My Favorite Wrestlers Ever: #10 through #6

Last multiple entry until we get into the top 5!

Photo Credit: WWE.com

10. Dusty Rhodes

My fandom for De Amewican Dweem has come later in life. When I watched as a child, during his heyday, he was at the height of his WWF run, wearing polka dots and being irrelevant. But his commentary in WCW was just sublime. Then as I'd go back and discover him, his warm, homespun promos about the working man and hard times, I grew to mark for him even more.

Plus, the guy is an icon for all us who are overweight. He was fat as hell, and yet he was still, arguably, the most popular wrestler in the world at one point. There was also the Bionic Elbow, which is one of the most iconic strikes ever.

Photo Credit: SI.com

9. "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Oooooh yeah, dig it, the Macho Man Randy Savage was an icon in my childhood. If Hogan was #1, Savage was #1a. I've said it several times, but while Hogan was the guy who got me into wrestling, Savage, with his tearful reunion with Miss Elizabeth, was the thing that kept me a wrestling fan for the rest of my life. Everything about him was just entrancing, mainly because he was so easy to imitate.

He also kept his legacy intact for the most part by staying away. When the sirens kept calling guys like Hogan, Flair, Funk and the rest back to the well, Savage kept quiet and kept at home. That's why his death resonated so much. There was so much of his mystique left around him. He never shed it in front of us like so many others are doing right now, and that's what made his passing extra sad.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

8. Eddie Guerrero

Eddie G was one of the most fun-loving and emotive wrestlers in history. Every time he came out, it just felt like a good time was on the horizon. Every smile on his face, every pop to his feet... it was great. He had a lot of demons, and they were all out in the open, which made it all the more powerful when he would overcome them and succeed. His title reign, beating Brock Lesnar and then holding the WWE Championship through WrestleMania that year, was probably one of the most special in my memory.

Well, we always thought his problems were behind him. Then, he died, so suddenly. It magnified all those good feelings, encasing them for eternity. That being said, I'm pretty sure Eddie would still be here even if he were alive. Such a special performer.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

7. Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan

Michael Cole called him a nerd when he first debuted on NXT. In his character's mind, Cole thought he was doing Daniel Bryan a disservice. But then, a funny thing happened. It got him over. Why? Because Bryan, like a lot of wrestling fans, was a big nerd. It resonated with us, with me especially. BECAUSE I'M A NERD GET IT? HYUCK HYUCK.

It doesn't hurt that he may be the most gifted pure wrestler in history. That comes as not so much a shock to you, given how much I enjoy the in-ring part of the equation. I've seen so many matches of his, and you know how many parts I was disappointed in? Zero. And the best part is that it's just getting started. He'll be in a title match at WrestleMania this year, and I don't even need to know his opponent to know it'll be a damn good match worthy of its billing on the card.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

6. Bret "The Hitman" Hart

When Hogan jumped to WCW, I stayed with the WWF. Why? Because of the Hitman. He just exuded cool. He was so workmanlike in the ring, a general, and outside, he seemed so slick, the greasy hair, the sunglasses... hell, he wore pink. The man wore pink at a time when only women wore the color. You had to be a real man to be able to wear that color, and he was a real man.

He had a lot shit heaped on him in the last fifteen years. Yet, even though he looks like hell on the exterior, he still exudes that cool. I think it's also in the way that the other wrestlers talk about him, how Colt Cabana and Evan Bourne just marked out when talking about him on the Art of Wrestling podcast. He is the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.

The Wrestling Podcast, Episode 10: Justin Henry

Photo Credit:
Justin Henry's Twitter

Episode 10: Tyler Black Sabbath

Tenth episode! Justin Henry and I talk about, of course, CM Punk, as well as Destination X, Eddie Guerrero exploitation, Mark Henry, why Jerry Lawler might not be at fault for his cracks about Vickie Guerrero and a few other things. We also delve into his gig writing at WrestleCrap. Give it a listen.

Direct link for straight download

The Fans Didn't Ruin a Damn Thing

The Hulk Hogan Facebook/Twitter comment controversy is absurd because he's a guy who owns a company that caters to wrestling fans blasting wrestling fans for not being grateful enough to appreciate his product. This is the kind of delusion we all like to laugh at, even if no one would really pay it any mind if we didn't shine a light on the stupidity. Could I have let it alone on Saturday? Probably, but then again, I just don't like being condescended by a guy that wants me to spend my hard-earned dollar on his shitty, fourth-rate imitation of what wrestling was in 1998 (and unless you count the portion of my cable bill that goes to Spike TV, he's been unsuccessful in that endeavor).

However, what I find fascinating and infuriating is when fans start getting on the self-hatred train, or to be more accurate, when some fans start blaming others for the downfall of wrestling. "The Internet killed wrestling!" they cry, despite the fact that there are as many opinions as to how wrestling should be on the Web as there are grains of sand in the Sahara, and that booking to some nebulous body would be impossible. But let's entertain that notion for a second.

It's true, Vince Russo loved to book to the smarks and to the Internet. Hell, he still does. However, if he's booking to such a small percentage of the audience, then whose fault is that, the niche fans, or the guy who spurns the fans at large FOR the niche fans? That's the reason why people who are in charge are in charge; they have the good judgment to know which people to listen to and which ones to ignore, or at least they should. Shame on Russo for initially plunging WCW into the mire by continually booking to a niche crowd. Shame on WCW for continuing to employ him after his track record kept speaking for him. A million shames on Dixie Carter for continuing to employ him after a decade-long track record of futility.

The biggest fallacy though is believing that the WWE booked to smarks after Russo left. The biggest notch in the case against that argument is the Invasion angle. If so-called smarks booked the Invasion angle, and this is assuming that there's such thing as a nebulous band of fans on the Internet that all share the same brain, then do you think that the WCW faction would have been jobbed out as hard as it was? Do you think DDP would have been made Undertaker's bitch? That Booker T would have had to have played lackey to Steve Austin and Kurt Angle rather than leading the WCW guys himself? Hell no. If the "smarks" had their way, then RAW would have turned to Nitro, Hugh G. Rection would have unified all the titles and Eric Bischoff would have caned Vince McMahon on live television for 82 weeks straight.

It's coincidence that "smarks" liked the small guys before WWE pushed them. If Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit didn't get the reactions they got from larger crowds, there's no way the WWE would have pushed them. Jericho, Guerrero and up until the time he murdered his family in cold-blood, Benoit, were all super over with the WWE fans-at-large, and that's why they all got to main event status. Not because the WWE booked to smarks. If that were the case, where was Dean Malenko? Lance Storm? Jerry Lynn?

The fact is that the content-controllers have all the say in what goes on your television. If they try₁ to cater to smarks, it's their problem, not ours. If they put out content that doesn't draw or is low-rated or isn't satisfactory, it is their responsibility. I don't have to watch wrestling. I choose to watch it because I like the artform. I am free to choose what content providers I support with my money, my time and my attention. If I don't like a product, I'm free to do so, and it is not my fault for not liking it. If I choose to criticize a product, it is my protected right by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to do so, as long as what I say about that product is factual or at the very least is presented as opinion. The former means that any failing of a product is due to the people producing it, not the people consuming. The latter means that I don't have to shut up and keep my voice to myself.

This is what Hogan, Bischoff and a certain sect of sophist fans need to realize. Of course, it's easier to blame anyone but yourself for your own failings if you're delusional and egotistical like Hogan seems to be. And it's fun to play troll if you're on the Internet and you really have nothing better to do. But really, it's a tired act and a tired talking point.

1 - And the key word is try, since it's IMPOSSIBLE to cater to nerds of any branch of entertainment. Case in point, people actually criticized X-Men: First Class this weekend because it didn't have continuity with X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, despite the fact that some of those same people were the ones who loathed those last two movies. This is why we can't have nice things.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!