50 Greatest Performers in Wrestling History

They not only won and lost in the ring. They captured our hearts. Faces and heels, managers and freaks of nature. All of them had a special place in the world of professional wrestling.

And for those who are no longer in the ring, they are loved equally for their style and grace and how they did the best they could to perform on a regular basis to packed houses and scant little farm crowds across America.

That is what true wrestling means, and that is what the "sport" of it was all about.

Think of wrestling as your favorite rock concert or dance club or even a ballet. It is not called a work for nothing. Two people working together to make it happen to give the fans what they want to see night in and night out.

Nothing is perfect, and these wrestlers are from all breeds, trying to put their own brand of style on a move, a hold, a pin, a win.

The performers on this list give or gave something every night they stepped into the ring. A brand of wrestling was lost when social media and websites made the business too accessible to the fan.

But these wrestlers still treat it like it is the greatest thing on Earth, and have worked hard to keep the integrity of what two or more performers are supposed to do, that being to captivate us all and have us wanting more.

These are in no particular order, by the way. Everyone enjoy.

The Dudley Boyz

Never has extreme tag team wrestling been taken to newer heights.

The Dudleyz rocked tag team wrestling in a way that made us all stand up and take notice. Their brand and style was emulated by so many teams, much like the Road Warriors in the 1980s and 1990s was tremendous.

Even today, teams use some of their tactics with tables and pure aggression. It's a sign of pure respect for one of the greatest tag teams of all time.

Mickie James

I think she is one of the most underrated female wrestlers of her generation.

Mickey has held world titles in the WWE and in TNA. She seems to be the veteran locker room women look up to now on Impact.

That said, don't think for a moment she isn't capable of taking another Knockouts crown at any time.

Greg and Johnny Valentine

The father-son combination followed each other in the wrestling business. Johnny was injured in the plane crash that broke Ric Flair's back. He was a punishing bruiser who beat and wore down his opponents. He was a mainstay in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Greg came to the Mid-Atlantic area after dad could not wrestle anymore, and proved he was just as competent as his old man.

Greg would use solid wrestling holds to wear his opponent down, and was a brawler when he needed to be.

He also had a tremendous feud with Roddy Piper that is still one of the best in wrestling history.

Jerry Lawler

One of the all-time great talkers in the wrestling world.

Lawler revolutionized southern wrestling, and he, Jerry Jarrett and Tojo Yamamoto built up the Memphis territory, which gave birth to stars like Lawler, Austin Idol and Tommy Rich.

Lawler was also a star in WCCW and the AWA before coming to the WWF.

Booker T

We all can dig this.

Booker T was a great singles and tag-team specialist in WCCW, WCW, TNA and the WWE. A world champion and world tag team champion with brother Stevie Ray.

His strength and power was undeniable and his entertainment value was underrated.

Even today, he looks pretty good in the ring.

Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan, the current WWE World Champion, is maybe the biggest opportunist to grace the company since Chris Jericho.

That said, the talent of Bryan is ever present when you see him use moves from 30 years ago to take out an opponent.

You figure with his size and speed, he would be able to out-quick his opponents, when, in fact, he out-maneuvers them better than most.

Mil Mascaras

One of the great masked wrestlers of his generation and the standard bearer for things to come in terms of Luchador wrestlers.

Mascaras was a man of 1,000 masks and wrestled all the greats in the 1970s and early 180s. The fact he wore a mask heightened his popularitiy among fans.

He was one of the great cruiserweights of the era.

CM Punk

The greatest in the world right now is among the best performers of all time.

The fact CM Punk is skilled in so many ways of wrestlers, as well as brawling, makes him one of the toughest wrestlers to handle in the ring.

And the ring psychiatry and mic skills certainly get in the head of his opponents, and it shows when they cannot figure him out from move to move.

Bruno Sammartino

The rough and rugged face of the WWF. He was a man's man and a champion who was loved by all in the northeastern territory of wrestling.

Bruno Sammartino was compact and could beat the hell out of you with a forearm of a submission hold. And when he fought the likes of Pedro Morales and Billy Graham, the crowds packed the arenas to see who would be crowned champion.

The Spoiler

He was underrated as a wrestler, but this regional champion was better than most people gave him credit.

While we all remember the Undertaker walking the top ropes and crashing down on opponents, The Spoiler perfected it and made it a key part of his shtick.

He was a champion and rule breaker in Florida, Texas and other southern regional territories.

Raven

He has many personas as a wrestler, but the one he garnered the most fame with was Raven, a cult like god who was worshipped by the likes of Perry Saturn, Billy Kidman and Lodi.

Raven was as extreme as they came, and was part of the revolution of ECW in its heyday.

He feuded with the likes of Sandman in epic displays of pain and sometimes gore.

Ricky Steamboat

All you need to do is look at the feuds he had with Ric Flair, Randy Savage and Sgt. Slaughter to understand how truly great he was.

With a look at an exotic god and a skill set that compared to a Flair or Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat was gold.

And when he captured the WCW world title, the feud that began in the late 1970s was reborn.

Mr. Fuji

In my estimation, Mr. Fuji was one of the greatest heels ever to get in a wrestling ring.

Before he became a manager, he was a top tag-team specialist, and encompassed everything an Asian heel should have been, right down to the salt in the eyes and judo chops that stung like bee stings.

As a manager, he used his tricks to help his stable reach tag team gold.

Mick Foley

He still is everything the WWF was in the 1980s.

Foley is the cartoon character that Vince McMahon always wanted.

And with his ability to launch himself off cages, set himself on fire and land on beds of tacks, he defines extreme wrestler to a "T."

Jimmy Snuka

He jumped off the top rope like it was a launching pad. Snuka was a great performer and a fan favorite.

His sculpted body was also stuff of legend at the time, and his feud with Roddy Piper made both of them instant stars.

Snuka was so popular that he was once considered a champion to lead the WWF if Vince McMahon had not decided on Hulk Hogan.

The Great Muta

He burst on the scene with face paint and the dreaded green mist. He became an instant classic.

Muta took on the likes of Barry Windham and Sting and fought in WCW, Florida and other southern states.

With his manager Gary Hart, the two were a dynamic team that put the fear in many wrestlers.

Chris Jericho

The WWE is not Chris Jericho's personal playground anymore, but he does has a good thing going with CM Punk in a feud that will be hotly contested at WrestleMania 28.

Jericho is the first and only undisputed world champion in WWE history. He also is one of the greatest cruiserweights in WCW history.

Wherever he goes, there is magic. The feud between Jericho and Shawn Michaels will go down in WWE history as one of the best ever.

Bret Hart

Brett Hart is one of the 15 best wrestlers ever.

While I am not a fan, I appreciate what he has accomplished and respect his ability as maybe the best Canadian wrestler of all time.

Hart is a technician in the ring and is a great ring general.

He helped usher in the Attitude era with the Montreal Screw Job. I am sure this is something he would like to forget.

Chris Benoit

Another tremendous Canadian wrestler.

Benoit was a great mat wrestler and one who used the ropes to make his case as one of the best ever.

Benoit was a world champion in WCW and WWE. For someone who looked undersized in many of his matches, he always proved to be bigger than his stature.

Trish Stratus

What can we say about Trish Stratus and her "assets" that we have not already said?

One of the greatest women to ever grace wrestling and its entertainment value. Trish was a performer like no other.

The curvy and muscular one can hold her own today. It will be interesting if indeed she does get back in the ring.

Kurt Angle

The greatest mat wrestler of our time.

Kurt Angle is the best there is when it comes to using holds and submission moves.

And at 43, he looks like he has not lost a step.

Angle is TNA's version of Flair in WCW. But Angle's conditioning is better. While Flair may be better at constructing a match, but Angle is better at moving toward an ending.

The Rock and Roll Express

One of the cheesiest and most successful tag teams of the NWA/WCW Era.

Ricky Morton was the showstopper, and Robert Gibson came along for the ride.

And what you had was success in bright colors and bandanas.

Morton could have been Shawn Michaels, but decided to remain a part of the team.

They won the world tag title on four occasions.

Lita

She is sexy, sultry and one of the greatest women's performers of all time.

It did not hurt her career that her fame was in tune with the Hardys.

The fact she could fly off the top rope and execute aerial moves some men could not helped her game. I would love to see what she could do in a match with Tamina right now.

The Midnight Express

The most underrated tag team in the history of the NWA/WCW.

Jim Cornette proved to be more than just a mouth when he brought Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey together, and then added Stan Lane when Condrey left the team.

For everything the Rock & Roll Express was, the Midnight Express was the polar opposite and that led to a great rivalry that began in Louisiana and stretched all over the Mid-Atlantic states.

They weren't flashy, but they were just plain good.

Dusty Rhodes

The charismatic one was one of the best performers in and out of the ring.

The son of a plumber, he identified with the common person, and saw what it was like to be an average person fighting the good fight.

Rhodes was the consummate hero to Ric Flair's villain.

He will go down as one of the best of all time.

The Hardys

Matt and Jeff Hardy were at their height, one of the best high flying tag teams of all time.

Combining high-risk moves with skill and technique, they were ahead of their time and provided a great deal of excitement for fans and the WWE alike.

The fact that Lita was a major part of this success only added to their popularity with both men and women.

Rey Mysterio

Maybe the most popular Luchador wrestler of all time.

The diminutive Mysterio defies odds every time he gets in the ring with someone larger than him.

In other words, every time he wrestles.

The fact he has been a world champion proves the WWE has the confidence in him to carry the torch.

Eddie Gilbert

Small in stature, but not in ability.

Gilbert set the standard for smaller cruiserweights. He was great as a singles competitor, and played the role as heel and hero well.

He was also a great stablemaster with the likes of Rick Steiner, Sting, Jim Helweg and Missy Hyatt.

Not a bad group of characters.

Hulk Hogan

Let me tell you something, brother. Hulk Hogan was a tremendous performer while he donned the red and yellow.

But when he changed his colors, he lost some of his swagger, looked a little old and fell out of favor.

While being bad was pretty cool, the Hogan we all knew and loved was gone with the snap of a finger.

The New Age Outlaws

You better go tell someone you realized these two tag team partners were two of the best performers in the WWF period.

The swagger and style drew fans in with their clique-like, wannabe attitude.

And the fact they were part of Degeneration X and could stand on their own proved they weren't part of the machine, but an enhancement of it.

Roddy Piper

He may have the greatest wit of any wrestler, ever.

Roddy Piper was in a zone by himself with a mouth that moved faster than he did in the ring.

He was a success in the Northwest before moving to Jim Crockett's promotion and eventually to the WWF.

He helped usher in WrestleMania and feuded with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.

Steve Austin

He went from "Stunning" to "Stone Cold" in a matter of months.

Steve Austin is a rare breed that he commanded a hell of a lot of respect as a heel and anti-hero more so than he did as a hero.

Then, everything came together.

Austin's mouth, mic work and how he could work an arena made for great theater. And the fact he feuded with the boss and beat him up a few times did not hurt him, either.

Eddie Guerrero

No one gave as much in the ring as Eddie Guerrero.

The smaller giant believed in the concept of "lie, cheat and steal" to get further in life, and it resonated in the WWE community.

Guerrero was loved for having worked through personal tragedy to excel at personal triumph.

His death was a huge blow in the WWE Universe.

Jushin Liger

He was an acrobat in a wrestling outfit with a shiny mask who took us all by storm.

While Muta set the standard of Far East talent, Liger took it to another level and was one of the best cruiserweights ever to wrestle in WCW.

His skills were above all, and his moves are emulated today.

Randy Savage

Randy Savage should have been the leader of the WWF.

Bright colors and style. Great in-ring technique and the ability to keep the fans on the edge of their set.

Savage did it all.

Miss Elizabeth showed his softer side at times, but she was more of a hindrance than help.

Kane

All you have to do is see the Red and Fire to figure out who it is.

Kane and the Undertaker are a no-pun-intended dying breed of performers whose is one of the best ever and never gets old.

From the moment Kane entered the conscience of the WWF, we were taken back by his skill and his athleticism with his tremendous size.

Kane still shows he can bring it every night, and with the recent feud with John Cena, there is no sign he is slowing down.

Goldust

The ultimate mark against your father and everything he stood for.

Dustin Rhodes has had issues with the family for years, mainly centered around his father Dusty and the childhood he had while daddy was wrestling.

Goldust was a major statement made toward the elder Rhodes.

A little bit of Adrian Street, a little bit of Gorgeous George and major amounts of bizarre behavior, mixed with his "wife," Marlena, and you have a winning character that is one of the best ever.

John Cena

The champ is part of this list.

For 10 years, he has been the catalyst of this company, picking up where The Rock and Hulk Hogan left off. And with his colorful personality and dedication to being the lead face, Cena has transcended a generation.

And his mic skills are still pretty darn good.

Christian

To leave him off a list like this would be a travesty. Christian may have played the part of Robin to Edge's Bat Man, but don't be confused with the ability of this superstar.

Not only is he agile and sneaky strong, Christian has a way of taking over a match with one move and when it comes to selling a move, there are few in the business that are this good.

Undertaker

You cannot have a 19-0 winning streak, be the baddest in wrestling even at your edge, and not be one of the greatest performers of all time.

Undertaker proves time and time again that the ring is his sandbox, and everyone better play by his rules.

Undertaker is one of the true brawlers of his era, and he and HHH will show they are the best at what they do, even this late in his career.

Hopefully, he can still bring it.

HHH

The Chief Operating Officer of the WWE is still a mad man. Mad enough to call out his best friend, Shawn Michaels to say he is better than Mr. WrestleMania.

HHH has proven against the Undertaker that he is as mean and powerful as he was 10 years ago. Maybe the style is a little different and maybe the strength is a bit less, but he can still bring it when he needs to.

The match at WrestleMania 28 will be epic.

Rick Rude

I think he is one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. He certainly could have carried the WWF as a champion and the NWA and WCW as a world title holder.

He was never really given that chance.

Rick Rude was arrogant and cocky, and women loved him as much as men wanted to be him. When he was in the ring, there was magic.

Mr. Perfect

He lived up to his name and exceeded his father Larry Hennig as a champion.

Curt Hennig was a classical wrestler and a technical star who could also brawl when needed.

His AWA title led to success in the WWF and then WCW.

He was a pure joy to watch in the ring.

Sting

The "Icon" is almost at the end of his career. Maybe his match against Bobby Roode is his curtain call.

Sting has faced them all and succeeded on every level.

While he appears to have slowed down, the younger Sting was a terror who spoke volumes with his words and his bat.

And his feuds with Ric Flair will go down as some of the best matches ever.

Arn Anderson

The Brawler and best technical wrestler of the 1980s.

Anderson was better than Ric Flair. He was better than Sting. Hell, he may have been better than the likes of Randy Savage, Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan.

And everything was on the line, no one gave a better performance.

The Road Warriors

As a tag team, no one had anything for them when they burst on the scene.

Hawk and Animal ran over and through their opponents. They were hard to the core, and dared people to wrestle them.

That made them the best. And when it came to who was the best at tag team wrestling, there was really no question, was there?

Edge

If you look at the career of Adam Copeland, you will see he stacks up nicely against the best ever in professional wrestling.

But titles were not the only thing that made Edge a superstar.

A wit, a style and the ability to be as he wanted to be without reservation separated him from the other wrestlers. And when he needed to be, Edge was one of the meanest SOBs in the business.

Ric Flair

The greatest champion of all time was also one of the greatest performers of all time.

Five generations have past, and Flair is arguably still one of the best in the business ever.

He is old and tarnished, but what he could do in the ring and make average men look like champions was something to behold. I cannot see anyone else like him coming around any time soon.

The Rock

Dwayne Johnson is still the baddest man on the planet and he can still bring it with all his might.

Oh, I cannot wait for April 1.

Johnson, also known as "The Rock," has developed a culture, a genre of his own that has maintained even today, seven years after he left the ring to pursue movies.

The Rock is wrestling. The Rock is an icon. The Rock is the people's champion.

And the Rock helped define a generation of today that still wants to know what the Rock is cooking.

Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels surpasses everyone.

Mr. WrestleMania is the best performer ever to grace a wrestling ring. And that is saying something considering the company he keeps with HHH, The Rock, Ric Flair and the likes of The Undertaker.

Above everyone else, Shawn reigns supreme.

Michaels proved for years that being the biggest and the strongest was not always the best. He showed to many fans and those who have been on the fence about his abilities, that he can bring down the house just about anytime he wants to.

And his mic skills even once he left the ring, are far superior than most who have been in the ring before and after him.

As a performer, he is the greatest of all time.