Who are the Greatest WWE Superstars of All Time?

5Wrestlers Who Are the GOATs of WWE: In the over 70-year-old history of the WWE, thousands of wrestlers have walked through the gates of promotion. Hundreds of these have left an indelible mark on the fans of their era. But today we ask, which wrestler is the GOAT of WWE?

What does being the greatest of all time even mean in professional wrestling? Are we talking about the best WWE wrestlers of all time in terms of their in-ring ability or how well they can grip the audiences with their words and actions? Or is it about which wrestlers have been the most popular and have made the company the most money?

Today’s list of the five WWE greatest of all time wrestlers will contain people who are a mixture of all the attributes mentioned above. This list consists of wrestlers who were the top names of their era, synonymous with WWE like none of their compatriots. These men not only became the biggest names in the world of wrestling in their era but also broke into the mainstream, becoming household names.

5 Wrestlers Who Are the GOATs of WWE

5) Bret Hart

Probably the best in-ring wrestler on this list, The Excellence of Execution was a tag-team wrestler and midcarder during the golden age of the then ‘WWF’ in the 80s and early 90s. Back when Hulk Hogan was at the top of the card, Bret Hart was known to put on the best technical match on any card, the best WWE wrestler in the ring.

So around the time Hulk was slowing down and leaving the WWF to leave for rival WCW, Hart was picked as the flagbearer for the company’s ‘New Generation Era’. While the company had some of its worst years in this time, which is understood to span from 1993 to 1997, ‘The Hitman’ was a bright light in these dark times for the industry, carrying the WWF on his back and putting on some of the greatest matches in the history of the promotion.

It is often said that Bret Hart is the favourite wrestler of your favourite wrestler. Many of his stylings and techniques can be seen in some of the most prominent wrestlers of today. Called ‘the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,’ Hart’s good-guy persona was popular among kids and adults alike back in the day. His departure to WCW in 1997 is also considered by many to be the start of the Attitude Era, the most successful era in the long history of the WWE.

Check Out: 5 Wrestlers Who Are the GOATs of WWE

4) The Rock

Many would be surprised to see The Rock at this spot in the list. In the eyes of a lot of people, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the greatest WWE superstar in history. But the fact is, even though he might be the most popular wrestler in history, he was only a full-time wrestler for about 5–6 years. From making his debut in 1996 to starring in his first movie, ‘The Scorpion King,” in 2002.

However, for the time he was a full-time wrestler, he was at the helm of the most popular and successful era in the history of the WWE, the Attitude Era in the late 90s and the early 2000s. Arguably the most charismatic wrestler of all time, The Rock is considered by many the greatest wrestler ever to hold a microphone. His insults and an ability to sell a match were second to none.

Johnson also headlined some of the greatest events in WWE history, including what is still widely thought of as the greatest WrestleMania of all time, WrestleMania X7 (17), alongside “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Rock’s rivalry with Austin is also one of the greatest in WWE history.

While The Rock sporadically returned to the company amidst being the most popular Hollywood star in the world, his recent WWE run as the ‘Final Boss” has only added to his incredible legacy of being among the greatest of all time.

3) John Cena

Coming off the incredible highs of the Attitude Era, WWE needed to keep the momentum rolling in the early 2000s. But with Rock and Austin having left the company, they needed a new name at the top of the card. That eventually became John Cena. Cena was the top name of the company during the ‘Ruthless Aggression Era’, which saw the company follow up the quick and raunchy mannerisms of the Attitude Era with more of the same.

But in 2008, the company went through a radical change and went PG, which meant the product would be focused more towards kids and teens. John Cena was the top name in the company in this era as well. The record 16-time World Champion became one of the biggest names in the world as the face of the WWE during a time when the product went global. This alone makes him among the greatest of all time.

One of the best to ever do it on the microphone, John is also incredibly underrated in the ring, having put on some of the greatest matches in the history of the company. His sheer popularity also gives him a boost in this list, as he might be the most well-known wrestler today and was the face of the promotion for well over a decade.

Also Read: 5 Wrestlers Who Are the GOATs of WWE

2) Hulk Hogan

If you go to a secluded tribe anywhere in the world and ask them if they know a professional wrestler, nine times out of ten they would name Hulk Hogan. Hogan was the man in the 80s. The face of the promotion during the Golden Era in the 90s, Hogan was the first wrestler to truly break into the mainstream, featuring in several ventures outside the WWF.

Hulk was the face of wrestling during a time when it was growing out of its territorial days and reaching a global audience for the first time. A symbol of Americana, Hulk Hogan not only main-evented the first few WrestleManias, but the show was created on the back of his popularity, making him a lock-in for any list of the greatest of all time WWE wrestlers.

While not the best in-ring technician on this list, Hogan had a way with words no one else did. The Hulkster could weave a story in a way that anybody would get invested in whatever he was doing after just one promo. Hulk was also a hero to kids all over the world, however cliche it may sound. Telling kids to “eat their vitamins and say their prayers” was the king of good moral marketing; the promotion was interested at the time.

Hulk Hogan is still somewhat relevant in wrestling. After a decades-long career, he has hedged his popularity from wrestling to other ventures in his life. But even today, if a layman sees him, he would immediately recognise the man who slammed Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3.

1) “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Who else would be at the top of this list? The man who brought wrestling to the mainstream for the second time after Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin is the WWE GOAT for so many reasons. The most important of those reasons is his sheer popularity. Austin broke into the mainstream like no wrestler had before him. While others had to star in movies and TV shows for that to happen, all of Austin’s popularity comes from wrestling.

He was at the helm of the product in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Attitude Era, which was commercially the most successful time in the company’s history. Austin, like The Rock, main evented some of the biggest events in company history. This includes multiple WrestleMania. He also featured in some of the best and most popular WWE matches ever.

But what separated Stone Cold Steve Austin from other well-rounded wrestlers of his era was how charismatic he was on the mic. With an ability to have the audience in the palm of his hands, the crowd came unglued whenever they heard the glass shatter and Stone Cold came out.

Check Out: 5 Wrestlers Who Are the GOATs of WWE