10 Coolest Wrestlers Of All Time

9. The Road Warriors

Ric Flair COOL
WWE.com

The Road Warriors were a total revelation in the 1980s; much like the punk rock movement, theirs was an outlaw act ripping to shreds cherished institutions and old notions of technical mat wrestling slogs. They were massively limited in the ring, but had the presence of mind to perfect three chords.

Their killer, apocalyptic, Mad Max-inspired look promised the end of days for their opponents. Their ominous and heavy theme, Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man', evoked terror. And, with their brutally effective power-based offence - a repertoire made more deadly by its clumsy execution - Hawk and Animal presented themselves as utter warlords to an audience who readily accepted them as such.

They learned a fourth chord, too; Hawk's infamous and polarising trademark spot saw him no-sell one of the most protected moves ever in the piledriver. The instant unfazed brush-off generated a major reaction; moves were taken very seriously in Hawk's heyday, and he became a humungous badass because of it.

The stupidly rapid clip at which Hawk and Animal wrestled only added to their cool aura; just like that, they were gone - an unmissable act lionised through their scarcity.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!