My Top 10 Favorite Wrestlers

Welcome to my professional wrestling blog. That's right, not only am I obsessed with Star Wars, but I'm obsessed with professional wrestling too! I'm a regular nutcase, alright.

So what can I say? Professional wrestling has had a huge impact on my life. I grew up watching the World Wrestling Federation, continued to watch it when it became the World Wrestling Entertainment and then when it was officially named just "WWE". I was a huge fan of the stars of the Attitude Era and the post-Monday Night War Era. Watching stars like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Edge & Christian, and so many more just continued to enthrall me from week-in to week-out. It wasn't until I was older and got a subscription to the WWE Network that I recently rediscovered my love for professional wrestling by not only watching more reruns of WWF Monday Night RAW, but also watching WCW Monday Nitro episodes as well, finally getting the view from the other side, always being a WWF/E fan anyway.

So how is my inaugural post in By Gawd! Going to go? I figured I'd do a quick top ten of my favorite performers of all time. These are the performers I get enthralled and obsessed with and I root for every week I watch. Most of these guys, if not all of them, are from the past when I was young, but they tend to stick with you even throughout the course of time. Let's get it started!

#10 - Goldberg

Goldberg, WCW

Bill Goldberg was a star of WCW in 1998, known for coming in and destroying an opponent in roughly one to two minutes. He'd walk into the ring, spear them, Jackknife Powerbomb them, pin them, and leave the arena in victory. Amassing a kayfabe record of one hundred and seventy-three match winning streak, Goldberg was billed as being unstoppable; a truly powerful force. His charisma and his destructive power always sticks with me.

#9 - The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior debuted as a huge mountain of muscle. His face-paint, his colorful attire and his arm tassels defined his look. He'd come in, overpower the sometimes much larger opponents and walk out of the arena the victor like it wasn't even a challenge. In 1990 at WrestleMania VI, the Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan and won the WWF Championship in the illustrious title-for-title match, forever securing his legacy as one of the greatest WWF Legends of all time.

#8 - The Undertaker
The Undertaker has been a dominant force in the WWE for close to thirty years. Debuting at Survivor Series 1990, "Cain the Undertaker" wrestled into the hearts of millions of fans around the world. Mark Callaway continued to evolve the Undertaker character throughout the early and mid-1990's, winning the WWF Championship and amassing an undefeated streak throughout twenty-one WrestleMania appearances. Re-debuting in 2000 with a biker gimmick, the Undertaker breathed new life as he continued to be a formidable force in the arenas. When he resurrected the the "Deadman" character in 2004 at WrestleMania XX, it was clear that the Undertaker would stick around for even more time, become a permanent staple of not just professional wresting, but also of pop culture.

#7 - "Macho Man" Randy Savage
"Macho Man" Randy Savage was always known for his crazy interviews and colorful attires, much like the Ultimate Warrior. However, unlike the Warrior, Savage wasn't all charisma. He had all of the in-ring prowess and skill you could want in a performer like him. A 2-time WWF Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, and the 1987 King of the Ring winner, Randy Savage was always powerful on the mic and in the ring. You could barely find a flaw in a Savage brawl. Truly missed.

#6 - Goldust

Goldust

Goldust is on here purely for his craziness. Dustin Runnels, the son of Virgil "'The American Dream' Dusty Rhodes" Runnels, began wearing the gold and black face-paint in 1995, and since then has been a constant presence in the WWF. Goldust is known for his finishing move, the "Shattered Dreams", where by he positions his opponent in the turnbuckle and kicks them square in the nads. Hilarious angles involve teaming with Booker T in 2002 and his brief feud with Val Venis in 1998 over the infidelity of his then-wife Terri Runnels.

#5 - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
Literally the most popular star of the 1990's and arguably the biggest star of professional wrestling of this past century, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin hit the gas after winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and didn't slow down. After a masterful match at WrestleMania 13 with Bret "The Hitman" Hart, a tremendous showdown with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, and count them THREE WrestleMania headlining matches with The Rock at XV, X-Seven (17) and XIX, he always brought his A-game, even after his career near-ending injury at the hands of a botched piledriver.

#4 - Chris Jericho
One of the few carryovers from WCW that made a name for himself in WWF, Chris Jericho "Y2J" debuted rather greatly, using a "millennium-style" countdown to reveal himself. Chris became a permanent staple having a feud with the McMahon-Helmsley faction, having several stellar matches with Triple H. Jericho is also known for being one of the best men on the mic, trash talking like nobody else, second only to the Rock. Jericho was given permanent future legend status when he want the WWE's very first Undisputed Championship at Vengeance 2001.

#3 - Sting

"Crow" Sting, WCW Monday Nitro 1996

Probably the most badass superstar of our time, Sting debuted in a beach-blonde, face-painted outfit that would result in most of the world labeling this era's Sting as "Surfer Sting". Sting's fate would change forever when he would abruptly leave Nitro in late-1996 and re-debut wearing all black & white facepaint, paying homage to the 1994 film The Crow. Forever labeled as "Crow Sting", Sting would go on to feud with the nWo and defeat "Hollywood" Hogan at Starrcade 1997 for the WCW World Heavy Championship. The most notable thing about Sting is that like the Undertaker, he never jumped ship and went to the other company, choosing instead to remain with WCW until March 26, 2001, when it was sold to WWF.

#2 - The Rock
The Great One. The People's Champ. The Brahma Bull. The guy with the badass sideburns. The Rock debuted in 1996 as "Rocky Maivia", a combination of his father and grandfather's stage names. After joining and leaving the Nation of Domination, the Rock became a phenomenal, trash-talking singles competitor that would win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1998, and have THREE stellar WrestleMania main events with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. After disappearing in 2004 to conquer Hollywood, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would return to the company that made him famous in 2011, winning the WWE title once more in 2013 and headlining WrestleMania's XXVIII and XXIX with John Cena.

#1 - Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels entering WrestleMania XIV

The Heartbreak Kid. The Showstopper. Shawn Michaels couldn't be any more my favorite wrestler if we tried. Shawn's charisma and his catch-as-hell entrance music always make him a sight to behold. After bouncing back from an originally career-ending back injury, despite wrestling with it at WrestleMania XIV, Shawn Michaels had one of the best career comebacks in history. His match with Triple H at Summerslam 2002 was outstanding. Michaels is also credited with being a cornerstone of the WWF's Attitude Era, forming the hot and popular stable "D-Generation X" with his real-life close friend Triple H.