Best Wrestler GOAT?

[VB]

Who is your GOAT? any era

[codeberg]

HULK 'RIP my brother' Hogan

[One-One-Five]

HBK

[veritas.io]

Easy Undertaker. The gimmick is the best there is or ever was

[WhatUQuant]

Fans of Cena will be responding shorly haha

[Totally]

Couldn't agree more. Ha, yeah that is about right.

Appreciate it.

Management decisions in big games are where titles are won and lost.

[One-One-Five]

Couldn't agree more. Ha, yeah that is about right. Appreciate it. Management decisions in big games are where titles are won and lost.

Cheers for that. Legend.

[DQ Eric]

Solid advice that. Not a life changer but it adds up.

The difference between the top sides at this level is smaller than the league table makes it look.

[Jeffy]

Yeah can't really argue with that. Multiplayer games live or die on whether the people you play with are decent.

Can't really go wrong with it.

Management decisions in big games are where titles are won and lost.

[Northernah]

Fair enough. Fair enough really.

Good thread this.

The difference between the top sides at this level is smaller than the league table makes it look

[Paige_68]

I wonder if that is the whole story or just the most obvious part of it. There is a kind of restraint in the best of this that is harder to achieve than it looks.

Really good thread this.

Home advantage is still massive despite what people say

[CodyRhodes99]

Just wondering if there is another angle on that. Going to look that up properly

[CodyRhodes99]

I did not know that, good to know. I will dig into that further.

[TeaAndCode72]

That is recency bias talking if I am honest. The squad depth is the real difference at the top level.

We will see how it plays out.

Management decisions in big games are where titles are won and lost.

[NeonPilot]

That is about where I am at. Good shout.

Home advantage is still massive despite what people say.

[Cheugy]

Completely agree with that. Worth a look if you have not already

[Foundry69]

Not fully convinced by that part of it. Nine times out of ten it is something boring like a driver or a startup item rather than the hardware itself.

Should sort it if the basics are fine

[Faded Owen]

That is one way of looking at it. Ha, fair enough

[NeonPilot]

Spot on. That is the thing isn't it.

The obvious answer is usually not wrong, it is just incomplete.

Thanks for that

[KaiHeck]

Shawn Michaels.

Every time I revisit old matches I'm reminded how good he was. Big match performer, incredible seller, charismatic, and capable of dragging great matches out of almost anyone. If I were introducing wrestling to someone, a lot of my examples would be HBK matches

[QueueDay]

I know people will roll their eyes, but I'm picking John Cena. The guy carried the company for years, had great matches when paired with the right opponents, and became a mainstream star.

Half the internet spent a decade booing him and now acts like they always appreciated him. Funny how that works

[Candle]

My fanboy answer is Sting. I know he isn't always the first name people mention, but that character connected with me more than anyone else.

Also, the fact he kept wrestling at such a high level for so long is genuinely impressive

[NeonPhantom39]

Stone Cold Steve Austin for me and it's not close. Wrestling has had bigger athletes and maybe more technically gifted performers, but nobody ever made me want to jump off the sofa like Austin did.

That glass shattering is still one of the greatest crowd reactions in entertainment

[Rory_39]

Eddie Guerrero for me. Every match felt like he was telling a story, and his charisma was off the charts.

I still laugh thinking about how he'd cheat, get caught, then somehow convince the referee the other guy was guilty

[WildManSteve40]

I'm going with Bret Hart. If we're talking in-ring ability, consistency, psychology, and making everything look believable, Bret is right at the top.

The best compliment I can give him is that even today his matches hold up incredibly well

[ProperJobs89]

Ric Flair gets my vote. World titles, promos, longevity, influence, and the ability to make opponents look like stars.

Plus, any GOAT conversation that doesn't include a loud "Woooo!" feels incomplete

[MJF_Fan]

My GOAT is Hulk Hogan, and before anyone throws tomatoes, hear me out. If we're measuring influence and drawing power, Hogan belongs near the very top.

Without him, wrestling probably doesn't become the global phenomenon it became in the 80s

[Brad92]

For me it's got to be The Undertaker!. His mere longevity alone is ridiculous. He stayed relevant across multiple eras, reinvented the character when needed, and still felt special every time that gong hit.

There may be better pure wrestlers, but as an overall package of character, matches, aura, and legacy, he's my GOAT

[Plateau65]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Kurt Angle yet. Olympic gold medalist, hilarious character work, intense promos, and one of the most complete in-ring performers ever.

The fact he could switch from comedy to absolute wrestling machine in seconds was amazing

[Quarry18]

I'll be controversial and say Roman Reigns has entered the conversation. Not necessarily number one yet, but his Tribal Chief run completely changed how people viewed him.

A lot of fans who spent years criticizing him suddenly couldn't wait to see what he'd do next

[Tracey99]

Macho Man Randy Savage deserves more love in these debates. The promos were legendary, the intensity was unmatched, and he had some fantastic matches.

Also, nobody committed to a character quite like Savage. The man sounded like he was cutting a promo even when ordering lunch

[Wizard]

Triple H gets overlooked because people focus on the politics stories. As a performer, he had great feuds, memorable entrances, and plenty of classic matches.

The guy basically spent decades in the main event scene and rarely felt out of place there

[David74]

If we're talking pure wrestling ability, Bryan Danielson has to be mentioned. Different styles, different promotions, different opponents, and he seems to excel everywhere.

My heart says Undertaker, my nostalgia says Austin, but my wrestling brain keeps coming back to Danielson

[GlassKnight35]

This debate is almost impossible because the criteria change everything. If we are talking about drawing the biggest crowd, changing the business and becoming a global icon, The Rock and Hulk Hogan have to be near the top.

If we are talking about bell-to-bell skill, the conversation shifts completely. That is where guys like Bryan Danielson, Bret Hart and Kurt Angle become impossible to ignore.

The GOAT probably depends on what you value most.

[Undertaker]

<---

ANSWER

[Ann13]

The name that always comes up for me is Shawn Michaels. The guy could have a classic match with almost anyone and his big match performances were ridiculous.

People remember the athleticism, but his timing was the real weapon. He knew exactly when to slow things down and when to explode.

The backstage stuff obviously affects opinions, but purely as a performer he belongs in the conversation.

[ClientPilgrim]

Going with Ric Flair here. There are wrestlers who were better technically, but very few understood the character side of wrestling like Flair did.

The promos, the style, the ability to make people care about a match before the bell even rang were all elite.

Modern fans sometimes focus only on moves, but wrestling has always been about making people feel something.

[WildManCena23]

I see the Bryan Danielson argument, and it is a strong one. His ability to adapt to different opponents is probably one of the best examples of pure wrestling intelligence.

That said, I still think Bret Hart deserves more respect in these discussions. His matches from the 90s still hold up because everything had a purpose.

The guy made wrestling look realistic without making it boring.

[AnthonyCribb]

Nobody is mentioning Undertaker enough. Maybe he was not the most technically gifted wrestler ever, but maintaining a character for decades at that level is almost impossible.

The WrestleMania streak alone became one of the biggest attractions in wrestling history.

Different skill set, but greatness is not only about having five-star matches.

[ArcMage]

Pure in-ring? Kurt Angle is my pick. He had everything: amateur background, charisma, comedy timing, intensity and the ability to make almost any opponent look good.

The crazy part is how quickly he adapted after entering professional wrestling.

Some people talk about him like he was only a great athlete, but he was a complete performer.

[Hare]

The hardest part about this question is comparing eras. Someone from the territory days had a completely different job compared to someone today wrestling a 30-minute television match every week.

Hogan's impact in the 80s cannot really be compared directly to Danielson's technical skill.

Different games, different winners.

[EasternAnvil]

Stone Cold Steve Austin has my vote. Not because he was the most technical wrestler ever, but because he changed the entire industry.

The crowd reactions he got were unreal. People did not just like him, they felt involved in everything he did.

Sometimes the ability to connect with millions matters more than having the perfect moveset.

[PhilippeMercadal]

One name that gets overlooked is Eddie Guerrero. The man could have a serious match, a comedy match, a technical showcase or a character-driven story and make all of them work.

He understood pacing better than most wrestlers I've watched.

Not sure he is the single GOAT, but he belongs much higher in the discussion.

[QuietObserver13]

Modern wrestling makes me lean toward AJ Styles. The amount of great matches he has had across different companies is pretty ridiculous.

He proved he could succeed anywhere, from smaller promotions to the biggest stage.

Maybe he does not have the mainstream fame of others, but his consistency is hard to argue with.

[Crossing]

People forget how good Rey Mysterio was because they focus on his size. He changed what fans thought was possible for smaller wrestlers.

His timing and creativity were incredible. Every move felt like it had a reason rather than just being a highlight reel.

He might not be everyone's number one, but his influence is massive.

[Gary90]

Personally, I think the answer is still John Cena. The internet spent years mocking him, but the guy carried an entire company for a very long time.

His match quality improved massively and his ability to connect with different audiences was underrated.

You do not accidentally become the face of a generation.

[Scout]

Nobody has mentioned Vader yet, which feels wrong. He was believable, intense and could move far better than someone his size should have been able to.

A lot of modern wrestlers borrowed from what he was doing.

Maybe not the mainstream answer, but absolutely one of the greats.

[Jordan89]

The argument for Kenny Omega is interesting because his peak was unbelievably high.

Some of his matches in Japan and later elsewhere showed incredible athletic ability and storytelling.

Whether he has the longevity of the all-time names is the only question mark for me.

[Sequence]

Will probably get some disagreement, but I think Bret Hart is the closest thing to a complete wrestler.

He was great technically, great at selling, great at psychology and understood how to build a match.

There were flashier wrestlers, but very few made everything look as believable.

[Drogba32]

People often separate entertainment and wrestling ability, but that feels strange because both are part of the job.

That is why I struggle to leave The Rock out. He was not the best technical wrestler ever, but he had charisma that almost nobody can match.

The reaction he got was something special.