10 Best Ring Names In WWE History

2. The Ultimate Warrior

The Undertaker
WWE

What a brilliant ring name the Ultimate Warrior was.

It set out a mission statement impossible to dispute: Warrior wasn't merely the most powerful man, or even wrestler, on the planet. Of all the entities purpose-built for combat, he was the best. They might as well have called him the 'The Hardest C*nt In The F*cking World'.

It's the sort of earnest name that would invite scorn in these cynical times. It is as on-the-nose as it is over-the-top. But, in the halcyon days of the 1980s WWF Golden Era, it was perfect. It helped, too, that the subject was equally preposterous; Warrior's hair was massive, his muscles were massive, his garish garb was cynically designed to remove money from the bank accounts of despairing parents. Really, Warrior's greatest achievement in wrestling is that he somehow contrived to pull off that name in a live action setting. When he rushed to the ring, shook the ropes and recklessly clobbered the bejesus out of his luckless opponents, he made credible the most absurd wrestling style ever devised. Not that, viewed through a more knowing lens, he "devised" it. Warrior worked so well because he was an energised lummox with no real clue of what he was doing.

The man was cartoonish; the danger very, very real.

Contributor
Contributor

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 current Undisputed WWE 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!