The Greatest Old School Wrestler of All Time

[Lou134K]

for me it has to be the rock, there will never be another who could work the microphone like that and not even close will anyone come cos he was a one in a million superstar but he ruined it all by sellin out!!

 

[Yarrie]

Well while I dont think HBK is really old school, he gets my vote for everything, everytime.Old school greatest wrestlers on ability would be Randy Savage and The Hitaman. But going for gimmick and persona, growing up my hero and favorite wrestler (god I am going to be hammered for this) was The Ultimate Warrior. He was a legend!!!

 

[patriotjay]

thats a damn near impossible question to me there are different types of great..great workers great ticket sellers great promo cutters and they arent always rolled up in one..but 2 outta 3 aint bad and Hogan cut a good promo for his time and sold more shit from tickets to t-shirts to toys then anyone else..so I think you gotta go with Hogan..Flair was a way better wrestler and cut a better promo but couldnt put buts in seats like hogan,and i have tons of respect for guys like Sanmartino and Thesz but in all honesty watch a match pre 1984 with a few exceptions and prepare to be put to sleep by 10 minute side headlocks and air plane spins.the golden age of wrestling was the 80s and Hogan was the king...Hogan is the greatest of all time..I guess

 

[TheMizardofOzsome]

Ric Flair- He is still in the minds of everybody, although it was kind of rubbing dirt on the resume of his legacy after joining TNA, he was and is an entertaining wrestler and can still have good matches every once in a while even in his 60's. Stone cold may have been more of a figure but he wrestled for a span of 10 years, flair has wrestled in the 30's to 40's alot of us were born after he debutted.

 

[sting rules]

i will agree with checkmate916 that all the guys he mentioned are great and always will be but i would have to say one of the greatest old school wrestlers was magnum T.A.

 

[CyDeez]

It is a pretty good question... Old school to me is like the 50s to the 80s... Though the 90s are now moving into the old school as well... The early 90s still for sure had that 80s feel to it still...

I was born in 1980 and started watching in 83... At first I was waaaaaay into Hogan LOL... But I always liked Randy Savage even when he was Heel... I thought the biggest match ever at the time was WM 5...

But as time went on I must admit I liked The Ultimate Warrior... That was a short phase LOL...

The Monday Night Wars left me with no real favorite because everything was going crazy and it was just all entertaining, whats gonna happen next kind of shit...

In all that madness I believe the greatest wrestler of all time was formed... The Rock...

Untouchable on the mic and gets no credit for how smooth and flawless he was in the ring... Huge sig moves and an out of nowhere exciting type finisher... AND The Most Electrifying Move In The History Of Sports Entertainment...

I vote for The Rock as my favorite "Old School" wrestler! AND as The Greatest Of All Time!!

 

[cbreezy]

the dynamite kid would have to be argued as one of the best old school wrestlers. the guy had it all. a great look, a great body, he could talk, great high flyer, great technician, and he was a great all around wrestler. he was succesful as a singles competitor and everyone knows how good he was as part of the bulldogs. davey boy was good in their matches but if you watch them, dynamite did most of the work. there was nothing tht dynamite lacked

 

[Hitman80]

the BEST there is, the BEST there was and the BEST there ever will be..... Bret "The Hitman" Hart!

Simple put for me Bret was by far and away the best story teller in the ring, he had amazing technical ability and more importantly his matches were realistic... Even little things like running into the turnbuckle chest first made sense, I mean why would you turn to your back?

Bret won everything and was the first to do the triple crown two times over if memory serves me correctly within th WWF.

A legend in the business and despite having a succession of awkward opponents such as Sid, Diesel, Yokozuna, etc he had good matches with all of them and many during that era would probably tell you their best match was against Bret Hart.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

For me it's Shawn Michaels. He had the total package, The look (despite not being a big guy which usually hurts most small wrestlers), great charisma & great in ring ability. No wrestler past or present has entertained me like HBK. Hell what wrestler do you know of can come back from what was supposed to be a carreer ending back injury after 4yrs step into the ring and wrestle as if he'd never stepped away from it? So hands down for me its The Heartbreak Kid.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

The Great Muta, he was mysterious and creepy... still is I would say, he could move like a whiplash, dragonscrew anyone? his music and attire fit him perfectly, he never had to say a word, and I still consider him biting the ropes one of the most disturbing and awesome things EVER, always carried two packets to spew which I still find amazing, on top of that he's still going strong, albeit with a lil less hair, so yeah other people... hogan (obvious reasons) savage steamboat flair sting... the list goes on and on

 

[Natureboy Dusty Savage]

Flair & Savage...

Ric gets the nod for that insane schedule he kept up early in his career. I still think some people underestimate what a hell of a worker he was.

 

[Jerseyboy]

My vote is Shawn Michaels. IMO i can't think of one person who can out perform him or top what he has done.. he puts on a great show & will really entertain you. He's be doing that since the 80's & even his 5 year absence it didn't slow him down a bit, & not a lot of wrestlers can come back & do that. He's a true legend in my eyes & will always be at the top.

 

[SweetChinStunner94]

It was a toss up between Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels for me but in the end I'd have to say Ric Flair. His charisma just poured out of my TV and you could tell that he really worked his butt off to entertain the fans.
Also, he was World Champion 16 times... Just sayin.

 

[tarun_1710]

Hello this is Tarun Singh working in accounting department. You are looking cool in the pics. I like your posts keep posting stuff like this... Please join me...

 

[nop1980]

greatest wrestler:bret hart greatest tag team:arn anderson and tully blanchard did the most for wrestling:hulk hogan

 

[blkscrpn5]

Although i am a big fan of Sting and Ric Flair and they are high on my list, I would have to say Terry Funk. This guy has been in the wrestling business for over 40 years. When ever he has wrestled he has always tried to please the crowd. He is a former NWA champion as well as in Japan. He reinvented himself in ECW to whole new generation of fans. He is great on the microphone, especially as a heel. His feud with Ric Flair in'89 was brutal.

 

[The Pizzaman]

Wow something i can get my teeth into. Who is the best Wrester of all time. As to who my favourite wrestler is well i can tell you who its not!!!!! its not Rick Martel, Ted Diabiase or Jake the Snake Roberts. I can only go back as far as Wrestlemania 1 as before that Im vague. MMMMM a hard one and i have a few choices.

1) Ric Flair. love him or hate him, he has done it all. He has 16 world championships in his 35plus year career. he has been in one of the biggest groups in wrestling history. The 4 Horsemen and has also excelled in singles competition also. I think he is still great and am glad he is still in the business

2) Hulk hogan. Well he is the reason that wrestling is known throughout the world and is one of the most famous names in the industry today and by far the biggest asset to the business. Hulkamania has the biggest following of fans ever and even though his matches could be predictable, no one can argue that he gave his all and made this business a world wide following. I love the fact that he is still connected with the business and the fact he hates Ric flair for real and that they are currently in the same promotion makes the chance of the ultimate showdown so much more likely.

3) Randy Savage. well what can i say? he had so much much wrestling ability and could go toe to toe with the best of them. he had showmanship and by far was the most colourful and hyperactive wrestler ever to set foot in a ring.

4) Vince Mcmahon. The evil genius. the man who took wrestling to the hemisphere and back again making WWF/WWE the biggest wrestling company in the world.

5) Stu Hart. I'm not sure what his wrestling was like as I've never seen him wrestle but he is on my list for the fact that the amount of superstars who have trained in the Hart Dungeon and were amazing and hugely successful. he trained 53 wrestlers including his sons, Bret and Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, Davey boy smith, Bad News Brown, Superstar Billy Graham to name a few. As I said, I have only been watching since Wrestlemania 1 but have been soaking up wrestling history ever since. I could go on but don't want to make you all go to sleep. to finish, its so hard to tie one name down as there are so many names that i would class as my favourite.

 

[CheneFan]

Old School? Leaping Larry Chene.
# NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight title defeating Billy Raborn (August ??, 1954);
# NWA Texas Tag Team titles w/Raul Zapata defeating Pierre LaSalle & Maurice Vachon (May 10, 1955);
# Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight title defeating ????????? (February ??, 1956);
# NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles w/Herb Freeman defeating Jack O` Reilly & Kurt Von Poppenheim (May 7, 1956);
# (Illinois) Midwest Heavyweight title defeating Sheik of Araby (August 8, 1957);
# NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight title defeating ???????? (March ??, 1958);
# NWA Texas Tag Team titles w/Pepper Gomez defeating Rip Rogers (aka Eddie Graham) & Johnny Valentine (May 23, 1958);
# NWA Southwest Tag Team titles w/Sonny Myers defeating Danny Pleachas & Art Neilson (November 6, 1958);
# Wolverine Wrestling Michigan Heavyweight title defeating Jim Bernard (January 1, 1962);
# Wolverine Wrestling Michigan Heavyweight title defeating Jim Bernard (October 18, 1963);

# "Leaping" Larry Shain was the master of the flying head scissors in the 1960's..
# October 1, 1964: Larry Hennig defeated Larry Chene in Moline, Illinois at the Wharton Fieldhouse..
# ~~~NOTE: This was Larry Chene's final match before his car collided with a telephone pole on the way home.
# October 2, 1964: Larry Chene (aged 40) was killed in an automobile accident near Ottawa, Illinois...

 

[manstis1804]

MORE CHAIN WRESTLING!

Pro wrestling used to be so much more skill and leverage based, even from the less talented performers. WAYYY too fuckin much punch/kick in WWE and way too much flip/flop strong style spotfest everywhere else. I miss matches like HBK vs. Bret Hart from Survivor Series 92, where neither guy threw a punch for the first 20 minutes of the match it seemed, it was all holds and trying to gain the advantage, but done in an athletic, crowd pleasing fashion. These guys are 'wrestlers', not MMA fighers or boxers. A recent example is the Miz vs. Daniel Bryan from the last WWE pay-per-view. It was the only match I've ever seen Miz in when he wasn't throwing shitty punches the whole time.

 

[Green Thunder]

Shawn Michaels for sure. I could go on and on about his achievments, but i think his longevity is what won him over for me. He was wrestling from 1984-2010, and he's one of the main reasons i even got into wrestling. I just started watching wrestling, but looking back into some of his older matches, his innovation blows my mind. One of the pioneers of the top rope, shawns career speaks for itself.

 

[MisterMondayNight]

It's a tough question to answer. You could say Stone Cold or Hulk Hogan for drawing ability. You could say HBK or Ric Flair for amazing matches. You could say the Undertaker for the major success of a gimmick and being a revolutionary "super-heavyweight." All of those guys are an easy top-10. But my vote goes to Bret Hart.

Brethas some of the best psychology/story telling the business has ever seen. If you want to know what I'm talking about watch his steel-cage match vs.Owen. Not only a 5-star match, but the storytelling is brilliant. And most of Bret's matches are great stories.

His matches are always different too. Not like John Cena doing the predictable shtick, but he could wrestle a different match three times in one night (KOTR 1993.Three great matches, three DIFFERENT matches.)

Bret has 2 "official" five star matches. However, Meltzer fails to include his match at Summerslam 1992, the Iron-Man match at WM12, his match vs.Owen at WM10, and countless others as "5-star matches."

Bret was able to be a great storyteller and one of the best technical wrestlers the business has ever seen. We'll see other Flairs, HBKs, Undertakers, and Hogans, but Bret is truly one of a kind.

As far as "old-school", it's Harley Race. The man,though not the most physically fit wrestler ever, could cut a pace in a match and make it entertaining. The seven-time world champion is considered by his peers a legit tough-guym andoneof the greatesy ever. In a time where repeat world champions were somewhat rare, he won it 7 times.

My top 10 of all time would be ("Wrestlemania" era):
1. Bret Hart
2. Ric Flair
3.Steve Austin
4. Hulk Hogan
5. The Undertaker
6. HBK
7. Randy Savage
8. Ricky Steamboat
9. The Rock
10. Chris Jericho

 

[bexlyspeed]

I would like to say Superstar Graham. he could talk, he was influential, the drew well. and everyone loved to hate him. there is no Hogan without Superstar.
but it is hard to pick just one because on ring ability i would pick Harley Race or Ric Flair over Graham in a second.
Also Bruno Sammartino really put people in the arena as well.

my top 10-in no particular order
1. Superstar Graham
2. Ric Flair
3. Harley Race
4. Terry Funk
5. Kevin Sullivan
6. Barry Windham
7. Hulk Hogan
8. Roddy Piper
9. Jimmy Snuka
10. Don Muraco

 

[LKOKDJE]

Bruno Sammartino, like I said in other threads, is THE greatest Old school wrestler because of his revered status, never-to-be-broken 2 title reigns (as far as male wrestling champions), his superman level strength, brutal feuds against the likes of Zbysko, Superstar Billy Graham, Koloff, Monsoon, Steele, Savage, and others, draws against Morales, and his uncanny ability to sell out Madison Square Garden more than anyone, and reached across ethnic boundaries...he wasn't just beloved by Italians, but by fans of all ethnicities.

 

[Oldhip]

And that person is...OX Baker!
The man spent 28 years in the squared circle and had many many feuds with some of the greatest of all time. I rememebr as a young man, watching him feud with Dick the Bruiser in Indianapolis. He dreded heart punch and his world view of "Evil...no I just like to hurt people" said it all.

I am nott rying to spam here, but if anyone else is a fan of OX Bakers, I want to invite you to my radio show Wednesday night at 8pm est. My guest ill be OX BAKER! I am really excited to spend 2 hours with this man, and have him give me his thoguhts an ideas about the past and future of wrestling.
That will be Wednesday night 8 to 10pm est at www.pararocktv.com
I hope some of you will join us

 

[Heel_09]

Hands down it would have to be Hulk Hogan. Without Hogan there would be no Wrestlemanias or other ppv that came afterwards, there would have never been a Monday Night War, wrestling wouldn't have transcended into the main stream and the WWF would have remained a local territory. This all happened during Hogan's 1st WWF title reign that last 4 years. It truly is the most successful title reign in history as far as impacting and revolutionizing the industry. Hogan isn't known for great matches, he's known for having legendary matches that are still talked about today. He may be the only man to have become bigger then the industry itself. Hogan is the first guy to be so well known that you didn't have to be a wrestling fan to know who Hulk Hogan is. He is the one guy who has worked in multiple organizations and at that time did their best numbers and that includes TNA, before last January's Monday Night Impact when did TNA ever get a rating of 1.5? Easy never, those organizations include the AWA, WWF, and WCW.. Numbers don't lie and neither does history. His accomplishments speak for themselves if the WWF had today's technology such as the internet especially when it came to marketing, advertising and merchandise sales back in the 80's, no one not even Austin would have been able to touch Hogan.