Heel420: If you take into consideration success, legacy and impact on the business then Benoit, Jericho and Angle shouldn't be ahead of Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, CM Punk, John Cena or Sting. As great as Benoit was as a wrestler, he really has no business in a top 20 legacy or impact list. His success, compared to the five I mentioned above, was marginal. Everyone's entitled to an opinion though.
I disagree with Mesl's point, which was the same on Mark Madden tried to make a few days ago in his column, that Bret Hart is on the same tier as Triple H when it comes to what they both mean to wrestling. The difference between them is night and day. Bret Hart is one of the most loved Canadians all the time and perhaps the most popular wrestler worldwide after Hogan, Austin, Rock and Cena. As great as Triple H booked himself and as great a wrestler Shawn Michaels was, those two are somewhat confined to 'wrestling'. Here's the original quote:
HHH, HBK, Undertaker, Hart, Savage etc. Were all great for' wrestling fans', but to me their legacy will always be confined to inside the ring.. If you weren't a fan, you wouldn't know a thing about them..
See this sums up Triple H and Shawn Michaels but it doesn't sum up the other three. Every Canadian knows who Bret Hart is. The Hitman was huge in Australia and Europe. He might not be so well known by today's generation of kids like my generation wasn't so up on Bruno Sammartino. But your average +25 Canadian knows Bret Hart, knows of his family, his brother Owen, the Calgary Hitmen, the Montreal Screwjob, etc etc. No one with a straight face can say that only wrestling fans know who Undertaker is. He only happens to have the greatest gimmick in the history of gimmicks. A lot of you kids and forgetful adults seem to forget just how mainstream wrestling was in the Attitude Era when everyone's mother, father and grandmother were tuning in and providing WWE and WCW with ratings in the 5s. Undertaker is more of a household name than Bret Hart. 6 year old children and 98 year old nursing home patients know who he is. And don't get me started on Savage. I agree with the rest of Mesl's un-Madden related opinion but Macho Man was quite clearly a pop cultural icon. Sure Savage hasn't had as big or as long lasting an impact as Hogan, Rock or Austin. But more non-wrestling fans of yesteryear know who Savage is than non-wrestling fans today know of Shawn Michaels or Triple H. Hogan and Savage are remembered and well regarded by those with no clue about wrestling for carrying the WWE in the 80s and early 90s as Stone Cold and Rock did in the late 90s early 2000s. As Cena and Punk are doing now but with way less fanfare. Through his affiliation to Hogan, Savage transcended being just 'a wrestler for the fan'. Hogan turned the non fans into fans. Without Hulkamania and Wrestlemania, Savage doesn't transcend wrestling. Without Austin and the ratings of the Attitude Era, does Rocky Maiva transform into The Rock? Still, Savage and Rock transcend wrestling through affiliation even though they both didn't revolutionize it.
Top 20 wrestlers of all time. For me, it's a list of who I feel were the all time best. A favourites list would include Rick Rude, Curt Henning, Scott Hall and Eddie Guerrero. But this isn't a favourites list. It's a straight forward best of all time list. Not a list of who was pound for pound the best technical wrestler. Not a list of who blew up bigger than someone else for a three year period of time. Just the best.
20 Bob Backlund
19 Harley Race
18 Sting
17 Andre the Giant
16 Triple H
15 Gorgeous George
14 Antonio Inoki
13 Roddy Piper (where Punk will end up)
12 Kurt Angle
11 John Cena
10 Undertaker
9 Lou Thez
8 The Rock
7 Steve Austin
6 Bret Hart
5 Randy Savage
4 Shawn Michaels
3 Bruno Sammartino
2 Hulk Hogan
1 Ric Flair
Hon mentions: Ricky Steamboat, Chris Jericho, Dusty Rhodes, Curt Henning and CM Punk.
