Greatest WWE Wrestlers of the Wrestlemania Era Results

[jakecronus8]

Bret is my second fave all time behind Punk. Had him at 9.

Bret Hart: The Hitman was the greatest technical wrestler of all time, and could have a great match with a folding chair if asked. He was able to get the very best out of guy's like Yokozuna and Diesel, and his feud with HBK is one of the greatest of all time. While the wwe struggled during the New Generation era (pretty much all of wrestling did), Bret was responsible for large growth of the sport in Europe and Asia. His mic work was so so, but he had everything else you look for in an all time great.

ETA: epic troll job with the reigns post. Just high enough to get a few to buy it and piss them off.

[Stanford]

ETA: epic troll job with the reigns post. Just high enough to get a few to buy it and piss them off.

I thought for a long time about exactly this. Disappointed that a) no one caught the sh00n mention, and b) sh00n didn't show up when I mentioned his name, in the fashion of beetlejuice.

[WRau1]

I had the Hitman at 5. One of my favorites of all time, one of the very first guys that made me think that even though there was larger personalities in wrestling, Brett Hart was the best in-ring guy I had ever seen up to that point.

Cool side note, my dad's best friend would house sit for the Hitman at his place in Hawaii. I have a bunch of signed merch because of this and not all just from the Bret. My dad's friend would tell Bret how big a fan I was and Bret would then bring all sorts of stuff for me from figures to shirts and front row folding chairs.

[Spens1]

LOLROMANWINS

anyway Hart at 6 makes sense, i mean outside of Hogan, Austin and the rock i cannot seriously see anyone else getting into that top 3 so it makes a lot of sense.

[skbucks1985]

I had Bret at #3. Quite high, higher than guys like Rock and Hogan who would be considered by most to be "bigger" stars. And I think I had 4 reasons, one is as Latrell mentioned so many of the top guy of the last 10 years and now probably wouldn't be in the industry if it weren't for Bret's influence. The second is that among all-time great wrestlers, what I think puts Bret and Shawn above others is there ability to have a good match with anyone. The list of really good Diesel matches is short and his match with Bret at Survivor Series is at the top of it. The third reason is I think Bret did more to make the top guy in the most profitable time in WWE history than anyone else. I don't think there's anyway Austin would've reached the level he did without that match and program with Bret and while Montreal is an over-discussed issue the one area that's not often discussed is how that essentially created the Mr. McMahon character. So, Bret played an integral part in creating the biggest babyface and the biggest heel in wrestling during the Attitude Era. And finally, I think Bret doesn't get the credit he deserves for being the bridge between Hogan and Austin. Bret is not considered a successful draw but he put that company on his back and if it weren't for him I think the title of this thread would be Greatest WCW Wrestlers of the Starrcade Era

[Stanford]

anyway Hart at 6 makes sense, i mean outside of Hogan, Austin and the rock i cannot seriously see anyone else getting into that top 3 so it makes a lot of sense.

Stanford's note: Stay tuned

[spykelee]

That's a good point and sound logic Safi. Him and Shawn had an unmatched ability to have tremendous matches with everyone. And Brett's influence in creating Mr. Mcmahon and Austin is a very much underrated and underappreciated aspect. One I probably overlooked with my own rating of him...

[skbucks1985]

LOLROMANWINS

anyway Hart at 6 makes sense, i mean outside of Hogan, Austin and the rock i cannot seriously see anyone else getting into that top 3 so it makes a lot of sense.

This isn't really a spoiler since I could be wrong but it seems pretty obvious that the top 5 are those 3 and HBK and Undertaker. And I could see either of those guys making the top 3, Shawn made mine. It all just really depends on what you choose to emphasize.

[Mike Hunt]

Since #9, the list has matched my list to a T.

I really wanted to put Bret Hart ahead of his main rival during that New Generation era, but the late career renaissance of the latter forced me to keep Bret down here.

To me, no one has ever cared more that what they were doing in the ring looked real and for that reason, I hold Bret Hart in ridiculously high regard. Bret Hart cared about everything he did. He tried to hide when he talked to his opponent. He sold moves tastefully and to varying degrees based on the impact of the move. Whereas I just crapped on Cena for throwing the worst wrestling punch, Bret Hart had one of the very best punches in the business.

I think Bret was also an excellent ring psychologist (arguably the best). I'm not sure any other wrestler would have been as adept at doing the double turn with Austin. Even when he wasn't turning, Bret was good at making the audience sympathetic to him or to his opponent based on what was needed. Everything he did in the ring had a purpose in terms of getting the audience in the right frame of mind.

Everyone, including Bret himself, knows that promos were his weakest area, but even there, he was able to show a lot of growth and eventually became above average on the mic. I remember some pretty great heel promos he cut during his feud with Austin. When he allowed himself to get a little riled up and cursed a bit, the words flowed a lot better. He was no Austin or Rock, be he didn't look out of place with a mic in his hands either.

[Spens1]

LOLROMANWINS

anyway Hart at 6 makes sense, i mean outside of Hogan, Austin and the rock i cannot seriously see anyone else getting into that top 3 so it makes a lot of sense.

This isn't really a spoiler since I could be wrong but it seems pretty obvious that the top 5 are those 3 and HBK and Undertaker. And I could see either of those guys making the top 3, Shawn made mine. It all just really depends on what you choose to emphasize.

wow i forgot HBK too yeah though poor Bret, blow Micheals even on this list

[Spens1]

anyway Hart at 6 makes sense, i mean outside of Hogan, Austin and the rock i cannot seriously see anyone else getting into that top 3 so it makes a lot of sense.

Stanford's note: Stay tuned

so theirs a twist

[jakecronus8]

My predictions for the top 5

5)Undertaker
4)Hogan
3)HBK
2)Rock
1)Austin

Not my top 5

[Stanford]

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Greatest WWE Wrestlers of the Wrestlemania Era - #5
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Spoiler:

The Rock


Total Points: 288
Highest: #2 (Wrau1, Dunthreevy, jakecronus, studcrackers, Mike Hunt, jr lucosa)
Number of Lists: 17/18

Bio, from jakecronus:
Dwayne could have easily gone number one for me. Besides the great moments he provided in the ring, he transcended the game in a way that no one else has or likely ever will. While his in ring work was just good and not necessarily great, he was always helped by being one of the most naturally charismatic human beings to ever walk the face of the earth. Even though I believe he stole his promo style from Ric Flair, he could hold a room of 80,000 people in the palm of his hand.

[iMoreland]

Had Bret Hart at 10, The Rock at 5.

[skbucks1985]

Rock's an interesting case. I had him at 7, so a little lower than the median. We've mentioned how influential guys like Bret Hart and Eddie Guerrerro were on the current crop of wrestlers. Rock is the blueprint in terms of size and look and charisma that they look for in wrestlers and until pretty recently they were loathe to deviate from that blueprint. And so in a weird way that is not in any way his fault, I think the fact that WWE made so few stars from 2004-2014/15 is a lot on not deviating from that blueprint. Plus, his run was really short. Let's ignore the awful Rocky Maivia stuff, he came back in the fall of 97 and Wrestlemania 17 was basically the end of him as a full-time wrestler. He worked increasingly sporadically over the next 3 years so he basically had the equivalent of a 5 year run.

On the other hand, he's been involved in so many of the biggest matches in WWE history. WM 15 and 17, 18 and 19, mega matches with Austin and Hogan. Looking back on it, I'm not a huge fan of the Rock-Cena program but the program was hugely successful from a box office perspective.

[LittleOzzy]

Hard Hart at 5, simply out of respect for his career. Personally though I was never a fan, great wrestler that was always horrible on the Mic.

In my opinion Mic work is half the business, and he was awful at it.

----

Had The Rock at 6. Just a fun all around wrestler now, but was a great heel when he needed to be. Austin vs. The Rock was one of the greatest feuds of all time.

Now that we are down to the very top few it's interesting to look back at my list and see who is missing.

[Mike Hunt]

I'm amazed that no one had The Rock at #1. I realize he didn't have the longest sustained run, but he has been part of a lot of major events as a part-timer. And unlike others who usually move on due to a lull in popularity or physical restrictions, he left to become the more successful elsewhere.

[skbucks1985]

I'm amazed that no one had The Rock at #1. I realize he didn't have the longest sustained run, but he has been part of a lot of major events as a part-timer. And unlike others who usually move on due to a lull in popularity or physical restrictions, he left to become the more successful elsewhere.

I'm not. His lack of longevity and a relative dearth of truly great, iconic matches keep him from number 1 in most people's eyes. The best reason to put Rock number one is, as you said, his post-wrestling career.

[spykelee]

Had The Rock right @ 5. Too short of a run and a smaller peak then most other top 5'ers.

[Stanford]

Any guesses on how the top 4 falls?