Posted May 20, 201212 yr For me, i'd say; 1950's - Lou Thesz Runner up: Gorgeous George 1960's - Bruno Sammartino Runner up: Buddy Rogers 1970's - Harley Race Runner up: Dory Funk, Jr. 1980's - Ric Flair Runner up: Dusty Rhodes 1990's - Bret Hart Runner up: The Undertaker 2000's - Kurt Angle Runner up: The Undertaker 2010's - ??? Your turn...
May 20, 201212 yr 50's - Lou Thesz / Gorgeous George 60's - Bruno Sammartino / Nick Bockwinkel 70's - Bruno Sammartino / Killer Kowalski 80's - Ric Flair / Hulk Hogan 90's - Bret Hart / Steve Austin 00's - The Undertaker / The Rock 10's - CM Punk / The Undertaker
May 20, 201212 yr For me, i'd say; 1950's - Lou Thesz Runner up: Gorgeous George 1960's - Bruno Sammartino Runner up: Buddy Rogers 1970's - Harley Race Runner up: Dory Funk, Jr. 1980's - Ric Flair Runner up: Dusty Rhodes 1990's - Bret Hart Runner up: The Undertaker 2000's - Kurt Angle Runner up: The Undertaker 2010's - ??? Your turn... 1950s lou thesz Gorgeous george 1960s buddy rogers Bruno sammartino 1970s harley race Jack brisco 1980s hulk hogan Ric flair 1990s steve austin Shawn michaels 2000s undertaker Triple hhh 2010s cm punk randy orton
May 20, 201212 yr Warrior was great in the late 80's but I have to pick Hogan for the 80's and Warrior only really mattered until 1991 and I preferred Hogan then too :lol
May 20, 201212 yr Warrior had a super run but never dominated any decade, similar to the rock who hasnt dominated any decade either, just didnt stick around long enough.
May 21, 201212 yr Harley Race is a guy whom I really dont get. Boring as a stick and really didnt live up to the hype for me, moreso than almost anyone else. For the 00s I'd go for Cena and Shawn. For the 10s so far, tricky, I'm quite tempted to go for Rey as #1, actually, if this is about performances. No idea who would be next.
May 21, 201212 yr Race is the ULTIMATE tough guy, that's what was good about him. I'm sorry, are you referring to...Rey Myterio? To be fair I think it's 7 1/2 years too early, if my maths is correct, to say who's the wrestler of the 10's, it could end up being Kassius Ohno for all we know.
May 21, 201212 yr 1980's - Hulk Hogan. Nobody else matters. The Rock? Austin? Bret Hart? Shawn Michaels? Kurt Angle? I know you have a unconditional love of everything 80's and a severe hatred of, well everything else, but you must admit the guys mentioned and others "mattered" just a tiny bit.
May 21, 201212 yr The Rock? Austin? Bret Hart? Shawn Michaels? Kurt Angle? I know you have a unconditional love of everything 80's and a severe hatred of, well everything else, but you must admit the guys mentioned and others "mattered" just a tiny bit.I was quite obviously being sarcastic and sayng I have a severe hatred of everything else shows how much you know. I was a massive fan of the Attitude Era, I loved wrestling up until 2003 when it turned to shit for me. I loved it throughout the early to mid 90's when nobody else gave a shit. So sorry, but you're wrong.
May 22, 201212 yr Race is the ULTIMATE tough guy, that's what was good about him. I'm sorry, are you referring to...Rey Myterio? To be fair I think it's 7 1/2 years too early, if my maths is correct, to say who's the wrestler of the 10's, it could end up being Kassius Ohno for all we know. Yes, Rey Mysterio. Like you say, its way too early to talk about the current decade, but looking at 2010-12, I think its Rey as far as performances go, even though he's missed the last 9 months. I cant think of anyone else as consistently great since the start of 2010. If we're making it an overall, THE man of the era thing, then so far its Cena by default and its not much of an argument. Ifs its both then Cena probably has a case anyway since he was great in '11, pretty good in '10 and has been good so far this year as well. Punk is probably up there, I find his '10 overrated but he was super last year and has the whole star making experience going for him as well.
May 22, 201212 yr I dunno, I think Punk makes a pretty good claim for 2010-2012. But yeah, too early to tell.
May 22, 201212 yr The more I think about it, the more I agree with you. What lets Punk down for me is, again, 2010. The first few months of the year were pretty great with the SES work and then the Rey feud, but he did nothing the rest of the year - the lame Show feud, then he moved to Raw and got injured. You can include the announcing I guess but that was still only a month or so out of a 7 month period of doing nothing of note. Plus his year is surprisingly sparse match-wise - the Rey matches were great but I dont think there is a single other match of his all year on the radar. BUT, having said that, he still has a strong case given the good points of 2010, plus his outstanding 2011 work-wise that doesnt need to be explained, he's been good this year and had strong matches with Henry, Bryan and Jericho, and just in an overall sense, it feels like he's become a big star in this time period, which probably counts for more than me breaking things down mathematically. Rey to me just had the better two-year period overall, looking at 10-11. Rey is a difficult argument, the nature of who he is means you're relying almost solely on in-ring work to make his case. But in a shallow field he was probably one of the best workers of 2010 - he did strong work not only with Punk but also Swagger, Alberto, Shawn, Batista. In 2011 he was amazing, I'd argue a case for him above almost anyone else for last year even though he missed 3 months of it. But of course the longer he's out the more of the period he misses and the more his 19-month run has to cover for it. Cena, while I'm here, to me is another one for overall consistency, as well as him being the biggest star by a considerable margin, if we're considering things like that. In 2010, again, he was one of the best of an ordinary year. He certainly has more matches for his case than Punk. 2011 was a great Cena year with a lot of top shelf matches. This year he's already done good with Rock and Brock. Plus there's all the good out of ring work as well - the Rock promos across a 12 month period, the good parts of Nexus, the Punk feud, the GREAT Batista feud, and so on. I think those three are the best candidates for the timespan by a safe margin.
May 22, 201212 yr Cena's pretty much a given since he's top dog. Not just that though, but the guy works hard to put on the best show he's capable of. While a lot of people may not agree due to their blind Cena hate, he's had some pretty damn good matches over the last two years. So, yeah, he's definitely in the running. I can see what you mean by choosing Rey. He's freaking great when he's at his best and at his worst he's still better than 90% of the guys on the roster. I honestly didn't realize how much I missed him til you brought him up. I've always been a fan and I'd like to see him make one more world class run before he gives it up. Maybe a final match with 'Taker at 'Mania? I'd be up for that.
May 22, 201212 yr I think its because Rey isnt a character/angles/promos guy - when he's not around you dont really notice that he's missing because he doesnt really do much other than wrestle, but when he is there he's amazing and makes such a difference and you wonder how you ever got through life without him.
May 22, 201212 yr The 80s belong to Hogan hands down. The 90s are a tougher one to call, I'd say Bret Hart for the early 90s, HBK for the mid 90s & Stone Cold for the late 90s. I'd give the 00s to HBK as he had so many awesome matches between 2002-2010 As its already been said, its to early to judge this decade but so far I suppose it has to go to Cena Edited May 22, 201212 yr by Edgehead
For me, i'd say;
1950's - Lou Thesz
Runner up: Gorgeous George
1960's - Bruno Sammartino
Runner up: Buddy Rogers
1970's - Harley Race
Runner up: Dory Funk, Jr.
1980's - Ric Flair
Runner up: Dusty Rhodes
1990's - Bret Hart
Runner up: The Undertaker
2000's - Kurt Angle
Runner up: The Undertaker
2010's - ???
Your turn...