Who are the five most popular wrestlers in the history of wrestling?
 

By popularity, I guess I mean a combination of those who were the most, well, popular during their time with their respected company, combined with overall name familiarity and how much of an impact they actually had in making wrestling mainstream.

I was thinking about this earlier, and the list I came up with was:

The Rock
Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Goldberg
Sting

I picked those guys mainly because their names individually seemed to have transcended farther than just being associated with the WWF or WCW while still being associated with them. I don't know if I am describing this efficiently or logically at all really. Take Ric Flair, for example. He has been a gigantic star in the wrestling industry for many years, but his name doesn't seem to travel far beyond the connotations of the promotion he was with. People who watch wrestling regularly know all about him, as do many casual onlookers, but he isn't the first person the average person would have thought of if you were to mention wrestling to them. I also feel the same way about Shawn Michaels to a certain extent. You all might think differently on those issues, though.

I haven't watched wrestling regularly since Chris Jericho left, so maybe a guy like John Cena would be on this list now, I am not sure. Just post your list and your reasoning for it.

Ric Flair would be on that list instead of Sting (in the South anyway).

Hogan,Austin,Rock,Goldberg,Flair

Sting would be #6 most likely though.

In order...

Hogan
Austin
Flair
Sammartino
The Rock

I'd say the Rock is the most famous but he wasn't around nearly as long as any of the other guys except Austin. Sammartino led WWF for like 10 years or more. Flair was a draw everywhere he went, and Austin may have drawn more than Hogan but Hulk was a draw for nearly 20 years.

Hogan
Austin
The Rock
Flair

#5 is a huge toss up between alot of people

i agree with JamesSteele with the Ric Flair...but i would take out Goldberg and put in Triple H

lol Triple H

Bret Hart over Triple H anyday

damn..i was just getting ready to correct myself

In no order

Austin
Rock
Flair
Goldberg
Hogan

Top 4 Easy:

Hogan
Rock
Austin
Bret Hart

Others:
Shawn Michaels
Undertaker
Andre the Giant

Bret Hart didn't draw 50 thousand fans to an arena once. The only arguement would be SS with Davey Boy, and we all know that was Davey Boys crowd.

Hogan
Rock
Austin
Benoit
I dunno for 5.

Rock, Austin and Hogan all lead their company when they were with them. They are mainstream names that anybody outside of wrestling knows as well. Rock and Hogan have been in movies, and Austin was so huge in his time that people outside of wrestling know him as well.

To be honest, I put Benoit for a few reasons. People who watch wrestling know who Benoit was. He was a great wrestler, worked for years, albeit never at the top, but he was always a pretty popular guy. Then he makes some decisions, and the whole world hears about him. Benoit's just as popular as Austin, although in a different light.

But who's talking about draw? :-\

Actually, I'd put Undertaker up there

The only way to prove how popular someone is is how much money they make.

on an unrelated note: alot of the artsy people I know seemed to like the Ultimate Warrior

I love how people talk about how great of an international draw Bret Hart was. WCW did a international tour in 2001 that broke profit records (until WCW ending up fucking up on accounting or something and ended up losing money).

Not many people other than New Englanders would know who Sammartino is.

Steve Austin
The Rock
Hulk Hogan
Andre The Giant
Ric Flair

And while I'm kind of near the topic, a poll was done in 1999 about the top 5 most recognizable wrestlers of all time...kind of along these lines I guess...Anyway I know for a fact that Nash made the list, though I can't off the top of my head remember the other ones. I just recall being a bit surprised that Nash beat out other somehow seemingly more likely workers.

Actually, I knew Kevin Nash before I started watching wrestling. I also knew of Rikishi, though, so what does that tell you?

The top five would probably be:

Stone Cold Steve Austin
Hulk Hogan
The Rock
Goldberg
The Undertaker

That is if we are talking about outside recognition and shit. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and The Rock are easy. I owned a Goldberg product even before I knew who he was. All I knew from friends was that he was "really tough." The Undertaker joins the list because he is just so striking, that anyone who knows wrestling probably remembers the guy who was a zombie. I recognised his name before I became a fan.

Andre the Giant comes close, but I think that might be a generation thing, and you could very easily substitute Goldberg for Andre. Bret Hart is a name that is coming up, and I'm not too sure about that, but I'd assume that's a generation thing. Perhaps the most meaningful indicator of his recognition was that he got to guest star in an episode of The Simpsons, didn't he? That they chose Hart over some others must have meant something at the time.

Ric Flair would not make my list. Legendary, yes, but if I didn't watch wrestling, there is no way I would have any clue who he is. Sting has a better shot, in my opinion. He is another that I knew from around the place before I started watching.

That measures how successful they are. I thought we were talking about inside and outside influence, though? I've only heard Triple H's name mentioned outside the company once, and that was because the person couldn't stand him.

Hogan
The Rock
Austin

easily

And then, from there, it's a bit harder. I'd go:

Ric Flair

and um....

The Undertaker :lol: I dunno who I'd pick for #5.

Hogan
Austin
Flair
The Rock
Andre

Sting is probably up there, Goldberg I agree with too.

JEEZ this is hard. I'd have to agree with all the names brought up.

Hulk Hogan
Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock
Ric Flair
Bret Hart

^ Whats the story behind your Avatar? Is that Pac-man?

Hogan
Austin
Rock
Andre the Giant
Rick Flair

Hogan
Taker
Rock
Austin
Andre the Giant

Mainly based on the fact that they were all known outside of hardcore wrestling fans through other forms of media, with exception of Taker, but when I was younger anyone older than me would always talk about Taker. The other 4 have all done films giving them more mainstream

Um, you guys are way off. Kevin Nash is the 5 most popular wrestlers ever.

He is the biggest draw in wrestling history, He once grossed over 100 million Eruos from one event.

Hogan
Flair
Rock
Austin
HBK

One time he sold out the Tokyo Dome to the point that the only way for him to get to the ring because of all the people was to crowd surf.

Austin
Rock
Hogan
Foley
HBK

Last time Kevin Nash was advertised to be at the Silverdome, the arena was so packed with standing room only people, and the wait to get inside was so massive, they had to helicopter Nash directly into the arena...

...sadly over 2,000 people were killed that day due to mob mentality and murders with the intent of taking someone else's ticket...

Bret Hart wasn't just on The Simpsons. He was also on Lonesome Dove and MAD TV a few times.

Was Ric Flair really a draw? Watching some old footage you see a tonne of empty seats. I'd say Hart was a bigger worldwide draw than Flair by far.