Wrestling: 50 of the Most Ego-Driven Wrestlers of All Time

Somehow, you could make a case that every wrestler today has an ego that may be as big or bigger than they are.

No one can defeat them.

No one is better than them.

No one has better skills than them.

No one looks better than them.

I see you get my point. But wrestling really is an ego trip, as characters over the years have taken over the performers that portray them. They even use there images in their personal lives.

Wrestlers have to show some ego, some chutzpah to get on camera in their underwear and talk to millions of people, or have a gimmick that means they portray a feminine man who swivels his hips back and forth or portrays a flower shop owner.

These very characteristics give these performers the egos they had and still may have to this day even if they are out of the ring. This is mainly because they were or are that damn good.

Here are 50 of the most ego-driven wrestlers ever. Some have been omitted, I am sure. So I will leave the debate up to you who we should put in as well. And on yeah, there are some wrestlers on here who have wrestled under different personas. These characters helped to make them great.

And while they are numbered, there is no real order to this list. Just enjoy.

50. Austin Aries

He may be the best heel in the business today.

When he won the contract for TNA at Destination X, he put everyone on notice that he would do things his way.

So far, he has kept his word.

Aries is a conventional heel who is well spoken, bad ass and has an ego bigger than his 5-foot-9 inch frame.

He talks a great game, but when you are as good as him, you can back it up as well.

49. CM Punk

He talks the best game in the business right now.

Punk is laced with great tirades that bring up the good and the bad about wrestling. And the best thing is that he smiles at the faces of those he deems as the ones who bring the business down.

What a great way to endear himself to the ones who pay him.

His head tells him he is the best today. His ability shows he is one of the best and can be one of the best of all time.

48. Kurt Angle

Oh, it's true!

Angle was awful at speaking when he started in the business, but look at him now.

Is there another man in the business that is driven by his success and the things he wants to accomplish?

Angle knows how good he is and he lets the fans and his competitors know it on a nightly basis.

The fact he can back it up at 43 years old speaks to how great he knows he really is.

47. Randy Orton

Orton is so good at this that he can voice his opinion about who he wrestles, when and who he drops a belt to.

His old man Bob Orton Jr. was never this good.

Orton is the face of Smackdown and has gotten better at his mic skills and his cockiness has led him to be the best of the brand.

He is still somewhat robotic, be he knows he can be the best the WWE has ever had.

46. Rick Martel

In the WWF, there was this guy named Rick Martel who lived his life of Arrogance!

Actually the tale is that Martel was on of the 10 best wrestlers in the early 1980s and he moved his gig from the AWA to the WWF and took on the overbearing, pompous character who wore sequins and promoted his brand of cologne Arrogance.

It was a bad taste for some of the WWF fans, but it spoke to how much Martel thought of himself.

45. X-Pac

Sean Waltman got more out his skinny body and his ability than any wrestler in the business.

He was a loud mouthed kid who knew he was good and his brashness won him a place in DX and in the nWo.

Not too bad for a cruiserweight who on his best day outside the ring could have had the crap kicked out of him if he wasn't a professional wrestler.

44. Vince McMahon

An owner of a wrestling company who knows he is the best at what he does. And when he feels like it, he can jump in the ring and take on the wrestlers he pays to keep him in business.

Ah, what a concept!

McMahon's character should go down in history as one of the best bad men of all time no matter what type of programming it may be.

And he still may come back in the near future.

43. Tully Blanchard

When you are a member of the Four Horsemen, you naturally standout.

Tully Blanchard may have been the weakest of the four, but that did not take away from his cockiness and arrogance and ego that allowed him to win numerous regional and world titles as a singles and tag team competitor.

And having a hot babe like Baby Doll on his arm did not hurt, either.

42. Triple H

The Game.

the Cerebral Assassin.

The King of Kings.

Whatever title he used. He was just that damn good and he knew it.

Hell, he still knows it and as COO of the WWE he thinks he has stones that are bigger than anyone else. Actually, he must have to be replacing Vince McMahon.

41. The Rock

He looks all civil here and almost "nice".

But don't piss him off because he will take you right past Jabrony Street and Smackdown Boulevard.

Well, you get the idea. The Rock thinks pretty highly of himself and in an instant, he can snap on you and back up everything he says with the People's Elbow.

And that, is just the beginning.

40. Adrian Adonis

Whether is was the NWA, AWA, or WWF, Adrian Adonis was known as a hardass and one of the boys who could knock you out with one punch.

His "East/West Connection" tag team partner Jesse Ventura was equally adept at being full of himself.

Only problem with that was Adonis and Ventura were that damn good, and they and everyone else knew it.

39. Buff Bagwell

He looked more like a circus act than a wrestler at times.

But don't let that confuse you with his ability, because Bagwell was tough, strong and one of the bad asses in WCW.

Bagwell knew he was "the stuff" and told everyone who would listen to him...and others who wouldn't.

38. Ted DiBiase

Remember, every man has his price!

Back in the day, DiBiase was the man who threw money around like Brett Favre throws around footballs.

He could buy anything he wanted, including the WWF world title, which he basically did in the Andre the Giant/Hulk Hogan feud.

DiBiase was a good wrestler, who was a regional champion in the NWA and the Louisiana territory.

Still, anyone who can throw money around like that makes this list.

37. Superstar Billy Graham

The pythons, baby!

22-inches of power and the Grand Wizard of Wrestling to manage him when he needed guidance.

Superstar Billy Graham was the coolest heel in the WWF at the time and held the WWF championship longer than any heel at the time.

He believed he was the baddest man on the planet and made wrestling fans believe it, too.

36. Stunning Steve Austin

WCW had something here when they put Stunning Steve Austin and Brian Pillman together.

They were a great tag team combination.

Austin was just as arrogant as Pillman and talked a great game on the mic. He also held the United States title while he was tag team wrestling.

Ric Flair once said getting rid of Austin was the worst mistake WCW ever made. And for some reason, WCW knew the mistake they had made once he uttered those words.

Austin was truly a great find who got away.

35. Bobby Heenan

He was a master of making people believe everything he said was the truth and real and the only thing that mattered.

He was a pretty good manager as well.

Heenan had a decent wrestling career before he turned to managing and announcing, but his mouth was what made people look at him and take notice.

Heenan even believed he was right all the time, which was a brilliant mixture of greed and ego.

34. Brian Pillman

The man with two personalities was a wild card in the WWF.

Pillman could play Jekyll and Hyde better than anyone and was a great in ring performer.

Early in his career he was a face who won tag team gold in WCW with Tom Zenk, but when he set out on his own, he was brilliant.

33. Brock Lesnar

Once he arrived, it was over.

Wrestlers knew he was going to punish them and there was nothing they could do about the biggest man in wrestling.

Lesnar was not the best talker in the biz, but he could stop a show in a heartbeat and knew he was the next big thing, the best big thing and the future big thing in wrestling.

His ego was as big as he was, and he could certainly back it up.

32. Psycho Syd

Syd was a contrast of sorts, being a good wrestler in the WWF for what he was set out to do and a misfit in WCW because he was hard to work with.

Either way, the raw intensity and belief he was the best there was made him perfect for this list.

Syd could pound on people and wear them down, but he was never a dominate champion for the long haul.

He did, however fit into Vince McMahon's idea of strong, powerful champions.

31. Bret Hart

The best there is.

The best there was.

The best there ever will be.

That about sums it up. Hart was great at everything he did and knew he could be the best if he wanted to. As a tag team champion and later a world champion, whatever he set out to do, he accomplished...and then he let you know about it whether you liked it or not.

30. Chris Jericho

If there was ever a man who could replace the greats like Flair, Savage and Brisco, it may be Jericho.

He was great in the ring, and got better on the mic as he got older.

The heel persona works best for him and he knew that to be the best, he had to become the best and worked hard at it.

His feuds with Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels and others proved he could be the very best if he wanted to be.

29. Eddie Guerrero

There were three sides of Eddie: Arrogance, confidence and ego.

All three made him one of the best crusierweights of all time.

The best thing about his ability was that he gave you everything he had in the ring every night and the fans knew whether he was face or heel, he was the best he could be,

28. Eddie Gilbert

Ego made him great!

Eddie Gilbert relied on speed and his technical ability.

And the fact he thought he was that good-which he was.

I wished he would have gotten more national exposure and challenged for a world title.

27. Edge

Started out as a tag team specialist and became one of the best singles champions ever in the WWE.

And he may have been the most arrogant and ego-driven wrestlers in the last decade.

Edge battled them all and kept his same persona. He was the best of the best and it was a shame he had to leave the business early.

26. Eric Bischoff

The man everyone loves to hate.

And he loves that.

Bischoff did everything he could to get into the business in the AWA and then moved over to WCW and then the WWE.

He has a knack for being a cancer to organizations and hurting the bottom line.

Everything he does is for him first, forget the others he steps on in the way.

25. The Fabulous Ones

Stan Lane and Steve Keirn dressed alike and wrestled mainly in the southern states, and were managed by Jackie Fargo.

They were flamboyant and popular and believed their own hype of being the best.

Really, they were slightly above average.

24. Gorgeous George

We could not leave him off this list. He started it all.

George was the most flamboyant of his time and he believed there was not a soul that could beat him.

He was ahead of his time with his gimmick and knew there were few others who could compare to him.

23. Curt Hennig

At one point, he was one of the 10 best in the business.

Hennig made it look so easy in the ring.

He was a star in the AWA, WCW and WWF and could have challenged anyone for a title and win! He was great on the mic as well and whether a face or heel, he gave everything in the ring.

22. Hulk Hogan

I don't really have to explain this, do I brother?

Hogan is the essential egomaniac and even to this day everything is all about him.

He is scheduled to get into the ring with Sting in three weeks. He has the stroke and still is great on the mic.

I will not be as good as he ever was, but we are hoping for one night he can recapture the glory.

21. Terry Funk

If you are wrestling well into your 60s, it is all about ego and not letting go.

Funk is that type of wrestler.

He has forgotten more about old school wrestling than most know today in wrestling circles.

He was a master of hardcore wrestling and a former world title holder in the NWA.

20. Adrian Street

What an odd ball.

He was as flamboyant as they came and he could wrestle as well.

A great heel that came up with the persona to antagonize his opponents.

He was a great heel in the 70s and early 80s and feuded often with Dusty Rhodes.

19. Arn Anderson

Another member of the Four Horsemen.

If you ask me, he was the best interview and he was the real leader of the bunch.

Anderson was the best worker, the best talker and the best performer.

And his ego was huge, but he was not one to really show it off unless it was warranted.

He was the toughest SOB in wrestling of his generation.

18. Rick Rude

He was the consummate arrogant ass.

His ego wrote checks his ability COULD cash.

He may be one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time.

And he could talk as well as anyone because he thought he was God's gift to wrestling.

Should have been a world champion 5 times over.

17. Jesse Ventura

I cannot believe this guy was Governor of Minnesota.

He and Hulk Hogan feuded in the AWA and spoke so down about each other. It is that type of ego that personifies Ventura.

He was a great wrestler who thought he could do no wrong.

And part of me thinks that translated to his personal life as well.

16. Jim Garvin

Heyyyyyy!

Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin was a sight. He was a tremendous singles wrestler who does not get the credit he deserves.

He was flamboyant, cocky and tremendous on the mic.

And Precious by his side made it even better.

15. Ken Patera

Former Olympian and heel in the WWF.

He was so full of himself, he told children to cheat to get farther in life.

Patera was better than people give him credit for and if he was given more exposure, he could have been Kurt Angle before Kurt Angle was in the business.

14. Ric Flair

Wooooo!

I don't need to say anything else.

13. Roddy Piper

The perfect compliment to Flair in the 1970s in the NWA and Hulk Hogan in the 1980s.

If there were wrestlers with bigger egos during his time, they were few.

Piper is a classic all to himself.

12. The Miz

He is up and coming and coming fast.

He is a good performer, strong on the mic and will learn and only get better.

He is one of the 10 future wrestlers in this business.

"Really!"

11. Goldust

As Goldust, Dustin Rhodes was amazing. Strong wrestling skills, great mic skills and a gimmick that never gets old.

He was the best of the upper mid card performers in the WWF and could have challenged for the world title if given the right push.

He is one for the ages.

10. Alberto Del Rio

Thank you for bringing back the classic heel to wrestling.

Del Rio is the type of wrestler who just exudes confidence and arrogance.

He will never be satisfied with being second best and he thinks he is the only one who is entitled.

Period.

Del Rio will have a great career in the WWE if he can continue this type of character.

9. IRS

Irwin R. Schyster was a great character in the WWF for Mike Rotundo.

A tag team partner of Ted DiBiase, they formed Money, Inc., where both wrestlers were are about greed and power.

And when they weren't on the mic, they wrestled a little bit too, and quite weel, I might add.

8. Sunny

OK, I had to put her in here. No one in the WWF was more about herself and the way she looked on camera than Sunny.

And she had good reason to do so,

Sunny was every man's dream (and for some, still is) and she knew it. Tammy Sytch was great at using her assets to make men crazy and help her team The Body Donna's world champions.

She had an ego as big as .... well, you fill in the blank.

7. Stone Cold Steve Austin

It is rare when you can have one man be so into two characters that work so well.

That is Steve Austin.

He is the anti-hero with an ego as big as Texas.

Austin had millions of fans hanging on his every word and was the one individual that showed fans how hating the boss could be so much fun.

6. The Undertaker/American Bad Ass

Whether he was in his dark persona or in the biker gear, you dare not mess with the Undertaker.

He has had the same shtick for 20 years and it works better than any gimmick in wrestling EVER.

He is cold and calculated and a fan favorite, but he also knows he is the bull of the woods and the ring is his playground.

Don't make him mad in his own backyard.

5. Scott Hall

Wrestling took a good looking American male, sent him to the WWF, put a toothpick in his mouth, gave him a bad accent and called him Razor Ramon.

He left the WWF, came to WCW with the toothpick and bad accent and called himself Scott Hall.

He was one of the baddest men in WCW and helped beat Vince McMahon at his own game.

He never thought there was anyone better than him and he was a great in ring performer when he was sober and his demons were under control.

4. Randy Savage

The Macho Man!

Randy Savage was all about ego in his professional and his personal life. He tried to keep everything close to the vest and be the best.

But Savage was also a nut when it came to detail and making everything perfect. He would pace and recount and ask questions and make sure he was on the same page as everyone else.

Savage thought he was the best and his work showed.

One of the 10 Best All Time.

3. Buddy Landell

Never had anyone tried to make himself out to the Nature Boy more than Buddy Landell.

He never came close.

Landell was a good regional wrestler and was in WCW for a brief cup of coffee. But he could never replace Ric Flair as "THE NATURE BOY" and he knew it.

But when you looked at Landell, you saw a well-dressed, well-spoken and well-performed wrestler who was more style than substance.

2. Pez Whatley

Shasta Whatley was a mid card wrestler in the NWA in Paul Jones Army. A man who wore a top hat and tails to the ring, he was often the subject of feuds with Jimmy Valiant.

He was an odd sort, thought very highly of himself and started out as a fan favorite before changing his stripes.

He won a few regional titles in his career but never really ascended to any top ranking or billing.

1. Booker T

Can you dig it, sucker?

Booker T was a great tag team specialist in Texas and in WCW with his brother, Stevie Ray.

As a singles competitor, he is a former WCW world title holder and had some really great matches with Scott Steiner before WCW disbanded.

Never at a loss for words, Booker T let everyone know what was on his mind and how he was one of the greatest.