Bash 89. Luger beating Hogan for the title on Nitro in 97.
46: HHH
There is an alternate universe where HHH follows Scott Hall and Kevin Nash out of WWF after the Curtain Call. Maybe he becomes a huge star in WCW. Maybe he gets lost in the shuffle. His exit would never have been known in the moment. But with the ability to look at history, his staying would eventually put into motion the wrestling industry as it is this very day.
HHH would go on to found DX, a seminal group in WWF and vitally important during the Monday Night Wars. He would main event Wrestlemanias. He was a king maker in WWE. He would rise to one of the top positions in the company and his fingerprint, along with guys like William Regal and Dusty Rhodes, are stamped on what NXT has become.
Greatest Match/Feud: HHH vs. Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 30. HHH vs. Cactus Jack at No Way Out 2000. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania 20.
45: Fabulous Moolah
It’s a huge stretch to say that there would be no women’s wrestling without Fabulous Moolah. But without her, a lot of glass ceilings wouldn’t have been pre-broken for future generations to rise through. By all accounts, she wasn’t the best human being. And here is the thing about Moolah: none of the stuff that came out after WWE tried to name a women’s battle royal after her was actually new information. People treated it like it was, because they chose to be outraged by it in the moment. But the fact is, all of this stuff was out there, and alleged by A LOT of female wrestlers in the era in the documentary Lipstick and Dynamite, which had come out more than a decade before.
With all of that said, she was an innovator in women’s wrestling and did pave the way for every generation to come after her.
44: Gorgeous George
A brief history lesson about wrestling: in the early days, it was seen as a legitimate sporting battle. Matches could sometimes last hours. They were slow, plodding events of people breaking holds and attempting to put in their own moves.
Wrestlers were never really personality driven. They were sometimes hyped based on their country of origin, because that could play well to crowds. But with the advent of television bourne an opportunity. Wrestling was fairly cheap to produce and was infinitely watchable if the matches were shortened up. Wrestling immediately became one of the earliest ratings stars on television. What it was missing was characters that could reach out through the tv and transcend the screen.
Enter Gorgeous George. He was a middling wrestler who was one of the first to realize that he could create a larger than life gimmick. He dyed his hair blonde. He started wearing feathered robes. He had a servant go into the ring and spray cologne until the ring smelled suitable for him. He talked down to people. He mocked crowds.
He was the first true wrestling heel. And he became the biggest tv star in the country because of it. I’m not overselling when I say that, either. He went on tv shows. He did interviews (often in character) and lived the lifestyle. For those reasons, he makes this list, no doubt.
43: La Parka
THE CHAIRMAN! Total personal pick here. I loved La Parka growing up. He played air guitar with the chair. He was always an integral part of the cruiserweight division in WCW. He had great matches. And most importantly, he is still going! La Parka is main eventing MLW’s first PPV in November, facing Joseph Fatu for the Heavyweight Title.
Greatest Match/Feud: La Parka vs. Bill Goldberg on Monday Nitro. Him nearly accidently murdering Mance Warner on a pile driver in MLW last year.
42: Great Muta
Muta is one of the most respected wrestlers in history. I personally remember watching his feuds with Sting when I was very young and even then, knowing I was watching something completely different. Muta is another guy who probably doesn’t get enough respect among the mainstream wrestling fans, but is universally beloved among the hardcore fans. It’s not difficult to trace his in ring work to that of a number of wrestlers that would become stars in his mold.
Greatest Match/Feud: Muta vs. Onita in an electrified barbed wire match in 99. Muta vs. Sting at Starrcade 89.
41: Dustin Rhodes/Goldust
Longevity over top end gets Dustin here. That’s not to say he isn’t a great wrestler. He is. He was just never the most important guy on a wrestling show. With that said, he ran with the Goldust gimmick. It could have died after a year or two. Instead, it lived on for over two decades. That isn’t writing. That isn’t just matches. That is 100% the man behind the character.
Greatest Match/Feud: Goldust vs. Roddy Piper at Wrestlemania 12. Rhodes and others vs. the Dangerous Alliance in Wargames at Wrestle War 2.
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My 50 Greatest Wrestlers of all Time 10-1
10: Ricky Steamboat
He will forever go down as one of the greatest pure wrestlers of all time, and one of the most notable early examples of Vince McMahon jerking a wrestler around just for the sake of it. The story is well known at this point: After winning the Intercontinental Title over Savage at Wrestlemania 3, Steamboat told Vince he would like to have a lighter schedule to work around the birth of his child. Vince took the belt off him and jobbed him out.
Steamboat then left WWF and went on to have what is generally considered one of the greatest feuds in modern wrestling history with Ric Flair. Their matches were the stuff of legends. He would eventually return to WWF, but Vince then saddled him with the Dragon gimmick, so instead of being a serious wrestler, he wore scales and breathed fire to the ring.
Either way, true wrestling fans know the razor sharp brilliance that Steamboat brought to the ring. He was the obvious precursor to how most wrestlers handle a match today.
Greatest Match/Feud: I’m not kidding. Everything against Flair. Boogie Jam 84. Chi Town Rumble 89. Clash of Champions 6 in 1989. WrestleWar 89.
9: Andre The Giant
It’s easy to remember Andre as a lumbering Giant, a broken down body just barely holding it together out of loyalty towads Vince McMahon. Whether he was selling for Hogan at Wrestlemania 3, or basically acting as a slow cheerleader for Haku, most wrestling fans have a view of Andre as “just kind of a big guy” who pales in comparison to modern day big men such as Braun Strowman.
But that doesn’t give respect to a guy who was in the business for 30 years, even as his body battled against him. He is regarded as one of the all-time legends in Japan. His mere presence gave legitimacy to territories he went into. He was the monster that came in to vanquish the hated heel in a region before heading off to do it all over again. When he was younger, he could move too. It wasn’t until his knees started going away from him in the 70’s, that we started to see one of the true legends of the ring start to slow down. His place in the pantheon is undisputed.
Greatest Match/Feud: Hogan vs. Andre at Wrestlemania 3 isn’t a clinic by any means, but they do a great job telling a story in the ring. Andre the Giant vs. Harley Race in 1979. Andre the Giant vs. Strong Kobayashi in 1972.
8: Sting
As I’ve grown older, my fondest has moved to other wrestlers, but when I was a kid, Sting was my favorite wrestler. He looked like Zach Morris. He had awesome moves. He was always the good guy! When he switched over to vigilante Sting in WCW, he provided the necessary push back to the NWO that couldn’t be replicated by anyone else. The less said about the TNA days, the better, but that actually has nothing to do with him.
His WWE run was wasted before a back injury ended his career. One of the great what-if matches in wrestling history would have been prime Undertaker vs. Vigilante Sting. If that would have gotten a proper go after WCW folded, it could be talked about as one of the great matches of both wrestler’s careers.
Greatest Match/Feud: Sting vs. Cactus Jack at Beach Blast 92, Any Sting vs. Flair match from old Clash of the Champions, Survivor Series 2014, when Sting debuts in WWE to help beat HHH and the Corporation. One of the most electric moments since the WWE Network debuted.
7: Mick Foley
He was a criminally underrated wrestler that perfected his gimmick in ECW and in Japan. He and Terry Funk are revered worldwide for their death matches. He lost part of his ear in a match with Vader. He was awesome against every type of wrestler. He was in WCW’s first House of Horrors match. Ya know, the one where they put Abdullah the Butcher in an “electric chair.” Universally regarded as one of the most respected in ring performers of his era. THEN, he signed with WWF and went on to have a bunch of great years putting his body on the line.
Greatest Match/Feud: January 4, 1999 Monday Night Raw, Foley wins the title to the biggest pop in Raw history. Royal Rumble 1999 vs. The Rock in an I Quit Match. Mankind vs. Undertaker in Hell in a Cell.
6: Dusty Rhodes
Dusty was ahead of his time. Dusty paved the way for guys like Kevin Owens, who don’t have chiseled bodies, but get by with their mic work and in-ring abilities. Dusty is one of the wrestlers who got tagged as “someone who could put on a good match with anyone.” Hell, Dusty was the inventor of War Games, which WWE still used on their NXT brand every year.
Dusty was an innovator. Dusty was a guy who could never really get over as heel as his career went on because too many people identified with him and clung to him as the everyman who rose up to become something greater. His promos were the stuff of legend, and him and Flair made each other better every time they stepped into the ring against eachother.
Greatest Match/Feud: Pretty much everything he did with the Four Horsemen. The Hard Times promo. His rivalry with Harley Race. Dusty vs. Superstar Billy Graham at Madison Square Garden.
5: Hulk Hogan
Alright, let’s muddy the water a bit! Yes, Hulk Hogan was not one of the best wrestlers of all time. I will say that, point blank. Yes, he should be dinged for thinking it’s okay to use the N word, and then making a sex tape with his buddies’ wife, then suing Gawker over it to the tune of 140 million dollars, thus killing Gawker, and in essence Deadspin, Jalopnik, Io9, Gizmodo, and other sites.
With all that said, wrestling probably isn’t where it is today without Hulk Hogan. The cultural relevance that he carried/carries to this day transcends any one thing he did in the ring. His match vs. Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania 3 is probably one of the most important matches in the history of wrestling. That even today, Hogan keeps it kayfabe about Andre’s intentions during the match shows his commitment to how big the match was, and the mythology of it.
Beyond that, the NWO was an inflection point in wrestling. The day glo wrestlers, the wrestlers with everyman professions, and the nonsense of it all was over. That Hogan agreed to go heel for the first time in his career to join forces with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash is the biggest turning point in the history of wrestling. WWF would eventually seize control of the momentum from this, but there is no denying the importance of it.
Greatest Match/Feud: Hulk vs. Andre at Wrestlemania 3. Hulk Hogan joins the NWO, Bash at the Beach 1996. Thunder in Paradise.
4: Shawn Michaels
He took all of the best(and worst) parts of Ric Flair and Randy Savage and turned them into one of the most iconic wrestlers to ever step into the ring. He actually had great matches with both men as well. Shawn will always be remembered for some of the biggest moments in the history of wrestling, from the Barber Shop Window, to DX, to Ric Flair’s retirement match. I’m choosing to pretend he stayed retired, rather than take millions of dollars to shamelessly come back and look old and washed up in Saudi Arabia. If I had more of my morals to stand on, I’d eliminate him and Undertaker from this list specifically because of this, but I’m choosing to let their body of work stand on it’s own.
Greatest Match/Feud: Monday Night Raw in Toronto, his first time back since the Montreal Screw job. Michaels vs. Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Title in a ladder match at Wrestlemania 10. Shawn vs. the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25.
3: Steve Austin
Yes, it’s fair to quibble about his placement due to the lack of high end longevity in his career, but that isn’t fair to the icon that Steve Austin was and what he meant to Wrestling in the late 90’s. He meant every bit as much to WWF as Hulk Hogan did in the mid 80’s. To steal a phrase from Jim Ross, he put butts in seats. Austin was such an absolute phenomenon that we are nearing 20 years since he retired from in ring performing, and he has his own tv show, his own beer, his own clothing line, and god only knows what else. It’s easy to forget, but he was also great in WCW as Stunning Steve and as a member of the Holywood Blondes.
Greatest Match/Feud: Austin vs. Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13. His incredible promo’s that he did in his brief time in ECW. Austin vs. Jake Roberts at KOTR 96, where the birth of “Austin 3:16 happened.” Austin vs. Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 14, with Mike Tyson as guest referee.
2: Randy Savage
Sometimes to portray crazy on tv, you have to be a little crazy. Savage was definitely a little bit crazy. But my god, he was great, too. He had that “it” factor that made you feel like everything he was saying was real and important even though you knew wrestling was fake. He has one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history in his back pocket, and even after Vince McMahon thought he was done as a wrestler in the early 90’s, he was able to go have a great run in WCW for another 7 years.
Greatest Match/Feud: Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3. Savage/Jake Roberts on Saturday Night Main Event when he got bit by the snake. Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7.
1: Ric Flair
Probably the greatest to ever do it. He was the basis for what wrestling, and in many ways, hip hop culture would become in the ensuing decades. Flair was the complete wrestler. He was a great heel and a better ambassador for wrestling. He could talk on a mic as well as anyone who ever did. Plus, he could really go in the ring. He had classic matches with so many wrestlers on this list, that it’s obvious why he is the anchor. Number one with a bullet. Ric F’ing Flair.
Greatest Match/Feud: Take your pick. Flair/Steamboat is the greatest rivalry of all time. Flair/Dusty is in the pantheon. His retirement match against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. Winning the Royal Rumble in 1992. His king making performance with Sting at Clash of the Champions in 1989. If you want a deep cut, take a look below at the promo he cuts on the final Monday Nitro. That came from a very real place. 10 years before CM Punk did the Pipe bomb, this was the foundation for what 4th wall breaking promos could be.
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My 50 Greatest Wrestlers of all Time 20-11
20: Bret Hart
The excellence of execution. The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. I know that on talent alone, Hart deserve to be on the top of the list. Something just never clicked for me with Hart. He never jumped off the screen and got me excited for wrestling in the same way that contemporaries like Shawn Michaels did.
That being said, Hart’s place among wrestling’s all-time elite is undeniable. Known as a guy who could get a great match out of anybody, he went out of his way to make sure fans were given a match they could go home talking about. Hart was really a victim of his own ability. He was such a good in-ring performer that he was always there when WWF needed him, but that they rarely used in such a role, and his reputation as doing what was best for the business usually got him taken advantage of. Hogan notoriously put his foot down in 1993, saying that Hart wouldn’t draw as well as him as champion, which gave us the Hart/Yokozuna/Hogan finish at Wrestlemania 9. And of course, we all know about the Montreal Screwjob at this point. Still, Hart deserves recognition for caring about the business and being as important as he was to it.
Greatest Match/Feud: Hart vs. Austin at Wrestlemania 13. Hart vs. Mr. Perfect at Summerslam 91. Hart vs. Owen Hart at Summerslam 94.
19: Vader
Vader’s underwhelming run in WWF does a disservice to how great he was, and how much of a game changer he was in wrestling for big men. A former NFL football player, Vader moved with more grace and agility than could ever be expected from a man his size. That he was still doing a moonsault up til the bitter end is a testament to his determination and desire. He was one of, if not the dominating presence in the late 80’s in Japan through the mid 90’s in WCW. With Harley Race acting as his manager, Vader gave new definition to the in-ring monster persona.
Greatest Match/Feud: His feuds with Sting and Cactus Jack in WCW are benchmark feuds in the early days of WCW.
18: The Rock
At the peak of the Attitude Era, everyone knew what the Rock was cooking, they lived on Know Your Role Boulevard and Shut Your Mouth Lane, and were never anything more than roody-poo candy asses. Undoubtedly one of the greatest mic men alive, The Rock developed into the ultra-heel that WWF needed in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s. Dropping the belt to Foley made Foley’s career. Rock vs. Stone Cold was an era defining rivalry. The Rock was, in a sense, a king maker during his run in WWF. If you were going to be anything, you went through the Rock to get there. His athleticism could lend to a great match with damn near anyone.
Greatest Match/Feud: Anything with Stone Cold. Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania XVIII.
17: Jushin Liger
Liger is finishing up one of the most globetrotting careers in wrestling history. His final show will be at Wrestle Kingdom in a few months. In the meantime, he is out cementing his plaque in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Liger’s championships are a who’s who of organizations around the world. He has been wrestling for 35 years and has competed in over 4000 matches, numbers that are staggering in scope.
Greatest Match/Feud: Liger vs. Brian Pillman at Superbrawl 92. Liger vs. Own Hart at NJPW Explosion 92. Liger vs. Great Muta at Super Grade Tag League VI
16: Chris Jericho
The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla has been wrestling at a consistently high level since the early 90s, when he teamed with Lance Storm and a seriously awful haircut to form the Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette’s well noted mud show know as Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Perpetually over achieving and under-utilized in WCW, Jericho jumped ship to WWE in 2000 and immediately became a main eventer. His matches were usually the best on every card he was on. He spent 17 years reinventing himself like a chameleon in WWE, earning the respect of the notoriously smarky crowd. That “You Just Made The List” was in the twilight of his WWE run is all the more remarkable. More remarkable than that, though, is that he then went to NJPW and started a feud with Kenny Omega, generally considered one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Greatest Match/Feud: Jericho winning the championship at All Out. Jericho vs. Benoit/Malenko/Mysterio, pretty much anyone in the WCW cruiserweight division.
15: Harley Race
We could talk about how he legitimized the NWA title. We could talk about how rugged he was. How great of an in ring wrestler he was. How he was considered the bad boy of wrestling to the previous generation. But instead, I’d just like to point out that in the mid 80’s, WWF was ruining wrestling by invading the various territories like a spandex wearing Asian Carp. In 1984, WWF was running a show in the same town, on the same night as Harley Race was. Race was wrestling Ric Flair that night. So the story goes, Race got a gun and told Flair he would be back soon.
Race then walked into the arena that WWF was at, walked into the dressing room, and slapped Hulk Hogan in his titty from behind.
Hogan realized who hit him and immediately started panicking. According to legend, he said “Harley, I thought the first time I saw you in Kansas City, you’d have a great big gun.” To which Race responded “I don’t have a great big gun” and pulled out a handgun. It should be noted that about a year later, Vince McMahon would hire Harley Race into his company.
Greatest Match/Feud: Harley Race vs. Dusty Rhodes for the NWA Championship in 1979. Harley Race vs. Ric Flair for the NWA Championship in a Steel Cage at Starrcade 83.
14: Terry Funk
One of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. His career spanned 5 decades, which is insane to think about. In the movie “Beyond The Mat” which was shot in 1997, his doctor explains to him that he has no cartilage left in his knees and that he shouldn’t be able to live without being in constant pain. He wrestled for another decade after that. His death matches vs. Cactus Jack are the pivot point in the history of wrestling, showing that pure violence had a place in wrestling with a well told story in the ring. He wrestled every wrestler that ever mattered from the 60’s all the way through the 90’s, and he put on barnburners with every one of them.
Greatest Match/Feud: His feud with Ric Flair in 1989. His death matches with Cactus Jack. Funk vs. Stevie Richards vs. Sandman, followed by Funk vs. Raven for the ECW Championship at ECW Barely Legal 97.
13: Roddy Piper
Nobody ever did it quite like the Hot Rod. He was the prototype for the loose cannon in an age where a lot of wrestling felt very monotone. His matches were great before his knees and hip went away from him, but it was his personality that often shone through. His Piper’s Pit segment with Jimmy Snuka is still considered one of the most iconic moments in the history of televised wrestling.
He was so indispensable that he featured heavily in the Main Event of the first two Wrestlemanias. His WCW run could be considered a mixed bag, as he was very obviously fighting a body that was failing him.
Greatest Match/Feud: Wrestlemania 8 vs. Bret Hart. Starrcade 83 vs. Greg Valentine in a Dog Collar Match, pretty much his entire feud with the Guerrero family.
12: Undertaker
When you look at the inherent silliness of wrestling, an undead funeral home operator that is impervious to pain and is led around by an ashen white old man holding an urn ranks towards the top. 30 years later, it’s one of the most enduring characters in the history of wrestling.
The Undertaker is the backbone of WWE. He is probably the heart and soul, as well. He made you matter in the WWF. Beating him meant you were at the top of the mountain. He didn’t hold the Heavyweight title that much, and he never really needed to. His Wrestlemania victory streak is iconic. His matches with Shawn Michaels at Mania are some of the pinnacles in the history of the event. That he is still out there doing it is a testament to the enduring ability of the Deadman.
Greatest Match/Feud: Either Wrestlemania Match with Shawn Michaels. Hell in a Cell with Mankind. Undertaker vs. Yokozuna in a casket match at Royal Rumble 1994.
11: Eddy Guerrero
It’s not out of the realm to think that if Eddy hadn’t tragically passed away, he would be much further up this list. It’s not like he had lost the ability to wrestle. But, instead of dwelling on that, let’s look at one of the best wrestlers of all time to come out of Mexico. His entire family were wrestlers. He wrestled in Japan and Mexico for much of the early 90’s, becoming a hero in the wrestling tape collecting scene. In the mid 90’s, Paul Heyman was running ECW and bringing in young talent to put on matches that would excite his crowds and draw worldwide hype to his organization. Guerrero, along with Rey Mysterio Jr, Juventud Guerrera, and Psicosis were putting out matches that American crowds had never seen before.
He ended up with everyone else in WCW, filling out the cruiserweight division. In retrospect, it’s one of the greatest groupings of wrestlers anyone has ever seen.
Greatest Match/Feud: Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar at No Way Out 04. Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko at Hostile City Showdown 95.
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My 50 Greatest Wrestlers of all Time 30-21
30: Bam Bam Bigelow
Criminally underrated. He was a big guy who could really move. He was able to work with power and speed. It seemed like WCW and WWF didn’t ever quite know how to use him. He really excelled wrestling guys like Taz in ECW. He never got the push he really deserved, but does click off a box as being one of the immortals to main event a Wrestlemania. The reason they had Bigelow wrestle Lawrence Taylor? Bigelow had a reputation of being able to get a good match out of nearly anyone. A less appreciated Bret Hart.
Greatest Match/Feud: It’s actually super impressive watching him carry Lawrence Taylor to a good match at Wrestlemania 10. Bigelow vs. Barry Windham at Starrcade 88. Bigelow vs. Taz at ECW Living Dangerously 98.
29: Jerry Lawler
Lets put aside his WWF run, which was fine. He is back as an announcer on Raw. He has been with WWE in some capacity since 1993, and that’s what he is most known for. But that really doesn’t do justice to how great of a wrestler he was, and how important he was to the Memphis wrestling scene. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Jerry Lawler was THE GUY. Whether he was running as a face or heel, he was the marquee attraction during the waning years of the territory era. Most wrestlers would travel from territory to territory to stay fresh and start new feuds. Lawler was able to do it while staying in Memphis.
Greatest Match/Feud: His feud with Andy Kaufman. His feud with Terry Funk in Memphis.
28: Bruiser Brody
Bruiser Brody is the prototype for where Japanese wrestling would peak over the ensuing three decades after his murder. Beyond that, he put up epic matches in WCCW in the 80’s against everyone that mattered, like the Von Erichs and Ric Flair. WCCW originated out of Dallas and, in it’s prime, was able to sell out old Cowboys Stadium. Brody was always on those shows, usually high up the card, the culmination of a blood feud.
It’s worth remembering that in its day, WCCW was the second or third biggest wrestling company in the country, behind only WWF and Crockett Promotions. Part of what made them great was their ability to bring in stars like Brody, who played their character just one degree off of being a serial killer, and could make you genuinely believe he was going to kill someone in the ring.
Greatest Match/Feud: Brody vs. Great Kabuki in a Texas Deathmatch Style Cage Match for WCCW in 1981.
27: Brock Lesnar
Hate him all you want, Brock Lesnar makes your current favorite WWE wrestler matter. Since he started leaving WWE to fight in MMA, his appearances have taken on more meaning, as have his rivalries. Not just anyone was going to break the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak.
The complaints are that he isn’t around enough and doesn’t defend the title enough, which is kind of turning a blind eye to the glory days of wrestling in the 80’s. Hulk Hogan very rarely defended his title, at least not in any kind of serious way. Beating The Genius in four minutes on an episode of Saturday Night Main Event does not count. There was a time that when the Heavyweight Title was on the line, it was at a major show, not every Raw episode originating out of Poughkeepsie.
Greatest Match/Feud: Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30. Lesnar’s rivalry with Kurt Angle in 2003.
26: Rey Mysterio Jr.
The only reason he isn’t higher on the list is due to the massive blind spot much of his WWE run was for me. He was absolutely fantastic in WCW, in the incredibly, incredibly underappreciated-in-it’s-time cruiserweight division. He was great in the early ECW days in his matches with Juventud Guerrera.
It’s a shame he didn’t get a bigger run in WCW and got saddled with racially stereotyped gimmicks, because it wasn’t hard to see then how big of a star he could be.
Greatest Match/Feud: His feud in WCW with Juventud Guerrera. Any match with Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero or Psicosis in ECW. Mysterio in the 2006 Royal Rumble.
25: CM Punk
Yes, everyone. I’m from the Chicago Suburbs. I love the Cubs and Black Hawks. I love great mic work and anti-heroes. CM Punk should be higher on my list, but let me give a brief timeline of my experience watching Punk. In 2001-2002, I was him wrestle in the Lunatic Wrestling Federation in Lemont. Then next time I saw him wrestle was in 2013, when I got back into wrestling, which coincides with when he was starting to get out of wrestling. That being said, it doesn’t take much to go back and watch how brilliant he was when he was locked in to a feud that really interested him. If Punk had come around 5 years later and was hitting his absolute stride right now in 2019, then he would be the biggest star in the world and the prospect of a Kenny Omega/CM Punk match would be the only thing people talked about when they fantasy booked.
Greatest Match/Feud: Pipebomb on Raw. His entire feud with John Cena in 2011.
24: Kurt Angle
He is only this low because of his lack of longevity. The work he did do was phenomenal. **Note: No, I’m not counting his TNA run. This is my list, and I didn’t watch TNA. Don’t like it? Make your own list** Beyond the fact that he was a fantastic wrestler, Angle played the perfect comic foil in the Attitude Era. He was able to elevate feuds with everyone from HHH, to Stone Cold, to the Rock by being such a great character on the mic.
Greatest Match/Feud: Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero at Wrestlemania 20. Angle vs. Chris Benoit at the 2003 Royal Rumble. All of his backstage stuff with Steve Austin and Vince McMahon over the years.
23: Scott Steiner
Lost in the bizarre promos, chain mail, and terrifying sized muscles is the fact that Scott Steiner was completely ahead of his time. He was doing hurricanranas and backflip power slams when guys like PN News and Norman the Lunatic were sitting on people as a finisher.
Steiner evolved into one of the most underappreciated wrestlers in WCW back when WCW mattered. He was prone to having great matches with everyone from DDP to Goldberg.
Greatest Match/Feud: Steiner Brothers vs. Sting and Lex Luger at Superbrawl 1. Scott Steiner vs. Goldberg at Fall Brawl 2000.
22: Kenny Omega
Omega is the guy at this point in the list most likely to jump into the top 10 when it’s all said and done. His style combines everything that every smark is looking for in wrestling. He is a high flyer. He is a brawler. He is a bruiser. His ability to combine these styles makes him a wrestling unicorn, and one of the biggest stars in the world.
There is no doubt that he is going to be the superstar that gets pushed most heavily in AEW. Omega is the Sting of this generation in the sense that he is going to be fantasy booked against WWE guys forever.
Greatest Match/Feud: The Omega vs. Okada trilogy is the modern Flair/Steamboat. Any of the matches. They are all epic.
21: Jake the Snake Roberts
Jake Roberts scared me as a kid. Him and Undertaker were nightmare fuel for 6 year old me. As I grew older, I was able to wrap my head around the brilliance of what he was, and how he went about doing his job. He was a near perfect promo cutter. Instead of the bombastic, over-the-top promos that Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior cut over the years, Roberts was measured, and quiet sometimes to the point of whisper. He was a master of psychology and his in-ring skill was incredibly underrated. When people talk about the greatest wrestlers of all time to never win the WWF title, his name is always one of the first ones mentioned.
Greatest Match/Feud: Roberts vs. Randy Savage. Roberts vs. Ricky Steamboat in a snake pit match.
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My 50 Greatest Wrestlers of all Time 40-31
40: Scott Hall
Wrestling fans have become so jaded at this point that it’s easy for most to forget how important and cool Scott Hall showing up in WCW was in 1996. His and Kevin Nash’s arrival made wrestling important again. It launched the Monday Night Wars and forced WWF to change and become something bigger and better than it was.
In the ring, he was an incredible performer (before the alcohol took over) who is responsible for one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history, with his ladder match against Shawn Michaels. He also had great runs against the likes of Lex Luger, Randy Savage, and even Konnan in WCW.
Greatest Match/Feud: Bash at the Beach 96. Ladder match with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 10.
39: AJ Styles
In the dying days of WCW, AJ Styles was there. Today in 2019, AJ Styles is still there, in WWE, at or around the main event scene at all times. The only reason he gets dinged at all is because he is not a great mic worker, and that is exposed even more with WWE’s terrible, pre worked spots.
There is absolutely no doubt about his wrestling ability, though. He was the last big Royal Rumble debut. He has put on show stopping matches with everyone he has encountered. He has even taken half assed feuds in WWE and made them important in the ring.
Greatest Match/Feud: Styles vs. Okada at NJPW Dominion 2015. Styles vs. Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom 10.
38: Kerry Von Erich
The Texas Tornado stuff was all well and good, but Von Erich’s true legacy is intertwined with his father’s promotion, WCCW, out of Dallas. He beat Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In the mid 80’s, he was every bit on the same level as every wrestler of the era, and was definitely working at a higher level than his peers in WWF at the time. People still talk about the feud with the Freebirds to this day.
Greatest Match/Feud: The Von Erich family vs. the Fabulous Freebirds. Von Erich vs. Ric Flair at his brother’s memorial show in Dallas.
37: Kazuchika Okada
Yep, the RAAAAAIIIIINNNNNMAAAAAKEER!!!!!! Not only one of the no-doubt best wrestlers in the world, he’s one of the most respected, too. When All In happened last year, he had to be on the card, because his presence helped legitimize it. He’s one of the best and most important wrestlers in NJPW in the past 30 years, and his style and smooth ring work can’t be touched.
Greatest Match/Feud: Pick a match between him and Omega.
36: Brian Pillman
Instead of being sad about how it ended, lets enjoy the Brian Pillman we got to see. His loose cannon gimmick was a prototype for what countless wrestlers would attempt to become. Even before that though, he was one of the best wrestlers in the world. His matches with guys like Jushin Liger, with and against Steve Austin were ahead of their time. Holywood Blondes was an absolutely underrated tag team that just wasn’t pushed properly.
Greatest Match/Feud: Pillman vs. Jushin Liger at Superbrawl 2. Pillman vs. Kevin Sullivan at Superbrawl 6. Any of his promos during his ECW run.
35: Ricky Morton
He’s the greatest tag team wrestler of all time. Don’t @ me. To put his career in perspective, he was in the hottest tag team in the world when he was wrestling in Mid South wrestling in 1984. My mom was pregnant with me, and my dad would take her to see wrestling events in Tulsa. The Rock and Roll Express were wrestling in main events then.
Fast forward 35 years, the Rock and Roll Express is wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and have gained immortal status in the world of wresting. During Wrestlemania weekend, R&R wrestled one of the best current tag teams in the world, LAX, and the Express were treated like royalty. Oh, and Ricky Morton did a Canadian Destroyer in that match. Ricky Morton had been wrestling for 30 years when that move was invented.
Greatest Match/Feud: Express vs. the Soviets for the NWA Tag Team Championship in 1985. British Bulldogs vs. Express in 1989. Taggins with Tanahashi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon last week in NJPW.
34: Edge
One of the guys behind some of the best tag team wrestling in WWE history. He would go on to become the biggest star from the tag teams that innovated the hardcore style. His singles run was marked with some of the biggest highs in the sport at the time. Unfortunately, a back injury cut his career short, leaving a lot more what-if’s than what was.
Greatest Match/Feud: TLC match at Wrestlemania 17. Edge vs. Mick Foley at Wrestlemania 22.
33: Rob Van Dam
The Whole F’in Show. Mr. Monday Night. Rob Van Dam. One of the biggest crossover stars from the ECW era, Van Dam was an absolute machine whose innovative move set wasn’t made for WCW and WWF at the time, but found a home, and staying power in ECW. It’s no surprise that his style or wrestling has never really been matched. He innovated an almost high flying judo sense of wrestling.
Greatest Match/Feud: RVD vs. Cena at One Night Stand 2006. Pretty much any match he did in ECW.
32: Randy Orton
He’s been the metaphorical rock of the WWE for two decades. The fact that, in 2019, he is still a main eventer speaks to high longevity as a character and a wrestler. He is WWE’s “Break in Case of Emergency” wrestler. Whenever they need a great worker and mic guy to come in and make someone look good or make a title relevant, they send in Orton. His finisher, the RKO, has become one of the most iconic moves of all time thanks to social media.
Greatest Match/Feud: Orton’s feud with Undertaker in 2005. Orton vs. Chris Benoit at Summerslam 2004.
31: John Cena
Yes. Yes. I know. I get it. Yes, he sucks. But he is also great. He doesn’t have any moves. Except when he does. He was never as good as wrestlers who deserved it more. He also reinvented himself in the back half of his career and was the launching pad on the main roster for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. It is going to be impossible in the current to properly rate John Cena for the wrestler he was and his importance. My guess is, 10, 15 years removed, he will probably get his due as one of, if not the more important wrestler in WWE for a long stretch of time.
Greatest Match/Feud: Cena vs. RVD at One Night Stand 2006. His feuds with Randy Orton and CM Punk.
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Fancy Boys Club 