Wrestler of the Decade

[TofuLeviticus]

Shawn Michaels.

Seriously, how many Wrestlemanias this decade has Michaels had the best match? The answer is most of them. Even with a damaged back that causes him excruciating pain he still consistently out performs the rest of the roster. And he's not making this effort solely for himself and his career. Obviously he's proud of his work, but much of what he's done since he came back, both on and off the camera has been done to push the new guys. You have to remember how much of an egomaniac he was before he left and how few top guys push the younger generation to appreciate this. Try to think back to the late nineties and how you thought of Michaels then, and think how that's changed with his comeback, which is in itself an inspirational real life story. When you combine all this with the classic matches (Flair, Undertaker, the first elimination chamber) and classic feuds (Jericho, McMahon, HHH) he's had this decade, how can you not vote for him?

 

[Blue Chipper]

John Cena. I don't like to reiterate, but Cena has helped the WWE immensely. His drawing power is undeniable, and without Cena in the last half of the decade, I don't know where WWE would be. Cena is the Stone Cold of this era. He should be attributed for having a pretty large contribution in carrying the company. He is the embodiment of what the WWE is all about; entertainment. He's the total package. He has unmeasurable mic skills, ring skills, and marketability.

Not to mention all the classic feuds he's been involved with, that have now represented this era. Such feuds as Cena/Edge, Cena/HHH, Cena/Micheals, etc.

He gets my vote, fairly easily.

 

[The Roid Rage]

I don't know guys. You can make cases for all of these people but I still think when it comes down to it Triple H is the clear choice. I think he has done more for the company than Angle, Jericho, Undertaker, Michaels, and even Cena in this decade especially. You also need to look at the talent he helped groom in Randy Orton, and Batista. Say what you want about them, they are two of the biggest and best in the business. Evolution and DX give him a big argument as well. He has led the 2 biggest factions in this decade. Triple H has also had some of the best feuds. He has been a solid company guy that they could always turn to, and always done what is best for the business. In the ring there are few who can match him, and he is the winningest champion of the decade as well. How much more do you need? Triple H, Obvious choice.

 

[RoyalSkull]

Kurt Angle, though I hadn't even considered him at first. Don't know why but I overlooked him somehow, and then remembered how great he's been this whole decade. Though I don't really follow TNA and therefore haven't seen much of his work for quite a while, the 2000-2004ish matches he had were among the best I'd ever seen, he constantly puts on a show and has persevered through countless injuries, most of them being career-threatening. Not only is possibly the best pure wrestler ever, he wrestle other styles as well (KOTR 2001, anyone?) Not to mention he's held pretty much every title there is to hold!

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Shawn Michaels.

Seriously, how many Wrestlemanias this decade has Michaels had the best match? The answer is most of them. Even with a damaged back that causes him excruciating pain he still consistently out performs the rest of the roster. And he's not making this effort solely for himself and his career. Obviously he's proud of his work, but much of what he's done since he came back, both on and off the camera has been done to push the new guys. You have to remember how much of an egomaniac he was before he left and how few top guys push the younger generation to appreciate this. Try to think back to the late nineties and how you thought of Michaels then, and think how that's changed with his comeback, which is in itself an inspirational real life story. When you combine all this with the classic matches (Flair, Undertaker, the first elimination chamber) and classic feuds (Jericho, McMahon, HHH) he's had this decade, how can you not vote for him?

WM 19 vs. Jericho- Best match of an overrated card
WM 20 vs. HHH vs. Benoit- Okay match. Preferred Evolution vs. Foley and Rock better
WM 21 vs. Angle- Good but overrated match. Undertaker vs. Orton was the match of the night
WM 22 vs. McMahon- Awful. Mickie vs. Trish was better
WM 23 vs. Cena- Good but not great. Batista vs. Taker was far better
WM 24 vs. Flair- Flair's best match in almost two decades but it was still bad. Undertaker vs. Edge was the best match
WM 25 vs. Taker- Mediocre in my opinion. Hardy vs. Hardy was better

So to me, HBK has only one Wrestlemania match I consider to be the best and that would be WM 19. His matches haven't lived up to the buildup in feuds with HHH and Jericho and how many younger guys has he pushed this decade? Benjamin wasn't pushed after facing HBK and neither were Legacy. Angle has been more consistent this decade and has put on great matches in two different companies and gave Orton his best match since 2005. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Angle, I still believe he is the wrestler of the decade.

 

[patdsez]

For me it's between Edge and HBK.

First, for Edge - Edge has had an unbelievable decade and in many ways it was a decade not many people saw him having. Edge was never thought to be a real, true main eventer and when he finally burst onto that scene he took it. He was just so good. He worked his ass off to be taken seriously. His heel promos was marvelous and he's worked himself into a position to return to the company as one of the top faces, which is a feat not every worker can achieve. He had great feuds with everybody (especially Cena - Cena/Edge is the best work Cena has ever done). He pushed people to be better and had fantastic matches every time he was on the card and his run with Vickie Guerrero turned her into one of the best heat magnets of the decade.

Having said all that, my vote still went to HBK. I said this in my "match of the year" post, but what Shawn was able to do with this, his second big run with the company, has been astounding. Shawn has rarely been on a card he didn't steal and the five best matches of this decade all featured him. Was Cena more over? Probably. I mean there's no doubt this was Cena's decade in regards to how he WWE pushes their stars, but it was Shawn who brought out Cena's best match. What I loved about Shawn this decade is how well he settled into his role. He's not usually gunning for titles, but he puts that emotion into every match regardless and that's why he's my wrestler of the decade.

 

[jmt225]

For me, it's CM Punk and nobody comes remotely close.

Just think about this.... at the beginning of this decade this man was wrestling 90 minute matches against Chris Hero in a fucking barn in front of 50 people, tops. And look at where he's now today. It's un-fucking-believable. And for him to get to where he's gotten, it has been an absolute blast to follow.

I first became aware of Punk in 2003 during his partnership with Raven in TNA. Soon after I found out about Ring of Honor and his feud with Raven there... and it was easily one of the best feuds this decade. The 'Straight Edge' deal was nothing like I had ever seen before, and him and Raven just had so much chemistry. Those two had nothing but GREAT matches every time they faced each other, and it wasn't just in ROH, but in MLW and in England as well. The promos were also awesome. It was just a fantastic feud.

Fast forward a little bit after that you get the Trilogy between CM Punk and Samoa Joe. Even if you never watched ROH, by now I'm sure you've all heard of the Trilogy. You know, the 2 one hour matches (with the 2nd one being the first 5 star rated match in America since the late nineties), followed by the superb 30 minute match at All Star Extravaganza. The 2nd and 3rd match of the Trilogy would definitely make my top 10 matches of the decade list. Definitely.

Fast forward a little, CM Punk turns face, has an unbelievably great feud with Jimmy Rave that catapults Rave into a major player into ROH. Soon after that, it gets announced that CM Punk has signed a WWE Contract. In what was supposed to be his last match in the company, he wins the ROH Title against Austin Aries, and after the match Punk turns heel in one of the most shocking moments this decade. No one, and I mean NO ONE, saw that one coming. And of course what followed was the Summer of Punk, where the entire Summer consisted of Punk shitting on ROH, the title, and the fans, until finally dropping it to James Gibson (aka Jamie Nobel). But each show that summer felt like something special, just because of Punk's presence. Even nearly five years later it's fun to look back at those shows and see just how awesome Corporate Punk was.

And of course, there's his WWE run. He had one of the greatest debuts in history at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the fans went absolutely nuts for him. He stayed on ECW for almost two years, capturing the ECW Title a couple of times while doing so, and putting on great matches every single week. Then he's drafted to Raw, wins the MITB, cashes it in to beat Edge for the World Heavyweight Title, has a 2-3 month run with that, loses it, gets drafted to Smackdown, wins MITB again, cashes it in to once again win the World Heavyweight Title against Jeff Hardy, and then goes on to feud with Jeff in what was undoubtedly the best feud of 2009.

The choice here is just so simple, and my rundown of this decade for Punk doesn't even come close to covering just how epic it truly was. Hell, I didn't even mention the classics he had in FIP and even OVW when he was stuck down there for 9 months. It didn't matter if Punk wrestled in IWA Mid-South in front of 10 people, or at Wrestlemania in front of 70,000... he ALWAYS put out the same effort, and ALWAYS gave the fans a hell of a show. That's what kind of wrestler he is, and I don't think there's a wrestler on that list who comes anywhere close to having the kind of decade CM Punk has had.

 

[gd]

I went HBK. Rather boring pick, I know, but he had like a million really good matches, including matches with most of the other top choices on the list. He may not bring it all the time, especially not with his back injury, but he always has had well above average matches when the spotlight is on him, which is rather impressive, even if you aren't a huge fan of his.

 

[goodlay]

For me, it's CM Punk and nobody comes remotely close.

Just think about this.... at the beginning of this decade this man was wrestling 90 minute matches against Chris Hero in a fucking barn in front of 50 people, tops. And look at where he's now today. It's un-fucking-believable. And for him to get to where he's gotten, it has been an absolute blast to follow.

I first became aware of Punk in 2003 during his partnership with Raven in TNA. Soon after I found out about Ring of Honor and his feud with Raven there... and it was easily one of the best feuds this decade. The 'Straight Edge' deal was nothing like I had ever seen before, and him and Raven just had so much chemistry. Those two had nothing but GREAT matches every time they faced each other, and it wasn't just in ROH, but in MLW and in England as well. The promos were also awesome. It was just a fantastic feud.

Fast forward a little bit after that you get the Trilogy between CM Punk and Samoa Joe. Even if you never watched ROH, by now I'm sure you've all heard of the Trilogy. You know, the 2 one hour matches (with the 2nd one being the first 5 star rated match in America since the late nineties), followed by the superb 30 minute match at All Star Extravaganza. The 2nd and 3rd match of the Trilogy would definitely make my top 10 matches of the decade list. Definitely.

Fast forward a little, CM Punk turns face, has an unbelievably great feud with Jimmy Rave that catapults Rave into a major player into ROH. Soon after that, it gets announced that CM Punk has signed a WWE Contract. In what was supposed to be his last match in the company, he wins the ROH Title against Austin Aries, and after the match Punk turns heel in one of the most shocking moments this decade. No one, and I mean NO ONE, saw that one coming. And of course what followed was the Summer of Punk, where the entire Summer consisted of Punk shitting on ROH, the title, and the fans, until finally dropping it to James Gibson (aka Jamie Nobel). But each show that summer felt like something special, just because of Punk's presence. Even nearly five years later it's fun to look back at those shows and see just how awesome Corporate Punk was.

And of course, there's his WWE run. He had one of the greatest debuts in history at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the fans went absolutely nuts for him. He stayed on ECW for almost two years, capturing the ECW Title a couple of times while doing so, and putting on great matches every single week. Then he's drafted to Raw, wins the MITB, cashes it in to beat Edge for the World Heavyweight Title, has a 2-3 month run with that, loses it, gets drafted to Smackdown, wins MITB again, cashes it in to once again win the World Heavyweight Title against Jeff Hardy, and then goes on to feud with Jeff in what was undoubtedly the best feud of 2009.

The choice here is just so simple, and my rundown of this decade for Punk doesn't even come close to covering just how epic it truly was. Hell, I didn't even mention the classics he had in FIP and even OVW when he was stuck down there for 9 months. It didn't matter if Punk wrestled in IWA Mid-South in front of 10 people, or at Wrestlemania in front of 70,000... he ALWAYS put out the same effort, and ALWAYS gave the fans a hell of a show. That's what kind of wrestler he is, and I don't think there's a wrestler on that list who comes anywhere close to having the kind of decade CM Punk has had.

Yeah, when I was choosing Wrestler of the Decade it came down to 2 guys for me: Y2J and Punk. A lot of people will probably disagree with your choice but I totally see why you said Punk. Punk is one of the best I have seen since the likes of The Rock and Austin. Now, I don't want to jinx him and say he's gonna be a legend and be in the HOF, but this guy sure does have the potential. He's easily one of the best pure wrestlers out there right now, and his mic work is nothing short of fantastic. From the first time I saw this guy in a WWE ring, he's been my favorite current wrestler. I've seen some of his ROH stuff, but after reading your post im definitely gonna check out his older stuff. Honestly I wasn't really aware of any of Punk's work prior to ROH, so I didn't choose him for Wrestler of the Decade. I chose Jericho because I distinctly remember his great matches from the very beginning of this decade all the way up to now.

Punk has already done some great work in WWE though, and there's plenty more coming.

 

[KillBill]

My vote is for the man who has proven to be the BEST in-ring performer of all time, and one of the top two wrestlers ever: HBK Shawn Michaels. Here's why:

Lets see here, he came back after a 4 years of healing, and has wrestled better than or as good as anyone has this decade, He has consistently put over the younger talent (Shelton Benjamin, Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Masters, Carlito, The Legacy), he has won the PWI Match of the Year award the last 4 years (soon to be 5 when his match with Undertaker wins this year) he has had some amazingly awesome promos, either in DX or on his own, he has constantly stolen the show at Wrestlemania this decade, he has had some of the best feuds this decade (vs HHH, vs The McMahons, vs Jericho, vs Kurt Angle) and his matches have been some of the most memorable:

Unsanctioned Match with HHH (Summerslam 2002)
First Elimination Chamber (Survivor Series 2002)
Three Stages of Hell with HHH (Armageddon 2002)
vs Chris Jericho (WrestleMania 19)
Last Man Standing Match vs HHH (Royal Rumble 2003)
Triple Threat vs HHH and Beniot (Wrestlemania 20)
Hell in a Cell Match vs HHH (Badd Blood 2003)
Team Austin vs Team Bischoff (Survivor Series 2003)
vs Kurt Angle (Wrestlemania 21)
vs Shelton Benjamin (Raw) (Who will ever forget that Super Kick at the end!?)
vs McMahon (Wrestlemania 22)
The God Match (Backlash 2006)
Hell In A Cell vs The McMahons & Big Show
The Royal Rumble Match 2007 (I will always believe that the ending to that match with HBK and Taker going at it for I believe to be 10 minutes will always be one of the three best endings to a Rumble ever)
vs John Cena (WrestleMania 23 & The Hour Long Match in London)
vs Ric Flair (WrestleMania 24)
His entire Feud with Chris Jericho in 2008
vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 25)
Submission Match vs The Legacy (Breaking Point 2009)

HBK was heading into the Hall of Fame before he got hurt, and left, but what he proved when he came back is that he is one of, if not THE best of all time. HBK is definitely my pick for Wrestler of the Decade.

If you would have said back in 2000 at the beggining of the decade, that HBK would be wrestler of this decade, you woulda been locked up in a nuthouse. He hadnt wrestled in a couple yrs, and a return seemed impossible, esp to come back to be as great as he is. Just kinda funny how things turned out.

To me, its Kurt Angle. He debuted at the end of '99, so hes pretty much only wrestled in this decade. But hes had few bad matches if any, and he puts his healtth and bodfy on the line even when he shouldn't. He was able to wrestle Rock, Austin, HHH, etc, then take on newcomers like Lesnar, and help build superstars like Team Angle, Lesnar, then be one of the faces for TNA and his matches are still amazing and he makes people look good all the time. Plus he is a pure wrestler, with a range of moves, and who's matches weren't that predictable. I put him over other guys, because he has wrestled the greatest superstars that we have ever seen, and beaten them all at least once. Find me someone else who has beaten the likes of HHH, HBK, Austin, Rock, Hogan, Lesnar, Show, and Sting, among others. He may be the only one, because even though HHH or Jericho have beaten most, they have not beaten Sting, or some of the other guys in TNA. His Titles and Win/loss record against the best we have ever seen gives him my vote.

 

[miroa12004]

For me the superstar of the decade is without a doubt Shawn Michaels, the man since his returnement in 2002, had classic bouts with the likes of Triple H, Chris Jericho, John Cena and The Undertaker, he even Vince McMahon look good, he stopped using his backstage politics and began to help pushing younger guys like Egde, Kennedy and Orton, to me the man is a legend and if it weren't for his four year hiatus, he would've been the best wrestler ever.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

I agree with The Game Rage.

How anyone can vote against Triple H is beyond me. He's main-evented since the beginning of the decade and hasn't slowed down since. The McMahon-Helmsley era, the Evolution Era, the DX era. One of the highest merchandise sellers. He's been involved in some of the most high profile feuds, won numerous titles and has had excellent matches all decade. How anyone can vote against him is ludicrous. Probably out of sheer blind hate. This man has been on top, and he's there because he is what he says he is...That Damn Good!

Everyone who voted Jericho... Why? He took a two year absence. Sure Trips was injured, but he never left the company. Also, how many of Jericho's title reigns were important or remembered? I love the man, but people need to stop sucking his dick, cause eventually it will fall off.

 

[*The Legend Killer*]

This one goes to Shawn Michaels. I think he has really proven himself in these past 10 years. While you put some great choices,I gotta go with the Heart Break Kid.

 

[JayBriscoe2010]

HBK! I really think Shawn is the greatest Wrestler of all time. What he did before the back injury was more then most ever did alone but to come back 4 years later and be even better? That's just fn nuts. Theres a reason their coming out with a 3rd HBK dvd in March. I know others can but he can do it all, chain wrestle,brawl,high flying and tell a damn good story. Kurt Angle and Jericho are close 2nd choices for me.

 

[K Bro 30]

John Cena. He started the decade unknown, and ended the decade as the face of the WWE (at least the best selling merchandiser/most well-known in mainstream media). In a world full of people creeping around backstage and constant internet reports, Cena even pulled off one of the most shocking returns ever seen at the Royal Rumble in 2008. He is a multi-time World champion, he has main-evented at Wrestlemania, he has proven himself time and time again. This decade we saw Cena rise through the ranks, from US to World Champion. He's won the title on both brands, and he is a star.

 

[JayBriscoe2010]

John Cena. He started the decade unknown, and ended the decade as the face of the WWE (at least the best selling merchandiser/most well-known in mainstream media). In a world full of people creeping around backstage and constant internet reports, Cena even pulled off one of the most shocking returns ever seen at the Royal Rumble in 2008. He is a multi-time World champion, he has main-evented at Wrestlemania, he has proven himself time and time again. This decade we saw Cena rise through the ranks, from US to World Champion. He's won the title on both brands, and he is a star.

Sorry dude but you sound like a PWI Magazine. I dont see how you can make a vouch for Cena based on Star status and how many shirts he sells for 7 year olds. I would just like to think this miiiiiiiiiiight have something to do with actual Wrestling.

 

[THE SWAG]

this is a tough it is either between y2j, hbk, kurt angle, and lets not forget even though he is not with us anymore , EDDIE GUERRERO, he was one of the few that introduced the lucha libre style to the united states, could go the distance with alomst any wrestler, if he was face or heel, the fans still respected him, please remove lesner out of there he doesn't belong

 

[K Bro 30]

Sorry dude but you sound like a PWI Magazine. I dont see how you can make a vouch for Cena based on Star status and how many shirts he sells for 7 year olds. I would just like to think this miiiiiiiiiiight have something to do with actual Wrestling.

I missed the part where scripted wrestling is actual wrestling....not to make it sound real negative. I love watching pro-wrestling, but the way it is now, it's about getting the crowd into it, and gaining hype.

And outside of the selling t-shirts, he is also a 7-time world champion, 3-time US Champion, former Tag Champion, and a Royal Rumble winner. Those are achievements that a lot of guys don't accomplish in a career, let alone one decade. Selling shirts doesn't have to do with the ring directly, but if he's doing well in the ring, people buy his merchandise. He went from unknown in 2000 to wrestling's biggest name in 2009, and no one has made as much progression and done more in this decade.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Sorry dude but you sound like a PWI Magazine. I dont see how you can make a vouch for Cena based on Star status and how many shirts he sells for 7 year olds. I would just like to think this miiiiiiiiiiight have something to do with actual Wrestling.

Actually that is part of the equation is professional wrestling and entertainment are one in the same. When you go out there and entertain the crowd, you will attract more fans who will buy more merchandise which makes more money which means you are the top guy in the company. Cena has had plenty of great matches over the years with the likes of Edge, Orton, HHH, and HBK so he is in the running for wrestler of the decade.

 

[Shocky]

Based on the list, and my own personal opinion, the only person on this list worthy of Wrestler of the Decade is Kurt Angle. I realize that the voting is over, and the love fest that Jericho has received the last year has blinded everyone into voting him unjustifiably into the Wrestler of the Decade status, but better late then never.

Wrestler of the Decade, which pretty much means over the course of 10 years, and I'm pretty sure that Chris Jericho left the business for 2+ years to work on his band Fozzy, oh and get kicked out of a Fox show for being the worst celebrity singer in the group.

Kurt Angle has been dominant wherever he went, whether, Raw, Smackdown, ECW, or TNA. The guy dominated everyone in the ring, and puts on quality matches with everyone he gets int he ring with. He was more decorated then Jericho this decade as well. He did more, over a bigger territory.

 

[JayBriscoe2010]

Actually that is part of the equation is professional wrestling and entertainment are one in the same. When you go out there and entertain the crowd, you will attract more fans who will buy more merchandise which makes more money which means you are the top guy in the company. Cena has had plenty of great matches over the years with the likes of Edge, Orton, HHH, and HBK so he is in the running for wrestler of the decade.

Sorry but I fail to see how selling merch has to do with being a great Wrestler. Yeah he has had good matches I wont deny that but to put him on this list made no sense to me. What I see in Cena is ******ed humor on the mic and sloppy delivery in all the moves he does, sorry but I wont ever drink the kool-aid with this.

 

[Supernova]

In my mind, this has to be HHH. I don't even like him that much anymore, and personally prefer a lot of the other wrestlers on the list, but to be honest it's between him and Jericho, and Angle as well. Cena is good but he only really blew up in 2005 - I'm not saying lower card wrestlers aren't good but that's essentially all he was for half the decade. By the same token, The Rock and Austin's impact is more in the era straddling the 90's and 00's as opposed to this decade itself. Not disrespecting TNA, but Angle going there probably disadvantages him, as does Jericho taking time off.

Now for HHH. He started the decade feuding with Foley, with the Street Fight AND HIAC matches both being awesome. He became a top level heel in the McMahon Helmsely era, the best heel of this generation, and had awesome fueds with The Rock and Stone Cold (3 Stages of Hell match ftw). He had an underrated match with the Undertaker at WM X-7 (widely regarded as one of the best) and formed the Two Man Power Trip with Austin, once again dominating the federation. Although he missed the Invasion angle, his return was pretty epic and shows how much he was missed - winning the Royal Rumble and subsequently the Undisputed World Championship from Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania that year. He had an epic feud with Shawn Michaels a couple of years later - which had a number of quality matches, and also formed Evolution, the definitive stable this decade. Batista and to a lesser extent Orton were helped greatly by this guy. His match at WMXX against Benoit and HBK is probably my favourite this decade, and he did a very good job of putting over the new champion. He's had other top drawer matches with the likes of Cena, and although the new DX and his feud with Orton last year blemish his resume somewhat, he truly has achieved most of his greatness this decade.

 

[icefusion123]

Chris Jericho IMO shouldn't be the top guy. The Undertaker should be. Chris Jericho is great, but he got fired in 2004 and then came back three years later in a feud with Orton and I don't even think he beat Orton for the title. And before 2004. He was pretty good, a solid upper midcard wrestler for sure. Now he's amazing, but with adding all that up, I don't think Jericho should be the top guy. The Undertaker I think is the top guy, with Triple H a very close second, and The Rock a very close third.

 

[Supernova]

I dunno dude, the Undertaker is always very solid, but he hasn't really had any memorable feud's this decade if I'm honest - he can produce the goods in one of matches but on a day to day basis he's been patchy, and for a long while he'd rarely even appear on Smackdown! For sure he deserved to be nominated but I'd rather Jericho was top than him - both have shown versatility with gimmicks and such this decade, but this was also the decade the Undertaker became defunct as a relevant wrestler - everyone knows he's retiring soon, he will never be heel again and every Wrestlemania is going to be the same for him from now on.

 

[icefusion123]

I dunno dude, the Undertaker is always very solid, but he hasn't really had any memorable feud's this decade if I'm honest - he can produce the goods in one of matches but on a day to day basis he's been patchy, and for a long while he'd rarely even appear on Smackdown! For sure he deserved to be nominated but I'd rather Jericho was top than him - both have shown versatility with gimmicks and such this decade, but this was also the decade the Undertaker became defunct as a relevant wrestler - everyone knows he's retiring soon, he will never be heel again and every Wrestlemania is going to be the same for him from now on.

Well, I was just giving my opinion there. I don't think you can decide with any of these guys.

These guys are either gone, have left for long periods of time, or are injured. The real world and the wrestling world was far too sporadic in the 2000's I think to even accurately come to a conclusion on this. I just picked Taker because he has stuck around for the decade and dominated very well.

Although I agree, it is somewhat painful to watch him in the ring. He's old. He has injuries. His gimmick has been very worn out, Jericho mentioned that in a segment. But I think compared to Jericho and the rest, the Undertaker, on paper, looks like the most deserving out of all of them. But that isn't a ruling set in stone really.

Oh and BTW, expect this Wrestlemania to be predictable if he does face HBK. They are 2-1, so expect Undertaker to beat him once more, even the score and propel the streak to 19-0. But then Undertaker eliminated HBK from Royal Rumble 2007, so maybe they can have HBK eliminate Undertaker in some battle royal in the buildup to that match after it's been announced.