Who is the Real "Best in the World"

[ProWrestlingFan]

Chris Jericho and CM Punk claim that they are the "Best in the World" but in my opinion neither of them are close to being the Best in the World. I am talking about best wrestlers of all time.

Two Wrestlers who in my opinion are the "Best in the World" are:

Ric Flair : In my opinion Ric Flair is the greatest Wrestler of all time. Ric Flair had great personality, character, moveset etc that made him the greatest Wrestler of all time. His macthes with Sting, Ricky Steamboat,Dusty Rhodes etc were epic.

Kurt Angle : Kurt Angle can rightfully call himself the "Best in the World" as he is the only Olympic Gold Medalist in Professional Wrestling. Kurt Angle's matches with Shawn Michaels ,Benoit etc were classics.

So which Pro-Wrestlers in your opinion are the "Best in the World" not because they call themselves the "Best in the World" but YOUR opinion.

 

[Tired0FthePeople]

They dont say they are the best 'ever' in the world or the best of all time. They say they are the best in the world, which means they are saying they are the best in the world right now.

Its like Jay Z or Lil Wayne saying they are the best rapper in the world. Its purely subjective anyway, just an opinion, so no definitive answer. Right now..personally, I think Bobby Rude is the best in the world. Again I mean right now. Im a Punk fan...I love the guy. And by my avi you can tell that I love Chris. In any objective point of view, neither of them can claim to being best in the world. Objectively, Johnathan Lamount Cena is the best in the world...and I dont even like the guy.

Yes I know his real name isnt Jonathan and his middle name isnt Lamount lol. Until either of them become the draw that Cena is, they cant be considered the best - objectively. But, subjectively, hell, a lot of guys can claim to be the best.

 

[#hamler]

Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels can hold that moniker all they want and I will never have a problem with that. They've both proved that they can work at match with ANY opponent and still put on a classic match-up. Look at their respective opponents over the years - some are not exactly regarded as the best in the ring but Flair and Michaels have worked with these guys and made them look amazing. There are a select few others that have the ability to do that but none of them have truly made a mark on wrestling like these two legends have done. Truly, they are the Best in the World until they fall of the face of earth.

 

[King Patrick Star]

In my opinion, in this order, I think the Best In The World of all time are:

1. Chris Jericho (The Icon of WWE…today)
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin (The Icon of Raw…he made Raw RAW)
2. The Rock (The Icon of Smackdown…it’s named after him)
4. Kurt Angle (The Icon of TNA…today??)
5. Ric Flair (The Icon of WCW…and NWA)
5. Hulk Hogan (The Icon of WWF)

These 6 Hall Of Fame Legends / Future Hall Of Fame SuperStars are the end all be all in Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. This is a fact. Anyone else that anyone else names is just a personal opinion...in my opinion.

 

[Moose]

Can't believe Bryan Danielson doesn't make this discussion. Although this whole Daniel Bryan crybaby gimmick he's saddled with sucks, the man was voted wrestler of the year five years straight (06-10) by Wrestling Observer. The guy has a great work ethic and is a heluva competitor.

 

[James]

Shawn Michaels. We was truly the total package; he had the arsenal, he had the look, he had the catchphrases, and he had charisma. He made his opponents look good. He made himself look even better by doing that.

Since he has retired the only person that comes close to him is Chris Jericho.

 

[xavyer]

I think Edge should be considered in this category, he has revolutionised wrestling in his own way, and he had some of the most memorable matches in the history of the WWE, not many superstars have been a success in both tag team and singles competition, also another ovious choise would be The Undertaker, these two guys practicly invented some matches, in Edge's case the TLC match, and in Taker's case, Hell in Cell, inferno match, Burried alive match, Casket match, etc., plus Taker has beaten every single superstar in the attitude era and today's era, or in today's era people that matters........

 

[BarryHorowitzfanclub]

Um, Chris Jericho as the Icon of today's WWE? I think you spelled Undertaker wrong.

Jericho is, has, and always will be just a bit lower than anyone else you can think of in wrestling. His works are just drawn out, and painful. His ring work is very short of spectacular. The fact that he's held the World belt at all is just a "reward", and him being the first unified champion is still crazy in my head. I can see they tried to give him the ball, but really...not on the same plane as any other "icon" you can name. Just for fun: Undertaker, Austin, Rock, Flair, Sting, Hogan, Andre, HHH, HBK. Hell, for my point I'll throw in Cena. My point is this: any of those guys can, have, and could carry a company on their back for years. Jericho? No chance.

 

[latinoheat8979]

For me it's Bret "Hitman" Hart. The Best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. The Excellence of Execution. Bret was an amazing wrestler of course being from the legendary Hart family and being trained by his dad Stu helped him become that great of a wrestler. His matches with Davey Boy Smith, Shawn Michaels, Curt Henning, Owen Hart were amazing to watch as he was such a great ring general. His ability to make big men look good such as Diesel and Sid Vicious speaks volumes about Bret. The best storyteller in that ring as well, Bret wasn't flashy he was good on the mic and even better in the ring. He was really what the perfect wrestler should be.

 

[Jmister]

Yeah, crazy I know. I actually looked at wrestling from around the world to pick the best in the world. At any rate Kenny Omega is the best thing going today. For those that don't know Kenny Omega is another stellar wrestler that Canada has blessed us wrestling fans with. He is mostly know for his work in Japan. By now most of you have probably seen his match with a nine year old girl, which was highly entertaining, but all of his matches are. Do yourselves a favor and spend the rest of the afternoon watching the man work. You will have no trouble at all finding amazing Kenny Omega matches on YouTube.

 

[Jamey]

Triple H.

No one tells a story in the ring like this guy. He's great on the mic. He has a great move set. His ability to work with anyone has been proven.

 

[midgensa]

This is a decent discussion, but I think the OP missed the point (as others have pointed out). They are not claiming to be the best of all time ... they are claiming they are the best in the world RIGHT NOW. And, honestly, both have a decent claim (as would Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Kenny Omega, Bobby Roode and maybe a few others).

I think right now that I would rank CM Punk as the top dog in the wrestling world. He has the top prize in the top company and is carrying it well and proud heading into the biggest show of the year.

If you want to get into money ... John Cena is clearly the top dog. He brings in the most money and is the cash cow for the top company in the world.

If you want to get into the "all-time" debate then all shit hits the fan because there are a million arguments for a good handful of people. I personally think that Shawn Michaels is the best to ever lace up the boots. But I also am not naive enough to think that he compares to Hulk Hogan, The Rock or Stone Cold when it comes to "making money."

Fun thread ... easy for people to get off on tangents.

 

[Starchild]

In my opinion, in this order, I think the Best In The World of all time are:

1. Chris Jericho (The Icon of WWE…today)
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin (The Icon of Raw…he made Raw RAW)
2. The Rock (The Icon of Smackdown…it’s named after him)
4. Kurt Angle (The Icon of TNA…today??)
5. Ric Flair (The Icon of WCW…and NWA)
5. Hulk Hogan (The Icon of WWF)

These 6 Hall Of Fame Legends / Future Hall Of Fame SuperStars are the end all be all in Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. This is a fact. Anyone else that anyone else names is just a personal opinion...in my opinion.

This list seems to be completely random and misses the point of the thread. I think he was referring to the best technical wrestler in the world which is something that Austin, Hogan, and even the Rock will never be accused of being. To add to that, you have some of the biggest stars of their era but having a glaring omission by leaving out Cena who is undoubtedly THE guy in wrestling of the last 7 years. And lastly, you left off some of the very best in guys like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels...your list truly boggles the mind.

To the point of the thread, I believe the best wrestlers today are probably Punk, Bryan, Jericho, and Angle. These guys just have phenomenal wrestling ability, tell stories in the ring, and can have classics with a large variety of people given enough time. I full expect to see Punk vs Bryan as one of the main events at a future WM and it could go down as the best technical match at Mania since Hart/Michaels at WM12.

The best of all time is hard to say with all the names that have been in professional wrestling. Names like Flair, Steamboat, Hennig, Hart (Bret AND Owen), Michaels, Undertaker, Guerrero, Malenko, Angle, Benoit, Jericho, maybe even Lesnar. For my money, the greatest wrestler of all time is Shawn Michaels. He was absolutely phenomenal before his injury in 98. He then came back 4 years later and was still damn good and better than most everyone else, having classics with Jericho, Trips, Flair, Taker, Angle, and others. HBK was simply the total package imo, had some of WWE's best matches of all time, and got out at the right time instead of hurting his legacy like Flair and Hogan.

 

[Natural Selection]

To clarify I have to agree with Starchild the best wrestlers in the world TODAY are Jericho, Punk, Bryan, and Angle. And if we are talking money then hands down Cena.

 

[Loveless]

He's been gone 2 years but I'm still quite certain it's Shawn. If there was anyone you could call up for Wrestlemania this year in order to give you a sure-fire classic match, it'd be him.
As for this talk of Jericho, there's a reason he's never been a permanent main eventer. He's good but he's horribly over-hyped by the IWC.

 

[Cabana]

It really depends on what you're looking for. If you want the best worker of all time, it's a debate: Thesz? Gagne? Michaels? Flair? Angle? Misawa? Benoit? Hart? Danielson? I really don't know well enough to say (and I watch a *lot* of wrasslin.)

If you want the best pro wrestler of all-time, in terms of being a total package, I think the debate comes down to Hogan, Austin, Sammartino, Andre, and The Rock. Those are probably the biggest draws of all time and frankly, I don't see how you could take anybody other than Hogan.

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

I'll chime in here and give a couple different answers. For the best pure technical wrestlers of right now then I'll say Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. I will take some posters' advice and look up some of the wrestlers I'm not familiar with. As for best of all time for ring work then I would just like to mention Curt Henning and as I type this the reason why is because his match with Bret Hart at Summer Slam 91. Quite honestly, losing never looked so good.

 

[Suibon]

What exactly is this thread about? Oh, just a 'discussion' about a kayfabe moniker and who arbitrarily, in your opinion, fits in that vague-as-fuck description.

You could have a 'discussion' like this (though this is less a discussion than a 'me favs this! urs sucks brah! other's just meh' thingy) and never get to any reasonable conclusion.

Pointless thread is pointless. I'm outta here.
​

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Anyone who believes they know who the "Best in the World" is, is a moron.

No single person knows the characteristics which qualifies you to be "the best", especially the best on the entire planet. There are so many wrestlers who have used and are using the current tagline that it isn't even a gimmick or a nickname anymore, it's a label which they recognise themselves as, which is being ****ed about relentlessly.

Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, Kurt Angle and even Robert Roode have recognised themselves in the past year as being the "Best in the World" during promos, or in someone such as Roode's case, "the best wrestler on the planet" which is basically the same thing. What I find funny is Daniel Bryan was the original "Best in the World", as in he was the first person to genuinely recognise himself as such. It had been said many times before but it had never stuck.

CM Punk has even admitted he asked Bryan could he use the term before it went on the back of a t-shirt. But back to the point, it is too difficult to recognise one person as such, half of you aren't even taking Japan, Mexico or the independent circuit into consideration. Kenta Kobashi has used the term before, Prince Devitt has said it in a promo, I'm sure Mexico has a wrestler who believes he's the "Best in the World."

You can't pin any one person as the "Best in the World." I enjoy the Jericho/Punk angle and can even see where it's coming from, plus CM Punk stated he does call himself the "Best in the World" but has also said it is a brash thing to say, and that he never lacks confidence, so really he is voicing his own opinion. Same as Jericho.

 

[kokoBawesome]

.... i used to be the guy that wrote these long statements about how certain threads were too opinion based and how since wrestling is fake these discussions were pointless... but than someone pointed out that i was being an asshole and ruining everyone else's fun.

So in response, Bret Hart made me a wrestling fan, Kurt Angle kept me a wrestling fan, in hindsight Shawn Micheals is most likely the total package, but lately Kenta Kobashi matches on youtube are getting me really proud to be a wrestling fan again. I guess it all depends on where I am in my life.

If this discussion really is about technical wrestling Daniel Bryan is a great pick, ten years from now.... he's too damn young at this point and still has a rookie funk on him even with a decade in the indie's.

Is it weird that i really want Punk and Bryan to get fired and go back to ROH? I not even a fan, I just think they would be happier and they'd have better competition. If you're telling me i could have Bryan Danielson vs KENTA, or Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus....

 

[AwesomeRko]

If its regarding pure wrestling ability the best in the world today is Kurt Angle, the mans a a technical marvel.

If we are talking full package the best full-time wrestler in the world right now is either Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler or Cody Rhodes they are all exceptional in every department in my book.

 

[Krossbreed]

in his prime based on in ring performance...HBK then Bret Hart.

Guys like Stone Cold, The Rock... are people I consider the greatest entertainers in the wrestling business.

Chris Jericho is good but he isnt the best...CM punk is a hybrid half entertainer half good wrestler.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

The honest and true Best in the World today is John Cena

You can take your Punks, your HBK's, your Undertakers, Kane's, Triple H's, Hogan's, Flairs, Rocks, Angles, and all those other people listed in this thread, and push them aside. Some of them are good, maybe even great, but the absolute Best in the World TODAY not a fucking chance.

You may not like his character, his merchandise, his persona, but you cannot deny that if it wasn't for him, the WWE wouldn't be.

John Cena is still the reason the WWE is in business today. John Cena's name is still selling WWE PPV's, WWE Merchandise, and tickets to WWE live events.

 

[Arsenal]

It's a sad joke that none of you marks have mentioned Macho Man Randy Savage. He's the greatest of all-time. No one else had the combination of personality and in-ring ability that he did. The only guys who can rival him as a "Total Package" are Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair, but Macho Man was better than both of them. He could carry *anyone* to a good/great match, and when he was in there with another great wrestler, it was a guaranteed all-time classic match.

As good as some guys are today (Cena, Jericho, Punk, Roode, Styles) to put anyone wrestling today ahead of him is 100% a joke.

 

[18dionlyone]

Best in the world..right now???? John Cena im sorry not a huge fan but you cant deny hes the biggest name in WRESTLING today

of all time...hmmm thats a tough call i mean on one hand you can go with Ric Flair..i mean do I need to go into details of why he is the best?? lol

Or you could go with Hulk Hogan..i mean...when you wanna talk changed wrestling..you think Hulk Hogan...
I guess Ill give my top 7 who i think are the best past and present

7.Scott Hall- Its a personal choice..When I watched WCW growing up and still watch the stuff online he was always my fav one in WCW hands down..i thought he was soo cool great in the ring..also he got the shaft in WM10 cause a lot of people dont even remember he was in the match with HBK even ric flair said " HBK went out ther and had the greatest match of his life with a ladder"

6.HHH- Back when I started watching wrestling Hbk Just joind DX so he was my fav at the time..But I ll get to him later...in the Attitude Era when people were Jizzing over Rock and SCSA..I was..the biggest HHH fan...thats probably why i dont care for the Rock today ( he was always put over him and always beat him) and hope he loses at mania..but i digress...I thought HHH was the coolest thing in the AE hands down..from his cockiness to his "im better than you attitude to his overall ring general-ness...I think i liked him even more in 2002-2005 the evolution era

5.Rick Rude- again another guy who had this cockiness that thought was awesome..sucks i didnt see him in action live (im only 21) if watching his matches and vignettes online are half as good as seeing it live then hed be on top of the list...great worker

4 Randy Savage- dont even need to explain why his guy should be considered best in the world

3. John cena...okay..stop right there.. i see you guys ready to jump down my throat and bash me to no return.. but guys...take a breather. Now that I have your attention.. to say this man is anything short of a future Hall of famer is outrageous..It disgusts me when people say hes a cancer to the business..out of all of the big names in the WWE..being Rock, Austin Lesnar Hogan...hes the most loyal..all the stars i mention before either abruptly left dropped the ball or didnt want to put over rising stars so they quit..I dont care what anyone says that man is a company man..household name..i mean how often do you hear any stories of him in a negative way?? does he get arrested?..nope..does he get suspended for drugs?..nope..Does he refuse to put people over??? nope for god sakes he let 7 rookies beat the hell out of him and make him his bitch for like 3 months

2.Kurt Angle.......good god..when you want the show stealing match..when you want a awesome WRESTLING match..you call this man..from his good ol boy days to his wrestling machine days he shows hes still got it and hasnt slowed for anyone or any injury...my all time fav wrestlemania match is angle/lesnar mania 19 that match was pure gold..not talking about the botch im talking about the match itself..i could watch it all day

see this is where it gets tricky...my number 1 is actually two people:

i guess 1A is Ric Flair- one of the best talkers in the game..Its like you take the mic work of HHH and add the wrestling skills of HBK you get Flair...i could go on and on about him but best in the world is really a good phrase for him

and my 1B...


the showstopper himself..HBK- JR said it best " his name may not be at the top of the list,. but it doesnt take long to hear his name called" this goes back to my number 6 pick HHH its because I was a huge fan of HBK that after HBK left for four years it just transferred to HHH lol..when i first started watching wrestling HBK was joining DX and I thought his cockiness and bad-ass-ness was sooo cool..I would copy him all day lol its a shame the era he created he couldnt experience it cause of injury...But if you want proof HBK is the best..watch his match at bad blood 1997 with taker...in the HIAC matches its my fav over foley and taker...foley and taker was famous for two bumps..HBK fought 45 mins in a wayy better match iMO.. give me that match over foley taker any day...Then the man comes back form a career ending back injury and puts on a clinic every year he was back...go back and watch HBK-Cena at amnia 23...one of my fav HBK matches and my fav Cena match. or watch the one hour rematch



I know this is really long but when you say best in the world you really cant pick just one... but you get my point its all about preference...this is my personal list of best in the world i know its not the same as every ones list..