Sports Entertainment's All Time Greatest Iconic Wrestlers
by HD
The Modern Pro-Wrestling or Sports Entertainment produced many iconic wrestlers over the years, few names even got bigger than the business itself, all these icons and wrestling legends have left their mark on the pro-wrestling itself and the fans all around the globe.
We have seen many great eras of superstars rise and fall during the golden age and the Attitude Era, they provided us with some extra-ordinary moments be it in the ring or anywhere in the jam-packed arenas, these icons have cemented their legends and marked their iconic feats in stone for us to remember.
We are going to count down the top iconic wrestlers & characters who ever laid foot in the squared circle, by analyzing their accomplishments, their success and popularity as wrestlers, their true passion and zeal towards sports entertainment, and by their personas, characters and attitude.
13. Vince McMahon
Vince is the daddy of the Modern Pro Wrestling aka Sports Entertainment and created what we now see on television. Now a billionaire Vince has always been a great promoter and a business man, it was his genius that brought pro-wrestling to mainstream and highlight in the 80s and then his WWF (now WWE) boomed to a whole new level. Vince became the greatest villain and heel in the wrestling world, and after the infamous Montreal Screw Job the big boss rivaled Steve Austin in the Attitude Era and also became a mainstream player although he was not a full-time wrestler but he had some great matches with Shane McMahon his son, with Rick Flair, with Hogan, with Triple H.
Besides, this old genetic Jack-Hammer has won the Royal Rumble 1999 by tricking Steve Austin and he also won the WWF championship once from Triple H.
12. Mick Foley aka Mankind aka Cactus Jack aka Dude Love
The Hardcore Legend Mick Foley has given us the most scariest, death-defying and amazing moments during his career. This tough son of a gun was fearless and would go through the most dangerous of stunts to please the fans without caring for the pain or his body. Mick Foley became a major player during the Attitude Era in the WWE and rose to the top by having great matches with the likes of Steve Austin, Undertaker, The Rock, Triple H and Kane.
Mick Foley used to have different gimmicks and performed great in each of them and became WWF champion on multiple occasions. Perhaps the most iconic match of Foley's career was his hell in a cell match with the Undertaker in which Taker threw him twice from the top of the cell but this hardcore son of a gun came back and finished his match.
11. Rick Flair
The Hall of Famer Nature Boy Rick Flair is one of the all time greats of pro-wrestling. He had a lengthy career and he was one of the most decorated wrestler in the NWA and WCW. This multi time world champion had a celebrated career in each of the big promotions the WWE, WCW and NWA and he had been the top player in all of them.
10. The Macho Man Randy Savage
OOoooooh Yeeeeaaah…! The Macho Man or Macho King Randy Savage is one of the all-time greats of the wrestling world. His colorful attires and unique fashion sense during the golden age of wrestling made him very popular specially amongst the ladies, & apart from that he was also a great wrestler who was a multi-time world champion and headlined multiple WrestleManias.
During his decorated career this superstar had many top caliber matches which includes his match against Hogan at WrestleMania V, incredible match against Steamboat at WrestleMania III, against Rick Flair at WrestleMania VIII, and an epic battle against the Ultimate Warrior in which he delivered five of his patented top-rope flying elbows and received three of Warrior’s patented flying spears at WrestleMania VII.
9. John Cena
John Cena was the hottest player of the WWE most recently and has been consistently on the roll for many years. Regardless of my or any other hardcore wrestlemaniac's opinion this fellow is immensely popular when I truely looked around, be it kids, gals or boys. He was indeed the leader of this new generation of wrestlers and the top performer in the WWE during the recent decade.
This Cenation Leader was once the master of thugonomics and chain gang leader when his popularity was on the rise, now a multi-time world champion and a fine in-ring performer Cena has cemented his legend in to the annals of the WWE history and now on his way to Hollywood following in the foot steps of the Rock.
8. Shawn Michaels
The Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels calls himself the icon, the showstopper, the main event and Mr. WrestleMania and indeed he was. The Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is one of the all time greats of WWE, the rock-star like superstar is one of the few high flying wrestlers who is counted amongst the best. Though infamous for forming Kliq along with other mainstream pro-wrestlers a despicable group involved in much backstage politics in wrestling promotions & having in his account the most pathetic world title victory of all time at "Montreal Screwjob".
HBK still had a storied and first class career the haughty & arrogant Michaels in his prime had put up some of the greatest shows ever to be performed in the wrestling ring, he got the charms, the flashy moves, the agility & stamina to keep the amazing show going. He has won the Royal Rumble twice and has performed in many great WrestleMania matches. A truely remarkable athlete with a remarkable wrestling career.
7. The Game Triple H
The Cerebral Assassin Triple H is one of the most cruel wrestler of all time and a big time heal of the wrestling ring. Triple H rose to fame when he was a sidekick of his buddy Shawn Michaels, these two kliq members together were the original D-Generation X, a highly naughty and notorious faction.
Triple H is infamous for being involved in excessive backstage politics even at earlier stages of his career, sticking his BIG NOSE in many affairs and plotting.
After all he became the hubby of Stephanie McMahon the so called Billion Dollar Princess and the daughter of Mr. McMahon the big boss himself, in this case he succeeded where some others failed. Anyway he did proved his worth in the ring by being involved in some of the most intense, bloody and gruesome matches in the history of the WWE in which he even transcended his buddy Michaels and cemented himself as the master of the Hell in a Cell match the most dangerous match of them all. Triple H won the 2002 Royal Rumble and has headlined multiple WrestleManias. Triple H indeed proved himself a top caliber superstar after giving top performance after top performance.
6. The Ultimate Warrior
Hall of Famer The Ultimate Warrior was the most iconic, colorful, intense & energetic wrestler who performed in the WWE back in the golden age of wrestling. He was a prized performer of the Golden Age and shared the spotlight with Hulk Hogan and during his prime his popularity rivaled that of Hulk Hogan.
He had many intense main event matches with other great superstars and his match with Hogan at WrestleMania VI is considered the most epic wrestling match of all time. Being the most enigmatic in-ring performer of all time the Ultimate Warrior made such an impact that he left a permanent mark of inspiration in the hearts & minds of many. This superhero of wrestling was truly the definition of the larger than life icon.
5. The Undertaker
The Legendary Deadman, The Undertaker is the most respected superstar of all time and also one of the greatest wrestler who ever entered in the Sports Entertainment. The Phenom of the Sports Entertainment has been a destructive and an unstoppable force for decades and his legendary WrestleMania victory streak furthered his iconic status. Over decades the Undertaker consistently performed at the top level and his gimmick is the most amusing of them all, he became a personification of intimidation in the wrestling world and won the world title multiple times.
4. Bret "The Hitman" Hart
The Hitman Bret Hart is the greatest technical wrestler in the modern pro-wrestling. After the end of the Hogan Era at the WWE it was Bret Hart who bear the standard for the WWE. He became immensely popular superstar back in the early and mid nineties and had fans all over the world. A true wrestling champion at heart Bret "The Hitman" Hart gave his all to the WWE and its fans during his classic wrestling career. He was a superior wrestler to all as far as the technical department is considered and was indeed an excellence of execution.
This dignified wrestler was stung by the most worst backstage politics ever which was culminated at the most infamous wrestling event of all time the "Montreal Screw Job", the plotters ofcourse all the wrestlemaniacs know Vince McMahon, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This infamous event ended Bret Hart's prestigious wrestling career in a very sad way. But after years putting the agony of past behind his back, Hitman accepted the Hall of Fame offer by the WWE which he rightly deserved.
3. THE ROCK
The Hollywood Rock or simply Rocky is one of the most popular wrestler ever, he used the WWE as the springboard to Hollywood fair-dom. The Rock rose to popularity during the Attitude Era and rivaled Stone Cold Steve Austin.
He evolved his character to more a flashier one, he picked upon Austin's style of vicious punching and fighting and modified into his own version and similarly he came upon with his own cocky and great catch phrases. The Rock's rise to popularity was quick as the Great One became the people's champ and was the most electrifying man in Sports Entertainment. The Rock is a multi-talented superstar, being a great athlete plus his mic skills were extra-ordinary hence he became successful in Hollywood and gave entertaining movies unlike Hogan's movies which sucked big time, no other wrestler has made that big as the Rock has made in Hollywood and the film industry.
2. HULK HOGAN
The hall of famer Hulkster Hogan or Hollywood Hogan is arguably the best wrestler of all time. Hulk Hogan the prime player of the golden age of wrestling became the hero of all the wrestling fans though he had very simple moves and his finisher was just a leg drop but back then his great charm of Hulkamania ran wild on all the wrestling fans.
He was the first greatest wrestling hero who set the stage for pro-wrestling to develop, he is the first of the two revolutionizers of the Sports Entertainment business and made the WWF (now WWE) a multi-million dollar company back then. During his decorated career Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble twice and headlined many WrestleManias including the first one. His global popularity turned him into a shrewd backstage politician. Hogan later left the WWF and joined WCW there he formed the nWo with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall the most notorious group in wrestling history and then took WCW even ahead of the WWF and gave Vince McMahon a lot of trouble until the time WWF was hit by entirely a different breed of revolution.
1. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN
Stone Cold, Stone cold, Stone Cold..!!
WHAT? Is Stone Cold the Best Ever What? Yes he is! WHAT? Yes Ofcourse! What? Indeed he is and that's the Bottom Line cause Stone Cold said so..!
Austin 3:16 is the ultimate bad ass of modern pro-wrestling and the most flashiest wrestler who ever entered the wrestling ring. There is no one in the business who laced their boots and stepped into the ring as intense as Stone Cold Steve Austin, the toughest SOB, he was the first and greatest Anti-hero of the wrestling world who blew jam-packed arena after arena with his intensity and brought a new revolution in the WWE in the late nineties which changed the entire shape of Sports Entertainment, "the Attitude Era".
Back then at WCW there was Hogan and his nWo comrades which included other great superstars while in WWE there was the One Man army of Stone Cold, the Mr. Attitude aka Stone Cold himself was the standard bearer of the Attitude Era which took WWE ahead of WCW once more until WCW met its demise.
Stone Cold Steve Austin is the all time most profitable wrestler for WWE and took the business to whole new level by making WWE a multi-billion dollar company. Besides Austin's true passion and dedication to his work was evident in his performance and awesome gimmick, he was a living and breathing Mr. Attitude and reflected upon his performance, he was in the ring what he was outside the ring. During his flashy and spectacular career in the WWE, this hall of famer won the Royal Rumble thrice and headlined multiple WrestleManias and has been the world champion multiple times.
Lex Luger was a bodybuilder with an impressive ripped body and tremendous power, he slammed the great super duper heavy weight Yokuzuna on multiple occasions and he had been a major player in WWE and also in WCW as Total Package, though later he got thrashed by the mighty Goldberg but in his prime he was stud of a wrestler.
When Kane made his debut at a pay per view event called Badd Blood back in October 1997, he ripped off the Hell in a Cell gate and laid waste to the Undertaker costing him the victory over a bloody and battered Shawn Michaels. The Giant Red Demon emerged from exploding fires as his fiery awesome presence was noted by everyone in the arena who were in awe. Kane shared the same intense threshold for pain as the Undertaker taking hits after hits with chairs and pipes but he rose again and again to crush his nemesis. Back in the late nineties Kane was a destructive and powerful force who laid waste to anyone in his path, he use to double chokeslam two guys at the same time with each of his hands and his thunderous spike tombstone was a disastrous move which was later banned by the WWE. Kane was the man who deserved much more from the WWE but they never gave him, instead they turned his awesome character into a promotional machine for other rising superstars and in some cases undeserving wrestlers while Kane loyally and humbly did whatever the WWE asked him to do, but honestly speaking Kane deserved much more but its too late he has passed his prime time. This big red monster of a man reportedly had been the backstage champion of arm wrestling and has even defeated Brock Lesnar in an arm wrestling match.
Well he is the Bigshow alright and the current largest wrestler being a seven footer and weighing five hundred pounds Bigshow is the elephant of WWE.
The Man Goooldberrrrg !!! is arguably the strongest wrestler of all time. Goldberg wrecked havoc in WCW and was unstoppable, no one was able to pick clean victory over him back in WCW if I remember correctly. But WCW did exaggerated his hype a bit and presented him as invincible, the great moves of other great wrestlers seem to have no effect on him now come on ! have a little respect for others too. Besides Goldberg shook the arena when he lifted and jack-hammered the five hundred pound Giant aka Bigshow with accuracy and thrashed him, that became the single greatest display of tremendous strength and power in pro-wrestling ring. This Bull of a wrestler possess a super-fit body and super human strength which he displayed on many occasions. 
Goldberg was considered the strongest until this man the Big Brock Lesnar made his entry into the WWE. This ultimate powerhouse possess demonic strength and power and besides that he has super-tough muscular body and massive stamina and agility. Brock Lesnar quickly rose to the top like no other in the WWE and became the youngest undisputed world champion defeating the Great One The Rock in an epic back and forth match. From then onwards Brock Lesnar rivaled with many great and powerful superstars and his supernatural strength completely dominated all of them. Brock Lesnar was the only man I have ever seen to throw around the Big Show like a rag doll in the ring, delivering suplex after suplex and ofcourse his finisher the F5 tornado, I mean come on it was the Bigshow's role to throw people around, anyway Lesnar did surprised the Bigshow. In short, understanding the usual in-ring performances Brock Lesnar is probably the strongest wrestler.
The Spring is in the air and it is the time of the year when all the wrestling fans or wrestlemaniacs as I would like to call the wrestling fans, all of them anticipate the grand daddy of them all WrestleMania. The mania spreads like a wild fire among the fans when the great battle royal takes place at the annual Royal Rumble. So we are all back now expecting a great show, the last year's WrestleMania was a big disappointment for me it sucked big time with the exception of only couple of matches so what's different this year indeed we all have noticed something is little different as the suckers at the WWE creative department are trying now to improve after suffering a sea of critique from all the wrestlemaniacs.
While as far as John Cena goes I believe WWE never tapped into his true potential, they never promoted him in a way people may find him much more amusing and they never had to since they have no competition now, back then when WCW went head to head with WWF (now WWE) each of the brands gets the best out of their top guys. Well John Cena although highly popular mostly amongst kids and gals is still not accepted by many hardcore wrestlemaniacs due to his gimmick, the boos in the arenas follow him everywhere.
As these two superstars of different eras collide at this year's WrestleMania, their match reminds me of WrestleMania X8 when the mighty Hollywood Hulk Hogan of the Golden Age collided with the Brahma Bull The Rock of the Attitude Era at Skydome....
Besides this match the card is far better and interesting this year.....What about the Hell in a Cell match between two masters of this particular match The Undertaker and HHH though they both have passed their prime........ but they both had a wild history of Hell in a Cell matches and to add twist to the match Mr.WrestleMania the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels is the special guest referee for the match will Michaels be just or will he side with his best buddy HHH or is it that he has entirely different things going on in his head we'll
see.