The myth that pro wrestling was a legitimate athletic competition between two opponents who were trying to harm each other for glory and financial gain has been a thing of the past for decades now. As early as the late 1970s, it became more widely accepted that what we were seeing was fake, a testosterone-riddled version of performance art rather than a sporting contest. When Vince McMahon officially came out of the wrestling closet in 1989 in a bid to avoid paying the athletic commissions, the only remaining fans still out of the loop were those with their heads buried deep in the sand. And even those last remaining vestiges of wrestling truthers were bludgeoned over the head with the fact that everything was scripted once the Attitude Era rolled around. But even though were all fully aware that our chosen form of entertainment isnt real, that doesnt mean that we dont prefer to have to suspend our disbelief when watching the matches in the ring. Most fans prefer a more realistic, hard-hitting style with very little daylight over the soft, business-exposing work that comes off as overly choreographed. Thats not to say that we need to see performers legitimately injuring each other to be entertained, but we dont want to watch a WWE version of Cirque Du Soleil either. We need to temporarily forget the predetermined nature and get lost in the physical conflict to maximize out enjoyment. Thats where these guys come in. For the purposes of this article, were not going to drive too far back in the DeLorean, mainly because in the pre-Hulkamania era the entire style of wrestling was very different and much more realistic and would render a list like this moot. We're also going to focus on guys who worked primarily in North America, as the Japanese style has entire companies full og guys who could land on a list like this. That being said, lets take a look at 10 of the most realistic workers ever. The guys who, when theyre in the ring doing their thing, you almost forget that what youre watching is a cooperative display of ability rather than a heated bout between two men trying to take each others' heads off.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
