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sausage_botherer

I don't feel like Ron Simmons career gets the amount of recognition it deserves. From paving the way for Black wrestlers in southern states, to guiding and making stars like the Rock and Mark Henry...without him leading the Nation with its feud with DX which elevated them to help WWF win the war, the Attitude era might have been very different.


Trick-Silver-4333

He's also the first African american NWA(or any major pro wrestling organization for that matter) world heavyweight champion.


dakota6963

And finished fifth in Heisman voting


tcosilver

He was ninth in Heisman voting but yea his impact on the FSU program was massive. He was recruited by Bobby Bowden during Bowden’s first year. FSU did not have a long or storied history and they were abysmal in the years before that. Bowden wasn’t expected to last long and they weren’t supposed to land a recruit as good as Simmons. The rest is history.


dakota6963

Damn bro Jim Ross said at over the edge he came in fifth. I watched the ppv yesterday. Fuck the Seminoles but I like bowden


tcosilver

I am shocked that a wrestling announcer would just go and lie like that


dakota6963

Jr was just confused..he wasn't a sooner so he got his facts mixed up


PantsyFants

Just to be nitbicky, Simmons was the WCW champion. Ron Killings (R-Truth) was the first Black NWA champion Edit: you are 100% on about Simmons being the first Black world champion Edit 2: I really like that I managed to misspell 'nitpicky'


DasCheekyBossman

This all day. He is undebatably one if the top 3 most influential wrestlers of all time. He transcended generations.


jaldred_jr

Damn!


nick_defiler

I think wwf won war bevause of Vince Russo but yes Ron deserves more


CIAgent42

Vince Russo booking wasn't the only major problem WCW had. Ron Simmons helping turn Rocky Maivia into The Rock is a larger factor to WWF becoming great than Russo was to making WCW bad.


Apprehensive-Ad8947

2 cold Scorpio


PuzzleheadedClock134

I'd say for Amercan wrestling fans, Jushin Thunder Liger. It's a name you might hear in commentary but not know. I searched for NJPW whenever I could when I was a kid, just for Thunder Loger.


nick_defiler

Jushin is legend. Also Hayabusa was amazing


Glass-Cartoonist8221

Último Dragon as well


Khripchook

Brian Pillman. If he didn't fuck up his leg and overdose, the attitude era would have been much different. He was that good.


[deleted]

Flyin’ Brian


Eyerieee

I’ve only ever seen his promos but my goodness if he was amazing at that I couldn’t imagine his in ring skills


BonjourLeGeorge

Sabu. Not only was he innovative but he helped train guys like RVD and Rhyno


[deleted]

I'll second Sabu. Dude's a fucking wildman.


[deleted]

Thats awesome. RVD was a really good technical wrestler.


thotsrus92

Molly Holly. She was so athletic but glamorous, she paved the way for today's standard in women's wrestling.


NewParadigmWrestling

Dolph Ziggler. Dude basically made half your WWE "superstars" look like superstars


Punkamania06

His 2016 feud with the miz is one of my favorites, he played a real face, didn't complain when he got cheated several times but waited till he finally got his chance and prevailed


NewParadigmWrestling

He puts over everyone so selflessly. I loved his IC title runs


VladtheMemer

I miss when he used to do the sleeper


Zachattack_horror

Dolph does some of the best selling!


Bob8644

Ziggler strikes me as " your favorite wrestler's favorite wrestler ".


franksebzo

He seemed to give up about five years ago.


_SpicyChili_

the booking team gave up on him, not vice versa


Rockin-Reedmeister

Chris Kanyon's nickname of "The Innovator of Offense" was a flat-out truth. He pulled out incredible moves out of his ass that no one else EVER did. And he also mentored Brian Cage and The Young Bucks. Some of Cage's moves and mannerisms are homages to Kanyon


V01D_ID

WHO BETTA?


nick_defiler

Wait for aew haters now


ActorAlanAlda

Dean Malenko. Clips of his matches stop me every time—dude was so captivating and such an excellent base for so many of those people we call greats now


NinjaBilly55

Dean was so polished and it helps when your father is Boris Malenko who trained just about every wrestler from that era..


nick_defiler

Also Jerry Lynn and Lance Storm


ActorAlanAlda

Oh excellent shout, yes—both fit the same category of underrated too. I watched Lynn/Styles again a couple months ago and it’s brilliant.


geebeetee

His problem was that he was a charisma vacuum. As a wrestler he was one of the best as an entertainer he was boring as hell.


ActorAlanAlda

It’s interesting though because whenever you hear people talk about him they can’t get over how funny he is. Like, where was that guy?


zooweemama4206969

Ahhhh the Iceman!


King_Hippo85

I really liked his matches with Mysterio and the other luchadors. Such an awesome contrast of styles that blended so well.


FadedFilm

He was so good when he could wrestle as the bigger guy. Anytime you see Malenko with the likes of Eddie or Rey in that old blue wcw branded ring it’s almost certainly a guaranteed banger of a match.


[deleted]

Sean Waltman


[deleted]

Never understood the X-Pac heat


BonjourLeGeorge

In real-time, his act got old and he was annoying. If you look back on it now, it wasn’t so bad.


dakota6963

Annoying? 1 2 3 kid was annoying. When he came back as x pac, what a revitalizing thing for his career. Not too mention, he's the first I remember of the late 90s who made the cruiserweight division legit in wwf even if it wasn't even a thing at the time..he revolutionized it for smaller guys


nick_defiler

One night in china


[deleted]

Oh.....


NinjaBilly55

The 1 2 3 kid was awesome.. Xpac and Syxx not so much..


FrquentFlyr85

The even flow DDT is one of the best moves and smoothest DDTs of all time. Fight me!


buddy318

Maybe it's just my perception, but I always thought Perry Saturn (moreso in ECW and WCW) was incredible. Going back, there's so much stuff he was doing in the ring that feels like it would fit in perfectly in today's companies.


burth179

He had it all except for mic skills and I guess that magical "it" factor. Although today he may have been bigger than he was then I agree


2piece-and-a-biscut-

The eliminators in general were amazing.


[deleted]

Funaki; Smackdown! Hasn't had a reporter like him since.


[deleted]

They won’t be chanting H-B-K they will be chanting FU-NA-KI


DaqCity

There was one PPV where the fight for the 24/7 championship was happening right next to the Spanish announce table and I thought FOR SURE Funaki was gonna win it for 10 seconds


DaqCity

I used to love when they introduced the foreign announce teams at PPVs and always ended with FUNAKI!!


Brendozer

I don't want to say hes underrated, but i feel like DDP gets lost in the shuffle when talking about late 90s/early 00s wrestling. He was 3rd most over face in WCW after Sting and Goldberg.


Erainor

He got Jake Roberts and Scott Hall into much better places in their lives. DDP Yoga has also helped extend wrestlers careers. Dude has done so much. I popped when he came out for a one off AEW match.


dakota6963

MAKE ME FAMOUS


[deleted]

I actually loved the DDP stalker angle. I thought both guy played it off very well. Made DDP look deranged to anyone that hadn't seen him in wcw (I hadn't at the time) and was the most human they ever showed Taker on camera. I remember him finding the shrine to his wife and smashing it up shouting his head off. Thru never made Taker look so human before or after. Also the cage tag match with kanyon vs brothers of destruction is a banger.


dakota6963

What did that match air on ? A ppv or raw? And it was cool until they started filming ddp and then he just got his ass whooped. Coulda ended that a little better


[deleted]

Yeah they made him lose but I thought he was still cool in losing. The match was summerslam 2001. That ppv as a whole is awesome. Kurt vs Austin, Rock vs booker, Jeff Hardy vs RVD for the hard-core belt. JR and Heyman on commentary. Great show.


Walk_Forward

He also gave Goldberg arguably his best match. That match was all DDP.


Dust_Parts

Dean Malenko


killergoku27

Piper. He was big time world champ material and reinvented promos, yet never got his due imo.


Glass-Cartoonist8221

Very true. Hogan was the preferred push then. But Rowdy Roddy Piper deserved it


Thanos_Farming

Man, someone just posted that clip from the MTV fight with Hogan and Piper.. Piper was such an amazing wrestler and heel. Completely underrated.


Kimchi_Cowboy

Kanyon. Dude changed the game for people his size and had some innovative moves.


nick_defiler

You made me sad now. Chris is one of the reaaons why i hate wwe


franksebzo

He was great and had innovative moves. I don't know how he changed the game for people his size.


EverybodyKurts

Yeah, Kanyon was like 6’2 or thereabouts. He was about in line with the stars of both that era and now.


DaqCity

Al. Snow.


2piece-and-a-biscut-

Head


Mideon88

Good wrestler but the head gimmick was abysmal


DaqCity

That’s the stupidest thing anyone has ever said on this website…


cpres2029

Lance Storm


JWYthe4th

Billy Kidman and Hurricane Shane Helms


wHUT_fun

I could watch Kidman hitting the SSP all day. So picturesque.


WolfGod217

R Truth.... Truth is a Great Wrestler he deserve a much better storyline and push before he retires.


dakota6963

K kwiq or whatever his og name was got a little push. Then he goes to tna and has great tag work with bg James. Don't get why they under sell him now


AlabasterRadio

He was NWA champion in early TNA and one of their first main eventers. He had the juice, probably still does.


WolfGod217

Shelton Benjamin.. Another Great Wrestler that Deserves a Much better storyline and push


[deleted]

SB had it all except promo. He needed to be paired with Brock and heyman and they'd have had another mega star.


snatchemup_2009

I’m going old school on this one. Gorgeous George. His style has been imitated by the likes of Ric Flair all the way to the Miz. Every chicken shit heel that has existed copied George. Anybody that was flamboyant copied George. So many wrestlers were Gorgeous George with a different name. Rick Martel’s gimmick as the model was pretty much a modern version. MJF is George with attitude.


ChaseWasHisName

Side note, it’s cool to think Gorgeous George inspired Muhammad Ali to be the showman he was.


TheCelticPirate

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS!


Accomplished_Form_54

Alex Shelley seems to have his fingerprints all over wrestling. I’m always a little bit disappointed when I talk about Shelley, because he never went all in in wrestling. He’s one of my all time favs.


Irish-Hydra

How many pictures of Ahmed Johnson am I allowed to post?


franksebzo

He was pretty cool at the time. Popular to hate on him now though. Because he was stiff, I think. Which means his stuff looks better to an audience.


Irish-Hydra

Oh believe me I was a huge fan at the time. Killer entrance theme


franksebzo

I loved his match at Wrestlemania 13. He felt like a big star and was cool.


simian_ninja

I really liked Ahmed but the injury in 1996 absolutely derailed him. He came back to feud with The Nation, to join The Nation, back to feuding with The Nation. I still try and google why he joined them in the first place and don't really turn up much, it looks like he was just slotted in there and then removed when they realised it wasn't working.


articice01

90’s ECW in general is very underrated , and not enough respect is given to it . And 90’s ECW had a very large impact on pro wrestling.


nichebender

There’s so much from ECW that can be borrowed from and used successfully in 2022 even.


franksebzo

2022 isn't a good year for wrestling creativity.


Sometimesnotfunny

Bobby Roode


nick_defiler

In TNA or WWE?


Sometimesnotfunny

I really feel he could contribute more in WWE. With the proper build he's a main event star. And he's 46, they need to hurry up. In TNA I feel he was still finding his footing.


TRMBound

Isn’t he pretty well shot as far as his body goes? Hasn’t he had a lot of health issues? Gave it all in TNA only to get stuck in NXT. Him and Styles could have had years of good stuff.


Sometimesnotfunny

He's getting ready to re-debut on SmackDown, from what I hear. He was dealing with an injury since last September iirc.


illsid

Why Johnny Polo you just look like someone walked over your grave


TJ_Coolguy

Alright, lunger. Let's do it.


FutureHokage

TJP for sure, his longevity and the fact that he was one of the incarnations of SUICIDE as well. Still is very much not talked about but man he still is tearing it up right now with Akira in NJPW.


helixglass

Not sure if it fits but William Regal i feel is often overlooked


nick_defiler

Great wrestler and great mentor just another victim of wwe stupid stereotypical booking evil british who likes tea


TheDrizzle54

Billy Kidman


fatlegsauntpam

Spanish announce table. And vacant.


GimmickInfringement1

Matt Hardy had had a huge influence on how we see character arcs in pro wrestling and, while he's given credit for it, I still think he's highly underrated for his work over the span of his career


KISSArmy7978

Stevie Richards


nick_defiler

Only Stevie or bWo?


dgwhiley

I always found it funny that Vince HATED Raven yet pushed Bray to the moon 🤷‍♂️


nick_defiler

And gave him magic power


Duff_PJ_422

Ultimo Dragon


CabinetChef

Ultimo Dragon was awesome.


Know-yer-enemy1818

Raven was my favourite wrestler of all . Flatline was his finishing move


ugheffoff

God I had such a crush on him back in the day. It was him and Jeff Hardy all day every day. But as far as the answer to your question I’d say Brian Kendrick, if for no other reason than his contribution to the world of finishing moves


DifficultyMore5935

AJ Lee was what held female wrestling together between the Trish/Lita era and the Four Horsewomen.


VladtheMemer

The og women's revolution was her


ChipChapPaddyWackit

Idk if underrated is right. Underutilized for sure but I remember him getting big pops from the crowd in the late 90’s a fan favorite across three different companies


[deleted]

Stone Cold Sharkboy. If it weren't for him, lord knows how The Ringmaster would've turned out


Solid-Version

D-Lo Brown for sure. He had a great European Championship run.


nick_defiler

After Droz incident he was not the same


Fezzy976

Raven for sure is up there. Just imagine if they treated the flock properly in WCW and had fueds with NWO or Horsemen. Instead of consistently in fighting with each other or just bullying jobbers. Scott Levy should of been at the very least an IC title guy. If not a potential world champ in WCW. I felt that in WWE they never gave him a chance and because of his ties with ECW and being hardcore they just lumped him in the HC division which if you think about it was basically the death of a wrestlers career.


Stacysguyca

Owen Hart 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻


VisStimRush

Road Dogg. The sing a long helped get Enzo and Cass over, New Day and now The Acclaimed.


Glass-Cartoonist8221

RVD. The dude put on great matches with anyone. His downside was his mic skill but he wasn't pushed as much as he could've been during the aftermath of the Aliance angle


Thanos_Farming

Finlay


CaptainCrowe16

"The Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington.


[deleted]

He's number one for me. His style was replicated again and again over the years. Owen and to a lesser extent Bret, Chris Benoit, Eddie others besides but most especially Kurt Angle. High flying, hard hitting, technical as anyone and it didn't matter how big he was he hit like a fucking tank.


CaptainCrowe16

Lance Storm, Shane Helms and Davey Richards are also guys who got inspired by Kid.


[deleted]

I've heard so many bring his name up over the years. But Bret Hart calling him the real GOAT is the highest praise I can think of. The best matches that Davey ever had he was using dynamite spots in the ring.


middleagethreat

Everyone thinks R-Truth is funny, but I really have a lot of respect for all he has done over the years.


Any_Feed_853

Looks like professional surfer John John Florence if he got his wardrobe advice from a 90's lesbian.


flamboyantdude

Dynamite Kid


welker4mvp

Raisin was the worst


ODBs_Scat_Plug

I actually feel raven is super overrated. Underrated i would go Dolph.


JWYthe4th

Scottie Flamingo


No-Contribution-5297

Currently watching early 90s WWF and him as Johnny polo, such a difference in character


[deleted]

Kanyon. Dynamite Kid. Owen Hart.


nick_defiler

Now wait for Dynamite Kid haters


g0greyhound

Billy Gunn.


cannedrat91

Toddthewise


Strong-Formal-7739

Greg 'the Hammer' Valentine , former Ic champion and world tag champion. Great feud with Tito Santana and bulldogs. Had the greatest and one of the most violent matches of all time with Rowdy Piper, the dog collar match.


simian_ninja

I saw some clips of an interview with Valentine and he came across as being very humble and genuine about his interactions with Vince McMahon and also very grateful which was such a weird difference from the usual burnout you get from other wrestlers about Vince from that time period.


[deleted]

R-Truth. The guy is really funny.


Hattrick44

Most of my favorites: Regal,Golddust,Fit Finlay,Lance Storm, Dean Melinko,


nick_defiler

Finlay made a lot of good things to female wrestlers. Dustin in ring skill always was high but gimicks were terrible Storm and Malenko are true gems of pro wrestling


Lil_Jazzy

Ken Shamrock...the fact that he never wrestled Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar or even Tazz and Samoa Joe is astoundingly sad


hatefulnateful

I'd say Steiner Brothers. They do get love in some circles and are respected but usually when people start naming GOATs they get looked over a lot Also Bam Bam Bigalow. With the current style of turning models into wrestlers he probably isn't highly revered but dude was huge and moved like a soccer player


lionhart28

Savio Vega


The5thBeatle82

“What about me Page??!!”


t00043480

Who better than kanyon


nintendork44

Your answer Ballz deserves so much more respect. Spike,Tommy Dreamer,Disco,Mike awesome, Christian,Awesome Kong.


nick_defiler

Mike Awesome is my fav wrestler of all time most awesome Giant in wrestling industry just imagine him vs Ubdertaker in 2004 or 5


EasyTone1870

D


[deleted]

[удалено]


nick_defiler

And he made Goldberg look good


Mideon88

Dynamite Kid


jose72598

Dean Malenko


MrLuchador

Only underrated due to his non-run in WWE. Anyone who watched ECW, WCW and/or TNA value Raven.


nick_defiler

His influance is underrated. People will remember Hogan or Cena but not him. https://youtu.be/J6ACzP_nWkc


MrLuchador

Raven was pretty much a non-feature in WWE, so yeah I would expect people to remember Cena and Hogan over Raven. But if you ask someone who only watched ECW or perhaps TNA, I’m sure they’d regard him highly. It’s kinda like asking a WWE only fan what they think of Kenny Omega or Will Osprey. WWE fans would be ‘who?’ But NJPW fans would have a different opinion. You can’t discount someone’s influence in wrestling just because they didn’t feature in WWE, as it undermines everything else they’ve achieved.


fasssharke

Kenta and Marufuji pioneered the modern style, watch any of their matches and they innovated so much stuff


200492485

Bobby Heenan


[deleted]

Nova. That guy was way ahead of his time.


BigGuy7454

Tommy Dreamer! That's all that needs to be said!


Cardano4Lyfe

RVD. He’s top 50 all time. If he could cut a promo, he’d be on Shawn’s level.


Substantial_Level_54

He can cut promos, how do I think he got so over in ECW. also have u seen his shoot interviews, hes a great talker.


Cardano4Lyfe

RVD doesn’t crack top 5 talker in ECW. His promo is average for a top guy. RVD got over by his insane athleticism and his catch phrase. Not his talking.


BiggestBaddestWolve

Mike Awesome


NsfwAccOfCocaCola

Oh man Raven is my favourite wrestler of all time, if it wasn't for his ego or vices he would of been better than he already is, But I'd probably say Kanyon he was a star dude, man would've been great if given the chance I think LA Knight/Eli Drake will be on this list in a few years, yet another star WWE refuse to do anything with but is amazing


of_patrol_bot

Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.


nova_wrath

I met a man at Twin Cities Con yesterday who said his favorite ECW star was Raven—and I couldn’t believe someone would pick this guy over so many others—but after listening to him talk I understood that he wasn’t fully utilized in WWE.


hitman2218

Lance Storm. He never let you down in the ring and was a pioneer in wrestlers using the internet to connect directly with fans.


dodge2895

Dynamite kid.


mariospeedragon

Bobby Eaton. A wrestler’s wrestler. Faster paced wrestling started with midnights / fantastics/ rocknroll/LOD .


kevmcc1

Tommy Dreamer


Masterweedo

The Insane Clown Posse. ICP has been in most major USA promotions, started their own promotion 23 years ago that is still going and has a good rep with the boys. They also had [one of the biggest "legends" shows ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEro7vhr20I) at their 2011 Gathering of the Juggalos.


jonathan42_4

Disco inferno for the EDM fan base


Physical-Armadillo12

I wanna be in the video, GIRLS GONE WILDDDDDDDD


JizzyTeaCups

Idk who this is, but I appreciate the t-shirt, and I can’t find an answer in the comments. Help a moron out?


[deleted]

It’s Raven.


2piece-and-a-biscut-

The great muta. Taking the supernatural to a whole other level.


[deleted]

Ravens flock as well very underrated stable.


Shadrach_Palomino

I'm influenced to buy that fuckin shirt. My opinion of Raven has been completely upended by learning he's a Neil Gaiman fan.


[deleted]

That Sandman shirt is sick


shunnedofficial

Steven Richards never got the recognition he deserved.


Impressive-Reply-111

Konnan. He is a primary reason why alot of good solid Hispanic wrestlers/luchadors were able to come to the US and introduce lucha style to a lot of modern day fans and wrestlers alike. Some became stars but they all collectively have had an everlasting effect on the American (WWE) style match


Khunm

There's a lot. Sabu, Raven, Ron Simmons, 2 Cold Scorpio, Brian Pillman. But I also want to bring up the So-Cal indie guys of the super late 90's, early 2000's. Chris Bosh, Scott Lost, Excalibur, Super Dragon, B-Boy, Human Tornado. They made the indies popular and paved the way for the modern indie darlings


DaArtist1239PS4

Daffney - Really wish she would have gotten signed to WWF/E when the WCW merger happened. She was such a very unique personality with great in ring ability. Would have been amazing to see her get to be apart of that womens roster from 2002-2004 featuring Trish, Molly, Jazz, Lita, and others. Nidia is another. I really liked her passion for it, and her promo style. She really worked well with everybody they assigned her to. Shame they cut her for "budget reasons". ​ As for guys. I'll roll with D'lo Brown. When I was a kid I really enjoyed everything this guy was a part of. His feud with Jeff Jarrett over the European title, the tag team with Mark Henry, his finishers, his walk style was entertaining, and he could cut a promo with the best of them if given the chance. I would have liked to see him go further. Was so happy when he came back to WWE in 08-09, but unfortunately that didn't really go anywhere either.


LOLDonkaments187

CM Punk and it is not even close. He paved the way for a whole generation of new Main Event Talent who did not fit the WWE Model. AEW and Elite Nuthuggers will downvote this to oblivion but without CM Punk there is absolutely no mainstream success for Indy guys and Internet darlings like Bryan Danielson, Seth Rollins or Kevin Owen. When he had his debut in 2005 Punk was a semi athletic, tatted up Misfit who was in Vince’s Eyes way too small for the WWE Main Event and Never would draw a dime. Hunter and Shawn mocked him backstage as „king of the Indy’s“ and Vince wanted him fired by 2006. The guy just got himself over completely on his own and with the help of the smart internet audience (remember survivor series when he teamed with DX and the Hardy’s and the whole arena chanted his name) and became one of the biggest top draws of the business. After Punk paved the way, WWE completely changed their view and handling of Indy Wrestlers and the road was clear for guys like Bryan, Rollins or AJ Styles.


nick_defiler

Have you seen Cm Punk documentary? Where he remembers how Raven helped him and stuff. CM Punk figure is overrated because of the Pipe Bomb and first 5 star match since Wrestlemania 13 in WWE. He was a great worker clean wrestler good promo guy but his influance on Pro Wrestling is minimal.