WWE's Latest Display of Pettiness, Sold in a Three-Disc Set of Top 50 Superstars

When it was originally announced that the WWE would be coming out with a list the top 50 Superstars of all time, many (myself included) rolled their eyes at the possibility of the WWE coming out with an objective hierarchical account of wrestling history. 

This is the same company whose Hall of Fame has been not so affectionately nicknamed the Hall of Politics and Employees due to the implied favoritism, gratitude, and/or nepotism shown towards many of its inductees while names such as Randy Savage and Bruno Sammartino continue to be left out.

The WWE's latest DVD of the top superstars of all time is not a true list of any historical integrity, but rather a Public Service Denouncement of all who have fallen out of favor with the WWE and its monarchist ruler in Vince McMahon.

It is worth mentioning that there is really no such thing as a list that is one hundred percent indisputable.  Almost all lists, by design, are open to interpretation.  Even the Ten Commandments, widely considered the comprehensive list of religious moral standards of Judaism yet devoid of the condemnation of rape, child abuse and animal abuse, is subject to debate. 

However the list that has been confirmed of what the WWE apparently feels are its top fifty politics of all time (Here's the list), to be released on a DVD come December 14, serves as a veiled mean-spirited account of wrestling's otherwise storied history. 

In its upcoming DVD, the WWE once again botches an attempt to honestly educate the masses as it pertains to its history and instead chooses to spew self-serving propaganda like only they can.

The one thing we can all agree on when it comes to the list of top 50 Superstars of all time, however, is that Dave Meltzer is nowhere to be found on this list.  He'll never be a top 50 Superstar of all time. 

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No. 23. Hulk Hogan

One of the first discrepancies of the WWE's top 50 list is that Hulk Hogan, wrestling's first household name and the man who transcended pro wrestling into the pop culture phenomenon it is today, clocks in at No. 23.  

Leaving for TNA to compete with the WWE and having an overall contentious relationship over fellow egomaniac Vince McMahon likely had an influence over Hogan's standing on this list, which begins to look more and more like Vince McMahon's you-know-what list as it begins to enter the 20s.

Purists can say what they like about Hulk Hogan, but one would be hard-pressed to object the almost unrivaled, monumental impact he had on the landscape of professional wrestling despite his limited in ring ability and backstage shenanigans.

No. 24. Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino has been in an extended stalemate with Vince McMahon and the WWE, fueled by aggressive and critical comments made about the company and its negative contributions to an oft-troubled pro wrestling industry. 

While Bruno continues to be snubbed from of the Hall of Fame, it's not enough for the WWE to simply leave him off their top 50 list.  Instead, they have to send a message to those who speak ill of the empire by ranking them significantly (and preposterously) low on a propagated list of what it feels are the greatest superstars of all time. 

No. 17. Dusty Rhodes & Ric Flair

How do you issue a publicized dig to a man who is considered by many to be the greatest in ring performer of all time?  A man who burned the WWE and their once in a lifetime tribute to his legendary career following what was supposed to be his last match at Wrestlemania 24, by going to (wannabe) rival TNA and coming out of retirement?

You do this by not even giving him his own slot in a list of the top 50 superstars of all time.  Worse yet, you give him the 17b spot just behind Dusty Rhodes (17a). 

Walk into a room and proclaim that Ric Flair is the 17th anything of all time when it comes to wrestling, and you'll draw more laughs than Chris Rock.  Do it in the South, and you'll probably be killed.   

Dusty Rhodes is a legend and all, but by no means does the American Dream belong in the same breath as Ric Flair and his contributions to the pro wrestling industry.  Had it not been for Triple H and Shawn Michaels' (who the WWE ranked No. 1 on this list) reverence towards the Nature Boy, one has to wonder how far down the s--tlist Naitch would have fallen.

No. 34. Kurt Angle

Pro Wrestling's only Olympic Gold Medalist and a man who literally almost killed himself working for the WWE, was noticeably dissed with his ranking.  At No. 34, former WWE Champion-turn, TNA standout Kurt Angle clocks in behind the likes of Mick Foley (No. 33), Terry Funk (No. 22) and the Iron Shiek (No. 31) who, while legends in their own rights, couldn't hold a candle athletically to what Kurt Angle could do in a wrestling ring.

Perhaps a "TNA curve" would be appropriate in the case of otherwise superior talents such as Kurt Angle, who helped take the WWE to the next level during the prime years of the Attitude Era. 

No. 21. Lou Thez

This one's for all those purists out there.  The WWE loves screwing with those who have a fondness for what they call rasslin', and at the same time, they do not like giving too much credit to stars they did not create.  

Lou Thez' calling card, of being the NWA Champion for 10 years, definitely hurts his standing with the WWE as such relevance to another brand is not the type of behavior becoming of a true WWE politic or employee. 

Lou Thez' demotion on this top 50 list is further evidence of how the WWE's upcoming DVD production serves as a microcosm of all that is wrong with the WWE as a story teller of the pro wrestling industry. 

The WWE, rather than being a staunch historian of the business it has reigned upon for so long, instead chooses to be the embittered grandfather whose distinct, negative memories of those who wronged him drown every one of his stories thus taking away from any redeeming quality it may have. 

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