The Grestest Wrestling-Martial Artist in WWF/E History?

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Savion83

Pre-Show Stalwart
For over the last sixty years we've seen wrestlers from all over the world wrestle in the WWF/E. Most of the great wrestlers often use their Martial Arts skills in their wrestling bouts. From Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat to Rob Van Dam. Who truly was the greatest wrestler in the history of the WWF/E?

Let's take a look at the list of wrestlers shall we....

1. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat: Former WWF/E IC Champion

2. X-Pac: Former WWF/E European Champion, Lightheavyweight Champion, Tag Champion

3. Steve Blackman: Former WWF/E Hardcore Champion

4. Rob Van Dam: Former WWF/E Champion, IC Champion, Hardcore, Tag Champion, WWECW Champion


So those are some canidates for you to help you choose. I'm conflicted by who is the grestest wrestling-martial artist in WWF/E history?
 
The answer to me is Ken Shamrock. He won King of the Ring, IC title, and Tag Team titles (correct me if i'm wrong). He's also very accomplished in MMA (UFC Hall of Fame).
 
I'm confused by your definition of a great martial artist. None of the guys you listed have any history of legitimate accomplishment in combat sports, which to me is how you would define a 'great martial artist.' Given that we know that accomplishments in the so-called traditional martial arts have little to do with actual fighting ability, I think that accomplishments in MMA/Boxing/Kickboxing/Amateur Wrestling/BJJ/Grappling are the only relavent qualifications.

Ken Shamrock is the first that comes to mind for me also. Beyond that, it would seem fair to me to include Brock Lesnar, for obvious reasons. Also, Kurt Angle's amateur wrestling accomplishments are without parallel, so I don't see why that shouldn't count, and if you want to go in that direction, this thread would be endless.
 
Well I never got to see Ricky Steamboat because I was too young. I don't really view Rob Van Dam as a martial artist. So out of this list I would say Steve Blackman just because growing up as a kid watching wrestling Steve Blackman's gimmick was the karate guy. X-pac would just do some martial art poses at times.
 
its lesnar. hes the second youngest wwe champ ever and won the ufc heavyweight title after only being in the company for a year. u could say they threw the title shot to him but its ok. just stats alone tells u brock is the answer
 
I'm tempted to say its Brock Lesnar. I never liked the guy, but after his match with Shane Carwin, I do admit he's the best.
 
Three UFC champs in Severn, Shamrock, and Lesnar. Another UFC vet in Ron Waterman. Four other mma vets in Lashley, Bart Gunn, Shawn O'Haire and Glen Klucka. And these are your 4 choices.
Ricky Steamboat who's competive peak is high school wrestling.
Waltman who supposedly has a black belt and if he competing in anything it would be some youth point fighting tournaments.
Blackman who I think fought some toughman.
Van Dam fought some toughman and amatuer kickboxing.
 
I get the point... You mean more of a "Karate Guy" kind of character! From the list you posted I would have to go with RVD compared to the other 3 as far as WWF/E accomplishments go!

But, as far as MMA accomplishments go and what not...

I'd pick Shamrock over all 4 guys you picked up there and I HATE him... But as far as MMA goes he definetly was a more skilled Martial Artist then those 4... Even guys like Dan Severn and Vladamir Kozloff are more impressive then those 4...

As far as "MMA" or Martial Artists in WWF/E goes...

I would give the edge to overall just beat your ass "MMA" skills, to none other then Brock Lesnar!!
 
o wait i see what you are getting at. you wanna kno who the greatest wwe superstar was to use martial arts in their move set................i think we all misunderstood the question but i get it now. and the answer is steve blackman. i mean when it comes right down to it, that was his move set lol
 
I'm gonna go with the Dragon and his old school style, it was fun to watch (though I hadn't discovered wrestling till WM 5 so i missed WM3 till much later). I still enjoyed steamboat's the most. Blackman was boring and while his MA skills were impressive his wrestling sucked and was boring. RVD is great but his moves are more wrestling based than MA, same w/ pac. Steamboat also had the Bruce Lee look going on which was really cool as opposed to blackman's chuck norris. Although! I do think that we have yet to see the greatest and that it will be Kaval! Senshi/loki was amazing in the ring and I just hope he brings that to the main stage in WWE.
 
I'm gonna go with the Dragon and his old school style, it was fun to watch (though I hadn't discovered wrestling till WM 5 so i missed WM3 till much later). I still enjoyed steamboat's the most. Blackman was boring and while his MA skills were impressive his wrestling sucked and was boring. RVD is great but his moves are more wrestling based than MA, same w/ pac. Steamboat also had the Bruce Lee look going on which was really cool as opposed to blackman's chuck norris. Although! I do think that we have yet to see the greatest and that it will be Kaval! Senshi/loki was amazing in the ring and I just hope he brings that to the main stage in WWE.
 
uhh.. i think everyone is forgetting Tajiri. Guy was fuckin NUTS with what he could do (as really seen in ECW)
also Eric Bishoff did know it, just didnt show it as much, more so in WCW he did. but again, not much. Pick still goes to the Japanese Buzzsaw.
 
If you are asking for a martial artist meaning karate then I would have to say Steve Blackman and then RVD. Blackman was the more straight up karate expert while RVD incorporated a wide range of karate kicks into his move set.

BUT, if you mean martial arts as in "Mixed Martial Arts e.g. MMA, then you cannot look past Brock Lesnar and Ken Shamrock. Two incredibly tough men, both experts at what they do
 
The 2 that stick in my mind as Ken Shamrock, as soon as I think Martial Arts!!

I think they could have been much more in the WWE...Steve especially, he used his skills inn the hardcore division and Shamrock who I think just looked lethal and his theme said it all, he used his skills in the upper-midcard...

Ken Shamrock gets my vote though!!
 
Of the names mentioned, I'd surely go with Steamboat. But here are some other names that were left off of the list:

- King Tonga (all around tough man, but had martial arts background. Although he showed less of his ma in the WWF ring than when he worked Montreal)

- Jimmy Snuka

- Antonio Inoki
 
i'm not sure of the guy's actual accolades outside of the wrestling ring in the martial arts world, but one guy that just had the perfect look and moveset to add to his credibility from back in the day is Hakushi. he wasn't around long, but i really enjoyed his WWF character and i thought he even had a pretty decent match with Bret Hart once. very believable martial arts gimmick.

i also liked the poster that mentioned Tajiri. just amazing stuff that he could do.

honorable mentions: Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, Steve Blackman, etc. but i'm not sure that the OP was very clear on what the criteria was supposed to be, so i'm not even sure what the best answer would be consequently.
 
Aaaah Wrestlezone cynics, how I adore thee! All the Lesnar comments whilst correct in that he currently a martial arts practitioner, he wasn't before or during his tenure with WWE, Shamrock & Severn were however, & should be included in the list, as should Steve Blackman, who was well versed in a variety of styles (Karate, Tae Kwon Do & at least 1 other weapons based style), as are Low Ki, CM Punk & Bryan Danielson, none of whom though, have had any recognised success in any discipline. However, should you ask any serious Martial Artist about MMA, alot will argue that MMA isn't a martial art as such, & more a form of unarmed combat. Therefore, my pick, for the greatest Martial Arts practitioner in the History of WWE would have to go to the sadly departed Bad News Brown, a Judo expert & Olympic bronze medalist, he lived & trained in japan before he became a wrestler, he had his own school & is still the only American to win an Olypic medal in the discipline. I personally can't think of any wrestler who has had anywhere near as much success in a single discipline as him.
 
How are we defining martial artist here? I'm of the opinion that being able to do a spin kick and a split doesn't make you a martial artist; I can make a picture using paint, but by no means would I call myself a painter.

If we reduce our criteria to people with significant combat sports achievements, you have to go either Ken Shamrock or Brock Lesnar, and it's difficult to compare the two as they fought in different eras. Ken Shamrock fought more frequently in MMA (although there are more than enough fights where Shamrock gives up and you go "why???") He also never reached the heights of Brock Lesnar in the WWF/E, but it's safe to say Lesnar doesn't have Ken Shamrock's long record of achievement in MMA (ignoring the past few years. Please, hang 'em up, Ken!)

Formwise, Brock isn't as good as a fighter as Shamrock is. He gets by on size. Look at Lesnar vs. Carwin- the first time Brock gets an opponent who's legitimately as big as he was, he was completely unable to take him down and had to resort to forcing Carwin to gas out. (A perfectly legitimate strategy, btw, but I've never seen a coach who's said "alright, spend the first round on your back getting punched in the face until his arms get tired." Brock was lucky he had a good ref in that ring.) Shamrock had form and technique that Brock lacks at this stage of his career.

But then there's the argument to be made that with the emergence of MMA into the mainstream, the level of competition in Shamrock's era was less than in Brock's era. It's really hard to make a definitive decision between the two.


Now, if we use the criteria "anyone who's studied martial arts" to determine who a martial artist is, the gates are wide open. Colored belts are not hard to find backstage.
 
no no no you guys have it all wrong..... the greatest martial artists to ever step into the ring and wrestle has to be most of the wrestlers that wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 80's and early 90's simply put wwe has only had knock offs
 
Hartfan said:
no no no you guys have it all wrong..... the greatest martial artists to ever step into the ring and wrestle has to be most of the wrestlers that wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 80's and early 90's simply put wwe has only had knock offs
Click to expand...

well, the title of the thread IS "The Grestest Wrestling-Martial Artist in WWF/E History?" not in a ring period, but by what you said about All Japan Pro Wrestling, that would include Tajiri as i said earlier. thats the reason i picked him though, because although it wasnt really shown much in WWE, the guy was fuckin nuts.. if only he ever got to really show it
 
Honorable Mention:Antonoiu Inoiki

But I choose the Muay Thai Master CM Punk, he has some of the best strikes whether it be from the fist,open hand,foot or knee(or even head) he has some of the best looking and vicious strikes in WWE.
 
UUUUUmmmm.. Excuse me!!! Vickie Guerro Style..... I think everyones forgotten the baddest wrestler slash martial artist slash man ever...

WCW's own GLACIER


Im pretty sure that dude was a ninja......:lol:
 
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