Most Underrated Wrestlers Of All Time

[KawadaSmile]

Chris Masters always seemed like an underrated wrestler, specially from 2010 onwards

[JerryvonKramer]

Yatsu.

[Mad Dog]

One of the interesting things I've seen with WWE Network is anyone that wanders into the World Class footage all seems to have the same reaction of "holy shit, I didn't know King Kong Bundy was good."

[C.S.]

Stevie Richards: He could do it all - sidekick goof, underdog babyface, menacing heel - he could play any character and deliver the goods in the ring.

 

Steve Corino: For all the praise (not here) that Cody gets for being a throwback cosplay '80s champion, Corino actually made this role feel real and organic in his ECW run.

 

Michael Modest: I have no idea why the hell he never made it to the WWF - he had everything going for him, except maybe size and hairline.

 

Christopher Daniels: A lot better than he was ever pushed, and he never truly made it to the WWF either, which is a shame.

 

Kamala: Played his character to perfection, and he could be good too. Watch the Kamala-Andre cage match on WWE Network if you don't believe me!

[Edwin]

I haven't watched him in forever and I don't even know if he's retired yet or not, but based on his work from mid 2000's, Yutaka Yoshie was underrated. He was a fat man that new how to literally throw his weight around.

 

He had some fantastic matches back then with guys like Nakanishi, Nakamura, Ishii, Sekimoto, etc.

[JazeUSA]

Each time I see the overrated/underrated question raised, I remember 2002 I think it was when PWI did their annual polling issue, and both the #2 most overrated and #2 most underrated wrestler was Chris Jericho. There's an interesting question. Which wrestlers are both? In other words, which wrestlers do you find that a significant number of people both praise too highly and criticize too harshly?

thats a great perspective, I havent actually thought about it that way before

[Ricky Jackson]

One of the interesting things I've seen with WWE Network is anyone that wanders into the World Class footage all seems to have the same reaction of "holy shit, I didn't know King Kong Bundy was good."

Yeah, he becomes a really good promo very quickly and is no slouch in the ring either

[Mad Dog]

 

One of the interesting things I've seen with WWE Network is anyone that wanders into the World Class footage all seems to have the same reaction of "holy shit, I didn't know King Kong Bundy was good."

Yeah, he becomes a really good promo very quickly and is no slouch in the ring either

The Harley Race match where they just beat the shit out of each other was really really good.

[Ricky Jackson]

Haven't got to that one yet. Sounds awesome!

[Mad Dog]

It's from that August Star Wars that had Kerry/Flair 2 out of 3 falls.

[Laz]

 

Steve Corino: For all the praise (not here) that Cody gets for being a throwback cosplay '80s champion, Corino actually made this role feel real and organic in his ECW run.

 

Co-signed. He also fits into the "from another era" category. Damn shame his prime was during the transition from hardcore to WORKRATE N' MOVEZ because the heat he could generate outmatched a lot of talent that were impressing via matches only.

[Mad Dog]

I was okay with Corino as a worker but I fucking despise him as an announcer.

[Coffey]

Steve Corino had one of my favorite spots from a match in ECW. It was against Balls Mahoney, of all people. Corino grabbed a chair, like he was finally going to get hardcore and instead opened it, sat in it and applied a side headlock. It was great!

[Laz]

Living Dangerously 1999. The spot was paid off quickly when Balls stood up and Corino just kept apologizing.

[Mad Dog]

Each time I see the overrated/underrated question raised, I remember 2002 I think it was when PWI did their annual polling issue, and both the #2 most overrated and #2 most underrated wrestler was Chris Jericho. There's an interesting question. Which wrestlers are both? In other words, which wrestlers do you find that a significant number of people both praise too highly and criticize too harshly?

 

Roman Reigns currently. His haters don't give him enough credit for improving and being able to hold his end up in good-great matches while at the same time his supporters overcompensate and act like everything he does is amazing.

[Microstatistics]

 

Tamon Honda - A weird pick since he works the kind of style I usually like but think he is underwhelming more often than not and the praise is hyperbolic.

What matches have you been watching? Seeing him as a fired up rookie selling his ass off has been one of my favorite things about the recent explosion in AJPW footage. The Kawada match especially is some great stuff.

 

 

 

I was thinking about the Kobashi and Akiyama GHC title matches. He was decent in the former and mediocre in the latter but people were saying he outworked both of them which I strongly disagree with. Additionally, the highly pimped Saito match from 2003 was really disappointing. He was just kind of there in some of the NOAH tags and trios I watched.

 

With regards to most overrated and most underrated I got Shawn Michaels, Naoya Ogawa and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Shawn is obviously the undisputed GOAT or everything wrong with US wrestling/not good enough for a Top 500 list. Naoya Ogawa is either an awful worker who ruined Hashimoto or an amazing badass shooter. Tanahashi is the best wrestler of the generation or beyond terrible. Angle and Takada are great picks as well.

 

I agree with the Lou Thesz pick for underrated. Huge influence/star obviously but maybe the best of the Golden Age guys.

 

Some more most underrated picks

 

Yuji Nagata - Has his flaws but has racked up a pretty impressive career with some very strong performances.

Yoshihisa Yamamoto - Outstanding on the mat

Koji Kanemoto - Not the best seller but overall he has had a fantastic career with good/great matches against a variety of people over a pretty long period of time. Good babyface, great heel.

Franz Van Buyten - I guess footage is an issue but he impressed the hell out of me when I checked out some of the Germany stuff. Great seller, all time great babyface.

El Samurai - Gets overshadowed by Liger and Ohtani (as he should) but he more than held up his end in those all time classic matches.

 

Some more most overrated picks

 

Riki Choshu - Still a fan but I've soured on him over the years. All his best matches are against absolute superworkers. Choshu brings his intensity and strong selling but it's pretty obvious those guys are basically carrying him because in constructing singles matches against others, he is very, very limited. Very good tag/multi-man wrestler though.

Low Ki - Even though I'm a big fan of stiffness in wrestling, Ki is exhibit A for why just because you work stiff doesn't mean you're a good worker. Very dull to watch, lack of charisma, disappointing matches unless it's against Bryan.

LA Park - Hurts me to say this but his brawls are too formulaic and that's why none of them really standout.

Dusty Rhodes - I really like the bionic elbow. That's about it though.

Takeshi Ono - The hybrid BattlARTS style is one of my favorites but, similar to Tamon Honda, I feel a lot of praise directed towards him is hyperbolic. Great offense but very limited in other facets.

[Mad Dog]

I love watching Nagata working Young Lions on current New Japan shows. I think Nagata kind of unfairly gets blamed for how awful New Japan was in 2002-2003 because he was champion at the time.

[Boss Rock]

 

 

Tamon Honda - A weird pick since he works the kind of style I usually like but think he is underwhelming more often than not and the praise is hyperbolic.

What matches have you been watching? Seeing him as a fired up rookie selling his ass off has been one of my favorite things about the recent explosion in AJPW footage. The Kawada match especially is some great stuff.

 

 

 

I was thinking about the Kobashi and Akiyama GHC title matches. He was decent in the former and mediocre in the latter but people were saying he outworked both of them which I strongly disagree with. Additionally, the highly pimped Saito match from 2003 was really disappointing. He was just kind of there in some of the NOAH tags and trios I watched.

 

With regards to most overrated and most underrated I got Shawn Michaels, Naoya Ogawa and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Shawn is obviously the undisputed GOAT or everything wrong with US wrestling/not good enough for a Top 500 list. Naoya Ogawa is either an awful worker who ruined Hashimoto or an amazing badass shooter. Tanahashi is the best wrestler of the generation or beyond terrible. Angle and Takada are great picks as well.

 

I agree with the Lou Thesz pick for underrated. Huge influence/star obviously but maybe the best of the Golden Age guys.

 

Some more most underrated picks

 

Yuji Nagata - Has his flaws but has racked up a pretty impressive career with some very strong performances.

Yoshihisa Yamamoto - Outstanding on the mat

Koji Kanemoto - Not the best seller but overall he has had a fantastic career with good/great matches against a variety of people over a pretty long period of time. Good babyface, great heel.

Franz Van Buyten - I guess footage is an issue but he impressed the hell out of me when I checked out some of the Germany stuff. Great seller, all time great babyface.

El Samurai - Gets overshadowed by Liger and Ohtani (as he should) but he more than held up his end in those all time classic matches.

 

Some more most overrated picks

 

Riki Choshu - Still a fan but I've soured on him over the years. All his best matches are against absolute superworkers. Choshu brings his intensity and strong selling but it's pretty obvious those guys are basically carrying him because in constructing singles matches against others, he is very, very limited. Very good tag/multi-man wrestler though.

Low Ki - Even though I'm a big fan of stiffness in wrestling, Ki is exhibit A for why just because you work stiff doesn't mean you're a good worker. Very dull to watch, lack of charisma, disappointing matches unless it's against Bryan.

LA Park - Hurts me to say this but his brawls are too formulaic and that's why none of them really standout.

Dusty Rhodes - I really like the bionic elbow. That's about it though.

Takeshi Ono - The hybrid BattlARTS style is one of my favorites but, similar to Tamon Honda, I feel a lot of praise directed towards him is hyperbolic. Great offense but very limited in other facets.

 

 

Love the call on Tanahashi. Not the all-time great Dave Meltzer would have you believe, but a good seller, a great babyface, and even a good trolling heel. Even as his body is breaking down on him he's still arguably one of the best big match wrestlers in the world.

[Boss Rock]

Most Underrated

 

Mariko Yoshida - Her 1999-01 run as good as anyone's in history.

Azumi Hyuga - Great ace, versatile, excellent seller, great matches during Joshi's dead period.

Megumi Kudo - Along with Foley and Onita, the best ever at working the hardcore style.

Clive Myers - Best British guy outside the usual suspects. Great technician + personality.

Yoji Anjoh - Same argument as Myers but for shoot style.

 

 

 

Most "most underrated" actually become "overrated" with time and pendulum & "underrated" accumulation effect. If I hear yet another time that Brad Armstrong or Hulk Hogan are underrated, I might throw up.

 

On the other hand, I'd say that, for instance, Hulk Hogan was a better worker than Ric Flair at some point in their career (WCW 1999 is what I'm thinking about). Or that Brad Armstrong, as solid as he was, never put it together like Tito Santana did in the same kind of very basic 80's babyface work, which is why Tito had quite a bit of terrific matches and Armstrong a whole lot of solid yet unengaging stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is spot on. And since we are on that subject

 

Most Overrated

 

Ron Garvin

Blue Panther - I've done a 180 on Panther. Used to think he was one of the Lucha greats but looking back I have found a lot of his matches disappointing.

CM Punk - Good worker, charismatic but no where near as good as his peers. Lack of high end stuff outside of the Joe Series and the Brock match.

Stan Hansen

Tamon Honda - A weird pick since he works the kind of style I usually like but think he is underwhelming more often than not and the praise is hyperbolic.

Ted DiBiase - Pretty versatile and dependable but more a solid hand than a great worker.

Keiji Mutoh - Wildly inconsistent

Andre the Giant - I can understand the appeal since he was something unique but in terms of actual good/great matches, he has very little going on.

Harley Race - Mind numbingly boring

Hulk Hogan - I won't deny the energy and charisma during his prime but as a worker, he was not very good. Best matches were against Bockwinkel, Fujinami, Tenryu and one guess who was doing the heavy lifting in those matches. Alluding to the point El-P was making, just because someone is "incorrectly" labelled as terrible, doesn't suddenly make them good or great when you try and rectify that perception. The pendulum effect describes it perfectly.

Steve Williams - Misawa got a great match out of him in 94 but I find him pretty dull in most other settings. Worst Kobashi opponent ever by a huge margin.

John Cena - Still like him quite a lot, great ace. But his big match formula + many matches do not age well at all, inconsistent, lack of high end stuff.

Dustin Rhodes - Really liked him in 91-94 but he has gaping holes in his career + inconsistencies + lack of high end stuff.

 

Curious on your thoughts of Hansen being overrated.

[Hegs]

Sgt. Slaughter. He had great matches against Backlund in the early 80's and the Patterson alley fight was groundbreaking in the WWF. His Mid Atlantic work which leads to the Final Conflict, the inspiration for Starcade and a great match that holds up today. He returns to the WWF and is arguably equally responsible for the WWF surge in popularity and pop culture recognition. The Boot Camp match is still considered one of the best WWF matches of the 80s. I'll concede that his AWA work was spotty, but he had sub par opponents, bad booking and he had the GI Joe work. His return to the WWF showed he had one last run in him and had some good to almost great matches with Hogan.

[C.S.]

Sgt. Slaughter. He had great matches against Backlund in the early 80's and the Patterson alley fight was groundbreaking in the WWF. His Mid Atlantic work which leads to the Final Conflict, the inspiration for Starcade and a great match that holds up today. He returns to the WWF and is arguably equally responsible for the WWF surge in popularity and pop culture recognition. The Boot Camp match is still considered one of the best WWF matches of the 80s. I'll concede that his AWA work was spotty, but he had sub par opponents, bad booking and he had the GI Joe work. His return to the WWF showed he had one last run in him and had some good to almost great matches with Hogan.

I agree with this.

[Victator]

I think he had generally strong matches in the AWA with Larry Z and Hansen.Off hand I can't think of any bad matches he had there. I really think he should have won the title after it was stolen from Lawler.

I have been watching a lot of Brad Armstrong matches in the last few days. I have to say I am with Brad being underrated. He had a presence to him that made him seem credible regardless of his place on the roster. He was also excellent at coming up with unique finishes. He could hit the Russian Leg Sweep like DDP would the Diamond Cutter.

[sek69]

It never made sense to me why they didn't put the belt on Sarge. You had someone who was the #2 most popular guy in wrestling fall in your lap, why not put the rocket on him? I mean i realize the answer is "because Verne" but still....

[Victator]

Verne might have feared, Vince would bring Slaughter back out of spite if he was AWA champion. Vince was signing guys like Brad Rheighens and Boris Zukov. So bringing in Slaughter is very conceivable.

They did do a Dusty finish where Sarge beat Larry Zbyszko for the title, then ran a rematch. I like to think those things are what made Slaughter turn heel in the WWF.

[khawk20]

Vince grabbing AWA Champion Slaughter out of spite was a real thing even at that late stage. Larry couldn't be grabbed since he was with Verne's daughter. Larry and Greg were the only real choices given the times.

 

I agree with Slaughter as an underrated pick even though I never thought of him as underrated. the reasons outlined above on how good and key he was to so many big angles and matches has always stuck with me, and I personally have recognized how awesome he has always been. Even his Super Destroyer Mark 2 gimmick in the AWA was a scary a masked gimmick as you could find back then, really...that jaw line gave his mask a really different dimension and made it scarier than regular masked guys (lol).