Todays brand of sports entertainment may have more movie stars and less cauliflower ears, but pro wrestling, at its core, has always been about two men in the centre of the ring, trying to earn a buck and entertain a crowd. Of course, what makes a good wrestling match HAS changed. How, where and why these (in some cases, ancient) holds are used has differed over the years, and will likely continue to do so, but a good wrestler, in any era, is a good wrestler. So, with the style and preferences of wrestling in a state of almost constant flux, how do we create a viable list of the WWEs ten greatest technicians? It cant just be about who knew the most holds, or who spent the most time tying his opponents up in knots. If it were simply about mat smarts and nothing else, then the stars of the 70s and early 80s WWWF, would likely be the only ones to appear on this list. Likewise, it cant just be about amateur skills. Lest we forget the many excellent amateurs that turned pro and failed to connect in a significant way with the audiences of their era. The criteria used here, then, are determined by a combination of factors, including legitimate wrestling ability, all round ring work, career success level, moveset and popularity with fans...
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
