Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time

by Molinaro, John; Meltzer, Dave

• ISBN13: 9781553663058
• ISBN10: 1553663055
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Stewart House

Summary

It's an argument that wrestling fans have debated for generations: who is the greatest of all time? Compiled by three of the industry's leading experts with the help of several historians, Wrestling Observer's Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time is the answer to that question. They're all here: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Gorgeous George, Lou Thesz, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Buddy Rogers, Frank Gotch. Wrestlers from all over the world -- the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Europe, India, South America -- men and women trained in every style and discipline are represented, making the Top 100 a truly global ranking. Over a century of wrestling history is covered as the Top 100 ranks the industry's greatest stars from the 1890s to the new millennium and every era in between -- the turn-of-the-century when the industry was a hybrid of work and shoot; the explosion of wrestling on network television in the 1940s; the "good'ol days" of the territories and the National Wrestling Alliance; and the modern age of pay-per-view and the Monday night ratings wars. Who made the list? Who didn't make the cut? This ranking will serve as a catalyst for heated discussions, as wrestling fans will defiantly debate the order of the list and make a case for the inclusion of one of their favorites who was snubbed. The Top 100 will both enlighten and enrage, keeping fans enthralled in spirited debate for years to come. Let the arguments begin. Book jacket.

Author Biography

John F. Molinaro is a Toronto-based journalist and a lifelong fan of pro wrestling Jeff Marek is a radio broadcaster/writer and is the founder and host of wrestling radio talk show "The law: Live Audio Wrestling" in Toronto, Canada Dave Meltzer is considered the pioneer of pro wrestling journalism

Table of Contents

State of the Wrestling Industry	p. VII
Foreword	p. IX
The Top 100
Ric Flair	p. 1
Lou Thesz	p. 8
Rikidozan	p. 14
Antonio Inoki	p. 20
Hulk Hogan	p. 26
Andre the Giant	p. 33
El Santo	p. 38
Giant Baba	p. 44
Steve Austin	p. 50
Buddy Rogers	p. 56
Frank Gotch	p. 62
Jim Londos	p. 64
Ed "Strangler" Lewis	p. 66
Stan Hansen	p. 68
Bruno Sammartino	p. 70
The Rock	p. 72
Gorgeous George	p. 74
Bruiser Brody	p. 76
Riki Choshu	p. 78
Mitsuharu Misawa	p. 80
Verne Gagne	p. 82
Jumbo Tsuruta	p. 84
Terry Funk	p. 86
Mil Mascaras	p. 88
Bret Hart	p. 90
Famous Holds and Finishers	p. 92
Dory Funk Jr	p. 96
Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama)	p. 98
Blue Demon	p. 101
Perro Aguayo	p. 102
Nick Bockwinkel	p. 104
Dusty Rhodes	p. 106
Johnny Valentine	p. 108
Freddie Blassie	p. 110
Vader	p. 112
George Hackenschmidt	p. 114
Jushin Liger	p. 116
Toshiaki Kawada	p. 118
Keiji Muto	p. 120
Jack Brisco	p. 122
Harley Race	p. 124
El Hijo del Santo	p. 126
Tatsumi Fujinami	p. 128
Danny Hodge	p. 130
Akira Maeda	p. 132
Chigusa Nagayo	p. 134
Ricky Steamboat	p. 136
Shawn Michaels	p. 138
Shinya Hashimoto	p. 140
Ray Stevens	p. 142
Randy Savage	p. 144
Gene Kiniski	p. 146
Nobuhiko Takada	p. 146
Mick Foley	p. 147
Genichiro Tenryu	p. 150
The Crusher	p. 150
Dick the Bruiser	p. 151
Canek	p. 152
Antonino Rocca	p. 153
The Sheik	p. 153
Don Leo Jonathan	p. 154
The Dynamite Kid	p. 155
The Undertaker	p. 157
El Solitario	p. 158
Superstar Billy Graham	p. 159
Jerry Lawler	p. 161
Roddy Piper	p. 162
Ultimo Dragon	p. 165
Billy Robinson	p. 165
Jaguar Yokota	p. 166
Lioness Asuka	p. 167
Bobo Brazil	p. 169
Karl Gotch	p. 169
Bert Assirati	p. 170
Gori Guerrero	p. 171
Bill Longson	p. 171
Ring of Friendship	p. 172
Killer Kowalski	p. 176
Mildred Burke	p. 176
Abdullah the Butcher	p. 177
The Destroyer	p. 179
Atsushi Onita	p. 181
Ted DiBiase	p. 183
Earl McCready	p. 183
Pat O'Connor	p. 184
Fritz Von Erich	p. 186
Wahoo McDaniel	p. 187
"Whipper" Billy Watson	p. 189
Leroy McGuirk	p. 190
Mad Dog Vachon	p. 190
Yvon Robert	p. 191
Bronko Nagurski	p. 192
Dos Caras	p. 193
Edouard Carpentier	p. 193
Rayo de Jalisco Sr	p. 195
Stanislaus Zbyszko	p. 196
Sting	p. 196
Pat Patterson	p. 197
Masahiro Chono	p. 198
Dara Singh	p. 199
Jesse Ventura	p. 199
Eddie Graham	p. 200
The Next Ten
Jun Aklyama	p. 201
Kurt Angle	p. 202
Chris Benoit	p. 202
Triple H	p. 204
Chris Jericho	p. 205
Kenta Kobashi	p. 206
Satoshi Kojima	p. 206
Yuji Nagata	p. 207
Kazushi Sakuraba	p. 208
Manami Toyota	p. 208
Index	p. 210
Photo credits	p. 212
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.