Here is My Real Top 50 (pt.1, 1-10)

1.      Shawn Michaels- First ever Grand-Slam Champion, which proves how versatile he truly was. Revolutionized Specialty Matches. (Ladder, Elimination Chamber, etc.)  Influenced future generations of wrestlers from Chris Jericho, Edge and John Morrison. Terrific athleticism, great durability as well as technique. Storied career with a perfect ending. 4-time World Champion (3-time WWF Champion, 1-time World Heavyweight Champion). 2-time Royal Rumble Winner (1995, 1996), 3-time Intercontinental Champion, 1-time European Champion, 5-time WWF/E World tag champion (2 w/Diesel, 1 w/Steve Austin, 1 w/John Cena, 1 w/Triple H), 1-time WWE Tag Champion (w/Triple H). 11-time Slammy Award Winner. 11-time PWI Match of the Year Award Winner. PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1996), PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2010).
 2.  The Undertaker- Career longevity is unmatched with the most enduring gimmick in wrestling history. Only Superstar in History to be Undefeated at WrestleMania (18-0). Greatest Big man in History (6’10 ½ 299) with dominating power mixed with awesome speed. 7 time World Champion (4 WWE, 3 World Heavyweight) multi-time tag champion, 2007 Royal Rumble winner, and Match of the Year back-to-back with Shawn Michaels (WM XXV, WM XXVI). Shawn is “Mr. Wrestlemania”, but Undertaker is the “Wrestlemania Phenom”.

  3.  Bret “The Hitman” Hart- Greatest Technical Wrestler in History. Greatest Submission move in Wrestling History (Sharpshooter). Brought completely new meaning to the term “Excellence of Execution” with a scientific style that was hard to counter or match, along with a decent balance of quickness to defeat larger opponents. 5 time WWF Champion with 2 of the greatest reigns ever. (1^st, 2^nd) 2 time Intercontinental Champion, 2 time Tag Team Champion, 5 time U.S. Champion, 2 time WCW Champion. Won King of the Ring twice (’91, ’93). Royal Rumble Winner (’94) and Superstar of the Year (’93, ’94).

4.      Stone Cold Steve Austin- Greatest Trashtalker in WWF/E History. Highest selling superstar in history. 6-time WWF Champion, 2 Time Intercontinental Champion. 3-time Royal Rumble Winner (1997-1998, 2001). Only wrestler in history to accomplish this feat. Multi-time Tag Champion, 1996 King of the Year. 1997 Match of the Year (w/Bret Hart- Wrestlemania 13/Submission Match). Superstar of the Year (1998). Headlined 2 out of 3 consecutive Wrestlemanias w/The Rock (WM XV, XVII). Rejuvenated company from losing Monday Night Wars w/feuds against The Rock, Vince McMahon, etc. One of the cornerstones for the Attitude Era.

5.      The Rock- 9-time World Champion (7 WWF/E, 2 WCW), 2-time Intercontinental Champion, World Tag Team Champion, 2000 Royal Rumble Winner. Headlined 5 straight Wrestle Manias (XV, XVI-2000, XVII, XVIII, XIX). Co-headlined the Greatest Rivalry in History with Stone Cold Steve Austin that helped save WWE and win the Ratings war with WCW. Along with Austin, a cornerstone for Attitude Era.

6.      Ric Flair- 16-time World Heavyweight Champion (8 NWA, 6 WCW, 2 WWF). First and only wrestler in history to win the World Title in all 3 major promotions. 6 time U.S. Champion, Intercontinental Champion, 1992 Royal Rumble Winner. Great technician, with Incredible Stamina. Matches with Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes and Sting are all NWA Classics. Top 10 in mic skills.

7.      Triple H- 13-time World Champion (8 World Heavyweight, 5 WWE), 5-time Intercontinental Champion, multi-time tag Champion, European Champion, 2002 Royal Rumble Winner 1997 King of the Ring. Perfect Combination of Ric Flair and Harley Race, with great wrestling IQ which earns him the name “Cerebral Assassin”. One-half of the Founding Fathers of D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels. Maintains high level of consistency.

8.      Hulk Hogan- 12-time World Champion (6 WWF, 6 WCW) Headlined 4 of the first 5 Wrestle Manias (WM I, WM II, WM III, WM V). One-time Tag Champion (w/Edge). Rejuvenated Career with heel turn by forming the NOW and becoming “Hollywood Hogan”. Match with Andre the Giant at WM III is his greatest trademark with his signature body slam. Involved in the greatest feuds of the Golden Age of Wrestling (vs. Roddy Piper ’84-’86, vs. Andre the Giant ’87-’88, vs. Randy Savage ’88-’89, vs. Ultimate Warrior ’90, vs. Sgt. Slaughter ’91). Brought wrestling to mainstream in the 1980s by teaming up with Cyndi Lauper and MTV to form “Rock ‘n’ Wrestling”

9.      Sting- 13-time World Champion (6 WCW Heavyweight, 2 NWA Heavyweight, 2 WCW International Heavyweight, 2 TNA Heavyweight, 1 WWA- World Wrestling All-Stars). The “Franchise” of WCW as he was their cornerstone. Most well-known star from the company to never sign with WWE. Great technique combined with speed and power. Incredibly athletic, with stellar matches against Ric Flair, Four Horsemen, Vader, Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Lex Luger, and others. Rejuvenated image in 1996 with all white face paint, black trench coat and all black outfit with baseball bat similar to the crow. This would become his signature style.

10.    Harley Race- 8-time NWA Heavyweight Champion during a time where repeats were rare. 1^st NWA U.S. Heavyweight Champion. One of six men inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, WCW Hall of Fame, Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

50 Greatest Superstars in History ( pt. 1- Review)

Recently, WWE released its list of the 50 Greatest Superstars of all-time. Originally, I had always pondered about this concept, because I knew that it would not disappoint, especially when it comes to the Top 10 with guaranteed lock-ins like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Ric Flair, Undertaker, Sting, Triple H, etc. This is the portrait that I had in mine and it was going to be a true work of art. Unfortunately, I was deceived very badly, because somewhere during the time of the release, I had seen a glimpse of the countdown and I was extremely disappointed. It looked like someone just threw up a list of random names out of their mouth, and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth wanting to throw up as well. Personally as a fan, I feel bad for the younger audience that had not been exposed to many of these Superstars on this count down like I have and as a result, WWE takes complete advantage of that. Therefore, fans will be convinced that John Cena and Rey Mysterio are truly  much greater wrestlers than Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, Ric Flair, as well as Dusty Rhodes, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Edge, Eddie Guerrero and others, who have all been in the business longer, worked harder, were more exciting and accomplished more with tougher competition. Talk about being appalled, this goes beyond being controversial. This countdown has Vince McMahon’s handprints, fingerprints, and footprints written all over it, as you can obviously see that certain former WWE stars that have gone to another company (TNA) have been ranked considerably low. Hogan at 23?!! That is obviously Vince’s way of retaliation for going to TNA. I can understand if this is a business decision and you do not want your greatest wrestler/superstar of all-time to be someone who is currently in a rival promotion, but this is going beyond just business. This is a punch in the face to the legacy of a man who brought this sport to the mainstream, became a household name, sold out arenas, brought in millions upon millions for the company, headlined WrestleManias, and paved the way for others to break out. I will be honest and say that Hogan was not the greatest wrestler in terms of skills and he has built a reputation for backstage politics, but he was a great attraction with a very colorful persona, role model for children and had the ability to keep even the casual fans interested. If it was left up to the hardcore fans such as myself and others to create the countdown, the truth will be told, which is what Vince and WWE do not want. This is why the rankings were voted by only the Superstars, which can be pretty dangerous because many of them obviously have certain biases toward certain wrestlers and want to rank each other so highly because of what they have done just in today’s era. As a result, they are mainly fascinated by their own accomplishments and fail to take a careful evaluation of their careers and quickly jump to conclusions and rank themselves with proven talent who have legacies that are set in stone with a longer lasting impact, while their careers are still in process. For example, you cannot compare John Cena to Chris Jericho and Edge because both of them have at least 10 years experience over Cena. Jericho has wrestled internationally in places such as Japan and Mexico and has become  something of a legend in those territories with classics against Eddie Guerrero, Benoit, etc. Later, when I do my own rankings, I will go into further detail about both Edge and Jericho. When Chris came to the states in ECW, he established himself even more by becoming the ECW TV Champion and put on great matches with Tazz, RVD, Mick Foley, and others. Once Jericho joined WCW, he decorated his career even more by becoming the Cruiserweight Champion and dominating that division, with his biggest victim being Rey Mysterio, (who I will talk about even more later on) as well as becoming the WCW TV Champion. Chris’ Lionheart persona gave him greater recognition in both WCW as well as WWE, where Vince observed him. Therefore, as Chris Jericho joined the company on August 9, 1999, he had the most impacting debut in WWE History (at that time WWF) with a classic promo with The Rock that made his career skyrocket further into the stratosphere of wrestling. From this point, he became a 9-time Intercontinental Champion, 6-time World Champion, 1^st Undisputed Champion, and the rest is history. Edge is in the same situation, because just like Jericho, he made his debut at the peak of the WWF Attitude Era (1998), and became a force as soon as he entered the door. Edge would soon team up with Christian and form one of the greatest tag-teams ever (Edge & Christian) and become a multi-time tag champion, 5-time IC (Intercontinental Champion), 10-time World Champion, King of the Ring (2001), King of TLC, and the rest is history for him as well. Both Edge and Jericho are better technicians than Cena, more agile, more exciting, always entertaining, and made John Cena look better while wrestling him. This continues to prove that John Cena cannot be ranked higher than any of these men by any stretch of the imagination. As far as Rey Mysterio goes, he has been a terrific cruiserweight with great matches internationally as well, and even nationally when he was in ECW and WCW, but when it comes to movesets, championships, main-events and just overall presentation, I believe that not only are Edge and Jericho clearly head and shoulders above Mysterio (pun intended). When I say “presentation” I am referring to Rey’s image since coming to WWE. During those days in ECW and WCW, Rey had more of an edge, but now he has become watered down which is why I cannot take him very seriously. There comes a point where the underdog gimmick becomes stale and in Mysterio’s case, it has become more stale than a piece of bread. Another wrestler that I believe should be ranked considerably higher than him is Eddie Guerrero, because if it had not been for Guerrero, Mysterio would not have become the star that he is now. Overall, Eddie was the teacher and Rey was the student because he (Eddie) brought him under his wing and carried him and trained him on many of the ins and outs of the ring. When it comes to high-flying, Mysterio has the edge, but when it comes to pure technique, grappling, submission holds, charisma and being a far greater legend, Eddie wins in every category. Guerrero, much like Chris Jericho was a terrific international star and legend that had great success in the states where he would gain his greatest recognition. Rey may be more of a money maker because the majority of the fans are kids, but as far as greater legacy, Latino Heat will last longer. Eddie’s star grew even more in WWE, by winning 2 Intercontinental Titles, European Title, Tag Team Titles, U.S. Title, and the ultimate peak of his success was winning the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar at No Way Out in 2004. This was by far the best Eddie Guerrero match that I had ever seen, because it was a combination of hard work, dedication, personal humiliation, downfall, and redemption all rolled into one.  His successful defense against Kurt Angle at WreslteMania XX proved that he was a legit champion that could main event. Ric Flair at no. 17 behind John Cena, Mr. Perfect, and Roddy Piper is ludicrous because Flair dominated wherever he went. Piper and Mr. Perfect were great competitors in their own right, but neither one of them won a World Title, while Ric has won 16. Mr. Perfect was actually an AWA Champion, but his reign is no where near as memorable as his career in the much larger WWE. Therefore, as a result he was considered more of a mid-carder and even in WWE, he did not have many main-events to move him further. On the other hand, The Nature Boy was and still is in a class of his own because anytime you can win 16 Heavyweight Titles is truly remarkable. Ric Flair is one of, if not the only wrestler that I know of that has dominated the main event picture in every company that he has been in by winning the World Title 3 major promotions (NWA, WCW, WWF). Flair further sealed his mark of dominance by going to the WWF and not only proclaiming himself as “The Real World’s Champion” but by also living up to that name by winning the companies Championship in the 1992 Royal Rumble, in Hogan’s playground. Flair’s persona and skills will always be unmatched because he had a great mind for the business as well as great technical skills and stamina. The Figure Four is one of the top 5 submission moves in wrestling history. Therefore, Ric Flair would be in my top 5 or 10.

Overall, I would give this a 2.5 stars.

The DVD's complete 1 to 50 ranking is as follows:

1. Shawn Michaels
2. The Undertaker
3. Steve Austin
4. Bret Hart
5. The Rock
6. Harley Race
7. Ricky Steamboat
8. Andre the Giant
9. Rey Mysterio
10. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
11. Eddie Guerrero
12. Triple H
13. Gorgeous George
14. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
15. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
16. John Cena
17. Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair (tied)
19. Edge
20. Jerry "The King" Lawler
21. Lou Thesz
22. Terry Funk
23. Hulk Hogan
24. Bruno Sammartino
25. Chris Jericho
26. Ted DiBiase
27. Fabulous Moolah
28. Classy Freddie Blassie
29. Randy Orton
30. Pat Patterson
31. The Iron Sheik
32. Jimmy Snuka
33. Mick Foley
34. Kurt Angle
35. Buddy Rogers
36. Gorilla Monsoon
37. Junkyard Dog
38. "Superstar" Billy Graham
39. Jake "The Snake" Roberts
40. Big Show
41. Jack Brisco
42. Sgt. Slaughter
43. Kane
44. Nick Bockwinkel
45. Jeff Hardy
46. Dory Funk Jr.
47. Bob Backlund
48. Rick Rude
49. Batista
50. Killer Kowalski