In 1982, professional wrestling was on the cusp of moving from the old territorial era to the modern day, with Vince McMahon Jr just about to turn his fathers WWF into the international multimedia empire we know today. 2. He embodies all that pro wrestling and the WWF of the 80s were about. He had the moves, the talking ability, the style and the ability to have you love or loathe him whenever he wanted you to. However, like most influential athletes, Hulk Hogan transcended wrestling and made his way into other areas of life. He had also worked in World Championship Wrestling(WCW). Of course, Russell is a better actor than Roddy Piper, but this film is all about the honest working man. Don Frye was a successful MMA fighter before spending four years as a bad guy in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and here plays a veteran of the Earth Defence Force (a sort of anti-kaiju SWAT team) and is the only man tough enough to stand up to the aliens. But then a strange thing happened. Studd never paid up and never shut up about never being slammed, even if Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan had done so. Wrestlers' protest: Police have 'technical evidence' that shows Brij He was a three-time world title holder, and held court in Florida and the Carolinas. We should have known the Classic Nerd 2023, owned by Spritely Media, LLC. Valentine would eventually take the belt from Santana, who would go on to be the first-ever winner of a match at WrestleMania. Hulk Hogan is one of the most popular wrestlers of the 1980s. For those of you not au fait with Japanese wrestling, Jushin Thunder Liger is a legendry junior heavyweight who has competed all over the world and is one of the most innovative wrestlers of the last 30 years. There you have it, the top 10 WWF wrestlers from the 80s, in perfect order, with no possible way to disagree. Building a list of the best pro wrestlers from the '80s would be like trying to pick out your favorite ant there's just so damn many of them, and they were all equally awesome in so many ways. And Andr class act that he was always managed to make his opponents look like absolute superheroes, putting them over in the eyes of the fans any way he can, adds Wealth of Geeks. Oh, and just one honorable mention to a man who would have made the list had he been a wrestler: Mean Gene Okerlund, the man who propped up every single wrestler in the 80s, and multiple other eras. Check out a gallery remember classic 80's star King Kong Bundy. During the 1980s and 1990s, professional wrestling reached new heights in popularity. Often playing second fiddle to Hogan so much that it became its own storyline Savage had the in-ring acumen and psychology down pat, and his bout against Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III is considered a perfect match. Its the simple spectacle of structured violence that is the basis that so much genre cinema thrives on. The fights are pretty prosaic, but Austin genuinely does really well in the quite scenes, still being a Texas rattlesnake at heart, but a much more quite and morose character that the hellraiser he was back in his wrestling heyday. First up is Brian Glover, a very solid wrestler who came up against most of the others in this list over the course of his career but is now better known as an actor thanks to . While Hogan was creating a theatrical persona, Flair was wrestling 60-minute matches and beating everyone across the globe. Hulkamania is the greatest concept ever created in wrestling. 16: Jushin Thunder Liger Jushin Thunder Liger Fist of Thunder. Everyone knew Batista as the big snarling bad guy who thought he could be so funny? His match at WrestleMania III with Randy Savage for the Intercontinental Champion is one of the five greatest matches that I have ever seen. Even those who never watched wrestling in their lift are familiar with Mr.T. He was one of several guys to wrestle under the gimmick of the Zebra Kid, working his way across various territories in the 50s and 60s, and briefly holding the AWA World tag titles with a guy with the brilliant name of Hard Boiled Haggerty in 1960. AfterThe Man With The Iron Fists, this was the next step on Batistas surprising journey to becoming a real movie star. rank it your way 1 Hulk Hogan 4,914 votes Hulk Hogan's Most Ridiculous Opponents #35 of 143 WWE's Greatest Superstars of the 21st Century #69 of 73 The Best TNA Wrestlers of All Time 3,818 votes 23: Rowdy Roddy Piper Hell Comes To Frogtown. Among girls, the increase was . Without Iron Sheik, that moment never happens. This super-obscure Sonny Chiba film, which features an appearance from ultraviolent old schooler Abdullah The Butcher, a man whose head was busted open so many times and scarred so deep his party trick was balancing poker chips upright in his brow. Its also the big-screen debut of Batista, following a couple of straight to video appearances that he did after leaving WWE in 2010. WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel pays tribute to some of the great WWE women of the 1980s, including Fabulous Moolah, Wendi Richter and Miss Elizabeth. John Carpenters brilliant satire stars Piper as a drifter who happens upon a pair of sunglasses that reveals the truth hidden from us plebeians that the world is actually controlled by aliens, and billboards and advertising are all just feeding up simple controlling messages like Obey and Consume. A remake of the 1973 film on the same, which itself was based on the story of true-life Tennessee folk hero Buford Pusser,Walking Tallis as generic an action movie set up as you can imagine. Anyone can watch that match and want to be a professional wrestler after seeing it. Oh, and they keep stopping off to judge beauty contests too, for some reason. Vince McMahon needed a guy to spearhead this growth of the WWF and handpicked Hogan from AWA to do so. Its surprising it took him so long to be cast in a horror movie. Lets put this in perspective. Popularly billed as the 8th Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant was a towering behemoth and one of the biggest wrestlers of all time. WWE: The 20 Greatest African-American Wrestlers of All Time A journeyman wrestler in the later 80s and early 90s, most notably competing under the name 'Big Sky' in WCW, Tyler Mane eventually moved into acting, where his 6ft 8 stature lead him to end . But as similar as the two art forms are, theres also a world of difference. The Sheiks battles with Hulk Hogan helped turn the latter into the ideal of an all-American hero. He was twice inducted into the 'WWE Hall of Fame.'. Andre the Giant did just that when he turned heel and went after Hulk Hogan, setting the stage for an epic showdown at Wrestlemania III. In the 1980s he was the most requested celebrity for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, had his own. YouTube The Niedhart legacy these days is carried on through current WWE superstar Natalya, but her father frequently known as The Anvil had cemented his heroic status long before she began fighting. The first of two appearances by cult Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Azumi, Midnight Meat Train), this WWE Studio thriller featured Brodus The Funkasaurus Clay is a small role. The Great Kabuki 3 of 50 Gary Hart brought him over from the Orient to feud with Dusty Rhodes in Florida. Although Flair had a different persona and impact on sports entertainment, he is credited for taking the popularity of professional wrestling up a notch. The Honky Tonk man began as a goofy gimmick that, had you presented this guy to me as a great superstar, I would have thought that you were joking with me. Brian Glover. Its superbly edited, has great sound design and every little body movement and facial expression is spot on. Some will. The problem is he just looks like superhero, and when he tries to play average Joes like in Snitch or whatever, but he just cant be convincing no matter how good his performance is just because hell never look like a regular guy. From Mr. Fuji to The Great Wizard and Lou Albano, Muraco always had a great mind in his corner. The crowd could immediately feed off of his energy, which helped in him being so successful as a pro wrestler. The epic encounter between Randy Machoman Savage and Ricky The Dragon Steamboat was a wrestling masterclass that not only lived up to its expectations but was more impressive than the main event later that night between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, adds SportLister. In wrestling continuity, Kane is supposedly the badly burned, abused brother of The Undertaker who wears a mask to cover his hideous scarring and is sometimes portrayed as a literal demon from hell. Not only would Morales become Intercontinental Champion in 1981, but he would lose it and win it back later that year, becoming the first-ever multi-time Intercontinental Champion. Imagine yourself as a full-grown adult, a professional voice actor, stepping up to speak into an expensive microphone. 1980s WWF/WWE Wrestlers InThe Running Man, his second collaboration with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he had a great little turn as Captain Freedom, the champion assassin of the futuristic game show turned media celebrity. Hogan took wrestling and made it much more than that. 80. The profile of each WCW wrestler features their Career History, Ring Names, Face / Heel Turns, Accomplishments, Pictures, Bio and more information and statistics. Welcome To The Jungle(orThe Rundown, as it was originally titled on its US release) might just be The Rocks greatest action film. the greatest African-American and Samoan-American wrestler of . Professional Wrestling: The 50 Greatest Wrestlers of the 1980s Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 1 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams 2 Its elevated by being helmed by Renny Harlin, a reliable action movie old hand (he also made Die Hard 2), and a good villain in the form ofThe WireandGame Of Thrones Aiden Gillan. If you were born in the 1980s and a fan of wrestling then you probably grew up idolizing larger than life heroes, like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger and Ultimate Warrior. The 1980s featured a wrestling boom rivaled only by the Attitude era of the late '90s. But, there was simply no WWF wrestler that dominated the 1980s more than . Professional wrestling continues to draw fans, but to those who watched our favorite grapplers like Andr the Giant, Ric Flair, and "Diamond" Dallas Page, the sense of nostalgia attached to the sport can . Wrestlers are often described as real life cartoons but patriotic hero (and occasional Iraqi sympathizer) Sgt. I imitated his moves in the mirror. Just watchtheseclips, and tell me you dont instantly want to see this film right now. Main bad guy John Travolta does the whole Get the best assassin we got to get this guy bit and calls in The Russian, played by Nash. Either by design or by accident, Bay has managed to capture the narcissistic stupidity of three idiots who think theyre in Goodfellas but are really just auditioning for Americas Dumbest Criminals. You look at the script and begin to read, and hear yourself uttering this line: Akira Maeda. Known as the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes was not your typical 80s musclehead that was heavily presented in professional wrestling. Hennig was named by WWE as one of the top five champions of all time; he was the longest-reigning titleholder of the 1990s. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. He was paired throughout his career with some of the great managers of the time. Inside the squared circle, Jake the Snake Roberts was a predator, who devoured his opponents by using fear as one of his tools. Studd's major gimmick in his days in the promotion was that he could never be bodyslammed. And he looked cool. He had a great run in the WWF and became an even bigger star when he left and went to the NWA. The 25 Best Wrestlers of The 1980's, Ranked (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr. /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) The Iranian-born Sheik was a huge star as the WWF exploded into popularity in the early '80s. Add The Rock obviously, as an international detective trying to track down Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Such is his popularity that even a non wrestling fan knows who the Hulkster is. Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! WWE Power Rankings: Rating the Top 25 WWE Superstars of the 1980s He famously appeared as Sylvester Stallones opponent in Rocky III, was cast as B.A Moody in the iconic TV show The A-Team and had a part in Michael Jackson and Paul McCartneys music video Say Say Say. Four years later, Hogan would team with the films bad guy Mr T to headline the first ever Wrestlemania and single to beginning of the modern era of pro-wrestling. Through the years, WWE has had its share of talented and amazing individuals that have performed and entertained the masses that comprise the WWE Universe. Despite the fact that the Hulkster suffered many embarrassing personal revelations later in life, he still holds a place in the 80s echelon of worldwide icons than few can match. Not to mention, one hell of an actor. Mr.T may not have had a prolonged career in wrestling like the others on the list but certainly made the sport popular and was deservedly inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame this March. The Undertaker - Mark William Calaway. Capitalizing on the Rock n Wrestling craze of the 1980s with MTV, Vince McMahon chose Hogan to be the figurehead of the company. However, like most influential athletes, Hulk Hogan transcended wrestling and made his way into other areas of life. Fast forward to the end of the summer, and suddenly Batista is a proper movie star, and everyone loves him. https://thelistwire.usatoday.com/2020/04/03/18-politically-incorrect-pro-wrestling-characters-from-the-80s-and-90s/, 16 largest Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in American lottery history, Most popular beers in the U.S. after midpoint of 2023, Top songs on the Billboard chart at the start of July 2023, Horoscope: Lucky lottery numbers for each Astrological sign, 2023 International Whisky Competition Official Results, Notable athletes and sports figures who have died in 2023, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Can anyone name the first Triple Crown Champion in WWE history? Chalk this down to director Peter Berg, a smart guy whose films are always a lot clever than they first appear (apart from maybe Battleship), but its also one of the first films where The Rock felt like a true leading man, especially in the fantastic finale, where his character, er, learns to love shooting people with guns again.