Who was the greatest WWE superstar to ever play in the NFL?

[crippler]

with the list of Wrestlers to play in the NFL.

Droz
Played for the Denver Broncos in the NFL.
Goldberg
Played for the Atlanta Falcons for three years in the NFL.
Kevin Greene
Played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL.
John Heidenrich
Played for the NFL's Washington Redskins, the New Orleans Saints, and the Atlanta Falcons.
Junk Yard Dog
He played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers.
Lex Luger
Played in the CFL for the Montreal Alouettes, the Green Bay Packers in the NFL and Tampa Bay Bandits and Memphis Showboats in the USFL.
Steve McMichael
Played for the Chicago Bears in the NFL.
Ernie Ladd
He played for the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL.
Tito Santana
He played professional football as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL and the British Columbia Lions of the CFL
Ron Simmons
Played for the NFL Cleveland Browns and USFL Tampa Bay Bandits
Jim Niedhart
He played for the NFL Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys

After looking at the list alot of names like Luger, Goldberg & Ron Simmons however the title is WWE stars and these guys were never that big in WWE even though Goldberg was world champion his WWE stay was mediocre at best.

The best WWE Star to have played in the NFL I would have to say Tito Santana. he was a WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times) and a WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times). Tito put on some great matches in his career against guys like Greg Valentine, Randy Savage, Don Morocco and Mr. Perfect

[Duke]

That would go to the late great Edward "Wahoo" McDaniels. If you knew his history you would see his only problem was that he loved the taste of alcohol. He had a very good career in the pros. He made his best impact after knocking out two police offers and being traded to the Jets where his career took off.

[HBsam31]

Ernie Ladd. WWE HOF Chargers HOF. I can't really argue with that. Steve McMicheals was on one if not the best defenses in history, but he didn't have near the wrestling career that Ladd did. It has to be him.

[THTRobtaylor]

There is a big distinction between "training camp" and playing games, so to me guys like Santana, Brock Lesnar don't count as they never actually played a game in the NFL season.

McMichael has a strong case but on balance his career as a wrestler was at best mediocre despite being pushed as a Horseman.


Ladd and McDaniel had upper midcard careers but never quite cracked the top rung of the ladder. You could also say that they were not a part of the "global" wrestling business but territorial stars.

When it comes down to it. Vader played in a Superbowl winning squad (albeit not the final game) and was a main eventer for years in the WWE, WCW AND Japan. Goldberg is the closest to him I guess as he did have a longer NFL career and as big impact on the business in a shorter time, but if you go back to that early 90's period there was no one bigger or more in demand in the business than Vader, carrying titles in Japan, Europe and Germany. So I stand by my pick that on all the factors, and the original question of the "best" WWE wrestler, Vader is your winner. If it was the best ever cross sport wrestler, then McDaniel or even Randy Savage would be in there with his baseball career.

[FlairFan2003]

Its really all in how you chose to evaluate it. Luger for example had a HOF caliber career, consistent main eventer in WCW & WWE, High profile fueds with Brett Hart, Yokozuna, Randy Savage, The NwO, prominent run in Horsemen, numerous titles, big matches at WrestleMania, Starrcade, SummerSlam, & Great Am Bash, legendary feud vs Flair, submission World Title win over Hogan, however his pro football career was short lived and nondescript through the NFL, USFL, & CFL. Likewise Steve McMicheal was a successful full time starter on Chicago Bears team that lead the league in defense three times, advancing to three conference title games and winning one Super Bowl between 1984-88. As a wrestler however his career was short lived (two and half years at best) and he was mostly just window dressing for Flair & Benoit in The Horsemen.

If your trying to find a pro football player who had a good-great pro wrestling career than guys like Luger, Ron Simmons, Vader, & Goldberg are among the best choices. However, for combining pro football success AND pro wrestling success than Ernie Ladd and Wahoo McDaniel are probably the leading candidates.

[matman8540]

If we're going old school, there is one glaring omission. Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis. He was a starting lineman for the Packers back in the early 50s for about 4 years. Granted, his football career was nowhere near Ernie Ladd or Wahoo McDaniel, but it was still significant enough not to be just a "cup of coffee". He even went so far as to battle with the recently deceased Alex Karras while Karras was serving his one year suspension from the NFL. As far as his wrestling career is concerned, 7 time AWA tag team champion, and even held the AWA world title for a week; beating Mad Dog Vachon.

[justtxyank]

Wahoo McDaniel was a pretty big wrestling star. He's easily among the most recognizable names from the 70s and 80s. The wrestling system worked differently then so he didn't win the NWA title, but he was a multiple time Mid Atlantic champion and was a regular challenger for the AWA title.

Not winning the world title does not mean he failed to break out of upper mid card status. Titles worked differently back then. Wahoo was pretty much a consistent main event until the end of his career, feuding with top guys in promotions, including feuding over top titles.

He would be my answer to this.

[peter_midnight]

I was going to go with Lex Luger or one of the other choices here, but I have to say LT would be the greatest after thinking about it. Has anyone else from the NFL for their first match ever main evented Wrestlemania? And he won the match, so he's undefeated in WM just like the Undertaker is. IDGAF what HBK or Diesel say, I know I paid to watch LT wrestle Bam Bam, not those two, lol.

Finally, this event featured the debut of Steve "Mongo" McMichael and Reggie White two wrestlers that later wrestled a classic hard fought match prominently featured in a WCW pay-per-view event. Not to mention, where would Botchamania be without "Mongo." Clearly LT is responsible for so much in this great sport, I give the nod to him.

[Wrestlefan73]

There are too many variables to this topic. There are several wrestlers that played in the NFL.
But, if you go by the OP's question, the answer would have to be Ernie Ladd. He is in the WWE Hall of Fame, so he is one of "wrestlings greats" as well as being in the NFL Hall of Fame.
If you go by which former NFL player(s) had the BEST Wrestling career, I would have to say a tie between Verne Gagne and Fritz Von Erich. Both played in the NFL and OWNED successful wrestling promotions, as well as both being in the WWE HoF!

[anvilx8]

JYD.

Ps. Wasnt pillman in the nfl?