I was on Youtube and looking at top ten lists and came across on for Wrestling. Amazingly they left out Bruno Samartino and Andre the Giant.
No Bruno is crazy. He has to be top-5. He's the longest running champion in history and I believe 3 of the 5 longest runs belong to him.
Andre is tough, it depends on what we are basing our ratings on. Success? Draw? In-ring ability? Ability to tell a story? Andre was a huge draw, but was almost never a champion, and had very little in-ring ability. In theory, Big Show beats Andre in 2 of those categories.
I was on Youtube and looking at top ten lists and came across on for Wrestling. Amazingly they left out Bruno Samartino and Andre the Giant.
I understand the argument against including Bruno... he was the beneficiary of being a champion in the biggest market largely in part based on his ethnic background. Moreover, his style of wrestling and character didn't translate at all to any later generation of wrestling (as witnessed during his comebacks in the 1980s). You couldn't say the same about guys like Austin, Flair, Rock, Hogan, Dusty, etc.
Andre is a tougher case to make in excluding him from the top 10 unless you are minimizing drawing power and emphasizing ring and mic work.
The list is supposed to be those sports entertainers who define, popularize or re-define the face of professional wrestling. To me, Bruno Samartino had more of an impact on wrestling than most on the list. The guy was in the industry for like four decades. According to the list (link below) the top 10 are:
10. Sting
9. The Macho Man Randy Savage (oh yea. I want me some Elizabeth)
8. The Ultimate Warrior
7. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
6. Ric Flair
5. Bret Hart
4. The Rock
3. Shawn Michaels
2. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
1. Hulk Hogan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFYRoMMtRFE
Flair at #6 is criminal. As much of a mark as I am, Flair and Hogan are 1 and 1a. However you rank them is really personal opinion at that point.
Warrior being on that list is a joke, he had 3-4 years of relevancy. No matter what you are grading by, Warrior is tough to rank top-25 let alone top-10. Someone brought up HHH maybe being top-25 earlier, but I think he's WAY ahead of Warrior.
As much as I pretty much loathe seeing the guy, John Cena has to be in the top-10 doesn't he? I mean, he's been the face of wrestling for a decade, and has what, 15 world titles? In all honesty, he's basically a less mainstream successful Hogan.
The Rock being 4th is a stretch to me. At this point, he's been an actor FAR longer than he was a wrestler. He's kind of a MUCH more mainstream successful version of Warrior in a way. I mean, Rock was really only relevant from 98-04, with several hiatus in there. Crazy that he is 4th and Undertaker isn't on the list.
Piper is probably the toughest guy in the top-10 to omit, but I think he's more in the 10-15 range with guys like Dusty.
I'd change the list to something like:
1. Hogan
2. Austin
3. Sammartino
4. Flair
5. Michaels
6. Hart
7. Savage
8. Cena
9. Undertaker
10.Sting
I'd say that is based on a combo of drawing power, success and ability to tell a story. I personally care a lot about in ring ability, but most don't. so I didn't factor that in as much as the other 3 factors. On my personal favorite list, only Flair, Michaels, Hart and Savage would stay in the top-10.