Who Is On The Mount Rushmore Of Pro Wrestling?

[SHAQATTACK]

Haystack Calhoun

Nature Boy / Piper tag team

Andrea Giant

Chief Wahoo McDaniels

[nickagneta]

Ogaju has a great example that probably needs to be touched upon by wrestling experts, of which I am not, but will attempt to be here: What about international wrestlers?

Mexico and Japan have wrestling histories nearly as long and prestigious as the states. Two guys that deserve mention are Mil Mascaras and Antonio Inoki. Both are not only the greatest wrestlers from their respective countries but also were the "Vince McMahons" in each country as they set up some of the biggest wrestling promotions outside the US.

Does a "Mount Rushmore" only have American wrestlers? Because there is an argument that can be made that Mascaras and Inoki are every bit as big in the history of worldwide wrestling as Flair or Hogan.

Does anyone remember how huge and how hyped the Inoki vs Andre matches were? For the time it took place in the early 70's, it was the equivalent that a Flair vs Hogan match would have been if both faced each other at the pinnacle of their careers in the early eighties.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

My favorites when I watched (the golden age):

Hogan
Undertaker
Macho Man
Ultimate Warrior
Bash Bros.
Yokozuna

I think Andre the Giant and Hogan are the greatest/most popular wrestlers.

[hpantazo]

On a related topic, I haven't watched much of it, but from what I've seen, the current era of WWE is pretty mediocre. We got spoiled in our days, especially during the peak of the WWE-WCW wars.

[nickagneta]

On a related topic, I haven't watched much of it, but from what I've seen, the current era of WWE is pretty mediocre. We got spoiled in our days, especially during the peak of the WWE-WCW wars.

AEW...watch it.

[perks-a-beast]

I grew up in the attitude/ruthless aggression era when pro wrestling was everything.

Tbh, as a kid I always thought Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan were beyond boring and outdated (although Flair had some hilarious promos). Maybe if I were born earlier I’d understand why people were putting them on here.

For me I’d say

- Stone Cold…Easily the most popular wrestler and the face of the company during its peak. I can’t even fathom how much he made the WWE in merchandise sales alone.

- Shawn Michaels…The greatest in ring talent of all time. So many amazing matches. If I had to compile my 25 favorite matches of all time, at least 10 of them would be Shawn Michaels matches ..and I started watching in 1999 and have seen very little of his 90’s work. It’s too bad the guy is a complete Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline..

- Mick Foley….Its hard to argue against Foley getting tossed of the Cell in 1998 wasn’t the greatest wrestling moment of all time. While I’m not too big a fan of the hardcore death matches type wrestling he was doing before WWE, it’s impossible to overlook his contributions to the art. His three personas - Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love were all equally awesome.

- The Undertaker…Three decades of amazing work. The greatest and most respected wrestler of all time. Could have amazing matches against giants or cruiserweights. Everybody wanted to work with the guy for good reason - he’s the GOAT

Honorable Mentions

- The Rock…most electrifying man in sports entertainment history with the best promos and catch phrases of all time I don’t think he makes it over those four guys though since he doesn’t match their longevity.

- Edge…In my opinion the greatest heel of all time. Outrageously good matches both in the tag team and singles division. I really don’t think Edge gets the respect he deserves.

- Kurt Angle…won a gold medal with a broken freaking neck…need I say more? Incredible in ring work. Has all time great matches with everyone I just listed with maybe the exception of mick foley. Hilarious heel gimmick as well.

[hpantazo]

On a related topic, I haven't watched much of it, but from what I've seen, the current era of WWE is pretty mediocre. We got spoiled in our days, especially during the peak of the WWE-WCW wars.

AEW...watch it.

I'll check it out!

[SHAQATTACK]

I think we can see Celtics fans take their wrestling pretty seriously 

[Birdman]

AEW is a thousand times better than WWE

[mef730]

There are five, and there's no way to do it without these five. But if you have to dump one, it's Flair.

Gorgeous George
Bruno Sammartino
Hulk Hogan
Ric Flair
Vince McMahon

Mike

[mef730]

What about greatest tag teams or factions:

Four Horsemen
Road Warriors
Von Erichs
Harlem Heat

Just off Rushmore(so so many good ones)

Steiner Brothers(might be Rushmore if 5)
Rock n Roll Express
Midnight Express
Hart Foundation
Fabulous Free birds
Edge & Christian
Hardy Boys
Dudley Boyz
Wild Samoans
New Day
Usos

So many more. Haven't even touched on some of the pre-80's guys.

It's the Road Warriors alone on Mount Rushmore. Everyone else is along for the ride. Man, I remember watching them as a kid, and when the music came on...

I'll also give you Four Horseman and the Von Erichs, even though they aren't a 2-man tag team. But I've also got to get the Fabulous Freebirds in there.

Mike

[nickagneta]

What about greatest tag teams or factions:

Four Horsemen
Road Warriors
Von Erichs
Harlem Heat

Just off Rushmore(so so many good ones)

Steiner Brothers(might be Rushmore if 5)
Rock n Roll Express
Midnight Express
Hart Foundation
Fabulous Free birds
Edge & Christian
Hardy Boys
Dudley Boyz
Wild Samoans
New Day
Usos

So many more. Haven't even touched on some of the pre-80's guys.

It's the Road Warriors alone on Mount Rushmore. Everyone else is along for the ride. Man, I remember watching them as a kid, and when the music came on...

I'll also give you Four Horseman and the Von Erichs, even though they aren't a 2-man tag team. But I've also got to get the Fabulous Freebirds in there.

Mike

I loved the Steiner Brothers/Road Warrior feuds. Those four were so innovative and in real life could probably disembowel someone with their bare hands.

The first time I saw Scott Steiner, a very large human being, do his Frankensteiner by jumping mid ring onto the oncoming guys shoulders that he had just thrown into the ropes and flipping him over, I thought "Dude must be superhuman. No mere mortal that's NFL linebacker size or bigger should be able to do that!"

[knuckleballer]

 Andre!  Andre!

In 1993, when the then-World Wrestling Federation created the WWF Hall of Fame, André the Giant was the inaugural and sole inductee in the class of 1993.


He outsold The Rolling Stones
Wrestlemania III in 1987: The main event is Andre the Giant v Hulk Hogan and 78,000 fans descend upon the Pontiac Silver Dome in 1987, at the time setting an indoor attendance record that had previously been held by The Mick ‘n’ Keef and co. Talk about a street fightin’ man. main event is Andre the Giant v Hulk Hogan and 78,000 fans descend upon the Pontiac Silver Dome in 1987, at the time setting an indoor attendance record that had previously been held by The Mick ‘n’ Keef and co.

Andre with a young Dwayne Johnson


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesportster.com/wrestling/top-15-epic-real-life-andre-the-giant-stories/amp/

Andre was drinking with a few mates in a bar in either Montreal or New York. He was hassled incessantly by a few unsavory gentlemen, one of who decided to slap him on the back. After a while Andre was sick of the harassment and leaped to his feet as the four rogues sprinted outside into their car to escape. Before they could drive away though, an enraged Andre took hold of the car in his hands and flipped it over with all four men still inside.

It wasn’t entirely uncommon for Andre power through 16 steaks, 12 lobsters, a case of beer and 10 bottles of wine in one sitting, usually topped off with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

Andre holding a can of beer


Andre should be above the Mt. Rushmore of wrestlers looking down on them.