The Dragon Saga
Whale in a Teardrop
WCW - Ric Flair: "The Nature Boy" may have been taken from Buddy Rogers, but Ric Flair took it by the balls and made it something special. This is in-terms of WCW so I won't go into his NWA stuff with Jim Crockett, but I'll never forget the promo Ric cut when he returned in '98, directed at Eric Bischoff. "You're a liar!! A cheat!! You are, a no good, son of a bitch!!!" Also, you have to love how even though much of his WCW run was spent being embarrassed or sitting at home, he still has a handful of classics from his WCW tenure, my favorites being with Steamboat.
WWE - Bret Hart: I grew up worshipping Bret "The Hitman" Hart. It was everything, he had the bright pink color, he was entertaining to watch in the ring, he was the guy who'd the different monickers like "The Excellence of Execution," "The Best There Is, Best There Was and the Best There Ever Will Be", the guy was just a figure I looked up to. Even when he turned heel I supported him, probably more than I supported him as a face. I'll never forget Bret vs. Owen in the Steel Cage or the I Quit match with Austin at WrestleMania 13.
TNA - Samoa Joe: When I first saw Joe he was in Ring of Honor, they built him up as an unstoppable machine, who could take as much punishment as his opponent could dish out but would not lose. The day I heard he signed with TNA was the day I made sure to watch the Slammiversary - the reaction he got was actually amazing. He is proof that people can walk off the indy circuit with a name and make it big with one of the bigger companies. Sure they've used him poorly and sure even at times, he has sucked. But between his matches with AJ and Daniels, his feud with Kurt Angle and taking into consideration his run in ROH, Samoa Joe is my favorite worker within TNA.
ECW - Taz: I started watching ECW in the late 90's, we go it over here on Bravo when it originally began to air. Since then I've watched all the ECW DVD's and have seen so many of their old library of PPV's that I can easily say, to me, the biggest guy in the company was Taz! He wasn't built as a wrestler, he was built more like someone in an MMA exhibition, the stance, the intimindation - Taz was the fucking deal back in the day! Him suplexing Bam Bam, when you compare the size of both men is actually a pretty big feat. His war with Sabu doesn't get the credit it deserves, they built it for a year without both men being in the ring with one another; it doesn't sound like it can be done, but Heyman did it. I love Dreamer and he'd been my second choice, and if I thought WWECW deserved a mention I'd have listed CM Punk but it doesn't. Full credit goes to "The Human Suplex Machine" Taz.
WWE - Bret Hart: I grew up worshipping Bret "The Hitman" Hart. It was everything, he had the bright pink color, he was entertaining to watch in the ring, he was the guy who'd the different monickers like "The Excellence of Execution," "The Best There Is, Best There Was and the Best There Ever Will Be", the guy was just a figure I looked up to. Even when he turned heel I supported him, probably more than I supported him as a face. I'll never forget Bret vs. Owen in the Steel Cage or the I Quit match with Austin at WrestleMania 13.
TNA - Samoa Joe: When I first saw Joe he was in Ring of Honor, they built him up as an unstoppable machine, who could take as much punishment as his opponent could dish out but would not lose. The day I heard he signed with TNA was the day I made sure to watch the Slammiversary - the reaction he got was actually amazing. He is proof that people can walk off the indy circuit with a name and make it big with one of the bigger companies. Sure they've used him poorly and sure even at times, he has sucked. But between his matches with AJ and Daniels, his feud with Kurt Angle and taking into consideration his run in ROH, Samoa Joe is my favorite worker within TNA.
ECW - Taz: I started watching ECW in the late 90's, we go it over here on Bravo when it originally began to air. Since then I've watched all the ECW DVD's and have seen so many of their old library of PPV's that I can easily say, to me, the biggest guy in the company was Taz! He wasn't built as a wrestler, he was built more like someone in an MMA exhibition, the stance, the intimindation - Taz was the fucking deal back in the day! Him suplexing Bam Bam, when you compare the size of both men is actually a pretty big feat. His war with Sabu doesn't get the credit it deserves, they built it for a year without both men being in the ring with one another; it doesn't sound like it can be done, but Heyman did it. I love Dreamer and he'd been my second choice, and if I thought WWECW deserved a mention I'd have listed CM Punk but it doesn't. Full credit goes to "The Human Suplex Machine" Taz.