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

**DrA** · 08-01-2007, 10:08 PM

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.

08-01-2007, 10:08 PM	#1
DrA Posts: 24,540	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.