WWE.com: Top 50 good guys in wrestling history

[RJJ]

Here is the top ten list:

1) Bruno Sammartino
2) Hulk Hogan
3) Steve Austin
4) John Cena
5) Sting
6) Bret Hart
7) Dusty Rhodes
8) The Rock
9) Ricky Steamboat
10) Rey Mysterio


hmm...Like always, a BS ranking by the WWE. Anyways, I think Hogan should be number one on the list, he's without a doubt the ultimate babyface. Bruno comes second, and then Cena...lol as Always Vince's lips to Austin's ass. Austin was never a good guy, ranking him that high is utter BS. The same thing with Rock..They don't belong in the top 10 list. I'd put Sting at number 4, and bret at 5.




Full list:
http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/top-50-good-guys




Any thoughts?

 

[TylerFloyd5283]

i agree with your thoughts on the rock and austin but remember the one thing is vince always caters to whats best for buisness im more on the lines that this list is who drew the most money for wwwf/wwf/wwe those are the good guys to vince, where i agree with your thoughts but shocked they put sting on the list he deserves to be wheres at but throws an intresting wrench in my justifying the list.... perhaps vince is throwing sting a bone????? sorry im drunk so deal with the confusion haha

 

[GameOver]

Here is the top ten list:

1) Bruno Sammartino
2) Hulk Hogan
3) Steve Austin
4) John Cena
5) Sting
6) Bret Hart
7) Dusty Rhodes
8) The Rock
9) Ricky Steamboat
10) Rey Mysterio


hmm...Like always, a BS ranking by the WWE. Anyways, I think Hogan should be number one on the list, he's without a doubt the ultimate babyface. Bruno comes second, and then Cena...lol as Always Vince's lips to Austin's ass. Austin was never a good guy, ranking him that high is utter BS. The same thing with Rock..They don't belong in the top 10 list. I'd put Sting at number 4, and bret at 5.




Full list:
http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/top-50-good-guys




Any thoughts?

Bruno was the face of the company for nearly 12 straight years, Hogan only lasted 8 years then wound down in WWF and then a further 3 in WCW b4 he went heel and then back and forth beyond that, i agree though that Hogan should be the top spot since he's the most known name period, everyone who's anyone knows of Hulkamania and those 8 glorious years.
that's where they are getting there ranking from i guess.
Hogan is the ultimate babyface to those of us that grew up with him, but those that saw Bruno might think different.

i agree on Austin to a point but he was the face of the company for 4yrs straight and the biggest draw while he was a face, but he was never a "good" guy, he was just a cool asshole.

but then same could be said for The Rock, he was never a "good" guy he was always making fun of people and bullying the staff. but he was the People's Champion for a number of years.

never take much interest in the best of lists cause they are purely subjective and what they consider good is not necessarily what you or i think. and they don't like using people who have pissed them off whether they are a perfect fit or not

 

[disturbedbob]

Ricky Steamboat should be higher as he was a face for his entire career. I would have Sting at 1 and Steamboat 2nd. Hogan would have been top but the NWO changed that. Bruno 3rd and Bret Hart 4th. No Austin. No Rock and No Cena. Of the current roster only Rey and Kofi deserve a mention. No one else is a true babyface....even Cena. How about Hacksaw or Tito Santana in the Top 10? I don't remember either guy being a heel. Dare I utter the words ...Jeff....Hardy?

 

[boywithbluehanger]

It seriously pisses me off every time I see these lists because of how much Vince tries to convince people that Stone Cold was the greatest of all time. It makes me think that since Austin is less successful than The Rock and less of an iconic legend than Hogan, Vince feels obligated to declare him the greatest wrestler ever to live just so Austin has something. I do believe that he and The Rock do deserve to be in the top 10 on the list because they were at their peak when they were battling against heels.

When Austin was taking on Vince, he was at his peak and that story arc is what's most remembered from him. When The Rock was taking on the Corporation, Big Show, The McMahon-Hemsley "fac-geme", etc, he was the good guy. I don't think they mean goodie-two-shoes when they say good guy. I think they just mean face or babyface. And its pretty clear that the three faces to have the most impact in the WWE are Hogan, Rock, and Austin. Honestly, I think in that order too.

 

[OutsiderDX]

It's not a terrible list. I give credit to the E for putting Sting up there. But there a few very laughable wrestlers are listed here.

Wrestlers who spent their entire career as faces should be at the top of the list.

Austin was a heel most of his career in WCW and then in ECW. Very few of his actions can be considered "good guy-like"

Hogan had a huge run in WCW as a heel, and was one of the most evil, cowardly and arrogant characters ever.

The Rock was hardly a good guy during his run. He had heel personality that was cheered.

7 of the 10 are good choices. We can't expect any better from the website.

A few others to add :

Kurt Angle- his character was based on being the good-guy, but of course was jeered for it.

Miss Elizabeth- her entire run in the WWF was as the beautiful and gentle manager

Tito Santana - As mentioned before

 

[crippler]

Bruno deserves the number one Spot he was the face longer than Hogan ever was. Also this kind of list is all opinion based there were also guys some thought should have been on it. Not many if any will ever agree to these lists 100% everyone has a different opinion.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Stone Cold is considered a "good guy" because of his feud against the Mr. McMahon character. Vince portrayed an arrogant, greedy corporate executive that viewed himself as a god. Not too far from reality from what I've heard. Compared to Vince, Austin was infinitely more likable. Was he the kind of "good guy" that gave you warm & fuzzy feelings inside? Of course not. Austin was a perfect representative of what type of "hero" people embraced during the late 90s. During that time period, everything in the media was about generating controversy and everything was painted in shades of gray. Austin wouldn't be considered a traditional "good guy" but the Attitude Era wasn't a traditional time in pro wrestling history either. In many ways, the same goes for The Rock. If you look at The Rock now, personally, the guy comes off as a real arrogant asshole. Even though he was the same way during the Attitude Era, again, everything was different then. What was "good or bad" was very ambiguous.

As for whether Hogan or Sammartino should be #1, either or works for me. Both men carried the company for so long. Sammartino was the man in WWE for the better part of 15 years. He was the first true superstar in the history of the company. Hogan is the overall biggest moneymaker in the history of the company. Good arguments can be made for either guy.

It's refreshing to see Sting in the top 5 on the list. I can see Rey Mysterio on the list because he's so over with young fans. Rey's character, like a lot of the colorful luchadores in Mexico, have a lot of appeal to younger fans. Rey is more along the lines of a colorful, traditional hero or "good guy". Number 10 might be a bit high. I'm not really seeing Ricky Steamboat in the top 10. Steamboat was a phenom inside the ring but he's someone that never really struck me as a standout character or good guy.

Dusty Rhodes is the ultimate blue collar hero so seeing him in this top 10 is justifiable in my eyes.

But yeah, all in all, it's best not to take these lists seriously as it's all subjective. They can be a fun thing to talk about or debate just like the various wrestling industry awards given out by PWI and the WON.

At the same time, it's a very diversified list. There are a lot of wrestlers the WWE put on here that wouldn't immediately jump to mind for a LOT of fans, wrestlers that weren't really all that known in the WWE back in the day, etc. Guys that are old school legends like Bob Armstrong, Bob Backlund, Chief Wahoo McDaniel Tommy Rich, Bobo Brazil, The Bruiser & The Crusher, Danny Hodge, The Rock & Roll Express & Magnum TA. More contemporary favorites like Shawn Michaels, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Road Warriors, Macho Man Randy Savage, Luchadores like Mil Mascaras & Rey Mysterio. More modern stars like Kofi Kingston, Trish Stratus & Jeff Hardy. Even ECW guys like Tommy Dreamer & Rob Van Dam.

While the list is subjective, I'm impressed to see all these different ones listed. Some of those listed are people that you'd think Vince would never want recognized, just based on what we believe we know about Vince. Some are favorites that you'd think would be ranked higher and some are guys, as I said, that you'd never really think to be mentioned on any WWE.com article listing "the greatest" in anything unless it would be something derogatory.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Anyways, I think Hogan should be number one on the list, he's without a doubt the ultimate babyface. Bruno comes second....

Obviously, it's hard for people to measure the importance of things that happened before our ability to remember them, but from everything I've heard, Bruno's impact was above even Hogan's. Of course, it's a hard thing to compare; in Bruno's time, there was no Internet, there wasn't massive coverage of events like pro wrestling, and WWWF was a regional promotion...... there wasn't yet any vehicle that broadcasted Bruno's fame nationally or internationally. How can we compare Bruno and Hogan?

Still, little old Italian grandmothers in Brooklyn who didn't know a thing about wrestling still knew who Bruno Sammartino was. His was a household name, not because of any media blitz but because he was a grind-it-out, honest wrestler who defended his title every month at a sold out Madison Square Garden. People went crazy to see him perform. That was the way it was done back then; the weekly TV show was used to build the gate for the house show. No PPVs yet. When Bruno left WWE for a few years in the early 70's, he traveled the country and drew sell-out crowds everywhere, a tribute to his legend. Even after performing strictly in the East, everyone still knew who he was and clamored to see him. His image was never put in a cartoon. He never appeared in a movie. His ring persona was his own.....and that's what his fame was based on.

Do I know this about Bruno because I've seen it? No, that's the point; I wasn't born yet. This is what I've learned in talking with people who remember, and they remember Bruno well. Just because something happened before our time doesn't diminish it's importance or place in history.

I think wwe.com's placement of Bruno ahead of Hogan is spot on.

 

[BigThunder]

Bruno was never a heel, Hogan was. To me that's what would put Bruno above Hogan. Both the Rock and Stone Cold were heelish for far too long to be on that list, and both of them played anti-heroes for most of their face runs, especially Austin.

My list would look something like:

!. Bruno
2. Steamboat
3. Rhodes
4. Sting
5. Andre
6. Hogan
7. Cena
8. Strongbow
9. Hart
10. Magnum TA./Kerry Von Erich (tie)

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I'm actually impressed with this whole top 50.

They really did a good job including guys that are generally forgotten about these days, or if they're remembered, they're remembered for how they are today, instead of how they were in their primes.

Danny Hodge? Antonio Rocca? Bullet Bob Armstrong? Good for them.

I do find it funny that their list of top 50 'Good Guys' has 3 people on it who've killed another person before, but then this is a kayfabe list

To the people complaining about Austin being so high? Forget the attitude era backlash that for some reason exists on this board. Austin was THE good guy in the WWF for a long time. As the writer of the list even explains, Austin didn't fit the traditional mold of a good guy, but he redefined what it was to be a fan favorite with his refuse to back down attitude. He changed the business not by following the trends, but rather by creating new ones.

Don't look at the actions... look at the REACTION. Austin was popular. To an entire generation, he was THE good guy.

And the guy that said that Austin wasn't as iconic as Hogan? Just like Hogan was the biggest wrestler in the world in the 80's... Austin was in the 90's. Both transcended the business like no others. They were absolutely as iconic to their generations as each other. The only reason the kids today might have a better idea who Hogan is than Austin is the fact that Hogan keeps managing to get himself onto TMZ for doing various, stupid things, whereas Austin just lives a quieter, more normal life these days.

 

[Jmallett]

hogan should not be ranked higher than austin because stone cold is the ultimate good guy he was the anti hero that made a whole society believe in him

 

[Trill Co$by]

hogan should not be ranked higher than austin because stone cold is the ultimate good guy he was the anti hero that made a whole society believe in him

You are a fucking moron. Hogan was THE guy that took wrestling on his back and brought it to the limelight. Austin's character was nothing more than Razor Ramon with beer, or even more-so, a Sandman rip off (ironic since he came from ECW). Austin was a great wrestler and popular, I can understand that, but Hogan was THE guy that made wrestling and for that he should be as high as possible on that list, which IS above Austin.

For those who choose not to read the article, here's the descending 50-11 names.

50. DDP
49. Rocky Johnson
48. Bob Armstrong
47. Trish Stratus
46. Danny Hodge
45. Tommy Dreamer
44. Pedro Morales
43. Kofi Kingston
42. Ivan Putski
41. Tommy Rich
40. Lex Luger
39. Wahoo McDaniel
38. Eddie Guerrero
37. Anotnino Rocca
36. Mr. Wrestling II
35. Jerry Lawler
34. Tito Santana
33. Verne Gagne
32. RVD
31. Chief Jay Strongbow
30. Jack Brisco
29. Hacksaw
28. Bob Backlund
27. Mil Mascaras
26. Road Warriors/Legion of Doom
25. Bobo Brazil
24. Shawn Michaels
23. The Crusher & The Bruiser
22. Jimmy Snuka
21. Goldberg
20. Mankind
19. Randy Savage
18. Magnum TA
17. Ultimate Warrior
16. Jeff Hardy
15. Andre the Giant
14. Rock n Roll Express
13. Junkyard Dog
12. Undertaker
11. The Von Erichs

Sure, I have some reserves about the list, but keeping in mind that this is WWE's opinions, I can see how this list makes sense. I do admire the WWE's ability to look past their own selfishness and pay respect to stars that absolutely DO deserve to be on the list.

 

[obamartins]

Antonio Inoki should be #1 & he isn't even on the list.

This is WRESTLING HISTORY not WWE HISTORY.

Also where is Rikidozan? Giant Baba? El Santo? Lou Thesz? & many many more....

The likes of Kofi Kingston above DDP? give me a break.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Dusty Rhodes has to be in the Top 5 - he was so over in the 1980s it was unreal, there was nobody in WWE outside of Hogan who could pop crowd as a fan fav better than Rhodes.

 

[fouldsy91]

I don't understand how Austin ad Rock are up there, yes they were "faces" in the sense of the word but they weren't exactly squeaky clean good guys like Hogan or Cena is today.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

WWE's lists are getting alot better. But like every other, this one has it's problems.

First off in a list of "good guys" I think performers should be judged solely on how good of a babyface they were & how long of their careers they were a babyface.

Secondly, I agree both Austin & The Rock were not only anti-hero babyfaces but each spent around half if not more of there careers as heels, I don't think they should be in the top 10.

I think the top 3 would easily be:
1 - Bruno
2 - Cena
3 - Hogan(below Cena only because he is remembered for his heel turn & NWO)

Also I think I'd put Eddie in the mid-40's & both Rey & Kofi a couple spots higher. I'm suprised Brodus Clay isn't on this list. I think HBK should be closer to Lawler because both were excellent long time heels but are remembered as huge babyfaces. Also I think Taker should be a little higher, while Andre should be a little lower. As well I agree Inoki & Lou hesz should have made the list, easy! Easily Miss Elizabeth too! I think Tito Santana should have been #50 too. And Jeff Hardy should be at the very bottom if anything.

 

[Just Do It]

Rock n Roll Express shouldn't be on that list as hot as they were in the 80's it was ALWAYS on a small scales compared to polularity of the Bulldogs, Foundation, Rockers etc.

Goldberg should be hire on that list - I'm talking top 5. He was WHITE HOT when he was in his prime, people loved him, he crossed over into the mainstream with ease.

 

[The Great King]

I agree that Austin should not have been so high on the list. Sure he was a face but he wasn't that good of a guy, he beat up anybody and everybody who stepped in his way. I think number 1 should have been Ricky Steamboat. As far as I know he was always a face and he always had the fans support.

 

[thebarber]

Steamboat and Tito Santana should both be in the top 5, neither guy ever wrestled heel there entire careers.

Sammartino may have been the face of the company for 12 years, but nobody was bigger than Hulk Hogan, Hogan should be clearly number one, his gimmick was completely about being a hero to kids and people world wide. Id have Hogan 1, Sammartino 2, Steamboat 3, Santana 4 and Dusty Rhodes 5

 

[theBec2101]

If we are solely going off of the gimmick and not the actual person in real life I would have to go with the following top 3. I am not doing the entire list.

Hogan- Say your prayers and eat your vitamins.
Cena- Hustle (work hard) Loyal (stay humble etc.) Respect (yourself and others)
Lex Luger and the Patriot- USA no further explanation required, Patriotism. They would of been one or two, but the gimmick didn’t really last.