Most Underappreciated Technical Wrestler of All time

[rockofhysteria]

This new thread is to see who everyone thinks is the most underappreciated Technical wrestler of all time and just in case anyone doesnt quite know what a technical wrestler is here is my definition a wrestler who relies more on holds than punches who can beat a opponent any number of ways like Suplexes or submissions and who can really mat wrestle most wrestlers who have these skills come from a amateur backround and remember to post a reason why you like who you vote for.


My vote is for a man who most people probably doesn't know of unless you watched AWA in the 80's or have seen the re runs on ESPN Classic I vote for Brad Reinghans this man to me is really amazing he comes from a big amateur backround where he won a lot of titles and even helped Coach the 84 olympic team which won a lot of medals including I believe two gold and when he was in the ring he had nothing flashy about him but he also made no bones about his skill either he would put his opponents in so many holds they probably became confused. He reminds me of Kurt Angle and yet when most of the fans discuss the greatest Technical wrestlers of all time they always say the usual names Angle Benoit Malenko Jericho Hart and Martel but I never hear anyone Mention Reinghans I think if he had debuted in the late 90's like Angle he would be mentioned with those big names but since he wrestled with AWA while they were dying he gets forgotten.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Awesome thread. Awesome idea.

My first place vote goes to William Regal. Too many people have forgotten what a fantastic, complete technical wrestler he was in WCW in the early and mid 90's. I watched him defend his TV Title by picking apart bigger, stronger men such as Davey Boy Smith with European Uppercuts, drop toe holds and leg grapevines, even surfboards. He was as technically sound as anybody I've ever seen, and for a while partially carried the WCW midcard.

I will nominate some more in the future - I will have a lot to say about this topic.

 

[KoolKade]

Before he hooked up with the Horsemen, Dean Malenko was one of the top 5 technical wrestlers I have ever seen. The man had moves and 1,000 holds on top of that. When he went to the Horsemen, we didn't see much of that from him.

And, rockofhysteria, you're right, Brad Reinghans was a great technical wrestler. He really did fit for the AWA and it's style at the time.

 

[bambam]

I never thought Owen Hart got enough credit. Yeah alot of people say he was a good technaicl wrestler, but he was great. He could take a horrible opponent, and just go to work, to make a match look great. When he was teaming with Davey boy, He was the one carring the match with sould technical wrestling. I guess it helps coming from the dungeon.

Dean Malenko is a givin. He put on great matchs in ECW and WCW. I remember in ECW his matches with Eddie Guerrero. They were great technical bouts. Him and Eddie worked so well together, they made eachothe look great in the ring.

Awesome thread. Awesome idea.

My first place vote goes to William Regal. Too many people have forgotten what a fantastic, complete technical wrestler he was in WCW in the early and mid 90's. I watched him defend his TV Title by picking apart bigger, stronger men such as Davey Boy Smith with European Uppercuts, drop toe holds and leg grapevines, even surfboards. He was as technically sound as anybody I've ever seen, and for a while partially carried the WCW midcard.

I will nominate some more in the future - I will have a lot to say about this topic.

Agree. IC25 again you grace us with your knowledge. Regal in WCW would put on great technial matchs. What him and Ultamo Dragon did together in the ring was great technical wrestling, with high flying spots from UD.

 

[KoolKade]

Owen Hart was better as the Blue Blazer to me because he had more technical moves and was very agile. He was awesome. When the mask and outfit came off, we didn't see that ability from him, just a wrestler who whined and cried like his big brother.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Tito Santana. Whether he was one half of Strike Force (with Rick Martel - another great technical wrestler) or "El Matador," Tito made up for a bit of a lack in size with tremendous holds and technical ability. I remember he and Shawn Michaels jerking the curtain at Wrestlemania 8, and some of the maneuvers he made with a headlock in that match. A technical high flyer.

Mike Rotunda. Either as a part of the Varsity Club or as Michael Wall Street / IRS, his technical skills often mirrored his haughty demeanor. He and Ted DiBiase were among the most technically sound teams in wrestling history, and considering they carried a program with The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) for several months, it showed Rotunda's ability to use his technical skills to match up with larger guys.

Scott Hall. Because he was a big brawler type, people often overlook Scott as a technical wrestler. But this is the guy who brought the abdominal stretch back in vogue and also defeated Bob Backlund at a Wrestlemania with an inside cradle. This guy is close to a "total package" with his size and skill.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

IC...that match with Razor and Backland at WM was utterly laborious....

Id have to agree with Dean Malenko. Though its hard to say, as basically anyone could see the man had immense technical skill, but he never had a real huge major run in either WCW or WWE. When I say not a major run, is im saying your average wrestling fan today would have utterly no idea who Dean Malenko is. Too bad he wasnt willing to roid it up, he probably wouldve gotten pushed harder.

And ill go with the OTHER half of strike force, Rick Martel. The guy was absolutely amazing technician. Never botched, and everything was always DAMN crisp. People remeber him for his persona, but pund for pound in ring work, not too many can match with that guy honestly.

 

[Father:_Polley]

i'm going to second william regal, purely on merit of his WWE runs. he was a remarkable technical guy when he was allowed to be, but wwe sort of pushed him as a cheating brawler, rather than the gifted wrestler he was. the commentators always mentioned his background, but i dont think they really allowed him to show what he was truely capable of. the same goes with finlay, who can outwrestle the majority of the roster when he puts his mind to it, but is billed as a brawler.

 

[B173B]

If I were to pick someone from todays era it would obviously Shelton Benjamin. I seriously he is the best wrestler in WWE today and one of if not the best Technical and Professional wrestlers on the planet. We should be callin him A former multi-time World champion by now.

For the past eras I would say Mr. Perfect. Now I know he was A contender for the WWE championship for years, was a 2-time Intercontinental champion and in the AWA, he was A world champ and held the title for 1 week short of a full year. But, in the WWE he should've been Champ over Hogan and Warrior. The faces were almost always champs back then. Hogan 4 years, Andre 45minutes, Savage 1 year, Hogan 1 year, Warrior 9 months. Andre The Giant, the only heel of the bunch was 45 minutes. Mr. Perfect and Ted Dibiase should've each gotten at least one reign each at the title. They're 2 of the best wrestlers of all-time and I think the 2 of the 3 best at that time (along with Ric Flair.) Mr. Perfect was the best heel (along with Dibiase) at the time and he could've really carried that title and run through Hogan, Warrior, Savage, Roberts to gain even more heat. All WWE had to do was give him the belt, he was already over and who wouldn't pay to see Mr. Perfect vs. Savage or Hogan or Roberts or even Warrior since they were all such over as faces.

 

[jmt225]

Well, to be different, I'm going to go with Brad Armstrong. Dude is so underrated. He just lacked charisma and I believe that is the only reason why he never got a good push. But nevertheless, when given the chance to wrestle, he put on a great match every time. I saw him face Dean Malenko at Slamboree 1996 in person and it was the best undercard match that night, in my opinion. I also saw him wrestle in 2006 at one of WWE's ECW house shows, and he put on a good match there as well. I couldn't believe how much the crowd was behind him too, especially considering he was facing a no name.

But anyway, I haven't seen that many matches out of Armstrong, maybe between 10-20 all together, but he delivered every single time. Whether it was against Ted DiBiase in the eighties, or against some jobber in 2006, dude always put on a good, pure wrestling contest whenever he stepped foot in that ring. It's truly a shame we never got to see more of him, especially against guys like Benoit, Jericho, Eddie, Saturn, Ultimo Dragon, ect. in WCW's mid-card division back in the mid-nineties.

 

[Evan Snow-Wolf]

I'm going with Chris Benoit. He was unbelievably amazing as a ring technician. He got more respect than Malenko, or some of the others posted previous, so why do I think he's the most under-rated?

Cause his days of praise are over. Me and the 5 other guys that still respect his in-ring work hail him, and everyone else is going to pretend he never existed, and nothing he accomplished in his career ever mattered. And if you don't know why, then you've been living in a cave in Tierra Del Fuego for the last 2 years. Today, chances are a newbie technician that debuts next Monday on RAW will get more respect than you'll probably ever hear again for Benoit.

 

[majestic-marcus]

As much as I agree Benoit's accomplishments are being forgotten or glossed over, he isn't the most underappreciated technical wrestler of all time as he did have a long period of appreciation.

My picks are gonna have to be Charlie Haas and Jamie Noble, these two men are both extremely gifted technical wrestlers which get very little recognition of their talents (although Jamie is the man who has been teaching the veterans their new submissions moves, eg inverted fig.4 & Haas was given the whole mask gimmick as WWE wanted a technically sound wrestler, I guess thats appreciative).

Shelton Benjamin is also a true talent but while he doesn't get many titles, his skills are appreciated and are what the commentators are almost always mentioning during his matches.

Also, their is at least one phenomenol technical wrestler who is about to make his way up into the main roster from FCW, Colt Cabana. If WWE decide to use his Matt Classic gimmick, you will see a truely gifted (and hilarious) character.

 

[dave_theanimal_batista]

I would have to also say William Regal. I love watching his matches he comes up with stuff that makes you say wow there still are people who can go back to the basics of wrestling and make it work. If you havent seen his match against Chris Benoit on the Benoit DVD I would suggest you find it. It is one of the best technical matches I have ever seen.

 

[theneil450]

I'm gonna vote for a pre-buff bagwell. When he was marcus alexander bagwell winning tag team gold constanlty. I'm not gonna say he was the MOST underappreciated but he was underappreciated. Yes he had some great partners and yes buff bagwell kinda sucked, but he stayed doing some great work early in his wcw run.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

My picks are gonna have to be Charlie Haas and Jamie Noble, these two men are both extremely gifted technical wrestlers which get very little recognition of their talents (although Jamie is the man who has been teaching the veterans their new submissions moves, eg inverted fig.4 & Haas was given the whole mask gimmick as WWE wanted a technically sound wrestler, I guess thats appreciative).

Shelton Benjamin is also a true talent but while he doesn't get many titles, his skills are appreciated and are what the commentators are almost always mentioning during his matches.

Hey man, great picks right here. As a former collegiate wrestler myself, I marked out HUGE for "Team Angle" with Haas and Benjamin. Also, Haas is a graduate and varsity wrestling standout from Seton Hall University right here in Northern New Jersey. Shelton of course for obvious reasons.

But since we are talking underrated, I have to also vote for Brock Lesnar. Don't forget, the man was a BEAST of a college wrestler in one of the nation's top programs. If he didn't chase the WWE cash right away, he probably could have done the Olympics himself. We see this huge, hulking figure and we may not think "technical ability," but that's because he did the high impact stuff so well that his technical and mat skills got lost in the shuffle. Look only as far as his matches with Angle to prove that one.

 

[Mr. TM]

My vote would be Mr. Perfect. He was incredible in the ring. Looking back at his hall of fame induction I think back to the fact he never did get to accomplish what he could have. In AWA he became the Heavyweight Champion for over a year. When he went to WWF he was amazing and undefeated until he was witheld from the WWE title. Though never accomplishing the peak of the WWE, he did have a good reign as the IC Championship. I think with his talent, and his character he would have made a great Champion in either the mid 90s, or the later attitude eras of the WWE.

 

[coyne7593]

Two words. Al Snow. he has been a great trainer...with tough enough....with OVW (formely).....the reason a lot of people dont give him the credit he deserves is because had the gimmick with ''head''' and pepper....another example of somebodys gimmick taking away from their in ring performance is perry saturn....and obviously in my opinion the best in ring technician has got to be dean malenko