Justtxyank

I don't know how other people would respond to this, but my take is the list is very personal and everyone is going to build it based on very different criteria. Don't let other people's lists intimidate you. Make a list of what you think. I put Larry Zbyszko on my list and I am not bothered at all if anyone else thinks that's ridiculous.

Well I can help you out with that one. Put Stan at #1 and then figure the rest out from there.

I understand the desire to see them in multiple roles, but I think it’s an unfair burden. Booking is usually beyond the control of the worker in question and i wouldn’t penalize them for the decisions of the promotion to use them in the way that makes the promotion the most money.

Hansen, Bockwinkel, Funk are locks. the next seven are tough. The one wild card for me is whether I have the strength of conviction to put Heenan where I want to.

No one has commented in years, but the reason Iron Sheik suddenly became a bigger deal and got the transitional run was because of the Iranian Revolution. It was a brief moment in time that gave him huge heat and whe it was gone he was pretty meh. as to why WWF overhyped him forever is because it’s part of the hogan creation mythology.

Jericho the character was one of my favorites. Loved everything about him outside the ring, but his ring work never lived up to the hype. His offense was so soft and when he went to the WWF his liontamer finish became cringeworthy with how soft it was. As a character he blows Punk out, but in ring I never bought in.

I'm in the minority I'm sure, but Steamboat. Bret as a character did better work outside the ring as a heel than Steamboat ever did in any role outside the ring, but Steamboat in the ring sold the match so well. I'm particularly partial to guys who sell the match, sell the drama throughout, sell the struggle, etc. Bret IS good at those things, but Steamboat is near the top all time at those things to me.

There is a big disconnect between the Brody memory and the Brody seen on tape. As a non Brody fan I explored this and believe I have the answer. We judge these guys decades later by watching tape (how else would we?) but forget that wrestling for 99.9% of Brody’s life wasn’t meant for the tv audience, let alone tape. It was all about the live gates. The wrestlers who were beloved were the guys who get live crowds to react and spend money. It’s why over the top selling and bumping was so liked by the boys. Sure it looks weak on tv but it looked great in person where the people who didn’t really have great views could be brought into the action. Brody was a live crowd attraction. His wild persona and antics hyped up a crowd and he was a big body. In most ways he was perfect for that era. He looked awesome in photos and he looked awesome in an arena. Sure, you watch tape and go “eh this looks weak” but in the arena you couldn’t see that. It just looked like this big bad dude storming around the ring striking fear. And then he was gone. lastly, there is a constant rumor that Brody was going to work for WWF. In one of his podcasts, Prichard shot this down and said that Vince wasn’t a fan of Brody’s work or his business. Said he had never heard any talk of Brody coming in ever and didn’t think it would ever happen because Vince didn’t like or respect him.

I think Dusty is a good gauge for how you feel about gimmicks and entertainment in the ring. I know a lot people here able to essentially do the old "Turn the announcers off and judge the fight on mute." If you're that type of analyst, obviously Dusty won't rank well. However, I think in the ring, character work is every bit as important as wrestling skill. Not promos (where Dusty was probably #1 all time for me) but playing your character in the ring, engaging the crowd in what you're doing, making stuff matter. I think Dusty did that stuff very well, better than the majority of wrestlers. Would easily put him in a top 100 list. I think he would have been served going to the WWF in the early 80s and being that tier below Hogan guy than going to JCP and being the superstar. That burned him out with the fans and really turned the view of him.

How does Kerry compare to Magnum TA on an all time list.

I have been a lurker and admirer of this group of commentators for years but only posted a few times. I’m curious about the criteria to be able to participate in this project.

I think his WCW work gets shrugged off too easily. He was a heat magnet. Stuff with Eddy was good. His role in the six man against Flair, Piper and Greene was great. His character work was outstanding. It was short due to his neck injury but I'd say that as the reason it doesn't add enough, not that it wasn't good.

I think Regal was better at everything but I don’t think he ever had a truly great environment to do much with his skills. valentine has a lot of great stuff in the 80s. However, he had go away heat for me growing up in the 90s. Every time I saw him on tv he looked genuinely indifferent about existing at all. valentine should rank higher on a list but in another universe I think Regal would have

If you’ve heard the old DiMaggio was built for Fenway and Ted for Yankee Stadium story then you’ll get this… Ive always thought Sting and Bret were in the wrong promotion. Bret in WCW turning out workrate classics with Flair, Hansen, Windham, Luger, Arn, Rude, Zybyszko, Eaton, Vader, etc in early to mid 90s while Sting was being the flamboyant Hogan successor who could work but was mostly about being flashy and charismatic. I know they both did great work where they were and had great careers, but I think they’d both be better flipped.

Bringing up a dead thread because I've rewatched a lot of Mero/Badd stuff and want to throw my hat into the fight on the side of "extremely underrated." The more I've read/listened to about him, I think I've come to a conclusion as to why his peers hated him. 1) He was a Dusty pet project INSTANTLY as a young green nobody and got a push right away. Being seen as Dusty's "teacher's pet" had to hurt him. He wasn't good yet and he was getting a push over guys who were better and he was making more money than them. He was basically pushed up the card consistently from 91-96. Guys who worked hard had to resent not getting that treatment. 2) When he jumped to the WWF he had three big issues: He was now the teacher's pet for Vince which caused resentment He got a big guaranteed contract. He joined a promotion where guys who had resentment towards him from WCW were out to undermine him. But, regardless of why "The boys" didn't like him, the man was a good worker. I've liked basically everything he's done from 94 through the end. Hated his gimmick as Johnny B Badd because I don't like "silly" gimmicks for non-comedy relief guys and the Wildman gimmick didn't land either. That was weird, Vince was in love with Johnny B Badd. That said, I think when he turned into Marvelous Marc Mero he found it. He was a great jerk. His injuries became a problem then though. If Mero had converted from Badd to a serious gimmick in 96 and stayed in WCW I think he could have easily been a top of the mid card guy, maybe headlined a ppv here or there. Dirtbag Mero in the nWo in the black boxing trunks would have worked.