Most Selfless Top Wrestler Ever

[Tastycles]

No matter who it is, when they wrestled or where they came from, almost every major star in the history of wrestling has been accused of holding people back. This has manifested itself in all manner of ways, from guys like Verne Gagne putting the title on himself repeatedly to people like Shawn Michaels refusing to job to certain people.

In an endeavour like wrestling where payment is linked to exposure, this isn't surprising, and far too often in the IWC we focus on the negative too much, so here I want to salute the positives and ask, which of wrestling's tradtional big names (I'm talking proper megastars, not just main eventers) is the most selfless?

For me, the answer isn't in the distant past, but in the present, and John Cena. Where the big stars of the past would only put their buddies over, or only lose to people who have "paid their dues", whatever that means, Cena has been beaten by people new to the business like Sheamus, or people that lose to everyone else, like JBL.

In some of his biggest matches on some of the biggest stages, Cena has taken the defeat, when he really didn't need to, such as his defeat to Batista in 2008. Seriously, could you imagine Hogan losing clean to Savage in that fashion in the 80s or Austin losing to Foley in the same manner 10 years later? It would never happen. These days, we get a lot more leaked news, and while it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, you never hear of anyone being kept down or ideas being nixed by Cena in the same way you do The Undertaker or even Randy Orton. Compared to guys like Austin and Hogan, the man has done so much more to let the rest of the roster look good, so I believe he is the most selfless number one guy in wrestling history.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Cena was my answer as well. I'm sure a couple thousand people will come in here and bitch about how he never loses, so you have that to look forward to.

Just to give some variety, I'm going to mention Bret Hart here. He was a legit top guy from around 93-96 and he put over a fair share of people, from Shawn Michaels, Yoko, Diesel, Austin, etc. He's had a hand in making some pretty big stars and has been a stand up guy throughout it all. The only real knock on him would be the whole fiasco with Shawn. There seemed to be an issue with him not wanting to drop the title to Shawn in Canada, so I'd have to say that's pretty selfish. But even then, according to him he was still willing to drop the belt to Ken Shamrock.

Cena still tops it for me, but Hart is a worthy of a mention as well.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I think the Most Selfless Top Wrestler Ever is Chris Jericho. He put a bunch of young guys, some of whom were huger losers, over last year. To name most of them:

Kofi Kingston
Heath Slater
R-Truth (Not young but new)
John Morrison
Evan Bourne
Wade Barrett
Sheamus
Justin Gabriel (I think?)

Chris Jericho lost FAIRLY to those guys, and that's saying a lot, seeing how he's a legend. I'm not sure if Chris Jericho counts a top star, but he's definitely a big veteran.

And I agree with you, John Cena knows how to put people over and make them stars also.

 

[Stevepwwe]

I would go with Chris Jericho. He has done it all and he knows it, especially at this point in his career, so he isn't worried about helping others get to the next level. Jericho has taken losses when he needed to in order to build new talent. He even gave Evan Bourne a few very good clean victories towards the end of his most recent run, even though nothing really came out of that brief push.

 

[multiverseman.com]

Flair. This dude made jobbers famous. Even when he won, he made dudes look like they actually won and he lost.

People mix up being willing to job, to be stupid. Sometimes, as a top guy, you should refuse an obvious bad job.

 

[Avrusha92]

I would have to say John Cena, lets take a look at the men he has made pretty successful or put over in a way:

- Wade Barrett
- The Miz
- Nexus (The Originals)
- Edge (yes, Edge became the man who he is ever since he cashed in his MITB Briefcase on Cena)
- Sheamus
& many more...

Another superstar would be Jericho as many have said he put guys over such as:
- R-Truth
- John Morrison
- Big Show (Yes, he was shit and had nothing going till he teamed with Jericho and it kind of saved him from getting lost in the shuffle)
- Kofi Kingston
- Shelton Benjamin
- Evan Bourne (?)

So Cena & Jericho are my choice of selfless Top Wrestlers of all time.

 

[Jay Sherman]

How anyone can forget Mick Foley on this list is beyond me. In my opinion he hands down made Randy Orton. He put over HHH in a big bad way even though he didn't need it. He legitimized Edges main event status. I am to to lazy to give a twelve paragraph response as to why but the man has put so many people over and made them look so good to. Foley is my vote. There is no doubt for a Cena claim though he is the best as far as active competitors go.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

It is most definitely not Cena. He's put some people over, but never fairly and he always comes back and beats them clean multiple times. The answer without a doubt is Chris Jericho. Jericho has put over everyone from a debuting John Cena all the way down to JTG. Jericho not only doesn't win the rematch, but he puts the guy over yet again.

The answer, hands down and inarguably is Chris Jericho

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

How come Kane hasn't been mentioned?

The man has put over so many people when he jobbed for such a long time. He had incredible momentum upon his debut and then fizzled into obscurity but still has remained a top guy for years getting sporadic title shots and not having the title for so many years. Finally, when he does get the title, he has a lackluster title reign despite it being about 6 months. His role is always changing and he can be a jobber one minute making future stars believable and then in a dominant monster role destroying everyone. He's also been apart of some of the best and worst storylines in the company over the last 10-15 years. When I think selfless, I definitely think Kane.

 

[#hamler]

Mick Foley has to be one of the top guys who I would consider very selfless. As I try to remember just who Mick Foley has put over, I realize Mick Foley rarely wins a big match. His feuds with The Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Edge and Randy Orton, every feud he takes place in, always puts the right guy over. Mick Foley was always able to make his opponent look good and he often did whatever it took, to do so. He got put through Flaming tables, thrown off and through Hell in a Cells, and took the most vicious chair shots I've ever saw a man take, he took some big bumps during his time. Mick Foley wasn't out to win 13 World Championships or to be the absolute best, Mick was out to put over some younger talent and I would consider him to be one of the most selfless men in wrestling.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Ever... I'd have to say it would be Foley... he didn't just put people over, he GOT them over... by sacrificing his body as well as a loss... Would The Rock have been the success without those crazed chairshots? Would Edge or Orton have gotten over without Foley letting them beat him half senseless... Even Triple H owes Mick for the feud that finally solidified him as a main eventer...

Jericho is number 2 for sure and Big Show 3... there's a guy who could legit stop anyone doing anything he doesn't want them to... yet ALWAYS seems to lose... especially at WM...

Cena has done a fair bit in more recent times, but no out of selflessness, more out of necessity... These other 3 have done most of their "selfless" acts in the days before the brand split, where there was only one top slot on offer... Cena always knows he has a 50/50 on a title...

 

[Code_Master]

My choise would easily be kane common the guys is a legend a future hall of famer and the guys after almost 20 years in the E just got his first decent run with a world title.

Kane lost countless time to guys like
-the great Khali
-chris benoit
-dolph ziggler
-edge (pre rated-R)
-batista (before WM 21)
-randy orton
-rey mysterio
for crying out loud he even dropped the tag titles to a bunch of male cheer leaders if that is not selfless well i dont know what is

(honorable mentions: Jericho )

 

[wrestler36]

Although always dominant, Taker is pretty selfless. A few years ago, Kozlov pinned him clean on Smackdown when he was still undefeated. He tried his hardest to put Khali over, he made a green Maven look like a million bucks, gave a pretty good rub to Jeff Hardy in the early 00s. Heck, I think he even tapped to Angle at one point.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

Cena was my answer as well. I'm sure a couple thousand people will come in here and bitch about how he never loses, so you have that to look forward to.

Just to give some variety, I'm going to mention Bret Hart here. He was a legit top guy from around 93-96 and he put over a fair share of people, from Shawn Michaels, Yoko, Diesel, Austin, etc. He's had a hand in making some pretty big stars and has been a stand up guy throughout it all. The only real knock on him would be the whole fiasco with Shawn. There seemed to be an issue with him not wanting to drop the title to Shawn in Canada, so I'd have to say that's pretty selfish. But even then, according to him he was still willing to drop the belt to Ken Shamrock.

Cena still tops it for me, but Hart is a worthy of a mention as well.

In fairness to bret he didn't want to drop to shawn because shawn was a straight up ******** And he was worried it would do more to kill his own character than to boost up shawns... it wasn't like he was just refusing to job in order to keep an up and coming superstar away from his own top spot like what happened in WCW with flair and nash and them. I'd say Bret deserves to be on this list as much as Cena. Jericho and Foley not as much, they were never in that position to at the top to be able to hold people back, plus their characters had to job at certain points in order to be what they were.

 

[L P]

The Undertaker was always willing to give up the title and not dominate the show all the time. (Unlike that diva HHH or Hulk Hogan.)

The truly great ones always knew how to lose a match with style. Flair was a great example of that.

 

[X]

Some of the answers in this thread are baffling. John Cena? Who the fuck has John Cena ever put over that wasn't already a main eventer? Batista, Orton, Triple H, Big Show...yeah he puts over alot of people, but they're all main eventers. Not exactly asking him to job clean to Zack Ryder, are they? I mean, he's definitely a selfless guy who's certainly willing to do the clean job more often than not to get another guy over, but the most selfless EVER? He'd have to have actually, y'know, put people over in a meaningful way. Yeah, he's jobbed clean to most of the main eventers, but when has it ever meant anything? When has his one loss ever gotten another dude over in the process? I can't recall it ever happening.

To me it's got to be The Rock. While Triple H and the Undertaker were politicking their asses off to never lose clean, he was happily jobbing clean to any and everyone who was asked of him. I still remember an episode of RAW in the fall of 2001 where he jobbed cleanly to fucking Test. Seriously, to TEST. Then of course there's the main event of Summerslam 2002, where he single handedly made Brock Lesnar legitimate in one match. This is the same Lesnar that Austin refused to job to months back on RAW (and quit over it), and the same Lesnar that the Undertaker refused to lose to the next month at Unforgiven, and basically held the main event hostage until he got his way and the proposed ending was scrapped to a lame DQ finish. He finally did the job a month later, thankfully, but while Rock's peers were refusing to put this kid over, he went in there like a pro, lost clean, and made Lesnar a star in one night. That's selfless right there. Then when Goldberg pops up in 2003, who puts him over the moment he gets there? The Rock. Meanwhile Triple H does everything in his power to avoid dropping the title to Goldberg, resulting in that sham of a finish to the Summerslam 2003 main event before FINALLY dropping the title to him on the meaningless September PPV a month later. Even in Rock's last WWE match (until next year), he lost clean with Foley to Evolution. He knew that was likely his last match and he had no problem doing the job. When I think of a selfless guy who was ALWAYS willing to do the job, I think of The Rock.

 

[ltrav1984]

i think big show is worth a shout how someone his size lost so often is beyond me it just didnt look rite a lot of the time

 

[luxferre]

Ya beat me Xfear....but yeah, The Rock.
Gave Kurt Angle his first world title win, gave Chris Jericho his first title win and Brock Lesnar...shit, he even lost to The Hurricane!

 

[JJ15776]

John Cena is the clear answer here, but for some variety I'll give another no brainer that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Shawn Michaels.

I know there are a lot of HBK haters, especially in the I(idiot)WC, but it's the truth. I'm talking about what he's done since his return from his back injury. All he's done is put guys over. He single handedly made Chris Jericho a main eventer. He, along with Triple H, made Chris Benoit a main eventer and a World Champion. He made Kurt Angle. He put over the SPIRIT SQUAD, ffs. He made John Cena a legitimate champion. He made Randy Orton a main eventer, twice. He put over Batista. He put over Jericho, again.

The guy was in the main event for 8 years and held the World title for a grand total of 28 days. That's about as unselfish as you can get.

 

[Terror316]

My choice would have been The Rock. I always ask, was a Top guy in a company pinned more than him? He once lost to Al Snow, sure it wasn't clean but the fact is, he did what was needed for the company. He's also lost to an array of people to elevate them or continue a story as needed.

Kane deserves mention. He was never about the title and never heard any drama about him. Big Show, Jericho and Undertaker have all been mentioned. There's others, that at this moment elude me.

 

[Iversen]

Jericho, the guy most have lost to more lower carders in the last few years of his career than anyone. Sure they don't all get over but for even just that one match they tend to look golden in the ring with Jericho.

I do agree with Cena as well and Foley. Honorable mentions for people like Kane, Chavo, Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and I'm sure theres a fair few more I can't think of at the moment.

 

[Cookie14]

The first name I thought of when I saw this thread was Undertaker, because he has had so many fueds that have brought people into main event status. However, none of them (apart from Kane) have stayed around for any real period of time.
What happened to Giant Gonzales?
Or Kamala?
Or Maven?
Or Kama Mustafa?
Or DDP (after the wCw invasion)?
Or Heidenreich?
Or Muhammed Hassan?
Dare I say it, even Brock Lesnar.

The problem is that Undertaker is too big to lose a fued, as his character has to appear unbeatable. He can make people look good, but not put them over. Also, when you have fueded with Taker, who else can you fued with that carries anywhere near his reputation?

That being said, my choice goes to a part-time wrestler, hopefully you have heard of him, he goes by the name of.......... Vince McMahon (I'm talking about his on-screen character, ignoring the fact that he's the boss).

Think about it, Austin would never have been as big had it not been for his fued with Vince. Neither would HHH. Don't forget this all started with the Montreal Screw Job, making Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart possibly the biggest names in wrestling in the mid 90's.

Vince might not have created the biggest NUMBER of stars, but he has created the BIGGEST stars.

Also, has anyone ever been more willing to go as far as Vince to help get someone over? From wetting himself, to ketting people to kiss his ass, there is nothing Vince won't do to help someone get a reaction from the fans.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I would have to say Mick Foley, Foley is a class act he did not mind losing he made the other guys look better plus he put his body on the line for mostly all of his matches any one remember the match on WCW Saturday Night when Vader Power bombed Cactus Jack on the concrete and Mick Foley legit lost his memory for a short time.

 

[Da Truth]

Two people come to mind in this subject.
1) Chris Jericho-Sometimes I would pull my hair out about the people he'd job to in matches. He's jobbed to big stars and mid carders alike, but he's so great in the ring it doesn't take anything from him. He proves that wins and loses means nothing if your truly talented at what you do as a wrester.
2) The Rock-I know many of you are rolling your eyes, but the Rock is the reason why some people in this industry became more famous than what they were. There wouldn't be Chris Jericho as we know him today if the Rock hadn't put him over. Then the countless times he's put over Triple H and Stone Cold. Mick Foley wasn't haven't reached the next level without the Rock, but it goes much farther than that. The Rock has worked programs with guys who weren't going anywhere to help get them over such as Billy Gunn. No major star would really give the Hurricane a full program but the Rock constitently did even allowing him to get the last verbal jab in a couple times.
These are my two one for in ring work and the other for storyline work.

 

[Ding_Dong_#2]

Surprised no-one has mentioned Rick Steamboat yet.

One thing Rick had over his compatriots is that he has no ego and truly loves to wrestle, hence he never cared about putting people over (The Honky Tonk Man for the IC title is a great example) and he always wrestled every match with the same amount of astonishing intensity and athleticism. Without doubt, he would be my pick for the most selfless wrestler of all time.

Kudos to people mentioning Flair and Foley; Flair wouldn't put just anyone over though, despite elevating stars. Cena is a fair point also; I can't stand the guy but he always does what is asked of him and what is best for the business without complaint and he has my respect for that.