@walarney Oh yeah, George chewing up those turnbuckles! I always thought wrestling was ruined by HDTV—it looked a lot more real the grainier it was.
well, and the internet uncovering Kayfabe too! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
@funco49 either that or you’re from Milwaukee. I’m only 33 but I’m well educated in the Man That Made Milwaukee Famous.
I took a long break from wrasslin until my new roommate roped me back in. Back in the day I loved The Rock, but for in ring performance nobody entertained me more that…ugh…Chris Benoit. Yep.
From what I’ve watched recently, I have to say I’m a huge fan of Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka.
@somf69 I f’n hate Ric Flair and the “wooo”. There was a stretch of a couple of months in 2015, if you attended a major league baseball game (or just watching it on TV), there was a constant barrage of random “woos” from the crowd. Not in unison, but every 4-5 seconds, another jackass yelling “woo”. While the fad passed, for whatever reason, it is back worse than ever this season.
Well, the boy got mad at the poll because Stone Cold Steve Austin was not included, then said he didn’t want to leave a comment and voted for the Rock.
That said, the Rock is not my favorite wrestler. I really liked Sting or maybe HBK.
I like Rock (a bunch but Jumanji is now my favorite), Andre (Princess Bride, of course), and Cena (just his 2 minutes in Daddy’s Home was perfect) in movies. I’ve never seen a wrestling match.
@isz I always wonder if this conversation went down: “We like your style, but Brutus Beefcake is such a bland, every-man sort of name. Would it be okay if we gave you a nickname?”
So many good responses, but the responses with the old school guys are the best!
Also, props should be given to the likes of Gorilla Monsoon, Chief Jay Strongbull, Dusty Rhodes, and the “Polish Hammer” Ivan Putski - but this list could go on forever!
@mfladd Funny, we were just talking about Ivan Putski last week. I’m of that period too. Tony Garea and Rick Martel were a favorite tag team. Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, Big John Studd, Ken Patera, etc…
He is a new wrestler in ROH, 3 years into his wrestling career and he is making a name for himself. I might be biased since he is my cousin and the only reason I am into wrestling currently.
Andre the Giant was so cool. I wasn’t into wrestling as a kid, but he fascinated the hell out of me. Learning that he was basically a real-life Fezzik just makes me like him that much more.
My first boss ever moonlit as a wrestler. He went by Mr. Fantastic Ray Orndorff (he’s Paul’s younger brother), and decorated the Burger King where we worked with signed photos of various wrestlers. I was into theater at the time, and built him a few props for his matches.
I was a HUGE Buck “Rock N Roll” Zumhofe fan…
That all changed when after a resounding victory over the Shiek Adnan Al Cassi (America vs. Iran), I saw them both get in the same sub-compact Toyota when leaving the venue…
Leo “THE LION” Newman ruled the '40s and '50s. When he retired he became the “manager” for another wrestler (I can’t remember his name). He wore a very dignified suit with a derby hat and carried a cane, as I recall in this personification. He would stand outside the ring during the bout and strike the opponent with his cane when the ref wasn’t looking.
I think that it is pretty cool that when he was a minor league baseball player with the Cardinals organization in the early 70’s , he learned to throw with his left arm when his right arm was injured at a collision at the plate.
He once asked me for directions to a wrestling gig. (He was only semi-famous at the time and still with father Angelo Poffo’s “outlaw” wrestling promotion ICW.)
I’m unimpressed by the entire franchise. It seems like a soap opera for steroid-fueled underwear exhibitionists who have trouble making it in the legitimate worlds of acting or athletics.
@Ambiverbal While I’m certainly not into ‘wrestling’ like I was when I was young, I’d have to argue that the pros in the business are often incredible athletes. Just because they didn’t make it in professional athletics doesn’t mean they’re not still better athletes than 99% of the world.
@cinoclav Athletics involves a legitimate competition. While I don’t deny that these guys have swollen themselves into often cartoonish representations of masculinity, I wouldn’t call them athletes. They are employed to perform for a poorly scripted dramatic play where the winners and losers are determined in committee meetings, not the wrestling rings.
@Ambiverbal You couldn’t be more wrong. They’re not all a bunch of steroid muscle heads. You’re talking about athletes who often perform 200 shows a year while giving up their bodies for their performances. Sure, some of them are total meatheads or fat slobs, but many of them have true athletic backgrounds, from football to gymnastics. Your definition of ‘athletics’ is incorrect. The actual dictionary definition is as follows: Definition of athletics
1 : exercises, sports, or games engaged in by athletes
2 : the practice or principles of athletic activities
Professional wrestlers certainly fit into this definition. While you may not respect the job, the people doing it deserve a lot more respect than you’re giving them. To note, I’m not even a wrestling fan…
Snap into a Slim Jim!
Hillbilly Jim
@00 aka Hawksaw Jim
@hchavers I knew something wasn’t right about Hillbilly Jim.
No love for thr GOAT Chris Jericho?
@Felixmcbiggs Well, I AM looking forward to seeing Fozzy in October.
Anyone who disagrees should make the list.
Bob Backlund in his championship days.
Definitely not Hulk Hogan. Fuck that guy.
@christinerenee thanks but no thanks…
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Hacksaw Jim Duggan
I was always more of a fan of tag teams. Either the Road Warriors or Rock N Roll Express.
George “The Animal” Steele.
@walarney
@walarney Oh yeah, George chewing up those turnbuckles! I always thought wrestling was ruined by HDTV—it looked a lot more real the grainier it was.
well, and the internet uncovering Kayfabe too!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
@walarney Oh, HELL yeah!
The Crusher
If you who he is, you know I’m old. He was always a “good guy” from Milwaukee.
@funco49 I thought he was from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
@funco49 One of the all time greatest cartoons, IMO.
“Duh, I was just passin’ by, doy. Thought I’d drop in and say hello, doy…”
@funco49 either that or you’re from Milwaukee. I’m only 33 but I’m well educated in the Man That Made Milwaukee Famous.
I took a long break from wrasslin until my new roommate roped me back in. Back in the day I loved The Rock, but for in ring performance nobody entertained me more that…ugh…Chris Benoit. Yep.
From what I’ve watched recently, I have to say I’m a huge fan of Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka.
Mt. Fiji, as seen in GLOW.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLOW:_The_Story_of_the_Gorgeous_Ladies_of_Wrestling
Nacho Libre!
BOOOOOOOONE SAAAAAAAAAAW IS REEAADYYYYYY
Sting or Ted DiBiase. Both great guys irl
I could never make up my mind because there are so many.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart yet.
/giphy ric flair wooo
@somf69 I f’n hate Ric Flair and the “wooo”. There was a stretch of a couple of months in 2015, if you attended a major league baseball game (or just watching it on TV), there was a constant barrage of random “woos” from the crowd. Not in unison, but every 4-5 seconds, another jackass yelling “woo”. While the fad passed, for whatever reason, it is back worse than ever this season.
@DrWorm I’ll second this. Hate him, hate the woo. It became a thing with the Flyers and pisses me off to no end.
Batista was always my #1
Hercules (seriously)
@phendrick BTW, you said “wrestler”, not “fake wrestler”.
/giphy ultimate warrior smoking psa
The Undertaker, but specifically the spooky, silent Undertaker and not the lame mid-2000s motorcycle Undertaker.
Kevin “Big Sexy” Nash
@shawn_mitch Nice! Time for the Diamond Cutter!
Superfly Jimmy Snuka. No one reached his heights off the top rope.
Well, the boy got mad at the poll because Stone Cold Steve Austin was not included, then said he didn’t want to leave a comment and voted for the Rock.
That said, the Rock is not my favorite wrestler. I really liked Sting or maybe HBK.
HBK!
That shit is gross. Boxing, that’s where it’s at.
@Seeds that’s not whatcha said at Christmas last year
@PolkSaladAnnie I had fun hanging out with you and Joey, but still didn’t like wrestling. We’ve all said things we didn’t mean.
@Seeds yes, we have all two of have
The Von Erichs
/giphy The Dudley Boyz
Mankind!
What the fuck? No Stone Cold? Who do you think revitalized the WWF/WWE in the late-90’s through early 2000’s (besides DX)?
/giphy jake roberts
@evbarnstormer “The Snake”
I like Rock (a bunch but Jumanji is now my favorite), Andre (Princess Bride, of course), and Cena (just his 2 minutes in Daddy’s Home was perfect) in movies. I’ve never seen a wrestling match.
@mollama check out Blockers if you like Cena. His character was funny. He’s also mostly naked at the end scene.
Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake.
@isz I always wonder if this conversation went down: “We like your style, but Brutus Beefcake is such a bland, every-man sort of name. Would it be okay if we gave you a nickname?”
Donald Trump enter image description here
Bruno Sammartino! And almost everyone in Pittsburgh has a story about what a great guy he was.
Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig
Great wrestler, incredible on the stick, and played his role to absolute perfection.
/giphy Perfect Plex
“I am ze dread pirate Roberrr!”
Stone Cold Steve Austin!
The ‘Father’ of professional wrestling - the late and great
[Verne Gagne]
[1]:
@edgriebel Ohhhhhhh Yeaaaaaaaah!
The Ultimate Warrior. Hands down.
So many good responses, but the responses with the old school guys are the best!
Also, props should be given to the likes of Gorilla Monsoon, Chief Jay Strongbull, Dusty Rhodes, and the “Polish Hammer” Ivan Putski - but this list could go on forever!
@mfladd *Strongbow
Those were the days - that was my era.
@mfladd Funny, we were just talking about Ivan Putski last week. I’m of that period too. Tony Garea and Rick Martel were a favorite tag team. Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, Big John Studd, Ken Patera, etc…
Flip Gordon
/image Flip Gordon
He is a new wrestler in ROH, 3 years into his wrestling career and he is making a name for himself. I might be biased since he is my cousin and the only reason I am into wrestling currently.
STONE COLD
Andre the Giant was so cool. I wasn’t into wrestling as a kid, but he fascinated the hell out of me. Learning that he was basically a real-life Fezzik just makes me like him that much more.
My first boss ever moonlit as a wrestler. He went by Mr. Fantastic Ray Orndorff (he’s Paul’s younger brother), and decorated the Burger King where we worked with signed photos of various wrestlers. I was into theater at the time, and built him a few props for his matches.
Also: ¡El Santo!
Rey Mysterio!
HURRICANRANA!!!
Dunno about any of the wrestling stuff but I sure do like looking at The Rock these days.
Superfly Jimmy Snuka
and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Those were the days, bruddah!
I was a HUGE Buck “Rock N Roll” Zumhofe fan…
That all changed when after a resounding victory over the Shiek Adnan Al Cassi (America vs. Iran), I saw them both get in the same sub-compact Toyota when leaving the venue…
Leo “THE LION” Newman ruled the '40s and '50s. When he retired he became the “manager” for another wrestler (I can’t remember his name). He wore a very dignified suit with a derby hat and carried a cane, as I recall in this personification. He would stand outside the ring during the bout and strike the opponent with his cane when the ref wasn’t looking.
Junkyard Dog. JYD!
I’d say alligator wrestling is my favorite.
Gotta say my favorite wrestler is a tie between Hogan and Bret Hart.
Ricky Steamboat!
Oh my gosh, remember Sgt Slaughter? and the Iron Sheik?
@moonhat Sheik has a decent twitter following.
I picked Macho Man for two reasons:
I think that it is pretty cool that when he was a minor league baseball player with the Cardinals organization in the early 70’s , he learned to throw with his left arm when his right arm was injured at a collision at the plate.
He once asked me for directions to a wrestling gig. (He was only semi-famous at the time and still with father Angelo Poffo’s “outlaw” wrestling promotion ICW.)
The Hardy Brothers.
No Dusty Rhodes the American Dream? What 2.0 gpa liberal arts major put this piss poor poll together anyway?
@cranky1950 One that gave you a ‘Someone else’ option?
@cranky1950 I think you give the poll maker more credit than they deserve. No Jesse “The Body” Ventura, fer krys’ake?
@cranky1950 You’re cranky.
I’m unimpressed by the entire franchise. It seems like a soap opera for steroid-fueled underwear exhibitionists who have trouble making it in the legitimate worlds of acting or athletics.
@Ambiverbal While I’m certainly not into ‘wrestling’ like I was when I was young, I’d have to argue that the pros in the business are often incredible athletes. Just because they didn’t make it in professional athletics doesn’t mean they’re not still better athletes than 99% of the world.
@Ambiverbal and your point is?
@cranky1950 You’re cranky
@cinoclav Athletics involves a legitimate competition. While I don’t deny that these guys have swollen themselves into often cartoonish representations of masculinity, I wouldn’t call them athletes. They are employed to perform for a poorly scripted dramatic play where the winners and losers are determined in committee meetings, not the wrestling rings.
@cranky1950 Just answering the question that was posed. Have a nice day.
@Ambiverbal You couldn’t be more wrong. They’re not all a bunch of steroid muscle heads. You’re talking about athletes who often perform 200 shows a year while giving up their bodies for their performances. Sure, some of them are total meatheads or fat slobs, but many of them have true athletic backgrounds, from football to gymnastics. Your definition of ‘athletics’ is incorrect. The actual dictionary definition is as follows:
Definition of athletics
1 : exercises, sports, or games engaged in by athletes
2 : the practice or principles of athletic activities
Professional wrestlers certainly fit into this definition. While you may not respect the job, the people doing it deserve a lot more respect than you’re giving them. To note, I’m not even a wrestling fan…
Bruno Samartino
and
Jumpin’ Johnny DeFazio!!!
The Valiant Brothers: Handsome Jimmy and Luscious Johnny. Gentleman Jerry was a wannabe.