Okay, so the Jerry Lawler thread got me thinking, the 80's was a fantastic decade and there were a tonne of great wrestlers/personalities during that era. Pretty hard to rank a list but, what are your top 10 wrestlers of the 80's? In order if you can.
My List
1. Ric Flair
2. Randy Savage
3. Jerry Lawler
4. Ricky Steamboat
5. Harley Race
6. Barry Windham
7. Bob Backlund
8. Ted DiBiase
9. Jake Roberts
10. Sting
Honourable mentions: Roddy Piper, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Magnum TA, Hulk Hogan & Dusty Rhodes
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1. Ric Flair
2. Hulk Hogan
3. Barry Windham
4. Randy Savage
5. Ricky Steamboat
6. Bobby Eaton (underrated, IMO)
7. Jerry Lawler
8. Dusty Rhodes
9. Nikita Koloff
10. Lex Luger (not for his wrestling ability but for the impact he made in JCP in such a short amount of time)
I just don't understand how not one person has said Tully Blanchard when he was only behind Ric Flair as the best all round in ring performer in NWA/JCP, my list in no particular order would be as followed.
Ric Flair
Jerry Lawler
Tully Blanchard
Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan
Ricky Steamboat
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Terry Funk
Jake Roberts
Dusty Rhodes
Magnum T.A probably would have made the list had he wrestled longer but he only wrestled in NWA/JCP for two years but didn't really do much until 1985 when he began working with The Four Horsemen and Ivan and Nikita Koloff. Compare that to what Tully Blanchard did from 1984 through to 1989 and how people speak about how great he was then Magnum T.A couldn't be ranked above Tully Blanchard.
I just don't understand how not one person has said Tully Blanchard when he was only behind Ric Flair as the best all round in ring performer in NWA/JCP, my list in no particular order would be as followed.
Ric Flair
Jerry Lawler
Tully Blanchard
Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan
Ricky Steamboat
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Terry Funk
Jake Roberts
Dusty Rhodes
Magnum T.A probably would have made the list had he wrestled longer but he only wrestled in NWA/JCP for two years but didn't really do much until 1985 when he began working with The Four Horsemen and Ivan and Nikita Koloff. Compare that to what Tully Blanchard did from 1984 through to 1989 and how people speak about how great he was then Magnum T.A couldn't be ranked above Tully Blanchard.
I need to see more Tully to really decide where to put him on a GOAT/Best of 80's etc list. Outside of... wow, pretty much his I quit match with Magnum, I've only really seen bits of his tag run with Arn. Enough of the tag run to know he's great, but considering how much I've seen of everyone else I listed compared to Tully, there was no way I personally could rank him in the top 10.
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Re: The Top 10 Wrestlers Of The 80's?
Not in order:
Jerry Lawler
Ric Flair
Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Morton
Terry Funk
Stan Hansen
Jumbo Tsuruta
Dick Murdoch
Barry Windham
Sgt Slaughter
Purely off of in ring work, match calibre and their performances. Would not argue against Hogan, Savage,Andre, Piper, Dusty etc being included and Arn, Tully, Bill Dundee, Dutch Mantell, Backlund, Butch Reed,Bobby Eaton, Jim Duggan, Ted Dibiase, Dick Slater etc all just narrowly miss out. Slaughter's matches vs Backlund, Patterson and the infamous Boot Camp match vs Iron Sheik demonstrate his tremendous in ring ability, and his tag with Kernodle v Steamboat & Youngblood in 1983 is a contender for greatest US Tag Match of all time.
Ricky Morton to me is the closest thing to Ricky Steamboat as the textbook babyface/face in peril, just watch any number of his tags throughout the decade against the Midnight Express as well as his singles run in 1986 against Ric Flair in the Cage at the Great American Bash to see evidence of his talent.
Dick Murdoch to me is one of the most naturally gifted and talented pro wrestlers of all time, very much in the Terry Funk class of just understanding the little touches that make a match so great and a truly gifted performer in any environment. The infamous Windham match from 87 or his Mid South epic v Butch Reed highlight the talent he possessed.
As for Stan Hansen, well just watch the Andre match from 81, anyone of his singles/tag matches opposite Terry Funk in All Japan (special mention to the 08/31/83 retirement tag in particular)as well as his matches v Tsuruta and other Japan natives. Truly a brilliant heel and powerhouse brawler and his work opposite Andre in NJPW demonstrates the talent he had as a babyface in engaging the Japanese crowd, something not many foreign wrestlers have managed to emulate througout the history of gaijins in Japan.
It's impossible to make a list of the top 10 wrestlers because of the difficulty on pin-pointing what makes a good wrestler. I did one make a video though after analysing the PPV numbers of the 80's and put together a list of the top 10 draws of the 80's.
The Top 10 Wrestlers Of The 80's?
The Top 10 Wrestlers Of The 80's?
. UPDATE (09/04/2013): Weekly Wrestling Roundup Episode 74 & 75!!!
