Your all time "Mount Rushmore" of wrestlers

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XIV
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Your all time "Mount Rushmore" of wrestlers

Post by XIV » Oct 6th, '22, 07:54

I'm sure this topic must have been done, but it's always good to see everyone's opinions.

Today's question... Who is in your all-time wrestling Mount Rushmore?

Criteria:
Must have been a primarily active wrestler.
Last edited by XIV on Oct 6th, '22, 08:32, edited 2 times in total.
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XIV
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Re: Your all time "Mount Rushmore" of active wrestlers

Post by XIV » Oct 6th, '22, 08:24

I'll go first.

Antonio Inoki
Ric Flair
Terry Funk
Undertaker

Let me explain my picks.

Antonio Inoki, my earlier musing made me think about his placement in this list, well-earned and I have to look at his stature in the world of professional wrestling at a time where legitimacy was still a factor and how he managed to eventually transcend both Western and Japanese wrestling culture. A former IWGP World Champion who made it into WWE's & WCW's Halls of fame with 4x PWI's match of the year awards & 1 PWI Promoter of the year award. There was only one other even remotely like Inoki, and that was Baba who I thought about adding to this list, but his later career lets him down.

Ric Flair, come on now, probably the greatest wrestling heel of all-time. He re-wrote the playbook and book still being used to this day. Look at MJF, everything he does stinks of Ric Flair, look at The Miz, exactly the same thing. Whilst he continues to retire and come out and retire, Ric Flair's name still invokes legitimacy, nostalgia and admiration all over the world. Nobody sold tickets like a Ric Flair blow-off match. A 16x World Champion, former NWA World Champion, WWE World Champion, WCW World Champion & 3x PWI time feud of the year & 5x match of the year in a 25 year period between 1983 & 2008,

Terry Funk, transcended all types of wrestling, was able to integrate into all kinds of wrestling cultures, be it Japanese, American, sure he did a lot of death match style stuff, but he had that psychology & promo ability to make it work, that Mick Foley borrowed so heavily from. Terry Funk also had a legitimate wrestling ability where he could get down on the mat as good as anyone else and produce good wrestling matches a former NWA World Champion, ECW World Champion, PWI wrestler of the year. The only place Terry Funk didn't really translate to, was the WWF and that was typical of Vince booking an "outsider".

Undertaker, now, this one is not too hard to explain. In an industry absolutely filled with backstabbing, backstage politicking, scandals & jumping from company to company one man stood firm. The Undertaker. Through all of the big wrestling boom, The Undertaker remained an almost constant in WWF/WWE. Able to re-invent himself where necessary in order to stay relevant, able to produce big match moments even way into the end of his career. Undertaker is easily the best "big man" wrestler of all time, he could have 5* matches with almost anybody, from the famous Raw ladder match with Jeff Hardy, to Wrestlemania matches vs Triple H & HBK. Undertaker also insisted that Maven eliminated him from a Royal Rumble in a selfless act that propelled Maven for a very short time into bigger things (sadly Maven's booking then dropped off entirely), an entrance that was almost as famous as any match he was involved in. Who else can captivate people to watch a wrestling entrance for 5+ minutes or more? Nobody, that's who. Undertaker's loyalty was unquestionable. 4x Match of the Year, 2x Feud of the Year, 7 World championships with a Wrestlemania streak that for several years made the wrestling world stop and pay attention. Undertaker deserves a spot in my Mount Rushmore of wrestling.
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Big Red Machine
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Re: Your all time "Mount Rushmore" of wrestlers

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 19th, '22, 22:11

Your case for Funk is quite compelling.

I'd make a similar case for Danielson.

Other than those two, I'll go with Austin and Angle.
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Re: Your all time "Mount Rushmore" of wrestlers

Post by cero2k » Dec 1st, '22, 20:23

On a personal, biased way, I'd go with
Minoru Suzuki
Perro Aguayo
Eddie Guerrero
Bryan Danielson (edging out Kobashi)
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