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Most important wrestlers of last 15 years

4K views 53 replies 46 participants last post by  KO Bossy 
#1 · (Edited)
Who are the most important wrestlers of last 15 years?
For me ( considering USA) are:
John Cena- He was the face of WWE in last 10 years, was and is still a great drawer, and it's one of the best in the ring
Triple H- Was the top heel until 2006, then was one of most loved top face, and did a lot of greatest match
Daniel Bryan- Was the best in the world of last 15 years, in ROH and other indies. Then he was also the most loved wrestler from the time of Austin/Rocky and did also a main event of Wrestlemania. The only defect is that he was never a big draw as HHH and Cena
Undertaker - Did a lot of matches, wrote the history with the streak and was always one of most loved face
CM Punk- He could be a great drawer, but WWE stopped him but however, had a title reigns of 400 days, and was one of the best worker , to view his match with Joe in ROH and many others
AJ Styles- Is one of the best worker of this generation , was not a drawer, but hower won a lot of titles in NJPW, TNA, and he was always at the top, was a main eventer in TNA, ROH, NJPW and also today in WWE
Shawn Michaels- Was never a drawer, but was one of the best worker
Edge- Was the top heel of last 10 years, won a lot of titles and wrote the history with the TLC matches
Brock Lesnar- His defect is the longevity, but wrote the history with the squash on Cena and the conquer of the streak. Then he was a great worker in his first stint, when won againts Hogan, Rocky, Angle, and did great matches. He was a good drawer, but not at the level of Cena
Randy Orton- I included also Orton because also if was never a big drawer and a great worker, won a lot of titles and was a main eventer for more than 10 years
Batista- Same reason of Orton, but he was less years on the top than him
 
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#8 · (Edited)
John Cena He successfully became FOTC after the Austin/Rock era; love or hate him, he's been the standard bearer. He was afforded better booking the others, but he's left his mark.

Daniel Bryan He was never meant to reach the heights he did, but Bryan became the most over superstar since Austin/Rock. He managed to form a connection with the crowds who forced the WWE to put him in the main event of Wrestlemania. He's the exception to many hard rules.

I know there have been a lot of other influential talents in the past 15 years but those two come to mind first. They tapped into an energy that doesn't exist in today's wrestling world.
 
#13 ·
I'll try five (USA only):

1. The Rock

Can get eyes on the product anytime he shows up. Due to how much of a star he is outside of wrestling, you have to question if Wrestlemania 28 (most buys for a wrestling PPV) or 29 (then highest grossing WWE event in history) would have been anywhere near as successful without him.

2. Brock Lesnar

A WWE superstar announces his intentions to remain a WWE superstar in the top story of the day on SportsCenter. That was huge and speaks to the importance of Lesnar. And let's not forget about the year before that, which leads me to:

3. Undertaker

The one constant of Wrestlemania since 1991 was no more. You would think the ending of that streak was just a big deal in the wrestling world. Nobody could've ever predicted it would've been acknowledged outside of wrestling. From ESPN to TMZ to Vlad TV to HLN and virtually every media platform in between, Undertaker losing at Wrestlemania was a story. Not just that but the outcome of a fake fight was getting mainstream coverage.

4. Sting

His importance is solely based on being the last big name WCW talent that had yet to step foot in a WWE ring. And while few agree how his run turned out, you can't deny how important it was to finally get him on a big stage.

5. John Cena

He's a company guy. Does everything they ask for (except put people over?). Anything charity related, Cena's there. Need something for the troops? Cena can do it. Guest host a morning talk show? You get the idea. He's somebody that covers all bases, as a performer in the ring, and as the perfect representation of the company outside of it. Whether we like him or not, we can't deny how important he is to WWE's vision for how they want their company and representatives to be perceived by the general public.
 
#16 ·
none, it's the brand as a whole that's drawn, not whichever politician did enough ass kissing to win pretend titles. if anyone moved numbers though beyond the average, it's The Rock, Austin, Lesnar, and Undertaker.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Triple H for me is the most important wrestler of the last fifteen years. He headlined six WrestleManias, won ten World Championships, headlines several other PPVs. All in the last fifteen years. He is/was also a huge draw.

Undertaker because of his WM Streak.

John Cena for being the Face of the WWE for ten of the last fifteen years and having one of the biggest matches of all time vs. The Rock at WM28.

Brock Lesnar for breaking The Undertaker's WM Streak & destroying Cena at SS 2014.

Randy Orton for winning twelve World Championships in the last fifteen years and for headling WM25 & WM30.

Roman Reigns for his matches vs. Brock Lesnar at WM31 and vs. Triple H at WM32.
 
#20 ·
John Cena- Obvious

The Rock- Mainstream exposure for a man known for his wrestling days.

Brock Lesnar- See above

Batista- Multiple time champ, also brings a bit of outside exposure.

The Undertaker- The Streak became a massive WrestleMania draw.

Randy Orton- Simply for being a multiple time world champion.

Daniel Bryan- Ushered in the era of smaller performers with better workrate into the WWE main event picture.

CM Punk- Ushered in the "reality era", which allowed fans to feel entitled to voice displeasure with the product if they so felt.

AJ Styles- May be a controversial choice, but his ring work has had an absolutely massive influence on the in-ring aspect of pro wrestling over the last decade.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Nothing controversial about including AJ.

Rollins idolized AJ and modeled himself on him, Will Osprey is the same (heard this from a friend, so don't know how true this is).

Now that AJ is in the WWE, expect future WWE stars to be the same, more kids will grow up wanting to be like AJ and will incorporate that style into their work.

Essentially, he'd be be the HBK of this generation.

I have to add, Eddie has to be on the list. He was easily one of the most entertaining complete packages of the last 15 years.
 
#22 ·
If we're beginning from 2001, then (in no particular order);
1) Stone Cold Steve Austin
2) The Rock
3) Triple H
4) John Cena
5) Batista
6) CM Punk
7) Daniel Bryan
8) The Undertaker
9) Jeff Hardy
10) Edge
11) Eddie Guerrero
12) Chris Jericho
13) Roman Reigns
14) Randy Orton
15) Kurt Angle.
 
#27 ·
99% This ^^

I just cannot put Reigns in there, same as i can't put Rollins or Ambrose in there, maybe an argument should be made fir instead putting The Shield in there? But not Reigns as a singles star yet.

For me AJ should be in there.

Sent from my HTC Desire 626 using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
15 years is a long time. I mean, the beginning of that is 2001, still essentially the Attitude Era.

1. John Cena- For being "THE GUY" for most of that 15 year period.

2. The Undertaker- The constant, the locker room leader

3. Triple H- Top heel, world champion through most of the 2000s, importance heightened in his current corporate role in NXT

4. Shawn Michaels- Probably the best wrestler on WWE's roster from 2002-2010

5. CM Punk- Opened the doors to a flood of indy talent that we have today. He went from being a guy that Heyman had to push for, to getting over organically, doing his Pipebomb and getting an accomplishment not seen since Hulk Hogan

6. The Rock- Was a top star in the early 2000s, put some people over on the way out- Lesnar, Booker, Goldberg- hell, even gave Hurricane a rub. Made it big in Hollywood, then brought his star power back to WWE to boost Wrestlemania business for the past 5 years or so.

7. Brock Lesnar- Was the man in WWE 2002-2004, like Rock, left and made himself a bigger star, in the last 4 years has been excellent on a special attraction basis (Ambrose feud aside).

8. Daniel Bryan- Picked up where Punk left off, had a brief moment of mainstream overness with the Yes chant, unfortunately injuries hampered him.

9. Kurt Angle- For his 2001-2006 run. One of the best wrestlers and was a main event mainstay. Can't speak on his TNA run.

10. Rey Mysterio- I know he did it in WCW, but Rey bringing his lucha style to WWE gave that style a whole new audience. He became a huge star with WWE's backing.
 
#25 · (Edited)
The one thing I always questioned, if Cena wasn't given the marketing team of an army, and Superman booking, if he would be popular, or if he could even sale the way he does.

I believe if you took away Cena's monthly slaughters, and every single major push, people would hate him (well those who love him would hate him like I do), and his marketing would die. Its the reason they refuse to slow him down.

Imagine if someone else like got to beat Rusev's streak and take his belt. Building the new Iron Sheik just to feed to Cena was smart move, if you want the beast to survive.


The point, the rest of these guys were the top guys, but now one really ever labeled them as "Bad for the company". Even CM Punk's booking (which I truly hated), wasn't near the same level as Cena. CM Punk beat all 3 members of Shield, yet 2 of them became champions. If Cena faced all 3 Shield, they'd lose any build up they have, and probably spend a year fixing what Cena broke.

With Cena there is psychology or depth to his stories. With someone like CM Punk he was nasty, and wanted to play mind games. Daniel Bryan was like taking the Cena Formula and injecting into a little boy (like Captain America), the concept was cool, but I doubt he would have lasted.

The years Cena put in, if layered over Hulk's career, 2016 would be the year WWE threw Hulk out like old garbage, cause the product got stale. WWE got to the same exact point, now starting to fix the wasteland Cena built (like Hulk built), yet want to keep him, and won't be shocked if Rusev is re-built just to re-feed Cena, since that feeding lasted over a year.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Eddie Guerrero – both in life (including being one of the Smackdown Six, his WWE Championship reign, and being an influence on stars like Sasha Banks) and death (wellness policy and Benoit)

Jeff Jarrett – for providing an option after the death of WCW, and a platform for guys like Styles, Joe, Christian, Gail Kim, Angle & Sting

Brock Lesnar – successful crossover into UFC, and in the process, making UFC bigger than ever, which has had an effect on WWE’s popularity

The Rock – more successful in Hollywood than Hogan and paves way for guys like Batista to be even more successful

HHH – for his burial of potential stars in the '00s and his role in rebooting NXT in the '10s, plus he invented the Elimination Chamber match

Zack Ryder (yes, seriously) – for social media presence and as a prime example as to why WWE can’t make stars anymore

CM Punk – for his size, pipebombs promos and how WWE missed the boat on making him the top guy

DDP – for DDP Yoga

Trish Stratus – for women’s wrestling in WWE

Gail Kim – for women’s wrestling in TNA, including the most high profile women's ladder match in history

Honorable mention: Hiroshi Tanahashi. You guys don’t hear of New Japan & guys like Shinsuke Nakamura or the Bullet Club without Tanahashi
 
#28 · (Edited)
Top 3 names of the last 15 years: (only taking into account its WWE career)

1-John Cena , the last 15 years has been practically his Era.

2- Triple H , since 2001 until this year involved in the main event picture.

3- Batista , even if his run was short you can't deny that he was the (semi) Top Face of the company on a more profitable Era.

Notable names: Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan.

I didn't listed Stone Cold or The Rock even if they were active wrestlers because they are more related to the late 90s.
 
#31 ·
Some fantastic lists though not enough love for Eddie or Angle. I'd second - JBL purely because of his incredible transition from a popular tagteam partner to an instant heat magnet Heel. Cena for his longstanding FOTC and massive # of WWE titles. Undertaker/Kane for their character longevity, contributions to WWF/E and the Streak. CM Punk for his historical pipebomb & ever-changing character during the most recent longest WWE reign. Edge for his opportunist Heel character, epic feuds and most memorable events/promos. Chris Jericho for his outstanding Heel character, his record IC title reigns and aside from his longevity also his gimmick contributions.
 
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#33 · (Edited)
The Rock, no one else matters. He were purley responsible for transitioning WWE into the mainstream. Hogan was the one who brought Pro WRestling into Pop Culture. The Rock was the one who transcended it all. In 1999 in the ratings war. Rock going to SNL gave WWE a share of the audience, WCW coulden't compete with. By Rock transitioning WWE into the mainstream. It forever established WWE as the king of Sports Entertainment, without Rocks influence I have serious doubts WWE would be still standing today. I know bold statement. But think about it. IF Rock and of course Austin weren't existing. WCW would of won the ratings war. But WCW woulden't of lasted anyway, with all the politics. They would of been put out of business. And Maybe Lucha Underground would be king :D. I know alot of ppl are saying Eddie and Angle etc. Purley for nostalgia reasons. But I look at the word important. And while I see it from a sentimental pov, in terms of actual wrestlings. In terms of important. They were no where near as important as Rock, periord, but that is just my opinion. Even in post 01, his transition into movies brought WWE alot of attention. So I just saw importance as influence.
 
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