10 Wrestlers Who Can HONESTLY Be Labelled A Genius
Cleaner I got this.
Obviously, for a list like this, to not preface it with honourable mentions feels disrespectful.
The Destroyer was a genius; his sequencing innovations formed the very DNA of the modern industry. Antonio Inoki basked in Rikidōzan's blazed trail, but his technical skill, fierce charisma, and eventual passing of the torch to Tatsumi Fujinami ushered in a new, more artful era of puroresu removed from its origins as an exercise in post-war wish fulfilment.
Terry Funk prospered as a beloved foreigner under this shift, and prospered virtually everywhere else as a wonderful worker who was both incredibly adaptable and the same, totally believable man at his core. Sinister but also hugely sympathetic, Funk was a polymath with arguably the greatest working punch ever. Chris Jericho was and is another master of reinvention - a performer, and this isn't stated enough, who deserves profound respect for not only his calling card, but achieving it under the scrutiny of wide exposure.
Shawn Michaels was a phenomenal seller and athlete; the Undertaker a performer just as terrifying when removing his hat as, somehow, hurling his colossal frame over the top rope.
But, in a list based not entirely on objectivity, there can be but 10 who didn't merely perfect the art, but advanced it...
10. Steve Austin
Steve Austin, all things considered, is probably the greatest ever pro wrestling babyface. Certainly of the modern era.
There's an argument, a very strong argument, to be made for Hulk Hogan. He holds the advantage of longevity. But where Hogan was despised in WCW - that famous GIF of an ardent Four Horsemen fan ripping a yellow shirt spoke to much of the fanbase - Austin stole a huge and ultimately fatal share of its audience.
That's because Austin's appeal was universal. He wasn't magic to some, corny to others, like Hogan was, or even cool to some, arrogant to others like the Rock was, a state of flux that turned him frequently. Austin was the personification of a wrestling babyface, which is why he's still the most over babyface in WWE, despite retiring 16 years ago and having appeared on RAW just twice this year.
Austin was both an hilarious segment performer and an in-ring great. There was nothing flashy about his act, by perfect design; it was calibrated perfectly (and modified perfectly following his career-threatening neck injury) to not alienate the common man drawn to him.
Built on authentic selling that never felt like a plea, jaw-jacking that never felt too brash, and an intense brawling style that never felt like a shortcut, Austin remains - sadly - the only example to follow.